Something seemed off about Chris. At least, that's what Hibiki thought. She couldn't really put a finger on what exactly is off but Chris has been acting a little strange. Hibiki would be the first to admit that she wasn't the most observant of people but it she was starting to notice that Chris would have a faraway look on her face whenever Hibiki would mention her parents getting along once more. Chris would become quiet, and it was as if she would stare into the distance and only nod to Hibiki regaling her with stories.
"…And you know, it's been so long since I've seen Mom and Dad together. Dad's really trying hard to make it up to mom." Hibiki cheerfully told Chris. Chris merely nodded absently. Hibiki didn't know if Chris was even listening.
It was starting to worry Hibiki a little. She didn't understand why Chris would become so melancholy all of a sudden. And so, being Hibiki, she asked.
"Are you okay, Chris-chan?" Hibiki asked, her brows furrowing.
"Hmm?" Chris was looking at Hibiki but her gaze was far, far away.
"You've been kinda spacing out…" Hibiki pointed out, being her usual direct self.
"It's nothing." Chris answered firmly before turning away from Hibiki. "I gotta go." She then said as she slung her bag on her shoulder.
"Oh, okay." Hibiki was now more sure that something was wrong but Chris would most likely get angry if she tried to press
"Hey." Chris then turned back to Hibiki before she was about to leave. "You take care of your parents, okay?" With those last words, Chris strode off, leaving a confused Hibiki behind.
"Chris-chan…" Perhaps it was time to ask Tsubasa about it.
"Chris-senpai has been acting strange lately." Kirika declared as she slid her spy glasses on.
"And we're here to investigate." Shirabe said somberly, her spy glasses already perched on her nose.
For days now, Shirabe and Kirika have noticed that Chris had changed her route home and she now hardly walks home with them. She seemed to be taking a longer route now and it piqued their interest. What could their beloved senpai be doing? To be honest, it had Kirika and Shirabe worried. They fear that they had done something wrong and that Chris is avoiding them because of it.
And so, they hatched the brilliant plan of following Chris as she goes home. When Chris appeared from the school gates and set off for the opposite way of her usual route home, Kirika and Shirabe followed from a distance. As they followed, the two of them noticed that they were going to the shopping district.
Kirika and Shirabe then blinked in surprise when Chris stopped in front of the windows of a popular CD store. Chris didn't go in but instead stayed perfectly still as she looked through the windows to look at all the music CDs on display. It was hard for them to see the expression on Chris' face.
"Let's go closer." Shirabe whispered to Kirika who nodded. However, before they could even move, Chris started to walk again. Taking that as an opportunity to investigate further, the two of them hurried to the shop windows to see what Chris was looking at. They found several smiling visages of Tsubasa and Maria, as well as other popular artists as the shop window just displayed the top-selling CDs.
"Huh. You think Chris-senpai wants to buy these?" Kirika was disappointed and confused. All of them had copies of Maria and Tsubasa's latest CDs so there was no need for her to buy them.
"I don't know Kiri-chan." Shirabe shook her head.
So they continued their investigation and followed Chris for the next three days. Everyday without a doubt Chris would stare for a few minutes into the CD shop and then just leave. It was easy to conclude that Chris goes through her new route just to look as she doesn't really stop for anything else.
On the fourth day however, Kirika and Shirabe saw Chris enter the store for the first time. Chris left barely ten minutes later, a distinct frown on her face. Unable to suppress their curiousity, they tried asking the guy at the counter if a white-haired girl had asked for anything.
"Ah, was that the girl who just left? Yeah, she asked if we had a stock of albums that were ten years old or so. We didn't have what she was looking for though." The guy behind the counter said.
"Can you tell us the albums that she was looking for?" Kirika asked.
"It was a bunch of albums by a vocalist and violinist. It was Masa-something? Sorry, I can't remember." The guy shrugged and the two thanked him before leaving. What could Chris be looking for?
"Maybe we should ask Tsubasa-san about this." Shirabe suggested and Kirika nodded in agreement.
"A place that sells old CDs?" Tsubasa repeated, raising her eyebrows a little at Chris' unusual question.
"…Yeah, I thought you might know." Chris said gruffly, not at all looking at Tsubasa, mostly just keeping her eyes on the mug in her hands.
"I apologize, I'm not all familiar with shops that sell CDs." Tsubasa said apologetically. She was an idol and sells those CDs, however, she doesn't really have much of an idea on the places that actually sold her CDs. "Do you have anything in particular that you're looking for?"
"...Not really." Chris muttered reluctantly, pointedly not looking at Tsubasa. Most of the time, Tsubasa was a bit of an airhead but she could tell with certainty that Chris was not telling the truth. However, Chris wasn't really the type of person that would tell what was troubling her until she herself was ready, so Tsubasa could do nothing but reluctantly let it go.
"Perhaps you should try the internet." Tsubasa then suggested. Chris only shrugged.
"We're here to watch a movie, right? Come on." Chris then changed the subject as she stood up. Tsubasa could only watch her go to the large screen TV and look over the piles of DVDs. Tsubasa frowned a little, pondering on what she should do when she received two simultaneous text messages from Hibiki and Kirika.
Tsubasa raised an eyebrow as they both mentioned wanting to talk to her about Chris.
"Perhaps they could help me." Tsubasa murmured as she sent an affirmative to both.
"Thank you." Tsubasa told Maria politely as she placed a cup of tea in front of her. Maria nodded before continuing to serve Hibiki and the others with tea. Shirabe placed a large plate of cookies at the middle of the table before sitting down beside Kirika. Hibiki automatically took a cookie and bit into it, before offering another to Miku who was beside her. Tsubasa lifted the tea to her lips, murmuring in approval at Maria's improved tea making.
Kirika then stood up and loudly cleared her throat, successfully getting the attention of everyone in the room. "So now let's begin the meeting to discuss 'what's wrong with Chris-senpai'!" For once, Kirika looked to be entirely serious as she looked around at everyone. Tsubasa put down her tea, her face serious as it usually was.
"So let's give a recap of what's been happening with Chris-senpai! First, she's been taking a different route when going home. Shirabe and I followed her and she's been going through the market district."
"Maybe she's buying something to eat for dinner?" Maria suggested with a small frown. "And you shouldn't spy on people…" There was an edge of disapproval in Maria's voice and Kirika laughed nervously.
"It was just a couple of times! We were just worried!" Kirika defended themselves, whipping on her spy glasses. "And we found out that she likes to look at the store front of the music shop! But she doesn't really buy anything though."
"She did go inside once but she just talked to the clerk before leaving. She seemed to have been looking for CDs." Shirabe added. "Tsubasa-senpai, did Chris-senpai tell you anything?" Shirabe then looked over at Tsubasa.
"Yes, she did mention that she was looking for old CDs but she volunteered no more than that." Tsubasa nodded.
"Do you think that has something to do with how absent-minded she's being lately?" Miku asked, looking mildly intrigued.
"She acts kinda weird whenever I bring my parents up." Hibiki then put her two cents in, munching on yet another cookie.
"Her parents..?" Maria wondered, her eyebrows creased at how old CDs could have anything to do with Hibiki's parents. And that was when the light bulb lit up at the top of Tsubasa's head.
"Her parents!" Tsubasa then said loudly, making the others jump in surprise.
"Tsubasa-san?" Hibiki prompted curiously.
"Yukine's parents were musicians! Uncle told me that! They used to tour before they went to Val Verde." Tsubasa explained, wondering why she didn't think of this sooner.
"Oh..!" There was a collective gasp from everyone as the information sunk in their heads.
"So Chris is looking for old CDs of her parents' work?" Miku asked in confirmation.
"That would be most likely." Tsubasa nodded in satisfaction.
"Then we should help her look for them!" Kirika said excitedly.
"Alright! I'll ask around all the CD shops in the city!" Hibiki volunteered with a large smile.
"I'll go with you!" Miku immediately said.
"Kiri-chan and I will look online!" Even Shirabe looked fired up now.
"I'll ask around our contacts in the industry." Maria offered, getting her phone and already texting a couple of people.
Tsubasa couldn't help but smile at the eagerness the others showed in helping Chris. "I'll ask Uncle if he knows more. He was once a good friend of theirs."
"Chris-senpai is gonna get surprised!" Kirika grinned and all of them agreed to keep it a secret from Chris, until they finally find those CDs she wanted!
"Sonnet-kun and Masanori-kun, huh?" Genjuuro pondered outloud as he crossed his arms. Tsubasa stood in front of him, having just asked him about Chris' parents.
"If I remembered correctly, they did have a couple of CDs released, but that was over ten years ago, and there were limited copies." Genjuuro continued.
"Do you perhaps know where I could find a copy?" Tsubasa asked hopefully and Genjuuro shook his head.
"I see…" Tsubasa was crestfallen, and was about to turn and walk away when a call went through to the bridge.
"Its for you Commander and Tsubasa-san." Aoi then said.
"For me..?" Tsubasa frowned and her father's face appeared before them.
"Father!" Tsubasa said in surprise, not expecting her father to call her here.
"Yatsuhiro-aniki, what's wrong?" Genjuuro asked, his face becoming a lot more serious.
"I've heard from Shinji you were looking for something." The one Yatsuhiro addressed was not Genjuuro but Tsubasa. Tsubasa's eyebrows raised but nonetheless she nodded.
"Go through your memories, Tsubasa. And you will find what you're looking for there." With that rather cryptic message, Yatushiro disappeared from the screen. Tsubasa glanced up at Genjuuro in confusion. What did her father mean by that?
"Ah!" Genjuuro then seemed to realize something as he peered down at Tsubasa.
"Uncle?" Tsubasa asked, confused.
"Go to your old room, Tsubasa. Something is waiting for you there and you have to find it." Genjuuro ushered her out.
"My… room..?" Utterly perplexed but unable to do anything but obey, Tsubasa set off to go to the Kazanari mansion.
Tsubasa stood at the time capsule that is her old room. It was still as messy yet somehow clean as ever. She only managed to clear out a few of her things the last time she was here because she was embarrassed with Maria seeing it but mostly, it was still the same.
"What did Uncle and Father mean about go through my memories..?" Tsubasa asked thoughtfully to herself as she maneuvered her way to the mic stand and the cassette player she had in her room. She traced it fondly, remembering how she used to sing 'Koi no Okehazama' almost non-stop when she was younger.
Without much thought, she did as she was asked, she went through her things and her memories. She saw her old book bag, the one she used while she was still in elementary, and an old recorder flute. She remembered being very nervous when she played it in front of the class for the test. She saw her old Playstation, the one she usually played on whenever she was alone at night in the mansion. Her uncle sometimes played it with her, and even rarer her father played with her. Miscellaneous clothing, books, and other knick-knacks brought waves and waves of nostalgia for Tsubasa, but she seemed to be nowhere close to what it is she's actually looking for.
And then, as she was going through her closet, she found a box hidden at the side. Somehow, it drew Tsubasa in and gave her an especially strong sense of nostalgia. Curiously, she took it out noting the blue and red ribbons decorating the top before she took the lid off. Tsubasa was greeted with a slightly faded piece of paper depicting two little girls drawn in the hand of a young child. Tsubasa couldn't believe it almost, as even though it was crudely drawn, there was no mistaking that she was one of the children there.
"This is…" Tsubasa exhaled softly, taking the paper to look at it closer. The version of her on the paper was one that was hardly seven years old, her side ponytail unmistakable. Kid Tsubasa was holding on to the hand of the other girl, wearing a red dress, with white hair in two tails.
"Yukine..?" Tsubasa murmured in disbelief, recognizing that distinctive hair. Below the drawing of the two girls was something written in an inexperienced hand.
"Zubaban and Chris…" Tsubasa read out loud, and gasped as memories flittered in her mind at the name.
A young Tsubasa was out in the gardens by herself, singing to herself as she skipped around on her own. Today, she was told that her Uncle Genjuuro had guests coming. Feeling shy, she confined herself in the gardens until they were to leave.
To comfort herself, she sang songs, not knowing that her singing had attracted a curious little visitor.
"Ahh! You have a pretty voice!" Tsubasa was startled as she finished a song, when a young girl seemingly popped out from behind her. She had fluffy white hair, and it was pulled back by twin tails at the nape of her neck. She was pretty, and looked to be a little younger than Tsubasa's seven years of age.
"Could you sing again?" The young girl approached her, a cute stuffed bunny in her arms.
"Oh, uh, okay…" Tsubasa hesitated only for a moment, but she calmed down enough to do what she was asked. She had never met another girl close to her age before and she felt shy. But the eagerness shining in the girl's lavender eyes persuaded her to start singing again. Tsubasa kept a close eye on the other girl, wondering who she was and enjoying the look of wide-eyed wonder as she sang.
"Wow! That was really amazing! You sing almost as good as my mama!" The girl exclaimed, applauding Tsubasa as she finished with her song.
"T-thank you…" Tsubasa thanked her as was appropriate, her face red from the praise.
"Chris? Where are you?" A woman's voice could then be heard from around the corner.
The girl visibly perked up at the voice and she rushed on over to where she heard it. "Mama! Mama, look! I found someone who sings as prettily as you do!" Tsubasa heard her say excitedly, before she appeared again, this time dragging a pretty older woman who looks just like the little girl.
Tsubasa felt her face grow pink again as the older woman looked at her before smiling.
"Slow down, Chris." The woman laughed. She could only be the girl's mother. "You must be Tsubasa-san." She then greeted Tsubasa, her smile warm and kind. Tsubasa nodded shyly, shifting awkwardly on her feet.
"Zubaban?" The girl called Chris repeated, tilting her head cutely as she botched up the pronunciation of Tsubasa's name.
"Tsu-ba-sa-san." Her mother clearly enunciated, speaking slowly.
"Tsu-Zubaban?" Chris tried but still, it came out wrong. She was frowning and looked like she was kinda annoyed.
"T-that's okay! You can call me Zubaban…" Tsubasa spoke up, not wanting the other girl to frown.
"Okay!" Chris' face immediately brightened and she smiled happily. "My name's Chris! It's nice to meet you, Zubaban!"
Tsubasa blinked at the memories, for a moment shocked that she had met Chris before when they were younger. Perhaps even more shocking was that Tsubasa had completely forgotten about it.
"She used to call me 'Zubaban'." Tsubasa murmured to herself, remembering how adorably cute Chris was when she was younger. She couldn't help but giggle a little. If she reminded Chris about this, she would probably deny it to her death that she once gave a bizarre nickname to Tsubasa because she can't say her name well.
Tsubasa remembered how she and Chris began to play with each other on the next couple of days as their family visited every day. They used to play hide and seek in the vast mansion, and Tsubasa was very good at finding Chris. Except for one time…
Tsubasa was puzzled as she stood in the middle of the dojo, wondering where could Chris have gone. She wasn't in any of her usual hiding spots, and Tsubasa had already checked all of the rooms. Chris must've tried harder this time, since she had been mad that Tsubasa was always able to find her. Tsubasa then decided to go back to the main house, passing by one of the rooms when she heard the faintest sound of sniffling.
For a moment, Tsubasa stood in alarm, trying to pinpoint where the sound was coming from. She then realized it was coming from a large decorative pot that was about as tall as Tsubasa. She then went closer, and the crying grew louder.
"Chris..?" Tsubasa called out worriedly. The crying stopped for a moment.
"Zubaban?" Chris' voice came from the pot.
"Yeah, its me! Why are you crying, what's wrong?" Tsubasa rushed to the mouth of the pot, trying to peer at the mouth of it when Chris' head popped out.
"I got stuck…" Chris sniffled,. "I don't know how to get out… And, and, you took so long to find me…. I got lonely and scared…"
"Don't worry, Chris. I'm right here, we'll get you out!" Tsubasa said in determination, wiping Chris' tears away awkwardly. Chris finally smiled and gave a nod.
It took the help of the other adults in the house to finally get Chris out and they got a light scolding for it then. However, Chris held onto Tsubasa's hand the whole time and neither of them minded getting scolded.
Tsubasa then looked into the box again as she set the drawing aside, and saw a slightly worn out bunny stuffed toy. It was the toy that little Chris used to carry all the time. It was sitting right on top of a stack of CDs that Tsubasa then took out.
"These CDs..!" Tsubasa couldn't help but exclaim in delight. There were four CDs, each one depicting the signed names of Sonnet Yukine and Masanori Yukine, and surprisingly, in red crayon was Chris' messily signed name, Tsubasa remembered that she was given the box before Chris' family went to Val Verde.
"Zubaban, Mama and Papa said that we'll be going away for a while." Chris told her sadly as they sat together on the porch outside Tsubasa's room.
"I see…" Tsubasa murmured sadly, feeling disappointed that Chris' daily visits were going to come to an end.
"But don't worry! When we get back, I'll visit you again!" Chris said earnestly, her eyes sparkling. Tsubasa couldn't help but smile too and she nodded.
"Yeah, I'll be waiting." Tsubasa said softly.
"Here, I've got a present for you!" Chris then handed her a beautiful box with ribbons of blue and red on the lid. "Open it!" Chris then urged her and Tsubasa did as she was told, only to see the drawing of her and Chris.
"It's great!" Tsubasa enthused, admiring herself and Chris on paper.
"RIght? I worked hard on it!" Chris puffed up her chest in pride. "I've got other things for you too!"
Tsubasa then took Chris' favorite stuffed rabbit. "But isn't she your friend..?" Tsubasa's eyes were wide in surprise as she cradled the rabbit in her hands.
"Yeah well, I thought you'd be lonely since I won't be visiting so she can keep you company!" Chris said offhandedly but she was blushing all the while. "So take good care of her, okay?"
"I will!" Tsubasa exclaimed and nodded. Tsubasa then saw the CDs of Chris' parents and marveled at how many they were.
"You told me you like Mama and Papa's songs right? So i got them to give them to you!" Chris patted the stack of CDs. "So you can play them whenever you feel lonely too!"
"Thank you so much…" Tsubasa was feeling a bit overwhelmed at all the gifts as she scrubbed at her tears, embarrassed to show herself crying. "I'll treasure them all always!"
Tsubasa's last memory of that time was Chris' large yet also watery smile before they bade farewell, never to see each other until the twist of fate with the Symphogears.
"I'm glad to have met you again, Chris." Tsubasa said warmly as she wiped away some of her tears at her reminiscing. With that, she stood up and texted everyone else.
'Mission success.'
"Okay, Chris-senpai! Thanks for taking us shopping today!" Kirika exclaimed, a wide smile on her face as she was laden with shopping bags. Beside her were Shirabe and Maria, also having their fair share of bags.
"Yeah, no problem. But man, we went shopping for like the whole day. I'm tired." Chris sighed, stretching out her arms.
"Thank you for accompanying us today, Chris. We had a lot of fun." Maria was a bit more formal and pleasant, giving Chris a grateful smile. "We'll see you tomorrow then."
"Yeah, be careful on the way home." Chris told them in farewell before she went inside her apartment building. Man, it was pretty tiring to go shopping. She wasn't entirely sure why Maria, Kirika and Shirabe even needed her but she couldn't really say no. Well, she did manage to sneak out and look at a couple of music stores but she was still unable to find what she was looking for.
"Maybe I should just give up…" Chris sighed to herself as she unlocked the door to her apartment. She then stopped dead in her tracks when she saw Tsubasa standing there, seemingly waiting for her.
"Senpai?" Chris asked, caught off-guard.
Tsubasa only smiled, before a familiar melody began to play around the room. Chris' eyes were wide in shock as she remembered the music clearly even if she hadn't heard it in years. She looked over at her stereo which was playing the strings of a violin before the ever familiar voice of her mother began to sing.
"This is..!" Chris couldn't believe it, she stood frozen in shock, because just as she resigned herself to no longer hear her parents' songs again, suddenly she would hear it again.
She looked over at Tsubasa and asked one question. "How..?"
With that, Tsubasa approached her with an old box, still having its bright red and blue ribbons on top. Something tickled at Chris' memory and she took it in her arms, opening it to see the simple drawing of two girls.
"Zubaban…" Chris murmured, and like a bolt of lightning she remembered and she looked at Tsubasa in shock.
"You're… Zubaban..!" Chris gasped in realization and Tsubasa grinned at hearing that cute nickname again from Chris' lips.
"It's been a while, hasn't it, Chris?" Tsubasa said with a smile. Chris continued to rummage at the box, seeing her old stuffed rabbit and the CDs that she had once given Tsubasa long ago.
"I... " Chris was frankly in a state of embarrassment and shock and utter euphoria. "I always thought about you when I was in Val Verde but I forgot all about you…"
"Me too. I guess we're even." Tsubasa said before opening her arms. Chris only hesitated for a moment before she rushed to Tsubasa's arms and hugged her unabashedly.
"I didn't think… I'd ever hear these songs again..! Thank you…" Chris murmured, burying her face in Tsubasa's neck as Tsubasa stroked her hair.
"I'm glad that I was able to find these for you." Tsubasa said, kissing Chris' forehead gently. "It seems our surprise was well-received."
"The other idiots were in on this?" Chris asked even though she knew the answer.
"Yes, they've decided to have a reunion for Zubaban and Chris. Kohinata and Tachibana helped me set up while the others worked to distract you." Tsubasa smiled, taking Chris' hand to show her to the dining room where on the table was set a dinner for two. "It is a reunion long overdue, after all."
"Oh geez, those idiots. And you're the biggest idiot." Chris' laugh bubbled out of her, along with some embarrassed tears that she immediately scrubbed away.
"I love you." Tsubasa then said seriously, taking Chris' hand and kissing it.
"...I love you too." Chris murmured shyly but it made Tsubasa smile as they had their dinner. That night, the both of them fell asleep with each other on Chris' couch, embracing each other as they listened to the wonderful music of Chris' parents.
"I really love you, you know." Chris muttered to Tsubasa's neck as she stayed up a bit longer, before pressing a kiss on the sleeping Tsubasa's cheek. Tsubasa smiled unconsciously at the gesture, snuggling closer to Chris.
