Symphogear Trill
Stanza IX: Nuovo Collegamento
Lydian Academy
"Ugh… I stayed up way too late last night."
Ritsudo gave a yawn as he wandered the halls of the academy, the day dreary from an early morning rainstorm.
"But… I'm still stuck on that Chris girl… if she paid attention, she's probably either meandering around town… or was actually dumb enough to go back to her old boss…" Ritsudo gave a sigh at the thought, hefting his bag over his shoulder, moving around a corner when his communicator started buzzing in his pocket, looking around to make sure nobody was there before he answered, "Ritsudo here… something happen?"
"Ah, good, you both answered." Genjuuro's rumbling voice came across the line first, then a hum from Hibiki in turn.
"Is it the Noise?" Hibiki asked, Genjuuro humming to confirm.
"Where did they show up? I don't mind ditching class to take care of it." Ritsudo stated, Genjuuro sighing at the remark.
"That's right. We've detected a Noise pattern in City Block 6. Fortunately, it was early morning, and there were no casualties." Genjuuro explained, Ritsudo gleaning a pensive look at the oddity of that. Noise attacks, even small ones, usually had some casualties to them. "But we saw the pattern for the Ichaival, as well as the Noise."
"Well that answers that question. Guess she did get attacked." Ritsudo thought, giving a sigh at the rather unsurprising turn of events.
"Which means, Master, that Chris-chan was fighting the Noise?" Hibiki asked.
"Possibly."
"Well if it's a possibility I think we should try to find her. She couldn't have far if the attack was that recent." Ritsudo stated, a small sigh coming from Hibiki, "Something up?"
"Uh… I was just thinking she might not have anywhere to go back to." Hibiki stated, Ritsudo giving a hum as he shrugged, Genjuuro sounding quizzical.
"That could be." Genjuuro answered, "We'll continue to investigate. Until further notice, both of you stay on standby."
"Roger that." Ritsudo hummed, "Hey, Hibiki, don't hang up yet."
"Huh?"
"Look, I don't wanna tell the old man this, so I waited… but, the other night, I ran into Chris… hagh, honestly I kinda warned her about things, but I think the Noise attack was because whoever she worked, whoever that Finé person is, sent the Noise after her." Ritsudo stated, Hibiki giving a gasp.
"Well then… what should we do?" Hibiki asked, Ritsudo shrugging.
"For no… wait. Until we have an idea of where the girl is, we can't do anything." Ritsudo stated, putting a hand on the back of his head.
"Yeah…" Hibiki's tone sounded down, Ritsudo sighing.
"Okay, what's got you in the dumps?"
"Eh? W-Well… uh… Miku and I got into a fight yesterday. She's mad I didn't tell her about how we're fighting the Noise and Symphogears. I don't know what to do… she… she said she can't be my friend anymore." Hibiki murmured, Ritsudo bunching his free hand into a fist.
"We can talk this one out on the roof after classes alright?" Ritsudo stated, Hibiki giving an affirmative.
"And I ended up skipping class anyway…"
Ritsudo let out a heavy sigh as he sat from his laying position on the bench, checking the time on his phone before flopping down again, using his bag as an impromptu pillow, his arms hanging off the side, a listless expression on his face as he stared at the clouds.
"Maybe a nap wouldn't be so bad right now… huaaaagh, gotta wait for Hibiki anyway." Ritsudo gave a deep yawn again as he put his free arm over his eyes, already starting to drift off…
"EI!"
WHAP!
"GAAAGH!" Ritsudo yelped as something impacted with the top of his head, making him shoot right up, looking around as he heard light laughing, shooting to behind him to spot Hibiki, barely restraining laughter as she stumbled back.
"Pffffhehehhe…" Hibiki chuckled, Ritsudo giving her a glare, "Sorry sorry!"
"The hell?! That hurt!" Ritsudo snapped.
"It was just a light tap!"
"Yeah but you hit like a truck. Some pacifist…" Ritsudo grumbled, rubbing the top of his head, Hibiki's light laughter fading down to a more downtrodden look, "That face doesn't suit you at all."
"Eh?" Hibiki hummed, Ritsudo moving to a sitting position, letting her take the open spot where his bag had been.
"So, you said something about an argument with that Miku girl?" Ritsudo hummed, Hibiki nodding, the white haired young man giving a hum, "You'd think she'd understand the need for secrecy with this kind of thing."
"Yeah…" Hibiki murmured, looking up at the clearing sky, "It's just… weird. I was keeping secrets because it would keep her safe… but now I feel bad for doing it."
"Look, Hibiki, you're one of my only friends, so advice on this kind of thing isn't my forte…. But…" Ritsudo murmured, a hand on his head as he sighed again, "I can try. You two need to talk it out and not let the bridge burn, if it makes sense. Knowing you you'll find a way to do it."
"Maybe… honestly, I thought I was ready for this." Hibiki sighed, Ritsudo glancing over at her as she kept staring at the clouds, "I thought I was ready to be a Symphogear warrior, to protect what mattered to me. But it's no good. Something so small has totally thrown me off, and I can't do anything. I need to get stronger, but… I want to change, but…"
"Maybe all you need is something small." Ritsudo replied, pulling out his pendant, sliding his thumb over it, "I went into this with no goal, no desires… I only wanted the cheap thrill of a fight, nothing more. I didn't care about defending people or anything like that… I was hollow and empty, trying to make a show to get attention."
As if accenting his point, Ritsudo stood and shifted the pendant into it's sword form, spinning the weapon and holding it steady, his eyes reflected in the flat of it as he shifted it, Hibiki staring at the melancholic expression on the boy's face.
"All I've got to fight with is this sword… but that's fine. As long as I can use it to defend even one person, as long as I save one life with this sword, then to me, all of this is worth it. What I want isn't some grand goal… I want to stop the Noise so nobody else becomes another statistic on a list." Ritsudo's grip on the handle of the sword tightened, the shifting noise of it's parts softly sounding, "So that's why I think even having something small can be something worth fighting to defend. Just don't lose yourself trying to become strong. Not like I did…"
"Ritsu…" Hibiki murmured, the young man reverting the sword with a swing, only a drift of black coming off of his hand before he was holding the pendant again, "Something small, huh?"
"Tch, great, I went off on a tangent about myself when I should've been encouraging you… pff, some friend I am." Ritsudo sighed, sitting down, Hibiki shaking her head, to his confusion.
"No! It was good advice! It's just… you looked so sad earlier, like you were remembering something bad."
"Heh… well, it's not like my life has exactly been the easiest in the world." Ritsudo muttered, "My parents were killed in a Noise attack, and none of my other relatives thought I was worth enough of a damn to take me in… instead they shipped me off to live along and stay out of their hair. Ugh… I don't like thinking about them, it just pisses me off."
"So, you've had family troubles too huh?" Hibiki murmured, Ritsuod raising a brow at the remark, but the conversation didn't go much further as Ritsudo's phone started going off, the boy raising a brow when he saw it was a number he didn't know… which really, was most phone numbers.
"Did someone dial the wrong number again or something?" Ritsudo muttered, Hibiki grabbing his arm as she glanced, "Huh?"
"That's Miku's number!" Hibiki spouted, Ritsudo raising a brow, "I kind of… told her what it was in case she couldn't get a hold of me… just to be safe, in case we were working and I forgot my phone or something, since we're partners y'know?"
"You're the salt of the earth Hibiki." Ritsudo sighed, "Why would Kohinata call me? Doesn't she, not like me?"
Plip!
"Yo, you've reached Ritsudo Narukami… whaddya want Kohinata?" Ritsudo muttered, hearing a sigh on the other end, "That's how I greet everyone for the record."
"Whatever… look, I found someone while I was on the town… and I think she knows you." Miku replied, Ritsudo glancing at Hibiki.
"I don't know a lot of people, so… mind telling me how you came to this conclusion?" Ritsudo asked, Miku sighing again.
"She said 'that idiot with the white hair and headphones'… you're the only person I know who fits that description." Miku replied, Ritsudo's expression faulting to a flat look, "Her name's Chris, by the way."
"Son of a bitch…" Ritsudo sighed, a hand on over his eyes.
"So you do know her then?"
"Sadly, yes." Ritsudo grumbled, pulling his hand down his face, "Hagh… I'll stop by wherever you are and pick her up."
"Alright. I'm at Flower, that restaurant in the shopping district."
"I know that one." Ritsudo nodded, Miku hanging up as soon as he gave a confirmation, the boy sighing, "Well, guess we know where Chris is now."
"Eh? Chris-chan? Why did Miku call about her?" Hibiki asked, Ritsuo shrugging.
"Guess Kohinata found her in the streets." Ritsudo replied, "I'll head over and hope she doesn't run off… maybe we can figure something out from her about just what the heck is going on here. If you want, you can come with me so you and Kohinata can chat."
"I'd rather not right now…" Hibiki murmured, Ritsudo shrugging, "But, good luck talking with Chris-chan."
"I'm gonna need it." Ritsudo quipped, rolling his eyes as he thought about it, "This won't be fun."
The quiet walk into town didn't last long for Ritsudo once he made it to the shopping district, the mid-day buzz ceasing as the warning alarm began blaring through the air, Ritsudo pulling out his communicator as it buzzed yet again.
"Here!" Ritsudo ducked into a corner as he answered the call, two more buzzes indicating others joining.
"Tsubasa here. Tachibana is with me." Tsubasa was the first on the line, Genjuuro following suit.
"We've detected Noise. A lot of them. It's likely they're related to the Noise we saw this morning." Genjuuro stated.
"I'm already in the area, I'll intercept that ASAP." Ritsudo replied, Genjuuro giving a hum.
"Roger."
Ritsudo nodded as he hung up and dashed out, moving past the crowd running opposite him, weaving through until he was in the clear, looking around to make sure he was alone.
"Time to gear up… Scindum Kusanagi-no-Tsurugi tron!"
As soon as the armor formed, Noise began appearing around Ritsudo, the boy gripping his sword and swinging at the first one to come close, dashing through the ones behind it, spotting more shooting off towards the river.
"If I'm right, then those things are after Chris… which means following them will lead me right to her!" Ritsudo thought, jumping up to the roofs and chasing after the Noise, attacking the ones who shot at him while cutting down the ones he caught up too, getting to the riverside in seconds, spotting Chris dodging Noise jumping at her.
"Out of the way!" Ritsudo shouted, Chris looking up to see the boy lunging down at the noise with black energy swirling around his sword, a slash whipping the energy out in a torrent around him that blew away the Noise caught in it, Ritsudo skidding to a stop in front of Chris.
"You?! What are you doing here?!" Chris yelped, Ritsudo standing and leveling his sword at the Noise.
"Kohinata called me, since apparently, you mentioned me." Ritsudo stated, Chris looking to the side as he glanced back at her.
"I don't need your help!" Chris snapped, Ritsudo rolling his eyes, moving to cut down more Noise, but as he did, Genjuuro shot down from nowhere and stomped the ground, the pavement rising up and blocking the attacking Noise, Ritsudo taking the chance to jump from the cover and slash them aside, Genjuuro grabbing Chris and leaping off, Ritsudo following.
"If you didn't need help then maybe you should've armored up sooner." Ritsudo stated, looking down at the swarm below, "Geez, this is bad. Your old boss must be pretty pissed off."
"Screw you!" Chris shouted, pushing Genjuuro away. "Killiter Ichaival Tron!"
Once she was armored, Chris led off by firing her crossbows at the airborne Noise, turning to Genjuuro and Ritsudo as they in turn looked at her.
"See for yourself! I'm just fine, so go help the others!" Chris snapped.
"But…" Genjuuro muttered, the girl scoffing.
"I said that I'll handle these! Follow me you pieces of crap!" Chris changed her weapons into the rotary gun form, leaping off the roof and opening fire, Ritsudo shaking his head.
"I'll stay here and help her fight these things off." Ritsudo stated, noting the look on Genjuuro's face as he turned, "I'll also drag her back with me if I have to, so, Boss, please go and help the others get out of here!"
"Alright. Make sure you come back!" Genjuuro stated, Ritsudo nodding, leaping to the ground and attacking, Chris now at the other side of the river, firing wildly at the Noise attacking her.
"Let's go Kusanagi!"
HaHa! Now, it's show time.
Rain of a bloodbath falls down like a volcano.
Now, you guys, all of you, all of you, all of you, all of you, all of you
I'll reject you. Yeah... I'll reject you.
Chris skid to a stop from her assault on the Noise swarming her, turning to attack the next group, Ritsudo shooting by like a bolt and cutting them down, a glance following before they flipped around and took down more, ending up back to back, Chris giving a growl.
"The hell are you doing here, I said I've got this!" Chris snapped, her guns chewing through the seemingly endless swarm, Ritsudo sending out waves of the black energy to keep a distance.
"Not really… part of my new M.O. to just ignore someone who could use some help!" Ritsudo replied, kicking back a blob like Noise, "We could make this easier thought!"
"Hah, and how do you propose to do that?!" Chris snapped, swinging her gun around, Ritsudo ducking as she opened fire on the next wave.
"Well it's an easy enough answer… Synchronize!" Ritsudo shouted, spinning around and slashing, multiple midair cuts shooting forward at the group in front of him, Chris giving an annoyed sound.
"Synchronize? With you?! Ha! That'll be the fucking day!" Chris snapped, driving her weapon right onto a Noise and drilling through it with bullets, Ritsudo sighing as they ended up back to back again.
"Well considering this swarm doesn't look like it's gonna end any time soon, I'd say our options aren't very broad!" Ritsudo pointed out, Chris letting out a hiss as two of the groups formed into larger Noise clusters, still joined by more normal sized drones.
"Say we do, how do you know it would work?"
"I don't."
"WHAT?!"
"We've got two options: Either the Synch works and we kick these things asses five times to Sunday… or it fails and they're blown away by the backlash. Either way, we walk out of this one alive and… hopefully in one piece." Ritsudo stated, Chris giving him a look, then letting out a hiss, "Kusanagi I swear if you fuck this one up on me I will throw you into the river! Don't reject Ichaival like you did Gungnir, got it?!"
"Ngh… fine, whatever! Just this one time! If it works, we never do it again, if not, I'm kicking your ass got it!?" Chris snapped, Ritsudo snickering.
"If we can even move afterwards… if it fails." Ritsudo quipped, Chris hissing as she rolled her eyes.
"Whatever!"
"You're a massive Tsun, y'know that?"
"Oh fuck you too! Just shut up and get this over with!"
"How am I supposed to sing when you tell me to shut up?"
"JUST STOP TALKING ALREADY!"
Ritsudo gave a light snicker in reply, both shutting their eyes and focusing, light beginning to drift off of their armors, the pulsing waves beginning to link together in the same fashion as when Kyomei and Tsubasa had performed the action, the pulses glowing brighter before completely joining, a burst in the air following as the Gears began glowing, Ritsudo giving a smirk, the tune coming from the Gears being his song, both teens voices carrying out.
I was yelling with sensuous impulse,
I got the feeling you were gonna go somewhere far away…
"I want to see you!"
Chris was launched into the air with a push from Ritsudo, a barrage of missiles flying from her armor and pelting the Noise below, Ritsudo spinning his sword around until it whipped up a gale, the twisting catching the Noise and flinging them upwards, Chris landing and firing at the caught Noise with her guns back in rotary form, explosions following while Ritsudo jumped through the smoke, driving his sword into one of the larger Noise clusters, black gales bursting from it as Ritsudo ripped the sword down its middle, spinning and sending a wave of the energy out to fell more of the swam as he hit the ground.
I could have said it in a parallel world,
I wouldn't have feared a thing if it'd been within a dream,
Back then when I was running away from reality,
I was walking on and on through days of regret!
Chris then shot around and swept her guns over the Noise, mowing them down with ease and focusing on the larger beast, holes ripping through its body as it lumbered forward, Ritsudo shooting into the fray, the link formed from the synchronization allowing him to not only know where Chris was shooting without having to watch her, Chris knowing where Ritsudo was moving in the swarm as he cut down the Noise, Ritsudo launching into the air again from the smoke, black, phantasmal swords forming as Chris' gear locked into the ground, twin warheads forming from the back armor as it shifted and rose up, the two attacks launching at once and clashing at the giant Noise, the air whipping around in a gale as the explosion rose into the air.
-MEGADETH STORM-
The dust began settling as the two Symphogear users collapsed onto the ground, both panting as they leaned on each other's backs, Ritsudo letting out a long breath while Chris' breathing was labored.
"Jesus… fuck… that was exhausting." Ritsudo panted, running a hand through his hair, sweat dripping from the strands, "Well… they do say… the first time… is always a bitch!"
"Shut it…. I'm the exhausted one here! Moving around the much… is a pain in my ass!" Chris grumbled, then looking down, giving a long breath to steady herself, "Did you see anything?"
"What?"
"In your head! Did you see anything?" Chris snapped, Ritsudo blinking, then slowly nodding, his breathing starting to level out. "Tch… great…"
"Well if you did, mind saying what you saw then?" Ritsudo muttered, "Guess synching gets you in each other's heads… literally… geez some of those images were unpleasant."
"Please you…" Chris stopped herself from spouting off, letting out a breath, thinking of the most prominent images she saw in her head, "I saw… I saw a kid standing in front of a gravestone with his parents' names on it… his eyes were blank as he just stared, everyone around him leaving without a single damn care… and from there… you, standing over a bunch of guys with… blood dripping from your hands…"
"My mom and dad's funeral… and when I beat up those bastards who tried to fight me after that… incident two years ago." Ritsudo muttered, Chris shooting him a look, obviously saying it was his turn, "Alright alright… what stuck out the most was a girl screaming down at the bodies of two dead people below her… then… ngh, god this is sick to think about, that same girl being… dragged off with other kids and… god dammit your past is fucked up."
"What an eloquent way to put it." Chris bitterly remarked, standing up, Ritsudo also standing, and the difference in their heights felt even more evident, Chris giving an irked glance as she noted she barely reached Ritsudo's shoulders, "You're too damn tall…"
"Hey I'm average height… for a guy in America… you're just short." Ritsudo remarked in reply, Chris giving him a glare, "That's off topic…"
"Doesn't matter. I said only the one time, then we're done. So, you can buzz off about now." Chris replied, though as she turned, she stopped when Ritsudo grabbed her by the wrist, "What?!"
"You're just gonna wander off huh? Do you even have a place to head back to?" Ritsudo asked, Chris looking away with a glare.
"Like it matters to you! I'll figure something out!"
"That's a no."
"Why do you care?" Chris grumbled, wrenching her arm free of Ritsudo's grasp, "We're not friends or even allies… working together like this was a one-time thing, so just leave me alone from now on!"
"As long as this is going on and you have a Relic, you're not going to be able to just walk out." Ritsudo pointed out, Chris stopping again, "Finé is going to keep coming after you. Being on your own won't help you one bit."
"So?! I'll just deal with whatever she throws at me." Chris replied, turning again and stalking off, "I'll kick your ass if I see you again, so don't bother following me anywhere!"
"Considering I already have a hunch where you're going… not likely." Ritsudo muttered, turning away himself, pocketing his hands as he walked off to the bridge, feeling a twinge in his hand, moving a hand over where his pendant sat, "What? You actually liked tuning with that bow?" Another twinge as a reply, "Unbelievable… you won't synch with Gungnir because apparently "Fuck that guy", but you'll tune with the bow used by the same god? You're a piece of work ya' damn shiv."
Ritsudo ignored the twinge that gave off a feeling of insulted anger, looking back over his shoulder at the white haired girl keeping his back to him, and he smirked as he caught her stealing a glance back, continuing on himself.
"Funny to say… but I think I understand her better than I do the others… with everything going down, I've got the feeling things are going to reach a head real soon… and we're going to need everyone we can get." Ritsudo murmured, looking up at the sky as he walked along the bridge, sighing and looking forward again, "And all we can do right now is wait…"
A/N
AGGGHHHH… this was a one day bust out, but lord was it worth it! Things are heating up and oohhh am I gonna love it!
