Symphogear Trill G

Stanza IX: Miracolo Crudele

The air soon filled with Ver's mad laughter as Hibiki slumped to the ground, the crunching sounds from the Nephilim's chewing on the devoured limb coming to a halt, the mad doctor throwing his arms skyward in his mad delight.

"Amazing!" Ver yelled, another mad cackle coming from him, "It ate the very Symphogear itself! And now…!"

Another gout of fire blasted towards Ver, the man shrieking as Oratorio lowered his sword and turned back to the Nephilim, a snarl present under his mask while Koto and Ritsudo got to Hibiki, the girl clenching her teeth as pain seeped through her body.

"Damn you Ver… this thing won't be allowed to live anymore!" Oratorio shouted, his blade coming down on the Nephilim with a resounding clang through the air.

"That sicko!"

"That's what had planned?!"

Kirika and Skalla both slammed a hand against the wall of the chamber where the rest of the FIS group was watching the proceedings, Suiv folding his arms as a long breath escaped him.

"How far off the deep end has he gone?!" Kirika shouted, her fingernails digging into her palm.

"When he said feed fragments to the Nephilim… he meant this?" Shirabe murmured, glancing away from the screen.

"He decided he'd have it devour the 2nd Division Symphogears." Suiv said the dooming thought aloud, clicking his tongue, "Oratorio was right… we should have disabled that thing while it was weaker."

"Dammit! This… this isn't right!" Skalla shouted, tugging at his hair as a frustrated whine left his throat.

"Torio…" Maria's eyes were fixated on Oratorio's form as the Nephilim lashed at him, the air alight with white flames blazing from his sword…

"I'm going to fight the Nephilim once Ver brings it out."

A gasp escaped Maria's throat at Oratorio's statement. Hours before the battle actually began, Oratorio had taken Maria aside, away from the VTOL, where things could remain private between them.

"What!? Torio, you can't, the Nephilim, it…"

"It's why I'm going to side with the 2nd Division in order to do it." Oratorio's voice was level as he spoke, Maria's eyes widening in surprise, "I'm not going to betray FIS… but, I refuse to let the Nephilim run free or for it to get stronger."

"Torio… what if it goes wrong? What if…"

"Stop worrying about the what ifs, please." Oratorio silence Maria by pulling her into a close embrace, the young woman slowly returning it, worry on her face, "I'll make it happen if I have to. I don't want this… I don't want us to be thrown onto a path where we don't know what it'll do to us."

"Can we? Can we still love each other on the path we're on now?" Maria murmured, Oratorio moving and kissing her for a moment, the young woman staring in surprise at the dead serious look in his eyes as he shook his head.

"Don't say that… don't turn those feelings into a burden Maria." Oratorio said, "If we let that happen… it'll only turn into hatred. It's why I have to do this… so that none of us, so that our family, won't be put onto a path like that. I promise I'll succeed, and I'll come right on back once I do."

"Ngh!"

"Where do you think you're going?" A sharp word from Natassja stopped Maria as she turned to leave the room, "My orders are for the five of you to remain on standby here. Oratorio has already caused enough trouble by turning traitor."

"He can't have! Mom, you saw that thing! Oratorio wouldn't betray us!" Skalla snapped, Maria nodding.

"Ver is just toying with people's lives… Oratorio was right, mom… we can't use the Nephilim!" Maria said, "This isn't what we should be doing!"

"We're… doing the right thing, aren't we?" Kirika muttered, Skalla gripping his arms tightly as a hiss left his throat.

"If we are… why do I feel so bad about this?" Skalla said, Shirabe nodding along, Suiv adjusting his glasses.

"That should be giving you your answer." Suiv said, staring intently at the Nephilim on screen, "That thing does nothing but destroy what's in front of it…"

"Let today be the last day you're shackled by your compassion." Natassja said, the others gasping, Suiv clicking his tongue, "We have no need for smiles or laughter."

"You're wrong…" Suiv muttered, the others looking at him, "Compassion isn't a shackle… the shackle is refusing to see the truth. I'm going out to help Oratorio… if you want to take that thing down too, feel free to come with me."

Natassja didn't make a move as Suiv left, only the sound of the door following, Maria exiting the room herself, but, she could only slump against the wall once the door closed, the woman sinking to the floor as a breath left her.

"Torio… Serena, what should I do? If I keep going down this… he's right… Oratorio is right, you wouldn't have wanted this, right?" Maria pulled a damaged Symphogear pendant from her pocket, clutching it tightly as she placed her head near her hands, "What should I do?"

"Damn… this is bad, Hibiki, you'll be fine, alright?!" Koto felt a twinge through him as Hibiki shuddered while clutching the stump of her missing limb, Ritsudo looking to Oratorio's fight against the Nephilim as the black armored Symphogear was pushed back, Oratorio growling as the Nephilim gleamed red.

"What the hell is up with that thing?!" Ritsudo snapped, Oratorio leveling his blade at the beast, the weapon opening into it's blaster like form.

"The Nephilim is like a self-regulating reactor. It can devour other relics to increase it's own power… and even if it was a small part, the fact it just ate a Symphogear…" Oratorio's words got gasps from Ritsudo and Koto, the beast before them starting to throb and pulse as the red light coming from it increased.

"Exactly!" Ver screamed, mad delight on his face as the Nephilim began changing, growing, "Can you hear it?! The beat of awakening!? This is the power that will life the Frontier into the skies!"

"Are you… what am I saying, you are insane!" Ritsudo shouted, standing and leveling his blade at the Nephilim, "Whatever your plan is, this thing is the wrong choice! How the hell can a beast that devours Relics be used as some kind of power source?!"

"It can't." The calm voice of Suiv came through the air, the younger Tuner landing and flicking daggers into his hands, "But, you can use its heart for that purpose. But right now, we should be more concerned about killing it. If that thing runs wild, it'll be bad for all of us."

"Suiv, what are you doing here?" Oratorio snapped, Suiv giving him a glance, that said everything, "Ugh.. fine. Let's just rip that damn heart out already!"

"Uh… guys… I think we have another problem." Koto said, the others turning as Hibiki's shudders became louder, more like growls than whimpers of pain, Ver's mad laughter stopping in confusion. A glow came from Hibiki's chest, shining from her scar, before the light burst, shadowy tendrils beginning to cover her body, Ritsudo's eyes widening as the tendrils totally covered Hibiki, her eyes glaring red and an animalistic howl bellowing from the girl's mouth, "What the hell?!"

"This happened back during the Lunar Attack." Ritsudo stated, Koto looking at him with surprise, Tsubasa and Kyomei bearing shocked expressions off on the sidelines, Oratorio and Suiv retreating back as Hibiki snarled, "We don't know what it is or how it happens, but it's bad…" Ritrsudo notably had a hand over his chest, the same spot he'd taken a hit before, "And considering I nearly got killed last time this happened… we're in trouble."

Hibiki's form rose up with the continued shuddering growls, glaring down the Nephilim with a snarl as her eyes glared a harsh red, another roar coming from the girl before energy burst from the stump of her arm, wrapping into tendrils before reforming into a new limb entirely.

"She was able to focus her Gear's energy into the shape of an arm? It's as though she's manifesting an Armed Gear!" Tsubasa gasped, Kyomei shaking his head, Tsubasa looking at him with a surprised look, Kyomei's visor locked down, all sorts of data flying in front of his eyes.

"That's not just focusing energy… I think Hibiki completely reformed her arm as well. Whatever it is, it's like the Berserk form has given her accelerated healing abilities." Kyomei said, the visor clicking back, revealing the worried look on his face, "But, the shards in her body were merging with her… I don't want to think about what this is doing to that merging."

A low growl escaped Hibiki's mouth, her attention turning from the Nephilim to Ritsudo and Koto, the two taking a ready stance in case she lunged at them instead. A lunge didn't happen, but, one of her arms shot out, black tendrils shooting from the limb towards Koto, his staff flying to deflect them, but the tendrils only redirected and snared him, Koto growling as the grip trapped him.

"Koto!" Kyomei pushed harder against the binds against him, Ritsudo's attempt at cutting Koto free only causing red energy to arc out and send him flying back and into the ground hard, a growl coming from Hibiki before turning into some kind of incoherent phrasing, disturbingly akin to an activation phrase, Koto letting out a pain filled scream as red energy arced around him, a yellow light around him, but it was flickering in blackness.

"The hell?!" Koto growled, grimacing as pain continued to arc across his body, Ritsudo shooting back to his feet, "Stay back!"

"But…" Ritsudo stopped when Koto shook his head, the young man's eyes flickering red as he snarled, "Senpai!"

"I can… she's trying to force a Synchronize… if I can push back, maybe I can… what?" Koto seemingly froze, his eyes continuing to flicker red, a howl coming from Hibiki as the chant grew louder, "I can see… she's not… ngh… GUAHHHHHH!"

The light around Koto burst into black and red shadows until it burst into a pillar that shot into a sky as the scream followed it, the howl from Hibiki matching it as the air around everyone became a torrent, the Noise binding the other three 2nd Division Symphogears being blown away by the energy in the air, Kyomei and Tsubasa's expressions horrified as the pillar of blackness came down, silence following as the now silhouette like form of Koto stood, not a feature on the shadows covering his face besides two glowing red orbs where his eyes would be.

But possibly even more terrifying to the group was how his staff had changed. Gone was the smooth black pole and gold embellishments, instead, a glaring pillar of red with spikes jutting along it's length, a harsh barbed spear-head topping the weapon.

"That's not Ruyi Jingu Bang…" Tsubasa muttered, Kyomei shaking his head as fear showed on his face.

"That's… Gae Bolg… but, but how?! We have that Relic sealed… Koto specifically made sure it was locked away… so why, why is it here now?" Kyomei gasped, Ritsudo letting out a groan at the sight before him.

"We're so screwed." Ritsudo grumbled, flinching when the red orbs of Koto's eyes turned towards him for a moment before the attention of both Koto and Hibiki turned to the Nephilim, Hibiki taking a beast-like stance, a brief moment passing before both lunged at the creature, crunching noises breaking the silence as Hibiki's fists slammed into the Nephilim, spurts of some kind of fluid following the strikes from the spear in Koto's hands, Ver screaming as the two berserk Symphogears wildly struck at the Nephilim.

"S-Stop! Stop it!" Ver shrieked, the Nephilim roaring as Hibiki and Koto continued striking it with the fury of predators bearing down on prey, the ground nearly drenched in the spewing fluids that could only be called blood as the barbed spear pierced its body again and again. "We need the fully-grown Nephilim in order to realize our new world! And you… you…!"

The Nephilim got a blow in, sending Hibiki flying, but her recovery was quick, getting back into the fight in moments, the Nephilim reeling backwards from the resounding blows from it's berserk foes.

"NOOOO!" Ver's shriek pierced the air, and he scrambled to Oratorio and Suiv, grabbing the Staff of Solomon from Oratorio in his frenzy.

"VER!" Oratorio attempted to reclaim the Staff, but a shockwave that burst through the air shoved him and Suiv back, a bolt of red shooting between Oratorio and Ver before shooting back, Koto grabbing the returned spear as the Nephilim lurched from the two new wounds making its body ooze, Ver shrieking again as he fired the Staff wildly, Noise appearing in droves before forming into a single mass of a blob.

A roar came from Hibiki as the Nephilim turned to run, Koto's attention turning to the beast, the Noise between him and it, the shadows covering him billowing out as the spear in his hand began blazing with red light, the weapon being released again with a burst of power that blasted the spectators back, the spear blasting through the Noise with no regard for it's presence to strike the Nephilim, the beast screaming as the barbed weapon pinning it to the dirt with a shockwave resounding through the air itself.

Another roar came from Hibiki as she pounced on the struggling creature, driving a hand through it's back right into it's chest, Ver screaming again as the berserk girl began pulling, ripping the very heart of the Nephilim right out of the body, the odd organ still puling for a moment as the Nephilim's green "blood" spewed from the wound, Hibiki tossing the heart aside, a spear like construct forming on her arm, another roar following before she drove it into the Nephilim's body, red light spewing from the wound before an explosion followed it blinding all of those present to it.

And once the light had faded, all that was left standing there were Hibiki and the Gae Bolg, the red spear flying back to Koto's hand, Ver only capable of screaming once more in horror.

"That's… one way to deal with it." Oratorio muttered, turning his attention to Ver next, though as he stepped forward, the crackle of the communication line stole his attention, Suiv putting a hand to his headset.

"Suiv-kun, Oratorio, it's mom, she's taken a turn for the worst!" Kirika's voice came over the line, Oratorio gasping as he turned to the VTOL, Suiv clicking his tongue.

"We'll be right there Kirika! Skalla, if you're listening, start the VTOL now, we're getting out of here!" Suiv said, Oratorio watching as he jumped off.

"Suiv, the Staff! We can't leave it!" Oratorio shouted, Suiv turning and pointing to Hibiki and Koto.

"We'll come back for them Oratorio, but as long as those two are like that, we'd be in danger! I saw how that guy with the spear fought, he could take us down by himself! Do we really want to fight him when he's berserk?" Suiv said, Oratorio giving a growl.

"You're right. Mom comes first, we'll collect the Staff and the Heart later!" Oratorio said, Suiv nodding, the two fleeing back to the VTOL with that, Ritsudo shouting as he chased after.

"HEY! Don't run you goddamn… tch…" Ritsudo only clicked his tongue as the VTOL began lifting off, turning back to Hibiki and Koto as Ver began backing away in fear, "We still have this problem…"

"Now what?" Kyomei stood with a cautious move as his hands gripped his formed rifle, Chris starting to stir awake as Tsubasa gripped a sword with her left hand.

"What's going on?" Chris murmured, Kyomei aiming his weapon as Koto's attention turned towards them, Hibiki's eyes on Ver as she snarled again, and when she lunged, Ritsudo shot in the way, blocking her strike with his sword and pushing her back.

"Snap out of it! The fight's over Hibiki, calm down!" Ritsudo snapped, dodging when Hibiki wildly struck at him, Koto responding to the roar and lashing out himself, Kyomei and Tsubasa diving out of the way of the strike, Chris yelping as she rolled out of the way, ending up near Ritsudo as he jumped back from Hibiki's pounce, "Glad you can join the fight!"

"Can it! What the hell is this?!" Chris snapped, forming her crossbows as Ritsudo deflected Hibiki again, Kyomei and Tsubasa fending off Koto, but keeping from attacking as the spear flew through the air at them, Chris turning and spotting Ver starting to run, "We should go after him and the Staff!"

"We can worry about that later! He won't get far!" Ritsudo shouted, glancing at Ver as the man ran off, tripping his way through while pathetically screaming, and Ritsudo tried his best to avoid cracking an amused grin at the sight, instead going to a grumbling snarl as he blocked a punch from Hibiki, the blade shuddering as she pushed back, "Come on Hibiki, cool off already! We are not repeating last time!"

"Last time?!" Chris snapped, shaking her head as she aimed, "Whatever, how the hell do we stop them?"

"Last time this happened I kinda almost got killed so… no clue." Ritsudo said, getting knocked backwards, Chris keeping Hibiki at bay with shots from her bow, "Well, noted that this berserk state makes someone crazy tough."

"Is now the time to comment on it?!"

"No, no it isn't."

"We need to think of… something!" Kyomei slid to the ground as he ducked a stab from Koto, Tsubasa landing in front of him and blocking the sweep.

"This has to be able to wear off somehow!" Tsubasa said, growling as Koto got dangerously close, an unnerving feeling going through the young woman as the featureless shadow of his face came within inches, "Snap out of it Koto, this isn't you!"

"I'm not even sure he can hear us." Kyomei stood as Koto jumped back, the shadows around him lowering a bit as Hibiki backed off as well, Kyomei's face showing he suddenly understood it, "Wait, I think I got it! Since Hibiki forced a Synchronization, if we can cancel it out, then both of them might return to normal!"

"How can you even be sure of that?!" Ritsudo shouted, pulling Chris out of the way as Hibiki lunged at them again as she released another howl, "Hell can we even do that?!"

"I… don't know!" Kyomei shouted, a shot from his rifle being reflected as Koto swiped his spear, "But we have to try something, or hold out until it wears off!"

"We don't even know if it does wear off!" Chris said, batting Hibiki aside as her weapons formed into their Gatling cannon form, "We don't have lots of options right now!"

"I agree… holding out may be our only choice!" Tsubasa said, locking her blade between the barbs of the Gae Bolg, pinning the weapon down.

"Damn… what the hell can we do?" Ritsudo gripped Kusanagi just a bit tighter as his mind raced for a solution. They could hold out and hope this outrage would pitter out, but with a forced Synchronization bouncing things back and forth, who knew if it even would stop on it's own. "There has to be something!"

And then came that twinge in his mind, a ring in the air as Kusanagi seemingly vibrated for a moment. The familiar feeling in Ritsudo's mind of the Relic communicating with him.

"You want me to what?" Ritsudo said, another twinge coming, the blue aura around the blade increasing to a steady ebb and flow rather than a sheathe, Ritsudo flipping the sword to have the blunt edge be outwards, though it was more like Kusanagi made Ritsudo flip it, "Don't patronize me for not thinking of that immediately… you better be right about this you damn shiv."

"Ritsu, she's coming for you again!" Chris shouted, Ritsudo placing his blade at his hip as Hibiki's attention turned to him again, Ritsudo letting out a long breath as Hibiki's snarl turned into another roar.

"Sorry."

When Hibiki lunged, her fist went flying for Ritsudo's chest, and a blue gleam could be seen coming from Ritsudo's own forte scar as he ducked the blow, Hibiki's arm blowing past his head, Kusanagi raising from Ritsudo's side, the blunt end slamming into Hibiki's side and being raked along in a single rapid slash that left a blue swathe of energy in it's wake that blew through the air with a powerful gust following it, a blue color gash of light on Hibiki's side marring the black shadows, the girl frozen in place, Ritsudo standing straight and swiping his blade, the "sheathe" of light dissipating from it.

There was a humming in the air, pulsing ripples showing in the air around Hibiki, a roar coming from her again as a mixed pillar of black and blue shot into the air around her, Tsubasa and Kyomei shooting back from Koto as a pillar of light shot up from him in time to it, everyone bracing as the air burst from the forces of things.

When the air finally became still again, Koto and Hibiki had returned to their untransformed states, Koto falling to his knees but still conscious, breathing heavily with a visible look of shock on his face, the spear in his hands reverting to the former staff form of Ruyji Jingu Bang, Hibiki unconscious in comparison, Ritsudo catching her as she fell back.

"What… just happened?" Chris said, Kyomei and Tsubasa helping Koto stand, Ritsudo staring at Kusanagi with a look of disbelief on, "Ritsu, what did you just do?"

"I… don't know." Ritsudo said, shifting the unconscious Hibiki into an easier hold, his eyes still on the side, "Kusanagi just… gave me the idea. But… we can worry about it later. Senpai, are you okay?"

"Y-Yeah…" Koto nodded, his staff returning to pendant form, the chain jingling between his fingers, "I just… I'll need a moment is all… how's Hibiki?"

"No clue… but she's alive, at least." Ritsudo said, then noticing the fact Hibiki's left arm was perfectly fine… like it hadn't been bitten off at all, "It really did regenerate… just what the hell is even going on?"

"Koto, are you sure you're okay?" Kyomei got a nod in response, Koto grumbling as he put a hand to his head.

"I'm fine Kyomei, don't worry… I just need a bit of rest is all… we should be more concerned with Hibiki though…" Koto said, the others nodding in agreeance.

"Mom?!"

Oratorio and Maria burst into the cockpit room, Skalla grumbling all sorts of things as he navigated the VTOL away from the site, managing despite seeming to flail around, Suiv passing by and taking the other seat to take control, Natassja unconscious and blood marring her chin and front.

"Darn, now?!" Oratorio clicked his tongue as a hand bunched, Maria gritting her teeth.

"Hold on, mom!" Maria said, turning to the kids, "Bring the doctor here, right away!"

"Uh… Maria, I hate to be that guy but… do we still need Ver?" Skalla said, turning back from his seat with a concerned look, "I mean… he did kinda… y'know."

"I can do emergency first aid, but we need to have him see her!" Maria said, Oratorio sighing, everyone turning when Suiv cleared his throat, the boy clicking the vehicle into auto-pilot and swiveling the chair around, flashing a thumb drive he'd pulled from his sweater's pocket, "Suiv?"

"We don't actually need Ver anymore Maria." Suiv said, angling the thumb drive a bit, "I did some data-mining on his computer while he was… away. This has all of the data of his personal files, research, everything on it… as well as some personal notes. It's a bit of a sick kind of amusing, but he kept this self-aggrandizing journal. He's got quite the ego, though I think tonight proved it was pretty fragile all the same."

"Suiv-kun, what do you mean?" Shirabe asked, Suiv lowering his arm, adjusting his glasses with a quick push of his fingers, black locks swaying as he looked back up, a cold glint in his dark eyes.

"You guys didn't find it odd Mom has only been getting worse instead of better? All of her most recent sick spells have been worse than the last… the digging I did showed Ver's been… messing with things. For a while he really was keeping her condition stable. Now? Not so much…"

"Huh?!" Kirika and Skalla gasped in unison, Maria and Oratorio with similar confused looks.

"Ver's recent treatments have just been accelerate Mom's problems. He was functionally poisoning her." Suiv said, gasps coming from all of the others, "But with the rest of this data here, we can ditch him. I even found the data on how to produce more LiNKER… only problem being I still haven't cracked the encryption on the rest of the data, for now."

"You did all of that on your own?" Skalla got a flat look from Suiv in return, the light-blue haired boy chuckling, "Well… I mean it is impressive."

"It is, but we can't just ignore Ver either." Oratorio said, attention turning to him as he folded his arms, "Ver has the Staff of Solomon with him, and the Nephilim was destroyed with its Heart somewhere around the Kadingir site. Ver is bound to get desperate and even more unhinged than he's been showing to be… I don't want that madman running around the city where he can hurt civilians."

"T… Oratorio, what about mom?" Maria asked, refraining from using her nickname for Oratorio in front of the others, Suiv again flashing the thumb drive.

"I can use the data here to at least keep Mom stable… but, Maria… you know she's dying. Her injuries are catching up to her… we can only keep Mom going for so much longer." Suiv's statement made everyone in the room go silent, Suiv turning back to the main console, "I'll get something going… and hope our sensors can track the Staff. Skalla, Shirabe, Kirika, we should start looking for Ver tomorrow."

"Yeah… that sounds right. Where should we land for now?" Skalla turned back forward too, Kirika leaning on the back of his chair.

"Somewhere out of sight. We need to keep Mom in a safe spot while she gets better." Kirika said, Skalla scratching his head.

"Yeah but where to hide?"

"We can likely keep hidden in the woods on the outskirts." Shirabe said, "We can start looking in the reconstruction districts too. Suiv-kun?"

"Sounds about right. If Ver was going to hide somewhere, it'd be the parts of the city still being repaired from the Lunar Attack. Good idea Shirabe."

Shirabe nodded in response to Suiv's bit of praise, Oratorio letting out a small chuckle as he watched the four continue to discuss the topic of what to do next, a proud little smile on the young man's face, though it faltered a bit as he turned back to Maria, now moving Natassja out of the room, an uneasy feeling setting in as he brought his pendant out into his hand.

"What happened earlier… I felt something odd about that guy from the 2nd Division…" Oratorio's mind flashed back both to how Koto fought and seeing the berserk state from him, "When he went berserk… something about that aura felt different… off. But what is the answer to that?"

There was silent but palpable worry among the 2nd Division as Hibiki was moved into the medical room, still unconscious as she was moved in, the door shutting and leaving the other Gear users and Genjuuro in silence and unsureness about what would happen after the events of the night.

"She'll be fine… she's gotta be." Ritsudo's hand tightened it's hold on his pendant until he felt the item digging into his palm, turning when he heard a hand slam to the wall, Tsubasa letting out a growl of frustration.

"Tsubasa… come on, she'll be fine. She's pulled through worse… arguably speaking." Kyomei said, putting a hand on Tsubasa's shoulder, getting to the girl to seemingly relax a bit, "We should go… all we can do is wait right now."

"Yeah…" Tsubasa let out a sigh as she turned, and one could catch her grasping Kyomei's hand as he led off.

"Genjuuro, is it alright if I stay here?" Ritsudo asked, Genjuuro lifting a brow, "It's just… after that, I want to be sure Hibiki's going to be okay. I used the blunt edge, but…"

"I understand. I'll bring around something so that you'll be more comfortable." Genjuuro turned and left with that, Chris still staying.

"It's fine Chris, you can go." Ritsudo said, putting a hand on Chris' head, "Is something bothering you?"

"I'm just… frustrated and confused." Chris said, Ritsudo lowering his hand, "I went down too easily, and then all of that… what the hell is going on?"

"It may have to do with the Gungnir fragments." Koto spoke up, Ritsudo and Chris turning to him, "I… felt it. When she forced the Synchronization. Something is going on with Hibiki because of those shards. They're probably going to be looking into that while they examine her… I'll be around again in a bit… there's… some things I need to talk to Hibiki about when she wakes up anyway."

"Huh?" Chris lifted a brow as Koto left, Ritsudo letting out a hum.

"He probably… saw things during that. It may have been forced, but I don't think it stops the mind-meld that happens." Ritsudo said, Chris folding her arms.

"Huhh? Alright… just get home in a bit alright?" Chris said, Ritsudo nodding, the girl trotting off, Ritsudo sighing as he leaned against the wall and sunk down to a sitting position.

"I need to talk to Chris about things." He murmured, leaning his head back and staring at the ceiling, "I'm gonna feel like such an ass when I do though…"

"Huh? What am I… oh, it's this again. Been a while since I had this one."

Sleep wasn't just silent and immediate for Ritsudo that night. It was less of a dream, more of a really strong memory. He'd long since thought he'd forgotten about it… but here it was.

His eyes were boring into papers thrown and strewn onto the middle school desk in front of him, each of them covering the disaster at the concert, news about the outrage of the people… and the news of the only two survivors. He could only see the name "Tachibana" coming after his, though he didn't care enough to bother reading the rest of it. Though, he didn't really want to either, as if knowing who the second survivor was would be something he'd regret.

"He's still coming to school here?"

"I'm surprised he still has the guts to be alive after that."

"So many people dead… lucky survivor my foot. Him and that girl in first year killed them all."

"Did you hear that if you survive a Noise attack you get some big payout if you get injured? My dad said it was called "Special Disaster Compensation" or something like that."

"Seriously?! Peh, no wonder he's doing fine on his own. That comes out of our parents' paychecks, right?"

"Course it does. Waste of money if you ask me."

"You're all just idiots thinking the crap your parents tell you." Was the thought going through his head, Ritsudo huffing as he brushed the papers off the desk and sat down…

And the scenery was now the streets outside of the school. Ritsudo's back hit the walling of a yard as a dull pain throbbed through his gut, a group of three boys in front of him, the first grabbing Ritsudo by his hoodie's collar, Ritsudo's expression dull but with a lingering annoyance about it.

"Why the hell did you have to survive that?! We lost family in that attack, why couldn't they be alive instead of you?!"

"I don't know." The deadpan response to the angry lashing got an irked look from the other boy, a fist coming around and slamming into Ritsudo's face, Ritsudo hardly reacting as he kept himself from falling, getting grabbed again, the other two bows chuckling as their leader gave a smirk.

"Don't be smart Narukami. You're the one who killed them all!"

"You're just saying that because you're an idiot."

PAM!

"SHUT UP!" The boy struck Ritsudo again, "Murderer, don't you get it?"

"No, I don't." Ritsudo replied, standing up, "I don't get how people can be so stupid… it was a disaster, you read the papers just like everyone else."

"Yeah but you and that Tachibana girl from first year were the only ones who got out of it… well, besides that idol girl, but she's as much a victim as everyone who died!" One of the other boys said, Ritsudo just scoffing.

"That's quite the double standard."

BAM!

All three boys struck him in the gut at once, Ritsudo slumping over and retching a bit as they pulled back, and when he looked back up, his expression was irritated.

"Noise are just mindless monsters. Someone's gotta be held accountable, right? So why not the survivors of that attack? Who knows, maybe you two somehow orchestrated it!"

"Yeah, it's your fault they're gone!"

"What did you just say?" Something about Ritsudo's voice had become harsh, angry, his eyes shifting into an angry glare, the boy shooting up and slamming a fist into the gut of the first boy, the other two catching the young man as he was sent reeling back, Ritsudo standing full as he pulled his fist back, a cold, angry snarl on his face, "My fault? Hold someone accountable? What the hell kind of crap is that?!"

PAM! BAM!

Ritsudo's fists and feet started flying at the three boys, the three retaliating, but for every hit they got in, a more savage, furious blow was dealt to them by Ritsudo, one hit drawing blood from the mouth of one of them, staining Ritsudo's knuckles red and some splashing onto his face.

"People don't get held accountable for floods or earthquakes, do they?!" Ritsudo's voice was enraged as he blocked a blow from the two still standing while the other writhed on the ground holding his jaw as blood dripped onto the pavement, reeling back a leg and slamming his foot into the gut of another hard enough that when the boy lurched back, vomit ebbed out of his mouth, Ritsudo grabbing the third and slamming him into the wall, "Don't you idiots go saying this was my fault, don't go and give your petty bullshit to me! You're invalidating those people! Don't go saying it's because of one person!"

The beating just didn't stop there, Ritsudo not letting up when the boys retaliated in an effort against him again, and by the end of it, Ritsudo was standing over three groaning, bloodied and broken boys with blood dripping from his knuckles, red marring his clothes and face as heavy breaths left his throat.

His eyes shifted up just a bit, and he could see someone peering at the scene from around the corner. His vision was blurred due to a few blows to his head, and the blood dripping into one eye didn't help much, but he could faintly make out it was probably a girl.

She didn't stay there long though, quickly dashing across the way and out of sight, Ritsudo giving a huff as he slumped against the wall, the sound of sirens in the air now.

"Oh… someone must have seen things… or maybe that girl called the police? Heh… whatever… doesn't matter now." A dry, hollow laugh left his throat as the flashing sirens came into view, "This sucks… this really, really sucks."

"Hey, Narukami-kun?"

Ritsudo was shaken awake by a gentle nudging on his shoulder, Ritsudo's eyes cracking open as he shifted, looking over to see Miku leaning in to look at him as he shifted awake.

"Huh? Kohinata, what're… what are you doing here?" Ritsudo let out a yawn mid-sentence, Miku standing straight as he rubbed the back of his head, "Dammit I'm stiff…"

"You shouldn't be sleeping sitting against a wall then." Miku said, almost in a scolding sense of it, Ritsudo giving a mumble, the blanket that had been put over his shoulders slipping off of him, and Miku looked a bit closer, "Were you crying?"

"Huh?" Ritsudo raised a brow at the question, then noticing the wet feeling on his face and on the corners of his eyes, quickly going to rub his face dry, "It's nothing… just, a dream… kind of. You're here to see Hibiki, right?"

"Yeah. I heard she was out." Miku said, Ritsudo standing, stretching to get some of the stiffness out, spotting the folded card in Miku's hand, "Well, something like that."

"It's… complicated." Ritsudo said, a tap on the large door causing it to slide open into the medical room, Hibiki still out cold on the bed, "The doctors said she should wake up soon though."

"That's good." Miku said, walking over to the bed and placing the card near Hibiki's head, "She looks perfectly fine though."

"That's the weird part. Whatever that berserk state was or… is… we honestly don't know what it does. Though… maybe senpai would know now." Ritsudo put a hand on his chin, and he felt this pang as he looked at Hibiki, still amazed himself she was completely unharmed from the event, much less having regenerated her entire arm as well.

"Cadenza-san?"

"Yeah."

"Hmm." Miku hummed, taking a moment more before turning to leave, Ritsudo following back out, though to his surprise, Miku instead turned around to face him as the door closed, "Narukami-kun, I want to ask you something."

"Uh… okay."

"What kind of feelings do you have towards Hibiki?"

"Not this again." Ritsudo let out a groan of sorts at the question, "Not that I don't get why… I'd have to be an idiot if I couldn't see how Kohinata feels about Hibiki."

Ritsudo flinched a bit at the intense stare coming from Miku, Ritsudo giving a sigh and standing straighter.

"I don't know."

To his surprise, Miku shifted a bit, the glint in her eyes looked annoyed at the answer he gave her, her brow furrowing like she was unsatisfied with it.

"Really?"

"Yes. I don't know how I feel about Hibiki… or how I feel about Chris either." Ritsudo said, Miku then looking taken aback by that addition of it, "I'm just… confused and unsure about it, alright?"

"Why?" Miku said, her voice more of a mumble, "You spend so much time with her… how can you say "I don't know" like that?"

"That's… hard to answer." Ritsudo said, a hand balling up before relaxing. Miku's body had turned tense, her voice was wavering as she said that, like she was shaking with something, wrestling with troubled feelings of her own, "It's just… I spent nearly half of my life alone, abandoned by the world… and what happened two years ago just… something in me snapped after that. I'm not used to it… having people who care about me. It still feels weird to think about it, even after what I've tried to do, who I'm trying to be."

Miku felt this uneasiness in her chest. Ritsudo's expression was solemn, lost even, she could see the rushing thoughts… then her mind went back to the school festival.

"That performance of yours, during the festival." Miku said, Ritsudo looking at her more directly, "I saw it, and I thought it was nice… you had such a bright, honest smile even as your eyes started welling up. I could tell what you were feeling at the moment… that smile reminded me of Hibiki's own. Narukami-kun, I honestly do want to trust Hibiki in that you're a good person, I don't want to hate you, but… I can't like you either, not when I feel like this."

"Hm?"

"Not when I feel like you could do something that could hurt Hibiki, that you could make the wrong choice." Miku said, Ritsudo giving a hum, "I… I feel bad about it, but, I looked into some things about you… I just, I can't bring myself to trust someone who…"

"It's fine, I get it." Ritsudo cut Miku off, stopping her from saying something he could tell she didn't want to say, "You're a nice person Kohinata, so don't say something like that if it'd feel like venom on your tongue to say it."

"I just don't want Hibiki to get hurt."

"I get that." Ritsudo said, pocketing his hands, "I understand why you wouldn't want to trust me. I wasn't a good person before… I was bitter, angry with the world. I don't like saying it, but I understand hatred… I don't think I'll ever be able to forgive my family for what they did to me… but I was wrong to lash out for it. I think back on the day I finally snapped and now… I regret it… I regret becoming the person I was before now… but, it's hard to lift yourself up when you're all alone."

"I… I see." Miku said, her hands bunching the hem of her skirt, "Why do I feel like this? He was lost and alone… Hibiki was being herself when she helped him… they're similar in more ways than I thought but… I wonder, could Hibiki have turned out like that if I wasn't there after that concert? Hibiki at least had her family to help her too but… Narukami-kun didn't. They both had to bear such heavy things… so why… why can't I just trust Hibiki about him? Why do I feel this way?"

"But… I think it's a good thing, that Hibiki has a friend like you, Kohinata." Ritsudo's statement got a flinch out of Miku, and she looked up slowly, silent in the wake of a calm, but sad smile being on his face, "I don't think I'm really that great of it either… honestly I feel like an ass for keeping quiet towards Chris, but… with how things are with me, I can't be what she wants, not right now."

"Like me, huh?" Miku muttered, Ritsudo catching a tinge of bitterness in her voice.

"Kohinata… please, don't stop being there for Hibiki, as one friend of hers to another." Ritsudo's words got Miku to flinch again, her expression stunned, "You know it was well as I do… Hibiki's not the brightest, and she's completely, utterly terrible at showing when something is bothering her, she puts others before herself and god damn if it can't be a bit annoying, but, she's a good person, and I'm thankful she took the time to help out the piece of trash person I was… I'm glad she went out of her way to be my friend… so, please, Miku, don't let my best friend lose the support she has."

Miku could only nod, her head faced down and staring at the floor, Ritsudo passing by after collecting the blanket on the ground, Miku's downturned face hiding the troubled expression she had on, small tears starting to show out of frustration.

"Why… why do I dislike someone who's so kind?"

A/N

And that's this one! There's much more to do on some things but I didn't want to drag anything out so… NEXT CHAPTER… but oh boy is this gonna come back later… oof. I'm feeling some vibes like Kouta and Micchy from Kamen Rider Gaim going on here with Ritsudo and Miku.

And just a quick thing since I feel some of you could get better ideas, hell I wanted to say this for a while, hypothetical Seiyuus for the boys!

Ritsudo: Kensho Ono

Kyomei: Mamoru Miyano

Koto: Gackt

Oratorio: Yusuke Kobayashi

Skalla: Yuuki Kaji

Suiv: Soma Saito