Symphogear Trill G

Stanza X: Obbligazioni

"I hope I end up doing the right thing."

Koto sighed deeply as he proceeded down the hallway to the medical bay, taking his earbuds off and pocketing them, though as he moved forward to enter, the door slide open, revealing Hibiki standing there herself, dressed in her uniform, Koto raising a brow to see her in front of him.

"Shouldn't you still be in bed?" Koto said, Hibiki putting a hand behind her head as she let out a chuckle.

"Hehehe uh… y-yeah." Hibiki responded, "But, I'm fine I swear!"

"It's not physical wellness I'm concerned about." Koto said, turning around and gesturing for Hibiki to follow him, "Come on, let's go talk somewhere we can sit down."

"O-Okay. Will it take long, I do gotta get to school." Hibiki said.

"You'll be fine." Koto said, the walk to the nearest lounge area silent between the two, Hibiki still silent for a moment more as they sat down, Koto giving a sigh, "So… look, I know that after… that, you may not want to actually talk about it but… what did you see? When… that happened."

"Huh?"

"You're probably confused since you've never Synchronized before but…" Koto sighed a bit as he paused, leaning his arms on the table, "When a Tuner and Harmonic Synchronize, it does more than just allow them to bounce their power back and forth to increase their output. Synchronizing also bonds the pair down to the mental level, they can share thoughts and know what one will do at the very moment they decide to do it and react accordingly. But, at the same time, doing this causes the two to see further. You become privy to your partner's deepest emotions and secrets, you start to know them as well as you know yourself."

"I'm… not following that well." Hibiki gave a nervous chuckle, Koto sighing.

"Alright then, let me give you a direct example: Even though you two can't Synchronize, you and Ritsudo don't need to communicate verbally to understand what one another does, right?"

"Yeah. We train together so often we know how we move in a fight easy. It's why Ritsu and I can come up with new moves on the fly!"

"Exactly. Synchronizing does the same thing, bonding you and your partner so that your natural wavelengths match up. But, unlike your and Ritsudo's instinctual bond in a battle, Synchronizing is deeper… one could even say more intimate than something like that." Koto stated, "How do you think Ritsudo was able to befriend Chris so quickly?"

"Uhm…"

"It's because they Synchronized. Even just one time can cause a Tuner and Harmonic to understand one another far better than they would normally." Koto stated, "If you want me to be even more specific… Synchronization overrides the Curse of Balal for a short time."

"Huh?" Hibiki's eyes widened at the statement, "F-For real? It does that?"

"I did say a Synchronized pair can share thoughts and feelings. 'Through the power of Song, two can become one and act as a single being with total understanding of the other' is what Ryoko said about it when she taught me, Kanade, Tsubasa, and Kyomei about it years ago."

"That's… incredible." Hibiki said, Koto nodding, folding his arms.

"Which brings us to why I wanted to talk to you." Koto said, "When you went Berserk, you were still aware of it, weren't you?"

"I…" Hibiki stopped for a moment, then nodded as a sullen look came to her face, "Yes. It's not the first time this happened to me… back when we fought Ryoko-san, it happened to. It's like… I know what I'm doing, but it felt like I was just watching, that I didn't have any control over what was happening."

"I see." Koto hummed, shutting his eyes for a moment, "I'll be straight with this… when you were in that state, you forced a Synchronize with me. It's because your Gungnir, Kanade's Gungnir, is a Synch Match with my Ruyi Jingu Bang. Kanade and I would Synchronize often since she had to use LiNKER, so I can imagine the Gungnir you got from her still has the wavelength imprinted on it."

"So you…"

"Yeah. Aside from being put into a similar berserk state… I saw things too. Memories. Your memories, Hibiki." Koto said, Hibiki looking to the side, "I know about how you survived that concert a few years ago… but, I had no idea what the results were of it. But, frankly… I think what happened was terrible. Peh, that's the problem with our society… people just can't accept that things don't always have a reason or a perpetrator, so they put the blame on someone to give themselves a false sense of closure."

"I wonder if Ritsu went through the same thing." Hibiki quietly said so, Koto lifting a brow. "Is it… is it okay if I say what I saw too?"

"Go ahead. Honestly I wanted to know if you did. It's probably about time I start facing those things anyway." Koto's response was tinged with sadness to it, Hibiki knew why without even having to ask… the memories were already in her mind, even if they weren't hers.

"I saw… memories of Kanade-san. Happy memories, sad ones… and then… painful memories. I never knew you had to…"

"That was the day that broke me, I think." Koto said, Hibiki falling silent, "Watching the person you love die in your arms, especially like that, does things. Scortura was able to take over because I let myself get lost, in more ways than one." He sighed again, then looked Hibiki square in the eye, "Hibiki, now that you've seen that and… understand a bit more, and now that I know more about you, is it alright if I give you some advice?"

"Yeah." Hibiki nodded, Koto letting out a breath.

"Don't be scared or feel bad about being selfish, about being human." Koto said, Hibiki tilting her head, "People are a mess of complicated emotions and logic. By nature, we contradict ourselves and question why we do what we do. But, don't be so intent on helping others that you forget yourself. You're the heart of this team Hibiki, a lot like Kanade was… you're the reason this ragtag bunch of misfits isn't going at each other for every little mishap we make as human beings."

"The heart of the team, huh?" Hibiki murmured, and Koto could see it on her face, that she was tackling with his words, like the idea of being even just a bit selfish was clashing with her natural habits.

"Hibiki, there's nothing wrong with being selfless." Koto's words got Hibiki's attention with those words, "In fact, I admire the fact you're so willing to help people, but, there's a point where selflessness becomes dangerous. It's not wrong to be selfish so long as you don't do so in a way that hurts people… and it's not wrong to be selfless, but it becomes wrong when that selflessness puts yourself in danger."

"So… is what I'm doing just hypocrisy, like Shirabe-chan said?" Hibiki asked, a sigh escaping her, "Even though I'm trying to make people happy, will I just bring pain and sadness to others instead?"

"That's something you'll have to decide for yourself." Koto said, turning his pendant in his fingers, "Do you subscribe to the accusation of hypocrisy or choose to prove them wrong, that your ideals aren't like that? Our world isn't that simple, sadly, and viewpoints will clash and argue all the time. And sometimes it might not even be with people we call "enemies", it can happen to friends as well."

"Yeah…" Hibiki said, giving a nod.

"And look, when you get back, don't try to not let the others worry. They're your friends, it's kinda their job to be concerned for your wellbeing, alright?" Koto leaned forward a bit and put a hand on Hibiki's head, "Like I said, it's fine to be selfless, but you can be a bit selfish every now and then too. It's why having friends is a good thing… they're people who you can be selfish for, and have it be in a good way."

"Be selfish in a good way?" Hibiki's confused statement was true in it, the statement itself was downright contradictory to hear, Koto chuckling as he pulled his arm back.

"Yeup." Koto nodded, Hibiki giving a hum as she looked to the side, and a wistful, sad smile came to his face, "This girl needs more time… this world really can be cruel."

The night before

"What is this?"

Tsubasa's confused question came as she, Kyomei, and Koto looked at a small, odd sort of rock in a petri dish Kyomei was holding, yellow colored crystals marking it, Genjuuro holding what was clearly an x-ray panel in one hand.

"Part of Hibiki's body tissue that we collected during her medical checkup." Genjuuro stated, Kyomei looking at him with a raised brow.

"Huh?" Kyomei murmured, Genjuuro lifting the x-ray up to the shifted viewing panel, bringing to view what it was: a scan of Hibiki's torso, dark, gnarled "veins" visible across her body, the darkest portion directly in the middle of the chest.

"The Gungnir fragments?" Koto asked, Genjuuro nodding, his expression grimly stoic.

"Her repeated use of the Relic by breaking it into energy and reconstructing it as her Symphogear has caused it to further spread throughout her body." Genjuuro said, a second x-ray he brought up being a much earlier one, one that showed a similar occurrence, but far less severe.

"The fusion of human body and Relic." Koto let out an annoyed scoff as he looked to the side, Genjuuro lowering the x-rays.

"That is the source of the explosive power wielded by Hibiki, surpassing that of any mere Harmonic." Genjuuro said, his tone unchanging, but the three veterans could feel how the man was worried behind it.

"What kind of effect will this fusion have on her body?" Tsubasa voiced the question all three wanted to ask, Genjuuro giving a sigh, clearly choosing not to look at the three Symphogears.

"It'll kill her before too long." Genjuuro's statement was simply that, no additions, nothing more, the short phrase sending a shock wave through the three veterans, Tsubasa visibly shaking while Kyomei could only fall back into the seats, Koto's expression turning grim and stoic.

"Tachibana's going to die… that can't be!" Tsubasa gasped, a shudder moving through her at the thought.

"Even if she lives, should the Relic continue to fuse with her body, can we say she still lives on as a human?" Genjuuro's brow furrowed, and from it, the tenseness the man's body took on showed he was just as shaken by it. Either Hibiki were to die, or she'd cease to be human completely. "How ironic. It was only because she went berserk that we found out her life was in grave danger."

"Hibiki's broken, like the moon." Koto murmured, a heavy sigh escaping his mouth, a hand clenching into a tight fist, Kyomei seeing it as the only show of his frustration, Koto being the one out of all of them who had the highest right to be feeling so. After all, it was the shards of Kanade's Gungnir that was the source of this.

"FIS may make grand promises to save the world from the fall of the moon, but they are using the Noise to endanger human lives, we can't just let them do as they please, but…" Genjuuro's right hand also clenched into a fist, the shuddering showing he too was feeling frustrated, "Without Hibiki, how much can we do to stop them?"

"I can think of a few things." Koto murmured.

"Either way… we can't let Tachibana fight anymore." Tsubasa said, staring at the stone now in her hands, "Any threats that come our way will meet the point of my sentinel's sword."

"Tsubasa…" Kyomei murmured, a hand balling and then slamming into the seat, "What else can we do? You and I both know we can't stop her from fighting… so what do we do? How do we save her? Is it even possible for us to do that?"

Lydian Academy

"I'm so sorry!" Hibiki's cheery greeting was met to the other four 2nd Division Gear Users, the group gathered at the front of the school between periods, Hibiki taking a small bow, "I bet you guys were worried sick!"

"Some more than most." Ritsudo stated, folding his arms as he leaned against the nearby railing.

"You look pretty healthy though." Chris said, "You should take the chance to get some rest though."

"Never fear! I'm Tachibana Hibiki! Lazing around and spacing out are my specialties!" Hibiki took a playful twirl, giggling as she held a finger up, "Leave it to me!"

"I feel a bit sorry for Kohinata." Ritsudo mused, though the amused grin fell when the grim mood around Tsubasa came around.

"Are you really all right?" Tsubasa asked, Kyomei looking at her with a somewhat concerned expression, "You're not just putting on a brave face so we won't worry, right?"

"Eh? No, of course n-" The drop in Hibiki's tone to a more nervous one was notable, Tsubasa stepping forward and grabbing the girl by the arm as she looked her over, "Tsubasa-san, you're hurting me."

"Oh." Tsubasa released Hibiki and stepped back, looking a bit surprised with herself, "Sorry."

"Is something up?" Ritsudo asked, stepping off the railing.

"You're not just being a dope to try and get on her wavelength are you, Tsubasa?" Chris posed, leaning into view of the older Gear user.

"I'm sorry." Hibiki murmured.

"I don't think you need to apologize." Ritsudo added.

"Yeah. What matters is that you're okay, nothing else." Kyomei said, though from the look on his face, one could catch on he wasn't telling everything he knew.

"Hey, did that geezer tell you something?" Chris looked between the two seniors, and while Kyomei opened his mouth, Tsubasa spoke first.

"Only that those who cannot maintain their self-control against their toughest foes are worthless as warriors." Tsubasa's tone was cold, Hibiki's eyes going wide as her expression clearly became one of hurt, Kyomei staring at Tsubasa in shock, "I'm telling you never to set foot on the battlefield again. You're just a burden. You may clothe yourself in Symphogear no longer!"

"Hey, the hell are you…"

"Tsubasa, enough!" The shout from Kyomei rendered Ritsudo silent as he stepped forward, Tsubasa gasping as Kyomei grabbed her by the wrist, and the expression on Kyomei's face was one none of them thought he'd have… it was anger, annoyance flashing in his eyes as they shifted into a small glare aimed at Tsubasa, "We need to go talk. Now."

"Well that was weird." Chris remarked, Kyomei pulling Tsubasa off, the idol showing a surprised expression from the sudden take of action, "What the heck got into her huh?"

"Something's up." Ritsudo sighed heavily, putting a hand behind his head, "This is the worst."

"No, it's okay." Hibiki grabbed one of her arms, looking at the ground with a downtrodden look, "Maybe Tsubasa-san is right. I really did go out of control… maybe I am just useless."

"No, you're not." Ritsudo said, pocketing his hands, "Whatever happened wasn't your fault. It was something to do with the Relic going out of control. Don't beat yourself up over it like that. You're a valuable member of our team, don't call yourself useless."

"You're the heart of this team Hibiki…"

"Heh… you're about as important to us, Ritsu." Hibiki remarked so quietly, Ritsudo and Chris raising a brow at the sound, Hibiki looking up with a grin back on, but it was obviously on the forced side, "Nothing! Ehehe, I better get back to class soon, or Miku's gonna be mad. I'll see you guys later!"

"And she's being odd too. Man, what the hell?" Chris folded her arms as she sighed, looking to Ritsudo as he let out another sigh, "So what do you think?"

"Everyone's just a mess right now." Ritsudo muttered, "And I'm about to make things worse…"

"Damn right. Seriously, it's all too weird. We should focus on finding Ver and the Staff at the very least." Chris said, Ritsudo nodding, a hand resting on his headphones.

"Hey… Chris, can we talk about something?"

"Sure, what is it?"

"Well… it's kind of something important." Ritsudo said, one hand balling into a fight fist, "I am going to hate myself for this one…"

"Kyomei, hold on!" Tsubasa spoke out to Kyomei yanking her along, the young man stopping once they were well away from the others, Tsubasa pulling her hand back, rubbing her wrist as Kyomei kept his back to her, "Why did you do that?"

"You went to far." Kyomei said, his hands curling into fists, "You didn't have to be so cold to Hibiki like that."

"We can't let her fight again. You know that." Tsubasa looked away as Kyomei turned to her, the young man giving a grumble.

"You and I both know we can't stop her. Hibiki will fight again no matter what, it's how she is… she doesn't care about the risks it would pose to herself… as suicidal as that mindset is." Kyomei let out a sigh, Tsubasa still not looking at his straightly.

"That's why we need to keep her off the battlefield. As long as she doesn't use her Symphogear again…"

"Tsubasa, that won't be enough!" Kyomei's voice actually picked up in volume, and it was like a shock went through Tsubasa from it, "We can't just stand by and not do something! Forcing Hibiki not to fight won't work, and being that cold won't do anything but make it worse! It's not a proper solution! I may not get people easily, but she's our friend, you shouldn't do that to her!"

"I know!" Tsubasa shouted, Kyomei catching himself as Tsubasa grabbed her arms, the tightness of her grip betraying that the girl was trying to keep her composure, "But what else am I supposed to do? What else can I do but keep her away from battle?"

"That's why we need to figure something out… something different." Kyomei let out a sigh, and he let out a gasp when Tsubasa rushed forward and pulled him into a hug, and it didn't take long for him to find out through the shudders running through her she was trying to resist sobbing, "Tsubasa…"

"I'm scared… I don't want it to happen again." Tsubasa's arms wrapped tightly around Kyomei as she spoke, the boy returning the embrace as she buried her face into his shoulder, "I can't, I can't lose another friend!"

"And we won't. I promise… something will happen, I can just tell." Kyomei said, moving one hand to the back of Tsubasa's head, "You're strong Tsubasa, but you're still only human. I know you're worried, but you can't let that worry make you hurt the people you care about."

"I don't know what else I can do though… how can I… how can we stop this?"

"I really don't know." Kyomei replied, "It may not even be down to us to solve this problem… we may have to leave it to Hibiki herself."

"Maybe." Tsubasa's shudders slowed down, but she kept a tight hold on Kyomei despite it, "Is there really nothing we can do Kyomei? Do we just have to stand by and watch again?"

"We may not have a choice in the matter." Kyomei said, putting his hands on Tsubasa's shoulders and looking her in the face, "But I promise, I'll look for something. Koto may have some ideas too… even if we can't stop Hibiki from fighting, I won't believe there isn't a way we can save her. Maybe even Ritsudo could help… his Relic was able to stop that berserk state, who knows what else it could do?"

"Yeah…" Tsubasa murmured, "I'm actually still mystified about that. How did the Kusanagi even do that? Could it always do that?"

"I'm really not sure… but, like I said, we can't just let ourselves stop there. There has to be a way to save her… I don't want to lose one of my friends again either… which is exactly why we can't ascribe to the thought of losing Hibiki just yet."

"You're right… you're completely right." Tsubasa let out a small chuckle as she wiped off her eyes, looking at Kyomei with a gentle smile, "You know, this is the first time you've ever raised your voice. It was pretty surprising."

"Uh… well… y'know." Kyomei's face turned bright red as his hands slipped off Tsubasa's shoulders, the boy coughing into a hand, "It was sort of this spur of the moment happening."

"Hmhmhm. Well, you being more assertive is nice." Tsubasa said, taking Kyomei's other hand, her expression falling again, "I just hope you're right."

"So, what did you want to talk about huh?" Chris didn't really get the point of Ritsudo having taken her to the roof of the school (in fact they weren't even supposed to be up there) to talk, though it didn't take much to guess from the way Ritsudo sighed as he turned around what he wanted to say was dead serious, "Ritsu, something up?"

"Chris, before I say anything, I want to apologize… because what I'm about to say is incredibly cruel."

"Ehhh? Why are you being all dramatic?"

"I'm going to be blunt about it… Chris, I know how you feel about me." Ritsudo's curt way of saying it got Chris to pause, Ritsudo pocketing his hands, "Honestly I'd have to be the biggest idiot on the planet if I couldn't tell. You've made it loud and clear how you feel, so, believe me when I say I've gotten the message."

"What? T-The heck are you going on about?" Chris's stilted chuckle was clearly the tone of someone feigning ignorance, and the girl wanted to kick herself for it as her face became a tinge red, "You must have the wrong idea or somethin', I mean, I like you yeah but not that much y'know? Ehe… hehehe…"

"But, I can't respond to those feelings." The next words out of Ritsudo's mouth were like this knife through the air. Chris's attempt at playing it off froze dead, and she looked over to see Ritsudo's expression was simply, sad. His brow had drooped and his mouth was a flat line, betraying the downtrodden emotions coming from him, "I realized that I really haven't come as far as I've tried to. That I don't know enough about myself to say I can do something like that."

Chris's stunned mind quickly went back to the festival, to that song. She couldn't get the image of it out of her face. Nothing Ritsudo was saying made sense to her when she thought of it like that.

"But you… how could…" The sentence wouldn't even properly leave Chris's mouth, a sad smile coming to Ritsudo's face as he looked to the clouds.

"You could say that song was my first real step, the first point past zero for me." Ritsudo said, looking back to Chris, "I didn't even have it in me to try and find what was right… but I can't stop, if I want to become a "me" I can be proud of… I have to keep going forward. But that means that, with how I am right now, I can't answer your feelings honestly Chris. And I don't want to do that to you."

"Yet this is happening…" Chris' hands bunched at the hem of her skirt, the downward direction of her head clearly to hide her expression, Ritsudo nodding.

"Yeah… I did say I was going to say something cruel… and, again, I'm sorry for it, but… I don't want to feel like I'm stringing you along by keeping quiet." Ritsudo sighed again, already feeling a sense of guilt creeping up him as Chris' hands kept clenching and unclenching, "I'd rather be full disclosure and tell you how it is right now… I honestly don't know how long it'll take me to sort this out with myself, but… I don't want to hurt you in a worse way by not laying this out."

"Hmm." Chris merely nodded again, still looking down, but Ritsudo could see a few drops fall from her face, and his hands tightened in his pockets while his jaw tensed for a moment, a sigh passing between his lips again, and he stopped himself when he took a step forward, shaking his head.

"Chris, you're important to me, please understand that." He knew it likely wouldn't ease this blow, but, he felt it had to be said, "If there was a way I could go about this that wasn't so… unpleasant, please believe I would have tried to do so… but, there isn't. I honestly hope you'll forgive me for doing something like this… but, if I want to move forward, if I want to be able to give you an honest answer… then I felt like I had to. Even if it was cruel, even if it hurt, even if it made me feel terrible. It's how people grow… experience, living… you can't make happy memories without there being some painful ones… I just hate the fact I have the be the source of something like that, for both of us."

"Yeah…" was the only word Chris felt like she could get out, Ritsudo nodding, taking his first step forward and past Chris, raising his hood as he neared the door, the girl not turning around, Ritsudo stopping as he opened the door.

"Chris, again, I'm sorry… I care about you, a lot… I just wish I could've told you about this without it being so painful… but I guess that's our fault as humans… we feel pain even when we're not actually injured… and that kind of pain can even be self-inflicted." Ritsudo sighed again, looking back up at the passing clouds, "Honestly, I wish life could be as easy as it is in fairy tales sometimes. Maybe we'd all have it easier."

Clack

The door shut without a word from Chris to follow it, and a shuddering breath finally escaped Chris's mouth as her entire body shook, more tears falling to the ground before she quickly moved to wipe them away.

"Jerk… it's not fair if it hurts you just as much!" Chris let out a hiss as her arms slipped down limp, a grimace on her face as tears again welled at her eyes, "So why am I even crying right now?"

FIS VTOL

The sound of soft singing stirred Natassja from slumber, the woman turning her head to the side, viewing Maria sitting off to the side, her gentle voice carrying through the room, Oratorio with his head on Maria's lap, in a gentle sleep of his own, Natassja feeling a small grin spread on her face.

"They're good children. And it's not just them. I'm trying to make all these gentle children carry my cross." Natassja let out a breath and listened closely to Maria's voice a moment more, thoughts stirring on past events as she sat up, "Maybe I am in the wrong."

Maria's singing slowed to a stop when the call line buzzed, Oratorio instantly shooting away and sitting up without warning, both turning to Natassja as she cleared her throat.

"It's me." Natassja answered, the scrambling sounds of Kirika and Skalla coming through.

"C-Could that be… could that be mom?!" Kirika gasped.

"You're awake?! Are you feeling better?!" Skalla shouted, a small chuckle leaving Natassja's mouth.

"Thanks to Maria and Oratorio's care, I was able to get through the worst of it."

"That's good." Shirabe answered next, and one could hear a mutter from her, "Sui-kun, you can put the tablet down."

"I will once I get through all of this data… geez, how many secret projects did Ver have?" Suiv let out a sigh as he kept flicking through the open files on the tablet in his hands, he and the other three younger FIS kids proceeding through one of the still under repair segments of the city.

"But, it's good you're okay, mom." Skalla said, "Oh, yeah, Suiv got into the doctors files, so, we should be able to take care of you ourselves now!"

"He did?" Natassja asked, Suiv giving a nod.

"Yeah. I cracked the encryption Ver was keeping on his files, there's quite a bit." Suiv said, raising a brow when he came to a certain file, "The heck is this?"

"A-Anyway, mom, I know you said we should stand by, but we ended up, well…" Kirika said, Skalla clearing his throat.

"We're trying to find Ver so we can retrieve the Staff of Solomon from him. Then uh… what else do we need to do?" Skalla put a hand on his chin, giving a hum.

"Find the Nephilim's heart." Shirabe said.

"Right!"

"I understand. Mara and Oratorio's orders, right?" Natassja asked, the four teens stopping.

"Well… more like Suiv's idea." Skalla said, a chuckle coming from him.

"We haven't been able to get in touch with the doctor, so we're searching areas he could be hiding in." Shirabe said, "Sui-kun worries he might cause trouble if we don't find him."

"It's not a worry Shirabe." Suiv said, almost like he was denying the idea of possibly being concerned about people, the pouting look Shirabe was giving him making him look away, "Cut that out."

"You need to be more honest sometimes." Shirabe said, Suiv just giving a scoff as he adjusted his glasses.

"Thank you, all of you." Natassja responded, "Contact us if you find the doctor. I'll send you the rendezvous point."

"Roger!" Kirika and Skalla said, the line cutting off, Suiv still mulling over whatever file he was reading.

"Uh, I never thought she'd answer!" Kirika sighed as the call ended, Skalla nodding.

"Yeah, that was a bit surprising… still, mom seemed a bit, calmer, don't ya think?" Skalla and Kirika both hummed in thought about it.

"I'm glad she's alright though." Shirabe said, poking Suiv in the side as he was muttering to himself, "Sui-kun, put it down!"

"Don't poke me!" Suiv hissed a bit as he held his side, then the growling noises, Kirika showing a light flush of embarrassment while Skalla just hummed.

"Huh, guess the snacks about wore off." Skalla noted, looking around at the shops.

"Oops, the moment I calmed down I realized how hungry I was too!" Kirika said, putting a hand behind her head, Shirabe poking Suiv again when he went back to looking at the tablet, the bespectacled boy grumbling as he held the spot.

"We haven't had anything to eat since this morning." Shirabe said, all of them looking around.

"I doubt any of the places in this part of town have anything. We'd have to do some looking." Suiv noted, slipping the tablet into the bag he had with him.

"But we have to find the doctor as quickly as we can." Shirabe pointed out, Suiv nodding.

"Ahh come on, we can take a bit of a break." Skalla said, another growl coming from his stomach that made him falter a bit, "Besides I don't think I can keep looking when I'm this hungry. But, I can endure!"

"Yeah, all right, let's do this!" Kirika called grabbing both Shirabe and Skalla by the hand, Skalla letting out a surprised sound as he was pulled off into the trot, Suiv sighing and adjusting his glasses as he followed along.

"We don't need to run!" Suiv called out, "But what was that file? A LiNKER strain using Nephilim genes? What the hell was Ver trying to do?"

"Man that stuff was the best! Who knew there was such a good place to eat there huh?"

"Well you can think Miku and Hibiki for finding it."

"Yeah, but aren't you eating too many carbs for a young high school girl?"

Ritsudo was a bit surprised by the gathering he founds himself in, a group made up of his school friends as well as Hibiki's, though Ritsudo was sticking a bit to the back of the chatty group, his hood still up, but HIbiki was also in a glum mood of her own, not even noticing that the question from her friends was towards her for a moment as the group headed down the stair way of the park.

"Huh?" Hibiki hummed, looking back, "Oh, yeah. That old lady just makes the best okonomiyaki though, I just can't help it."

"I'm surprised the place is running considering where it is, but, hey, persistence right?" Kiragi chuckled, sliding down the hand rails.

"Yeah though our goal didn't really seem to work out much." Ichiro said, grabbing Kiragi off of the rails, "Come on man, that's dangerous.

"Ahh boo you, it's fun!"

"And what goal?" Ritsudo asked, catching up to his group as Hibiki's friends continued chatting amongst themselves, "And how did you guys even meet them?"

"Ah, well, we met them at the festival after the concert and just kinda hit it off." Tohma said, Kiragi nodding.

"Yup. It was kind of like "Hey, our friends is also a friend of your friend, so we should hang", something like that. And now we arrive at today!" Kiragi stated, Ichiro giving a chuckle.

"I was too nervous to say anything though. I'm not good with girls." Ichiro said, giving a sigh, Ritsudo giving an amused chuckle. "And we invited you along because, well, we hoped it'd cheer you up. Itama, Andou, and Terashima suggested the idea to us when they thought of getting Tachibana on board… Kohinata didn't really say much though."

"I can imagine why." Ritsudo said.

"You just ended up being really glum today, so, hey, we figured we may as well bring you along to something fun to cheer ya' up." Kiragi said, the group of students getting close to the street.

"Hehe, well, I can say it worked a bit." Ritsudo chuckled, looking down the steps to Hibiki, "She's still bothered by earlier though, isn't she?"

"So hey, what even happened that got you in such a mood?" Kiragi asked, Ritsudo sighing.

"Just… had to lay some things out is all… granted I feel like the biggest ass in the world for having to do it." Ritsudo said, shoving his hands into his pockets, "But, I hope it's something that'll help in the long run either way."

The rather light mood was broken however, when cars came screaming down the road, Ritsudo and Hibiki noting that the drivers were clearly agents, the three cars careening around the bend… only for an explosion to come out seconds later.

"What the hell?" Ritsudo muttered, the group then rushing ahead towards the source, Hibiki and Ritsudo in the lead, the sight that they were met with being the burning ruins of the vehicles and piles of ash, Noise standing in the street with Ver behind them, the man looking completely deranged and almost wild in appearance, one arm cradling a wrapped object.

"Ehehehehe, I won't hand this over to anyone. No matter who it is!" Ver chuckled, the Staff aimed forward, Ritsudo giving a growl at the sight of the man.

"Really, now?" Ritsudo let out the growl, his eyes glaring under the brim of his hood, Hibiki giving her own glare to the man, Ver noticing the two at last and going to a shocked look.

"Wh-what?! Why are you here?!" Ver gasped, Ritsudo showing a smirk along with the unshifted glare.

"Oh look, you remember what happened last time." Ritsudo noted, his pendant's chain dropping from his hand, and his smirk fell as Ver sent a Noise his and Hibiki's way, Ritsudo moving his hand in a slashing motion, Kusanagi bursting into form in his hand and sliching the Noise in two, the ash falling to the ground past him, and the glare Ritsudo was giving Ver was nothing short of murderous now as he stood up and pointed the sword at him, all but Miku and Hibiki gasping at the sight of it, "Look here Ver, I am not in the mood for this… but don't you dare put my friends in danger, you got that?!"

"Ahhhhh!" Ver only screamed as he sent another Noise at the group, Hibiki shooting forward instead as Ritsudo got ready to attack again.

"Balwisyall nescell Gungnir tron!" Hibiki's voice rang the phrase out, but her fist collided with the Noise first, Ritsudo's eyes widening as the contact did nothing, Ver screaming again at the sight of it.

"She touched the Noise without transforming?!" Ver gasped, Ritsudo not giving time to think on it before he himself called his own activation phrase as Hibiki's gear formed in a flash of light, the Noise bursting into ash once it was formed, Ritsudo sending a burst of wind through the air that cut down the remaining Noise.

"What the…"

"Ritsudo?!"

"Sorry guys… but I couldn't tell you about this. I promise, I'll explain everything." Ritsudo turned to his friends behind him, a sad look on his face, turning back into a glare once he turned to Ver and lifted his sword, "But after we deal with this guy!"

"This fist… my life… they are Symphogear!" Hibiki called, "Ritsu, let's go!"

"Right. Besides… I need to express a bit of rage." Ritsudo said, two Symphogears standing there now, unveiled to even those they were hidden from, "If only life really was a fairy tale…"

To be continued

A/N

Well first off, Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to all! This chapter was a bit hard to write though, but, progress! Things will surely shift from here on! See ya' next time!