Symphogear Trill
Chapter 16: Destiny Fires Off
With the dust clearing away from Hibiki and Ritsudo's attacks, the two stood down from the stances they'd fallen into after their hits. The ground had a deep impression carved into it by equal measures of Hibiki's powerful blow and Ritsudo's following strike. And Chris was stuck with her back in a massive crater left in what was a raised area. The Nehushtan Armor also showed the damage, blown open and slashed through, though underneath the girl was mostly uninjured. But, under the visor her eyes were staring upwards in shock and the fact the two Symphogears had even managed to damage the armor so severely.
"How can they use their powers like that? That felt like I got hit by that other girl's Swan Song twice…" Chris groaned as she stood up, even more as the damaged armor began closing up, feeling it crawl over her, even through her. "I have to finish this before they tear me apart."
As she stood, Chris cricked a brow when she saw how the other two were. Hibiki had completely relaxed, her eyes closed as her song continued to carry out across the area. Ritsudo had taken an easier stance of his own, though still at the ready for when the fight carried on… not that Chris cared about that one.
"What are… are you trying to mock me?! Me?! Yukine Chris?!"
"So your name's Chris-chan." Hibiki stopped singing as a small smile came to her face. Chris flinched as she realized just what she'd spouted off in her blind anger. "Hey, Chris-chan, let's stop fighting already. We aren't the Noise. We can talk to each other. If we can talk, then we can understand each other! Because we're both human!"
"You're a liar." Chris growled, her hands clenching tightly. "A huge liar. A huge idiot!"
As Chris lunged forward, Ritsudo moved between her and Hibiki in the same instant. The flash of his sword came and deflected Chris's fist, the flat having slammed against her hand. Chris growled and kept up the attack, Ritsudo easily parrying her angry strikes. When he made an opening by slapping a kick away, he spun around and shoulder Chris right in the center, shoving her away and across the ground.
"Idiot she may be, but Hibiki-san isn't a liar." Ritsudo took his stance again, his look calm. "But like I said, if you're not gonna listen to us now, then I'll just fight you until you are willing to listen."
"Again, try me!" Chris attacked with a rigid whip again, Ritsudo countering and locking their weapons together. "What the hell would a bastard like you know?! You don't know the things I've been through, the things I've seen! Understanding? Connecting? People can't understand each other with words alone! The only thing that connects us is pain!"
"And like I already said, you're wrong!" As Ritsudo's voice grew louder, a burst came from Murakumo as he carried the lock forward, breaking it with a hard swing of the blade. "And I'd know because you have the same eyes I used to have! I know how it feels to hate the world and people in it! What it's like to think nobody is worth it because you ran into the worst side of humanity. But the only way we stupid humans will get over that is to let go… to forget our hatred and move on. But if things twist the world, twist people, then I'll cut all of those away until we can do just that without having to fight each other!"
"Quit talking like you're some kind of protagonist!" Chris lashed at Ritsudo with that energy ball attack again.
When it came at him, this time, Ritsudo let out a breath as he changed the grip on his sword. The blade impacted the ball of energy, and this time Ritsudo stood form. The white blade glowed brightly, and the jewels at the guard shined. The blade carried right on through the energy ball, cleaving it cleanly in two. And with it cut, the energy began to fade away, the drifts snaking through the air and being absorbed into the Murakumo itself. And with another lash of the blade, the absorbed energy was let loose. But, not at Chris, rather, up into the air and away from any danger.
"What the hell… what is with your damn Relic?!" Chris growled as Ritsudo lowered the sword to his side rather than ready it. And the concerned look Hibiki had only incensed her more. Chris growled again, then let loose a yell. "Fly! Armor Purge!"
With the yell, the armor around Chris burst away in a flash of light. Ritsudo and Hibiki had to dodge as dozens of shards shot through the area, blasting through anything that was in their way. Whatever it was, clearly the move Chris had just done was a desperate move in retaliation to not just their attacks, but even the wills of the two fighting her.
"Killiter Ichaival tron."
"What?!" Ritsudo expressed the surprise he and Hibiki felt slam them as Chris's voice rang with the obvious Holy Words to activate a Symphogear.
"The fact you made me do this pisses me off enough. But fine… I'll show you the Ichaival's power!"
Light burst from where Chris stood, and a blast pulsed through the air. And with it, so too did the notes of a song begin to ring through it as well. That much had become immediately obvious… Chris was an Adaptor just like they were.
"You made me sing. You made me sing my song. I'll show you, just how much I hate singing!" Chris was now garbed in one of her own, the Symphogear rather light on the armor, but prominently red and black with scant traces of white. The biggest extents of the Symphogear was the armor at Chris's waist and the bracers on her arms, ones that, within moments of her declaration to the two, shifted forward. They changed form and now in the girl's hands were large crossbows that lit up with multiple energy arrows, and she aimed right for her two enemies.
~I'll be able to forget if I just gouge out all my wounds, right? Should I rip that kiddy justice off for you?~
Hibiki and Ritsudo didn't spare any time in moving as Chris fired. Her shots arced through the air and rained around them as she fired. The explosions the energy arrows made quickly ended up separating the 2nd Division Gear users, but they tried to regroup quickly. Amid the barrage, Chris moved around and got right in front of Hibiki, smacking the girl away with one of her crossbows. And when Ritsudo retaliated, Chris jumped away and fired at pointblank before he could try to guard, blowing him back from all the shots hitting at once.
When Chris landed again, she aimed both crossbows forward, and they changed form. Shifting form from the crossbows into a set of dual barreled miniguns. And it wasn't long before the things were fired up and letting loose with a rain of bullets right at Hibiki and Ritsudo. A rain that didn't care at all for anything else around and ripped through trees and left gouges in the ground.
~Haha! Come on, it's showtime. A savage rain just like a volcano. Now, show me everything! Everything, everything, everything, everything, everything! I'll destroy you all! That's right, I'll destroy you all!~
The bullets were also added in by a slew of missiles deploying from the pylons of Chris's armor. Not that she let up with the miniguns as the explosions rained across the clearing as her song finished. Chris panted heavily as the guns came to a stop. She hadn't used the Symphogear in ages, and using it combined with her exhaustion from using the damaged Nehushtan didn't help her much.
But as the dust cleared, Chris's eyes went wide. She wasn't seeing the breadth of the carnage her attacks had caused, but instead a massive metallic sheet that stretched straight upwards.
"A shield?"
"A sword."
And at the same moment as Chris looked upwards, a bolt of red shot past her head and slammed into the titanic sword in front of her. Chris snapped around and back to see what it was. The arrival of both Tsubasa and Kyomei, the former standing atop the large sword, and Kyomei with his bow freshly fired but still sparking with red lightning.
"Heh. I heard you were asleep and almost dead." Chris scoffed at Tsubasa as she adjusted her weapons a small bit. "What, you two come here to help out your loser friends?"
"Oh they can handle themselves just fine." Kyomei separated the bow and then drew his own hand crossbows, a small smirk on his face as he aimed one at Chris. "But as their seniors we're also not just gonna sit by while you're making a mess outside of our school."
"I decided I'm not going to lose again." Tsubasa gave Chris a calm expression, her look resolute but this time, not filled with the hidden despair she'd quashed down before.
"Tsubasa, don't push yourself too much. Kyomei, make sure she doesn't." Genjurro's voice over the line made both veterans chuckle.
"Yes sir." Both said.
"Tsubasa-san…" Hibiki spoke up as Ritsudo helped her up from behind Tsubasa's guarding sword. Tsubasa glanced back at the two, a confident, small smile present on her face.
"Tachibana, Kenzaki, you two can get back for now. I may not be in the best of shapes myself, but, if I'm fighting with Kyomei then there's no enemy I can't defeat."
~"I'm struggling, caught inside the lightning" it is my destiny to obliterate. To overcome my hesitation I return to the sounds of my music...it's the only thing I know. I thought if I became stronger, much stronger...I could someday break away from the tragic past fate left me. Why...why...why? Even though I have no need for things like tears…~
"Well you two are being awfully confident!" Chris aimed her guns around to both veterans as Tsubasa leapt from her perch.
Tsubasa smoothly dodged past Chris's shots while Kyomei countered each one as he shot forward. And the two's attacks weren't just swift, but totally in synch with one another. When Tsubasa let out a flurry of slashes at Chris, Kyomei added into it with bolts from his weapons. When Chris went to club Tsubasa with one of her miniguns, Tsubasa smoothly leapt over her with rapid ease. And as Tsubasa came down, Kyomei met her at the exact same spot as his weapon shifted into the twin dagger formation. The now three blades hit at the same time, Chris being forced to dodge by moving back as the blades all came to the same point as each other.
And too quick for Chris to catch, when Tsubasa landed, she rammed the butt of her sword on Chris's weapons. And next the girl in red knew, Tsubasa was behind her, the sword wielder's blade over her shoulder, and Kyomei in front of her, his bow reformed and its bladed arm at the other side of her neck. The movements had been so rapid but also so in synch with one another Chris couldn't have at all countered both.
"What's with how these two are moving? It's entirely different than before… no… this is how they actually fight. This is how a Tuner and Haromonic who're truly in synch with each other perform." Chris's eyes darted around like she was looking for a way out of this situation. She knew it immediately even if in some form by pure instinct: There was no way she could beat these two on her own now that they were fighting in such a way.
"Tsubasa-san, Kyomei-san, she's…" Hibiki got nods from the two as she spoke, their confident looks unwavering.
"We know." Tsubasa said.
Tsubasa broke away from Chris by kicking at her legs. Kyomei shifted back, staying to Tsubasa's side as they stared Chris down after the moment, both primed for the fight but with a shared thought. Both knew that Chris wasn't an enemy that had to or even wanted to be fighting. But at the same time both wanted answers about her Relic, Ichaival, the Second Relic that had been lost ten years ago from any holding the 2nd Division had. Kyomei felt it in line with his own questions and suspicions about recent events, all of it seeming to just line up far too well to be sheer coincidence.
But, something else decided to interrupt the engagement. Flying type Noise, three of them. Two of the things twisted their bodies and shot downwards, slamming into Chris's weapons and demolishing them. The white haired girl gasped as she lurched back. The third one followed suit, but as it came down at Chris, a burst of wind shot through the air, Ritsudo crashing in and carrying his blade right through it.
"What the hell are you doing?!" Chris snapped, Ritsudo landing while the other three got ready for a fight in response to the Noise's appearance.
"Like I'd just let the thing hit you even if you're armored." Ritsudo said, Chris flinching as he had the same expression he'd had the last time he'd saved her from something like that.
"Tch… dumbass! I didn't ask you to help me!" Chris snapped, Ritsudo giving a small huff.
"I don't need to be asked."
And with a burst of flames following suit from it, to the surprise of none of them, Scordatura made an appearance as well. His burning spear drew in the flames that had kicked up, and he glanced to the five Symphogears as they all readied in response. Chris though, looked taken aback by the arrival of the black garbed man.
"Scordatura, what the hell?! Why are the Noise attacking me and not them?!" Chris moved in front of the others, even when they tried to stop her. Scordatura just gave a huff as he twirled his spear.
"That's not a question to be asking me, Chris. You should ask Finé instead." The masked man's voice may have been level, but, it was impossible for the others to miss: Scordatura's voice bore an angry waver to it. But, they didn't know what the reason for it was.
"You cannot even do what I ordered you. How much must you disappoint me?" Finé's voice then carried through the air with an echo. The others looked around and found three other Noise circling in the air. And right under them, Finé stood leaning against the rail that overlooked the nearby cliffside.
"Finé, what's the meaning of this?!" Chris shouted.
"Finé and Scordatura… "The end" and alternative tuning… these two have pretty choice names." Ritsudo had the thought as he looked between the two darkly garbed individuals, feeling Murakumo hum in his hands as if the blade itself was responding to the two as well.
"I can stop wars from starting without this thing!" Chris shouted, stopping as she moved forward when Scordatura put his spear in front of her. "And then like you said, we'll be free of the curse, and the world will go back to being one, right?!"
"I'm done with you." Finé said so with a sigh, Chris's eyes going wide.
"What do you mean?!"
Finé didn't reply, merely lifting a hand. Her palm began to glow, and as it did, so too did more lights appear. All of them the shards of the purged Nehushtan Armor. The shards all moved at once, gathering to Finé in swirls of light.
"Scordatura, I'll be leaving. Have what fun you wish before heading back. If you can, make sure she doesn't come back either."
Scordatura merely nodded as Finé leapt to the air and vanished as a wave of the Staff of Solomon sent the deployed Noise flying. Kyomei shot them down quickly, but, Scordatura was already moving. His spear lashed at Chris in a rapid move. A ringing clang followed as it hit not Chris, but Ritsudo's sword, all from a quick parry done in the instant Scordatura attacked.
"The hell are you doing?! Aren't you two allies!? Why are you attacking her?!" Ritsudo snapped, aiming his blade at the masked man.
"I'm merely doing what I must until the right time comes. Don't misunderstand, however. My intentions and Finé's don't fully align. All I'm doing is buying time." Scordatura aimed his spear up again, Ritsudo's look puzzled at just what the man meant by his wording.
"Ritsudo-san, let us handle this!" Kyomei came in with Tsubasa as he fired at Scordatura, the man leaping back a bit as the veterans took the forward position.
"Oh? So you're both going to fight me then? Heh… alright then. Let me see how solid both your wills are now!" With a flick of his wrist, Scordatura's spear burst to flames. He attacked both veterans, the spear lashing flames as he struck at Tsubasa in melee and spun around in time with his blows to deflect Kyomei's arrows.
While the two were certainly performing well against the spear-holder, his moves responded to them all in kind. To the three watching the fighting from afar as the air rang with the sounds of impacting weapons and the sound of Kyomei's weapons going off, the kind of fight it was seemed odd… it was a fight between people who knew how they all moved. Every movement of the sword, spear, and ranged weapons. Every counter and parry, every mixed in blow and spin. Everything was being executed in such smooth fashion there was no other way to see it but as a fight between those familiar with each other's movements.
"I knew it… he really does fight like Koto! The way his spear moves, turning to attack things he can't see at the same instant he counters another blow… the precision of his thrusts and speed of the sweeps. Every last move is his! Even the feeling of his aura… it's a bit different but it's definitely him!" Kyomei let out a growl as he and Tsubasa were blown back. The young man then gave a sigh, nodding to himself as he knew what to do. "Tsubasa, if we want to beat this guy, we have to do that. We have to Synchronize!"
"But can we? We haven't done so in years." Tsuabsa said, Kyomei just giving her a confident smile. A look which she eventually retuned. "Right, what am I saying? Of course we can. I'm troubled by how he fights too. So, I'm going to break off that mask and see what face lies underneath it!"
"About time." Scordatura said, an amused chuckling coming from him.
"Tachibana, Kenzaki, watch us! Watch us and see just what it really means for us Harmonics and Tuners to fight together! How we draw out our true powers when we fight in Synchronicity!" As Tsubasa spoke, she shifted her sword to another hand and held the other open, Kyomei taking it. The two rolled their fingers together, and their Symphogears began to glow.
"And how when we're like this, we don't lose!" Kyomei's smile only grew as the light around them grew brighter, pulsing trails following off of them and joining together as the air began to shift.
Their armors then opened up, parts expanding and changing. The then opened segments of armor filled with light, Kyomei's flowing blue while Tsubasa's glowed red. A burst followed through the air, and as the two veterans now stood with empowered gears and weapons at the ready, with faint trails of light at their back akin to wings, a new song began to ring through the air, one with two voices in tune to one another.
~I love you; I hope these thoughts reach you. I'm sure one day it'll come true. Such feelings are too painful.~
Scordatura charged in time with the other two. The spear split into two as Tsubasa and Kyomei struck in time. As the dance-like fight began, the blazing trails of Scordatura's weapons matched the perfectly timed, synchronized attacks from the pair. The timing between the two was even finer than when they fought Chris, not a single moment of wait between the two. It wasn't merely predicting what the other would do, rather, their minds were working exactly as one. The two knew what the other would do the second the thought came to mind.
~I don't understand things such as beginnings. It seems like you could have an ordinary name and be anywhere. But no matter how many people there are. I'm sure to find you.~
No need to communicate beyond their song due to it. Absolute Sword and Brave Bow struck as one for the first time in years. When Tsubasa lashed her blade and sent a wave of energy soaring, Kyomei matched it with a charged arrow, the two attacks merging into one violet colored blast. It struck Scordatura dead on as he blocked. But in the exact same moment, red and blue glints fell from the sky. Dozens of swords coated in red lightning fell all at once, Scordatura deflecting the blades that came too close.
~I don't like the me who locked up these quiet feelings. And confined herself in a shell. Each time that I halfheartedly hold myself back. The pain merely grows.~
His spears only burst to life further, the flames climbing as he whipped around and countered a spinning Tsubasa, her leg blades slamming against his own. Kyomei followed suit once Scordatura was stalled, his weapons forming into the arm cannons that he slammed together. Spikes shot from the cannons and locked to the ground, energy charging as Tsubasa then threw a knife into Scordatura's shadow, pinning the masked man into place.
~What do you wish for? I want to be close to you. Forever, forever that's all I want and yet… (Thump thump…)~
Tsubasa jumped back to Kyomei's side. As she landed, a port opened on the side of his charging weapon, and she rammed her sword through it as the blade shrunk down, the hilt locking to it. The charging light then edged in blue sparks. As Scordatura responded by merging his spears back together, the massive blast that followed suit was met with the roaring wolf of flames ramming into it maw first.
~Love deterrence. Look! It's the beginning of the game. Look at these straightforward thoughts. Now I'm overflowing and I start to run.~
Both attacks blew up right amid each other. But that didn't do a thing to stop the combatants. They merely shot into the smoke cloud and clashed again, blowing it away from their collision. And as the roaring melee resumed, Ritsudo and Hibiki were watching in awe from the side. And maybe more impressively, was the fact Kyomei and Tsubasa were fighting with smiles on their faces.
"So that's what Synchronization does. Two songs… two hearts fighting together without anything separating them to become one." Ritsudo murmured.
"That's what it is… the power people have when they can really connect with each other." Hibiki balled a hand tightly, an awe filled smile of her own coming to her face as she watched the two veterans.
A song filled with both love and a pain of regret… yet one determined to move forward with those same feelings at heart and not back down again. How could they not be in awe as such a song rang from two at the same time?
I don't want to be alone any longer! Look at me! Everything leads to you, no matter the past or the future, forever and ever…~
And with a joint slash coursing with their merged powers, Tsubasa and Kyomei broke through Scordatura's guard. The man's spear was sent straight up, and the two didn't waste the opening at all. Their fists rocketed forward and slammed into the man's mask together. And from the impact alone, shards of the object went flying through the air as they carried forward. Scordatura was sent skidding back from the blow, a hand going to his face as the mask kept falling apart… and then he started laughing.
"Hehe… hahahahaha! That's it! That's the kind of power I expect from you. Hehe… a punch hard enough to shatter my mask. I expect nothing less of a Kazanari. No… that was both of you. Hehe… I suppose I've hidden this face long enough."
Scordatura's hood fell as he stood straight. Strands of near-white blonde fell down to his shoulders in a mess. His hand moved from his face, the first thing seen being his red eyes, then the tanned look of his complexion. Kyomei and Tsubasa's eyes widened, because the features under the mask were all too familiar to them. Over the visage of Scordatura, the two saw the familiar looks of Koto… the only different between the two were their eyes and hair, as Koto's own eyes were blue and his skin pale… but, there was no denying the fact Scordatura bore a near exact resemblance to their vanished friend.
"What in the… no way… why do you have the same face as Koto?!" Kyomei aimed his bow up as he snapped, Tsubasa shaking a bit and showing the shock on her face.
"It can't… that's not really you is it? No… Koto would have never betrayed us, so just who are you really?!" Tsubasa raised her sword at Scordatura, the man giving an amused hum as he tilted his head.
"As the name says. I am Scordatura, the Alternative Tuner, and humble aid to Lady Finé. Though as I said, as things are now at present, my goals and hers do not precisely align with one another."
"And what the hell does that mean bastard?! Why do I have to get left behind?!" Chris shouted, Scordatura giving a sigh as he lifted his hood.
"As I said, Chris, I don't have an answer to that. If you wish to know what Finé has in store than you'll need to confront her yourself. As for what she wants out of this, simply put I have no reason myself to kill you, so I won't." The man turned as he dismissed his spear, then glancing back to the Symphogear users. "I will give you a simple warning, Wielders. Finé is not one to wait around… once her goal is within sight she won't hesitate to enact her plan as fast as possible."
"Wait a second! During the Durandal incident, you said you were but weren't Koto, but that he was also nearby. You look just like him, so what the hell is that even about?!" Kyomei said, Scordatura giving a sigh, facing forward again.
"That also isn't my place to say. But, Aikawa Kyomei, keep a hold of the Compliant Staff. Hikawa Kotone will return, soon… but only when the time is right, no sooner than that. I can promise you both though, that you will not wait long. Until then, become a pair of wings that fly higher than any other. That is what he wants to tell you."
A glance from Scordatura with his eyes being blue instead of red made the two veterans pause. And with a flash of flames as he lashed his spear, the man was gone, not a trace left but the scorched grass where he'd been standing before.
"Wait, Scordatura!" Chris shot off the instant he was gone.
"Hey, hold on!" And as Ritsudo went to follow, Chris blasted at the others with her crossbows, keeping them in place as she vanished past the horizon in pursuit. "Dammit…"
"We lost her signal. You won't be able to pursue her." Aoi said, Ritsudo clicking his tongue.
"But we were able to catch her file. Good job on getting her name, Kenzaki-kun, Tachibana-kun. I'll send the feed to your Gear's HUDs." Sakuya's voice followed next.
A rarely used function the Symphogears did indeed have was a visor system. It mostly wasn't needed since they only deployed when the users knew their identities would be safe, but the function was there in the evet the needed to move through a crowded locale with their armors active. As the visors activated, the feed coming from the HQ's computer also came up.
Newspaper files from years ago, and right on the front page of it, a far younger Chris. And the headline read about a civil war in a South American region, and a Japanese girl who'd vanished during it only to be found.
"That was the girl?" Genjurro's said, Ritsudo perking up a bit.
"Yukine Chris, age sixteen. She was an Adaptor candidate who went missing two years ago." Sakuya said.
"And now she's shown up with the Relic we lost ten years ago… that's too fishy. Especially that Finé woman… who is she?" Kyomei murmured, his visor retracting as he folded his arms. "And now we've got that Scordatura guy just making everything more complicated."
"The same face as Koto, yet such cryptic words about him…" Tsubasa sighed herself, the two younger Adaptors glancing at both of them. "We'll figure it out. Let's just return to HQ for now."
"Right!"
Kyomei and Tsubasa were on the elevator alone as it headed down to the HQ. Hibiki and Ritsudo had gone ahead so Ryouko could look them over since they'd fought longer and taken some damage during the fighting. Which mostly left the two seniors in the quiet space alone.
"So… I guess we can assume Koto is definitely alive." Kyomei finally spoke up, turning from gazing out of the elevator and back to Tsubasa. "Besides, Ruyi Jingu Bang wouldn't have reacted like it did back during the Durandal operation if he wasn't… but just what's the entire case? That guy looks exactly like Koto, fights the same… even his aura feels similar. But… he's definitely not him. Ugh, this is all such a mess."
"But then there's what he told us. Koto… may just return. And he wants us to be wings that fly higher than another. Maybe… what if that really is Koto, and somehow, that Scordatura person is like… ugh, no, that's not possible. Their resemblance has to be a coincidence."
"It is a lot to think about. But, I guess right now we can only move forward and not look back. Next time. We'll definitely get a real answer out of that guy next time we meet him."
"Of course." Tsubasa's look then shifted a bit, and she gave a breath. "But that thought just makes me think of Kanade. I want to know, to understand just why it is she fought. But a part of me is afraid of really understanding. I'm not human, can I accept it?"
"Tsubasa." And in the moment after he'd said her name, Kyomei stepped over and lightly chopped the girl on the head. Tsubasa looked at the boy in surprise, but his soft smile told enough. "Quit saying you're not human. You're Kazanari Tsuabsa, and you're allowed to be as human as the rest of us are. And if I have to keep convincing you of that multiple times over, then bet that I will."
"You're starting to sound like both of them." Tsubasa mused, Kyomei chuckling as he leaned against the wall next to her. "Then again it's like Kanade used to say: "If you're too serious all the time, you're bound to snap someday." I can hear her saying it now."
"It's definitely her all right."
"Also… I want to apologize again." Tsubasa got Kyomei to look at her with a bit of surprise to the statement. "When Kanade died… something in me just became terrified. She was so strong, so powerful and yet even someone like her still died when pushed too far… and then Koto left without a trace. In such a short time, two people I found so important had vanished from my life in different ways. And the thought I could lose the only remaining one terrified me."
"It's fine to be scared about losing people. After all, you're human." Kyomei shifted his hand over and took Tsubasa's, their fingers winding together. "And because you're human it also means you're allowed to feel those kinds of things. You don't have to be an unfeeling blade in order to protect the things you care about. Honestly I think it's a lot better to earnestly desire to protect something because you care about it then push yourself away from it to do so."
"I think… I think I do understand that a bit better now." Tsubasa had a small smile on, Kyomei glancing at her. "I remembered when we Synchronized before. It was always just part of the job then, even back then… in part because I… well, you know. And we were never as good at it as Koto and Kanade were. And I think now I understand why. Because when we did, I felt a warmth I'd almost forgotten about… such sincere, bright feelings I thought I'd forced myself never to feel in order to act as a sentinel. Thank you, Kyomei… for helping me remember how love feels."
"You really did love Kanade like that, did you?" Kyomei said, Tsubasa blinking. "I kind of got the feeling before. We may have known each other for a long time, but you know, we're not exactly childhood friends. It's not like I have any hard feelings about it, but… even with what we said to each other, and I do love you, you did feel that way about her, right?"
"Maybe I did… I'm not sure. I know it was a kind of love, but I'm not sure what kind anymore." Tsubasa sighed, her hand tightening on Kyomei's. "Maybe it was that, or maybe I just looked at her like a dear older sister. But, right now, I know my love towards you isn't something confusing. A blade needs a… no, if I call myself a blade you'll just scold me about it again. But, are you really fine with me? A girl who stopped being human?"
"Well it's gonna be a long road. But it's a road I'm more than happy to be by your side on." Kyomei then leaned in, lighting kissing Tsubasa on the lips for a brief moment. Though it was enough for the idol's face to go to sheer red as he pulled back. "So I'll reiterate it time and time again. I'll be the other wing you need to fly. And not to replace Kanade in your heart or anything like that. Because I'm me and it's what I want to do in order to see you soar as high as possible."
"Geez… don't just be like that all of a sudden. I don't know how to react sometimes." Tsubasa's embarrassed remark made Kyomei tilt his head, the elevator also finally coming to a stop.
"She looks cute when she's embarrassed… she doesn't make a face like that often."
"Why are you grinning like that?!"
"Eh? Like what?"
"Like that! Like something is just amusing you."
"Sorry sorry! You just look cute when you're embarrassed." Kyomei put up a hand as they walked out, then giving a hum. "But I think you're a lot more dazzling when you're on stage."
"Eh?" Tsubasa's face got even redder, and he turned away as she put another hand to her face. "Don't say so many things all at once! M-My heart still isn't prepared for all of that so quickly! At least give me time to recover before saying stuff like that again!"
"Wait did I just make you break character?!"
"People are multi-faceted! You're just the only person I'm willing to show this side of myself too!" Tsubasa whined as Kyomei started laughing, though her look went a bit somber again. "But… I also don't really know what to do. Just going back isn't something that's so easy."
"Then just do what you want." Kyomei tapped Tsubasa on the head with his free hand again. "If people are so multi-faceted like you just said, then just do what you want. We don't have to go quickly. If it's gonna take time for you to go from a sentinel to a normal girl, then I'm to be with you the entire way."
"You're a bit of a fool, you know that?" Tsubasa had a smile back as Kyomei chuckled approvingly. He had to be a bit of one to stick through what he had after all. "What I want, huh? I don't think I've thought about that in a long time."
"You two will be just fine. I'll be excited to see where your wings take you two."
Both turned around when they swore Kanade's voice entered their ears. All they saw was the closing door of the elevator, but there was another sensation in the air. A warm one, one that felt like pride directed towards them.
"Guess sometimes… when you care about people, they're never really gone." Kyomei said, Tsubasa angling her head at him. "As long as you hold tight to the memories you have of them… they'll always be with you. And we can use that to move forward."
"Since when were you a philosopher?"
"You know the kind of books I read." Kyomei playfully made the remark sound flat, and Tsubasa chuckled. "But… I'm also a bit worried about the other two. Their friends just got dragged into all of this, when the last thing they wanted was for that to happen."
"I'm sure they'll be fine. After our, they're our reliable juniors. Us seniors don't need to step in to help them every time trouble comes around."
"Yeah, you're right. Let's put faith in them too."
A/N
Well been a while since I did an AN. But hey I felt it nice… pretty much since now this means the new Trill's passed the old version when it comes to length of the first season. So I wanted to give a thanks to all you guys reading this. I know I'm probably not the best author, but I'm glad to be able to make something people can enjoy regardless of what some of us may get out of this show.
Because hey at the end of the day we're all Symphogear fans, right?... I'm realizing this sounds like some kind of last chapter message. We're obvious far from done. And oh boy, is the ride along the way going to be fun.
