Hello guys, so I've been playing quite a few gacha games, and Symphogear XD Unlimited used to be one of them, until I got tired and just stopped.
But that aside, I'm a fan of tokusatsu, and needless to say I've been reading the ULTRAMAN manga. So when they announced the Netflix series AND the collab between ULTRAMAN and Symphogear XDU, well, I just can't not put this in my to-write-list.
So considering I just finished my Naruto/SAO fic, I got bored and decided, ah what the hell, let's just start off 2021 with a new story.
And here it is.
XXX
Millions of years ago, in the middle of a desert, two beings were in the sky, clashing blades.
One was covered in a blue aura, a man with blue hair clad in a blue battle suit and a white cape.
The other was covered in a light purplish aura, a woman with white hair in a white battle dress.
The two clashed again, before crashing into the ground.
The cloud of dust cleared up, revealing the man on the ground, blood seeping out from his abdomen.
The woman got up, and stared coldly at the man, "Give up, Enki. It's over."
Enki chuckled, as he took note of his arm turning to silver, "It's not over, until it's over."
Without hesitating, the man used his blade to slice off the infected arm, holding in the pain.
The woman frowned at his defiant spirit, "Why do you try so hard, for those monkeys? They are meant for me to rule over them."
Enki grinned through the pain, "You'll never understand it, Shem-Ha. But, you won't be there to see it."
He brought out a device, one that Shem-Ha recognised very well.
Her teleporter to the moon.
The woman's face turned into one of rage, "Enki!"
She lunged at him, but she was too late.
He was already gone.
Shem-Ha growled.
(Linebreak)
Enki appeared in the middle of a control room, and he immediately dropped to the floor.
He grunted, "I guess I was really pushing it."
The man grunted and pushed himself off the ground with his one arm, walking to the center of the control room.
Enki activated the control panel, before stopping at the final procedure, "Fine, I'm very sorry. Please forgive me."
He hit the button, and in response, the language that united the people of the world broke apart.
It would later come to be known, as the Curse of Balal.
Enki fell to the ground as his wounds worsened, and he chuckled, "They won't be under your rule, Shem-Ha, never."
The woman's scornful voice sounded from around him, "It's not over. I may be sent to sleep, but my experiments will take my place. And sooner or later, I'll be back."
With that said, Shem-Ha's presence vanished.
Enki grunted as he adjusted his body on the ground, he knew just well what Shem-Ha's experiments were, and he lamented his own powerlessness to stop it.
The man brought out another device, and he looked at the contact on it.
The last person he'd want to ask, but the only one he could ask.
His friend.
(Linebreak)
Many centuries later, a young boy ran around a museum.
The museum wasn't a normal one.
It was meant for the one squad that saved the Earth from aliens.
The SSSP.
The Science Special Search Party.
It had consisted of Japan's best personnel, and they had worked to defend the Earth from alien invaders.
Muramatsu Toshio.
Arashi Daisuke.
Ide Mitsuhiro
Fuji Akiko.
Hoshino Isamu.
Sakomizu Shingo.
Hayata Shin.
They were the members that fought every alien that attacked the earth.
From the first Bemular all the way to Zetton.
The young boy ran around the museum, staring at all the replicas in awe.
Finally, he stopped in front of one stand.
It showed a miniature replica of the SSSP home base, and by its side, were two larger figures.
A black and silver monster that looked like a humanoid cockroach, and a silver and red giant with large yellow eyes and a blue gem on his chest.
The Space Dinosaur, Zetton.
And the Giant of Light, Ultraman.
The SSSP also had a very dependable ally.
The one alien that did not attack Earth, and coincidentally the alien that resembled humans the most.
The humans dubbed him, Ultraman.
Little did they know at that time, that Ultraman had fused with a single human being, when said human almost died.
That man, was one of the members of the SSSP, Hayata Shin.
The young boy glanced at the two older men with him, "Otou-san! Ide-san! This is Ultraman and Zetton, right?"
The two older men chuckled, and Ide Mitsuhiro nodded, "Yep, the final battle we fought alongside Ultraman."
The young boy marveled at the figures, before he turned and beamed, "Let's go look at everything else!"
The two men only chuckled as they followed after the energetic boy.
The three soon found themselves at a portrait of the entire SSSP.
Ide knelt down and asked, "Shinjiro, do you know which one is your father and I?"
The young boy, Hayata Shinjiro grinned and pointed at two younger images of Ide and Shin, "These! Am I right?"
The boy's father chuckled and ruffled his hair, "That's right. That's impressive of you."
Shinjiro giggled sheepishly, before he spotted something else that caught his interest, and he glanced at his father, "Otou-san, I'll go look around, okay?"
Shin nodded with a kind smile, "Of course, go ahead. But be careful."
The boy beamed and ran off, leaving Ide and Shin alone.
Shin glanced at his friend, "So, Chief Ide, I brought my son here to visit after he pestered me for three weeks straight, what brought you here?"
The man chuckled, "What, can't I just come here to see my friend? Defense Minister Hayata?"
Hayata Shin let a small smile appear on his face, "I suppose so."
Ide looked at the corridor where Shinjiro ran off, "Speaking of which, you're rather protective of your son."
Shin chuckled, "Ah well, we just had him after all..."
They were interrupted, however, when a young man approached them.
The man spoke shyly, "Uhh, excuse me, Defense Minister Hayata, right?"
Shin raised an eyebrow and regarded the young man, recognising the uniform as one of the newly formed defense departments, "Hmm? Yes? "
The man took a breath and asked, "M-may I get your autograph?"
The two older men blinked, before Ide spoke, "I'm sorry-"
Shin cut him off, "It's fine, but I'm not too sure why you'd want it."
The man blinked and spoke, "You're one of the members of the SSSP, and you were crucial in defeating Zetton, I respect you very much!"
The two men blinked, before Ide burst out laughing, as Shin rubbed the back of his head sheepishly.
The man nodded slowly, "I see, thanks... I guess."
He quickly sighed the notebook presented, and the young man bowed and quickly ran away.
Shin sighed, "Well, you don't see that everyday."
Ide chuckled, "And he didn't ask for my autograph."
The man let out a breath, "Well, I still don't understand why you all credited me for Zetton."
Ide stared at him incredulously, "You serious? You were the one who held it off for that whole 30 minutes!"
Shin stared at his friend, "It was Ultraman that did it."
Ide nodded, "And you know what I mean."
Hayata frowned, looking at the figure of Ultraman on the ground floor, "That's the thing, Ide. I don't remember being Ultraman. Hell, I don't remember half the things I did in the SSSP."
Ide looked on sympathetically and stayed silent.
Shin looked up the ceiling, "I can remember things, yes, but it's more of a I remember because I read it in a book, and not I experienced it, kind of thing."
Ide nodded, "I see... I guess I can't blame you, waking up and not remembering anything that happened."
(Linebreak)
Years ago, the day after Zetton was destroyed, Hayata Shin approached his entire team.
Akiko looked at her teammate, "Hayata-san, what's up?"
Hayata wordlessly brought out the Beta Capsule, "I have a confession..."
Everyone stared at the capsule, and some slowly realised it, while the others were confused.
The man looked at them, "I am Ultraman."
Ide blinked, "W-what?"
The others stayed silent, some of them had a hunch, while the others weren't very much surprised.
Hayata nodded, "And my time on Earth is getting shorter. My higher officer is waiting for me in the stratosphere, and I'm leaving today."
Daisuke looked at him, "So, does that mean we won't see you anymore?"
Hayata shook his head, "No, this body will still stay on Earth. But when Ultraman leaves the planet, Hayata Shin will not remember anything that happened for the past few years. So just please help me when the time comes."
Ide nodded, "I see, very well."
The man smiled, "Thank you. It's been a very good time here on Earth, I hope we can meet again."
He raised the Beta Capsule, and pressed it.
In an instant, Ultraman appeared outside of the SSSP building, as Hayata Shin fell to the floor unconscious.
The silver and red giant looked into the building, and gave them a nod, before he turned into a red ball and shot up into the sky.
(Flashback end)
Ide looked at Hayata, "But you did all that, we were all there, and that's all that matters."
The man looked at his friend, who genuinely believed what he said, and he sighed, "I see. I guess I'll just have to accept it."
Hayata paused, before he spoke, "Besides, I think I really was Ultraman. There're some stuff happening-"
They were interrupted by a loud scream, and Shin's eyes widened, "Shinjiro!"
He immediately ran over to where his son was, and found his body on the ground.
Ide's eyes widened, it didn't take a genius to figure out what happened, and the two quickly went down to check on the boy.
Hayata craddled his son in his arms, "Shinjiro! You okay?!"
The boy groaned, and looked at his father, "Otou-san?"
The man let out a sigh of relief, "Oh thank the gods, you're fine."
Ide looked at the father and son pair, "I think we should bring him to the hospital just in case."
Shin looked at his friend and nodded, "Yeah, I'll do that."
That had been one of the few accidents that happened to Shinjiro, and again, he had been fine when he should have been heavily injured.
(Linebreak)
Years later, Shinjiro was 13 now, and he was waiting in a longue while his father dealt with work.
The teenage boy played on his PSP to pass time, until he heard the door open.
Shinjiro piped up, "Otou-san?"
The people that came in weren't his father, but rather, two people he had never seen before.
One of them, a blue haired girl around his age, blinked, "Hmm?'
The other, an older red haired girl, smiled, "Oh hey, you must be Hayata-san's son, yeah?"
Shinjiro blinked, before he blinked again, "Who are you?"
The blue haired girl blinked, "You... don't know who we are?"
The red haired girl laughed, "That's good, right, Tsubasa? I thought you were tired of people knowing who we are everywhere we went."
The blue haired girl, Tsubasa, pouted, "I mean, yeah, but..."
Shinjiro blinked, "Ermm, so I guess you two are famous?"
The red haired girl grinned, "Sort of, ever heard of Zwei Wing?"
The boy blinked, before he recalled his classmates talking about it, "I think I've heard my friends talk about it."
The red haired girl sighed, "So I guess you really don't know..."
She grinned, "Okay, cool, I'm Amou Kanade, what's your name?"
Shinjiro blinked, before he replied, "Hayata Shinjiro."
Kanade elbowed Tsubasa, who spoke out softly, "Kazanari Tsubasa."
Kanade grinned, "Good, so from now on, we're all friends."
Shinjiro just found himself nodding along, and Tsubasa gave him an apologetic glance, and Shinjiro just smiled as if to say 'what can you do?'
Which, didn't go unnoticed by the older girl.
Kanade frowned, "Don't ignore me!"
Tsubasa looked at her friend, before at Shinjiro, and she giggled, "We weren't."
The redhead sighed, "Sure, whatever."
Shinjiro decided it would be nice to change topics, and asked, "So, Kazanari-san, Amou-san, what are you two doing here?"
Kanade grimaced, "Please don't call me Amou-san, it makes me feel old... Just call me Kanade, no -san, no - chan, okay?"
Tsubasa nodded, "Same here, just call me Tsubasa."
Shinjiro nodded, "Okay, then you can call me Shinjiro."
The girls nodded, and Tsubasa answered, "And to answer your question."
She gave Kanade a glance, and Kanade nodded, "Apparently our manager and Tsubasa's uncle had some business with your dad, so they sent us here to wait."
The boy oh'd, "Then we're the same I guess."
Kanade grinned and walked around the longue, "So, anything we can do here? It'll be boring if we just sat here doing nothing."
Tsubasa smiled softly, "I think talking counts as something."
The redhead grimaced, "Ew, just... No."
Shinjiro smiled, holding back a chuckle, "I think there might be something on TV?"
Kanade gave the old television sitting at the far end of the room a glance, "Sure, I guess..."
Shinjiro grabbed the remote and turned it on, which, coincidentally was the entertainment news channel.
And on the screen, were two very familiar girls wearing winged dresses.
'The two young superstars, Zwei Wing, hits the entertainment world by storm as they become one of Japan's most famous rising stars in history.'
Shinjiro blinked, and looked at the girls in awe, "So you two are superstars?!"
Kanade chuckled, "Yeah, sort of."
Tsubasa, on the other hand, blushed, "It was something we wanted to try before... Umm, can you change the channel?"
While not something she wasn't used to, it was kind of embarrassing for her new friend, who knew nothing about their work as Zwei Wing, to suddenly find out from watching TV.
Shinjiro seemingly noticed this and turned the channel, which was something all of them were quite familiar with as well.
A documentary on the SSSP and Ultraman.
The videos played showed recorded instances of the battles the SSSP and Ultraman fought against the aliens.
Kanade smiled dryly, "And there's your dad, right?"
Shinjiro nodded, rather proud of his father, "Yep, I love watching these, even after my dad told me all of them like a hundred times already."
Tsubasa smiled, "I can relate, it's amazing they protected our country like that, and Ultraman helped, which is awesome."
Shinjiro nodded in agreement, "I know right!"
The blue haired girl asked, "Which is your favourite battle they documented?"
The boy grinned, "The one with Gomora. Well, the SSSP didn't really do much at the time, but that one is my favourite."
Tsubasa's smile widened, "Me too! I mean, the one with Zetton was great too, but the one with Gomora is the best."
Shinjiro grinned, "Because it was the first time Ultraman lost?"
The bluenette nodded, "More like because it was the first time he came back to try a second time."
Kanade smiled in amusement as the normally shy Tsubasa could click so well with a boy she just met mere moments ago, and she never knew Tsubasa liked the SSSP so much.
No, it actually made sense considering her upbringing.
At any rate, while it was amusing to see them converse, she didn't really want to be left out.
The redhead cleared her throat, "While I'd love for nothing more than to watch you two lovebirds bond, are you two gonna just ignore me and talk about Ultraman and the SSSP for the next three hours?"
The two froze, and red covered their faces as they realized just how close they were sitting to each other.
If Kanade didn't know better, she could've sworn they teleported, for Shinjiro and Tsubasa were sitting at the opposite ends of the couch in the next second.
Kanade giggled, "I'm just joking, but it's nice to see you not acting shy, Tsubasa."
If possible, Tsubasa's face reddened even more, "I-it's not what you think, okay?!"
Shinjiro just stayed silent, his face red too.
Kanade chuckled, "Sure... Anyway, Shinjiro-kun, what do you do for fun?"
The boy brought up his PSP, "I game, I guess... I have this PSP, and a PS2 back home. But my dad's kinda strict with these, today's an exception."
The redhead smiled amusedly, "You think Hayata-san might let us come over and play with you?"
Shinjiro shrugged, "No idea... My dad's always been strict with me with my friends..."
Kanade grinned, "Not with us, I bet. Right, Tsubasa?"
Tsubasa sighed, "I don't know. I don't want to impose."
The redhead pouted, "Fine, be that way."
She looked at Shinjiro, "What's your number? We can contact each other after this."
Shinjiro chuckled sheepishly, "Uhh, I don't have a phone yet."
Kanade sighed, "Asian parents then, what about Facebook, or Instagram?"
The boy nodded, "Yeah, those I have."
The redhead grinned and brought out her phone, and opened her Facebook app, before typing in Shinjiro's name, and showed it to him, "Is this you?"
Shinjiro nodded, "Yeah."
Kanade pressed 'add', before going on to Instagram, "And your Instagram ID?"
The boy gave her his ID and she followed his account.
Kanade grinned, "Those are my private accounts, so we won't get any scandals, kay?"
Shinjiro just nodded slowly, before Kanade nudged Tsubasa, "Come on, you too."
Tsubasa nodded, "Okay okay, just gimme a moment."
She quickly added him on both Facebook and Instagram, and Shinjiro spoke, "I'll just, umm, add and follow you two back later."
Kanade looked at him with a grin, "See to it that you do."
The three then spent the next hour talking about random topics, before Shin came back and got Shinjiro to go home, while Zwei Wing's manager came and escorted them out.
(Linebreak)
With Kanade and Tsubasa, on their car, the redhead looked at Tsubasa, "You know, that was the most I've seen you talking, to a boy, no less."
Tsubasa realized it was true, and blushed again, sinking into her seat.
Kanade giggled, "Plus, you have to admit, Shinjiro is quite cute. I'm not into younger boys, but maybe we might get him to be your manager in the future."
The bluenette just sank further into her seat, "Please stop..."
Kanade merely laughed as they continued their journey home.
(Linebreak)
At the same time, Shinjiro was on the car with his father.
Shin asked, "So, did you have fun?"
Shinjiro blinked, "Hmm?"
The man asked again, "With Kanade and Tsubasa, it's not everyday you get to meet two new superstars, ya know?"
The boy nodded, "It was fun... I guess."
Shin raised an eyebrow, but chose to say nothing.
Shinjiro then asked, "Otou-san, do you think we can invite them over some time? They added me on Facebook, so I guess I can ask."
The man blinked, before he chuckled, "Sure, of course we can."
(Linebreak)
After that meeting, Shinjiro had often texted Kanade and Tsubasa, and they had gotten pretty close.
The redhead had even made a group chat on Messenger for the three of them only, and they often talked there.
The girls had also visited the Hayata household several times to spend time with their friend.
Shin had allowed it, since he knew the two girls didn't have many chances to interact with friends of their age group, plus, it was good to help Shinjiro build his connections from a young age.
Not to sound like a politician, but especially considering one of them was a potential heir to the Kazanari Agency, an advisory organisation to the government.
Now, the three friends were in Zwei Wing's private longue, gaming on a Nintendo Wii.
It was sort of a risk to bring a boy with them just like that, but the two girls didn't really much care at that point.
As they played, Tsubasa spoke, "Hey, Kanade, you know the concert we're gonna have, do you think we can get a backstage pass?"
Kanade looked at her sister in all but blood knowingly, "You wanna get Shinjiro to come, right?"
Shinjiro looked at them, "Really? That'd be awesome!"
The redhead chuckled, "I'll get our manager to check, we should be able to get a ticket for you either way."
She grinned at Shinjiro knowingly, "Besides, you'll get to see two pretty girls performing, count yourself lucky."
The boy just blushed, not knowing what to say, and Kanade sighed, punching his shoulder lightly, "You really gotta stop blushing every time I say something like that, you'll end up like Tsubasa."
The bluenette glanced at her, "Hey, I take offense to that!"
Kanade just stuck out her tongue at her, making Tsubasa hmph in response.
Shinjiro, on the other hand, just chuckled as he focused on the game.
(Linebreak)
A few weeks later, Shinjiro was in the stadium where Kanade and Tsubasa were performing.
Shin had some last minute work to do, so he would have to go in later, so that left Shinjiro alone to enter the venue.
The teen wandered around the stadium, before finding a seat.
He had wanted to go in and look for the two girls, but figured they'd be busy preparing and didn't really want to disturb them.
Shinjiro sat down, and patiently waited for the concert to start.
He heard a girl sitting in front of him, something about her friend ditching her last minute, and smiled wryly.
(Linebreak)
Meanwhile, in backstage, Tsubasa was hiding behind a set of boxed.
Kanade sighed, "Tsubasa, what are you hiding there for?"
The bluenette glanced at her friend, "Nothing... Why?"
The redhead furrowed her brows, "You're nervous."
Tsubasa blushed, "Why would I be nervous?! I've done this before."
Kanade nodded, but her words said otherwise, "Yep, and this time Shinjiro's watching, and we've never done it in a stage this big before."
The girl just blushed and sunk into her robes, speechless.
The redhead wanted to tease her friend again, but held off on it, "Look, I know it's nerve wrecking to perform in front so many people all of a sudden. We usually do it with an audience of 300 to 400 max. This time it's double that number. But all we accepted the offer knowing that."
Tsubasa nodded, "We did, I suppose."
Kanade nodded, "Yes, and do you want to blow this? When our friend is watching live?"
The bluenette shook her head.
The redhead smiled, and reached out her hand, "Good, now let's go knock them out."
Tsubasa smiled, "You never fail to help me when I'm nervous."
Kanade grinned, "If I don't do it, who will?"
The bluenette giggled, "Let's get going."
The pair stepped on the platform that would lead them to the roof, and they closed their eyes as they prepared themselves.
(Linebreak - Play Gyakko no Flugel)
The crowd cheered as the pair landed on the stage from the roof top.
Shinjiro was immediately enamoured by the performance, yes, he had seen and listened to their songs before, but it was his first time attending their live concert.
The boy never really realized how good they were, until now.
And before he knew it, Shinjiro was cheering along the other audiences to the beat of the song.
(Linebreak - end of Gyakko no Flugel)
Taking a few seconds after the end of the song, Kanade yelled, "How're we all doing today?!"
The crowd roared in response.
Kanade grinned, "Then you're all ready for the next song, yeah?"
Again, their response came in a positive roar.
Tsubasa let out a breath, "Then, our next song, Orbital Beat, please enjoy."
The music started, but before the girls could start singing, a huge tremor interrupted them.
And, before anyone could react, the back part of the stage exploded.
The smoke lightened up a bit, revealing countless figures.
They were neon bright in color, and they were formed in weird ways, similar to that of virus or bacteria.
Tsubasa and Kanade instantly knew what they were.
Kanade turned and looked at the audience, "Everyone, evacuate the stadium, now! Security! The Noise are coming."
The redhead turned to her partner, and they shared a nod.
There wasn't a need for an order from HQ. They knew what they had to do.
"Croitzal ronzell Gungnir zizzl."
"Imyuteus Ame no Habakiri tron."
In an instant, before Shinjiro's eyes, the two girls that were wearing dresses before, were now clad in a skin tight battle suit with armor plating.
Most of the ones in the audience were surprised by the transformation, but by now, the security department had gotten at least half of the audience out, such that most of them didn't see their transformation.
But two young teenagers caught sight of it.
Tsubasa cut down one of the Noise, and she spotted Shinjiro still in the audience seats, she narrowed her eyes and cut down another Noise, "Go!"
The boy nodded panickily, and quickly followed the others out of the stadium.
As he exited the stadium, Shinjiro looked back at the two girls fighting the seemingly countless Noise, burning that image into his eyes.
That was the last time he saw either girls in years.
(Linebreak)
With Kanade and Tsubasa, the pair cut through the Noise, one after another.
The redhead brandished her spear, while Tsubasa swung her katana around, slicing down every Noise that came through the breach.
Kanade grunted, "They don't seem to end..."
Tsubasa cut down another Noise, "At least the evac is done."
The redhead smiled amusedly, "You mean at least Shinjiro is safe?"
The bluenette held back the urge to blush, and sliced down three Noise in a slash, "No!"
She caught herself and frowned, slicing down another moderately sized Noise, "I mean yes! I'm glad he's safe, you know what I mean!"
Kanade laughed as they plowed through the Noise, "Yeah I know."
Tsubasa sighed in exasperation, "Let's just get over with this."
The two brandished their weapons and charged the massive army of Noise, unaware of two girls that were still the stadium.
(Linebreak)
Three years later, a now 16-year old Shinjiro walked along the streets. He had finished school, and had nothing else to do other than wander around.
After the incident in the stadium three years later, and with Kanade declared dead, Shinjiro had not seen Tsubasa much, not from the lack of trying.
The girl had gone on a solo career, and had become very busy to the point that she had little time alone, so she couldn't exactly meet up with him.
Or at least, that was the reason she gave him. They had talked on text messages, but it was always short, usually just Tsubasa asking if he was doing okay, or vice versa.
The group chat Kanade made was still there, but neither Shinjiro nor Tsubasa made use of it. It was just there.
Speaking of three years ago, not a single news about two girls in high tech battle suits fighting monsters came out. Instead, something different was reported to the public.
Shinjiro didn't mind. They probably had their reasons, considering such a thing would cause panic if known to the public. But it still bothered him for not knowing anything.
Now, Shinjiro slid his hands into his pockets as he walked, before he spotted a girl looking up a tree by a park.
He raised his eye brow and walked to the girl, easily recognising the uniform to be that of Lydian Private Music Academy.
Coincidentally, it was also the academy Tsubasa attended, and was an all-girls school.
Shinjiro stopped by the girl, "Is anything wrong, miss?"
The girl turned. She had dark orange eyes and short ruffled cream colored hair, clipped to the sides with a pair of hair clips.
The girl looked at Shinjiro, before her face brightened up as if he had just saved her life, "Yes! The cat! It's stuck on the tree!"
The teen glanced up, and sure enough, a cat was there, shaking scaredly.
Shinjiro simply reached up and grabbed the cat, and handed it to the girl.
The girl beamed at him, "Thank you very much!"
She then proceeded to let the cat onto the ground and let it go on its way, much to Shinjiro's confusion.
The teen asked, "Isn't the cat yours?"
The girl blinked and looked at him, before she giggled sheepishly, "Oh no, I just saw it being stuck on the tree and wanted to help it."
She bowed, "I'm Tachibana Hibiki by the way."
Shinjiro chuckled, "Hayata Shinjiro. That was nice of you though."
Hibiki giggled sheepishly as she rubbed the back of her head, "Thanks, I guess..."
She then noticed the time on her watch, and paled, "Oh my gosh! I'm gonna be late! Miku's gonna be mad at me!"
Hibiki bowed to Shinjiro again, "I gotta get going!"
She turned and ran off, "I'll see around sometime!"
Shinjiro just waved with an amused chuckle.
Soon, Shinjiro found himself wandering to a park some distance away.
As he sat down by a bench, Shinjiro spotted a person he'd never fail to recognise. She wore a simple dress, with a light brown hat and a pair of glasses, but her blue hair was unmistakable.
"Tsubasa?"
The girl turned and spotted him, "Shinjiro-kun?"
Shinjiro stood up from the bench and walked to her, "Holy crap it is you! It's been a really long time since the last time we actually met."
Tsubasa smiled softly, "I suppose so..."
She glanced around, before saying, "Do you mind if we have a change of venue?"
Shinjiro nodded, "Of course."
(Linebreak)
The pair soon found themselves in Lydian Academy, or rather, the roof of one of the buildings.
Shinjiro blinked as they reached the roof, "Umm, why here?"
Tsubasa took off her hat and glasses, "Because we won't need to worry about stupid journalists. They can make up very stupid stories if given any materials."
The teen nodded, before he asked, "So, how've you been?"
The girl glanced at him, before looking down the roof, "As good as I can be. You?"
Shinjiro shrugged, "Same old, I guess. My dad's seldom home these days though..."
Tsubasa paused for a moment, before she nodded, "I see. He's the Minister of Defense, after all."
The teen chuckled and nodded, "Yeah, I guess."
The two stayed there in a comfortable silence, before Shinjiro glanced down the roof and spoke, "You know, I met a girl just now. She's from this academy."
Tsubasa raised an eyebrow, "Hmm, really?"
Shinjiro chuckled, "Yeah, she was trying to save a stray cat stuck on a tree. Tachibana Hibiki, do you know her?"
Tsubasa pondered on the name before she nodded, "I might have heard of her, but she's not in my class, that's for sure."
The teen just nodded, "I see..."
The two stayed silent for a few more moments, before Shinjiro looked at the girl, "Hey, Tsubasa, I know this is a touchy subject, but three years ago, what really happened? My dad won't tell me, and the news is obviously fake."
The blue haired girl froze, before she looked away, "It's better if you don't know."
Shinjiro frowned, "Why? Why can't I know?"
Tsubasa clenched her fists, forcefully calming herself down after remembering who she was talking to, "Because I already lost Kanade."
The unspoken words hung in the air.
I don't want to lose you too.
Shinjiro stared at her for a moment, before he nodded, "I see... But... Tsubasa, you don't need to keep everything to yourself. That's what friends are for, right?"
Tsubasa stayed silent for a moment, before she nodded, "If I feel that I need to, then I will."
The girl turned and headed for the stairs, "I'm sorry, Shinjiro, but I just remembered I have something to do after this."
Shinjiro stared at her for a moment, before he nodded, "Okay, then I'll see you next time."
Tsubasa merely nodded and pointed at the entrance, "You know the way out."
With that said, the girl left the rooftop, leaving Shinjiro alone, before he left the academy as well.
(Linebreak)
Later that evening, Shinjiro sat on one of rooftops in the city.
Shin had sent a message back that he wasn't coming home today, and Shinjiro's mother had decided to go meet her friends.
That left the teenager alone, and he found himself wandering the rooftops for no reason.
Shinjiro scrolled through his feed, noticing a few posts about Tsubasa's new single album.
He thought, 'You've changed, Tsubasa...'
Shinjiro pocketed his phone, before he spotted a red light from afar, "Hmm, is that a shooting star?"
It wasn't, and the teen quickly realized it, before throwing himself to the floor.
The red light struck the area behind him, creating a large explosion.
Shinjiro quickly got to his feet, "W-what the hell was that?"
"So you survived, I should've guessed."
A voice sounded from behind him, and Shinjiro turned, to see a dark bluish silver being staring at him.
Shinjiro's eyes widened, it looked very familiar.
It looked like Ultraman.
The teen got out, "W-what are you? Ultraman?"
The figure stared at him silently, before speaking, "You possess power, Hayata Shinjiro. Power that shouldn't exist on this planet."
Shinjiro opened his mouth to ask what it meant, but he was forced to hit the ground to dodge a blast of energy.
The teen cursed, and decided it was better to run.
He got up and broke into a sprint, leaping from roof to roof, until he reached an industrial area near by.
But with that came another problem.
In front of him was an army of monsters.
Monsters he'd seen three years ago.
He got out, "What the actual fuck?"
The being's voice sounded from behind him, "The Noise, the Symphogear can deal with them. But do not assume yourself to be safe."
Shinjiro's eyes widened as he leaped forward, right off the building, just in time to dodge another blast from behind.
The teen groaned as he got off the ground. Fortunately his body was rather sturdy, and that fall had done nothing more than give him a sore body.
Shinjiro groaned as he got to his feet, before he heard two very familiar voices.
"Shinjiro-kun?"
"Shinjiro-san?"
Standing in front of him, were two girls clad in skin tight battlesuits with armor parts, orange and blue respectively.
XXX
DONE. So that's the first chapter of Songs of Light.
Do read and review please.