Sins of Past

Tsubasa sighed as she drank some tea she kept for her throat when it was sore. She knew she had to be careful. She was lucky to get away with just vocal cord damage after the concert and she was fully aware of that. The doctor said it was a miracle she could even talk now. A miracle such a cruel thing. She and Kanade survived the concert but so much changed. She couldn't sing with Kanade anymore, but she could still perform she'd learned the guitar, music mixing, and songwriting. She frowned as she thought about Kanade after that concert she had nearly regressed back to when they first met. She managed to convince Kanade to keep performing as an idol. Kanade was ready to give it all up just to fight the Noise. She closed her eyes a thought back to a few days after the concert her voice had recovered as much as it could.
Two Years Ago
Tsubasa had been informed that the girl had survived by a hair's breath. She wanted to speak with her but her Uncle said that she couldn't due to the non-disclosure agreement. She begged her Uncle to at least let her see the girl, but he was firm. She had been informed that the girl Miku Kohinata had gotten shards of glass stuck in her chest but that wasn't all. Her legs had been broken horribly damaged and dislocated from the explosion and she had been pierced in the back by Shenshojing several shards had been embedded in her back. Genjuro had found her bleeding heavily and barely managed to get her to safety, but they lost Nehustan and Shenshojing add in the damage to Habikiri the only intact relic they had was Gungir. She begged Ryoko-san to fix Habikiri, but she said it was too damaged to be repaired.

She heard Kanade enter the room and turned around to smile at her partner thankful she was alive, but the look on her face was nothing but sadness. Kanade quickly tried to hide it with a smile.

"Tsubasa so you're cleared to leave now?" Her partner asked.

"Yes I just got the clearance." Tsubasa smiled and coughed a bit. Kanade's eyes widened.

"I'm fine Kanade just a bit sore." Tsubasa quickly explained.

"Well then why don't we get something to eat. It'll be my treat as a celebration for your release. I know this great Italian Restaurant." Kanade smiled. Tsubasa knew something was off, but decided to go along.

"Sure that sounds like a good idea Kanade." She smiled and held her partner's hand.
"See you later Bossman." Kanade led Tsubasa out of the hospital where a car with Ogawa was waiting. Kanade could drive but Ogawa and the commander thought it best not to have her drive right now. The concert was still in the media. They'd already reserved a private booth at the restaurant for the three of them. The group arrived and the host led them to the back booth. They heard some words of condolences from the host before they were seated. Ogawa sat across from the two members of Zwei Wing.

He asked, "So how are you two feeling?" He was greatly concerned about the two. So much had happened.
Kanade said, "Seriously Ogawa? Well I'm doing alright I'm more worried about Tsubasa."
"I'm alright Kanade I promise…mostly.." She frowned.

Kanade pat Tsubasa on the head, "Don't worry about the relics Section 2 will find them in no time. You just focus on recovering."
"That isn't the only thing I'm worried about Kanade. Habikiri its broken and Ryoko-san can't repair it. Not to mention…the girl who was there…I heard from Uncle about her injuries. It's a miracle she is alive." She frowned.

Kanade said, "What matters is that she's alive. You saved her Tsubasa."
"Bu…but the other audience members I…I failed to save them." She squeezed the table.

Kanade put her hand around Tsubasa's shoulder. "You did everything you could Tsubasa. Don't blame yourself." Tsubasa's face flushed but welcomed the embrace.

Ogawa said, "Speaking of…we need to figure how to approach the media. The Noise took a lot of victims. Not to mention…well Tsubasa with your vocal cords.." He hesitated.

"I know Ogawa I'll have to retire from singing. The doctor told me about it." She frowned.

Kanade said, "Guess that's the end of our career. Well it was nice while it lasted."
"Wait but Kanade you can still perform and sing." Tsubasa said.
"Screw that and idol work. I'll eliminate every last damn Noise and make them pay for stealing your voice! That's what I'll use my songs for." Kanade stated bluntly.

"No! Kanade you can't give up!" Tsubasa cried and broke into a coughing fit. Ogawa quickly called for some water for Tsubasa. She drank the water.

"Kanade please don't give up singing. I know it means a lot to you." She begged her partner.
"Performing with you is what means the world to me Tsubasa. I can't do that anymore." She countered.
Tsubasa said, "No we can still find a way. We're Zwei Wing Two Wings who can fly to the ends of the Earth together." She paused and thought for a moment. "Guitar I'll learn guitar, music mixing, and songwriting. I'm still enrolled at Lydian I can learn it from there." Tsubasa's eyes were filled with desperation. Kanade couldn't turn that down, "I…I alright I'll keep performing."
Tsubasa happily hugged her partner in joy.
Ogawa smiled at the two he'd figure out how to handle the press with that news. That was his job and duty as Tsubasa and Kanade's manager and friend.
Present Day

As Tsubasa was reminiscing she heard movement in the backseat. Hibiki had begun to stir and saw Tsubasa.

Tsubasa smiled, "I'm glad you're awake Tachibana."
Hibiki immediately scowled, "Kazanari the hell is wrong with your partner! Woman knocked me and Miku out for no reason!" It suddenly dawned on her, "Miku is she okay?!" She desperately looked for her best friend. She sighed in relief and saw her leaning against the door to the car, but on her hands was handcuffs!?
"Please Tachibana calm down I promise you we'll explain everything once we get to our destination." She began coughing but took a sip of her tea. "I'm really sorry about Kanade. It's just…that…we never expected to see that again.."
"What the heck are you talking about?" She thought for a moment but remembered the armor Miku had. "Are you talking about that weird armor that appeared on Miku?"

Tsubasa nodded, "We thought that armor was lost during Kanade and I's last concert.."

A dark look came over Hibiki's face that cursed day that nearly killed Miku. It was sensitive topic for both of them. Hibiki was glad Miku was out cold right now because she didn't want to remind her of that day. Her near breakdown earlier fresh in Hibiki's mind.

"Kazanari that damn concert of your is a cursed day. Miku never should have gone. She nearly died at your concert. You, your partner, and Miku were the only survivors of that attack. Miku nearly dying wasn't even the last of it. That aftermath for her was hell on Earth. It ruined her life. While you and your partner walked off with only a damaged voice."
Tsubasa frowned Tachibana had look that could kill on her face. Before Hibiki could continue the two heard Miku stirring. Hibiki gave a look to Tsubasa this wasn't over.
Miku's eye fluttered open what happened? Why was she so tired?

Tsubasa smiled to the girl, "I'm glad you're awake Kohinata. How do you feel?" She had to watch her word carefully or else Tachibana may just show her why she was called the Guard Dog. She had heard plenty of stories through Lydian about Tachibana. She'd taken down several groups of bullies at the school she and Kohinata had gone to before Lydian. The Guard Dog of Zwei Wing's Killer…that title…was a painful to hear. What happened that day wasn't Kohinata's fault. She failed to protect everyone because she was scared…and her grandfather…she shivered at his words when he learned of her failure as a guardian. She couldn't worry about that now.
"Kazanari-san I…I feel tired…and my head hurts…what happened?" Miku asked confused.
"That bitch Amou knocked the two of us out after the Noise were dealt with!" Hibiki scowled having no qualms about throwing the idol under the bus. Tsubasa looked away that was way too far Kanade…she'd have to talk to her about that later. Miku blinked at those words she tried to rub the back of her head to see if the bump was bad but realized she was now handcuffed heavily. "Ah! Why am I handcuffed?" Were they finally going to lock her away…Noise attacks have been more frequent from the day of the concert forward…she…really must be a curse on the world…maybe…they…those people… The girl was shaking at the memories. Hibiki quickly saw the dark look on Miku's face and hugged her. "Miku don't listen to those voices!" She'd seen this far more then she liked to admit. A tell tale sign of those bastards that told her to give herself up to the Noise playing in her head. Tsubasa frowned how bad had this been? Tachibana said Kohinata's life went to hell after that concert. She clearly was suffering from immense trauma..was it really right to do this? She knew what would happen when they got there her uncle would ask Miku to join the fight against Noise. She squeezed her arm her grandfather's voice echoing in her mind, 'You have a duty to this nation. You will defend it!' God she hoped it didn't come to that.

"I promise you Kohinata we'll explain everything once we reach out destination it isn't far now." Tsubasa said. As the cars arrived Hibiki was looking out the window holding Miku. "This is the teacher's dorms. Where the hell are you taking us?" The car soon parked and Tsubasa got out as a young man in a suit opened the door to the car helping Hibiki and Miku out of the car.
"Please follow me you two. We are just about there." He said. Hibiki begrudgingly followed him down the hallways and the group was led to an elevator to which the young man scanned his ID and typed in some code to the elevator. There were bars on the sides of the clear glass elevator.
"I'd advise both of you to hold on tight." Miku didn't hesitate and held on for dear life to the bars. The others did the same. The young man pressed a button and the elevator shot down at insane speeds.
It caused Hibiki to cry out, "What the fuuuuuuuuuuuuuu.!" Her words were cut off until the elevator slowed down the walls around them had strange carvings.

"What the actual hell is this place?! Why is this under our school!" Hibiki cried out. The elevator soon stopped in a bunker. Miku had her eyes closed.
"You can open your eyes now Kohinata. We've stopped at our destination." Tsubasa gave a weak smile. Miku opened her eyes to see darkness she could barely make out some tables. She tried to walk out but nearly collapsed, but Hibiki caught her. Miku was holding her legs that intense drop had been too much for her legs. Suddenly the lights turned on and a large group of people cried out, "Surprise! Welcome to Section 2 Miku Kohinata!" The sudden noise caused Miku to squeak and likely would have fallen if Hibiki hadn't been holding her. A large man wearing a red suit that matched his red hair and party hat smiled brightly.
Miku squeaked out, "Wh…where am I? Are you going to lock me up?"
A woman with pink glass, brown tied up hair, and was wearing a lab coat smiled. Oh isn't she just cute?
The large man said, "Welcome to Humanity's Final Fortress. Special Disaster Response Team Section 2!"

The woman ran over and grabbed Miku's waist, "Let's take a picture together to celebrate!" Miku quickly responded, "Ah! No! I don't want a picture in handcuffs." Why just what was going on here?
Hibiki glared and shoved the woman off Miku and stood in front of her best friend, "The heck is wrong with you! You guys some kind of creepers! How the frick do you know her name!? We've never met you!"
The large man spoke up, "Section 2's predecessor was a special organization in the World War 2. Investigation is our specialty."
Hibiki said, "That does not make this any less creepy old man!"
Tsubasa sighed, "Ogawa-san can you please let Kohinata go?" Ogawa smiled and nodded and went over to Miku promising Tachibana he wouldn't do anything and led the pair to a table and pressed a button on a remote releasing the handcuffs. Miku rubbed her wrists those things were so tight and heavy. She turned to the young man, "Thank you." She bowed her head in thanks.
He smiled, "No worries you don't need to be formal here. I apologize for the rough arrival." Miku's face flushed at that.
The large man spoke up, "Allow me to introduce myself. My name is Genjuro Kazanari. I'm the one in charge here." Miku stared at the man why did he look so familiar…she couldn't figure it out. The woman spoke up next, "And I'm Sakurai Ryouko known for getting things done. Nice to meet you."
Miku bowed her head once more, "It's nice to meet you both." Hibiki wanted to tell her not to bother with being formal with these creepers, but knew it wouldn't do any good.
"I'm sure you can figure out why you're here. We'd like to ask for your help with something." Genjuro said.
Miku frowned they wanted help from someone cursed like her? What could they want unless. Her eyes widened as it hit her. "Ah! Is it related to that strange armor?" The two adults turned to face each other and nodded.
Ryouko approached Miku and held up two fingers, "Before we answer your questions we have two requests. One is that you don't tell anyone about what happened tonight and two." She got up close to Miku and held her waist close pulling her to her face, "I'll need you to strip." She had a sickly sweet grin. Miku's face turned bright red but before she could respond Ryouko got a hard kick to her side sending the woman flying back a few feet, "Get off of her you god damn pervert!" Hibiki had land a hard round house kick to the woman's side. This caused everyone's eyes to widen. This kid managing to pull that off was insane. Though Genjuro couldn't help but grin. Now she would be a great student for him. But that was beside the point.
Miku cried and went over to the woman, "Are you okay ?"

The woman shot a glare at Hibiki how dare she! But she quickly hid it she would deal with her later. "I'm fine dear. I appreciate the concern."
Miku sighed in relief, "Thank goodness."

She looked at Hibiki, "Hibiki that was too much."
"It was certainly not! The woman asked you to strip Miku!" She argued back.

Tsubasa sighed Tachibana was going to be something that was for sure. Sure, she had heard the stories about Tachibana, but seeing how strong she was in person was a whole other subject. Ryouko-san may be a scientist, but she is pretty fit. A 15 year old girl managing to do that was kind of scary.

Another voice spoke up, "How about you apologize squirt? You should respect your elders." Everyone turned to see Kanade glaring at Tachibana. She had nothing but a sour look since she returned.

"Why the hell should I? She is being a god damn pervert! And YOU are not someone who should be calling people out to apologize! You owe me and Miku and apology for smacking us in the back of the head with your damn spear!" Hibiki scowled in return.
"Like hell am I apologizing to a thief!" Kanade yelled back.
"Thief! Who are you calling a thief you psycho! I saw you in that fight! You were a crazed beast!" Hibiki began to run towards Kanade to which Kanade did the same, but quickly Miku ran over to stop Hibiki as did Genjuro and Tsubasa with Kanade.
"Please don't fight you two!" Miku cried out in concern.
Genjuro was currently holding Kanade back while Tsubasa tried to calm her partner down, "Kanade please don't fight." She leaned into Kanade with some tears falling. She hated seeing her other wing like this. Kanade took a deep breath and hugged her partner but still shot a glare at Hibiki saying this wasn't over. Hibiki relaxed she'd talk to her later. Both Miku and Tsubasa took a deep breath.
" why…do you need me to um…strip..?" Her face was bright red to which Ryouko couldn't help but find cute. "I need to run a medical check on you after you used that armor for the first time. I'll explain everything after I swear on my heart."
Miku sighed, "I…okay."
Hibiki said, "Should have started with that you old lady." She turned to Miku, "You don't have to do this Miku." She frowned.
Miku shook her head, "No…I…I need to know what that power is…" Maybe…if she could use it…she could atone…

Ryouko sighed at least one of them was reasonable, "Please follow me to the medical bay." Miku waved good bye to Hibiki and followed her. Kanade seemed to go off with the young man for…something.
Hibiki turned to Tsubasa, "Well then Kazanari why don't we continue our conversation from in the car?" Tsubasa frowned she knew this was coming and everyone in the room knew not to interrupt this. The girl was giving off a very dangerous aura.
Tsubasa sighed and led Hibiki to one of the chairs. One of the other workers brought over some hot chocolate for the two.

Tsubasa spoke up first, Tachibana I want to say first. I'm sorry about Kanade it's just…complicated."
Hibiki scoffed, "That feels like an understatement. Why the hell is she accusing us of being thieves?"

"I mentioned in the car that we never expected to see that armor again after our concert. That armor used to belong to me…" She pulled out a shattered red crystal from in her shirt pocket.
"No one should be able to summon that armor except for me. You are supposed to need the pendant."
Hibiki frowned, "How is Miku able to use it then?"
"That is why Ryouko-san is running the medical check. That armor belonged to me before the concert. That's why Kanade was calling you or…rather Kohinata a thief."
She scowled, "So what if she has your old armor? That doesn't justify calling her a thief." She glared Tsubasa, "Do you have any freaking idea the shit Miku went through after that concert?"
"I only know that her legs were badly damaged. Whenever I asked Uncle about her he was vague. Due to a non-disclosure contract I wasn't able to do much…I really did want to see her, but I was barred from that."

"Hmph you don't even know half the shit she went through. Miku was declared the Killer of Zwei Wing. You know how god damn popular you two were." Hibiki took a deep breath. "I was away when that concert happened with my family I was supposed to go with Miku to the concert, but I couldn't. I was gone half a month before I could see Miku. Tell me what do you see when you look at Miku?"
Tsubasa frowned unsure of how to answer, "I see a quiet girl who keeps to herself. Nearly isolating herself from almost everyone."
"She never used to be like that. She was more energetic and open to help everyone however she could. She nearly died that day, but she didn't come out unscatched. She came out a hell of a lot worse than you. She used to be the star of the track team, but the injuries on her legs were too severe. They never were going to fully recover hence why she still has her braces after 2 years. She had to give it all up. That was just the start of it…she was bullied horribly. She was beaten up by your crazy fans on several occasions. When I got back from my family trip….the thing I saw wasn't my best friend. My Sunshine…was dimming." She frowned fighting back tears. "When she did come back to school people despised her for killing your little group. Those bastards were telling Miku to throw herself to Noise to atone!" She punched the ground leaving a small dent in it. Tsubasa's eyes widen in shock…she knew where this was going and it made her sick. "You have a brain use it. Miku…on several occasions she…seriously considered just throwing herself to the Noise. When we were going to buy the CD today…when those monsters showed up she practically broke down. Miku…is…so frail now…mentally and physically. I vowed to protect her no matter what and I intend to keep that promise. No matter who or what stand in my way." The girl's voice was determined she truly sounded like she'd do anything to keep Miku safe.
Tsubasa was silent at those words. What could she even say to that? She felt horrible and now…her…Uncle and everyone was trying to rope her in…gods they were horrible. But…they needed more wielders…

The commander approached the two, "Tachibana I can understand why you act this way. But understand we didn't want things to end up like this. But we weren't able to do anything I'm afraid. But we deeply need the help here." He reached his hand out to Hibiki, "We need your help here as much as we need Kohinata's." Hibiki scoffed and smacked his hand away. "Whatever how much longer till these tests are over. We have classes tomorrow." She decided to not answer his question. The man sighed he'd hope she'd see reason in time. Shortly after several more drinks Miku and Ryouko came out. Miku looked exhausted. Hibiki quickly hurried to Miku's side to support her.
Ryouko said, "Well then, we're all set. I'll spend the night analyzing everything I found. I'll have the results back tomorrow after your classes. We can continue our discussions then."
Hibiki said, "Finally now can we get out of here?"
Genjuro nodded, "Aoi I'd like for you to make sure they get back to their dorm safely."
A woman with black hair nodded, "Of course well then how about we head back?" She was going to get the handcuffs, but one glare from Tachibana stopped that idea. The trio made their way back to the elevators.
After they left Tsubasa nearly collapsed but managed to make her way to one of the couches. Everything Tachibana said was…just so much..
Genjuro sat down next to her, and pat her head. "I understand how stressful that was for you. Hearing everything that was said was hard to take in."
"Uncle…are we doing the right thing? Dragging Kohinata into all of this? Do you think if maybe I had spoken with Kohinata after everything..could…I have done anything to help?" Tsubasa asked softly.
"The past is in the past Tsubasa. I have to take the blame for some of this as well. Perhaps I should've let you speak with her before. But what's in the past is done. All we can do is move forward. All we can do now is be there for them both now." He sighed.
"I know that I just…I'm worried about how Kanade will react..you saw everything earlier..should we tell her everything?" She asked. Maybe she wouldn't be as aggressive? She didn't want to see Kanade like this…

"I'm afraid that won't do much at least right now.." He sighed addressing the issue with Kanade was going to be a very long process.

-
Icy: So….hey everyone been a hot minute since I last updated this. I'm not giving up on the story heck I'm even sort of building it on twitter in roleplay. Though what happens there may be different then how it goes here. I have the broad strokes but not the finer details. I really hope you enjoyed this chapter. Please let me know what you think in the review. I'll start working on the next chapter soon.