A/N: Hello and welcome to another Symphogear fanfic of mine: Symphogear GS!

For a short explanation of what you're about to read, Symphogear GS (Or long read as Symphogear G Switched) is based off a set of one-shots I've worked on that sees the world of Symphogear if F.I.S. was allied with Section Two and the Section Two Wielders as the opposing force in G. Along with these changes, Miku takes Hibiki's place as the main protagonist of the story. (Making this the second story I've written with Miku as the protag.)

With that out of the way, I want to stress this, this story will not be as frequently updated in comparison to my other fics. But I promise to do what I can to write for this between chapter releases of said other fics.

With that out of the way, I hope you enjoy!


Miku's Residence


Today was supposed to be a big day for one Miku Kohinata, but unfortunately, she had something come up and, much to her dismay, she would have to cancel on her friend at the last minute. She dreaded having to tell her, but she wouldn't have to wait long for a call to come in from Hibiki, moments before she was going to do the same. "Hey, Hibiki..."

"Miku, where are you?" Hibiki asked. "I'm already at the stadium."

Miku let out a sigh before holding the phone back up to her ear. "Sorry... Something came up." She says.

"What?!" Hibiki gasped. "But you're the one who invited me to the concert today!"

"My aunt in Morioka had an accident, so my father is going to drive us there now." Miku explains.

"But I don't really know anything about this group..." Hibiki said.

"I'm really sorry, Hibiki." Miku apologizes. "I have to go, but I hope you have fun."

Miku hung up the phone and sighed. "I'm sorry we made you cancel on your friend, honey." Miku's mom said as she finished packing. "I'm sure there will be another time in the future that you two will be able to go to a Zwei Wing concert together. After all, those two are still fairly young, so I doubt they'll be retiring anytime soon."

"I know..." Miku says. "I just feel bad that I was the one who invited her and made a whole big deal of Zwei Wing, yet I won't be there to see her excitement."

"Well, then that just means you both will be able to enjoy them equally as much next time, right?" Miku's mom asked.

"I guess you're right..." Miku nodded. "Thank you, Mom."


Later that Evening...


Finally arriving at her aunt's house, Miku and her parents settled in for the night, planning to visit the hospital the aunt was staying the night at the next day. The whole time, however, Miku was glued to her phone. "Honey, are you alright?" Miku's mom asked. "You've been staring at your phone for hours."

"I'm fine." Miku answers. "I'm just waiting to hear back from Hibiki. I'm really hoping she liked the concert."

"I'm sure she did, sweetheart." Miku's mom said. "Perhaps she hasn't texted you about it because she was tired? It is rather late, after all."

Miku kept her eyes on the phone screen, open to her texts with Hibiki where the last text she sent was just simply "Hibiki?" But her mom was probably right. "I guess I'm just paranoid is all."

"I'm sure she's fine hon-"

Just as Miku's mom was about to give her words of encouragement, the television suddenly changed to the scene of a newsroom, with a news anchor who looked like they were trying their best to stay calm, but failing horribly. "Breaking news... I still can't believe what I'm reading..." The anchor said, their disbelief very present in their voice. "Tragedy has struck the nation of Japan as the Noise have appeared once again... At the Zwei Wing Concert that took place this evening."

"What?!" Miku gasped, dashing towards the TV to listen to the broadcast. "Did he just say Noise were at the Zwei Wing concert?!"

"In the middle of the idol duo's encore, an explosion rocked the stadium, and the Noise were quick to follow. We've heard from various sources of residents that were close by at the time of the attack that there was supposedly a second explosion that wiped out the Noise, rumored to be caused the mysterious figures responsible for fighting the Noise the past couple of years, but no one has been able to confirm or deny these rumored figures existence at this time." The anchor continued. "Regardless, medical professionals and police were dispatched to help evacuate civilians, but unfortunately..."

"No survivors have been found at this time, neither inside the concert hall nor outside, and we are told that everyone in the concert hall, including the talents of Zwei Wing, are to be considered dead until further notice..."

Those words made Miku stare at the screen in horror. "They're... Dead...?" She asked aloud in shock. "But then... That means..."


"But you're the one who invited me to the concert today!"

"My aunt in Morioka had an accident, so my father is going to drive us there now."

"But I don't really know anything about this group..."

"I'm really sorry, Hibiki."


The last words Miku said to Hibiki before hanging up the phone echoed in her head, but as they did, she visualized her best friend's smiling face, before it faded away into dust... The world around her fell silent, and she was speechless, except for one word that she screamed at the top of her lungs in fear...


"HIBIKI!"


One Year Later


After hearing about the tragedy, Miku desperately tried to ask anyone that knew Hibiki if they've seen her, but her search quickly found no leads, forcing her to fear the worst. For the next year, Miku was practically unresponsive to anyone she hadn't talked to before Hibiki's death, aside from teachers and authorities when they asked her questions. But even then, she would barely talk to her friends and family, spending the majority of her free time visiting the grave that was made for her best friend.

"Hey, Hina..." Kuriyo said, walking over to Miku at the graveyard, followed by Yumi and Shiori. "You doing okay?"

Miku gave a silent nod, but didn't turn to face her friends. "We're worried about you, Miku." Shiori said. "It's been over a year since it happened. You can't blame yourself for-"

"She's dead because I invited her to that concert." Miku interjected coldly. "She only went because I hyped up Zwei Wing for her. She went to that concert because of me, and now it's because of me that she's dead."

"Hey, no one could've expected those things to show up when they did. This isn't like an anime where those kinds of things can be predicted." Yumi said. "Besides, Hibiki wouldn't want you to be sad like this, right?"

"What did you say?" Miku asks, turning to face Yumi with anger visible on her face.

"Way to go, Yumi..." Shiori mumbled.

"You just had to go and press the Bikki button..." Kuriyo added.

"Crap..." Yumi whispered, realizing her mistake. "Miku, you know I didn't mean to-"

"Let me make this as clear to you as possible: Hibiki Tachibana trusted me more than anyone else and she died because of that trust. Like it or not, I killed her. And I'm not going to let some loser otaku who thinks she knows better tell me otherwise!" Miku shouted. "So if all you're going to try and do is lie to make me feel better, then you all can just leave."

While she knew Miku got angry when Hibiki's name was mentioned in a certain way, Yumi was still upset by what she said. "If that's how it's going to be, then fine!" She replied, walking towards the exit of the graveyard. "But know this, Miku: I may be an otaku, but at least I don't let anime control my emotions as much as a dead girl has yours!"

Before Miku could respond, Yumi ran out of the graveyard. Shiori and Kuriyo expected Miku to chase after her in anger, but they were surprised when they saw that she just sat there, on the verge of tears. "I should go make sure Yumi's okay..." Shiori said, with Kuriyo nodding in agreement.

As for Kuriyo, she stayed with Miku. "Hina? You know she didn't mean what she said, right?"

"She's right. About me, I mean... It's been over a year and I've done nothing but grieve for Hibiki." Miku says. " Yumi was right, Hibiki wouldn't want me to be sad. I should apologize to her."

"You sure you won't snap at her again?" Kuriyo asked. "We all know how you get when someone mentions Bikki's name, and Yumi isn't exactly in the best of moods after that 'loser otaku' comment."

Miku's heart sank when she remembered that. "I can't believe I said that..."

"Let Shiori and I handle calming her down and you can apologize to her tomorrow, okay?" Kuriyo asked.

"...Okay." Miku agrees as herself and Kuriyo went their separate ways out of the graveyard.


On the way home...


While Miku walked home, she couldn't help but feel guilty for what she said to Yumi...


"Let me make this as clear to you as possible: No one knew Hibiki Tachibana the same way I did, and I'm not going to let some loser otaku who thinks she knows better tell me otherwise!"


"Yumi didn't deserve that... No one deserved any of the hateful things I've said over the past year." Miku said to herself, before looking down at a locket that contained a picture of Hibiki and herself. "Hibiki... How did you make it all look so easy? You made friends like it was breathing, despite everything they said about you... And here I am getting angry at the few friends I have left over so little... I just wish you were still here..."

"Someone! Help!" A voice suddenly cried out, quickly catching Miku's attention as she saw someone running her way. "It's the Noi-" Just before the stranger could finish their sentence, a singular Noise came out of nowhere and killed them, a sight that ran chills down Miku's spine.

Without wasting any time, Miku ran as fast as she could to find shelter, changing directions anytime she saw Noise in her path. This plan was working well for her for the moment, but eventually, she found herself cornered by the Noise. "I can't run anymore... And now I'm going to die without being able to atone for everything I've said..." Miku said to herself, reflecting on her regrets one final time. "Yumi... Hibiki... I'm sorry..."

Miku crouched down and closed her eyes, awaiting her fate at the hands of the Noise, but as she was about to give up hope, she heard singing.


"Granzizel bilfen Gungnir zizzl"


(EX:FUTURIZE begins to play)

Suddenly a black whirlwind shows up next to Miku out of nowhere, wiping out all of the Noise close to her with ease. "Wh-What?" Miku gasped.

Once the Noise were dealt with, the whirlwind subsided, revealing a woman with long pink hair and a black suit of armor and a matching cape. "There isn't much time before more of them show up." The woman said, extending her hand out to Miku. "Come with me if you want to live!"

Miku was hesitant to grab the woman's hand, but all the same, she grabbed it. When she did, the woman pulled Miku onto her back and leapt into the sky.


Landing far enough away from the Noise, the armored woman lets Miku get off her back before facing her. "Are you okay?" The woman asked.

"Y-Yeah..." Miku replies. "Thank you for saving me, Ma'am."

"Don't mention it." The woman said. "Now, it's best if you get out of here before more Noise show up."

"R-Right. Thank you again!" Miku replies, but before she could run off, she overheard something from the woman's headset.

"...We've got the Noise in the other parts of the sectors handled, dess!" A voice reported.

"Roger that, I'll deal with the remainder of the Noise and meet you two at the rendezvous point." The woman replied.

"Wait, are you going to fight the Noise?" Miku asks.

The woman turned to face Miku. "Yes." She said. "But don't worry about me. This armor isn't just for show."

"All the same, be careful!" Miku says, heading straight back home.


Later...


True to her word, the woman fought the Noise and destroyed every last one of them. With them cleared out, she took a moment to catch her breath. As she did, she received a call from a communicator in her pocket. "The Noise have been cleared out successfully, Commander."

"Well done." A masculine voice answers. "Were there any civilians in the area at the time of the attack?"

The woman hesitated for a moment. "...Aside from a few piles of carbon that were around before we could make it, no sir..."

The Commander sighed. "Well, I guess we'll just have to cut our losses and be thankful that the Noise didn't get far. Return to HQ with the others ASAP."

"Understood, Commander."


The Next Day...


The following day, Miku went over to Yumi's house and hesitantly knocked on the door. It was quiet for a moment, but eventually, Yumi answered, and she looked upset. "Oh... Hey..."

"Hi, Yumi..." Miku says. "Look, about what I said yesterday..."

"You mean when you called me a, and I quote, 'loser otaku'?" Yumi interjected.

Miku was quiet for a moment hearing those words said in a moment of unnecessary anger again. "...I'm really sorry for saying that..." Miku says. "I had no right to call you such things, especially since you, Kuriyo, and Shiori have been putting up with me ever since Hibiki died. When I saw just how upset I made you by saying something like that, it made me realize how the only one here who's a real loser... Is me."

Seeing how sincere Miku was, Yumi softened her frown. "Hey... Neither of us are losers, okay?" She said. "But, while you're here, I want to apologize for what I said, too. I was just really angered by the loser insult that I just said the first thing that came to my mind, and I really shouldn't have done that."

"No. You don't have to apologize for what you said, Yumi." Miku says. "If anything, those words coming from you really opened my eyes to just how much of a jerk I have become all because of my guilt. When I lashed out at everyone else, I didn't feel anything for what I was saying or doing to them, but when I did it to you yesterday, I felt absolutely horrible. Just like you had said, I allowed my emotions to be controlled by someone who is no longer with us, and I'm truly sorry for that... I just hope that you can forgive me."

Hearing this, Yumi was touched. "Well, I suppose I can forgive you... On one condition." She said in a teasing manner.

"Name it." Miku replies with utmost seriousness.

Seeing Miku's desperation to make things right, Yumi couldn't help but burst out laughing. "Miku, I'm joking. I accept your apology." She said, which made Miku let out a sigh of relief. "But since you're here, care to come and hang out with me and the others today?"

Miku smiles as she sees the other two girls peeping in from the hallway. "I'd love that. Thank you." She says as she steps inside the house. "So, what were you three planning to do today?"

"Well, today was Yumi's weekend to decide what we did, actually." Shiori answered.

"And in typical Yumi fashion, she chose anime and some new idol chick that's become popular recently." Kuriyo added.

"For your information, Maria Cadenzavna Eve's music is some of the best stuff to come out since Zwei Wing's last album!" Yumi retorted.

"Maria Cadenzavna Eve?" Miku asks, which piques Yumi's interest to talk about her.

"She's an up and coming idol whose music has ranked at the top of the charts for the past month!" Yumi says, showing Miku a picture of Maria as she does. Miku took a closer look at the picture of the idol, and when she did, she froze in shock. "Is everything alright?"

Miku quickly snapped back to reality. "Y-Yeah, I was just... So taken aback by how pretty she looks in this photo." She said, hiding the real reason she froze.

"See? Miku agrees that she's cool!" Yumi says to Kuriyo and Shiori.

As the trio talk about Yumi's obsession with Maria and her music, Miku thought back to the lady she saw last night.


"There isn't much time before more of them show up. Come with me if you want to live!"


"There's no mistaking it... That pink hair, that face? The woman that saved my life looked exactly like Maria-san." Miku says to herself. "There's no way they aren't the same person... Right?"

"Hey, Hina." Kuriyo called out, catching Miku's attention immediately. "You coming to listen to the music or what?"

"R-Right. Sorry." Miku says with a nervous chuckle as she walks into the room the trio were in. "Maybe I'm overthinking things too much right now. For now, I should just enjoy spending time with the friends I nearly lost..."

And so, thanks to her friend Yumi, Miku started to soften up a bit more than she had been for the past year, all while enjoying the time she was spending with her friends.


One more year later...


For the next year, the four friends spent a lot more time together, becoming practically inseparable as they bonded over their shared interest, to the point they all went to the same high school: Lydian Private Music Academy.

The first few weeks of school had gone pretty well for the quartet of friends. However, just as they got adjusted to their lives at Lydian, something was about to happen that would change everything. "Good afternoon!" A blonde-haired girl cheered to the group energetically. "Would it be okay if my friend and I sat here with you all today?"

Looking over the girl's shoulder, they could see a girl with long black hair staring them down. "Sure thing!" Yumi answered, moving over slightly so the two girls could sit down.

"Thank you!" The girl replied, quickly placing her tray on the table and sitting down, her friend doing the same thing as well, but at a more natural pace. "I'm Kirika Akatsuki, by the way. And this here is my friend, Shirabe Tsukuyomi!"

"Thank you for letting us sit here." Shirabe said in a reserved tone.

"No worries, Shirabe-chan." Shiori said. "I guess we should probably introduce ourselves, too. My name is Shiori Terashima."

"I'm Yumi Itaba." Yumi said. "Nice to meet ya!"

"Likewise, dess!" Kirika replied, which made Miku freeze.

"Wait a minute..." Miku said to herself, recalling something from that fateful night with the woman who looked like Maria. "That girl's voice sounds... Familiar..."


"...We've got the Noise in the other parts of the sectors handled, dess!"


"Is she the person the Maria look alike was talking to that night?"

"Um, Miku? You there?" Yumi asked, which snapped Miku out of her train of thought.

"Oh! Sorry... I just had a weird moment of déjà vu for a moment." Miku says. "I thought I recognized you from somewhere, but I might've just confused you with someone else."

"You're all good, Miku-san." Kirika said. "Wait, have we met somewhere before?"

"Not that I recall..." Miku answers. "But either way, it's nice to meet you both. I'm Miku Kohinata."

Meanwhile, Kuriyo also looked as though she had been lost in thought for a good while now. "Did... Did I meet you somewhere before?" Kirika asked.

"Probably not." Yumi answered. "You see, Kuriyo has a special thing she does every time she meets new people."

"I got it!" Kuriyo exclaimed. "Katsu and Tsuku."

Kirika and Shirabe looked at Kuriyo curiously, before looking over at the others in confusion. "She likes to give people nicknames." Miku says.

"I see..." Kirika chuckled nervously. "Well, thanks for the nicknames... Kuri?"

Kuriyo looked at Kirika with a raised eyebrow, before quickly exchanging it for a smirk. "I like you. Name's Kuriyo Ando, but feel free to just call me Kuri if you want."

"Well, it seems you two would fit right in with us." Shiori chuckled. "Are you freshmen as well?"

"Actually, yeah!" Kirika answered. "We came to this school mainly because we wanted to become idols like Maria!"

"Hold on. Are you two fans of Maria-san, too?!" Yumi asked. "Isn't she just the coolest?! I mean, I could go on and on about Maria..."

As Yumi did just that, Miku went back to thinking about Kirika's familiar voice, and her interest in Maria Cadenzavna Eve. "Surely I'm just paranoid, right? I mean, what are the odds that these two could have a connection to the lady who saved my life?" Miku thought to herself. "Either way, I should keep an eye on these two, just until I can shake this strange feeling..."


True to her word, Miku kept an eye on Kirika and Shirabe for the next couple of weeks. However, despite how much she tried, she couldn't find anything suspicious about the duo, only that they were really close to one another. "Yep... I'm just paranoid..." Miku said to herself with a sigh. "Well... I guess I should just go back to the dorm for the night-"

Just as Miku was about to give up on her investigation, she heard the sound of something smacking the ground. Curious, Miku walked over to the source of the sound and saw a student ID on the ground. "This is... Kirika-chan's!" She gasps, seeing the duo enter the Lydian center wing building. "I should give this back to her before she realizes that she doesn't have it anymore!"


Following the duo into the building, Miku quickly finds Kirika and Shirabe, but the former seems distressed. "Kiri-chan? Is everything okay?" Shirabe asked.

"I can't find my ID anywhere!" Kirika exclaimed. "I could've sworn I had it on me on our way here!"

"This is the third time this month that you've lost your ID, Kiri-chan..." Shirabe sighed. "I'm sure someone will report it to the lost and found. For now, we can just use my ID to access the elevator."

"Thank you, Shirabe!" Kirika exclaimed in a relieved tone.

"Elevator?" Miku wondered. "But, why does she need a student ID to access one of the school's elevators?" As she thought further about this, Miku's suspicions came back into the forefront of her mind, causing her to follow Kirika and Shirabe through the center wing instead of approaching them.

"You know, Kiri-chan, if this keeps up, they're going to end up making a separate box in Lost and Found with your name on it." Shirabe teased.

"I know... And no one will ever let me live it down..." Kirika sighed as the duo stopped at the end of the hallway.

Once they stopped, Miku watched as Shirabe opened the elevator door, seeing a device on the inside that scanned Shriabe's ID just before the door closed behind the duo. "What's so special about this elevator?" Miku wonders, waiting a moment before pressing the button to summon the elevator. Once it arrives, Miku steps inside, seeing the device that Shirabe used to scan her ID. "Well, here goes nothing."

With some hesitation, Miku scans Kirika's ID on the device. The device accepts the ID, causing the door behind Miku to shut with a special metal door covering the normal door. After this happened, handlebars on the sides of the elevator opened up with a special sign on top that read "Hang on".

With little hesitation, Miku did as the sign said. "But why do I need to hang OOOOOOOOOOONNNN!" Miku screamed as the elevator started descending rapidly into the ground.


?


After the initial shock on the rapidly descending elevator left, Miku took a moment to calm herself. "Okay... I was not expecting that." She said to herself. "How far does this elevator even go? I don't see why the school would need an elevator going this far do-"

Just then, the enclosed elevator shaft opened up to reveal a much larger cavern filled with metallic pillars and walls that were painted with various ancient symbols and patterns. seeing this, Miku began to become concerned. "What is the school hiding down here?"


After a minute of staring at the ancient paintings, the elevator finally reached its destination. When the doors opened, Miku saw a set of hallways that looked more modern than the cavern above her. Of course, while she was relieved that said hallways were empty, Miku didn't want to wait around for someone to actually end up finding her here, so she quickly left the elevator and snuck down the hallways.

For a while, she was lucky to not find anyone, but at the same time, not even finding Shirabe and Kirika became worrisome to the Lydian student. However the fear of being alone was soon replaced with the fear of being caught as she heard footsteps heading her way. And so, without thinking, Miku ran to the nearest room and hid behind it, keeping herself out of sight as much as possible.

"Well... Looks like I'm in for another long night..." A woman in a pink dress with brown hair tied up into a bun sighed.

"You know you're always welcome to join me for a late night drink if you ever feel overworked, Ryoko-kun." A man walking with the woman says. The man had red spiky hair and was wearing a matching red dress shirt with a pink tie that went into the dress shirt's pocket.

"You're far too kind for the offer, Genjuro-kun, but if I don't get at least some work done tonight, then it'll just mean more for me to deal with later, and I've put off this side-project long enough as it is." Ryoko said.

"Fair enough, I suppose." Genjuro replied, before letting out a small chuckle. "It's funny, though. First we were planning on using that relic to find our own Wielder in case Dr. Nastassja and her team tried to betray us, but now we're working with them to utilize that pendant for other means."

"Life has a weird way of subverting your expectations." Ryoko said. "But seriously, I shouldn't delay this any longer. Good night, Genjiro-kun."

"Good night, Ryoko-kun." Genjuro said, waving to Ryoko as he continued to walk down the hallway.

For a moment, Miku kept watching as the two walked in opposite directions from where she was hiding. Once she felt it was safe, she walked out of the room, but she soon found that to be the wrong choice. "Boo!" Ryoko whispered into Miku's ear, making her shriek while Ryoko tried her best not to laugh at her. "My, my. For someone who's sneaking around in places where she isn't supposed to be, you sure were easy to sneak up on."

"H-How did you-"

"Oh, please. You really thought I wouldn't notice the door to my lab being open? When it closes automatically?" Ryoko said, making Miku blush from embarrassment. "So how about you tell me two things: One, who are you, and two-"

"Ryoko-kun! Are you alright?" Genjuro asked from around the corner.

"Get back in my lab and don't say a word." Ryoko whispered to Miku, who nodded before doing as she was told. "I'm fine, Genjuro-kun! Dr. Vercingetorix just left a toy spider in my lab as a prank and it took me by surprise."

"Ah, I see." Genjuro said. "I was just surprised because I didn't realize you could scream like that."

"Well, you know me, I'm full of surprises." Ryoko chuckled. "But now I need to find time to get payback on Johnny boy for this."

"Have fun with that." Genjuro replied with a chuckle of his own. "Well, if everything's alright, then I'll be heading out now. Good night Ryoko-kun."

"Good night, Genjuro-kun." Ryoko waves with a smile as she walks into her lab, Miku walking close to her so the door would shut behind them.


"Now that that's out of the way, I believe you owe me an explanation, young lady."

"Right." Miku replies. "My name is Miku Kohinata, I'm a first-year student at Lydian."

"Under different circumstances, it would be nice to meet you, Miku-chan." Ryoko said. "But I'm afraid that you are technically trespassing on government property, so I'm going to have to ask how you managed to get down here."

"Well, I was... Minding my own business... When I saw a student had dropped their ID. Thankfully, I saw who dropped it, so I tried to catch up with them to hand it back." Miku explains.

"Let me guess: Blonde hair with an X-shaped clip on the left bangs?" Ryoko asked.

"How did you know?" Miku asks in return.

"This wouldn't be the first time that she's lost her ID. Granted, you're the first person that actually tried to return it to her directly." Ryoko answered. "But now I have to ask, how did you trying to return her ID end up with you coming down here?"

"Well, while I was trying to catch up with them, I heard them talking about a specific elevator in Lydian, so I let my curiosity get the better of me, and well, here I am." Miku continues.

"So you followed Kirika-chan, who I'm assuming wasn't alone, and ended up following them straight to our headquarters?" Ryoko asks, getting a nod in response from Miku. "Then I guess I have one final question for you: Why?"

"Why?"

"Yes. Why would you do any of this?" Ryoko asked. "Anyone else would've just naturally stopped, take the ID back to a lost and found section or return it to the student the next day, and leave it at that. You however clearly had an ulterior motive for following them further. Am I right?"

"Well..." Miku let out a sigh. "Yes..."

"Care to share that motive?" Ryoko asked.

Miku was hesitant to answer, but eventually, she gave one. "...Over a year ago, I heard Kirika-chan's voice when I was saved from a Noise attack by a woman in black armor. A day later, I saw a woman who looked just like the one that saved me that night named Maria Cadenzavna Eve. I became curious if the two women were one and the same, so I tried to investigate it further, but I couldn't find anything to prove it. But just over a month ago, Kirika-chan and Shirabe-chan came to sit with me and my friends in the dining hall, and when I heard the former's voice, I could've sworn it sounded just like the one I overheard that night."

"And the rest is history..." Ryoko stated.

"I'm sorry for snooping around where I shouldn't have." Miku says. "Are you going to arrest me?"

"Normally, that would be the protocol for trespassers." Ryoko answered, which made Miku tilt her head in confusion. "However, seeing that you're a student at Lydian, I have a proposition for you. That is, unless you'd like to serve jail time?"

"What do you need me to do?" Miku asks.

"Two things." Ryoko said. "First, I need you to promise that you tell no one about what you may have seen while down here. I shouldn't need to go into detail as to why the word 'Secret' is in 'Top Secret'."

"I promise I won't say a word." Miku agrees. "What's the other thing you need me to do?"

Ryoko started to grin mischievously as she approached Miku. "Since you're so curious..." Ryoko said, grabbing Miku by the waist and pulling her close. "I need you to take off your clothes."

Hearing this, Miku went beat red and gulped nervously. She may not know what Ryoko has in store for her, but she would have no other choice but to find out the hard way...


Lydian


The next day, after finishing their final class for the day, Yumi, Shiori, and Kuriyo couldn't help but notice something seemed off about Miku. At first, they tried to not bring any attention to it. But as the day went on, they noticed the girl that was usually, to a degree, sociable, was unusually quiet. "Hey, Miku?" Shiori asks.

Hearing her name, Miku jumped, but soon noticed her friends looking at her in worry. "Oh, hey girls." Miku says, greeting the trio. "W-What's up?"

"Don't 'What's up?' us like that!" Yumi retorts. "You've been acting weird all day today. Not to mention you came back to the dorm a lot later than you usually do last night."

"Yumi does have a point, Hina." Kuriyo adds. "While I can't say you being quieter than usual is too odd, you're usually back at the dorm a lot sooner than you were last night. Did something happen yesterday?"

Miku chuckles nervously. "No no, everything's fine. I just had something come up while I was on my way back to the dorm and lost track of time."

The trio all looked at Miku in surprise. "Well... That's something out of the ordinary for you, Hina." Kuriyo chuckles. "What happened? Did one of the teachers need to talk with you about something?"

"Did you join one of the school's clubs?" Shiori asks.

"Did you find a top secret base below the school and get recruited to join it against your will?" Yumi also asked, getting raised eyebrows from Kuriyo and Shiori (while Miku looked petrified). "What? It's something that could've happened!"

"Yumi, don't be ridiculous." Shiori sighs. "Just because it happens in some of your anime doesn't mean it can happen in real life."

"Oh, don't act like it wouldn't be the coolest thing to happen here!" Yumi retorts, which just makes Miku and Kuriyo sigh (in relief for the former) as they watch Yumi try to justify her stance.

"But for real, what happened last night, Hina?" Kuriyo asks in the midst of the bickering.

"I just saw that someone lost their student ID, so I tried to return it to them." Miku answers. "Unfortunately, the only dorm I happen to know by hand is ours, so I spent a long time looking for the right door..."

"Don't tell me. It was Katsu, wasn't it?" Kuriyo asks, getting a head tilt from Miku as an answer. "...Kirika-chan."

With the clarification made, Miku was surprised. "How did you-"

"She's already lost it enough to the point that people start talking about it, so I just kinda made a guess." Kuriyo answers before Miku could ask. "Hell, I've found so many of her lost items that I have the route from our dorms to theirs practically memorized. So feel free to ask me for directions if you get lost again."

"Oh, well, I'll be sure to do that." Miku chuckles. "Thanks, Kuriyo!"

"Anytime." Kuriyo replies.

"Well, since that's settled, you wanna come with us to Flower, Miku?" Yumi asks.

"While I'd love to, I'll have to decline." Miku says, which once again surprised the trio. "I... Was planning on going to the store to get some things."

"Well, okay then." Yumi shrugs. "We'll just order some extra okonomiyaki to bring back to the dorms for you so you can have some later."

"Thank you." Miku replies, while internally breathing a sigh of relief.

"Say, would it be cool with you two if I went with Hina?" Kuriyo asks Yumi and Shiori. "There were a few things I needed to get while I was out, so I figured I'd go with Hina if she's already going there. You don't gotta get me any okonomiyaki."

"I don't see why not." Shiori says. "Yumi?"

"Yeah, that's cool." Yumi agrees as the duo start to head off towards Flower. "Have fun you two!"

"Same to you two!" Kuriyo replies.


Tokyo


And so, Kuriyo and Miku walked to the store to buy some things for their dorms and for themselves. It was a rather quiet walk at first, but then, Kuriyo broke the silence. "I hope it's alright that I tagged along with you, Hina." She says

"It's fine." Miku replies. "If I'm being honest though, it took me by surprise that you chose to come with me instead of going with the others to Flower."

"Well, like I said, there were a few things I needed to get for myself." Kuriyo says. "Such as some answers..."

Miku stopped walking and turned to face Kuriyo, shocked by what she said. "What do you mean, 'answers'?"

"You can drop the façade, Hina." Kuriyo states plainly. "It's no secret that you've been acting weird since we met Katsu and Tsuku. Well, at least it isn't to me, your roommate. So for you to all of a sudden decide to come back to the dorm a lot later than usual, it was very concerning."

Miku's face began to turn red from embarrassment. "Well... I..."

Kuriyo dropped her serious expression for a softer one. "I didn't want to press you further when we were at school because I could tell that there was something you didn't want to say to the others, but Hina, if there's something that you need to talk about, I promise I won't tell anyone. Not even them."

Miku heard Kuriyo's words, but then she remembered what Ryoko told her yesterday...


Flashback:
Section Two HQ


"Alright, that should conclude the tests I needed." Ryoko said as Miku put her clothes back on. "Based on these results, you should be a perfect candidate for this project I'm working on."

"What project?" Miku asked as she put her jacket back on.

"Well, it's one of those projects where it's a lot easier to show than tell at first." Ryoko answers cryptically, before pulling out a necklace with a red gemstone on it and a device filled with a green liquid. "But long story short, I need you to take these things with you. Please do not let anyone see them, okay?"

"O... Kay?" Miku agrees hesitantly as she puts the necklace on and puts the device in her pocket. "But what do I need to do with them?"

"Well, next time the Noise appear, you need to put that device up to your neck and pull the trigger on its handle." Ryoko explains, miming what Miku would have to do with the device.

"You want me to shoot myself with this?!" Miku gasps.

"Shoot yourself? Do you think that's a gun?" Ryoko laughs. "Nonono. That device is an injector. When you pull the trigger, that green liquid will go into your body, and once it's in, all you'll have to do is hold that pendant in your hands, take a deep breath, and the rest should be a straightforward process. Of course, be sure you're close to the Noise when you're holding the pendant, that's the best way to ensure this works."

"First you're telling me to pull a trigger to inject this... stuff... into my body, now you're telling me to just stare down the Noise and hope for the best?!" Miku asks.

"Exactly!" Ryoko cheers. "But don't worry, should everything go according to plan, you'll be perfectly fine!"

"And how can I trust your plan when I barely know what I'm doing?" Miku asks.

"Well, if I didn't think it would work, I would've just alerted the others that you broke into our base, which would've been a whole lot worse for you." Ryoko teases. "So here's the final offer, you do this for me the next time the Noise show up and I'll pretend that I found Kirika-chan's ID after I help you get out of here, or you can give me back my stuff and I'll have you arrested for trespassing. So? What do you say?"

Miku looks at Ryoko, then at the pendant she gave her, then sighs. "As if I have a choice..." She says. "I'll do it."

"Perfect!" Ryoko cheers again. "Now that we have our little arrangement taken care of... I have one last little, very serious, request: you cannot tell anyone about what you saw here tonight. After all, this is a top secret facility. So it's best if it's left as, well, secret. But I'm sure you'll be wise enough to not tell anyone, right?"


Miku was very torn on what to say. She knew that she could trust Kuriyo, but at the same time, she promised Ryoko that she wouldn't say anything, and she worried about what would happen to Kuriyo if Ryoko found out that she said anything. "It's... Complicated..." Miku says. Kuriyo was about to press further, but before she could, the Noise alarm went off. "Noise?!"

"We need to find shelter!" Kuriyo said, getting a nod from Miku as they both ran to the nearest shelter. But then, Miku remembered Ryoko's promise and she started heading away from the Shelter. "Hina? Where are you going?!"

Miku ignored Kuriyo's question as she kept running, hoping that her friend kept running towards the shelter. "I can't believe I'm doing this..." Miku says to herself.


After running for a few blocks, Miku finally saw a horde of Noise close by. Making sure she wasn't seen by them, she pulled out the injector Ryoko gave her the other day and placed the tip of it on her neck. "Here goes nothing..."


"HINA!"


"Oh no. Why now?!" Miku said to herself, quickly putting away the injector and turning to face her friend. "Kuriyo? What are you doing here?! I thought you went to the shelter."

"I was going to the shelter, before you decided to run off in the opposite direction!" Kuriyo replied. "What were you thinking? Did you forget that the Noise will kill us on sight?"

"I-" Before Miku could respond, the Noise heard the duo's conversation and started to run towards them. "Crap... Kuriyo, run!"

"Don't gotta tell me twice!" Kuriyo replied as she ran away from the Noise, with Miku following close behind.


Meanwhile


Back at the secret base underneath the school, hearing the Noise alarm, a woman with long pink hair entered a room full of agents typing away at computers as Genjuro and Ryoko watched from the center of the room, followed by two girls with blonde and black hair right beside her. "We came as soon as we could, Commander." The woman said.

"Perfect timing, Maria-kun." Genjuro said. "We should have the Noise located shortly. Prepare to move out ASAP."

Meanwhile, Ryoko looked at the screen in curiosity. "Let's see if you remember our deal, Miku-chan."


Back in the city...


Knowing they would just lead the Noise to the shelters, Miku and Kuriyo kept running through the city. "What are we gonna do, Hina?" Kuriyo asked.

"We need to lose the Noise somehow!" Miku replied.

"Obviously!" Kuriyo said. "But how?"

Miku stopped running to think for a second, before she saw a power plant and got an idea. "Get to the power plant! We can try and hide on the rooftops!"


Running towards the plant, the two quickly found the closest ladder and climbed it. Once on top, the two collapsed from all of the running they had done, taking the chance to catch their breath. "Did... Did we lose them?" Kuriyo asked.

"I think so..." Miku replied. Unfortunately, once Miku sat up, she would soon find that the duo were far from being out of the woods as more Noise were waiting for them. "Oh come on!"

"Hina! We're surrounded!" Kuriyo gasped, looking over the edge and seeing the Noise that were chasing them were climbing up, closing them in. "This can't be real... This has to be one twisted nightmare!"

"This is bad..." Miku said to herself, before she thought back to the injector she had yet to use. Seeing no other option, she quickly pulled the device out and placed it against her neck once more...


Click


Almost instantly, Miku felt a massive wave of pain rock over her, forcing her to the ground as she began to scream. "Hina?! What's going on?!" Kuriyo asked, shaking her friend to make sure she was alright, before noticing the injector next to her. "What did you just do?!"

Coughing, Miku stood back up. "This is going to be really hard to explain, but I need you to trust me." Miku said. "Do you trust me?"

Kuriyo was confused, but seeing the only other option was death, she nodded. "Of course I trust you!"

Miku weakly smirked, still feeling the after-effects of the substance she just injected into her body. "Then let's hope this works!" Miku shouted as she pulled out the red pendant she was handed by Ryoko, closed her eyes, and took a deep breath.

It was quiet for a moment, well, aside from the sounds of the Noise closing in on the duo, which only made Kuriyo worry more. "Hina, if you're going to do something, now would be a great time to do it!" She said, but as she did, Miku did something that took Kuriyo by surprise: She began to sing...


"Rei Shénshòujìng rei zizzl"


Suddenly, Miku became surrounded in a bright purple light, forcing Kuriyo to shield her eyes in order to not go blind. "Hina!"


Meanwhile...


"I've isolated the signal!" An agent reported to Genjuro and the others. "We have the location of the Noise!"

"Good." Genjuro said. "Maria-kun, Shirabe-kun, Kirika-kun, head to-"

"We're detecting another high-energy signal other than the Noise, Commander!" Another agent reported.

"Identify the waveform! Hurry!" The first agent requested.

"There's something out there other than the Noise dess?" Kirika asked.

"Could it be another Symphogear-user?" Shirabe added.

Quickly, the agents pinpointed the waveform, which surprised everyone once the name showed up on the monitor.

"SHÉNSHÒUJÌNG?!" Genjuro gasped.

"How is that possible?" Maria chimed in. "That pendant was in our vault. How did someone get a hold of it?!"

Amidst their confusion, Ryoko smirked. "Looks like it worked after all. Now let's see what you can do, Miku-chan."


A/N: And with that, we end the first chapter!

Now, I want to start off by apologizing for how long it took to get this first chapter out. In all honesty, I was hoping to have this back out in September, but then I got sidetracked by other stories and the like, but hey, at least I was able to get it out on Miku's birthday!

Unintentional delay aside, I'm glad I finally got back to this story. And honestly, I think I'm gonna bring this into my main rotation of continually updating stories (starting after Part 4 Chapter 10 of Superb Song of the Fate-Defying Valkyrie)

But enough about scheduling changes, let's get to the story itself:

As explained in the beginning, this story sees Miku in Hibiki's place, minus the whole "Impaled by Gungnir and getting her own Gear out of it" thing. Aside from that, with Hibiki gone, I decided to make this Miku much closer to the Stroganettes (Yumi, Kuriyo, and Shiori). As briefly mentioned in the story, Kuriyo and Miku share a room while Yumi and Shiori share another room. Despite this, the four pretty much share both rooms. While it probably won't be a huge point of the overall story, I just figured it was worth mentioning.

With that out of the way, I want to thank you all so much for reading this chapter. Feel free to leave a comment or review and I'll be sure to take a look at it as soon as I can. See you all in the next one!