New York City

Christmas Eve

7:00 pm

Just another night in New York City. Tsubasa Kazanari walks through the crowded streets alone. Even in the middle of the night, neon lights carve the darkness apart. Makes it easy to see your way around. White snow crunches beneath her boots and falls in flakes upon her blue hair and grey overcoat.

Reaching into her pocket, she pulls out a folded piece of paper. A map. Handwritten. Some might call this old fashioned, but Tsubasa could only silently admit to being thankful that her contact had been considerate enough to slip this under her door, instead of leaving it to GPS on her phone. She never liked relying on fancy tech like smartphones; made everything feel impersonal, distant. A pen and paper suited her better. Safer too. Harder for people to sniff out what her investigations have turned up if she can keep everything close to the chest.

The meeting place was certainly a fair distance away, taking a cab ride and a fair amount of walking just to reach the right street. The buildings turned old, almost captured in time compared to the sprawling highrises she just came from. Suppose you'd call this the oldtown.

With the blankets of snow, streetlamps, and neon signs in the windows, the whole thing looks right out of a post card. Not that Tsubasa had any intention of enjoying the scenery. This was work. An investigation to be done, an informant to question. And the agreed upon meeting place…

An old bar. Real old. Fitting enough; looks like it could have been an old speakeasy from the prohibition times. This is supposed to be a professional inquiry. So why They asked her to meet them at a gin joint like this is beyond Tsubasa.

As Tsubasa opens the front door, she's immediately awash with the sickly sweet musk of tobacco smoke. The smoky bar's practically a time capsule. Like stepping through the door sent her back to the forties, right down to the sounds of Cab Calloway singing in the background.

It doesn't take the hunter long to find her target, the bright pink hair stands out enough, even on the worst of days. All the way in the back corner, alone at a table for two. Once she'd moved close enough to the table to get a proper look at her, Tsubasa had to admit that this wasn't what she was expecting.

This was supposed to be an official inquiry. Supposed to be, anyway. But you'd never know it looking at this woman. Wearing a deep purple cocktail dress with a thigh cut so high, and a neckline so low, that it left profoundly little to the imagination. Add to that the fact that she was sipping a deep red liquid out of a tall stemmed glass, and Tsubasa couldn't help but feel that this wasn't going to be as professional as she was hoping.

"Ms. Kazanari." The woman began to speak.

"I'm so glad you decided to join me. Care for a drink?"

She tipped the glass towards Tsubasa, swirling the drink inside as she asked. Tsubasa, despite any efforts to maintain a stoic expression on her face, couldn't help but notice her face twisting into a scowl. This bloodsucker, doesn't she have even the slightest ounce of shame?

"I'll have to pass." She replied brusquely as she pulled her coat off and draped it over the back of the chair.

"Hmm… Shame. This bar has a surprisingly good Pinot Noir." The woman clearly couldn't hold back a playful tone as she tips the glass back to her lips.

Tsubasa merely lets out a sigh as she adjusts her suit jacket and tie while sitting down at the opposite side of the table. This was a mistake. She should have known that things would get complicated with this woman involved. They always do.

"Ms. Eve; you said you have something important to discuss with me."

"That's right. A very urgent matter, I hope you understand." Maria set her glass down as she stared at Tsubasa, the smile fading from her face.

"I understand." Tsubasa reached her hand into the chest of her jacket, pulling out a pen and memo pad.

"Let's begin then. Where do we start?"

"Ms. Kazanari, do you know what day it is?"

"December 24th."

Maria could only stare at Tsubasa incredulously. Maybe she wasn't expecting such a straightforward answer.

"I didn't ask you for the date. I asked you if you know what today is."

"Sunday."

With an exasperated sigh, Maria picks her glass back up and swallows half of it in a single sip.

"For the love of God… It's Christmas Eve!"

Tsubasa looks up from her, still blank, memo pad and stares at Maria with a blank, confused gaze.

"Christmas Eve? What does Christmas Eve have to do with our investigation?"

"And if I were to say that it was just an excuse to get you here so I could spend tonight with you?"

"I'm leaving."

Tsubasa instantly began gathering her stuff and standing up, only stopped by Maria quickly grabbing her by the wrist.

"Won't you at least stay for just one drink? I already ordered for you…"

Tsubasa was taken aback. Not because of Maria's quick action, nor even the superhuman strength with which her arm was being held captive. No… it was that face. That expression somewhere between determination and pouting. She just couldn't ignore it. If she didn't know any better she'd think her cheeks were warming up. That must just be the tobacco smoke getting to her, surely.

"Fine. One drink."

"Thank you, Ms. Kazanari."

The cocktail placed in front of her was a deep amber hue and incredibly bitter to taste.

"What is it?"

"An Old Fashioned. I think it suits you, Ms. Kazanari."

Tsubasa didn't bother answering. She couldn't even think of a decent response at the current moment. So she simply stared at the large ice cube floating in her drink.

"Tell me, Ms. Kazanari; How do you like to celebrate Christmas?"

As she asks the question, Maria leans forward, resting her head on her hands, and gives Tsubasa an innocent smile.

"I…I don't…" Tsubasa's words trailed off as she looked away from Maria's gaze, that feeling of warmth in her cheeks came back again.

"What was that?"

"I said I don't celebrate Christmas! The Kazanari clan doesn't have the time for things like that when there's so many supernatural threats out there."

It wasn't an excuse. It's unthinkable that she would waste time away lazily just because of a date on a calendar. The enemy, the things harming innocent people, wouldn't stop just because of something irrelevant like Christmas. Therefore Tsubasa couldn't either. That should be obvious. So why does Maria think it's such a tragedy?

"When's the last time you spoke to your family?"

"Before I came to New York."

"You've been here for months! And you haven't called them at all?"

"There hasn't been a need to contact the Kazanari Organization for this assignment."

"Not about work, just…"

Maria let out a groan of frustration that echoed throughout the bar, drawing attention.

"Tsubasa! Go call your family right now! Your father or… or anybody. Just call them!"

"Even if I were to do that, what would I say? What is there to talk about right now?"

"Just tell them that you miss them and want to talk! It doesn't have to be anything important. Just… call them."

Tsubasa stammered silently. This was a side of Maria Cadenzavna Eve that she'd never seen before. Why is her personal matters such a concern to her anyway?

"I don't think-"

"Just do it!"

"Call them already!"

She was cut off. Apparently the rest of the bar's patrons had started listening to their conversation, and were cheering her on to talk to her a strange situation; it's not a bad feeling though. There's a problem though.

"I… didn't bring my phone."

"You what?"

"I didn't think I would need it for this!"

"You really are old fashioned… here."

Maria suddenly reached her hand down into the front of her dress. Tsubasa averted her gaze, eyes darting to just about everything in the bar except the woman in front of her. She still wasn't sure what these feelings are, but they keep getting stronger as the night goes on. Maybe she just can't handle her drinks like that…

By the time she finally worked up the nerve to face forward again, Maria was placing her own cell phone down in front of Tsubasa.

"Use mine. No more excuses. Go call them."

"Fine." Tsubasa takes the phone and retreats to a quieter part of the bar.

"Hello… Father?..."

Maria watched as Tsubasa, begrudgingly, collapsed under pressure and finally called her father to talk, a smug grin growing across her face. She produced a lit cigarette from somewhere and turned her attention to the window. Out, across the street, she saw children playing in the snow. Building snowmen, pulling around sleds, or just throwing snowballs at each other.

Tonight is a peaceful night, and she needs Tsubasa to see that; for both their sakes. Her ears are sharp. Even if Tsubasa goes to hide on the other side of the building, she can still hear her phone call perfectly well.

"Yes, that happened… When did… Uncle too?..."

Maria didn't truly care to eavesdrop on her call; she mostly just wanted to know that it was going well. By the sounds of it, the answer is yes. Good enough.

Maria leaned back in her chair and closed her eyes; just listening to the music playing in the bar. For the most brief of moments, nothing mattered. Nothing existed, just her and the music. She began to whistle along to the tune, unconcerned for anything else.

"And you called me old fashioned. Didn't expect you to be interested in music like that."

Tsubasa came back. Seems her phone call went well; she isn't as tense as when she walked in the door. Thank God for that, that upright sentinel shtick gets exhausting to deal with real fast.

Maria looks up at Tsubasa with an amused grin.

"Would you believe me if I said I'm the one who taught Cab Calloway how to sing?"

"I know you aren't that old. You told me the story of how you became a vampire, remember?"

"I say a lot of things. Care to find out how much of it's true? Besides…"

Maria finally stands up from her seat and leans towards her companion, close enough to whisper into Tsubasa's ear.

"I think I'm about ready for a different drink. At my place…"

You may notice that things are a bit different here compared to more typical Symphogear fics, or even my own other writing on this site.

That would be because this fic is actually set within the universe of the fic Valkyrie in the Dark by by Kezafiya8

/works/48767125/chapters/123019747

I did not ask her for permission to do this before hand, so... hope you're cool with this, Keza.

The ideas Keza presents in her fic caught my attention very quickly, and I wanted to explore a small idea that got stuck in my head through them.

The story itself, and the fic's title, is also heavily inspired by the song Christmas Nights in Blue by the band Trans-Siberian Orchestra