Part 1:
An inevitable disaster approaches, but suddenly...
Chapter 6:
Truths revealed through unfortunate situations


Chris' POV:
Finé's Mansion


Chris stands at the edge of the dock near Finé's Mansion, brooding about her recent battle with Section Two, "Finé said you need a lot of phonic gain to activate an intact relic." She says to herself, "It took me six months to activate Solomon's Cane, yet she activates Durandal instantly. Not only that... she forced it to unleash its full power." Recalling her near death by Hibiki and Durandal, she grits her teeth in anger, "She's a monster!"

Chris looks at Solomon's Cane in her hand, "Finé is so obsessed with those girls that she's making me capture them?" she asks herself, briefly recalling her childhood and the cruelty within it, "But then, I'll be alone again..." Suddenly, Finé shows up on the dock, not saying anything to Chris, "I know what you want." she states in regard to her recent failures, raising Solomon's Cane, "And I'm more than capable of doing it without this!" Saying this, she tosses the relic to Finé, who catches it with ease.

"I'll show you that I'm better than they are." Chris continues, clenching her fist, "I'll destroy the strong using my power alone! That's my mission!" Hearing this, Finé smiles, doubtful of Chris' words, and goes to head back into her mansion.

Shortly after that, Chris recalls what happened before she retreated from the battle yesterday.


"Either way, the next time we meet... You and that idiot you call a friend are toast. You got that?"

"You're wrong. The next time we meet, it'll end in us as friends."


Chris smirks to herself, "That other girl really thinks we'll be friends after this, huh?" she says, scoffing at the thought, "She's as naive as she is stupid if that's the case."


Kana and Miku's POV:
Lydian


After class finished, Kana was walking back to her dorm to go train some more in the astral plane when she runs into Miku, "Heya Miku! I heard that you and Hibiki were working out earlier today. How was it?" She asked her friend.

"I think it went pretty well," Miku replied, "Reminded me of when I was on the track team back in middle school."

Kana chuckles, "That sure brings back memories. You were easily one of the fastest runners there." She says, causing Miku to blush from the compliment. "So, what're you up to now?"

"Well, I was just about to go shopping, so I was on my way to ask Hibiki if she wanted to come with me." Miku says, "Afterwards, we were probably going to go to Flower since she promised she'd treat me to some okonomiyaki for working out with her."

"That's nice of her to do that. Care if I join you two?" Kana asks, "I'm off from work today, so I don't really have anything planned."

Hearing this, Miku smiles, "I'd be happy for you to join us, Kana! It'll be nice for the three of us to hang out again." She says, "Well, let's go meet up with Hibiki." Kana nods, following her friend to Hibiki's location.

Faintly, Hibiki could be heard talking to someone on her phone, "Yes? Yes. Huh? Me?" Confused, both Kana and Miku head down the stairs to find out what's going on, "Sure, I've got it." Hibiki says, turning to see her friends, slightly panicked, "Okay, then... Goodbye!" Hibiki hangs up her phone and quickly stuffs it in her pocket, "Huh, Miku? Kana? What's wrong?"

"Well, Kana and I are going to go shopping... Do you want to go with us?" Miku asks, "We can go to Flower after."

"No need to worry about me though, I'll pay for my own okonomiyaki." Kana adds, referring to what Miku told her about Hibiki paying.

"Sorry... something just came up." Hibiki responds, surprising her friends, "And you two just invited me. I think I'm cursed."

"Then, Next time." Miku says, gaining a worried expression from Hibiki, "Don't worry about it. There's a book I wanted to get at the library anyway, so I'll go there for today." Hibiki apologizes before running off to go to work as Miku and Kana head to the library.


Lydian Library


"Did you find what you were looking for, Miku?" Kana asks, appearing around the corner to see Miku looking out the window in shock, "Is everything alrigh-" Once she got closer she saw what Miku was looking at, Hibiki was over in Lydian's hospital with Tsubasa. Fearing that this would get misinterpreted by Miku, Kana comes up with an idea. "So that's what work needed Hibiki for..." Kana mumbles to herself, getting a confused look from Miku, "W-well, Hibiki and I heard about how Tsubasa was in the hospital due to overworking herself, so us and a few of our co-workers got something for her as a get well present." Kana says, calming Miku slightly, but she was still a little suspicious of Hibiki being there. Still seeing her good friend's concern, Kana remembers what Miku said about what she planned to do with Hibiki today, "Tell you what, how about we go get some okonomiyaki? My treat." Kana suggested, making a mental note that Hibiki owes her for this.

Composing herself, Miku smiles to her friend, "That sounds like a good idea. Thanks Kana!" she says, "We should get some for Hibiki too, I'm sure she'd like some okonomiyaki later." Kana nods in agreement and heads to the door. Miku follows after her, putting the book she had in her hands, titled "How to Be Honest with Yourself", back on the shelf. "Surely I'm overthinking things..."


Flower


"Welcome!" The lady that works at Flower said, greeting Kana and Miku, who returned her greeting, "Oh? That girl who always eats three full orders isn't with you two?"

"It's just us today." Miku responds.

"I see." The Flower lady says, preparing to make some okonomiyaki for the girls, "Then perhaps I'll eat some for her, since she isn't here!" She jokes.

"You don't have to eat it, but please make it." Miku says, causing the lady to laugh. "I'm really hungry. I haven't eaten all day because I was looking forward to this okonomiyaki with Hibiki..." She continues, causing Kana and the lady to worry for her.

"Then you're thinking on an empty stomach." The lady states, "Nothing good ever comes from that."

Miku thinks about what the Flower lady said, thinking about how she doesn't really know too much about the situation Hibiki is in. "Maybe if I talk to her, I'm sure..." Miku mumbles to herself before thanking the lady for her wisdom.

The friends proceed to enjoy their meal, as well as each other's company. After they finished their food, Kana and Miku, with a bag of okonomiyaki for Hibiki, left to head back to Lydian to meet up with Hibiki. "Well, we should get back to Lydian now." She says to Kana before turning to the lady, to which both herself and Kana thank for the meal.

"If anything else happens, be sure to come back." The lady of Flower said, saying goodbye to the girls.

"Okay!" Miku replies, saying goodbye to the lady with Kana.


Kana and Hibiki's POV:
Outside Lydian


Section Two HQ


"The girl with the Nehushtan Armor is coming this way." Aoi reports to Genjuro.

"Issue an evacuation order for the surrounding area." Genjuro orders, "And contact Hibiki-kun and Kana-kun!" he continues, hoping they're close by.


Unknown to the coming danger, Kana and Miku walk through the parking lot back to Lydian. "Kana?" Miku asks, stopping to reassure herself through Kana, who also halts to answer, "Be honest with me. Hibiki isn't trying to stay away from me on purpose, right?"

Kana chuckles, "Trust me, Miku. Hibiki would rather spend time with you than work." she says, remembering Hibiki's rage in the subway, "This one time at work, Hibiki-" She stopped herself, knowing she couldn't mention Hibiki's symphogear to Miku, or else she'd be in big trouble. She's also stopped by a sudden ringing from her phone.

"What about Hibiki at work, Kana?" Miku asked, curious what Kana was going to say.

Kana smirked, a little guilt about hanging up her phone but telling herself she'd head to HQ as soon as she could. "Well, that night you two were supposed to see the shooting stars, at work, Hibiki was upset that she wasn't able to go with you." She said, twisting the story compared to what actually happened, "So, as a way to try and help her make it in time to the shooting stars, I tried to do her work on top of my own. Unfortunately, it ended with me hurting myself and needing to stay in bed the next day."

"That explains why you weren't in class the day afterwards." Miku says, much to Kana's surprise that she actually believed her story. "Alright, lets go find Hibiki!" Miku continues, ready to talk with Hibiki.

Meanwhile, as Hibiki was running to go get okonomiyaki for herself and Tsubasa, she gets a call from Sector Two, "Hibiki-kun! We have spotted the girl with the Nehushtan Armor heading towards our base!" Genjuro reports, "We tried to get in contact with Kana-kun, but she hasn't answered her phone. If you run into her, have her come with you immediately!"

"Yes, I understand! I'll be there soon!" Hibiki responds, heading towards the HQ instead of Flower.

"Ah... Hibiki!" Miku says, waving to Hibiki, who stops in her tracks, surprised to see Miku and Kana together.

Instantly, Hibiki's attention is drawn to the girl in the Nehushtan Armor, who strikes at Hibiki, "Stay back you guys! It's danger-" she tries to warn her friends, as the three are knocked back by the girl's attack.

"Shoot! There was someone else with them?" The girl asks herself, hearing someone other than Hibiki or Kana near where her attack landed.

"Miku! Are you okay?!" Kana asked, making sure her friend isn't too badly hurt. Suddenly, a car that was parked next to where the girl's attack hit was about to crush them both. However, from the dust, Hibiki could be heard singing.


"Balwisyall nescell Gungnir tron"


(Watashi to Iu Oto Hibiki Sono Saki ni starts to play)

Hibiki rushes in front of Kana and Miku and punches the car away from them, surprising Miku with her sudden transformation. "Hibiki?"" Miku asks, confused by this sudden change.

"I'm sorry, Miku." She replies before sprinting off to get the girl in the Nehushtan Armor's attention.

"You really think a stupid kid like you can provoke me?" She sarcastically asks, chasing after Hibiki.

"Kana... Why is Hibiki..." She tries to ask her friend. Suddenly, she looks to her friend, who transformed into similar clothing as Hibiki. "You as well, Kana?"

"I'm very sorry, Miku... I promise I'll explain everything when I get back." She says, healing Miku's bruises with her magic. "But right now, I need to go over there and help her. Please, get to safety for now." saying this, she rushes off in the direction of Hibiki and the girl, leaving Miku there to take in everything that she just witnessed.


Sector Two HQ


"Hibiki-chan has entered combat. Kana-chan isn't far behind her." Aoi reports, showing their locations on the big screen. "They're currently moving away from the city."

"Keep following them." Genjuro says, "Record every second of this!"


The forest


Hibiki stops running, feeling that she lured away her opponent far enough from where she could harm anyone else. When she goes to face her opponent, the girl tosses one of the vines of the Nehushtan Armor at Hibiki. However, Kana arrives just in time to deflect the vine with her sword, "Not bad, Dumb and Dumber!" The girl says, mocking Kana and Hibiki.

"That isn't our names!" Hibiki retorts. "My name is Hibiki Tachibana, age fifteen! My birthday is September 13th, and my blood type is 0! I just had my height measured, and it was 157 cm! My weight is... I'll save that for when we're better friends! My hobby is saving people, and my favorite things are food and more food. Also... I've never had a boyfriend!" She states, introducing herself formally to her opponent.

"And I am Kana Kamui, age sixteen! My birthday is April 19th, and my favorite things are bringing a smile to my friends and family's faces and making my own fate, like my papa before me!" Kana adds, further confusing the enemy.

"Wh-Why are you telling me all of that?" The girl asks.

"We aren't like the Noise." Hibiki answers, "We can understand each other, so we want to talk!"

"Seriously? After all that's happened?" The stranger sarcastically remarks, throwing her vines from Nehushtan at the girls, who perfectly dodge every strike, which comes to a surprise for her, "Something's changed... they're... resolved?" She thinks to herself.

"Please! Let's just talk! There's no need for us to fight!" Kana pleads with the stranger, who grits her teeth in annoyance, "Because if we can just talk to one another, people can-"

"Shut up!" The girl interrupts, "People can't understand each other. That isn't how people were made!" She continues, "I despise you both! You keep talking, but you don't understand a damn thing!" She shouts, taking a moment to slightly compose herself, "I was told to drag you both back, but I could care less about that now. I'll destroy you both! I'll ruin everything each of you have!"

Kana readies herself to fight again, "We can't lose, either." She says, Hibiki nodding and preparing herself with her friend.

"Die!" the girl shouts, sending a giant ball of black lightning towards the two, who try to repel it with everything they have. "Have another!" she sends a second ball at the two, causing a massive explosion. She stands at the edge of the explosion, catching her breath, "It's because of you two that I'm going to..."

She is interrupted by a bright orange light and shouting, seeing Kana in a bright orange set of armor similar to Hibiki's, the latter of which tries to channel her energy to a single point in her hands. Unfortunately, she fails to channel it, causing a smaller explosion, knocking the girls back. "This isn't working..." Hibiki thinks to herself, "I still can't stabilize my Gear's energy, like Tsubasa-san and the others can!"

"Don't tell me. Is she trying to access her Armed Gear in this short a time?" The girl asks herself, realizing what Hibiki is doing.

Hibiki continues her train of thought, "If I can't properly summon my Armed Gear... I'll just use the energy I have, and hit with it!" She clenches the small ball of energy she managed to make, slightly thanks to the boost in power Kana was able to give her, and prepares to use it to attack her opponent.

"Oh no you don't!" The girl shouts, sending her vines forward to strike Hibiki, which only results in Kana grabbing them and pulling on them to bring the girl closer to herself and Hibiki.

"Now Hibiki! Just like sensei taught us! Like you're crushing lightning!" Kana shouts, knowing exactly what Hibiki was planning to do.

Hibiki nods, activating the thrusters on her gear and flying towards the girl, "Straight for her, as fast as possible, as soon as possible," She says to herself, readying her strike, "I'll tell her what I'm feeling... The song in my heart!"

Her punch connects with the girl, straight at her stomach. "Impossible!" The girl says to herself in disbelief, "The Nehushtan Armor is..."

As the armor starts breaking even more, the punch lets out an explosion that can be seen throughout the forest. The explosion is big enough that even Miku sees it from the road she was at, causing her to tear up, worried for her friends. "Hibiki? Kana?"

The strike from the combined efforts of Hibiki and Kana sent their opponent straight into a nearby hill, "How can they use their power together like that?" The girl asks herself, struggling to stand, "It's almost as powerful as that other girl's Superb Song." Reeling from the regeneration of the Nehushtan Armor, she manages to stand up and comes to the realization that she needs to end this quickly. When she goes to face her opponents, Hibiki is standing still with her eyes closed, singing her song as Kana stands beside her, "Are you mocking me? Me? Chris Yukine?"

Hibiki opens her eyes, "Oh, so your name is Chris-chan." She states, shocking Chris as she realizes what she said, "Hey, Chris-chan... Let's stop fighting already." she requests, "Like I said earlier, we aren't like the Noise. We can talk to each other."

"If we just talk to one another, we can come to understand each other!" Kana adds, "Because, we're all human here!"

"You're both liars." Chris retorts, "Huge liars, and even bigger idiots!" Chris charges at Hibiki, kicking her through several trees. Kana tries to stop her from attacking Hibiki, but she just knocks her into Hibiki. Even with the time she was buying herself, the Nehushtan Armor was still far from finished regenerating, forcing her to resort to the ace up her sleeve.

"Chris-chan..." Hibiki pleas, trying to reason with Chris.

Chris, however, wouldn't listen as she shouted, "Fly! Armor Purger!" engulfing herself in a white light, sending the Nehushtan Armor over the surrounding area as shrapnel, forcing Hibiki and Kana to shield themselves. Suddenly, the white light that engulfed Chris just a moment ago turned red as something neither Hibiki nor Kana could expect happened.


"Killiter Ichaival tron."


"This song..." Hibiki said aloud.

"Don't tell me..." Kana says, coming to the same realization Hibiki has.

"I'll show you both the power of the Ichaival." Chris says to the girls, unleashing her own Symphogear to fight them.

(Makyū Ichaival begins to play)


Section Two HQ


"The Ichaival?" Genjuro asks aloud, shocked by Chris' words.

"Aufwachen waveform detected." Sakuya reports as the monitor shows that the waveform was detected as "Ichaival"

"We've matched it with our existing data." Aoi reports, "It is the Ichaival!"

Genjuro is shocked by the realization, "Then our enemy even has the second lost relic? Contact Kanade immediately and get her to their location!"


"Chris-chan is just like us?" Hibiki asks.

"It seems like it." Kana answers Hibiki, "Get ready, Hibiki. I have a feeling things are about to get rough for us."

As the dust settles around Chris, she can be seen in a suit of armor similar to Hibiki and the others. Unlike theirs, Chris' is a dark red with plates sticking out from behind her waist and a bulky helmet compared to the headsets that everyone else's Symphogear (with the exception of Kana's mask on hers) has, "You made me sing." Chris says, surprising the girls, "You made me sing my song... For that, I'll show you both how much I despise singing!"

"You hate singing?" Hibiki asks Chris to no avail. Suddenly, one of Chris's armlets transforms into a crossbow, firing bolts of energy at the girls and causing them to quickly dodge as best as they could. They try to approach Chris, but she kicks them back, transforming her crossbows into gatling guns, causing them to retreat into the forest. While they retreated, Kana fired several small shots of energy at Chris, which had little effect to her onslaught.

Seeing this, Chris brings forth rockets from her belt, continuing her assault until she has to stop to catch her breath, exhausting herself from the amount of power she unleashed.

Once the dust started to settle, Chris expected to see the corpses of her enemies, only to be met with a steel wall with blue stripes, "A shield?" She asked in confusion.

"A sword." A mysterious voice said from above Chris.

(Zettō Ame no Habakiri starts to play)

Tsubasa, clad in her Ame no Habakiri Symphogear stood atop the giant sword. Seeing her causes Chris to chuckle, "I heard that you were in a coma after our fight. Did you come to help your loser friends?" She mockingly asks Tsubasa.

"I decided that I will never lose again." Tsubasa retorts.

"Tsubasa..." Genjuro says over Tsubasa comms, "Just, don't push yourself too much."

"Yes, sir." Tsubasa replies. From behind the sword, Hibiki and Kana look up and see Tsubasa, much to their surprise, "Now, we're even Kamui. Are you two still able to fight?" Tsubasa asks, causing Kana to smirk, "I'm not exactly in top shape, either. So I would like you two to help me." Hearing this, Kana and Hibiki nod as Kana uses her Augmentation ability to give Tsubasa a boost of power.

Chris fires her guns at the giants sword as Tsubasa descends to slash at her foe while Chris does what she can to shoot Tsubasa, each dodging the other's attacks. However, as the fight progresses, Tsubasa proves to be the superior combatant in their fight, partially due to Kana's assistance. Thanks to that, Tsubasa is easily able to land some hits on Chris. "Her movement is completely different from before." Chris states to herself. "Is this what that masked idiot's power is capable of?"

Hibiki tries to tell Tsubasa about Chris' powers, but Tsubasa interrupts her, knowing what she was going to say. "I know she isn't an enemy we should be crossing blades with." She says to herself, "I also need to ask her about the second relic, which was lost ten years ago..."

Chris readied her guns to continue the fight, but suddenly flying Noise come out of nowhere and disable them. A third one tries to strike Chris directly, but Hibiki tackles and destroys it before it can hit its target. "Hibiki!/Tachibana!" Kana and Tsubasa shout.

"What the hell are you doing?" Chris asks Hibiki

"I'm sorry." Hibiki faintly replies, "It was going to hit you, so I..."

"You idiot!" Chris interrupts, angered and slightly flustered, "I didn't ask for your help!"

"You can't even do what I ordered you to." A mysterious voice says, "How much must you disappoint me?"

"Finé!" Chris says, looking to the woman in black clothing leaning on the railing of a nearby platform.

"Finé?" Kana thinks loud enough for only Tsubasa to hear.

"A name that means "The end." Tsubasa answers Kana, confused by her unusual name as well.

Chris throws Hibiki aside before she continues to talk to her superior, "I can stop the wars from starting without them!" Chris says, "Then, like you said, we'll be free from that curse and peace will return, right?"

The mysterious woman, identified as "Finé" sighs, "You are useless to me now."

"W-What do you mean by that?!" Chris asks, confused by her superior's statement.

Suddenly, Finé's hand starts to glow and the pieces of the Nehushtan Armor Chris wore moments ago start to disintegrate and fly towards Finé before it vanishes altogether. Immediately afterwards, she points the device in her hand towards the group, causing the Noise circling above her to strike as she flees from the scene.

Tsubasa and Kana manage to easily fend off the Noise while Chris chases after Finé. Tsubasa tries to go after her, but is stopped by Kana, "Kamui? What are you doing?" Tsubasa asks.

"Leave following Chris-san to me." She replies, "You're still recovering from your last fight. So please, take Hibiki back to HQ and allow me to do this."

As much as Tsubasa wanted to deny it, Kana was right. Sighing, she nods to Kana, "Just make sure to fall back if things get rough, got it?" Kana nods to Tsubasa's request before going off in the direction that Chris and Finé ran off in.

Moments later, Kanade arrives at Tsubasa and Hibiki's location, "Tsubasa?" She asks, "What are you doing here? You haven't fully recovered yet, so you should be resting."

"I apologize for worrying you, Kanade." Tsubasa says, "But I couldn't sit idly by while my comrades were in danger."

Kanade was happy to see that Tsubasa was finally seeing Hibiki as a true wielder, even if just slightly. However, her attention was immediately drawn to the fact someone else wasn't present. "Speaking of comrades, where's Kana? Wasn't she here with Hibiki originally?"

"She was," Tsubasa answered, "But she went off to pursue the girl that had the Nehushtan Armor, Chris Yukine." Kanade was confused by Tsubasa's words. "It has come to light that not only did she have the Armor that we lost two years ago, but she is also in possession of the lost second relic, Ichaival."

"Ichaival?!" Kanade said, shocked by the sudden new information brought to her, "Just who is this chick?"

"That's not all that we've learned from this encounter with Yukine." Tsubasa interjects, "She also was working with someone named Finé, who took the Armor and abandoned Yukine, saying she was useless to her."

"Then, what about Kana?" Kanade asked, still trying to take in all of the information she just recieved.

"Well, after Finé took her leave from the battlefield, Yukine chased after her. I was about to do what I could to follow suit, but Kamui stopped me, requesting that she go instead."

"And you let her go alone?!" Kanade furiously asks, "We may have an idea about what this Chris chick could be capable of, but we haven't got a clue about what her ex-ally could do."

"I'm aware of that." Tsubasa said, "But with Tachibana currently unconscious and myself still not at my full strength, I couldn't really stop her. For now, let's just trust that Kamui knows what she's doing and won't be too reckless."

Kanade sighs, "Serena and Lilith-san will not be happy about this..." she mumbles to herself, turning to Tsubasa, "Guess there's nothing we can do about it now. Here, let me take Hibiki and we can all head back to base."


Tsubasa and Hibiki's POV:
Section Two HQ


"Other than some bruises and scratches, you didn't sustain and serious injuries in your fight." Ryoko states in regard to Hibiki's medical check.

"So I'm fine?" Hibiki asks the doctor.

"You were just exhausted is all." Ryoko answers, reassuring Hibiki, "As long as you get some rest tonight, you should be back to your usual self instantly." Hibiki is relieved to hear this as she tries to steps off the medical scanner, nearly fainting in the process, "Hey now, don't push yourself!"

"I must be cursed..." Hibiki says, sighing.

"You're worried about your friend, aren't you?" Ryoko asks, getting a nod in response, "No need to worry about her, Ogawa and Serena's team must've explained the situation to her by now. All she needs to do is sign the non-disclosure agreement, and she's free to leave."

Meanwhile in the command center, The others were discussing what they've learned from the battle. "I never would've expected that our enemy had Ichaival in their possession..." Sakuya states to himself aloud, "nor that Chris Yukine was a gear user."

"That means our advantage with the relics we have is gone now, doesn't it?" Aoi asks in response.

"Then there's that Finé woman..." Sakuya continues, "Just what is she after?"

Moments later, Ryoko walks into the room, followed by Tsubasa and Hibiki. "I know our situation isn't the best right now, but at least our wielders are in perfect health." Ryoko says, trying to lighten the sour mood in the air, "Besides, it's too early to admit defeat."

Genjuro, Serena, Lilith, and Kanade stand to face Ryoko and the girls. "Tsubasa! That was reckless." Genjuro states in regard to his niece's actions.

"I apologize for acting out of line, commander." Tsubasa replies, "However, as I previously told Kanade, I wasn't going to sit idly as my comrades were in danger." This understandably catches Hibiki's attention, seeing as Tsubasa previously didn't see her as such. "While she isn't a true warrior yet, there is no doubt that Tachibana has what it takes to be one. The only problem is her that approach doesn't realize it."

"Tsubasa-san..." Hibiki whispers to herself, surprised by Tsubasa's change of heart towards her.

"While I'm still not at my best, I can still do what I can to support her as well as the others." Tsubasa continues, turning to Hibiki to reassure her that she has her back.

"I'll do my best, Tsubasa-san!" Hibiki replies.

"While Kana-kun's pursuit of Chris worries me, your examination results are a little bit more worrisome, Hibiki-kun." Genjuro states.

"I'm sure I'll be alright as long as I eat plenty of food and get plenty of rest!" Hibiki reassures her teacher and commander, more concerned about her best friend than herself. While in this train of thought, and without warning, Ryoko suddenly pokes Hibiki's chest which, obviously, freaks her out, "What in the world are you doing?!"

"It seems that those fragments from Gungnir near your heart are starting to fuse with your tissue at an accelerating rate." Ryoko answers, "My guess is that your energy and regeneration are byproducts of that." This causes slight confusion for Hibiki and the others. As for Tsubasa, she shows more concern towards this "Fusion" that Ryoko referred to. "There's no need to worry about it. As far as the research is concerned, there seems to be no negative effects to this." Ryoko adds, reassuring the group, where Tsubasa had her doubts. "As for Kana-chan, I'm sure she'll be fine. For now, let's just get some rest and be ready for her to return with any interesting details of our enemies." Everyone could agree to that, the events of today were exhausting. Exchanging goodbyes, everyone went back to their homes, except Ryoko who went to her lab to privately go over her true research.


Hibiki's POV:
Hibiki and Miku's Dorm


Hibiki opened the door to her dorm where she was met by Miku, clearly upset and giving her the cold shoulder. "Hey, Miku..." She said, anxious about what her friend thinks of her now that her secret's out, "I know I have a lot to explain, as hard as it is to, but..."

"Welcome home." Miku says, not even batting an eye to her friend.

"Y-yes, it's good to be back." Hibiki responds, "May... May I come in?"

"Sure. This is your dorm too." Miku answers, still ignoring Hibiki.

"I promise, I can explain." Hibiki tries again to apologize for her actions, but Miku is still upset.

"What's left to explain, Hibiki? Those people told me more than enough as far as I'm concerned." She retorts, "You promised to not hide anything from me! Yet both you and Kana did just that!"

Hibiki's heart sank in her chest, feeling guilty for betraying her friend's trust, "Please hear me out Miku! Kana and I..."

"It'll just be more lies again." She interjects, walking past Hibiki and going straight into the bottom bunk of their bed to sleep.

"I'm sorry Miku..." Hibiki says, temporarily opening the curtain to the bottom bunk before closing it soon after. With Miku upset by the truth Hibiki hid from her and Kana disappearing without a trace, Hibiki went to her half of the bunk bed to rest, left to deal with her guilt and worry alone.

A/N: Another chapter, another Gear's debut.

Like I mentioned before, I wanted to focus from the perspectives of those not present in the main timeline when possible. I wanted to add a moment where there would've been a flashback to the day Miku met Kana, but I feel like that'll be a moment for another chapter.

With that said and the chapter done, I shall see you all in the next one!