Sympho-Saber: Song of Swords

S1:EP08 – Recovery and Revelations

Chris was standing near the edge of a dock where the secluded estate was located. She was currently holding Solomon's Cane while she stared down into the lake deep in thought.

'Finé said that a huge amount of phonic gain is required to activate a complete relic. I spent half a year preparing for Solomon's Cane, but she was able to handle that sword instantly. And that's not all… she even managed to release its power!'

"She's a damn monster," Chris spoke with gritted teeth.

"She's not a monster, I'm a monster."

Chris quickly turned to see Desast approaching her, her body tensed as she gripped Solomon's Cane tightly before raising it, "What do you want?"

"Relax, I just want to brood here too and the early morning is the best time to do so," Desast remarked as he raised his hands, revealing he didn't have his sword on him. He then walked past Chris before sitting on the edge.

"I don't get what she sees in you all," Chris admitted as she turned to stare out at the water.

"That's not to say her power isn't monstrous," Desast said, picking up from where he left off before, he rolled his shoulder a bit as if trying to pop it, "That power was unlike any I've ever seen. Despite that, she's no monster I can assure you."

"I don't need a lesson in semantics," Chris narrowed her eyes at the Megid before looking out into the distance. "If I want to call her a monster then I'll call her one."

"Fair," Desast answered as he stared forward, "We real monsters though, at least to Finé are expendable tools."

"The fact that Finé wants us to capture that girl, means she's obsessed with her, so it's not just you all," Chris admitted before spacing out as she recalled a few painful memories, "And then… I'll be all alone again."

"Hmm," Desast gave a hum as he glanced back at Chris, but he perked up entirely once he felt another presence. So he turned further, "Oh…?"

Near the two was the blonde woman from before, this time wearing a black dress and hat, this was Finé. She gave a smirk, "Making new friends?"

"Don't be ridiculous," Chris turned with a sneer as she steeled herself, "I know. I know what you're expecting of me. I can do what you want without needing stuff like this!" She then tossed Solomon's Cane towards Finé, "I'll prove that I'm better than she is, I'll even show you why you shouldn't rely on those damn book monsters as well. I'll crush anyone who has power with my own two hands!" She held out a fist and gripped it tightly, "That is my goal!"

"Is that so…" Desast muttered as he glanced to the side to see Calibur watching from the shadows. He couldn't help but notice that despite seemingly not caring for Chris or Finé, he seemed to be paying a lot more attention to them lately. He perked up however when he noticed Legeiel further away.

"If the Swordsmen will be there you'll need backup," Legeiel said, "I can certainly provide you the help you require, much more than Zooous ever could."

"So long as you make sure that I have her all to myself then you can do as you please," Chris remarked.

Rintaro was dealing with his biggest challenge at the moment, especially because he wasn't expecting something like this to happen. He had simply gone to Fantastic Bookstore Kamiyama to see if Touma wanted to train or take a break. He arrived just as Touma was finishing up reading and playing with a few kids, but just as they were about to leave they saw him and surrounded him before starting to bombard him with question after question.

"Why do you have a funny looking coat?"

"Are you a friend of Touma's?"

"What's with the weird pants?"

"Uh… I…" Rintaro was starting to spin in place as he tried to keep from tripping, "Uh… Touma… could I have a little assistance please?"

Touma couldn't help but chuckle a bit, "Hey, hey, don't be making fun of someone's looks especially my friends." He said as he hurried over and squatted down, "He's a good friend of mine alright, so you'll see him around often like with Miku and Hibiki."

"Oh yeah," A girl asked, "When are they coming back? We miss them."

"Yeah, they're fun to have around," A boy agreed.

"I'm sure they miss you too," Touma smiled as he ruffled the girl and boys hair, "They've just been busy with school. Like you all should be too." He gave a further smile as he watched the kids panic at the thought of finishing homework before calling out goodbye and rushing out the store.

"That… was certainly an experience," Rintaro admitted as he placed a hand on his chest.

"Not good with kids huh," Touma remarked.

"I'm surprised you are," Rintaro admitted, "Given well, we're the same age too."

"I guess my parents just rubbed off on me," Touma said, recalling a few memories before smiling a bit as he turned to take in the view of his store, "Admittedly I wasn't this good around kids until about two years ago…"

"Ah yes I think you mentioned that," Rintaro mentioned, he gave a bit of sad smile as he looked to the side, "It must be nice, to have something passed onto you like that. Your family must really trust you."

"I actually was surprised when they offered for me to run it as the front man," Touma admitted before glancing back, "It was nerve-wracking but well I decided to do it, and I ended up enjoying it a lot."

"So why exactly are they out of the country?" Rintaro asked.

"Well Mom's a researcher so she's usually out and about trying to find the latest groundbreaking discovery, if she knew about everything related to Section 2 she'd have a heart attack," Touma mentioned with a light chuckle, "Dad meanwhile is trying to expand his knowledge but is also trying to get more translations of foreign books over here. He's gotten quite a few heavy hitters too that we sell first before their distributed to other chains."

"That's certainly impressive," Rintaro admitted.

"Oh that's right I never asked, what brings you here?" Touma asked.

"Oh, I was wondering if you were going to be training today or not," Rintaro replied, "Daishinji mentioned he was going to be busier today, so he won't be able to partake in a late training session like he had promised."

"That's fine by me, as much as I know I need it a break every once and awhile is good," Touma said before hearing his phone ring, "Oh its Ogawa."

Rintaro went to check his Gattrike Phone only to notice he didn't have any missed calls on his or any incoming calls.

"Hello, Ogawa?" Touma answered.

"Sorry to be bugging about this but it's about Tsubasa," Ogawa answered.

"What about her?" Touma asked before snapping his fingers, "Ah, is it books? Did she have anything she needed me to find?"

"Actually I was hoping you could check in on her," Ogawa replied, "I already asked Hibiki to check on her so you won't have to worry about being alone."

"Ah I see," Touma gave a nod, "Did something come up?"

"I'm a bit tied up at the moment," Ogawa admitted, "Do you think you could do this for me?"

"Of course," Touma answered, giving a nod as he was given Tsubasa's room number and any additional details he needed to know. He then hung up before pocketing his phone, "This'll be interesting…"

"Is something the matter with Tsubasa?" Rintaro asked.

"Nothing too major," Touma replied, "Ogawa just wants Hibiki and I to visit Tsubasa, I assume to just make sure she's doing alright in his absence."

"That makes sense, she is a potential high priority target," Rintaro agreed.

"Sorry if I'm kicking you back to the base Rintaro," Touma apologized, "But I'll be leaving soon."

"Oh no it's fine," Rintaro held up his hands in protest, "I was actually only briefly stopping here for the moment. I actually have business in the city."

"Oh?" Touma asked as he raised an eyebrow, "Official business?"

"Not exactly," Rintaro shook his head, "It's simply a place I've been meaning to try but haven't for the longest while."

"Let me guess… food," Touma gave a sly look.

"W-What's with that look?" Rintaro questioned before pouting and crossing his arms, "And what if it's about food?"

"Nothing," Touma gave a light laugh before going towards his desk, "Well for now just sit back and relax while I work on closing up shop for the day."

"I see you got back from the memorial service," Daishinji noted as he saw Sophia enter his workshop, noticing that she was wearing black today in place of her usual white suit.

"I went with Genjuro," Sophia replied, "We figured it would be best for both heads of Section 2 to make an appearance."

"Of course, though you'd never see me at one of those particular events," Daishinji mentioned. "I'm curious how many officials really cared to begin with. Especially given how much he ended helping us out with."

"Despite the issues he's given Section 2 he was instrumental in making sure the Seiken and Wonder Ride Books weren't spread throughout the government two years ago," Sophia admitted as she took a seat. "Without Victor going to him and asking for some help before stepping down, we wouldn't have been merged in the first place."

"I'm grateful for that," Daishinji admitted, "These Relics are not meant to be misused."

"I agree," Sophia said before glancing towards the door after a loud sound was heard, "So I take it security updates are going well?"

"Normally I wouldn't pay attention, until I heard what you told me," Daishinji replied, "Everything seems to be going alright however."

"It's doubtful something bad will happen during installation," Sophia agreed before she gave a grimace, "Though given how this upgrade came about… how's everything going?"

"Rintaro's training is progressing smoothly, he should be ready for his Wonder Combo soon should he need to use it," Daishinji answered, "Touma is also progressing nicely, the fact that he was able to utilize Storm Eagle without much trouble shows how much he's improved."

"Have you told him that yourself?" Sophia asked, giving a soft chuckle when she saw Daishinji turn away, "I see you're still trying to be tough on the two."

"They are our only Swordsmen," Daishinji admitted before walking over to where he was hiding Suzune. He uncovered it before holding out what looked to be a scanning tool as he began to work on continually repairing it, "And Suzune's still a couple more months out from being truly ready."

"If only we had suitable candidates for the other two," Sophia sighed.

"I've… actually been looking into that," Daishinji admitted as he paused his checkup, "We might have two individuals but given the situation at the time, I'm waiting to see more before I fully accept the idea."

Sophia couldn't help but smile, "I see that you seem to be turning around."

"I've just… been able to see things in a different light as of late," Daishinji admitted, "I figure being bitter and too overprotective is going to cost us. So I'm trying to relax… somewhat."

"Caution is still appreciated, it feels too convenient that we were able to regain control and protection of Durandal," Sophia replied.

Once again Touma was having a hard time battling against one of his hardest foes, architecture. He was seriously wondering who designed Lydian and the Hospital that it held in general given how unorthodox the interior was at some points.

Admittedly this was a good thing since him bumbling around had allowed him to run into Hibiki who had a bouquet of flowers in her arms.

"Wait…" Touma said as he stared at the bouquet, "Does Lydian have flower shops?"

"No," Hibiki shook her head, "I took a quick trip to town to grab some."

"You could have asked me," Touma nearly fell to the ground, what was it about his friend making everything harder on herself? He shook his head however, "You seriously went from Lydian to town to back here again?"

"I was pretty fast though," Hibiki pointed out as she walked past Touma, "Since you seem like you just got here."

"Uh yeah," Touma gave a nod, deciding not to say he'd been wandering for several minutes after getting turned around, "That is pretty fast all things considered. So it's Room 402 right?"

"That's what Mr. Ogawa told me," Hibiki gave a nod as she led the way, soon stopping in front of the room. She took a deep breath before opening the door, "Excuse us!"

Touma walked in first and immediately stopped after two steps due to what he was seeing, "Tsubasa, we're-wait what, nope!" He immediately covered his eyes.

"Touma, why did you-" Hibiki cut herself off as she dropped her bag horror, "No way… that can't be."

"And just what are you two doing?" A familiar voice asked from behind.

Touma and Hibiki yelped as they spun around, Touma spreading his fingers and peaking through them. The duo was now face to face with Tsubasa who was currently walking with her IV Pole and a crutch.

"Are you all right?" Hibiki immediately asked, "Are you really okay?!"

"You're seriously asking a hospital patient if they're alright." Tsubasa remarked.

"I think we uh have to… especially given the current state of your room," Touma said as he kept himself from looking back, simply pointing behind him.

"Exactly, when we saw this…!" Hibiki pointed back towards the room.

Tsubasa's hospital room in and of itself… there was no real or easy way to describe it, it was simply put, a mess. There were clothes, toiletries, books, makeup, food, just about anything and everything all over the place.

Touma could only stare in surprise as he noticed Tsubasa's stoic nature was replaced by a face filled of embarrassment.

"We thought you'd been kidnapped!" Hibiki exclaimed. "The people at Section 2 had just been talking about international conspiracies too…"

"Hibiki," Touma spoke up during her small rant as he noticed Tsubasa was blushing hard in embarrassment at what the two had witnessed, so much so that she grew redder and redder.

"Huh?" Hibiki turned towards her friend only to see him point at Tsubasa, she then saw her expression and suddenly realized what was going on, "Oh... er…"

"Let's start with the trash first," Touma suggested.

The two were quick to clean or rather Hibiki was, as Touma had simply gone to get a spare trash bag. Once all the trash was collected Touma had left the area to throw the trash in order to allow Hibiki to work on Tsubasa's clothes with little issue. This was mostly because Touma felt he'd be invading Tsubasa's personal space even further if he helped out with sorting the clothes.

Tsubasa wasn't in much condition to stop the two, simply sitting on her bed as she tried to regain her composure, "You really didn't have to do this."

"Mr. Ogawa asked me to look after you," Hibiki admitted, "I think he sent Touma along to help but well… it's probably better that I do this part of the clean up."

"I just…" Tsubasa trailed, "I don't really think about things like that."

"That's surprising," Hibiki admitted as she worked on putting the last of the clothes away, "I always thought of you as someone who does everything perfectly."

"Couldn't be further from the truth," Tsubasa admitted with a small smile, "I only know how to fight."

A few knocks were heard from the door before Touma's voice came through, "We good?"

"All clear," Hibiki called out.

"Thank goodness," Touma sighed in relief as he walked in, "I figured doing that trash run first would allow me to not butt in."

"At least you know proper manners," Hibiki said.

"I'm sure Tsubasa was already embarrassed enough," Touma said as he crossed his arms, "I mean a guy shouldn't really be seeing that or really deal with that kind of stuff, you know?"

"Really," Tsubasa stared out the window, "Usually Ogawa does it for me…"

"I… huh," Touma trailed.

"And you don't find anything wrong with that? He's a… you know, guy," Hibiki gave a light stammer, before looking over at Touma and bowing, "Sorry Touma."

"No I get it," Touma waved it off.

"Well, when you think about it, I guess there are a lot of problems with that…" Tsubasa suddenly realized what Hibiki was getting at. "But I'd rather that than leave my room in a mess."

"Honestly… fair," Touma said, even though he could argue that Tsubasa should try and clean herself, well, he figured he wouldn't prod.

"I know I'm stuck here for the time being, but I'm still reading the reports…" Tsubasa quickly changed subjects to avoid further talking of her cleaning habits. She looked over at Hibiki, "Touma seems to be growing quite well, and you have been doing a good job in taking my place as a Wielder."

"That's not true at all!" Hibiki immediately heard the end of that sentence and held her hands up in defense, trying to show some humbleness, "Everyone at Section 2 is always helping me."

"Yeah, like Daishinji's been helping me train up," Touma admitted as he put his hands on his hips, "I've only managed to grow stronger thanks to his support."

"I'm glad to see that you're managing to take things in stride," Tsubasa replied.

Miku was currently in the library of Lydian, at the front desk talking with the main librarian at the moment. After Hibiki had suddenly mentioned she had plans and had to bail she had decided to go to the library instead of her original plan of shopping.

"And you're sure?" Miku asked.

"Sorry, I'm afraid no business known as Fantastic Bookstore Kamiyama has come by to look at the books," The librarian replied, "Haven't spoken to a Touma Kamiyama either."

"I see, thank you" Miku gave a bow before heading off towards one of the sections to look for a book she had found while searching the school's systems.

Her thoughts drifted to when she saw Touma that one day, it was also a few days before Hibiki started vanishing from school to train. She was a bit curious and suspicious, but also a bit surprised by the answer when it came time to ask the librarian. She wondered if they just couldn't give out that kind of information. The librarian seemed genuine however, so she had to wonder why Touma would lie like that.

'Be Honest With Yourself'

That was the title of the book that Miku had been interested in. But when she turned to go check it out, something had ended up catching her eyes from the windows. Her eyes widened as she was able to see Tsubasa's hospital room. Without any blinds active, she could see not only Tsubasa but also Hibiki and Touma as well.

She wasn't sure how to feel at the moment, but given the two's behavior over the past month things started to slowly line up. Or at least in a vague way, but it was enough for Miku to quickly look away and put the book back on the shelf. She wasn't sure what exactly to feel at the moment, or what to do, so she quickly took off to go for a walk and hopefully clear her head.

"You know it feels nice, knowing that you're satisfied with the fruits of our training," Touma admitted.

"Yeah, I'm really happy you feel that way," Hibiki replied with a bit of a blush.

"Though it's for that reason that I want to know why you fight," Tsubasa answered, "Kamiyama already told me his reasoning a while ago. But I want to know yours Tachibana. The war against the Noise isn't a game, and the Megid amplify that threat further. You should know that now, having faced death yourself."

"I dunno myself…" Hibiki started, "Helping others is kind of my hobby, so…"

"So?" Tsubasa asked, "Is that it?"

"You know how, in sports and studies, if you want to be the best you have to compete with others?" Hibiki asked. "There's no competition when it comes to helping people. I don't really have any talents or things worth being proud of, so I just want to be useful to others by doing what I can."

"Hibiki…" Touma muttered, still amazed by the fact that Hibiki was able to look past all the ugliness of the world given what followed the concert incident. Granted, he and his parents helped as much as they could alongside Miku, but the level of what happened… he couldn't help but be impressed by Hibiki's attitude.

"Maybe…" Hibiki spoke up, "Maybe it all started with that incident. That show, two years ago where Kanade burned her life away to save me. And not just her, many people died there that day. But Touma and I… we were able to live. And even today, we can eat, we can laugh. So I want to be useful to someone at the very least. Cause I want to be able to eat and laugh tomorrow too. I want to help others. I'm sure Touma feels the same way, even if we both had vastly different experiences…"

"It's an optimistic reason, just like you," Tsubasa admitted. "But that could just be an optimistic excuse for suicide."

Hibiki and Touma both were surprised by their colleagues words, "S-Suicide?!"

"A kind of survivor's guilt, where you want to sacrifice yourself for others," Tsubasa answered, "Just to free yourself from the pain of old wounds. It might be just a way to punish yourself."

"Did I say something wrong?" Hibiki asked, rubbing the back of her hair as she laughed nervously.

"I think you might be going a bit too far Tsubasa," Touma answered with a bit of a nervous chuckle, before growing a bit more serious, "I don't plan on dying anytime soon, neither does HIbiki, and hopefully neither do you."

"I suppose so," Tsubasa simply gave a shrug as she realized she wasn't quite good at this.

"Let's make another promise, Tsubasa, Hibiki," Touma spoke up before holding his hand forward, "Promise that we'll fight and stay alive, together."

"Sure," Hibiki couldn't help but smile a bit and put her hand over Touma's.

"That sounds like a reasonable promise," Tsubasa agreed as she put her hand over the other two's.

"Then it's a promise," Touma smiled.

"By the way," Tsubasa pulled her hand away before looking at the ground, "Since you two are here, can we take a walk?"

"You sure it'll be alright?" Touma asked.

"You two are members of Section 2, I'm in good hands," Tsubasa replied, "But we'll have to call the Nurses first to see if it's alright."

Miku walked at a slow pace before finally reaching her destination, it was an Okonomiyaki place named Flower. She tilted her head a bit though as she saw someone standing outside seemingly trying to decide whether or not to go in.

Said someone was none other than Rintaro who was getting cold feet despite saying he wanted to try it earlier, "Ah Okonomiyaki… what a wonderful smell…" He started to approach the door only to turn away, "No, it's probably greasy, I need to maintain good health and restraint…" He then turned back towards the door, "Though maybe one won't hurt too much… I did come all the way over here instead of going back…"

"Are you okay?" Miku asked as she walked over.

"Huh?" Rintaro turned to face her, "Oh, I'm fine, I'm just… I've heard a lot of good things but I'm still undecided…"

"Hmm, well you really want to try it right?" Miku asked.

"Yes," Rintaro gave a nod, "But-"

"Then you should try it," Miku grabbed Rintaro by the sleeve and dragged him over to the door.

The door was opened to reveal the owner of Flower, an older woman who was currently working at the griddle.

"Welcome!" The owner called with a smile.

"Good afternoon," Miku gave a bow.

"Oh, you didn't bring your friend who eats three times as much?" The owner asked.

"T-Three times…?" Rintaro stammered out.

"It's just me today," Miku smiled, "But I did bring in someone who's anxious to try your cooking."

"G-Good afternoon," Rintaro gave a bow before quickly taking his seat.

"My my, a shy one huh," The owner remarked, "And a first timer too, don't worry you'll want to be coming back immediately after you take your first bite."

"I can only imagine given what I just heard," Rintaro gave a small chuckle.

"If you could I'd like an extra portion," Miku admitted, "I'm a bit hungrier today, I wanted to come here for dinner, so I didn't eat anything all day."

Rintaro could only blink a few times, "All day…?"

"Now that isn't good," The owner mentioned, noticing the contemplative look on Miku's face, "If you think about things while hungry, you'll only get bad ideas."

"She's right, having a meal no matter what is the key to having a balanced day," Rintaro added.

Miku couldn't help but realize that she didn't really know what was actually going on with Hibiki and Touma, she was just assuming. She needed to ask them herself, "I suppose you two are right." She then realized something before turning to Rintaro, "Oh I'm sorry I never did ask your name, I'm Miku Kohinata."

"Rintaro Shindo," Rintaro introduced with a smile, "It's a pleasure."

"I appreciate this," Tsubasa admitted as she took a deep breath. She was with Hibiki and Touma on the roof of the hospital. Thankfully after a checkup she was cleared to stop being constantly strapped to an IV Pole, though she'd still have to use her crutch.

"Well it's probably been a bit since you've had fresh air," Touma pointed out.

"I'm sure it was pretty cramped in that hospital room too," Hibiki mentioned.

Tsubasa however was thinking back to their previous conversation, "It's not for me to decide if what you say is wrong or not. Think about it and decide for yourself."

"I keep thinking and thinking, but there are still so many things I don't understand," Hibiki admitted. "When I touched Durandal, I was swallowed by darkness. Before I knew it, I was pointing that power at another person. If only I could use my Armed Gear, it wouldn't have had to come to that."

"To know how to use your power means to become a warrior," Tsubasa replied.

"A warrior…?" Hibiki asked.

"And that's not all," Tsubasa replied, "It takes you further and further away from a normal life. Do you have the resolve to do that?"

"I have things I want to protect," Hibiki answered, "My uneventful, typical everyday life. I want to cherish those simple days. But I've only ever thought about it. I haven't done anything."

"What do you think of while fighting?" Tsubasa asked.

"If the Noise or Megid are attacking someone, I want to help them!" Hibiki answered firmly, "As quickly, as shortly, and as directly as possible!" She then thought to Chris, "And if my opponent is not either Noise or Megid, but a person, I want to make them understand the doubt in my heart over whether we really have to fight."

Touma couldn't help but give a small smile, seeing that while still having doubts, his friend had grown ever since the first fight against Chris.

"Focus on and express the feeling that's in your heart now as much as you can," Tsubasa replied. "That's what will grant you the power to fight. That, itself, is your armed gear."

Those words however were Tsubasa's mistake as Hibiki had demanded to attempt a brainstorming session in order to figure out how to bring out her Armed Gear. The trio was sitting on one of the benches to allow Tsubasa to rest a bit while Hibiki was trying to figure out the details.

"Okay but what if I call out Gungnir Battou!" Hibiki called out as she did the motion to unsheathe Rekka from the Swordriver.

"I'm not sure if that will work for us wielders…" Tsubasa admitted.

"Gungnir Battou sounds kind of cool though," Touma mentioned.

"No matter how hard I think I still can't figure out how to use my Armed Gear." Hibiki gave a sigh before she snapped her fingers, "Did you two know? If you think about things while hungry, you'll never get any good ideas."

Tsubasa could only stare, "What does that even…?"

"The old lady at Flower told me that," Hibiki said as she crossed her arms before pointing at Tsubasa, "Its great wisdom!"

"It is solid advice," Touma agreed.

"I see…" Tsubasa trailed.

"All right, Touma wait here, I'm going to go get some Okonomiyaki from Flower!" Hibiki declared loudly as she hurried for the elevator, "Once we eat, I think even someone like me can figure out how to use an Armed Gear! I'm sure you'll like it too!"

"H-Hold on- Hey, wait, Tachibana!" Tsubasa called out though her words fell on deaf ears as Hibiki had already entered the elevator by that time. She couldn't help but give a soft smile however.

"Looks like someone's warming up to her," Touma gave a smirk when he caught a glimpse of Tsubasa's smile.

"Well when you go through with what I did that night… and live to tell the tale, things change," Tsubasa admitted before glancing towards him, "Though you seem quite different yourself."

"I've uh… had a lot to think about ever since that night," Touma replied as he looked at the ground, "Desast caught me off guard… I was lucky that Daishinji arrived to drive him off. Ever since then and hearing about what happened those two years ago… I knew that I couldn't just keep going the way I was."

"Show me," Tsubasa said.

"Huh?" Touma turned towards her, "Show you?"

"I'd like to see your form," Tsubasa admitted, "I haven't seen how you fight now only what I saw from before."

"Oh, uh sure," Touma said as he stood up, he was lucky that he had the Swordriver on him, placing it on his waist before drawing Rekka out to merely practice with it. As he did each stance and swing, he began to hum for a bit.

Tsubasa couldn't help but hum along, the tune sounding familiar but she paused when Touma started to add lyrics.

~One, it's every man for himself on this lonely world~

~Two, but by walking together hand in hand~

~Three, we will become strong~

'You can come back as often as you want, it'll be your secret little hideout away from it all.'

"Kamiyama…" Tsubasa barely managed to get out before clearing her throat, "Kamiyama."

"Yes?" Touma asked as he stopped, soon looking towards Tsubasa, "What's wrong? Is it not that good?"

"No, while there are things I can critique I can at least say it is an improvement over your past movements," Tsubasa replied, "But…"

Touma lowered Rekka as he gave a curious gaze, "But?"

"How do you know that song?" Tsubasa asked, "I recall a similar one I was taught in my first year."

"Eh? You do?" Touma asked in surprise, before thinking about it while sheathing his sword, "Well… Daishinji taught me it, he told me I was missing the timings and gave me a song to practice. Said one of the prior Swordsmen taught it to him."

Tsubasa glanced past Touma, wondering what the connection could be, "Kamiya-"

BEEP

BEEP

BEEP

Touma quickly took out his communicator and answered, "Yes?"

"We've got reports of the girl in the Nehushtan Armor rapidly approaching Hibiki's current position," Sophia called from the other line. "We need you there as quickly as possible."

"On it," Touma said and hung up, readying Brave Dragon and Storm Eagle before loading them into his Driver, "That Nehushtan Girl is back. Sorry about leaving suddenly, will you be fine on your own?"

Tsubasa's eyes widened in concern but she composed herself before Touma could notice, "I'll be fine, if need be I'll call for a nurse."

"Right, then I'm off," Touma said before drawing out his sword and slashing forward, "Henshin!"

[REKKA BATTOU! TATSUMAKI DRAGON EAGLE!]

In a burst of flames Touma had transformed into Saber Dragon Eagle, the Rider sheathed his sword once more before crouching and launching into the sky.

Tsubasa could only watch as Saber took off before standing up herself. Despite knowing that they could handle it… she still had her doubts. She stood up with her crutch, making her way to the elevator.

"There is honestly no need to be so kind Miss Kohinata," Rintaro said as he walked with Miku.

"Well you said that you lived in this direction, and I'm heading back to my dorm so I figured we could walk together," Miku replied, "It's been getting a lot more dangerous as of late."

"T-That is true yes…" Rintaro admitted, though he knew he'd have to break off at some point because he couldn't just say he lived underneath the school thanks to Section 2's resources.

"I was also wondering if I could ask for some advice," Miku admitted, "You have friends right?"

"I…" Rintaro trailed in thought, as while they were colleagues he did consider Touma and Hibiki his friends, even more than that if he thought on it further, "I do, while I'm not sure if I could give good advice, I can try my best."

"It's just, I feel like my friend's are keeping something from me… but I'm afraid I might not get an answer given how they've been acting," Miku replied, "I'm just worried we might be growing apart after being friends for so long."

"Hmm…" Rintaro thought for a bit, "Well I'm sure they have their reasons for how they're acting, I always feel as though there's always a reason. But if you've been friends with them for a while, I'm sure they'd be more than willing to listen to your questions and concerns."

"I see…" Miku gave a nod, "Then I'm going to do it, I'll ask her."

"That's the spirit," Rintaro gave a smile.

"Ah," Miku then noticed that Hibiki was turning the corner, "There she is, I suppose it's now or never, Hibiki!"

"Wait what?' Rintaro turned towards Miku who was making her way towards Hibiki, he then noticed something in the air and now his Gattrike Phone was ringing, "Oh no."

Hibiki had been making her way towards the city when she was informed about the Nehushtan Wielder approaching her location. So she figured she'd work on leading her to the least populated area, at least until she saw Miku alongside Rintaro. She couldn't help but freeze a bit when she realized things were going to go south fast, "No…"

Chris was already hovering above, readying her whip as she lashed out, "You!"

"Stay back!" Hibiki tried to warn her friend, "It's dangerous-"

The ground was torn up between the two, Hibiki bracing as Miku was flung backwards from the attack.

"Ms. Kohinata!" Rintaro called out as he tried to move forward only to get grabbed in the shoulder, he was turned around before being decked in the face.

"I knew that you swordsmen would be nearby!" Legeiel gave roar as he spread his arms out still in his human form, "You may be Zooous' prey but that doesn't mean I'll go easy on you!"

"Megid…" Rintaro hissed out as he backed up before noticing that Miku was sprawled on the floor and a car was heading straight towards her, "Ms. Kohinata!" He called out as he readied his Swordriver ready to go when he had to just barely dodge out of the way of a sword.

"Eyes on me swordsman," Legeiel called out as he had brought out his sword while in human form, he then gave a growl as his transformation kicked in, taking his phantom beast-like form, "I'm your opponent!"

"Balwisyall nescell Gungnir tron~"

Hibiki immediately leapt out after singing the activation song to transform into her Symphogear. She stood in the cars way and smashed her fist into it to keep it at bay.

"Hibiki…" Miku trailed.

"I'm sorry," Hibiki squeaked out before rushing forward to head deep into the forest, she needed to keep Chris and Legeiel away from populated areas as much as possible. She had hoped both would follow but was not aware of Legeiel's part in the plan.

"Let's see you stop this, swordsman of water!" Legeiel looked towards Miku and stabbed his sword into the ground summoning chunks of rock before launching them out towards Miku.

Miku winced as she tried to sit up and dodge but fear overtook her, merely holding her arms in front of her.

[STORM EAGLE!]

Saber suddenly landed between Miku and the rocks, a fiery tornado launching out from the Riders body and throwing the rocks to the side.

"Stay away from her!" Saber called out.

"Touma…" Miku's eyes widened when she heard Saber's voice, recognizing it instantly, "You too?"

"Sorry for not telling you," Saber glanced back at Miku, he raised his sword and stared at Legeiel, "But right now… I need to fight!"

"And the Swordsman of Flame arrives, Saber!" Legeiel called out with a small laugh.

"Rintaro… get her away from here, I'll hold him off," Saber readied himself.

"Right," Rintaro called out as he hurried over to Miku, "I know things are possibly quite shocking right now but we must leave, we're in danger here."

"Hibiki… Touma…" Miku said as she wasn't sure how to handle the current escalating situation.

Rintaro gritted his teeth and realized he'd have to be forceful, quickly readying himself and Nagare.

"Henshin!"

[NAGARE BATTOU! LION SENKI!]

"I'm sorry about being a bit forceful," Blades apologized as he picked up Miku before quickly rushing off.

Saber gave a light sigh as he glanced back and saw Blades hurry off, he then looked over to Legeiel, "So you know me but I don't know you."

"You stand before Legeiel the Lord of Phantom Beasts!" Legeiel called out as he lashed out with his sword, sending out a blast of lightning.

Saber quickly kicked off and dodged to the side, taking a few steps as he landed. He then gathered fire in his blade before sending out a wave of fire towards his opponent.

"The powers of Phantom Beasts reside in my sword," Legeiel laughed out as he coated his sword in water, easily turning the wave of fire into steam with a swing of his blade, "So I can summon any ability I wish!"

"That's going to be annoying," Saber clicked his tongue as he began to inch towards the forest.

"Your infantile swordsmanship and flame abilities are nothing compared to me!" Legeiel yelled out as he began launching out ice projectiles from all around Saber.

Saber gasped out as he was struck by the projectiles, slowly frosting over as he activated his Wonder Ride Books.

[BRAVE DRAGON! STORM EAGLE!]

Saber yelled as his body lit on fire before he jumped upwards, throwing a tornado of flame towards Legeiel before landing.

Legeiel laughed as he braced against the tornado, dismissing it by simply swinging his sword before launching a strong tornado out towards Saber.

Saber gave a yell as he was blown off his feet but used this to his advantage, righting himself and flying off towards the forest to try and meet up with Hibiki. Even if both were trained he had heard what had happened when Tsubasa and Rintaro had fought Chris and Zooous. They needed to pair up and hopefully they'd have enough synergy to beat back both Chris and Legeiel.

"Running away? I won't let you!"

Saber could hear Legeiel's yells before suddenly seeing an explosion. He directed himself to quickly land nearby before giving a yelp as he caught Hibiki who somehow flew backwards after the smoke from the explosion cleared.

"What just happened?" Saber asked.

"I was trying to bring out my Armed Gear after her last attack," Hibiki admitted. "I think we can get through to her."

"Will you shut up with that already?!" Chris called out in annoyance as she began to approach.

"You might have to rely on your fists if you can't bring out Gungnir," Saber suggested.

"My fists… that's it," Hibiki called out as she had an epiphany.

"There you are!" Legeiel yelled out as he landed on the other side of where Chris was, the two opponents now having both Wielder and Rider between them, "Leave Saber to me!"

"That's just what I plan on doing!" Chris called out as she leapt into the air and lashed her whips out towards Hibiki, what she wasn't expecting was for Hibiki to grab them with her right hand.

"Touma, it's time to crush thunder!" Hibiki yelled out as she pulled on the whips and reeled her arm back, managing to drag Chris towards her, "You remember what I said on the roof about confronting our enemies?"

Saber thought about it before nodding, sheathing his sword and putting his hands near the sides of his waist, "I do!"

"The hell does that even mean?!" Legeiel questioned as he charged towards Saber, raising his sword high.

Fast!

Short!

Straight!

Direct!

The words echoed through both of their heads as Hibiki used the boosters on her lower back to launch her forward, gathering energy for her Armed Gear into her hand before allowing it to flow through her gauntlet, the upper portion hissing and sliding back as it now was acting like a piston.

Saber himself used his wings to unleash a gust of air that allowed him to launch further. He drew out Kobuta 3Kyoudai before loading it in and unsheathing his blade while keeping his momentum.

[REKKA BATTOU! ZOSATSU! SANPIKI NO KOBUTA!]

The familiar armament fully filled out Saber's left arm and side as he gained the brick based shielding instantly. Saber raised it to block Legeiel's slash before stabbing the tip against the lead Megid's gut, sparks spewing out. Saber stepped forward while shifting Rekka to where its blade was now running along Legeiel's chest. With a yell he slashed downwards as sparks flew out, Legeiel staggering backwards from the strike.

"You…" Legeiel hissed out as he held his chest, "You damn-"

SMASH

Saber and Legeiel immediately looked towards the sound of the loud impact they had heard, soon seeing that Hibiki had landed a gut punch directly against Chris' gut, shattering the stomach portion of the Nehushtan Armor while also cracking several key areas as a result.

The resulting attack had torn through the ground, sending Chris flying back and slamming into a nearby wall, creating a fairly sizeable crater as a result.

"W-What the hell…?" Legeiel gave a gasp as he saw this, "She tore through a Complete Relic like it was nothing!"

"Whoa…" Saber trailed, recalling that only Tsubasa's Swan Song was able to do any actual damage to the Nehushtan Armor, so for one of Hibiki's punches to do that…

Hibiki gave a few deep breaths as she clenched her fist, now she had a new tool to help her fight.

"No matter, you got lucky on her but you won't get lucky with me!" Legeiel yelled out as he tried to rush forward only for the Rider of Flame to spin in the way, "Move!"

"Yeah right," Saber called out as he blocked with both his shield and Rekka against Legeiel's blade, he gave a chuckle as he slowly forced the Megid's blade down, though it was straining to do so.

Legeiel gave a low growl, "Just what are you-"

"Hi-yah!"

Immediately Legeiel felt his face smashed into by the flat of Hibiki's armored foot. He wasn't expecting Saber to duck and allow Hibiki an opening. The result had sent Legeiel tumbling backwards, having to quickly step back further in order to keep his balance. The Megid Leader hissed as he could feel his head throbbing, he couldn't let the girl get close again so he had to try something different.

"Don't try getting too close without an opening," Touma warned, "His sword is an elemental Swiss army knife."

Hibiki gave a nod as she shifted her plans, taking a deep breath and already focusing energy into her left gauntlet as she stood her ground. Yet again the back of it moved back like a piston once more.

"Let's see you handle this!" Legeiel yelled out as he slammed his sword into the ground, chunks of earth ripping out from the ground and rushing towards the Gungnir Wielder.

"HYAH!"

Hibiki gave a yell as she punched right against the rocks once they reached her, the piston moving inwards as an explosive force of energy was unleashed from her punch. The explosive force was enough to tear apart the rocks near her while flinging the remainder of the rocks backwards. The combined debris and force had caused Legeiel to yell out was he was tossed backwards.

Blades had eventually managed to run into a few Section 2 agents, the agents ready to escort Miku back to her dorm and inform her of the situation. That was until she stopped when explosive attack after explosive attack could be seen and heard. She looked over towards the Swordsman of Water.

Blades took a deep breath before answering, "Yes?"

"Are they going to be alright?" Miku asked.

"They will be, they're strong," Blades gave a nod, "But as their ally I will make sure no harm comes to them, I swear by my blade."

Miku wanted to follow but could only look on as she watched Blades rush off. She clasped her hands together, hoping that whatever happened, her friends would make it out of this.

To Be Continued…

Author's Note: I will say, writing the interactions between Chris and Desast were probably some of my favorite parts of writing S1 as a whole. The fun part of this series honestly, is probably the small bits of interactions I get to write between everything happening. Like Miku and Rintaro meeting up for the first time here.

Not much else to say though, other than thanks for reading and I'll see you all next time.