Valchirie Dell'Orizzonte
by firepowerblade2
Chapter 8: No Shadows in the Sunlight
Disclaimer: I do not own Katekyo Hitman Reborn! or Senki Zessho Symphogear.
The silver haired girl in the red Gear ran down the ally trying to evade the Noise and shot down any that left an opening. After the last monster was reduced to ash, the girl's exhaustion finally caught up to and she collapsed behind a dumpster, falling unconscious and losing her Gear with the rain threatening to render her ill.
At the same moment a dark haired girl was walking along a connecting street, having gotten up early to avoid an awkward trip with her dorm mate. When she sensed something of she looked to the side and saw someone's legs sticking out from behind a dumpster.
"Is it the Noise?" Hibiki asked. She was about to enter her classroom when she got a call from the commander about a Noise attack.
"That's right," Genjuro said, "We've detected a Noise pattern in city Block 6. fortunately, it was early morning, and there were no casualties. But we saw the pattern for the relic Ichaival, as well as the Noise."
"Which means, Master… Chris was fighting the Noise?" the blonde concluded.
"Possibly."
"Mhm."
"What's wrong?" the man asked his student.
"Um… I was thinking she might not have anywhere to go back to," the younger martial artist expressed her concerns.
"That could be," the older man admitted, he had been too focused on his job to consider the possibility, "We'll continue to investigate. Until further notice, you stay on standby.
"I understand." the girl said before hanging up.
As Hibiki walked in to her homeroom, she noticed a certain seat was empty.
"Miku?" the blonde asked in confusion, knowing full well the other had left much earlier then he.
"Is Kohinata-san not here today?" asked Shiori as she and Hibiki's other friends approached her.
"I thought she left for school before I did…" the worried blonde answered.
"Sorry for being mean back there," Kuriyo apologized, "I feel responsible!"
"Mhm, if this were an anime, what would we do?" contemplated Yumi.
"Hey, think about this seriously" Shiori lightly reprimanded.
"Jeez," the beige haired girl sighed at her friend's antics, earning a chuckle from the depressed blonde, for just a moment before her thoughts drifted back to her missing dorm mate.
Miku, I don't want things to be like this.
Inside the residential area of Flower, Miku was kneeling on the floor tending to the silver haired girl in the futon. Next to the futon on a pillow was a ring that, despite never seeing it before, she knew belongs to the same set as Hibiki's.
It had caught the dark haired girl off guard, although The blonde's chain had implied there was a missing ring she never expected to run into it's holder, who apparently had the same figure as the girls that would draw Hibiki's attention in the past!
As she cleaned the wet towel on the other girl's forehead, the silvernet suddenly gasped and sat up. For a moment she looked around in confusion before settling on her caretaker.
"Good… You woke up," Miku said in relief, no matter what problems she was dealing with, she would never want to see someone suffer, "You were soaked, so I changed your outfit."
"N-No one asked you to!" the silvernet said angrily as she stood up… revealing that Miku's gym shirt was the ONLY thing she was wearing. The action caused the dark haired girl to blush in surprise.
"Wh-What?" asked the silver haired girl n response.
"W-Well, I didn't have any spare underwear," Miku expanded while turning her eyes away. Realizing the other girl wasn't comfortable with the free show, the silvernet sat down and covered herself in the provided blanket.
"Miku-chan?" called out a new voice. The two girls turned to the open door to see an older woman carrying a basket of cloths, "How's your friend looking?"
"she just woke up!" Miku replied, "Thank you for lending up this futon, ma'am!"
"Don't worry about it," said the older woman before addressing the other girl, "Oh, I washed your clothes."
"I'll help!" Miku offered as she stood up to sort the clothes.
"Oh, thank you."
"It's fine."
During this exchange, the remaining girl could only stare as a simple and common interaction took place, she had not seen anyone act like that, even Fine, ever sense her parents died.
A few minutes later, Miku was back cleaning the silvernet's scared and bruised back.
"Th-Thanks" the silvernet said, earning a 'mhm' in response.
"You aren't asking anything," the recovering girl said quietly.
"No, I… I guess I'm not good with that stuff," Miku revealed, "I didn't want to ruin the relationship I had. But instead, I lost what was most important to me."
"Does that mean you had a fight with someone?" the silvernet inquired.
"Yeah," the dark haired girl confirmed.
Hibiki was looking out at the school grounds from the main building's rooftop, worried.
"Miku's never skipped school before…" despite being the one who broke off their friendship, the blonde truly wanted the other girl to be alright. Hearing some one approaching, she turned to the side to see Tsubasa with a crutch.
"Tsubasa-san?" the leader of Orizzonte asked in surprise.
Suddenly a portal of ink-like darkness opened up next to the bluenet as Kanade stepped out. The red head was dressed in black suit with pencil skirt, a leather eye patch over her left eye.
"Kanade-san?"
"I told Tsubasa that you were having guardian issues," explained the oldest girl.
"Eh?" exclaimed the blonde.
After a few minutes, the three girls were sitting on a bench, Kanade on the right, Tsubasa on the left and Hibiki in the center.
"I thought I was ready for this," began Hibiki, "I thought I was ready to be a Symphogear warrior, to protect what mattered to me. But it's no good. Something so small has totally thrown me off, and I can't do anything. I need to get stronger, but… I want to change, but…"
"What if that small thing was what you really wanted to protect? Then isn't that fine?" Tsubasa asked, "I'm sure you can be strong and also stay yourself."
"Tsubasa-san…"
"That's right," Kanade spoke up, "If fighting ability was the only factor in choosing a guardian, then I'm sure you wouldn't have chosen Miku regardless of the state of your memories. Just think about what you inherited from me besides Gungnir."
"What I inherited from you?" Hibiki asked, nothing came to mind when she thought about it, "What do you mean?"
"It's one of those things that only has meaning if you can figure it out for yourself," explained the red head, "At the vary least your a lot closer to figuring it out then Tsubasa is."
"K-Kanade!" exclaimed the bluenet in embaresment.
After chuckling at their interaction, the blonde looked at Tsubasa's leg and Kanade's covered eye.
"Tsubasa-san, Kanade-san, do they still hurt?" Hibiki asked in worry.
"I'm just being careful. It's nothing to worry about," Tsubasa reassured her comrade.
"Okay, I'm glad to hear that. What about your eye Kanade-san?"
"Oh, that's just for fashion," admitted the red head, earning a dumbfounded look from the other two girl.
"A-Anyways," the samurai girl spoke up, bringing the discussion to a more relevant topic, "The stress the Superb Song puts on the body is incredible. It is a song of destruction. It destroys both others and yourself. As the price for something that powerful, it's actually cheap."
"The Superb Song… A song of destruction?" repeated the blonde girl, "But… But, Tsubasa-san… Two years ago, the reason I made it through all that hard rehab was because your music kept me going! Your songs aren't only songs of destruction. They make people who hear them feel better!"
"Tachibana?" asked Tsubasa, touched by the younger girl's speech.
"She's right you know," said Kanade, "To square away conflict and wash away the blood spilled, The Requiem of Rain."
"Wait, isn't that…?" asked Hibiki.
"Yeah, it's the mission statement of the Rain Guardian that Tsubasa inherited," the red head confirmed, "Tsubasa, It is true that your Vongola predecessors were master swordsmen, but for them that was secondary to a more peaceful skills and often keeps the peace among the guardians."
"Kanade," said the bluenet, she honestly didn't expect that both her swordsmanship and singing ability would be valued outside of her Symphogear.
"Even though Rai didn't have her memories, she still chose the best person for the job," Kanade said before turning to Hibiki, "You need to be more confident in Miku as well, you didn't give her a chance to prove herself or even tell her why."
"Do you… Really think I should?" asked the blonde.
"Yeah."
"A fight, huh?" stated the silver haired girl, "I can't really understand something like that."
She was finishing up putting on her original outfit when the dark haired girl spoke about her own problems.
"You've never had a fight with a friend?" Miku asked, wanting to know about her relationship with Hibiki.
"I used to have a friend when I was younger," the silvernet, "My grandparents were the long time subordinates of hers and my family wanted me to meet her to see if we were compatible and take over my grandparents' position."
Miku remained silent throughout the explanation, realizing that there were more to the rings beyond the friendship she had with Hibiki.
"The moment we met, she immediately offered me the ring and gave me the job. The following year was filled with so many headaches: she would drag me along when helping people with their problems, would eat several people's worth of food, and I would help her spy on women's changing rooms," the silvernet said while smiling, especially the last part. This caused Miku to agonize to no end at how perfect the other girl seemed to be for Hibiki and yet it also reassured her that the blonde hadn't really changed, so why was she acting like she did?
"In the end, her family was suppose to move next door to my family, but were murdered within the first month along with my grandfather and she disappeared without leaving a body," the silvernet couldn't stop herself from describing her past, her explanation fueled by unexpressed feelings building up over the years and intensified the past few days. "Then my parents took me to the other side of the planet, only to be killed themselves. And ever since then, I've been alone. I had no time to make friends."
"You also love Hibiki too, don't you?" Miku asked without thinking.
"Hibi-? Do you mean Rai?" the silvernet asked, "… is she the one you're fighting with?"
"Yeah," the now depressed girl admitted, "She had been hiding the fact that she was suffering and would not let me share her burden. I decided that I couldn't take the lies and tried to break things off with her, but she suddenly herself by a different name and took back the ring she gave me."
"Ring? You're a guardian?" the silvernet asked.
"Guardian?" Miku asked confused.
"Yeah, that is what receiving a ring means," explained the older girl, "Putting your life on the line to protect the owner of the main ring, it's a life long commitment."
"Eh?" But wouldn't that mean that Hibiki was… "Thank you, I think I can understand Hibiki a little better… um," Miku expressed in gratitude before realizing she didn't know the other girl's name.
"Chris. Yukine Chris," the other girl revealed.
"You're nice, aren't you, Chris?" observed the dark haired girl. The statement cought Chris off guard before she turned away.
"Am I?" she asked.
"I'm Kohinata Miku," said the dark haired girl as she approached Chris to take her hand, "If you want… I'll be your friend."
Hearing this, Chris' mind was filled with conflicting feelings: shock at the offer, happiness at being accepted before the guilt at almost harming the girl.
"I've done all kinds of awful things to you," she said, unable to accept.
"Huh?"
All of a sudden an alarm from outside sounded.
"This is Tsubasa, Tachibana and Kanade are with me," the bluenet spoke into he coms.
"We've detected Noise. A lot of them," Genjuro explained as he walked from the sene of the previous indecent, "It's likely that they're related to the noise we saw this morning."
"Roger. We're on our way," confirmed Tsubasa.
"No!" rejected their commander, "I cant send you out until you've finished your medical check and Kanade has no Symphogear."
"But…" the still recovering girl argued before Hibiki spoke up.
"Tsubasa-san, you and Kanade protect everyone," the blonde encouraged, "Then I can focus on what's ahead of me."
Tsubasa could only remain silent at the blonde's suggestion while Kanade simply looked on with a look of nostalgia.
As the siren blared, Miku, Chris and the lady hosting them ran out of the shop to find that everyone in the street were running in a panic.
"Hey, what's going on?" Chris asked confused.
"What? The Noise appeared!" answered Miku, herself confused at the older girl's ignorance, "You don't know what that alarm means?"
Chris grit her teeth as she realized that Fine had once more deceived her, she had assumed that with Section 2 and the Symphogear being classified, that Noise would also be kept secret and would stop attacking random people after activating Soloman's Cane.
"Ma'am, let's hurry!" Miku said to the older lady.
"Yeah."
As they started to move, the silvernet took of in the opposite direction.
No way! What am I doing?! Chris asked herself before an image of a blonde haired girl appeared in her mind, I'm fucking fulfilling my mission, that's what!
Fueled by regret and a sense of duty equally, it only took her a few minutes for her to exist the shoping district and reach an abandoned intersection.
"Because of me, innocent people are being killed…" she said to herself before yelling to the heavens. Tears coming from her eyes, she collapsed to the ground on her knees.
"This wasn't what I wanted," the silvernet grieved, "Everything I do is always… Everything I do!"
Being drawn to the wailing and sobbing of their actual target, the Noise followed Chris to the crossroads. As they approached, Chris got up and faced them with a hardened glare.
"Here I am. So… Don't go after anyone else!" she declared, intent on not running away.
Killiter…
she tried to sing while dodging the Noise that were attackintg, but she ultimately coughed in the middle of it and left herself open. Seeing their chance, some of the flying Noise curled up into spears and attempted to impale their main target…
… Only to get blocked by a layer of pavement. Having been focused on killing the girl, the Noise didn't think their Phase Shift Barriers would be needed and left them off guard when the wall suddenly rose up and subsequently shattered, taking out a few of the land bound Noise.
The instigater of the counter attack was the commander of Section 2, Kazanari Genjuro. His presence had shocked Chris, not just that someone achieved a super human feat without a gear but she also recognized the technique he used as the one Prima used.
Having identified the man as a threat they couldn't fight head on and win, the Noise one more attempted to target the girl once again. In response the red head got in front of her again and stomped the ground to raise another barrier. Having stopped another attack, he grabbed Chris and jumped to a nearby, but high up, rooftop.
"Are you okay?" he asked after landing. Unable to bring herself to trust the older man, Chris tried to run away before some flying Noise appeared.
Killiter Ichaival Tron
Having finished her transformation, Chris proceeded to eliminate the approaching boy and buy some breathing room.
"See for yoursef!" she declared, "I'm just fine, so go help the others."
"But…"
"I said that I'll handle these!" she interrupted before transforming her Armed Gear in to Miniguns and jumping into the air while deploying metal spider legs from her back.
"Follow me, you pieces of crap!" she provoked, before firing.
Billion Maiden
Once again, I won't be able to save her? Genjuro thought as he watched her fight and draw the attention of all the Noise in the town.
At the same time, Hibiki arrived to see the Noise focusing their forces near the river. As she was about to follow, she heard a girl's voice scream and followed it in to a building that was going to be demolished soon.
"Anyone? Is there anyone-" she called out, only to be interrupted by an attacking tentacle from above.
Hibiki flipped off the platform she was on as it was destroyed. Looking to the source of the tentacle revealed it to be an octopus-like Noise in the rafters.
Before she could gasp in shock, a hand covered her mouth. Looking to the side, Hibiki realized it was Miku. Signaling for the other girl to remain quiet, Miku took out her smart phone and started typing a message.
Be quiet. It looks like it responds to loud noises. After a moment the dark haired girl had typed out another message and pointed out the other person there, It chased me and the old lady from Flower into this building. Said old lady was unconscious still alive.
If I sing to summon my Symphogear, it'll put Miku and the lady in danger… What should I do? Hibiki thought as Miku held up her phone.
Hibiki, listen to me, Miku 'said' to the blonde, I'm going to distract the Noise, so you save the Flower lady. In response Hibiki took out her phone and typed her own message.
No, I can't make you do that! Was Hibiki's response.
I was on the track team, so I'm good at running"
It won't be fine! Hibiki tried to argue.
Then make it fine. Miku requested, catching Hibiki off guard, I know it's dangerous. That's why I'm asking you. The only person I can fully trust is you, Hibiki.
Their talk was interrupted when the lady near them let out a groan that gained the attention of the Noise.
"You were really mean to me," the dark haired girl whispered as she leaned in to the blonde's ear, "I don't think I can forgive you for that, but I know you were trying to keep me safe. That's just the type of person you are. But it's just not fair, I want to be with you, I want to fight, too."
"You can't… Miku…" Hibiki tried to dissuade her.
"It doesn't matter what you think," the other girl said, her voice filled with a quiet determination, "I don't want you to have to do this alone. I will fulfill my duty as your guardian."
The last sentence had shocked the blonde into a stupor, how did Miku Know what having a ring meant? The dark haired girl rose to her feet, revealing she had taken back the ring that was taken from her, the blonde unable to leave it behind.
"I won't hesitate anymore!" Miku declared before running, the Noise chasing after her as planned.
Running to the lady once the coast was clear, Hibiki sang…
Balwisyall nescell Gungnir tron
Grabbing the older woman, Hibiki jumped out of the building and spotted a Section 2 car pulling up.
"Hibiki-san!"
"Ogawa-san!" recognizing the driver, the blonde landed and hand the woman to her ally.
"Ogawa-san, take care of her," she requested.
"What will you do?" he asked. Rather than answer him, she instead jumped away, she was going to make things fine.
Miku where are you, she thought as she leapt over the rooftops, if only she had her ring! Her mind drifted back to her conversation with the dark haired girl and recognized what she had inherited from Kanade.
I'm not the only one who's fighting. I thought I could use the Symphogear and rings to save people, but I was wrong! I'm not the only one trying their hardest. The people I'm saving are trying their hardest, too. Her mind flashed to the day of the Zwai Wing concert and the moment that Kanade told her not to give up on life. You really can't save people alone. That's why, back then… Kanade-san yelled at me to not give up on living! I think I understand now!
A yell drew Hibiki's attention, she knew Instantly the cry came from Miku. Activating her thrusters, she returned to the ground and took another superhuman leap.
That's right. I don't want to save people just out of guilt for surviving that tragedy! As if responding to her new found understanding, segments on the sides of her greaves extended forward as if they would struggling to not be flung back. These feelings are what Kanade-san gave me, and I accepted them… Two years ago!
As she landed, the extended armor released it tension and struck the ground behind her feet, adding more speed and distance to her jump. Hibiki would latter recognize how these 'Powered Jacks' could boost the power of her kicks and integrate them into her fighting style.
I can't run anymore… Meanwhile, Miku was reaching her limit for how long she could run from the Noise and collapsed. Is this the end? I guess it is, Hibiki…
Sensing its prey had stoped, the Noise decided to crush her.
But I haven't seen the shooting stars with Hibiki yet! That one thought gave her one last burst of straight and ignited her ring. But all this seemed to do was simply delay her death as the monster crashed into the ground and shatter the cliff and causing them both to fall hundreds of meters to their doom.
At the last moment Hibiki caught up and struck the Noise, reducing it to ash. Immediately finding Miku, the blonde pulled back a piston and released a shock wave that launched her to her friend. Taking the other girl into her arms, the martial artist used her thruster and Powered Jacks to cushion their landing. But despite her preparations, the uneven ground caused them to trip and roll down near the river bank and undone Hibiki's transformation. As they both looked at each other, the fact that they were both alive finaly sunk in and they laughed in relief.
"It's hard to look cool when you land," joked Hibiki.
"It hurts everywhere… But it feels like I'm alive," commented Miku, "Thank you. I knew you'd come for me, Hibiki."
"Thank you. I knew you'd never give up," replied the blonde, "Because you're my friend!"
Although they both expressed confidants in each other, Miku started crying and knocked Hibiki and herself down.
"I was so scared… So scared!" Miku admitted.
"Me, too. I was so scared…" Hibiki also admitted, afraid of losing the dark haired girl, "I'm sorry, I should have talked to you, I didn't even consider what you wanted."
"No, I should be the one apologizing to you," denied the other girl, "Lately, you've been trying to keep all the pain and sadness to yourself, I hated that and considered breaking our friendship only for you to do it."
"Miku," the Gear wielder said as she pulled back, "Even so, you're my…"
Anything she wanted to say ended up dying on her lips as she looked at Miku's face and burst out laughing.
"What?" asked the other girl.
"Heh heh, it's just…" Hibiki briefly chuckled, "Your hair's all messed up, and you're crying… But you're talking all serious."
"Jeez! You're just as bad!" Miku fired back.
"Huh? No way!" the blonde panicked, "Miku, give me a mirror!"
"I don't have a mirror, but…" the dark haired girl said as she offered her phone, "I can take a photo with this."
A moment later, the two girls were standing together as Miku held the phone to take a selfie.
"Here I go, Hibiki," she said as she pressed the button.
"We're a mess!" the blonde realized as she looked at the picture, "Definitely cursed."
"I was worse than I thought, too," the dark haired girl conceded, causing both girls to laughter.
It was night when the attack was over and Section 1 had started evacuating the survivors to some shelters, Hibiki even saw the little girl she saved and her mother.
"Here," Ogawa offered as he handed Miku her bag, "I got this back from Flower-san."
"Thank you very much," accepted the girl.
"You're welcome."
"Um, Master…" Hibiki spoke hesitantly to her mentor/commander, "She just happened to see me fighting again…"
"That isn't true! I got involved myself!" Miku interjected.
Genjuro gave a tired sigh and said, "You can put it all in yout report. But I'm sure it was unavoidable, especially when she is one of your guardians. Besides… if you're saving people, we can't complain."
"Alright!" "Mhm!" Hibiki and Miku said as they High fived each other.
All of a sudden, a pink car skidded to a stop near them and Ryoko stepped out of it
"Well… The star of the party always arrives late," she declared, "Now, where to start?"
The people who were familiar with her could only chuckle in exasperation.
"It's time for the adults to do their jobs," the commander declared, "You two, go home and rest."
"Yes, sir."
As Genjuro was about to leave, Miku spoke up, "Um… During the evacuation, I got separated from a friend of mine. Her name is Yukine Chris…" surprising Him for just a moment.
"We haven't heard about any casualties," he said, "I'm sure you'll be able to get in touch with her. Don't worry."
"Thank goodness…"
*ring ring*
The sound released from Hibiki's phone drew everyone's attention as she answered it, "Hello?"
"Hibiki!" a panicked voice said over the phone.
"Calm down Yumi. What happened?" trying to get the voice to be more collected.
"It's yours and Miku's dorm, someone broke in and stole your rings!" Yumi said, turning Hibiki's blood to ice.
"What?"