Shuri groggily opened her eyes. Coming to, she felt the soft futon she was laying on, with a warm blanket put over her. She sat up, and looked around to see that she was in a room of a house.

She recalled what had happened. When she heard Finé had come back without her sister, she knew what it meant. So she ran. She ran until she couldn't anymore, sitting on the park bench. She realized it was foolish, both running without her sister knowing where, and her poor physical abilities, but fear had overtaken her logic. That was her last thought before she collapsed.

But how was she here now?

"Hey, you're awake now."

She turned to the open doorway, where a blonde haired girl was standing. Seeing her harsh and scary eyes, Shuri yelled, before pulling the covers over her head.

"W-Whoa! Take it easy!" Rui said, holding up her hands. "I'm not gonna hurt you!"

Shuri carefully lowered the blanket, so she could see Rui. While still scary, she could tell that Rui wasn't lying.

"Where am I?" Shuri asked.

"I can answer your questions." Rui said. "But first off, you're hungry, aren't you?"

The rumble of her stomach told Rui all she needed to know. She chuckled a bit as Shuri blushed.

They made their way into the dining room, which opened up to the living room as well. The TV was on low volume, but the screen showed a live-action show of a masked hero fighting against monsters.

The two sat down at the kitchen table, where Rui placed down a bowl of fresh rice, and a tamagoyaki for Shuri.

"It's not much, but it's what I could make." Rui admitted. She used to prepare the same meal for Hibiki, though it was all that she could really cook.

But Shuri loved it. The rice was refreshing, and the tamagoyaki was a bit salty, but had a hint of sweetness too.

"Anyways, what's your name?" Rui asked. "I'm Rui. Rui Tachibana."

Shuri still seemed a bit intimidated, but after swallowing another bite, she answered. "S-Shuri. I'm Shuri Yukine."

"Just by chance, you wouldn't happen to have a sister named Chris, would you?"

Shuri just nodded, unsure where this was going. Rui just sighed.

"I don't have a way to contact her…this sucks."

"You know my sister?" Shuri asked.

"Kinda." Rui said. "Though I don't know where she is now."

Shuri looked down in concern. She knew her sister was strong, but she didn't know if she was safe. The tv show had finished playing, and now switched to anime. Shuri looked at the screen to see a muscular smiling hero fighting against villains, while protecting younger heroes-in-training.

"So you like that show, huh?" Rui noted. "I don't watch it too much, but my sister does."

"You have a sister too?" Shuri asked.

"Yeah." Rui admitted. "She's kind of a pain, but she's a good person with an honest heart."

Rui wasn't really sure if she was giving a good impression or not, since she was terrible at conversations. While she continued to try and think of what to do, Shuri finished the food. Her stomach no longer empty and her mind clear, she decided to ask Rui questions.

"Why did you help me?"

The elephant in the room, huh? Rui looked up. "I just felt like it. Nothing more, nothing less."

"But I was a complete stranger. You could have just called emergency services…"

"My house was closer." Rui lied through her teeth. "And Mom and Grandma were understanding of it."

"I'm sorry."

"Huh? For what?"

"Having to take care of me." Shuri said. "I'm just such a burden…"

"N-No! It's fine, really!" Rui said. "I was ditching class anyways, so I might as well do something helpful!"

Shuri still looked quite sad, almost as if she didn't hear Rui's words. Rui was kicking herself because she didn't know what exactly to do.

"If you want, we can try finding your sister." Rui said. "I'm sure she's still in the city."

"Th-Thank you." Shuri thanked.

The two walked through the streets, and Rui noticed that Shuri was clinging on quite tightly, even though they were complete strangers.

Rui really wanted to slap herself in the face. She wasn't thinking straight when she said they could try finding Chris, since it would be like finding a needle in a haystack… but there was the possibility that the needle wasn't there in the first place. Oh well, at least it couldn't get any worse.

"Yooo! Rui!"

Scratch that. It could.

Running up was none other than Maia, typical grin on her face.

"Found out you were ditching, so I decided to come along."

"How did you even find me?" Rui asked, exasperatedly.

"It wasn't that hard." Maia said. "I just had to follow the scrapes on the ground from all your edge."

"Oh fu-" She quickly looked at Shuri, before censoring herself. "Screw you."

"Ooh? Who's this little cutie you got with ya?" Maia said, looking at the girl standing next to her. Shuri ducked behind Rui, poking her head out from behind her.

"Ugh… Shuri, this moron here is my friend, Maia Kazanari." Rui introduced.

"Aww, you're actually calling us friends now!"

"I already admitted it. It's not a shocker."

"You didn't say it yourself though."

"Can you please quit it?!"

Maia laughed as she dodged a punch from Rui.

"But who is this girl with you?" Maia asked again.

"U-Um, I'm Shuri Yukine." The girl said, formally bowing.

That wiped the smile from Maia's face. "Wait, did you say Yukine?"

"Y-Yes?" Shuri said.

"Why? What's wrong?" Rui asked.

Maia pulled Rui to the side, out of earshot for Shuri.

"Is she related to Chris Yukine?" Maia asked, completely serious.

"What's gotten into you?"

"Answer the question!"

"Yeah, Shuri is her younger twin sister. Why?"

Maia wiped her brow. "We never heard that in the reports…"

"What reports?"

"Rui." Maia looked her friend in the eye. "Chris Yukine was the girl that had attacked Tsubasa and Hibiki."

"What?!"

"Our Uncle was supposed to take her in, but she disappeared before he could." Maia explained. "But the short version is-"

"She's not dangerous, Maia." Rui said.

"I know she isn't, but the person after her is."

"There's someone after them?" Rui asked.

"I'll explain everything when we get back to Sector Two, but until then-"

A Noise alarm went off, startling the three.

"Of all times-!" Maia held back a curse.

"W-What's going on?" Shuri asked, frightened.

"It's a Noise alarm." Rui explained. "Quick, we need to get going."

The three started running as fast as they could, the two pulling Shuri along. Maia was talking on the phone with Genjuro, Hibiki and Tsubasa.

"So there's tons of them? Nuts…" Maia put her phone away as they continued to run. She told Genjuro briefly that there was a new development regarding Chris, but they'd explain everything after the crisis was over.

Thankfully, the Noise didn't seem to target them too much. They managed to avoid the ones that were too slow. Rui swore that she saw them all gather into a far off location in the city, with gunshots ringing out, but she couldn't be too sure.

Shuri then stumbled and fell. The Noise were hot on their tracks.

"Crap!"

In a pointless effort, Rui threw herself over Shuri, to shield her. She closed her eyes, steeling herself for death.

Sorry, Hibiki.

"Grab my hand!" Maia yelled.

Instinctively, Rui did so, and felt herself and Shuri get hoisted off the ground in a burst of speed. They realized that they were now in the sky.

"EHHHHHHH?!" They both shouted.

"You guys fine?"

They were sitting on a mechanical board, while Maia was standing.

"Hold on tight. This is my second time using the thing." Maia said.

"Wh-Wh-What is this?!" Rui yelled.

"You think Ryoko only made you a weapon prototype?" Maia said. "I got this sweet board that comes with swords on the side!"

"Wait, a prototype?!"

"It'll be fine! There wasn't any explosion in the testing earlier!"

Shuri clung onto the two for dear life, even though there wasn't much danger. Rui herself was getting a bit pale at the speeds they were going. Though out of the corner of her eye, she saw Hibiki and Miku down by the river.

"Maia! Down there!"

"On it!"

The three came for a slow landing, while Hibiki and Miku had just taken a picture together. Stepping off the board, it retracted into a cube, which Maia picked up.

"This is still so damn cool." Maia said to herself.

"Oh, oneesan!" Hibiki waved as her sister came over.

"You look a mess, but are you alright?" Rui asked.

"Mm! I'm fine!"

"And it looks like you and Miku made up." Rui noted.

"I'm sorry for how I treated you, Rui." Miku said.

"It's fine. What's in the past is in the past." Rui said.

"Well, you're all safe, so I guess that's a win for today." Maia said.

It was then Hibiki and Miku noticed something.

"Uhh… Maia-san?" Hibiki said.

"Yeah?"

"Why do you have a girl that looks like Chris-chan clinging onto your leg like that?" She asked, pointing.

Maia looked down to see Shuri still holding onto her leg.

"H-Hold on a sec! How long has she been like that?!" Maia asked, blushing.

"The whole time." Rui said.

"Why didn't you tell me?!"

"Revenge for the teasing earlier." Rui smirked.

They had regrouped with Genjuro and Ogawa while the rest of Sector Two helped with the cleanup. After all the excitement and rush today, Shuri had fallen asleep leaning against Maia. The Kazanari was blushing, but tried to keep a straight face as the others talked.

"Uh, Commander." Hibiki said. "Miku was at the scene when I was fighting, and saw quite a lot of it…"

"No, it's my fault I got involved!" Miku insisted.

Genjuro sighed and put a hand on the back of his head, while Rui smiled. It was a familiar sight, seeing Hibiki and Miku cover for each other.

"I'll read the details in your report." He said. "But I guess this is what you'd call having unexpected help. Not to mention, I can't blame someone for helping save lives."

Miku and Hibiki smiled, before cheering and sharing a quick hi-five. Though the clap was nullified by the sound of a car driving up. Ryoko stepped out of it, a smile on her face.

"The star of the party always arrives late!" She said, fixing her glasses. "Now, where should I begin the cleanup…"

Ryoko went to work, not noticing the others.

"It's like watching a clown perform." Rui snarked, as some of the others laughed.

"All right, just leave the rest to us adults." Genjuro said, as Aoi walked up with refreshments. "You have yourselves a well-earned rest."

The girls all nodded, before Miku had something else to ask Genjuro. "Um, excuse me… I got separated from a friend in all the commotion. Her name is Chris Yukine."

Genjuro and Rui looked over at that, while Shuri mumbled in her sleep.

"She's not on the list of casualties." Genjuro said. "I'm sure you'll be able to get in touch with her soon. Don't worry."

Miku let out a breath of relief. "I'm glad."

"Wait, you're not coming home yet?" Hibiki asked Rui.

"Got a few things I need to speak to the Commander with." Rui said. "I'll catch you guys at home later."

"Okay, oneesan."

Hibiki gave her sister a big hug, before heading back with Miku. Rui and Genjuro watched as they left.

"So, Chris Yukine has a sister then?" Genjuro said, as they looked at Shuri sleeping next to Maia.

"Yeah. Though they got separated for some reason." Rui said.

"Still, can you believe this?" Maia said, incredulity on her face. "Three sets of twins, and all of the twins have a Symphogear user? What are the odds?"

"This feels like some really crappy fanfiction." Rui said, and Maia nodded in agreement.

"Hmm." Genjuro looked at Shuri.

"What is it, Uncle?" Maia asked.

"We had never received any information about Shuri when had decided to take in Chris." Genjuro remembered. "I had several people try going through files, but they found nothing."

"What are you saying?" Rui asked.

"Shuri Yukine does not officially exist." Genjuro said.

"Even more secretive than how it was for me, huh..." Maia noted, looking at Shuri's sleeping face.

"Why wouldn't she get an identification?" Rui asked.

"It's possible her parents had been trying to protect her." Genjuro suggested. "Chris and Shuri had been homeschooled and raised by their parents, from what the reports said. Perhaps they only got Chris an identification, and Shuri didn't."

"Why would they do that?"

"Hmm… perhaps they believed that if anything happened to them, someone would adopt Chris, and unknowingly adopt Shuri as well."

"But wait." Maia thought for a second. "If Shuri legally doesn't exist, doesn't that make it impossible to adopt her unless she gets an identification first?"

"That's true as well." Genjuro said. "I'll take her to get one tomorrow, to prevent any more legal complications."

"But what about Chris?" Rui said. "She's still out there somewhere."

"I wouldn't worry about her." Maia reasoned. "She's a pretty tough Symphogear user, from what Hibiki and Tsubasa have told me."

Genjuro didn't say anything, as he took a sip of coffee.

"Everything's just getting needlessly complicated." Rui said, ruffling her hair. "Well, I'd better head back now."

"Alright, good night, Rui-kun." Genjuro said.

"Right back at you, Commander." Rui said, turning around.

"See you tomorrow, buddy." Maia said.

"Oh yeah. Maia?"

"What is it?"

Rui looked over her shoulder with a smirk.

"Don't try anything funny with Shuri."

That comment left Maia a spluttering mess, as Genjuro laughed at his niece losing her typical playful composure.

"O-Oy! Don't be absurd, Rui! I wouldn't do anything like that!"

She was irritated to hell and back by Rui's satisfied smirk. She would have gotten up to chase her, but Shuri was still sleeping on her shoulder.

Even so, Maia smiled. Rui was lightening up. Making jokes. It was everything she had hoped for.

But Rui's words didn't leave her mind, as she looked back at Shuri's cute sleeping face.

"I'm home."

Rui opened the door, only to hear laughter from inside. She already guessed what it was. Walking in, she saw Hibiki and Miku on the top bunk again.

"So I got the bottom bunk to myself again?" Rui said. "Good."

"Oh, welcome back oneesan!" Hibiki said.

"Yeah yeah." Rui said, changing into her pjs. "You two better not make any loud noises. I'm tired today."

They both nodded and agreed as Rui slid down in the bottom bunk. But they soon started talking again.

She let it slide though. They were friends again, and she didn't want to ruin that moment.

Because small moments like these were always worth it.