Rui Tachibana didn't know what was going on anymore.

One second, she thought she was going to lose her sister.

Now? She saw her transform into something straight out of a Magical Girl anime.

Seeing Hibiki jump off the building, holding onto the little girl gave her a mini-heart attack, but then she landed completely fine.

Rui cursed, but ran back down the stairs of the building. The whole time, she was hearing her sister sing. She didn't know why Hibiki would be doing so in battle, but she didn't pay mind to it.

Rushing out, she saw that Hibiki had just backhanded a Noise out of instinct and it exploded into carbon. What surprised her was that Hibiki was perfectly fine.

She suddenly heard the rev of a motorcycle and looked to see someone ploughing through the swarms of Noise.

Tsubasa Kazanari jumped right off of her motorbike, which smashed into a giant Noise and exploded. Rui was in disbelief that someone would do that to a perfectly good motorcycle, but more at the fact that Tsubasa had jumped several dozen feet into the air.

"Imyuteus Ame no Habakiri tron~"

More singing? She saw as Tsubasa had landed in front of Hibiki, saying a few words before running at the Noise. Glowing blue, Tsubasa had transformed. Eyes bulging out of her head, Rui was in awe as Tsubasa's katana increased in size that a certain 1st Class SOLDIER would be impressed. Swinging the huge sword as if it were weightless, an energy beam shot straight out of the sword, obliterating waves of Noise. Backflipping into the air, Tsubasa may as well have used Gate of Babylon, as dozens of swords appeared and skewered the Noise.

Rui temporarily turned away from Tsubasa's battle to see Hibiki was comforting the little girl. But a huge green Noise was looming above them.

"Hibiki! Move!" Rui shouted, as she started running towards her sister.

Hibiki heard her sister's warning and looked up at the huge Noise. But she saw something else.

A huge sword, the size of a wall, dropped down and impaled the Noise, which exploded into carbon. Standing on the Noise was who else, but Tsubasa.

"What... the hell..."

Hibiki and Tsubasa turned to see Rui standing there, completely confused.

"Can someone tell me..."

Hibiki quickly covered the little girl's ears.

"...what the FUCK is going on?!"

The military were already on the work, cleaning up most of the destruction. Rui was just sitting down on a crate, while Hibiki stood next to her, still in the weird armor. The little girl was safe, and they were trying to find her parents.

Rui was still trying to process what was happening. She was running recent events through her head constantly, and every time she still couldn't believe it.

She was so out of it, she didn't notice that Hibiki had accepted a drink from a dark blue haired woman. She was brought out of her thoughts when she heard something shatter, and that Hibiki had transformed back.

Quickly standing up, she caught her sister who was stumbling after going back to normal.

"Are you alright?"

Hibiki noticed that Rui's voice was strangely calm. "Y-Yeah. Thank you, oneesan."

She realized that Rui wasn't trying to correct her, but she didn't press on the issue. She noticed that Tsubasa was staring at her.

"Ahh! Tsubasa-san!" Hibiki got off of her sister and respectfully bowed. "Thank you! This is actually the second time you've saved me!"

Tsubasa had actually turned around and started walking away mid-sentence, but stopped and looked back. "The second time?"

Rui was looking at the little girl, who was reunited with her mother. They were signing some sort of agreement, which was probably for their own safety.

"Hey, Hibiki." Rui said, turning back to face her sister. "We should probably go home now-"

She stopped talking as she saw men in black suits and sunglasses surround them. Tsubasa standing in the middle, looking down.

"We have unfinished business with you two." She said.

"W-Why?" Hibiki asked, instinctively clinging onto the arm of her sister.

"You will accompany use to the second branch of the Disaster Relief Squad." Tsubasa said.

"Oy." Rui said, stepping away from Hibiki. "The hell is this crap-"

CLICK!

In the one second that she had stepped away from Hibiki, a set of heavy duty cuffs were put on her sister's wrists. A brown-haired man (the only one without sunglasses) was standing next to her. How did he get there so fast?

"This is deeply regrettable, but we are taking you into custody." He said, apologetically.

"Ehhhhhhh?!"

"Alright asshole." Rui put up her fists. "You got five seconds to take those off my sister before I-!"

Almost instantaneously, Rui was on the ground, arm pinned behind her back by the brown-haired man. "I'm sorry for this, but we didn't bring a spare pair of handcuffs."

"You damn bastard-"

"If you could cooperate with us, kindly?" He said, friendly smile on his face.

Rui sighed, before she eventually found herself in the back of a car with Hibiki at her side. Sighing, she looked out the window as buildings rushed by.

"Are you okay?"

Typical Hibiki, Rui thought. Always putting herself before others even if she's in a worse position.

"I think I should be asking you that." Rui said, not even turning to face her.

"But are you okay?"

Rui looked at her sister.

"Honestly I thought I'd get arrested before you would." She bluntly stated, small smirk on her face.

"Oneesan!"

They had been driving for quite some time. Rui had actually fallen asleep on Hibiki's shoulder and was snoring away. Hibiki looked out the window and noticed where they were drawing close.

"Wait, what are we doing at the school?"

Waking Rui up, the two sisters were led through the halls by the brown-haired man from earlier and Tsubasa. Hibiki looked around, as they were in a hall she had never been in before.

"This is the central wing where the teachers live, right?" Hibiki asked, unsure.

"Yeah." Rui said, putting her hands behind her head. "I snuck in here on the first day."

They kept walking until they were escorted into an elevator. After some sort of scan, a metal cover dropped over the door, and railing rose from the floor. Tsubasa grabbed onto one of the rails.

"Um, what's that?" Hibiki asked.

"Please find something to hold onto." The man instructed.

"Wait, wha?" Hibiki said, holding onto a railing.

"Really?" Rui said, grabbing on as well. "I doubt that it'll go that fast."

Rui was proven wrong as she started screaming. The elevator went down at insanely fast pace, almost as if it was dropping. She clung to the railing for dear life, screeching like a pterodactyl as Hibiki laughed apologetically.

"Sorry, oneesan never really liked stuff like roller coasters." She explained.

Rui was still screaming as the elevator slowed down, and Hibiki had to nudge her a bit to let her know that everything was fine now. After Rui had calmed down, they noticed the elevator actually had windows. Looking out, they saw they were in a huge open area, with many intricate wall paintings and designs that seemed to have come straight from an age gone past.

"This was underneath our school?" Rui said in disbelief.

"Whoa, it looks so cool!" Hibiki said, smiling.

"Smiles won't help you." Tsubasa said.

Hibiki looked at Tsubasa in confusion, while Rui narrowed her eyes at her.

"Smiles have no place where we're going." Tsubasa said, looking away from them.

Rui really had to try her best to keep a straight face as several party poppers went off.

"The second branch of the Disaster Relief Squad, the guardians of mankind, greet you!" A tall muscular man said cheerfully.

Sneaking a glance at Tsubasa, she saw that the girl had a hand on her forehead. Hibiki was still very surprised at the instant change in mood. Looking around the room, there were decorations and signs welcoming Hibiki.

"Come on, put on a smile!" A woman with glasses and a lab coat pulled Hibiki over for a selfie. "Let's take a photo to commemorate the first day of our friendship!"

"D-Don't!" Hibiki said, moving away. "How will it look in the photo album if I'm handcuffed?"

"Hold on, how do guys even know Hibiki's name?" Rui said, looking at all the welcome signs. "I don't recall seeing any of you around her."

"The second branch here is kind of a secret service thing for wartime use." The muscular man said. "Looking into your pasts was easy as pie."

"I really feel that's a huge breach of privacy." Rui said, as the woman in the lab coat came up with Hibiki's bag.

"Hey! My bag! And what do you mean, looking into our pasts?! You just went though my bag!" She yelled, almost going into panic mode.

Tsubasa sighed. "Ogawa-san, please."

The brown-haired man nodded. "Right away."

Eventually, the cuffs on Hibiki's wrists were off. "Thank you." She said, as she rubbed her sore wrists.

"No, we should apologize to you two, actually." Ogawa said.

"You can start by actually giving us your names." Rui said. "It'll help a lot."

"I was just about to do that." The muscular man said. "I'm Kazanari Genjuro, the boss here."

"And I'm Sakurai Ryoko, the brains of the operation." The woman in the lab coat said. "Nice to meet you."

"You've already met Tsubasa. Ogawa here is her personal assistant." Genjuro said, gesturing to the brown-haired man. "And these two here are the head of support. Tomosato Aoi and Fujitaka Sakuya." He said, gesturing to the woman with dark blue hair and the man with dirty blonde hair.

"Oh uh, nice to meet you too." Hibiki said, bowing.

"Yo, I see they made it!"

Hibiki and Rui looked around to find the voice and tracing it they found...

"Ehhhh? Tsubasa-san?" Hibiki said.

A Tsubasa lookalike was standing in front of them. They looked back at the Tsubasa leaning against the wall, and then back to the one in front of them.

"What's going on?" Hibiki asked in confusion. "How can there be two Tsubasas?!"

"I'm a clone." The double said, in a low serious voice. "Because Tsubasa was such a good fighter, they decided to try duplicating the perfect soldier and created me, the ultimate specimen. And now, in order to prove my superiority, I must-"

"She's my older twin sister, Maia." Tsubasa said from the wall.

"Oh." Hibiki and Rui said.

...

...

...

"Wait, HUH?!"

"Aw come on Basa, let me have my fun!" Maia said, walking over to stand at her twin's side.

Hibiki and Rui looked and noticed there were clear differences. Hibiki and Rui were borderline identical aside from the scary look people said Rui always had. Tsubasa and Maia on the other hand was a similar case, but there were visual differences as well. Maia had shorter hair and a playful expression, compared to Tsubasa's long hair and serious demeanor. Their method of dress was noticeable too. Hibiki and Rui had similar wardrobes, with Hibiki preferring brighter colors to Rui's quieter ones. On the other hand, Tsubasa dressed neatly, while Maia looked like a delinquent, complete with a set of headphones.

"Two sets of twins though, huh? What are the odds?" Maia said, putting an arm over Tsubasa's shoulder. "But anyways, I'm part of the brains department as well, but don't contribute as much as Ryoko. Still, I help out as much as I can. Back to you, old man."

"Right, to get back on topic. You two came here at our invitation because we'd like you to work with us." Genjuro said.

"You dragged us here." Rui said, irritated.

"Work with you? How?" Hibiki asked, before remembering what had happened earlier. "Ah! Please tell me... What happened to me?"

Genjuro and Ryoko briefly nodded, before Ryoko stepped forward. "Before I can answer your question, I need you both to do two things for me."

"What two things?" Hibiki asked.

"Firstly, don't tell anyone about what happened today."

"Sounds easy enough." Rui said.

"And secondly..." Ryoko pulled Hibiki close. "Could you please take off your clothes?"

Both Hibiki and Rui were in shock at that statement. Hibiki's expression changed to that of distress.

"Oy."

Rui stepped forward.

"Ryoko, was it?"

"Yes?"

"Look at me for a second."

The last thing Ryoko saw was Rui's fist coming at her full speed.

"We're back..." Hibiki said tiredly, leaning against the door frame of her dorm.

"Ah! Hibiki! Rui!" Miku said, watching the two enter. "Where were you two knocking around until now?"

Hibiki simply collapsed on the floor in exhaustion. "Sorry..."

"Hibiki, don't sleep on the floor." Rui said, poking her with her foot.

"They said on the news earlier that the Noise showed up close by again." Miku said, hands on her hips.

"Yeah, but they're gone now." Hibiki mumbled from the floor. She was soon entranced by a news report on the TV saying that Tsubasa Kazanari would be switching to a new label. Miku sighed at her best friend's lack of attention.

"You know my sister." Rui said, slipping the rare card she picked up earlier into a plastic sleeve.

Rui lay on the bottom bunk, while Hibiki and Miku were sleeping on the top bunk. Rui was playing on her Nintendo Switch (yes it was a school night, but she didn't care), but could barely focus on her game.

She kept thinking on what happened on happened today, how crazy it was that it was all real.

And we're not allowed to say anything about it. She thought. Cliche, but it makes sense why...

"Lend me some warmth, Miku!"

"Wh-what's with you, Hibiki?"

Rui irritatingly looked up at the top bunk. She couldn't see Hibiki and Miku, but had a hunch for what was going on.

"Kohinata Miku is the sunshine that warms me up." Hibiki said. "I'm drawn to your side. It's the warmest spot I know. It's always been like that, and it always will be."

Rui sighed to herself as she heard Miku speak.

"You know, Hibiki... I..."

Judging from the sounds of Hibiki's soft snores, Rui guessed that Hibiki had fallen asleep. She was glad, or else she would have kicked the top bunk to get the two to settle down.

Gotta admit though... Rui thought. Hibiki's lucky to have someone like Miku. I wish I had someone like that, but I always push people away...

At Hibiki and Miku's protesting, Rui had actually attended the class. She tried paying attention, but found herself falling half asleep.

She snapped out of it as she saw people leaving the class. Seeing Hibiki's friends leave without her got her to notice that Hibiki was putting her stuff away at her desk. Standing up, she walked over to her sister, but before she could say anything, Tsubasa had walked into the classroom. The blue-haired girl wasn't even looking at them though.

"Oy. What do you want?" Rui asked Tsubasa.

"I'm supposed to escort you both to headquarters as material witnesses."

"Huh?" Hibiki said.

A few seconds later, Hibiki had the handcuffs on her wrists again.

"Ehhhhhh?! Whyyyyy?!"

Rui actually chuckled. "Wow Hibiki, you've been in handcuffs twice and I still haven't."

"Oneesan!" Hibiki whined, hitting her laughing sister with her shoulder, since both her hands were restrained.

"All right, here are the results of your medical examination from yesterday!" Ryoko said, holding up a pointer in front of a screen.

Hibiki winced as there was a pretty nasty bruise on Ryoko's face from Rui's punch earlier.

"There are some signs that the shock of the first transformation affected you, but there are no notable abnormalities." Ryoko said.

"Nothing notable?" Hibiki asked.

"You know that's not what she came her for, Ryoko." Maia said.

"Please explain that power to me!" Hibiki said.

Genjuro turned to Tsubasa and nodded. She pulled out something around her neck, holding up what appeared to be a red gemstone necklace.

"Tsubasa is the bearer of the first Relic, Ame no Habakiri." Genjuro said.

"A Relic?" Rui asked.

"Relics are powerful artifacts documented in legends from around the world." Ryoko said. "They were created by heretics in ancient times, yet are beyond our current technology."

"They're not hard to find." Maia said. "They can be found in old ruins, but most have suffered through the ages, so the ones with power left are the real rarities. Diamonds in the rough, you could say."

"Ame no Habakiri is one such relic, though it is a mere fragment of what was once a blade." Genjuro said.

"The only thing that can amplify and free the sliver of power left in the fragments are waves of a specific amplitude." Ryoko said.

"Waves of a specific amplitude..." Hibiki said, confused.

"Basically, songs." Genjuro said. "The relics are activated by songs."

"Songs?" Hibiki asked. "Oh, right! I remember the song I sang filled my entire mind!"

Genjuro and the others nodded, but Tsubasa stared off to the side.

"You break down the power into raw energy and reconstruct it as the anti-Noise armor you and Tsubasa wear - the Symphogear." Ryoko explained.

"It's still a little confusing." Hibiki admitted.

"No wait, I think I got it." Rui said. "It's basically like a karaoke armor, right?"

Everyone in the room was silent, though Maia was laughing out loud.

Hibiki and Rui stared at her in bewilderment while the others had hands on their faces. Ryoko muttered something about it not being stupid.

"That's what I've been saying this entire time!" Maia said through her laughter. "And this is what we sell to the politicians all these years!"

She eventually calmed down, bringing the serious demeanor back into the room.

"Anyways, you summed it up right." Ryoko said. "The relics are basically superpowers activated by singing."

"But the relics don't just activate as soon as someone hums a tune!" Tsubasa said.

No one said anything as they looked at Tsubasa in concern, Maia especially. Hibiki was confused, but Rui felt differently. Like she knew what was eating at Tsubasa.

Standing up, Genjuro walked over. "We call those few people who can activate the relics and sing the songs to construct Symphogear the "Attuned." That's those like Tsubasa and you."

"So? Do you think you understand the basics of the power that awakened in you now?" Ryoko asked.

"If you have questions, don't hesitate to ask." Maia added.

"Well..." Hibiki started.

"Shoot, Hibiki."

"I still don't understand what you said."

Rui face faulted onto the floor as some of the others sweatdropped.

"Not surprised, honestly." Maia said. "We did use some pretty big words."

"Fair." Ryoko said. "For now, it'll be enough to remember that I'm the scientist behind the Sakurai Theory, which describes the extraction of power from relics."

"Okay..."

"Hold up." Rui got off the floor. "Hibiki doesn't have a relic. So why-?"

"Look at the screen." Ryoko said, pressing a button.

Pulled up on screen was an x-ray. At first they didn't see anything, but looking closer, they saw something like a few shards. Almost like broken glass within the ribcage.

"Do you know what that is?" Genjuro asked.

"Oh, yeah! I got that wound two years ago." Hibiki said. "I was there at the stadium with Rui!"

Tsubasa looked over, while Maia put a hand under her chin.

"There were multiple fragments so close to your heart that it was impossible to remove them." Ryoko said. "And according to our research, they are the fragments of the third relic, Gungnir, which Kanade held."

Tsubasa's eyes became grief-stricken as Ryoko continued. "Think of it as her farewell present."

Putting a hand over her face, Tsubasa left the room. Rui swore she heard some soft sobs. Maia nodded to Genjuro, and quickly followed after her sister.

"Um..." Hibiki said, unsure.

"What's wrong?" Genjuro asked.

"Do I really have to keep this to myself?" Hibiki asked.

It wasn't Genjuro that answered, but Rui. "Hibiki, if people found out you had these superpowers, it would obviously endanger the lives of people close to us."

"Their lives? You mean..."

"Yeah. Mom and Grandma... and Miku too. They'd all be in danger if word got out."

Hibiki looked down in thought.

"Your sister is right." Genjuro said. "We're trying to protect lives, not some secret. But can you two keep it?"

"With great power comes great responsibility, and we hope you understand that." Ryoko said. "That was from an American comic Maia introduced me to. It's a good message."

"Mankind stands no chance against the Noise." Genjuro said. "A simple touch and we turn to dust and crumble. We can't hurt them either."

"Well, not yet." Ryoko chipped in. "Maia and I have been trying to make a weapon that's effective on the Noise, but the progress is slow."

"And until then, there is a single exception. The Valkyries clad in Symphogear." Genjuro continued. "On behalf of the second branch of the Japanese government's Disaster Relief Squad, I would like to ask for your cooperation. Tachibana Hibiki, will you use the power of your Symphogear in the great war against the Noise?"

"I can... help people with this power, right?" Hibiki asked.

Everyone nodded.

"Oneesan? What do you think?" Hibiki asked, turning to her sister.

"...honestly, I don't want you to do this." Rui said. "From what I'm guessing, this is dangerous as hell."

"I know that, but-"

"You want to help people. I know." Rui said. "I'm not your keeper preventing you from doing this. You've grown up."

"Oh, really? Thank you, Oneesan!" Hibiki said, smiling.

"Just promise me this, Hibiki." Rui took her sister's hand. "Stay safe, alright? I don't know what I'd tell everyone if the worst came to pass. I've almost lost you once. Don't put me through that again."

"Got it. I promise, Oneesan." Hibiki said, before turning to the others. "Okay!"

Tsubasa was in the hall by herself, leaning against the wall in thought.

"Oy. Tsubasa."

Looking up, she saw her sister standing there, hands in her pockets.

"You alright?"

Tsubasa let out a low laugh devoid of emotion. "The furthest thing from it."

Maia frowned and walked closer. "Please don't tell me you're holding a grudge against that girl."

She could tell the answer from Tsubasa's not speaking and turning away. Maia narrowed her eyes.

"Tsubasa. That girl survived the same tragedy you did, but hers was nothing short of a miracle. And just because she can use the same powers as Kanade, you're going to hate her?"

Tsubasa still didn't respond, and Maia clenched her fist. Reaching forward, she grabbed her sister's shoulder and spun her till they were face to face.

"Listen to me, Tsubasa. That girl did nothing wrong, and you're going to unfairly resent her for that?!"

Tsubasa's expression didn't change. "It's something you wouldn't understand."

"Wouldn't understand? I'm your sister, damn it, one of the few people that will understand!"

Hearing the door open, she let Tsubasa go. They saw Hibiki run up, with Rui close behind. Stopping in front of them, Hibiki looked at the two with a confidant smile on her face.

"I'll fight!" She said. "I'm still new at this, but I'll do my best!"

Maia grinned as Hibiki held out her hand to Tsubasa, expecting her to shake it. Tsubasa looked down at the floor instead.

"I'd be really..."

Hibiki didn't even finish her sentence, as the lights dimmed and an alarm went off.

"What the? An alarm?" Rui asked. "Don't tell me."

Maia nodded. "Seems like it."

"Noise appearance confirmed!" Fujitaka said, tapping his screen to find more information.

"Tell the first branch to leave this to us." Genjuro said.

"Appearance located." Aoi said. "I'm putting it on the screen."

She gasped as their whereabouts were shown onscreen. "They're within 200 units of the school!"

"So close." Genjuro noted.

"I'll stop them." Tsubasa said, leaving the room at a run.

Hibiki eyes followed Tsubasa, before she started to run as well.

"Don't be reckless!" Genjuro said. "You're not ready!"

Hibiki turned back around. "I can use my power to help people, right? Only the power of Symphgear can fight the Noise, right? Then I'm going!"

She ran out of the room, right behind Tsubasa.

"She knows the danger and yet wants to help." Fujitaka noted. "She's a kind girl at heart, ins't she?"

"I wonder." Genjuro said. "Tsubasa received combat training since she was a little girl, whereas Hibiki was a completely normal girl before this. Isn't that twisted?"

"Wouldn't that make her just like us then?" Maia said.

"That's just the type of idiot my sister is." Rui said as everyone turned to look at her. "Rushing headlong to help others without thinking. She's reckless, but I couldn't imagine my sister any other way."

"Reckless younger twin, huh?" Maia said with a smirk. "I know that feeling."

Sharing a brief glance of understanding, the two shook each others hands, in unison at the agreement of the impulsiveness of their respective sibling.

Tsubasa Kazanari stood down the Noise, which merged together into one huge green monster. It roared, but Tsubasa didn't back down.

"Imyuteus Ame no Habakiri tron~"

In a flash of light, Tsubasa had armed herself in her Symphogear armor.

As the Noise turned pink, Tsubasa continued to sing. Dodging and deflecting the Noise's attacks, she rushed forward. Her sword increased in size.

"Tsubasa-san!"

Looking up in shock, she saw Hibiki come out of nowhere kick the huge Noise. She had a smile on her face, but it irritated Tsubasa. Taking the opening, she jumped up into the air, she unleashed a huge sword beam that sliced the Noise in half. The resulting explosion blew up part of the street, and Tsubasa landed safely and observed the destruction.

"Tsubasa-san!" Hibiki said, running up. "Sorry! I know I'm probably slowing you down right now, but I'll do my best! So, please let me fight with you!"

Tsubasa didn't turn around. "You're right."

Hibiki's smile grew larger as Tsubasa turned around.

"You and I... should fight."

"Eh?"

Tsubasa held her sword up, pointing at Hibiki with it. In her eyes were years of pain and violence.

Hibiki took a step back. Just what was going on?

A/N: Really like how fast this one is going by since I'm re-watching Symphogear.

I'm having a lot of fun working on this one. Hopefully I'll update one of my other fics soon.

Anyways, see you all next time.