Rui was looking down at her phone as she waited for Miku to get ready. She... wasn't really having the best time. The Gacha Gods were not that merciful with her pulls.

"Why do I keep playing this? That's over 300 orbs down the drain..." She muttered, putting her phone away as Miku came out of the dorm. She was dressed quite nicely. Not too fancy, but not too casual either. No doubt she originally planned to do so for Hibiki, but instead she got the twin.

"So, what do you want to do?" Rui asked. "We got some time to kill before the meteor shower."

"Eh?"

"We've got plenty of time." Rui said. "Don't tell me that you were gonna just sit and wait with Hibiki for a few hours."

The lack of a response answered Rui's question. She sighed, before smiling.

"Okay then, if you got no ideas, wanna grab something quick?"

"Wow, I didn't know you had a place like this in mind." Miku said.

They were at an ice cream parlor. It was quite colorful and smelled nice. There was a very friendly aura about the place that made Miku feel relaxed.

"Yeah. I found it a while back." Rui said. "Pretty cheap, and the ice cream here's great too."

The two of them ordered sundaes, before sitting down in a booth. There was a bit of silence, before Rui spoke up.

"I know you feel bummed that it's me you're hanging out with, and not Hibiki."

"Rui, please don't think that. You're just as much of a friend to me as Hibiki is." Miku reassured.

"I appreciate it, but let's face it, you'd rather hang out with Hibiki than me."

Miku reached a hand across the table, putting hers on Rui's.

"Don't put yourself down, Rui." Miku said with a smile. "You're worth just as much as Hibiki is."

Rui blushed for a second, before pulling her hand away. "Y-Yeah."

Miku chuckled. She really is just like Hibiki. Well, in that way at least.

Rui sighed as their ice cream was served. Miku took a bite and was surprised at how sweet it was.

"It's delicious! How did you find this place, Rui-san?" She asked.

"I found it when I ditched class a few weeks back." Rui said nonchalantly.

"Rui-san, that's something I've been meaning to ask a few weeks back." Miku said. "You don't come to class often, but how are you still going to the school?"

Rui pulled out her phone, before tapping the screen a few times. She slid it across the table to Miku, who picked it up.

"A photo of the class test scores?" Miku asked.

"Look closer."

Miku narrowed her eyes before they widened. Rui's name was quite close to the top of the list, nearly the top of the class.

"Wha? How-?" Miku looked up from the phone. "Rui-san, you're really this smart?"

"What do you mean by "really"?"

"But you ditch class all the time!" Miku said. "How do you do this?"

"Well, when I do bother show up, I actually study the material." She said. "It is draining, but I do try pushing myself."

"Why though?" Miku asked. "No one is asking you to do it."

Rui forcefully stabbed at her ice cream at those words.

"I just want to help out at home. Do my part." She answered, though there was some bitterness in her words.

Miku knew better than to try pressing things with Rui. She considered changing the subject, but what to? Rui was looking at the cafe's television, aimlessly watching the commercials. Putting a large spoonful of ice cream in her mouth, Miku had recalled that Rui was a fan of superheroes, though she would always try to hide it. But aside from that, Rui was always a hard one to read. She wasn't exactly the nicest person around, yet nor was she the meanest. It honestly baffled her at the stark contrast Rui was compared to the sun that Hibiki was.

But at the same time, there was this aura around Rui, that just made her relaxed. It was hard to explain, but while being around Hibiki could cheer you up, being around Rui felt like all the stress goes away. Ironic, considering Rui's actions usually cause stress to others.

"You've been staring at me for a while now." Rui said. "What, do I have ice cream on my cheek or something?"

"Oh-ah no." Miku stammered. "...actually never-mind, you do."

"For Christ's sake..."

The two had wrapped up the quick snack, before stepping back out onto the busy street.

"The meteor shower is gonna happen soon." Miku said, checking the time. "We should get going."

"Yeah. Let's-"

"I keep telling you, I'm not interested!"

The two looked to see a young woman. She was being pestered by a man in his early twenties, who was evidently trying to ask her out to the point of harassment. She kept refusing, but the man would try grabbing at her wrist.

"How horrible..." Miku pulled out her phone. "I'll call the police-"

Rui had already walked towards the man and woman. They stopped what they were doing and looked at her.

"What do you want, kid?" The man asked. "I'm kinda busy right now."

"Well, I just have one question." Rui said. "Do you want kids?"

"Huh?"

"...what?"

"I'm asking if you want kids." Rui said, same neutral expression on her face. "It's a simple question."

"Kind of out of the blue, but not really, no."

"Then you'll thank me."

"For what?"

Miku closed her eyes as she turned away. The scream the man made when Rui delivered a devastating kick to his family jewels could be heard for miles. He was on the ground in pain, as Rui looked down on it.

"There you go asshole." She said. "No kids for you. You're welcome."

Rui then turned to the young woman, who took a step back in caution, as if Rui were to attack her next. But Rui's eyes, while still harsh, grew a bit softer. "Are you alright?"

"Oh um, yes. Thank you." She said.

"Not a problem." Rui said.

The woman walked away, as Rui kicked the downed man to the side to keep the sidewalk clear. She walked back to Miku, who sighed.

"Rui-san, sometimes you scare me." Miku said.

"I've beat up people bigger than that loser." Rui said. "It was nothing."

"But still... what if you upset the wrong people, and got hurt? What would I tell Hibiki?"

Rui did look down at those words.

"Rui-san, I'm not saying that you're weak or anything." Miku said. "You're one of the strongest people I know, but-"

"I know, I know." Rui said. "It's just... the type of person I am. I always interfere when there's some pretentious asshole being a jerk. I can't help it."

"Rui-san..."

"We're gonna be late for the meteor shower." Rui said suddenly, turning around. "Let's go."

"Ah! Rui-san!" Miku called after her. "You don't even know where we're-!"

Miku sighed, but chased her to make sure Rui didn't go the wrong way.

Rui-san... I only hope that you know you don't have to do things alone.

"You know, this wasn't how I expected to see you." Rui said, sitting next to her sister, who was almost breaking down.

It had been nearly an hour since she had seen the meteor shower with Miku. After they had gone back to their dorm, Rui got a call from Hibiki that Tsubasa was in critical condition. She came as fast as she could, and learned about what had happened, from the mysterious girl with the Newuhwhuwhatever-you-call-it armor, and Tsubasa had used her Swan Song to try and take her down. The same thing Kanade did to save Hibiki and Rui all those years ago.

Ogawa had already talked to Hibiki, explaining Tsubasa's past ever since she had lost Kanade, and Hibiki, being the bleeding heart that she was, was sobbing over it.

Rui herself? She didn't know how exactly to feel about it. She was conflicted since Tsubasa had been a grade-A bitch to Hibiki, but not only had she gone through so much emotional turmoil already, now she was hovering on the line of life and death. She saw how shaken Maia was. When they came across each other earlier, she saw that Maia was trying hard to keep it together.

"Onee-san?"

Rui looked at her sister, who was trying to wipe her tears.

"Can I ask you something?"

"Of course."

"Can you... can you promise me that you won't hate Tsubasa?"

There it was again. She already had the answer, but asked Hibiki regardless. "Why?"

"She's already been through so much pain. I don't want her to go through any more."

Rui surprised Hibiki by pulling her into a hug.

"You don't have to worry about that." Rui said. "I won't."

She had meant it. She promised Maia earlier, and what had happened today just made her promise stronger.

"And if everything just becomes too much for you... you know I'll always be here for you." Rui said.

Those words just made Hibiki start crying again, as she buried her face in her twin sister's shoulder.

Standing on the roof of one of the buildings, Rui was leaning against the railing, staring down at the school ground. Hibiki and Miku were talking on a bench behind her, but she wasn't paying attention to their conversation, instead remembering what she had found out yesterday.

The girl in the armor was targeting her sister.

Rui gripped the railing tighter. She didn't know exactly what to make of the news. Worried obviously, but it was more at the fact how useless she felt. She couldn't really do anything to help her sister. Hibiki had gone to a level she could never reach.

As close as the sisters were, they were now leagues apart.

But, turning around to see Miku show Hibiki the video of the meteor shower (though the video was pretty low in quality, thanks to it being night when they shot it), it made it feel like all her worries would go away. She smiled. Different as they may be, they were still twin sisters. No matter what would happen, they'd stick together.

All of a sudden, she wished she wasn't Hibiki's sister at the very moment.

The second school was over, Hibiki had dragged Rui to the Kazanari residence.

"Ah, Master!" Hibiki said to Genjuro as he opened the door.

"Hmm? You two? What is it?"

"Please, teach us how to fight!" Hibiki pleaded.

"Hold on, us?" Rui asked.

"Me? Teach you two?" Genjuro said.

"Yeah! I figured you'd know some amazing martial arts!" Hibiki said.

Genjuro had a thoughtful look on his face, before crossing his arms. "My training is rather harsh."

"Don't worry! That's okay!" Hibiki said.

"Wait wait wait." Rui said. "I never agreed to any of-"

"You shouldn't be scared, Onee-san!" Hibiki said. "You did gymnastics when we were younger and you were also part of a kickboxing club! You can do it!"

"I'm not scared! It's just..." Rui sighed, raising her hands. "Fine. Guess it can't hurt."

Genjuro leaned in. "By the way. Hibiki, Rui. Are you two into action movies?"

"Me, not so much. But Onee-san loves-MPH!"

Rui had put her hands over Hibiki's mouth, to make sure that she didn't spill anything else to ruin her image.

"Well how about that." Genjuro chuckled, watching as Hibiki tried to shake Rui off. "If you have similar tastes as me, then I suppose you'll enjoy the training."

The training. Was it brutal? Obviously.

But Rui couldn't remember exactly when she had this much fun. She never expected that Genjuro had learned how to fight from movies such as The Game of Death and video games like Street Fighter, though she did squeal when Genjuro gave her a yellow jumpsuit and Ken Masters gi, both her size. Thankfully no one recorded it.

The training itself was what she expected, but also unique as well. It was a wide variety of exercises. Draining, but not too extreme. It was almost like it was made for her.

Hibiki and Rui even sparred to help each other grow. While Hibiki had asked Rui to not hold anything back, they both knew that would never happen. Nonetheless, the two sparred, and Rui could tell that Hibiki had gotten more skilled.

Even in the backyard of the Kazanari residence, they'd train. Hibiki was kicking a sandbag that was hanging from the tree.

"Good." Genjuro said. "But you need more vigor in your strikes. Sometimes one powerful strike is enough. Now Rui."

Rui stepped up, but then took several steps away from the sandbag.

"Uh Rui, you won't be able to kick the sandbag from that far away." Genjuro said.

"Wait... ah! Onee-san's gonna do something really cool, Master!" Hibiki said.

After getting some distance, Rui faced the sandbag. She took a deep breath, before holding her arms out, right over left. Then, she held them out at her sides, and then ground her right foot against the grass.

With a burst of speed, she ran at the sandbag, before jumping into the air with a somersault, and delivering a devastating kick, all with a powerful war cry. Upon impact, the sandbag exploded. Rui landed with her left knee down, supporting herself with her left hand. She slowly stood up, smirking.

"Impressive." Genjuro said. Looking at the remains of the sandbag, he saw that there was an imprint of Rui's shoe on it.

"See! Onee-san is so cool!" Hibiki said.

"Wait." Genjuro put a hand on his chin. "Kickboxing for lower body strength. Gymnastics for acrobatics. And that entire routine..."

It was almost as if a light-bulb went off over Genjuro's head.

"Rui... are you a fan of Kamen Rider?"

Rui's face turned red as she turned away. "No, don't be absurd."

"That was Kuuga's Rider Kick." Genjuro stated, matter-of-factly.

"Shut up..." Rui said, embarrassed that her inner geek was showing.

"Come on, Onee-san!" Hibiki teased. "Say one of the catchphrases!"

"Stop. Please." She begged.

"How about this one?" Hibiki cleared her throat and made her voice deeper. "I'm just a passing through Kamen Rider. Remember that!"

"You're killing me here, Hibiki." Rui said, face in her hands.

"Ooh! What about; "My life is burning bright!""

"That's it!"

Rui started to chase Hibiki around the backyard, while Hibiki called out "Ore Sanjou!" Hibiki let out "Now, count up your sins!" as Rui tackled her.

"Though to take up gymnastics and kickboxing because of Kamen Rider of all things." Genjuro said, watching the two run around. "I can't help but find that admirable."

Rui yawned as as she walked to school. Miku and Hibiki were right behind her, talking.

"Hey, Miku, show me that meteor shower video again!"

"But there's nothing there. You're a weirdo, Hibiki."

"Then you're the bigger weirdo for hanging out with me!""

Rui heard Miku's footsteps stop, and she turned around.

"Listen, Hibiki."

"What?"

"It was hard to keep that video a secret. I don't want to hide anything from you, of all people."

Hibiki nervously laughed. "Yeah, I wouldn't hide anything from you either."

Rui locked eyes with her, and they shared a brief moment of understanding.

They hoped that the day Miku finds out the truth would never come to pass.

A/N: Been a while since the last update, but then again, this isn't one of the fics that gets a lot of traffic. But it's good to be back.

And don't worry. It's not just gonna be a complete rehash of Symphogear. I plan to write a lot more original content in the future. (You're welcome, reviewer. Though perhaps you could be more polite with your criticism next time.)

Anyways if you liked this, feel free to leave a fav or follow, or maybe even a review. It would help me out a lot.

Till next time, signing off.