It had been some time since the battle against the Illuminati had concluded. Elfnein and Lala were sitting on the information they discovered related to those that were hit by the light of Shénshòujìng. Genjuro had decided to leave it up to them to decide if they wanted to share the information or not, since they were the experts. The two were discussing the idea, while Aiba was recharging and having her information recorded nearby.

"Even though she lost her connection with Shénshòujìng, it was enough to keep her here when Tesla's initial cleansing happened." Elfnein said. "Her purification allowed her to stay. Perhaps part of it was how Rui was able to summon her during the battle against Adam Weishaupt and give her a weapon; the former connection."

"Should we say something about it?" Lala asked.

"I personally think we should, but it might cause unnecessary panic." Elfnein said. "And the more people know, the more likely the information can reach ears we don't want it to."

"But who could we even tell?" Lala asked.

"Coming in!" They heard Forte shout, as she walked in.

"...ah." Lala realized.

"Whatchu guys talking about?" Forte asked, sitting on their desks.

"Oh, nothing much." Elfnein said.

"Actually, I wanted to know something. What's the situation with our Elekleids?" Forte asked.

"Ah, right." Lala remembered. "We were so caught up in the Illuminati situation that we forgot about them."

"The Illuminati…" Elfnein repeated. "...wait a moment."

"What is it?" Forte asked.

"I think I just had an epiphany!" Elfnein said, as she suddenly turned back to her monitor, typing away.

"And that's a new word." Forte said, before she elbowed Lala. "I see why you're trying to shoot your shot."

"H-H-Huh?!" Lala blushed.

"Oh don't be like that." Forte chuckled. "You know what feelings are, and how you feel, don't you?"

"I…" Lala looked over to Elfnein, who was hyper focused on her work. "I'll give it some more thought."

"Well, whatever you do, I'm rooting for you." Forte said, patting her on the shoulder.

"Hello Kanade. I'm back again."

Tsubasa stood in front of a gravestone, placing down a few vermillion flowers. Maria stood nearby, staying silent since she didn't have much to say. She also felt it would be wrong to speak up while Tsubasa was having her moment.

"Sorry if I haven't been here in a while." Tsubasa apologized. "I've been quite busy with certain new developments. Though I'm sure you know, if Neesama is to be believed."

Maria thought back to the time Maia came back from the brink of death, claiming that she had met with Kanade. Though Maia was a natural prankster, a liar she was not (for the most part). Considering that Kanade was her best friend prior to her untimely passing, it'd be off if she joked about it.

"So much has changed since we last spoke… the bonds I've made, the bonds I've seen… I want to thank you." Tsubasa said, leaning down and wiping off some of the dust on the headstone. "It was thanks to you that I was able to meet them all. To speak to them."

"I don't think that's completely true, Tsubasa." Maria said, as her friend turned to her. "You had that ability all on your own. It was Kanade and Maia that drew it out of you."

"Hm. I suppose it is." Tsubasa said as she stood up. "I only wish you could have met Kanade yourself. You two would have gotten along."

"If she's anything like Maia, I'd imagine she'd drive me crazy." Maria said.

"Well… I can't exactly deny that." Tsubasa sighed.

"But you've never exactly opened up to me about Kanade." Maria noted. "Why don't you do it now?"

Tsubasa smiled. "There's so much to tell."

"I have time." Maria said.

The wind seemed to blow ever so stronger as the sun shone.

Shuri was standing in the water, looking out at the ocean in front of her. She felt the waves gently wash against her legs.

"You doing okay?"

She looked up to see Maia walk over, wearing an open shirt over her swimsuit. The two had decided to come to the beach to relax for a bit, now that the situation was over. That and they imagined it would be less of a pain for the others considering how affectionate they could be.

"Yes… I'm doing fine." Shuri smiled.

"Still, that was pretty nutty what happened." Maia said. "That six wings like a fallen angel or something? That was awesome."

"I suppose it was but…" Shuri looked down.

"What is it?" Maia asked.

"When I first awakened the power of the Ignite Module… when I first… "died", I had visions." Shuri said.

"Visions?"

"I saw Tsubasa-san, Hibiki-san and Rui-san… all of them were in distress or worse…" Shuri recalled. "And of the three… the one with Rui-san came true…"

Maia was silent as Shuri went on.

"I… If they're true, something terrible might happen to Tsubasa-san and Hibiki-san." Shuri said, as she clutched her shoulders. "I… I don't know what to do…!"

"Well, we got Rui back, didn't we?" Maia asked.

"We did…"

"Well, then we just need to support Tsubasa and Hibiki the best we can." Maia said. "Screw that vision you had, cause we'll make sure it won't happen. And even if it does, we'll make sure it's nothing more than a bad dream."

Shuri seemed to relax. "I wish I could be as hopeful as you always are… I lost my own hope long ago…"

Maia looked at Shuri's body, seeing the scars from her youth. In spite of her healing allowing her to recover incredibly well, the scars she retained would never go away. Looking at her own body, she looked at the one on her arm she received as a child, as well as the two on her chest from a few months ago.

"Everyone's different. Don't sweat it." Maia said. "Though I do think it's pretty cute how you're always worried for everyone."

"It's… It's not that cute…" Shuri blushed.

"Nah, it's super cute!" Maia grinned, before reaching down and picking up Shuri by the legs. "You're totally cute!"

"H-Hey! Put me down!" Shuri laughed.

"Admit that you're cute!" Maia smirked. "Admit that- wh-whoa!"

Maia ended up tripping due to her lack of balance, and the two ended up plunging into the water with a splash. Shuri came up for air first, laughing. "What's wrong with you?"

"I dunno." Maia admitted. "Getting a girlfriend just does things like that, you know?"

The two leaned over to kiss briefly, as they stood up, dripping with seawater.

"You wanna continue this somewhere more private?" Maia asked.

Shuri grabbing her wrist and pulling her along gave her the answer that she needed.

Hibiki had gone out with her friends for some karaoke. Hibiki was ordering food for everyone.

"Hi, can I place an order?" Hibiki asked. "I'd like some french fries and an udon neapolitan, an order of fried takoyaki and some simmered taro. Can I also get some shrimp crackers, and… what did you want again, Miku?"

"How could you forget?!" Miku shouted, almost offended. "I wanted shaved ice!"

"Oh yeah, that's right… and one shaved ice." Hibiki said nervously. "Any flavor is fine."

"Going out to karaoke with this group of people seems really refreshing…" Shiori said. "Could this be the first time we've done it?"

"I was really surprised when KineChri invited us to come!" Kuriyo admitted.

"I had to." Chris muttered. "My sister is out with that dumb girlfriend of hers. I would've invited Kirika and Shirabe, but those two had homework to do…"

"With the Hibiki leaving her homework till later situation and how you've been tutoring them, you would think they'd know better by this point." Rui scoffed.

"Yeah. It's not that hard either. They just keep putting it off!" Chris said, annoyed.

"Nerds. Anyways, we should start making requests." Yumi said. "Time is precious!"

"Hold up, Chris." Rui said, seeing as the girl was about to start singing the Utazukin opening. "Mind if have the first song?"

"Hm? Suit yourself." Chris said, moving over.

"Oh, Oneesan is going to sing?" Hibiki asked, as she saw Rui flip through options.

"This one's for you, Chris." Rui said, before tapping the play button.

(Insert Riot in bloom by Hikari Kabashima)

The music started playing, and several of the group knew what Rui was singing.

Saite ageru Riot In Bloom

[Tie it tight aishitai You and I Familiy ties]

[Tie it tight sonzai kachi-girai Lie I give it later]

Dare-tomo tsuriawanai toge-darake mujakina lonely girl

[Tie it tight aishitai You and I Familiy ties]

Tsukame-sōde tsukamenai kotae no nai Mainichi let me down

[Tie it tight sonzai kachi-girai Lie I give it later]

Uwabe dake bibiddodatta kowaretasekai de

Hitome mite wasure rarenakatta no hikaru blossom

Miageta sora no sakura

[You gave me love, I give it later.]

While Hibiki was laughing at seeing Hibiki choose a song from Kamen Rider, Chris was actually blushing, touched by Rui's songs.

Dakara watashi wa watashi no mama de

Mada shinjirukoto o yamenai

Anata ni tsuyoku hika reta daichi ni nezashite tatsu sono sugata

Watashi wa watashi o ikiru tsubasa nado nai to shittakedo

Mebuita chīsana hana o daiji ni sodateru koto o kimeta no

Maiorita hanabira ga nukumori o oshiete kureta

Atarashī watashi

Saite ageru Riot in Bloom

"It's like an inverse from the time Chris sang at the talent show." Miku commented.

"But I'm happy for them." Hibiki smiled, as Rui held out a hand and pulled Chris up to dance with her.

"Who knew Rui would be such a romantic, though?" Yumi said. "It's really just like an anime."

Saint-Germain sat quietly on her cell's bed. She had developed a small routine in order to avoid boredom, though eventually that was proving to be tiresome as well.

She opened her eyes when she heard what sounded like a knock on the door. Raising a brow, she walked over to see who was visiting her. The window on her door slid back to reveal a familiar one-eyed face.

"You're one of SONG's support members, aren't you?" Saint-Germain asked.

"I am." Jeanne nodded. "Jeanne Roux is my name."

"If this is an order for my release, I find that rather ridiculous in such a short amount of time." Saint-Germain said.

"Non, non." Jeanne shook her head. "One of our members had a bit of an alchemic breakthrough, and was wondering if you could make heads or tails of this."

She passed a laptop through the chute, which Saint-Germain opened. Scanning the screen, she realized what she was trying to do.

"I believe I can find the solution for this." Saint-Germain said. "But it might take quite some time."

"We got time." Jeanne said. "Hope this allows you to stave off the boredom for the next month."

"What's the situation of the remaining Illuminati?" Saint-Germain asked.

"We're catching them left and right. Your advice was very helpful." Jeanne said. "But there have been a few in particular that keep slipping through our fingers. Aiba's been locking down locations one-by-one."

"Is she not with you?" Saint-Germain asked.

"Currently undergoing maintenance with Elfnein and Lala." Jeanne said.

"Hmm… Well, I'll get to work on this." Saint-Germain said. "If there's any other way I can provide my assistance, do not hesitate to ask."

Jeanne nodded as she left. Saint-Germain went over to the small table in the room, placing the laptop down and getting to work. The images of Elekleid Neun and Elekleid Zechs were on the screen.

SONG… I thank you for this opportunity. I will not disappoint you. Saint-Germain briefly leaned back. "I suppose I am interested in having a conversation with Hibiki Tachibana after all…"

A/N: This Interlude has much more focus towards original scenes, with only one being based around a scene in the Shinais. I wanted to focus more on setup towards XV instead of the usual comedic shenanigans. In addition, I tried leaning more into the sweet over the silly.

Get ready, everybody. In two weeks we enter the final arc of XV. We're finally here…

Feel free to leave a review. See you all next time.