Sympho-Saber: Song of Swords
RXU: OVA – Non-Songs of the Valkyries 3
Tassel smiled as he watched the sun rise from the window of his home, soon turning and giving a smile.
"Bonne Lecture, my friends. My name is Tassel," he said as he clasped his hands together, "I know it's been a while but I suppose it's time once again to tell you all that I am truly awestruck! Not only did SONG save the world from great danger with Carol and the Megid, but they've gone beyond the boundaries of our world! Together they strove to save numerous Parallel Worlds from the grasp of a strange entity known as Gaze!"
He cleared his throat as he went to go sit down, going to sip the tea that was waiting for him.
"The Kamen Riders and Symphogear Wielders truly are something else," he smiled as he set his tea down, "However within all the battles and grand adventures… there are the smaller stories that we should look at before we move onto the next chapter of this story."
[Shortly after the Yeti Megid Incident…]
Section 1: Fun Festival Realizations
Yuri's introduction into SONG meant many things, but one important aspect was trying to show him the world he had missed while he was sealed away. This resulted in the younger Riders and Wielders dragging him to a summer festival that was in full swing. Of course it wasn't just him but Elfnein as well, the group wanting to help her learn more about the world she had sworn to protect as well.
Hibiki and Miku were trying to catch fish at one stall. Chris was at a pop gun stall with Elfnein, the latter cheering her on as she aimed carefully. Kirika and Shirabe meanwhile were enjoying as much food as they could stomach. Touma himself was enjoying a game of ring toss with Rintaro and Yuri, having bought some hero masks for the three to wear. They were all similar, having silver faces with yellow eyes, but had different features to them that made them stand apart.
Everyone was also wearing the traditional yukatas that one would wear at the festival, well that was except for Rintaro and Yuri… the former having chosen to keep his uniform on while the latter was fine the way he was.
"Truly what a splendid experience," Yuri said with a smile as he looked around, "To think that humanity could put on such festivities."
"Well I'd say less humanity and more this part of the city…" Rintaro trailed with a sheepish smile.
"I'm just glad you're enjoying yourself," Touma replied with a smile as he tossed a ring only to groan as it missed its mark entirely, "And here I thought I had it…"
"I suppose it's a good thing you wield Rekka instead of Hayate," Rintaro mused, "Otherwise Hayate's shuriken form could give you trouble."
"I suppose so yeah…" Touma trailed with a soft chuckle.
"Touma," Yuri said as he walked over while staring at a mask that Hibiki had bought him earlier. It had narrow yellow eyes and two blade-like horn protrusions going upwards with a green jewel in the center, "Just what kind of being is this?"
"Oh it's a hero mask, I believe it's from an old franchise called Ultr*m*n," Touma explained, before he suddenly got lost in thought, "Wait a minute…"
He had just recalled part of the final battle against Carol, where he fought against an alien-like Alca-Noise that was an arthropod-like creature in design… except he now recalled a similar creature from the show that was mentioned as it was a pretty famed design…
"Did… did…?" Touma trailed off in near shock as he came to this realization, "Did Carol make that Alca-Noise in Alien B*ltan's likeness…?"
"Eh?" Rintaro tilted his head while Yuri was simply admiring the mask he had.
"Hmm," Yuri trailed before putting it on over his face and crossing his arms, "You're 2000 years too early to beat me."
Needless to say the festival fun continued without a hitch, aside from some awkwardness with Kirika regarding the food… and a cicada managing to sneak its way into Hibiki's mouth when they were all watching the fireworks…
[Shortly after Tsubasa and Maria's return to Japan…]
Section 2: The Elusive Kami-Ryu
While SONG was tasked with disaster relief alongside battling the Megid and exploring parallel worlds as of recent, that didn't stop the government from putting them to work elsewhere. In particular this case was due to the concern of the Megid potentially targeting a high profile target the government wished to keep safe.
There were a lot of complications to the whole deal that Genjuro and Sophia knew about for varying reasons, but it had to be done. Chris and Maria were tasked with this mission, the duo at a fairly large bookstore/café that was holding a special guest. The two were currently wearing black suits with sunglasses, similarly to the usual security there as they were spread out with a few nearby the table. While everything seemed fine as the crowd lined up in front of the empty table, there was a slight issue with security…
"You seem nervous," Maria said as she noticed that Chris seemed to be a bit more jittery than usual.
"O-Oh you don't need to worry about me," Chris said with a slight nervous smile.
"If you say so, but I suppose it is a bit nerve-wracking," Maria admitted, "Considering who we're protecting…"
"Yeah…" Chris nodded, deciding to go with that excuse.
"Kami-Ryu," Maria muttered as she put a hand to her chin in thought.
'In order to help hide ours and the Riders battles a strong cover-up was needed. Thus a near overnight hit Manga known as 'The Amazing Singing Hood' was devised. While the writers utilized were great, the true source behind the colorful world and characters is the mysterious scenario, world builder, and creator, Kami-Ryu. I suppose that connection is enough for us to be involved…'
Chris meanwhile was nervous precisely because who they were performing bodyguard and lookout duty for was the creator of her favorite franchise of all time. She just took a deep breath to calm herself, she'd play it cool, there would likely be no incident, and then maybe… maybe she could get an autograph…
"Make way, make way," a security guard said as he exited a back room while opening the door, soon revealing the mysterious creator was revealed…
"Hello, hello everyone," a friendly but masked and distorted voice was heard.
It looked to be a fairly tall man, wearing white pants, dress shoes, a crimson button-up with a black tie alongside a white jacket over. His hands were covered by black gloves and his face was covered by that of a red dragon mascot head. Thus why he was named Kami-Ryu finally slid into place as he made his way to the table while waving towards the fans.
"Huh, I suppose that makes sense," Maria said, a bit taken aback by the elaborate costume but figured that it came with the territory.
"I'll admit he's got style," Chris muttered as she watched the line start to move.
"It's starting," Maria said as she looked around, "I'll check the outer perimeter to see if any Megid are around, alright?"
"I'll stick close then," Chris said as she decided to shift into business mode to calm down for the time being, "Make sure they aren't already here."
"Good," Maria nodded before heading off.
"Alright, shouldn't be too long," Chris muttered as she watched the line slowly but surely move forward.
It had taken a little over an hour but the line had finally died down as the signing event had gone off without a hitch. There had been no sign of the Megid and there were no problems with the fans either.
"Alright, everyone's cleared the area," Maria said as she looked towards the security and nodded, "Chris, stay with Kami-Ryu while we make sure the exit route is secure."
"Sounds good to me," Chris said with a thumbs-up as she watched Maria walk off with the security team before sighing in near exhaustion, "And to think nothing happened either…"
"Thank you for your hard work."
"Huh?" Chris let out a light yelp as she turned behind her to see that Kami-Ryu had addressed her. She let out a small blush as she rubbed the back of her neck, "O-Oh… it was nothing really."
"Still, thank you," Kami-Ryu said with a nod before gesturing towards her, "Is there anything I can do for you to repay you?"
"Oh it was just part of work, nothing too big," Chris waved it off, soon realizing that now was her chance but she had to play it cool, even if that seemed like it was failing at the moment.
"I see, still I feel like I should do something for you," Kami-Ryu noted, "If I recall you're not part of the usual security right? I've heard that there were some dangerous fellows after me, so I figure you were here to handle them just in case."
"Ah so you're aware then," Chris realized before nodding, "Yeah, me and another co-worker were here just in case that did happen."
"And I appreciate that," Kami-Ryu replied before sighing, "Sometimes I wonder if I'm worth all the trouble. While I provide the outlines and world building, it's the writers themselves that craft wonderful moment by moment stories by building onto my base. I feel as though they deserve just as much love as I do."
"That's a fair point," Chris said before giving a soft smile, "You're pretty modest, you know that?"
"I get that a lot," Kami-Ryu admitted with a light chuckle, "Now seriously, are you sure I can't do anything for you?"
"Well…" Chris trailed before reaching into her suit pocket and bringing out a copy of the first volume of The Amazing Singing Hood Manga before hesitantly holding it out, "Do you think you could…?"
"It'd be my pleasure, uh…" Kami-Ryu trailed.
"Chris," Chris smiled.
"It'd be my pleasure Chris," Kami-Ryu chuckled as he went to autograph the interior of the cover before handing it back, "Thank you again for your hard work."
"No thank you," Chris beamed as she took the manga back before pocketing it. It didn't take long for Maria and the other security members to return and let them know the exit was clear.
[A bit before the Ganma-Gazer Incident…]
Section 3: The Long Awaited World, Discovered!
Daishinji was currently wandering through the halls before he noticed a peculiar smell. While his ears were the keenest of his senses, there was currently a powerful aroma wandering the halls that caught his nose's attention. He made his way forward as he tried to figure out where it was coming from, noting that he was getting further from the cafeteria. He knew something was wrong near immediately once he stopped in front of Gjallarhorn's containment room.
Opening the door, he was greeted by a sight he wasn't expecting in the slightest…
Kanade, Hibiki and Shirabe were sitting on the floor, having just dismissed their transformations as they had a gigantic bowl of fried rice at the center. The three had their own bowls, each eating from their own as they had scooped some rice off of the big bowl to serve themselves.
"Ah Daishinji," Hibiki smiled as she raised her chopsticks in victory, "The exploration today was a success! We've found Rice World!"
"It would be classified as World of Rice," Shirabe corrected before going to eat from her bowl.
"Eh you know how the saying with tomatoes goes," Kanade shrugged.
"What exactly are you doing?" Daishinji questioned.
"Oh we decided to get a souvenir," Hibiki explained as if it was obvious, "Despite being an uh… what kind of world was it?"
"Secondary World," Kanade replied to her junior.
"Right, despite it being a Secondary World there were still some locals there compared to the others," Hibiki explained, "We ended up meeting with this really cool guy too."
"I don't know… he was kind of intimidating," Kanade admitted, "I appreciate his choice of orange shirt though."
"He was really passionate about fried rice," Shirabe spoke up as she took a bite before nodding and giving a hum, "I'll have to try what he told us myself whenever I get the chance, his wok hay technique could be good to put into my cooking when necessary."
"That's great to hear Shirabe," Hibiki smiled.
"If it means more of this delicious rice then hell yeah," Kanade held up a fist.
"R-Right…" Daishinji trailed in near shock at the casual nature on display, "I uh…"
"Oh did you want some Daishinji?" Hibiki asked, oblivious to the Swordsman of Sound's shock as she held up an empty bowl, "We still have extra bowls and chopsticks."
"I'm good, thank you," Daishinji said politely as he turned away while gesturing with his hand.
"More for us then," Kanade grinned, clearly amused to see Daishinji completely lost. Her grin widened however, "Think you can let the others know we brought some good food though?"
"S-Sure thing…" Daishinji nodded before heading out of the room.
Section 4: Another Great World Discovery
It was a familiar but different smell to Daishinji today as he marched through the halls. He already had a destination in mind and was right as he approached Gjallarhorn's room. Upon opening the door he was greeted with a sight he expected but didn't at the same time.
Not only were the three that were sent to a parallel world in the room, that being Tsubasa, Rintaro, and Maria. But others like Touma, Yuri, Kirika, Shirabe, Hibiki and even Miku were there. The group wasn't alone however as there were currently portable grills with delicious smelling beef being grilled on it.
"Oh hey Daishinji," Miku said with a nervous smile and wave, "Rintaro and the others discovered World of Beef and kind of brought back souvenirs."
"Normally I'd object," Tsubasa admitted, "But this is high quality."
"I'm honestly surprised," Maria agreed as Kirika and Shirabe hummed in delight.
"Oh this is incredible!" Hibiki called out after finishing a piece of beef as she pumped her fist in the air, "To think it actually existed… the legendary A6 Beef!"
"Indeed," Yuri nodded before he let out a hum of delight after taking another bite before pointing upwards, "Truly Splendid!"
"I wonder if I can just use Parallel Worlds for shopping from now on," Touma mused, having recalled the tales of World of Rice.
"I'll inform anyone else who wants to come down and try it out," Daishinji said in near deadpan as he turned away, deciding to simply roll with it.
Miku couldn't help but give a sheepish smile at Daishinji's reaction before she went back to the beef at hand.
Section 5: A Taste of Summer
Daishinji was once again walking through the halls of SONG HQ, and had just recently stopped by Gjallarhorn's chamber. There was no sign of anyone having gone to a food themed world, so that was a bit of a relief. While he was one for relaxing, he couldn't help but feel as though taking food for free from other worlds was somehow an abuse of power.
Of course he wasn't expecting a sudden cacophony of shouts from the training room as he neared it. He could've sworn he heard a few of the members of SONG and some voices he didn't immediately recognize.
"Should I even…" Daishinji trailed before shaking his head and going to enter, his curiosity getting the better of him.
Upon entering he was greeted by a peculiar sight, in that it looked like someone had designed a waterslide for a cat, various half pipes of different colors running down a fairly tall structure with water flowing through constantly. The training room itself had also been set to simulate a traditional summer day in Japan.
At the top was Genjuro who currently had a large bowl of somen noodles in his arm, chopsticks in hand. The plan was to drop them down the flowing tubes towards the recipients below. Said recipients were Touma, Rintaro, Hibiki, Miku alongside Yumi, Kuriyo, and Shiori. It wasn't just them however as Elfnein and Sophia were there too, which surprised Daishinji a bit.
"Excuse me," Daishinji spoke up to catch everyone's attention as he looked at the sight before him, more confused at this point than annoyed like he thought he'd be, "But what's going on?"
"Ah Slash, you're just in time," Sophia spoke up, "We're about to start up again."
"It was on my request," Elfnein explained, "I'm trying to understand the mysteries of nagashi somen. Why must the somen flow before being eaten? As an alchemist, I must discover the mysteries of it!"
"This is so exciting," Rintaro admitted, "I've always wanted to try this summer tradition though because of the hassle I thought it would be impossible."
"Same," Touma agreed, "But Elfnein really went at it with the construction of this whole thing."
"For sure," Miku nodded.
"I see," Daishinji said only to realize something that had been said earlier, "Wait, why are you starting up again?"
"Because we had to demolish the dam that was blocking our flow," Yumi spoke up as Kuriyo and Shiori nodded.
Of course it was easy to tell what they meant by 'dam' due to Hibiki being towards the bottom of the line for some reason while also having a fairly sheepish look on her face.
"I see," Daishinji said as he gave a few nods of understanding before walking over, "Do you have room for one more?"
"By all means, please join us," Sophia said as she scooted a bit to give room for Daishinji between herself and Elfnein, soon handing Daishinji a bowl and some chopsticks. She then looked up before putting a hand near her mouth while she shouted, "Alright Genjuro, we're ready!"
"Alright," Genjuro shouted back, "I'll start dropping some down again!"
"Please do!" Elfnein called out.
It didn't take long for the somen to start flowing through the water, everyone eagerly waiting as the noodles shot towards them. It was a tricky task to perform, catching the noodles just as they flowed past, some people missing while others managed to get it in one go. Despite this, it was a rather fun time.
"Mmm!" Elfnein let out a hum of delight as she had managed to catch and eat her noodles.
"So," Daishinji spoke up, giving a light smile at Elfnein enjoying herself, "Have you solved the mystery of why the somen must flow?"
"It's delicious! And, it's very fun!" Elfnein admitted before realizing her analysis wasn't really that in depth and quickly backpedaled, "In umm… an alchemistic way!"
"I suppose you're right about that," Daishinji said as he kept on smiling.
Sophia herself couldn't help but smile at the interaction, having noticed that Daishinji had grown fond of Elfnein ever since she joined up with him in the technology division.
"As expected of an alchemist," Hibiki said with an impressed tone, "She's already arrived at the truth."
"Is it really okay?" Miku asked, "Maybe it's just me, but I feel like this whole thing is starting to make less and less sense."
"When it comes to these types of discoveries… I feel like there doesn't need to be a lot of sense," Touma admitted, also noting Daishinji's reaction as he managed to grab a clump of noodles, quickly going to slurp them down.
Rintaro gave a nod as his mouth was currently full, having grabbed and started slurping a hefty clump of noodles.
[After the Shrouded Sun Incident…]
Section 6: The Many Personalities of Slash
Maria, Kirika, and Shirabe were currently having lunch at SONG HQ, the three catching up since it had been a bit since they had all met up like this. Of course as the conversation began to die down, a new one courtesy of recent thoughts began to form…
"Say girls," Maria spoke up, "I was wondering if you could help me understand something."
"What do you mean?" Kirika asked.
"You all have fought alongside Daishinji, right?" Maria asked.
"We have," Shirabe replied, "But I'm not sure where this is going."
"It's about when he uses different Ride Books," Maria replied, recalling what she had heard from some of the others she talked it over with, "And it seems as though he gets a personality shift every time."
"Oh right dess," Kirika said as she recalled her mission with Shirabe, Chris and Daishinji, when they fought and defeated Leiur, "Going into Bremen makes him act all wild."
"Actually it's not just Bremen," Shirabe spoke up, recalling what she had seen during Ignite's first usage in which Project Ride Gear had also been unveiled, "I seem to recall him acting a lot more like Chris when using Ichaival's Ride Book… but then dialed it entirely back towards something more in line to Tsubasa's personality when using Ame no Habakiri."
"That's odd, but makes sense…" Maria trailed, recalling how when utilizing Shul Shagana's and Igalima's Ride Books during the climax of the Odin fight, Daishinji took on Shirabe's and Kirika's traits, "Especially with what I saw."
"Oh, did he use either of yours or Hibiki's?" Kirika asked.
"I think it's more than likely he used ours," Shirabe replied, "Just given the Ride Book placements."
"Yes he did," Maria replied, though she was a bit nervous to get into details given how… accurate Daishinji had been at acting similar to them.
"I suppose that explains why you wanted to talk to us about it," Shirabe realized, "Considering how close we are, I can only assume it was a bit odd, right?"
"E-Exactly," Maria nodded, unaware that someone else was entering the cafeteria at the moment, "But why does his personality change with the Ride Books?"
"Huh?" Chris looked over and walked towards the table, "You guys look to be having a pretty deep discussion."
"It's about Daishinji, dess!" Kirika called out as she raised her hand.
"What about him?" Chris asked.
"We were trying to figure out why his personality changes with every Ride Book he uses," Maria explained, "I ended up seeing it in action during the battle against Odin."
"Oh, you guys realized it too, huh?" Chris said as she nodded, "Wait… when we were fighting the Ganmaizers he didn't shift when he used the little pigs book."
"That's odd…" Maria admitted, "Every other Ride Book so far we've brought up has caused a shift. It can't just be our Gear Ride Books causing the shift if even Bremen causes it too."
"Wait a minute," Shirabe spoke up as she realized a key piece of information, "There's a difference between all the Ride Books mentioned and the Kobuta 3Kyodai… each and every one of them is connected to song in some way."
"Right, the Ride Books do appear to take after our Symphogear than the Relics themselves," Maria said, agreeing with Shirabe's guess.
"But why would only those Ride Books affect him, dess?" Kirika asked.
"Because all of its related to music, and what does music have in relation to Daishinji?" Shirabe asked, letting her question hang before speaking up, "Sound. Daishinji is the Swordsman of Sound."
"So what, he's synchronizing with our Ride Books because of their music theme?" Chris asked.
"That seems to be the case," Maria replied, "I suppose this has been rather enlightening."
"Now I kind of want to see him try out the rest," Chris admitted before giving a bit of a mischievous smirk, "Actually I wonder if there's any difference between using both of your books, Maria."
"I-I excuse me?" Maria asked with a light blush, "What sort of difference would there even be?!"
"Actually Maria did act noticeably different while we were with the FIS," Shirabe recalled as she thought on Chris' words, "And that could be reflected in her personal Gungnir Ride Book."
"Ooh, so he'd get a two for one with Maria's Books then, dess!" Kirika called out.
"End me," Maria buried her face in her hands as she still held a tinge of embarrassment of her time acting as Finé and wielding the Black Gungnir.
Chris meanwhile could only smirk at this, glad to see she could get one up on Maria.
Section 7: The Usual Please
In an odd change of pace, both Daishinji and Elfnein were out of their workshop and away from SONG HQ. It was on Daishinji's request, the swordsman of sound leading the alchemist somewhere he wanted to take her. It was already rather late into the day, and that meant the summer heat wasn't as bad as it could have been.
"I'm a bit surprised, I didn't think you were one to just go out like this," Elfnein admitted, before realizing what she had said, "N-Not that that's any issue of course, how you spend your time is your decision and-"
"That's honestly fair," Daishinji admitted, "Between my duties as co-lead of the technology department as well as a swordsman and my training of Miku, it does seem odd that I decided to do this, right?"
"Y-Yes," Elfnein said, letting out a sigh of relief that her partner was rolling with it.
"But even someone like me knows when I need to take a break," Daishinji admitted, "It's why I wanted to do it for you all things considered."
"Oh but I was taking a break," Elfnein replied, "I wasn't really doing anything related for SONG, just my own personal business."
"True, but it still is work at the end of the day," Daishinji replied before giving a light sniff and smiling, "I figured since you want to learn more about the world, I could show you what I do to relax after a day of work every now and again."
"Huh?" Elfnein asked before sniffing as well, giving a hum of near delight as she recognized the smell of food, "What… what is this?"
"Just keep following me," Daishinji smiled as he led Elfnein to a food cart.
"This is…" Elfnein trailed as she saw the sign on the flags that covered the front of the cart, "An Oden Cart?"
"Yes," Daishinji nodded.
"Fascinating," Elfnein admitted, "I recall reading that the roots of oden come from tofu that was coated with miso, and then baked. Afterwards, in the Edo period, it became a stewed dish."
"Oh you've done your research," Daishinji replied in an impressed tone, figuring it was in the same batch of research of when she found out about Nagashi Somen.
"I'm a bit surprised," Elfnein admitted as they approached, "I've also read that it's rare to see these kinds of carts out during summer…"
"Not this one," Daishinji smiled as he led the way, "The owner isn't about to let the heat beat him."
There was no one at the front seats, allowing the duo to sit down at the front with ease. Manning the stall was a man who looked to be in his mid-fifties or so, yet despite that was fairly healthy from simply a glance.
"Tetsu," the owner smirked, utilizing a variation on Daishinji's first name, "Long time, no see… not!"
"Well you know how much I enjoy your craft Nachi," Daishinji smirked back, "And I just had to introduce a friend of mine to it."
"Oh I see," Nachi said as he looked over at Elfnein who gave a meek smile, taking note of her coat in comparison to Daishinji's style, "I can only guess a co-worker?"
"Y-Yes," Elfnein replied, "We work at the same place, I'm Elfnein..."
"She transferred to my department before the start of summer," Daishinji explained, "And she's been a big help."
"It's nice to meet you Elfnein," Nachi said with a kind smile, noticing her demeanor before looking over at Daishinji, "So what can I get for you two?"
"Uh…" Elfnein trailed as she stared at the various ingredients in broth in front of her, unsure of what exactly to get.
"Two of the usual, summer variation, please," Daishinji replied, figuring he'd order for Elfnein for the time being just to give her an idea of what it was like.
"Ah, coming right up," Nachi smiled as he went to prepare the dishes, placing some noodles first, followed by some vegetables, a few fish cakes, and a boiled egg before pouring a bit of the broth on top, creating a shallow pool at the bottom, "Please enjoy."
"Thank you very much," Elfnein smiled as she clasped her hands together after grabbing her chopsticks, soon breaking them apart and going to take a bite of a fishcake before giving a near immediate hum of delight, "Delicious~"
"Ah, it always brings joy to my heart to see a new face enjoy my craft," Nachi admitted with a genuine smile, glancing and noticing how Daishinji was already deep into eating his bowl.
It was quiet for a while as Elfnein took in the bowl before her while Daishinji continued to work through his in a satisfied manner.
"Incredible, each of the ingredients is well prepared," Elfnein said as she stared at her bowl, "But the broth elevates them by bringing it all together."
"I've been preparing and aging that master stock for a while now," Nachi explained, "I'm glad to see it paid off."
"Good work, as always," Daishinji finally spoke up with a satisfied smile before looking over, "And I'm glad you're enjoying it."
"Thank you Daishinji," Elfnein smiled before she held a fairly determined expression as she thought to herself, 'This warm feeling… it reminds me of old faded memories. It's a feeling I hope to share with her one day… which is why I need to keep working my hardest so that we can see each other again.'
Daishinji meanwhile went back to his bowl to finish off the rest of it, glad to see that he likely had a new friend to enjoy one of his favorite foods with.
Section 8: Visiting Specters
Maria had attempted to pull Tsubasa aside for something she wanted to do later in the day, since the idol had a break. Instead she ended up being pulled along by Tsubasa, their travels eventually leading them to a cemetery.
"This is…" Maria trailed.
"Yes, a graveyard," Tsubasa said as she and Maria walked past the various tombstones, the Wielder of Ame no Habakiri carrying a bouquet of white lilies, "Where we pay respect to our fallen comrades. We are professional sentinels, in the heat of battle, we cannot afford to stop and mourn for those who have fallen. Pushing forward and accomplishing the mission is all that matters."
"Tsubasa…" Maria muttered as she trailed behind her friend.
"But, while away from the battlefield, I can be my ordinary self," Tsubasa said as she paused and glanced back with a soft smile, "And so I thought that being just a little bit sentimental would be permissible."
"That does make sense," Maria nodded as she followed Tsubasa's lead.
The Wielder of Ame No Habakiri had made her way to the grave of Professor Nastassja, though she was surprised to see that it was populated with various gifts. There was a bottle of soy sauce, some candy, a letter, some liquor even another bouquet of flowers.
"Looks like you're not the only one who feels that way," Maria remarked as she saw the gifts left before shifting around a bag she was carrying, bringing out a bottle of champagne, "And, one more."
The two nodded and placed their gifts there before offering their prayers to the deceased. After a while of reflecting the two went to take their leave.
All was quiet… aside from the sound of the air shifting, a portal of dark energy forming in front of the grave. It didn't take long for Kamen Rider Calibur to exit the portal before it vanished. He stared at the gravestone for a while before kneeling down and gently touching it, soon pulling his hand back and gripping his fist tightly.
He went to stand before reaching behind and drawing out a small wreath made of yellow flowers, placing it near the top of the gravestone before turning away. He drew out Kurayami and sliced through the air, forming a dark portal he soon stepped through.
[After Hibiki and Miku's Duel…]
Section 9: Just a Short Talk
"I'm surprised you wanted to hang out so suddenly Yukine," Tsubasa said as she and Chris walked through a fairly vacant park that was nearby Chris' apartment complex, "What brought this up?"
"Well uh… it's less for me and more for a friend," Chris admitted nervously.
"Yukine..." Tsubasa trailed in a slightly dulled tone, "I do hope you don't plan on using our friendship as an excuse to help someone get something from a famous idol."
"Hell no I'm not!" Chris called out a bit offended at the accusation before sighing as she ruffled her hair, "Listen just… any other way and it wouldn't have turned out well… you'll understand what I mean."
"Alright, I'll choose to put my trust in you," Tsubasa said, curious as to why her friend was being vague about the situation.
Of course as they arrived at the spot, a bench nearby a lake where swans would gather, she understood exactly why her friend was wary. Sitting down at the bench facing the lake was Desast who was seemingly staring at the swans that were minding their own business.
"Huh?" Desast looked over and chuckled, soon raising his left hand to wave which had a loaf of bread that was already picked through, "Hey, you brought her!"
"Yukine…" Tsubasa trailed as she narrowed her eyes while reaching towards her collar to grasp her pendant only for her wrist to be grabbed. She looked over, "Huh?"
"He's not going to fight you, not today anyway," Chris said in a relaxed tone, "He asked me to bring you here today because if he just showed up to you all of a sudden then it would've gotten messy."
"I can't deny that," Tsubasa admitted though was still wary, "But…"
"Senpai, please," Chris said as she had a look on her face that begged Tsubasa to give Desast a chance.
"Alright, fine then," Tsubasa sighed though with a small smile before walking over and standing near the bench, "What are you doing?"
"Feeding the swans," Desast said as he tore the loaf of bread in half and handed it to Tsubasa, "Here you go."
Tsubasa wordlessly took the half-loaf and went to sit down nearby, Chris deciding to stand behind and between the two to make sure nothing happened. There was silence as Desast and Tsubasa tossed breadcrumbs into the lake, the swans floating over to peck on the crumbs.
"Why did you ask Yukine to bring me?" Tsubasa asked.
"Just to chat a bit," Desast replied, "You're like the most interesting of all the Riders and Wielders besides my best buddy here of course."
"I see," Tsubasa replied, noting the best buddy comment but continued, "How exactly?"
"You're someone who dedicated yourself to this lifestyle, more so than any of the others," Desast replied in a more serious manner, "I could smell it when we first fought, someone ready to throw her life away before anything else if it meant felling her opponent. But ever since then… it's changed."
"…" Tsubasa remained silent as she went to toss some more breadcrumbs forward.
"What exactly did you see beyond the fight to where you'd want to survive?" Desast asked as he tossed some more breadcrumbs, "As someone born to be nothing more than a tool for others, I've been curious."
"I saw the world itself," Tsubasa answered, "It's not an easy answer to come to, though I'm surprised you seemingly haven't found that yet."
"What do you mean?" Desast asked.
"You've been free since Frontier and we hardly see you around unless you truly make yourself known," Tsubasa explained, "So clearly you've had to be doing something…"
"I've been seeing more of what the world has to offer yeah," Desast nodded, "Some days it's boring, some days are fun. I'm not sure what you're getting at."
"You've seen all of this, and yet you can't see what lies beyond our battles?" Tsubasa asked.
"I mean the world is interesting, I guess," Desast said, "But I'm not the kind of guy to settle down and have something like you do with your line of work."
"She is anything but settled," Chris remarked in a low voice, either too low to be heard or her friend deciding to ignore her.
"I suppose you still have much to learn," Tsubasa replied.
Before they could continue however an older man began to run past, taking notice of the three and waving, "Hey there Desast, I see you've got some more friends this time too."
Tsubasa was surprised and confused to say the least, the casual callout while Chris didn't seem shocked in the slightest.
"You bet Shinichiro, keep up the good work!" Desast called out as he raised his piece of bread as if to wave, getting a shout of determination in response as Shinichiro ran off. He let out a chuckle, "That guy's been getting better at his runs, he's been coming across this spot faster and faster."
"I'm sorry," Tsubasa spoke up with genuine confusion lacing her tone, "Who was that?"
"Shinichiro," Desast said as if it was obvious, "Met him while feeding the swans, dude's old but determined as hell to get back in shape and I respect that."
"I…" Tsubasa trailed as she was still a bit dumbfounded, "He's fine with your appearance despite everything?"
"Oh right, so Desast's been coming by my apartment a lot," Chris admitted as she realized she'd have to explain a few things, "But of course that means that everyone in the area, including here, is aware of him. Except…"
"They think I'm some weird cosplay guy or whatever it's called," Desast explained, "Some people absolutely despise me but there are others who can strike up some fun conversation."
"He's become a bit of a hit in the neighborhood, yeah," Chris clarified.
"I see," Tsubasa said with a bit of a chuckle of amusement, seeing that Desast had managed to find something even if he himself didn't realize it yet, "Well so long as you're keeping out of trouble."
Section 10: Songs of Friends
"And you're sure we should be interrupting them?"
"I mean you saw the texts yesterday, it seemed pretty dire."
Rintaro and Chris were currently approaching Fantastic Bookstore Kamiyama. The two were part of a personal group chat that also included Touma, Miku, Hibiki, and Tsubasa. It was one they had ended up creating after the Lunar Attack. Of course they were only there because of a concerning text by a seemingly frantic Touma that got interrupted…
T: Guys Miku and I need help, Hibiki heard me humming to the tune of a song recently and now that she knows Miku's Espada she's insisting that we creatfdskflj helakgjffahfgh headfgehdofggf'
H: Hey guys, don't worry about what Touma sent, he's being overdramatic. He, Miku, and I are just going to be working hard on a secret project all day today that's all. Oh and Miku says Hi.
With no actual text from Miku on the matter, Chris was concerned despite Tsubasa and Rintaro's lack of and insisted they at least check up on them. Though of course Chris decided to be careful and wait until the next day.
"I'm not sure what's going on," Chris admitted, "But a little check up can't hurt, right?"
"I suppose," Rintaro said as he walked over to the main door and went to open it only for it to not budge, "Oh, it's locked."
"Desperate times call for desperate measures then," Chris said as she reached into her pocket, Rintaro eyed her with concern only to feel relieved when she pulled out a key, "Miku ended up giving me a key to this place in case something happened."
"Ah, that sounds like her," Rintaro nodded, "She must trust you a lot."
"Yeah," Chris nodded as she went to open the door, entering and pausing at the sight she had seen.
Rintaro was behind her and peering over, but even he had to pause at what he saw.
Papers were scattered everywhere, Miku lying on one of the couches while Hibiki lied down on the floor nearby, both fast asleep. At the desk was Touma who had also seemingly just fallen asleep where he was.
"What the hell happened here?" Chris asked.
"I'm not sure but it seems as though they're fast asleep," Rintaro noted in a low voice, though he noticed that despite Chris' volume, there was no disturbance, "Perhaps we should clean up for them."
"Sounds good, looking at all this is giving me a headache," Chris admitted as she went to pick up a paper to start stacking when she noticed random phrases on it.
Rintaro went to pick up the papers as well, slowly but surely starting to note that the phrases seemed almost music based.
"Hey wait a minute," Chris whispered, "Are these song lyrics…?"
"I think so," Rintaro whispered as he managed to organize the pages due to them having numbers and letters attribute to the top that matched. Eventually he found the cover of one set, it reading 'Kamen Rider Saber' as the title.
"Okay, a lot more mundane than I thought then," Chris muttered as she realized that Hibiki had likely dragged Miku and Touma to write a song of some sort, "But why?"
"Perhaps she wanted to think up a battle song now that the three of them are fighting together?" Rintaro guessed in a low voice.
"I guess," Chris muttered as she went to finish organizing the papers with Rintaro, the two being extra careful to not wake anyone up.
They had gathered a fairly decently sized lineup of drafted Songs, none of them completed and there being a lot of edits. Of note aside from the already revealed 'Kamen Rider Saber' were 'ALMIGHTY ~ The Masked Promise', 'BOOK OF POWER', 'Multiple Exposure', 'SPARK', and one simply titled, 'Promise'.
The two had decided to just let the friends sleep for however long they wanted, noting how exhausted the Wielder and two Riders were. As they went to set the organized song lyrics by Touma, they noticed that nearby him was a rough draft for one that was likely being worked on before everyone fell asleep. The title reading 'Rewrite the Story'.
"Truly it's the small moments in life that are the most fulfilling, though it appears as if the next chapter is closing in soon," Tassel said as he sipped the last of his tea before hearing a knock, "Oh, a visitor," he soon set his cup down before hurrying towards the door, "Coming~!"
To Tassel's delight, the one at the door was none other than Yuri who gave a smile of acknowledgment. Of course Yuri immediately entered, wanting to get down to business.
"It seems the meaning of justice has changed since the time I've been away," Yuri remarked as he entered into the small living area of the cabin.
"Well a lot can happen in 1000+ years," Tassel agreed as he closed the door behind them.
"Indeed," Yuri nodded, "I've slowly learned that over the course of this past summer thanks to Touma Kamiyama alongside the rest of SONG," he then drew out the Sword X Man comic book, "This book has also helped as well."
"I see," Tassel said as he took the comic and looked it over before glancing at his friend, "So, what will you do now?"
"I will quit being just a sword, and become a swordsman once more," Yuri explained, the conviction in his voice clear as day. He then looked over and held out his hand, "Now, if you would please return it to me… the book containing my history as a swordsman, the Story of Kougouken Saikou."
Tassel's mouth immediately clamped shut into a nervous smile as he puckered his lips, blinking several times in rapid succession as he began to sweat slightly.
"Wait," Yuri's eyes widened at this display, "Don't tell me you lost-!"
"N-No! I didn't!" Tassel exclaimed as he held up his hands in defense, "Just… wait. Hold on a sec. I'll get it for you real quick."
"I can only hope," Yuri sighed as he watched his friend hurry off to a corner of the cabin, "It was supposed to come here once its job guarding Avalon was done after all."
"And it did!" Tassel called out in near exasperation as he began looking through his bookshelves before finding a chest, "I just… need to remember where I stored it is all! Don't worry I'll be as quick as can be!"
To Be Continued… in Sympho-Saber: Song of Swords AXZ
Author's Note: Huh, lot of food related segments in this one, I suppose you could call this the proto-Shirabe Meshi chapter lol. Anyway, I had a lot of original ideas for this one, and mostly because most of the official OVA segments wouldn't work too well this time. But I did manage to work a few in and if you recall certain bits from RXU I did reference a fair few of them already. But with that RXU is officially closed and after a short break, we can finally move onto Sympho-Saber: Song of Swords AXZ! See you all next time!