Panicking was a good word to describe Hibiki Tachibana right now.

Because one of her biggest idols was threatening to hurt her. She kept trying to talk it down, but Tsubasa kept mentioning something about being worthy and using confusing terms.

But Tsubasa was only full of anger, yelling at her about taking Kanade's place. She jumped into the air, continuing her song. Throwing her sword, it enlarged in size, as she dove down with it, the huge blade on her foot.

Hibiki braced herself, but the impact never came.

In fact, the reverse happened.

Genjuro came out of nowhere and countered the giant sword, with his fist.

The resulting shockwave destroyed nearly the entire street. Hibiki was unharmed, while Tsubasa crashed into the ground. Both of them were back in their normal outfits.

Rui and Maia had been dropped off earlier a safe distance away and walked up to see the destruction, seeing Genjuro talking to Tsubasa in the downpour of the broken water main. Hibiki was behind him.

"What the hell...?" Rui's jaw had dropped open. "Did he...?"

"That's our Uncle." Maia said with a smile. "Always like this."

"Is he even human? ... Wait, he's your Uncle?"

The two quickly reached the three, and Rui thought she saw Tsubasa crying. It could have simply been the water, but something felt off. Genjuro helped her up, as Hibiki started speaking.

"Tsubasa-san, I know I'm useless right now, but I'll do my best!" Hibiki said, running up. "I'll try to replace Kanade!"

What happened next lit a fire in Rui's chest, as Tsubasa slapped Hibiki's face, hard.

That was what finally set her off. She had held it in earlier, but now she couldn't contain it anymore. Before Maia could grab her, Rui had already started running at Tsubasa.

Tsubasa saw Rui approaching, but didn't pay much mind to it, her anger towards Hibiki taking the main priority.

So it heavily took her off-guard when Rui punched her in the face. Stumbling from the hit, Tsubasa tasted blood in her mouth.

"What the fuck is wrong with you?!" Rui yelled.

She didn't stop, as she punched Tsubasa in the stomach, causing the girl to wince. It was followed up by another punch in the face that sent Tsubasa to the ground. Rui was just about to get on her knees and punch her more, but she felt a pair of hands grab her. Looking behind her, she expected Maia or Genjuro.

But no, it was Hibiki, who had tears in her eyes.

"Hibiki! Let me go!"

"Oneesan, please. Stop."

Hibiki's voice was low and sad, and Rui felt the rage drain out of her. She stopped as she let her sister hug her. The two watched as Tsubasa sat up, not even bothering to wipe the blood from her mouth since the downpour did it for her.

Maia sat down next to her sister, pulling her into a hug. She said some words that Rui couldn't catch. The two locked eyes, but Maia didn't seem angry at all, but rather understanding.

Genjuro stood off to the side, sighing as he could only imagine how many headaches these pair of twins would cause in the future.

One month had passed since then.

Rui was sitting by herself at a restaurant, on her phone and waiting. Maia had asked her if she could meet up here, and she was running late. Rui was just in thought, remembering everything that had happened recently. While Hibiki had somewhat gotten used to the idea of fighting the Noise, she and Tsubasa had never worked together during the month. Not that Hibiki wasn't trying, it was just Tsubasa refusing. Tsubasa barely acknowledged Hibiki, and completely ignored Rui.

Maia was a lot friendlier with them, being supportive of Hibiki helping. She was also on good terms with Rui, despite the fact that Rui had taken Tsubasa to chin check city earlier.

Rui didn't really do much whenever she was a the HQ, aside from giving her sister emotional support, but she still felt exhausted.

Hearing the door ring, she looked up from her phone to see Maia walking in, reading a light novel.

"Took you long enough." She said. "Was starting to wonder if you ditched me."

Maia looked away from her book to see Rui sitting in the booth, a bored expression on her face.

"Oh, right. Sorry about that." Maia said, sitting down. "It's just this new issue came out, and-"

"Yeah, yeah, I get it."

The waitress walked over, to take their orders. They both ordered drinks, deciding to hold off on the food for now.

"So, what did you want to talk about, away from the others?" Rui asked.

Maia put her book away, her expression now serious.

"I want to ask you to forgive Tsubasa."

"...is that it?"

"Yes."

Rui sighed, tapping her finger on the table.

"I think you can guess my answer, Maia."

"Rui-"

"She was a complete bitch to my sister, and continues to be a complete bitch." Rui said. "Why the hell should I forgive her?"

Maia had a sad smile as the waitress came with the drinks.

"You want to know something? Tsubasa's hasn't had exactly the best life." Maia said, stirring the ice in her soda.

Rui raised an eyebrow. "I've heard celebrity life was stressful, but I doubt-"

"No, it's not that." Maia said. "Tsubasa and I may be twins, but I wasn't always there for her."

This got Rui's attention. "What do you mean?"

"When we were kids, we stuck together like glue." Maia said. "But when we got education, I exceeded the expectations of my teachers. It's kinda hilarious how I started studying in overseas Universities."

"Jesus Christ, you only hear this type of thing in movies." Rui said, with a sweatdrop.

"But as a result, Tsubasa was left alone, neglected." Maia said, sadly. "She had no one to really turn to, that could understand her pain. Our Uncle tried his best to understand, but he couldn't."

Maia looked out the window at the night sky. "But then Tsubasa met Kanade. She was like the light Tsubasa needed. Whenever I saw them together, Tsubasa was the happiest she had ever been. But... you know about that incident a few years ago."

Of course she did. How could she forget that day, where she almost lost everything?

"Tsubasa... she didn't take Kanade's death well." Maia said. "The loss was the hardest on her and she..."

Rui saw Maia visibly shake, dredging up a painful memory.

"For a while, she had just shut everyone out... me included..." Maia said. "She wasn't eating or sleeping, and I wasn't sure if she'd be able to push through."

Rui eyes widened. The ice cubes in her soda start to melt, as was the anger she had felt towards Tsubasa.

"I know this isn't something you'd want to understand, or anything like-"

"No, I understand entirely." Rui said quickly. "I... I know that feeling."

"Wait, you do?" Maia looked surprised.

"It's... I'll tell you sometime later." Rui said.

Maia stared at the younger teen. "Well, I guess a full-on forgiveness isn't possible at the moment, but can you at least try to be a little nicer to her? This isn't an order or anything, just a request. Speaking as one older twin to another."

Maia started to down her soda as Rui thought.

Forgiving Tsubasa wasn't really an option she wanted to take. Not after the way she had treated Hibiki.

But, she saw how Hibiki reacted when she punched Tsubasa. She hated seeing that tearful expression on Hibiki, and didn't want to see it happen again.

And Tsubasa... it was clear that the girl wasn't all there after what had happened at the concert. She had already been through so much that putting all the blame on her wasn't right, even if that was what Tsubasa was doing to Hibiki.

Shutting yourself in... feeling hopelessly crushed... it was a feeling she understood all too well.

Rui wasn't like her sister, being very forgiving, but... maybe she should try.

"Maia."

Maia looked up, straw in her mouth.

"I'll... try to lighten up on Tsubasa." She said.

"Really?"

"Hibiki has always told me that I resort to violence too quickly. I'm... trying to fix that."

"Heh, you think?" Maia smirked. "Tsubasa told me that your punch was more painful than any Noise she had fought."

"But yeah." Rui said. "I guess I'll try to be nicer."

Maia's smile grew wider. "Thank you, Rui. This means a lot to me."

Both of their phones went off, and they saw a notification saying there was a meeting at HQ.

"Well, we'd better go." Rui said, standing up. "I might as well start being nicer now."

"Glad to see you're so enthusiastic."

"Sorry I'm late!"

As expected, Hibiki was the last one to show up. Rui sighed, as Hibiki was almost always like this. Maia laughed at the tardiness, while Tsubasa didn't even look at her, focusing more on her drink.

"Sorry again." Hibiki said, apologizing again as she bowed.

"Well, now that we're all here, let's all be friends and talk." Ryoko said.

Ryoko pulled up a map of the area on the screen, where there were red dots all over the area.

"Any opinions?" Genjuro asked.

Hibiki looked at the map and nodded. "Lots of blips!"

Genjuro laughed at the simple response.

"You got that right." Genjuro said. "These spots are all places where Noise outbreaks have occurred over the past month. How much do you know about the Noise? Hibiki? Rui?"

"Just what they tell us on TV or in school." Hibiki said.

"Emotionless, mechanical, and only go after humans." Rui said, counting them off her fingers. "And the people they attack turn into carbon dust."

"There's no pattern to the time and place of their appearances, and they attack indiscriminately." Hibiki added. "They're widely seen as a serious threat to mankind."

"I see you two did your homework." Genjuro said.

"Yeah, literally!" Hibiki said, putting a hand on the back of her head. "I'm writing a report on it, and oneesan's been helping me."

"Well color me impressed." Ryoko said. "If you don't get an A on that report, I'll have a serious talk with your teacher."

"Everything you two have said is correct." Ryoko said. "The Noise were first recognized by the UN about 13 years ago, but they've been observed since long before that."

"She's right." Maia said. "There are countless records dating back to ancient times from all over the world."

"We suspect that many of the demons that appear in ancient legends and fables are in fact, based on the Noise." Genjuro said.

"Though, in actuality, Noise outbreaks are very rare." Ryoko said. "The recent string of outbreaks is extraordinary, no matter how you look at it."

"This prompts us to ask if there's some sentient will behind it." Ryoko said, hand on her chin.

"Will?" Hibiki asked. "Is someone responsible for this?"

"Lydian Private Music Academy's High School lies between all the outbreaks." Tsubasa said, speaking for the first time in the meeting. "The center is right above us. Someone or something is targeting this area for what lies in Sacristy D: Durandal."

"Uh... What is Durandal?" Hibiki asked.

"Is it a giant sword?" Rui asked. "That's either a dragon slaying sword of fire, or a holy sword that can be used with demon magic?"

While almost everyone looked confused at what Rui was talking about, Maia looked surprised.

"You play Fire Emblem and watch Highschool DxD?" She asked.

"Well, sometimes." Rui said, though she looked a bit embarrassed.

"DxD...?" Hibiki said. "Ah! That was the anime that oneesan watched, where a lot of the girls had big-mmph!"

Rui put a hand on Hibiki's mouth.

"L-Let's just move on." She said, face red. "So what's this Durandal?"

"It's an almost complete relic which we keep below us on a level called the Abyss." Aoi said. "We've been researching it under the supervision of the Japanese government. That's Durandal."

Then Fujikata began to speak. "Fragmented relics such as Tsubasa's Ame no Habakiri or the shards of Gungnir in your chest need to be amplified and materialized as Symphogear by the song of the bearer if their power is to be of any use. Our research indicates that undamaged relics, once activated, can maintain 100% of their power, and that others can wield them too, not just the singer."

"That is the Sakurai Theory I devised." Ryoko said, proudly. "But to activated a complete relic, you need a significant amount of phonic gain."

While Rui seemed to understand it mostly, Hibiki still looked confused. Genjuro stood up. "Two years have passed since then. Maybe now Tsubasa's voice will..."

Tsubasa stared at the floor, before taking another sip from her cup.

"But will the government permit us to activated it?" Aoi asked.

"There's a more basic problem." Fujikata said. "Based on our peace treaty, the USA are demanding that we hand over the treasure that is Durandal. We can't even consider activating it right now."

"We must take utmost care simply handling it." Genjuro said. "Or this could turn into a diplomatic affair."

"The Americans have a hand in this as well?" Rui asked.

"According to the reports from Security," Genjuro said. "We have evidence that there have been tens of thousands of attempts to hack our systems over the last few months."

"Of course, we're not certain where these attacks are coming from, and we can't just accuse the Americans without hard evidence." Genjuro said. "But we are investigating further."

"Commander Kazanari." Ogawa said, stepping up to get his attention.

"I see. Is it already time?" Genjuro asked, clearly getting a message that needed no elaboration.

Ogawa nodded, before turning to Tsubasa. "Tonight we need to sort out the finer details of your album."

"Huh?" Hibiki said.

"To the public," Ogawa put on a pair of glasses. "I'm the manager of popular artist Kazanari Tsuabsa."

He gave Hibiki and Rui his card, and Hibiki was fangirling over it. "This is the first time I've been given a business card! I have to keep it. Thank you!"

"It's just a card." Rui said, looking at it.

"But oneesan, you collect-mph!"

Rui put her hands over Hibiki's mouth as Tsubasa and Ogawa left the room.

"So, something is stirring up the Noise to attack us?" Hibiki asked, moving her sister's hand off her mouth. "I'd hate to think someone is sending them against us intentionally."

"Never fear!" Ryoko said. "After all, this place is a stronghold of mankind, designed by the genius scientist Sakurai Ryoko, who you'd normally only see on TV or in magazines. I decided to make the whole structure a mix of pagan and cutting-edge technology, making it impossible for the enemy to get close."

"Well, that puts me at ease." Hibiki said, letting out a breath of relief.

Deciding to take a break from all the information, the group sat down with some drinks. Something was bothering Hibiki though.

"Why do we... Why do we fight not only the Noise, but each other as well? Why don't we stop waging war?"

"I'm pretty sure mankind is cursed." Ryoko said, uncomfortably close to Hibiki's ear.

Hibiki cried out and stood up as she felt a gentle nip on her ear.

"Virgins are all the same, huh?" Ryoko said with a smile. "I want to pop your cherry before someone else does."

Hibiki was a blushing mess while the Maia, Fujikata and Aoi chuckled while Genjuro sighed. As for Rui...

"So Ryoko. I see the bruise on your face healed up nicely." Rui said, eyes in the shadow of her hair.

Ryoko sweat-dropped in panic, kicking herself for forgetting who was also in the room.

"How about we put one on the other cheek this time?" She said, cracking her knuckles.

Another day of school passed without anything of sort happening. Rui had gone back to the dorm, ready to just do whatever. She slipped off her shoes and threw her bag in the corner.

"Anyone here?"

Walking in, she saw Miku sitting on the bunk bed, hugging her knees to her chest.

"Hey Miku."

Miku didn't respond, as Rui sat down on a chair and pulled out her phone. She was just scrolling through the internet, really just wasting her time. Miku being depressed in the room didn't really help.

Hearing some small sobs, Rui groaned before putting away her phone. Standing up, she climbed the bunk bed's ladder.

"Alright, I'll bite." Rui sat down next to Miku. "What's wrong?"

"I was going to watch the shooting stars with Hibiki, but she said something came up and couldn't come."

Something came up? She didn't get a notification of anything from Genjuro or the others. Perhaps they thought there wasn't any need to call her?

"So you're just gonna sulk here?" Rui asked. "Because Hibiki couldn't go with you?"

Miku nodded.

"Alright, how about I go with you then?"

"Eh?" Miku looked up at Rui.

"I've got nothing better to do. Might as well do something." Rui said. "And we could probably record the shooting stars for Hibiki."

"Really?" Miku said, looking up.

"Yeah. I know it's what she'd want." Rui said.

Miku smiled, surprising Rui with a hug. "Thank you, Rui-san!"

"A-Alright, that's enough of that." Rui stuttered, slightly blushing as pulled out of the hug.

"I'll go get my jacket! Then we can go!" Miku said happily said, climbing down the ladder.

Rui sighed, but smiled. She only hoped that whatever was keeping Hibiki wasn't too much of an issue. Dropping out of the top bunk, she looked out the window.

Just stay safe, Hibiki.

"I'm ready, Rui-san!"

"Alright, let's go."

They left, off to see the shooting stars. But unbeknownst to both of them, Hibiki was fighting for her life.

In a park, she had met up with Tsubasa, but they came across a new foe. One in a certain stolen armor.

"Impossible..." Tsubasa's eyes grew wide. "The Nehushtan Armor?!"

A/N: It really is nuts how fast I'm making this. I can only hope this won't jynx my motivation.

This might be shorter, but the scenes where there aren't any changes in canon, I don't believe need any rehashing.

But yeah, in such a short time, we've finished three episodes of Season 1! Hopefully we'll be able to continue at this speed.

See you all next time.