Sky Striker Ace, but Symphogear

Ryouko Sakurai quickly realized the impact this incident would have.

"Ah, that means Tachibana Hibiki, the individual who fused with a Relic while still alive, has undoubtedly attracted the attention of those influential figures for some unknown reason."

Commander Kazanari closed his eyes and spoke with some reluctance.

"You should know that the most difficult part of the Symphogear System is finding suitable wielders. Yet Tachibana Hibiki can use the gear by fusing with a Relic. Combined with the sudden appearance of an unknown force trying to seize Tachibana Hibiki, this proves the theory's feasibility..."

Thinking about everything that had happened that day, Commander Kazanari felt somewhat powerless.

"Little Hibiki has been completely targeted, hasn't she?"

Ryouko Sakurai added this with a dejected expression.

"That's right. Tachibana Hibiki, an ordinary girl until now, has become the center of the incident. And the reason I said the entire Second Division would no longer be held accountable is that we can provide Tachibana Hibiki with the best protection."

Commander Kazanari explained the Second Division's current situation. It had changed from fighting the Noise and protecting Durandal to fighting the Noise and protecting Tachibana Hibiki.

"Wait, does that mean the security around Little Hibiki has been raised to the highest possible level?"

Listening to Commander Kazanari, Ryouko Sakurai's expression became somewhat unnatural. She seemed to understand where her ominous feeling had come from.

"Of course. You could say Tachibana's importance now even surpasses that of a commander like me. Not only have we assigned more personnel, but Tsubasa also volunteered to protect Tachibana personally."

Commander Kazanari said this as though it were only natural in response to Ryouko's question.

"Hahaha, is that so? Then it looks like Little Hibiki is going to have a tough time from now on. Ahahaha."

Ryouko Sakurai concealed her feelings with a somewhat forced smile and said this.

"Mm. It will indeed be difficult. Fortunately, the Noise have suddenly stopped appearing for some reason. Otherwise, we might have had to find a way to increase our manpower even further."

Commander Kazanari nodded as he spoke, failing to notice Ryouko Sakurai's forced expression.

Perhaps because the will they had suspected existed had already achieved its goal, the rate of Noise disasters that had intermittently occurred here suddenly dropped to zero over the past two weeks.

"I see. Well, that's certainly wonderful."

Ryouko Sakurai smiled, took a tactical sip of her black tea, and then stared at the ripples trembling in the cup, seemingly lost in thought.

"That's right. Oh, by the way, Ryouko, I sometimes couldn't get in touch with you before, so I forgot to tell you. To help everyone recover from the fatigue of the past two weeks, we planned a company-paid trip. It's tomorrow."

Commander Kazanari nodded, then spoke as if he had suddenly remembered something.

"Ah, but won't that cause problems? Tachibana still needs people to protect her, doesn't she?"

The smile on Ryouko Sakurai's face abruptly froze. She then spoke, unable to understand why he would take such action.

"Of course. That's why Tachibana will come with us to relax so we can protect her. It will also be a good opportunity for Tachibana to recover mentally."

Commander Kazanari spoke with a solemn expression. If possible, he did not want to relax at a time like this either, but two consecutive weeks of high-intensity work had pushed every member of the Second Division to their limits.

"If you're worried about Tachibana's safety, there's no need. Ogawa, Tsubasa, and I will all protect Tachibana both openly and covertly. Hahaha."

Genjuro Kazanari threw his head back and laughed.

"I see. With Genjuro protecting her, I feel relieved."

Looking at the laughing man in red before her, Ryouko Sakurai answered with a strained smile that did not reach her eyes.

"Mm. Ah, it's about time. Now that I've informed you, Ryouko, I'll be leaving. I still have to arrange Tachibana's activities for afterward, so I won't disturb your rest."

After saying this, Commander Kazanari left Ryouko's office with steady steps.

"Take care, Genjuro... Tch."

The moment Commander Kazanari left, the expression on Ryouko Sakurai's face turned ugly.

Then she took a black communicator from her own shoulder bag. Looking at the words [Mission Failed] displayed on it, she let out a helpless sigh.

[Ah... In the end, aside from Raye, every one of them was a useless fool who couldn't act according to my plans.]

Ryouko Sakurai—or rather, Fine—thought this.

Fine was a shrine maiden from a prehistoric civilization. To achieve a certain goal, she had engraved her soul into her own DNA. As long as a descendant carrying her DNA came into contact with a Relic's awakening waveform, she could resurrect within that descendant's body and replace their existence.

This time, the body she had taken over belonged to a woman named Ryouko Sakurai, and she was using that identity to operate in the present day.

[Keeping my eggs in separate baskets should have reduced the risks, so why does everything I do always have the opposite effect in the end?]

After complaining inwardly about the uselessness of another collaborator, Fine thought this.

After asking Raye to help her capture Tachibana Hibiki, she had also made the same request to her other collaborator—the U.S. Military.

And now, it was obvious that those people who were good at ruining things had botched her request.

[Come to think of it, did I unknowingly make things even harder for Raye again?]

This thought involuntarily surfaced in Fine's mind.

Heaven knew she was genuinely working hard toward her goal. She simply had no idea why her efforts so often produced the opposite result.

[Wait. Genjuro said they're going on a company-paid trip tomorrow. What was it that I paid such a huge price to have Raye do again?]

As she thought about it, another worry suddenly surfaced in Fine's mind.

*[...]

Fine's expression changed several times before finally settling into a half-smile.

[Forget it. It's time to trust Raye's abilities completely for once. She may have a headache for a while afterward, but she'll definitely find a solution in the end, just as she always has.]

[Since that's the case, I'll simply do nothing from here on out.]

Fine shook her head and thought this. Then she cheerfully settled on her future policy: do nothing, trust Raye, and slack off.

[Good. Then it's decided. I'm really looking forward to tomorrow's trip.]

She took a sip of the black tea in her cup. Fine—or rather, Ryouko Sakurai—thought this in anticipation.

At the same time, in a room at Second Division Headquarters, Tachibana Hibiki sat dejectedly on the sofa. Two men in black suits stood on either side of her, while Tsubasa Kazanari, dressed in her school uniform, stood before her.

Originally, she had merely gone out to buy lunch and was walking down the street as usual.

But for some reason, the street suddenly became completely silent, as if someone had pressed a mute button.

Then, thinking the Noise had attacked, she transformed. To her surprise, however, it was not the Noise. Several vehicles appeared from all directions and surrounded her.

Soon, many people carrying guns got out of the vehicles. They were clearly up to no good, and they pointed their weapons at her while ordering her to come with them in heavily accented Japanese.

Afterward, to escape their pursuit, she had no choice but to use her gear against their vehicles, ultimately managing to get away.

Finally, when she returned to Lydian Music Academy, a group of familiar men in black suits brought her back to the Second Division, where she had remained in the room until now.

"Um, those strange people really were after me, weren't they?"

Unable to endure the oppressive atmosphere in the room, Tachibana Hibiki quietly asked Tsubasa Kazanari.

"As far as I understand, their target was to capture you as Fusion Case No. 1."

Tsubasa Kazanari watched Hibiki seriously as she spoke.

After hearing Tsubasa's answer, Tachibana Hibiki's expression grew even more dejected.

"This is too strange. We're all human beings, so why are we fighting each other like this?"

After remaining silent for a while, Tachibana Hibiki spoke in bewilderment.

Since joining the Second Division, she had barely fought the Noise because of the inexplicable decline in Noise disasters. She had originally thought her life would continue peacefully like this.

But she had never expected that after the Noise became scarce, ordinary humans would appear among her opponents.

When facing emotionless monsters that felt neither pain nor compassion, she could fight with great determination. But once her opponents became ordinary humans, she simply could not bring herself to attack them.

"These hands and this power clearly exist to protect everyone."

Looking at her own hands, Tachibana Hibiki fell into deep confusion, unable to understand the meaning of her battles.

"...In any case, Tachibana, as a defender of Japan, the only advice I can give you is to always remember the mindset of someone who is constantly on the battlefield."

Tsubasa Kazanari also fell silent. Having trained as a defender all this time, she did not know what advice to give Tachibana Hibiki, so she spoke according to her own understanding.

"Tsubasa, you should stop talking."

Shinji Ogawa, who had also come to protect Tachibana Hibiki and was standing behind Tsubasa, spoke up.

"In that case, Tachibana, you'll come with us on a hot-spring trip tomorrow."

Just as Tachibana Hibiki was sinking helplessly into depression and Tsubasa Kazanari remained silent without offering any advice, Commander Kazanari entered the room in a red shirt and announced this loudly.

"Ah, Mr. Kazanari. Um, what's a hot-spring trip?"

After seeing Commander Kazanari enter, Tachibana Hibiki immediately stood up and greeted him politely before asking this.

"To let everyone who has been working continuously get some proper rest, the Second Division planned a company-paid trip."

Shinji Ogawa explained this to Hibiki, who was still out of the loop.

"So, Tachibana, I think that instead of staying here and agonizing over things, you should get a good night's sleep and then come with us on a hot-spring trip tomorrow. After soaking in the hot springs, you might be able to sort out many things."

Commander Kazanari continued speaking.

Although he was not particularly good at dealing with psychological problems, he understood one thing: letting Tachibana Hibiki continue shutting herself away here would not help.

"Ah, okay. All right, I understand."

Interrupted by Commander Kazanari, Tachibana Hibiki completely forgot what she had been thinking and muddleheadedly agreed to this inexplicable hot-spring trip.

P.S. Haha, it's four in the afternoon. I haven't gone insane.

The Beginning of the Next Day (Part 4k)

In a brightly lit office, a girl dressed entirely in black, with gray-white hair and red eyes, had just finished negotiating with a formally dressed woman sitting across from her.

"Then, I sincerely hope your side can give me a result that satisfies me."

The girl in black sat in an armchair, looking expressionlessly at the tablet in her hand.

"Please rest assured. With your funding, I will definitely make Miss Christina Japan's number-one idol singer—no, the number-one idol singer in the universe!"

The formally dressed woman spoke with overwhelming emotion and a flattering smile, as if the person sitting before her were her reborn parents.

"..."

Ignoring the woman's performance, the black-clad, gray-haired girl shifted her gaze to the red-clad, white-haired girl beside her and said, "Then that's all for today, Miss Christina. What do you think?"

"...Huh?"

The white-haired girl in red froze for a moment before realizing that the other girl was speaking to her.

"Oh, um, I don't mind."

The white-haired girl in red agreed somewhat awkwardly.

"Then it's settled. From now on, we'll come here every weekday morning for training or recording. As for today, we'll stop here. Let's go, Christina."

The black-clad, gray-haired girl said this to the woman, then stood up, picked up the guitar case beside her, and gestured to the white-haired girl.

"Of course. It's my honor. On my honor as the company president, I absolutely guarantee that I will..."

The formally dressed woman continued praising the other girl with great effort, even after the object of her praise had left the room.

"Um, Raye... Mmph."

After leaving the room, the white-haired girl in red had just begun to speak when a finger in a black glove pressed against her lips.

"What is it, Christina? Is there something you want to say to me, Ruse?"

The black-clad, gray-haired girl tilted her head and asked this, emphasizing both the names Christina and Ruse.

"Ahem. I understand. Ruse, I actually wanted to ask whether we really needed to do this. Isn't it a little too extravagant?"

Looking at the somewhat frightening red eyes staring at her, the white-haired girl in red thought for a moment before quickly correcting herself and asking this.

"...You don't need to worry about that, Christina. You only need to take care of your own affairs."

The black-clad, gray-haired girl replied this.

"O-okay."

The white-haired girl in red fell silent dejectedly.

When the other girl stopped asking questions, the black-clad, gray-haired girl turned around as well. Carrying the guitar case on her back, she walked unhurriedly toward the elevator at the end of the corridor.

[But I'm still incredibly curious. What kind of disguise technique could possibly achieve an effect like this?]

Looking at the black-clad girl's appearance, which was completely different from her usual impression of her, the girl in red could not help thinking about the question she had not dared to ask.

[If I hadn't watched Raye disguise herself like this right in front of me, and if she didn't have this same icy aura, I absolutely wouldn't have recognized that this person was Raye.]