Sky Striker Ace, but Symphogear

"...Let's head to the other side. There are other elevators elsewhere."

Just as Hibiki Tachibana was about to be crushed by anxiety, Tsubasa Kazanari said this, then seized the magnetic handcuffs Hibiki was wearing without further explanation and headed in another direction.

"Eh, wait, wait... wait a second!"

Dragged along by the handcuffs, Hibiki said this. She had just looked at the damaged elevator doors and suddenly thought of something.

But Tsubasa ignored her panic, simply going to an elevator on the other side and confirming that it was still functioning properly.

"Whatever it is, tell me when we get there."

As Tsubasa spoke, she pulled Hibiki into the elevator and took out an ID card to scan it against the panel.

"Hold on tight."

After doing that, Tsubasa turned around and gave Hibiki that warning.

"Ah, what?"

At first, Hibiki did not understand, but in the next moment, she experienced exactly what it meant.

Following Tsubasa's earlier action, the elevator suddenly plunged downward at a speed almost like free fall, as if some strange mechanism had been activated.

"Ahhhhhhh—!"

Hibiki let out a scream like a prairie dog.

"Didn't I tell you to hold on tight?"

Tsubasa said this while pressing one strong hand against Hibiki's shoulder, keeping her from falling over in the suddenly dropping elevator.

"Ugh... I really am cursed, aren't I?"

Hibiki said dejectedly. How was she supposed to know that the elevator would suddenly go into free fall?

"Complaining won't help. The place you're going to is somewhere you won't need to smile."

Tsubasa warned Hibiki in a tone meant to prepare her, making Hibiki feel even more uneasy.

Soon, the elevator gradually slowed from its runaway descent, indicating that the two of them had successfully reached their destination.

So what kind of terrifying place have they brought me to?

Hibiki thought this because there had been men in black suits, a black luxury sedan, and these handcuffs.

Soon, the elevator doors opened, and Hibiki finally saw the true form of the place she had been brought to. The first thing that entered her sight was...

"Welcome to the Mobile Disaster Response Unit, Second Division!" Pop! Pop! Pop!

A burly man in a red shirt said this, followed by streamers from three party poppers landing all over Hibiki.

"...Huh?"

Looking at the room, which resembled a surprise birthday party, the flaxen-haired girl's brain briefly shut down. Beside her, Tsubasa let out a helpless sigh.

"Um, Miss Tsubasa, is this the place you said wouldn't need any smiles?"

Hibiki asked the girl beside her, completely unable to make sense of the situation, but only received a helpless facepalm in response.

Soon, after an extremely enthusiastic and familiar introduction from the burly man in the red shirt, Hibiki more or less understood the nature of the place she had arrived at.

First, there was a type of disaster in the world called Noise. It produced all sorts of abstract-looking monsters also named Noise, creatures that were immune to ordinary weapons, highly aggressive toward humans, and capable of carbonizing people through direct contact.

The Mobile Disaster Response Unit, Second Division—Second Division for short—was an organization established to deal with incidents related to Noise.

"So this is a place specifically responsible for fighting Noise disasters?"

Rubbing her wrists, Hibiki asked this. Her handcuffs had just been removed with the help of a young man in a black suit.

"Yes, you can think of it that way. By the way, I'm Genjuro Kazanari, the person in charge here."

The tall, muscular man in the red shirt—Genjuro Kazanari—said with a smile.

"And I'm Ryouko Sakurai, known as the capable woman. Nice to meet you."

A brown-haired, violet-eyed woman in a lab coat and glasses, with a fine figure, said this.

"Yes, nice to meet you too."

Hibiki returned the greeting somewhat stiffly.

"Now then, we actually brought you here because we wanted to ask you for a favor."

After the introductions, Genjuro said this.

"Wait, Commander. Before that, I'd like to ask why the elevator was damaged, what exactly happened, and whether you're hiding something from me."

Just as Genjuro was about to explain why they had brought Hibiki here, Tsubasa, who had somehow appeared beside Hibiki, suddenly stepped forward and asked this.

"Hm? Well, Tsubasa, that elevator was damaged because there was a minor error in the building plans. As for hiding something from you, no, there's absolutely nothing like that."

Faced with Tsubasa's sudden question, the commander's expression somehow became a little tense.

"Commander, please stop treating me like a child. I've already asked the others, but all I got were either baseless evasions or wildly inconsistent lies. So what exactly happened? Is there something I'm not allowed to know?"

Tsubasa spoke with a resolute gaze. Clearly, she had not come to question him on a whim without preparation.

"Um... ahaha, is there? Is there really?"

The commander's eyes wandered, and his demeanor was unnatural.

"Um, are you hiding something from Miss Tsubasa? That's not good. Lying is wrong."

Even Hibiki could now tell that the people here did not want Tsubasa to know about something. It even seemed that this whole welcome-party setup had been arranged to cover it up.

Unnoticed Changes

After Tsubasa raised that question, the atmosphere in the entire room seemed to become strange, with every person wearing a different kind of odd expression.

"Okay, okay, let me handle this. I said before that there was no need to hide it from Tsubasa."

Just as the atmosphere became somewhat stiff, Ryouko Sakurai stepped in to smooth things over, drawing Tsubasa's attention as well.

"So what exactly happened, Miss Sakurai? Of course, if it's confidential information that can't be disclosed, you don't have to tell me. I understand."

Tsubasa asked calmly, also making it clear that she would not force the matter if it was truly difficult. After all, her suspicions had only arisen because their acting was so poor.

"No, no, it's not confidential."

Ryouko denied Tsubasa's guess, then found a chair and took a sip of the tea that had been set out for the welcome.

"Actually, um, while you were out on a mission, Tsubasa, we accidentally lost Durandal. Well, just like two years ago."

After tactically drinking some tea, the woman in the lab coat explained in a somewhat embarrassed tone what they had wanted to hide from Tsubasa.

"Durandal?"

Hibiki heard another unfamiliar term. Though she had heard so many unfamiliar terms since arriving here that she had gotten somewhat used to it.

More than that, she wondered why merely losing an item could not be told to Miss Tsubasa.

Thinking that, Hibiki turned her gaze toward Tsubasa—and was startled by the terrifying look on the tall blue-haired girl's face.

"Two years ago... and you hid it from me. That means it was that person again, wasn't it? The person who turned Kanade into that weakened state and left her unconscious to this day!"

Ignoring Hibiki, who seemed frightened, Tsubasa demanded confirmation from Ryouko in a voice that sounded as though she were suppressing volcanic fury.

"That person?"

Hibiki somewhat understood now. The one who had made Miss Tsubasa show such an expression was the "person" she had mentioned.

"Yes, exactly. Just as you thought, Tsubasa. The one who took Durandal this time was the same person who stole the Bronze Serpent Armor during the Zwei Wing concert two years ago."

Ryouko confirmed Tsubasa's suspicion. As Ryouko spoke, Tsubasa covered her face with one hand in pain, doing her best to control her emotions.

"Not long after you went out to intercept the Noise, Tsubasa, we detected her appearance through the upgraded surveillance system. We didn't notify you because we didn't want to affect your mission."

Genjuro said.

"After discovering her, we judged that her target was the complete relic stored deep underground: Durandal. We set an ambush there accordingly."

Shinji Ogawa added from the side.

"And then, unfortunately, even though we deployed more than half of our combat strength, we fell short at the last moment and let her take Durandal and escape successfully."

Ryouko finished.

"So that's what happened."

As she listened to their account, the blue-haired girl regained control of her emotions. Though she was still visibly unstable, at least she could speak in a normal tone now.

"Yes. I'm sorry we hid it from you."

The commander said apologetically.

"I should be the one apologizing. As a sword, I failed to control my emotions... I'm sorry. I think I need some time alone to calm down."

As she spoke, the blue-haired girl's expression twisted again. She said this, then left the room.

"Miss Tsubasa..."

Hibiki, who had been out of the loop the entire time, felt uneasy. It was the first time she had seen Tsubasa make such an expression. In the albums and concerts she had seen before, Tsubasa had always been cool, beautiful, and radiant.

"Don't worry. Tsubasa is much stronger than you think. So for now, let's discuss your matter instead, hmm-hmm~"

Just as Hibiki was worrying about Tsubasa, she suddenly heard a mature woman's voice beside her ear, followed by a strange sensation there.

"Eek! Miss Sakurai, what are you doing?!"

Startled by the stimulation, Hibiki immediately shoved away the woman beside her and quickly backed several steps away.

"My, what a cute reaction. I'm liking you more and more, little Hibiki."

Ryouko said this with a mischievous grin, as though her scheme had succeeded.

"That's enough, Ryouko. Stop teasing Tachibana. Now that Tsubasa has gone to rest, let's continue the previous discussion."

Genjuro stopped Ryouko from teasing Hibiki, then turned toward Hibiki.

"Tachibana, we brought you here because we hope to give you a physical examination. You must also be curious about the origin of the armor on your body, right?"

"That's true. I really want to know what it was..."

Hibiki asked uneasily.

Although that armor had gotten her out of danger at the time, something like that suddenly emerging from inside her body was naturally worrying.

"Hmm-hmm, then let genius Miss Sakurai give you a physical examination. First, take off your clothes."

Seizing the opportunity, Ryouko appeared behind Hibiki and moved to drag her away for the examination.

"Ahaha, okay. I'll cooperate with the physical examination..."

Hibiki had developed some resistance to Ryouko's extroverted behavior, and since a physical examination required taking off clothes anyway, she did not react too strongly.

"Wait, a physical examination?"

But at that moment, Hibiki seemed to grasp something in her mind. Something she had been ignoring all along was awakened by the words "physical examination."

So she stopped walking and began racking her brains where she stood.

"Hm, what is it, Tachibana? Is there a problem?"

Seeing Hibiki stop, Genjuro asked this.

"I feel like I've forgotten something really important..."

Hibiki said in distress. That crucial clue was clearly floating around in her mind, but she simply could not remember it.

"Physical examination... physical examination. It seems like someone mentioned it before... told me to get a physical examination. Ah, I remember!"

After thinking for a short while, Hibiki finally caught that flash of inspiration amid her tangled thoughts.

"Um, Tachibana, what did you remember?"

Watching the girl react so dramatically, Genjuro could not help considering whether it would be feasible to add a brain examination to the physical checkup.

"Yes, it's like this. I suddenly remembered meeting someone this afternoon. She said there was some kind of relic in my body and recommended that I get a physical examination."

"I remember the name she left behind was... Raye. Um, is she also from this place?"

[Image: Raye]

Surprise and Gains

"Um, Tachibana, I'd like to ask: was the Raye you met a blonde, blue-eyed woman carrying a black longsword?"

As soon as Hibiki said that name, Commander Genjuro immediately asked this.