Sky Striker Ace, but Symphogear

[Let's try again. If it's confirmed that Ms. Tsubasa only harbors hatred towards Raye, then I'll abandon my original plan.]

Then, Kohinata Miku thought things through further and made a decision in secret.

"So, what I felt was just an illusion? Is there really no hope of rescuing Hibiki?"

After a moment of intense internal thought, Kohinata Miku's voice trembled slightly, her eyes narrowed, and soon, an indescribable sadness replaced her original calm.

"Ah, wait, Kohinata, why do you say that?"

Looking at the girl in front of him whose face had turned sad, Tsubasa Kazanari was at a loss for what to do.

"Because, if things are as Miss Tsubasa says, Hibiki will definitely be killed after she's been drained of her last bit of value and is completely useless."

Kohinata Miku spoke, she silently lowered her head, her hands clenched into tight fists, lost in thought.

"Tachibana... I understand."

Tsubasa Kazanari quickly understood Kohinata Miku's line of thinking.

If the other party is truly as evil as Tsubasa Kazanari described, then Hibiki Tachibana, who is now in Raye's hands, is naturally not guaranteed a life.

If this inference is correct, then it's only natural that Kohinata Miku.

[Should I comfort Kohinata? But how...?]

Seeing the somber Kohinata Miku's face, Tsubasa Kazanari realized that she now had a responsibility to do something to comfort her.

But how could she comfort the other person when she was powerless to do anything about it?

[Yi, don't you know this already? As long as you stop deceiving yourself and tell her everything you saw that day, wouldn't that be better? Besides, that way, you won't have to torture yourself anymore.]

Suddenly, a familiar girl's voice seemed to come from behind, but when Tsubasa Kazanari turned around, she didn't see anyone speaking.

[Is this a song...]

[Ah, I understand. Now is not the time to force myself to fulfill my duty as a protector. Now, I must muster the courage to face my true feelings. Only then can I correct my current immature behavior.]

Listening to the voice within his heart and gazing at the sorrowful girl before him, Tsubasa Kazanari closed his eyes and relaxed his body.

"Kohinata, I'm sorry, but what I just said wasn't my true feeling."

The blue-haired girl sitting on the hospital bed opened her eyes and uttered these words.

At this moment, her expression was no longer as intense as before, as if the person present was not the warrior who had trained himself into a sword, but simply a girl named Tsubasa Kazanari.

"Miss Yi, what do you mean?"

Upon hearing the other person's words, Kohinata Miku gently raised her head and asked, a hint of doubt in her eyes.

"Kohinata, actually... the Raye I saw, while not a kind person, was certainly not a villain who acted without any scruples."

With some difficulty, Tsubasa Kazanari still shared this idea with everyone except himself.

Why do you say that?

With a puzzled look, Kohinata Miku then asked.

"Hmph... Kohinata, now that you've already looked into the relevant information, have you seen the report about the theft of the Bronze Serpent Armor two years ago?"

After catching his breath slightly, Tsubasa Kazanari organized his thoughts and said this.

"Yes, I've seen it, because I wanted to understand the origin of that thing called the Relic within Hibiki's body."

"I remember, that incident involved Raye two years ago stealing a very important item called the Bronze Serpent Armor, and leaving Kanade in a cryogenic chamber until now."

Why did Miss Yi bring this up?

Kohinata Miku shared what she knew about the incident and then asked a question.

"Because, after that first encounter, I realized that Raye was not an irredeemable villain."

"Kohinata, what I'm going to tell you next is the part of the report you saw that I missed because of my immaturity."

Tsubasa Kazanari slowly turned to Kohinata Miku and revealed the truth that she had kept buried deep in her heart.

"What do you mean? Miss Yi, are you hiding part of the truth? Why?"

Kohinata Miku was extremely surprised; this time, she was genuinely surprised.

"On the one hand, it's because what I'm hiding contains a lot of my subjective feelings, and on the other hand... looking at the stage and everyone else who are in such a dilapidated state because of that incident, I simply can't bring myself to tell you what I'm hiding."

"After that, with only one wing remaining, I kept training and fighting to take on the original role. In countless battles, I don't know when, but that unspoken feeling was completely forgotten."

With a hesitant expression and his eyes flickering, Tsubasa Kazanari spoke to Kohinata Miku.

"Ah, it's Yueyi* first release - I see. Then, could you tell me about the part that Miss Yi is hiding?"

Seeing the girl's genuine expression, the black-haired girl pondered for a moment before asking seriously and attentively.

"Sure."

Tsubasa Kazanari said this.

"Phew, most of the facts about what happened that day are largely consistent with the report that Kohinata showed you." 99

As Tsubasa Kazanari recounted his story, he closed his eyes, and his memories began to drift back to the past.

"The only difference is that it was back then..."

At this point, Tsubasa Kazanari paused slightly, as if stating this fact was very difficult for her.

"... At that time, after the girl who stole the Bronze Serpent Armor stopped Kanade's final Swan Song with her Grappling Anchor and fired a cannon shot at Kanade, I was the only one there."

"The moment Raye took away Kanade's ability to move, she performed an act on Kanade's body that I couldn't understand at the time, but later realized was a therapeutic act."

But in the end, Tsubasa Kazanari still revealed the truth that she had kept buried in her heart.

"Treat?"

Kohinata Miku looked even more surprised, but Tsubasa Kazanari's story had not yet ended.

"Yes, the treatment was a very brief and discreet action. If I hadn't been paying close attention the whole time, I probably wouldn't have noticed that she injected a very familiar medicine into Kanade's neck the same time she touched Kanade's body."

Tsubasa Kazanari said, his eyes filled with a complex mix of emotions.

"So, is that why Miss Yi doesn't think Raye is a bad person?"

Seeing the complex emotions of Tsubasa Kazanari, Kohinata Miku felt a slight sense of relief for some reason.

"How could I think that? If it weren't for her, I probably would never have had the chance to see Zou again."

Tsubasa Kazanari spoke her true feelings.

"Moreover, when she gazed at the noise scattered throughout the venue, I noticed the same hostility in her eyes that I had seen countless times in both Kanade's and my own—a hostility toward noise that kills humans."

Tsubasa Kazanari added.

"Phew, that's all I know about why I think Raye isn't a bad person."

Finally, Tsubasa Kazanari let out a long sigh, displaying an expression as if the pressure had been relieved.

"This... that, haha."

After listening to Tsubasa Kazanari's story, Kohinata Miku Mirai's expression became slightly uncontrollable.

"Hmm, what's wrong, Kohinata? Why do you look so strange?"

As Tsubasa Kazanari gradually recovered from her emotions, she noticed Kohinata Miku's somewhat distorted expression and asked in confusion.

"Um, Miss Tsubasa, I'd like to ask, if an item called Complete Relic goes berserk, could something very dangerous happen?"

Kohinata Miku did not immediately answer Tsubasa Kazanari's question, but instead asked about some settings, as if confirming something.

"Of course, every Complete Relic contains considerable energy. If it goes berserk, it could cause significant damage to the surrounding area. I remember Miss Sakurai saying something like that. Why ask this now?"

Tsubasa Kazanari nodded, answering Kohinata Miku's question, and then asked in return.

"Is that so? Ah, is that so, Raye? Although she has changed a lot, her heart has remained the same." 99

Lost in his own world, Kohinata Miku himself as if to himself, without answering Tsubasa Kazanari's question for the time being.

"Kohinata, you..."

"Miss Yi, it suddenly occurred to me that there are some records in the reports I saw about the ' Zwei Wing ' concert two years ago."

Tsubasa Kazanari looked confused and wanted to say something, but was quickly interrupted by Kohinata Miku's words.

"I remember that record mentioned that 'during activation, the Bronze Serpent Armor seemed to exhibit a tendency to go berserk due to excessive String Gain.'"

"Then, immediately following, came the description: 'A platinum-gold girl suddenly appeared from the crowd, having infiltrated the area at some unknown time, and snatched the Bronze Serpent Armor with a black, Grappling Anchor- like weapon.'"

"Miss Yi, if you were in her shoes, you would understand what this means."

Kohinata Miku no longer knew what kind of expression to make.

At this point, after learning so much information, she felt an overwhelming sense of confusion and a strong urge to complain.

"It means... huh?!"

Upon hearing Kohinata Miku connect the two records, Tsubasa Kazanari suddenly realized the possible truth hidden beneath the facade of coincidence.

"Miss Yi, based on your statement and the reports I have, if we temporarily rule out the fact that Raye took the Bronze Serpent Armor ..."

Kohinata Miku didn't finish speaking, but Tsubasa Kazanari already understood what she wanted to express.

If we disregard the stolen Bronze Serpent Armor, what did Raye do?

First, it suppressed the rampaging Bronze Serpent Armor, preventing potential destruction at that time.

Then, they stopped the final Swan Song and provided treatment, saving the other person's life.

Finally, all remaining noise in the venue was cleared to prevent large-scale damage (although, according to him, it was for performance testing or something similar).

"Ah???"

After realizing this fact, Tsubasa Kazanari's face showed the same expression as Kohinata Miku's.

"Right, Miss Tsubasa, isn't it strange? So, Miss Tsubasa, could you please tell me, is Raye really not a spy or some kind of unofficial agent sent by your Second Division to infiltrate the enemy's ranks?"

In the end, Kohinata Miku couldn't help but ask Tsubasa Kazanari a question, half-complaining and half-doubting.

"Well, I'm not really sure either... Could Raye really be an agent arranged by my uncle and the others? No, no, no, that's too far-fetched. Raye is definitely... maybe, perhaps, probably an enemy?"

After Kohinata Miku's analysis, Kazanari Tsubasa Kazanari's thoughts became chaotic, and he even began to seriously consider the rationality of Kohinata Miku's statement.

"In short, Kohinata, you should understand now that Tachibana is relatively safe... and, no matter what, Raye is still an enemy."

Shaking his head, Tsubasa Kazanari shook off the baseless... not entirely baseless deduction in his mind and pulled his thoughts back onto the correct track.

"Ah, yes, I understand now. Raye's true nature has never changed from beginning to end. That's wonderful."

Kohinata Miku nodded, her expression returning to calm, and said this to Tsubasa Kazanari.

"That's good. Wait, what do you mean by 'from beginning to end'?"

Hearing Kohinata Miku's answer, Tsubasa Kazanari was relieved, but was immediately drawn to Kohinata Miku's new statement.

P. S. Good afternoon.

Chapter 113 Recounting the Past

"Miss Yi should know something about this, right? This isn't the first time Raye and I have met."

Having successfully attracted Tsubasa Kazanari's attention, Kohinata Miku said.

Although, given the current situation, she has already achieved her basic goal of preventing Tsubasa Kazanari from hurting herself out of concern for Hibiki Tachibana.

It seemed there was no need to discuss his past with Raye anymore; he could leave after a few words.

However, after careful consideration, she decided to tell Tsubasa Kazanari everything she knew.

However, this time it wasn't to help, but to make a request. Kohinata Miku hoped to use the information she provided to ask Tsubasa Kazanari for a favor.

"This isn't the first time. Kohinata, have you seen Raye before? When was it?"

On the other side, after hearing the information that Kohinata Miku said, Tsubasa Kazanari's face showed a genuine surprise.

"Hmm, Miss Yi doesn't know? I thought that as a member of Second Division, Miss Yi would know some of it, because I saw relevant records in the materials you gave me."

Seeing Tsubasa Kazanari's behavior, Kohinata Miku was puzzled, her expression showing incomprehension, as this differed from the conversation she had anticipated.

She originally intended to use this approach to get Tsubasa Kazanari to bring up some things, and then explain based on that, which would make it easier to understand.

"Yes, really? I remember information about Second Division and Raye, but it should only be what I experienced... Wait, let me think..."

Faced with Kohinata Miku questions, Tsubasa Kazanari began searching her memory for relevant records.

Then, she discovered that the only records she could find related to Raye were those from the incident two years ago and the events of the last few days, or the weaponry data related to Raye analyzed by Second Division.