Sky Striker Ace, but Symphogear

As for the others, I vaguely remember someone wanting to mention them to me, but after learning that they were useless information unrelated to how to defeat Raye, I brushed them off with the excuse that I still needed to train and rest.

"... I'm sorry, Kohinata, it's probably because I didn't bother to understand Raye's past consciousness at all, I really can't remember anything related to it."

After thinking for a long time, Tsubasa Kazanari gave up on finding any related memories in her daily routine, which consisted only of training, eating, fighting, working, and sleeping.

"Miss Tsubasa... Hmph, alright, since you really don't understand at all, does that mean I should start explaining from the very beginning?"

Seeing that Tsubasa Kazanari truly seemed to know nothing, Kohinata Miku Tsubasa Kazanari a slightly deeper understanding of him, while her expression showed a hint of helplessness.

"Perhaps, we really should."

Listening to Kohinata Miku Mirai's words, Kazanari Tsubasa Kazanari felt slightly embarrassed. The surprise on her face from the somewhat shocking truth was replaced by embarrassment.

[Ah, I should take some time later to find out what kind of records my uncle keeps, otherwise if this happens again, I might be too focused on the battle and not pay enough attention to other aspects.]

Tsubasa Kazanari thought to himself.

Despite being a key asset of Second Division, she was less informed about certain matters than an outsider who was learning about Second Division for the first time, a fact that made her feel genuinely ashamed.

"Is that so? Okay then, let me think about where to begin..."

Seeing the troubled look on the person in front of her, Kohinata Miku had no choice but to temporarily immerse herself in her memories in order to find those memories buried by time.

As reflection unfolds, the wheel of time turns backward in memory. With the permeation of thought, the information clusters constructed from past impressions rise from the depths of the heart like soap bubbles, and are then strung together by lines called logic to form a complete reproduction existing in words.

It was a similar dusk to now. I was still in elementary school then, and as usual, I was walking home with my friend, Hibiki Tachibana, after school.

"Cough Miku, I'm so frustrated. I finally begged my mom to take us to karaoke, but when we got there my throat hurt, cough cough."

The girl, still quite young with flaxen hair, was wearing a white mask and coughing painfully as she spoke.

Hibiki Tachibana was extremely sad at this moment. She had finally managed to persuade her mother to take her and Miku to sing karaoke, a song they had been looking forward to for so long.

However, when it came time to go to karaoke, she caught a cold because she was too excited to sleep well the night before. Even though she managed to stay awake until the karaoke session, her hoarse voice prevented her from singing a duet with Miku.

As a result, despite initiating the event, she could only watch helplessly as her friends and mother sang, which was extremely painful.

"Say less, Hibiki. Take good care of yourself. If it doesn't happen this time, there will be next time. We'll have plenty of opportunities to go together again."

The young Kohinata Miku offered this comfort to her friend.

She could understand Hibiki Tachibana's pain. After all, Tachibana Hibiki Tachibana was no longer as energetic as before. Her throat was hoarse, she looked listless, and she was visibly weak.

"Yes, we must go together next time. I promise I won't catch a cold like I did yesterday then."

Hibiki Tachibana clenched her fist and looked at Kohinata Miku with a determined gaze.

"Okay, I'll definitely do it next time. Also, Hibiki, remember to take care of yourself and don't eat too much ice cream like you used to."

Kohinata Miku said this with a gentle smile on her face.

"Ah, almost home. See you Miku, Mirai."

"Okay, see you tomorrow."

Soon, as time passed, the two, who were walking home from school together as usual, parted ways temporarily in a familiar place, just like always.

This was a beautiful and peaceful daily life. At the time, Kohinata Miku did not realize how precious this daily life was, and always believed that this kind of life would continue smoothly.

Until that incident happened.

[Hopefully Xiang's cold will get better tomorrow. Honestly, even if you're healthy, you still need to learn to take care of yourself.]

Kohinata Miku parting ways with Hibiki Tachibana, Mirai Kohinata walked home along her familiar route, just like any other day.

thump thump thump

Just then, the sound of a vehicle suddenly came from behind him.

[Vehicle sound, is a car coming? I need to pull over to the side of the road... Ah!?]

Just as Kohinata Miku was about to pull over to the side of the road to let someone pass, as she usually did, the car she heard suddenly stopped beside her.

"What's wrong... Ahh, ugh!!!"

Then, before she could react, a stranger opened the car door, covered her mouth and nose, and forcibly pulled her into the car.

Without a doubt, this was a premeditated kidnapping, the reason for which is unknown. But now that the kidnapping has already occurred, finding out the reason is meaningless to the kidnapped.

Why is that...?

Kohinata Miku couldn't understand why it had to be her, why she had to suffer such an undeserved misfortune.

"Open the door, open the door! We've got today's 'goods'!"

The sound of a car starting and then stopping was heard by Kohinata Miku.

"Hey kid, hurry up and don't waste my time!"

The car door was opened, and a stranger roughly dragged her out of the car.

Suddenly

After descending a rather long flight of stairs, we were led into a space where all the windows were welded shut.

The first impression she got of the environment was the bustling noise, the dirty and messy floors and walls that hadn't been cleaned in a long time, and the slightly stuffy atmosphere caused by the crowd.

[Were these other people also arrested?]

In the basement, Kohinata Miku saw a girl who had the same experience as her and seemed to have been captured for some time.

"You bunch of brats, stay put, or don't blame me if you end up with missing limbs!"

They were threatened like this by a man with a fierce expression.

"Waaaaah..."

I heard the sound of a child who seemed to be about my age crying.

Snap!

I witnessed the scene of being beaten and having the mute button pressed.

Why is this happening?

As time passed, Kohinata Miku gradually came to her senses, and fear and unease gradually took over her mind.

[How will I be treated? Will I be sold to some squalid place? Or will it be even worse? Will I die?]

Such thoughts and fears permeated everything Kohinata Miku thought at that time.

Then, time began to flow.

The completely enclosed, prison-like management system resulted in a harsh sleeping environment without beds, an environment with almost no ventilation due to welded-together windows, and daily rations of compressed food that merely guaranteed energy supply.

This is what Kohinata Miku remembers as she lived in that environment with about a dozen other like-minded companions.

"Where are we going to send these guys next?"

"Who knows? I heard they're going to send them to some war zone as recruits."

"Ha, what use is a little girl like that?"

"This is the buyer's (5) request, and I don't know why that guy would make such a strange request."

She could have tolerated it if it were just that, but what accompanied this tense atmosphere was the news she heard from their guards that a hopeless Miku was inevitable without a miracle.

What will happen to me?

Along with this fear, Kohinata Miku forgot how much time had passed. The absence of natural light had long since shattered her biological clock, making her unable to distinguish between day and night.

[How much time has passed? Three days, a week, or a month? Are Mom and Dad worried about me? What should I do?]

Thoughts like these kept growing in my mind at the time... until another milestone arrived.

"Another one arrived. Hey, when are we finally going to get rid of these noisy brats? I'm going to have a nervous breakdown from watching these bastards every day."

As usual, people who had experienced the same thing were brought in, and after the terrified child was thrown in, the guards began to talk to the person who brought him in.

"Who knows? Last week, the higher-ups wanted to find someone to deliver the goods, but they didn't see anyone come to pick them up for half a day. The day before yesterday, they sent people to find the buyer, but the first batch disappeared for some reason."

"He's disappeared. Could the buyer have killed him to avoid paying?"

"How could that be? Let me tell you, yesterday the higher-ups sent two more people to check the situation, and do you know what happened there?"

"What happened? Did the cops raid your place?"

"Even more bizarre is that the place has become ruins, and it's said to look exactly like what you see in movies—torn apart by a giant wild beast."

"Ha, the person who's judging by appearances has watched too many movies. What kind of beast could shred concrete? Even dinosaurs couldn't do that."

"That's right, haha. Anyway, the higher-ups are discussing how to resolve this, and they'll try to find a new 'buyer.' In any case, it's unlikely that they'll be stuck with this batch of goods."

"That means these brats will be able to leave in a few days. That's great! I've had enough of these guys."

Such conversations, interspersed with some Kohinata Miku couldn't understand, reached her ears in the room as if it were an everyday occurrence, making her realize the fact that the long-overdue misfortune was about to befall her.

"Ugh, kid, how can there be a kid in a place like this?! Ugh!!"

"Ya Lu, Caesar? Ahhh!"

Then, this thought was interrupted by two loud screams that rang out one after the other.

What happened?

Exhausted and lacking energy, Kohinata Miku wanted to see what had happened.

"No, it's not a kid, it's a monster, a monster... don't come near me!" "I'm sorry, I was wrong, please let me go." "I'll fight you to the death!"

After a scream, more screams followed, some familiar, some unfamiliar, one after another, one after another.

Finally, after the sound of a body falling, all fell silent.

Thud, as if...

A sound like something breaking the door lock rang out, and then a strand of platinum blonde hair peeked out from behind the door.

Someone is coming.

Kohinata Miku realized this.

Then, as the door that had been blocking their freedom was opened, a girl who looked to be about their age, with long platinum blonde hair and emerald green eyes, and a white eyepatch over her left eye, appeared before them. She had a gentle expression.

"Yes, found it, this is the place."

After the girl entered, she first straightened up, patted her clothes, and then looked around the room as if confirming something.

"Okay, everyone's here. Hello, my name is Raye."

"Well, how should I put it? You can think of me as a magical girl or a Kamen Rider superhero, or you can think of me as a secret agent or a police officer or other official person."

"In short, trust me, you can trust me. I'm here to help you get home. I hope you can cooperate with me as much as possible."

"If you cooperate with me, I promise I can take you home."

After confirming, the girl with platinum blonde hair made no unnecessary movements. With a confident and cheerful smile, she introduced herself directly and firmly to everyone in the room, including Kohinata Miku.

P. S. Goodnight.

Chapter 114 Continues to Recount Past Images

[well?]

When the girl who called herself Raye said these words, Kohinata Miku didn't react immediately.

She considered the possible ways she could be rescued: a gang fight causing chaos, or a police raid to rescue them.

However, she never imagined that she would be saved by a girl who looked to be about the same age as them.

Gili gulu

A commotion arose from the crowd; clearly, many others shared similar thoughts with Kohinata Miku.

Ultimately, most of the people here are still quite young, so it's a bit difficult to expect them to understand the situation and cooperate quietly like adults.

"Ah, so it turns out that words alone aren't enough to quickly build trust."

Looking at the current situation, Raye seemed to have anticipated it, but still felt it was very troublesome.

"We'll have to cheat a little bit. Let's turn the power down as much as possible; that way, it shouldn't have too much of a psychological impact on them."

As Raye spoke, she took the black and red blade from her waist, held it horizontally in front of her chest, and placed the fingers of her other hand to her lips.

"[Shh, quiet, listen to me, please believe me, I will get you out of here, please cooperate, okay?]" 59

The words, seemingly possessing a magical power, instantly permeated Kohinata Miku's heart, calming her down involuntarily.