Part 02

Some time later, Kirika was dressed in a jersey and sweat pants and was lying on the same metal slab while Ryoko was examining her via several different types of scanners. Genjuuro was also there, his arms folded and his face scrunched up in what Kirika assumed is a combination of annoyance and concern.

"Interesting. Her flesh has mended itself except for her heart which was completed obliterated when she was stabbed," Ryoko said aloud and Kirika looked down at her chest in alarm. Genjuuro cleared his throat loudly and Ryoko glanced at him.

"What? Her heart has been destroyed and there is something else in its place," Ryoko said sharply and pointed at a screen. Genjuuro turned to look and Kirika hopped off the slab to have a look. Ryoko cleared her throat and gestured at her to remain in place, forcing Kirika to return.

Genjuuro gave her a sympathetic look before returning his attention to the screen. His eyes narrowed as he studied the screen and pointed at it. "Is that a crystal?" he asked and Ryoko nodded her head.

"I think so but I can't be too certain until I run a few more tests. Don't tell the boss about this yet though. He might get too excited and want to do something ridiculous," she said with a slight grimace.

"What? Like take over the world?" Genjuuro asked with a slight grin and Ryoko chuckled at his words.

"Of course," she replied and the two of them bumped their fists together. "Just give me a little more time so that I can fully understand what's going on. Besides, I think her family has to be worried about her by now, don't you think?"

Eh? Kirika blinked in confusion after listening to their words and she asked, "Are my family safe? What happened to them?" Genjuuro turned to her, looking a little troubled before he took a deep breath and walked over to her.

"Your family is safe. Our people managed to rescue them and they are at home and safe. The problem is that...well, it's been two days since that incident and...everyone believes that you are missing," Genjuuro explained to her.

Kirika stared at him for a moment before she uttered a single word: "Eh?"

***

For a few minutes, Kirika listened quietly and in disbelief as Genjuuro explained to her what had happened. After the fight that she had witnessed, her body was retrieved from the scene and kept here so that they can do an autopsy on her. Most people who have been killed by those humanoid creatures usually dissolve into dust but not Kirika, hence the need for an autopsy.

"What are those things anyway? And who are those people fighting those things? Are they your friends?" she asked and Genjuuro sighed at the questions being levied at him.

"Just tell her, Gen-chan. She's already involved in this mess since I'm going to have to study her some more and she deserves to know what's going on," Ryoko said as she took a seat next to a computer and brought up a window to do some sort of scanning.

Genjuuro nodded and said, "Firstly, we call those things Noise. Named after the fact that our initial scans of them projected a noise-like frequency from our scanners, they were first officially documented approximately five years ago when one appeared and killed several people in the docks. We were able to stop that one then but at great cost and we started to prepare in case there were more and we were right."

"At first their appearance were relatively limited but about a year ago, the frequency of their appearances increased and we were forced to step up our game in order to defeat them as well as keep the public from knowing about their existence."

A year ago? "The same time as when everyone noticed the disappearances in the city?" Kirika asked and Genjuuro looked surprised by her words.

"I didn't take you as the type who'd be paying attention to the news, Akatsuki. Maybe I was wrong about you and I'm a worse teacher than I thought," he said, looking a little ashamed and Kirika shook her head, feeling a little distressed that this was the second time that someone made this misunderstanding about her.

"Anyway, we had some trouble dealing with the Noise as they are extremely resistant to our weaponry and it would take hours to corner one down and destroy it. Fortunately, they usually appear one at a time and in the time between their first appearance and a year ago, we managed to develop a weapon. The powered armor that you saw earlier which we call Symphogear," Genjuuro said after clearing his throat.

"How do they work?" Kirika asked curiously and looking a little excited by his explanation but Genjuuro shook his head at her question.

"Classified information at this point, I'm afraid. The boss will tear me to shreds if I reveal too much and I'm pretty certain he'll do that right now," he said with a slight shudder.

"Who's the boss?" she asked and he shook his head.

"You don't have to worry about him for now. Besides, didn't you want to know about the others at the scene?" Genjuuro asked and Kirika nodded her head, her eyes widening in excitement

"The blue and orange armor are the Symphogear armor that I was talking about before: the armor that we've created to fight the Noise. They and by extension, myself and Ryoko are part of the Second Division Mobile Disaster Response Corps, a quasi-governmental body that was originally founded to protect against natural disasters but later reorganized so that we can deal with the Noise matter," he started to say.

"The three girls on the other hand, are not part of the official group that fights the Noise. They call themselves the Phantom Thieves and for some unknown reason, they are able to fight the Noise by creating strange effects that are able to damage them."

"The problem is that we don't know who they are and they interfere with us during such fights, stealing our...resources if they manage to beat the Noise before we get to the scene. If we are there, they will fight us, although this time they did not since there were civilians there."

"Resources? You mean money?" Kirika wondered aloud and Ryoko chuckled at her question.

"I think I'm going to have quite a bit of fun with you when you get back to school," she said and shook her head. "Let's just say that the Noise drop something valuable when we defeat them, like monsters in a video game and we harvest as many of these as we can in order to better fight them the next time they arrive. And they've been arriving more frequently as of recently too."

"Oh..." Kirika said as she felt like her head was reeling a bit. Before her death, she would have not have believed that story but now? Hell, it felt more like they just explained a video game to her than what happened in real life.

"So...what happens now?" she asked after a moment and Ryoko glanced at Genjuuro who thought about this for a moment.

"We'll have to need run some tests on you first. The problem is that we don't know how that happened and we need a better understanding why, especially with...a particular issue in your chest," he said after a while and Kirika shuffled uncomfortably at this.

"But what about my family? Won't they be worried about me? What if I said I wanted to go home right now?" she asked and he nodded his head.

"I understand that you want to go home and check on your family but the tests will be important to protect people from the Noise in the days to come. While we can't do anything about the distress they are feeling right now, we can do something about it when you return to them at the very least so just be patient, okay? Ryoko won't take too long with the tests and we can get you back within two days at the most," he told her.

Kirika sighed at this and mumbled, "Okay...but I really want to see my friends and family and they're going to be sad because it's my birthday soon and I don't want them to be sad on my birthday if this takes too long..."

Ryoko glanced at Genjuuro at this and said, "You know, Gen-chan, we could ask them to help us with this matter."

He chuckled and said, "I guess I could but I'm not sure if she's their fan or not." Kirika glanced at the two of them in confusion before he turned back to her and said, "If you stay for the tests, we can arrange for Zwei Wing to give you a private show. Think of it as an early birthday present, if that's alright with you?"

"Yes, please," she replied in an instant.

***

Admittedly, Kirika felt like a bit of an easy manipulated rube after Genjuuro left her with Ryoko who immediately started running some tests on her. Specifically, she hooked her up to an X-ray scanner so that she can get a better look at what was now Kirika's new heart.

"Er...Sakurai-sensei?" Kirika asked a moment later and the woman glanced at her idly for a moment before turning her gaze back on the scanner's screen. "Can I ask if this really is happening and this is not some bad dream that I'm having?"

Ryoko gave her a sympathetic look and said, "Sorry. This is real. You did die and come back to life and now there's something in you that we need to study so that we can figure out just what exactly happened and whether this is good for us or otherwise."

Kirika sighed and watched as Ryoko took out a cigarette pack from her lab coat pocket and remove a single stick before lighting it. "Should you be smoking in front of your student?" she asked her teacher and the latter chuckled.

"Why not? I'm not teaching you right now and you won't catch me telling people not to do it," she said with a wicked grin to her. "But in case you start talking, why don't you take a look at this?"

Curious, Kirika headed over to Ryoko's side and stared at the scanner's screen. Underneath her rib-cage, she could see a sparkling gem that shone brightly where her heart should be and she stared at it in surprise. "Is that my new heart?" she asked and Ryoko nodded.

"It is," the woman said and turned over to Kirika, looking sharply at her. "Have you ever seen something like this before?" she asked and Kirika took a closer look at the gem. There was something vaguely familiar about the gem's coloring and she wondered where she had seen it before.

"I...I think so. I found a crystal that looked like this near where my family went missing. It was really pretty and so I took it and I think I kept it in my shirt pocket. But it wasn't as shiny as this one, I think," she told Ryoko who frowned a little.

"You found a Dissonant crystal and kept it with you in your shirt pocket?" Ryoko muttered to herself and turned back to the scanner. "But this looks like a Resonant crystal...it can't be..."

"Huh?" Kirika asked and Ryoko turned back to her, giving her a bright and cheerful smile.

"Nothing to worry about. Most of what I said is classified information but you have given me an idea about what happened to you. I just need to run a few more tests and confirm the brand new hypothesis that you've given me," she said, patting Kirika's head in a friendly manner.

***

Several tests and hours later, the door to the room that Kirika is in swung open and two tall figures stepped into the room. Kirika turned in their direction and squinted at them in confusion. "Hey...aren't you the two senpai from the other day?" she asked, staring at the tall, bespectacled Tsukasa and the tall, ample Kaede. "What are you two doing here?"

"We could ask the same about you when you jumped out in front of me and tried to protect me from getting a drill to my face," Kaede retorted as she walked over to Kirika and Ryoko smacked her own forehead.

"Classified information," she said, wagging her finger at Kaede before she let out a long sigh. "Not that it matters in the first place at the rate things are shaping up to be," she said, sounding a little tired and excited at the same time.

Kirika stared at Kaede, who seemed to be angry for some unknown reason before it dawned on her what she was talking about. "The two of you are the ones who were in the Symphogear suits?" she asked in surprise and Tsukasa chuckled at her reaction.

"Nice to meet you again. In school, my name is Kanzaki Tsukasa and the angry and worried one over here is called Amano Kaede in school," she said in a cool, deep voice as she extends her hand to Kirika who took her hand and shook it once, still in a daze over the revelation before she introduced herself to the two newcomers.

Kaede took a deep breath to calm herself before she grinned at Kirika. "Yo, Kirika-chan! So what can we do for our brave and idiotic fan here?" she said as she took a seat on the metal slab that Kirika was lying on earlier, pulling Kirika up and next to her.

"Idiotic fan?" Kirika said in protest. "Why are you here anyway?" she asked.

"Didn't my uncle promise you that you'd be getting a private show from Zwei Wing?" Tsukasa asked with a slight smile on her lips and Kaede nodded in agreement, grinning at her. Kirika simply stared at them in confusion, trying to understand what they are talking about.

"So Kazanari-sensei arranged for the two of you to come here and pretend to be Zwei Wing in order to make me happy?" she said after a while. Both Ryoko and Kaede gave a little start of surprise and stared at each other for a moment as Tsukasa gave Kirika an embarrassed smile and shook her head.

"No...we're Zwei Wing," she said before sighing and pulling off her hair. Kirika stared at Tsukasa again as she revealed dark blue hair to her, kept under wraps by a nylon wig cap which she also removed. Kaede did the same thing, revealing her own bright orange hair underneath the wig that she wore.

It took a moment for Kirika to understand what was going on and she said, "No way...you're Zwei Wing? Just how many celebrities are there in our school?" Standing before her was the famous idol duo. Kazanari Tsubasa, the cool one and Amou Kanade, the outgoing and cheerful one. Both of whom go to school at Lydian as everyone suspected and apparently using pseudonyms to hide their identities...

"There are other celebrities at Lydian?" Tsubasa asked as she fluffed her long blue hair out, letting it hang after being stuffed under her wig cap while Kanade does the same.

Kirika nodded and was about to mention the trio that she had met the other day but decided not to. "I think I promised not to disclose their identities but even if I didn't, it doesn't feel right for me to tell you who they are because it's their secret to keep not mine," she said.

"Fair enough," Kanade said before wrapping her arm around Kirika's shoulders and pulling her close, ruffling her hair. "I take it back. You're a pretty good kid. A bit dumb definitely which is why I totally get why you jumped out and defended me the other day. So Ryoko! How did you do it by the way?" she said, glancing at the older woman who was walking over to Kirika with a device in her hand.

"Do what?" the woman asked, placing the device against Kirika's arm and the latter felt a sharp sting, making her yelp in surprise before Ryoko returned to her equipment and connected the device to the scanner.

"We all saw her...well, we all saw what happened to her that night and you being a super genius and all that, Tsubasa and I thought that you found out that she was mostly dead so you managed to bring her back from the brink or something," Kanade explained and Ryoko shook her head.

"Medicine is not my field of expertise, Kanade. I know a little bit of biology but that doesn't make me a doctor, you know," the older woman said. "Besides, even if I was a licensed doctor, there was no way I could have helped her grow a new heart. Speaking of which, Kirika, lie down on the slab. Kanade, Tsubasa, place your heads on her chest," she ordered them.

"Excuse me?" Kirika asked in surprise but Kanade cheerfully pushed her done and did as Ryoko asked, with more enthusiasm than is appropriate. Tsubasa did the same, giving Kirika an apologetic look which changed into surprise a few seconds later.

"Wait...that sounded like the song of a Resonant crystal," Tsubasa said as she lifted her head up and turned to Ryoko. Kanade nodded and looked up, staring at the scientist in surprise.

"Thank you very much, all three of you. Kirika, I'm done with today's tests so you're free to go and have your early birthday with Tsubasa and Kanade. Enjoy yourselves!" Ryoko said to them cheerfully and ushered them out of the room with some protest from Tsubasa and Kanade.

Kirika looked at the two idols nervously as they looked at each other and sighed. "So many questions that needed to be answered," Kanade said, scratching her head in frustration.

Tsubasa nodded before turning to Kirika and touching her shoulder. "I guess we should do what my uncle promised you, hmm? Please excuse our show though. He only told us a few hours ago and what you see is the best that we can give to you on such short notice," she said apologetically.

She shook her head in response and looked at them excitedly. "It's okay. I'm just happy to have actually met the two of you in person like this. I can't wait to..." she paused and shook her head. "Nope...I can't tell anyone about the two of you either. Why am I the one who has to be keeping secrets?"

Kanade laughed and said, "Because you're the one who accidentally stumbled into them, that's why." With that, Tsubasa and Kanade led Kirika to a different part of the...wherever it was that they were in right now.

***

As it turned out, the idol duo had simply reserved a room in their current location and had Genjuuro set up a karaoke system for them. Kirika did not mind as much as she was just glad to be in Zwei Wing's company and as Kanade was singing a solo, she remarked to Tsubasa about how easy it was for him to do this for her.

"Not really," she replied to Kirika. "Uncle Genjuuro is probably doing this on the sly without Grandfather's knowledge and from the looks of things, I don't think that Grandfather knows that you are alive at all."

"Eh? Who's Grandfather?" Kirika asked, causing Tsubasa to grimace slightly.

"Kazanari Fudo. My grandfather and current head of the 2nd Division. Let's just say that the moment he finds out that you're alive, you're not going to have a very happy life," Tsubasa says after a moment of contemplation and Kirika shivered slightly.

"She's right, you know," Kanade said after she was done with her song. "Old man Fudo is a real piece of work. For example, do you know where we are right now?" she asked and Kirika shook her head. "Right under Lydian," she pointed up at the ceiling.

"Eh?"

"That's right. We're right under Lydian right now. Apparently, the whole reason for our current location is because of the Symphogear suits and how they work apparently. A particular dynamic is required to make them work and those accepted in Lydian, including yourself, all have the capability in some form and another to use the Symphogear armor," Kanade explained to her and Tsubasa nodded as well.

"Whoa...so you mean everyone else in the school are potential superheroes?" Kirika said in awe of their words, startling both Tsubasa and Kanade.

"Well...that is one way of looking at it," Tsubasa says after sharing a look with Kanade. "It will be more accurate to say that you are potential tools that Grandfather will want to exploit in the future to strengthen the country."

"And that's bad because?" Kirika asked curiously, causing Kanade to sigh and to pat her head.

"You'll learn when the time comes, kid," she told her and Kirika puffed her cheeks in annoyance to that statement.

"So...you're too lazy to explain things to me?" she asked and Kanade chuckled, nodding her head in response to Kirika's question.

"Yup. Anyways, time for a duet, Tsubasa. How does Orbital Beat sound?" she suggested to her blue-haired friend, who stood up and picked up a mic. Kirika bounced a little at the suggestion and started clapping her hands in rhythm to the beat as the two of them began to perform a song for her.

***

An hour passed by and there was a knock on the room while Kirika and Kanade were singing a duet together. Tsubasa opened the door and Genjuuro stepped in, watching the entire scene with some amusement on his face as he handed a box over to Tsubasa.

"How's the birthday celebration going?" he asked when the song was over and Kirika bounced around for a bit, expressing her excitement over hanging out with Kanade and Tsubasa. Then she noticed that the latter was opening the box, revealing a cake inside with the words 'Happy birthday' written on it.

"For me?" she asked and hopped over to it excitedly as Tsubasa began to cut it up for them to eat. Watching her do that suddenly brought a tear to Kirika's eyes and she wiped it away hurriedly but Genjuuro had already noticed and he patted her head lightly.

"Don't worry too much. Ryoko will be finishing with her tests and we can send you back home to your family," he said in a reassuring manner to her.

"I'm afraid not," a female voice said and everyone turned to take a look as Ryoko stepped into the room, closing the door behind her. "Nice place, Gen-chan. You picked a room where there's very limited security so that the girls can have a little bit of fun while I finish my work," she said with a grin on her face.

Ryoko's grin vanished momentarily and she looked around. "Do you think he's around?" Kirika heard her ask Genjuuro, who shook his head.

"Even if he is, do you think any of us would be able to notice?" he replied quietly and Ryoko chuckled at that.

"Point taken," she said wryly before clearing her throat and turning to look at everyone else in the room, giving everyone a cheerful smile that looked a little troubled to Kirika.

"What's that about me not going back home?" Kirika asked after taking a deep breath; she was almost afraid of what to expect from Ryoko after hearing about Fudo and after that brief exchange she heard between Ryoko and Genjuuro, she was not feeling particularly positive.

"I'm going to have to break protocol over here, Gen-chan because it pertains to what she has become after her death," Ryoko said with a meaningful glance to the only man present in the room before turning to Kirika. "You do remember what your heart is right now, don't you?" she asked the latter and she nodded.

"Some kind of crystal right?" she said and Ryoko stepped forward, bending down slightly and tapping her chest.

"Exactly. What you have in your chest is a Resonant crystal, or at least something that resembles a Resonant crystal," Ryoko said and everyone else in the room uttered a gasp of surprise.

"No way! Aren't those supposed to be really hard to refine and create, Dr. Sakurai?" Tsubasa said, staring at her in surprise.

Ryoko nodded and adjusted her spectacles, affixing her gaze on Kirika. "Apparently, there were three Noises on that night when Kirika's family was attacked and the Phantom Thieves must have eliminated one because according to Kirika here, she found a Dissonant crystal on the ground close to the site where her family's car was located," she announced dramatically.

"Somehow, something happened during the fight that sparked the Dissonant stone and forcefully refined it, turning it into her heart and mending her body. My hypothesis is that her death is the spark that forced that change and that when the Dissonant crystal came into contact with her blood and body, it was refined at that point and became a Resonant crystal," she continued, standing straight and pointing at Kirika.

"So...what's a Dissonant crystal and what's a Resonant crystal?" Kirika said after a moment, feeling rather confused by what Ryoko was talking about.

"Right. This is the juicy classified information bit so pay attention. Remember the crystal that you found? That's what I call a Dissonant crystal. It's the remains of a Noise that's been killed and what I theorize is a fragment of the forces that created the Noise in the first place. In that state, the power is dormant and we can't use it properly," Ryoko started to explain.

"But through an extremely expensive process, approximate 7.5 trillion yen give or take a few billion, we can refine the Dissonant crystal into something that we can use which is a Resonant crystal. It works as both a power source for the Symphogear and a weapon, attuning the Gear to a particular Noise's phase field in order to be able to efficiently damage it."

Kirika listened for a little while longer as Ryoko's explanations grew more and more technical with each passing second and her head started to spin. Tsubasa cleared her throat and said, "Dr. Sakurai, I think our guest is starting to have trouble following your explanation."

"Pity. I was getting to the good part," Ryoko said and turned to Kirika. "Well...I guess the best thing we can do is to hook Kirika up to a Symphogear and let her power it up on her own," she said and took Kirika with her.

The remaining three people in the room stared at Ryoko in shock before running after her with Kirika still confused as to what is going on.

***

Within minutes, Kirika was taken to what she assumed is a training room where she was lead to a decidedly older looking version of the Symphogears that Tsubasa and Kanade were using. While theirs were sleek and had rounded curves, the model that she was current strapped into was bulkier and seemed to have less armor compared to what the other models had, as far as she could tell.

Tsubasa and Kanade helped her into the suit, helping her to strap it on. It felt like putting on a very heavy set of clothes, Kirika thought to herself as she carefully slipped her arms and legs into the suit's limbs. The suit itself felt a little odd to put on, possibly because she was too small for the suit in general.

After she was strapped into the suit, it sealed shut, leaving her alone in the darkness for a minute before a screen flickered to life in front of her and she was able to view her surroundings. "Do you read me Kirika?" Ryoko said through her speaker and Kirika replied in the affirmative.

"Right now the only thing that is activated is the Gear's operating system. The prototype model that you are using does not have a Resonant crystal embedded in it but if my theory is right, you'll be able to activated it on your own. Just start singing," Ryoko told her.

"Eh?"

"Oh? I didn't tell you? The Resonant crystal has to been activated via song. Close your eyes and focus your thoughts on your heart. Think of turning on the Symphogear while you do so and the Resonant crystal will provide a song for you to use. I'm not exactly sure why the Resonant crystal works like this but I have a theory if you'd like to hear it..." Ryoko started to say.

"No! It's fine! I'll give it a shot," Kirika said hastily and close her eyes, doing as Ryoko had instructed her. For a while, she could hear nothing but as she continued to listen, the sound of her heart beating reached her ears and as Ryoko had mentioned, there was a song in the beat.

She started to sing at once, crooning out the words to some unknown language that she had never heard off in her entire life and the Symphogear began to stir underneath her as the hum of an engine reached her ears. Curious, she moved her legs and the gear moved forward as she wanted it to, albeit in an awkward manner.

Tsubasa and Kanade's mouth were open in surprise when she did so and Genjuuro glanced at Ryoko, a strange mixture of awe and horror on his face. "My father had better not learn of this development," Kirika heard him say to her in a soft voice.

At that point, the door to the training room was flung open and an old, dignified looking man with a beard and long silver hair stepped into the room. Somehow, he seemed like a male and older version of Tsubasa although Kirika got the feeling that Tsubasa would not welcome that resemblance, given the tight look of fear and slight anger on her face.

"Ah. Ogawa's reports were right. You are carrying out a test right now, Dr. Sakurai," the newcomer said, glancing casually at both Ryoko and Genjuuro, the latter's face going pale at the sight of the man. Ryoko's lip tightened a little, as if annoyed by the man's appearance and Tsubasa and Kanade stiffened a little upon seeing him.

The old man walked over to Kirika and tapped her suit lightly. "Most interesting. This is the prototype model, is it not, Dr. Sakurai? Did we not remove the Resonant crystal from this model and installed it in Unit 1?" he asked politely.

"Well..."

"And you can't possibly have the new Resonant crystal installed in here. The last report that you've given me was a week ago and it stated that the crystal was currently at 79 percent ready and would need another three months before it is ready. Nor do I think that it's possible for you to remove the crystals from Units 1 and 2 as that would leave us unprepared in case of another Noise attack," the old man continue to say before tapping on the suit.

When no one in the room uttered a word, the old man smiled and Kirika shivered; it was a cold smile, devoid of any care or humor. "Now, if the gear's user would be so kind as to step out, the four of you would receive a much kinder punishment than what I originally have in mind," he said and Kirika fumbled around inside the suit for a while before pressing something that opened the suit.

The old man watched as Kirika climbed out of the suit and hopped down in front of him, looking nervously at him. Tsubasa stepped forward, apparently wanting to say something but he simply turned his head in her direction, affixing a cold glare at her and she stepped back silently. The old man turned back to Kirika and looked down at her, studying her critically.

"You are not the boy that I approved for training and use for Unit 3," he said after a long while and Kirika shook her head quickly. "So, who are you and tell me how you are able to pilot the Symphogear without a need for Resonant crystal attached to the gear's focal point?" he asked.

"Er...my name is Akatsuki Kirika and...I don't really understand how I was able to pilot the Symphogear thing. Ryoko just told me to sing and that the Gear would respond to my song," she replied in a fearful manner. The man raised an eyebrow and Kirika said, "There were a lot of confusing words that she used and I really couldn't follow what she said."

He stared at her for a while and she shivered fearfully under his gaze before he turned to Ryoko. "I want a written report about this situation and how this girl is able to do something that you told me is impossible. Have it delivered to me within the hour. Genjuuro, a word with you right now."

The old man left the room with Genjuuro in tow and Ryoko followed in their wake, giving them a weak but apologetic smile, leaving Kirika alone in the room with Tsubasa and Kanade. The three of them did not say a word until Genjuuro stepped back inside, looking a little ashen faced but relieved.

Kirika was about to ask him something when he shook his head and said, "You're not in trouble or anything. Once Ryoko has the report in, we're sending you back to your family on the condition that you check in here everyday after school."

"But..."

Kanade shook her head and looked at her. "That's pretty lucky for you. If the old man really was mad, he'd probably try and get you put on trial for treason or something like that," she said to Kirika. Judging from the tone of her voice, she was probably correct about that assumption.

Taking a deep breath, Kirika calmed herself down and asked, "Who was that guy anyway and why was everyone afraid of him?"

Tsubasa glanced at her and said, "That was my grandfather, Kazanari Fudo, head of the Second Division as well as the leader of the Kazanari clan. He is a lifelong sentinel of our country and will do everything that he deems necessary in order to protect Japan from harm."

Genjuuro nodded once before giving Kirika a reassuring smile. "Don't worry though. As long as we're here, we'll do our best to make sure that you won't be ill-treated," he said to her before leading her out of the room. Kirika nodded in response and glance around for a bit and for a moment, she thought she saw a shadow move but thought nothing of it.

***

True to his word, Genjuuro started to arrange for Kirika's return to her home, making a few calls to people that he knew. "That should get the paperwork on your disappearance rolling," he said to her and Kirika glanced at him curiously.

"Noise are still a state secret at this time. We can't let the public know about strange monsters who are almost immune to modern technology nor can we let the world know about the Symphogear project. Other countries might object to the fact that we are developing weapons in secret and do something about it," he explained to her.

"So...what's going to happen now?" Kirika asked Genjuuro timidly and he looked at her for a moment.

"It's not going to be easy for you. My father has already conscripted you into this unit after that fiasco in the training room and you're probably going to have to train with Tsubasa and Kanade to fight Noise. He's also angry that his original choice will have to be pushed aside because of you so expect a lot of hardship from him," he explained to her.

"So does that mean I'm going to have to carry boulders on my back while climbing up a cliff?" she asked in half-jesting manner and he nodded, his face completely serious as if to say that would be the least of what she would have to go through.

"Anyway, you'd better get ready to go home. We've got a change of clothes for you and my niece will show you to the locker room so that you can go and wash up first before we take you to the people who will be bringing you home," he told her and she did as she was told, following Tsubasa to a locker room where she showered and put on her school uniform to mimic what she wore when she had died.

"Welcome to the team," Tsubasa said when Kirika had finished putting on her clothes. "I'm sorry that it had to be done this way though," she continued, her tone becoming more apologetic as she led Kirika to an elevator shaft.

"I guess," Kirika mumbled as Tsubasa directed her to hold onto a rail inside the elevator and she did so. She let out a yelp of surprise as the elevator sped upwards and she felt gravity pushing down on her, making her ears feel bloated. She gazed out of the elevator's glass walls and stared in wonder at the intricately designed murals that was done on the walls around the elevator.

"What is this place?" she asked in awe and Tsubasa glanced out as well.

"That's the elevator shaft leading down to the base," she explained. "It's over a kilometer in length since the 2nd Division perform a lot of experiments as well as safeguard civilians from Noise attacks so we need to keep it as deep underground in order to protect civilians from any harm that might happen in case our experiments goes wrong."

"So...why the murals?" Kirika asked curiously and Tsubasa shrugged in response.

"I asked that question as well when Kanade and I were brought down to the 2nd Division two years ago and my uncle couldn't really give me an answer other than it was Dr Sakurai's suggestion," she explained to Kirika as she carefully adjusted her wig. She had replaced it now that they were heading back up to the surface although Kirika noticed that she had never removed the spectacles. The glasses were real then?

"Hmmm?" Tsubasa said when Kirika asked her about the glasses. "Yeah, I wear them most of the time except during tours and meetings with the fans. Apparently a lot of people hate the idea of an idol wearing glasses, except for Kanade."

"You're pretty close with Kanade aren't you?" Kirika asked curiously and Tsubasa smiled at her, nodding her head a little.

"It's been more than four years since we first met. My grandfather forced me to join the 2nd Division because he wanted me to be a part of the family business from a young age and Kanade was already here. Her parents were scientists working with the 2nd Division and they were killed during a Noise attack," she said and Kirika gave her an uncomfortable look, wondering if she should have talked about this.

"Don't worry. If Kanade were here, she'd tell you the full story herself. Anyway, we first met in this elevator here and she was a lot angrier than. As in, she threatened to beat me up if I slowed her down in any way and we really didn't talk to each other for a month after that first meeting," Tsubasa said with a chuckle.

Feeling a little uncomfortable, Kirika did not ask about what happened next and Tsubasa appeared to have realized this, as she glanced over at Kirika and smiled reassuringly. "Maybe I should let Kanade continue the story. It's just as much her story as it is mine," she suggested and Kirika nodded her head.

The rest of the elevator trip is relatively silent and Kirika lets out a surprise yelp when the elevator stopped moving. The door slides open and Tsubasa steps out, leading Kirika out who looks around curiously to see where they are stepping out of. It turned out to be an inconspicuous storage shed that was located between the middle and high school department where Kirika had never been to before.

The elevator door slides into the ground after Tsubasa pulls on a hidden lever and Kirika asked, "Has anyone accidentally located the elevator before?" Tsubasa thought about this for a moment before shaking her head in response.

"Not that I've ever heard about it. If it ever happened, my grandfather would have raised a fuss about it with the staff. Besides, activating this lever alone requires a bio-metric scan before you can use it," she replied and Kirika nodded her head at the answer.

It was night when they stepped out of the school and the security guards nodded at Tsubasa as she walked past. Once outside, Kirika noticed that there was a police car waiting and she squinted a little when she saw the two police officers waiting for her.

"Officer Tomosato, Officer Fujitaka," Tsubasa greeted them and lead Kirika over to them while the latter looked at them nervously.

"Tomosato, is that the girl from the other night?" the male officer said, glancing at Kirika and the latter remembered where she had seen them: they were the officers who had discovered her family's car.

The female officer nodded and sighed at Kirika. "I distinctly remember asking you to go home and wait for our call," she said to Kirika who laughed nervously at the woman's words before looking away in embarrassment.

Tsubasa raised an eyebrow at this before stepping back. "I'll be seeing you again later," she said to Kirika before stepping into the darkness and walking away as the two officers led Kirika into their car.

"At least this story has a happy ending, unlike the others we've seen so far," Fujitaka noted as they buckled up and his partner started the car, causing Kirika to look at him curiously as she buckled up in the car's backseat.

Tomosato nodded and glanced at Kirika via the rear view mirror. "I'm just glad that she's safe and sound," she murmured and now Kirika was curious about what they were talking about. When she asked them, the two of them remained silent all the way back to the police station.

***

Kirika took a deep breath as she followed Tomosato inside. As it was night, the station was relatively quiet and she was led to an empty chair. Tomosato went to the phone and made a call as Fujitaka asked Kirika if she had eaten yet.

"Come to think of it, not really. I only had some cake today," she replied and he nodded, going somewhere before returning with a cup noodle for her several minutes later. She took it eagerly as Tomosato returned to them and cleared her throat.

"Alright. We'd better get our story straight," she said in a somewhat stern manner and told Kirika what she should be telling her parents: that she was taken by an unknown stranger who was masked and did not speak to her but she managed to escape on her own without any trouble and made it to the police station.

"Is that what you told my parents?" she asked and Tomosato nodded.

"Pretty much. From what I know about the group you were involved in, they don't want news of the truth going on and honestly, I'd prefer to know as little about it as possible. It's bad enough that I have to report suspicious activity to them first but now I need to invent a crime?" the latter said, sounding a little annoyed.

Kirika bowed her head in embarrassment and the officer sighed. "It's not your fault. Don't worry too much about what I said, okay?" Tomosato said in a soothing manner. "Why don't you just finish eating first? Your parents are on their way right now."

After ten minutes have passed, Kirika heard the familiar sound of her family car braking and she glanced up to see her parents hurriedly stepping out of the car. They rushed into the station and Kirika hopped out of her seat, running over to meet them. "Mom! Dad!" she called out to them and they noticed her before running to her, embracing her tightly.

She smiled and hugged them back for a while before she broke away from them, looking them over. They looked fine as far as she can tell. From the looks of things, the Noise did not harm them at all, she noted in relief. "Sorry for making you worry," she said in a sheepish voice and her mother shook her head.

"Are you alright? You're not hurt at all are you?" she asked and Kirika shook her head.

"I'm fine," she said and gave them a reassuring smile. For someone who died and had her heart replaced with a crystal at least, she added mentally.

Her father ruffled her head and gave her a fond smile before Fujitaka cleared his throat and said, "I hate to break up the reunion but there are a few paperwork that needs to be cleared." He led her father away while her mother led her back to the car.

"By the way...is Kazuya fine?" Kirika asked and her mother nodded before glancing at her.

"He's fine. After that minor accident that we had, we were all knocked out for a while but the police found us just in time. And what were..." she stopped at this point, biting back her own words as she shook her head. "Never mind. I was really mad when I heard that you went to look for us after the accident but now, I'm just glad that you're safe."

Kirika nodded and leaned forward to hug her mother again. Guess they don't remember the Noise at all, she thought as her father returned to the car and got in.

"Don't I get a second hug as well?" he asked and Kirika grinned, leaning over to hug him as well. He squeezed her tightly before starting the car and driving off as she settled against the seat once more and closed her eyes. It was good to be home again, she thought as she slowly drifted off to sleep, listening to the sound of her beating heart.