Chapter 9: Looming Danger

Tsubasa and I grew so close that my attempts to hide at school became futile. Rumors began to spread, so I finally gave up and let Tsubasa do as she pleased. Now, she sat across from me, eating with a wide smile that felt strange, as I was used to her cool demeanor.

Sometimes, we ate with the rest of our group, but we both felt that it was rude to interrupt them so often, so we usually ate lunch together. Furthermore, being stuck in my female form forced me to have lunch with her so often that I struggled with the attention.

School ended, and I planned to resume idol activities with Tsubasa when a familiar man caught my eye. I recognized him instantly—it was me, in my male form. Panicked, I dashed toward him, ignoring Tsubasa's calls.

After what felt like an eternity of running, I saw him enter a dark alley. I followed, but found no one there. Thinking I was simply too tired, I started to head back when I heard a voice.

"Hello there, Mei, or should I say, my other self. It's weird seeing you like this; things never really work out as we expect in this world."

Slowly, I turned to see my male self standing in the school uniform, smiling.

"Confused? Let's just say it's a side effect of wielding Durandal. Seriously, what were we thinking, doing something so reckless when we didn't even have proof that there was a relic inside us besides the scar on our backs?"

"I see. So, your presence prevents me from transforming back into my male form?"

"Yes and no. In fact, I should have disappeared, but, well, as expected from that guy. You know him too; he's one of the masterminds behind the events of last season."

"Fudo Kazanari..."

"Yup. That man really slithers his way through things. For your information, he's already stolen Durandal and Solomon's Cane."

As my male self spoke, he slowly produced the relic Chris used in the anime and transformed.

"Too bad. My weakness is you; you can absorb anything I shoot. That guy's orders are annoying. You know where we're headed, right?"

"So, instead of Fine, you plan to become the final boss of this arc?"

"Yup. Besides, just as I know you, you know me; we're literally the same person. I'll skip the chit-chat. Be prepared. You can talk to Genjuro, but without strong evidence, it'll be useless to get him to go after his dad. Maybe Fine can do something, but can you really guess what that woman's thinking?"

"So, you're planning to die?"

"Basically, if I'm thinking correctly, when Elfnein arrives with the Ignite Module, you can intentionally fail so I can respawn. But even now, I'm still confused as to why I'm spawning so far away from you."

"I wonder if it's random, but still, it would be a great help if you could stay."

"Well, I am you. Besides, it's better to consult with Elfnein than Fine, since she's really become a pain in the ass for us. If it weren't for her, we probably wouldn't be doing this idol crap in the first place."

"Yeah, but I'm starting to like it."

"Damn, so your mind is starting to lean towards a masochistic route since you overdid your training."

"Hey, that's rude."

"Well, whatever. In the end, if you want to tell Genjuro, it's better to do it after you and the others defeat me. We can just come up with a bullshit answer that because we're becoming one again, you have my memories. While we can't exactly arrest that bastard, at least we can make Genjuro suspicious of him, and maybe involve Tsubasa's father too."

"That family is rather a mess because of him, after all. While I can understand his will to make Japan great again, his methods are rather harsh for me."

"Well, what do you expect? Old folks are usually stubborn about their way of life."

"We've talked a bit too much. Tsubasa is going to be suspicious, so let's start."

"Oh yeah, I forgot. But hey, sorry if it hurts, okay?"

Just like that, the male me started to shoot with full power. Of course, I wasn't defending myself, but damn did it hurt, since I got thrown so far away. In fact, I sunk in the river for a moment.

"So, if I understand correctly, your male self is out there holding Solomon's Cane?"

"Yes, Director Genjuro. I'm sure of it. Chris and Fine would agree, since that's how he transforms. Though, I also think he can transform because he is me, so he has the qualification."

After I spoke, Genjuro rubbed his forehead, deep in thought. I decided to continue.

"And if I'm right, there's a chance the Durandal is gone as well."

Hearing this, Genjuro looked at me seriously before turning to the others, who were already nodding with panicked expressions.

"So, what do you think he'll do next?"

"There's a high chance he'll head toward the final match, since Fine is here. He'll probably do that so the timeline can move forward, but it feels strange to me that the timeline is being forced like this. Since he's me, can you locate him?"

I knew it was probably impossible, since Fudo was backing him, but I needed to act like I was trying every possible avenue.

"We're already on it, Mei."

"Well, for now, Mei, you can leave Mamoru to us. Act normally, since we still don't know when he'll react."

"Roger, Director Genjuro."

That should be enough for now. If it weren't for my idol work, I feel like Tsubasa would be accompanying me today as well. Thank goodness I was free today. While my status as an idol is rising, Tsubasa still gets more job offers than I do, since she is the idol of Japan, after all.

At least, that's how she was portrayed in the anime. Still, I rarely see a famous idol besides Tsubasa… at least, not now. Apparently, Tsubasa isn't letting me get closer to them, or so I hear from Shinji. I didn't expect her to become so overprotective.

I just hope she doesn't turn yandere on me now, but remembering how far we are from the part of the current timeline where we can access the parallel world, I feel like I just raised a flag there, so I decided to ignore it.

"Mei, are you done?"

"Yes, Tsubasa. You're quick. I thought you still had an idol job?"

"Oh, I already cleared some, thanks to Ogawa's help."

Hearing that, I sighed. Her attention is starting to become overbearing. Is it the result of my actions? I don't remember doing anything to make her fall for me this much, besides, shouldn't she be in love with Kanade, right?

"Oh, by the way, I recently started learning how to cook because of that cooking show."

Now, she's even started cooking and giving me what appears to be food wrapped in plastic. If I were dense, I might think it's just a gift, but somehow, I don't think so. Still, I can see myself panicking about this in the future.

"Thanks, Tsubasa, but even though I know how to cook, I don't think I'm an expert yet. How about we cook lunch together next time to surprise everyone?"

"Yeah, sure, everyone would be happy with that."

Seriously, who are you seeing, Tsubasa? This really gives me a weird feeling, like seeing an old friend after a long time and finding they've completely changed, like they've become someone else. I know that thought is cliché, but I hope it's not one of those "love changes people" things.

What's more, before I even noticed, Tsubasa was already clinging to my side, hugging my hand, making me want to sigh because she's really changing so much. But then there's that parallel world where Tsubasa and Chris become a couple since, in that world, they're the only two left as Symphogear users.

That Tsubasa was so different that when I saw it on the news about that event, I was in complete shock. But now that I remember, there's a cold Hibiki as well, which is awesome. Funnily enough, she became like that because Miku wasn't there, so the reason Hibiki is who she is right now is because of Miku. They are indeed a duo.

But forget about that because the problem now is that Tsubasa is clearly stuck to me like a cat who's found their owner and won't leave me alone, especially after that stuff with my male self; she's become even more overprotective.

I mean, even now, when the Noise appeared, she decided I should rest, while Chris, who was nearby, just laughed at the whole situation and told me to rest as well. While I hoped Hibiki would allow me to help, she just made a sorry pose, which is understandable, as the trio of them went off.

They even faced my male self, but because he was using the Solomon Cane, he was slightly stronger than them, though they managed to fend him off since their teamwork is getting better.

Now, because I was bored and had nothing to do, I was cooking with Miku, though it was mainly Miku doing the cooking, and I was helping since I'm just a "follow the recipe" type of guy.

"So, how's it going with Hibiki?"

"Just as usual, Mei, she's still being the idiot and reckless girl."

"But you can't leave her alone, right?"

Hearing my question, Miku goes silent, but while she's practically Hibiki's mom most of the time, she ends up being with Hibiki. Though it's a pity that the anime never said if they ended up dating or what, hey, at least in the game, their relationship grows stronger, and Miku even becomes a full Symphogear user, not a temporary one.

Now that I think about it, why does Miku become a full Symphogear user in the anime? She was clearly shot with that beam, so the relic should be gone in season 2. Yet, she manages to transform in the final season, during the last episode, because of the Faust Robe, before losing it again after their finale song.

However, in the game, she can still transform, which makes me question how. I only read some of the game info before it shut down, so I don't even know the exact reason.

"They're still late. I wonder if they'll meet Mamoru again."

"So, they say it's your male self, but how do you feel when seeing your other self like that?"

"To be honest, I'm confused. But from what he said, apparently he showed up because I entered berserk mode last time. Though, if that's the case, I don't know why he appeared somewhere else instead of there."

"That's true, but enough about that. Have you finished chopping the vegetables?"

"Done. This size is fine, right? I often forget I'm a girl now, but when I was a male, I could eat bigger pieces of vegetable no problem."

"But now you're a girl, Mei. Besides, you need to fix your habit of wearing pants and start wearing skirts."

"Ehhh, wearing skirts gives me a weird feeling. Though, now that I think about it, compared to wearing a Symphogear suit, it's still better. But I'll keep wearing pants if I can."

Hearing my words, Miku let out a sigh before she started to pat my head, but it felt weird since I'm taller than her. Though, compared to Tsubasa, I'm slightly shorter by 4 cm, since Tsubasa is 167cm while I am now, in my female form, 163cm. Though my male form is 10 cm taller, so I am in fact slightly taller than Tsubasa.

"Still, now that I think about it, I'm slightly glad that I have mixed blood."

"Now that I think about it, your parents were researchers, right?"

"Yeah, they met in Japan. Only my mother is Japanese, but funnily enough, it's the same in this world. Though the difference is my parents in this world died."

"Oh yeah, I heard you talked to the you who was born in this world, right?"

"Yeah, he misses his parents, so I allowed him to come to my world. Luckily, the device worked, but it turned to dust after it was used."

"That's too bad. But if you knew it was going to turn to dust, would you still have used it?"

"Well, in that world, I'm rather an alien after all. Because the other system is online, I was treated like nothing, even though I have a Symphogear. So, when this world's Hibiki came with the invite to come to this world, I agreed. Though, who could have thought I would later be sent to the past?"

"That's sad."

"I'm over it now, but I'm worried my actions will have severe consequences."

I feel this way because I've lied a lot, and no matter how good a lie is, it's only a matter of time before it's exposed. While there might be exceptions, I don't think I'll be that lucky.

"I think we should prepare the table, so I should get going."

After what felt like ages, we finally finished setting the food just as the trio came home. It felt weird seeing Tsubasa so happy after hearing that I was helping with dinner tonight.