Bringing a hand up as he thought over what was going on, Takehiko rolled his shoulder back as he pressed down on the crown of the Ridewatch. “ZI-O!” it called out as he brought it down to slot it onto the Ziku Driver. The belt started to sound out… hm. “What sort of music is this?”
Tsukasa tilted his head. “What’s wrong? That sounds like the kind of thing that would sound out for a clock-themed Rider, doesn’t it?”
Takehiko hummed. “I dunno. It sounds like a clock which is cool and all, but, it seems a bit… on the noise. And why is the clock so slow with nothing else?” He looked to Sento. “Can we change that up any?” The scientist shook his head in a ‘so-so’ manner. “Well, we’ll see how it goes later. Henshin!”
Spinning the Driver around, it landed back in its starting position and called “Rider TIIIIME.” As his armor formed, Takehiko thought he’d seen the world itself spin around as he did the spin. Tsukasa and Sento enjoyed the sight of the clocks that formed the end result of the armor before them. “Kameeeen Riderrrr Zi-O!”
The leader of the Rider Base clapped for a moment. “Wonderful! That is quite the look. You will definitely be able to show off how well the Kamen Riders are going to join the Pro Hero circuit in this.”
Sento nodded, adding in his own thoughts about the aesthetics that drew on clocks and watches while Takehiko frowned inside his helmet. He knew that Kamen Riders were heroes, but, something about that sounded wrong. “Hang on. You mean Kamen Riders aren’t Pro Heroes right now?”
“Not most of us, no. And that’s been the case for a while, since getting paid is rarely what truly motivates us. Monsters, villains, the Noise, those are what we fight, usually for very personal reasons.” Tsukasa quirked an eyebrow at Zi-O. “How about you? Will you go into battle to fill up your bank account?”
“That was never my plan.”
“Good.” Nodding at the earnest words, Tsukasa stood up. “Kiryu-sensei, can I trust you to handle everything else Takehiko-kun and Section 2 need today?”
The scientist grinned as his hair jumped out on one side. “Oh yes. I have quite a few ideas for things that will help our friend here.” Sento chuckled to himself, rubbing his hands together. “Ah, this will be fun!”
Takehiko wondered if maybe he’d made a mistake working closely with Sento Kiryu of all people… Though he could be dealing with Ryoko Sakurai, that is certainly an option. One he’d like to avoid when possible. That woman scared him, and it wasn’t even just because of how she acted. There was just something… off about that lady. It was a bit weird, really. He didn’t know what it was, but something about Professor Sakurai made a shiver run down his spine.
Thankfully for his sanity, getting the changes made to the Ziku Driver so it would be a little bit faster on the sounds and incorporate a few other things they thought of while in the zone. Exiting the lab, he hummed a song to himself as Takehiko started to walk down the hallway. His ear perked up as he heard a second set of footsteps begin to join him. It was as he reached a peak in lyrics that a deep voice chuckled behind him. Looking over his shoulder, amber eyes locked with a set of blue that struck him as steel trying to hide torn silk. “That’s from our second album, isn’t it? I’m surprised. Not many people bought that one.”
He smiled at the Kazanari idol. “I’d say it has one of my favorite songs, though I’m also a touch biased. You’re a wonderful singer, after all, and an entire song just from you was quite the treat.” Tsubasa gave a short laugh, though he gathered from the sound that she didn’t want to think about it too much. “What brings you down here, Kazanari-senpai?”
Her shoulders relaxed a bit. Now why did that question release some stress? “I was having a quick check-up by Sakurai-sensei. After all,” Tsubasa reached into her collar, pulling a pendant out of her Lydian uniform. “I can’t fight the Noise with deteriorating limbs or the like. Thankfully, my body is in peak condition and not likely to leave. The Symphogear gives me a good deal of protection from conventional weaponry, and even some esoteric Quirks.”
Takehiko leaned down a little, looking at the pink jewelry. “Oh. That’s cool. Such a small thing, and you can fight the Noise with what it makes? Man, Sakurai-sensei is kinda nuts, to manage that so young.” He shook his head a bit, straightening up. “Even Kiryu-sensei can’t manage that sort of compression of so many parts.”
Tsubasa puffed her chest out a touch. “Which just goes to show, the Relics of the past can be put to some amazing feats even today.” She stuffed the pendant down her blouse again. “Shall we head for the elevator together?”
“If you're fine with my presence, Senpai.” The walk was in relative silence, and Takehiko thought about starting up the humming again. It was quite the long hallway after all.
“You call me Senpai. I don't think it's just because I'm in high school and you aren't.” Tsubasa looked at him coolly.
“That's right. I'll be entering Lydian Private Music Academy, at Commander Genjuro and Kamen Rider Decade's direction.” Takehiko said his rehearsed response. For normal civilians, it'd be ‘a board director’ instead. “This is how they think I'll be able to help Section 2 fight against the Noise most easily.”
Tsubasa frowned at that. “A man, fighting the Noise… I know there are some, but it is still rare to hear. It's been me an–…just me, for quite awhile."
Nodding at that, Takehiko figured it would be easier to focus on the present and future. “Which is why I'm calling you senpai, Senpai. I look forward to learning from you!” He gave Tsubasa a wide grin. It was the truth, after all. He was downplaying his excitement, if anything. “How did you learn the sword, Kazanari-senpai?”
She nodded slowly. “I’ve had a few tutors here and there. Most of my experience comes from combatting the Noise and criminals. I rarely step into a dojo these days. The recording booth tends to be where you can find me more than anything.”
He perked up at that thought. So Setsuna was right? Hm. Takehiko nodded back. “Well, I look forward to your next album. Hopefully we can spend more time doing things like that, rather than fighting the Noise or criminals.”
A light smile spread over Tsubasa’s face. “Mm. That would be nice. Just spread my wings, singing for the world…” She nodded at that, giving a little sigh. “That sounds like it would be bliss. But until such time as the Noise are dealt with, I doubt I’ll be able to truly do that.”
Takehiko nodded at that. He hit the button to call the elevator down. “Yeah. It’ll take a while before we see that day. But I look forward to what’ll happen when we get there! And hopefully the journey itself isn’t too rough.”
The singer gave a scoff at that as she held on to the elevator’s grip bar. “Too rough, hm? That’s certainly far from my experience.”
He shrugged at that, a bit disappointed to see Tsubasa’s smile disappear so quickly. Could he save it… probably not. So Takehiko decided to go for a different approach. “Do you know where the albums will be sold? I’d like to get one as soon as possible after all.”
The singer looked at him in confusion for a moment before the question processed. She gave him a few different locations, which were quite handy. “But you can’t tell anyone. There are other places that the album is being sold at, so you’ll have to let any friends you know of handle buying at a place they know will sell it in a few months.”
Takehiko gave her a thumbs-up as the elevator began to climb up the long, long rail system. Why was this how they had to get in and out of Section 2 and Lydian… it sucked! And the only way to relieve it would just make the whole thing even more annoying since it would just make it happen in far more sudden bursts. Urgh!
The young man looked over to Tsubasa who was far too comfortable with the ride up. The slightly shorter young woman had no problem just going up the elevator like this. He straightened up a bit, gritting his teeth as the sheer gravitational pull of the ride pulled against his body. It didn’t last long, but Takehiko would definitely call it a ride he wasn’t looking forward to taking more often. This was going to be rough on the spine, wasn’t it? Or good training. Even if he didn’t like it.
Back inside Section 2, Genjuro nodded as he finished reading over the progress report. “We need to give him a few tools. His strength is coming along, but there are some things he needs to get better at. And a ranged option would also be useful, considering his times here fall well short of various governmental training records and Pro Hero middle school course exams.”
Sento gave a short huff. “Indeed. Thankfully, I’ve got a few ideas on how to make it work out. We’ll need to make him some holsters for the weapons.” The scientist tilted his head. “But what sort of things does a clock theme allow…”
“Perhaps we ought to make his weapons first and see how he likes them before we decide on anything final.” Genjuro glanced over to where Ryoko had been. “We should also run the ideas by Ryoko-kun, she will have her own plans no doubt.” He frowned lightly. “Whenever Ryoko-kun returns, that is…”
The Kamen Rider scientist gave a little shrug before calling up a holographic keyboard and screen. “Well, let’s begin the prototyping of the experiment, shall we?”
Genjuro chuckled a little after he realized that Sento was a bit unenthused about this. “I believe we have some ability to tap into tachyons these days, do we not, Kiryu-kun? That would let us give him quite the edge, or even energy for a long-ranged weapon. Could be… ah, who am I kidding. Not even you could tackle that sort of problem, could you?”
Sento paused in his typing as he listened. After Genjuro gave a despondent sigh, he looked at the red-maned man. “...I know what you’re doing. Damn you that it worked, Genjuro.” Pride pricked, Sento turned back to his holographic computer and began to play around with calculations. After all, he’d need to know just what he was pulling on and how in order to give Takehiko a good edge against monsters and Noise. The sheer power that the Zi-O suit could give off was more than enough against most normal humans unless they had a very durable Quirk of some sort. Actual tachyons for attacking, that was not a good idea. But there were a few other things that could be done. “Maybe some sort of vibration frequency, make cutting faster that way?”
A higher pitch of voice hummed behind him as Sento typed out his ideas. “It shouldn’t be too obvious what’s going on with it though. Vibration is good and all but if it just makes him lose grip on the sword, that’s not going to be very useful.” The creator of the Symphogears straightened up as Ryoko adjusted her glasses. “Keeping it subtle will take a bit of a powerful computer, but we’ve got plenty of those we can make easy to slap inside… What are we using to house everything?”
Genjuro got up from his seat as the pair started to talk about what to do. He paused at the door out, holding up a wrist watch. “Mm, four-forty. If I hurry, I might be able to get a good place in line for dinner.”
Ryoko and Sento watched him leave the room, the door sliding closed with the hiss of displaced air. Then the pair started to try and figure out how to use a wrist watch and its band to fit the aesthetic that Zi-O’s suit had… which was also a wrist watch and band, with the Ziku Driver acting as a latch.
“But if we make the hilt too big–”
“There’s also the fact that it needs to interface with the Ridewatches, don’t forget that.”
“Not to mention fighting at all ranges… oh, why not try something like the Drill Crusher?”
“You want him to take something apart in the middle of combat?”
“It worked for me, but he needs something else… oh!”
Genjuro smiled as he got up from the door, leaving the two mad scientists to their ideas. Hopefully Takehiko would enjoy their creation. For now, he had a meal to get and a movie to select. Jackie Chan, Bruce Lee, or maybe something with their schools’ latest stars. Hm… this would be a tough one.
…
Stretching out his arms, Takehiko glanced around. Miku and Hibiki had left already, and while Itsuka was busy in her MMA club, Izuki asked that he stay back. She’d been off to the restroom for a few minutes now, and he was contemplating going to the cafeteria or to a vending machine for a snack. Just as he was about to stand up, the club’s door opened up and the broccoli girl walked in. He could make a joke, but from the look in her eye, Takehiko decided to just sit back and wait. Now what required such a determined glare, Izuki?
The young girl walked over, and drew in a breath. Her chin was about level with his eyes, and the bustiest girl in the ZWAC drew some attention to something the thin spring uniform barely covered. “Takehiko-kun. I’m not sure if you’re open to this but… There’s a movie playing I think you’d like. Do you want to go with me to see it?”
Oh. Huh. Well, if she was just coming out with that question… “I would, Izuki. What’re we watching?”
His smile was met with a wide-eyed and happy look from her. Takehiko gave a light ‘oof’ as he got hugged, and he chuckled a bit as he returned it. The pair began to plan out what they’d be doing and when the movie was going to be seen. Something neither of them realized…
Was someone had heard what they’d be doing, and had quietly run away, tears landing unheard while she left. After all, with a girl like Izuki dating him, what hope did a musclehead like her have?
Poking his head out the door curiously, Takehiko caught a glimpse of a ponytail turning a corner, but he wasn’t sure what color it was with the light playing with it. Shrugging, he came back in to tell Izuki he thought he’d heard someone moving but apparently they weren’t going to stick around.
As the pair left Korosanto Middle after a few more minutes of talking, Izuki was giggling to herself as she held her bag in front of her legs. Takehiko watched in amusement, then brought his phone out to look at any news. “Hm, looks like we’ve got a Villain holding up traffic. Someone the media has never seen, and he doesn’t seem keen to name himself either. Well, we can just take the long way to avoid that.”
The greenette nodded to that, happy to not deal with a Villain. Though she was curious what sort of Quirk they had, it would be easier to look up the incident later and pick apart what had been reported on. For now though, it was a different route they ended up taking. But it was barely a few minutes into it that she froze up, hearing explosions going off repeatedly. Takehiko frowned, not understanding the source, though with the screams going on and the fact some of them cut off suddenly… He peeked around a corner, his friend joining him in the motion after a couple seconds. They both found themselves watching as a young man in a gakuran blasted himself around with explosions from his palms, his blond hair flying around as he dodged around the thin lines that were the attacking forms of Noise zipping through the air. He wasn’t trying to aim to hit, just dodge around and occasionally push someone else out of the way. But he was only one kid, and they both saw that he wasn’t able to save everyone.
Izuki bit her lip, wondering if now would be the time to act. Takehiko gripped a fist tight. He should probably start bringing the Zikuu Driver with him, if these Noise attacks were really starting to pick up in frequency.
Song filled the air. …Ame no Habakiri, why did that soun–oh! Tsubasa was on the scene now. He relaxed a little bit, seeing her shoot so many knives through the Noise before falling in as a whir of blades. Unlike the blond, she was far more effective at saving the people who were left. Jumping back from a particular attack, Takehiko narrowed his eyes on something. Why was she wearing a satchel? Unless… “Stay here, Izuki.”
“Eh?”
Before she could get more out than that, Takehiko was running out into the fray. “Sakimori!” The bluenette glanced over, then gave a double-take. Yeah, she hadn’t expected him. Still, he was able to get around some Noise as the young woman barely paused in her singing before tossing the satchel right at him. Catching it, he looked inside and nodded. “Thanks!”
Rolling to a spot that wasn’t about to be converged on, Takehiko pulled out the Zikuu Driver from the satchel and his personal Ridewatch from… well, not the satchel. He didn’t quite know where it had just come from. It wasn’t in his pocket befo–Focus! Takehiko shook himself out before rotating the bezel and hitting the starter button. The Noise halted as the word “ZI-O!” resounded through the area. Some of the civilians who were and weren’t hiding looked at the young man holding what could only be… “Henshin.”
If the Noise had been a bit further out, he’d do the full song and dance, so to speak. But as it was, Takehiko slot the Zi-O Ridewatch in and slapped the Driver onto his waist. Pressing the button on top, he slid his hand over to pull the Driver’s empty slot up with his hand forming either an L, or pointing at 3 o'clock in the air as energy swirled around him in the forms of various watch bands that converged on him, the armor forming over Takehiko in a solid mass before solidifying into the proper colors. “Riderrrr Tiiiime! Kamen Riderrrr, Zi-O~”
The Noise and Tsubasa resumed motion as he ran into the fray. Just as he’d practiced with his predecessors, Takehiko… no, he was Kamen Rider Zi-O right now. Just as he’d practiced with his predecessors, Zi-O focused his power over time into his fists as he struck at the Noise. Where Tsubasa’s, Sakimori’s, blades cut right through the eldritch beings and left them as carbon as if they’d struck down a human, his own limbs had a different effect. It was the same one that other Riders touted as being able to touch the Noise without disintegrating noted: the things just unraveled like a spool of yarn away from a stick. As he struck here and there, Zi-O knew he wasn’t dealing as much damage to the horde as Sakimori was, but the bluenette was handling the Noise quite well along with the blond while Zi-O did crowd control. He didn’t have any formal training in this regard, but he figured it wasn’t too hard to listen to a Kamen Rider to get away from the monsters that carbonize a human being, regardless of how strong their bodies were from Quirks. Though some less physical shields allowed people to survive for a few seconds, it was generally better for them to just get out of the way entirely.
The eradication of the enemies of humanity didn’t take too long. Once they were done with the fight and keeping people safe and alive, Sakimori had left while Zi-O watched the emergency responders help with the survivors of the incident. He looked at the apparently very angry blond, who was being praised by a couple people for being so capable and agile with nary a word about the very blatant Quirk usage. It was against the Noise though, which gave him a bit of a leniency for today. Undoing the transformation, Takehiko looked around before smiling at Izuki. He started to walk over to her, seeing as his part in the whole debacle was over for now. “Glad you’re doing well. Did any of the Noise come by?”
She shook her head. “Mm-mm. They all focused on you and Sakimori and… the, um, other people.” Green eyes looked up at him with sparkles. “You’re a Kamen Rider, Takehiko-kun?!”
He gave a little chuckle, bringing a hand up to rub at his head. “DEKU!!” Takehiko blinked and turned to look at the blond, who was stomping towards the pair now, red eyes glaring something fierce. “The fuck are you doin’ here, ya Quirkless reject? Wanna die to the Noise or something? All Might wasn't here to save you this time."
Looking at his friend shrink away from the boy’s approach in a way he’d only seen during the first weeks of middle school, Takehiko frowned as the blond kept making very angry sounds at Izuki. So he held up an arm, disrupting the red eyed gaze from the green. Amber locked with red, and Takehiko cocked an eyebrow. “Where do you get off being so toxic to my friend?”
He scoffed at that. “Oh please. This bitch, having a friend? That’s rich. What, do you fuck her in order to protect her like this?”
Izuki blushed and paled, her thoughts going so many ways at those words. Takehiko scowled. “You should just go, kid. There’s no need to do this. I’ve got better things to do with my time than, anything with you.”
The blond blinked in surprise as Takehiko turned around, and brought Izuki with him. “Wha–oi! You can’t just go, that ain’t how this works!”
Takehiko gave a little wave as he walked away with Izuki. She seemed a little confused too, but didn’t fight the hug and pull. In fact, the little giggle as she leaned into him was far better to hear than any of the pained noises that blond had brought out. “I said get back here, ya dumbass, I ain’t finished with you yet!”
Glancing back over his shoulder, Takehiko cocked an eyebrow as he stopped time. The wild red eyes that he saw behind the grasping hand were a little concerning. The start of an explosion was likely about to follow the grasp. He removed his hand from Izuki’s shoulder long enough to move that hand aside, and resumed time enough to see the blond be surprised by his sudden change in direction… which came with a boom. That was a pain in the ears. Still, he left with the broccoli-headed girl in tow and decided to let the police handle the kid. After all, using his Quirk on the Noise was one thing, but a ‘random’ explosion was worth a bit of scolding from the blue-clad ant-man who grasped his arm with two right hands.
Izuki gave a light smile up at Takehiko as they made their way into a cafe. He smiled back before looking up at the menu. He’d help her feel better in his own way, seeing as Takehiko didn’t know quite how to do therapy yet. Maybe he would learn after becoming a legal Kamen Rider? For now though, it was just him and her and some milkshakes to wind down with. This wasn’t quite the date he had in mind, but it was quite nice to just calm things down with Izuki like this without having to worry about anything else going on. “...so, how do you know that Sakimori person?”
Takehiko looked up. “Hm? Mm. She’s someone I was getting to know while getting used to uh, the belt. We’ll be working together going forward, but I don’t know how it’ll work for our civilian identities.”
Izuki hummed a bit, twiddling her thumbs on one side of her glass. “Is that Sakimori… a singer? She sounded familiar…” He gave no answer to that, and the first girl that agreed Zwei Wing were Vigilante Heroes with him giggled a second. “Oh my gods, you’re actually working with…!”
“I’ll take that milkshake if you finish that sentence.” She gasped, bringing it closer. And then she squeaked, moving the milkshake aside. Izuki started to dab at her chest, grumbling. Takehiko chuckled a bit. “Gotta be careful with those.”
She gave him a pout, leaving the napkin on her chest for now. “Meanie.” His slightly muffled laughter was just cause for a harder pout.
The pair were interrupted from further fun by a ring from his phone. Pulling it out, Takehiko cocked an eyebrow before giving her an apologetic look. "It's from Lydian. Sorry. I'll just step outside." Izuki waved him away, saying there was no fuss before she sipped a bit more carefully at her milkshake. Takehiko answered the call as he exited the cafe. "Tamashiro, sorry for the wait."
"Ah, there you are." The deep timbre of Genjuro Kazanari nearly reverberated even over the phone. "Would you be willing to come in for something tomorrow? It is related to your being a Kamen Rider, though not the transformation you used today."
…Uh. Hm. "Does that mean I'll be talked to about that transformation later?"
"Naturally." The only reason Takehiko took that well was Genjuro's amused tone. "I already have Sakimori's side of things, we'll debrief you tomorrow as well before the other meeting. Hm… actually, we will combine the two. That would be a much better use of all our time."
He gave a light sigh, leaning on a lamppost. "Alright. After school?"
"Of course. Even with your improved grades, more wouldn't hurt. Thank you, Tamashiro-kun, I will see you tomorrow." And the man hung up after receiving a return goodbye.
Takehiko put the phone away, wondering what would be happening, but then he shrugged. It'd be what it'd be, so he'd just enjoy today. Speaking of which, he hoped Izuki wasn't drinking his milkshake! Ever since her new diet started, she'd been going through some things a lot more than usual. Not to mention being more eager to eat some leftovers from lunch. The girl wasn't a black hole, but her legs were definitely looking toned more than they had been soft before. Her arms were similarly bulking up, just a touch.
Reentering the cafe with a jingle, Takehiko wondered why she cringed away from that guy. Hm. "Ah, you didn't drink it while I was out. Good, good." Before the second round of pouting could kick off after the words processed and Izuki gave an indignant ‘hey!’, he took hold of his glass and looked at her. "Who's Deku?"
The greenette froze, and drooped a little. Wow, it was like even her freckles lost a bit of color at that question. What happened?
…
Scowling as he made his way home, Takehiko grumbled about blonds and teachers and people that just had no clue how to handle life well. Seriously, just because Izuki was Quirkless, her teachers were so damn cruel?! Fuckers. He’d give them a piece of his mind later on. It would be a great talking point for his campaign… eventually. For now though, Takehiko just walked down the street to his house. He wasn’t needed for anything today, so he just decided to rest at home.
Or that was the plan as he met up with his mom and uncle, and Hibiki. But it was hard to just be a bit down while the brunette was there. She gushed a bit about how her and Miku had spent their evening after school, the music they’d listened to and what their plans going through the rest of the week were. “Oh, but, we’re still open to hanging out with you and Izuki-chan and Kendo-san!”
He laughed a bit, and nodded. “I know. But it is nice to hear, Hibiki.” Takehiko tilted his head at her. “Got any plans for Lydian?”
She nodded quickly. “Mmhmm. I’m gonna sing, just like Tsubasa-san! Miku and I practiced a bit today. Do you… wanna hear?”
Junichiro nodded, thinking that Hibiki would at least be a good sudden talent. Kazehime nodded, hoping Hibiki chose something she could sing along with. Takehiko grinned as he nodded, fully expecting his friend to be in need of far more lessons and karaoke sessions than she and Miku have gone through. He was going to enjoy the sheer amateurness of his friend. But he’d just tell her there was a need to improve.
And then Hibiki turned on an off-vocal song to sing to off sheer memory.
The brunette looked around shyly. Junichiro was blown away, having enjoyed the performance quite a bit. Kazehime hadn’t sung along more because she just enjoyed the sheer adorableness of Hibiki’s performance. Takehiko’s jaw was hanging down heavily. “...so uh, how was that?”
“You’re taking me to karaoke more often.”
Kazehime and Junichiro laughed at Takehiko’s matter of fact statement while Hibiki just smiled brightly. The Tamashiro family took up offers to sing as well, with Takehiko and Junichiro both before the worst singers of the night, though Hibiki thought it was just a bad match, giving her cru–friend had chosen a power ballad and Junichiro… well, the older man was just bad, she couldn’t even say that and not lie. Kazehime’s turn went a tad bit more like Hibiki’s than the men, as she sounded quite pleasant even if everyone could see she wouldn’t be picked up by any labels. As they started on dinner, the group talked about songs they enjoyed on their own with the big surprise being Junichiro’s apparent love for old Mexican dance music.
The older man laughed a bit. “There was this time I went to South America, and it was a wild ride there. I made a lot of friends while there, lemme tell you. I believe it’d be good fun for you as well!” Junichiro glanced between the two young people. “Just be sure you don’t flash your wallets around. The locals can do a lot if you give them a chance.”
Hibiki blinked curiously, asking about that. Junichiro went on a short little rant about the different Sectors in South America, though Takehiko wasn’t paying much attention. His mind was on what was awaiting him at Section 2. Part of him wanted to just head over right now, he was so curious. Genjuro didn’t usually schedule sudden things like that without reason, and most of the time it was brought up while he was already in the underground area. Very rarely had he gone to that place and not gotten something sprung on him, usually by Sento or Ryoko-sensei. Hopefully they hadn’t come up with some crazy invention that would shake the world and ran off his stamina or something. Takehiko blinked as he was poked in the cheek, and looked over to the offending party.
Orange eyes looked at him with a touch of worry. Glancing around, he saw that his mom and uncle were also a bit concerned and curious. Takehiko shook his head. “Sorry, was just caught up in my own head. How’re we making fun of Hibiki’s black hole stomach this time?”
Apparently he was on the right track, given the chuckles bursting from the adults while Hibiki started to pound her tiny fists on his shoulder. Takehiko just grinned.
…
Coming out of the elevator down to Section 2, Takehiko groaned as he stretched out his limbs. That was still rough on his body. He nodded to the pair waiting at a standing table. “Ogawa-san, Sakimori. Good to see you two.”
Shinji laughed a bit, the far-too-bland-to-be-a-coincidence man bringing a hand up over his mouth to cover it while Tsubasa let out a sigh. “I figured you’d figure that out. What will you do with that information, Tamashiro?”
He shrugged as they began to make their way together to a conference room. “What can I do with it? We work together, I’d like to have a good relationship going forward, seems like a bit of light teasing is the worst you’ll get from me on this front.”
“Well that’s good.” Shinji nodded, drawing an incredulous look from Tsubasa. “She needs more friendly ribbing in her life, I can only do so much.”
“Wha–Ogawa-san! You don't have to tell him that!" Tsubasa looked at her manager with some embarrassment. “And besides… There isn’t a reason for me to become friendly with anyone.”
“Songs are sung best with emotion, Tsubasa Kazanari. And your… philosophy, will not help your career too much. As such, well, I shouldn’t spoil the surprise.” Shinji smiled a bit, adjusting his glasses a touch.
The pair of students looked at him curiously before the three began to make their way to the conference room. There, the standard combat debrief goes down as Sento notes down ways to improve on Takehiko’s performance. Genjuro nods as Tsubasa, straight-backed like her sword hilts, finishes her report. “Mmm. You did well.” He commended the pair, giving some tips about how to improve… which amounted to watching movies? “On to other business. Tsubasa-kun, Ogawa-kun, what do you think of Tamashiro-kun taking the position?”
That threw Takehiko for a moment. What position? Hopefully nothing weird. Tsubasa nodded slowly. “...at least in his standard capabilities, he needs to show me a few more examples. However, I have no true complaints about his person.”
Shinji nodded. “Indeed. I believe he can learn the ropes quickly and well.”
Takehiko rose a hand. “What’s going on?”
“Your new assignment, long-term and non-negotiable.” Sento spoke up, looking like he was having some fun. “You’ll be Tsubasa Kazanari’s assistant while in Lydian. Though, only while in Lydian. The school year starting is your assignment’s starting point. It’ll be complete once Kazanari-san graduates. You’re to learn from Ogawa-san on your own time, to be scheduled with him.” He gave a little grin. “Have fun in the music industry, kiddo.”
Tsubasa gave a little sigh at the amusement on the adults’ faces. Takehiko hummed and nodded. That would be an interesting addition to his days. At least he could say that much, right?