Work Text:
All was calm for the moment. The darkness enshrouding the bridge was only broken by the dim glow of the operating lights and computer screens. It was half past nine, the ship had docked, and everyone had gone home for the night. All chairs were unoccupied save for that of the commander. There sat Kazenari Genjirou, the commander of the 2nd Disaster Relief division, still going over the information provided by the defense minister in an attempt to track down FIS. There wasn’t much hope of finding anything himself that hid team couldn’t spot, but any chance of ending this conflict sooner and letting the girls out of danger was a chance he’d take.
Feeling a bit bleary-eyed from the stress of the responsibilities sitting on his shoulders, Genjirou almost didn’t hear the door slide open and the quiet tap of footsteps which suddenly filled the room. He looked over to find none other than Yukine Chris, a Symphogear user that they had recruited from the side of the enemy a few months prior. She was a girl who hadn’t known love, companionship, or good manners since her parents died and she was kidnapped by slavers as a child. If it wasn’t for Hibiki and Miku’s intervention, she might have been left all alone or even worse, dead, by Finé. Currently, she was looking off to the side with a troubled expression.
“You look like you have something on your mind,” Genjirou said, giving a good-natured smile.
Chris gave him a long look, her expression souring further as she seemed to be unsure of how to word her feelings. Genjirou waited patiently for her to respond. He’d failed this kid once already when he let her be caught and mistreated by Finé. Even if it was something so simple as time to think, he’d wait as long as she needed.
“I guess… I’m wondering what my purpose even is now,” Chris finally settled on, still looking dissatisfied with her phrasing.
“That’s a tough question for anyone to answer,” Genjirou offered. “Most people struggle with it their entire lives and some don’t find an answer at all.”
“Most people don’t have their fucking parents killed before they’ve hit their teens,” she bit back bitterly. “Mama and Papa wanted to change the world with their songs, but it still hurts whenever I sing.”
“I don’t have any talents,” she continued, “and fighting’s about the only damn thing I’m actually good at. That idiot and sword chick are naïve as hell with their whole ‘defenders of justice’ schtick, but that’s something that they at least decided for themselves.”
“Are you jealous of Hibiki and Tsubasa?”
“No… That’s not,” she puffed her cheeks in annoyance. “It’s more that the idiot pisses me off with her half-hearted attitude towards fighting, and Tsubasa just goes along with it, but I can’t exactly argue with her results…”
Genjirou stroked his beard as Chris trailed off. While it was certainly true that the girl hadn’t really known anything other then combat and pain that Finé had given to her before she joined forces with them, the girls had given her a chance at a new life. He supposed it was natural to feel a bit aimless with so many opportunities now open to her, but at the same time they’d been stifling her, hadn’t they? She agreed to cooperate with them against the Noise, and they certainly needed her help for when Tsubasa was out of the country, but that was also limiting her potential simply to what they needed her to be, wasn’t it?
“Chris, it’s okay if you don’t want to fight anymore.”
The silver-haired girl snapped her head up, a look of shock adorning her face.
I’ll take care of you,” Genjirou gave her a soft look that few people outside of his family had seen, “and you can decide on your future for yourself if that’s what you want.”
Chris took a few steps back and took one of the vacant seats near one of the control consoles, looking even more lost.
You’d take care of me?” she questioned in a shaky voice. “As in what? Throw me out like trash and send me money every week so you can pretend like you care? It because you have those two, and you don’t really need me isn’t it?”
“I’d adopt you if you didn’t want to live on your own.”
Once again, her face snapped up in shock. Genjirou was secretly hoping that he wouldn’t wind up frying her brain before the day was out. The barrel-chested man slowly got up from his chair and crouched in front of her, getting down to her eye-level.
“You remind me a lot of myself when I was younger,” he started, internally groaning at having to rely on cliché to make her feel better. “I say I’m a normal person now, but I used to be an idiot who wanted to be an action hero and only knew how to fight.”
“I’m still not especially good at anything myself, and the only reason I have this position is because Tsubasa’s father can’t be here to watch over her,” he recounted a little awkwardly, scratching his cheek. “Not that I’m opposed to watching over my niece, of course. If I had the pipes for it, I’d leave you girls out of it entirely and fight off the Noise myself. We both know that’s not an option, though, and all I can really do is support you from the sidelines and try my best to protect you all.”
Slowly, Genjirou raised a hand to pat her on the head.
“It’s still not fair to place all that responsibility on your shoulders, though, is it? The least I can really do is offer you a choice of whether you want to fight or not, and if you decide you don’t, I’ll make sure you always have a home for the rest of your life.”
The girl was silent for a long time, her head hung. Genjirou was starting to worry that he really had fried her brain when he heard the sound of laughter coming from her.
“Man, you’re really trying hard to sound cool, aren’t you, Old Man?” Chris guffawed, holding her stomach. “And who are you calling an idiot, idiot?”
While Genjirou’s eye twitched slightly from being called old (he was still in his thirties damnit!), he couldn’t help but chuckle a little bit. He was glad that her mood had improved at least.
“You don’t have to answer right now,” he smiled, warmly. “Just give it a little bit of thought. Remember though, if you do decide on it, I won’t have to send you movies in the mail anymore. We can watch them together.”
Chris gave him a bit of a wan smile at this. “Nah, I still owe you for the shrine, and Miku would never forgive me if I left Hibiki on the battlefield with only Tsubasa to protect her.”
He noticed a wistful look in her eyes and a slight tinge of red on her cheeks as she said that. “Do you love her?”
Her expression reddened even further, then soured. “She doesn’t have eyes for me…” she mumbled quietly.
Genjirou tilted his head. “That wasn’t an answer.”
When she looked up at him next, tears were streaming down her face. He silently took her into his arms and started stroking her short hair. She went stiff as a board for a moment before her arms slowly reached up to tighten her hold around his back and she began quietly sobbing. He just held her there quietly, for as long as she needed him.