Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Chapter Text

Light poured down from low in the sky.

It was the sunlight of an early morning.

More than warmth, it carried a calming heat, and it cast deep shadows across the land.

Those shadows created waves on a three square kilometer grassy field surrounded by forest.

A faint breeze washed across the mown grass, creating waves.

But there was a gap in the waves. A small stream cut south to north across the middle of the field.

Two figures sat on the northern downstream bank on the southern end of that stream of shadowy water. Their legs were cooling off in the water nearly up to the knee, but neither of them had any sort of urgency to them.

One was a a girl in a skirt with her legs dangling down and the other was a boy.

The boy kicked up the water with his normal legs. It was a carefree motion. With the movement of a long acquaintance, he turned himself toward the girl.

"Wow, it's only morning and the water's this cold! Is this what Miden children feel like, Arisa!?"

"Yes, it's a shame no one else could escape the scolding from the directors, Futoyuki!"

Still sitting, they both swayed back and forth while singing an anime OP.

"♪Don't you look down on yourself like that. Overthrow yourself so you have to look up at yourself. You can argue your case with incredible ease. Trust in yourself and your dreams will come true. If you've hit a dead end with the lesser cuckoo, just show your purity with a Ha-Ra-Ki-Ri♪"

After singing, the boy sighed and the suddenly looked back to the north.

A few white and black vehicles were visible beyond the tall grass hiding them. They were cars bearing different business emblems. The boy spoke up when he saw them in the morning light.

"Since the ones sponsoring Border knew nothing of what had happened yesterday, they had to go right to Border and find out if everything was alright afterwards."

.

The boy continued speaking.

"Even those of us who were not let in on what was going on or were not taking place needed to be told that everything was fine by the directors. It's a good thing no one made a big fuss after it all."

As he spoke, the wind blew. It was still early morning and the two of them would need to do some things within the city later.

But they thought nothing of it while their feet continued to soak.

As the boy and girl watched, the vehicles began to fade away into the distance and disappeared soon enough. They had not been a bother to the surrounding areas and had not noticed the two of them sitting there and soaking their feet.

"From what Boss has told me, those were Shiraishi vehicles. The emblem on them was a dead give away for anyone who knows what to look for, but now one of their own is in our branch and should be getting the information we are. I guess they just wanted to be certain that their information was correct and not something that was being said as a blank spot for them. As for Border itself..."

The boy looked even further north.

A large structure was visible in the distance and the sky could be seen beyond it all.

"They seem to not be blaming our rep too much and are only giving him a light punishment."

"Only because our branch is filled with people who would gladly fight back if they went heavy on the punishment. It might have caused a bigger incident that they didn't want happening since today is another round of their B-Rank Wars. Both our rep and his girlfriend's former squad are having their match pretty early today, so they must be getting ready for it."

The girl sighed, but the boy said that was not necessarily a bad thing.

"Things seemed different when the two of them walked into the office last night. They were dead tired, but both of them had smiles on their faces and they were holding hands like a real couple. Isn't that what a lot of people on Miden strive for?"

"True." The girl swayed as she sighed in a different way from before. "I wanted that with my mentor, but I knew it wasn't possible. Still, it's not like I don't want something akin to that too. Humans like being around each other, even if they don't like each other at times. Finding someone you like and someone to share everything with is the basics for a romance. So I'm glad the two of them are together."

"Then what about the rest of the people in our branch? Pyrínas aside, Chisato has a boyfriend, but the others don't really have anyone they seem to like. ...That look you're giving me tells me that I'm dead wrong on so many levels. Alright, I'll take it as a loss and say I don't know what's going on."

"Well, what about you? Has there been anyone you found that you really like while over here?"

"I guess," said the boy. "But it's more like I admire a lot of people here. Miden has always caught my attention since I first heard about it, so now I want to experience everything it has to offer. Afto has its own ways, and I see that a lot when I look at Hyuse, but that's why I want to try my best to remain a 'human' of Earth."

"I see. Do you mean you even want to go through the processes the rest of us do?"

"Yes." The boy nodded. "Pyrínas seems to like it here with those children, so I wouldn't every think of taking that away from him, but I don't think I want to stay in this city all of the time. I want to go see what else Earth has to offer. ...I spoke to Hyuse about it before. He wants to get back home after being left here, but we stopped talking about it after that. So for now, I want to focus on everything else. And the way you all choose your partners is so freeform that I'm really curious about it. ...I guess I got a bit jealous when our rep came back looking like that."

"Hm... That does sound like a predicament you have there."

"It is, but not really a big one that I need to dwell on for too long. There are still other things I need to focus on while I'm still in this city and even more I need to learn about. Miden was a goal for the Wanderers, so I want to bring them some nice stories the next time I see them."

"Then if you ever feel like wanting to know what romance on Earth feels like, just come and fall for me."

A silence fell over the two of them.

The silence covered the two of them as the girl turned red and the boy grinned wider at her.

Without another word, the girl slammed her face into her hands and shook violently.

The boy gave a loud laugh, but spoke up for her.

"I'd be fine with that! So be ready for me to fall for you!"

"Please stop already," she said while covering her red face.

The boy gave another laugh at her attitude and turned back around to give her some privacy.

After another moment she uncovered her face and spoke up. Her voice was small, but the boy didn't say anything about it.

"By the way...what else do you need to do in the city?"

"I need to find the mother of our former leader. I want to speak with her about him and know more about him. About how much of a human he was."

"I see... That is very sweet of you. I will make sure to be by your side during that time then. For any encouragement."

The boy thanked her with a smile and a nod.

"But from what I've heard, I'm not the only one who needs to speak with someone so important. Someone from Tamakoma needs to speak with her as well. Then there's the captain of our rep's former squad. Apparently he needs to speak with someone else who sponsors Border."

"Where did you hear all of this from?"

The boy gave a hum as he leaned back on his hands and faced the sky.

The smile on his face never faded, so she assumed he was allowed to say. Or that he didn't care about the consequences.

"I heard it from Boss. When he was talking with some others."

He opened his eyes to find an old wooden ceiling above him.

The structure was open on all four sides and the morning sun was shining in.

He was lying on his back and looking up at the center of the ceiling, but he could still see the rooftops and a street around him.

This was a canopy built on an out of the way building and that was where he had gone to sleep.

"Hah. That's not good."

He sat up with his lower legs dangling over the edge of the large bench.

He had laid back and gone to sleep last night while sitting on the edge here.

He touched his body to find he was fairly chilled. But...

"Looks like I'm still around. Hah."

He no longer felt no want to get up even as he confirmed that nothing had happened to him while he had slept in such a place.

He tried and had no trouble raising his arms in the track suit embroidered with the name Sekai.

"Hah."

He frowned a bit when he pulled his right arm back, but...

"Good enough."

He let his arms rest and then sighed.

"Sekai."

Someone was climbing the stairs leading to the bench from the nearby door.

Sekai's eyebrow rose when he saw the black-haired gambler.

"What do you want, Denji?"

"That's not a nice way to talk to me, you know? I came out to make sure you hadn't died and left me alone, jeez."

Denji held out a lunchbox wrapped in cloth.

"I'm going to sit next to you," he said.

"It's damp. Hah."

"From your tears?"

"Of course not," said Sekai while facing forward.

The bench was oriented a bit diagonally from the city's inner location. It faced southeast.

The bench and canopy was not equipped with lights, so the bench was built to get as much sunlight as possible. Denji's position on it gave him a view of something in the distance.

"Yassan is over there right now, speaking with our current bosses."

"Were you intending to go find her if that dragged on?"

"Even if I wasn't, sometimes you realize you should and sometimes people tell you to do it."

But...

"There's wasn't enough time for any of that. ...Is that a good enough excuse for being too weak to go see her by myself?"

"Being able to watch things play out should be enough," said Denji while untying the cloth wrapper, but Sekai could not agree.

"Yuki still thinks he's Unneeded, even when he's accepted everything," sighed Sekai.

"I made sure to give his first squad my condolences for that. It was mainly for you, though."

"I have nothing to give so long as they remain happy in my stead."

"Then what do you plan to do now?"

"You set me up for that question, didn't you?"

I'm taking this so lightly, thought Sekai.

But I'm probably faking how lightly I really take it. However...

...I can't believe this.

He had long since accepted so many things on the inside, but seeing someone else do such a thing both inwardly and outwardly only made it sting that much more. He knew this made him look like a fool, so...

...I can't take any of it too seriously or it would drive me mad.

"Y'know," he sighed. "That was quite a show last night. Did you see when Yuki's new Trigger arrived and Masataka came in to help him?"

"No, I was keeping track of Yassan, Michelle and Jossan, but I did hear the running commentary about what had happened after the fight way over from some of the cannibals."

"Man, you really have no dignity at all, do you?" Sekai rested his head in his hand. "We managed to barely maintain out neutral stance during it all and decided to hide the rest of the night out so that everyone else could get things done."

.

Sekai sighed.

...Hard to say if things ended too well or just well enough.

Someone they thought was at their level had come to accept everything about himself and chose a troublesome life where he and the people he knew could be happy. As someone who felt his basis lied in other peoples' happiness, he was fine with the end result, but it meant that the boy they had thought so fondly of was now someone who had gone with everyone else instead of staying with them.

They had decided that they would simply return to how they had been before. And after half a day went by, they had heard that someone important to both of them had returned.

They had only been able to watch, but that was why Sekai had come here.

This was where he had always been able to sleep with little to no issue and he wanted some time to think.

But he had not been able to focus on anything particular.

The battles that had happened recently continued to grow larger and it felt like he had even less to do during them.

"Yuki isn't trying, but it's kind of insulting when he still thinks he's unneeded," said Sekai.

"We have been too far into this to where we can feel insulted by this, haven't we?" said Denji.

"It's what we get for being the ones who decided we were unneeded to everyone else. Hah. We were a lost cause from the start."

He said what they both tried to keep a lid on without really thinking about it.

I'm being really cold, he realized. Cold and light. It's sort of like a certain type of metal. A bit much, though. Well, ice works well enough for that description, but calling myself ice seems like a stretch.

"But this was on another scale altogether."

"Everything concerning Former #3 you mean?" asked Denji.

"That's right. Hah. How should I put it?" said Sekai. "It was really irritating when we became Unneeded, right?"

"I can't agree with that since I was busy hating myself too much, but I did protest our loss of freedom."

"I'm not really sure what I mean myself, but...you know."

He tried to think back on those days where he thought there was a purpose for himself.

"–––––"

But he gave up on remembering what had happened in the depths of his own mind he had been focused solely on.

That probably expressed his innermost thoughts better than anything.

That was the part of himself he wanted to deny and the kind of person he wanted to be.

But this was a place for "everyone else".

So while making sure not to reject anything that happened back then, he skipped past those thoughts and faced what came next.

"When I saw how things progressed, it got me thinking. It made me feel like maybe nothing we do really matters."

"You feel powerless?"

"Hm, not quite. Hah. Feeling powerless is linked to irritation I felt upon becoming Unneeded. You know, the irritation of being treated as powerless when you know you're not."

"In that case," said Denji. "Since we weren't involved with the battle underground or the fights yesterday at all, did you feel powerlessness that isn't linked to that irritation?"

"Denji, why do you have to make everything so confusing?"

"It gets me some extra hate points from others."

Denji held up the lunchbox. It contained some boiled vegetables and grilled fish. The fish had its bones removed, so he must have wanted to test his finger movements. It also had a light rice dish, and...

"Where's the tea?"

"I'm not some waterproof container."

"Haaaaaaaah!"

The Border base was visible in the distance, looking hazy in the distant morning air.

That was proof of their current existence.

"What are we supposed to do now?"

Sekai did not know if he could just sit around stewing or not.

He doubted he had left his innermost thoughts behind in that past. He had gone through enough to know his place in the world and where he was allowed to go before becoming someone who couldn't stand himself anymore.

He was not dumb enough to overlook that.

He had already found his answer, but he did not have to give it right away, so here he was.

He was pretty sure he would descend the staircase once he had managed to calm down some more, but...

"I have a match starting in a bit, huh?"

That would give him plenty of time to think.

He had only just returned to his favorite place, so he was still not really sure if he wanted to go to that match or not.

Of the squads, he had heard Ikoma, Kotowari, and Yuba had been continuing to go at their own pace, but...

"What should I do? Hah."

He knew everyone else would be doing their own things and moving further away while he stayed here asking that question. Especially...

"I bet a lot of those guys have all sorts of plans for causing trouble during the match."

"You hadn't heard?"

"Heard what?"

"Minoru and I are gonna be the commentators this time around. As a special treat for you in particular, Sawamura had asked to be the main commentator for this. Apparently she wants to confirm something by watching you."

I guess I don't have a choice in this matter then, thought Sekai with a sigh.

He looked to the sky to view the light blue surrounded by the forest of buildings.

"Today looks like it's going to be an irritating time."

"No."

"Why not!?"

"Because you're annoying. And you're only going to be even more annoying."

"I'm noooot! I swear that I wooooon't!"

"Who even let this guy in here?"

"What are you going to do to whoever answers?"

Ikoma watched as Chisato pulled out a trion lance of out of nowhere.

Her reaction time with those things's gettin' better.

He was proud of his girlfriend for how accustomed she had gotten to Border's Triggers in such a short amount of time. But now did not seem like the time to bring that up, so...

"Chisato, make sure you get 'em real good for me. This guy's butting into my time with you."

"I know, Tatsuhito. Just stay put for a quick second and I'll finish this."

He nodded as he relaxed in his seat. There was no need to go to her defense when she had been able to keep up with him from the very start.

It was only now that he realized that she had been wearing the black and red shirt he had gotten for her during the festival the day before.

There had been no other reason to do so other than him wanting to give her something to show off that she was his and that she would cheer on his squad during their coming matches.

With a start, he sat forward and made sure to get a good look at her.

"Hey, Chisato."

"What? I'm busy right now."

"You're makin' me fall for ya again. And ya look hot in the shirt I gotcha."

"...Don't mess up my tempo. But thanks. Oh, and I keep falling for you, so you better stay with me."

He gave a thumbs up when she turned her head to see his reaction.

The two of them were on the same page again so he reclined back once more.

"Oooooohhhhh!? Chisato's having some nice gf-bf time right in front of me! I've gotta tell you're parents and sisters abou- Yeeep!?"

"Say anything else and I'll make sure that you go through the door next time."

Damn, that's hot, he thought when he saw her use her lances to pin the idiot to the wall.

There had been no hesitation and he could not be any happier because of it.

"Hey, doncha think we should be tryin' to stop this?"

"She's Iko-san's girlfriend, so he can deal with it."

"Oh? So when Fuyushi-senpai comes 'round, we'll leave it to ya?"

"Oki, you're 'bout to get hit in the face if ya don't stop."

If this conversation had happened a month ago, he would have said something along those lines too. But since he had Chisato, those words had no effect on him anymore.

I've leveled up above ya'll, so take that, ya damn ikemen!

There was still a bitter feeling there.

.

"Why do you even want to go?"

Chisato felt her patience begin to waver the more she had to deal with the high energy idiot stabbed into the wall before her.

When she woke up earlier, she had planned on meeting up with Ikoma Squad before their match to make sure they were ready to fight. As she had imagined, they had all been goofing off an talking about nothing important.

She had smiled at that.

Then someone had opened the door. A voice followed it, along with a body being thrown in her direction.

Without turning around, she had lifted her foot, turned around, and gave an axe kick to the idiot who had thrown themselves at her. The solid sound of a body hitting the floor had silenced the entire room, but she knew that Tatsuhito was giving her a proud look, so she overlooked the silence.

Now she was faced with that same idiot being pinned to the wall by her own trion lances.

Kotowari Musashi grinned back at her from where he was almost impaled by her lances. His high energy was pouring from him and she felt it was kind of smothering.

"Fine, fine, we can compromise here! I'm good at compromising! Like the time when I found one of your sister's bras laying around, sold it for a good price, then told her that her boobs were too small for that kind of size!"

"She then beat you to a pulp. And that wasn't a compromise at all. You were just being an idiot."

"Is there a difference?"

I suppose not for you, she thought.

This had gotten old before he had even come here, so she sighed and pulled out another trion lance. She pointed it at him, but he only looked around as if a show was being put on.

It annoyed her.

"Why do you want to watch the next match?"

"So I can see my little brother."

"As a younger sister, that only pisses me off more."

Musashi's smile fell a bit.

But it's the truth, she thought bitterly. My sisters had been there for me since the beginning, and they've stayed by my side the entire time. But this guy...

He had gone so long without contacting his younger brother and had even refrained from speaking of him until it was brought up.

As someone who valued her family a lot, she thought that he was too careless with the way he made his decisions concerning his brother. And...

...He says that his brother is always wrong while he is right.

He had said that while having low energy. It was what let her know that he was being serious about it.

Disregarding his normal behavior, he truly believed that he was always right when it concerned his younger brother.

...Ōi-nee has her moments of superiority, but she tends to make up for them by knowing when she's wrong and helping us correct our own mistakes. Yoshie-nee can be a bit much, but she always looks out for me whenever she can. But this guy...

He was wrong.

She could only see him as wrong when compared to her own sisters.

"Chisato, just calm down and sit over there with me."

She didn't just at the arm that was placed over her shoulder. It was a nice weight to keep her temper down so that she wouldn't skewer Musashi right here.

Tatsuhito gently guided her away from the wall, lowered her lance, and turned her focus away from the idiot.

She was sure she could heard Kōji and Kai taking out the lances keeping Musashi in place, but quickly changed her thoughts away from him before she went back to pin him again.

"I'm glad to know you're lookin' out for Take-chan like that, but ya don't need to worry. Take-chan's Fuji and Kiyoshi's kid, so there's no way he ain't strong enough to deal with an idiot like him."

"Iko-san, they're officially called 'Mei' and 'Yuki' now," Satoshi called from behind.

Tatsuhito waved him off as he sat down.

She followed his lead and took the seat next to him.

Now that he had been freed from her lances, Musashi was standing in front of them all with visibly less energy than before.

"I say let the guy watch our next match. He can see just how tough Take-chan is and see that he's the one who's wrong here."

"Why do you think he's so tough when he can't even understand others?"

Tatsuhito raised a brow and she could hear Satoshi scoff from his own seat. The two of them knew Musashi's brother better than she did, so she let them take over the conversation.

It was Satoshi who took over talking this time.

"The little guy's made some friends already. Besides that, he's got himself a girlfriend since yesterday. And that girlfriend's beaten one of our A-Ranks."

"What does that-"

"Do ya have any of that?"

Musashi was quickly shut up.

Chisato smiled inside at that.

"Do ya fight against Neighbors? Do ya fight against other people who'll kick your ass? Do ya deal with cannibals who'll tear ya apart for doing the smallest things? Take-chan's pretty damn tough for bein' a kid. Hey, ya saw what he could do didn't you?"

Satoshi turned his attention to her and Tatsuhito. She knew why he did and thought back to two days ago.

There she was seen just what Kotowari Squad was capable of.

Their wolf had relied on his teammates to devour a large Neighbor while their dancer maintained the pace and tempo of the entire fight. She had thrown her lances into the fight and they were easily used alongside that wolf's fangs. It had been a sight to behold. But there had been someone else there. Someone who kept things in check simply because he had been there.

"Musashi, your brother is pretty cool. To put it lightly, he kept a strange girl and a wolf company while throwing attacks at a tough opponents."

"...What am I even supposed to make of that comment?"

She shrugged before continuing.

"He's way better than you are."

"Damn, that's some good praise there. I'm 'cool' to her, so if Take-chan's 'pretty cool' then he's really up there to her."

"You're cool in everything you do. He's pretty cool for being able to do what he does."

"This's why you're also cool."

"You're going to make me blush if you keep that up."

"So what if I keep going?"

"Then I'll take you away from your squad and you'll miss your match."

"Sounds worth it."

"No, no, no, we need you around, Iko-san," the entire squad chorused.

They were right about that. If their captain was not around then they wouldn't have their fourth member to make them stand out.

So with a light push, she turned back to Musashi. His face was scrunched up as if he had just eaten a lemon whole.

I'll throw him into sewage later for that one.

But right now there was something else she needed to focus on.

What Musashi wanted and what Satoshi had said.

It was up to her to decide if she would call her family to drag him back or allow him to stay and watch the match.

"...Fine. I guess you can stay."

But...

"I reserve any right to throw you across the room if you annoy me too much."

"What!?"

The morning sun shined in.

A clear but sweltering light shined down from low in the blue sky.

The light also showed itself by how deep the shadows cast on the ground were.

One shadow was especially large.

It was cast by a massive structure in the center of the city.

The large building was something impressive itself. Although, there were buildings scattered all around the city that were also part of that building in their own way.

The Yagura Branch Office was one of those smaller buildings. The city was spread out around it and a park was nearby.

This was where a group of people were.

The branch itself was rather plain when compared to some other buildings.

It was still early morning and not many people were moving around just yet and the most amount of noise was coming from the single building.

But the single building had enough people in it to make up for the lack of any outside. And they were performing strenuous activity despite it being morning.

"Goddammit!" shouted a voice. "Why did we end up having to deal with everything!?"

.

It's more annoying for those who have matches than it is for regular agents, noted Kimura.

She was seated in a shadow at an elevated point that gave her a view of almost the entire area.

That location was...

"I'm glad we made this into a sort of rec room."

The tatami-floored room had all its short windows open.

She was resting her elbow on the short windowsill with her legs casually resting on the tatami mats. Her captain's dog Krümel was with her.

...Is it his strange-level intelligence that lets him think it's relaxation time?

The small dog was lying on the edge of the windowsill, but he would move to a different spot whenever he grew too warm and he was currently rolling over to the edge. That said, he show just how smart and cute he was by always staying within arm's reach of her.

"Kimura, how about some barely tea while we wait for the next match to start?" asked a voice from behind her.

"Sure, that sounds good."

She nodded back toward Mei and a set of arms poured the chilled barely tea in a teacup and carried it over. They gestured for her to take the teacup, so she did so and then they returned.

She glanced back to see Mei performing a figure four leglock on an idiot.

As Mei picked up speed and collapsed backwards time after time, the idiot would arch his back and shout "ow, ow!". The strange sniper was pounding on the floor and shouting "Foolish former captain!? Do you honestly give up!? Do you!?" while Awdry shouted "Yuki! Don't tap out after coming so far!" and Kotowari said "Oh, sorry. I need to pass by above your head with this tea." In other words, business as usual.

Kanzaki was asleep while Inukai and her captain were relaxing next to each other.

"Oh."

Then the wind blew in. The winds blowing across Mikado City tended to carry some heat or chill along with them, so it was recommended to be careful when having an open window during those times.

"The wind isn't too bad, but the moisture rises so quickly it ends up being kind of dry."

"Especially here because the wind has to climb up to a more elevated location than downstairs, you know," said Mitsuteru, who was looking over some videos with the Taiyōko younger sister in a seat by a window. He set his tablet down on a desk and fixed his hair in the back. "We should be more careful to make sure no one just ends up throwing water around."

"Yes," said Hoshi. "And the sun won't be as high in the sky."

"But that will also be the most annoying part of the day." Akashi was seated with his feet up on the windowsill so the wind blew through his bangs. "It would seem these days still have many more trials in store for us."

Is there anything he can't make cringey? wondered Kimura as she caught sight of Hitomi out of the corner of her eye. The girl had been sleeping face down on the tatami mats, but she got up to look to Akashi.

She wrinkled her brow in a smile.

"Don't you have a manuscript to complete?"

"Heh. What did I just say about these days and their many trials?"

"If you don't submit yours for printing along with the rest of ours, you'll end up paying a lot more."

"I am ready for whatever life throws at me."

Hearing that, Hitomi opened her phone set for a call. And after a short pause...

"Hello, Kappa Printing? Oh, yes, silly me. Hemisphere Printing, that's what I meant. …Anyway, Boss Kappa? Our literature club guy is running devastatingly late on his manuscript and refuses to admit it, so feel free to take away his entire early-submission discount. …Right. And it would be great if you could increase my discount for delivering this hot tip."

"H-Hitomi-kun! Must you eliminate all room for excuses!?"

But Hitomi had already plopped back down on her cushion and resumed napping. Koarai fanned her with a fan, but Hitomi showed no sign of waking.

…She sure has distinct on and off settings.

But she would likely wake up in time for her squad's own match later in the day, so maybe this was fine.

Then a new wind blew in without warning.

A certain scent was mixed in with the fluctuation of the air. It was a strong, aromatic, and yet faintly sweet scent.

"What is this?"

It was vaguely familiar, but Kimura could not quite place it.

Kotowari turned back toward her while handing a paper cup of barely tea to Koarai.

"It's fried rice. Because Kako-san is working on a dish below us."

"I thought she was banned."

"Did you forget?" said Okudera while reviewing the previous matches on his own tablet. "It would be a problem if she didn't make at least something after everything, so we can't just tell her not to make it. You were the one who suggested that she use the Yagura Branch's location since it's already a madhouse here a lot of the time, Kimura-san."

"Well, yes, I did say that."

"Fine, I'll explain," said the Suzaku younger sister. She flipped through the screens of Okudera's tablet without asking him first. "Everyone became super pent up after the weird incident yesterday. So a lot of people will be using today's matches to get them all out, but that only works for people who are in those matches. The rest of us need to find other ways of doing that."

But...

"That's why we can't cause any trouble for anyone else who doesn't know about the situation."

"That's right. Yesterday should have only been a festival, so that's what the general public knows about everything that happened. Border showed off what it's like to others who can't watch the rank wars. That means we should be safe from any sort of flak people want to give us."

"Question." Koarai raised his hand. "But what do we do now? What do we do if anyone else asks about what really happened?"

Kimura crossed her arms and groaned.

"To be honest, there isn't much to say. I mean, we know the general idea behind yesterday, but only Yuki and Mei can say for sure what all happened. But on the other hand..."

She opened her phone displaying a message Border's own base had sent them all through the network.

"Border's directors still want to keep an eye on Yuki to make sure everything is safe."

.

"Really? Even after everything was settled?" asked the Suzaku sister.

"Even if the two fakers were caught, and Yuki has accepted everything himself, there is still some doubt. And even if things have settled, it wouldn't look good for Border as a whole if they didn't do something about their own former suspicion."

But...

"So they gave a total of 10 days probation. ...Of course, they also have to consider that he's the Yagura Branch's representative."

Awdry looked up when he heard that. He opened his phone and spoke.

"So his probation will stick even after this season has ended then. Even if it's cut short, that's still something to note. ...Soare they telling us not to lose sight of him during that time?"

"Yeah, it seems that way. If we keep track of him now then it won't be a problem, but there are other things they also want to focus on."

"Does that mean he's going to be in plain sight the entire time?" asked Koarai.

"I'm going to be watching the matches I can, so I'll probably be stuck at the base or over here for those 10 days."

Everyone fell silent at that.

They all looked over to see that Mei had let him go. It was slightly disappointing to see.

"It'll be fine. I had a pretty good sleep last night and am feeling pretty good right now. When I need to move around then I'll have have my Trigger with me. And when I need to move around too much...I'll ask someone for some help."

"But what if there isn't anyone around to help you at the time? What then?" asked Hitomi.

Yuki nodded.

"Then I'll call on someone and wait for their help to come. That means I'm gonna be relying on some people a lot."

"Then are you going to be watching our match today?" asked Awdry.

"Hmm," was all Yuki felt like saying.

But he could not just groan in thought, so he resumed speaking.

Kimura thought that it was a bit much, even for him.

"Don't take this the wrong way, but I'm not actually going to go for you guys. I'll suppose you guys, don't doubt that, but there's something I want to check up on while I watch the match, okay?"

Akashi's hand shot up and he brushed a hand through his hair once everyone focused on him.

"You want to see if that constantly irritated guy can actually be beaten, don't you?"

"That's right. It's going to be a way I will rely on everyone there."

"So you want to see if we can beat someone that's in our match?" asked Toby.

Everyone stopped their own things to focus on him after that question.

...None of them are doing anything.

Then I might as well, she decided while adjusting her seated position. She removed Krümel from the windowsill, placed him on her lap, and opened her phone.

"Then listen up. We're going to be good upperclassmen and help out Kotowari Squad with planning for their coming match."

After all...

"Yuki made such a mess that they had no time for it."

Chapter Text

"So, let's discuss what we should do for the match that is happening in a short while."

Kimura took a breath with the wind on her back as she sat by the rec room window.

She knew everyone was watching her.

...Now, then.

She continued speaking.

"This is something for Kotowari Squad to figure out, but I would like the opinion of everyone else."

But she was fairly certain that they would do that without being asked.

"Their next opponents are Ikoma Squad and a rematch with Yuba Squad and Hikigane Squad."

"So you expect it to be a grudge match between all of us?"

"I guess so," she confirmed. "Both Ikoma Squad and Hikigane Squad... You know, it's getting to be a mouth full to say their full names. We'll just abbreviate it to IkoSquad and HikiSquad. Yuba Squad is pretty simple, so they can remain the same."

"She finally caught up with us!" they all exclaimed.

"Anyways. Both IkoSquad and HikiSquad are usually fighting for third ranked among the B-Rank squads. Well, when the latter is trying, that is."

"That kind of pressure is pretty harsh when you're at the top tier," added Inukai.

Her captain nodded in impressed agreement.

Come to think of it, there were other squads who had their own importance, so her captain probably found that viewpoint a fascinating one.

So Kimura continued.

"With those two squads always being near the top, it's going to be difficult to come up with something, it will probably be that they want to take out the ones below them in ranking first. That means KotoSquad will be the ones with targets on them for this round."

So...

"We need to be careful with how we go about this all, meaning that we should take everything into consideration, that way they won't be caught off guard. Even a moment of that and they're done for."

"Eh? Really?" said Koarai. "What's with them? Wouldn't they be put at a disadvantage since Toby's got close range covered and Takeshi's got long range covered?"

"Cut them some slack. They're used to fighting stronger people." Kimura raised three fingers to point at everyone else. "Three factors will affect how things turn out."

She started with the first.

"First, how much of a threat they think each other are. This happens a lot with people who are in the top tier. They know how to counter stronger opponents and ones they have been fighting for some time. That means they can likely predict what weaker squads will do in certain situations, even if they aren't the ones in control."

Everyone nodded in understanding, so she moved on.

"Second, squad interference. To be blunt, this one's mostly about what KotoSquad does. The actions of any squad members joining in can always change any kind of plan."

And the third.

"Third, there's the personality issue."

.

"Personality?"

Yuki saw almost everyone tilt their head at that one.

They were clearly confused how personality could affect a squad's plans, so he raised his hand.

He understood this one due to understanding people as a whole. Basically...

"Is it about if they want to even try to fight or not?"

"Yes. Exactly." Kimura nodded. "Yuba Squad has some pretty serious people, but it's really just them. IkoSquad is strange, but they go at a weird pace. One that goes for the flashiness of a battle instead of a win. At least until you back them into a corner. And HikiSquad... Their idiot is like Misaki over there. They have entertainment values instead of normal ones like the rest of us. I can't say much about Girikage, but I can also say that the logs show that Hikigane himself can also end up not doing much."

"With Hikigane-san, would it laziness or him being too relaxed?" asked Hitomi.

"That's hard to say," replied Yuki.

"Really? Not even you know?"

"Well, it really depends on what exactly happens as we're talking here."

Because...

"Everyone else is determined enough to win, but there's someone who can flip on a dime. If he can't find the motivation to fight here, it will be easier to take care of things. Laziness and overly relaxed is not seen as a good thing normally, but if he remains that way then things in general should be fine. But..."

Yuki opened his phone.

It showed the list of participants in the coming match from each squad, starting with who was at the top. The entire list was made up with the overall points every one had.

The one who had little compared to what they thought was also there.

"Sekai-san doesn't participate in solo matches much, if at all. He trains and does defense duty just fine, but he doesn't fight others often. It's only under certain circumstances that he does. His points suffer from this, but he isn't one to care about that."

Just as he started to say "but" again, she spoke up.

"But can you still figure something out from this?"

"Eh? Oh, yes, I can. ...Rather, I already know. I have fought Sekai-san once in a solo match and it was a no-contest fight for sure. So if you keep an eye on him..."

"Won't it be too late if they notice anything by the time the match starts?" asked Mitsuteru.

Yuki shook his head.

"He won't normally change his attitude before a match. Rather, he might feel even more unmotivated and think it's 'to irritating' to even bother with. So he will do little to nothing during the match itself. With that said, I don't recommend fighting him if he's in that state. Don't run the risk of motivating him."

"I see," said Mitsuteru.

"So their job is to ensure they don't miss their chance?" asked Mei with a double thumbs up. "Impressive work, Yuki. Just when everyone thought you were troublesome to let start speaking again, moving, and causing chaos, you prove how you can at least do something!"

"Wait, shouldn't you be defending me during those times!? I thought we finally got over that!"

Why did everyone refuse to look him in the eye after that?

"Anyway, Kotowari Squad needs to be on the lookout for that kind of thing. Once they know what kind of attitude he has, they can go about changing their plans as they see fit during the match."

"I see," said Mitsuteru again before taking a breath. "And then they have to figure out how to deal with the others, don't they?"

"Yes," said Kimura. "That's the real problem here."

.

Kimura crossed her arms and groaned.

They tend to run into this problem a good amount, she thought.

"You guys have fought against HikiSquad at the start of the B-Rank Wars and Yuba Squad during it. You know how to counter the latter now, I hope, but the former is one that looks like it's changing a good amount. And IkoSquad is just crazy."

So...

"What do you have planned for all of that?"

"We will be using Suzume-senpai's entertainment tempo to keep track of IkoSquad and go from there," said Kotowari.

"Right." Kimura uncrossed her arms and shrugged. "Personally, I think you should dog pile onto Ikoma or Yuba first."

"It's a little late now, but couldn't they have figured out which one to tackle first?" asked Koarai.

"Hmm, they had the week to do so, but then something big happened yesterday that could have messed them up. So..."

At that point, Kimura looked out the window.

She could see several white line rising from below the room.

"Is that smoke from someone cooking?" asked Yuki. "There sure is a lot of it."

"Yuki, remember that Kako is currently in the kitchen making something. If there wasn't any smoke, I would be more worried."

"Isn't that already worrying if smoke that thick is coming right under us while she is just making fried rice?" Mitsuteru pushed back his hair and opened his tablet. "My family worked on repairs for this building. The distance between the downstairs kitchen window and this room shouldn't be close enough to where we get this smoke, no matter what she's making."

It was unclear how much of that was true, but how much was Kako making and of what to send the smoke this high?

"What exactly is she making down there then?"

"I feel like... Yeah, I'm sure we don't want to really know. The ventilation also shouldn't bring anything up from there."

Mitsuteru opened a screen displaying the Yagura Branch's interior, so he was probably planning to look over the branch office later on.

He sure is resilient, thought Kimura, but...

...Oh.

She belatedly remembered something.

"We..."

Everyone stopped moving to listen.

They turned toward her and she worked to keep a relaxed expression as she continued.

"We were fighting a lot recently, weren't we?"

"How could you forget!?" they all shouted back at her.

.

"I know we were distracted with other things until now," said Koarai while fanning Hitomi by the Yagura Branch's rec room's wall. "But only Kimura-senpai could ask 'we were fighting a lot recently, weren't we?' as casually as asking what we ate for breakfast."

"Yeah, but it's easy to forget now that we're back to our normal lives," said Kimura.

"If you aaaaask me, this is hardly ooooour normal lives," said Mukuro who had stopped by to replenish the ice in the rec room's small ice room. "Weee still seem to be fiiighting to me."

He pointed out the window where some people were taking a practical exam outside.

Hitomi stretched up to see the Yagura Branch Director speaking to some boys.

"Listen up, you two! This isn't a place for you to be stalkers here, you got that!? If you've got something to say, go into the office and speak directly to one of us!"

"What do you mean!?" One boy in casual wear raised his hand. "Mister! Can't go in there when we know how crazy you guys are!"

"We may be a branch filled to the brim with lunatics and other people most would not want around, but that's fine! So!" The branch director wobbled on his feet and then collapsed onto the front yard of the branch office. "This is...too much for...me as well."

"Mister!"

"Don't die, Mister! We don't want to be blamed for killing you!"

"Let's go drag his body off somewhere, Ame! We'll have to make it look like we're helping him here!"

Are they about to invent a new sport while hiding a dead body? wondered Hitomi. But...

...That's about how it was for us in the 2nd year too.

That suggested Japan's "culture" was being successfully passed down. And...

"Oh?"

Hitomi noticed a familiar face running on the front yard. They wore a black track suit and a hat.

"Kawaguchi, should Piecchi really be running out in the open there?"

"Could you maybe come up with a better nickname first?"

But Kimura did hold a hand over her eyes (despite being in the shade) to take a look.

There she saw...

"Pyrínas is usually here as a caretaker and citizen. Keep that in mind, everyone."

.

Okudera rolled the name "Pyrínas" around in his mind.

He was someone who had appeared rather randomly recently.

...Misaki's definitely drawn a doujinshi based on him by this point.

He was entering his second lap around the front yard after passing in front of three children who were carrying water bottles.

"What is he doing, Kimura-senpai?" asked Ariake.

"Something had apparently happened rather recently that he wants to look into, but there is no way for him to properly do so right now. He was so focused on taking care of those kids that now he wants to see if anything comes up by doing these kinds of things now."

"What do you mean?"

"Basically, since he can multitask in his mind, he's doing physical exercise to see if he can change things up inside of his own head while focusing on something else. Those kids are the ones he usually watches over, so I guess they're there to hep him with that. It's pretty adorable, if you ask me."

Takeshi nodded in an impressed sort of way while looking to the front yard with a tray in hand.

"In other words, these laps are like his way of saying that he has chosen a life here with those children and us all?"

"That's a pretty bold way of putting it, Takkun."

"Oh, um," said Takeshi, but he did not actually deny it. Even a she gave a light blush behind his scarf.

...He really has changed.

He seemed to have somewhat accepted that denying these things would accomplish nothing. Okudera and Koarai had a fair bit of that between themselves, but now that unsure Laser Shooter was becoming that way too.

Okudera knew he and Koarai still had a way to go in the regard. Koarai in particular had made a lot of progress since the invasion, so it felt like he had surpassed Okuder there.

"..."

Okudera began to wonder if his teammate felt inferior to him in any way.

If they both felt that way about each other, then was that another way they were "equal"?

If so…

…It should be interesting to see how our things go from here.

He constantly felt a desire to make sure he was a worthy teammate.

"Takkun."

"Yes?"

"How are things going for you?"

"With understanding others, you mean?"

"Oh, sure," said Okudera noncommittally. "I was just hoping you were making new friends."

"Wh-why?"

It was impressive Takeshi had time to do anything else at all with how busy he was with trying to better himself and mend some things. But doing things he did not feel obligated to do was probably a sign that he was still growing as a person.

That was probably best indicated by whatever he considered to be his new "normal".

Changes in a relationship came from changes in both parties.

Tsukiko-senpai, Awdry, Misaki, and Takato-san must be changing as well.

Koarai and I must have done some changing a lot too.

Hooray for fights then? Well, maybe not, but circumstances do change people.

In that case…

…Oh.

Okudera wanted to do something too.

Whatever the situation, they were headed into another Rank War match. With some major battles behind them, he was looking to the future and searching for possibilities.

He wanted to do something new.

Entering the Rank Wars was not required, but once you joined, there was no point in not doing it. so if he was going to make the most of his time outside of matches...

"Kimura-senpai, about our own match."

He directly asked what was weighing on his mind.

They were all looking forward to the next match, but…

"Can we get some help over here too?"

.

Mitsuteru was seated close to Kimura, so he got a good view of the girl's reaction.

...Oh, I know what that means.

The rest of us aren't getting any help, thought Mitsuteru based on Kimura's reaction.

The former Taiyōko Squad Operator made a snap decision.

And her snap decisions were always about what would be happening with the people who were around her.

This snap decision meant they had to keep everything moving along, so they could not spend time on something else.

As a Sniper, Mistuteru was prepared to accept that. Snipers kept the fights running smoothly and provided general support.

He was sometimes tasked with unnecessary odd jobs or joke jobs, but that was now how it was supposed to work. Although I feel like the jokes have become the majority lately. Of course, I bring it on myself a lot, so I guess I can't complain too much.

But at the moment, he saw the Operator start to say something.

"––––––"

Everyone sent emotionless looks the Operator's way, as a sort of counterattack.

At some point, the Suzaku Sister and the Azu-Duo's Okkun had displayed an advance tactic spreadsheet on their tablet and Hogo was doing the same with a "Japanese Summer Dishes He'll Love" was strange to see that when he considered the month, but that would be for later. Mei was writing an article on curry and Suzume was staring at the operator while swaying lightly.

They clearly all hoped to get some help.

Even Kimura would have a hard time telling them they were not getting any help from the battle maniac now.

"No," she began, but then she forcibly changed direction: "Yes."

A pause followed.

No one said anything, but they could hear voices from outside…no, from the first floor of the building.

"Okay! Let's toss him right on in!"

"Splaaaaash! Splish, splish, splish!"

"Hold it, you lot! You may be in the hallway, but make sure you go up for air! Not that I know what that's like since I have high tolerance."

Those other boys were bringing sports to a strange new territory. But…

"––––––"

Everyone exchanged a glance and opened tabs.

.

White Fox: "I'm stuck looking over something right now, but what do you think about Kimura's joke just now?"

Izumo: "It ended with 'yes', so I think that probably counts as a yes."

JK: "She changed course at the very last second, so I feel like the help will be short if you guys end up getting any at all."

.

Mitsuteru agreed with Nakagami's assessment.

Across the room, Hogo looked up at the Ninomiya Gunner.

"Yes-no?" He blushed and tilted his head. "What is that supposed to mean, Sumiharu?"

"I-it's always a yes for you! And my answer will never be a zero, Shiro!"

Kimura gasped when she heard that, so Mitsuteru looked to Mei. And Mei...

"Aka- Yuki!"

"R-right! Kimura, don't even think about coming up with a pun using 'zero' and 'Shiro'. It would barely qualify as a joke!"

"Dammit, you keep cutting me off on my jokes lately!"

"Hold it!" interjected Akashi. "Takato took a moment to insult me there, didn't she!? Tsukiko-kun, you heard that, didn't you!?"

Starting with him before moving on had become so standard no one paid any real attention to it. And you should count yourself lucky their cannibalism is hitting you in such a harmless way, Secretary-senpai.

But that aside…

"Kimura-senpai?" asked Hoshi. "How much help will be provided to everyone?"

.

Takeshi saw Kimura rest her elbow on the windowsill and stare outside.

Du-Sis: "Is she trying to avoid answering?"

But Kimura answered while still staring into the distance.

"Helping out everyone here is going to be tricky."

In other words...

"You could say we're helping out, but you could also say we aren't."

.

Takeshi tilted his head at that.

"So which is it - yes or no?"

"That's the thing." Kimura turned back around and shrugged. "Kotowari Squad is in a weird predicament when compared to the other squad members here, but everything other than that will essentially be like helping out the others."

That would mean... thought Takeshi.

"The people already in the high top tier will have to plan even more, won't they?"

There was one person who would obviously have a lot of work.

...How will he handle that?

Everyone turned to Inukai and he looked back at them in a cautious way.

"What do you say to that, Inukai-senpai?"

"Hm." He crossed his arms and tilted his head and upper body. "For the most part, that's just how it has to be."

He was apparently prepared for it. But he would probably need a little bit of encouragement.

...He's changed too.

In the past, it had felt like he would put on a smile regardless and go with the flow. With certain requests from Yuki, he would often think nothing of it.

It was easy to guess why he had learned to hold off on jumping right into these sorts of things.

...Hogo-san.

He was no longer alone. He had someone waiting for him no matter what, so he could not rush into making decisions without discussing it with him first.

...If I do have Asano-san by my side like that, will I also start thinking like that as well?

Only time would tell in his case.

White Fox: "C'mon, Inu. You've been way too protective and defensive lately."

Lobo: "I think you could stand to learn how to be more defensive, Yuki."

Honest Sister: "Heh heh heh. There's no way he could ever pull that off, so specializing exclusively in offense is honestly the right move for him."

Rampage Dress: "My attacks are indeed unavoidable."

If only Mei's comment were not so true.

At any rate, Mitsuteru sent a comment to Hogo.

Daybreak: "Um, Hogo? What would you do if Inukai-senpai was stuck planning more than he is right now?"

Hero: "Eh?"

That must have come as a surprise because Hogo hung his head toward his phone with something spilling from him.

The reaction meant his thoughts had to be in a positive place and that either inspired Hitomi to give him some encouragement or simply to tease him.

Demon Child: "Would you join him if you could? Like you did two days ago?"

Hero: "No, um."

Rampage Dress: "Now, Oshiro, it is time to choose."

With that much encouragement, Hogo hung his head while blushing and gave an answer.

"I-I would make Sumiharu something to eat every time he would need to leave."

.

Inukai realized everyone was focused on him. But...

...I must avoid anything that would waste Shiro's efforts here.

"Shiro." He spoke to his flushed and somewhat downturned face. "It's possible that I won't be able to constantly eat alongside you for these next two matches."

But…

"So how about I thank you for the meal when you give me something to eat before the matches and thank you again when we finish the matches?"

His hair shook as he turned to look at him. Something scattered and there was a smile on his lips.

"I would love that!"

.

Takeshi gasped.

...Is this how you put your pride on the line in a good way!? But with these kinds of people...

But anyway, thought Takeshi as he looked to Oshiro and Inukai. The Hogo Squad Captain continued to smile brightly as he tried to get back to his tablet. Inukai watched that then stood up.

"Here."

He sat down to Oshiro's right.

His shoulders tensed in obvious surprise, so Inukai raised his right index finger.

"This is a Gunner technique called side sitting."

"A-a Gunner technique!?"

"Yes. Now that I have used this technique on you, you can't help but let me sit by your side."

"R-really?"

Kimura responded to their conversation by leaning out the window and taking deep breaths. You just have to get used to it, Kimura-senpai.

But Inukai was not done speaking.

"Those affected by this technique are also doomed to see the caster when they look to the side."

Demon Child: "I'm going to die."

Izumo: "Um, Hitomi-san? Let's not overreact."

Demon Child: "I've known Inukai-kun long enough, but this really going to kill me. Too much of a good thing really is poison."

Koala: "But why is it Shiron-paisen's advances get a positive response, but Inukai-senpai's get a 'has he gone insane' response? This is definitely the latter."

White Fox: "Ignore him. This can be the most delusional part of someone's life."

Inu: "I'd prefer you call it the happiest part of my life!"

Incredibly, Takeshi could easily imagine him continuing on like this forever.

Regardless, this meant they had solved the Inukai problem. So...

"Kimura-senpai, this mean you have at least some plan to help everyone else here, doesn't it? What are you thinking?"

"Well, they have some pretty strong people, so I think it's whatever."

That was a somewhat frightening thing to hear, but then Kimura crossed her arms and turned toward Takeshi.

"You see, Kotowari Squad just went down in their overall strength." She opened a new tab on her tablet displaying the statistics and she tapped on Kotowari Squad. "You haven't forgotten, have you? Mei over there has left your squad and become a part of the Yagura Branch."

.

Kimura made sure everyone was focused on her before she continued.

"Are you listening?" she began, earning her some nods.

They all understood, so she went ahead and said it.

This had been a sort of starting point for Kotowari Squad.

"Yesterday, Mei had resigned from being Kotowari Squad's Operator in order to join the Yagura Branch."

Mei nodded.

"I decided to leave them on a good note, unlike a certain idiot we all know, so it worked out well enough that they understand that I will still be here for them whenever they need me. But I will be transferring to the Yagura Branch proper soon enough."

"I'm pretty sure this will end up terribly for some people, but I'm personally fine with it, so I could care less about it most times." Or better yet, thought Kimura as she added that to another list of her "Yuki is an idiot" folder. "While the Yagura Branch has gained something important with that transfer, Kotowari Squad lost someone who could perform super calculations, - bordering precognition - someone who could keep all of them in line, and someone who knows the battlefield well enough that she can help just by sitting there and speaking to them. Her multitasking skills are also lost to them at this point. Instead, they have some JK who is honestly weird."

"She an hear this conversation, right? I suppose it is fine as long we all understand that she is someone who has a strangeness level that exceeds Kotowari Squad."

Mei said it so naturally that they all ignored the large amount of spam coming from the network.

Kimura was relieved that she was able tp speak so freely like this after a long time.

"Yes," she confirmed. "But she also has her merits. While not on Mei's level, she is capable enough to also be an Operator for the Yagura Branch. She was sent over temporarily, but Akasora-san agreed to let her become a part of Kotowari Squad since they plan to join the Yagura Branch at some point."

"So they went down in power because they lost Takato-san, right?"

"Yes, but that doesn't mean they don't have a lot going for themselves. They still retain a lot of things."

Kimura swung her right arm and Krümel did the same with his right foreleg to open a new folder.

Then she spoke to them all.

"They should not have that much of a hard time against squads who are just as crazy as they are right now."

"This is looking like trouble, isn't it, Asu-chan?"

The smells of cooking lingered on a street where a boy and another figure walked together.

"There has been so much trouble lately, I would appreciate it if you specified what you're referring to, Jinsei."

"Ah, c'mon, you know what I mean." Jinsei's wig was slipping off his head a she placed a hand on his chin. He rubbed his mouth with his thumb and then pointed the finger at his crotch. "It's really now allowed?"

"Don't start stripping around in public. Because then I will be held responsible and it sounds like a pain."

"Things can be a pain for someone like you?"

Kumokawa glared over at him. And...

"That is all."

"You wound me, Asu-chan! Look, look! I'm wounded right here!"

"Please don't point to your ass when you are speaking about something I have done."

"Fine, fine. But at least look over there." Jinsei pointed at one of the greengrocers along the street. "Those eggplants would be great in some tempura, don't you think?"

"You're talking about cooking now?"

"I am." He sighed and saw Kumokawa use her phone to look up the money he was allowed to spend for squad expenses. "What are your thoughts on how Sei-chan has been, Dai-chan's situation, and our return to the top tier?"

"You changed how you refer to him?"

"There was a confusion when Kai-kun was around, so I ended up changing it," Jinsei shrugged. "Besides, 'Sei-chan' sounds nicer, don't you think?"

"If I may ask first, do you plan on actually fighting this time?"

Kumokawa spend no time getting back on topic.

"Of course I am, but I'll be doing it in my own way. I might need to even put in extra work if Sei-chan decides that things are too irritating and instead just become lazy during the match. I'll have Dai-chan there to help me, but losing Sei-chan will be a tough blow."

"If he refuses to fight, couldn't we just send some people over?"

"I guess," he said while Kumokawa gave their order to the shopkeeper.

The shopkeeper knew her well enough for a "good to see you again".

"Is this from the next city over?"

"It's from the other side of it. But..." The shopkeeper pointed to outer Mikado City. "I still have some special grade vegetables we got for the festival, so just as if you need some. The mushrooms were really popular, so if we did get some more, I'm hoping we can get some through an easy channel."

"Sounds like a lot of work," said Jinsei before taking a breath. He turned to stare into the outer city even though nothing was visible from this distance. "Now that I think about it, Sei-chan is from the outer city and not the inner part."

"Does that mean Akane-chan is also from there? I don't know much about their relationship, so I can only ask."

"It's a good question," he said. "I can't say anything about that particular relationship since Sei-chan like to keep things to himself. And I'm sure the vagueness of it all is a real pain for you."

He smiled and placed a hand onto his wig but didn't move it.

He looked up to see Kumokawa holding her right hand back toward him.

"If this discussion will only be a pain, then I will ask you to stop there." She did not turn around to look at him. "For now, how about I search the databank for some options on cooking these vegetables? Unless you want to do it yourself?"

"Our next opponents are annoying."

Eh? That's how he would describe them?

Obishima looked to her captain quickly enough to gather some attention. She ducked her head for a moment before turning back so they would not say anything.

It worked well enough with Tonooka shrugging and Fujimaru giving a huff and smile.

"Ikoma Squad aside, Hikigane Squad looks like it's always changing and Kotowari Squad is only learning new things."

"Mittsun told me about some things they've done, but I'm sure Obishima would know more than me," Tonooka said, turning the attention back to her.

The pressure was a bit much, but she decided to lessen it by thinking of it a different way.

I get to talk about my friend!

It would be helping her squad while also giving her a chance to talk about her time with the Engineers while she sat with Hoshi. Those time had always been fun or interesting, but now there were even more people there that it only made things more fun.

"I can only speak of Hoshi-chan," she said. "I am not sure about the others, though."

"That's fine. That girl is the one who made those prototype Triggers, so it will actually be a good thing if we know more about that situation."

"You're really tense about this match, aren't you?"

Her captain waved off Tonooka's words, but they could all see it.

The way her captain's shoulders were tensed as he crossed them over his chest showed them how much this match would be affecting him.

"Hey, hey, Tonooka, don't you remember how his cool turning slide was brushed aside by a dog? Yeah, remember how that dog beat him and is only getting better? Of course he's feeling tense about this."

"That was unnecessary!"

"Yeah, but it got a reaction from you."

"You!"

Obishima felt like this was too normal for them to interrupted.

Tonooka must have felt the same way since he only shrugged his shoulders and motioned for her to go on.

Um, aren't these the people who came before the current terrible people?

That was a terrifying thought.

"Sorry, go on Yukari."

Oh, it's still morning, isn't it? Obishima thought to herself as she checked the time quickly.

Fujimaru was not a morning person, so this was probably not something she was excited about.

"Right! Um, where do I start...? Oh! Yes! Fujin has been coming along nicely, so much so that Hoshi-chan smiles when she thinks about it. Anything having to do with Teleport is put to the side for now, but I have seen for myself how much she has improved some other Triggers. Starlight has been found out to be usable with Kōgetsu and Raygust, but it's really tricky to use. Oh, it also doesn't cause instantaneous Bail Out either! It does take a good amount of trion, though."

"Obishima."

She recognized that tone.

She had been going on and rambling a bit.

Oh, but he isn't saying anything afterwards.

Was this her captain's way of saying that he was happy she had a friend like Hoshi? She liked to believe so.

But even still, she knew why he had stopped her.

He wants me to speak about what I know concerning the abilities of Kotowari Squad.

That particular squad was pretty open about the information they had. It was not due to arrogance of a sense of superiority, but rather, it was their trust in their own abilities and wants to overcome whatever was in front of them.

Obishima admired not only her friend, but the entirety of Kotowari Squad for that. They were fine with telling others what they were capable of simply because they were asked. It was a way for them to let others know that they were prepared for these sorts of things.

It was unorthodox and she liked that.

"As far as I know, Misaki-senpai hasn't changed."

"That sounds terrifying as it is... But continue."

Did he want the girl to really change?

Well, whatever.

"Hoshi-chan hasn't really been focusing on fighting, so I don't know how much better she has gotten. But she has mentioned that Awdry-senpai and Kotowari-senpai have been trying something new and interesting, but even she doesn't really know much about it."

"So those two are looking for something new?" sighed Tonooka with his shoulder dropping.

It was understandable that he would be the most wary of them. Snipers tended to have a hard time against Awdry and Kotowari once they were found out. Also...

He is one of the people who isn't sure about Kotowari-senpai.

Obishima had been reassured multiple times that the Kotowari Squad Captain was not someone bad. The start of the B-Rank Wars had shown something else, but she managed to meet him when Hoshi invited her to their squad's operating room once.

...He looked more nervous than anything, she thought when she remembered how the boy would shift and lift his scarf to hide his lower face. It was hard to see a bad person in those actions.

But there were still others who needed to confirm it for themselves.

.

Obishima isn't the best at hiding her thoughts.

That was understandable, so he didn't blame her too much.

Tonooka felt something shake inside when he thought about what she could be thinking about. His response to her speaking about Kotowari Squad might have been enough for her to understand his feelings.

They had recently gained some fans, but they were a squad made up of people who he could only describe as extreme. The choices they made were on a different scale from the way he made his choices and were in direct conflict with them. The only one safe was Obishima's new friend.

Mitsuteru had told him time and time again that they were not so bad, but he still had his own thoughts on them.

Their captain in particular.

They had all seen what he was like during the start of the B-Rank Wars.

He had gotten some people to help with his change, but Tonooka couldn't just let go of the image he saw in his head.

The image of someone willing to do whatever it took to win or get their way.

There had been no particular penalty for the way he had acted or the way he had done things, but that was likely because he had some protection due to the people he knew. It was frustrating to think about and Tonooka could only view it all as something that should not have happened in the first place.

But it had. So he had to accept it.

Accepting that had been followed with news that his best friend had made up with Kotowari Squad.

He felt something shake at that as well.

Mittsun is too soft once he's made an attachment to someone.

He had many things to ridicule them for or hate them for, but he had decided to start anew with them. Now he was over at the Yagura Branch, helping them fight against Tonooka and his squad.

"Tonooka!"

"Yes?"

"You will have the freedom to do whatever you want in the next match! But I also want you to support one of us if you see any of the more troublesome fighters nearby!"

"Which ones are counted as 'troublesome' here?"

Yuba didn't sigh and he didn't criticize him. Instead, he only pointed to where the list had already been made, likely by Fujimaru.

And what he saw was...

"...Is this right?"

.

Obishima tilted her head once she heard Tonooka. The way his brows closed in together had her wondering why he was questioning this list. It felt right to her.

She looked back over it to see if she had any different thoughts, but found she could only say that it was correct.

Hikigane Squad - Hikigane Sekai, Kirikari Jinsei, Girikage Daigo

Ikoma Squad - Ikoma Tatsuhito, Mizukami Satoshi

Kotowari Squad - Awdry Toby, Kotowari Takeshi

She felt like the Kotowari Squad Sniper should have also been added, but there was likely a reason for her captain to leave the girl out.

But before she could go into that thought any more, Tonooka spoke up again.

He gave a reason for his question.

"Are you sure Dai-kun and Kotowari should be here?"

"I would think that you would be fine to have Girikage on here."

"Is it because he's a part of Hikigane Squad," Tonooka said with narrowed eyes.

It was unusual to see him become defensive like that.

When she thought about it, the two of them had been fast friends and were seen around each other at times. Even if it was Sasamori and Hanzaki who helped him out more, Tonooka had always done what he could for the Attacker.

This was probably one of those times.

But her captain didn't back down in the slightest.

He took a step forward and was stopped by a hand coming up between the two boys.

It was Fujimaru.

"Hey now, you know that's not the reason," she said. "You told us a bunch of times how much better he's gotten, and about what Hanzaki says about him. If we didn't put him here then it'd be like we were disregarding what he can do now." Tonooka stayed quiet, so she continued. "Besides, we heard that he's done some crazy good work recently. Jinsei says that their squad would probably be in the mid tier if he wasn't there to make up for their captain's problems."

"...That's true. Sorry. I'm just used to others slapping something onto him just because of pointless things."

"Being a part of Hikigane Squad isn't pointless."

Tonooka narrowed his eyes again, but her captain spoke up to calm him down.

"The fact he remains as their member means that even Hikigane sees a lot of value in him, so that makes him someone dangerous."

"...Yeah, that makes sense."

If that was the case, why did she only remember seeing that captain laze around while his teammate was performing a crossdressing dogeza party?

Her captain had told her to wipe it from her mind, but there was no chance that she would be forgetting something like that.

That takes care of why Girikage-senpai is on there.

That just left...

"As for Kotowari..."

He was on the list for a reason.

"He has a chance to be like your friend - Ariake."

"How so?"

"Well," Fujimaru said.

Before she could finish, her captain continued.

"He can harass whoever he wants without any problem!"

"Chu!"

"What an honestly cute sneeze."

"You better not be getting sick before our match, you hear me?"

Mitsuteru smiled as he watched Kotowari Squad walk away from the branch office and towards the Border base.

Their meeting had ended up in a strange place and had gotten almost nowhere, but it looked like they had gained something from it all.

Seeing Yuki so active and getting a general feel for everything that is going on right now must have made them more relaxed. Their next opponents are difficult, so they shouldn't be too stiff when facing them.

Everything had seemed to be in working order for them as he lightly waved toward them from the front of the branch office.

"We'll be going too! Thanks for having us over!"

"Oh, you're still here, Ariake?"

Mitsuteru turned around in time to see the Azuma Squad trio walking towards him from inside of the branch office.

Hitomi looked much better after some rest, but neither Okudera nor Koarai seemed particularly bothered by everything right now. That was also good.

"I still need to do some looking into for this place. My family doesn't like to half-ass anything, so I want to do a checkup on the place. See if anything needs fixing."

"Yeah, we can tell how good you are are checking things over. The way you go all out when it comes to harassing others is pretty scary."

"...Huh?"

"Eh?"

All movement stopped.

Mitsuteru was certain that he heard an upstairs window open up, but he ignored that. There was doubt that looking up at whoever opened the window would only be viewed as a win for them.

So he focused on the confused tiro in front of him.

Hitomi had started sweating while she looked away, Okudera was standing still with his arms to his side, and Koarai...

"Ha ha ha! Don't be so shy about it! The way you've been harassing squads left and right in the rank wars is terrifying!"

"I really don't know what you mean," he retorted.

This time it was Koarai who froze up.

Okudera was the first to recover, pulling out his phone and quickly typing out a message.

Soon enough, his own phone was buzzing like crazy.

.

Okkun: "Hey, we have some trouble here! Ariake is acting like he hasn't been harassing anyone during the rank wars!"

Black Bullet: "You shouldn't be lying like that."

Shige-ko: "He does it so naturally when we're planning out our matches that I just figured he was aware of what he was doing."

Feeling Alive: "Saaaaaaaaaaame!"

Okkun: "So what should we do here?"

Everyone: "Figure it out yourself!"

Daybreak: "Um, hey? I really don't know what's going on here? I mean, when I think about it, I was harassing NinoSquad and Suzu-1 in our match, but that's all. Everything after that has been fine. Actually, this is the first match since then."

Yuzu: "Mitsuteru..."

Daybreak: "Hm? What is it, Yuzuru?"

Kage: "Why did our Sniper just shake his head while muttering, 'This guy really is clueless'?"

Bright Child: "Because our very own Mittsuncchi decided to ignore how much he harasses others when he's fighting!"

Kage: "I haven't seen much when it comes to the guy, but he was helpful yesterday."

Daybreak: "Kageura-saaaaaaan!"

.

There was at least one person on his side.

"Woooooow... He managed to harass Kage-san into saying something like that."

"I didn't do anything!"

The three of them motioned for him to calm down, so he did just that. With a breath in and a breath out, he released any tension that had been building up.

"Now then," Hitomi started. It looked like she wanted to say something else, but she turned the other way and started whistling.

Okudera took the lead again.

"So, Ariake..."

"Yes?"

"Oh, thank goodness!"

Mitsuteru only felt lost at this point.

"From your perspective, how do things look for Kotowari Squad going into this?"

So that was what they wanted to know.

The Azuma-duo had seemed close to Takeshi when they had been discussing what to do. It was nice to see the younger boys getting along so well.

That was enough for him to overlook what just happened so he could answer.

"I don't think they can win."

But...

"As long as they put up enough of a fight to where the other squads get frustrated, they should do well enough."

Another window opened up from within the branch office and he could hear some people crowd around the upstairs one.

Hitomi brought her arms up and counted down from three. Once they were lowered, they all gave a chorus.

"That's called harassment!"

Chapter Text

The room was filled with noise as people moved around, finding their seats while continuing their conversations.

Three people sat in the middle of the large hall, watching as everyone came in to watch the fight that would be occurring soon.

One of them was Sawamura Kyōko, another was Denji, and the third was...

"Are you sure you should be here, Minoru~? Don't you have better things to do~?"

Minoru continued to look around the hall, ignoring Denji's taunts towards him.

The two of them had known each other a good amount of time and this was nothing new to Minoru. It wasn't something he liked, but it was something he was used to at this point.

"Denji, stop that already."

"I'm just having a nice chat with my former teammate~"

"Since when have you cared about that sort of thing?"

Denji gasped, but they knew it was just for show.

"What ever do you mean? I speak to Sekai all the time! And Ketsu... Well, he's weird, so I stay away from him."

"Look who's talking," came a chorus from around them.

Minoru had not expected that one, but Border had quickly become filled with people who could give a tsukkomi at a moment's notice. At this point it would have been weird if no one responded to that.

With his attention fully on the people around him now he could see that the seats were beginning to fill up more than they had been before.

Was this because of the usual top tier squads or was it something else?

It was hard to tell since both of those reasons could be truth or they could both just be assumptions.

Either way, he noticed how there were starting to be little sections where people would divide to groups. The amount of regular agents was rather low this time, but that was to be expected when another match would also be going on at the same time.

"Well, there isn't much time left. We should begin soon," Sawamura said from his left.

Both he and Denji nodded with this.

They would begin, give each squad five minutes to prepare, then watch everything happen.

"Stop glaring down there already."

"I can see Takeshi's brother down there with Shiraishi. I'll continue to glare as long as I want."

Yuki heard Mei sigh from her seat behind him, but did not stop glaring down at the seats below.

From what he could tell, a good amount of C-Ranks had come by to watch the match while B-Rank agents could be seen loitering around each other. Minoru, Denji, and Sawamura were in the commentators' booth, waiting to begin. And a few seats behind them was...

...Shiraishi and Kotowari Musashi.

The only blood relative of Takeshi.

We hadn't even heard of him until the issues with the sponsors came up. If he's been here the whole time then I have a lot to say to him. If he gives a poor answer, I'll beat him to the ground.

He had done it to Kageura before and he had done it to Ninomiya before. Both times had been for a different reason, but only the one concerning Ninomiya he felt no remorse for. Even so, he knew that he had been right to do so.

But what about here?

If he did such a thing to Musashi, what would happen?

He would feel like it was deserved, but interpretations could ruin his self victory for him.

I want to hit him as an older brother and for Take. It might even feel cathartic after what we were put through during the issues with the sponsors.

But...

...They could use that in a different way since I'm the representative of the Yagura Branch and an A-Rank agent. They might even know about what was happening yesterday, so they could use that against me. It wouldn't do me any good to hit him while I'm on my probation either.

There were too many factors working against him here.

He wouldn't be able to do anything without getting in trouble.

He gave a bitter smile upon realizing this.

"I guess it would be arrogant to say that I've grown enough to stop myself from doing something stupid."

"Then I'll congratulate you for actually thinking of the consequences of your actions before doing anything."

He could only nod at Mei's words.

There was no reason for her to be considerate, so those words were her honest feelings.

.

"What should I do here?"

He asked Mei that question, but she found it hard to properly answer when she wasn't looking down at the man in question.

So instead, she answered with her own question.

"Who is he currently with?"

"Shiraishi. The two of them are sitting a bit-... Wait, Shiraishi is getting up. Is she going somewhere? No, she's turning to Musashi. She's bending down? She's lifting him up!? She can lift that guy over her- Whoa! An overhead throw across the hall! The C-Ranks are having to move away! Oh! He landed crotch first on the back of one of them! Oof... That one hurts just from here."

He seemed to be enjoying himself here, so she only smiled and let him be for now.

But she did think about his worries.

They were now on equal ground and understood what they needed to do to remain that way.

...What to do concerning this man who appears from nowhere, goes against us the way he did, says that he is Takeshi's older brother, and is refusing to speak directly to said brother? As someone who cares about Takeshi myself, I would rather they never meet again. If this Musashi person has refused to meet his only known family member then he should not be allowed to see that family member he has given up on.

That was only her new emotions speaking. Her mind had already calculated out how each end result would look and exactly how to reach those conclusions.

Each one of her calculations fit together into a nice sequence that would solve this entire problem with little to no issues arising because of it.

But she would not be happy by the end of it.

The people she cared for might not be happy about it either.

This was not a life-or-death situation, so she had decided to ignore her calculations in favor of her emotions. The wants she had built up over the course of these past few days.

Those were what was important to her right now.

So...

"Yuki, can you come here for a moment?"

Without saying anything Yuki made quick strides to reach her within a few steps.

She was satisfied with how much effort he put into simply moving towards her.

"What is it?"

"Can you...hug me?"

"Are you sure you don't want a kiss instead?"

He was pushing it here, but it was also an honest question.

She did want a kiss from him, but she knew that she was not ready to casually kiss him just yet. It meant settling for what she could right now.

With ams held out she looked to the side with her face beginning to heat up.

If she had done this while only having her calculations then she was certain that the room would have been destroyed by now.

But instead, she only felt another body against her own.

Yuki had lowered himself down so that his face with level with her chest. His arms had spread out and wrapped around her mid back nicely and she had placed her head atop his.

...This feels nice.

But it could not last.

Any more than this and she knew that Yuki would end up going through the glass a few feet away from them.

He also knew this, giving reason to him pull away away before she could tighten her grip on him for her own overhead throw.

"Is that better?" he asked.

"Very much so," she answered.

It seemed to have calmed him down as well. The tension that had been in his shoulders seemed to have disappeared.

It's enough if that's what I can do for him.

Now that they had both gotten that out of their systems it felt like it would be easier to focus on the match proper.

.

GM Aide: "Welcome to the sixth match of the B-Rank Wars. I will be your commentator for this match. Along with that I have with me two A-Rank captains. Hatohara Minoru and Bakuto Denji. Thank you for joining me here."

Deer Prince: "Thank you for having me here."

Gambler: "Ooooohhh! Nice throw there, Shichi! Next time aim for the wall itself! I wanna record this for your parents!"

GM Aide: "Denji!"

Gambler: "Hm? Oh, yeah. Thanks, thanks."

Mei released a breath.

It was worrisome to have that man next to Minoru, but she knew that her cousin could handle himself.

"...I feel bad for Kyōko-san and Minoru right now. To have Denji right there..."

"Are you sure you want to be speaking about him?"

"If you're talking about Minoru then... Yeah. I guess I should be talking to him instead of about him. But it's not like I can do it right now."

"If you did then it would at least seem like entertainment for some people."

"It would also get me in trouble."

It was good that he understood his circumstances now.

GM Aide: "Looking at the current rankings shows that Kotowari Squad is currently the lowest ranking squad out of the currently fighting ones. They have been given the right to choose the map this time and their decision seems to have been cityscape D."

Deer Prince: "The buildings are rather low for this one and the only notable place are the large amount of stairs leading to a shrine. The high ground it gives is good for Snipers and Shooters, but they still need to be precise if they want to do anything important there."

Gambler: "If we're looking at who's all in this match, I'd say that Mizusato, Tonokazu, and Sekai could properly use that kind of thing to their advantage. Otherwise it's just a nice plot of land for close-range fights. Even then, Mizusato and Sekai might be too lazy to fire from that kind of position."

Deer Prince: "Takeshi could likely fire a straight shot beam from there, but it would give him away and make him too close to leave the location. It's normally better to leave that place alone, hide there once time looks to be running out, or get rid of it so someone else can't use it."

GM Aide: "The location is also one filled with narrow streets and little room is given for open fights. It's an anti-Sniper and anti-Gunner stage."

Gambler: "With the way Kototake fights, it also goes against him. Kotowari Squad picked this place because they have a close-range main attacker and a close-range support while also have a Sniper who can fight at close-range. That means they dubbed their captain useless against these guys and are ready to throw him away."

Deer Prince: "Denji!"

There was an audible snapping sound from somewhere within the room.

Mei looked to Yuki but found that he was staring at her hand.

To be more exact; he was staring at what was in her hand.

"Um, Mei? I'm pretty mad at Denji for that one too, but please try not to destroy the furniture."

"I will try," she said while tossing the broken arm rest to the side.

It would be difficult, but she would manage not throwing a chair out the window at Denji. She could promise that much.

GM Aide: "Ahem... With all of that being said; each squad has five minutes before they will be transported in."

"So I honestly think we should take the shrine before it is blown up or already in use. If we let one of the other squads take it then they will use it as a fort and attack us from there."

Tonooka explained his thoughts while standing at the table displaying the map they would be fighting on.

The map was not one suited for him as a Sniper, but it worked well enough for him as a person. The low builds and narrow streets meant that others would find each other easily enough, giving him a chance to hide in the shadows and wait to strike. His location would be given away quickly, but that was fine as long as he took out his target.

Yuba Squad as a whole was currently going over their in-depth plans, though.

Compiling a list of options was going to take too long, but Obishima and Fujimaru were already looking ready to go into this match. They had the simple jobs as an Attacker and an Operator, so they likely decided to go with what their captain had in mind here. It would be no different for him, but Obishima became a factor depending on where she would be sent during this match. When compared to the other fighters, she was likely the weakest out of pure lack of experience. Thus, she would likely be teaming up with one of them or waiting for her own moment.

Quick work could be exhilarating, but the excitement did not last long.

According to Mitsuteru, "Everyone thinks five minutes is enough, but we know better, Tono. Waiting and figuring things out as we go along and taking the time to do so is where we are most comfortable. That's why Yuba-san lets you go off on your own, isn't it? Well, think more about what you will do during the fight instead of before it."

He had been harassing other squads quite a bit this season, so it was hard to find the true value in his words. It was true that the two of them focused more on stealth tactics, but while he kept to them, Mitsuteru had gone and made a name for himself as a harasser. News from yesterday was also spreading, saying that he was getting rather comfortable with Kageura Squad.

Since that looked to be the case from his perspective, he resolved himself to have an intervention with Kodera later on about this.

"It all comes down to each squad's progress, doesn't it?"

"We have two or three steps of leeway there," said Fujimaru. "So let's take them into consideration."

"...Are you okay?"

"I feel like you want to start something before the match begins. I'm in a good mood since I know that Mei's all good and well at this point, so I'll leave it at that."

Fujimaru puffed out her chest, almost hitting Obishima with it, but she may have just been using that as an excuse to brag about the choices her friend had made recently. Tonooka could understand that completely.

"So the normal run-and-gun tactic should be fine against Ikoma Squad, but what about the other two squads?"

"Hikigane Squad has been rather up and down with how they have been fighting this season, haven't they?" asked Obishima. "Maybe they are having a fulfilling life."

"That isn't something I expected from you," nodded Tonooka. With Fujimaru in a good mood and Obishima being optimistic, it was up to him and their captain to bring in reality. "But even so, that squad can be scary or a pushover most of the time. ...At least, until recently."

"That's right, and we know who to blame for that," said their captain. "With Girikage now a part of their squad, Kirikari doesn't have to worry about fighting by himself when his lazy captain decides that he doesn't want to do anything. Their defense is still low, but their offense and mobility has gone up because of him."

"Because of Girikage? Does he really make that big of a difference?"

"He does. There was something that has been bugging me since I watched the logs of the current season. ...It involves him."

"Oh," they all said, with Obishima raising her right hand. She was tilting her head. "Um, are you saying that Hikigane Squad has been keeping something a secret about Girikage-senpai this whole time? I had never seen him fight, so I wouldn't notice a difference."

"I will let that one slide since Tonooka might be the only one to notice it in full among our squad, so there is nothing to be done about it. You understand what I'm talking about, don't you, Tonooka? The thing that is making Girikage a factor in this match."

"Oh?" Tonooka tilted his head before nodding. "It's the way he isn't falling for any traps, isn't it? He seems to always move away from them as soon as he is nearby."

"Yes, I am. Just before walking into a trap set by an opposing squad, he stops and moves a different way from it." He crossed his arms, looked at everyone there, and continued. "Listen. Unless you have great instinct and a lot of experience, that sort of things doesn't happen. With the way Hikigane treats Girikage, I doubt he is warning him of any threats too. He would rather let Girikage walk into them before telling him where they are."

Everyone exchanged a glance and nodded, so Fujimaru raised a hand.

"Hey, so what are you saying?"

"You can't figure it out?"

"Thinking about it is all well and good."

"Yes, and?"

Their captain stared them all down and Fujimaru pressed her lips together before answering.

"Why are you holding back from telling us this time? Being all cryptic like that makes it sound like you're an upstanding member of society."

.

"Haaaaaah!?"

Obishima saw her captain glare down, arms still crossed.

He went on to push his upper body back even further until his chest was puffed out and he was actually looking down at them from behind his glasses.

"Figure it out already and deal with it."

"What the hell!?"

Obishima felt like she should have joined the others' complaint, but she knew it was best to just watch.

"Excuse me?" she said. "Are you talking about Girikage-senpai having a Side Effect by any chance?"

"I think he didn't get the memo when Jinsei came out and said it," said Fujimaru.

Obishima appreciated how Tonooka opened his phone and brought up the messages about this.

But her captain's words led her to a realization.

"Are you saying that Girikage-senpai is one of the more dangerous fighters here?"

"That's right. Hikigane Squad as a whole is trouble, but they had just added someone who can add on to their abilities by providing something that took them time to figure out. Since Girikage can already figure out how to get around traps and the like, they needed to no time spent on that for him. It means they were able to train him to better work with them instead of focusing on basics. Besides that, there has also been word of how he and Sasamori managed to take out a special Neighbor before continuing on. Even if he had help, the fact remains that he was able to do something like that in the first place. Also," said her captain. "Everything we have seen from the logs shows that he has learned from Tsukiko when it comes to mobility. The actions he takes while on unstable footing or even in the air are not ones you can do without going to see that kind of guy first."

Someone responded to her captain's explanation in confusion.

It was Fujimaru and she was tilting her head.

"Oh? But Hikigane should be able to do those kinds of things, shouldn't he? When he was dropped down onto the issues with the sponsors and we went hog wild, I think it took Murakami in full to push him back even a bit and it only stopped because his boss made him do so."

She was sharp.

Obishima knew what Fujimaru was asking.

"If Tsukiko-san could do something like that, it would mean that Hikigane-san can also do and teach those things. So Girikage-senpai could have learned it from him."

"It was an insightful question from the most brilliant and erudi- gah! Yes, I just bit my tongue, but it was on purpose to wake myself up!"

"Fujimaru, your vainglory is getting better."

Fujimaru gave Tonooka two thumbs up.

Then she opened her phone, made a search, and nodded a few times.

"Now, according to my flawless memory..."

"You openly made a search just now..."

"You were imagining things, Kazuto."

But Fujimaru left the imagined search results in front of her as she continued.

"According to the logs, the things that look like they could be learned from Yuki are Teleport and the Dan-no-I...Irea? He doesn't take on any students and usually keeps to his branch, so Girikage would need to try and something cop...compensate for it."

Everyone eventually gave a scattering of applause.

Fujimaru held out her hands and bowed to the left and to the right to accept their praise. And then...

"I'm impressed you could all keep up with my brilliance."

"W-we mostly know about it because one of us was told in full what happened, so we could guess."

Obishima nodded in agreement with Tonooka. And...

...I know a fair amount about Girikage-senpai's actions.

It was not only him who had been able to gain something from Hoshi's brother, but he was the only one who openly showed it.

"So I figured out where you guys should probably take before getting into any real fights."

- Main Shrine: A location for Kotowari to fire without worrying about the narrow streets.

- Below the stairs of the shrine: The area is more open there and makes it easy to move around

- The inner sections of the map: It helps to have traps set there since everyone might be avoiding the shrine

Kumokawa wrote out the three places of the map that Kotowari Squad likely wanted.

"I believe I see Kotowari Squad's strategy." Kumokawa tapped the screen. "First, they settle in to these locations to that they have the advantage. But they will be waiting things out to see if anyone will go after them or attack each other, so they have less people to fight."

Thinking back, it was a pretty reckless plan to make. She could find holes litter all throughout it, but they likely had something planed for this.

All of their planning would ultimately be to repel the opposing forces, but...

"They decided to go with a location that would put their captain at a disadvantage. It might not be smart when compared to other maps, but they have more than enough people to make up for that sort of thing. And if they can gain these locations quickly, they have a strong defense."

"In that case." Daigo raised his right hand. "They decided to defend against us all instead of fighting us head on, didn't they?"

"That's right. They know what they are up against here, so they likely want to maintain a good place in the top tier instead of risking it. Even with someone like Awdry on their squad, so..."

Kumokawa added information to her list.

- Main Shrine: It will be used as a location for a visual over the entire map.

- Below the stairs of the shrine: This lets them prevent anyone from going up the stairs to the shrine.

(After acquiring these two locations)

- The inner section fo the map: A place where they won't have to worry since they have a high viewpoint.

"This is the importance of those locations in full, but this means they will rush to gain those locations."

"Why would they do that?" asked Daigo.

"As we have said before, to fight back against the rest of us," answered Kumokawa with a smile. "Ikoma Squad just lost a match and Yuba Squad went down after Kanda-kun left, but since we fluctuate a lot without you around, they are being even more careful. They don't know our captain's current condition, so they have to be cautious here. The other two squads will also be trying their best to rise back up after their loses, so it puts even more pressure on Kotowari Squad to defend against them all. Us included in that."

Everyone fell silent there.

She knew that was the correct answer.

They had been modifying their formations to better fit their captain's attitude, but it was still difficult to do when he was their strongest member both on the field and outside of it.

This was no half-hearted effort.

But Kumokawa also smiled on the inside. Their captain was turned away on the couch, but Jinsei and Daigo were looking silently over at her. And...

"Asu-chaaaaaaaaaaaaaan!"

"D-do you need something, Jinsei!?"

"No, not really. I just couldn't stand the silence and you had been in control of the conversation for so long I thought it was about time I shouted."

"I see," said Kumokawa while noticing the dual gazes.

The expectation in their eyes set off warning bells in her mind.

"I-I only know this because I researched how they have been doing."

"I'll let Shin know all about that and get you promoted," said Jinsei.

"Eh?" thought Kumokawa while Jinsei wrote something on his phone and sent it.

Daigo looked her way and tried to help by giving an explanation.

"This is something that they should know as your boss and Captain-san's former boss. It is relevant data on how our top tier squads are."

"Hah. We don't want to interrupt their work too much," agreed Sekai with a quiet sigh. "But this whole situation sounds irritating."

.

"That aside," said Jinsei.

He was not listening to this, but he had always been good enough to not need to follow a plan when fighting on his own. But...

"There's something important I need to talk about here and can't wait."

Kumokawa and Daigo stiffened at his tone and both nodded.

"I've been having Dai-chan here dress in our squad's outfit outside of matches to see what kind of impact it has. He's been gaining some extra muscle while with us here and I noticed some things. Besides the usual Hisa and Yoshi-chan, there have been others who are looking at his bare arms! They've been staring at his muscles! And some have even been saying the straps we have on our upper forearms make him look even better!"

"But couldn't that be their appreciation for the style?" asked Daigo.

Kumokawa nodded.

...But knowing how things are around here, that might not actually be it.

Daigo was obvious to when he was being used, so having others look at him a certain way likely did not register in his mind.

There was only one thing she could say given the current situation.

"Those people mean nothing when the only ones who will openly do it and have no trouble are Sasmaori-kun and Hanzaki-kun. Disregarding the looking aspect, those two are fine with touching his arms and having him touch them without any problem."

So...

"They have the advantage when it comes to these sorts of things since they have no shame when it comes down to it. Yes, Osano and Kagami have even brought up their muttering of his body before during some of the gatherings with the other Operators."

That was followed by the sound of someone giving a loud sigh from the couch behind them all.

Eventually, the one responsible for the sigh spoke up.

"You people are all so damn irritating. Just hurry up and fu-"

"Language, Sei-chan!"

Mizukami sense a change in the mood as the clock struck 3 minutes.

He could feel the feel the excitement coming from his teammate, which led to the current situation he found himself in here.

They were apparently going to actually do something instead of go in and do as they wanted this time.

...I guess having that Musashi guy come around turned into a big deal for us.

The man had been insufferable when he had high amounts of energy, but that was not why he had created this situation.

Here, his squad had decided to go against their usual antics in favor of coming up with something to do so that Musashi could be proven wrong and Chisato could properly see them in a fight.

Ikoma and Kai had gone on to shout out how they were excited for the match while Oki simply raised a hand with a smile. Hosoi was shaking her head off to the side, but that was to be expected in this kind of situation for them.

Mizukami could not help but notice how they had changed a bit.

"Iko-san, are ya sure ya wanna go through with sorta thing instead of the usual?"

"Mizukami, be blunt with him. Tell him he needs to stop tryin' to be cool for Chisa-chan because he's a nuisance!"

"I think I'm fine, Mario."

But the Attacker opened his phone, turned it toward them, and began to speak.

"Ya see, that Musashi guy pissed me off from the start, so I wanna get back at 'em for that by makin' Take-chan look super cool in front of everyone. Plus, I've gotta look even cooler for Chisato."

"Yeah, keepin' that sorted out sounds like a pain," said Mizukami.

He decided to take a break and something occurred to him, so he commented while Ikoma looked back over his phone.

"I can't believe the rest of ya're goin' along with all of this."

"Hm. Well Iko-san didn't say we have to lose, so I don't have a problem with it. Isn't it the same for you?"

Mizukami thought back. A lot had happened yesterday, but it had all been necessary.

"I guess you're right. What about you, Kai?"

"I get to just fight Take-chan and make him look cool, so I'm fine with it!"

I should've expected that answer from him, thought Mizukami, but then Ikoma said more.

"I can't fight him since I would just make myself look even cooler, and you'd just be bring down his cool factor because of Fuyushi." He smiled. "But Oki already has too much of a cool factor, so it's fine if Take-chan takes him on. And Kai's fine with fighting him too."

"What kind of response is that?"

"The plan's to make Take-chan look cool, so also make sure no one else butts in. Or at least help the guy out if it looks like he needs it. Just make sure not to give nay points away."

"Is that so?" said Mizukami.

Oki gave a snort of laughter.

"Looks like this is a mission to make sure that Musashi guy is put in his place. I don't really care for that kind of thing, but I don't mind helping out Mittsun's new bud."

"So our real problems are making sure we don't get taken out instead of taking out all of out opponents? That seems kind of backwards, but I see where you're coming from with that one."

Toby nodded in agreement with Suzuka.

"There are a good amount of people I could take on here, but the ones who can take me out are way too much. If I work with anyone else and am taken out, they won't have much in keeping the pressure on to the other squads."

"Right," said Takeshi, but Toby was not done talking.

"But, Take? Are you sure you want to go this way during this fight? This puts you had a heavy disadvantage, limits your movement, and restricts what you can do in whole while leaving too much to our abilities against these squads."

"I don't think I planned it out quite like that..."

"No," said Suzume, looking over their room and noticing how things have changed. "It is rude or impressive that we can honestly have these kinds of discussions?"

"Senpai, Senpai. Try not to respond to every little thing you see. Didn't you have something more relevant to say?"

"That's right." Suzume nodded and looked to Takeshi instead. "When honestly discussing anything, it's useful to keep in mind the current ideas are not perfect and they should honestly be modified to suit the current situation. Also..."

Also...

"You have given some thought to what kind of plans you want to have in the future, haven't you?"

...Oh?

Toby and everyone else turned to look at Takeshi.

Their current captain fixed his scarf in response.

"Well, I do plan on trying to be useful here, but it makes more sense to play to the strength of the majority. That's why I want Toby and Hoshi to take the shrine before anyone else so that Senpai can take a position there for sniping. But," he said. "It means I will need to be keeping everyone busy in order for them to reach the shrine in the first place. I don't plan on getting taken out, so it's not going to be a sacrificial thing, but if it happens, it happens."

"Takeshi-kun, do you plan on actually winning this or just make it through the fight in general?"

"...I want to win. There is someone who said they wanted to keep winning with me, so I don't think I ever want to lose or to settle for what I can do. I want to win, but I need to be realistic in how to accomplish that. Right now, that means I need to create a space where all of you can work best. ...As the ones who are strong enough to fight."

It was clear Takeshi was choosing his words carefully. Statements like this could easily get you in trouble if they got out to others. Because...

...He's saying that he wants us to place ourselves above everyone else so that we can all win in the end.

But how well would that actually work?

"If we ignore all of the usual standard, it will seem like we are working toward our own self-interest," pointed out Toby.

"Yes, almost certainly." Takeshi nodded. "But that is fine. A lot of the squads are doing this in their own self-interest, so I figured that it would be fine if my self-interest involved having the people I care for also end up winning alongside me. It's something I've learned after being with all of you for so long."

The first one to react was Suzume. With arms already spread out, she reached forward and wrapped Takeshi in a hug, putting his face within her breasts.

"Oh, Take!" Suzume sounded like she had just found the best material to use in the world. "Just leave it to us then! We'll honestly win and then show you off for being such a good boy! Yes, our Take is someone who can be counted as a 'person' now, so we're going to honestly beat the crap out of anyone who sys otherwise! This match is the second-to-last, but we'll make sure that even losing the next one will mean nothing for all of us!"

"But I had already planned for us to win that round too."

Toby felt pride well up inside his chest as he registered Takeshi's words here.

"We won't let you down, so make sure to stay with us and continue winning alongside us until the end, got it!?"

He too wanted to continue winning for them all. He had never liked losing, but this gave meaning behind his wins now and placed him in a spot where he would only want to win.

Takeshi has been trying to change himself for the better, so that is nice already.

But he was here, he was thinking, he was seeing things, and he was touching things. Toby could be absolutely certain that Takeshi was now here.

But how certain was that from an outsider's perspective? All of the people within their groups, in Border itself, and in Mikado City as a whole were definitely "here", but most of them would not recognize that Takeshi had finally made it.

Existing and being remembered were two different things, as were not existing and not being remembered. The difference was obvious, but it was also a funny thing to think on.

"How many people thought that our captain here wouldn't be able to change anymore?"

"Getting kind of poetic there, Lobo."

"I won't deny it. It was trying to get a grasp of something abstract within this. But," he added. "We're all glad that you finally made it to join us, Takeshi. You're here."

.

He was here.

The weight of those words only hit Takeshi after Toby had already said it.

While talking about these sorts of things he had never understood what they meant and only made educated guesses.

...Now I think I understand the basics.

Just like it took time and a want to change himself as a person, he needed to work toward reaching the freedom and mindset of everyone around him. Coming to an understanding with them all was where he wanted to be, meaning that he needed to be "here".

And at some point, he had reached the place where they were.

He had told Asano that he would go to where she was, but even he had been unsure where that truly was. But...

"I'm there, aren't I? I made it to where everyone is, where we can all enjoy a win or be sad about a loss, even if it means someone else loses or wins."

Everything he had worked for had brought him here, so it was nice to know that none of it had been wasted during that time.

"But does this mean... No, I suppose I would still be wrong."

"What's wrong with that?" Toby had been the one to speak up. "If you're wrong then it means you just need to correct yourself. It's fine to be wrong as long as you know that you have been really wrong and not wrong for the sake of someone telling you that much."

But...

"You know, I don't think you're wrong at all," he commented again.

"Our squad's mutt has a point, Take. If you think you're wrong in what you do, it means the rest of us are also wrong. Now that you're here too, it means you feel the same things we honestly do and understand how important everything else is like the rest of us."

"So that means we're all wrong for feeling the same way you do. You get it?" asked Toby.

Toby had been the one person int he room he could say he felt most connected to. Saying it out loud would cause too much trouble so he only thought about it. He thought about how Toby had stuck with him both as a Border agents and as a person. They lived next to each other, were in the same class as each other, and were even the same age as each other. They fought constantly, but Toby had always been quick to smile afterwards.

Both during the hard times of the disbandment and the current times, he stuck with him and looked out for him. It may have been his instincts as an older brother, but he stuck to it all without asking for anything in return. Nothing but his constant companionship.

And now he was here, saying that everyone around them was wrong since he alone was wrong.

But if they were all wrong like they were saying...

"No matter what, if you think you're in the right, don't hold back and keep going. If someone tells you that you're wrong, tell them that you're right."

Takeshi had already decided that Mikumo was his first friend, so Toby could not take that.

But he at least thought that he was a better replacement for Musashi.

"That would make him look honestly arrogant, wouldn't it?"

Suzume was right. But what if he was allowed to be a bit arrogant now too?

"There's so much we think we understand but don't really."

Suzuka suddenly raised her hand.

"I just had a thought. Is there anything we can do to combat those idiots who think that way?"

.

I didn't even consider that, thought Hoshi concerning Suzuka's question.

...A way to combat the thoughts of others.

They had let Takeshi know that they were proud of him for making it to where they were, but not anything having to do with what that meant as a whole.

She had come to realized that she was also lacking in a lot areas, but she had managed to catch up to everyone recently and enjoy her time here. Now that Takeshi had managed to do the same, she wanted him to feel the same way she had.

Well, the others seemed to be thinking the same way when it came to this, but...

"Let's show them how great Take is by winning this."

They had a plan based on letting other stake each other out. But...

"If we do things right, we might be able to score enough points to where it will not matter if we don't get the survival points." Hoshi and the others turned toward Suzuka. "Would you be fine with putting in the work for that?"

"Eh? I wouldn't be against it, but it has to be something everyone agrees on." Suzuka lowered her eyebrows and tilted her head in thought. "And I refuse to help if it's your average run-and-run type of thing instead of something that actually works. So keep that in mind here."

"What if we just change our current plan to one that focuses more on winning instead of surviving?"

"Well." Suzuka nodded and held out her open palms. "I think I would have no choice up to make sure you all survived while also winning."

That was a good thing to hear.

It meant that she would be flexible for this match and they would have the freedom to change what they wanted.

"In that case," Takeshi said while pulling down his scarf. "Senpai, there is something particular I want you to do. The in-depth settings for the mat will also be changed to something else. I'm just glad we still have enough time for this."

"Heh heh heh. Make sure the show is enough to make everyone realize how wrong they are. But I see what you really want, Take~?"

"I'm afraid to ask..."

Suzume gave another laughed before twirling on her toes.

"You want to honestly look good in front of Eri-chan, don't you!"

"(Atta boy! Take's getting a girlfriend before we even know it!)"

If Toby was switching to English then it meant he was too excited for his own good now.

Even so, Hoshi laughed into her hand.

This was always how it should have been.

And now that they were all here, it meant that they could continue this for as long as they wanted.

GM Aide: "The five minutes are up. Each squad will now be teleported into the map."

Lights filled the screen as fourteen lines traced the sky before circling inwards and shooting a beam down.

Each fighter was sent in.

GM Aide: "The map is, once again, cityscape D. And the setting is..."

A clear white under a cloudy sky could be seen on the screen.

Everyone watched in anticipation as the match began.

GM Aide: "...a snow field under a cloudy sky."

Chapter Text

The clear white of the area was the first thing Daigo saw when he was transported onto the map.

...Some people would say this is "beautiful", wouldn't they?

No, that wasn't it.

This is a nice sight.

These thoughts were his own and not ones he was copying from watching and learning from others. There was no longer a point in trying to copy others when he had gotten enough help that he was now on the same level as everyone else.

He tilted his head at the realization.

His feet began to move, carrying him to where he could find an opponent.

Kotowari Squad's captain-... Kotowari-san.

Even that felt strange now.

...That also seems off. Kotowari-chan? Kotowari-dono? ...Kotowari-sama? Kotowari-kun.

The felt about right.

Well anyway, Kotowari-kun has been in a similar situation until recently, I believe. That makes the two of us pretty similar, doesn't it?

Their circumstances were different, but the general understanding was that they did not understand people around them. So they had learned. The both of them had done it differently, but they had begun to understand other people better while also getting a better understanding of how to act around them.

And now...

...This fight will be different from the one in the first round.

The proof was clear as day when he remembered the two matches side by side.

Their first match had been meant to cater only to Kotowari. It used his Laser-Shooter Trigger to get around and attack, leaving his teammates to fend for themselves and fight without him.

This match was on a map where he would be the one put at the biggest disadvantage. His Laser-Shooter ran the risk of hitting everything as he moved and it left him little room to move around. The snow around them also stifled fast movement and relied heavily on instantaneous placements or ways to move above the snow.

This is a perfect map and setting for his teammates while collateralizing into his actions. The difference between the two times really shows a lot.

...Have I grown enough like that?

There was no need to think that he hadn't grown when others had already told him that he had.

So if they had done that then it was likely that Kotowari had been told that as well.

Even so...

I think I will let him know that he has grown. From one grower to another. But for now, I should focus on what is currently coming towards my face.

He did not have something like Teleport in his Trigger set, making it hard to move on the snowy plain. So instead of doing something about moving he brought up a shield and backtracked into his previous steps.

The sound of something hitting his shield rang out as a light flashed.

Simple Boy: "Sniper."

Life: "Specific, Dai-chan! Specific!"

Cloudy River: "I already got it locked in. Don't worry."

His teammates continued to be amazing.

Life: "Could you figure out which way they would be going?"

Simple Boy: "Vice-Captain-san, please don't ask for too much. The distance was too far away, the shot was too clean, I had to put up my shield, they likely moved right after taking their shot, the buildings are low but so was the shot, meaning that they were closer to the ground than is likely comfortable, and I need to be ready to deal with any issue that can come up because of your ability to make everything you do turn into a strange and slightly erotic display. Thank you and have a nice match."

Life: "Gah! He's hitting all the right points while getting in a dig on me! I miss the more innocent Dai-chan! Asu-chan, do you have anything!?"

Cloudy River: "I marked where the shot came from. Up to you guys to decide where you want to go from there."

Life: "Sei-chan, what are you doing?"

There was a clear silence, but Daigo did not stop.

None of them had expected their captain to do much during this match. If he answered at all then they would have to fix how they worked here, but if he remained silent then they knew he would be doing nothing.

"..."

And nothing came in.

Their captain remained silent.

So that is how it is right now.

They would not be relying on their captain here.

GM Aide: "Each squad is moving out right away, but the first shot has been fired at Agent Girikage."

Gambler: "Hm... Yeah, I guess you can say that. But it doesn't look like Sekai plans to do anything this match either."

GM Aide: "'Either'?"

Deer Prince: "Well... These past few matches, he's been rather lazy and unmotivated. His teammates had to pick up the slack and everyone else just left him alone for majority of the match, or they took him out right away."

Chisato thought nothing of the commentary at the moment. They were speaking of someone who she already knew well enough.

Next to her, Musashi gave a huff and crossed his arms.

"So that guy hasn't changed at all then."

"I guess not. Maybe he got lazy since Kurosaki finally let him off and he has nothing to do now."

"He's been lazy for as long as I've known him, but this is a bit much."

It was true that they expected Sekai to do something during this match, but they had been proven wrong by his leisure stride through the snow covered city.

But it's a good thing for the other squads that he's refusing to do anything.

She knew just how strong he was. They all knew.

Looking down at the commentators her eyes locked onto the back of Denji.

He shifted in his seat, likely knowing of her gaze, and stretched out his arm to the side. His finger moved through the air as if writing something.

Chisato narrowed her eyes at what she saw.

Gambler: "What is important here is knowing what to do. You should always be away of the battlefield and its fighters' wants."

He was speaking to her, she knew that. The first and last words were his way of speaking to her without being found out by anyone not knowing what to look for.

..."What do you want?" Why ask when you already know, you ass?

He was the one in charge of aiding Mogami all this time. The only way he was able to do so was due to Sekai's help and intervention towards irritating situations.

He is also the closest person to Sekai.

So he knows just what that guy will be doing here. If he isn't concerned about it at all then it means that nothing will be happening.

He also knows how strong Sekai is in the first place. I can tell a bit from my interactions with him, but that guy over there knows firsthand what he can do. Yet he is giving nothing away and is following the other twos' lead.

It was unnerving to see someone like Denji act like this.

It was unnatural.

"So it barely started. That's good. It means I didn't miss much of anything."

Someone spoke from the isle next to her.

"Then again, knowing who all is fighting, I could have actually missed a lot without even knowing."

The boy turned to her, waved a hand, and gave a small "Yo".

She knew the boy in orange and motioned for him to sit down next to her. There was an open seat between her and Musashi so he took that with a nod.

"Hey Chisato, who is this guy and why is he getting between our sweet beat up time with each other!?"

"This is Kakizaki. You don't need to know his first name since it would only make you even crazier."

"Is that even possible!?"

Was it a good or bad thing that he recognized that he was crazy?

Anyway.

"You didn't miss much, Kakizaki. Someone had fired a shot and it was blocked by Girikage. Each squad seems to be finding their footing right now."

"Thanks for that." He crossed his arms and turned away from her. "That means I get to watch Takeshi in action from start to finish."

"You aren't here for Tatsuhito or Yuba?"

He raised a brow toward her as if to ask why he would do that.

Tatsuhito had her by his side while Yuba didn't look the type to worry about that sort of thing.

It makes sense that he wouldn't be here for one of them. So...

Musashi from next to Kakizaki bounced twice in his seat before seeming to deflate and look at the ceiling.

She didn't bother to try and understand that.

"You really are here for Takeshi, aren't you?"

"So you call him by name then?"

"Here, switch seats with me. Better this way."

Waiting for a response would take too long so she stood up and waited for him to move.

He was quick to respond by moving over to her seat while she got between him and Musashi.

"Good. And to answer your question: yes, I do. Going by last name would be too much of a hassle since his idiot of a brother is here too."

"The guy next to you is his brother?"

.

"Sadly, he is."

Chisato was prepared for any movement he might make against this.

But nothing came. Nothing physical, that is.

"Hm. So he's the guy... Good. This is going to be a good opportunity. Does Takeshi know that he's here?"

"...As far as I know, no one has been told he would be here."

"Good. That's even better."

That was right. Kakizaki was one of the normal ones among his age group and Border as a whole. Getting an exaggerated reaction out of him would require more than having Musashi nearby.

But he was also not finished speaking.

"You can see how much better Takeshi is than you," he said, addressing Musashi.

"I doubt that. But you know, if you 'care' about him so much, why haven't you tried anything against me yet?"

The idiot was playing with fire, but he had lowered his energy to do so. Everything he was saying had become more serious as he sat stationary in his seat.

Kakizaki only responded with a hum.

"Oh, I don't like you at all. I actually want to punch you for the way you treated Takeshi and how you haven't even bothered to check on him. There are enough people who want to hit you for Border, but my reason is pretty personal after getting to know him more. He's a good kid, but that's only after someone had shattered him and he decided to build himself back up."

Chisato wanted to know a bit more of this story since Ikoma Squad seemed to like the kid, but she had no place in this conversation.

"I-"

"Just watch."

Musashi wasn't used to being cut off like that, but oh well.

She enjoyed his expression as Kakizaki ended the conversation.

She followed his lead and looked back to the screen.

So Dai-chan can react to my shots now. That's honestly good to know.

Suzume smiled to herself as she moved between rooftops.

Honest Sister: "JK Operator, you got a lock on Dai-chan after that, right?"

JK: "Yup. I'll make sure to keep him tagged for everyone else."

Then giving up my location early on was honestly the right choice, she though with a light laugh.

Taking a second shot had been tempting, but it would have given Daigo enough time to figure out exactly where she was instead of where she could be.

If a second shot was not possible then it meant that running away was the best option.

So she did just that.

But you know, I don't doubt that I already have a tag on me after that. It's honestly a hassle to be popular, but tagging a Sniper so soon counts as a win in its own right. All I need to know is who tagged me.

There was the chance that no one had been able to tag her, but that was not likely. These squads were in the top tier for some time, meaning they knew when to take advantage of everything around them.

Suzume gave another laugh as she thought about their opponents.

Those three will need to do the same thing without any issue if they want to remain here. Being at the top isn't a priority for any of us, but it's a nice starting point for figuring out what we want.

...Well, I say that, but that "we" only applies to them. I already know where I honestly want to go.

A place both far away but close enough to reach everyone.

"Heh heh heh."

If she couldn't find the humor in this then she had failed as an entertainer.

This will be one of the last times I work as a member of Kotowari Squad. I should honestly make the most of it now so I don't regret it later.

.

Izumo: "We can confirm that, besides ourselves, five others are currently using Bagworm. With Girikage-senpai being tagged we can tell that one of them isn't him. The ones closest to any of us are two near Toby, one near Hoshi, Girikage-senpai that Suzume-senpai is leaving behind, and two moving away from me. There's also one that's moving pretty slow and doesn't look to have a set path."

JK: "That one's probably Hikigane. If he doesn't want to bother with this fight then he's probably just roaming around for now. Best to leave that one alone for now."

Honest Sister: "Do you honestly want me on standby now?"

Lobo: "Taking over that shrine is pretty big, so it'd be cool if you were near it to drive off anyone else."

Izumo: "No. Suzume-senpai needs to be active around the map. That way everyone else can be cautious in their plays instead of being reassured that there are only two Snipers moving around. Besides that, I want to keep an eye on the slow moving person. I don't doubt that it really is Hikigane-san, but that only makes it more important to keep him in mind."

Shooting Star: "So then..."

Izumo: "Senpai, can I ask you something?"

Honest Sister: "Ask away. Just know that I'll use whatever material I find."

Izumo: "I figured as much... Anyways. Do you think you will have a rematch since the first round for us?"

.

He's aware of that, is he?

That is good. It meant he understood that there was someone else who could match her and her strange tempo.

Others would be able to reach her, she would let others reach her, and there were those who did not want to reach her.

But there was someone who would naturally reach her.

She had seen him do it before during their first B-Rank War match. Back then they had been off their game, but someone had reached her regardless of that.

Honest Sister: "What do you plan to do if I end up in a rematch?"

Izumo: "That depends. Do you want any help or are you find by yourself?"

It was a loaded question, but she forgave him for that.

It's cute to see him ask such a thing from me.

Asking for help means taking attention away from other things. Doing it myself leaves me more susceptible to being found out. It's honestly a hard choice to make.

But...

But...

She gave another laugh.

Honest Sister: "We've honestly been having with each other lately. Let's continue to do that. Let's continue to enjoy ourselves and have fun no matter what we're doing! Can you do that, Take?"

If he could do this much right now then it meant she could leave without any worries.

If he could not...

I will honestly continue to watch over them some more. We can move on from there.

She wanted to be sure that they would be fine.

If they could remain happy with the way things had turned out by this point then it only meant they would live trouble free and carefree lives.

So...

What will your answer be?

She got her answer in seconds.

Izumo: "What are you talking about, Senpai? Whether I'm stuck with you lot, with people like Asano-san or Nasu-san, or just by myself, I know that I should be enjoying myself at all times. I had thought it went without saying that we would be enjoying ourselves here too."

There it was.

He had given her everything she wanted.

Lobo: "That's the spirit, Take! We can go wild, have a plan, do what we want, worry about nothing, win, and have fun! Everything can be done at once!"

Shooting Star: "I will do my best to help where I can!"

JK: "You people are weird."

Coming from someone like her, that was a hard pill to swallow.

But...

It means I can honestly leave them in a carefree and trouble free way!

So with that being said...

She landed on the next rooftop with a single foot.

Her toe sunk into the snow on the roof before begging to turn into a slight spin.

"Heh heh heh! You're honestly making me feel special with the way you decided to go all out from the start!"

.

Green shields bloomed in the air before shattering and scattering all across Suzume.

Suzume ignored them all as she continued to spin.

Someone moved from beyond the edge of the roof, stepping on a blue plate in the air.

Smiling to herself, Suzume brought out her other leg and took a small leap to the side.

The person was pushed forward, blade ready.

His attack missed by her spinning leap.

He made a quick and smooth second attack. With movement close to Suzume's he twisted his body as if in a dance.

Kōgetsu moved through the air, only stopping when coming in contact with another blade.

"Heh heh heh!"

Suzume had wrapped her middle finger in a Scorpion blade. Her spin had come to a sudden stop once she clashed with his blade.

"Are we here to put on a show for the opening act?"

"Sei-chan is off doing something boring and you went for Dai-chan right away. I don't really care about that kind of stuff, though. I came to find you to see if you wanted to play for a bit!"

"You certainly decided to enjoy yourself here, Jinsei!"

"If I couldn't do that much, what else is there for someone like me!? I'm the type of bunny rabbit to die when left alone for too long or will end up dead because he feels sad!"

"That just makes you adorable! Don't try and outshine Dai-chan when I already have a doujinshi planned for him!"

"Give me...a copy!"

The two moved back in fluid movements.

Jinsei fired multiple shots without turning around to see Suzume's response.

The sound of shattering and scattering shields was heard. The green color filled the air as shard rained down in a brilliant display.

.

Life: "Bell-san found! Engaging!"

Simple Boy: "I had been under the impression that you swung the other way."

Cloudy River: "Not the time for that."

Simple Boy: "My bad. Let me try again. Ahem... Vice-Captain-san, you better win or you will get beeeeeeeeeaten!"

Life: "Still wrong."

Simple Boy: "I only have one other thing then."

Life: "What's that?"

Simple Boy: "Do your best."

Life: "You too!"

.

Suzume smiled as she swayed on the pure white canvas.

This nudist crossdresser had decided to seek her out and now she would respond in kind.

Shattering shields appears all around her as they were destroyed by power shots.

Honest Sister: "Here he is. Jinsei is in front of me."

Lobo: "I'm making my way to the shrine! Have fun!"

Shooting Star: "I am also moving towards the shrine."

Izumo: "I'm on my way."

The performance had already begun. Others had likely seen them by now and figured out that both she and Jinsei were here.

Takeshi would be joining them soon enough, but she was curious as to who else would try and force their way in.

Let's begin anew then. We won't just be at the summit this time. We'll be above the summit and I will create a great stage here!

"Suzu looks like she's having fun."

"If it was anyone else, it would be hard to keep up with her. But Jinsei has the same thing she does. Something that she didn't figure out until recently."

Yuki smiled towards Mei.

He had known what she meant since the first time he had compared Suzume to Jinsei. The two were alike that he could have mistaken them for siblings if he was not careful.

While Jinsei embraced everything about himself, ran with it, drove everyone crazy, and showed himself off completely, it had still been different from Suzume. She only ever focused on herself and the stage she would set up for herself. Nothing else mattered since she could be able to see any Rhythm the moment they stepped onto her stage.

But this was different.

He could see it in the way she held herself.

"It's good to know that she had changed from the crying and lonely girl from back then."

This is honestly different from the first round, Suzume thought as she took two steps back and continued to sway.

Jinsei followed her movement while swinging his Kōgetsu horizontally.

She deflected it using her Scorpion blade.

I hadn't noticed how dedicated you were back then. I had thought that you had a changing Rhythm back then, and that may still hold true, but that's not fully the case.

If that were how things were, I would only need to adapt.

But...

I don't need to do anything like that. I only need to be myself here. I only need to continue on being my sublime self.

You know, I had heard about that day your age group spent your time in a training session with Akasora-san. None of the others had been able to land a hit on him. Not until the very end, when he was ready to fight Shinoda-san. One of you had managed to "land a hit" by moving in a way that seasoned fighters would never expect.

There had been a reason for that.

She had not known what it was at the time, but she had figured it out recently.

I let myself truly be myself and saw it.

She gave a "heh heh heh" laugh as she spun and the shield fragments scattered around her.

Jinsei had moved forward once more, but she clearly saw what he was doing and spun again.

Her feet were light as she danced atop the roof.

You honestly have an Entertainer Rhythm.

She was able to categorize every person's movements in genres, but this boy was different. It was the same reason why she could never categorize herself to any single genre.

They could be anything. No single genre could accurately describe them.

They were true entertainers.

No true entertainer is so terrible that they can't adapt to any situation and turn it into an opportunity. They take note of the situation and work to add in their own actions so that no one gets too absorbed into something they shouldn't.

It's honestly refreshing to see this kind of thing around.

It meant that Hikigane Squad had someone to keep them grounded.

Minoru watched the screen with a smile on his face. Not only had things begun in full here, they also got to see just how much Suzume and Jinsei were enjoying themselves here.

Their movements were smooth, functional, and almost completely unpredictable. The tempo of each movement had started off different from each other, but that had slowly began to change as they continued to move on that rooftop.

Gambler: "Looks like we've got two weirdos on our hands here."

GM Aide: "I still don't know what to make of this..."

Deer Prince: "Try not to think too much about those two and focus on what you see here. Both of them would be happy to hear that others enjoyed the show they're putting on."

But they weren't the only ones moving here.

The screen showed different locations where others were moving around.

Daigo, Minamisawa, Obishima, Yuba, and Takeshi were moving as solo units in preparation for a fight.

Ikoma and Mizukami had already grouped up while Oki was finding his own position.

Toby and Hoshi were moving to a single location.

And Sekai...

He's not really caring about what's going on around him.

But there was someone else who was moving in an even more smooth way than everyone else.

Deer Prince: "The Snipers for this match want to be more active, don't they?"

Gambler: "They're a bunch of lunatics. Yeah, weirdos who like to be crazy. Oh, just that girl? Makes sense. She has the feeling of someone who doesn't know what she's doing? Right, right. A stupid little girl who doesn't know what she's doing."

Hitting Denji right now would amount to nothing, so he held himself back here.

Although there was something he could hear from the seats around him.

"That guy doesn't know anything..."

"Oh? What do you mean?"

"That dumb girl knows exactly what she's doing. Even if it's annoying to see...she is only staying there because she knows what she can do here. It's what makes her the second dedicated Sniper I know who can stay behind to fight without worrying about being taken out."

"Didn't expect you to come to her defense like that."

"...Only because I hate that guy more than I dislike her."

He recognized that voice and looked over to see that he was right.

Narasaka was there with Yoneya.

"Looks like there's some fool who admits to hating me~ Win, win~"

The idiot next to him seemed to have also heard what Narasaka had said, but his personal win didn't matter when he thought about the win Suzume might have felt after hearing Narasaka come to her defense.

Even if he wasn't directly speaking to Denji the fact remains that he still said something here.

That alone showed him something amazing in its own right.

But that wasn't the only conversation going on.

One was taking place to the side, the ones involved all being terrible people.

.

"Looks like that idiot's having the time of his life."

"Are you jealous?"

"Pah! Why would I be jealous of that kind of guy?"

Arafune narrowed his eyes at the screen. Hokari and Kurauchi gave hums from his sides, but they were ignored.

He had wanted to go and see how Murakami and Kageura were doing in their own match, but this one felt like it could hold something else to it. Someone new had appeared for Tamakoma, but there would be something here that he could not miss out on.

So he watched the match himself.

"From the way you're talking, it sounds like you have certain feelings about this."

"Is that right? I guess I do feel like I want to see Misaki hit him or something, but he would enjoy that and turn it into a different show altogether."

"Yeah, he can be like that," Kurauchi said with a smile.

Arafune wanted to question that smile but kept to himself.

The way he's moving really gives him away, he thought as he watched Jinsei perform another slash.

Unlike the other times he had seen Jinsei fight, this was something he could only do with someone who could keep up with him in multiple things. It was something that brought a bit of sadness, but that was gone the moment he could see the smile on Jinsei's face from his seat.

"Entertainers can be so troublesome."

"They like to take things at their own pace, but they don't forget to invite everyone to enjoy themselves."

"Even if we don't like him to invite us, we still go to that guy. He's the type of person who can bring others to him while Misaki is the type of person to go to anyone she wants. The two of them fighting here is proof that they are completely different and mix well together."

Was that really a good thing?

The only other person who could bring this sort of thing out of him had been Kon so it was likely fine that this fight was happening.

"Hm. I guess even he can have someone else to enjoy himself with."

"You know what this means, right?"

Kurauchi was enjoying things too much for him to ask such a question. That was also fine with him.

The three of them knew the answer anyway, so he decided to look over to where he could see Minoru watching the fight with a fond smile of his own.

That's right. Those two will probably invite everyone to enjoy themselves with them. In that sense, it feels like this is just the opening for them.

Mizukami held his hand to his ear as he watched Ikoma lean over the edge of the low roof. Some lights could be seen in the distance and the two of them could see that they would not be stopping for some time.

"Oooooohhhh! Looks like someone's havin' fun over there!"

"It's probably Jinsei and Suzume-chan. The two of 'em like to mess around whenever they feel like."

"You think they'll let us join?"

If they weren't careful they would end up starting aa festival here.

I guess this match itself is a festival in its own right.

When he thought of it like that he could only say that they would be the ones enjoying themselves the most at this festival.

Shōgi Boy: "Oki, didja spot anyone else?"

Okay: "I see Girikage running a few meters away, but that's still pretty far from the two of you."

Minty: "Oh, can I go over to fight him!?

Shōgi Boy: "You think you won't lose like when you went against Kashio?"

Minty: "Can't promise that!"

"Huh?"

"That's weird. What's Kai talkin' 'bout now?"

"That's what I wanna know."

He wasn't the type to just up and say that he would lose. For him to say something like that here meant that he knew something.

Okay: "You feelin' fine there, Kai?"

Minty: "Yeah! I'm justing saying that Dai-chan is different now, so I don't know if I could beat him quickly!"

Well that was something interesting. For someone like Kai to notice that made it something so obvious that no one would be able to miss it.

But...

He isn't much trouble when we have Iko-san with us. Jinsei likes to brag as it is, and Kai sees things more on the shallow side, but Oki and I would notice it more.

Ikoma was not someone who they could say was easily beaten by others. Even more so by others who had less experience than him.

Besides that, there was one other reason why there was nothing to worry about.

Chisato is watching, so he wants to look as cool as possible for her.

Holding his hand to his ear still, he spoke up as he watched the lights in the distance.

Jinsei and Suzume were probably having the time of their lives right now, and Girikage was moving forward, so they only needed to do one thing.

The one thing they did best.

Shōgi Boy: "Let's keep going at our own pace and take out whoever we feel like."

"Does that sound good, Iko-san?"

Ikoma looked back to him with a thumbs up.

Sounds filled the air as scattering lights moved along lines. The blooming flowers shattered upon coming in contact with the Hounds, each one turning into a light display for the two entertainers to see.

It was not a single point where the shattering flowers and Hounds were: it was everywhere.

A single rooftop had not been enough and the two leading the performance jumped from one rooftop to another; each light following them and leaving a trail of lights.

From the distance you would be able to see the glimmering lights above the white canvas, but looking within that light show was enough to see that an even denser version of that show was being made.

No voices came from the two of them, but that had only been because they already knew what tempo they wanted to keep.

A long blade moved through the air with with a harsh rotation while a single stinger swatted it away with movements from top, bottom, right, and left. Each action was taken with a smooth rhythm that made it all seem more rehearsed than it actually was.

"Heh heh heh. You honestly want to keep this going longer, don't you?"

"What's that supposed to mean? I'm just enjoying myself here!"

"What a foolish and foolhardy boy you are! I love it! Yes, I love that stupid look on your face! It's what every entertainer strives for!"

"You like to go on like this, don't you!?"

"I am honestly in my Golden Time here! The summit has never looked so beautiful from this viewpoint! I can honestly do this forever!"

The two performers continued to moved across rooftops and through the air, leaving trials of light behind them. Scattering flowers fell towards the ground, a blade of light cut through the air before being pushed aside, and the quick tempo of the fight only continued to escalate the more they moved their bodies. The thumping of each strike, of each shattering, sounded out into the open air, continuing to add music to the dance between the two of them.

For every shield Suzume made, Jinsei would create a pack of Hound to shatter them.

With each swing of Kōgetsu, Scorpion was used to swipe it away effortlessly.

It was not a regular fight that Toby loved so much, and it was not one where strategy came into play, something Takeshi would find interesting. Even a full on assault was incorrect, as much as Sekai would sigh about it.

The two performers had reached a peak that they could only do with someone like them.

So...

"Let's move this to the next stage! We seem to have an audience on this battlefield, so we should show them even more!"

"Ha ha ha! I like the sound of that!"

"Oh, but don't think I will honestly let up just because I'm enjoying myself here!"

"I'd feel insulted if you did!"

She smiled.

He smiled.

But they were not the same.

There was something fundamentally different between the way the two performers smiled.

The pumping of the music and dance was something the both of them were enjoying. The festive feeling was unlike anything else.

But...

"Heh heh heh! A reminder! We have a devourer on out side!"

"We have a one-man army on our side! Even if he's suuuuuuuuper lazy!"

"Right, right, he is honestly troublesome, but there's more it than that!"

Suzume moved her body into a sideways spin starting from the left. She used her entire upper body to throw her weight around as Kōgetsu moved for her torso.

Jinsei followed that tempo with his own. The blade in his hand was released from his grip.

With the blade in a free fall, he lowered his body into a swiping motion from the top right moving toward the bottom of his left.

All it took was a single fluid motion to grab Kōgetsu once more and create an arc through the air.

Suzume lifted her leg before stopping on the snowy rooftop.

The white power was lifted into the air between the two of them as he stood a leap backwards.

Jinsei followed the action by creating another pack of Hound.

They were released.

The pack of Hound moved past the tossed up snow and towards Suzume.

But there was something different this time.

"Heh heh heh."

Instead of defending, instead of continuing their performance, she was another leap.

This time she moved forward.

"It can be viewed as an arrow. It can also be viewed as his resolve here. But..."

But...

"I honestly like to believe that this is our trust him him showing."

.

Jinsei heard it after a moment

A heated sound came from somewhere near them.

He had fired Hound, thinking that Suzume would followup with the same shields she had been using, but that was not the case.

She had chosen to move back towards him instead of going towards a different direction.

Noticing the difference, he moved to strike in a different way.

Hound was rounding behind her to attack from behind, so he had to strike from the front. And the only way to do so was with his blade.

So he moved forward.

He began his swing in earnest, but stalled when he noticed where she was looking. It was not at him and not at his blade.

Her gaze was to the side.

It could have been a bluff, but taking that chance here could cost him more than he would like.

Using his entertainer tempo, he shifted so that he could dodge her frontal assault by rotating to the side. His Kōgetsu was brought up as a flash sped through the air.

The trion bullet struck his Kōgetsu, putting it out further than he had wanted.

Someone had stalled him even further.

But that was not the thing he was paying attention to here.

From where he was moving, he could see his pack of Hound still targeting Suzume. She made no movement to dodge or defend and that told him everything he needed to know here.

That heated noise still hasn't reached us!

As if to correct his thoughts, a white beam of light torn through the air from the tossed up snow. It was thin, but the speed was what he had noticed.

There was no time to dodge it or defend.

It struck him in the chest.

"Ha ha ha! Guess this means you guys really have grown! That's great!"

Green lines began tracing his body as he gave another laugh.

The same white beam had been the source of the heated noise and it had torn through both him and his pack of Hound.

.

Bail Out.

GM Aide: "And the first point of the match goes to Captain Kotowari. He had used the fight between agents Misaki and Kirikari to his advantage to fire a surprise attack."

Deer Prince: "It looks like Suzu-chan was moving them towards his location instead of him just happening to be there. But it still took a good sense of timing for him to fire and take about Jinsei."

GM Aide: "That's right. Before his attack took out Agent Kirikari there was a shot that had been fired. It was hard to see with everything going on, but someone had fired on him after he had dodged Agent Misaki."

Gambler: "That one looked like it was Tonokazu with the way it was fired. The timing was fine enough and the only thing that stopped it was that weirdo's tempo."

Deer Prince: "It forced Jinsei to guard the sniper shot first and have no time for Takeshi's attack. He took the chance of not firing right away and it paid off well for him."

.

"That idiot got too focused on what was around him."

Arafune sighed as he shook his head.

Next to him, Hokari nodded and Kurauchi gave a hum. Out of the two reactions he thought that Hokari's was more definite.

"It's hard to tell from this angle if that attack would have done more damage to him than Kotowari's attack."

"This is why idiots shouldn't think. ...No, I take that back. He's too stupid to think about that kind of stuff. He let his instincts move him. More than that, he was still in the tempo he had with Misaki, so switching over in an instant while having to face three opponents might have been too much for him."

"You're being a bit harsh with that."

"If I went any easier and this got to him then he'd turn it into something sexual."

The other two nodded this time.

They all knew how that idiot was and knew that this was for the best.

But besides that...

Looking back at the screen showed Misaki put her Bagworm on before jumping down to ground level.

It was probably Kotowari who decided their map and settings, but he's following what Azuma Squad did during Round 4.

The color of Misaki's Bagworm had been turned white and the laser-like beam had been the same color. It had been hidden well when Misaki tossed up the snow of the roof, but it was easy to point out when viewed at the right angle.

Kotowari Squad had used it to their advantage in a different way than what Azuma Squad had done.

That's because of how proactive they are as people, he thought with a nod.

Azuma Squad used it as pure camouflage and to stunt their opponents' movements. They were able to move around since their Attackers have Grasshopper, but it basically left it alone. But Kotowari Squad is actively using the snow to their advantage by changing their own color scheme, changing the color of their trion, and using the snow for cover or a smokescreen. It's something that only people who are used to their surroundings can do.

Misaki is the type of person to tell what can be done around her because of her Side Effect, so it makes sense that she could figure Tonooka was ready to fire on them. That smokescreen with the snow was a nice counter, but now that they had done it once, I don't think it would be a surprise to see the rest of Kotowari Squad do something like that.

He gave a laugh at the thought.

Both Hokari and Kurauchi turned to look at him, only to waved off as he crossed his arms.

He gave a grin towards the screen as he spoke.

"Yeah, it wasn't a bad idea at all to come and watch this match. I can't wait to see what else comes from it."

Chapter Text

It was irritating to participate in this match.

What was even more irritating was how he was so far away from his target location.

But the most irritating part was knowing about who was watching him from their seats in the commentators' booth.

Life: "Ha ha ha! Looks like I lost! Sorry about that!"

Simple Boy: "Should I say 'congratulations' or 'you damn idiot'?"

Cloudy River: "Probably both, honestly."

Those three were also irritating.

As he began to climb up the mass amount of stairs he could feel nothing but his mind trying to work, and failing to do so since it would be too irritating.

Sekai gave a heavy sigh as he moved up the stairs, ignoring the possibility of someone striking while his back was turned.

If I have to fight Ikoma and Yuba then it'll be too troublesome. Outsmarting Mizukami also sound irritating.

They were possibilities for him, and things he would be able to do if he felt like it, but that was all too much for him.

"Hah," he sighed. "It's irritating to be here."

But it would be irritating to be anywhere lower than this.

There was someone who he could not fight against. That someone was currently in the mid tier of B-Rank squads, meaning he needed to remain at the top so that he could not have to fight her.

So now he had to deal with people more irritating than his own squad.

I'll leave it up to that brat to do things. We have enough points that not getting a single one in this match doesn't mean we go to mid-tier. They can all fight amongst each other to see who can take our place. Oh, but I guess that could go to another squad. Tamakoma's been going crazy to get some points. I guess it would make them happy to move ahead of people like us.

It would be less irritating to deal with everything if that were the case.

Everything would resolve even if he didn't get involved.

"So I shouldn't get involved at all. Hah."

With an extra long sigh, he looked up to the stairs he now had to climb.

"So damn irritating."

"That guy's just as troublesome as ever. But damn if that isn't a turn on."

Deer Prince: "Should you really be saying that right now?"

Denji grinned as his spot next to Minoru. His trap had been used to perfection and he would use that.

Even if they were in the middle of something, having no fun while commentating was something he would not stand for.

Gambler: "Oh? And here I had my mic turned off. Tell me exactly what you heard there, Minoru~ Yeah. Let us all know what you heard come from me."

Deer Prince: "You...!"

GM Aide: "Ahem. It looks like each squad is figuring out what to do now that someone has been taken out."

Nice call there, Kyōko, Denji thought bitterly. She had used her own chance to strike at his words before they got too far.

The professionalism she showed here was her own way of countering his way of doing things and Minoru's understanding of how he was.

If she could keep this up for the entire match then even he would find it amazing.

But he would not make it easy for her.

Gambler: "With that idiot out of the way it makes room for everyone else to move, but it also keeps them in place, knowing that the idiotic girl who beat him is still around. It's really pathetic to even consider that a win, but I guess people like that just gravitate to whatever they can for a victory."

Deer Prince: "The fact that she was able to get away from another Sniper who had a keen sense of focus while also not giving away where Takeshi should prove that she knows what she's doing."

Gambler: "But wouldn't you say that it would be an even bigger win if they took advantage of that by striking down Tonokazu after he had taken his shot? They were the closest ones there and have Teleport. Moving within range to take him out should have been easy. But they stopped before that because their captain is too much of a weak shit to do anything about it."

GM Aide: "That would also give them away to the other squads. They likely want to refrain from drawing too much attention to themselves."

Gambler: "Misasuzu is used to getting a lot of attention from the way she carries herself around like a sl-"

A harsh feeling came to his side before he could finish his sentence.

Someone had jabbed his side.

Now he had already seen it coming before it even reached him, but he actively held himself back from doing anything about it. If he had then it would have turned into something else entirely.

And besides...

I'd rather die than lay a finger against her.

Standing directly to his right was a small girl with brown hair and heterochromatic eyes. Her facial expression was twisted into a deep frown and her hands were placed on her hips.

Instead of asking what she was doing he only reached out towards her.

She took a step backwards to avoid his reach while still frowning at him.

He could hear Kyōko asking Minoru about this and him giving a response, but they were pointless people here. There was something he wanted from this girl and he was determined to get it.

But first he had to do something about her attitude towards him.

"(No bad words! You were saying some really mean things and were thinking even worse things! I don't like that!)"

"(What if I apologize to her afterwards?)"

The girl crossed her arms and held her frown.

From beside him he could hear Minoru move.

"(I'll make sure he apologizes to her. I'm also mad at him for that, so don't worry about it.)"

That seemed to be it as she lowered he arms and moved forward slightly.

Once she was within his range he stretched out his arms, grabbed her torso, then placed her in his lap. Making sure she could not get away was on his mind so he wrapped his arms around her and place his chin of her head.

"Child captured. You're my little hostage now, so play nice and enjoy your time watching these people."

He had to hold himself back from saying more of what was on his mind while shifting his thoughts so that she could not read through the worst parts of his thoughts.

She seemed contend with this as she relaxed in his hold and laid her head and back into his chest.

"Now then..."

Gambler: "Where were we?"

Yuki scowled as he watched the entire event happen inside of the large hall. It was disgusting to hear what Denji had to say about one of his former teammates and it unnerved him to see the way he acted towards the girl that had gone up to him.

The large room had gone silent and were stunned to see the end results, but he made no comment about it.

He already knew that this would happen once he saw the girl move towards Denji.

So instead of speaking about that he addressed the new person in the room.

"Why did you bring Michelle here, Pyrínas?"

"...She had wanted to come by to watch Sekai. ...It only went further once she had been told that Minoru and Denji would be commentating."

The Autonomous Trion Soldier spoke with something new in his voice, but Yuki found that it fit too much for him to bring it up. Also, there was the matter before him that had his mind racing and Mei calmly sipping tea that she had pulled from somewhere.

Pyrínas was the most trusted person to watch over any children that they knew, so it made sense for him to come over here when Michelle had said she wanted to stop by. But that also meant he knew what to be careful of when moving around with those children.

Yuki could not let that fact go.

"You just let her go off like that? Even if they're in the middle of something, and both Kyōko-san and Minoru are there, being around Denji is dangerous."

"...As a trion soldier - amounting to a machine - I determine that it's fine for her to go down there. ...Minoru will make sure she is fine, and Denji had a record for taking care of her."

"Where did you hear that?"

"...From her mother."

That had Mei stop her sipping in order to look to him with a raised brow.

Yuki knew where this was going and so let Mei take care of it.

Oh, does it mean I can leave things to her now? Damn, aren't I great now? Yeah, I'm a great boyfriend. I could be better, so I'll work on that, but I'm a great enough boyfriend to know that my girlfriend can take care of this.

Mei placed her cup of tea down and fully turned to Pyrínas. It was a bit tense as she motioned for him to sit down.

Doing as he was instructed, Pyrínas took a seat by the window, giving him a full view of everything below.

"I only know what Minoru and Yuki have told me about her, and we don't have time for this talk, but can you answer something for me, Pyrínas?"

"...What is it?"

"Is she a good woman?"

"...Compared to the ones that I have met... ...She is someone who is fit to be a mother."

"Then that's good enough for me."

Yuki shook his head at her. He was pleased by the way she went about that, but it felt like she was still holding back here.

But telling her something like that might mess things up, so he stuck to his own thoughts.

After meeting her already I can say that she really is mother material. I can't go against her for the same reason I can't honestly go against Sensei. I don't like having Michelle around Denji, but I have to just trust that things will work out for that.

Besides, there was something else he needed to focus on.

It was the match currently playing out on the screen in front of everyone.

.

"Pyrínas, can I ask you something?"

"...Hah. ...I guess that would be fine."

"Did you just do that?! What happen to you!?"

Both Mei and Pyrínas waved their hands in front of their faces so he had no choice but to move on.

Even if it annoyed him to do so.

"Anyways... You saw what my past was like from taking in that imposter last night. That means you've seen my past of watching and fighting against all of these squads. So, as an outside perspective, how do you think things will turn out?"

"Are you sure that's what you want to ask?"

"If I ask what I really want to then I might also end up saying things I'll regret later."

"It's good that you realize that now."

The way Mei smiled at him was enough to sooth his worries.

All that he needed to hear now was Pyrínas's thoughts as someone who knew just as much as he did now.

"...If Sekai doesn't get involved then Ikoma and Yuba squads have the highest chance of winning, their captains being the main factors. ...Oh, but that guy there, the one who is similar to broccoli. ...That one is also trouble, isn't he?"

Yuki was quick to latch on to something he had just heard.

Instead of answering right away he pulled out his phone and began typing. Some people would be involved in matches right now, but they could always look over it later.

White Fox: "Hey, someone else said it! Satoshi is broccoli! He's steamed broccoli!"

Ōji: "Oh? Maybe we should do something about that then. What does everyone say to adding some beef and sauce?"

Isa: "Wouldn't the sauce come from what happened yesterday. Some pretty nice secrets were handed out like candy."

Competent One: "If we add in rice to the side then we need to be careful that Murakami doesn't tackle us."

A quick silence came over the chat.

White Fox: "There are too many of us currently in a match. It sucks. How are we supposed to attack each other when they aren't here for us to attack them?"

Ōji: "At least three of us are also watching a match, so they might be focused on that."

TetsuG: "We are, so shut up already. And Yuki, pay more attention. Even if that idiot Bailed Out, you still have others to look forward to watching, don't you?"

That was right. There was an entire squad who he was happy to see gain the first point.

But this and that were different.

"What a nice day it is," he heard Mei say from behind. Pyrínas had commented back about being indoors, but Mei only shrugged.

They were so carefree right now.

Closing his phone with a sigh, Yuki turned back to his question.

"To answer your question: yes, Satoshi is trouble. ...But he's similar to Sekai-san in that it only applies when he feels like really getting involved. The guy likes to hide his smarts, but he's pretty scary when you give him free rein."

"...Then what matters in this match is determining who will get involved and who won't. ...From what I can see, both from your past and what is currently in front of me, Sekai refuses to get involved since he views things as solutions only waiting to happen. ...Meanwhile, Satoshi gets involved on a basic level as a fighter. ...Most of the time he is confident in his captain's abilities and his own, meaning he doesn't need to outsmart anyone. ...Compared to those two, everyone else seemed to get involved as much as possible. ...But..."

"But?"

Pyrínas nodded.

"...That's right. ...But some of them seem to want to get involved much more than anyone else."

He lifted his finger and pointed to the screen in the large hall.

The first person his finger landed on was Yuba.

"...That man, Takumi, will likely try to accomplish things out of his depth simply because he needs to get involved. ...Then there is that boy. ...Daigo will also be getting more involved, but that may be because he had lost his only teammate that would help him. ...He will try to strike wherever he can, but he has been partially trained by you, so he must know how to do so properly."

"The guy is amazing in the fact that he can do more than he lets on, he just ended up holding back because of his nature and the people around him. Besides Shobu, I really do see him as someone who can be my student."

Mei took another sip from her tea before saying, "That makes you sound conceited."

"That isn't how I meant it. I just think that it would be nice to have students I can also rely on."

That was enough to appease her, so he went back to Pyrínas.

"Was there anyone else you had in mind for this?"

"...There is. ...One other person who I can see getting so involved that it backfires horribly on him."

"Oh? And who would that be?"

"...I'll hold back from saying anything at the moment. ...There's something I want to confirm for myself first."

Yuki gave a bitter smile as he turned to the screen and watched the match continue on.

Before knew it, a hand was to his mouth so that the other two wouldn't see his expression.

...Just tell me straight up that you're also worried about Takeshi.

It was nice that they had scored the first point. But it was only the first from the match that had only just begun.

Takeshi knew this and so made sure to keep any feelings from coming to the surface.

Lobo: "I'm coming up the the shrine right now! Hoshi, how close are you?"

Shooting Star: "I am moving in from the side! I will meet you in the plaza!"

Lobo: "Sure thing!"

Things were going fine enough, but he made sure not to let that get to him.

"Heh heh heh. Take a moment to breath. You're Take disturbance was perfect. Although, we could have also said that it was honestly the distorted length of your attack that was helpful."*

"Is now really the time for jokes, Senpai?"

"It's best to lighten up before moving in for the real fight."

He wished he knew what that really felt like. But that only meant it was something else he now had to learn about.

"So what do you want to do now, Take?"

"Tonooka-senpai should still be close by, so we should be careful with how we move. Because of your move I doubt that anyone saw my attack properly."

"As long as you make sure not so waste my efforts, we will honestly be fine."

"In that case," he said while looking from the narrow space between buildings. "We can separate here while Toby and Hoshi take care of the shrine. We will stay close enough to help each other, but far enough that the other won't be noticed if they support."

"And once those two take the shrine?"

It was good that she didn't doubt they could manage that. At the moment, he needed some reassurance that he was in the right mindset for this.

Suzume probably knew this and only swayed slightly while he looked around.

"It's like we planned. We'll have you trade off with the two of them so that you can have a good sniping location."

"And what about you? Being at that kind of location would honestly be good for your Laser-Shooter."

"...Yes, but I don't have the ability to fire from there without causing some issues. So we'll be relying on your sniping and the other two for close range."

The bitter smile she was giving him was a bit troubling, but he tried not to think about it too much.

His value here was less than his teammates, so all he could do was make sure they had more free range for them to move around.

.

This is honestly the problem with this boy, Suzume thought.

Takeshi was always learning while people like her had already learned and accepted things about themselves.

But...

He already learned and already accepted that this is who he is now. It's honestly a hassle to know that this is just how he really is as a person. At the same time, it's rather adorable to see him act so childish with us openly.

She had heard about his situation and understood that he had never been able to express himself properly until they had regained themselves as a squad and as people. Everything had felt like it was locked behind an impossible level with the people around him acting as pseudo-bosses.

It was laughable.

That included us back then. Yuki-san and Mei-san were too giving to his plight while Toby and I ignored it completely. We are honestly terrible people in our own right, but that's why these times are honestly the best. I feel so alive with them all right now. In this instance.

She had no idea how things were like with Hoshi concerning this, but it was fine since the current moment was what mattered more.

Suzume laughed in her head as she held herself back from showing any more affection for the boy in front of her.

Opening Radar in front of her, she looked at any of the people who were not wearing Bagworm and at the single spot that was tagged as being Daigo.

"Since that's what you want to do, who do you think we should take on in the meantime?"

"Which Rhythms do you have the most on?"

"That shouldn't be what you ask me."

"You're right."

It was good that he understood that much.

Takeshi gave a sigh as he fixed his scarf and turned back to her.

"Fine. Seeing as how he is the one who is tagged, we can go after Girikage-senpai. He has no support right now and is a highly close-range Attacker. He can cover distance with his Trigger set, but that can be deterred as long as we can tell what he will do."

"We should make sure to keep an eye on the skies in case MizuMizu decides to attack us from long distance. In the sane sense, looking out for other Snipers will be important. I can help with that a bit, but it's honestly up to you to be vigilant on that. Do you think you can do it?"

"I don't have a choice...is what I want to say."

He gave another sigh as he lowered his scarf.

Decide what you want to do with that thing, she thought amusedly.

He really was a child.

"I'll make sure to be on guard while fighting here. I would like to not get too close to pretty much anyone in this match, so I'll see what I can do."

"Don't forget to enjoy yourself while you're here."

"None of you would let me live it down if I didn't do that much."

He really had learned if he knew that much by now.

Daigo had been taken aback by the first shot fired at him during this round, but now he was in a situation where being taken aback was not allowed.

"Uwah~ I didn't expect to end up seeing both of you here."

"Tch. So I found one of the irritating ones here too."

There was someone in front of him and someone behind him.

The trouble with this was not the fact that there were two enemies here, instead it was something else.

"Having to deal with Yuba-san sounds like something I shouldn't like."

"What was that!?"

"Ah. I accidentally said it out loud. Please forget I said anything."

"Not gonna happen!"

Yuba's shout was followed by repeated gunshots.

There was no time to see him fire the gun, but Daigo had already noticed something off the moment he made contact.

Lighting sparked around his body as a straight line tore through the air.

In an instant, he found himself in a different location.

Idāten.

It was not the self displacement of Teleport and he couldn't mentally keep up with the speed like Grasshopper, but that was what made it so effective.

...No one expects something like that.

He tilted his head as he saw Yuba turn around and Minamisawa move around Yuba's firing range.

With their positions changed he could see the both fo them clearly now. He had only one thing to say about it as he felt something begin to well up inside.

It was a feeling that something was off.

"Oh. That would be a pretty cool line, wouldn't it?"

"What would!?"

"What are you even saying!?"

It was hard to figure out who to pay attention to, so he did something else.

Idāten.

He found himself in a new location, looking directly as Yuba fired in the spot he had been in.

Mmm... I guess that's what others mean when they say their body moves on its own.

"That still feels strange."

Oops. I said that out loud again.

But he had been told that he could speak out when he was thinking of something, so it was fine.

All he had to do was follow those words with movement.

And that movement was not the same as before.

"It would not work on Yuba-san again."

"I can hear you!"

The same feeling from before came from somewhere. A line traced along the ground as it came.

Daigo brought up Kōgetsu, fully sheathed, as an Escudo wall was raised in front of him.

To his right a blade came in, clashing with the sheathed Kōgetsu.

"Next..."

A blue plate appeared below the airborne Minamisawa. He was sent a good distance away as the sounds of repeated gunfire hit the Escudo in front of him.

In a single fluid motion, he lowered Kōgetsu, grabbed it's hilt, and attacked.

Senkū.

.

Yuba saw the diagonal slash from his spot a few meters away. It was the third Trigger used in succession and was aimed at Minamisawa while he was stopped by the Escudo wall.

He moved to the other side of the wall while preparing his next attack.

...He can somehow predict how I'm going to fire. Awdry had been able to do it because of his Side Effect and Kiyome.

That much made sense to him. But...

How can he do it? Idāten is pretty quick with its activation, but it still takes time to set where you want to go. I know I'm fast enough to fire before he has a chance to fully finish the activation. So then why?

Minamisawa had noticed this and chosen to stick closer to Girikage in order to figure out when to move away from his range. The two of them were lightly clashing swords while making sure to stay out of his range by any means they could.

Girikage was trading blows to keep him within his field of vision while Minamisawa was using those reactions to stay in the fight. It was made worse since he was keeping Girikage on guard, meaning he was not seriously fighting and leaving Minamisawa to use him like this.

Tono: "Oh, Sasamori and Hanzaki might not like that. But they also might forgive it, given the circumstances."

Polished Place: "You're nearby, Tonooka!?"

Tono: "I wouldn't say 'nearby'. More like I'm a good enough distance to tell what's going on. Oh, but don't expect me to fire on that guy. Between you putting him on guard and his Side Effect, I'd rather not lose some of my pride because of this."

Polished Place: "You sound like Tōma."

Tono: "I'm not that bad. Plus, our strengths are different from each other."

So even Snipers have those kinds of thoughts, Yuba thought as he moved closer to fire.

Girikage brought up an Escudo a moment before he even fired, leaving him with little time to pull back his shots.

The repeatedly fired trion bullets hit the shield with solid impact but didn't reach beyond that.

This is annoying!

As he thought that something flew into the air.

It was Minamisawa.

"Huh!? That's messed up, Dai-chan!"

"I regret nothing about my actions here," he heard from beyond the wall. The voice continued as Yuba readied himself to fire again. "Yuba-san, please take this sacrifice as an apology for the way I have been acting."

"Who do you think I am!?"

"A Yazuka member."

"I'm not!"

"Then why are you firing on me!?"

"Because you're an opponent!"

Minamisawa had decided that was a good enough answer and used his leg to latch onto the end of the Escudo before throwing himself over the wall.

From the corner of his eye, he could see Girikage moving to the side.

"Keh!"

Polished Place: "Hey, you all said that Wetman gave away what Girikage had a Side Effect. Did he ever say what it was!?"

Obi-nyan: "'Wetman'...?"

Gudako: "Jinsei. He's talking about Jinsei. And no, he never said exactly what it was."

Tono: "They don't know how to describe it. Dai-kun had tried before but everyone just got confused, discussed it among each other, then ended up trying to thaw some ice the upperclassmen left in the school pool."

Polished Place: "What the hell are things like for you!?"

Tono: "You know...the usual."

That was probably the most terrifying answer he could have given.

But there were two people in front of him that lived that same life as Tonooka, so...

"Just how crazy is your age group!?"

"About as crazy as you would expect."

"We're living in our youth!"

"Don't you end up getting into weird situations!?"

He spoke over his repeated gunshots and the movement from the other two.

They seemed to look at each other for a moment before turning their attention back to him, blades moving to increase their movement's speed.

"It's, you know...the usual."

That was a truly terrifying answer.

...I just heard something that makes me worried for the future.

Takeshi lifted his scarf as the laugh of Suzume echoed inside of his head. It was terrifying to think that these upperclassmen were all likeminded when it came to how strange they were.

He thought back to his interactions with others his own age and found that they were pretty normal when compared to everyone older than him.

Toby is the only strange once, but even then, it's still pretty normal. Shishō, Kitora-san, and Hoshi are very normal. Kuga and Toby can be a bit much and Kusakabe-san, Köhler-san, and Hiura-san are hard to talk to, but the three of them are still nice. Kashio is...well, I think he doesn't like me very much.

He wanted to fix that, but that was for later.

What he was hearing from a distance was something he felt he should worry more about right now.

Three close-range fighters were currently a street across from him while he hid behind one of the short buildings. Suzume would be watching from a safe distance away but would not get involved if there was no real reason to do so.

That left him here.

And all he could think was...

...What's the right choice here?

He shifted his scarf.

...The others wouldn't criticize me for my choice, but I want to make a choice where I don't even have to think that in the first place.

So what would he do?

Looking across the street again, he saw Yuba trying to land attacks against his two opponents while said opponents were managing to get out of his range just before he could fire. Girikage led by making snap decisions before Yuba fired and Minamisawa followed that lead, using Girikage to get out of the way. It was a strange sight to see.

But it showed him that all three of them were in a stalemate until one of them messed up or someone else got involved.

...But if I get involved, would it be enough?

The doubt weighed on him.

But then he saw it.

Something that could be viewed as an opening and something that he could use to intervene.

It was strange to see it when he took into consideration how the fight had been going up until this point.

But...

I'll use it.

Gambler: "Oh? That's pretty smart of the brat."

Deer Prince: "Was the praise just now?"

Gambler: "Do you want me to say something about you?"

Chisato found it strange that Denji had calmed down once he had gotten a child on his lap. Said child had slapped him for his comment, making him stop completely.

"That's a bit terrifying."

"I'm going to choose to ignore what's going on over there and focus on the commentary."

That was probably the better choice, but she couldn't just let this go now.

The only reason she let it be was what she was watching on the screen.

Yuba had been trying to get around the strange behavior of his opponents while said opponents only continued to barely evade his attacks. Each time he had tried to attack they would begin their next actions a moment before he even went for his guns, giving them a head start in their own defenses or dodges.

She had wanted to ask how they were able to do that when she knew that Kai was not skilled enough to pull that off. The only thing that she could think of had been the third person there.

The dull boy was one of Sekai's teammates, meaning he would be more than capable of fighting in these matches. That seemed to be the case as he was the starting point for Kai being able to dodge any of the attacks coming towards him.

"That boy... What's his name again?"

"Girikage Daigo. The dull-looking one, right?"

"That's right," she nodded. She crossed her arms and narrowed her eyes. "His moves are sloppy when he's trying to counter Yuba, but he's pretty good at moving otherwise. That means he knows when an attack will come but is guessing as to how and when exactly it will happen. It's throwing him off a bit and giving Kai some time to react."

"Apparently it's because of a Side Effect, but I have no clue exactly what it is."

"Likely something to do with warning him of offenses that have yet to happen. Then again, it could be something like reading his opponent's body movements. But Yuba isn't so green as to show that until he's already taken out his opponent."

"You know a good amount for barely joining Border."

"Hm?"

She glanced towards Kakizaki but focused on the match.

"Oh yeah, you weren't there at the time. Tatsuhito wanted to brag about me and showed me off to everyone in your age group. Yuba and I ended up having a match to see where I stood compared to some others."

"What was the end score?"

"I lost. I had no idea what he could do, told Tatsuhito to keep his mouth shut, and fought right away. Meanwhile, he had some information on me because of Tatsuhito's bragging."

"Who would win now that you know what he can do?"

She shrugged. That wasn't something she had cared to think about since she only needed to keep up with Tatsuhito.

But she continued beyond that question.

"That boy - Girikage - really does seem like the troublesome type."

"I guess he can be. But we have some people looking out for him."

She didn't know him personally, so she couldn't say anything about his attitude.

But there was something she could speak on here.

On the screen, she was able to see Yuba preparing another attack but holding back to find the best moment for it.

Girikage had moved before he even prepared.

His next action was to create one of the large and sturdy walls between him and Yuba, placing a defense beforehand.

Lightning flickered along his body as Minamisawa moved to get behind the shield and attack him.

A step before he could reach it, the wall came down and a streak of light cut through the air.

Minamisawa's arm went into the air as Girikage appeared at the other end of the light.

Neither one of them could react to an attack from that angle, so...

Who will you go for, Yuba?

The repeated gunshots came soon after.

They filled the space between him and Minamisawa, leaving Daigo to gather himself and prepare for the rest of the fight.

If it had ended there then it would have simply been a good bait on Daigo's part. Something to end the stalemate and give him some room to breath.

But then something else happened.

A white beam cut through the air at the same time as the gunfire.

"That's..."

.

She had seen a beam like that before. It had been green when she first saw it and it felt more forceful than anything.

The heated noise that came with it still rung out his her ears when she thoughts about how it fought against a large Neighbor.

"Laser-Shooter...right?"

"That's right."

Kakizaki sounded rather pleased so she let it go.

But she was still in a bit of awe as she watched the white beam tear through the air, capture and destroy the gunfire, then move on to cut through Minamisawa before he could move away.

It didn't end there.

Daigo saw this as his own chance and left in a streak of light once again. This time he moved towards the direction of where the beam had come from.

Once he got there he found...

"Nothing."

The user of the Laser-Shooter had fired away from his attack so he wouldn't be caught once he had fired.

So it can do something like that. That's sounds like it takes a good amount of setup. Just what is he thinking to prepare like that?

Feeling some movement to her other side, Chisato looked over to see Musashi quickly turning his head from side to side, as if asking something. Using words right now may cause him to be throw to the seats again, so this was his way of communicating to her.

It was really annoying.

"What do you want?"

"Uwah! You asked me! Everything that happens is on you! Don't blame me for anything!"

"I'll take responsibility by throwing you across the room again. Got a problem? Good. Shut up and tell me what you want."

"Now she's asking for the impossible!"

Kakizaki looked ready to leave so she grabbed his arm and got Musashi in a chokehold with her other one.

After three taps on her arm she let go.

"So rude... Anyways! I wanted to ask what that was all about! How did that attack even fire if the user wasn't near it to fire!? And who even fired it!? I didn't know Border had Triggers like that!"

"The one who fired it was Takeshi. And we don't know everything that Border can do, so stop talking like they should give us everything."

"But they should!"

This time she had to stop Kakizaki from glaring at Musashi.

"Besides, there's no way that came from Takeshi. That kid isn't capable of that kind of planning. Yeah, I doubt he's doing much of anything right now. Hm, hm. Yeah. I won't say it's the right choice, but putting him to the side for others to fight really is the best course of action for him. Good job, Takeshi's squad!"

She was tempted to not stop Kakizaki from jumping Musashi, but she figured it would cause too many problems.

So she settled on letting him punch Musashi on the arm.

"Hey Shiraishi, is it fine if I don't hold anything back with this guy? He's pissing me off and I'm ready to fistfight him."

"You would probably win, so try not to get to that point."

"He's supposed to ask that before he hits me! And what was that hit even for!?"

Calling it quits, she reached down to grab her shoe before shoving it into Musashi's mouth.

He tried to give a muffled argument, but it meant nothing with a shoe in his mouth.

"I don't want that shoe back. You're going to buy me some new ones once this match is over."

.

Those guys sound like they're having fun, Denji thought as he leaned into Michelle.

The match had been rather boring and predictable for his standards, but he had to at least pretend for everyone around him. Michelle and her mother wouldn't like if he lazed around for this, meaning he had to at least say something.

But what was there to say?

Everything's going pretty much how I figured once they started actually fighting. Sekai probably knows this, so he's just chilling by himself. Makes sense since he's more lazy than I am when things get too predictable. But...

A grin spread across his face as one of the cameras caught onto the slow moving Sekai walking through the snow.

Damn if he isn't sexy in the outfit.

A sharp pain hit his side, making him double over a bit.

Looking down he could see Michelle narrowing her eyes at him.

Hey, hey, stop reading my thoughts. I can't help what I'm thinking when that guy's around.

She shook her head and gave his side another jab.

There was no winning with her, so he went to having no thoughts run through his head and only look at the match going on.

GM Aide: "With a quick intervention from Captain Kotowari, Agent Minamisawa is taken out. Kotowari Squad has managed to take two points right away from two different squads."

Deep Prince: "I doubt they had planned on something like that happening, but the fact that Takeshi was able to use the fight to his advantage shows just how much he's grown."

Minoru was laying it on a bit too much for his liking, but neither one of them were people he particularly cared about.

Denji watched the points go up and let Sawamura and Minoru speak so he didn't have to.

GM Aide: "Oh? Captain Hikigane has reached the top of the shrine first. As one of the four going for the shrine right away he now has the advantage when it comes to firing and sight across the map."

More like he thought no one would go to it and decided to just wait out the rest of the match there.

Sekai was lazy. Both he and Minoru knew that. It was for the reason that Minoru only gave a hum in response to Sawamura.

Guess I'll say something here then.

Gambler: "Well it sucks for those other three who wanted to get to the shrine. Now that Sekai's there they'll need to make a choice."

GM Aide: "...What kind of choice?"

Gambler: "You already know."

The three of them already knew.

Gambler: "They either need to give up the shrine..."

Or.

Gambler: "Give up their points."

Toby felt himself tense up as he reached the top of the stairs leading to the shrine.

He had managed to meet up with Hoshi along the way and they had taken the main stairs leading to the shrine's plaza.

Once they got to the top they could see just how different it was compared to the rest of the map.

A single path went from the front stairs to the main shrine. The path was liked with multiple trees and a single torii gate that had ceremonial rope wrapped around it. Snow covered the area, leaving it a white plane.

Except for a single spot.

"Hah. So irritating."

Someone stood at the front of the main shrine.

"I just got here and I don't even have time to rest."

The person turned around to face them with a relaxed posture.

"Hey, you two, look, I don't really care for this match. I won't just hand you two any points, but I won't go chasing you if you run off. Hah. So if it's cool with you, can you go and fight someone else? I'm not in the mood for this."

Hikigane Sekai was standing before them and telling them to leave. He would not go after them and fight, but that sounded too good to be true.

Lobo: "So this is his current attitude..."

He still puts out a lot of pressure.

Toby felt himself tighten up before being forced to relax.

His Side Effect was something that he relied on during fights, but if his opponents put too much pressure on him then he would slow down.

And the amount of pressure he was feeling here was enough to freeze him for a moment.

Shooting Star: "...Toby-kun, what do you want to do?"

Lobo: "We need to take this shrine for the other two, but..."

That meant fighting Sekai.

Shooting Star: "Do you think we can fight him?"

Lobo: "We could fight him, for sure. It's just...I don't know about winning."

He was confidant in his own abilities, but he also understood when someone was stronger than him.

The man before him was someone who showed strength by doing nothing.

It was exciting and terrifying.

Lobo: "...Let's-"

"Hah."

Toby froze as he heard another sigh from Sekai.

He had continued to face forward, looking directly at the man, but he had failed to notice when he had placed a hand on his head or when Kōgetsu had appeared at his side.

"Fine, fine. Let's get this over with."

Toby felt his body tense before being forced to relax again.

Then his reflexes moved him.

Sekai had covered the distance between them in only a few seconds, giving Toby only enough time to create a Scorpion blade and block the sheathed attack from Kōgetsu.

Moving his body to the side, he redirected Sekai's attack to send him past both himself and Hoshi.

"Oh?"

Toby looked down at his shaking hand.

"While it's still sheathed?"

"Toby-kun!"

Toby wasted nothing as he prepared Headfirst Fall.

"Hoshi, don't stand there! He's an enemy!"

Chapter Text

Toby was the first to move, rushing forward with Headfirst Fall and a Scorpion blade in hand.

Once he was a few feet away he pulled out a second blade to block.

Sekai moved forward with his sheathed Kōgetsu and repeatedly struck the twin blades.

Each hit pushed Toby back further and further, never giving him time to react. Even with his reflexes there was a single thought that ran through his mind,

If I try anything else then he'll take me out.

It was difficult to figure out what to do here.

From the side he could also see Hoshi trying to figure out what to do.

There was no opening for her to exploit and getting carelessly involved would only end up tripping him up.

So all he could do was defend while he could.

But each damn strike holds power!

A sheathed blade had more weight to hit, but slowed down the movement. Even so, Sekai swung the sheathed blade with little effort. The power behind each strike shouldn't have been possible with his lackadaisical posture and expression, yet there was no chance to push back here.

Then-

He stopped when he felt something hit his back.

Sekai had pushed him back into a tree.

He could see another attack coming and moved to the side.

He fell into a tumble as Sekai destroyed the tree with the sheathed Kōgetsu.

Using his new momentum, he threw himself up and attacked by swinging both blades at once.

But...

"———"

Sekai reacted before he could hit.

Using a free hand, he grabbed the tree and used some strength to make its fall even faster.

It hit the ground with a start, forcing Toby to fall to the side and begin a roll.

Sekai continued to give no breathing room as he swung the tree along the ground, catching Toby by the back and sending him into a spin in the air.

I need to fix myself!

He righted himself in the air and thrusted a Scorpion blade forward at the oncoming Sekai.

Instead of blocking or dodging, Sekai grabbed the blade with his hand and moved it to the side. The sheathed Kōgetsu in his other hand moved forward to strike.

"Why you!"

Toby bent his knees to his chest as the sheathed blade came closer. Once it was in front of him, he used the sheath asa springboard to throw himself higher into the air.

Once there he created a cube of trion.

I didn't want to have to use this here and like this, but there's nothing else to do!

.

Sekai watched with little interest as a cross-shaped formation of trion cubes was created in the air before him.

The shots were fired directly at him.

But it wasn't anything new.

He moved a step back, letting the shots hit the ground just before they could reach him. The smoke that filled his vision was push aside by a swipe of his sheathed blade.

Beyond that smoke he could see the next attack.

Toby took aim in the air for a cluster shot with a grin on his face.

So...

Shield.

A three-layered Hikigane Shield appeared in front of him.

"I've already seen tricks like that."

"He's too crazy," Toby said while taking a step back.

"Guess I'll return the favor."

Thrusting his arm forward pushed the three-layered shield forward with some extra force. The attack from Toby collided with his Hikigane Shield. The first layer was shattered after taking the entirety of the attack.

The next two layers pushed forward and crashed into Toby, sending him crashing into the main shrine.

.

Hoshi watched, dazed and confused.

...I need to do something to help. Toby-kun can't handle this by himself.

"So you're Yuki's younger sister. Hah. I guess I knew that already, but I never met you in person. Man, this is irritating."

He spoke a she moved forward while fixing his hold on the sheathed Kōgetsu. The blade had remained inside but it was still be used seamlessly by this man.

"I don't know the full story, but you and your siblings seem to have patched things up a bit. ...Hah. That's good. I'd rather kids like you be happy than anything else. It saves me some trouble later on. But still...you're standing in my way of a slow life. If you leave now, I won't do anything."

Shooting Star: "Who...really is this man?"

JK: "That's Hikigane Sekai. I read up more on him since you all seemed to be doing fine enough without any direct involvement from me and saw some pretty scary stuff. At least from this season and previous seasons of the BRWs."

What exactly did she find to make her this calm while speaking?

JK: "Generally speaking, that man was one of the people working for Kurosaki during the conflict with the sponsors and ended up directly fighting with our representatives. It took an effort from Murakami-san to push him back.

Shooting Star: "It took Kō-nii-san...?"

JK: "Besides that, his records in the BRWs boil down to two things. He either gets too lazy and gets taken out or left alone for the match or..."

Or.

JK: "He completely wipes out anyone who crosses him."

She only stared as Sekai lowered his posture and looked around lazily.

He didn't give off any immediate danger, but even she felt the pressure he gave off here.

"You're talking about me with someone, aren't you?"

She stopped.

He continued.

"Hah. Your reaction and response to me is clear enough proof. Don't hide it when it's obvious. You might be Yuki's sister but you're bad at lying. Hah."

JK: "People like Azuma-san and Ninomiya-san have a record of rarely Bailing Out because of how good they are. It takes a lot to get them to lose, and sometimes leaving even becomes a win. But this man is different. He has Bailed Out a good amount of times, but they are all because he had been too carefree in what he was doing. Every time he felt like doing something, he had managed to stay until the very end or win without needing any of his teammates."

Sekai shifted on his feet as he fixed Kōgetsu again.

With a clang, he hit the ground with it a few times.

"So irritating."

He hit the ground a second time.

"Just take your teammate and leave already. I really don't care about these rank wars anymore and just want to be left alone. Hah. So leave me alone and I'll leave you alone. If you still want to fight...don't blame me if I start finding a reason to fight here."

His eyes had become more focused on her as he spoke. It shook her to her core.

The man in front of her was someone she could view at the level of her sister, held the same want for a reason to fight, and even had the kindness to let them go here.

But...

JK: "Hoshi-chan, he is a bona fide monster, capable of matching A-Ranks easily when he wants to."

Shooting Star: "Suzuka-san, help, please."

JK: "As you are now, you don't stand a chance, Hoshi-chan! If he wants to let you guys go, then-"

Shooting Star: "I know, but..."

This was their key point for the match.

They had been told about their opponents, been helped by their upperclassmen, and had come up with a plan that could help all of them win. As an emotional person, she felt like there was something to be had there, even if everyone else would scold her for it later on for her choice.

But this also fell in line with what others thought of during fights.

Their tactic had been to take this shrine and use it to give themselves an advantage.

This man had been able to fight against Toby and his Side Effect with little effort, but there was still something to be done here.

JK: "My goodness. You sure are hardheaded for the weirdest things."

Hoshi saw it appear in front of her. Information on the man standing in front of her, waiting for her reply to his words.

It showed his known Trigger set, his attack patterns that had been used before, what he could do, and even suggestions.

So she rushed with a start.

Toby-kun is still buried under the ruble of the shrine, so holding out until he can get out is best.

So that was what she would do.

Gambler: "Looks like #3's sister made the wrong choice."

Deer Prince: "And knowing how that squad works, Toby is going to follow along with that."

Gambler: "Looks like Kotowari Squad's gonna lose 2 points after gaining 2 points. ...What a bunch of idiots. Ow, ow, ow! Alright, alright, sorry for saying that."

GM Aide: "It would be better to say they are inexperienced."

Deer Prince: "They just need to set aside their feelings a bit to make choices in these kinds of situations."

Gambler: "And this is coming from who?"

"That boy's power comes from a Side Effect and you have your prototype Triggers. Hah. This makes things so irritating."

A hexagonal figure appeared in the palm of Sekai's hand as he lifted it.

"Regardless, you made your choice here. Well...shall we get started?"

With a single push off the ground he was thrown forward, right hand extended out.

Yuki's sister moved to the side just a she passed by.

The two of them turned around to face each other once more.

"Asteroid!"

A single shot was fired at him.

He used a Shield to block it before shattering it.

"Asteroid!"

A scattershot was fired as she jumped back to create more distance between the two of them.

She created a shield to take the brunt of it and pushed it forward to bat away the rest. Nothing had stopped his charge.

"Then..." she said while moving further back.

She fired at his feet with two shots.

A veil of snow was thrown into the air, blocking their vision of each other.

But he didn't stop.

He pushed forward through the veil of snow.

"Senkū!"

It was new to see her use that Optional Trigger, but...

"————"

He stomped it down with a shield.

Not letting her react to it, he threw himself forward and began swinging his sheathed Kōgetsu. Each strike was followed by a first that pushes her back, barely avoiding his attacks.

.

Hoshi felt the pressure of each attack that she dodge.

It was only when one of those attacks came did she realize just how heavy they were. It was different from seeing it hit since it looked like the attacks weighed nothing, but they were extremely heavy.

She had brought up her own Kōgetsu to block one of the attacks from the sheathed Kōgetsu. The sheathed blade couldn't shatter her own, but it pushed her back from the sheer force of it.

"You have better reflexes than I thought."

This man is really strong. My attacks aren't working at all!

JK: "We already knew this, but you don't have enough power for your attacks. Though, in a way, that's good for us. When fighting him, you need to never use strong attacks or uncertain tactics, no matter what."

Shooting Star: "What do you mean?"

Sekai rushed her again, this time using the sheathed blade and his fist again.

She created a shield to block the first attack. A crack appeared.

The second strike shattered it completely.

It gave her a moment to push away and begin to run the opposite direction.

JK: "No time to explain. You'll just have to fight back."

Shooting Star: "Fight back how?"

A shattering sound was heard.

She had reactively put up a shield behind her that was destroyed after a single attack.

The sudden attack had surprised her, making her turn around and take a step back.

By the time she had fully turned around he had already made it behind her.

Another attack came from the sheathed blade.

She narrowly dodged it before creating multiple shields that continued to be destroyed upon impact.

Front, back, left, right, up, down. Every place that he could attack from came a heavy swing of his sheathed blade or an unordinary strong punch.

By the time she had closed her eyes without realizing what was happening, a Full Guard had been put up around her to defend against the assault coming at her from all directions.

JK: "All you can do right now is focus purely on defense! But, if this keeps up, eventually..."

"Like a turtle. Then..."

Something appeared on the end of the sheathed Kōgetsu before it was thrusted forward.

A shattering sound was heard as the sheathed blade pierced through the defense with ease.

"This ends it."

There was no time to hesitate.

The Full Guard was tossed aside as multiple shields appeared between the two of them.

The thrusting Kōgetsu pierced through them before reaching the last one.

"Tch."

The next three strikes were consecutive hits. Each one shattered a newly formed shield.

At some point it had become a dance as green fragments scattered around the two of them and the white plain.

Using some acrobatic movements, Hoshi continued to dodge and defend against each hit, never focusing on how long her defenses had lasted.

Each time distance had been made between them, he had covered it to reach her.

This isn't good enough.

Still... Still too much waste!

I can't beat him using my trion for defense!

I need to be more precise! More effective!

The next attack came.

.

Sekai rushed forward, arm already in the motion of swinging the sheathed Kōgetsu.

All of the hit shad been blocked or dodged, but each one had barely been able to do so.

This time it would hit.

"———?"

But something stopped that.

Something had stopped his movement and wrapped around his wrist.

A green shield had captured his arm and restrained him with a physical barrier.

It had been more precise than he had expected to see from Hoshi.

He struggled to escape the hold, and once he thought he could destroy it another shield captured his second arm.

He was held in place by both arms with shields mean to restrain instead of defend.

This was a tactic he knew well enough after using it before.

"There's still something I can do here, even with how inexperienced I am!"

A cube of trion appeared in front of her.

A cluster shot.

"————"

Twisting his fingers and shifting the sheathed Kōgetsu became the priority.

With a solid sound the shield restraining his wrist was shattered.

The cluster shot fired at him skimmed his side while he turned to dodge the attack. The clothing covering his right side tore, but his body was fine after such an attack.

"He dodged it!? In that state!?"

He shattered the second shield.

"Had your restraints been two-fold, you might have won."

"Then, one more- Hey!"

A new veil of snow appeared between the two of them.

Sekai gave her no time to react a she tossed the snow into the air.

With a sudden rush that ignored his footing he thrusted his sheathed Kōgetsu into Hoshi's stomach, sending her into the air and a good distance away from him.

.

Hoshi was motionless for a moment.

Sekai wanted to feel bad for what he had done, but he couldn't afford to do that when he knew that she didn't feel any pain form his hit.

The only thing keeping her down know what the mental knowledge of what he had done to her and what he could do if they weren't using their Triggers.

It was something he was all too familiar with and found himself hesitating to see what she would do next.

Unlike what he expected, she had pushed forward and fought him as best she could. Even the use of shield was something he felt he could praise here since others only viewed it as a defensive Trigger to hold out in front of themselves. She had been the first inexperienced person to do such a thing to him before.

"Well it's whate-"

Turning in an instant, he brought up his sheathed Kōgetsu.

Something came from the main shrine and rushed him in an instant.

It was Toby.

With two blade in hand he flew towards Sekai, poised to strike with both blades.

"So irritating. You recovered already?"

"I wanted to chill for a bit longer, but I can't stand knowing that a teammate took such a body blow."

Sekai felt the push of the blades leave as the Scorpion blades shattered before him.

Toby had activated Headfirst Fall, moved behind him and thrown a speed-filled kick.

He felt himself move through the air.

.

Toby watched Sekai crash into the rubble of the main shrine he had once been in.

"Toby-kun..."

"I'm going to need your help, so right yourself, Hoshi! If we're going to be fighting him then we need as much firepower as we can get!"

A noise came from the main shrine.

Unlike Sekai's initial strike, Toby couldn't provide enough power to bury the man under the building.

With a simple push to the fallen structure he was back to standing up.

"Hah. So irritating."

"I plan to be as irritating as possible until I lose!"

Mental fatigue was something different from physical fatigue, he knew that all to well. If Hoshi had worn herself mentally then it would take a bit for her to right herself for this fight.

That left him to fight for the moment.

His two blades moved through the air, something so simple that he hadn't thought of doing in some time.

Each strike had been blocked or dodged. His reflexes kept him moving but an opening never came.

Sekai was someone who always covered his weaknesses and never gave an opponent a moment to exploit anything. It was something he had realized here.

There was nothing to be done as he used the sheathed Kōgetsu as both an offense and defense. Doing something like that meant he wasn't actively using any Triggers, saving his trion, and fighting fully prepared for anything. There was only person who he could compare this too.

Yuki.

His former captain was someone who did similar things to conserve trion and information while fighting, but this was something else. The difference in their skills, power, technique, and movements were far different.

By this point his former captain would have had to started using Triggers to fight, but Sekai was only using them to push him and Hoshi back. The only thing he seemed to need here was that sheathed Kōgetsu.

So it shook him up when he tried to attack and saw that sheathed Kōgetsu moving towards him.

He stalled.

Damn! Taking on multiple people at once is one thing for me, but having this much pressure from a single person is just crazy! Even fighting people like Ai and Yōsuke isn't anything like this!

There was only one fight he could remember that came close to this one.

One where he felt so excited and willing to move.

But there was a difference between those two as well.

There had been a fight involving him and two of his teammates against a large Neighbor in the underground. It had been a tough fight, but they had managed to defeat that Neighbor by showing off some teamwork that they rarely showed.

That Neighbor had been large and powerful, enough to excite and scare him upon first meeting. As things moved along he felt the fear die down as excitement filled him. His movements during that time had gotten a bit lighter once he knew he had his teammates there to help him.

This was different.

The excitement was dying down and he was feeling pressure from every movement. His actions became heavier and there was only a single person here to help him. That person was also currently dealing with the mental strain of having to fight this man.

He came to a realization when he thought about his current situation.

This was what a former A-Rank could do.

Someone who had dropped down to B-Rank. It was not due to lack of ability, rather, something else had happened to drop him down here.

He would use everything he could here to see exactly where he stood with these people.

So with a start he shattered one of the blade in his hand and disappeared. He made sure to time it right to where Sekai wouldn't be able to see his line of sight as he activated Teleport.

But...

"Kh!"

The end of the sheathed Kōgetsu rammed into his stomach the moment his teleportation was complete.

Sekai hadn't even turned around to look at him.

Countering my teleportation! What reflexes!

Toby needed his Side Effect for that.

Sekai naturally had such reflexes.

It was terrifying to think about.

So he thought less about it.

Tossing himself into the air, he created a cube of trion that split into multiple pieces.

Each one was shot down.

Sekai faced them head-on.

Obishima could see it from where she stood in the trees.

The two Kotowari Squad members were fighting against the Hikigane Squad captain and were losing.

It slightly scared her to know that the Hikigane Squad Captain was doing all fo this without even using any offensive Triggers or unsheathed Kōgetsu.

She had only meant to use the shrine as a shortcut to get to the main location where her captain was fighting. She had been placed the furthest from others and so took more time to regroup or find anyone else.

But now that she had found someone...

...What do I do?

She had Bagworm on, but moving could easily alert the ones currently fighting.

Gudako: "You need to speak around them and not catch their attention. Use the louder sounds to try and get around them."

Polished Place: "Hikigane-san is too observant of his surroundings to let that happen. Damn, for you to come across them like that...!"

Her own captain was not checking with her to see what she could do here and instead was lamenting on her situation. That alone made her worry for her situation.

The noises in the distance continued as the snow on the pathway was tossed aside, revealing the path itself.

She was surprised by how long the Kotowari Squad Attacker was lasting before remembering that the Hikigane Squad Captain had yet to attack with Triggers.

It's not that he's holding his own, it's more like...Hikigane-san hasn't finished him off yet.

For some reason the Hikigane Squad Captain chose not to bring out any Trigger that would finish his two opponents.

The way he acted didn't give him the appearance of someone who enjoyed messing with others, and the records had shown that he would readily take others out. So why was he acting like this now?

Polished Place: "Obishima, move-"

Obi-nyan: "I want to help them."

Polished Place: "You will lose for nothing!"

Obi-nyan: "He looks like he is refusing to take out Awdry-senpai and Hoshi! If the same happens with me then it means we can at least hold things out for all fo you to fight the others without worrying about him!"

Polished Place: "..."

There was no guarantee that she could do anything here, but it didn't mean that she couldn't be dragged into the fight. If he was caught before leaving then that would be that.

But they were also saying that she would be noticed if she moved away.

So she had made up her mind.

Tono: "Kotowari Squad could target you while this happens."

She trusted in what she knew of the two fighting here.

Gudako: "Fighting someone like him could put some strain on you."

That already came with fighting as things were.

Polished Place: "Obishima?"

Obi-Nyan: "Yes?"

Polished Place: "Do you think you can accomplish something there?"

That was where she had to think for a moment.

The question that was currently most important for her to answer.

And what she came up with...

Obi-Nyan: "I'm not sure, but..."

But.

Obi-Nyan: "I will do what I can while not giving anything up and making sure not to be in the way, sir!"

Polished Place: "Then hurry up and go already!"

He really is the same.

Minoru hummed as he watched the match.

Gambler: "That guy really needs to decide on what to do here. This is just cruel to those two."

GM Aide: "Knowing him, he might just be seeing if they will leave him alone. ...But this really does seem bad."

It was hard to deny what they were saying when he knew it was true.

From the corner of his eye he could see Michelle pouting on Denji's lap.

Ah, you're mad at Sekai, aren't you?

She nodded her head, confirming that she was listening to their thoughts.

Deer Prince: "That's most likely what it is. He had always been pretty...relaxed during our own fights with others, only getting directly involved when asked by someone."

Gambler: "Just come out and say he was lazy as hell."

GM Aide: "As his former teammates, do you think he will get to taking them out?"

The hall became eerily quiet at that.

The silence is killer...

It was a bad choice on Sawamura's part to say that, but he was at fault for speaking the way he did.

The only thing moving within the hall was the screen in front of them and Michelle, who was looking around at the suddenly quiet hall.

What broke the silence first was a loud noise behind them all and in one of the observation rooms.

A faint noise of "WHAT THE HELL!?" could be heard in that room.

Then the noise broke through.

Shouts from all around could be heard as people yelled out their thoughts on what had just been said.

Making sure he was right in his assumption, Minoru turned to see Denji covering Michelle's ears and not caring about the chaos going on around them.

Gambler: "Hey, hey, can you two not do things like that? Do you know how much hate I would have gotten if I was the one to say it?"

It was true. If Denji had been the one to out them as teammates then there would have been at least two people mad at him for it. The fact it had been Sawamura to do it only brought the chaos with it.

In a way, this was a nice win that turned into something he regretted.

Hoshi watched as Sekai walked back over to her. In the distance she could see Toby pinned to some of the rubble from the main shrine.

It was only when he was directly in front of her that she got to see his expression.

Sekai had never changed his expression the entire time he had been fighting them.

"You still don't seem to understand that I've been going easy on you? Hah. If I wanted, I could have taken you both out and left you with no way of fighting in this match. If you won't leave this place now... Should I continue until you decide to just force your own Bail Out?"

If they simply left him here then they would still be able to help their other two teammates. No points would be lost because of them and they would have a chance of gaining their own points.

But that wasn't what she wanted.

It was completely pointless and foolish for them to continue this fight when their opponent was giving them so many chances to leave. They were either not worth his time or he was simply being kind to them. But that was not what mattered.

I am putting too much heart into fighting, I know that.

We should retreat now and help Takeshi-kun and Suzume-senpai, I know that.

They would not reprimand us for that, I know that.

But...

She didn't want that.

There was no reason to fight here, and there was no one to try and keep pace with anymore, but that was why she didn't want to walk away from this.

Everything she was doing here was because she wanted to do it.

She was selfishly deciding to fight here.

"In that case, get ready."

Her opponent had seen that from her attitude here and was responding accordingly.

He lifted his sheathed Kōgetsu to strike.

And while bringing it down...

"———"

Something came in.

.

Sekai noticed it immediately and reacted by bringing up a shield and jumping back.

Trion bullets had been fired from somewhere.

Someone moved out from the trees, already in a movement to strike.

"Yukari!"

The small body of Yuba Squad's All-Rounder rushed him with Kōgetsu already going to attack him.

Behind her came a volley of bullets.

He knew her skill level by this point and knew that she wasn't able to perform a rush attack and time her bullets this perfectly.

But there had been someone behind her.

So he thinks that it's better to help her here than to take her out.

Kotowari Squad was a team build on their emotions, wants, and selfish desires. That meant that they would fight if they wanted to, regardless of their chances of winning, and would repay any favor in full, if not adding extra.

In that sense, they were the perfect squad to work side-by-side with Yuba Squad.

This was proof enough.

Obishima was rushing him with her Kōgetsu, trying to keep him busy. While this happened, Toby would support her from behind, giving him no breathing room with well-timed Hound shots.

But...

That's not enough.

For each swing of Kōgetsu he would block it with his own sheathed one. Each Hound was pushed aside by his shields. The amount of room he had to move was still more than enough that he could be lazy with his actions, never once thinking that he was in any real danger.

At least for now.

"...?"

Then something landed.

It was only his clothes, but something had managed to scrape his side.

He was normally hyper aware of his surroundings, especially during a fight, but something had come through and nicked him.

Yuki's sister, huh?

She had seen his relaxed fighting and taken her own shot.

I really have gotten lazy with this match, haven't I?

No, that wasn't it.

He had always had a difficult time raising his hand against children. With three of them standing their ground here, he could only lament over his situation and hold himself back from destroying them at any chance he had.

It was one of his flaws. But one he had been praised for before.

.

I would rather have Yasuko-ane say kind things about me than go back to how I used to be.

He didn't deserve that praise, but he had still received it.

All of his previous actions had been praised, but they were all hollow praise for a job he was always supposed to do.

Even if former teammates had said nice things about him, they felt like words only meant as polite comments or facts.

But there had been someone who praised him for how he was instead of the actions he took. His flaw that he had wanted to hold onto no matter what others thought about it.

In the end, holding onto the flaw of his had brought him to one of Border's directors, introduced him to a squad, then came with sincere praise that had him speechless. By the time he accepted that praise, a child other than his niece had become important to him. Someone else he could only think to protect.

Now that flaw was coming back up, dulling his senses during a fight. These three children were fighting against him and putting up as much of a fight as they could muster.

He was still above them, even after all of that.

They were still children so weak that he was dulling and holding himself back so that he would not go against his own flaw.

Ah... This is seriously irritating. Times like this make me wish to be like Denji. That guy has problems, but he's always free in what he does and how he does it.

Telling him as much would only be more irritating so it would remain only in his thoughts.

But it did nothing for his current situation.

Life: "Hey, am I patched through? Yeah? Whoo! Cool! Hey, hey, Sei-chan! You look like you're having fun here!"

WorTri: "What do you want, idiot? I'm busy here."

Life: "I was just going to tell you about something that happened to me today! I met someone special today!"

WorTri: "I don't care about who you decided to harass."

Life: "That's not it this time."

He still didn't care, but Jinsei continued anyway.

Life: "I met this super nice lady before meeting up in our room today. She was seriously something else, not saying anything about my usual jokes and even laughed as some of the ones I thought were pretty bad."

WorTri: "Get to the point already. You're so damn irritating."

Life: "Fine, fine. When I was talking to her, she found out that I'm on the same squad as you. She asked me a lot about you and we started walking to the base. By the time we got to the base she told me that she was going to be watching our match. So you need to look good here."

He already had an idea on who he was talking about.

More than anything, he wished that Jinsei was messing with him this time.

Life: "She wanted me to pass on a message to you."

If she was asking something from him, there would be no chance for him to deny it.

Jinsei holding out on telling him meant that he planned on using this if he got in a situation like this. One that could affect him both in the match and outside of the match.

This would be something that could change the entirety of the match.

Life: "Directly from Yasuko-san, 'Tell Sekai to do his best. I will be rooting for you all during the match.'"

He had no choice now.

.

It was amazing to see how Yukari was able to keep attacking Sekai with a steeled resolve.

Toby had started helping her as soon as he could, so she followed his lead here.

JK: "If you two move in close to fight then you might end up fighting against Obishima-chan. Keep your distance and keep supporting with your attacks. He looks like he's losing more focus as the fight goes on, so you might be able to stall him out here."

Lobo: "I don't like this style, but we don't have a choice here. Yukari coming in when she did was helpful, so we need to make sure to help her back as much as we can. Don't let up for a moment."

Shooting Star: "Right!"

She was already planning on doing that for the sole fact that she would be helping a friend who had just helped her.

So she used what she had to attack here.

Each attack was meant to further corner Sekai, moving him into a position that would make it hard for him to counter and fight back.

But even that was difficult at this point. More of their attacks seemed to be getting through as he focused less with the battle going on, but nothing had been a direct hit. Each attack from Kōgetsu and each attack from their shots only scrapped him by. More than that, he had yet to use any other Trigger than Shield.

After all of this, he was still able to hold them off while sustaining minimal damage and using small amounts of trion.

During all of this, she noticed something.

Yukari was attacking differently during this.

Shooting Star: "Yukari isn't fighting like she normally does."

Lobo: "It's because she's using a more charging force than switching between moving forward and backwards. It's less like how she fights with Yuba Squad and looks like it's more suited for fighting with us."

JK: "Hoshi-chan, you've been training with her, right?"

Shooting Star: "Ah, not really? We tend to get involved with the Triggers or are simply relaxing. We have exchanged stories of our squads before, but we really do minimal training."

Still...

Lobo: "Even that could be enough. She knows how we fight because we've fought Yuba Squad before, but you telling her even more probably gave her a better understanding of how we do things. Hoshi, have you figured out how we really do things by now?"

She liked to believe that she has, but Toby was saying that there was something she was missing here. Yukari had found it out and it was working in their favor, but she had yet to do so.

Instead of wasting time on thinking about it, she selfishly asked about it.

Shooting Star: "I don't think I have. What exactly do you all do?"

JK: "I'm super proud of you for asking!"

But that wasn't important.

Lobo: "We focus on what we're good at when working with others."

That made sense.

When she thought about it, she could see how that was the truth. When working as individuals, they would tend to add in whatever they could to their fights. But when working together, each member had focused on their strengths and let the others cover for that.

Yukari had seen that was using it to their advantage here.

She and Toby were using their Shooter-type Triggers to support while Yukari focused on the charging attacks that were unlike her. Even if they were on opposing squads, she was trusting in them to continue being how they are.

That was enough for her.

Hoshi moved around the area, circling behind the sword fight so that she could get a better look at things.

From there she could see just how she wanted to attack.

.

Obishima felt pride in not only herself but for Hoshi and her resolve here. The selfish want from her friend came through clearly as she continued her charging attacks. Each one was focused on full offense that was meant to resemble her captain's attack at a closer range.

This sort of attack was unlike her, but it was something that Kotowari Squad excelled in when working together. A relentless attack meant to put pressure and force behind each strike, leaving the opponent little time to react and only have defense as an option. It was mostly done by their Attacker, but she had seen something similar before by someone else.

And yet...

"So strong..."

Her opponent was still taking little damage and using small amounts of trion.

She understood that the Hikigane Squad Captain was not someone who you could just beat on a whim. Her own captain always had trouble fighting him when serious, yet he had not gotten serious at all against her. That fact hurt more since she could not reach him beyond his defenses.

Then she felt it.

It was only for a single action, but she felt some push when her attack connected.

Unlike the simple blocks he had been using this one felt like he was actively going against her, threatening to attack her.

It shook her for a moment.

She hesitated and had to move back as he used that moment to swing his sheathed Kōgetsu.

"Hah... I guess that's that. I don't have an option anymore. Sorry, but you already missed your chances to leave me alone and keep fighting. Are you all fine with that?"

Something had changed.

None of them said anything and Obishima prepared herself for the next attack. She could not directly contact Hoshi or her teammate, so she could only trust that they would help her when she went to attack.

If he was starting to get serious then it meant they had to do something right now before he actively went after them all.

Holding Kōgetsu at her side, she prepared.

The next attack would use a heavily offensive Trigger instead of just the blade to attack.

Gudako: "What are you doing!?"

It was worrying to hear Fujimaru say that, but it would only make her hesitate here.

She needed to be ready to move the instant she released her attack. If the two Kotowari Squad members helped then it only meant she needed to move fast.

So with a start, she attacked.

Senkū!

She released her attack.

Gudako: "Yukari, wait!"

She couldn't wait.

She rushed forward the moment she had attacked with Senkū.

Multiple lights shone around her. It was somewhat blinding, but it didn't stop her from moving forward.

Gudako: "Don't use strong attacks against him! Yukari!"

"————!?"

By the time the warning reached her, it was too late.

"Responder."

Sekai had already begun to move.

.

It was only a moment that it all happened.

A three-layered shield appeared between the cutting power and Sekai.

It rotated violently as it fanned out to create three walls on the right, left, and center of his vision.

The trion bullets coming from the right and left crashed with the shields, but did not shatter them. No cracks appeared and nothing moved them at all.

The center shield held strong against the cutting power and gained nothing from fighting back. Each one held strong as they rotated.

Unlike attacks before, this did not even create a veil of snow. The space was clear and they could all see Sekai as he faced forward.

Directly towards the running Obishima.

A light traced then tore through the air as the three rotating shields shattered into fragments before solidifying once more. They moved in three directions before converging onto a single point.

That point was Obishima.

A blade had cut through the air, piercing her right in the chest and halting her charge. The shields closed in, slamming into her and holding her in place.

Sekai made the next move himself.

He grabbed the blade in her chest.

With a single pull, the blade tore through her body at came up through her left shoulder.

Obishima's Trion Supply System had been damaged.

She did not seem to register what had happened as cracks appeared along her body. Each one of them started from the damaged areas before fully covering her body.

And...

Bail Out.

Gambler: "Looks like Sekai finally decided to get involved."

Deer Prince: "That's worrying in its own right..."

There was a slight commotion in the hall as everyone watched how Sekai had defeated Obishima. There were complaints about his roughness with the situation, but none of the commentators said anything about it.

They knew that this was just a matter of course.

There was no real beauty in fighting, so seeing something this this should not be an issue.

But among the crowd they could hear some other voices.

"What did he just do...?"

"It was hard to really keep up, but I understand what happened. Still, that doesn't explain the speed at which he did it all. I thought there were limits to activation for Triggers and their uses. So how did he...?"

"Urg... That guy still sends shivers down my spine. And not the good kind. How did Kurosaki even deal with him?"

As Sekai's former teammates, they understood what this was and understood why other skilled people would be confused.

After all, Sekai had done something that required more from a person than normally possible.

GM Aide: "It's still amazing to see him pull something like that off when he gets truly involved in a fight."

Gambler: "Out of everyone in our squad, he always was the one who could mentally organize and react best to sudden situations. I don't hate to admit it, especially since it's him, but that's something even I can't do."

Deer Prince: "Denji likes to use power to make up for it, and I can move how I want, but Sekai is the one who can mange multiple things in rapid succession. It doesn't all happen at once, but he manages to make it seem like that's the case."

GM Aide: "In another sense, it can be called his real counter."

That was right.

They had seen it before while fighting against or beside him.

Deer Prince: "It's a full counter meant to disrupt an attack and use the slight moment after attacking to take out the opponent. It doesn't matter how skilled someone is, there will always be a moment after attacking that can be exploited. The bigger the attack, the bigger the moment is. That's why using big attacks or finisher attacks is a terrible idea against Sekai."

Gambler: "You can call it an inverse attack. He's the best at countering and defending, as far as I know, so this only goes to show that. You either want to use small attacks or just don't attack at all. But even that doesn't do anything if he decides to attack for himself."

There was no winning in situations like that.

And now Obishima and Kotowari Squad had seen that for themselves.

GM Aide: "Regardless, that is a point for Hikigane Squad and a member lost for Yuba Squad."

The way Michelle shifted on Denji's lap had caught their attention, but none of them said anything about it. Doing so might have caused a bit more of a scene.

With the screens still playing they needed to focus on the match and on the ones who now had a new fight on their hands.

"That makes one. That just leaves..."

Toby and Hoshi froze for a moment.

The first one Sekai turned to was Toby. He had ben the one more experienced here and could put up a fight.

"Last chance. Leave me alone and run away, or stay here and lose. Hah."

"Ha. Sorry, but I don't even think I have the mental capacity to try and run away from you. I don't like turning my back on people like you."

"In that case..."

A sound reached him. It was the sound of Kōgetsu being prepared.

"I refuse to be blamed for anything that will happen from here on out."

.

JK: "Lobo, you two need to run away now!"

The pride Hoshi have shown must have worn off from the panic in Suzuka's tone.

Toby couldn't help the bitter smile that appeared with that.

It was only the start of the match, they had been toyed with, and now they had no chance of winning.

But what's with this guy!? He's super tough and doesn't even try for anything!

His instincts were telling him that running was the best choice, but also something he shouldn't do. His reflexes were moving him away from here, but he couldn't move. Everything was causing him to stall here, leaving him open to be attacked.

Even with how he normally was he knew that he was still smart when compared to the average person. Others had told him before that he was actually a genius.

Yet.

Yet... Yet...

It wasn't there.

Why? Why can't I see the answer, when I'm doing everything I can to think of it!?

He could only stare as Sekai moved forward with his hand on Kōgetsu's hilt.

The distance was closing and he was losing time to activate any Triggers.

Then he saw it.

Someone was standing beyond the man.

It was Hoshi.

Shooting Star: "Toby-kun, we will continue to fight."

It was strange to hear that from her.

Lobo: "What are you trying to say!? We don't stand a chance against this guy!"

Sekai turned his head to look at Hoshi.

Something appeared within Hoshi's hand, signaling the activation of a Trigger.

Toby scoffed at himself.

...I really did let him get to me. If I'm saying things like that here then I'm really just hopeless as a fighter.

He gave a sigh.

"You really decided to put your pride on me, didn't you? Oh, well."

Two Scorpion blades quickly formed in his hands.

His stance was lowered and his arms were held out.

His teammate was still fighting. So as someone who made decisions based on emotion and thought he prepared for this fight.

"Then I guess it's my duty to protect you!"

Chapter Text

"Uwah~ Looks like Kai got taken out again."

It was not fully his fault so that much could be forgiven. Even so, it created a gap now between the squads.

Yuba Squad and Kotowari Squad were the only two with all of their members still active while Hikigane Squad had lost a member. In terms of value, Hikigane Squad currently had the lowest value with only one of their members doing anything right now.

I was hoping that Suzume-chan would also get taken out in her fight against Kirikai-senpai, but I guess not everything can work out nicely.

Oki didn't feel any particular way about the situation, but he had to think about it as someone fighting against these people.

With Minamisawa out of the match it left Girikage to focus solely on Yuba. But along with that, he could focus on everything else around him.

Okay: "Really making things difficult for us here."

Minty: "Sorry, sorry! I didn't think Dai-chan would do a fake out like that!"

Iko: "Hey, what're we supposed to do now with Kai outta here? We've gotta make up for the points, but now Take-chan doesn't have anybody to make him look cooler."

Mario: "That's not what you should be focusing on here!"

It was entertaining enough that he decided to go along with it.

But that's kinda hard now that Kai's outta here.

A line of light cut through the air he was viewing through his scope and focused on where it would end up.

From his perspective, it looked like Girikage was trying to run away from Yuba, but there was something off with that.

Taking aim, he fired as soon as Idāten ended and Girikage came into full view.

Without hesitating or turning towards him, a shield appeared next to Girikage, stopping his shot and showing where he was.

He ran the moment his shot had been blocked.

Okay: "I'd like to make somethin' clear. Having me fire at Girikage isn't a good idea."

Shōgi Boy: "Look, just 'cause Tokyo's getting pretty good doesn't mean you need to say things like that."

Okay: "I can't really harass others the same way he does, so it's a no contest fight there."

The other two Sniper were likely happy to also not be dealing with that here.

Worrying about that sort of thing would only mess with his shot, so he pushed that to the back of his mind for now.

Okay: "Nah, it's more like Girikage's got something like Kageura-san and Toby's Side Effect goin' on."

Shōgi Boy: "Eh? That sounds like a hassle to deal with."

Okay: "You should be fine enough, but single shots from a Sniper aren't gonna cut it with him."

Shōgi Boy: "So our best bet's to have Iko-san Senkū his ass to get that point."

Not a delicate way of putting it, but he said nothing against it.

Nothing had attacked him once he left his firing position, meaning that no one else had found out where he was.

That's good. Saves me the trouble of-

Oki's eyes widened as white filled his vision.

.

A white light tore through the air in a straight line. It gave a heated noise and refused to stop in the cold air.

Oki recognized this attack.

But he should be over there with Girikage and Yuba-san!

Putting up a shield against this attack would mean nothing with how relentless it could be. All he could do to respond was put a Grasshopper plate behind him and move away.

But the moment he did...

"He's really tryin' for me, ain't he?"

A single shot pierced the plate the moment it formed.

"This looks pretty bad."

A solid shield appeared in front of him just before impact. The laser-like beam began tearing into the shield, creating a hole through it and leave spider-like cracks starting from the middle of it.

It only took a moment for it to break through, but Oki had already fallen far enough that it only nicked his shoulder. This was strange, but he thought little about it.

Okay: "Thanks for the save."

Shōgi Boy: "They're really gunnin' for ya, Oki. Man, popular people have it rough, don't they?"

Okay: "I'm not really that popular, you know. Besides, compared to you, I don't talk all too much with Koto-kun."

Shōgi Boy: "You should. He's a good enough kid, I guess."

Ikoma and Chisato seemed to also think so. Maybe there was some merit in talking to the boy later.

For now, he was an opponent who had found his location and attacked based on that.

But that was what had him on edge.

He's too far away to freely fire like that. The angle was also in a completely different direction from where he is.

So how did he do that?

The coloring of the beam was also something to question. It was the same white that was spread out around him. He was probably using the coloration to hide his attacks and strike when his opponent thought they were free to move around.

It would explain how Kirikari-senpai lost while Suzume-chan took little damage by the end of it.

Having someone like that against them was a bit bothersome. He knew from experience that Shooters like that were difficult once they found out where the Snipers were and were relentless once they got a full lock on their targets.

All he could do was sigh and continue moving.

What a guy. I think Iko-san has the wrong idea here.

Even if Shooters like that were annoying during times like these...

I think it's pretty cool that he's sticking to it.

I missed my chance...

Suzume had helped him out and he still missed out on taking someone else with one of the trion orbs he had left behind.

She had assured him that it was fine, and he believed it, but it was still something that made him show his hand earlier than he had wanted.

But...

Toby and Hoshi are fighting Hikigane-san right now. ...They can't win. If he is really fighting now then it means they will lose. They won't be blamed for it. Maybe they will get some snide remarks to the side, but they can brush it aside easily.

It left a large space between his squad and all the others if the two of them were taken out.

One he knew he couldn't fill.

I can't tell them to just run at this point. If they are fighting it out then it means they had decided that running would mean nothing.

The shrine had been lost and he would be losing two teammates for this match. That was a heavy blow to their plans and their overall fighting force.

He sighed into his scarf as he stood with his back to one of the small buildings. Yuba was still within view, but Girikage had used Idāten to run away. The match was now in a standstill until someone else did something.

And knowing who else is fighting here...

Honest Sister: "It's coming."

Reacting more to the words than anything else, Takeshi quickly crouched down.

Then it happened.

An unseen horizontal line appeared above his head. The only telling that it had been there was the blank space between the top halves and bottom halves of the buildings near him.

Everything in the way of that horizontal line was cut cleanly in two.

Then noises from the impact of the top halves slamming back down onto the bottom halves reverberated all around him and caused everything around him to crumble in on itself and be destroyed. The destruction was wide and covered the entire street in it. The snow all around him was thrown into the air, creating a large veil of white that obscured his entire field of vision.

Instead of waiting for something else to happen, he tucked his body in and began to roll away. Once he was through with his third roll, he jumped up and moved back, ready to remove his Bagworm at any moment.

Izumo: "Senpai, Suzuka-san is busy helping Toby and Hoshi with their fight. Can you see anything outside of the snow?"

Honest Sister: "Iko-san and MizuMizu look like they're going to attack again. Looks like Yuba-san is still honestly nearby, so be careful."

That was all he needed to know.

Takeshi held out one of his hands as an orb of trion appeared in front of him. The white color was hard to see inside of the veil of white, the way he had planned it.

Izumo: "Senpai-"

Honest Sister: "JK Operator already said that she'd send over the info that Toby and Hoshi-chan are getting from their fight, so you honestly don't need to worry about them. She managed to make some time to send you the location of Yuba-san and Dai-chan that I saw from my spot. Honestly have fun."

He still wasn't sure what she meant by that, but he would see how he felt by the end of this.

So he made the first action.

From the trion orb in front of him, a heated noise began to form as it glowed a brilliant white filled his vision. A single laser-like beam tore through the veil of white and remained hard to see within it.

Takeshi moved his hand in the air, trion orb following his movement.

The laser-like beam cut through the air like a blade would, disturbing the snow throw up and leaving blank spaces in between.

Honest Sister: "Next one. Shot from above too."

A second and third attack came in that moment.

The airborne snow was cut by an actual slash this time as a rain of trion bullets filled the space right after.

But...

Looks like it worked.

Two more attacks struck.

"Yes! Nice going, Take!"

Yuki jumped from his seat as he saw the next few actions on the screen.

Takeshi had used the change in trion color to his advantage and gave away his own spot only for a single moment. Two attacks from Ikoma Squad were coming, one form a horizontal slash and one from a vertical drop. It left little room to move around in.

Yuba and Daigo were agile enough to moved through it or block what they couldn't dodge, but Takeshi wasn't use to moving his body so freely, and his speed was never the best.

So he made up for it by using the Triggers he had.

The moment each attack connected with his body it happened.

A strap fell to the ground.

He could see Daigo's questioning expression on the screen as the rest of the attacks ended and he left if a streak of light.

TetsuG: "Was that something you taught him, Yuki?"

White Fox: "Nah, that was all Take."

TetsuG: "That's why I didn't dislike it right away."

White Fox: "Hey, Tetsu? Go stick your dick in a blender, 'kay?"

He could see Arafune scoff in his seat down below but said nothing about it.

"It's nice to see them learning."

"...It makes it nice to see that they aren't like their idio- ...Ahem. ...Their former captain."

It was nice to know those two were also carefree here. Even if it put him in this kind of spot.

Still, he was proud.

Keep it going, you guys.

His eyes began to trail along the screen until they reached the other fight happening.

Now what will you do here...?

Sekai ran.

All around him shields formed and left him with little room to move around. Each one was weak, but they formed fast enough that he had to make sudden movements.

Whenever one would appear in front of him or above him then it meant he needed to destroy it. The ones to his left and right created a sort of path that stopped him from moving in either direction.

Outside of those forming shields, Toby ran next him with two Scorpion blades in hand.

"A pincer attack? Hah. Is this your last attempt at a fight?"

They were focusing on restricting his movements.

It wasn't something new to him, but it remained as something irritating to deal with.

In that case...

"First, I'll blind those irritating eyes!"

He made a sudden stop while creating a cube of trion. It faced the ground and he wasted no time in firing it.

An explosion shook the ground as snow and dirt flew into the air.

Both Hoshi and Toby were left unable to see through it all from within the explosion.

"In that case..."

Toby was the first to react.

Sekai could hear the shattering of one of the blades and the creation of a trion cube.

A moment later he noticed the attack in full.

Hound... Five. Something coming horizontally. And four above.

He had to make a choice fast.

The dust and snow was forced aside.

"I saved this for you!"

There was no reason to hesitate.

He turned around and unsheathed Kōgetsu.

The feedback was instant with his blade cutting through both blades and a body. At the same time the body had moved back, yet it had still been unable to escape.

But...

They still managed a hit since I had to choose between beating him or dodging.

The four Hounds bit into his stretched out arm, shoulder, back, and leg. They were minimal damage attacks.

The real score here was Toby, now cut in half and with green lines tracing his entire body.

A bitter smile played on his lips.

"You really are a monster," he said. "Good grief, this is like a sick joke."

His body turned to light.

Bail Out.

Sekai didn't focus on the light flying away and instead turned back around to focus on the next attack.

It was another trion bullet.

"!"

But there had been something right behind it.

"Thank you, Toby-kun!"

Hoshi had used the bullet as a distraction shot while running behind it.

With his leg still in the air from swatting the bullet away it left him hard-pressed to react so soon.

Hoshi used that to swing Kōgetsu at his leg still on the ground.

So irritating.

But he was faster.

A shield appeared next to his leg and locked around the blade, keeping it from moving.

She can't escape anymore. It was a good try, but that's that.

He held nothing back was he brought back and down Kōgetsu onto Hoshi. The cut was from head to groin and cleanly cut through her.

But...

"This resistance..."

When he blinked he saw that Hoshi was nowhere to be seen.

In her place was her Kōgetsu.

Huh? They used a decoy?

They shouldn't have been skilled enough to do that.

Yet they had gotten him with it.

Then where she really is...

.

Hoshi moved forward after her sudden teleportation.

It had been a last ditch effort to use Zanzō, and the timing was what would decide this, but she had managed to get it all down perfectly.

Now she could see her opponent clearly and knew that he had no time to turn fully around before she could attack.

There is no time to even target him!

She had to fire immediately.

A cluster shot appeared in her hand and moved forward with her body. The attack was a dangerous one that could backfire quickly, but giving Sekai any time to react meant a loss.

"...Huh?"

But he didn't even need time to react.

He had already made his next move.

A shield appeared between the two of them and took the cluster shot without taking any sort of damage.

Lines began tracing along her body as this happened.

It confused her as to why this was.

Then she saw the reason in full.

A hole had been made where her stomach use to be.

"Hah. I really hate having to use this thing, but I couldn't use anything else without taking more damage. ...It's so damn irritating."

In Sekai's right hand was a gun colored black, had a long muzzle, and looked too heavy to easily move around with.

He had used a backwards Ibis shot to take her out.

"This really is a shame..."

.

Bail Out.

.

Sekai sighed as he dismissed his shield and Ibis. Kōgetsu had been tossed aside to make his actions possible, so he moved to pick it back up.

The damages are pretty minimal, so I don't need to focus on them right now. Using Ibis pissed me off a bit, but I'll give them credit for pushing me to that point in the first place.

It was just a shame that they had ruined this match by fighting him this entire time.

Holding back had felt like the only right thing to do, but the more the fight went on, he began to mentally wake up with the end result being how he felt at this very moment.

"Hah. Looks like I'm awake. So let's see what everyone else wants to do about that."

Life: "Oh? Does this mean you're gonna go help Dai-chan now?"

Of course he wouldn't.

There was no reason to help that brat when he was more than capable of fighting by himself.

"..."

He wanted to sigh. He wanted to sigh more than anything right now.

But he couldn't do that when he knew he would be seen sighing.

So he calmly walked to the edge of the stairs leading to the shrine and created a cube of trion.

"Tch. Fine. Let's get things going already. That way I don't have to deal with this irritation anymore."

"Oh, dear. It looks like Sekai is in a bad mood now."

"Ko ko ko. I expected nothing less when he started fighting those children a bit more seriously."

Ketsueki could only nod his head as he stood behind the two women watching the screens. He was leaning against the railing while they sat in the seats just below him.

What they were all seeing was something he thought was rather nostalgic, if not slightly bitter.

Over the noise filling the hall, he could hear the commentators speaking about it all.

GM Aide: "In only a single fight, Captain Hikigane had taken the lead by scoring three points! Kotowari Squad is now without their best attacker and their only active support member! Likewise, Yuba Squad as also lost a member, leaving it to Captain Yuba and Agent Tonooka to continue the fight."

Deer Prince: "Looks like everyone is on a time crunch now. Sekai is already getting ready for his attack on everyone else."

GM Aide: "He's going to fire from the stairs? I know he likes getting a head start on things, but isn't that a bit too much?"

Denji scoffed into his microphone.

Ketsueki could see Yasuko lower her brows at him and Mogami laugh behind her fan. It was fair for them to do so when they knew that it was only a habit for Denji at this point.

Nothing needed to be said to him as Michelle had quickly jabbed his side once more.

Gambler: "You're already left behind if you think that's how he's getting a head start."

GM Aide: "What else could he have done by now?"

Gambler: "It's obvious when you think about it. So think about it."

He was being a bit harsh, but he did have a point.

Gambler: "Did you think his walk to the shrine was just him walking aimlessly? Well, I guess it can be seen like that. Actually, he'd have failed if anyone didn't think that was the case. Hah! That guys really can't give up his worst sides. ...He does things without even noticing it himself."

Deer Prince: "..."

Minoru's silence was heavy and he knew why.

There was someone else who also knew the reason for it and she gave a bitter laugh.

"I suppose there is no one who knows that boy better than Denji."

"They did always tend to pair up more than others."

It was true.

When times like those mattered, Denji and Sekai would end up with each other while he gravitated towards Minoru. It had just been the way things were, and no one questioned it.

Gambler: "Oh, he's ready for his attack."

Ketsueki turned back to the screen the moment he had said those words.

The cube of trion that Sekai had made split into multiple pieces before being thrown off into the distance.

"Oh? None of those seem to be targeting any of the fighters directly. What is that boy planning?"

Ketsueki could see that Yausko was going to say something, so he spoke up first. He felt it had been a bit rude, but there was a reason for him to do so.

"If I may," he said. "My apologies, Yasuko-san," he continued, but was waved off. "It is like Denji had said. 'He'd have failed if anyone didn't think that was the case'. Sekai is someone who likes to cover all possibilities when he sees them and decides it is worth the effort. There has not been a time when I have not been grateful to him for covering areas I had not noticed before."

"So what you're saying is that he is using something he already set up?"

"That is correct."

That was how he was, after all.

"If he is targeting something other than his opponents, it stands to reasons that it is because he has already set something up beforehand to make sure that he has an advantage as well as being able to strike his opponents."

"Ko ko ko. No reason to assume that I think less of him."

"My apologizes, it is a habit for me to worry about those guys since they have decided to not tell me all that much."

The bitter smile she gave him made him think that he had said too much.

He found some comfort in the way Yasuko gently patted his arm, so he let it go for now.

"Anyway, I will admit that I'm curious as to how this turns out. I know about that boy enough, but I can't speak too much about his fighting capabilities."

"I believe that the people who have actively fought alongside him know that better than we do."

"Yasuko-san, I think there is no need to speak as if you do not already know."

Mogami laughed behind her fan and Yasuko only smiled up to him.

Before he could think that he misspoke again, Mogami said something from behind her fan.

"Ko ko ko. What a lovely squad you had, Yasuko-san."

"They are, aren't they?"

It felt nice to be complimented like that.

Knowing that the two women were enjoying themselves, Ketsueki turned back to see the results of the assault.

Tonooka saw it coming from the main shrine and over the area of raised snow.

The large attacks seemed more like bombs being thrown, but...

...They don't seem to be targeting any one person in particular.

It was strange.

But he got his answer almost immediately.

Explosions rang out through the entire area, tossing snow and wind about. The wind blew the entirety of the area, sweeping away the snow that had bene tossed up because of Ikoma's attack.

Then he saw it while looking over the roof.

A cube of trion was laying on the ground by one of the buildings.

Without any hesitation, he lifted Egret and fired.

Before he could, the next assault came.

Crap!

One of the shots had come down directly on top of the cube laying on the ground.

The next explosion was just as big as the rest.

He put up a shield to take the damage, but it began to crack from the explosion going off.

There was something off with the explosion and he instantly knew why it was hard to hold it back.

It's a double Meteora strike! Who set this up and used it like this!?

Instead of trying to attack each individual person, the attack had been used to caused a chain explosion that would cover an entire area. This would give more range to the attack, send damage scattering around, disorientate anyone nearby, take out anyone not prepared for it, and level the area to make it easier to see.

And he got caught in it.

While not taking on the full damage from the attack, the shield had broke and took his leg with it. The end of his Bagworm was torn and burned, but that meant nothing here.

As he tried to move further away from the explosion he noticed something else move through the air.

Someone had been taken out by the attack.

I need to-

"Found one."

He let out a sigh as he heard the small voice that barely made it over the explosion.

When looking up he saw red and black.

"Mizukami-senpai..."

.

Mizukami didn't nod, he only fired.

One of his arms was missing, he had gotten separated from Ikoma, and now he had found one of his opponents.

Damn. That attack had to have come from Hiki-san. Only that guy can cause this much chaos in an instant and manage to take someone out.

They had lost another member of their squad in the assault on the city.

It was only for a moment, but he had heard Oki curse through the coms before a light was thrown into the air.

That was their second lost point during this match.

He planned to make up for that here.

Losing a arm really messes a guy up, but whaddaya gonna do?

He fired his shot directly at where he saw Tonooka trying to get away from another explosion.

Fragments of green could be seen around him, giving him the impression that he had tried to block the explosion and failed to do so completely. It meant that this would be the best time to attack.

The attacks from above were meant to connect with mines already placed around the map. Each one had bene placed meticulously, so he wasn't surprised that the Snipers were taking the brunt of each explosion. Even now, he could feel the rumbling of the ground and the sound of last minute explosions going off.

He had thought it would be easy enough to keep track of his captain, but the explosions had caused their sense of balance to get distorted. Now they could only continue before they had to deal with the one who had launched the assault.

The only other squad who had been keeping pace with them as a #3 B-Rank squad had always been weird, even by their standards. This had only further gone to prove why that was.

Still, he had to give it to Tonooka for knowing his own position and trying to fight against it.

The guy's missing a leg too. Props to you for going so long.

But that wasn't enough.

Mizukami missing an arm was far different from a Sniper losing a leg. It meant there would be no escaping.

And yet Tonooka fought back. He raised his Egret and fired, not bothering to properly aim at this point.

Mizukami jumped down from the building he stood on to dodge the attack. His own attack's sound was drowned out by the rumbling of the explosions, but he saw the light soaring in the sky.

He had gotten a point here.

Putting his remaining hand to his ear, he spoke up.

Shōgi Boy: "I got us one. Just don't think I'm gonna be going for a revenge point, Oki."

Okay: "I wouldn't wanna put that kind of thing on ya anyway."

It was good that he understood that.

Minty: "Hey, hey, what about me!?"

Iko: "Take-chan's the one who took you out, we can't do anything about it right now."

Shōgi Boy: "Considering who's left, I don't think we have a choice in the matter."

A sudden light shot upwards and cut through the noise left by the explosions.

The light was white in color and moved to cut through everything around it.

That must be Take-chan.

He had nothing against the boy. It was tough speaking to him before, but Yuki had finally taken responsibility and now the two of them could have conversations without worrying about anything.

Even so...

"Hah. Yeah. He's still an opponent, and we need the points. We're down two men, but looks like we've still got more than Yuba Squad."

Mario: "I'll send you the location of any remaining combatants."

Shōgi Boy: "Thanks for that."

Izumo: "Are you okay, Senpai?"

Honest Sister: "Lost an arm and the area all around me is messed up."

Lobo: "Sorry. We messed up and you guys had to deal with it."

Izumo: "If it was that simple then I wouldn't think twice about it. Toby, shut up and let us finish this fight now."

He was not being rude, only saying what he knew he had to say.

Toby and Hoshi had done what they could under a stressful situation and had returned with a defeat. But more than that...

They got us some information.

It was information on how they lost, but it told him enough that he had expected the next major attack to come from Sekai instead of any of the other combatants currently around him.

If not for that new information, he would have focused more on everyone around him rather than the one who was now free to do a she pleased.

The two of them likely felt bad for losing two points, and likely even more so after having Obishima help them, but there was nothing they could do about it now.

Everything else would be left up to him and Suzume.

Izumo: "Senpai, I want you to move more carefully and try to keep out of anyone's sight for now. ...To the best of your ability, that is."

Honest Sister: "The area is honestly covered right now, so I doubt anyone is up to head right into a fight without setting everything set. Even Dai-chan seemed a bit confused once the explosions hit, so I doubt he knew what was happening."

Izumo: "Even so, we need to make sure to fix ourselves quickly. With the building around us completely destroyed, we will be in plain view the moment everything clears."

Honest Sister: "Right. Make sure you- Duck!"

He didn't question her and made a quick dive, hands moving to counter anyone who was close by.

A horizontal line cut through the space directly above him.

Ikoma was already attacking.

...So Tatsuhito is just going all-in here.

Chisato checked the screens.

Tatsuhito had cut through everything after the explosions had settled down, which she figured was fine enough. After her experience fighting Border-made Triggers, she had made sure to familiarize herself with them as much as she possibly could so she could figure out how to use them.

Her weapon had been remade using Border's style. Ortlinde would always be good enough. But...

"Kakizaki, about what's going on. Doe sit mean that I can't actually keep up if I have to use a specialized Trigger?"

"Comparing something like that only means you care." Kakizaki placed a hand on his chin in thought. It only lasted around two seconds, but a few movements spilled from behind her, making her grab Musashi's head while waiting for an answer. "Using only standardized Triggers to fight on par with people like them is pretty amazing."

"That probably is true, but does that mean specialized Triggers are too much?"

"Do you really think something like that matters?" asked Kakizaki.

Musashi raised his right hand.

"Based on what I've seen so far form you two, you have a weirdly healthy relationship, so don't think about it too much...got it? What? What's with those looks!? I can say some pretty good things too, when I feel like it, you got that!?"

"I want to ignore what he's saying, but he has a point," Kakizaki said reluctantly.

"I guess he would tell me if anything is wrong, and if this is bothering me then I need to tell him." Chisato decided that would be too much trouble, so she erased the doubt from her mind. "So, about that boy? What's his deal? How can he keep up with Tatsuhito like that?"

"I really don't know too much about Girikage, but he's learned some things from Yuki before, so he's probably used to all types of fighting. Yuki probably helped him move his body while Hikigane Squad probably gave him the experience with other squads."

"So he ended up having a lot of strong people teaching him as he went?"

"That's one way to look at it, but it's more than that when you take into consideration that he is trying to keep up with two other people. A lot of the time I hear them saying 'I'll do my best', so that might have something to do with it."

She could understand how that would motivate someone.

But, Chisato found it odd that something of that level would be able to get him these kinds of results.

"How important are these other two that he could end up like this exactly? It feels pretty weird, if you ask me."

"Oh," replied Musashi, spreading his arms. "I think I know! They're people who find each other, ignore everything else around then, then go home to have lots of sex together!"

"I can punch him at this point, right? Holding back is becoming more and more difficult the more he talks."

Chisato had never seen someone with enough patience to ask her if it was fine to hit Musashi.

But if she thought about it...

"I wouldn't go that far, but they're people he cares about. Pushing yourself to be at that level is something that others get by training a lot, but he doesn't seem the type to do that without any sort of reason."

"Right." Kakizaki sighed and held back again. "Shiraishi, think of it like this. They're actual relationship is sort of up in the air, but by this point they are in a similar position to you and Ikoma. None of them want to fall behind the other two."

Chisato thought for about two second and then nodded toward Kakizaki.

"I understand now. If he has people like that with him then it means he also wants to show off here. Even if he can't beat Tatsuhito, it's a good way to show off."

"I guess that's one way to look at it..."

"Now feel free to hit this idiot as many times as you want, and as hard as you want."

"W-wait, what!? But I just helped out! I helped out sooooo much that-! D-don't go trying to pick me up again!"

This guys is disturbing everyone around us again, concluded Chisato.

Musashi came to watch his brother fight, so he might have been trying to calm himself down like this. So...

"Let's wait until this match is over for you to throw me away, Chisato."

...Oh?

Did not see that one coming.

"I want to see how Takeshi handles all of this. He doesn't look like he can handle anyone getting even remotely close to him, so those two with swords can screw him up at any moment. I want to make sure that I'm still right. But..."

But...

"He's not someone who can overcome anything by himself. That's how others can see him as a nuisance."

"That's enough of that! I'm going to-"

"You guys are seriously loud. Other people are trying to watch the match."

Ah, someone finally said it, thought Chisato with an inward bitter smile.

She looked over to see a girl with short-cut hair and a girl with red hair.

She recognized the red haired girl instantly.

...This is someone related to Sekai. She also went with the Hatohara Squad captain to meet with Yoshiko.

Akane was her name, and the girl next to her was her teammate. Akane was someone who looked like she would be staying away from Sekai, but Chisato was familiar with differences in families. She was someone who others should never mess with if they didn't want to get on Sekai's bad side.

Chisato's thoughts turned elsewhere while she watched the two girls sit down below them.

...Both of these girls know some pretty dangerous people...

The Hikigane Squad Captain. Mogami Yoshiko's ready assistant. A-Ranks of Border. And...

"They also seem to be trying to catch up to something."

"Eh? Who is trying to catch up?"

"Obviously not you, you asshole. Everyone here is better than you."

"B-but the neighborhood kids were always jealous of my height, so she might mean that."

"You weren't even all that tall," said Chisato with a dull expression.

The two girls below them seemed to find their talk entertaining. That was nice. They seemed like decent enough people, so she was glad they were fine.

If she was being honest, being around people who could hold more solid conversations could be a little stifling. Especially with people who already knew her. They knew what she was already like, but they understood her a little too well, which led to some complications.

She had met Tatsuhito's friends before and now she had met Kumagai and Akane.

She was glad she had left her family's business for joining Tatsuhito in Border. And if possible...

...I want to try battling them.

She would probably have a chance to ask them later on. So...

"Okay, let's-"

Before she could say "pay attention".

GM Aide: "No one's wasting any time, are they?"

The match continued on.

The repeated sounds of Kōgetsus hitting each other could be heard as snow fell from the sky after being tossed into the air.

Each strike was followed by another piece of destroyed building hitting the ground. It didn't remain there before being tossed back up, sending snow back into the air.

Daigo moved atop the thrown buildings on light feet. The footing was not an issue as he righted himself on the roof of the destroyed building.

"Captain-san sure did a number over here."

"I need to make sure not to fall behind that guy."

"I hope you enjoy yourself while doing that."

"I like the way ya think! What's your name again?"

"Girikage Daigo. A pleasure to properly meet you, Ikoma Tatsuhito-san."

"C'mon, you're makin' me look an ass by not knowin' your name!"

"My apologizes. Who are you again?"

"I really like ya, kid!"

If he were to tell Hisato and Hanzaki about this interaction, he was sure they would be pleased with him.

Another cut was thrown his way while he thought about everything he could say to the two of them about this match.

And in return, I will listen to their stories as well. Even if we can all just look at the logs...

"It is always nice to enjoy time with people you like."

"Sorry, but I've got a girlfriend already!"

Another slash came for him.

He knew this was a misunderstanding, but leaving it like this would probably be fine as long as it didn't get out of hand.

Oh, I can use that over there too. How nice.

His thoughts were casual as he ran around the battlefield.

With Ikoma throwing the buildings back up and cutting them in half, he was given less room to move around. It felt like a game where he was not allowed to touch the ground, only using what was in the air to move around. Doing so might give Ikoma the chance he wanted.

But this was fine.

I have a lot of room when jumping, so there is no problem. Compared to my first training session with Tsukiko-senpai, this is really nothing.

There was space for his entire foot and the movement was much slower than Kōgetsu in midair. Even the way they fell gave him much more time than he needed.

It felt like he had too much time on his hands while he moved. So he used that extra time to prepare for each one of Ikoma's Senkūs.

Life: "Dai-chan, you look like you're having fun with your game there."

Simple Boy: "Does it seem that way? I suppose I feel something while going against the #6 Attacker. Oh, hold on a moment."

He leaped into the air, performing a flip that had him looking at his opponent upside down.

"Excuse me, but you had never introduced yourself."

"#6 Attacker, best boyfriend around, and overall coolest guy you'll ever find - Ikoma Tatsuhito!"

Ikoma's words were followed by another slash that cut through the building Daigo had landed on.

In the distance he could hear the feint sound of gunfire, but that could be something for later.

Simple Boy: "Yes, it is a good opportunity to fight the longwinded and self-proclaimed Ikoma-san."

Life: "Ha ha ha! Well, have fun then!"

WorTri: "Hey, brat. Stop messing about. Jinsei, shut up and go to the corner already."

His squad captain sounded truly irritated this time, meaning he should stay quiet here.

And if that really was the case, he no longer had time to think about his situation.

Lowering his stance, he took a large leap into the air after the next slash.

He could see his path clearly and knew where to go for his next action.

"I'm sorry, Ikoma-san, but my captain should be on his way."

"I'll deal with him when he gets here then!"

"I see... Before that happens, I need to do something rather important."

"What's that?" Ikoma asked while going for another slash.

Daigo noticed it right away and performed three consecutive leaps on the midair debris. The snow was not something he could slip on now, so he held nothing back with each leap.

Each time he landed he applied more force into his next leap.

Soon he was reaching a fifth leap as Ikoma used Senkū once more.

This time he moved forward.

The built up force from his leaps had accumulated into his feet, knees, and legs. The next leap he took sent him high into the air.

Directly above Ikoma.

"I will do my best."

He unleashed his own cutting power.

Chapter Text

Two lines crossed in the snow.

The surrounding buildings had been destroyed and were now being tossed around by the two lines. Fragments of the buildings went flying, were used as steps, then tossed back up by the two lines.

One of the lines started from a fight involving Border's #6 Attacker and Hikigane Squad's Attacker. The second line...

"This thing is so annoying!"

A white light beam moved across the area, sometimes colliding with the sword slash and sometimes barely missing it. The heated noise it gave off was drowned out by the destroyed building fragments being tossed around.

Repeated gunshots were also drowned out by all of the noise, but the bullets never hit their mark. The white light beam and the destroyed building fragments all seemed to get in the way of the bullets before they could land.

The one firing these bullets was the Yuba Squad Captain.

He moved along the wreckage of the buildings and through the snowy veil surrounding them all right now.

The two long-length attacks coming from different sides made it hard to move, and touching the ground would mean a loss. This left him with everything that was being thrown back into the air as steps to move around on.

"Why does your squad always go over the top!?"

"Do we? I think we're pretty tame, all things considered."

"That's worse!"

He had been learning a lot of things in this match that he could have gone without knowing at all.

Damn it! I'm running out of time here!

The assault on the area had proven to him that Hikigane would be moving quickly now. That alone was enough reason to rush in scoring points. It was only made more difficult once he had found out that Tonooka had been taken out after the assault.

Now he had to fight against the Laser-Shooter while keeping a distance from Ikoma's Senkū.

It was a bad time overall.

And why am I fighting a Kotowari Squad member again!?

Compared to Awdry, Kotowari was far easier to handle, but the environment was currently working against him. Any gap between the two of them was being covered by that simple fact.

There was little space to move around.

Fine! It's not like I can't handle some bad terrain either!

Fights like these required a constant observation of the surrounding area and and awareness of where to step. Performing a sliding turn would take too much, so he made immediate shifts in direction and kept basic movements to the sides, forward, or backwards.

Doing this gave him space to move around the white light beam and the occasional sword slash.

At the same time, he repeatedly fired bullets when the white light beam stopped for a moment. Each bullet was well aimed and timed, yet...

"Tch!"

None of them hit.

Even if it was not Kotowari doing it himself, it was amazing to watch his bullets stopped in one way or another.

When he fired, a sword slash came from somewhere and took the bullets with it.

When he fried, pieces of debris were thrown up and took the bullets with them.

When he fired, Kotowari would suddenly lose his footing and miss his chance.

When he fired, trion bullets would come from somewhere and crash into his own.

What the hell is going on!?

There had been some bullets that got through, but none of them had been fatal.

Polished Place: "Fujimaru, where are the others right now!?"

Gudako: "Just sent it to you!"

At least that was going well.

The only ones visible to him were Kotowari in front of him and the two Attackers a distance away.

So Mizukami is using Bagworm too.

That explained why it was hard to judge where the outside tiron bullets were coming from.

But it also meant that Mizukami was refraining from entering the area and was having a hard time properly aiming at them. Each shot felt like it was a shot in the dark, this was likely the reason for that.

That settles one thing. But now there's something else I need to figure out.

The white light beam.

This sucks, Mizukami thought.

He was firing into the white veil that had appeared after the explosions. It should have settled by now, but the continuous sword slashes and white light beam continued to toss everything around. That included the snow.

Within the white veil was his captain and three opponents. They had seemed to gotten divided by the explosion and now had two one-on-one fights.

Seriously, that makes it pretty annoying.

One side has his captain and the other had two opponents.

Shōgi Boy: "Hey Iko-san, couldja move to the other fight? I'll be able to support ya better that way."

Iko: "..."

Shōgi Boy: "Hello? Helloooo~? Am I coming through?"

Iko: "..."

Shōgi Boy: "Somebody wanna tell me what's goin' on with Iko-san?"

Okay: "Looks like he's havin' a good time fightin'."

That sounded both terrible and interesting at the same time.

But it left him with doing something about the situation before him.

There was only one problem with that.

Take-chan and Suzume-chan sure are being weird right now.

The first thing was the white light beam. It could be seen coming out from the white veil at times. But that was the problem.

There was only one.

Takeshi had been known to use multiple beams at once to overpower his opponents. For him to use only one here meant that there was something else happening.

That was the second reason.

Suzume had not been found, but she was not actively doing anything, like he was. There was no sign of action from her, even while her captain fought by himself.

He didn't know what to make of it.

But that's not even the biggest problem here.

That third problem was currently making his way over to them.

Hikigane Squad's captain, Hikigane Sekai.

Sekai was using Bagworm and moving towards them.

This really sucks.

Debris was thrown into the air, pushed down, then thrown back into the air.

That was the tempo of the fight between the two Attackers.

Ikoma continued to release one Senkū after another while Daigo jumped across the thrown debris.

"Hey, how're you still jumpin' 'round like that?"

"Tsukiko-senpai might get mad if I tell you."

"That guy owes me one anyway!"

"Please take that up with him then."

The fight continued on like this without problem.

Sometimes a white light beam would come over to them, but they both did they had could to deal with it. Sometimes it would be cut, other times it would simply miss because of a well-timed jump.

"Hey, hey, you aren't waiting for your captain to get here, are ya?"

"I don't think I should be answering that."

"Why not!?"

"Because we are fighting."

And yet they continued to speak with each other.

Ikoma spoke while trying to moved closer.

Daigo spoke while keeping a distance.

"Then why aren't ya trying to attack me?"

"I do not think getting within your range is a good idea."

"Did you just switch how you speak o the fly?"

"I don't know what you are talking about."

"There it was again! And what's with all the 'I don't'?"

"That is a good question."

Neither one gave a beat as they continued their strange tempo fight.

But as they kept this up, everything around was changing.

Each time a Senkū was released or a white light beam was fired, everything around them became smaller. The debris was blow away and the snow was beginning to dissipate.

Taking the place of all that were the shots sent in from somewhere outside of the fight.

So...

"Ikoma-san, wouldn't you think it is fine to let the other two join us?"

"Huh? You wanna have fun with the other two? Hm... That sounds fine, but they're pretty stiff when it comes to these things."

"Yes, but would it not be cool for you to take on three opponents at once?"

The reaction was instantaneous.

.

Daigo was fully aware of what he had done.

Even as Ikoma released a Senkū that cut through the piled up wreckage around them, he knew that he had made the right choice.

Something had not felt right the entire time they had been fighting since his captain made his assault. There was nothing obviously out of place, but it was at times like those his Side Effect took full action.

This was one of those times.

So, the moment he saw Ikoma going for Kōgetsu again, he activated one of his Triggers to react.

Idāten.

The sparks were quick to appear around his body. The next thing he knew he was behind Ikoma, getting a full view of the Ikoma Senkū he had heard about before.

The damage it had done was an amazing sight, but one that made him realize just how fortunate he was to have been able to get away from it the way he did.

I would have been taken out in an instant if I hadn't been prepared for it. But...

Beyond the newly cut wreckage, he could see their two other opponents. Both of them wore surprised expressions while Ikoma only stared forward.

...Would this be considered too much?

He could ask Hisato and Hanzaki later, so it didn't matter right now.

Life: "Hey, am I going crazy or did Dai-chan just manipulate Iko-san into doing what he wanted?"

Cloudy River: "It...looks to be that way. Yes."

Life: "Okay. Just making sure."

WorTri: "What the hell are you people doing?"

Simple Boy: "I am just trying to do what I can while I wait for my captain to make a guest appearance."

WorTri: "Keep being cheeky like that and you'll be the first one I take out."

He really had been getting out of hand lately.

But that was fine. There were at least two people who would still continue to be with him, no matter how out of hand he got.

.

Takeshi could only stare in shock as the debris around him was cut in an instant.

He had been keeping track of where each slash was coming from, only moving once he figured out where the next one would likely come from.

Then one he had not expected came.

This one was clearly meant to reach them, but take them out.

It had been followed by multiple shots from an unknown location and sudden gunfire from his main opponent.

I let myself get distracted!

There was no time to react to both attacks, meaning he had to pick which one he wanted to get hit by.

Honest Sister: "Deal with Yuba-san!"

He did just so.

Holding out a hand, he fired Laser-Shooter at the gunfire that came from Yuba.

At the same time, a sturdy shield appeared where the sudden shots were fired.

The two attacks clashed with Takeshi's overtaking Yuba's. The shield held strong against the bullets and blocked them all.

After those attacks there was no breathing room as another Senkū came.

"That was a big rude, Ikoma-san."

Takeshi felt what could only be described as a body blow hit him.

He was sent flying as a streak of light reached his eyes.

Another attack from Yuba seemed to be coming, so he reacted midair. Laser-Shooter moved in front of him and fired a white light beam.

With the snow already dissipating it was much more visible than before, but...

That's fine.

It worked well enough while unseen or seen.

The laser-like beam tore through the air and crashed into the concentrated shield Yuba brought up.

It stopped a moment later when Yuba performed a sliding turn to move away from it.

Once his feet touched the ground again he checked over himself.

...No damage?

There were no new damaged areas after the last Senkū.

He looked to where he had been and saw Girikage already moving away from where he had thrown him.

It was strange for him to do so, but Suzume had told him that they were pretty similar, so he ignored that for now.

I need to focus on fighting here. And setting up-

His thoughts were interrupted by another sound of repeated gunshots.

This time they were meant for Girikage.

...We make it a point to repay out debts.

That may have been why Girikage saved him a moment ago.

But that was fine.

He would still fire.

A white light beam was fired at Yuba.

A slash from the side came.

He used another Trigger.

Everything in front of him changed.

He was no longer looking at where he was firing and there was no slash coming.

His jacket could be seen falling where he had once been, but that was to be expected.

The prototype Trigger Zanzō required something else to take the hit while he teleported.

There was only one thing left to do.

Fire.

A new orb of trion formed in front of him before firing a white light beam.

.

The white light beam gave a heated noise that alerted everyone on the battlefield of what was coming. The firepower in it was a constant attack, meaning defense would be pointless here.

So they moved.

Yuba, Ikoma, and Girikage moved all at once as the white light beam was fired.

Takeshi saw these movements and knew that his attack would fail.

But...

"Fire upwards."

He stopped the white light beam the instant they moved.

Bright lights filled the ground underneath the debris and snow.

They were white in color.

Sparks of white filled the ground that would have otherwise been unnoticeable if not for the snow being covered by debris.

In a burst of light, each one of the sparks glowed a brilliant light before flying upwards.

A streak of light flashed across the battlefield, gunfire repeatedly sounded out, and an extended slash was unleashed.

But none of them could hit what was below them.

The trion bullets were raised up from the ground. Some managed to catch the other three in the arms or legs, but most moved into the sky.

"That was nice, Kotowari-kun," he heard Girikage say.

Ikoma looked like he wanted to say more, but Takeshi stopped him by lifting his scarf to cover his mouth.

The next action was just as fast as the previous one.

The trion bullets that had flown into the air curved before coming back down.

The rain of trion came down on the three who were already moving.

"This guy...!"

"Oh, Take-chan did something cool! Nice!"

He didn't dwell on what was wrong with these people. After all, there had been someone who escaped the attack.

"Chance."

Girikage had used Idāten to get behind him.

Honest Sister: "On it."

A sniper shot came between the two of them, piercing Girikage's arm and forcing him back.

Another set of trion bullets came from somewhere else.

Takeshi used Laser-Shooter to strike them all down.

.

This is getting intense.

Daigo continued his own tempo as he moved around the battlefield.

His opponents were three squad captains and two supports from outside of his range. Compared to everyone else, he had the biggest disadvantage here.

But he was surviving.

Due to knowing Suzume well enough, he understood that Kotowari Squad paid back their debts when it mattered.

So he used that to his advantage.

Now that I think about it, that is the second time I had used someone here for something.

Others might call him out on that, but there would be there to defend him.

The difference between how he had been used and how he was using others was clear.

Yes. Others have apparently been using me since they are see it as no problem. I personally don't mind, but others have gotten mad at them, so I'll stay with them instead. But the way I have used Ikoma-san and Kotowari-kun here is also a benefit for them.

He had no real feelings about situations of "being used" and "using others", he would leave those sorts of things with the people who are on his side.

But...

That just means I understand that I can leave it with others now. Yay. A point for me. It might be fun to talk about this match with everyone else, once it is over that is.

"Yes. Let's all enjoy ourselves once this match is over."

Everything came to a stop all at once.

The noise that filled the battlefield stopped and Daigo looked around at everyone.

After a moment he tilted his head.

"Oh. I said that out loud."

Everything began once more.

He could feel how many things were wrong all at once and tried to figure out what was happening.

The strong feeling of unease had turned out to be Kotowari's attack against them. The feeling from that had left and now he was clear on what was all happening around him.

And the things he noticed the most were each one of his opponents going for their weapons.

The next thing he noticed was everything being pushed.

.

Daigo watched as three shields moved through the snow and debris lingering in the air.

Each one of the shields crashed into the squad captains, sending them far back into the wreckage all around them.

He didn't question what was going on or address the one who had just attacked.

All he did was move.

He moved with the purpose to attack and cut down one of his opponents.

Along with his movement was the air being pushed aside as his captain rushed at one of their opponents as well.

Trion bullets and a sniper shot came from two different locations, but all of that was stopped by the a shield from his captain or one of his Escudos.

"He's finally here," the squad captains said.

None of them hesitated in their actions.

Daigo appreciated that they viewed his captain as someone who they should be wary of right away.

But that left him to back that up with his own actions.

More than one white light beam moved through the air while Ikoma and Yuba moved back and attacked their own ways.

Kotowari was faster to attack because of this, but he was unable to put any distance between himself and everyone else.

Daigo was able to reach him in only a few strides.

A white light beam came in from the side. He responded by bringing up Escudo.

The white light beam began to tear into the wall and Kotowari was moving back.

"—"

He activated his Trigger.

Daigo felt himself move as the lighting crackled around his body.

The distance was short, but it meant that Kotowari had no way of moving away from it.

So he attacked.

Once he was behind Kotowari he made a quick leap and turned. A white light beam tore through the space he had been in. Under it, Kotowari's arm could be seen in the air.

He moved higher into the air using some of the debris that was thrown into the air by his captain's previous attack.

Now on a higher position, he could see the battlefield in full.

He had taken an arm from Kotowari, but...

"Captain-san is doing much more than I am."

.

It was clear why Daigo had said something like that when viewed from that standpoint.

While he fought against Takeshi and could shift over to the other fight, there was no reason to do so.

"Kh! This guy is still terrible!"

"It's a first to fight Hiki-san like this!"

Sekai ignored Ikoma and Yuba's words a she continually covered the distance between the two of them.

Three shields lingered around him, rotating as if orbiting him.

The moment Ikoma tried to use Senkū, one of the shields would move to try and crash into him.

He would dodge in some way but find himself attacked by trion bullets.

Yuba's firing rate was always high, but Sekai continued to find the right timing to throw one of the shields at him before he could fire.

If he could get any shot fired at all then they would be blocked by the debris that would sometimes be tossed up. This left him open for a single moment that Sekai would use with his third shield.

The trion bullets from somewhere else also come at regular intervals, but he only swatted them away with his sheathed Kōgetsu or moved away from them.

None of them had managed to properly attack him yet.

"These damn Hikigane Shields!"

"Who even gave it those names?"

"No sigh to go with that? Are you really Hiki-san?"

"Does this feel like my attack?"

His words were followed by a bombardment of trion bullets, a shield, and a rush attack.

Ikoma could only take the more minor hits from the bullets and dodge the shield. The rush attack came at him head-on, putting a great pressure on him that stopped him form moving.

"Ya sure this is where ya wanna be?"

"Of course I have my bases covered."

The repeated sounds of gunfire were heard from behind Sekai, but...

"Huh?"

Nothing hit either one of them.

Daigo had rushed in from the side with Idāten and struck Yuba before he could fire.

Yuba's arm was in the air a moment later, but his second arm was already poised to fire.

A white light beam tore through the gap between the two of them, forcing them to separate.

The next set of gunfire was heard.

At the same time a shot from somewhere else came in. It struck the ground in front of Yuba.

Yuba was quick to react by firing in the direction of the shot.

Multiple shots moved through the last bits of snow and covered a great range.

One of the white light beams tried to reach them.

Ikoma made a quick turn and used Senkū.

The trion orb firing the white light beam was cut clean in half.

"Sorry, Take-chan," he said.

Besides the trion orb, he had also taken out Takeshi's legs.

Sekai moved upon seeing that, turned one of his shields to crush the falling Takeshi.

More gunshots were heard while a streak of light cut through the air above them all.

Some trion bullets had begun to rain down. Above them, they could all see a separate light fly into the air and away from their fight.

.

Damn it.

That was the only thing Takeshi could think as he saw all fo the attacks moving on the battlefield.

Trion bullets from Yuba were moving towards him at the same time one of Sekai's shields rushed him. The trion bullets that Mizukami had fired were dealt with by an Idāten strike from Girikage.

From his spot on the ground he observed where everyone was and made a choice.

If losing was his only option, he would make it difficult for everyone else.

...That's something Toby would think to do. Well, Senpai probably would too. But she just Bailed Out, so she can't say anything.

So that was what he did.

Multiple trion orbs appeared around him and glowed a brilliant white light.

A large amount of white light beams filled the air. The heated noise was all that could be heard in the area.

Even the cracking from his body was nothing but a shallow noise compared to it all.

And yet...

"Senkū."

It amounted to nothing here.

An extended slash came from Ikoma and cut through the trion orbs.

The follow explosion sent him back and into the air.

The second slash came immediately after.

"One more before I go."

It was small and only fired a thin beam. The direction it went was directly towards Ikoma.

He moved in time to only take the hit to his side.

I'll say this is some form of payback for this.

It would be fine if others hated that excuse. He had made the decision the previous day that he only needed some people to accept him.

The image of his opponent yesterday sparked in his mind and he gave a bitter sigh.

...It's too bad that I couldn't do anything to show off to her a bit.

But that was fine.

The feedback from his attack came at the same time the second slash cut him in half.

He hit the one who had been behind Ikoma the entire time.

"Take that, Ikoma Squad."

.

"..."

Ikoma took a second to watch his attack hit before turning back around and blocking another attack from Sekai.

Then he opened his mouth.

"That was pretty damn cool!"

Sekai didn't roll his eyes or sigh. That was fine.

Takeshi had done a lot of things in this match that had made him look cool.

Job well done! I'm gonna steal that guy so he can go with me and Chisato to eat after this.

All that was left to do was finish this fight.

So he pulled back from his defense against Sekai.

He had fought this guy enough times to know that pushing forward would be an instant loss.

Shōgi Boy: "Damn. Looks like Take-chan got me with that. Didn't expect him to notice that I was behind you."

Iko: "I'm stealing him from Kiy- Yuki. He's Yuki now, right?"

Okay: "Yup. And no stealing other people."

It was too late. He would steal Takeshi once the match was over, punch Musashi in the face, then take him and Chisato to go eat.

Chisato would approve of this, so he only thought it was a good idea.

"—"

He only had to win first.

.

Yuba continued to fire while performing turning slides to the best of his ability.

Ikoma Squad was down to just their captain and Kotowari Squad was completely taken out at this point.

His immediate opponent was Hikigane Squad's Attacker, but their captain was what he was focusing more of his attention on.

That man knows how to use everything to his advantage! If I lose him for even a moment...

The thought didn't need to be finished.

They all understood what it meant for the Hikigane Squad Captain to be here and fighting.

I need to deal with this brat here though!

If it wasn't the use of Idāten to move then it was those crazy leaps that Girikage continued to use.

His turning slide needed enough room to start the action but didn't require any ending position. So long as he could start the action, he could finish it.

This was different.

Girikage started his leaps in any position he was in and it would accelerate as he continued. The ending was only where he wanted it to be, and he didn't even need to end it.

This is like Tsukiko. It's less refined, but the basis for it is the same. As long as there is a footing for them to stand on, they can use it and never falter.

It was something he could understand as a basic movement, but the practice of it was not something he could pull off.

Now that he knew exactly what was happening he could only regret not getting a better understanding of it in full.

But there's no time to worry about that!

His opponent was still moving and he only had one arm left. The time left in the match was more than enough for someone to finish this and he worried that it would be the Hikigane Squad Captain.

So before that...

I'll take out one other person!

He fired once more on Girikage. This time he made sure to already begin his turning slide.

Girikage took another leap to get away from the trion bullets.

With his position now switched to face the Hikigane Squad Captain and Ikoma he moved for another attack.

Forging power, he used Viper to attack. The attacks were rapid and left little room to move.

Ikoma was the first to notice the attack, being the one facing Yuba. He moved back while creating a shield.

The Hikigane Squad Captain, though...

"That doesn't scare me."

He turned and rushed through the bullets.

Yuba was caught off guard by this and could only move a step back before the Hikigane Squad Captain covered the distance.

I was right!

None of the bullets had hit in the rush. That was to be expected from someone like this man.

But that was how he would gain a point here.

.

Daigo saw the bullets leave the gun and his captain turn to rush Yuba. None of the bullets hit him, meaning they would go after Ikoma instead.

His captain always seemed to cover distances quickly and in ways he could hardly keep up with. This was one of those times.

So from his position in the air, he prepared to attack Ikoma in case he survived the attack and went for another Senkū.

But...

"...Oh?"

The bullets made a quick turn and were thrown into the air.

Into the space he was now reaching.

He had just made a leap and there was nothing under him to use as a step.

"I suppose I'm the one who messed up here."

The barrage of bullets pierced him, throwing him even higher into the air and filling him full of holes.

Cracks began forming all along his body as trion leaked from every hole in his body.

"A parting gift. Please enjoy."

As a last ditch effort, he threw Kōgetsu downwards like a spear.

The moment he did...

Bail Out.

.

Sekai felt nothing as he heard the distinct noise of Bail Out.

He hadn't told the brat about what he knew of the attack and left him to it. If he got taken out because of that then it meant he still had to learn how to deal with attacks like that.

All he focused on was taking out the enemies before him.

That included the one who had fired that attack.

He had covered the distance in an instant and was already in the motion of attack.

With a single swinging motion, he took off Yuba's remaining arm.

Then it hit him.

A single thought.

Why?

He felt his body begin to feel a bit heavier.

Why should I bother with this fight?

His movement began to slow down.

I did more than enough here. Yasuko-ane got to see me actually fight. That should be enough, right?

His eyelids were lowering and his stance was crumbling.

I don't even have a reason to actually fight here. I could care less about going back to A-Rank.

All motivation was draining from him.

Even as Yuba was helpless in front of him, he made no solid movement to strike him down.

I only didn't want to get below top tier again.

He could hear the feint sound of a sword begging to be drawn behind him.

It struck something else, but he didn't care.

If I got into the mid tier then I'd have a chance to fight her.

The second sound of the sword being drawn was accompanied by Yuba's body moving back.

He saw this and made a leisure movement.

A shield appeared behind Yuba, keeping him form moving.

"Do you want that guy to take me out too!?"

"Haaah. I really don't care anymore."

It didn't matter if he won or not.

If he could lessen the chance to fight her then it didn't matter.

I really don't want to fight you...Akane.

From behind he could hear only a single word.

"Senkū."

.

The extended slash cut cleanly through everything in its path.

At the end of that path were the captains of Hikigane Squad and Yuba Squad respectively.

And once it made it to them...

"Hah. So irritating."

They were cut through.

Bail Out.

Bail Out.

.

Ikoma watched the two lights move through the air while removing his goggles.

A lackluster feeling formed in him as he watched them go.

His squad would be getting points for surviving the match, but...

"...That wasn't cool at all."

GM Aide: "...And with that, the match is over. The final score, after adding in survival points is Ikoma Squad with 6 points, Hikigane Squad with 4 points, Yuba Squad with 2 points, and Kotowari Squad with 3 points."

Gambler: "Tch. That guy..."

Deer Prince: "Minus one point, all of them were acquired due to the captain of each squad taking out their opponents."

Sawmaura nodded as he looked over at the two sitting next to her.

Minoru's expression remained the same, in not a bit down.

As for Denji...

"I'm going to need you to stop me from doing something, Michelle..."

The girl in his lap took a hold of his arms and seemed to give them a small squeeze.

GM Aide: "As a short recap: this match was placed in cityscape D, and the setting was snow and overcast. The ones to pick the map and setting was Kotowari Squad."

Deer Prince: "We got to see exactly why they chose that too. Turning Takeshi's Laser-Shooter to the snow's white helped them out a lot in this match. It meant he could hide attacks within the snow. If you weren't paying enough attention, you would never know what attack did you in."

GM Aide: "That trick had worked out a lot in this match, but the ones more attuned with their surroundings were able to survive attacks from that."

Deer Prince: "He probably wanted to set some things up while his teammates took the shrine. I don't know if he would have been the one firing form the shrine, but he at least ended up with back-up for dealing with everyone else."

Gambler: "He wasn't going for the shrine to fire. They were going to have Misasuzu fire from there. He might have planned for himself to be taken out before they could get the shrine, but that changed when Sekai beat his teammates at the shrine. Knowing him, he probably told them to leave him alone and they stayed to fight him. That's probably what got him going in the first place."

Deer Prince: "Yeah... That sounds like him."

It did and it was the worst.

He meant no harm, likely wanting to be left alone, but ended up having to fight since his opponents knew what kind of threat he was.

GM Aide: "From there is was only a race against the clock for everyone. At the same time, they all seemed to be holding off from doing anything much. Everyone wanted to confirm what Captain Hikigane would be doing and how he would react before doing anything too rash. The only one who was fine was Agent Girikage, for obvious reasons."

Deer Prince: "With Jinsei taken out so early, he must have wanted to cover for that by getting some points. He ended up not being able to get any, but he played the field pretty well for being by himself. Give him a few more things to work with and I'm sure he can make a great addition."

GM Aide: "Speaking of that fight... Captains Ikoma and Yuba had fought against Hikigane Squad a fair amount of times by this point, yet neither one of them seemed to properly know what to do against Captain Hikigane."

Deer Prince: "Ah, that's probably because he's never gone all out like this."

The hall was quiet while they spoke.

The shock from knowing that these two commentators had been on a team with Sekai came back in full force.

Deer Prince: "The ones who have seen him before Hikigane Squad was made will know what I'm talking about. He was always the type to cover every base that needed it. Admittedly, the rest of us had out strong suits, but there were areas where we were lacking. He covered all of those areas and left little room for others to get in. That was on full display here when he launched that assault using a double-stage Meteora attack. He might have done it without paying too much attention, but the fact remains that he knew exactly where to place those bombs. Even if it was just his instincts. ...He was pretty much the scary of on our squad because of how much he could actually do."

Gambler: "Even if those guys knew what was coming, there was no chance they could do anything against it. It's just a matter of knowing that Sekai always has control of the battlefield when he doesn't have faith that his teammates will be enough."

GM Aide: "I see... In any case, his squad came in second due to Captain Ikoma being left to attack."

"Sekai could have gotten out of that," both of them said.

The girl in Denji's lap nodded along with them.

Deer Prince: "Ah. Sorry about that. It's just... Sekai looked like he went back to his usual habits at the end there and held Yuba in place to also take the attack. ...He probably just wanted the match to end."

Gambler: "Now he's gonna really get it for that."

GM Aide: "Well, besides the captains, all of the other agents showed what they were capable of."

Deer Prince: "The Snipers got a bit shafted her due to the setting, but that's to be expected when Kotowari Squad's Sniper is not like most. I will say, this makes things pretty difficult for me."

GM Aide: "How so?"

Deer Prince: "Well... Toby had asked me to mentor him. I haven't really had the time to do so, but watching this match made me realize that there isn't really much I can help him with. He's pretty well off without me being his mentor."

Gambler: "Your experience is different from what he can do. Shut up."

Neither one of them could help but stare wide-eyed at Denji's words.

Being the first to break out of her shock, Sawmaura coughed into her hand and muffled it so the microphone would not pick it up.

GM Aide: "Well, besides Captain Hikigane, I would say the two stars of this match were Captain Kotowari and Agent Girikage. They had been active throughout the entire match, held their own against opponents stronger than them, and managed to play the battle to their wants. What would you two say?"

Deer Prince: "The other two squad captains did a lot in showing their ranking spots, but Takeshi's use of the environment and tactics showed that he's improving when it comes to strategy. Daigo, on the other, is showing off that his general fighting skills are improving rapidly. That's likely due to his own talents, hard work, and being in the squad he's in."

Gambler: "Hm... Praise is all fine and whatever, but make sure you hit the right points too. Even if they're improving, they aren't taking everything into considerations and aren't using everything they can. Kototake started the match under the assumption that he would lose, Giridai seemed way too unfocused a lot of the time, Ikotatu and Yutaku were way more worried about Sekai and didn't take the chance to kill the opponents in front of them. Everyone else weren't really paying attention to their surroundings and got taken out because of it. It's especially pathetic for Mizusato and Misasuzu since they lasted as long as they did."

The girl in Denji's lap remained quiet as he continued.

Gambler: "The Snipers should have especially been paying attention. Both Tonokazu and Okiji were taken off guard too much by the double-stage Meteora and lost because of it. As for Minakai and Jinsei... There isn't anything to say. They were both idiots who didn't focus and lost to things they could have avoided if they were paying more attention."

That seemed to be all he had to say as he closed his eyes and took a small breath.

It was strange to see this side of Denji instead of his normal and annoying attitude.

There was nothing good about it.

So it was up to her to finish this.

GM Aide: "Before we leave here, let's take a look at the rankings after this match. With the match happening at the same time as this one having just finished, we can see where all of the squads stand. And from the look of things... With them managing to get 3 points, Kotowari Squad barely remain in the top tier while Yuba Squad goes down in ranking."

Deer Prince: "Looks like we'll see what happens with those two squads after the next round. If they aren't careful, they might both end up in mid tier by the end of this season."

GM Aide: "Right. But with that said, this ends the seventh round of the B-Rank Wars. Thank you both for joining me here."

Deer Prince: "Of course."

Gambler: "..."

Looking over at Denji, she saw him still with his eyes closed.

He only opened them when the girl in his lap pinched his arm.

Gambler: "R'ght. S'r' th'n'."

She could only sigh as he went back to his usual way of speaking.

Not everything could last with him.

Chapter Text

Minoru heard two distinct noises to his right and left.

The first was a sigh from Sawamura.

And the second...

"Hey now, don't go pinching me like that."

"(Why did you say those kinds of things!?)"

"Did you fully understand what I said?"

"(Well...most of it.)"

"(Then don't worry about it. There isn't anything I actually said that wasn't nee-...)"

Minoru raised a brow as Denji suddenly stopped and stood up.

He had a tight, but not painful, grip on Michelle as he stood up and turned around.

Holding her to his chest, he smiled and began to wave off to the back.

Deciding to look at who he was waving to, Minoru went slightly wide eyed when he saw Yasuko and Mogami waving back. Behind them was Ketsueki, making sure to not make eye contact with them.

Everyone around they had started whispering about the entire situation. Along with that, the whispers continued from what happened before.

...Oh yeah, they know about us being former teammates now. That might be why Ketsueki is trying to look away.

He wasn't embarrassed, but no one else knew that he had been their final member. Keeping that a secret also meant that the Tamakoma Branch would have less eyes on it for that reason alone.

"You aren't going to wave to Yassan?"

"I plan on having a conversation with her after this."

"She's leaving right now."

"Then you aren't going to her?"

Denji shrugged nonchalantly.

This had always been something that confused Minoru about the man to his side.

Whenever I think he's going to do something, he does the opposite. But every time I think he's going to do the opposite, he does exactly what I would think.

Michelle never said anything about his thoughts, meaning it was just how things were. Denji's entire personality was twisted and something he was never sure of, but seeing him at times like today made it feel like there was more.

Something was there that he could never see.

All he could do about it was deal with it and hope it didn't cause trouble for others.

"Thank you both for helping here. Although...I didn't expect that girl to appear. Or for Denji to be kind to her."

"Hm? Of course I'd be nice. I'd be in so much trouble if I did anything against her. Besides that..."

Denji shook his head and gave his usual grin.

"I guess it doesn't matter at this point. If I'm feeling like this then it's a good thing that Yassan and Yoshiko are leaving right now."

"What do you mean by that?"

"I wonder..."

Denji's expression didn't change.

Minoru looked to Michelle to see if she had anything to say, but she only had furrowed brows while pinching Denji's cheek.

"W'll an'w'ys, 'm g'nna go h'r'ss s'me p'ple and ', t'k'n' th's 'ne w'th me."

"Hah. Do you have to continue speaking like that? I don't want Michelle to learn any of those bad habits."

"(I won't!)"

"You never know with this guy."

She nodded to him, so it was probably safe that she wouldn't start talking like him.

He still worried, though.

I should see if Pyrínas can do anything if it comes up.

"(He's making sure I don't copy Denji!)"

One of the few times he forgot that she could read minds.

"Oh yeah," Denji began again. "Before I forget. Tell that guy who goes to the Tamakoma Branch a lot to make sure their new guy is careful. I don't want to have to move as someone who is unneeded. Got it?"

"What are you-"

Before he could finish, Denji was already halfway up the stairs. The amount of steps he had taken felt off, but there was nothing he could do about it now.

Minoru gave another sigh while standing up. He thought about Denji's words and could only think of one person he could have been talking about.

But how does he know that Maki goes there so much?

It would have been one thing if he knew Maki more, but there was no clear connection between the two of them.

There was no way he could know about the connection Maki had to that branch.

This seemed to just be another thing that Minoru found himself disliking about Denji.

He seems to always know things he shouldn't. And..

Unlike other things, this directly involved a member of his squad.

.

From his spot near the back, Ketsueki carefully watched the interaction between his two former teammates. He wasn't able to pick up on what they were talking about, and sometimes he would lose sight of them due to the small crowds, but he knew that it was something he would like be involved with if not careful.

Both Yasuko and Mogami had left by now, but he had decided to stay in order to watch those two former teammates.

It was only after Denji had left the hall did something happen.

His phone buzzed.

Pulling out the device, he looked to see that it had been Denji himself to message him.

Gambler: "Did you enjoy people watching?"

Myth: "I was only making sure that everything was alright."

Gambler: "It made you look like a stalker."

For all of his flaws, Ketsueki liked to think he was able to handle Denji's personality well enough.

His lack of reaction was proof enough.

Gambler: "Anyway, can you really say that anything is alright when you're in the Tamakoma Branch?"

Myth: "That should make my job of keeping everything in check even more important. Why do you bring that up?"

Gambler: "Don't be stupid. You know exactly why I bring that up."

Myth: "..."

Gambler: "No comment? Fine. Then I'll only say that you people have become too relaxed after having the albino join you lot. Keeping another is fine and all, but I know how these things turn out. I saw what happened during enlistment, and just looking at what happened with the other match is enough to tell me everything I need to know. You people need to watch yourselves."

Myth: "The advice is appreciated."

Gambler: "It's not advice. I just don't want to do any cleanup because you people are fucking idiots."

Denji's anger came through all too clearly. His expression was likely light, but that only made it worse.

He knew that the Tamakoma Branch had people like Jin and their director there, meaning they knew what they were doing. That sort of freedom came with something that Denji seemed to never like.

The problem was...

I never know what exactly he does not like. ...They all like to keep those sorts of things to themselves. Things that should really come out. They should know by now that they could tell us about those sorts of things.

But only their former Operator had been able to get that kind of information out of any of them.

"Hah... It really is a shame. I would have liked to have gotten close to them. I suppose some things are just not possible."

"Hah. I guess he did end up doing more than even I expected here."

"Was Captain-san always that capable?"

"Honestly...I have no clue. He's always been like this since I met him. What about you, Asu-chan?"

"It's the same for me."

Sekai turned on the mat he landed on.

The commentary was over, but he didn't think anything of it. Denji was likely to hunt him down, but it wasn't anything he was worried about.

Like Jinsei had said: he had done more than anyone had expected. The amount of work he had put into the match was something he was not proud of, and something he wanted to forget about already.

So he slightly curled in on himself and kept his eyes closed.

Imagines of the past came flooding in, but he remained motionless. They were memories of things he didn't want to remember, and times he thought should have already been left behind.

But none of them left him.

Because of his own stupidity, others had gotten a view of what he wanted to forget. Something he only ever wanted his former squad to know about.

And yet...

"Hey, Captain-san. Good job out there."

He opened an eye to see the brat bent down to look him directly in the eyes.

The only thing he could do was cover his eyes lazily and blink.

"Captain-san?"

"You're expression is creepy. Don't look at me like that."

"Oh? I didn't know I could make expressions like that."

"Hah. It's because you can't that makes it so creepy. Don't try and be expressive when you barely understand yourself."

"I see," he said. "Well, in that case, can I say something?"

He didn't want to hear anything. Especially if it involved the match.

"What do you want now?"

"I think that you were very...cool?"

"...Why was that a question?"

The brat gave a slight hum as he stood up.

Sekai closed his eyes again, thinking the conversation was over.

"Because there are a lot of words that could describe how you are. But during that match... Yes, I am sure. You really showed me why exactly you are my captain, why I have no issues with being on your squad, and just what it takes to be an A-Rank agent. Thank you very much for this opportunity."

The fact this brat didn't know how to joke like that only made it worse.

It only went to make Sekai curl in a bit more into himself.

Sleep was the only thing that felt nice to him at this point.

"...Hah. I'm nothing special. Don't think that I can do much of anything, got it?'

And...

"Don't talk like you know what it feels like to be unsure of someone else."

It was harsh of him to say that after everything the brat was trying to do, but it was how he saw things.

There were people all around him that were moving and play active parts in his life. They helped him and understood his situation.

But for him...

"Hm... That is true. I am never truly unsure of people. That may be because I know the people around me are just trustworthy people.

"Eh!? Even me, Dai-chan!? You trust me toooo!?"

"Yes. I trust you to continue being a nuisance to others and putting on performances that no one has asked for. Yes. Good job, Vice-Captain-san."

"Gah! So harsh! Too harsh! Who taught you those kinds of things!?"

"Arafune-san, Kimura-san, and Kon-san. They have been very helpful."

"I knew it!"

The brat learning those kinds of things was dangerous. But if he was directing them only at Jinsei then it would be fine.

But to what he said...

It must be nice to have that kind of naïve faith in people.

Even if he couldn't express it, the brat was clearly happy with his situation.

If he was happy and the people around him were happy then it meant there was nothing for him to do.

The happiness of everyone else was what came before any of his wants or needs.

...Yeah. That's why being needed is irritating. Being so unneeded is-

"You have a lively squad, Sekai."

His eyes opened with a start.

.

Daigo watched as his captain shot up from his laying down position and stood at attention. His eyes were more wide and there was no relaxation in his posture.

It was unlike what he knew of his captain.

And the reason for this reaction was...

"Oh, hello there. We haven't been properly. I am Yasuko Schneider. It's nice to meet the rest of Sekai's squad."

"Girikage Daigo. It is nice to meet you as well. And..."

He looked beyond the heterochromatic woman to see a blond foxlike woman. Next to her was someone he recognized.

The foxlike woman placed a finger to her lips in order to keep him quiet. He understood that much.

"And I apologize if you have met our Vice-Captain-san already."

"Hey!"

"No need to apologize. He is a fun person to be around," she said without any hesitation. She was a true saint if she was able to put up with their vice-captain.

Her eyes moved from him to his captain behind him.

He moved to the side so that she could properly speak to him.

"Now then..."

She took a few stride forward and raised her hand.

Am I about to witness a true non-mother mother-like reaction? Praise maybe?

It would be interesting, but he hardly knew this woman and her connection to his captain. This action could mean just about anything.

But there was something he noticed along with this action.

...Captain-san isn't moving.

If he thought it was something against him then he would have taken action already.

Then he saw it.

"Care to explain what that final moment was about?"

She started pinching his cheek.

His captain remained silent.

"You had been doing so well up until that point. Why would you go back to your old habits at a time like that?"

Seeing his captain saying nothing and not stopping her was a sight to behold.

Their vice-captain seemed to be quietly speaking with the foxlike woman, but it was hard to hear what they were saying.

"Michelle had been watching the entire fight. I would image that she is not pleased with what happened. You will probably need to apologize to her later. Oh, but she is enjoying some time with Denji at the moment, so try not to go right now. Even she would have trouble making sure the two of you don't do something."

"...Yes, ma'am."

"Hey now, there is no need for that."

"Of course...Yasuko-ane."

Was it just him or did his captain just turn into a delinquent? Seeing this side of him was strange as it was, but that only added to it.

This woman made an immediate action after smiling at the name.

She cupped his captain's cheeks.

"Very good. Now then, I came by to tell you that it was a good match. Denji had some...words about it, but I think you did a fine job out there. It is good to see that you were watching out for your teammate as well. I am proud of you for that."

"I really wasn't..."

"Hm?"

"...He...was able to take care of himself. So I..."

This was probably a good time to intervene.

His captain looked uncomfortable talking about him, so he raised a hand and spoke.

"Pardon the intrusion. Captain-san was my saving grace. I appreciated him coming in when he did. He was my knight in explosive, shining, and possible erotic, armor."

"Oh?"

"You brat...!"

The noise by the door wasn't any better.

"He really said that! Dai-chan really said something like that! Right! Asu-chan, we have a mission! We need to tell Hisa and Yoshi-chan to dress up in our squad's uniform! That will really get Dai-chan onto them!"

"It would be nice to get something for the next deadline. Fine, I'll message them right now."

"No need for that, Operator-san. Both Hisato and Hanzaki have already told me that they will be coming to pick me up."

"Then I'll have everything ready for their Triggers."

"That would be appreciated."

A chorus of "Ooooohhhh!" could be heard outside of the door. Worrying about that at this point would be meaningless.

His captain seemed to think otherwise.

"Hey, who else is there?"

The woman gave a nice laugh as she guided his captain towards the door.

Daigo moved back another step to let the two of them through and waved to the ones at the door.

The first to react was the one he recognized most.

"Sekai!"

.

Everyone watched the Nasu Squad Sniper leap forward in a rush.

Sekai was quick to open his arms and grab hold of her. It took no strength to balance them out so neither one of them would fall over.

"I couldn't watch all of it, but I got to see the last part of your fight! You were great!"

"That wasn't... You aren't still mad at me?"

She shook her head into his chest and looked up at him with a smile.

"I got over being mad at you after that, but you kept staying away from me!"

"You shouldn't do that, Sekai."

"Ko ko ko. What a foolish boy he is. I would smack you right now if not for the current situation."

Everyone seemed to be having a good time hitting him for his choices today.

As the one to bring up the possibility of having Akane and her parents move after the large-scale invasion, he had been worried that she would hate him the entire time.

So his only response was to look away. When he did, the idiot got into his field of vision.

He turned away again, but the idiot moved to smile directly at him again.

He glared at the idiot and reached out to grab his head.

The idiot moved back enough for him to miss, knowing he couldn't do anything unless he wanted to lose his current position.

"Hah... Well...are you fine, Akane? I would have thought you would be with someone other than..."

He looked up to glare at the smiling Yoshiko.

She responded by giving her signature laugh and placing her fan in front of her mouth.

"Is something the matter? I have been having a great time speaking with your niece here. She is just a good girl. Very much unlike her uncle."

"Of course she is. Akane is great. I just don't like having someone like you around her."

"And why is that?"

"So irritating... If I have to say it then it would be giving you a win."

"Ko ko ko. What an observant boy you are."

"I'm not a boy anymore."

"Then how about being a cautious boy?"

"I am described as a man now."

"Real men wouldn't hide from their nieces."

That shut him up right away.

The air between the two of them grew stiff with neither one backing down from what they had said.

Taking pity on him, Akane moved a step back, out of his arms. His arms seemed to want to reach out again, but were held back from doing so.

She continued to smile up at him as Yoshiko and Yasuko's soft laughter was heard in the room.

"Kumagai-senpai and some others were also watching, but they went to go see Kotowari Squad. I wanted to go to see Suzume-nee, but I also really wanted to come and see you!"

"You should have gone with them..."

"You don't want to see me?"

Sekai made a quick movement but stopped himself partway through. He moved his arm back to his side.

Yoshiko gave a hum from near the door and hid her expression behind her fan.

As for the others...

"Hey, help me out over here, Dai-chan."

"Very well."

The two moved closer to the uncle and niece duo. They rounded them, gaining everyone's attention.

Daigo moved over to Akane, gently moving her closer to Sekai.

The idiot grabbed one of Sekai's arms and moved it forward.

Once Akane was back within range, the idiot moved the arm around her shoulder before going for the other arm. He repeated this process and took a step back.

The two Hikigane Squad member looked at their handy work and brightened.

"Now then..."

The idiot nodded and cupped his mouth.

"'I'm sorry for being a bad uncle, Akane. Here, let me give you a hug. After this, we can spend the whole day together. I'll even let you invite those irritating friends you have...' is what he says."

"Oooooohhh. Very good, Captain-san. That is surely the way to earn some points from Hiura-san. But you forgot one thing."

"Oh, right! Ahem... 'Please start calling me Uncle, Akane.'"

"Both of you can go jump in sewage water."

The idiot jumped into the air with a grin.

"Yay! He didn't tell us to go die! We win this round, Dai-chan!"

"Yes. It is very nice to know that he only wants us to smell terrible."

Sekai could only sigh and relax into his hug with Akane.

Around him were the laughs of everyone else in the room.

"What a lively squad. I would have thought this boy would have had a dreary group, but it's nice to know that he's in such an energetic squad."

Yasuko found herself only nodding with the statement.

It was nice.

It was chaos.

"Stay away from me, you!"

"C'mere, c'mere, lil' pup!"

The chaos extended to the hallway outside of one of the rooms within the Border base.

Each time someone stepped on the floor it would reverberate and create an echo in the hall.

The ones making most of the noise were the Ikoma Squad Captain and Kotowari Squad Attacker. Both were in a tough fight wherein one would move forward while the other leaned back against each grab. This was the tempo set by the two of them in the hallway.

At the door to the room belonging to Kotowari Squad stood the rest of said squad and the Nasu Squad Attacker.

"So what's going on here?"

"Iko-san came by at mach speed and honestly went to pet Toby."

"So the same as usual."

"That's right," the Kotowari Squad Captain and Sniper said.

While this was going on the remaining members spoke to each other, ignoring what was going on outside of the room.

One was the Operator and the other was their support member.

"Yukari said that she wants to meet up, so I will be out for the rest of the day."

"Oh, gotcha, gotcha. Boss is calling me in for some things concerning the branch, so I guess my day's going to be totally spent on that too. It sucks, but I don't really have a choice here."

"I will make sure to get you all something nice while I am out."

"Thanks! You're the best, Hoshi-chan!"

They really didn't mind the noise outside of the room.

Although, their conversation did catch the attention of Kumagai.

"Hey, you mind if I tag along?"

"It should be no problem, but I will ask Yukari if that is fine. Please hold on a moment."

"Thanks."

Hoshi only needed to smile in response.

Kumagai nodded to the smile and turned back to the small chase going on in the hallway.

She spoke up over the noise.

"So what about the two of you? Do you have any plans after this?"

"Heh heh heh. What, do you honestly want me to go along with you?"

"I would rather you didn't. Curiosity is the really the only reason I'm asking."

"Then there isn't a need for me to answer. I suppose I can, though." The dancer girl did a small twirl and began to sway. "I will be going to meet up with some others. Hisa-kyun and Hanzaki-kun will probably be with Dai-chan, but there are still others I can go mess around with. Ken-kun said he wanted to hang out, and Taichi got done with his match, so I want to hear about that."

It made sense that she would be doing nothing particular after she had fun in her recent match.

That only left her captain to answer.

"I also don't have anything in mind. But if I had to decide... I might go to see how Shishō's match went. His squad was against Betsuyaku-senpai's squad and Okkun-senpai's squad. It would be nice to know what all happened there."

"I didn't know you were that close with Okudera."

"He's the only one of that duo who isn't high energy."

"Do you not like that?"

Takeshi remained silent. He lifted his scarf to hide his expression, but both girls knew that he was fine with it.

They smiled down at him and looked back to the chase.

"Koala is a good guy, no matter how loud he can get."

"...I don't dislike him."

"That's a good boy."

Kumagai patted Takeshi's head as a new noise got closer.

Ikoma had missed at trying to pet Toby's head and was now standing in front of them. It felt like he towered over Takeshi with his goggles covering his eyes and hiding them from sight.

Takeshi's only response was to look away and lift his scarf even more.

Then Ikoma opened his mouth.

"Alright, let's go then."

.

Takeshi blinked at the words directed towards him.

Everyone around him came to a stop. Toby could be seen behind Ikoma, staring with furrowed brows.

This was strange, even for the squad captain.

"I'm gonna kidnap Take-chan now."

Everything became quiet.

No sound came from anywhere.

Until...

"HUUUUUUUUUHHHH!?"

Kumagai was fast to pull him back while Suzume took a step forward, a smile on her face.

Toby rushed forward to stand between them all and the two in the room got up to see what was all happening.

"Y-y-y-you l-leave T-Take alone! (Alone!) Take is ours, so d-d-don't go trying to (take him away) like it's nothing! You hear me, Tatsuhito!?"

"Heh heh~ Even if it's you, don't think we won't fight you. Take is honestly someone we won't be giving to anyone."

He wanted to say something here but found that he couldn't move his scarf with Kumagai's arm wrapped around his neck. It wasn't suffocating, but it left little room for him to move.

Thankfully there was someone who was actually sane around.

She was nice to add to that.

"Do you plan on taking Takeshi-kun from us, Ikoma-san?"

"Yup! After our match today, I've decided that I'm gonna be taking Take-chan with me!"

"Your squad already has four Combatants, doesn't it?"

"It does. But we can make room for Take-chan. I was gonna show off how cool he is during the match, but he ended up doing it without any help. Plus, I wanna make sure he stays away from that idiot Musashi."

That name.

Takeshi halted at hearing that name. After all, it was the name of...

"You met my brother..."

Ikoma gave a strangely solemn nod.

"Another family member from our squad that we need to hit?"

"Yeah. The guy's a douche. Only reason I haven't punched him in the face is 'cause Chisato was doin' a good job at that already. I didn't like the guy since he was goin' against Border during the sponsors issue, but now I just hate him for the way he talks 'bout Take-chan."

"What does he say?"

"Crap like-"

"Ikoma-san!"

Takeshi gently removed Kumagai's arm from around his neck and moved past his teammate. He stood in front of Ikoma, looking directly at him with his scarf pulled down.

He took a breath, knowing that his teammates were right behind him.

"I-"

A third noise reached them in an instant.

It was the sound of flesh hitting something hard.

Every turned to see three people down the hallway.

.

The noise Musashi made when hitting the wall was a solid and satisfying one. There was no blood, but Chisato didn't doubt that he would be feeling the pain for the rest of the day.

And the one who had delivered the first hit was the same man who had been holding back the entire time.

"Just to reiterate: you'll be fine, Kakizaki. I'll take responsibility for this guy getting hurt. He won't be able to lay a finger on you using his position in my parents' company."

"Thanks, Shiraishi," he said while shaking his hand.

The punch Kakizaki had given him had a lot of power behind it and she could tell that he had not held back in the slightest.

The anger on his face was clear as day, too.

"I'm real sick and tired of you speaking like that about him. Say anything like that again and you really will regret it."

Musashi looked like he was going to say something, but she stopped him before he could.

"Kakizaki is one of the more chill ones who would do something. Don't push your luck, because I won't be holding Tatsuhito back either."

"Urg... What even gives you people the right to hit me when Takeshi's my own brother."

"As a younger sister, I take a lot of offense to that."

"You're talking crap about my girlfriend now?"

Chisato felt an arm wrap around her shoulder and a weight press against her side.

She had known that there was and audience to the entire scene, but she believed that they would be fine with it.

How right she was.

"Didja get a good hit in, Kakizaki?"

"For all the stuff I had to hear during the match...not even close."

"Want me to get my own in there?"

"...Please stop."

More than Tatsuhito, the entire group that he had been with reached them to see what had happened.

Among that group was...

The younger brother.

This would be her first time meeting him. With him being right in front of her she could see just how different he was when compared to fighting on the screen. The way he held himself here was nothing like how he did while firing those white light beams and was nowhere near as intimidating as when he fired the Viper shots into the air.

Compared to the loud and brash Musashi, this boy was small and seemed to try to hide in his own clothes.

She felt like he was a good younger brother.

She wanted to say something to him, but he moved before she could.

He moved right in front of Musashi.

With Musashi still being on the ground he lowered himself into a crouch so that he was at eye level with his brother.

He doesn't want to make it seem like he's looking down at the idiot.

Maybe it was due to how they were as a family, or maybe it was just how he was, but she thought it was rather mature for him to do so.

"...It's been awhile, Musashi."

"Urg... Y-yeah. But you aren't going to call me 'Nii-san' like before?"

The younger brother shook his head.

"We aren't really that close, are we?"

"Then why are you down here?"

"Because I want to make sure that you're fine enough after that hit."

"Normal people would try and help someone up after getting hit."

"I can't touch you. We aren't that close, after all."

So that's how this conversation is going to go, she thought bitterly.

She would feel terrible if she were to ever say that to her own sisters.

"Musashi, why are you here? It would have been fine if you never came to see me."

"Would you believe me if I said it was because I care about you?"

"If that's what you said, then yes."

"I see... Takeshi, you're still always wrong. I guess I was right to come and see you."

Majority of the group made an action to move.

She made sure to stop Tatsuhito and Kakizaki from doing anything while the Kotowari Squad Operator and supporter did their part well.

As for the younger brother...

"Yeah. I'm still someone who is always wrong," he said with a bitter smile. "But..."

But.

"That's fine. I don't need you to be right for me. And it's also fine for me to always be wrong. Being wrong meant that I got to meet people who can deal with that wrongness and help me."

"So you don't want my help anymore?"

The younger brother shook his head.

"That's not it at all. But we aren't close enough to where I can accept that help. And we aren't close enough to where you can give that help as my brother. Honestly...I would prefer to have Tadakatsu or Yorishige here instead of you. The two of them didn't like me all too much, but they didn't like me in an honest way that only family can. You don't like me always being wrong since you're always right, but that's because it's how you are."

"So even if I think of you as a brother, you don't think of me as one?"

"If I did then I would be wrong in the worst way possible."

The younger brother stood back up and looked over to his teammates. In particular, he looked directly at the dancer girl and the wolf.

He lifted his scarf to hide his expression, but they could see it in his eyes.

It was all clear to them.

"Those two are old siblings who have younger siblings that love them completely. Tadakatsu and Yorishige loved you like that, but I don't. So that makes me wrong on so many levels. But that's fine," she shrugged. "I'll just be wrong and go to them instead. It's nice to at least see them interact with their siblings. And besides..."

He walked over and pointed a finger at the wolf. It got swatted away a moment later, but both boys were smiling.

"This guy has parents who are way worse than you. I need to focus on how to get back at them than try to be right in your eyes."

.

Are you sure this is how you want things to be?

Takeshi asked himself that as he moved back over with everyone else.

Musashi had stood up and began walking away without another word. The hand on his stomach was worrying, but it wasn't up to him to worry about that anymore.

He had already decided that it would be too right to help Musashi at this point.

This is really the most I've spoken at once. I'm pretty tired from it.

Laying down and taking a nap sounded like a good idea.

But there was no time for that as everyone crowed around him.

Multiple hands went to pat his head while others went for his back. Then there were the ones who hung back to just smile at him.

This amount of affection was something he wasn't used to, so...

"Pah!"

He turned red as the strange noise left his mouth.

And of course the dog had to be the first one to react to it.

"Hahaha! It's fine to be shy, Take! We'll be here the entire time to mess with you!"

"I would rather you left to go chase a cat or something."

"I'm not a dog!"

His actions proved him wrong.

"Hey, Kotowari."

"It's fine to use my first name, Kakizaki-san."

"Then feel free to be casual with me, too."

That felt like it was a bit much, but he would at least try.

But he was still trying to say something.

"I just wanted you to know that I forgive you."

Wait.

"Huh? What did you do to Zaki-san?"

That was something that he shouldn't have been forgiven for.

What he had done was something that both Kakizaki and Wagner should never forget or properly forgive him for.

"You-"

"I won't forget it. But I can forgive it. You've changed a lot from then, so I know how you feel about that. You can be sincere now and I know how much you're probably beating yourself up over it. Don't worry about it. That you and this you are different now."

Everyone else was wondering about what he meant, but Takeshi could only focus on the words themselves.

Kakizaki was forgiving him for something he couldn't forgive himself for.

Did this mean it was fine to get passed that?

No...

Kakizaki knew there was something else here, so he only gave a bitter smile.

"It's fine. You can make up with Wagner over it first, then decide what you want to do after that. How does that sound?"

"...It sounds...possible," he said while lowering his head. "Thank you, Kakizaki-san."

"Hey now, you're giving Misaki ideas by doing that."

"Heh heh heh~ You two already get one made from all of this. The angles here just make it easier for me."

That was always scary to think about. Giving Suzume less to work with was always right no matter who you asked.

"In any case... Ikoma-san, why are you picking me up?"

"I toldja that I'd be kidnapping you."

Takeshi blinked down as the area went quiet once more.

Only a moment later did everyone begin again.

The yelling from everyone had came so quickly that none of it made sense in his ears.

What he noticed in all the noise was that he was being placed over Ikoma's shoulder, giving him a full view of everything that was behind him.

"Hey Chisato, ya mind if I take him as our kid now?"

"Hm? Oh, right. Go ahead. I'm too young to be a mother, but being an older sister sounds fun. Especially after everything I've been put through by my own sisters."

"Cool, cool. Why are you lookin' at me like that, Kakizaki?"

"What the hell are you doing now?"

"I just said what I'm doing. Take-chan's out kid now. Make sure Yuki and Mei know. Just don't tell them where we are."

"Don't worry, I'm telling them exactly what you're doing."

.

Zaki: "Hey, Yuki and Takato. Ikoma's going to steal Takeshi. Do something about it."

Rampage Dress: "Yuki is currently rebooting after it hit him for a second time that Sekai used to be on the same squad as Denji and Minoru. Please wait for a moment before he comes back online."

TetsuG: "Is he some sort of robot now?"

Rampage Dress: "That would mean he's smart."

Kage: "Damn. Really laying into him there, aren't you?"

White Fox: "Tatsuhito, leave Take alone! Don't try and steal him or I'll kick your ass!"

Iko: "Okay, Probation-san."

Everyone: "Oof."

White Fox: "Consequences be damned. I'm kicking his ass."

Shobu: "...Please don't... ...No more...bad publicity...for the branch..."

White Fox: "Tch. Fine. You got off lucky this time, Tatsuhito. Sorry, Zaki-san, I can't do anything right now."

.

It was worrying to know that Yuki had to be monitored that closely. But it was also something he deserved at this point.

As for Mei...

Rampage Dress: "As long as I get visiting rights, sure. Just make sure he's fine."

Ortlinde: "You can visit whenever you want."

She seemed fine with the entire situation.

There was only one hope left at this point.

Izumo: "Help."

Toby was still trying to get him while he was on Ikoma's shoulder, so that counted as help.

But the help he wanted came quickly.

There was only one downside.

Eri: "I was planning on meeting up with him after their match. Can you please let go of him, Ikoma-san?"

Iko: "Come over then. We can go on a double date. You and Take-chan with me and Chisato."

"Are you making plans without asking me about them?"

"Would you really be against us going?"

Shiraishi seemed to think about this for a moment before shrugging and turning back to her phone.

He had been hoping that she would reject the idea, but that didn't seem to be the case.

Now he was left blushing behind his scarf in hopes that no one could see his reaction.

Eri: "We aren't... Are we...? Um..."

Overprotective Sister: "Hey, hey, your phone's catching everything, Eri!"

Viper: "Why don't we ask Kotowari-kun what he thinks you two are now?"

It was frightening how quickly everyone turned to him.

But they would soon be disappointed by his reaction.

"We...um..."

"You don't really know, do you?"

"I do! It's just... I think I do? Um...Asano-sa- Er... Is that right?"

Everyone quickly took to their phones.

Honest Sister: "Ooooooookay! Let's settled this here and now! Eri and Take! Tell us how you two will be honestly calling each other from now on! On the count of 3! Ready...?"

Lobo: "1!"

Overprotective Sister: "2!"

Viper: "3!"

Izumo: "I want to call her Eri-san..."

Eri: "Takeshi sounds nice..."

His face was quick to heat up as he realized that he played right into their hands.

Knowing that they were all looking at him, he wrapped his entire scarf around his head, leaving only his eyes visible.

The next set of messages came up.

Viper: "Congratulations, you two!"

White Fox: "I'm so proud of you, Take!"

Rampage Dress: "I trust that the two of you already know limits to what can be done."

Megane: "Congratulations, Kotowari."

Even his master was saying things like that now.

Everyone around him seemed to be in a buzz over what had just been said.

Thankfully, there was a single voice of reason out of them all.

"Um, my apologizes if I am misunderstanding here. Do we not all call him by name? So then it should be fine if Asano-senpai does the same."

"That's true. But Hoshi-chan, this is different. You see, there are eye witnesses of a certain event that happened yesterday. In that event, a certain someone honestly handed over his scarf to Eri-chan. For him, that as the same as declaring he likes her!"

"Oh! I see! That does seem to be the case! I am very happy for you, Takeshi-kun!"

No words could come out.

His own hope for salvation had been tricked by their terrible upperclassman.

All he could do now was pound his fists on Ikoma's back and give a weak reply.

"Please go now. I don't care if you kidnap me, just get me away from here."

"Roger that!"

.

Takeshi felt himself begin to move away and opened his eyes to see the ground quickly passing him by.

Behind Ikoma was the rest of his squad, either waving or being held back by the ones who were not part of his squad.

Next to him was Shiraishi, running alongside Ikoma and not seeming to mind in the slightest.

"I'll carry you next time, Chisato."

"It's fine. Carrying kids tends to take priority over things like boyfriends or girlfriends."

Was that how it worked?

Maybe I should save that for later...

Later for him or someone else?

He covered his entire face once more at the realization.

There was a small buzz in his hand, signaling a message had come in.

It was a private one.

Eri: "Things will be getting more lively, won't they?"

Izumo: "That's true. And I want to apologize for the mess, but..."

Eri: "Don't say it. It will just make both of us embarrassed."

It was too late for him, so she must have been talking about herself.

That was fine.

He was hoping that he would soon be able to learn more about her.

But first...

"Are we...really going on a double date...?"

"Now we are. Thanks for inviting us."

He could see what kind of influence Ikoma really was to his girlfriend.

And it was bad.

Chapter Text

"Huh? You didn't bring Michelle with you?"

A voice groaned within a large room colored by the setting sun.

The room contained long tables lined with chairs. It was a dining hall. The windows gave a view of the falling sun and of the city right outside of the building.

Someone kicked the table. It was nearing dinner time and there were few people here, so the sound of struck wood reverberated loudly across the room.

Not caring that the few people there were focused on him, a boy with red hair slammed his hand on the table..

"Screw this then, I'm leaving. Neither Yasuko-ane nor Michelle are here."

"Not my fault that she wanted to go with Minoru today, Sekai. Besides, the two of us had to do a favor for Tamakoma today, so we didn't have a chance to get her."

"Calm down," added Kuruma.

"Hah! This is so damn irritating. I wouldn't have gotten up if I'd known this was the case..."

"And that is why Denji is telling you to calm down, Sekai."

"Um, that was me."

Kuruma smiled and refused to complain as a different redhead sat in the seat over while carrying some naan and cheese. He wore a casual outfit that seemed to make for easy movements and he turned toward Kuruma.

"Oh, right. Kuruma-dono said it, not 'Denji'. My apologizes."

"It isn't a big deal."

"Ha ha ha. Tatsuya is so cute."

"You never change, do you, you idiot. And Ketsueki, why are you sitting around eating?"

"This is a dining hall."

"Keh," spat out Sekai, but he did relax his body.

"This place closes relatively soon and will be starting to clean, so do not go making a mess of things," Ketsueki said to him.

"Ketsueki, you should be more worried about other things."

"What am I supposed to do?" Ketsueki rubbed on a single bite's worth of cheese and looked Sekai in the eye. "I am terrible when it comes to rumors and am hardly ever here to confirm or deny any rumors floating around. What is more, Mikumo-kun had already assured everyone of what was happening and how it will be taken care of."

Ketsueki followed up on his response with something different.

"I had only asked a favor of you and Denji because I thought that it would be good to have some insurance in case anything went wrong. I will never ask how you two manage to get things done, but I trust in your abilities to do such things." He cut off a piece of the cheese with a knife. "But, well, I suppose that it was also nice to confirm that I can still speak with the two of you this freely."

"—"

"See here." He rested his elbow on the table and faced his two former teammates directly. "There is the unspoken agreement that we refrain from pointlessly bringing up the fact that we were once on a squad together. That had been brought up yesterday during Minoru and Denji's commentary. But only you three had been mentioned for that. I personally have no qualms about being referred to as your former teammate, but you both seem to be against it. So I try not to make it obvious."

"That's right. It would be too much of an irritation of it got out that our squad used to be a things. But at this point, that's spreading around as much as this Tamakoma rumor, and has more credit to it."

But...

"While you hate that this is the case, it it simply how things have turned out. Yasuko-san has no problems with it, but she is in a similar situation as me because of the two of you. I am a patient and understanding man, but the two of you tend to drive me up a wall whenever you refuse to tell us much of anything. Do you understand?"

.

Ketsueki thought their squad's disbandment and lack of unity when they were together were truly unfortunate.

...But I suppose we all do have different backgrounds.

Those like him had lived an average life, but Sekai and Denji had gone through thing that they refuse to speak about with most anybody else.

Meeting them had been a painful and awkward experience, so he had decided to ease everyone into it, but even if he had tried to seem welcoming, a relatively normal person like him needed to build his resolve and keep the proper distance when working with people who had been through more than him.

During that time, Yasuko had maintained a relaxed atmosphere around them without ruining her image as a mature woman and everyone else had been looking out for each other in the most basic of ways.

...None of them are bad people, really, but the difference between all of us was painfully clear by the end of it.

Sometimes they were short-tempered, but they were still reasonable enough when given enough time and push. He just wished they would use their types of minds in a more positive way, but...

"You two really are terrible people."

"What the hell do you mean by that?"

"Minoru has relaxed much more over time, but you two... You both seem to only get worse as time goes on and refuse to back down from your positions. The rest of us would like to know more about the both of you, but you tend to make excuses and say things that the rest of us know next to nothing about. ...There was someone else like that, but he seems to have settled things with himself and those around him. In that sense, he has grown much more than either one of you two, do you see?"

"Haaaah! That 'do you see' at the end really irritates me..."

He did not care. And if he was irritated by that, that was all the more reason to say it.

"You proved it to us with your failed attempt to win yesterday. Denji's words prove as much as well, but your display was even ore painful to watch than it was to hear him speak. The both of you ende dup losing to yourselves an giving away what we had no clue of."

"What good is bringing that up if I'm already trying to drink that memory away?"

"My point is proven further by that. Stop being so idiotic with your choices and simply come out to the open. Now that they have seen you in such a state, I highly doubt anyone will truly view you as how you wished to be viewed before. And Denji, your words impact other so much that no one will be ignoring what you have said."

Saying that reminded Ketsueki of something.

...Oh, so that is it.

That was what Yuki had been doing. He had done it when he refused to be cooperative two days ago and he had done it when he decided to take on the responsibility of everyone else. He had been prepared to give his all to a pointless endeavor that others would stop him from doing.

...So that is it...

Ketsueki realized that Sekai had a very selfish-like mentality.

He would be so selfless that it turned into a selfish want for others, but...

"Hmm..."

He groaned to himself while thinking Sekai might be more honest with himself if Yasuko or Michelle was here.

He could have trouble when it came to handling his emotions.

So he made sure to say it.

"Besides, I see no problem with others realizing the kind of danger you pose on the battlefield, so try not to do much against yourself and you may end up finding yourself being very free without even noticing it happening. ...But Denji, you are similar, so try not to hold yourself back too much. And if you find it all becoming a hassle, come to one of us. ...Just do not think you must be on your own here."

But...

"That is only according to what I know. Interpretations can deal with that. You will not like it from someone like me, Sekai and Denji, but will you hold back when you face others?"

"...No."

"Then there is your answer. You are both the same there."

And...

"Sekai and Denji, you do not have time to be worrying about others, do you?"

.

A short silence followed that question.

But Sekai spoke up as if to drive it out as an irritation.

"Hah. What do you mean?"

Do not act like you do not know, thought Ketsueki with a nasal breath. Then he opened his phone he had pulled out. It displayed things from the past.

"Well, if you insist. Sekai, can you look at this objectively?"

The battle of previous matches were shown, but they had to focus on the more immediate problem.

...I have a short-term viewpoint, as well.

Ketsueki manipulated the display with that in mind.

"This is the record of your squad's standing."

The record began to slowly shift into the current rankings. That showed where his squad currently was.

"This is how you have been doing as a squad. Before lowering down in rank, you would have had no issue with staying at the top with Masataka-dono and Kageura-kun. Sekai, you are deliberately stopping yourself from doing better, are you not?"

"That's right," confirmed Denji. "It pisses me off, and it was painful to watch, but this guy was holding back so much that he took hits that he shouldn't have. The reason they had gotten demoted wasn't because of him and he's still trying to act like it was. It sucks, but..."

But...

"Sekai, you can only say that when it matters and you've done something about it in the first place. It isn't like anyone won't be happy even if you end up back in A-Rank."

"I know that. Shut up."

"Yeah, yeah. As long as you get it."

Ketsueki nodded and looked straight at Sekai, ignoring how Denji seemed to be helpful right now instead of antagonizing.

"Now, about you."

Listen.

"Since you have decided to not do anything for yourself, Sekai, you can at least do something for your teammates. The B-Rank Wars are ending sooner than usual, so there is not too much left for your time on those battlefields."

"Hah. That's right."

Sekai reached out and manipulated his phone.

It displayed the fights for the next round, meaning his squad's next match.

"All that's left is getting through this next match and seeing where everyone else ends up. Hah. The last match ended relatively quickly because I got involved, so I'm hoping these people understand to leave me alone. I might even let them take me out right away. The only thing would be that I need to make sure Yasuko-ane and/or Michelle aren't there to watch me so I don't have any reason to be active again. It was an irritation doing so much then feeling like crap right after. I'd rather feel like crap throughout it all." He turned a sharp gaze Ketsueki's way from his spot. "So you better not go doing anything. Same goes for you, Denji. I don't want either one of you assholes doing anything like that or I'll kick your ass myself. ...Hah. So what's any of that matter? Hmm?"

"What kind of idiot tries to intimidate someone who already knows them?"

"That was kind of much," agreed Kuruma.

"Shut up. It's a bad habit."

"Everyone enjoys that you at least have an actual explanation, Sekai."

Sekai walked angrily around the table to reach Denji, but Denji crouched down and crab-walked around the table to keep his distance.

After a full rotation, Sekai came to a stop.

"What are you trying to say with all this, Ketsueki?"

"I kind of understand why you are worried about people knowing what you can do."

That being...

"You wish to remain in a place where others can be happy with you in order to not be left behind. And since you have already done so much, you are afraid of what might happen if they see that you are much more capable than what you seem. ...You will be placed higher than most."

.

You are so off the mark, thought Denji.

No, you have a small clue, but that's all, he added.

When Sekai had become unneeded long ago, he had been fairly active, but it had been after looking at everyone and being a part of their squad that he had decided to show nothing while doing everything to make sure everyone was happy.

But that "everyone" did not include him. The only one who was not allowed to be happy.

None of them had ever thought about what came next. They had just assumed the important people above them would support and guide them.

But history marched ever onward. A lot of it could be resolved through interpretations, but things generally worked once people put in the work for it. That was especially true of people who had the skills to back up anything they had done and everything others would do.

Sekai understood that intellectually and had lived accordingly, but...

...Our role ends once everyone is fine without us.

Thanks to what happened two days ago, they saw that their jobs could end early. The third person they thought would never change and fade away had resolved himself and found something new to hold on to.

At the time, Denji had realized he would never speak so freely with that boy again.

"..."

Sekai had likely learned there that he was with some people he would never speak freely with again and that he would soon be someone who would never change.

...And it's happening for him pretty soon since even the former #3 managed to find happiness while I can never hate anything.

So...

"Sekai, your last battle will be against me. Since we're telling you to stop being lazy about things, I should also tell you to do your best against me."

"Hah. Yeah, you really do love getting hate."

"That's right," replied Denji. "We knew up front what we would lose, but I still want to avoid losing it if I can."

"You sound too hopeful," said Sekai as he sat down.

Similarly, everyone else in the dining hall breathed a sigh of relief. That was partially due to their fear of Sekai, but...

...They must also be worried for something they don't know about.

Meanwhile, Sekai crossed his arms behind his head and spoke.

"All my focus on things I've lost had already been used on the past. Hah. I might lose some other things, but none of them can mean more than that, so they don't matter. But..."

But...

"Hah. If it looks like we're gonna lose something, I end up pushing myself to make sure that everyone else remains happy by the end of it all. ...That's all."

"...Sekai."

"I said that's all, asshole. ...What's that look for, Denji?"

"Well, Sekai, that's just not fair at all."

A bitter laugh escaped Denji and something else suddenly came to mind.

"But...what about everyone else?"

"Most people can be hopeless. They can be too careless and lack any tension at all. ...Hah. We're talking about how we know people that can do comedy routines on the battlefield or feel free to speak during a fight."

"But we've both lost to those kinds of people before."

"We backed down," corrected Sekai.

...Come to think of it, that's right.

With a mental "most likely", he decided everyone must be enjoying themselves no matter the situation.

The two of them were enjoying themselves too, but everyone else lacked something they had.

...A focus on self-destruction and an atmosphere steeped in impatience and anger.

.

When you find yourself unneeded by the world itself and everyone around you can't see that, you definitely feel impatience and anger, thought Denji. He found himself already losing to Sekai in that sense.

But Yūko was there for times like those. She was one of those people who seemed to pass from incident to incident alongside everyone else. She had found both happiness and hatred in her time living with others, but...

...She still manages to stay by my side while also being with everyone else and not giving an inch.

That had to be too much on her.

That meant she was just like everyone else. Unlike the idiot from two days ago, he would not hold back from telling her as much and giving her all of the hate that he was not allowed to have. This had likely become a habit for them, and more importantly...

"There isn't anyone for you to watch over. At least, not someone who I know of."

The idiot from two days ago had Kō and he had Yūko, but neither one of them knew much of who Sekai had at his side. There were ideas passed around by them, but neither one knew.

To put it another way, there was no one who could validate Sekai's existence or what he was doing.

No one was around to tell him their thoughts on certain matters or correct him when he decided on something.

They would have originally been looking into it or forcing someone on him, but that gradually shifted toward focusing on themselves, which led to the current situation and resolutions.

Since they had no future, Denji and Sekai had to use everything they could and leave everything else behind at some point.

To put it another way...

Gambler: "Since there isn't much for us to do anymore we need to make use of our best efforts, so don't think you can be so carefree about everything. Make sure you burn through everything and never take a break."

That would be how they go out.

It did not mean they were not serious, It just meant the two of them did not have to focus on others too much. And...

Gambler: "Since we need to put in our all, we need to be fine with smiling, losing, and putting on an act of strength when loss is inevitable."

...What a twisted lifestyle.

But that was the pride of someone without a future. Even if they lost everything when they lost, they could be satisfied because they had taken it seriously and they could say they hadn't really lost because they weren't needed in the first place.

And when that happened, they could figure out how to fix everything while doing what they could for everyone around them.

...Is this...?

Denji heard of a similar ideology before. Ketsueki would have as well.

It was...

"—"

.

"Hah. What is it, Denji?"

Sekai spoke to his colleague who had suddenly fallen silent and looked down.

After a pause, Denji responded.

"Damn, you're hot."

He turned Ketsueki's phone toward himself.

"Hey." He placed a hand on his cheek and relaxed on the table. "I've heard this had been asked before, so I'll ask you the same thing now. ...What do you think it means to live without regret?"

"Hah. That's a question for someone who can properly answer."

Where is he going with this? We both have too many regrets that the question is meaningless for us, wondered Sekai.

"Everyone else enjoys every single day and lives their lives to the fullest."

Denji would normally have said "Yeah, they do" in response.

But he did not. He instead turned the phone toward Sekai.

"...Let's see."

He got up from his seat and sat at the foot of the table next to Sekai. Ketsueki and Kuruma gave the two of them a look, but said nothing.

Then he spoke quietly.

"I know exactly where Michelle is going tonight, and with who. ...I want to ask our final member at some point, too."

They could see a change on the screen.

And Denji looked like he was trying to figure out what exactly he wanted to show.

"We have resolve, but we might lack acceptance."

The sun had sunken over the horizon and the lights within the city came to life.

Noise could still be heard as shops were filled with people and others were walking around, enjoying the nightlife of Mikado City. It was a sweet din that covered the area in a peaceful way.

Within this peaceful setting was a restaurant. Said restaurant had a group of six within it, making their way towards their table. Two of which were holding hands while three of them remained in the front, speaking as they walked.

"Uwaaaah~ It sucks that Shiro couldn't come with us~! I really wanted to feed him!"

"He gets embarrassed when you do that in public, Inukai-senpai. At least keep that in a private space."

"But his expressions are always great whenever he gets embarrassed!"

"That may be true, but he tends to tell us how you also start cooing when it happens."

"Oh? Is Tsuji-chan trying to steal Shiro from me?"

Tsuji began to open his mouth to protest, but he stopped when Hiyami began to speak up.

"He is busy trying to get to know Taiyōko-kun," she said. Turning her head, she finished while muttering, "Although, I wish Lukas could have come along as well... Too bad he had to focus on his deadline."

Inukai grinned at hearing the quiet words, but held back from saying anything about them. There was something that seemed more entertaining that came before them.

"So you're getting along with Mukkun? Do his siblings know about that?"

"...I don't see how that's something that matter. And did you really need to tell him that, Hiyami-san?"

"I felt it was necessary."

Whether it was true or not, Inukai still took the chance where he saw it.

He pulled out his phone and began typing. It quickly got Tsuji and Hiyami's attention, but it was too late.

Inu: "Hey, hey, Yuki~"

White Fox: "What do you want?"

Inu: "So mean! But I thought I'd tell you that Tsuji-chan's been real nice to your brother lately, so make sure to give him some points for it, okay?"

White Fox: "Huh? Since when have those two even known each other? ...No, wait, I think I heard about it before. Yeah. Mukuro was complaining about Tsuji before. Doesn't that mean I should deal with Tsuji instead of giving him points?"

Inu: "Doesn't Mukkun like to complain about anyone who aren't his siblings?"

White Fox: "That's true. Try and get some info out of Tsuji so I can decide on if I want to hit him or give him some points."

Inu: "What about me?"

White Fox: "Just be happy that I don't get on your for being with Shiro still."

That's unfair, but it's not like I can change his mind, Inukai thought mournfully.

It was good for him to know that Yuki was able to speak about his brother freely now, so that counted as a win. Bringing up Mukuro would not be a problem anymore and asking about him would only get him the usual stink eye or cautious tone.

The same went for Hoshi as well, but that was to be expected at this point.

"(Who is 'Mukuro'? And what about stars?)"

Inukai paused for a moment at the voice.

He had forgotten that there was someone with them who was able to read minds.

And it was the small girl holding Minoru's hand who was already moving to sit down.

"Ah, well-"

As he was about to answer the question, new voices began moving closer.

"Don't go ordering anything expensive on me!"

"Noted. ...Oh?"

"Huh?"

Then he saw them.

"What a coincidence."

Members from the Tamakoma Branch.

.

The first ones to react to the sudden meeting had been Konami, Usami, and...

"Oh! It's Tsuji-chan!"

"Tsuji-kun's here!"

"Oh, um... Hi. Nice to...see you all..."

"Tsuji-kun!"

"Come here, Tsuji-chan!"

"No messing with our Tsuji-kun," said Hiyami, standing between the two girls and Tsuji.

Minoru watched with a smile. He was directing Michelle to sit between him and Masataka at the other end of the table.

Masataka was helping her take off her coat while putting own coat away for them to eat.

"Tsuji-senpai isn't really good with women?"

"He really doesn't seem the type, does he?"

"No..."

Sumiharu had been saying as much, but he held his phone up to take a picture of the situation. Minoru wanted to worry about what he would do with it, but it was likely that he would only be sending it to Oshiro and Hisoka.

Once he was done with that, he put his phone way and pointed to himself.

"I'm here too, Konami-chan."

"Urg... You don't have the same innocent feeling. Besides, don't you have Hogo-chan already?"

"Shiro's the only one for me, but he lets me have my fun."

"Don't you see Tsuji-kun during school already?"

"Yeah, but he always has his guard up there. Plus, he usually has Kobayashi-chan and Hogo-kun with him to hide behind."

The amount of times they had seen Tsuji hide behind his two friends outnumbered the times he had properly spoken with a girl. But there were still those times where he had only heard of incidents concerning the issue with girls.

Even with this being an issue in the first place, both Hisoka and Oshiro had been doing their best at helping Tsuji better deal with girls. It had varying results with the biggest being a third girl that he was able to talk speak with.

Feeling a tug at his hand, he looked down to see Michelle smiling at him.

"(You are really happy, aren't you?)"

"(Yeah, I am. Now let's figure out what you want to eat.)"

They weren't the only ones doing so as he could hear Usami asking Mikumo and Amatori what they wanted while Sumiharu had been trying to get Konami to order something expensive.

It was a nice atmosphere between the two tables.

.

It had not taken long for everyone to place their orders and wait for them to arrive.

In the meantime, to fill in the space, Usami spoke up, looking over at Minoru.

"Oh yeah, I caught the commentary from the match yesterday with you in it, Minoru-kun! Is it really true that you had been on a team with Bakuto-san and Hikigane-san?"

"Hey, don't just ask that here!"

"Then do you know the answer to that?"

"Of course I do! But still! Even I can tell that it isn't something to just ask outright!"

Inukai looked over to see Minoru's reaction to the new conversation.

It was what he expected.

Minoru's wore a smile as he looked down.

"..."

But there were two others who wore matching expressions at the other table.

Both Mikumo and Amatori looked towards Minoru with knowing, but curious expressions.

"You two know, don't you?" he asked, looking at the both of them.

Mikumo responded by nodding for the both of them.

"Kagerei-san had been telling us a story and let it slip that they had been on the same squad."

"Eh!? Ketsu-san was with them!?"

"Ah... Maybe I should have been more careful with that."

He had already known that much at this point, but having the answer without bringing in their other member seemed off.

So everything was out in the open now.

"Yes, we were on the same squad. Although, it's not like we really worked as a single unit. We were pretty bad as a squad, in all honesty."

"What do you mean?"

"Our squad consisted of myself, Ketsueki, Sekai, and Denji as Combatants. Do you really think the four of us would be able to work well together and function as a squad?"

"I guess that makes sense... But wait, who was your Operator?"

"That would be this little one's mother," Minoru said, patting Michelles head lightly. The girl smiled, able to keep up with the conversation enough to know what was going on.

Ninomiya was the next to speak up, surprising Inukai and the rest of them. He spoke lightly, but with certainty.

"Michelle's mother - Yasuko-san - isn't someone to mess with."

"Oh? That's coming from Ninomiya-san. She must really be something."

"She was able to tame a squad that had both Hikigane and Bakuto in it. Also, as you know, Kagerei has that bad habit of just leaving for random trips. There really is no other way to describe her after knowing that."

It was true that she had been someone Inukai instantly knew not to mess with.

Unlike the other women he knew not to mess with, she was different. While ones like Kushikage and Mogami were dangerous due to what they would do without reservation, Yasuko had been someone who had managed to do things without viewing it as something needing to be done. It had always been something that came naturally to her and without any sort of malice.

After all, why would she show malice to the boys she had been watching over during that time?

Knowing everything he did, Inukai could agree that she was a kind women who should not be messed with. She has a lot of backing from some pretty scary people. But she also had a nice feeling to her that made it hard to do things against her.

"There's someone else you're forgetting, Ninomiya-san."

"I wasn't forgetting her. I figure that it goes without speaking that Michelle is also able to keep them in line."

Inukai grinned and gave a thumbs up towards the smiling girl. She returned it in full.

He could hear cooing sounds from Konami and Usami, letting him know that they had seen her response.

.

Once the food finally came, everyone began their dinner in earnest. Meat was placed on the table and rice was placed in bowls to eat.

"Here, salted tongue."

"This piece is mine, got it? I'm making it well-done."

"Isn't well-done what you say for steak?"

Tsuji looked over from his food at hearing the conversation going on next to his squad's table.

He had trouble speaking with women for so long, meanwhile...

"Impressive, Mikumo-kun. Dinning and speaking with three girls, huh?"

"Oh, you're right," Mikumo answered while turning to face him.

"Being around girls doesn't bother you, does it?"

"It's because he has a beautiful mom," Konami said to Inukai.

"I don't think my mother is a part of that. But now that you mention it, I've never met a woman who had as much pressure as her."

From across the table he could hear Minoru say something under his breath that sounded something like "There are a lot of powerful women around" before being patted by Michelle. It was nice to see that, but Tsuji could only agree with the statement.

There were a lot of intense or powerful women in Mikado City at the moment and he couldn't even handle the normal ones.

...I hope I don't come in contact with them.

But that was bound to happen regardless of his wants. The older sister of Mukuro came to mind, reminding him that it would be impossible to not face her at some point.

He hoped that he would have at least some help during that time.

"So it really does depend on how you were raised."

"You don't need to worry about that, Tsuji-kun. If you stick around Taiyōko-kun so much, I'm sure he will let you use him as a shield too."

"...Hiyami-san. Did I do something to you recently?"

"Hm? No. Why do you ask?"

He glanced around the table to see if anyone else was reacting similar to him.

The ones from the table next to their own only looked focused, but their table told him enough. Inukai and Minoru were giving knowing looks while Ninomiya was wiping some food off of Michelle's mouth.

Ninomiya-san really looks like a father when he does that.

But that was to be expected at this point.

Hiyami was still looking for an answer, so he responded.

"You have been bringing up Taiyōko a lot tonight."

"I wonder why."

The way Hiyami's eyes lingered beyond him was a bit concerning. She looked passed him and lightly shook her head a bit.

Three small noises were heard in front of him and across from him. Each of them sounded like an understanding had been reached. Besides them, he could see and head Minoru trying to his amusement.

Then it clicked.

There were three girls here who were a part of the infamous Shipping Squad.

If he was any less of a man, he would have tried to counter her words by bringing up her own relationship. But he knew it would only end badly for him. After all, Hiyami's boyfriend is king of the King and Queen duo who made doujinshi on a regular basis.

It was terrifying to think about.

And now both Konami and Usami knew that he had been around Mukuro a good amount of time.

All he could do was lower his head and return to his food.

.

"How's the abomasum? Tasty?"

"It's tough to chew."

"You seem to be fine speaking with Hiyami-senpai," Mikumo said, looking back over at Tsuji.

Even with the cow's stomach in his mouth, Tsuji turned back to answer.

"Because I've known Hiyami-san forever."

"The only girls Tsuji-chan can talk to are Hiyami-chan, Kobayashi-chan, Nikko-chan, and Hatohara-chan so far. And by some miracle, he can speak pretty freely with Yasuko-san." Rolling his eyes for a moment, he added, "Oh, and I mean Mirai when I say 'Hatohara-chan'."

Minoru froze for a moment. It was a small action that continued into him eating more, but it had been there.

The only one to notice had been Ninomiya.

"Hatohara-senpai was nice from the start. And it's because of the combined efforts from Oshiro and Hisoka-san that I can talk to the latter."

"Heh heh~ My Shiro tried to help Tsuji-chan the instant he found out about the issue." Inukai turned toward Mikumo with an idiotic grin on his face. Konami groaned at seeing it. "He didn't let up and got Hisoka-chan involved when it was clear that she needed some social help. He's super cute like that. I can send some pictures over later on."

"I really don't get how Hogo-chan can put up with that lovesick talk for as long as he does! You talk like he's some kind of god!"

"He might as well be for this guy."

Mikumo and Usami looked over at Hiyami. She looked prepared to answer, as if she had gone through this routine multiple times.

Neither one of them doubted that she had.

"If you give him an inch, he'll start talking about Hogo-kun nonstop. Tsuji-kun is the best one to handle it since he's best friends with Hogo-kun as it is. And speaking of which..."

She made a leisure turn to look over at Tsuji, who was still trying to chew his food.

"You were implying I wasn't nice at first."

"You had a wall up at first."

"And now?"

"You're nice."

"Good."

Inukai gave a slight laugh as he watched Hiyami place a piece of meat onto Tsuji's plate.

His eyes lowered as he spoke up.

"You know, that might be why Mittsun-kun wasn't afraid of her, like he was the others."

"Ariake was?"

He nodded towards Usami's question and continued.

"That's right. When Yuki had asked the Snipers if they could help his teammate, most had agreed without problem. Some of them asked for compensations and others just didn't want to do it. In the end, he managed to get all of the 18s' Snipers - at the time 17s - to agree to mentor Mittsun-kun, even if just a bit. Most of the ones passed out age he was fine with, but our age group gave him a lot of trouble. He ended up with a fearful respect for them."

"Really? I can get some of them, but even ones like Pokari and Suzaku? I wouldn't think they would be too bad."

"Yeah, even them," Inukai answered. He looked over to see Minoru's reaction to this and frowned when he saw a slightly distant look in his friend's eyes. But he continued his explanation. "I'll put it into perspective. At the time, the Snipers who he had asked from our age group were Tōma, Umi, Pokari, and Hatohara-chan. Arafune was still an Attacker at the time, but he was asked to help out when he did make the shift. Now, when you see it like that, and know how we are when grouped up or messing with people, how do you think it would look for them to be mentoring Mittsun-kun?"

All of the ones a year younger than him and Minoru shuddered heavily in their seats.

Michelle looked around at them all with curiosity evident on her face.

Ninomiya got her attention away from them while still keeping an eye on Minoru.

"Exactly. So," he began again. "Hatohara-chan was the only one who didn't harass him or was harsh on him. He started coming around more often to see her because of that, and she was the only one he really felt comfortable around."

"Wait, does that mean it's all those guys' fault for the way he's harassing people lately?"

"Oh? I didn't know you even kept up with his squad, Konami-chan."

"I don't. I actually forget he exists most of the time, but Shigeko told me about how he's been doing things lately."

They all chose to ignore the way she was able to speak of the intense girl of Meishō Squad as if it was nothing. Bad things could probably come from that if they went on that track.

So seeing the problem right away, Inukai changed the topic back so that they ran no risks. He did so by turning to Mikumo.

"Have you heard about Hatohara-chan? Our Sniper who ran off over there." Seeing Mikumo nod, Inukai shifted his gaze towards his captain, who was still focusing on the unfocused Minoru. "You went to consult Tamakoma about it, too?"

Without turning his gaze away from the two on his other side, Ninomiya replied,

"Yeah, but I haven't told Usami or Konami."

A sudden sound came from the end of the table.

It was Minoru.

Inukai instantly knew where he had gone wrong.

.

"I need to...use the restroom for a moment. ...Excuse me."

Without another word he began his walk away from the table.

He could hear some talk behind him and questions coming from the Tamakoma people, but he left that to everyone else.

He had something else on his mind.

...I shouldn't have walked out like that.

Opening the door to the restroom, he instantly moved towards the mirror and turned the water on.

He splashed some water on his face and took a breath before looking into the mirror. His own reflection was looking back at him, but his expression was clearly much more dull than it had been at the start of the night.

...They can talk about her so freely, and I thought I would be fine with it, but I guess I still can't fully take it.

There was still a lingering feeling with knowing that Mirai had left, not telling them anything. She had gone with civilians and left them behind to wonder why she had done such a thing in the first place.

When it had happened, Mei had been using her calculations to figure out the reason for Mirai leaving. But it only be for him. She used her calculations to find an answer for him and not for herself. The way he had been feeling had thrown her into those calculations, sending her into a spiral for the answer he wanted.

But the answer he wanted never came.

She had only reached conclusions that he refused to hear.

His sister had left and he had caused his cousin to dive into her own mind.

It hurt to think of that time.

He was at fault for it all.

That was the conclusion he had come to.

And yet...

"..."

Minoru's thoughts stopped for a moment as a buzzing noise was heard and felt in in his pocket.

Slowly lowering his hand into his pocket, he pulled out his phone to see a message on his screen.

It was from Mei.

He opened his phone to see what it was about.

Rampage Dress: "Miiiiiiinoru. Yes, hello. There's something I need to tell you."

He gave a light smile at the message.

...She has changed in such a short amount of time.

It hurt to know that he could do nothing to help her after everything. The thing keeping him grounded from that thought was remembering the talk the two of them had two days ago.

She was free to do as she wanted now and he was allowed to support her no matter what form it took. Everything he did was something she viewed as support and it was something she never wanted to let go of.

That much made him happy.

Deer Prince: "Yeah, what is it?"

Rampage Dress: "Are you done with dinner already? I had wanted to make sure you ate before bringing this up."

Deer Prince: "...Something had come up. I'm still at the restaurant, but you can tell me what's going on."

Rampage Dress: "Is everything alright? I can go over and punch whoever is causing a problem, if you want."

There was no doubt that she could make it in record time to do just that.

When did she get so violent, though? he wondered with a bitter chuckle. ...It's probably from being around him for so long.

The one who she had confessed her love for, and had confessed to her in return. That boy had decided to finally be himself, so that likely meant all of his violent tendencies had returned. Even so, Mei enjoyed being around him.

But...

...It's still bad between the two of us.

The two of them also needed to have a talk at some point. It had gone well with Mei, but there was no telling how everything would go with that boy. They had been friends before, but that friendship had become extremely strained as of late and neither one could find it in them to be in each others' presence anymore.

"I guess that should be for later... What did she want to tell me?"

He asked her as much in a message.

Rampage Dress: "I got a message from my parents recently. They said that they would be coming back soon, so make sure to stop by when they do. I'll let you know when they get here."

Deer Prince: "Ah. I didn't know Auntie and Uncle would be back. Thanks for letting me know."

Rampage Dress: "It's no problem. ...Now then."

She didn't give him any time to think everything over.

Rampage Dress: "What's wrong? You are with Ninomiya Squad and Michelle, aren't you? I can figure out what caused the problem, but I would prefer to have you tell me instead of me having to figure it out."

There it was. The real change between them.

Mei would not automatically go to her calculations to get to or solve a problem anymore. She was waiting for him to openly tell her what was wrong so that they could go from there.

He felt some pride well up for her.

Now came the hard part for him.

...She will probably be fine if I just put it off or just don't tell her.

But...

There's a high chance that she will be feeling something now, unlike before.

She had been focused on her calculations before, but she had gotten passed those calculations two days ago.

Deer Prince: "I... Mirai was brought up and I wasn't as fine with it as I thought I was..."

Rampage Dress: "Ah, that makes sense."

He let out a sigh.

Mei still couldn't find it in her to think beyond what she already knew.

That's fine...

Rampage Dress: "I haven't been in a situation where she was really brought up. Now that you say that, though, I can only imagine how you must feel about it."

"Huh?"

That was not what he was expecting.

Rampage Dress: "Having more time to think about it might do me some good, but that's only as her cousin. As her brother, it probably hurts that much more."

Deer Prince: "We really care for you too, you know."

Rampage Dress: "I do. And I love the both of you for that. But don't neglect the other people you can say that to."

Deer Prince: "...What do you mean?"

Rampage Dress: "You have your feelings on the matter, so let them know. Walking away from the conversation probably has them worried, but that just means you have others who can worry about you. Even if it's hard, and even if something comes up, just try to get anything out and I don't doubt that someone will notice. I will do what I can as well, but there are others who are more in tune with their emotions than I currently am. So trust them."

It was a roundabout way of saying what she wanted, but that only meant that she was to the point where she could do something like that.

And she had a point.

The others could speak of Mirai with no problem while he still felt something when she was brought up. If that was the case, he only needed to make some sort of move to show that was how he felt. They would understand.

He knew it was not so simple with his own mental problems. Nothing may come out and he might lose focus if it was anything worse. It was not fine if that happened, but there was at least one person who knew of that and would take immediate action.

So he had to trust in that person and all the others who knew.

"I guess I should go now..."

Ninomiya had heard it all while he was eating. The way Inukai was getting information from the Tamakoma people, the way they responded to his words, and everything else that came along with it.

Once the conversation had reached the point of speaking about Mirai he knew to be wary with the way Minoru reacted. Something clearly been on his mind, and the way Michelle looked up to him only further went to prove his own thoughts correct.

"We're leaving."

"(What about Minoru?)"

"(I'll go get him right now.)"

The look Inukai gave him while he passed Michelle toward Hiyami was enough for him to know how bad he felt about the situation. Moving to such a topic was to be expect, so there had been nothing to feel bad about.

He just didn't say as much.

"No need. Sorry for the wait. I ended up in a conversation with Meimei."

"Minoru, look-"

"It's all fine, Haru. Some of the blame goes to me for not saying anything from the start."

A slight hum could be heard behind them, but it was probably one of the Tamakoma people figuring out what they meant. Not that it mattered to them.

Ninomiya gave his own hum while moving closer to hand Minoru his jacket back that he had picked up. Alongside him, Michelle moved forward, looking up at Minoru with pleading eyes and arms slightly raised.

Minoru didn't deny her request and so picked her up after putting his jacket back on.

She leaned against him once in his arms and spoke.

"Thoughts are clear..."

"Ha ha. Yeah. I bet they cleared up a bit. Sorry for worrying you like that."

She only leaned further into him.

Ninomiya took a final look at the Tamakoma people. He saw Mikumo looking ready to say something before stopping himself. The reason was obvious, He read the situation and knew not to say anything careless.

None of the Tamakoma people meant any harm, but they likely thought it best to leave the them alone after what had happened.

So with that settled, he moved next to Minoru and lightly leaned towards him while walking away.

Chapter Text

The repeated sounds of footsteps walking on the floor could be heard in the hall. The sound was small, almost unnoticeable, but for someone like Shobu, it was loud enough to be aware of.

One pair of footsteps was his own. They were making the smallest amount of noise. It was something he had been taught by Yuki and continued to do even now.

A second pair of footsteps belonged to Tomoe, and they had a heavier sound to them. The feeling they gave while hitting the ground felt like there was a bit too much waste, but say anything might be considered rude.

As for the third pair...

"Wow! So this is the Yagura Branch, huh? Thanks for giving me a tour of it, Tenryū-kun."

It was Abe Ruri.

"Oh, same here. I only knew about this place, but I never went too deep into it. Thanks for this."

"Really, you haven't been here, Tomoe-kun?"

"This place is kind of known for being strange. From what I have heard, at least."

The people here were good people, but even he had to admit that they could get a bit crazy.

Still, it was something that became normal for him and something he was glad about. It meant that they were all comfortable around each other. Even people not from the branch tended to find that they were happy with the craziness at the branch.

"...Everyone enjoys...themselves here..."

"Does that include you?"

"Yes..."

He could readily admit that.

Tomoe and Ruri seemed to understand that he loved being here since they both smiled towards him.

They all continued walking while he gave them a tour of the area.

Tomoe had come along since he had heard that Ema was also here, so he had been walking with them the entire time. But the real reason for the tour in the first place was for Ruri to familiarize herself with the building.

It was left up to Shobu to give the tour upon his request.

He could still remember the conversation that happened because of it.

Red Sky: "Shokubutsu just asked if he could give Shiraishi's Abe a tour of the branch office! He's growing up so fast!"

Shinoda: "Chishi! You didn't send this directly to me!"

Red Sky: "Oh crap!"

White Fox: "Shobu asked of his own accord! Whoo! I'm so proud of him!"

Rampage Dress: "Yuki just got done rebooting after his third time around with learning something new today. Please don't get started again, Akasora-san. But it's good to know that Shokubutsu is being more outgoing."

Decoy: "I can add in my own thoughts, right?"

Okkun: "Depends on how hard you want to get hit."

Decoy: "I just wanted to tell Tenryū 'good job'!"

Simple Boy: "Based on the rules set by the Yagura Branch, you should be fine with saying that much."

Koala: "Which one's Tenryū again?"

Yoshi: "Looks like one of them is dead."

Okkun: "I'll tell Azuma-san."

White Fox: "Koala, you have 1 minute to start running."

Yuki was still under probation, so he had only been giving a warning.

Even now, he could still hear the yells from the Azuma Squad Attacker as a group of people chased him down.

Shobu had wanted to help him, but he had been given permission by his uncle to show Ruri around.

"Everyone looked like they were enjoying themselves earlier."

"...I will pray...for Koarai-sama..."

"He should be fine. As long as he knows to apologizes."

Ruri looked at the two of them so he lightly shook his head.

They would need to set up her account on Border's network soon. The best person for that was one of those cannibals, but they tended to be nice to him.

"Anyway," Tomoe started. "Was there anyone else supposed to be here? One of the pairs of shoes by the door was Ema's, but I didn't recognize the other pair."

"...Those belong to..."

As they passed by a door, a voice reached them from down the stairs leading to the door.

"Janjajaaaan!"

The three of them looked down the stairs to see the light on and the voice to reach them from down below.

Shobu easily recognized the voice, but the tone was something new to him.

"Look at this throb! Shaking the place, this (engine)! It can really make a guy's heart (move)! I was a little self-indulgent on this one. Anyways, don't you think it'll be perfect for everyone here?"

"...Why did you use two english words there?"

Shobu wanted to know that too.

The first person only gave a sheepish laugh so it was probably on a whim that they did that.

"Those voices..."

"...Yes... ...Ema-san is down there...with the other...person... ...Rather...people..."

"There was someone else?"

He gave a shallow nod, but Ruri seemed fine with that answer.

He motioned for them to go down the stairs with him taking the lead.

.

The room was lit all around and the sound of a computer running could be heard. Lockers were lined up on both sides of the room with benches placed. The amount of space felt wasted when it was only them in there, but that was to be expected when there were only people as small as them inside.

The only other people in the room were sitting at the computer and standing in front of it.

"So this is what the Yagura Branch is using."

"My family was the one to renovate the place, but Border had it's people set it up. I really don't know much about programing, but I've gotten into some mechanics and guns lately."

"Please don't start firing guns around me. I don't trust you with anything that isn't a Trigger."

"C'mon, Yuzuru. I would never do anything dangerous that could hurt the people around me. ...Not unless I knew they could take it."

"Are you saying I can't take it?"

"Do you think you could?"

Shobu watched Ema go quiet while they took their last step into the spacious room. His expression was unimpressed, but it was clear that he was relaxed while standing next to the taller boy in front of the computer.

Mitsuteru grabbed Ema by the shoulder and pulled him in before turning to them and smiling.

"Yo. Sorry if we're making too much noise down here, Tenryū-kun."

"...Not noisy... ...We came down...because Tomoe wanted...to see who else...was here..."

"Yeah, sorry about that," Tomoe said with a bow. He must have thought the blame was being put on him.

"No problem at all, Tomo."

"When did you get so close to Tomoe?"

The sound Mitsuteru gave was light. The feeling of him moving was also relaxed while he lazily swayed with Ema at his side.

It was clear that he was happy.

"What are you talking about, Yuzuru? Tomo and I are watermelon buddies. Of course I would say we're pretty close."

"Does Zaki-san know about this?"

"He does. Teruya-san on the other hand..."

"She probably finds you collecting children strange," the girl behind the computer said.

She was someone he didn't recognize, but the way she held herself was nonthreatening.

From where he stood, Shobu could tell that she had good energy, but it felt like it was restricted by what she was doing right now. The tapping of keys was soft, but enough for him to figure out what she was doing.

...Programing for...our branch...

The sound of each key came in clearly and the devices around his neck translated it into what she was specifically typing out. He turned the devices around so that no one else could see them.

He felt a slight push at his side and shifted when Ruri moved a bit closer.

"So who is this?"

"...Ariake Mitsuteru... ...Ema Yuzuru..."

"Are they your friends?"

Ema could be considered one, but he knew to little about Mitsuteru. The most information he had was what Mei had told him upon their introduction. Anything other than that had been words passing by and nothing particularly noteworthy.

It would have been nice to include him as a friend, but there were too many things against that happening.

So he was prepared to tell her as much.

But he was stopped.

"You can call us friends if you want, but I feel like that might be a bit light, all things considered."

What all was he considering.

Then Shobu figured it out.

"...Yuki..."

"That's right," Mitsuteru smiled. "Yuki was my former teammate and Tenryū-kun's current mentor. Not sure what that makes us, but I'd like to think I should look out for him more because of that."

"Just don't be on him like you are with me."

"Maybe don't be so casual like when we're eating either."

"Your reputation is going down the drain pretty quickly."

The way Mitsuteru fell to the floor was concerning. But the way he held himself remained the same, so it was probably fine to leave him be.

For now he could focus on the other person there.

The girl who was behind the computer had been typing the entire time and lost nothing from their conversation. It was pretty amazing of her to do that while still listening to everything going on around her.

"Curious about me, aren't you?"

She spoke directly to him while moving away from the computer.

He jumped at her sudden words and she gave an apologetic response.

"Sorry about that. I guess I should have given a warning. I'm Katerina Müller, by the way. Feel free to call me whatever you want."

.

Mitsuteru watched as Tenryū eased into meeting someone new. The things he had heard from his former teammates and Yuzuru had already gave him an understanding of how Tenryū was and what he was capable of.

Having Müller-san just start speaking directly to him like that had probably spooked him a bit.

According to his former teammates, Tenryū was always acutely aware of his surroundings and perceived everything differently than everyone else. The devices hanging from his neck was proof enough of that.

Still...

Yuzuru and Tomo would have probably done something if they thought this was too much for him.

They seemed to be mindful of him and were ready to step in.

He liked seeing that in both of them. Even the girl by Tenryū moved as if she was going to step in front of him.

But...

"...You...were doing program...ing for our...branch...?"

"That's right. I was sent over since I had some free time and wanted to check out this branch for myself. I've been hearing things about this place and wanted to see what it was all about." She jabbed her finger towards Mitsuteru without turning to him. "This guy let me in since there wasn't anyone else here. I thought he was a trespasser or something until he told me that he was over to check on everything. His family apparently did the work on this place, so I let it slide."

"I really was checking things..."

Defense duty had ended and there was nothing to do for the day. A call had come in to check to do another check on the branch office from his parents while Suzaku Squad's Captain had asked him to look at the programing to see if there was anything wrong.

The regular maintenance for his parents was easy enough since he had done it before. It was nothing new and the branch director knew him enough to trust his work.

Checking the programing had been the issue. Learning a few things from the Suzaku Squad Captain had been easy, but programing was still outside of what he could do.

Maybe I should learn more of that stuff. It worked as a threat yesterday, so getting more information on how to do that stuff could be helpful.

It was worrying to think that he was turning into his upperclassmen. But that was a thought for another time.

The programing had made little sense to him and Yuzuru had been no help with it. That had left them stuck with no idea on what to do.

Then someone came to the door.

The girl had been skeptical of them at first, but a direct message from Mei had put her worries to rest. They had both been thankful for that situation to end as quickly as it had. It had lead them to placing her in the seat in front of the computer so that she could work on the programing.

...Suzaku-senpai seemed fine with the end result, but I feel like I'm going to be getting programing lessons soon.

His mentors of the same age had already been trouble enough. Getting more lessons from that age group sounded like a complete nightmare.

All he could do was sigh.

"Anyways," he said. "That's about all there is to it. Müller-san is helping out with this and I already did checks for any maintenance for the office itself. By the way..."

And this was crucial.

"Tenryū-kun, can I ask you for a favor?"

"...What is..it...?"

"Well..."

He didn't want to put this on him, but he was the only one who could do something about it.

"I don't know who it is but, could you tell whoever keeps breaking the floorboards to please stop? The creaking and old ones are one thing, but I keep finding the new floorboards also destroyed. You guys are already getting a good discount on this stuff, and I'm checking on this place and doing little maintenance work for free, but, um..."

"...I will...tell my uncle...about it..."

"Thanks! Sorry for the trouble, really."

Tenryū shook his head, but he wasn't the one to worry about.

Everyone else in the room had turned their attention to him the moment he gave his request.

Then it came flooding in.

.

Yuzu: "Mitsuteru is being unnecessarily needy with Tenryū."

Tomo: "I didn't think he would be like this..."

White Fox: "Mitsuteru, what are you doing!?"

TetsuG: "Do we need to do something about this terrible underclassman now?"

Isa: "Looks that way. He should know that you don't mess with Shokkun."

Black Wolf: "I'm sure he has a good reasoning for turning almost all of Border against him."

Daybreak: "Gimme a break! It's a misunderstanding!"

Everyone: "Explain."

Daybreak: "I just asked if he could tell someone to stop breaking Yagura's floorboards! That's all! Seriously, I didn't do anything else!"

White Fox: "Who was doing that anyway?"

Corpse: "That waaaas Kushi-nee."

Shooting Star: "She sometimes does that when she is not paying attention."

Still Got It: "I'm being called? Who called me? Someone wants to mess with me?"

Pokari: "Pretty sure it was Ariake."

TetsuG: "Yeah, it was that guy."

Isa: "He was complaining about something."

Umi: "Not helping him is one thing, but can't you at least not throw him under the bus?"

Life: "So Umi's gonna go help Mitsu-chan?"

Umi: "Well..."

Daybreak: "No one's going to help me!?"

Everyone: "You're on your own."

Kage: "You people are terrible."

.

"Does that mean he's going to help?"

The way Yuzuru and Tomoe turned their heads away was concerning.

There was a larger problem now before him, though. One of Border's most insane people would now be going after him and he had no sort of defense.

This is all those cannibals' fault!

Well...expect Kageura-san. He was pretty chill about it. ...I think?

It was still up in the air, but that could be decided on later.

The way Abe was looking at him told him that she didn't understand the danger he was in yet she still gave him a look of pity. If only it was easy to tell if that was a good thing or not.

Feeling another buzz in his hand, he jumped and gained the attention of everyone once more.

It was a terrifying thought to have the older Taiyōko sister after him, but not looking at the message might end up costing him more.

This stress is too much for me!

He released a breath through his mouth and nose. The tension remained in his body, but it just felt nice to get that out.

White Fox: "Hey. Are the children at the office right now?"

It was only Yuki.

But that could also be bad.

Daybreak: "Um, do you mean the ones who hang around Pyrínas-san?"

White Fox: "Oh, you call him by name."

Daybreak: "Is there something else I'm supposed to call him?"

White Fox: "Not really. It's just something to note for later."

Anyways.

White Fox: "Yeah, those are the ones I'm talking about. One of them was with Denji earlier and I want to check and see if she is at the branch."

Daybreak: "Uh... Not that I know of? The only ones who should be in the building right now are all gathered in the training rooms."

White Fox: "I see..."

It was a bit worrying to think that the deranged A-Rank captain was with a child, but if there was something going on then it meant he had no place to speak.

Still...

Daybreak: "Do you want me to ask Tenryū-kun about it?"

White Fox: "It's fine. If she isn't at the branch office then she probably got picked up already. Mei had told me that Minoru was wanting to spend some more time with her. He probably took her with him."

If it was someone Mei could speak freely about then they should be fine with taking care of a child.

But there was still something that was leaving something with him.

Daybreak: "Yuki?"

White Fox: "Yeah?"

Well...

Daybreak: "What importance do those kids have?"

White Fox: "That much...I can't really say right now."

.

That was a bit worrying, but not enough to question it.

Mitsuteru released some air through his nose and got rid of the remaining tension in his body.

...Things aren't the same as before. He wouldn't hold it from any of us if it wasn't important. I have to trust him this time.

It would be insulting if he refused to do that much after everything that had happened the day before.

"Hm... I guess even people like him have it hard."

"What are you even talking about?"

Looking over he saw Yuzuru staring directly at him. Everyone else was at the computer, looking at something Müller was showing them.

The way Tomoe and Abe were staring with open mouths made him worry a bit. Tenryū wasn't stopping them, so they should be fine.

"I was just talking to myself, is all. Don't mind me."

"I never really do."

"Now you're just being harsh, Yuzuru."

The way he shrugged led Mitsuteru to laugh a bit.

"Well, anyway. I asked Kage-san and he said it was fine to hide in our room if Tsukiko-senpai's sister comes looking for you?"

"Are you sure? I hear that woman is pretty crazy."

"I wouldn't have asked and Kage-san wouldn't have agreed if we weren't sure."

"Keep that smooth talk up and Amatori-chan will be your girlfriend in no time."

The immediate noise and reddening of Yuzuru's face made the entire conversation worth it.

It had been no secret that there was a small crush there. Getting directly involved felt like an invasion of privacy, but teasing the two about it seemed to be fine enough.

It also looks like he can see a resemblance in her, but still sees Amatori-chan as her own person. ...That's good.

There wasn't something holding him back and Kageura Squad's last match showed him the determination Yuzuru had. It was something nice to see and something that made him realize something.

...I really am being lazy, aren't I?

Meishō Squad's previous matches had all be relatively the same. The only time it had changed had been when he was holding on to everything and trying to let go. The end result form that match had changed so much for him that their match after that had ended up being a bit of a mess.

He felt some shame when he thought about it.

But right now he could see how lazy he was, and what the reason for that was.

"Hey, Yuzuru."

"Wh-what now...?"

"Don't be so on guard."

"...I can't trust you right now."

That was fair. He did just take a good hit, after all.

"Do you think I should start doing more?"

"More than harassing people?"

Mitsuteru looked down and raised a brow.

"I still don't know what you guys mean by that."

"...You're being serious, aren't you?"

"Of course I am. ...Wait, why are you typing furiously in the chat!?"

"No reason. Keep going."

"That makes me more scared to continue!"

From the computer, Tenryū gave him a thumbs up, but that only made him worry even more.

The people Yuzuru and Tenryū knew were dangerous, so he didn't want to get on their bad side.

"Anyways," he sighed. "I think I've come to the conclusion that I don't really care much for being in the BRWs. Everyone else wants to show off, go to a higher rank, or just prove themselves. I don't really care about that kind of stuff."

"You've always been relaxed like that?"

So that was how he saw it.

"True. But that got me thinking something like, 'Wouldn't it be fine to just leave Meishō Squad then?' Then I thought about it again and figured that this squad is one I don't really want to leave."

"Then don't leave it, idiot."

"It really is that easy, isn't it? It works out fine since Seiji-san is also just going along with everyone else's want to take part in the BRWs. So that leaves our squad in an even vote and fighting here."

But.

"Unlike me, Seiji-san gives it his all."

"You give it your all. I've seen the way you harass others."

"You're still on that!? Seriously, Yuzuru!? Give me a bit more-"

"But I get what you mean."

Mitsuteru stopped his rant as Yuzuru continued typing on his phone.

The noise form across the room was still going, but it sounded like they lowered it to a dull noise. Having them listen in was worrying, but he figured that it would be fine since they seemed like good people.

So he let Yuzuru continue.

"I know what you can do after seeing them up close so many times. You aren't doing too much besides supporting your teammates. That isn't like you, though. You being a support just doesn't sound right."

"...It was like that at first. Then I joined a squad where support wasn't too much of an option."

"Right. You were pretty confused back then."

But this is now.

Things had changed.

"You don't want to put your foot forward unless you were holding a grudge. That's why you were able to do so much. The grudge you had against Ninomiya Squad was pretty big, and the spite you had for Kotowari Squad and Murakami-senpai was bad in it's own right."

"Yeah... I've made up with Kotowari Squad and I got everything out when attacking Senpai."

"...So what about Ninomiya Squad?"

That was the question.

The grudge he had against Ninomiya Squad was a two-fold one. The part that directly involved Yuki had been mostly resolved, but the second part was not something he could easily get rid of.

The reason for that was obvious.

"We're in the same boat, Yuzuru. You know that. The only difference is that Tsuji and Hiyami-san have always been people I'm fine with, and any issue I had with Inukai-senpai was pretty much gone once I reconciled with Yuki."

Some of the issues he had with Ninomiya had been resolved there as well. It only left the remaining issues.

"Does that mean you wouldn't be able to do as well as you did in that match, if you went against them again?"

"...I doubt I could do that well again."

"Then I don't need to answer anything. You already know how lazy you're being. Also..."

"Yeah?"

Yuzuru took a moment to stop typing to look up at him. His expression was enough to figure out what he wanted to say.

"You have a bad personality if you can only stop being lazy when it comes to grudges or spite that you have."

Mitsuteru could only give a bitter laugh. "That's true," he said.

If this was how he was then it was no wonder he was getting yelled at by Shigenaga so much recently. Her temper was slowly growing the more he acted like this around others. Even to himself, his bitterness was becoming more and more obvious.

It was something he knew he had to changed.

"Since that's the caaaaaaaaase!"

"Don't stretch your arms out next to me like that while making that kind of noise. It's just weird."

He gave another laugh. This time a more casual one.

"I'll see what I can do in the next match. If we don't get that many more points next time then we'll be tossed back down to mid tier. Seiji-san and I are fine with that, but I'm pretty sure Asagi-kun and Shigeko would riot against us for that."

"Oh yeah? Have fun harassing your next opponents."

Mitsuteru gave a hum as he pulled out his phone. It had buzzed a few times while they spoke, but he had refused to look at it so he could focus on his conversation with Yuzuru.

Now that they had gotten it out of the way, he was able to do both at once with a smile on his lips.

"I'm nothing like Hikigane-san, but even I think I can accomplish some things when I put my mind to it."

"I guess it's fine if I watch your next match."

He gave a hum while looking at his phone.

"Funny you say that..."

.

Shobu could hear the entire conversation from across the room. It was something personal, but everyone else seemed fine with doing it too.

And now that the real conversation had died down he could hear the unhidden humor in Ariake's voice as he closed his phone. The sound it made was a solid snap and the hum he gave while looking over at Ema said more than enough.

"Looks like you get to watch me work up close, Yuzuru."

"Urg... I just got the message to."

"Yup. Looks like we're going to be fighting each other in the next round."

"Go back to having spite for Kotowari Squad. At least then you won't be going for everyone."

"No can do!"

Shobu smiled at the way Ema groaned for a second time.

The two of them were close enough to where he felt free to do that and Ariake felt free to throw an arm over his shoulder.

But this came with a problem.

"...Who should...we cheer on...?"

"Hm? What was that, Tenryū?"

A laugh came from across the room and everyone turned to look at the two who had been speaking to each other.

Ariake was the one to speak up, but it was clear that Ema had his own things he wanted to say.

So they listened.

"You guys can cheer for Yuzuru, if you want. Or any of the others, really. I'm sure they would all appreciate it."

"What is he talking about now?"

"...They got news on...who their next...opponents are..."

"Ah! So they're squads are going at it then?"

"We are," Ariake said happily. "Meishō Squad, Kageura Squad, Azuma Squad, and Kotowari Squad. And man, I'm really glad we had our conversation, Yuzuru."

"Go back to being lazy. I don't want to deal with your harassment."

Everyone else had found it funny and laughed, but Shobu only smiled at them. It reminded him of something else, but it was hard to pinpoint what exactly that was.

So for now he would only say one thing to them.

"...Both of you...do your best..."

He would cheer them both on.

"That guy is something else. Telling off Sekai and adding me into the mix."

Kumagai raised a brow as she watched Denji look into the sky with a frown.

If it had been anyone else, he would have been grinning and speaking with broken words. It was only with her that he could do something like this so freely and without any sort of reservation.

I just don't know if that's a good thing or not, she thought bitterly. They had been like this for some time now and she had gotten used to it.

It was only mid-day and he was complaining about something that happened the night before. The full story had been explained to her upon their meeting up, but she found that she couldn't take Denji's side on this.

"I guess it's fine since I'm only with him because I want Sekai to end up living."

"It would be better if the both of you wanted to live, you know."

"I'll let that one slide since I'm actually in a good mood." He continued to look at the sky. "But try not to say that around Sekai, got it?"

"Yeah, yeah. The two of you are too much most of the time."

He only scoffed at her, but they both knew that she was right.

It didn't matter which one it was, the two of them were a handful to deal with. Them, along with Yuki-san. Murakami had also told her about the trouble that Yuki causes, so it made the trio all nothing but trouble.

"So do you plan to do anything about him? Or do you think Kagerei-san is going to do something?"

"Neither. Yassan is here, so we can't really go making trouble in the public eye. Getting a scolding isn't something any of us want."

"By the way, are you ever going to introduce me to this 'Yassan'?"

He gave her a sideways glance and clicked his tongue.

It annoyed her when he did that, so she punched him.

If it had been anyone else, he would have already dodged and dealt more damage than he would have taken. It was only with her that he allowed himself to get hit like that.

"You already met my boss, isn't that enough?"

"That woman was something else. But I can see how she became your boss."

"You're luck you're you."

"I know," she said with a shrug. Only she could speak to him like this knowing full well that she would be safe.

It was just how they were.

"By the way," he started. It was already clear that he didn't want to stay on one subject for too long. "Akane's leaving after your next match, and the next match is the last one of the season. Any plans on who could replace her?"

"We aren't thinking of that right now. Why? Do you have any suggestions?"

"Not really. I just wanted to make sure I had an understanding of the situation. Better that way in case something comes up."

It sounded to her like he knew something would come up, but...

He's always been like this. Sekai might be better at planning for things, but Denji knows what to do for any given situation he finds himself in.

That had been shown when she was fighting against the Neighbor alongside Rei and Teikō. He had called out to her and spoken freely while holding back their opponent. It was not something just anyone could do, but they all knew that it would have been bad if he had joined the fight.

His understanding of situation was what had saved them.

It was because of this understanding of situations that he had gotten Minoru to speak up about their former squad and how he escaped Kagerei's harsh words the night before. Even before, he had gotten a read on the situation with the sponsors, went to his boss, opposed Border, made a strike against Minoru, and came back without any repercussions. Everything he did was based on the situation placed before and what he had to do about it.

She knew no one better at doing something like that than Denji.

But that's why I'm worried that he'll finally find the situation he wants.

A situation where he finally wins against Sekai and she won't be able to see him anymore.

"You know," he began again. "I can't wait for Akane to leave. Because when that happens, Sekai will be interesting to watch again. It should be entertaining to see what happens."

His personality was still a foul one that others will dislike him for, but Kumagai kept quiet about it. She understood where this part of him came from.

Standing up from his spot, Denji turned away from the sky to look directly at her.

She stopped herself from taking a step back at seeing his expression. If she were to do that here then it would mean she had no way to support him.

And he seemed fine with that.

"Enjoy yourself during this last match, then come back to me so I can hate you. Got it? I feel like I'm going to have a lot of that pent up, so be ready to take the full brunt of it."

This was how they were.

She knew everything about him and decided to stay and support him. Along with that came all of that hatred he could not show to others.

So she could only nod.

"I'll make sure to take all that hatred away from you."

And also...

"I'll find a way to help you."