The stiff, humid air was all a person could feel on that summer day. The heat was enough to make a person fall faint, and almost no Border Agents thought it would be right to waste their day patrolling.

Of course, the nearest person was not a Border Agent. Instead, she only carried a baseball bat for defense, as she snuck around dangerously in the Forbidden Zone, where Gates opened up frequently.

Rounding a brick wall, the girl was able to see what she was looking for. A neighbor walked around, moving quickly and having the appearance of a big scorpion. The girl went into a defensive position, ready to strike if the creature got closer.

The neighbor, called a Marmod by official Border members, was much big and quicker than what she predicted. She almost jumped out in front of the monster, her hands shaking. "I-I can defeat you, you-" Before she could finish, the Neighbor let out a loud yell, making the girl drop the wooden bat to cover her ears. The creature was aiming to strike, and the odds of the battle could be seen clearly.

But in what felt like less than a second, the Marmod fell to the ground, being sliced in half. A girl, wearing a dark blue border outfit, stood in front of the beast, quickly wiping her forehead. "It seems one is down. Why can't the Neighbors just agree with us to not fight on hot summer days?"

"Thanks…" The unarmed girl called, making the attacker almost losing her balance as she turned to look at the younger girl. "I guess you had a better chance of that than I did…" The girl kicked the bat, letting out a sigh.

"Wait, a minute," The attacker said, trying to tighten one of her pigtails. "Are you trying to tell me you were trying to fight that…thing?" The girl nodded, sending a wave of shock and dismay through the attacker. "Are you even a C-Rank in Border?"

The girl continued to look down at her feet, her brown messy hair bobbing as she shook her head. "I ended up missing tryouts."

The attacker looked like she was about to yell, but instead rubbed her forehead. "Fine, then. Since this was just harmless, I will let you go."

The girl raised her head, surprised, but gave a huge smile. "Thanks miss!"

"Well, then." The girl replied, and with the yell "Trigger off!" Her outfit changed from a border uniform into a Mikado City school uniform that was all-black. "Please do not call me miss. The name is Miki Hanazuki." Miki bent over, grabbing the bat. "I presume this is yours?"

The girl nodded, and grabbed the bat. "Thank you, Hanazuki." Catching herself, she gave a little bow. "My name is Kyou Usami, by the way."

Looking to make sure there were no other Border agents around, Miki started walking towards where Border would be, and to an entrance that was not in the Forbidden Zone. "It would be wise to follow me, then. You don't know when another Neighbor could appear."

Nodding, Kyou quickened her paced to follow Miki, knowing that it would be wise to listen to her.

Once outside of the Danger Zone, the two girls stopped. "I should head back to the rest of my squad." Miki voiced, twisting a piece of her strawberry blonde hair. "I hope you stay safe from now on, ok?"

Kyou gave a few seconds to think, wondering if she could really keep safe. Finally agreeing to Hanazuki's terms, however, she nodded, and gave a grin. "I promise, Hanazuki."

"You promise?" Miki murmured, as though the words brought back memories. They seemed to fade quickly, however, as her friendly demeanor returned. "I will make sure to give a good word in for you at Headquarters, then. Do you like that?"

But as Miki looked up to see Kyou's reaction, she realized that the girl had already gone.

1 Year Later

The Border Headquarters building was filled with excitement. People were overjoyed that they were now able official C-Ranks, even though they had miles to go before they could participate in amazing events like the B-ranks and above did.

Everytone appeared cheerful, except for two girls that were sitting on one of the couches.

"This is not the end of the world, Kyou." A girl with short black hair and glasses said, trying to sound cheerful. "Just because you got turned down, does not mean you can give up!"

"But it's your squad, sis." Kyou, a girl with messy hair that was now blonde, said, curled up on the couch like a cat. "If I have no chance with them, how would I have a chance with any other one?"

This caused some silence for a little bit, as Kyou's sister tried to figure something out. "How about you join Yosuke's squad? I doubt he would get mad."

Without even looking up, Kyou groaned out, "Miwa freaks me out, Shiori. And besides, they already have five members."

"Hmm, then what else…" As Shiori spoke, however, her phone ringed, and she quickly grabbed it from her pocket. "Sorry, Kyou, Kazama needs to discuss something with me."

Kyou looked up at Shiori, and quickly sat up. "It's ok. I'll catch up with you later."

Giving an overly big smile, Shiori ran off, going to wherever her squad leader wanted her to go.

After a minute, Kyou grew tired of sitting on the couch all by herself, and went to go get a drink. But due to her height, she was quickly blocked from the view of the machine.

"Excuse me," She said as she tried pushing her way past two members, but they did not bother to even look at her. "I said excuse me." The words came out louder than she wanted, and the tallest of the two turned to look at her.

"What do you want, kid?" The other member laughed, even though Kyou found nothing even hilarious with the joke. "We aren't opening our squad to anyone, so you can shoo."

Taking a step back, Kyou tried not to keep her head down. "I do not want to join your Squad."

"What did you say?" The man spoke, as if he took an insult from her words. "Listen here, brat."

Shrinking a little bit, and regretting what she said, Kyou spat out, "Can I just-"

"Excuse me, but what is going on here?" A stern voice cried from behind the group. "If you want to fight, then wait for the Rank Battles. You can wait a few hours, right?"

As Kyou turned from the boy to the girl who was talking to them, her eyes immediately lit up. "I remember you!"

The girl stared at Kyou for a little bit, trying to figure out what she meant. She suddenly realized, but not before the boy yelled out, "The leader of Hanazuki Squad, Miki Hanazuki!"

Miki still looked at him harshly, but eventually gave a warm smile. "Yes, that is me. You must have a relative already in Border?"

"Yeah, I do." He replied, extremely happy.

"Well, then. I expect the best from you. No silly fighting, okay?"

He nodded, and then turned to his friend, whispering to him something about Hanazuki squad. Then the two left, in the direction of the front stage.

"Thanks for saving me, again," Kyou said once the boys were too far away to hear. "I can't believe I ran into you on the first day!"

"Well, I am in charge of helping the new Gunners out today."

"I thought you were an Attacker?" Kyou said, confused.

Giving a shrug, Miki said, "I ended up switching to being an All-Rounder. It's way better than being stuck in one type."

"Well, thanks." As she said that, Arashiyama Squad, the face of Border, started announcing where each group of trainees should go. "I guess I have to go. The rest of the Snipers wouldn't want me to hold them back."

"That makes sense." Kyou turned to walk away from Miki, but before she could go too far, Miki let out a "Wait!"

"Y-yes?" Kyou swiveled to look in Miki's direction, hoping she was not going to get in trouble for earlier.

"Do you have a Squad?" Miki's question led to a headshake from Kyou, and Miki immediately smiled. "We have an available spot for another member, and I think you would be a nice touch to the team."

"Wait, Really?" Kyou gasped, sounding more shocked than she wanted to.

"You would have to wait till you became B-Rank, but I think you'll rank up quickly."

"Thanks!" Kyou almost yelled, as she ran to join the rest of the C-Rank Snipers.

Miki went to walk toward the group she was supposed to help, but almost ran into a girl with dark black hair. "Sorry," Miki murmured, but then noticed the face, "H-Hinata!"

The girl gave her a glare, which seemed to fit her face well. "Miki, we cannot just let in anybody to fill our last row!"

"You heard that?" Miki said, almost deflating like a balloon. "Well, she has more guts than half our team."

"That still does not mean she would be a decent member!" Hinata looked over Miki's shoulder to try to see Kyou. "Seriously, she's a Sniper for crying out loud! What do guts have to do with any of that?"

Miki rolled her eyes, not ready for this yet. "If it makes you happy, we will wait to see if she does well on her training. And if she does, then she can get in." Miki still saw anger flashing heavily in Hinata's eyes, but new there was no way around it. "And I am interested to see if she has a Side Effect. From what I remember a year ago, she seemed to have had a very interesting one."

"Fine, then." Hinata groaned, still not sure. "I have to go. Commander Kido wanted me for a meeting."

Felling relieved, Miki sighed. "You already are making me late with my trainees, anyway." Then she turned, and walked away from Hinata. She knew the new Sniper would be the best choice for her Squad, whether the other members thought so or not.