Chapter 1: Hogo Squad


Hogo Oshiro wasn't a bad person, he really wasn't. He may have looked like it with his heterochromatic red (contact) and blue eyes and black hair with white tips (dyed), but he really wasn't.

If you were to ask other people who knew him you would be told he's the type of person to help old people cross the street or jump into a raging river just to save a bunny. There have even been rumors that he once stopped a suicidal terrorist ready to blow up a bank.

He really wasn't a bad person.

So of course it would come to him as a shock if anyone thought badly of him.

"..."

"How long are you going to sulk for?"

"..."

Miwa Squad's Narasaka let out a sigh as Oshiro continued to look gloomy while Kodera, Narasaka's teammate, just looked confused.

The three were currently having their lunch outside on the nice day. They each had a bento in hand with Narasaka and Kodera's looking rather normal while Oshiro's was packed full of different kinds of meat.

"You're nice and all, but not everyone's going to like you. It's just how life is."

"... What did I do...? How can I apologize to them...?"

"Um... What's going on?"

"Katori had told him that she hated him while Kikuchihara said he was creepy. You can figure out the rest from there."

After hearing those words leave the Sniper's mouth, Oshiro seemed to get more gloomy and the two from Miwa Squad could swear they saw a dark and raining cloud appear above his head.

"Hogo-senpai, it's fine if a few people...think poorly of you. No one is perfect, so it's only natural."

"It's pointless trying to convince him of things like that, Shouhei. Things like these are the only things he's going to be stubborn about. The best thing we can do is to stall for time until he gets better."

Oshiro ignored the comment and started stuffing his face full of meat. Large tears could be seen running down his face, but Narasaka ignored him and focused more on his own lunch.

This didn't seem out of the ordinary at all for the latter.

Kodera let out a sheepish hum before going back to eating his own lunch. He had been through moments like these at least two other times, but he never knew what to say to make his upperclassman feel better.

The first time he saw Oshiro like this was when Kageura Squad's captain had told him that his kindess was irritating while the second time was when Hikigane Squad's captain said he didn't like Oshiro.

Remembering those times made Kodera shudder a bit.

"Well... At least Miwa-senpai and the other A-Ranks like you."

"Sniff sniff... Yeah... You're right..."

'... More like they tolerate him...'

Narasaka listened in as Kodera tried to sooth the B-Rank captain to the best of his abilities. That itself was a mission all on its own, he didn't bother to interrupt.

"Speaking of which... How is Miwa-kun? Kirai-kun told me that you had fought against some chibi albino."

The two snipers froze up for a second before Narasaka let out a sigh and Kodera looked away.

Oshiro tilted his head on confusion.

"How does that guy even get his information?"

"Dunno. We've asked about it before, but we get the same answer as when we ask about his hat. 'Sorry, but that info is a secret. Unless you have the right price (Twinkle)'. We've just decided to give up on both answers."

"Sigh. It's nothing for you to worry about. It was just a little skirmish, that's all."

"Kirai-kun said Jin-san had to intervene."

"... Seriously, was he hiding out near there or something? Does he really have nothing to do? There was no one else there and he doesn't even have Bagworm in one of his slots. There's absolutely no way he could have known that..."

"Well... He doesn't go to school... I'm sorry! It's my fault! I'm acting as a bad captain! I should make sure he gets a good education and not to spy on other agents! I'll take full responsibility! I know! I'll commit seppuku! ... No! I don't get that honor! I'll just jump!"

"Th-that's not it, Senpai! No one blames you for it! Wait! Please don't go towards the building!"

Narasaka went about ignoring the two yet again as Oshiro slammed his head to the ground while apologizing multiple times before trying to make a mad dash to the school and its stairs. Kodera tried to sooth his upperclassman again while grabbing his waist, but to no avail. This wasn't anything new, so it wasn't anything to worry about.

Although Narasaka did have to wonder if Oshiro was starting to get brain damage from smacking his head on the ground so many times.

As he ignored the two next to him, Narasaka had to wonder how exactly the second All-Rounder from Hogo Squad was able to get that information. He had never liked the boy who was a year older and knew that multiple agents also hated him since he seemed to always have new and updated information on everyone.

That person in Hogo Squad even got some of the friendliest people in Border to hate him without even doing much. Whether it was because of his information or because of the constant smug look on his face, he would be able to get them to hate him. It seemed like a natural talent of his.

"Crap! I forgot I have to go see Inu-san after school! Hm~... Kawa-chan is going to get so mad at me..."

"Why do you need to go see him?"

"I'm sure he can wait to coddle you for a while."

"No... It's that... I need to give him back his shirt..."

Narasaka gave a deadpan look while Kodera simply hid behind the glare of his glasses.

Oshiro blushed while he fidgeted in his spot.

"Maaaaan~~! This is all my fault...!"

"We can't argue with it this time," Narasaka and Kodera said simultaneously.


"If I can make it there quickly, return the shirt and run back I should be able to make it in time and not get yelled at..."

Oshiro nodded to himself as he ran through the halls of Border's base.

Right after school had ended he had ran to his house, got changed into something more comfortable to move in and dashed towards the base as fast as he could. He really wanted to make it to the base within a certain time limit, but that idea was shot out of the window with a massive cannon once he noticed that every turn he took there was something that needed his help.

Being the nice and helpful guy he was, Oshiro had helped in each situation while also making sure not to get his boyfriend's shirt dirty in any way. This was a difficult task since some of the things that he helped out with involved trekking through mud, jumping into a river and carrying large bags full of cement. Thanks to all of that he was covered in different things, but the shirt was still perfectly clean in the bag it was held in.

Once he had made it into the base some C-Rank agents started whispering to each other about his appearance, but the ones who knew him had shut the C-Ranks up and let Oshiro be. He didn't really care though as he started running in the halls to make it to Ninomiya Squad's room.

As he ran through the halls he had to apologize to others there who he almost bumped into on accident.

"I can make it... I hope!"

With this thought in mind Oshiro continued to rush through the halls while panting like crazy.

He quickly turned a corner and couldn't see anything that was in it as he did so. And that was when it happened.

BAM!

The bag that the shirt was in flew through the air and landed on the ground while Oshiro and the person he had bumped into fell on their butts.

Not bothering to even see who he had bumped into Oshiro got on his hands and knees before slamming his head on the ground and giving repeated apologizes.

"I'm sorry! I'm sorry! I'm so sorry! I wasn't looking where I was going! I'm so, so, so sorry! It's my fault!"

"It's fine, Hero. I...wasn't really looking around either..."

Hearing the familiar voice, Oshiro looked up to see a tall male with black hair and freckles on his face. He recognized the A-Rank as Hatohara Minoru, one of his boyfriend's best friends.

"Ah! Hato- Er... Sorry. Minoru-senpai! Sorry for bumping into you! Ah! And I'm so sorry about getting your clothes dirty! I'll buy you some new clothes!"

"No need to go that far. This stuff will come out. Besides, you're still way more dirty than me."

"..."

After going and picking up the bag Oshiro looked closer at his upperclassman and frowned when he saw that Minoru had a tense smile on his face.

"Senpai... Did... Would you like to accompany me to go see Ninomiya Squad?"

Oshiro's voice changed to a more calm and relaxed one as he put up a kind smile. He could see this was working since Minoru's expression also seemed to relax a bit.

"... Yeah. That'd be nice."

The two had met thanks to Ninomiya Squad's Gunner introducing them. They had both gotten along well and quickly. They were both very friendly and were both willing to help out when asked.

At some point Oshiro had seen Minoru acting a bit strange, but was told that it was nothing. When he had asked Inukai about it later that day he had been told that the older one had been fighting depression.

After hearing that Oshiro had felt bad and blamed himself for not helping when he saw Minoru earlier. He had been determined to help out his upperclassman after that in any way he could.

'It's better if we just go see Ninomiya-san...'

Oshiro looked up at the A-Rank and noticed that he didn't have earbuds in his ears. Oshiro knew that the other would listen to music to drown out the voices in his head and got more worried.

"So... Ah! If you don't mind me asking, Senpai, where's Taka?"

"He's over at Tamakoma right now. I decided to let him stay there for a bit longer to play with Ketsu-san."

"Um... Senpai... Ketsu-san is going to be gone for a while. He should be back in a few days, but he isn't even in Mikado City at the moment."

"..."

"Senpai... Did you not know that?"

"..."

"Wah! I'm sorry! I shouldn't have mentioned anything! I'm so sorry! I'll do anything to-"

"Can you please keep it down. We could hear you throughout the whole hall."

The two stopped walking and looked forward to see the door leading to Ninomiya Squad's room open with their captain standing there while holding his head. Behind him Tsuji and Hiyami could be seen looking out while their last member...

"Shiro-chan!"

Oshiro was quickly tackled into a hug. He could feel someone else's face rub his own and blushed a bit at the contact.

The culprit of the attack was none other than Inukai Sumiharu. The instant he had seen the 1-year-younger agent he couldn't help but to run forward like a dog seeing his treat.

Ninomiya shook his head and went back into the room while Minoru followed behind, greeting the other two in the room.

"I-Inu-san, we should get in the room too."

"Shiro-chan~ I told you that you don't have to be so formal with your own boyfriend~"

"R-right. I'm sorry, Haru...san."

Inukai let out a small sigh. He grabbed Oshiro's hand and pulled him into the room.

"Hello, Tsuji-kun, Hiyami-san."

Tsuji and Hiyami gave their return greetings.

Inukai sat down and put Oshiro on his lap while wrapping his arms around the younger one's waist.

"So what were you two doing? Not that we don't like seeing you two."

"Oh... I had seen Senpai on my way here and asked if he wanted to join me."

Ninomiya took a look at his own boyfriend. He got a smile and made sure to make a mental note to talk to Minoru about it.

"I was on my way here to return your...shirt..."

Oshiro looked away with a light blush on his cheeks. He was always bashful when speaking to Inukai or about their relationship. It wasn't because of the fact they were both males or because he was embarrassed about the actual relationship. He was just the type to get flustered about his partner.

Inukai just stared at Oshiro for a few seconds before bursting out into laughter.

This caused Oshiro to blush even harder.

Ninomiya and Minoru decided to ignore them in favor of talking to each other.

Tsuji and Hiyami watched out of sheer bored.

The two did have to wonder how both their captain and Gunner managed to find people to be with that were on the opposite side of the personality scale.

Then they remembered the phrase "opposites attract".

"Why are you laughing!? What, I can't give my b-b-b-... Partner his shirt back!?"

"No, no! Heh heh... It's not that. It's just that... Hahaha! You didn't have to go through the trouble of washing it and personally returning it to me!"

Off to the side Ninomiya could be seen rolling his eyes while Minoru had a smile on his face.

The difference between the two relationships was blatant and obvious. No one cared about that though. Although it was amusing for others to compare the two relationships at times.

Seeing Oshiro start to pout, Inukai nuzzled his face into the other's hair.

"Aw~ Thank you though~ It's so cute when you do things like this~"

None of them thought it was possible, but Oshiro's blush grew yet again.

Before the two could say or do anything else, Hiyami interupted them without looking away from the monitor.

"Sorry to break up your...play time. But Kimura wants to know if you are over here. I told her you are, so maybe you should..."

"Ah! That's right!"

Oshiro jumped up from Inukai's lap so quickly that he had accidentally smashed into the blond's balls.

Inukai quickly bent over and covered his groin area as Oshiro raced out of the room.

"..."

"Haru-chan, you okay?"

"... He crushed my nuts and I don't even get a goodbye kiss..."

Everyone else in the room went about ignoring the blond in pain. They figured he was fine if he was complaining about not getting a kiss.

Inukai just groaned as he slumped to the ground.


The Shooter girl Hitsugi puffed out her cheeks with a look of displeasure in her eyes.

When she had heard that her captain was late to their meeting, she had noisily rushed around getting ready and then headed to his school to pick him up there, but, when she arrived, Oshiro wasn't there. She hadn't listened to their squad's Operator when she said he wasn't at school.

She had been thinking this was her chance to help him instead of the opposite happening and had even decided she would buy some macaroons to share with him, so her disappointment at being wrong was quite something. She had returned to the squad's room along with the homework that Narasaka said Oshiro had forgotten and now she (a minor) was at the tea table in the room gulping down the contents of a bottle. She even had dried squid prepared on a small dish.

The squad's Operator, and "manager", Kimura Kawaguchi looked at Hitsugi and paled. The short Kimura Akagawa (Kawaguchi's older brother) received the greatest shock because he had been the one that had secretly hidden the potato shochu in the storage space below the desk that only his sister could get to.

"U-um, Hitsugi-san...? I-it just seems there was a little bit of a mix-up, so you don't need to get so down about it..." said the married Teikō Reikyū (Hitsugi's older brother) with a wide forced smile on his face while he held Akagawa's arms behind his back.

Akagawa was struggling and yelling, "She! She stole! She stole my Potato Baron!"

In response, Hitsugi poured the liquid into a plain transparent cup and turned her gaze towards them with a blank look in her eyes and her head tilted to the side.

"Hic...I'm not...fheeling down... Dammit, thash's right, thash's right. Why am I...?"

She continued mumbling incoherently while barely moving her lips. She sounded like she was angry.

"...Really...what the hell ish a potato baron...? Thish alcohol has such annoying names... You can't tell if it'sh a potato or a sweet potato or what..."

"Then don't drink it! Don't steal my enjoyment!" yelled Akagawa with tears in his eyes.

That was when the Attacker of Miwa Squad came into the room with an excited look on his face and gave an announcement.

"Hey! It seems that Shiro is headed over here right now! According to Narasaka!"

Hitsugi hurriedly stood up. When she did, the bottle was knocked over and the high class liquid spilled out onto the tea table.

"Hgyaaaaahhhh! My Potato Baron!" shrieked Akagawa and the sister Kawaguchi chopped his neck with the side of her hand to quiet him, but Hitsugi wasn't paying them any heed.

A soft light started sparkling from all over Hitsugi's body, but her joyous expression suddenly stiffened.

She had realized just what a terrible sight she was.

Was she going to be seen in such a disgraceful way in front of her captain? Would she be seen drunk on potato shochu, every breath filled with the stench of alcohol, and dried squid legs stuck in the edge of her mouth?

"I-it would all be over! If that happened, it would all be over!"

She decided to at least do something about how she looked, so she ate all of the squid legs, popped a breath mint in her mouth, washed her face with the water Kawaguchi had near her desk, and stretched her back. But all those things were exactly the types of things a drunk did, so her red face made her look like an old man at the horse races.

'I need to focus on getting myself looking decent...!'

Just when Hitsugi started thinking more optimistically, Yoneya shook his head with a gentle look on his face.

"No, Hitsu-chan. Shiro is already nearby. He seems to be in a rush too."

Hitsugi's shoulders gave a large jump.

She thought while she wobbled on her feet.

'But why!? Why is he in such a rush!?'

But she did have an idea of why that boy would be in a rush.

'Oh, that's right. I have his homework...crap!'

Hitsugi was completely flustered and the sound of approaching footsteps reached her ears. Before she could do anything, she heard the sound of the door opening again.

The sound of Yoneya yelling "He's here!" rang in Hitsugi's ears.

The door itself was like any regular door, but the squad had decided to put a sort of see-through tarp over the entrance way to have a different sort of style to it. A familiar silhouette could clearly be seen through the see-through tarp.

'Wh-wh-wh-wh-wh-wh-wh-wh-wh-wh-wh-what-what-what do I do!?'

She was completely cornered.

Hitsugi's face was completely pale as the see-through tarp was pushed to the side in front of her eyes. Hitsugi was sure that she was so drunk that the stench of alcohol was coming from every breath she took and even from every single one of her pores. Having reconfirmed what state she was in, Hitsugi's head was assaulted by absolute chaos.

'Waaaahhhh!'

And then...

"Tah dah! All-Rounder Hangyaku Kirai is here-bghaaaaaaaaaaahhhhh!?"

Immediately after her male teammate that was also an All-Rounder revealed that he had been toying with her maiden heart, she didn't just overturn the tea table; she grabbed the tea table with one hand and mercilessly knocked Misó away with it. The large man's body was knocked outside of the room and Yoneya, who had been Misó's accomplice for the prank, paled.

"Uh... What's going on here?"

Everyone quickly turned to the doorway and saw the real Hogo Oshiro peaking his head in from the other side of the see-through tarp.

It was at this time Hitsugi felt lightheaded and fall back.

Reikyū had moved a pillow to the spot where her head would land and greeted the B-Rank captain.

"Yosuke-kun, why is Kirai-kun knocked out out there and why are you here?"

"Well... Ya see... Oh! Would you look at the time!? I'm pretty sure I'm suppose to help Shouhei with something!"

"Oh. Alright. I'll make sure to let Tsukimi-san know about this."

Oshiro watched as Yoneya stopped in his tracks, shuddered and quickly ran away.

Turning to his unconscious teammate in the hall, Oshiro walked over and dragged him inside the room.

"Well, now that he's here, we're gonna head out," Reikyū said as he headed for the door with Akagawa over his shoulder. "I'll see ya guys later."

Oshiro gave a wave to the man. He turned to his Operator and saw that he was getting a harsh glare.

He waisted no time in going to his knees with his forhead touching the ground.

"I'm sorry! I'm sorry! I'm so, so, so sorry! I had to give Haru-san his shirt back, but I ended up seeing some people in need of help! And then I ended up staying too long with Ninomiya Squad! I'm so sorry!"

"... Sigh. It's fine. I already figured that's what happened. Just make sure to really hurry up next time so we don't have to clean up the mess Hitsugi makes."

"Right!"

Oshiro went over and put Misó on one of the sofas in the room before doing the same with Hitsugi.

He himself went and sat on the remaining chair. He turned his head over to see Kimura typing away on the keyboard.

"So, since these two are knocked out, what did you need me for?"

"Well, we have a squad meeting to discuss what to do about you offering us to help Arashiyama Squad with the next Enlistment Day and for the next few defense duty missions."

"Besides that. You wouldn't message me personality to hurry up. You would usually ask around since I leave my phone at home at times."

"It's nothing much. I just wanted to make sure you were fine and healthy. With how you are I would expect you to kick the bucket before Nasu-chan or Tsukiko-senpai do. And also..."

Oshiro was a bit more alert now. He only saw the look he was getting when Kimura was really serious about something.

"Misó has told me something concerning the higher-ups and Tamakoma. You would probably tell you when he wakes up, but I'll let you know right now. Commander Kido is going to send the top 3 squads to Tamakoma and retrieve a new Black Trigger from them."

Oshiro went a bit wide eyed at hearing this.

He knew about Fujin, but he didn't know they had another Black Trigger. What's more is that it was coming from his own squad member (somehow) and so it wouldn't be a lie.

He turned his attention from Kimura to the sleeping Misó.

'Where does he get this information...?'


Oshiro Hogo

All-Rounder, Captain

- 17 Years Old

- Born Nov. 21

- Chronos, Bloody Type A

- Height: 5'7"

- Likes: Protecting, Friends, Meat, Macaroons

Hitsugi Teikō

Shooter

- 19 Years Old

- Born March 22

- Falco, Bloody Type B

- Height: 5'5"

- Likes: Takoyaki, Anime, Stars

Misó Epanástasi

All-Rounder

- 18 Years Old

- Born May 18

- Felis, Bloody Type AB

- Height: 6'

- Likes: Pain (delivering & receiving), Light Novels, Earth

Kawaguchi Kimura

Operator

- 17 Years Old

- Born Mar. 20

- Apis, Bloody Type O

- Height: 5'2"

- Likes: Hard work, Asymmetry, The mind