Chapter 2: Sekai Hikigane


Due to various circumstances, Hikigane Sekai had quit his former job and begun doing trivial work for a small organization that supported Border. The organization had only a few members, but those few were well off enough that they received a large sum of money regularly.

This story begins with a request from Konami Kirie, a girl who went to a private girls school near the small organization.

"Sekai, Sekai. Can you get me an ID super fast?"

"It may have been temporary, but I once worked in high and important places. Why are you giving me odd requests like that?"

"Quit complaining. I need an ID."

"Sigh. So you're asking me to make one? I suppose it depends on the kind you want. I can get you an IC card right away, but something like a passport will take some time."

Sekai was quite an outlaw, and he didn't deny that he could do it.

Konami waved her hands quickly.

"I don't need something as elaborate as that. I just need to fake my age, so I'm okay with a student ID."

"Hm? Don't you have your own? What's the point of having another one?

"It's an extremely super important thing," Konami responded to Sekai's simple question. "I need to see a movie rated R18 that's opening this week! Torimaru said that if I don't go see it then HQ is gonna destroy the branch office!"

And that was how Sekai's first thought of hospitalizing Karasuma came to mind.


Konami Kirie was a gullible girl.

It didn't matter if it was about aliens or a nuke on its way to Mikado city, she would believe every word of it and prepare for such things. It was made even worse when someone she knows well tells her such lies as she believes them more than a person she just met.

"...Is there really a movie theater here?"

"Torimaru sent me directions to this place, so there should be one nearby."

"Haaaug..." Sekai groaned.

They moved from the main road into a back lane, then into an even smaller path that branched off, and they continued on and on down narrower and narrower paths until they reached a place that seemed like no more than a small gap. There, they found a building that looked like it was being crushed by all the multi-tenant buildings above it.

'When the hell was this even here...?'

The theater was in an area so thick with buildings that it would be hard to check on that place with a satellite. It seemed to be some sort of secret spot. Of course, since it was a theater for specialty films, it only showed minor films that you couldn't catch somewhere else if you missed it. It held an aura that just told amateurs to go to sleep.

"You did get the ID for me, but I wanted something else to reinforce my appearance. If two people with IDs buy a ticket at once, it'll trick the lady selling the tickets."

And so, the two of them managed to make it past the cautious gaze of the ticket seller who seemed like a bookworm of a librarian and entered the theater building. They walked down a dirty Western-style hallway that felt right out of a horror game and opened the double doors to the actual theater.

The building itself was small, but the theater was even smaller; it was like a slightly bigger school AV room, and the multi-level seats reminded Sekai of the university lecture rooms he'd been in before.

But something else caught his attention.

"...Hey. I thought you said this was the only place in Japan you could see this movie. So, why is there no one here fifteen minutes before it starts?"

"I just said what Torimaru had told me!"

Sekai looked over in a dull way after hearing an idiotic response to his question. He saw Konami looking around a bit nervously as if they were going to get caught by Commander Kido himself.

"Uh... So what exactly are B movies like anyways? I usually go to the regular theater when I feel like watching anything new."

"... Lemme see your phone for a sec."

Doing as she was told with her head cocked to the side, Konami handed the device over.

Sekai spent a few seconds on the phone before handing it back to the girl with the screen showing a search engine with "B movies" under the search bar and a definition next to it.

"Read that while I go out for a sec."

While the idiot went on to read the description, Sekai went to buy some popcorn. When he returned to the seats right in the middle of the theater, Konami looked a bit scornfully at the popcorn.

"Don't you know that caramel popcorn will make you thirsty, so it's a horrible choice for the theater. You don't understand, do you, Sekai?"

"Then quit reaching over and munching on it even more than I am. Here, I got a drink, too. By the way, I don't feel like being insulted by the likes of you."

"Oh, is that supposed to be a counter-measure for the thirst? A drink, especially a large carbonated one like that, will just make you need to use the bathroom during the movie. Sekai, in the end, you're just a dolt."

"I don't want to hear that from a girl who took the drink from me and is now swinging her feet around under the seat. And also, what exactly are they teaching you at that school? You really don't feel like the type to know such trivial things by your own knowledge."

Eventually, the theater's lights lowered. A commonplace electronic buzzer sounded, and the screen lit up. Usually, the first ten minutes would drag on with all the previews from the distribution company, but here, the movie started right away. Apparently, they weren't even able to introduce other films.

It was the golden age of CG, yet the caption for the title looked like it had been cut out with scissors and directly placed on the film. Sekai decided to ask a simple question.

"Hey."

"What? If I don't focus then Tamakoma's office will be destroyed!"

"...We're only thirty seconds in, and there are a whole bunch of youthful vampires who've only had their faces made pale with poorly put on make-up. How am I supposed to react to that?"

"I don't know... This is my first time seeing one of these movies!"

"Can you at least tell me what you read?"

"Normally, talking during a movie is strictly prohibited, but whatever," started Konami as she munched on the popcorn Sekai had bought. "It said that it's to be expected for a B movie to not look so good; it's a film people desperately made with no money or personnel. It isn't supposed to look polished without a lot put into it."

"Then what are we doing in these tiny economy class-like seats in this small theater? We should just go to a huge theater and watch a huge hit from Hollywood."

"It's not like I wouldn't prefer that over this, but what if HQ finds out that I went there instead of this place?"

"Sigh. You can just say you saw the movie and wear a hoodie while watching the better movie in the better theaters."

Sekai let out a sigh and shook his head while he watched the film with little to no interest. At some point, he just brought out his phone and started playing some random game he decided to download.

As the film went on he noticed that Konami was oddly quite.

Sekai casually looked to the side. Konami didn't notice his gaze while her face was covered in the reflected light from the screen. As she focused on the screen, her expression was one that could be seen as a type of earnestness.

Then, she suddenly opened her mouth.

"Ahh. This is so boring!"

Sekai fell out of his seat, scattering caramel popcorn everywhere.

"Heeeeeeeeeeyyyyyyyyyy! You had me fake an ID and come with you to this minor movie! You're the one who stupidly dragged me over here and wasted my time, so can't you at least look like you're enjoying yourself!?"

"This is weird. I didn't know what to expect, but since Torimaru was the one who told me about it I had thought it would be pretty good, regardless of the reason. Around ten minutes in, I lost interest. I guess movies really are something you have to see before you can tell how good they are."

Sekai simply stared at Konami for a few second before standing up to leave and opening his mouth to speak.

"By the way, Kyosuke was lying to you."

With that being said Sekai started to run out of the theater by using the seats as steps.

Behind him he could hear, "HE WHAT!?"

Later that night Karasuma was beaten by both an enraged Konami and a pissed off Sekai.

The rest of Tamakoma either watched the scene like it was a TV show (Jin, Yuma, Rindo, Yotarou) or went about their lives without paying much attention to the scene (Usami, Chika, Osamu, Reiji).


"I don't wanna."

"Too bad."

"And why do I have to go?"

"Because I said so."

Daigo and Jinsei just watched as their squad's Captain and Operator continued their back-and-forth. Neither really bothering to interrupt them.

The whole squad was currently headed to the Tamakoma Branch Office with the intent of seeing if a certain rumor was true. None of them were on bad terms with the branch, especially Daigo since he hadn't met any of them, so they didn't think anyone would mind if they went.

"By the way, Vice-Captain-san, what agents are there? I've heard rumors about them, but never actually met any of them."

"Hm? Let's see~~ There's Jin, which you've probably heard the most about."

"Correct."

"Well, most of the rumors are probably true. Next would be Reiji-san. He's pretty cool. Not sure how I'd describe him. I will say that he's the only one, besides me and Kirie-chan, who Kai-chan thinks of as a rival."

"Wrong on all three accounts," Sekai sighed out as he took a glance back at the two. "I see neither of you as a rival."

"Suuuuuuuure. Anyways, next would be Kirie-chan. She's cute but super gullible. If you told her there was a bomb in her panties, she'd believe it and quickly get rid of them," Jinsei said with a snicker. "Ah. I suppose something that major would only work if you were close to her, though. Like Torimaru-kun! Ah. His real name is Karasuma Kyosuke, by the way."

"Oh, Karasuma-san. I know him."

"Hm. With all the jobs that guy has, I'm not shocked in the slightest."

"Actually he usually tells me where any cats or dogs are when I'm looking for them."

"Oh, you find the ones with the posters?"

"Yes. Well, them and any other ones. I have a habit of picking up strays," Daigo said as he scratched his head. "My little brother usually complains about a bit before playing with them all."

"And they all get along?"

"Most of the time. They're really cute and even share their food at times."

"How many do you have?"

"Hm... About ten dogs and thirteen cats. Oh, and a fox."

"A fox?"

"Yeah. That one we found in the woods one day. He grew attached to my brother and is always well behaved."

"How do your parents deal with all that?" Asuna asked as they started coming up to the building they were headed for.

"They don't. They're dead. They died during the invasion a few years back."

The older three went silent after this. They had all experienced loss during that same invasion, they knew it must have been hard to say that, but the way he calmly said it was what unnerved them a little bit.

Deciding to leave the subject altogether, the group walked up to the door with Sekai roughly knocking on the door.

"Hey~~ Open up~~ We'll break it down if ya don't open up in three seconds~~ Three~ Two~ On-"

"Okay, okay! We don't want a repeat of that!"

The four looked at the person at the door only to see there was actually a few people there. The first was the one who spoke, Konami Kirie. The one next to her was Usami Shiori. The one below them was Rindo Yotarou. Behind the three, they could see a boy with glasses, a white-haired boy, and a small girl.

"You would end up being the one paying for the new door if you broke it down," Konami said as she put a hand on her hip. "Now what do you want? We're busy."

"We came to see if those three existed," Sekai said as he walked passed the girl with a sigh. "Besides, you still owe me for that stupid B-movie incident."

Konami jumped a little at the mention of the incident before sending a glare in a general direction.

"Sorry for the intrusion," Jinsei said, not seeming to care either.

"Who's your kid?" Konami asked as she closed the door.

"Shouldn't you introduce yours first?"

Everyone in the room could swear they saw sparks clash between the two, a fire behind both and a tiger behind Konami while a dragon was behind Sekai.

While the two didn't actually hate each other, they did have a sort of unfounded rivalry with each other. No one actually knew what started said rivalry, but they all knew not to ask out of fear of getting a fist to the head.

The glasses boy, small albino and small girl just looked confused while on the sofa.

"While those two are busy with that... This is our new teammate," Jinsei said, looking at the rest of the people.

"Hello. I am Girikage Daigo. It is nice to make your acquaintance."

The glasses-wearing boy was the first to speak.

"Hello. I'm Mikumo Osamu. Likewise."

"Kuga Yuma."

"Hello. I'm Amatori Chika."

"Yo~ I'm Usami Shiori."

"And for you three, I'm Kirigari Jinsei and this is Kumokawa Asuna," Jinsei said as he pointed to himself before gesturing to the Operator. "The one fighting with Kirie-chan is our captain, Hikigane Sekai."

"Why is Konami yelling this time?" The attention quickly went to the two new people in the room. "Oh. That's why."

"This is Kizaki Reiji-san, and you already know Torimaru-kun."

"Hey, Girikage."

"Hey, Karasuma-san."

"I've to-"

"Everyone has told me I don't need to be formal. What I've told them is 'listen to what you're saying and apply it to yourself.' Got it?"

"Got it."

The other people in the room (besides Konami and Sekai) all gave odd looks at the two. But none of them said anything.

"So what brings you guys here?" Reiji asked, looking at Jinsei.

"We wanted to see if you really did take in some brats." Sekai let a sigh out, ignoring the argument with Konami. "We got our answer. Let's go."

Sekai started for the door when a body slammed into him, making him fall to the ground.

Everyone looked over to see Raijinmaru now laying, rather comfortably, on top of Sekai before seeming to go to sleep.

Sekai decided he would simply lay there as well. He even looked like he was going to sleep.

"So, what are you guys doing?"

"We're each training these three. Mikumo is already a part of Border, but we're getting the other two ready to officially join."

"I see... Hm... Why don't we see how it's going?"

Jinsei went over and put a hand on Daigo's head. He gave a rather odd smile.

Daigo looked up with a dulled expression and said nothing. He didn't seem to care either way and was just waiting around to see what they would do while they were there.

"You pick one of them and they fight against our newbie."

"I don't think-"

"I say he goes against Osa-kun over there," Jinsei said with a foxlike grin. "He seems pretty strong. Or maybe...he could fight the albino with a Black Trigger."

"..."

The air around Jinsei seemed to grow more ominous. So much so that both Reiji and Karasuma got ready for something should the blond make some kind of move.

At the same time, Osamu, Chika, and Daigo were frozen in place by the odd smile and tense atmosphere around the older teen.

BAM!

"Hey, hey, hey... What the hell do you think you're doing?" Sekai cracked his knuckles after hitting Jinsei on the head. "If you're gonna go around scaring brats then get out or I'll really beat the crap outta ya."

"Okay, okay. Jeez. I was just messing around."

Jinsei rubbed his head before heading towards the door.

Sekai let out a sigh and shook his head before going over to one of the chair and flopping down on it.

"Sorry about him scaring you," Asuna said with a slight bow. "He gets like that around a Black Trigger."

"If you don't mind me asking... Does he not like them?" Osamu asked, wiping off the sweat from his forehead.

"Yes and no. I don't know the full story, so I can't tell you. Only Sekai-kun and Jinsei-kun know."

"Hm. It's none of your business... Is what I want to say, but I suppose I owe an explanation for what just happened." Sekai let out a sigh as he scratched his head. "Damn idiot..."


"Urg! It's so damn boring~! I don't know if it's just me but everything around here feels so damn hot!"

"...You need to watch how you speak, Tanaka-san."

"Yeah, but it's still too fucking hot. Isn't it suppose to be January?"

Hikigane Sekai listened wearily to the words of the teacher who looked like the only effort towards professionalism he took was to take out his piercings.

"You're the one that said you wanted to go for a drink after we finished with our work."

"Yeah, and we've been wandering from place to place cause you keep whining about every bar being 'too irritating', Hikigane-kun."

"Sigh. ...Have you thought at all about the fact that I want to keep my image clean for jobs? Or are you trying to destroy my reputation, you damn idiot."

"Keh. How can you say that after you run into a school girl with wavy blonde hair walking around a corner and then lead a blind nun with ringlet curls by holding hands only to trip and dive straight into her tits? And what was with that girl yesterday? Seriously, you're the one wrecking your own image here."

"Well, that girl was wandering around near the train station, so I called out to her thinking she might be lost."

Tanaka wasn't listening to what Sekai was muttering. Basically, what he was saying would only infuriate a bachelor. Especially since Sekai didn't care for those kinds of relationships.

"I need a drink because it's so fucking hot, but finding a bar is just making me even hotter."

"Fine, let's just go to the next place we find. But seriously, how can you be hot in this weather? Sigh..."

"Well, it at least has to be somewhere we can sit down."

The two set off with that vague objective, but the bar they ended up entering as if they were sleepwalking had a surprisingly delicious dark colored local beer. They chugged down the beer with some fried fish and, before they knew it, some drunk was talking to them.

"Yeah, and they were saying not to cut down the trees because it was bad for the earth. But those people won't get paid and can't support their families if they don't cut 'em down. Like hell those people are gonna listen to some ecological moral speech. People do things because of greed! It's greed! So to protect the environment, you have to make a way that those people can support their families without cutting down the trees! Those dumbasses just don't understand!"

"...Um, who are you?"

"Hm? Akasora. Akasora Chishi. Ah, fried foods are all about the flavor. Yeah, it's more of a kid's kinda flavor, but damn it's good!"

Akasora introduced himself and then stuck his fork in someone else's fried fish. He looked like the kind of man who didn't care much for appearances and instead went for comfort with his track suit that had its sleeves rolled up.

"And we're Japanese! We're the people who are always yelling to cut down the trees so we can build the wooden houses we love so much! Don't act like you're better than me when you don't even change the setting of your air conditioner, much less turn it off altogether! If you don't like it, find a way to protect everyone while raising your precious trees!"

"U-um, Hikigane-kun? What's with this drunk?"

"...By the way, what jobs do you two have?"

"I work for a school this guy helps at and he works for some small organization supporting Border."

"Ah, what? You work with kids too!? Hey, wait for a second, I'm a teacher at a middle school. Anyway, the night is a bit hot right now, so will you listen to me?"

Akasora kept going on like that and a sigh came from a table farther back. Sekai looked back wondering if they were being too much of a disturbance. He saw a blonde-haired blue-eyed lady wearing a tight suit. He didn't know if it was intentional, but the way she was drinking alone in the dim lighting and her weary expression made her seem to have a pink glow.

Suddenly, Tanaka turned his attention away from Akasora and his back straightened.

'Oh, no. I know what that reaction means.'

Sekai let out a sigh while Akasora continued on with his nonsensical rambling.

Tanaka spoke before Sekai could do anything.

"I'm gonna talk to her! I'm totally gonna do it!"

"Sigh... Don't. You'll be shot down in 2 seconds."

Sekai was really thinking of leaving at this point, but then Akasora suddenly spoke up.

"No, he should be fine with her."

"?"

Sekai looked at Akasora's face in wonder and Akasora responded with no interest on his face.

"After all, she looks like a whore."

Sekai and Tanaka simultaneously did a spit-take. Sekai wasn't even sure what to think at this point. It seemed he was the only one who wasn't drunk.

"Well... Sigh. I suppose you could say he'd be fine, but that also makes it not fine at all. The law is pretty clear here."

That was when Tanaka put on a gentlemanly expression, filled his chest with determination, and stood up.

"I win."

"Sigh. You win what?"

"Heh heh. Hikigane-kun, as a shy man, you can't do anything here! But for an outgoing bachelor who doesn't even have a girlfriend, it's a different story! I have a complete victory here! Ha ha ha. Damn, this feels good! I'm gonna get back at you for getting all the female teachers' attention!"

After shouting that, the teacher dashed for the table in the back. The young beauty looked at the approaching Asian with suspicious eyes and he got right down to the topic at hand without so much as a greeting.

"How much!?"

Immediately, the blonde-haired blue-eyed woman with a nice body formed a fist while still sitting in her chair and swung it directly forwards. With a thick noise, her fist sunk into Tanaka's crotch. He doubled over on the ground. Sekai and Akasora covered their faces and Tanaka crawled back to them because he couldn't get up and walk.

Tanaka then yelled at Akasora.

"Sh-she was just an OL, you drunk!"

"Oh? Odd, I was sure she was a whore," said Akasora carelessly and the young beauty glared at him. Apparently, she heard him.

Sekai let out a sigh.

It seemed to affect Akasora as he did the same right after.

Deciding that being with the two drunks any longer would probably ruin the brain cells he had to save for dealing with Jinsei, Sekai got up and headed for the exit.

"Ah! Hey! You remind me of Kiyoshi~! Why not stop by my school and see if it's up your all, boy!"

Sekai turned around with furrowed brows. He didn't know if this was more drunk-talk or the man was being serious, but he would have really liked to at least see the school.

What almost everyone didn't know about him was that he had a sort of 'goal' to help others out. He figured teaching would be the best solution to that. That was why he was a helper at a school.

"... Sigh. Fine."


Demoted Sigher

An unnaturally lazy turd, he hates moving around much and is thrown into odd situations because of his second-in-command. He sees most things as irritations and ends up sighing so much that it ends up being contagious. He gets along well with quite a few agents, is immune to Jinsei's contagious smile and being demoted is the biggest irritation to him. But be careful when he's pissed.


Just wanted to point out that TheAnimeTrain made the first quarter of this chapter and said I could use it. He's also the maker of Akasora.