Just wanted to say this chapter is crap and more introduction-filler than anything. Next chapter we will get to better things.
Chapter 4: Hitsugi Teikō
A number of the Border members were gathered in the main lobby of Border. One of them was Kanzaki Sukuu, a woman with her long black hair tied in a ponytail.
She was trembling alone in the lobby with a leaflet in her hands that said, "The scabbard is a lovely and stylish outfit for your sword. Wouldn't you like to dress up your beloved sword even more beautifully?"
The pretty four-colored leaflet had a number of sample photos in small boxes and animals made from black cloth and finely cut vermillion maple and gold leaf much like would be seen on the outside of a multi-tiered bento box.
Kanzaki heard a gulping noise.
She did not realize that it was the sound of herself swallowing.
'...M-mhhh...! I-it's true I was thinking that the plain black scabbard wasn't enough. If I just got that Vermillion Maple or the Yellow Crane...N-no, no! The meaning behind my Kōgetsu and why I fight is represented in the way I dress myself and my weapons! If I just change the meaning of the scabbard so simply...b-but...the meaning of this Evening Cherry Tree might not be a problem...'
The always cool and collected Yamato Nadeshiko that was Kanzaki Sukuu continued to groan in indecision. As if to kick her while she was down, a different leaflet slipped from her hand and landed on one of the tables.
This one said, "Armor is the ultimate partner that protects your back. You should feel the breath of this wonderful partner that will stay with you no matter what predicament you are in."
"M-mhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!"
Kanzaki glared at the pictures on the advertisement that looked like the dolls from the Boys' May Festival.
'I suppose an entire set of armor is a bit much...but with just an arm or a leg or even a breastplate I could wear it under my uniform and...no, no!'
Kanzaki continued like this until she suddenly returned to her senses.
She looked up, cleared her throat, and slowly put the leaflets aside. It was no time to have her heart stolen by those leaflets that had been left there almost as a trap.
Kanzaki had left the table she was at to get something to eat and came back with large portions of food that would make any chubby person's mouth water.
The Shooter Teikō Hitsugi who was always sneaking food had commented "Wah! Are you that much of a glutton?", so Kanzaki had been feeling a little down, but now she could admit that Hitsugi was exactly right.
Kanzaki didn't seem to care much as she seemed to be mixing different foods from putting rice in a hamburger to adding salsa to a hotdog. Even the chips didn't seem safe as they were dumped into a bowl of soup that looked like a mix of ramen broth with takoyaki.
She slowly put down the small bag of chips and brought her hands together in front of her face in a small clap making sure not to make any noise.
"Hee hee. Hee hee hee. My lovely, lovely creations~"
Kanzaki continued her excited silent clapping half feeling that someone should point out that she had a weird sense of taste, but it didn't really matter. She simply preferred these kinds of things. Someone might complain that she wasn't doing it right, but it wasn't going to stop her.
She took some chopsticks from the end of the table and split them up. She was smiling widely and couldn't keep her butt from swaying rhythmically while wrapped in her indigo-dyed yukata.
Why she was in such a thing at Border was a simple answer: It was something she loved to wear both inside and outside her home.
"Now then. Time to eat."
"Hey, who's eating something that smells delicious this late at night!?"
"It smells so good! It's making me so hungry I can't sleep!"
"Why are you trying to sleep over here to begin with!?"
Kanzaki started panicking once she heard a couple of female voices suddenly come from a short distance. She heard hurried footsteps getting closer and closer.
She only had enough for her, so there was no way she could comply with the request that was sure to come now that those girls had smelled it.
That left only one path.
'At this rate, they'll start fighting over it...!?'
Kanzaki built up her resolve, grabbed the bowl that still had steam rising from it, put her lips to the edge, and stared quickly moving the chopsticks. Her eyes filled with tears, but it was hardly the time to worry about that. That was the only way to stop a pointless fight from occurring. It wasn't that she was afraid of having someone else take the large amount of food from her.
Kanzaki threw the empty bowl to the side before heading to the next challenge of food. In the end she had been able to finish all the food that was there.
It all only took about 45 seconds.
Just as she straightened up after putting the empty trays to a different area, the starving girls noisily entered the area.
As expected, the first one in was the Shooter with a pseudo-crush on her captain, Teikō Hitsugi. She was sniffing around with her nose.
"K-Kanzaki-san! Did you see some mysterious person with food that smelled amazingly good wandering around here!?"
"N-no. I didn't see a mysterious old man delivering food or anything."
"...Odd. I could have sworn the smell was coming from around here..."
Hitsugi wandered around the area sniffing like a war dog that had lost its prey. Kanzaki slowly turned her gaze away from Hitsugi and the other girls behind her and looked at the napkin holder at the end of the table. She noticed a grain of rice on her mouth and hurriedly pushed it into her mouth with a finger.
As all this was going on, the girl with cat's eyes, Kimura, entered the area having noticed all the noise. She began speaking to Hitsugi.
"Hey. ...What is going on here?"
"This is the time of art! And so I thought I'd try my own hand at art."
Kanzaki looked over at them questioningly and saw a choco cornet in Hitsugi's hand. The bread had three silver-colored forks stuck into either side. The look in Kimura's eyes eloquently expressed her anger over the wasted food and that she was going to probably hit Hitsugi.
Hitsugi spoke while holding the dessert bread with its wing-like forks.
"This is an expression of the anger swirling around inside me."
"I see..."
"The anger in my heart wants to leap from my chest, but energy is needed for it to do so. The exchange of energy means that anger directed towards others comes back to you. Basically, what I'm trying to say is that getting too angry makes you even hungrier!"
"..."
"Okay, now that Master Artist Hitsugi's audio commentary is over, I'll be hitting you 100 times," said Kimura with a heavy sigh.
That was when Kagami Rin, a B-Rank Operator with light skin and black hair that was tied up in two loops, entered the area.
Kagami was the Operator of Arafune Squad and someone who loved art, when she entered the area, she completely ignored the issue of Kanzaki and the large amount of food and looked over at the dessert bread with forks that Hitsugi was holding in both hands as she was being hit.
"Art...!?"
"D-don't make strange jokes that are so difficult to understand! Look, now that you've said that, she is yelling out as if she has had her eyes opened to some mysterious truth!"
The real reason Hitsugi was yelling and opening her eyes wide was because Kimura had added 80% more force to her hits as she snapped at Kagami, but Kimura didn't seem to realize that.
Meanwhile, Kagami must have had great respect for the mysterious dessert bread with forks that frankly expressed human emotion because she started putting on thin gloves as if she were about to handle an antique.
"Hey! Agents number one and number two!"
"Don't refer to us like we're levers on the toilet!"
"Don't refer to us like we're levers on the toilet!"
"...C-can I touch that dessert bread? No! I understand! I'm well aware I'm making an inelegant request! But three dimensional objects always make me want to look at them from every angle!"
It seemed the sculptor was suffering, but Kimura said she could have it as long as she would actually eat it. However, as soon as Kagami took it she started speaking as if she was moaning.
"The direction of the forks...this wing shape... I see. This says that the anger over an empty stomach empties the stomach further...!"
All of the girls left the area muttering that they just didn't understand artists. Kanzaki left along with them and sighed as she walked along the hallway in her yukata. Then she tilted her head to the side in puzzlement.
"Huh? Why did we end up on the topic of art?"
"Why did you have to hit me like that, Kawa-chan?"
It was the next morning after the "food/art" fiasco and Hitsugi was pouting while sitting on one of the sofas while the other was taken up by Misó laying on it. Oshiro took up refuge on the chair.
"Because you aren't too bright. Kagami-san didn't help much either. I even got a message from Hanzaki-kun asking why Kagami-san had that 'art' you made a few minutes ago."
"It is 'art'! She's the only one who seeing that!"
"No. It was a waste of food. While I can give credit to the beauty of its asymmetry, it was still a waste of food. It did help me to understand how you and Kagami-san work though. I thank you for that."
"See! So there was no reason to hit me!"
"Yes. There was."
Misó watched this go down with a bored looked. He glanced up to see why Oshiro hadn't tried to stop them yet and saw that he was looking down at the papers on the table.
Oshiro had been working on those papers for quite some time now without saying anything. No one had bothered to talk to him since they knew he was helping out Arashiyama Squad by doing this.
"I'm gonna get going now." Hitsugi stood up and dusted herself off. "I'm gonna go meet up with Kako-san. She said she's gonna help me out with my shooting. You don't mind do you, Captain?"
"Hm? Ah. No. Tell her I said hi," Oshiro said without looking up from the papers.
"Right, right. I'll see you guys later."
With a wave, Hitsugi left the room and entered the hallway.
She started to make her way over to the area she and Kako had decided would be the meet up spot.
This wasn't the first time the two would be training together. Sometimes they would ask Nasu from Nasu Squad or Eri from Tsukiko Squad if they wanted to join in. They had done so this time and got good answers from both girls.
Each had their own styles of shooting, but all for had something similar to another. Nasu's shots were more angular and strategic-looking, Eri's weren't so different. So the two would train with each other. Kako's style was a free-formed style that didn't really take shape until fired, while Hitsugi's was a sort of chaotic one that didn't seem to stay in one place.
They had their male counterparts in the forms of Ninomiya Masataka, Izumi Kouhei and Kotowari Takeshi, but those three were never invited to this "All Girls Shooting Practice".
"So if I 'fuse' Meteora quicker with Viper than I could probably manger to create Hornet faster... But maybe I could 'overlay' Viper and Asteroid to trick my opponents..."
"Still going on with that way of talking?"
Hitsugi turned around quickly to see Kako Nozomi walking up to her with her arms crossed.
"Oh, Kako-san. Huh? I'm already here? I thought it was further than that..."
"Well, with the way you mutter to yourself, it's not like distance matters to you. You hardly pay much attention to the things around you when you get like that."
"That's not true! I'm just trying to figure out how to make the composite bullets quicker!"
"Don't you think you should be more focused on keeping them stable than speeding up their creation process? You keep your distance shorter if they go off earlier than they should."
Hitsugi crossed her arms, a pout could be seen on her face, but that's didn't seem to matter to the grinning Kako.
Hitsugi quickly put her hand in her pocket and took out a small notepad. She quickly flipped through a few pages before putting the small notepad to Kako's face. All the older woman saw were scribbles that looked like a child had been told to draw a famous painting and went off to do their own thing.
"I do focus on how! I take notes and everything! I even have them written down so I could help others out!"
"Yeah. That's nice of you, but... Only you can understand those scribbles."
"Their not scribbles! It's shorthand! I'm making things easier to understand!"
"I'm pretty sure someone would have an easier time figuring out a grade schooler's kanji than they would trying to read your...'shorthand'. And besides, that weird 'rule' you put in where you can only use one 'shorthand' before you have to write a new one is a bit odd. Not to mention you end up switching the way you write them."
Before the two could continue any longer, Eri and Nasu walked up to them. All four have their greetings.
The four girls started to make their way over to Nasu Squad's room, since that's where they all agreed they would train this time, and started talking about different things. Eri and Nasu talked about how to improve the former's concentration for her Viper while Kako and Hitsugi talked about how to make "the perfect meal" using only fried rice and takoyaki.
As they walked through the hall they saw the strange sight of Midorikawa rushing by using Grasshopper while Toby teleported away down the hall. They all raised their eyebrows, but continued on.
They could hear fast-paced footsteps getting closer and closer to them. They all looked down the hall to see Oshiro rushing at them with incredible speed. All four of them moved to the side just as Oshiro got near.
"..."
They all watched as Oshiro fell to the ground after getting a hit to the side of the head. They looked in the direction the shot had come from and saw some kind of slingshot trap there, aimed at them. More specifically it was aimed at Hitsugi.
Hitsugi bent down to check on her captain and saw that he had red all over the side of his face. She started to freak out, but was calmed down when he started to get up.
"Red paint... Those two really wanted it to look like a crime."
"Captain!"
"H-huh!? Oh! You're are all fine? That's great."
Oshiro let out a small breath as he stood up.
"What was that about?" Kako asked, looking at the partly red captain.
"Oh. I saw those two setting something up when I went to get a snack and so I followed them for a bit. When I saw them set up that slingshot I rushed over to warn you. Looks like I ended up taking the hit though. Haha."
"Gah! I'm so sorry, Captain! I should have been more alert! That was my bad!"
"It's fine. It's just a little paint. Besides, I needed that wake-up hit. Now I can finish the paperwork without problems. Although... I should probably wash off this paint first..."
"Well, well," said Kako. "Looks like you've 'saved' Teikō-chan again."
For her part, Hitsugi looked down and away from Oshiro.
"Hitsugi-chan?"
"Ah! It's nothing! I was just thinking about how great a hero you are!"
Oshiro's smile faltered a bit, but he didn't say anything.
"Welp! We're gonna go do some shooting practice now! If you need me, I'll be in Nasu Squad's room!"
"Right. Have fun."
It was midnight now, the time when the date changes.
The apartment complex she and her brother lived in was located near the Forbidden Zone of Mikado City. The people who were living here weren't penniless people, but people who did not want to involve ordinary citizens because of something unexpected. If the surrounding people were all experts, even if there was a battle, they could reduce the damage to the minimum.
Not only that but the whole building had more of a feel and look of a dormitory than an apartment building, so some students wondered what school had owned the building at times.
"I see. So they got beat by Misaki-chan."
The one who was saying this in the middle of an apartment room was Hitsugi. She was in a simple tank-top and pajama bottoms. This didn't seem right on her with her usual pseudo-flashy appearance.
She was not talking to someone, but a phone.
It was an old-fashioned rotary dial phone. The red ornament had a gold lacing on it, a rather nice looking antique. On a side note, she was talking to her teammate, Misó.
"So, if you want to know the report, you can go ask the squad. As for me, I'm in more danger when I search for this information, you know? You don't know about that."
"I...I'm not really fit to talk to them right now. It feels arrogant if I'm to act familiar enough to talk to them."
Hitsugi used her thumb to play with the phone line.
After that, she said, "Don't you think it's best to stop with these 'information searches' by now? You've made enough enemies to the point where I wouldn't be shocked if the army came after your ass."
Hitsugi's bare feet knocked on the floor as she spoke.
"Hmh, regarding that, I can't say it because of a lot of reassooonnnss-"
"Wha...what?"
Misó purposely dragged his voice, making Hitsugi even more wary.
Her prediction was correct.
"...Nee...-chin, you gave Shiro-kyun quite a lot of problems this time. That paint wasn't something he could just wash off, apparently."
"Eh!?"
However, the impact far exceeded Hitsugi's limits.
"What should you do? Nee-chin, this isn't something that can be solved by just wearing a maid costume and serving him for an entire day. Ah, if so, how about that? I'll lend my female angel costume with an angelic halo and white wings to you! This is truly a maid costume; use that to decide the winner, Nee-chin! WOO...OOOHOHO! What angel? If this cute fallen angel appears, I don't know how Shiro-kyun will react!"
"FOR...FOR HOW LONG ARE YOU GOING TO TALK ABOUT IT!?... BESIDES, WHY DO YOU HAVE SUCH A THING!?"
"Ah, that's not it. Actually, I bought that for Kawa-tan. That girl actually said 'maids can't cosplay', like if she was a maid, and even punched me in the cheekbone...no, for a girl's actions, isn't that like a real military-trained punch?"
"You can't really blame her for that..."
Being weak all over, Hitsugi suddenly realized something.
This wasn't the main point.
"Wait a second. Did you set this all up? You somehow bribed Midorikawa and Toby, didn't you? What has that got to do with me!?"
"Eh? Then Nee-chin, don't you have any thanks for Shiro-kyun!?"
"Uuuu!?"
"Ah-ah- Hogo managed to save you from the dangerous paint that doesn't seem to be coming off any time soon, and not only did you not thank him, you even declared that you have nothing to do with it. You've really fallen, Teikō Hitsugi. Shiro-kyun will be disappointed if he hears this. But that guy's really gentle, so maybe he won't be angry."
"Where...where have I...your words make sense, but what am I supposed to do!? Don't I owe him even more favors now!?"
"That's why you should honestly act as a fallen angel! If you're one of the no-more-than-twenty sexy beauties, then realize it, Nee-chin!...Eh? Nee-chin, are you listening? Wait, I'm not done-!"
The speaker got slammed hard.
Hitsugi stared blankly at the phone for a while, her face all green.
"...Fall...fallen angel maid costume...?"
Hitsugi stared at her trembling hands, and then stared at the cuboid fish tank that had a tropical fish and was beside the phone. The Shooter looked completely puzzled.
She brought her face near the fish tank, and in response, the fish moved near with a "What now, are you giving me food to eat?" look. She used both hands to grab a small painted plate that was besides the fish tank, and placed it on her head.
"A...a halo, does it look like this? But...but a fallen angel...how does it move or talk...it's like the Devil. In this situation, it should be female. If the other person's a male, maybe I have to act like some little Devil-"
If these words were heard by the oldest sibling with red hair from a family of soldiers, she would definitely be attacked on the spot. But since Hitsugi was in the midst of this mess, she didn't notice this at all.
This one Border agent instantly turned silent before tilting her head.
"Just...just like this - Shiro."
The doorbell suddenly rang.
"...?"
A surprised Hitsugi frantically pulled the painted plate from above her head. The little tropical fish saw her like this and immediately escaped into the deepest part of the tank at high speed. Hitsugi quickly looked around, and after confirming that no one was around, she placed a hand on her chest and heaved a sigh of relief. After that, she looked at the door.
Besides the various rooms in the apartment building, there was an electric bell at the entrance for visitors to use. What did this ring mean? Maybe there was a delivery service here.
Hitsugi grabbed her Trigger and passed through the long corridor before arriving at the entrance.
Though there was security here, she was often asleep. Hitsugi walked toward the door, and inside that security room, the woman was still sleeping. Looking at how the television was still on, it seemed that she had watched till she fell asleep. The television was meant to prevent people from sleeping, but without a favorite show, it would have the opposite effect.
Hitsugi couldn't do anything else but open the door.
The one standing at the entrance was Teikō Indō, her sister-in-law.
"We...we're back."
"Ah, welcome back, Onee-chan."
Hitsugi looked surprised as she welcomed her neighbor and family in the dormitory-like apartment building.
The people living here normally didn't need to press the doorbell, but Indō was holding many things with both hands, so she couldn't use her key to open the door. Besides, she was holding two travelling bags, and there was even a hiking backpack, and there were sports bags that were strapped around like a kimono. This huge amount of heavy equipment made her look like she was going hiking.
"Onee-chan, wasn't your luggage sent here beforehand?"
"Eh hehe. I got some new luggage halfway though."
"?"
In front of a surprised Hitsugi, Indō smiled as she stepped aside as if she was letting people pass.
"Eh?" Hitsugi's eyebrows twitched.
The petite girl grabbed Indō's clothes as she stood, looking like she was hiding behind Indō.
She was just a little girl who looked no older than 5.
"There'll be a lot more people coming over. This place will be a lot noisier."
In front of Hitsugi, who hadn't understood what was going on, a group of people who appeared to be from a local orphanage stood, waiting to be let in.
Hitsugi Teikō
Main Trigger
Asteroid
Meteora
Chameleon
Shield
Sub Trigger
Viper
Hound
Bagworm
Shield