Up on the second floor of the mall, Hanai and his group were on the trail of Hatred, since they had witnessed several angry and bruised people being led away to the infirmary. Hanai swallowed out of nervousness when he noticed how big the guys that were leaving were. If Hate could take them on, then he'd be no match!
"Don't look so nervous, Hanai." Izumi said. "We haven't even seen him yet."
"But you've seen how big those guys were!" Hanai said. "They're practically two feet taller than me, and you guys expect me to take Hate on?!"
"I just got a test from Nishihiro." Sakaeguchi said. "They found Love. So if we find Hate, we can let them know where we are and they'll bring us some backup."
Hanai let out a sigh of relief at the sound of that. He really didn't want to try fighting a part of Mihashi that was that dangerous. But it made him wonder, how on Earth could Mihashi's physical embodiment of hate be so strong? The guy was as gentle as a newborn kitten; he couldn't hurt a fly! Then again, there was no telling what was going on in his head at any given time…
"Hey guys, over there!" Izumi pointed ahead of them. There was a large group of people in the middle of the large walkway, some chanting 'Fight, fight, fight!' while others were trying to get around them. "That looks like where we'll find our guy."
"Text Abe and tell him where we are." Hanai said to Sakaeguchi. "We'll need the help." The second baseman nodded and flipped open his phone, typing quickly. Hopefully they'd get there fast enough that they wouldn't have to pick a fight with Hate themselves.
"Let's see if we can get a look at what we're up against." Mizutani said, and grabbed a chair from a nearby café, standing up to see if he could see over the crowd.
"I wonder if he'll be anything like Anger." Izumi said, looking up to the redhead. "What do you see?"
"It's like twelve on one." Mizutani said, before flinching. "Ooh, make that eleven on one. He took that guy out hard."
"Yeah, we'll need Love." Hanai said. "There's no way you're pushing me in there."
"Now make that nine to one." Mizutani narrated. "This guy's insane!"
"But it makes you wonder how Hate is so strong." Suyama said. "Mihashi doesn't seem like that resentful a guy."
"It could be anything." Sakaeguchi said. "And I mean, Mihashi isn't the most talkative person ever, so he could be hiding a lot of stuff in that head of his."
"And now it's down to five against one!" Mizutani said. "This guy just can't be stopped—!" Mizutani screamed before ducking off the chair he was on, since another chair was thrown over the crowd and directly at him. Izumi managed to catch him before they hit the floor, and asked if he was hurt. "That was a close one!"
"Then learn to shut up, Crap Left." An all-too familiar voice parted the crowd and began to walk towards them. Hanai stood his ground as Hate approached, cracking his knuckles and with a dark glare on his face. Sure he was shorter than him due to Mihashi being that size, but Hanai still felt greatly intimidated. "So, Captain, I take it you're here to drag me off?"
Hanai swallowed out of nervousness now that the situation had taken a turn for the worse. He knew there was no way he could win in a fight with Hate, but he nodded firmly to his question. Hate could probably already tell he was scared, but he couldn't let his resolve fall in front of the others. The hate-filled trait smirked and was about to say something, when he was slammed across the walkway by a flying projectile that came out of nowhere. Of course, it was obvious that that flying projectile was another Mihashi once the dust cleared, and Determined ran up to them with a smile.
"Yeah, Reckless, you got him!" he beamed. Reckless was a Mihashi that was disheveled and covered in bruises, and pinned Hate down without much trouble, a wide grin plastered on his face. Determined turned to Hanai's group and saluted. "Reckless and Determined, reporting as backup, sir!"
"Oh thank god." Hanai felt he was about to faint he had been so scared. "Is there any way we can chill him out so he'll cooperate?"
"How 'bout some ice?" Reckless laughed rather maniacally, making the others quite worried for his mental state at the time.
"Let's leave that for Love." Determined said. "He's really good at strategizing a plan to get the negative traits to work with him."
"Why thank you Determined." Love smiled as Abe's group walked up. Determined squealed before giving Love a hug, and the kind trait spun him around. "You're looking well." Determined nodded before a large shout came from Hate, and he proceeded to throw Reckless off him. Love sighed.
"Can't you just try to behave yourself when we're in public?" he asked, stepping away from Determined and over to where Hate now stood. The two glared each other down and the air grew tense. "Really, you're such a pain. And you know it inconveniences me to punish you."
Hate reached out to grab Love's shirt, before Love's hand lashed out and landed a solid smack to his left cheek, sending him skidding along the floor. Love didn't seem very fazed, and once Hate leapt to his feet, the two controlling traits were fighting hand to hand. The Nishiura team was dumbstruck at how violent those two were; they could only imagine what this meant since they were Mihashi's feelings. Could it mean that his feelings of love and hate were equal? Or that they were in a constant struggle? The majority of the group was confused, but the only one who wasn't, Sakaeguchi, was on the phone at the moment.
"Yeah, that'd be great…" He said. "I mean, if it isn't any trouble… Mm-hm, I think it'll work… Thanks, we're up on the second floor, you can't miss us… Alright, see you soon."
"Who on Earth were you calling at a time like this?" Abe asked.
"I called Maturity for some advice." The second baseman answered. "We agreed that he should send Responsible over with Lust and Evil."
"What?!" the team exclaimed. "How is that going to help us?!"
"Lust and Evil would tire Hate out." Sakaeguchi said. "At least, that's what Maturity told me."
"Hmmm, yeah that would work." Determined said with a nod Reckless clung to his back. "The two of them would jump at the chance to control one of the two commanding traits."
"But what if they just make the situation worse?" Hanai asked.
"They won't." Mischief said. "During something like this, Responsible or Maturity makes a bargain with them to have them cooperate. Once they settle on terms they like, they'll work with them unless someone else makes a better deal."
"Then let's just hope they'll work with us." Abe said. "We need to get these guys under control so we can get Mihashi back to normal."
"Say, do either of you know how Mihashi will get back to normal?" Sakaeguchi asked. Determined nodded.
"It's pretty simple." He said. "Once we're all gathered, we just open up his mind and we enter in a pattern that Responsible dictates."
"And how would you open up his mind?" Tajima asked. "Like, with surgery?"
"No silly, with a spell that only Responsible knows." Mischief laughed. "He's the only one who knows it so none of us can go back in on our own and take over Mihashi's body. Because that would spell trouble for everyone."
"Speaking of trouble." Determined motioned down the walkway with his chin, and the group looked over to find three Mihashi's approaching them: Responsible, Lust and Evil.
