Team

"Eh~? Eh~? What's this? What's this~~? Is Kanzaki-san going to be playing around in Mino's place~?"

"Continue to poke me like that and I will show you just how fast I can cut your fingers off..."

"Are you sure it's...safe to have her around?"

"Does it really matter at this point? Besides, let this be a lesson to you all."

"For what!?"

On one side of the room was a group of Border agents wearing blue uniforms. Amatori Chika, Hyuse, and Kuga Yūma stood near their captain, Mikumo Osamu. Their Operator, Shiori Usami, sat near them as she watched things go on.

On another side of the room was a group wearing all completely different uniforms. The designated captain, Tsukiko Yuki, simply let out a sigh as he watched Kanzaki Suuku inch towards her Trigger while Inukai Sumiharu happily poked at her cheek with a smile. Murakami Kou and Kimura Kawaguchi simply watched on as if this did not concern them.

In the middle of the room was the last group who wore the same gray uniforms. While Misaki Suzumebachi tried to mess around with Hyuse and hug Amatori, Toby Awdry was talking animatedly with Kuga with Kotowari Takeshi doing the same, with less enthusiasm, with Mikumo. Their Operator, Takaoto Mei, only nodded her head towards Kanzaki.

Then there were the ones sprawled around. They were the other members of the Tamakoma Branch.

These three groups were all together so that they could have a match with each other. It had been set so that only Kotowari Squad and Tamakoma's Mikumo Squad would battle it out, but that got changed once the new A-Rank in the room decided to join in with his own team.

They were just waiting on one person at this point.

This waiting was killing some of them.

"Kimura-dono, please tell me why I am here again? You did not mention that this guy would be here."

"That's because I had gotten a message from our captain for the day that our other member wouldn't be able to show up here."

"He is having all...rough day."

"I do not know if that was suppose to be a pun or not... I will take it as such and cut you up now."

"Ah! Kanzaki-san, can you wait until you're in the battle to cut him up!? Or at least leave the building! We have to clean up any of the blood here!"

Kanzaki did not look over at the Tamakoma Operator as she grabbed her Trigger.

"Do not worry, Shiori-dono, I will make sure to make a clean cut that will keep the blood from leaving his body."

"Isn't that what pros usually say!? Can you do it!? Can you really do it!? In that case, I really want to see it now! Please, go ahead and do it!"

"Usami-senpai, please don't encourage her."

"Sorry~ I got a bit too excited for a moment. Yes. You can show me later, right, Kanzaki-san?"

"Of course. I will even use Inukai here as a target once more. You are fine with that, right?"

"What!? No, no, no! No way are you taking my generosity as an opportunity to chop me up into sashimi! At least wait until I've properly gotten a child with Shiro-chan!"

"Kanzaki-san, I will hold him down here. Please get your blade ready."

"Kiyo~~~"

Without thinking too much about what he was doing, Inukai tried to hide from the two women by hiding behind the strangely smiling Yuki.

Smile never leaving his face, Yuki allowed this to happen.

Only after a few seconds had passed did Inukai see his mistake.

"Alright now. Kanzaki, please don't miss or hit me. I'm relaying on you you cut him clean in half so that Shiro doesn't have to put up with is kind of behavior anymore."

"I will make sure not to cut you. Just make sure to hold him nice and tight."

While the idiots with nothing else to do continued their comedy routine, the others in the room went about doing as they pleased.

From his spot near the wall, as well as a good distance from Suzume, Hyuse looked over at Mikumo with an irritated expression. Whether that expression was because of the wait, the noise, or the fact Suzume continued grinning as she inched closer to him was a mystery.

"What exactly are we waiting for? We should just get this over with already."

Seeing his new teammate directing the question more to him than others, Mikumo turned to answer.

"Apparently we're waiting for one more person to show up."

"Yeah. We're waiting for Hoshi. It's odd for her of all people to keep others waiting like this, but I have no problems with it. The others don't seem to mind either."

Toby disregarded the small glare directed towards him from the new Attacker as he continued facing Kuga.

While it was true that no one but Hyuse seemed to mind the wait, it was also true that they had been waiting for a while now. It had already been ten or so minutes after the time they scheduled.

It was just a good thing that they did not have anything particular to do today.

Something that Taiyōko Hoshi could not understand was how she was late.

She ran in the direction of the Tamakoma Branch with a bag in hand.

It was around ten or so minutes after the time she was suppose to be there.

As she ran, she thought about the things she had done during the day to make her so late. The list wasn't too long, but she still did not understand how she was this late.

1) Wake up and go to Border HQ.

2) Help R&D for an hour or so

3) Talk to Waka-ku-

Is that really where I went wrong!? Had the time escaped me that much!? I thought we were only speaking for a few minutes! I didn't even notice that we were in a completely different area and that I was already five minutes late!?

All Hoshi could do at this point was cry internally as she ran towards the Tamakoma branch office.

Now Hoshi was a very fit girl. She could easily run a marathon in one of the top spot and end it without looking too tired or sweating too much. That was not an issue.

The real issue that she across was the fact that everything around her seemed to want to stop her from making it to Tamakoma.

If it wasn't a light never changing then it was an accident.

If it wasn't an accident then it was a crowd of people.

If it wasn't a crowd of people then it was around ten other things that just magically appeared.

Overall this was not a good thing for her.

I can at least apologize to them with this?

Feeling the bag at her side, Hoshi let out a sigh of relief. The fact the bag was still there was all the reassurance she needed.

Although the did not mean she wasn't still ten or so minutes late.

"If you're getting that angsty about all of this then let's go. I'm always ready to a fight. Just make sure that you won't end up regretting it once we're done."

"There's no reason for me to show you all what I can do and give away my power."

"Hey, I'm giving the same the same thing here. I never have a reason to hold back, so you'll be well prepared for when we start."

It wasn't too hard to see the sparks clashing as the two Attackers glared at each other. While one narrowed his eyes, the other bared his fangs. It resembled two predators ready to attack at any moment.

Even so, most of the people there didn't seem too worried about it in the slightest.

The present members of Kotowari Squad looked at it like an everyday occurrence while the members if the quickly made Tsukiko Squad saw it more as little kids having a small spat. The only ones that seemed a bit bothered by this were the Captain-Shooter and Sniper of Tamakoma-2.

Mikumo knew that his new teammate would not be listening to him any time soon and so worried about what the outcome of this argument would be.

"Don't worry, Shishou, our pet won't hurt him...much. It all depends on how that guy response. For now, though, it looks like Tobio is just playing around a bit. Nothing too serious."

"He's right. Toby is energetic, but honestly not stupid. He knows when to pick fights and whatnot. If anything, he's honestly as irritated about waiting as Hyu-kyun over there."

From his spot over to the side, moving around Inukai and Kanzaki, Yuki smiled at his former team. The fact they were acting like this was enough for him to be happy.

Others seemed to notice his behavior since Murakami and Mei walked up to him.

Murakami said nothing, instead only patting his friend's shoulder and nodding his head.

Mei gave her own smile, knowing that Yuki felt the same way she did.

She opened her mouth to start speaking but was quickly cut off when a loud sound, a voice, and a scream were heard.

The three turned back to the conflict between Hyuse and Toby to see the former was not where he had been standing and the latter looked a bit terrified at this point. The reasons for that were unknown.

Once they turned to where Hyuse was they understood why the American was pale and his teammates were guiding Tamakoma-2 away from him.

"A-ah...?"

There, on the floor, was Hoshi. Laying on top of her was Hyuse, who, presumably, was thrown in that direction by Toby.

Mei looked over to see Murakami's face blank while Yuki had a very forced smile on his face.

Letting out a sigh, she grabbed both by the back of their clothes to hold them in place while she spoke to the ones on the ground.

"I suggest you get up right now. Hoshi, please help me with these two for a moment."

Quickly doing as he was told, Hyuse stood up.

With a keen eye, Mei was able to see some pink dusting his cheeks.

Hoshi quickly got up and dusted herself off. She gave a smile to the two being held by Mei, as if showing she was fine.

She turned to the others and gave a deep bow.

"I apologize for being so late. It was not my intention to be late. No excuse will be enough for it. I do hope these will help you all, though."

Taking the bag she had, Hoshi walked over to the table and laid multiple things on it.

"I wasn't too sure what to really get, so I got all kinds of things. There's chocolate-"

"Mine!"

"-dorayaki-"

"I've got those!"

"-as well as some taiyaki. And of course I have other things as well..."

She looked up to see most of them looking at what she had brought, and apparently forgiving her. What she also saw was Hyuse twitch a bit once she mentioned taiyaki.

Getting an idea, she picked up one of the taiyaki and walked over to him.

With a dazzling smile on her face she held it out towards Hyuse.

"Excuse me. Would you like some? As an apology for running into you just now."

Yuki, who had been off to the side shaking Toby like a rag doll, overheard this and gave a look towards Murakami.

Already knowing what to do, Murakami inched closer to Hoshi without seeming conspicuous.

"..."

Hyuse said nothing.

He gave a nod and took the taiyaki, pink still dusting his cheeks.

"Right, right, right! Now that Hoshi-chan is here, we can get started!" Inukai smiled as he spoke. "Since going by rank won't be too easy with our team being a mixed one, we'll do something more simple! Team Two will be Tamakoma, Team Two will be Kotowari Squad, Team Three will be Tsukiko Squad! Each captain will draw straws to see who gets to pick the location!"

"Shouldn't we give Taiyōko-dono some time to get settled? She just got here after all."

"Ah! It's fine! I'm ready to go whenever! Thank you, though, Kanzaki-san."

"Alright then. I've got the straws~"

Jin walked forward with three straws in hand. He waited for the three captains to walk forward and pick one.

The others watched on, not really seeming to care who actually picked.

"So this means we get to choose."

Mikumo spoke as he held up his straw.

"So each team will get three minutes to get themselves ready."

"With all the teams having four people we'll have more people against us. That being said, we can use those numbers to our advantage."

Mikumo looked over each member they had to fight against.

"Let's start with Kotowari Squad. Misaki-senpai is usually in charge of taking out the opposing Snipers, so you need to watch out, Chika. You need to make sure she doesn't get close enough for a hands-on fight. If you can, stall until one of us gets to you. Even then, stay close since her Side Effect will be an issue."

"Right."

"Taiyōko is more of their support. We need to watch out for her if we are fighting others. Also, try and keep away from her blade. She has that prototype Trigger. A weaker version of Fujin."

"Okay."

"Kotowari is strong at long range fights and can probably out strategize me on the spot, but close range is a weakness for him. Kuga, that's where you come in. With Grasshopper you can move around his attacks and get in close. Hyuse, of you can help there..."

"..."

"I'm fine with that. But, Osamu, what about Toby and Takaoto-san?"

"...? What does their Operator have to do with this?"

"Takaoto-san has a Side Effect that can rival Jin-san's foresight. Usami-senpai..."

"Right~"

Turning to her computer, Shiori brought up some screens that showed some parts of battles involving Kotowari Squad.

The videos all had someone of the team getting to an opponent that seemed too well hidden. It seemed like the opponent would choose a good spot to hide in but would get found out in little time.

"She has a Side Effect that let's her calculate anything she has information on in almost no time at all. She can calculate multiple things at once as well. What's more is that she is smart enough to know how every one of their opponents moves. Meaning..."

"Meaning she knows where it's most likely we would be."

"Right."

Turning back to the screens, Mikumo spoke about their plan once more.

"We can't do much about Takaoto-san. Even if we try and make sure she gets as little information as possible, she is still just an Operator and will always be able to do something. As for Awdry... Just watching him doesn't do much against his Side Effect. Kuga, what do you think would be best against him?"

"Hm~... His Side Effect is heightened reflexes, so he doesn't even have to think about where his opponent is or what they are doing. His body moves on its own, and he usually keeps up with me. It's hard to touch him, but it's possible."

"Didn't they say in one of the matches that if Awdry-senpai is under enough pressure that he can be hit?"

"That's right. When they were going against Ninomiya Squad."

Mikumo gave a small hum and nodded his head. He turned to look towards Hyuse, unsure if he would listen.

"Trapping him in my wires would be a good idea. Hyuse, if we can't do that you should try and work with Tsukiko to handle him."

"Fine. I need to settle the score with him anyways."

"Right," Mikumo said with a nod. "So next is Tsukiko Squad."

"I can help more with that!"

Shiori brought up some more screens. This time it showed the different squad members with their respective squads. Some showed Yuki back when he was the captain if the current Kotowari Squad.

"Yuki isn't in the current B-Rank Wars since he was promoted to A-Rank and disbanded his squad. These are old stuff from before. He said that he will go back to using Kōgetsu for the match and not use Idōgetsu."

"Thank you. We have fought against Murakami-senpai and Inukai-senpai before, so we can prepare. The only other issue is..."

"I think you should take on Kanzaki-san."

Takeshi looked over Toby as he pointed to the screen that showed the older girl with a blade.

Toby crossed his arms.

"I'm not sure that's a good idea. At least not alone. My SE won't do much with the way she launches Senku like she has a gun. That's too much pressure for me to handle. I would need help from someone like Yuma or you. Obviously that's not going to happen since I'm sure Osamu is planning on taking me out quickly while you'll be dealing with him."

"I would honestly help, but Chika-chan and her Lead Bullets are honestly something I need to take of right away."

"No, no. You're fine, Senpai. You're job is always to take out the Snipers. Maybe we could... Shishou is probably try and lure you into his wires... Mei-san, if he does end up there, could you try and pinpoint where every wire is so that he could use that to his advantage?"

"Of course."

"Great. Alright. Toby, if you do end up finding Kanzaki-san then I want you to bring her into the wires as well. That way one of two things will happen; she will either cut them all for you or she will be trapped as well."

"Got it."

"Senpai has Amatori marked. Toby has Kuga and Kanzaki-san marked. I will be going after Shishou. ...I don't like that. We are focusing too much on Tamakoma. That was my bad..."

"Uh... I have a suggestion..."

Everyone turned to Hoshi.

"Why don't I take Toby's place? I will lure Kanzaki-san into the wires and handle Kuga-kun. With her use of Senku and my Fujin, those wire shouldn't be too much trouble. That way Toby can go after one of the others. Although... I really don't think I can handle both Kanzaki-san and Kuga-kun... I may lose us a point... N-nevermind what I said! Please continue on!"

"Wait... You have something there. Yuki-san is going to be trouble enough, so I'd rather have Toby deal with him instead. That way Yuki-san's Side Effect won't be much use. What's more, while you and Kanzaki-san are taking down the wires, you can make our trap. I'm sorry if this is rude, but you may indeed end up as a sacrifice."

"That's fine! I-I'm fine with that!"

"Alright. Thank you."

Mei smiled as she looked on at the four.

It truly was nice to see them working together like this. It felt much more natural than having them argue in the slightest.

"You know," she started, "there was always that thing Yuki would say."

"Unpredictably is always an asset as well as an issue."

Yuki moved his fingers across the screen, sliding over the pictures of the other two teams.

"I know it's not how nay if you do things, but I at least know my former team well enough to know that things will change instantly."

"Always come up with a plan, stick to the plan, prepare for the plan to change, toss away the plan and do as you please. That's the gist of it, right?"

"See? You get it, Kou."

"Sadly..."

Ignoring his friend's demeanor, Yuki looked over at the other three.

"Kanzaki, you should head for Toby, Kuga, or Hyuse. From what Shobu told us, Hyuse can keep up with Tatsuhito, so you would be best to deal with him. Suzu will be going after Amatori, so everyone just has to make sure not to get hit by her. Take will most likely head for Mikumo so they won't have to worry about the wires. Haru, I want you to keep tabs on Suzu. Kou, you should get Hoshi."

"And you?"

"I'll be going after the one Kanzaki doesn't. I'm fine against any one of them, so I'm flexible."

"Let Suzume hear you say that and you'll end up as the cover of her next doujinshi."

"Alright then. Shall we get started?"

The others in the room only nodded their heads.

They all knew that nothing had to be said. It was a simple thing that they had been done multiple times already. This was just another match. The only difference was that they had different teammates.

While the new Tamakoma-2 got ready to face off against new opponents, the reconstructed Kotowari Squad got ready to take everyone on.

While the reconstructed Kotowari Squad got ready to take everyone on, the quickly made Tsukiko Squad got ready to throw their plans away.

While the quickly made Tsukiko Squad got ready to throw their plans away, the new Tamakoma-2 got ready to face off against new opponents.

It may not have been an official match, but each team was determined to win.

And so began the fight.

"Transportation complete. Area: Cityscape."

Midorikawa Shun was bored. That was official.

He wanted to play around but that was an issue when both Kuga and Toby were busy with their scheduled match against each other.

He found it a bit unfair that he wasn't invited to at least watch, but figured that head could just go to Tamakoma any time to see the match.

Still, it was completely unfair for them to leave him out of the fun!

"I guess I could go find those two instead."

Letting out a sigh, Midorikawa started his search for Yoneya and Izumi, maybe they would play with him.

"Oh, Midorikawa. It's good that I found you."

Hearing his name being called, the A-Rank turned around to see a girl walking up to him.

The girl wasn't someone he had talked to all that much, but he at least knew her and her name.

With how much Toby's been going on about her, there's no way I can't know her name.

"Kōchō? Did you need something from me?"

"Do you know where Awdry is? I figured that you of all people would know."

Midorikawa now knew what it felt like. He now knew exactly what it felt like for a younger siblings to get jealous that their older brother had a girlfriend he would rather spend time with instead of him.

It hit him like a truck, but having been asked that question was what got Midorikawa feeling the despair only a siblings could feel. And he wasn't even related to Toby!

"Ah... I don't know where Toby is. I've been looking for him myself."

"Oh. Why don't we look together? He wasn't answering his phone, so I have to ask around."

There really was no ill intent in Kōchō Kashi's words, which made Midorikawa that much more irritated.

Before the two could get anywhere, they overheard a nearby conversation.

Maybe it wasn't a good habit to listen in on other conversations, but this concerned their current goal.

.

"If they needed another team then they could have come to us."

"That's how I felt! After the great match I had with Kotowari you would think they would invite us to be a part of their match!"

Okudera could only sigh as he watched his teammate fume over the fact that neither Tamakoma-2 or Kotowari Squad had invited them to be a part of their match.

The person in front of them seemed a bit miffed by this as well.

Asano Eri crossed her arms as she thought about how her fellow Shooters didn't seem to think about asking her squad to join in. It would have been goo practice for all three of them. A win-win-win situation.

She would remember to get one of her teammates to irritate them later on as payback.

"You two do realize that Tsukiko-senpai had just thought of it on the spot. I'm pretty sure that even those two teams didn't think of adding a third team into the mix. Especially ones who qualify for A-Rank, who are A-Rank and who once were A-Rank."

"Yeah, but now I'm irritated that they get to fight those kinds of people! Yuki-senpai and Kanzaki-san never go one-on-one! They seem even more busy than ever, so we really don't get that kind of chance! Besides, how much fun would it be to go against Kotowari Squad and Tamakoma!?"

"Getting in practice like that is always good. I'm with him on this one. It's unfair of them to do that without considering others."

"Can't we just have our squads go against each other if you two are so irritated by this."

"Great idea!"

"I was kidding..."

Okudera could only shake his head at his teammates energetic answer.

Really now... Hm? What are those two doing?

From the corner of his eye he saw something that was a bit odd.

.

"More like this~!"

"Like...this?"

"No, no, no! Like this! Come on. You're rockin' the megane look, so you need it properly pull it off."

Wakamura Rokuro wasn't sure how or why but here he was, trying out different poses with Satori Ken of Arashiyama Squad. He could see The True Hero Miura off to the side, not sure about what to do.

To be fair...I really don't know what to really do right now either...

The only thing he could remember about this situation was that Satori had gone up to him, asking about how things were getting along with Hoshi. There had been some teasing, which quickly lead up to Satori trying to teach him how to use his charms to make sure Hoshi wouldn't leave him.

He wasn't sure if Satori was trying this out for himself or really trying to help him.

What he was sure of was that Narasaka Tōru from Miwa Squad was walking up to them with an irritated look.

"Do either of you know where Misaki is?"

"Sorry~ I don't know~"

It was plain to see that Satori knew and seemed to be rubbing it in his fellow Sniper's face.

Wakamura didn't want to know what that was about.

Not wanting to deal with an irritated Narasaka, he decided to just tell him what he knew.

"I've been told that Kotowari Squad was going to have an unofficial match with Tamakoma today. Misaki's probably there for that."

"Tsk. That woman... I make some time to help her after she asks me too and she does this."

Once again, a sniper seemed to be rubbing something into the face of another sniper. This time it was Narasaka, who looked a bit smug, rubbing that fact in the face of Satori, who looked a bit annoyed.

Not wanting to show his irritation, Satori gave a dazzling smile as he spoke.

"If you're so annoyed with her, why don't you just let me train her instead?"

"That won't work. After all, she said that I was the only one who could help her."

"That was a boost to your ego that you didn't need."

Wakamura started to slowly back away from the two snipers who seemed to want to "help" the same person.

That was also around the time he started thinking that it was a bad idea to bring her up at all.

To any Kōgetsu user it was natural to have the heavier blade at the ready.

For Yuki it felt a bit odd to have a blade at his his once more.

When he had been promoted to A-Rank he had been given the special Trigger known as Idōgetsu. That had been what he would use in every battle after getting it. It's what he had used to defeat Pyr of Aftokrator, Sanshū from the Wanderers, Kigisa of Galpoula, as well as his #1 enemy - Ninomiya Masataka.

Not having his best weapon with him made him feel odd, as well as heavier.

Idōgetsu had weighed as much as any Scorpion blade, but gained weight once it went into one if it's many forms. With Kōgetsu never changing shape, it made Yuki feel a bit slower.

I suppose I'll just have to deal with it. It shouldn't be an issue to begin with.

Letting out a small sigh, he continued to run throughout the shadows of buildings with Bagworm on. He made sure to stay hidden from plain sight and would always look around just in case.

It looks like everyone is wearing Bagworm right now. Not much of an issue, I guess. The real issue is who is going to be finding who first.

Shaking his head, Yuki looked around once again.

"Alright. Someone needs to show themselves it get things started. I vote Haru."

"I second that."

"No problems with that."

"Why are you three going after me!? Kimura-chan! Please help me out here!"

"So who do you think will go for you first?"

"WAH~! So mean! I'm telling Shiro-chan on all of you!"

"Just get going already!"

Yuki smiled at the odd banter they all had.

"Yuki, look out. Something's come at you from your right."

Turning it the direction he was told, Yuki kicked up one of his shoes.

The shoes quickly fell to the ground once hit by the thing going towards Yuki. The thing that hit it turned out to be a shot. A Lead Bullet shot.

So Amatori found me.

.

"Chika-chan, run! You really need to get away now!"

Listening to her Operator, Amatori jumped from the building she had been on. She only had a few seconds after being shot before Shiori had started yelling to her.

Now she understood why that was.

There, in front of her, was Yuki. He had his blade ready to cut her up. The only thing that had stopped him was the powerful Shield she had out up without much though.

There was just one issue.

"Teleport."

Yuki was gone in an instant.

He reappeared right behind Amatori, Kōgetsu once again ready to strike her down.

Now knowing that he had Teleport, Amatori put a Shield around her whole body as Yuki continued to strike it.

The two landed on the ground. Amatori tried to run away to the best if her ability, but that meant nothing when her opponent simply needed to look at where he wanted it he before appearing at that spot.

She had tried to shoot him with her Lead Bullet Hound, but he moved far too quickly and a accurately for her to land a hit.

"His #1 enemy is Ninomiya-san, so Shooter-type Trigger won't work!"

Knowing that all she could do was keep her Shield up whole running, Amatori did her best to get away.

"Get ready to run away."

Hearing the new voice come through her ear, Amatori did as she was told.

She didn't look back as she ran forward. Once she took a single step forward, there Yuki was.

Before he could strike her defense again, someone else had come up from the side to attack. That person had gotten Yuki's attention and ended up pushing him back a bit.

Seeing Hyuse move Yuki away was a relief to Amatori. She had thought about helping him out here, but remember that he had told her to run away.

That was a much smarter choice.

Yuki watched as Amatori started to run away once more.

He turned towards her and quickly vanished from where he stood.

He appeared behind her, but was stopped once again by the same blade as before.

So he won't let me get to her, huh? I guess that's more a point for Suzu to get than for me. That Shield was a bit irritating anyways. It's best if I just focus on my current opponent. This guy was able able to keep up with Tatsuhito after all.

Knowing how strong the captain of the current #3 B-Rank was, Yuki got ready for a tough battle.

Jumping back a bit, Yuki got some distance and sized up his opponent.

He lowered his stance a bit as he got ready to attack.

With one hard push Yuki sped towards Hyuse with his blade ready. He turned his eyes slightly to the right.

.

Seeing Yuki look more to the right, Hyuse leaned towards his left and got ready to strike back.

Such a simple trick.

Once he turned around he went a bit wide eyed when all he saw was a shoe coming towards his face.

Crap!

There was no time for him to turn back around before Yuki could teleport behind him. He knew that he would have to sacrifice a limb if he wanted to move away from the high-speed teleporter.

Deciding on what he wanted to get cut off, Hyuse started moving forward with his right foot.

"-"

A a strange sound was heard as Hyuse took his first step.

Something had landed on his right foot while something went towards his face as something went passed his side.

He brought up his blade to stop the thing that had been towards his face.

.

Yuki moved to the side as a small blade went for his face.

It was easy to guess that Toby had appeared with his own Teleport and went to attack to two of them.

Using his own Trigger, Yuki appeared behind Yuki, who was in front if Hyuse, and quickly moved his blade to slice the two in half.

He really did improve.

Yuki smiled a bit when he saw Toby twist his body around so that his leg would swat Yuki's Kōgetsu away while also getting a got hit on Hyuse before teleporting away.

"I guess you don't hold the title of Best Teleporter for nothing then."

"No many people use Teleport to begin with. But it's true that I'm still the best at it."

"Can you at least tone down the arrogance when you say that?"

.

Hyuse moved away from the two teleporters and clicked his tongue.

"How did that happen? There was no way he wouldn't appear instead of his shoe. His whole body would have had to appear if he just left it there."

"Since the distance was so short so was the cool down time. Be careful. Not many people use Teleport, but Yuki is by far the best at using it. He knows how to use it to the best of its abilities. Even someone like Kazama-san would have trouble actually catching him."

Hyuse didn't answer back.

He lifted his left hand a bit to get ready to attack.

"Then all I need to do is-...!?"

Hyuse was surpsied to see two things on his hand that weren't there before. The first was an image of a wolf's head. The second was the image of a snowflake.

Not waiting to see what they could do, he cut off his glove and tossed it to the side before jumping to the other side.

"What were those?"

"Those were markers that Toby and Yuki put. They are teleport markers, so it's best not to get any on your body."

Hyuse said nothing else and just looked around at his two opponents.

Both had Triggers he was not use to dealing with. That meant it would be hard for him to fight.

This was where he needed assistance. He didn't like to hear that, but he knew it was the truth.

So Hyuse is facing off against Awdry and Tsukiko-senpai...

Putting his hand to his ear, Mikumo spoke.

Around him were multiple wires set up to ensnare their opponents. Only his own team was able to see them.

And yet that fact still didn't put him at ease.

"Chika, are you still around the area Hyuse is fighting in?"

"Yes. I can see them from here."

"Alright. I want you to back him up."

"Right!"

Mikumo turned in a different direction and started speaking once more.

"Kuga, how are you doing?"

"I was able to get Taiyōko and Kanzaki-san to follow me. But I'm have some trouble keeping up with Kanzaki-san. I don't think it's a good idea to bring her to the wires."

That was a major issue.

If their opponents could not be stopped by the wires then that would mean he would have to fight.

If the opponent was able to overpower Kuga that much then that would mean he would not stand a chance.

So that meant there was one other option.

"Alright. Kuga, bring them over here. We'll continue on with the plan. It may not be the people we want, but points are points."

"Got it."

Mikumo looked over his wires and got to work once more.

If we can't catch them in the wires then we just have to use that destruction to our advantage.

Takeshi leaned against a building as he listened in to what his squad's Operator was telling their main Attacker.

Around his head were three green orbs of Trion. These were what he would use to fire laser-like beams of Trion instead of normal shots.

So Toby will have to work with Tamakoma to take out Yuki-senpai while Hoshi is following Kuga towards the wires. Suzume-senpai should be heading over to take out Amatori. So that just leaves...

Takeshi looked around and saw nothing particular with the area he was in.

Only two other-

"!?"

In only a few seconds Takeshi was filled with multiple holes before being cut in half.

His upper-body flew threw the air while Murakami could be seen with his Kōgetsu in his right hand. Inukai was off to the side, gun raised.

.

"Too easy..."

Murakami quickly brought up his Raygust to block the two laser-like beams headed for him.

He took a quick glance to the side to see that the spot where Takeshi had been standing was now occupied by a talking ribbon.

Zanzō.

Already knowing that his defense would not last long against the Laser-Shooter, Murakami started running off to the side. He saw Inukai do the same.

If it was any other Shooter or Gunner then going into the building behind them would have been an option. The fact that it was Takeshi made that option a bad one that could let him take them out.

He was already at a disadvantage against a long-range fighter, this just made things worse for him.

I got too ambitious. Even with Inukai, I should have known this wouldn't be that easy. Maybe Kiyoshi's arrogance it rubbing off on me.

There was no point in dwelling on what was done. Now he had to find a way to work around what he had caused.

"Taking him from two side sounds good."

"Do you really think we would be fast enough to dodge those lasers though? If he keeps Bagworm on then he will only be able to fire three at a time, but if he decides not to hide then he could make that into five or six."

"Guess you're right~... So what do we do?"

That was the question Murakami was still trying to answer.

Both Yuki and Kanzaki were busy on other battlefields, so this was left up to them. They would need to find a way around this opponent. One he was at a disadvantage against.

As he thought about what to do he noticed something interesting.

We could use those to our advantage...

Yuki had to admit that this was a challenging fight.

He continued to weave through the pincher attacks that Toby and Hyuse were making while also having to dodge the Lead Bullet Shots coming from different places.

Whenever he would move around one of Hyuse's attacks, there would be Toby with his Scorpion blades.

Whenever he would move around Toby with his Scorpion blades, there would be a Lead Bullet ready to hold him down.

Whenever he would move around a Lead Bullet ready to hold him down, there would be one of Hyuse's attacks.

What made the situation worse for him was the fact that Toby was keeping up with his teleporting while both Toby and Hyuse were making sure that a marker wasn't placed on them.

He did notice that even if they were targeting him that they were still going after each other.

He had been able to use that against them and take off some of Toby's fingers as well as get a slash at Hyuse's side.

.

Yuki brought up Shield to block the strike that was aimed for his head while simultaneously bringing up his blade to deal with the strike from the other side.

He turned his wrist so that the blade was at an angle. The opposing Kōgetsu easy slide off the side of his blade, giving him enough room to kick up a tile from the building they were on.

The tile quickly fell to the ground with a loud sound.

It's was a bit difficult to move around the three attacks, but he managed well enough.

He turned his body completely around while Hyuse was still getting centered again from being moved away.

"-"

Before his blade to make contact a large wall appeared from the ground, blocking him from Hyuse.

Three more walls came up around him, creating a wall with only one opening.

.

That should make things easier for the moment.

Hyuse got ready to attack from the opening he had left at the top of the wall keeping Yuki away from them. It didn't give Amatori any room to fire her Lead Bullets, but that would be easier done when Yuki would come out from the only opening.

"!"

Hyuse heard the small noise that was made when teleporting and got ready to attack.

It took him a few seconds to realize something was wrong. That was most likely due to the fact that he didn't notice that those few seconds were suppose to involve Yuki appearing in the air.

Instead of what he landed, Hyuse looked over to see his arm flying through the air as Yuki turned his body around on one foot.

Once realizing that he was missing an arm, Hyuse quickly jumped back while a shot went passed where he had been standing.

Seeing Yuki dodging all of the shots being fired from his team's Sniper, Hyuse rushed in with his blade at the ready. From the corner of his eye he could see Toby run forward as well.

.

It really was an amazing sight to see.

Yuki, apparently with ease, continued to twist and turn his body to dodge the attacks from the three blades aimed right at him. At times he would jump into the air or duck to dodge as well.

With a bit more issue he was able to tell where a shot by a sniper was coming from and kick something up to block the shot and make sure the Lead Bullet would not touch him in the slightest.

What's more was that he would use the weighted object to his advantage by tossing it towards his two opponents to distract them and land his own attacks.

This was A-Rank.

Both Hyuse and Toby understood exactly how well A-Ranks were now.

Hyuse had gone up against Border's #6 and #1 Attackers already. He was even with the #6 but only managed a single, lucky win against the #1. This was far different from that time though.

The difference in fighting style was not something he was prepared for.

While the #1 was more for power, and only used a single Trigger, this A-Rank was much more agile and flexible. He used multiple Triggers, most of the time seeming as if he was using them all at once.

On the other hand, Toby now understood exactly why his former captain had made the diction he had weeks ago.

The decision to disband his team.

With this skill, there was no doubt that the former Tsukiko Squad would have been able to make it to A-Rank. The issue with that was that it would rest mostly on Yuki's shoulders at that point.

Here he was, fighting against Yuki while he did not even have his personalized Trigger, and losing while getting some support by another team. He had managed to land a few cuts here and their, but otherwise has yet to do much to Yuki.

The only thing the two frontline fighters thought was that they were making Yuki use up his Trion.

Even then they were also using up their Trion.

She really is deserving of A-Rank...

That was the single thought that ran through both Kuga and Hoshi's mind as Kanzaki tore through yet another building and attacked both head on.

They had been trying to hold her off while also bringing her towards the wires set up by Mikumo. That was much easier said than done.

Her speed and power were definetly something to be admired. The skills she had to wield her blade with such precision and ferocity was something that kept both Kuga and Hoshi at bay. They did not want to get within her range.

And if they did not get in her range then she would drag them closer.

The closer to her blade they got, the more defensive they got.

Even the long-range attacks Hoshi tried failed miserably against this woman with a blade.

This was far different than what either one had faced before.

It was if they were facing off against someone far above their level.

.

"Kuga, just a bit more. I'm done over here."

"Okay."

Already knowing what was going to happen, Kuga got ready to attack at any moment. It was obvious that he had to he careful when doing so, but that was fine with him. As long as this point was theirs.

It was not an official match, true, but he knew that everyone involved thought of it as such. This was a serious fight that they wanted to win. This would help every one of them in some way or another.

Using your opponents, help your opponents, team up with your opponents.

Anything could be learned from this.

There were many types of people in Border, and in the B-Rank Wars, but that did not mean some of them had the same personalities as others. That fact would lead to future victories for them.

So if they win this, they have a good chance to win later on.

That meant he would help to win this match, official or not.

Kuga continued to jump from rooftop to rooftop, making sure his two opponents were following him.

Their plan to use the wires Mikumo set up was obvious. Since it was so obvious they would use it to their advantage.

Just a bit more.

As he thought that, Kuga turned around.

"-!"

He quickly brought up a Fullguard to block the blade headed for his neck.

The wielder moved back after their failed attack.

She placed her sword back into its scabbard.

This was the moment when multiple things happened.

.

The moment Kanzaki put Kōgetsu back into its scabbard once of her opponents appeared right in front of her with her blade already drawn.

Kanzaki moved back only to be followed by Hoshi.

She continued to move back from one building to another while dodging the sword swings.

The sword swings were not as refined as Kanzaki's but they were quick and precise in their movements. Each time she would go for her sword one of the swings would mess her up, stopping her from drawing her own blade.

She jumped back once more and was met with a smaller blade going for her arm.

She twisted her body and spun on her leg as the two blades went for her.

She used her lifted leg to kick the Kōgetsu upwards by hitting the arm holding it while also using her back to lift her albino opponent a bit into the air.

Using the single moment she had, she grabbed the hilt of her sword and drew it.

A flash.

A single flash turned into seven.

The seven flashes went for the two opponents.

The two opponents tried to block as much as they could. They only had a few seconds to come up with something.

In the albino's case he covered himself in a Shield while moving back.

In the girl's case she used her ribbons of light to block some of the flashes while also cutting up the roof they were standing on.

Not being able to hold all three of them anymore, the roof collapsed, causing all three to start falling.

The fall meant nothing to Kanzaki as she moved around.

It was easy to jump from one part of the roof to another without using anything like Grasshopper. Making sure not to put too much weight on what was being stepped on, Kanzaki was able to quickly jump from part to part while the other two continued to fall.

The fall overall was only a few seconds and a few feet down, but Kanzaki managed to gain enough momentum to end up in the air above the other two.

From her spot in the air she could see the two and grabbed her sword.

Senku.

The seven flashes flew vertically through the air, cutting through the smoke and debris lingering in the air.

She could not see if she had hit her targets.

She did notice something going towards her.

He placed a Grasshopper plate in the air and used it to escape the thing that was going towards her.

"Shoot. I missed. I'm honestly sorry, Hoshi-chan. I saw you were having some trouble and thought I could honestly help."

"It's quite alright, Suzume-senpai. I appreciate it. Although, not to sound rude, but you should focus more on Amatori-san. It's best if you take out Kiyo-nii then go for a quick by by taking out Amatori-san."

Suzume let out a small sigh.

She knew her underclassman was right. Her job had always been to take out the Snipers of any opposing team, then provide backup for her own team.

No matter what she could not be blamed for trying to help Hoshi at this point. It was a bit overwhelming to see just how skilled Kanzaki was compared to them.

This was not time for that though! She had a job to do and she would get it done.

From her spot on a rooftop she could see both the fight between Yuki, Hyuse, and Toby continue on while also being able to get a glimpse at her target.

Now she just needed to make sure she was able to shoot her target once that particular fight was finished.

Takeshi moved on light feet as he dodged another sword strike.

He had already lost an arm and only managed to take off part of Inukai's side.

Close-range fights were not his specialty, and with the added gunfire provided it was a bit hard for him to do much without having to worry about an attack coming from somewhere else.

"Take, I can see your fight from my spot. Do you honestly want me to help you out real quick?"

"Senpai, please focus on Amatori."

"Don't worry. No one will honestly find my location if I help you out now."

Takeshi scrunched up his eyebrows.

If she took a shot now then there was no doubt that someone would be able to find her. Kanzaki, Yuki, and Mikumo may be too busy to go after her, but he knew that either Murakami or Inukai would be able to get to her quickly.

But that would be an issue for them.

They both knew that going one-on-one with Takeshi right how was not a good idea. Their two point coverage was what was holding him back. If either one left at this point then they would score a point by taking out Suzume, but then lose a point because of Takeshi.

That was still not a chance he wanted to take.

"Senpai, it's fi-"

"My Side Effect can honestly help."

Takeshi mentally slapped himself once he remembered that when Yuki was still their captain that he was the only one without a Side Effect. With Hoshi now on the team instead of her brother that brought the number up by one.

Mei's Side Effect was good all around, but she was currently trying to help out Hoshi in dealing with Kanzaki.

Toby's Side Effect protected him from most attacks, but he could not do much when it came to protecting others with it.

Suzume's Side Effect was a useful one, and she could use it from her current location.

"Fine. Just make sure that you see every single motion he is going to make."

"I honestly feel insulted right now. Do you really think so low of my Side Effect?"

"..."

"At least answer! Honestly... Fine. Get ready to move you body~"

A twitch was felt.

Deciding to get back at her later, Takeshi did as he was told.

He started swaying a bit in place.

.

Murakami narrowed his eyes when he saw his opponent start swaying a bit in place.

"Why does this feel familiar~?"

"It's Misaki's Side Effect. She can probably see us from her spot. Landing attacks will now be more difficult with her guiding him."

"Just switch up your style. That way she'll have to find you move. Then you can take that chance and take him down."

"It's not that easy..."

Everyone had their own ways of doing things. Some ways may seem similar to other ways, but in the end there was always something different. When a person continued doing things a certain way it would stick with them.

Practice and training helped to grow a person's own style of doing things.

Trying to switch how he normally did things, especially at a time like this, was something Murakami knew he could not do.

Only one person could do that on the spot. And he was off on another battlefield.

As if wanting to prove his point to Inukai, he ran forward. He added an extra step to get to his target quicker, but it was pointless after all.

He swung his blade with quick and sharp movements, but Takeshi continued to dodge one after another. Each dodge looked more like some sort of odd dance move.

The close-range attack and dodge session looked more and more like a dance session as they continued on.

.

"I can't even shoot from here!"

Inukai watched on as Murakami continued to attack and miss.

Inukai thought that would be the time to start shooting, but there was not a good enough opening for him.

He knew that Murakami was trying to make opening. The issue was that Takeshi cot unused to move as if using Murakami was a shield for the gunfire.

"Inukai, maybe you should just-"

Bail Out.

Bail Out.

Kotowari Squad - 1 Point.

Tsukiko Squad - 1 Point.

"Wait, wait, wait! What!?"

Inukai quickly got up from the mat he had landed on. He raced over to the computer where Kimura was sitting at.

He saw her shoulders shaking.

"Are... Are you laughing at me!? So mean~"

Kimura covered her mouth while apologizing. It was clear to see that she was most certainly not sorry.

"What even happened?"

"You messed up. Obviously."

"Why are you three being so mean to me today?"

"Suck it up. Anyways, what had happened was that you weren't paying attention to your surroundings."

"But Suzume didn't fire. I would have been prepared for it."

"It wasn't Misaki. It was Kotowari. While you were busy with something else he got you right in the head."

"Nice going. Now you're leaving poor Kou by his lonesome self."

"Get ready to get punished after this."

"That's it! I'm not helping any of you ever again!"

"Liar."

Kimura let out a sigh as he pushed Inukai away from the screen.

She turned back to the screen and pointed at two particular pictures.

"It's fine. Kanzaki-san was able to take out Taiyōko. We at least got a point as well."

Inukai gave a hum when he heard this. He wondered what Yuki would say.

"Good job Kanzaki."

"Thank you."

"Get over yourselves!"

"I'm so sorry! I'm so sorry! I'm really, really, really sorry!"

"It's fine."

Mei gave a light pat to Hoshi's bowed head.

Mei already knew that there was a high chance of Hoshi having to Bail Out because of her opponent. It had been calculated.

She knew how skilled Kanzaki was, so there was nothing wrong with the young girl losing to someone like that. Even with the help of Kuga it was already planned out.

"Just leave everything else to your teammates. You did well for who you were fighting against. Kanzaki can go up against Tachikawa and be fine, so there is no reason to feel bad about losing."

"But...I lost a point... Even after being as late as I was..."

Mei gave her a light flick before turning back to the screen.

"That is completely fine. You just need to practice more then. Simple."

That isn't good.

Kuga moved to the right as another set of seven slashes rushed towards him.

This was very much different than when he fought against Ikoma. Unlike then, this was multiple slashes heading towards him from different angles. The speed certainly rivaled that of Ikoma's but the attack itself was most certainly different.

He was close to the wires his captain had set up, but getting there was now an issue on its own.

It was hard to tell if getting Amatori's help or not would even make a difference. What's more was that she was across the battlefield. It would take her a while to reach him.

That meant he had to fight this woman by himself.

"Kuga, I'm heading towards you. Getting a bit closer and you'll be fine to use the wires. I'll provide as much support as possible."

It was certainly reassuring to get some support, but that still did not mean they would be able to defeat her without some more loss.

Seeing another set of seven flashes go towards him, he brought up as much dense as he could.

On the sixth slash his defense broke.

He moved to the side so as to avoid the seventh slash. He only managed to dodge a portion of it, costing him an arm.

He used Grasshopper to go faster in the air.

She moved quickly and was catching up.

It's here!

Seeing the wires his captain had set up, Kuga jumped down and used the wires to move around.

He gave a short glance back to see the seven flashes cut down each wire.

Then it happened.

From his spot on the roof, Yuki saw some glints a bit away.

Are they trying it get my attention by showing me where they are?

As he continued to maneuver around the two close-range fighters he couldn't hell but notice these glints appear bit he area where a few Lead Bullet shots had been fired.

Deciding not to bother with them, he turned back to the two who were currently going for another pincer attack.

They had managed to get multiple hits on him, but they had done so at the cost of their own bodies.

"Yuki, try not to stalk this out any longer. You're facing off against two people with a good amount of Trion while being fired at by someone with Black Trigger levels of Trion. If you can take one of them out then do so already."

With a sigh, Yuki agreed.

He ran a hand through his hair, putting it behind his ear.

He saw Toby tense up a bit and mentally nodded at the Attacker's awareness of what was happening.

Yuki was going for the kill.

Here I come.

With that mental note, Yuki rushed towards Hyuse with his sword held in a reverse grip.

He was stopped by a wall coming up from the ground.

That didn't matter to him, though, since he quickly disappeared from his spot to reappear behind Hyuse.

With a wall behind him, Hyuse brought up his sword to block.

Being the person he was, Yuki purposefully missed the opposing blade by an inch.

A cube of Trion appeared right in front of Hyuse as the blade went passed him.

Multiple shots crossed the small space.

With only a few seconds, Hyuse brought down the walk behind him while also bringing up one in front of him.

A few shots made it through.

Yuki already knew what was coming up next and continued to spin before clashing blades with Toby.

He pushed the Attacker back and bent down while bringing his leg up.

He kicked up Hyuse's arm with his leg before spinning on his foot to kick up another tile.

In an instant, multiple things happened. The next few seconds were rapid ones that only those in the moment could properly see.

Forcing their bodies to move forward, Toby and Hyuse attacked while Yuki was still on one leg and more on the defensive.

Yuki, not being one to be surprised by such an obvious attack, quickly brought his down before jumping into the air.

Now above the two, he threw his sword as if it was a spear. The sword easily went through Hyuse's head.

Once he landed, he grabbed the sword and spun around, cutting Toby in half.

Noticing something coming towards him, he grabbed Toby's upper-body, which was falling, and used him to take the Lead Bullet hit.

After the shot was fired, four lights shot through the air.

Bail Out.

Bail Out.

Bail Out.

Bail Out.

Kotowari Squad - 2 Point.

Tsukiko Squad - 2 Points.

"GAAAAH! Noooooo! Sorry, guys! I thought I could at least take Yuki out!"

"Aren't you getting a bit too arrogant now?"

"We'll I honestly got us some points, so it's fine. You helped in that. If that honestly makes you feel any better."

Toby continued to cry out while shaking his head.

No one gave him too much attention. Except Hoshi. She was just trying to calm him down.

Mei continued to focus on the two remaining members of her team.

She already knew this would happen, so it did not matter to her. There was absolutely no way she could not know about her own boyfriend's skill at this point. It would be an insult to him if she did not know.

He was always ones for tricks, feints, quick movements, and sneak attacks. Facing off against such straightforward people was easy for him since he fought with completely different rules than them.

"Damn. And I thought I was at least at his level with Teleport by now."

"You still have a good ways to go before you can reach his level, Toby. He has much more experience than any one of you do, so don't feel too bad about it."

"Mei-san, please don't try and sugarcoat things. Toby, just honestly think of this whenever you're fighting from now on. Know how much you suck and honestly get over it. You're still the best at using it among the four of us, so honestly shut up."

"Fine, fine. Just get to helping out Take already. If Sukuu gets to him after taking care of Yuma and Osamu than that means you'll still have to deal with her and Kou."

Hoshi was amazed by the whole discussion she was hearing.

She knew that Toby would be able to get over this lose easily, but she did not expect for Suzume to speak in such a manner to him, or for him to be fine with it. It really seemed like an older sister speaking to her younger brother. And she knew exactly what that looked like.

This made her feel a bit out of place.

She was given a knowing look by Mei and understood what it meant.

I am still a part of this team.

"Tsukiko-senpai really is amazing."

"Kuga, we need to score some points now. There are two members or each team out still, so we have a chance."

"Right."

"Kotowari seems to be heading towards us with Murakami-senpai. Misaki-senpai is probably following them. So we just need to hold off until they get here."

That was much easier said than done.

This has been a one-sided fight almost the entire time.

Kuga continued to dodge. With no opening being found yet, attacking was very difficult. All he could do was defend at this point.

The wires Mikumo had set up were already cut down and the Asteroid traps he had set up were being used up while managing to only tear her clothes a bit.

Overall, to anyone watching, it was most certainly one-sided.

Using the falling buildings to his advantage, Kuga moved to circle around Kanzaki and head towards the direction Takeshi and Murakami were at.

It seemed to work as well since Kanzaki was nowhere to be seen.

"Alright. It's better if we take out Murakami-senpai right now then all go for Kanzaki-san. If you can, get those two points for us."

Kuga had already been planning on taking those two points. So far their team was the only one without a single point, so this mattered a lot.

Even if it was not an official match, there was still pride on the line.

.

Kuga continued to run until he saw the three laser-like beams flying in the air. And destroying the surrounding buildings.

Getting that point is going to be a bit difficult...

Seeing the opposing team's Sniper jumping rooftop to rooftop, an idea came to mind.

"Osamu, I'm going to go after Suzume-senpai. That way we won't have to worry about shots later on."

"That's fine. Try an hurry, though. Kanzaki-san is quickly making her way towards you guys. I'll be ready with the wires."

Having been given the order, Kuga jumped down to the ground and made his way over to where he saw Suzume.

He did not have to worry about being found out by Radar since he had on Bagworm. All he had to worry about was being spotted by her. That was why he was sticking to the shadows of the buildings.

He could still see the laser-like beams flying throughout he air and wanted to know what the current situation was, but he already had a task he needed to accomplish.

Suzume looked through the scope of her special sniping Trigger.

She had finished figuring out the best way she could use it with Hoshi when they had discussed it a few days ago. It was still a prototype, but that gave her more of a reason to use it right now.

The appearance of it look rather odd with a more rectangular middle and a thin muzzle. The end of it looked more like an Ibis and it was colored gray. It looked like it weighed a good amount, but Suzume held it as if it weighed nothing.

She did have the other sniping Triggers ready at a moments notice though.

"Senpai, I just saw Kuga run by. Be careful."

"No need to tell me that. I'm honestly ready."

Taking a breath, Suzume fired a shot at Murakami before turning around.

She quickly moved to the side, as if dancing around the attack aimed at her.

She saw Kuga moving around with Grasshopper and started swaying in her spot.

Putting away her sniping Trigger and Bagworm, Suzume brought out two Scorpion blades. Unlike how she usually had them, these two blades were held in her hands instead of wrapped around her fingers.

"Looks like we get that rematch now Suzume-senpai."

The two started their dance.

Suzume easily moved to the side when Kuga rushed towards her.

Kuga continued to move at a fast pace by using Grasshopper or just his general speed, but Suzume continued to dodge each and every attack. Each step she took seemed more and more like dancing than actual dodging.

At some point she had started moving her middle finger around while dodging and managed to stab him a few times.

It did not help that he was already missing an arm.

Just have to increase my speed a bit.

With that thought in mind, Kuga ran forward.

Before reaching Suzume he placed a Grasshopper plate on the ground and used that to move around her. He came up from behind and managed to hit her head off.

In doing so he got stabbed in his single arm.

Bail Out.

Tamakoma-2 - 1 Point.

Takeshi knew he was the last one of his team who was still fighting. That meant it was completely up to him to score them a few more points.

He let out a sigh as he continued to block strike while also firing his laser-like beams at Murakami.

He had managed to out Murakami's Raygust and arm, but that was all.

It was obvious that Murakami had studied how he moved to be able to dodge so much and so well.

Not minding it too much, Takeshi continued to keep his distance while using up his Trion.

He had been told that Kanzaki was heading towards them while Kuga and Mikumo were doing the same. That meant he had to take out Murakami right here and right now if he wanted to face off against the other three with a good amount of Trion available.

The main issue was how to do so when his opponent seemed to be stalling for the other three to make their way over to this battle.

I was hopping not to do this... So irritating.

Stopping where he was, Takeshi fired one laser-like beam before running towards Murakami.

He could see the surpsie on the Attacker's face as he continued to run.

So Toby said to just keep track of his movement and pick the right time... It's a simple move so I'm sure even I can do it...

Once he was in range, Takeshi lowered his body a bit.

He saw Murakami start to swing his sword to attack.

He waited for a few second before moving in the direction the sword was being swung.

His movement mirrored the sword's, making him slide behind Murakami.

In one quick motion he grabbed Murakami's wrist while using his other arm to wrap around his neck.

Viper!

Multiple shots flew the air and pierced through Murakami's body. The shots turned upwards before making sharp turns and going through Murakami's body once again.

Cracks started appearing on Murakami's body, signaling that he was going to Bail Out.

"-"

Before he could turn into the flying light, Kuga appeared before the two and cut them both in half.

"Crap..."

Two lights flew through the air.

Bail Out.

Bail Out.

Tamakoma-2 - 2 Points.

"Kuga, bail out! Now! Kanzaki-san is almost within your radius!"

"Bail Out!"

It was too late at that point.

The monster known as Kanzaki was already within the area. That meant there was no way Kuga could escape this fight.

Could see that Mikumo was also close by and was going to tell him to get out if the area so the opposing team could hit get another point, except...

"Tsk."

Kanzaki was already above him, sending seven flashes in his direction.

The moment she landed on the ground he rushed towards her while she did the same to him.

He could not land a hit on her.

She had taken his other arm.

There really was no way he could win at this point.

There was only one good thing about this.

Now she can't get another point after this.

Kuga thought this as he saw a light fly through the air.

He could do bitching as Kanzaki rushed forward and drew her blade.

Seven flashes went forward and cut him up.

Bail Out.

Tsukiko Squad - 1 Point.

Tsukiko Squad - 6 Points.

Kotowari Squad - 3 Points.

Tamakoma-2 - 3 Points.

The match was over.

The last person standing was Kanzaki of the quickly formed Tsukiko Squad.

It was obvious that the quickly made Tsukiko Squad were the winners.

And yet no one seemed to really care.

After all, this was unofficial.

"Wah~ Wah~ I'm so glad that Kanzaki-san was here to play with us~ Those points came in handy~"

"Apparently so since you could not even get one point."

"Are those two...always like that?"

"Just stay away from her and you'll be fine."

"Okay!"

On one side of the room was a group of Border agents wearing blue uniforms. Amatori Chika, Hyuse, and Kuga Yūma stood near their captain, Mikumo Osamu. Their Operator, Shiori Usami, sat near them as she watched things go on.

On another side of the room was a group wearing all completely different uniforms. The designated captain, Tsukiko Yuki, simply let out a sigh as he watched Kanzaki Suuku inch towards her Trigger while Inukai Sumiharu happily poked at her cheek with a smile. Murakami Kou and Kimura Kawaguchi simply watched on as if this did not concern them.

In the middle of the room was the last group who wore the same gray uniforms. While Misaki Suzumebachi tried to mess around with Hyuse and hug Amatori, Toby Awdry was talking animatedly with Kuga with Kotowari Takeshi doing the same, with less enthusiasm, with Mikumo. Taiyōko Hoshi watched everyone with a smile on her face. Their Operator, Takaoto Mei, only nodded her head towards Kanzaki.

Then there were the ones sprawled around. They were the other members of the Tamakoma Branch.

"So," started Yuki, "do you guys understand what we were kind enough to teach you all?"

"Kanzaki-san is a monster?"

"Side Effects suck to go against?"

"Don't let Inukai join us ever again?"

"The author accidentally made you too good?"

Yuki could only sigh as the ridiculous things he was hearing.

It was hard to miss the teasing in all their voices.

The fact they were joking around proved that there really was not hard feeling after the match. Although Yuki was more concerned about his former team in that regard.

"Do you guys want some commentary to make it seem more official?"

The group looked over towards the door to see Yuri walk in with a smile on her face.

In an instant, Kizaki straightened out a bit and started fixing up Amatori.

Off to the side Yuki could be seen covering his mouth while his shoulders shook a bit.

"Sorry, Miss Yuri, everyone, but I really need to go right now!"

Toby quickly made his way to the door while holding up his phone. Following his lead was Kuga, who gave a bow with the brunet.

"Shun has been blowing up my phone the whole time and Kōchō sent a good amount herself. Haru, you got them too, right? Can someone record the commentary, or something!? Thanks! Bye!"

"Geh! Yeah! Sorry, sorry! We really have to go!"

Inukai followed the two leaving.

That left three less people less people in the room.

The rest of Kotowari Squad could be seen either turning away or face palming at their Attacker. It was a bit embarrassing for him to do such a thing when someone was bei so polite and helpful to them all.

Before any of them could apologize for the brunet, a low buzzing sound could be heard.

Suzume quickly grabbed her phone and looked to see that not one, but two people were calling her.

"Its better that you head over to the base as well, Suzume~"

This time it was Jin who gave right away for someone to leave. His face showed that he knew exactly what was going to happen in the different futures involving Suzume right now.

Suzume looked uncertain about if she should stay or follow Jin's advice.

After a few seconds of thinking it over, she grabbed Amatori and started walking out. She gave a quick bow as well.

"I'm honestly sorry. I'm taking Chika-chan because there is honestly no way I can deal with those two alone right now. I'll make it up to you later, Yuri-san."

"It's fine. We'll just save a recording for you two as well."

Suzume tried to laugh at the joke but found that she was too embarrassed to do so. She honestly felt bad about what she was doing, but when Jin said she had to go, there was no choice.

Yuri turned back to the remaining people with a smile on her face.

"Would anyone else like to leave? It's fine if you want too."

She looked around at the others in the room and noticed that Yuki and Takeshi seemed to be fidgeting a bit. Mikumo was just trying not to look in her direction.

Yuki was the first to speak up, while also getting up.

"I...have to deal with my sister. Apparently she is causing trouble for Akasora-sensei again."

This was followed by both Takeshi and Mikumo standing up.

"We have also been getting messages. Most of them complaints. I would like to stay, but I think I need to appease these people before things get worse."

"I should go too. I've been getting similar messages, so..."

"It's fine, it's fine."

Takeshi and Mikumo quickly made their way to the door. It was plain it see that they wanted to get out of the building quickly so they did not have to handle the same embarrassment as the others.

Once the others heard the door open up, they heard Takeshi's voice once again.

"Ah. Hoshi, your pickup is here! He brought Miura-senpai with him!"

Hearing her name being said, Hoshi jumped a bit. She cautiously looked around the room to see if they were fine with it.

They all gave a thumbs up.

Yuri motioned for the young girl to take Hyuse with her.

At this point she was a bit curious as to how many people could leave before she could say anything else. It was sort of like a game to her now.

Mei could see that and decided to follow along with it.

"A-ah... Hyuse-san, would you like to come with us?"

"Why would I-"

Seeing something terrifying standing right behind the girl, Hyuse looked away and stood up. He was not sure if he was seeing a real monster or if he imagination was messing with him, but there was a scary older woman there.

He said nothing and just started walking out if the room.

"Ah! P-please wait a moment!"

Kanzaki, Murakami, and Konami visable shivered when they saw the same scary woman who had been standing behind Hoshi a moment ago. In her place was a calmly smiling Mei, looking as if she had just accomplished something great.

Being a bit overwhelmed by that scary woman, Kanzaki quickly stood up and bowed.

"I believe that going back to my new squad would do some good. I can now assist them better knowing what we could possibly face now. I thank you all for your time."

"No need to be so formal, Kanzaki-san~"

Hearing the teasing voice from the overwhelming woman, Kanzaki rushed to leave.

Mei and Yuri both moved over to look at Murakami, who seemed a bit uncomfortable with the two staring at him.

He already knew what Mei was capable of, meaning that having both woman looking ready to tease him made him want to escape by jumping from the nearest window.

He tried to look at the other members of Tamakoma for assistance, but that did not seem likely. Kizaki seemed to just be looking at the two woman - mostly Yuri - while Jin and Shiori just watched in amusement. Karasuma had disappeared and Konami was trying to sneak out.

"I... I will also take my leave..."

"And there goes the last one."

Yuri and Mei smiled at each other as Murakami left the room and out the door of the building.

Toby allowed himself to be hit repeatedly by light punches. It was allowed since he saw just how much the younger boy had wanted to play with him.

It was rather endearing to him.

"So did you have fun going against Tamakoma?"

It was easy to tell the girl had something else on her kind when she asked that.

Kuga and Inukai were there as well, but they seemed like they just wanted to watch for now. He wished that was not true since he wanted Midorikawa to stop hitting him.

"Yes, Kōchō, it was very fun. I'm sorry that I did not tell you I was going to be at Tamakoma."

The sarcasm came from his mouth as if it was the truth. This was actually a rare time when he was actually using sarcasm.

"Good. Now then..."

Kōchō smiled as she turned to Inukai and Kuga.

"Can you two answer something for me?"

Toby, already knowing where this was going, let out a sigh as he lightly pushed Midorikawa away.

"When he was fighting, did Awdry look like a beautiful beast dancing in the light? Or did he not?"

Letting out another sigh, Toby looked towards the two, hoping they would be on his side for this.

Oh how wrong he was for thinking that.

Inukai was the first to speak up, a sly smile appearing on his face.

"Oh, most certainly. He looked like the most beautiful of beasts. I was in such awe that I ended up losing my team a point because of it."

Seeing where this was going, Kuga gave a follow up. He gave more of a duck face than another else.

"Humu~ Humu~ Sounds about right. Toby is the most beautiful beast I've seen."

"(You can all screw off.)"

Toby smiled at the teasing, already knowing that there was no malice to their words.

It was nice to just mess around like this. It was most certainly better than dealing with anything his family would put him through. Is felt more like home to him than anywhere else.

Kotowari Takeshi was by far an odd person. He wasn't odd in the sense that he was loud, demented, or even just crazy. He was odd because he did things a lot differently than most would consider normal.

Takeshi is a B-Rank Shooter who uses his Triggers in a very different way than other Shooters. His views on many things consisted of him not caring too much and he was very antisocial. He looked like the type to be a genius, but in truth he got average to below average grades. He also had a tendency to wear clothes that were a size or two larger than what fit him.

Besides that, he is the captain of the current Kotowari Squad. After the squad's former captain had disbanded the squad it was Takeshi would had been chosen to be captain. Although that was just for formalities.

That was fine with him.

"So you've started using Viper?"

"Correct. I was actually meaning to ask for your assistance with that."

"Hold up! I can help with that! We can just go a few rounds! That way you can get a better feel on how to use it!"

"Don't you think it would be better for him to learn how to really use it first? It would make more of a challenge, wouldn't it?"

Takeshi lifted his scarf a bit, just so that it covered his mouth. His gaze seemed a bit out of focus and Mikumo noticed this.

Mikumo was going to ask if something was wrong but stopped when he saw the edges of Takeshi's cheeks raise a little bit. Unless someone was looking for it, or if they were looking directly at him, they would have missed it altogether.

It was not too hard to figure out that Takeshi was smiling under his scarf. If only a little bit.

"Are you enjoying yourself?"

Takeshi jumped a bit when asked the question.

He looked over to Mikumo, ignoring the rambling Koarai and the sighing Okudera. Asano was just watching off to the side, so she did not seem to notice them talking.

"Yes... I may he saying too much that you really don't care about but... This is nice in a different way than when I'm with my team."

Takeshi felt it was too presumptuous to think that the female Shooter and two Attackers were his friends, but he figured this was what it was like to be around others and talk casually. It was definitely different than speaking to his team in a way that he would never know if he did not speak to them in the first place.

He continued to smile under his scarf so that the others could not see it. He knew that Mikumo noticed his smiling but said nothing about it.

For his part, Mikumo could not help but think that Takeshi resembled a child who had just woken up from a wonderful dream.

He smiled along his with friend.

Taiyōko Hoshi truly was an easy girl to handle. She was kind to everyone and always tried her hardest at anything she did. She was the type of person who could only be hated out of petty jealousy for her looks and charm. What's more was that she could fight and win battles against some strong opponents.

While some girls were confident and proud, Hoshi was meek and mild. While some girls would flaunted all they had, Hoshi wore modest dresses with the worst being a skirt. While some girls had to work on their appearance at times, Hoshi seemed to have natural beauty that most definitely made her look like a princess.

"Miura-senpai, thank you for your assistance before."

"Eh? Eh? I didn't really do anything. I was just...there."

"No, no, no! I believe you had the biggest role in that whole thing! I sincerely thank you for your help!"

Wakamura, who was sitting next to his new girlfriend, looked from Hoshi, to Miura, back to Hoshi. He was not too sure what she was thanking him for, but felt like it was unimportant.

"By the way, how is Misaki? Did Yuki-san-"

"Why am I here?"

The two from Katori Squad and the one from Kotowari Squad looked over at Hyuse, who had just been sitting by while they spoke.

Feeling bad for having been faced to make him tag along, Hoshi gave her best bow.

"I am really sorry, Hyuse-san. I know that you were forced to join us. If you would like you can leave. I am sure you have far better things to do than be with people you do not care about."

Wakamura narrowed his eyes towards Hyuse. Seeing Hoshi feel this bad about this was not something he liked seeing.

For whatever the reason, Hyuse looked away from Hoshi.

"I was just asking is all..."

From his spot, Miura gave a weak hum as he watched this all go on.

Taiyōko-chan is too innocent to say no too. Does she use that to her advantage?

"There, there."

The real hero of this story - Miura - patted Hoshi's head as if he was petting a small animals he knew he was getting looks from the other two but did not care since Hoshi seemed like she was a bit happier.

Taiyōko Hoshi was definetly an easy girl to handle.

Misaki Suzumebachi was a 100% shipper and fujoushi. She would use anyone and anything to get what she wanted when it came to things like material for her next doujinshi or story. She was rather well known for these kinds of things and even made a small profit by selling the doujinshi she made.

She stood as the only S-Rank person in the Ship Squas for her ability to make any sort of situation happen. She could always get the best photo shot. She could always find the best times to record. She could always make the best doujinshi that made both males and females of Mikado City check online stores to see if her doujinshi were up.

So then why, some would wonder, was she hiding behind the small frame of Amatori Chika?

"Stop hiding behind her or else your punishment will be far worse."

"Punishment for what!? I've honestly fine nothing wrong!"

"Come on, Suzu-chan, just deal with your punishment with dignity~"

"Don't speak to me like that! And why the hell are you two honestly teaming up against me!? Chika-chan, please help me!"

Poor, small Amatori was not sure what to do at this moment.

The girl behind her continued to move her around so she would be a human shield against the two A-Rank Snipers in front of her.

She did wonder why Suzume bothered to come by if she knew something like this would happen.

"U-um..."

"See, Suzu-chan? This is why you don't get others involved."

"I don't even know what I am honestly getting myself into here! I don't care how horny you two are, you can't just use a woman like this!"

"Wha-!? Where did that come from!?"

"Please never say anything like that again. The thought alone makes me want to... Anyways... Let's get it this then. You still need all the hell you can get."

"Oh ho~ Is that so?"

This was probably the quickest personality change Amatori had ever seen. One moment she was hiding her fellow Sniper behind her and the next she was standing right behind the same person.

She could see Satori take a quick step back, a small grin in place.

She looked forward to see Suzume, who just had her shoulders to her head while hiding behind her, standing there with an arm on her hip and an arm hanging at her side.

"You honestly want to get hurt, don't you, Narasaka-san~?"

She is bother terrifying and majestic all at once.

Any limitations she made for herself were most likely necessary.

She isthe Ultimate Operator and A-Rank Border combatant with a powerful Trigger after all. She had power, speed and the aura of a strong person. Even when in her real body she is able to rival - and even overpower at times - someone like the muscleman Kizaki Reiji from the Tamakoma Branch.

She was motherly to her squad.

She had beauty that could outclass any model.

She was kind to all.

She was a kind, beautiful, and almost motherly person.

Takaoto Mei is all of these things.

And there was no denying that she would smack her team for any trouble she knew they would cause throughout the rest of the day.

Knowing exactly how much trouble that was was easy for her to figure out.

So she sighed.

"At least the week is almost over."