Chapter 10: Misó Epanástasi: Part 2

It was the day right after a big incident.

That would be the only mention of the incident at the moment, but thanks to that incident Hogo Oshiro was now living with his "older brother", and of course Krümel.

"Shiro, hope you're up!"

"Right, right!"

Oshiro rushed out to meet up with the person he was now living with with his bag over his shoulder and Krümel in his arms. Said person was a male a few inches shorter than Oshiro. He had on a school uniform that was different than Oshiro's. His general appearance was that of an average male student, but what stood out about him was the fact one of his eyes was covered by hair. This was Tsukiko Yuki.

If someone saw the two they would likely suspecting the two were brothers with Oshiro being the older and rebellious one while Yuki took on the role of the younger, tamed one.

Oh how wrong they would be.

Not only was Yuki older than Oshiro, he also have a more "free" vibe to him than Oshiro's tamed and calming one. The two were similar in many ways, but were different in many, many more ways.

"Why did you take so long? Weren't you the one who said that it would he best if Krümel went to play with Taka?"

"Yes. I'm sorry. He was a bit reluctant to go. I ended up bribing him with a treat or two."

Yuki looked down at the small puppy in Oshiro's arms and saw some crumbs still on his mouth. He said no more on the subject, deciding that they should just leave.

.

Once outside, Yuki let out a small sigh before looking up at his "little brother" and furrowed his brows.

"Unfair..."

"Huh?"

"It's unfair that you're that tall. How can you be taller than me? Even Kou is roughly the same height as me. It's so unfair~"

"Ah ha ha ha... I'm sorry?"

Seeing his "older brother" looking down by this realization, Oshiro tried to sooth Yuki.

It actually had the opposite effect.

"Well... At least you still have time to grow."

"So do you. You're younger than me."

It was hard to tell if it was Yuki's talking or Oshiro accidentally increasing his strength, but Krümel jumped from Oshiro's arms and ended up running away from the two. The dog had been use to Yuki already, but that didn't mean he didn't scare rather easily.

"Ah! Krümel-kun!"

The two humans quickly went after the dog. It had been told that, when scared, Krümel had the ability to run twice as fast as any ordinary dog.

They didn't have to go far though as Krümel had ran into someone's feet.

Looking up, the small pup started to shake a bit before turning around and running right back into Oshiro's arms. It took another treat to calm the pup down enough to stop his shaking.

"Hm? Oh. Sorry. Did I scare the pup?"

Yuki and Oshiro looked ahead to see a familiar man looking at them while giving Krümel an apologetic look.

The man had red hair with the front being gray, light blue eyes and light skin with good muscle tone. He wore a black undershirt, high-collared blue shirt and a dark red coat reaching to his knees. On his lower half he had on dark cargo pants, and dirty-looking shoes.

"Oh. Hello, Ketsu-san."

"Good morning, Ketsu-san."

"Hello you two. Were you on your way to Tamakoma right now?"

"Yes. We figured Minoru would leave Taka there, and so decided that leaving Krümel there so the two could play would be a good thing. Besides, they seem to think Raijinmaru is some kind of moving pillow."

"I've noticed that. It actually quite entertaining."

Kagerei Ketsueki was a 20-year-old Border member that resided in the Tamakoma branch office. He was unique in his fighting, yet didn't fight as much as some would think.

This man was someone the two knew quite well. He was a member of the Tamakoma Branch that would just take his leave whenever he felt like to go off and have a "Mythological Discovery Adventure". He did bring back souvenirs though.

"Well I'd be more than happy to take cute little pup with me~"

Oh yeah. He also loved dogs.

"Really? Thank you!"

"I don't get why you live over here instead of by, or in, the branch office. It wouldn't be that long of a walk."

"He lives over here? I just thought Ketsu-san got up early for a walk."

"Yeah. He walks from his house to the Tamakoma branch. He says he needs the exercise, but he's already as healthy and buff as Reiji-san. He's adding insult to injury by basically saying 'Hey, look how fit I am! Why not go on a ten mile jog with me so we can all be super fit and healthy! Eyeaaaaaaaahhhhh!' It's very messed up."

"No, no! I don't mean anything like that! I truly think I need the exercise! I need it to keep up with Rei-san and Atsushi-kun!"

"And now he's bringing the two muscle-heads into this... Sigh. Next thing you know he's gonna start saying that they will 'baptize Arafune in muscles'."

Oshiro really didn't know what to say, so he said nothing and continued to pet Krümel. He knew that Yumi could get a bit jealous when it came to other people's bodies. His own body wasn't in such good shape due to a certain incident in the past, so he envied those with such great muscle tone.

Oshiro did feel sorry for his surrogate brother, but knew that something like that wouldn't really get him down much.

'I wonder what Haru-san would look like of he was 'baptized in muscles'...'

Staring off into space, Oshiro pictured his boyfriend with large muscles and quickly felt his face get hotter. Others would have sworn something had broke in his head, and that smoke was coming from his ears.

As he thought more and more about Inukai, Oshiro started to get even hotter. With each new thought that appeared an other layer of clothing seemed to come off from the Inukai in his head.

'I-I-I l-love H-Haru-san just the way he is... No amount of muscle tone will change my mind!'

The fact he stuttered in his own mind was not a good thing.

Yuki and Ketsueki looked over at the youngest one as he shook his head before clenching his fists in determination. They really weren't sure if they wanted to know what was currently going on in his mind.

"Yuki!"

"Hogo."

Hearing their names being called, Yuki and Oshiro looked in two different directions to see their friends calling out to them.

Oshiro was extremely happy that someone had called out to him. He wasn't sure how long he would have been able to hold out until he went beyond the point of return.

Murakami and Kageura stood on one road while Narasaka was on the other.

"Ah. We've got to get going. Please take care of Krümel-kun, Ketsu-san."

Oshiro bowed as he handed the pup over to Ketsueki. He gave a small wave to the dog before running off to his friends.

Yuki gave a small wave at the dog and dog lover before walking over to his own friends and seeming to get yelled at by Kageura.

"Well, looks like it's just us," Ketsueki said as he looked down at the dog in his arms. "Why don't we go see Taka and the others?"

Krümel gave a happy bark as the two went off.

"... Hogo-senpai, are you okay?"

Narasaka glanced to the side to see Kodera looking at Oshiro with a worried look. He had noticed that Oshiro was acting a bit odd as well, but figured it wasn't much to think about since Oshiro would get like that over some of the smallest things.

Kodera on the other hand had been worried about his upperclassman since he seemed to just be staring into space with a frown for a few minutes now. Usually Oshiro would be kind and start up a conversation with Kodera, but that wasn't happening today.

"Hm...? Oh. I'm fine, Shōhei-kun. I was just thinking about..."

"About?"

"About..."

BAM!

"About how terrible I am as a captain!"

Kodera jumped when Oshiro slammed his body onto the ground.

Narasaka just rolled his eyes and muttered something under his breath.

Oshiro started speaking rapidly as tears streamed down his face.

Kodera wasn't sure what to do at this point. He had helped out Oshiro before when he was like this, but it seemed that the older male was just listening to himself talk instead of Kodera trying to sooth him.

Narasaka was much more use to this stuff than Kodera was. That didn't mean he could just let Oshiro continually slam his head into the ground like he was though. No, Narasaka was nice and put some sort of cushion there for his friend.

When he could at least.

"H-Hogo-senpai! It's fine! You aren't a terrible captain!"

"Let me guess. It was Misó again."

Oshiro looked up and nodded his head as some snot could be seen running down his nose.

"Sigh... What happened this time?"

"Well, it happened two days after Border's enlistment day..."

"To your grave I spoke~ Holding a red, red rose~"

"Misó, what the heck are you saying now?"

Misó looked over from his spot on one of the sofas in Hogo Squad's operating room. He had earbuds in both ears and was looking rather bored. That's what kept the other three in the room on guard.

Misó let out a long and drawn out sigh as he rolled over, landing on the ground with a thud. He continued to roll until he reached the door of the room. He stood up and put a hand on the door.

"I'm gonna go out~ Don't worry though~ I'll be back in time for defense duty~"

"Actually, Kirai-kun... I want you to stay in here until we have to go."

"Hey, I made sure to stay in here during the enlistment for the C-Ranks. Let me have some fun again. I'm just gonna go have some fun near the top levels of the base."

"That's even worse. Listen to your captain and stay in here."

Misó's grip on the doorknob increased for a brief second. He let go of the doorknob and turned around with a large smile on his face.

"Don't worry~ Don't worry~ I was just gonna jump from the roof and see how much it would hurt~ Oh~ But of course I mean in my Trion body~ That way I can feel the pain while also surviving! No need to worry~ No need to worry~"

Oshiro got up from his spot on the chair near the sofas and made his way over to Misó. He was careful to keep a good distance from Misó, but was still close enough to do something.

Hitsugi and Kimura also made sure that they would be able to do something if Misó tried anything. They would simply pin him down and wait until he calmed down. They didn't want to see their captain get hurt, so they remained alert.

"Kirai-kun, let's just rest before defense duty. Afterwards I'll even take us out to get something to eat."

"..."

THUD!

Oshiro flinched when his back was met with the door to the operating room.

Misó had quickly grabbed Oshiro and slammed him against the door. He made sure to have a tight grip on his captain's wrist as he held his arm above his head.

"Captain, I thought you were fine with us doing what he wanted? If you're trying to keep me caged in any longer than I'll just have to go to drastic measures. Is that fine with you? I have no problem destroying a few things again."

"After that he left we didn't see him for the rest of the day. He skipped out on defense duty. Although the others weren't particularly complaining about it."

Narasaka clicked his tongue. Misó was one of the few people he really hated with a passion. The other being a certain female sniper.

"Why is that guy even still in Border? I'm pretty sure he causes more casualties than any Neighbor we've fought."

"That may be but... When it comes to taking out those Neighbors, he's actual quite skilled. I'm pretty sure he is still in Border because of his skills."

"That still doesn't justify all the things he does. How he isn't in jail is also a mystery."

Times like these were rather rare when it came to Narasaka. The only times he was like this was when he was talking about his most hated people. Even then he got more upset when it came to Misó than when it was about the certain female Sniper.

Deciding it was better to switch topics, Oshiro started talking about something else.

A boy was taking a nap in the cafeteria after the lunch break was over and everyone should have left. This was rather suspicious since this boy didn't attend any school once arriving in Japan.

"Hey. Hey you. You're fairly conspicuous there."

A male teacher who had happened by yelled at him, but the boy wearing a white short-sleeved shirt did not respond. He had lined up 3 or 4 of the cafeteria chairs and was lying sprawled out on top of them.

Once he had confirmed that the teacher wasn't going to just leave, the boy finally drowsily turned his gaze towards him.

"...The infirmary beds are the best, but you get kicked out of there right away."

"You're taking the life of a student lightly, aren't you?"

"No, not at all. In fact, I love this life."

"Yes, you probably are enjoying what you're doing, but the life of a student isn't one of pure enjoyment. What year are you and what class are you in? I'm going to go call your homeroom tea-"

The male teacher's words were cut off by his phone ringing. He looked annoyed and hit the talk button, but his back straightened at the first word he heard.

"Yes, sir. Yes, sir. I will check on it immediately," he said politely and then hung up.

The boy spoke in an uninterested fashion with his expression still one of drowsiness.

"It seems you have some urgent business."

"Damn it. I'll be calling in another teacher to deal with you. Someone'll be here right away!"

The male teacher left the cafeteria sounding like he had lost but was unwilling to admit it. When the boy told him not to run in the hallway, he received a shout of anger in response.

'Looks like he was at his wit's end. Heh~ So this is what being a student is like over here~'

The boy checked that no one was in the cafeteria and then reached up to the handheld terminal on the table while still lying in the chairs.

The line was already connected.

The boy yawned slightly and spoke towards the terminal.

"Let's get started, old man."

"Get what started?"

"Our dangerous conversation."

The boy's name was Misó Epanástasi.

And the old man on the other end of the handheld terminal was Tenryū Seido.

"I hear things have been getting noisy 'outside' recently," he said, getting down to business.

"As usual, it's a complete mystery where you get your information from. ...I assume you're talking about the Neighbor countries that are close by our own?"

"You should be glad that your 'brain' is so excellent."

"Yes, well you ruin it by digressing so much." Seido sighed in a manner that he would never show others and continued. "What are your thoughts?"

"We should leave it be. They can't do anything we aren't ready for."

"...Do you really think there's an idiot out there who would accept that kind of talk?"

"Sigh. You're quite the petit bourgeois, aren't you?" Misó tapped his temple with his fingers while still lying on the chairs. "You aren't one to care about things that don't particularly concern you. The plan you want to set into motion doesn't rely on attacks from Neighbors. Whether Mikado City is attacked or not doesn't really effect you in any way, right? I suppose they would be more careful, but that would work out better for you, right?"

"Things like that aren't that easy."

"Regardless, it's easy to make things work with information."

As Misó spoke, he reached up to a convenience store bag sitting on the table. In it was a dessert-like sandwich with whipped cream and fruit in it.

"Fine, then. I'll think about this seriously."

"Don't speak with food in your mouth."

"About those countries," continued Misó lying down with his mouth full of sandwich. "It's true that I have heard this and that about which countries will be nearing our orbit withing certain times. Because of this, the directors are getting ready to create any defensises against any attacks. That being said, I'm sure you're smart enough to not get anywhere near this city while things go on as they are."

"...If you knew that, how did you end up with 'We should leave it be. They can't do anything.'?"

"I'm not finished," said Misó bluntly. "Am I correct in assuming that what you're after is a Black Trigger that is currently split in three and not just one single thing?"

"Yes."

"And what you are really worried about are the ones who know of the existence of that Black Trigger that would go about trying to stop you?"

"Yes."

"Then it isn't a problem. Right now, Liberi, Leoforio, Kion and Aftokrator are the ones most likely to make a move. Heh heh. If all four were to attack then we'd have a pretty fun time going at it. However, they can't all attack at the same time. Only the one with the most amount of Black Triggers would bother attacking, since they have a higher chance of succeeding."

"How can you be so sure?" a slightly puzzled Seido asked.

"Because, they will most likely assume that Mikado City only has two Black Triggers when in reality they have four."

"And which would you say is more noteworthy?"

"Not sure. A Black Trigger's use it up to the user. Yūichi using Fujin is dangerous, but Shūji using Fujin is less dangerous. It all depends on the one who has it first."

Misó could hear Seido let out a sigh from the other end, but he didn't care.

"Anyways. This is the last time you'll be hearing from me. And if you don't mind, I'm gonna get going."

"I can only guess what for."

"That's easy. I wanna get rid of my emotions when I'm using my Trigger."

"Isn't that more idiotic? Border has done a test before where they took the emotions away from the agents. Those same agents did worse without their emotions than with them."

"Are you really telling me what happened in the past? Heh~ I know the past and the present. Nah~ I'm gonna get rid of my emotions so that I can properly focus on crushing the enemy and leave nothing left."

A click could be heard. Misó now had no one to talk to. He just sat there in the cafeteria of a school he didn't even belong to.

He sat there with a rather sinister grin in place.

The date was Januray 15th.

It was five days before Mikado City's Border would have to defend their city from a strong opposing force.

One person saw that future.

Another person calculated that future.

A third person would make that future happen.