"Saho was what?!"

Kitora nodded gravely as she briskly walked from Arashiyama's house.

"I don't know if I can take much more of this…" his mother sighed, putting her face in her hands. "Jun was one thing, he wanted to be a hero and be put in harm's way...but my Saho…"

"Netsuki-san was in here earlier," Haruka murmured, "I'll go get him and—"

"No," Arashiyama's father stated, "There's no way they'd go after her."

"...Why do you think that?" the operator asked, "I mean, she's Arashiyama-kun's—"

"You overestimate how much your boss actually cares," his mother sighed, "We didn't hear about our Jun being hospitalized until it was on the news...they'll just throw a sob story at us about how Jun couldn't save her…"

"...she really said that?"

"Well remember that whole ordeal with that B-rank agent after the invasion?" his father asked "You can't tell they weren't trying to pin the invasion on him—that's exactly the type of sneaky maneuvering Border would do…"

Kitora's comms fell silent for a moment. "What are you going to do then?"

"I know it's a lot to ask," his mother murmured, "but...I don't think that Border will want to expend the energy to save her."

"...Y-you can't be serious," Haruka stammered, "What could you possibly do? Do you have any leads?"

Kitora bit her lip, trying to get her thoughts in order. "...I think it was those neighbors from Tharsis—the ones who kidnapped Mikumo-kun and attacked that hospital."

"W-what?!" Haruka exclaimed, "That's even more reason to—"

"You don't understand," Kitora grit out, "They're not going to send Mikumo-kun or me there because they don't want to risk them getting the side-effect—Dr. Mariposa's terms were to not let them—"

"Why would they send you?"

Kitora stopped in her tracks. She'd said to much.

"Ai-chan…" Haruka whispered, "Don't tell me…"

"...Tell Mitsuru-senpai I'm sorry," Kitora stated, taking a shuddering breath. "I'm so, so sorry…"

"Does he know about this already?" the operator asked quietly, "Or am I the first person you told?"

"I...told him literally earlier today," Kitora admitted, "That's when I finally used the side-effect...I was going to tell you, I swear—"

She took a shaky breath, forcing her tears back. Now is not the time to freak out.

"Ai-chan…" Haruka sighed, "Why would you do that to yourself? And with such a dangerous side effect…"

"...I'm sorry, Haruka-chan," The ace murmured, "But I had no other choice—"

"Of course you did," Haruka interrupted sternly, "No one forced you to do it like they forced Mikumo-kun to…"

There was a long pause, followed by a quiet, "...right?"

"...you're right," Kitora murmured, "I made this decision by myself—and now I'm going to save Saho."

"And just how do you plan on doing that?" Haruka asked, "You don't even know if they were the same people who kidnapped Mikumo-kun—and even if they were, what will you do?"

"If I have to, kill them," Kitora stated, "Arashiyama did the same for me."

"...is that what this is about, Ai?" Haruka asked, "You know Arashiyama-senpai doesn't blame you, right? None of us do."

I know you're feeling guilty about killing Polilla and want to make up for it, but you don't have to kill yourself in the process!

"I blame myself," Kitora gritted out, "You have no idea what it's like Haruka. Watching the people around me do all the dirty work—what kind of ace am I if I can't do anything?!"

She heard sniffing on the other line, then a deep breath. "...I get it," she said finally, "I guess I'm spending the night here."

That yook Kitora off guard. "W-what?" Haru—"

"Ai you're literally about to do something Mikumo-kun would do," she deadpanned, "Let me decrease the likelihood of you meeting his fate."

"I…"

Try as she might, she couldn't for the life of her prove her wrong. Going against the rules was a core aspect of Mikumo's personality, and it certainly wasn't something she'd normally do—hell, the fact that she kept thinking herself in circles was telling enough.

"Call Mitsuru-senpai," Kitora murmured, "He's the...captain, after all."

"...right," Haruka agreed, "maybe he can talk you out of this nonsense...or at least provide back up."

Kitora snorted. "Maybe he can help cover me when I'm getting chewed out."

"I'll call him now," Haruka said with a chuckle, "And...good luck."

"Thanks," Kitora murmured as she faced the park Fuku mentioned, "I'll need it."

Yuma sighed as he walked through the doors of Tamakoma, feeling conflicted.

He was debating whether or not to confront Osamu about Kitora's decision to leave her squad over his Side-Effect, but something told him to talk to Jin first—however it seemed like the power elite was avoiding him like the plague lately, so that seemed hopeless. It made the neighbor wonder if he saw how the conversation would turn out and didn't want to bother.

Don't die.

...no promises.

"Oh, Kuga-kun!" Shiori greeted while holding a platter of cookies, "You just missed dinner, but at least you're just in time for these delicious cookies—they need a second to cool off though!"

"Thanks," Yuma answered, "I was wondering where Jin was."

"Oh...you just missed him too," Shiori said, setting the platter down on the counter. "He's back at HQ—I assume that's where you came from, right?"

Of course… "Yeah, I just got back from there," he said, "What about Osamu?"

"He just went up to the roof," Shiori answered, pulling out another platter of cookies. "He was just talking to Chika, but…"

Her face became troubled as she averted her gaze. "He seemed upset about something...and when I offered cookies he ignored me."

"I'll talk to him," he promised, "After I say hi to Chika real quick."

"Of course, of course," Shiori said, setting the platter down and grabbing a third from the oven. "She's still got a little fever, but she's doing better—"

"Wait," Yuma interrupted, "Shiori, how many cookies did you make?"

"I, uh...messed up the recipe a few too many times," she replied sheepishly, "The original one called for a dozen, and I accidentally made four…"

Yuma raised an eyebrow when Shiori pulled a fourth platter from the oven. "So...we have plenty of cookies now!"

"...Good to know," Yuma chuckled in amusement, turning to leave. "Don't let Reiji see them though, he may get upset."

"Too late for that!" she laughed as he went up the stairs, "He already scolded me!"

Yuma hummed quietly to himself, opening the door to Chika's room. "Hi Chi—"

He stopped short when he heard sniffling. "...ka…?"

"O-oh! Hi Yuma…" Chika stammered, wiping her face. "I-I'm still sick, so y-you shouldn't get too close…"

"I could be standing a mile away and notice you're crying," Yuma said, grabbing a box of tissues off the nightstand and offering it to his teammate. "Shiori-senpai said Osamu-kun was in here earlier...he didn't make you cry, did he?"

"O-of course not!" Chika denied, before blowing her nose. "N-not directly, anyway…"

Yuma waited patiently as he offered another tissue, Chika nodding in thanks as she wiped her face. "I...I'm worried about him," she murmured, "Ever since Kitora decided to use Osamu-kun's side-effect, he seems…off."

"He's certainly become even more reckless than before," Yuma agreed, "But he's still a sucker for those in need. He just needs a break."

Chika giggled quietly, then sniffled again. "Last time we took a break he got kidnapped."

Suddenly it felt like a huge weight just dropped on his shoulders. "I'm sorry."

Chika cocked her head to the side, not comprehending. "For what?" she asked, "If anything, I should be tha—"

"I was there," he admitted finally, averting his gaze. "That day...when Osamu-kun was kidnapped. Jin had told me about his vision before it even happened, and I was tempted to change it—even though it would've spelled disaster for Meeden."

It was pretty ironic in Yuma's opinion—

he got his father killed by being too reckless, but then almost got his captain killed by being too cautious. He normally prided himself in his battle prowess, but it was times like these when he remembered why he followed Osamu in the first place.

"...You didn't think it was a sign for you to save us, did you?" Chika asked dubiously, "Maybe it had to come to you naturally, instead of him telling you to—"

"But it didn't," Yuma interrupted, "If it was a test, I failed. I shouldn't have taken him so seriously and went with my instincts, like I told him to do…"

"...Let's say you did save us," Chika murmured, "Dr. Mariposa would have just found someone else to give their side-effect—and if it was just another civilian, they probably would have less of a chance to escape. Either way, we can't go back and change what already happened—we can only worry about now."

Yuma blinked as he studied Chika carefully. She had sat up while she was talking, and while her face was still flushed with a fever and her voice sounded congested, she seemed more alert than she was earlier.

"...You're right," Yuma murmured with a small smile, "You said it yourself—we've got to be strong for Osamu-kun."

Chika nodded as she beamed at him. "...hold out your pinky."

Yuma raised an eyebrow, but held out his hand nonetheless. "For what?"

Chika held out her own pinky and crossed it with Yuma's. "I pinky promise that I will be strong for Osamu-kun."

The white-haired boy finally realized what was happening. "Oh, this must be a Meeden promise ritual!" he exclaimed, returning the gesture. "I also pinky promise that I will be strong for Osamu-kun."

"Or else I'll swallow a thousand needles," Chika added, nodding in determination.

"Or else what?" Yuma asked incredulously, eyes wide with confusion. "Is that another figure of speech, or…?"

"It's just a figure of speech," Chika chuckled, "You won't actually have to swallow needles."

"Oh, that's good," Yuma chuckled, "Then I pinky promise, else I swallow a thousand needles."

The two of them shook their pinkies, and Yuma felt the weight fall off his shoulders ever so slightly.

Tokieda Mitsuru was calm.

He had to be. Especially now since he was taking Arashiyama Jun's position as captain until he wakes up—and he knew that was a big pair of shoes to fill. He was—is—more than just a unit captain; he's a caring mentor and friend to almost everyone he knew, as well a a charming presence that held everyone's attention whenever he was on TV. Everyone was naturally drawn to him, and he seemed to have a special knack for bringing everyone together.

That's why he ignored his urge to kick his teammate out of his house and wallow in self-pity with his cats like he planned to.

"Wow, when you explain it it makes so much more sense!" Satori exclaimed, marveling at his homework. "You should tutor me more often!"

"Teaching helps it click for me too," Mitsuru agreed, "Maybe if you had asked me earlier in the semester, you wouldn't be almost failing."

And if I had asked about Kitora's feelings earlier, we'd still have an ace in our team.

Mitsuru closed his eyes tighty, forcing tears back. He was standing right there when she declared her intentions, and what had he done to stop it? Nothing, that's what—he noticed quite early on that Kitora had started avoiding him like the plague, but he pretended not to notice. Even when Chief Netsuki said that Kitora wouldn't be in that press conference for "personal reasons" he pretended that it was nothing. He didn't try to look for her, talk her out of it, nothing.

A part of him wondered if Kitora wanted them to all be together when she broke the news of her...situation, but he just couldn't stomach the thought of their team falling apart even more than it already has. It was already unbearable with Arashiyama teetering on the brink of death—he didn't think he could live with himself if anything happened to Kitora too, especially since it would be his fault.

That's not fair, he chided himself, Kitora shouldn't have to hold her problems in just because I'm scared…

"Yo, Tokieda-kun," Satori said, snapping his fingers in front of his face and ripping him out of his thoughts. "What's wrong? You've been sitting there with your eyes closed for almost five minutes."

"It's...nothing," he lied, averting his gaze back to his work. "I'm fine."

Satori set down his pencil and leaned back, crossing his arms with a raised eyebrow.

It's no good, Mitsuru thought despairingly, refusing to lift his eyes. Whenever Satori got like this, it took nothing short of a miracle for even Arashiyama himself to make him budge. Worse still, if he goes to ask Kitora about it he'll wonder why Mitsuru hid it from him—and hiding things from him was the very last thing he wanted to do right now.

"...Kitora-kun is...she's…" The crushing feeling grew, making it difficult to breath.

"Let me guess," Satori murmured, "It has to do with whatever Mikumo-kun is going through, doesn't it?"

"Yeah…" Tokieda forces himself to take a deep breath. "...she…managed to acquire Mikumo-kun's side-effect."

He saw Ken slowly but surely start to stiffen as the gears turned in his head. "Um…why?"

"Because I...was stupid," Tokieda murmured, "She's been doing tests with Kinuta-san, and is the only one other than Mikumo-kun that can use it—and you know what that means."

Ken was quiet for a moment, no doubt the weight of his words finally falling on him. "If it's treated like a black trigger, she'll have to leave, won't she?"

There it is.

He had never said it out loud, but now that it was spoken there was no way to deny it. He pushed her away for good.

I made my choice.

"I can't do this, Ken…" he whispered, "I'm not Arashiyama-senpai… it hasn't even been a month and everything's already falling apart…"

"...You're right," Ken said, "You're not Arashiyama-senpai."

Tokieda's head snapped up to the other blonde, not expecting him to agree. "W-wha—"

"You," Ken interrupted, "are Mitsuru Tokieda. You may be filling in for Arashiyama-senpai, but no one's expecting you to be him."

"But...I could've stopped her," Tokieda protested, "I could've prevented this—she's putting her through so much unnecessary pain—"

"But you know why you didn't stop her?" Ken asked, "Because you know deep down Kitora is too stubborn for you to change her mind, just like Arashiyama-senpai was too stubborn to listen to us at the hospital. In the end it's her decision, and nothing you could have said would've swayed it."

"But...I should have at least tried," Tokieda insisted, "I...I…"

"Hey," Ken said sternly, "Yeah, it sucks that Kitora will be gone, but you can't beat yourself up over it. And I bet Arashiyama-senpai would understand—"

"Would he?" Tokieda demanded, suddenly getting angry again. "I made his sacrifice pointless! He's going to look me in the eye and ask why I couldn't protect her like he did!"

"Kitora's our ace, remember?" Ken reminded him, "Don't get me wrong, I also think it's a stupid idea. But what matters is that Kitora-kun can and will take care of herself. Sure she may not be a part of our team officially, but she's still our friend. She's strong, remember?"

Tokieda sighed in defeat, the crushing feeling in his chest not going away. "...yeah," he muttered lifelessly, suddenly feeling extremely tired.

Sensing his resignation, Ken took his hand. "Look at me."

When Tokieda hesitated, his team mate sighed. "Tokieda-kun. Look at me."

Realizing that Ken wouldn't leave until he did, Tokieda lifted his head. "What?"

"It's okay," he said, shifting over so he was shoulder to shoulder with his teammate. "It's just me here. You don't have to act tough."

He felt a hand guide his head to Ken's shoulder, and the crushing feeling in his chest broke as tears suddenly flowed down his face. "This is all my fault…" he sobbed, "I could've talked Arashiyama-senpai out of being reckless, I could have talked Kitora-kun out of being reckless…I'm so sorry…"

"Arashiyama-senpai probably thinks this is a net positive," Ken admitted, "He still saved plenty of people, even if it incapacitated him, and Kitora-kun…"

He trailed off, and Tokieda felt him sigh. "She's probably feeling the same way as you," he murmured, "Especially after what happened with Mikumo-kun…she's our ace after all, and she probably feels useless after watching two people rescue her like that when she's one of the few people who can actually do anything."

"...I don't blame her," Tokieda said softly, "I blame myself."

"At least you were there to try," Ken answered dryly, "I bailed out before I even had a chance to fight back."

Tokieda lifted his head in shock. "Ken—"

"I know what you're gonna say," he interrupted, "'It's not your fault,' I know that. I also know this whole trigger thing is way bigger than just us. It's just…so aggravating just having all this...this shit happen to us and not being able to do anything about it."

"That...really is the crux of the problem isn't it?" Tokieda laughed wistfully, "That's why Arashiyama-senpai let himself fall apart...and why Kitora-kun decided to take Mikumo-kun's side-effect, isn't it?"

"I know I would if I was her," Ken admitted with a shrug. "Hell, I would now."

"Same here," Tokieda agreed, "If only our team wouldn't be separated…"

"...I have an idea," Ken said suddenly, "We're the face of Border. Everyone already loves Kitora-kun, and well…"

Tokieda winced at Ken's troubled expression. "What if we told them that if she doesn't stay with us, we walk?"

"Wha—are you crazy?!" Tokieda demanded, "W-we can't just—"

"I figured you'd say that," Ken chuckled, laying down on the ground and stretching. "It's a really dumb idea, I know—it's just…"

His smile faded as he stared up at the ceiling. "I don't think Border really notices how badly everything has been turned on it's head. Just the other day Netsuki-san called us 'Mitsuru squad' in front of everyone like that was an okay thing to do."

Tokieda nodded in agreement, also laying down. "Arashiyama-senpai isn't even in critical condition," he muttered, "It was so hard forcing myself to not correct him…"

"With your words or your fists?" Ken joked, making Tokieda snort.

"With my words, obvio—" he was cut off by his phone vibrating on his textbook.

He sat up, rubbing his eyes. "Ayatsuji-san…?" he murmured, prompting Ken to sit up as well.

"Well don't just sit there," Ken chided, "Answer it!"

Tokieda did just that, taking a deep breath. "Hello—?"

"Ai-chan is about to do something stupid," Ayatsuji deadpanned, "Help her or stop her—preferably the latter."

"What happened?" Tokieda demanded, suddenly remembering Ken was right next to him. "Hold on, Ken is still here, so I'm going on speaker."

"Hey…" Ken greeted uneasily, "What's—"

"Saho's been kidnapped by neighbors," Kitora interrupted, "Arashiyama-san—senpai's mom—she asked me to look into it personally rather than go to Border."

"Do you have any leads?" Mitsuru questioned glancing at Ken worriedly.

"I...have a feeling it could have been those neighbors from Tharsis," the brunette murmured, "but I don't have any leads…"

"What about Shimatose Park?" Ken suggested, "That would make the most sense to start at."

"Where the hell is that?" Kitora asked, "I've never heard of it before."

Ken raised an eyebrow at Mitsuru, who shook his head. "I have no clue either."

"That's the park Mikumo-kun went missing at," Haruka supplied, "You didn't know that?"

"What would we even look for…?" Kitora muttered, "And if it is those neighbors—"

"We have you," Ken answered cheerfully, "We'd be fine!"

An awkward silence fell like an anvil between them, making Mitsuru's chest constrict.

"Wait...you told him?" Kitora stammered, "I...I'm so—"

"I get it," Ken waved off, "we have bigger things to worry about."

"She just told me," Haruka added, "So we're all caught up I guess…"

Arashiyama-senpai doesn't know… Tokieda thought with a wince. "Either way, I don't think this is a good idea," he admitted, "We don't know enough—for all we know, we could be walking into an ambush with them using Saho as bait. We need more information, and unfortunately that means going to HQ."

Kitora sighed. "That makes sense…" she replied, "I'll make my way back to HQ then."

There was a faint click as Kitora hung up.

"...So," Ken said, "any of us gonna address the giant elephant in the room?"

Mitsuru turned away from the phone, picking up his textbook. "We've got work to do," he said flatly.

"Satori-kun is right," Ayatsuji insisted, "We have to talk about—"

She stopped suddenly, prompting the two boys to lean towards the phone. "...Ayatsuji-kun?" Ken asked, "...you there?"

"...She's gone," Ayatsuji whispered, "S-she was in her trion form for a second, and now she's gone!"