Suzume set foot on the ground after ruling off of the mat in Kotowari Squad's operating room.
She had been forced to Bail Out after a strong attack, but she gave no indication that she minded. She watched as Nakagami continued to look over the screen in front of her. Unlike Mei, she could not use the multiple screen put in place, so only the one directly in front of her was being used.
"Nn…"
She stretched and then spoke to no one in particular.
"It's honestly been a while since I've been taken down like that. I never actually like dealing with Shooters if I can help it since they can do trashy things like that."
Someone spoke to her as she removed her jacket.
It was Takeshi.
The boy had been taken out only seconds after she had been defeated and he raised a hand from the mat he landed on.
"Are you okay, Senpai? I didn't think that two of us would be taken out so soon."
"Hurrying things won't make this go by any faster. I will honestly admit that I didn't plan for both of us to get taken out like that, but that's just how things go."
"Do you think this will be a long match?"
Takehsi stopped just before and Suzume nodded.
"When people this strong gather, each battle will wreak havoc no matter the location. But this particular location puts a limit on how much everyone can move around to begin with. And…"
And…
"Later on, anyone who finds an advantageous position on that kind of location will use it however they like."
"…So we need to take a position from someone and go from there now?"
"No." Suzume smiled. "Once the fight has gotten to this point, we will see some more technical moves. While our last two teammates honestly have no need to worry about friendly fire now, the others will need to make sure they don't end up attacking themselves. …So about halfway through this match, I expect some individuals - and perhaps the entire battle - will call for a temporary cease-fire. …And that is what I am honestly worried about."
"…So you don't think those two will be able to take out enough fights before that happens?"
"If I thought that they couldn't manage that much, I would not have agreed to this plan in the first place. Good grief," said Suzume. "I wanted to go all out from the very beginning, but I couldn't do much since I needed to follow Nrasaka's orders here."
Suzume began walking in the middle of her statement.
And once she passed Takeshi by…
"Are you going to watch from up close now?"
"Takeshi, do you feel lighter now that you have been taken out?"
"Why does it matter if I do or not? Since I've been taken out, I need to help however I can over here. Your Side Effect is also limited to if you can see what's going on, so feel free to take a break."
"Being a squad captain honestly doesn't seem to be worth the hassle. …Now, you asked if I was okay, didn't you? Let's go."
"Wait!" Takeshi moved to catch up to her. "I said that you could take a break!"
"Foolish captain. I got taken out early on. That means I have no reason to take a break. Instead, we need to make sure those other two work so hard that they ask for a break."
"You plan to still guide them even without being there? What about your limits?"
"My Side Effect works with my own senses to witness what is going on, so I can't do anything too precise. So it's rather useless in this kind of situation. Of course, there is a different way to use it here, but I don't feel like telling you that."
"You can be kind of scary at times, Senpai…"
"I'm just an honest girl. Besides…"
Suzume gave a "heh heh heh" of laughter.
"On occasion, it is nice to show off for only your loved ones. Don't you think?"
That question brought Takeshi to a stop and Suzume reached a hand out to him.
Suzume rubbed the gray hair on that long haired head and laughed in her throat again.
"Heh heh heh… I'm honestly glad you're worried here."
"Of course I am."
Takeshi sounded exasperated as he walked ahead of Suzume.
Suzume followed behind him with a light step.
Without looking back to confirm if she was following him, Takeshi fixed his scarf to make sure his voice could reach both girls in the room.
"Let's go. We still need to help those two. …I figured something out after I got shot in the head. If you're right, and it aligns with my thoughts, we might be in trouble if we don't hurry and get ourselves some good points."
"Huh?"
Taichi looked down at the place he had fired for a third time now.
He could tell that his target had managed to dodge the second and third shots. From his position, it appeared to have happened instantly and a bit remotely.
Mitsuteru had seemed to turn off Bagworm when moving away from the attack.
But there was no sensible reason to do so.
"Why is he showing himself off!? Isn't he supposed to just be a support type!?"
No one answered his question. The situation simply continued with time.
And despite Taichi's question, he heard more noise coming from the distance.
Those had to be gunfire attacks. The reverberating noise bouncing off of the buildings were hard to make out with all the blowing wind obscuring it, but Taichi was a Sniper. He had been taught how to hear the difference and he could at least tell the amount of times bullets had been fired. His captain, who happened to be a Gunner, had made sure he could do that much while waiting.
The sound did not stop. With each consecutive attack, more lights filled the distance. And…
"Are you serious?"
The next thing he knew, more lights appeared to light up the night.
...What is he doing?
The new lights were coming from where he had fired, but there should be no reason for those to appear. So why would there be any lights there?
Kuru-ma: "It looks like he's about to use a Shooter-type! Be careful, Taichi!"
Black Wolf: "The urgency in your tone might actually make him freeze, Kuruma-senpai."
Kuru-ma: "Eh? But if I'm not urgent then it might make him think that it's not important. Anyway, he probably added it into his set this match. He doesn't look like he's used to firing anything other than a Sniper rifle. I want to fire at him, but he might end up tossing that thing haphazardly. That wouldn't be good for anyone."
Knowing his captain was safe brought relief .
…But still.
How was he supposed to deal with this?
But Kuruma kept talking while oblivious to how he felt.
Kuru-ma: "Something has been bothering me about some of the people we're fighting. For now, Taichi, just try to get out of range of the attack. He might trace back the previous shots to your location, so be careful on how you move."
Black Wolf: "Where would it even be good to go?"
Kuru-ma: "Ah. That's true."
Taichi looked round as he listened.
Moving around the buildings meant going over the narrow spaces that seemed to gather wind into them at set intervals.
The wind had recently died down, but the breeze coming through could be felt even from the top of the building.
…So is he going to fire?
As he thought that, a flash shot through the pitch black.
The brightness and size told him that the Meteora shot had yet to be fired. Instead, Ibis had been fired and destroyed the edge of the building.
Pieces of the edge of the roof flew into the air upon impact.
Taichi counted himself lucky for having already moved away from the edge. Getting taken out now would put his work to waste.
Taicchi: "Oh, I get it! He doesn't fully know where I am yet! He's holding off on firing Meteora because of that!"
Mi-Kon: "But he was close to hitting you there. He's also traced back your shots and fired one of his own, so you should get moving now. The other two don't have time to fire at Ariake-kun since they are being lookouts for you to fire on him. So…"
So…
Mi-Kon: "If we want to make it a short-term battle, we need you to take out Meishō Squad's main form of support. You caught him off guard before and he let go of Bagworm, so this would be your only chance."
"Then," said another voice.
Black Wolf: "Should we just leave him over here and move on to someone else? Without Bagworm, he's more open than ever. The distance from the last fight also isn't that great. Ninomiya-san might get here while we wait things out."
Taicchi: "Kō-san, from what I saw, he was moving closer to the other fight instead of over here. …Ah! I can see you two now!"
"Oh?" continued Taichi while looking at his teammates.
The two of them had been relaying where to fire on Mitsuteru the whole time, but now he understood just how close they were to the upperclassman. It was still extremely dark, and the flash from Ibis was a dead giveaway, but even those were not needed to see where they were.
If they wanted, they could have also begun firing on Mitsuteru to gain a point.
Mi-Kon: "Do you get it now, Taichi? They can't move from their spot just yet."
"Oh," said Taichi when he figured it out.
If they came out of hiding, they ran the risk of Mitsuteru's teammates finding them. The remaining two had not been spotted yet, so that left them as unknowns at the moment.
And if they rushed both of them while Mitsuteru currently had an explosive next to him, they would only end up losing something to them.
To respond, they would need an extra piece to be able to counter against anything that came at them from a distance.
That put him on the frontline.
Mi-Kon: "Can't we just blast the Meteora before he fires it?"
Black Wolf: "Bad idea. That would only give away our location and might even get us caught up in the explosion if we aren't fast enough."
Mi-Kon: "Whose side are you on, Kō-kun?"
Black Wolf: "I'm on the current situation's side. Please just calm down a little, Kon-chan."
Murakami's words helped Taichi relax his own shoulders.
He could really feel the experience Murakami had.
…Still, it's incredible.
He was only two years older than him, but he could follow the flow of the battle and he had fought multiple fierce battles already without assistance.
He wondered if he would be on that level in another two years. Or…
Kuru-ma: "Taichi! To your right!"
Just as Kuruma's words reached him, Taichi sensed a small light.
It did not come from the place Mitsuteru had set himself at.
Nor did it come from where the previous battle had been fought.
It was a much smaller but quite distinct light. It came from…
…The big fight!?
"What is Suzunari doing just sitting there!?"
Akane raised her voice while looking up at the large screen displaying the current match.
She also pointed toward the side of the screen where a large battle was happening.
"Taichi managed to score a hit on Ariake-senpai, so they should take the initiative here, right!? But they're hiding right now!"
"That's right," said Kumagai while crossing her arms.
Something occurred to Akane upon seeing Kumagai's breasts resting on her arms.
…Oh, I didn't realize her boobs were that big!
She was surprised to find this such a surprise.
Their size was hard to miss, so how had she managed to miss it before?
…Because of Mogami-san!
That woman had given her an impression that older women had extraordinary specs, so she must have lost sight of what the average really was. That was bad. That was the same as becoming so accustomed to expert techniques that she let ordinary techniques catch her off guard. Probably.
"Anyway, to get back on topic, why are they just standing there?"
"Well." Kumagai nodded with a perfectly serious look on her face. "I will ask someone real quick."
Zaki: "Jin, put it down! Put! It! Down! Now! Gah!"
"That was a bad idea."
"K-Kumagai-senpai, don't give-up so quickly!"
"Sticking with that idea would only lead to confusion."
"Fair enough," said Akane while noticing the fight going on.
"K-Kumagai-senpai! Who else can we ask!?"
"Um, Rei?"
"Sorry, I'm trying to do some touch ups on something here. Teruya-chan, you handle it."
"If you insist," said Teruya. "But I'm going to write it down so we can also listen to the commentary. Is that fine with you two?"
The two Nasu Squad members nodded their heads, Teruya doing the same.
Leagues Above: "I imagine it's about snuffing out the rest of their opponents. Look around the map."
.
Kumagai looked around the screen at each member fighting.
And she noticed something.
"All members of each squad have gone into battle at some point. All except for one."
The captain of Meishō Squad had yet to even be seen by any of the fighters. The second Sniper of the squad had fired before, so he had technically already joined the fight.
Leagues Above: "This is Meishō Squad's plan: Use their best from the start so that they can thin the herd before someone stronger comes in to fight."
Mad Hatter: "But is that really enough to win this match!?"
Leagues Above: "It is. Or rather…they probably set things up this way for precisely this reason."
"You see," continued Nasu as she joined the conversation anyway.
The sigh in her voice was obvious. She was not a fan of this tactic.
Leagues Above: "They have only been using Ariake and Shigenaga-san for offense in this match so far. In other words, they are dragging things out while keeping the other teams unaware of their other two members."
Kuma: "You mean they want to go for the entire match?"
Leagues Above: "Yes, like stalling out. So their opponents wear down for their other two members to gain points. This is nothing to worry about for people with a lot of trion, but it also puts everyone on a timer. Since they have been in the mid tier for a while now, stalling out even that much should count as a win for them. In a way, it's more of a personal win that could lead to an official win."
Also…
Leagues Above: "Those other two members create a problem for Suzunari in particular."
"After all," Teruya said without turning away from the screen.
Leagues Above: "They now run the risk of being spotted and attacked."
This is actually bad.
Kuruma held up his rifle while looking around the corner of a building.
The narrow space he stood in was starting to fill back up with wind as time went on.
In the open space, Mitsuteru had yet to fire the Meteora at his side.
We're held in place here. At first it was fine since we could tell Taichi where to fire, but now we can't move or we'll be found out. Him having that Meteora at the ready also stops us from firing. But this wind is going to force us out if we let it build up.
They could manage a distance gunfire and block using Murakami's Raygust, but it would draw the attention of everyone around them.
So what could be done here?
Black Wolf: "Kuruma-senpai, we need to move. Even if we get everyone's attention, we need to take him out and get out of here. …Or at least try."
Kuru-ma: "That's true, but…"
Who would you be doing that for?
It was natural to think he wanted the point in order to win the match, or just so they wouldn't lose badly.
But that didn't feel right.
Something was off about the entire situation, but that had not seemed to slow anyone down in the slightest.
It actually feels like things are being sped up. Our situation is bad, but Kō is rushing things here. And it's not just him. Ninomiya taking out two people felt like he was rushing through his fight too.
Why would they want that?
Stalling out a match would be bad for them, but hastening it would only make room for mistakes.
And yet two top members of their respective positions were trying to race through the match for some reason.
Kuruma gave a sigh through his nose.
Now was not the time to think about those things.
Instead, his thoughts should be focused on what was in front of him.
Kuru-ma: "Alright, we will go for it. But attacking the Meteora seems like a better option here. Kō, I'll be relying on you to block the blast while I fire directly at Ariake."
Black Wolf: "Understood."
Kuru-ma: "Taichi, you can be the one to fire at the Meteora. If that doesn't take him out then the gunfire will."
Taicchi: "Got it! Should be easy enough since the thing is so bright!"
"Wait…"
Kuruma widened his eyes as he realized something.
Murakami was getting in place while Taichi would be moving into position.
If it gives off a massive glow that Taichi can see the area around it then it should have been enough to attract others. In which case…
"Guess we got found out."
He turned on his heel and brought up a Shield.
Multiple bullets struck the shield.
Upon impact they burst and caused smoke to fill the entire narrow space.
Kuru-ma: "They were using the Meteora as a signal! Taichi, fire-!"
Without any warning, Kuruma felt his body start to drag towards the floor.
The weight of his arm had been raised to the point that he could not keep himself upright anymore.
Lead Bullets!?
A flash of light came from behind them as the wind continued to pick up in the narrow space.
It blew through the tight alleyway and blew away the smoke that had been created by the first round of shots.
There was nothing after the sniper fire.
Taichi had missed.
He felt the weight of his arm lessen substantially after Murakami had run up to cut off the appendage.
Black Wolf: "What now? This place is bad for us since he can fire more Lead Bullets at us!"
Kuru-ma: "We'll move back from here! It's better if we go face off against Ariake for the moment! Just make sure you're on full guard!"
More black bullets came at them from the other end of the narrow space.
Thinking quickly, Kuruma lifted his rifle to take the attacks.
Before he could feel the weight added on to the rifle, he dropped it while bringing out a second one.
A voice soon came after doing so.
"Kuruma-san, you get it. We're weak people compared to a lot of people here. Isn't that right?"
.
The voice echoed through the narrow space, making it difficult to tell just where it was coming from.
The one it belonged to was clear though.
Meishō Squad Captain Meishō Seiji.
"We need help when it comes to fighting. Like right now. You needed Kō-kun's help, and like when you fought Shigeko. You needed him for defense that time too. But you are better at actually leading your squad than I am, so you have that over me. But…"
Seiji's voice began to become more clear as he went on.
It echoed around them before starting to gather in a single location.
Murakami was the first to react by moving in front of him.
"One of my teammates kind of wants some revenge on some people here. One of those people is the one defending you right now. So I only plan to defeat Kō-kun."
At the other end of the narrow space stood a single figure.
His posture was straight and the hands holding guns were aimed directly at them.
Kuruma felt himself freeze for a moment at the tone he had just heard.
There was no hint of joking in it and he only spoke as if truly angered by something. The normally relaxed and smooth voice was filled with something indescribable that would have made his blood run cold if not for being in a tiron body.
Then that figure began to open his mouth again.
"Just kidding~"
The next thing that happened felt like a blur.
A powerful light filled his vision as Murakami moved forward to block it.
The shot crashed into Raygust with a great amount of force that it seemed to crack the defense formed Trigger.
But it did not break.
Raygust remained intact and Murakami held strong.
Kuruma looked from the figure to Murakami to confirm that what he had heard had not been a mistake.
"Kō-"
Then a second shot came.
As powerful as the second one and just as heavy, it broke through Raygust with less resistance this time.
Using the cracks that had formed as a target, the shot had shattered the entire Trigger as it moved on to take off Murakami's arm.
"Gotcha with that one! Tsu isn't the only one who can fire back-to-back Ibis shots! Thanks for not going Full Guard or that would have been pretty embarrassing for me!"
2Truths1Lie: "Good shot there, Shinichi-kun."
"My talents aren't wasted, you know! I'll make sure to get us a point by taking out a fellow fourth!"
Asagi smiled to himself with Ibis already positioned for another shot.
Firing now may get them another point, but it would guarantee that he would be traced from it.
The first two shots had been easy enough to cover with the wind funneling through the narrow space and Seiji covering him, but a third shot would make it so that those factors did not matter as much.
So he would wait.
Daybreak: "Sorry for holding you back like this, Shinichi-kun. I know you would prefer the other fight over this one."
"It's fine. Nana would probably get on my case if I was over there anyway. Besides, this gives me a chance to join in on a fight with two other Snipers! Although…you don't really look like a Sniper right now, Tsu!"
Daybreak: "Hahaha. Yeah, I really am just that pathetic, aren't I?"
That's not what I said!
It was a bad habit for his friend to be self deprecating when taking charge. While it didn't happen often, the times it did were the times this side of him showed.
Compared to the rest of them, he was the most susceptible to this.
I'm pretty much at my best at all times. Nana is too self disciplined to feel that way. Sei is pretty laid back. Kaka is…well, he's weird in his own right. But Tsu kinda just takes it at face value when leading.
He was a normal person after all.
Expecting extraordinary things from him would put pressure and tension on him that would only degrade him.
This match had already deviated from what he had planned, but that did not seem to put any more tension on him than normal. It was something that Asagi found strange, but did not question.
Any questions could come after the match.
If his friend could remain focused on the match with how normal he was then it was up to the abnormal ones of the team to make sure he could reach the end.
"Right! Next shot will be a point for us!"
Seiji watched as Kuruma and Murakami began to move back.
The wind was still building up in the narrow space, but they had chosen to move towards Mitsuteru and his Meteora instead of towards him.
In comparison, he was the best choice to move towards due to being pretty weak compared to his teammates, but right now he had his squad's second Sniper right behind him.
I'm pretty weak, but Shigeko and Shinichi are strong. But we only have one support. So what happens when that support decides to stop being a support?
This was a showing for all of them.
One of the most normal people in this match had just taken a step outside of that normal world.
He gave a quiet laugh as he moved away from the narrow space.
"It's pretty scary."
Looking up at the pitch black sky, he noticed something.
"Oh? I guess it's time for that then."
A loud sound rang out in the area as the ground shook violently.
The light from the other side of the narrow spaces was no longer there.
"He fired, huh?"
Daybreak: "Kanji-kun, please get everything ready."
Feeling Alive: "Will do."
Daybreak: "Shigeko, please start moving now."
Shige-ko: "Fine."
Daybreak: "Shinichi-kun, you are free to do as you please."
One: "Got it!"
Daybreak: "Seiji-san?"
He gave another laugh at what he had heard.
2Truths1Lie: "Yes?"
Daybreak: "Thanks for putting up with this. I'll make sure to make it up to all of you afterwards."
"There's no need for that. This has been pretty fun to be a part of."
Facing Border's #4 Attacker without worry of getting taken out was something amazing.
Being in a match with Border's #1 Shooter was also noteworthy.
There were just so many things that made it worth the trouble of following through a quickly made plan.
"Even my acting got to be useful here. If anything, I want you to do some more planning for later matches. If you want, that is."
Daybreak: "I don't think Shigeko would want me to do that. Besides, Shinichi-kun likes to do his own thing and Kanji-kun has been going at full throttle this whole time. I guess the only thing I can't do normally is actually plan. Heh. I think it's because of all the manga I read."
"That may be true," Seiji said with a smile. "But this has still been fun. So let's keep up the pace, alright?"
Taichi could see it from his position.
The Meteora cluster had been thrown to the ground just as his teammates had left one of the narrow spaces.
From what he could see through his scope, Murakami had lost an arm and to create a new shield from Raygust.
Looking at his Radar, he noticed that Mitsuteru had activated Bagworm again. With no sign of him being within the new cloud of smoke it was clear to tell that he was running away.
I need to find him!
Moving his scope around he found that it would be near impossible to find the older Sniper. The sky was pitch black and there were no lights on.
Kon had changed their visual settings to see through the pitch black, but even that did little help.
Did he change the color of his Bagworm or something!? Aw, man! That was our chance! I need to make sure-
A flash.
Taichi threw his body backwards.
Something shot through the air above him, barely missing and flying off into the air.
Quickly pushing himself back to the edge of the roof, he looked through the scope to try and find where the shot had come from.
It had gone from the ground up instead of from the sky to the ground like the one that had taken Murakami's arm.
Taicchi: "Kon-san, can't you lighten up my sight a bit!?"
Mi-Kon: "Give me a minute! I'm still working on Kuruma-san and Kō-kun! The best from Meteora blinded the both of them!"
This nighttime setting with the lights is really messing us up here! But it was such a fun tactic! It really makes me want to use it now!
Something had been off from the start of the match, even he had been able to tell, but the setting had been something that he found fun. Like a game of hide-and-seek wherein the found get taken out.
He had been able to be one of the people to find someone with the help of his teammates, but that had been turned around.
The opponents were now the ones seeking while he was forced into the position of the hiding.
To make this game even harder those opponents had the advantage of making the rules here.
They set the location, the settings, the timing, and everything that gave them the advantage here.
Taichi was even less of a player here than the others given how well he normally did compared to them.
This is really unfair! Shigenaga-san held her ground against Kō-san and Kuruma-senpai, so what kind of fairness is that!? They totally made things unfair for the rest of us! But...
But…
That's making this pretty fun! Ariake-senpai's hard to find, but it'll feel nice to actually hit him!
There was no giving up.
His teammates had not given up and instead tried to get away from taking any more damage.
"I can't-"
Another set flew past his head.
A smile never left his lips.
"I can't hold them back, so I'll take him out!"
Lining up his scope, he could see the smallest amount of movement from where the second shot had been fired.
The movement came from a hazy black figure that would easily blend in with everything else.
"—!?"
With his finger on the trigger, he halted all movement.
Something caught Taichi's eye through the scope.
Pushing himself back again, he threw the hood of Bagworm over his head and held Egret close to his chest.
Bad, bad, bad, bad, bad! Can't be seen now or I'll really get taken out!
Realizing that his teammates could not see what he did, he was quick to let them know.
Taicchi: "N-N-N-Ninomiya-san in close to you guys! Watch out!"
Lights soon filled the pitch black sky.
Taichi looked over his shoulder to see where the lights were headed.
That was…
.
Murakami over his remaining arm before Taichi had spoken up at all.
The natural fighting instincts he had went off after confirming that Mitsuteru had managed to escape.
Where is-!?
All shields were put down from where they protected him and Kuruma from the blast of Meteora.
Focusing all of his attention to a single side, he forced his arm up to hold up Raygust.
At the same time, Taichi's message came through as a sturdy shield appeared between him and the lights that had come down on them.
"Kuruma-senpai, I'll hold out here as long as possible. Sorry that I couldn't be much help during this match. You and Taichi will need to be getting the points for the rest of the match."
More lights rushed them, forcing him to turn his body in order to face them.
The lights crashed into both Raygust as well as the focused Shield he had brought up. Each one of them made solid sounds that reverberated through the Trigger and into Murakami's arm.
Each one held power behind them with the faster moving lights hitting different locations of the shield.
"No, we can manage here with our new strategy. It worked against Shigenaga, so it should work here."
"…"
Murakami wanted to argue against that, but the words died in his throat.
Defending against more of the lights was possible, but it would get him nowhere.
If Kuruma stayed here, it would add offense to his hardened defense.
That was their new strategy.
Oh. I get it now.
Murakami gave a hollow laugh as he shifted his position.
"Is something funny?" Kuruma asked while bringing out a second rifle.
"Not really. I just realized how much I'm being affected here."
Kuruma tilted his head, watching as more lights crashed into the hardened defense.
I doubt he planned this far ahead, but looks like Ariake set up something nasty here. Hm. I guess I can use this opportunity to get back at that guy I call a friend.
The smoke around them began to be blown away with the wind that was now funneling through the narrow space next to them.
Using his shoulder, Murakami nudged Kuruma over to get away from the narrow space.
With the wind now pushing against them, staying near the narrow spaces was not an option.
He's holding something back from me, so I'm actually kind of mad at him. …But this works out.
With the smoke out of the way, it became clear who had begun firing at them.
Even without his sight, Murakami was too familiar with these kinds of attacks from all of his time in Border.
Murakami lowered his body in front of Kuruma, held out his leg and arm, and waited.
This would be a chance for both him and his team.
"Tch. You learned the best way to block my attacks from that damn faker. …He really is-"
"At the time…"
Murakami spoke to the sudden voice.
He did not stop speaking even as more power shots stashed into Raygust and sent feedback into his arm.
"I was only messing around with my friend when it came up. I would still be doing this to block you, no matter if he was involved or not."
A sudden heart began to form inside.
It was not a physical one, that would not have been possible with his current body, but Murakami felt it start to grow in his mind.
Before him now was the enemy of his friend.
There was no real animosity between the two, yet he still felt that heat begin to rise inside of him.
"Oh…"
And realized why.
"This is the chance I didn't have back then."
Yuki could feel his body try to move in a way he did not want.
Watching everything play out to the current situation had started to make him lose focus once again.
With his Side Effect taking advantage of his loss of focus, he knew that he would start to make strange movements that made no sense to those around him.
And yet…
"I don't know what to say."
He spoke without letting his microphone reach his words.
Each word would not be meant for everyone to hear and be recorded. They were only meant for him to hear so that he could confirm something with himself.
Kimura and Sekai turned to him, noticing the words, but said nothing in return.
Should he thank them for that later?
Regardless, he thought. What am I supposed to say about this? I could just be overthinking this, but it feels too much like that time. Kō had not been around during the incident, so he couldn't do anything about it. He had to hear everything from me. But even then…
How had he reacted?
The more he thought back on that day in the hospital the more he found it hard to remember the events that had happened.
Murakami likely remembered every detail of that conversation, no matter how small. His Side Effect would not let him forget it, so he would keep that memory for the rest of his life.
But Yuki could not even remember what room he had been in.
I guess I just don't want to think about it. The incident between me and Ninomiya had to be told to Kō. Kō wasn't there, so I needed to tell him.
No, I guess I didn't need to tell him. He was just a convent person to tell without worrying about anything afterwards.
Yuki only knew how to be convenient for others, so thinking that Murakami was only convenient felt like a painful comment.
I just hope neither one of them thinks of this as a chance to change that incident. Nothing can be done about it, so thinking that some can be done would just mess them up. I guess I do want to see Ninomiya mess up, but if it affects Kō then I would rather it just be a passing thought.
WorTri: "Hah. I guess we'll find out which is stronger: a strong offense or a strong defense."
Manager: "With one of his arms missing, Agent Murakami may have a hard time fending against Captain Ninomiya's attacks. But if they use the tactic they did against Agent Shigenaga, Suzunari-1 might be able to pull this off."
WorTri: "It will need accurate timing, but they have a chance. It's not zero, so that is already a plus."
Time was being given for him to organize his thoughts.
Kimura and Sekai were both keeping up with their commentaries while making sure none of their words could be directed towards him in the meantime.
But he knew that could not last.
Between the three of them, he would be the one best suited to speak of this fight.
His best friend was fighting with his captain against the only person Yuki could ever call an enemy.
Yuki knew how all of them moved just as well as they did themselves.
If he held back from saying anything then it would only put misleading thoughts into everyone else's minds.
"Hah…"
Yuki brought up his arm, focusing more so that his Side Effect could not force him to move.
Lifting his arm into the air, he took in a breath.
Manager: "Captain Meishō is also-"
"—!"
Kimura jumped up as the solid sound of Yuki's fist slamming into his chest.
Oh, my bad. Sorry about that Kimura. Hey, don't glare at me like that! I had to do this so I can focus better!
The glare from Kimura and muffled laugh from Sekai overlapped with each other.
Yuki looked over with an apology in his expression. It did little to quell her anger.
Fine, fine, I'll do something more simple.
Taking in a breath, he thought, Oh… Isn't this what Teru does?
Before he could think about that any further, he released his breath.
The tension that had built up in his body was released, his shoulders falling down and chest deflating before moving back up.
It was an action he had copied from someone.
"Right then."
With his back now straight he faced the screen once more.
White Fox: "Suzunari-1 will lose if they go into the fight the way they currently are."