Midday filled the city.

The sky was bright, and the land shook lightly. The city was busy as it continued it's day and everyone went about doing what they needed to do before the sun started to set in the horizon.

There were multiple seemingly normal buildings placed around the city and a single large one. The smaller buildings were the branch offices belonging to Border and a nice midday reach them all around Mikado City.

People were walking in front of or around the buildings without bothering to think about why they had been placed there to begin with, safe in knowing that they were a protection.

Some smoke from cooking and cleaning rose from the surface areas of one of those branches, so some others would move closer to see what it was about while continuing on with their day. A boy having a barbecue was not what they had expected.

And among the surrounding area, a group was communicating with each other as they moved back and forth through the city.

It was a group of 3.

Two of them were a handsome male Attacker and a male-outfitted female Attacker in track suits.

The last was a red and black Attacker.

They were all making deliveries for a job. They would take the packages from the buildings belonging to Border's sponsors and the branch offices and then bring them to the main Border building. Their final destination was the room held for meetings in the base.

"You know, if this was meant for just anyone then I bet that it would end up at our branch. It feels like it's become a storage room for people's crap. People really bring in a lot of stuff when they're focused on their duties."

The first to speak was Futoyuki, the handsome male Attacker. He was walking from one side of the street to the other side while looking around in amazement with his phone opened right in front of his face and the chat opened on that.

"Arisa, how are things with you?"

Futoyuki reached out and pressed a few buttons on his phone to see his partner's face. And Arisa immediately began to move on the screen.

Blue Wish: "Right. The Suzunari Branch says they have some things sent in to them from Kurosaki after what happened before."

The scene on the phone twirled around. It now displayed the "valley" between buildings around her. Arisa moved through there with a bucket containing a bundle of paper tube hanging off a wagon she had been carrying.

Blue Wish: "I wonder why they're in the habit of making hard copies of their digitized diagrams."

"They probably think having the data in multiple forms will help them avoid losing it," said Futoyuki. "Writing it on particular objects is the standard these days over there, but since it's also affected by trion and Triggers, not being careful could erase the contents. But that doesn't seem to happen with paper. Of course, paper deteriorates and can burn, so it isn't perfect either. Still, it's different enough that I can't help but think it's pretty cool."

Iko: "That's right. Trion, on the other hand, doesn't deteriorate at all and doesn't burn. ...So I guess having something like that would be pretty cool, and Border probably has a copy for each thing. I wouldn't doubt if even the branches have crap like that stored up on those fancy bookshelves I always see."

That comment came from the #6 Attacker in the second window that appeared. He was moving more overhead with his body casually leaning towards the side.

Iko: "If records of super important things about their members were still around, it'd probably prevent a lot of problems we have."

"We don't even have a lot of records from the older times of Border. The branch directors and base directors need to work harder at that. The records keep getting lost because there isn't a duty to preserve them when someone else takes over or people move out from Border. And with local requirements for confidentiality, it isn't an easy problem to fix."

So...

"That's why we had to come over directly from a Gate and why Arisa's teacher had to do some crazy things when we came around."

Blue Wish: "That's true. ...And with that underground hollow we were told about, there's a lot about older times we- ahhhhhh!"

"What is it, Arisa?"

Blue Wish: "A pretty harsh wind blew in and I dropped the diagrams. I'm making an emergency backtrack now. ...Oh, Mizukami Satoshi-san!"

Shōgi Boy: "Yeah, I caught those diagrams for you. You're lucky I was walkin' by just now."

The window showing Arisa moved to show Mizukami with the background shaking behind him. He had his back to a park somewhere within the city and he had Fuyushi behind him lift up the bucket so they would be able to see it.

Futoyuki breathed a sigh of relief as Arisa moved towards Fuyushi and Mizukami turned in her direction.

Shōgi Boy: "How 'bout attaching a long container to the the wagon you've got there?"

Blue Wish: "I tried renting one of those once, but it kept smacking my butt and ended up hurting."

Iko: "Hey, Futo. Don't get any sort of weird ideas over there. I could see it even from where I am."

"Wh-what are you talking about! I'm free to do what I want!"

Futoyuki thought to himself as he moved toward the Tamakoma Branch to pick up a delivery.

...They've been really busy recently with B-Rank Wars and everything, but now that those are over...

"You'll be moving onto the next stage soon, so you need to get your own sorts of things done with. ...What's next, anyway?"

Blue Wish: "Do Border members just go to daily routine stuff when the B-Rank Wars are over? I haven't looked into this stuff since coming here since we aren't even in it for this past season."

"Yeah, there's a lot for us to do. But I bet Big Boss can figure something out since he loves helping people under him. ...Yeah. I think everyone expects that much from him."


"Now that the BRW ended, I need to get this done for whatever the directors plan on doing in the near future..."

Suzaku was looking over some things in front of the Tamakoma Branch.

The space was open since everyone else was busy doing other things for the day, so it was safe to move around without crashing into anyone.

In the center, Suzaku opened his phone in the midday air. Others knew it was better to not try and figure out what he was looking at, but it was probably something to do with the branches from the way he was looking at it and humming a few times.

The branch directors were busy at times like this too. While Rindō would take care of his branch casually, ones like Akasora would physically go around and check on things from the buildings framework to his own subordinates. The branches for Border were meant as connection points for the citizens of the city and Border itself, so Suzaku was sent information on how things were going at times to maintain Border's network.

That was mostly the situation between each connection point and if everything was working fine, but there were also reports on incidents about the passageways from the city to the main base. Of course, that was handled by the branch directors and anyone who they asked for help on that sort of thing, but...

"Eh? Oh, thank you, Takato-san, for messing with Jin like that. This is the firefight that broke out last night when Jinsei and some others plotted with the business owners to smuggle in porn games, isn't it? Yeah, half a container's worth still hadn't been found, had it?"

The main directors had insisted that the Tamakoma Branch Director interrogate their elite agent, but it would be faster to use something to detect them instead.

...And if it's a collaboration between Jinsei and Jin...

He sent a request to Border for the right to view his management data from the night before and received approval instantly. This had become "Business as usual" to the point that even the works at the main base did not bother to check over it all. So he checked his routes of movement the night before, the tactics he used during the smuggling, and made sure to track the "molds" affected by those tactics.

"There we go."

It was all the usual.

...At this time of day, I bet he's at the Red Lightning...


On Mikado City's surface area, the bakery/café named the Red Lighting was open and operating for the day.

It was located in the business district, so cars, people, and workers transporting ingredients and other goods needing distribution were walking back and forth.

It was a busy time of day.

Some people would occasionally come by from the city for a delivery and some agents were out for defense duty. All of this hustle and bustle was meant to prepare shops and restaurants for the people who would be coming for their lunch breaks.

But something rolled out of the Red Lightning without warning.

"Kwoh, owwwww!"

It was a crossdresser.

The crossdressing idiot flew out onto the road, rolled 5 times, and then tried to zip right back inside the Red Lightning.

The door slammed shut just before arrived and he collided with it.

A he slid down to the ground, a black-haired girl appeared through the door's glass.

"What is the meaning of this, Jinsei? What do you mean 'give me a place to hide because they're after me for smuggling porn games'?"

"I-I mean exactly that, Yuka! Those weird guys are in front of my house swinging metal rods around and singing perverted purification songs in a round, so I can't get close! And I hid at Tamakoma last time, so they sent people there too! So..."

"Right. As this is a bakery/café, I can only assume the words 'give me' are followed by a product name. So you would like a product called 'a place to hide because they're after me for smuggling porn games'. Would you like 1 or 2 of those?"

"Umm... I just need enough for me!"

The girl ignored him. She relocked the door and opened her phone.

"I will contact Arafune-kun...except he is getting ready for the final exam right now. I will contact Suzaku-kun and Kō-kun."

"Oh, I was just thinking of doing that! We need to get our stories straight before we're at the witness stand in court!"

"But first, you need to be arrested and handed over to the police. I feel bad causing those two so much trouble all the time, but I suppose this is just maintaining the status quo," said Kon. "Please clean the outside of the shop until they arrive. The dogs are there as well."

"Wan?" asked said dog. "Wan?"

"Yeah, that's right. I've got my dick hidden away. Wanna see? You do, don't you?"

The idiot was hit by a bucket and ladle thrown from the bakery/café.

The crossdresser rolling away, saying something else at the Red Lightning's entrance, and then falling to his knees all qualified as a single process. The police walking around and everyone else watched as the idiot started sprinkling water around the entrance, but...

"Okay, bring that box over here! Over to the right!"

They soon got back to their work.


Suzaku looked at the words there.

"Kon wants me at the Red Lightning. Crossdresser?"

He understood precisely what that meant, but he considered putting it off until later.

...Jinsei is causing trouble for other people again.

Handing him off to the police had become his job when Kon could not.

Kon was also relying on him a lot recently, including with any programing needing to be done, so Suzaku was going all out when it came to looking after him and some others.

That's probably not a good thing, he thought, but the worst part was how it kind of made him happy. So...

"Umm..."

To distract himself from the feeling rising within in, he opened the information on Kon's side of things. With hers and his, he rethought a few of the settings and worked to optimize them. He especially wanted to make sure his information was always being kept from the public eye while using Border's network. He had automated a lot of it, but that did not quite keep it at peak performance.

...Not that I want him to have a full power when he's smuggling things like last night...

Not that he would use it then either, he thought with a bitter smile that was also a sign of trust. And...

"Found them."

A small window indicated a certain picture that showed a bundle of porn games separated out and sunk in a pond in one of Mikado City's nature parks.

Umi: "Murakami? There are porn games sunk near the Suzunari Branch."

Black Wolf: "Eh? Oh, right. I was just heading out to deal with some porn games that floated up from the bottom of a pond. The people are shouting 'it's a treasure trove' and making a huge fuss about it."

Suzaku found the request and the report concerning that and displayed them. Just to be sure, he gave approval for prioritized assistance.

"Now, then."

One of those are on their way to being incinerated, I should call Jinsei, he thought as a shadow made its way towards him. He looked up to find...

"Oh, Futoyuki."

"Yeah. I hear you're making an special program for us newbies. I'd love to hear about the details, like if you want it to react to Trion Soldiers, but I'm here to pick up a delivery right now. It needs to get to the main base, right?"

"I also have a delivery for the base, something more personalized. They need some extra things added that I can't sent through the net."

"Yeah, that popped up pretty recently. I wonder if anyone's asked about it. Well, it's necessary after the fight underground a few days ago."

As his wagon moved along the ground, Futoyuki made minute adjustments with his feet, but then he smiled.

"Oh? Chisato, you're doing stuff over here?"

Next to the Tamakoma Branch building, Shiraishi Chisato wore a casual outfit and a work hood as she carried a bundle of brooms.

.

Chisato looked at the Attacker in a track suit.

He was Hiinu Futoyuki. Chisato had learned the names of everyone in the Yagura Branch.

With this Attacker, it seemed like it would be better for both of them if they only discussed what was absolutely necessary.

So Chisato asked what the Attacker wanted.

"Is a casual fighter interested in a warrior's extra help?"

"But you're a Yagura member now, aren't you? Why are you over here?"

"This is a temporary form."

"What part of this is temporary?"

"Right." Chisato nodded and used her empty hand to point at the shirt and shorts combo that had been leant to her for this. "These parts, I think."

"I really didn't expect you to answer that."

"I don't make it a habit to lie to people. How about a drawing?"

"Okay, I'll draw one up. Can I give it to Tatsuhito?"

"Go ahead. When you do, tell him I found a good shampoo, so we need to go buy some together once I get back."

"Ah," said the Suzaku Squad Captain. He looked over at her hair and bent his eyes in a smile. "Was what the Yagura Branch had a good match for you? Depending on where you are, Mikado City can smell a lot like industrial oil, so it gets rid of those kinds of things."

"It was my first time using something like that, but it was nice. I really was having trouble with those smells."

Chisato was aware she had a smile on her own face. And then she turned back to the Attacker.

"About the drawing. Can you draw me 'as is' without any weird exaggerations?"

"What? You love him that much? What makes you like him so much?"

"Right." Chisato nodded and used her empty hand to touch her head and chest. "These parts of me, I think."

"I really didn't expect you to answer that."

.

Umi: "Wow! That was an amazingly important line!"

Shōgi Boy: "And it's looking like those two aren't actually enemies."

Blue Wish: "Hm? I think Futoyuki is in a really good mood."

Shobu: "...Eh...? ...R-really...?"

.

Chisato took a breath.

While letting Futoyuki sketch her, she looked up at the sky visible beyond the city, but all she could see were the clouds slowly moving.

...But even this is far better than looking from a tall building.

A few Shiraishi cars had approached the Yagura Branch recently, but there had been no messages or deliveries for her.

That was unavoidable. She had run off and the others were probably being considerate in their own way.

"Come to think of it, that weird guy from Shiraishi put out a return request to make a show of wanting to keep you. It described you as 'always gets calmly angry', but should I make some kind of response via Border's network?"

That was unavoidable. She had run off and Musashi was probably being considerate in his own way after what had happened with his brother.

...Come to think of it, I've been staying at the branch office and haven't gone back home yet...

Her parents liked to go to some elementary schools and she had to wonder about the looks on their faces when they received that sudden notification. There was an elementary school not too far from the branch office, but...

"Oh, Kimura. Why the quick transmission all of a sudden? ...You say Jinsei showed up at the midday kanpu masatsu in the elementary school schoolyard and is making weird noises while rubbing the towel on his crotch? Yeah, I think you should notify Akasora-san."

Chisato could tell something terrible was happening, but as she listened to the strange transmissions the Suzaku Squad Captain kept receiving, she started wondering if Border had multiple people as strange as her own boyfriend, especially after the last few matches she saw.

"Does he have too much time on his hands?"

"It's probably just that he's an entertainer. Oh, twist your body a bit."

Chisato did as instructed and the Attacker asked her a question.

"You got some money when you left your family's business, right? Do you really need to do this extra work?"

"It isn't about the money and more that I want to earn some favors from these people who have someone like Jin with them. And do you really have time to draw while on the job?"

"I took up this hobby after meeting back up with Little Hyu, so it's a nice reminder that I'm still his friend."

And...

"But anyway, I think it's a good thing that you're doing these extra jobs."

"You do?"

"Yeah. Most of us who just came to Border as a way to get away from things end up at the main base. It's the best general location where people can keep an eye on us without worrying, so you can find a lot from your place there. But..."

But...

"With someone like you, that could get dangerous. These are some who might not enjoy having you over there."

"I won't let that happen," cut in the Suzaku Squad Captain. He sighed and nodded. "Our directors watch over every part of Border. We receive some extra protection that way, but they generally don't interfere in the lives of us agents. And if they do..."

Chisato understood what the boy was saying. Shiraishi had a similar mindset and was thus like Border. So...

"It would be when one of their own is about to take on the greatest form of loss. In other words...if they decide one of their own is about to commit a crime, they will intervene by reporting it or providing defenses."

But if that was so...

"What about our branch's representative?"

"Yes." The Suzaku Squad Captain nodded deeply. "I don't know the full details, but Yuki has some pretty extensive issues surrounding him. Well, things can get troublesome when it comes to different agents within Border, but that's generally all the same thing."

"In other words, I'm safe?"

"It would mean that, yeah. If there is any danger," said the Suzaku Squad Captain, "it comes from outside of border. From the current state of things."

.

Suzaku has pretty sharp intuition with this kind of thing, thought Futoyuki.

His statement was based on the assumption that Chisato was on their side, that she was one of them.

The contract for someone working under Border's management made Chisato a fighter for their own forces, so it was only natural for Suzaku to say that as an important person of the organization.

The rest was an issue of how Chisato herself viewed it, but...

"That's right." Chisato adjusted her grip on the bundle of brooms. "While it isn't like I've left my family, you've given me a place to stay while I try to be independent, so I'll repay you for that at least."

Oh? thought Futoyuki while mentally bending back.

...How much did that one guy do to this girl?

But if she was fully committing to this, she would be a powerful addition.

"I like the sound of this. ...I'm also really new to Border, and you've already fought alongside them, but I think we should tell the directors about this sort of thing. It might expand their options."

"Would it be overly self-conscious of me to say 'feel free'?"

"You're a former important person, aren't you? I'm only a newbie to being over here, so you don't need to worry about my feelings."

"But I'm a complete amateur in Border."

"Then I'll just say thanks."

Futoyuki finished the drawing and did not hesitate to send it to Ikoma.


At one end of Mikado City, Arisa was making a special delivery at the cargo management office's windowsill.

There was a lot of paperwork from the base here, but the Attacker girl insisted on handling paperwork at windows.

However, she saw something while speaking with a worker from the administrative bureau's industrial business.

"Oh?"

Something fell from the sky and crashed into a watchtower on the right side of the district.

She heard a few wooden containers split and splinter and she saw smoke rise from where someone had been moving moments before.

#5 Mountain: "Wow, that scared me! Ikoma! Why did you drop from the sky all of a sudden!? I was on my morning run and I thought something had happened!"

Blue Wish: "Huh? Um, Arashiyama Jun-kun, so this isn't normal for you? It counts as weird? I'm supposed to be surprised?"

#5 Mountain: "Eh? Oh, yeah. This isn't normal at all, but Ikoma is tough, so you don't need to worry about it. More importantly...ahh, over here, everyone! All that barking isn't going to help, so come back over here!"

Blue Wish: "Why do the dogs listen to you like that? Your virtues? Or what?"

I guess I am still a Border beginner, thought Arisa as she check over the paperwork with a pen.

Then she squinted toward the crash site.

Blue Wish: "So what happened, Ikoma Tatsuhito-san? Is this a part of your training?"

Iko: "No, when I saw the drawin' Futocchin made, I ended up doin' some distracted roof hoppin'."

Girls: "Wow..."

Sounds about right, she thought, but she was on a job right now.

"Oh, is this good enough for a signature? There's a lot from outside this time, so I'll be back around later."

"Yeah," said the other girl with a smile and a nod, so Arisa left the windowsill. She opened her phone in front of the wagon, inputted the location instructions, and sent her route to her boss at the Yagura Branch to make sure there weren't any accidents. That would mean nothing to the delivery workers not following a set course, but her course avoided the standard path they used. And...

"But, Ikoma Tatsuhito-san, I'm kind of glad you're so honest with your instincts."

Iko: "There's no point in fightin' yer instincts when it comes to harmless things."

Voyager: "You're nothing at all like our resident ninja we could mention who keeps doing unspeakable things even after landing a wife."

White Fox: "I haven't done anything like that! I really haven't! And she's my girlfriend, not wife!"

Hero: "I'm not sure what this is about, but I have not noticed Yuki-nii feeling himself down below recently. I was right to discuss it with the rest of you."

Secretary: "Just looking at this, it sounds like we castrated him."

Spear Idiot: "But, Yuki-san, if you're not doing anything about it, then what are you doing?"

Shobu: "...Eh...? ...Doing...about what...?"

Umi: "Just so everyone knows, I'm not saying anything about that one. Nothing at all."

Almost Everyone: "You just did!"

The log scrolled by so fast lately that it was hard to keep up.

Anyone who was not on Suzaku's level had difficulty leaving an impact on the conversation.

...Everyone's leveling up now that the B-Rank Wars are over.

And as she thought about that...

"Huh?"

"What is it, Misawa?"

"Oh, well, it's Takahashi-san and..."

I didn't expect that, she said to herself.

"Hyuse-san. They do seem close, but I don't think I have seen them out like this before."

.

Arisa saw the two of them near some buildings.

A boy in a hoodie and hands in his pockets was palely lit by the phone in his hand, looking confused by the device, and Takahashi was buying some snacks from a stand on the edge of the buildings.

The stand's owner tried to refuse payment from Takahashi, but Takahashi ultimately forced the owner to take it and instead received a bonus snack for the two boys standing by his side.

He's a really upstanding kind of person, isn't he? thought Arisa about Takahashi.

Lately, he had apparently been over at the Tamakoma Branch thanks to Hyuse. After all...

...Are they a family!?

"Futoyuki, there's some drawing material wandering around in the wild here."

"Eh? Where, where?"

She sent Futoyuki a diagram of the area and their location.

"Looks like they're talking a walk outside for a change of pace," said Futoyuki. "Maki's probably giving this all a lot of thought since he's the one around them a lot and since they need to focus on the fact Little Hyu is a Neighbor... I have to send this to those people I've heard about. The...Shipping Squad?"

"Oh, I have heard of them too."

"Of course. Since I'm working, I'll have someone else record it for me."

"Right," said Arisa while glancing over at Futoyuki through the phone as she continued walking through the city.

She checked her phone for a list of her next deliveries.

"The next one is from Awdry. ...With everything settled now, we seem to be getting a lot of things coming and going. I'm grateful, but why does our branch have to do this?"


"Being busy is a wonderful thing. Isn't that right, Kasumi?"

"That's right," said Suzaku with a bitter smile as he watched Futoyuki gently walk away into the distance.

He waved goodbye and thought to himself.

...After the B-Rank Wars, Border can focus on any remaining problems.

The sponsors could not directly get involved with Border's affairs, but just like others before them, they had set up methods of intermediary and indirect trade to nearly erase the divides between them all.

As someone who could represent Border, it meant a lot that they could communicate with Border via the Branches. Going to them during the B-Rank Wars' break had played a role there.

"Now they don't have to worry about Border leaving them behind or going against them."

Information on what all had happened during that time from Kurosaki and Mogami had arrived with the directors and with him. Network transmissions and the like were his specialty. And based on the data on what had happened...

...People are managing to get their hands on Triggers.

That was probably connected to what had happened with the person who had pretended to be Yuki. They were letting their resources do the talking and moving however they pleased. The network was based on Trigger connection, so they had likely transferred the general information allowed to everyone before going about doing anything. Meaning...

...Someone else had been doing something to get them to that starting point in the first place. No one would be able to get that stuff without access without me knowing about it.

Being directly linked to a lot of Border's information meant that he would be alerted alongside Border's base. That was how he had managed to organize everything and take care of the network. Depending on how things were accessed and used, they would be able to get passed the general security.

What was special about being directly connected was that he had been able to place a different security from Border's, while also working alongside it, that did not interfere with what they already had.

This allowed them to share the responsibility of security while not risking any leaks from each other.

The branch offices managed the pathways, but they could not do this. If any fo the branches tried to monopolize these securities, it would inconvenience everyone. If they did try it, the entire network centered on Border would have to be greatly rethought.

"Fixing any bugs or setting up pipelines to each specific branch had to be a real pain though."

Only someone with enough mental fortitude could pull that off.

Border managed that fine enough due to the people in the organization.

And their primary member was someone who could focus and calculate multiple things at once.

Placing those focuses and calculations in as they came gave them the time to fix anything wrong and alter any of the information that would be coming in. From there, they would limit what exactly would be allowed passage through their network and determine if something was off. They were the same as higher organizations in that way. So...

...When inspecting people trying to get in contact with Border, we need to check for any network connections.

They needed to get the word out that they were performing that inspection so no one would bother trying it.

There was so much to do. But...

"Right."

This kind of support was the job for someone like him. It was a professional's job.

I need to look after Jinsei and Kon while doing the rest of this right too, Suzaku told himself while raising his eyebrows and nodding.

At that moment, a few people arrived directly in front of him.

"...Huh? Hogo...comes here at times, so that makes sense, but what are Misaki, Kanzaki, the Ōji Duo, Kimura, and Mura doing here?"

.

Suzaku asked them why they were here while he adjusted the branch's information sharing settings.

"Especially you, Misaki. The Tamakoma Branch shouldn't have much to entertain you. And if anything, I would have thought that you would be getting ready for the upcoming event."

"Heh heh. Don't just assume people are always here to do this or that. That's only 5 times every 3 days."

Suzaku thought about that frequency.

"Ah, that means you come to mess with these people when they aren't here, doesn't it? Hey, Rindō-san."

Megane Director: "What's wrong with that?"

He had a feeling there was a note of pride in that and he was the Branch Director, so he left it to him.

Then the strange dancer place a hand over her mouth and smiled.

"That Tama Director hasn't changed, I see."

After reaching the front door she looked back at Kanzaki and the others following her.

"Heh heh. You want to honestly know why we're here, don't you? Then I'll tell you. The samurai girl wants to see Ketsu-san, the Ōji Duo probably has their own reasons, and I am honestly here to see Yūma-kun and Chika-chan. Besides that, your guess is as good as mine."

"So you're here to harass the Tamakoma-2 members after they had done so well... So, um, what about Kimura and Mura?

"Wait just a moment," said Kurauchi. He tilted his head and glanced at Suzume. "Can we really just go in there when it seems like the place is empty?"

"Yes, that's just fine. ...Misaki has limited high-level Tamakoma privileges. And when someone holds such a high position, the Tamakoma people would actually get mad if we didn't let them inside the branch. And Misaki, you're actually going to do this right with proper responsibility and everything, aren't you?"

"That's right. My mom won't shut up about using Turning Point to teach the fundamentals to the beginners and anyone still acting on instinct. And I'll deal with anything after that. I really don't have much time, though. I plan on meeting up with Ken-kun later."

"I'll take care of that," said Chisato's voice from between the main buildings and them. "Suzaku Captain, could you let the branch director know I will be using their training rooms?"

"Have you finished the job you were working on?"

"Yeah. Then I can?"

Chisato stepped out from behind the side of the building.

Kurauchi gave an impressed "oh" when he looked to Chisato's feet, but Suzaku did not understand why. But since Ōji nodded, the former Shiraishi Representative must have demonstrated her skill.

"Okay," said Suzume as she brought everyone to the right side of the bulding.

Kimura, Murakami, and Oshiro stayed behind.

But Oshiro bowed to Suzaku.

"Um, I read up through the birth of the gods in the Far Eastern Shinto mythology book Ketsu-san lent me. Can I get some supplementary information from his room here?"

"Oh, of course. You're free to enter his room if he gave you permission. The members always seem to celebrate when you visit, Hogo, so it's a good sign."

"My," he said with a smile while heading to the building to check the room.

That left the other two.

"What is it, Kimura and Mura?"

"Well, I thought we would a small meeting to go over what the final exam might end up being before we get to tomorrow." Kimura shrugged in her tracksuit. "But I have to watch Krümel today and he had gotten a little bigger, so I thought I would buy some snacks. I found the shop down in that direction still isn't open and was wondering how to kill some time when Murakami and the others showed up, so I just followed them over here."

"You could have come here right away and I would have served you whatever they had in here."

"Then I'll do that next time. Now, as for Murakami..."

"Right." The black wolf in a tracksuit nodded, lightly brushed back his hair, and smiled a little. "I'm here for you."

"For me?"

"That's right. I've retrieved the porn games that floated up in the park pond and Arafune contacted me to say Jinsei is at the Red Lightning. Kon is asking for us as well, so won't you come too? I did ask if we would just be in the way, but she said not to worry about it."

I seeeeee, thought Suzaku. And...

"Um, but this is the Tamakoma Branch. If he's at the Red Lightning over there, Mura, couldn't you have gone there without going so far out of your way?"

"W-well, uh, I didn't really want to go alone."

Murakami's face grew red as he answered.

Just as Suzaku wondered what that coloration meant, Suzume looked back and spoke quietly while walking off to the right.

"Oh, dear. Suzaku isn't the same as Kō-san? How strange."

Eh? thought Suzaku.

...I'm usually the same as Mura?

Height: no. Hair: no. Skin: no. Butt: no. Chest: no. Muscle: no. Groin: no.

"Umi! Umi! It is just me or did you start staring at my chest and crotch toward the end of whatever you were thinking about!?"

"Um, no, no. It's just that Misaki seemed to say something about us that's the same..."

Murakami's shoulders lowered and Suzume made her final appearance in the conversation.

"Heh heh heh. Thanks for the material."


A noise rang out as someone moved along the streets of Mikado City.

"Oh?"

The person was a man who held a book in his hand. There was no urgency in his steps.

"It really hasn't been too long since I was here. ...To think that I would be asked to come here for a simple meeting. Miden sure does have some strange customs."

The city was alive and well, similar to when he had been here last.

The person spoke to himself, but didn't fear being overheard. His own appearance and voice was being drowned out by everyone around him. And more than that...

I simply have to cover myself up.

He had been assured that he would not be in trouble for such a thing, so he did just that.

"I suppose that I could try to find the people who I have already met. ...I want to see if that boy is still doing his best."

He spoke of someone he had already met in Mikado City.

"But I do wonder why they had gone through you to speak with me."

He called to the small creatures moving steadily by his head.

It was a white rhinoceros beetle.

"It is because deactivation of smaller units, such as this one, can be done at a moment's notice and sent to the broken off piece that has been stationed here."

"Oh? From what I heard, you got trounced after rebelling and are now trying to make up for it that loss. I could be wrong, but does that sort of things seem like something you can let go of?"

"I will refrain from answering as that is the most optimal solution to all of this."

The man gave a light laugh to the rhinoceros beetle next to him, so it responded by shifting in the air and redirecting the man's path.

"You will need to be going this one way in order to make it on time."

"From what I was told, I can be there at any time, so long as I am ready for what is to come."

"Yes." The rhinoceros beetle shook in the air. "But it would be good for Miden fighters to understand a bit more of what they will need to contend with, should they come back through."

"Oh, yes, I agree. But, and here is something they may not know... We are not the ones who they need to focus on."

"Yes. I am well aware that someone had used our entrance to Miden in order to shoot themselves through. I have not informed the broken off piece due to it not seeming to be of importance here."

That is what this system views as the most optimal solution, thought the man as he turned his head to the side.

That was the direction of those who had used him and the rhinoceros beetle.


Recently, Kagerei Ketsueki had decided to eat lunch outside.

His residence in Mikado City was the Tamakoma Branch office. That was part of the riverside of Mikado City and the next wide block to the right was for the regular citizens. Even with everything going on, people like Mikumo and Hyuse had moved in, so he got along with the neighbors well enough.

...It is such a nice place.

But they had something to do besides spend their time there.

This was not training. This was a form of discipline.

They were eight meters up from the ground floor off the right side of Border's main base.

Ketsueki was going through a sort of rehabilitation with Tachikawa's help. He checked the feel of his legs as he ran on the reinforced ground, clashed pieces of trion shaped like swords with Tachikawa, and held combat training as sparks flew.

"..."

But as he ran alongside and exchanged attacks with Tachikawa, Ketsueki consciously held back his body that wanted to test his full strength.

He had not fully managed to stabilize himself yet. He had told Tachikawa that he had wanted to get some practice in and the Attacker wasted no time in getting ready. When it came to balancing out and stabilizing one's body, there was no one better than Sekai, but Tachikawa was not in any bad shape here. So...

...I will hold back!

Impatience stewed inside his body, but he tamed it by telling himself he was controlling himself. If he could control himself, recovery would be a simple task.

He ran. He jumped over one of Tachikawa's attacks, flipped to avoid it, and sent out his own attack.

Even if they were only going for a run, Tachikawa showed no restraint in his attacks. If he let his guard down for even a moment, attacks quick enough to leave him with a missing limb would fly accurately into the places where he knew he was weak.

He only did so because he trusted him and because he was trying to rid him of his weakness.

...And because he wants me to...

Tachikawa wanted to return him to when he had been happy by simply moving.

And because he understood that, he did not go easy on him.

With each and every step, his footsteps traveled up his entire body and he spoke the words that came most naturally to him.

"Kei."

"What is it, Ketsu?"

"Compared to back then, I am incredibly happy right now."

"You aren't the same as back then. You still have a stiffness in your step."

"Oops."

He made sure to step rather than just let his foot drop. And as soon as he took a leap, a trion sword pierced the spot in which his foot had been.

"My attack was too slow because I warned you first," Tachikawa was entirely expressive. "I have room for improvement too. But oooonly a little."

He wore the Tachikawa Squad uniform and gave a small nod.

"But I agree that these are happy times."

"Right."

Ketsueki nodded in agreement, avoided an attack to his head, and reminded himself that victory was the only option for people like them. After all...

...Losing means a lot when it comes to this city.

.

Border has been on a winning streak against the attacks on us directly, thought Ketsueki.

Mikado City and Border itself had been attacked twice in such a short amount of time. The first time it had taken a lot to push back the invaders and it had been at the cost of two of his fellow branch members getting hurt in some form.

...There were also the people who had been taken during that.

Meanwhile, the second attack had shown them that they could win without losing anything at all. It had been a personal attack against the base, something they had been better prepared for that allowed them to see what they could do in such a situation.

The only ones who had been informed of the second attack had been the business sponsoring Border and had a deeper connection with them. Some members who had fought there were also people related to those business, so...

...There was no possibility of us lying to them or building ourselves up more.

"But," muttered Ketsueki to no one in particular as he ran and deflected Tachikawa's jab with the pommel of his sword. His spear had been moved aside for the time being. "This should not be where we think we are at the top."

The same could be said of everyone all around him. Given the situation, they were all moving around busily, but everyone would occasionally stare into the Forbidden Zone even though there was nothing to see there.

Ketsueki had grown accustomed enough to life in this one city that he hoped that was a sign of their will to fight the Neighbors and not of their fear.

But it was true this was their winning streak. And so they kept moving. Tachikawa had only been using one hand before, but he finally moved his second to send out two trion swords at once. And so Ketsueki deflected them with both of his.

The two of them were moving as well.

But even if they were moving, it was not actual movement. Their current movements were preparations to ensure they won once they did take actual movement. That was what they had to do now, so...

"Kei, pour on the killer intent."

"Right."

Tachikawa nodded, narrowed his eyes, and sent out constant attacks.

These were not gentle attacks. They were serious attacks that targeted his legs when he landed or the back of his joints. Ketsueki avoided or dealt with them all.

"Very good killer intent, Kei!"

He smiled. It was a cold smile filled with killer intent.

Wonderful, thought Ketsueki. He had not had many chances to see that look on his face since he had left his previous squad, so he was truly glad he come for this training.

He felt real accomplishment as he ran, leaped, and moved his body. This would continue even after they returned home. He would read books or find some websites on cutting edge combat techniques and check on anything new for mythology.

...Yes, I am so thankful we have so much to do.

All of them had lots to do. Those repairing Mikado City were pursuing that, those supporting the first group were pursuing that, and those "keeping Mikado City moving" were pursuing that.

It all went back to the B-Rank Wars.

Ketsueki had seen something during this last season of the B-Rank Wars, although he was not sure if it was a good thing or not.

These were the people who were moving the current world in the city, but he had seen them desire even more and pursue themselves.

Ketsueki had once been someone who could easily equal the best A-Ranks.

He was not any longer.

Would he be able to become like that again? Would he be able to do something like that or do something even greater? He restrained his doubts with the sensation of his feet pressing against the ground.

He used his mind to restrain his stewing body and he used his body to restrain his stewing mind. And as he repeated the process...

"Kei."

"What is it?"

"I will grow even stronger than before. ...Strong enough to actually confess."

"That isn't so much 'growing strong' as it is 'needing to stop the tensions'."

"That had not occurred to me."

"You're strong enough that it probably didn't need to occur to you."

He nodded, suddenly put away his swords, and lined up alongside him. He then opened the wicker basket attached to his waist and showed him the water bottle and rice balls wrapped in bamboo grass contained inside.

"Ketsu, it's about time for lunch. And a certain someone was nice enough to make something for us here."

.

Tachikawa picked up the wrapping with his arm.

These were special rice balls. He had not made them with these arms. Before Ketsueki had reached him that morning, Kizaki had brought over the basket to him and told him not to eat it before lunch.

He felt like the two of them were stuck in a situation where neither wanted to move closer or take a step back. Both Kizaki and Ketsueki had ended up in a zone where it always brought tension to their surroundings, and...

...Having her get involved only makes things worse for that kind of thing.

But since they and Border were coming up on a new chance with the Away Mission, hesitating to use anything available to them would be dangerous. So he was gradually trying to accustom himself to these sorts of things, but he could not do anything when it came to the two of them.

...So that leave sit up to the people who are closer to them.

They made for the all-purpose excuse.

...I would expect nothing less of those two, really.

Currently, he was just someone who heard the complaints while out drinking, but he felt that was evidence of the changing nature of all things. All things and people would sometimes do what one expected and other times would not. Their situation with each other was a perfect example. The future Jin had seen for them had likely changed a lot with everyone's interference, but...

"Today, Kizaki mostly made the soft-boiled egg and chicken ham rice balls you apparently like so much."

"I should probably tell him something about that later. These sorts of things feel like they would be a lot of work."

"Just thank the guy."

"Right. I will do just that. ...I can't wait to try them."

"Right." Tachikawa nodded and glanced around the area. "About what Sekai contacted us about earlier..."

"Right. I was not sure whether he should have told us about that. ...It sounds like things are finally beginning to move. People from Germany have already arrived and will be staying for an undetermined amount of time."

"Right. And we were all asked to keep an eye out because of it. Ketsu, you probably know the reason for it, don't you? I don't remember saying that I'd do that."

"It's because some of us will actually end whoever tries anything against them."

"That's fair. Also, you lose another point there."

Tachikawa sighed because he could not understand that way of thinking.

But as he recalled the information on the surrounding areas he and Ketsueki had been gathering lately, he raised his hand as emotion filled his face.

"Awdry sounds like they're going all around again with the B-Rank Wars done and speaking to others around, so they are doing things in a relatively peaceful manner that nearly qualifies as a mere discussion. But..."

"But Kobayashi's Mogami-san is starting to get a bit active again, Shiraishi is ready to properly send over their Abe, and Kurosaki is getting along quite well with Suzunari as of late."

That had happened as soon as the B-Rank Wars had ended. As Tachikawa ran, he looked up at the sunlight shining down.

"That means Awdry is still wondering what to do concerning their money and Border, even with everything that has happened."

"It means the real struggle with them can start without them worrying about interrupting anything." Ketsueki smiled. "So now it is a good chance to crush any future someone thought was set in stone."

There was only one person related to those people he could be talking about, so he could only trust him when he said that.

Tachikawa took a slow breath and nodded once to convince himself.

"Then let's have some fun during lunch."

With that, he placed the water bottle and bamboo wrapping on his arm.

"...!"

And he forcefully threw them high into the air ahead of him.

.

Ketsueki saw his lunch hang in the air for an impressively long time.

The throw from Tachikawa's arm refused to fall back down. Meanwhile, he nodded his way.

"Please go on ahead, Kei."

"Right. I have my own things to do, so just go on without me, Ketsu. I need to greet a few people afterwards, anyway."

When he spotted some chips in his expression, he smiled his way.

"I told you to go on without me, Ketsu."

"Oh, I was just realizing how lucky I was to have decided to stay here since it lets me to see people like you so full of life, Kei."

He wrinkled his brow, bu his mouth moved in a slight ave. He snorted at the comment.

"I should have thrown it so high and far you couldn't see it. You should be saving those sorts of lines for Kizaki, not me, you idiot."

"Not to worry. I will think of something new for him."

"I don't wanna know."

But then he nodded again and jumped to the right.

He did not hesitate to throw himself into the air at a height of eighty meters.

As he fell, he stretched out and gave a slight bow to him as he jumped.

And then...

...Grasshopper.

He placed a blue plate to launch his body through the air. He directed himself to the outer area of the Forbidden Zone leading into the city.

At the same time, Ketsueki began to run.

He did not use his full strength. He focused on the soles of his feet and took each step with care. First, he set his heel down, bent his knee, and pulled his body forward. Then, as he tilted his balance forward, he would use the arch of his sole to stand on his tiptoe. From there, he would place his big toe on the floor and press down like he was tearing into the floor.

"...!"

He filled himself with reliable acceleration.

.

Without rushing or hurrying, Ketsueki simply accelerate forward as if memorizing each and every step.

He could see the transportation district off in the distance to his left.

His lunch was falling and...

...It is falling pretty far off over there.

That was too far to reach and there were no sorts of passageways in the area.

"I will have to go for some interesting footing on this one. I would expect no less of Kei."

He accelerated and leaped.

He lifted his left leg and jumped.

His initial destination was the first floor of a warehouse within the Forbidden Zone. First, he placed his left leg on a small uneven lump on the side of the building and used it as a stepping stone.

"..."

As if stepping over it, he leaped toward the warehouse roof.

He made a midair flip a she passed over the heads of the B-Rank agents working down below.

"Excuse me."

He raised a hand of greeting as they gave shouts of "Oh!" or "That's amazing!" and he landed on the rooftop.

He used the motion of his landing to briefly sink forward and used his body like a spring.

He felt the momentum building in his body.

"Toh."

So he kicked sideways and made another flip in midair. Just as his feet circled downwards again, he leaped toward the third floor rooftop of the warehouse across the way.

He landed, leaned forward, moved his right leg forward, and ran across the roof toward his lunch.

He did not stop and he quickly reached the edge of the roof leading toward the edge of the area.

"Now, then."

He jumped from the elevated roof and flung himself into the empty space beyond the area's edge.

Everything vanished below his feet and the movement of the wind changed.

This was a dangerous action, but it felt almost nostalgic to him.

...I helped prepare for midair battle with those three after all.

Knowing how to move between flying Neighbors in a large fleet and being trained in hand-to-hand combat felt like they were necessary for anyone wanting to join Border to him.

He reached a hand out in midair while recalling older times.

The lunch Reiji had made was there.

He reached it, grabbed it, opened the bamboo grass wrapping as he pulled it in, grabbed one of the handmade rice balls, and put it in his mouth.

...Oh, soy sauce tortilla flavor. Reiji-san just really want to try something new.

For who?

...Wonderful, he felt while flipping around in midair and pointing his legs downward. He maintained a falling stance as he dropped toward his destination.

"Excuse me."

A building was there in order to act as a pseudo watchtower while the branches were busy. Tachikawa had likely thrown his lunch only after noticing the building's presence. Ketsueki landed on the the cable that provided shock absorption on the sides of the building and he crouched to prepare for his next jump.

"Thank you very much."

He raised a hand in response to the lookouts' raised hands and he made his jump.

His target was Border's main base once more.

...I need to land on the wall and then...

He had to run up it. Tsukiko Yuki had taught him this form of training and he had improved enough to pull this off. However...

"Oh?"

He spotted a familiar face on the work scaffolding halfway up Border's base.

It was Kanzaki Shizuka.


Kanzaki placed a foot on Border's main base from the side.

She was forty meter from the roof at the top, so if she was to climb that height with only her feet...

...It truly becomes a "wall" at about the ten meter mark.

But...

"That means I cannot actually climb this wall."

If she could not climb the wall after losing her initial speed, that meant she could not climb or balance on the wall with only her initial kick.

It sounded simple, but it was actually quite difficult. The ninja who had taught it to her had raised his index finger and told her the following:

"Ketsu-san trains like this from time-to-time."

It had sounded like something from a bogus mail-order advertisement. But...

"—"

She looked up and really did see Ketsueki there.

.

Kanzaki watched Ketsueki.

..It looks like he jumped to the wall from that large building off in the distance.

He was approximately fifteen meters above her.

He placed one foot above the other on the wall and stood there. He was looking at her, but he was not looking down on her. He turned his definite gaze in her direction.

Was she being conceited if it looked like he was challenging her to climb up after him?

She had planned to climb the wall regardless.

She wanted to train. She was always completing her own sort of training, but she had recently started wondering if she should try adding on some different or extra training, whatever that might be.

But she was not sure what kind fo training she should add on. Part of her felt she could add on a few more programs derived from her normal training, but...

...Would that really work?

She was not sure how to put it.

...What can I do to get stronger? That was a vague question. She did not know what it was she lacked.

She knew she had to avoid any training that had no direct connection to her strength. Her time as a Solo A-Rank Agent and the time Border would remain safe were both short. So she had asked that former teammate ninja. She had asked him to tell her what kind of training others did, since she had fought a lot of people.

"—"

Kanzaki looked up. Ketsueki stood fifteen meter above her and he was looking at her.

If it was only due to her conceit that he seemed to be challenging her, then why was he looking at her?

She did not know, but...

"Here I come."

She filled herself with initial speed.

.

Ketsueki saw Kanzaki coming up.

She's serious, was his initial impression.

Her acceleration Trigger, Kiyome, purified away everything extraneous to her acceleration, but it was not active at the moment. She intended to make the climb with her pure strength and skill.

And she started up.

She rose with the speed of a fall.

She immediately covered about seven meters. She seemed within arm's reach, but that was an optical illusion. The speed of her approach had caused an error in his judgment of her position relative to his.

But she was definitely approaching.

She placed her feet on the wall and let her knees sink forward to press her weight against the wall.

"Hoo."

With a single breath, she relaxed her strength and pulled her body up with the foot caught on the wall. Instead of kicking down, she needed to pull herself up.

She covered three more meters with a single step, so she would reach Ketsueki in another two steps.

So he began as well.

...Now, then.

He could not just watch. This was his time to train.

When he had noticed her and realized what she was trying to do, he had felt something.

If he had spoken that feeling aloud, it could easily have been viewed as conceit, so he had left it unsaid and sealed it deep in his heart.

He knew what he needed to do now.

"...!"

He began running up the wall as a standard part of his training.

.

Kanaki saw Kesueki start climbing up ahead.

He seemed to be testing her, he seemed to be ignoring her, and he seemed to be telling her to follow him.

...And...

She did not understand, but she did know that the person running out ahead of her had held a high position.

She thought on the meaning of that.

She had fought people who had been A-Ranks before her a few times and had barely scraped by with victory. Her former squad had been just as strong and they had trained and taught her quite a bit. But...

...What does it mean?

She asked herself what meaning something like A-Rank held.

.

Kanzaki accelerated.

She swung her body upwards to run straight up the wall.

She could see Ketsueki's back up ahead.

She could catch up. She only needed to move a little further. But she felt heavy. The object in her right hand felt heavy.

It was not Kōgetsu. It was the spear she had wanted to use. It artificially reproduced Kōgetsu's functions and improved on them using both Yoneya's spear and the Black Trigger Shikifuku as the basis for it.

However, its weight and the distribution thereof were identical to those ones.

...Even though it is what I had wanted.

It was what she wanted, yet the weight along was real.

...It's almost like...

What was it like? The thought reached her for just a moment.

"—"

And in that moment, her feet failed to grasp the wall.

"..."

Balanced on her heels, her body bent back on the wall.

She could not recover.

She was going to fall with her back pointed down.

"Kh..."

In that instant, Ketsueki looked back.

He reached out his hand and she tried to grab it.

...No.

She did not know what she was rejecting, but that thought definitely reached her.

And a moment later, she fell.

She had failed.


Tachikawa saw it happen from outside of the Forbidden Zone after crossing over the line.

Kanzaki fell and her back slammed into the scaffolding below.

The people on the scaffolding turned around and the large building's inhabitants stopped moving, but Ketsueki stopped on the wall and raised a hand toward them all.

He was telling them this was just a part of their training. That was true and preserving the reputation of a recent A-Rank was important for Border at the moment. But...

"She has seemed somehow exhausted ever since the match she commentated on."

Tachikawa frowned.

"If this keeps up, she has no future."


Kanzaki lay face-up on the scaffolding of hardened steel.

She was out of breath and her pulse would be racing if she were in her real body. It was caused by this unexpected mistake and by the fear of falling backwards without being able to see where she was headed.

I can't believe this, she thought in the back of her mind.

Something seemed to be catching at her heart and it would occasionally take over her entire body. At the most crucial moments or when she was making a decision, something seemed to cut across in front of her, obscuring her vision.

What was it.

She did not know.

As she lay face-up, she could see Border's two visible turrets and the spring sky that shone above the entire city. The grate behind her back swayed with her breathing and the mental knowledge of pain reached her as heat.

She belatedly realized her hand was touching something.

It was Kōgetsu Spear. It contained the extension capability and had an artificial cutting power that used a Trigger, but she had yet to see how far that could go. Its system was made to be similar to her former teammate's Idōgetsu, and...

...I cannot use this spear the same way Yoneya-dono can until I know everything it can do.

There had been fights where she used the spear, but they all felt like they were tests or playtime for someone else. Also, she was currently living with little fighting rather than facing a true enemy.

She intended to eventually have the spear's functions full explained to her as its user and then wait to test it out. At that point, she had planned to have multiple sparing matches to determine how she would use the spear itself over the blade.

...But will that actually work out?

For some reason, she was not so sure since the match she had commentated for.

"Am I...?"

Had she become a coward?


...Huh?

What are they doing? wondered Sekai.

Two people had been climbing the side of Border's base before, one of them he knew to be Ketsueki.

But one of those two had looked to have messed up and came crashing down on the scaffold below them.

And it did not end there. They continued to cause the scaffold to swing with the impact.

"Hah."

Whoever it had been lost control of themselves and created that fall. They had messed up in some way. And...

...Irritating.

Something else happened. What was likely his form of kindness, Ketsueki moved down to check on whoever had fallen to make sure they were fine even after knowing they were in a trion body. The people around him who had seen it happen began to murmur, so...

WorTri: "Whoever that was, stop being irritating. I have to calm down a street full of onlookers."

But they would likely be too busy to notice his message at all. If they had crashed down and Ketsueki went down to them, it meant they were focused more on the crash.

The next thing to catch his attention were the way people were moving.

The usual foot traffic in the area was small and focused more on the sides of the street instead of the middle of it. They created a valley that allowed for people simply walking by to go down the middle without any hinderance.

By this time of day it should have been at the lowest point for the traffic. The people needing to be somewhere were already there, and the ones who needed to get there were in a rush to not be late for their assigned jobs.

Black Wolf: "Since I know it will cause more trouble by putting it in the main chat... Anyone, do you know why there are so many people moving in front of the Suzunari Branch?"

White Fox: "So it's over there too, huh? Yeah, Yagura has also had to tell a lot of loiterers to get out of the way or we'd have to bring over Mitsuteru over."

That sounded like a real irritation.

WorTri: "It isn't just the branch offices. Some of the streets are getting cluttered with people. There's something to explain why, but I feel like I would only be irritated if I thought about it."

White Fox: "Well, it's pretty easy to look back at the last time this happened. But, Futo said he and Pyrínas weren't doing anything, and the Wanderers aren't coming over again."

Kuma: "Um. Yuki-san?"

White Fox: "Yeah? What is it?"

Kumagai asked the same question that had occurred to Sekai.

Kuma: "Don't they have a lot of trion soldiers they could use for that?"

White Fox: "They do. But Pyrínas would have automatically figured out if it was one of their own or not. There would also be no reason to cause this sort of traffic again if they weren't going to do something like last time."

I guess that's pretty true, thought Sekai.

But it really looked to him like the time the Wanderers had come over.

Around him proved that the foot traffic was being directed, something he would not have expected to see right now. Everyone else seemed to find this normal enough, but he did not bother saying anything to them about it here.

"Hah. I guess that just means we need to put in some work to figure it out."

How far did this go? And...

...So irritating.

Sekai realized what kind of burden this placed on him. Moving around when the foot traffic in the area was this bad meant he would need to be more careful with the way he moved around.

It was possible that there was no real reason for it and that everyone just simply chose to pick where they wanted to go out of a want to change their routes.

WorTri: "Hey. If anyone finds out the reason for this then make sure to let the others know. I'm too tired to put in enough work for 5 people."

A moment later, a message came through to him from a different source. And...

...What does Shin want with me right now?

Sekai let out a sigh as he opened the message and read through it.

There was a high chance it could be nothing, but he didn't want to risk that.


"Toby...reviiiiiiiiiiiiiived!"

Kitora immediately smacked the dog back down.

"Don't just throw yourself up like that!"

The noise around her quickly went up in volume and activity.

The one to start it was the Tamakoma albino.

UMA: "Toby threw himself up?"

Megane: "Maybe she meant he threw up on himself?"

Green River: "Did Kitora-chan throw up on Toby?"

Country Girl: "I can't believe she threw up on him."

Seen Everything: "Can someone explain why I'm hearing things about Kitora-senpai throwing up, throwing it at Awdry-senpai, then being thrown into vomit?"

How had they reached that conclusion so soon?

The way everyone turned to her before taking a step back made her raise her first. They took another step back. The only person who stayed where he was had been...

"Whoooooo!"

The dog who had thrown his body into the air with his arms raised.

"Sorry for the trouble, everyone! I was still pretty down because of the B-Rank Wars, but I've mostly gotten over it!"

"Oh, so does that mean you'll go back to the solo matches?"

"I don't think there's anything else I can do. I'm too far behind if that was the end result."

"You can try your hand against me and Osamu, then. We never fought each other during the B-Rank Wars."

The smile Toby gave the two Tamakoma members was bright, but she had been prepared to look away.

Everyone else covered their eyes or hide behind their glasses. They understood when someone lacking in a bad personality that it was harder to deny what they saw. Thankfully, she had gotten use to being around the excitable dog.

Still...

...I know that he had cried after that loss.

She had been one of the few people he allowed to know that he had been laying on that grass, crying over his failure.

I can't believe this guy went out to do that by himself. From what I know, Kotowari-kun and Taiyōko had done the same in public.

But with Misaki on their squad anymore, what was he to do? Expressing himself where others couldn't see had been his own way of being considerate of his teammates. They had relied on him a lot in that match and he had lost too many points while only scoring a single point.

Everything had gone wrong for Kotowari Squad and he didn't want others to know about how he thought of his failure.

...Well, that's not completely true.

She sighed and grabbed Toby why his shoulders.

He tilted his head to the side and everyone around them seemed to find the action more interesting than anything else.

I am one of the few people he can completely confide in. I don't know how it happened, but I guess it isn't too bad having him be able to do that.

In a way, it was something she viewed as a special privilege.

With that special privilege she was able to do certain things that others could not.

Like violently shake Toby by the shoulders.

"Ah! Kitora is trying to make Toby throw up!"

"Oh! Kitora is going to throw up on Toby!"

"Uh... Is Kitora going for a throw up contest?"

The paths that led to these end points always baffled her beyond belief. Surely there should have been someone who could realize what she was doing.

Oh, there is, she thought as she looked forward.

Toby had already figured out her reasoning for doing this. The grin on his face gave him away, so she decided to shake him even harder.

.

Osamu was the first one to see the grin Awdry wore a she was violently shook by Kitora. Even with his head leaving some afterimages he continued to grin.

This might have been a normal thing for the two of them if he was still showing such an expression even as Kitora picked up her pace.

"Now that I think about it, his brother is pretty much the same way."

"Oh yeah, Stepney is a good kid."

The younger brother had been going to the Tamakoma Branch to visit Yōtarō whenever the Yagura Branch was unavailable or his friends were doing other things.

"Thanks for letting him stay over," Awdry said as he continued to appear to have three heads.

Osamu and Kuga waved her hands side to side. It was never a bother letting him into the branch office.

Kitora let out another sigh as she released her hold on Toby. Even after all the shaking, he seemed to be just as fine as when she had started. It was amazing how he could control himself in such a situation.

"But seriously," he started again. "I'm super grateful to you guys for letting him stay there at times. Because of the B-Rank Wars, I hadn't had too much of a chance to hang out with him. Times like those don't come around too often when you have shitty parents like ours, so knowing that he's getting along with you guy really makes me happy."

"Watch your language there, will you?"

"Hm? But how else am I suppose to describe those two? I honestly have better memories with their workers than I do them."

Kitora turned back to him and glared. She jabbed a finger in his directions and they could all see that he stopped himself from moving out of the way.

"At least don't say it where it shouldn't be heard. They are still in the process of deciding on if they want to fully sponsors Border. If they don't, we would lose big time because of it. We still have a lot of sponsors, but they can provide enough to equal a majority of the lesser ones."

"Wow, you really did you homework, didn't you, Ai?"

Everyone began murmuring around them for a second time.

Country Girl: "Overachieving in this kind of thing is just pointless."

Early Grass: "The fact she seems to care more about the sponsors for Border instead of what Awdry really shows her true character."

Kasio: "Um, I'm going back through the log. Shouldn't it be a natural thing to worry about that?"

Shore: "Ai always cares about Toby, so this is actually more of a side thing for her."

Almost Everyone: "Ooooooh!"

"That's not it at all!" she yelled, but everyone else continued on with their day.

Awdry tilted his head again, nodded, and moved closer to him. He gave a quick glance to Osamu. ...That can't be good. It only went further as he covered his mouth and whispered into Kitora's ear.

She would glance at him before turning away. The hand covering Awdry's mouth hid what he did behind it, but Osamu could clearly see his hand move up and was positioned to point in his direction. A few more seconds of this when by until...

"You-!"

Awdry seemed to reflexively move back as Kitora's arm shot out to reach him.

She made another grab for him, but he quickly and easily dodge the attack and next three that followed.

This would be the fourth time Osamu got to see what Awdry was capable of when he was on the move. This time it was more casual, but the way he moved through on his feet showed that he was only staying as close to Kitora as he was because he felt comfortable around her.

He had seen just how fast Awdry was able to move.

"Those two really get along."

"...Does it look that way? I guess it does."

Everyone around them seemed to think so with the way they ignored the two as if this was normal.

"Anyways," said Awdry, still moving away from the reaching Kitora. "I really did want to thank you guys for letting Step stay there when he can. Even if you guys don't see it as much, I still appreciate it more than you can know. As his big brother...I'm glad to know he can have this much to himself."

Osamu was about to answer him when he saw something amazing.

.

While moving around the area, Kitora had been trying to grab Toby with harsh grabs or pulls. Each movement had been made in order to catch him and stop him from moving.

Then she had changed her tactic.

She pulled her arm downwards and lifted her upper body into a proper position. The sounds of "Oh?" were drowned out by Toby's feet stopping for a moment.

Instead of reaching out to grab him or force her way through, she casually and gently lifted her hand while moving forward. There was no hast or ill-intent in her movement and she only had one thought, You idiot.

Her hand reached his arm.

With a gentle feel, she lightly gripped his arm and moved to his side. Her face was facing his side, so he turned his head to look directly at her.

This was not a win for her or a loss for him.

Kitora had only wanted to reach him.

"You aren't a bad brother. You just don't have the freedom to show your love for your brother."

"...Ha ha ha. I guess you're right."

"That's right. But I also forgot to add something."

And that was...

"'Yet'. I doubt your brother is so impatient that he can't wait, so we will say you don't have that freedom 'yet'. How does that sounds?"

.

Oh?

Yūma had not expected such a sincere and honest answer from Kitora regarding the situation. At best, he expected her to tell him to stop being childish.

But she had spoken as if she was a part of this.

UMA: "Is something wrong with Kitora?"

He had expected a comeback from "Country Girl" and "Early Grass", but even they surprised him by remaining quiet.

The one who had spoken up was Noah.

Shore: "Don't mind her. She and Toby find each other to be the easiest to talk to about these sorts of things. It's just a matter of feeling comfortable."

UMA: "I see, I see."

Detective Sniper: "The two of them really don't seem like the type to get along, you know what I mean?"

Shore: "That's probably why whatever happened between them left such an impact."

UMA: "Did something happen?"

Detective Sniper: "Yes, something did. But it's not any of our place to say. Sorry about that."

UMA: "No, no. I get it. 三3三"

There were simply things that should remain those involved.

For people like Kitora and Toby to have such a thing between them only meant that it really did have a big enough impact that they could act like this in public. It was a mutual understanding that gave Yūma a slightly better view of Kitora.

"Well, disregarding my gratefulness and how I'll be paying you all back."

She gave him a light slap that he chose to not move away from.

"My parents really will be doing a thorough check on the branches. They saw Yagura already, but I don't know if they saw any of the other branches yet. If you see them just try to stay out of sight and probably let Mr. Rindō or Ms. Yuri speak to them. But please, whatever you do, don't let Yūichi speak to them!"

"Jin-san?"

"That's right," he nodded. "I know how that guy is and I know he will only make things annoying. Also, just make sure Yōtarō isn't around either. ...And I say that for both his sake and the sake of Border's future sponsor."

That was probably linked to how Yōtarō was friends with the younger Awdry brother and not just because he was the way he was.

But the way Toby had been speaking about it...

"Do you think they will really give their full support to Border?"

.

Toby rubbed the back of his neck and looked off to the distance.

His eye landed on the main Border base and remembered the messages he had seen coming in a few minutes ago.

Apparently someone had tried to scale the side of the base and fallen onto some scaffolding that had been out. The attention such a thing got made him curious, but he was with friends and chose to think about that later. When he had the free time to himself.

But this is a pretty tough question to answer.

The factual answer he could give was easy enough, but his own feelings could accidentally get mixed in and give a different answer.

Even after spending time away from them, Toby still felt a great disdain towards both of his parents. Even if he had saved his mother from Seikai, that only went to show him that they had no idea what they were doing when it came to dealing with Trigger users.

...I guess that's fair, though. I wouldn't expect your average citizen to know what to do in that situation.

The fact she had held out long enough for her assistant to reach them meant she knew how to run away at the very least. That had been what saved her life.

Now that the situation had changed so much, and he knew they would not go against Border because of him, it made answering this question difficult.

"So long as no one screws it up...I'm pretty sure they are going to fully sponsor Border. They had been putting in their money recently as a test to see what Border would do, but nothing bad has come from it. That means they will take the next step and view Border from multiple angles."

"Meaning they will be going to branches."

That was right.

They would see what Border was like as an organization by viewing the different parts of it.

The Yagura Branch had already been visited, and he heard it went poorly, but the directors had likely given them some excuse for why that was.

Worrying about the other branches felt like a bit of waste, but he did so anyway. And the main reason being...

"Every branch has at least one person who..."

He felt it was rude to finish the sentence, but everyone seemed to understand what he meant.

"Suzunari has two such people since Shor Squad joined them. Meanwhile, our branch is filled with eccentric people."

"There's also the fact you guys are pro-Neighbor. I don't doubt they know that already - whether it was from the directors or not - but they might view that with extreme caution."

"Is there anything you can tell us about them that could help us?"

It had been some time since he truly spoke to them, but the previous interactions showed him that they had not changed much.

So he nodded.

"No, are you listening? This could help you guys at Suzunari out too."

Shore: "Yeah, I'm on the line. Hit me with it."


Noah looked over and nodded at the person sitting across from him on the chair. The table that was between them had been made clear of space so he could place his phone on it.

"So we are going to get some help before Awdry comes over?"

"That's right. But you might be a lot of help here, Mr. Kuruma."

Kuruma smiled to him and leaned forward to pay attention to the phone on the table.

Lobo: "They weren't directly affected by Neighbors, so they only about what could be explained to them or what their sources can get. That means they have no real personal feelings against them, but it also means they are going about this based solely on facts that they do know. I don't know what they spoke to the directors about, but it's pretty easy to narrow down what information they could give. Since they aren't Mikado City big shots like Kurosaki, Kobayashi, or Shiraishi, it's safe to assume they have less information on the inner workings of Border right now."

Kuru-ma: "May I join in for a moment?"

Lobo: "Of course. Anything you can give about the situation would be good. Thanks, Mr. Kuruma."

It may have been going overboard, but Noah understood that Kuruma had Toby's full respect here. Hearing this sort of reaction was odd, but understandable for anyone in the know.

Kuruma must have known this since his smile widened a bit and he nodded. Noah was the only one to see it, but that was fine.

Kuru-ma: "The Suzunari Branch is giving Kurosaki information on how connections with the citizens are and the speed at which we can get something to the main base. They are informed of the amount of time it would take to get to each branch or the base from here and which routes would be best to help in those times. What's more, they are given updates when something major comes up. They know about the attack on the base a bit ago. They just don't know the exact details."

Kitora: "If you don't me asking. What about your family, Kuruma-san? Do you give them more information as someone from that family?"

"Well, about that," he said sheepishly.

Kuru-ma: "They understand that a lot of things need to be confidential, so they don't really ask for much on things like that. Updates on the branch are a given, since they are more so sponsoring Suzunari instead of Border as a whole, but they don't mind that certain things need to be kept from them. I make sure to be careful with my words whenever it comes up."

Almost Everyone: "Why is he so lucky!?"

Kuruma gave a slight laugh at them, but even Noah felt like life could be unfair at times.

Still, I guess he deserves it. He's a really good guy.

Anyone would have made him a bit jealous.

Shore: "Moving away from Mr. Kuruma's greatness..."

Kuru-ma: "Huh?"

Lobo: "We can say with certainty that they won't have any in-depth information. The Kurumas are focused on Suzunari and the other three mentioned sponsors have direct connections with Border or have been given privileges because of what had happened before. Since I'm a disowned child, they have no connection with Border and they never had something as amazing happen as the others."

Kitora: "So what does that mean for us?"

Lobo: "It means even rumors can have an impact here."

It had been because of rumors that an incident concerning Yuki had happened a few days ago. If something like that could happen for him, what would it mean for the people leading two large companies to trust in them?

Kuruma had come to the same conclusion from the way his smile fell a bit.

But Toby made sure to reassure them.

Lobo: "We shouldn't worry too much, though. The only rumors they would believe in are the ones that have more factual proof behind them and not ones people can say without a problem. So as long as Tamakoma has something for that, they should be fine enough if anything comes up."

Megane: "By that you mean...?"

Lobo: "Huh? Oh, don't worry, I only know because it's not that hard to figure out when you've met all kinds of people. I pretty much figured it out when I first met you all."

UMA: "Mikado City geniuses are scary... 三3三"

Lobo: "Huh? But even Suzume figured it out right away, and she's a lunatic."

Kitora: "Just how bad are you guys at this...?"

Noah felt himself nod without realizing it.

He hadn't known anything until it was told to him, but it was easy to believe that people like Toby and Suzume could figure out what was happening with the Tamakoma Branch. Both of them had always been well off when it came to interactions with others.

"Uh? Is there something about the Tamakoma Branch that I'm missing?"

"Not really. It's more that Tobio and Suzume are just people we can rely on."

"Oh! I knew that already, but it's good to confirm it again!"

Lobo: "Whoa! I just got the feeling that someone was saying something nice about me!"

Kitora: "You are just imagining it, you dog boy."

Lobo: "Stop that already!"

"Anyways," almost everyone said in the chat.

Toby probably nodded his head, so Noah made sure not to worry about his feelings.

Lobo: "It's really like I said before. You can just let Mr. Rindō or one of the older members speak for you guys. I'm sure they'll know what to do. Oh, but make sure to let Mr. Rindō know to be careful about mentioning that Yōtarō and Step are friends. From what I know, they are trying to use that to their advantage here, but Step is too good of a kid to follow through with that. Try to string them along as best you can. Yūma, you should probably be there to make sure they aren't lying."

UMA: "So you know about that too."

Detective Sniper: "Toby! I'm taking you with me next time!"

Lobo: "Hell no! I know I like weird situations, but being with you and your curse just makes me nervous! I end up stalling!"

Megane: "Even if she isn't planning for it to happen, it feels like she really is..."

UMA: "Her curse is just that strong."

It was scary how true that statement was. The meaning behind it was enough to give him the shivers for a moment.

Shaking his head a bit, Noah looked back at Kuruma to see that his smile had returned in full by this point.

Everyone enjoying themselves like this and Toby speaking so freely must have made him happier than before.

Shore: "Hey, Tobio. You went over the Tamakoma people. What about us? You said you had something for Suzunari?"

Lobo: "That one's easy. Even you should have figured it out by now, No."

What was it?

Lobo: "You guys have Mr. Kuruma with you."

Almost Everyone: "That's cheating!"

Lobo: "But it's true!"

It really was.

Kuruma was looking at him with a questioning smile and it hurt to look directly at it.