Fox Hunt Fixed

by TheAnimeTrain

The week continues on with new wins for Border. But things are not well with rumors of one of their own doing something they shouldn't continue floating around.

2. Waiters on the Current Stage

"It sounds like it's over."

Oshiro saw the light coming from Shikifuku dim.

They were about to enter the Forbidden Zone, so Inukai was growing more cautious next to him.

"Was Shikifuku reacting to one of its other parts? It flew off so quickly that it's honestly a miracle other people didn't see it. Actually, I didn't even know you had it activated, Oshiro."

"Oh, u-um, s-sorry. ...I had just figured that I should have it active while we still had the memo, so, uh..."

He was unsure if he should say this, but he decided it was okay with Inukai.

He still felt some hesitation and embarrassment, but he said it regardless.

"I don't think I could sit idly by when my friend or someone important to Yuki-nii were in danger."

Inukai paused at that and finally nodded.

"That's good to hear."

"Right!"

Still, he had caused him some trouble. The two of them decided to leave in a hurry, but then Inukai moved quickly behind him.

"No! You can't bring that many!"

"What!? Then let's hide them somewhere and come back to get them later! Ones like this are limited edition and Ikomacchi has been waiting for them! Here, I'll write 'Inukai buried porn games here' on the pillar!"

"I see you thought this through enough to use someone else's name to protect yourself! Besides, this is a first-run limited edition with a serial number. It's probably special-ordered, so they would track it down if anyone asked who had bought it."

"Ohh, you're so observant! But your old man was caught with some porn games he bought while he had been supposed to be working, wasn't he!?"

Oshiro did not understand what they were talking about, but he was thankful they were accompanying him.

He then ducked down and left the general city with Inukai.

But after a few steps, he spoke. One of the Shikifuku blades had flown away, so he may have been feeling empty-handed. He glanced in the direction the sword had flown.

"That thing is like a dog. Can it detect an individual's trion reaction?"

"It is the sword that selects ones willpower, after all. But..." Oshiro thought back to some older stories. "Right. This Black Trigger was made by someone Akasora-san was close to, so the other parts of it were meant to be used as one. And that means..."

What did it mean?

"Anyone able to use the parts of it might be able to become friends."

"It would be nice to create a friend park for Black Trigger at home or in the neighborhood, but I also feel like that would bring war to our doorstep."

"Not to worry. Kushikage-san's Trigger is also meant to protect."

After all…

"She was a protector, too."

Kushikage's relatives were known as soldiers for Japan as soon as they debuted. She would have led her comrades as a soldier and been friends with many other soldiers.

…Can we end up like that, too?

Oshiro could wait for it to happen or actively work to make it happen. He had a number of options, but he decided to leave them all open. He hugged one of the Shikifuku blades while hoping his willpower would reach the wielder of the other one.

"Isn't that great?"

---

"Well shit. And you call yourself a protector? …Can you even stand?"

Mei did not even feel like nodding as she sat on the ground and listened to her mentor.

But she was not sitting because she wanted to. After her attack had hit her mentor and knocked the woman away, her trion had been all used up, returning her to her real body, she had fallen to her knees, and she had been unable to move.

Her knees were too weak to stand even if she tried, so…

"Fine, then."

Standing in front of her, her mentor placed her arms below Mei's arms and lifted her up. Mei blushed from embarrassment and somehow managed to face forward while supporting herself on Shikifuku's blade.

"Kushikage…"

Her mentor's Border uniform had a vertical slash down the chest and her mentor looked down at it.

"Oh, this?"

Her mentor licked a finger and traced it down between her breasts. Mei saw the skin below.

"You're not even hurt?"

"You did hit me. You saw the mark, didn't you? Valkyrie Sfyrí counteracted Shikifuku's trion blade, so it was only a blunt strike. Still…"

Her mentor placed her hands on her hips, held her breasts between her elbows, and wiggled back and forth.

"The sword must've been slowed down when it passed between my boobs. Having a fine as fuck body improves your defenses."

"And in reverse, my experience proves a flat chest improves your evasion…"

"Now, now." Her mentor pulled the trion blade out from the ground and spun it lightly in her fingers. "I did defend with Valkyrie Sfyrí, but you didn't come at me strong enough. You need to get some extra sword fighting lessons somewhere."

Mei realized something from that.

"Kushikage, um…"

"That makes two wins and one loss for me."

That told her the battle was over, but…

"No, this one didn't count."

She shook her head and explained why.

"Kushikage… You didn't use your Trigger's drive."

.

Her mentor still had power left over. That was a fact.

Valkyrie Sfyrí's second drive.

Similar to Karasuma's Geist, her Trigger had a function that allowed her Trigger to go beyond it's natural state. However, this had its own drawbacks and the setting had to be right.

Her mentor had often shown her that drive when she was still learning. She remembered her mentor making many deep attacks and letting her touch the blade from all sorts of angles. But...

…She stopped doing it once it became clear I couldn't use it.

"What if you had used that and unleashed your full power as a fighter?"

"Then that wouldn't have been a confrontation with your mentor."

"—"

She was at a loss for words and her mentor nodded.

"And that thing is…yes, it's only for my family. Now, anyway."

"…Eh!? Wait…'now'!? Still!?"

"Oh, c'mon." Her mentor wiggled back and forth. "I can't believe they actually said, 'This is what they call a yandere older sister, isn't it!?'. And they still love this bitch of a woman, so they're full of hidden qualities. Yes...would you prefer to call them your children or your siblings?"

"Wh-what are you talking about!? Where did this come from!?"

"Let me be clear about one thing."

She could not move, but her mentor placed her hands on her shoulders with a serious expression.

"It takes a fuckton of work to decide on what is a human and what is a Neighbor. I count as a Neighbor because my parents really went at it when it came to fucking. Kiyoshi might be a mix. But those other two are humans. That means you can refer to them as either your children or your siblings, Fuji."

"People keep telling me things I really would rather not know tonight."

"What's wrong with that?"

Her mentor pressed her fingers along parts of Mei's back and legs. They were points to rid the body of some exhaustion. She felt her body lighten up, but decided that she still needed to rest once she returned home.

Her mentor then placed her hands on Mei's shoulders again.

"Listen carefully, Fuji."

"…What is it?"

"I will let you go with my idiot brother. You showed me some very interesting things."

"—"

"But," her mentor continued. "Hurry up and confess to him."

.

"Eh!?"

Mei did not understand what that meant at first, but her mentor gave a deep nod and kept talking.

"Yeah, y'know, that idiot is my brother, so...yeah, I want to make you my sister. But all the legal formalities are such a pain in the ass, so you make him your wife."

"Wh-what are you talking about!? And he wouldn't be the wife!"

"He's weak, things are more annoying when he's around, he has authority but not enough, he's quick to whine and cry, and he looks good in women's clothing, so what can you call him but a heroin? Are you okay, Fuji?"

"I'm not going to argue over our perceptions of him! Besides, we are already-…"

"You were drunk and that doesn't count."

"An operator! I am an Operator with a squad to take care of!"

"You're watching over his kids and younger sister. Besides that, I've been thinking, it's about time you gave up that stupid title. Get out there and enjoy yourself again. Akasora wouldn't mind letting you have Shikifuku in whole to become an S-Rank agent."

"Kh!"

It was a problem how unyielding and eloquent her mentor was.

"But anyway." Her mentor smiled and pushed on her back. "Hurry up and get going. You're feeling less exhausted now, aren't you?"

"Well, um…"

Mei explained why she could not move. It had nothing to do with exhaustion, injury, or motivation.

"I'm hungry…"

She looked up and saw a surprised look on her mentor's face. And then…

"Pff!"

"D-don't laugh! I didn't get anything to eat after the battle with Pyrgos and then I had to deal with this!"

"Fine, then. Here."

Her mentor held out a piece of meat. It had be a curious thing to be given by the woman, but she said nothing about it.

"Damn. I'm so glad women can be older or young at their own convenience. That means I can go and do whatever I want now. Just have to make sure it's within Border's view now. Taht part sucks."

"Kushikage? Just to be clear, when a woman your age wears a school uniform with the chest opened like that, it looks like something from a porn video! That's criminal."

"Oh, Fuji. Are you worried I'll seduce your man? Don't worry. I love my siblings more than anyone else, but I'm not into that shit."

Her mentor was not listening, so her shoulders drooped and she breathed in once more.

She then used Shikifuku to point to the city below.

"I'm going, okay!? I'll eat on the way!"

The meeting was in full swing below the hill, so she rested Shikifuku on her shoulder and started down.

"Let's go, Kushikage. The others are waiting!"

---

It was late at night, but Mitsuteru found himself awake.

He had been meaning to go to sleep around 8:30 so he would be able to meet up with some of his friends in the morning, but his plans had been stopped by a single message.

2Truths1Lie: "There's a meeting discussing rumors about your first captain. Do you want the details?"

He had known about those rumors from the times he had gone out with his friends. There had been talk about a boy resembling his first captain's current appearance going around and trying to hand out Triggers to others. His own friends had been asked before, but they had rejected the offer.

I'm so glad they did. I don't know if it was because I was there or not, but it would only lead to trouble if they had accepted.

Turning onto his back to look at the ceiling of his room, he began to think about his first captain and his very first squad in Border.

Kanzaki-san and Shitokei-san were pretty hard to get along with since they were both pretty much solo people. Kimura-san was...something. Her jokes haven't seemed to change, but she seems to have lightened up a bit more since then. And Kiyoshi-san...

He had been told not to let anything go from the past just yet by his first captain. It had been during commentary for his squad's match against top tier B-Rank squads. They had done surprisingly well, making it in second place.

But that might have been because I really wanted to get back at so many people there. I don't think I'll be able to do things like that again at this point.

He had made amends with Kotowari Squad's core trio and had let go of any ill feelings he had towards Ninomiya Squad and Suzunari's #4 Attacker. The only thing he had not let go of had been his past with his first captain.

So...

Daybreak: "I really do want to know if it involves Kiyoshi-san. But, um, Seiji-san?"

2Truths1Lie: "Yes?"

Daybreak: "Isn't that meeting...kind of important? Wouldn't you be breaking some rules by telling me now?"

2Truths1Lie: "Yes, I would. But that's fine. This has more to do with you than it does me."

It was really worrying how easygoing his current captain could be at times.

That might be why all of his fans find it so easy to walk up to him and talk to him.

Arashiyama Squad's captain was in a similar situation. Both boys had refreshing personalities and were generally liked by those around them.

Being popular and easygoing like that must have felt nice.

Shaking his head of those bitter thoughts, Mitsuteru focused back on his phone once another message appeared.

2Truths1Lie: "You know, calling him 'Kiyoshi-san' at this point is kind of bad."

"Huh?"

Where was this going?

2Truths1Lie: "Yeah. Like, he's important to you, right? You made up with his children and they call you their brother now, right? So calling him like that so formally might be a bit harsh, don't you think?"

Was there really time for this if he was in the middle of a meeting?

...That might be exactly why he's doing this.

Sometimes he wish he could be has rough as Shigenaga when it came to their captain. But he was pretty easygoing himself, so he found that it was hard to reprimand his current captain when he was only telling him the truth.

Wait! What part of that was true!?

He did always call his first captain by his former name with a respectable honorific, but that was hardly anything. His other former teammates were called by their surnames with the same honorifics. If anything, they had it worse than his first captain.

"Crap! I didn't think I was typing that as I was thinking it!"

2Truths1Lie: "That's true, but we'll focus on Yuki for now. Since he's the topic of this meeting."

What a way to get back on topic.

2Truths1Lie: "I know he told you not to let anything go just yet, but I think he would be pretty happy if you started addressing him less formally. I'm not saying to use his current name - that might hurt you - so all I'm saying it to call him something nice and cute so that it'll be easier when you really can let everything go."

Daybreak: "Uh, right... I guess I could try. Did you have anything in mind then?"

2Truths1Lie: "Well, it's really on you to figure that out. But I guess giving you a hint wouldn't be too bad. Okay, so, you call Kō-kun 'Senpai' - and I have something to say about that at a later date - and he's best friends with Yuki. But the two are pretty much opposites. So try something like that. Then you would make both of them happy."

Opposites while remaining connected. That had been what his current captain was talking about.

In truth, he had no idea while he referred to only Murakami like that while everyone else he knew were referred to by name. Something had likely happened at one point to make that so, but he could not remembering anything particular happening between them.

Pushing that thought aside, he focused more and more on what his current captain had said.

Something that goes with him, but is opposite to Senpai. But also something connecting. Hm...

Taking a few more seconds to think about it, he slowly made an "oh" face while righting his position on his bed.

"So something like...'Paisen'?"

There was a moment of sience.

Mitsuteru looked down at his phone to make sure he had not typed that out.

Seeing that he had not, he nodded to himself and made a certain action.

"—!"

Throwing his full weight onto his bed, he hid his face from the world before throwing his upper body into the air.

"That's waaaaaaaay too embarrassing! He wouldn't like that at all! We both wouldn't know what to do after that! But that's the only thing I got! Urg! Dammit! Why did Seiji-san have to tell me to do this!?"

2Truths1Lie: "I'm guessing you had thought of something embarrassing and don't want to tell me. So I'll leave it at that and have you make a choice on what to call him from now on."

"That's just plain mean!"

He let out a frustrated sigh as he moved to lay back down.

Once his back hit his bed, he saw a new message appear.

His expression turned more straight.

2Truths1Lie: "Now that that's out of the way... Let me tell you about this meeting."

.

Mitsuteru held his phone out as his captain typed a message for him.

2Truths1Lie: "There has been rumors of someone looking like Yuki who has been going around and trying to give civilians Triggers. Evidence for that has come up, but Border is still holding out from telling us who exactly it is. Some of us have figured it out already, but we're just keeping quiet so as not to draw attention to it. I doubt anyone from mid-to-low tier B-Ranks will be explicitly told who this is about, but we managed to skim by the top. So we might be able to tell the others."

"They might leave us out if they think we aren't up to snuff. But that's probably just some pessimistic thoughts."

2Truths1Lie: "Even if it is, there is still a possibility for that. I actually wouldn't doubt it if they only went with A-Ranks and former A-Ranks. So even with my assumption and positive thinking, I could be wrong. Yuki is his own trouble, but that trouble is also something that got him to A-Rank. Top tier B-Ranks can catch him, but A-Ranks can do it better. Don't sell yourself short like that, Teru-kun."

Don't give me too much credit, Seji-san. I was only saying the first thing that came to mind.

Telling his captain as much would amount to little right now.

Mitsuteru gave a sigh and opened a new tab on his phone.

He wanted to take note of anything important without needing to look back through their messages.

"So has there been any word from Kiyo... P-P-Pai-... From Kiyoshi-san! Sorry, but I can't call him that! Has there been any word from him yet!?"

2Truths1Lie: "That's fine. Things like that take time. So take as much time as you need."

Didn't he want him to hurry up and call his first captain that though?

I guess it's best not to question these things right now.

There was something else going on.

2Truths1Lie: "In all honesty, I would like to take Hikigane-san, Bakuto-san, and Jin-san's route when it comes to all of this. That becomes difficult once I think about how the rest of you will react."

Daybreak: "What do you mean?"

2Truths1Lie: "Those three had left and said they would not get involved. It was their way of letting us know that they will not get in anyone's way, but they will be observing the situation. If it leads to a general incident, I don't doubt they will get involved. But while it involves Yuki and Border's internal issues, they will remain neutral parties."

Daybreak: "So then what's the issue? I'm sure you could have walked out if you wanted to."

Even if he was not the best at being a squad captain and liked to take things in a laidback manner, his captain was not one to shy away from letting someone know when he didn't want to take a job.

His previous occupation had been as an actor and he had told them all stories of roles he refused to play. Not matter what anyone tried, he had rejected them due to one reason or another. It had always led to some issues down the line, but soon it had been accepted as something he would be adamant about if it didn't sit right with him.

The fact he did not reject this meeting meant he had a reason to be there.

2Truths1Lie: "Well that's easy. This involves you more than it does me."

Mitsuteru sat with a start.

2Truths1Lie: "Besides that, I want to know what side everyone is going to take."

---

He is a good person.

Seiji smiled in his heart as he sent his messages.

The only people who had realized that he was messaging in the first place were the ones who tended to be the most observant. Everyone else only paid attention to the meeting in front of them.

It was refreshing to see so many different reactions.

The reactions from my squad tend to also be pretty good. They can be refreshing in their own way.

Mitsuteru had always been a pretty honest boy, but his honestly came out the most when speaking about any of his former squads.

Daybreak: "You can be pretty sneaky at times, Seiji-san."

It was not meant as an insult, so he waved the comment off.

He waited for a moment before relying. Sawamura had seemed to finish with any messages that had come through to her an the directors.

"So it seems that the person in question has left the area. We are still keeping track of them, meaning they know what they are doing."

"And what exactly are they doing?"

"From the looks of things... They are going to their house."

Seiji's smile turned bitter.

Some others in the room had understood what this meant and reacted in a similar way.

It would not be as simple as "the person in question going home". There would be more to it than that.

Wait a minute... Which home is she talking about?

He narrowed his eyes at his own realization.

Sawamura looked over at Border's directors, but said nothing more than that.

If he is going to his house, that is one thing. But he has also come to call the Yagura Branch his home. Some of this things have been moved there and we have had some meetings there as well. So depending on which "home" he is going to...

More trouble would come up.

Finding a new moment to message Mitsuteru, he placed his fingers over the keys of his phone. Typing out messages without looking at the keys had become a natural thing for him.

He no longer needed to see what he was typing since he already knew where his fingers were going.

2Truths1Lie: "Teru-kun, I recommend going to the Yagura Branch in the morning."

Daybreak: "Huh? Why's that?"

2Truths1Lie: "That is one of two places where you might be able to find some answers. Afterwards, I want you to meet up with the rest of us so that we can discuss things further."

There was a moment when nothing came.

During that time he looked around to see the different reactions everyone was giving.

There were a few that stood out to him, but most had only seemed to want to leave by this point.

Daybreak: "...Alright. Thank you for letting me know, Seiji-san."

...He really is a good person.

---

"So how will you view this situation? What actions do you want us to be taking here?"

Kako gave a bitter smile as she messed around with Takeshi's hair.

She had gotten him to relax enough around her to where she could mess with his clothes or hair and have no problems come up.

Others had turned to them a the beginning, and Takeshi had tensed up a few times, but now no one had bothered to look at them as she twirled his hair in her fingers.

Does he plan on dyeing it again or keeping it this way?

She had been quick to notice the black on his hair that started from his roots.

The way they started inward and began moving outwards gave it a nice appearance in her eyes.

But he would start to look like he is trying to copy Hogo-kun if this keeps up. Besides, I think he would look rather nice with black hair. Natural tends to be nice and it won't ruin his hair more than it already is.

She had wanted to start trying different things with Takeshi being her new victim. All of those ideas were quickly pushed aside once she remembered hw hard he had been trying to better himself and better understand others.

If she continued wit her plans, she would be insulting his hard work and put him back to square one.

Oh well. I guess I can just have him taste some new fried rice recipes Mei and I have been trying out.

She gave an airy laugh and waved off everyone else's looks.

"What will Border's directors have us do?"

Looking down at the boy whose hair was turning black, she noticed the way he had started tilting to one side.

Off in the distance she could also hear the sounds of Suzume talking with others, Toby trying to make food for some people with what they had left, and even Ninomiya talking to someone.

Likely Minoru-kun. But...

But...

It's getting really late and they all haven't had any rest since coming back from the underground. Yuki-kun had gotten to sleep with Murakami-kun for a bit, but his body needs even more sleep than any of ours. Him going home really doesn't sound strange. It's this meeting that is making it seem strange.

"Kako-san, who exactly are you asking?"

"I am asking the director with us at the moment. I could have put it in the meeting, but then I would need to keep holding on to the pretense of us not knowing who they are talking about." She nodded to Suzaku once before shifting to make sure Takeshi did not fall over from where he was leaning on her. "Even without Suzaku-kun telling us who this was about, we would have figured it out easily enough. The clue are all there. So the only thing that remains is what we will be doing now."

Everyone turned at her words.

But they did not turn to her.

They all turned to the director currently with them.

"As you can see, we have some people here who are ready to sleep. For others who enjoy the nightlife, it's fine to be up and about here, but we have some children here who have already gone well past their curfew."

"...Kako-san, I'm still fiiiine to-..."

"Hm hm hm. No need to push yourself Kotowari-kun. It's fine if you and the others want to go to sleep. We have people here who would gladly carrying you all home. Just know that there will be pictures taken depending on how they carry you."

"That's just mean..."

Even so, Takeshi did seem to lower his eyelids as the seconds went on.

Even the noise from the distance was starting to quiet down.

Smiling at the boy to her side, she looked back up at the director with them.

"Shinoda-san."

"Right. The meeting is still going on, but it becomes difficult when there are ones who can't figure out who we're talking about. I'll see what I can do from here."

"Very good. The other group should be back by now, so you would have been running on overtime if they had made it home while we were still in this meeting."

"Good point."

With a nod in her director, Shinoda held up his own tablet to send a message to Border's base.

I say that, but it's not like we really got anywhere with this meeting. They have yet to find a point in all of this and have not given proper instructions on the matter. Although, that's not me criticizing our directors. Things like this tend to happen when it involves someone so troublesome.

Since this is the case, there is really only one option for them to take.

"Alright, I have reached a consensus with the others. Sawamura-kun should be giving the news now."

.

GM Aide: "Seeing as how long this meeting has been going on, we will let you all go now. We had planned for it to only be a briefing for thirty minutes, but that had gotten changed once we found out some new information. I sincerely apologize for holding you all up like this."

Kane-shima: "Since that's the case, does that mean-"

2Truths1Lie: "Urushima-kun, if you finish that sentence, I will make sure to have Teru-kun come and visit you. I believe there is something you still owe him."

Kane-shima: "..."

GM Aide: "...With that being finished, you may all leave now."

.

Kuruma let out a sigh as they were told they could go home now.

Even if they had been told that, he knew that some people would start doing their own thing or go over what they had heard.

He wanted to go and check on his own teammates before messaging Shor to hear his thoughts on this matter.

He stopped before getting up at the message that appeared on his screen. It was not alone as the others around him seemed to have also gotten a message.

The only one who had not moved to read the message had been Kotowari.

He had already fallen asleep at Kako's side and was being held by the shoulder so he did not fall.

I would be fine with taking him home. And if he's like this, Awdry and Misaki might have already fallen asleep. I can ask Kō where they live and have him come along to bring Awdry.

With that plan in mind, he opened the new message and read it.

Kido: "All A-Rank captains and top B-Rank captain will be given more information tomorrow morning. Along with that, orders will be given on what to do with the matter. If any news comes in over the night, that will be added."

It had not been Sawamura who had informed them of this but Border's Command-in-Chief himself.

This really is serious.

He was worried about what Yuki would be doing during all of this. They had heard that he had simply gone home, but Kuruma had known that that simply made no sense. He had left this spot by Murakami to go home and away from everyone.

It would seem like he was running away, but that was not true. Running away had not been a reason good enough for him to leave this place.

Deciding that this was a matter for later on, he began to stand up so that he could retrieve Kotowari from Kako's side.

As he did so, he heard someone sigh.

"I'm sorry to ask this, but would it be too much trouble to have a different meeting at the Suzunari Branch Office?"

It had been Kimura.

"Kuruma-san, would it be a hassle if we used your branch's office for a meeting? There are some things I want to go over with the others and we can't exactly head to the Yagura Branch at the moment. Shiraishi will be heading back, likely with Ikoma, but that would only bring more attention to us."

"Huh? Oh... That shouldn't be a problem. I doubt Shor Squad will be there, so you should be fine. I had wanted to bring Kō with me to take Kotowari and Awdry home, but if you need him..."

"It would be good to have him there, yes. Sorry for that."

"No need to be sorry. But, um..."

"Yes?"

"Right." He looked around until his eyes locked onto the man standing up a few feet away. "Should you really be saying that with a director right there?"

Kimura looked from him to Shinoda before looking back to him.

There was a moment of silence before someone moved.

It was Shinoda. He gave a shrug.

"There is no real context for that meeting, so I can't say anything against it. For all I know, it could be about a study group."

"Thank you, Shinoda-san."

"There's nothing to thank me for. Besides, the things we brought out here came from the Suzunari Branch. You can just say that you are returning them to the branch office and having a study group session there."

Should a director as important as him really be saying that?

Shinoda was giving them a way out without seeming to be suspicious.

He wanted to speak up about that, but he knew that it was better to ignore it and pretend he heard nothing.

"Besides, I need to go see Chishi. So I will claim deniability if asked that I knew what you were doing."

Okay, that one is a bit worrying!

Everyone else thought nothing of it and only began to move.

The next one to move closer to him was Ōji.

"I'll go see if Tsuji or Izumi can help you out with Awdry. I don't know what you'll do about the queen though."

"I'm the one who is driving, so I can take her home myself," Kako said while passing them.

It was good that there were other people here who could help with the core members of Kotowari Squad.

It would be terrifying if Yuki or Mei found out that we didn't take care of their kids.

All he needed to do right now was make sure the two boys got home safely and hope the Suzunari Branch would not be destroyed after the next meeting.

"Suzaku, can you contact the others? I'm sure they already figure out what that meeting was about."

"Already did it. Most of them said that they would join us. Even Kanda is coming over for this. ...Oh, but Inukai just messaged back. He asked if he can bring Hogo with him and if they could spend the night there after the meeting."

"That's right. Those two were out doing something else the whole day," Kuruma found himself saying. Noticing the expecting looks from the others, he gave a sheepish smile while walking out of the clearing. "You can tell him that is fine. All of you can stay the night, if you want. You'll have Kō and Kon-chan there, so they can help you figure out where everything is."

Kimura and Suzaku gave their nods in thanks before the latter began typing once again.

It appeared that the night was still young for certain people.

---

"The meeting over at the base has ended, you say?"

Night covered Mikado City and the building placed within the riverbed.

The building's support beams could be seen coming from the river itself while holding up the entire structure. The building itself had once been remodeled and was now known as the Tamakoma Branch Office.

On the roof of the large building, a glasses-man checked on the status of Border. He looked out into the eastern night sky, but he finally lightly turned his legs. He turned from east to south and then west.

"Reiji, we got word from Jin a little while ago saying that he will be holding onto that memo until things are resolved. But do you think he will come back here and hand it over if I tell him to do so?"

"Probably. He will still follow orders, but has no worries about actually following them. He's actively trying to remain neutral in this matter because he knows that that branch can't do that because it involves one of their members."

"I see," said Rindō Takumi as his shoulders relaxed.

He continued without looking back at the large man who stood behind him.

"If Border tries to do what they did with the incident involving Yūma's Black Trigger, I don't doubt he will find away around it. That time he had been fine with the turn of events because there was a clear way out."

"Boss... What will happen now?"

"I won't tell you."

Reiji's eyes narrowed, but he ignored it and asked a question.

"Have we secured the metal tower in the other city?"

"Yeah. According to Jin, the locals were avoiding it because they 'don't want to catch the perversion', so it's been settled that it will be cleaned, the material of the unneeded floors will be recycled, and those materials will be delivered."

"It is a shame, since I had hoped to speak with Pyrgos a bit." Rindō Takumi crossed his arms. "Well, whatever. We need to prepare over here. Things will be getting complicated soon enough."

"What do you mean?"

"Jin is actively remain neutral since Chi-chan's branch is forced to one side. Knowing some others like I do, we can guess that Hikigane and Bakuto will also be staying out of all of this and only observe," he explained. "That means there will be three major players remain neutral and will refuse to pick a side, no matter how dire the situation. They can't even do anything about these rumors as it will start making others believe that they have picked a side and will act on the knowledge they gain. Got that? Also..."

"What is it?"

"Only contact Yagura Branch members via normal means. Border will likely keep tabs on all transmissions."

"Can they really do that if Suzaku decides to side with the opposing force?"

"At the moment, there is no 'opposing force', so they can. Even beyond that, they have some pretty smart people on their side. Having Suzaku is a luxury that makes life easy, but they can manage just fine without him. Everything is still in the beginning phases, so nothing is set in stone. ...Do you know what that means? I won't tell you either way."

Reiji glared at him, but Rindō ignored it. However...

"If this escalates into something more than this by the end of the night, we will have something major on our hands. At that point, sides will be drawn and Border will expect most of their members to be on their side. The directors know what they're doing, so they won't lie to themselves and say that certain people won't go to the other side, but they will be prepared for it and act on that. ...It becomes even more difficult if we toss in the three major factions of Border. It's hard on us since the ones who would be outed would be the ones who will never pick a side other than their own."

He turned toward Reiji.

"Now, then. I'll be issuing an order right now for everyone part of this branch. It will be a difficult one, but a necessary one. In a sense, we are replacing the Yagura Branch in our stance on this matter, so we need to act accordingly. So remember not to let yourself be swayed after you have made your decision."

"Right, I can figure where this is going already and I have made my own choice. I know who we would be against, so I'm also ready for that."

"You really are taking this seriously."

Rindō pulled a pack cigarettes from his coat pocket and tossed it to Reiji. It was a somewhat poorly controlled throw, so he used his arms' reach to grab it before it made a full turn.

"I don't smoke. Why are you giving them to me?"

"I'll be leaving those with you for a bit. I would want to start smoking at the worst time if I held on to those for the night."

"Just for the night...?"

"I won't tell you."

Rindō laughed, turned his back on Reiji, and opened his phone.

"I will try my best to also remain neutral, but you all are free to make your own choices. You...oh, I know. Go make some memories while us neutral parties observe what Border does when it tries to take one of it's own while that person continues to run away from so many things. But..."

But...

"If we're talking about 'running' and 'coming' then I think it's obvious what he wants to do and what he has to do. ...It does not mean it will end well for him, but he should be used to things going terribly wrong for him. So I won't say anything and just head over to enjoy some coffee at the Yagura Branch tomorrow."

---

"Looking at the results we managed to get, Border got some pretty good results at the end of the day and can afford to wait for the morning to come."

Inukai listened to Oshiro by the sink of the Suzunari Branch's interior.

They were in the different branch office due to the worry concerning their main meeting spot. Everything taken out from the Suzunari Branch had been returned.

Anyone who had not been with the group going to the underground had met them at the branch office. Inukai and Oshiro had arrived later then all of them and had volunteered to wash the dishes the others had used. They had carried over those pots and other dishes, but...

...That's probably the last of any normal nighttime cars coming through the area.

Everyone in the room would have heard it as well.

As had Ōji, Kurauchi, and Mizukami here.

"In other words, Border might be a bit more relaxed after having two separate victories that others don't know about, right?"

"During the invasions, we had to fight to protect Mikado City or the base itself, but what will it be like this time?"

"This time, we will probably be the ones attacking ourselves." Inukai mentally pictured the different squads really going at it within the Forbidden Zone. "The Forbidden Zone isn't really a circle. The inside is sort of separated into different areas, so it will not be an easy place to fight in for some people."

"Circles?" asked Oshiro.

...Oh, he looks so cute holding up that washed plate as an example circle.

But giving a proper answer was what mattered.

"In an easy explanation, the circles can just mean different areas where it would be best to fight in."

Mi-Kon: "In that case, Inukai-kun, you just repeated yourself by saying it is divided into different areas that are different, didn't you?"

Life: "I can see why Oshiro was confused."

Secretary: "Yes, you do sometimes see people who try to simplify things with precise terminology and end up tripping over it."

Ōji: "Huh? I take it you've been looking into a mirror then?"

Secretary: "No. You didn't understand me? I was talking about people who rejoice in using obscure and confusing language."

Demon Child: "Yes, I know exactly what you mean. Just look at this book I bought at the last event: 'The black shade strength became a dark force and clouded the shadow man's mind with a grim power, drawing out his latent potential.' Wouldn't 'the shadow man became pathetic' work just as well? Right? Is there something wrong with your brain?"

Secretary: "It was meant to represent his fall into darkness! Can't you just admit it sounds cool!?"

Inukai could have sworn Oshiro said "Oh, so he was feeling himself down below?", but he decided he must have misheard.

Mi-Kon: "But saying things in needlessly confusing ways is a problem that Yuki-kun has as well. I really think I should live a more straightforward life. And you as well, Kō-kun."

Umi: "K-Kon, you're plenty straightforward already, do you'll be fine! And Kō is kind of stuck with that guy, so we just leave him alone!"

Black Wolf: "Suuuuzaaaaakuuuuu!"

"Anyway," said Inukai, thankful the enemies' aim had been diverted elsewhere. "The directors will want to focus on the memo Mei-san had managed to get and Jin-san currently has. They will probably leave the details for this particular issue to Sawmaura-san or general workers."

"They'd really do that?" asked Mizukami while polishing some ironware.

"Yeah." Inukai nodded. "If they focus more on the memo in advance, then they can use everything after that to work on this. The only director I can see really working on this would be Netsuki-san. The PR issue this would cause is kind of up there, you know?"

"And everyone will be prepared for exactly what happens, so they can stay safe, right?" asked Oshiro.

"Precisely."

Inukai nodded and realized that Oshiro's former problems had also been a form of "clear issue" Border had dealt with while preparing for something else.

Even with control of the situation, Border's information on the matter would be coming from the public and the police.

"Now, then. ...Even if they try their hardest, the person they are trying to get answers from is difficult."

With that comment, he placed a washed place on the stack being made on the dish rack beyond the sink.

Then he reached for the next plate.

"Ah."

Oshiro had done the exact same thing to his right, so their fingers tangled together.

Inukai felt the mutual touching switch inside him activate.

...Th-this is a rare situation!

Mizukami had his back to them while polishing the ironware. He breathed out a long stream of air in a sigh, but he ignored them.

And Oshiro switched from his left hand to his right as he grabbed his hand.

They picked up a plate with their doubled right hands.

Eh? he thought as Oshiro circled behind him. He kept his hand on the plate and lightly embraced him from behind.

"Sumiharu?"

..So cloooooooose!

"Yes?" he replied.

Kura-uchi: "Oh, he's really shaken."

Inu: "I am not. I am perfectly calm."

But while Oshiro embraced him from behind...

"When washing a round, Western-style plate, you need to do it like this, Sumiharu."

He set down his scrubbing brush and took his hand. He did the same with the plate.

"Western plates come in a few different shapes, but these ones used to serve curry are flat in the center."

The way he pressed his chest into his back through his clothes was clearly letting him feel two nubs.

"...Yes, I can definitely feel the flat center!"

"Yes, they're flat."

...I'm so glad Oshiro doesn't worry much about the nuance of what I say!

And Oshiro said, "With greasy foods, a stain tends to remain in the seam between the flat part and the curved part. Because the spoon and other utensils will often hit there and scrape it. So focus on that seam."

The way Oshiro moved while speaking rubbed his squashed chest against his back more than he had expected. Just when he thought they were going to flatten out a bit more, they began to stiffen a bit. Beyond just the heat of the pressure, the way they seemed to roll around felt ticklish.

"I-it is indeed important to focus on the seam!"

"Right. But you need to pay careful attention, Sumiharu."

"Y-you mean I should focus on them even more than this!?"

Black Wolf: "And with that I just realized what's really going on. This has reversed my opinion of Inukai here, so what should I do?"

Kuni: "Heh heh. Why don't you do the same thing with you-know-who, Murakami-kun!? I guess they wouldn't really be flat though, right!? So go with this instead! 'Ohhh, hey you? Today let's polish up these large bowls.' C'mon, c'mon! Oh! Kon! You bring your own bowls too! They need a good washing!"

Mi-Kon: "Honestly... Kō-kun, please don't say things that will spread the damage to me. And Kunichika, take a break from helping out Suzume with her doujins."

Kuni: "Can't, she just bought me a new game as compensation!"

Black Wolf: "That wasn't me! And Kunichika, who even is 'you-know-who'!?"

At any rate, Kunichika's actions had diverted their aim.

Oshiro hummed while holding his hand and polishing the plate.

"Even a clean plate will get damage. And it will be small enough that the people using it don't notice," she said. "You only notice once it's dirty, so you have to be thorough when cleaning."

"...Oshiro." said Inukai. "So if someone who knows the plate well washes it, it can be made nice and clean?"

"Yes, that's right."

"Then," he said. "Even if it has stains or scars, we can still call it a beautiful plate."

Oshiro trembled a bit when he said that. And after a while...

"R-right...!"

The heat on his back grew.

"Thank you very much." There was a bitter smile in his voice as he whispered from below his ear. "But a plate is just a plate. I am not trying to say I am actually that important."

"I am not saying you are a plate either."

"My." The bitterness left his smile. "Then what do you say I am?"

.

...Oh, no!

If he was not a plate, what was he?

Inukai had not expected this question.

He had thought he would simply agree and that would be the end of it. But...

...This is not good!

I got carried away and responded in sexy gunner mode. I need to be more careful.

But for now, how was he supposed to answer that question?

Competent One: "Should I be looking forward to this answer?"

Inu: "Eh!? Do you have to raise the hurdle like that!?"

Secretary: "C'mon, just say it: 'Oshiro, you are like an emerald that will continue to shine for a billion lightyears.' "

Demon Child: "If you're honestly that stupid and you weren't just trying to make him look stupid, you really need to think about what you've done. Oh, but if you are that stupid, you wouldn't know what it was you did wrong. What a conundrum..."

Secretary: "Stop making assumptions...!"

Umi: "But, Inukai, saying he's like a jewel is a good idea! Oh, but you need to say something better than what I could come up with. I mean, he's a squad Captain and his Operator is pretty strict."

Manager: "Hey!"

Inukai: "And now you're raising the hurdle three levels at once!?"

Black Wolf: "H-how about going for one of the curveballs you're so well known for?"

Kuni: "Rice! Rice, right!? That's what you mean, Murakami-kun! Something like 'Oshiro, you are just like perfectly white rice."

Black Wolf: "Oh, but his surrogate brother is Yuki, who goes by the name 'White Fox' so it might sound like you're comparing the two of them and thinking of Yuki while with him. Plus, there's our current issue going on, so that might be a problem."

Inu: "Can you stop sounding helpful but ultimately being entirely useless!?"

There was nothing he could do. But then a thought occurred to him.

...Can't I just get out of this with something abstract like, "Oshiro, you are the most important thing in the world"?

Ōki: "Oh, I guess I'll be nice and point out that it's game over if you just say he's 'important' or 'irreplaceable'."

Kura-uchi: "Yeah. At times like this, you want a clear comparison to something nice, not some imaginary thing that everyone will picture differently."

2Truths1Lie: "Money! It's gotta be money! That's something beautiful that can make any dream come true!"

Almost Everyone: "We didn't need that ugly opinion!"

2Truths1Lie: "Oh, my bad. I had recently gotten done speaking with Urushima-kun, so his mindset kind of stuck to me there."

Mi-Kon: "Anyway, we seem to be at an impasse. Now, Inukai, respond to Hogo-kun with your actions instead of your words."

Kuni: "Push him down and have your way with him!"

Inu: "I can't exactly do that with his chest pressed against my back."

Life: "Why not just be true to yourself?"

In that case, thought Inukai.

.

Oshiro smiled bitterly as the sound of messages continued coming from Inukai.

Everyone was always quick to cheer him on whenever something happened. Those things would often be encouraging or amusing, but he made a point of not peeking and ruining the surprise Inukai was preparing for him.

Besides, he thought.

...Even if he gets advice from the others, he always thinks for himself in the very end.

In a way, everyone's excited comments would go to waste. He did not know if he was making proposals or if he could not relax until he had ruled everything else out by process of elimination, but he always made up his own mind in the end. And...

"Oshiro."

He moved a bit away from him.

He held his hand in his right so that they raised the plate together.

"I think..."

He then dunked his left hand in the sink. He pulled out some soap bubbles, but he spread them out between his fingers and then lightly squeezed them into a shape.

"...you are like a castle."

The bubbles had formed a small but definite shape: a wall.

He held it out toward him.

"Oh...um."

He set down her scrubbing brush and accepted it in his wet hand. His hand was wet too, so the bubble flower slid down into his.

He held it.

It looked like it would fall apart at any moment. In fact, it was slowly losing its shape. But...

"Why is that?"

"...Because of how strong you are."

Oshiro smiled at his answer.

Tears fell from the corners of his bent eyes.

...Oh, honestly.

What he had been so desperate about two months ago felt like happiness now. Did that mean he had lost his sense of tension?

He could only see good things now and he decided it was best to believe that was because there were no more bad things. And as he let the wall of bubbles melt in his hand...

"I guess I can't use this to protect you."

He grabbed his hand with the hand holding the melted wall.

"Sumiharu, let's get back to the dishes."

This was such a wonderful time. He wished he could experience it a while longer, but now was not the time for that.

As they stood shoulder to shoulder and resumed washing, something occurred to him.

"Doing the dishes at home doesn't take long at all, but we get to spend more time together when we do everyone's dishes."

.

Ōji: "It would be pretty amazing if he answered that by saying he knows a way they can add another set of dishes in about a year's time."

Kura-uchi: "Ōji, you sound like a dirty old man."

Zoe: "Huh? Does that mean Inukai always does the dishes with Hogo-kun?"

Bell: "That must be...fun."

Shōgi Boy: "Kh... S-sorry, somethin' got caught in my windpipe...!"

Secretary: "Oh, the network just got a lot livelier."

Inu: "Now who's been leaking our information!?"

---

I'm glad everyone is so lively down here and up above, thought Kimura as she looked to the southern sky from the window.

She looked out over the area to see if she could see something else. Her phone listed the routes that could be taken to the other branch offices and estimated time it would take to reach them from here.

And based on that information...

...I guess we can assume no one is going to bother coming to interrupt us.

But, she added to caution her thoughts.

Manager: "Akashi, what kind of things do you think we can expect from tomorrow?"

Secretary: "Thankfully, it's like Inukai-kun has said: they will likely give slight or indirect orders. They will go through he squad captains and have them decide what to tell their squad members."

Manager: "I need to speak with Netsuki-san once we're back at the base come tomorrow."

Umi: "Should I contact him now?"

Manager: "No, we're having this meeting on the pretense that it's a study group at the moment. Even if we need to talk to some people, we only just go away with not having to deal with the effects of the underground collapsing and sinking, so I wnat to avoid anything that will get us criticism about Border's actions."

Umi: "Then I'll just send him an e-mail. That doesn't set a definite time period for a response, so we can always claim Netsuki-san was just being considerate when he answered now."

Yeah, I guess we can do that, thought Kimura, realizing how new to a lot of this she was.

She let Suzaku arrange the e-mail and send it out via her contact.

"Anyway." Kimura took a breath. "This will be the only time we have to discuss this."

She looked down to the others who had spread out in the room. Murakami was eating a large bowl of rice while Kitazoe and some others were setting up a small hotpot.

They still intended to enjoy this for a while longer.

.

"Hey, everyone."

Kimura called out to the group gathered around the room.

The first to turn around was Suzaku who managing the sleeping necessities. He lowered the blankets in his arms in preparation for their sleep, but now he tilted his head.

"What is it, Kimura?"

In the night sky outside, the moon was moving into the west and the clouds were continually gathering and dispersing.

Kimura put her hands on her hips as she viewed that night sky.

"I'd like to start the next meeting before long, but listen. It would be best to get ourselves situated sooner rather than later, right?"

"Eh!? Kimura, isn't it a little too soon for that!? We need to enjoy our late-night snacks a while longer!"

Murakami turned around while eating a large bowl of white rice at the table between the two couches.

.

Murakami frantically held up his large bowl of white rice.

"And we haven't prepared tomorrow's breakfast yet. Wrapping meat in leaves and placing it in some embers while dreaming of tomorrow morning is a crucial event!"

If possible, he wanted to delay the meeting and put off having to talk about something unsightly.

After all, this topic was something involving his best friend and the one who had told him everything.

That in and itself was not a problem. What's wrong with a friend wanting to talk more about one of his friends? Yes, this is a good thing. It's the proper way of things. However...

...Kushikage-san is here!

There was no real problem with his friend and the others who wanted to talk about what to do about said friend who had rumors about him, but then there was that friend's older sister. He had gotten some messages from Mei about the woman, but he was still unsure for himself.

...And she is going to have a field day with that one...

He had no doubt about that. It was an absolute. You could call it a universal truth.

That older sister would day "Oh!", point something out, secure her spot, try to get someone to sleep with her in the nude, tease Murakami, and attempt something with someone else.

In fact, she had just gotten done playing around with Mei.

...I can't allow that to happen to anyone else!

He had to protect everyone else from this older sister.

After all, no one knew of her abilities at these sorts of things like he did.

That was why Murakami was setting up some preemptive defenses by taking time to cook the full supply of meat they had left over.

By using up their time here, that older sister would have less time for her field day.

So...

"I-isn't it a fantastic dream? Just imagine the wonderful aroma when we dig this up to eat it tomorrow morning!"

"What a weird dream. ...But anyway." Kimura lightly pointed into the southern sky. "We've gone over most everything about the current situation and we know most everything that's going to transpire if things go the right away thanks to some observation. We should act as quickly as possible for bth Border and that idiot, so it would be best to complete the next meeting soon."

"That's right," said the older sister from a long chair near the window. "We barely said anything at all to each other since I got here."

Murakami agreed with the older sister. He might not be able to avoid the meeting, but...

"R-rigght!? We should exchange a whole lot more infomration, shouldn't we!?"

"But Taiyōko Kushikage-san...to be blunt, you're here."

When he heard Kimura's comment, Murakami spread his mouth horizontally and gasped.

...That's right! Kushikage-san isn't on Border's side!

She was not just someone who did her own thing.

Any sort of battle had yet to officially begin, but the older sister would likely be opposed to them.

However, the older sister lightly waved her hand back and forth with a smile.

"That isn't a problem. I already lost to one of Border's members while acting as my own person and the strongest person in the Yagura Branch. That means I owe that girl a favor by not going against Border unless I have a proper reason." She shrugged. "Besides, if you're being this cautious, my mere presence here will keep you from making any kind of plans and then you would end up losing. ...Or are you planning to find a way to keep me out of a closed-room meeting once this shit really starts?"

"Kushikage-san...couldn't you just leave?"

"Oh? When did you grow a spine, Kō?"

Murakami stilled for a moment, scared that he would be devoured if he moved.

"Whatever."

That was unexpected.

He had been prepared to make a full dash to try and escape him fate, but that fate never seemed to come.

...Now that I think about it, she didn't really curse that much in her explanation. Just what happened between her and Senpai?

"Either way, I don't have a car."

Kitazoe raised his hand and smiled as if he already knew the answer.

"Um... Just out of curiosity, how did you get here?"

"Right." The older sister smiled. "From above to below."

"You jumped over, didn't you!? You must have! Did you even use a Trigger to do that?"

"What are you talking about, Kō? A small leap like that is perfectly normal."

Murakami was at a loss for words when the older sister placed a hand on her hip and smiled.

Kage: "Kiyoshi's sister also jumped over when Shitokei was fighting, didn't she?"

Mi-Kon: "Now Kō-kun needs to show off what he can do."

Black Wolf: "It sure would be convenient if I could do that..."

He did not remember it since he had not been around at the time, but this older sister had to have been carrying Jin during that jump near the Forbidden Zone.

...Her physical ability is downright nonsensical.

"Nah. I had to give at least five leaps to reach this place. I'm not too familiar with the area."

Meanwhile, Kimura tightly crossed her arms.

"Hmm," she groaned.

Manager: "Oh, I've mostly made up my mind already. This is just a show for Taiyōko Kushikage-san, so don't worry, okay?"

Mi-Kon: "Of course. I assumed you were trying to come up with another highly destructive pun."

Manager: "Well, this is the Unmatched Valkyrie, so maybe something about how she and her student seem more unhatched than unmatched? ...What? You can laugh if you want."

Life: "Now she's trying to force it!"

But Kimura took a breath and faced his friend's older sister.

"Our general plans are as we mentioned earlier. And we can say a lot more tomorrow, so there's no need to rush things here."

However...

"I would like to exchange some information on what's happening elsewhere and around us. ...Would you be willing to do that?"

Kimura stopped there.

...I see.

That was a topic where their position as enemies or allies was irrelevant.

They would be exchanging information either unrelated to their battle or that would have no effect on their battle.

Everyone must have understood that because a brief silence fell.

Then a voice joined the quiet moving of fabric.

"That's a pretty fucking god idea." His friend's older sister smiled. "And I do have one additional piece of information for you. ...My stupid brother is hard to catch when he really wants to get away from something. Even our shitty parents had to chance against him. But," she said. "another faker like him should have no trouble reaching him."

---

When he heard those words via close transmission while he polished the ironware, Mizukami looked out into the sky.

The polishing rag he was using had sesame oil soaking it. That fragrance did not seem to suit the refreshing night air.

But as if to hold that fragrance up into that air, he held the polished pot in the moonlight to check on its shine.

Shōgi Boy: "Ōji, which one of us'll deal with that?"

Ōji: "I gave up on that stupid fox long ago. Who gets sent where will be up to Aka-...up to someone else."

Secretary: "Heh. Looks like I've been requested by name."

SenSen: "Why would you interpret it that way?"

Secretary: "Experience! It's all about experience!"

Demon Child: "Not that it matters, but you two are hard to tell apart right next to each other."

I was thinkin' the same thing, silently added Mizukami.

...I guess I'll have to figure out somethin' if I'm gonna have to catch up to that guy...

Ikoma Squad primarily fought as runners and with a four-man offense, but that was because they knew how to use their advantages. It was too late for him to start learning how to tackle someone or detain then, so he had to make a right choice here.

However, long-distance attacks were the standard in these kinds of battles.

And using Triggers was the standard even in most battles.

With Ikoma's cutting power or Ninomiya's technique using different valued attacks, they would be able to power through such things, but that was not how he did thing.

And he did not have free use of something like a Black Trigger.

...Would a speed Trigger be my best bet?

That had worked for other runners.

Kanzaki was someone who used a continuous acceleration Trigger while ones like Midorikawa used an instantaneous acceleration Trigger. They would know more about the world of speed than he did. But...

"...I guess I can't fight someone like him with speed."

"What about using homing shots like Hound?"

That came from the Shooter who was washing pots and iron plates behind him.

It was true there were homing Triggers like the ones they used, but in that case...

"I'd be helpless in a close-range battle. I won't go sayin' that I'm at an Attacker's level when doin' that, but that doesn't mean I can't find my way around a close-range fight. Besides, homing rounds would only be useful if I was tryin' to lead him into a trap. Not to mention he'd know what I would be plannin'."

And to be blunt...

"I'd rather not fight him at all, if that can be helped. We have ur own history that I don't wanna go back on."

"Have you been doing any particular training?"

He couldn't say he had fully.

He could move alongside anyone else just fine, but an actual battle anywhere outside the Forbidden Zone would be difficult.

The difficulty of pulling off the movements was part of it, but...

"It's hard on me too."

"Do you not place any sort of mental control for yourself, Mizucoming?"

"It's more like our style isn't fit for fightin' in a populated place. That's why we're kept in the Forbidden Zone if we wanted to fight during the invasion."

Mizukami finished checking the shine of the pot's surface. There was no oil on the edge, so he lowered it and wiped it down again. The Ōji Squad Shooter reflected in the bottom of the pot held an iron plate up toward him.

"You're the type that does things weakly when it doesn't matter much, but tries to go with perfection when it matters, aren't you?"

"Oh, so he's a lot like me?" asked Ōji.

"No," said Kurauchi. "In Mizukami's case, he doesn't let the reasons pile up. He doesn't think about it at the preparation phase like you do, Ōji. ...He simply lists off the negative reasons for something an then gives up. That's probably why Ikoma Squad in general strategies the way they do."

...Well, I've built my daily life out of the things that survived that process, which makes things easy.

Everyone had a lot of things they cared about, but they would have far fewer things they truly cared about.

He had simply kept those things nearby and gotten used to it.

He had had the luxury to fortify himself with only the things he truly cared about and view everything else as extraneous.

...Then again...

He had to be changing somewhat since he was actively trying to get involved in the fighting.

Shōhi Boy: "Since we'd have to be pickin' side, there's a good chance those directors'll send some annoyin' people there. Me, Iko-san, Chisato, and... I guess SenSen'd have to keep an eye out as long as we're on the same side."

Manager: "Could Kanzaki join in any Forbidden Zone battles as well?"

Black Wolf: "I would like to search for Yuki myself, but I can fight against any close-range fighters, so I could help."

Kuni: "What about you, Umi-kun?"

Umi: "Eh!? Oh, um, if we're talking about maintaining the area, well, I can get away with it a bit. I already did so little during the last two attacks. You know, say the impact shots for disarming people. Go all Hatohara on them."

Inukai made a quiet comment while washing dishes at the sink.

"I just felt an incredible wave of relief wash over me..."

Shōgi Boy: "Then is there any point in me fightin' too?"

Umi: "I can't fire that many anti-Illgar shots in a row."

Secretary: "And anyone worth their salt wouldn't move out anywhere near where that scum is."

Mi-Kon: "That would be where negotiating over our request for the battle layout comes into play."

Life: "Ah! Then I could invent a new tactic where I crossdress as a big dick black-haired salary man so they think I'm Kasumi!"

Kuni: "You idiot! Crossdressing is impossible if it's the same gender! Make sure you add big boobs! That way you can cross both lines by claiming you're both male and female! Besides, Mikado City will see the debut of a stylish crossdressing where you disguise yourself as a female Umi-kun and hide the real one behind you! Then you can let the real one step out while you tell "Bwahhhh! It was me all aloooooong!'"

What's the point of that?

...And she really does need to stop hangin' 'round Suzume-chan so much.

Zoe: "But, but. Doesn't that mean we're safe as long as we're near Umi-kun?"

"Ha ha," laughed Oshiro as he washed the dishes. "We're safe near you as well, Zoe-san."

Yeah, he's a shield... silently agreed Mizukami.

As for the others and those above...

Competent One: "So if we have both Suzaku and Zoe with us, we'll be safe?"

Life: "Would Zoe be in front?"

Black Wolf: "But then Suzaku can't shoot."

Kuni: "Oh, he'll still shoot."

Zoe: "P-please stop this! I just felt my butt shudder!"

Umi: "And why are you continuing this conversation without me!?"

Isn't that the usual way of things? thought Mizukami.

But the others had accepted his suggestion like normal.

He knew they would not forget about it and he was thankful for that. Basically, they would make use of what he said without looking into the reasons behind it too much.

...Wait, I thought we wanted to resolve things peacefully here?

They had not even gotten their order from Border yet and everyone was already talking about fighting each other while picking sides.

Kimura was involved so it made sense, in a strange way. But they had also started this with the thought of nothing being wrong.

No, he understood exactly why they started this conversation at all. Kiyoshi was never one to take things aimed at him lightly and Yuki never made things easy by simply talking it out. In his opinion, those two bad sides of the same boy were coming together here. But...

"Well, that doesn't matter."

Mizukami called out to Kimura over the transmission.

"If this'll come to a large-scale and internal fight for Border, we can handle it. ...You know what I mean, don't you?"

---

What he means? wondered Suzaku with a mental tilt of the head.

...Is Sato saying he'll actually fight against Yuki and-or Border?

Kura-uchi: "Is he going to get demolished all over again?"

Pokari: "We would bet on whether Mizukami would get himself destroyed, before, but lately everyone's figured out that he doesn't do that when he's dealing with the most annoying people. Oh, but that wasn't the case during the recent base attack. Ikoma Squad just left that up to Iko-san's girlfriend."

Kage: "Wimps."

Umi: "I'm impressed he can get over that so quickly."

Shōgi Boy: "That's because I don't really care 'bout that. Chisato said that she'd handle that and then went out of her way to destroy her opponent. Iko-san's girlfriend isn't someone to mess with."

...Should you really be saying that?

If Ikoma or his new girlfriend became an enemy then it would be terrible.

While they could use other attacks or Shooters to handle the #6 Attacker, they would need to be careful when dealing with his girlfriend.

They were more limited if both of them decide to be on the wrong side for the wrong people, but hopefully they would decide to do something good instead of doing their own thing.

But that was only empty hope.

Shōgi Boy: "Besides that girl, the rest of us're kinda shit outta luck when it comes to these sorts of things. Although I think I'd be able to handle that guy when I've decided on which side to take."

TetsuG: "You mean you'll actually think things through instead of letting other seem cool?"

Shōgi Boy: "I only do that when I know there isn't much for me to do in the first place. That's why I prefer to keep my feet on something solid."

Secretary: "Eh...? For something so boring...?"

Demon Child: "Because he isn't a child."

But those two were cut off by Kimura.

Manager: "In other words, he is a very grounded individual."

Suzaku took those words at face value.

But after about 7 seconds of silence from the others, it hit him.

Umi: "Oh! That was meant as a joke that continued the criticism of that idiot!"

Manager: "Don't explain it!"

Mi-Kon: "Kimura, that one may have been too subtle."

"Wait!"

Jinsei waved at them from where he had been doing some astronomical observation.

He was now wearing a long-haired black wig he had gotten from somewhere.

"Kawa has finally escaped the narrow confines of her own empty jokes and instead started poking fun at others! Did you hear that!? She made it a joke at someone else's expense, but she still managed to make it an empty joke trapped in her own little world! She hasn't changed at all, but I think we should all applaud her effort."

Kon swung her lower leg to kick Jinsei right in the butt.

The idiot briefly hung in the air in a seated position, and then...

"Wh-what was that for!?"

"Why are you trying to sound like a girl, Jinsei?"

"W-well, I felt like you'd nearly turned me into one there. But whatever. ...So, Kawa, can you sum up what we're talking about?"

"I can," said Kimura with a nod.

She looked to the older sister who was seated next to the window near them.

"Taiyōko Kushikage-san's information about her brother being more difficult than we had originally thought will be useful if things get out of hand. Because we'll be uncertain which way things will swing or what decisions will be made."

So...

"If we are to utilize any sort of information, we must make sure we have everything we need."

.

That's true, thought Ōji as he walked into the room.

He had left the rest of the dishes to Kurauchi and the others so that he could be directly involved here.

And as he walked in he turned to toward the older sister and everyone else did the same.

And that incarnation of violence responded to their gazes.

"I'm going to interrupt your discussion, so you better have a moment."

She gave a quick wink to Ōji.

...Eh?

Ōji had no idea what this was about, but the woman's nose twitched as everyone tilted their heads.

"Hey you, you have the same kind of feeling to you as Kō over here."

"What feeling...would that be?"

The older sister stood up.

She took half a step. They were farther apart than that, yet the woman still covered the distance. Was it a special way of walking or carrying her body? Regardless, she leaned in close enough to bite Ōji's left ear and whispered to him.

"It's a feeling that says "Don't leave me behind', so it caught my attention."

Ōji just about asked "with who?" on reflex.

"Ah."

But he saw Murakami beyond the volume.

He was holding his hand horizontally flat and lowering it over and over. The gesture probably meant "calm down".

Ōji: "Okay. Okay, Kō!"

Black Wolf: "Find a way to dodge the issue! Before it spreads to me!"

Murakami seemed to have some kind of serious problem to deal with, so...

Ōji: "Kō, I'm sorry."

Black Wolf: "Eh?"

Ōji gave the older sister a smile and then spoke.

"You must be noticing your own status. Kō told me how well you get along with your siblings."

"Oh, well said."

The sister smiled.

And she moved her cheek in close.

Eh? thought Ōji as several warning signs appeared in his head. This was the unmatched woman and Yagura Branch's strongest fighter. Since she was a combative creature and had a lot of trion, she was a dangerous person to have so close.

Ōji felt it was rude, but he did not have the focus to spare on closing the danger in his mind.

The older sister had not interest in criticizing him and in fact instantly assessed the way he held himself in place.

"You're looking at this at an impressive level."

With that, she looked around Ōji.

She did it a second and third time on the right side of his face.

"Oh, this kinda of looks like..."

That reminded Ōji of something.

He had been hit on his left side before.

When fighting someone before, they had managed a good hit on him.

And after that, it was this cheek that had been hit the hardest.

The older sister then moved right up in front of Ōji's face. That naturally placed something in front of his eyes.

...She's so big...

And not her height. Her boobs.

Ōji viewed that size while he let the older sister examine him.

...Oh, I know what this is.

Comparatively speaking, this had to be how Kon felt when looking at ones like Kunichika.

Yet as he stared at the older sister...

Ōji: "I don't feel the urge to say anything like Kon always does to Kunichika..."

Mi-Kon: "That's because it's not depressing when you don't have anything like that in the first place! There's a huge difference between starting with nothing and not starting at all!"

Manager: "I would say I'm starting with something, but I don't really care enough."

Kuni: "Heh. As the Boobs Brahmin at the top of the boobs caste, it can be hard to understand the suffering of the Boobs Shudra."

Demon Child: "Caste-wise, I would be a Boobs Kshatriya, which I believe should be abbreviated as boo-ya."

Is that how it works? But once Ōji thought about it, it actually worked out pretty well since an B-Rank Operator like Kon was a Brahmin and an A-Rank Operator like Kunichika was a Kshatriya.

Ōji: "No, wait. That doesn't work with Gucci."

Manager: "Um? Ōji? What doesn't work with me?"

But during that exchange...

"—"

He was licked on the forehead.

It was a small action. It only elicited an "Oh?" from those who noticed. But...

"Kushikage-san...! What are you doing!?"

"Oh? But Kō, I'm giving you an advantage here."

Ōji could not even guess what that meant.

...How does that stupid fox's sister licking me give Kō an advantage?

But Murakami seemed opposed to this.

"Ōji! H-hurry down to the bathroom, scrub your face with a face-washer, dry off with a towel, go to one of the others, and rub your forehead on them!"

"I shouldn't be so confused after you gave that much detail!"

"Right." Kon raised her right hand while sweating. "Has Kō-kun finally joined Ōji-kun in crazy town?"

"You're saying I was already crazy, aren't you!? Aren't you!?"

But then she heard laughter.

It was the older sister. She turned toward Kon and then Jinsei next to her. He was using a hand mirror to check how his black wig looked.

"What do you think, Kushi-nee-chin? Does it look good on me?"

"Yeah, such things look far better on you than I would have guessed."

"Good, good," he said.

She smiled back at him and then returned to her seat. She then glanced over at Ōji.

"You have an interesting feel. ...When two people are together enough for things like that to permeate each other, the result is twice as good."

"I see..."

Is that how it works? was his only thought. He tried to self examine himself, but he could not detect anything other than his normal self.

Then the older sister lightly swept her hair through the night air.

"I more or less understand your connections now since that method is much more informative than asking through words. It seems your connections are fairly complex, but..."

She looked to Jinsei and Kon.

"Almost all of you have a history with my stupid brother, don't you?"

.

Kushikage was glad she had come here tonight.

...This feeling won't be as clear once they make a decision tomorrow.

They were taking things easy and letting them be themselves right now. She understood all to well how to be ones self. She was someone who understood themselves perfectly and accepted everything about herself.

These children were still on their way to doing that.

The closest one to figuring this out was the crossdresser, but ones like the A-Rank Operator and Suzunari's operator were close as well. But the ones who seemed to be the furthest from this were her brother's friend and the prince-like boy. Yeah, they might have accepted themselves, but they're also rejecting something without even knowing it.

...And there are some others here who are doing the same, just to a lesser scale.

They must have decided what they would reject and and what they would accept long ago.

And that was sure to continue.

"As long as you idiots don't give up, you'll find out how to handle things, won't you?"

"Yeah, and that's how we'll keep going until we know we've reached a dead end. At that point, we'll figure something out about every other problem and deal with it then. Isn't that right, Kawa?"

"Yeah. That is correct. Well said, Kirikari. Gold star. ...C'mon, everyone, tell him what a good job he did."

"Wh-what are you, an elementary school teacher!? Wait, you are, aren't you!? I lose this round!"

"Oh, Jinsei, that was an unexpected ending to that one. Gold star. ...Now, everyone, tell him what a good job he did."

"Nooo! Don't repsond to my gags with scattered applause instead of laughter!"

Nevertheless, they all applauded with fake smiles. It seemed to be some kind of ritual, so Kushikage joined in. And once that crossdresser began swinging around an imaginary sword, the Hogo Squad Operator cleared her throat.

She slowly turned toward Kushikage.

"Taiyōko Kushikage-san, I will now give you some secret information."

Meaning...

"Is it something we and majority of others don't know shit about yet?"

"Yes." The Hogo Squad Operator placed her right hand on her hip and he left on her chest. "To be honest, this is an idea I have kept hidden in my heart, so it has yet to be reviewed by the reliable Ōji Squad member, Secretary, my former captain, or Shitokei. That means I still don't know how practical it is, but..."

"Let me hear it. I can decide how meaningful it is."

"I appreciate it," replied the girl without relaxing her expression.

However, the Suzaku Squad Captain took action by opening up his laptop.

"I'll set up things to block both sound and images from leaving without permission. You can speak after that, Kimura."

For just a moment, a slight noise seemed to surround the meeting space. Then they heard a sound like some static building in the room.

"Kimura, you can speak now."

"Right. Thank you."

"Oh, it's nothing," said the Suzaku Squad Captain with a bit of a smile. Kushikage had a thought as she watched that boy.

...I see.

These were powerful people.

This group, including her brother, was not just here because they were of the same age group.

They also had their camaraderie of the powerful.

.

Kushikage thought, This is a strange kind of battle formation.

When she had examined the Ōji Squad Captain earlier, she had noticed the way he held himself when speaking of her brother, his friend, the others, and even the cooking. It had all been something that lingered in everything he did. However...

...He must be as close to my stupid brother as Kō is.

The Attackers, Shooters, Gunners, Sniper, and Operators were also here.

A look around showed the others here also tended to be the ones more for the frontline or holding important points in the combat records. Since the Hogo Squad Captain was also here, the entire group had to be very inclusive.

Were they elites?

What she did know was that the powerful people of various fields had gathered around her brother and his friend.

This was a little different from the situation involving their family.

As the two oldest siblings of the Taiyōko family they were supposed to be the strongest, but only she had retained the full extent of their training and thoughts, making it feel like she was the only strong one. That was why she had never bothered being a squad with anyone else, unlike everyone else.

That had the advantage of not restricting interactions with anyone and doing as she pleased without much effort being put into it all. Most squads had a clear system of who they would listen to or how they would go about deciding things and that meant some people had less say than others. This was meant to put responsibility on someone or spread it out.

If any of them tried to shove themselves into a squad with others, there would be issues with interactions and combat style differences. She had already witnessed that with both her brother's first squad and the squad made up of men who had been forced together.

...If I do need to gather with some fuckers, we can just use general rooms or the branch office.

Besides.

I'm already strong, so staying by myself is more than enough. I can fight for myself, by himself, and even with myself. It's because they're weak that they gather like this and work off each other.

She did not think that was a bad thing.

The strong could fight by themselves while the weak needed to gather in order to achieve something.

She found it all to be stifling, so she just let everyone do as they pleased. But if she were to join an environment like the one her brother had...

"Now, then."

Her thoughts were interrupted by the Hogo Squad Operator.

"Listen, everyone. This isn't something worth bringing up as an official topic at a meeting or even with border itself. It really is that minor, but... I will probably ask all of you to gather some information, so I will say it while I can," she said. "If we do happen to resort to extremes when dealing with this issue, I want everyone involved to do everything they can. I believe my idiotic former captain has finally decided on how he wants to go, and I want to completely destroy that decision."

"Why?" asked Kushikage. "Why do something like that for a stupid idiot who already decided to die like he never existed?"

.

Kushikage gave a quiet whistle in her heart.

...That is a fucking great decision.

Her brother had always been on the side of someone unneeded, so dying like nothing ever happened was what he had chosen long ago.

Their parents and younger siblings had known nothing about it, but Kushikage had also decided on something. She would be the one to make sure it would happen.

But then something had happened.

Her stupid brother had started to meet other people and surround himself with them. Each one of them now had a place for him and could only see him there.

One such person was her student. The girl had decided to protect him after he had already said he would help her.

Not only did that mean he could not go out without existing, it also meant there was someone who would go to great lengths to preserve and take care of him.

Nevertheless, Kushikage supported the Hogo Squad Operator's decision.

...They have no other choice.

There was a reason for that.

But it was possible the reason she had in mind was different from the reason the girl had in mind.

Some people would try to be involved in a major turning point just for the fun of it. So...

"Well?"

She tried asking.

"Why would weak children like you all try to change the mind of someone who refuses to be strong?"

The Hogo Squad Operator reacted to her question.

She gave the woman a calm look. And there was a thin smile on her opened lips. It was not quite a crescent moon, but her lips drew a shallow arc as she formed the words.

"Support, favors, debts, and recognition. If he wants to ignore all of that just so he can escape from everything, it would be on people like use to beat him up to stop him."

Meaning...

"We need to unveil the illusion that white fox has over himself and throw him back into reality."