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.

11. Gather One in the Place of Understanding

"It's getting daaark out."

Tsuji raised a brow as he turned to see Mukuro staring into the sky.

The blue sky had started to turn a nice orange color as the festival around them began to transition into the nighttime stage.

The people around them moved in one of two ways:

"Hey, let's keep this going! We're done once the sets, so we need to go until the new guys come out!"

"Right! We'll keep the city lively while the nightlife wakes up!"

"Yeaaaah!"

Or...

"Let's hurry and get ready for the first wave!"

"The night is where everyone really enjoys themselves, so we don't have any time to waste!"

"Yeaaaah!"

It was interested that it all ended the same way.

Everyone can get so excited whenever these things happen. Even if Mikado City does have a good amount of festivals, they never seem to run out of energy.

That was amazing in its own right, but even more amazing was how the people of the city could continue being this energetic while living in a city that was constantly attacked by Neighbors.

It all felt as if the city and it's people did not mind the battles going on. They trusted Border enough that they would leave any of that trouble to them while building a place for them to all relax in. Somewhere they could be happy after the battles and not worry about what would come next.

...So this is what Minoru-senpai spoke about with Mogami-san.

Now that he could properly see it for himself, he found that it was something he did not want to go without.

But...

...What about him?

The boy next to him was only looking forward. His eyes were focused on something that Tsuji could not see and so he could not do anything about it.

Mukuro had done as they agreed and stuck by his side the entire time they had been out. The Trigger he would often use was safely placed in Tsuji's pocket so that he could not go to help his brother's side, but he seemed to still be trying to figure out a way of doing so. The tiredness in his stance was not as prevalent as before, but Tsuji felt that he could have gotten some extra time to sleep.

He had yet to fall back asleep since leaving the base, but Tsuji figured that it was because his want to do something for his brother left him determined to stay awake to help. Anything at this point might have been enough for him.

"Hey, stoop looking at me. It's pretty anoooying."

"I need to make sure you don't do anything while we're out."

"It's not liiiike I can do anything paaarticular as it is. ...I am ooonly making sure that there's nothing to geeet in my brother's way."

"...I have been meaning to ask."

"Why I am so inveeeested in my siblings?"

"No, no. I understand a little of how you feel. Our fight together showed me as much."

"Then whaaat do you want?"

Mukuro glanced up towards him, so he nodded his head.

There was something he had to ask now or miss his chance.

"Why do you keep fainting whenever I am around."

"I hate you."

"Huh!?"

The response was immediate.

But it was because of how quickly it came that he knew there was something to his words. He would not have answered so readily if it was as simple as that. So he waited for the proper answer.

It came a few seconds later.

"...You aaare just someone who I caaan sleep near. There aren't that maaany people who I caaan do that around, but you are oone of them." He looked to side, trying to find something else to focus on. "...I can't eeeeven do that with my siblings. I can neeever go to sleep around them...and it piiisses me off... ...Am I too afraaaid of them? ...Do I not truuust them enough? ...Or aaam I too broken to be liiike them?"

He had likely been speaking to himself by the end of it, but Tsuji felt that even had not known that he was doing so.

It did explain his first answer as it meant that he hated Tsuji for being able to do something his own siblings could not. While they were able to fight and accomplish amazing things, he had been able to let Mukuro get the sleep he seemed to need so badly. The equality of those two would have seemed to be leaning towards those siblings, but it felt much more like Tsuji had the high ground with something so simple.

Even so...

...This makes me happy.

A warm feeling still formed in his chest over this.

...I don't feel superior to them, not by a long shot. They are still able to do amazing things that put any of us to shame.

But.

I am able to do this much for someone like him.

This gives me a chance to help him out. Caring for your family is nice, but he goes about it the wrong way. Obsessing over them is only harmful to him and them.

He would not judge someone on how they decided to live their life, but he could not let this continue the way it was.

If those siblings were similar then it would have been easy to say they all had a sibling complex, but that was not the case.

Mukuro had his entire world revolve around his siblings while those siblings lived in their own worlds. They remained the center of everything that was Mukuro, but Mukuro was only someone who they could see in their own worlds.

And that did not sit right with him.

This might be a bit of trouble, but I will try my best here.

---

"Yes, so, have you just about gathered everything? The ingredients for the food Toby-kun asked us to bring?"

The three figures following Hoshi, who had been quickly changed into a yukata alongside Katori, nodded at her words.

The location was a commercial street that was less decorated for the festival due to being filled with stores. Having the benefit of being a sightseers spot, it was an attractive place to walk around. Among the people who were walking back and forth, there were those who had come from outside of the city and the ones who were normal residents that were trying to get ready for the nighttime festival.

While one of the four who were standing in the midst of that, Katori, was spinning and fiddling with a bag that contained the game Hoshi had given to her earlier in the day, she looked at the other three: Miura, Wakamura and Hoshi.

"I know there's going to be a lot of people, but why did we have to go and buy this stuff?"

What Katori's words indicated was the mountain of paper bags that everyone was holding. Let alone those in the arms of the four, bags were hanging at their elbows and some were even suspended off of some hard points that were placed on their waists.

"If we had some others here with us, it would have been nice, but..."

Miura, comparatively lighter with his steps, shook the bags he was currently carrying while she adjusted his hold on the ones that were slipping off and spoke. That done, Hoshi replied...

"I would have called some others, but I had thought that it would be easy enough work for us. I apologize for causing as much trouble as I am by asking your all of your assistance. Ah. But I know that Toby-kun is very good at making food, so you will not be dissatisfied by the end result!"

At Hoshi's words, the boy with glasses, Wakamura, sighed with a "Haaah."

"Well, I have not been to a gathering that Awdry has had. I heard that they are 'come as you want, everyone is invited,' but it always feels awkward since I don't really know him too much."

"Ah. That is fine. He has told me that there are some people who usually wander around, but do not come forward. He always wants to properly invited people, but having them come and go as they please feels like he is giving them the freedom to choose who wants to be there."

"Doesn't that also invite troublesome or shady people to those gatherings though?"

Katori spun the bag, and while looking back inside of it from her side, she spoke.

"Doesn't that kid have so sense of danger? He always runs into things headfirst and ends up getting beaten because of it. His recent wins were because his opponents just didn't know what the hell he was doing. It's annoying to see, but it shouldn't be that hard to beat him once you know what he can do exactly. That's probably why he doesn't even notice if a perv or some sketchy person walks by."

"Katori-san, um, Toby is actually classified as a genius, and he has a god sense of others' personalities and intentions. Besides that, the ones who come along tend to be enough to ward off any of those types of people. We have had the Tamakoma members there before and Kizaki-san tends to scare off any of them. But there are others who do it just as well."

"...Please, try to understand what we're talking about before speaking like an idiot."

"Hmm?" In response Hoshi, who tilted her head, Katori gave the bag in her hand a glance.

"Anyway, having us there, you'll have a good amount of people there, right? I'll at least taste what the kid makes, but-"

Katori indicated towards Hoshi with her chin. The people around them were starting to gather around as the transition between festivals continued and was built up the more time that was spent on it. This created smaller and smaller gaps to move through, yet they remained in more open areas so that they would not drop their bags. Something that they had all noticed was the way some of the people were moving as if they were making sure there was room, but not enough to properly move around freely.

"Well, there's all of that. The stuff going on in the city could cause an issue that would be annoying to deal with if we all gathered in one spot."

As she was speaking she glared at some of the people closing in on them but not moving too far in. They had noticed this and remained where they were. Miura, who saw that, formed his eyes into bow-shapes...

"It seems like things have calmed down a bit more. Shiron had told us that he was able to enjoy some time with Inukai-senpai earlier. Isn't that nice?"

"Just by the way, that means he is helping out Tsukiko. Anyway...the sky has become really noisy, hasn't it?"

The noise that had been filling the festival transition had crept up into the sky with the sight of people moving across rooftops. The black suits of two people could be seen moving from one building to another. While they remained hidden enough, the quartet could tell that they were rushing to get somewhere; but...

"Ninomiya Squad is really going into this whole 'hunt' thing, so the rest of us are kind of being held back from doing anything besides observing at the moment. If we all ganged up on them, it might not be a problem, but the fact that not everyone is on the same page hurts. Besides, we decided to stay as out of the conflict as we could, so we can only be here to help you carry these bags."

"Ah, that does make sense. I just hope that you all will not get in trouble for doing even this much. But there is not much to worry about. Kotowari Squad has been told to enjoy the festival, so that is what we will be doing."

"Are you sure that's fine? I'm sure you are all worried about Tsukiko-san. Wouldn't you all want to be there to help him as much as possible? He is your brother, after all."

"...It is fine. Fuji-nee is on his side. So is Kushi-nee and Muku-nii. With those three assisting Kiyo-nii, things should work out fine. And even more than that, there are people who are helping him that I do not even know about."

At Hoshi's words, Wakamura laughed softly. He placed the paper bags and packages on his raised knee and adjusted his grasp...

"But well, there are all kinds of strong people who are joining in on these fights, so we have no place on those battlefields, huh... I would like to score some points with Tsukiko-san, but that may be a bit tough at the moment."

"Points? For what?"

Wakamura froze for a moment and Katori shook her head. Miura, who was looking at everyone, lowered the corners of his eyebrows and laughed.

"What is this, Rokkun finally admitted to his true intentions here?"

"Don't just throw me under the bus like that! I accidentally spoke out, but I know that I can't do anything about it right now, so don't worry about it and just keep on walking! Besides, there's something else happening right now..."

Katori, shouldering the bag with her game in it, looked up at the late-afternoon sky and spoke.

"Word just got to us that someone super suspicious just showed up, huh. ...I don't want to deal with it, so let's just hurry up."

Katori, lowering her gaze, looked at Hoshi and opened her mouth. The words that came out were:

"You want to be with your siblings so badly that you're ready to leave us with this, aren't you?"

---

"Was that hit really necessary, Mei?"

A voice spoke within a large room colored by the fluorescent lights.

The room contained long tables lined with chairs. It was a dining hall. The windows have a view of the setting sun and of the the others moving outside.

Someone tapped the table. It was nearing dinner time and there were few people here, so the sound of struck wood reverberated loudly across the room.

Not caring that the few people there were focused on him, a boy with multiple hair styles put into one tapped his fingers on the table.

"I've been hit enough times today, so I would appreciate not being hit by a hammer."

"I can only say that you deserve every hit you have gotten or will be getting for today, Yuki."

"Calm down," added Murakami.

"How can I calm down? I got a hit to my ribs, smacked across the face, and punched by Pokari!"

"And that's why Kō is telling you to calm down, Yuki."

"I was saying it because he was being kind of a bother..."

Murakami clenched his fists and complained as the hat-wearing girl sat in the next seat over while carrying some naan and cheese. He wore a casual outfit within the fading outside light and she turned toward Murakami.

"There, there. I understand just how frustrating he can be, Kō."

"I'm sorry for complaining like that."

"It is fine. You are still appreciated."

"Can we just get to the reason why we're here. And Mei, why are you sitting around eating?"

"This is a dining hall."

"Keh," spat out Yuki, but he did relax his body.

"Border agents currently against us, but don't go making more of a mess of things," Mei said to him.

"Mei, do you have something in mind already?"

"What are you supposed to do if I agreed with that?" Mei rubbed on a single bite's worth of cheese and looked Yuki in the eye. "Run all the way there? We're in the middle of Mikado City's main commercial district. Even if you manage something on par with Hashiba's Great Return, it will still take a good amount of time to get to where you want to go."

Mei followed up on her question with something different.

"You're not really asking what we should do, are you? You're asking how this could have happened. If you could just put it like that, we could actually hold a conversation." She cut off a piece of the cheese with a knife. "But, well, there are some things we need to go over before we take any sort of action from here on."

"—"

"Look." She rested her elbow on the table and opened her phone so that they could all see what was on it. "Something I would like to go over is about you, Yuki. Something that we should really get to so that you understand the reason behind why you even have us on your side. It's something that has been bothering me since I had decided to take on my own emotions. So listen well."

"...Alright. Then we can discuss whatever it is you need to speak about. It's probably all I can do right now."

So...

"That's right. What we need to talk about it your stupidity, Yuki. It's very clear by your expression that you have started to mix yourself up somewhere along the way and it is really a bother. ...After all, even Kō here finds himself troubled by your stupidity."

.

Mei thought that Yuki's own carelessness and mixed thoughts inside of himself was something that could only be viewed as unfortunate.

...But I guess we all do have different ways of viewing things.

Those like her had viewed things from a statistical stance, but Yuki had viewed things from the standpoint of someone outside of everything.

It would have been one thing if he had been looking at things from an observers perspective, but he had gone further than that and started looking at things from outside of even his own perspective. It was now being viewed by someone who did not even feel like they were a real person.

Because of that, Mei had maintained a relaxed atmosphere around him without ruining her image as an upperclassman and Kō had looked after him from a position directly next to him as his equal from the beginning.

...People like that are probably good for people like Yuki who want to be accepted from the outside.

He had done something that should not have happened, and she felt that it was partially her fault as someone who had been with him for a long time. She just wished he would use his inquiring mind in a more positive way, but...

"You can be so dumb, Yuki."

"What do you mean by that?"

"You react too much to what's right in front of you. ...Besides, you reached a pointless conclusion that you need to be the one to bare the burden of everyone else around you. It's noble in word alone. It's actually something that makes it hard for everyone else. ...It's not like you share your life with anyone. You're only a single person who can do things a single person can do. I will continue to rely on you as someone who decide to give herself to you, but that's only after you have made up your mind."

"Damn it... I guess I really am terrible. It pisses me off..."

She did not care. And if he was pissed, that was all the more reason to say it.

"I don't understand the full meaning of being 'unneeded' for you, but I understand now that it at least means that you are lacking in something. ...You don't have to like it, but wanting to take on everything because you are 'unneeded' is nothing more than arrogance. You are robbing a lot of us of the decisions we make and say that they hold little meaning simply because you are the one taking on the responsibility of them."

"What good is leaving it to others when I can take all of the negative aspects by giving myself some meaning?"

"Can you take responsibility for a person's life? If you did that, you would make an enemy of everyone who worked realllly hard on improving themselves after everything is said and done. And we're all trying to do just that right now."

Saying that reminded Mei of something.

...Oh, so that's it.

That was what Yuki had already done. He had done it when he helped those lost children and he had done it when he accepted the role of the Yagura Branch's representative. He had been prepared to make an enemy of everyone.

...So that's it...

Mei realized that Yuki had this mentality because he had already given up his life once before.

He would always say that it was fine since he did not have as much time as the rest of them, but...

"Hmm..."

She groaned to herself while thinking he might be more honest with himself if he did not do that.

He could have trouble when it came to handling himself.

So she made sure to say it.

"Besides, we are all wanting you to rely on us as much as you want to be relied on, so holding back the way you do only means that you are hurting everyone else as much as you are hurting yourself by saying that you can take on everyone's burdens. ...But that isn't fair to anyone either. Mutual understanding is what humanity is based off of. ...If you reject that part of being human then there really is no reason to have you around."

But...

"That's only according to humanity's viewpoint. Interpretations can deal with that. You still need to figure things out for yourself, Yuki, but will you hold back when you are finally faced with that decision?"

"...No."

"Then there's something that one of us needs to ask you. I would like to think that it should be me, but that is just my selfishness wanting to give myself to you right now."

So...

"Kō, I will leave for a moment. Please speak with this idiot while I go talk to someone."

.

A short silence followed Mei's leave.

But Yuki spoke up as if to drive it out as a nuisance.

"What is it, Kō?"

Don't act like you don't know, thought Murakami with a nasal breath. He relaxed in his seat while tensing his shoulders as if to prepare himself for a fight.

"You haven't been telling me anything. Yuki, you are trying to go to a place outside even what is 'unneeded' by keeping things to yourself."

Something had clearly happened recently, but he was refusing to say anything between then and now.

...I have been terrible on my part, too.

Murakami steeled his mind as Yuki furrowed his brows.

"That should be fine enough, right?"

He was saying that simply knowing that something happened should be enough. That meant he felt more obligation toward it than it simply being something "unneeded".

"If it was something that was fine then you would have told me. If it wasn't fine, you should have told me. Everything is supposed to be laid bare between the two of us. As someone who knows everything about you, this shouldn't be kept a secret from me. ...Even Denji tells Kumagai everything. He never holds back with her."

"That's right," confirmed Yuki. "Denji can tell you that because he only needs to know that he is hated. Both he and Sekai-san are 'unneeded' in the most fundamental forms that it's easy to talk to people for them. And while I would like to tell you everything, that's not possible right now. So..."

So...

"Kō, what exactly would happen if I did tell you what happened and told you how I feel about everything right now? Is there something you can actually do that even someone unneeded can't do? I know how great you are, but you can't do anything someone as depraved as me can't do."

"I know that. Shut up."

"Yes, yes. As long as you understand."

Yuki nodded and looked straight at Murakami using a smile that was void of any emotion.

"Look, didn't give me that kind of expression. Even I am starting to lose my patience."

Listen.

"I know you well enough by this point to ave figured out that you want to be gone once this is all over. I can tell that you're acting like this because you can't decide on who you want to be, and that's fine, but this is a bit much."

"I know that."

Yuki reached out and locked Mei's phone that had been left there.

There had been no real reason for the action, but Murakami made sure to keep it in mind.

"I know exactly how I am affecting things around me because of my own choices and how terribly I am acting out. That's just how it is with me, isn't it? It's always been like that. So why should it be any different? I went back to my old self when fighting alongside that idiot cosplayer and tried to go back to 'myself' afterwards, but was stopped. Everything that is happening today stopped me from going back since there were a lot fo things that happened which required me to go back to how I was. ...I had to go back to my family's home in this city, y'know? I had to speak with Kushikage. Satoshi also brought up some pretty bad stuff. All of that made me really want to ignore everything about me, but those parts about me caused this issue to begin with, didn't they? It's the only way to explain it."

"Why do you always think you are to blame? You really are an idiot," Murakami said.

"Shut up. It's a bad habit."

"It's good to have an actual explanation, Yuki."

Yuki walked around the table with narrowed eyes to reach Murakami, but Murakami stood up and moved around the table to keep his distance.

After a full rotation, Yuki came to a stop.

"So what are you trying to say with all this, Kō?"

"I can understand why you think the way you do about all of this. But there is something you are forgetting about. It's supposed to be the basis for what you do. After all, you were the one to decide on it."

So...

"Tell me what's going on, my friend."

.

That's so like him, thought Yuki.

No, it may be more like how he is with me, he added.

Even outside of battle, Kō spoke both offensively and defensively in order to be prepared for whatever was to come. It had been his way of speaking to Yuki as an equal and someone who understood his feelings on being unneeded.

But now he was speaking from a different level that was not "as an equal".

Yuki understood that completely and wanted to answer the same way, but...

...Our roles tend to get mixed up whenever I try and let everything out.

Thanks to his own nature, their friendship had become strained. The same had happened with someone else and that person had been involved with the incident he did not want to speak about.

At the time, Yuki had realized he would never stop causing issues for those around him.

"..."

Kō had likely learned that there were things he could not do no matter what he knew and that he would soon be one of those people who Yuki viewed as much more important.

...And yet he's still trying to do what he can here at the same time that I'm holding things back from him.

So...

"Yuki, tell me what you want to do."

.

Yuki's mind stopped for a moment.

But Kō continued.

"Tell me what you want to do with yourself?"

Seiji had asked him this before, but he had not actually wanted an answer at that time.

"Tell me what you want to do with your own path?"

But now Kō was asking him. And asking much more than a single question.

"Tell me what you want to do with your emotions?"

But what would be the best course of action here? He could not think of one.

"Tell me what you want to do with your lost heart?"

Yuki could only stare off as the questions continued.

"Tell me what you want to do with your own love?"

They were no longer general questions that he could get around by using clever words.

"Tell me what you want to do...with your new life?"

There it was.

The question he had likely been wanting to ask ever since that day in the hospital.

It had been clear that Kō held back from saying anything on that day, and now it was finally coming out.

But what were the answers to these questions?

He could always give simple and clear answers, or even lie about his answers, but...

"You know that I will be able to tell when you are lying or don't give me a proper answer."

Kō was not holding back here. He was not going to let this go and was demanding that he answer properly now.

So how would he answer?

"...I don't know."

He still could not figure out what he wanted to do.

There was no proper response to these questions.

So he gave the only honest answer he could.

"That's good to hear."

And yet that was good enough.

Kō smiled at him while lowering his shoulders.

.

"Yuki, I was worried there for a moment. Rather, since this all started. But it's good to know that you haven't decided on something bad for yourself."

"You really tend to worry about the people you care for."

"That's right," replied Murakami. "You know exactly why that's the case too, so I don't want to hear you criticize me for it."

"I would have to do that to myself first," said Yuki as he sat down.

Similarly, the people they knew would likely be relieved to hear that too. That was partially due to their fear of what would happen, but...

...They must also be worried for us.

Meanwhile, Yuki crossed his arms behind his head and spoke.

"All my focus on things I've lost has been used up on other things at this point. I might lose even more after this, but none of that can mean more than the things around me, so they don't matter. But..."

But...

"If it look like we're gonna lose something, I ended up wanting to see if I could do something about it right up to the very end. ...That's all."

"...Yuki."

"I said that's all, idiot. ...What's that smile for, Kō?"

"Well, Yuki, that's just not fair at all."

A bitter laugh escaped Murakami and something else suddenly came out.

"But y'know...thanks, Kō... For, y'know, everything..."

Everything stopped for Murakami at those words.

The way Yuki looked away while saying it was unlike him, and he made sure to let him know.

"Stop being an idiot."

"I'm trying to be nice here! You make things so much more difficult."

.

He looked so much more comfortable now than I've ever seen him. I guess that means he's accepted that he doesn't know what to do, thought Murakami.

Yuki still had some tension in his body, but Murakami could tell that it was due to his Side Effect trying to work and not because of the situation. It was something that he could not escape from, but...

...Maybe now he won't feel bad about having that kind of Side Effect in the first place.

That may be a stretch.

Even so, it was good enough to know that things were getting better. There were still things that needed to be done, but the basics for the two of them had been reestablished and they could now speak as equals. And more importantly...

"You can rely on us some more."

Yuki looked like he wanted to argue against that, but he only let out a sigh and lightly smiled. Nothing needed to be said between the two of them at this point.

To put it another way, they had come to understand that the other did not need words.

With both of they now equal once again, they could come to a better understanding of things and decide what to do from there without worrying the other.

So Murakami took this chance for himself. A chance to find out something that he had been wondering about ever since Yuki had started thinking he needed to resolve everything himself.

Since he had been hiding a lot from him, there was a lot to talk about. They would not have too much time, but he wanted to take it for what he could.

To put it another way...

"What exactly happened to you? I can figure that what Kushikage-san did to Mei hit hard for you, but there is something else that you are thinking about."

It was something that hit just as hard as what his sister had done.

It did not mean that it was as serious. It just meant he had thought that it was something that could have been avoided. And...

"You had said something about Sekai-san and Denji earlier. I want to say something from an outsider's perspective."

...How should I put this?

It would have a great impact on Yuki here, so he wanted to make sure that what he said was exactly what he felt and not something that was spoken with hollow words. Reassurance here meant little, so all that mattered was how he felt.

"I think that...while Sekai-san and Denji have simple things going on with them, that's only on the surface. Happiness and hatred... They sound simple, but we both know that they both take that down to they deepest levels. And you... Well, you like to think that you are unneeded in a complex way, but you make it out to be so simple. So, please know that, to me, you have the best chance of being helped. And I'll gladly be the first to extend my hand to help you."

Was that good enough here?

Murakami knew of a few people who had the same ideology. Yuki would have as well.

So...

"—"

.

"...I guess you're right, Kō."

Yuki spoke to his friend who had suddenly fallen silent and looked down.

After a pause, Murakami responded.

"I could be wrong."

He reached over to grab Mei's phone and turn it towards himself.

"Umm." He placed a hand on his forehead. "What do you think it means to live without regret?"

"That's not a question for me."

Why is he asking about something people are always saying? wondered Yuki.

"I guess we should call over Mei now."

Murakami smiled and shook his head while saying "Yes, let's" in response.

They had settled things between them, but Yuki knew.

...I have to tell him everything. Including what happened with Minoru.

---

"...Can I help you?"

Pyrínas stood next to the river dividing a part of Mikado City. He focused on the position on his left that he was just about to pass.

With no way of knowing how many people really stood around the area, turning his body to the left was dangerous; but the person who had suddenly rushed in outdid that.

...He's even more dangerous.

This person was someone who would be able to slice through his armor and cut through him.

"...What is it you want, Tachikawa Kei?"

The man was standing casually with both of his arms leaning on the two blades at his side.

Not only was an A-Rank Border agent, but he was also the #1 solo agent, from what he had heard.

Once he arrived on the path, his eyebrows twisted and he glanced toward the city.

"What the hell? I thought I would end up coming across Yuki or his sister. Dammit, this sucks. Maybe I should have checked more than just Radar for this!"

Only then did he seem to notice Pyrínas.

"Huh?" He tilted his head. "What? What's this weird guy doing here? Go over there and get out of the way."

"...I suppose that is acceptable at the moment. ...I do need to get back to those children now."

"Huh?" Tachikawa got up and pointed at him while ignoring his own stance. "Oh, you're the guy from Yagura. The trion soldier one who was let in. Well, I have nothing personal against you, but I guess you would be on Yuki's side. So you don't mind if I take you out of commission for now, right?"

Pyrínas threw a hammer strike-like shield his way.

.

The shield and Kōgetsu collided and lights flew.

Their weapons were not the only think knocked back; they themselves were knocked back.

After taking up a position five meter away, Pyrínas noticed the timing of Tachikawa's footwork.

...Oh?

He realized Tachikawa had begun his attack at the exact same time as he had his.

...He is certain good at this.

He was from a direct line of trion soldiers made to rival that of humans in their personality and appearance. However, he was a real human who was a combat type that had come during a time when Neighbor started coming over in mass.

And both of them had seen their own fair share of battles in their own ways.

He had the combined memory of every "Pyrínas" model ever made and used that to strengthen himself.

Tachikawa had been born naturally, but he had still trained and grown stronger in order to improve himself.

Even though he was a combat type, his age was only that of a 20-year-old. He had heard that Tachikawa had joined Border in order to experience the intense fighting there, but if that was enough for him to move at the same time as him...

"...Well done training yourself this far so quickly."

"I'm not some stubborn spot on the ground, so don't look down on me!"

A moment later, Pyrínas realized he had stopped moving.

There was a single reason for this: trion light had wrapped around both of his legs in a way that held him to the ground and prevented him from moving.

That was the mass produced Shield for Border and he knew what Tachikawa had done when he activated it.

...He is using it to interfere with any attack or defense made in combat and stop me for just an instant.

...No, he thought. ...This isn't "stopping" me.

...It is adding a moment of hesitation.

It was a feeling of not wanting to crush your opponent or of wanting to see how much they had grown. It was like the look of charity a parent gives to a child.

Of course, what was charity to a family member was nothing but danger to an enemy, but…

…Well done.

Their speed was equal, but he still did not hold back. This was not an ideal challenge of blades meant to compare their pure skill because all else was equal.

This was a method used purely to win a fight.

"...Are these the principles you learned while in Border?"

"That's too complicated for me!"

Tachikawa attacked with Kōgetsu with a magnificent smile on his face.

"Winning feels good! That's all there is to it, buddy!"

"...Then I will know what it means to 'feel great'?"

Pyrínas slightly raised his voice as he turned his head and looked up into the sky.

"...I suppose that using some extra trion here would be fine enough."

Three giant shields had already been created in the air above him.

This ability activation was essentially a conditioned reflex and therefore not a conscious attack or defense, so how would Tachikawa's own reflexes react?

"You really have seen a bunch of battlefields, haven't you!? I just want to fight you more!"

With those words, the three giant shields struck Tachikawa with three vertical blows.

.

Tachikawa did not even have time to look up before the attack hit his shoulders and head.

His legs were instantly imbedded in the ground up to half the shin.

"Whoa!"

His shins tore into the dirt and he nearly fell to his knees, but...

"—!"

He endured it. The strength filling his entire body caused him to grin wider and view this as a true enemy attacking him properly.

He was fortunate he had not looked up or bent backwards. His forward bent back and neck had absorbed the impacts from above, so he was able to gather strength in the feet buried in the dirt.

"…!"

He jumped up. The three giant shields scattered into particles of light, but he did not bother looking at them.

"I hate weird attacks like that!"

Pyrínas had yet to recover his movement. Having his initial movement forcibly stopped meant he had to prepare himself anew. Tachikawa, of course, had to redo his own attack, but could covert his standing motion into an attack and that gave him an advantage when it came to speed.

He decided to swing Kōgetsu as he stood up, but that was when Pyrínas looked to his right and raised his eyebrows.

"...Ah," he said as if he had noticed something.

It's a feint, he thought. He's trying to distract me so he has a chance to attack.

…I'm not falling for that!

"Heh! What do you think you're doing!?"

A bullet flying in from the right collided with the right side of his face.

.

...That was a close one, thought Pyrínas. ...And I was the one that decided to modify myself to be able to fire attacks like Border's Shooters, so I really should have known exactly where they would be coming from.

However, he had completely forgotten about his modification once Tachikawa appeared and he had to deal with him. That was why he had reacted to the bullet that flew in as if to remind him of its presence inside of him.

If his reaction had allowed Tachikawa to notice the bullet, it would have been his mistake.

Fortunately, the idiot had taken the full force of the blow, but...

"...No damage?"

His body swayed and his eyes were not quite focused, but strength filled his brow befor elong.

"Kh!"

He was coming to and forcing his body into motion.

He may have not noticed what he had done as a shield collapsed next to him, but Kōgetsu shot forward nonetheless. And it was a high-speed slash made from a snap of the wrist similar to throwing a slap.

...Well done, he thought again. ...You are a combat-type human, for sure.

...So well done becoming so obsessed with combat.

As soon as he prepared to intercept his attack, two things suddenly appeared in the air around him: noise and light.

.

Pyrínas sensed two dangers.

First, someone had appeared on his internal radar meant to focus on trion signatures he had collected over time.

Second, the first danger had distracted him.

...And I was too slow to react to Kōgetsu.

He had been trying to avoid Kōgetsu, but...

"—"

His movement had been briefly stopped by the shields and he had already used all of his reactionary defensive commands.

Nothing he could do would make it in time.

He would of course take evasive action again, but the blade was still going to reach him just below the chest.

A moment later, he heard a female voice.

"Senkū! Kōgetsu!"

.

With the sound of shattering glass, the shield's hold on his legs was cut.

As she accelerated and leaped along the path, Kanzaki saw Tachikawa try to drive Kōgetsu into Pyrínas as he avoided collapsing.

Past them, the people were starting to gather before leaving upon seeing what was happening.

Kanzaki was worried about enemy reinforcements, but the slash approaching Pyrínas was more worrying.

Pyrínas was trying to move back again, but Kanzaki decided that was not quite enough.

She moved to jump between them and to catch Kōgetsu on her spear.

"Oh?"

But she was moving too quickly and missed her chance to stop. She had been too distracted by predicting the damage to Pyrínas.

Oh, no, she thought while acting on a certain solution.

She decided to make sure Tachikawa would not cut down Pyrínas.

"He's going to hit you!"

She used the momentum of her dash to kick Pyrínas out of the way.

.

Tachikawa regained his composure in an instant.

…What!?

Something unbelievable was occurring before his eyes.

An idiot had just kicked Trion Soldier Pyrínas. Of course, he had been trying to cut him down.

"Clearly, you're the one that was going to hit him!"

However, kicking Pyrínas had eaten up enough momentum for the girl to come to a stop. She took a quick step and turned to point both her eyes and spear tip toward him.

Sparks flew from Kōgetsu.

The girl, solo A-Rank agents and the wielder of the only other spear Kōgetsu in Border, had deflected his sword Kōgetsu.

"Interesting!"

Tachikawa straightened up, stood tall, and quickly moved forward.

He swung Kōgetsu to push the solo A-Rank agent down the path and toward the city.

"But what do you hope to accomplish!?"

He smiled and jerked his chin toward the sky.

"We have people begging to be active, now that it's nighttime!"

---

Kushikage grinned as she heard a noise in the distance.

The city had become lively with two different types of festivals, but she had stopped herself from taking part in either one.

The first had been for Mikado City itself. She felt that weak people should be enjoying themselves without having to worry about her moving around.

The second...

Involves my stupid younger brother.

She knew of the rumors surrounding Kiyoshi and how Border was going after him, but she had done nothing about it. The more important matter had been getting Fuji strong enough to not be viewed as "weak" in her eyes.

Now he has someone strong on his side. If they lose at this point, they were weak enough to hold her back.

She would do something at that point, but she would refuse to do anything until that time.

Shrugging her shoulders, she took a look around the area.

Everyone was in the middle of transitioning between festivals, but that was not what she was looking at.

She was looking at the people around her.

Everyone had certain movements while they moved around the city, taking materials to their stands or to make the stands. Each person had a feeling to them that told her they were only enjoying themselves here. Nothing more, nothing less.

But that was not all.

The head.

The neck.

The head.

The heart.

Cut their legs then let them land on my blade.

That one would put up a fight, but it would mean nothing.

The defeat of the people she was looking at came into her sight as she looked around at the people. Each one of them gave her the path to victory over them. A complete victory that would give no chance of recovery.

This was her Side Effect.

An ability to look into the future belonged to Jin Yūichi. An ability to calculate the future belonged to Fuji. But Kushikage found that her own Side Effect was different from both of those.

...The ability to only see my victory against others.

It fell under "paths", but she hated that even more.

Upon seeing someone, she would be giving a path to victory against them. It did not matter if they had provoked her or were defending themselves. Their lose would be captured in her sights and she would feel the urge to act on it. The only thing holding her back from acting on it had been her want to win her own way.

A victory using a Side Effect that only told you how to win was something only weak people would want. The strong would not need any sort of ability and would instead flex their abilities as someone strong.

But I'm stuck with a fucking Side Effect that had even my parents afraid of me.

She gave a mental shrug.

It's not like I care about that part though. It's what came after that that pisses me the fuck off!

It had been her parents who had determined that Kiyoshi would also be "strong" and so trained him as such. Everything they had done was because they had wanted him to be "strong" and did not want him once he had gone against their thoughts.

Mukuro and Hoshi had been deemed "weak" from the start, so they had been treated differently from her and Kiyoshi. There had been no training, but that had only pushed the two of them to want to do something.

As the only "strong" one among her siblings, Kushikage had come to the realization that her siblings would need to be protected as they were "weak". So that was what she did. She always found her own victory when she would look at them, but she went against those victories and chose to do something else.

For Hoshi, she had decided to not touch her. The fear of breaking her at a single touch was enough to push her away from the thought.

For Mukuro, she had decided to indulge him. Keeping him awake felt like the best way to make him think of growing stronger.

For Kiyoshi, she had decided to destroy him. He was "weak" in her eyes, but not in their parents' eyes, so she always followed through with her victories to discourage him from growing stronger.

And now...

He is an idiot while also being weak.

But that was fine.

After all, he had someone who was "strong" with him.

Fuji was not the same girl, after all.

.

Kushikage smiled at the thought of Fuji no longer being weak.

When they had first met, Kushikage had noticed how the girl had the potential to be strong, but was being held back. Every victory over her was different and held something new to them. Even if she could only see a fight based on her knowledge of a person, she had been trained to determine how a person would move by even the slightest factor.

And that girl had been filled with different factors.

So she had tried to bring that out.

Then she saw Rampage Dress.

The sight of the girl becoming "strong" filled her vision and only a single path became clear.

There had been only that single path to victory over that beast.

But once she had come back to Mikado City, that best had been diminished to a sad sight. The only things that was left was a robot who moved and acted in a pattern that any person would be able to see if they looked for long enough. There was nothing new.

The single path had become endless and split multiple times.

Her victory would always be certain.

Then that night had come.

She had truly seen how pathetic that girl had become when she was tossed around and her inherited Triggers were tossed aside far too easily. That girl then needed the help of others who could only ever be weak.

That had pissed her off to no end.

The once strong girl had become weak enough to crowd around others and fight with them instead of in front of them.

So she had done something about it.

She had found out about the metal tower and who had lived in it. The report on it she had given to Border made it an urgent matter that gave her permission to go. Taking the people she did had been nothing in her eyes, but that was because she was focused only on the weak girl she saw. The one who looked defeated.

The last fight she had seen the girl in told her that the weak girl had changed after their confrontation, but she was still lacking what it took to be strong. Her strength was wasted and her thoughts got muddled in with her actions. This created a void while she was moving. But more than that, it showed just how weak she had become.

Then the fight in the tower had happened.

She had heard the ringing of that girl throwing a large amount of something at the walls, making them ring out. Others were speaking, but she ignored them in favor of focusing on the fight happening within the metal tower.

Once the fight had made it to the outside, she had been able to see it.

Each path that had been there before started to slowly be pruned, leaving only a blank landscape for her. The amount of paths was still concerning, but it was not something she truly had to worry about anymore.

That girl had changed.

There was no longer weakness in her. The only thing that was left was strength.

So she had challenged that string girl to a fight.

There had been no reason to ignore her Side Effect when she already knew that those paths meant nothing.

Each path told her that she could win if she used her Trigger's max output, but that would have forced her to leave the realm of a "human" and instead become a "Neighbor". While facing that strong girl, fighting as a human was what she had decided on long ago. And so she could only grin as there was no path leading to her victory without going completely all out and taking the area out with the girl. Everything she saw had become distorted as the girl seemed to only grow stronger with the appearance of the Black Trigger portion.

That had been it.

The girl had become strong in a new way that made Kushikage wonder if she would ever be able to see a proper path now.

But that does not stop what is happening, she thought with a shake of her head. Kiyoshi still has this problem to deal with. I know that it isn't him handing out Triggers like an idiot, but that means that someone took the appearance of him to do so.

And she could do nothing about it.

Just as she thought about how little she could do here, something vibrated in her pocket. It was her phone.

Opening it, she saw that a message came in.

White Fox: "I just got my phone back, so I can talk to everyone again. So with that being said, I want to discuss something."

She smiled at the message.

Good. Weak people should discuss things amongst themselves.

White Fox: "And I would like for our older sister to take part in this conversation."

She narrowed her eyes at the message.

Was he calling her weak?

As she thought about it, she noticed two things that really stood out to her.

The first was that the message was put in a private chat belonging to only their family.

The second was someone walking in the distance.

Gritting her teeth, she rushed forward.

The person looked exactly like how Kiyoshi looked right now.

---

How will sheee respond...?

Mukuro shifted in his seat on the park bench. Next to him, Tsuji looked over to make sure he was okay.

But his focus was more on the message from his older brother.

The same older brother who had left them because of their parents.

But...

White Fox: "Is everyone fine with this?"

Why is he asking us? He knows that we would agree noooo matter what.

The more he thought about it, the more he felt his mind start to wake up.

It felt as if a haze was beginning to lift from his mind as he thought about the reasons Kiyoshi would want to have this discussion.

Before he could respond to the message, a new one came in.

Shooting Star: "I would...very much like to have a conversation with you all."

White Fox: "It's okay, Hoshi. You can just say that you want to talk to us."

Shooting Star: "Is that really fine?"

Mukuro could imagine Hoshi on the verge of tears while typing that out, but pushed the thought aside. If he thought about it any more than that then he would want to go and find her.

No...you need to stay here. The fact thaaat Tsuji is not bugging you on thiiis should be a win already.

It was true. Tsuji had done nothing once he had pulled out his phone to check the chat.

What exactly did that mean here?

It did not matter.

All that mattered was answering here.

Corpse: "I am fiiiine with a discussion."

White Fox: "Mukuro...are you trying to get enough sleep?"

Why would he care now?

Mukuro froze as he realized what kind of thought he just had.

The bitterness in his mind had likely come from the haze begging to lift.

He had given a bitter thought about his older brother.

White Fox: "Ah... I guess you wouldn't want me to ask you that. Sorry."

Corpse: "Kiyo-nii shouldn't apooologize..."

White Fox: "But I kind of owe you all a lot of apologizes."

He did not deny what Mukuro had called him.

Normally, he would have told him not to call him by that name, but he did not do so this time. That older brother had just about said that it was fine for them to be related.

Isn't thaaat something that should only beee natural, though?

It was his fault.

The boy who was sitting next to him was to blame for these thoughts that would normally not appear in his mind.

Tsuji had said nothing since they sat down, but he had been the reason that Mukuro could not go to help his brother. With his Trigger taken and his mind more asleep than ever, it was hard for him to do much of anything right now. And that included fixing his thoughts to how they had once been.

And yet...

...I don't feeel bad about them.

That was the worst part for him. Not feeling as if he was going against his brother because of these thoughts.

Still Got It: "I wasn't going to get involved, but Kiyoshi is being a real fucker here."

Shooting Star: "Kushi-nee."

Still Got It: "He's being a real asshole here."

Shooting Star: "Better."

Was it?

Still Got It: "Look, Kiyoshi can't make a damn decision for himself since he's so weak right now. With the way he is, he won't even be able to figure out who the hell he is. So he wanted to talk to us to see if he can even accept us. It pisses me off, but there's something else that pisses me off more right now. So hurry the fuck up and figure out who you are, Kiyoshi. And once you've done that..."

What then?

Still Got It: "Learn just how weak you are and stay with our baby brother and sister."

Shooting Star: "Kushi-nee..."

She was leaving herself out of this now.

Maybe it was her way of showing that she was strong while they were weak, but it only hurt that much more. To know that she wanted Kiyoshi to be weak so that he could remain with them while she remained at the top, by herself. It was sad to hear, but they could not go against her.

He could not speak up here.

After all, they were all he had.

"You know, if you want to say something, do it."

But someone told him otherwise.

It was Tsuji.

Without looking away from the distance, he spoke as if he understood Mukuro's internal conflict.

"They are your siblings, so they should be listening to what you have to say. It's fine to speak up and tell them when something is wrong."

"...That is nooot how it works for-"

"Isn't that up to your siblings to decide? I only know what I have been told about your sister, and Tsukiko-senpai is in a weird place for me, but your siblings all care a lot for each other. That much I know. And it is especially true for you."

But...

"It's a one-sided thing in your eyes. You dedicate too much of yourself to your siblings and forego anything involving yourself. Your world is too small for those three, so you got rid of yourself to make them fit. I won't say to get rid of them, but maybe you should widen your view on things a bit more."

It was strange to not stop him from speaking. Tsuji was telling him that he was wrong to be dedicated to his siblings while still being right to do so.

So which was it? If he was both right and wrong, how could he properly speak to them?

"—"

With a more clear mind, he had his decision.

To keep Tsuji from thinking he was right, he made sure to cover his phone a she typed.

Corpse: "We want...Kushi-nee to be there with us."

---

"This idiot..."

The strong could not lower themselves to be with the weak, and the weak should not try to reach for the impossible. Those were the facts that Kushikage understood best.

But her genius younger brother had gone and said something stupid.

She could only sigh at the message and turn her attention to what was in front of her.

"So you know to still fear me, even if you aren't Kiyoshi. That's good. You really did your research on him, didn't you?"

"U-um... Crap! I didn't think someone like this would find me..."

"You're ignoring me, so that calls for me to at least break your bones."

"Just for ignoring you!? A-and I w-w-wasn't ignoring you!"

"Now you're lying to me like a fucking idiot. I'll start with the fingers then."

For once, she was not in a mood to play around. This person was not someone who could defeat her - her Side Effect had already seen multiple ways for her to win - but the face he was using had gotten her in a sour mood.

The way his hair fell over his eye was like how her false brother had his hair. Those onyx eyes were the same as her false brother. The smile he had wore was the same as her false brother. But even on her brother, those were false. So this person had copied a faker who was pretending to be someone else.

It was stupid to do something like that, but the only person who could take on that false appearance was her brother.

There was only one reason why this person would look like that.

"You're the fucker who's been going around and making things harder for my idiot brother."

"Wh-what are you talking about!? It's m-me! Yuki!"

"Just how many times do you want to die today?"

The face of her brother let out a sigh as his shoulder sagged.

"I guess I can't get past the boss' addiction to her siblings."

"Oh, so it's you. Perfect. I need to get back at your for using me as an excuse, you fucker."

"Wh-what!? When did I do that!?"

Without a light half step and a sway of her body, Kushikage was in front of the person using her brother's appearance. No sound had been made and the air barely moved with her actions.

This was enough to startle the person using her brother's appearance.

He tried to jump back, but Kushikage was much quicker and grabbed his head.

"Look, I know you used my name after being caught by the police and Border. It made Border even more wary of me while I was trying to get shit done. That pisses me off more than enough, but then you went and continued to use me as an excuse! Border was dealing with their sponsors after I had gone over to take out the ones who wanted to try and get some of Border's shit! It made my work that much harder! And now you're looking like my idiot brother! It's like you want to die!"

With a single motion, she had brought her large blade out. It moved through the air as she spoke and cut through the person using her brother's appearance. His bottom half fell to the ground as green lines traced his body.

A puff of smoke covered them, but she did not let go of his head.

Once it cleared enough, she narrowed her eyes in confirmation.

"Seikai Kiyoshi. I already told you to screw off the moment you thought of me as your boss. I'm strong while you're so fucking weak. Even our resident child could beat the crap about of you!"

"Wai-!"

"You're the reason for those rumors, aren't you?"

.

She did nothing to hold back her malice.

She knew that her false and idiotic brother would not purposefully do anything to go against Border, so the accusations against him could only be because fo something else.

Or in this case, someone else.

If Seikai Kiyoshi had used a Trigger to make himself look like her brother then it meant that he could do whatever he wanted under the guise of it being her brother who was doing all of that stuff. The blame would end up going to her brother while Seikai Kiyoshi would walk away without being noticed at all.

And more than that.

"My weak siblings are getting some crazy ideas in their head because of this mess. A mess that you've started. Now I need to explain things to them or else they'll keep thinking of those fucking stupid ideas!"

That's right, she thought. The strong can't ever be with the weak. They need to learn that and just go along with the will of the strong while crowding to the weak.

It was the way of the world.

"Now then... Before I turn you in, I'm going to fucking destroy you."

---

After her brother had spoken his mind there was only silence in the chat.

Her sister had not spoken up after that and her brothers seemed to be waiting on what to do.

For her part, Hoshi only looked at the messages with a sense of sorrow and hope.

"Hey, stop looking so damn down."

"Yōko, can't you see that there's something going on!?"

"What does that matter? This stupid little girl is supposed to be some peppy, happy-go-lucky girl instead of the one here. How am I supposed to argue with her when she's already ready to cry!?"

"That's what you're thinking about!?"

"Now, now, we don't want to agitate Hoshi-chan more than this."

Any other time she would have felt as if she was bothering Katori Squad, but she found that she did not mind that. The conversation going on was between her and her siblings. Something like that had always taken precedence in her eyes, even going so far as to ignore those around her.

After all, her siblings had been the ones who were always there for her.

Even after they had left, they had returned and remained with her.

It was just how they were.

But this conversation was something new.

Kiyoshi had apologized and Mukuro had spoke his mind. That had been nothing new for them when it came to others they were speaking to, but it was not something they did normally when speaking amongst their family members.

Even Kushikage's silence was something new.

She was likely doing something else at the moment, but she had not given an immediate response to Mukuro's words.

...Should I be the one to speak up?

Determining that was hard for her to do when she didn't know where they had wanted to take this conversation.

But...

White Fox: "I don't know if I want that right now."

Tears started to prickle at the corner of her eyes.

Kiyoshi was saying that he was not sure if he wanted to have them around.

Katori Squad must have noticed this as she could vaguely hear them yelling some more to each other.

But that didn't matter when this was right in front of her.

White Fox: "Well, I don't know right now. I actually don't know a lot of things right now. So..."

So...

White Fox: "Can you wait a bit so I can figure things out?"

Corpse: "...Well...we will beee fine with whatever yoooou choose..."

White Fox: "It's fine to say that you want me to choose you all."

Shooting Star: "...But it is fine if you don't want to be with us."

She did not know when she had started typing, but once she saw the end result she could only stare with wide eyes. The bitterness in her own words had also been surprising.

And the others seemed to think so as well.

"What's with that face now? Ew! Don't give that kind of expression, you dumb girl!"

"You calling her a 'dumb girl' isn't helping anything!"

"Hoshi-chan, are you alright?"

Miura must have given up on stopping his teammates since he was now standing next to her. His hand had been placed on her shoulder, the touch light on her clothing. It felt reassuring to have him there, to hold her down as these new feelings towards her brother came up.

They were new and unwelcome.

Not wanting Miura to stand there wondering, she lifted her phone so that he could see the messages that had been passed back-and-forth between her and her family. The way he hummed in response to reading the messages was a bit concerning, but he made up for it by gripping her shoulder.

"Don't you want him to be around?" he asked.

She knew that they all wanted him around, but that could have just been because he was their brother.

Even if he was their brother, it was clear that he had begun to think about things much differently. That had become clear the moment he went against their parents, rebelled, and walked out of their home. There was nothing to move her from thinking that things could have been better.

But that was in the past.

At the moment, here and now, her oldest brother was saying that he had no idea if he wanted to stay with them and he was saying that they did not want him to stay with them.

So she made a certain decision.

Shooting Star: "...Kiyo-nii. Please be careful."

White Fox: "I'm glad you feel that way. But don't worry. I won't be doing anything alone this time. At the very least I'll have Kō and Mei by my side."

She came to a sudden stop at those words.

He had chosen to rely on others for this. Their brother had decided to go to someone else instead of doing this on his own.

"Hoshi-chan?"

Grabbing hold of her chest, she turned to Miura.

The expression she was wearing must have been bad since the yelling from Katori and Wakamura came to a stop.

"Is it okay...for me to be selfish...?"

All of Katori Squad stopped to look at her. The silence that came over them held on for a minute.

She had been told before that it was fine for her to give into some of her selfishness. There was a reassurance that there was nothing wrong with her if chose to think of herself instead of someone else.

Putting that into practice was difficult when considering those around her were always giving themselves to those around them. They all tried their hardest for others and used what they knew for others. The ones were were not like that also tended to take in her kindness and run with it.

One of the only people not to do so was the one who ended the silence.

The one to break it was not the kind Miura or the understanding Wakamura.

It was rough Katori.

"You're asking that now!?"

With quick steps, Katori walked over and stood tall over her.

"You stupid little girl! Being all nice and proper all the time is nothing but a load of crap! You can't hide your selfishness behind a sweet smile and pretend like you don't want to do something!"

Katori snapped her wrist forward and took her phone from her hand.

A quick read through had been enough for her to looked up, glare at her, and force her phone back into her hands.

"Don't be stupid, you princess! Tell those guys what's on your mind!"

---

Mukuro narrowed his eyes at his screen.

"What did one of them put?"

"...That is none of your business."

"At this point, it might as well be. I am fine with Tsukiko-senpai, but seeing that someone else is being affected like this because of him, I am starting to rethink my thoughts on him."

"Hooow so?"

"What did he put?"

Tsuji was no longer holding back, instead moving in for an attack. He was using words as an offense here to gain some ground.

What his brother had sent them had stopped him for a moment. That moment was taken as a chance and now he was left vulnerable to this vocal offense.

So he decided to tell him.

"Kiyo-nii...haaas others helping him. People who aren't his faaamily."

His mind was a bit more clear and yet he had told this person something like this. The tone he had used, while still rather even, did hold some of his own emotions in it. Something that he would normally have not done.

And yet...

"Then tell him what you want."

"Do-"

"Let him know. Otherwise you are just being his follower and not his brother."

---

Shooting Star: "Kiyo-nii!"

Corpse: "Kiyo-nii."

White Fox: "Yes?"

Shooting Star: "I want you to rely on us, if you need anyone!"

Corpse: "Please rely on us if you need to!"

---

Yuki brought a hand to his face, covering his eyes and preventing him from seeing his phone. The smile on his face was impossible to cover up, but so was the bitterness within it.

Across from him were Mei and Murakami, both looking at him without any sense of amusement in their expressions. They understood well enough what might have happened and gave him some time to take in the conversation he was having.

They looked to each other before nodding and holding out their phones.

"You had said you got a message from Mitsuteru, right? What exactly did it say?"

"It said that he saw 'Kiyoshi' today, and that Kage had fought him."

There was a snort from Yuki, but both of them ignored it.

"Please elaborate on that."

"I just asked him about that. Ema and Kage had sent messages right after, confirming his words. Apparently, there is someone who looks like Kiyoshi. But more than that...he acted and fought exactly like him. He knew the names of everyone involved with the fight and knew how to fight Kage."

"Exactly how well did he fight them?"

"According to Kage, he had used Shukuchi to get past his attack and had been ready to take him out. Mitsuteru and some others had managed to help him in the last moment though."

"Well that is concerning."

Murakami nodded in agreement.

To look like someone else was not uncommon, but being able to mimic an old fighting style and know those who could not be seen, it was unnatural.

It was more strange since Yuki had been with Hokari at the time and they had known where he was.

"This isn't something as simple as them researching and observing a person. This was a full transition into becoming that person using every possible information they could get. Even if given all the information, I would have trouble trying to mimic others to that extent." Mei looked over to Yuki, seeing him now looking at his phone with dull eyes. "Only Yuki's Side Effect could perfectly copy someone else's movements. But even that is limited to who he is currently looking at."

"So then what do you think this could be?"

Mei lifted her hand and brought it down in front of Yuki. Both boys jumped at the actions, but she only continued to look to Yuki.

In return he glared at her lightly before going back to his phone.

She shook her head three times and turned to Murakami again. The expression he wore made her shake her head again. This time she only shook it twice.

"I have my thoughts on the matter, but I would like to check in with someone. The problem is that he might be difficult about it and not tell me what I want to know."

"Are you not certain about your end results?"

She shook her head once this time. "That's not it," she said.

Pulling up her phone, she showed it to Murakami so that he could see her screen.

He leaned forward to get a better look and what he saw was...

.

Still Got It: "Hey, all of you idiots, I caught the idiot who was copying my brother. Stop your damn hunt already."

Kido: "Explain how we have gotten word that Kageura has fought him then."

Still Got It: "The fuck are you talking about? I just caught the idiot. Well, I caught him after beating him up. The idiot decided to cause trouble after having been released for what he did before. By the way, why the fuck was he released to begin with?"

Kinuta: "Who are you even talking about?"

Kido: "We will continue the hunt for Tsukiko. Until he is in front of us, it will not stop."

Netsuki: "Even if you found someone looking like him, it would do no good to not have him in front of us for other agents."

Still Got It: "You're so fucking lucky that there are people I owe and people I see as strong in Border. If not for that, I would have already done something about this."

.

It was terrifying to know that, if she wanted, Kushikage could get pretty far before being taken down. The one woman army would tear through majority of the regular agents of Border and would damage some of the stronger ones.

...What would happen if I went against her?

Mei must have figured out what he was thinking since she patted his head lightly.

"Don't worry, Kō. If you ever have to fight her, I will make sure that I am there to help."

That was reassuring. Knowing that Mei could fight on par with Kushikage now meant that there would always be someone who could keep up with her and left someone for him to rely on.

But...

"I wouldn't be able to do much, but I'd fight besides you too, of course."

"Even though she's your sister?"

"You're my friend. At times that holds more value than being family."

After realizing what he had said, Yuki stopped typing on his phone to look up with a pained smile. His current conversation was an important one, but he was still focusing on this one.

"Yuki."

"Yeah?"

"Well," he started. "Are you being an idiot again?"

Yuki looked back up with an unimpressed look. It felt like he wanted to say something, but he only shook his head and looked down again.

"I probably am... Thanks for staying by my side."

"Now you're just being creepy. Stop it."

"I guess I am. Screw off then."

Mei looked between the two of them and turned her phone around. He didn't know the importance of it, but she had done is to tell them something.

"You two are something else."

"I guess we are," both of them answered.

She gave a light laugh at that and looked over at Yuki again. Her eyes followed his fingers as they typed out responses to his siblings.

Tapping the table a few times, she opened her mouth to speak again.

"How are things going, Yuki?"

Without looking up, he answered, "Well..."

---

"What kind of stupidity is this...?"

The sound of fighting could be heard in the distance and the police car in front of her was busy taking Seikai Kiyoshi away for the second time. The two sounds overlapped enough that it could be confused for the festival that was starting back up.

Kushikage took in those two sounds while she looked down at her phone.

Her siblings were something else.

White Fox: "I really don't have much of choice. But Kushikage, what are your thoughts on everything?"

Mukuro was expressing himself to them all and Hoshi was making selfish requests now. It was different from how they normally were.

She remained strong, but all three of her siblings were slowly changing.

Even Kiyoshi was different from before. Relying on others had never been something he would do, even after he changed his name and appearance. But as things stood, he was agreeing to rely on others and wanted to know what her thoughts about it were.

Still Got It: "Kiyoshi. Mukuro. Hoshi. Are the three of you paying attention?"

White Fox: "I kind of don't want to..."

Corpse: "I aaam."

Shooting Star: "Yes!"

Good.

Still Got It: "Then answer the call."

A second later she had her phone held out close to her mouth as she called the three of them.

All three of them answered seconds from each other.

Once she knew that they were all there, she spoke up.

"What the fuck is wrong with you three!?"

Her voice rang out in the area, causing the two policemen to jump and reach for their holsters. They stopped once they turned to see her on the phone.

Good job not attacking. I might have decided to fight back.

But that had not been the case, so she stayed where she was.

Right now she was talking to her siblings, so that was all that mattered.

"You three are weak, so it makes sense for you all to gather together. That's how it should be. That's why our parents let Kiyoshi go in the first place."

But...

"I'm strong. Relying on me means you need to also be strong. Having me rely on you is like calling me weak. Neither one of those can happen, so don't go bringing me into this kind of shit. I'll watch you three struggle just fine and come in to beat any battles you can't win. But don't think you can rely on me or have me rely on you."

She needed them to know.

She needed them to understand that this was how things were done.

And yet...

"Kushikage. ...No. I guess for now, I'll call you properly."

Did this mean...?

"Kushi-nee. Hey? Are you listening?"

"I am. What do you want?"

Oh.

He was doing the same thing to her.

"Are parents were terrible. The way they treated up was based on their experience beyond the Gate. Their love and hatred for things were also based on those experiences."

"You-"

"I had my suspicions when I went back to that house. Your reaction only confirms it."

He had used his words to trick her.

"You know, I don't think I ever did give a reason for me being against them, did I?"

"...No, you didn't." Mukuro sounded tired as usually, but there was more alertness to his words now.

"I see," Kiyoshi said. "I guess now would be appropriate."

Kiyoshi gave a hollow laugh, but she knew already. She understood why he had been against their parents.

After all, she had been there for the first years of his life.

Quickly understanding where this would be going, she placed the phone to her ear instead of holding it out for others to hear.

"It was just the clear different between someone born and raised here and someone born and raised from beyond a Gate. Their ideas and values came from a place where fighting was commonplace and they couldn't get a break. Their fighting with others led them to go through a Gate and end up here. Not knowing what to do then, they probably decided to just live here. But..." He stopped, likely to give their brother and sister to think about his words. "It just wasn't in them to stop fighting. So they became soldiers here. They learned about the weapons used over here and took them naturally. From there, they used what they kept from beyond the Gate to continue winning without losing anything from themselves."

"Kiyo-nii, are you saying that-..."

"I am."

Mukuro chose to let his brother speak, but even he had to have some questions at this point.

Hoshi was likely worse off. Unlike the rest of them, she had been blessed with being the last to be born. The favoritism had always gone to her and she was treated like a perfect girl.

She was weak. But that was because she had been treated as weak by their parents.

They all knew though.

Hoshi was weak due to lack of experience, but she had the potential to be strong. If not, she would never have entered the B-Rank Wars, fought others to the bitter end, and should would not be able to even speak with them.

And yet, here she was.

Trying to understand them as they were each other.

"Our parents were terrible people who only had the mindset of their upbringing. But that must have been them being 'kind' to us at the same time. Kushi-nee and I were trained, likely so we could win fights like them. Mukuro was ignored, likely so they would not put him through the same thing we went through. Hoshi was treated like she was fragile, likely their way of making up for everything and wanting someone to be normal. They messed us up a good amount. They were both caring parents as well as terrible parents."

"...You really think that?" Hoshi asked.

"I only learned that now, once I got myself into so much trouble. Probably because I'm the same way."

That was true.

She could not see it at the time, but when she thought about it, it made sense.

"So I guess I was against them because I really am their child. Someone who took after his parents enough to hate them. I can't remember any good times with them, nothing that would make me want them back, but..."

But...

"I can at least appreciate the thought that they wanted me to be strong. Just like Kushi-nee."

That's right. She was strong and they were all weak.

That did not change, even after all of this time.

"But I really am weak. So I'm fine with relying on others now. Mukuro, Hoshi. It's fine to rely on you two, right?"

"Of course."

"I would love nothing more."

They were such good children.

Good children who understood how weak they were.

"That's good. You two can try to rely on me. I can't promise that I'll be any good at helping you, but I'll try. And Kushi-nee?"

"Yeah? What now?"

"Can't the strong come over to enjoy some time with the weak?"

.

Kushikage stopped upon hearing those words.

Her brother was not asking if they could rely on her or if she could rely on them. The strong were above the weak, that was how she was. They did not help each other out and only appeared on the battlefield at the same time when one was taken out.

If he had asked her to do anything other than that, she would have gotten mad at him.

But he asked something else.

He's asking if the strong can go to the weak simply because they can.

It was not for a battle or to show off. The question was his way of asking if she wanted to go down and live with the weak. To enjoy herself with them and see what being weak had to offer.

In return, the weak could see how the strong were. Praise their strength, learn from them, figure out how to counter them, and enjoy themselves with such strong people.

Others have already accepted that offer. Look how that turned out.

A festival was going on that contained both the strong and the weak.

Both sides enjoyed themselves, laughed, and got along with little issue.

So why couldn't she do the same?

Because-

"There are different ways to be strong, you know."

She stopped for a second time.

Her brother continued to use words to his advantage.

And he knew what he was doing.

"Do you think you can beat me in a game of words?"

She was already losing in that.

"Do you think you could beat Mukuro when it comes to thinking of solutions?"

She could only see the end results of battles.

"Do you think you could beat Hoshi in her ability to create new things?"

She had only been using the memento Triggers that her parents had brought back from the other side of the Gate.

"You can be strong in different ways."

So.

"Come join everyone else in a lifestyle that makes us all both weak and strong."

---

After this, I'll need some time to figure things out. I still don't know how I feel about Kushikage and Mukuro, but that's why I need to take the time to understand them better. So hopefully this will be a good push.

Mei and Kō had both been listening to his conversation, but they only looked at him. Neither had said a word and both of them only looked on with relaxed expressions.

Even being unsure of his own feelings, he knew that this was something that needed to be done.

So he waited for his sister's answer.

"...I can't do that."

He frowned.

He knew that his younger siblings were also doing the same.

"Not today, at least. There are fights that need to be won today, so I can't just go and fuck everything up by being weak. For the rest of today, I'll be strong. Once all this shit's over... I'll see what I can do."

That was the best answer he could get.

They all knew that she would keep to her word. Someone as strong as her had no reason to go back on her own agreements.

"Well then, I need to be going. Rather, I need to discuss something with even more people. Feel free to join in at any time."

"I might...just go to sleep. Theeere's someone close by that's so boooring that he puts me right to sleep."

He could hear a voice in the background and could faintly make out who it was.

Is he with Tsuji? Of all people?

That was something for him to look into later on.

But what caught his attention was what Hoshi was saying.

"I am currently with Katori Squad. They would like to stay out of all of this, so I will be enjoying the festival with them."

It was worrying that she was with Wakamura, but he knew that Katori would harass him if he tried anything and Miura was there to help. He would have preferred that she was not with them, but this showed that she was being a bit selfish by not helping his side of things.

This was a better option.

"You already know what the fuck I'm going to do. So I'm gonna be going now."

The line went dead right away. Only the ringing tone could be heard as he ended the call and place his phone down.

The smile on his face had relaxed a bit and now it held nothing was genuine happiness about how things had ended up.

It showed too since both Mei and Kō relaxed in their seats, smiles on their own faces.

"Now then," he said. "Why don't we get down to figuring out what we should do concerning this issues?"

The three of them nodded as they opened a general chat.

The first one to speak up was Mei.

"It's about time."