Unneeded

by TheAnimeTrain

The B-Rank Wars have finished and Border's members begin to settle back into their routines however they can. Along with this comes the appearance of new faces along with old ones. Unseen by them all, those who remain unneeded continue to move around.

2. Score

Kuruma sighed from the chair in the Suzunari Branch Office.

Noah Shor was here to keep him company.

"Do you need something?"

"Eh?"

He looked back, but he was not there. He heard some sounds from outside and then his voice.

"Oh, um, excuse me...!"

Oh, realized Kuruma. As his fellow branch member, he must have thought he needed something when he sighed.

"Don't worry about it. When you know about that one group, there's a lot of relief, exasperation, and shock about, so sighs don't mean much. And I say this because I already have a feeling they will get involved as soon as Yuki or Kō mention something.

"Right. Well if you even need something small, I can fetch a drink in an average of a minute and two seconds."

"Ha ha ha. That's pretty good. Yuki has an average of 33 seconds."

"..."

"What is it?"

"From what I can tell while being here, there is a minimum amount of time required to pour the drink in the cup."

"And?"

"That minimum is 22 seconds."

"Hmm," he said while thinking about it, but he was unsure whether that was amazing or not. I only have Yuki to compare it to, after all.

"Well, you do your best."

He thought he heard someone falling to their knees.

But, he thought while looking to his phone. Suzaku had sent over a summation of the commitment made between Border and all of the sponsors. Kuruma looked back over that as he thought.

...I don't know if it comes naturally or not, but these decisions are really following our standards now.

Border's standards.

What are those? he wondered as he opened his mouth. He had Taichi go over some things before and was now opening the transmission.

"Right. ...Suzunari-1's Kuruma Squad Captain has a message for the sponsors and the rest of the businesses that this can reach."

He took a breath.

"Are you listening?"

.

"Currently, Border will be going under inspection by a foreign business owner and will be busy with that," said Kuruma. "We require no support in that inspection. Awdry is doing something for their own views. Thus, we promise we will satisfy them to reconfirm Border's value in Mikado City for the sponsors and to demonstrate our abilities as an organization. We expect..."

They expected...

"This will reach anyone who has uncertain thoughts about us."

---

In a tall building, Kurosaki Shin listened to those words from his chair in the great stone hall.

"Oh?" said a woman who sat casually on the carpet next to the chair. She was one of Kurosaki's workers and she held one knee in her arms and raised the corners of her mouth. "Suzunari Captain, you would give us that justification?"

Suzunari-1's Captain turned around on the screen. He seemed to type something on his phone to connect his phone directly to her. And...

"Hark! Might this ameliorate the misgivings in thine heart! ...Taichi-dono! When I spake of an intent for reverential speech, I was not beseeching thee to set the 'sermon' translation setting! ...Oh, yes, yes. Much better. Okay, listening, Mizuno-san? Ignore that just now."

"What kind of business talk starts like that!?"

"Taichi had accidentally put the wrong setting when I gave him my phone earlier."

Shin laughed quietly.

"Heh. Showing love for essentially a small animal? You must be quite relaxed, Suzunari Captain..."

But after he said that.

...Oh, did I just praise myself there?

That was not a good thing. And showing an animal too much love was also bad. So...

"You must show some restraint in your love. Pamper them too much and...yes, they will grow ill. And that would be sad, wouldn't it? Heh heh, hah hah...! It is important to keep an adequate distance...!"

---

8-Skies: "I-I think the Kurosaki CEO is really upset for some reason!"

Torimaru: "Well, you started talks with the struct and Buddhist-loving Kurosaki by using the sermon translation. He probably took it as a big business provocation..."

Ortlinde: "That's a hell of a thing to end with an ellipsis..."

2.7 Maime: "Listen up, everyone. Someone like that is actually the best as taking care of a hamster."

Almost Everyone: "No, no, not a chance!"

Shobu: "...Eh...? ...I-I think...he actually...w-would..."

Almost Everyone: "Definitely, definitely, I can totally see it!"

2.7 Maime: "Dammit! Why do you respond to him differently!?"

---

It was about time to feed the hamster, so Shin sent some instructions to the Lifestyle Committee as he spoke.

"In other words, you were demonstrating your ability to work together when against us, but now you are demonstrating your ability to fight on your own?"

"Correct. You can view it that way. We would like to make good use of this opportunity."

The the screen, Suzunari-1's Captain could be seen swiping his finger across his screen multiple time for the messages that appeared. Mizuno smiled bitterly next to his side.

"I see you're as lively as ever, Border. Things are a lot more relaxing once you stop."

"Stop or go, we would be just as busy, Mizuno-san."

"True enough," said Shin with a solemn nod.

...We have literal piles of things to do with moving to the new buildings...!

Their building had been chosen based on the standing of Border at the start and he wanted to change that. That meant they had to make a new building, but creating a large building within the city and moving things was no easy task. And then there was Mizuno.

"You're the one that gave permission to take that area, Shin. Take responsibility."

"Heh. Leave it to me and I will create a never-before-seen area full of depravity and beasts where the people live their days like obedient slaves. Are you sure you want that?"

"That does sound kind of fun."

That was always her answer.

...How lovely!

If I can make an entire area how I want, I'll make a park full of flowers, an amusement park, and a zoo!

...Just you wait, everyone! I'll show you more joyful flowers than ever seen in this newly changed land, we can forget all about work and enjoy ourselves, and we can frolic with the small animals while enjoying a full day obeying the clearly marked pathways through the zoo...!

When he had shown Mizuno the plans he had drawn up in a single night, she had looked the other way and muttered "A theme park...?", but her usual expression had eventually returned. And...

"Shin, if you are to guide the workers like slaves, you will need some servants disguised as beasts."

"Heh. An excellent idea, Mizuno. ...They would have to be humanoid with animal heads. Now, Kurosaki is Buddhist, so it might fun to have it point to the Six Paths. We can use those odd Neighbors we had heard about for reference."

"Heh heh. ...And we will periodically need to have everyone perform a group Sabbat dance."

They had laughed and laughed as they enjoyed planning it all out and he wanted to tell Sekai and his teammate all about it sometime, but it would be more fun to show the boys once it was complete.

"Just you wait, Sekai Teammate...!"

Thanks to them, Kurosaki had endured attacks from citizens and had entered a period of stability. But Border was still fighting.

Shin temporarily cut the transmission setting and asked a question of those around him.

"Do you think there would be any reason to suggest we support Border?"

Saitou raised his hand. He was wrapped in bandages below his spring uniform.

"That would be unnecessary. I doubt Border would want it. After all, their next opponent will be Awdry from America. That will be different from their time against the rest of us."

He opened a tablet which displayed a map of America.

"As you probably know, Awdry is actually in control of two major leading companies in America who have been uncertain about Border. They had come during Border's B-Rank Wars, witnessed out fight against them, and have been giving the bare minimum of support to them. And of those, our fight against them left the biggest impact. Will Border be able to gain their favor here? That will tell us and the other businesses just how much power Border really has."

"That's right," agreed someone. It was Hikigane Sekai who stood at the bottom of the stone steps. He pushed himself up slightly. "I came because of the message you sent me, Shin, but it looks like you're having some fun with Border as a while. This whole situation is an irritation. But it's something I might have to deal with, as a Border member."

"I see." Shin reactivated the transmission and spoke to Suzunari's Kuruma Squad Captain through the screen. "We hope to see an excellent result, Suzunari-1 Captain."

"Keep your expectations high."

---

"Excellent."

Northwest of the Border base, a Kobayashi truck was deployed to the provisional border between the Border branches.

A gold-haired woman stood atop a tall building to welcome the oncoming supply trucks returning from around the city. She closed the large fan she held.

A giant screen was lifted in the air in front of her. It was a telescope screen using daytime amplification processing to display the scene before her.

The slick-haired man next to her spoke.

"Yoshiko. What's excellent? I'm no good at riddles, jeez."

"I never have to be alone with my thoughts with you around, Denji."

Yoshiko laughed in her throat.

Then she watched the people moving down below in waves instead of a stream. The paths they were taking made them seem more like ants.

"...!"

And they seemed to be doing it instinctively.

The intense sounds came from far into the city instead of from the screen. The loud rumbling made it sound like the ground itself was moving under them. Yoshiko nodded a few times as she listened.

"It would seem that someone is messing around with the city. Are they being careful or showing off to everyone?"

"Yoshiko, what does that mean, jeez?"

"You certainly know how to entertain me and my thoughts, Denji."

Listen.

"The way the people are moving is unnatural from an outside perspective, but it would seem completely normal to anyone moving within it. The same thing had happened before, when Shuryō's creations had first shown up on this side of the Gates." Yoshiko held her fan up to her mouth. "Moving them like these waves is much the same. Whoever is doing it must know what they are doing, but they are not doing it for the same reasons as my son's group. And because of that, they must be going for something else before the day ends. But..."

"But? But what?"

The corners of Yoshiko's mouth rose at that question. And she let them stay that way as she responded.

"But you see..."

She repeated herself and focused her ears on the distant sounds of movement.

"There are people who move independently from Border's wants while also staying within those wants. They can find these things out easily and will move to do something about it before anything can happen. They are the worst people to exist, while they still exist."

"Do you know anyone like that?"

"I am speaking to one of them."

Yes.

"Will you now act as someone who wishes to disappear, Denji? Even if you complete your preparations, complete your journey, and complete the cleanup, a path like this is a long one. And..."

Yoshiko laughed bitterly.

"At least make sure to properly say your goodbyes. Especially to that Bear Girl you are so fond of."

There was no longer any voice behind her.

He had left.

---

"Heh heh heh."

Satori heard the laugh from the girl sitting next to him. It had a nice ring to it, but he could pick up some concerns with it.

The main one being that she was sitting next to someone else.

"Why is this idiot boy here, Ken-kun? I had thought we would be able to just enjoy the day without anything bad happening. I even cut my time at Tamakoma short for this."

"I'm here because you didn't do anything in your last match. Even if you are going to quit that squad, it's still an annoyance to me that you did so little."

"Sometimes you just do nothing for everything to work out, you pathetic boy."

"But nothing worked out for you guys, did it?"

Even if he wanted to support her here, Satori knew that Narasaka was only telling the truth. Not much had been accomplished by Kotowari Squad in their last match of the seasons, and she had done little during it.

The two opposing forces glared at each other from next to each other on the circular table, but he could do little about it.

This was just how things were with the two of them.

Suzu-chan has actually been a bit irritable today for some reason. Narasaka being here doesn't help much, but even he isn't the cause for all of it.

Since he had seen her at the start of the day, Suzume had been quick to get annoyed and easy to turn away. None of it had been directed at him, but he still felt like there was something he could do for her here.

So in his want to do something he had brought her to a café that had outdoor seating with umbrellas to cover the tables in shade. The tables were not too big, but they managed to fit the two of them and Narasaka comfortably and without making them feel like they had to squeeze into the area. The planters around them gave it a nice atmosphere too. The major selling point was the way it overlooked the street without being blocked by the nearby building.

But none of that had been the reasons for way he brought her here.

The noise around here reverberates nicely and cleanly. There can be a few hollow sounds, but those get filled up by the people walking around or cheering.

A lot of people had chosen this area for street performances or miniature concerts. The performances usually led to people feeling tired or thirsty after, so the shops around here were well off when it came to customers.

It was a rather smart idea to set up shop here.

But...

...Ever since we got here, she has been more annoyed.

Narasaka's sudden presence had bothered him as well, but not to the extent that it did Suzume. The look she gave while facing the street was not something he was use to seeing.

"Hey, Suzu-chan," he said. Maybe moving the conversation topic would do some good. "The song playing in the street right now-"

"Ken."

There was no honorific and her glare was now direct towards him.

He had tried to say something and ended up getting her more mad. Even Narasaka stopped speaking at this.

Suzume noticed what she was doing and let out a breath through her mouth. Her shoulders relaxed and he couldn't help but notice the way her chest lowered along with them. No! Bad Ken! Not the time!

She was mad about something and he needed to pay attention to that.

"That song is honestly the worst one I have ever heard."

"If you are judging by your standards-"

"Narasaka, don't!" he found himself saying quickly.

Narasaka turned to look at him, but kept his mouth shut.

"This isn't a thing about standards. Suzu-chan is fine with all kinds of music. Even if it's bad, the person sucks at performing, or even if the lyrics just suck. She is fine with them all, just as long as someone can enjoy it. So if she says this is the worst..."

"...There's something about it, isn't there?"

Suzume gave a bitter laugh and nodded her head.

"But that's weird, then... I like the song, and everyone else around here looks like they're enjoying it. They're even clogging up the street just to hear it."

"...I also like the sound of it. That's why I was in the area at all."

"So then...it's your Side Effect, isn't it?"

Suzume narrowed her eyes at the crowd in the street and nodded again.

Satori knew well enough that a lot of things could be told from Suzume's Side Effect and that she would act depending on it. If Jin-san can see the future and Mei-san can calculate the future, then Suzu-chan's Side Effect views the worlds in the present. A showing of how the world looked in the current moment instead of looking ahead of everyone else.

That was the nature of her Side Effect.

So if she was noticing something...

"This song...it's honestly moving people."

"Isn't that what songs are supposed to do? At least according to you."

"Foolish boy, I meant it literally. If a song can move you emotionally then it's honestly a good song, even if it's bad. But this song... It's literally moving people around. This gathering of people on a street for performers is proof of that."

Narasaka asked the same question Satori had.

"So is it something like hypnosis?"

Suzume shook her head this time. She combed a hand through her air, brought it down, and began tapping on the table.

Narasaka and Satori's eyes witnessed all of that.

"That's what it is."

"Um..."

"It isn't something so amazing as hypnosis. It's just a drawing of attention and gathering it into points. Whoever is singing this song is someone who is good at leading others, but that's all."

.

Suzume glanced at Narasaka and Ken's expressions while still tapping on the table.

The rhythm she had been going for was a counter to the song they had been hearing the entire time. It was a small sound that only Narasaka and Ken would be able to hear due to their proximity of her, but that was fine.

"You know...the song really isn't that great."

"It has a bit too much going on. And the lyrics aren't that great."

The counter noise was meant to bring their attention away from the song and towards her. Unlike the song playing she only brought their eyes to her, neither one of them was kept there without them knowing.

The noise itself was meant for those tow, but she could feel her anger slowly go down the more she continued her small song. The tune had been a quick thing she came up with on the spot before turning into an actual song. Making lyrics had always been a fun process for her, but so had making the music for whatever song she was faced with.

In this case, the music came first with the beat becoming a smooth tone that blanketed them. Adding to the her finger, she began to hum and lifted the volume of her tapping by combining it with some footwork that created a followup rhythm.

The song had been set with the music being created.

She could see Satori pull out his phone and the surrounding people turning to her.

The sound of her music had gained their attention instead of demanding it from them.

All that was left were the lyrics.

"'What' do you live for?

"The unanswered question loops today as well."

She had asked herself that once before, but someone had pulled her back from that.

"'For who' do the resounding voices

"Knock on the door of the world?"

This was more than just her and Border. The questions everyone in Mikado City had since the first Gate opened to them.

"Dreams can't stay dreams."

She felt the impact from her own words. Her own dreams having to be brought to reality so she could see them again.

"We were young, so we just ran.

"We believed that a future was there.

"No matter how many wishes you sacrifice."

Both Satori and Narasaka looked down, but she knew that speaking to them would end up making them feel worse.

This was her way of speaking to them all.

"If you find something to protect, then surely

"Everything will start form here."

Yeah. This was...

"A reason for my life.

"A reason for your life."

.

At some point the singing the song that was playing throughout the street had died down and the people walking around had become more separated than before. Murmurs went around about the short song they had heard and how it compared to the one playing throughout the street.

As for a small café on the street...

"That was so good!"

"Isn't that one of the usual's here?"

"I think she's also a Border member."

"Was she singing about her time there then?"

The lyrics to the song she had sung struck a cord in everyone around. The music that had accompanied it brought those words to life and sunk in smoothly with each person who had been listening.

Everyone continued to compare the two songs and found real value in the short song they had than the one that had been playing repeatedly throughout the area. It was a no contest fight that had been won by the unusual girl.

"Heh heh. If someone who believes in the Uzume-style of life were to lose to a pathetic song like that then I would have no choice but to quit singing altogether."

"Now you're being overdramatic."

"Would you honestly be fine with losing a sniping contest to a C-Rank who had only joined because they thought it would be fun to be involved?"

"..."

"Exactly," she said with another laugh.

.

Narasaka looked the other way after his loss to Suzume. This was now her second win today and he was certain she would be parading that around.

But instead, she gave a sigh.

"Looking at this from another viewpoint, I was honestly just being petty because I really did so little in my last match with Kotowari Squad."

She wouldn't apologize, but he was fine with that. It was just how she was.

"Are you going to try and make it up to them?"

"That would just be me acting selfish and not actually doing anything for them. The most I can do now is support them as a fellow agents and former teammate."

"So are you just going to remain a solo agent? I'm pretty sure there are some squads who would want you around."

She gave another laugh that made Narasaka realize that she had already come up with that idea. Her Side Effect was not something to overlook, no matter how strange she herself was. If a different squad were to get her, they would have access to that Side Effect.

The squad in the mid to top-tier would probably leave her alone, but the lower ranked squads would see that as an opportunity they couldn't pass up.

Suzume really had come to that same conclusion from the way she laughed.

"I honestly won't be joining any squads. I have some plans for later, but at the moment I think I'll honestly just go solo and see where that takes me."

"It sucks that Arashiyama Squad is already maxed out, otherwise I would ask you to join."

"Heh heh heh. Save those lines for the girl you really like, Ken-kun. But thanks for that, it does mean a lot to me. Especially since I don't doubt that Arashiyama-san would accept it."

Suzume turned to call someone over to them, giving Satori the best chance to slam his hand onto his forehead. The red mark that was left there looked like it hurt, but he said nothing about it.

Everyone around them gave Satori varying looks of pity or jealousy. Narasaka only felt that it was his own fault for not moving ahead even more.

It could give him a chance.

...Huh?

He froze.

Chance for what?

He was uncertain about what he meant.

The only chance he could think of was a chance to force her to really practice her sniping. But with the B-Rank Wars over, did she really want to learn anymore?

The thought of her ending their agreement made him furrow his brows, but say nothing.

"...Weird."

---

"Did you hear that!? Did you!? Her voice was so nice, and it really gave off such a nice ring to it! I was paying so much attention to what was playing our in the area, but her voice really caught me! And didn't those words seem to fit all kind of situations?"

A girl with long lime hair pointed out towards the café where a girl with a lovely voice had just sang. Her voice had only barely reached them, but that was enough to get a full understanding of her wants within the song and how she wanted to show herself to others.

The boy next to her pulled on her arm to make sure she did not cross the line and venture into the main street in front of them.

Compared to her lime green hair that stuck out in the alleyway, his was a dark red hair blended in with the large shadow casted over the alleyway.

Something that they both shared was their strange style of clothing. Both were in clothing that revealed their bodies well enough to seem out of place. Even if someone were to question them, they could only focus on what they were seeing and call it an odd fashion for anyone in Japan.

"We can't go out there!"

"But-!"

"No! Showing ourselves here would only attract attention!"

Both were unaware of the people already pointing to them and talking to each other.

Even if one was blending in with the shadows, the other's white clothes and hair stood out among everyone them all.

"Hey, what's with those two?"

"Cosplayers maybe? The whole 'short-to-tall' thing seems to be the current trend."

"If that's the case, it makes sense. The vicious captain of the SS is right there. Maybe they want a doujinshi about them?"

"Well, the next ImMoral for them is coming up, isn't it? Do you think they have everything set up already?"

"That's right. The Spring ImMoral Manga is tomorrow, actually. Do you think they can get some last minute things up?"

Everyone shrugged their shoulders, forgetting about the duo they had been looking at.

Above it all, someone watched the two strangers closely from the edge of the roof. They were not standing up or showing themselves, instead looking through a hand mirror they lifted into the air. The reflection of the two in the alleyway showed on the mirror.

He shook his head at what he was seeing.

.

"I guess Mikado City is too used to strange people."

Tsukiko Yuki lightly shook his head.

It was good to know that they would not freak out over strange things anymore, but it put their sense of danger off slightly. People who seemed strange could easily be excused as foreigners or people trying new things in the city.

I mean, Hisato has that slime creature, we have Pyrínas, the dogs here seem to be smarter than one would expect, and even Raijinmaru feels like she's on a completely different level from us.

There were too many oddities in the city to pinpoint every single person who seemed strange or out of place.

Even the one who had counter the song had been strange. But I guess I knew that the moment I met her. To be able to counter something like a song with a well-timed tune was already something pretty amazing.

He wasn't one for these sorts of things, but being around Suzume for as long as he had been proved to give him some information on how things like rhythms and music could easily sway others without them knowing. If the song that had been playing was forcibly drawing others in, then Suzume had countered it by giving them a gentle push back before guiding them towards her.

"I'm glad she can still find it in her to do something like that. If she had given up on these sorts of things back then...well, we wouldn't have someone as amazing as her."

Kuma: "Won't your girlfriend get mad if you start talking like that about someone else?"

Black Wolf: "Considering he's talking about Suzume, I doubt it. Mei might even agree and say that Suzume really is amazing."

White Fox: "Do the two of you have nothing else to do right now? It isn't like you to just eavesdrop like this."

Kuma: "Um..."

Black Wolf: "Uh..."

Yuki raised a brow while looking to the hand mirror.

The two in the alleyway had yet to leave, but they seemed to be slowly moving back. The red-haired boy had managed to convince his partner to start moving backwards instead of going out into the street.

So he's hesitant when it comes to her.

It showed their connection well enough that he waited to see what else they would do.

White Fox: "Okay, Kuma is fine to not answer. But Kō, you're obligated to tell me what's up."

Black Wolf: "Who is this coming from again?"

White Fox: "Do you want to wait to tell me then? That would put us on even ground here."

Black Wolf: "In what way!?"

It seemed fair to him, so Murakami should have had not problems with it.

Ah, the trials of friendship. Truly, it is the most annoying thing to deal with, he thought with a nod and crossed arms.

Kuma: "The fact that I won't have to listen to these kinds of things in school anymore is very reassuring."

White Fox: "We can always go back there to mess with you people."

Kuma: "Please don't."

It was funny that she thought something like that would stop them from tearing into their former underclassmen. You could have asked any one of them and they would all end up with the same result:

"They're fun to mess with since our own idiots are used to our antics."

Yuki and Murakami were no different. They both found some strange enjoyment out of harassing their former underclassmen.

According to Jin and Tatsuhito, it's something you just pass down once you realize you won't be going to school with them anymore.

It made sense to him, but he didn't want to admit that he had the same though process as they did.

"Hah. I guess I just have to settle for the fact that a lot of us are just plain terrible."

It was what he had accepted upon deciding to rely on those terrible people.

.

None of them would allow him to deal with things by himself and he would go to them if he needed something. That had been what he learned after going through a day where someone had copied his appearance and used his name to go around the city.

At the same time, he came to realize how much he needed to rely on those people and figured out why they had thought fo him as an idiot.

Mei had been pretty pissed back then.

But they had settled that between them.

Mei was able to live her life without the mass influx of calculations hitting her at every moment. Being able to do so had caused some interesting results, but nothing any of them didn't want.

Yuki felt the most happy with the outcome.

The girl he had chosen to love was now able to express herself and show her real self around him without any major worry. The only one being her embarrassment, but he overlooked that in favor of everything else about her.

It had reached the point where he had been told that her parents were returning from their travels and would be in Mikado City for the foreseeable future.

"Heh heh. I guess this is what it feels like to be worried about meeting you girlfriend's parents. It's pretty nice, if not a bit distracting."

Murakami wasted no time in hammering into him.

Black Wolf: "Try not to make too much of a fool of yourself. I know how you like to mess things up in the most amazing ways, but this is pretty important."

Kuma: "Is he really that bad?"

Black Wolf: "He's terrible. That's why I'm glad he has someone like Mei around to help him."

Kuma: "And what about you?"

That's right, what he did think about their situation?

Mei felt like they needed to be reminded that she was reliable. But Murakami...

Black Wolf: "It goes without saying..."

He smiled.

Black Wolf: "If I wasn't there, he would be done in way too quickly. It would be pretty hard for him to live without me."

"When did you get to be such an ass, Kō!"

.

Yuki froze as he heard the sound of the hand mirror shattering on the roof of the building.

Murakami's sudden attack had caught him off guard, making him throw his body into the air with a jump and giving himself away.

The people down below had noticed him, saying as much.

"Whoa! Who the hell is that!?"

"Why are they up there!?"

"Yuki-san!? What are you honestly doing up there!? Do you want to see me perform!?"

"It looks more like he's stalking you here."

"Maybe because he doesn't want her on a date?"

"Oh, that makes sense," everyone said in unison.

It was terrifying how everyone on the street had been able to agree to that.

The look Suzume was giving him made him sweat a little, so he saluted to her before taking a leap off the building and onto the next roof over.

White Fox: "You asshole! That exposed me!"

Kuma: "I guess someone had to do it."

Even Kumagai had become ruthless at this point.

Looking down into the alleyway, he saw that it was completely empty.

He clicked his tongue. I lost them. This sucks. Now it looks like I need to find them before Mei's parents get to the city.

The timeframe was short, and he might even be late, but this was something he had resolved himself to do upon getting a special request from Jin.

White Fox: "This really sucks. And I wanted to enjoy myself before I had to go."

Kuma: "Go where?"

Black Wolf: "...So you're still talking like that, you idiot."

Yuki raised a brow as he jumped away from the alleyway and into the air. It was unlike Murakami to say something like that when he already knew how Yuki was about this sort of thing.

That's weird... Did he think I wouldn't still feel like that?

He had changed, but the basis for his existence remained the same to him.

An unneeded existence meant to only fade away.

I guess I need others, and they could use me, but that's really it. I'm just a nice option for them all.

Otherwise, he was the same as ever.

It was why he needed to rely on Murakami so much.

"I guess I'll ask him about it later."

There was something else he needed to do here.

So he sped up the process.

"Teleport!"

---

"So they are going to be here later today."

Those words came from a boy at a table. He was speaking to a girl sitting in her own chair in front of a desk a bit away from him.

The desk girl brushed a hand through her bangs and looked to the chair.

"You're talking about your aunt and uncle, right? You don't sound too happy about that."

"Is isn't that, Katerina."

"Well," said Katerina while tapping on her cheek with the back of her cokepen. She also reclined the chair to the wall so she and Minoru could see each other's faces. "To say it without letting any emotions into it, you sound like you aren't looking forward to it."

"Yeah, I guess that's pretty true. But it isn't because of them that I'm worried about it."

"Even so, you are their nephew who has been with their daughter this whole time, who has just made things better for herself, according to what you've told me. She seems pretty happy, from what I've seen." She chose her words carefully while glancing around. "Even if you have issues with Yuki, and expect him to be around, you still need to go see them."

These guys really don't hold back when it comes to holding back, she sighed, but she did not stop there.

"You two have been avoiding everything about each other. You aren't lovers, you two look like you have others you can speak freely with, and both of you tend to do the same thing, just in different ways as an end result. So just make up as friends already."

"At this point it's pretty hard to do that with him."

She was glad he did not say it was impossible. If he had done that then it would have meant there really was no hope for either of those two as friends. Probably anyways.

"Make out!"

"It's 'make up', Michelle."

The telepath girl climbed onto Katerina's lap. Feeling the girl do so herself, she closed her legs so they would not spread and make the girl fall through. She grabbed the girl and held her on top of her lap.

"I guess we can put you and him making up off. ...But only for the current moment. You should still go and see your family when they are here and not when you think it's convenient. At worse, you would just end up ignoring Yuki, and vice versa. The two of you look like you're in agreement to do that anyway, probably to make anyone around not feel too awkward around the both fo you. That sounds nice of you guys, but it really just sounds like a pain to me."

"Eh? Is it really that bad to do?"

He sounded pretty troubled, but she answered frankly as there was no point in lying to him.

"Everyone feels awkward about it already, so the two of you ignoring it more just makes them feel bad."

.

"Eh? Wait a second."

Minoru quickly shook his head.

"We aren't trying to make anyone feel awkward at all. Will it be that bad if we both show up there?"

"That doesn't matter. As I said, it creates an awkward atmosphere just knowing about it. The same holds true even if one of you isn't there. The fact that you're related to them means that Yuki might end up making things awkward in knowing that much. Your cousin will also know that something happened, so she might act on that or say something about it. Admittedly, I don't know her personally, so I can't for sure if that would actually happen, but if she cares about you then I don't doubt it at all. It goes double if she is Yuki's girlfriend."

"Really?"

"In most cases, friends would find some way to reconcile situations like these, but the two of you seem to be weirdly stubborn about this. Then again, I can understand why that is. Even so, you two aren't the only ones who know exactly what happened. You told me Sumiharu was there, right? And your boyfriend came along after being called. That means there are two people form your side who know what exactly happened. And from what I could see, Sumiharu is also friends with Yuki, so there's also a connection there. Your cousin is a second one. Anyone else would be added bonuses."

But...

"If they know how the two of you are, they won't be getting involved until one of you makes the first step. It's pretty easy to see that Border over here has a particular way of doing things when it comes to its individuals' and it's even more obvious when it's between individuals and not involving the upper brace. Since that's the case, shouldn't it be up to the individuals to get through this, ask for help with it, and continue on from there?"

"Does this means you..."

"That's right. I looked at what's been happening with Border recently," finished Katerina. "That includes your meeting with Kobayashi and your talk with the Mogami woman. So I know what you two promised and how Border is looking at the situation with them. After all, you all are 'people'. Keeping to those words is what is important, and the way things are going... Yeah, you aren't in any position to respond to that sort of thing. This alone is holding you back a lot and is making things hard on both of you."

"Th-that's kind of scary, Katerina. That you're able to tell that much..."

It's because you're acting this way, she thought. But...

...Just because you think this is a fine enough solution doesn't mean it is.

I'm only giving you this lecture because I care about your wellbeing here, and how being around those kinds of people can affect you. It's the same way you worry about me whenI overwork myself back home.

"(Katerina, are you troubled?)"

"(Eh? Oh, no. I'm fine, I'm fine.)"

"K-Katerina, you don't have to force yourself."

...Of course you would say something like that.

"U-um... Anyway, yes. Where are your uncle and aunt going to be?"

"Probably their house still."

"So, even if their daughter moved in with her boyfriend and their mutual friend, they are still going to go to that house?"

"Eh?" Minoru thought for a moment and seemed to realize something. "I mean, she only moved out. The house still belongs to them, and they really aren't ever hurting for money."

"Right, I guess that makes sense. So once they reach their house, you just have to go where they are. Then you can decide on what to do once you see what the situation is like. ...Oh, I know. How about you get all fancy and dress up?"

"But they've seen me in all kinds of ways by now, so that doesn't matter."

...Why do I feel like I lost this round because he took that seriously?

"(Katerina, are you feeling sad?)"

"(Eh? No, not really.)"

Anyways...

"Even if you don't go that far, you just have to appear somewhere with them so they know you still care about them. I had that Suzaku guy connect me to the transmission and he gave me special privileges while I'm here, so I'll keep track of things."

"...He really went and did that?"

"He had told me that it saves him some trouble to have someone like me also connected to the transmissions. I won't be in charge of anything particular, but I need to be keeping an eye out for anything weird happening. That's how I was able to get so much data on things and information on the current situation of this Border. But don't worry, I'll just end up having some fun looking through some things. You guys are pretty wild over here, so this all looks really entertaining to me, and it gives me some ideas I can work on while I'm here," said Katerina. "Now, listen. Besides wanting you to just be happy, I also told you all of this because I still need to do periodic checks on Yuki's personal Trigger. And when I was looking over things for that from some transmissions, I found something weird. That being..."

That being...

"A black box that even Suzaku can't get into. Remember that."

---

...Two moving in the city. ...Two moving the people of the city. ...A part of the main system is with a supposed ally of Miden. ...Michelle is with Minoru. ...Stepney is with his parents. ...Mitsubachi is at the flower shop. ...Kaede and Kasei are with their respective siblings. ...The situation here is complicated when I consider everything happening.

It gave him a sense of worry that was unlike anything he had felt before.

Ever since taking in the core to the fake version of Yuki, Pyrínas had been gaining something close to emotions the more he stayed within the city.

"...Handling these things while I am still young really must be what they call 'the springtime of youth' here."

Saying as much out loud made him furrow his brows, but he decided to erase that saying from his memories.

They were not important, but they were also something he had leaned while over here.

With that being the case, the phrase that had just been erased came back to his mind as if it was pulled by a line.

Something he had taught himself to do was erase things from his very core. He would attach sort of "line" to them so he could pull it back from erasure whenever he found himself curious as to what he had forgotten. It was as simple as pulling on a rope and bringing back something he had thrown away while thinking it was pointless.

A trion soldier's core was like a computer when it came to storing information. Once it reached a point it would be too much and may even cause the trion soldier to stall out. That had been why the normal and standardized models only had order implanted into their cores so they would not need to collect unnecessary data on things unimportant.

Autonomous Trion Soldiers like Pyrínas would tend to have altered cores so they could take in more information without stalling or focusing on the more unimportant things. It went a step further when he considered the Pyrínas System as a whole.

...The amount of data the entire System can hold is far beyond anything else since it is much more like an information network than a core of a single trion soldier.

That was what had made the Wanderer's trion soldiers so special. They were able to maintain more of a thought process than other trion soldiers due to it all being linked to a single point that was more of a hive mind of information instead of a single unit that could overload.

But more than that...

...Advanced versions, such as myself, are able to do some extraordinary thing.

As a portion of the Pyrínas System that had broken off and gained his own ego he had not been able to fully connect to that system and so could not leave space in his core for anything once it began to fill up.

But he had found a way around that.

...By observing how humans are and the way their brains work, I have managed to mimic that by attaching these erasable thoughts with threads. ...I am able to pull them back whenever I want and get rid of them at a moment's notice. ...This gives me the freedom of getting rid of any unnecessary thoughts, but making sure I can get them back at any time without the need of a backup.

He gave himself a mental pat on the back for being so advanced when it came to trion soldiers.

The Pyrínas System had the limitation of having every part of it connected into a single hive mind. That meant there was no real individuality between units and everything they knew would be collected into a single point where it could be distributed when needed.

But he had no such limitations.

He had once been Rhinoceros Beetle 07, but then he had gained an ego. Once that had happened he was able to become his own person with his own individual identity.

There had been nothing greater than that.

.

...I should thank those children again. ...This would never have happened if not for them.

Those three children had been carefree and accepted him simply because he had helped and protected them. They had even gone so far as to draw on his wonderfully white shell at the time.

Now those same drawings were on his core as a reminder that he was there's now. A member of a squad made up of only them.

They were the ones he enjoyed being around the most.

"Well this is unexpected. Another version of yourself, perhaps?"

"That would be our broken off piece that holds no real value to us anymore."

"Is that so? ...I didn't expect to hear bitterness come from you like that."

A harsh signal crashed into his sensor from close range, throwing him off balance for a moment. He righted himself before anyone caught sight of it and looked around for the voices.

Then he found them.

Two trion sources were directly in front of him. One belonged to the Pyrínas System he had once been a part of. The second one belonged to...

...A Black Trigger.

A Trigger that was able to destroy armies in an instant was directly in front of him, but...

...I can't "see" it.

The voice returned as a signal directly sent to his core.

This was a product of the Pyrínas System and not the Black Trigger.

His vision blurred for a moment before it steadily came back into focus.

Standing before him was a man with a scarred face, dual-colored hair, and a calm smile on his face. Even with such an expression, Pyrínas made no movement in front of him.

"There is no need to be like that. If I had wanted to do something then I would not have let you see me in the first place."

"It seems rather pathetic that the broken off part would react like this. And it seems like he has not even done much to notice us."

"Now that is not true at all. He had noticed we were in the city. ...But this is all, it seems."

The man spoke casually while the white rhinoceros beetle flying near his shoulder simply looked at Pyrínas. Its stare was unblinking, but even he could tell that the System still held a grudge against him for what he had done.

It was because of this that he remained standing still.

A Black Trigger user would be able to take him out without any sort of problem, and this one seemed like he could do it before he could even register it happened in the first place.

...I need to make sure I don't upset him. ...I need to remain here so I can continue to stay with those children.

The man raised a brow at him, but his smile never faded.

"That is not a look I had expected to see from a broken off piece of the famous Pyrínas System. ...You have people you want to stay with and return to, don't you?"

.

Trochískos saw it in the way this Autonomous Trion Soldier held himself.

...He really is completely different from the rest of the Pyrínas System.

That system had been able to mimic emotions and create behavioral patterns similar to that of a person. It had been able to use this in order to reach the most optimal outcome for whatever the situation required and would act in a manner befitting that.

But this broken piece - the one thought to be inferior - it had been different from that system or the normal trion soldiers others could create.

He had a will belonging only to him.

I didn't expect to see proper emotion from an Autonomous Trion Soldier that came from the Wanderers' best system and the one known the most out of any nation.

He was a wonderful sight to behold, even if Trochískos had no direct connection to him.

"If there is something you wish to say, feel free to do so."

"...I'm sorry for causing any problems."

Even his manner of speaking was unlike that of the Pyrínas System and its replication of emotions.

"There is no problem. I just wanted to see what this broken off piece of the system was like."

"Pyrínas."

"Oh?"

That was different.

There was no hesitation in that immediate response and the fear that had been there faded for that brief moment.

True emotion from a trion soldiers, even Autonomous Trion Soldier, was rather hard to come by. They could understand it as a value that people had, but they could never feel it in the same way a person could.

But this one felt strong emotion here.

"...Again, I'm sorry. ...But my name is 'Pyrínas', or at the least 'Rhinoceros Beetle 07'. ...Even RB07 would be fine. ...I just ask that you don't refer to me as a 'broken off piece' of the System. ...There are people here who have taken to calling me by name and seeing me as an individual, so I would like to honor that by being referred to by name."

"So you take pride in being known by name?"

"...I'm not too sure about that, but..."

But...

"...I have to remain myself for some children I care for."

Then there was nothing wrong.

If he could feel something for children then it meant he had exceed any other Autonomous Trion Soldier so far.

"Right, my apologizes, Rhinoceros Beetle."

"...I should be the one feeling guilty for that. ...If I wasn't careful, and you weren't so understanding, this could have turned bad and it would be my fault."

"So you can take that kind of responsibility on by yourself?"

"...I can. ...Because I know that there are some children who can forgive me, even if I wouldn't be able to do that myself."

The white rhinoceros beetle that was silently flying over his shoulder made no attempt at correcting anything that the Autonomous Trion Soldier was saying. In a way, it felt as if it had stopped itself from doing anything, viewing it as the most optimal option here.

Trochískos placed his book-shaped Black Trigger to his lips and smiled behind it.

This could be something interesting to watch. I never would have thought that a trion soldier could end up like this after breaking free from a powerful hive mind system.

It felt like there was always something new to learn when coming back to Miden.

This was just another thing for him.

.

"...Anyway," Pyrínas said with extra hesitation.

Trochískos raised a brow while the white rhinoceros beetle moved behind him. The action was suspicious, but both assumed that it was the Pyrínas System's way of keeping guard.

The two standing nodded towards the rhinoceros beetle and faced each other again.

"...I have been disconnected from the majority of the System, so I'm not able to look up their data. ...With that being said, can I ask where you are from?"

"Moíra Tou Monachikoú."

Both of them understood that basic information on that nation was something even Pyrínas was able to get.

So he asked another question.

"...What is your nation's relationship with Miden? ...As a followup, why would you come here? ...It doesn't look like you are here to cause trouble."

"Due to a previous altercation, our nation had come to an agreement with Miden. Both sides will view each other as allies and function as such. As for why I am here... The best way to put it could be to view it as a vacation. You see, someone from this side had sent a message via the Wanderers to see if any Miden allies would like to join in some upcoming exam. I had thought it would be fine for me to come by to assist in that. Especially when there are people here who I would want to meet again."

"...If you don't mind me asking, who would they be?"

"There are quite a few, but right now, I would like to see how a boy named 'Daigo' is doing and speaking with Minoru is also up there."

The names he had mentioned were of people who had some sort of connection to the Yagura Branch and Pyrínas himself. Two of the children he liked to watch over held strong connection with both of them, so it would have been easy enough to get in contact with them.

But there was more.

Trochískos lowered his brows and gave a shallow bow to no one in particular.

"While I would like to meet them right away, something unexpected has happened. ...I did not think anyone would use my appearance here to sneak into this city. I will need to apologize personally for that."

Pyrínas became more alert.

The rhinoceros beetle that had been behind Trochískos moved forward until it was directly between the two of them.

"That is also why I am here. Even if I am only a single unit, I plan on being of some use by finding those who came over and deal with them. Since the Wanderers are also allies to Miden, and one of our creators is here, I was left in charge of this task."

"I have been getting help from this unit to find the ones who had come over. But..."

"...You aren't able to track them completely, are you?"

Trochískos nodded his head and let out a small sigh.

The sun was past its highest point and was now leaving longer shadows because of the surrounding buildings. The area was less crowded most of the time, but the amount of people around still seemed off.

Pyrínas took note of this before focusing back on Trochískos and the rhinoceros beetle unit sent by the Pyrínas system.

"...Maybe it's because I have been here longer, or maybe it's because I have gotten use to being here, but I noticed that there was a strange amount of trion in the city. ...I make sure to always keep track of the trion signatures belonging to the children I watch over, but I also do so with anyone of note. ...Most of Miden's inhabitants don't have too much trion, so finding someone with an abnormally high amount is relatively easy for an Autonomous Trion Soldier, like myself."

The semi-smug monotone voice had been directed at the rhinoceros beetle. Trochískos lifted his Black Trigger once more, this time to hide his growing smile.

But even with the bait, the rhinoceros beetle made no action against Pyrínas.

It was a shame that the false emotions it had could not replicate more human-like responses.

"...So with that being said," Pyrínas said. "I did happen to notice four odd trion signatures. ...I had known that one of the System's units was here, and I used that to find your signature as well, but that had been the only familiar one to me. ...There have been two moving through the city and two who seem to be doing something to the people of the city. ...It is in a similar way to how the Wanderers move people around, but it feels much more forceful."

"So they are using something to direct attention away from certain areas? I will find out a way to counter it using the Wanderers' technology. But besides that, are you sure there is nothing else you can say about the situation, broken off piece?"

Pyrínas narrowed his eyes for a moment before returning to normal.

He closed his eyes for a moment, found the odd trion signatures, and opened his eyes again. His expression and tone were the same, but there was a feeling in it that made Trochískos a bit more alert.

"...Thinking back to a recent attack... ...One of the two directing the citizens feels like one of the people who had come from Galopoula. ...The one they are with is one I'm not familiar with, but they seem to have a strong Trigger with them."

"And the other two?" asked Trochískos.

"...One of them is a Trigger-user. ...The other is a trion soldier."

.

Pyrínas watched as both Trochískos and the System's unit looked at him before turning to each other.

"Were you able to detect it?"

"We were not. That means it really is because of this broken off piece being here longer than we have."

"Well, then," Trochískos said with a smile. "Maybe following him would be better."

That had not been why he told them this much information.

"...If you could, I would appreciate it if you looked into the signal of the Galopoula person. ...I want to see for myself who this trion soldier is. ...Their trion signature is odd, even for a trion soldier, so I would like to check something with them."

"You have no right to ask us of such-"

"I see no problem with it."

The System's unit had stopped talking and only flew over Trochískos's shoulder again. The authority here went to him instead of the System's unit, something Pyrínas was grateful for.

Dealing with the System's unit would have taken too long and it would have found a way to intervene in what he had wanted to do here.

Trochískos seemed to take his words into consideration.

"We will go see what that is about, as a way of apologizing for allowing them to do this in the first place."

"We suppose we will go see and inform our creator that had decided to stay here."

The System's unit was being strangely agreeable now, but he chose not to look too much into it.

"...Thank you for being so cooperative."

Trochískos waved a hand before disappearing a blur.

---

It was too noisy.

Kikuchihara let out a sigh while covering his ears to try and block all of the noise coming through to him.

The street had become unusually crowded as the day went on and was now filled to the point of causing such a massive feedback of noise that it was hurting his ears and head. Even while covering his ears, the noise still rang out.

"Why are we even here? And what's with that terrible song playing?"

"Huh? Oh, I guess there really has been a song playing, hasn't there?"

He looked over to see Svantje looking around, but she didn't look like she had anything she was particularly trying to find.

The crowd had been getting louder and he had to strain his ears to properly hear what she had been saying.

"I didn't even notice how crowded this place had become. How about we leave this place then?"

He only nodded his head while following her through the crowd.

It was strange for her to not notice the crowd growing, but it seemed like a lot of people weren't paying much attention to where they were going. If anything, it feels more like they were just following others until they reached this point. There was nothing natural about the way they moved in unison like that, but their natural movements were easy to see.

The sound that rang out because of them had been a clear enough sign to him.

Honest Sister: "Anyone else honestly getting annoyed by the crap they're playing in the city?"

Decoy: "Huh? I would have thought you would like it, though."

U-T: "Are you sure that's what you want to say to her?"

Kane-shima: "She's a lunatic, but if she's the one saying what they're playing is crap then..."

Almost Everyone: "It was nice knowing you!"

Decoy: "What!? Don't just give up like that!"

Simple Boy: "I know that I might not be the best person to say this, but there's something off with the city at the moment. Everyone, please be careful when going somewhere."

Yoshi: "Your Side Effect?"

Simple Boy: "I wonder... But Misaki-san, please go easy on Hisato. He means no harm."

Honest Sister: "Heh heh heh. Fine, fine. Because Dai-chan honestly understands, I'll let Hisa-kyun off with a warning this time."

Almost Everyone: "Woooooow... Being saved like that must be nice."

Hisato really did mess up, but it was good to know that he hadn't been the only one to notice the current situation. It had been a given that Suzume would notice something because of her own Side Effect, but he had forgotten that Girikage was someone who had an odd way of telling when something was off with his surroundings.

Having the both of them on his side reassured him that he was not going crazy. Then again, those two aren't really sane.So did that make him as crazy as them?

"Is this place better?"

Kikuchihara looked around and noticed that the sounds of the crowds were more distant now. They could still be heard clearly, but they were not directly pounding into his ears.

"Yeah, this is fine enough."

"Good. And sorry about that. I was out of focus until you said something. ...Well that isn't exactly it, but it's the best way to explain it."

"It's fine. There's something going on again, so that's probably the reason for that."

It was kind of worrying that he could say that without any hesitation or concern that something else was happening in Mikado City. Things just happened too frequently for any of them to be scared anymore.

Svantje knew this as much as he did. That may have been the reason for her sighing and looking around again. There was nothing around, but she did so regardless of that.

Getting curious, he tried to listen to the things around him, but...

"Oh, if you don't feel comfortable out here, why don't we go to the bathhouse here?"

"It is less that I don't feel comfortable and more that it is simply uncomfortable to be out here."

"Huh? How does that even make sense?"

"There, there."

"Don't give me that crap!"

Three familiar voices could be heard nearby, but far enough that they would not be able to hear if Kikuchihara called out to them. It seemed like both Hisato and Hanzaki were taking Girikage's word and staying further away from the crowds than others.

So they were closer than they let on.

The trio had likely been getting involved with the crowds before being pulled away by Girikage and Suzume's words.

"I guess he has some control over those two. Or can at least influence them."

"Who are you talking about?"

"The trio that oddly works well together."

"I don't think they are that odd. Especially when Daigo's chat name is 'Simple Boy'. If anything, they make for a nice sight."

There was no need to question how she had figured out who he was talking about. For someone as smart as her it would have been plain as day to figure something like that out.

But it was because she was so smart and observant that he had to wonder something.

"What are you looking for?"

.

Svantje looked directly to Kikuchihara after taking another look at their surroundings. His expression was the same as before, but now he had a brow raised directly at her.

The two of them had been wandering around Mikado City for a bit now, not bothering to think of a place to actually go. Neither one of their squads had defense duty for the day, so they decided to hang out and see where the day would take them.

Now that it had reached this far into the day things felt somewhat off to both of them.

Kikuchihara's hearing had let him notice it, but Svantje...

"I'm not really looking for anything. It's more like...there's something that needs to be noticed."

"What does that even mean?"

"Uh... I guess I could say...I feel like I should find something with the things I've noticed so far."

"..."

An immediate silence fell over the two of them.

This was not the first time they had gone over something like this. So with that in mind, Kikuchihara spoke up.

"Please don't let your curse start acting up."

"You say that like I have a choice in the matter."

Svantje stuck her tongue out at him, making him give a sigh in return.

"And since you were the one to mention it, I am now free to follow it and keep going!"

It was an unfair way of looking at it, they both knew it, but Kikuchihara slapped himself for realizing that she was right. Since he had been the one to acknowledge it meant that she could freely invest herself into this and he would be tagging along.

"Uuuuuhhhah... Even if I didn't say anything, you would end up finding your way into whatever is happening. You always find yourself in those kinds of situations."

"Hey, I don't...always do it on purpose, at least give me that much."

There wasn't much to give when they both knew this to be the truth.

Kikuchihara gave another sigh, but this time he only relaxed his shoulders and waited for her to continue. There was nothing to be done with her by this point and all he could do was accept the result and help when he could.

"So what do you even have so far? We've only been walking around the city today."

"A lot can come from just that, you know. Like how it's clear to anyone that the music playing is playing a part in all of this. The last time this sort of thing happened was when those Neighbors came over here for something. Crowds were gathered together for seemingly no reason, meaning something similar is happening. Likewise, there's someone moving throughout the city a lot today. A lot of the alleyways we passed had things moved or turned over in a way that looked like someone had crashed into them or didn't notice they were there in the first place," she said with a finger in the air. "Something else is right in front of me."

That could only be one thing.

"Me?"

"Yup! You and everyone else who noticed something in the first place."

"Like who?"

"Like Suzume-nee and Daigo, too."

"...You looked at my phone, didn't you?"

"Right over your shoulder~"

Kikuchihara rolled his eyes but didn't complain.

This was something he wanted to hear so that he could be on the same page as her while they were doing this.

So he let her continue.

"I don't know if others noticed, but the three of you did. Each of you have a Side Effect that makes you more aware of things around you, so that helped you figure out that these crowds were unnatural. And unlike the last time, when it was the people with less trion being directed, the crowd attraction is a song that is gathering people around. Anyone without something to them wouldn't notice it at all, only following the sound that was coming."

"So my hearing distinguished the song as something that was attracting the crowds, and Suzume's found the probably weird rhythm to it. Girikage probably just knew that something was off."

"That's right. If the two people who can tell the differences in sounds noticed something and had to wake others up from it then it means whatever the song is is what is doing it. But then, it brings us to the next thing. The 'who' and the 'why' of the situation. To go with that, we also need to consider who else could have noticed it or hasn't been effected by it at all. Do you understand?"

"I do, I do. So anyone in mind?"

"There are a few people. Questioning them about it should be easy enough, but there are some things I want to look over before the day is done."

Svantje looked into the sky, prompting Kikuchihara to do the same.

The sun had gotten even lower and the shadows being casted were stretching out even more than before. The midday air had left for the evening breeze to start sweeping the area. Soon it would be dark and the night sky would take over. From there they would have a harder time looking over anything that they needed to see.

But it did leave them with more time to speak to anyone who Svantje had put on her mental list.

"Right, we should be going now. I won't say that we need to race our path exactly, but a lot of the places we went today had larger crowds than normal. That alone should give us some things to look into. And..."

And.

"There are a lot of things I really want to check up on."

---

Those really are ruins, thought Seidō.

The giant buildings from the ruins were a lot heavier than the reinforced wooden buildings that used modern construction. They were causing more changes to the bay than he had expected.

His initial simulation had assumed most of the area was made up of reinforced wooden buildings, so they had suggested the waves would wash everything up onto shore. Even if the receding waves pulled it back, it would be relatively light sand and dirt that would rise to the surface and be washed back out again.

The information from the Wanderers' trips near the area and from the trion soldiers sent by cooperative nations had reached the same conclusion.

But that had been wrong.

From the outside, it looked like the wreckage covered the edge of the bay and was absent near the river mouths where they were.

But the ocean floor told a different story.

There were ruins there.

The heavy materials from the ruins and the wreckage of the paved roads formed a ring along the edge of the ocean floor.

After an explosion tore deep into the bay, the ruins must have collapsed and then been scooped up by the water flowing in from the ocean.

...Thanks to their weight, they rolled up onto the land.

After an explosion, the current flowing into the newly formed hole must have been very powerful. Looking back past their transport ship, he could see a tall building stabbed into a mountain slope.

Similar wreckage could be seen all around. The current had clearly carried them along, using the rising bay floor as a ramp to launch them into the air.

But that was only a fraction of the whole. What had happened to everything else?

"Before the water receded, the heavier wreckage piled up along this place's original coast. Once the water did recede, that stopped the lighter wreckage, forming a dam."

That had settled down within the bay and sunk further as the original coast collapsed.

They hadn't fully surveyed the bay floor, but form their survey of the area straight out from here, they knew the ruins had sunk along the curving path of a shoal.

And even among the modern structures, the most important facilities had used heavier materials.

Most likely, quite a lot was sunk in the center of the bay or past the submerged heavy wreckage.

The wreckage in front of him now was what had slipped past all that to reach here.

"We need to concentrate our salvage efforts on the ocean, don't we?"

For that, they had asked some nearby nations to send some excavators and trion detectors.

Some of those nations used them to excavate resources from the ocean floor in the northern sea.

Those were already powered up. Large scaffolding had been fixed in place on the ocean using gravitational control and the machines were visible at work searching deep below the waves at points calculated by the Pyrínas System.

At the same time, they were investigating the shallower areas and the walls of wreckage.

"Now, then."

Seidō turned toward a point low to the ground behind hm.

Several figures lay atop a waterproof mat laid out in front of their transport ship.

Those were trion soldiers. They were missing many of their parts, but...

"These trion soldiers should be in your database and ones you are likely modeled after."

He had finally found them. They had been in the wall of wreckage to the west or in the shallows, but...

The first order of business is seeing if they still have their cores, but then we can start salvaging any of their data. Once that's done, we can finally reach some conclusions."

"Work?"

"That's right," confirmed Seidō. "I can't avoid it now that we've salvaged some. The excavators searching the bay out there are more just in case we can find something more."

The occasional red light would rise into the sky from the ocean.

"...This wasn't done by some 'Cancer'. A fight had taken place here that destroyed the entire area."

---

Futoyuki looked down at the hologram in front of him. It displayed information that had been arrived via the white rhinoceros beetle that had come to the Yagura Branch Office.

Data relating to things that had happened on the other side of the Gate and the meeting between Trochískos and Pyrínas displayed in the hologram directly above the white rhinoceros beetle. Everything scrolled down when he needed to read more or when he wanted to go back to read something.

"I see... Pyrínas System Unit, why are you showing me this? I'm not the leader of the Wanderers anymore."

"But you are still our creator. And you have a direct connection with Miden's fighters. You can tell them what is happening, if you see fit. We are only here to show you what is happening right now."

There's something else, Futoyuki thought with a sigh.

As one of the creators of the Pyrínas System he understood when that very system was holding back from saying something. The information he got looked complete and organized, but the white rhinoceros beetle was holding back from saying something directly.

This was why he had decided that the Pyrínas System was something he could give complete credit to Shuryō and Hatomi. Both of them could relish in knowing that they had created such an amazing system. ...Even if only Hatomi can do that right now. He would only take credit for helping in the creation of the Pyrínas System.

The only thing I will take credit for is Pyrínas. The one who decided to stay here after gaining his own ego.

That broken off piece of the Pyrínas System had created a life for himself on Earth and was enjoying himself to the fullest now. There were people who knew him in the city and there were children he could look after without any worry.

In terms of achievements, the Pyrínas System as a whole was something much more amazing and something anyone would want to take credit for.

But for him?

Heh. I prefer this singular Pyrínas that the System thinks is defective. He's the type of trion soldier that I have strived for - one who can express themselves and live a life for himself.

It was more satisfying this way. And...

This is what a dad feels like, right!? I can say I'm a dad, right!? Whoo! I'm only 19, but I already have a child!

That child was larger than him, appeared more mature than him, but was not even a year old yet.

In a way, that was the most amazing part of it all.

"Heh heh. I bet this is what Ergates was striving for the whole time. I wonder if they managed to make a trion soldier even a little amazing as Pyrínas."

"We thank you for the praise!"

He had not been talking about the Pyrínas System, but he also didn't want to cause a mixup here. So he let the white rhinoceros beetle continue to think what it wanted.

Looking back at the information, he listened to what else the white rhinoceros beetle had to say.

"We have gotten no word from Ergates as of late, but we will try to get in contact with them for you."

"There's no need for that. Those guys always gave me a bad feeling, so I try not to think about them too much. I just to compare their trion soldiers to the ones the Wanderers have. They have Triggers meant to bring out their trion soldiers, but they lost instantly once Sanshū walked up and began creating trion soldiers right in front of them. The looks on their faces were great."

"We remember that. Master Shuryō had asked us to take a picture of their faces when it had happened."

A sharp pain hit his chest, but he didn't look down to see why that was. He was already aware of the reason for it.

...I miss them.

More than just the Wanderers, he missed his former leader. The one who had taken him away from his fate and the one who had convinced him to remove that dreaded horn once stuck to his forehead.

Even with him gone, there were still things lingering behind that made Futoyuki realize that he was not fully over Shuryō's death.

"Is everything alright? Would you like us to get you something while you continue to go through the data?"

"No, no." He shook his head. "I'm fine. I was just thinking about something else. Don't mind me."

"As one of our creators, we will always keep you in mind. There is nothing to worry about. You will always be one of our top priorities, so long as we exist."

And that's the problem.

The Pyrínas System still kept him in mind when he had already left them behind. The single Pyrínas with him only thought of him when it felt convenient, and he was still placed as lower priority when compared to those children or the other Yagura Branch members.

But that was neither here nor there.

"Anyways," he sighed out. "About this report from those guys. ...Is there any speculation as to who could have fought there?"

.

The white rhinoceros beetle stalled for a moment before shaking a bit and stopping again. The data sent over had been looked over twice, but there was still something missing from it.

Futoyuki narrowed his eyes.

"Never mind. I don't need to even think about it right now."

"Did we do something wrong?"

"It wasn't you."

The white rhinoceros beetle let out something resembling a sigh, but Futoyuki chose to not pay attention to it.

Even if people thought him an idiots or someone lacking in a lot, the fact he had the Wanderers' former leader still remained. The thought process he had when viewing information like that remained in his mind. The included the different reasons for different situations to come together.

"Yeah. I'm glad Pyrínas is checking on those other trion signatures."

"That broken off piece..."

"Oh?"

"Is something the matter?"

"I guess it isn't something bad. You can just forget about it."

There was no chance the Pyrínas System would forget any of his words, but he couldn't take them back now.

All he could do was continue their conversation.

"The path the Wanderers are currently taking is one near Earth, but also pretty far. For certain nations to try and reach this place, they would first need to hop to some other ones first. One of the major ones they would need to go to would be the one the Wanderers are currently on. With that being the case, what would happen if two nations reached that location at the same time and found merit in meeting each other there?"

"They would form an alliance and decide on if they should attack Miden."

That was the optimal response from the Pyrínas System.

But it was only optimal if he viewed it as a Wanderer.

"Okay. So what if they could not reach a consensus? Or if one side had no use for the other?"

"They would naturally fight each other to determine who would remain standing and attack Miden. From there, they would also use the chance to take whatever they thought could be useful."

"Would trion soldier parts be that useful if they were broken apart?"

"They would not. ...Not unless they had the ability to repair those parts while away from their home. That is near impossible, though, seeing as even the Wanderers require their ship to repair any broken trion soldiers."

"Exactly," he said, snapping his fingers. It was the optimal answer for the situation and the same one he had thought of.

It all depended on who had been the ones to fight and who had come out the victors. From there, they could determine what to do and how they should handle any of the future situations.

"Border has Yūichi and Mei, so the future is pretty easy to look into. My worry is if something else happens to mess with that. But then we can just rely on the usual way Border handles things to take care of any issues here."

"Would you like us to contact the Wanderers, just in case?"

"That isn't necessary. I plan on telling Big Boss and Boss about this, so they should be able to figure out what we should do. Even if I can't do much as a Border member, there are other things I can do as a person."

"Very well said!"

Futoyuki nodded and shut off the hologram. The white rhinoceros beetle began flying up until it reached his eye level.

Stretching a bit, Futoyuki looked back to the Pyrínas System Unit and threw his head to the side.

"You should probably get going now. Because of Trochískos, you need to keep track of anything you find."

"If you don't mind..."

"Hm? What is it?"

The white rhinoceros beetle moved up and down in the air as if nodding.

"You speak that man's name as if you know of him. Is that true?"

"Huh? Oh... Not...really? I mean, no. I don't know him at all. But I've heard that name before. I've heard some things back at Afto when I was dragging Little Hyu around."

"We see. Thank you for answering us. We will be taking our leave now."

"Right, enjoy yourself while on Earth."

Without any sort of response, the white rhinoceros beetle began flying towards the open window.

Futoyuki looked out into the distant sun and shook his head.

"I guess the System also learned some things about emotions."

But were they real or fake?

He was mostly sure they were replicated emotions. The thought made him sigh for a third time.

"I guess Shuryō and Hatomi can continue to take the credit for the System."

As he began moving to his room in the branch office, something happened. A vibration reached him from his right pants pocket.

Pulling out his phone, he looked to see who had messaged him.

"Yūichi?"

.

2.7 Maime: "Yo. What's up, Futo?"

Voyager: "Hey, hey! I managed to get done with the job Big Boss had me do, so I'm just hanging out at the branch office."

2.7 Maime: "I heard how Ikomacchi did a crash landing because of a picture you sent him."

Voyager: "Oh, yeah. I felt like drawing something up when I saw Chisato at Tamakoma. Guess I didn't consider how it would affect Tatsuhito."

2.7 Maime: "Make sure to share the picture with the rest of us. We want to see what made him throw himself around like that."

Voyager: "Sure thing. I'll even get a picture of you guys at some point. I'm sure Little Hyu would love to have a bit of competition when it comes to drawing."

2.7 Maime: "He seems like the type."

Voyager: "Remind me to tell you all some good old embarrassing stories of him next time."

2.7 Maime: "Sure thing. It'll be good blackmail material against him."

Voyager: "Got it. I'll make sure to get the good stuff for you all. Now then... Why did you really message me?"

---

Jin gave a bitter laugh as he saw the sudden shift in Futoyuki.

After having met all of their age group he had gotten along with most of them without any issue. The way he fit in with their group had been natural and something befitting the former leader of a group who worked by blending in with others.

But now he was showing his true leader side.

"Ha ha ha. I guess that's to be expected when I directly message him."

But there really was a reason for him doing it in the first place.

2.7 Maime: "There are some things that will be coming up soon. Since I want to be focused on that as much as I can, I decided it was time to settle something."

Voyager: "Is that so? This means it has something to do with me then?"

"Well...not directly," he said with another bitter laugh.

There was still someone both of them had been putting off meeting.

2.7 Maime: "I plan on meeting up with Mogami Yoshiko. She is related to my late mentor and..."

Voyager: "And the mother of our former leader."

Of course he would understand right away.

The two of them had lost someone important to them already, but that woman had lost those same people. Two people had died in ways she did not know of and in places she could not see.

It was for this reason that Jin found himself wanting to keep his distance from her.

...But that can't happen anymore.

Everyone was moving forward in their own way. As a guiding point to the future, he had to be moving forward even more than all of them. Looking into the future meant he had to take responsibility when something came up and he had seen it.

I've been putting this off for too long. This isn't about the future anymore, so I need to think about it differently.

It was about the past.

All three of them needed some closure here. This was how he planned on getting it.

"I accepted his death and Fujin's creation long ago... But I never had the courage to look his family in the eye. Now is the time to change that."

That way he could move forward with everyone else.

He just needed to know one thing.

2.7 Maime: "Will you meet me so we can properly speak with Mogami-san?"

Voyager: "Just tell me where to go."