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.

5. Company

Hisato looked up to the ceiling in the bathhouse changing room.

...I have no idea what's going on anymore...

Finding out that Trochískos was on Earth had been confusing enough, but it had only gotten worse from there.

He had yet to figure out the answers to what he had talked about with Hanzaki. There were things he had been wondering about and so the ping pong match had been his way to relax some more.

He had decided not to focus too much on those answers while he was enjoying himself with the other two. He felt some heat start to build up, but he hid it with the towel he wore over his shoulders.

Hanzaki and Daigo seemed to have decided to stay close by. Daigo still seemed to keep some distance from Hisato, but Hisato appreciated that. It allowed him to keep doing things his own way. The upperclassmen have no trouble getting on me for doing that, which is such a pain...

But the biggest source of confusion was occurring right in front of him.

There was a ping pong table and a blackboard for writing the score. He tapped each of them once and spoke.

"And with that, Taiyōko-san and Caster-san will begin their ping pong duel."

And with that? What am I saying? he thought.

But this was a fight those two had decided on.

"Let's go over the rules. Are you both familiar with ping pong?"

"Yeah. I am."

As for Trochískos...

"Yes, I learned about it the last time I was here. This game is a popular form of entertainment during the winter."

That was good to hear.

"Right." Hisato nodded and opened his phone. "As a special rule, whoever scores 5 points first will be the winner. You can score points when you change who serves. Miss a serve and it changes immediately. ...Does that sound good?"

"That is fine. I agreed to this since it seemed like everything else was being taken care of, so a lengthy duel that slows everything down would be a bad idea."

"True," agreed Hanzaki from behind Trochískos. He sat in a chair with his arms crossed. "We still have things to do too afterwards. We just wanted to come here to relax after our multiple matches we had. ...Of course, that ignores everything else being done right now by others."

"Heh heh. don't worry about that," said the older Taiyōko sister. "I also want to get this done with as quickly as possible and get back. The bath cleared me up enough to go mess with others."

Hisato was not sure what that meant, but he had a feeling his upperclassmen would understand.

"Anyway," said Hisato while using both hands to point at the older Taiyōko sister and Trochískos. "Just to be clear, this is cutting it pretty close as far as this place is concerned."

There was a note mentioning that this sport was later developed from tennis. And there were records from somewhere saying it was a hit spring sport. Hisato wasn't sure why he remembered that, but he knew most of the time this bathhouse tried to keep the table away from the open eyes.

"This kind of sport is generally enjoyed while hidden indoors, isn't it?"

"Well, you can't exactly play it outside..."

The wind would affect the balls too much since they were so light.

That was another reason that ping pong was a form of indoor entertainment at the places that offered it. It still could not be officially advertised, so you had to go to the entertainment facilities and ask if you could play some "you-know-what".

...Mikado City is seriously weird like that...

"Heh heh. But we have to make sure others know we aren't doing anything wrong, right? So I made sure to talk around the specific method. ...Anyone with good intuition should know what it is we're doing."

---

"Hey, Murakami, since that idiot is busy calming down and being smothered by the Shitokei parents, can you explain this description the older Taiyōko sister sent about some fight she's in?"

"Huh? What does it say? Let me see."

Duel Method: We will face each other in a closed room, grab and vigorously move a stick with rubber on the end, and send balls bouncing back and forth until one of us wins.

"Heh heh. Balls! Bouncing back and forth! O-oh, dear. Get too into it and you'll lose! C'mon, Hitomi! Kagami! We can reproduce what I'm imagining using these bamboo poles! Grab them and vigorously move them around! Now, Jinsei! Pokari! Let's go!"

"Kunichika, what are you shouting about now!? You're starting to sound more and more like Suzume at this point! And where are you three going with those bamboo poles!?"

Male and females residents could be heard screaming outside of the house. Those three were apparently chasing the people of the neighborhood with those processed bamboo poles. This will undoubtedly hurt Border's approval rating, he thought, but there was no helping that.

Murakami sighed and returned to his senses.

"What is that older sister doing!?"

---

That older sister was vigorously moving around a stick with rubber on the end.

For those warmup exercises, she swung a penhold racket that you pinched between your fingers.

...It's pretty damn light.

Swishing sounds came from her and the strange Neighbor and Suwa Squad's Attacker looked to each of them in turn.

"Which one of you will serve first?"

"This young lady can do that," said the strange Neighbor.

Kushikage nodded.

"Guess I will."

She caught the ball the Suwa Squad Attacker threw to her and then she tossed it straight up.

"Here I go...!"

.

Daigo watched the attack.

This was his first time seeing the older Taiyōko sister up close.

Since he had become Yuki's student, he had of course heard of the partial destruction of the Forbidden Zone.

This woman had destroyed a portion of the area and then jumped around it unharmed.

She looked like a kind enough lady. She really did. But...

"—"

She launched an attack in an instant. The strike looked like a bullet as it struck the falling ball. It made a high-speed bounce and popped up in front of Trochískos.

...Trochískos-san...!

Trochískos did not move. But his hair shook and the ball hit the wall behind her.

"...!?"

It embedded itself there. That phenomenon was the result of an impossibly rapid spin. The rotation speed more than the solidness of the ball had created enough mass to tear into the wall.

And Hisato raised his left arm and blew a whistle.

"1 point for Caster-san!"

The point had gone to Trochískos.

"Eh?" said the older Taiyōko sister, so Hisato pointed at her and shouted.

"Don't use your Trigger!"

.

Hisato thought:

...I had a feeling something like this would happen!

"Hit the ball with your racket! What person uses a specialized Trigger here!?"

In any other circumstance he would have been terrified to yell at someone like her, but he felt some relief when he confirmed that the older Taiyōko sister was not as confrontational as he had heard.

But the target of his question, the older Taiyōko sister, hid the large Trigger behind her back and placed her left index finger on her mouth.

"Hmm?"

She tilted her entire body as if to say she did not know what Hisato was talking about.

"P-playing dumb isn't going to help!"

"But, um, that's not allowed?"

"Wait, didn't you say you were familiar with ping pong?"

"I am familiar with it."

Hisato noticed something about how she said that.

...Ah.

"How familiar?"

"Right. I have seen people play it before. Yes." She kept a straight face. "But am I really not allowed to use my Trigger?"

Hisato had a feeling he should explain all the rules.

.

On the other side of the table, Hisato used his phone to explain the rules.

Trochískos sighed in his heart as he watched.

...I can see why she is so eager to fight someone strong...

This could be trouble, he thought.

It had been a surprise attack, but even though he had seen the large Trigger appear, he had been unable to see the woman swinging it.

This went beyond moving quickly. Moving way too fast was the standard for her.

Her standard speed was different from other people. So what would happen when she further increased her speed?

...I have heard someone else from Border did manage a win against her...

Did that just mean that person was a monster too?

But Trochískos was not to be trifled with when it came to being monstrous. He was a Black Trigger user, a long lived one.

"Hm."

The older Taiyōko sister was currently learning the rules from Hisato.

That included how to swing the racket, how to serve, and how it all fit together. Since Daigo was saying "ohh" while listening in, Hisato's explanation must have been quite good.

But looking at the older Taiyōko sister listening to those words was enough to tell what tactics she would use.

"A quick attack..."

The racket he had chosen was a pen type. The grip had a rectangular cross section and it was held like a pen.

It could be manipulated with the fingers, so it was easy to control when making a forehand strike. On the other hand, it was a little difficult to catch the ball with a backhand strike.

Beginners were better off first leaning to attack and defend with forehand hits, so the pen type was a decent selection since it was easy to hold.

And based on the large Trigger, this woman would focus on offense. She would move forward.

It was hard to put much force behind a hit with the pen style, but that was a trivial problem for the older Taiyōko sister's strength. In a head-on rally, Trochískos had a very real possibility of being overpowered.

"Now..."

Trochískos spun the racket in her hand and grabbed it again.

His racket's grip was the shake style with a circular cross section. It was held from the side.

Controlling it was much like waving a fan. Precise finger movements were almost entirely unusable, but since it could be moved with the wrist, it was easy to use during backhand hits.

It allowed for more force behind hits, so it was a good choice when up against such an overpowering opponent.

I can use this to take control of the table, thought Trochískos. And just then...

"That's about it," concluded Hisato. "What should I do about the score?"

"Let's count that last one, so give the guy over there one point," said the older Taiyōko sister. "Even if I had failed to learn the rules, asking for a 'redo' in this kind of situation would be fucked up."

"Ho ho? So you still intend to do this?" asked Trochískos.

"Of course. Let me be clear: I won't be holding back."

Trochískos already knew that, so he spoke up after making sure Hisato had moved away from her.

"It looks like you won't be using that large Trigger again, but decided to stay in your trion body."

"I'd need to if I want to win this. Feel free to do the same."

Trochískos nodded but did not activate his own Trigger before speaking again.

"Now, can you show me what you can do when not holding back?"

It was Trochískos's serve, so he retained the advantage.

---

Murakami listened to Kimura who turned back toward him.

"Hey, Murakami. The older Taiyōko sister had the rules wrong, so they're continuing now that she's learned them."

"Wh-what is she doing!?"

"Right. According to Sasamori, she fixed her grip."

"On the balls! She fixed her grip on the balls!"

While the idiot shouted that, Suzaku opened his tablet, perhaps to set up an additional charge somewhere.

But Kimura's eyebrows rose when she checked the phone.

"Oh? I don't really get it, but they've started in a first-to-5 match."

"Is Kushikage-san doing something horrific!?"

"No." Kimura shook her head. "Her opponent already has 2 points."

---

...He's so strong!

Hanzaki watched Trochískos moving in front of him.

Trochískos's tactic was to use cut shots.

He could catch the approaching ball from a somewhat lowered position and send it back.

Befitting of the name, a cut shot gave the racket a chopping motion directed forward and down. Trochískos used that motion to cut back the older Taiyōko sister's balls.

He had likely decided that a direct hit to those balls would lead to mistakes given the incredible speed given to them by the older Taiyōko sister.

Trochískos dueled the older Taiyōko sister using those defensive cut shots.

It made noise.

It was a solid but sharp sound.

Immediately, the white ball returned to the older Taiyōko sister's field and bounced.

Trochískos's return shots were not simple things. When picking up his opponent's balls, he would alter their speed and direct them left, right, up, or down before sending them back. That prevented the older Taiyōko sister from moving forward to hit them.

"—"

The older Taiyōko sister had to move forward, back, left, or right more and more often.

This was a tough situation for a beginner.

...For a beginner, it's easier to hit back a ball that has a certain amount of speed to it.

Ping pong was a sport that limited the space between the players using the length of the table. So when the velocity reached a certain level, the speed of the ball's back-and-forth movement and the speed of the arm hitting it back would synchronize.

Once that allowed your body to establish a set rhythm, your hesitation when hitting the ball would fade away.

A beginner only had to focus on getting their racket into that rhythm, so it was very helpful.

However, Trochískos would not allow that.

If the older Taiyōko sister used her strength to give the ball lots of speed, she would step back a bit and make a cut with some space in between.

They were using a lightweight ball, so that space caused some slight speed loss.

Trochískos used that to return the ball with altered timing.

...It's incredible.

Even if it was meant to force the older Taiyōko sister to move around, Trochískos was moving around a lot too.

There could not be much difference in how much they were each moving.

The Neighbor continued moving and constantly swayed his body side to side.

But, thought Hanzaki. That woman is abnormal too.

.

Hisato had been watching the older Taiyōko sister for a while now.

Based on his close-up observations, the woman had yet to get in an effective shot.

But her movements were changing while Hisato watched.

...How good are her senses?

The older Taiyōko sister was definitely learning how to return Trochískos's balls.

At first, she had always tried to move forward to finish things quickly with a smash.

But Trochískos rejected that idea with his actions.

He focused on cut shots that forced the older Taiyōko sister into a rally.

The older Taiyōko sister was still unfamiliar with how to use the racket, so she was moved around by the returned balls.

"—"

Hisato held the scoring blackboard. Trochískos's second point had come from the older Taiyōko sister messing up a return. From what Hisato had seen, the ball had gone up, she had tried to return it with an overhand swing, and she had given it some unwanted spin.

The reverse-spinning ball had lost all its speed and fallen onto her own side of the table.

The older Taiyōko sister had stuck out her tongue a bit, and...

"Well, shit. That didn't work at all. Int hat case..."

After that, she had started what she was doing now.

...What is happening?

The older Taiyōko sister would catch the ball and return it, but the way she returned it was odd.

From what Hisato could see, she was being moved all over the place by Trochískos's control of the ball.

But she was returning the ball. And the ball was always light and floating when she did so.

She was not making cut shots.

Cut shots used a diagonal hit to apply a reverse spin to eliminate speed. The older Taiyōko sister was instead sending the surface of her racket straight into the ball's trajectory.

Her shots used the center of the forehand side to push the ball more than hit it.

But that still returned it.

Also...

"Ah..."

Hisato realized there was a pattern to the older Taiyōko sister's return method.

.

Daigo noticed something odd while watching from diagonally behind the older Taiyōko sister.

...2-2-3? No, that was 2-3-3.

There was a pattern to the way the valkyrie swayed her body.

When receiving Trochískos's shots, she would do 2 forehand shots on the right, 3 backhand shots on the left, and then 3 forehand shots on the right.

And for the next iteration, she would do 2 backhand shots on the left, 3 forehand shots on the right, and then 3 backhand shots on the left.

No matter what kind of balls came her way, she would forcibly return them with those motions.

...I know what this is.

Daigo was an Attacker, so he understood. This was training.

When learning a martial art, you would learn the fundamentals and then begin applying them.

One example of that was attack stance training. You trained to ensure you could attack from unfamiliar footing or in a disadvantageous stance.

That was what the older Taiyōko sister was doing now.

She had lost her second point because of a missed shot made with a large movement.

At that point, she had realized moving based on what "felt right" would not cut it in this battle.

So she had changed her movements. Instead of using a forehand or backhand shot depending on the situation, she had forced herself to keep up a rotation between left and right.

And she always hit the ball with the center of the racket to learn how it felt.

That valkyrie had accepted her inexperience and she was now training herself in mid-battle.

But during the interminable rally, her movements were clearly growing more certain.

And the sound of the cut shots grew louder as if in response.

Trochískos had raised the speed of his return shots.

Just then, the older Taiyōko sister altered her stance. She stretched her back and turned her left side forward.

"—!"

She hit a high-speed shot.

.

Trochískos realized his mistake.

The children around them probably had not noticed, but the older Taiyōko sister was clearly applying pressure on her.

...Are you taking a step?

Trochískos had noticed the forehand and backhand rotation. He understood it was a way of learning the relationship between the racket and the shots and to familiarize his body with the motions.

This was the kind of opponent who would take it that far.

But he started to detect a light reverberation when the woman returned the ball.

It was the reverberation of a foot hitting the floor.

When they moved with only the table between them, they could just barely feel the impact of their opponent's feet on the floor.

The older Taiyōko sister was gradually starting to take a step when she returned the ball.

It made no noise. They were barefoot after taking a bath, even while in their trion bodies. But the tremor definitely reached Trochískos.

And you would take a strong step when hitting the ball if you wanted power.

...Her motions are something like a cut right now, but she's returning to the stance for a quick attack!

The older Taiyōko sister's center of gravity was gradually shifting forward. She had to have reached the point that she could move freely if she ended the forehand-backhand rotation.

"I would expect no less...!"

Was this tremor of a step a form of training?

Or was it a warning that she was about to go in for the kill?

Trochískos decided to hit a tempting ball to find out.

So he took action. He made a cut shot that sent the ball straight down the center of the older Taiyōko sister's side.

"...!"

The woman used the opposite motion of a cut: she swung the racket forward and up from the bottom right.

.

The force of the strike was a topspin drive. The shot was an attempt to move forward and it had far more speed than the previous cuts.

...How about this!?

Just as he thought that, Trochískos realized the white line had already passed him by on the left.

"...!?"

By the timeshe wondered what had happened, sucked in a breath, and tensed his body, it was too late.

He only knew that the older Taiyōko sister was taking a deep breath in front of him. And...

"Finally. I more or less get it now."

The woman puffed her chest out and smiled while toying with her racket by spinning it in her fingers.

She had returned it. And at a speed too fast to see.

.

Hanzaki did not understand what had happened until the ball bounced off the counter and rolled back toward his feet.

...She returned it?

All he had seen was the shot Trochískos made after a short-step duck.

He had also seen the older Taiyōko sister start to counterattack with something like a right hook.

It was true he had failed to see the swing of the older Taiyōko sister's arm. But...

"1 point for the older Taiyōko sister."

Hiato's words revealed the truth.

Hanzaki saw some smoke rising from the table diagonally left from Trochískos.

White smoke was also rising from the ball rolling at her feet.

It was unclear if that was from Trochískos's topspin or the older Taiyōko sister's return.

But, thought Hanzaki. That monster has rapidly improved in a very short period of time.

And the older Taiyōko sister caught the spare ball Hisato tossed to her and spoke.

"That's 1 point for me. ...If you continue to simply observe or feel this out, I will catch up."

.

Hanzaki heard the older Taiyōko sister casually say "now, then".

And she tossed the ball up.

"—"

She made a normal serve. It was a cute serve with a gentle hit that made it clear she was a beginner.

...That makes sense.

After all, the older Taiyōko sister had not had a chance to practice serving.

She had been given plenty of opportunities to train her returns and attacks against Trochískos earlier.

On the other hand, this was only her second time serving. But Hanzaki still found it impressive since she was able to have it bounce on her side and the enemy's side of the table.

Meanwhile, Trochískos moved one foot back in preparation for a cut shot.

"—!"

But it was not a cut shot. She made a full-strength strike against the serve. She hit the ball up from below for a topspin attack.

...That's the same as the previous attack!

He had to be searching out how the older Taiyōko sister had returned it last time.

But the older Taiyōko sister made a definite move.

It was different from the previous one. She tilted her body toward the white line flying toward her.

...Can she move freely now!?

She twisted her hips as she stepped forward.

It was a no-spin knuckle shot hit with the center of the racket.

Trochískos's spin must have been effective. It hung there for a moment, but...

"—"

The shot arrived before Trochískos could move his arm back.

It was fast.

But Hanzaki saw Trochískos put up a definite resistance.

He bent just his upper body back to buy time for moving his wrist.

But it was not quite enough for a cut shot, so he added a further motion.

"...Kh!"

By lowering his knees, he simulated lowering his arm.

...Well done!

It was the same as angling your body to increase and control your reach and trajectory when stepping in for an attack.

And a solid sound ultimately did ring out.

The heavily spinning ball took a low, spilling trajectory toward the older Taiyōko sister's left side.

The low trajectory made it hard to intercept. Instead of moving forward and getting it above your field, it was best to step back and use the greater space to deal with it.

But the older Taiyōko sister returned it. With a backhand penhold shot.

Since she was still not used to this, the ball was fairly light. And Trochískos responded.

"—"

He returned his stance to normal and hit the trajectory with a quick cut.

That too sent it toward the older Taiyōko sister's left side.

Forcing the valkyrie to make backhand shots had to be Trochískos's strategy.

...Because she's using the penhold grip.

When pinching that pen-like grip between your fingers, it was a little difficult to make backhand hits. That was why Trochískos concentrated his fire there.

The older Taiyōko sister was forced into a defensive battle since her left side was being targeted, so all she could do was fall back to the left to make it easier to deal with. So once she moved to the far right side from Trochískos's perspective...

...Hit it!

Trochískos sent his entire body forward.

He made an attack on the opposite side of the enemy's field: the far left side.

.

Daigo saw Trochískos move the older Taiyōko sister.

A moment later, Daigo saw something unbelievable.

The older Taiyōko sister vanished in an instant and reappeared just as instantly.

And from Daigo's perspective, she had moved from the left to the right side of the field.

...What was that?

He could guess it was an explosion of instantaneous strength, but the older Taiyōko sister was so tall and...

...Umm, her boobs. She has huge boobs.

For someone like that, instantaneous acceleration was completely ridiculous.

But she had done it. She had launched herself to her usual spot, swung her body forward, and...

"...There."

She hit the ball with an almost cheerful voice.

A solid sound rang out.

.

Now it's really started, thought Hanzaki.

What happened next would determine whether he could follow what was happening.

But Trochískos had moved forward and the older Taiyōko sister had launched a counterattack from the left.

She hit it to the right of Trochískos. That was within the Neighbor's reach.

But he could not move back his forward-swinging body so quickly.

Or so Hanzaki thought.

But Trochískos's stance was different.

When making the right forehand shot, he had stepped forward with his left leg.

He had used that left leg to swing his right leg up and to the left.

That left roundhouse kick took a path that avoided kicking the table and rapidly spun his entire body.

He had not stopped his body's forward momentum and then pulled it back.

He had instead used that forward momentum to spin to the left. And after making a full rotation...

...He's ready to swing his right arm again!

He hit the ball.

It was a forceful attack, but it sent the ball upwards.

As the curve bent back down, it flew toward the right side of the field, where the older Taiyōko sister no longer was.

And just after it flew there, Hanzaki saw something: the older Taiyōko sister's instantaneous acceleration.

Her hair shook, but there were no footsteps. The valkyrie moved back to her previous position as if pressing her bouncing breasts back against her body.

But this position required a backhand shot.

A hit from there would have less force behind it.

Meanwhile, Trochískos had moved forward. He swept his body a bit to the left and readied his racket for a forehand shot.

He was prepared to use all his strength to send the coming bullet back to the older Taiyōko sister's left side.

A moment later, Hanzaki saw something.

The color white had arrived in front of his eyes.

"...Huh?"

It was the older Taiyōko sister's attack. And it had rapidly moved right past Trochískos.

It reached Hanzaki before Trochískos could move forward.

.

Hanzaki did not understand what had happened.

The older Taiyōko sister should have needed a backhand shot.

And yet this attack had the speed of a forehand one.

...How?

Hanzaki looked forward and saw the older Taiyōko sister breathing a sigh.

"Phew... That was a close one."

It looked like her arms were crossed below her chest.

No, that was not it.

...That's...

Hanzaki understood.

The older Taiyōko sister had placed her left arm alongside the right arm launching the backhand shot.

The right-handed return would have had a poor initial velocity because it was backhanded, so she had pushed it forward with her left hand for more initial acceleration.

That made it an indirect reverse-arm forehand shot. The slightest distortion from pushing on the arm would have altered the ball's trajectory, but that had not happened.

"Is that because she always hits with the very center?"

That familiar sense would not allow any distortions. But if she could pull this off in such a short time...

...What in the world is she!?

Just as Hanzaki wondered that, Hisato made an announcement.

"2 points for the older Taiyōko sister."

.

Hisato rewrote the older Taiyōko sister's score.

Meanwhile, the ball rolled along the floor after bouncing off the counter-side wall.

And Hisato heard a deep breath.

Trochískos's shoulders rose and fell as he replaced the contents of his lungs. It was unneeded, but that might have been a product of wanting to feel more real here.

Hisato understood why the Neighbor had failed to hit the ball back.

...He had moved forward, so not even spinning around could move him back again.

Trochískos had chosen the wrong tactic.

He made his opponent use backhand shots to push her to one side of the field.

Then he had hit to the opposite side.

Their mobility was restricted by the size of the standard field. Within those restrictions, hitting to the opposite side was the most effective method.

After all, you were hitting the ball outside of their reach.

Even if your opponent did return the ball, it would normally be a rushed action. In that case, you only had to powerfully return that hastily-fired bullet to the opposite side yet again.

Trochískos had done that twice. And the second one had forced his opponent into a backhand shot.

But it had not worked.

Trochískos had the upper hand in technique and experience.

But the older Taiyōko sister had the upper hand in reaction speed and power. Since she existed in a level above real bodies and normal humans, she was not bound by the standard assumptions of sports.

Now, what will he do? wondered Hisato.

Just then, he noticed the older Taiyōko sister raise her right hand.

"What is it?"

"Can I swap out my racket real quick?"

"Sure."

Hisato thought about it for a moment, but he nodded.

The older Taiyōko sister had chosen her racket before she knew the rules.

...This means she's about to get serious.

So Hisato allowed it. He gestured toward the racket holder a worker had prepared.

"Just this once. Keep that in mind when you choose."

"Got it. ...Then I;ll go with this one."

The older Taiyōko sister pulled a racket from the holder.

It had a pen-style grip.

But there was one difference from the previous one. It was something not allowed in official matches.

"Both sides have the same rubber material?"

Both sides were covered with black rubber. But they were uniformly thin.

There had to be just the one layer of material attached. The older Taiyōko sister spun it around in her hand and smiled.

"The previous one had bumps on the rubber, which allows for a variety of changes, right? But with my finger control, I can probably manage those changes all on my own."

Wait just a second, thought Hisato.

"Have you ever given a ball spin?"

"I've seen it several times. I just have to do the opposite of what I do when I return them, right?"

Technically speaking, that was correct. But could she really just do that right away? No...

"This racket has the same material on both sides, so it should be much easier."

"Normally...you have thicker rubber on the back."

If she was fine with the thinner material, just how aggressive a play style was she planning?

But she simply took the ball Hisato tossed to her.

"Now, let's try it out."

She began her serve.

It was a casual thing. A serve was an important thing in a first-to-5 match, but her actions carried none of that weight.

She lifted the ball high and when it arrived just below her chest...

"—"

She launched a high-speed slice of a cut shot.

.

Daigo thought it was a strange image. He watched the older Taiyōko sister serve from diagonally behind her. The solid sound of the serve created an image in midair.

The white ball floated there without moving.

...Huh...?

He understood the concept. He understood very well what was happening. The phenomenon was as follows:

"The spin from her serve was so strong the ball isn't flying or falling?"

The ball hit by the older Taiyōko sister's slicing motion floated motionlessly in the air. It was actually spinning rapidly, but it was so intense that its position did not change.

"Is this the gyro effect?" asked Hisato.

"Is that what you call it...?"

While the older Taiyōko sister watched with a frown, the white bullet slowly descended.

It was going to land on the older Taiyōko sister's field.

"Um, if this bounces to the other side, it counts as a serve, right?" she asked.

"Well, I guess it'll have to..."

Hisato sounded oddly negligent in his response, so was this really okay?

Meanwhile, the white bullet continued its descent and fell into onto the older Taiyōko sister's field.

"Ah."

The ball tore into the wooden table.

A loud sound rang out for an instant and small splinters of the table flew into the air. And everyone watched as the white ball embedded itself halfway into the table.

"Woooooooow. It stopped."

Daigo spoke without thinking and Hisato raised his voice.

"3 points for Caster-san! And can we get a new table in here!?"

For some reason, the workers hung their heads as they left the counter and set up the new table.

---

"Murakami. That older sister has sent a transmission via Sasamori."

"Huh? What did she say now?"

"Well." Kimura showed him the phone and read it in a deadpan voice. "'Kō, I initially had rubber covered in bumps on the end of the stick.' "

Demon Child: "Like this?"

The Azuma Squad Operator made a sketch, but Murakami ignored her.

Kimura took a breath and continued.

"'But, Kō, I swapped it out for a thinner one that glistens black.' "

Demon Child: "That would be like this."

The Azuma Squad Operator made a sketch, but Murakami ignored her.

"'Kō? I'm going to do my best using both the front and back, so tell that to my idiot brother and that stupid girl, got it?' "

"Seriously, though! What is that sister doing!?"

---

Hanzaki saw the battle moving back and forth.

The older Taiyōko sister had fully shifted to using quick attacks while Trochískos focused on using cut shots.

The valkyrie attacked and the Neighbor defended.

But the older Taiyōko sister made a mistake.

When making a counterattack on one of Trochískos's hits, the trajectory collapsed.

"...!?"

Trochískos had disguised a knuckle shot as a cut shot.

He had used the trajectory of a cut shot, but he had moved his arm and entire body forward in the instant he hit the ball.

It was only an instant.

The speed at which he pushed the racket forward had to surpass its downward-swinging speed only when the hit made contact.

The technique was only possible with the speed and flexibility of an experienced Neighbor.

The older Taiyōko sister had been too slow to notice, so the ball she hit fell down without hitting her opponent's field.

"4 points for Caster-san."

"Well, then... I fell for your feint, didn't I?"

"...I assume you are saying you will not fall for it again."

Trochískos laughed in his throat and that was exactly what happened.

The older Taiyōko sister began primarily using drive shots.

If Trochískos's shot type was hard to read, she only had to use her great strength to apply a drive spin to reset it.

The forceful push and high-speed drive created a bouncing ball.

"There."

The shot hit on the front edge of Trochískos's field and bounced up toward his chest.

Trochískos responded with a backhand swing, but...

"And there."

He failed to respond in time when the next shot targeted his left side.

He pulled her racket back and the white line hit it and produced a solid sound. The bullet bounced straight up.

"3 points for the older Taiyōko sister."

The valkyrie had taken another step closer.

.

The older Taiyōko sister's serve began another high-speed rally.

Hisato had a thought as he watched from close up.

...Am I seeing something incredibly valuable here?

Or am I just seeing a ridiculous game of nonhuman ping pong?

The two were difficult to tell apart.

And just as he wondered how to report on this, the result suddenly arrived. The older Taiyōko sister entirely missed the ball.

.

Hisato saw the older Taiyōko sister stop moving.

The white line passed her by on the right and flew behind her. And...

"...Ah."

The woman said that and Hisato started to raise his left hand.

This meant Trochískos had 5 points.

It was a first-to-5 match, so it was over.

...The end happened awfully quickly.

Hisato sensed some disappointment in that thought while he opened his mouth.

"Caster-san-..."

He started to say the man had won the match.

But someone stopped him.

"Sorry. But that counts as the lady's point."

Trochískos was the one speaking. And he was breathing heavily.

"Yoshito. Can you come here a moment?"

.

Hanzaki nodded at Trochískos's words.

"Yeah. I more or less understand."

"Understand what?" asked Hisato.

Hanzaki raised his right hand with the palm out.

The gesture meant "wait". And when he arrived next to Trochískos...

...He sure is exhausted...

This was the first time he had seen Trochískos so out of breath his shoulders were rising and falling. It was also his first time seeing the Neighbor's hair so disheveled. It had been hard to tell while looking at him from behind.

"...She's really done a number on you, Caster-san."

"I cannot deny it."

Trochískos could still laugh in his throat. That "ha ha" felt calming to Hanzaki, so he held out her hand.

"I will look after it."

"Thank you. I don't need to be directly touching it to have it active, so we will start with this."

With that line, Trochískos pulled something from his side.

It was a black book. The single book was his Black Trigger and it was used to created both real and fake illusions.

"The proof of my status: Trochískos."

.

Trochískos took a breath and passed the Black Trigger Book to Hanzaki.

Then he turned toward the older Taiyōko sister and nodded.

"Sorry about that. ...I was carrying something like that that, when I moved, it activated and a trickery phase space rose to the surface. Since I scored that point using it, I must give you a point back for the initial large Trigger point."

"Heh heh. Then my initial mistake was useful after all. But...I was curious to see what the hell you could do with something as amazing as that thing. Especially with it's shape and stature."

The older Taiyōko sister smiled bitterly, looked to Trochískos's back, and said more.

"You're a very honest person, aren't you?"

"Everyone who falls for an illusionist's tricks thinks the same thing."

"But it's the truth. ...It's 4-4. An even score between two honest people."

"Is that so?" asked Trochískos with a bitter smile.

...This woman - a valkyrie, I believe they called her - must be honest with anyone she takes a liking to.

Trochískos nodded at his own thought and placed a hand on his chest.

"Listen. ...Tricks are the natural response to anyone who would harm Moíra Tou Monachikoú. But this is not the time for that, is it?"

He turned to face Hanzaki and gestured his chin toward the black book he held.

"You understand what it means for me to leave those with you, even if just for a moment?"

"Yes. I am to watch to the end with these. I just wish you chose Daigo to do this instead. But you..." Hanzaki raised his eyebrows. "You've lightened your load."

Trochískos spent a few seconds thinking about what that meant, and...

"Acting like an adult now, are we?"

He laughed.

...Honestly.

Laugh was all he could do.

...Children are so quick to act like adults.

And at some point the act would be indistinguishable from the real thing.

A long lived watched others' growth one stage at a time. But they would eventually reach a much higher position.

He only had to look up at the shape and peak of the mountain this child and the other children were climbing.

"Good, good."

He rubbed Hanzaki's head and the boy's eyebrows bent. But Trochískos realized he was putting on a strong front to show that he was a long lived.

It was true he had lightened his load and moved to his trion body. So he took a light step forward and assumed his playing stance again.

Both sides had 4 points.

"It is your serve," he said.

"Right. You seem to have regained your spirit."

"That is correct. I confirmed I will have no regrets. And long lived ones are known for our abilities." Trochískos narrowed his eyes. "It is time you learned not even a valkyrie stands a chance if they underestimate the threat."

.

It was the older Taiyōko sister's serve.

This was the final stage of the first-to-5 match. They faced each other with a solid foundation of 4 points each.

"Now."

The older Taiyōko sister tossed the white line upwards while still facing straight ahead.

And as it fell...

"Let's get going!"

The racket hopped up from below and launched the white force.

The match had begun.

.

A solid sound summoned the wind.

White lines similar to gunfire passed back and forth between the two attackers.

The older Taiyōko sister moved forward every single time and Trochískos stayed back while occasionally moving forward.

The valkyrie was powerful. More and more of her white slashes flew in to crush the illusionist's resistance.

Each time, the illusionist twisted his body, pulled it back, and...

"—!"

He spun around to adjust his position. And when there was even the slightest opening...

"Tou...!"

With a short roar, he would snap at the valkyrie's side.

The solid sounds arrived afterwards as both worked to establish their tactics. But...

"Like this, right?"

The valkyrie moved against the white attack attempting to stab at her side.

She whipped up the wind and spun just like the illusionist had.

This was not a careless action. Her footsteps rang out for the first time.

But with the loud sounds of her feet, her attack's rotation speed grew.

The valkyrie was gaining more definite methods of attack and she was starting to overwhelm the illusionist.

"Kh...!"

The valkyrie combined her instantaneous acceleration with her rotation. The illusionist's scattered attacks tried to lure her in, but she began to return them all with her own counterattacks.

More and more wind raced forth and the illusionist was driven to the center of his field.

He was forced to fall back, as if being hunted by a group, but...

"Here."

The valkyrie suddenly smiled and all strength vanished from the bullet she launched.

.

It was a sudden deceleration.

This was more than just a brief slowdown. The shot nearly stopped.

The impact sounded like a normal ping pong hit and the white line took the form of a ball traveling at a leisurely pace.

It was like tossing bait to the illusionist who had moved so far back from the field.

"Caster-san! Don't fall for it!"

The Sniper shouted a warning, but the illusionist still moved forward.

If the illusionist did not take the bait tossed in front of the valkyrie group, he would lose.

So he stepped forward and gathered all his strength.

"—!"

He made a slicing attack.

.

This is dangerous, thought Hanzaki.

It was the valkyrie's trap. While pursuing as a group, the valkyrie had thrown out some bait to keep the illusionist from getting too close.

She intended to attack once the illusionist took the bait.

Of course, the illusionist was not helpless. He was sure to launch an attack on the valkyrie just as he took the bait.

But this was the valkyrie's trap. Everything that happened there would be part of the valkyrie's plan.

Hanzaki could tell the valkyrie had everything ready.

She took a low stance in preparation to finish off the illusionist here.

A moment later, the illusionist took the bait.

A solid sound rang out and the valkyrie made her initial movement.

But Hanzaki saw something there.

...Huh?

No, she did not see something there. Something that should have been between the illusionist and valkyrie.

The white line had vanished from the battlefield.

"...!?"

It was the illusionist's trickery.

.

Hisato had no idea what had happened.

He saw nothing there.

The white color was no longer where it had been before.

At first she thought Trochískos had taken the bait more literally than expected. But...

...No, that isn't it!

It was the illusionist's trickery. He had responded to the valkyrie's trap with a trick.

That was how an illusionist did things. So...

...Where did it go!?

He knew where it had to be headed. And even if he did not see it, someone else had: the older Taiyōko sister.

"—"

And that woman had disappeared.

Her volume had vanished from its position overlooking the battlefield.

She was gone.

No, thought Hisato. That isn't it either.

The illusionist had used a trick and the valkyrie had responded. So she had to be...

"Up above, right!?"

.

Daigo saw the older Taiyōko sister's decision and movement.

Up at the ceiling, the woman had made a half rotation that put her feet up and her head down.

She was pursuing the white line that had flown high into the air.

That was the attack Trochískos had launched.

When he hit the white line up, it had accelerated from the bounce and instantly arrived far above the battlefield.

This vertical movement had come without warning when everyone was focused on the horizontal movement from before.

Anyone following along with their eyes would not have been able to keep up.

That was true for Daigo.

But someone had kept up with this trick: the older Taiyōko sister.

She had seen through the trick before her eyes. And that was not thanks to smell or sound.

...It was the second point she lost, right?

Back then, Trochískos had hit the ball high and the older Taiyōko sister had failed to return it.

If Trochískos was going to earn a point here, he would use the same trajectory. And the older Taiyōko sister had realized the illusionist would hit it even higher.

Her movement had been close to a gamble, but it had paid off.

She fixed the bottom of her yukata in midair and raised her racket. She used the ceiling as a floor and...

"—!"

She launched an attack toward the illusionist on the battlefield below.

.

A high-speed attack was hit with a powerful drive.

Now that it was hit, the ball did not float up and only flew forward.

But the bullet did not fly toward Trochískos.

It flew to his left. It was an accurate shot to force him into a backhand return.

He turned in that direction, but he was not going to make it.

"...Caster-san!" Hanzaki's voice rang out. "Win this!"

.

That is easier said than done, thought Trochískos with a bitter smile in his heart.

He was heavily exhausted. Even in his trion body, the mental fatigue was still there. His opponent most likely had the upper hand in speed and power.

He could not win in this state.

He had experience and technique, but his opponent had the power and reflexes to respond to that.

Also, his opponent was a beginner and had been learning the ropes, but...

...With that just now, she must have reached my level.

That meant the gap between them would only continue to shrink.

Trochískos could not win with strength.

But he was a Black Trigger illusionist, a great monster illusionist. There was one thing he definitely had over the valkyrie.

"Trion usage."

.

It happened in an instant.

In the blink of an eye, Hisato saw Trochískos multiply in number.

...Copies!?

This was not a martial arts technique. They were real copies using trion.

There were 9 of them and nothing to distinguish them from the original. They were all very real.

"Take this...!"

When the white line flew in, one of the slashing motions held the racket.

And a solid sound rang out.

Trochískos had returned the older Taiyōko sister's attack.

And he had launched it straight toward the valkyrie as she fell from the ceiling.

.

Trochískos put away his copies and took another breath.

He took a defensive stance and watched for the older Taiyōko sister's response with a certain thought in his heart.

...It all comes down to this!

The older Taiyōko sister had not allowed him to reproduce the previous lost point. She had grown during this short battle.

So it was coming.

She would use the attack she had used to earn her first point.

This would undoubtedly be that slash that not even Trochískos had been able to see.

"—!"

It came.

The older Taiyōko sister adjusted her position with her ankles and made a forehand attack.

And Trochískos saw the initial leaning back of the upper body that would lead to that invisible shot.

It would be a high-speed slash.

...She hits it with her racket on its side!?

.

Kushikage launched her sword strike.

The object she held was honestly difficult to wield as an offensive weapon.

Because the "surface" was so large, it created air resistance and thus wind pressure when she swung it.

And the rubber on the surface was useful when defending, but it absorbed the force when attacking.

So she held it on its side.

The pen-style racket was shaped more rectangularly than the shake-style ones.

So the panel sticking out from the handle was almost a rectangle.

Its side was a lot like a straight sword.

So she could perform a slash with that.

But she was a beginner and it was difficult to control the wind pressure that hit the blade.

So she held it pen-style and controlled it with her fingers.

With a shake-style grip, your wrist would hold it firmly in place, but the pen-style did not.

A light wrist was necessary for instantaneous acceleration.

She met all the conditions now. So...

"...There!"

The burst of acceleration traveled from her hips to her chest, shoulder, elbow, and wrist in turn.

Kushikage launched a diagonal slash of an attack.

.

Hisato had not seen the older Taiyōko sister's attack.

No, this battle had long since surpassed what a normal boy could keep up with.

He felt an odd trust in the two battle participants. He was confident that they would both return the bullet.

So he had not been looking at the older Taiyōko sister. He had been watching Trochískos's response.

Trochískos was trying to perform a counterattack on the high-speed shot.

But his stance was different. This was not a cut shot like before.

The illusionist held his racket horizontally.

...He's going to hit it with the side, isn't he!?

I see, thought Hisato as he finally figured out the older Taiyōko sister's invisible slash.

And he knew Trochískos intended to make an even greater attack.

After all, the illusionist made another movement.

He brought his left hand to the right one already holding the racket.

"He's using both hands!"

.

Trochískos performed a slice from the middle right.

When swinging the racket so quickly, the blade tended to catch the wind and veer off course.

The valkyrie could probably suppress that with her strength, but Trochískos was a illusionist. So he placed both hands on it, and...

"Tou...!"

With a laugh-like cry, he swung his blade.

But he included one trick. Instead of just hitting it back, he used a drive.

The shake-style racket had a nearly circular blade.

He used that arc for a long drive.

The method was simple. Any warrior from the Far East could do it.

He only had to do it like it was a sword.

Far Eastern swords were not used to cut the enemy as you hit them. You hit the enemy with the blade and then pulled back to slice them.

That was the purpose of their curved shape and the item he now held was similarly shaped.

The rest was the same.

The curve may have been short, but he used it to its fullest for his slash. He slowly reversed both his wrists. It was not an instantaneous thing, but the solid cutting edge reached the white line.

...Go...!

And it was released.

.

Trochískos bet on this move while keeping his arms in the follow-through motion.

This was the first time in the match he had launched the bullet with a drive like that.

It was a side drive from the side of the racket.

It was not a topspin from above or reverse spin from below like before.

The bullet he launched onto the battlefield was a drive that raced to the right.

It was targeted at the older Taiyōko sister's left side at the very back.

That was exactly where it went.

The sound of a real impact shook the battlefield.

Immediately, the bouncing bullet flew with nearly vertical cornering.

But the valkyrie took action. Not with a side step and not with a spin.

She had turned herself in the opposite direction after her previous forehand hit.

And she hit from behind her back on her right.

It was a complete backhand attack, but her wrist was in place.

She twisted her hips slightly and unleashed her monstrous acceleration.

It traveled through her back, shoulder, elbow, wrist, and...

...Is she using her fingers too!?

That movement was only possible with the penhold grip. And once it was all complete...

"—!"

The sleeve of older Taiyōko sister's yukata tore from the force of the instantaneous acceleration.

The whipped-up wind scattered the cloth and increased the speed of her arm. Trochískos prepared himself to respond, but...

...Will I make it in time!?

Just then, he heard a bursting sound.

The older Taiyōko sister had swung her blade with a burst of acceleration behind her back and it had torn into the white line.

.

Hisato saw the end of the match.

It exploded before his eyes.

When the older Taiyōko sister's strike tore into the white line...

"Ah..."

It burst.

It failed to endure the repeated high-speed slashes and scattered like a flower.

"Oh, shit." The older Taiyōko sister smiled while the shredded pieces of her clothing scattered around her. "I'm still not used to this. ...I forgot to hold back and lost myself in the moment, just like old times."

Hisato breathed in as he heard those words and saw the scattered white.

"According to the rules, if the round cannot continue, then whoever caused that loses a point."

Thus...

"5 points for Caster-san. ...And those 5 points mean Caster-san is the winner!"

.

Trochískos could not move as he listened to Hisato.

He maintained his stance and focused on the emptiness before his eyes.

...It is over?

He knew why this had happened.

But his body and mind were still in combat mode and trying to follow the white line he could no longer see.

His body was also threatening to move on reflex. So...

"Hey."

A voice from the side brought him back to his senses.

Something entered his field of vision: the Black Trigger Book.

When Hanzaki held them out to him, he was finally able to turn his gaze in that direction.

"Hand over what you're holding there. I'll play a normal match against Hisato as a palate cleanser. You take these things. Because...yeah," said Hanzaki. "That's what a illusionist should be holding."

"...Acting like an adult now, are we?"

Trochískos straightened up and deactivated his Trigger, letting him feel his sweat pour out.

His feet supported his body which was unsteady more from sudden relaxation than exhaustion.

And he looked to the older Taiyōko sister.

That woman had sweat on her brow and she stuck her tongue out a little when their eyes met.

The Unmatched Valkyrie slowly approached a few steps and pinched the bottom of her yukata.

"I'm so sweaty it's growing see-through. I really wish I could show my brothers." She held out her right hand. "Until we meet again. ...I'll remember the proper etiquette next time."

"Yes, I am one of the few who can take you on."

Trochískos smiled bitterly and shook that hand. And when he did...

...Oh.

Something warm yet cool flowed from that palm.

The older Taiyōko sister may have been using something to help him relax and regain some stamina. In that case...

...I cannot believe this.

Now there is a fellowship between us, thought Trochískos with a bitter smile.

So he said, "Should you ever visit or world... The illusionist will show the valkyrie around."

---

"Hey, Murakami. Did you see the duel is over?"

Murakami nodded at Kimura's question. He took a sip of tea to hydrate himself while taking a break.

"That's right. It seems Kushikage-san lost. I'm not entirely sure what happened, but that person must be incredibly strong for that to happen."

"Yes, and the older Taiyōko sister sent another message." Kimura looked at the phone and read it in a deadpan voice. "'Kō? I learned a lot here. When you put thick rubber on the end of the stick, the stimulation is a little weak, but the balls last much longer. Use thin rubber and they don't last very long at all. Use the hard part and you'll have an explosion on your hands... Well, I did my best, but we couldn't get past three times. Remember all this, okay?'"

"What in the world was that sister doing doing!?"

Kon brought over a bamboo pole with a straight face, but Murakami gestured her toward Suzaku and made a quick retreat.

---

...Things sure got noisy around here, thought Kikuchihara.

It was a distant rumbling, but he still managed to hear something pretty amazing.

He hadn't gone too far with Svantje, but they were still walking far enough that everything around them could blend together for a sound that would have been hard to separate without assistance. The voices all went together and he chose to not pay attention to any single person and instead focus on the one who walking next to him.

Svantje was looking around, but he knew she was doing more than that.

Things wouldn't be that simple with her.

"Did you find anything out yet?"

"...Hah. Nothing I didn't already notice. What about you?"

"People are just going about things regularly. The most is that some are talking about the song."

The way Svantje fixed her position and crossed her arms made it look like she was irritated, but it was clear to Kikuchihara that she was only thing through everything they had.

The night had already come and the two of them had gone through two parts of the city. Finding anything during the nighttime would be difficult once it got further in, so they had tried to find things here. But...

"Someone covered up a lot around these areas."

"How so?"

"Well, it's the area," she said with a hum. Without turning her head, she continued speaking. "The amount of people have thinned out, but the more narrow spaces look as if they haven't been touched while the stores in the area seem like they had hardly been touched. No one looked like they were coming the them at all."

"Maybe they weren't interested?"

"With that many people around?"

That was true.

Kikuchihara had noticed it too. The amount of people in the streets didn't equate to the amount of people int he shops. Even if some people not to go shopping, that did nothing to explain why there were so little people in the shops or simply window shopping.

Contrary to what others would think, the nighttime was when Mikado City became very active. The start of it had the people staying from evening and proceeded to increase as the night went on. Once it reached a certain point, things would start to slow down, but that only became apparent once the night had gone on for a long time.

And sometimes it just never ends.

Those times had always been when people like Suzume put on performances. During those times she would determine what the crowd wanted and decide on if she wanted to continue or not. There had been times when she had continued performing long enough that the sun would begin rising.

"I hope she doesn't do anything like that tonight..."

"If you're talking about Suzume-nee, I can understand. That's pretty hard to say, though. Especially when she might not like this song to begin with. That makes it hard to determine if she will want to drown it out or just let things be."

Honest Sister: "Heh heh. Is someone honestly talking about me now?"

Bamboo Sniper: "Not everyone talks about you, you selfish girl."

Honest Sniper: "Narasaka, I am honestly ten feet away from you. Do you want to be hit that badly?"

Spear Idiot: "Maso! Maso!"

Bullet Idiot: "Tsun! Tsun!"

Shige-ko: "Will the two of you shut up!? And Narasaka, don't go dragging that girl around, you pervert!"

Bamboo Sniper: "How am I the pervert...?"

It was amazing how quickly everyone could get out of control without even meaning to.

But the more amazing one had to be...

"Suzume-nee really doesn't waste time with these things, does she?"

"That just makes her worse."

Svantje laughed into her hand, making Kikuchihara realize that she already knew what was coming.

Sometimes it was hard being around someone that smart.

Oh, but I guess I shouldn't be thinking that. Whatever. It makes conversing easier when the other person already knows what's going on.

Honest Sister: "Hey, hey, Nikko-chan! My Sunshine! The beauty of detective work! My one and only, chemically inclined female friend who is really one of many but I need to make a point!"

Grumpy Cat: "That last part gave me an aneurism..."

Decoy: "Pah~ Huh? Oops. Didn't think it would actually respond."

Honest Sister: "Hisa-kyun! We're honestly going to have a talk about where you are right now to make that noise!"

Maybe giving her that information could save him at some point.

Any points from Suzume were worth a fortune when they could save you from becoming a doujinshi.

Kikuchihara's current points were a complete zero, so this would be a perfect chance.

Out of pity, or maybe because she wanted to get to the point, Svantje answered back before he had the time to do so himself.

Detective Sniper: "Yes? Was there something you needed, Suzume-nee?"

Honest Sister: "Yeah! Can you figure out what's going on in the city? I almost thought of performing tonight, just to get that pathetic song out of my head. Ken-kun stopped me before I could, saying how others would be too distracted to actually listen. So I've decided to hold off until tomorrow night."

.

Kikuchihara sighed with a hand to his face.

Next to him, Svantje only laughed into her hand for a second time.

They had already been in the process of doing what Suzume wanted, but now they had a direct request for it. There was no long any escape out of the situation.

Detective Sniper: "Will do~"

Kikucchi: "She was already on it, so you don't need to bother."

Honest Sister: "Heh heh heh. I would have made more of a fuss if I thought it was a bother for anyone."

That was also true.

"I guess this means you have full allowance to go ahead with this."

"Again, it isn't like I can control it~"

"That's the worst part."

In the end, it didn't mater if she could. He would still be there to help her.

---

A laugh filled Murakami's ears while he placed a card down in between himself and the others around him.

On the floor of the main room, a group of them created a circle while a pile of cards were on the floor between them all. With their group being some of the more reserved ones they were able to get a full view of everything happening around them. As for what that was...

"Are you calm now!?"

"I've been cam the whole time, you asshole! Now get off of me before I teleport your ass into the river!"

"That's not calm at all!"

"Maybe shove your boobs into his face! In the faaaace!"

"Shut up, you damn nudist! At least wear some clothes in someone else's house!"

Everyone seemed to be having some fun roughhousing. In particular, Arafune was having the time of his life holding Yuki in a headlock that gave him room to breath, but not enough to move away. Next to them, Jinsei was pumping his fists while taking repeated steps away from Arafune's Iron Claw Grip. The trio were surrounded by some of the others, but they were mostly just watching or recording what was happening.

But the thing he was most focused on was the mother-father duo sitting with their nephew and daughter.

As one of Mei's former underclassmen, he took it upon himself to act with respect and courtesy that she deserved. But as one of her friends...

I have no idea how to act in this situation!

Away from everyone else, the mother and father duo were either combing their daughter's hair or holding their nephew in a one-armed hug. Sometimes it seemed like they were trying to do both at once.

Compared to other situations he had seen the two of them be in, this felt like it was out of the ordinary because it was completely ordinary.

Kage: "Anyone else freaked out about this?"

Shōgi Boy: "About what? The fact Jinsei just went full crotch into Kiyoshi's face? The way Arafune's man boobs are held right to his neck? Or is it because Murakami just won without even looking at what was going on?"

"He did what!?" everyone int he circle said.

Following their lines of sight, he saw that the card he had placed made him the winner by default.

Senshi muttered something under his breath and Hitomi fell backwards, as if someone had pushed her. Next to them, Kitazoe and Kurauchi only smiled and congratulated him for winning. Overall, it had been a fine enough reaction that he didn't feel the need to do anything about it.

Kage: "All of them, I guess? But I'm talking more about those parents! They're completely spoiling those two in front of us!"

Pokari: "Does Kage want to be spoiled?"

Kage: "That's not what I said!"

"Daybreak" as been added

Daybreak: "Eh?! What was I just added into!? And who did it!?"

Pokari: "It's our favorite student."

Suzaku made a quick look at his tablet as the messages came in. His expression was even, but it was clear that he had been the cause for this.

Personally, Murakami had wanted to keep Mitsuteru away from this cannibalistic chat, but he had no ability to prevent that. Those sorts of things had always been done by Suzaku and anyone else who had the authority for it.

...I'm sorry for anything you suffer from her.

"Hey, Arafune! Ariake is in the chat now! You want us to tell him anything?"

"Tell him that I'm going to be going even harder with training the next time I see him," Arafune said as his continued to crush Yuki's neck between his body. In a way, it was concerning that he had enough muscle to do that in the first place.

Murakami wanted to say something about the phrasing, but it looked like Kagami had already written it down. There was no long any saving him.

Daybreak: "U-um...can I leave? I really don't want to be in the same specific chat as my mentors."

Kage: "What the hell did all of you do to this guy!?"

Pokari: "Hey, Mittsun, Kage wants to be spoiled, so can you do something about that?"

Daybreak: "Huh? But I don't know how to do that. Besides, isn't Kageura-san to cool to need something like that from me? I really wouldn't be much help here."

This time it was everyone else's turn to yell at the red Kageura.

"What did you do to him?!"

"I din't do anything, you idiots!"

Kage: "Someone send this guy on his way."

Umi: "And here I thought this would be more fun."

Kage: "Hey, just ignore these guys. Remember: if they try and mess with you, you call me over. I'll help you out."

It was reassuring that this was their kind of relationship, but...

"Is Kage hitting on the harasser?"

"Did he harass Kage into saying that?"

"Kageura-kun must be desperate to be friends with him."

Everyone nodded their heads in agreement. The only ones who had not agreed with this had been Murakami himself, the suffocating ninja, and the cousins.

Well, I guess that's just how things are.

Even if they were going on the attack again, they all seemed happy enough with how things turned out.

"Now we would just need everyone else."

Kimura nodded from her spot near the window. With the bamboo poles safely put away, she decided to look out into the night. The sky was dark, but the surrounding lights had made it a bit lighter.

Murakami could understand why she would want to look into that night sky.

It's been awhile since all of us have been this relaxed. He smiled.

Their exam was coming up, but there was no longer anything hanging over them as individuals. With Yuki and Minoru's conflict over, it meant that everything else was now something they could deal with as a group instead of people single people.

And one of those things concerned one of their own.

The information about Kanzaki getting attacked was concerning, but they knew where she was now, so there was at least that.

...But who would attack her? If not for her Trigger, we would have more of a problem there. She's pretty capable when it comes to these kinds of things, so I don't doubt she managed to defend herself well enough, but the fact it happened is something to worry about.

Murakami stopped for a moment, having realized something.

The others around him had noticed his sudden halt and looked to each other.

The first one to speak up was Kitazoe, expression a bit lowered.

"Is something the matter?"

He answered honestly while looking between the suffocating ninja, his former upperclassman, and Kimura.

"...There's always something with the former Taiyōko Squad."

.

Demon Child: "Now that I think about it, that's true."

Kuni: "They all really like to cause some trouble, don't they? I guess that's just what happens when you have a lot of people who enjoy conflict gather together."

Pokari: "Can't you also say that about our group?"

Inu: "Am I back? Cool. What just happened?"

Competent One: "Murakami brought up a good point about a certain former squad always having issues."

Inu: "Considering what squads have disbanded before...that could be one of many."

Isa: "He's talking about Taiyōko Squad."

Inu: "Oh. Yeah, they're all pretty bad. But it just means things can be interesting here."

Black Wolf: "Um... I accidentally let that slip. Can we just ignore it?"

Almost everyone: "Now we can't!"

2Truths1Lie: "Let's see... Takato-san had the issue with Yukicchi's sister, Yukicchi himself has had a good amount of problems as is, Teru-kun managed to get past his recently, and now Kanzaki has been attacked. So that just leaves..."

.

The way everyone turned to Kimura proved that they were all one mind here.

"What? Why are all of you looking at me?"

They all shook their heads and turned away, making sure to keep an eye on her the entire time.

Hitomi could see that Murakami didn't really regret bringing up the topic, but he still shifted as if he did. It was kind of amazing to see him act like this.

"Oh, is something going on here?"

She looked over to the voice and saw that the Shitokei mother had stopped combing her daughter's hair to focus on them instead.

The woman had been watching them from the corner of her eye the entire time, but this was the first time she had directly spoken up to them all like this. Hitomi gave her credit for knowing that they were terrible enough people to hold off on speaking to them.

"It's nothing, mother. They just realized the greatness of our former squad. Right, Yuki and Kimura?"

Hitomi could hear the muffled yells from the suffocating ninja and saw Kimura look away into the night sky. It seemed like the two of them were trying not to agree with her.

"So your first squad was with those two, was it? Was it just you three?"

"There were two others. One of them is a combat girl who likes to attack first, attack second. The other is a good boy who likes to harass others."

"Oh, they sound fun!"

The way Kageura nodded while also trying to shake his head made for an interesting sight. But what came next only added to that.

Daybreak: "I just felt a strange chill! Did someone do or say something that could lead to misfortune!?"

Isa: "If they did, why would they tell you they did?"

Daybreak: "R-right... Sorry about that."

Enforcer: "Hey, watch what you say to Ariake."

Isa: "Geh! ...I didn't say anything bad..."

Daybreak: "It's fine, Maki-san."

Tōma had fallen to the ground, but that may have been expected when faced with the wrath of his squad's Operator. Sometimes there was just no winning.

Now that I think about it, he has some scary people on his side, doesn't he?

She had never had any gripes with Ariake before, always just thinking he was there, but the more she thought about it the more she had realized that he was a pretty terrifying person. The people backing him were ones others normally wouldn't want to mess with.

One of which was speaking with her mother.

"I can introduce them to you later. How long will the two of you be staying this time?"

"We aren't too sure. The most I can say for now is that we are going to be staying for a week."

The Shitokei mother's eyes lowered and her smile turned into an apologetic one. Next to her, the Shitokei father loosened his grip on Minoru to give the cousins his own apologetic look.

This must have been their usual answer every time they came back to see their child and their nephew. ...They are probably use to it and don't mind it at this point. Mei likely didn't understand it too much on an emotional front, but her feelings could now be put on display for them.

That means she will probably say...

"If I asked you two to stay longer, would you?"

"Of course," both parents said.

There had been no hesitation in their answer.

.

"Oh. It sounds like they get along well."

Everyone nodded at Kanda's words.

They had all expected the same thing when it came to Mei's answer, so hearing her ask something like that had come as a shock to them.

Arafune gave a sigh as he removed himself from Yuki, tossing Jinsei across the room for good measure.

As soon as he was able to move again, Yuki went for a quick jab that sent Arafune to the ground. He held his side there while Yuki dusted himself off.

None of them thought too much about that and instead listened continued to listen to the conversation between family members.

"I see. Then I won't ask that of you. What about you, Minrou?"

"...I won't either. I know how the two of you like to travel, so I won't ask either one of you to give that up for us."

"You know that neither of you have to worry about that," the mother said.

"It's fine to be selfish at times," the father said.

The two cousins gave smiles of their own, making the parents blink at the sudden responses.

It had only been recently that Mei had been able to remove her decisions from her calculations, and Minoru had only gotten through a tough situation an hour ago. To see these sorts of changes in the two of them may have been easy enough to accept, seeing it make the two of them react like this may not have been something the Shitokei parents were used to.

Yuki nodded his head and looked away.

Not wanting him to think he could escape the conversation, Mizukami and Hokari dragged him down to sit between them. They didn't hold him in place, but they made sure he would listen to what was being said.

There was no longer any reason for him to run away.

"We appreciate that, but there's nothing to worry about. We have a lot of people here who we can be happy with."

"That's right, mother, father. That idiot ninja over there aside, we both have a lot of friends here and people we can consider our family. We would still love having you two around, and will rely on your as our family, but..."

The father smiled in return and opened his arms.

Mei gave no hesitation with moving into her father's arms. This was more than enough for them.

"You both have other people you can rely on now."

"That's right. We do. Even if they're terrible people."

Everyone gave their collective shout against that.

The Shitokei parents laughed at them while Mei and Minoru smiled towards them.

"Well, in that case, we can stay longer because we want to. If we said we wanted to stay because our daughter needed us then we would just be making excuses."

"This means we can stay so we can see how the city has changed. It gives us a chance to catch up with others too."

"Let's see how the café is doing tomorrow."

"Oh, I'll let my mom know then! She's been waiting to meet up with you guys!"

Jinsei threw himself up with a raised arm. Everyone looked to him before noticing that he had managed to strip down to his underwear.

The mother laughed at the sight while the father had bellowed out his own laughter.

"Idiot! Put some clothes on!"

"Shouldn't we count this as a win since he's at least wearing underwear?"

Everyone went wide-eyed and pointed at Tōma.

The nudist laughed with his hands on his hips while some of them threw clothes at him, yelling at him to put them on.

.

Yuki gave a sigh with a smile. The atmosphere was one he hadn't thought he could ever fully enjoy.

...But here I am. I still have some feeling about being unneeded, but that's just something I have to rely on the others to get rid of for me.

He thought about the people beyond those within the room. His own age group were important to him, but there had been others who held a lot of importance to him as well. Both of his former squads always felt heavy on his heart. They always felt like reminders of how he had failed before, things he couldn't take back or incidents he had caused.

But now...

I want to see them all again. Maybe I can have a day with them. That would be nice.

There were also others from different age groups he had come to enjoy being around and civilians who he had come to see as important to himself and Mikado City.

The ones who came to mind above them all were his three siblings.

He wanted to give a bitter smile when thinking about them, but he couldn't find it in himself to do that anymore.

Kushikage is still a bit difficult, but from what Hisato and Yoshi told us, she seems to be toning things down. Besides that, there are still things I need to take care of concerning Mukuro and Hoshi.

He knew all about the way the two of them had been around Tsuji and Wakamura a lot of the times. The specific situations were a bit blurry, but that was why he wanted to understand what was going on.

But first, I want to talk to them again. I want to understand the three of them better. Hopefully I can get all four of us together as actual siblings. ...At least at some point.

It was wishful thinking on his part, but he was free to have thoughts like those now. Nothing was holding him back and his thoughts no longer had to focus on everyone else. He could become selfish without any problems, knowing that everyone else would be there to help him with that selfishness.

Standing him, he began to move away.

"Where do ya think you're goin'?"

"I'm just going to get the door for whoever's outside."

"Huh? The doorbell didn't ring or anything."

"Stop being lazy when you're smart, Satoshi. I know you saw them pass by the window just now."

"Tch. Leave me alone."

He looked to Hokari, who gave a shrug in return. They must have thought it was fine for him to leave now that Mei and her family had said what they needed to say.

Moving through the others on the floor, he began to make his way towards the front door. As he did so he could feel himself start to get unnaturally irritated. The irritation was building up the more steps he took to the point that there was no questioning who was behind the door.

The other person there likely understood that he was getting closer to the door.

It sucked that his good mood had to be ruined like this.

And once he opened the door...

"Hey there, Yuki!"

"Sorry to interrupt, Yuki-nii."

"..."

He wanted to question Inukai's strangely happy attitude and why Mukuro was sleeping soundly on Tsuji's back, but there was something else to focus on here.

The airhead in front of him.

.

All noise inside the house stopped as the two enemies glared at each other.

The air between the two of them grew cold as their unchanging expressions faced each other. Neither one of them moved as everyone else moved to see what was happening.

They all prepared for the worst.

"Can we go in?"

A child's voice reached them all, turning their attention to who was being held in Ninomiya's arms.

The small heterochromatic girl looked between the two of them, already knowing what their thoughts were. It was only after a moment that she lightly slapped Ninomiya's cheek before leaning over to do the same to Yuki's.

"No. Bad things like that not allowed."

"'Are not allowed', Michelle. You are getting a lot better at this, though."

The freezing air shattered at the girl's voice and the steps of Minoru moving closer.

Once he was standing next to Yuki he smiled at the group in front of the door.

Inukai's grin turned into a smile at what he saw and it made him speak up.

"So the two of you really did patch things up."

"We did. It was a bit rough, and there might still be some things we need to talk about, but we're fine enough now."

"That's good to hear. Having Yuki on bad terms with you and Ninomiya-san was making things difficult."

The two of the laughed, overpowering Yuki's huff at them.

Michelle tilted her head but righted herself and giggled.

"Wan!"

The sudden bark had brought both Yuki and Minoru's attention to who else was actually at the door.

With a sudden leap from Inukai's arms, a dog crashed into Minoru, making him react so that the dog would not fall. A small whine came soon after that had Yuki looking over at what was in Oshiro's arms.

"Hah... I want the airhead to stay outside, but there are too many things going against me here. All of you, get in here." Yuki moved aside to allow them in. "I'm guessing that Mei invited you over then."

"That's right. She had said the rest of you were here and wanted me, Shiro and Ninomiya-san here."

"Oh? Then what about Tsuji and my brother?"

Inukai gave a sly hum and turned his head to look at the two.

Tsuji quickly turned his head and shifted his position when it looked like Mukuro would fall from his back.

A small laugh reached them, but it had been from Oshiro, who walked in with a dog in his own arms.

"My apologizes, Onii-san. In truth, Ninomiya-san was the only one not in Ninomiya Squad's operating room, so I had asked anyone else that was there if they wanted to come along. Hiyami said she didn't want to come, though."

"So Inu was being dogsat by Taka, Krümel and Shiro. Got it."

Inukai's shout was ignored and Yuki went on.

"Okay, so Tsuji makes sense. What about my brother? Why is Tsuji carrying Mukuro?"

"Well...we had to stop by and see if Hisoka-san wanted to come along. She declined, saying that she had wanted to spend some time with her family. At the same time, Mukuro-kun had been in a meeting with them. But once Shinnosuke-kun came in, he fell asleep right away. We had felt bad for it, so we decided to bring him along."

"Huh? Not that I personally mind, but when did you get close enough to him to call him by name?"

Oshiro gave another laugh as he set Krümel on the ground. The German Shepard quickly moved over to stand next to the husky that had calmly walked in next to Ninomiya.

With a clap of his hands he moved to make room for Tsuji.

"Well, calling him by his last name feels like it would be a bit much, right? There are technically four of you with the same name, and three actually going by that last name. Besides that, this is not my first time meeting him, so I thought it would be fine to do so. Plus, he is your younger brother, so in a sense, we are also brothers."

"That's some logic trip... And are you sure you want to say that when you know what my siblings can be like?"

"Yes, of course!" Oshiro said with another clap. "Hoshi-chan is a very good girl and Mukuro-kun is shaping up to be a good boy! Your older sister was also someone who looked reliable when we had gone with her and Mei-san to the tower. Yes, she seemed like the type who could have fun just about anywhere."

Yuki sighed and turned his head towards the inside of the house.

"Mei, we got another one! Add Shiro into the family mix! He'll be on my side of things!"

"I had done so already!" Mei shouted back.

It was good that she could speak that loudly.

Oshiro tilted his head to question him, but Yuki only waved him off.

Closing the door behind Tsuji, Yuki nodded to him and gestured for them all to make their way towards where everyone else was.

Minoru had already taken Inukai, Ninomiya and Michelle there, so that left them to make their way there.

Yuki was about to open his mouth to speak with Tsuji when he heard a sudden sound.

"Kyaaaaaah!"

.

Yuki was the first person to make it back into the room. His hand had already been in the motion to do something as he looked inside.

And what he saw was...

...Oh, that's right. I forgot about this.

He could see Yuzu holding Michelle in her arms, patting her head with a smile. Standing next to her, Iro was holding both Minoru and Ninomiya in headlocks, a grin on his face as he moved side-to-side.

"She's so adorable! Fuji! Fuji! She's so adorable!"

"This is the Masataka we've heard about, yeah! Hahaha! Let's get along, yeah!? Oh, but then this means that girl is your child, right? The child you had with Minoru, yeah?!"

"Is that true!? It has to be! Ah~ Minoru-kun had such an adorable child when we weren't looking~ Fuji, please have an adorable child too!"

"We're relying on you for that too, Kiyoshi! Give us some us some grandchildren to spoil! Although, any child from our Fuji-chan is obviously going to be one of the most adorable!"

Yuki felt his cheeks heat up at that one.

He had said he wanted children in his introduction, but this was them taking his word and actually wanting it from him. The looks from everyone else told him that they were eagerly waiting for his response to this.

Go to hell! All of you!

He looked back over and found Michelle looking at him with disappointment in her eyes.

He wanted to curse himself, but she would have likely heard that too, so he stuck to throwing glares at everyone around.

As if to make it worse, Mei moved to pick up Krümel and spoke to her parents.

"Yes. The two of them had a child. As you can see, she is pretty grown up too, so they had her earlier than expected. But don't worry, I made sure to speak with Ninomiya beforehand. Actually...since he is a part of this family, I should be calling him by name. Oh, and that also means he's family with Yuki. Mother, father, our family has grown a lot without even me noticing. So that means..."

That means...

"We win."

Both Shitokei parents gave thumbs up that she returned.

From the corner of his eye, he saw Kagami exchanged a glance with the others, Akashi raise his hands to provide the timing, and everyone shout at once.

"Yooooooou are out!"

This was the second time within the hour and there were even more people to join in.

It was a completely one-sided massacre at this point.