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.

7. Backstage

The morning sun had risen.

The sunlight began to carry heat down to the city below.

There were two large movements within the waking city.

One was the 8-car entourage driving through the city.

The other was a transport truck moving from the city to that entourage.

There was no optimal spot for viewing those movements in the city.

They could be seen from anywhere.

But from the surface, a screen was visible on the moving transport truck's side.

The large screen displayed the Motoharu Company logo and a certain message:

"To the foreign businesses: Thank you for allowing Border the chance to speak with you like this at all. A lot of things were crushed and smashed up a lot in serious battles, but you should be able to look towards it and laugh about it. As a way of welcoming you all, the Motoharu Company will be gifting you divine figurines from Mikado City's figurine manufacturer Decorative Kaikei on a first come first serve basis! Hurry up and send a transmission to the following message boards!

According to the A-Rank agent...

770: "That will prevent Awdry from sending any anti-Border issues our way! We have plenty of inventory, so we'll just hand out harsh evil god ones or Western ones that don't sell."

Zaki: "Won't that just make them even more distant from us?"

Iko: "So this's hello to Toby's parents. Today's still a break time for some of us and we still gotta do a lot, but more than enough's already happened, hasn't it?"

Rampage Dress: "That's right. Ikoma, I have determined you had a rough time since the previous day. But while it happened quite a few times, most of it can be summed up by saying you were 'slammed into things'. ...Oops, this was one of those times when I should have been more tactful, wasn't it?

Iko: "Why do ya always steer the conversation in a crappy direction!?"

But during that exchange, there was movement on the surface.

Three figures stood in the city and looked over at the transport truck.

"Ariake, how long are you going to stare over at them?"

They were three members of Border. It was Mitsuteru and...

"Because those are Toby-kun's parents and their workers, Shūji, Kumagai. ...I suppose we won't see them ourselves, though. Whether we do or not will depend on what happened, but I can only watch from the side."

The entourage and the transport truck drove off in the distance.

.

Mitsuteru looked over at the entourage visible through the buildings.

He felt like he had been watching it forever, but...

"This may be the first time I've seen something like this when it concerns someone I know."

He watched the entourage move below the sun.

...And it is close to the first time I've seen something like this in general.

Before, he had seen something like this when there had been problems with the sponsors. He had observed it then and told others about it, but he had never focused on that sort of thing to this extent.

Back then, Border had also been moving along with them. The same was true even now.

The only other time he had seen something like this would be during a few nights during uncertain times, when he had to work alongside his teammates, and when Border had found their footing once more.

He had associated that sort of sight with loss and gain.

But now that he was seeing it move during the day, it was leaving.

And in that sense...

"That sort of thing may be a good match for someone like Yuki..."

With that, he turned back toward Miwa.

"Shūji, was that '...' right?"

"I think so. But you shouldn't be so accepting of those kinds of things. I would add a 'How ironic...' to the end."

"I see! This is really tricky!"

"Are you two okay?" asked Kumagai. The Attacker girl raised a brow at the two of them. "Anyway, there was something I wanted to ask you about."

"Yeah, I figured as much since the two of us don't really talk to much when compared to others. It's probably something to do about my time as a member of Taiyōko Squad, right? I got over that, so this is fine," said Mitsuteru. "Also, I think Shigeko would beat me to a pulp if I ended up thinking about it harshly after everything that has happened. I do hear that our former upperclassmen had a good time with each other last night, though. Ninomiya-san and his squad were even there."

"...He was there?" asked Miwa.

Mitsuteru nodded.

...I just hope he and Yuki weren't pushing themselves too hard.

But what he said was different.

"Those guys should all be fine. And there are people like Fuji-san and Kimura-senpai to keep track of them while others are busy. So that makes it easier for everyone else to not deal with it. ...Only thing that has me worried is that they will add fuel to the fire."

"So all fo them were also there..." muttered Miwa.

"Ah," said Kumagai as if she had just realized something. "Wasn't Hatohara-senpai's sister your mentor along with a few others?"

"She was. The best one out of them since I never felt the need to have my guard up with her around. The rest of them were as bad as they are now."

"...Sorry about that. I'll try not to bring it up." Kumagai lowered her shoulders but then she looked into the city. "The next issue is moving."

She took a few steps forward. The nearby buildings must have blocked her view of the cars.

She stepped out into the sun and narrowed her eyes toward the cars.

"I hate to admit it, but having them on our side is good."

"Building relations with people like them means that Border will have more than enough backing for new things and any other problem that comes up with people."

The cars had begun to split up. They were headed in particular directions, but they all knew exactly where those cars would be going.

Miwa commented on it without even looking at them all. He brushed up his hair as he did so.

"They can be viewed as an enemy."

"But they are who we are trying to get on our side."

"Even if they don't join us, we can still function without them. If anything, they are the ones in trouble since they need to go to the branch offices."

"...There it is. Shūji, your words are always like a drawn knife."

"You're exaggerating."

Miwa looked away and Mitsuteru mimicked the movement a few seconds later.

"Like this?!"

"No. Like this."

Miwa showed him an example. And with his gaze still cast downward...

"You don't just swing your vision around. You have to decide on a destination in advance. That way you show you have real conviction."

"Incredible, Shūji!"

"You two..."

Kumagai walked across the grass next to Miwa and let her shoulders droop.

"Can we get on topic now?"

She looked over, but found the two boys staring intently at her.

Eh? she thought in confusion.

Then Mitsuteru nodded and said "do it".

Kumagai frowned, but Miwa gave a sharp look.

"...Fine."

She sighed and angled her body as if to signal the end of this sudden turn of events.

"Like this?"

She hung her head and looked away like Miwa had before.

And she stopped.

After a few seconds, she straightened up again. He had a hand on his forehead.

"...Why don't you get it?" he asked.

"I-it was my first time."

"Kumagai-san, I would have thought you would be used to this, considering your relationship with Bakuto-san."

"I-I kind of want to know what you mean by that!" She quickly shook her head. "We knows a lot about each other, we can speak freely with each other, and he's someone you always have to look out for. That's all."

"But you still remain friends with him, don't you?"

Kumagai spread her mouth horizontally at Mitsuteru's question. Then she reached for her Trigger in her pocket.

"Say anything more and I'll make you regret it."

"Kumagai, dig your heels here and you're going to regret it. Remember that he's gotten into the habit of harassing others in the worst ways possible."

"Shūji! Shūji! I think you're making up some terrible lies now!"

After saying that, Mitsuteru did something other than continue speaking.

He laughed quietly. It was a relaxing laugh that changed the mood. And he looked up into the southern sky.

"Oh, that's right. We will have to talk about what you wanted to ask, Kumagai-san."

"I'll try not to bring the mood down, then. Especially since I can see the ones going to Suzunari and Yagura."

"Fine by me," agreed Mitsuteru. "I don't really know what you could want from me, but just remember that I probably won't be too much help. I was on the same squad as them, but I'm pretty sure we were all looking at things in all sorts of ways. That includes you and me. What you ask me might be different from what I can answer."

.

Kumagai thought about those words and what they could mean for both of them

...A past that can be known, but not understood.

There were other people like that. She knew that Denji was the same, but both Sekai and Yuki had those same sorts of things baking them up whenever it was brought up.

But Kumagai had a question.

"Back then, did Yuki-san know either Denji or Sekai-san too well?"

"Not in the slightest," immediately replied Mitsuteru.

But Kumagai was not sure what he meant.

"Not at all?"

"That's right. When he was 'Kiyoshi-san', he didn't know them." He let out a sigh, but there was no tension there. "Listen. Back then, Kiyoshi-san had a much more open and direct personality. ...Kiyoshi-san and our entire squad hadn't really focused too much on other squads or agents. There were the obvious ones, but we never had a reason to even meet Bakuto-san and Hikigane-san proper. It wasn't until I was well into my third squad that I had even spoken to one of them. By that point, Yuki had already been calling them 'Denji' and 'Sekai-san'."

She figured that made sense. Denji should have still had conflicting feeling during that time.

"But," cut in Kumagai. "During that time, even Yuki-san would have-... Well, um, there should have been something going on with him, right? Even though you guys were fine enough, he should have been thinking about something."

"He was. That's right. ...But there wasn't a reason for any of us to get involved."

Kumagai listened intently to Mitsuteru.

She realized she had fallen for his skill as someone who appeared unassuming as a question entered her mind.

...There was no reason?

The sun had risen higher into the sky. She knew the city would start getting busy soon and Mitsuteru let out a breath through his mouth. There was no tension there either.

"We were pretty close, I won't deny that, but getting too involved with each other had always sounded like a pain. ...As we can see, the rest of them got along fine enough. 'Kiyoshi-san' turned into 'Yuki' and 'Fuji-san' turned into 'Mei'. Both Kimura-senpai and Kanzaki-senpai have also been pretty close. But all of them didn't get too close until the squad had disbanded."

"...So that also didn't happen until the point where he had already met Denji and Sekai-san."

"Anything that may have been going on with Yuki at the time was probably something that didn't involve either of those two. It was only after he had met them that things turned out that way."

Kumagai was convinced by the heartfelt tone to his voice.

And he continued with a breath.

"Listen. A lot of us aren't blind. I really don't doubt that Nasu-san has also noticed with you by this point, but we can tell that there's something with some of you. I've been able to see Yuki and Senpai up close, so it isn't hard for me to tell. But Nasu-san is always right there, isn't she?"

"I get what you're saying," she said. "But this isn't something I can talk about freely, even with her. It's a bit of a pain, really."

"I can understand that. Speaking of things like those make things difficult."

She knew what Mitsuteru was saying.

But it was still something only she and two others could talk about.

"Sorry for bringing up something like this when you were trying hard to-..."

"You don't need to apologize, Kumagai-san." Mitsuteru cut her off. "Senpai has already told me a good amount of things concerning this weird situation. If anything, I think you both should view this from a different point of view."

"But that's pretty hard when those guys-..."

"Then," said Mitsuteru. "Ask people you trust about the situation and I'm sure they can help. Not everyone has something from their past they don't want to think about. Your situation is also a current thing and not something stuck in the past."

"—"

"Do you understand now?"

She did.

There was still something she could do in this kind of situation. That would not directly involve others and Denji would have to accept any result she would come to. So...

"Is that what you did when trying to get over whatever happened...?"

"You aren't as pathetic as I am, Kumagai-san."

...Then...

"What do you suppose can be done about the situation?"

"I have only spoken to Bakuto-san three times, and Hikigane-san even less, so I can only speak as someone who knows Yuki. And all I have to say is this: they should try to be a bit more normal."

"...Considering where we are, isn't that hard?"

"Correct." Mitsuteru smiled. "I only meant with the way they go about things. Kiyoshi-san never said anything like this, but I've heard Yuki say things about being 'unneeded' and and 'fading away' before. It was pretty chuuni, if you ask me. But if he really felt that way..."

"What would you do at that point then? If you have the chance."

"I'm not too sure. When compared to everyone else he knows, I can be much help. ...But then I would just ask for help or do something when it comes up. The strong tend to be focused on weird things while people like me view things widely."

Just as Mitsuteru lowered the ends of his eyebrows while still smiling, the city began to make noise.

His voice joined the noise.

"Yuki, Bakuto-san, Hikigane-san. The three of them are annoyingly difficult to understand for someone like me, but you seem fine enough to deal with them. So just go at your own pace and worry about these kinds of things at your leisure. The only thing I can say is certain is something you probably already know. ...They have have decided on how to support Mikado City's future."

.

Miwa watched Kumagai walk away. The expression she wore while leaving had been an understanding one, but...

She still needs to think more about this.

He thought that going to Svantje about this situation could help, but there was too high of a risk that she would end up causing more of a commotion by the end of it.

So he only turned to see Mitsuteru let out a breath.

"Why did you lie to her?"

"It was just a small one. Besides, I'm fine enough after that."

"You idiot," he said while chopping Mitsuteru's head.

He couldn't help but wonder if that had also been harassment or a force of habit at this point.

Either way, he had managed to keep his mouth shut the entire time.

"Talking about that part of the past still hurts, so try not to overdo it."

"Same to you, I suppose. Oh, but I mean generally."

"I know that already. You're way too normal to mean that any other way."

Mitsuteru nodded and said "I see" before looking out to the city.

Miwa turned along with him. From where they stood, he could see the flower shop that the Misakis owned and where he worked part-time.

...It isn't so bad over there.

At worst, he had to deal with the older sister.

"Hey, you were active on Azuma Squad back then, right? Do you know anything about Bakuto-san or Hikigane-san?"

"I never bothered with them. Whenever they were around because of the others, I would stay away from them. ...I never liked being around either one of them."

"That makes sense, from what I've heard. But you really know nothing?"

"The only things I know won't amount to much when compared to some others. Asking Ninomiya-san or Kako-san would be better."

The two of them had always been the ones to bring their age group over. Those times had always been crazy, making him always leave the room before things got bad.

Mitsuteru was quick to understand that from the way he nodded again. Doing so was becoming excessive now, but it wasn't a bother yet.

"If you really want some answer, there are two other people you can talk to."

"Well I'm not the one going crazy over it, but it seems like it might involve Yuki too, so I might look into it a bit."

That was fair.

"So who are they?" Mitsuteru asked.

Miwa glanced over to him and took his own breath. Following Mitsuteru's style, he released all the tension he had build up with the breath before continuing.

This much was fine.

"Hatohara and Tamakoma's Kagerei."

---

Yuki woke to the distant sound of a morning bell ringing at the top of the hour.

He could tell he was lying on his side and he could tell where he was lying.

"...Nn."

He was on a bed. Beyond the warm sheets and creaking bed, his sleepy mind heard the distant sounds of construction. And...

...Oh, right. I don't actually need to check on anything right now.

That thought led him to a realization: didn't he normally sleep in a futon? The night before, he had stayed at Mei's house late into the night for some extra fun. When Mei's parents had invited him to sleep over, his weariness had won out.

"—!"

He trembled, stirred, opened her eyes, and found a face in front of him.

...Mei!?

He gasped in disbelief, but then realized who it was sleeping on their side in front of him.

"Kō..."

Murakami breathed quietly in sleep with a long-sleeved shirt and sweatpants. And occasionally...

"Sniff..."

His sense of smell must have been reacting to the scent of the sheets and blanket because he would rub his cheek against them, and relax his expression, and yet generally give a strange look.

...This guy really is like a dog.

That thought brought a smile to his face.

...I should wake him up, though.

Otherwise one of the cannibals would see them.

"—"

It made sense. There were at least four people here who would quickly go for the throat if they were to see this kind of thing.

But that seemed to only be his conscience saying that.

...It's almost breakfast time.

Shifting over a bit, he slowly moved to sit up. Stretching his arms high into the air, he looked around the room and saw that it was actually a triple-door guest bedroom. The door leading to the hallway was directly in front of the bed while the two remaining doors were off to the sides. Overall, they had been given one of the better rooms to stay in since it had a bathroom and a closet.

"I guess Kō and I get some special privileges here."

The conversation from last night came to mind, causing him to laugh lightly and scratch his cheek.

.

"I-I guess that makes sense...if they're viewing us as family now. Ha ha ha..."

It was still hard to believe, but last night had really happened.

He had been told a lot of things, said a lot of things, and came to multiple conclusions. Once everything was said and done, he had remained here.

...There wasn't anywhere else to be. Everyone else is here, so I just needed to be with them.

That had led him to dragging a half-asleep Murakami to the guest bedroom before throwing both of them onto the mattress.

I know Kō and I are close, but I didn't think there would be a time when I needed to help him dress for sleep.

He was sure that he had told Kuruma about it at some point during all of that, but it could have easily been his mind wanting to do so.

Lifting his hand, he shook Murakami by the shoulder. It took a few more tries before he could finally get Murakami to properly get up.

"...Not even a few more minutes...?" he yawned.

Yuki covered his mouth, but didn't try to hide the laugh that escaped.

"I guess we ended up knocking out before washing up. Sorry about that, Kō."

Murakami gave another yawn, this time into his hand. His hair was in its usual style, but now there were parts falling down that only made Yuki laugh more.

Lifting himself from the bed, Yuki began to move to the other side. Once there, he grabbed Murakami's wrist and slowly brought him up as well. He began pulling him along until they reached the door to the bathroom.

"Get yourself cleaned up. I'll wait out here."

"Okaaaay..."

"Heh. You're starting to sound like Mukuro with that yawning."

It was clearly too much to give a response with the way Murakami only waved his hand before going inside.

---

A certain solid corridor was bright and lit, but it was free of dust and covered in unseeable trion.

Two people walked down that corridor, neither hurrying nor stopping. One was a well-built man wearing a suit that fit well enough and the other wore a girl's version of that uniform while smiling.

The man spoke to the smiling woman with a thin bitter smile below his flat hair.

"Schneider-san, are you sure you should be here? I am glad I can meet you again while the B-Rank Wars are done, but still."

"There is nothing to worry about. I want to see any changes made, so I am glad to be here, Shinoda."

There haven't been too many internal changes to the base, so there isn't much to see. Are you sure you still want to look around?"

"I hear that some people will be visiting the branches today, so I figured I would do this before that happens."

Yasuko lowered her head as she spoke. She placed her hands on her shoulders and lowered them to her stomach.

"I have kept those boys up to date about this. But I won't be moving too much..."

"I will make sure you are fine while here." Shinoda's smile grew. "You could probably get plenty of things from others around here. Now, I've never been over there before, so I'm curious about what things are like over there."

"Over there?"

"Yes, that's right. Germany."

"They are nice over there, somewhat like the ones over here." She seemed to realize something then. "Oh, but there is plenty differences between both this place and over there. Both have their own charms that bring others in from all sorts of places. I am sure the ones who had gone last time have said at least something about it. But..."

"We are fine with sharing the brunt of incidents here since it's only natural."

"I see. Mikado City is certainly nice, but to choose my worse carefully...I personally wish that it could calm down for a moment."

"We are the ones who had first made it here, so it's expected for us to end up like this. The festivals the city loves to have is just our way of proving that we can continue after everything."

"Those festivals have always been nice..."

Once she said that, a transparent screen appeared next to Yasuko. It contained text.

Tinkerbell: "Is this coming through properly? Yasuko, are you and the Japanese General Director getting this? Things should be running smoothly for this. Even if you two aren't using Triggers, Border's interior has a lot of trion to use for this."

"...? Schneider-san? Who is that?"

Tinkerbell: "Nice to meet you, Mister Shinoda. I am Katerina Müller, Chief of R&D over there. I've been working with the Engineers to make these things for Border. They have told me how sometimes it's a hassle when there's nothing to use, so we made these things. We're still testing them, but they should be done soon enough."

"Oh?" Shinoda looked to Katerina inside the transparent screen and gave a light bow. "It sounds like you have been working hard with the Engineers. It is a pleasure meeting you. Please keep up the hard work as long as possible. ...But does this mean Terashima is allowing all of this?"

Tinkerbell: "He and I are figuring out how to incorporate things into the Triggers without them taking too much trion. This should be a low cost thing, but the maintenance for it might be pretty high."

"Hey," cut in Yasuko as she raised her shoulders. "I hope that you are not giving those Engineers too much trouble, Katerina. You are a smart girl, so you understand why, don't you?"

Tinkerbell: "We're fine over here. The only thing is that they won't allow me to help the girl I've seen around here. The long-haired one with the moon clip in her hair."

Shinoda smiled as Katerina bowed inside her transparent screen and disappeared.

"Ha ha. What a lively exchange. I'm jealous, but I also have high hopes for what's to come. ...After all, to have three important people in Mikado City from Germany means something is happening again."

"Oh, dear, nothing like that. There are a variety of other reasons, but please trust that we will support you."

The corridor turned to the right. At the same time, the walls spread out a bit more while the density of them seem to grown the more they moved.

As the tall and short figures turned the corner, the tall one had. along, casual stride while the short one lightly moved along, but...

"Shinoda, this leads to..."

"That's right. You have not been over here. But I trust that you will understand the situation and are prepared."

"Yes. I will not do so myself, but..."

As she walked and caught up with Shinoda, Yasuko stretched her hands forward. "Is this how it works?" she muttered as she clapped her hands.

"—?"

Someone else appeared behind them.

.

The new appearance was a man in his own uniform that seemed old-fashioned.

The tall, red-haired man with focused eye kneeled behind Shinoda and Yasuko. His swaying hair was pushed back on his head with a small clip resembling a horizontal silver plate.

"It is a pleasure to see you this morning. I, Kagerei, have arrived in response to your call. What do you need?"

"Ketsueki... You don't have to force those archaic pronouns into your sentences."

"I am not forcing anything, so your concerns are unfounded."

Ketsueki's comment was followed by an awkward silence. To fill the gap, Yasuko turned toward Shinoda while seeming to knead the air in her hands.

"U-um, Shinoda? Uh, you know that Ketsueki is a really good and obedient boy, right? This is not your first impression of him, right?"

"To choose my words carefully, I already know how he can be. ...He is one of your former teammates, and a member of the Tamakoma Branch, so there isn't a problem. Besides, I know that Border agents are weird."

"At least I don't have to worry about him if that is the case. That pretty much does sum it up. But I bet you don't know this: He loves it when you indulge in his fantasies."

"I-I do not."

"There, there."

"P-please stop now..."

"See? Look how delighted he is!"

"Schneider-san, that is a fascinating observation. ...But let's get back on topic."

"My bad."

Yasuko nodded, stood in front of Ketsueki, crouched down, and placed her hands on the man's shoulders. Then she patted those shoulders a few times.

"Okay, Ketsueki, can you take care of things up ahead here?"

"I came here in a hurry, but what do you need me to do?"

"Well, it's about this."

Shinoda unlocked a tablet as he smiled with the ends of his eyebrows lowered. He held the opened tablet in one hand and began pushing the door ahead of them all. Once he did, the door slowly began to open.

"This room belongs to my relative who happens to live at the base. Although to be exact, we aren't related by blood. She is someone that even Kagerei might not know about right now."

"Ketsueki frowned at Shinoda's words.

"Is it because of my traveling?"

"That's right. But that isn't on purpose."

"Why do you need me to enter her room?"

"Well, the thing about her - oh, and her name is Ruka - is that in exchange for helping Border on an important matter, we can gain some extra things from it. However, she can't really go out too much. And that's because of just how important she is to Border."

And...

"For some reason, she asked that you go meet her, but..."

A rumbling sound coincided with some footsteps. After two footsteps and the wind of something being pushed forward, something slammed into the wall on the other side of the large door.

A bipedal beast stood in the large trion hall beyond the partially opened door. It was at least seven meters tall, it had a horn, and it had a tail.

"...!"

Its roar shook the trion walls and the outside hall.

When Shinoda saw it, he nodded toward Ketsueki.

"This is not her, just to be clear."

"I had guessed as much. But in that case, what is it?"

"It's why we called you here. However..." Shinoda smiled. "The Engineers want it intact, so try not to damage it too much."

Ketsueki nodded, added an "understood", and leaned his kneeling body forward.

A moment later, he split the wind in two and launched his body into the room containing the enemy.

He began the battle.

.

Ketsueki found himself in a large open space.

It continued one hundred meters back and was fifty meters wide. The lines of pillars on either side formed arches to support the large space. A raised platform covered in red was positioned at the back.

...This reminds me of a cathedral.

As he commented in his heart, the enemy came from the right.

It was a dragon. To be exact, it was a trion soldier that the Engineers had likely been testing. This seemed to be a wingless ground type. Its shell resembled armor, but Ketsueki concluded it was a mechanical beast modeled after the information sent from the underground fight.

He inhaled and spread his legs to the front and back in respect to his opponent.

"Very well. Here it comes."

And come it did.

However, the approaching attack was not a physical strike.

The dragon leaned back from Ketsueki who prepared himself to its right.

"—!"

It was too far away to reach, but the trion soldier still thrust its face forward and low to the ground.

Its fangs did not reach, but something was fired from deep in the throat visible between its wide-opened maw.

...A trion cannon!

.

Green light burst through the open space.

This roar attack used the trion accumulated in an internal storage and it was a feature common to all types of trion soldiers.

When fired, a ring of trion and a piercing blast of light burst from the trion soldier's mouth. The meter thick pillar of light swept a bit through the air before colliding with Ketsueki.

The light exploded and filled the open space with the color green.

The sound roared and the walls and floor shook, but...

"—!"

The dragon transformed. Even as it forced out the line of light, its extended neck shrank as if pulling back into its torso. And as its slender front legs extended forward, the area from its neck to its jaw expanded.

It had rearranged its structure.

To provide flexibility of movement and to allow forces to harmlessly escape their body, most trion soldiers had a composite structure and the neck area was no exception. Some trion soldiers' neck joints were split between the front and back, and by releasing the connection between the front and back...

"...!"

They could expand the caliber of their cannon.

Using the previous attack as a guide and a means of adjusting the power, the full strength of the dragon's internal storage was used to fire a giant ball of light.

The mass of light gathered trion around itself like an electrical discharge and instantly travelled down the previous light that was linked to its target like an umbilical cord.

The five meter bullet of light shot down the path of the previous explosion of light and thus straight toward Ketsueki's previous location and beyond.

The power rushed toward its destination with the sound of scorching heat.

The light erased even the shaded images of the open space's interior.

A heated wind whipped up and the light scattered, but...

"—"

A small sound came from the destination of all that power.

It was a voice. It was drowned out by the volume of the explosion and wind, but Ketsueki still spoke.

"—!"

His dignified voice was immediately followed by a certain movement.

It came from the dragon.

Once it had finished firing its cannon, it leaned its head even further down and raced toward the vortex of glowing destruction that had yet to settle down.

The open space was large to a human, but it only took a few steps for the great beast.

As it closed its mouth and pointed its forehead toward its prey, the next transformation began.

The armor on its back and waist opened backwards and the heat exhaust ports below the armor were exposed to the air behind it. And...

"...!"

The heat built up from the trion cannon blasts exploded backwards from those heat exhaust ports on its back. This secondary roar accelerated its charge.

Shimmering heat filled with some trion fragments transformed the dragon's charge into a high-speed glide. It almost seemed to have been kicked forward as it aimed for its prey with the horn on its forehead.

They were going to clash.

---

A great tremor arrived through the closed door as a sound.

As the door rattled in its frame and produced sounds of creaking and collisions, Shinoda asked Yasuko a question.

"Yasuko, Kagerei made this sound easy, but he didn't just immediately get himself killed, did he?"

"...Oh, dear."

Shinoda sighed in place at the woman's quiet response.

After a while, he cleared his throat.

"It's been a good while since you have been here, so what did you expect?"

She intertwined her fingers in front of her chest and continued quietly.

"I doubt Kesueki would lose..."

"Then," said Shinoda as he placed a hand on the door. "We can see just how different he is compared to when you had left."

He threw open the door and revealed what was on the other side.

The dragon trion soldier's body was lying unmoving against the wall, and... "Thank you both for putting faith in me."

Ketsueki turned around when he noticed them.

He was unharmed.

.

Shinoda's smile grew even more.

...Oh?

He was pleased.

He did not know what had occurred inside the open space, but the trion soldier had definitely gone on a rampage and it had definitely made a finishing blow. And yet...

"I supposed this means you won."

"No, I was simply testing this out for the Engineers."

Ketsueki bowed.

"This is only something I had decided to do."

He was holding a certain weapon.

Yasuko's eyebrows rose when she saw the long-handled, silver-adorned, spear-like weapon.

"That is-..."

"You know what it is, Schneider-san? I suppose he would have told you."

"No, I was just going to say it is beautiful."

Shinoda slowly looked the other way.

However, a quiet laugh was heard. It was a bitter one and it came from Ketsueki.

"Shinoda-san. Why not just accept this as an excellent opportunity to test Trishula?"

At first glance, the Trishula Trigger he spun in the fingers of one hand resembled a spear, but one spot in particular was clearly different.

"...Does it have a modified tip?"

"It actually does, but..."

Ketsueki showed off Trishula to Yasuko. A fifteen centimeter wide and sixty centimeter long blade was placed between two blades only two centimeters smaller at the end of the long shaft.

However, its end was not pointed. It was narrow like a blade, but it was squared off.

It almost looks like a chisel, noted Yasuko as Ketsueki swung it.

"—"

It quickly shortened. Once the two and a half meter shaft shrank to only about sixty centimeters, he adjusted his grip on it.

"Like this, it looks more like an iron plate striking weapon."

"I see. But what exactly does-..."

Yasuko looked over at the collapsed dragon trion soldier.

"I suppose not asking would be much better."

"I will leave that up to Shinoda-san."

He looked to Shinoda who lightly shook his head back and forth.

"That's more on Rindō than it is me, so don't ask me about it."

"Then let's just call it a secret weapon. Is that fine, Ketsueki?"

"Very well. I understand. But..."

Yasuko followed Ketsueki's gaze back to the collapsed dragon trion soldier by the wall.

However, the dragon trion soldier was crumbling apart.

"What..."

He asked a question concerning the wall that now had rubble in front of it.

"What just happened?"

.

Ketsueki recalled the tactile feedback felt through Tishula, the shaking of the ground, the sound of the wind and the roars, as well as the heat and presence of the trion soldier.

"That was clearly a special type."

"The Engineers have been working on it."

Shinoda started forward as he spoke. He chose to walk down the center of the open space. Ketsueki followed after bowing, but he made sure to protect Yasuko from the front and the left as he did so.

He still carries his body in a very regulated way, he judged from the movement of Shinoda's shoulders. But as the General Director, perhaps that should be surprising.

However...

"Shinoda-san, when you say that just now, do you mean they are actively making them?"

"More-or-less. You can made a decent guess about most of it, but it's more about protection."

What kind of person was this that the Engineers would make that?

"In all actuality, everything here is a way to protect Ruka while staying here."

"...Protect?"

"Yes. There is a good reason for doing so, but this is also more than just protecting her while she's here. There's something else here that needs protecting, so we are having the Engineers do these sorts of things while everyone else protects it from outside of the base. That means this entire space. ...Look."

The open space disappeared.

...What?

Ketsueki and Shinoda had been walking to the back of the open space, but now something else appeared before their eyes.

"A bedroom?"

.

Ketsueki looked around.

He stood in front of a single door inside of a hallway. He took a step inside.

It was large, but not as much as the previous open space. It was carpeted, bookshelves covered the walls, dolls and contraptions were placed here and there, and clothes were scattered about. And at the center of them all was a bed with a red canopy. And...

"Oh, it's you. All that noise woke me up. Who are you?"

A simple-looking girl sat inside it.

She wore a red stole over plain, red pajamas and she had a straight waist and back. Her smooth face bent into a smile when she noticed the visitors.

"Oh, you were very cool out there."

The girl pulled off the blanket and started to get down onto the floor, but...

"Ah."

Her foot caught on a pile of clothing and she started to trip.

...Oh.

Helping her would have been a trivial task for Ketsueki, but...

"Watch out."

Shinoda took a step forward and supported her shoulder with a bitter smile on his face.

Ketsueki agreed with the approving gasp from Yasuko behind him and he slowly got down on one knee. He knew this would be a discussion between individuals more important than him.

But there was something he wanted to ask while the situation was still unclear.

"About that dragon..."

"Oh, that. The Engineers like to mess around the with the surrounding space of my room, you see. I thought it would be fun to mess around with what they would change and what they would make. I guess there are still strong people around."

She gave a troubled smile, but bent her eyes as she looked to Ketsueki.

"I'm not entirely sure what you did, but thank you for not slicing through it and killing it. Simply putting it out of commission like that means less work to do."

"I am honored to receive that praise."

"What a formal man." The girl's bitter smile deepened and she looked to the man supporting her. "I've gotten my bearings now, you can let go, you know. And I'm guessing that you're the reason why these two are here right now. Next time maybe let me know before these things happens so they don't have to deal with this kind of stuff."

"This kind of...stuff?"

Ketsueki spoke aloud without thinking and the girl turned toward him.

"Yeah. That's right. There's something going on right now and this guy is over here, not telling me that he was bringing others around. That Hikigane guy and Bakuto guy have been telling me things about it, but they have been vague the entire time. I want to know more, so I've been thinking of going out again instead of leaving it to this guy here."

She smiled and moved away from Shinoda's shoulder.

"Now that you are here, maybe I can get some information here and compare it to what I have been told. I also just want some more people to talk to here so I have some other things to think about when you all leave here. So, let's talk about some things, okay?"

---

Yuki was in front of the guest room's bathroom.

Murakami was there too, but Murakami was in the bathroom.

"Kō, did you recently start waking up having to take such, uh...?"

"N-no! I swear it isn't like that!"

"..."

"P-please don't fall silent like that!"

Oh, right, realized Yuki. He wouldn't like that if he makes any noise. So...

"Should I play a song? Or should I play the sound of the waterfall those guys got me to help you along?"

He went with the latter option. The sound of the great cascade reverberated through the bathroom.

...Oh, this isn't so bad. It sounds really purifying.

"Yuki! Yuki! I feel like I'm going to wash down the toilet!"

"Then I'll change it to the sound of water coming from the nearby spring."

He did so.

He now heard the sound of a smaller, quieter, and yet definite stream of water flowing through the air and falling to the water's surface.

"Yeah, this sounds like a nice small stream."

"Yuki! Yuki! What if someone things this sound is me!?"

"I'm not sure there's much we could do about that."

"I suppose you're right..."

He had no choice.

Yuki tried opening the window. There were no roofs or anything else giving a peeping angle and he doubted any of the moving people around the neighborhood could see inside here.

At this time, he could hear the delivery workers and transport trucks swaying and swooshing on the street. He could also hear the sounds of construction and repairs.

This was the sound of morning's end. And as he listened to that, he also heard Murakami's voice.

"What do you think, Yuki?"

"Think? About what?"

"About your position in the...current formation?"

"Current formation? People like me shouldn't be going for the throat of regulars."

"Eh?"

"What do you mean 'eh'!? It's true! It really is!"

That said, he did of course know what Murakami was trying to say. He had simply put a lid on it so he would not have to think about it too much.

But, he thought while looking up and out the window.

"I guess I don't need to be doing that anymore."

He knew a lot of people who lived in Mikado City.

"I can live freely and without any reservations. I had done so before, but this time I don't have to worry about as much. There's a place for me to come back to, people to come back to, things I don't want o leave behind, and things I don't have to leave behind."

"The whole idea of the Unneeded was absurd to me, but I understood what you guys felt. There was no reason for me or Kumagai to judge any of you, and there wasn't anything we could say against it. Me especially, saying something against it would be slightly hypocritical."

That was exactly right. That was why moving away from his previous mindset was so difficult and only grew to become harder the more time went on. It took more than just Murakami to properly make sure they would all be fine with the end result and he would not have to give up on anything.

"A needed person can't do much when there are others to worry about them."

He had seen the difference multiple times, but his viewpoint had always been as an unneeded person. It had always made life more difficult for him as someone like that.

He had heard that the other two in the same position felt different than he did, but that may have been because they felt that way longer than he had.

Yuki himself would have no difficulty in accepting that lifestyle.

But on the other hand, he could not live a normal life until he had reached the point where he could fade away.

"Yuki. Hitomi was asking about this earlier for reference material. ...She wanted to know how someone like you could become the same as everyone else."

"Well, we handled certain situations in a certain way, so if you forcibly do something to others around the city without reason, it'll earn you some serious punishment based on Shinto divine punishments. So be careful."

Rules like that were not limited to Shinto.

There were others who banned certain actions against others or places.

They would be moving where others couldn't see or in a way others would not expect so as to not cause a commotion.

"If I remember right," said Murakami. "For Catholics, the first offense hits your crotch with a bolt of lighting and castrates you for 3 years. ...And it comes from within, so it is impossible to dodge. That felt odd for you guys, so you didn't go with that."

"Catholicism certainly is strict."

Meanwhile, they had no sort of problem if the normal system around them did something. Most of the time it mattered if it involved Border in some way and not the people themselves. That was why they had decided to do things personally during recent incidents instead of as true Border agents. It was a bit refreshing to know that he could do it as both now.

The ones involved during these incidents would sometimes bring it back up due to something being said and that would apparently cause quite a scene, but since Suzume had excitedly called it "reference material" it could not be all bad.

...But those types of people are a major doujinshi genre that goes by the name "Spartan".

And so...

"We had to think of ways to do what we could and found out that trying something similar to Shinto was possible, but too annoying to do. Their protection comes in both defensive and offensive forms after all. Defensive ones are primarily of the stealth variety and the offensive ones are direct attacks."

"Just out of curiosity, what exactly is an offensive divine punishment?"

"Oh, there are all kinds. It changes depending on the level of the situation and some cases are different when it's between a Shinto believer and another religion. And since there are all types of different gods, even if it comes down to a punishment, there wouldn't be too much to it. Because that would make others sad."

"Oh, is that so?"

Yes.

"So if it looks like they're going to be doing something, a shrine's pillar is pile-bunkered into their butt using teleportation and they're only castrated for half a year. Surprising, isn't it?"

"That's direct! That's really direct!"

"And it apparently comes from within, so it's impossible to dodge. I've never seen it happen though."

"It's strict too! I can see why Suzume omits that part!"

"Well, no one would imagine it's set up that way. And I've told Hitomi that it's probably best to just draw things however she or Kagami wants."

"...You've read a lot of their stuff, haven't you?"

"Well, only certain ones and the ones with Kuruma-san-...I mean noooo. I haven't read any of theeeeeem. And you're a pretty big genre yourself, Kō! Kuruma-san takes you for walks!"

"That's getting way too kinky way too fast!"

Murakami then took a breath and asked a question.

"But when you get down to it, what is it you want to do, Yuki?"

"Eh? Well, I guess I can do more as the Yagura Branch's representative now, so..."

If he did that, it would support Border and his branch even more than before.

...So I guess that would be the best option here.

But just as he thought that...

"I was asking what it is you want to do."

"...Huh?"

After voicing his confusion, he thought about what Murakami had meant. And...

...Oh.

Oh, I see, he thought. This is the same as when he had asked me at the mall's restaurant back then.

He had not properly thought about too much.

Rationally, he did not know what would happen. But he was confident that he would find something knew if it all ended up changing.

So he calmed his breathing.

"..."

And he opened it. The lid had started to open, so he tried to open it even more in order to remain with everyone. He pressed the lid, loosened it, let it drop down, and nodded.

...Good.

He had let it go this time. He chose to not suppress it. So everything could change. And...

"Kō."

"What is it?"

"There's nothing to worry about."

There was a delay before an answer arrived.

A few seconds definitely passed and he heard the distant voices of people erecting a pillar for some kind of construction.

"...Understood. I will make sure the others know."

Yuki heard exactly what he had hoped to. His acceptance of this had been allowed, and...

...Ah.

He felt like something large was about to spill out.

He held something in his hand and, instead of making a decision on it, he was going to just throw it out. And by letting the other person see him throwing it out, he was hoping to gain even more understanding.

...This is...

Very good.

.

Yuki recalled something.

Long ago, a certain boy had been lost and then returned, but he had been different afterwards. It had scared him.

He had used that as an excuse to keep his distance.

In doing so, he had not known what would happen and he had not known what he should do. But he had felt like nothing would change if he preserved the status quo.

He had essentially thrown out that decision.

In his fear of change, he had looked the other way and thrown it out.

And so when he had "returned" thanks to others, he had been hesitant.

What had changed had returned to normal through yet more change.

The first Unneeded had called it reverse purification.

"When something ie greatly defiled and then purified, it becomes even purer than before. The opposite happened to you."

Even a Shinto had a story in which purity was created by purifying the unclean: by caring for an unclean being instead of detesting it, it had changed into a splendid god and a hunk of gold.

So...

"Look at yourself properly now. You were not the one being purified, but you decided to defile yourself even more by becoming this person. That makes you more than enough of a person to compare to me."

He remembered.

He remembered, but he thought going any further would be dangerous.

He felt like that person's admonition from the past and some childish promises made back then would connect to the present. But...

"—"

Yuki remembered.

What was about to spill from his hand now was a different thing he had done in the past.

Back then, he had looked the other way and hoped it would all sort itself out in time.

But things were different now.

Unlike back then, he was not looking the other way. He was looking directly at the actual contents, but he was making sure not to forget the weight of what he held in his hand. So...

"...Kō!"

.

Shortly after Yuki had made up his mind, Murakami sighed and rested his cheek on his hand in response to the conversation with Yuki.

...I got a little too excited there.

His position was settling into place again and they were looking to the future. Mei had proclaimed the meaning of their situation and others had agreed.

There was no more reason to hesitate.

As the others found or were given a greater grasp of their position through the coming situations, they too would enter this formation.

Their connections went beyond Border and the branch offices extended from them.

Nor was it just their own group. It was more all-encompassing than that.

...It is the formation we all like.

Had he been too excited or playful in hoping that he could find someone he could rely on in that formation?

But Murakami thought about something else.

He recalled when Yuki had told him about his situation as an Unneeded. They learned everything about each other, but when it had begun, Yuki had been a mess of nerves and anticipation.

Murakami had been the same.

And he thought this was the same here.

This formation would likely be used against anyone going against Border or the branches. They had already made allies with the sponsors. They would naturally gathering together with even stronger and more obvious bonds than before.

So Murakami would like it if Yuki was there and if he could rely on him. Also...

...So would my teammates, Mei, and the others...

Murakami's position as someone who knew had been included alongside the close of lover and the admired.

So he had to wonder how Yuki would fit in now that he had fully joined in as well.

But Murakami also had to acknowledge that Yuki was one someone unneeded.

He was someone who had thought he could fade away and that made him someone crucial to them.

And so there was no helping it.

"Hah..."

Murakami sighed and let the tension of joy leave his shoulders. It reminded him somewhat of Mitsuteru, someone else who would have missed Yuki.

...Yes.

Perhaps because the tension had left, that time arrived:

...The battle begins!

He prepared himself. And at that very instant, he heard the unexpectedly loud sound of Yuki leaning against the door.

"...Kō!"

"Eeeeeeeeeeh!"

The battle was delayed.

.

"Wh-wh-what is it!? Is it an emergency!?"

"Huh? An emergency?"

After asking Murakami that through the door, Yuki heard the #4 Attacker clear his throat.

"...So what is it?"

"Oh, well, you see?"

He knew this would sound lame, but he had to say it.

"I said before that there's nothing to worry about...right?"

But. He had to say but. He would regret it otherwise. So he had to say it. He had to speak his mind.

"I'm the kind of person that says that kind of thing without thinking. I kind of have to given my position, but, uh, if you want to, Kō..."

He could not let himself think about why there was heat rising into his cheeks. He simply gave his request.

"Could you talk to me about that kind of thing again?"

He thought this was horribly selfish. He was asking while assuming it would be rejected. And he knew this was something he would normally have to deal with himself.

...But I'm the Yagura Branch's Representative and part of Border as a whole.

His teacher was Akasora Chishi. That was the teacher who had been well known around the city by this. He was also someone with a particular way of thinking.

He understood he served under that sort of man and he understood all of the protections that came with that, but he used to place a lid over it when it was about himself.

And he knew placing a lid over it would only allow it to ferment and grow.

And putting a lid on those things had been his nature.

Now things were different.

There was more than just Murakami to remind him when it was time to remove that lid.

"Can you do that for me?"

He did not receive a response for a while.

And so he leaned toward the door.

"Can you not?"

...Oh, it sounds like I'm trying to force it onto him now. So...

"You can't, can you? Ah...ha ha. Uh, well, um..."

He had made a weird request.

This was strange. He had been so desperate after having let it spill over earlier, but now he was laughing it off even as it was already spilled over. But...

"Yuki."

After taking a breath, the voice continued.

"So unlike the past, you aren't going to pretend not to see it?"

.

After a while, Yuki confirmed what he was asked.

"...Yes."

It was a short response, but...

"Then I will be the person who knows everything about you. Everyone else can start getting to know you better. And if you ask me..."

"Yes?"

"There is no way any of them have not given this any thought. ...Don't you think? They have never once forgotten or overlooked us, has he?"

"—"

He heard quiet laughter from beyond the door.

"Just like you were in the past, I think I'm in too much of a rush to do something. So when we realize we can't do anything, we end up keeping our distance. Especially you since you have your work and your position at the Yagura Branch. So I have one other thought: I'm glad you're relying on others."

"Huh...?"

"You don't understand? You might be as the representative of the Yagura Branch, but you aren't alone as one of us. Even without noticing, or even fully confirming it with yourself, you decided to rely on more people."

So...

"So just as I rely on you, if you continue to rely on me, I will help you out."

.

Things were different in the past, thought Murakami.

Back in the second year of high school, he had only just arrived to Mikado City. Kiyohi had already become a delinquent and was seen as such by others, but he had still primarily been "that guy in class".

...He had already lost so much back then, hadn't he?

Partially due to that, he had been ostracized.

He had looked after only himself, his younger sister, and one or two other people and he had also kept his distance.

He had always said doing all of that was "the only thing he could do" with a perfectly annoyed expression.

But Kiyoshi had changed after his incident with Ninomiya and after he had returned.

He had stopped saying the truth.

Even the former Taiyōko Squad had stopped responding like usual, so anxious days had continued for all of them.

But the day after he turned into "Yuki", he and "Mei" had started showing up more while Mitsuteru, Kimura and Kanzaki had moved on. Kimura and Kanzaki had been the same as always, but "Mei", "Yuki" and Mitsuteru had been a little different.

"Yuki" had started showing himself as someone else.

He had likely fooled himself into this. When he had ended up in a fist fight with Kageura later on, he had smiled, but with that, everything had returned to normal except for his new lifestyle.

"Yuki, I think you are a very well-made person inside."

"...Huh?"

Murakami decided not to mention the two failure squads or the stupid decisions, but aside from that...

"You do such a good job thinking about everyone else and what to do for them. But when it comes to yourself, you used Border and us as an excuse to close it away. But you finally did something about that."

That's right, thought Murakami as a bitter smile naturally reached his lips. And...

"For those things, you now know you can just tap us on the shoulder and let us know."

.

Yuki sighed.

It was a deep sigh that seemed to let all the tension out of his body.

He chuckled on the side.

I guess Mitsuteru rubbed off on me a bit...

But...

...I...

Yes.

...I can now think about what it is I want to do, can't I?

He wanted to give some serious thought eventually. And...

"Kō, thank you."

"No, no. It's just that those people went a little too far without ever giving a proper explanation."

Yuki knew exactly what he meant.

"Some of them can look way too far ahead. They predict what people will do in the very end and they act based on that, so it can be hard to know how o respond to them sometimes. Suzume is like that too."

"I think you mean all the time."

They laughed quietly together and their breathing seemed to synchronize.

They laughed as they discussed friends who were not here. But they knew they would have zero problems with this if they heard them.

That was how well they knew each other. And so...

...I really can rely on them when it's something they can help with, can't I?

Yuki was really bad at that. He had always known that, but there had been nothing he could do thanks to his Unneeded work.

But if there was nothing he could do, he only had to rely on someone else.

He was glad he had friends he could rely on.

...Mei and Minoru might have crossed the starting line and forcibly pulled me along, but Kō was the one that made sure I continued on.

Where were they headed? Wherever their destination, the others would help him and ask for his help along the way.

So...

"Yes."

He made up his mind once more.

And he decided to demonstrate that later.

"That sounds like fun."

And just as he said that...

"Um, Tsukkun and Kō-kun? Jinsei is saying you've been spending a pretty long time together."

Kitazoe opened the bedroom door and peered inside. And...

"—"

Kitazoe froze in place.

Why? wondered Yuki as he thought back on their situation here.

...The representative of the Yagura Branch and Mei's boyfriend is leaning against the door of the bathroom Kō is in.

An awkward sweat started to seep out onto his back and the back of his thighs.

"..."

Kitazoe shut the door.

"Ah, wait! Zoe!"

He called out to the boy, but Kitazoe was strangely fast with his escape.

"Jinsei! Jinsei! Tsukkun is pressed against the bathroom door listening to Kō-kun's noises and saying 'that sounds like fun'! Just as Takato-senpai predicated!"

"Did this just get 2 or 3 times worse than I thought!?"

"Um, Yuki?"

"Huh?"

After removing himself from the door and asking that question, he heard Murakami's voice from the other side.

"I'm just about at the critical point, so can you play the waterfall sound?"

Yuki pressed his forehead against the door and smiled bitterly. Then he complied with Murakami's request.

Immediately, the door burst open again. It was Inukai.

"Yuki! Kō-kun! The Awdry Company supposedly just arrived at the branches! According to the information Kimura's gotten from the base, the branch offices are responding with their own greetings, so we've decided to send some of us out to check on things and others to just chill here! Did you see that!? I'm taking it seriously this time! Now, do you want me to join you in listening!?"

Inukai looked to Yuki, but he made an immediate about-face.

"Shiro! Mei-san! Yuki and Kō-kun are using a waterfall noise to disguise that they're giggling about something with the bathroom door between them! They were having a duet while I wasn't with them! Minoru, you get over here too!"

"Quit your crap, Inu!"

It ultimately took a few minutes for them to catch their breath and head to the living room of the house.

---

Mikado City seemed to have sunk into a nice feeling as it was illuminated by the late morning sunlight from the sun.

The main Border base stood in the middle of the city, so the produced sunlight forced a large shadow to be cast over a part of the city.

To the west of Border's Yagura Branch on the outer part of some woods, the morning sun and the branch office's shadow reached a certain house at the same time.

The small, single-story house was surrounded by a yard on all sides. The front end of the house had the sliding door removed and three walls left open. Currently, a casually-dressed middle aged man sat on the veranda.

He glanced behind him into the opened-up room where two girls sat in front of a monitor producing a large widescreen view.

Black disks were piled up next to them as they viewed the footage playing on the screen.

"Misawa, I have a question about this Peace Sentai Augustus you have been showing me. What is the meaning of the main character Octavianus's catch phrase 'I am Octavianus, the Father of the Country! Now, stick out your ass for a dreadful eight!'?"

"Sawamura Kyōko-san, this is the series that came before Docking of the Saint: Valentine, so...oh, but you didn't see that one, did you? In either case, it is set on the Mediterranean, so it is quite passionate without crossing the gender line. Also, it is a three-member party now, but in another two episodes, Octavianus is unable to restrain his passion for his teammates and the party falls apart."

"Okay..." Sawamura nodded and turned back toward the gaze watching them from the veranda. "Why are you wasting your money on this, Akasora-san?"

"Well, you know. I wanted to see this when I was a kid, but I had too many lessons to take for this and that. Now that they have a box set out, of course I'm going to buy it. Don't you have things like that, Kyōko-chan? Maybe a Masafumi body pillow or something? It's fine if that's the case. I won't tell him. I leave it to you to tell him how you feel. Even if you had a lot of chances to do so."

"Do you want to get on my nerves that badly? Oh, and a correction. All those times you say I had a chance, something came up. I would have done so otherwise."

"Sawamura Kyōko-san...that makes you sound like you are trying too hard to not tell him."

Arisa looked away from the screen, but Sawamura expressionlessly placed a hand on her shoulder.

"Is that a problem?"

"No, not really... But why have you taken so long anyways?"

Arisa removed her examination glasses as she asked and Akasora nodded.

"I tried to help a few times, like when I went to first check on Seidō after Shikifuku was made, but at the time, she was a girl ready to attack me. I think she occasionally took up a weapon just to get at me, like a true girl."

"I am still a girl. I do not age."

"I even brought her something to use as a present to get closer to Masafumi."

"I will admit that Akasora-san has indeed tried to help me out, there is no way to deny that. But he always does it in the worst ways possible and it makes me want to not say anything after at all. So he's also at fault."

Sawamura looked to Akasora again.

"But, Akasora-san, why are you bringing up this nostalgic information that almost feels unknown even though I remember it? And why did you call me here during such a busy morning?"

"Oh, yeah. I have some business that requires your detailed knowledge of the same gender. There's a lot I don't know, so I'd like your help."

"What would-...?"

Before Sawamura could finish her question, she looked up because someone had bowed and entered the house.

"Kanzaki?"

.

Sawamura looked to exactly the person mentioned in her question.

...What is this about?

As Sawamura wondered that, Kanzaki noticed her. The girl looked to Akasora but raised her head a little when she saw Sawamura. Sawamura concluded it was an expression of "surprise".

But Kanzaki quickly corrected the position of her eyebrows, closed her eyes, and bowed toward the former Combatant.

She circled to the front of the veranda with a calm, undisturbed pace. Noticing how the girl moved not too much and not too little, Sawamura was reminded of some other fighters. Ones who were far more skilled than the girl.

There were certainly many differences between an older Border fighter and the newer Border fighters. Especially in relation to knowledge and thought processes between each person and their own respective fighting and learning styles.

But when it came to something as uncertain as a human being and how they did things...

...I'm impressed by something like this, huh. That's fine since I know how a girl feels during that age.

What knowledge and skills had Kanzaki learned before?

Indirectly sensing someone who has to be one of the world's greatest, both as a fighter and Operator, Sawamura carved her own deficiencies into her memory. And into a special chat.

GM Aide: "Listen, everyone. The behind-the-scenes characters like us are getting helped a lot by Mei, but nothing good will come of being lazy about that fact. Complete two hundred sets of team management today."

The others sent back complaints over the shared chat. Behind her, Arisa set the screen to play at three-times speed, presumably to work through the black disks faster. The sound sped up.

"I-am-Octavianus-the-Father-of-the-Country! Now-stick-out-your-ass-for-a-dreadful-eight! Fwohhhh!"

...Is 'a dreadful eight' meant to sound like 'a dreadful fate'?

Back when it was airing, she might have been able to solve that mystery by sending in a question, but hoping for an answer now was meaningless. She placed the question on hold and looked to Akasora.

He already had his back to her.

Kanzaki slowly got down on one knee and Sawamura asked Akasora a question as he faced the girl.

"Akasora-san, should I prepare some tea?"

"No, I'd prefer you were here, Kyōko-chan. Arisa, you get the tea."

"Eh? But the main character is in the middle of his seventh time. ...Sawamura Kyōko-san, you've learned that look gets results, haven't you? Fine. I'll take care of that."

Kanzaki watched Nakagami with an unconcerned and expressionless look. Based on the girl's gaze, she may have had a habit of observing how people walked. Based on the level of the person who had taught her a bit, Sawamura could guess that their movements contained a lot of waste.

...But why would he want me to be here for this?

"Anyway." Akasora spoke to Kanzaki without turning back toward Sawamura. "Kanzaki-kun, I'm not really sure how much help I can be for what you're asking. But I do have someone here who knows more about teaching and women in general than anyone else, so try asking her."

"You can't do it yourself, Akasora-san?"

"I'm already relying on my age, you see."

He laughed bitterly before continuing.

"Kanzaki-kun, you would be better off with something more straightforward, not my kind of cheap tricks. ...Oh, but I'm not forcing you or anything. That way just seems, well, like more fun."

"Akasora-san. May I ask something?"

"Hm?"

He still did not turn around, so Sawamura asked her question while aware she was glaring at him.

"What exactly is Kanzaki asking for?"

"Tell her, Kanzaki-kun."

"Right." Kanzaki sat the rest of the way down and placed her hands next to her legs. "I am looking for someone who can act as a mentor for me, or for at least a place for me to join."

.

Sawamura concluded that was an impossible request.

She instantly searched for every type of training area in Mikado City, but...

"I doubt anywhere in Mikado City would be able to satisfy someone like you, Kanzaki. Not that I mean it in a rude way."

"No, I am not trying to challenge the dojo or anything and I am not really looking for a place to train."

Kanzaki met Sawamura's gaze with a powerful one of her own and spoke.

"I cannot do too many solo matches, but I am still trying to continue training. I am also including some basic training from Sekai-san's lessons to create my own personal style."

"That makes sense. It has been determined Hikigane's lessons are quite unfair and aggressive for a member of mankind, but is that still not enough? Why not ask him to be your training teacher?"

Sawamura had searched through all the active agents and Sekai best fit the requirements, but Kanzaki shook her head.

"Sekai-san's blade is..."

She thought for a moment before continuing.

"It is meant to be an enemy and it has to stay that way."

"You've been paying attention."

Kanzaki's expression relaxed when she heard Akasora's comment. She may have felt he had supported her conclusion. The man then placed a hand on his chin.

"I see. It's true Hiki-kun might be able to teach you, but that would of course mean taking up a lot of his time. And as an unneeded person, he has to deal with others as well. And most importantly, he has to act as your 'enemy', so if you asked him to start acting as your 'ally'..."

"If we look at his 'enemy' role as a school of some kind, it would be the same as having him shift to a different school. While it would help me, it would lead to errors by the 'enemy' for everyone else," said Kanzaki. "Also, I am honestly not sure what I want."

The girl tensed her shoulders and Sawamura asked a question.

"In other words...you have not decided whether you want to continuing growing as you are or if you want to introduce something new?"

"Yes. I don't even know that, so I was thinking of leaving that up in the air for now."

I see, thought Sawamura. If her request is about "type" and not "level", then I can relax the search criteria.

"Got it. Understood. I will create a list of places that may be able to fulfill that role and send it to you. Please wait until about eight o'clock. Will that be fine?"

"Oh, yes... Thank you very much!"

She bowed with enough force to shake her hair, so she had apparently wanted this quite badly.

I need to live up to her expectations, decided Sawamura as she saw Akasora's shoulders relax.

He turned toward her with the corners of his mouth raised.

"I guess I made the right choice."

---

Mukuro felt out of place.

He also felt ashamed.

"Are you okay? Did you get enough sleep?"

His brother's girlfriend and some of his friends were sitting around the living room. The space was rather large, but someone had still decided to sit shoulder-to-shoulder next to him.

Everyone was glancing towards them, but he found it hard to pay much attention to them when his eyes would close from time-to-time. Something he found them doing more of recently. The reason for them was obvious, but...

"Hah. I guess it wouldn't be enough. Lay down and get some more sleep."

He really did not want to accept it.

The person who was telling him these things and the one lightly guiding him to lay back down was not someone he was used to. It was not even someone he liked.

"Since when were those two so close?"

"I didn't even know that Tsuji knew him."

"Maybe it's to get on Yuki's good side?"

That would do him no good, so Mukuro decided the last question did not matter.

But he knew why he was in this position to begin with.

...It's because thiiiis guy helped me oooout.

It was annoying to think about, but it was the truth.

"Shinnosuke-kun really is good at these sorts of things, even while being a middle child."

"Is that the part that really matters?"

"Maybe Hogo is a bit confused after having to deal with Inukai for so long."

That did make sense from what he was able to gather.

Still, there was something else that he found strange. The way this boy spoke compared to the way he acted.

"Yes, it's stuff like this that makes Shinnosuke-kun special."

"What do you mean?" Arafune asked.

"Well," Hogo started with a smile. "Out of everyone I know, Shinnosuke-kun is the one of the people I would allow Sumiharu to sleep with and not worry about it afterwards. Even if they went so far as to deepen their connection through their bodies, I would only be happy about it."

The room went quiet.

It lasted only a moment, but Mukuro could tell that something was going to come up.

He quickly covered his ears, but he still heard the collective shout of "EEEEEEEEEEHHHHHHHHHH!?"

The girls around the room began speaking to each other in hushed voices while some of the guys turned to Tsuji with judging eyes. Others were quick to jump to their feet and rush over to the hallway they knew Inukai was in.

As for Tsuji himself...

"...Soooo red."

"Please just leave me alone..."

"Buuut it's funny to seeee you like that."

"I would rather you forget everything that was said."

"Will you leeeet me stay up?"

"No!"

Mukuro felt himself pout like a child, but he did not care enough about it right now. This was somewhere he hated to be, but found himself most comfortable.

If he would not be allowed to stay awake by Tsuji then he would use Tsuji as much as he could.

But just as he was going to ignore everything once more, two sudden noises reached him. Both were screams, but one of them was of worry while the other was a promise of destruction. Both of them said the same thing.

"TSUUUUUJI!"

The first belonged to Inukai.

"Shiro, that's nice of you to say, but I wouldn't want to do any of that stuff with someone else! You're the only person I want to do naughty things with! Even if Tsuji-chan has his looks going for him, he isn't anywhere as cute as you are! Don't worry, I won't ever do anything like that with someone else!"

The second was his brother.

"Tsuji, what the hell!? First you're trying to take Mukuro and now you're going after Shiro! I thought you were one of the better ones, but you're just a degenerate who goes around stealing others, aren't you!? Touch either one of them and-"

His brother stopped mid-shout, likely seeing the position he was in on Tsuji's lap. It had been a product of Tsuji's worry, but now the situation had turned dire for a lot of people.

Before any of them could say anything he felt the body below him being forcibly moved, making him have to lower himself onto the couch.

He opened his eyes to see his brother standing in front of the couch with his back turned to him. All around them were the others who felt the need to take this all in as entertainment, but his brother was more focused on the Tsuji who was now sitting seiza-style on the ground.

"Um, Onii-san, this is a bit much. I don't really understand what the problem is, but Shinnosuke-kun is a good person, so..."

"I get that, Shiro, but..."

Mukuro felt that the pause was unnecessary, but he didn't say anything.

"There are still some things I need to go over here."

"And what business do you have speaking to my teammates like that?"

Then it really began.

.

Everyone watched, each ready to do something about what was happening.

Yuki was standing in front of a sitting Tsuji. To his right a voice was heard and was followed by footsteps. When they turned to see who it was, Inukai was the one to speak up.

"Ninomiya-san and Michelle-chan!"

Ninomiya gave a nod in recognition while Michelle sleepily waved over.

The night before had shown them all just how much fun Michelle had when she had been fed by the Shitokei parents and played around with the others there. Overall, it had been nice to see the girl enjoying herself.

But now she was feeling the results of all of that.

"It looks like a lot of you terrible people left."

"Kah. Of course. Unlike you, who decided to stay in, they had things to do. In particular, Umi and Seijin had to go out and check on some things. ...Or so they had said last night."

"Ōji had said he just wanted to get out and that he wanted to talk to someone about something," Arafune said casually from his spot next to Hokari.

The Arafune Squad duo had moved over a bit so they could get a better view of the situation and to make sure Kagami would have a good view of what she needed to draw. Across from them had been the Kageura Squad duo, but they seemed more content with just loitering around.

Even so, Kageura spoke up from his spot.

"What's the point of giving this guy an explanation? He'll just go with whatever he wants and call it a day. I figured you'd know that well enough."

"I just need to be careful when Michelle is around," Yuki said with a wave.

The small girl in Ninomiya's arms was rubbing her eyes to get the sleep from them, but they were all aware that their thoughts could still reach her even in this state. Being careful here was more important since she might not have a filter while still tired.

Yuki motioned for everyone else to keep things to a minimum so that she would not be overwhelmed so early in the morning.

Ninomiya glared over to him but said nothing about it.

"If that is the case, where are the ones who own the house? I had heard Inukai call Minoru over before, but I don't see Minoru here."

"That family is in the kitchen," Kitazoe called out from his spot next to a sleep Krümel.

Kimura had decided to sleep near the German Shepard the night before, but he had wanted to remain with his owner. That had placed her in an odd position where she would need to sleep by both Oshiro and Inukai in order to remain with Krümel.

By the end of the night, Krümel had been seen curled up next to Taka and no one could bring themselves to interrupt that sleep.

"Ha ha ha! Good one there! I'll give you that!"

"I didn't think he would freeze up like that."

"Oh, but it's good for the girls. It should be easier for 'em to draw this if he doesn't move."

Most of the girls nodded with Mizukami's words. The ones to roll their eyes or question what was happening had been Kimura and Fuyushi, who were both staying away from the group as a whole.

As Ninomiya was coming out of his shock, Jinsei could be seen walking into the room. His clothes were completely gone and the only other thing visible was a green square covering his crotch. Everyone else seemed far too used to this. The only ones to appear disturbed by this were Ninomiya and the sitting Tsuji.

"Really though, one is in the bathroom in the hallway and the other hasn't woken up yet."

"Kimura, that doesn't mean much if you don't specify who is where."

The way Kimura shrugged her shoulders had others raising their brows, but none of them said anything.

Yuki let out a sigh from his mouth and quickly turned back to the sitting Tsuji. A moment went by before he motioned for Tsuji to go back to where he had been.

"We can have a proper talk later. If you can get Mukuro to sleep, I can't do much to you. Besides, Shiro and Inu also like you, so you have some extra protection."

"I didn't think you cared if it was someone I liked."

Inukai moved to hug Oshiro and was stopped by a sudden pillow to the head.

"Pillow Shuriken!?" he yelled as he hit the floor.

Ninomiya shook his head while moving to sit down on one of the open seats there. Michelle let out a yawn before laying her head on his shoulder.

"Now then," said Ninomiya. "If you all are done being fools, there was something I wanted to address."

Jinsei made a sudden turn back into the kitchen, where he had originally come from.

"He didn't mean for you to get dressed!" Tōma called out.

There was a noise in the kitchen, but no one bothered to think about it.

Everyone shrugged and looked back to the slightly disturbed Ninomiya.

Shaking his head a bit, Ninomiya spoke up again. This time his attention was directly on Yuki and no one else.

With a harsher glare, he opened his mouth.

"It's about time you came clean with something."

"And what's that? I really don't like when you talk, so just spit it out."

Ninomiya clicked his tongue once and continued.

"What is this about 'Unneeded'?"

.

Murakami stopped at what he had heard.

After hearing Yuki force Inukai out of the room he had finished his business and gotten ready for the day. They would be spending some time in the house before going out so he decided to stay in his sleeping wear for now.

Once he had reached the hallway leading to the living room he could heard everyone else talking to each other.

And what he heard was...

"...Why are you bringing that up?"

Yuki had a bitter tone as he answered Ninomiya.

It made sense why he would feel that way when he had already decided to move away from that sort of thing. For Ninomiya to bring it up like this meant that he had realized there was something to it that majority of people did not know about.

Murakami was one of the few who did know.

"Because it involves more than just you, doesn't it? Those two... Hikigane and Bakuto. They are in the same situation. And both Murakami and Kumagai are involved with that, aren't they?"

He had noticed even that much.

But instead of Yuki being the one to answer him, it was Jinsei.

Having come back from the kitchen, he brought over a tray with some small pieces of breakfast on it.

"You found out that you can live freely and decided to show those two the same thing, right, Yuki? If that's the case, it should be fine to finally say something about it. I'd do it myself, but I'm not the right person to talk about it."

"So even you knew about it..." he could hear Ninomiya mutter under his breath.

Jinsei nodded and did a spin before placing another plate down for the girls.

He could see Yuki let out a sigh and throw himself down to the floor where he was standing. Murakami took this as his chance to walk in.

And just as he did so...

Still Young Girl: "Ko ko ko. I would also like to know about this 'Unneeded' situation."

Kuro-shi: "As would I! Pardon the intrusion, but we would like to join in on this conversation."

Jinsei gave a laugh and put the last plate down between him and Yuki. He motioned for Murakami to get closer and patted the spot directly next to Yuki.

"I thought it would be good for them to know about this too!"

He could only sigh.

I guess we're doing this then...

---

"Ko ko," Yoshiko laughed in her throat.

There were two people standing directly in front of her, but she only hide her smile behind her fan.

Without Denji here it left her with too much freedom and not enough thoughts of going easy on them.

"It seems like you two have gotten here at an interesting time. Why not take a seat and join me? This should be informative for a lot of us."

The first one of the two to do as she said was the black-haired boy who she found to be rather handsome. He lowered himself into a crouch before throwing himself down butt-first.

Once he had done so she looked to the other one.

"I'm fine with standing," he said with a guarded smile.

She would not hold it against him, but she did have a thought about him.

Be too cautious and this fox will end up trapping you here forever.

It did not matter if he could see the future or not. She would make sure he would remain trapped until she was satisfied.

"Now then, Jin Yūichi and Futoyuki. The two of you wanted to speak to me about something. But there is a conversation going on that likely involves someone important to me. What to do now?"

Jin turned his head to look into the city.

Meanwhile, the sitting Futoyuki smiled to her and waved his hand in front of him.

"We don't mind also listening in."

"Ko ko ko. Good to know."

And if that was the case...

Still Young Girl: "How about we add in the people who are also important to them?"