"Hey, Kikuchihara-kun, how is the wiring over there going? Did you honestly jam everything inside? Oh, c'mon, I mean into the hole! You wrap it around like this, gather it all together like a tentacle, and…! Ahhhn! Th-the cable is honestly all wrapped around me! H-how dirty! …Hey, you aren't even looking, Kikuchihara-kun! Neither are you, Hisato! Oh? Why are you giving me that look of scorn while I'm lying honestly boneless on the floor with a cable wrapped around me!? Are you leaving me like this!? Are you!? Because that's wonderful too!"
A brown-haired high schooler sighed into the early summer sky as a strange girl writhed on the floor with a hemp rope cable wrapped around her.
They were in an open plaza, but...
"Misaki... This is a school event and not a festival, plus a lot of the third years are here, so try not to play around too much."
The nametag on his tracksuit said "Mikado City Public School: Kikuchihara Shirō" and he crouched in front of the girl whose nametag said "Mikado City Public School: Misaki Suzumebachi".
Kikuchihara lightly tapped a few times on the waist hard point of Suzume's mostly black outfit.
"Can you untangle yourself? This cable is for our work, so we can't cut it."
"What are you talking about!? I'm honestly having fun playing tentacles and I need to think about what options I would have if this were a porn game, so don't interrupt! Or do you want to join in!? You do, don't you!? But there's no room, so you can't! Jealous, aren't you!?"
"I am a little jealous of that side of your personality. Yes."
Another boy in a mostly blue outfit stepped up alongside Kikuchihara. His public school nametag said "Sasamori Hisato", he crouched down in front of Suzume, and he clearly started to say something, but…
"No, never mind. This is Misaki, so it's no use."
"Heh heh. Now, you've honestly said it! You admit defeat, don't you!? Surrender to me and I'm willing to trim you in the bath every night! Oh wait, that's for Dai-chan to do now, isn't it!? For the both of you! But anyway; I'm tentacling!"
"Why does she never get tired of herself?"
"It's true! It's so true!" shouted the crazy person as Kikuchihara and Hisato stood up.
Hisato sighed and spoke to Suzume.
"Listen, Misaki. We are trying to prepare for the Joint Gagaku Festival with Mikado City's private school. The third years are doing most of it, but first years like us were called in to tune the stage for the the event. So can't you show some restraint? We especially need you around since you're good with that stuff."
Hisato pointed to their surroundings.
As his hand swept around, it indicated third years in uniforms and light machinery equipment preparing for the Gagaku Festival. They were pulling back the floor in places, pulling out the tuners like pillars, and then tuning them.
It was the standard scene of Gagaku Festival preparations.
The occasional amplified instrument was heard for tuning or testing purposes, but the note would vanish into the sky.
Kikuchihara spoke with his hair fluttering in the wind.
"The place's auditory control system hasn't been activated yet, so all the sounds end up dead. As a plaza, it will have better acoustics than a concert hall when fully activated."
Kikuchihara and Hisato looked around at the stone plaza being prepared.
The space being longer towards one side was characteristic of the places used for plays and Gagaku. The area was also used for safe zones, it had a stage to the side, and special seats were prepared near the center.
"Also…"
Two main things were visible beyond the plaza.
One was the entire city of Mikado and the Forbidden Zone beyond that. The other was the giant fortress in the middle of that zone.
A giant torii stood at the end of the area on the east side, but far beyond the spiritual gate and city was a building that stood to protect people.
Kikuchihara sounded nonchalant when he saw that scenery.
"That fortress we work at, a building meant to fight Neighbors, continues to stay up this year too."
.
Kikuchihara could see Border, which was a large building and the Forbidden Zone spread out around it.
Their school was in an area three kilometers from where they were.
It was an early afternoon and all of Mikado City was visible with the sun shining on it from above. The city was no longer a simple one. The city had long since expanded and the forested around it had decreased. The main thing had been that large building sticking out.
...It sure is big.
Because the citizens took care of it, its equipment was cutting edge.
Hisato looked in the same direction next to Kikuchihara.
"It feels a bit strange to know that is our headquarters to use to fight against Neighbors and protect this city. Look at all those sponsor cars moving toward it... They're showing off."
"If our organization had that much, we could do so much more..."
"Heh heh heh. I don't want to hear that from someone who messes with this honestly shady girl with plenty of equipment and sales deals! You should expand yourself so that I can go into a different industry. You could do a lot of custom stuff if you also use Dai-chan a bit."
"That kind of thing is in a legal gray area, so we can't exactly make it standard…"
A few shadows of some companies passed by the road.
The group heading to Border bore the emblem of the Kurosaki family.
They all had signs on the back and sides which were running advertisements for the Kurosaki brand.
But that was not all. Border and general Mikado business vehicles were moving back and forth throughout the city and in the distant areas. Border had sent out some of their branch members to act as guidance points for a publicity stunt.
The surrounding third years suddenly looked to Border.
"This is going to be a hot and busy time."
"I'm on the industrial committee and manage the ice rooms, so I'm actually going to be freezing..."
"Well, this is the last year we can do this kind of thing as students."
They laughed and suddenly all looked to the side.
"I wonder if Border will be here next year too. I hope so."
It had no reason to hide its presence, so the Border base stood proudly above the other buildings.
Drawn by the third years, Kikuchihara also focused on the proud Border. His hand began to reach for his pocket, where her Trigger was, and he looked carefully at the fortress.
It was positioned within the Forbidden Zone and clear of any usable buildings.
And while between Border and the schools, they technically counted as fighters, but...
"The Kurosaki family supplied this large area within Mikado City and it lets us work with one of the private schools, so it's a shame it seems to be small here."
As soon as Hisato said that, they heard a voice on the western side.
A group similar to their own was moving there.
The area was shaped a little different from their own and its parameters were much larger and contained more. It was a special stage, given to a different school group that was meant to have a squad from Border there as well.
The Mikado City student of the area reservation were performing similar work on that other area.
Some shouted and waved their hands to the others while some continued their work.
...Our city's reservation is full of life.
"We need to do our best too. ...We have to support our upperclassmen, I guess."
"Oh? Looks like Utagawa is having a good effect on you, Kikuchihara-kun."
Kikuchihara operated his tablet to have the stage floor open up.
"We have finished the wiring for the preliminary activation, so let's get to work."
.
Kikuchihara opened a few tabs, and in one of them...
"Help me out, Mouse."
"Coming out."
A program, Mouse, clapped her hands from within the screen. It had been created by the Suzaku Squad Captain and given to Kikuchihara, leaving him in charge of the situation.
At the same time, the floor in front of Kikuchihara moved.
The central panels of the stage floor automatically opened and revealed what lay below.
The third year Gagaku Festival workers on the stage let out impressed voices, but Kikuchihara did not hesitate even with those upperclassmen focused on him. The task itself was already tiring to him, so he did not want to waste time thinking about other things.
At the moment, he was only focused on those playing instruments or discussing their auditory system.
Part of him felt jealous, but at the same time…
…Oh, that one would sound even nicer with another lighter one added in.
He just about interrupted them as a newbie, so he tried to calm himself.
"Phew."
As he regulated his breathing, the opening floor came to a stop.
He and the other two were currently…
…In front of the tuner for the stage.
Several dozen pieces of the stage floor were stored away over a wide area. This exposed a dark blue block fifteen meters wide and thirty meters tall.
The tuner was known as the Divine Sound Home System. That name was engraved into the center of the wedge like structure that was common in products of the TSUBAKI Conglomerate. They were about to use the device to tune the hollow areas in the surrounding space.
With the floor moved, Kikuchihara and Hisato stepped onto the tuner which was a step down from the surrounding stage.
The third years working on the stage gave them interested glances from a distance but never moved in close.
When she saw them, Suzume finally moved from the floor. He laughed, quietly wiggled her black outfit that was tangled in the hemp rope cable, and then sat up.
"Looks like they know this is honestly serious business. …Kikuchihara-kun, that means this stage is yours."
Kikuchihara's heart skipped a beat at that.
Suzume was the one who had taught their entire group, the one who had drilled this sort of thing into them, so it was possible she was using this as a test. But...
…Calm down, me.
This girl always acted like she was on stage, so she simply talked about other people like they were the same.
So Kikuchihara sighed in his heart and took a scolding tone.
"Listen, Misaki. This stage for the actual performers. I'm only tuning the area to make sure we know where the hollow areas are. This is just what you signed us up for," he said. "Also, you would get pissed if I didn't do this and then start annoying me for it."
"Just because you're lazy at times doesn't mean you honestly can't do it. You're going to miss out."
"O-on what?"
Does she know? he wondered, but Suzume only narrowed her eyes and laughed.
Then she stood up.
"You really are fun to tease."
Suzume gave a single twist of her body and the hemp rope cable easily fell away. She then looked down at Kikuchihara from a step above.
"Now, when is it my turn, Kikuchihara-kun? If I still have some time, can I show the set ups to my teammates?"
"Oh, Misaki, you get set up in the center. Hisato, a little help. ...If we have to do this anyway, we can get our work done here first and enjoy a reward as we do."
"Right."
Hisato nodded and ran along with his heels sounding loudly on the top of the tuner.
"Um, will the one here work?"
When Hisato stopped and asked his question, Kikuchihara nodded and used a tab to open it up.
"Yeah. Hah. Raise the edge of the tuner and then do the four counters in a diagonal line starting from there. …Oh, and by 'there', I mean the left…which would be your right."
"Eh? Eh?"
After Kikuchihara apologized to the confused boy, a few large forms approached. Three light machinery equipments operated by students were walking over.
A staticky mail from the engineering club appeared next on the screen. It was from Taichi.
Taicchi: "Need some help from the machines up there!? They're technically supposed to be working on something else, but with your permission, I can get the upperclassmen to agree!"
"Thanks, but we should be fine with Hisato here and the permission we got to use his Trigger. That way we can use the equipment properly too. Thanks for the offer though, Taichi. now go and make sure you aren't in the way."
Taicchi: "I'm not in the way! But don't worry about it! We're helping out the Student Council too! The School Festival's Gagaku Festival is the first big job for the student council, so I just hope we're doing our part to help!"
It was only text, but Kikuchihara could almost hear the smile in Taichi's voice. The light machinery equipment raised an arm in greeting and then returned to their original work.
…This job is up to me. Or rather, I let them leave it to me.
I need to do it right, he thought while taking a breath and clapping his hands.
Kikuchihara, Hisato, and Suzume (who had stepped down onto the tuners) exchanged powerful looks and Kikuchihara spoke.
Mikado City's Public High School #1 - First Years Kikuchihara Shirō, Misaki Suzumebachi, and Sasamori Hisato - will now tune the area for any hollow parts."
.
Hisato put on the glove hanging from his right waist belt.
The glove had some small machines woven into it, so it lowered one's interference with surrounding noise and machines. The formatted meter in the back of the hand indicated the amount used. The meter was currently a blank box, but...
...This isn't really made for someone like me.
He was a guy who had had not yet learned how to lower his own sound. Since he moved with less care than he probably should have, a device that took noise into account clashed with his movements. Simply placing the globe on his right hand and tightening it caused the square meter to slowly fill with black from left to right. So...
"Kikuchihara, let's make this quick."
Kikuchihara tossed something downward with a fingertip. As soon as it sank into the top of the tuner, he clapped once.
"Ah."
Bluish-white veins of light filled the top surface and mold lines of the tuner. The light pulsed and moved from Kikuchihara to Hisato.
This actually feels more like using trion than anything. That thought process isn't helped considering I'm using my trion body for this.
"Ah!"
He quickly spread his legs because the upper bulkhead of the tuner's edge had opened where he was standing.
A square space fifty centimeters across opened to reveal a torii-shaped handle and the top of a pillar continuing down.
The pillar was a sound container. In other words, it was the vessel to keep in sound.
A torii-style screen appeared on top of the torii-shaped handle. An arrow drew a circle to tell him which way to turn it, so he leaned forward with his legs still spread.
"Now, then."
When he grabbed the handle, light spilled from between it and the glove. Noise was leaking out and he could even hear it.
Hisato knew this tuner's role was to keep in excessive noise.
...It keeps in noise and sends it back to give more strength to the original, which tunes the surrounding area to see if it is suitable to use.
It was not something he would have even known about until he had been signed up by Suzume. The others had trouble explaining everything, and the girl who had sighed him up was already crazy. The only reason this had seemed trivial at all was because they had a known musician with them who could tell figure out anything involving music without a second thought. It was all second nature to her, but...
"We usually tend to not have so much time to spend on that kind of thing."
When holding a festival, people tried to enjoy what they could, and at the end they would only think of the memories made during it. Gagaku and plays that were performed held no real meaning to most of them. When having to work on the project itself, one could find the intricacies fascinating as something they had not known.
Performing such a tuning created a location that would not overpower others with noise or make it hard to hear, and it tended to also leave a good impression for the next time. Just like echolocation, this kind of thing also informed others of the surrounding structures and how they would affect the noise.
It was both a nice location for hearing some nice sounds as well as a dangerous location that could ruin hearing. The initial tuning work could not be done by normal means, so...
"Hisato. It's stabilizing. Raise the container with the machine inside."
"Right!"
On Kikuchihara's instructions, Hisato turned the container's handle.
This is heavy, thought the Border agent as he turned it. Normally, a group would use specialized equipment to turn it and pull up the container, so it was not meant for an individual.
...But I can do it!
It was only maybe once a month that he came across some work that required a moment for him to use his Trigger.
But this time he had been given permission by someone else.
Instructions: Spin, spin, spin~
What is this? he wondered, but when he remembered it was a Kurosaki product, he ignored it.
He wrapped just his right hand's fingers around the handle and turned it three times. On the final turn, he felt something like a screw coming out. At the very end, he felt something strongly fit into place.
And...
Instructions: Push it in with a father's guiding touch.
Hisato thought with a smile and finally slowly pushed it in.
Instructions: Wrong.
"..."
He gave it some more thought. "Umm," he said while changing his previous approach and pushing it in with a patting touch.
Instructions: Needs more love.
"Be more specific!"
"Hisato. If you do not hurry up, your glove will expire."
He glanced at the formatted meter on the back of his hand and found it was past halfway.
I need to hurry, he thought, but then he came to a stop. He tried to push it in quite gently, so he was not sure what to do now.
...Don't tell me it requires the much more forceful guidance of someone like Suwa-san.
He breathed in and emulated his captain when the man would scold him with a smile.
"...Hnn!"
A great roar passed through to the bottom of the floor and the ground below his feet shook. Kikuchihara hummed on and nearly fell, but Suzume caught him.
"W-wait, Hisato! And Misaki, why are you groping me!?"
"Eh!? What are you talking about, Kikuchihara-kun! How can I honestly not grope you!? That's the standard form for the back-attack according to the version of Sun Tzu's The Art of War written after he leveled up to being known as Dirty Old Man Sun Tzu! It says to stick your hands through under her arms and honestly say 'Sorry, our legs seem to have gotten tangled up'!"
"Hisato, I am going to ignore this person, so just tell me why you made a full power strike."
"Eh? But that was only about 70%?"
The third years looked shocked, but Kikuchihara and Suzume looked more understanding. That may have been a sign of what made them worthwhile people.
At any rate, he looked back to the container's screen.
Instructions: ...I'll accept that just this once.
The container rose. It was a metal cylinder, but the middle became a square cage with a thick bundle of wires inside.
The wires were glowing. The density of the wires showed just how much noise was gathering constantly, but they only glowed dully since the noise was stable. Hisato needed to repeat the process in the four corners, and then...
"Misaki will dance and Kikuchihara will play music to equally tune all of the containers."
"Yes, if there will be many performances during the actual festival, we need to bring out any issues with the area now, so be careful."
Kikuchihara was speaking not just to Hisato and Suzume but to the surrounding third years as well.
Unsecured places for sound or footing could cause terrible feedback. And instead of simple ones like strange noises and lights, they tended to happen as something breaking and causing accidents.
Most of the third years started paying more attention to them and some placed security or small tools on their waists. Hisato prepared a small shield for himself using his Trigger and walked over to the next container he needed to raise.
Kikuchihara looked his way and raised the reinforced biwa he used as an instrument.
"You have to play too, Hisato."
"What!? ...N-no one told me that!"
"Daigo had said you learned some instruments after Misaki's lessons, so I brought something similar to what he had described for you. Yes."
"Why does he have to do things like that when they never does what really matters...?"
"What really matters?"
The other two on stage tilted their heads, but Hisato did not feel like answering.
...I mean treating me like a proper partner.
He had made a promise with him recently. It had happened during a time in his life he was embarrassed to think about and it had created who he was now. It helped him to keep moving forward.
But recently...
…I wonder if he will continue to remember that promise.
He also felt like he had messed up a lot himself.
But the truth of the matter was that it was now the opposite of that. He had been shown just how different he was during the "greeting" Mikado City had gotten and the attack on their base.
"At the time, I had gotten the feeling things might have just continued on like that without anything changing."
He spoke that comment below his breath and turned toward Kikuchihara and Suzume.
He thought about "what really matters" again and opened his mouth.
He shifted his thoughts from himself and to the idea in general.
"I suppose what really matters in this age is fighting off Neighbors and finding a way to stop the Gates from opening."
"Heh heh. And you're placing that burden on which shoulders again? You can't honestly believe that we aren't all a part of that and it is only up to a single person."
"It is probably going to be a while before we can rest easy without worrying about Neighbors again."
Hisato looked at the torii-shaped handle for the container that opened the tuner's four corners. He then looked to the biwa viola case Kikuchihara was holding up.
"Anyway, let's do what we can in preparation to hold a festival. Then we can get something to drink as a treat while we look around."
"Can you hear that noise? Hm?"
Someone spoke in the center of a classroom, within a school of Mikado City. The stone steps in front of the academy gave a nice view of the sky and someone sat on those steps with another man standing behind him.
"Masafumi, what does it sound like to you?"
"Chishi, you really are the kind of person who likes to ask things you already know the answer to."
"I try not to trust myself too much. Remember that I did that in the past and it did not end well...for a lot of us."
"So you have plenty of confidence and you're simply getting further confirmation from others, Chishi?"
Shinoda crossed his arms as he continued.
"That area's Gagaku reminds me of the music from long ago. It lacks a few of the sounds, but the gentle cycle and few changes are quite similar."
"Masafumi, you really are the kind of person who likes to make things more complicated than they need to be. How about you find a simpler way of saying that? Hm?"
"I'm pretty sure you understood well enough. The music from long ago was sought in the a lot of places and is still brought up by some odd people today, but those kids have already grasped it in a more primitive way."
"You mean how they tune the area with music and sometimes even find missing spots with sound alone? Hm?"
"Correct."
Akasora looked away from Shinoda.
"That's the problem with those kinds of brats. They get close to something important, but they try to use it as something functional."
"Right," said Shinoda again before forming long breaths of laughter. "They enjoy the simple things however they like and try to connect things to their music, dance, and plays. You find it in entertainers and overly excited people as well. ...In other words, the less exchange they have and the less developed in the arts they are, the more naturally people grow close to certain things. And their music, dance, and plays end up taking on that theme."
"Not everyone has the 'abnormal' ability to create music, dance, and plays, so we tend to view it as something special when performed nicely. And so we get stuff like idols, bands, and the like. But..."
Akasora looked up into the sky.
He listened to the sound coming from the two areas a bit away from them.
"That's incompatible with us, isn't it? Hm?"
"That's right. We enjoy the arts and whatnot, but not to the extent that people their age do. Instead, we need to continue being the foundation for a safe place where they can continue with their music, dance, and plays. With our own way of doing things, we follow our rules, believe that we can continue to protect people, and thus make ourselves the protectors for them. That is incompatible with the lively and active lives they are currently living, even knowing full well that Neighbor attacks are commonplace now."
"They live freely even then. That is why it's great teaching them. And that is fine for now."
"You accept it?"
"I won't accept ignorance, but I'll accept rejection."
"Then what you're saying is so incompatible, Chishi?"
"Right," replied Akasora. "Do our strong points fit together with theirs?"
He crossed his legs, pulled a water bottle from his side, uncorked it, and poured some water in the corner of his mouth.
"We are those who protect people by allowing them to continue their enjoyment. It keeps us in good spirits to see things like that, we can say we are doing it for everyone, so we can continue working with the city. We will continue to be those who strive for a better place. Oh, but I guess I should be saying 'those guys' instead of 'we' now. Isn't that right? Hm?"
He then added a "but".
"They say they will all continue to support Border as thanks for what you guys do, but I guess they can't just change themselves completely. They simply curry Border's favor at times with song and dance in order to give themselves more peace. It's their way of agreeing with this kind of style. They remain themselves. But..."
"But?"
"Did you know this? When given too much time for homework to be done, people tend to slack off and wait until the final moments to do it. They think they are prepared enough to finish it quickly or they just give up."
"Then," said Shinoda. "Have those people who enjoy themselves figured out if they can get things done or given up?"
"After going through tough times, our people and we also have started to understand something. That we shouldn't wait until the last moments."
"Chishi, I'm having trouble telling which side you're supporting here."
"I'm equal to every student, Masafumi. But only when they are behaving themselves. If those guys want to hold a festival to show support, they are free to do so since it's nothing bad and can't hurt. Isn't that right?"
Akasora continued from there.
"Honestly, I doubt those enjoyable guys have thought about or worried about any of this. To be prepared for these things is to be adults. Don't you think?"
"They are graduating when they turn eighteen or around there, so I'm not sure that is entirely their fault, Chishi."
"I know that well enough. We are just the adults helping them to prepare for later."
Akasora spat a breath toward the ground without forming a smile.
"These guys know they have to grow up and I'm well prepared to help them do that as a teacher as well as a director. But I'll admit that their music for tuning areas and their ability to even come up with that are valuable in a general and carefree space."
"Why not just be honest and say you like the sound of their music?"
"Hey, hey. I didn't say that."
"Then what is it?" asked Shinoda.
The teacher formed a bitter smile.
"Surely a guy like you can see the movement in the surrounding area. What do you have to say about the stagnation around the area?"
.
Shinoda looked up to the sky.
The music had stopped and all hint of motion had vanished from the areas.
"Right. ...We should send for some help."
"Didn't I tell you? I'm equal to all students and we let these festivals go on. Even if something opens up, we have agents there already who are able to handle themselves. That includes being able to handle others. So, we can trust them to fight this out. Helping them would creates some distrust, so we can't do that. If what happens now remains kept within the festival, then everything will be settled and we main trust."
Akasora took a sip of water.
"You should tell the PR department to ignore any requests for help from that area or the other one until it looks really bad."
"What do you think it will be?"
"Not sure. Our alarms haven't gone off, which is strange. What's more, it's appearing outside of the Forbidden Zone and way over here. It might be something completely new."
Now, then.
"Here it comes. The agents we have over there aren't slackers, so what will they do?
Kikuchihara stood in the center of the tuner with Suzume and Hisato.
Any stagnation in the area and hollow areas around them were found. They appeared as sounds to his ears. He and Hisato used their music to tune the area and send sound through the hollow areas and local them while Suzume's dancing padded them out to determine just what was missing.
The other third years watched warily on in the distance, but Kikuchihara did not turn toward them. Neither did Suzume and Hisato, who also found this odd.
They were focused on the things that had appeared at their feet.
"What is this?"
It was a slime, but it was only about 15 centimeters tall. It had nearly symmetrical proportions and it was looking up at them in curiosity while wagging its antennas. It almost looked like a stuffed animal at that size, but it was definitely not normal.
"It's pretty slimy and round. What do you call that? There's that super slime in certain places that's called...oh, right! I know! Ma-"
"Don't even go there, got it, Misaki? And if it Mara, it wouldn't have a look like this. Instead of just a had it would have pe-..."
After reaching that point, Kikuchihara realized what he was saying.
"No, wait. Never mind. That would cause too many problems."
"…"
…Ahh, this silence is painful!
Hisato was the first to recover. He brought a hand to his mouth and cleared his throat.
"It really does look like a slug though, which would mean it was created by something, right? Can't you two tell anything with your Side Effects?"
"Heh heh heh. Mine only goes so far, you know. I can only tell how it will move, which is honestly not that hard for any of us to see."
"I guess we can just give it something quick for a name and be done with it."
As he spoke, the slime opened its mouth and something came out.
"Hm? Bubbles?"
"Wait, Hisato! If you use something like a name-..."
Before Kikuchihara could finished, the slime approached Hisato and began rubbing its head against his leg. All of the slime coming off of it had spread out, so it fell over.
"Hisato's in charge of it!" exclaimed Suzume. "It's yours now!"
"Wh-why are you moving away from me!? You too, Kikuchihara!?"
"Well, not even someone like me wants to kill something like that just because it's a trion soldier."
"I don't want to either! What am I supposed to do!? Wait... What did you just say it was!?"
They needed to destroy it here, but…
"It has the composition of a trion soldier, but it's way more...squishy than them. There isn't really anything under all of that either. It's just squish and goo, so maybe it's more like a 'mold' from something instead of an actual body and is just using that to move around. There's a core in there, but it's more like that Black Trigger from the invasion. And just looking at the thing doesn't give you any impressions of that kind fo stuff."
"So would it be better to say that it's an actual 'animal' that happens to have a core inside of it? But wait, does that mean our tuning was so strong that something like this worked up the willpower to make its appearance?"
"It would mean it had to have come through a Gate for something like that, but none have appeared here since it's outside of the Forbidden Zone. So maybe it came through earlier and no one noticed it since it's not really a trion soldier while still looking to be a trion soldier. It'll probably end up dying out anyway if it is an actual animal. It wouldn't know how to survive over here and people would just hunt it down."
"When do you think it would die without help? I mean, even if it is a trion soldier, it would run out of trion sooner or later."
Hisato must have been worried about his footing because he kept glancing down. Kikuchihara knew a lie would not help, so he told the truth.
"I would say not too long on its own. Maybe until the end of the festival. This thing looks like it would be hell to deal with. Besides, if we consider it something similar to a snail, others would freak out since this thing is 15 centimeters tall. As for the answer on if it is a trion soldier... It wouldn't last more than five minutes since we would have to take it out."
"Eh?"
Kikuchihara stared bitterly at the look on Hisato's face.
"We wouldn't know what it could do, so there's that. But since it's similar to that Black Trigger we fought, I kind of feel a bit of bitterness towards it."
"That's right, Hisato. He'll use a special Scorpion grater to honestly slice that adorable little thing to pieces and offer it up to the directors, butt-first! Then they'll throw it into a blender and honestly puree-fy it!"
"W-wait! Don't do that to it!"
Hisato picked up the slime and took a step back.
...Dammit.
Kikuchihara exchanged a glance with Suzume and spoke to Hisato.
"Hisato, you're in charge of it, okay?"
.
Suzume heard Hiato shout "Ehhh!?" while not letting go of the slime.
...Getting too attached to it would honestly be dangerous in its own way.
But, thought Suzume. Telling him not to get at all attached wouldn't stop him.
So...
"If it was me, I would honestly adore it as much as possible to give it some nice memories."
"B-but it's a Neighbor no matter what, right!? Is it really okay?"
"Then Hisato? Why aren't you letting go of it?"
"W-well..."
As Hisato's gaze wandered, Suzume put on a fake pale face and pointed a trembling hand toward the slime creature.
"Don't tell me...you see it as a meal..."
The slime looked up at the B-Rank decoy who hasped.
"N-no! I would never do that!"
He shook his head.
"Honestly, I am only holding on to it because I can handle anything that might happen!"
"Heh heh. then it honestly sounds like you really are perfect for the job."
Hisato groaned and leaned back, but it seemed he could not avoid being its foster parent.
It's honestly interesting that it has stopped making slime for the moment though.
Kikuchihara took a step forward and crouched down to the slime's eye level as Hisato held it.
"Then make sure to look after it, Hisato. It's definitely defined as a 'Neighbor', but there's also a chance it can't do anything as an animal, which would mean it can be harmless. As I said before, it has a core in it. Carelessly destroying it could end up being more trouble than it's worth, so I think it would be best to wait things out and see what happens. I guess I'll be the one to take responsibility if anything comes up though."
"Oh ho? I guess Nikko-chan is honestly a good influence on you then. I'll make sure to thank her next time I see her."
"Don't you start up now. I'm only doing this because I don't want to see what happens when a slime explodes."
Of course, thought Suzume. If that happens, it won't have a body anymore and will honestly die anyways.
But...
"As long as you don't go overboard with 'taking cre of it', it should still have a limited lifespan. At that point, we can at least send it to Border for some research."
"Really?"
"Heh heh. So what will you do?" asked Suzume while observing Hisato's reaction. "Are you going to abandon it because you know you have to say goodbye? Dai-chan has some guts, so he would honestly take it in if we explained the situation. As would my teammates."
"N-no, I will take care of it. This is part of my job here helping with the preparations."
"Will you? ...Then please do, Hisato. Just make sure you get your story straight when it matters. I don't want to have to come up with something on the fly. For now, we will just go with it being a slug that you have grown overly attached to. Sound good?"
Hisato nodded and lowered the slime to the floor.
"Heh heh." Suzume narrowed her eyes and placed a hand on Hisato's head. "So now the pet honestly has a pet of his own. ...Stay, stay."
"I-I am not a dog. Don't you normally do that with Awdry or Midorikawa?"
Hisato brushed the girl's hand away and Suzume realized Kikuchihara had naturally started sighing at this usual series of events.
...He really has trouble saying it out loud.
At the same time, the surrounding third years let down their guard. They all exchanged a glance and looked to the slime at Hisato's feet.
"What's going on over there?"
"Wait, did that thing come over because of all the stomping going around here? So if we change it up a bit, would it be a different animal?"
"Men count as animals, right? That would be something interesting! That would be pretty awful too since we know who is here!"
These people honestly want to be in my next storyboard, thought Suzume.
But…
…What is it?
She and Kikuchihara quickly faced west, as did the slime at Hisato's feet.
"…!"
Something was there in the west.
.
Kikuchihara, Suzume, and Hisato followed their attention.
They looked west.
"Heh heh heh. There's something like a rock machine on top of the stage."
"No! That's a Neighbor!"
Hisato shouted back on reflex and the wind began to move.
"…!"
A gust of wind swirled around the next area's stage that had approached from the side. That wind seemed to surround something that had appeared on the stage. It looked like an armored warrior made of rocks with a dark coloration.
Kikuchihara was unsure as to what it was. But, it was certain a new Neighbor that Border did not have on their records.
"From the looks of it, it seems to be a gathering of rocks that formed a single beings, but it just has a core within it to function. This looks like it's going to be annoying."
"'Pyrínas'-san, it looks like trouble has shown up again."
A voice described the situation atop a long, open space.
A building held up by large columns of wood planted in the river. Cigarette smoke gently rose from the front end as an alarm blared.
The front of the building bore the overall emblem of Border and the individual building was for the Tamakoma Branch. A man in his middle age stood on the roof with his elbows resting on the edge.
He lazily wore his short-sleeved clothing and he held up a cigarette that with the package nearby.
"...Rindō Takumi, this may be occurring outside of the Forbidden Zone and it may be the area's problem, but shouldn't you sound at least a little bit nervous?"
"Well, you see," said Rindō as he turned toward the voice behind him.
A male Autonomous Trion Soldier stood there. He took the teacup from the tray he held and then he frowned.
"Oh, this is hot, 'Pyrínas'-san. You seem to like hot things lately."
"...I can't serve only cold things to an adult who ends up staying in his office when his work is overdue."
"How do you even know that? Well, either way, thanks for the concern, but to answer your question...do I really not look nervous?"
"...I am suggesting you make an appearance somewhere else. ...I don't know why, but I heard that you tend to avoid certain areas once particular festivals begin."
"Well, I just have so many great memories of Mikado festivals..."
"...I didn't come to this city until recently, so I can't search my memories since there would be nothing there in the first place, so I will simply ask: Is it about a woman? Or money?"
"'Pyrínas'-san, do you promise not to get mad if I tell the truth?"
"...I am a trion soldier and thus can't get mad. ...Now, answer me."
"The thing is, you sound really mad right now. ...Well, whatever."
Rindō frowned with the cigarette in his left hand and the teacup in his right hand.
"A long time ago, I had a bit of a fight with an idiot during a festival."
"...Hearing any more would likely involve me in some kind of political trouble, so I will ask again when I deem it necessary. ...But…"
"What?"
"...Did you win or lose?"
"I won."
"...Is that so? ...I will ask for details at some point."
Pyrínas bowed and Rindō took a sip from the teacup.
"Oh? I thought this would be ginger flavor, but it's caramel. It's pretty sweet."
"...Statistically, I have found out that it is popular with the girls. ...Now, about the current situation which is far from sweet…"
"Right," Rindō nodded and held the teacup out toward Pyrínas.
Suddenly, the cigarette in his left hand came apart. Something had reached out, extinguished the end, then put it out against the edge of the building.
"'Pyrínas'-san, I only just started smoking that."
He put the cigarette pack away in the case hanging from his neck and Pyrínas bowed.
"...I have learned that smoking is bad for you while in your real body. ...Please enter a trion-made one before doing something like that."
"You sure are strict. …Okay, I'll deal with this now then."
"...How will you do that?"
"Right, i suppose I'll go with that." He spoke as he operated his phone. "Our general Border members got moving pretty quickly. They're already moving to make sure that people are evacuated even while preparing to fight. Someone just has to give them some approval...and done."
"...But Rindō Takumi, what about the area's people themselves? ...Surely you can't leave them undefended until Border members show up."
"Normal agents are allowed to act in self-defense or to save someone. They don't normally wait until someone's hurt either. The only question is whether anyone capable of that is there."
"...Right," said Pyrínas with a nod.
He opened something in front of his own eyes and displayed a list of who could use a Trigger within that area.
"...A few people from the school Akasora use to work at are there."
"What do you think about those people exactly?"
"...If I had to express it somehow, I would say they still lack the proper 'excitement'. ...I have determined they lack the proper level of physical destruction and the normal citizens' annoyance level and spectator level are only average."
"Do you think they'll be able to compare to the former members we sent data on to you?"
"...Well…"
Pyrínas briefly closed his eyes to perform the high-speed thought of an trion soldier.
"...Mankind can grow and evolve. ...If they make use of those abilities, they can."
"Then I hope they have plenty of reasons to do so. Socializing, as well as unexpected meetings, partings, and confrontations, can all lead to growth. So…"
Now, then.
"What will these children do? These children from the generation that have already faced so many attacks against them."
The color green began spiraling through the sky.
The wide arc of that wind used the trion built up inside of the body which surrounded the area of the festival.
It swept through the area and the dust-filled wind raced across the area stage's deck like a blade.
With a scraping sound, a long groove twenty centimeters wide and five centimeters deep was carved into the wooden deck.
The small pieces of what seemed to be rock had transformed the wind into a saw.
There was more than one gust of wind. It was mostly spiraling around, but several lightning-like gusts formed and shot back and forth as if playing. It seems as if the Gate that had opened also played a part here. More and more slicing sounds rang out and a new line was carelessly drawn across the deck each time.
Most of the people in the area preparing for the Gagaku Festival fled inside the buildings nearby and far away.
Then they saw a giant form stand up from the tuner on the area's main stage.
A figure began forming to that of an almost humanoid form before shifting once more. It all seemed like large rocks being shifted around to fit a mold.
It was about eight meters tall and had no arms or face. It simply had a torso, legs seemingly made of rocks, and armor also seemingly made of rocks.
"What is this Neighbor!?"
The Neighbor moved as if in response. It had only been rising from the tuner to establish its form, but now it raised its faceless upper body.
"...!"
Its chest armor tightened inward. The action was similar to a human swinging their arms forward.
One of the students, a third year with a defense brought up using some metal panels, stood up near a building and gave a shout.
"Move back! A Neighbor goes after whatever it sees, and this one seems to really be attacking indiscriminately!"
A moment later, the wind gained a will of its own. Before, the blade-like gusts that had been racing back and forth as if for fun, but now two of them raced straight forward from the left and right of the Neighbor.
Their target was some Mikado students who had failed to escape in time.
There were three of them.
One was a second year girl and the other two were first year girls. One of the first years had apparently sprained her ankle after tripping over one of the grooves carved into the area.
The crazed Neighbor rejected everything not from its ground, meaning it was meant for offense and not capture.
That rejection took the form of twin attacks that tore through the area in their race for the three stopped girls.
The three had no way to dodge it and that fact became clear to everyone there.
"Willpower!"
At that moment, two third year boys raced after, one from the nearest building and one from the adjacent building. Each boy pulled out something from their pockets that were black in color with lines running along them. They were Triggers.
They were on the way to rescue the girls.
.
The two boys raced full speed toward the three unmoving girls at the other end of the area.
The boy from the first building wore a tracksuit and the one from the second building wore an open jacket.
They almost seemed to be following the two gusts of wind up ahead, but all they did was place the back end of those gusts in their field of vision.
"...!"
They lowered their stance for a full-power dash and one used his pumping arms to activate a Triggers.
The one wearing a tracksuit placed a blue plate in front of him that would accelerate.
The open jacket one had one placed in front of him as well by the suit one.
They stepped on them at the same time.
"—!"
And they accelerated all at once. The acceleration did not grow with time. With each step they took, they pushed their bodies forward along the area, as if running up a wall.
"Hey!"
The tracksuit one shouted to the other one approximately thirty meters to his position.
"Let's settle this once and for all!"
"Right!"
The open jacket one responded with his breaths appearing white in the air.
"I'm definitely cooler than you!"
"Saying that about yourself is proof that you aren't!"
"Then," shouted the open jacket one. "Let's prove right here which one of us is cooler, you tracksuit bastard!"
"What!? What kind of team captain is stupid enough to damage the area for a little extra speed!?"
But the two of them faced forward, looked to the wind strikes up ahead, and shouted in unison.
"We can't have a proper competition with those in the way!"
They passed by the wind in a mere three steps.
They broke through the air and scattered the trion light of acceleration Triggers as they raced onward.
Up ahead, they could see the three girls who had failed to escape.
"Jump, cuties!" shouted the open jacket one.
The girls exchanged a glance.
"—"
They shook their head and the tracksuit one shouted to the open jacket one.
"Don't make this harder on them than it already is! ...Just jump!"
The two first year girls jumped. Even the one with a sprained ankle jumped with her good leg.
"Okay!"
The Border members each snatched a first year with one arm and reached their other arm toward the remaining second year girl.
"This way!"
Having them both say it at once may have been a mistake.
"Eh!?"
The second year girl in the center was unsure which way to go and ended up not moving at all. The Border members both missed her and passed her by. They exchanged a glance, approached, and used their empty hands to point at each other.
"This is your fault!"
But they could not head back now and the tracksuit one looked back.
"Dammit! And she has a huge rack too! I wanted to 'accidentally' cop a feel when I grabbed her!"
"You idiot! She avoided you because of that obvious ulterior motive!"
The open jacket one laughed and held out his hand.
"Ha ha. Of course, I had similar plans."
They shook hands, but the twin wind attacks were still on their way to the second year girl behind them.
The tracksuit one ended the handshake and tossed his first year girl to the open jacket one.
"I might not make it in time, but I'm going in for that grope!"
"Get one in for me too!"
"Sure thing!"
The tracksuit one forced his body into a midair spin, landed, and felt the soles of his feet burning from the friction.
"Make it!"
He ran.
.
"Ohhh!"
The tracksuit boy pushed his body forward with all his strength.
I'll definitely make it in time, he thought. After all...
"That was a great decision, captain!"
Light was flying around him. The squad captain had scattered his acceleration Trigger through the air.
This gave the tracksuit one his own and the other boy's shattered shield. The Trigger had been set to grant its power to others, but adjustments would normally be needed to combine it with another Trigger. However...
"We were using Triggers that didn't overlap in the slightest!"
They knew each other well, so they had worked to gain each other's strong points and make up for their weak points.
"Show them your spirit!"
He kicked himself forward with double the acceleration and he forcibly tore through the air on his way forward.
It would take him only five steps to get there.
But...
"...!?"
The wind blew in from the right and this new strike was timed with the moment of greatest speed.
The Neighbor had targeted him to interfere.
...Dammit!
If he dodged this, he could not get his grope, but if he kept going, he would be hit. Which meant...
"Full power!"
He leaned forward to forcibly eliminate a tiny bit more air resistance.
The result was minuscule, but it did raise his speed.
In that instant, the wind from the right accelerated.
...What!?
He knew why. The wind he had seen before corresponded to someone raising a large rock, so this was the speed of swinging the rock down. In that case, it was not directed at him at all.
"That huge rack!"
The twin attacks targeting that girl also picked up speed.
He realized he was not going to make it in time, but...
"...!"
He accelerated. He knew he had to do something, so he sped up. He knew he had to do something and find something to do, but...
"A finalist can't rely on anything but his speed!"
He charged forward.
The wind was coming.
It was going to hit.
At that moment, something fell from the sky between him and the approaching wind on the right. It was...
...A person!?
It was a boy, but...
"Owwwwwww!"
.
With a great sound of destruction, the wind approaching the suited Border member vanished.
But that was not all.
The two winds attacking the girl he was trying to save also vanished.
What just happened? he wondered.
But his body continued moving before he could think.
He grabbed the second year girl.
His right hand "slipped".
The "slip" of his left hand was for the squad captain.
Yes, this is for the captain. And since it's for him, one more wouldn't hurt. Yes, I need to make sure I keep possession of this! For the captain! Oh, but this one can be for me, I guess.
"It can, can't it!? Can't it!?"
He accidentally spoke out loud and got slapped.
It was an excellent slap, so he decided to recommend her to the sumo team later.
But as he ran toward the building that his fellow students were gesturing him toward, he checked behind him.
Why were they unhurt?
"Is that...?"
They were public school students and there were three in all.
One was near where the wind heading toward him had vanished. A blond boy with goggles and a black outfit was collapsed on the deck with his eyes spinning.
One was near the collapsed goggles boy. She had giant breasts and wore a gray Border outfit.
The last was near where the winds heading toward the second year girl had vanished.
He was…
"Suwa Squad's Decoy Sasamori Hisato!?"
.
Hisato tucked in his shirt into his pants to stop it from dancing in the wind.
He then pulled an item from the holder attached to his wait belt.
This Trigger was not meant to be held by anything other than the user, so he simply held up the Trigger that grew to a green shield and spoke in a carrying voice.
"I am Sasamori Hisato, member of Border and Suwa Squad for Border. ...I will take charge of this scene."
He faced forward and made sure his other Trigger was properly attached to his waist belt.
He the pulled the first Trigger even higher and tightened his focus on it. In front of him, the Triggers he had set were displayed and the one he was using was...
"Shield!"
Up ahead, the Neighbor was facing him. It had already raised its arms, so...
"...!"
The wind blew in. This time, it was six gusts at once.
He raised his eyebrows as the blades of wind and rocks rushed in from six directions simultaneously.
"I will push back!"
He activated the heavy Trigger, thrust it forward, and started to run.
.
Suzume watched Hisato's back as he ran forward.
…Will he honestly be okay?
Not even two seconds later, sounds of destruction exploded from Hisato and rock rose like smoke. Five or six trails of rock rose all at once.
The trion shield Hisato was using defended by reducing the enemy's force and stopping it completely. It was a standard type for Border.
Unlike the special reflection type optional Trigger her teammate had made, whatever hit it would lose its power and vanish. This had looked more like an explosion because the wind blades were quite large vertically, so when the bottom was reduced, the top could not keep up and it collapsed in on itself.
But...
"Taking that much force at once will honestly wear down the shiled like crazy. …Hisato, can't you run any faster? That looks more like 70% right now."
Even if Hisato had not been defending against the wind, Suzume had a feeling she could run and catch up to the boy, but…
"I-I'm running as fast as I can!"
Suzume had always thought Hisato should have been the heavy tank type, but not this much.
…Not only is he running on his heels, but he's honestly using his strength all wrong.
Suzume could not give the boy any advice because he was bad with descriptions, but he could tell Hisato's stance was focusing more on strength than speed. While that could be a problem in some situations, not being blown away meant a lot against an opponent with such great power.
Then I guess it's fine for now, concluded Suzume. If need be, I can honestly tell Dai-chan and they can figure out that boat leaping thing again they're always talking about in class.
"Ahh…"
Minamisawa unsteadily lifted his head from the floor at Suzume's feet.
"Oh, you can move, Minamisawa? Are you honestly okay? If you think you've been knocked senseless, I could grope you. How about it?"
"And how would that help me!? How!? …Sorry, I shouldn't have dignified that with a response. Um, where are the others?"
Three explosions of wind sounded out at almost the same time.
They looked back to see Hisato continuing forward. However, his pace was falling. He was within fifty meters of the Neighbor, but the number of wind swords was growing.
The Neighbor was likely only now really beginning to use its power.
"Here it comes."
Suzume listened to the wind. Even that raging whirlwind had a melody to it.
Minamisawa got up, took a crouching stance, and nodded.
"Reports about Neighbors appearing outside of the Forbidden Zone have come up again. Unlike that other time, these ones have been a bit more random, but to a lesser extent in numbers. This one is probably the same case as those. But this one is so different from the ones we have seen so far."
"Is that honestly secondhand information? From who? That idiotic senpai?"
"Yeah. Akashi seemed really happy as he talked about it over the network."
"There are these rare times when he has some honestly useful information. If only he wasn't always talking about superpowers and other nonsense from anime and novels. Well, fine."
Suzume listened to the noise.
"Heh heh. I don't know much about these new Neighbors or whatever, but if you're going to use swords, you need to use a sexier design. If all we're honestly up against is brute strength, then leave it to me, Gracias Misaki, to pave the way forward. That will clear the way to the ending, so you will honestly be beaten to a pulp in no time."
"Eh? Y-you can do that?"
"Oh? Minamisawa, have I ever said I could do something that I couldn't? You also won't hear me say I will honestly become the world's best woman, hold the world in the palm of my hand, or become the very definition of beauty, but why would I bother saying anything I could do so easily? The things that I honestly don't know if I can do or not are much closer to home. Heh heh. And compared to those things…"
A small smile appeared on the corner of her mouth.
"I can easily make this new Neighbor or whatever look up to me."
.
Hisato moved forward.
The wind continued to collide with him and his trion shields kept breaking, but…
…I can't fall back!
Neighbors as dangerous as this one were usually there to cause chaos and this particular one was no exception. Just as riots were calmed by use of force and the Forbidden Zone kept Neighbors in check, this Neighbor attempted to secure a location where it could cause chaos.
But as a being made to cause chaos the way it was doing, its optimal location did not exist in this world. after all, this world was generally well-ordered.
So it bound itself to its current location and dyed the surrounding space in its own colors. If the world was unsuited toward it, it would remake that world.
Small Neighbors would be worn down by the process of spreading its chaos and would be destroyed.
That was the normal outcome.
But that would not happen when one had been given enough power to support itself even as it roamed around the area.
That was the case here.
If left alone, it would continue to destroy whatever was in its way and move to the surrounding space, so Hisato had a single goal.
"Keep the Neighbor focused on itself rather than its surroundings!"
He kept his stance low and opened his shield so it would not leave his body. Like that, he collided with the charging wind, received it, and swept it aside. Whenever his shield shattered…
…I open a new one!
He had plenty of trion. He had often played the role of decoy in training and rank battles. To prepare him for conflicts with stronger opponents, he had used a speed and mobility against opponents on several occasions now. Running out of trion and being unable to defend was a common mistake, but he had grown out of doing that halfway through this recent year.
In this case, he had strength but no speed, so his role here was defense.
The second large-scale invasion had made him realize something that he had been missing, but that was only where the starting point was as the attack on Border came only days ago. During the time between those two attacks he had practiced more to figure out where he could be useful.
He had managed to improve to the point of taking on a special trion soldier alongside Daigo and even manage to win against one of the stronger new recruits in Border, so that was nice.
At first, he had thought that he was doing rather well for himself, but...
"Playing the decoy is something I'm kind of use to at this point."
Border's squads primarily used offensive or defensive tactics, so they had little concept of using others. Their shields were tricky to use until one got the hang of the timing right and they mostly required staying in one spot.
At times a decoy was needed to apply pressure to the enemy while actively moving forward.
That meant acting as bait to draw the enemy's attacks, so Hisato would always move forward yet...
...Others always move past me and take all the glory for themselves.
His was a thankless role.
But, he thought.
...Everyone expected me to stay where I was.
Before noticing what had been wrong, he had been rash, narrow minded towards himself and his squad, and even got close to losing someone because of it.
Making up for it with this kind of role was only his personal view of the situation, but he was fine with that. And...
"…!"
He heard a small cry from down at his feet.
He recognized the sudden, quiet noise.
"Eh?"
It was the slime.
.
Hisato looked down at his newborn follower.
To him, it seemed to have followed him without being asked, but it may have thought it was leading him and threatening the enemy.
It could always flee and it seemed somewhat afraid, but the gooey slime still roared at the Neighbor. He placed it in the corner of his vision, and…
…Honestly.
"I need to do this right!"
He moved forward and broke through the wind.
He heard the voices of the nearby students who had evacuated into the buildings.
Strength filled those voices, yet just a few years before, he would have only heard fearful and cautious voices.
"Honestly," he said aloud this time.
He raised his eyebrows, moved forward, and spoke to himself in the wind.
"He was the one dragged me into all this and now he's practically ignoring me? What is that guy thinking?"
Unlike Kikuchihara, it had been Daigo who had signed Hisato up for all of this.
The wind struck him, but he rotated the shield in front of his hand to deflect, break, and surpass that power.
He moved forward and he could sense himself drawing in the enemy, but he could also sense his own lack of power.
He could protect the area around him. Even as a special Neighbor, its physical attacks were not much different from a well placed Meteora. He only had to accurately block them. But…
"There's so many!"
The amount of wind continued to grow. The Neighbor was doing more than attacking him in rapid succession.
"—"
It also began walking toward him.
By filling the gap between them, it could increase its speed of attack. And…
"It's gathering the surrounding rocks, isn't it!?"
The rough rocks surrounding the area shrank as if being squeezed in tight. The greater density darkened the area and the wind was also released from the gaps in the rocks instead of just the area around the Neighbor itself.
And then…
"Everyone, don't bother providing backup! Shut the doors and evacuate!"
After all…
"The Neighbor is targeting you!"
.
The surrounding students were barracking the doors and windows from inside the buildings. That allowed them to restrain the expanding attacks and hold back the Neighbors's power from reaching them.
In addition to manpower, that required a calm heart. Those students had undergone defensive and general drills at some Border showcases, so…
"C-c-c-c-cal-cal-cal-calm d-d-d-d-dow-dow-dow-down!"
"I don't think I've ever heard someone so flustered! …Oh, no! I tore my tights! Look!"
"Are you trying to fill us with impure thoughts!?"
Even as they argued, they brought up their defenses and blocked the space around the openings.
The wind around the openings calmed and the rocks directly overhead cleared, allowing gentle sunlight in.
But for defense purposes, buildings like these would deflect anything coming inward, so the hatches at the ends had to be open to provide information. But...
"Here it comes!"
The Neighbor's wind was fired directly toward the hatches.
It was trying to crush the extra help so it could focus on Suwa Squad's Attacker and Decoy
There were eight wind swords. The Neighbor's nonexistent arms were wielding their full power as it moved forward.
Each gust of wind blew in a straight line to tear into them.
They could not close the hatches in time, so the wind struck.
.
Eight winds collided with those manned locations and eight sounds rang through the sky.
They were sounds of spraying destruction.
However, it did not come from the destruction of the building and there were no screams.
The wind itself was suddenly destroyed.
"Eh?"
Even those in the building were confused. The wind had scattered like spray just as it was going to hit them.
They all looked up on the deck to see what had happened and they saw a light there.
It came from the center of the plaza where the gray Border agent and goggles boy had moved in to defend. The gray Border agent was standing there and the goggles boy had moved away in preparation.
The Border agent was lit by sunlight.
The Neighbor's movements had made the swirling rocks grow even denser, yet the sky was perfectly visible directly over her head.
Plus, even more light was supplied from above the eight buildings.
The gray Border agent was dancing.
She took gentle yet accurate steps, those steps sounded loudly, and she let her body bounce.
"—"
The wind roared.
As she moved, the Neighbor's swirling rocks seemed to rumble and cry out.
But some of the onlookers realized that was inaccurate. They lay on the steps from the building to the plaza, peeked upwards, and slowly measured the timing.
"Is the rhythm of her dance synchronized with the movements of the rocks and wind?"
That was something that seemed rather impossible given the situation. But this girl was dancing to purify and provide protection to the surrounding space. It felt like it was applying the theme of the dance to the surrounding space in the form of protection, but it was likely something different.
"Did she take on the Neighbor's rhythm to interfere with that rhythm!?"
.
"Heh heh heh. This is only a sword manifestation being distracted by a dog. No matter how powerful it is, it's simple at the most basic level. And if you honestly want to swing all those swords around so much, stop trying to fuck the empty air, see how it feels for yourself!"
Suzume laughed.
She kept her eyebrows flat, spun her body, and looked across all of the wind, plaza, and sky around her.
She laughed out loud and audibly stepped on the hard ground. As if reacting to that sound, the wind blew in from multiple locations.
It was flying, but…
"How foolish. You're just an honestly adorable little child. You were only just born and know nothing of the world."
As she danced, Suzume spun around and dodged every last one of the wind swords, causing those blades to collide with each other.
"Heh heh. Act tough if you like. I can easily respond in kind. See?"
They shattered.
Countless rock fragments scattered through the wind around the dancing Border agent, but not even they reached her. They simply adorned her dance.
As the range of the sunlight grew, the scattered rocks glittered. Suzume smiled and spun within it all. She used her fingertips to draw out the paths of the swirling rocks in advance and her feet touched the ground to match the timing of the Neighbor's swaying body and moving legs. Even as she twisted her body, lifted her hips, and embraced her chest, her movements drew out the wind's movement in advance or followed after those movements.
She spoke as her dance sped up.
"You really are hopeless. You haven't lived through even a single night and you've never honestly woken up to find yourself alone. You do not understand the meaning of loneliness or the origin of solitude. I will teach you that a newborn blade can only be put away in its scabbard. Yes, I will honestly teach you so very kindly."
Her movements sped up and new light appeared.
A green shield made from a circle of trion torii shapes rose form her feet. It grew a diameter of approximately five meters and acted as her footing. Four additional torii-style trion shields appeared behind her. The screen used for the upcoming festival rose into the sky and displayed an enlarged image of her face.
"I'll honestly go with a reverse-order Ootsubaki-style Foothold Dance. The song will be Dream Trigger. ...Is that okay?"
As soon as she asked that, a clapping sound was heard over her shoulder and instrument icons appeared on the screen behind her. It shook, added to the sound, tightened it, and yet began playing a song.
Meanwhile, the Neighbor roared.
"…!"
It was a loud, sky-shaking voice, but Suzume had predicted even that great rumbling.
"—"
She produced a voice of her own. And…
"Try to keep up."
With that comment, Suzume accelerated. She ruled that trion emblem stage with her dance.
The Neighbor stopped in response. With one hundred meters between them, it bent its body as if to combat Suzume's movements.
"—!"
Wind truly appeared in every direction and swept across the deck.
.
Minamisawa held up a trion shield like an umbrella and looked around the area.
"Wow…"
The entire plaza had become a giant clash between a storm and the sunlight.
The Neighbor was rapidly launching attacks with its feet stopped on the ground while Suzume loudly faced it with her dance. Minamisawa could see all of their movements, but…
…Music!
He could also hear them.
Again and again, the wind crashed down more as a violent wave than a gale and was ultimately smashed into white spray. Suzume continued her composed dance while the large screen and speakers played accompaniment in place of a band.
Her hair danced, her hands and fingers bounced up, and her legs were repositioned without end. When she looked on the verge of falling over, she would add a spin to escape.
"Then, in this place, we saw the same dream."
Minamisawa could hear Suzume's singing voice even through the bursting wind.
"The reality you observe is a roulette of fate."
The wind crashed and rocks tried to block out the blue of the sky.
"I wonder if there's something good every once in a while. But if it's all bad, just bail out!"
Suzume's steps smashed the wind and her swinging arms cleared the sky.
"Everyone's a dreamer - it doesn't have to be for someone else's sake."
The wind swords raced forward in unison, but…
"You can just live for yourself, feeling an A-Rank eternity for the next stage!"
Suzume only had to look back with a smile to crush that wind.
"Even if you were the only one in the world steeped in solitude."
Minamisawa saw a line of light appear at Suzume's feet.
"I'd become your ally - I'm pretty sure that's what a 'team' is!"
Suzume's movements read the Neighbor's movement patterns and created them like sheet music.
"The smile of an angel I found in the sky... It's a light that shines through the breaks in clouds."
Minamisawa heard a "la la" from Suzume. It was not related to her movements or anything else. Even the lyrics of the line were meaningless.
"The reason I've gone through thousands of moments to meet you."
Suzume added a new movement to the mix.
"Coming this far."
She embraced her own body in her arms. She started with the shoulders.
"Is for the story that's about to be handed down - Our Heavenly!"
A moment later, Minamisawa saw a violent tremor run through the Neighbor's shoulders and its entire body shook. Suzume's song, dance, and music had synchronized its body to herself.
"So that it can continue endlessly- So that these feelings never fade."
When she embraced her own hips, the Neighbor's hips were struck by a shield coming from the side.
Also…
"We have to pull our..."
Suzume wrapped her arms around her shoulders, chest, hips, and body to embrace herself. Each time, the corresponding part of the Neighbor was struck and broken by large shields.
"Dream Tigger!"
Suzume's voice rang through the sky. It was a laugh and she then opened her mouth wide.
"La la!"
Rather than pierce through the wind, her voice seemed to push it outward.
Then came the green.
The rocks covering the sky were parted by lights of green and a path of sunlight was formed. Now he understood that shields had been placed up above to cause that effect.
As Suzume's voice spread, so did the path of light between her and the Neighbor.
A single figure stood in the center of that path.
"Suwa Squad's Attacker!"
It was Hisato.
He had been enduring the wind before, but now he moved forward.
He used both hands to raise his shield made of trion.
"—!"
And he collided with the collapsing Neighbor's leg.
.
The tactile feedback told Hisato he had destroyed it.
He had made it close enough because Suzume had drawn the enemy's attacks and then changed the area to a certain extent.
The sound of shattering parts rang out as the Neighbor's left leg broke from his drawn Kōgetsu.
It crumbled.
Amid the fragments of bursting trion light, Hisato looked up at the enemy and spoke.
"Nice going, Misaki!"
.
Suzume heard Hisato's voice as she continued her dance as a postlude.
…Heh heh. She's honestly in a good mood.
That may have been because he had reached the enemy and destroyed them despite being a decoy. Maybe he honestly needed to relieve some stress, thought Suzume, but it was not only thanks to Suzume that Hisato had reached the enemy.
It took some preparation before he could sing and dance. It had taken some time to read the Neighbor's Rhythm and create the stage for the counter.
…And that was only possible because you started forward, Hisato.
For the first half, Hisato had drawn the enemy's attention while Suzume prepared. For the second half, Suzume had drawn the enemy's attention while Hisato continued forward.
That decoy has a bad habit of not noticing his own accomplishments due to some idiotic notions about the past.
That isn't what a proper man does.
I just honestly hope he can keep up with everyone else so that I don't have to worry when I finally come to my conclusion.
"La la…"
Suzume's song finally ended.
She was not out of breath. Rather, the damage to the Neighbor and its destroyed leg had caused it to shift from her predicted rhythm.
She would eventually fail if she attempted to rule the stage with the same rhythm as before. And even if she succeeded, that would allow the injured Neighbor to recover.
She continued dancing while wondering if she needed to prepare the next dance, but she shrugged when she saw the result in the sunlight up ahead.
"Well, we'll manage somehow. I can take my time and think."
A second strike hit the Neighbor and shards of light scattered from the right leg, the one Hisato had not destroyed.
Suzume shouted to the person who had collided with the leg after racing down the pathway of sunlight.
"Excellent work, Minamisawa!"
.
Hisato saw Minamisawa's results.
He had charged straight into the other leg with his shield at the ready.
Minamisawa was a close combat fighter. He was an Attacker. So he had used a new optional Trigger for Shield that made it a reflective type, so his speed was an important factor to its power when ramming something.
Hisato knew that Minamisawa was more of the speed type than the endurance type. So...
…Is he okay!?
Minamisawa had managed to pick up too much speed, so he was launched into the sky along with the shards of the Neighbor's leg and his own shield. The reflection of his shield had lifted him from the ground.
"Huhhh!?"
Minamisawa spun through the air with an expression that made it clear he had not expected this, so Hisato reached out a hand.
"—"
But there was no way he could reach the boy.
His legs were average and his height was decent for a boy, but not very impressive compared to most of the other Border members, workers, and directors. Needless to say, the reach of his arms and legs were just as unimpressive.
After self-destructing, Minamisawa would have to show his willpower as a Combatant when he landed. He was on this close combat stage despite not having enough power to back himself up because he wanted to make sure others were safe and do his job. He had apparently recently learned the trick to working on scaffolding and he mainly worked under shady areas. He had been called here on short notice when they found they needed someone at the last second, but if he managed to not break anything, he would be given a tip from the locals, which was sure to delight him.
At any rate, his attack had been a success.
Both of the Neighbor's legs had been broken and its stance had crumbled.
Of course, as a pseudo-mechanical being, the legs were only for show. The monster primarily moved by floating using trion.
However, its legs had made up a large portion of its structure, so destroying them caused its density to crumble.
Hisato was fairly certain it would continue to collapse like this, but…
"!"
The slime cried out at his feet.
…Eh?
It was not the slime's cry that confused her.
That roar had been meant to warn him.
He trusted the small slime and looked up to see what this was about.
"—!"
The Neighbor was getting up, but not with its legs. It was using its arms.
It had not had any arms before, but now it had six. A sword of rock formed the upper arm and forearm of each one and two on each side acted as crab-like legs.
Hisato knew what was happening. With its place stolen and its body shattered, it was focusing all of its power on itself. This was self-defense meant to protect its own body instead of self-preservation meant to destroy itself and what was around it.
An student watching from a building described this new form.
"Is that normal!?"
There was a lot of different factors when compared to the other Neighbors he had seen, but there had been other strange Neighbors who could transform their bodies into mud and the like. Something like this was a sight to see, but that was all it was. And in that case...
"This Neighbor must be a specially made model too."
The Neighbor had started to crumble, but it had recovered. It lifted itself up, used two blades like arms and used the remaining four like legs.
"…!"
It roared.
However, that roar was immediately crushed.
The Neighbor had been destroyed.
.
Minamisawa saw the light as he lay sprawled out on the ground with his eyes spinning.
A straight line of light pierced diagonally through the Neighbor's raised left arm, chest, and front right leg.
The piercing light stabbed into the ground.
Unlike a flame, the light was focused and it quickly vanished, leaving behind…
…An arrow!
While not an arrow in the literal sense, the sentiment was almost the same. The shot fired had flown in from the east. A watchtower was looming nearby there. It had initially been quite a good distance away, but now it was clear how much closer they had gotten to it, and...
"Hanzaki!"
Hanzaki stood on the edge of the watchtower's deck as he performed the follow-through from firing his Egret.
He watched the Neighbor crumble after its attempted recovery and then he slowly reached to pull the trigger again.
"Don't move, Minamisawa. Suzaku-senpai told me the program still isn't great, so I'll go without it."
"Just out of curiosity, what would happen if I did move!?"
"If you move, I'll accidentally target you. …No, I mean this thing will."
"What!? What do you mean by that!?"
Hanzaki fired regardless.
After destroying the Neighbor's legs with two additional shots, Hanzaki sighed.
He relaxed his shoulders and looked to the scene of the battle where Suzume and Hisato were smiling and waving at him. He could even tell the weird slime creature at Hisato's feet was letting down its guard.
That meant the problem had been eliminated.
…Good.
He had been nearby, waiting for Hisato to finish helping. The plaza was managed by Mikado City, so he could not easily interfere. It had only been when Suzaku had messaged him and concluded that he could not set foot within the plaza and to instead "test out a new program" from a safe distance.
If he had failed, he would have interfered with something he was not supposed to take part in.
He had needed to both hit and destroy the target.
There were other methods for him to use, but getting even this close had been a risk as it was. Once he could give a report on the program sent to him via his Trigger, he would be able to use more efficient methods, even while trying to push himself little by little. She had the skill, but he lacked accomplishments.
That was why he had decided to only use what he originally had.
To hit, he had needed line of sight.
He had not expected the Neighbor to begin a recovery for self-defense, but Hisato and Suzume had done a splendid job of guiding them all to victory.
They had only had a quick discussion beforehand via chat, but those two and Minamisawa had managed to clear away the wind barrier and then hold the Neighbor in place to make it easier to shoot.
Hanzaki watched the crumbling Neighbor with while fixing his backwards hat.
He could not tell if the Neighbor could call for backup or not from the way it crumbled. If it could, it was possible another one would appear.
But dealing with that was the director's job. The work here had revealed the Neighbor's location. If that fixed rhythm was reported to Border, they could deal with it via more prepared agents.
But besides that…
"So one of you partners and Suwa-san's decoy proved useful."
Hanzaki heard a male voice from behind him.
…Is that…?
He looked back and saw a male student in a uniform standing much closer than expected. He was pretty much right in front of him.
The boy held a strap over his shoulder that kept an Ibis hanging from his back and a headset in his left hand.
"Suzaku-senpai."
The boy that Hanzaki spoke to wore an armband saying, "Mikado City Public School: Suzaku Kasumi."
The Suzaku Squad Captain looked his way, nodded, and scratched his shaggy black hair.
"I should've expected that from you lot. Maybe I shouldn't have bothered showing up. ...Are Asuka and Kikuchihara here?"
.
Hanzaki gently shook his head.
As a fellow Sniper, he knew this squad captain and his squad members, but he did not often speak with the squad captain and this was the first time the boy had spoken to him in a casual and informal way.
After shaking his head, Hanzaki thought about the mentioned names.
"...No, your sister and that guy haven't-..."
"If you're looking for me, I'm over here."
A boy sat on the edge of the building.
Kikuchihara gave a sigh as he looked out to where he had once been and listened to the noise coming from the plaza. His armband had remained on even as he went into his trion body and he placed a hand on his chin as he viewed the plaza.
"The decoy looks happy."
"That's because he's the decoy that always heads out first but never reaches the enemy. It's the same in the solo rank battles, so I think he gets a little too self-deprecating when one of his partners isn't around to say anything. It's to a point that he even took that slime."
"By the way... What's with that slime?"
"I'll tell you later. I need to get back over there."
Hanzaki understood what Kikuchihara's statement meant.
"So what even was that all about? Do you know how that Neighbor made its way into the city like that?"
"We didn't detect a Rad, so it's actually a bit worrying to think about. Even so, things got handled and now we need reports about what happened. But I'm pretty sure you guys will get some nice compensation for all fo this."
"I didn't really do anything, you know."
"That's fine. I'll personally compensate you since I had to use my programing as a excuse for you to even join."
Suzaku smiled bitterly and prepared to lead over to the plaza. He stopped for a moment before turning back around to face Hanzaki.
"Do me a favor, will you?"
"Hm? What is it?"
If his senpai was asking for something after everything that happened then it likely meant it was something important.
He doesn't really like asking for these kinds of things, so I guess I'll see what he wants, Hanzaki thought as he watched the boy step to the edge of the building.
"The slime Sasamori has... Keep an eye on it."
With that, he made his leap into the air.
In the end, the Neighbor was entirely destroyed and command of the scene was returned to the people thirty-two minutes later.
The Border agents involved were free to go after giving their full reports, which had happened two hours and fifty-seven minutes later.
When Suzume and the others returned, their first stop was the Red Lightning. By then, it was past 6:30 PM.
