Swapped In

by iibisori

Things feel pretty hopeless when your life feels like the plot of some anime. (Part of her is thankful that, at least it's a good story.) Mikumo Mori seems to just have the worst of luck, sucks that she was the one swapped in for a main character, huh? (Or is it Osamu's bad luck? Did she inherit it? The curse of the main character?)

12. Izayoi Seeing

I glanced around idly, scanning my surroundings. My hand rose to my shoulder to turn my Bagworm on thoughtlessly, the cloak spreading out around my arms and flapping in the wind.

"…Where am I?"

A familiar click resounded in my ear. "Miku-chan, use your radar."

"Right, right. Forgot." I flicked my hand up and scanned the small translucent disk that appeared. "Oh, this is useful… There are four dots."

"Three of them are Suwa squad," Yuma filled in helpfully over the communicator. "And the other one is me, so Arafune squad, Chika, and you are hidden right now."

"I've secured a proper spot to snipe from," Chika chimed in helpfully.

"Wait, already? That was quick." Yuma sighed. "Well, captain, who should we target first…?"

"I dunno," I muttered, ignoring how unhelpful it was. I stepped up to the ledge of the tall building I was on, whistling at the slight breeze that emphasized the height. "I can see a lot from here though, It might be better if I stay here for a good vantage point."

"Oh, your side effect might be good for that." Shiori hummed. "Yuma will be fighting on his own then though."

"I can handle it," Yuma whistled nonchalantly. "I'm not near anyone on the radar though, crap."

"Language," I warned.

"Yeah yeah, whatever—"

"Wait." I cut him off, my eyes narrowing on one of the other tall buildings. "I think it's starting."

-0-

"And Captain Suwa and Sasamori from joined together and caught Hanzaki!" Taketomi yelled. "Suwa squad had the initial advantage, with all three agents starting quite close together! Tsutsumi seems to have split up from them though!"

"Arafune also got decent starting spots, but Suwa squad gathered themselves quicker," Azuma observed Hanzaki jump to the side to avoid some shots from Suwa. "Suwa and Sasamori have a large advantage here, both being close-to-mid range fighters, while Hanzaki is long range."

"Hokari has a good spot at the highest building in the setting though," Midorikawa nodded casually. "He's probably going to—"

A shot pierced through the screen cleanly, the bullet travelling towards Suwa at such a quick speed that he barely had any time to react.

"OH MY GOD!" Taketomi shrieked in surprise

"—Do that," Midorikawa finished nonchalantly. "Is Suwa out already?"

"He's not—Wait!"

The smoke around Suwa's face cleared up, and he looked up at the tallest building with a smug grin.

"Captain Suwa used a pinpoint defence against Hokari's headshot! If he'd been off by even a little bit, or Hokari used an Ibis, he would've been dead!"

"He probably figured that Hokari, Arafune and Amatori can't use a Lightning or an Ibis with their perspective right now," Azuma commented calmly. "With Hanzaki, Suwa and Sasamori currently on the third tallest building and Hokari on the tallest, the distance between the two buildings is too large to use anything other than the Eaglet to reach Suwa right now. And other than the four tallest buildings, there's nowhere else to get a good shot at the others."

"…Indeed." Midorikawa nodded sagely. "I was just about to say that."

-0-

Sasamori slashed down with his Kogetsu, slicing a small cut into Hanzaki's boot as the latter jumped away.

"Arafune, I can't get away," Hanzaki muttered into the communicator. "Any way of meeting up right now?"

"How long can you hold on for?"

"Uh," Suwa shot again, idly dodging another sniper shot from Hokari. "With Hokari's help, maybe a few minutes."

"Alright," Arafune responded calmly. "That's all I need."

"Guys." Hokari interrupted quickly. "Hate to break it to you, but incoming."

Hanzaki's head swivelled around quickly, just barely catching the movement of a white-haired blur dashing across the roof.

"Wha—"

Sasamori lifted his sword as quickly as he could manage, catching Yuma's sharp Scorpion before it could slice his head off. However, the momentum was too much, as Yuma pushed the two of them right over the side of the building.

"What the hell?!" Suwa yelled indignantly, a few bullets barely missing Yuma's back as he and Sasamori disappeared over the ledge. "Where'd he come from?!"

"So fast," Hanzaki muttered while backing away from Suwa once again, although the space on the roof was limited. "I could barely see him…!"

"Wait, midget!" Suwa noticed Hanzaki trying to get away and began to run after him as the former began to run towards the building's roof door. "Hey, you're not getting away!"

-0-

Yuma landed easily on a relatively shorter building, falling a bit further away from Sasamori in a front roll.

Sasamori, having been falling back-first, surprisingly also landed successfully.

He pointed his sword at Yuma cautiously, eyes narrowing and scanning his surroundings carefully.

Yuma formed two blades of his own, charging at Sasamori without a word.

-0-

"Yuma, remember that Sasamori has the Chameleon Trigger," I warned quickly, eyes still scanning the whole battlefield below me.

"Yeah yeah," I heard his reply come, although I couldn't see his lips move from where I was. "Can't you just see him with the Chameleon if we need to?"

"Miku-chan's side effect only works well with things she can see!" Shiori cut in. "At this range, she can only see basic shapes and movement. For the fine details, we'd need to give her binoculars, or send her down there with you."

"…So she really is just 'four-eyes' now?"

I threw a stone off of the side of the roof with a huff, although it only served as a stress relief. "Yuma, shouldn't you be focusing on your fight?"

"…Alright, no offence," He began. "But he's not exactly very challenging to fight if I'm not caught off guard, and he hasn't used his Chameleon yet."

A small, barely noticeable crackle in the earpiece. "Big sister, are we just going to sit here doing nothing for the whole rank wars match?"

"You might, if things go well," I shrug, even though no one could see the movement. "We still don't know where Arafune and Tsutsumi are though, which is a small problem that'll probably come to haunt us later."

"You don't need to say it like—Oh, there he goes." I heard Yuma cut himself off, just as I glanced down towards his battle. "Ah, Sasamori used Chameleon. Mori, could you find him for me?"

"I can barely see anything from his range, since you pushed him off to a lower roof," I grumbled, leaning down to peer over the edge of the building. "…Nope, can't help you there. If I jumped down maybe, but I can see Suwa and Hanzaki from here, so I don't want to move."

"Oh, lovely."

"You're on your own buddy." I sighed lightly. "You'll manage though, you've never let me down before."

-0-

Yuma leapt to the side silently, war-trained senses picking up the minimal movement that Sasamori was making.

The Chameleon did well in hiding the teen though, as his Kogetsu barely formed quick enough to slice a deep cut into Yuma's leg.

"Oops." Yuma front flipped as he landed a few meters away. His fingers fell down to graze the cut lightly, regardless of the thin white fog leaking from the incision. "Mori's gonna hold that over my head later, I just know it."

Sasamori faced his opponent, eyes narrowing in slight irritation. "Are you underestimating me?"

"What? Of course not." Yuma shook his hand back and forth nonchalantly, but the slightly mocking duck face he had on ruined the sentiment. "I would never."

Sasamori's eyes narrowed further and he adjusted his sword in his grip, ready to charge towards his opponent before—

"Senku…"

Yuma's eyes glinted in slight surprise as he jumped up and towards the side, while Sasamori's eyes widened in shock.

He was too late in moving though.

"—Kogetsu."

The building they were on teetered dangerously and Yuma watched from the spot he had jumped to as the building slid off and crashed back to ground level.

A clean cut had made its way through the small corner of the building, barely making its way through Sasamori from where the source was.

"Ah, I didn't get both of you?" Arafune questioned calmly as the bisected Sasamori fell to the ground. "I must be losing my touch."

"Combat body limit exceeded. Bail out."

A flash of light illuminated the area for a split second as the Bail out did its work, just as Yuma peered down at the clean-cut going through the small corner of the building.

"Man, that was close," Yuma mumbled. "Good thing I didn't get caught by that either, or Mori would really have something to poke fun at me for."

"I suppose I should go back up Hanzaki, as soon as I'm done with you," Arafune grinned slightly. "Rookie."

"I wouldn't suppose you don't have any cover fire?" Yuma asked. "Maybe your friend is… just helping out the other guy? No snipers aiming to fire at me at this exact moment?"

Arafune's eyes glinted underneath the cap. "What do you think?"

Yuma sighed, Scorpion materializing in hand. "You didn't even try to lie."

-0-

"You guys are missing out on the fun over there."

I sighed heavily, watching with what few peeks I could get through the building's windows as Suwa chased after Hanzaki. "Yuma, focus. You're fighting Arafune right now, you can't afford to slack off."

"Right, right."

"I can't shoot as well right now, because of all of the buildings," Chika reported. "But I've got a decent hiding spot."

"I'll say!" Shiori giggled. "Wait 'till you see it Miku-chan, it's great! Pocari won't even know what hit him!"

Yuma's voice filtered in through my ear. "'Pocari'… Who—? Never mind."

"Focus." I cut him off absentmindedly, eyes scanning the building not too far from me. The supports weren't the best I've seen, seeing as how they were more on the thin side. Though the large quantity of them made up for that, they were still pretty breakable if I had a strong enough force to hit all of them.

Or…Just one big, big force. That was large enough to hit a whole level of the building at once.

Chika's hiding in a really surprising spot, that'll shock Hokari from Arafune… Hokari shot from the building over there, didn't he—?

Oh. OH.

Wait,so, the building Hokari is in has a clear shot to the Building Hanzaki and Suwa are in, but would an Ibis make it that far…? I'm positive that the average Ibis wouldn't, but would Chika's large quantity of Trion pumped into one shot make up for that? It seems like it's just barely out of range, but it's hard to eyeball it like this…

The building I'm in isn't taller than the one Suwa and Hanzaki are in, but with me on the top floor of mine, and them on the… The 7th-to-the-top floor of theirs, I'm at a higher elevation than them… Could I make that jump? I mean, probably… Most definitely if they just got a little lower—Oh god this sounds like one of those fucking dumb math questions we get in school that makes absolutely no sense—!

"Big sister, do you have an idea?"

My thoughts screeched to a halt.

There was an elongated silence before I sighed heavily.

"…It sounds much more chaotic when I say it out loud. I don't think you'll like it," I admitted quietly.

Chika giggled. "Well, who's the captain here?"

I paused. "Me."

"Right, so who can tell you 'no'?"

'I need to move quickly.' I squinted, watching Hanzaki's leg get blown off by one of Suwa's shots. "Is this your way of encouraging me?"

"Whatever you have in mind Miku-chan, we'll support you in it!" Shiori cut in cheerfully. "You said it yourself, the two of us are flexible enough to go along with whatever you and Yuma think up. Right, Chika-chan?"

"Right." Chika agreed in determination. "So just say the word, big sister."

I broke myself out of my shocked stupor relatively quickly and smiled lightly.

'…We've got this.'

"Alright, Shiori?" I began. "Can you highlight something for me, and then send it to Chika?"

"Don't doubt me on this one!"

I nodded, my smile stretching. "Alright, so the pillars holding up the building, can you outline all of them for Chika? I need her to aim for… around the sixth floor."

She stopped talking for a moment in shock and realization before a low chuckle resounded through the communicators. "… Miku-chan, you're so evil."

"I also need to get a clear jumping trajectory, from my spot to theirs." I grinned in excitement. "Their Trion bodies might be able to survive the fall, so I'll jump in and steal the points as we're falling. I tried to make an estimate it earlier, but can I actually make the jump?"

She paused, and I heard a few clicks on her keyboard. "Hm… You'll need to jump right away. Might need a boost or something, just to make it all the way."

"Maybe I can launch myself with Meteora." I hummed in thought. "It just might blow my legs to bits though. Yuma and Chika'll have to finish the round without me…."

"If that's what you need, sister, then we'll do it," Chika spoke up. "I'm ready to fire."

"I don't deserve you guys, seriously." I sighed in relief, creating a large Meteora cube in my hands as I turned around. I set it down on the ground and stepped back to take a look. "Will that be powerful enough…?"

I tried to imagine it in my mind, but Shiori had already run through the calculations. "You'll need to get it more underneath you, to get a good angle. Also, you might want three cubes of that, and launch them all at once."

I laughed, bringing out a scorpion to cut a hole in the ground. "Ah, this'll probably be a little better for my legs, since it's farther away from me... That's good, I can chase after Suwa and Hanzaki if I need to." I picked up the cube and carefully dropped it down to the lower level, internally sighing in relief when it didn't explode early. "If the collapsing building doesn't bury me, my legs will stop me from going anywhere."

"Judging by how tall the building is, and how much will be destroyed by your plan?" Shiori laughed. "You'll only get out of there safely if you're lucky."

"Chika, you and Yuma better finish the match quickly, I don't want to be buried for too long," I muttered jokingly, hearing a quiet giggle in return. "If the match only lasts 5 more minutes, I'll give you two a favour." I formed another Meteora cube and dropped it into the pit in one fluid motion.

"How will you know how much time has passed?" Chika questioned.

"Shiori, set up a timer for me," Slipped out of my mouth without missing a beat, just as said operator laughed.

"Alright, alright~ 5 minutes?"

"Please." I gently tossed another Meteora cube into the hole, bringing the grand total up to three. "Shiori, is this enough?"

"Yup, you're good!" She laughed quietly once more, and I positioned myself at the very edge of the building, an asteroid in hand to fire at the bombs. "Oh god, we're really doing this. I don't think anyone's ever done this in a rank war."

"Too bad Yuma's too busy to join in." I sighed. "Shiori, will Chika's shot make it to the building with enough force to destroy all of the pillars?"

"I checked over my calculations thrice!" Shiori cheered. "Affirmative!"

"Shiori, you're too good for us."

-0-

"Suwa is closing in on Hanzaki quickly!" Taketomi screamed. "And on the other side, Arafune has taken out Sasamori with one clean swipe, and is locked in battle with Kuga!"

"At this point, anything could happen," Midorikawa commented. "Tsutsumi's still hidden, Arafune has Hokari as cover-fire... And the rest of Tamakoma-2 is god knows where right now." The young teen rocked back and forth in his chair childishly, regardless of the incredulous stares he received. "…I wonder where Mikumo-senpai went…"

Taketomi blinked confusedly at the A-rank agent. "Mikumo…'-Senpai'…?"

"Midorikawa is correct in that aspect though," Azuma agreed without skipping a beat. "There are still a lot of people hidden, despite how far the match has progressed. And if Suwa finishes Hanzaki off quickly, from the height of his building…"

"…He can jump over to join the battle with Kuga and Arafune," Midorikawa finished. "At first glance, you'd think that people would be spread out far and wide with a setting this large, but the four skyscrapers actually act as gathering points… Huh?"

"Appearances are deceiving…" Taketomi hummed. "On Arafune and Yuma's end though, who do you think will win?"

"I think Yuma has a better shot." Midorikawa's blunt comment came. "For one, Arafune's a sniper right now. And I've fought against Yuma myself, he's pretty good."

"Didn't he beat you, 8-2?" Azuma asked, the only reply being the young teen's laugh.

"He demolished me!"

Taketomi's shoulders drooped. "That's really not something to be proud of…"

"Still, Arafune's not someone to be underestimated." Azuma stared up at the screen, adjusting his headset absentmindedly. "And with Hokari as cover fire, Arafune squad can easily get a good opportunity to take Kuga down."

"Hm…" Midorikawa hummed away from his microphone momentarily, squinting dubiously at the screen.

"…Yeah, I don't think that's gonna happen."

Taketomi and Azuma jolted, both turning to Midorikawa.

"What do you mean by that?" The female asked first, after a near-unnoticeable pause.

"Well, I just don't think Mikumo-senpai will let that happen," Midorikawa bluntly stated. "The fact that she hasn't shown herself says a lot, she's setting up for something… I think. She doesn't seem like the kind of person that'd just stand back for too long." He paused, before rocking in his chair once again. "She was super passive in our own match though, so maybe I'm guessing wrong. Whatever."

Azuma's eyes flickered at the screen for just a moment. "I think—"

They were cut off by a large explosion.

-0-

"Target hit!"

"Alright, thank you! I had a feeling you were over there, but JEEZ! Everyone that's still hidden will be rushing to your spot soon, you better run!"

"Chika-chan, I've highlighted a path for you! Just head that way!"

"Right!"

-0-

Arafune stared upwards and to the side, wide eyes silently taking in the sight of falling rubble from the nearby building.

Yuma huffed, red eyes glinting in amusement as he glanced in the same direction.

"Man, that's our captain for you. She could've waited 'till I finished up here though, that looks like fun."

-0-

"I—Wha—WHAT JUST HAPPENED?!" Taketomi stuttered.

Azuma, who's eyes were slightly wider than usual, regained his composure first. "That shot wasn't from Hokari, but Amatori. She was in the same building Hokari was in…?"

"…This wasn't what I was expecting, but it works." Midorikawa mumbled in awe.

"Agent Amatori was hiding in the same building as Hokari, and fired directly at the building Suwa and Hanzaki are in!" Taketomi shrieked. "What is Tamakoma—?!"

Another explosion cut her off, though this one was less loud and slightly muted.

"ANOTHER ONE!?"

"Wait." Azuma glanced up at the second crumbling building, although the explosion was near the top of the skyscraper rather than the bottom. "Look."

Everyone in the audiences' heads swung up towards the top of the screen, most squinting as their eyes struggled to catch sight of the small figure falling from the top of the building.

"I-IT'S MIKUMO!" Taketomi screamed in disbelief. "What is she doing?!"

"She's jumping to Suwa and Hanzaki from the second building," Azuma observed with well-concealed shock. "Can she make that jump?"

"She used Meteora to boost her jump, it looks like!"

Midorikawa squinted at the screen, not unlike many others in the lobby. "And—…!"

Mori just barely crashed through the glass of the other building, landing solidly two levels above Suwa and Hanzaki.

"—SHE MADE IT!?"

-0-

I scrambled to my feet, brushing glass off of my Bagworm cloak as I tumbled through the building's rooms.

The floor shook underneath my feet, and I stabbed a Scorpion into the floor to try and stabilize myself.

'The building is coming down, and fast.'

"Shiori, where are Hanzaki and Suwa?" I yelled over the concrete's loud cracking, ears barely catching the sound of Shiori's voice.

"Directly underneath you by two levels, still trying to get their bearings!" She yelled. "You have 13 seconds until the building hits the ground!"

"Alrighty then," I grumbled, allowing the Scorpion to dissipate. "Let's do this quickly then."

A Meteora cube formed in my hand, and I aimed directly at the ground.

-0-

"What the hell?!" Suwa yelled, struggling to stay on his feet as the building tipped dangerously. "WHAT'S GOING ON?!"

Hanzaki peered out the nearby window with wide eyes, barely catching sight of the quickly approaching ground before he turned around.

'Where's an escape…?! I have to—'

Both agents were cut off as The ceiling between them exploded, rubble falling like rain as a dark figure fell through the hole.

Hanzaki barely had a moment to open his mouth, before Suwa shot him in the head.

"Combat body limit exceeded. Bail out."

-0-

I dodged Suwa's first shot, eyes scanning the area as I caught sight of the two shotgun barrels.

"Miku-chan, you have 6 seconds!"

One aimed at me, one aimed at Hanzaki.

'Shit— He's already got the point.'

I gave up on Hanzaki, instead deciding to run directly towards Suwa as I deactivated my bagworm.

'Can't use Asteroid, he can just use a focused shield like before—'

The light from Hanzaki's Bail out barely illuminated the area as I materialized two Scorpion in my hands, and stabbed Suwa in the chest with both.

"What the fuck—" His cigarette dropped as his Trion body split apart, white Trion slowly leaking through the cuts. "Goddamn rookie—You came out of nowhere!"

Just before he Bailed out, he hastily aimed the shotgun at my leg.

My eyes widened, and I pulled back both swords to try and jump away. "Ah, shit—!"

A gunshot and a flash of light, just before the rubble buried me.

-0-

Chika glanced up, eyes scanning outside a window as she watched the top half of the building hit the ground with an echoing 'BOOM'.

Her hand rose to her ear as she scanned the rubble quickly. "Shiori-san, I saw two Bail out lights."

"Miku-chan said 'sorry, I could only get one point'," Shiori replied. "…Or, I know she would have if she could. She's kind of… buried."

"She did well, I'll tell her that later." Chika nodded, before continuing to jog down the building's hall. "Can she get out?"

"She might be able to, I'm scanning the rubble right now." Shiori hummed distractedly. "Suwa-san shot her in the leg before he Bailed out though, she won't be able to get as far because of that—"

A small 'clack'.

Chika jolted and spun around in surprise.

A tall figure stepped out of the buildings shadows, Bagworm deactivating as he took a step forward.

"Of all the people I run into…" Tsutsumi sighed, although his pleasant smile didn't falter. "This is going to be hard."

"I hope you won't go easy on me because of how old I am," Chika politely stated. "After all, Tamakoma-2's forte is taking people by surprise."

-0-

"Chika was found—!" Shiori's voice crackled through the communicator. "Yuma, can you get over there in time?"

"Hm," Yuma hummed, stepping to the side. "Might be able to."

'I haven't used my Grasshopper yet, it might get enough of a surprise for a good opening—'

Yuma's eyes flickered as he jumped back, a sniper bullet barely skimming the edge of his hair.

Arafune took that opportunity and advanced with his Kogetsu extended towards Yuma.

Yuma's eyes widened, and he jumped upwards at the last second.

However, he glanced around in the air, eyes barely catching sight of the damage as a wispy white cloud floated past.

"Oh." He landed a few meters away from Arafune with a small grin. "You're not going to make this easy for me, are you?"

"Not a chance," Arafune smirked. "I can't let my guard down for a second around you, I can feel it."

Yuma chuckled, standing despite his lack of a right leg. White Trion fizzled and sputtered from the stump, and Yuma spoke into his communicator quietly.

"Sorry Shiori, I can't climb up the building like this. Chika, are you good on your own?"

-0-

Chika sighed, hand dropping from her ear as she stared at Tsutsumi.

"Yuma can't climb up here on his own… Huh?"

An Ibis formed in her hand instantly, and Tsutsumi regarded the weapon warily as she held it loosely in her grip.

She smiled. "Mori really does find a way to infect everyone with her crazy ideas… Or else I don't think I'd be doing this."

Tsutsumi would have blinked in surprise if his eyes were open in the first place. "What…?"

She aimed her sniper rifle at the floor, and fired.

-0-

"AND YET ANOTHER BUILDING IS COMING DOWN!"

Azuma sighed, staring at the screen with exasperation. "Really, it makes you wonder if Tamakoma-2 meant to do this from the very start."

Midorikawa whistled, arms crossed over his chest. "Well, they make things interesting, that's for sure."

-0-

Arafune barely reacted this time, still keeping his eyes on his opponent despite the falling building behind him.

"Whoa, whoa," Yuma whistled as he dodged another slash, now free to move around without the sniper shots from Hokari. "Your teammate was in that building, aren't you worried?"

"My job is to take you down first," Arafune's grin barely peeked over the edge of his bagworm. "And Hokari is more than smart enough to take care of himself."

Yuma sighed. "Well, whatever. I have places to be though."

He charged at Arafune from the left, just as the latter raised his sword in preparation.

Only to be utterly blindsided, as Yuma bounced to the side opposite of where Arafune had been facing.

Arafune jolted, not having enough time to turn around before a Scorpion sliced his head in half. With the boost from his Grasshopper, Yuma flew past the shocked teen with a cheeky wave.

"That was good, I'll admit it." Arafune watched Yuma jump towards the crumbling building, just before the Bail out began to take effect. "Not bad."

"Combat body limit exceeded. Bail out."

A flash of light from behind him allowed Yuma to grin.

"You're pretty good too," Yuma used Grasshopper to jump to the collapsed skyscraper quicker, despite his missing leg. "Arafune."

He finally arrived at the remains of the fallen building, three of the remains five people already gathered there.

"Whoa, Arafune was right," Yuma peered over at Hokari, who had used a larger piece of Rubble to cushion his fall. "The other guy's not that bad. Such faith in his teammates. Suwa squad wasn't that bad either."

Another flash illuminated the area, and Yuma turned just in time to watch Chika Bail out.

"Ah, I didn't get here in time." Yuma groaned. "She did good though, bringing them both to ground level."

"Chika really improved, huh?" Shiori marvelled through the communicator. "Sorry I've been quiet, I was navigating Miku-chan out of the rubble."

Yuma didn't have a chance to respond, as he threw his head to the side. A bullet skimmed his head, and he jumped to the side to avoid another onslaught of bullets.

"What a rude welcome," He grumbled, eyes landing on Hokari. "He got his bearings quickly."

Tsutsumi aimed at Hokari and fired, allowing Yuma a chance to breathe as the sniper dodged.

'The guy from Suwa squad has the advantage right now, since Arafune's teammate is a sniper,' Yuma thought, scanning the area. 'I should aim for Arafune's teammate, he's easier to fight right now.'

Yuma nodded decisively, one Scorpion forming in hand as he launched himself at Hokari with a Grasshopper.

Hokari, already knowing that he was out of his element, sighed. "I'm already dead, huh?"

Taking aim at Yuma, who was running directly for him, Hokari fired and blasted off Yuma's hand.

Yuma clicked his tongue and formed another Scorpion mid-air, slicing Hokari in half with one swift movement.

"Combat body limit exceeded. Bail out."

Yuma landed on the ground, the light from the Bail out blinding him for a split second. "Nice try."

Tsutsumi grit his teeth, aiming his shotguns at Yuma and firing off round after round.

"Yuma, hold on for just a little longer!" Shiori called out. "Just a few more seconds, Mori is—!"

Yuma raised his hand, abandoning his Scorpion for a double layered shield. Bullet after bullet came, cracking the edges of his shields just as quickly as he created them.

'I'm running out of Trion.' Yuma grinned, just as a figure dragged themselves to their feet on the short building just behind Tsutsumi. 'Good thing it's already over.'

Tsutsumi caught sight of Yuma's grin and jolted.

He barely had a second to put the pieces together though, before a dozen Asteroid bullets ran right through him from behind.

"Combat body limit exceeded. Bail out."

-0-

"Hey, help me up here," Yuma laughed, watching his partner hobble over to his position. "I'm missing a leg, I need help."

"You're missing a leg?" Mori gave him a glare. Her intentions were clear though, as she couldn't quite fight back the urge to grin. "Look at me, I had to 'run' all the way here."

"Eh, you've got a point." Yuma shrugged before his last remaining hand rose to his ear. "By the way, Shiori, how quickly did we finish the match?"

Mori groaned. "You heard that part?"

"Of course I did," Yuma smugly replied. "Getting a favour from you? Boy, I already have something in mind."

"I suddenly fear for my life."

Yuma laughed. "You should. Shiori, Chika?"

A small click rang out, with Shiori's voice following not long after. "The timer just finished! You guys finished at nearly 4 minutes and 51 seconds!"

Mori buried her face in her hands and fell backwards with a dramatic groan. "Fuck— I was so close."

Yuma poked her in the side with his remaining foot. "Ye of little faith—"

Mori peeked between her fingers to glare at him. "Did Jin teach you that fucking phrase?"

"That matters not," He finished smugly, slowly dragging himself to his feet. "What matters—"

"—Is that we have a favour now," Chika completed for him from the operator room. "And I think I know what Yuma has in mind, since there's been something bugging everyone at Tamakoma for a few days."

"Wait, you guys are going to ask her about that?" Shiori chimed in with a giggle. "Don't you think that's a bit cruel?"

Mori's frustrated scream only barely blocked out the sound of Shiori's giggles.

"I DON'T EVEN KNOW WHAT YOU GUYS ARE TALKING ABOUT!"

-0-

"Ah, there you guys are!" Midorikawa cheered, before pausing awkwardly. "…Mikumo-senpai, are you ok?"

"Hm?" I hummed, drooping. "Huh? Yeah, I'm fine. Don't worry about it."

"You look dead." Yoneya laughed from behind the group. "Thankfully metaphorically, this time."

"Are we making dying jokes already?" I turned to Yuma. "Let me make the stab jokes now. Please."

"No." Yuma bluntly cut me off, expression pleasant yet carefully blank. "No stab jokes. You have terrible taste."

I turned back to the small group gathered in the hall. "I guess no dying and-or stab jokes. Sorry."

"Well, he's right about one thing," Kikuchihara sent me a clipped glare. "You do have terrible taste."

I shrugged.

"Well, anyways, how'd that Grasshopper work?!" Midorikawa bounced over to Yuma. "Worked pretty good against Arafune, huh?"

"It was awesome." Yuma bumped his fist against Midorikawa's with a small smile forming. "Thanks for that again."

"Hey, do you wanna have a few more matches?" The younger teen asked excitedly. "I've got a few more tricks this time, I think I can pull out a few more wins against you this time!"

"Hm…?" Yuma grinned. "Let's see about that."

He turned to me quickly. "Captain?"

I gave him a quick thumbs up. "I'll follow after you later, or else you'll never be able to find your way back."

He snorted and grabbed Midorikawa by the arm, dragging him off down the hallway. "Don't insult my sense of direction, captain!"

I waved, before squinting dubiously as the two of them turned the corner. "Other way, idiot!"

A white and brown blur passed by again, heading in the opposite direction without saying a word.

After a few moments of silence, Shiori turned to the rest of them with an excited grin.

"So, how are the rest of you doing? It's been so long since we've chatted properly!"

"And who's fault is that?" I heard Kikuchihara grumble under his breath.

Thankfully, Utagawa properly responded quickly after, catching Shiori's attention. "We've been doing fine. Though, Usami, you've gotten more beautiful since I saw you last."

'So forward!'

I saw Kikuchihara mock-gag behind Utagawa, and I nearly choked on my laughter.

Shiori smiled at the compliment, curving her body with a hand behind her head and the other positioned at her waist. "Oh? You've got a good eye, Uttei!"

Kikuchihara's eyes zeroed in on her. "You've gained weight. Your footsteps sound heavier."

I barely blinked before Shiori had locked her arms around Kikuchihara's neck, strangling him lightly. Her smile had barely wavered, although there was now a light-threatening undertone that certainly hadn't been there before. "Stop making up lies, Kikuchi!"

"…Ah, Kazama was watching too," Utagawa hurriedly added, turning away from the spectacle. "'The choice of setting seemed more calculated than it probably was in reality'… was his comment."

"I mean, he's not wrong," I turned to Chika. "We did literally pick randomly."

Kodera jolted in shock. "You chose randomly?!"

"Still, it was a good pick." I grinned, bumping my fist against my sister's. "You even pulled off that last shot at the end, blowing up the building… I shouldn't feel as proud as I am right now, but I am."

"You're definitely part of the trigger-happy crew," I thought I heard Yoneya mumbled under his breath, but another voice cut in before I could register it properly.

"Oi, Mikumo," Kikuchihara cut in, hair flicking in different directions from Shiori's manhandling. "You weren't as dumb this time."

I thought back to the invasion, regardless of Utagawa's disbelief at his teammate's blunt comment. "…Yeah, I guess I did alright for this match."

"—Though you better have better ideas than just blowing the nearest building up every time," He criticized. "It's not going to work again, and after a while, it'll get stupid, predictable, and annoying."

"Don't you have anything nice to say?" Shiori spoke up with an easy going grin, although I could see her arms lifting to catch him in another headlock.

"Wait, Shiori," I cut her off, grabbing her sleeve to stop her from manhandling the side-effect user further. "He's not wrong, it was good advice. I need to be smarter next time, blowing everything up isn't going to work every time." I turned to Chika, who smiled encouragingly at me. "That's why I got other Triggers to use other than just the Meteora, right?"

There was short pause, which was broken by Yoneya snorting.

"…Man, only someone like you would look at something Kikuchihara said, and take it as honest advice," Yoneya laughed, both arms swinging up to link behind the back of his head.

I blinked. "…But it was honest advice…?"

"—Wait, hold that thought." Shiori's hand rose, eyes scanning the screen from the phone. "Reiji's here to pick us up. Miku-chan, did you say you were gonna stay here?"

"Yeah, I'll probably be back later." I sighed. "Or I'll sleep over here, I dunno. I've been kind of achy all day, and I can put off dealing with the bet like this."

Shiori laughed, before starting down the hall with Chika behind her. "Well, don't push yourself! And if you get hurt—"

"—Call Kizaki, Rindou-san, or Jin, I know the drill. Though I'd rather sleep in the snow than call Jin." I took a quick breath. "Chika, don't stay up too late practising, ok? You deserve some rest."

I received a quick nod in return, just as my two teammates disappeared down the hall.

I didn't even have a few seconds after that before my phone buzzed in my pocket.

"Hm?" I pulled said device from its spot, holding it up to glance at quickly.

'Kunichika: hey, do you want to hang out today? i can kick the guys out, and i wanna talk with you'

I blinked, eyes quickly registering the words typed out across the screen. I typed out a quick affirmative to text back, as the conversation resumed around me.

"Alrighty!" Yoneya turned to the rest of us. "Time for some solo rank wars! How about it, you guys?"

Utagawa shook his head with an apologetic smile. "We're on duty after this."

"Oh right, you guys have the shift after Tachikawa squad, huh?" Yoneya sighed. "Maybe next time."

'Is she texting me during her shift…? Kunichika-san, did you have to?'

"And we're not slackers like you," Kikuchihara retorted.

And once again, the A-rank agent found himself being strangled again. By Yoneya this time though.

"You just can't resist, can you, Kikuchihara?"

"Ow," Kikuchihara blandly muttered. "Agent abuse. No violence, please."

'…Like cousin, like cousin, apparently.'

Yoneya let the side-effect user go, quickly turning to me. "Four-eyes-chan, what about you?"

"I'm good, thanks," I waved a hand blankly, sighing in resignation at the familiar nickname. "I'll follow you though, Yuma will probably end up causing trouble, someway or another."

"We should probably be going now," Utagawa spoke up, glancing at the clock. "It was nice meeting you properly though, Mikumo."

"Likewise," I waved lightly, before turning to Kikuchihara. "Thanks for the feedback, Kikuchihara-senpai. And the headphones."

I gained a few curious glances at that, but the person I was talking to only turned away with a scowl. "…They were old anyway, I found them in my closet. Don't you dare break them."

"I won't," I grinned a little. "Thank you though."

-0-

"Uh… So what's up with Miwa?" I began, feeling the elevator slowly move downwards. "Is he S-rank now? I was kind of… bleeding all over the place, but I did see him use the Fujin during the invasion."

'He sucked at using it, but I won't mention that. He and Replica did get the Neighbours to go away anyway, no point in antagonizing him for now.'

Yoneya laughed, although I could sense a tinge of discomfort. "No, Shuji's still A-rank. And we're still Miwa squad."

'…Do my dying jokes really make people that uncomfortable?'

"Miwa said, 'Fujin is a powerful weapon'…" Kodera pushed up his glasses in this middle of his sentence. "'But it's attacks are too specialized and it lacks adaptability'. So he advised the senior officers that he should remain on a squad… And use Fujin as tactical situations arise."

Yoneya tilted his head with a clueless smile. "He did?"

"Were you not listening?" I asked, just as the elevator 'ding'ed.

The doors opened slowly, and Yoneya took the lead as we walked towards the solo ranks wars lobby.

"I didn't think it was that important at the time," He laughed as we walked along. "He told us that he wasn't S-rank, and that was good enough for me."

Kodera sighed lightly. "Yoneya-senpai, you should really try listening. You might miss something important next time this happens…"

Yoneya laughed again, but my mind only paused as I watched the two of them walk side by side.

'…Do they… walk just like Miwa?'

My eyes barely picked up the small, near-unnoticeable gesture, with both of them walking with their hands in their pockets and a slight slouch. The slouch was less pronounced with Kodera but present nonetheless.

'I wonder…' I glanced down at my hand, clenching and unclenching my fist. '…Do people pick up habits from their teammates…? I saw it earlier, people do pick things up from people they're close with, like Yoneya and Shiori… Or was that just a coincidence?'

I thought back as far as I could, thinking of all of the teams that I've met so far.

'…That'd be weird. I don't think I'm picking up anything from Chika or Yuma either… But Chika did pick up my slightly explosive strategy. Is Yuma like that too now?' I paused, before shaking my head frantically. 'No, the world isn't ready for a trigger-happy Yuma. And I haven't picked up anything from them, there's no reason to jump to conclusions.'

My eyes could help but flicker back to the two A-rank agents in front of me, and I internally slapped myself.

'Dumb side effect. It's not even a theory useful for anything, it just sounds interesting. Stop picking up details around me that I don't need—'

"Oi, four-eyes-chan? You ok?"

I blinked myself out of my daze and glanced up at Yoneya.

"...Sorry, I zoned out for a bit there."

He waved a hand nonchalantly. "Don't worry about it, just checking on you. You kind of stopped there for a second."

Kodera from up ahead opened the doors to the solo rank wars lobby. He spared a worried glance to us behind him, while Yoneya and I hurried to catch up with him.

-0-

"Aw, man…. This sucks…"

Midorikawa stepped out of his booth, one hand behind his head as he grimaced. "The more we do it, the less I win…"

"Excellent." Yuma on the other hand, had a hand underneath his chin as his expression grew smug. "I'm getting the hang of this."

"Yoneyan…" Midorikawa whined as the two of them walked over to us. "What was the total…?"

"21 to 9," Yoneya replied cheerily.

Midorikawa hummed and appeared to try and tally it up, before evidently giving up. "What would that be in a ten-match round…?"

"Exactly 7 to 3," Kodera answered quickly, adjusting his glasses.

'Wait, Shiori does that too— STOP THINKING ABOUT THAT. IT'S NOT EVEN RELEVANT.'

"7 to 3…" Midorikawa sighed. "Well, at least it's better than before…"

"You've matured, Midorikawa."

"Well, you were pretty even in the beginning." Yoneya laughed before his eyes flickered to the side. "Huh?"

"Arafune!" He called out excitedly. "You here for the solo rank wars?"

I blinked, head turning to the side. 'See side effect, this is what happens when you get distracted. You don't notice your previous fucking opponent entering the room—'

"Oh." Arafune turned to us. "You guys were still here?"

"What's up, Arafune?" Midorikawa bounced over to said teenager. "Did losing to Yuma get to you?"

"Midorikawa…"

And once again today, another teen found themselves latching into a headlock.

"You told everyone I was going to lose, huh?" Arafune grumbled, strangling the chuckling Midorikawa.

"That's what my side effect told me," Midorikawa imitated Jin, down to the irritating grin always present on his face.

'…I feel like this has happened a lot today…'

Midorikawa grinned openly after being released from the chokehold. "If you immediately resort to long-range attacks, you won't ever win a close-range battle."

"Oh yeah? You've got some nerve." Arafune cracked his knuckles menacingly, glaring halfheartedly down at the younger teen. "Get in the booth. I'll cut you down to size."

Neither of them got another word in, however, as a chorus of loud gasps broke the atmosphere, causing all of our heads to turn to the source.

"It's Murakami Kou…! From Suzunari-1!"

"He's Tamakoma-2's next opponent, right?!"

A green haired teen blinked in confusion, glancing around at all of the C-ranks. "…What's going on here…?"

I blinked too, because for fuck's sake, did I really just meet another side effect user, or am I going crazy?

-0-

"Hey, Kou," Arafune greeted, stepping forward.

"Arafune…" Murakami turned to the teen, blinking slowly. "…It's rare you see you here. I watched the recording of your match…" He smiled. "It's been a while since you used your Kogetsu, huh?"

Arafune grimaced. "Ugh, don't watch that."

Yuma watched the interaction from beside me with a hum. "…Another crowd's gathering."

"That's Murakami for you." Midorikawa grinned.

"…Suzunari…" Yuma pointed at Murakami while sending me a questioning glance. "That's our next opponent, right?"

I nodded slowly. "He's also the No. 4 attacker… Tricky, tricky."

'…He gives off similar vibes to Kageura-san. Not just that fact that they have side effects, but that they're extremely skilled.' I thoughtlessly hummed, my thoughts already running around. 'Kageura-san seemed more dangerous though, maybe it was just because he has a more brash personality? Murakami, from what I've seen, seems pretty calm. Maybe he's like Yuma though, where he flips a personality switch during battle—'

I felt an elbow dig into my side gently, cutting me out of my thoughts. "Careful captain, I can see smoke coming out of your ears."

'The little shit's lucky I'm not out of my Trion body or that would've hurt a lot.

I swatted the back of Yuma's head absentmindedly, ignoring some of the amused glances we received from Midorikawa and Yoneya.

Murakami, evidently finished his conversation with Arafune, peeked around him to glance at Yuma. The latter let his eyes meet the formers, usual carefree expression already sliding into place.

"I'm Murakami Kou, from Suzunari-1," Murakami nodded politely. "Nice to meet you."

Yuma waved cheerily. "Nice to meet you too. I'm Kuga Yuma, Tamakoma-2."

He raised a finger over behind him, finger already pointing in between the two Miwa squad agents to point at me. "Over there is my captain, Mori."

I waved lightly. "Mikumo Mori."

"It really is rare to see you here though, Kou." Yoneya slid, already appearing behind Yuma to ruffle his hair casually. "You here to size up this guy?"

"That's right. I wanted to see…" Murakami turned so that he could glance at both Yuma and me. "The rookie who cut down Arafune… As well as the team who's strategy forced him to draw his Kogetsu."

'Oh, we're being taken pretty seriously.' I internally hummed. 'Too bad I didn't really have a strategy when I was doing all of that, it was mostly just improv. More expectations I can't live up to, I guess.'

"Tamakoma-2 seems pretty tough," Murakami finished.

Arafune sighed from beside Murakami. "Don't make me sound like old news…"

"I'm glad Midorikawa's here though," Murakami began, completely ignoring the other teen. "Help me practice."

The answer was quick, decisive, and accompanied by absolutely no hesitation.

"No way!" Midorikawa crossed his arms into an 'x', before jabbing his thumb over at Yuma with a pout. "I've already lost enough points to this guy. I can't afford to lose anymore today."

"Oh," Yuma's voice rang out through my communicator, slightly surprising me. I sent a quick glance over his way, but his expression gave nothing away as he barely looked in my direction, or moved his mouth. "So he's someone that Midorikawa deems a formidable opponent."

"I literally just mentioned that he's the No. 4 attacker," I scolded through the communicators, only half-listening to the conversation going on around us. "Besides, I think he has… some 'tricks' up his sleeve. Postures pretty relaxed too, definitely skilled."

Yuma however, only latched onto the first bit of information. "…Oho? Is that Mori-speak for 'side effect'?" I watched a spark of interest light in his red eyes —somehow without catching anyone else's attention— and I somehow knew that I had lost the battle I didn't know I was fighting.

My eyes widened, and I shot him a quick pleading glance behind Yoneya's back. "Yuma, don't you fucking dare—"

"Well then," Yuma spoke out loud, smoothly cutting into the separate conversation as he apparently listened. "You could fight me."

As I watched shock settle into everyone's expressions, a pit dug itself into my stomach. "Oh... That's not a good sign."

Yuma evidently heard my comment but forged on regardless. "Wouldn't that be the fastest way to measure your opponent? Our team would like to know how you fight too."

"Yuma, we can look at the logs," I hissed into the communicator without my mouth moving. Though if anyone was looking closely enough, they could probably see a small crease to my forehead. "The both of us know that all of your reasons are horse-shit, you just want to fight him!"

I could picture his smug grin in my mind's eye, although he currently wasn't wearing it. "Ah. You caught me."

"Don't 'Ah, you caught me', you idiot! I'm going to bounce your head off a fucking wall!"

It's amazing that our faces didn't give away the argument currently going on.

(Even though I didn't really care what he did, as long as he had fun. Most of this was just banter for the sake of bantering, although every once in a while, it did grate on my nerves.)

"…Well…" Murakami visibly hesitated on taking Yuma up on his offer.

"Don't do it, Kuga." Arafune refused instead, drawing Yuma's attention over to him. "You'll jeopardize your next match."

Yuma's face morphed into something more puzzled and confused, although his mind was already working quicker than anyone else could have ever expected from his clueless expression.

"Yeah, a side effect seems pretty high on the list of possibilities here. Judging by everyone's expressions, it's probably pretty impressive and well-known too." His hum resounded in my ear. "Maybe it's something similar to yours, like information processing…?"

"Yeah, and you offered to fight him!" I reminded quickly. "And knowing you, there's no way you'll take his refusal to fight lying down!"

"Knowing me, 'there's no way I'll take his refusal to fight lying down'," He repeated dully, although I could hear an underlying hint of excitement. "Oh man, I wonder how tough he is."

"YOU'RE NOT LISTENING TO ANYTHING I'M FUCKING SAYING!"

(If he pulls off a win, maybe I'll treat him to cake. I haven't baked in a while anyway, since I got stabbed and went into a coma.)

(…The duality of my personality sometimes frightens me.)

"Well… We could keep our mouths shut about this, but that doesn't seem fair." Yoneya scratched the top of his head before his hand slid down to rub the back of his neck, a grimace crossing his face. "…You see, Arafune's right. It'll be better for you if you... Wait until the real thing."

"Hm… But now, I want to fight him even more," Yuma retorted casually.

"If they're saying we should 'wait until the real thing', then it's probably something that learns quicker with experience," Yuma reasoned 'out-loud', letting me hear and contribute to his thought process. "If it wasn't, they would've let me fight him right now to get some information on it ahead of time."

"I get where you're coming from, so we should probably listen to them," I argued weakly, despite knowing how absolutely ineffective it was. "I think you're on the right track though, so it's most definitely a side effect. C'mon, we can ask Shiori tomorrow. Her and Konami probably already know."

"Aw, but where's the fun in that?" His voice came out teasing. "Besides, if I don't get to fight him, I'll get him to fight YOU."

My mind blanked out on that one. 'Wait, what?'

"…I don't really understand, but we're going to lose out of something if I fight him now, right?" Yuma spoke to everyone around us, after a moment of silence over the comms to determine that I would remain silent. "I know for a fact that Yosuke and Arafune aren't lying… But that just makes me even more curious." Yuma's eyes sharpened, red orbs landing on Murakami across from him. "Now… I really want to know."

"…I see." Murakami replied, after a long moment of silence. "There's not much data on Tamakoma-2, so I'd jump at the chance to fight you firsthand. But…" He paused, lifting up two fingers. "I have two conditions."

I was only half listening though.

"If I don't get to fight him, I'll get him to fight you", "If I don't get to fight him, I'll get him to fight you"…. Kept ringing inside my head.

(...Yuma, I wouldn't even last 2 fucking seconds per match. Yuma. Are you trying to kill me.)

"For the first condition, we have a ten round match. And second… We take a 15-minute break after five rounds."

Murakami lowered his hand with a calm expression. "Are you still ok with this?"

Yuma grinned excitedly. "Yeah." And I thought he was about to leave it there and head off to a booth.

He paused instead though, stopping halfway in the motion to step into one of the booths. Everyone watched in slight curiosity as Yuma spun around on his feet, and walked forward to stand right in front of me.

A chill ran down my spine at the smug expression covering his face.

"Captain," He began cheekily. "Do I have permission to fight?"

That snapped me straight out of my daze.

I slid my glove off of my hand and to everyone's astonishment, slapped Yuma across the face with it with a loud 'THWACK'.

"DON'T ASK FOR PERMISSION IF YOU WERE JUST GOING TO IGNORE WHATEVER I SAID IN THE FIRST PLACE!"

Yuma's loud, boisterous laughs resounded throughout the lobby, the slap rendering ineffective in his Trion body.

(I'll apologize for hitting him later. Maybe when no one else is around.)

-0-

"So that's the halfway point…Huh?"

I huffed quietly, sinking into the lobby couches despite Yoneya's attempts to start a conversation. "Dumb Yuma."

"Aw c'mon~" I heard his voice resound through my communicator, just before a long 'slurp' echoed in my ear. "I thought it was funny."

"First of all," I began. "Don't sip your drink so close to the communicator, that's really fucking loud. And second, fuck you."

"You don't really mean that," He retorted playfully, and I huffed because fuck him, I won't admit it. "Honestly though… I wanted to see his so-called 'side effect' in action. Just hearing someone tell me about how it works isn't the same."

The slurps came to an abrupt halt, and Yuma whined after a moment of silence. "I'm all out of water."

"Sucks to be you." I kicked my legs up, already getting up and off of the couch. I ignored the curious glances of Yoneya, Kodera, and Arafune as I stomped off towards the hallway doors.

"Where're you going?" Yoneya asked curiously, an eyebrow raised. "The 15-minute break is almost over."

"I'm getting a drink," I muttered behind me just after flicking my communicator off. "I already know Yuma's going to lose anyway, for whatever reason."

I didn't get a reply to that and reached the doors peacefully. The attention of any curious B and C-rankers was directed at the screens showing Yuma and Murakami's fight, thankfully away from me.

"Good grief," I muttered under my breath, stepping up to the vending machine across the hall from the lobby doors. "Which drinks does Yuma even fucking like…?"

'I don't think he's tried strawberry milk yet,' I thought, eyes scanning over the options. 'Though maybe he drank it while I was unconscious. I'll need to ask him later, but I know for sure that he seems to like the orange soda… I'll get some for myself too.'

I popped a few coins into the slot and pressed the button twice, watching boredom as the drink tumbled out of its place on the shelf, dropping down to the drink retrieval slot. I watched the second bottle hit the bottom before a random thought occurred to me.

'Don't the drinks get shaken up if they land like tha—?!'

Something looped itself around my neck, and I found myself with a fist digging into the side of my head as a voice loudly resounded in my ears.

"AH, IT'S YOU! I KNEW REMEMBERED YOU!"

I choked.

(That was because I was being choked, not because I recognized the person choking me.)

-0-

"HARK!"

"AHHH!" Taketomi shrieked, ripping the headphones off of her ears in surprise. "T-Tachikawa?!"

"Let me hear too!" The No. 1 A-rank agent yelled, stepping towards the operator and her precious computer. "Azuma was commentating today, wasn't he?!"

"Whoa, Tachikawa-san, calm down." Izumi stepped into the room with a grin, right behind his excited captain. "We can just ask to borrow the files, right? No need to cause a scene."

"She has a right to give it to us!" Yuiga trumpeted loudly, proudly marching in behind his two teammates. "After all, we're No.1—!"

Izumi delivered a swift kick to his teammate's side. "Yuiga, shut it."

"—GWBAH!"

"'Gwbah'?" Tachikawa spun around with a snort, a hand held in front of his mouth in amusement. "Did you just say 'gwbah', Yuiga?"

"It was because Izumi-senpai kicked me!" Yuiga complained loudly while clutching his side, the volume causing Taketomi to wince. "This is abuse!"

"Please, just get out of my room…" Taketomi whined, clutching her headphones to her chest with tears in her eyes. "…I don't have any recordings of the rank wars match today…"

"You know that never works," Tachikawa blankly retorted, before holding his hand out. "C'mon, I just wanna borrow it. We were on defence duty today during the matches, and I wanna hear Azuma's commentating."

"Now, now, boys," Kunichika's voice resounded in the three boys' communicators. "Ask nicely, I'm sure she'll give you the clips."

Izumi paused, just before his hand rose to his ear. "Yuu, you're not usually this complacent with taking the video files like this... Did something catch your attention?"

"Eheheh…" Kunichika chuckled softly. "I wanted to watch Mori-chan's first match… My precious Kohai was so worried about it, she texted me last night to ramble about how nervous she was~"

Izumi blinked. "Mori…? The four-eyes?"

"'Precious Kohai'?!" Yuiga shrieked out loud, forgetting about the internal function for the communicators, and causing Taketomi to glance at him in surprise and shock.

"Why are you guys using your communicators without me—?! Scratch that, just get out of my operator room!"

"Oh by the way," Kunichika cut in smoothly over the radio. "I invited Mori-chan to talk with me about it later. So you guys can't come back to the operator room, or I'll just kick you out again."

"WHAT?!" Tachikawa yelled, jumping up from his spot. "But I need the computer!"

"Borrow Kazama-san's!" Kunichika deflected. "Mikami-chan will let you in if you ask nicely, or you can go bother Ren-chan! She might be the only other operator willing to put up with you!"

"Wait, but Yuu!" Izumi interrupted in a hurry. "I left some croquettes on the table for after our defence duty shift! Can I at least go grab—!"

"Nope!" She cheerfully cut him off. "They'll make good snacks though, thanks a lot!"

"Wait, croquettes?!" Tachikawa spun around, drooling slightly. "You left croquettes on the table? When did you even buy them?!"

"You can't shut us out of our own room, Kunichika-san!" Yuiga shrieked indignantly. "HOW COULD YOU! I'LL CALL MY LAWYER—!"

"NEVER MIND THAT!" Taketomi finally exploded, shoving a disk into Tachikawa's hands before pushing them out the door with a shriek. "GET OUT OF MY SQUAD'S ROOM!"

-0-

"Still, that wasn't a bad fight," Yoneya praised, ruffling Yuma's hair. "I didn't expect you to win 4 times right off the bat, pretty good."

Yuma hummed, an eyebrow flattened. "Still…"

"It didn't really matter in the end though." Arafune grinned, standing beside Murakami with a slightly smug—slightly proud smile. "Murakami beat you 5-0 in the second half."

"It was only in the second half!" Yoneya backs Yuma up, although the latter seemed to be more preoccupied with his thoughts. "Yuma will beat him next time."

"Yoneya-senpai, beating Murakami-senpai's side effect would be very difficult..." Kodera cut in meekly.

"Shohei, you're supposed to be on my side!"

The doors to the lobby swung open loudly, successfully grabbing the attention of everyone in the vicinity.

Yoneya spun around to glance at the newcomers, before waving cheerfully. "Four-eyes-chan…?" He paused, eyes sliding to the person beside Mori. "…And a tag-a-long…?"

Arafune blinked. "Inukai," He greeted in surprise. "I didn't think you were around right now."

"Well, I heard about some rookies coming around and messing with the rankings!" The blonde waved cheerfully beside Mori, a stark contrast to the dark cloud that seemed to loom over her head. "Then I go and run into one of them, and what do you know! She's the one that—"

"Oh my god, will you drop it!?" Mori finally burst out, causing nearly everyone but Yuma and Inukai to take a surprised step back. "That was literally years ago!"

"You pushed me!" Inukai retorted childishly, although there was no heat to his words.

"I barely remember you! How did you even recognize me?!"

Inukai opened his mouth, presumably to repeat his previous statement. "You pushed—"

"Inukai," Arafune cut in, fingers pinching the bridge of his nose exasperatedly. "What are you talking about…? You two know each other?"

Inukai turned to the male, allowing Mori to sigh with relief as his attention redirected itself. "We didn't really talk, but I saw her a while ago at one point. She pushed me."

Mori let out an aggravated sigh, and Yoneya chuckled in amusement in the background. "Four-eyes, you have some really weird luck, huh?"

"Where'd you meet?" Murakami asked curiously, glancing at his blonde friend.

Inukai tilted his head with a contemplative hum, as Mori's head dropped slightly. "Hm… Was it, a funeral?"

I ran past everyone gathered at the entrance, pushing aside another blonde teen as I dashed into the house. I ignored the indignant 'hey!' as I slammed the door shut behind me, prying my shoes off in an instant and running through the halls.

"Something like that," Mori mumbled bleakly, ignoring the sudden expressions of surprise around them. It seemed like a change of subject was needed. "I still don't get how you recognized me though."

Inukai laughed, tossing an arm over her shoulder in an overly friendly manner. "I'll tell you, those glasses are very distinctive. Besides, that was a day that I don't think I'll ever forget."

Mori's shoulders slumped, already having given up on pushing him away. "My glasses aren't that distinctive…"

'Border agents are always so annoyingly stubborn… And touchy.'

"Captain, didn't you say that you had somewhere to be?" Yuma cut in blankly, and the ice in his tone caused everyone to turn to him in shock. "You said you got a text earlier."

Mori blinked, mind already flashing to the text from Kunichika earlier. "Ah, you're right." Inukai's grip slackened, and she slipped underneath his arm quickly before walking over to Yuma.

She hesitated on what to do next though, and Yuma tilted his head.

"…What do you need?" He asked, and his tone was thankfully back to normal this time.

Mori's lips pressed together into a flat line, and she held out a bottle of orange soda to him. This, once again, surprised everyone around them, as she sighed. "…You said you ran out, at the halfway point."

Yuma was silent, before taking the bottle with a grin. "Thanks, captain."

Mori backed away quickly once the bottle was handed off, hand gripping the bottle she had gotten for herself loosely. She glanced down at it quickly, and back towards a clock hanging high on a far wall.

She tossed the bottle to Inukai instead, being the second closest person. "I don't have time to drink that, this'll make up for me pushing you!"

Before anyone could say a word, she had run through the crowds of C-rankers and out of the room.

-0-

Inukai blinked, hands having caught the bottle deftly once it had been thrown. "…Pop?"

Yoneya shrugged. "I thought she was going home earlier, but I guess she was getting a drink for the shrimp."

Arafune glanced back at the short white-haired attacker, who was still staring at the bottle in his hand with a slightly fond expression. "…Those two didn't initially seem all that friendly. Maybe I need to re-evaluate that assessment, they're clearly closer than meets the eye."

"It seemed like they trust each other though," Kodera spoke up. "….Although they show it in a strange way—"

"Still that was nice of her, huh?" Yoneya interrupted, eyes quickly catching Yuma walking closer and into earshot of the conversation. "Getting you guys some drinks…?"

Yuma nodded, stepping beside the two Miwa-Squad agents. "I guess it was nice."

Inukai laughed. "She did say, 'to make up for pushing you'!"

"Still, Inukai-san, I'm surprised you popped up like that," Murakami sighed. "A 'funeral'…? The situation got awkward very easily…"

"Well, I was telling the truth! A funeral was the closest thing that could describe it!" Inukai laughed with a smile, and no one noticed the edge of bitterness in his expression. "Four-Eyes did seem interesting though!"

His hands gripped the bottle cap, and twisted.

Safe to say, no one expected the explosion of orange soda, spraying the drink up and into the blonde's face.

The explosion ended as quickly as it came, leaving the bland faced, smiling Inukai completely soaked from the assault of orange pop.

There were exactly two seconds of silence after that spectacle, before Yoneya's quiet snort kicked off all of the chaos.

Everyone, including the C-rankers, burst into laughter, everyone staring at the thoroughly soaked and surprised Inukai.

Yuma chortled loudly for exactly three seconds as his fingers wrapping around the bottle in his own hand, before he too, found himself soaked.

-0-

"Mori-chan, come in, come in," Kunichika opened the door with a flourish, smiling brightly. "Sorry to text you on short notice, but I wanted to talk to you about your match!"

"Ah, thanks." I awkwardly stepped into the room, Trion body now deactivated to avoid Yuma contacting me via communicator. "Sorry to intrude."

"There's no intruding here, don't worry!" She held up a bowl of croquettes which, with a quick scan of the room, deemed to have been from the recently opened box on the table. Judging by the slight condensation on the bottom of the box lid, they were still hot. "I have some croquettes for us to eat while we chat, so just sit down on the couch."

I quickly thanked the world that it was a couch, because my limbs were aching far too much for sitting in a chair to have been comfortable.

The cushions were actually surprisingly soft, and the room was littered with small items that made the area seem well-lived in, although not well cared for.

"…Does no one like cleaning around here, or something?"

"Nope, Tachikawa-san and Izumi are both quite lazy on that front. I swear, sometimes those two are like brothers," She answered serenely, and I blushed slightly at my remark being heard. "Yuiga's just spoiled, so he doesn't feel like he has to clean."

'Yuiga?' I silently wondered, before pushing the thought away. "…Are you going home after this?"

"Ah, I don't think so," She admitted, rubbing the back of her head sheepishly while biting into a croquette with a satisfied smile. "I have some new games I bought with our reward money, and I haven't gotten around to playing a few of them yet. And I have a bed here at HQ to sleep in, so I'll probably just sleep over…"

"They let you do that?" I questioned in surprise. "Sleep over?"

"Eh, it's not recommended," She laughed, gesturing at a small stack of papers placed haphazardly on a nearby shelf. "Tachikawa-san forgets to do his paperwork a lot too, for the defence duty reports. Sometimes he ends up staying over and sleeping on the couch so he can finish them."

'Someone so high-ranking can just forget about writing the reports?!'

"But anyways…" She grinned at me, nudging the bowl of croquettes towards me. "How was your match? I haven't gotten to see the video yet, but I had Tachikawa-san steal it from Taketomi-chan for me."

"Ah…" I thought about what to say first. "…I… blew up a building…?"

'…Nailed it.'

"Really?" She paused, before bending over from where she was sitting, and letting out a loud laugh. "I should've known you were the destructive type from the large-scale invasion reports, but I wasn't expecting this for your first rank wars match! I definitely have to watch the video later, it's probably funny!"

"…Large-scale invasion report?" I repeated questioningly. "What's that?"

"Oh, that old thing? Nothing much," She waved off, loud laughter depending into small chuckles. "Just a bunch of scattered reports from most of the main agents summarized into one big paper… Including areas that were destroyed, how many Neighbours were taken down, who did what, etcetera, etcetera."

"Oh." A destroyed road flashed through my mind as I paled. "…Where Yuma and I took down the first Rabbit… Huh?"

"Yeah, the block was nearly decimated." She laughed again. "Yuma… He's the Neighbour, right?"

"…Yeah." I shrugged, stuffing a croquette in my mouth to hide my slight distaste for the sudden turn of topic. "He's the 'Neighbour'."

'…I forgot. To everyone that was involved in retrieving his black Trigger, which is nearly half of the A-ranks… He's just a Neighbour.'

"Now, don't look so down!" Kunichika's cheery voice cut through my train of thought. "I didn't mean anything by it when I said it like that!"

I couldn't help the slight dubiousness that slipped through my tone. "…Did you."

"I didn't," She reassured, more seriously this time. "I just don't know very many other defining qualities about him. Did you know, that for the two weeks you were unconscious, he was practically silent?"

"He was?" I burst out, my head snapping up in surprise. I didn't have time to be embarrassed about my outburst though before she began to speak again.

"He was just training quietly, the entire time." She nodded, eyes flickering up as she hummed in thought. "Any time he was at HQ, he was avoiding as many people as he could, and just using one of the private training rooms." She paused, before huffing. "I don't blame him though. Everyone that he knew was pretty much avoiding him, and Amatori-chan too. Just out of guilt for letting you get hurt."

"…I didn't know that…" My quiet mutter came. "I mean, Yuma told me that things were quiet for a few weeks, and he didn't talk to anyone really, but… Really?"

"Really really." She tossed another croquette into her mouth, leaving just three in the bowl. "Tachikawa-san was going to challenge him to a match since Jin was off moping somewhere else too, but he suddenly backed off after I showed him a picture of his captain, you. I wonder why…?"

'Does he somehow remember me from the invasion…?' I mentally shook my head. 'No, there's no way. I was in my C-rank uniform at the time, and he only had a second to look at me before he chopped the street into 5 pieces. And at the time, he was too preoccupied with—'

"Hey, Neighbour… Where's my shooter?"

A shiver went down my spine. 'Jesus, that was terrifying.'

"Whatever, I kinda wanna meet him." Kunichika rocked back and forth in her seat, despite the couch being stationary. "…Yuma-kun, I mean. He's gotta be something special if Jin spoke so highly of him." She paused, before chuckling and pointing at me. "Kinda like you!"

I choked.

"WHA— Ok, I'll admit that Yuma's definitely amazing, but me too?!" I coughed, trying to erase the tickle in my throat that formed from choking. "I—" Cough. "—I'm not really anything—!"

"Now now, there's no point in lying!" Kunichika's cheery voice rang out, just before she patted me on the shoulder. "Everyone was interested in your team when Jin gave his vote of confidence in your strength, but after the most recent rank wars match that I have yet to see?" She laughed. "You shouldn't doubt your strength so much, it only causes issues for yourself in the end!"

I sputtered.

"But really, you're very insistent on praising Yuma-san~!" She sang, as she patiently guided me towards the door. "Maybe the two of you are dating~?Don't worry though, I won't tell anyone!"

"What the fuck," Was hastily pushed out of my mouth, before I found myself walking back to Tamakoma's operator room in a daze.

-0-

I barely managed to clear my mind of all of my previous baffled embarrassment, when I had arrived at Tamakoma's operator room.

I barely managed to open the door though, before I was greeted rather abruptly by my partner in crime.

"You pranked me," Yuma began 'harshly', although I could hear a hint of pride and amusement in his tone. "You fucking pranked me."

"Language," I retorted lightly, already slipping into our casual banter. Although he raised an eyebrow at the slight blush that had refused to go away, he dropped it.

"Are you ready to go home now?" He sat up from where he'd been lying on the ground, already slipping his mini-Replica back into his pocket. "You said I could sleep over this morning, remember?"

"Yeah, I know." I laughed, before grabbing my jacket off of the chair despite the throb in my leg and shoulder. "You brought clothes for tomorrow, right?"

He shrugged, loose sweater already on as he stepped out of the room with me. "Don't mother-hen me—"

"I'm not 'mother-henning' you!"

"—I'm still feeling weird." His usually present duckface was back, although his eyebrows were creased in irritation. "My stomach was really weird when you got back after my match."

I wrapped my scarf around my neck with a frown as my eyes slid towards his direction. "…Are you upset about losing against Murakami…?"

"No, not that." He denied instantly, eyebrows scrunching further. "…It's Inukai. I don't like him."

"Why wouldn't you…—?" I paused, the rest of the walk going back near silently as we made our way the Border-HQ's front door.

When we had stepped out into the cold, however, the wind biting at my cheeks, did the answer slap me in the face.

"…Yuma." I paused, turning towards him with a quirked eyebrow. "…Were you jealous?"

He hummed in thought for a moment before abruptly freezing, my eyes catching a sudden tenseness to his frame that hadn't been present before. His walking pace quickened, and an uncharacteristic smirk crossed my face as I matched his speed.

"You know what, I don't think I felt sick after all," He amended nonchalantly in a calm tone, eyes trained straight ahead as he whistled. "It was just me being dramatic. You know, I'm not really used to losing against someone that badly, probably just feeling under the weather."

"Oh my god, you were jealous!" I cackled, walking just a step ahead so I could look back at his face. A dull throb rang through my thigh in response, but the amusement blocked out most of the pain. "I thought you sounded colder than usual when you got me to leave, but you— Jealous!?"

"I wasn't jealous," He retorted evenly, and I didn't sense any bite to it. If anything, there might've been a faint tinge of embarrassment to his tone. He paused though, steps coming to a halt as he swung around to face me. "…Do friends get jealous?"

I met out a hum muffled by my scarf while shrugging. "…I think so." I lifted up a finger, the two of us continuing to slowly walk down the city's sidewalk. "Once, I got really jealous of Rinji when mom made her infamous cake for him. It was his birthday, but I got mad and sulked anyway. I was a kid, so I thought she liked him more than me."

Yuma let out a snort. "Kasumi-san makes the best food though, that's where you got it from. You had a right to be jealous."

I could feel a cold wind brush by, and I shivered just looking at Yuma. The only layer he was wearing that was even remotely warm, was the thin, black hoodie he had on.

"I got upset at Rinji a lot of times," I laughed lightly. "He was always irritating me, someway or another. It was usually playful though…"

(…Kind of like Jin…?)

I brushed the thought away. "Rinji was naturally irritating, but I considered him a big brother. Once, for my birthday, I told him I didn't have a party because I didn't have any friends at school. So he took it upon himself to throw me a surprise party, no matter how much of a short notice it was. It was fun, even though it was a mess."

"Eh…?" Yuma drawled, a small smile curling at his lips while he watched me. "Rinji seems like a weird guy. I kinda wanna meet him."

I laughed. "Oh, you should hear about the time he—"

"HEY! FOUR-EYES, STOP RIGHT WHERE YOU ARE!"

I did stop, Yuma not far behind me. Only because it was polite though.

I quickly realized though, that the manners should have been reserved for someone else, as three familiar figures strode up in front of us.

"Eida, Bito… and Shiihara… is it? Whatever, the moron trio." I could even barely remember their names but honestly, I couldn't care less. "To who do I owe the pleasure?"

"You four-eyes, getting cocky, huh?!" The leader began with a scowl, jabbing a finger in my face. "Seem to think you're all cool like that, skipping school. You think you're hot shit, huh?!"

'…How many times do they need to say "huh"…?'

Yuma was quiet, for the most part.

(For the most part.)

He turned to me silently, pointing a finger in their direction. "…Should I know them?"

I sighed heavily.

"Huh, punk?!" The leader screamed. "YOU DON'T FUCKIN' REMEMBER ME?! HUH?!"

"My leg and shoulder hurt," I mumbled boredly. "Can we finish this quickly?"

"You don't need to move a muscle if it hurts, Mori." Yuma twisted his arm around, other hand grasping his shoulder as he whistled a tune, stepping closer to them. "This'll only take a second." He tossed the bag slung over his shoulder beside me, the sack harshly hitting the cement next to my feet.

"WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU TALKING ABOU—"

-0-

I tossed my scarf over Yuma's head, wrapping it twice around his neck firmly.

"Hm?" His signature duck face hadn't wavered, staying firmly in its places he glanced down at the cloth. "What's this?"

"My scarf, you troublesome Neighbour," I snorted, feeling a chilly breeze run by my neck. "I'm cold just fucking looking at you."

"Oh, Mori's scarf, huh?" He patted the cloth with one hand, grabbing my hand with the other as he walked out of the alleyway. Three unconscious and beaten up bodies were propped up against the wall, right next to the trash can. "I promise not to wreck it."

"Well, I guess you're keeping it," I sighed, a small smile tugging at my lips. "C'mon, it's late. I guess I finally need to go to school tomorrow… What a bother."

I didn't get any butterflies, and no embarrassment rose in my throat as he dragged me. I didn't feel a spark when he held my hand either, and no blush lit up my face on fire. All I felt, was the cold temperature of his Trion-bodied hand.

And that was comforting.

-0-

When Mori switched schools after the incident in elementary, she made two simple rules for herself.

1. Don't interact with anyone. It makes things easier if they never get a solid enough impression of you.

It was simple. Go to school , take notes, eat lunch, go home. Meet with Chika and Rinji, talk with mom.

That's all.

2. Don't attract attention. Obey the rules, although some sarcasm might make it's way through.

Simple. Be the law-abiding four-eyes that Yuma thought I was at first. Don't fight back, don't start a fight in the first place.

That was it.

(When did she stop caring about what people like them thought…?)

(When did she start fighting back, if just for the reason that people like them didn't matter?)