"… Are you guys really okay, Mori?"

I blinked, turning to Konami confusedly before I slapped on a quick smile. "Why wouldn't we be?"

She gave me a flat stare. "Mori, Chika shot someone. You and Yuma are hovering."

"I'm not hovering, you're hovering," I deflected childishly, biting into my piece of toast before swallowing harshly. "Besides, I'm not with her right now, am I? We're not hovering."

"You three of you guys insisted on sleeping over in the same room last night, it took you ten minutes just to work up the courage to let her out of your sight, and even then, you only did it because Yuma is still with her." Konami sighed, digging the heel of her hand into her eye. "Geez, you guys are too co-dependent, yet somehow so stubborn on doing everything alone! Why do you teenagers have to be so stupidly annoying!"

"Konami, you're a teenager yourself," Kizaki called out from the kitchen, absentmindedly cleaning a plate.

Konami, like the mature teenager she was, huffed and ignored her captain. "Besides, you guys are refusing to talk about it! And you're insisting on not telling us what the hell happened during the match—not that blowing up Kageura, Azuma and Ninomiya wasn't awesome—but it was a mess!"

I sighed, spinning in my seat to look away from her. "We talked about it yesterday, so we don't need to again… Yet."

Konami only huffed in response, but reluctantly left it alone.

"… So, Mikumo," Kizaki begins, apparently content to carry the next topic of conversation. "Do you have any plans going forward?"

A slow and lazy 'hmmm' rang out, while I rocked back and forth in my seat. "… I have a few ideas, but first, there are two things I need to think about."

Konami raised an eyebrow, urging me to go on.

"Something's been stuck in my mind since yesterday, but that's less important until I figure out what it's about," I filled in still half-distracted as I finished my breakfast. "But the more important thing is what I've been thinking about since before the match."

That got a few reactions of curiosity. A notable mention on Hyuse's part, who was sitting quietly beside Yotaro on the couch across from the dining room. The two of them turned slightly, though somehow, Yotaro was grinning excitedly.

…Drat, that brat is surprisingly good. How did he know I wanted to ask already?

"Want to elaborate?" Konami asked, leaning over the chair in front of me. "Or are you gonna be like Jin, who keeps quiet until he can throw it in our faces and watch our reactions?"

A quiet hum, and I found myself contemplating if I should've just kept my mouth shut. "… I don't think you're gonna like it, but I'm planning on recruiting a fourth member."

"I already don't like the sound of that," Kizaki deadpanned. "Who's is it?"

"Someone free, someone Mori knows, good enough for Tamakoma standards…" Konami's eyes narrowed. "… Who?"

For once in my life, my self-preservation kicked into gear, and I found myself turned towards the side as I whistled innocently.

Yotaro seemed perfectly happy with shattering the suspense in the air with a smug grin. "Isn't it obvious?"

"Hah? Are you saying you know who she's talking about?"

"Of course," He leaned back, coincidently bumping into Hyuse.

"It's Hyuse, isn't it?"

Hyuse, who choked as soon as the words were out.

Konami gaped before reacted in the only way she really knew how. That is to say, incredulity and denial.

"Do you really think that HQ would—?!"

I scooped up my bag from the chair and made a break for the door before anyone could recover from the shock. "Well, my Tamakoma-2-senses are tingling, I guess I'm off!"

True to my words, as soon as I opened the door leading out into the hall, Yuma and Chika were waiting for me.

Yuma blinked, still relatively close to Chika's side. "… That was quick."

"I have Tamakoma-2-senses," I waved off, smiling lightly. "Where are we going?"

"HQ," Chika answered, eyeing the door I had hurriedly shut behind me. "… Did you ask Hyuse to join the team?"

I groaned, running a hand over my face, following my two friends as they began to walk through the hall. "You two knew?"

"I could tell you were considering it." Yuma snickered. "It's obvious he's grown on you."

"Am I really that obvious?"

"Yes," Was the quick and decisive answer I received from both my teammates in unison.

I could only sigh in resignation.

'But… At least things are starting to go back to normal.'

-0-

"… I couldn't help but notice," Kizaki cut in, sending a quick glance off towards the Neighbour in question. "You didn't comment on the offer, negatively or not."

Hyuse shot the adult a dark glare, still chugging the water Yotoaro had sympathetically gotten. "… I choked."

Konami crossed her arms, still slightly grumpy. "Still, I can't believe that idea… I know Mori's out of her mind, but this?"

"She and Jin got HQ to let Kuga join," Kizaki reminded calmly.

"Yeah, but that was Yuma!" Konami objected, still refuting the idea. "Yuma, who's my apprentice. Also, they'd have to be dumb to refuse the help of a black Trigger! Hyuse—Hyuse helped Afto during the large-scale invasion!"

Hyuse narrowed his eyes at her but didn't say anything quite yet. Objecting that statement would just put him at odds with both sides while he's still on the fence like this about his loyalties.

At this point, the list of people he's still loyal to is… limited, to say the least. His master, Yotaro, and…

'… No. That will never happen, they said it themselves.'

"Your brain-dead organization would never be able to set their ego aside long enough to let me anyways, even if I have information that could help them." Hyuse huffed. "The idea died in its crib, and if lazy thought it actually had a chance… She's dumber than I thought she was."

Konami's desire to defend Mori's intelligence level momentarily override her vehemence to object to the idea, and she found herself yelling at the Neighbour once again.

-0-

"Hm?" Kinuta spun around. "What's Mikumo doing here? She wasn't here last time…"

"I'm just tagging along," I excused, waving a hand. "I might ask a few questions but other than that, don't mind me."

He paused for a moment, before reluctantly opening the door wider. "Hrm. Just don't interfere with our business too much."

"I won't, I won't…" My voice lowers nearing the end. "Probably."

Yuma snorts as he follows me through the doorway and over the threshold.

"Like, I, said~" We hear from further into the room, causing Yuma to look over curiously. "I already told you everything I know about the small fries, taking anymore time to do this is pointless for the both of us."

'… Wait, is that a Rad?'

"It'll either be Galopoula or Rhodokrhoun, one or both with come to attack." The Rad waved a claw dismissively, eye twisting around towards us and away from Raizo. "Isn't that enough information? I'm getting tired… Shoo."

"Wow, he's gotten a lot more cocky, now that he's not locked up behind a pane of glass," Yuma commented, pointing towards the Rad while turning to Kinuta.

"… You really weren't kidding, huh?" I sighed, glancing at the horned Trion soldier. "I didn't really think something like this was really possible…"

"Heh?" The Rad's eye swivelled around to meet mine. "Oh, it's you! The… The little monkey! You were protecting the golden egg, weren't you?"

I raised a hand to my chest in mock-surprise. "I didn't think you would remember a meeden monkey like me! What an honour!"

"'Meeden'?" Kinuta repeated, sending me a flat glance.

I only pointed at Yuma. "Two of my friends are Neighbours, I unintentionally get some history lessons sometimes."

He stares at me, contemplatively, for a few more moments, before sighing.

"Galopoula and Rhodokrhoun…" He begins instead, turning back towards the black Rad. "We don't have enough information on either of them. Since we don't know enough about either, we can't make any specific plans…" He pointed a searing glare in the Rad's direction. "Out with it already!"

The Rad turned away on the cushion with a huff, as I simultaneously leaned down to whisper in Yuma's ear.

"… Maybe I haven't been listening enough, but… what's it's name? The Rad, that is."

I got a quick 'Enedorad' in response, before we turned our attention back to the conversation at hand.

"Raizo!" Kinuta finally called out, turning to the chubby man sitting quietly at the side. "Do something!"

"Okay…" The man sighed, walking towards Enedorad and leaning over. "Come on, I'll show you another movie."

"Oh? Hm…" The Rad visibly perked up, before settling down into the cushion once again. "Unfortunately, even if I wanted to say anything… I don't know the details. Working on the outskirts is up to the small fry, ergo, not my business."

The Rad was unexpectedly emotive even as a Trion soldier, slowly slumping into the pillow. "Both of the countries are puny anyways, you don't really have any need to worry. If Meeden could somehow outlast our invasion… Well, there's no chance of them catching you with your pants down."

"Interesting analogy," Yuma commented slyly, shooting a quick thumbs up. "Also, he isn't lying, for what it's worth. Is someone coming to attack again?"

"In a few days… According to our predictions." Kinuta sighed, crossing his arms. "And if he's telling the truth."

"That soon?" Yuma questioned, me silently listening behind him. "We haven't really heard anything about that…"

"An emergency meeting has been called, right now." Kinuta gestured vaguely towards the door leading to the hall. "It's being discussed to figure out the next course of action."

"Ah… That's why Jin wasn't at the branch office this morning," I muttered distractedly. "He must have left pretty early."

Yuma hummed.

"Though, depending on the meeting, it's likely the defence against this next attack," Kinuta began gravely. "…Will be carried out as secretly as possible."

That brought us up short.

"EX-cuse me?"

"Now, it's just not the right time," He excused, waving me off. "The city is still recovering from the large-scale invasion. If people find out that something else is coming…"

"They'd freak out," Yuma smirked. "Like totally, freak out. Pull a mutiny."

Kinuta shot the Neighbour an irritated glance. "… We'd like the citizens to live in peace for now. If the media gets any excuses now, we'll never hear the end of it, and the public will lose faith in Border. And all of our long term plans, recruiting, the away missions… They'll have to be put on hold."

"… That… Would be bad," I summarized nicely. "But how does Enedorad know that anyone will attack?"

"What did you just call me?!" The Rad snapped, glaring at me with the single eye.

When I stared right back, completely unflinchingly, he sighed and turned away. "… I don't need a specific reason. Hairein is just a bastard, and I know that's what he'll do. He doesn't want you monkeys going after him and attacking Aftokrator."

'… Hairein?'

"Isn't that the opposite though?" Yuma asked, quirking an eyebrow. "They pumped a lot of Trion into the attack, wouldn't it be easier on their resources if we came to them?"

The Rad snorted, twisting around on the pillow. "Maybe under normal circumstances, but they'll be dealing with a lot of in-fighting once they get back… To choose a God, anyway. They can't afford to deal with outsiders during delicate politics like that."

He paused, before lifting up a claw and jabbing at it the two of us. "Oh yeah, one piece of warning!"

I jerked back minutely at the movement, but he continued on without a care in the world.

"It'd be better off for everyone if you didn't tell Hyuse about the attack."

My eyes widened.

"He might be behaving now… But I bet he's waiting for a chance to return home."

"… Hm…" Yuma lifted a hand, stroking his chin jokingly. I could tell something slightly insulting was circling through his thoughts though, and cut in.

"Enedorad, could you elaborate of the 'god' issue from before?"

"Stop calling me that, you goddamn vermin!" He snapped, jabbing the claw in my direction. "But fine! If you wanna know so badly, I'll spare some time out of my day to educate you brain-dead monkey!"

"… Such vulgar vocabulary," Kinuta sniffed, before waving over Raizo. "Bring him a whiteboard, it's how it was explained last time."

He gave me a quick glance, I assume for asking the strange question, before directing us over to the nearby table. "Take a seat over there, Raizo will be back soon."

Yuma nodded, pulling out a chair for himself, as I sat on the side adjacent to him. Soon enough, Raizo was back with a whiteboard, and Kinuta was bringing over Enedorad to sit on the table.

"Argh, this is such a pain," He grumbled, lifting a claw—wait, did they really just tie a marker to it?— "I hate going over the same thing I told baldy already."

Kinuta's fist twitched in irritation, and I laughed despite myself.

"So this is the short version, listen up real good. First, I'll talk about Aftokrator," He went on, unperturbed. "Aftokrator… is run by four houses. There are many vassal houses under the dominion of each feudal lord, and many more below them. There are four big groups of smaller houses… And all of them claim their own territories."

"That sounds really risky, especially for a nation that goes around starting wars with everyone else," I commented cheerily. 'Not to mention, it sounds mighty familiar. Tamakoma and HQ, ringing any bells?'

"Most countries are like that, when they only cooperate while going to war with other countries," He dismissed. "So, Hairein, the dickwad, is one of the leaders of a big house. Fuckin' try-hard… He's been going around gathering manpower and Triggers for their house so he could expand their territory." His opinion on his former-leader was… Pretty clear, to say the least. "For a while, all of those haughty leaders were getting along and making nice, but now there's a problem."

"In a few years…" His eye narrowed, still looking serious despite his form. "The planet's god will die. Essentially, Aftokrator will shrivel up and wither away… Killing everyone and destroying the land. But… When something like this comes around, an opportunity arises."

"By saving the planet, they can become heroes, huh?" Yuma inferred, whistling nonchalantly. "Typical."

"Exactly." Enedorad snorted. "If one of the houses find the next god, they'll be acknowledged as the strongest and wealthiest house in the next generation. So, off the four houses go… Looking for a sacrifice to toss at the mother Trigger… And that's where we are." He huffed, glancing down at the rough diagram he had outlined on the board.

"Mother Trigger?" I repeated, glancing around quickly. "Whassat?"

"Hah? Weren't you—?!" The rad abruptly paused, before narrowing its single eye. "… You weren't here last time, were you."

"Nope."

"Figures." It sniffed. "Fine, I'll explain it again. The mother Trigger… is basically what powers the Neighbourhood. Each nation, each planet has it's own mother Trigger that preserves the land for hundreds of years at a time… Per god. It can control weather, land structure…"

It finished its sentence with a concise jab directed at my face. "It manipulates everything that makes a nation… What it is. It is the life of the planet, and without it?" A snort as the claw lowered once more. "Well, pretty self-explanatory, no?"

"… It sounds very important," I finally settled for.

"Aftokrator rules over the Neighbourhood, because of our careful choice of each god that gets sacrificed." Enedorad huffed. "It is of the highest importance that the planet prospers, no matter what."

"Wait, I have a question," Yuma raised a hand jokingly. "What about Hyuse? You mentioned before that this whole mission was played off as an excuse to get rid of Hyuse, but what was the reason?" Yuma paused, before grinning half-mockingly. "You're only kind of smart—"

"YOU—!"

"—But you probably have noticed something was up… If there wasn't a plausible reason, that is."

Enodorad squinted at my best friend for a few more minutes, before scoffing loudly. "Fine, you're right, I'm getting to it."

He circled a certain house, one of the smaller houses closer to the middle. "… Listen up. Hairein is a pessimist by nature… and figured that finding a Meeden monkey with enough Trion to be a god, would be rare. So… Hyuse was his backup plan."

My eyebrows raised, and I made sure to listen extra carefully.

"If they couldn't find a candidate for a god, he would offer up his vassal with the highest Trion. But the doesn't usually work you see." Enedora cackled. "Sacrifice one of your own, and people will get testy. And losing someone with enough Trion to be a god is dangerously risky. But no matter what, that bastard just had to find a god, no matter what." Another scoff. "The greedy bastard."

"Testy… So is a fight gonna start, now that Hairein couldn't find a god?" Yuma questioned. "Since you said he'd offer up someone to be the god, no matter what."

"Oh, of course." Enedorad snickered, eye folding in amusement. "That's why… Hairein marooned the mongrel that was most likely to bite him in the ass. The plan goes as thus… To sacrifice the lord of the Ellin house, directly under Hairein…"

A pang of realization rang out through my mind.

"Hyuse's master."

'Mikumo… Ellin Hyuse.'

That… that was the middle name he chose, wasn't it?

"So… This person is going to be Aftokrator's next god?" Yuma questioned. "And you said something about 'master'. Do you mean, employer…? Or something of a teacher?"

"Eh, it's probably closer to the second one," Enedorad grumbled. "Although foster parent wouldn't be too far off either. The Ellin are known to be softhearted… especially to any orphans they pick up off the streets. Hyuse was most likely treated like a family member, rather than a soldier."

"Ah…" I didn't really know what to say to that. "That's… rough."

Lovely.

"Did he even know that his master was going to be sacrificed?" Yuma wondered out loud. "Hyuse doesn't seem like the type to dilly-dally if something like that were going on, even in the background…"

"At most, he probably only heard rumours and speculation. If anything Hairein must've made sure it wouldn't come up too much." Enedorad's eye narrowed in anger at the mention of his former leader. "Like I said last time the shrimp was around, he probably distracted him with the fact that they were about to get rid of me."

There was a short pause for us to mull over the information before the Rad tapped it's claw against the board again.

"… If Hyuse has any brain cells to rub together… He's wondering why he's been left behind. Of course, there's the possibility that he's already figured it all out, but on his end, there's no definitive proof yet. So he'll be doing whatever it takes to go back to Aftokrator at this point, and hurry back to his master's side. So keep an eye on him, if he tries to make a break for it."

My eyes flickered. 'But… Doesn't that contradict… Everything he's done so far?'

Yuma's eyes slid over to me, our eyes meeting for just long enough to get the thought across.

'He sure didn't seem like he was in a hurry to go anywhere.'

And that brings me back to my normal point, which was actually what made me think about bringing Hyuse into our team.

Does he actually want to go home?

'Cause, if so, sure doesn't seem like it.

"Watch the Neighbour closely, Tamakoma," Kinuta wanted, dragging me unwillingly out of my thoughts. "We'd like to avoid any conflict, for now, seeing as how another invasion is coming."

"Oh, don't worry about Hyuse, old man." Yuma waved a hand, shuffling back and standing up from his chair. I followed soon after him before the two of us made our way over to the door. "He won't be any trouble. Guaranteed."

Enedorad's single eye quirked slightly, and Kinuta shot the white-haired teen a quizzical glance. "Why do you say that?"

Somehow, without even meeting my eyes, I could tell exactly how Yuma wanted me to respond. As well as the fact that he wanted me to respond at all.

So I plastered on the coldest glare I could manage, slowly swivelling around on my heels to meet eyes with both figures in the room.

(Yuma would later tell me just how terrified the two of them looked, nearly chortling enough to ensure that I couldn't understand his words.)

"If he ever gets it in his head that he can try and get away… I will make sure he regrets ever being born."

And with a dramatic flourish and a cheery grin, Yuma shut the door behind us.

…

"Wow, Mori. You were pretty cool back there—!"

"Holy god please don't make me do that again."

"Aaaaaaannddd there it goes. Well, it was fun while it lasted… Still, were you telling the truth?'

"… You of all people, are asking me that?"

"Right, I was just asking. Where to next?"

"I'm just planning to wander around… We didn't get to show off the shared vision last match, so we'll work on that more later."

"Okay, well, Kageura asked if we could fight again… So I'll be heading over to the lobby to meet up with him."

"I'd say don't get lost… But that's impossible. Have fun, I guess."

-0-

(Participants are sent to random positions on the virtual stage… And without Radar, must hide for ninety minutes while finding other snipers.)

Chika twitched, feeling a small tap against the side of her shoulder.

'My right…!'

She spun on her feet, immediately aiming with the Eaglet before firing.

A small moment of hesitation. Not a moment more.

Being sure to pick the window most hidden from sight—on the alley side of the building—before lifting her legs over the windowsill and leaping.

But before she could touch the ground, another light tap was felt on the side of her head.

'Six hundred meters…?! That must have been…'

-0-

"Hey, aren't you guys leaving yourselves too open?"

Said teen rubbed the back of his head with a grin, towering over the few in front of him.

'… I figured it would be Touma.' Chika smiled back, sheepishly fidgeting with the edge of her gloves.

"How are we supposed to notice anything from 500 meters away?!" Natsume asked indignantly, setting a hand against her hip.

"Izuho, you're full of holes!" Touma teased, patting her on the head. "So popular."

"When will these disappear?"

Ema slowly walked over, eyes flickering between the three teens. Narasaka also stepped forward, not too far behind him.

"Still, Chikako… You're amazing! 21st!" Natsume cheered, slinging an arm over Chika's shoulder. "And you were so close to getting 100 points, but I'm sure you'll do it next time!"

"I'm actually surprised she didn't do better," Narasaka pointed out, somewhat flatly.

"Eh?!"

"Yeah, I was thinking along the same lines," Touma joined in, bending over slightly to look Chika in the eyes. "You seemed to be hesitating more than usual, somethin' wrong?"

Chika glanced around for a moment, somewhat startled at the sudden flow of conversation. "… I just wasn't feeling too well. I'm sorry…"

Both top snipers recognized the evasion for what it was, with Narasaka sighing in resignation.

"Well, I still think Chikako did good," Natsume crowed, interrupting the silence. "She got higher scores than you did, Touma-senpai."

"Ouch," He winced jokingly.

"Amatori does better in combat simulations than in target practice," Ema immediately added. "Though I agree that she should have gotten a higher score, she still performed admirably."

"… Thanks, guys." Chika bashfully scratched the back of her neck. "I'll try to do better for next time."

"You don't need to do it for these two, Chikako!"

"Eh? I wasn't trying to criticize her or anything, I was just worried!"

"Then maybe you should word it better next time, Touma."

"You were agreeing with me, you mushroom-haired killjoy!"

-0-

"Still… Chika can do so well during combat simulations…" Touma sighed. "Such a shame she doesn't get points all that often."

"Urk." Natsume huffed, setting down her cup from where they had all piled onto the pair of benches in the hallway. "Back to THIS topic?"

"I'm just saying!" He defended, although it was slightly ruined by the laugh that accompanied it. "Chika's only scored one point in the four rank wars matches that Tamakoma has participated in… What a waste."

Natsume seemed to be holding herself back from arguing further, and Chika decided that she should at least help her friend. (Her friend that was helping her, but details, details.)

"It's fine," She cut in, keeping a light smile on her face as naturally as she could. "I… I can't shoot people anyway. So there's not much point in dwelling on it."

Touma abruptly choked on his drink, while Narasaka's eyes only widened. Natsume also gaped, somewhat shocked at how easily Chika had revealed her secret.

Ema was quiet. Thoughts of the previous day ran through his mind, and he found himself unconsciously shuffling an inch closer to the short sniper.

"—Seriously?!" Touma finally belted out, hastily recovering from his coughing fit. "I was so sure of it before, but then yesterday, you—"

He gestured wordlessly in the air, still sputtering uncharacteristically.

"… I didn't expect this," Narasaka finally settled for. "That's why… The match yesterday was so strange."

Touma finally ceased his vague gestures, pointing a curious glance towards the sniper in question.

Chika swallowed nervously, her smile dimming slightly. "Ah… I just…"

A pause. Natsume looked like she wanted to kick the pompadoured teen to her left, while Ema subtly sent a few death glares in their direction from over Chika's shoulder.

"… I saw them going after Mori... And I…" Chika stopped again. But this time, she didn't try continuing.

"… Well, damn." Touma coughed, leaning back against the wall. "Do you need anything, kid? We'd be happy to help…"

"No, it's fine." Chika sighed, sipping her water carefully. "I already… Talked to them. Mori and Yuma. About it, and… They don't want me to keep trying until I think I can manage it safely."

"That's probably the smarter idea," Narasaka encouraged—in that subtle way that he did because apparently showing emotion is unheard of for teenagers these days.

"But still," Chika rested a hand on her lap, clenching it into a fist. "It's frustrating… Not being able to do anything. I don't want—I can't just be 'the cannon' forever, because at this rate…" She shook her head. "… I won't be helpful to the team."

"Yuzuru… I really am useless after all… I'm sorry…"

"Amatori."

Everyone's heads snapped to the side, slightly shocked at the sudden conviction leaking into Ema's tone.

His expression was determined, and his hand was curled into a fist at his side before he slowly lifted himself off of the bench and stood up.

"I—I might be able to help you. Could you come with me for a bit…?"

-0-

"Wow… Your room is pretty organized!"

Natsume glanced around the rooms, eyes immediately locking onto the clean operator's desk nudged against the wall.

Chika stepped over the threshold with Narasaka and Touma following right after her for some reason despite not being invited. But quickly enough, her eyes caught something different than what Natsume had initially noticed.

"… Hrmn…"

Natsume blinked before her eyes locked onto the moving mass of blankets and pillows in the side room.

"Ema… Izzat you…?" Nire slurred, shuffling slightly as she rubbed her eyes. As soon as her hand was removed from her face though, her eyes shot open at the visitors. "AGH! Girls! And, Touma and Narasaka—!"

She cut herself off with a hiss, shoddily transitioning into a hasty 'shush'. "Be quiet—Do you know how long it took to—?"

"You're the loudest one here, Hikari," Yuzuru deadpanned, cutting her off. "I don't know what you're up to now, but it better not be illegal this time."

Narasaka raised an eyebrow at that.

"You—Hush Ema, I didn't do anything!" She pulled herself out from underneath the kotatsu, slowly petting down her bedhead as she went. "Also, you should warn me before you bring guests! Should I call Zoe and Kage back over?"

"Don't."

"What a warm welcome," Touma laughed, waving at the sleepy operator. "Nice to see you again, Hikari."

"Yeah, yeah, Touma. We go to the same school." She turned to Chika and Natsume with a carefree grin. "I'd offer for you to sit at the kotatsu and eat tangerines with me, but it's… otherwise occupied."

Another raised eyebrow from Narasaka.

"Hikari," Ema hissed across the room. "We just need to use the training room."

Hikari let out a silent whine, apparently still committed to being quiet for whatever reason, before returning to the kotatsu gingerly. The cat from on top of Natsume's head leapt off agile, before curling up at her side by the pillows.

"… It sounded like you had something to help Chikako before," Natsume finally began, returning everyone's attention back to the unusually determined Ema. "Can you fix her weakness?"

"No." he shot back bluntly. "Besides, after yesterday, we shouldn't even be attempting it. That would be stressful and possibly damaging to her mental health."

A few scattered winces all around. Chika could only sheepishly fidget with the edge of her team uniform shirt.

"But…" Ema began again, waving over Chika. "There's a certain Trigger that I think could really help in this case."

Chika stepped forward nervously, walking into the training area with everyone following behind quietly.

"You can normally score hits during training… But in rank wars, it's somehow different." Ema glanced around, but his eyes only met Chika's out of everyone in the room. "But regardless, it's all training. It's still a simulation, so what causes that hesitation? It's only a guess from my observations, but…"

His eyes sharpened. "Whether the target is blown up or not… Right?"

"Blown up?" Natsume repeated sceptically.

"That's not exactly uncommon," Touma chipped in. "Lots of people can't get over the fact that the people they are fighting are… Well, people. Though Border does their best to screen people like that before they can even become C-rank and cut them off during the sign-up process."

"Those people say…" Ema continued seamlessly. "They just can't get past the idea of, 'what if they were real flesh-and-blood'?"

Chika winced self-consciously.

"Border Triggers can't hurt civilians or people in their flesh and blood bodies. It's a safety precaution." Ema pulled up a window to change Trigger setting, glancing down at it as he spoke. "If Amatori can shoot normally during training, it's because she knows she won't hurt anyone. So—"

Ema paused, squinting at the screen. For a few more seconds of silence, there was an awkwardness that began building up as he scanned the window in utter confusion.

"… Hikari?" He finally spoke up, cheeks turning a light pink in embarrassment. "How do you… change the Trigger settings?"

Touma looked as if he was holding in a year's worth of hilarity with his hands clamped over his mouth, and shoulders shaking in silent laughter. Natsume did too, but Ema was more interested in punched the older of the two.

'All the seriousness of the situation… gone in the blink of an eye.'

Hikari laughed over the communicator before a few tell-tale keyboard clicks sounded out. "You can't do anything without me, can you!"

"Yeah, yeah…" Ema grumbled, watching the window as the settings changed. "Amatori, would you form a Lightning, please?"

Chika did as told, and in within a few moments, a sniper rifle was being kept loosely in place by her glued hands. As she glanced down at the Lightning, it slowly began to discolour and turn black.

Narasaka's eyes widened in recognition. "… That…"

"Amatori, give it a try." Ema's eyes flickered to the training dummies at the end of the hall. "Pump as much Trion into the shot as you can… And we'll see how it goes."

Chika nodded determinedly, setting the rifle up against the shooting booth to aim. "Okay!"

A shot, and suddenly, far to quick for their eyes to even comprehend—

BLAM!

A wide, heavy black weight formed around and through the training dummy.

Chika's eyes widened, similarly to how Narasaka's had done just a few moments ago. 'I remember… This Trigger…!'

"The lead bullet. It's a Trigger that immobilizes the opponent with weights." Ema clarified clearly, watching with something similar to pride as everyone's expressions' melted into awe. "This won't hurt anyone, even if they're flesh and blood… So Amatori should be able to shoot with it."

"Yuzuru… I really am useless after all… I'm sorry…"

(… Hatohara-san… You were anything but useless. I just wish you could have seen that before you gave up.)

-0-

An explosion, as I ducked behind a wall.

"You can't hide forever—!" A voice yells, before the steady beating of bullets against concrete is all I can hear.

Freeze frame.

Well, you're probably wondering how a got into this fine mess, right?

Well, it started around an hour or two ago… I guess.

I was just minding my own business before they popped up.

"Well, look who we have here!"

A heavy weight abruptly latched itself onto my back, making me do a literal spit-take as the weight energetically swung back and forth.

"Moriyan, you didn't tell us you'd be here today!"

I coughed, hastily avoiding choking as I set down my cup and swung my arms back to catch the swinging teen clinging to my back. "Nice to see you too, Shun."

He laughed loudly, and a few seconds later, I found him being forcefully removed.

"Jeez, don't just run ahead like that, Midorikawa…" Yoneya sighed, before adopting his familiar grin as he waved. "Hey, four-eyes."

Another cough, as I waved back. "Nice to see you guys too, although… The greeting could use some work."

Izumi snorted, releasing Midorikawa from the half-chokehold he'd had on the short teen for tackling me. Sweet karma.

"Yeah… Sorry 'bout that." Yoneya laughed. "Though I guess Midorikawa was right. Didn't know you'd be around today!"

"I practically live here," I muttered jokingly, turning around to face them properly. "I would probably sleep here half the time, if I weren't worried about Kido killing me in my sleep."

Izumi winced. "Poor taste as always, Mori-chan."

"Wait, why would Kido want to—?"

"Nothing, nothing…" Yoneya waved off the youngest of us with a sigh. "But on a side note, now that we're all together, you guys wanna have a few rank wars match?"

"What, are you that excited to get your ass kicked?" Izumi asked challengingly, shoving his hands in his pockets. "Maybe we should put up a bet… Like, losers buy us all snacks or something."

I gulped, a feeling of dread creeping up my back. "I have bad experiences with betting against people."

"It's just snacks, you could use pocket money," Izumi waved off. "2-v-2?"

"Shooters versus attackers again? Or should we split it up differently?"

Midorikawa sighed, stepping away from the two competitive teens and closer to me. "… They're already too far gone."

I raised an eyebrow at him. "You're not enthusiastic for a match?"

"I mean, it'll probably be fun, but I'm kind of tired…" He sighed. "I wanted to hang out with Yuma, but he said he was busy…"

"Kageura asked him for a few matches," I elaborated. "Maybe you two can hang out next time."

"Well, it's decided!" Izumi and Yoneya both began dragging us along towards the lobbies, Midorikawa hooked under Izumi's arm, and me stuck with Yoneya. "I hope you're ready to lose, bullet-brains!"

"You first, spear-idiot."

I sighed, reluctantly letting myself be dragged through the hallways, and somehow managing to catch the curiosity of a few nearby agents.

I knew it was going to be a long few matches… And for the most part, I was right. Another heavy sigh on my part, my expression perfectly mirroring the exasperation I had before.

… Well, if I was gonna get dragged into this in the first place, I might as well try getting something out of it.

I stuck out my tongue, before ducking forward and away from the wall I had previously been leaning against. Equipping my Bagworm as I went, I ran around a few corners to throw Izumi off of my trail, before checking my Radar.

Everyone, except for me, was visible on the Radar. Well, now I feel like the odd one out.

"… Yoneya-senpai, what's our plan?"

A pause over the communicator. "Plan?"

I groaned, shooting a spider up towards a roof, before using the wire to scale the wall. "We're doomed."

"Wait—Midorikawa is coming after me, and Izumi's going after you, so we should probably meet up. Then I can watch your back, and you can watch mine."

"And Izumi can watch Midorikawa's, and vice-versa."

I lifted my legs over the edge of the room, taking off the Bagworm as I scanned the area around the building.

"… Where are you right now?"

I opened my mouth to respond but ended up cutting myself off as I hastily threw up a shield. A steady round of bullets crashed into the surface, not quite cracking it, but managing a slight strain.

And there Izumi was, more Trion cubes forming underneath his hands and a cocky smirk on his face.

"You might wanna take cover, Mori-chan!"

"You'll know where I am in a minute," I muttered to Yoneya over the radio, forming my own bullets but keeping a shield up at the same time. "This is about to get a little… Explosive."

-0-

"Hm?"

Yuma jerked, before his head began turning to glance around his surroundings.

'…Ah. I'm lost.'

"All the hallways look the same here…" He sighed, rubbing his chin with his fingers. "… Which way is the elevator? Kageura's gonna get impatient if I'm late… And Mori's gonna laugh at me if I admit I got lost again…"

"What's up? Lost?" An unfamiliar voice called out, causing Yuma's head to turn. "Where do you want to go?"

The male was relatively tall, with short, light brown hair and an unmistakably friendly expression. After a few moments of silent assessment, Yuma dubbed the stranger as trustworthy before nodding his head.

"The solo rank wars lobbies."

"Ah, that's right down this way," He smiled, pointing in the opposite direction Yuma had been walking in. "Just a few turns, and…"

After just a few minutes of walking, they found themselves at the entrance of the lobbies.

"Here we are," he directed, stepping right up to the threshold.

"Ooh," Yuma marvelled before turning to the stranger. "I don't know how anyone manages to remember that."

"The hallways all look similar," the brunette agreed humbly. "I used to get lost a lot too, but you'll find your way eventually."

Regardless, Yuma gave a slight nod of gratefulness. "Thank you, whoever you are."

"Wait, seriously?"

Yuma tilted his head curiously at the slight exclamation.

"Don't you know…? I'm your next opponent." Kakizaki sighed slightly, quirking an eyebrow at the white-haired teen.

"Oh, wow." Yuma's expression turned just a bit apologetic. "I'm sorry about that."

Kakizaki sighed, his own expression just a bit resigned. "No, it's fine, I should've—"

"Oh, Kakizaki!"

Both teens halted in their conversation, twisting around to glance at the new, female arrival.

"I didn't know you were friends with Kuga," Kako commented, sauntering forward and joining the small group.

"Kako," Kakizaki greeted with a small smile. "Did you just come off duty?"

"Someone new again…"

"Nice to meet you, Kuga. I'm Kako Nozomi." Kako outstretched an arm to shake hands. "I was an analyst at your match yesterday… I'm lucky to see you here. Now I don't need to go all the way to Tamakoma."

Yuma shook her hand, eyes rising to meet hers in curiosity. "Hm?"

"Sorry to be so blunt, but do you…" She smiled invitingly. "… Want to join my squad?"

Kakizaki gaped.

"I decline," Yuma commented with the grace of, well… Yuma.

Kakizaki's jaw dropped.

"That's what I thought you'd say," Kako added on seamlessly, not even missing a beat.

Kakizaki's head spun, eyes flickering between the two sporadically.

"Why me in particular though?" Yuma asked, a sparkle in his eye. "You've only watched me fight a few times, and there are tons of people better than me in Border."

Yuma admits in his mind, that he's downgrading himself a little bit. He still stands by the fact that no one—except for Jin, probably—could beat him when he and Replica were serious. But… Replica isn't here right now, and he's not exactly supposed to… Parade his black Trigger around.

"Well, you see…" Kako began, pointing a finger aimlessly in the air. "Our squad is made up of only people, with the initial K."

A brief moment of confusion. "Inisharu… Kay?"

"Their names begin with the letter K," Kakizaki filled in. "Are you a foreigner or something like that…?"

"Something like that."

"So, whenever I see a talented someone whose name starts with K… I can't help but reach out."

"Then…" Yuma jabbed a finger towards the brunette beside them. "Did you try recruiting Kakizaki too…?"

"Kakizaki…?" Kako rested a hand against her cheek. "Well, he's not really our type."

"Er—Kako…" The agent in question drooped, scratching the back of his head. "You don't have to try being considerate…"

"I've heard around, that your squad is aiming for the away mission. And, well, we're going to try out this season too," She began, ignoring Kakizaki again. "Don't you think it'd be quicker to just join us?"

"We're also working towards that, so I'm good."

"We have the A-rank perk of asking the lab to customize your Trigger," She tried again. "You'll be able to fight more freely than before."

"Oh really? Well…" Yuma grinned. "We'll make A-rank on our own, so I'm good."

"It looks like…" Kako reached out with both hands, opening and clenching her fists "… I'll have to take you away by force."

"Oh?" Yuma mimicked the action with a smug grin. "This will be fun."

"Stop it, people are looking!" Kakizaki muttered nervously, watching a few stray C-rankers begin to form a crowd. "You guys—"

"OI, KUGA! YOU PUNK!"

Yuma blinked ta the familiar voice snarling out his name. "Uh-oh."

True to his worries, a spiky black-haired teen pushed his way through the crowd, scowl showing for the world to see as he tugged down his medical mask. "How long will you keep me waiting?!" Kageura growled, tilting his head. "I'll tear you apart!"

"…Kage," Kakizaki greeted.

"Oh, Kageura." Kako smiled, waving pleasantly at the new arrival.

"Zaki, phantom hag," Kageura grumbled in return. "Alright, look—!"

"A third K…" Yuma mumbled, unknowingly cutting him off.

"Huh?"

Kako turned back to Yuma, eager to continue the conversation. "So, you were meeting up with Kageura?"

"Yeah, but I got lost. Sorry 'bout that, Kageura."

"Then you should've let me know that you'd be late! Let's get going already!"

"Hey, I'm not done with him yet."

"Hold on, he's a kid. Stop pulling!"

"Ah, so many people. But I do have prior arrangements with Kageura, so…"

"Then I'll fight him for you! Kageura, let's go to the solo rank booths."

"Hah?! I'm not interested in fighting you, phantom hag! Fuck off!"

"Guys, can't we just settle this like mature adults—"

-0-

BLORP.

Chika looked visibly surprised at the sheer volume of the Ibis lead bullet, but also at how slow it was moving. Though Touma wasn't too far behind in commenting.

"Wow, that's… Really slow." He laughed. "Also big enough to see it coming… Guess it's a dud."

"Yeah, this won't really work in combat," Natsume commented, still standing on the other side of the room from where she'd volunteered to be shot at. "What do you think it'll—"

At the exact same time she spoke up, she lifted a hand to poke at the bullet experimentally. It didn't work well in her favour, to say the least.

"WHOA!" She yelled in surprise at the lead bullets, not only large in size, but in quantity as they expanded from her torso and suspended her from the ground.

Chika gaped, lowering the sniper rifle to step closer and inspect the weights. "Wow!"

Narasaka's eyes had widened, but that was his only reaction as he followed the group of snipers to Natsume.

"So, Natsume?" Ema asked curiously. "How is it? Heavy?"

"Ah, well…" She sweatdropped. "I—uh, I'm stuck."

"An understatement," Touma chortled, before attempting to help her out.

…

"After all that…" Ema glanced down at the Trigger-settings window again, though this time the group was huddled around him rather than single file in front of him. "Seems like the Lightning was the most practical."

"You were right all along…" Natsume gave him a thumbs up. "Nice going, Ema!"

"It wasn't me," He denied blandly. "I didn't come up with the idea, it was my mentor. Though she didn't have enough Trion, so she couldn't follow through."

"Ah, Hatohara, huh…?" Touma whistled. "Shame she left, huh?"

"She was one of the best in terms of sheer skill," Narasaka agreed. "I'd say that this idea goes to show how intelligent and innovative she could be with the Trigger combo's."

"Wow… She sounds amazing!" Natsume cheered. "And she was just like Chikako? She couldn't shoot people?"

Touma shrugged. "Well, I'd say they're kind of different… But yeah, she couldn't shoot at people either."

"But the Asteroid was pretty useful too, with the Lead bullet." Narasaka glanced at the training dummy across the room with weights sticking out of every surface. "But if the enemy is close enough for her to use that, then they're close enough to try shooting at her regardless."

"Though an Attacker wouldn't be able to shoot, if she can put enough distance between them," Ema added.

"Still, this is—"

"Chikako, what's with that silly grin?" Natsume suddenly interrupted, leaning over to see her friend's expression.

"Huh?" Chika jolted before sheepishly rubbed the back of her neck. "Well, I was just thinking… This is really fun. Working things out together like this is… really fun."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Natsume grinned, slinging an arm over her shoulder. "Don't four-eyes and the little guy help you out too?"

"Yeah, that's true… But," Chika smiled, somewhat proudly. "… They've got their own friends now, so we can hang out other times. When we're around here… It's best if they get to talk with others."

"… Hm." Natsume grinned. "Well, we're around a lot, so you can come to find us whenever!"

"… I have time to spare." Ema muttered, turning away to hide the slight blush to his cheeks.

"Ooh, Yuzuru! Oh, la la!"

"Wha—What are you grinning about?!"

"Nothing, nothing~"

-0-

"I can't tell what they're saying…" Nire grinned at her computer, watching Ema futilely pretend his crush doesn't exist. "But it's good to be young, Ema…!"

"What are you going on about now?"

Nire blinked, before spinning around in her chair. "Miwa, you're awake!"

"No, I'm sleeptalking," He retorted sarcastically as he levelled a heavy glare in her direction. "What does it look like?"

"Ah, temper, temper…" Nire sighed, before taking a chance to properly look at the teen, still bundled up in the blankets from the kotatsu. "How was your nap? God knows you never get enough sleep in the first place…"

Miwa visibly hesitated before answering that one. "… Fine."

"Oh, that's good! I was worried we woke you up when they came in earlier…"

Miwa's eyes narrowed. "You did."

"Sorry about that, captain."

Both teens spun their heads around, meeting eyes with Narasaka and Touma, who were stepping out leisurely from the training room.

"Ah, you guys aren't sticking around?" Nire asked, tilting her head. "Since it looks like Amatori and Natsume are gonna practice for a bit longer, I thought…"

"Well, they're all the same age," Touma shrugged casually. "We should let them fool around and be kids. They should hang out, just the three of them, for a bit."

"I figured you were here since I didn't see you in our operator room," Narasaka mumbled, turning to Miwa. "How'd she drag you here this time?"

Miwa glared, but Nire ended up answering for him with a laugh.

"Izumi, Yoneya and Midorikawa were wandering around, and Miwa ran into the first operator room he saw so he could hide," She laughed, with Touma joining in not a second later. "And that happened to be here and I made him take a nap, 'cause he looked like a mess."

Narasaka sent his captain a vaguely pitying glance, as the sound of laughter echoed around them.

-0-

I ended up pulling off… what, 4 wins?

Yeah, it ended up being 4 - 6 to Izumi and Midorikawa, which, the only reason that we got so many points is all thanks of Yoneya. Thank the gods for him, but I did get us ONE win, thanks to surprising Izumi with the Viper, and then the two of us ganging up on Midorikawa.

Turns out, me being able to program Viper bullets on the spot really surprised Izumi. To the point where he had completely frozen up in shock as I blasted a hole right through his head.

Yoneya only cackled and gave me a high-five, which I took as a good sign. Well, I did get praised for it by all three of them afterwards, so I guess I did something right.

Nailed it.

Which brings my total number of wins pulled off against them to… 17. Slow going, but I'm relatively satisfied with it.

After Yoneya and I treating the winners to some snacks from the vending machine, I split up and left to pick up Yuma from his pseudo-tournament with Kako, Kageura, and Kakizaki who had been dragged along at some point in time. Then, going off to steal Chika away from the Kageura operator room, where she'd been hanging out with Ema and Natsume. Gave Miwa a near heart attack when I all but kicked the door down, but Nire didn't mind so I guess it's all o-k.

Then, we headed back to the branch office where I proceeded to sit down at the dinner table with a glass of water, my notebook, a pencil and eraser, and stay there until… Well, well into the night. Everyone had gone back to sleep by the time I had zoned back in, which was… I probably shouldn't do that too often, in the foreseeable future.

I expected to be the only one awake at this hour. So when I was brought out of my thoughts by someone dragging out the chair across from me with a chair-against-floor screech, I nearly jumped right out of my skin to see—

I blinked. "… Hyuse?"

His eyes flickered to me, but he sat down in the chair without another word.

My eye twitched minutely. "… Hey, you can't just fucking scare the shit out of me, then ignore—"

"Why."

My words died in my throat before I coughed and met eyes with him again. "… I'm sorry, what?"

He rolled his eyes in exasperation at my antics, before continuing. "… I've been wondering why. Why you would even attempt inviting me onto your team. Why you've been putting up with me, why you've been dragging me around this past week or so. It's a question for the ages, honestly."

"Did you sit down here and interrupt my thinking time just so you could ponder life?" I muttered questioningly, only to be ignored again.

"I've been wondering…" He paused. "Why you haven't bothered even asking me to do so, before Yotaro… brought it up. Joining your team, I meant."

That brought me up short.

Hyuse actually hesitated—hesitated—before going on. "It's not like you've proven yourself to be a particularly hesitant person when it comes to things like that. Not since I've known you, anyway."

I set down my pencil, raising my head from the downwards position it had previously been in.

"… It's not like I have much else to do around here, anyway." He scoffed, staring down at his hand as he finally regained some of his previous attitude. "It would serve to… Kill time, when I'm still here. Because I will—"

"Hyuse, do you even want to go home?"

His head snapped towards me, and it took me a second to even realize I had been the one to speak those words. It took me another second, to gather enough composure to go on.

"I've… Been wondering too." My throat felt dry, almost discouraging me from continuing. "Why you haven't shown the slightest interest in leaving, despite being left behind by Hairein. Why you… why you've been putting up with us. So I've just…" I shrugged. "I don't know what you want. So I guess… That's why I was considering it in the first place. Because I didn't know what I wanted, and I felt like I owed it to you to help."

"I don't need help," He finally hissed, cutting me off.

"Well, I did." I shot back. "And maybe you don't need it, but I'm sure it would be nice regardless. I got my answer from some unintentional help from my friends, and I'm still trying to solidify that goal. The only thing is, I'm not sure if you can get that help from just—Just standing around, doing nothing like this." I leaned forward, my eyes narrowing slightly. "Doing nothing but standing around, waiting for an answer to fall from the skies because I did that once, and I will never repeat that mistake."

Unexpectedly, he didn't glare at me for that one. At the very least, I had expected a scowl, but he only kept his eyes glued to the table with a blank expression.

"… I just thought I'd offer you a position on the team," I commented blandly. "You seem like a nice enough person—setting aside the fact that you tried kidnapping Chika—and that's the only reason I'm actually considering this. At this point, you already get that I'm not exactly a nice person, and I'm not doing this on a whim."

I thought that was the end of the topic. He'd get up, ponder life a little more, before going to bed. Like he was supposed to. And I'd stay here, slaving away over my notebook while theories danced around in my head like a—!

"… You still haven't asked."

Ooooor not.

"Come again?" I muttered, picking up my pencil again.

"You…" His lips turned downwards. "You haven't actually asked me if I wanted to join the team. Directly."

That—that, was something I could bring myself to smile at.

"Well, of course." I flipped another paper in my book, prepared to start a new page. "I won't ask you until I'm absolutely sure you'll say yes."

He snorted doubtfully, and I was somewhat amazed that I could tell it was fake. "I've also noticed that you're particularly close to everyone on your team. Is extending an offer to someone like me… Really a smart move?"

"Well then, you'll just need to become one of those people." I grinned. "Right, otouto?"

"… Yeah right."

The scrape of the chair legs, just before I found myself alone in the dining room once again.

… It's quiet again.

A small smile curled at my lips, as I flipped back and glance down at the writing in my notebook.

"My black Trigger's keeping me alive, despite me being literal inches from death. I'd say that anything else is pretty justified, eh?"

And there, circled and underlined in black and blue pen, were the words that introduced everything I would be working towards.

' Black Triggers + Trion Bodies '

"Well, I did. And maybe you don't need it, but I'm sure it would be nice regardless. I got my answer from some unintentional help from my friends, and I'm still trying to solidify that goal. The only thing is, I'm not sure if you can get that help from just—Just standing around, doing nothing like this. Doing nothing but standing around, waiting for an answer to fall from the skies because I did that once, and I will never repeat that mistake."

That's right.

I've got something stuck in my mind, and I'm not giving up on it.

It's not like I'd ever even entertain the idea of letting go. My best friend's life might depend on it, after all.

(Mark my fucking words. I'm gonna make sure that Yuma survives no matter what, and there's no way I'm leaving his life up to chance.)

-0-

A/N -

Well, as stated in the previous chapter... Swapped in is now, officially on hiatus.

Thank you all so much for the understanding reviews, I feel a lot better about the decision now, and after this, I'll probably get start on another fanfic I've been planning. I may be going to other fandoms for now, but World Trigger will always be a favourite of mine.

So long everyone, and thank you so much for the amazing support!