Friendly Fire

Kotowari Takeshi was by far an odd person. He wasn't odd in the sense that he was loud, demented or even just crazy. He was odd because he did things a lot differently than most would consider normal.

Takeshi is a B-Rank Shooter who uses his Triggers in a very different way than other Shooters. He views on many things consisted of him not caring too much and he was very antisocial. He looked like the type to be a genius, but in truth he got average to below average grades. He also tended to wear clothes that were a size or two larger than what fit him.

Besides that, he is the captain of the current Kotowari Squad. After the squad's former captain had disbanded the squad it was Takeshi would had been chosen to be captain. Although that was just for formalities.

No one was really in charge of the squad as a whole.

Even so, Takeshi took his role as captain a bit more seriously than he should have.

At first he hadn't cared much about his teammates and just focused on winning. He had even gone so far as to assist in making one of his teammates and (even though he wouldn't admit it) best friend Bail Out during their first match.

That changed once the original three of the squad got a nice beating from their former captain. They had been straightened out and we're now a squad to be reckoned with.

Even so...

"Even so... I should have been switched out of the captain position. Mei-san would be far better than me. I can't even keep up with the others."

Takeshi spoke to himself as he sat at an empty table.

The tables around Takeshi seemed to be filled with others, eating and talking to each other. But the one that Takeshi was at was completely empty, minus Takeshi himself.

Some of the agents around knew Takeshi and Takeshi knew them, but that was exactly why they stayed away from him. He had apologized to many agents he had disturbed before, but it seemed that some couldn't get over it and refused to go near him.

Takeshi didn't care though.

He understood why they kept their distance from him and wasn't bothered by it.

You see, there had been a time where Takeshi "couldn't see colors". That didn't mean he was colorblind or that he had poor eyesight. What it meant was that he saw everything as dull and boring. It didn't matter what it was. He could be watching a shooting star shower or even his family killed, he wouldn't and didn't feel anything for them.

That got changed once he fought against the squad's former captain. Now he felt like there were a lot more "colors" around him that brightened everything up. Some of those things were the people around him.

He had been cold and uninterested in almost everyone he met, so it was no surprise that they started to feel the same way about him.

He has apologized to them but some still felt that way about him.

Now this is where he was, alone among people.

'I suppose I did bring this upon myself.'

Takeshi let out a small sigh as he fixed the gray scarf that always seemed to be around his neck.

"Would you mind if I sit here?"

Takeshi looked up from his phone to see a familiar glasses-wearing agent standing there.

"No. It's fine."

Mikumo Osamu was on a sort of neutral ground with Takeshi. The two had only spoken during Border's Enlistment Day and only then. Takeshi had gone to see Osamu in the hospital after the Aftokrator invasion.

During that period where Takeshi was dealing with the squad's disbandment the two hadn't even seen each other, so Mikumo didn't even know about how Takeshi was doing during that time.

That's not to say they didn't know how each other we're doing concerning the ongoing B-Rank Wars.

Both had watched each other's squad's matches in case they had ended up going against each other.

"So," started Mikumo, "I'm sure you have heard about the agreement our respective squad members made..."

"Yeah. Toby told us the day after it was made. All of us are fine with it, so there's no problems on our end."

"Right. Well, after some convincing, everyone agreed that it's fine. That's one of the things I've come over to tell you. The other thing being... I wanted to know if you want to go over some strategies. Karasuma-senpai told me that you usually talk with someone else about different strategies."

"Oh. Yeah. I usually talk to either Asano-san, Izumi-san or Nasu-senpai. We go over what would work well with and against different squads. And as for you... I... It would be fine if you were added to the list of people..."

As he spoke, Takeshi fixed his scarf so that it covered his face. He didn't look at Mikumo when he spoke and made sure that his mouth couldn't be seen from behind the scarf.

Before either of them could continue they heard a vibration and looked down at Takeshi's phone, which had been placed on the table.

Takeshi looked up at Mikumo as if to ask for permission to see what it was about.

It took a few seconds for Mikumo to understand what the look meant. When he finally did get it he gestured to the phone.

Takeshi picked up the phone and looked to see that it was a message from Kako.

We need someone else to join. Some others were dragged along so we have an uneven number. Can you bring someone else?

To anyone else this may have been a bit confusing. What did they need another person for? Where would it be? Why was she going to Takeshi for this?

Takeshi simply let out a sigh through his nose before looking back at Mikumo. He looked like he was trying to sink into his seat while speaking on his usual soft and semi-quiet voice.

"Hey, Mikumo... Would you...like to join us? ... By us I mean some other Shooters. We train together at times. We usually do some target practice before going to the booths and do best two out of three with random matchups. ...Although we are only allowed to use Shooter Triggers, Radar and Shield."

"Huh? That sounds interesting. If no one would mind..."

"Okay... I'll tell them. Oh. And if you were wondering, we started this because Teikō-san from Hogo Squad thought that since Snipers do this sort of thing all the time that we could as well."

The two had gotten up and started walking, Mikumo having to follow Takeshi so that he knew where to go. During this walk Mikumo noticed that some agents would look at them before turning their eyes as if they weren't looking.

Mikumo looked over to see if Takeshi noticed this as well but saw that he was walking like nothing was going on. From time to time he would fix his scarf and turn his gaze to the ground.

Something he didn't notice though was how Takeshi seemed to blink slower each time.

Deciding to get over the small awkward atmosphere, Mikumo started up a new conversation.

"If you don't mind me asking, why do you always wear that scarf? You even made it a part of your squad's uniform. Now that I think about... Doesn't Awdry always wear his hat?"

"Yeah..."

Takeshi looked down at his scarf and began again, this time with a distant look in his eyes.

"The three of us... Me, Toby and Suzume-senpai... We had gotten something from Yuki-senpai, our former captain, as a gift. Toby was given his hat. Suzume-senpai was given a necklace. I was given this scarf... We... I wear this because it was a gift."

He could no longer say "we" when Toby had gone and given his hat to his younger brother and Suzume have the chain for her necklace to Narasaka and the music note charm hanging from it to Satori.

It was things like these that made Takeshi feel as if he was the only one in the squad who hadn't actually moved on from Tsukiko Squad's disbandment. He was the only one who continued to hold on to what their former captain had given them, as if it was the only that would keep him safe.

All he did when those thoughts came up was let out a sigh and fix his scarf.

So that's what he did.

"Anyways... Why did you bother to come up to me in the first place? It doesn't take a genius to tell that you weren't telling the whole truth before. Is there something else you wanted?"

"It's not something I want... I just saw that you looked a bit lonely and figured I could talk to you. Although that may have been a bit too presumptuous of me in the first place. You were probably alone so you could think a both your next match. Sorry for bugging you."

"...-ne..."

"Huh? Did you say something?"

"I said... It's fine... I was, as a matter of fact, just being lonely there... So thank you."

He wasn't sure of what he did, but Mikumo said nothing and just scratched his head a bit.

"You're...welcome?"

Once they reached room they were suppose to meet up at - Nasu Squad's operating room - they got ready and in their Trion bodies.

Mikumo looked at who was there and saw that everyone there really was a Shooter. Some looked rather pleased to be there while others looked like they wanted to leave as soon as possible.

Well, only Ninomiya looked like the latter.

But no one cared about what he wanted.

Looking around the training area, Mikumo noticed something about the others standing around.

"This is suppose to be like target practice, right? I would have thought that some Gunners would want to join in."

"They did. At first."

The two Shooters of the same age turned to the one speaking and saw that it was the captain of the #6 A-Rank squad, Kako Nozomi.

"So you brought Mikumo-kun with you, huh. Of course there's nothing wrong with that. Although it certainly is nice to see you have made friends with someone else."

"Mikumo, this is #6 captain, Kako Nozomi-san."

"Hello."

Mikumo gave a bow and greeting in return. When he looked at the other Shooters he could see that a lot of them were familiar. Kako was not the only one, although Mikumo only knew her from others' talking and when Kuga had almost been "kidnapped" by her.

Seeing that Takeshi was his usual calm and collected (if not a bit relaxed) self, Mikumo relaxed his shoulders and spoke up to voice a question.

"Excuse me, Kako-san, but what did you mean by 'at first'?"

"What I mean is that multiple Gunners had joined at first to improve themselves. They had stopped coming by, though, since they 'didn't want to hit by any stray shots'. You see, some of us need more work on our aim, that's why we do this. Not only that, some of us let out some stress by firing at each other."

Mikumo looked towards Takeshi to see that he was, once again, fixing his scarf and looking away, as if he was trying to play innocence. He could only assume that meant Takeshi was one of the people who really needed to improve their aim; and therefore one of the reason why Gunners never came by anymore.

"Well, moving that topic aside, welcome, Mikumo-kun. As a warning, you should make sure you are on your toes so that you don't get hit with any shots that may happen to be headed your way."

"Thank you...?"

Mikumo was completely amazed.

Whether that was a good thing or not was still up in the air for him.

Before and right after the target practice was done, Mikumo conversed with some of the others there. Izumi and Nasu talked to him about this and that while Mizukami made some comments and talked to him a bit as well.

During the actual practice he started to realize exactly what Kako had been talking about.

For one reason or another, Kako and Ninomiya would "accidentally" lose track of a shot that was aimed at the other.

Then there were the ones who looked like they doing something else completely.

Mizukami and a small boy from the new branch he had heard about looked like they were just tossing their shots around, although they still got hits.

The next type of people there seemed to only be Takeshi. He looked like he was having a hard time actually getting anything besides the outter ring of the targets. It seemed he was a terrible shot without his laser-like beams.

Then there were the ones who were doing it normally. Everyone else who didn't fall into the other categories were in this one. Mikumo himself was one of these people.

One other things he noticed was that some people had different looking ways of shooting. He had noticed some of them during the B-Rank wars. Once they were done with practice, he had asked Takeshi about it.

Takeshi had told him that he liked to separate them in different categories. Nasu, Eri and Ninomiya were sharp and tactful, Kako and Mizukami were more free form, and Izumi was the bomb everything around type. When asked about his own, Takeshi had said that since he used a completely different type of the Shooter Triggers that he was in no category.

Then he went and told Mikumo that his was the basic type.

"Although that isn't really a bad thing," he had added right after.

Once that was done they were going to go to the booths for their random matchups. Although that would not start for another half hour due to some of the agents having things they needed to get done before that,

Now here they were, standing by the booths with multiple agents either going into the booths, walking around or just chatting with others.

"If you don't mind, what is your record like with other agents?"

"Nothing special. I don't really go around picking fights like Toby does. I only do solo matches when I feel it's necessary or when someone else I'm interested in asks. I just don't...find a reason...to do multiple...matches..."

Mikumo was quick to notice the small pauses in Takeshi words. He wanted to ask what it was about, but he did not want to seem rude, so he kept his mouth shut.

Takeshi noticed that the atmosphere around the two of them started to grow thick and heavy. He looked down and started fixing his scarf, making sure not to see the four-eyes.

Trying to figure out how to fill in the silence, Takeshi started thinking about the possible things they could talk about. Different strategies and plans seemed to be his go-to conversation starter, but he figured that would not be a normal or okay thing to start with.

He went with Plan B.

"...friends..."

Hearing the feint word, Mikumo looked over with a slightly raised eyebrow.

"I'm sorry? What did you say?"

That seemed to be the wrong answer since Takeshi fixed his scarf again before speaking a little louder.

"How do you...make so many...friends...?"

"Eh? Do I really have that many? I don't think I have too many. ...Uh... Why are you looking at me like I just told a big fat lie? Fixing your scarf kinda makes me feel like you want to move away from the subject you just brought up!"

"Anyways..."

"Please don't just move on like that!"

Takeshi ignored the plead from Mikumo and continued without a care.

"How do you make...friends?"

Seeing that there was no point in arguing, Mikumo decided to just go along with it with a sigh.

"Well... You... Uh... Ah! Aren't you friends with Awdry and your squad?"

"Toby is the team's pet."

Wow... He said that with such a straight face that I really can't tell if he's joking or not...

"And as for the others... I'm...not sure if 'friends' would be the correct word... Sorry."

"No need to apologize. Then how about Karasuma-senpai? You seem friendly with him."

"Torimaru-senpai just has a sense of humor I can synch up with. Overall we're still just fellow Border agents. Besides, I don't really go to Tamakoma much. At least not alone... It's usually when someone else asks if I want to go with them."

Mikumo noticed that with every pause Takeshi would fix his scarf a bit or look down.

This was far different than the first time he had met the special Shooter. At first it was easy to tell that Takeshi did hit care much for most things and thought rather highly of himself.

Now...

He seems like a shy child now. What happened from then to now?

Then it hit him.

The disbandment.

He had heard the things said once the former Tsukiko Squad had disbanded. The logs from the first few B-Rank wars also proved that the disbandment may have been a bad idea on the former captain's part.

But it was very different now.

Now the newly formed Kotowari Squad was working as good, if not better, as before.

They had a new squad member and took back their position in the top tier of B-Ranks.

They were one of the squads that Mikumo was rather worried to go against.

Although he was not afraid in the slightest.

Reining his thoughts back in, Mikumo started thinking about what to say to this new shy child Takeshi.

What could I really say to him at this point? Change the topic? No, no, no. He already did that, somewhat, so it might seem like I'm copying him. Besides, I don't think I could do that so smoothly with him.

Letting out a small hum, Mikumo nodded his head a bit before turning back to Takeshi.

"I see you as a friend."

"Huh!?"

Mikumo felt an odd sense of pride at seeing that his comment was enough to surprise his fellow Shooter. Although it also gave him a bit of pity for the boy to be so shocked.

"Yeah. I mean, for one, you were kind when we first met and skipped passed using 'san' or even 'kun'. Then there's today. I may have just been there at the time, but you had asked me if I wanted to join that joint Shooter practice; which was something I didn't even know was a thing. So, yeah, I see you as a friend."

"I see..."

"And to answer your actual question: that's also how you make friends. You're kind to them and show you care about them. Even having some sort of back-and-forth, like you do with Awdry, is a sign of friendship. Actual arguments are also something that happens from time-to-time, but as long as neither of you let it hang around for too long then you're fine."

Takeshi looked nodded his head a few times before walking a few steps forward.

Mikumo titled his head a bit when he saw Takeshi stop right in front of him.

"Thank you very much, Shishou."

"Shi-Shishou!? Eh? Where did that come from?"

Mikumo had to take a step back from shock as Takeshi continued to give a deep bow in front of him, gaining some stare and whispers.

He tried to ignore the others around them and wait for Takeshi to stand back up.

"Like you said, we're passed the 'san' and even 'kun' part of this, going to 'sama' would be like taking five steps back."

"Alright... But why 'Shishou'?"

"That should be obvious. You have helped me out quite a bit in such a short amount of time. Shishou is the only thing that seems to be right to call you, Shishou."

"I... I guess?"

Having been satisfied with that answer, Takeshi nodded his head.

Everyone who had been watching the two could feel the flowery atmosphere around the two and swear that they saw some flowers suddenly bloom around the two of them.

Some of the girls around even pulled out their phones and took quick pictures, muttering something about a queen hornet and prizes.

There were also some who had once fell victim to Takeshi's blunt words and could not get over them. Those people started walking forward to warn the four-eyes, but were quickly tackled by either a brown blur or a white blur.

No one questioned that.

Back with the two who had a flowery atmosphere around them, they started up a new conversation.

Their conversation was more light their the previous one, but they both answered honestly and seriously.

Takeshi fixed his scarf once more, but is time to pull it away from his mouth instead of putting it up and covering his mouth.

"It's true that an emblem that like would look good, but don't you think it would also take away from the meaning behind it?"

"That's true... Speaking of which, I feel like any emblem your squad would have would have some sort of meaning like 'We will save you from anything!', or something close to that."

"Eh? Why would you think that?"

"Just a feeling."

"We aren't that noble or heroic, though. Sorry."

"Others would say otherwise. That second invasion is a point they would bring up to counter you."

"I was doing that more to save my teammate than anything else."

"But that means you take comradery very seriously, which is what they would look for. Not to mention you are fine with helping others out so readily. Your arguments would fall flat before they even leave your mouth."

"You think so?"

"Yes."

How their conversations move so smoothly and at a fast pace was something an outsider may not know. For the two of them, though, it seemed rather easily now that they were speaking easily to each other.

It provided even more material for some of the girls watching with their phones out.

"So, then, how about-"

"Kotowari!"

"Byff!?"

Takeshi lunged forward once a body slammed into his own from behind. It it wasn't for the fact that Mikumo, who had been in front of him and stuck his arms out to help, was there then the two body would have quickly fallen to the ground.

Takeshi turned his head to see a boy with his hair sticking up in the front give a pout as he started to poke his cheek.

"Hey, hey, Kotowari, do you know where Toby is? I haven't seen him around lately and I really wanna go a few rounds with him. I had asked around but no one knows where he is. And you're the only member of his squad who I can find right now."

"I don't know where he is, Koarai-san. Could you please get off of me now? It's taking all of my leg strength to hold us up, and Shishou looks like his arms are about to give out as well."

Looking down them forward, Koarai could see at Takeshi's legs and Mikumo's arms were shaking.

Before he could move, though, someone came up from behind and pulled him back.

Having lost the wait on his back, Takeshi let out a small sigh with Mikumo doing the same a few seconds after.

"Don't just jump onto people's backs like that. You'll make them fall."

"Toby does that all the time and he's only broken other people's bones three times. And he really goes at it with his running start."

"If I remember correctly, aren't you the reason for the first two times bones were broken? Yeah. The first was because you actually reacted to him and both of you ended up with broken bones. The second time was because you warned the other person beforehand, making them turn at the wrong time."

"Those were both accidents! And at least the first one was me who got hurt!"

"And Awdry."

"It's fine," Takeshi said. "He was rather happy to show off his cast, so that was fine."

"See? Something good came out of it!"

"But he didn't have his family's money at the time, so Yuki-senpai had to pay for him."

"And something bad still came out of it."

Mikumo watched Takeshi and the two member of Azuma Squad talk and noticed the issue with the former.

It was not too hard to see that Takeshi spoke formally with others instead of casually like with Mikumo a minute ago. Although he was still a bit surprised at how smoothly he spoke.

"Anyways, you should say you're sorry. To both of them."

"Sorry about tackling you like that."

Takeshi and Mikumo nodded their heads at the same time, getting a sigh from Okudera.

"Anyways! Since I can't find Toby anywhere, you wanna go a few rounds!?"

"No. That's-"

"Right! Let's go then!"

Before anyone could get a word in to voice their objections, Koarai grabbed Takeshi's wrist and started dragging him towards some free booths.

Takeshi tried to say something but was too focused on keeping his balance. Being forced into fights was something Toby had caused at times, but he never pulled Takeshi around since he knew that the Shooter was terrible with keeping up with fast paced people.

Okudera and Mikumo could only watch as this happened.

They followed after a few seconds.

As he waited in the room, Takeshi wondered why exactly Koarai decided to fight him. Neither of them had gone against each other, so there was no such thing as a rivalry between them. Even in the B-Rank Wars, they never fought each other.

Takeshi fixed his scarf as he moved over to the computer.

"Koarai-san, why do you want to fight me? I could just message Toby and see where he is at."

"Yeah, I know. But, we've only gone up against you once in the B-Rank Wars and you were going at it with Azuma-san. I wanna have a go at you too! Besides, I could fight Toby at any time. You're more difficult to convince when it comes to matches."

Takeshi could not deny that last part. He was not much of a fan for one-on-one matches.

"...Alright. Then let's both...give it our all...?"

"Yeah! No holding back!"

Words like those were said by people like Toby and Koarai. People like Takeshi would stay quiet and observe their opponent, so him actually saying something like that felt a bit weird on his tongue.

Regardless... I mean those words. I'm sure we would both feel insulted if the other didn't go all out. But with my lasers I should be fine.

Nodding to himself, Takeshi transported into the virtual city.

The city was a rather simple one with multiple lower-roof houses and only a handful of medium-sized open spaces. It would have been a bit difficult for a normal Shooter to fight in this kind of area with a lot of obstacles while an Attacker would have an easier time, but Takeshi was no normal Shooter.

I can just blast away anything obstacle. If I need to, I'll just level the area so Koarai-san doesn't have any hiding spots.

Nodding to himself, Takeshi started to move out.

He had not fought against either of the Attackers belonging to Azuma Squad, but he had seen the logs so that he would be ready should they end up facing off against each other. This did not mean he knew exactly how Koarai or Okudera moved, but he was more prepared than others would expect.

He can't be as jumpy as Toby, though. That SE is trouble enough. Well, I just need to keep an eye out so that he-

Takeshi stopped his train of thought as he noticed something from the corner of his eye.

He was quick enough to jump back and prepare his attack.

"Crap!"

Koarai, who had his body leaning forward due to his failed attack, tried to use his right leg to turn his body to the side so that he could dodge.

He could see the Trion spheres appear by Takeshi's head and was ready to defend.

"Asteroid."

To both their shock, instead of Trion-made, laser-like beams you would normally see in Sci-Fi movies multiple shots were fired like multiple guns bring fired at the same time.

It took Takeshi a few seconds to register exactly what was happening before he started to panic a bit.

If these are regular shots then... Can I quite!? Will he let me quite so that I can change that!? But won't that be rude to him? I don't want him to start thinking like those other people... It's taking time to just apologize to the ones I was rude too... Having another person on the list isn't good!

While Takeshi was freaking out on the inside, while showing it on the outside, Koarai got over his momentary shock and rushed forward once more.

"Are you trying something new? You scared me there for a second."

Takeshi snapped out of his thoughts at being spoken to.

He saw the attack coming and brought up a Shield to block the next few sword strikes.

It was one attack after another with only the single Shield to defend Takeshi. With each hit the barrier started to crack before Takeshi had to fix it or create a new one.

He continued to take a few steps back with each strike, intending to get away.

Teleport was the first thing that came to mind, but there was a major issue with that.

He's faced Toby before so he knows how we use Teleport. He's keeping track of where my eyes are looking so he could quickly follow. Even if I move them and try to just teleport at random he'll have an easier time in turning around and chasing than I would in getting away.

Disregarding the distance Takeshi would he able to teleport, he would have to figure out where exactly he teleported to if he did it at random. That would take a few seconds, and in those few seconds Koarai would be able to turn around to twist his body and head in that direction.

He could always just continue to randomly teleport to get away, but that would not last long when his opponent had Grasshopper.

I can't do this... My shots miss more than 75% of the time... And that's with unmoving targets! He won't just stand there and let me hit him!

"Hey, hey, why aren't you attacking? Oh! Are you switching your position since you're captain?"

Koarai may not have intended for how words to sound like taunts, but that was how it sounded to Takeshi.

Takeshi narrowed his eyes a bit before sticking his arm out a bit.

A sphere of Trion appeared at his side before splitting apart into small spheres, making them seem more like stars in the night sky than anything else.

Meteora!

The spheres resembling stars in the night sky sped forward towards Koarai.

"Oh no!"

Koarai used Grasshopper to move around and dodge the explosive shots.

Once the shots hit either the ground or one of the houses Koarai moved forward once more, intending to land a decisive hit. Now that he knew Takeshi was shooting regular shots he was less worried about getting closer.

"Hey, seriously, are you trying something new? Is this something captains usually go through?"

Takeshi could feel his eyebrow twitch a bit as he brought up another Shield for the next round of attacks.

Why is he asking is many questions during a fight? I feel like Toby is rubbing off on him in a bad way. Regardless, why does he keep assuming that just because I'm a captain that I'm changing how I fight? Maybe because of Shishou?

Something new for Takeshi was how he got frustrated at simple thoughts and actions like these.

Before he would have never given a second though to what someone like Koarai says, but how he could feel an itch in his body that made him feel uncomfortable, yet also excitedly jumpy. It got him a bit mad since he could not figure out what that itch was.

Being blunt and mostly uncaring about most things was the obvious reason as to why he was not sure how to get rid of the irritating itch on his body. Still, he figured it was best that he gets use to these kinds of feelings so he could properly understand the people he apologizes to.

Putting that aside...

There was something else that Takeshi felt as he continued to block the attacks from Koarai.

This has to be...

It was a simple feeling that Toby would usually feel.

Excitement for a fight... Maybe? With how many times Toby tries to explain it when he's done fighting I think I understand how you're suppose to feel when you're excited for a fight or during a fight. I guess this is it?

For someone like Takeshi, someone who seems more like an innocent child now compared to before, this was the best reasoning he could come up with.

That was a good enough reason for him.

He still did not like the fact he could not use his usual laser-like beams, but that did not mean he could not win a fight.

His aim was just below average, so that meant he had to be more tactful in his fighting than usual.

Is that really a bad thing? Aren't captain's suppose to come up with multiple plans and backup plans to make sure their squad wins? If so...

A sphere of Trion appear next to Takeshi before splitting into smaller spheres and spreading out to his left and right.

Koarai moved back, thinking that he was going to get hit.

I was right...

Instead of moving forward, the small spheres around Takeshi flew into the ground.

Multiple explosions went off, sending dust and debris into the air and impairing the vision of both fighters.

Takeshi did not spend time trying to find Koarai and instead ran to the side before jumping onto one of the buildings. He started to run across and hop over to the next buildings while small spheres of Trion appeared around him like shining stars at night.

Viper on the level of Nasu-senpai and Izumi-san requires "imagination", "objectivity", and "spacial awareness". Well, that sucks. The others are much better at imagining on the spot while I'm stuck being a lazy loser who refuses to do his homework.

He let out a sigh.

I suppose I just have to imagine how they will move. Maybe I should ask Nasu-senpai or Asano-san what they do in times like these to get their shots to go the way they want.

After he had decided to actually ask for help later on, Takeshi got ready to fire.

He slid on the tiled roof of the building he was on and let loose his barrage of Viper. The target of the shots was in plain sight.

Koarai seemed to notice the shots headed for him and used Grasshopper to move away and escape.

I didn't follow his movements fast enough. Those shots were wasted and I couldn't even move them from the spot I was focusing on.

Takeshi clicked his tongue as he began to run once more.

.

Koarai gave chase by using Grasshopper to move around the Viper shots while also getting in closer.

Just a bit more...

He could only grin as he continued to enjoy the fight.

This kind of fight way far different from his close range fights with Toby. The opponent this time obviously needed some work, but he made up for it by knowing how to use what he had.

At this point it was plain to see that the person who landed the next hit would gain a major advantage, if not win altogether.

Koarai wanted to make sure he would be the winner.

He had yet to beat Toby in a one-on-one match, but if he could win against the captain then that would be fine as well.

There was only one issue with that.

He has his shots ready with his left and a Shield ready at his right. Getting passed that will take more work. Toby wasn't lying when he said that Kotowari was a strong captain.

Most people who knew either Toby or Takeshi knew how the two had their back-and-forth, sometimes too well. They were not as bad as Yuki and Ninomiya, or even Suzume and Narasaka, it was easy to tell that it was friendly banter between the two.

Something else that others could tell was how much respect the two had for each other.

It may not seem like that at first glance, but the ones who knew the two of them also knew that they both thought highly of each other.

"Besides Mei, no one else can fill the captain spot but Takeshi."

"The dog is the only one I am willing to give the title of 'Ace' to."

These words were all that needed to be said for someone to know how much they trusted each other. After their former squad captai and ace had disbanded the squad this meant a lot to the both of them.

Koarai started to see exactly why the American Attacker had such respect for his current captain.

That makes me want to win even more!

With that thought in mind, Koarai rushed forward into the smoke that had been created by Takeshi as a smokescreen.

He knew that it was risky, but this was something he would risk.

It wasn't something major like the B-Rank Wars, but it still felt like an important battle.

Feeling like this attack would finish the match, Koarai swing his blade in one quick and swift motion.

His blade connected.

Wait...

Feeling his attack connect had made him excited. The issue was that...

This feeling doesn't feel like I cut a body. It feels like I cut...

He saw what he cut through the smoke.

A scarf.

"Crap!"

Turning around, Koarai noticed that it was too late at this point.

Takeshi was at point-blank range and bent forward in front of him with a sphere of Trion near him.

"Viper!"

Before Koarai could figure out how to defend the shots come forward.

The shotsshot through his body and flew into the air.

They didn't quit there in the slightest. They had turned around in the air and shot through him from his sides and above him, hitting the ground to finish it off.

Bail Out.

The match was over with Takeshi being the winner.

All he did with this win was hold his scarf to his mouth, expressionless and unmoving.

Things were definitely against him seeing as he needed to fight using a regular Trigger and regular shots.

"...-"

"That was fun!"

Letting out a sigh through his nose, Takeshi stood up and moved over to the computer in the room.

"Hey, Kotowari, do you wanna go another-"

"That's enough."

"Wha-!? Hey! Hold on!"

Takeshi said nothing and simply turned to leave the room.

He calmly closed the door and walked over to where he could see Okudera standing with his arms crossed with Koarai standing next to him, rubbing his head.

Before any of them could say anything, Okudera cleared his throat.

Koarai muttered something under his breath then turned to Takeshi to give a bow.

"I'm sorry for forcing you into that fight. But that was fun, wasn't it!?"

Takeshi glanced over at the sighing Okudera and blank faced Mikumo.

He turned back to Koarai afterwards.

"Yeah. Thank you for that fight, Koarai-san."

"Hm~ Hm~..."

"...Is something wrong?"

"Not sure... It just...sounds odd to hear you sound so formal when speaking. I'm use to hearing you speak so informally with Toby and others."

"...Sorry..."

"No, no. No reason to be sorry. I was just saying that it's a bit...off. I guess."

"I could be less formal. If you would like."

"Sure! I don't really mind!"

"Thanks for the match, Koala-senpai."

"Such a quick switch! Have you done this kind if thing before!?"

Being use to this kind of thing, Okudera shook his head and stepped forward.

Mikumo decided to take a spot next to Takeshi.

"Anyways. We have duty later, but I want to have a match with you too, Kotowari. If you want to join as well, Mikumo, that's fine. Someone would need to keep an eye on this guy."

As he spoke, Okudera turned his attention from Takeshi to Mikumo before nodding his head towards Koarai.

Takeshi nodded his head.

Mikumo just seemed a bit confused, but said nothing about it.

Koarai got in front of his teammate and spoke to the two as he started getting pulled away by Okudera.

"Next time bring Toby and Kuga! That way we can all have some fun! See ya guys later then!"

The two Shooters could on wave their hands as they gave blank looks at the two leaving.

Neither of them say anything and just start walking away.

After a few feet of walking they start up another conversation.

"That really was a nice battle."

"..."

"By the way... You just made two more friends. At least from what I saw."

"..."

"That's another way to make friends. That's how Kuga makes friends too. I'm sure Awdry is the same way."

Takeshi could only nod as he fixed his scarf.

He said nothing, but it was obvious to Mikumo that he appreciate his words.

Looking at his phone, Mikumo saw the time and gave a small hum.

"Sorry, but I need to get going."

"Okay. Sorry for keeping you."

"No need to apolo-"

"TAKESHI!"

A brown blur had suddenly come from the side and tackled Takeshi to the ground.

It took a few seconds for Mikumo to realize what had happened and quickly turned to see if his fellow Shooter was okay.

Before he could ask anything, a white blur come up from behind him while yelling,

"OSAMU!"

Everyone around them only spared a small glance at the two who had been tackled to the ground by a brown and white blur respectively. They already knew what was going on.

After regaining his thoughts, Mikumo felt something under him. His was somewhat soft and definitely smaller than him. He opened his eyes to see his albino teammate laying under him, duck face up.

"Kuga!?"

It didn't take more than a few second for Mikumo to stand up and help his teammate up.

He turned to Takeshi and saw that the Shooter was dusting himself off while Toby jumped up with a smile on his face.

"What were you two thinking!?"

"Toby was teaching me his super special technique that has won him over a hundred battles."

"Yup, yup! Yuma here is a fast learner, so I thought it would be fun to teach it to him. It can even take out big players like Kei and Jun! But I still need a way to get someone like Reiji down... Also, you need to remember, Yuma, not to use it on a girl. Unless they're ones like Ai or Kirie. If they're like Akane or Chika then just run up to them and stop before reaching them."

"Right! I will remember that!"

"What are they even talking about...!?"

Takeshi let out a sigh and shook his head.

"It's best you don't try and understand them."

"Kuga, Awdry, I don't think you should do that to anyone. We were in our Trion bodies, so we were fine, but you don't know if others are at times."

"What are you talking about? Takeshi isn't in his Trion body."

Mikumo looked over and saw that it was true.

He also noticed that there was bit a single scratch on the scarf wearing boy either.

He knew that Kotowari wasn't in a Trion body and still did that!?

"It's fine, Shishou. This idiot actually knows what he's doing. He's messed up when he first started, but no one really gets hurt when he does it now."

"Yeah. We knew you were in a Trion body, so that's why I let Yuma do it. I've practiced to the point of knowing how to move my body with the other person's so that they don't get hurt. My body is actually really sturdy, so I'm fine with rolling on the floor for a good mile or so."

"I think something's wrong with you at that point..."

"Anyways..."

"Right! We should be going."

Mikumo turned around and started walking away with Kuga right behind him. Both were aging back at the Attacker and Shooter of the other squad.

Toby waved back with a smile while yelling out to Kuga that they would practice later on.

Takeshi gave his own wave while holding up his scarf to his mouth.

Once the other two were far enough, Toby grinned and started poking at Takeshi's cheek.

"So~ How was your day~? Did anything particular happen today~?"

"Please stop talking like that. If someone gets that recorded then Suzume-senpai will be making even more doujinshi out of us again."

"Oh, I'm sorry, (darling~). I'll try and keep my voice down! We wouldn't want others to hear us, right!?"

"I hate you."

"Yeah, yeah. Glad to see you too."

Takeshi gave a small punch before walking away.

Toby smiled as he stood back for a few seconds.

His younger brother had to leave with their parents only a few days ago. He missed the younger boy a lot, but knew that it was better if he went with their parents. There was no way he could take care of both of them as well as Takeshi.

Seeing Takeshi happily talking to others like the two from Azuma Squad and Mikumo made Toby get his brotherly feelings back. He would miss Stepney, but knew that Takeshi and the rest if the squad was just as important.

Letting out a small laugh, Toby walked forward while humming a small tune.

It was nice to have people like these in his life. People to care for, regardless of it they wanted to he cared for or not.

He knew that Takeshi felt the same way.

He's growing up right before my eyes. Guess I can start teasing him more about it. Maybe~