Mitsuteru walked down a corridor inside the Border base.
He was on his way to start his tour of the base. Nire had told him where he should go, so he understood what he needed to do. And just as he was making his way down the corridor...
...She really just canceled on me like that!
He had felt like he would need to have Shigenaga come get him.
He knew it would make him feel like a lost child, but what else was he to do? He was now walking aimlessly due to being left behind, but...
"–––––"
He came to a stop and sighed.
This was nothing particularly new for him.
He had been forgotten so many times that he was used to being left alone. To phrase it delicately...
...I wish I had Kō-kun or Shigenaga with me. I feel much safer when they are around.
It was childish to think like that when he was already in high school, but that was probably because of how he was. Plus, they are some of the few people who constantly remember me.
Regardless, he had very much lost his energy, but...
"Well, can you really blame me for that?"
He did not know what was going on with Nire most of the time or what exactly had caught her.
But he found himself hoping she was fine and that it was just a case of her forgetting her words. At any rate, he wanted to believe what he had been told was a mistake.
This was a problem.
Why was he so ready to give her an excuse to use against him like that?
Besides, there were others he could ask, so this was not really an issue to cry over.
...I'm so stupid.
He could sum it all up as nothing more than Nire having something else come up. Why was he being so childish all of a sudden?
And yet...
"Uh..."
It was possible he was just being a nuisance here.
It saddened him to think he might have been misinterpreting the things around him. Everyone may have been standing by his side because that was how they would respond to anyone, while Mitsuteru had mistaken it for something else.
...No...
"I'm overthinking things, for sure."
When he thought back over everything, he started fearing that so much was going to backfire on him. And he hated how he felt the need to hedge things with "perhaps" or "maybe" every single time.
Was his pride really that important?
There had been a time when there was someone who always stood in front of him with his own kindness.
Has he been a nuisance then too? But if so...
"I'm so embarrassed..."
He pressed his back against the wall and told himself to pull himself together.
He told himself to take a different attitude from now on.
...I need to calm down.
There was no reason to worry about things like that anymore.
When he thought about it, this was normal.
There was nothing stating that he was being a nuisance to anyone around him. Yes, this was something he was thinking too hard about without any real backing for it. Even if that person had suddenly lessened their contact with each other, he was still fine here. The friends he had made here seemed like good people, so doubting them was just insulting.
"...!"
His thoughts had carried him to a familiar place. One that let him settle down so as not to be swept away by any negativity.
...I just need to calm down.
Besides, it wasn't like Nire had simply left him to roam on his own. A message had come, telling him that she had sent someone else.
All he needed to do was wait for that person to show up so he could follow them.
"Wait...I just left the meeting place, though!"
Just as his shoulders drooped, he sensed a shadow.
...Eh?
He was inside the Border base. There were lights on the corridor ceiling, so nothing could have been able to cast a shadow that long.
But he found himself looking at the shadow all the same.
...Who is this?
He recognized that the shadow was skinnier than his own. He did not know why he was seeing this, but he knew what it was.
"A girl?"
He was of average height, yet the girl's shadow still reached him from the front.
When he looked up slightly, he saw thighs closed in a somewhat panicked way.
Were they worried or embarrassed?
Mitsuteru looked up fully to see who this was and saw two forms in front of him. Feeling extreme guilt, he continued to turn his eyes upward.
Beyond them, he saw a head with short black hair looking down at him from his bent position.
.
Mitsuteru looked up at this person.
He had to lift his head more than necessary due to his position.
"Are you okay? You looked really down. Um, uh..."
He nodded at the normal voice he heard.
This girl was a Border member from the way she dressed.
"Are you the person that Nire-senpai had sent over by any chance?"
"Oh, yes! I couldn't really tell if you were the person she had been talking about, but I'm glad I found you! Even if I had to walk a bit."
The girl raised her right hand in a slight wave. But with her slightly leaning position, she could not stretch her arm out.
Even so, she gave Mitsuteru a smile while waving. It almost felt like she was trying to call him over to her, so Mitsuteru actually chose to move closer to her. And when he did...
"Um, uh."
Oh, realized Mitsuteru. He had moved a little too close to the girl while raising his head.
After a moment of thought, he stepped back from in front of the girl. He felt a little guilty for putting distance between them, but...
"I am sorry if I made any suggestions with the way I called over. I really didn't mean much by it. I just wanted to give a greeting first."
Mitsuteru nodded at the honest relief he heard in the girl's voice.
And he finally looked her directly in the eye.
"Oh, now I recognize you. Aren't you Amakura-san?"
.
Amakura nodded when she heard her name. Her smile never fell, even when this ordinary boy asked her.
"It's nice meeting you. I hope I don't disappoint. Oh, but." She asked Ariake a question. "How do you know who I am?"
Ariake responded with a quiet "eh?" and then...
"You look exactly the way you were described to me, Amakura-san."
"Do I?" she wondered.
.
She wasn't really that tall to begin with. However, there were a lot of girls her height or smaller, so...
"But there are a lot of people who look like me, Ariake-san. I'm glad you didn't mistake someone else for me."
Araike smiled and nodded before speaking up herself.
"Amakura-san? You are an actual Border member while I might be joining, so you should probably avoid calling me Ariake-'san'."
"No, no, no. You see, I'm actually your underclassmen."
"Yes, but...you are going to be my senpai while I'm here, aren't you?"
That was true. She felt a bit of resignation as she decided to say so.
"It isn't like that means all too much..."
That embarrassed her. She could tell she was a bit nervous, but letting that show would only make it more visible from directly in front of her. On the other hand, moving away would have been rude.
What a situation!
When she had been asked by Nire to meet Ariake, she had not been expecting this. In general, she had been expecting someone as wild as Nire, considering they were able to handle her in their class. Maybe even a pretty boy who would manage to smooth talk his way through conversations like it would be nothing. Something like that wouldn't have been bad.
What she had not expected was this mild upperclassman who was taking her position into consideration.
Thinking back on it, there had been a lot of boys with whom she would do something similar, but their personalities still led them to have different viewpoints in her mind.
This was both new and refreshing for her.
And it made her swell up with some pride.
Looking at things as a whole, she could forgive the sudden movement forward as a mistake. Anything else would not have fit in with this mild boy, who had already shown his guilt on the matter. So she nodded in her heart and accepted the current situation.
Nevertheless, there was a difference between being an underclassman and a Border member.
"I can't call you 'Ariake'."
She was still lacking in areas, and there was no telling how good he would be later on.
This boy understood that, so he placed a hand on his chin and responded.
"Then please call me 'Senpai' based on our respective school years. Meanwhile, I will call you 'Amakura-san' based on your status in Border."
That was simple enough.
...That's Ariake-san for you! No, I mean Ariake-senpai!
She corrected herself and then spoke up to agree. But...
"Oh, yes, okay!"
She was in a bit of awe of him. But...
"Can I really just call you Senpai?"
"That is what Karasuma-kun calls me."
There was an incredible name.
Ariake was referring to an A-Rank squad within Border that contained powerful Combatants, and the one with the most fans from that squad was Karasuma. She had heard that boy already boasted impressive results when it came to combat while being the same age as her.
"You can't really compare me to someone like that!"
"Don't worry. I wasn't really comparing the two of you. I only wanted you to understand that there is no reason to lower yourself," said Ariake. "But that was pretty rude of me to say, wasn't it?"
.
Amakura felt herself tense up at those words.
Ariake had hit the bull's eye.
Amakura had expected him to wave it off as an accident or slip of the tongue. Instead, he had pointed out his own fault and tried to tell her that it was his fault instead of a misunderstanding.
Plus, she had noticed the way he had been keeping his eyes level with her head.
"Nire was right about everything she said."
But...
"Are you really okay, Ariake-senpai?"
Ariake did not hesitate to respond with a smile.
"I'm as fine as I can be. Thank you for asking."
There was more meaning behind those words. She had no doubt.
"But it's not something I can't deal with. If anything, it's because I can deal with it that I feel fine. That's why I want to join Border, by the way. It's meant to be my way of dealing with what's happening."
"Oh, um, right." Amakura placed her right hand on her cheek and wondered what exactly he meant. "I am sorry if that was a bit too invasive of a question. I really just wanted to know after that expression you were showing just now. That's all..."
"My expression? Was it something weird?"
"I wouldn't say weird... It just looked like you were thinking of something bitter just now. Maybe saddening?"
"Maybe it's my worries about fighting that's coming up?"
She understood what he meant by those words without thinking too hard.
.
It was after school and he had sensed his friends waiting out in the hallway while he thought about it.
He could not imagine hurting people.
And what if his average body ended up getting in people's way?
He would always feel guilty and be unable to see himself as their equal.
Besides, that was how it had always been for him.
He would thoughtlessly follow someone and rely on him, or others would forget he was even there to begin with and leave him to be alone while waiting.
Even when he tried to stand out a bit, others would leave him waiting.
That was what happened when he was not in people's way.
And after they would forget him, they would always apologize.
They did not have to do that.
He had feared receiving that same reaction on a much larger scale, but then one of his friends had been scouted at their home.
"I really do want you to go with me. After everything we've been through, I don't want to leave you behind, but the choice is still something for you and your parents to make. If you do go, I'll make sure to protect you there too."
He had agreed to wanting to go, but once they made it to the city, they had started to slowly drift apart.
"I guess even he couldn't stay by my side for too long."
The thought of finding him again after having fought against others scared him. Because...
"––––––"
At some point, he focused on the world around him again.
Amakura stood in front of him while directing a smile his way. And she asked a question.
"I won't ask about any of the details. But I have learned that everything is fine when fighting as a part of Border. Things can seem scary when against Neighbors, but you never have to actually worry about hurting others."
"I suppose that's true... I was told everything about Triggers."
"In that case," began Amakura before pausing. And then, "What do you like?"
The answer to that question came as a mental image.
And oddly enough, it was more of a "scene" than a specific "thing".
He saw himself walking home from school with his friends.
He saw himself seated on the grass with his dad in the nature park, with the birds and squirrels gathering around.
He saw himself shopping with his mom while conversing with the new neighbors they had met.
And... "There was someone, wasn't there?"
Amakura asked a sudden question.
...Ah.
The image in his mind were cut off, but he no longer felt as concerned as before. He recalled that person who had always been in front of him, letting up some pressure around him.
"That's right." He placed a hand on his chest. "There is someone who I want to reach, no matter what. I didn't want him to leave me behind."
Amakura looked like she understood what he meant.
While she didn't know in full what he was talking about, she understood the sentiment that most normal people had once or twice in their lives.
"I hope you have a good future here."
.
Mitsuteru was a little confused about what Amakura meant.
...A good future?
He would essentially be a fighter. He was aware that he had to semi-force his way into being able to join Border and that his parents had been against it, but...
...But what about this?
"No matter what you choose to do while a part of Border," said Amakura. "Just know that I will support you every step of the way!"
"Eh? Isn't that a bit much for someone you just met? Not that I'm not grateful."
"But I think it would be nice to have someone like you around. Others will probably feel the same way."
How am I supposed to know if that's true? But...
...The people around Amakura-san must be good people.
Nire was one of them, but Amakura herself was a good person as well.
"I'm glad."
"Hm? What for?"
"Right. When I was asked by Nire before, she told me I should really get to know you, but I'm glad I was able to do so. You have helped me with some things already."
"I'm glad to hear it. We will be taking the same path from here on, so let's do our best."
"Okay," she said with a bow before lifting herself up with a bright smile. Amakura looked around and...
"How about we start with that tour now? There are a lot of places that you can't see, but the places that you are allowed to see are still pretty nice. I want to make sure to get through most of them."
"Then we should hurry. The day is almost gone already, so we can keep talking while we walk around."
Amakura nodded and turned around. She raised a hand and threw it forward.
"Let's go!
What am I supposed to do now...?
A black-haired girl sighed while closing the book in her hand.
The evening air had made it hard to continue reading. With shadows forming all around her, she took the chance to look around the area. Trees blew in the wind, and the slight sound of insects could be heard.
She raised her head high to look beyond the trees. In the distance were houses, and beyond them was a large building.
My dad said joining them would make for a good opportunity for me...
Kimura Kawaguchi could only regret getting into a rare argument with her father. Because of it, she had left the house with a feeling of discouragement.
I want to be a politician, so how can joining those monster hunters help? I don't have any skills in combat, so what am I supposed to do about that?
Being a bookworm meant that she had focused more on her academics than her physical ability. The report cards said otherwise, but...
"I'm only good at distance running. I can't swing a sword or shoot a gun to save my life."
Out of all the people she had known, one girl stood out as being especially athletic. The tradeoff was that she was a simple girl who focused on the physical aspects of life.
But that girl did not go to the same school as her.
"So what now...?"
She had asked only herself that, but the wind seemed to be her only answer. Even the birds nearby gave her no idea as to what she should do.
With nothing else around to help her decide, she pulled out her phone and started going through her small number of contacts. Once she realized no one there could help her, she moved to the internet. Along with that came multiple opened tabs for different things she had been looking at.
One of those things involved the large building in the distance.
"Enlistment...huh."
Kimura threw her head back to look at the evening sky. The warm colors she saw made some heat rise to her cheeks at the thought of that organization.
Her father had told her that she was lacking in a lot of ways. She knew that she would be looked down upon by a lot of the men when she grew up, so she had already decided on getting surgery to remove her breasts.
I couldn't follow through with all of it, and now I'm in this state. Yeah, even when my dad went along with it while saying that I needed to learn the hard way. I didn't really understand what would be so difficult about it until I started to go through with it.
Now here she was.
I'm a lacking person who doesn't understand anything about the world around me, who is lacking as both a man and a woman, and someone who doesn't even know what to do with myself anymore. What could be more pathetic than that?
She could think of nothing.
At this point, her father was just letting everything happen while not allowing her to fully participate in political affairs. Only when she understood things around her would he allow her to take a step towards that kind of life.
And the direction he pointed her in was that organization.
"Enlistment," she repeated.
It would be here soon.
"Maybe I should just join Border..."