A space existed, into which the light of morning's end gently entered.
Two thick tables of wood were installed here. It was a café, with a kitchen installed deeper inside.
At the entrance of the store there was a wooden signboard with the symbol of Red Lightning engraved upon it.
The sign that indicated that the shop was still in the preparation stage was hanging over the entrance-way, but there were two silhouettes standing inside the store.
One was a male worker, baking the bread that would be needed in the afternoon and evening in the kitchen deep inside.
The other was a student, who had brought one of the chairs placed upon the eating hall's tables to the floor and was eating.
The student was wearing a male uniform.
Under the fairly long black hair, her fairly sharp eyes were fixed onto the table. Moving her hands, she ate breakfast.
Atop the table, the student's meal consisted only of a few pieces of bread and a glass of water.
"Kimura, I think it would be better if you worked a part-time job with good pay and ate properly. Just doing scholarly things won't let you gain any experience, right? If a girl dressed as a man collapses, she's not going to make any fans."
The student, Kimura, tore up her bread as she listened. She answered with a voice fairly high in pitch.
"Only my father's acquaintances have realized that I'm a girl... And even at the school, only my teacher and classmates know. Even you didn't notice until the owner took care of me because I had collapsed from the heat."
"Nah, we had been thinking that you were a little strange for a while now... So, the owner and one of the female part-timers stripped you together."
"...That's something I didn't need to be reminded of. At least you weren't the one to do so, Karaswa-san."
Saying this, Kimura was thinking.
It's only because of that that I can come here without worry.
But still, I'd like to avoid talking about my gender.
Therefore, Kimura said this.
"It's true that to get my tuition fees and living expenses, other jobs would be better, but..."
"Your parents are making a fuss?"
Having been asked this difficult question, Kimura did not answer. Thinking about what to do, she inserted a piece of bread into her mouth, chewing thoroughly. Drinking the water in the glass, she exhaled.
An embarrassed laugh escaped from Karasawa.
"I'm sorry, that was rude of me... Are you going to do more work for your father now? You don't have a break, do you?"
Hearing this, Kimura smiled a sad smile.
"You're worrying about me, huh," she said as a form of thanks.
"As his daughter, and someone who plans on heading in that direction, I need to make sure everything is fine in his area. Well, despite that... I was thinking that I'd go visit my mother's grave before I met up with anyone."
"Haha, even if you head to the school now, you won't make it in time for class. But...could I ask why a young child would go visit a grave at a time like this?"
"My mother, who became a victim of a strange phenomenon, and I were born in the neighboring city so... I thought that I should visit her before I don't have time."
"...A victim of phenomena? A Neighbor attack? But if it was another city then it would have to have been before four years ago."
"That's right," Kimura nodded. She tried as hard as possible to recall the events of that time from an objective point of view.
"...Well, the truth is I don't know whether or not it was a Neighbor. The ones in charge said that she'd been spirited away. Just, she was suddenly gone; and where she was supposed to have disappeared, a large symbol was written..."
Kimura drew a circle with her fingers, indicating a line piercing its center.
"A design like this was left behind. The investigation said that it seemed to be an unsolvable case, linked to a bunch of other mysterious disappearances that nobody knew about. However, there are numerous accounts of robbers tricking people using this, not to mention regular disappearances or elopements. Well...there was a lot going on in the city, and we now know about the existence of Neighbors. Because of this, even though I call it a grave I'm just going to see the things that my mother left behind. Ornaments, mementos..."
"That so," a voice tinted with relief could be heard to say.
"Even though everyone tends to get depressed about the Neighbors...you're still a good girl."
"That isn't it at all. For school too, even though I'm paying my own tuition, I'm at the point where I think it's fine to take a break from working... Well, once I reach the outskirts today I'll be able to hear about things from outside of the city. That far out tends to leave the Neighbor talk for the inner city, so I was thinking that I could learn something from that."
"That's really troublesome... Ah, also, thank Kon for the meal this time."
"Okay," Kimura answered. She looked towards the entrance.
Nobody was at the counter, and neither did it seem like someone was in front of the store.
Despite this, Kimura still turned away and spoke.
"It's already been a year, hasn't it...if I hadn't been saved by her, I would really have died."
"Doesn't it seem like you're getting along with her well recently? You lent her some books, right?"
"Right, mostly about general knowledge...the day before, I lent her my transcript of the history teacher's lecture. As expected, it seems that she hasn't read through it, though."
"I see, you really want to be a member of the provisional council. You have quite a lot of books."
"Not that many," Kimura responded with a wry smile, though she thought differently.
If only I had the money to buy more.
"I'd read a whole lot more if I had the money... Well, I'm sorry for causing the owner trouble so often. I'm just freeloading right now, but I'll return this debt in the future. I'll become a great politician."
"If you become a member of the provisional council you won't need her bread anymore, right? If you say that you want to repay the debt, then...could you do a bit of scouting for me like you did last time? You managed get a lot done."
Hearing this, Kimura folded her arms. It was true that a while ago she had done some scouting for Border.
"Even with my authority as the vice president of the student council, I didn't really find anyone in the end... Well, I think that being a school's vice president doesn't really lend much authority."
"Why didn't you become a candidate for the student council president? The chancellor is recommended by the school, but the student council president is elected by a candidacy, you know?"
Asked this, Kimura thought. Immediately afterward, she uttered the words that made up her response.
"...Because, Kirikari, the idiot he is, declared his candidacy for the position of student council president."
.
It's hard just to criticize people like this, Kimura thought. But despite this, it was meaningless to stay silent.
"Since he was born in Mikado City's inner area everybody knows what he's like; far more than what they know about me, a newcomer who's only been here one year. The school might have also been a bit prejudice, all things considered."
"Well, he's an idiot. In the past, he burst into the ceremony hall where the matriculation ceremony was being held, smiling like an idiot while clutching a bundle of lit ceremonial firecrackers. Yeah, he chased all the new students around. The ceremony hall was in panic; but in the end the new students worked together, brought Jinsei down and launched the fireworks... A moving ending, even if rather forced. Speaking of which, the president gave a closing speech. 'Everyone, remember this day well,' he said...like anyone would forget."
"Well," Kimura said, folding her arms.
"...Because he, someone known and liked, was elected to be the student council president, things ended without the school being split into two: a faction supporting the student council and another faction supporting the general populace. Speaking from the general point of view, it's easier to go to school if Kirikari is the one in charge."
"That so? Um, right now, it seems that he's nicknamed 'Impossible'; but can he really not do anything? Before, he was pretty...no, he was an idiot back then too, but what's he like now?"
"Now?"
Kimura tilted her head to the side. Because the shop served snacks and bread, opened early in the morning and had low prices, this shop was popular with students. Jinsei and his classmates could be seen here pretty often.
"I see them here quite often, but...you're asking about what he's like now?"
"Yeah, Jinsei had stopped coming for a while, stretchin' from ten years ago till about a year ago. Before then, Jinsei, another idiot, and a child who lived close by would eat breakfast together here."
"...That was more than ten years ago? Then, it would've been nine years since Kirikari came last year..."
"That's right, Jinsei only started to come here again since last year. When Kimura came to Mikado City, when Kon started working here. Now, he comes every morning, just like he used to."
"I wonder why?" Karasawa's question floated out from the kitchen, but Kimura could not answer his question.
"But even if he comes here, he doesn't have a proper meal; he just buys bread to go, so it can't be that he wants to get employed here when he graduates...and about that, well..."
"What is it?"
As he stretched his hand out to a piece of bread, he asked this question.
Karasawa's voice could be heard.
"I had been thinking that there was no way, but I've started to wonder."
"...? What are you talking about, if you don't mind me asking?"
"Hmmm, maybe it'd be easier to get it across to you if I say it like this."
The sound of frying oil echoed from the kitchen. Audible inside this chain of sizzling noise, was a voice.
"Jinsei probably got attached to Kon."
.
"...Huh!?"
Kimura's hands, which had been tearing up bread, paused. Tilting her chair, she turned her gaze towards the kitchen; Karasawa's back, visible across piles of kitchen tools, did not turn around.
"...Idiots risking that kind of thing when they swing a different way...I guess anything can happen."
"Ah, no way, that's..."
She would never say that it was wrong to like someone regardless of gender. There was also no hiding it when it came to that boy. Still, there were some things that made it hard to believe when it came to someone like him.
...And to pick Kon, of all people."
If what Karasawa-san says is true, I can only think this of Kirikari's behavior,
"It's in vain, or rather...obsessive."
Kimura described what most would take as common sense. However, following the timing of a conversation, Kimura heard Karasawa's voice.
"It's fine, though it would be in vain..."
"...Eh?"
She asked, but there was no answer. However, something came in its place.
"How's Jinsei doing in school?"
Having been asked this, Kimura realized that they were splintering from the conversation they had been having up to this point. So after thinking for a moment, Kimura tore up her bread, retrieving the original flow of their conversation.
"By normal school body judgement...he has only has some capabilities going for him, his academic ability is average,, and it seems that they've judged that his athletic ability if the only thing above average. But his movements are always critiqued..."
She framed this fact in vague words. However, a voice spilled out from the depths of the kitchen.
"Long before, he cut his left shoulder, and he's bad at general movements because of it."
"Y-yes."
For the residents of Mikado City, it is normal that I would hesitate?
"Haha, the fact that you know... Kimura, you have seen Jinsei stripping right?"
"Saw or was shown... The first time I went to school, for some reason he, with 'Underdog' written in huge letters on the front of his body, was being chased around by a pack of dogs, running around inside the school building."
"He can't use swords very well because of that injury, huh. Even when using a Trigger."
He was telling Kimura what she already knew, seeking confirmation. Therefore, Kimura also nodded.
"...Because of this, there has been talk about how he is in an A-Rank Squad with only one other fighter."
What she said was just the truth, exclusive of personal opinion.
"From what I know... Even as a Musician of Shinto, he worships an Entertainment-type God said to focus upon fun and games... He appears to have passed the high-rank examinations, but it seems that he hasn't yet decided on if he's going to continue messing with that stuff. I've been told that it's because that would start to take away from his time with Border."
"People are bringing Border into this?"
"That's right. Because he's an A-Rank."
Kimura recalled the story she had heard from his classmates as to why he continued to play the part of a Shinto believer even when they knew it didn't do much for him.
"—When Amaterasu was hiding in a cave behind a rock door, the laughter of the Goddesses dancing outside passed through the rock door and were conveyed to Amaterasu; and it became an opportunity to entice Amaterasu to come out. In short, the technique of the God of Entertainment is a technique that uses emotion as a medium, transmitting something to its receivers as a means to share it. Just like sharing laughs with everyone by dancing."
Despite this, it was not useful.
"Included in this technique is a form of equivalent indemnity, which takes the form of 'impurity'. When using laughter as a medium, there can be no sadness. If this is violated...the power which was propagated using laughter as a medium will conversely be taken away."
"Taken away...which means?"
"The transmitted power will no longer be shared, and instead it will be thoroughly stolen away. Luck, emotion, even power...it depends on the situation itself; but as impurity, they're mostly exorcised as impurities and won't return for a long period of time. The reason that entertainers and artists whose careers fail experience psychological depression is because after failing in their works of art, the emotions of joy and laughter are lost from within themselves.
"What a terrifying thought..."
"Yes," Kimura said. She continued to speak.
"But for Kirikari, it's a meaningless thing to think about. There's nothing to gain from dealing with that stuff since nothing tangible would be able to be shared by believing in that sort of thing. Physical abilities and the like are for individuals. Besides..."
Besides...
"Not being able to become sad..."
...Things like that happen quite often.
If something was stolen away almost like a follow-up to the sadness, it would be intolerable.
The moment she thought this, a soft laugh could be heard from inside.
"Haha, Kimura, just as I was wondering whether you hated Jinsei, you were worrying about him, weren't you."
Having been told something that she had not given the slightest thought, Kimura flushed.
While drinking the water in her glass, she calmed her breathing.
"...If something happens to the student council president, the responsibility will fall on me."
More than that, it could possibly effect Jinsei's squad, which would then effect Border as a whole. Even if she was not a part of Border, she understood that they were a necessary part of the city and didn't want to see anything happen to them. As the only ones able to fight Neighbors, she wanted them to stay as long as possible.
I myself think that it's a lot of trouble, but there's something else.
...What would it be like?
Kimura hopes to be a politician. Her father is a member of a bureaucratic organization that aids the students, the provisional council; he ponders and amends thecertain decisions, brings suggestions from the citizens, and furthermore has the duty of managing the city from out of his personal budget.
When I've graduated from school, I was thinking of starting on the road leading there.
But recently, a single question had come to life.
...As she was left behind all the time, wouldn't everything be useless?
.
In Mikado City, where Neighbors would come through Gates and destroy everything, being able to fight monsters was something to look up to at times. Fighting against those monsters led to fame that would remain so long as someone knew what you were doing. Living as a regular worker was not bad, but it held nothing when compared to being a member of Border.
Even the man in the kitchen was like that. Kimura was fully aware of Karasawa's position within Border and how important his role actually was. For him to be working part-time at this café meant that he was taking time away from being a director to see such a small place. Even so, he would continue to do this from time-to-time and apologize to the owner whenever he would be unable to make it to work due to Border.
Even if I wanted to try and do something, it isn't my choice.
I've come to realize this very well in this one year. Looking at the circumstances after Kirikari told me about being A-Rank, and what exactly it means to fight Neighbors, I was forced to fully realize this.
No one acknowledges someone without power.
...If so...
Wouldn't it be fine to make a cursory job of everything?
If I become dependent upon the others' occupations, there are certain privileges that I might receive. For example, Kirikari receiving the position of A-Rank within Border, becoming a celebrity within his class in the process.
And suddenly, Kimura thought of her father.
Her father had left the neighboring city ten years ago and moved to Mikado City, where he had been a member of the provisional council for ten years.
Kimura knew why. It had been a year since her father had called her and she had come to Mikado City. She knew that many businessmen, real estate managers and ground transport managers went to her father. If you thought of this as a privilege, the meaning in becoming a member of the provisional council in Mikado City, a politician, and her destination as a political hopeful...
"..."
Thinking about many things, Kimura shook her head.
It was said that Border was still solidifying within the city; and as if indicating this, the frequency of Neighbors was actually rising.
It was a present age where the immediate future could not actually be seen.
Therefore, Kimura thought that at least during meals she would not think of a dark future.
At that moment:
"Your hands have stopped moving...was the bread not to your taste, Kimura?"
Hearing Karasawa's voice, Kimura reined in her thoughts. Startled, she drew a breath.
"Ah, no, I was just daydreaming."
"Haha," she laughed, but she herself felt that it was forced.
...There are just too many things to think about.
Her mother disappearing was the impetus for her to come to Mikado City, but many things had happened in the year after.
She suddenly spoke.
"It's all happened so fast. In a year, things have gotten better for Border and the city. The Neighbors are being kept within the Forbidden Zone even better than before, meaning the public has nothing to complain about. The was likely due to you walking through the city so much, wasn't it? Regardless, it means that Border has started letting in some pretty young members, if I heard right... I wonder if my friends from before would want to join. People like the daughter of that family...the girl was pretty wild."
"My, my, talking about friends from your hometown? Are you homesick?"
"No," even as she answered, she felt a little masochistic. Therefore, she spoke.
She spoke of something that she had been thinking of for a while. She spoke of one of the reasons that she often went out to do part-time jobs that started in the morning.
"...Our school, a general public one, is really Mikado City residents' school. I don't really fit in. Or rather, the fact that I'm someone who competed for and failed to receive any sort of glory is also an issue; the fact that everyone..."
The fact that everyone was showing her care was evident.
Her lips, which were on the brink of saying this, stopped.
"Do you want to try and become friendly with everyone?"
A question came.
Uncomprehending, she pondered. After a while, Kimura frowned.
"It's not like they aren't friendly..."
"Then, do you ever feel that you would like to get along better with them? If you do..."
She heard this.
"Take a look at things from an inside view."
"Inside view...?"
Muttering this, Kimura titled her head to the side. If what she had heard matched the thought in her head, she knew what exactly Karasawa meant by that. Indeed, that she knew was a matter of course.
"Um, I don't think I can fight against Neighbors. I don't even have any sort of formal training, so Triggers may be a bit much for me..."
"Who ever said anything about fighting? You do know there are other ways of doing things, right?"
"Yes," Kimura answered. She had heard about it before.
What she knew was this:
...There are those who fight against Neighbors directly, and the ones who support them from somewhere else...
I have heard about Engineers and the directors more than enough times, even if I don't know the finer details, I know people don't think too much about them. Still, is Karasawa-san saying I should strive for one of those two positions?
"But that positions is also a bad fit for me..."
"It's more simple than that. There's a position that I think would fit you rather well, all things considered. Yeah, you seem like someone who would enjoy the work."
With that, the noise of Karasawa in the kitchen turning around could be heard.
"To be able to support a squad is just as, if not more, amazing than fighting with a squad."
"...Supporting them? But I thought only those with director-like authority could do that sort of thing for squads."
"I see that you didn't get all the information. In that case, I can personally send it to you. Both the information and the recruitment form. That way it's all there."
Along with the sound of her voice and footsteps, a scent came. Turning around, Karasawa, plate in his hand, was walking her way with a smile on his face.
"Each of Border's squads would be nothing without this position. Even the best squads around, heck even the solo agents, need this to work at their best. Also, here."
Atop the tray was a paper bag and a piece of bread. On top of the bread was spinach fried in butter, ham, egg and carrot.
"Before, Jinsei and a girl who lived close by would put what they sold on a piece of bread. With the addition of soup, their morning menu... Well, rather than morning, it was already noon. If you're going now to visit a grave and the other city, I'll wrap it together with a tightly sealed paper cup so you can take it away."
As his voice echoed outward, the bell that indicated the time rang out. It was the noontime bell.
Hearing this sound, Kimura suddenly turned her gaze outside. The voice of Karasawa, while putting the meal into a paper bag, continued.
"To finish this all off, I'll let you know what that position is."
"Thank you. I would rather get a quick understanding before the main information on it all."
"Good girl. Well, that position would be as an Operator."
Kimura blinked and stood up. While listening to the sound of Karasawa arranging the paper bag on top of the table, she spoke.
"An Operator?"