A/N: The real update is in chapter one. Something that came over from ao3's SSR. And expect more chapters for SSZ to come soon.

A voice.

He could hear a voice, but the words it was saying were hard to make out.

So he ignored them.

If they would not say something that he understood then it meant that he did not want to hear them in the first place.

Instead of focusing on that voice, he thought back. Back to two people who he had left and the three people who had left him. Each one had a face he could put to their names, but remembering all five of them would only end up hurting him.

Even so, phantom pain began forming throughout his body.

A reminder of what had been drilled into him since he was a kid.

Each part of his body had varying amounts of phantom pains, but each one was negligible. None of them particularly hurt, but they were all irritating.

What had really hurt was remembering how each phantom pain came to be.

One was from hitting the stumps.

One was from getting hit by one of the stumps.

One was from running into his sister's body.

One was from having his sister's body run into him.

One was from accidentally cutting himself with a blade.

One was from purposely getting cut by a blade.

One was from the constant repeated motions of swiping down a blade or firing a gun.

One was from getting hit for not being able to keep up those same repeated motions.

The only times he could remember not getting reprimanded were the time when he needed to take charge of something.

That monster he had trained with had been a natural soldier while those around the family had called him a true commander. Someone who others would listen to and give them the best results while taking everything into account.

He was no strategist, but he knew how to order people around to the point of people recognizing him for that.

Anyone else would have loved to be viewed in such a way, but for him…

My more violent side usually comes out when people say stuff like that.

I guess that can't be helped though.

He clicked his tongue.

Every thought that came through his mind felt as if it was meant to give himself some pity.

Anyone who pities someone else is just trying to rule over them with their own fucking ideas and beliefs. If anyone tries that shit with me, I'll-…

The thought had never finished. But not because it was interrupted.

He always tried to never start fights; he only finished fights.

If anyone were to pity him then he would scare them, glare at them, click his tongue, give them the middle finger, or even just chew them out.

But he would not start a fight.

Starting fights and joining fights were the reason he had been raised the way he was. It was the reason those people had continued to leave the phantom pains on him while congratulating him for being a true commander.

If he were to begin fighting out of nowhere then it would only take away the reason as to why he despised the three who had left him.

"He talks more in his sleep then I thought he would…"

The voice from before spoke.

It had suddenly gotten much more clear and he understood everything that it was saying.

The voice belonged to a female. It was small, so she might have been muttering to herself.

Those were the things he had noticed first.

The second thing he noticed was how close it was. At the same time, it sounded so far away that there was no way it could have been in his mind.

But he should have been the only one on the roof of the school at this time.

Everyone else should either be in class or doing something else. If someone was on the roof with him then it meant that they were skipping out on class.

He did not care about what they did concerning school, but there was something that he did care about.

She got here while I was letting my guard down!

With a jolt, he reached for the pencil at his side and sprang to his feet.

.

Mirai felt as if everything slowed down in the moment she had muttered under her breath.

Once the words had left her mouth, the boy in front of her had sprung to life, reaching for the pencil that had fallen out of his hand. Everything he did from shifting his feet to lifting bending his knees all felt as if they were made in one motion.

This told her one specific thing about the boy.

He was used to this.

Even she wasn't sure what "this" was, but she understood that this boy had combat experience even while not being a part of Border.

It was the only explanation as to why he was battle ready from the moment he opened his eyes.

No… He was ready even before he opened his eyes. No matter who it was, he would have pointed this "weapon" at them without a second thought.

It was a terrifying thought that this boy would always be ready for a fight.

The only thing that confused her about this knowledge was what she had recently learned about him.

"I heard that you don't pick fights, but…"

The boy clicked his tongue as he pulled back his hand.

The entire time they had been like that, he had only been glaring at her with the smallest amount of malice. Any fear she felt was only surface level that came naturally with having a weapon to your neck.

Once the pencil was placed in his pocket and she could regulate her breathing better, Mirai began to speak once more.

"That was my bad. I had thought that you were asleep while skipping class."

"And what? You were gonna tell me to go back to class or some shit?"

"No. I was just going to tell you that it would be better to sleep on the side that doesn't have the door facing it instead of out in the open."

"I'm not a coward. If someone comes then I'll do something about it instead of trying to hide like a small animal."

"Small animals can be pretty vicious."

The glare she got in response somehow felt lacking compared to the one before. It was likely his way of just telling her to stop talking to him.

She understood that well enough, but…

"I heard more about you than I thought I would."

"Yeah, I know. That asshole Murakami probably told you about me, didn't he?"

"He did. He said that you're not as bad of a guy as you seem to be. And that you don't hate him."

"Tch. That fucker is making it really hard not to hate him… Look, that shit is a lie. I'm a rotten person with a rotten personality who should be tased the fuck out. Nobody's got the fucking balls to do shit about me though, so I'm stuck here."

"Do you like being self-deprecating?"

"I fucking hate liars. What I'm saying is the truth. I know my own worth in this world and it doesn't mean more than the shit you step in while on the road. And you…don't you give me that shit when I know you're the same fucking way."

This time Mirai clearly showed her surprise at his words and actions.

He was not saying what he thought about her, instead, he was telling her what she thought about herself. Even with words from the people she cared about, they were the words she always thought but only said mildly.

Her brother and cousin likely knew how she felt after all of this time, so them telling her something would not be abnormal. But this boy, someone she could only describe as a delinquent, had been able to locate her own feelings and pin them down in front of her.

"Go on. Tell me I'm wrong."

"…I can't."

"So don't go believing what that fucker Murakami says. Just because I don't throw him out the window doesn't mean I'm his friend. What he thinks of me is what someone who doesn't know shit thinks when they see the bare minimum."

"…"

A bitter smile came to Mirai's lips as she thought about that.

It was kind of like looking at her own interactions from an outside view.

Others could say what they wanted, but it did not change how the person felt about themselves. Both Mirai and this delinquent boy were exactly the same in that sense. Good words and kind words were something they thought would be wasted on them, but they knew that those words would not stop coming from others.

They could both understand that much about each other.

But it still felt wrong.

Murakami was not someone who randomly said nice things to people, he was not a liar either. That much she had learned from the short amount of time she had spent with him before. Wetman from her class had even gone on record to say that he was very reliable. So if he said that this delinquent boy was better than what they saw not the surface, she felt inclined to believe him.

And then there was her cousin.

He is the first person ever to make Fuji-nee question something. The only one to make her tilt her head and give more than a few minutes of thought about. If he can do something like that to her then…

He could not be as bad as he made himself out to be.

She was not denying his words so much as thinking that he was not telling her everything.

This is the first time we have spoken to each other. If he did start telling me everything about him then I might have viewed this as a terrible conversation.

But he was only telling her simple things.

"Then can I come to my own conclusion about you?"

"Huh?"

"If I think I understand you right… Will you accept what I say to you if I come up with my own thoughts about you instead of listening to what Murakami told me?"

"…Hm. You're an idiot, aren't you?"

"My captain has said something similar before."

"He sounds like an asshole."

She could only shrug.

At this point she has come to an understanding about this delinquent boy.

And that was…

"You only accept people's thoughts and ideas as long as they aren't forced onto you and they make those themselves."

"That piss you off?"

She shook her head.

"I think that sounds great. Especially since I know those thoughts won't change what you think about yourself."

There was a small silence between the two after that.

It was not a harsh or awkward one. It felt much more like both of them were trying to find the right words to say so that they would not get on the other's bad side.

The first one to break it was the delinquent boy.

"What's your name?"

"Hatohara Mirai. And I know yours already from Murakami."

She did not respond with a question or anything that made it seem like she did not know what he meant. It would have only gotten him mad.

It was the right choice as he turned his back from her with a slight smirk.

"Hatohara... Got it. I'll make sure to remember it."

"I am honored."

"Keep patronizing me like that and see what happens."

He would not fight her.

"Well then…I'll be leaving. I need to get going before I get scolded by my captain."

The delinquent boy gave a huff to acknowledge her words but otherwise said nothing more.

Giving a slight bow, she turned to begin walking away.

.

Kiyoshi could hear the retreating footsteps and the door close behind him.

The conversation he had just had was something he was not expecting when going to the rooftop. At the same time, it turned out to be one he didn't mind. Talking to that idiot girl had gotten him to relax after his thoughts of his family had taken over his mind for a bit.

"I guess that's just another person I need to keep away from my sister. That monster of a woman would eat her alive without a second thought."

Clicking his tongue at the thought of his older sister, he turned back around to make his way to the door. Even if he was skipping class, he felt like being on the roof would only put him back in a foul mood.

That was when he saw it.

"The hell…?"

There, on the ground in front of him, was a black object. It was familiar in that he had seen Border agents carrying them around. Each member had one in order to do their job to fight against Neighbors.

A Trigger.

Bending down, he picked up the black object and examined it in his hand.

He had seen them before, but never held one. Losing one likely came with a lot of repercussions, so seeing one in front of him was odd.

There was no need to look around to see if anyone was there, though. It was clear from the first moment he saw who it had belonged to.

He clicked his tongue again.

"That girl really is an idiot."

The Trigger belonged to Hatohara.

"It fell out when I rushed at her. Tch. Damn. That idiot should make sure these things are secure. If I was anyone else, I would use this thing however I wanted."

Instead of doing just that, he simply placed it in his pocket as he walked towards the door.

The idiot girl was still likely on the school grounds, so it would be easy enough to catch her so he could give her back the Trigger.

Mikado city had a good amount of bridges.

At the moment there were other things going on, but it was almost certain to contain even more in the future. The amount of bridges seemed to be increasing with the number of festivals held within the city, although the residences of the city had little to no complaints.

One of the bridges had a gate before it as a checkpoint that cut between the outer and inner parts of the city.

The wide, roofless gate was open; and from the opened gate, a bridge around 10 meters in width was visible.

And south from the bridge, if one looked at the inner city, on the other side of the wide outer area, at the foot of the general slope, was the rest of the city.

In a particular part of the city, the Forbidden Zone and Border base laid, as if watching over the rest of the city.

Before this backdrop, there were three figures.

One was past his twenties and a slender man.

One was a full-figured man, around the same age.

And the other was a girl sticking close to the back of the second.

The three were standing with the rest of Mikado City to their backs.

To that place, another figure came. He too was a past-twenties man…

"Oh, to think that two of Border's directors, Shinoda Masafumi and Rindō Takumi would come to greet me… Was this to not disappoint me? Where's Tai? Masafumi, Taku."

At his words, the slender man called Rindō raised his face slightly. He brushed his hair back…

"About that, Chi-chan, actually, Taiko has—"

"Don't say a word about Agito. Have you forgotten, Rindō?"

The middling, full-figured man called Shinoda spoke without turning his gaze to Rindō.

Rindō, beside him, let his lips falter; but looking in Akasora's direction he shut his mouth together with a nod and smoke from his cigarette.

As if a substitute, Shinoda stepped forwards half a step. Tilting his body forward a little…

"—Show me."

In an instant, the figure of the girl at Shinoda's back disappeared.

In response, Akasora raised his face slightly…

"Huh? Heyheyhey, the 'show me' you're talking about isn't about something good is i—"

Before his line was over, a figure that outlined two arcs approached Akasora's back.

One of the arcs was the trajectory that the tied hair of the girl from just now had traced.

The other arc was a green trajectory that told of a drawn blade.

The movement did not stop. And as such…

"—!"

Akasora also put his body into motion.

.

Akasora's mind connected the dots within an instant.

Just from the flow of wind behind him, he understood that the girl from just now had arrived.

With no hesitation in his movements, he turned and confirmed it.

…Her style is that of an overly offensive Attacker!? This is pretty serious, but she is…

There was a vague memory. Ten years ago, he had indeed met this girl.

Someone trying to reach their place. The girl who had tried to reach the place of a warrior.

What was her name? I don't remember, but…

…Her movements are as sharp as ever! But she always used to carry a spear…!

I don't understand what's happening; having suddenly twisted around to my back, is she attacking or protecting me?

And now, the movements he felt against his skin were the vibrations of the air that the girl had caused by twisting her body.

The vibration was large, the initial speed slow.

Then it's an attack, Akasora judged. If she was stretching her arms for the sake of protection, then the vibration would be small and the initial speed fast. However, because the wind raised during an attack is caused by the wielder carrying his own volume, and is for the sake of making a complete swing, at first it's slow but the movement is large.

Now, it's the latter.

How will she approach me? That was not a question formed by Akasora's thoughts, but by his instinct.

I remember this girl's weapon. When she was standing behind Masafumi, I was looking at it.

It was not that I became aware of it and was looking at it. The experience of the battles I had cut my way through as a member of Border sits deeper than in my consciousness. It's Kōgetsu alright. A nice and durable blade that weighs a bit too much for anyone not ready to hold a blade. With that being the case, I have to ask…

What the hell are these guys thinking!?

The hilt was straight, and because of its length it looked as if it was made to compensate for the instability that stemmed from its heaviness.

…If so.

Even though the hilt is aimed towards easy handling of the blade, it holds a single problem.

A katana is a weapon that slices by touching the opponent and retracting as if shaving a piece off. However that denotes the reality in which the wielder has to cut by pulling the blade that has touched its victim towards their own chest.

As such, the blade of a katana cannot cut at any distance but a distance where it is able to be retracted. By putting some strength in the slicing, it is possible to slice deeply; but the distance that can be cut is the distance it can be retracted.

And if it's a katana that has a long hilt, when it's pulled towards one's front, the hilt will touch one's body.

The distance that it can be retracted is short.

In that case, what will the wielder do to make a long cut?

…They will drop their body and swing the blade far!

Dropping their entire body, they will extend their blade far to the front and pull with their entire body.

If that is done, they will be able to gain the twist of their body as a distance to retract the blade.

Now, the wind I feel behind my back is large.

A wind for the sake of stepping her entire body in with all her strength.

The target is the right side of my abdomen. A horizontal slice from my back.

She's good, Akasora's instinct acknowledged his opponent.

If she aimed for my upper body, the thick muscle and bone of my shoulder and chest would interrupt her. If it's below the stomach, she'll end up severing or snapping my wrist but she can split the thin flesh of the side-abdomen that stretches with the pressure of the stomach.

Furthermore, if it's a horizontal slash, then she can pull the blade horizontally.

If she does so, then she will automatically pull the blade with just a turning movement of her body and the retracted pommel won't touch her chest or stomach. If she chains with a twisting motion inwards, she doesn't even need to steady her footing.

It's a terrifying sword technique, which shows in how it's regulated. It's not something that is learned on the practice ground. This is a sword technique from true battle.

What should I do to avoid it?

Faster than he thought, Akasora moved.

.

Akasora moved in a way that could not be called an evasion.

In response to the whirling blow behind him, he…

"This."

…lightly took one step back.

"—!"

The slice that came after the stepping back approached nonetheless.

If it's a weapon that slices, by leaping in from this direction I'm able to make the distance to retract zero. Even if the opponent stepped backwards, it would become a distance shorter than the original one she was able to pull.

The question is, am I able to step back faster than the slice from the horizontal slash?

Therefore, I twisted my body. Not just directly to the rear, but towards my left as well.

I went.

And furthermore…

"And then—"

Akasora needed no words to activate his own Trigger.

He then half-drew the Kōgetsu he had attached to the back of his waist.

The draw method is a right backhand, a movement where I pull my shoulder up along with my arm. Because of this, I'm able to protect my right waist with Kōgetsu's blade, and I can protect my right chest with my slanted arm. Even further, I protect the right part of my neck with my raised shoulder.

By doing this, I respond to the opponent's slice, take a good position, and defend.

Having played his best card, Akasora suddenly twisted his body, having leaped towards his posterior-left, to the right.

The opponent who swung the blade should be there.

She was there.

Black hair was visible.

Now, I touch her body; and from the next instant onwards, the initiative is in my hands.

Generally this would be the time to insert a blow, make her obedient, and show her our difference in form; but now I am a teacher for a high school. I can't really do anything horrible to a young girl. But to speculate, I think that groping breasts would still be allowed.

He shook his head.

His drinking buddies' mindset was rubbing off on him too much.

And the opponent's blade tried to hit my blade.

However…

"…h!?"

Akasora saw that the girl behind him suddenly moved to his anterior-right.

…This is—

The place the girl was standing was directly in front of my right shoulder. She was showing me her back. She seemed to have dropped her hip.

I don't know what's happening.

I don't know, but it's a fact that there was an instantaneous movement.

And I know the reason for her having moved to the right and front of me.

…So that her own blade wouldn't clash with mine, huh!?

Blades were normally made of metal, but this one was made purely from trion. Even if it had increased durability, even if she swung just right, if it hits something harder than itself then it will bend or even break. And Akasora knew just how much force to apply for that to happen.

As such, the girl avoided the clashing of blades.

Evading, bursting forward, she controlled her body and twisted for the sake of her slice by dropping her hip.

The katana, readied to the left as if shouldered, matched with the movement of her standing up and leaped upwards…

"—"

It approached.

Swinging a blade upwards from a bent position, and biting into my neck from the bottom right with that movement. An irregular cut.

Akasora's right arm, the hand holding the Kōgetsu, was suppressed by her back.

…She's good.

Reading my movements, she always aims for a fatal blow. That she's not afraid of close contact with her opponent is the result of her training.

Akasora tried to evade before the blade leaped up to meet him…

"No."

The tip of his right foot was stepped upon by her deeply retracted left heel.

I drew back my toes. But it was too slow. On the contrary, my attention was taken by the act of withdrawing my toes.

I can't dodge. And before my eyes, the girl showed the initial movements of swinging the blade.

This is bad. But when I looked at the two colleagues in front of me…

…Those bastards, what are they clenching their fists and watching the battle for…!

If I could make them speak, I couldn't come up with anything but the "Go—!" apparent in their faces.

While thinking I'll knock them down afterward, Akasora moved.

Now, he could not draw his Kōgetsu. Therefore, Akasora made an instantaneous decision. An instinctive movement. That was…

"Slap."

Akasora released his Kōgetsu, stuck that hand between the girl's back and blade, and touched her left butt cheek.

He held her left butt cheek with his hand that had come free. And…

"—!?"

From the girl's mouth, a scream with a tint of surprise was released.

"Oh, shit!"