It was the lunch break and a small group was speaking in the cafeteria filled with other students.
"Hey, what's with that plain-looking lunch?"
"I could ask you the same thing."
With miraculous synchronization, Tsukiko Yuki and Murakami Kō had both selected their school's cheapest meal which was known as the Poor Man's Meal. In other words, the katsuobushi rice.
It did not come with soy sauce, so it really was just chilled stock rice on the verge of going bad with nearly powdered katsuobushi sprinkled on top from a clear package.
"You can't do that. You can't be copying me with the Poor Man's Meal. Why did you have to copy me and take my food away? Are you that much invested into the rivalry that you would do such a thing to me?"
"This isn't easy for me either. I would rather have something better than this, but I don't have much of a choice at the moment. Besides, you are the only one who thinks of these things as a rivalry. It's odd. Others just call this a friendship."
Murakami slowly sighed, but Yuki hung his head for some reason.
"I expected you to be better than this, Kō. Hah. I suppose someone who watches everything go down the drain because of a teammate would need something like this to calm their nerves."
"Now you're just saying anything that comes to mind. I guess old habits die hard."
With a plain look, Murakami reached for the condiments supplied at the center of the table.
With soy sauce, Worcestershire sauce, sugar, pepper, and mayonnaise, it was a fairly standard lineup.
"As it is, we'll be eating hopelessly dry and flavorless katsuobushi rice for a while. But this is where the fun begins. Now, what toppings will you use to dress up this cheap Poor Man's Meal? Think of it as another little rival battle."
"What? Can't you just put the soy sauce on it?"
"Can I really consider you a rival, or even a friend, at this point? You can't go wrong with soy sauce on katsuobushi rice, but it can never rise above average either. If I called it a seaweed-less seaweed meal, you'd feel pretty blue, wouldn't you?"
School lunches were focused on cost effectiveness, so hoping for a surprising flavor and texture was pretty much a lost cause. Regardless of if these two were Border agents, they were currently stuck with these plain lunches.
The first one to make a move was Murakami, the one who usually had more to eat.
"I'll start off with some pepper."
"Isn't that a little spicy? You haven't even decided if you're making this sweet or salty."
"Then I'll settle on an overall direction with mayonnaise."
"You're escaping toward bitter?"
When looking for a surprising flavor, mayonnaise was definitely the standard. As long as one liked mayonnaise, it could make most anything acceptable.
"And I'll finish it off with a quick sprinkle of Worcestershire sauce for the flavoring of takoyaki or okonomiyaki or something like that. Heh. Try beating that with your skills."
Yuki only smirked as he looked around. He was used to small and plain meals, so he was on another level entirely.
"You have to start off with some pickled vegetables, right?"
"You have to? But...where did you get those from?"
"I got them from some students I've never met before. They come with the meals, but no one ever eats them."
Yuki covered his katsuobushi rice with the contents of small plates he had gathered from three or four people at some point and he mixed it all together with his chopsticks.
"Eating the rice like this would be a little salty, so you have to get some shredded cabbage from the people eating chicken cutlets over there."
"Hey, you people aren't eating the cabbage before the cutlets? You all need to focus on your health."
"Then mix it all together for a weaker but crisper flavor and then finish it off by dripping on some mentsuyu borrowed from someone who ordered soba. It comes in a bottle, so there's usually some left in the bottom after they transfer it over to the bowl."
"Isn't that cheating? We were competing using the options here."
"No one ever said that. I don't care what it takes as long as I can make the Poor Man's Meal before my eyes look a little richer. Listen, Kō, your mistake was thinking you could find the best possible answer using the ingredients right in front of you. You need to take a wider view of the world. Don't forget who had survived both Kako-san's fifth worst fried rice as well as Mei-chan's seventh hottest curry."
Being the great friends they were, the two nodded at each other while devouring their Poor Man's Meals.
For some reason, multiple girls were sitting at the same table as the two. They were Operators for other B-Rank teams, but they were hardly ever seen with the two during lunch. They looked back and forth between Yuki and Murakami.
"Is this really how guys bond? Interesting..."
"What is it, Kagami-chan? It might look like these Poor Man's Meals are pretty tasty after desperately adding onto them like this, but they don't taste good in the slightest and it actually adds in a ton of salt. My advice is to stay out of this harsh battle if you can. If you can eat a high society grilled fish meal every day, there's no reason to start down this path of carnage."
"Is it just me or did you just turn into a scoundrel?"
Yuki shrugged his shoulder and seemed as if he had been called that before many, many times.
Murakami really looked like he was about to cry as he continued to eat.
The two of them disregarded the looks from not only the girls looking at them but their fellow men who were also eating.
"I don't want my grated radish, so you can have it."
"Oh, thanks, thanks."
"Do you just put anything someone will lend you on there?"
"You get the fish off the bone really neatly. How elegant."
"..."
Yuki ignored the speaking girls and spoke to Murakami.
"By the way, Kō, and I guess everyone else, where's Kage? Haven't seen him today, even in class."
"Not sure. Just message him and find out."
"He's still mad at me though."
"..."
"Wait... Are those tears of agony from this disgusting trash food or because we haven't made up yet? Hey, hey, hey! Please wipe your nose! That's disgusting!"
Everyone watched from the side the two friends with mild interest. They decided not to say anything and just enjoy the entertainment in front of them.
"By the way..."
.
Yuki looked over through his tears to look at the one who had spoken up.
It had been Mizukami.
"Have ya found out who yer gonna be fightin' for that promotion?"
His own lunch consisted of spring rolls and udon, so Yuki felt a bit jealous of him.
But he wiped away his tears to look directly at Mizukami.
"No. I should be getting that information soon. So-"
Miso Soup: "Information!? Someone wants information!? How can I help, and how much will you give me!?"
"Nobody asked for you," they had all yelled.
One of their phones must have been on voice-to-text since the boy came back with a response.
Miso Soup: "Yes! That's just what I need! More of that, please! It's not physical, but this sort of abuse is also fine! Ah! And I can even go back and look at the message too! Damn it! I'm getting horny just thinking about what else you all can give me!"
"Umi! Umi! Do something about that guy!"
"I'm already on it. He's being sent a bill for sexual harassment and the messages he wants will be altered so that he can't see them anymore."
It's kind of scary how fast he works...
Yuki and the rest of them looked to the dull-eyed boy in front of them. His phone was already out and the speed at which he was going through it was kind of amazing to watch.
"Anyways... I can try and ask to see if it's been decided yet. Hey Umi, can I go through you to message the directors? It will be faster that way."
"Yeah, go ahead. Although, keep in mind that it's more going through TSUBAKI instead of me."
"You're their proxy, so it's the same in my eyes."
The dull-eyed boy shrugged as if it was not his problem.
"Right then," Yuki said as he typed on his phone.
White Fox: "Shinoda-san, is there any word on who I will be fighting for the promotion?"
Shinoda: "I already sent out that information. Did you not get it?"
Yuki looked back up at the dull-eyed boy, but all he did was shrug for the second time.
"I'll check again, so give me a second. ...Alright, done. Yeah, it's here. That terrible guy had tried to hide it."
"That was way too fast!" everyone said.
At this point it was proof enough that they were all terrible people.
"Looks like Kako-san and Miwa will be your opponents."
"Just them? Not their squads?"
"Isn't that weird?"
"Hey Suzaku, are you sure that's it?"
"I'll send the information to everyone. It doesn't look like it's that private in the first place, so it should be fine."
All of their phones went off at the same time, bringing the attention from other tables onto them.
White Fox: "I just got it, Shinoda-san."
"Kako and Miwa, huh...?"
"They might have asked around to see who would be willing to do it. Some of the A-Ranks are gone at the moment, so they had to figure out who with the people still here."
That could be the case.
White Fox: "Kako-san, were you asked to do this? Or did you ask to do this?"
Fried Rice Queen: "If you mean the promotion test, then I asked to be one of the people. I didn't want to ask Ninomiya-kun since the two of us would team up to take him out."
Everyone turned to him as if to say they knew that was true.
He would not have denied it either.
Fried Rice Queen: "So I went to Miwa-kun instead. Azuma-san is not really in a position to help me out here, so there is also that. Besides, this is a good tag-team match for us. Maybe we can even get a full squad match later on."
"I don't think that's possible anymore..."
The match she wanted from him was something he could not bring himself to make happen.
He looked around the table to check everyone's reactions on what she had said and...
Pokari: "Wanting a rematch with that guy, who would want that?"
Umi: "I just wouldn't want to deal with him in the first place."
Shōgi Boy: "He's pretty annoyin'. Ya'd have to be a maso to want deal with him."
Black Wolf: "Wait, doesn't that mean we are all masochistic for staying by his side?"
They all started mumbling to each other, but getting any more involved would only end badly for him.
Life: "Hey now, don't be that way. Even if you all are weirdos like that, I'm still worse than all of you."
Mi-Kon: "You're jokes have been falling flat recently, so you're worse in a different way."
Life: "That one hit harder than I expected!"
The idiot would not stop unless ignored.
And even then, he will still probably continue...
That fact scared him a bit.
Fried Rice Queen: "Well either way, I'm looking forward to our fight. Aren't you, Miwa-kun?"
"—"
Only the words "heh heh" appeared on the screen.
But when Miwa said nothing, there was a pause, a shift to a private chat, and…
Fried Rice Queen: "You have been having your issues you don't want to talk about, so this might be helpful. Even if just a bit. At least to let off steam."
Black Bullet: "I hate how kind you are, Kako-san."
Fried Rice Queen: "That's fine, that's fine. Heh heh...!"
There was a pause of a few seconds, presumably because she was holding her sides in laughter. And then…
Fried Rice Queen: "This tag match. ...We can make some guesses about how something like this will go, but we can't think about it like in the past."
So...
Fried Rice Queen: "We need to view them as they currently are, meaning this will be 'Yuki'-kun with the help of Kimura and Kanzaki."
...So that's it.
Miwa understood what his former teammate was saying.
This would not be like what little he understood of the past. And to put it in words...
Black Bullet: "Even if he has accepted this promotion via test, fighting with those two might bring out something unwanted for him. The same can't be applied to the other two though, so they won't be holding back."
That was likely why.
Black Bullet: "That must be why he didn't try to get Ariake or Shitokei involved. The former would definitely put him on edge while the latter is already in a situation where she can't do much for him. That is why Kimura is getting involved here. So this is why you wanted me to do this. Ninomiya-san would be the worst possible choice if you wanted to avoid the past, and Azuma-san always tries to stay away from those problems."
Miwa thought, Is this why she volunteered right away?
It seemed like emotions and the past were given precedence here.
But those actions were corrected by rational decisions, became decisions of her, and moved the current events.
Black Bullet: "Kako-san."
Fried Rice Queen: "What is it?"
Black Bullet: "Are you trying to involve me with these sorts of emotions?"
Fried Rice Queen: "No. ...Not everything can be solved that easily. I don't even think things will be solved with this."
Miwa felt like he was being told not to rush things.
Fried Rice Queen: "Both emotion and the past connect people. But they are not the key factors when it comes to connections. If I tried to move all of you around at once, I would be doing something dangerous. I really only want to see how Yuki-kun will respond to everything going on around him."
So.
Fried Rice Queen: "So I also want you there. Your emotions are also at play, but for something having nothing to do with this. ...But, Miwa-kun, your situation also connects you to the present using emotions and the past, so you should see this through to try and find an answer."
The woman continued speaking.
Fried Rice Queen: "I guess I'll just leave it with this: view this match as a test for you too. If you find something in it, great. If you find nothing in it, but try your hardest, that's fine. If you think it was a waste of time, then you didn't try too hard."
Black Bullet: "Kako-san, I understand why you want me for this fight. I can't guarantee anything though."
Fried Rice Queen: "Ho ho? Is that so?"
"Yeah," replied Miwa while glaring into the daytime sky.
Black Bullet: "We will just have to wait a few days. That's when the away team will return."
Yuki let out a small sigh as he walked through the halls of the Border base.
He did not have much to do at the moment and was just moving around to keep his health up. It was always nice to just move around when able to do so.
After school had ended, he had walked over to the Suzunari Branch with Murakami and Kon to give his greeting to branch members.
It was a fun place to be around, but having to stop Taichi was tiring in its own right.
How they had managed to handle him for so long was a mystery.
With that part of his trip over with, he had made his way to the Border base in hopes of finding something to do.
Rest was always the safest option, but it was also something that was a constant for him. Resting had become something he never looked forward to doing.
So with that, he continued his walk.
"I guess I could see what Tatsuhito is up to. He is normally bugging people for fights."
"Geh..."
Feeling his entire body tense up, Yuki came to a stop.
"I knew I felt something foul. I should have followed my instincts and went the other way. Being around this faker might make me start lying too much."
.
Yuki glared ahead at the person who had appeared in front of him.
"And of all people to meet with... Hah. I guess my luck is just bad today. E-Rank for sure. Maybe I could just cut that bad luck off along with his annoyed, hot air-filled head."
Ninomiya Masataka.
The #1 B-Rank squad captain returned the glare.
"What do you want, airhead?"
"I'm only looking for Taka, faker."
The surrounding people all moved away from the glaring duo, yet strayed in range to hear them.
Having them both in the same place at once only invited trouble, but it was also the best place to watch a show.
Most would argue that it was a horror show.
Everyone around them could swear they saw a tiger behind Ninomiya and a dragon behind Yuki.
"Hey, aren't they captains from the higher ranking B-Rank teams?"
"I heard that Tsukiko is getting a promotion though. Doesn't that mean he's better than Ninomiya-san?"
"Nah, Ninomiya-san was an A-Rank way before Tsukiko-san was."
"Is it just me or does it look like those two are rather tense?"
Hearing the whispering going around saying that one was stronger than the other, the two tried their hardest not to say something.
They both lost to their natural hatred for each other.
Yuki stomped his foot forward and brought up his arm. He had his fingers like a gun and held them right under Ninomiya's chin.
Ninomiya had shifted a bit on his spot and lifted his own fingers to point at Yuki's forehead.
They were in a position that allowed them to hide their fingers from the onlookers.
Their glares grew harsher as they spoke in synch.
"One round to break the tie."
Hearing fast footsteps, they moved away from each other and turned to see Inukai and Tsuji running up to them.
"Ninomiya-san! Yuki!"
The two looked at each other before grabbing Inukai by the collar of his shirt.
"You're going to be our witness," they said in unison.
"Wha-!? Wait! I don't consent! I don't consent! Hey! Don't just stand there, Tsuji-chan! Help me out!"
The waving Attacker said nothing, only watching as his teammate got carried away for the slaughter.
"At least go find Shiro-chan or Mei-san!"
The countdown started.
The area was an industrial one.
Both Ninomiya and Yuki got ready for the fight.
They had made Inukai stay to watch and witness the fight so that neither one of them could lie about who had won.
They had done so by threatening him.
That did not matter much since they decided to do the fight over in Ninomiya Squad's training room, so as not to draw attention to themselves.
They had both been set in different places, but still rather close to each other. The only thing left was for them to start the fight.
As they waited for the countdown to finish they both got ready.
Ninomiya put on his Bagworm while Yuki lifted the hair from his left eye and put it behind his ear.
They were both ready for the fight.
This would decide it for them.
But...
Hero: "Onii-chan."
A voice reached them.
Hero: "Kawa would like to see you for your test.
Both B-Rank captains froze up in an instant.
This had been their chance to settle everything, and yet...
Hero: "Oh, and Ninomiya-san, I have Taka-kun with me here."
It had slipped them by.
In one of the open casual areas of the Border base, a long-haired girl in a male's uniform ate a late lunch.
…I can finally get some food in my stomach.
The area had multiple benches and tables around for anyone to just sit and relax. She sat there eating the fried mincemeat on bread that Kanzaki had gotten for her. It had come with sauerkraut and boiled sausage, so she added some to the bread and set them aside.
"This is all so salty."
…I'd love some kind of stew or something. …And the bottled drink they gave me doesn't have any hops in it. Are they treating me like a child?
However, she counted herself lucky enough to have even this much. Compared to her usual poor meals, this was something to savor so that she could spend her money on books later on. Plus, she had managed to get away from one of the worst teammates in all of Border. Complaining about the primarily salty food was not going to help anything.
Kanzaki - a ponytail, sword girl - had returned to the counter and was eating food as soon as it was cooked, so it seemed some with a Japanese diet still preferred stronger flavors. The people making the food were delighted.
"My, my. This girl is eating all the food as fast as we can serve it. How lovely!"
"Your big sis is going to have to get cooking!"
"Thank you very much."
Kimura Kawaguchi was thankful that the girl was so passionate about interacting with others.
But that morning when she had received the message about what would be happening, the food had helped her to relax. Kimura realized that food could really have a calming effect.
…Oh, this mincemeat, sausage, and bread are really good together.
She did not usually like meat all that much, so it meant a lot for her to think that. She looked around and saw the normal agents eating like normal. She had a feeling this only seemed so valuable to her.
But then…
"Nee-chin, should you really be messing around at a time like this? Something might happen when you aren't prepared."
A handsome man in fresh clothes walked over from one of the hallways. The smile he wore contradicted the feeling he gave off as he moved closer to her.
Oh great. Misó found me. Just what I need right now.
"Well, given what I learned recently, Border should be doing some pretty fun stuff as soon as the Away Team gets back, but it seems there is still nothing to really do while we wait for their return. The best I've got going on right now is seeing how Yuki's promotion turns out for you all."
"Do you think we will win?"
"I think you guys can successfully defend yourselves."
Kimura tilted her head at that. She also stopped eating her sauerkraut and sausage bread long enough to add quite a bit of the whole-grain mustard a crossdressing cook had given her.
"Weren't you already placing bets on us losing? Our opponents are two captains after all."
"Yeah, but I like breaking the rules a bit, so that also includes rooting for the ones most likely to lose. Whatever the case, this will be something I won't want to miss out on, but I might not be able to use it to its fullest once everything is said and done. In other words, I want you guys to do something that gives me some good information."
"It's not like this will be the first time we go against Miwa or Kako. But in this case, we have to do things around the fact that guy wants to be difficult. And this time it will only be him and Kanzaki to fight. ...Oh, but you don't have to explain how you think this will go down. I'm sure it'll be really long."
"But it's really interesting! Even if it is long!"
A message appeared on Misó's phone. He gave a look of pure bliss as he mumbled something along the lines of, "These guys can be really cannibals", so she could guess what that was about.
"You need to stop getting aroused by that kind of stuff."
"Dammit. Why don't you ever try and be there for your teammate!? Can't you take the men's side just once!?"
"Sorry, but given that I have been learning Spanish, I refuse to take the men-so's side."
Everything fell silent.
.
Misó and everyone else in the area stopped moving or speaking. Kumagai was the first to speak from the second floor where she was looking out at everything under her.
"Ah, wah! I almost fell off! Don't fall off, Kumagai! You can't let yourself fall!"
"C'mon, my joke wasn't bad enough to deserve that kind of 'fall'-out," muttered Kimura.
Kumagai really did fall at that. At the same time, the Tsukiko Squad Sniper was doing some strange dance on one of the planters.
"Heh heh. These people all look like fools when frozen like that! I can hold an entire populace in my arms now!"
Kumagai fell into her spread arms and she automatically adjusted her arms to catch the girl.
"Some giant breasts just fell from the sky! …Oh, it's honestly you Kuma-chan. Are you offering yourself to me as a present!?"
When she saw that, Kimura thought about saying something more, but Misó cut in.
"W-wait, Nee-chin! Don't say anything else! There's nothing more to support them if they fall like that! Or at least let me get my camera ready!"
"How is this in any way my fault?"
"Heh heh heh. Kuma-chan! Tell her the truth! …And you really are heavy. Wait, your shirt opened and something is buried inside. Pwa ha ha ha ha! Like a morning glow! Ha ha ha ha!"
"Misaki, please don't pass that off as a weird habit of mine!"
The two of them lost their balance and fell.
The two landed on the ground with a solid sound.
The sad noise Misó made when seeing that made her want to kick him, but she knew that would do nothing against his stupidity.
Kimura sighed and looked away from them.
"This is why you shouldn't be telling jokes, Kimura. ...Great. Yet another idiot I have to deal with. The airhead was already bad enough."
The familiar voice of Yuki could be heard moving closer.
Both Kimura and Misó turned to see the boy with a scowl on his face.
"Good. This works out, I guess. Misó. What do you think will happen in our match?"
"That is why you wanted me over here?"
"No. But it will be good to hear this stupidity for yourself."
Yuki gave a sigh, but listened regardless.
"...You really have gotten used to the weirdness around here, haven't you?"
"Please don't assume my life is in that awful a state. ...And can we please get back on topic?"
"Fine, fine."
Misó pulled a strange bottle from his coat pocket and took a drink.
"Whatever the result, you guys will be in a bad spot. This guy here is refusing a lot by doing this and not bringing Mitsuteru along for the ride. He's being an idiot all for the sake of some stupid pride or whatever. What's more, the squads who currently make up each respective squads of you guys, as well as your former squads, are all allowed to go and watch. That means Hogo Squad, Kako Squad, Miwa Squad, Meishō Squad's single member, Azuma, and Tsukiko Squad can all go and watch your failure," he said. "But this guy is refusing to tell Tsukiko Squad about that fact, so he just doesn't want them to see anything. This just cements the fact that he can't do anything about himself. And that much will reflect on the fight."
"...I know that already, so don't think you will get anything from me."
"Damn. Was hoping for at least a punch," Misó said. "But even if that's the case, you guys should be fine enough. Miwa's on his period again, so he won't be much of a problem in the fight. If anything, I would think he would just drag Kako down."
"Why do you say that?"
"Because he is already a mess inside. I got to see a funny fight involving his squad and a kid already. He and Yōsuke got their asses handed to them, so I'm sure that is getting to him. For the time being, he had to stay put. At least until some people return. Once that happens... Are you listening?"
"Oh, yeah, of course. Sure."
"You aren't, are you? Neither one of you. ...Well, along that line of thinking, Kako will likely be the only one to focus on the test itself and the fight while Miwa would be having his personal issues get in his way. He doesn't have anything against you two personally, but he still doesn't have the best impression of you lot because of before."
"So that's what you meant. I see."
Kimura nodded, bent her sauerkraut bread and placed it in her mouth.
…Oh, the flavor of the bread goes pretty well with the spicy mustard and the sour cabbage.
Although it's so strong I would get sick of it pretty quickly, she added while wondering if she should have had the bread cooked longer to make it more aromatic. She decided to try that at home sometime and took a breath.
Yuki must have realized her intentions since he looked towards her food.
No! this is mine! Back off!
"Well, anyways. Can you now go do me a favor?"
"Hm? What?"
"Please go away and never come back to the squad room."
Yuki let out a sigh at her words.
They would only motivate Misó more, but she felt like she had to at least get them out now.
"Now, then. Let's go talk about what we will be doing. Kanzaki is over there, so hurry up."