Shinoda: "We will now begin the A-Rank promotion test for Tsukiko Yuki, Kanzaki Shizuka, and Kimura Kawaguchi."

Kako gave a laugh from her throat as she listened to Border's director speak.

At her side was Miwa and sitting front of her way...

"Thank you for going along with this, Tsukimi."

"It is no problem. A shame that I don't get to go against Mei here."

"If that had been the case, it would be me and Miwa-kun against her. And that is pretty scary."

"I am sure that you two would be able to handle yourselves."

The way Miwa shook his head to that was enough for her.

Giving another laugh, she turned back to what was being said.

Shinoda: "There will be a time limit, and the fighting will be over once that time limit has been reached or one side fully Bails Out. The map and setting will be chosen at random. Each combatant will also be randomly placed on the map. This will not affect anyone's solo points and will not have an affect on their standing. Depending on the outcome, we will determine if Substitute Tsukiko Squad will be allowed to become A-Rank."

"Isn't this pretty much for show? No matter the result, they can just say that they are good enough to get promoted."

"Not necessarily."

As Tsukimi and Miwa turned to her, she thought, What good kids.

"Yuki-kun was the one who wanted this test in the first place. That means he wants this to be taken as a serious test. And I'm sure Kanzaki and Kimura do as well. If they knew they would be handed the promotion regardless of the end result, they would not have agreed to even this much."

"So the directors will be judging them properly on how they work here."

"Exactly. That's right."

Doing any less would only make them want to quite the fight and not think of this sort of promotion ever again.

The two combatants for the other squad were not the type to just let this go that easily.

So...

"We have to play this difficult game with them."

An artificial city spread out within the darkness of the night.

With only sparse electric lighting in that wide open space, the darkness seemed even more accentuated.

The area was a large bus terminal.

Usually cities had bus lines that ran directly from one place to another for others. In order to service over 100 buses that went back and forth during a day, a large space would be prepared a bit away from the center of the city. This space must have been a square about 500 meters across.

There were no signs of people in the area most likely because no other people had been sent there.

In the middle of that area was Kanzaki Shizuka.

She had black hair that reached her waist even when tired back in a ponytail. She was taller than the average Japanese person. She was wearing a short sleeve shirt that clung to her body with a jacket over it that had both sleeves cut off to show her arms and jeans that went down past the top of her shoes. On her waist, she wore a belt that had a katana hanging from it. It was Kōgetsu.

She ran across the vast bus terminal.

No, it may not have been right to say she was running.

Kanzaki Shizuka was a B-Rank agent for Border who had a different sort of fighting style. The Triggers she used were not all ones that had been made some time ago and instead had been made recently by the Engineers. The one she had become very fond of had been one that "pushed aside" anything obscuring the user's speed by creating a sign frame in front of the user to do so. It had been what allowed her amazing speed to let itself go without restraint.

In other words, Kanzaki Shizuka was not a normal B-Rank agent.

She could exhibit her abilities through the Trigger which allowed her to exceed the normal speed of a human for a moment.

Kh...!

But even though she was using a prototype Trigger to speed up, Kanzaki Shizuka was unable to accomplish her goal.

Yes. If she was going out of her way to wield that Trigger, she had to have a reason making it necessary.

For Kanzaki Shizuka, that reason was the woman before her.

"Kako-dono!"

She called out her name.

The A-Rank Captain Kako Nozomi. That was the name of one of her current opponents. She was the captain of Border's #6 A-Rank squad who used trion bullets to fight. Something that would usually put an Attacker like her at a disadvantage.

She was a tall woman. At first glance, she gave a mischievous impression, but that did not mean that she was not skilled enough to maintain her place. Without speaking, she held out her hand and created multiple blobs of trion. They resembled balls of liquid, but they were different. They were more free form. They were harder for her to track with her eyes due to the way they moved through the air. They looked more like balls being set free into the air. The way Kako held herself while preparing them was also not the way a normal Shooter would. Her feet were more forward than normal Shooters, but not unlike an Attacker. Due to that, it would be difficult to understand what comes next without being told explicitly by someone else. But there would be no such things when they were in a fight. Kako Nozomi swung her right hand forward and began to move forward.

She would not allow it.

Using her blade and the Trigger known as Senkū, Kanzaki Shizuka cut the trion bullets still in the air. She had made sure to cut the ones coming from behind them as well.

The moment the bullets were cut was also the moment something came up from the side. It looked like a strange insect with multiple legs and a tail behind it. Two blades could be seen coming from its body and waiting above its two front legs. A large hole was in the front of the body to show the core in the middle.

It was a Trion Soldier - Marmod.

A Trion Soldier was a drone made of and running on Trion. They were sent out by Neighbors for multiple use against the world. Now there was one here, attacking from the side.

"This is one way of using an unknown factor," Kako said quietly.

"...!"

Normally, the Marmods were Trion Soldiers meant for battles. The two blades protruding from the body were made from hard material. The blades were able to slice and pierce opponents as well as any sword.

With a sound, the oddly golden Marmod vigorously ran on its four legs made of trion that cracked the ground with each step. It charged towards Kanzaki at high speed.

But before its blades could move, Kanzaki's hands moved to the hilt of her sword and mercilessly bisected the Marmod. The sound of the slicing came a second later similar to with thunder.

That had been a drawn sword technique.

The cutting edge had been frighteningly sharp, but Kanzaki, the one who had carried out the attack, frowned. By slicing the Marmod, Kanzaki had given Kako an instant of extra time. She had used that time to move to the side ever so slightly.

Kanzaki Shizuka could travel faster than the normal speed of a person due to a Trigger.

If a normal person, or even agent, attempted to flee from her on foot, they would be absolutely unable to escape.

But Kako charged toward the inside of the sideways curve Kanzaki moved in. Naturally, Kanzaki was forced to correct her trajectory which brought the force of inertia on her body more than would normally have been necessary. Because she was thoughtlessly moving at faster than the normal speed of a person, she herself suffered the side effects of the power she was producing.

She is getting away...

That same thing had happened repeatedly.

She had let her guard down and the next thing she knew, Kako was about to escape her cordon. She almost felt as if she were being pulled by the strings she gripped in her hand. Kanzaki gritted her teeth and thought.

But why is she only using her speed right now?

A high pitched noise rang out.

It was the sound of Kanzaki swinging her sword. However, the sound was not that of a body being sliced. When she looked, there was a green colored blade stuck to the side of the blade. That had forcibly altered the sword's trajectory leaving Kako unscathed.

The sword had flown harmlessly above Kako's head and Kanzaki remained motionless.

They were about a meter apart.

After a slight delay, the green blade that was preventing her from using her blade was sliced in two and shattered.

Now that she had her sword back, would she get her slash in first? Or would Kako bring out some effect using the trion bullets in her hand first? The thread of tension was spread out to its limit.

"Either way, you cannot escape from me," Kanzaki announced in a low voice while holding her blade fixed in a single place with frightening precision. "Due to my testing of Kiyome I am able to move even faster than a normal person. Even if you gain a bit of a distance, I can fill it in an instant. You are trapped within a surrounding barrier of speed."

"True enough." Kako nodded. "That's why I had to set something up on my end. It may have just been a coincidence, but you got close enough that I couldn't just hide behind something and wait for you to leave. To be honest, I'm glad that you're fighting me out here. Even so, we have a time limit here. Does it count as my win if I manage to meet up with Miwa-kun?"

Immediately afterwards, Kanzaki felt a strange feeling in her mind.

Kako was smiling. At some point, the green blob in her hand had disappeared. Kanzaki put together those various pieces of information and deduced what must have happened to her.

She...put it on my back!?

Her current teammate was an oddity among Border agents due to his use of Triggers and Side Effect that few knew about. He was a professional at using the prototype Trigger called Teleport that allowed for instantaneous transport from one place to another.

But he was not the only one who could use that Trigger.

If Kako had managed to find a way to teleport while using those green blobs, even as a Border agent of her level there was a danger of her movements being sealed temporarily.

She immediately turned her focus to her own back.

But when she reached a hand there, she did not feel anything.

It had been a bluff.

Kako had used a mental trick to make Kanzaki think there was something there. She had likely quit the activation of her bullet.

Kanzaki frantically turned her attention forward again, but what she saw was...

"Kanzaki, move!"

"She almost got hit there."

An average looking boy turned to the voice just below him.

He had been invited to watch the promotion match going on and so was seated in a large viewing hall.

There were other people around, but the one he was focused on was...

"Tōru, do you really need to say something so pointless?"

"I do. If I don't, you might not get what just happened."

"Please don't hate on me like that when I'm just trying to watch what's going on."

Ariake Mitsuteru let out a sigh from a seat behind one of Border's best Snipers.

Narasaka had decided to sit in front of him instead of next to him, so he had already been annoyed by that. But he could not say anything about that from fear of getting harassed like times before.

"By the way, where are Yō-chan and Shōhei-kun?"

"They were busy with something else. But should you really be thinking about them right now?"

"Eh? What do you mean?"

A nervous sweat started to build up as Narasaka turned his head to give Mitsuteru a hard stare.

"With the way you've been slacking during joint practice, there's no way you would be able to hit any of those people. Watch them closely so you can figure out what you're doing wrong."

"R-right! I will do that, Narasaka-sensei!"

"Now you just want to get on my nerves."

"Only a little..."

.

"Well they look like they're having fun over there."

"Does that count as 'having fun'...?"

"It does when you are a terrible person."

"I wouldn't really say Narasaka and Ariake are terrible people. They are just...not the best of people."

The cold stare Mei gave was enough to shut him up.

Azuma instead looked at the large screen in front of them. He crossed his arms and pretended that he had not just been glared at.

"Getting back to this fight..."

It was more than just a want to look away from the girl.

Azuma watched as Miwa's Lead Bullet had been blocked by a piece of the road before it could reach Kanzaki. The girl had managed to register what was happening quickly and moved away. The piece of road fell to the ground and shattered, leaving only the weight that had been in it.

Yuki had moved from his spot in the air to clash with Miwa.

"It looks like they have chosen who their opponents will be."

"Yes. They are being idiots by turning this into two one-on-one fights instead of a two-on-two or two-on-one fight."

"But that's because they don't work well together while they are both fighting. Kanzaki is strictly a solo fighter. Others can try to support her, but they would need great compatibility and patience to do that. As for Tsukiko..."

"He can create great compatibility with anyone he works with, but his general way when with strong people is to take care of things himself."

"Right. So they don't want to get in each other's way and have decided to fight solo."

It would be fine to do so if not for a glaring flaw.

"But Kako and Miwa can work together. They were on my squad one time, so I know that they can pull it off. Even with the way Miwa seems right now, they can incorporate each other into their actions. That basically leaves no space for the other two to get through."

"Meanwhile, those two have an entire space between them that can be used."

That was all too true from what they were watching now.

As Yuki moved towards Miwa, trion bullets had curved in from the sides.

While still moving, Yuki brought his foot forward and lowered his stance.

Starting with his extended leg, he curved down to perform a slide under the curving shots.

Miwa backed away while firing his own bullets.

The green lights from the sides and directly in front of him moved to chase him.

There should have been no escape for him, but...

"Senkū."

"And Teleport."

Just as they said that, multiple slashes cut through the air above Yuki.

Following that, the air itself seemed to close in, as if needing to fill up the sudden blank space that had appeared.

Yuki's body had flicked for an instant before disappearing.

"That is one of the upsides to their fighting styles," said Mei while she smiled towards the screen.

"It's very reckless, but..."

It worked.

"Kanzaki and Yuki are so use to fighting on their own that they attack whatever they see or try to get away without fully registering what is attacking them. Those immediate responses are key to battles as much as plans are. If they can maintain a high pace of the entire fight, there is no need to get in each other's way. It also puts pressure on their opponents."

That's right, thought Azuma. If only one of them was able to respond to both of their attacks, it meant that they would need to be careful with how they moved.

"If they get too careless, Miwa and Kako could end up falling for their own attacks."

"I can see that with Miwa, but Kako-san is more attuned with her surroundings."

"That's true. So for now, let's see how this turns out."

Yuki saw it from his vantage point in the air.

The four slashes made by Kanzaki had cut the air he had left behind.

He had managed to slip through the cage attack, but...

Geez... Kako-san is really trying to get me here, isn't she?

Trion bullets had appeared around him.

As another Teleport user, Kako was more aware of the timing needed to use the Trigger. Far more than someone like Miwa.

It was not unbelievable that she would trap him after he had teleported.

The time it took to teleport again was dependent on the distance of the first one, so it made chaining them nearly impossible.

But...

It's not like I don't already know that.

If Kako was a good Teleport user, then Yuki would be a great one.

I know better than anyone the advantages and disadvantages of Teleport. So let's see if you can keep up with that.

At the same time he thought that, a message had appeared in front of him.

It was one that must have been programmed into his since Kimura had said nothing about it.

[Congratulations! You have reached a new level and have earned the title of Obsessive Teleporter!]

If you get rid of the "Obsessive" part, then it's fine, but...

A second message soon followed.

[This message has been sent to you by TSUBAKI via Suzaku Kasumi.]

That jackass! Don't just do something like that without me knowing! What if this wasn't some test!? I want to send a complaint!

[We are sorry. TSUBAKI will not be accepting complaints at the time. Please send any to the one in charge of sending you a message.]

So I'll send it to Umi!

[We are sorry. Suzaku Kasumi is currently ignoring all complaints sent to him. Please visit one of our many buildings in person. Our nearest location to you that is open for complaints is Tokyo. Thank you for your time.]

"That jerk!"

.

Miwa heard one of his opponents yell out from behind him.

He had been surprised at having seen the Tsukiko Squad Captain disappear before his eyes. It had done nothing to stop him from noticing the four slashes cutting the air and the trion bullets.

Fried Rice Queen: "Miwa-kun, don't move too far back. I might end up hitting you in the process if you did."

Did she mean move backwards in general or back and into the air?

Whatever the case, he stopped himself by planting his foot on the ground.

Seeing his second opponent now moving closer to him, he readied his gun and grabbed the hilt of Kōgetsu.

Viper.

The timing for attacking these two was particular, he had found out.

Attacking the Tsukiko Squad Captain required precise timing because of his use of Teleport.

As for the other one...

"Well done!"

She complimented him even as she tried to move out of the way.

A sign frame appeared at her toes and her knee. This was her way of escaping.

But he had expected that.

The bullets he had fired curved as he drew her blade.

Her blade had cut through nothing as the bullets pierced her side.

He had wanted to take her legs to lessen her mobility, but she had been too ready for that sort of thing.

Above him he could hear the sound of teleport being used again.

Fried Rice Queen: "Behind you, Miwa-kun."

Turning around would take too much time and even looking back felt like it was a waste.

So Miwa made a snap decision.

He spun the gun his his hand so that it was held in a reverse grip and facing behind him.

He fired.

.

Nice job there, Miwa-kun.

Yuki slammed into the ground from beyond Miwa.

The sound was solid and the grunt from Yukicould be heard.

In a way, it does little to stop him teleporting, but that isn't the point here.

Teleporting was dangerous for them since Yuki was well off using it, but he also relied on speed more often than not.

When compared to the fast girl here, he could keep up if she did not use that speed Trigger. But now that the both of them had taken some hits, it meant they would be easier to hit.

And going easy would just be insulting.

Kako began to create blobs of trion that moved around her.

With her targets set, she fired on Yuki and Kanzaki.

But that was not enough. She knew from experience.

With her eyes on Kanzaki, she moved forward.

There are still a few seconds before Yuki-kun can teleport again, so go for him, Miwa-kun.

He seemed to have understood that since he turned around while continuing to fire.

In front of her, Kanzaki grabbed hold of Kōgestu.

The girl had managed four slashes before, but the distance covered prevented her from doing that.

With the Hound shots also moving in from the sides, there would be no chance for her to draw before they reached her.

"Kiyome!"

A sign frame appeared on her feet as she started moving forward.

She was looking for mutual destruction here.

That's not something I'm okay with here.

Which was why she looked away.

Looking away from a skilled swordsman was dangerous in its own right, but the speed at which she was being charged on increased the danger of the situation.

But...

Teleport.

She disappeared.

.

Kanzaki saw the air in front of her start to fill back up as the sound of the Trigger activation was heard.

Around her were Hound bullets that threatened to pierce through her from above.

Her intent had been to strike Kako while she had the chance. Even if sheathed, the damage would be felt from a hit by Kōgetsu and its holder. That had been the reason behind her using Kiyome. But now...

She has disappeared.

The teleportation Trigger her current teammate often used had been activated before her eyes.

I know how troublesome this Trigger is! Kiyoshi-dono would often use it to escape from my slashes. It was very frustrating to think you managed a hit before he appeared from behind and slammed his feet into your back!

He was pretty terrible like that.

But this was different.

It had been clear where Kako had teleported to.

Unlike Yuki, she had nothing that prevented others from seeing her eyes. That meant her line of sight had been visible during the activation.

It works right away. The only indications it gives are where the user looks and the sound before the teleportation. Those are hard to stop since it all happens in an instant, but...

There was a counter to it.

"Strike as soon as they have teleported!"

So she did.

Even with the Hound bullets moving in, she turned on one foot and held out her hand.

Pulling out Kōgetsu was now impossible as a counter. But that was not all that she had done in preparation for her charge.

Holding her hand into open air, she grabbed hold of something and pulled with her full strength.

"Kako-san, above!"

It is too late for that.

.

Kako found herself trying to react to two things at once.

At first she had started to react to Kanzaki's movements after having teleported.

The girl had started to reach out for something, but she could see nothing to grab on to.

And then Miwa had called out.

Above!?

There was no time to move as something came down at her.

The object struck her hard before holding her down onto the ground.

The impact had cracked the ground with a solid noise and if not for her trion body she was sure that many of her bones would have been shattered.

What was that!?

As she tried to figure out what had happened, a body appeared in front of her.

She looked up to see two things.

One was her own Hound bullets vanishing before reaching their target.

And the second was Yuki cutting off her head.

"So that's what happened."

"Ariake, explain what just happened."

"Are you telling me to do that because you don't understand or to make sure that I know what's going on?"

"What do you think?"

You are just being a jerk and making me talk here!

Was it bad that he understood that all too well?

Letting out a sigh, Mitsuteru looked back to the screen while hoping that he would not be judged later for what he was saying.

"It was Spider. Kanzaki-senpai had used Spider to attack the weight that was attached to Kiyoshi-san's leg and he cut off that leg. He used Teleport to get above Kako-san as she teleported. Kanzaki-senpai then used the attached wire to pulled it down on Kako-san right after she had made it into the air."

"And?"

"Uh...?"

"What happened to the bullets?"

The sharp look he was getting now could be felt even as he turned away.

Hero: "Narasaka, go easy on Ariake-kun. He is trying his best."

I kind of don't want to hear anything from you, of all people, but I'll at least thank you for the help.

It at least seemed to help as Narasaka lowered his gaze before clicking his tongue.

Does he really not like me or something!?

"Well!?"

"Well what!?"

"The bullets! Answer!"

"You are a terrible person when you want to be, you know that!?"

The immediate silence had been confirmation.

"Hah. Fine, fine. That was because they had hit Kanzaki-senpai's wires too. She's really good at using Spider, so I don't doubt that she attached more than one wire to the leg and the weight. With them spread out around her, she used that as a shield against the Hound."

He took a quick breath before letting it out.

The tension that had built up in his shoulders and back started to leave him.

"Hah. There. I answered."

"Good. Now, pay attention and stop talking."

There was no winning here.

He was bound to just constantly lose against this terrible mentor.

Fried Rice Queen: "Sorry about that, Miwa-kun. I didn't think those two would actually work together like that."

You weren't paying enough attention!

Mature Woman: "I didn't think Tsukiko-kun would take some hits to make sure that worked."

True to what Tsukimi said, the Tsukiko Squad Captain had taken the bullets he fired. It had been unexpected, but now that he saw the results, Miwa understood why he decided it was fine to take the hits instead of trying to dodge.

And it had caused his current teammate to get taken out due to something he had previously done.

Fried Rice Queen: "Well, they got this already. There is no way they are not going to become A-Ranks. So what will you do, Miwa-kun?"

This was still a chance.

Fighting these two at once would not be a waste of time in the slightest, so...

Black Bullet: "I'm going to keep fighting."

Fried Rice Queen: "Good to hear."

Was it really? It was just on a whim that he decided to continue.

There was still something else he had to do, something to keep track of.

But this was still something important.

Both Kanzaki Shizuka and the Tsukiko Squad Captain were not people to overlook.

Fighting them could bring new results for him here.

So...

.

Yuki felt something well up inside of his chest.

Even with Kako getting taken out, Miwa looked determined to continue the match.

Manager: "In these situations, is it better to end it quickly or let him go for as long as possible?"

White Fox: "The latter is just messed up, but the former also feels messed up. Hm... That's actually a tricky question. Kanzaki, do you have anything to say?"

When he took a glance at his teammate, he saw what he could only describe as a decision.

"Kiyome!"

Manager: "I mean... What did you expect from her, of all people?"

That's true, he thought while moving forward.

With only one leg, his mobility had been cut down. Teleport was always an option, but using it too much would start to mess with his teammate as much as his opponent.

But it did not stop him completely.

With a strong push off the ground, he made a charge for Miwa.

In retaliation, Miwa fired his Lead Bullets at him once again.

That's fine. After all...

There were four slashes moving towards him from the other side.

Kanzaki pulled on the air again after attacking.

He felt a pull on his foot before he fell to the ground. The Lead Bullets going over his head.

The pull from Spider continued as he hit the ground.

She's so damn forceful!

But that was fine here.

Miwa had put up a concentrated Shield to block the four slashes, but it left his back open.

And Yuki took that chance.

With a sound that suddenly appeared and the air filling back up the space he vacated, he appeared above Miwa with Kōgetsu already out.

He dived down.

The feedback was instantaneous.

Shinoda smiled as he saw the end result of the promotion test that Yuki had taken.

It had been a short battle, but battles were not meant to be flashy or take too long. The fact it had ended so soon was something that he viewed as a positive instead of a negative.

Red Sky: "Kako and Miwa did pretty well."

"Kako was hit with something unexpected, but Miwa seemed to lag behind at the end there."

Red Sky: "You had said that he has been acting more aggressive, right? That might have something to do with it."

The way Miwa had been acting towards certain things had indeed been something to worry about, but the look he had after Kako's Bail Out and the lag time he had when getting taken out felt disconnected to him.

The man on the other line seemed to think as much.

Red Sky: "Well, regardless of that, it's good to know they made it through. Why did you have me watch that, anyway? I thought only certain people were allowed."

"You are Yuki's teacher, so I thought you would enjoy it."

The man gave a hum before sighing.

Red Sky: "I guess that's fine. Just don't expect me to throw a celebration now. This has been a long time coming and he has been an idiot the whole time."

"That's a fair response."

"Also," he added.

"There are some things I need to talk with you about now that he is an A-Rank."

A sigh came through the speakers.

The man on the other end seemed to have already guessed what this would be about.

Good. It meant they could get down to it.

Red Sky: "Fine. But I'm not agreeing to anything."

"That isn't fair at all."