"(Hey! Loser-Shooter! Get your ass out here now! We're gonna be late for school!)"
Toby tapped his foot on the ground impatiently as he waited for Takeshi to open the door for the two of them to go to school.
Under normal circumstances he would have left without even bother to knock on the door next to his own. The amount of times that his grades and attendance had been called into question had always been because of his teammate and this time would not be any different.
The amount of patience he had to show was only due to Yuki telling the two of them to get along. They had ended up as classmates, teammates, and neighbors by happenstance while their continued life of this was due to their captain.
That had been fine enough to where Toby would have no real complaints on the matter. The final nail in the coffin had been the fact that he could not wear his hat during school, along with any other accessories. It had been a rule that their school had implemented long ago and held to this day. Even if it did make someone like him seem more like a delinquent.
"Hey! If you don't get out here in the next minute then I'm leaving your ass here! I'm not about to get yelled at by Mr. Akasora again because you want to take your time!"
Having had enough of the waiting, Toby fixed his hat and knocked on the door one more time.
This time his knocking had seemed to get through as the door opened to show Takeshi fixing his scarf.
"It's about damn time. Why the hell do you take so long anyways? I made breakfast for you, so you weren't cooking. You really have no reason to take so long when you actually don't do anything for yourself."
"Not that it's any of your business... I set my alarm just a little before you start banging on my door." Takeshi stifled a yawn that made him seem more cat-like than anything else. "I like to have as much sleep as I can get. I have to deal with people like you and that other mutt after all. Getting enough sleep is always good if that's what my day brings."
"Why are you always so pissy? You never seem to enjoy anything. Just lighten up a little bit. I'm sure that if you did that then you wouldn't be such a downer and people would like you more."
"I could ask you the same thing. Not that I particularly care, but why were you more mad than usual? Usually you don't bang on my door that harshly."
"Oh! It's because I have to deal with that shit woman later! You don't know how bad that's gonna be! The only good side is that I don't have to deal with the other asshole as well."
"Yeah, yeah."
Toby clicked his tongue.
Due to having lived in America and being familiar with most parts of it, Toby had been given the task of going back to his home country. The issue with that lied more with the people he would have to handle once getting over there instead of the ones he currently had to deal with.
"I still don't see the problem here. You will be getting to take a trip to your country. It's more like you're going on a vacation while the rest of us are stuck doing nothing particular over here."
"Everyone already knows that I work better with the rest of you than I do with others. You guys know better than anyone how my Side Effect works. That alone is enough to be a bit pissed. With others I just end up getting in the way for them. I can't even control where I end up at times..."
"You complain about the most idiotic things, I swear. Just be happy that you can stay out of school for a while. Besides, even with how you get in other people's ways, I'm sure someone will be able to deal with you."
"Tch. Yeah, well... That's neither here nor there. If not for that first week here, I wouldn't even have spoken to most people. And if we're talking about someone like Ai, I would never have spoken to her at all. That uptight attitude and know-it-all look gets me irritated as much as anyone else. The only thing is that I've seen a different side of her before."
"I hate you."
Toby let out a squawking noise at the sudden statement from Takeshi.
The truth was obvious to the two of them, but neither one of them had come out and said something like that so bluntly.
Everything was made even worse when it was always hard to figure out if Takeshi was joking when the boy never changed his expression unless their captain was around. Even then it was only a small amount and almost unnoticeable.
"Hey, mutt, you remember we have defense duty today, right?"
"Don't just call me a terrible nickname after saying you hate me, Idiot Shooter!"
Takeshi chose to ignore what he had said and continued to speak.
"Well, disregarding the squads we will be with, there's something else. Yuki-senpai had sent us a message saying that he can't join us today because he was not feeling well enough to get up."
Toby thought for a few seconds on if they really had gotten such a message.
Once he remembered that, the atmosphere around them started to grow a bit more solemn.
They had all been told about Yuki's condition when they had met him. Something they found out was that, instead of getting better over time, it seemed to get even worse.
They hated seeing the person that had helped the whole squad before seeming to slowly deteriorate. What made it worse for them was the fact he would always smile through that pain as if nothing was wrong.
"We should go see him after we're done."
Takeshi only responded with a nod.
.
With that all said and done, Takeshi turned his head to the side.
Something had caught his attention.
Mei-san?
To neither of their surprise, they saw Takato Mei carrying some boxes in her arms as if they were simple handbags.
The amount of strength that seemed to be needed to carry such boxes was being exerted from that single girl with little to no effort.
It made the two of them feel ashamed that, even if they were to ask her if she needed help, they would be rejected simply because they could not carry as much as her.
"Is it just me or is Mei too perfect?"
"...I don't know."
Mei let out a small sigh as she walked around the Border headquarters.
Having seen Toby and Takeshi while walking to her destination had made her happy, even if they chose to stay away.
They need to go to school. Helping me would have only slowed them down.
The looks they had been giving her were ones that showed just what they thought of her and what they thought of themselves.
That had made her less happy.
She had not meant to give them the feeling of uselessness, but that had turned into a sort of determination for them. If that had not been the case then she would have wasted no time in dropping the boxes in her arms to comfort them.
This simply means that they are growing up. Good. That's a load off of me. Especially when Yuki can't get up for the day. It will be a bit difficult to manage those two without him, but I'm sure I can handle them myself.
Nodding to herself, Mei started to think about Yuki.
She thought of the reason as to why he could not even get out of bed for the day.
That single reason was because of his illness.
That incurable illness. A clock that only leads to the end of everything for him. Yes. The reason for that is obvious. I am not so idiotic as to dismiss everything I know. Even if I think about it enough, nothing will change. Yes...
Something appeared before her eyes.
She knew that she would never be able to touch them with her hands, but she saw it regardless.
A sea of numbers spread out before her eyes and only her eyes.
Words, images, and names came in after the numbers.
All of it was spaced out or would overlay on top of others.
Information had started to connect to multiple sources in front of her. That information was processed and then categorized.
And the end result...
The reason he can no longer-
"Would you like some help with that?"
.
Mei had not noticed that she was frozen in place until that single voice broke through the sea of information that only she could see.
When the vision in her eyes started to clear up, she could feel her eyes start to hurt. It was the pain from having her eyes move at a rapid pace to the point of not being able to see anything other than what could be considered a chain of ones and zeros.
Shaking her head a bit, she turned her head to look directly at Director Shinoda Masafumi.
Knowing that she would not be judged by this man, she lowered herself while letting the boxes go for a moment.
"Whoa there! You really do need help with these, don't you? Next time, make sure that there is someone else to help you. We can't have you falling to the ground when someone isn't looking."
"Thank you, sir. And I'm sorry. There's no need to worry about me. It's just that it has been so long since I've had a cluster headache that I was caught off guard."
"That's not something people usually say, you know."
Director Shinoda spoke kindly to her while taking a box from her.
He let out a breath once it was in his arms, amazed by the amount of weight in the single box.
Seeing Mei pick up the other two with relative ease made something drop in his stomach.
"What do you mean when you say that you don't get those headaches anymore? Did it happen a lot before?"
"Yes. You can ask Minoru, Jin, or even my parents. Well, whenever they come back from their trip, that is. Due to my calculating, cluster headaches were an everyday thing. It continued on for so long that I had forgotten what it really felt like to not have them."
"Let me guess... You had put on a brave face in front of others so that they wouldn't have to worry about you. When did it get to the point of you not being able to hide it?"
"That's around the time Mirai wasn't around. It was too much... That was the point where I could not think properly anymore and could not focus properly. In the end, I had gained the strange nickname 'Rampage Dress' by others. That may or may not have followed me once joining Border."
"I see... That explains why we had gotten complaints all around that someone named Rampage Dress had been destroying so much. Some of us had honestly thought that it was some Neighbor going around."
"Oh... I remember that... My apologies."
"It's fine, it's fine. The looks on everyone's faces will be great once they know that it was you."
"I would rather keep that part of my past a secret... It really is embarrassing to even think about," she said with a bitter expression.
Director Shinoda chuckled at the rather meek response from the girl.
There was no hesitation in his choice to respect her by keeping the truth of "Rampage Dress" a secret from others.
"So, if you don't mind me asking, what stopped the cluster headaches? You clearly haven't been having them."
"Hm. You will think of me as a silly girl if I told you. It is rather pathetic when I really think about it. After all... I need to continue being strong for others. I must be 'perfect' for them all."
Director Shinoda knew that something should have been said against her words. Multiple things were wrong with what she had said, yet he could not bring himself to say anything against her. It felt far too wrong to take that from her.
But he would still question it.
"Why do you think that people need someone like that around?"
"It's simple," she said. "People tend to need something to hold on to. If it's another person then that other person can be a goal for them to reach, someone to look up to, or just someone they know is reliable. It is the same reason why we can follow you directors. Even while looking past your standings as the bosses, you all are people who manage an organization like Border. Each one of you does something amazing in maintaining Border, even if disagreements arise. A solution can be found and you all do your best to reach that sort of result. And for the Combatants, people like you, Kido-san, Akasora-san, and Rindō-san are even more amazing with how you can manage fights. Although only some of us know just how great you all are in fights."
"There is someone else that should be added into the mix, but I guess even you wouldn't know him."
"You are talking about Shobu's father."
Sometimes even Shinoda found himself amazed with her.
She had not said his name, but that may have been out for respect for Shinoda.
"Yes... I mean him."
But that did not matter.
"You say all of that, but you also hate being called perfect. So why continue to allow that? Even if you said you are not perfect, you are still someone amazing. There is no one who would find you as anything less just because they knew you aren't perfect."
"That would be because I simply don't mind it. It's true that I don't like being called that, but I also won't stop anyone from thinking how they like. Or rather...I don't have the power to do so."
"Because of his sister?"
A sudden pulse ran through Shinoda's body as Mei stopped moving again.
He realized his mistake in an instant.
He had said something that could only lead to terrible things for her.
But...
"Yes... She can influence things and people on a wide scale. Meanwhile, I am the one who needed an outside influence to do much of anything."
The atmosphere around them had become more tense.
I should never have asked that...
But this was a chance.
They could not move back to the moment before this one.
"You know..." That was why he moved back to their main conversation. "Someone who recognizes themselves like that could not be called 'silly'. So I would never think that about you. I've seen first hand just how you are. You being a 'silly girl' is like saying no one grows up."
"...Thank you, Shinoda-san."
It had worked well enough.
They could put those saddening thoughts behind them for the moment.
"So, what exactly was it? What stopped the cluster headaches?"
"I was knocked out."
Director Shinoda stopped and blinked a few times.
"What?"
"Yes. That idiot had hit me and knocked me out. When I woke up I no longer had any headaches. It's strange but... Ever since that time, I have not had any more cluster headaches. Well... Until now, that is."
"That guy..."
.
Mei let out a small laugh at the reaction she was getting.
They both knew exactly who she was talking about. The fact that he would do that again to help her out was enough to humor her since only a few people would view that as assistance of any kind.
Shaking his head, Director Shinoda let out a sigh of resignation.
"I seriously need to tell Chishi to keep better track of his students. Something like that really shouldn't happen."
"Yes, well, that was back then. We both know that he is far different than before. Even if he doesn't see it like that."
"I suppose so. Speaking of which..."
Director Shinoda looked down at the box in his arms.
The contents of said box were no secret to him.
"If you don't mind me asking, were you planning on looking through these again for nostalgic reasons? It doesn't seem like something 'you' would do, but I could be wrong."
"I guess you could say that. I really just brought them over for reference, but I guess I still have a slight attachment to them." Mei looked at the box with a slightly sad expression. "I haven't used it in a while... I suppose as long as that woman doesn't come back I won't have a reason to use it."
"Is that so?"
"Don't get me wrong, sir. It's not like I don't enjoy those times. I am still very thankful for all the help you and Akasora-san gave. It's just that... It brings up memories of that woman and some other things."
"You two really have grown. Both of you want to bury that time to hide it from the others, yet you keep it close enough to the surface for you to reach it." Shinoda got a wayward look as he continued on saying, "You two were such a handful back then. I was really sure that Chishi would bite one of your heads off before long."
"Yes, well, with what Akasora-san has told me about what you two have done in the past... I'm shocked Kido-san didn't bite your head off."
Director Shinoda let out a howl of laughter.
It was true that he did certain things that made what Mei had done before seem like nothing. He was rather glad that they had made it to their destination before anything else was brought up.
The two stopped in front of a room and Mei took her box back.
"Thank you for helping me, sir. I'm sorry to have taken your time."
"You sound like Yuki. I'm the one who offered to help you, so it's no problem."
Director Shinoda gave a kind smile.
"Well, try not to overwork yourself."
Just as he was about to turn and leave, Shinoda stopped and looked at Mei again.
"By any chance, did Yuki tell you the conditions he requested in our talk?"
"Conditions..."
Mei narrowed her eyes and let out a sigh.
She knew that nothing would end up being easy when her captain was involved.
"No, sir. He didn't tell me anything concerning your talk."
"...- do you remember-..."
"...-did you see-..."
"Uwah~ It's The Blooming Princess~ Hello!"
As the talking continued on in the classroom, Toby and Takeshi waited for their class to start.
During this time, their class had gathered into groups to converse with each other and ignore others altogether. An example of this was the group that consisted of Taiyōko Hoshi, Kotowari Takeshi and Toby Awdry.
Taiyōko Hoshi was a girl that gave off the feeling of a princess with her straight black hair that reached her waist, slender figure, and overall beauty as a female. She wore the school uniform like everyone else, but seemed to make it stand out more than others. This had earned her a few names like "Blooming Princess", "Beautiful Princess" and just "Princess" from most of the students.
The group of three had started conversation and ended up moving to some particular topics.
"Yeah, Border's Enlistment Day feels a bit bigger now than when we had to deal with it. Maybe that's just because two of Tamakoma's people are trying to get in."
"I remember when we tried. Kotowari-kun did splendidly. I was at least passable."
"Don't say that. I actually thought you were great when you went up."
Toby nodded his head as the girl gave a smile to him.
The others around them could only glare at him.
"Oh, but I heard from Minoru that there's someone special also joining! Alongside the Tamakoma guys, that is."
"With how you were sleeping the first time we went to go see them, you probably don't know much about them."
"Shut up! That doesn't have to do with anything! I went back and apologized to them! And then I got to know those newbies. They're pretty cool. Well, the glasses guy is pretty dull, but that's whatever. We have worse people."
Takeshi only flicked his fingers to the side at the comment.
The girl they were with only gave a slight giggle at their words.
It was quickly interrupted by a brown haired boy who had charged towards the trio.
"You guys are talking about Enlistment Day, but aren't even saying how great I was! I did better than Kotowari-senpai! Why can't I get any love from a great audience? Hey, Toby, at least try to pay attention to me!"
"Oh, hello Midorikawa-kun. Class is about to start, are you sure you should be here?"
"I can make it in time. But thanks for worrying about me, Taiyōko-senpai! At least someone cares!"
Toby jumped at being singled out.
"E-ehhh? Sorry, Shun. I'm busy thinking about something else." Seeing the questioning gaze Toby continued. "I have to go back to America for a bit. I need to check on some stuff over there that'll be really annoying. What sucks about the whole thing is that I'll have to meet up with my mom when I'm over there and... Well, (she's a bitch.)"
"Huh!? You're going to America!? Let's get to that first! Just you!? Will you be back soon!?"
"It shouldn't take too long. I'll actually be back before Enlistment Day. That's actually another thing that sucks. I'll have some major jet lag when I get back."
"Just you though?"
"No. There are actually a few people tagging along. All of Shay's team is going. No is going too. Apparently they really want to take a trip back too. We're going to New York, so I guess it makes sense that Shay would be homesick."
"Hey... Do you think I could go...?"
The three older ones turned to Midorikawa.
"I mean, it's not like my squad is ready to do much, so I'm sure I'll be able to go. Think about it like this: If Toby asks for me to tag along then it shouldn't be a problem! I'm an A-Rank, so that means he can say I'm there for 150% security!"
"Why do you even want to go? A mutt like you doesn't even know anything other than Japanese. Not to mention New York is much more different than the countryside. You would end up getting lost and needing the police's help to get anywhere."
"I know that! But if I'm just there as a bodyguard then I don't need to know any other language! And besides, I prefer the city more than the countryside!"
Toby let out a small sigh as he absentmindedly scribbled something on his paper.
The pleading look he had been giving the entire time had been too much to take.
There was also the amount of complaining he would have to deal with if he rejected.
"I suppose I could try to get you to tag along."
"Yes! That means two of the Dog Trio is going to America!"
"Dog Trio indeed..."
Hoshi gave a kind smile and ignored Takeshi's small comment. She was always happy to see others happy, so this all felt nice to her.
It was at that time that the bell rang for the start of class.
Midorikawa seemed to freak out a bit and quickly ran out of the room while waving to the trio.
The other three just waited for their teacher to come into the room.
.
As their teacher walked into the room, he gave a quick side wave to them all.
"Good morning, class. Hope you're all ready for yet another wonderful day of class."
Nothing particular stood out from the man who stood in front of his class. The only notable thing was his tracksuit that had the sleeves rolled up.
"Sensei, the mutt and I have defense duty later on," Takeshi said with his arm raised.
"Alright. You two can leave during lunch time."
Takeshi had nodded in gratitude.
It was rather often that Border members needed to leave school early for work, so it was nothing new to any of their classmates.
But...
"Hm. I don't get why they get special treatment. Their team can't do anything without their leader, and he can't even deal with a small sickness."
There were still people who hated the treatment.
Before the teacher could even reprehend the person who had spoken out, a loud slamming sound was heard throughout the classroom.
"(You damn ass! Don't talk about our captain like that unless you want me to hit you!)"
"(Awdry! Watch what you say!)" the teacher yelled, making Toby glare at him before sitting back down. "And Inushiba, you should have more respect. I've met their captain before, and not only is he an A-Rank, he is actually able to keep those two pests in the back in line. Although, your Operator should also be good at that."
The rest of the class were giggling while the two "pests" just muttered stuff under their breath.
"Hm. Meeting that guy once doesn't mean anything. I've met him before and he doesn't look like much. And their Operator isn't any better. She doesn't even seem like much at all."
Instead of the glaring Tsukiko Squad members, the one to speak up was their teacher.
He had a smug look on his face as he leaned on the desk in the front of the class.
"Oh? Alright class, let me give you all some important information. Do not follow Inushiba's lead here. That girl... Do not get on Awdry and Kotowari's Operator's bad side. I know first hand just how frightening she can be."
"Still nothing but a weak woman."
Seeing that both Toby and Takeshi were about to react to this comment, Hoshi raised her hand to asked, "Akasora-sensei, how did you meet them? Were you in Border before?"
"Hm? Oh. Yeah. I left about a year ago. I was, and still am, pretty close to Masafumi... Oh. I mean Director Shinoda."
"Akasora-sensei, can you tell us more about when you were in Border?"
"Well...I guess I could tell you guys some stories."
"He really is an idiot. Why did he have to say something like that."
In a single spot within the Border base, a beast seethed. Every agent who walked near the area had fled from the area, fearing the worst may happen if they got close to the beast who had taken refuge in one of the booths.
Takato Mei knew that others were staying away from her due to her current attitude.
It was an obvious fact that no one wanted to go near her after she had been told about what Director Shinoda and Yuki had conversed about.
Everything that had been explained to her had been pushed aside for the sake of getting her work done as quickly and efficiently as possible.
Now that she was on a break, she could feel her irritation grow the more she thought about it all.
"Honestly..."
Letting loose a dragged out sigh, she pulled out three stacks of papers before starting to look through them. She pulled out some and put the rest away.
"Whoa. It's not every day you see the great Takato Mei-sama looking ready to kill someone. Something the matter?"
Mei did not move her head, or even look in the direction of the voice, but knew exactly who it belonged to.
"You mind if we sit here?"
"Go ahead. It's not like you would leave if I told you too."
"Pardon us," Kodera said as he sat down next to Yoneya.
Mei knew that they were looking at her while she looked over the papers in her hands.
Thinking that they would not ask about said papers, she spoke up without looking at either one.
"These are for something involving the biggest idiot I know."
She had been right from the light laugh from Yoneya and the small noise from Kodera.
She looked up from the papers and looked at the glasses wearing boy with an indifferent expression.
"By the way, Kodera-kun, Suzume said to tell you she's sorry for shooting you like that before."
"Oh! ...It's fine. I was just shocked since I didn't really see it coming."
"Yeah, well, if you saw it coming then it wouldn't be an effective Stinger for her."
"Now that I think about it, Narasaka-senpai said something kinda like that as well."
"Oh yeah, he seemed pretty pissed since he had to Bail Out because of her. He really does hate her a lot, doesn't he? I guess that's to be expected. He is one of the Snipers who hates her style. Heh. He even took it out on Mittsun after the fact."
"Thank you for letting me know. I will talk to him about that."
It may have been an accident for him to say that as both boys jumped and turned away.
Yoneya gave a quick prayer for his own actions.
Thankfully he had his underclassman there to help him out.
"Going back to Misaki... I've only really seen her in practice, but I've heard multiple Snipers say they hate her style while others seem to be fine with it. Why is that?"
"It's because she can handle herself in a one-on-one fight with no problem."
Mei did not need to look to know that the boy was even more confused than before.
"What she means is that Suzume-chan is a Sniper who doesn't actually need to hide after firing a shot. She fires using Lightning, and that usually does her opponents in quickly, but if it doesn't then she wraps a Scorpion around her finger and uses Teleport to deliver a fatal blow to them. That's not mentioning her Side Effect. But she also swings around Lightning when she needs to. So she becomes a bit of a hybrid at times."
"I didn't know that. To tell you the truth, I have never actually seen her in a fight. Even with your squad, Takato-san. But wait, couldn't people just use Shield to block the Lightning attack?"
"They could try, but it would fail. Unlike when most Snipers who fire a shot using Lightning, she has a special way of timing that others can't usually keep up with. It's pretty hard to get the timing right when it comes to her. On the other side, if you know she's going to shoot at you, you can dodge the shot. But that style, coupled with her Side Effect, is pretty tricky to get away from."
"That's not the real reason they hate her. It's for a much simpler reason. Although, you should see it for yourself before making any decisions."
"Hm... Well, if that's the case then I won't push the matter." Kodera looked up to see a grateful look on Mei's face and could not help but blush a little bit. "But I am wondering where she got the idea to use Scorpion like that."
"Oh, I had asked her that before and she said she got it from some manga she read. She said the weapon the character used was called 'Suzumebachi', so she took an instant liking to it. Also, the character was some kind of ninja or something, so that is probably where her sniping comes from."
"I would expect as much from her..."
Yoneya nodded, understanding just how odd all of that was.
"Hey, she's not the only special one on that team. I don't know if you knew this but the whole Tsukiko Squad has some crazy talents with their respective positions. Even Mei-san here has some crazy ability," Yoneya said, pointing at Mei. "She may be an Operator but, apparently, she has a crazy Side Effect and that's why she always seems to be busy. Isn't that right, Mei-san?"
"I don't know what you're going on about. I keep myself busy because, while Yuki-kun is stuck in bed, I have to make sure certain things involving his squad gets done."
"Really? That's odd. I've been hearing a rumor going around that you used to be a Combatant. Was on a squad and everything. They all say that you were with Kanzaki-san, Kimura-chan, and two other people."
"Well, wherever you heard that must be filled with fools. I'm only associated with Border because Yuki-kun asked me to be his Operator. Before that I was simply a regular school girl."
"If you say so."
Mei turned her attention away from her papers to glare daggers at Yoneya.
Both Yoneya and Kodera froze when they saw the look being directed towards the Attacker.
It gave them a real reason as to why every other agent had decided that it was a better choice to walk away than to try and sit near this dangerous beast who sat alone.
The two of them could feel their hearts start to race as they were stared down by the eyes of someone ready to destroy them for simply existing. As if they were truly helpless in front of this single girl who continued to insist that she was nothing more than a regular girl.
"Now, now, you two. It's best to leave Rampage Dress alone. If you don't then you'll really be in trouble~"
Their saving grace came in the form of Jin Yūichi, Tamakoma's Elite Agent.
The two Miwa Squad members managed to turn their heads to see Jin looking down at them with a grin. As if he was unaware of the danger that was only a foot away from the three of them.
"Would you two mind? I need to talk to Mei about some stuff and I'd rather not have anyone else listening in on us."
Taking that as a perfect chance to escape danger, Yoneya and Kodera rushed to get up and leave. This happened after saying their farewells to Mei.
Letting out a sigh for what felt like the tenth time that day, Mei gathered her papers before moving them to the side.
Her attention was only on Jin.
"Nah. Let's go somewhere else to eat."
Mei ate some lunch in a local burger shop with Jin, a combat member of Tamakoma.
"...This is..."
"It's the new salsa burger meal. Ugh, they tried too hard to make it unique and ended up making the flavor way too strong. And it's spicy! I can see why the standard large burger never stops being the best seller."
"That's not what I meant, you fool. I. Am. Busy. There's something wrong with us eating together like this."
"What? Is it that odd for us to have a bit of a chat? You wanted to talk about this and that. I'm just using some free time to do so at the moment. Besides, isn't this a better break than what was going on for you?"
"You're making fun of me."
"That's why I tried to get you on one of your better days, you know."
"Sadly, I do know."
"Even so, there is still stuff I generally want to talk about. Think of it like trading notes. You know that we both work best when we work off of each other. It creates a nice path for all of us to follow without having to worry about different paths becoming options for a Dead End. Why do you think the directors are so wary of the two of us really talking through things when they don't know?"
"...I hate when you make as much sense as you do right now. By the way, you had mentioned 'Rampage Dress' after so long. Tell me why that is."
"Well, I had ended up speaking with Director Shinoda earlier today. I just wanted to inform him of the fact that we would be speaking with each other today. He had been fine enough until I heard him mutter that nickname under his breath."
"Eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeh! Shiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiinoooooooooooooodaaaaaaaaaaaa-saaaaaaaaaaaaaaaan!"
Jin gave a cheerful smile as Mei gave a dark glare into the air.
"Don't worry about it. With the life you live, you can't afford to get embarrassed over every little thing like that."
"You are just picking a fight at this point."
"In a way, I suppose I am," said Jin as he lightly shook his brown hair. "But this kind of fight is different than what you are thinking of. For now, I should tell you about what you always want to know since that one day. It's only fair that I do so."
"..."
"C'mon, eat. Don't just sit there. I'm paying, so you might as well eat as much as you can, right?"
Jin must have not liked spicy foods because he seemed to give his tongue a rest with a bite of salad or sip of soda between each bite of the salsa burger. Since he did not seem to like that kind of food, he may have been won over by the temptation of ordering a new item on the menu.
Mei grabbed the wrapper for her hamburger while making sure not to get any red sauce on her fingers.
"...So something major is coming up soon. A declaration of war may be the easiest answer."
"This would be a lot simpler if that was the case. Even without doing that, the situation here is tangled up in a complicated mess. Basically, I want to clean up that mess before getting to the real issue at hand."
"What you mean by that..."
"Yuki."
Jin spoke a single name.
With that name spoken, Mei sat up with more of a refined look.
"Anyway, I wanted to start off by telling you that tomorrow will be an interesting day. Yuki still won't be feeling too well, but he's still going to get out. He's going to head over to Tamakoma again, but I'd rather you let him do that. There's something that he needs to figure out, and I want to see where that leads."
"Sorry, but that won't be happening. I know it's selfish, but I can't just let him do things like that when he isn't feeling well."
"Even if you say that, it will happen. I'm going to be a bit selfish myself and make sure that it does happen. I have my own kōhai to look after as well."
"..."
"Don't glare at me like that. I know that I am the cause of this. But this is more for the future of us all than just for those few. Yuki is included in this as it will also help him out in the long run. If everything goes down the right path that is. There are so many that could be considered 'good' so either way it works out. That's what my Side Effect tells me."
He was no longer referring only to Yuki. The last part meant that even with some mistakes the end result would be something desirable and would not require her.
And even Mei was not so sure he was wrong.
If everything could end up well enough without her, what reason would she have to mess it all up? It was a choice of simply doing nothing or doing something.
"Now, let's talk about Yuki some more. Let's talk about that man who can cause you to start acting like this," said Jin as he put ketchup on a nugget. "He isn't the only factor in this. Even if he goes, there are still other factors in this all."
"I figured."
"If I were to compare the future to a tree then I will say that each separate future is like a branch on the tree. If we follow one branch then we would come to a split at some point. That is where I help to guide everyone towards the better choice. But then there were certain futures that were simply dead ends. Certain futures are unavoidable no matter what I actually do. It's as if all the branches of the tree are cut off except for that single one. At that point I can't do anything about it and have to deal with it like everyone else."
A sort of time lock.
Mei felt an ominous feeling in her chest when she thought of it.
Those times were rare and few between. When they happened it was usually either a major event that effected multiple people or a small event that would not even be good enough to record. The fact of the matter was that it was going to happen regardless of anything else that goes on.
But this was no time to get caught up over that.
"What does that have to do with anything?"
"Whoa. You asked a question! Well, I guess I should answer. What if I told you one is coming up?" asked Jin in a calm tone. He threw a nugget in his mouth and continued, "I can't actually tell when it happens until it does, but I always get the weirdest feels whenever it does happen. Simply put, I get the feeling that one of these locks is coming really soon, and I want everyone to be ready for it. Even if you want to be selfish, I will counter that by being selfish myself." Jin licked ketchup and grease from his fingertips before continuing in a lower tone. "So this is really just a matter of whether you want things to go smoothly or cause some low tier issues later on. I'm not trying to put any pressure on you, but something like this is better off happening. To others it isn't much of a problem, but we both know that something comes up when it comes to Yuki."
"..."
"Well I suppose I'll leave that as some food for thought. It's not really my place to make either one of you do anything you don't want to do. I'm just trying to-"
"Fine. I won't stop him from going. I'm not completely sure as to what you see but I trust you enough to go along with it. I'll leave it up to you and that's that."
Jin smiled at the girl who was trying to keep her emotions down.
This was exactly what his Side Effect had told him.