Green River: "Are you sure you want to go through with this? I don't want any complaints later on. And Toby better not go after me for this."

Takeshi lifted his scarf as the message came through before the fight he was going to have.

As disappointing as it was, he knew that he was still in no position to beat someone who had made it to A-Rank. Even if it was Midorikawa.

Still...

Colors: "Putting down a mutt shouldn't be too much trouble."

Green River: "...That's pretty dark. You really have issues, don't you? I guess I see why you need Toby around to interact with anybody."

Colors: "Says the one who turns into a real mutt whenever Jin is around."

Arguing with someone younger than him could be viewed as petty, but there was never a need to care for those kinds of things.

The annoyance with each other ran deep enough that Takeshi knew Midorikawa would not follow through with what he had told Kuga earlier.

Even if he does win after this fight, that mutt still won't address me with any respect.

There would be no changing that after all the time spent on fighting each other.

Colors: "Let's just get this done. I want to see how you lose to Kuga already."

Green River: "So you think I'll lose to that guy? Well that can come later. For now I just want to throw you back onto the ground."

Now that I think about it, I'm taking a pretty pessimistic thought process here, aren't I?

The words that Kitora had said about Mikumo earlier int he day came to mind.

A mentality to win will do better, huh?

The situations were different, but the word remained true here.

Both he and Midorikawa were sure that he would be the one to lose, but would it be an even worse loss if he just allowed that to happen? If his thoughts were in a similar mindset to Mikumo's then he would only get so far in this fight, regardless of how the outcome would be.

Then there was his team.

I could care less about our mutt or Suzume-senpai, but Yuki-senpai and Mei-san would probably be disappointed if I just took the loss without any issue.

It would also lessen any views people had about them as his captain and Operator.

Since that was the case...

"Hah. Fine. I guess I'll just try here."

"Heh heh. This should be entertaining. A shame we won't be able to watch it from here."

Mikumo looked over to where the Tsukiko Squad Sniper was busy tapping her feet on the ground while Yōtarō moved to the rhythm she had set.

Next to them was Yoneya and Kuga, both of whom seeming to forego their own fight in favor of staying for this one.

"Misaki-senpai, how does Kotowari fight exactly? I wasn't able to get a good read on Midorikawa, but I can sort of understand how he does things."

"I don't think you fully understand that yet, but I will let that slide for the time being. Toby is the only one of us who would get offended over something like that," Misaki said, never once stopping her tapping.

Besides Tsukiko-senpai and Takato-san, they always sound harsh when speaking about each other.

There had only been a few interactions with the rest of Tsukiko Squad, but it was clear to tell how they might have felt about each other. Especially when they did so little to hide their thoughts and feelings.

Each one of the younger members felt like they were only putting up with each other on the best of days and at each others' throats on a semi-bad day. It was strange to see it when their captain was the opposite of that.

"As for the answer to your question. Well, it's best to honestly say that he doesn't like to hold back."

"Do these guys not know about Take-chan's situation?"

"As far as I know, they don't."

"Oh boy. Now I wish we had shown them beforehand."

"What kind of situation is it?"

Yoneya and Misaki looked to each other for a moment before shrugging at each other.

"To put it lightly... Take-chan absolutely sucks as a Shooter. His aim is always off, he's too impatient to get setting rights, and his timing is all over the place. There are really no redeeming qualities about him as a Shooter."

"Then why doesn't he switch to a different position?" asked Kuga.

"That's because he's honestly stubborn in the worst way possible. Besides that, being a Sniper also takes patience, so that's out of the question. And being an Attacker requires some pretty good physical abilities, something he doesn't have at all. I'm pretty sure a good amount of people younger than him can take him on in a fight using real bodies. It's honestly pathetic."

But.

"That's why he had gotten a special privilege given to him by the directors. Yuki-san was the one to help him in that situation, but he's lucky that the directors allowed it to happen. I don't honestly know the whole story since he had joined before me, but I was at least aware of his situation."

"So what is the 'special privilege' he got exactly?"

"Well..."

I guess I'm really going through with this then.

Takeshi let out a sigh into his scarf as he prepared for his fight.

There was a distance between him and Midorikawa, so he had time to prepare himself after the signal to start would go off.

Start!

And once it did...

"—"

A green orb of trion appeared by his head.

The one orb was followed by a second one. Then a third one.

The three orbs of trion moved slowly around his head before sliding into place at his sides.

Asteroid.

The orbs of trion glowed faintly for a moment.

A heated noise began to rise as the orbs of trion moved in front of him.

A green laser-like beam of light shot from the orbs, tearing through the air with the same heated noise. The vibration in the air became a buzzing noise as the green laser-like beam tore through it to reach its target.

As for the target itself...

"Slow!"

Takeshi watched as a blue plate appeared in the air just as a body appeared.

Midorikawa touched the plate before being pushed to the side just as his laser-like beams reached the spot.

The blue plate shattered as the green laser-like beam destroyed it with a great amount of force.

Moving his hand to the side, Takeshi directed the laser-like beams to move.

Midorikawa lifted his hand arm as a blue sphere appeared.

Multiple blue plates were scattered about the area, one even being behind Midorikawa himself. Each one would be used to build up speed for him, something he would often do when trying to out speed his opponents.

Seeing all of the blue plates, Takeshi moved his hand again. Two of the three laser-like beams moved away from the first, instead tearing through the air before destroyed the blue plates they were aimed at. The entire thing seemed more like long blades instead of laser-like beams, but that was not the case.

.

Midorikawa grinned as he used Grasshopper to maneuver around the area while slowly getting closer to Takeshi.

He had seen how the Laser-Shooter Trigger had worked before and knew what its weaknesses were. There was nothing that could surprise him and nothing that Takeshi could come up with to catch him off guard.

He's a Shooter, but attacks more like an offensive Attacker. Those things also use up a lot of trion if he doesn't stop firing, so I can wait it out if I want.

But there was no fun in that.

He isn't fast enough to catch me using those, and turning them also takes too much time.

In a difference in power came a difference in speed.

Midorikawa was use to moving at high speeds and using his whole body to do so. Scorpion was a lightweight Trigger that could be put away quickly enough and Grasshopper increased his speed even more. Even the size of his body helped to cover any difference to allow him to move faster. The sporadic nature he had mixed well with that speed, making it difficult for others to keep up if they did not already know what was happening.

And then there was Takeshi.

Compared to Midorikawa's speed and mobility, Takeshi did nothing but teleport to escape or move closer. His physical abilities were limited, while his attacks were distance ones that did not rely on speed but instead continuous power and build up over time. His movements were slow and easy to read. There was not much he could do after he had fired.

That's why he's just an idiot for wanting to fight me. Misaki-senpai can move around once she finds a Rhythm, Toby is just as good as me when it comes to that stuff, and Yuki-san is good at escaping. But Takeshi is nothing up a stationary offense who can't do anything else. Even defending is usually out for him.

So when he saw the laser-like beam moving closer to him, Midorikawa used one of the Grasshopper plates to move out of the way before it got destroyed.

The three laser-like beams continued to tear through the air an destroy the Grasshopper plates, but that mean nothing at this point.

There was little space between the two of them at this point. Moving them would take too much time and firing them again would mean destroying the ones he already had out. There would be no way of getting out of this attack.

So he moved forward.

"Laser-Shooter. That's what we all call it. It functions differently to other Triggers in that it's a continuous attack using the person's trion. It's also a prototype Trigger."

Mikumo listened to what Misaki was saying as she changed the tune once again. It was not just her, Yoneya also began to speak. He likely did so since Misaki would end up giving a complicated explanation instead of one they could understand easily enough.

"Take-chan isn't the only one who is allowed to use it, but he's the only one who decides to use it. It helps with all of the things he sucks at while also providing data for the R&D Department. The trion cost for using it is pretty high since it's a continuous firing, but it also means defending isn't the best idea."

"Because it would just wear down the shield."

"Exactly. Dodging is the best option. But going completely offensive against it also isn't bad. The Trigger itself might be fine enough, but Take-chan himself is actually rather weak. Just start laying on the attacks and he'll crack. It won't be obvious, but he will just fall under that kind of thing. That's why Midorikawa is a bad matchup for him."

"So Midorikawa is a heavy offense type. I see."

"Well he also uses speed to his advantage. Defense is not something he's particularly keen on. But that's only if we're comparing offense to defense. Otherwise he's still fine enough on both ends."

Defensive and strategic types were not good against that kind of Trigger, meanwhile offensive and mobile types were best suited to fight him.

So I would be a bad match for him, and Kuga would be the best match for him.

It was only hypothetical and ignoring the fact that Kotowari had his own teammates, but it was still good to know.

The boy himself was fine enough, but they needed to account for everything they could once everything had settled down.

"What about you, Suzume-senpai?"

"Hm? What about me?"

"What do you think of Takeshi? As his teammate."

What would she think about all of this?

As someone who worked closely with him, Misaki would have a better understanding of her own teammate than any of them.

"Heh heh. I think others have said enough at this point. Take is honestly a weakling with the only thing going him being that he has the Laser-Shooter to honestly fall on. But even that is not much when compared to all of the other people who can do so much more with even less than that."

"You're really harsh on him, aren't you?"

"I need to be. Along with our mutt, he doesn't think about what he can do in general, instead he thinks of what he can do for our captain. If he maintains that sort of thought process then he will honestly never get anywhere else. While I admit that I am honestly in a similar situation, I would not say that I am as bad as either one of them. Also..."

Also...

"He is under a bad assumption about himself that none of us can honestly fix right now."

The moment Takeshi saw Midorikawa's action he made a certain decision.

Teleport.

Looking up, his body flickered for a moment and a noise followed. The air began to fill back in the space that he had just vacated upon disappearing from where he stood.

He found himself in midair a moment later, now turning to face Midorikawa. The difference between them was now greater and he had the advantage of being higher.

Without waiting to fully turn around he created three trion orbs before firing.

Three laser-like beams were fired as a heated noise filled the vibrating air. Each one tore through the air without caring about what they would hit.

They only moved towards their target.

And once they did...

Meteora.

Consecutive explosive noises followed the heated ones.

There had not been a need to aim since the attack would still cause damage even if it only hit the ground.

Repeated explosions followed, filling the air with smoke that made any sight useless.

Takeshi watched as Midorikawa fell into the continued explosions. His eyes were dull and lacking in any response, but he felt something come up upon seeing the younger boy's figure begin to get engulfed in the smoke that followed the high damage attack.

Now where is he...?

The odds of Midorikawa having lost because of that simple attack were low. He would have taken damage, but not enough to where he would would be taken out.

So...

"—!"

.

It was too fast for him to move.

Rather, it was not like he could move even if he had the time.

Midair fights just aren't my thing after all.

Midorikawa's speed was also something that he could not overcome easily.

But as he was cut down by the Scorpion blade to his neck, Takeshi looked at the damage he had done to the younger boy.

Midorikawa's right arm and right leg were blown off while smaller marks could be seen running along his body. Trion was leaking from those destroyed limbs and were trailing behind him like a line from the Grasshopper he had used to where he now was in the air.

"At least you did this much damage," he said from the air.

"It's fine. We both knew how things would turn out here."

It was his lose.

"Oh. Looks like it's over."

"Midorikawa won..."

Suzume gave a bitter smile at the result.

Of course that's what happened.

No one would be surprised by the result, but it was still a bitter pill to swallow for her.

The fight had been too short for it to be natural. Even with the disadvantage of his opponent being Midorikawa, Takeshi had lost far too sure for her liking. The difference between this match and previous ones was proof enough that he had not been doing his best here.

Still...

"That guy is honestly annoying. He must have been planning to leave it up to Yūma-kun right from the start."

"To me?"

She nodded.

"That's right. Winning here has little meaning, and he knew he would lose anyway. He probably just wanted to get some hits in while he could before passing over the fighting to you. If he was the one to win here, there would still be little he could do about Shun-kun's personality. But if he lost to you, someone who has only just joined us, then he might at least see some sense."

"But then why did he decide to do this in the first place?"

That's the question, isn't it?

It must not have been clear for the two Tamakoma members there, but for her and Yoneya it was obvious. Even Yōtrō looks like he understands a bit of what this is about. Things were never simple with her teammates, so she could forgive them not understanding the situation.

But she would not give them that information.

If it matter to them, they would try and find the answer themselves. If not, they could remain ignorant to what was happening.

But for now.

"It's Yūma-kun's turn."

She motioned for Kuga to get up as Takeshi was walking towards them. His hand was on his scarf, hiding his face. The look in his eyes had not changed, but she had been the only one to notice that there was no real change in them.

To others it would remain the same no matter what, but she had witness what they were like during their first interaction with Mikumo.

They had not been so dull before. His tone had also been lighter and his body language spoke to his feelings on what had been happening. It had been more than enough for her to figure out that something had managed to truly catch his interest and that he would not let it go.

So once he had made it over to them, she reached out her arms, pulled him in and made sure he could not escape.

"There, there, Take~ You had no chance of winning in the first place, so there's no need to cling to me! I'll still be here to make fun of you and tell Toby about it later. Just make sure you honestly fight him too. I'm sure he would be so sad if you didn't at least do that after losing to Shun-kun like that."

"Suzume-senpai, if you don't let go of me then I'll just fire on you instead."

"You can try~"

It was be a failure.

"Since he's busy, do you want to fight with me then, Take-chan~"

"You're just as bad. Get away from me."

With a particularly harsh pull, Takeshi managed to escape her grasp before moving over to Mikumo. There was not much of a height difference between the two, but he looked so much smaller than Mikumo that it showed her what she already knew.

This fight had been for him.

I suppose this isn't my problem though. I'll just honestly leave it up to him.

For the time being.