The sky.

A clear morning sky. Beyond the azure floated an ever shining sun, and below lay waves of dark gray buildings overlapping into the distance.

In the industrial region, the endless sky loomed over the varying building tops.

The area, as divided a city as it was, held three things.

The first was wind. The atmospheric flows of the area rose, entwined, gave birth to clouds above and then faded away.

The second were the large creatures. Confined to a single area, Neighbors moved about. Others moved around just as much, creating destroyed bodies on the ground.

Of the three things being a part of the city, the last was that stood out the most and created a large shadow over the city.

A base.

Leaving a looming figuring over the area the building stood, standing in a vacant area where the general public was not allowed to enter.

The large building, towering over the rest around it and casting a shadow over a good amount of them, stood tall and proud with the four corners extended out. The size and structure was not somethings to take lightly and the areas around it showed signs of multiple, recent battles that had been fought. The damage done extended out from the areas and into the general city.

Each area had different forms of destruction with one being a newly created barren land to one with explosive holes laying here and there.

The emblem of the base was inscribed on the front side of the building. A distance away, smaller buildings were placed as a sort of extension to the main building. Each one had the same emblem as the large building as well as a sign by their front door. The emblem had "Border" written in the middle of it.

.

"Tamakoma Branch"

"Suzunari Branch"

"Wataayu Branch"

"Yumite District Branch"

"Hayanuma Branch"

"Hisama Branch"

"Yagura Branch"

.

Each building was spread out with one of them needing to be prepared. The building's sign was covered for the moment, but each one had the same thing in common. Reaching a total of seven, these buildings were Border owned and meant for the locals of the city.

A sound rang out.

The sound was a voice of song.

From the park near the building being modeled as a new branch, the echoes of that slow voice sang with a remaking rhythm.

"—The snow falls—"

.

The snow falls densely.

It's falling and falling, collecting more and more.

The mountains and the fields are buried under it all,

And in every tree flowers fall.

It's still falling and falling, never stopping.

The dog is hiding, watching the garden rot,

The cat is curled up, not being able to bear it.

Will you fall with the snow?

.

The song traversed the air, eventually disappearing.

In its place, a new resounding note appeared. Entirely separate from the sound of people moving about from the city's multiple passages, the consecutive clangor of a bell rang out.

Sounding once, twice, thrice, it continued; a chain of unbroken music. However, the clear note of the bell that told the time was overridden by a broadcasted voice.

"To all citizens: I wish to inform you that in Mikado City, it is currently 8:30 according to the bell of Mikado City's linked time system. The city is presently repairing damages done to the city due to the recent invasion and would like for all citizens to keep away from the Forbidden Zone. In the afternoon, there will be a broadcasting from Border's members. Once they are finished with that, Mikado City's sponsors will be giving their own thoughts during interviews. As such, we wish for your cooperation. Over."

The source of the sound and voice was a structure west-southwest, which was not too far from the Forbidden Zone.

Neighboring each other there stood two long, wooden, three-storey buildings. A metal nameplate was hung up by the entrance to the two structures whose bells were ringing. "Mikado City Public School" was written on the nameplate. The diagonal length of the schoolyard was about 100 meters.

As the bell that told the time faded away, the voice of a man came from above the bridge as if he had been waiting for that moment.

"Okaaaaay."

The voice, traveling quite far, flew out towards the school building.

"Third Year Border Members. Is everyone here?"

Several figures stood before the school, atop a bridge from which the voice had called out.

First, by the door a man stood proud. He was wearing a gray track suit with white lining. Behind his hair, which was cut short, a single blade was strapped onto his back.

A plain sword, with no guard, rested there. Its hilt was a gleaming black.

The scene the man was facing consisted of the school building and a group of youths wearing different colored uniforms; some seemed to be from the same squad and some were not. The man faced them with a smile.

"Then…let's start the physical education lesson!"

.

Keeping a modest tone, the teacher spoke to the students gathered atop the bridge.

"Now then, the rules are simple."

He indicated the tip of the group of buildings, gesturing towards it with his chin.

"Are you listening? ...Now then, I'm going to go all out and sprint to the new Yagura Branch office on the other side of the city to give someone a beating; so I hope everyone can follow along. After getting there it'll be the start of the practical lesson; we clear? I'm even letting my nephew join in the fun, so make sure to go all out."

Hearing the teacher's words, a collective "Eh?" burst from amidst the group of students.

The teacher ignored their outburst and smiled.

"If you're late I might just have you do the early morning classroom clean up. Don't forget that I know all of your teachers. So your response? Good?"

"...Good."

In answer, everyone replied with this word, which conveyed their understanding.

As they did a tall boy raised his hand. He was wearing a black outfit and had his name "Ōji Squad: Kurauchi Kazuki" written down.

"Akasora-san... How does physical education relate to beating up a Border director? Does it have anything to do with money?"

"Don't be stupid, Kurauchi. Physical education has to do with exercise, right? And beating people up is an exercise! It's really quite a serious problem if you can't grasp a simple analogy like that."

"Why are we using our Triggers then?"

"Because then it wouldn't be fair to you guys. Besides, some of your stamina sucks, so this is the only way to do this. It also helps since the B-Rank Wars are coming up again."

A figure clad in the same black uniform tugged on Kurauchi's sleeve. The neat boy (who was written down as "Ōji Squad: Ōji Kazuaki") spoke thusly, smiling all the while:

"You know, Kurauchi, Akasora-sensei was recently promoted to director of that new branch for Border. But he wanted to remain a teacher, so it was more of a demerit for someone like him. This led to him getting pretty pissed; and then he got violent, and then he put a crack in a wall, and then he was seriously reprimanded by the directors... In short, everything after the start of the story was entirely his fault, but...keeping in mind his original issues, I'm thinking this is about some pretty petty revenge against the directors."

"It's not revenge. It's just that I got kind of irritated, so I'm returning the favor."

"That's the same thing!"

Everyone clamored, but Akasora-sensei did not seem to even care.

Taking the sword and its sheath from his back and into his hands, he clasped it to his side. He then rubbed the emblem of the new branch office which was inlaid on the sheath's surface, before resting his fingers on the hilt which had a slightly twisted design due to the Engineers' unique styling which emphasized the sword's cutting ability.

"Is somebody absent? There's no helping with Kagami Rin... Besides her, Senzai's finally going to return at noon today; but as for other absentees..."

Hearing the implied question, the group looked around at each others' faces.

Having done this, a yellow-haired boy wearing a black suit and tie spoke. He was written down on the list as "Ninomiya Squad: Inukai Sumiharu". As the tie with an emblem stitched in was swaying in the wind, he said this:

"As far as I can see, Kimura and Jinsei aren't here."

In response the boy with a modified outfit whom Inukai was leaning on casually, "Hatohara Squad: Hatohara Minoru" shook his head.

"Kimura is going to an elementary school as an instructor, and in the afternoon she's going to accompany Netsuki-san to a conference; so she should have an excused absence for today. As for Sei-chan...I don't know about that guy."

"Mmm, then is there anybody here who knows what's going on with that actual idiot?"

Hearing him ask this, the class turned to look at a single person. Standing further behind and on the steps below, a girl with brown hair folded her arms as her mouth formed a bow-shaped smile.

"Ufu~ Everyone! So you want to hear about my coconspirator that much? Of course you do, don't you? Ufu~ …But I won't tell you anything!"

"Huh?!" Everyone exclaimed, confused. The girl nodded meaningfully.

"Because around eight in the morning when I woke up after our sleepover, he'd already left!"

"You wake up really late for someone so lively, you know!"

"Actually, I'm only lively when Suzu-chan sends me something nice. Which she did!"

"What did she send you?"

"Ehe~ My make-up was done; so I am making clear just how much composure I have in the morning. But that crossdressing jerk, waking up early and leaving without making my breakfast like promised... Oh how nice it would be if at his judgement for the afterlife he's struck by a foul ball ruling by the umpire and drops down to hell!"

"Umm, Kunichika?"

At Inukai's call, Kunichika turned around. Her eyebrows were slightly raised.

"Inukai...not so loud, you know? If you aren't careful...I might just use a recording of that and send it directly to Suzu-chan so that she can make some good doujinshi of you. With that in mind, what did you want from me?"

"I was just wondering, but...are you related to Suzume in any way?"

"Of course not, why would you even think of something like that? She is an actual crazy person who does as she likes but really sucks at games, so I can't even ask her for a game. Unless it's a rhythm game, but then just has an unfair advantage. It really sucks since there are only a few people who can actually keep up with her on that front and still manage to remain sane. Wait a minute, maybe I can use that to my advantage the next time though, don't you think!?"

"I wonder~"

Inukai said, though he had been grabbed by the collar and was being shaken back and forth by Kunichika.

As this was going on, Akasora was silently adding check-marks to the attendance record he had taken out from his jersey's pocket.

"Then, Jinsei is...late and unexcused...? Even though he's the student council president...? This won't do at all..."

Hearing him speak, everyone smiled helplessly. Some voices went, "W-well..."

Akasora turned to face the class as they began to make excuses on his behalf, responding with a wry smile.

"Well, yeah. It'd be dangerous if someone like that were to get a hold of himself... There's a reason for him being like that, after all."

After sweeping his gaze about and looking around him, he spoke.

"Well, this is troublesome. Even though the citizens all around us use to truly believe in us, it's now hard to maintain something like that after the invasion; and sponsors have been talking about what to do with us after it all... I can't believe that all that's left for us to do is plead our case in front of them all."

.

Akasora slowly uttered these words, looking up towards the sky.

"...The invasion was considered a victory for us as a whole, but there are still repercussions for what was done and what could not be done, so there are a lot of things to consider about all of it. The reason why I was put in as branch director and the reason why the branch was made in the first place are relatively the same reason, meaning that it's not something to overlook. You all need to remember that you are a part of everything that happens with or because of Border."

Akasora looked up at the clouds drifting through the sky, which was dotted with numerous blanks spaces like holes in a piece of cloth. Listening to him speak, the class tensed slightly.

However, Akasora continued to pour out a stream of words.

"You are all always free to leave if you want, but the fact remains that you became a part of everything that happened the moment you joined. You will not be judged, but that does not mean choices will not follow you once something happens. So we need to make sure that whatever does happen is something that we can take on without regretting our actions. The people here now and the people who are elsewhere are also a part of all the actions and choices made. Make sure to go to them as well when something comes up or else the regret will sink in later. Even worse, if something like the invasion happens again, it will be necessary to make those kinds of decisions. That is why we have a safe way to have battles between members, so we don't end up with hard feelings afterwards."

This was not all.

"The way we go about it and the way we use Triggers have been something decided on after testing and loss. Don't take for granted what you have with Border and strive to make it better, if you can. At the least, make sure you don't make things worse for those who have already gone through enough. Anyways, as for people like Jinsei..."

He meant to continue, but he was interrupted.

"He is an actual idiot, but that also means Border can use him as just that. It seems like something rude and disrespectful, but he is aware that he is being useful like that."

"His type can view things is ways that normal people can't. It would actually be pretty hard for the rest of us is he actually decided to be a respectable person of society."

Hurling those words out was a boy with side swept hair. He was wearing an armband on which the words "Suzaku Squad and Secretary: Akashi Ichiya" were written.

Closing a message whose display had been opened up in front of his eyes, he went on.

"It's been four years since the last invasion. Because Border had been doing well with taking out the Neighbors it had started to make the citizens feel safe, and made it feel like a normal thing at this point. But they also started relying heavily on Border. That is fair in the sense that we can fight back, but being unprepared is also not something that can be overlooked. In other words, Mikado City should be just as prepared.

"In any case, even though there were losses this time around too, thinking that those losses mean we can't fight back is pretty messed up. Us 18s have it pretty bad at the moment... Because we are ready to graduate, people are expecting us, who are in Border, to continue that without thinking about what it is we want.

"It's often said that we are privileged in that sense, but it only puts pressure on us.

"Well, it's not like any of us really pay too much attention to that sort of pressure anyway. Right?"

Hearing Akashi speak so venomously, voices of protest emerged from the class. A boy in the middle brought some packet snacks to his mouth. He was wearing a high-collar uniform and was listed as "Kageura Squad: Kitazoe Hiro".

"I can't help but wonder, isn't saying something like that rather dangerous?"

"It's all right," said Akashi.

"All of the people moving around who think that they can find something about us don't actually have time to nitpick what we say. Also, we're about to enter the B-Rank Wars, which is something that holds value to the rest of us in a way they could only understand though different means. People can watch it, but they won't get the real value of that. So even if there are some hostile people, we have the advantage of worrying about things that matter more than them... So while we're busy with our own business, they can't move carelessly or else we can hit them with a counter. There's nothing to worry about."

"Ehhhhh, you're so mature. But this time it's not just random people who're observing us; it's also the sponsors who continue to provide money for us that we need to consider in this situation. Please have a little more care when speaking like that...just a little is fine, though," said Akasora, the corner of his mouth curving into a smile. Facing him, Akashi spread his arms outward exaggeratedly and bowed deeply.

Seeing this, everyone breathed in...

"But, well..." Akasora muttered softly. A smile on his face, he cocked his head.

.

"This organization has an interesting situation now, but...do you all know your plans for the future?"

Hearing him ask this, everyone remained silent.

Akasora did not ask any further, as if the silence itself was an answer.

They're all third years already.

Around this time next year, they'll probably be somewhere that'll answer that question for me.

"The world's getting pretty noisy nowadays. There are things happening around here that we would not have thought of before; and with things moving at such a rapid pace, things we now have to consider important can change how all things end for us. Everyone knows that Neighbors will continue to come through the Gates, and Border will make sure to keep people safe... But it is really up to us to make sure that, if things every change, things change for the better."

The students who were battle-able Trigger users as well as the students with certain experience hardened their expressions. There had been incidents where they had been deployed to deal with Neighbors who came to their world to attack them, and they had detailed information concerning these incidents.

Everyone lived a normal everyday-life, but occasionally a question that set them off would find its way among them.

This was the question.

"'If the world is to end this year, what will our way forward be?' ...right?"

As he said this, Akasora re-stopped the parts fixing the hilt to the base of the sheath.

"Well, it's troublesome to think about; but things'll be fine if we keep gathering points. We'll eventually know what'll happen to the world, so until then do what you want."

"...You feel that way too, sir? 'It's troublesome that we're being treated like this, but do what you see fit.'"

A puzzled expression on his face, Minoru inquired this of Akasora. Listening to his question, Akasora looked at the sky.

"That's right... Well..."

Akasora smiled slightly; and after a little while, he spoke again.

"Personally, I'm thinking about how I once thought of dying. That's something from a while ago, though."

Returning his gaze to the class which stood before him, Akasora's smile grew a little wider.

...Well, these kids will understand the pain of being in that place.

He nodded to himself before lowering his stance.

"Well then."

He looked at those who had reacted instantly upon seeing his movements.

"Alright then; if you have skills in battle, you're going to have to come with me. So follow me; and even if just a little, be ready to die. The rules are simple: if you're able to hit me with an attack before I reach the office..."

He continued.

"I'll make sure you get five more attendance checks. Do you understand? You'll be able to skip class five times."

Hearing these last few words, the expression on the class's faces shifted.

Having heard these two words, "five times", everyone whispered to each other.

"In other words, we'll be able to skip five times in the morning...? If that's the case..."

The class's hopes were on the rise.

A boy raised his hand to draw Akasora's attention. He was wearing an armband on which the words "Yagura Branch: Tsukiko Yuki" were written. His hair pulled to the side such that it covered his eye, he spoke together with the Suzunari Branch member "Kuruma Squad: Murakami Kō" who stood next to him.

"Sensei, having the attack 'hit' and not 'graze' should be fine, right?"

"Well, well, the battle-types are thorough aren't they? But yes; there's nothing particularly wrong with that, you know? I don't care about your methods either."

Hearing this, Murakami folded his arms. With his eyes, he looked over to Yuki.

"Did you hear that? This spartan teacher said that it's fine no matter what we do, Yuki. Is it fine if I be more offensive this time around?"

"Yeah. I heard him too. But, putting aside the story Kazuaki-"

"Don't call me that, damn fox."

"-I 'nearly' went for that 'messed up teacher's' gut the other day; and he managed to start a disturbance that removed a floor of a small house all by himself."

"Hmph. Yuki, even when faced with reality the power of imagination is unmatched. It sucks that someone as ninja-like as you didn't notice that."

"I understand. Then, um, Akasora-sensei, no matter where we attack or strike your body we won't have points deducted, right? Rather than that, we should get something like bonus points for...getting revenge."

"Ahaha, you two want to die before the lesson even starts, right?"

Saying those words with his eyes narrowed, Akasora curved his lips.

"...Well then."

"Eh?"

Faster than anyone could react, Akasora jumped.

.

It was a backwards leap. Akasora jumped, sending his figure in its gray tracksuit flying horizontally over the stairs that went down from the bridge and all the way to the tip of the area.

His destination was the path below the stairs, which exited a different yard and headed towards the other side of the city.

"I hope that they can manage fine without people like us around. It would make me feel better about bringing Shikifuku to the eyes of the others..."

As he muttered, he looked towards the bridge. From his perspective it was rotating upwards at a furious pace. For an instant he caught sight of his current class. Everyone atop the bridge had hesitated for an instant, unable to react.

Naive. If there were a heavy strike from an opposing force they would have been finished.

Were they aware of this?

Voices were spilling out from the bridge, audibly the start of a single word.

"...Sh—"

Akasora heard their voices.

They had most likely started to say the word "shit". Were they regretful? It'd be fine if they were.

...Having been outwitted, they would have to be.

So I thought.

I thought of the current Border students here and the members who I can later consider as candidates.

.

"Border Members: Current Student Layout"

Former Students (School):

— Tsukiko Yuki

— Murakami Kō

— Kageura Masato

— Hokari Atsushi

— Mizukami Satoshi

Hopeful Candidates

— Kurauchi Kazuaki

— Arafune Tetsuji

— Suzaku Kasumi

— Kanda Tadaomi(?)

.

There were people who weren't here, or simply absent. Yet in general, all things strange had been gathered before him.

And they weren't the only ones. They were all brimming with great things.

Interesting, he thought, smiling. And as he smiled, the students leaped from atop the bridge.

"...Chase him!"

Everyone currently moving about Mikado City could hear the cacophony.

Gunshots, the clashing of swords, and the sound of destruction reached them from the distant part of the city.

"They're moving from the high school, heading to the new Border building!"

The din continued to move; and from the point of view of the people who kept watch over the city for normal citizens, the source of the sound was traveling from the high school to the building being remodeled for Border.

Because of this, the residents of the area industrial area heaved a sigh of relief and started to prepare for the afternoon's work; and the residents of the residential area gave three cheers from the edge of their area where they could be seen by the people in the area across from them.

Seeing this, the residents of that area were firing curses and objects attempting to hit the people shouting "Banzai!" in the residential area.

"We're screwed!"

With these simple thoughts in mind the shopkeepers boarded up the entrances to their stores, closing the shutters in an effort to protect the shops. Depending on the shop in question, there were some protective barriers that had been erected.

Though all this was going on, a section of the shopping district remained open.

"Well, this should be expected... I'm just praying that they don't go down this route. If they do though, I'm going to have a breakdown."

"Well, we played out a lot like this too. In fact, so did people before us. If this continues to happen, it'll fall in line with Mikado City's festivals!"

Thinking this, the shopkeepers gathered. They hid their invoices away in the darkest corners of the deepest counters, dealing with the coming problems by running away.

Having done this, they started to gamble. They were betting on the winner of the day's lesson.

"...Even so, that teacher is apocalyptically strong in athletics. He's been around for a while now, hasn't he?"

"Right, and they're also from different squads and mostly solo right now so they're missing a proper spearhead to their attacks."

"Putting that aside, think about how all the all-on-one's have gone. They haven't been able to hit him. Not even once. Well...they almost got him last round...that was just a shame."

"Hmmm," the shopkeepers mumbled. As the source of the tumult continued its approach from the area where the high school was, each of them wrote their choice on a piece of note paper and handed it to the bookkeeper.

Many gatherings of that kind had sprung to life within the town.

But in the center of the area a store stayed open, utterly still in this bustle of activity.

It was a café tucked into an alley near the center-point of Mikado City's shopping district.

Two signs were set up in front of the bakery. One had the words "shopkeeper making a delivery", and the other had the words "open for business".

Another sign hung above the door, a sign painted with the name, "Red Lightning".

There were no customers in the shop, but a silhouette stood behind the counter. This silhouette faced the street, her gaze forming a perpendicular angle with the lines of the road.

It was a black-haired female, someone who was also a part of Border. Her position was Operator and she worked for a branch of Border while supporting her squad there as well.

Occasionally, her two shoulders and chest would rise and fall as she breathed.

"It's kind of noisy today."

.

Behind the counter of "Red Lightning" the female stood there in an apron, with her head lowered slightly. She placed baked bread upon the shelf behind her; she didn't spare the road a glance.

However, her face suddenly turned towards the back of the store. An oven used for baking bread stood there, and above it a kitchen counter which held a stove that used the excess heat.

The girl moved her gaze towards the kitchen counter and the cooking equipment next to it.

Continuing to face that direction, she stopped moving as if she had taken interest.

"—"

From the path, the numerous footfalls of a group walking briskly and the sound of their voices could be heard.

"—We've got to hurry up and get back, it looks like they're coming this way. The city's carpenters won't be able to stop laughing."

"If we're being worked at a pace where we die from overworking, we're not going to have the opportunity to use our money even if we get paid, you know. But at your place, that part-time working girl... Kon-chan was it? Can't she be sensible and close the shop?"

"We're not gonna close, you know. I'm a former fighter myself, so closing shop during business hours is kind of embarrassing. That child understands this too. Even at this kind of time, she's waiting for people coming to eat their breakfast."

The approaching voice said.

"All of you, it still seems rare to me; but that child's been coming to this shop almost every morning for a year, and I'm renowned for opening early in the morning. I was pretty surprised when that child stood outside our door; and outside of the name Kon Yuka she only said she was friends with my son, and she had no issue with helping out whenever she could, but well... I'm glad I hired her. She's got spirit. Anyway, recently I haven't even had to check the morning's repertoire."

"Spirits doesn't have anything to do with someone who sits behind a computer, right? There's no point in that stuff when they just keep track of things, after all..."

At that point, the voices stopped. This was because the row of figures had come to the front of the store.

Within the crowd a middle-aged woman, the owner of the store, turned to a few of the people of the crowd as they continued to pass by. A smile hovered at the corner of her mouth.

"Disregarding my idiot son, I'm pretty proud of her myself. Now I've even started to think about my own repertoire. Even if I put that on the menu in the future, I won't be serving that to any noisy people, you know?"

"Right, that would be horrible."

Still laughing, the men and women left. The female shopkeeper entered the shadow of the store.

"Really, even though workers are supposed to be equal. It's not a big deal, right Yuka?"

Hearing her question, the girl returned her gaze and a nod.

The shopkeeper across from her placed her hands on her hips and sighed.

"Well, don't worry about the noise. Then... I won't be closing the store, but I'll have to bring in the sign out in front and throw out the water. When the din's all over and I can take a breath, you can head home. You can take as much of the baked bread as you want. Why don't you bake it a little more in the oven?"

With that said, the girl nodded slightly.

Her gaze moved slightly, but not to look away from the shopkeeper.

"The kitchen?"

Having been asked this, the girl returned her gaze after a short while and nodded.

In response, the shopkeeper put a hand to her hips and sighed.

"You memorized my repertoire; so when you think about what to make yourself, it was always something plain, and there were a lot of failures, but...well, the basics are important."

"—Right."

The girl said softly. She continued to speak with a soft voice.

"Thank you for letting me continue this. I actually need to head to the Suzunari Branch after this, especially since it looks like Kō-kun and Yuki will be loitering there for a bit after this lesson. The baked bread will probably be for them and the other two, when they also get there. If that's fine with you, I suppose I will try something extra to make it taste better for them. After everything that has happened, it will be good for all of us."

"If that's the case, then just do it until your satisfied. The depths of egg frying are pretty deep after all."

The shopkeeper laughed a little. Sticking her hand out towards the girl's head, she patted it as if mussing her hair.

"A child who does their work seriously is a good child... When you're done, make one portion just like we always did in practice. You're pretty grown already, but your type needs food after all."

"Understood," the girl nodded.

Immediately after, a voice tinged with nervousness could be heard from the distance.

"Th-they've finally come..."

The area near the schools had a section of stone and a natural garden on its surface.

Because the "Tourist Destination" signposts standing everywhere in the area displayed this message in foreign languages, there were many European faces amongst the crowds peering out at the clamor from the windows. All of those who lived on the surface below had turned their gazes upwards. They stared, all eyes reaching out to look over the roofs of varying heights.

There, at a place which could be said to be above their heads, the mayhem ran.

The noise cut through them without warning.

Firstly, a cluster of light burst forth from above a commercial street.

"...?"

Everyone peering out from inside their houses saw a storm of bullets, blades of light, and an attack that looked like a wall of linked lasers.

The stationery shop's owner muttered while closing the armored door to his shop.

"Rapidly firing unaimed shots, huh? They're all using the same kind of attacks. On the roofs where there's a direct line to the target, then that's more than enough and there's no wastage either...that is, if they were trying to hit a normal opponent."

The opponent. Chased by the barrage of flying light, the silhouette of their opponent ran atop the rooftops.

It was a man. He had readied his sword before his chest as he ran, wielding his sheath in his other hand.

"...!"

He took the chasing light and bullets head on, cutting them out of the air and deflecting them away.

He continued to run on the roof even as he was facing backwards. Despite this, he sprinted in a special manner. Because he was focusing on stepping onto support pillars or building rafters and jumping off them, he did not accidentally send any debris flying.

This was not all.

He was dodging as he moved. He continued to evade as he dealt with the attacks flying at him. The roofs of the city's central shopping street were already tens of meters in length, but his speed as he sprinted did not fall in the slightest. It even seemed that he was increasing his speed each time he was attacked.

The people chasing him were also going all out. One of them was using their teammates' fire to hide and take cover, directly attacking the man with a sword. Some of them traveled a straight line across the rooftops, co-operating with the ranged team behind them. And finally the last few circled around the eaves of the first floor, showing themselves and serving to distract the man from the shots coming from behind.

However, all of their attacks were deflected and crushed by his sheath and spinning hilt.

"...Hup!"

There were also those who had been blown away by kicks.

Because of the whirl of speed and the multiple attacks, not to mention the sound, the dodging and the parrying, the wind howled with a violent enthusiasm.

The resonating sound of clashing attacks set the windows of the houses shaking. From time to time an especially vicious attack would crash through the air, making it rumble like thunder.

The adornments were all the color of light. The refracted light turned to spray and scattered in each and every direction, the green fragments tearing through the air.

Everything drove past.

Yet even though the sound and speed and light took on the Doppler effect as they distanced themselves, they did not lose their power.

Suddenly, the man with the sword called out:

"Hey! Ōji and Kageura got knocked out!"

At his voice's destination two figures had fallen atop the shopping street's roofs.

There were two people who had fallen face-flat in a '大' position, their breathing hitching as they hit: a boy who held a blade known as Kōgetsu, and a boy with a high collar uniform.

The boy with glasses who was a part of the group running along the rooftops spoke:

"Tōma-kun! Go with Inukai-kun to rescue them!"

As he spoke these words a figure moved out from the midst of the group. He was wearing a red uniform with a high collar that remained open as the pompadour his hair was styled in bounced with his steps. The pompadour man raised a hand.

"...Good morning! Sorry for all the trouble, people! We aren't too weird, so just keep up with the better parts and you all will be fine!"

Everyone passing ahead flashed him half a glance, but they paid him no mind.

The same boy who had spoken before separated from the group, exiting from in between them. His black and white suit uniform seemed odd with all the others moving around. A tie was pushed back with an emblem stitched into the end of it.

He chased after Tōma, who was moving forward on his feet with one hand ready to prepare his Trigger, approaching the two people who had fallen on the opposite roof. Tōma raised his hand, waving to the boy who was coming up alongside him.

"Hey. Inukai, you look pretty lively this time around, what's up with that? Are you trying to show off for Hogo or something?"

The suit-wearing Inukai said, raising his eyebrows:

"Hm. Shiro-chan has been pretty distant because of what happened. But that's why I really want to show him some-"

Inukai was stepped on by the girl with the name tag "Kunichika Yuu". She was slower than the others, and had come running from the back.

"Ah."

Ahead, chasing after Akasora were the close combat specialists and point-blank marksmanship specialists. Among the Trigger users who trailed behind, there were many who weren't athletic. As such, they were slow. There were figures other than Kunichika who could be seen; but all of them were heading past, Kunichika included.

"Heh heh~ I'm sorry, Inukai! I'm really sorry. Yes, I'm serious! I'm always serious, you know!"

A girl who was running down the street by herself shouted at Kunichika, who raised her voice at Inukai. She shook short-cut brown hair.

"Kunichuka, please be a little more sincere when you apologize. Ladies sho-"

"Ehehe~ You scolding demon girl. But still, Hitomi, why are you running back here? Shouldn't you be up there with those others like you always try to do?"

"You really have been hanging around Suzume way too much lately! You're just going crazy because of the Trigger... Really!"

"My, my, the demon child who can't keep up with her teammates is criticizing! Could you just be a nice figurehead after all?"

Kunichika's voice and Hitomi's retort were immediately lost in the distance because of the Doppler effect. Left behind them was Tōma, who was raising his hand 90 degrees to wave to everyone; and Inukai, who was splayed out over the rooftop.

When Tōma (who was waving his hand to everybody) looked at Inukai, the splayed black and yellow colored boy was slowly moving up and gathering himself.

"He, hehe, that was pretty dangerous..."

"Inukai. You seem like a man with a lot of spirit; but if we compare this to a game you're not really strong enough for the more messed up units, so you can't be reckless, you know?"

"Hmmm, I'm pretty use to taking strange defensive positions, though..."

"Defensive?"

"Like this..."

The gathered Inukai showed his defensive posture...

After a little while, Tōma (who knelt down) placed his hand on Inukai's shoulders.

"Yeah," Inukai muttered. "There's always tomorrow..."

A voice resounded from the other side of the row of rooftops.

Everyone who was chasing after Akasora had set something up.

The people who had set something up were the close combat specialists who made up the vanguard.

The location was at one of Mikado City's general sections on a roof in the business area, which was at a place slightly removed from one of the rows of houses in the residential area. To the left and right of the roof, tall buildings of major businesses lined up.

That was their aim. If the walls on the left and right were tall enough, then they would be able to restrict the space he had to dodge left and right.

While sprinting through the valley-like roof of one structure and passing the walls of buildings left and right, everyone thought this:

They had to hurry.

This was because they were just about to finish running through the general areas for citizens.

If they exited the area they were running through now, the business area where the industries reside, they would be jumping off of the edge and towards the outside.

Outside the area, on the other side of the businesses would be the next section of Mikado City. The further section of it would have been the cargo area; so all that was there were wooden large-scale cargo containers, all lined up neatly. Their destination was the soon-to-be Yagura Branch Office in the small residential area, which was situated near the other end of the city. The road there was made up of the roof of the cargo containers. It was a completely flat area, with no hint of true obstacles.

If they entered the next area, chasing him would become difficult.

"Therefore..."

What everybody thought after those words was the same.

"It's about time we bring the fight to him."

And, the first to move was him.

"I will go...!"

In the midst of running, Yuki shouted, issuing his challenge.

Akasora whistled shortly in response.

"I thought that it would be you to come first."

Hearing his voice, Yuki gave a short answer.

"Of course!"

.

The running Yuki thought this:

...Yeah, this is my area of expertise!

Akasora-sensei is currently sprinting in a straight line over the rooftops, which has bad footing. Vaulting over chimneys, things sticking out of the roof and various other structures, his speed did not drop in the slightest even as he flew over the rooftops.

Faced with that, I can't do the same. A woman's speed drops when she jumps over an obstacle; but if a man tries to speed up while doing so, his feet will be caught by the unsteady roof. The fact Sensei hasn't done that in the slightest just shows how well he knows how to move his body. Tch. Damn P.E. teachers knowing about athletics.

However, I'm pretty ninja-like. I chose to practice moving through treacherous roads during downtime; and when I was stuck with those assholes as a child, I was trained to run across mountains in addition to survival training.

I knew that I would be the first to catch up to Sensei in this kind of situation. I have to lower his speed here, or he will gain an irreversible advantage.

That being said, I need to move forward now.

Simple slashes of the sword have already been deflected...even gunshots have been sliced out of the air. If I'm to strike, it'll have to be a serious blow.

The ninja-like boy who specializes in treacherous roads had learned a lot of things from so many people older and more experienced than him.

"Moving forward now! I'm going to show off just a bit for those idiots, so Tsukiko—!"

"Hey now, when a ninja starts shouting, what's wrong with the world?"

I don't care.

"Take this!"

As he shouted, Yuki increased his speed. The distance from him to the running Akasora was roughly fifteen meters. On the roof between them, Yuki ran in a low posture as if he was scaling a wall.

He went. He approached his teacher.

Akasora's weapon is a Kōgetsu blade. It was not a weapon that was made to attack in a position where one is running backwards. No matter the circumstances, it is especially difficult for long objects to attack low places. Because the sword's trajectory is curved, it cannot reach low places. If he tried to have it reach a low position, drop his waist and bend forward, his sword would hit the roof, and in that position he will no longer be able to run backwards.

Therefore to move in a way so as to counter the use of a Kōgetsu, I have to take a low position.

Before his eyes, Akasora drew the Kōgetsu on his back with his right hand, but it was still in its sheath. As might be expected, it seemed that he did not want to smash the naked blade into his students, no matter if they were using a Trigger. This was still only training after all.

He's a good teacher, Yuki thought.

He occasionally causes violent incidents, but he will not attack me. Someone who keeps things safe is a good teacher. Don't ask me if he isn't actually like that, though.

In any case, Yuki calculated their speeds. He thought of the current speed of approach and the speed at which Akasora would smash him with his sword.

The trajectory, the position and distance came together instantaneously.

...Because I'm low...

His thoughts screamed a warning signal.

...!?

My speed is more than enough. My method of shortening the distance and the number of steps I'm taking are optimal. I can hammer in an attack while standing up. But, after that...

...I can't. I can't block the combination that's already headed my way...!

Just before, when he placed his hand on the Kōgetsu's hilt, he had started a series of movements. As he stretched his right arm upward, his right knee had been raised. In the midst of his running movements, it was a movement that nearly escaped his eyes; but he appeared to slide his right butt forward, pulling his waist in so he could move into the next movement.

He could predict it.

Akasora's next movement will bring his outstretched right foot downward, as if pounding with a hammer. At the same time, he will swing his Kōgetsu down into Yuki. However with his right foot, which will have been drilled into the roof, he will forcefully jump backward. Before the Kōgetsu can strike the roof, Akasora would perform a large bound backwards.

The conclusion: Unable to dodge the blow, Yuki will be smashed from above becoming a '大' on the ground. If things go poorly, he will be buried in the roof.

An instant. Akasora's Kōgetsu burst up in an upward-arc.

It came. Therefore Yuki shouted:

"Go, Kō!"

"Yeah...!"

This response came from above. A shadow flitted down towards the area above Akasora, who had already swung his sword.

The shadow was large, and it had two blades.

The #4 Attacker Murakami had jumped from the roof of the adjacent building.

.

"...Heh!"

Akasora raised a voice of admiration.

I see, he thought. When Yuki darted in first, he shouted his self-introduction to divert my attention away from Murakami who was climbing the wall next to him.

...It was a feint.

This combination was important. "It is essential to think of a strategy when fighting against an opponent who cannot be beaten with brute force." A teacher must impart this knowledge to his students.

They also have to be taught that there are opponents that will not be defeated with a small feint.

"...!"

Therefore, Akasora moved.

.

Murakami, falling in towards the area above Akasora's head, was in the middle of a movement that spanned but an instant.

He was not use to this kind of thing. But he had learned that he can accelerate and move through the air for short periods of time using Thruster properly. After Yuki jumped in he had kept his body low and moved to the roof of the adjacent houses from behind the others. From there he jumped to the roof above the tall walls in one motion.

My attack will be a power dive from outside Sensei's field of vision.

I have to use both Raygust and Kōgetsu this time around. I can't be falling behind here, so I need to put my all here. Even if only one of them make it through, or I end up losing one, there are others who are quick enough to react to that.

Bringing his Kōgetsu down, Akasora spoke in a native language that could be processed at high speed.

"You're not going to stick with one thing at a time?"

"I don't have time to be picky with offense or defense! Forgive my rudeness for wanting to beat you down, Sensei!"

Murakami and his fellow classmates in Border had been dealing with this teacher for some time now and only got away from him at the start of this school year. He had moved to a middle school further out form the city, but he had always liked to check in on his students. Being someone who had learned a lot both in school as as a Border member he felt like he owed a good amount to this man. At the same time, those lessons before Arafune had taken over were all reminders of how much they all had to put in while also knowing that they could not reach their teacher just yet. They would always say the same thing: "Someday we'll get our revenge!"

Therefore Murakami also thought that he wanted to finally reach their teacher and reach out for that deserved revenge against this man. He chose to forgo his usual balance of offense and defense to reach that.

Because of this, he always prepared himself in whatever way he could. Reaching 4th in ranking for Attackers had been something to be proud of, especially when this man had congratulated him, but that did not mean he reached where he wanted just yet.

He always knew which weapons he would use for that time.

However, he had not expected to be this forceful when it finally came time to use them.

Akasora being a resident of Mikado City had been there for some time now. However, other than his rough appearance and way of life was a person of Mikado City. He always did things in good faith when it come to his students and others. Therefore...

"I can't just go at you like the #4 Attacker right now! As such, I'll deal you a personal strike as your student!"

"That's impossible!"

Those words came.

...Impossible!?

Hearing this line, a question danced through Murakami's mind.

Sensei is swinging his sword right now. His right hand already passed by under me, caught up in a one-handed strike.

It was close. The timing to strike is to drift downwards, right behind the passage of his sword.

In response, Sensei can no longer take any movements to stop the movements of his sword. Because he's flowing from that one strike into jumping backward, he'll destroy his balance if he performs any other movements.

Therefore, Sensei's attacks will no longer hit me.

Despite this, an attack found its mark.

"...!?"

Murakami, looking down at Akasora, took a strike to his outstretched face.

"Tch!"

Losing control of his airborne position, he was blown away.

.

Why did Murakami get blown away?

Yuki's eyes saw the reason why.

It was the sheath. While swinging his Kōgetsu with his right hand, he released the sheath's clasp.

The sheath sliding off the blade like it was a rail effectively extended the reach of the sword.

"Guh...!"

Grunting in surprise, Murakami vanished to the rear.

Yuki watched.

He saw that Akasora was biting the strap of the sheath with his mouth.

The strap was pulled back by a twist of his neck.

The sheath returned.

With the sheath in its place again, the Kōgetsu was now headed in a trajectory that would slice into him.

My weapon is Idōgetsu held at the back of my waist. It's relatively short, all things considered, since it's only supposed to be my arm's length. However, the shape of it makes it act like a pendulum at times with the blunt end having more weight to it. The color was chosen so that it would not reflect light so easily either.

It was an important piece to Yuki. He drew it, holding it in a backhand draw with his right hand. Whilst he swung it upwards, he also brought his left hand to the blunt end of the shaft. However, he did not thrust it towards Akasora.

"Minoru!"

As he cried out, Yuki changed his stance such that he passed his Idōgetsu up above his head, dropping his hip.

If he dropped his position in order to forcibly erase all forward velocity, his stance would defend him from attacks coming from above.

He planned to receive Akasora's blade and endure it. And as he withstood it...

"...Quickly!"

A presence came.

A presence from the rear, bursting out from behind his back.

.

Akasora saw. He saw that a boy suddenly came flying out from behind Yuki.

If he was behind Yuki, then his silhouette should have been seen.

The reason that he had not been visible was...

...A ninja technique!? This guy really is a damn ninja!

Ninja techniques are a ninja's special physical techniques. Skills like moving noiselessly and controlling visual information were specialized for use in stealth activities. Categorized within these techniques was the ability used in the protection of VIPs. Namely, the ability to sever any indication of a VIP's presence.

They had mostly been used as terms in media, but Akasora knew of this boy's history. Something like that would be possible for him since there had been two people to teach him such things. So...

That was what Yuki had used. Akasora shouted the name of the freckle-faced boy in a loose-fitting uniform, who had leaped out from behind Yuki.

"Minoru was the actual threat!?"

"You don't have to say it out loud if you get it."

The boy Minoru closed the distance in a heartbeat.

At the same time, my Kōgetsu's sheath hammered into Yuki's Idōgetsu.

The feeling which was sent into my hand was lukewarm, as if my sword had sunk into mud. This has to be because Yuki instantly sunk his body downwards to absorb the shock. Because of this, the sword didn't bounce back and it didn't immediately return to my hands.

My Kōgetsu is an important weapon. If I lose it, many troublesome things will happen before I reach the branch office.

In other words, my students.

I can't let go.

However, precisely because of this, I've allowed Minoru to approach. To my eyes, Minoru's eyes were as always slightly tensed, and he was careful as he dashed in. He was always a child whom I could understand pretty well, even if he wasn't one of my personal students; but I'm more than satisfied if he understands teamwork.

Minoru's weapons were his fists.

His right side was pulled back, the palm of his clenched fist facing upwards. The reason his left shoulder was slightly sticking out was because he planned to thunder his right fist straight forward, aided by the recoil of his left shoulder being forced back.

Minoru's attack would come immediately after this, the instant I step down with my right foot. In order to withdraw my sword on the spot, just after swinging it down, I'll have to bring my right foot down to act as an anchor. Minoru is aiming for that moment.

As he's dashing in from a running trajectory, the attack will come from above Yuki who's crouched down. An attack that'll come from above the Kōgetsu I've slashed downwards.

As such, Akasora moved to counterattack.

.

Yuki realized that the load pressing down on his arm, which was set in defense, had suddenly disappeared.

...What?

Looking closely, the reason for the disappearance of his arm's burden, the weight of the Kōgetsu from above, was simple.

Akasora had brought his hand away from the hilt of the Kōgetsu, despite the fact that it was his only weapon.

"Eh?"

The instant this thought rose unbidden from his heart. The hilt of the Kōgetsu was spinning, coming to fall down towards him.

If the pommel falls downwards, the blade will point upwards.

Using Yuki's defensive posture as a fulcrum, the point of the blade will point behind Yuki slanting upwards.

Towards Minoru, who was coming from the back.

Most likely at an angle where it would pierce into his chest from below.

...Damn it...!

"...Ugh."

Behind him, the sound of Minoru drawing a breath was audible.

He heard the sound of Minoru's fist being fired. But, because he had punched earlier than scheduled, he could not have driven his fist into Akasora.

The sound of striking objects rang out. Akasora's Kōgetsu was punched by Minoru in defense. Still revolving, it was blasted from before his eyes into the air beyond.

As Yuki watched, Akasora's foot came thundering down.

...I'm done.

Yuki thought this. Akasora wasn't holding the heavy Kōgetsu now. If he did a large bound backwards, he would be able to do it gracefully.

Furthermore, because it was punched by Minoru, Akasora's Kōgetsu was flying through the air. Akasora's leap backwards will take him closer to it.

Now I can't chase after Sensei because of the positioning of my hips...

I guess that's it for me.

Feeling the full force of the word "regret", Yuki shouted.

"Kasumi—!"

The trailing group was already moving before Yuki's voice could reach them.

This was at the time when Minoru had dashed in towards Akasora. Keeping behind Minoru, a single boy was moving. With a pair of large earphones were placed over his head, the boy with unkept, black hair to whom the name tag "Suzaku Kasumi" was attached brought up a sniper rifle he had drawn from thin air while keeping his body running in a low position.

The rifle "Ibis" with a deep black color decorating it had the muzzle in the air in an instant from its sudden appearance. The scope was modified in a particular way; but even while it was still deploying Akashi's voice flew from within the group he was in:

"Kitazoe-kun! Give him a lift!"

A large man at the back of the group responded to his instructions. His upper body was covered by the same black, high collar uniform as Kageura. He was already carrying a boy whose eyes were covered on his left shoulder.

However, he swung his right arm forward and increased his speed.

"Here you go, Umi-kun!"

Coming up next to Suzaku whose Ibis was now readied, his right arm stretched towards him.

Following the same exact timing, Suzaku nodded to Kitazoe once. Bringing his feet onto his arm he flipped his body, jumping to Kitazoe's shoulder. He smiled at the boy who was lowering his eyes as he sat on the left shoulder across from Suzaku.

"Hey, Tenryū-san, I'll be over here."

Saying that and dropping his hip, he secured his footing. The boy Suzaku spoke, his black eye narrowing:

"Ibis: Link...!"

.

In Suzaku's field of vision, Minoru who was running ahead of him had swung his fist towards Akasora.

...Will it work?

I don't know. In any case, not once do I remember Akasora-san being hit by one of his students' attacks. It's been my responsibility to do so for a year; but at the very least, Akasora-san's never been defeated by his students in PE class. Or so his personal students tell me.

...No matter how much I think about it, rather than a teacher he's a real warrior...! It's somewhat terrifying...

Taking a breath, Suzaku regained his composure.

"...It's my turn. I'll use my personal modification of my Triggers to finally get us a win."

As an A-Rank Border member he had been given permission to modify his Triggers to an extent. This normally needed the Engineers' help.

But Suzaku was used to mechanics for many reasons. Technical issues and mechanical ones were his area of expertise.

As his voice rang out, before his own eyes something akin to a sign frame appeared and a figure flew out from nowhere. It was a diminutive girl wrapped in a faint crimson light. Her figure was slightly transparent and only seen by him.

The girl had a sleepy face; but she swayed before his eyes, dancing lightly by twirling her body and waving her right hand.

At the same moment a torii-shaped message appeared in front fo his eyes. Words appeared on the display which was previously blank.

"Link: Suzaku Squad Captain - Program: Cana: —Confirm."

"Linked to Suzaku Squad Operating room. Request - Support: Process have been completed by program."

Songstress: "Eh!? Eh!? Kasumi-kun? I didn't expect you to link with our computer! That scared me!"

Umi: "Sorry about that, Uta. I was only going to use it for a moment since I don't have much time here. But since you're there... Can you alter the noise coming in and bounce it back to a half mile... Just make it a mile. A mile radius. I don't want any sort of outside force, deviation, or impediment to get in the way, for a total of four requests. These are basic supports, so activate them without modification."

Hearing Suzaku's word the Operator on the other end, as well as the diminutive girl, nodded slightly. Words and speech bubbles appeared by Suzaku's eyes.

"Sound dispersion / Four / Therefore / Substitution / Four / Activate ?"

"Yeah," Suzaku nodded. Sucking in a breath, he brought Ibis up to his face.

"As substitution..."

Through the use of his specialized Trigger and headphones, Suzaku used his Side Effect of echolocation to determine what was around him and could affect his shot which would determine how he would react after he had fired. Now that Suzaku had decided to get some support using his Squad's Operator, as a condition to properly modify his Trigger at this moment he must determine specifically what could be substituted out for the parts of his Trigger that remained normal.

In exchange for this modification, the things Suzaku chose were these:

Umi: "Add on weight to shot, so that it won't be blown away easily while moving. Use more of my trion to push of the shot, that way the power and speed won't be lost because of the weight. I'll even settle for destroying the muzzle, if that's what it takes. This adds up to a total of four. Uta, if this is fine, then provide the support."

"Yes, yes," the nodding girl looked up for an instant. She clapped her hand together, a smile on her face.

Songstress: "Got it all down! It's been approved, so go right ahead and have your fun, Kasumi-kun!"

The response came synchronized with the timing of the diminutive girl's claps. Green lines began tracing Suzaku's Ibis. At first, the green light was weak.

"Clap!"

However, as the diminutive girl's applause continued the amount of light immediately doubled, tripled, and quadrupled; and when the green light traces reached their brightest...

"...!"

Two vertical torii appeared at the end of Suzaku's gaze and Ibis' muzzle, the midpoint between Akasora and himself.

The support activated and would not be stopped until some part of the target would be hit. Due to the nature of this modification, the power and speed were meant to make sure it reached, but their full force would come once they made contact.

Suzaku's black headphones began to synchronize with his current surroundings. Everything bounced around and reached his ears until it all lined up for his hearing.

"Headphones and Side Effect...have synchronized!"

In one instant: The green light projected directly from the headphones and Ibis.

Immediately after:

"...Kasumi!"

Yuki's shout resounded.

Looking forward he could see that Minoru had vaulted over the crouching Yuki. And beyond them Akasora, who had leaped backwards, flipped and grabbed hold of Kōgetsu that had been flying away.

Yuki and the others had failed.

Therefore, Suzaku fired.

"Go!"

He let the shot fly.

Along with a sound like a canon a light shot forward, bursting outwards.

It was unlike the bullet and blades and linear shots that everyone had been firing up until this point. Because of the support provided, it was less likely to be altered by any outside force. Even among his own squad, it was something not used unless destroying flying or agile Neighbors.

Akasora, who was moving ahead of them, was the target of the shot which had been given a temporary support through Suzaku's use of mechanics. In addition Suzaku had fired exactly when Akasora was crossing from one roof to another.

...Today, I'll hit!

I'm captain of one of Border's A-Rank squad, so that's pretty tiring as it is. But then my dad had to go and contract with TSUBAKI and Border, selling goods wholesale to the finance department; I guess that's why he asks me about the company's reputation at the base. There aren't any bad rumors. My grades are fairly good too, and I'm being left in charge of the network we're using. There's no need for my family to worry about me influencing the company's reputation for the worse.

But my dad had a single question.

"I wonder if you won't hit that teacher even once before you graduate..."

That was the kind of situation I was in. Asuka did nothing to help either, always wondering when I would land a hit.

At first I was told not to do any modifications since it was another human; but then he noticed that I had done this a few times and had not come out on top.

At that time he had asked him: "Eh...? Why not? Isn't that weird? I mean, normally you add a modification to make it hit, right?"

The reason I hadn't hit was because Akasora-san's fighting and athletic abilities are pretty damn crazy; but making Dad understand that a person like that existed was a pretty tiring task.

Because of this, I had to practice even more and ended up forming an A-Rank squad at the start of this year. It's pretty annoying since I use up as much trion as a normal person would for multiple shots and end up destroying Ibis's muzzle, but it's worth it now. I only got to the point of being t the proper level for it a few days ago. Urg. But screw being #1. I don't feel like fighting Tōma or Narasaka for that spot.

Anyways, this was the first time that I would use this with my Side Effect synchronized as well.

"...How do you like this?"

The shot of light trailed a line of light and clear sound, darting in towards its prey with a trajectory that made it seem as if it was a fist, not a bullet.

In contrast, Akasora was currently in the air having jumped from one roof to another. The large leap he had performed just now was meant to send him flying over the road below. His air time was long, and during it he could not dodge.

On the contrary, my shot has enhanced speed and won't stop.

Suzaku saw. He saw Akasora had readied his Kōgetsu at his neck, allowing a slight glimpse of the blade from the sheath.

...He's going to try to suddenly slice the bullet out of the air?

Suzaku raised his eyebrows slightly.

"Not possible. Not only does it not stop, I've given it some extra movement so that it would lean to the side at the right time. It's pretty messed up, but the perks of an A-Rank are nice."

Just as Suzaku had said, the bullet moved such that it shifted before Akasora's Kōgetsu could hit.

In response, still keeping the blade in its sheath Akasora stuck his sword out vertically, using it as a barrier against the bullet.

Yet, it was too late.

The bullet of light had already gotten through the blade, and with a movement that sent it just past the blade it moved towards Akasora. The reason Suzaku had aimed at his face was because he shot an unstoppable force from Kitazoes' shoulder. There was a slight unease that came from both being humans.

However, this was not an opponent who would allow me enough composure to choose a place to target. I'll take care of expenses. Not free, of course.

Anyway, Suzaku thought to herself. I did it, Dad. Today, let's have chirashizushi in celebration of sinking the teacher. Because of the modifications, I'm going to only be going with my friends; but it's fine if we have some ice cream afterward.

Suzaku thought as he followed the bullets with his eyes.

Suzaku, fists clenched in his heart that was filled with strange fighting spirit, stared at the bullet's destination.

He saw that the bullet of light that he had released fragmented on the other side of Akasora's Kōgetsu.

A noise rang out, and light burst forth.

"...We did it!"

Seeing the light and noise, everyone around was cheering; but Suzaku was the only one to keep his eyes open, and he shouted this:

"No! The response was too light! ...It didn't hit!"

Suzaku cried out. He shook the fingers of the hand that had pulled the Trigger, confirming the feeling that cut through the air.

"...This means I have to pay today!"

.

Why?

This question echoed within Suzaku.

It was an attack that had been modified. He reserved its use for the more dangerous Neighbors.

...Why!? The power of technology lost to a super-warrior power!?

As if answering the cry in Suzaku's heart, Akasora moved.

Having become visible, his face could be described in one word: unharmed. There was not one injury on his mouth, where a faint smile hovered, or on his cheeks.

The next instant he sent his body flying to the roof across the road, the roof of one of the business buildings which made up the business district.

Bending his body backwards, Akasora took a step and accelerated. His speed had not dropped in the slightest; Suzaku's attack did not seem to have had any effect.

...Why?

The moment Suzaku asked this, having been left behind by Akasora everyone jumped towards the roofs of the business area, still perplexed.

At that moment Akashi, who had caught up from the back, began to laugh in the face of his own captain's failure and shouted:

"You hit his hair! Hahaha! What a failure!"

Drawing everyone's attention as they continued to run, Akashi raised his eyebrows as he laughed.

"Just now, Akasora-san held his Kōgetsu to his neck. That was when he cut his hair slightly. In the same movement he stuck his Kōgetsu forwards, restricting the bullet's offense and speed to where he had thrown his own hair, part of his own body, onto the bullet's path. In conclusion...the bullet, caught up in the chaff of hair, decided that it had hit him and it lost everything you had built up. So how about that? I'm really starting to like this teacher just for the fact he made a fool of you."

Hearing this explanation, Suzaku swallowed his voice with everyone.

Akashi looked forward. He turned his gaze towards Akasora, who was still accelerating.

"But," he began again.

"I hate to say this, but last year we couldn't even make him cut his hair. Kasumi, what's your total capacity on trion?"

"Ah, it reached ten at the start of the school year. I can use what I used just now another three times."

"Mmmm," Suzaku groaned inwardly.

The trion it took to do an attack like that was already taxing for someone like him, but then he needed to recreate Ibis if he wanted the attack to have its maximum power. That would then eat up more of his trion.

Modifications like those were also risky in the way they could change the outcome of himself. If he was not careful, it could blow up in his face or throw him back on accident. There was always the chance that the attack would end up reaching him instead. In times of need it did not matter, but the fact remained that there was still work needing to be done for it.

It had taken several hours to reach this much for him. If he wanted to upgrade it then it would take up his own time as well as the time of the Engineers who had to be aware of these modifications. His own squad would help, if they could, but that would also eat up their time.

...I guess this just shows how under leveled we are when compared to the other A-Rank squads. That's fine though. I wasn't planning on getting a real rank anyways. Too much to work on already. But for now...

Suzaku shook his head once, making his decision.

"Let's go!"

Hearing those words, everyone nodded. Chasing Akasora, they exited the business area and jumped down to the road and the long bridge leading to the area of Mikado City where the new branch office would be.

"Catch him!"

Everyone chased Akasora as he ran ahead of them; they sprinted along the long bridge that traveled to the final area of Mikado City.

Everyone went onward. They ran, their motion rumbling the hard cement and metal that made up the bridge.

"Kuracchi! Let's go!"

"Right, it's dangerous to hurry like that you know!"

The two Shooter boys went ahead, their voices spilling out from the bridge. It was Mizukami, who wore a red and black uniform, and Kurauchi, who had on a full black uniform. They looked over to each other.

"..."

Simultaneously, the two of them threw their bodies upwards on the metal.

They leaped.

However, in the midst of their climb which continued by using the sides of the bridge, blue plates bloomed; they prepared their attacks with others supporting from behind. They used their climbing motion and the accumulated height to spread the blue plates. The two of them gave each other thumbs up as confirmation.

"Looks like we're up now... Guess us Shooters're needed for this kinda thing!"

With a downward motion the blue plates behind them continued to spread out.

With their way up spread out the way it was the two of them moved their legs forward with pushes.

"Accelerate...!"

Because of their natural physical abilities and way their squads worked, the two of them moved to the top of the bridge in an instant. They turned to face the direction directly above Akasora. Using the base of their feet, they braked on the bridge sending the wind screaming.

As they spun the two Shooter boys displayed their tactic, which were held in both hands.

The black and red Mizukami was holding a cluster trion cube that seemed to be falling apart. It was roughly the size of both palms.

The fully black Kurauchi was holding a neat cube of trion in both hands while moving them closer to each other.

Faced with the Shooter-type bullets the two had created, Akasora who was running below them shouted in surprise:

"The Shooters of the bunch caught up? Mizukami and Kurauchi have made their appearance with the time everyone has bought, then."

"That's right. We're in the middle of a lesson, so we won't be mindin' some friendly fire."

Using his entire arm Mizukami threw the cube of trion in his hand. As he made a full overhead throw starting with his farthest reach, Arafune and the others had met up with everyone and started providing support fire for the two above.

"Arafune, who can work as both a Sniper'n Attacker, has finally caught up."

Mizukami muttered. Kurauchi combined the two cubes of trion he had created in his hands and held the single cube out.

"Arafune will be able to use his Sniper Triggers to make distance shots for support while also moving forward as a threat with Kōgetsu. Doing something like that means that the duration and effect that would have would be segmented, so it can't be used other than at the last spurt; but now should be fine..."

The instant Kurauchi reached that point, a silhouette suddenly passed by the two.

"...!?"

Multiple figures were there in the blue expanse.

They were winged machines with small vibrating sounds being audible. With four wings in cross-shaped style attached to their backs, they were flying.

"A number of government-approved police aerial-use drones. Did they come to warn us because we were causing trouble?"

Drone, a total height of three winged machines that were about the size of their heads, if not a bit larger. Three of these figures were flying in the sky near them.

One of the drones approached Mizukami and Kurauchi before switching to a path that took it further away. It was the same machine that had flown behind the balancing B-Ranks before distancing itself.

The tails of its armored cloth fluttering, the drone getting further and further away met up with the others. Once it did, it set its wings aflutter and accelerated.

Wind sprung forth. With a force that way many times that of the wind the two B-Rank agents had created when jumping up, it flew through the air.

"..."

Vibrating noise still being heard, the three tri-colored constructs flipped upwards. Their flight path brought them to look downwards.

Mizukami looked up to the sky and clicked his tongue.

"Aerial-models that don't look friendly. Just like the uninterestin' Bado. Even though we don't even think 'bout tryin' to attack the city, they're showin' us how much their fingers are itchin' for the trigger, knowin' that they'll not actually be able to harm us...it's the worst. I wonder if I'll do some research on the ones in charge and send 'em in to the SS to star in their next Ero Yaoi Manga Collection. Those guys'll probably be the ukes..."

"I didn't know that you also cooperated with that group for these kinds of things. Although, those girls are a good way of getting revenge on someone without it leaving the bounds of being legal acts against them."

"I spoke to Kiyoshi's kid sister and she said they're pretty terrible. These drones are one of the models of Mizu's brand 'Sugoude', but their technological skills're lackin' so the drive threads are Chinese made. All they have is their pride, so they're stuck guardin' most of the borin' parts of Mikado City."

"'Sugoude'... A lot of their parts are really aggressive and primitive, from the weaker works. That's why they are in this situation. It's being said that Japan's government's important people were going to come all the way here to have us make them some trion weapons. Black Triggers apparently. Things must be something if they think we need to go to such lengths. Although, that started back when the Taiyōko family was still around. They may still sympathize with them. Especially with how Akasora-san had to show off his Black Trigger during the invasion."

"Black Triggers?" Mizukami muttered softly. Seeing him look downwards, Kurauchi said this:

"...I wonder what the real situation is. The 'materials' for the construction of a Black Trigger are, as most know, a human's-"

The moment Kurauchi spoke this, a voice rang out from below them.

Far below the metal and cement bridge, a person in work clothes was leaning out from an emergency exit near the bottom of the area and was shouting.

It was a balding old man, and he was using a rolled-up manual as a megaphone.

"Hey...! Don't make so much noise and hurt the city more...!"

"Is Kinuta-san here for a meeting? It would make sense considering his previous occupation, but he is being a bit unreasonable."

"The way ya just gave up is kinda amazin', Kuracchi. Has bein' 'round Ōji for so long done that to ya?"

"That's because..." Kurauchi sucked in a breath before moving the cube of trion out. He looked at Mizukami from the corner of his eyes, a smile on his face.

"...That's because this is a lesson."

"I see," Mizukami's face broke into a smile. The two fired their attacks, cubes of trion, at Akasora who was running below them.

"Meteora!"

"Slamander!"

They fired the effects of their Triggers.

There was a gaze.

This gaze looked to the light and sound that eventually resumed over at a bridge off in the distance.

The gaze in question stared out from the roof of a large building in the middle of Mikado City.

There stood a black-haired girl. A calculating expression shown on her face.

She stared out towards the bridge.

"Have you been watching all day? That must be hard work for you. Also, is it really alright if you aren't on the bridge?"

The girl - Mei - did not so much as turn around to respond to the question. She continued to look into the distance.

"Two attacks on this city have already happened with myself only playing a part in this recent one. Any preparations for future attacks have already been completed. Because I really have nothing else to do around here, I figured I might as well see exactly where everyone stands in skill and power. To be blunt, I have free time.

"To supply additional information, you want to see just how well everyone is when thinking about the futures you can see. I am right in that, Jin."

Saying "Yes," future-seeing man Jin, walked up to stand beside the girl.

"You think so? ...As usual, I've got to do this and that to make sure everything around us goes smoothly enough; but this time the futures are so interesting that I really don't think I can do much if certain things happen. I can see the future, but that doesn't mean I can change every single one to what I like."

"Right. You have a strong Side Effect, but you yourself are not so strong as to make the impossible possible all the time. None of us can do that, even if we tried out hardest and worked together. Everything that has happened was because it was a possibility and never an impossibility."

"I really can't do things like that. All I can do it steer things in one directions; at times even that seems hard enough. That's why I tell you all instead of holding it in all the time. What good would trying to be a hero do if I can't do anything by myself when it counts? Besides, I'm not a hero; I am an elite~"

"I want to hit you so much right now. But I will hold back since I am a dignified member of society. Even so..."

"Even so?"

Mei thought for a small while. After the moment passed, she spoke again.

This time she allowed questions to come out.

Only for this boy and one other.

"Exactly how far can we go with things holding us back? This world is a target for Neighbor nations since we do not focus on trion-based weapons, instead focusing on finding ways to destroy ourselves with our basic machinery. Our own world fights over itself constantly because us people just can't get along all to well. While I am sure that even the Neighbor nations are in similar situations, they have the luxury of attacking us knowing that our earthy weapons can't scratch them. We require Triggers to do anything to them. We can't just hand them out or it will turn into hell. Just look at what people do to each other as it is..."

"Wow, you sound rather bitter about this subject. You want to continue though. At least, that's what my Side Effect tells me."

"Your Side Effect can tell you anything. Just remember that it isn't an omnipotent one that reins over everything. Even seemingly useless ones can have their benefits. In any case, we should be careful. We still don't know everything good going on around here, so something may slip passed even the great Jin Yuuichi."

"That's a pain to think about," Jin muttered, scratching his brown hair.

In the distance, sharp, green explosions burst outwards from just outside of the Forbidden Zone.

After a while, the sound reached them. Jin rubbed his chin with his hand.

"Ah, then what do you think of them from your viewpoint, Mei?"

"Right. Speaking more expressively than I did at the beginning, I judge them to be flashy. Speaking in terms of physical quantities, the amount of destruction has increased. Speaking from the people's point of view, both the degree of annoyance and entertainment value have increased."

"And speaking personally?"

"I am not someone who can speak as freely as you do. If you ask me something like that then I can't answer as an individual but rather as a whole collection of different minds due to my Side Effect."

"Then," Jin said. He brought his body to the edge of the roof. "As the entire collection of different thoughts, what do you think?"

"Right. Speaking from my records of these days after the second invasion, they are great. Compared to those who have already attacked us...the Border agents, left unable to receive as much battle instruction the likes of the Neighbors..."

She thought a little.

"If I had individuality, I would judge them to be worthy."

Mei moved her gaze down from the edge of the Forbidden Zone.

"Although I'm sure you already knew that."

There existed a market.

This market was situated in the temporary residential district, which in turn was located at the tip of the cargo area of Mikado City.

This temporary residential area was a place that was not managed very strictly.

"That's why the Yagura Branch is being placed here."

Akasora's words echoed in front of one of the buildings that stood in a line, spaces between them.

His back towards the black-painted office that had been created out of modified cargo containers, Akasora looked at the ground.

There, more than ten students had collapsed on the floor, unmoving. Most of them were on their faces or lying face-up, but depending on the person, some were crying and wetting the ground.

Facing all of them, Akasora's breath was not ragged in the slightest.

"Come on; don't just sleep after getting here after me. You're using Triggers, so you can't actually be tired after all of that."

"The mental...exhaustion you give us...is just the same...Sensei..."

"Such a dramatic group. Um, Shokubutsu?"

"...Ye...yes, what...is it...?"

The boy sitting next to the collapsed and stationary Kitazoe spoke with a questioning tone. Keeping his eyes lowered and continuing to kneel, he turned towards Akasora, his uncle. In response, Akasora flashed him a smile.

"Are you the only one alive?"

"...Yes...? ...Ah, no...I-I...wa-was car-car-carried so...ah...yes..."

"That's a choice based upon teamwork, so it's fine. One survivor, and it seems that you properly rescued those who were retired on the way here. Far better than your previous year."

"...Yes..." Shobu nodded.

At the moment, the front door of the office behind Akasora opened.

Hearing the sharp noise, Shobu pulled his body back, his eyes still lowered, and Akasora tilted his neck towards his back.

A distance of twenty meters. Opening and exiting the door of the office was a man in a suit and his hair flat against his forehead. Akasora looked at his two arms, which currently held nothing in them.

"Oh, look who it is. Nice of you to show your face here."

"What do you want, Chishi?"

The irritated voice rang out, sending Shobu's body trembling. Everyone lying down picked themselves up.

They looked at Akasora and the circumstances surrounding him.

"Sensei... Are you really going to do this?"

"That's right," Akasora said, not even bothering to turn his body to face the Border director walking towards him from behind.

Neither did he draw the Kōgetsu that was slung over his shoulder.

"Well then everyone, we'll be having the practical lesson now. Got it? Thanks to the fact he's been in Border for some time now he has a good grasp on how to use Triggers, so this guy really isn't a pushover. Not only that, he also fought a Black Trigger during the invasion and managed to win. I don't remember hearing about any of you being there, so I thought I could say that much."

"What are you doing now?" the approaching man said.

"Why did you decide to take a field trip the branch office when it isn't even ready yet?"

"Hmm. Ah, the truth is that there are things we need to discuss as professionals. Please deal with your friend, the other directors said. Ah, but personally I'm here about the fact you put me in this position. Remember that?"

"Like you said: I'm the one who did that. Of course I remember that."

"I see," Akasora said. He slowly turned his body to face the director.

"Then let's give these kids a show!"

With that shout, Akasora rushed forward.