The sound of rapid typing could be heard in the area.
Takato Mei continued to type on her laptop at such a fast pace that most would think she was just pressing random keys. In reality, she wasn't even sure what she was typing. Every key that was pressed truly was out of a random need to busy herself.
Her thoughts were busy being filled with all the recent things that have been happening in her life from Yuki disbanding their team to the press conference that was recently held. The things that had been planned out ahead of time seemed to be having side effects that she did not account for, meanwhile the things unplanned for were simply causing her to gain a headache.
That included the two unexpected people.
That whole family is going to be in this new branch. Yuki will have no issue with at least two of them, but that last one... Well, I suppose he should be fine enough when he is with Akasora-san. Besides them, Shokubutsu should be joining them. That truly is not a bad lineup for a newly formed branch.
Her typing got even more violent as she continued with these thoughts.
"And those three idiots don't help..."
Tap tap tap...
"He's completely shut himself in..."
Tap tap tap...
"The other one has been moping around the whole place..."
Tap tap tap...
"And she's even stopped taking incriminating photos..."
As she spoke to herself, Mei could hear voices behind her. Each voice was distinct and she recognized them all with a few being smart enough to muffle what exactly what they were saying.
This was to be expected with everything that was going on with Border right now.
Even so...
"You can all stop now."
Having heard enough of the talking around her, Mei slammed her laptop shut with a bit too much force.
Mei looked up and forward while the crowd of people sitting just behind her jumped and turned back around. She let out a sigh and stood up before making her way to the table behind her.
She slammed her hand on the table to give each person a look.
"You all want answer, yet you did nothing to ask me for them. Instead, you have been talking behind me this whole time while I am trying to get things done. Please speak up when there is something you want to ask instead of annoying me with small sounds here and there."
"S-sorry, Mei-san... We just wanted to know about the rumors."
Mei turned her sights to the one who was speaking, which was Midorikawa, making him close his mouth out of fear.
She knew that most of the people there had not seen her with such an expression before, but she could not bring herself to change her glare to something smoother.
After all...
"You want to know if Tsukiko Squad really did disband."
"Yes!"
Mei let out a sigh when she heard the unison answer. She knew that it would have easily gotten spread around the whole area by now since the former team knew a good percentage of people.
Her mind started to wander back to what had happened earlier.
"You're kidding, right?"
Toby looked panicked.
"Hehehe... That's honestly not a good joke, Captain."
Suzume looked desperate.
"..."
"Do you have anything to say on the matter, Takeshi?"
All attention when to the last person. They all waited for the usually bored boy to say something, seeing as he had known both Yuki and Mei longer than the other two.
"What..."
"Hm?"
"What the hell?"
Suzume and Toby froze the moment they heard such a dark and cold voice come from their teammate. His tone had usually been a neutral one that always sounded like everything around him was boring. Hearing this kind of voice could only have this kind of effect on them.
Yuki and Mei did not seem to mind the tone.
"Where the hell is this coming from? Did you just get tired of us?"
Even with the words coming out in such a harsh tone, Yuki made no move to stop the boy. His expression was passive while his body language was still that of someone who could be nothing but calm and collected.
"That's not it," Yuki said with a sigh. "There are a few reasons. The first is that I'm going to be at a new branch being made, along with Akasora-sensei and others. Most likely... A few more will follow since the two of us will be there. Anyways. The other two that will be there will be difficult to handle, and I don't want any of you actually meet them."
"Don't you honestly think that's a little impossible? We'll most likely meet them around at some point," Suzume said, trying to find something wrong to get Yuki to stay. "And what if others introduce us to them?"
"The former is more true. Either way, that's not the only reason."
He pointed to the emblem on his chest and said, "This is also the reason."
He could see the confusion written on their faces, so he continued.
Mei closed her eyes, knowing full well where this conversation was going.
"I made two conditions when I accepted the spot of A-Rank. The first was that my personalized Trigger had certain aspects of Akasora-sensei's Black Trigger in it."
"And the second...?"
"The second was that if I didn't deem you three to be strong enough for my expectations... I would be demoted back to B-Rank to help you out better. In a sense, the invasion was helpful to test how much you three have grown since you first joined my team. Now I know how strong you really are, and can stay as an A-Rank."
Yuki stood up and gave them a smile before heading towards the door.
"Isn't that great? I'm an A-Rank like you three wanted."
Mei watched as Yuki left the room, leaving the three in front of her seeming to be frozen in place. She knew they must have felt just as bad as when she and Yuki had first met them.
Well he did help them out to this point. That selfish idiot. He knew how this would end. I wouldn't doubt that he went to Jin just to clarify whether or not they would act like this.
She let out a sigh and gently shook her head.
"Look, you three-"
"You knew, didn't you?"
Takeshi looked up and glared at Mei, as if it would change something.
"You knew about those conditions, didn't you?"
"Yes. Now stop acting like brats and pay attention."
Without even noticing it, Mei's tone and expression turned cold.
"Besides being a jerk, he actually had another reason for this. He wants to fight you three. If things stood as they were, you three would never have thought of fighting him seriously."
"Then why-"
"I am not done. Don't interrupt me."
Her eyes seemed to be frozen, as if she wasn't actually there, and spoke with a chilling calmness in every word.
"He wants you three to rise up to A-Rank so that he can fight with the three of you evenly. So you can come up with new tricks and strategies he couldn't even try to think of, so that you three on are equal footing with him."
"..."
"Well, this means I don't have a squad either, and I'm not going with him..."
She stood up and headed for the door without giving any of them a second glance.
How they felt and how they reacted were well within her calculations.
"If any of you need me, I'll be around."
"Um... Mei...san?"
Snapping out of her thoughts, Mei saw that the group was looking at her with expecting eyes.
She forgot that she was speaking to a group of people and not reliving what had happened only a few days ago.
"Yes. Tsukiko Squad is officially disbanded."
"But what about the B-Rank Wars!? How are they going to do that!?" asked Sasamori from his spot next to Midorikawa.
"I'm not sure. They may not even be in it this time. None of them have a squad anymore. If they got smart enough to just make one with the three of them, I'm not sure if they would hold the same rank as before."
"Those three are strong in their own right, but Tsukiko was both their captain and ace. I'm wondering how they would fare now."
"And like Mei-san said, their ranking in general probably won't be the same with a new team consisting of those three."
"Wait, since they don't have a squad, doesn't that mean they're free for the taking?"
"Having Awdry on our squad would boost us up a lot!"
"Misaki-senpai is also pretty good, so it wouldn't hurt to ask her."
"BL-senpai is a bit much, so I don't really recommend asking him."
"Hold on, doesn't that also mean Mei-san is also up for this?"
All attention moved back to her. Every pair of eyes around her quickly turned to face her with expressions of curiosity and hopefulness.
But...
"I will refuse all of you. If you are asking for any help, I'll help out however I can. If you ask me to join your squad, I will reject without hesitation."
"Aw, man. And I wanted to be on her squad," was the collective feeling they all gave off.
"Regardless," said Kitora from across Yoneya. "They need to get their act together if they want to keep going."
It may have sounded like she was berating them from how others turned to her, but Mei understood that she was just as worried.
"'Go ahead and take those brats away, if you want. I'm sure that you all can put them to good use so that they can get out of their childish attitudes...' is what some of you thought I would say. Or something like it."
She looked around the table and the one behind them to see the reactions she was getting. Some of them were making sure to keep their eyes away from her own. Others seemed to be confused as to what she meant by saying that.
Kodera had been the one to save those who did not want to keep eye contact with her.
"Moving away from that topic... There's something I've been wondering about. Takato-san, who are the other people that are going to be in the new branch?"
.
"That's right! I forgot about that!"
"Those two..."
Mei got a glossed over look in her eyes before seeming to talk without actually knowing she was doing so. Her tone was the coldest anyone had ever heard before.
It was clear that Kodera had struck a nerve.
"Nice going, Shōhei, now we all need to be extra careful!"
"Huh!?"
"That was rather tactless, Kodera."
"But I-"
"Now we're in for it..."
"Nice going," everyone said.
Even if one of Border's age groups were terrible people, others from different age groups tended to be just as bad at times. The moments they found for their jokes had become something to admire, if not for the fact it usually meant attacking someone else for them.
But Mei knew all too well that going along with their shtick would only end in trouble.
Instead, she focused on what Kodera had said and went from there.
"The last two from that family."
"What family?"
"Taiyōko."
"Taiyōko... Taiyōko... Where have I heard that name before?"
"Most likely the news a few years back." Arashiyama walked up to the group and next to Mei. "Taiyōko Kesshō and Taiyōko Kaseki were well known on different types of media for being great soldiers. They died a few years back, most likely due to the Neighbors from the first invasion."
"He's right. I guess their solider genes got passed down because right now all four of their children are in Border."
"I got it! Is Taiyōko Hoshi one of their children?"
Everyone turned back to Midorikawa.
"Yes. I'm sure you know her because she goes to your school," Mei said calmly.
"Yeah. She's in the same class as Toby and B-... I mean, Kotowari-senpai. She's one of the C-Ranks, isn't she?"
"Also correct. That being said, she is the youngest of the four, and the only one to be a C-Rank. The other three are currently A-Rank. Each one has something particularly special about them. The oldest - Taiyōko Kushikage - has the raw talent of a strong soldier. It didn't take long for her to become A-Rank. I myself have never won a single fight against her."
"What!? Even you can't beat her!?"
Suwa let out of puff of smoke up as he spoke. It had started to reach her, so she used her hand to blow it away while glaring at the man.
He raised his hand in an apology, neither one believed him though.
Letting out a sigh, she continued, making sure to avert her eyes from everyone.
"Yes. I will leave it at that and move on. That would be the second oldest child and the oldest brother - Taiyōko Kiyoshi... I don't know much about him..."
Whether she was lying or not was not put into question as no one dared to speak against her at the moment.
"The youngest brother, and third youngest child, is Taiyōko Mukuro. He is considered a genius amongst genius' for how far he has gotten in life due to his brains instead of brawn. His fighting style is...odd, but once you see him fight, you would understand why he is an A-Rank. Lastly is Taiyōko Hoshi. She doesn't have much of an image for a soldier, but that's what makes her unique. In a family of soldiers, she is the normal one who is moving her way up through sheer effort and not on talent."
"You sure know a lot about them, Mei-san."
"Yes, well, I know someone...closeto them, so of course I would know about them."
Most of the people wanted to know more about these odd siblings, but none had the chance. They all took a look at Mei's face and kept their mouths shut. None of them wanted to say anything out of fear of angering her.
Thankfully, for everyone, someone had decided to call out to the girl.
"Meimei!"
The whole group turned to see Minoru jogging up to them all with a confused expression. He was holding a bouquet of wisteria in one hand and waving with the other.
"Minoru. I am assuming those flowers are for me."
"Some lady asked if I could give these to you," he said as he handed the bouquet to her. "She was actually pretty tall. Oddly red hair. Overly sexualized appearance."
"Alright, alright. I know who it is. Please stop before one of these guys goes to see who it is."
Letting out a sigh, Mei took the card from the bouquet to read it.
— Fuji, Fuji, tell me how your garden grows.
Without any hesitation, she crushed the paper in her hands.
"That woman..."
Mei quickly turned and stormed away from the group. She could heard the others asking her things, but she ignored it all and continued to scare all the other people who saw her.
She was completely sure who this person was now.
She was the one person Mei could say she hates.
"Hey, what do I do with these?" Minoru asked as he quickly caught up to her.
"Burn them until there's nothing left."
Not even looking at any particular, she threw the paper away while Minoru simply followed her.
"Make sure to throw the remains into the river and never mention them again."
"But you always love wisteria. Why would I throw them away?"
"Minoru, there are some things I haven't told you about due to everything always going on. This is one of those things. This involves someone who you really shouldn't meet. Ever."
Minoru was surprised by the tone his cousin was taking.
He was never blind to the things that she had kept from him, but this was something new. Under normal circumstances he would have left things alone so as to not seem to be nosy. This was a different matter though, seeing as how even the calm and collected Takato Mei looked ready to hurt someone.
Just who is this person...?
"Where was I told to meet them?"
Taiyōko Hoshi scratched her head as she looked around the area. She had been at the Border base multiple times, yet she had somehow ended up getting lost quite easily.
She had to meet up with the new branch director, along with the branch members. She had messed up in her directions and was currently walking around, wondering where she was. It didn't help that there was no one around.
"I was just promoted to B-Rank.. Maaah. I'm going to be late to meet up with my new fellow branch members. Oh no. I hope my fellow members will not be too angry with me."
She sighed as she remembered what had happened three days after the invasion as she played with the small moon barrette in her hair.
I wonder if that senpai would be able to tell me where to go.
"H-huh? A promotion? Sir, are you sure?"
Hoshi stood in Director Shinoda's office with a shocked look on her face. She had just been told that she would be gaining enough points to be promoted to B-Rank and moved to a new branch that was being opened up.
She was happy at hearing this, but was also confused as to why she would just be receiving points as if she did something major. She had skill, that was obvious to the ones who had seen her, but she didn't think she was good enough for something like that.
"Yes. I am completely sure," Shinoda said calmly with his hands folded on his desk. "Not only did you help with the evacuation during the invasion, I have been told that you even helped Kotowari Takeshi and Awdry Toby to defeat one of the new models."
"N-n-no, sir! That wasn't me! I-I mean I did try to help, but it was Akasora-sensei who actually took it down! I wasn't even able to do much..."
That time had been something that remained in her mind since it had happened. All three of them had tried to defeat that single new model, but they had not managed to do much to it. Only after their teacher appeared did they watch it fall apart.
Her attacks and support meant nothing when against something like that.
Even so, she was being congratulated for defeating it.
"I couldn't help Kotowari-kun or Awdry-kun... I'm sure I was just in the way..."
"From what I was told, you actually saved those two when they were going to be cubified by the new model."
The two of them looked to the door. They were able to see a girl with a calm expression on her face. She was holding something in her hand.
"Taiyōko, this is Takato Mei, the person who is giving her points to you so that you can be promoted," Shinoda said, gesturing to Mei.
She seems so familiar...
Hoshi could only stare as Takato Mei gave her greeting.
"So pretty..."
"..."
"Ah! I'm sorry, Takato-san! I was thinking out loud...!"
"No. It's fine."
Takato Mei gave a small smile while a tiny blush crept up on her cheeks.
"Um... If I may ask, Takato-san... Why are you giving me your points? Wouldn't you need them more than me?"
"No. I'm an Operator, so I won't be needing them."
Her expression must have given her away since Takato Mei only smiled at her rather fondly.
"I used to be an Combatant, but I gave that up when someone made a promise with me."
"How lovely. They must be very special."
"Yeah... He's something else most of the time." Takato Mei's fond smile grew along with the pink dusting her cheeks. "Anyways... I don't need the points, so I decided to give them to you. And before you ask... I'm doing it for two reasons. The first is a favor to someone. The second is that I know how hard you work, and know that you really do deserve it."
"Ah... Th-thank you, Takato-san!" Hoshi exclaimed with a bow.
"No need to be so formal. Just call me...Mei."
Walking up to Hoshi, Takato Mei opened her hand to show a crescent moon shaped barrette.
"You're also very pretty. Hiding your face like that won't be doing anyone any favors, you know." Taking a step back, Mei gave a thumbs up. "There. Now you leveled up from 'pretty' to 'beautiful'."
"Ahem. If I can have your attention again."
"Ah! Yes! I'm sorry, sir!"
"Hahaha. It's fine." Shinoda gave his own smile. "To finish this up, I want you to meet your fellow branch members in a few days. I have told them to meet up by the C-Rank booths. You should do the same."
"Y-yes, sir! Thank you, sir!"
She was quick to turn around and bowed to Mei again.
"And thank you, Mei-san!"
"Mei is just fine."
"M-Mei..."
She is so nice...
Hoshi couldn't help but smile.
The kind senpai she had met before had been nice and supportive, even only having met her once. Kind people like that tended to find her, but that senpai had been something else altogether.
She felt quite familiar, but...
"I wonder what squad she is with. Maybe I could visit them. She said she used to be a Combatant... Maybe I can ask her to be my mentor..."
"Ah... Where am I? Oh man, she's probably gonna threaten people again if I don't meet up with any of them soon... GAH! This place is way too big to understand!"
Looking ahead, Hoshi saw a boy looking around frantically. He looked to be at least three years younger than her, and most definitely lost. They shared that much in common.
Feeling a want to help him, she began to walk forward with quick, but not rushed, footsteps.
"Excuse me, little boy, are you lost?"
...Is that not what old perverts say?
Thankfully the boy did not pay much attention to what she had said.
"Huh? Oh! An agent! Great!" The boy quickly met her half way. "Could you please show me to where the C-Rank fighting booths are? I need to meet my sister and her squad there, but I'm lost."
"That makes two of us then. I am sorry, but I am also lost and going to the C-Rank booths."
"Huh? But aren't you an agent? How could you get lost?"
"I was not really paying much attention to my surroundings," said Hoshi with a sheepish smile. She knew it was a bit sad, but letting something like this get to her would mean defeat. "Why don't we try and find out way out of here together?"
"Alright! That sounds great!" The kid paused for a moment before giving Hoshi a sheepish grin of his own. "Um... I'm sorry, but can I use your phone to call my sis? I don't have mine on me, and I want to make sure she doesn't do anything...rash."
"Oh. Okay."
Pulling out her phone, Hoshi handed it to the kid.
After a minute or so of talking, the kid gave the phone back with a sigh.
"Thanks."
"Of course."
The two started walking while Hoshi started a conversation.
"So is your sister the overprotective type?"
"You have no idea. She can go pretty crazy when it comes to me."
Hoshi let out a small giggle since she knew that feeling. Even the want to face palm like the boy was doing.
Her eldest brother had always been so protective of her. It was hard to talk to any boys when he was around since he always had that delinquent kind of feeling around him.
Her other two siblings had been more lenient, but still a bit over the top. Then again, that was also something she loved about them all.
"Don't worry, my siblings were the same."
"'Were the same'?"
"Yeah..." She looked down with a sad smile. "My oldest brother got disowned a few years ago and I haven't spoken to him since then. We were very close, so that effected me the most. A year after that, my sister and second oldest brother ended up getting moved to a different country some time ago, so I was left alone..."
"What about you parents? Where were they?"
"They died when a Neighbor attacked... Supposedly... I had been a Border agent at the time, but... I couldn't do anything at the time..."
The memory of it was enough to bring tears to her eyes. The pain of not being able to stop anything and only being told what happened as the funeral was being held. It had been enough that Hoshi could feel herself get down.
.
The kid started looking around in panic. The tears had more-or-less started coming from nowhere. They had just been talking, but now he realized how much pain comes with talking about her family.
"H-hey, no need to cry."
Not knowing what to actually do, the kid wrapped his arms around Hoshi.
"Our dad... He die of an illness before first invasion while our mom got captured during the first one... I sorta know how it feels to lose people important to you..."
"Hehehe... Thank you for that... And I am sorry for just crying..." Hoshi gave a watery smile while the kid looked up with how own smile. "Really, I am sorry. My issues are still nothing to that."
"Mm~ Mmmm~~"
Looking down, the two saw a Samoyed puppy at their feet, nuzzling their legs with its head. It seemed to be whining while its tail wagged.
"Hehehe. I guess this little puppy is trying to comfort us."
Hoshi picked the puppy up. She then turned back to the kid.
"Thank you, kind puppy. Oh, yes! I forgot to tell you my name. I'm sorry. Hello. I am Taiyōko Hoshi. It is nice to meet you."
"Yeah. Nice to meet you too. My name's Tsukiko Kaede."
"And what about you, puppy? What's you're name?"
"His name is Taka, and he's just a ball of energy most of the time," a person said he walked up to them. "Hello there. I'm Inukai Sumiharu. That pup belong to a friend of mine. I saw him run by earlier, so I decided to try and catch him."
"Well I can see why he would be hard to catch." Hoshi laughed when Taka started licking her face. "Excuse us, Inukai-san, but do you know how to get to the solo booths from here?"
"Hm? Sure. I'll show you two the way," Inukai said with a smile. "That's probably where this little guy's owner is. Just follow me."
"What did you say!? Do you honestly want to repeat that!?"
"I saaaid that clearly yooou three weren't good enough fooor Kiyo-nii."
Mei and Minoru arrived at the sight of Suzume holding some guy by the from of his shirt with a pissed off look and a red face.
A woman stood a few feet away while other agents watched with worry.
No one around had seen Suzume so mad before, so this was something new to them. What was more was that this new person did not even seem to care that Suzume was about to pull out Lightning.
"Suzume, put him down. Mukuro, shut your mouth."
Mei proceeded to stomp her way between the two and glare at the boy.
If not for who she was, it was almost certain that Suzume would have retaliated against her as well.
"If you're going to pick fights with people, go find someone else and bug them."
"Hm? Ooooh. Heeeey there, Fuji-nee."
"Don't call me that."
The guy let out a tired sigh as he scratched the back of his head. He had expected as much from Mei, but still did not like how things were turning out.
"Mei-san...you know this guy?"
Mei looked over at Suzume and noticed that she was not bouncy as before. Now she looked more tired and was hunching a bit. The mischievous glint in her eyes was also gone.
Mei was worried about the girl, but she knew she had to focus on the problem in front of her.
"Yeah. This guy is Taiyōko Mukuro. He's an A-Rank that has been in a different country to help Border. He went along with her..."
Her gaze went from the guy in front of her to the woman a few feet away.
"Taiyōko Kushikage."
"Oh my, oh my! You actually remember me, Fuji-chan! That makes me so fucking happy!"
The woman walked up to them and went to give Mei a hug, but missed her target.
Mei glared intensely at the woman.
"Boo~ You're no fun."
"You were trying to annoy me by sending that bouquet of wisteria."
"As perceptive as ever." Kushikage turned to Minoru with a sky grin. "And who is this? Did you get tired of my piece of crap little brother and decide to go with this guy? Oh wait. This is the fucker I sent to give you those flowers!"
Mei said nothing, opting to just glare at the woman. She already knew that anything she said could be turned against her without any problem.
While Yuki was the type of person who could invert his truths and lies, this woman was able to completely twist words to her liking. Sometimes what was originally said was completely lost and replaced with anything the woman wanted.
"Hey! I have an idea!" She grabbed Mukuro in a one armed hug and got a big grin on her face. "Why don't we see who's stronger!? We'll use Mukuro here to determine that! You're new fuckboy verses Mukuro. Then we'll find Kiyoshi and have him fight to see who is stronger! Won't it be fun to see these shitfaced boys fighting like retarded apes!?"
The natural soldier... Depraved even after some years. She truly is someone that should be in a padded room. ...Even then...I doubt that would keep her in place.
Mei continued to keep her mouth shut and glare.
.
Minoru furrowed his brows as he continued to hear the conversation going on.
This must be the person she was talking about. The one who I shouldn't have met.
Just from looking at her attire and seeing her attitude, it was clear as to why he should not ever have met her. It was clear proof that Mei had been right about not liking this woman.
And yet...
"I'm not too sure who you are, but I am fine with this," Minoru said as he handed Suzume the bouquet. "So how are we going to do this?"
I might get a better understanding of things by doing this.
The corpse-like boy who seemed to be younger than Minoru himself let out a long yawn before lazily looking over at him.
Minoru felt a shiver run down his spine as the boy stared at him with little to no emotions. His eyes had become unnerving the moment they landed on him, stopping him from properly thinking for the moment.
"I guess I doooon't have aaaaaa choice," Mukuro sighed out. "Twoooo out of threee sound fine to yoooou?"
Finally finding his voice once more, Minoru let out a quick response.
"S-sure... I'm up for it."
"Minoru...you don't actually have to fight..." Mei glanced at Minoru then went back to glaring at Kushikage. "Besides... He's not someone you can beat. Your style of fighting is bad against his."
"It's fine. I want to make sure of something, and this is the best way to do that."
"Then let's get started."
.
Mei watched as the two went off to get their fight started. She had forgotten that Suzume was there, until she started talking. After a small discussion, the three girls went over to see the fights go down.
As long as Yuki doesn't come by when they're fighting... I guess I could see how much stronger he's gotten...
"Don't worry, Fuji. Your new fuckboy will only get a mild beating."
Mei could only pray that this fight would end quickly so she did not have to handle these two any longer.