With everything currently going on, Minoru had failed to notice something. It was the fact that his dog was not there anymore.

Taka was a rather smart dog, so he likely went to see if he could find his fellow dog. Said dog was in the care of B-Rank Hogo Oshiro. There wasn't much to worry about there, but it was still something he had overlooked.

He could only think it was due to the strange stare he was getting from the corpse-like boy. It had forced his guard to come up and forget about his surroundings.

Did I do something to this guy?

That was all Minoru could think of as he tried to keep out of the corpse boy's sight. That was more difficult than he thought when those dead-looking eyes seemed to have a lock on him and would not budge from him.

As he continued to get stared at, Minoru noticed something odd about the boy's eyes. They were the same onyx eyes he had seen on someone else. Who that person was could not be thought of right now with those eyes seeming to look right into his very being.

"Hey! I have an idea! 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!?"

Minoru focused back in in the conversation to see the woman holding her brother while grinning at him.

Mei seemed to hate this woman and Minoru could start to see why. She was someone that seemed to get on everyone's bad side. In a way, she reminded him of Denji, and that was never a good thing.

"I'm not too sure who you are, but I am fine with this," he 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 doon't have aaa choice," Mukuro sighed out. "Twooo out of threee sound fine to yooou?"

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... Besides...he's not someone you can beat. Your style of fighting is bad against his."

There was no way Minoru could feel insulted by the look he was getting from Mei. If it was from anyone else then he would think they had no faith in him, but from Mei it really looked like a mother worrying over her child.

Ah. I guess you would get that kind of personality when dealing with those pups as long as she has.

Still, that did not discourage him from the fight. It really boosted his fighting spirit more.

"Then let's get started."

With that being said, the two made their way to the booths to start their match.

Inukai hummed happily as he showed the two younger ones the way around the large building. It had been pounded into him by his sisters to be friendly, so there really was not reason for him not to be happy about what he was doing.

He took a glance over his shoulder to see the two talking while Hoshi held Taka in her arms. Apparently the pup had taken a liking to the girl. That was to be expected.

Hm~ Hm~ Should I take a picture for Yuki~? I'm sure he would enjoy seeing that.

Laughing to himself, Inukai didn't notice the two walk closer to him.

"Inukai-san, can I ask something?"

"Hm? Sure. And there's no need to be so formal. Go ahead and just call me Inu. A certain someone use to do it all the time before switching over to what Mino and Shiro-chan call me."

"R-right... Ahem. Well, I was wondering what the owner of Taka-kun is like."

Before answering, Inukai took a moment to fully appreciate what this girl was like. This girl was so much like his "Shiro-chan" that there was no way he could not instantly widen his smile at seeing her.

If Kaede had noticed the behavior he said nothing about it. The odd tendencies coming from Inukai could be considered normal to others, meaning he had no right to judge.

"Mino's really cool. It's rather hard to get on his bad side, so you don't need to worry about that. Also, he's around the same level of fighting as your bro- Geh!"

"Hm? As who?"

"A-as... As your Border's top ranked agents! He's really strong! Yup! Yup!"

Inukai took a glance to see that Kaede had indeed noticed his slip up. IF he wanted to say something, Inukai made sure to cut it off by going into his own mind.

Even so... I hope he doesn't meet those two. That might not end up so well with how...forward they are...

Inukai let out a small hum as he continued with his thoughts.

Minoru had to admit to himself that he was curious as to what his opponent would be like when fighting. Most people didn't seem too different when entering a battle, but there were always those exceptions. Some may be more ferocious while others could be more smooth in their movements.

Overall, a new opponent was always something to look forward to since they could be completely different from others or be similar to others. It was up to the fighters to determine what kind of fight it would be.

This boy didn't seem to give any sign that he changed what he was like when in a fight. He continued to slouch and seem bored with everything around him as the two waited for the countdown to end.

Once it did...

Need to make the first move!

.

Seeing Minoru disappear was an obvious sign of Chameleon being used. Once that was figured out, all that would need to be done was wait for the opponent to try and attack him so that he could find him.

Mukuro turned his head a bit as if trying to crack his neck. The action was not meant to actually hear his neck pop, rather it was just a small show of boredom at what seemed to be a less than exciting battle.

After a few seconds of twisting his neck, Mukuro looked over his shoulder before jumping to the side.

He stuck his foot out a bit, but made sure to catch himself with his other one. He felt something connect with his foot and saw a bit of the dirt on the ground fly up.

He spun on his heel and used the back of he leg to hit the unseen force that had tripped.

He felt his leg get caught on something, but didn't dwell on it for more than a few seconds.

He bent down to steady himself on his hands while he used his free leg to aim a kick higher than where his other one was.

It connected.

With his leg free, Mukuro jumped back and onto one of the buildings.

Letting out a small sigh, he turned his body again.

He balanced himself on the building and used his elbow to hit the air behind him.

It connected.

He turned around in time to see Minoru appear.

Minoru rushed at him with his fist reeled back.

.

Since using Chameleon didn't seem to be working, frontal attacks were the next best thing. He was rather agile, so quick attacks, one after another, could work out. So long as his opponent didn't dodge every single attack heading for him.

Which he did.

It was really amazing to see how Mukuro continually dodged the strikes from the punches. He moved as if he was going to fall over at any moment. Each movement was like the non-existent wind was blowing him in one direction before making him go in the other.

Alright then... Next up.

Since Minoru was someone who could use his body as a weapon, he had more range of options when it came to attacking. Since using his body meant that he didn't have to use a Trigger he could go about attacking in a multitude of ways.

One such way was to make a Scorpion blade shoot froward with one of his punches while shooting off Viper from the side.

Even if he dodges this, I can get a few steps closer to him.

"!?"

What happened next was something that he could not have planned for.

Minoru watched as his opponent did not move right, left, back, up, or down.

The direction he chose to move was forward - towards Minoru.

When moving to avoid an attack, most of the time the defender would pick the most optimal direction. Even if they could not dodge it completely, they would be able to lessen any damage done to them by choosing a direction that would move them further away from the attack.

Since Mukuro chose to move forward, Minoru didn't have time to change his direction or slow down his speed. That meant he would crash right into the smaller male with full force.

Even so, that means I can attack him!

Mei had to let out a frustrated sigh as she watched the fight continue.

She knew multiple things about multiple people. She knew about how some fought. She knew how some acted when alone. She knew how some solved problems. She knew so much about so many people.

She also knew how this fight would play out.

I know that Minoru won't be mad about losing, but...

Just watching as the younger male won meant that the large woman near her would gloat about her brother winning against someone like Minoru. Someone who was well off when it came to skill and rank.

Having to hear such things from such a woman was something she never wanted to deal with.

"Hey~ Fuji~ Would you mind telling me why exactly this is a bad matchup for your fuckboy~? I'll give him credit for at least appearing to be as good as a B-Rank, but I really can't see anything other than that~ Could it be his dick~?"

"I will punch you!"

Taking a quick breath, Mei calmed herself before speaking once more.

"Minoru is an A-Rank. And he deserves that spot, so stop saying things like that. Although...having to wait for you to stop being such a bit-...witch is something akin to waiting for that boy to stop following you around like a lost puppy."

Kushikage gave a grin while she watched the fight.

Mei truly hated this woman with every fiber of her being.

"Besides, he is my cousin. So your words are even more disgusting."

The next words that came out were disturbing in their own right.

"Hey, incest is wincest to a lot of people."

"Just go die!"

Mukuro looked as bored and tired as the beginning of the fight.

He could tell by what his opponent saw that he thought this was a good chance to attack.

He is anooother person who is easy toooo understand. I suppooose that's fine. That juuust means he can haaave people like hiiim around until he is content with life. Then aaagain, it's a bit disappointing. I figurrrred that he would beeee different since he waaas with Fuji-nee.

Letting out a small sigh, Mukuro continued forward without a care.

And so he takes hiiimself out. He really muuust be a low ranked persooon.

As soon as he was only two steps way from Minoru, he lowered his body until he was going under the other's arm. He took a large step forward and managed to get behind Minoru.

He used one leg to balanced himself on the building. With the other leg, he pushed Minoru forward.

With no way of slowing down or changing the course of the Viper shots, Minoru was stuck taking the hits he had fired.

Mukuro watched with a bored expression as his opponent got shot multiple times by the shots he had just fired.

A siiiimple fight is alwaaays short.

With that thought in mind, he knew that it would be easy to take the older male out a second time in a row.

Everyone learns from losing or winning, that was a simple fact. Since that fact was so simple, Mukuro knew it so well that there was no way that he was going to change the way he fought in the next battle.

Minoru had seen him counter his attacks without launching one of his own. That meant he would be more ready for the counters and focus on those while being careful.

All Mukuro had to do was not use counters for the next fight.

There are always different ways for things to get done.

This was no exception.

The four had finally made it to where they needed to be. It didn't seem like a long walk, since they were all talking to each other, but they had still wanted to get there as quickly as possible.

Hoshi and Kaede gave the oldest one bows as appreciation for guiding them in the right direction. It was the least they could do since he had done something so nice.

"Thanks again for showing us the way, Inukai-senpai."

"Yeah. Thanks."

"No problem. Hope you two find the people you were looking for."

Inukai gave the two a big smile.

"Kaede! Over here!"

The three turned to see a girl waving at them while three others tried to hide their faces.

Hoshi gave a small smile towards the girls and the young boy next to her. She understood the feeling of a younger siblings since she was the youngest of four.

She gave a small laugh while lightly patting him on the back.

"Urg... Well, that's my sister and her friends... It was nice meeting guys. Hope we can meet again on better terms. See ya."

"Right. We will see you around, Kaede-kun."

Hoshi waved as the boy left.

So that's his sister... I wonder what she is like...

.

Inukai nodded his head a few times.

He looked around the area while Taka was being held in his arms. He felt the dog wiggle a bit in his arms and turned towards where the dog was looking. From there he noticed the person he had been looking for.

"Well, I'll see you around, Hoshi-chan."

Hoshi turned towards him and gave him another quick bow.

"A-ah! Right! I will see you later, Senpai!"

"Just call me Inu, 'kay?"

With that the other B-Rank and puppy left.

As he was walking away, he couldn't help the smile on his face.

That girl reminded him of one of his friends when it came to looks, but it definitely wasn't the same when it came to personality. Although that was a good thing, in his opinion.

I guess she didn't recognize me since we've only met twice. Excluding a few minutes ago. I guess I'll just have to tell Kiyo about this later.

.

Hoshi was left to wander around the area aimlessly.

She recognized some faces here and there, but none of them were the people she was looking for. That meant all she could do was continue walking until she spotted someone.

As if by a miracle, she heard a familiar voice that guided her to where she wanted to be.

"What was the point of fighting him if you weren't going to take things seriously? As someone who had done that before, I know how insulting that is to the opponent."

"Oh."

"'Oh.' That's all you have to say? Tsk. I guess I really shouldn't expect more from you. And as for you. ...You wanted him to fight just because Mei was here... Right?"

"I really thought that Minoru guy would win at least once. Guess I was wrong. But man was it surprising to find out he's gay! I'll also give it to him for not crying like a bitch after our lovely brother here beat the crap outta him."

"He's not the type to get mad or sad after a loss."

"Oh? And you know this how?"

"Because unlike you, I make friends instead of enemies."

"Really now~?"

Hearing the voices and name, Hoshi went wide eyed before rushing to them. She saw three people standing there. One was a tall woman while the other two were older looking boys. She did recognize two of them.

Running up to them, Hoshi spread her arms out while latching onto the tall woman. It may have made her look like a child right now but she didn't care. She was just happy to see two of her siblings again.

"Kushi-nee! Muku-nii!"

"Hey, Ho-chan! You've grown! Even your boobs have grown! And you're a B-Rank now? That's awesome!"

After being petted by her older sister, Hoshi noticed the other person standing there. He looked familiar with his black hair and onyx eyes. Someone from long ago who she no longer saw anywhere.

Tilting her head, she looked at the third person.

"Hm? Who is this? He seems...familiar..."

"Thaaat's because he's Ki- Gah!..."

The person smiled at Hoshi like an older brother would to their younger siblings. It made her heart hurt a bit since it reminded her of that person from long ago. They both had the same smile that made her feel safe.

But this was a completely different person from that guy.

"Hello. I don't think we've formally met yet. I am Tsukiko Yuki. Nice to make your acquaintance."

Hoshi looked from her downed brother to the boy giving her a bright smile. Her mind went right to Kaede when she heard the name, but remembered that the boy said he only had a sister.

"Um... Yes... Nice to meet you as well..."

"I may seem to be a new person to you, but I actually know quite a bit about you." The boy had started forcing his smile even more. "My former Operator had told me she gave you her points from the invasion, making you a B-Rank. You are also a classmate of two of my former teammates. Toby Awdry and Kotowari Takeshi."

"Ah! So you're that Tsukiko-san!? Those two always talk about you! It is very nice to meet you!"

Hoshi gave a deep bow while something came into her head.

He spoke as if he had not been with them through multiple things. From them joining Border to the invasion - it all sounded like he knew nothing of those times.

"Wait... You said former... Does that mean..."

"Tsukiko Squad is disbanded. I no longer have a squad, and thereby default, neither do they. You are free to ask them if they wish to make a squad with you." The boy's smile had become less forced. "Before you ask why I did that... Well, let's just say that I thought it was time that they learn to fly by themselves."

"Fly by...-"

She was quickly interrupted by the sound of footsteps drawing closer to them all.

"Looks like I'm the last one here. Man, so much for a nice welcoming."

The four turned their heads to see Akasora Chishi walking up to them with a boy behind him.

.

Hoshi could not recognize the boy, but she could understand his feelings of nervousness. She too felt nervous about all of this, so she smiled down at him as he clung to Akasora's side.

"Sensei, have you been out because you were here the whole time?"

Akasora let out a small sigh while he rubbed the back of his head.

"Yeah. Actually... I'm no longer teaching there. I've gotta look over the new branch now, so I won't be having the time to teach anymore. It really sucks, you know. I really loved that job, but I actually owe Masafumi quite a bit, so this is the least I can do for him."

"Masafumi?"

"...Director Shinoda..."

All attention went to the boy right behind Akasora. He was a shy looking boy with his hair passing his eyes and his head facing the ground. He tried his best to hide behind Akasora as much as he could.

"Yeah. Shinoda..."

Clapping his hands, Akasora got all of their attention as he continued.

"Anyways! Why don't we get introductions out of the way, then all head over to the new- Ah. I mean to the Yagura Branch office? You all know me and Yuki, so the rest of you, introduce yourselves."

Seeing that no one else was speaking, Hoshi gave a beaming smile while also giving a quick bow to the one behind Akasora.

"H-hello! I am Taiyōko Hoshi. It is nice to meet you three."

"Name's Taiyōko Kushikage. Let's get along, 'kay?"

"Taiyōko Mukuro."

The boy seemed to zone in on Yuki, as if asking for permission. Once the older boy nodded to him, he looked up at Akasora with the same expression.

Feeling bad for the boy, Hoshi made sure to give an encouraging smile.

She felt his nervousness even more now.

"...Tenryū Shokubutsu..."

The shy boy standing behind Akasora was the last to speak. His voice was so low that they all have to strain their ears to hear him.

"Shokubutsu here is actually my nephew. So be nice," Akasora said as he patted the boy's head. "Now why don't we get going?"

Hoshi watched as they all started to leave.

One thought stayed with her as they all turned their backs on her.

So these are the Yagura Branch members... At least I know almost all of them.