All members of Kuruma Squad and Ninomiya Squad looked at the television as if there was something completely abnormal about it. As if the people displayed on it would come out at any time to attack them.

There was nothing particularly wrong with what was being displayed. It was Arashiyama Squad meeting up with Tsukiko Yuki. It seemed normal enough for any Border agent when they were fighting and needed to come up with a plan.

But that was why it seemed so odd.

There seemed to be a large amount of time between Yuki fighting solo to all of them fighting as a team. The opponents had seemed to stop attacking altogether and left them all alone to talk to each other about one thing or another.

"I had thought that it was odd for so many of them to be created in rapid succession like that. This at least explains what's going on."

Murakami was not surprised when everyone's attention turned to him as soon as he spoke. Everyone was looking at him with expressions he expected to get. Taichi and Kuruma looked confused, Tsuji only furrowing his brows, and both Ninomiya and Inukai seeming to have some kind of idea.

Knowing that they were all waiting for an answer, he obliged with no hesitation.

"It's because of Sen... Sorry. Takato-senpai's Side Effect," he said, not liking the way that name came off of his tongue. "Before anything... Do you guys know what her Side Effect is?"

His question was directed at the two from his team and Tsuji. There was no need to ask Ninomiya and Inukai when he already knew the answer to that.

"Takato-san has a Side Effect? That's news to me..."

"Ah, ah~ I really can't remember that Tsuji-chan doesn't know these things! We've really been lacking in telling him things!"

"More like we really don't have a reason to tell him. Everyone who needs to know these things already knows. Even so..."

"Yeah. I'm sure Mei-san wouldn't mind if we told these guys. C'mon, Ninomiya-san, it's fine if they know. From how things have been playing out lately, I'm sure she's ready to let everything out anyways. Besides, Mei-san has already calculated that this would happen. Probably."

"That 'probably' could turn into something later on. But you're right. Fine. Murakami, continue explaining. You're better at that when it comes to those two than either of us."

Murakami gave a hum.

He turned to his teammates and Tsuji once more.

"In basic terms; Senpai's Side Effect is calculations. I don't actually know exactly how much she can calculate, or how fast, but I do know that she can calculate multiple things in a matter of seconds. She narrows things down to the point that it's borderline precognition. Although, unlike Jin-san, she doesn't actually see the future. Her calculations are simply that accurate."

"That actually explains a lot. It's no wonder Tsuki-... The former Tsukiko Squad could get things done with pinpoint accuracy. If Takato was able to tell them everything they needed to know then the room for errors would be much smaller."

"That's not to say her Side Effect doesn't have any flaws. Like I said, her calculations aren't precognition, just near that level. What's more, if she's lacking in information then she can't register it into her mind. The same goes for wrong information. It's like putting a false number into a calculator; you can do the math perfectly but still get the wrong answer."

"So how does her Side Effect come into play for what's happening right now? If anything, it seems like things should be going perfectly for them if she has the information she needs."

Murakami let out a sigh.

He quickly regretted doing that since it was directed towards his former upperclassman instead of his classmate. While he could say what he wanted about Yuki, he had too much respect for Mei to say something terrible about her.

The sigh was an equivalent to that in his mind.

"If she starts calculating a large amount of information for long periods of time... She goes into a sort of daze and gets carried away with what she's doing. It's pretty hard to get her out of that daze once she's in it."

"I see. So she must have been in a daze while working to create those opponents and ended up getting taken in by it. That's why there was that moment of nothing happening then? Because someone got her out of that daze?"

"Yeah. If I had to guess... Akasora-sensei was the one to help out there. Besides me, there are only a very few amount of people who know about this. It's not really a secret, but there's never a reason to bring it up."

That seemed to be true enough as Ninomiya and Inukai seemed like this was news to them as well.

"You're kinda like an encyclopedia for those two, Kō! Nice job!"

"..."

Murakami was quick to place his head into his hands once he finally registered those words. They repeated a few times in his mind while he stared at the ground as if it held all the secrets to the world.

He had always had the feeling of knowing probably too much when it came to Yuki and Mei but thought nothing of it until now. There was never a reason to think that he knew too much, seeing as how he had always ended up being a sort of anchor for them when it came to their issues. He had tried to always help Mei out when he could, like a good underclassman, while also be there whenever Yuki was having body issues and couldn't continue on with the day.

That was when it fully sank in.

He truly did know too much about those two and how to deal with them. He could tell when Yuki was ready to collapse due to his illness or when Mei needed something that wasn't so eccentric around so her calculations wouldn't get the better of her. He knew of their past, who exactly they were related to and much more that no one else knew about or even had guesses for.

He slowly lifted his head to see Kuruma and Tsuji giving his a pitying look while Inukai grinned over to him, as if he knew exactly what he was thinking.

I even know about Tenryū. Yeah. I probably know too much about those two.

Murakami let out a final sigh, this time towards himself.

The best he could do at this point was resign himself to the fact that he may end up being an encyclopedia on Yuki and Mei for quite some time. Much to his annoyance.

He looked over at the television screen as a sort of escape from those thoughts and was not surprised in the slightest that the display of the Yagura Branch's might was now over.

He knew that the rest would be easy for his friend.

The sounds of her sister could be heard through the door to her room. While she was upstairs, locked up in a box of her own creation, her sister was happily yelling about what they had seen on the television downstairs. It was the same thing she had seen on her laptop screen.

Misaki Suzumebachi now understood exactly what she had originally thought.

The amount of force and strategy she saw from Yuki far exceeded that of anything he had shown when they were a squad. There were things he had done that she knew not even Toby could do, not something she could do, and not something Takeshi would even think to do.

It had taken her, Toby and Takeshi to take on those new trion soldiers from the last invasion and it only took Yuki to defeat one of them while also dealing with other trion soldiers who seemed stronger than your average one. The difference between the three of them and him showed amazingly during that portion of the fight.

Suzume noticed and counted how many different styles he had used as opposed to his own style. During that time, she also noticed exactly how little they knew of their former captain to begin with when she could not recognize the movements that were Yuki's and not someone else's. The attacks and defense he had implemented were much more smooth than most people she had seen before.

Once Arashiyama Squad had entered the fray there was even more for her to see. The teamwork between them and Yuki was something that gave her a feeling of pointlessness. Like everything they had done as Tsukiko Squad could not compare to the teamwork he showed with a team that was not his own. Some of the more simple things Yuki was able to do with Arashiyama Squad seemed to work far better than anything he had done with Tsukiko Squad as a whole.

We were honestly just playing around compared to this. What took us so long to come up with could honestly be done in seconds with a better squad.

Suzume gave a bitter laugh.

"I guess it honestly makes sense that he would leave us behind then. He can honestly do more without us around as his squad. There's no restrictions for him and nothing holding him back at this point.

It's honestly amazing to see how much he can do by himself."

There were two framed documents lined up on the bedroom wall where Suzume directed her eyes.

The one on the right side was a verification of Suzume's participation in the latest invasion, a parchment with Border's logo stamped on it. The words which were lined up on the page were about what she had accomplished during the time as both a member of Border as well as her role in pushing back one of the Neighbors.

Lined up in the same manner, on the left side was the certification verifying her affiliation with Tsukiko Squad. On this was also the proclamation that Suzume was welcomed into the team with no restrictions besides the usual ones applied to all Border agents.

"However... that was not a result of my actual ability. Heh. I still honestly wonder why Yuki-san would be so cruel as to give us those."

That was something from awhile ago, when she had been asked to join and obtained this certification.

"...It was probably because I ended up honestly switching positions from Attacker to Sniper and he knew things he shouldn't have because of Ken-kun. I should honestly hit Ken-kun again when I see him."

In the past she had not realized this fact and had often pushed her selfishness onto the older agent. She was indignant when they did not listen, however they had soothed her as they were adults.

With the passing of time she had become one of the members of a high ranking B-Squad which would stay near the top, and actually she should have been an equal to the rest of them...

...However on that day she had done it.

She had allowed for the disbandment with little argument and instead took to ignoring others unless necessary or to keep up an act of hollow enjoyment. At some point even that crumbled away to bitterness directed towards an unknown source.

Since that time, there had been no notifications about general meetings or anything else. When she was sitting alone in public areas for hours on end, or during practice with other Snipers, she had no response at all.

She understood that she was being as childish as her teammates.

However, because of outside sources, she had managed to get over some of her issues, if only for a bit.

She also wanted to ask some of the other agents about the current status of Toby and Takeshi. However...

"-This is almost as if I am honestly afraid of the reaction those two will give, even through I am still the upperclassman here."

While lowering her hips onto the bed even further she let out a sigh.

...She understood however, she knew she should not finish her thoughts that way.

She was distancing herself from them by arbitrarily deciding that the other two were avoiding her or not taking her seriously.

During inconvenient times like this she wanted to be alone, or if not that, then she wanted to be together with someone.

She was selfish, that was a bad habit.

However she understood quite well when it was when she had become like that.

"It was some time ago...about the third year of middle school."

She looked outside the window. Far away, Border's headquarters could be seen in the area, however...

"It was different when I first entered... It's honestly really different."

Suddenly she dropped her shoulders and collapsed onto the bed.

She thought that her hair would become horribly disheveled, however it would be fine if she set it later. Anyhow, it was because she had abruptly touched a part of herself that she didn't like. Even though the incident concerning the disbandment should not matter to her after she had decided to follow her teammates, once again it had come up.

She thought about sleeping for thirty minutes to refresh herself, so while looking out the window she collapsed backwards.

Her clothing was partially removed and was in a horrid state, however she thought that since she was alone it was fine.

She collapsed.

And immediately following that...

Outside the window, in the yard with the high wall, an idiot carrying a mountain of eroge was sneakily passing through.

"-!?"

.

Suzume lifted up the vertically-closing window at full speed and jumped out into the garden.

Looking to the right, there was an idiot who with his body drawn back in surprise, had turned one leg in her direction. Suzume faced her entire body towards there and pointed at the total idiot...

"H-Hey! What are you honestly doing in the yard of another person's house!?"

"Eh? What, Eh? Isn't that question kinda philosophical? People are already constantly-"

She slammed the opened window down using one finger, and with that loud noise the idiot stopped his philosophizing.

Ah, the sighing Suzume bent her body and looked down on the idiot.

"...Iko-san, I will ask once more, okay? -What are you honestly doing in the yard of another person's house?"

"Ah? Ahh!? —I'm not doin' anything in the yard, ya know!? I just have business within the storehouse 'round the back, I do!?"

"T-There is no storehouse at the back of my place!? Look!"

Pointing her finger and looking, there the ground of the yard held a lid which was open.

"Eh? Eeeeeh!? W-What is that!? Why is it that the ground at the back of my yard honestly has a hidden door that has been opened? Is it an illusion!?"

"Are ya stupid, obviously I created it of my own accord, 'kay?"

"It is true that is the only way that it could have happened, however when did you honestly create it!?"

Oi oi oi, the idiot sighed and readjusted his grip on the pile of boxes at his waist.

"When some of us were invited, I struck a deal with someone to make it in exchange for fifteen married wife genre eroge. So, this is one of my safe houses. I'm very blessed, don't ya think? Right? Right?"

Suzume opened her phone with a smile.

"Who ya callin?"

"The police. I don't honestly know how that person you mentioned made the storage house, but I can at least honestly get you in trouble here."

"Can't ya call someone else?"

"Okay."

Ikoma was actually a bit surprised at her answer.

"Ah, Kanzaki-san? I think that you are honestly searching for a person at the moment. Rather, a reason to beat this person. I get the feeling that that person is here. Will you come?"

"Yes, I am coming! I am super coming! Hey Kumagai-dono, please get the others to go ahead!"

"Eh? I don't understand what is going on, but everyone please go on ahead-! Hey Taka, this is an eroge box with that guy's scent so please remember it, okay?"

"Oh, we will have the remainder after you come back, right?"

Over there the situation appeared terribly chaotic; however Hiura seemed to be having fun. That was nice. For a moment Suzume hated herself for thinking that; however, right now the situation in front of her eyes took priority.

Suzume dropped her shoulders and looked at the man in front of her eyes.

"So, Iko-san, isn't there honestly something that you want to say?"

"Eh? Will ya grant me forgiveness?"

Suzume thought about that question. She had already made the arrangements for the two strong women to come. However this was a problem concerning her and him. That is why as for the meantime...

"Do you honestly have the intention to apologize?"

"That's..."

The idiot shrunk his body, and after taking a position of servitude offered a pile of about ten eroge in her direction. Then he placed his hand on his cheek and in a flirtatious manner said:

"Could ya forgive me with this?"

The first thing Tsukiko Yuki did when he saw Mei again was continually flick her on the forehead. Each one getting more rough.

Mei could only try and shield herself from the onslaught of annoying flicks.

The others were simply watching with satisfied looks or just ignoring them completely.

"Okay... That's really annoying. Yuki, stop this already."

"That's what you get for not being careful and making trouble for Tora-san and the rest of us. Now the directors are put in an odd position again. I'm sure you just did it because you wanted to test me and not because you wanted to improve the image of Yagura Branch."

Mei backed away to look at Yuki face-to-face.

She knew that what he was saying was correct. Seeing how far he could go by himself was a major factor in her thinking. Troubling Director Shinoda was no something she wanted, but she felt like she had to show her current squad something that was important.

Yuki clearly understood that but he said nothing since he also knew that it would just make the directors even more mad at her.

"Look... All I need to do is explain what happened to those reporters. It will be annoying, but I caused this incident and plan on taking responsibility for it. Compared to you only hours ago, it shouldn't be too much trouble. I know your limits as well as you do and wanted to see how far I could push you."

"No. I'm starting to think you don't know my limits either. You went overboard this time, like other times. You took things too far this time by making it hard for others to keep up. Even if it wasn't your fault completely, it does help your image a bit."

"I haven't been going overboard lately."

"That is because of our former squad. You were afraid of really going all out in front of them since you wanted to keep up the image as much as I did."

The ones speaking made sure that Arashiyama Squad was not listening and instead were doing something else.

Their voices were low enough so that only they heard the words.

"You didn't want to freak them out with your Side Effect. Or even that you had one to begin with. That's why I was worried when you helped me out against that Neighbor during the invasion."

"This conversation seems so familiar that it's a bit disturbing..."

"You aren't even listening to me! Hm... Whatever. What's done is done and there's else to be done about it. Those reporters would use whatever they could to get a scoop. Even if you didn't do that, they would have found some fault in something I did."

"We were live, so others saw you as well. Even if they tried to do something, others would know exactly what happened. They have to report things accurately or they will be accused of false information. Basically, we had already gotten them in checkmate before we even started the fight."

Yuki nodded his head. He looked at his teacher and Shinoda with a relaxed expression. The truth Mei was saying got through to him clearly. They had managed to plan far ahead thanks to her.

A few things were riding on this presentation. All of those reporters were there to watch, it was live for everyone else to watch, it showed the strength of the Yagura Branch and it's members, and it also put Yuki in a sort of spotlight that allowed his former team to see him.

"Alright then, glad that is over with."

Mei knew it all along. She had already calculated how things would end up after having the squad disbanded and at least one of them seeing what their former captain was capable of without them around.

She had originally thought that Takeshi would have been the one to see the footage of Yuki fighting against the trion soldiers she and Sawamura had been in charge of making. It was still within her calculations that Suzume was the one who had watched what happened with Yuki instead.

It had already been a day since the conference and the fight involving Yuki. Within that time she had been able to judged just how Toby, Takeshi and Suzume were handling everything while also keeping herself in check so she did not end up in another daze like before. That happening had been embarrassing enough for her to rage about after they had all left.

While she had been helping out the newly made Yagura Branch, Suzume had calmed down and come to terms with not having Yuki around them as captain.

Mei found that as a good advance forward for her. Even if she also thought all of this drama between the three younger agents was unnecessary and pointless. Those thoughts ran right next to her thoughts of hitting Yuki for putting them in this position to begin with.

So here they were, standing in their operating room while looking over their first opponents for the B-Rank Wars.

"So we're gonna finally start, huh? Who are our first opponents?"

"Ninomiya Squad and Hikigane Squad."

"Seriously!? Right from the start!? Hm... Whatever. I guess that's to be expected when we were lucky enough to keep a top position."

The newly formed Kotowari Squad was sitting in their operating room. They were discussing what their plans would be for the Rank Wars starting the next day. They had been training, but got nowhere.

Their petty arguments over simple things were starting to get on Mei's nerves to the point of her forcing them out so they could just go over everything.

"We're the lowest ranked squad between the three squads. Since we to pick which area we're in, I say we choose one that has a good cover area," said Toby.

"With Ninomiya-san's Hound? No way. I honestly think we should go with one that had large hills. That way I can get them from the top with Takeshi just bombarding them next to me. I would make sense. Plus, it honestly gives you enough breathing room, Toby."

"You're both wrong. We are going with this one. It has lots of obstacles that can be used to block Ninomiya's attacks," said Takeshi in a dull tone. "If we do things correctly, I can deal with Hikigane while the two of you can take out Ninomiya. That being said, we will deal with those two last. Suzume-senpai, you will need to take out Inukai and Girikage. Toby, you'll be in charge of holding back Tsuji while I deal with Kirikari."

Mei sat by her computer with a plain expression that gave nothing away.

She had been listening to them discuss their strategy while also focusing on things going on outside of the room. The agreement was that they would recreate a squad with the four of them with Takeshi being the official captain. That seemed fine enough for all of them, but right now it seemed like that did not matter at all when they could not agree on anything.

She had thought of speaking out to them, but figured this was the best course of action when it came to these three. Letting them get everything out may help them out later on. What was more was the fact that if they could not get things done without the help of either their former captain or Mei on such matters or it would have proven Yuki right.

Mei was well aware of what Yuki had wanted to do when he chose to disband their squad. He had told her about it and she would support it, like she had many other times.

"Screw it!"

Getting out of her thoughts, Mei saw that Toby was now missing from the group and Suzume seemed pretty pissed off and ready to leave. She could only guess what went down while in her thoughts and simply let out a sigh.

It was times like these that she wanted to go find Yuki to smack him upside the head for his stupidity.

"(Screw him! He's not even listening to us! Wasn't Mei suppose to be making these kinds of choices! That ass just thinks that since Yuki would give him some authority that...)"

Toby trailed off as his mind went back to when the squad's disbandment.

He violently scratched his own head, messing up his hair without a care. Without his hat to cover his head his brown hair stuck out in odd angles. The choice to bury his hat under layers of other things was made the day before. It had been a gift from Yuki that he would always wear as a sign go of his gratitude.

That wasn't the case anymore.

He didn't want to see the hat, so he tossed it aside to let his hair show.

He knew he was acting childish about this all, but he didn't seem to care.

"Are you still moping around? Shouldn't you be over this by now?"

Toby turned his head only slightly to see Kitora walking up to him with her arms crossed. Her expression was clearly showing her disappointment in him and his actions.

She had been one of the few people to approach him without any hint of fear of getting attacked.

"Tsukiko-senpai isn't dead. ...Or even in a different city for that matter. He is still in Mikado City, is still an A-Rank, and is still your friend. Stop acting like a child already. It's really unbecoming of you, you know."

"I know that already. I don't need you repeating that to me, thank you very much," answered Toby back with a glare. "But you don't seem to understand how it feels to be betrayed like-"

"I don't understand, but that's because I can easily get over stuff like this. As long as a person like that isn't dead, I don't understand."

Kitora huffed as her stare became more harsh. Even with the harsh stare, it held a small amount of worry for him.

"As long as I know they're alive, I won't think I've been betrayed. Unless they actually betray me."

"Well he did betray me! He betrayed the whole squad! He-"

"How did he betray you?"

"He just left us! He didn't give any sign or warning! (He just left us!)"

"Stop sounding like a spoiled brat! He has his reason for leaving, I'm sure! You, Kotowari, and Misaki-senpai are just being brats! He's not going to always be there for you, so grow up and deal with it!"

"(Who the fuck are you calling a spoiled brat!)"

The two continued to glare at each other while the sounds of footsteps could be heard. Once they got close enough to hear easily, a voice spoke up over them.

"She is correct. You seem to be as much of a brat as before. This sight actually makes me rather pleased to know that you left."

.

The sudden arrival of someone new was unexpected, yet neither one lowered their gaze from each other. They turned to see who the voice belonged to and saw a tall man wearing a suit walking up to them. His skin tone, hair, and expression greatly resembled the mad dog standing in front of Kitora.

When he was looking at Kitora, his face held a neutral expression that did not give anything away. It was not uncommon for adults like him to have these kinds of expressions when it came to people they did not know. The same could not be said when it came to people he knew.

Kitora could hear an audible growl come from Toby as his glare turned from her to the man. The glare was met with a look of disgust from the man, who seemed ready to do something about Toby and his growling.

"So this is where you have been. We knew you came to Japan, but didn't image you would be working here," the man said as he turned his gaze to Kitora with no issue. "That emblem... I see. You are a part of Arashiyama Squad, correct?"

"That is correct. I am Kitora Ai. May I help you?"

Kitora was unsure of why this man reminded her of Toby, or why the two looked ready to go for the other's throat, but that did not mean she would not show the respect this man deserved. He seemed to be important enough to hold himself in such high regards while also knowing what squad she was a part of by simply looking at her emblem.

"I am glad to have found someone from the squad that represents Border. It makes things easier for me." The man continued to speak in a professional tone while staring directly into Kitora's eyes, unnerving her a bit. "I am to speak with your higher-ups. Would you mind helping me find them?"

"No, sir, I would not mind. But, if I may ask, who are you? I would like clarification as to who I am bringing to the directors."

"I am-"

"He is a shitty old man that should try and find his own damn way around."

Kitora was shocked at hearing Toby say this. She knew he could be rash and impulsive, but she also knew he could be well behaved when speaking to important people - like this guy seemed to be.

She was about to berate him for this but was surprised yet again when the man simply slapped Toby across the face, leaving a red mark on the boy's face.

It was clear that Toby was not in his trion body from the hard sound that came from his face being hit.

"It seems you still don't know how to speak to those above you. I suppose letting you run away wasn't any help with your attitude."

"You let me run-...!?"

Although she wanted to check and see if Toby was alright, Kitora could see they were gaining unwanted attention and tried to figure out how to defuse the situation quickly.

"I'm sorry, but what is going on here?"

The group turned to the new voice to see the leader of Kitora's squad, the face of Border and one of the A-Rank squad leaders - Arashiyama Jun. He looked at the scene before him with a calm expression and had a few guesses as to what was going on.

He moved forward with large, but steady steps. He stood next to Kitora while sizing up the situation in full. The redness on Toby's face was not missed by him, yet he said nothing about it, instead just speaking to Kitora while looking at the man in front of them.

"Kitora, go take Awdry away while I show this man to the meeting room."

"Right. Come on-..."

"Don't touch me. I can walk on my own." Toby gave a final glare at the man with all his might. "A slap like this is nothing compared to before."

"Toby-..."

"I believe you asked who I was, Miss Kitora."

Straightening his tie, the man looked down at the two with cold eyes.

"I am the owner of a wealthy company-"

"And my shitty father..."

"Henry Awdry. A pleasure to meet you."

Suzume let out a sigh while looking through her phone.

There was no particular reason she was looking through her phone, there was simply a want for a distraction from what had happened earlier.

She had witnessed what Yuki had been capable of without them and resigned herself to the fact that they were nowhere near his level, even with all three of them. That was fine with her, it was nothing she didn't already know, but that meant that she was the only one between her team that seemed to just be focused on working through the B-Rank Wars.

"Honestly... We're never going to be able to take on the #1 and #3 B-Rank squads like this... Even with Minu-chan and Narasaka's help, I can't keep my mind focused enough for a perfect snipe. Speaking of which... Why did Narasaka help me out...?"

"Hey, hey, hey, this doesn't look like the Suzu-chan who seemed to cheer up after rocking out! Where's the smiling girl?" asked Satori as he quickly made his way to her. "Do I need to do something amazing to see you smiling again?"

"I'm fine, Ken-kun. Well, maybe not at 100% yet, but I think I'm honestly doing better than Take or Toby. Those two have been at each other's throats for a while now," said Suzume with a downcast look. "I was just thinking that we really aren't a squad anymore. Yuki-san was what held us together before, and even Mei-san can't seem to get those two to stop arguing once they start."

"That sucks. Maybe you should just dis-.."

"Don't say that! We've already had to deal with that once! Honestly! You're no help!"

"Hey now, let me finish." Satori put up his arms up for defense. "I was going to say that if you three continue to act like this then there's no point in trying to force yourselves to stay as a squad. It won't work out if the three of you can't completely see eye-to-eye. Maybe it would just be better for you guys to be solo agents for a while then stay a squad that can't stand each other."

"Hm. You honestly sound like Narasaka when you say that. He told me that I might as well quite being a member of Border if I'm going to continue to be down about the whole thing."

"See? He knows. And apparently you're the only one who's actually trying to get over it. You seem to be doing well with this. I'm glad. I wouldn't be getting a payment from you if you didn't go back to normal~"

"Hm... Thank you, Ken. Honestly."

Satori gave a grin as Suzume smiled back.

He was glad to see her getting better. Kitora had told them all of how Toby was currently acting with it being easy to guess what Takeshi was like during all of this, so he didn't want Suzume to be like either one of them.

What he did not expect was for her to walk up to him and give him a small kiss on the cheek. His cheeks went a little red as he turned to see her giving him a more joyful smile and a peace sign.

"That was a thank you for helping me out. The second thanks are some lessons to help you honestly get a date whenever you want~ I will honestly turn you into the ultimate lady's man."

"Oh, my. Are we interrupting something?"

.

The two of them jumped at the voice that came up from behind them.

The two turned to see a grown woman looking at them with a hand covering her mouth and a girl who seemed to be a few years younger than them in a dress. They both had brown hair and some shade of green for their eyes. While the woman's hair was long, the girl's hair was cut short.

"Mom? Mitsu? What are you two doing here? Actually... Yeah. What about the shop?"

"H-huh? That's your mom? Not your sister?"

Satori looked from Suzume to the two ladies in front of them.

"Honestly?"

"Oh, stop. You're making me blush," the older woman said as she put a hand on her cheek.

"Hey, hey, Nee-chan, is this guy seriously your boyfriend?"

"B-boyfriend!? No! He's just a friend and fellow Sniper! Honestly! Why'd you have to bring her?" asked Suzume while looking at her mother with crossed arms. "And you still haven't honestly answered my question!"

"I'm actually a little curious about this boy as well."

"Hello, Misaki-san. I am Satori Ken, Sniper of the Arashiyama Squad. It's a pleasure to finally meet Suzu-chan's family."

"Oh, my. So polite as well. So this is one of the boys you talk about, Suzumebachi-chan. He seems like a great catch."

"Mother!"

"I am only kidding."

The older woman turned back to Satori and gave her own small bow.

"Hello. I am Misaki Seihana. I was just playing around. I easily recognized you from the television. I want to thank you for all your hard work. And also, for taking care of my daughter."

"Ha ha ha... It's nothing. We're classmates and fellow Snipers, so of course I would take care of her."

Satori scratched the back of his head sheepishly as Seihana let out a giggle.

As they spoke, Satori started to wonder why exactly he had yet to meet either of these two people who seemed to be family for Suzume. There had been a few times when he went over to the Misaki residence for whatever reason, but neither one had been seen during those times.

This was not the time to ask any questions about that, he knew, so he just continued on with their current discussion as if there was not something wrong being felt in his chest.

"Then I will be counting on you, Satori-kun."

"Hey, hey, what about me? I'm Misaki Mitsubachi! I'm Nee-chan's little sister!"

"Nice to meet you too, Mitsubachi-chan."

"Oh, yes. Suzumebachi-chan, I met the other boy you always talk about. Narasaka-kun, I believe his name was. He seemed quite nice as well," said Seihana with a smile. "He did not seem as energetic as Satori-kun here, but he seemed rather pleasant to speak with. I truly don't see why you complain about him so much."

None of the girls noticed that Statori has tensed up when he heard the older woman say the fellow Sniper's name. He had been getting a little irritated whenever Suzume had started ranting about Sniper from Miwa Squad, or when he would see them "arguing". He didn't really know why since this had always been a thing between the two, but he did know that he always wanted to change the subject or separate the two.

The feelings in his chest grew a bit more. Now it felt like a bit of irritation was rising up instead of an odd feeling.

"One more time... What are you two honestly doing here!? Please tell me that you aren't here just to play around. Even if you're honestly my mom, I can't really say it's fine to be here just to play."

"Oh, my. My apologizes then. I didn't mean for it to truly seem that way. We wanted to take a look around so we won't get lost the next time we come here."

"Why would you come back? Actually, a better question: how did you even get in here? Normal citizens should be kept from just walking in whenever they want."

"Oh, we got in here with the help of an old acquaintance. He has always been so nice and helpful that I had decided to truly go out of my way and ask him for this favor. Likewise, his nephew seemed to vouch for us."

Now that was strange to both Snipers.

The person in question had to have been someone important if they allowed the Misaki mother to enter the building with her daughter. Most times this would only happen if something major came up, but there had been no word of such a thing happening.

But before they could have her elaborate, she spoke up once more.

"As for why I would be coming back. Truly put, we will come by to watch you and your squad in that tournament you have mentioned, of course."

"I've also honestly told you that you don't need to actually be here to watch it."

"Hey, hey, you didn't seriously expect us to not watch it, did you!? I wanna see your seriously awesome sniping skills!"

"She really is awesome while sniping, but you should see her when she has her blade out. That's when she's super ultra mega awesome cool," said Satori with a grin. The expression in Mitsubachi's face made his grin turn into a smile. "Yeah! It's just that cool."

Seihana gave another giggle as she leaned towards her oldest daughter.

The mischievous look in her eyes did not go unnoticed.

"Oh, my... So is this truly the boy you pick?"

"Wh-wh-what are you saying!? Honestly! I've told you already that he's honestly just a friend! You're so embarrassing! I didn't think I could actually get embarrassed in front of Ken-kun, but you honestly a managed it! Mom... You're honestly a scary woman..."

Suzume covered her face to hide the blush that quickly spread to her cheeks.

Seihana gave a smile at her daughter's embarrassment. It was clear that she was enjoying every moment of tormenting her daughter in front of Satori.

"Satori-kun, may I give you some advice?"

"Advice? For what?"

"To win my daughter's heart of course." The oldest woman couldn't help the next giggle come out as the two Snipers went completely red. "You see, she just loves clichés. From a boy singing to her, all the way down to an accident that puts her face a few inches away from the boy's."

"Mother! Honestly! Shut up now!"

Hearing this, Satori remembered an incident that had happened concerning Suzume and Narasaka where in the two had ended up in an interesting position. That same day she had even kissed both him and Narasaka, yet she did not seem effected by it at all.

Yet here she was, waving her hands in front of her mother before doing so in front of him. The amount of red on her face was an amazing sight that he wanted to take a picture of at the moment. The only thing that prevented him from doing that was the fact that Suzume would quickly get a hold of him before he could run away.

"Don't lie to him like that!"

"But I'm not lying. You went on and on when that day was over about how that Narasaka-kun was able to truly pull off a great cliché."

"Hey, hey, she's right! You even said that you had to seriously try super hard not to blush right in front of him!"

"Not to mention when you said you were ready to just kiss him on the ground."

By this point, Satori was starting to lose his grin. The more he heard about how Suzume felt at that moment, the more he felt like marching up to Narasaka and demanding he apologize to Suzume for doing that. Even if it was not his intention in the first place.

.

After yelling at them some more, Suzume had been able to send her family off to go find the area they were looking for. She crossed her arms and puffed out her red cheeks. She always forgot that her sister and mother were as much into shipping others as her.

"Honestly... Don't listen to them, Ken-kun. They just like embarrassing me."

"Hahaha. It's fine. Besides, now I've met your family."

"Yeah... Great."

Even with how red she was, and how her tone seemed, Satori could easily tell that Suzume was genuinely glad that he had met her family. It was hidden under layers of other feelings but he had always been able to figure her out easily enough.

That was enough of a reason to feel a bit superior to Narasaka.

Mei watched the official captain of their squad go over multiple strategies with little interest. It was less because the strategies were bad and more that Takeshi seemed to be overthinking things to extreme levels that it made it seem like he was actually going to war instead a tournament-style one.

She would have helped him if he had asked at any point in time, yet that didn't seem to be a possibility at the moment. So she just sat with something to eat in her hands.

"If we take out Tsuji first... But if they get in Ninomiya's line of fire... There is is the fact that both Hikigane and Kirikari are better than Toby is... I also need to think about the possibility of everyone attacking us at once so they don't have to deal with us..."

"Takeshi, you should take a break soon," said Mei as she finished her snack. "Thinking this much isn't good for you. Breaks are important too. Besides, there are obvious holes in everything you have said so far. Take a break and think things over afterwards."

"I know that, but in order to make sure we can make it to the top I need to come up with the perfect strategy. As I'm sure you know; that is quite hard when we are going against someone like Ninomiya and Hikigane."

"That's true. Even so, tiring yourself out like this is useless if you can't think properly later. And you know that thinking in the middle of battle is important when fighting against any opponent."

She didn't get an answer, so she continued.

"You should also know that every plan has some hole in it, meaning that you will have to improvise on the battlefield, which brings us back to the main reason."

"Very well. I will take a break...in a few minutes."

"..."

"..."

"Takeshi... You are going so far to make him 'see his error' because he reminds you of them. You're parents and your siblings. That is an idiotic reason. Yuki isn't like them. He isn't like your family was."

Mei knew that bringing up anything to do with Takeshi deceased family was like walking on a landmine; she had to be careful or else something would explode. That was why she spoke in a clam tone that would not set him off immediately.

"You are right again... He is worse than them."

Takeshi stopped moving his hand and simply stared at the table with clenched fists.

"They simply didn't connect with me, so I didn't care about them...even when they died in such a way...even when they were screaming... I didn't care. Him on the other hand... He forced a connection onto me and then he just shreds it to pieces...as if he didn't care..."

"He did...does care. He wants you all to get stro-"

"Then why did he leave us?"

This was a question she had answered multiple times, yet it seemed as though it would never get through to Takeshi no matter how times she repeated herself. The whole thing just made her sigh in resignation. Even if she changed the way she phrased it, even if she made him remember everything up until now, he still didn't listen. That left her with one option left.

It was something she did not want to bring up without the consent of Yuki, as per their agreement, but the fact that he had not been listening to her pushed things to this point.

Yet another reason for her to hit Yuki.

"Takeshi..."

"What now?"

"I want to tell you a story."

Mei put her empty cup down and went to sit across from the Shooter.

"It's a pretty long story, so no interruptions."

"Mei-san, I have to-"

"No interruptions."

"...Got it."

"Good. Now, listen well. I'm going to tell you about what exactly things were like before either I or Yuki met you guys. I expect you to listen well to it."

There was no way out of this.

Mei knew that Takeshi did not want to hear anything about their former captain, which was why she was doing it in the first place. Even if he didn't want to hear it, she would make sure he understood what everything meant to both her and Yuki.

If that did not work then she would take drastic measures that she hoped it would never get to.