Ariake Mitsuteru thought to himself.
...Should I really be here?
The sky filled half of his vision when he looked up.
He was on the roof of the newly formed Yagura Branch.
The central large portion of the roof had been in need of repairs since the building had been bought and awkward parts stuck out. It had been partially destroyed already, so the remain parts had rapidly spread out from the gash. And...
"After the emergency shutdown of the building, the impact of the ground shaking from the invasion triggered a chain-reaction explosion in the materials inside. Normally, you'd just swap the roof out completely, which generally takes 10 days. But with the fact this needs to be done using stronger materials now, they could probably cut that down to a week."
But there were no replacement parts at the ready. Hence why he had been called in. But...
"I'm not sure I'm up to the task. I'm only in the know here because I read up on my parents' books and browsers on how to fix things. It's really the only thing I'm 'above average' at, but even with that, this is going to be a close one. Damn. Why do they want this done so soon? ...Maybe I shouldn't have come. Especially since I run the risk of seeing Kiyoshi-san here."
He had come because they called for him, but this was not his primary job. He wanted to go do some poking around at the city to get some ideas for the upcoming matches his squad would be involved in.
He had really hoped to get to the city today. Because...
"Once the B-Rank Wars get deeper in to it, everyone will start moving around more and there will be a ton of traffic as everyone walks around."
"Don't you ever stop complaining, Ariake?"
A voice reached him through the air. It came from below, so he looked down to see someone looking up from below with their hair dancing in the wind.
"Oh, Yuzuru-kun."
.
Mitsuteru saw his old friend's face in the evening sky.
But right now, he was smiling bitterly.
"'Oh, Yuzuru-kun'? That's all you have to say? ...Anyway, how are things going?"
"They're not. This side of the place is busted."
"Isn't that why they called you in to fix it up with the little you have? Or is it too bad for that?"
"But why do I have to do it?"
Oops, he just got after me for complaining. But it's so easy to complain when I don't want to work.
Still, he must have understood how he felt.
"Yeah, sorry about this. I came over once I heard that you would be doing this. If you need someone to really motivate you, I could call the upperclassmen over. Should I?"
"I don't want to bother them."
He knew his position here. He was not a fighter here and he had only been able to watch the invasion since he could not meet up with his squad, yet here he was with everyone who had fought in that large-scale battle. So...
...I feel so out of place.
Meanwhile, some people lined up on either side of Ema. Five in all.
They were men of varying heights and they all had their arms crossed.
"Kid!"
"Looks like you could use some motivation!"
"Lucky for you, we're here. Because..."
"We are the Four Best of the Crazies!"
Oh, these are the people Yuzuru-kun was talking about, he thought, but he also tilted his head.
"Um."
"What? You got a problem with the Four Best of the Crazies!?"
"There are five of you."
"Indeed, the five of us are the Four Best!"
"Why not call yourselves the Five Best?"
The men exchanged a glance and then were at each other's throats.
"This is all your fault!"
"H-how dare you make that damn underclassman doubt us!"
"Wait, everyone, try to stay positive here! This means we're famous enough that some kid knows who we are! We must take pride in what Ema has accomplished! Nevertheless, this is still all your fault!"
Since a fistfight broke out over his suggestion, Mitsuteru concluded the Five Best was not a valid option. Ema glared over at them and waved his hand to tell him not to worry about it, so this must have been the exhausting norm for them.
But at the same time, Mitsuteru noticed a phone in his hand.
...What was he looking at?
.
Mitsuteru relaxed his shoulders.
...This is tricky.
While he sat around doing nothing at all, things changed and his friends were doing other things.
Of course, he doubted he could have changed any of that if he had been there. But still...
"I was called here, wasn't I?"
He told himself to focus on the reality around him. He had to be aware of the current situation.
Below him, Ema was expressionlessly while watching the Four Best fight.
He was not giving anything away. He much preferred see that than when he had been worrying over what happened to his mentor.
He knew that expression well, but this time it was thanks to the current situation. In that case...
...None of them need me around to do their best and achieve their goals.
He had recently decided to stop worrying so much. He was surrounded by talented people and the people working with him were surprisingly considerate given that he was still newer than them.
The ordinary people and his parents were the same. No one saw an inexperienced Border agent like him as any more than a Combatant or someone to advance their interests.
Besides, receiving flattery from someone else – even a superior – did not actually improve your skill. If you wanted compliments, you had to prove your skill first.
"Okay."
That meant he had to stop worrying about his presence here. No one else cared. And if anyone did, it was because they were overly sensitive about their own presence here.
...I love to get after myself, don't I?
But it really gets to me when someone else does it.
That was why he had trouble with combat since the results and responsibility arrived immediately. With construction, he could take his time and, if there was any kind of problem, he could say "B-but look how nice this part is! This pro more than makes up for that con, right!?" In fact, he had used that trick twice during the practical part of his training.
So he had to do this. If he did make a mistake...
...My pros will make up for the cons. Probably.
"Yuzuru-kun."
"Yeah?"
"What are the results from the first round?"
"Kotowari Squad bombed."
I see, he thought. There was a lot he had wanted to say to them, but saying anything now would be dangerous. He appreciated that Ema had taken his feelings into consideration.
But he knew one thing thanks to his time with others.
If he waited too long, it would already be too late. Speaking to dangerous people would mean risking what he had built back up just so he could speak.
He wanted to reach their level first, but doing it by the time they had self destructed would be difficult. Since he was not directly involved, he knew he had to climb up faster somehow.
Ema placed a hand above his eyes to look up at him.
He could see the phone in that hand. It showed his squad's results as well. He waved his hand to say he was fine, but the results were plain as day to him. Also...
...It was enough for him to go over it all.
He did not like to let this kind of thing show. The general mood here had probably helped make it easier for him to accept, but...
"Hey," he asked. "What's wrong?"
"Nothing. I just thought that I was asked to commentate on their next match."
"I see," he said.
...It's too bad that my match is during the same time then.
He opened a tab on his phone and...
"Hey."
"Coming-ing-ing-ing."
A bird-like creature emerged underneath his clothes's collar.
"Huh? A new pet?" asked Ema from below.
"No, this is a strange bird that's usually around Senzai Squad. He seemed to be wandering around and he's pretty useful when it comes to repairs, so I'm just letting it relax in my clothes."
"Hm, so you were picking up strays like your teammate? I'm impressed."
"How rude-ude-ude-ude-ude."
"Look, now you've made him mad. Please try to keep him in a good mood. Because..." Mitsuteru crouched down and handed the phone to the bird-like creature. Then he pointed to the large roof below him. "Piripiri, can you read this?"
"With ease-ease-ease-ease."
The bird-like creature, Piripiri, instantly spread its wings. It became a larger bird. His white and green feathers spread out in the air before fading away and creating several sign frames.
Immediately, an alarm sounded in the area below the building.
This specific alarm was for an intruder alert, but...
"Hm? They caught me-me-me-me-me?"
"What did you do!?"
"Extracted the plans-ans-ans-ans-ans."
Now that he mentioned it, he noticed the sign frameswere displaying the plans for the Yagura Branch's and the surrounding structure. He had intended to give him a general outline of the current structure, but...
"Ema-san. Ema-san," said a citizen announcement. "Please contact Border HQ right away."
"What the hell did you do, Ariake!?"
"It was kind of me, but it wasn't me me!"
"Wasn't me-me-me-me-me."
"It was you!"
Mitsuteru copied the diagram Piripiri had produced and put it in a folder labeled "For Submission".
...Can I manage to repair the general components in time?
If he managed that, would the praise manage to overpower his own self-consciousness?