An overwhelming amount of destruction had been fired by Kotowari Takeshi's Laser-Shooter.
Kakizaki turned his back to the wreckage and ran frantically trying to get as much distance between himself and Takeshi as he could.
He ran to a different floor of the botanical ethanol fuel plant and Takeshi called out to him.
"Kakizakiiii. You were the other one in that hallway the other day. I heard what you said and I won't be satisfied until I've beaten you."
Once again, Kakizaki unconsciously changed the word "beaten" to "kill" for one reason or another.
While still fleeing, Kakizaki rejected Takeshi's words.
"You... What about your teammates? There has to be a limit to this. They won't end up being your teammates as long as you keep up this attitude."
"So what? If they leave me, I can just replace them with some other people. They are the only ones with those kinds of Side Effects, but another kind would be fine, too. As long as I make it up to where I can shoot through Yuki, there's no problem."
Kakizaki made it to the floor where the remnants of the grapes that would have had all the alcohol squeezed out of them were collected, but Takeshi's Laser-Shooter turned it all to rubble in seconds.
Kakizaki spoke while hiding behind a mountain of false metal that was tinged with all the destruction.
"Sorry, but we can't all go along with what you want."
"Ah?"
"You can't beat Yuki. What's more, getting so worked up over something so unimportant is pointless and a waste for everyone involved with you."
After saying that, he almost thought he heard the sound of Takeshi gritting his teeth.
Even so, he continued.
"After knowing the two of you, I can tell. This isn't an issue of A-Rank vs B-Rank. Most likely, Yuki disbanded his squad for a completely different reason. What good will getting mad do?"
It was true that Yuki was a difficult person in many aspects, but he was still smart enough to do important things for a good reason. Even when he seemed to be acting out of a selfish desire, it was also to benefit others in the end.
He didn't think that someone like Kotowari Takeshi, who bared his fangs towards his own comrades just because he didn't like something, would be able to properly understand what exactly was going on. No matter how overwhelming his power seemed, it would not lead him to what he wanted.
"This isn't an issue of getting back at Tsukiko or thinking you're right. If you continue fighting against everyone and won, all you would get would be a personal satisfaction. I can't let you get others dragged along with that. You will end up with no one even wanting to look at you!"
"Ha. Ha ha!"
Hearing the answer Kakizaki Kuniharu had come to, Takeshi laughed scornfully.
Kakizaki ran from cover to cover putting some distance between them as Takeshi slowly pursued him.
"Why are you so hung up on it anyway, Kotowari? Was it the demeanor of Tsukiko and Takato? Or was it because he spoke kindly to you?"
Takeshi did not respond and Kakizaki continued speaking.
"Do you really think everyone who speaks kindly to you is a good person and everyone who speaks harshly to you is a bad person!? You make it sound like you stand at the very center of the world!"
"...I know that," said Takeshi.
He didn't deny it.
If Tsukiko Yuki hadn't spoken kindly to him, he doubted his heart would have led him to do what he did.
No response came.
A green beam so bright it made him think it was a nuclear explosion blew straight through the mountain of false metal Kakizaki was hiding behind. He was knocked back by the gust of wind created and he sensed a presence standing right behind him.
Before he could turn around, he sensed something odd about his right ear.
Kotowari Takeshi had stuck a Scorpion blade in his ear.
"It seems you've got a screw that's just a liiiitle loose in your head."
The tip of the blade slowly moved further into his ear.
"Want me to tighten it for you?"
He couldn't move. If he moved his head even slightly, it would be cut from the blade pressed up against his head.
Kakizaki put his hand on his Kōgetsu.
There was one chance.
Damn it...
Gritting his teeth, Kakizaki Kuniharu prepared himself.
He ignored the Scorpion blade and forcefully spun around.
Slick Girl: "It appears that Captain Kotowari has the advantage against Captain Kakizaki."
There was a small moment of silence from Ema and Suzaku.
it was the latter who decided to break it.
Umi: "Yes. That is...to be expected. Kotowari's Laser-Shooter is not something you can normally deal with if you aren't prepared. But it looks like there are some major flaws with it. Zaki-san seems to have found out what they are."
Yuzu: "This is...a dangerous situation. It's also going beyond this one match."
Hiyami and Suzaku could only nod their heads in response.
.
"Oh dear... Is Kotowari-kun okay? He has not been coming to school, so I did not know what was happening. Awdry-kun has not mentioned anything either."
The boy sitting next to her said nothing, not knowing the mentioned people well enough to say anything.
Hoshi watched the large screen with a worried expression and a hand on her cheek.
The boy who had his eyes covered by his hair sat silently while also watching the screen. Like his namesake, he made as much movement and sounds as a plant would.
Tenryū Shokubutsu had only gone to watch the match as a request from his current mentor. He did not know anyone who was currently fighting and did not know anything regarding them besides their names.
This was all so that he could tell his mentor about what happened while he was busy with an unofficial meeting preparation. It had been a request that he could have denied, seeing as how his mentor was never rude or harsh to him, but he wanted to be of some kind of use towards the one who was helping him out.
Something that had caught his attention while watching the screen was not the battle between the two girls or the amazing light display shown by both the regular Shooter and the Laser-Shooter. Those were all things he would expect to see from squads like those.
What he was paying attention to was the boy wearing orange who was around his age.
"Is is quite amazing that someone as young as Tomoe-kun is keeping up with Awdry-kun. I have not seen Awdry-kun fight too much, but even I know how well off he is as a fighter."
Shokubutsu watched as Tomoe did indeed continue to move around Toby's attacks while also being protected from Nasu's shots.
He could see that it was different from what Hoshi was making it out to be. Tomoe was not moving because he could keep up with everything. He was moving because Toby was letting him move away at times. There had been a defined distance that Toby seemed to keep between the two of them as they ran through the area.
The reason for Toby doing such a thing was unknown to Shokubutsu, but it was clear that the Attacker was not truly putting his all in this fight.
Even so...
"...Tomoe-sama...is amazing... ...He is...actually fighting...here... ...He is not...backing down..."
Shokubutsu continued to watch with a bit of amazement as someone as young as him continued to fight without any sort of issue. No holding back, no worries about being seen by others, nothing that prevented him from fighting how he wanted.
His mind then went to what he had heard from others before. About how there were two A-Rank agents who were his age as well. That brought a new sense of amazement to him. Knowing that there were such people in Border made him start to think while bringing up one of the devices around his neck.
Yuzu: "Misaki-senpai is likely to make her move now."
Shokubutsu looked towards the commentator's booth and saw Ema looking directly at the large screen.
Then it hit him.
Ema was also someone who was in a high ranked squad and the same age as him.
Remembering that, Shokubutsu started to lower himself into his seat. This time a sense of disappointment washed over him.
He looked back towards the screen.
What he saw was...
Tomoe continued to move through the industrial scenery as a wild animal chased him from behind. It was a sort of surreal feeling when he knew that, under normal circumstances, he should have had to Bail Out long ago.
His initial idea had been to stick with their usual plan of grouping up. Teruya had already been marked while two other opponents seemed to be a good distance from the both of them. The decision had been made to meet up while intersecting with the two opponents they saw.
At some point Toby had started chasing him.
It was best to assume that he would be losing the chase since it was well known that Toby was on a different level then him when it came to close ranged combat and chases.
That was not what happened.
The two were now reaching the intersection where he was suppose to meet up with Teruya. The fact he was able to make it to the intersection at all was not something he thought would happen. The attacks coming from Toby had been shallow and not with full force while the attacks from Nasu had been defended by Toby.
Tomo: "I'm almost to the intersection. Awdry-senpai is still chasing me."
Leagues Above: "Try and leave him where Nasu is. I'm fighting against Kumagai and Hiura, so I need you to help over here."
Tomo: "Alright. I'll try and get there as soon as I can."
The two understood that there was no way for them to help their captain at the moment, meaning they had to handle things themselves.
Grouping up was still was they were still going for, not wanting to go against the usual plan their squad had.
.
Tomoe could see Toby moving ahead of him, not bothering to attack him.
This put him in an odd position with the intersection being only a few feet away but Toby only being a few steps in front of him.
He didn't want to completely reach Nasu-san. But why did he let me get this far then?
Tomoe brought up his Kōgetsu to defend against the two Scorpion blades.
Leagues Above: "Watch out for snipers!"
Tomoe looked around and noticed the reason he had been allowed to get as far as he did.
They were now in a relatively open area.
There was no real place to hide and there was not that much of a distance between them and the good sniping spots around them.
Toby had his Side Effect to make sure he did not get hit by Hiura or Nasu, but Tomoe had no way to protect himself in this situation. He had someone clashing blades with him, an accurate Shooter in the distance, and two Snipers who were no pushovers.
"Now then..."
He heard the older boy speak with a dull tone.
"Let's get this started."
.
Toby moved forward with the clear intent of cutting down Tomoe.
It was a surprise when, for the better part of the match, he had just been giving half-hearted attacks towards the boy.
This attack was different in nature to the others before it. The attack was a head-on one with two Scorpion blades in his hand. The amount of power in it was no longer something others could just overlook and dodge. The distance between the two of them and speed Toby was going at gave Tomoe only a few seconds to register if any other Trigger would be used.
The teleportation Trigger Border had was used by all members of Kotowari Squad. It was a fact most people knew and prepared for when fighting them.
Expecting the attack, Tomoe readied himself by lifting his Kōgetsu while preaching to shoot once gaining some distance.
Due to being in the moment he could not figure out when was the best time to counter and so relied on their Operator to find that out for him.
Kochi Kochi: "Wait for a few-"
The moment she had started to speak, something flashed from the side.
Tomoe did his best to move to the side.
The flash was followed by another one that he could not dodge. It managed to take the top of his arm.
He was given no time to balance himself as Toby was in front of him with his Scorpion blades already in a motion to go for his neck.
Multiple lines started appearing in the sky, as if to create cage for the two boys.
Toby started to twist his body into a rotation, sticking out his leg while doing so.
Tomoe felt something connect with his stomach before being pushed back and creating some distance between him and Toby.
The moment his feet touched the ground he went into a fast sprint while putting a shield over his head.
The cage disappeared as quickly as it came, leaving the destruction behind.
"That was-"
It began.
With the cage no more, a rain of shots appeared in the sky. Each one was followed by a line that decorated the sky in an interesting way.
Tomoe looked over to see that Toby was indeed dodging each and every shot fired at the two of them with relative ease.
Something else he could see was...
Trion limit exceeded. Bail Out.
A single flash going in his direction.
Slick Girl: "Agent Tomoe had been taken out! From the points we can see, it seems that Agent Hiura was the one to score that point by sniping him."
Umi: "Poor kid. He was outmatched the moment he was prevented from grouping up with Teruya and got in close proximity to Nasu Squad. Na-chan probably found out what Awdry's plan had been and took advantage of that by trapping the both of them with her shots."
Slick Girl: "What exactly was his strategy here?"
Yuzu: "Awdry was probably trying to get Tomoe close enough to Nasu-senpai so he could fight the both of them with Misaki-senpai acting as his support. He ran the risk of getting in range of Nasu-senpai's Viper and Hiura-senpai's shots, but it also forced the two of them to move."
Slick Girl: "I see. But Agent Hiura is still a good distance away, and Captain Kotowari seems to be too focused on Captain Kakizaki to make any long-range attacks against a Sniper."
Umi: "That would be where Misaki comes in. Don't forget that everyone who was in Yucchi's squad had Teleport in their slots. If Awdry were to use Teleport to get to Akane-chan, Na-chan would be able to shoot him down at some point. But what about Misaki? She hasn't shown where she is yet."
.
"Hyuuuuuu~~! They're really thinking about this, aren't they? We would probably have ran the risk, but wouldn't have actually thought of that kind of thing."
Eri furrowed her brows while watching the screen and hearing her teammate speak next to her.
She took in everything that was being said and everything being displayed.
"Hey Eri, do you think this will work out for them? I mean, if Suzume's going after Akane, she'll be open for Rei to shoot down. Even with Teleport, I'm pretty sure Rei can hit her."
"Exactly. From what how things seem... It looks like they are going to give up two points to score two points. If things go well."
"So you're saying they want to take out Akane and Rei. But they had had to give up a point from Kotarō, and from what we're saying, from Suzume too."
"That's why I'm not too sure what is going on..."
Eri placed her hand to her lips.
They are probably working with Takato-san since they know they can't work with Kotowari-kun right now. Even so, this is giving up too much. They are also leaving Teruya and Kumagai alone, giving up another point. Assuming Awdry is still around, he would have to fight against whoever wins in that fight.
"But they would still get survival points because of Kotowari-kun..."
"If he's still around for that."
Eri looked up to ask what the Attacker meant when something on the screen caught her eye.
She saw someone lose.
Kakizaki ignored the Scorpion blade in his ear and forcefully spun around.
"Wha-...?"
Unsurprisingly, Takeshi seemed a bit shocked.
The Scorpion blade carved into the inside of his ear, cutting through his head a bit. There was no pain from the blade since it was only a false body being cut. Some of his vision became slightly blocked to the green smoke coming from his head.
Ignoring it all, Kakizaki pulled the blade known as Kōgetsu from its scabbard.
It was a green blade made of trion that greatly resembled a katana.
Gripping it tightly, he used the corner of the hilt to hit Takeshi's nearby face.
Takeshi's right eye was crushed at once much like a pirate captain's.
"Gh..."
He held his face with one hand and tottered backwards.
Seeing that, Kakizaki gave a silent smile.
"A low ranked ear for a high ranked eye, huh? ...That's a pretty good deal, dontcha think?"
With those words, Takeshi's face was dyed with rage.
"Kaaaaakizaaaaakiiiii!"
A bright flash swelled up.
Kotowari Takeshi's left arm was blown away from the wrist to the elbow as if it had melted. The bright light it caused was aimed for Kakizaki Kuniharu's face. He shot his Laser-Shooter Trigger ignoring any kind of detailed aiming.
"...!"
Kakizaki swung his head to the side right before it hit.
It was only pure chance that he had managed to avoid that overwhelming attack.
Takeshi stretched out his right arm, shoved down Kakizaki who had already lost his balance, and climbed on top of him. The Kōgetsu blade slipped from Kakizaki's hand and clattered as it slid across the ground, but Takeshi wasn't paying any attention to it anymore.
He stared at Kakizaki's face with his remaining left eye and yelled in a voice filled with rage.
"That has nothing to do with this! That has nothing to fucking do with thiiiiiisssss! An ear!? An eye!? You can destroy my arms and legs and crush anything else, but you can't change the difference between our strengths! I'm in a top ranked squad! One of the tops! I'm the Laser-Shooter! Don't get so pleased with yourself, you motherfucker! I can take out someone like you 100 times without moving a fingeeeerrrrr!"
Takeshi grabbed Kakizaki by the neck with his right hand. If he activated his power now, Kakizaki's head would certainly be annihilated.
Kakizaki Kuniharu smiled as his neck was being held like a drink can.
He relaxed as if he had given up on something.
"...I get it now. I didn't think you would be this open in a fight." Kakizaki said while looking directly at Takeshi. "You're the type of person that can't see values the same as other people. Trivial things to us are important to you and important things to us are trivial to you. You can't align yourself with anyone else's thinking."
"Ah?"
"No. That's not completely right. You did align yourself with everyone else's thinking at some point. That was when you met Tsukiko. The thing that aligned with the rest of us was 'trust', wasn't it? You took it to extremes we usually don't. Probably because it was trivial for us that it was a disbandment. ...There is no reason to get so obsessed with outdoing him because of that broken and misguided trust. You could have used the Laser-Shooter power you're so proud of to pick me off at a distance."
He needed to say these things.
"In other words," Kakizaki smiled as he spoke, "that ridiculous obsession with 'trust' and Tsukiko left a decisive opening for me."
A noise rang out.
It was the sound of the assault rifle manifesting for Kakizaki as he stretched out his arm.
"Wha-...?"
Before Takeshi could say anything, Kakizaki pulled the trigger.
Bang bang bang! With that dry sound, multiple holes opened up in his upper body. Kakizaki continued pulling the trigger until he was sure that it was enough.
"..."
Takeshi looked down at his hole-filled body in shock.
Before long, cracks started appearing on his face.
And then...
Trion limit exceeded. Bail Out.
"I should help him out later," said Kakizaki as he stood up, noticing some extra damage he took. "After he properly apologizes of course."
He picked up the Kōgetsu blade that had fallen to the floor and placed it back at his side.
If Kakizaki had initially pulled out the assault rifle, he wouldn't have won. Takeshi would have used his power to easily defend against it. That was why it had been necessary for him to wait until the very last second to do so. He hadn't even taken out the riffle when Takeshi stuck the Scorpion blade in his ear because he was getting the boy to lower his guard by making him think he didn't have any proper weapons.
He stuck his pinky finger into his right ear.
"...Damn, that really was a good deal," he said in shock and started to leave.
He moved his hand so his palm was not touching his ear.
"It's Kakizaki. I'm on my way to help out."
He walked through the destroyed floor and towards the exit as he spoke.
"That's right. It's over."
There was a deafening silence in the large room.
The commentators and spectators alike said nothing.
Even as the match continued on, as they saw Kakizaki leave the building, they said nothing about what they saw.
After a minute, the silence was finally broken.
But not by the commentators.
"That guy is a psycho!"
Whispers and murmurs filled the large room.
Everyone there had see the same thing concerning the two squad captains. That had been more than enough to get them all talking about it and what exactly it was that they saw.
Slick Girl: "...Captain Kakizaki scored a point...by taking out...Captain Kotowari..."
Umi: "This is troubling."
Slick Girl: "We couldn't hear what they were saying but... From what we could see..."
Umi: "Ahem. It looks like everyone who had actually seen that scene has their things to say about it. Even so, Hiyami-san, we still need to commentate on this. This goes to you too, Yuzuru."
Slick Girl: "R-right. Thank you."
Yuzu: "Mm."
Slick Girl: "The tense battle between the two captains has ended with Captain Kakizaki being the winner. Captain Kotowari had seemed to be ballistic and lost focus."
Umi: "That is a strong reason for why he had lost. He had even blown away his own arm in his state. Although, Kakizaki-san also seemed to have waited for the right moments to strike each time."
Slick Girl: "That puts the score to Nasu Squad and Kakizaki Squad with one point each."
Umi: "And now we will see if Awdry and Misaki's risk paid off for them."
So Kotowari-kun got taken out...
Nasu let out a breath through her nose as she ran through the industrial scene.
She made a reminder to apologize to Yuki once the match was over. What she had been asked could not have been accomplished due to her focus on the match itself. The results, from what she heard, were not good ones.
Shaking her head, she took a leap into the air, gaining enough distance from the ground to see above a better part of the area.
"Akane-chan, are you almost to a good spot?"
Mad Hatter: "Yeah. Suzu-nee didn't get me and I can see both you and Kumagai-senpai."
"Good."
Nasu let out another breath.
"Akane-chan, I want you to focus on assisting Kuma-chan."
Mad Hatter: "But what about Awdry? He's close to you! Can you really take him on by yourself?"
Kuma: "Akane, remember who you're talking to. Rei can do it."
Nasu gave a smile despite knowing that her squadmates could not see it.
Those words were reassuring.
I know I can't beat him. He use to actively search for Shooters to fight against. I was one of them. He also has an agreement with Arafune Squad to be their moving target for practice at times. That news went to other Snipers and now he is their benchmark.
She knew that she would not be able to easily catch the wild boy. If she were to try and cage him in, he would find a way to break out. If she went head-on, he would gladly clash with her and shatter any attack she made.
He was a wild animal that created hardships for opponents.
But...
But...
"Akane-chan, I will be fine. You need to help out Kuma-chan and watch out for Suzu-chan. I will also be helping out. I'm not sure that I can take him out, but I can at least weaken him enough for you two to take him out."
Kuma: "Rei..."
"We have four more points to get. So let's get to it and win this."
With a new vigor to win, Nasu turned around to meet the eyes of a wild animal.
She looked at the radar she had to determine where everyone was place. She and Toby we're currently together, Kumagai seemed to still be with Teruya, Kakizaki was a good distance away, and Hiura was at a good sniping range.
"Alright Awdry-kun, you want to get this point in front of you, right?"
Nasu moved her arm to the right.
Multiple small cubes of trion appeared before starting to circle around her like a ring.
"Come try and take it from me."
.
Nasu jumped back and off of the roof of the building they had been on.
She had fired some shots, fully aware that they did nothing to slow down the wild animal.
Nasu pushed herself against the side of the building while moving her legs to run across the wall. More shots were fired with each step she took.
The wild animal took a leap from the roof, falling straight down and ignoring the shots fired at him.
Using both her legs, Nasu jumped off the wall. A trail of shots followed a line starting from where she had been.
While in the air, she looked to see where the wild animal was, determining when the best time to fire her shots again was.
Do it. Use the Trigger you all are known for.
Teleport, while still in the prototype stage, was a powerful Trigger that gave instant distance between the user and whatever the target was. The same Trigger could also close distance instantly between the user and whatever the target was. It displaced them from where they were, transporting them to wherever they were looking.
Nasu did not know what exactly made it a prototype, thinking it seemed complete enough as it was. Even so, she knew that there were obvious weaknesses with it that could be used to counter it.
The first weakness is that the person as to look at the spot they want to teleport.
A person need only to follow the user's line of sight to determine where they would land.
Trion consumption is dependent on the distance traveled. What's more, the greater the distance traveled, the longer it takes to teleport again.
The greater the distance, the more trion used. If the user could not naturally cover that distance themselves, they would out themselves at a disadvantage if they were to teleport. To accompany this, repeated teleportation could only be done if the initial teleport was a short distance. That meant there were two weaknesses in one.
Then there is the sound. It is feint, almost unnoticeable if you are not paying attention, but it is there. There is a clear sound to indicate when someone is teleporting.
It truly was a dangerous Trigger for opposing forces, but not an unbeatable one.
Nasu knew this and could only think of how to exploit those weaknesses.
After all...
Awdry-kun, like Yuki-san, is someone who is perfect for this Trigger.
In Border, there were natural geniuses who could come up with amazing things like Composite Bullets and others who could just fight well because of talent. Then there were those who had natural synergy with certain Triggers.
Tsukiko Yuki and Toby Awdry were two such people.
The two of them always seemed to know exactly when they should look at their destination for teleportation. Those moment we're always when their targets were not paying attention or had their eyes closed for even a moment.
The two of them had the natural speed to cover great distances between them and opponents. Their use of Teleport was always a way to confuse their targets or get an extra step in. They did not necessarily need to teleport to get close.
They could not mute the sound of the teleportation, but they would always find ways to cover that noise with something else. That made it difficult for someone who was not Kikuchihara to tell when they would teleport with sound alone.
The usual weaknesses with Teleport cannot be applied with those two. It is rather amazing, and a bit disturbing, to know that they could use such a Trigger so easily and perfectly.
Getting passed her sudden feeling of amazement, Nasu continued to try and find a way through the teleportation Trigger.
She could only think of continuing to fire from a distance while being prepared to shoot come close range. It was the best way to handle the given situation with no other backup to support her.
This was not a fight she could win by herself.
Mad Hatter: "Nasu-senpai! Watch out!"
"Akane-chan? What is-...!? Huh...?"
Nasu stopped her run and slid across the ground the moment she noticed it.
It was not one thing that she noticed. Four things had caught her attention.
No. At this point, I have noticed five things.
Nasu could only come to that realization as multiple lines started to run along her face.
"Rei!?"
She noticed that Kumagai and Teruya was now close to her.
"That makes a second point for us."
She noticed that Kakizaki was now in front of her.
"I didn't pay attention..."
She noticed that trion was leaving her false body.
"..."
She noticed that Kakizaki, who was in front of her, was not a whole body. His top half was falling to the ground while his bottom half had already fallen.
"This is interesting."
She noticed that Toby, who had evaded all her attacks, was now filled with multiple hole and his body was starting to have cracks running along it.
Trion limit exceeded. Bail Out.
Trion limit exceeded. Bail Out
Trion limit exceeded. Bail Out
Slick Girl: "Amazing! Captains Nasu and Kakizaki, and Agent Awdry, have all Bailed Out! From what I could see, and what the scoreboard says, Captain Nasu had taken out Agent Awdry."
Umi: "Na-chan got taken out by Zaki-san."
Yuzu: "Kakizaki-san got taken out by Awdry."
Slick Girl: "That means every squad earns one point from that."
Umi: "This means Kotowari Squad and Kakizaki Squad have one member each while Nasu Squad is sitting at two members."
Slick Girl: "What happened with Agent Awdry's plan? From how you described it, Agent Hiura should have been taken out by now."
Umi: "What I said was not the future. What I said was what I thought would happen. For all we know, he could have just been lagging behind when fighting Tomo."
Slick Girl: "I see. But that just means that Agent Misaki still has a chance to score some points away from the others."
.
"Gah! Toby got taken out! That's some BS! A Shooter shouldn't be able to take him out! Only us Attackers and All-Rounders can usually take him out!"
Eri shook her head at her teammate.
The two of them knew that there was a weakness to Toby's Side Effect. If out under enough pressure, even he would have trouble dodging.
Yet they did not see it like that.
"Nasu-senpai was indeed putting pressure, but not enough for him to be affected by it. At least not to the point where he would lose to her. That just means he really was not paying too much attention."
"Tch. Yeah. This kind of crap can't keep going on. I know that Suzume and Toby have their things to deal with, but they normally wouldn't be this effected by it. They usually let out their stress through fights, so they should be fine enough to win this."
"Shana... We don't know the full extent of what they are dealing with. It's best not to just go and say things like that. Besides..."
Eri furrowed her brows once more.
"Those two aren't the ones we have to be worrying about right now."
.
Tenryū Shokubutsu looked over to the girl sitting next to him. She had been watching the exact same thing as him, but the reactions from the two had been completely different.
He had thought that Takeshi was a bit scary, but nothing more. His mentor had told him everything about his former squad from their Trigger set to their personalities. That meant Shokubutsu had been well prepared to see something like that happen.
Hoshi had covered her mouth in horror as she watched her friend destroy his own arm and jump on Kakizaki. It was a sight that was unexpected and one that gave her a new thought process when it came to the boy.
Shokubutsu had watched Toby's fights with some interest. The way the older boy moved was not that different from how he and his mentor moved at times. Each step was taken to move forward and towards the target. The usage of his Triggers was to minimize the usage of other ones. His loss to Nasu was clearly the result of his own mindset.
Hoshi had only watched the wild animal's fights with worry. It seemed that she had expected him to come out victorious from the two fights he had been in. Her surprise at seeing him loss two points and get taken out was something that he felt bad for seeing.
It was obvious to him that Hoshi saw the two boys as friends that should only ever be good as what they do and would not lose to anyone who did not seem better than them.
It was a terrible fantasy.
Shokubutsu was not the type to speak to others, so he could not be the one to destroy the illusion the girl had put herself under. That left him with the only choice of getting his mentor to say something.
With no directly way to help her after seeing what she did, he could only mutter a few words.
"...This fight...is going to...be over...soon..."