"Alllllllllllright! We're back and ready to keep going! This was a fun match!"
The voice rang out through the hall.
A hard fought battle had just finished but the excitement remained.
The hallway was empty except for the group of four who had exited a room. It gave even more emphasis to the words yelled out as the echo that came after stretched out.
The one who had yelled grinned even as someone behind him rolled their eyes and another let out a small laugh.
"Do you have to be so loud? My head is still spinning from Suzume-senpai. I don't need s dog howling with everything he has. Oh, sorry, I guess I should call you 'Lobo' now, right?"
"Gah! Those assholes! Just coming up with a new random name for me! Tch. Whatever. Yeah. It's fine. It's not like I'm going to answer to that name anyways."
Honest Sister: "He says he won't honestly be answering to his new nickname. Anyone want to bet on how long that will last?"
Haru: "I give it by the next time someone calls him by that name. Whatever it is."
Platinum: "Oh yeah. We are the only ones we know. We should share it out."
American Idiot: "Don't worry, Tobio. No and I will still be calling you 'Tobio'. You can answer to that all you want. Oh. And I'm putting money down on a day before he starts answering to to."
Shore: "I'll say a week. Generosity is usually paid back in full, right? Tobio, I'll take a Salisbury Steak. Thank you."
TetsuG: "If that's how things work... A month. Okonomiyaki and tea will be fine enough. Actually, if you can make three days worth, that would be best. Saves me some trouble."
Werewolf: "I hate all of you!"
Suzume let out a laugh as she watched her teammate continue typing.
Werewolf: "Noah, when do you want it by? Tetsuji, I can't afford any sort of expensive tea, so easy to get stuff is all your getting. I'll also just make you a week's worth of the stuff if I'm already going to make it."
Everyone: "And he still agrees to it!"
"You are honestly generous, Toby. Can I also place an order?"
"I owe those guys for something else anyway. It's no problem. Besides, it just means they like when I make food, so I have no complaints."
Toby scratched his head with a sigh.
This was not an uncommon occurrence when it came to the people he knew.
"Is your order for just you?"
"No. If anything, it's mostly for my mother and sister. They have been saying that they want some of your food since last time we had to honestly leave early."
"I see. Alright. I'll throw in some cinnamon buns with that. I'm sure Mitsubachi will enjoy them."
"Could you honestly make two of them with only a little bit of cinnamon? My stomach can't take as much as you usually put on."
"Fine. But you're coming over to watch me make this order so you can make it at your house next time. That will be your payment for them."
"Okay~"
.
Toby shook his head at the uselessness and incompetence when it came to making food from his teammates.
While Mei was fine with anything that was not curry, Takeshi could never make cup ramen without destroying the noodles and Suzume had always focused more on her doujinshi than cooking anything.
I guess that's when you have to overlook that bad quality and see the better parts of them. Wait... Are there really good points when it comes to Take and Suzume?
Toby stopped walking as the thought went through his mind.
"Hm?"
"Why are you stopping? Have you finally shut down from excessive energy?"
An odd sweat started to formed on his forehead.
Mei's weak points are very few, so she gets a pass. But the other two! Let's see... I guess from a worldly perspective Suzume has a good body frame. Take is also pretty innocent to others who aren't me, so that can count towards them. But Suzume's personality is so hard to deal with for others! And Take is so reserved that it's hard to even see his innocence!
Wait, wait, wait. I also have a lot of things wrong with me. But I feel like I'm the only one who actually sees the other stuff we should be worrying about here! I can see my own issues, but those two ignore them because they find it annoying!
Werewolf: "Hey, I just found out that my teammates are weirdos and rather useless when it comes to regular stuff! What do I do!?"
Werewolf: "Excluding Mei."
Red Picture: "You guys don't hold back at scratching at each other, do you?"
Werewolf: "No. Not really."
Kitora: "This is coming from you... You really have no room to talk."
White Fox: "Ask Satoshi how to deal with that. Oh. And you now know I felt."
Shōgi Boy: "Harsh. And why should he ask me? Only our captain is strange. Everyone else is manageable."
Iko: "Huh? Did someone mention me? Was a cute girl? No? Forget it. I'm out. Before that. Lil' pup, fight me to forget about your weird as hell squad."
Black Wolf: "I don't think that's how it works. Toby, just grit your teeth and deal with it. That's how I dealt with Yuki for so long."
White Fox: "Rude!"
Werewolf: "I guess I have to do that... Thank you, Kō. Tatsuhito, I'm not fighting you! You keep trying to pet me, you weirdo!"
Honest Sister: "Heh heh heh~ Thank you very much for the storyboard. That will make up for the terrible comment you made, idiotic dog-boy."
Shōgi Boy: "Wait, wait, wait! Who's gonna to be in that storyboard?"
Honest Sister: "Iko-san, Kō-san, Dog-boy. Heh heh heh. Yes. It's honestly something new, so it needs a proper ship name. How about IkoToKō?"
Grumpy Cat: "Kashi is 'Kō'."
Honest Sister: "Boo. 'IkoToMura' just doesn't sound as good. It honestly sounds like some kind of food that seems fancy but can be bought from a small bakery that also works as a café."
Werewolf: "That's so specific!"
"That's so specific!"
"Why did you honestly have to say it while typing it out?"
Toby went a bit red as his reflexively yelled out.
He chose to ignore what Suzume had said I favor of looking at the chat once more.
Black Wolf: "Um, please hold back from putting me into something like that. I already have to deal with Yuki, I don't really want to add more to that."
Iko: "Hey, if you're gonna do that, can ya at least make Kō and the pup cute girls?"
Black Wolf: "Not what you should be worrying about..."
Honest Sister: "Nope. I honestly don't do gender bends when it comes to the people I know. That is unless you honestly want to pay up for that change. I have no arguments with taking your money for something like that."
Toby moved back a bit as Suzume gave an ominous laugh.
He read through what had been put and starting thinking of the multiple times she had gotten money to prevent some stories from being made.
That kind of offer was never up for me or Take! We had to deal with your crazy behavior the entire time!
There was nothing he could do but sigh at the multiple lost chances.
"Wait... Wasn't Kō in a match? Did they finish already?"
It was Mei who answered back. It was clear that her intent was to prevent Takeshi from badmouthing him or Suzume getting more material from him.
"Toby, remember that you all took the entire time to finish the match. Murakami's match was not as long, so he has time to message."
"Ah... That's right. Oh, is that where you were planning on going just now?"
"That is correct. I wanted to go see Suzunari-1 after their match to ask them something. I will also be with Yuki afterwards. If you need me then just message me."
"If you are going to see Kō, can you tell him I'm sorry for accidentally involving him with Suzume and that I will get him some good rice the next time I see him?"
Mei nodded while taking a step forward.
Toby was confused when it was just a single step instead of multiple ones to show that she was leaving.
"-"
The moment two muffled voices reached his ears his reflexes went into action, already moving him in the most optimal position to walk ahead of the others to make so no collisions would happen and so he did not crash into the people moving closer to them.
With his right foot now turned to the left, his body starting to twist in order to have him walk backwards instead of forwards. The voices gradually got louder. Loud enough to where he knew exactly who was speaking.
He prepared to raise his own voice to let them know that they were there when...
"May I... Minoru-senpai, may I examine your body thoroughly!?"
He stalled.
Unprepared for the question, Toby lost focus and his thoughts stalked for a moment. The moment of mental stalling had contradicted what his body wanted, forcing him to trip and start to fall starting from his feet.
Once his mind caught up with everything, a loud sound filled the hallway.
It came from both him as well as Suzume.
"EEEEEEEEEHHHHHHHHHH!?"
.
Hoshi was surprised at hearing two voices yell from around the corner of the hallway. One of them was a familiar one she heard often while the other, even while yelling, sounded rather harmonious and in tune with the first one.
She walked forward and peered around the corner to see two of her classmates, their teammate and someone important to her looking directly at her.
The classmate who was on the ground for seemingly no reason shot up just as Minoru rounded the corner as well.
"Ah! Awdry-kun and Kotowari-kun!"
Hoshi was unsure if it had been her imagination or not, but she felt a strange wind move passed her while a brown and gray blur moved with the wind.
She turned around to see Toby standing in front of Minoru with both arms spread out and some red dusting his cheeks.
So fast! I was unable to keep up with him! And...
She did not want to believe it.
He is in his real body?
Toby had managed to get passed her fast enough to the point where she was unsure if it had been real or not while still being in his flesh and blood body instead of the artificially created one used by Border Combatants.
She was about to ask him what he was doing when he spoke up with a booming voice.
"Hoshi!"
"Y-yes!?"
She went rigid.
Hearing his own voice come out, Toby went a bit more red while speaking up once more.
"Mi-mi-mi-Minoru! You can't d-d-d-do that to Minoru! I mean...! Minoru is a-already t-t-t-taken!
Ma-ma-ma-Masataka! Masataka has already-!"
Hoshi tilted her head as the red spread out on Toby's face, almost reaching his ears.
"Th-th-they have already...c-c-connected! Their bodies! Their b-b-b-bodies have already c-connected! So you can't-! Th-th-t-thoroughly! O-only Masataka and d-d-d-doctor-rs can look at his b-body thoroughly!"
.
"..."
There was a long pause in the hallway.
A number of reactions happened during that pause.
Hoshi continued to tilt her head, eyebrows now a bit closer together.
Takeshi shook his head in exhaustion while Mei chose to respectively look to the side.
Minoru's own face has some red on it, but nowhere near the level of Toby.
As for Suzume...
"Heh heh heh... Heh heh heh heh heh... Heh heh heh heh heh heh heh heh heh heh! Lovely! Oh, how lovely! I never knew our dog-boy was honestly so pure and innocent! This changes everything! With this information, I'm sure we will honestly be getting more people reading some of the doujinshi! I had mostly put Toby as a seme, but now he can be the adorable delinquent uke who blushes whenever the semes appear! This is great! I knew I made the right call by starting my recording when he honestly started to fall! Heh heh heh heh heh! Thank you very much, Toby, Minoru-kun, new helpful girl! I will make sure you are honestly compensated!"
Suzume bounced in joy while hugging Hoshi and Toby from behind and the front respectively.
She was quick to pull out her phone and inform some people about what had happened.
Grumpy Cat: "I see. This might be what we needed. It works well given how you have been writing that guy."
Platinum: "Wow~ I never thought that my captain's best friend was so pure. Well I guess that makes sense given how my captain is. Hey, fujoushi and fudanshi, do you think you can write something with Lobo and my captain. Do whatever you want. I would personally like to see both of them as ukes, but that's all I have to say on the matter."
Honest Sister: "I'm honestly in a great mood, so I have no problems with that! I'll even take the suggestion, free of charge! Yes! Yes! I can see it! IkoTo(Kō/Mura) (up for debate) and YuNo!"
Shore: "Toby!"
American Idiot: "This one won't be going away, will it...?"
Shore: "Wait a minute! Who is that 'Yu'!? There are a lot of 'Yu' people!"
Grumpy Cat: "Don't play dumb. She is talking about 'Yuba'."
Shore: "Wait, wait, wait! That's unfair! That's extremely unfair!"
Polished Place: "I won't allow this! Misaki, don't you dare make anything like that!"
Black Wolf: "..."
Mi-Kon: "Ah! Kō-kun is crying! He's really crying now! I didn't think that would actually happened! I'm glad to know that Awdry-kun is actually more pure than Suzume, but this is still bad! Suzume, please don't make it!"
Iko: "Can ya at least make 'em into cute blushing girls?"
Shōgi Boy: "Please stay out of this conversation. I'm pretty sure yer makin' this worse."
Everyone: "A major understatement!"
More chaos came from the single strange girl who was swaying her body as if following a rhythm. At the same time if felt like she was preparing for a fight from close by.
Before she could be scolded by either Mei or Minoru, Suzume turned in her heel and made a mad dash down the hall way. Before she left she gave a nice yell towards Hoshi.
"Goodbye, helpful girl! I already know I will see you very soon! I honestly hope we have a nice dance with each other!"
Her steps were light, each one hardly touching the ground, but they covered distance rather well.
.
There was another pause in the hallway.
The one to break it was the head-tilting girl.
"Um... Is she..."
Finding the right words to form her question had become extremely hard when she tried figuring out what exactly she wanted to ask. There were multiple questions needing answers at the moment, so she was unsure as to which one she should ask.
There was no time to actually ask any as someone else spoke up after her.
"She is a strange girl. Don't mind her. None of what she said involves you whatsoever. Toby misunderstood what you had said, hence his reaction. I understand what you meant by your question, but please elaborate for these three. Thank you very much and tune in next time for 'Mei Answers It All'."
The girl who had all the answers bowed her head.
"Uh... I think a certain B-Rank captain is affecting you too much, Meimei. Maybe you should calm down a bit before your tsukkomi reaches others and gets them involved. Besides, none of us can play the boke part for you. At least wait for someone who fits that role better than us."
"I suppose you are right. Next time I will use my emotions to create a weapon that can count as a Black Trigger. I am sure that will help with it next time. Having something as hardcore as that usually gets some laughs."
"No, no, no! Please don't do that! Something that hardcore is only found in someone who doesn't understand what an actual joke is! The most you are allowed to bring is a rubber chicken or a banner! Don't go making Black Trigger-level kinds of props."
Hoshi pushed out her lips as she listened to the two cousins going through an improvised comedy routine. It had managed to go over her head to the point where she was unsure if it was a joke or not.
It was only due to the small comment from one of her classmates that she understood that she should not take them too seriously.
There was a wall between her at others who were close to each other. She understood that well enough to where she was fine just watching them.
This is rather nice. The last time I had seen Hatohara-senpai he did not look so well. Physically he seemed fine, but there was a feeling about him that made me start to feel a bit sad. I was unsure on what to do at the time, but now there is no need for me to do anything.
She smiled as the improvised comedy routine slowly died down.
Thinking that was the time to get an answer on her question, she took a step forward.
When her foot touched the ground again there was something off. A small gust of wind had suddenly appeared again and the body protecting Minoru before was now doing so again, this time with less force.
Toby had managed to get passed her while shifting his body to face her front again.
Something like that had required precise footwork and timing given how he had been standing before. She did not know exactly how much precision it took, but she did know that if he had messed up during any part of it he would have crashed into the floor or the wall.
This was not something she was use to seeing.
"Awdry-kun... Fuji-nee had mentioned that there was a misunderstanding. Would that happen to be why you are protecting Hato-... Minoru-senpai from me?"
"..."
Toby said nothing, only holding his ground with a red face.
"I see... May I know what the misunderstanding is so that I can clear it up?"
"Taiyōko, do you know the way you asked your question?"
"Hm? I believe I asked, 'Minoru-senpai, may I examine your body thoroughly?' How could that...have been...taken..."
Takeshi nodded his head when the color red started to spread on Hoshi's face like it had Toby's. Her cheeks were burning while her ears were covered by her hair, hiding the red on them.
Toby's reaction and protection of Minoru started to make sense. It was a fair reaction given how it seemed from an outsider's perspective and with her poor choice of words.
But...
I still do not understand the reaction from that beautiful dancing woman. Could there have been an even bigger misunderstanding that I cannot see no matter how hard I try?
There were things that were not meant to be understood and she understood that well enough.
"U-um... Ah... I sincerely apology! Please forgive my terrible choice of words and for this entire misunderstanding! Awdry-kun, I am also very sorry for making you worried for Minoru-senpai."
"Don't mind it. You didn't mean any harm from it, so it's fine. An explanation on what you meant is all we need. Right...Toby?"
.
Takeshi fixed his new scarf.
Oh. I didn't think about it now but the choice of cloth Nasu-san and Asano-san picked is very smooth and nice to touch. I think I should repay them later on.
There was no need to pay attention to the slight hesitation from Minoru as he spoke Toby's name instead of a nickname. It blended in with the conversation that did not involve him on the slightest.
"R-right... Well what I meant by 'seeing your body' was that I wished to look over your trion body. You see, I have started to work with the Engineers and have also heard that your trion body is a prototype one. I enjoy working on unfinished things and thought that I may be able to help with your body."
That had managed to catch Takeshi's attention.
"I see. That makes sense. I had heard that there was someone who enjoyed working on things that the Engineers didn't have time to work on, but I didn't expect it to be you, Hime. Next time please make it more clear."
"I am very sorry."
"No, no. It's fine. I was just making a suggestion."
"I will make note of that."
Takeshi nodded his head as well.
He had only been listening but made sure to register everything that was happening as something he could learn from.
"Besides that, I believe you are most compatible with a prototype Trigger that I have been working on. You are free to decline using it, but I thought I would at least inform you of it."
"I am willing to give it a try. I just need the details on it."
"Of course. Actually..." Hoshi trailed off for a second. Her eyes slowly turned to Mei before continuing. "Fuji-nee's personal Trigger is based off of the Black Trigger Shikifuku, right?"
"That is correct. It is more specifically based off the Shikifuku's 'emotions'. While my Trigger does not turn my emotions into power like Shikifuku does, it is still relatively powerful, all things considered."
"Right. Well, the Trigger I would like for Minoru-senpai is somewhat of an upgraded version of Fuji-nee's Trigger. It is also based of Shikifuku's 'emotions' and uses the Black Trigger as a main base for it. I cannot say everything concerning it, but I can say that Minoru-senpai was the first person recommended to me by others. That is why I wish to see your body."
It had nothing to do with him whatsoever. Takeshi knew that and so decided to only listen to parts of it.
The answer seemed sufficient enough since Toby lowered his arms and Minoru let out a sigh.
Hm. My other one had tassels on the ends and this one doesn't. ...I think I like this scarf more.
There was nothing to bring him into the conversation.
After some time he had managed to find some more things to be interesting. It always felt like a good sign that he was starting to incorporate himself into society properly. There had been times when he required assistance from others, but otherwise he had been doing fine.
One of many things that he had been properly taught by Kakizaki had been about conversations.
"If that is the case, I would be happy to help. You can just send me what I need to know, the time and the place and I'll be there. As long as I am able to that is."
"Thank you very much."
And this conversation had nothing to do with him.
From start to finish, he had no reason to involve himself in the conversation.
"I'll be going then. I just came by to congratulate you guys on winning."
"That's right. You need to get ready for tonight."
"Yeah. We are most likely going to be deciding who is going where. The choice is ultimately left up to Kimura or Yuki, but I'm sure none of us will have any complaints about it given everything going on."
"Yuki is one thing, but try and help out Kimura. She's a good girl and is trying her best. ...Even if her jokes flop hard."
"We just try not to talk about her jokes... Other than that, I get it. I was planning on going along with whatever is chosen. I guess I really can't reject it if you are asking me to go along with it now."
"Sorry."
"You're apologizes are usually scary. I don't mind."
That was their conversation. A new one that came from nowhere but had been created due to something that was already established.
Will I be able to talk to someone like that? It feels like there is too much for me to do before I can reach that point with someone.
Takeshi fixed his scarf once more, now fully aware of how behind in life he was compared to everyone else. It seem impossible to be so far behind in something so important, yet he had managed it by blocking himself off from everything around him.
Maybe that was just how it was suppose to be. Yes. I feel like I should not have ever had this kind of revelation to begin with. It just happened because of who I involved myself with.
Things that could never be red iced under normal circumstances. That was what Takeshi knew as "life". Such things included people he knew. People like...
"I'll be taking my leave then."
.
Minoru looked at each person before speaking his words.
His eyes finally landed on the boy with a new scarf around his neck that had been looking rather lost during his conversations with the others. The farewell he gave had been directed more towards that boy, as if expecting him to speak up about a previous incident.
After a few seconds of nothing coming up he turned his body to leave.
I guess this is fine. He needs more time to go through life and figure out what to do. The way he acted during this last match has shown me that he really does view the world in a different way than before. What happened before this did not involve me.
Minoru felt his body tense up for a moment.
It did involve Lukas though. Maybe it's due to my nature, or maybe because Yuki had prostrated himself in front of me, but I will overlook that the best I can when he gets Lukas' forgiveness.
It was hard not to smile at how much Yuki cared for the people he knew.
There was always an underlining feeling whenever he thought about the backstage actions Yuki would take, but he never brought it up out of respect. The feels only continued to grow when Yuki involved himself with things that should be taken care of by the people of higher positions.
The feel was not only towards Yuki as a handful of other people had also done things that did not seem to be fully understandable.
Yet when it came to his former squad there seemed to be an over abundance of love for them to the point where he would do whatever he could to prevent them from getting hurt in a multitude of ways.
It's just too hard to reject him at times like that.
Letting out a small sigh, Minoru started to take his first steps away from the group.
There was nothing more to be done at the moment and there was nothing he wanted to say to the scarf-wearing boy.
"..."
That was why he was surprised when a small voice came out from behind him.
He turned around to see Takeshi looking directly at him with his right arm slightly lifted, as if to stop him.
The boy's mouth opened then closed. This happened for a second, third, fourth, and fifth time. It finally stop when Minoru spoke up.
"Was there something you wanted to say?"
"..."
Takeshi lightly shook his head while facing the ground.
"No... I am sorry..."
Minoru wanted to sigh again.
It had hurt him a bit.
"Then-"
"Yes!"
The scarf-wearing boy had yelled out while still facing the ground. He may have even startled himself since his eyes were a bit wider than before.
"...Um... Can you please ask Wagner...san if it would be fine to..."
He shook his head again.
"...Nevermind... Sorry. I should just do it myself. ...When I'm not so useless..."
The last part had been said in a low voice, but Minoru was sure they had all heard it clearly.
He smiled once more.
This simple act by the scarf-wearing boy had made it clear that there was nothing to be worried about now. Important words were now added into his vocabulary and he understood what they meant, at least at a basic level.
With nothing else needing words, Minoru finally took his leave, happy to know that Kotowari Squad was better off than he had hoped.
.
Toby grinned as he slammed his hand down onto Takeshi's back.
"I'll be going too then. I want to go see my little brother while I have the chance. If something comes up then feel free to call me."
"The same goes for me. I will be going to see Suzunari-1 like I had mentioned. Takeshi, Hoshi, have a nice day. Also, if you happen to see Suzume's mother around, please help her out."
The two powerhouses left the hallway, leaving behind a waving Hoshi and scarf shifting Takeshi behind.
With the louder people now gone the hallway became an empty area that was only filled the with light breaths by the two classmates.
"Siblings... Parents..."
Takeshi got a distant look in his eyes as he stared into nothing in particular.
"You are currently the only person in your family, aren't you, Kotowari-kun?"
He turned his head to see Hoshi give him a knowing smile as she put her arm down.
The two of them, while being classmates, had not had too many conversations. The space around them had usually be taken up by other voices that were much louder than theirs.
Not wanting to be rude he answered honestly.
"That's right. My family was killed during the first invasion. But there isn't a reason to feel sad about it. I never knew them too well to begin with, so I am not too concerned. What I just said... It may have just slipped out."
"I see... I do. Not know much about that upperclassman on your squad, but I do know that Awdry-kun is an older brother."
"That's right. Toby is an older brother. Suzume-senpai is an older sister. I was the youngest out of four children. ...So like you."
Hoshi could only nod her head in response.
"That is why you looked at me like that. Hm. Don't worry. That seems to be the only thing we have in common concerning our families. Oh. But in that regard, I'm sorry that I can't sympathize with you."
The next response was a head shake.
"There is no need to apologize. I simply wanted to make sure we both understood what was going on. If you would like, we can change subjects."
"I would appreciate that."
Hoshi smiled again.
It was hard to hold any ill feelings towards the girl. There was a feeling of innocence around her that made it hard for him to bring up any bad comments towards her. At the same time, he felt as if there was a bit of kinship between the two of them.
It was something new that would have to ask Kakizaki about later on.
But at the moment...
"You all did wonderful during the match."
"Thank you for your words. There were things that I need to work on, but I believe that they can get over that."
A conversation was going on.
"Kotowari-kun, you are such a nice person."
"How so? I don't think I have said or done anything that puts me in such a good light. If anything...I am far from a nice person. I am the lowest a person can get..."
"If you can say that about yourself then you are a nice person. Someone who knows they need to fix things is much better than a person who does not understand the need to be fixed in the first place."
"You speak with an amazing amount of knowledge. I guess that is to be expected from-"
From a family of soldiers.
"-someone as smart and understanding as you."
The words were different. The meaning was different. It was as if pure and fresh air had just been pushed towards Hoshi, wanting her to take it all in without any payment.
"Ah. Uh... No. I was just using the words someone told me once. I feel like they apply to you as well...is all..."
A moment of silence between the came up, only being filled their their flight footsteps filling the hall.
Nothing needed to be said for the two of them to understand that another change in topics was needed. Anymore of their current topic and it would become dangerous.
.
Takeshi was unsure by what Hoshi meant. There was no possibility of someone saying that he was a nice person.
After everything I have done... No. I can't be a nice person. I point my weapon at the actual nice people.
Hoshi having a conversation with him already seemed like more than he could ask for from someone like her. It was a direct one where he would have a say in where it went.
It made his heart skip a beat when he thought about it. Thought about someone having an actual conversation with him.
"Kotowari-kun, about your match. Was it challenging for you?"
If this had been asked before Tsukiko Squad's then his answer would have been a flippant one that meant nothing as an answer.
But now...
"Yes. While I did not deal with too many opponents like Suzume-senpai, the ones I did have were very much challenging. Asano-san and Maya-senpai work well together, so I had a bit of a hard time."
"Ah. But you managed to win."
"That may have simply because of some luck. They did manage to take both of my arms. If I was not a Shooter I would have lost at that point."
It felt nice to have someone not from his squad actually listening to him.
"Even so, you all did so wonderful during that match. I am far too inexperienced so I could not catch everything that was happening. Minoru-senpai and the commentators were a bit help to me."
"That may have been for Toby and Suzume-senpai. Those two tend to go off and do whatever they like when having fun. I guess Maya-senpai is the same way though."
"Heh heh heh."
"Now then... You look like you want to ask me something else."
"Ah. If I may... What is it like to have a challenge?"
The follow up reaction was an instant one.
"I-I do not mean to seem a-arrogant or anything! I-it's just that I have not done a-a-anything challenging before! Um... I tend to do things that I know I can do, so I actively make it so that I am not challenged. My apologies."
"None are needed."
He understood well enough.
In a sense, he had been like that before. There had been no reason to challenge himself or put himself in such a position. If something had been challenging then he would run away from it and ignore whatever it had been.
The girl in front of him had considered him a friend both before and after the disbanding of Tsukiko Squad. To return the favor, and as someone who understood what she meant, Takeshi answered back to the best of his ability.
It was only fair given everything between them.
"I understand. A challenge... What does it feel like... Well... I can't really say. The best way I could put it is that it feels like it's frustrating when it's in the way and feels like it's crushing you when you lose. Each time you think about how you can't get passed it it hurts even more and feels frustrating."
It was all new to him.
Before, he would give up without giving it another thought.
His line of thinking had changed due to help from others. There was now a proper way to answer her question.
He could understand just how frustrating a challenge could be. How it could overwhelm someone to a dangerous point.
But...
"But it feels great when you get passed the challenge. It's fulfilling to the point that you get joy just knowing you managed it. I suppose...it's a good thing to have a challenge."
Takeshi was unsure but he thought that he felt the edges of his lips lift up slightly.
If I smile... What does that look like? I'm sure it is a terrible sight.
"I see..."
He stopped walking when he noticed that it was only his footsteps that could be heard.
He turned his body around to look at the girl who had stopped. Her head was hanging down, face covered by her hair, and her posture was slightly more slumped than before.
It was a bit unnerving.
Then she started to speak again.
"Kotowari-kun..."
"Yes?"
Her voice had been low, making it even harder to hear her.
If not for the hallway being devoid of sound he may not have heard her to begin with. But he had, and he knew that what she wanted to say was something important to her. Possibly to him as well.
Her voice came out again, this time louder than before. Her head was now raised as well.
"Please, let me join your squad!"