Mikado City was a relatively average sized place with the only thing that truly stood out being the large building in the middle of the city. That building belong to the Neighbor-fighting organization known as Border.
Outside of that building was an area called the Forbidden Zone. It contained empty buildings and open areas.
Even further outside was the rest of the city. It was where the inhabitants of the city dwelled and went about their day-to-day business. Other organizations and businesses continued their work and schools continued to let people learn.
Even in the more rural areas there was something nearby.
One of those "somethings" was a flower shop that showed its wares outside with many plants growing.
The inside was the same with shelves and tables out that held pots and vases. Other tables were put out for people to sit at and admire the surrounding and the aroma. The colors that spread out throughout the shop made it seem as if a person was traveling through a full garden instead of a simple shop.
Besides the sight and smells coming from the shop, a sound could also be heard. It was rhythmic sound of a song being performed by tapping a wooden counter and humming from the throat by a woman.
"Mikumo-kun. No, I should probably call you Osamu-kun given how friendly our mothers are with each other."
The noise came from Suzume as she leaned her upper body on the wooden counter of the Misaki owned flower shop. Her finger continued to tap on the counter while her voice came out as sentences to go with the tapping.
Across the wooden counter stood a glasses-wearing boy with an apron tied around his neck and waist. The insignia of the flower shop was stitched into the apron on the bottom right.
"What is it, Misaki-senpai?"
"Boo~ I told you already to just call me 'Suzume' or 'Suzu'. Heh heh heh~ I will even allow you to call me some form of 'sister' even though you honestly aren't a Sniper."
"..."
"I'll let that sink in."
She gave another laugh as the boy gave an expressionless reaction.
"I guess that's what I get for letting you be around Kirin for so long. What a shame. I was honestly hoping you would have a taste at what it was like to be my younger brother."
"You enjoy having siblings, don't you, Senpai? Chika and Kotowari have told me how you treat them like younger siblings."
"That's right. Although I try not to lay it on hard for those two since I know that they have special circumstances concerning older siblings. I will continue to tease them, but I never look to honestly replace their siblings."
"Thank you. I appreciate you saying that."
She waved her hand dismissively.
It all came too naturally to her.
"If anyone should be showing their appreciation then it should honestly be me."
She changed how she tapped on the wooden counter, changing the tune of the sound and of how she spoke.
Mikumo was not well versed in music, but even he could tell that she intentionally did that to fit how he heard her words. It was clear that she was keeping him in mind when they were talking.
That was also appreciated.
"You have been helping our shop ever since our mothers honestly became friends. We are the ones who got her the flowers when you were on the hospital. I picked them out myself."
"They were nice. Thank you for them."
"That would be the second time you have honestly thanked me. One more time and I win."
"What... What happens when you win?"
Suzume smiled while adding a second finger to the tapping. The sound could be heard throughout the shop and it only continued to get better in his ears.
"Why, you officially become my little brother of course."
"You really want that to happen, don't you, Misaki-senpai?"
"Heh heh heh. I am honestly joking. There is only one real younger Misaki sibling in this family. Until my mom decides to have another one. But for now it is just her, me, and Mitsu. Everyone else is just some entertainment for me."
.
Mikumo tilted his head as he moved over to switch out some plants who started to outgrow their pots. The roots were starting to get out of the pot and were seen from just a glance. Multiple stacked pots larger than the one it had been in were stacked up by the nearby wall.
Without noticing what he was doing, Mikumo placed the plant in a new pot while swaying a bit.
It wasn't until he heard Suzume laugh again that he realized what he was doing.
"Osamu-kun, do you happen to know which Japanese deity I honestly like the most?"
"Hm? I didn't know your family was religious, Misaki-senpai. Do you visit the shrine a ways away?"
"No, no. That honestly isn't what I meant at all. I was simply talking about the mythology of some deities. In all honesty, our culture sure has a weird way of looking at things. There is a god or spirits in everything around us, according Shinto beliefs."
"I see. Then I don't know. About which deity you like that is."
"Would you like to take a guess? If you can get it in three guesses then I will honestly give you a present."
Mikumo thought for a moment as the tapping changed to a slow and steady one. It was perfect for thinking while bringing out some sort of stimulation to the mind. It created a sound that forced a different thought process to come out as the list of Japanese deities went through his head.
The girl asking the question loved putting on shows, enjoyed music, was in a squad that liked showing off, was rather loud most of the time, and seemed unstoppable once they got into what they were doing.
Even now, as she wore makeup that was obvious but not overpowering, it was clear which one she would find entertaining.
The best goddess for entertainment of Shinto mythology.
"Ame-no-Uzume."
"Bingo! You are correct!"
Suzume smiled towards him while he looked back towards the counter.
"I was able to see your last match and noticed that you seemed like you were dancing. It makes sense. But..."
But...
"Isn't dancing during a battle a bad thing?"
"You know the story, don't you? About Amaterasu."
Most people from Japan did.
It was a well known story of how the sun kami of Shinto mythology shut herself in and was brought out by the kami of entertainment using a mirror, a magatama, and...
"Festivities."
"A dance to be exact. Ame-no-Uzume stripped naked and honestly started to dance near the cave Amaterasu was hiding in. The other deities found it so entertaining that they created enough noise to draw out the sun kami. That story is the reason Ame-no-Uzume is still considered a deity today and the dance performed was the basis for present day kagura dances. Now, Osamu-kun, in what way would you say that Ame-no-Uzume is strong?"
Was there any strength in that story?
The story of Amaterasu had Ame-no-Uzume performing a dance to draw out the shut in kami. There had been no show of power or divine force that brought out Amaterasu.
"I will honestly go easy on you here."
The tapping started to grow in speed again.
"In a way, can't it be said that Ame-no-Uzume was stronger than even the sun kami Amaterasu because she managed to bring out the sun through dance and frivolous behavior alone? While I am honestly not saying that I am that strong, my Side Effect can bring about a similar situation when I feel like it. Or when I like whoever I am fighting."
"Your Side Effect?"
He had seen that Side Effect during the first time they had met. It was something that let her manage to beat Kuga after a small amount of time.
From what I've heard from others, it is also what she used during her squad's last match too. How strong is her Side Effect that she would bring up a deity?
"Your Rhythm is beautiful."
Mikumo blinked a few times while he let the words sink in.
She had used that word before, but he was never sure what she meant when she had said it.
People usually referred to a rhythm when talking about music and dance. Yet this strange girl used that word for people. She would say it after spending some time with them or watching them during matches.
It was hard for him to understand as someone who already knew little about the arts and anything stemming from them.
"Shall I explain?"
"If it wouldn't be too much trouble."
She laugh once more.
She was an entertainer for sure.
.
Suzume enjoyed the attention she was getting from the boy as he continued to help out at her family's shop.
He is a good boy.
"My Side Effect allows me to find out how anything moves, acts, or just what they are like simply by seeing them and observing them for a bit. It then converts that information into what can basically be described as 'song and dance' for me. With that being said, I know so much about you now because I have honestly been looking at your Rhythm."
"Amazing..."
"In a way, it makes it so that I can prevent thugs from touching me. The only ones who can honestly touch me are those I wish to wither away for."
Unlike others like Konami, Mei, the directors, and some others, Mikumo had a plain and simple Rhythm that was much quieter than most. It was a small "song and dance" that could be drowned out by everyone else's that was around him. Compared to her own, it was a single loose string being pulled as opposed to a melodious harp being played.
Yet she found that wonderful.
I am so use to amazing Rhythms or changing ones like Yuki-san that the simple things become the most fascinating thing to me. While we all play our own symphonies, it is honestly best to remember where all of that originates.
That was how Mikumo's Rhythm was. Even as he learned new things and continued to grow, that origin was always there. That simple nature that prevented him from truly standing out never grew dim just as it never flared up.
It was beautiful in the simplest of ways.
"I suppose I should thank you for saying that then. For someone who enjoys music as much as you do, it's nice to know that you like my 'Rhythm'."
"Heh heh heh. That's the third one. I win this game."
It was hard to stop enjoying the moment.
"Now then. There are two things I need to give you. The first is the reward for getting the correct answer. The second is an answer to your question."
As she listened the two things off her fingers stopped tapping on the wooden counter.
The effect the tapping had was small, yet it was also noticeable in a way. Mikumo stopped moving in a smooth motion and the sound of working behind her also changed.
"I will honestly be answering your question first. To do that I need to ask you a question. Why do you think it is bad to dance during a fight?"
"I guess... Because it leaves you as a target and can distract from the fight."
"But can't you say that distracting from the fight is also a tactic?"
Suzume lightly pointed at the boy with narrowed eyes and a smile.
Before either one could respond, a voice from behind came up.
"Not in the way you were doing it in your match. It was clear that you were guiding the fight to how you wanted."
"Oh, are you done back there, Miwa?"
.
Suzume and Mikumo looked passed the strange girl to find Border's #7 A-Rank squad captain standing there with an apron on that seemed to be an identical replica of the one Mikumo was wearing.
Miwa pointed behind him with his thumb while looking only at Suzume.
"I organized everything the way your mom wanted. I didn't touch some of the imported things since it seemed like she wanted them in specific places."
"Oh, that's fine. Thanks for honestly helping. You can take a break before finishing up for the day."
"There is only a few more things to get done. I'll just finish up for the day right now."
"You came here right after school, didn't you? Just take a small break with us for the moment. It's relatively slow today, so there isn't much of a rush."
"I would still rather not..."
"Hey, I'm honestly keeping my end of the deal here. I haven't put you or Osamu-kun in a doujinshi where you are wearing an apron. Do you realize how great a naked apron scene can be? I am honestly holding back for you two."
The two boys turned to each other before fixing their aprons awkwardly.
They had initially started helping the family owned flower shop as a way to stay out of one of Suzume's doujinshi. As time went on it became more of a hobby to help the family owned flower shop than an agreement.
For her part, Suzume kept to her word and held back from putting either one of the boys in her erotic doujinshi.
"By the way, just to reconfirm, I can honestly use the two of you in general ones, right? You have no complaints if you are used for more average doujinshi."
Yoshi: "You don't slow down, do you?"
Simple Boy: "Can that not be seen as a virtue as well as a worry?"
Kikucchi: "I'm not sure that's a good thing, Simple Boy. Misaki has good qualities, but does that one really count as one?"
Decoy: "Are you trying to compliment her or insult her?"
Honest Sister: "Why are the boys honestly answering?"
Yoshi: "Because you are honestly sending that call through the general 16yr old chat instead of your all-girls one."
Suzume made a mental note to put Hanzaki in an extremely erotic doujinshi for making fun of her while fixing her phone so that the call would only be heard by the females.
She looked over to see the response to her question from the two boys.
Mikumo gave a hesitant nod as Miwa looked away.
The two of them have read some of her harmless doujinshi and found nothing too wrong with being put in them. They were able to save face as well as be compensated for having their likeness used in those stories.
"Heh heh heh. It would be rude of me to not thank you two for helping our shop. I am honestly surprised by how well you two are working when you are both here though. You two even have some similar days and go about them with no issue."
"Misaki-senpai, I don't think me being in Tamakoma would be a reason not to work well with Miwa-senpai. Or at least work in the same shop as him."
"..."
Suzume and Mikumo turned to the older boy to see him giving the wall a nice good stare.
They continued to look towards him, waiting for some kind of response.
It took a few more seconds before he gave in, answering in the most monotone voice as possible.
"Mikumo is just another worker here."
"Heh heh heh. You two are extremely lucky I am a splendid woman who keeps her word, otherwise..."
She gave another laugh, this time covering her mouth to give a more sinister feel to it.
Sensing that something would happen should the conversation continue on, Mikumo took the initiative by asking a question.
"Miwa-senpai, what did you mean when we were talking about Misaki-senpai's dancing?"
The two upperclassmen gave a hum.
.
Miwa knew that he was not the best person to answer such a question when he knew so little about the strange girl.
The most I know about her are what everyone else does and what Narasaka and Shōhei tell us about her. What I said before was just what I thought as a fighter.
"Heh heh heh. No need to feel any pressure, Miwa. We honestly don't know each other too well, so just say what you know with confidence. If I couldn't take criticism well then I would not be doing such a thing during a fight in the first place."
Her words were meant as a way to let him know that he could say whatever he wanted as a fighter and not someone who knew her as a person.
At the same time she was saying that she would not ignore his words just because he did not know about her. It was much like how his sister use to encourage him.
There was a small pang in his heart at the thought.
He pushed that feeling aside to continue speaking.
"Just to confirm what I had said before... Misaki, in your last match, your 'dance' felt like you were guiding your opponents how you wanted instead of just being a distraction."
"Right. That is what you had said."
He gave a nod in understanding.
"The way Misaki was moving made it seem much more like she was directing the fight to a position where her teammates could gain the advantage. But that was only against Tsukiko and Asano. Against the two Shor Squad members she was moving as if she wanted to win. The end result was...-"
"Taking the two of them out in some way..."
Miwa chose to forgive the interruption since it seemed like the younger boy was talking to himself more than him or Suzume.
He had seen it before, but this reconfirmed that Mikumo was quick to grasp things when given a bit of time.
"You call that a 'dance'. I guess I'll refer to it like that too since you did manage yourself during that fight. I won't like it though..."
"I honestly never asked you to like it. But I am thankful for that. I'll give you an extra two minutes for your break."
Her was starting to understand a bit on how the strange girl worked.
"I heard how you explained your Side Effect to Mikumo, so I'm fine with saying this now. You found their Rhythms and used it to incorporate them in your 'dance'. That isn't acting as a distraction. You are fully taking command of the fight and using your opponents' movement against them. You also didn't seem like you were really going all out against the two Shor Squad members, so I'm guessing you wanted them to keep fighting."
He waited for a response.
It was clear what words Suzume wanted him to use, but he would not give her the luxury of hearing him say them. Those words were for entertainers and fanatics, not someone who only thinks of taking out Neighbors.
"I was honestly giving them a chance to be on stage with me. Besides that, I wasn't meant to be the main act in that fight. Toby and Takeshi were suppose to do the real fighting, so you can't honesty blame me for messing around a bit."
"That was you messing around? I guess that makes sense given how you fought against Kuga last time..."
Mikumo was talking about the Neighbor.
Hearing about the Tamakoma Neighbor who had a Black Trigger made him tense up. Miwa restrained himself from commenting since he was still currently working in the family owned flower shop and Suzume was there to hear his words.
He continued to listen to the glasses boy while trying to keep the mindset of an upperclassman and not that of a Border agent.
"To use Misaki-senpai's style of speech... Can I assume that, in the last match, it was more of a 'rehearsal' than the actual performance? Since Miwa-senpai had said you weren't going all out, it makes me think that you were just practicing on the two Shor Squad girls."
"What a good boy. While I can't give you more time for a break than what Miwa got, I can honestly let you take a flower from this shop. Whichever one you like."
"Oh, um, thank you."
"Now then, about what you said. ...Miwa, can you give your take on that? Did it seem as if I was just practicing for what is to come later on?"
The two of them turned towards him once more for an answer.
It would have been easy for the strange girl to give an answer herself since the topic was about her, but she was shifting the attention to him for some reason.
There was no backing down when the only other two were a strange girl and glasses boy from Tamakoma.
"From what I remember... You lot-... No. I guess that would get me in trouble."
He rethought his words when he noticed the new look he was getting from the two underclassmen.
"Your squad was only in the top tier of B-Ranks because of your captain. He left you and you immediately went down in rankings."
"We were honestly going through something. But I can't deny everything we did wrong, so I'll honestly forgive you for that brutal reminder."
"This seemed to be your comeback match though. You guys showed off that you can fight without him, so that might be why you didn't go all out. You say that it was because the fighting was suppose to go to your teammates, but you have too much confidence in yourself for that to be all."
"So Misaki-senpai knew that they would win. She was expecting her squad would be moving up which would mean they would be fighting the top tier B-Rank squads again and she didn't want to show off what she can do."
"Heh heh heh! You two boys are quick to understand. At least on a basic level."
The strange girl smiled while tapping her fingers on the table once more. It seemed that she even stopped the recording she was doing since the start of their conversation.
Now they were talking to keep a secret instead of letting the information be known.
.
"Yes. I had no doubts that we would win. You can honestly call me conceited for thinking like that, but it was because I know us so well that I knew we would not be losing. It could have gone better, but I have no complaints about our performance. Toby and Takeshi were having fun and managed to get their points. It would be rude if I had taken that away from them just because I wanted to enjoy myself."
"Being an entertainer means you are trying to make the viewers happy, right?"
"Good job, Osamu-kun. That's right. Oh, but don't think that I am not honestly happy when I do that either. I make it enjoyable for everyone watching."
Suzume added a second finger to her tapping, watching as the two boys started swaying a bit to the tapping.
It was easy to move people's minds and bodies with simplistic things when they were understood.
There was only innocence, purity and enjoyment in the way she moved people, never wanting malice or resent want to enter her dances. Entertainment was a form of enjoyment that was meant to make both participants and audience happy instead of being a one-sided thing.
"A performer should not be doing the exact same thing each time they are on stage. If I were to honestly dance like that again in later fights then I would be no better than a rewatched episode of some anime. Nothing new or exciting. That is why I honestly decided on that dance being my Turning Point. A basis for everything that is yet to come. It was only the lights and music, so to speak. I'm sure you will honestly come across a point like that as well. Miwa seems to have already gone by that as well."
She glanced between the two boys while changing the rhythm of her tapping. She watched how they both gave different reactions with Mikumo lightly tapping his foot and Miwa tapping his leg with his finger.
There was no helping the laugh that came out when she noticed that. They were not that different in certain ways which made finding a suitable rhythm for them easy.
I should honestly get their help while I have the chance.
Making it discreet, she started her recording. It was not connected to the chat, so there was no reason to really hide it from the two of them.
"Miwa, Osamu-kun, can I ask the two of you for some help? Since I have honestly mentioned Turning Point, I thought I could add to it using actual music and lyrics."
.
The entertainer was asking help from two simple boys. It was strange when they knew little about music.
Even so...
"I have no problem with that. But, uh, Misaki-senpai, didn't you say that you shouldn't do the same thing as an entertainer?"
"Silly boy, we were talking about fighting. No one doesn't listen to a song more than once. Everyone has something they enjoy that they will always come back to. It can be a song, dance, an anime episode or a manga chapter. This is no different. Besides, it is only adding to Turning Point and is therefore something new and something old put into one."
"I...guess I get it."
The entertainer laughed with a good nature.
She then turned to the A-Rank captain to wait for his answer.
"I refuse. I am only here to help out this shop, not be a part of whatever you are going to do.
"Of course. I would not want the great Miwa Shūji, captain of Border's #7 A-Rank squad and great Neighbor killer, to lose face. I only needed you two to sing with me. Since it seems like you don't want to help... Osamu-kun, you will be the only one compensated for doing this. I will even give you what I was going to give Miwa."
"No, no! That's fine! Just helping you is fine. Besides, I have heard from Karasuma-senpai that your songs are always great, so just hearing one here is going to be nice. Actually, hearing it before it comes out is already a special treat, isn't it?"
The entertainer was quick to grab the boy to hug him over the counter.
He managed to keep his glasses on as his head became trapped in her arms.
"M-Misaki-senpai!?"
"You are such a good boy, Osamu-kun! Right! You honestly don't need to worry about how you sound or keeping pace. I will take care of those things. Is that alright? Miwa, even though you won't be joining us in this song, would you mind keeping track of the recording at least? When I give you the signal, I want you to honestly press this here."
The two boys nodded their heads as the tapping stopped. Their movements followed along and stopped.
Taking the place of the tapping, music filled the family owned flower shop.
It started as a single instrument being played, making Mikumo unsure of how to start.
Seeing his expression, Suzume smiled while typing something on her tablet. She showed him the words and what he would be singing.
Once he looked down at it, her voice came out as both simple sentences as well as a rhythm being heard under it.
"Appear, O Scorching Shrine. Gods who witnessed the sun rise once more in Izumo, let this freely be proof of purification. Let our wishes become a sacred treasure some day."
She patiently waited for Mikumo to say what also needed to be said.
He was frantic for a bit before following her lead and saying the words instead of singing them.
"In the depths of the castle, the young maiden's blessing reaches and protects the four cardinal directions. In the realm of the living where the payers are said, the goddes who entertains all in the realm where prayers are heard gives her protection."
Suzume gave a nod towards the boy who now had to take a breath.
The music started to come out once they were done speaking. More instruments could be heard as the entertainer started properly singing.
"I cry until the tears dry up, like a fool, but it is what I want."
It was a single line, but it was what got Mikumo to start his part.
"I gently offer my fingers."
"Things I wish would not break, ephemeral and small."
She started again, this time continuing from her own words.
"As I was alone, you melted into the sea.
"The day it broke, even scattered throughout the world.
"I will always yearn for the shining of your life, the melody of your rhythm.
"Cherish everything, even when falling upon fertile ground.
"The silver colored rain I saw that day, my memories, let them shine."
She looked to Mikumo for the response.
"My hand is reach out from the oblivion, just to meet you, burning my body.
"You offer your cheek."
He was unsure how to respond, yet he felt like there was no judgement towards him.
The entertainer continued to encourage him with a smile while the A-Rank captain continued to look down at the button.
"Even dancing petals can overcome a storm.
"Never giving up, you waited for me.
"That day, it was granted, the desire we shared, even if scattered.
"Your dazzling light, reaching even the stars."
The song started to pick up once more. It was his sign to move his voice properly.
He had no way of knowing that he was participating in a form of tuning. The lack of knowledge had made the song more authentic.
"Folding everything up, piling up upon this fertile ground.
"That silver colored snow, our embrace, our hearts, let's do it all again."
This was where the entertainer would take the song back. Where they would connect their perspectives to finish the song.
Suzume lifted her hand as the music went on, ready to give Miwa the signal to press the button.
But before she could...
"-!?"
Two noises went off.
The first was the phone in Miwa's pocket.
He pulled it out of his pocket to see who had messaged him.
"Misaki, Narasaka wants you to go over for Sniper training."
The second was Suzume's tablet, which had informed her that two messages had been sent directly to her from the Border chat.
Double-Snipe: "Suzu-chaaaaaaaan! Are you coming to Sniper trainiiiiiiiiing!?"
Old Temple: "Misaki, Sniper training is going to start soon. Are you coming?"
.
Suzume frantically looked at the time once she was informed on what was about to start.
"Crap, crap, crap! I honestly forgot about that! I'm sorry, Osamu-kun, if I had remembered then I wouldn't have asked you to help me!"
"It's fine. It was fun to sing with you, even if I probably wasn't the best."
"What? You were better than I thought you would be. No offense of course."
"Misaki."
"That's right!"
When she was reminded again about practice she jumped. It was amazing how smooth she moved even as she rushed to take off her own apron and hang it up.
Once she did that, she packed up her tablet and took her phone from Miwa. She had made sure to save the recording so that she would not lose it before stuffing it into her pocket.
"I honestly have to go. My mom should be back in a few minutes, so you can wait until them. Miwa, you already know what to do after your break. Osamu-kun, just keep doing what you were doing. If you have an questions honestly just ask Miwa. If my mom honestly isn't back within twenty minutes, you have my permission to close shop."
The two boys nodded their heads.
Suzume let out a sigh of relief knowing that the two of them would take care of her family's flower shop until their boss came back.
"I'll be leaving then!"
"Mah~ Come on, Ken-kun, I said I was sorry for almost being late! I honestly didn't even know you were waiting for me!"
Suzume grained while walking into the large room filled with people getting ready for the join Sniper training going on at Border's main base.
Once she had met up with Satori the two had rushed to the large building while entering their Trion Bodies once they were inside. Satori wore his usual red tracksuit with the Arashiyama Squad emblem on the left side of his chest. Suzume likewise had the gray outfit of Kotowari Squad.
"I refuse to listen! You were practicing a new song without me even knowing! I thought I was your best friend!"
"Don't you dare pull that crap with me!"
With the boy being close to the shop when messaging her, Satori had heard a bit of the song that had been sung with Mikumo while Miwa recorded them.
Once he had gotten to her it was clear how he felt about not knowing about the new song that only the other two boys knew about. It was something that he was not expecting to find out.
Even so...
"Why I never! You think that I should not bring up the fact that we were once best friends even though you cheated on me like is? I am suppose to be the first person you tell when a new song idea comes to your mind. This is proof that reality is truly an unfair and cruel thing."
"What it honestly shows is that you are so dramatic that it outshines me when it doesn't matter. Stop being such a me and let's find a spot already."
"Aw~ But I thought that if we ever quite Border that we could be an entertainment duo! Doesn't that honestly sound great, Suzu-chan!?"
"You too!? I know you saw how Hanzaki-kun was making fun of me earlier. You didn't even say anything. If anything, I should be mad at you for not defending me."
"But you don't need my protection. ...Oh. Oooooohhhh! I get it now! You want to he treated like a princess! I got it. Right, then I will be your prince whenever you want, my honey."
Suzume could only laugh at the crazy words coming from the boy's mouth as they continued their search.
It was oddly crowded in the room with only single spots being open here and there. Familiar faces could be seen, but the two had wanted to be near each other since the male between them had waited for the female.
"Suzume-nee, are you looking for something?"
The duo turned at the voice that called out to Suzume.
They could see Hiura running up to them, smile on her face and red hair sticking out from under her hat.
"Suzu-chan and I were looking for a spot to sit. It's not the best place for a date, but she wanted this prince to accompany her to her training. I couldn't say no, so here we are."
"Alright Akane-chan, Ken-kun seems to be delusional again. I am honestly looking for a single spot for practice."
"There's an open spot over here! You can practice here!"
Another voice called out to them, gaining their attention. Once they saw that it was Hanzaki, Suzume smiled in his direction before turning to Satori.
Hiura also smiled, ignorant to what would come for the two boys.
"How great! Isn't it, Ken-kun!? You can go over there next to Hanzaki-kun and I can get a good picture for the next R-rated doujinshi! You are helping like you wanted and I get to get some payback towards that foolish gamer for making fun of me!"
She gave a light push to the nervous Satori while putting an arm around Hiura's shoulder.
It had worked out in a multitude of ways that she did not expect. She would be free of Satori's teasing, she would get back at both boys, it would be easier to find a spot for practice, and she was having fun. There were no downsides to what had just happened.
"Now then, Akane-chan, do you have any spot open near you?"
"There's on next to me. You are taking that one."
.
Narasaka saw Suzume visibly freeze as he made his way towards them. He had seen the entire exchange from Hiura showing up to Satori sulkily walking towards the nervous Hanzaki.
The moment she turned to look at him he pointed in the direction where he had set himself up. There was not much there, but an open spot could be seen right next to him.
After a few seconds she gave a resigned sigh while muttering under her breath.
"I suppose I don't have a choice..."
There was a smug feeling that started to surface when he saw her start to walk towards the empty spot.
Seeing her drag her feet just because she had to be next to him gave him a morbid sense of pleasure as well as some reluctance of his own. If it was not for the fact that he had agreed to be her mentor he would have thought nothing if her search for a spot.
He turned to follow her when the sound of new voices came to their ears. It seemed that Suzume was not the only one who was having trouble finding a spot for their practice.
"Ah, this is no good. There's no free spaces next to each other."
"Wanna go down a floor?"
"Yeah, let's do that."
The new Tamakoma Sniper and her friend - a C-Rank - had walked in and spoke out to each other. That had been enough to gain the attention of the entertainer girl who he wished would pay more attention to training than the people around her.
From the corner of his eye he could see one of the younger Snipers - Kageura Squad's Sniper to be exact - start to move the stuff from the seat next to him while calling out to the two girls.
It seems that there are a lot of people doing that in here today. Although I'm the only one who is forced to do this since I agreed to mentor this irritating girl.
The irritating girl who was now walking away.
"Damn it..."
.
Once they had seen the two girls and the Kageura Squad Sniper call out to them, Suzume and Hiura became starry eyes for completely different reasons.
They did not hold back in making those reason known.
"A kitty!"
"An honestly moe ship!"
The two girls made their way over to the three with Hiura fawning over the cat and Suzume fawning over Amatori and Ema.
"Nasu Squad's...Hiura-senpai and Kotowari Squad's Misaki-senpai?"
"Hey there, Chika-chan~!" Suzume greeted while Hiura was having cat problems. "So, Yuzu-kun, letting Chika-chan here sit near you, huh? Heh heh heh. You know that you should honestly tell me when you are interested in someone. That way I can be ready to take any pictures.
The boy in question just turned away. He also knew well enough that letting Suzume get to him would cause so much trouble that even Azuma would have trouble calming her down. He was actually a little glad when the No. 1 Sniper interrupted.
Suzume was about to beg Tōma to help her out with Narasaka and Satori, but that was stopped when the practice was starting and Narasaka came to pick up Suzume.
"Eh?"
Literally.
"Thank you for the match. It helped me figure out how to control my attacks a bit more."
"It's no problem, Kotowari-kun. I got to see your fight with Eri-chan and Maya, so I thought it would not be an issue of you two asked me for some more help."
Takeshi fixed his scarf as Nasu looked at him with a kind smile. Kumagai stood next to her friend, also smiling towards the boy.
Having messaged the Shooter girl, Takeshi had wanted to better himself even more with some training. He had lost this solo match by a small margin while also gaining some advice from the girl during their match.
"Those lasers are something else though. I don't think I've seen them up close before, but they always seem to back a strong punch. Last time was a bit...much, but you look like you're doing a lot better now. Nice job, Kotowari."
"Kuma, you should probably stop now. Poor boy looks like he is going to burn up with those compliments. As well as the reminders."
"Nah! He's happy to be praised, right? It looked that way during your fight with Maya. You looked so happy that you had managed to gain an advantage against them."
The arm that went around his neck had made Takeshi go a bit red. It was not too often that he had come in physical contact with anyone other than his teammates. To have someone like Kumagai give him a one-armed hug while complimenting him was not something he was use to.
Even Nasu seemed to be enjoying herself when seeing the two of them interacting.
He wanted to also praise them for their hard work in their match against Tamakoma and Suzunari but was unsure if that was fine given how it had turned out.
He saw the logs from that match and how hard the squad of girls was fighting to score points against the two aces of Tamakoma and Suzunari to only manage to get the points from Nasu's fight.
Would that have been rude of him? Was it something they did not want brought up?
He was still not use to interacting with others to know what was right and what was wrong when talking to others.
That was why he was grateful for the interruption that came moments later.
"Hearing people like Rei and Yūko say something like that about him makes me glad that Maya and Eri were against him instead of me. I was glad that I had my fun with Shana and Tobio."
The captain of Shor Squad smiled to the trio while fixing his goggles and waving in their direction. The goggles hung around his neck in a casual manner, giving them the impression that he was being relaxed around them.
"I was wondering if any of you would mind having a match with me."
"Not that we really mind, but why us?"
It was a good question that Takeshi also wanted the answer to.
Even if Toby had interacted with the other boy enough to where they were best friends, Takeshi himself had hardly ever spoken to the boy. He knew the same could be said for at least Nasu since she had very little in common with the goggles boy.
"Well both Rei and Takeshi are really good Shooters and I thought you would want some help with your own shooting. Or, you know, swordplay. We both kind of got beaten down by some wolves and need a nice comeback from that. I figured losers like us could help each other out."
Takeshi tilted his head.
This was where his lack of knowledge on people came back up.
Those kinds of words seem like they shouldn't be said, but he said them so casually. He even went so far as to call them both losers for losing to Toby and Kō-san respectively. Does that mean it's fine to bring that up? Should I ask?
He could only lift his scarf and hope that none of them saw his uncertainty through his expression.
"You don't need to put it like that. I guess I can't complain since you're coming from the same-"
"NNNNNNNOOOOOOOOOAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH!"
None of them were prepared for the rush of brown and gray that came rocketing by from the side.
.
Toby smiled as he rushed through the large hall, dodging and moving passed the people around him. His Side Effect had managed to keep up with his movements, making it so that he would not crash into anyone as long as they did not pressure him.
His target had been the goggles boy who was talking with his captain. Noah was a former opponent now as well as a great friend that he needed for some exercise. There was just one problem.
Too fast!
But still slow.
From an outside view it would seem that if Toby did not stop his high speed run that he would eventually crash into something hard enough to break something. Since he was in a Trion Body he would not be hurt, but the same could not be said for whatever he would crash into.
To Toby himself it was completely different.
This is still not enough! Nowhere close to enough!
He had yet to start his training with Minoru and so felt that his speed was still lacking. As if each step took too long to touch the ground and that his feet were being weighed down by some force, preventing him from moving faster.
Focusing more on his speed, he was unaware of what was in front of him.
His target had been Noah, but he had managed to miss the right positioning and now what stood in front of him was...
"Take and Yūko...!? Crap!"
Seeing that Kumagai was in the way of his original target, Toby jumped into the air and put a hand on Kumagai's shoulder just before reaching them.
He lifted his whole body while putting as little pressure on her shoulder as possible, flipping over the four of them and managing to prevent the crash from happening.
Just as he landed on the ground, he pushed himself forward and launched himself at Noah. He ran into the boy and accidentally took Kumagai down with both of them. Due to her having an arm around Takeshi, he was also dragged along for the fall.
.
That was Awdry-kun reacting to Kuma, not his reflexes making him react...
Nasu took note of the new information as she turned around after the crash.
She looked down at the pile of people before taking out her phone and snapping a quick picture.
I'll save that for some points later.
"Toby, what did I tell you about running into people?"
Takeshi was the first to speak up from under Kumagai's arm.
Nasu thought that he would be mad and possibly fire a laser at his squadmate for the pile that he was now in.
Instead he seemed to just be mildly annoying while waiting for Kumagai to get up from the top of the pile.
She felt that it had been rude of her to think he would suddenly revert back to how he had once been.
"I wanted to fight a Kōgetsu user and saw No here, so I had to ask him for a match!"
The boy tapped his head a few times before turning to her. She found it odd since he usually did not have much to say to her considering they had completely different personalities.
"Ah! Right! I have a message from Suzume for you, Rei!"
"Me?"
"Yeah! She says, 'Nasu-chan! Help me out with your idiotic cousin or so help me, I will honestly use that against you, and it won't be much of a secret anymore!' That's all."
"'That'?"
She went wide eyed once she heard the whole message. If Suzume was ready to use a hard kept secret like that then it meant that she really needed help.
The looks from the others around her made it hard to keep up the smile she had on, but she had managed to do so whole slowly bringing up her phone. There was no time and she needed to message her cousin before something bad happened.
"R-right... Tell her I'll see what I can do."
"Of course she would have some blackmail material on us all."
"By the way, what's with Tōru and Ken anyways?"
"Hey Tobio, you mind getting off of me now?"
"Apparently it's because of some kind of deal Senpai made with Narasaka-san that she now has listen to whatever he says," Takeshi explained. He had been told this by Mei so that he did not get any misunderstandings. "I wonder what the deal could have been..."
"Maybe she asked for help," Kumagai offered.
Nasu herself did not know the reason either, but she was in agreement with everyone when they have a chorus of,
"That can't be it!"
"Chu!"
"Well that was a cute sneeze."
Suzume ignored Tōma's comment in favor of paying attention to the feeling in her stomach. A feeling of wanting to hit a few people.
Once she got over that, she turned to her result from training.
As usual, she had managed to miss the center most of the time when using Lightning. At the same time, each shot had made it close to the center or directly in the center once she switched to using Ibis.
She was not the only one to notice her similar record as Narasaka looked to her, expression empty of any emotion.
"You still need to work on your shots with Lightning. Especially since you only use that during matches. Your Ibis shots need only a small touch up, so we don't need to focus too much on that. You don't like using Egret too much, but you should still have it as an option."
"So Lightning, then Egret, and Ibis for last?"
"No. Egret will be first and Lightning will be second. Since you need so much work with the latter it's best to work with the former first."
There was no arguing against the boy when she had been the one to ask him for help.
Practicing with Egret first is what he had said, but she wanted to argue against it. Under normal circumstances that would have happened. But right now...
"Fine, fine. I'll honestly listen to you for now."
"Good. Also, I want you to only use your Sniper Triggers for your next match. At least act the part of a Sniper since you asked for my help."
"I was honestly going to do that in the first place. You don't need to tell me that, you fool. Mei-san has been helping me out when it comes to other areas, but I am still the only Sniper Kotowari Squad has on hand. I figured I should help them like that this time around."
"So you're finally understanding the simple things now. Good job, I suppose."
The feeling of wanting to hit someone came back once more.
That same feeling started to go down the moment Narasaka's expression relaxed into a more neutral one.
"It took you long enough."
That same feeling flared back up the moment those words left his mouth.
It was clear that luck was not on her side as someone called out from the side, preventing Suzume from punching her fellow Sniper in the face.
"Narasaka-senpai!"
Both Narasaka and Suzume turned to the side to see the other three female Snipers walk up to them.
"As expected of Narasaka-senpai! You're No. 1 with a decisive lead again!"
"Not to bring you down, Akane-chan, but take a look at Tōma-san and Yuzu-kun. Narasaka honestly has nothing on those two at the moment."
Doing as told, Hiura, along with Izuho and Chika, looked to see a smiley face on one of targets and a star on the other.
Looking over herself, Suzume knew that the verbal surprise from the three was well founded. While Narasaka had hit dead center each time, those two had managed to mess around with precise aim.
It's no wonder Tōma-san is still ranked first over here. Yuzu-kun is also pretty amazing for managing that.
"Points alone cannot measure someone's true ability, because there are 'unfettered talent' that exist outside the box."
A new feeling of wanting to make a snide remark towards Narasaka came up. It was pushed down due to those words being true.
"Ah. First time I've sniped with a kitty on my head," Tōma said as he walked over to the rest of them. "A pretty novel experience, isn't? Narasaka, wanna give it a try?"
"I'll pass."
"Then how about you, Suzu-chan?"
"Sure thing. If you try to snipe with a maid's outfit that is."
"Don't think there's one in my size."
Suzume smiled alongside Tōma while ignoring the groan coming from Narasaka.
At times it was too fun to mess with him.
The groan turned to words as Narasaka grabbed his belongings as well as Suzume's arm.
"You're coming with me. Tōma-san, I'm leavening. Give my greetings to Fuyushima-san."
"Eh...? Eh!? Am I being kidnapped!? By Narasaka of all people!? Tōma-san, Yuzu-kun, Chika-chan, help me! I would honestly rather go with one of yooooooou!"
"Stop yelling. Stop struggling. You're making a scene, you rotten girl!"
"Now he wants me to come quietly! He is honestly trying to be subtle while kidnapping me!"
.
That was the final straw.
Having enough of the strange girl's antics, Narasaka lowered his body a bit before lifting her up over his shoulder.
"Wha-!? Uwaaaaaah! Don't just do something like that, Bakasaka! Wait... I can honestly use that line for later! I'll go with you this once since I managed to get some material out of this!"
She was far too strange for him to handle.
"Alright, you need to stop this already. Now you're thinking of pointless things. You always have a tendency to think of stupid things instead of focusing important stuff and it's annoying!"
"And what was I suppose to be focusing on exactly? We were done with practice."
"..."
"Well?"
"...On how you're going to correct your aim..."
"Liar."
He could image the smirk that she was wearing while saying that.
"I have a question. What are you thinking about?"
"..."
"Well?"
"...Nothing important..."
"Ha! There you honestly go then! You can't honestly go accusing me of something that you're doing! Hypocrite!" Letting out a sigh, Suzume fixed herself on his shoulder. "Well, even if I wanted to train some more with you, I have it get going. I need to see the others to talk about what we are going to honestly do on the next match."
Hearing that, Narasaka lowered his body once more to let her down.
"Hm. Remember to only use your sniping Triggers."
"I know, I know."
The smile she had on her face seemed more relaxed than ever seen around him. But...
Why does that also get me a bit mad?
That was an unimportant thought that he wished never appeared.
"Heh heh heh. You can come along for the next match to see how we do. I'm sure you can honestly have some fun seeing my foolish teammates fighting as much as they like."
I should be focusing more on your sniping than your teammates, idiot.
"I'll be leaving then. When you see Miwa, tell him that even though he honestly didn't help us, I'll be sending him the song when it is complete."
With those final words, the strange girl took her leave with a wave.
Along with that, another unimportant thought surfaced.
What is she talking about?