"Aaaaahhh! I finally made it! I'm honestly going to be in trouble later for missing out on this! Damn! I really wanted to mess around with Akane-chan and Nasu!"
Suzume took repeated breaths as he leaned on the wall closest to her.
Dancing around never felt like it took any energy from her at all, but general physical activity was always a nuisance since it left her winded afterwards.
"This honestly...sucks."
"It's about time you made it. You missed this match, so that means I'm going to lay down some punishment the next time we are training."
The voice speaking directly to her made her jump up against the wall.
The boy who had been speaking to her glared from his seat with his arms crossed. Next to him was his glasses-wearing underclassman who was looking at her with worry.
She returned the glare towards Narasaka while giving a small wave towards Kodera.
"It's honestly not my fault that my degenerate of a father decided to make an appearance today of all days. Oh, but I won't be going into that with you here. Only my squad and a select few will be told what actually happened."
"I don't care to know anyway. I'm too busy watching the match you are suppose to be a part of."
"You honestly want to end up in a mob doujinshi, don't you? That can be arranged. Especially since you look more moody than every today."
The two Snipers continued to glare at each other without looking towards Kodera.
The sound of murmurs below them brought the two towards the screen in the front and the comments coming from the commentators.
.
"This match looks like it is really getting into it now. With Captain Kotowari shutting down Captain Nasu's Viper, she will need to get in close to attack anyone on the multi-layer overpass. It seems to be even harder to deal with since Captain Kotowari seems to be in hiding."
"Kumagai and Wakamura have also yet to make an appearance. Both of them need to get in close to do any damage. Kumagai being an attacker is a given, but Wakamura is also locked down because of Take's attacks. Meanwhile Akane is holding back from taking any shots since everything is an uncertainty right now."
.
Suzume was surprised when she saw the current position of the three squads.
From the angle they were giving it seemed that Toby and Hoshi were facing off against Miura on the fourth level of the overpass. A replay of the failed attack by Nasu also came up on the right side of the screen.
She narrowed her eyes at the laser like beam that cut through the rain of Viper. It felt different than what she had seen before.
It could have been Takeshi trying something new, which she would welcome any time, but there was a lingering feeling in her chest when she saw it.
"You might have missed it, but they also mentioned how Awdry is holding himself back by comparing himself to others. Although it was an uncertain comment by your former captain."
She looked back down at Narasaka. He was not looking at her and instead focusing on the screen. Likely so he could see how Hiura would do things since she was currently not in the battle with her squad.
"I don't owe you anything by telling you that. I am telling you more for your teammate than you. Believe it or not but I am a bit fond of Awdry."
Old Temple: "Awdry gave him some chocolate before."
Suzume nodded towards the underclassman Sniper.
It was an unexpected thing to find out, but it also counted as gaining new material.
She had never thought of putting Narasaka and Toby in the same doujinshi since there was never anything in common for them besides her. That was now changed with this new information.
A reminder had been set in her phone to give Kodera a reward for letting her know of this.
Now nodding to herself, Suzume continued watching the screen.
"Without me there, they are honestly lacking in a way to get to Akane-chan. Besides that, the blessings-... Ahem. Sorry, I'm still in performer mode. Anyway, the cover I usually provide for them is also gone. Toby is an Attacker would loves nothing more than get close to his target while Hoshi-chan focuses more on close-range sword fighting and shooting. Take is the only one who can cover long-range attacks."
"That seems to work well enough since he is locking down both Rei and Wakamura. The only downside there seems to be is that there is no way for him to attack if they are on the overpass, since he might end up destroying it."
"Yeah, but you see it too. It honestly isn't that hard to realize that that is what our dog-boy and Hoshi-chan are for. Even so... I am honestly getting irritant knowing that Nasu picked this man just for us."
"At least you noticed."
Feeling a bit indignation towards that comment, Suzume flipped her hair before crossing her arms under her chest.
There was no chance she would miss what map had been chosen and for what reason.
"This is honestly our worst map since Take doesn't like getting too close to his opponents when firing and all the best sniping spots are easy to spot. Even a novice could honestly see it if they tried."
Nasu Squad wanting to lock them down was a given. Before, when they had Yuki on their squad, it was clear that this kind of plan could only hold back two of their squad while the remaining two were still free to do as they wanted. If it worked against the third squad, even better.
It had left two free points to take in the form of a Shooter and a Sniper. That had left the Attacker and All-Round to be bombarded from multiple side.
Yuki-san was the reason we had won those matches. People stopped using this map against us once they realized our best fighter was uneffected by it in the slightest.
With Yuki no longer being on their squad and Hoshi not being as skilled as him, it was a perfect chance to test then and see if this kind of strategy still worked. Now they would be able to lock down Suzume's sniping as well as Takeshi's Laser Shooter.
Or that was how it should have been.
"Heh heh heh. None of us accounted for my absence and they did not think that Take honestly had something to counter them."
"To be fair, hardly any of us know what to expect from your squad, Misa- Uh, um... Suzume-nee..."
Suzume stopped her glare to smile down at Kodera.
"I will honestly take that as a compliment, Shōhei-kun."
She laughed at his relief. He was an honest boy who made it hard for her to be mad at.
With nothing else to do, she leaned on the railing, ignoring the looks she was getting from Narasaka and Kodera.
"Now then..."
She gave a bitter smile towards the screen.
"Let's honestly see what they can do without me."
Nasu look left and right while holding her hand to her ear.
She ran forward once she was sure that there was no one around to attack her.
"Akane-chan, have you found Kotowari-kun?"
"No! I looked at where the attack came from, but there wasn't anyone near that area! Do you want me to attack Toby and Taiyōko?"
"Not yet. I want to confirm where Kotowari-kun and Wakamura-kun are. Kuma, how close are you to the overpass?"
"I'm about to reach the base of it. Do you want me to go up to where they are?"
"..."
Nasu glared up at the overpass.
The lower someone was on the overpass the harder it was for her to fire Viper. The top level and the base level were the best places she could fire at while the second level was the hardest. It continued to get easier the more you went up.
The amount of things to consider when firing grew the more down the target went. Base level was just easy since it would currently be eye level with her.
At the moment, Awdry-kun, Taiyōko-san and Miura-kun are on the fourth level. Katori is on the second level.
If the battle on the fourth level continues, I'm sure Miura-kun will lose. He may be able to get a few hits in Taiyōko-san, but he would lose. That would free them up to go after someone else.
That was the fourth level of the overpass.
It would be easy enough for her to fire at the level once more. The issue came in the form of the laser-like beams fired by Takeshi, who they had not been able to locate just yet.
Firing now would mean using up trion just to have a chance at finding the Laser Shooter. On,h a chance.
While on the second level...
It's just Katori. If we send Kuma then that fight might go on for a bit. At least long enough for me to get there. But we don't know where Wakamura-kun is.
It was another factor that could change the outcome of a fight.
If Kumagai was sent to hold off Katori, Wakamura could come in and assist his captain. That would make it a two-on-one battle that would end with Kumagai's loss.
Should she send Kumagai to Katori? Or would it be better to wait for Wakamura to appear? That would then either lead to Miura losing and Kotowari Squad gaining a point or having a two-on-two fight with Katori Squad and Kotowari Squad.
"Rei?"
This was her decision.
The choice she would make as a squad captain.
"Kuma, go to the second level and try to drag Katori towards the edge of the overpass. If you can get her in sight of Akane-chan them you two can take care of that."
"Right!"
"And what about you, Rei?" Are you going to keep looking for Kotowari-kun?"
She knew what they wanted.
Takeshi was no fool when it came to battle tactics. It was clear how he wanted to force this fight to go.
That left her with only once choice.
"I will be going to the fourth level. Even if I get too close, I can manage to do a great amount of damage to Awdry-kun. With any luck, I will take him out."
That's right. Like their last match, she would take on as many people as it took. She would fire she shots and score points while leaving everything else up to her teammates.
"Kotowari-kun's attacks can't reach us while we are in that overpass. He will have nothing else to do as long as Akane-chan keeps moving after firing. If he wants me to get in close for a fight with their Attacker, we will force him to do the same thing."
"And here I thought you would go easy on him since we decided to help him."
She smiled.
Nasu knew that they were just being nice when they decided to help Takeshi as a person. It had been because she was asked by a fellow sick person.
It became more of a real mentorship as time went on. Never being able to reach friendship. That seemed to be blocked off from the boy for the time being.
But that was fine.
This was her way of testing him.
She would follow his lead and drag him out. His current way of fight was similar to his closed off personality.
If he could be forced out by this fight them it might effect him as a person.
Maybe I am going easy on him. But he is such a good child that I can't help but want to ease up.
A chance like this was her way of showing just how easy she would be on him.
By dragging him out.
Isn't this really bad!?
Miura groaned inside while narrowly dodging a strike from Hoshi.
His feet immediately moved to the right with Toby passing by his left.
This was followed by with a makeshift shield being created to block the Asteroid shots from the dodged Hoshi.
True Hero: "Hey, can I get some help up here!? Rokkun? Yōko?"
Talented Yoke: "Can't you handle them yourself? Kumagai just got up here and we're already going at it! It's just a stray dog and a dumb girl! Deal with it!"
Rokkun: "I'm on my way, Yūta. Yōko can handle herself for now."
Talented Yoke: "Of course you would go to where that girl is!"
Said girl was moving toward him again.
He made sure to always have both opponents in his field of vision. While Hoshi would still be manageable if she left his sights, Toby would get him without fail.
It was clear why Katori referred to him as a wild animal. Even so, Miura apologized in his head to the Attacker boy.
Talented Yoke: "Haven't you fought that dog before anyway? It shouldn't be that hard to know what he is going to do."
Rokkun: "No! I haven't actually!"
.
As he thought back on it, he could remember all the times he had a chance to fight against Toby. At some point he had become known of caring about younger agents and helping whenever he could.
When he had approached the Attacker for the first time he had been fidgety and a bit nervous. The request was declined with a half-hearted reason. Miura thought nothing of it at the time.
It had only been after the fifth or sixth time he was rejected that he get a true answer from the boy.
"Uh, sorry, Yuki told me I have been rude with how I was rejecting you. It's just that you're a really cool guy. I've seen how nice you are and I'd feel bad if I beat you up."
At the time he could only blink at the response.
He had not expected the reason to be something so innocent. The boy had even made sure try and keep eye contact with him, even as he looked like he wanted to move away.
"I'm cool with hanging out or something, but I don't want to fight you. Oh! And it isn't just you! Mr. Tatsuya is also someone I don't really like fighting! So I haven't!"
"It's...fine?"
He had not meant it as a question, but that was exactly how it had came out.
It may have been due to the shock factor or not, but he could not register the comments about beating him up.
Under normal circumstances it made the boy sound arrogant and conceited. It was hard to hear those words like that since he had been trying his best to be respectful.
The difference was clear when compared to others who spoke the same way he just had.
Others wold follow it up with another comment about being better than him, yet this boy said no such thing. Even when he answered the boy there was a still a moment for him to continue.
The boy was respectfully waiting for him to say anything else.
So he did.
"Yeah. I, uh, sure. I guess I'll stop asking you for a match then. Or rather, I won't go to you when I see your name on the listing. I don't want you to feel pressured into fighting me. It's all good practice after all."
Miura tilted his head at his own words. He had meant to say something along the lines of, "All in good fun," but it had came out differently.
"Right! Yeah! Thanks for understanding!"
After that conversation, Miura had found out more about the boy and battling. He enjoyed having solo matches. So much so that he would tackle others into having a solo match with him at times.
It seemed that his main target would tend to be A-Rank agents or high level B-Rank agents. He had most likely viewed Miura as someone less than those people, someone who could not keep up with him doing normal fights.
Each tackle sent into whoever he wanted to fight seemed to also be filled with with something that was hard to notice.
It had always been in his steps, his expression and the grin on his face as he got to whoever it was.
It was a bit sad that he would never get a reaction like that since he had knew how the boy felt about him, but he decided that there was no point in dwelling on something so pointless. It was better to be viewed in a good light than a bad one.
But that meant he was unprepared for the current moment.
.
Toby came toward him with the intent to take a prize from their fight.
He had the backing of his teammate, but she seemed to be barely keeping up with Toby. The speed he was seeing was slower than anything he had seen before and yet he still could not fully keep up with it.
Each movement was a harsh knew that made Miura think he was going to end up on all fours before charging forward.
Every chance he gave to have a solo match with the boy had been rejected, so now that they were in the middle of a match, in the middle of what was essentially a pseudo solo match, he was unprepared to counter each movement.
His own attacks seemed to also hold Toby back from going too far. Yet another byproduct of their lack of solo matches.
This is still dangerous! Even if I can't get to Toby, he's protecting Taiyōko really well! Why does that make me happy!?
He had heard before that fighting against Kotowari Squad long enough could drive a person to insanity.
It sounded much more like people being angry at a loss or just unsure what had happened, but now he understood exactly what they meant.
This boy and the girl were forcing thoughts into him that he had not expected when entering this match.
Even with his speed being lowered by some strange factor, Toby continued to move how he wanted. There were only a few moments of halting and it always felt like he was doing it on purpose so that his teammate could keep up with him.
The energy he brought to the battle gave a feeling of not wanting to lose. The only time the grin had fallen was when he realized his speed had decreased. Now that he had gotten over that, he was continuing to grin as he moved forward.
Hoshi had been a new addition to their squad yet Miura could see that she had taken a quick understanding to how Kotowari Squad worked.
Toby was their main attacker, never giving an inch unless it was necessary, and Hoshi was his support. She would defend both if them from attacks while doing her best to support those same attacks.
It was a combination of mutual trust and understanding of each other's abilities.
Oh. Of course that would be it.
He gave a bitter smile inside when he thought of how different their two squads were.
While Kotowari Squad was a squad filled with people who only cared for each other and worked to cover each other, Katori Squad was a squad that had their captain as their center point. They focused on backing her up while she took on the challenges in front of them.
We are very much different as squads. Even Nasu Squad falls somewhere between our two squads.
It was a bit hard to not be bitter at the differences between their squads.
Backing up Katori was how they fought as a squad. He would not complain about something they had agreed on as a squad. It worked well enough for a long time, allowing them the chance to fight against the top tier B-Rank squads.
At some point it had not been enough and their squad continued to go lower until they got to this point.
Yōko and Rokkun's arguing is also something to consider here.
He had tried to break up their fights as much as he could, but his cousin was the one who held the power to do so.
Wanting to let out a sigh and having to keep it in was a bit troubling.
I guess I just have to hold on until Rokkun can get here. I'm not too sure how we will do with Toby still around, but we should be able to manage until Yōko gets here. If it's just Kuma then she should be fine on her own.
Resolving himself to this fight was all that could be done.
Even as blade moved and shots were fired, his resolve was all he had to keep the battle going until support came for him.
The Viper shots from a distance had stopped and Kumagai had revealed herself. Wakamura was going to help him and Nasu was likely going to get close to fight as well.
Everyone around the battlefield was gathering to the multi-layer overpass as the match went on.
To keep up with this would mean he would have to do as much as he could to keep himself alive until all of Katori Squad could regroup.
But...
Wait. This is strange.
It made sense from a grand perspective, but when going deeper it felt like there was something missing.
I need to get some distance.
Miura lowered his stance as he activated one if the Trigger on him.
Chameleon.
Once the stealth Trigger started to activate, he jumped back as best as he could.
Toby moved forward at the same time Hoshi had moved, making it known that his intentions were clear in using the stealth Trigger.
Gaining distance was not to gain a chance for a sneak attack or to go down to the second level and help Katori.
Now was not the time for him to fight when he had noticed something missing.
A reason.
What reason was there for everyone to gather at the overpass?
Hiura would be unable to snipe if they were on any level other than the top level and Nasu could only fire at a distance while they were on one of the upper levels or or the base level.
Toby, Hoshi, Katori, Kumagai, Wakamura, and Miura himself could only fight in the overpass. It was where they would be safe from the Viper shots and sniper shots. That meant they would need to fight each other before thinking of taking out the long range attacks.
But they were not the only ones in this match.
What is Kotowari doing? He has to be in the same position as Nasu, but none of us have seen him coming towards the overpass. It was because of attack that Nasu wasn't able to reach us, true, yet he made no move after that.
Everything did not add up.
.
With that in mind, Miura focused back to the two in front of him.
Even as he used the stealth Trigger it felt as if they were where he was.
He saw Toby take a step forward, making him take a few steps back.
There was a chance that Toby's Side Effect could counter this stealth. The enhanced reflexes had a chance to attack him through his invisibility.
That may have been why he was glad to hear gunshots a meter away. They were too far to reach him but were close enough to target the Kotowari duo.
The battle had shifted and so he moved forward as well.
He turned off Chameleon as he his hand went for the Kōgetsu at his hip.
The battle would begin anew.
"It looks like Miura found something."
"Can't he just be waiting out his fight with Agent Awdry and Agent Taiyōko since he is at a disadvantage?"
"Do you really believe that, Kuni?"
"Well I do need to make sure everyone gets it since you suck at explaining."
"Fair. Anyways. No, it's not that simple. Notice how he is not really moving after using Chameleon. He isn't going for an attack against the Kotowari Squad duo and he isn't going to help Katori. That means he noticed something off. Yamamoto, can I ask for your take on this?"
[Right. First, Kunichika, have you noticed it?"
"Of course. But like Yuki-chan, I'm not the best at explaining something like this. Besides, we don't know for sure what it is."
"Then I will answer."
Kunichika and Yuki glanced toward the glasses-man.
He pushed up his glasses in response.
"Miura might have noticed that everything is now going toward the overpass. It is the main part of this map, so it is obvious that is where people would end up. But..."
But.
"But Nasu, Kotowari and Hiura have no real reason to go there. They could just wait it out until everything is settled on the multiple levels of the overpass or just target each other. Nasu and Hiura going after Kotowari and vice versa. Nasu's Viper is good against anyone in the overpass, but there was still no reason for Kotowari to defend his teammates against that kind of attack. They wee in a situation that did not require that."
"Meaning he wanted Nasu to go to the overpass."
"Right. He wanted Nasu to be inside that overpass, where his teammates would have a harder time dealing with her at such a close range. He has something in mind seeing as how he has not gone after the hiding Hiura."
.
"Heh heh heh. That boy certainly likes to keep things to himself, doesn't he?"
Suzume gave a bitter smile towards the large screen in the front.
Below her were Narasaka and Kodera, both watching with interest as the battle of the overpass continued on.
Miura's disappearance and the commentary from the trio a few feet away had sparked words from Suzume.
"Isn't that normal though? From what I remember, didn't he shoot through Awdry during your first match?"
"This is honestly different from that. During that time, he was shut down and chose to ignore normal human behavior in favor of winning. Right now he seems to be keeping to himself so that he doesn't have to fight. Leaving this up to Toby and Hoshi-chan really does seem like the best course of action here."
"So he is just putting the burden on them?"
"I should honestly smack you for that, Narasaka."
Suzume glared down at the older Sniper. There was no response to it, leaving her to answer his question.
"Toby and Hoshi-chan are honest children. To a fault in fact. I am honestly not sure they can lie to save their lives. That reflects on their fighting. If Take had told them anything specific then they may end up giving it away. But if they take out all opponents before that, there is no reason to mention it. If they get taken out, then there is no reason to mention it."
"So Kotowari is just waiting to see what happens to his teammates to decide if he wants to attack or not?"
"Exactly. Good job, Shōhei-kun. That means when he does attack..."
"It will create a big impact in this fight."
To answer his response, Suzume nodded her head.
Narasaka could not see it due to where he was facing. Even so, it was clear what her answer was.
Kumagai was ashamed and proud to admit that she was surprised that she was holding out this long against the Katori Squad captain.
The two were constantly clashing blades with Kumagai having an advantage using Kōgetsu while Katori could only parry using Scorpion.
This fight, for all intents and purposes, should have gone to Katori given how different the two were when it came to their fighting styles.
Kumagai held her Kōgetsu using both hands, adding more power and control to her swings, but it left her with chance to adapt to a sudden attack. If the situation became too dangerous, she could always fire off some shots to gain some distance.
Katori was different from that certain attack style. Scorpion blades continued to form in her hand, block attacks from the Kōgetsu, then get destroyed. It created a repeated cycle that was intertwined with the shots she had tried to fire from her handgun.
The small difference if the handgun created some worry in Kumagai, yet it did not hold her back from taking a step forward and swinging her blade down.
As long as I stay this close, I can deal with her shots!
Lessening the distance between their bodies gave no room for Katori to fire any shots since Kumagai could just as easily push the gun away. Firing to the side as a distraction was also out if the question when her Scorpion blades were stuck in a cycle of creation and destruction.
The two were in a rather close stalemate where the odds of winning were determined by their respective amount of trion and outside factors coming in.
One of those factors was Nasu.
Kumagai knew that her captain had been on her way to the overpass and told her to focus on fighting Katori while she went to the fourth level to attack.
While the second level only had Kumagai and Katori on it, the fourth level had Toby, Hoshi and Miura. Wakamura was also likely to join them, creating a battle where Nasu had the chance to take out four opponents at once.
It was quite similar to their previous match.
.
During their match against Suzunari-1 and Tamakoma-2, Kumagai and Hiura had been left in charge of taking care of the two opposing aces and both had been taken out by those aces.
They had managed to do considerable damage to one of the two, but it ultimately meant nothing when they had gotten taken out.
That had left Nasu to score points for them on the other side of the battlefield.
Even when the fight was two-two-one, she managed to much more damage than both of the, put together.
Now here she was again, fighting against a squad's ace and captain while her own captain was on a different level going to fight four people at once to score them some points.
I need to at least do this! She is being mindful of the edge because of Akane, but I just need her to get passed the shadow of the third level so Akane has the best chance at firing at her!
Holding off the captain was trouble enough. Forcing her towards the artificial light would require more thought on her part.
Katori moved to gain a chance to attack while Kumagai moved to continue pushing back Katori. This had created a repeated cycle of creation and destruction of multiple Scorpion blades as well as no room for shots to be fired from the handgun.
Within this released cycle there was been only slight moments that Kumagai was sure she would not be able to use.
Using two hand to fight held the advantage of power and control, but it also prevented her from using those slight moments.
In that case...
It was an unorthodox way of moving during a fight considering how it was not used for such a thing.
The risk of failure was rather high when using this kind if movement against someone like Katori, but should it work out, the reward would be just what she needed.
Besides, with who is in this fight, this really isn't out of the norm.
Contrary to what some people believed about Border agents, they were still normal people who liked doing normal things. They enjoyed what others enjoyed and disliked what others disliked. It was only their fights that had been different.
Kumagai expressed this by enjoying playing sports with others who were Border agents and others who were not. Besides being enjoyable, it helped her with Kong her body and figure out hero to properly move it.
In multiple sports it was common to move through and around an opposing player to gain the ball used for the sport. That usually required great foot work as well as the ability to notice how the opposing player would move to protect the ball.
With that kind of thought process, Kumagai moved her leg starting from her knee.
Her first step had not been made to go in front of Katori. The foot that touched the ground first had landed on Katori's right, next to her own foot.
The action had out Kumagai even closer to the girl due to moving closer than before.
As a response, Katori moved back while turning her body to the side.
Her turned continued as she lifted her handgun.
The timing was slightly off with Kumagai having to make up for the use of both arms holding Kōgetsu and the one arm used for the handgun.
Accepting the rotation as a counter attack, Kumagai began her own. Unlike Katori's rotation, which began on two feet to turn into one, Kumagai's was one that used her full body to circle around Katori instead of moving back.
It was hard for her mind to keep up as he body continued it's action in a more automatic way having already known how to use these action from playing sports.
But there! Right there!
It had been a quick decision that she had not fully registered.
Releasing Kōgetsu with one hand had been another risk with her current motion of rotation.
Katori's rotation would finish first due to have started first and having less actions to it than her own. That meant she needed to also make up for that time difference by creating an extra action for Katori.
That action had been a simple slap.
With one hand now free from holding onto Kōgetsu, Kumagai used that free hand to move towards the rising handgun to slap it away a before it could be aimed and fired.
It had worked well enough with only her leg taking a small amount of damage.
By the time Katori's rotation, and subsequent stabilization, had ended Kumagai had finished her own and ended up facing Katori's front again.
This time the distance was small, so that gave a new chance to attack.
Kōgetsu was not an option of attack since she was holding it with one hand while still correcting herself from her own rotation, but that same rotation had created something else.
That something was called momentum.
Using the momentum from her rotation, she lifted her leg to push Katori back before the girl could raise her handgun once more.
It was a simple kick that provided no real damage.
But it got her in potion!
"Now, Akane!"
A small sound could be heard as the cement from the second level of the overpass cracked.
Trion could be seen leaking from Katori's side as yet another shot came towards her from behind.
Kumagai smiled as she moved forward, holding Kōgetsu with both hands.
Now with their opponent in the light and to the edge of the overpass, they had a better chance at fighting her.
With Hiura shooting from the edge of the overpass, that left Kumagai to keep the girl in place so that she would not enter the shadow of the third level again.
The former cycle of creation and destruction of the Scorpion blades had ended, along with her distance to the girl, but now there was a second factor to this fight that changed how it could finish.
Kumagai continued to smile as she moved forward.
Her feet pushed off the cement and she readied her blade again.
.
Talented Yoke: "Are you two done messing around with that dog and the dumb girl!? I'm stuck with sniper fire now!"
Rokkun: "How did that happen!?"
Talented Yoke: "..."
Rokkun: "Yōko!"
Talented Yoke"Just hurry up, you damn megane!"
Katori clicked her tongue as she moved to the side again.
With her back to the light and front to the girl with Kōgetsu, there was no real room to move around.
Kumagai would continue to move forward while leaning towards one side or the other.
Katori had first seen this as a chance to get back into the shadow of the third level of the overpass, but that had been her mistake as a sniper shot would always follow her when she moved.
If her right was stopped by a blade, her left was stopped by a shot.
If her left was stopped by a blade, her right was stopped by a shot.
It created a small cage for her to fight in instead of an open level where she could move however she wanted.
Does this mean Nasu isn't coming over here? Would it even be better to have her up there with those guys?
If she were to take on all of Nasu Squad by herself then it would be a definite loss.
As it was, she could manage holding off Nasu Squad's Attacker and Sniper, but their Shooter would have been something else.
This was another difference between elites and others, she noticed.
Elites could manage fights by themselves if they wanted, but other people would gave to group up to deal with those same elites.
It was great to think of herself as someone who needed this much work to fight. It was not great that she needed to put in so much work to fight against these two people who were trying their hardest.
I just need to find a way to hold off one of them. Or...
It had been an option she had chosen before to escape a different dangerous battle of people squading up against her.
This time was different as there was no one to back her up and she would not be going in the same direction as before.
At the same time, she had less to worry about. With Nasu being shut down by the Kotowari Squad captain, there was no fear of Viper attacking her again.
In that case...
Glaring once more at the girl in front of her, Katori started to move.
She moved at the same time Kumagai had, closing their distance more than they had before.
Like the times before, Kumagai started to lean towards the right as she moved forward. That meant if she tried to go to the left, a sniper shot was sure to follow.
That was exactly why she moved to the left.
Using her Scorpion blade to bat away the initial Kōgetsu strike, Katori started to lean towards the left.
There was only a small window to defend or dodge the sniper shot.
But each time she had been going to a vital area. Which means...
Instead of trying not to get hit, Katori lowered herself even more as she leaned towards the right.
A shot had been fired and struck the cement.
The initial attack may have been for her head as she managed to duck under the attack instead of taking the hit herself.
Now!
There had always been a moment before Kumagai could rush her and Hiura could fire.
Katori took that moment to move backwards instead of forward. The action had put her in a clear view of any snipers, which had been why another shot came through and struck her arm.
It's just Lighting! Not too much damage done.
She used as much force as she could to jump off the edge of the second level and into the open air.
Instead of falling to the base level, she placed a Grasshopper plate below her. The effect had been immediate with her body being sent upward.
Another sniper shot had came when she went into the air.
It had struck her arm a second time.
She ignored the shot in favor of placing another Grasshopper plate. The moment her foot touched the plate, she had been tossed into the third level of the overpass.
Her body was tucked in as she rolled along the cement. The roll turned into a small jump so that she was on her feet.
Yes! Take that, you tag squading assholes!
"Now then-"
Hana: "Yōko, go help the boys out. Nasu is getting closer and it really does look like she is going for the fourth level. Taking out Awdry would be great before she reaches them."
"Fine, fine. I'll use the other side though. I don't want more sniper fire on me."
With those words said, she went into the shadow of the third level, fully intend on taking points for her squad.
Miura engaged in a sword fight.
He held a long blade in one hand. The enemy's weapons were light and easily replaced, but he had to strike down the enemy regardless. Thus, he adjusted his position to maintain a firm grip on the ground.
...I can't keep this up for long. Even with Rokkun.
Strings of actions danced around in his head to determine what would be best to take on this opponent while backing up his teammate.
The actions for this battle went through his head and were swept away as he struck at his opponent with a single solid noise.
The Kotowari Squad Attacker's sword technique was rough.
But not from a lack of skill.
He was not contained by any standard form and he used speed and strength to forcibly create the best possible actions for himself.
Thus, there was no "waiting" in his attacks.
At times, there was no pause for breath between attacks.
That left no apparent opening. If he was to match the movements and behavior to "strike at an opening", he would have to intervene in the boy's speed and strength.
He kind of is like a beast...!
Light scattered as the series of slashes constantly targeted his vital points.
Each individual attack was soft.
He was using the tips of his fingers instead of his joints. A wrist could only bend and turn so far, but these slashes were launched with whip-like speed and would even spin around. Also...
...Using only his fingertips adds to his reach...!
Those factors, combined with the Kotowari Squad Attacker's bursts of speed, led to a series of slashes.
Even if the boy had seemed to slow down, there were moment where his original speed had come back.
He was a lone wolf, but he might as well have been a full unit of troops.
His swords flew in gently but heavily.
The boy was using even more strength than necessary to defeat him.
His sword technique had undoubtedly been developed through battle with an enemy more powerful than him. He mixed speed with brute force and included no attempt at trickery.
Miura dealt with all that while moving to get his blade through.
If the only opening was found by intervening in the boy's speed and strength, then that was what he had to do.
Most of his power was being used for evasion and blocking the enemy's swords. His thought speed was causing him to mentally heat up, so he had very little power left to spare. Thought was only useful after he had gotten his body to move appropriately.
Also...
"Hoshi...!"
Even as she was engaged in her own battle with Wakamura, Hoshi was aiming an Asteroid shot his way from the edge of the fourth level of the overpass. She would occasionally fire at him while one-armed from her fight with Wakamura.
She only fired one shot at a time to ensure she did not hit the Kotowari Squad Attacker, so she predicted when he would attack and sent an accurate shot then.
She too would be using her thoughts to take aim. Her firing pose was fixed in place because she could not divert any thoughts to moving her body and defending at the same time.
But Miura did have a method available to him.
He had a teammate who was currently firing at the Kotowari Squad duo.
He would have preferred to target the Kotowari Squad Attacker only, but...
"...!"
Wakamura returned fire on Hoshi.
He did not need rapid-fire here. The goal was to make her move. While moving, she could not take such careful aim to fire on Miura.
.
Toby could hear the sound of a gun being fired behind him as his attacks collided with the single blade of Kōgetsu.
Behind him was less of a fight and more of Hoshi protecting herself and him from the gunfire from Wakamura. The noise irritated him to an extent, but there was no point in thinking about it.
As long as that gunfire could not reach him then there was no problem with a little bit amount of noise.
What needed his focus was the fight currently in front of him.
His attacks continued to connect with a solid feeling after he had changed his attacks. Instead of relying on the limited motion of his joints, he had thought to hold the blades between his fingertips.
The motions coming from that felt off compared to holding onto them, but it worked well enough. Creating them to break them also provided useful when he needed to move to a different spot.
Yet even with this fight going in his favor, there was still the issue of his lowered speed.
He had started to understand why his speed started to fall but found that he could do nothing against it as it was a more unconscious thing he was doing. He held back even more at the unwanted though of fighting someone like Miura.
I guess this is why I'm only reliable as a beat stick for us... Attacking is all I can do.
It was a bitter thought that rarely came to him during a battle.
Battles for him were something to enjoy and be enjoyed with by others. A test of each person's abilities and a showcasing of what they are capable of. There was no reason for bitterness when enjoying oneself.
But that was what was holding him back at the moment. His own bitterness towards nothing by himself.
Sighing to himself inside, Toby moved back as he noticed that his opponent's blade had disappeared.
Chameleon again, huh.
Using the stealth Trigger required the user to not have any other Trigger active.
That meant this would be the second time Miura would have to recreate his Kōgetsu after having to use Chameleon.
Toby understood well enough what to do after having fought against Kazama Squad members enough times.
Instead of keeping a distance away from where the opponent used Chameleon, it was best to attack as best as one could.
The best attack he could do was a multi-directional attack.
Hedgehog should work well enough for the moment.
He put his body to work right away by starting a rotation as a blade came from his body. Soon another came out before disappearing from sight.
This had happened again and again with each blades appearing and disappearing so fast that it seemed as if his body was covered in blades instead of only two constantly being created. It was a cycle of creation and destruction unlike others during a fight.
He was purposefully destroying his own blades.
The trion from the destroyed blades could be seen scattering around him. The light meant nothing itself, but with the added feeling of something lightly pushing them aside it was clear that Miura was still close to him.
The blades that were in a constant cycle of creation and destruction began to move with his rotation while scattering light from the trion around him.
He started to force his rotation in the direction of where the light from the shattered trion was touching something.
The two blades that were being constantly created and destroyed made contact with something for a single moment before the light from the shattered trion was being pushed a bit away from him.
This won't work as it is.
Toby started to slow down his row trion as the two blades destroyed themselves once more. This time they were not recreated.
I guess now is a good of a chance as any to try that out.
Looking over to the side he could see Hoshi still engaged in defending them from Wakamura's attacks. The glasses-boy seemed to also be advancing slowly since he was a bit more forward than the last time Toby checked.
He nodded to himself as he made his way behind Hoshi.
Werewolf: "Hoshi, when I give the signal, teleport to a different area. Preferably behind Rokurō."
Prototype Star: "Understood."
Toby readied himself by creating a shield in front of himself.
It was unlike him to have anything as defensive as a shield in his Trigger slots. Most people understood that he was very much forward with his fighting and preferred only attacking Triggers and anything that could move him forward.
Shield was not one of them.
Disregarding his own change of Trigger, he prepared something else while putting up the shield.
After a discussion on who would be using what prototype Trigger, Toby had decided on the one that required the use of shield.
Going into a fight against a Shooter like Nasu and people like Katori and Wakamura meant they would need to prepare a counter to the shots fired toward them. Toby more so as he was an Attacker.
That was just what this Trigger was meant to cover.
"Now!"
Toby watched in fascination as multiple things happened in a single moment.
It also ended in a single moment.
.
Miura was unsure of what to make of what he was seeing.
He had taken some hits after turning on Chameleon due to Toby's strange style of attacking. That had not been enough to take him out, so he continued to make his way toward his teammate who had continued to fire at the duo.
As he made his way closer to the Gunner, while making sure not to get hit, he saw a shield appear in front of Toby.
It was different than the ones being created by Hoshi. The ones from the girl were large enough to defend the major parts of the body, but this one was created in a very rough manner. As if the boy had barely ever created a shield before.
Seeing something like that had made it clear to him that the duo was planning something against his teammate since Toby was ready to protect himself.
True Hero: "Rokkun, be careful. They might have something crazy to do again."
Rokkun: "Got it. Keep your distance then so you can be ready for what happens after."
Miura gave no response to that.
It felt wrong to wait for what happened after.
Would he be enough if this worked out and Wakamura was out of commission? He could not even take one of them out as it was after all.
Wakamura had the advantage of keeping his distance while attacking, meanwhile Miura had to get close before attacking. That meant it would be better to have Wakamura in the fight right now than have him there.
Deciding that to be the best option, Miura made his way over to Wakamura.
He quickened his pace as he noticed Hoshi start to shift her feet while turning her gaze to just beyond his teammate.
She is going to teleport!
And she did.
Just as she did that, something happened.
To be accurate, multiple things happened in a single moment.
Miura responded as quickly as he could.
He pushed Wakamura to the side with no thought to his actions.
It also ended in a single moment.
.
As Hoshi disappeared from where she stood, the remaining gunfire from Wakamura collided with the shield Toby had created.
As the gunfire from Wakkamura collided with the shield Toby had created, Miura appeared to push Wakamura away, stopping the firing.
As Miura appeared to push Wakamura away, the shield began to sparkle like stars in the sky.
As if on command by all of the simultaneous action, the sparkling shield shaken brightly for a single moment before something came from it.
No. That was not right. Something did not come from the shield.
Something had bounced off the shield.
The shots from Wakamura that had hit the shield bounced off the shield and were sent back to the original spot of where they came from.
With Wakamura no longer taking up the space, it had instead fallen onto the person who took his spot.
Miura.
"...Huh...?"
Cracks started forming along the Attacker's body as multiple holes could be seen in his body.
The cracks continued to spread until they started taking over his entire body.
Once it had reached that point, his body started to shine before turning into light. That light then flew from the fourth level of the overpass and into the sky.
Bail Out.
.
Toby watched with wide eyes as Miura turned into light before flying off. A sign of Bail Out.
The nameless prototype Trigger required a surface to take any attacks coming toward it so that it could stop those attacks and send them back to their origin.
That had been how Hoshi explained it to him.
He had been amazed at hearing about that and decided he would try it out. He would be using Shield after a long time, but that was no issue.
Now that he had witnessed first hand what the nameless prototype Trigger was capable of there were many thoughts running through his head.
One of which was the beauty of what he had just seen in his shield.
The shield had sparkled and shone with a brilliant light before the attack had been sent back. Even he could admire something as nice as that.
He would make sure to let the girl know his thoughts of the Trigger.
"Ho-"
Before he could, the sound of a familiarly robotic voice was heard.
Trion limit reached.
"Eh...?"
In a new moment different from the previous two, Toby's body turned into light.
That light had followed the previous one by leaving the fourth level of the overpass and flying into the artificial sky.
The only other words he had before leaving in that flash of light were the same ones people heard during these times.
Bail Out.