There was only silence in the room.
No one made a sound after having witnessed two people leave the fight.
Even as the points changed in the screen in front of them, all murmurs had stopped and the three commentators only stared at the screen with varying looks.
It was only after someone had made an outburst that everything had began moving once more.
Yuki coughed into his fist while Kunichika looked around and Yamamoto pushed his glasses up.
"Wha-wha-what was that! Ah! This is bad! This is really bad, Kurauchi-san! I am not sure how to react to that! Is he going to be okay!? I doubt Toby is going to be okay with a loss like that!"
"O-okay, okay... I get it, so please stop shaking me so violently, Kōchō!"
Oh, she understands him well enough. Good job, Kōchō. I should probably tell SenSen that Kurauchi is currently losing some brain cells.
"Heh heh heh... Heh heh... Wait! Honestly wait a moment! Yes, yes! Like that! These reactions are perfect! I only saw these reaction and have no clue as to what they are honestly for! Oh, oh! Hahaha, that poor Shooter boy is getting shaken to high hell by that Shooter girl! Hey, wait, I can honestly use that! Thank you for the material, Shooter boy and Shooter girl in the audieeeeeeeeence!"
Oh, she is still crazy I see. I should probably tell Satori that Suzu is having a bit of a breakdown right now. Maybe just as a warning.
There was no helping the crazy people around him at this point.
They were all a lost cause.
Yuki nodded to himself with a reminder to inform the two later on.
Now then...
"Everyone currently watching, raise your hand if you want to know what just happened."
All hands in the room, including Kunichika and Yamamoto's, went high into the air as the words left his mouth.
Nodding again, this time to no one in particular, Yuki turned his head with a straight face.
"Right. Kuni, go ahead and explain what we just saw."
Kuni: "Eh!? But I raised my hand just now! I raised it! I really did, you mean fox! Don't just throw something like that at me out of nowhere, Yuki-chan!"
Manager: "Aren't the two of you in the middle of commentary for a match right now? That is the third message you have sent so far."
Kura-uchi: "Uh, to be fair, I am also here and can say that Kunichika is fair in her shock."
SenSen: "Should I go over then?"
Almost Everyone: "To make things worse!?"
Oh, they actually responded to that one.
Yuki ignored the side glance he was getting from Kurauchi so that he could continue to look at Kunichika.
She had coughed into her own fist before putting on a fake smile. He was sure she would be sweating if her body allowed it.
"Um, yes, well clearly..."
"Clearly?"
"Clearly...someone cheated!"
Almost everyone: "That was your response!?"
Oh, Kurauchi must have put this in a chat call.
That may have been what the side glance was for.
He could already see all the messages that would come in the chat criticizing Kunichika for making such a comment. It would not be lived down for some time, that was for sure.
"If you don't know, that's fine. Just say so, Kuni."
"I am not a fan of hearing that from you... But yeah, I have no clue what just happened."
Yuki looked to Yamamoto in case the older man wanted to add something to what they had just seen.
He was the type of person to analyze something when it first appeared in front of him. Seeing something like that happened must have gotten his interest rather quickly.
"From the looks of things... Miura must have noticed something happening and reacted to it while using Chameleon. If he had been a moment late, Wakamura would have been the one to be take out by seemingly his own shots. Even so... Shield has no effect to it that can create such an action, and there are no other Trigger that can do that either. At least to my knowledge."
"That is probably because it is a prototype Trigger."
"A...prototype?"
"That's right. Hoshi enjoys unfinished things and enjoys finishing them. That being said, she wanted to finish something from start to finish. So she created some prototype Triggers that Kotowari Squad seems to be using here. This one in particular seems to require Shield to initiate."
"From the looks of things... That Trigger had taken the shots from Wakamura and tried to return to its origin of fire. It would have hit Wakamura had it not been for his teammate."
"Leave it to someone on Kotowari Squad to make something like that..."
White Fox: "Thanks for saying that instead of the more hurtful version."
"Well with that... Kotowari Squad gains a point for taking out Agent Miura while it seems that no one gets a point for Agent Awdry's Bail Out."
"I suppose it would count more as a voluntary Bail Out as opposed to a forced one, seeing as he took to damage and the Bail Out was due to his own actions."
"These prototype Triggers must be a way of getting around the fact they are missing a member for this match and have a disadvantage on this map. Or at least, they should have a disadvantage on this map."
White Fox: "Would it be bad for me to say that I am really proud of them right now? Like, can I really be blamed for feeling so happy?"
Kuni: "I can say it for you if you want."
Kura-uchi: "From the way the conversation is going, it would not be the best option to say that. Especially since we know that Misaki is here now."
Haru: "Aw, but he is just happy for his pups. I say go for it!"
Manager: "At least make it sound like you are 'proud as an agent' instead of a fool who doesn't want to let go of them."
Deer Prince: "You are kind of done with this, aren't you, Kimura-san?"
Guest: "Aren't you all suppose to be busy!?"
Yuki clicked his tongue.
His chance to mention his pride for his former squad had passed. Now it would sound off to hear him say something like that.
It would not have been anything new since his words always tended to mix together on accident.
I guess real commentary is necessary...now...
Looking back to the screen, he blinked with no readable expression being shown on his face.
What is happening now?
Prototype Star: "I am sorry! I am sorry! I am so sorry, Toby-kun! I am so sorry that I messed that up!"
Hoshi disregarded the look coming from Wakamura as she moved to the edge of the overpass.
She felt like crying out, and would have if she was in her real body, but all she could do was try to move away from where she had messed up.
Prototype Star: "I did not think that would happen! That was my fault! I shall fix that and buy you some chocolate as an apology! How much would you like!?"
Werewolf: "Eh? Eh!? Hoshi, Hoshi, calm down! It's fine! You had said it was a prototype, so I don't blame you! Um, uh... Yeah... Please focus on the fight! A-and think of it like this! Because of that, Yūta was taken out, Rokurō looks so confused and no one got a point from my Bail Out!"
Colors: "Yeah, Hoshi. You can just blame the dog for that one. He was a fool who should have won without using your Trigger."
Werewolf: "Taaaakeeeeshiiiiii! I don't want to hear that from someone who is not fighti right nooooooow!"
Colors: "That is because I have been setting things up. Oh, and Hoshi, I have something set up, so be ready to move when I say. Is that fine?"
Prototype Star: "A-ah! Yes! Of course!"
Now was not the time to focus on her mess up. Instead, she should figure out how to use that mess up to gain an advantage that she would otherwise not have.
At the moment, it meant that she would need to gain some distance so that Wakamura could not fire at her from where he stood.
The more her feet touched the cement of the fourth level of the overpass the more she felt as if she would not be able to outrun the boy behind her.
Oh. I believe this is what appears in shōjo manga. I will need to ask Suzume-senpai about that later.
Yes, normally, a boy chasing a girl after she had made a mistake would appear in such a manga.
But this was far different and the girl could not decide if that was a good thing or not.
There was no more reason to think about such things says she continued to make her way to the edge of the overpass.
She knew that Nasu was coming from the sunny side of the overpass due to Mei's assistance. That meant she would need to take the side with a shadow where she was sure she would be safe from any close-ranged Viper shots.
"!"
Or that was how it should have been.
.
Hoshi bent back as far as she could until the top of her head almost touched the cement.
She lifted her arm so that it would touch the cement before her head would.
The shots that had come from the side of the shadow passed by above her as she continued to bend so that she turned it into a backflip.
She could hear some movement behind her as she leaned towards the right to dodge the next set of shots coming from the sunny side of the fourth level.
Wisteria: "Hoshi, Nasu is right above you. She is on the top level."
Those words rang in her head as she continued to move.
Each attack was spread out and she could see some shots go lower, likely going into the third and second levels were Katori was.
She took note of how Wakamura was also doing his best to deal with the shots that continued to spread out.
Prototype Star: "Um, how should I go about doing this? Shall I try to attack Wakamura-kun as well?"
Colors: "No. Hoshi, I'm on my way there. If you can try to get to a position where you can leave without getting shot, that would be nice. ...Oh. Sorry. That did sound rude, didn't it? My bad. If you can just try to hold on for a bit... That's fine."
Hoshi confirmed that she knew what Takeshi wanted her to do.
She began to move again. This time her feet started to take her to the ramp leading down the fourth level instead of the edge of the overpass.
From an outside standpoint she came to realize just how odd the multi-layered overpass really was.
Unlike the ones she normally saw, this one had pieces of comment hanging from the edges of the overpass to create a barrier from the light outside of it. That had been what was creating a shadow side and a light side.
Then there was the strange way it had been layered with the five layers being more like a parking garage than a road. The curves on the road were more unnoticeable from the inside with only small dents on the edges instead of clear turns.
She had intended on using those small dents to hide from the Vioer shots that were coming through from under the hanging cement on the overpass.
If I remember what Fuji-nee had told us then this overpass should be modeled after the overpass in the next city over.
Apparently there had been a multi-layer overpass built in the next city over from Mikado City to make it seem like it was much more active than it really was.
The overpass had been more of a background detail that people drove on for the fun of it instead of using it to get to a location.
I do hope that no one had fallen off of it before. It actually seems unsafe when running along it like this.
With that thought lingering in her head, she accelerated a bit by adding a push to her steps.
Now that she me a there had been a plan made, she would just need to do as she was told and follow through to it.
.
Wakamura gritted his teeth as he continued to defend himself from the Viper shots that had been coming through the edges of the overpass and under the hanging cement.
He had been unprepared for his shots to be fired back at him. He would make sure to properly thank Miura once the match was over.
Besides losing a teammate in the match, he had also lost a point since Toby's Bail Out would most likely be considered voluntary instead of forced. That meant his squad had lost a point and had a point taken from them.
There was another chance to take a point from Kotowari Squad in the form of a girl. The one he had been firing at until a moment ago.
After getting over the initial shock of losing Miura, he prepared to fire once more when the girl started to move toward the edge of the overpass.
It had been surprising that she managed to dodge the shots that came in from the side. The amount of space she had was small, yet she managed a backflip to move away from them.
That had lead him to believe that more attacks would be coming.
They had. Right next to him to be precise.
Viper shots had started coming through the edge of the overpass with some more going down to the lower levels.
She is also focusing on Yōko. That means she managed to push back Kumagai.
Nasu Squad had become the only squad with all of its members still fighting in a single moment.
He knew it was not that amazing given how the B-Rank Wars normally played out. Especially when it came to the top tier squads. This was just another way to show that.
This means Nasu is right above us. On the top level.
Rokkun: "Yōko, we need to meet up before we get taken out too. Nasu is in the top level, so she can keep firing into the lower levels. She is spreading her attacks out so that she can get a hit."
Talented Yoke: "You think I don't know that, idiot? I'm also getting attacked here!"
Now was not the time for their arguing, as much as he hated not giving a response to her rudeness.
He was grateful when he heard the voice of their Operator come through, soothing a bit of his anger.
Hana: "You guys, be careful when outside of the overpass. Yūta just told me that he thinks there's something strange going on with how things are playing out."
What was strange?
Wakamura wanted to ask that before they made any serious moves.
There was no time to ask that and get an answer as a new wave of Viper came through.
"A-ah! I am sorry, Wakamura-kun, but I will not be fighting you here anymore. Although we may end up fighting in this match again."
"Eh? Oh... Uh, yeah."
He was unsure as to what was going on when the girl had started speaking to him.
He had been firing at Hoshi up until a moment ago and here she was telling him that she could not fight him here anymore. She was telling him that she would not attack him while he tried to get away.
She actually is an odd girl.
But he had found that her words did make him a bit happy. Just knowing that she had thought to tell him that made him feel happy.
With that feeling overcoming him for a moment, he felt a new vigor come out. He wanted to fight her again during this match.
To see her again in this match.
That would first require him to get out of the fourth level of the overpass and meet up with Katori. They would then go from there.
Understanding what he needed to do, he moved toward the edge of the overpass.
He brought up a concentrated Shield as a new set of Viper shots came through.
They hit the solid defense but could not break it.
This was where he would escape.
Nasu carefully walked along the road of the top level of the overpass.
She had been firing into the lower levels of the overpass with only the base level being safe.
Once she had reached the overpass, she had been shocked to see two lights leave before flying into the sky.
There had been two Bail Outs.
That had meant there were two points they could not get from the other squads.
It had also meant that there were two less people to worry about.
What had also caught her off guard was what she had been told by Shiki after she had seen the lights.
"One of those was Awdry."
The one person who had the best chance at reaching her under these conditions was no longer around to fight.
The lasers coming from elsewhere still prevented her from keeping a distance, but this had been a major turn for the match. She was clear to get close now.
Now with the knowledge that Toby could not reach her, she fired from the top of the overpass.
From that spot she could fire into the lower levels while having Hiura watching out for her and Kumagai ready to attack anyone who wanted to get close to her.
It was a place where she could no longer be touched.
"...Hello."
Yet someone had decided to get close to her. Decided to enter the space where she would have the best advantage.
His scarf moved with the light wind that came with being at the top of the overpass and his gaze was a stoic one that have nothing away.
He had no snuck up on her and did nothing to hide himself.
Hiura had not warned her about the boy, meaning he had used Teleport to reach her. But she could see him from her position, leaving him even more open.
She remembered that he had greeted her when she noticed him and thought it would be better to answer him than stay silent.
She spoke even as she prepared for a fight.
"Kotowari-kun, when in a fight, you don't want to greet your opponent. It might seem arrogant to others. Oh, but hello to you too."
"I see... That makes sense. But I could not think of what else to do since I can't make anything to fire at you right now."
What had he just said?
"Kotowari-kun. Listen."
"Yes?"
"Are you listening?"
"Yes."
What a good boy.
She smiled inside at the response while keeping a straight face on the outside.
"You should not have said that."
The number of shots she created doubled as she prepared to fire at him from all angles.
She knew that he was not a fool when it came to fighting.
Their current interaction was a strange one, but so was his whole squad. Something like this was nothing abnormal when she thought about it.
But what could he gain by telling her that he could not fire at her?
He had removed his Bagworm and did not seem to be in a rush to try and run away. Even his stance was one of a relaxed person instead of someone who was facing off against a large amount of trion bullets.
She thought that he might use Shield to block her attack, but that had been why she doubled the amount of shots she would fire.
It had been a way to see if he would react to the danger he had just put himself in.
There was more confusion in her since she could not see any falsehood in his words. He had been telling the truth about not being able to fire at her.
Just to be sure...
Viper: "Akane-chan, be ready to fire at him. I will be testing to see what he does. After that, shoot at him if it does not involve Shield."
Mad Hatter: "Roger!"
There was an understanding between them now. A plan on what they would be doing.
Now she had only needed to out that small plan into action.
.
With no warning at all, Nasu fired all her shots toward Takeshi in a fanned out manner. A second wave had been sent after, this time focusing solely on him.
The boy did not move of from position. The relaxed stance he had held strong.
As the shot got closer Nasu had noticed something had moved with the boy.
His eyes.
His eyes slowly turned to the side. His sight was no longer on her and was instead looking behind her.
It had been a clear sign of Teleport being ready to activate.
With that now in her mind, she prepared a new set of shots to fire.
The first set was close to reaching him as the third set started to prepare for their own firing. The second set was closely following the first set, leaving little space between the two sets.
"I think I need some help here."
The moment those words left his mouth all the shots from the first set had connected. The second set had connected immediately after.
But they had it connected with him.
Each individual shot had connected with small shields.
Every time one shot connected with a shield it would break apart and scatter light all around. The fragments of the broken shields would then hit the next set of fragments, creating a smacks shield and assisted the fully formed ones from the second set.
The shields were weak enough to be broken apart and scattered, but they had also been enough to stop one shot each.
There had been no reason to expand a large shield to defend when multiple small ones would do the same amount of protection.
Seeing that each one of her individual shots were being protected against, Nasu prepared a new set with a different trajectory set into them.
If she could manage to confuse him then he would not be able to react to each separate one.
That was why she fired without any hesitation.
Yet it happened once more.
Without fully looking at each shot, Takeshi was protected by small shoes that continued to get destroyed and scatter their fragments around.
Once a target was hit by a shot it would confirm the contact and not go further than that. But that only applied if the object in question was solid enough to be registered as making contact.
These fragments alone would not be solid enough or large enough to be considered objects that made contact with the shots. But once the fragments started gathering in a single point then it could be considered as a solid object that connects to the shots.
This is not Kotowari-kun. He is not doing this himself. Being in the middle of these shots would give him a good view if each keen of them, but that last set was too irregular for him to see each one. Which means...
Viper: "Akane-chan, fire at him! We need to confirm what this is not his doing!"
The only response she got was from a shot being fired from behind Takeshi.
It had been shot from a clear blind spot that even he would not be able to notice until it was too late.
Unlike her own attacks, this had struck the correct target.
The shot fired by Hiura had actually hit Takeshi by the way he was leaning forward.
So he was defending himself this whole time?
"Wait..."
This did not feel right.
Even as Takeshi started to lean forward from being hit, there was nothing to indicate he would Bail Out.
From what she could see, the shot had managed to hit Takeshi in the head, a fatal shot no matter who you were.
That should have been more than enough to make him Bail Out immediately.
Instead, he continued to fall forward until...
"There she is."
Nasu heard a heated sound and turned around in time to see a laser shoot into the air in the direction of where Hiura had taken her shot. From the corner of her eye she could see a strap hit the floor.
The laser like beam tore through the air until it reached the building that the shot had come from.
The building could not withstand the attack it had received and started to collapse.
Within the collapsing building a light could be seen. That same light shot into the air before flying off to the distance.
Bail Out.
Nasu remained speechless as she prepared for both offense and defense.
But he said he could not fire! How did he do that!?
"Oh, Nasu-san, I know that look. I didn't lie, seriously. I'll even say it again."
He would repeat what he had said.
Nasu was unsure what to look for to make sure he was telling the truth.
"What I had said... That would be: 'I could not think of what else to do since I can't make anything to fire at you right now.'"
She was correct in her hearing. He had indeed said those words.
Then how had he fired at Hiura who was hiding in the building?
"You said not to converse in a fight, right? Then I will tell you later. For now..."
Nasu shifted her feet as he fixed his scarf.
She was now prepared for both offense and defense.
Multiple Viper shots were prepared with different trajectories inputted into them while a shield could be created at a moment's notice.
With everything set up, she fired.
.
Takeshi watched as the shots aimed at him came toward him.
Prototype Star: "Takeshi-kun, would you like my assistance again?"
Colors: "No, that's fine. To tell you the truth, I am going to run out of Trion after I do this. Setting those up was one thing, but firing them takes the same amount of Trion as ever. Between the one I used to keep Nasu-san in line and the one I just fired, plus the small shields I had to make, this will take up the rest of it."
He could see that each Viper shots had its own set trajectory. Some of the, he would not be able to defend against using shield just because he was unsure as to where they would go.
Colors: "I should apologize to you now, shouldn't I, Hoshi? This means you'll be left to fight the rest of the battle. You can run and Bail Out if you want. None of us will thin any less of you."
Prototype Star: "Ah, that is fine. This will be preventing two points from being taken, correct? Then I am fine with being blamed should I lose against any of them."
The way she spoke gave a clear indication as to what her intentions were.
There was no reason to try and prevent her from fighting when she seemed to ready to do so.
Wisteria: "Oh yeah, Takeshi, I got a message from Suzume. I guess she understands you rather well. She had said, 'Tell Take that if he is going to finish this off with a big attack to honestly say something when he does! I need some special material and this might just be it! I'll honestly get him something to eat afterwards! Anything he wants!' So do with that what you will."
His upperclassman was always strange. It was more than just her too, seeing as how most of the people older than him had some strange quirks to them that he could not fully understand.
That may have been why he decided to play along with the girl's wishes.
I am going to make sure she goes broke though. That much is certain.
Now that he was pleased with his choices in this match, he released his scarf from his hand and looked toward Nasu directly.
He lifted his foot before stomping on the cement with little force.
"Target set. You might not want to say anything. You'll bite your tongue."
He pointed a finger to Nasu as he scarf began to move with the wind again.
Once the shots got close enough to him, something could be heard under them.
It was a strange sound that started to rattle the overpass.
The sound was followed by a crumbling noise as the cement started to break apart in front of where the shots were moving.
A heated sound erupted from the cement as a large laser like beam tore through the overpass and into the open air above them.
The shots that had been moving toward him in a straight line collided with the beam before being completely erased.
A second and third beam rose from under them, erasing the rest of the shots.
"A shot that goes to the heavens...and a prison on the land..."
He could vaguely see Nasu staring at him as more beams came from different direction. The look she was giving him clearly showed her confusion at his words.
He wanted nothing more than to cover his face from embarrassment.
Yet he continued to speak.
"This can represent my anger itself."
There was no hope that his words were not being recorded by his squad.
He knew that other people would hear what he was saying later on.
"Appear..."
What had she said in the song recording she sent us?
"...O scorching shrine."
It did not seem worth it anymore.
His embarrassment did not seem worth some food he would likely not finish.
What had covered for that was the look he saw on Nasu's face as more and more laser like beams came up destroying the cement they stood on.
The multi-layer overpass they had been fighting on started to crumbled under the violent attack and tore through everything it came in contact with.
There was no room to move for either one of them.
"I should watch my behavior..."
As he finished his words he could see Nasu take step back.
That step had been what finished it all.
The moment her foot touched the overpass, a last laser like beam shot up, taking her entire leg.
At the same time, the overpass finally gave way to the large scale attack.
The two Shooters took note that their feet were no longer touching anything.
There was no chance for Takeshi to teleport away or closer to Nasu as he fell towards the ground. The attack took a large amount of trion to start and he would not finish until he was satisfied.
The attack had been far different from any before and any other Shooters had tried.
Unlike the attacks that were hurled into the sky, this attack strikes up from the ground, rendering anything above it asunder from below. The tremendous attack had created a devastating movement that destroyed everything it came in contact with.
It did not have the firepower of a rain of Meteora, but the true strength of this attack was that it changed everything above it, making it open for any more attacks from allies. What was more, it caged in whenever was inside of it, leaving no opening to move or attack. Defense would also mean nothing from the onslaught of beams.
Setting this up was a hassle, and I wanted to save it for the top tier, but I suppose it is fine to show off what I can do.
From the corner of his eye he could see another light flash in the sky as it went to a place that was not the battlefield.
Meanwhile, in front of him, Nasu continued to try and move. Tried to get away from the cage.
There was no escape.
Once one of the beams touched her limbs, it was destroyed.
When she tried to fire a shot, it was erased.
Any shield she put up was shattered as quickly as it was formed.
It was an attack that used everything to destroy everything.
To make sure he won, Takeshi continued firing. He would continue firing until he won or ran out of trion. In this case there was a chance of both things happening.
This is fine. I hate to leave Hoshi here, but that is also fine at this point. Because-
Bail Out.
Bail Out.
Because it had all became simple.
Wakamura blinked as he stared up at the ceiling of Katori Squad's operating room.
Once he realized where he was, he turned his head to see Miura looking at him. He had a bigger smile on his face.
"So that was what it was."
Miura had thought that something was off.
Now that something had happened, it was clear what it had been.
"Kotowari had something like that planned. There was no way of us knowing about that, so no need to feel bad."
"Good job getting that lady hit though."
He nodded his head whole moving toward his teammates. A sigh leaving his lips as he reached them.
At the first noise of something strange he had started to move to the edge of the overpass again. With no more shots coming through it was safe to assume that he had a small window of opportunity.
Taking that chance he had was just what he did.
He had jumped down from the edge of the overpass just as the first laser like beam came from below.
The attack had surprised him. The power behind it was amazing and had managed to take his leg and arm before another one came up.
He had managed to move away from the second and third one when he noticed that many more were coming up.
During the second round something like this had also happened in Kotowari Squad's match against Nasu Squad and Kakizaki Squad.
An onslaught of laser like beams that tore through everything in front of them. It had been what created fear for the Laser Shooter who had initiated the attack.
This was also terrifying in its own right, but...
But this was different than that first time.
.
That time it was clear that Kotowari did not care about what he was doing, firing at everything around him. This attack seemed much more focused, as if he was trying to trap someone inside of it instead of destroy them.
The fear from this destructive attack was more general than a fear of the single boy who had attacked.
Wakamura had known that there was no reason to think bad about the boy from just this attack and so stealer himself to try and do something about the amount of trion he had been losing because of the laser like beam.
His eyes landed on the ground to see if there was a spot where he could not be hit.
He found once and got ready to land, even if it was going to be awkward.
"Crap!"
That had failed the instant he saw someone coming from the side.
Kumagai had appeared to miss getting hit by the large attack from the lack of damage done to her.
If he were to land then she would attack him while he was unable to do much.
He thought about what to do and came to a final conclusion.
There really isn't a way out of this, is there?
With a conclusion reached, he aimed his gun toward the ground. At the running Kumagai.
He began his own attack by firing at her while trion continued to leak from the two lost limbs. If he did not lose to the trion loss, and subsequently Takeshi, he would lose to the armed Kumagai.
Both options were not good.
But there was nothing he could do to change that.
At this point all he could manage to do was to inflict some damage to Kumagai so that his captain may have a better chance at taking her out.
Some of the shot had managed to make it to her. He could see the trion start to leak from her body as he hit the ground.
She had given him no time to get up as she rushed forward and took his head.
This was her point.
Bail Out.
.
Wakamura sighed at what had just happened.
He had managed to do as little as he could have done before he stood no chance.
He looked to the screen in front of Somei to see what else had happened while he got taken out.
"Both our squad and Nasu Squad lost another point and had another point taken away from us. Apparently that large scale attack had been to take out both Hiura and Nasu. That means Kotowari got two points."
Those had been the points Nasu Squad had lost.
"That attack seems to also taken all of his trion. He also had to Bail Out. But like with Toby, it was a voluntary one. Or that's how they are counting it."
That was the point that was taken away from them.
"So who is left?"
"Yōko, Hoshi and Kumagai are the only ones left."
"How will this play out...?"
"You managed to do damage to Kumagai while Hoshi had to defend Kotowari from Nasu. Yōko is probably the one who has the most amount of trion remaining."
"That does not mean she has the real advantage. Something happened when you attacked Awdry and Kotowari had that attack ready. We can't be certain who really has an advantage anymore."
He could not deny that.
This match had been strange from the very start and there was doubt about the reason why.
Yuki could tell that he was receiving look all around him. The two people next to him were looking at him, the people below him were looking at him, the people behind him were looking at him, and he was sure that everyone in the chat was questioning him.
He knew he was being judged heavily for what they had just seen.
So he responded to all the looks.
"I did not know he would do that."
TetsuG: "Try not to sound so proud and we might believe it."
"Oh, look, it didn't count for a point for Nasu Squad. That's the second time it happened."
"Ah, he sounds so proud..."
He ignored the odd chorus coming from the audience in the room.
"Doesn't that make this squad more crazy then? It might really mean this is your influence since it had been Kotowari and Awdry who were the ones to Bail Out while in the middle of a battle without giving any points."
"Why do you feel like blaming me?"
"Because you are easy to blame for what we are seeing. Also because it is clear who that attack was really meant for."
"He probably wanted to save that kind of thing for the top tier. Captain Kotowari has managed to take two points in such a short amount of time while also preventing anyone else from taking a point from him."
"Oh, yeah, that would probably work against that idiotic, piece of crap, useless, unnecessarily pointless airhead. Then again, the hot air in his head might just start lifting him up and over the attack."
Almost Everyone: "You need to calm down!"
Haru: "Yuki, can you please refrain from insulting my captain so much in front of so many people!?"
Deer Prince: "I would like that too. Oh, but Haru-chan, you should probably give up now. I am a major advocate for them to calm down when it comes to each other and I have just about given up on trying using the easy ways."
Kage: "I say let him continue."
TetsuG: "You would..."
Black Wolf: "Kunichika, don't you think you should focus back on the main topic of the match?"
White Fox: "Alright, I know at least some of you fools have your own matches going on! Why the hell are you also on here!?"
Almost Everyone: "..."
White Fox: "Wait... Did you guys already lose in your matches?"
"Some people are fools..."
"Please, tell us how you really feel."
He could see Kurauchi giving him another look from down below and thought that he should have a serious talk to Senshi once this was all done.
Oh yeah, Kō is not out of the clear either.
"Anyways."
"Due to that attack, there are now only three agents left in this match. Each squad has one member remaining."
"This may also end up differently than expected. At this point all expectations should be thrown out in favor of pure guesses."
Yuki nodded his head to agree with the comment.
He was also unsure as to what they would see in the last moment of this match.
Suzu is back there, isn't she? I wonder what she has to say about all of this.
.
"Heh heh heh. That was a good job, Take. Now I need to hold up my end of that deal."
"You told him to say something, didn't you? I saw his lips moving."
Suzume smiled down at Narasaka again.
She had not expected Takeshi to agree to her request since it was clear that he was still getting use to other people.
Then she had seen the attack he used to take out Nasu. Something that resembled the old Takeshi but clearly showed how he was no longer the same as before.
"To think he would use one of my lines. It was one even I was unsure of, but he honestly made it work well enough."
"One of your lines? What do you mean, Misa-... Suzume-nee."
It seemed that Kodera was starting to learn as he got glared at by Suzume for a second time.
Forgiving him for a second time, she laughed again while looking at the screen.
She started moving her body to an unheard rhythm.
Her feet did not leave the floor, but her hips swayed from side to side while he upper body shook.
"That would be... He created a proper 'scorching shrine'. There is honestly no reason for me to get into the details, but he managed to find out what I had been missing when I mentioned that before. To find some thing that even I was missing means that he is thinking about something that I am not able to think about."
"Oh... I see."
"I hate to say this, but this is more than just Misaki's crazy nature, Shōhei. There is actually something to what she is saying."
Suzume laughed again at the way Narasaka sounded reluctant to know what she meant.
"To think differently than her, to find something she has been missing, it means he is viewing it at such an angle that... Well, you saw what just happened. A normal person would not think of attacking like that."
"That would be because normal people would not win in a situation like that. A normal person would not have a defense like that. A normal person would not get as far as Takeshi has. Please do not underestimate us when it actually matters."
"If I ever underestimated Kotowari or Awdry then I'm sorry. I never believe in you since I already know how you are. Don't think your summit dance is anything to pay attention to during a fight."
"Oh? It seems like a certain bamboo idiot wishes to get some divine punishment."
It was now their personal argument that filled the back of the room.
Suzume knew that there was a slime chance that this would be resolved, so she had started to think if a comeback for whatever would be said to her.
She started to listen intently for a response from Narasaka. What he would say would lead into what she would say.
Instead she had heard a groan.
It did not come from below her or where the three commentators were.
The groan was a feminine one that held a bit of a rhythmic undertone to it.
Looking further than the commentators, she focused in on the Shooter duo she had taken note of before.
That's right. How are the other Shooters taking this?
.
Kōchō groaned from next to Kurauchi as she watched the match in front of her.
They had just seen the large scale attack done by Takeshi and heard what others had to say about it.
She spoke up with arms crossed while Kurauchi occupied himself with his phone. He seemed to be reading something terrible from the expression he gave.
"Are we suppose to compete against that as Shooters? This is why we don't enter the B-Rank Wars. There are way too many odd people in them for us to handle. No matter what Mai wants."
"Kotowari has his Laser Shooter, so I doubt anyone will look to us for an attack like that. From what I have heard, Nasu is helping him in some way and yet she was surprised but that attack. It is safe to assume that it was a Kotowari Squad Special."
"Wow... That sounds like they own some kind of restaurant. Actually, that doesn't sound like it would be abnormal for them."
It was the sad fact of the matter.
There were, without a doubt, strange squads in Border who did things at their own pace. Ones like Ikoma Squad and Tachikawa Squad came to mind. Squads that managed to win by doing as they pleased.
But Kotowari Squad was still an odd one, even against those squads.
Kōchō only knew what she had been told by Toby and what she was currently seeing, but that was more than enough to understand.
Kotowari Squad made plans like any other squad. But how much if those plans did they follow?
Everything they did felt much more like improvised stunts than parts of a plan to win. It seemed like they were more focused on having fun with what they were doing instead of how to win.
Their Sniper was more of a dancer than anything else while their Attacker moved around the battlefield like a dog looking for someone to okay with. Even their Shooter seemed to be showing off more than attacking.
Kōchō would readily admit that her own squad was rather relaxed when it came to fighting and orders, but even they followed what they were told and took fights seriously.
All of this stemming from their former captain was a possibility. At least until she remembered her interactions with Toby, what she had heard about Suzume and what she had seen of the girl, and what she was seeing with Takeshi. Even the new girl seemed different than others.
The former two moved at their own pace with little thought as to what would happen to them or others nearby. It was a freedom that prevented others from knowing what would be the best course of action with them.
The latter two seemed more reserved than their two teammates. But even they seemed to move in a way that they found fit, only following others when they thought it was fine with them as well.
She could see that it was a squad who knew of people who tried to keep them down and chose to ignore that in favor of doing what they wanted.
If I were to find a reason to enter the B-Rank Wars then it would be to fight them. And to find any other squads who were like them.
She smiled to herself at the thought.
It seemed that Kurauchi was finished reading whatever had been on his phone since he was looking to the screen again.
"If we are not expected to compete with that, would it be safe to say that we can help instead? Is it bad to want to see something like that grow and support it when we can?"
"That is an interesting question."
Kurauchi did not turn away from the screen again, but he did continue to respond to her.
"Since we are just talking as 'fans' here, I would say that it is only natural to want to support something like that. You seem to be enjoying this, so wanting to see more of it is only normal. As a matter of fact, not wanting to help with something you like so much may lead you to regret it later."
"I have only ever been on the receiving end of that kind of support. I have never been a 'fan', always the 'main attraction' with my squad. I am not too sure how to support them as a 'fan'."
"Think of how your fans support you. More than that, think of how you can support them as three things."
"What would those three things be?"
"A fan. A Border member. ...And as a person. If you manage to get to that last one, you can try to move that up by referring to them as 'friends' instead of you being a 'fan'."
Kōchō nodded her head.
The words would stick with her even after this match.
After all...
Do I even consider Toby a friend?
The boy she had the most constant with when it came to that squad. If he could not be considered a friend then there was no chance to support them as such.
She would be left as a simple 'fan' at that point.
She laughed once she realized how far she had to go before she could support such people who seemed far above others.
"Heh heh. I can see why Motojime-san likes you, Kurauchi-san. You really take things seriously, don't you? Even as someone like yourself, you know how to properly explain things to someone like me."
He also gave a nod in response.
"That would be because I have the most unlucky person in the world as a best friend."
Hoshi had seen it all while being ready to defend her captain.
The entire light show had destroyed the overpass while she stood a safe distance away.
Takeshi had informed her of what he was going to do and told her to get away from the overpass while man twining a good distance to him.
Using himself as bait to lure out Hiura-san... He even managed to take out Nasu-san.
He had managed to take two people out while preventing anyone else from gaining a point against them.
The same thing had happened with Toby, but that had been an accident because of her.
Even so, this meant that she was the only one who had yet to score a point and she could be the point someone took from them. She had been to,d that she may leave the fight to prevent a point from being taken from them.
But they also allowed her to stay so that she may prove herself.
She knew both Takeshi and Toby as they were classmates, but that did not mean she could help herself from having a single thought.
I have joined a truly great squad!
They had allowed her freedom while also protecting her and relying on her.
Kotowari Squad had started the match with one less person, but they still relied on her to support them in their fight. They did not tell her to only be there when needed or leave when she was not needed or in the way.
She was not treated as a princess who needed protection.
She was treated as a member of their squad who could fight with them whenever she wanted.
It was unlike what she had been use to growing up.
That was why she walked forward.
I noticed Kumagai-san falling before Wakamura-kun. That means there is still someone who I can take a point from. And from looking at Radar, there is still someone else.
It had to be Katori.
She was the only other person who had not been taken out.
That meant there were two possible points she could get.
Right! I should get to work now!
She leaped from the building she had been on.
I still have my chance to show off after Takeshi-kun and Toby-kun went to the trouble of using those two.