...Now they've done it!
Ōji realized what Kurosaki was doing.
Kurosaki was currently fighting Taiyōko and they were being attacked thanks to Awdry more or less betraying them. If any influence reached any part of them, they would be taken over by a greater business or a single girl wanting political power.
So as a performance for Awdry and Taiyōko, they were attacking the Neighbors to demonstrate their strength.
...While also showing what they'll do to anyone if they carelessly try to attack.
By doing that, they could give a warning to Taiyōko and the others attacking however they liked and as well as a warning to Awdry, the group that had betrayed them.
Ōji: "That makes the attack against those Neighbors, and technically against us, a demonstration in three or four different ways for Kurosaki. They even went so far as to apparently hire Hikigone for this. ...Gucci, give us permission to attack. Just like Border is defending against the enemy Neighbors, we can act as representatives by 'not stopping their actions' but 'stopping their attacks', right?"
Manger: "You can do it, can't you?"
Ōji: "I think you might be a better commander than secretary boy."
"Right?" asked Ōji while looking around.
Something in the west was reflecting the sunlight. It was a Kurosaki transport car. Ōji judged it to be fifteen kilometers away and set the proper values in himself. At the same time as Kurauchi, he pushed his body forward and pointed it straight forward.
He used the falling speed to catch the car's movement.
"Here we go."
The two Ōji Squad members moved toward the moving vehicle.
.
Two black lines traveled on the green earth below the blue sky.
They used their enhanced legs, given strength by the Triggers provided by Border. Both were pulled forward with some acceleration from support placed beforehand.
He wind that was blowing against them while they ran washed over the captain as he sent out words using the limited telepathy provided by the Triggers. His voice itself was drowned out by the wind, but the words still came through their connected minds.
"Kurauchi! I can see them! They're eight kilometers away!"
"Right! I think we should swap positions once we are within five kilometers!"
"Yeah! We'll be making a turn, so make sure you are ready for it!"
They had a single goal: stop the car that Kurosaki had sent toward the Neighbors.
...And do it in a nondestructive way!
They would demonstrate that they could shoot down the car, but they would intentionally avoid doing so.
They intended to destroy the rear bumper to knock it off course. After all...
...That will show that's all we need to do to erase that threat! Neighbor attacks do way more damage than any regular car can.
"But we'll show them that we're here now!"
Ōji upped his speed using a Grasshopper plate set beforehand.
He had to hurry because Kurauchi had not hesitated to accelerate in front of him. Ōji desperately pursued him through the hole in the wind created by the body.
"...We're in range! That means..."
"Yeah," replied Ōji as he pushed down on the new Grasshopper plate. He leaned forward and pursued Kurauchi while making sure not to be blown away by a stray plate.
"Here we go, Kurauchi!"
"Well, I was actually thinking I should tell you to watch out. Look."
The color green passed by over Ōji's forward-leaning head.
...A trion attack!?
He assumed it had come from the Kurosaki group, but he was wrong.
"It came from the car!? It isn't unmanned!? And they have Triggers!?"
"There are no trion signs onboard! So..."
Ōji understood. Kurosaki had predicted this counterattack. And...
"Ōji! Their attack is coming! It's multi-stage!"
.
With the B-Ranks three kilometers away, thirty-two projectiles resembling green lights were launched from different parts of the approaching car.
They were trion cubes.
"Remote: Trion Attack: Multi-Shot Split and Homing Hound: Confirmed."
Each cube broke apart into eight different cubes and an acceleration had been added to each one as well. A moment later, they drew arcs through the sky as they flew straight toward something.
In the early sky, the many pillars of light turned at sharp angles, let out a spray of light, and surfed through empty air.
Their targets were the two approaching B-Rank agents, but then a red light appeared on the sight device on the interior of the unmanned moving far.
"Additional shots: Confirmed."
More trion multi-shot attacks were scattered about for a second and third stage.
Some of the trion shots were caught up or set incorrectly, collided with each other, and shattered, but the unmanned car did not car. The black car continued scattering trion shots through the sky as it move toward the two B-Rank agents.
.
After forcing his way past Kurauchi to move out front, Ōji saw it.
...I think Hikigone asked Mottomotto and Fuyushima-san for help with this.
More than just a barrage or a barrier, a solid space of enemy projectiles appeared before his eyes.
The attack had been made to deal with the Neighbors around them instead of the members of Border, but it seemed that the car could only target anything using trion. The intended targets had been swapped out because the two members from Ōji Squad had interfered.
"Not bad. If all they have to do is fire a ton of multi-stage Hounds, a simple car will work as well as any agent. It's useful enough for resisting a short-term counterattack."
Ōji felt he should complain. He felt he should curse and verbally abuse the accidental enemy for doing this, but...
"Hah!"
He heard his own voice in the wind. He wrinkled his brow, but stared at his opponent and let out a noise, without knowing if he should twist his mouth into a smile or into a look of anger.
"Don't underestimate the top tier B-Ranks, Kurosaki!"
.
As soon as the Ōji Squad captain arrived within two kilometers of the transport truck, he rushed to the far right.
He continuously fired four guided Hound shots while moving in a gradual side arc. The dedicated Ōji Squad Shooter followed. Like a school of fish, the transport truck's homing attacks increased their density near the front. But...
"Over here!"
While the Ōji Squad captain rushed to the far right, the Ōji Squad Shooter was moving his body in that same direction as he fought to maintain pace with the truck, but then he forced his body to the left.
"...!"
He almost seemed to jump over to the other side of the truck.
The enemy attack could not keep up. Their density was still focused on the far right, so they quickly created arcs of pursuit.
But Ōji was already circling around the back of the truck. He moved back in a circling motion and a guiding line could be seen in his eyes.
As the enemy attack resumed pursing him again, the Ōji Squad captain swung his body, but he was not changing direction.
"I can see you!"
He created a cube of trion while preparing a shield and pointed his hand toward the pursing enemy attack.
"Hound!"
Trion shots flew from the Ōji Squad captain as it took high-speed evasive action and flipped around.
The number of shots was the same as the number of destroyed shots.
Flashes of light collided in midair and the Ōji Squad captain made a shallow move as if to move between the scattering light.
The boxy front of the transport truck released several beams of light.
"Laser Shooter!?"
They flew in straight lines at first, but they did not maintain that straight path. They were homing versions. Light sprayed out as they took a winding path toward the Ōji Squad Shooter who was following from a little behind, but...
"Could you be any more obvious!?"
The Ōji Squad captain rapidly fired Hound shots toward the laser-like beams approaching from behind his teammate like sunlight.
However, he was not targeting the laser-like trion beam itself. He instead targeted the homing multi stage Hound shots approaching the other boy. Those many Hound shot were a means of attack, but at the same time...
They are what the Laser Shooter is tracking! It's blatantly obvious if you look at the trajectories!"
Sure enough, the laser-like trion beams were flying in diagonal trajectories that more closely followed the Hound shots than the Ōji Squad Shooter himself.
The Ōji Squad captain chose to avoid the shots pursuing him and focused instead on the ones pursuing his teammate.
"Kurauchi! Trust me!"
He readied his body by forcing a line to himself, so...
"Yeah!"
The Ōji Squad Shooter ran straight to the Ōji Squad captain without any fear.
The laser-like beam released from the truck like sunlight continued pursing him, but that did not matter.
The Ōji Squad captain fired. His repeated shots overlapped, grew to a true raid-fire, and repeatedly shattered the Hound shots still pursing his teammate.
Green light burst in the sky and sounds of destruction blossomed.
The green lights were split apart time and again as the laser-like beam swept through the air, but...
"Hound!"
He fired one last time to finish his attack and that led to the conclusion.
The green pursuers had vanished from behind the Ōji Squad Shooter. As soon as only the rough wind remained, the truck's laser-like beams ended their winding pursuit. And...
"Kurauchi!"
The Ōji Squad Shooter caught up to the captain.
Without even looking back, the Ōji Squad captain moved forward and smiled.
"C'mon, Kurauchi. You need to come straight toward me."
His rapid-fire shattered all of the Hound shots remaining in the blue sky visible above the horizon.
"But Ōji, having you right in front of me is actually really distracting."
"Thanks for the compliment. Or I will at least take it as one."
"Fine."
With that reply, the two Ōji Squad members accelerated. They moved toward the transport truck they were just about to pass by.
They did not hold back on the speed and the captain pulled ahead due to his greater acceleration.
"Here we go!"
The Shooter moved forward to pass the captain.
The visual of multiple attacks hitting each other filled the sky, followed by sound that could only barely be heard.
The transport truck had stopped.
The truck stopped once everything had been used up firing on the two Ōji Squad members to prevent any damage done to it.
"I'm guessing that they realized a bit of what was going on here. Even with that much firepower, I had to set things up so that the entire thing wasn't filled to the brim with shots. It took a good amount of convincing to add the prototype Laser Shooter on there, but oh well. I'm guessing they thought leaving it to run out of fuel was far better than letting that piece of junk run into something and cause damage in the surface."
In the lively festival, Sekai commented on the outcome with a sigh as he viewed it through a tablet screen displaying a magnified image.
As he watched, a giant building seemed to loom over them, even from this distance.
"I guess that shows off Border some more. ...Quite an extraordinary view for our festival here."
The building remained stationary, but it felt like there was more of a presence to it now compared to before.
That was the Border base.
On that base was a flat roof with the edges raised and antennas could be seen on the four corners of the building, but a single spot of red and purpose was visible on top. It was a Sniper who was ranked first.
...I see Tōma started to get bored in there.
An Ibis could be spotted in the hands of the boy, but he was laying flat on his back on the Border roof. As he did so, he was raising his arms and aiming it one way.
"So they are helping him using better sight and distance measurements, are they? The irritating ones seemed to also be doing their best inside."
.
Yuki viewed the Border transmission from Tōma
Isa: "I might not be a match for Umicchi when it comes to firepower, but I can manage well enough with my usual sniping. If I wasn't using a Trigger then I would have nothing to handle the recoil, so I don't have to deal with an almost literally pain in the ass."
"Also," he added.
Isa: "There are a few others here to help out. Can you see them?"
"Yeah," confirmed Yuki.
The tablet screen he was viewing with Kuruma showed a unit of a few B-Rank and A-Rank Snipers aiming a total of eight Trigger in various directions.
Ōji and Kuauchi's presence was one way they were showing off to the three business, but also...
...We're showing that we can accurately locate so many enemies.
Those sniping positions could not be taken immediately.
Border had released their Snipers not just to show off the unit that would be attacking the skies, but also to show they could target the enemy from a great distance.
Border had essentially revealed the source of the attack to everyone else. Even with the Snipers, they had chosen to harm their own position to harm the enemy.
Border's solo Engineer who worked with machines Jinsoku Shūsei was speaking in another window inside of the tablet.
Quik-Fix: "How about that!? How about that, spy!? My extra help with measurements is pretty cool, isn't it!? It's using data if what has been used and known blind spots, and it's already this cool! Isn't it just plain adorable!?"
770: "What? Are you stupid? If you're gonna have those guys fire, you've gotta start with shooting a ton of Hound Laser Shooter shots from the side of the base. Don't act like you're all-that after using those walking fools instead of the base, you amateur."
Quik-Fix: "You're exactly the kind of adult I hate! You always act like you know what you're talking about!"
Such a fulfilling relationship between idiot and bigger idiot, thought Yuki as Sekai looked his way. Ah. He isn't going to go easy because it's me, is he?
"Using those Snipers who can move at a moment's notice is a decent idea. Each side of Border can be protected independently and can defend if need be, so I can see why you would want people like that to move whenever you need it. When using them for real, do you have sniping stations where they can fire while at least kneeling?"
Everyone looked Yuki's way when he asked that, so it looked like they wanted him to respond.
...Well, it probably would be best for me to respond since even he can't read my expression.
He mentally nodded while adding an extra thought.
He is taking this seriously, so I need to make sure I don't know him for now. This is his job and so he is speaking as if he is a seriously working for Kurosaki. As much as that makes my stomach churn, I have to deal with it.
The nudist acted like being a nudist was his job, Kon would begin using her Kon Logic, Murakami was likely still full of energy after figuring out how to use Shikifuku, and he would feel bad leaving this to Kuruma.
So he quickly answered "right". He had no real reason to actually answer Sekai's question, so he decided to change the subject.
"How did you like those Hound shots? Nice, weren't they? Those are the true romance of men."
"Oh?" said Sekai as he raised the right corner of his mouth and nodded.
When he crosses his arms, he looks like a really cool guy, but even that trick doesn't bring him anywhere close to Akasora-sensei, he noted as Sekai pointed westward with his chin.
"Did you try to stop that truck in response to the threat of an enemy vehicle containing a sort of bomb, just like the large flying Neighbors had in its body?"
"Does Kurosaki view the Illgars, the Neighbor mentioned, as a threat?"
Yuki asked while realizing he was making a precarious tightrope walk. Sekai did not nod, but he did smile a little.
"Of course, since it can create a great amount of damage by blowing up near any area with buildings. Even just hitting a blank spot of Mikado City can cause a tremor to occur, making the ground shake and any nearby buildings risk getting damaged. Even if it is only on the insides, it is still damage done. And that does not include any glass that may break."
"Well..."
Yuki knew that it be true since earthquakes did that exact thing. As a conversation topic it was a what-if, but those kinds of ideas were still there.
At any rate, Sekai sighed and nodded in front of him.
"Right. We would still find it rather hard to explain since an earthquake or other natural phenomenon can cause just as much damage, if not worse, so placing all blame on something that has yet to properly happen would be a bit much. Even so, apparently, one such thing happened a while back in a river. That is why it is best to make sure every base is covered in case something comes up."
.
Yuki listened to Sekai.
"My friend was near the river when it happened...that is, when Kitora Ai of Arashiyama Squad took it down and sent it into the river. As a front-line defender here, I believe I understand just how important runaway explosions are to the area."
"In that case," said Yuki while raising his right index finger as if indicating their selling point here. "With us around, you do not need to worry about those kinds of Neighbors exploding close to buildings."
"What? Make no mistake here. Even Kurosaki and their business can prepare for something like that. We just need a few average or higher works and someone who can handle some shaking."
Ōji: "The fox's crappy sales pitch just wasted all of our efforts out here. Sob..."
White Fox: "It's not my fault that Sekai-san isn't going easy! And you're willing to pretend cry if it means making fun of me!?"
Demon Child: "Anyway, you can't come back until you make up for what we lost there."
Fine then, thought Yuki as he raised his right hand again.
"Then how about this?"
About what?
He worked at cheerfully responding to Sekai's question.
"Since both Kurosaki and we can at least defend in some way against explosive attacks, we know we both understand the threat Illgars pose. And in Mikado City, technically speaking, Kurosaki is in the west and we are in the east, so with the two of us there, we can reduce damage to the city and the surrounding areas. Isn't that right?"
Did that do it? he wondered as he looked his way.
...Huh?
Sekai had narrowed his eyes sharply.
"We cannot leave the full protection of Mikado City to you." He had wiped all expression from his face. "Someone else is much better suited to that role and we have promised to protect ourselves until we see them again. So even if you have shown your strength by intercepting that transport truck, you have not earned any more points than that."
He was quite definitive and he turned to the side with a snort.
He had utterly rejected them.
Umi: "I had a feeling that would happen... Maybe Yukicchi used up all his business talk skill back when dealing with the reporters."
Simple Boy: "Oh, sorry. I'm just getting some snacks for ?, so continue on without me."
Kōgetsu: "Welcome! Welcome, Yuki-kun! You're one of us now!"
White Fox: "I had a feeling you would react like this, but you didn't actually have to do it! But you know what? I don't care! I'm solidly on the Mei route, so I know I made the right decision here!"
Manager: "Don't screw up our business talk because you don't care!"
Iko: "Heh heh heh. There's a world of difference between that and my definite progress on the cute girls route."
They were the same as always, but then Sekai sighed and turned back toward him.
"But what will you do, Border? They will continue firing, you know? The three angles they are taking from the businesses are still approaching the base, so the force of their bombardment will only grow. And..."
Isa: "Iko-san! Check what they're doing there! The Neighbors near Shiraishi are growing fixated!"
...Growing fixated!?
The trajectories of the attacks were growing simpler. That made it easier for the Border base to defend, but it also meant those Neighbors could focus on doing something else. And then Ikoma sent a transmission back.
Iko: "They're launchin' some more Neighbors toward the base. Ones that can fight in the sky."
"Yes." Sekai smiled. "That is probably because Shirashi will not be backing down from here either.
But that was not all. A window opened with an "emergency" designation. It was a warning from the Border base.
GM Aide: "Something is happening to the Falcon with the Bados in the south! It seems to be transforming after we had taken down the Bados!"
It was...
GM Aide: "It looks to be growing larger and changing shape after crashing into the Bado remnants!"
"It's transforming? They can do that kind of thing now?"
Ōji had returned to the area near Border and he was using his Trigger to view the information from the Border base.
The falcon Neighbor approaching from the south was seen in the small window, but as the visual advanced, it zoomed in and its parts could be seen moving about.
The Neighbor that looked like a falcon began shifting its body around and pulling in any unnecessary parts. It started growing a bit as the color turned from a cool color to a blazing red.
Kurauchi narrowed his eyes when he saw it.
"That's the same Neighbors? It can transform? Are you sure that isn't some trick?"
"Yeah. I think it's a real transformation. But that isn't all. You can see that, can't you?"
Ōji pointed at the Neighbor in the image.
It hung over the Border base, but the multiple lights from some cores were visible on its head.
He clicked his tongue at the fact that there were multiple orbs.
"It has multiple cores. ...In other words, it had taken the cores, so it will take more than a single shot to take it down. This isn't good."
"True. But as people with Shooter Triggers, we might not be the best ones to say this isn't good."
"True."
As Ōji smiled bitterly, something else occurred on the overhead footage. Something started flying out behind the red falcon Neighbors. It had a cool color.
...Another one!?
No, this one was not as large. It was a false one that had no core in it. And...
"There is nowhere to really attack..."
But that was not all. A new window appeared with sound waves comes from it.
The name under the window was nothing but question marks.
"Border. I guess you can see them from where you are. In that case, I can tell you about those Trion Soldiers since they belonged to us."
A name had been changed out for the question marks. Ōji's eyebrows rose when he noticed the name of the person speaking.
"So they let you out for a bit... Then go on and say some things."
The man in question may have smiled a bit at the response.
"An introduction first. I am Futoyuki, the former leader of the Wanderers as well as someone who created Trion Soldiers like that one."
.
Ōji's eyebrows lowered when he heard that kind of introduction.
"So you were in charge of building those falcon-looking Neighbors, right? Is that why it's here?"
"Ohh... I always thought that name was pronounced differently."
"Everyone does at first, Kurauchi."
Meanwhile, Futoyuki seemed to shift in his spot in the sound wave. He may have gone to support himself on his arms.
When someone gave a troubled noise, Futoyuki responded kindly.
"That first one was named Rise."
He then shifted again while creating some more noise.
"And the second one is Blaze. They are technically the same thing and completely different soldiers."
As soon as Blaze appeared, the Neighbors near Shiraishi accelerated toward the Border base.
Shobu sensed it from the slight shaking below his feet rather than from the wind.
He more or less knew why they were speeding up.
...Those flying Neighbors...? ...It's a big deal...when they are...far away...
Earlier, Shirashi Chisato had said something about the attack on the Border base.
Tōma-san and his friends who chose to snipe seemed to be having some fun with the flying Bados above them, but it had to be a big deal to deal with the cleanup if they fell to the ground. If they broke, they would have to be collected without people noticing. And sniping from that distance to here could hurt the Shirashi people, and that would be a different sort of problem.
...Kimura-sama called it...a b-business...? ...Business problem... ...So...
Shobu: "...Tōma-sama... ...P-protect the...base..."
Isa: "Hm? Oh, Tsuki's little student! We'll be fine! We're all skilled and we're excellent shots! If they show up, we'll just shoot them all. And our people have been building up a bit of stress lately, so if the enemy makes it here, they'll get all worked up and intercept them. Hey, everyone! The Yagura Nephew just ordered us to protect the base with our lives!"
Boys: "Right! We'll work ourselves to death!"
Girls: "Leave it all to us, Tenryū-san!"
...Eh...?
...Wait... ...H-how do they...know about me...?
Where had he gone wrong? Shobu did not know, but he could tell they were fired up. He quickly tried to extinguish that fire.
Shobu: "...I-I didn't mean it...l-like that...?"
Isa: "Eh? Oh, I gotcha, I gotcha. ...Hey, everyone! The Yagura Nephew has a complaint! He doesn't want you to die; he wants you to survive!"
Boys: "Right! We'll make sure we're alive and well even if the base burns down around us!"
Girls: "We will run away even if those guys start dying out!"
...Ehhh...?
...But they would...just Bail Out...not die...
Shobu felt that was half right, but would it make him an overachiever to try to get the whole thing right?
"...Umm..." he hesitated.
Shobu: "...D-don't hurt...e-each other...okay...?"
Isa: "Hey, everyone. The Yagura Nephew just sent you some kind words. Take a look at this reply."
Shobu hoped they would understand if they saw his reply for themselves.
Light Snpr 3: "Hey, I think Shokubutsu-san's right. We might've been hurting each other here.
Mid Snpr 7: "Yeah. We're always blaming each other when there's insufficient power or getting into fights over unreturned mags and mistakes in the shift schedule. ...We really are hurting each other."
Light Snpr 5: "Maybe people really can understand each other. ...Okay, let's work together as one to intercept the Shiraishi Neighbors and revive the engineers!"
Isa: "You're amazing, Shokkun. I was worried about everyone's teamwork since our exhaustion's about at its peak, but you really brought them all together."
Shobu felt like apologizing for everything, but as he sweated in his heart, a large form rose from the rear area of a large neighboring group.
...Another falcon...?
He perceived it as a large falcon. Aftokrator's Rabbits had been humanoid rabbits, so this was probably just as powerful. He hoped this would not lead to anything bad, but he did not go beyond hoping because he had a feeling the damage would only spread if he said something about it. But...
"Border Representative, I hope you are prepared."
Shiraishi Chisato faced Shobu while holding down her skirt.
"I wish to see how Border will defend the base against these Neighbors."
.
Chisato sighed inside her heart.
...What has me so worn out?
This was so close to the front line. She had a goal to aim for and she was prepared to accomplish it, so she only needed to do so. That was how the Shiraishi family worked.
...We are not purely citizens of Mikado City.
She heard that the people from Border had chosen to place their organization in Mikado City because that was where they had lived. It had been their home and they figured it would be better to place themselves there instead of elsewhere.
Unlike those people, the Shiraishi family had been in a frigid land. It had little sunlight and snow was a constant sight. Even now, that are must have been covered in deep snow with sunlight being scarce.
She had heard a number of theories as to why her family had moved to other locations instead of staying, but every theory agreed that there had been discord with their family and some other forces around them.
The skills to survive in the frozen land could be seen in the underground construction techniques used by their company, but it ultimately meant nothing with Neighbors coming through Gates and destroying what they had built up. Also...
"We can't believe in others to protect us..."
She muttered those words while staring straight at Border's representative.
"We did warn you. If you try to approach us and monitor us, we will simply reject you. ...So how about it?"
"...How about...what...?"
"Right." Chisato nodded. "If you leave now, never return to us, give up on our money as a sponsorship, and remain away from us, we will clear the way for you here to fight and even act as an intermediary to help you find peace with the lesser businesses."
"No."
The boy replied immediately. It almost felt like speaking with a child, but that was not it. Thinking that would be selling the boy short. After all...
"We have something we need to do."
"And what is that?"
"A promise."
The representative fell silent as if that was enough of an answer.
Chisato could tell there was conviction behind the words. He trusted in those words, so they were more than just reflexive resistance. Threatening him, attacking him, and attempting to persuade him would not change them. They sounded like words he would continue speaking as long as he remained "here", no matter what anyone did.
It is not hard to realize this boy is hesitant every time he speaks, never seeming to believe in his own words. But this time there was no hesitation. He is determined to be here.
It was a frightening thought. It was not that Chisato's suggestion itself was unacceptable to him. They had a promise to uphold and the suggestion was unacceptable because it did not fit with that promise.
That was troublesome.
It came as the result of his connection to someone else and it was something he had decided for himself rather than given into. In that case, that decision would not waver. However, reality continued on despite that willpower, so...
"Those flying Neighbors are heading out."
Light filled the area a bit away from the group and near the rear. Those Neighbors had once again ignored them in favor of attacking the base.
"—"
And they left.
.
The first flying Neighbor was a Bado. It started up before the rest and was quickly destroyed by the fast moving Rise behind it.
That one sounded like it had a whistle, thought Chisato.
As the whistle's tone filled the air, two wings spread out to catch the air and they flapped for a quick ascent. The Rise seemed as if it was letting the other side know it was heading out.
Chisato spotted almost excessive armor on the front of the ascending Rise.
...I guess whoever this is isn't being reckless.
She then looked to the Attacker who was staring up into the sky with a thoughtful hand on his chin.
"I see you aren't trying to stop them. That's a total of twelve Neighbors on their way to the Border base, you know?"
"It's not our job to stop an attack in the base. The twelve Neighbors here are their problem. We're here for a reason. Send out your cute girls; nothin' else really matter right now."
"Did you...just let something slip there?"
"You must be hearin' things. Cu. One of those subliminal messages. Te. Over at the base there're some weirdos who – Gir – usually end up hearin' some strange things too. Ls."
"I think you are going to drive me insane, so I should probably go ahead and ask. ...How can a supposed great member of Border continue to speak down to us when you are getting attacked left, right, and above?"
"Do you have a problem with the way I look at things?"
"Yes," replied Chisato. "Because I feel no freedom in reality."
"If your dreams're the only thing you view as freedom, then you can only ever get it while asleep."
"I see your type enjoy your wordplay."
"I learned it from Kiyoshi." The Attacker sighed. "He thought it'd be cool if we started messin' 'round with words since there're times when you need to use words instead of a sword. ...You should count yourself lucky all I have're words. That goes for Shobu too. If we took action, it'd end up ugly. In other words, we're bein' nice by stoppin' ourselves from doin' anything' since we would be showin' off more than we need too. Plus, it isn't cool to just go off like that whenever. You need to understand these things, woman. Now, will you be sendin' out those cute girls? Hm?"
"W-wait! Enough nonsense!"
Chisato watched the third Neighbors fly overhead and pointed to it.
"Quit changing the subject and answer me! The Border base truly is being fired on as well as attacked by a lot of Neighbors. Some Gates even started opening. And we truly not longer wish for Border's future and are looking to ourselves for guidance instead! What do you have to say about that reality!?"
"Nothin' at all. We're not the type of people to be critics on reality. Listen. We don't have time to be critics. ...And we don't wanna take over anythin' or change yer reality. Those kinds of things just aren't how we do things, got it?" The Attacker remained entirely composed the whole time. "We're sent here with a certain duty and others'll handle what that duty doesn't cover. That's our 'weapon' against anyone who wants to escape reality."
"Then..."
Not even Chisato knew what irritated her so much about this, but she swung her hand down and shouted at him.
"Then what do you think you can change about this reality...about this situation!?"
As soon as her words reverberated through the sky, something happened.
The Neighbors flying in the sky tilted forward, began to spin and was pierced through.
.
Chisato saw one of the flying Neighbors flip in the sky overhead.
It was hit, she thought. By an attack from a strange angle. It must have been initially hit by a normal hit, so we overlooked it among all the trion attacks going around.
But it had been too sudden to immediately determine where it had come from.
...Border!?
No, that was too far away for this kind of attack. And the flying Neighbors had began to spin to the side, so it had come from the side. Someone was making a gentle approach from there.
"Kobayashi! ...No, you are just one of their workers! I'll say this properly!"
Chisato glared at the woman.
"Mogami!"
What is going on? wondered Kimura with widened eyes.
She had honestly been planning to request that Mogami obeyed correct procedure as a representative for Kobayashi.
...I was going to ask that they follow a procedure by moving back and away from the fighting so we do not have to worry.
Kobayashi was currently not too aggressive, but that did not mesh with everyone else. She had meant to make waves here by pointing that out, but...
"Why?"
"Heh heh. Kimura-chan, asking 'why' of reality is like admitting you live in your own dreams. Reality is about the 'what'. The parts beyond yourself matter more."
Kimura could not help but agree, so she immediately erased the disbelief in her heart. This was actually happening. It was reality.
Under the watchful eye of whoever was attacking, the three businesses should have been only watching the firing on Border, but Kobayashi had strayed from that. Kobayashi's current representative and high ranked members had to have commanded that."
"Mogami Yoshiko!"
A transmission from Ōji arrived with a hand-drawn map.
Ōji: "Kobayashi via Mogami has begun attacking the Neighbors too! ...And they're returning fire!"
The platform that had a tent nearby with an A-Rank agent inside was the area for the Kobayashi family and their workers and flats opens out from two sides of the platform.
The opening structure produced a metallic noise at regular intervals as it pushed out devices that activated what could only be seen as Escudo. Each one was a few meter barricade-style Trigger used by Border. Multiple of them covered the edges of the area from front to back and they were lacking any emblems belonging to Border.
People in yellow-dyed uniforms ran across the area. They were attaching steel cables to various places and then praising their hand.
"Connected!"
With that word, Trion barriers shaped like upside-down torii surrounded the Kobayashi area.
A moment later, an explosion of light collided with those barriers.
The barriers appeared in triple layers and shook as they endured the impact. Fragments of light scattered through the air.
That single trion-based attack had not come from the side of where Shiraishi were placed. It had come from the other side. Specifically from where the Neighbors had been located near Kurosaki.
A second and third shot arrived and hit. Noise filled the sky, dust scattered, and explosive fragments of light burst across the sky both horizontally and vertically. But by then, most of the other Kobayashi cars had moved under the barrier, they had switched all their defenses to the side facing the enemy, and they produced their barriers.
Then return fire came from the Neighbors near Shiraishi as well.
The first shot hit while the second and third missed. They must have used that first shot to calibrate their aim because a rapid series of shots came along almost that same trajectory.
The Kobayashi area bathed in glowing spray from the trion-based attacks arriving from the left and right.
Countless flowers of light danced through the windy sky like cherry blossoms. The sounds of impact sounded like the beating of a drum and the ground shook violently despite it not taking direct hits. Several of the defense barriers shattered and were remade, but...
"Ka ha ha!"
A color danced atop the Kobayashi area's platform as the light washed over it.
It was a woman.
She wore a white shirt with no shoulders to the sleeves and fox-brown side skirts. She and her colors spun in time to the platform's vibration.
She used her toes and heels to turn her body and twist her waist while her light brown hair and her ears covered in white fur fluttered in the wind. The pressure of the blowing wind rang the bells attached to her ears.
"Keh."
With that single loud syllable, she reached into her sleeves and pulled out folding fans. When she spread the fans out, there was no paper between the slats. They were actually fan-shaped controllers and they were linked to cubes of trion now visible on the sides.
"Connection: confirmed"
As she danced and waved the two fans, the Kobayashi platform produced noise and fire.
She was returning fire against the Neighbors near Kurosaki and Shirashi to the left and right. The trion attacks matched her dance.
"Ka ha!"
The sounds overlapped.
"Ha ha ha! Do not think I do not have the money for hiring someone myself! You may have that sighing boy and the stiff daughter over there, but remember that I also someone of importance to the company of my bosses!"
The woman waved her arms, instructing the cubes along either side to fire from front to back.
"It is laughable to think that a single man was able to show me so much in such a little amount of time! I am a representative here and so I will be taking responsibility for using something Border has made by hiring Bakuto Denji and having him let me fire!"
The trion-based attacks raced across the sky like a wave and then picked up speed.