Takeshi stared blankly at the screen in front of him.
A single line of text was typed out for him to answer to, yet he found that there were no words for him to use.
Manager: "Hey Kotowari, can you tell us about your oldest brother?"
The day had gone well enough with him managing to figure out how they would fight during the next B-Rank War match. That had been followed up by some solo training where he had managed to not destroy everything and instead hit his targets.
He was aware of the meetings that would be taking place later on today n the day and into the night, but nothing more than that.
For Kimura to bring this up meant that his oldest brother had something to do with everything that was happening.
Even so, he was unsure as to what to say, so he wanted to confirm something first.
Colors: "Why would you need to know about him, Kimura-san?"
Manager: "Uh, well..."
Life: "Go on, Kawa! Tell Take-chan eeeeeeeverything! Tell him everything from the weirdo who spoke with Yagura to the way you went bungee jumping without a bungee!"
...Should I be worried about that last part?
Kimura seemed safe enough if she was talking to him, so he found no reason to worry right now.
Manager: "'Yuki'! You tell him! You know him better than the rest of us!"
Umi: "Um, Kimura, Yucchi left before you even contacted Kotowari. I don't think he's coming back for awhile either."
Manager: "Damn him!"
Colors: "Can someone tell me what's going on?"
There was an uncomfortable pause as he watched the screen saw that multiple people were typing at the same time.
The numbers began to dwindle under a single name appeared.
Manager: "Kotowari... Uh..."
White Fox has joined the chat
Manager: "Oh thank goodness..."
White Fox: "Blame Jinsei for that. He was being an idiot again and I needed to make sure he didn't... Well, that's not important right now."
Almost Everyone: "It is! It really is right now!"
Was this what was considered important to those people?
Takeshi never understood how the eighteen year old group had not managed to destroy each other by this point with the way they were.
White Fox: "Hey Take, remember that you've changed from before. You can handle this, so I'm relying on you to take this information and at least not start firing."
Colors: "...Okay."
White Fox: "Right then. You had told me that your oldest brother's name was Musashi, right?"
Colors: "Yes..."
Where was this going?
Yuki was clearly being careful, but this seemed as if a new revelation concerning his brother came to light.
White Fox: "He is alive and working for Shiraishi. We need information on him."
"Hey, can I ask something?"
A crossdresser spoke up in the Suzunari room.
This was the Kurosaki waiting room for the Suzunari members. Light reflected off the windows, so the room was bright white. Inside, Kon, Murakami, Kuruma, and the crossdresser sat around the tea table. Yuki stuck his head inside from the half-opened sliding door.
"Um, Jinsei, this is the Suzunari room..."
"What? But I'm a girl right now! And since I'm a representative, you've gotta call me Repko! Don't forget it! I'm here for some girl talk! If you want to join us in here, you've gotta become a girl too. Since your name's Yuki, we'll call you Kiko!"
"Wh-why go for a name that works regardless!? That's not an uncommon name!"
"Heh heh. If you go with Yuko then you would be similar to Kumagai," said Kuruma with a kind smile.
Next to Kuruma, Kon drank all her tea at once and held her cup out toward Kuruma to ask for more. Then she glanced over at the idiot.
"Kō-kun, prepare those golden chains. ...Now, ask your question."
"Y-you just had to set up your defenses like crazy before asking, didn't you?"
But the crossdresser scratched his head in thought and asked his question.
"What did Yuki mean when he wa mumbling something like, 'I'd hope wittle Taki-chan's okay if we tell him about his big bwother'?"
"I didn't say that! I didn't!"
"Heh heh. It's nice how you sometimes misspeak like that, Yuki."
"I did say that! I did!"
Murakami was a little concerned by how things were going, but then the crossdresser asked another question.
"Did Kawa mess up?"
"What makes you think that?"
"Well." He nodded and tilted his head. "No one really seems very excited. And while I'm the representative, I don't really get a lot of this."
Yeah.
"If I understood more of it, I'd be able to say something or tease her."
.
Well then, thought Murakami.
...Jinsei is doing this in his own way...
He was still relying on Kimura, but he was wondering what he could do as someone who hates losing things. Of course, the greatest help someone like that could provide was his support, but...
"You're worried as an individual who holds the position of knowing things, aren't you?"
"Hmm, maybe that's it," said the crossdresser. "I'm worried about all of you: Kō, Yuka, Kuni, Umi, and everyone else. ...Oh, and Yuki, you're here too, aren't you?"
"Wh-why was I just tacked onto the end there!?"
Murakami thought to himself as he helped Kuruma calm down the fox.
...What brought on this change?
No, he knew the answer: losing that battle. Before that, he must have spoken with her mother about what it meant to knowing other things. And during some off time, he had spoken with Kon about future plans.
"Jinsei."
He had a lot on his mind, but he had a feeling that everything was fine for the time being. So he spoke to help his friend relax.
"Kimura has not messed up. This is just a touchy subject to bring up lightly."
"What do you mean? I mean, from a backside view, a tucked in turtle boy does sound pretty easy to get to."
Kon snapped her fingers, so Murakami pulled him over with the golden chains, smiled, and spoke.
"Listen."
"Oh!? Oh!? You wanna try this!? Just so you know, I'm not wearing a supporter or any underwear below this! Listen up, golden chain! Get close and you'll be wrapping around my lack of a supporter! Are you sure you want that!?"
"Y-you are the worst!"
The golden chain rose up in disgust and turned the tight arm toward Murakami. He stroked it to calm it while Kon glared at the crossdresser to quiet him down.
"Now, Kō-kun, go ahead. If need be, you can only coil it around his neck."
"Right. ...Listen. Things here can be out in a negative light since it was thought that Takeshi no longer had any blood relatives. This makes things difficult because it can mean Takeshi is in a similar situation to Yuki since he is with Border but Kotowari Musashi is on Shiraishi's side."
"But if you don't know if it'll work out like that, wouldn't it be better not to mention it?"
The Yagura Branch Representative raised his hand from over by the door and answered the crossdresser's question.
"Listen, Jinsei. Think of it like this: Can a bakery that never introduces any new products ever expand?"
"So it's like a porn game maker that only produces remakes?"
The Yagura Branch Representative nearly answered but then decided against it. He slowly looked over at Kuruma and confirmed that he had not understood the idiot's question and was tilting his head.
"Hm... I have no idea what you mean, Jinsei."
"There's a lot I want to say about that, but setting aside remakes, it's true you got yourself a girlfriend without broadening your horizons beyond the one genre... Aren't you going to be in trouble without some more variations in genre, like neglect, honey, in the bath, or two sisters at the same time?"
"Hm? Are you two talking about a kind of game, Yuki?"
"Eh!? ...Y-yes, a game! It's a kind of game! A fun kind of game!"
"Oh, my. Even if I don't understand, I'll do what I can to help when you're researching the topic. It is the least I can do for someone who helps out so much."
The Yagura Branch Representative said nothing and simply gave the idiot a trembling thumbs up.
"Yes, yes." Kon nodded twice and turned toward Murakami. "As people, it is true you will not develop if you keep everything the same."
"Really?" asked the crossdresser. "Just so you know, there are standard things that every bakery needs to have."
"Yes, but the Red Lightning serves light meals, pickled vegetables, and snacks as well."
Even Kon likely had a vague understanding that the Red Lightning's position as a bakery/café was somewhat iffy.
"Listen, Jinsei. ...Things might seem stable while you always make the same bread and it's true that will provide a steady income."
It would have been easier to have a treasurer explain this, but Murakami was working to expand his general knowledge as a third year, so he used his knowledge from that.
"But, Jinsei? ...Even if you don't change, everyone else will. If you don't follow those changes, you won't fit in with them and you will become outdated."
"What's wrong with that?"
"If other places are making bread according to the current trends, do you really think an outdated bakery will sell any bread? ...Even if you lower your prices to draw in some customers, your income will shrink and even that might not be enough to keep people from leaving for the other bakeries."
"Oh, I get it," said the crossdresser.
"Neither Red Lightning has been making things exactly the same forever," added Kon. "After all, you search out the cheapest and best tasting flour and other ingredients from the distributor, you buy a new oven when need be, update the one you have, or even change manufacturer. The final product looks the same, but it is constantly changing."
"Then...this is because Takeshi has changed from before, but he can still go back? His development can either move back or never change, right? So why would you consider telling him?"
"Jinsei."
Kon brought the teacup to her mouth, took a sip of tea, and set it down.
"Sorry. That is a little too hot. Heh. It's about the temperature of Yuki-kun and Kuruma-san."
"D-dammit! You got me!" shouted the crossdresser. "I don't know how, but that had to be at my expense!"
Kon gave a triumphant thumbs up, but Murakami steered them back on topic.
"It is true that others would want to see Takeshi stay the same or go back to how he was before any development. Isn't that right, Kon?"
"Right. It is a simple matter. Before, Jinsei asked why old things are bad, didn't he? This is the same. ...Most people prefer what is old and stable. Although in this case, that old Kotowari had been unstable. Even if the new things are better, they wonder why we have to change because they will miss the old way of doing things."
"Of course," added Murakami. "That isn't all there is to it. The people who would want Takeshi like he was could also just want that so that they can not be proven wrong about how they felt towards him. They would feel like they would have been wrong if they saw that he no longer goes on rampages."
What is there to say...?
Takeshi let out a sigh as he began walking again.
Colors: "Is it okay if I get back to you on this? ...So I can remember everything you would need to know."
Manager: "That's fine. Whatever you can give us by the end of the day is fine enough."
It was fine enough to hold off saying anything.
He had not thought about his family in such a long time that it was rather hard to remember anything specific about them. They had done nothing special for him and he had done nothing special for them.
Musashi had been the most active one, but even he had not been around enough for Takeshi to remember much about him.
His whole family had been presumed dead on the account of finding most of the bodies after the first invasion on Mikado City. The fact that someone other than Takeshi was alive had brought up some questions.
Why had Musashi joined Shiraishi? And when had that been considering the company arrived at Mikado City after the invasion?
How much was he against Border right now?
Would he used Takeshi as a bargaining chip against Border?
Why has he not done anything...?
Takeshi lifted his scarf as his eyelids began to close before stopping half way. His gaze was toward the floor, his mouth was covered up, and a single orb of trion came into existence next to him.
The orb of trion began floating lazily around him, not gaining any attention from Takeshi.
"I know why already..."
There was a simple reason that had always hing over Takeshi. It was the reason why Musashi had likely not gone to him and the reason why, even now, most people chose to stay away from him.
"I really am just-..."
"I'm really wondering if you do this subconsciously at this point."
The orb of trion vanished by fizzling out.
Takeshi looked up before he could notice the orb and saw Kakizaki looking down at him with a surprised look.
.
Kakizaki had not expected to see Takeshi walking towards them, eyes down and scarf above his mouth. The orb of trion that was lazily floating around him and the way he was not paying attention to it made him a bit curious.
He had began to walk toward the boy, but stopped for a moment when remembering the last time a situation like this had come up.
It had been when Takeshi was ready to fire.
This time was different with multiple people around them. Kako and Kageura stood out as great fight, but a small crowd had gathered due to the two having just finished a game of tug-of-war with one of Tamakoma's members.
Said member was still here even after stating that he was getting called up by his captain.
It seems that he had been a bit curious since he had not left yet.
"And yet a new 'K' joins... Hm. An interesting turn of events."
A certain phrase came to Kakizaki's mind as everyone turned to look their way.
...I've got my back to the wall now!
Calm down, Kakizaki Kuniharu. Panic now and you will be devoured. With both Kage and Kako-san here, this is undeniably a colosseum of cannibalism and the enemy might as well be wild animals starved for over a month.
He started by taking a deep breath. Then he looked down and to the side without using any more strength than was necessary to maintain a natural stance.
Takeshi was standing there with small orbs of trion appearing and disappearing from around him.
He looked like a cute child with the flashing orbs decorating him and with his fingers shifting the scarf around his neck. And the way his feet keep shifting from side to side really does make him look innocent.
...Kotowari is gradually gaining more variety in his reactions.
When compared to before, he was losing that odd tension that seemed cautious about something. The bursts of embarrassment were intense, but the main issue there was the difference that had developed between who he had been and who he was now.
At any rate, he kept an eye on his surroundings while slowly relaxing next to him.
He spoke to him with him hands on his scarf.
"S-sorry, Kakizaki-san. But I'm really not trying to make them..."
"No, don't apologize. ...If I could make flashes like this, they would have been everywhere by now."
"...Eh?"
"You said you wanted to change and you accepted my help, so this is a good thing."
He poked one of the trion orbs and watched it pop like a balloon.
"So it's like returning the favor for still letting me help you out whenever, Kotowari."
"R-returning the favor, Kakizaki...-san?"
Kako covered her mouth as small giggles came out.
She finally exhaled a large breath from her nose and a giant message sent directly to him opened up in front of his eyes with "keep going" being written.
...Curse this surveillance society!
Still, there was something he had to say to Takeshi.
"Yes, returning the favor."
"Then...I'll do the same."
He removed his hand from his scarf and moved closer. Like a bird resting its wings, he did not quite look straight at him, but...
...Now is the time to pat him on the head!
This was a rare thing even in the previous circumstances.
But, he thought. We might be surrounded by awful people and Kako-san is definitely preparing something on the network, but if I don't show that he's improving here, um, well, what would happen? I'm not really sure, but I'm doing it anyway.
Kage: "Hey, come on out of your own little world there."
Takeshi quickly straightened up.
This reminded him of their circumstances too, so he raised his right hand toward Kageura who was glaring his way.
Then they all heard the same question from the small boy who seemed ready to leave.
"Was Kotowari asked to join Kako Squad before?"
.
Takeshi titled his head at the question.
It was a strange one he had not expected to hear. It seemed others understood though since Kakizaki looked up as if trying to find something and Kako moved her hand to her chin with a grin.
He was aware that Kako often worked with Suzume in gather material for doujinshi, so the sharp look she was giving him made him wiggle around inside.
"I never thought of doing that. Kotowari-kun has always been...an interesting person. His Laser Shooter is something Shooters are curious about, but that is all. His personality was never one I thought could fit anywhere besides Tsukiko Squad."
The murmuring from the crowd was torture as he heard remark after remark about how he had been. Attacking his teammates, not caring what he destroyed, how he never listened to anyone but his captain, and much more.
They spoke about Tsukiko Squad and how that team had been overly reliant on the captain.
Each word hurt and made him instinctively reach for his scarf to cover his face again.
But one sentence cut through all of that.
"You really like stalling things out, Phantom Hag."
Everyone went quiet.
"Heh heh. I'm just having some fun here, Kageura-kun," Kako said. She looked from him back to Takeshi. "I still don't know about the current Kotowari-kun, but it's easy to see that he can fit in more than just with a squad that doesn't exist now."
"Kiyoshi messed up big time, but if these guys can't get over that crap by this point then I would've geared them apart by now."
"Oh, so now you can consider it?"
"It's more of a possibility. If Kotowari-kun continues to go down his current path... I would need to apologize to Mei and Suzu-chan for stealing their Shooter."
Her words were just for show. They had to be or else it would give the idea that she would continue to follow his actions to see where he ends up.
"Kakizaki-kun, make sure to keep helping him out."
"I never planned on stopping."
Takeshi realized two things once it seemed the topic of discussion had come to an end.
The murmurs coming from the small crowd had drastically changed. They no longer spoke about what he had done, instead they were comments about what could happen. His future with Kakizaki's help and what could happen if he joined Kako Squad.
It was strange to have those kinds of things being said about him.
None of it seemed to be a joke either. Both Kakizaki and Kako seemed serious about their words. Even Kageura looked like he was interested in this, although he hid it extremely well.
The second thing he noticed was a hand on his back.
"They aren't lying. You should be on guard for when Kako-san tried to steal you."
Kuga patted him on the back while giving a strange face.
"If Kako-san, Kakizaki-senpai, and Kageura-senpai are vouching for you then I'll be rooting for you too." His expression changed from the strange face to a confident grin. It was a far cry from what he had just shown. "But we won't hold back of our teams face each other in the B-Rank Wars."
He wanted to give a response. To say something to both Kuga and the others around them.
But all words died on his mouth.
He could not deny them, but agreeing with them made him feel like that was being arrogant.
All he could do now was cover his face with his scarf to hide the uncertain look he knew he was giving.
"Well I need to really he going now."
He saw Kuga give a wave to them all before taking his leave.
Following his example, the small crowd began to disperse with Kageura going to the left and Kako the the right.
There was still one person who stayed put though.
Kakizaki had not moved from his position next to Takeshi.
.
With the crowd now gone and both Kageura and Kako having left, the air around them seemed to lighten up a bit.
Kakizaki took the change to lift his hand up before lightly placing it on Takeshi's head.
The Shooter moved his eyes up to look at Kakizaki.
"Um... Kakizaki-san...?"
"Yeah, what's up?"
"Do you know about what's going on right now? With Border and the sponsors?"
"Only what everyone else does. Ikoma's involved, but those guys have been doing a good job from having him spill anything. He just keeps talking about some porn game with Jin on the network. It's actually distracting at times..."
Distracting seemed like too light of a word for what he had gone through during this whole time.
"Why do you bring it up?"
"You still can't forgive him?"
That question came from an elevated location. Light bulbs inside plastic coverings the ceiling created a light source and that the room it lit up was the Hatohara Squad operating room inside of the main Border base.
Lukas stood there with his glasses reflecting the light off of them and he was speaking into his phone in his hand, but it was only text that answered him.
While looking at her own phone in front of her, Hisoka supplemented the words from the I speaking responder.
"Lukas-kun, I have confirmed that Ninomiya Squad will be joining us for a viewing if the meetings tonight. They will be coming here since there is more room than their room, but we don't know if others are viewing this as a way to keep me from going to Yoshiko-san's side."
"It's probably being viewed in a multitude of ways right now."
"So about the first question."
Hisoka looked over and Lukas nodded back before crossing his arms.
"He messed up. I was not going to stick around to see an end result the moment he brought out his weapon."
"I see. So it was because he brought out his weapon when their was no fight to be had. That is more of a betrayal."
"That's right," agreed Lukas.
He faced forward.
From the front of the screen, he could see from some if the cameras Border was allowed to use. People and vehicles were worming all over the city and the Forbidden Zone began being filled with the agents on duty.
"For now..."
He then spoke to no one in particular.
"Hey. There has to be consequences for not thinking things through."
"You have had moment like that if you are capable of saying something like that yourself. Of course, that does not apply to those who only make a show of saying that and unquestionably believe they are right."
"True enough." Lukas smiled bitterly and shut his eyes. "Even Kakizaki hasn't forgiven him, so it's less likely that I will because of only some small changes."
.
Even in that case, thought Lukas. I wouldn't just accept any regular apology from him and he knows it. Asking someone else to do it would just make me mad too.
He would only stand a losing chance if he could not at least try to beg for forgiveness. It was difficult to earn something like that back, but...
...If he manages it, I don't think he will lose it a second time.
Lukas spoke his next thought aloud.
"I suppose the first time wasn't really anything, so a second time would be consider a friendship."
"Lukas-kun."
"Yes?"
"Right." Hisoka nodded and spoke calmly. "I define friendship as something people create and creating something like that made Shino-kun and Shiro-kun happy. Saying that friendship can be destroyed so easily and take two tries would affect my thoughts on those two."
"Hisoka."
Lukas turned toward her and swung his left hand upwards.
The ruler he had grabbed at some point whipped up the wind, flipping up Hisoka's jacket. Hisoka quickly pushed the jacket back down with her left hand, but she still slightly furrowed her brows.
"...Lukas-kun?"
Her tone was asking for the meaning of that and Lukas reacted with a gentle movement.
Lukas sighed.
"Well? You you say we aren't friends anymore?"
"No."
Hisoka was correct. She shook her head and corrected her posture.
"I would say we are still friends. Something like that is consider 'playing around'."
"I'm the same. I would be annoyed if a friend did that, but it would still mean little in the long run."
Lukas said something he had said to Hisoka many times before.
"Friends can 'play around' all they want, but they should know when they are taking things too far by both standards and they can't act without thinking a both the consequences. And what happened goes beyond 'taking things too far' and was made without thinking of any consequences."
Hey.
"Know that I won't ever stay friends with someone who is nothing but toxic."
Lukas looked over at the screen beside him. The meeting would be starting soon and Minoru would be facing off against a vixen and one of Border's worst.
He wanted to prepare for what they would be listening in on.
But suddenly...
"Is this what you did!?"
Both Lukas and Hisoka had the sides and backs of their jackets flipped up at once.
.
It had happened without warning, but...
...Eh?
There was a reason for Lukas's confusion. He and Hisoka were facing each other. To flip up both their jackets, someone would have needed to instantly circle behind both him and Hisoka. And do it fast enough that they did not notice.
One of the few people who could do that appeared.
"Sumi-senpai!?"
.
Hisoka was curious about the Gunner in casual wear.
Inukai was suppose to come by with his squad and Hogo Squad, but he seemed to be a,one right now instead of with others. It was strange given his affection to Oshiro. But...
...He is friends with a good amount of people taking part in these meetings and likely wants to be ready.
Most people used free time before meetings to gather information to use however they could for themselves or others, but Hisoka had determined that Inukai had done no such thing due o the pictures sent to her from Oshiro's phone that had been taken by Inukai himself.
...They have also refrained from asking me anything due to Yoshiko-san being in charge here instead if my parents.
In other words, the boy who had little reason to show up early stood before them.
That was why Hisoka stood next to Inukai and Lukas. Holding her hands together in front of her waist would be the standard pose, but she let them dangle at her sides this time.
She then gave a quick bow without taking her eyes off the boy and asked a question.
"Why did you come here early? Do you have some extra business with us?"
"Sort of." Inukai out a hand in his chin and faced Hisoka. "About the business meetings later on tonight. I was really hoping to cuddle with Shiro-chan during that whole time, so I wanted to find the best spot to sit. But then I came to an interesting conversation, so I wanted to say a small something."
"What is that?"
"Take-chan's older brother is apparently on Shiraishi's side. I know it doesn't mean anything personally, but it's kind of a pain."
"A pain?"
Inukai's eyes and eyebrows bent in a smile and he beckoned her over.
Hisoka looked to the side and made eye contact with Lukas before facing Inukai again.
"...Do you need something?"
Inukai moved his face in close and pointed out.
Hisoka was confused, but the boy's expression changed to a glare.
"They are having the time of their lives over at those companies, but it feels like they're having too much fun without the rest of us. What am I supposed to do about this? Could I maybe crash their party? I really want to tell them that I want to have that kind of time with Shiro-chan."
"Judging from the situation, are you furious?"
"Maybe two steps away from it. But not in a malicious way, I just haven't had too much fun with Shiro-chan recently..."
"In the interest of self-preservation, I will nod and say that is truly unfortunate, but since it is currently getting late, isn't it up to the representatives to decide what to do?,
"So I can't do it, huh?" sighed Inukai. "And I was ready to bring Prez and Arafune along for the ride. Maybe even SenSen for some extra fun."
Then someone spoke from behind Hisoka. It was Lukas.
"You seem awfully calm, Sumi-senpai. Do you trust those kind of people?"
"Eh? I really don't trust them to not take each other's bentos or attack each other randomly, but I trust them in everything that matters. A poor person is made by a poor friend. I'm their friend, so of course I trust them. What about you? I know there are some issues with some of them because if the nature."
Inukai smiled a little and Hisoka recalled something. Lukas was a boy who know what he wanted and how, but he had said something when he had had an incident with Takeshi in the hall with Kakizaki around.
..."It is beyond hope."
What had he meant? It was conceptually unclear. After all, the ability to hope was not something that just anyone could throw away.
That may have been why Hisoka asked a question without thinking.
"Inukai-senpai, do you think there is anyone in the world who is beyond hope? Or do you think there are some people who can be no more than-... That sounds a lot like something Akashi-san would say. I am very sorry. What I mean is-..."
"Hey, Hisoka? Lukas?"
Inukai straightened up again and gave them a small smile.
"I don't really know about that. Humans are so weird, after all. But there is one thing even I can tell you."
"Which is?"
"Right." Inukai nodded. "Have you ever had someone give up everything for you to set your world in motion?"
Hisoka sensed Lukas tensing up best to her.
That may have been enough for Inukai.
"Good." He put his hands on his hips. "Looks like you aren't just trying to believe in some selfish little world you created in your imagination."
He had one more thing to say.
"Then some people are really going to have to try and earn back what they have lost."