The hours until the morning began passed while the citizens of Mikado City prepared for the day.
Border was quickly going over the information they had gotten, informing the people who needed to know, and working with Sawamura to take a second look at the data.
Sawamura suddenly stated one piece of good news to Shinoda.
"I have completed the analysis of the power produced by Taiyōko Kushikage's unregistered Trigger that had damaged a part of the city."
"Oh, that's good, Sawamura-kun. Are you in a good mood this morning?"
The power scaling that had been extracted via process of elimination from Sawamura and the others at Border was highly accurate, but they did not know what any alterations or the initial power of a different Trigger looked like.
As such, they could not detect anything until the destructive power had already been used, but any defense could be instantly deployed if it was detected at close range. Overall, it was being viewed positively.
Sawamura's analysis had revealed two things.
First, Kushikage's attack on the city had indeed been in self-defense and was confirmed by Jin afterwards. She had been in the wrong with how she had handled the situation, but she had made no move to attack before Kanzaki had appeared and attacked. This meant not all of the blame could be placed on her since the circumstances called for her action.
Also, there had been a confirmation that the path she had taken to reach that spot had not gone near Kurosaki, Shiraishi, or Kobayashi. While it meant little for the events during the day, it was a note that they could not overlook. It provided proof that she had no contact with Seikai Kiyoshi before his capture at the hands of Toby earlier in the night. The details on her actions earlier than that were not yet known, so they predicted there was a slight chance she was involved with the sponsors.
After gathering all that information, Akasora and Rindō worked to put together a strategy.
"For some reason, I feel like I'm only coming up with defensive ideas and you're only coming up with offensive ones, Chi-chan."
"Do we subconsciously know what it is we lack?"
For that reason, the planning group became unofficially known as the "Lacking Branch". They simplified and standardized the information network and form of instructions in the early stages to have a groundwork to handle the increased numbers of instructions that were sure to come later.
At the same time, the other directors continued their work on the events that were likely to happen later in the night. There were still battles during the day to be had with the B-Rank Wars, but some of those people would also be participating in the possible night battle.
However, it became more difficult to place people around given what had happened.
"With the confrontation earlier, Motoharu Squad has said they will not participate and Hikigane Squad is on the fence about it," explained Rindō. "We also can't use Takato now. Jin says he's fine to go along and we confirmed it ourselves, but the same can't be said for that girl. From what I heard after we told Yuki and Kimura, he's asking Yagura's Operator to fill in for her during their match today."
Throughout the extra time, they had told Yuki and Kimura about what had happened between Kushikage and Mei. For some reason he had been silent at first before transforming into an uncharacteristically serious person that ended with him going over to see her. There had been no chance to stop him before he had returned stating that he would message one of the Kotowari Squad members to inform them of the situation. The two adults wanted to lecture him, but found that it was hard to do that when Mei had been involved.
Time passed as many others took a variety of actions, prepared, and trained.
While a large crowd was gathered for the closing ceremony held at the end of the morning on the last stretch of the Kobayashi/Mogami festival, word arrived that the issues with the sponsors had finished and Border would be getting its money back into circulation.
Any remaining destruction or festival locations were hurriedly cleaned up and most of Mikado City was back to the normalcy they had built up to this point. To avoid giving away too much information, the sponsors as well as Border had come to an agreement. Even so, there was a location where noises could be heard early in the morning.
.
A strong wind blew.
Within the city, the Yagura Branch prioritized itself while the members filtered around the city within the morning time.
The area around its building was cleared away by the beginning of business and others starting their day.
GM Aide: "All branches: remain alert, shift to standby until tonight, and continue supporting Mikado City. Due to the activities of a certain individual, we will be remaining as we are for the current moment. Anyone who had taken part in the meetings yesterday, we will be relying on you to inform any sponsors about what is happening."
On Sawamura's instructions the Yagura Branch members began to settle themselves in. In front of that building's door, Akashi gave a rapid series of instructions regarding the changing situation.
He was primarily instructing others on the possibilities that could be coming now.
"Hogo Manager-kun, fifteen minutes have passed. Have the directors contacted anyone?"
"No."
Kimura's eyebrows rose but she nodded.
"Do what you have to do without worrying about that. And sorry."
After apologizing, Kimura sighed.
...It's time, but nothing has happened. This is going to be a lot of trouble.
She did wonder if this was just a set up, but Akashi waved a hand her way while still giving instructions.
"Right. Don't worry about it. If we play up the fact that Tsukiko-kun's sister was working alone, we can probably get some sympathy as well as the usual hostility. Also, some of the more important civilians have given their interpretation of the lack of response."
"My father and the others have? What was it?"
"Right." Akashi nodded and opened something up on his phone for her and the others in the area to see. "Look at this: Akasora-kun is an honest and hardworking man who is also trustworthy; so now that a member of his branch has caused some damage to the city and another one had been helping the city all through the night, we are sure this was simply a test and the damage will be covered for. That's what their interpretation is, but someone might deny that if it is brought up."
"Sorry," apologized Kimura again. "Wait. My father and the others should be in a meeting at my place, but it looks like they attached a request for medicine. They must have sent it to the wrong people. ...And for blunt trauma and broken bones?"
"Those sound like injuries from a fistfight, but your father and the others wouldn't do that," commented Suzaku. "My guess is someone tripped during all the shaking. I'll send out someone who can properly handle this."
"Right," agreed Kimura while looking outside. "And of course this has to happen right after our meetings, before the next round of the B-Rank Wars start, and in the morning of an important night."
The morning mist trailed behind the wind and the city continued to wake itself up for another day.
Suddenly, someone appeared in front of her.
It was Yuki.
He looked over to the Border base and spoke.
"This means I also need to consider some things. Putting the issue of my sister aside for the moment, I was put in charge of an area for tonight. That means I need to set things up there. Kimura, Akashi, please continue to monitor anything concerning this issue."
.
Yuki looked over to the Border base which was a few kilometers away. A few complaints had already been sent to it.
...But these meetings did help. Kobayashi and Shiraishi are trying to calm down the public.
But about Kushi...
She had already left and was apparently traveling south. Things had been moved away and people were spooked, but...
"At times it's best to give up on running. Some people are just attempting to hide because of the uncertainty. ...She is moving pretty fast too, so it's a bit frightening. Perhaps that is a leisurely walking pace for her though."
Akashi stepped up next to him and also measured Kushikage's movements.
"Can you catch up to her? Once she gets too far away, keeping up with her might just become too much to handle."
"I doubt she would bother hiding her tracks on the way out of the city."
That was why he would not go after her anymore.
She was capricious, so he could not predict what she would do next; but...
"Our issues aren't with her for the time being. She won't attack us as it is as long as we don't provoke her."
"Wait," said Kimura while raising a hand toward him. "I would prefer to deal with her using a political resolution. ...But would that be safe? What if someone gets to Taiyōko-san first?"
"Currently she is acting alone. We have Seikai Kiyoshi in custody, so it should be fine at the moment to leave her alone. She doesn't like relying on others for fun stuff."
The atmosphere stiffened at the phrase "fun stuff", but there was no point in hiding it.
Yuki used everyone's silence to continue.
"As I was saying, that is not our priority at the moment. The possibilities for tonight are what we need to focus on. You all got a summary of what might happen."
"I see," said Akashi as he opened an application and began recording. "That's. Tsukiko-kun, you can choose your squad now."
"In that case, I choose...Sthénos and...Mei."
Hearing that, everyone turned to Senshi; but he only shrugged.
"I'd like to tell him to take Ikoma or Kanzaki instead; but the former is busy because of the meetings and Kanzaki just had an encounter with his sister. Also, Sthénos and Mei have the best odds if we are going to do something important, right?"
"That's right. They would more or less know what kind of instructions I would give. At the very least, I would not need to hold back when it comes to offense."
"But," said Suzaku with a tilt of his head. He tilted it even further before continuing. "Why Takato-san?"
"Well," he began.
Mei lay unconscious in the building they stood in front of.
She was terribly exhausted, but he was planning to take her with him instead of returning her to Border.
"For a variety of reasons, she is the one most likely to draw any special attention given everything we know. Both in conversation and combat, there will be people concerned about her. And to be honest, facing anything annoying would be much better with her around."
"You mean..."
"That's right," replied Yuki as he resolved himself. "The possibility of having her act as a 'shield' if Kushikage comes back was a part of my reasoning."
.
Relieved by everyone's silence, Yuki continued speaking.
"In other words, if Mei wakes up by the time it has all started I intend to fight against the annoyances and use her as a shield if Kushikage appears."
He sighed.
...Could you call this being short handed?
He also thought they were short on strength and short on firepower. They had earned some decent results during the Aftokrator Invasion and the sponsor meetings; but the invasion had been a home field advantage for them and the sponsors battle had used emotions as a base for them.
When they were up against someone who could be called a normal force...
...My side has an unlikely possibility to be attacked, is that why they are limiting me here?
If he was given small options, this enemy could reach the Border base or the city.
Some battles could prove that.
It had taken his entire squad and a specially made Trigger for him to fight during the invasion. No, that may have been all that was needed to win in the first place; but it made him shudder when he thought about any more attempts to destroy Border or the city.
...No.
Yuki realized other unknowns like that might still exist on the other side of the Gate, so...
"Hesitating here will get us nowhere."
"That's right."
He heard small footsteps to the side and saw Sthénos attaching her Trigger to a waist hard point.
"You wanted me to join you because of my abilities against Trion Soldiers! I can't do much with our Border's actual Triggers, but I can put together a means of dealing with Trion Soldiers and all that other stuff! In a short-term battle, it can be better to just deal with fodder! Let's see... Nothing to give us away, right!"
"Correct. It would be a night battle so we don't want to give ourselves away and use what we can to our advantage and their disadvantage is what I usually aim for at times like these. But in the worst case, you can escape easily and you have an extra boost for offensive capabilities; so your odds of survival should be quite high."
"Because I'm great," nodded Sthénos.
Suddenly, Kagami stepped up to her and pulled something wrapped from somewhere.
"Yuki-kun, this is something from us. Please make sure it gets to Mei-san when she wakes up."
"I get the feeling a lot has changed since a year ago."
Yuki took it and Senshi walked up next to Sthénos and held out a few small objects wrapped in cloth.
"Some added bonuses from your squad. We thought this might happen, so we made sure to prepare some extra clothes just in case."
"Why?" muttered everyone with a small step back, but Sthénos took the pack and realized there was more than one.
"Oh, is this one for Mei-tsan!? Not bad!"
"It might also come in handy in case Akasora-san gives you guys that Trigger to use. We had to judge her size by eye; but since we know she has no chest, we got elastic material. It isn't meant for combat, but it's better than something that's too tight."
"Got it!" nodded Sthénos before Senshi patted her head.
Sthénos then turned to Yuki with a smile.
"I'll go ahead and look around the area to make sure I know what's what! I'll remember it, Yukicchi, so have your own fun!"
She ran off to the Border base and vanished. Her steps were light, as if she did not want them to be heard.
If they were to gain attention when preparing for something important then it may end up badly.
"I should probably make some rounds over here to make sure no one notices anything."
He could make his way over by moving from building to building and he would not draw unwanted attention if he continued to act as the Yagura Branch second-in-command.
But just before he took the first step, someone grabbed his left arm.
It was Oshiro. He looked to the left and saw his eyebrows slightly raised.
"I will join you."
.
Kunichika was the first to react to Oshiro's words. She raised a hand and whispered to Kagami.
"It's time for some passionate love, Kagami. Make sure you don't get burned."
"Wh-what are you talking about, Kunichika? Hogo-kun is just so very worried about Yuki-kun that he's desperate to find some way he can- waaaaah! That is burning! Even explaining it is too much!"
"Oh, I need to tell Suzume-chan about this! With the way Hogo-kun always says, 'Onii-san! Onii-san!' This could lead to a good doujinshi! They aren't blood related, so it should be fine with her!"
"You can ignore the peanut gallery and say what you have to say, Shiro."
Oshiro gave a confused bow toward Kunichika and Kagami who had begun fanning each other. He then lightly held on to Yuki's hoodie, lowered his eyebrows, and opened his mouth to speak.
That was when Arafune raised a hand toward Hokari who stood next to Kagami.
"Statistically, this should be a moving scene; so broadcast it to the entirety of Border. And make sure Inukai gets every moment if it."
"Lovey-dovey roger."
Oblivious to what was happening behind him, Oshiro began speaking.
"Um," he began with his still awkward change to names. "Please, Yuki-san. Let me go with you."
"Um, Yuki-san, I have been thinking a lot lately and I have been holding back because I'm not sure I should do anything myself; but, uh, i-it felt like you had chosen to go and take Mei-san because I'm not skilled enough. B-but if, um, I have learned from your meetings and, uh, from seeing you and Mei-san at home, I think I can do something. So I guess what I'm saying is, I want to be of use to you."
Everyone listening to the broadcast prepared their weapons.
"I'm going to make that fake ninja regret this."
"Yeah, for some reason I was thinking the same thing."
"You're right. We should work together here!"
They heard Oshiro let out a warm sigh.
"May I go with you?"
The commander at the front of the group gestured for the others to come with him and they began moving silently yet swiftly along the wall.
They were followed by a loud shout of, "OOOOOOSSSHHHHIIIIIIIIIRRRROOOOOOO! DON'T LEAVE ME FOR THAT GUY!"
"Oh? For some reason, I hear some people with nothing better to do walking this way."
Arafune's comment brought an odd sense of unease to Yuki's chest, so he took a deep breath.
"U-um, please let go of my hoodie, Shiro."
Yuki's plan was as follows:
1: When Shiro thinks he has been rejected, start by shaking my head. I of course have no intention of rejecting him.
2: "After all, you can't exactly grab my arm while we are surrounded by these kinds of people." ← I'm so cool!
3: Shiro will be incredibly moved! (Hopefully)
With that plan in mind, he saw Oshiro let go of his hoodie in surprise.
"Eh? Oh, right. Sorry, Yuki-san."
"Nothing to worry about. After all..."
Just as he began step 2, Oshiro stepped in front of him, stood sideways, and crossed his arms.
Eh? he thought.
"Huh? Shiro? What is that pose for?"
Oshiro opened his eyes for a second and seemed to give a slight gesture.
...Is he asking I use his full name!?
His disbelief and that fact that his plans had been ruined threw him off.
"U-u-u-u-u-um, Sh-Shiro? Y-y-y-y-y-you, uh..."
He thought Oshiro was going to say something, but he only looked away.
"Nn."
And he gave him an urging look with a slight troubled movement of the eyebrows.
Currently, the monsters behind him were whispering.
"Wow, wow. He's asking to be properly called upon! This heat! The passion is like something from a Western romance!"
"Heh heh. I never thought I would get to see this in person. ...Record it, crappy secretary!"
"Oh, yeah. This would make some great material! Who would've thought we would see Mikado City's castle be this stubborn! This is a first!"
Even a small child poked out from the branch office.
"Called upon? Properly? The boy being properly used?"
"Please don't learn any more strange terms!"
"Wan."
Yuki had secretly named his horrible age group's rotation of malice "Unavoidable All-Out Dodgeball", but he soon heard the group stepping away. He considered using a smokescreen of sorts, but he was afraid of what would happen then and he would probably need the idea later.
"Oshiro."
As he nodded back, he patted his head at an angle where the recording would not reach them.
"I'd love for you to help me out. You really have grown a lot when I wasn't looking. Sorry about that. Now please prevent Inukai from coming at me or I will start strangling him with his own tie."
.
Yuki smiled as he watched the younger boy make his way over to the moving crowd led by an energetic idiot.
The smile fell once he was out of sight and replaced by a sigh.
"To fend off any anger from others, to create a squad for tonight, and end it off with strengthening his bond with Hogo... As much as he is a troublesome person he is, you have to give Yuki credit for his work."
Hearing his name be mentioned by the group a bit away, he looked over to see that it had been Senshi who had spoken up about it.
Another sigh came out, this time it was followed by his hand going into the pockets of his hoodie.
"SenSen, it really isn't anything special. I understand people's anger, which is why I'll be taking the blame for Kushi should it come to that. Creating a squad and forming a strategy...I need to do that much to even stay on Sensei's radar. And Oshiro really has grown a lot. He is reminding me of my former squad. What I'm trying to say is that there really is nothing to the stuff I do. It is nothing special and anyone else in Border can manage it far better than I even can."
Senshi seemed to question this as his head started to tilt to the side.
Arafune stepped up and placed a hand on his shoulder, seeming to understand that it was not all getting through to his friend.
"It's fine. If you could understand any of this guy's random babbling, we would have some issues. Just know that he has to keep this up for others."
"I see. But if he keeps this up, won't he start to make his condition worse?"
At the mention of his physical condition, Yuki froze for a split second. It would have been unnoticeable if not for everyone being so close together.
With Kō and Kon off with Suzunari, I really don't have any backup here. ...That should be fine. I should be the one backing up the others anyways.
As three of the other people who had gone with him to Kurosaki, Suzunari-1, after having met up with Taichi the night before, had all gone back to the Suzunari Branch and seemed to have stayed there.
Yuki had followed their lead by going back to the Yagura Branch and doing the same thing, but that had been interrupted once he got word of what had been happening. The lack of sleep would have been evident by the bags under his eyes if not for the use of his trion body.
There's no reason to worry anyone more than they already are. Compared to having Mei deal with Kushi...and what Mukuro goes through with his own insomnia...a little lack of sleep should be no problem. I can't even feel the effects of it while using this false body.
He let out a bitter laugh that caught the attention of those around him.
Having just barely escaped certain death with Oshiro, he was more cautious about the looks he was receiving from them all.
"Was there...something I could help you all with?"
They must have wanted to bring some irony into this as they all let out simultaneous sighs.
...Why are they always in sync when it comes to the worst things?
"If not for the fact we have people who hadn't known you before, we would really be tearing into you. I hope you know that."
"Why are you always like this, Pokari?"
"Maybe because we've been classmates for too long?"
"Kō and Kage have also been our classmates, you know!"
"But they are manageable. Even Kimura can't deal with you, and all she does is pick fights."
The mentioned girl was quick with her response.
"Don't drag me into this! Most of your class scares me, so I try not to be brought up in the same conversation as you guys!"
Oh, that is actually a good idea. But...
"Kimura...you're in the same class as Jinsei," they all said at once.
"Dammit!"
Taking pity on the girl and former teammate, Yuki turned back to Senshi. He made sure to make a mental note of how Kurauchi had taken a step closer to the boy.
It was true that there were still some people in their age group who did not know about his former lifestyle, something he makes sure to keep as is. The others also keep their mouths shut knowing full well what the consequences would be for bringing up too much about his past.
That was why he made sure to think about his next words.
"SenSen, thinking about my simple actions is not something you should really be focusing on, is it?"
"I guess you're right. Although I feel like saying that will bring me more bad luck than my own Side Effect."
"I'll overlook that comment for now... Yeah, after all, you guys made it to the top tier. It may just be barely, but you managed it."
"You sound like you were planning something with that..."
"Not really. I just wanted to see something be tested out."
More murmuring came from the others.
The noise from the crowd coming after Yuki seemed to have picked up their pace.
"Your next match...is against Ōji Squad, Yuba Squad, and...Kotowari Squad. Your Side Effect, along with Shingai's, will be playing a major part in that."
.
Sensei's confusion with that statement was not answered by Yuki, instead it had been by his schoolmate.
Arafune hummed with his chin placed between his thumb and index finger.
"That's true..."
This seemed to only confuse him even more.
"Ah. With the prez here, I really shouldn't say anything more than that. Besides...he isn't the only one who is hearing...or in this case seeing this conversation. Isn't that right, Yuki?"
"Guess I was caught."
"If you really wanted to hide it, I never would have noticed. Stop being dumb."
"I hear that is an impossibility. Isn't that right...Take?"