Grumpy Cat: "Hello and welcome to the fifth round of the B-rank Wars. I am Lukas Wagner - no, don't correct me on that - and I will be your commentator for this match. With me is Tamakoma's Kyōsuke and Miwa's Yōsuke. They will be providing their own commentary."

Spear Idiot: "Hey, hey, Wagner, does it bother you that you're the only non-'ōsuke' doing commentary here?"

Grumpy Cat: "Of course it doesn't bother me. Besides, I'm not even Japanese, so it would be strange for me to have a name like that."

Torimaru: "Are we sure it's fine to have Yoneya-senpai between the two of us?"

Spear idiot: "Oh? You wanna switch spots? I'm cool with that."

Grumpy Cat: "We are fine where we are. Stay put and just don't mess anything up."

Spear Idiot: "Fine, fine. I'll only fiddle around with this, this, and...this!"

Grumpy Cat: "Hey!"

The crowd in the large room turned away as the loud voice came right before a loud smacking sound.

"Will those guys be okay...?"

Kōchō took a glance above her to see Yoneya holding his hand. It clearly did not hurt, but he still put on a hurt expression while the glasses-boy next to him seemed to already be irritated by the action.

There had still been some time before the match actually began but she had already decided on where she would be sitting. The middle was the best for a closer view while also being able toes the screen properly while the far back would allow her to see more at once. She had gone with the former option so that she could better see what was happening and get a good feel for what was going on.

Maybe as a downside to this kind of spot, she was in right below the commotion caused by the commentators.

I guess I can put up with this much given the last match. At least this time around I know more people in this match too, so I can come up with more stuff myself.

The lack of Kurauchi beside her made her realize just how much she had replied to him in the last match for explanations.

This time may not be too different when it came to her understanding, but it was possible these commentators would do a good job explaining things unlike the last ones.

The fresh memory made her shiver.

Those guys can be scary when they drag unsuspecting people into their mess...

It was just the lifestyle of those who could easily claw at each other and begin a cannibalism fest with themselves.

Thankfully there was never any worry of that reaching her and her own age group. After all...

"I think we are fine without killing each other..."

As if on cue...

"I really can't decide if I want to get my revenge by throwing my phone at her or not..."

.

Wakamura heard a cough as he walked down the steps of the large room.

He had been coming in to find a seat so that he could see the current match before his squad had defense duty for the day. It would then lead into his own match, so this was what he had been planning on using his free time for.

When he turned to the cough he came face-to-face with an awkwardly waving Kōchō. The look on her face was enough for him to realize that he had spoken out loud.

With an awkward wave of his own, he pointed to the seat one seat over from her while saying, "Is that...seat taken?"

"No...?"

The fact it came out as a question put him on his toes.

He slowly moved forward, as if waiting for a response, and began to sit down.

The commotion right above them was drowned out by the awkward silence as the two waited for the match to begin.

"It was Katori again, wasn't it?"

Wakamura noticed the way Kōchō jumped at the same time and same height as he did once the voice behind them reached their ears.

Neither one had expected someone to speak up to them during their awkward silence. He did consider it a blessing though as it got them out of the silence.

The two of them immediately recovered before turning their heads to see who had spoken to them.

The calm girl had been a former opponent of Kotowari Squad but now sat behind them to watch the match.

"Asano?"

"That is I, yes."

The second female Shooter sent a polite wave to them as if she had not just scared them seconds earlier.

She pointed to the phone that was still in Wakamura's hand.

The two of them looked down to the phone until it finally clicked. Kōchō's eyes widened slightly and Wakamura nodded his head.

"Yeah. She was hounding me for wanting to see Tai-... Uh, Kotowari Squad's match."

"It's fine, Rokkun, I'm pretty sure the three of us are here for specific people. Right, Asano-san?"

"I'm just here to...watch my fellow Shooters. Kurauchi-senpai is in this match, isn't he? Yeah, that should explain it."

Her words didn't seem like a lie, but there was more under them.

"Oh, right, that does make sense. Kurauchi-san is a nice example for us to follow. Even though my style of shooting is a bit off from his own... But it does make sense. You two are pretty similar after all."

"I would say I want to learn some things from Yuba, but that would be kind of hard, all things considered. I'm really just here to see how things play out for all sides."

"Rokkun, I feel like even you don't believe that..."

"I believe it! I need to believe it or I'll be eaten alive! Yoneya's right there... Oh crap, he saw us!"

"When did we get like our upperclassman!?"

"I think that just comes with growing up. My own age group can be kind of like that at times too. It's a bit scary when they really get into it..."

A moment of silence went by before they let out a collective sigh.

With their spirits broken at this point and the commotion from the commentators settling down, they turned back to the screen.

The next match was about to begin.

"There are still some holes in this, but I think we can manage this if we play it by ear."

"Lobo-kun, you remember what to do, right? Hoshi-chan and I went over the possibilities, so feel free to try whatever you want. I'll supplement any extra data you might need."

"Thanks. Even for a really strange girl, I have to give it to you when it comes to these things. I should be fine as long as I can keep up with myself, but I'll make sure to remember that you'll be there if I need help."

"Uwaaaaaah~ Saying something so smooth like that before a match! Damn you and your charms!"

"Someone, someone, we have a lunatic with us! Call help!"

"Remember not to go off on your own, Kasio. No matter how tempted you are this time around."

"Yes! I'll keep my personal feelings out of the match and stick to our plan!"

"Good, good! Oh but, if things go well enough, you won't even get the chance to act on your personal feelings."

"Thanks for the pressure you put on me there."

"It's because I know you can handle it."

"These are our main targets. You two, make sure to remember this. We need to take them out before anything else. But if you see a chance to take someone else out, make sure you can do it and survive that."

"Right, we'll keep that in mind!"

"Good. You can leave that major one to me. I'll finish it quickly."

"Who will it be~? Who will it be~? Who will Sthé-chan go with~? Who will she take out~?"

"At least you're in a good mood."

"It's always fun when we go into matches! I never know what's going to happen, so I'm always having fun with it!"

"Sthénos, just make sure to regroup with one of us as soon as you can. I would prefer you find me first, but if not, I know you two will be able to handle yourselves just fine."

"Oh, you're also in a good mood, Ite?"

"I guess you could say that."

Grumpy Cat: "The transferring of each squad member is now starting. This match's map choice went to Senzai Squad."

Spear Idiot: "Oh~ That could be interesting. Are they going to Shingai's good luck or SenSen-san's bad luck?"

Torimaru: "Maybe a mix of both? When they were given the choice of maps in previous matches, they usually went for one or the other. But there were a few times when they tried for both good and bad luck advantage."

Grumpy Cat: "Well we can see it now. All members have been transferred in. And the map this time is-..."

So this is what they went with...

Ōji looked around for only a second and understood the location.

He had been placed in a large plaza with a fountain in the middle and stalls all along the outer edge of the plaza. A few meters away was a large pillar that overlooked the entirety of the map and stuck out no matter where you were.

From his knowledge of the map, beyond the stalls were rows of tall buildings that led into smaller ones like stairs. It came to a halt near the end where there were house-sized buildings that only had a semi-tall building scattered here and there.

It was a multi-layered cityscape that converged in the center of the plaza.

The layout seemed strange, but it was built on the premise of sections for fighting in for the matches.

The tall buildings are for Snipers, the lower buildings are for Shooters, and this plaza is for Attackers. Of course that isn't how things go most of the time, but it gives nice space when you know who you are going against. That being said...

It was not a place to make use of luck and did not fit the style of Senzai Squad at all.

Senzai Squad operates by having their Attacker and Sniper separated from each other and then having their Shooter go to one of them. If she goes to their Attacker then the two of them attack using pincer attacks or hit-and-run tactics by switching from having their Shooter or Attacker moving in before switching places with the other.

If she goes to the Sniper then their Shooter becomes the main attacker with support from their Sniper. At times they chance that up by having their Sniper be their main attacker and have their Shooter cover for her so she can move.

But since that's how they do things...

Why did they pick this battlefield that was meant for separate battles?

Even if they were to meet up like they usually did, it would be obvious what was happening if one just followed the Shooter. If she moved to the plaza then she would be with their Attacker. If she moved to the tall building then she would be with their Sniper. There was always the chance of her going to the lower buildings to fight by herself, but...

She does not fight alone.

Ōji moved forward cautiously.

Being placed in the middle of the plaza meant he was open for attacks from Snipers or Shooters. Moving to the tall buildings would make him susceptible to sniper fire while moving beyond that to the lower buildings would mean he would be fighting a shootout with the Shooters or Gunner.

Either way, to get out of the plaza he would need to go into the Sniper field. If he wanted to get to the Shooter field he would need to pass by the Sniper field.

Was that their plan? Were they hoping to get someone with sniper fire since we would have to move through that area?

If that was the case, what won?

Did Shingai's good luck win and place her in the right spot to snipe him?

Or did Senzai's bad luck win and place her in a bad spot?

When looking at the map and the location where others had been placed, it became difficult to tell. The moment everyone had made it in, some of the dots of the map disappeared. In total there were six missing people with his own teammates being the ones he was guaranteed to notice.

The Snipers are a given, but if I had to guess, I would bet that Take* and SenSen are the other ones to put on their Bagworm. And I don't think anyone has ever seen Tobe* use Bagworm before. Oh, but I guess he is a dog and not a bird. It wouldn't make sense for him to use something that looked more fit for the sky than the ground.

With this amount of unknown now becoming apparent in the match, it was best to become one as well. Ōji activated his own Bagworm.

"So I just need to-"

Seeing the flash from a distance, he moved to the side.

Throughout the plaza were trees that were placed far enough from the stands that it did not seem odd from a normal perspective. The trees were what usually kept the sniper fire from the taller buildings away, but...

"Looks like someone got too greedy."

Shingai's luck would not have allowed her to miss like that.

Tonooka would be sure that his shot hit, regardless of if the tree was there.

That left only one other option.

"So Bell-san wanted to try and take a hit on me, huh? She must have teleported to reach that spot so quickly."

There was no need to go after her at this point.

The distance he would need to cover was too great and her use of Teleport would have made it impossible to catch her at this point.

Even so, he made a command to his squad.

"Kurauchi, can you throw some shots this way. My spot should be enough to tell you where to fire."

It was likely that Misaki would have left by now, but it would leave the Snipers with one less place to hide.

Firing even just a simple shot towards the area where the shot had been taken could do some damage for later on in the match.

It was a simple tactic that could be used because he had someone like Kurauchi on his squad.

But...

"-"

Ōji: "Hello? Am I getting through?"

Kura-uchi: "Sorry, Ōji. Looks like I won't be able to get past my spot at the moment."

Ōji: "Did you run into someone already!?"

But that made no sense.

Checking back to his map, there was indeed someone else where Kurauchi had been placed on the map.

The Shooter had not been standing still the whole time. He would have started moving the moment he made it into the battlefield, there was no doubt about that.

So then how had someone already caught up with him?

Was it another Kotowari Squad member? But even Teleport couldn't have gotten there that quickly. He was moving away from whoever that was the entire time, so Teleport would not be able to keep up due to having to wait before repeating it.

Grasshopper was also an option, but none of the Kotowari Squad members had it. That went for Yuba Squad as well.

Senzai Squad also had it, but the two who used it were likely the ones he could not see due to Bagworm.

So who caught up to him!?

Ōji: "Hey, who are you looking at?"

"..."

There was no answer.

If Kurauchi did not have the time to answer then it meant the battle had already begun. And he was fighting hard.

Yuba furrowed his brows.

"Someone is already fighting...?"

It was not uncommon for battles to begin soon after being teleported onto the battlefield, but this was too fast.

No matter what Trigger they had, to find someone and engage them in combat so early on was very unlikely. That meant they were fighting one-on-one and had decided to forego any sort of regrouping.

That means it's Kotowari Squad. But which one is it?

Misaki could handle herself when it came to defense, so it was likely she was holding someone back. But that did not make sense given the information they had on how she would be fighting for this match.

Kotowari, while being able to handle himself fine enough in a solo match, was not the type to go into a fight against opponents like these without some sort of backup. His main backup would likely be Taiyōko again, but that would mean there were two people fighting against one and that was not what he was seeing.

That left only one choice left.

Awdry got to someone that quickly?

Obishima had said the younger boy had been moving rather quickly during the night of the festival. He had participated in a race against many people. They had used the ground, the festival stalls, and the rooftops for the race. Awdry had come out the victor, but that did not mean he should have reached the point of another opponent so quickly.

It was likely an Ōji Squad member who would be fighting against the Attacker at the moment. Senzai Squad was either hiding or did not have someone strong enough for a solo match against the boy and he had not heard anything from his teammates to suggest that they were the ones fighting.

"It has to be one of those two then. No offense to Kashio, but I know from experience that someone like Awdry would be able to handle him quickly. But..."

Yuba came to a sudden stop.

He had appeared on the opposite side of the map of where the fight was currently happening. That meant he would have to cross the entire map to reach that area.

To cross the map from where he was, he would need to take one of three routes.

The first was through the center. It would send him outside of the outer area meant for Shooters and Gunners and into the tall buildings meant for Snipers. It would then take a lot of effort to move cleanly through those tall buildings without being sniped at, which would then put him in the plaza. From there it would be a reverse situation of going through the plaza into the tall buildings to the other side where it was meant for Shooter and Gunners.

The second and third routes were the same in that he could stay in the outer area of the map and circle around to reach that section. It would take more time, but it was likely the safest option.

"..."

Instead of any of those options, he had decided to go with a fourth one.

"I won't be the only one wondering about this situation. In that case..."

A Bagworm began to form on top of his upper body.

Polished Place: "Obishima, Tonooka, we will be waiting things out."

Tono: "So you are wondering about how that fight started too?"

Polished Place: "Yeah. We will continue to move. If you happen to find someone, keep up with them but don't engage. Until we know what is going on with that fight, we will be waiting it out."

Looking back at the map, he saw two more dots disappear.

"Looks like we aren't the only ones thinking that..."

There were now less people visible on the map. With that being the case, all the focus seemed to be gathering on the single fight that had begun on the other side of the map.

This was where the match would start and how the tone of it all would be set.

Let's see what happens here.

Senshi let out a sigh as he moved through the shadows of the tall building placed around him.

He had gotten the short end of the stick the moment he had entered the map. As an Attacker who relied on speed via Triggers and heard offense, being placed in an area where Snipers ruled the battlefield could not have been a worse position.

I guess that's just how things go. Ite seems to have been placed on the other side of this area though, so that's good. And Sthénos...

The girl had announced how she would be going to see the first fight of the match before putting on her Bagworm.

With her following everyone else's lead it left the match in a strange place. All but two people could not be found on Radar, most were likely waiting for that first fight to finish and being spotted may not immediately lead to being attacked.

It was unlike any match he had been involved with before.

No one was waiting out the time - it was far too soon for something like that - but no one was rushing in to attack or defend either. Even regrouping felt like it would be a strange choice right now.

What to do...

Looking at the map again, he saw where exactly his teammates were placed.

With Sthénos moving towards the fight, it would put her closer to Ite. With the way they moved normally that would be no issue.

Taking this as a chance, he continued to move through the shadows of the buildings. Even if he were to be spotted, it would not be easy to properly aim at him. With everyone besides the two fighters using Bagworm he could not be seen on Radar, even if seen by eyesight he would still be moving and harder to hit. If they did lock their sights on him then they would likely get a single shot in before being found by the others around them.

This was his bad luck.

A Side Effect that caused bad things to happen to him. A Side Effect that caused bad things to happen to those around him.

It was likely he would be seen, but they would not be able to aim properly. Others could not find him on Radar because of something else, but he could not find others. If they tried to attack him, they would likely get attacked in return.

A Side Effect that did not indiscriminate and affected everyone around him as well as himself.

It's better if Sthénos is with Ite. They will have a better chance at doing damage compared to if she went to me. We rely too much on random factors when I fight with her.

Yes, this was the best course of action.

They were not meant to take everyone out. They were only going to take out whoever they could.

A one-on-one fight has started and everyone is focusing on that. So our response should be...

Shifting the Bagworm on him a bit, he spoke to his teammates.

"We will take out who we can while they are busy with that fight."

Spear Idiot: "It looks like most of the fights have stopped or slowed down their movements. The only ones who seem to be going at full throttle are Kotowari Squad."

Torimaru: "That makes sense given what we are seeing."

Grumpy Cat: "Taking on a Shooter like that... The mutt looks to be making light of Kazuki or is putting himself too high."

Spear Idiot: "I wouldn't be so sure about that."

Torimaru: "Oh? Something you know, Yoneya-senpai?"

Spear Idiot: "The two have just been running around for a bit, but that's probably because they're sizing each other up. Remember that these three squads are ones Kotowari Squad have not fought or have rarely fought."

Grumpy Cat: "That explains why they have not launched any serious attack yet. But what about how the mutt got to Kazuki so quickly? It happened before any of us could really see anything."

Spear Idiot: "Oh, you'll just have to wait and see. It won't be a long wait though, so don't worry your pretty glasses face about it."

Grumpy Cat: "You...!"

Spear Idiot: "Too late to change spots now~"

To say this was surprising would be a clear understatement of the situation.

Kurauchi had expected for someone from Kotowari Squad to go for a hit attack, but this was far too blatant and obvious for him to fully understand.

The squad had been known for their usage of Teleport due to their former captain. But that did not explain how or why the boy below him had been so ready to face him. It was likely because he was closest one to him, but it seemed as if he had appeared the moment the match had started.

Since their initial confrontation all the dots representing the opposing squads had disappeared, leaving only the two of them there without a Bagworm on.

No one seems to be making a move against us though. That's a bit troubling in it's own right... Still, that means this fight needs to be settled before anyone else does anything major. I would try to escape, but he has been able to keep up with me rather easily, so I doubt he'll let me go.

It was more than that.

While the boy had been able to keep up with him, there had been times that he was certain the boy would pass him. Those times it seemed like the boy had not realized how fast he was going and had to force himself to stop before moving out too far.

So this is the difference then. But it won't be enough. He can't outrun my shots, and if he can't even do that then he is no match for Yuba-san.

This was the first battle of the match and it would set the mood for the rest of the battles to come.

Theoretically he would have the advantage due to being a Shooter against an Attacker. It was something that should have been so obvious to even the boy himself.

Kurauchi relied on his techniques, speed, and strategy while the boy relied on his ability to close the distance and the strength of his attacks.

It was a race to see who would land first.

He would use what he had to maintain the distance between the two and the boy would use what he had to close that distance.

"Hey, Kazuaki!"

He heard his name called and stopped just as the boy had.

The two were in the outer area of the map. The buildings were low and meant for Shooters like him to gain the advantage by moving around the area without being spotted. He had taken to moving by rooftop to man the high ground while the boy had taken to running on the fat ground, something that had likely provided a small edge when it came to keeping up.

With their positions decided - Kurauchi on the rooftops and the boy on the ground - the boy had called out to him and stopped.

While not against any rules, it was extremely uncommon for a conversation to begin during a fight.

Yet this boy did not seem to care.

"Yes? What is it?"

He had not meant to humor the boy, but there was a feeling that if he did not then he would come to regret it later.

The look he got in return was one of complete glee. Happiness that his call had been answered.

The grin that came with it began to put him on edge.

"I'm going to let you know right now that I don't plan on letting you escape. Go ahead and fire as much as you want at me, because I also don't plan on being captured. So basically what I'm saying is..."

The grin grew until Kurauchi understood why he was on edge.

"I plan to win."

He was facing a beast.