What should I do for now...?

Toby sighed as he ran throughout the battlefield.

His fight against Kurauchi had ended with a victory for him and he was now in his rest period.

Others fights had already begun and now he was the only one without an opponent of any kind.

Lobo: "Suzuka, what's going on with everyone else?"

JK: "You're seriously asking that now? Urg. Fine, fine. Give me a second. I'll send you the information. I can't really tell you since I'm busy helping them."

Lobo: "Thanks for that."

JK: "Don't thank me for something I was planning on doing anyway!"

This girl is too difficult for me to handle...

Mei was much more simple and would have been able to tell him everything while still helping everyone else.

He had been worried about her since she had not been able to help them during this match and she would not answer when they had tried to call her earlier.

They were all aware that she could handle herself just fine, but they would never try to convince themselves that everything was fine when she had not told them anything herself.

We might have done that before, but we're different now. Only a little bit, but we are.

They were growing up.

It was at a much slower pace than anyone else, but they had started to get over what they viewed as "their terrible selves" and were now moving forward. Doing so without their Operator who had helped them so much just felt wrong.

As much as he hated the current state of things, Toby knew well enough that all of them would not be able to do much for Mei at the moment. They trusted her and loved her dearly, but they were not in a position to try and help someone like her.

There was only one person they knew who could do that.

Yuki...

There was a history between those two that none of them could fully know. Even if they had been told a lot, it would not be enough to know everything. There was just so much time they had together that could not be filled in with words alone.

It was because of the fact that they had to trust their Operator and friend to Yuki for the timing being. He would be the one to help her and they would be the ones to welcome her back.

But for now he needed to focus on something else.

JK: "Alright, here's the general idea of what's happening. I need to get back to helping those guys, so take your time reading."

Main Plaza

- Colors-kun vs Senzai Squad's Beef Captain vs Ōji Squad's Prince-Kid Duo

- Colors-kun is fighting back, but is the one who is being pushed back the most

- It is still your rest period, so don't go there

Tall Buildings

- Honest Sister and Hoshi-chan seem to be fighting against Yuba Squad's Counter Trap and Tongue Twister Sniper

- They are keeping up fine enough. Hoshi-chan is playing her part well enough and Honest Sister is blocking attacks for her while also turning on and off Bagworm

- From experience I know she's making some trouble for the other Operators

- Even if you weren't on your rest period, there would be no reason for you to go

Somewhere far away from you

- There are two people (at least)

- I don't know much about what's going on over there, but they are moving in a weird way

This was what she could provide in the small amount of time she took to inform him of what was going on.

His rest period would come to an end when certain conditions had been met or a certain amount of time had passed. That was what they had agreed on before entering this match.

They had made it back to the top tier of B-Rank and now he had to wait because of the plan they had come up with.

There was nothing for him to do. He was an extremely offensive Attacker who went after his prey and did what he could to take them down. This had gotten to a point where he had managed a win against Kurauchi and it could only go up from there.

He was a wild animal who would continue to fight to win or lose trying everything he could. That was just how he was viewed.

Even the chat name he had changed to showed him as such.

.

Lobo - the King of Currumpaw.

The story of a wolf who had outsmarted all of the hunters who had gone after him.

Traps had been laid, bait had been used, and those hunters had tried everything to capture this one wolf and his pack.

They had failed.

The wolf had outsmarted them. Dug up the traps they had set, ripped apart the bad parts of the bait, and dodged everything that had been thrown his way. He had even gone so far as to mock the hunters with the way he had outsmarted them.

Then it happened. The things that had led to his loss.

His mate had been captured and used against him. The end result had been his own capture at the hands of a trap set by a hunter. With only hatred for those hunters, he had refused to eat or drink anything when left alive.

His death came soon after.

I'm pretty sure I heard that story before and it stuck with me. Damn, that actually sucks. It means there was at least one good memory from back then.

Even so, a part of that story was how Lobo had still stood his ground, even with his injuries from that trap. That takes a lot of guts.

"Heh heh. Guess I'm still a kid since I changed my name because of that story. No matter what No says, it's not because of that damn comic character."

The people who used the chat connected to Border's network made their chat-names for fun most of the time. There would be those who used it as a meaning for something, but otherwise those were looked over.

Toby was one of the latter, giving himself a simple name that had been meant to show his own change.

At the start he had gone by a simple and generic name since others had viewed him as a wild boy. The name had meant nothing much and was just a way to get back at others for calling him a dog.

Once the race with Noah had ended only two nights ago, he had changed that chat name. This time it had not been to get back at anyone and it had not been to say he was stronger now. It had been his way of moving on from the wild animal people thought he was to someone who knew what his own value was.

I guess I should stick with the theme and try to get out of this mess. It's not my mess, but no way am I just going to wait for the rest period to be over.

Even with people viewing him as an anima, he knew what he could do.

He would not just be an animal. He would be someone who tried to outsmart those around him.

"Right, I think I have a plan here."

Placing his hand to his ear, he began to speak directly to his teammates.

Lobo: "Take, mind trying something for me?"

Ōji narrowed his eyes as he moved away from the lasers that threatened to cut him in half. From the corner of his eyes he could see Kashio do the same, barely getting skimmed by the laser.

The entire time their fight had been going on, Takeshi and Senshi had kept a focus on what was happening around them. It was even more true for Kashio who was focusing so intensely that it seemed he had become narrow-minded.

This is why I didn't want him to be fighting against Take at all.

The boy had something against Takeshi, but he had never disclosed what exactly that was.

He had reassured them that he would focus on the match more than fighting with Takeshi, but that did not seem to be the case here. If not for Senshi being around, it would have been fine, but Ōji found it hard to just let the boy be.

He wanted to correct Kashio's thoughts as quickly as he could, but that had been when it happened.

There had been a change in movements for one of their opponents.

.

While fending off against the laser-like beams and blunt Raygust hits, Kashio only saw the person who had placed right in front of him.

Takeshi had shown how he viewed others and how he would use them to gain something. It happened during his matches and it had caused an incident before.

That alone was enough for him to be viewed as bad in Kashio's eyes, but it had not been the only thing.

The boy had always seemed arrogant and dismissive every time he had tried to get to have a solo match with him. There was always a shift of a scarf and a dull look that gave the impression that the Shooter was looking down on him.

That much he could look passed and go for another challenge, but even that was not the only thing.

He had said something before. Something that makes it all come together in a way I cannot forgive.

It had been a time after his loss to Kitora.

Something had started to bloom inside of him, seeing her in a different light and feeling something there. It could have been nothing and he could have let it go, but he chose not to do so. He chose to hold onto it and let it grow.

At the time, he knew little about Tsukiko Squad and the members who made it up. There had not been a reason to focus on them.

It was only after they had been invited to join their squad in some training that he took any notice of them.

Kurauchi, Kittaka, and Takato had set it up since they had been scheduled to work together during their next defensive duty.

The most noticeable people had been their Sniper and Attacker. Both had been strange and easily existed over the strangest of things. It was then that he had decided to keep interactions with them to a minimum.

The next one had been their Operator. While he had only spoken to her a bit, he had gotten a nice feeling when she had passed a smile in his direction. She had then gone back to talking to Kittaka about something else.

Their captain had been the one to properly greet him. He had been an upperclassman who had been nothing but kind to Kashio since that first greeting. Kindness, assistance, and praise was all that had come from him. Even so, he seemed to have a bad relationship with his own captain since Kashio had been pulled away immediately by his captain who had been muttering something along the lines of, "This damn fox only knows how to lie through his teeth..."

It was then that he had decided, even though he enjoyed the kindness and praise, he would keep a distance from that upperclassman. Doing so meant he would not get his captain angry and that upperclassman would not get in trouble.

There had only been one person left for him to meet.

The Shooter.

It was a boy as tall as their Attacker with a scarf wrapped around his neck a few times. His eyes were dull and he seemed to be looking at nothing in particular. It felt as if he was bored and did not want to be there at all.

Now I realize what he was thinking... It wasn't boredom from being there. He just didn't care about what was going on. He viewed everything there as nothing more than something he was forced to do.

It had been when the training started that he realized what kind of destruction that boy could cause.

The moment he had come in contact with the boy on the battlefield, he had been bisected without any hesitation.

The attack had been a laser-like beam similar to the one he was currently facing. The destructive force was just as strong and both seemed to never end.

Afterwards, he had gotten to learn a bit more about the boy from Kurauchi who spoke as if he was uncertain about what he could and could not say.

Over time he had started to interact with the boy little by little until the thought of fighting him again came to mind. His first loss had been against Kitora, but his second loss had been because of that boy.

Each time he had asked, he had been rejected. The boy had always said, "I don't really want to fight. There's hardly anyone who stands out to me. That includes you."

It felt rather insulting, but it also gave him some determination to get another fight against that boy. The boy who saw has nothing more than another guaranteed win.

It was during one of these times that she had come up to them.

"Kashio-kun, you should leave him alone. He doesn't hold back when he fights and you aren't really at that level yet."

The words had hurt, even when he knew it was the truth.

He knew that when compared to this boy, he was still a ways away from beating him before he could be torn apart.

This girl that he had let affect him was telling him to stop. That seemed like enough reason to go along with the fact that he knew he could not win against the boy.

But then...

"Would you like to have a match?"

The boy had spoken up.

His tone was not the same bored one he had always used with Kashio and he was not looking down on her like had always had with Kashio. There was a clear feeling of wanting her to accept his request that Kashio felt he could not ignore.

This boy and that girl began talking in front of him as if he was not there. No, they knew he was there, but they were using words that only meant something to them.

"Sorry, but I need to go. Satori-senpai called me over to help with something. When I have more time I'll let you know so we can have a match."

"Thank you for the consideration."

There was renewed determination once the girl had left and the boy was ready to leave.

That determination had gotten him to go to the boy for a challenge more often than it had before. Each time he had been rejected.

It had been irritating with each rejection, but it did not deter him in the slightest. That boy had become a rival Kashio could not overlook. Someone he had to beat at this point.

So when he had heard that a certain squad had disbanded he had stopped asking for matches. Even he had found it rude to ask for such a thing when it seemed that the members of that squad had been going through something.

That had been when he saw their first match.

That squad had gotten back together, this time without their former captain. That boy had taken the position of captain and they had entered their first match in the B-Rank Wars.

What he saw was nothing good.

The boy did not care after his own squad. His targets were more important.

Those laser-like beams seemed much more dull in color than before, but the power behind them had been the same as when he was first cut down.

After that had been the second round. The round where he saw what the boy was truly like.

A master who had wanted to get some petty revenge on a good person. Someone who fired his laser-like beams without a care of who or what got hit.

He had never once tried to help his own squad and his focus had been solely on that good person.

It showed what exactly he was like now.

That had been the moment Kashio gave up.

He gave up on the challenges. He gave up on seeing the boy as a rival. He gave up on thinking anything good about the boy.

And yet he likes her. This kind of person likes her and I won't let that stand!

His own reasoning was petty on a basic level, but he thought nothing of it.

When he had been told to watch the fourth round match involving that rebuilt squad, he chose to ignore it. He had no reason to watch that boy try and destroy everything around him.

And now...

.

"Kasio, don't just pay attention to Take!"

Kashio could hear his captain, but his focus had been on the laser-like beams that were moving around the area.

They were trying to destroy everything around them again and he would stop it this time.

He would not be cut down by those beams again and he would show that he is better than that boy once and for all.

They look more radiant, but that means nothing. He is still just a person who wants to destroy everything around him. This season has shown us all that, so no one would complain if I took him down.

It would score his squad a point and they would have one less opponent to focus on. It was a major win that Ōji Squad could use here.

That was why he moved forward. Towards the chaos of beams that moved around the inner plaza.

Once they got close enough, he fired his own shots while preparing his blade.

"Oh, you can't forgive me either, can you?"

The boy had spoken up.

Kashio realized that the boy in front of him was far different from the boy he had seen before.

The first time he did not seem to care about what was around him.

The second time he seemed like a monster going around destroying everything.

This time…

"Sorry, but you will have to keep that up for a bit longer."

He was unsure when it happened, but he got a clear view of the boy's face.

That doesn't make sense…

This boy had spoken up a moment ago. Spoke up like he had with that girl he seemed interested in that day.

That had not been the reason for his confusion though.

No, the reason was much more simple than that.

Why is he upside-down?

Kashio could see the boy's face from a high view. From above the boy's head. From there he could see the sorrowful expression the boy wore as he lifted his scarf.

Those one dull eyes were looking at his eyes with nothing but sadness in them and Kashio began to feel bad for the boy.

Everything had finally caught up to his brain as he began to move towards the ground. His body, filled with cracks all over it, began to glow as he saw his lower half only a few feet away from him.

"Damn it."

Bail Out

.

Takeshi fixed his scarf as he watched Kashio Bail Out.

It felt like a hollow victory the moment he had seen the overly focused look in his eyes. It was a sign that this was yet another person he had angered with his behavior and someone who could not forgive him for showing such a sight.

All he could do was push the self loathing feeling he had for himself down as the bright light took to the sky and the two older boys moved towards him once more.

A point for us. But…

He moved back while firing a beam at both of the older boys.

I took out another person who already didn't like me.

He allowed himself to have a moment to be disappointed in himself before he focused back on the situation he found himself in.

It was no time to think about his former mistakes. That would be for later, when he knew he had no way of letting others down.

Toby had told me his plans. I need to follow through with it considering that Suzuka-san had agreed that it was for the best. Focus on that first.

Stealing himself, he maneuvered through the attack that never reached him.

It was not that those attacks missed or that he moved out of their way. The reason they had not reached him was simply because they were too far away to reach him. Each attack was stopped as Ōji and Senshi moved away from the beams that would skim near them at times.

For the plan to come out well enough he would need to be the one to first take action. That had been what Toby told him, so that was what he had planned on doing.

.

Ōji felt bad for his as he dodged the two laser-like beams that threatened to cut him in half, he felt bad for what he had just put them through.

Kurauchi should have won his fight against Toby. Even that opponent must have known that he should not have won.

He must have done something so unpredictable that we couldn't have guessed he would win. Damn. That means that damn fox really has influenced them a lot.

Everyone on this battlefield knew just how straightforward Toby was most of the time. For him to do something other than that meant that he had been influenced by the white fox to the point that he would forgo being straightforward.

Then there had been Kashio only a moment ago.

The entirety of Ōji Squad knew that it was a risk having Kashio go against Takeshi, but they took that risk anyway. It had helped to amplify their teamwork.

But it did not work out.

Kashio had quickly become too focused on Takeshi to see much of anything else. His sights were on taking that boy down instead of scoring a point for them.

Now he was alone on this battlefield. The first one to lose his teammates and points. But…

Here would be a nice place for a comeback.

Focus would be put on him, but that was fine.

He had no more teammates, but that was fine.

Senshi and Shingai's Side Effects, as well as that wild animal, were still things to worry about, but that was fine.

It was all fine because…

Take is definitely up to something.

.

Ōji and Senshi repeatedly moved back and forth as laser-like beams ran along the inner plaza. They had yet to destroy anything around them, but they had managed to cut through someone cleanly.

Each time one of those beams threatened to cut them as well, they moved to stop their attacks and move back or fire back an attack of their own.

The amount of trion it took to fire those lasers was not so cheap that the boy using them could continuously fire them.

This was where the amount of trion each fighter had came into play. The usage of those beams took a good amount of trion while the blades the two of them used required much less than that.

It was all a matter of timing and patience.

Both older sward captains understood this and so responded accordingly by moving in and out of those beams' range.

"I guess I should stop stalling…"

The words coming from Takeshi made the two of them halt for a moment. It was not enough time to attack them, but it did stop them from moving for a single moment.

The words alone was something that had put them on guard, but it was the next action that had made them ready to move away or attack.

The beams that had been trying to cut them down were no longer firing, leaving Takeshi relatively defenseless. Even so, they did not move in to attack him. The distance was great enough that he would have time to start firing again if they tried.

The multiple trion orbs that had been firing at them began to come together above his head. One by one, they collided with each other, but did not disappear before detonating.

At the same time, Takeshi's legs began to move.

They did not move towards Ōji and they did not move towards Senshi.

Takeshi's legs began to pick up pace in a direction that was not near either one of them.

He moved towards the tall buildings.

The tall buildings were where the Snipers pulled the battlefield.

Kotowari Squad had a Sniper, but so did Senzai Squad and Yuba Squad. Moving into that area meant that he would likely get attacked by those skilled Snipers that were not on his side.

"What to do now…"

If they were to follow the boy then they would also be moving towards the den of Snipers.

Having a Sniper on his squad, Senshi had less to worry about, but Ōji was well aware that he had no one else on this battlefield to call his teammate.

And yet…

"I just need to take him out before he can get too far in."

Ōji had been the first one to move into the den of Snipers.

.

Senshi stayed motionless as he watched Ōji move toward the tall buildings.

Takeshi had ran in that direction while he was turned away from them and Ōji had chased after him. It was clearly a trap so that they would be lured into the tall buildings where his squad's Sniper could take them out.

"…"

Or it seemed that way at least.

Placing his hand to his ear, he began speaking while still facing where Ōji ran after Takeshi.

SenSen: "You guys still have Yuba in your sights, right?"

Archer: "Correct. I am ready to attack him, so do not worry about that."

SenSen: "And Sthénos is with you?"

Sthé-chan: "Yup, yup! I'm right here!"

His own teammates were not close to where he was, but they were not too far away. While he was at the edge of the inner plaza, they were at the edge of the border between the tall buildings and the shorter buildings.

Because of the other fight going on right now he could tell where two other people were. A third person seemed to be trying to mess with others by turning on and off their Bagworm.

Archer: "If I had to guess, I would say that's Misaki. Tonooka would never try something so uncertain."

The distance they had from where he was standing was much smaller than his distance with his teammates. Also…

"Kotowari is moving in that direction."

Senshi did not move.

There was no reason to move.

After all, his bad luck was not so forgiving as to just let him go. Instead, it would do something different.

"There they are."

It would bring his enemies back to him.

.

It had only been two minutes since he had ran away from his two opponents.

During those two minutes, Takeshi had focused on the plan sent to him by Toby.

Running away had been to see which one of his opponents would follow him. The direction he ran in was the same direction that Suzume had been fighting in with Hoshi. If he reached that location then he would be considered "safe" by others since he would be with his teammates.

From there he would be able to attack with others backing him up and supporting his actions.

That may have been the reason for Ōji following him soon after. He had been the only one to follow though since Takeshi had not seen Senshi anywhere.

With his trion orbs left in the plaza, he had no way of attacking the oncoming Attacker.

Ōji had rushed him unlike before where he had been moving in and out of Takeshi's range.

Instead of trying to keep away, Takeshi had moved within that strike zone around Ōji. His hands had been on his scarf as he lowered his body.

Keep your legs bent and your body ready to move up or down. That's what Toby told me. If I do that…

The moment the attack from Kōgetsu got closer, Takeshi lowered his body as if bouncing off of something above him. His legs lowered and he ducked his head while the blade was swung over him.

He was not given a moment of time as Ōji began to turn while still swinging his blade. Above him a cube of trion was created before being fired in his direction.

It's Hound so…

A small defense appeared to take the hit from the shots.

While still in his turn, Ōji moved his arm in the same direction he had originally swung his blade.

The momentum from the swing did not lower and instead forced him to move faster.

Balancing would have been difficult in this situation, but Ōji Squad had been known for being good on their feet.

An attack starting from the right quickly came to the left as Takeshi tried to steady himself without falling forward.

Something Toby had failed to mention was the need to maintain balance throughout the entirety of the dodge. His feet wobbled as he threatened to topple over and his head was still facing the ground, so he couldn't even see where the blade was coming from properly.

As if to respond to his need for safety, a memory of the following words came to his mind.

"Sometimes it's better to just fall down. If you're having trouble with keeping yourself straight, you should just fall to the ground. At least the opponent won't see it coming."

He could remember the strange and scrunched up look Toby wore as he explained this to him and Hoshi.

"Oh, but I guess you shouldn't do that during class or in a race. You'll just eat it and end up looking like an idiot."

Takeshi did not give a smile, but he lifted his scarf over his mouth as he fell forward.

What was the point of telling us then? We had asked about how to better our grades in class after all. And the sports festival was coming up. I ended up getting picked to be in a race, so I had no choice but to go to you, you damn dog, and that's the advice you gave me? You really are the worst.

Even so, he followed those instructions.

His legs gave out and he did not care if he looked like an idiot. His body hit the ground.

But it was not as simple as stopping because he hit the ground. Once he had hit the ground, he began to roll forward while maintaining the momentum from his fall forward.

The blade once again hit nothing as the target moved away in a strange way.

"You guys are really into doing things I never thought you would do."

The way Ōji had said it made Takeshi feel both proud as well as a bit fearful for their futures if someone like Ōji did not see it coming.

"Still… You really aren't much when compared to that damn fox."

It only took a moment for Takeshi to register that an attack had made it.

It took another moment for Ōji to realize his attack had not made it.

Ōji turned away from the strap that landed on the ground where his blade had been moved and instead focused on where the teleportation had taken place.

It had been the use of the prototype Trigger Kotowari Squad had used in their previous match. A Trigger that replaced the user with something else to escape an attack.

Zanzō - the afterimage.

Takeshi braced himself for his land when he saw Ōji turn towards him.

I should have expected this much. They haven't stayed near the top for nothing.

The reaction time he was seeing was definitely from someone who had remained near the top with his squad and could fight without them.

It was far different than Takeshi himself.

For that reason alone, he moved his body to the side once his feet touched the ground again. Another attack had already made it and he could not teleport away in time to dodge it. The blade managed to cut deep into his arm but not enough to where it could not be used.

He placed a hand over the cut to stop the leaking trion while moving behind the tall building.

Right back into the inner plaza.

Yoneya was sure now that neither Lukas nor Karasuma would bring up what was on their mind.

He had been wondering for a while now, but this seemed to be enough for him to confirm that they would be holding back from saying anything particular.

Even so…

I won't be going easy on them. Face the facts, you two.

He wanted to let out a sigh right then and there but held back due to others being able to hear him right now.

I guess that isn't really possible right now though.

Looking back to the screen, he watched as Takeshi tumbled back to the inner plaza while Senshi only watched his opponents return to where they had previously been.

Grumpy Cat: "That guy's plan fell apart before he could get too far. Although doubt that was a mistake on his part."

Torimaru: "He probably wanted to drag along the other two and ended up getting a full out attack from Ōji-senpai. Managing to dodge as much as he did was nice though."

Spear Idiot: "I wonder if that was what he wanted…"

Torimaru: "Yoneya-senpai?"

Yoneya shrugged while leaning his body forward.

From where he was he could see a certain trio down below and watched with interest as they spoke to each other over hearing what he had to say.

Spear Idiot: "I don't really fight that guy since he doesn't like solo matches too much. I managed to drag him into a fight before, but that was because I had help from his teammates. Although that was before he… Well, I'm sure most of you know by now."

I gave you guys that much, so work with it.

He grinned at the glare he was receiving from Lukas.

Spear Idiot: "He dodged as best as he could. But why only dodge? Isn't strange for such a forward attacking guy like him?"

He didn't wait for any responses from the other two as he continued.

Spear Idiot: "He left his attacks in that plaza. If Ōji or SenSen-san noticed, they weren't worried about it. If anything that was the perfect chance to take him out. But he's still there."

Grumpy Cat: "And back to the plaza. This just means that he will be continuing his former attack and use up his trion. That looks to be the best option for him at the moment. He can wait for the mutt, but he can't rely on Suzu at the moment since she's helping out Hoshi."

Spear Idiot: "If he was waiting for Toby then Toby would have been there already. We just saw how fast he's gotten."

Grumpy Cat: "So is going to continue by himself?"

Spear Idiot: "Looks that way. But don't go underestimating him now. Having fought him before, even if it was just once, I can tell from here that this is different from that time. He's actually thinking about what to do here instead of just attacking head-on."

Grumpy Cat: "So then what is he planning?"

Spear Idiot: "Who knows?"

Yoneya gave another shrug. This time it was an honest one to express that he really didn't know what would be coming next.

Spear Idiot: "But I'm sure it will be something pretty fun."

Suzume did not stop as she moved around the area.

Each time she stopped to take a shot, she saw the battle going on between Hoshi and Obishima.

Both girls seemed to be giving it their all with Hoshi moving back and forth between attack and defense.

To counter her, Obishima moved front to back between defense and attack.

From what she could see, it looked perfectly like a dance between the two of them. A leader had been chosen, but the one following was not backing down or moving away. She was keeping up and maintaining pace with her partner. They were in perfect harmony with this dance and if not for her job, Suzume would have added her own music into it.

But she was focused.

Focused on the dancing girls and focused on creating the stage for them to dance upon.

Multiple shields continued to appear around the two girls as something crashed into them.

One by one, the shields shattered as quick as they had been made.

Some of those shields had been made by her and shattered by someone else.

Some of those shields had been made by someone else and shattered by her.

Hoshi and Obishima had used those shattering shields however they could to keep up their own dance.

While not as professional as ones like those in A-Rank or ones demoted to B-Rank, the two dancing girls moved between, around, and on top those shattering shields.

There was hardly any time for them to think about their action and Suzume could see that. They were not focusing too much on the actions they made so much as the actions they made was the focus of their movements.

"Heh heh heh. I suppose I am honestly still feeling down if even this great summit flower is starting to judge such good girls like that."

She stopped her movement, placed Bagworm over her shoulders, and fired towards the two dancing.

Hoshi had moved back to prepare for a defense and she used that chance. She signaled to the younger girl that she could move forward again by firing a shot directly at Obishima's head.

A shield appeared before shattering on impact.

Hoshi did not focus on the shield and instead moved forward for her next attack.

Any professional combatant would link their actions together to create a chain of attacks while they had the chance. Moving back would have just been a different form of moving forward and the shattering of the shield would just mean to turn a bit while continuing "forward" for them.

The difference between those dancing girls and the people who could manage such chained movements were as wide as a canyon.

But that was fine.

Dancing is honestly the same as fighting in that sense. In this case, you and your partner create a chain of movements that link together with the music playing around you. If there is no music, simply make it yourself. Honestly use everything you have from your heartbeat, to the steps to take, to the sound of your breathing, to even the clicking of the insects around you. It honestly seems easy enough when speaking about it, but even I know what it takes to pull off something like that.

There was no reason for someone like Hoshi, or even Obishima, to know such advanced techniques when they were clearly trying to keep up with each other as it was.

It was rather amazing that the two of them still moved as smoothly as they did while sniper fire came from all round them, shields shattered after those shots, and the attacks from each other continued to move towards them.

If not for wanting to keep her location a secret for the moment, she would have praised both of them with a loud voice, arms stretched out, and chest upwards.

Since she could not do that she settled for simply praising them in her mind.

"Now then, we should be moving properly now. I am here, Hoshi-chan is there, Take is over there, and Toby is honestly far away."

She gave a light "Heh heh heh" before standing up straight and looking around.

Honest Sister: "JK Operator, can you send us the parameters now? The locations of most of everyone have already been found out, so we are fine now."

JK: "Yeah, yeah. Leave it to me! You can focus on Hoshi-chan for the time being."

.

Hoshi felt as if she understood now.

During the third match of these B-Rank Wars she had gone to see Kotowari Squad's match against Tsukiko Squad and Shor Squad. They had all done very well and Kotowari Squad had shown off how much better off they were during that time.

Each combatant had shown their skills, worked with what they had, gone through many lengths possible to win, and came out with something new for themselves.

She had seen so many amazing things during that match that she would never forget.

There had been dances in the forest, wild displays on the stump stage, and wonderful light shows within the cityscape. Each performance was something you would only see from professional performers who had taken years to master their craft. The dazzling gleam of it all had stuck with her to this very moment.

Others saw it as a simple fight, or just a strange one in certain cases, but that had not been what she saw.

During that time she had been having a conversation with someone else who could see that as a performance from all of them. That had been where her resolve to join Kotowari Squad had come in.

She had wanted to be on that same stage with them. To show her own worth to those who had decided to call her someone important to them. Now that she had reached that stage…

Must do my best!

She had heard that phrase from some of her upperclassmen before, but never truly said it herself.

There had never been too much of a reason to say such a thing when most things she did seemed easily enough to do. If it was normal things like sewing or swimming then she had no problem. If they were Border related like taking out Neighbors or simply reaching B-Rank then she was fine with taking her time to get it right. She had always found herself doing things in a way that would be helpful while also not putting any stress on anyone.

But now it was different.

She stood on a stage greater than the previous ones. One that was called "Top Tier" and had people who easily outmatched her in skill, strategy, movement, and general abilities. People who had trained with all their might, moved up within the ranks, and claimed a spot for themselves in that area were on the same stage as her. Or would it have been better to say she stood on their stage?

Either way, she was here now and she was with the two of them. The two who had gone up to her first and had gladly taken her hand when others rescued her because of her appearance and nature.

They had never done her any wrong, never gone against her, never showed her anything that was not amazing. Even during the time they were hurt, the two of them had still given her their best. After that hurt had gone and they had been better than ever, they continued to be next to her. Their hands seemed farther away now, but that had not been their fault.

When she saw just how far they were, she had gone to them in hopes that she could be by their sides once more.

When they had accepted that with no problem she had felt happy. That happiness continued to grow as she went from one stage to the next with them. And now that she was at the top stage with them…

I must not hold them back.

She would trust in the squad that had allowed her to join and make everything she had usable for them all.

I will not be sacrificing myself for them since I know they would not like that, but I will not be stopping myself at any moment since they would not like that either. To keep up with them means I need to keep going and not worry about if I am being useful. They do not like things like that, so I will not like that either.

She had long since resolved herself to going along with them and doing things how they wanted.

"So please do not hold back in the slightest!"

The girl in front of her nodded as another shot came from behind her.

.

Obishima was amazed by this girl a year or so older than her.

She could not say that she was particularly good when compared to the others on this battlefield, but she knew that she had much more experience than this older girl. It was a fact everyone knew since Kotowari Squad had never held back from saying that their newest member had barely made B-Rank.

Yet here she was, clashing blades with Obishima while not even flinching back from the shots fired by Tonooka.

If not for the constant shields that appeared around them she was sure that this older girl would have been taken out fifteen times by now from sniper fire alone.

She really trusts her teammates if she doesn't even look in the directions the shields are being made.

Obishima trusted her own teammates but even she got the feeling to look at the shots or the shields coming by them at times.

Compared to her, the older girl did not seem fazed at all by the extra movements going all around them. It was even more difficult when someone else would constantly appear on Radar before disappearing again.

She had been glad to share a moment of understanding with this older girl, but that seemed so long ago given how much time they had spent moving back and forth to attack and defend. They had both given their names while starting a fight and agreed to give it their all. She was not backing out of that, but it was only becoming more and more difficult to do so as time went on.

"!?"

It had finally happened.

A shot had finally gotten through the shattering shields that moved around them like a set rotation.

The one to take the hit had been Obishima.

Tono: "Sorry about that. I lost focus on you guys for a second and let that attack get through."

She wanted to reassure that it was not Tonooka's fault since he was not supposed to be babysitting her like this, but found she had no time as the older girl in front of her moved for an attack.

This was a chance since Obishima had been pushed back by the shot while moving forward to attack. It had caught her off guard and set her balance off in a strong way of moving forward while being forced back. The same could have happened to her opponents if not for the shield that had shattered right by her shoulder.

This season they had been down a member when Kanda had decided to continue his studies instead of staying with Border. They had been fine with that, but the results of that were showing here.

Yuba Squad had been reliant on the directions from Kanda while Yuba had usually gone off to do his own thing and score them points. That was very apparent here, against a squad that excelled at strange tactics and controlling the stage.

If it had been Takeshi or Toby then it would have been more straightforward of an approach, but she and Tonooka had ended up against the worst opponents for this kind of fight.

Under any normal circumstances they would have taken out the newest member with ease. There would not have even been a need for Obishima to engage her in battle since Tonooka was more than capable of sniping the girl who did not seem to focus too much on her own surroundings.

That became as hard as any top tier fight once you were to add in that strange upperclassman who used dance for her defense. The repeated shields that shattered were being created by her as she fooled around with Bagworm and fired at Obishima. She had been doing all three of those things at the same time in order to attack Obishima, protect her teammate, and harass the Operators as well as the other Snipers.

The worst part was that she was probably having fun while doing so.

Even so…

"!"

Even so, Obishima wanted to keep going.

She wanted to meet up with that older girl who had introduced herself before starting.

Should I want her to use that special Trigger she has? If she did, I would have no way to counter it. But I really want her to use it so she can view me as someone strong enough that she has to use it here.

The logs from the previous match had shown Yuba Squad the prototype Triggers Kotowari Squad had been using. One of those had been the ribbons of light that had been used to attack using blades. The main blade itself would disappear, but in its place were those ribbons that had the ability to cut whatever they touched. It amazed Obishima to see it.

If the older girl were to use that Trigger now then she would have no way of blocking those blades.

At the same time, that older girl would have no way of blocking any sniper fire from Tonooka should he manage to get past Suzume's shattering shields.

What would be best here…?

.

Shattering sounds, repeated footsteps, glass shaking, and a strange melody.

Those were all of the things moving around the battlefield within the tall buildings.

Two Snipers continued to move around the area while two girls clashed blades as their dance continued to intensified with each movement.

The two girls were not so skilled as to be praised highly, but for them, for the two dancing upon a stage going through a set rotation, they were doing their best. Each movement did not lead into the next, but there was only a single missing piece for the both of them. Only a single moment of not moving before their next action was taken. This repeated the entire time their blades hit each other.

The two Snipers were a different story. Both were qualified to be praised by this better than them under normal circumstances. Their abilities to remain hidden while sniping was not something to mock. But that only applied to one who were not each other.

One of the Snipers moved quickly around the battlefield while activating and deactivating her cover from Radar while the other one moved to find the right place to snipe from. Both of them fired their shots, fully prepared for them to be blocked.

"Heh heh heh. I'm honestly used to my shots being blocked, so this is no problem for me. What about you, Tono-kun? Does this hurt your pride? Am I the perfect person to move you along so that you cannot find your spot to snipe? Heh heh heh. Yes, I am an Anti-Sniper Sniper who will move the stages to their next show."

The moving Sniper was a girl who found herself at the summit. The untouchable summit that could only be reached should she allow it. Right now was a special occasion due to her mentor telling her to stop that for this match.

So instead of remaining on the summit, she traveled down to harass everyone else as best as she could.

Her words could not be heard by the second Sniper moving about, but that was fine. She knew well that he understood what was happening.

And as if actually hearing her, he spoke to no one but himself.

"You're always like this. I'm fine with you outside of fights, but you really make me tired once we are doing something like this. Then again, you are better than that teammate of yours. How did he beat Kurauchi-senpai? You guys are all too much for someone like me."

The second Sniper was a boy who found himself annoyed with the summit girl. After having come down from that summit he realized that she was trouble in the worst ways.

He was used to patiently waiting for the right moment to strike. The perfect kill that he could say he took and finished without being noticed. It had been the reason for his training in Special Tactics after all.

The two Snipers continued their own movements that were as far away from blades as possible.

Those two girls with blades were different in that their blades could be seen continuously crashing into each other.

One of the girls moved with a hole now in her shoulder. Her blade moved lightly through the air, crashing into the resolute blade of the older girl.

She had her own determination to show in this fight, but it felt like nothing when compared to the unwavering movements of the opposing blade. Both had the same sturdiness but the difference between them was clear.

The girl who wielded that resolute blade held nothing back as she moved forward to strike before pushing back to blacken attack. It was amazing to see the younger girl in front of her still being on the frontlines after having taken a shot to her shoulder. Not even a moment to think about before she went back to attack

"Thank you for continuing this fight with me. I am learning a good amount of things here."

"H-huh? Oh! Right. Um, thank you as well for not holding back here."

The two girls had come to an agreement with each other without having spoken too much to each other. Their own words to each have been ways to thank each other for the fight they were currently involved in.

Two sides with two people.

One side had a girl continuing on after taking a hit and a boy who could not find a moment to properly attack.

One side had a girl who swung her blade resolutely and a girl who knew what it took to move people how she wanted.

Amid all of this, a plan had already been put into action.

.

Suzume smiled as she finally saw it.

There had been more to her fight than simply protecting Hoshi and trying to take out Obishima. Even the Bagworm harassment had been nothing more than a bit of a show for her to put on.

Now that she had moved so far away from her original position, she could see exactly what she wanted.

Honest Sister: "Takeshi, I found them. You can start moving in here. Don't worry. I'll be protecting you as well."

Colors: "Just focus on Hoshi and your fight there. I'm less important when it comes to this. Besides, it won't be too hard to keep up once I'm done with this."

She gave a bitter smile at the words her squad captain had just said.

That boy needed more help than she could currently provide.

A few faces came to mind and she would remember to talk to them later their match finished.

"Now then… Let's see how much of a mess we can make."