A certain road extended out through buildings, but it was free of people and rather clean.

Two people walked down that road, neither hurting or stopping. One was a grinning man facing straight ahead and the other was a glasses boy looking at the man.

The man spoke to the glasses boy with a thin bitter smile below his somewhat curly hair.

"Megan-kun, are you sure you want to go with me on this errand? I'm only going to meet up with someone and you still need to prep for your match tonight."

"Yes. I just got a feeling that I should come along with you for this, Jin-san."

"That honesty is a bit dangerous when it comes to certain people."

"What do you mean? And, um…I am not that honest."

Mikumo lowered his head and glasses as he spoke. He placed his hands on his shoulders and lowered them to his stomach.

"That isn't the first time someone has told me that. But to hear that…"

"I shouldn't have said that then. Sorry about that." Jin's bitter smile grew. "You could probably go your entire life without knowing why we all say that."

"Really?"

"I meant without looking at your future."

"I see. But I still don't understand why you say that." He seemed to realize something then. "Oh, but the way you are saying it is just like the way Tsukiko-senpai had said it. Everyone else said it differently from the two of you, so I'm really not sure how to take it when it was said two different ways."

"The same way as Yuki, huh? That just means it's even more true."

"Is it? It sounds nice, but to choose my words carefully…I think you guys are overestimating me."

"Be careful with who you say that to, okay? Things can end up either perfectly for you or terribly for others. So just try not to think too much about it."

"Thank you very much…?"

Once he said that, a message came through to their phones. It was the Border chat.

Torimaru: "Osamu, listen to Jin-san when he says this stuff. Especially when it comes to one of the people you just mentioned. Someone like you can really end up hurting someone if you aren't careful. Especially when you start speaking bluntly."

"You are listening in, Kyōsuke?"

Torimaru: "The match I was commentating for just ended. I was reminded of some people and thought I should give a warning to Osamu if he comes across any of them. I just appeared at the right time it seems."

"Oh?" Jin looked to the messages from Karasuma and gave a light chuckle. "It sounds like you had a fun time commentating then, so that's reassuring. Did you get everything out that you wanted to or did you still hold back? …No need to go into full detail though."

Torimaru: "Yoneya-senpai was pushing us to speak up, but it wasn't;t until the end that Wagner started getting things out. I didn't say much though, since I don't have too much trouble with him at the moment."

"Hey," cut in Mikumo as he raised his shoulders. "Karasuma-senpai was commentating on a match? Which one was it?"

Torimaru: "Was there a particular match you wanted to see, Osamu? Get some intel on them? Hm, hm. That makes sense. Always the smart thinker, huh?"

Jin smiled as Karasuma finished his message and went offline immediately.

"Ha ha! Leave it to Kyōsuke to leave you hanging like that. I'm jealous, but it should be fine if he just takes it the way he wants. After all, those squads will be ones that you might have trouble with if you aren't careful. Think of it like a favor that he isn't telling you."

"Ah, no, no, no! You got it wrong! I was just curious since Taiyōko had said she had a match early in the day! I just wanted to know if it was her team or not!"

"Oh? Do you happen to know what squad she is a part of?"

Osamu shook his head, giving Jin the chance to chuckle.

"Then I guess I'll hold off from telling you anything too."

The road turned to the right. At the same time, the buildings reached shorter heights.

As the tall and short figures turned the corner, the tall one had a long, casual stride while the short one jogged a little, but…

"Jin-san, this leads to…"

"Right. This isn't a usual way for others. But I trust that you will find something interesting at the end of it all."

"I won't distrust you, but uh…"

As he walked and caught up with Jin, Mikumo stretched his hands forward. "Is that who he is talking about?" he muttered as he looked ahead.

"—?"

Someone else appeared in front of them.

.

The new appearance was a boy in a gray outfit that seemed to blend in well with the wall he was leaning on.

The small, black-haired boy with unfocused eyes turned to Jin and Mikumo. His swaying hair was leaning toward the side and covered one of his eyes.

"So it's you two, is it? Heh. I guess someone like you would find me easily enough. What can I do for you?"

"You don't have to be so forceful, Yuki. We just happen to bump into you over here when going to the Suzunari Branch. It's pure coincidence."

"Don't talk to me like that, Jin. I know when someone is full of it. Whenever the two fo us come across each other, it's never a coincidence."

Yuki's comment was followed by an awkward silence. To fill the gap, Mikumo turned toward Jin while seeming to knead the air in his hands.

"Um, Jin-san? Do you and Tsukiko-senpai meet up that much? From what I've heard, he always seems busy."

"Hm? I guess so. He's like me in a certain sense. But he takes way less breaks than I do. It ends up being a bad thing for him since he has a bad illness and can't move around too much. Rather…he shouldn't move around too much."

"Is that why he doesn't look too good right now? Because he is doing a lot when he shouldn't? …Oh, this is the errand you were talking about."

"Mikumo…"

"Huh?"

"What do you mean by that?"

"About what?"

"Megane-kun, remember what Kyōsuke and I had said before? …About being honest."

"Oh."

Mikumo nodded, stood in front of Yuki, bowed his head, and began to speak. His hands were at his side and he could not see Yuki's reaction to this.

"I am sorry if I said something I shouldn't have."

"There's no reason to apologize. I just wanted to know what you had meant by that."

"Well, it's about that."

Jin opened his phone as he smiled with the ends of his eyebrows lowered. He held the phone in one hand and placed it in front of Yuki's face. Once he did, the boy began to slowly realize what he was meant to see.

"You look terrible. Even if you use a Trigger to swap out your body, you can tell how much of a mess you are. Well, I'd like to say it's easy to notice, but that's just for people who are looking for it in the first place."

Yuki frowned at Jin's words.

"So then how did Mikumo notice? No offense."

"Right. Because he's an honest person."

"So is that why you brought him along?"

"Well, the thing about that is… He came because he wanted to come. I'll admit that I was looking for you because I want your input for something, but I didn't intend to bring him along."

And…

"I want to ease your worries about the future, True Commander-san."

A cutting sound tore through the air as Mikumo found himself against the wall now. After two footsteps sounded throughout the narrow space, the wind came to an abrupt stop.

A sharp object had been pointed directly at Jin once the wind had subsided. The object had a sharp point that grew larger the more it went along the short shaft that seemed to be arm's length.

"…!"

Yuki gave a sharp glare forward at Jin, the words coming from his mouth like venom.

"I told you to never look into my future unless it benefits the people around me. And if you ever say that name again…"

The threat did not need to be finished. Yuki had left it at that while placing Idōgetsu back into its holder.

"Sorry, sorry. My bad. But I do need your input here."

"What do you want then?"

.

Mikumo had released a breath he did not know he was holding as he was slowly pulled from the wall and back to Jin's side.

"Sorry about that, Mikumo. Jin just knows how to push someone in the worst way and I wasn't prepared for it. Don't mind my words too much either."

"R-right…"

"Try not to scare my kōhais too much, Yuki. But I guess I'll thank you for not pushing him too hard against the wall."

Jin's grin was only responded to with a sigh.

"It's not like I can put a lot of force into my hits anyway. I'm someone who uses speed over power, so the worse that would happen is that he gets a scratch. And even then, I would do my bets to make it up to him."

"Is that so? Perfect, because I think I see a scratch right here," Jin said as he lifted Mikumo's elbow. "So that means you can make it up to him by helping me out here."

"Jin-san, this is nothing. Please don't make him do anything and use me as the reason for it."

"It's fine, Mikumo. Because of my own circumstances, I owe him as it is. I'll just put this as the start of what I owe you. If you ever need anything, just call on me and I'll answer as quickly as I can."

"There's no need for that! Really!"

His words seemed total on deaf ears though as Yuki only nodded with clouded eyes.

Filling up the new silence, Jin moved over to Yuki's side, making the boy bring up his arm should he need to reach for his holder again.

"So about your side. This side, yes, this side. It's going to get kind of crazy, so watch out. Also, don't mind anything that random comes up, okay?"

"If you want to give me a warning then do it like a normal person, would you? I almost went for Idōgetsu again."

"But I thought I would have some fun here~ Ah, fine. I need some people to be somewhere and need your help in figuring out who. I would prefer not to have anyone moved around, but things can be flexible."

"Just have Mukuro go then."

"Just throwing you brother under the bus like that!?"

"I'm saying it because I know… No, forget I said anything. Just use him. It will help him in the long run anyways. He's going around to the sponsors to help out as it is, so tossing him into something else that can make him look good will help him out. Actually, I would appreciate it if you could do it so he does look better for others."

Mikumo tilted his head at the conversation.

Interrupting them would have been rude, but he found himself curious as to what they were talking about. As well as…

"Tsukiko-senpai has a brother?"

This had gotten both older boys' attention.

"Ah, right, I forgot you only know him as he is."

"Jin, if you say any more then I won't hesitate to cut through you."

"You would try that in this narrow space?"

"…"

A few seconds passed with tension filling up the narrow area. It was hard to say anything as Yuki glared at Jin.

Once those few seconds passed, Yuki let out a sigh, shoulder sagging at his sides.

"I'll send you a list of people who can be useful. Now if you don't mind, I need to get everything set up. Unneededs like us don't have much time as it is…"

The last parts of his words may not have been meant for them to hear, but both Jin and Mikumo heard them clearly.

Within an instant, Yuki turned his back and vanished from before them. A sound had rung out in the area, but Mikumo still found himself surprised by the action.

.

"Osamu, can you do me a favor?"

Jin did not turn as he spoke. His voice had lost the cheer that had been previously there and now he spoke in a serious manner.

Mikumo had found it a bit unnerving to hear.

"…What is it?"

"If you ever find yourself uncertain about Yuki, just keep being honest with yourself. Always think about what you know of him and ignore anything you hear about him. Make your own judgement concerning him so that you don't get mixed up on the wrong side of things. Got?"

"Right…?"

There was no doubt that Jin was being cryptic on purpose. But the reason or it had to have been important if he was choosing not to say anything.

It also meant one thing.

He looked into Tsukiko-senpai's future.

What had that future contained for him to say all of this?

The answer would come at some point and until then there would be nothing he could do about it.

All that mattered was keeping those words in his mind.

Hearing a small sound, Mikumo looked forward to see Jin giving him bitter smile.

The next set of words were a clear change of subject, but he found himself welcoming them regardless.

"Well, we should probably get back to the branch now. Maki-kun did say he was coming over after all."

Something dark existed at the bottom of the open air: shadows.

A dark shade was cast below the green ceiling of the forest.

But that shade did not fill one place: a clearing at the top of a slope.

A manmade structure existed in the center of that forest clearing.

It was a Shinto shrine with a dark thatch roof.

The gate at the entrance said "Yamaga Shrine" and bore the six coin emblem of the Tamakoma Branch.

The gate sat open and the shrine's shimenawa were old.

"Viper."

A voice came from the stage remade with a new roof and floor to the right of the shrine.

It was a shrine stage.

A boy stood on the wooden floor with his legs spread horizontally and his back straight.

He wore the Border outfit for Hatohara Squad with the emblem for the squad showing.

He was moving.

He shifted his body forward and placed just just the index finger, middle finger, and thumb of both hands in front of himself.

"And then I just mix them..."

He then shifted his body using his hands and shoulders.

Two cubes of trion appeared.

Takahashi Maki's movements were not rushed. He raised his body slightly, as if kneading something. But then he shifted his legs below him and formed a loose stance using his back, elbows, and knees.

"Oh?"

She heard a loud sound in the distance.

It was a shout. And when he heard it…

"Hyuse, huh? Crazy Bug wouldn't make that noise. …There!"

He fired the combined cube of trion out front of him.

At first it seemed to work well enough, moving forward a bit.

"This time?"

Before it could get too far, the composite shot fell to the ground, hitting it hard.

A part of it had split off upon impact and crashed near Maki's feet. He jumped back a bit at that.

He released a long breath, crouched down to pick up a piece of the destroyed ground, and looked directly at it.

He turned it around in his fingers and flicked it.

"Oh."

He returned his body to normal and took a breath. He rubbed his hand against his forehead and looked to the shrine.

The false morning sun shined on it and his eyes focused below the roof.

"Who even thought this setting for the training room would be good? Most of the time the fights we have are in cityscapes or open land. …Honestly, what am I supposed to do when there is less reality to my setting when I'm trying to train?"

Maki sighed and narrowed his eyes toward the old shimenawa and the wooden steps that always looked damp these days.

"Well, Minoru returned and if something major is coming up while we aren't in top shape, things will start moving ahead of us all while leaving key points behind. I guess this is our chance then. Just have to make sure that we know what is happening."

.

"It's been awhile since I've started coming here, hasn't it?" wondered Maki as he planned a hand on the shrine stage's pillar and looked around. "Really though, what kind of person makes this place a training setting? I guess it makes sense for Tamakoma though."

After the Aftokrator Invasion had ended, he and a small child had begun going to the Tamakoma Branch and gotten some help from them. That was when he had learned that the true strangeness of the branch, Border's strongest one, was built in with its members.

At first it had just been to check on their prisoner, but over time he had decided to make it a common occurrence.

The strangeness from the entire branch had been rather off-putting, even with the reassurance from Minoru. What was more was that he had never been good with children, so dealing with Yōtarō had been something else altogether. So during those times, a certain thought always came to mind:

…What is this?

Nothing happened.

He had gone and been welcomed easily enough. The only one who had snippy with him had been Konami. That should have been enough for him to understand that it was all fine.

But there were still some lingering thoughts about it all. Something that made him feel different there.

Of course nothing happened, he recalled Minoru saying with a laugh. Those guys are all good people.

He agreed with that.

There had not been anything to make him think that they were bad people with the way they had greeted him. This had only been reinforced upon having Mikumo, Kuga, and Amatori nearby with only smiles on their faces.

Something else that was strange was the prisoner that he had originally fought against alongside Jin during the invasion. When using the training room at a point in time, he had been having some trouble with his shots. That had been when the voice came through to give him some advice. But...

"Why are you helping me out here?"

"The way you train and the way you were when we fought got me a bit mad."

Some irritation had come up, but he tried to push it down.

Hyuse had been making a point when he mentioned that. He saw it as a fighter. A lot must have happened to him in the past, so it was likely that he was just being critical since he had fought a lot.

But back then, he had only been able to sigh.

…I shouldn't listen.

But Maki had realized that even some of the Tamakoma members would make some sort of face when he had tried training with the underclassmen of the branch.

So at the time, he had scratched his head, kicked the ground, said "well what do you expect?", and left.

The next time, he had made sure his team was not around to watch and entered their training room.

He had never failed to do his training with Hatohara Squad once he began to lighten up around them. But that time, he had decided to use the advice given to him by Hyuse.

That was the only difference.

But a thought had occurred to him.

…Does this mean I am taking more help from an outsider? Is this how it's going to be?

He had felt something like anger, but it really came down to how he thought about it. It was entirely possible to live one's life while thinking it was fine that all help was the same.

Could he do that?

He had not liked thinking that he needed so much help and had not wanted to constantly need it.

But wasn't that just because of his time as a model? The difference between the help he had gotten during that time and this time were vastly different, weren't they?

"I was really just playing around with how I defined myself."

Or was I? he thought while looking to the false rising sun.

The training room was being used by him. That meant the branch members were doing something else. But...

"Is it alright for me to just wait for everyone like this?"

"They left me in charge of checking up on you, so it should be fine."

A voice reached him from the open space. It had been the same voice as the one who gave him advice.

"Oh, Hyuse."

.

Hyuse did not enter the training area. He shook the prize in his hands so Maki could hear it.

"Yeah, I have something here, but bringing it into the training room wouldn't be god."

"Huh?"

Maki nodded his head and waved his hands back and forth.

Is that a yes or a no? he thought while glaring at him, but then he spoke.

"Because it's unclean? It's just just a treat or something then it should be fine. …Use it as an offering to Kirie or something if you have to."

"This is just from Yōtarō, so I only have so much."

Hyuse went out of his way to remain outside of the training area.

And Hyuse opened his mouth horizontally.

"You can come in here if you want."

"If I get the water clinging to me, it'll affect my footwork. My legs aren't as strong as the muscle head."

"You're not too bad yourself, Hyuse."

"That's because I focused on long-range and tracking. It is hard to move around too much with Lampyris at the start. Bulky people really are impressive."

That was true. Even with the amount of muscle Kizaki had, people like him were rather light when they wanted to be.

…I'm also good at swordplay, but that may be rusty after having taken up Lampyris.

That was for him to use during that time. It was admittedly nice to use, but...

"I still lost to the two of you."

"Is that so?" asked Maki as he hopped down from the shrine stage. He tapped the ground and walked nowhere in particular."

"What are the branch members doing?" he asked. "You have seen them around here today, right?"

"Some of them said they would be going around the city then ending up at the base. They said to take it until they come back."

"Did you tell them about the bugs?"

"They said they already knew."

"Is that so?" asked Maki as he looked up into the sky.

A silhouette passed through the sky. It was a slow but large movement.

"Still… There are a lot of things going on right now so it feels weird to not be called upon by my squad."

"The confusion caused by your benefactors has set even more things in motion for you guys."

"I imagine so. But, Hyuse…do you think even that is enough for some of us not to be called on?"

"I really don't care much for what you all are doing right now. If you're called on then good for you all."

"Then," he said. "How can some of them do all that stupid stuff?"

He knew what he wanted to say. It was true that Border was a dangerous group for outsiders like hime that would chat amongst themselves and do stupid things even in the middle of battle. But...

"You all have your own kind of sadness."

"Oh, I get it," said Maki. "Then I bet that they already have things set up to the point of not needing to call everyone. I guess that would make sense when people like Jin are around."

"What makes you say that?"

"When something sad has happened to someone, they'll try to live without regrets."

"…Maki, did you hit your head recently?"

Maki had quickly left the training room and threw his shoe, so...

"That was close."

He hit it down.

His one hand still held the treats given to him by Yōtaro and his other hand was hanging in the air.

The shoe had fallen to the floor after being hit by the hand.

The noise echoed across the room and Maki quietly whistled.

"Well, that's a man used to fighting for you. You're really detailed."

"And that's why I cannot carelessly decide on what to do, even with you. I'm fine with making a mess of an enemy location, though. …Oh, but the noise won't stir up anyone, right?"

"You didn't ask about the one earlier."

"That wasn't me."

Maki looked puzzled, so Hyuse sighed a little and explained.

"It was Yōtaro. …He's been messing around with a friend since he got here."

"Oh, how adorable of him."

Someone arrived from the opening leading to the room's entrance, presumably after noticing their conversation.

"Crazy Bug."

.

Maki went over to grab his shoe. He stood facing the same direction as Hyuse and stepped out of the room out into the hallway. He then looked over to the end of the hallway leading to the open room.

"Crazy Bug? What is it?"

Yōtarō looked up at him, raised his eyebrows, and looked away. He instead looked at Hyuse next to him. And he spoke to that tense figure in a hoodie.

"Stepney had to leave for a bit but he said he was coming back. So those treats I gave you need to be saved until he gets back here. I can't have my subordinate going hungry."

"How is that possible?" asked Hyuse. "You told me that he has more than enough currency here. He would be more than well fed in that case."

Yōtarō's eyes alone darted from one to the other, and…

"I don't trust or like his parents, so I don't think they will feed him."

"Yeah, I had mostly figured that one out. And?"

"I sent him off to tell his parents that he would be spending the night over here, so he needs to be comfortable."

"Or to be more accurate, you're facing him to stay here for the night. …Not everyone here can handle you as it is. Another one will just be a problem."

Maki sighed.

…If Rindō-san or Kizaki-san were here, I'm sure they would have some idea about how to deal with this.

Yōtarō by himself could be a handful most of the time. Maki could not stay due to disown reasons, so knowing that Hyuse would have to deal with both bugs himself did make him feel a bit bad. If the bugs tried something, there might be someone else to stop them though.

"I guess I have to deal with two of you today. At least the other one is well behaved."

Hearing that, Yōtaro looked to Hyuse with his eyebrows somewhat raised.

"Hyuse, I can also-…"

"No, you can't. Don't try and lie yourself out of this. Well all know what the truth is."

"I can behave if I want! But there's no need to do that since I have so much importance around here! After all, I'm the one who decides who can and can't rub Raijinmaru's belly! That's way more important than what you can do!"

"What a pain," sighed Maki. "You always think of the worst things to bring up, don't you?"

"These annoying things are just part of it all," said Hyuse as he walked down the hall.

Then he used his right hand to hand Yōtarō something.

They were the treats he had gotten. They rattled as he shook them lightly, and…

"Here, you hold onto them then. If something happens, then it's on you."

"That's unfair!"

It had been a complete surprise and Hoshi was not sure how to handle it.

Her squad's match had ended and she had been invited to get something to eat with everyone else. But…

"You stupid girl. You moronic idiot. I need to beat the basics into you, don't I?"

"Hey! Narasaka, stop hitting me! H-hey! Don't honestly start dragging me! Wait! Waaaaaaait!"

And…

"That was great, Toby. But you really did look like you were having fun there~"

"W-w-w-well, (y-ya know)! Ah ha ha ha… I-I was just d-doing what I n-needed to do-o, (is all). Ha ha ha."

Then there was…

"You did well there, Takeshi."

"…Thank you."

"I was going to go meet up with Jin-san and Osamu. Do you want to tag along? I want to talk to you about some stuff."

"If that is fine."

And the finisher...

"Ah! I was supposed to go back to the branch as soon as possible! I'm late! Like, I'm super late! …Oh well. Boss can keep things grounded while I take my time getting back. Yeah, I've totally been wanting to check out the shop near Hisama after all. Oh, but that's opposite of where Yagura is. Hm… Oh well!"

By the end of all the noise, Hoshi found herself standing in the hallway in front of Kotowari Squad's operating room. Her wide eyes and curious expression told her feelings on the matter.

A few moments after everyone had left, messages began to appear on her phone. Pulling out the phone, she saw they were from her teammates.

Honest Sister: "I'm honestly sorry, Hoshi-chan! Bakasaka just started dragging me away! I'll honestly make it up to you later!"

Lobo: "Oh crap! I'm sorry too, Hoshi! I got caught up talking to Kōchō! Do you want me to come back and get you!?"

Colors: "I can do the same, if you want. Sorry for just leaving with Karasuma-senpai like that."

JK: "Ah! Sorry, sorry, sorry! I'm sorry too, Hoshi-chan! Let's go shopping, yeah!?"

Hoshi found herself chuckling at the messages.

She didn't feel hurt that they had left and yet they were still apologizing to her as if they had just committed a serious crime.

It was amusing.

Prototype Star: "Suzume-senpai, it is fine. I hope your training goes well."

Prototype Star: "Toby-kun, it is fine. There is no need to come back for me. Enjoy your time with Kōchō-san, okay?"

Prototype Star: "The same goes to you, Takeshi-kun. Oh, but please tell Jin-san and Osamu-kun I give my greetings when you meet them, okay?"

Prototype Star: "Suzuka-san, shopping does sound fun, but going near Hisama may be too much for me. And do not worry, I will not tell Akasora-sensei about this."

Before she had a chance to place her phone back into her pocket, the response messages came in.

It was amazing how fast they responded.

Honest Sister: "Hoshi-chaaaaaaaaaan! You're the beeeeeeest! Please let me marry you when you're older!"

Lobo: I'll treat you to anything you want later! Name it and I'll make it!"

Colors: "I'll let them know. And don't hesitate to ask if you need help with anything."

Jk: "I'll buy you something really nice! I promise that it'll only make you look even more cute!"

It had not been her intention to gain anything from reassuring them, but that seemed to be the end result of it all.

Trying to argue against them would only be piling up what she received, so she happily thanked them and put her phone back into her pocket.

There was now free time for her after the match. There were many things she could do during this time, but one thing in particular stood out to her. It had been something she had been putting off for some time now due to joining Kotowari Squad.

I need to finish the Trigger for Hato… Minoru-senpai.

It had been something she started after getting to spend time observing him. The way he moved and the fighting style he had used reminded her of someone and so the idea of a new Trigger for him came to mind.

Because of the time spent on the B-Rank Wars, there had been little time to actually work on it and this seemed to be as good a time as any to do so.

The marker can be changed to anything after the fact, so what I need to do is figure out how to shift the mark itself for easy use instead of having it be placed. Since it will be a part of the body, there should be no issue once it has been placed, but making it shift and move is far better than having to use those few moments to place the marker. And then there are places that a person simply cannot reach naturally, so this would be much more effective. I am not sure if it can reach Kushi-nee's Triggers…

She lightly shook her head at the thought.

It was not the thought itself that was wrong, rather, it was who she was referring to that was wrong.

It is Fuji-nee's Trigger now. That likely has a higher power and speed output than what I can make with this one, but this one has more versatility. I suppose that is the difference in my experience compared to the actual Engineers. Even so, Fuji-nee needs to have the gauntlets and boots to activate it, meanwhile this will only need that marker. The weight for it will be nothing since it will simply be placed on the body as opposed to having to wear it. They will both be modeled after something Akasora-sensei has shown, but Fuji-nee's has the advantage of coming first and is more refined.

In a rare instance of selfishness, Hoshi let out a sigh through her mouth.

She began to comb her hand through her long hair before pinning it back up with the crescent moon pin given to her.

This had been something she was very invested in both for herself as well as for Minoru.

That upperclassman had been very nice to her and allowed her to observe him so that she could create this Trigger for him. While it would be sent out as a Trigger anyone could use, she was currently focused on making it well enough for at least Minoru to use.

It had to be perfect for him.

"Ah!"

Hoshi slapped her cheeks a few times.

She held her firsts in front of herself as a pout made its way to her face.

"No, Hoshi! Do not think that it will become a standard Trigger simply because you want it to be! Yes, it would be nice, but it is currently a work in progress and should not be considered a high performance Trigger until it is complete! Bad!"

She slapped her cheeks a few more times. A determined look shone on her face as her cheeks became red.

"Um…"

.

Hoshi jumped at the sudden voice from behind.

She quickly turned around to see who it had been to speak up in the hallway.

As a second surprise within the few minutes, it was one of the opponents she had just fought.

"Ah! Obishima Yukari-san, correct?"

The smaller girl brightened up at hearing her name.

"Yes! And you are Taiyōko Hoshi-san, right?"

"You remembered my name!? Yes, um, thank you very much for remembering."

"You had introduced yourself to me during the match."

"O-ooh, yes. My apologies for that. I understand that it is not something I should do when fighting. Even less so when it is in the top tier for B-Ranks… Please forgive my rudeness."

Obishima began to panic as the taller girl gave a perfect bow, her hair even flowing passed her shoulders.

She did not know how that could have been seen as rude. To her, it was something she was glad had happened.

"N-no, no! It was not rude at all! I think it was amazing that you did that!"

"What do you mean?" asked Hoshi as she slowly fixed her posture.

Obishima was amazed that Hoshi had been able to right herself so easily. Her hair easily fell back into place and her back was straight, as if she had not just given a deep bow. It felt as if she was standing before some sort of nobility.

"Well…you had introduced yourself like that even to someone you could have beaten. You saw me as an equal from the very start."

She knew that some of her insecurities were coming through to her voice. It was hard to keep down when facing someone with such a regal feeling to them.

But…

"Not to sound rude, but of course I would see you as an equal. Actually, I would say you are above me."

Hoshi spoke to her honestly and did not mind what she heard.

Obishima could only blink.

"You have been a B-Rank before I have and you were fighting in the top tier B-Ranks before I even thought of fighting like that. You have much more experience than I do. So in a way, you are my senpai here. I should be apologizing for not treating you as such and instead as an equal."

What?

This girl had just said something amazing.

Obishima had heard what Hoshi had said, but it didn't sound true to her. Those kinds of words shouldn't have come from someone like her. Someone who had managed to do better than her.

They were all honest words.

There were no lies in Hoshi's words and that had been enough for Obishima to feel like this girl really was leagues above her.

But that was not the end.

"Um, Obishima-san?"

"Y-yes…!?"

"If I may…"

The way Hoshi began squirming made her out to be a simple school girl, but Obishima felt like she knew better at this point.

"May I ask that you be my senpai!?"

"Can I just be your friend!?"

This time the both of them had stopped.

Obishima found that the words that had left her mouth had been an instant reaction from having spent so much time in Yuba Squad. But that only meant that they were her true feelings.

Hoshi had stared in shock at the immediate response. Her hand held out from having asked her honest question.

The both of them could only stare at each other as both of their words processed in their minds.

The first to react was Hoshi.

"R-really!?"

She moved in to grab Obishima's hand into her own as a bright smile appeared on her face and stars shone in her eyes.

"Y-you would really be my friend!? A-ah! I am sorry! I should not have grabbed your hand like that."

Before she could let go of Obishima's hand, the smaller girl quickly grabbed on with her own hands.

"Uh, yes, I do mean it. I would like to be friends with you. There is a lot I want to thank you for, so if you would be my friend then that would be great."

"Then I would love to be your friend, Obishima-san!"

"N-no need to be so formal then."

"Likewise. May I call you 'Yukari' then? That you can call me 'Hoshi'."

"O-okay. Hoshi…-chan? Thank you for becoming my friend."

"Thank you for becoming my friend, Yukari!"

The two girls smiled at each other before beginning to laugh.

Somehow this had been the end result of a conversation. Something both were happy about.

"!?"

The moment had ended quickly upon hearing the familiar buzzing of a phone.

Realizing it was her phone, Hoshi pulled it out to check the message she had gotten.

Deer Prince: "Hoshi, would now be fine to test out that Trigger?"

Koskero took a breath in the dining hall of the ship belonging to a group different from his own. A group from the frozen nation Pagoménos.

The breath prepared him for the coming negotiation.

"Now, then."

He could smell strong spices and there was a lot of a unique sort of humidity.

He sat cross-legged. Sitting on the floor in a dining hall was unusual, but the Aiónia Pagoméni Gi group must have been following a certain style they had gotten from Miden.

It was a way of reducing stress on the ship and thus helped keep morale high.

So even on a ship, Koskero felt dirt below his butt. Blocks of packed soil were used as floor panels. That seemed unsanitary for a dining hall, but...

...Well, they will be easy to replace, they will absorb moisture, and they probably have some kind of disinfectant in them.

He performed that pointless analysis because it was amazing that they were using natural material over simply solid trion.

But that was not his role here.

With Wen Sō behind him for support, he was here for...

"Let's get to the negotiations. You want to use the current group from Galopoula, so let's work out a deal."

Mochichiyo sat across from him. She too was cross-legged.

And she nodded. She did not smile, but she did not glare either. It was a flat expression.

The flat expression seemed to fit well with her long hair and average height.

Although that may be the basis for their trion soldiers since they have started moving away from the demon ones.

That frozen nation was still a mystery to most other nations.

"I intend to use you as mere observation points. ...That's what I've done so far. Isn't it a little odd to suddenly raise your price through negotiations?"

The corners of Mochichiyo's mouth rose a bit.

She was smiling.

And Koskero could only think of one reason why.

...She's drawn out the starting line.

This was still the beginning and they should enjoy this. That was what she meant. She was facing a losing battle, but...

...I do understand.

Gathering and adjusting battle forces was uniquely enjoyable. It was the same as trying to decide what Trigger to use before heading to the battlefield.

You were constructing yourself, searching yourself, and arranging yourself in the best possible form. That process and its results were enjoyable.

Which meant one thing about what Mochichiyo had just said.

"Thanks, Mochichiyo."

"Thanks for what?"

"That's simple enough," said Koskero. "We're still trying to figure out what the other is negotiating for, but you're still willing to view our skill as a 'weapon'."