In the Border base, bathing in the artificial lights, there was an open area.

It was an open area for Border members to relax and enjoy themselves for as long as they wanted. Tables and chairs were all over the place with plants being neatly placed around so that it could give a nicer feel to the area.

The open area had two figures sitting at one of the tables.

Two people in white uniforms with Border's emblem were eating their food and sitting in chairs.

They were exchanging words as one of them was watching the people walking by and the other the base itself. At the moment, the one wearing some accessories was looking at the people walking by.

"…As expected, we have a lot of people joining Border. Has the hype of joining Border ended yet?"

The boy watching the base itself, which was eating like nothing was wrong, nodded. Then he looked at the openings with a keen eye.

"…Right now, Border is pretty packed. First it was because of Mikumo after the invasion and then it was because of Yuki-san showing off for Yagura. It only got worse once the entire incident with the sponsors came up and White Rock got destroyed. The rest of us are kind of lacking if we compare ourselves to even the B-Ranks here. I'm telling you, Kaze, we need to hurry up and reach B-Rank so we can help out Shobu and Yuki-san more."

"That was a bit too detailed. I guess that's how it looks for someone who came from somewhere else to join Border."

"Right," the boy responded.

"I'm a naturalized citizen of Mikado City. Due to the first invasion's harsh treatment to the city and the second invasion bringing others in, I'm more focused on doing what I can. I'm even making a small community fanzine on the net because of my parents' work."

The boy gestured towards the people walking around with his fry.

In response, his friend turned his neck back, and at the end of his sight was a collection of upperclassmen talking amongst themselves.

Those upperclassmen had made appearances at their branch from time to time, but otherwise they were only known by name. The multiple colors of their uniforms did not matter to them, but it was something that showed that they were higher ranked than both boys, and...

"We don't really need to go up in rank too quickly if it means fighting those kinds of people who are better than us. The two of us would be too happy to enter the B-Rank Wars, but when we go against people like them, Shobu will be the only one who can even touch them. I have an access of energy most of the time, but I'm not dumb enough to overestimate myself here. It'll only get worse for us if we try something like that and Ōji Squad or Kotowari Squad join the branch."

"'Only get worse', huh…"

The boy with accessories, who had an underclassman's attitude, glanced at the side of his friend's face.

"That such a cheap way of looking at it… As B-ranks are the majority of Border's fighting force and ones who are more easily replaceable, it's better to go up in rank quickly so you can use your benefits for others. Wasn't your family affected by all of this Neighbor stuff?"

"Well, we were at a very low position from the start, so we didn't have much trouble at first. My parents were out of town during both invasions, but I personally don't have issues with specific Neighbors. After that stuff, with the reduction of staff expenses and the protection of classified information, we ended up having to switch locations to a more rundown part of Mikado City. Even then, we were fine until how things are right now."

The relaxed boy shrugged his shoulders, and trying to avoid that topic he peered at the other people walking around.

"But wouldn't it make things easier on your family if you were higher in rank? As a C-Rank we get nothing but. Change to train. B-Ranks get paid while A-Ranks get even more than that. I'm talking about helping yourself until you're fully satisfied, you know? It's just better to think about these kinds of things while you have the chance."

"Those kinds of things," the relaxed boy smiled bitterly.

He looked to his friend and felt a bit sorry for him.

"If I want to go up in rank then it's because it'll lessen the burden for the other B-Ranks. You feel the same way, even when you're going around talking like Urushima-senpai. Stuff like that is beneficial to a point, but if we're already good where we are, there's no need to focus on it so much. Besides, we're still young here, so we should leave that stuff alone for now. Wait another few years to think about that, Ame. Oh, but I guess that would be hard for someone like you."

He breathed.

"Just take. Look around you and figure it out. No one around us is in any particular rush. BRW matches happened yesterday and some of these guys are still taking it pretty easy. They know that holding back is nice at times like these instead of going all over the place like weirdos. And that's coming from a hyperactive weirdo who likes to fight others."

"Even so, they have the luxury of doing something like that since they are already beyond C-Rank. You and I are different since we still haven't gotten all the points needed, right?"

The relaxed boy gave a small laugh at his friend's words.

"Look, I'm in my downtime mode, so don't get me riled up here, okay? Besides, when you think about it, there are some people who have it worse than trying to go up in rank. Specifically the ones who went down in rank. You know how embarrassing that probably is for them? It's like randomly appearing naked with two-colored tattoos of little girls on their asses… Wait, wait, wait, that one was because I'm too relaxed here. Just forget that one."

He breathed again.

"There have been rumors about those squads ever since they went down in ranking, but you probably know about that already. We aren't as rowdy as those guys though, so when we get to A-Rank, I'm sure we won't ever have anything like that happen to us. Besides, Shobu's the kind of guy you won't want to do that to since you know it would make him sad. And a sad Shobu means people will be stabbed from multiple angles. Oh, but I did want to see what all of that stuff was about recently, so yesterday I decided to go to those demoted A-Ranks, but…"

The relaxed boy tapped the friend's shoulder and pointed at the group with his finger.

"…Although it's already noon, you can see just how carefree of a life those guys live; and see that they are already reaching the cannibalistic phase Yuki-san warned us about. I also went to one of the demoted squads - the one that guy is currently on - and saw something that made me want to just back out… That's why I came back immediately, you know."

"I see… Demoted A-Ranks sure are troublesome."

The instant the friend spoke that line, the relaxed one pointed towards the opening leading to a hallway.

"Ah, look at the hallway leading from the operating rooms. Amazingly, those two seem to be…Ninomiya Squad Gunner Inukai Sumiharu and Hogo Squad Operator Kimura Kawaguchi. Nimble even walking, just like some rumors, right? After Ninomiya Squad was demoted and they remained at the top of B-Ranks, that squad hasn't been pushed down, even by the other two demoted squads."

Just as he said, there were two people on the path leading down to the next hallway. The friend confirmed them with his own eyes as they passed by random people walking by, others rushing by or running quickly and the group of upperclassmen.

"His captain was on the same squad as current A-Ranks and Azuma-san, and is Yuki-san's enemy by nature; Ninomiya Masataka-san, right? That rank demotion into B-Rank sure was a blow for them. Well, it seems that way. And the other one, Kimura-senpai…is dressed like a man but given the way he is walking…that's a woman?"

"Bingo. She may be dressed like a man, but actually…she should be a woman."

"Should?"

At that question, the relaxed boy looked up at the ceiling once. Choosing his words, he talked.

"When the first invasion happened, there were 'two Kimuras'. One was a member of a pretty big business across Japan, had connections all over the place and were people who were said to revolutionize some sort of old tech we had. The other was more towards the political side of things, the side that worried about the people more directly. But when the first invasion happened, everyone quickly sided with their opposition to lead around here."

"If that's so, Kimura-senpai can no longer try for a high position seat in Mikado City, can she?"

"Right… But before that happened, she had an operation in order to seem more reliable. To make sure she had the right to lead later on, she was supposed to have had a sex change operation to turn her into a boy… But, in the earlier stages, after her breasts were removed but before they began with the lower parts, the first invasion happened. Since she doesn't have breasts, female clothing doesn't fit her well, so she dresses like a boy."

"When I was still living nearby, she was ignored and bullied. She was years above me, like now, and I heard that since she was unable to get anything from all of those privileges, she was abandoned by her dad; but…"

While looking at the two traveling through the Border base, the relaxed one slowly said this:

"Given that she's now an Operator, she's still doing her best, isn't she… I wonder if I should make a fansite…"

Inukai and Kimura were walking through the Border base towards the room used for commentary on the B-Rank War matches.

Without the Hogo Squad captain around, the two of them made no particularly notable actions around each other. Even when greeted by others like the group of underclassmen, they continued like any normal day. The open area that the group was in had started to become rather popular for meet ups, but that had not been the reason for their walking there. It had just been the quickest route to reach their destination. In all honesty, Kimura would have preferred not to go through the open area.

Inukai and Kimura walked the hallway, which had quickly become empty upon their arrival. As they traveled the inner hall of Border, they laughed and exchanged words while tilting their heads. Inukai was forming a smile at the corner of his mouth.

"…Speaking of which, tomorrow Jinsei is going to be doing something fun. What are you going to do tonight? As I said before, it looks like Jinsei and the rest are going to make some ruckus at their school. Are you going to go with them and act as the fire extinguisher smokescreen?"

"I am the vice president of our student council. If I did something like that the entire faculty would know about it…"

"It's alright, it'll just make you look like the rest of them."

"Then I definitely can't do it, can I? Anyway, what is even with the student council president, suddenly announcing that he's going to do something crazy and cause a ruckus at the school like that… The other day we had a huge meeting for a potluck in the dark, and he ignited the experimental-use magnesium with the lab room's alcohol lamp and it went 'Boom!'"

"Yeah, you can't make night potluck into a light potluck. I guess the glass pot of the lamp lightened everyone up, though."

"No, it wasn't like that, seriously…"

Inukai laughed in response to Kimura who was speaking in a troubled manner. Continuing like that for a few seconds, he eventually signed.

"Well, I'm just trying to say that one can pass the time like that too, you know."

Kimura wondered about this and folded her arms as if trying to protect herself. After that, she tilted her neck.

"Yesterday he started some trouble in a restaurant near the inner city when he covered one of Kon's friends, who was completely naked, in cream and stuck an eel up his butt. That was quite the incident, don't you think?"

"That did indeed happen, they told me about it before I got there, but you know…"

Inukai looked at Kimura out of the corner of his eye and in response Kimura pulled back a bit.

"…Did you know that what that 'friend' really wanted was to court Kon in order together some leeway with Kuruma-san?"

"…Huh?"

"I don't know if he was from Mikado City or just visiting, but he was trying to get in close with someone important who was also in Border and wanted to use Kon for her captain. With that objective, he tried to get close to her as a 'long time friend'. Kon is pretty strong willed if she is connately with Taichi, but she's also someone who thinks hard about things she seems trivial. Especially when it involves friends."

That means… Kimura twisted her eyebrows.

"That mess was Inukai's work?"

"Hey, hey, hey, hey, don't suspect me. I didn't do anything; someone among them noticed, that's it… After all, our group is pretty small when compared to some others, right? It was probably a coincidence, but…"

"But?"

"But, emotionally, Kon thanks everyone for that."

"—"

As if punctuating sound by sound, he introduced a new topic of conversation.

And suddenly, he once again looked at Kimura out of the corner of his eye and opened his mouth while looking around the area.

"—Yeah, today really is strange. Has Kimura noticed it?"

.

"Strange? What are you talking about…"

Questioning in her response, Kimura looked at their surroundings and the flow of people.

After a while, Kimura tilted her head as if she was saying: "I don't know."

Inukai pointed towards the people in the next open area in the distance, all seeming like nothing was wrong.

"—As you heard from Oshiro, everything near either my captain or your former captain has been relatively calm. Kimura, do you understand what that means?"

"That's…"

Surprised, Kimura raised her voice.

"Those two haven't fought in a while and that's even when they are around each other. In short, there's something majorly wrong between those two… This is the first time that I've seen the both of them in this much of an agreement. It's an agreement of staying away from each other, but it still counts."

"Yeah, those two never pass up a chance to attack each other's throats; but this time, there's nothing, strangely enough."

Kimura took one step forward and spoke to a frowning Inukai while turning back.

"…Is this the result of whatever happened to Hatohara? Wait, I mean Minoru… Anyway. Or is this a consequence of everything that has been happening recently with Neighbor attacks, like the one with the Wanderers and Galopoula? But even so, the fact that it's just between those two make it feel like—"

Kimura continued.

"—It feels as if something ominous is really going on there. Specifically something having to do with the past, don't you think?"

"Hey, hey, don't say scary stuff. It's just that those two are being more difficult with each other now. They're putting some distance between themselves and certain people. But well…"

I don't really know, thought Inukai as he nodded…

Suddenly a large object rushed by, right in front of them. Like a rock being thrown, that large object crossed the space.

"That is…a body?"

The body belonged to a person later than Inukai, but was also the right size to call him their age. Compared to the two of them, he was a bit bulkier. Even so, he got up and waved to them."

"If Zoe is just being tossed around like that then it means there's nothing to worry about up there. Yup, nothing suspicious or dangerous going on at all. But that did remind me of something I heard today. Kimura, you're going to be doing the commentary on my squad's next match against Suzunari-1 and Kotowari, right?"

"Yes," Kimura opened her mouth.

"I was asked to cover that fight since Hogo Squad is not participating in the B-Rank Wars and we do not have defense duty that day. I have no problem with covering it, but I do worry about what everyone else will say. That idiot crossdresser will probably be in the crowd just to mess with me while also making remarks about the rest of you. Oh, try not to make my life harder at that point, okay? Both you and Murakami will be involved, while Kon will be backstage, so it'll give him some ammo to use."

"You're well informed, aren't you? Who will be there…can you guess who would come to watch?"

"Yeah," Kimura said. And then she nodded…

"Arafune, Hokari, the idiot - but I already said that one so we will leave him out - Suzaku, Mizukami, Senzai, Kitazoe, and Tōma. Most of them probably just to annoy me or make fun of you three, so make sure to really not embarrass yourself. There might be some others, but those guys seem like the best choices to make it to your match. Because of that…"

She let out a breath.

"I was really hoping for some help from one of my former teammates since my current ones would only add to the chaos. And my captain would definitely be more interested din watching you than trying to calm everyone down. But still…it's hard to go to any of them right now."

.

Kimura spoke starting to walk once again whilst scraping her shoes on the ground a few times.

"And..it sounds like things are only getting worse?"

In the middle of the shadow projected by the artificial lights, Kimura remembered those days while looking at her feet.

"We had been pretty crazy back then, but it worked fine enough since each of them could fight on their own with no problem. It wasn't that they didn't want to work together; they were just the type of people to take things on themselves. Even our formation could be viewed as very offensive or violent since they were…"

Kiyoshi Taiyōko: Captain, Attacker

Fuji Shitokei: Vice Captain, All-Rounder

Shizuka Kanzaki: Attacker

Mitsuteru Ariake: Sniper

Kawaguchi Kimura: Operator

"Our captain and Shizuka were usually the first ones going out to attack while Shitokei would stay back for a moment to think things through. But overall, she was just as bad as those two were. Ariake was the only sensible one…even when he was overshadowed by the others. Actually, he may have had an ever smaller pretense than I did at the time. His plainness was good since it helped him not be noticed when sniping. Still, all of us ended up all over the place when our captain 'died' and our best fighter went with him after his past caught up to him. In a way, he was more of a ghost with regrets than an actual person. It all made communicating with each other a bit hard since remembering old times always felt terrible for all of us."

Kimura looked at the ceiling, to the white-armored ceiling that was plain and had no blemishes.

"I guess that could just be me not accepting how different things really are for all of us even after all of this time. In the end, I would say that only Ariake and myself ended up in good places when compared to the rest of them."

She sighed.

"Sorry for boring you with all of this stuff. I know that you are aware of all of that since you managed to stick through almost all of that yourself. You even had your own squad to focus on and Hato-… Minoru and his issues going on. That demotion probably didn't help anything."

"It's nice to talk about the past at times, so don't be sorry for something like that. Plus, I know how Yuki and Mei feel about the squad you guys used to have, but I never knew how you, Kanzaki or Ariake felt about it all. The latter even more so since he has been our underclassman since moving to Mikado City. Even with Mei as our upperclassman, she still thought of herself as one of us even when she knew that wasn't the case. Most of us just couldn't really deny her since Kō, Pokari and Kage always seemed happy whenever she was around."

Inukai, who said that, formed a drooping smile at the corner of his mouth.

"But well…"

"What is it?"

That instant, Kimura relaxed her shoulders and took a step forward.

"Kimura… Do you know what you can do to try and change some things?"

"What's that…?"

"Right, right, right," Inukai nodded three times. At that point, he stuck his index finger up and said this.

"—Ask Yuki to be a commentator with you."

.

At Inukai's words, Kimura slightly lost hold of herself.

It made enough sense that there seemed to be no problems with it. But there was still something that caught her off guard.

"Why him specifically? Even if he is having some weird issues with Ninomiya-san, I doubt even he would have trouble holding back from making any comments."

"Right, right, but that's exactly why I suggested it. It might clear some things up. Also, I would have said to go to any of those guys, but you would have gone straight to Mitsuun instead of the others."

"Th-that may be true, but…!"

Kimura recalled her memories of being on Taiyōko Squad.

"It's a problem if things only got worse. Or even if he doesn't say anything. Ninomiya-san is bound to be targeted for a fight, so him not making any comments on that may end up even worse. And if it's the opposite, there would be no one to properly stop him from going off."

"Is that so?" said Inukai while he continued to look in the direction Kitazoe left.

"Well then, why not just bring along someone who Yuki definitely can't go against?"

"—Eh?"

Inukai spoke and looking at her he formed a broad smile at the edges of his mouth.

"I…just thought that it would be interesting if Kimura also came over to this side."

"By saying 'this side' you mean…"

"The side where we would be able to calmly talk about things like the past."

The past, that is…

"For example, the reason why we were demoted to B-Rank… How I, not knowing so much when I thought I did, allowed my best friend to do things that we view as wrong. The side where you would be able to bring those words to your lips with a smile."

"—"

Telling me something like that would mean that he is putting too much faith and trust in me. My former captain and Minoru should be the only ones to know what is really going on with this guy. If he were to tell me something like that then...

The words coming from him sounded all too tempting that she would not have noticed something wrong if she had not tried to learn how to be a politician.

…He's also trying to figure everything out so that everyone can feel better.

Inukai Sumiharu.

This boy with her was trying something that could be seen as selfless while at the same time completely selfish.

What was the reason for that? Even if they were his friends that were being involved, he was saying that he would tell her extremely important things since it would place her in an area where she could do many things with knowledge of such things. But...

…He's not throwing this on me. He is bringing me closer so that I won't back down.

Her current captain held a very special place in this boy's heart, a place that others would not be able to get to no matter what happened.

In the same vain, he held certain people close to that place meant for her current captain. It was a place for ones like Minoru.

If someone like her, someone who spoke to him based on their mutual understanding of her current captain, knew things that were not meant for people like her then it would give less meaning to those closer to him.

That was the reason that Kimura refused to think about Inukai and Ninomiya Squad's demotion.

…However.

I can't simply bring those words to my lips, am I really that naive?

Inside her field of vision and without erasing that smile at the edge of his mouth, Inukai said:

"So, Kimura; as you seem to be thinking a lot, what would you think if a terrible story like the past has a continuation?"

"…Eh? A continuation?"

"Right, right," Inukai said twice.

"What if those two who had 'died' actually…never even left in the first place?"

"—"

Kimura lost all words for an instant. She forced herself to open her mouth. As she was not able to grasp what she had just been told and felt like her mind was still not stabilized, she asked something to confirm whether this was truth or fiction.

"No way. If those two continued holding on like that…"

That would mean that they both are refusing to actually move on while also completely rejecting everything that has happened, right? However...

"What are they doing holding on like that…? Is that what is happening now with them?"

"That's why I said that earlier, didn't I?"

Inukai spoke.

"If you want to know, step inside and come to this side, Kimura… Your wish is to be a politician and you seem to be thinking on the grand scale of things; but you are failing at stepping inside, don't you think?"

"But," Inukai added.

"I like those guys just as much, you know… So, why won't you step in with me?"

Speaking these words, Inukai suddenly sped up his gait.

The wind moved, the sound of clothes rustling resounded. As if being secretly held by Inukai, the Trigger in his pocket shook.

"—Well, let's end this conversation at that…alright?"

Kimura chased Inukai with her gaze as he headed towards the open area of the base and was passed by a group of people. Kimura, a little panicked, moved her feet in order to catch up to him; and accompanied by the sound of her footsteps she reached the open area.

"…Oh."

The sound of shifting seats being pushed out or pulled in, the murmurs of people, the sound of pounding feet against the floor drowned Kimura's body. The two traveled the quickest way through the open area and around others as smoothly as possible.

"Well then, Kimura. When we make it to the hall you'll be commenting on then we can go look at some other things and have some fun."

"Okay. Also, Inukai, as you probably know by this point, what with being on his squad and all; Tsuji won a major battle according to my captain, so the next time you see him can you send him my regards?"

"Ahh, that was… Will I see him today? Well, if I see him I'll speak to him."

"Are you okay if we leave for some food, Boss?"

"We'll be right back, Yuki-san."

Yuki waved from his spot on the sofa.

Futoyuki and Arisa had asked reassured him that they would be going out for some food enough times that no more words were needed.

After the fifth way the two of them had finally left the branch office.

With no one else around, he tilts his head back to stare at the ceiling with a blank expression.

Everyone is out at the moment and I'm in my trion body. I need to keep this up for a bit longer. Just a bit…

How long exactly was "a bit"?

He had never actually figured that out. Even now, he did not know what he meant when he thought those thoughts.

Others had always thought he overdid things when he should have been taking it easy. All that time he had thought he was only doing "just enough".

I guess I really am bad at figuring these kinds of things out. That's probably why…

Why he was now unneeded.

Someone who found themselves losing something to the point of it not existing or giving it up. It was not something so simple that just anyone could call themselves that.

But Yuki could.

There were two other people who knew it even better than he did.

What it really meant to be unneeded was something that only those three could truly understand.

Well that's how I feel anyways.

Letting out a sigh, he placed a hand over his eyes. The darkness overtook him as he began thinking about everything that had happened recently.

We had those rough days with the sponsors. Then it went right into yesterday morning and the incident with Minoru. Within that same day, we had an attack sent out way from Galopoula.

And during all of that.

Just how useful was I?

It hurt to think about, but his use had been rather minimal when compared to all of the others around him. Everyone else had made major impacts while all of his efforts had been rejected, blocked or shot down. At some points those held literal meanings to them.

The pain from thinking about it all had forced his mind back into the past and the things he had not wanted to remember for the rest of his life.

Things like his former family.

"…"

He audibly clicked his tongue at the images of his mother and father that appeared in the darkness of his arm.

Pulling away with a sour expression, he saw a message come through and opened before his eyes.

Manager: "Hey, you, can you be a commentator for the match I have to oversee?"

.

"Huh…?"

He knew that it was Kimura who was sending him this message, but it felt odd to see it coming from her.

Even with his confusion, a return message had been sent back to her.

White Fox: "You know that I already commentated on a match, right?"

Manager: "And? There's nothing saying a person can't commentate on two matches during a season."

"I mean…that's true, but…" he spoke with a defeated voice.

White Fox: "I doubt I would be the best person for something like that. With the way you are, wouldn't it be better to have someone who can view things from all angles instead of a hidden one?"

Manager: "Don't worry. I have that covered. I already asked someone perfect for that kind of thing."

"Who did she ask?"

If she was asking him second then it meant that it was someone she knew he could get along with well enough.

But at the moment there were a lot of people who he could say he would not be able to get along with without forcing too many fake emotions out.

Manager: "Look, you are actually the best person I could ask for this when we consider which squads will be participating."

White Fox: "And which ones will be participating?"

There was a moment of silence.

It seemed like Kimura would not be answering him until a message seemed to slowly come in.

Manager: "…Kotowari Squad, Suzunari-1, Meishō and Ninomiya Squad."

Yuki forcibly sucked in air.

Watching another Kotowari Squad match would always be nice to watch for him, and Meishō Squad managing to reach the top tier was nice, but the other two squad names had started to make a heavy feeling come to his chest.

Kimura had not been wrong in saying that he would be perfect to commentate on that match, but…

I can't…

It hurt too much to think about.

Even while in a trion body, he felt like there were parts of him in pain.

Besides my current issue with Ninomiya…there's also Inukai, Kō and Kuruma-san. I don't think I would be able to bring myself to say anything if the match has them in it. It's just not possible at the moment…

Ninomiya had been completely ignoring his existence ever since the previous morning. No words came from him and all words never seemed to reach him. There had been nothing that Yuki could do, so he had begun ignoring the man in return.

Inukai had tried to mend as much as he could, but Yuki only felt awkward around him to the point of being unable to look him in the eye. A reminder of what happened to Minoru because of him had always come back to his mind when around the boy.

Murakami was a different story. After having his talk with Sekai, Yuki found that he did not want to get near his best friend out of fear of saying everything to him. He had promised himself that he would say everything once the week-long break started, so he did not want to say anything before then.

But that was not allowed.

Sekai had reminded him of that fact. If there was something that he needed to get out then he would go to Murakami as soon as he possibly could.

But he hadn't done that.

Kuruma was currently he leaps of his worries, but still a part of them nevertheless. The man was someone who he felt wrong speaking about at the moment when he knew that Sekai would get involved if he said anything out of line.

Manager: "Hey. What's your answer?"

"…No! I can't help you out here. Sorry, Kimura."

His words filled the room as they were written out as text for him to send.

A new message came almost immediately.

Manager: "Alright then, I'll just stop asking you. You are going to commentate on this match."

Yuki's eyes widened a bit.

His former teammate had wanted to be a politician, so he was surprised to see this kind of force used against him. Normally she would have tried to sweet-talk him into doing it.

Manager: "You are going to be there. You are going to commentate properly on everything. You are going to get over your little fighting with Ninomiya-san so you can give advice. If you happen to criticize anyone, then fine. They probably need it anyway. You will deal with the people in the crowd who will be trying to annoy us. You will sit next to me and that other person so we can make sure you won't run away. You won't run away. You will be a proper enough human being."

Manager: "Those are my demands."

White Fox: "…And what am I supposed to get out of this exactly?"

If she wanted to force these demands on him then it meant that she was prepared to compensate him for it.

Manager: "I will let you know who else will be commentating with us. I will let you say whatever you want. I will allow you to leave right away. I can guarantee that you will be allowed to throw something at the people who try to annoy us. And one more thing."

What else did she plan to give him for doing this?

She must really want me to do this…

Manager: "I will tell you about the conversation I had with Inukai."

"…What?"

Kimura was not the type of person to say anything about some random conversation she had with someone. Everything was about using what she could to get things done in an orderly manner and a way that benefited both sides of an argument.

Using a simple conversation with someone he had been avoiding meant that the conversation held meaning for both her and for him.

"This girl…"

He gave a bitter chuckle when he thought about her demands.

The old squad he had once been a captain of had relied on her for many things and it showed through at moments like these. This girl who had wanted to be a politician had just won against a white fox who only knew how to lie.

White Fox: "Fine. I'll be a commentator for you. But on the condition that you tell me who the other commentator is for the match is right now."

Manager: "That's fair. It's Hikigane Squad's captain."

.

Yuki could feel a long sigh escape his lips.

"Of course it's Sekai-san."

Manager: "I assume that you don't have any complaints about me choosing him."

That was not it.

White Fox: "I'm just a bit shocked that you managed to get him to go along with this."

There it was again. "A bit". Was he really "a bit shocked" or was he going over the top with his surprise?

He could not figure it out with no one else around to tell him.

Manager: "He did not want to do it at first. I had to do the same thing with him as I did with you. The difference was that I didn't have to bring up as many things."

White Fox: "I can figure. Sekai-san is pretty relaxed if you bring in the right stuff. In this case I can guess that it was because Kuruma-san and Kō will be involved there. Maybe because it also gets him out of defense duty."

Manager: "Actually, he agreed immediately once I mentioned that I would be asking you afterwards."

That had been another surprise. And at the same time, it felt completely natural.

Yuki felt his lips start to curve up when he thought about the kindness he had always received from Sekai. There was no possible way to repay him for anything and yet he continued to look out for Yuki whenever he could.

It eased the pain.

He let out another sigh when he thought about the real reason why this was the case though.

Sekai-san is too nice. My own unneeded self is nothing compared to him. To give up all his happiness…

It was something unthinkable.

The man was someone who deserved respect for everything he had given up and everything he had been trying to do since giving that up. The relaxed and irritated persona he wore rarely came down to most people, but Yuki had only ever seen a nice person instead of what everyone else saw.

And that was for him and a few other people.

There was still one person who knew more about Sekai than anyone else, understood him better than anyone else, and would never leave his side no matter what. The problem Yuki found with that was…

I don't know who that person is. Denji doesn't know either, so that just goes to show how far behind we are compared to that person.

Delving into those thoughts would only drag him into other parts of his mind that would make him want to back out of his agreement with Kimura. That was something he did not want to do.

So instead of focusing on what he knew of Sekai, he responded to Kimura's message.

It had been amazing that she held back from saying anything until he answered.

White Fox: "I see… Well then, I guess you really thought long and hard about who to choose for this match's commentary, didn't you?"

Manager: "I'll admit that I had help deciding not his. At first I was just going to go with someone like Kurauchi or Fuyushima-san, but the help I got really made me realize how good of a choice you and Hikigane-san were."

White Fox: "Must have been someone knowledgeable in things they shouldn't be if they managed to change your mind."

He had a few guesses, but was not dumb enough to say them out loud.

Manager: "I had informed the others while I was at it. Kanzaki said that she wouldn't be able to make it but will listen to the recordings of the commentary."

White Fox: "And Mitsuteru?"

Manager: "He said that he'll be trying extra hard during the match. I guess he doesn't want to look bad in front of his former squad."

White Fox: "Seijin's been busy with some things recently, so we haven't seen him too much. It'll be good to see exactly how they managed to get to this spot. As for the others…"

When he thought about the remainder of Meishō Squad, he could only picture them causing a commotion in the match.

Manager: "Well I have things I need to get done now. I need to inform some people about the slots of commentators that are now filled. I'll see you then."

Yuki only nodded to himself without responding.

With the way he knew her, he was sure that she would not even see his return message if he sent one. At least not until he brought it up.

Leaning back against the sofa, he found that his body felt a bit lighter after talking with Kimura.

The two of them had their own back-and-forths, but he would tend to just be with Mei while she would stick to Ariake or Kanzaki for the most part. They had been teammates before with Kimura forcing her way as his Operator, but she had been a good one.

She managed their squad well when he had been lazy with paperwork or he just did not want to get to it. There had even been times when she took his place at captain meetings.

He chuckled at the memory.

"She managed to outlast them all in staredowns when they told her to get me to go."

The entirety of the squad had respected her and truly thought of her as an important part of Taiyōko Squad. Even when they would often get on her nerves, criticize her for her terrible jokes or help others in cannibalizing her for their own jokes.

That was when a thought entered his mind.

It was a thought of how Kimura would end up scolding him if she ever found out about his abuse of his Trigger to continue pushing himself.

Lifting his hand into the air, he muttered the words "Trigger off" as he began to close his hand.

With his body no longer being made of trion he could feel some small pains throughout his body. They were not mind numbing, but they still made him feel like not moving. His eyelids were heavy and the arm he held in the air quickly fell onto the cushion next to him.

Everything that had built up was now hitting him and making him tired.

Unlike Mukuro, he could not keep himself awake when he felt extreme tiredness was over him.

Leaning his body to the side, Yuki began to close his eyes while pulling his legs up onto the cushions.

"I guess I'll…get some rest…before everyone comes…back…"

With his final words leaving his mouth and his eyes closing slowly, he went to sleep.