"This looks like it would be tough to finish."
Lights flew across the screen. Each one started as points and ended as lines.
The lights began at two different points, but flew to multiple different points.
Shattering lights from shields scattered in the air along with the flying lights.
All of the lights started making Takeshi feel as if he was watching one of Suzume's concerts.
From next to him, Hoshi tilted her head.
"What do you mean, Takeshi-kun?"
"Looking at who is left and who has gotten points, it's clear that no matter what, it will be tough for any one side to finish this fight."
"Let's see… The remaining fighters would be Nasu-san, Kumagai-san, Asano-san, Lee-san, and Sthénos-chan. It still seems packed in this match, from what I can tell."
"That's true, but Tsukiko Squad is behind in a bad way. That makes it hard for them to end this. After having fought them the last match, I can understand how tough of a match this will be for Senzai Squad now. Senzai-senpai is out, meaning their close range fight is gone. With Shingai-san also out, that means their best long range attacks are also out. And Nasu Squad…"
They were the best off.
Hiura getting taken out had been a harsh hit since it meant that no one squad had the advantage when it came to stealth. But when compared to the other two squads, they were in a more dire situation here. After all…
"They are the main target."
"'Main target'? Oh, they are going to be the ones everyone else is going after!"
"Right. The main threats of Senzai Squad are taken out, so that only leaves Nasu Squad as a real threat."
"That does make sense. Nasu-san is very difficult to get past for someone as overlooked as me. So I can only imagine how much more of an issue it is once she has set you as the target."
"It really is troublesome… But that just goes to show how seriously she takes things. Although, I would imagine that Asano-san can handle a fight against her, as long as she remains focused."
"Heh heh."
Was it something to worry about if Hoshi was the one laughing?
No. She isn't like Senpai.
If Hoshi was the one laughing, it meant that she understood how he felt on the matter. She would have no alternative motive to do such a thing.
"So does this mean you are on Tsukiko Squad's side for this match, Takeshi-kun?"
"Hm?" He moved his eyes over to her, but did not move his head. It would be pointless to do more than that as long as she knew she had his attention. "I also want to see Nasu Squad do well. Senzai Squad… Well, I have only interacted with Senzai-senpai, and that was only when we had fought."
"I see. In that case, how about I be on the side of Nasu Squad while our upperclassman here is on the side of Senzai Squad? That way you can focus solely on Tsukiko Squad?"
At her words, Takeshi did turn his head to look over.
Besides the two of them, there had been one more person sitting there with them. The volume other voice did nothing to hide them, but he found it to still be less loud than Toby at times.
Seeing the capped Sniper of Suzunari-1 reminds him of the match that his own squad would be having later in the day.
So with that in mind…
"Betsuyaki-senpai, why are you sitting with us?"
"Huh? Oh, because you're Yuki-san's teammate and sister! We don't talk much, but my squad and Yuki-san have always said to treat you kindly!"
So then…
"Let's be friends!"
Another light laugh came from Hoshi. Those were getting harder to ignore as they came with the worst timing.
Seeing no way out of this situation, Takeshi only lifted his scarf with a resigned sigh.
"You are my senpai, so I don't know about friends. But…you can call me whatever you like."
"The same applies to me, Betsuyaki-senpai."
"Then as your senpai, I think you both should call me by my first name!"
The satisfied expression along with the way he puffed out his chest only made Takeshi begin to regret his choices.
I guess there's no choice then.
Using his scarf as a shield against Taichi, he listened to the third laugh that came from Hoshi.
Instead of focusing on either one of those two, he turned back to the screen in front of them.
"Then it's settled… Tsukiko Squad has to win this match."
American Idiot: "So… Can I be happy that I'm not the first one to get taken out this time?"
Asano remained silent to Shana's words.
Overprotective Sister: "Can't you read the mood, Shay?"
American Idiot: "I don't want to hear that from you! All I'm saying is that I wasn't the first one taken out this time, so I should be allowed to be happy about that!"
Overprotective Sister: "You don't see me doing that when you are the first one to lose!"
American Idiot: "Yes, I do! You keep reminding me of that!"
Overprotective Sister: "Oh, I guess you're right… Still!"
Messy Artist: "Hey, wouldn't it be better to let Eri concentrate for the moment?"
The immediate silence from her teammates was all she needed to understand that they would not say anything else for the time being.
She was not the captain of the squad, so Amaya had some rights to speak up, but when it came to strategy, it was where she needed to focus without the background noise.
A small breath was released through her nose when she thought about that.
To make a good enough strategy, she needed silence to focus.
But there are so many people who come up with strategies during even noisier times.
Her first thought had been Kotowari Squad.
Those people had the crazy upperclassmen dancing all the time and the dog boy who liked to make strange noises when excited. Their newest member seemed normal enough, but she did nothing to quiet the other two down.
And even with that noise always filling the space around them, their captain had been able to come up with plans without batting an eye at that noise.
If he did not even require a strategy, he would often ado the noise himself.
She had seen that during her fighting against the humanoid Neighbor.
It was a short battle where she had only been able to think of something after the Shor Squad captain had taken the lead. He had been the one to notice something and she had followed through by strategically moving around.
There had not been a time in that fight where she could properly think.
The noise had been especially loud during that fight.
Yet…
Kotowari Squad came in to help us.
They had ended it the moment they arrived.
Suzume's words from the Border base had messed with the Neighbor. It had been the first action taken by them.
The next action had been the destruction of the Neighbor's Trigger. That had been done by Takeshi firing his Laser Shooter without much of a thought.
It ended with Toby moving faster than they could register to check up on her teammates and the Shor Squad captain.
In less time that it took for them to try and attack, Kotowari Squad had defeated the Neighbor and went to make sure they were all fine.
But they were not here.
They could not help them even if they were here.
It was up to Tsukiko Squad to fight their own battles.
It was up to Asano to come up with a strategy for victory.
It was up to her and Shana to follow through and obtain that victory afterwards.
When did I become such a downer…?
When her teammates were as energetic as they were, it was a wonder how she had even reached this point.
But she had.
Since that was the case, there was only one thing to do.
.
"This sucks."
She let it out.
"This really sucks.
"Seriously, this sucks.
"I need to come up with something. I'll do that. But it sucks that I need to do that under these circumstances.
"We still have myself and Shana around, but points have been sniped from us (no pun intended) and now there are only three people left to take points from.
"And one of those people is Nasu. She's better than me at Viper, for the time being, so we need to move more carefully. I would want to get her away from Kumagai, but that might not happen.
"Then I heard a rumor about some Trigger Kumagai has. We don't know what it is, so that just makes it even worse."
Her teammates did not interrupt and she did not stop.
She took another breath to continue.
"They are even more determined to win this since Hiura is leaving after this season. They might even go to extreme measures to make sure they win. We can do that too, but it would only get us two more losses."
This sucks.
But…
"There is still something we can do."
Silence took over their communication once again.
This time it was followed by words that held a smile in them.
Overprotective Sister: "Did you get it all out of your system?"
"Yeah, pretty much," she said while lowering her shoulders.
"I'm good now. Just needed to get all of that pent up stress out."
Overprotective Sister: "You know… If you had a specific someone to rely on, you could always go to them at times like these. Say…a captain perhaps? A Shooter one? With a specially made Trigger. Always wears a scarf."
"Don't you dare end up like Suzume, Maya. I will actually fire at you next time."
Overprotective Sister: "I'm just saying! …Ask Takeshi out."
Was she being serious or was she just teasing at this point?
Asano groaned. Her head could not hurt while in a trion body, but she felt like it would once she left the body.
It's probably both…
But she could not think about that seriously.
As things stood, both of them had their focus on the B-Rank Wars. That boy even more so since he was trying to catch up to his former captain.
It would be hard to justify saying anything ruins this time.
What's more, what even were her feeling there?
She had started speaking more with him after their match. During those times, she began to realize what his true personality was like.
It was the opposite of what others saw.
Most could still only see what he had done against Kakizaki Squad and did not see past that.
Kakizaki himself had seemed to have gotten over it, for the most part, so it should have gotten things to settle down.
That did not happen.
People still held onto their thoughts instead of trying to get closer to that boy.
It is kind of nice being one of the few who knows how he really is though..
A shy boy who hid behind his scarf. Someone who could mess around easily enough with his squad while respecting others, no matter their age, gender or skill. He was someone who saw his own flaws and was working to improve himself.
And he was doing a good job at it.
His upperclassmen, herself included, and already helped him and noticed the changes in him.
But I still don't know how to feel…
That was something no strategy could tell her.
Her feelings were her own and she knew that she needed to figure them out.
Even if she would need help along the way.
American Idiot: "Hey, have you come up with a strategy? Is that what all that silence was about?"
She gave a small "eep" in her heart once she heard Shana's voice.
Even I can do that!? Am I more girly than even I thought!?
If she had done that out loud, there would be no end to the teasing she would have received from her teammates.
She felt extremely relieved to know that she managed to keep it inside.
Clearing her throat unnecessarily, she looked around the corner of the building she had been standing behind.
Stealing herself here was what was needed from her.
So she did just that.
Eri: "Yes. I have a plan that should work."
American Idiot: "'Should'?"
Eri: "You heard me wrong."
A smile bloomed on her face as she began loading her next attack.
"I have a plan that will work."
.
Nasu was the first one to notice the way their opponents were now moving.
That fact alone was troublesome.
For the past few minutes, both Tsukiko Squad and Sthénos had been using Bagworm to hide themselves. Since she was now able to see them moving, it meant that they were done hiding and would be moving to the final part of this match.
They would attack.
That is exactly what they did.
Lines traced along the sky above them.
The setting for this map had been nighttime, so those lights were clear as day to her and Kumagai, who was standing near her.
"A direct attack!? Wouldn't it be better for them to attack while hidden?"
"This could be a diversion, so watch out, Kuma-chan."
"Right!"
Instead of blocking the attacks with a Shield, Nasu held out her hands in order to properly fire.
The chess of trion circling her waist were the points that started her attacks.
"Viper!"
So she began to attack using those points.
Those points would throw out her trion as lines.
Once those lines reached a certain point, they would turn.
After turning, they would become new lines that would then lead to the end points.
It was a simple connection of points that she had been able to do after practicing with the Trigger.
This time had not been any different.
Her Viper shots moved through the air, following a line that only she could see in her mind. Those lines were set to follow the course that this attack had come from.
Some of her own Viper collided with the opposing ones midair while others continued on to where the opposing lines had originated.
Simplifying things down to single words does help with these sorts of things.
That was a fact she had learned after asking around the Border base.
She already met the requirements to use a freeform Viper, but simplifying everything else reduced lag time between figuring out how it should be done and actually firing. Calling each attack a "line" and their beginnings and ends "points" made imaging her own attacks that much easier. To make sure they went where she wanted, all she needed to do was add "turn" to the "line" and "points". That would create the attacks she wanted from start to finish.
When I asked Izumi-kun about it, he had used some pretty strange words himself. I guess everyone else has their own way of doing things.
Like that boy who used lasers.
The way he fired was different from everyone else.
His own "point" was connected to his "line" when firing, so he could always create "lines" after firing. It was a Trigger that took up a good amount of trion, but he always managed to pull through when he had to.
Then there was her current opponent.
She was a strategic type, just like that boy. The only difference was that he was free from that kind of thinking when firing due to the carefree life his squad provided for him.
Asano-chan takes things seriously. But that can be a bad thing when it comes to using your imagination. It's what holds her back from properly firing Viper. But…
She could say nothing to the girl.
When Nasu tried to say something to her, Asano would politely decline, stating she wanted to figure it out.
That had only been the first few times though.
Recently, she had heard me out. She just can't understand how to get it done.
There was something the girl was missing.
Both Nasu and Izumi had noticed it easily, but even they were unsure as to what exactly it was.
Her thought process as a strategist was certainly a factor, but there was still something in her that was holding her back.
Poor girl, was the only thing that Nasu could think of as she watched the remaining shots collide and scatter light onto the battlefield.
She wanted to help, but she was not sure what to help with exactly.
So for now…
"I'll help her by not holding back!"
She prepared even more shots.
These would hit their mark.
"Rei!"
That was what should have happened.
.
Kumagai noticed the next opponent even as she ran forward.
She was not guarding Nasu so much as she was the one to notice this close opponent through the buildings.
Which one is it? Lee or Sthénos!?
Both girls were able to fight at close range. The former was by far the better one at that, but that meant it would be worse if she was the one attacking.
"I got it, Kuma-chan. Just make sure to defend if any more shots come in."
"Leave it to me!"
"Viper!"
With a hand thrown to the side, Nasu fired on both sides.
Shattering glass could be heard as the trion shots broke through the buildings to snuff out whichever opponent it was that had tried to sneak up on them.
"Nyaha! That's unfair!"
Something was thrown into the air once the shots reached the end of the buildings.
Nasu wasted no time in firing at the object.
But at a closer inspection, something did not seem right.
In the dark of the nighttime, they saw a light being thrown up.
"That's now her!"
Sthénos would not be a bright light.
So what they had attacked became obvious.
"Meteora!"
An explosion went off in the nighttime air.
The building under it had its roof destroyed.
Both Nasu and Kumagai hid behind a shield to defend against the explosion.
Smoke filled the air, blinding them from everything around them.
"Keh!"
A reminder of their fight against the Neighbor came to mind.
She had used a smokescreen to blind them.
Within that smokescreen she had used Dogs to attack them and trick Nasu. That trick had worked and she had taken one of Nasu's arms.
But…
"This is different."
This is Rei and I am actually here.
There was no way to replicate their likeness.
This smokescreen only obstructed their vision from a few feet in front of them.
So what did they need to do?
"Push it away!"
Using the shields placed around them, both Nasu and Kumagai pushed those shields forward.
The smoke parted as the shields pushed them away.
And form within the pushed smoke they saw…
"I hope you didn't set me as a target!"
Sthénos held her hand out while moving forward.
"Rei, get back!"
"You're not as fast as those girls!"
With a snap of her wrist, Sthénos brought her arm down as if dunking the cube of trion onto the ground.
A new explosion filled the space.
Sniper Detective: "Well that is a new tactic."
Cloudy River: "Is it really a tactic? I think she might have just wanted to mess with Nasu Squad?]"
Okay: "It's Sthé-chan after all. I wouldn't put it past 'er."
Svantje and Kumokawa simultaneously nodded their heads.
The small Shooter had a strange habit of doing strange things no one expected.
Cloudy River: "Still, it looks like both of the Nasu Squad members made it out. They look to have taken some damage, but are otherwise still fine to continue fighting."
Okay: "I wonder if Tsukiko Squad wanted somethin' like this to happen. Asano had given up her position 'n took some return fire a minute ago. Maybe that's just a way to get their attention while Sthé-chan went in for an attack."
Cloudy River: "Considering they are the toughest ones to beat at the moment, that would make sense."
Okay: "Tsukiko Squad was usin' Sthé-chan for an attack. But for their own attack. They're down in points, havin' zero at the moment, so lettin' Senzai Squad get any more than they have'll only make more trouble for 'em. So this might just be 'em moving everyone around to how they like."
Cloudy River: "Asano does enjoy playing with strategies. Like you said, it looks like she is moving everyone around to make sure they can attack."
Sniper Detective: "Survival points come down to it for them. If they want to win, they need those extra points. So tying here won't help anything."
Cloudy River: "The issue with this kind of strategy is using Agent Sthénos. She is unpredictable even for her own squad. That is only made more true when it comes to her opponents. So if she blows herself up here, that would be one less point for Tsukiko Squad to try and get."
Sniper Detective: "I wonder about that…"
The tone Svantje took when speaking was enough for everyone to consider what was going on.
She was not telling them what she had figured out, but not because she didn't want to. It felt more like she wanted them all to figure it out themselves.
"Is this a byproduct on Minoru-senpai wanting to be a teacher?"
"Is that how it works?"
Takeshi could see both Taichi and Hoshi shrug at the same time.
It was nice that they were getting along.
Hoshi was a nice girl who deserved this.
With Taichi focusing on speaking with Hoshi, it gave Takeshi time to think about the match.
He had reached the same confusion that Svantje had just said, but had not gone further than that. The girl had found something beyond his own thoughts.
He wanted to reach that point before it happened.
He would feel bad for not figuring out what Tsukiko Squad was doing before they did it.
At the same time, he felt that it wouldn't be too bad if that happened. It would mean that Asano had planned something that he would not be able to see through until the last moment.
Giving her praise for something like that was certain to make her feel happy.
So should I stop right here with my thoughts?
No, that wouldn't be right. That would mean I stopped trying to understand her just because I wanted to compliment her.
If he figured out what she had been planning then he would be able to give her an even better compliment.
Understanding everything that she had prepared meant that he had taken the time to reach that point and cared enough to find the same thought process she already had. Coming to a full understanding here would mean something even better for him to tell here later on.
"You are really thinking about this, aren't you, Takeshi?"
Realizing that he was being stared at by Taichi and Hoshi, he lifted his scarf to hide his face.
Letting them know what my thoughts were will only get me in trouble with the wrong people…
Both of them were not the type to tease him on something like this, that much he understood. But he also understood that both of them would not be able to keep it a secret if it was brought up by someone else.
That was where the danger was.
So with that in his mind, he resolved himself to only give them the most simple of responses.
"…You took to calling me by name quickly, Senpai."
"You said I could call you whatever I wanted!"
"And that still applies. I was…only amazed by how casual you can be when this is the most we have spoken to each other."
"I need to look out for you for both Yuki-san and Suzume-chan after all! If Suzume-chan found out that I wasn't taking care of you… I'll end up being in a mob doujinshi!"
"The fact you pointed out exactly what kind of doujinshi…"
Fixing his scarf again, Takeshi gave a solemn nod.
"But that sounds right. Mob ones are usually her go-to punishment."
"Mob…? Um, what exactly is a doujinshi?"
Taichi was quick to pull out his phone.
Taicchi: "Yuki-san! I'm so, so sorry! I didn't know! Please don't be mad with me!"
Kuru-ma: "Taichi, calm down. I'm sure whatever you did, it wasn't too bad."
Colors: "Um, I'm also sorry. I had thought…"
Black Wolf: "What happened?"
Taicchi: "T-T-Taiyōko! Um, she, uh…"
Black Wolf: "Hoshi!? Did something happen? What was it? Tell me where you are. I will be right there."
Colors: "No need for that, Kō-san. But, uh, what he meant was…"
Black Wolf: "Yes?"
Takeshi looked over to see Taichi giving him a pleading look.
The one to tell the others about this would be the one to get the most backlash.
Neither one wanted to say anything.
"Is something the matter? Did I ask something wrong?"
"N-n-n-n-no! No no no no no! You're completely fine! We're just…uh…"
"We are only making sure of something, Hoshi."
"I see. Carry on then."
Neither one could say anything.
The amount of trouble would be too great.
And yet…
"I'll…take this one on."
Takeshi gave a mental salute to this brave upperclassman.
Black Wolf: "Taichi?"
Taicchi: "Um… I sort of didn't know that Taiyōko didn't know what a doujinshi was…"
Black Wolf: "…"
Taicchi: "I also…mentioned the mob ones Suzume-san makes as punishments…"
Black Wolf: "…"
Kuru-ma: "Um, excuse me? What exactly is a doujinshi? And why are mobs involved as punishment?"
Everything stopped for the two boys.
Takeshi slowly turned to Taichi.
What he saw was…
"Sniff sniff…"
There was no longer any sort of escape for him.
All that Takeshi could do was prayer for his upperclassman.
Black Wolf: "Taichi."
Taicchi: "Y-yes!?"
Black Wolf: "I am not mad."
"That only makes it seem like he's more mad!"
Takeshi gave another solemn nod.
Black Wolf: "But."
"But!? But what!?"
Black Wolf: "We will need to have a long talk about your choices today."
Small tears could be seen coming from Taichi's eyes at this point.
Hoshi must have not noticed since she did not even turn in his direction.
But as for Takeshi…
You have my respect, Senpai. I will be there for your funeral.
"Don't just kill me off in your heart, Takeshi!"
His thoughts must have shown to get that kind of reaction.
Kuru-ma: "So, are doujinshi something bad?"
Mi-Kon: "You can just forget about that word. Also, I will need to talk to you later so we can give those two some privacy."
Taicchi: "Please, no! I need witnesses!"
"Oh, Tsukiko Squad is moving again."
"Don't kill me off in your mind too, Takeshi!"
It was all he could do to preserve the memory of his newly respected upperclassman.
Takeshi gave one final look to Taichi before facing the screen again.
Kumagai clicked her tongue as she moved back.
The explosion had missed her, but she still took some damage from it.
No, it wasn't that the attack missed.
Rei pulled me back.
Instead of taking the brunt of the explosion herself, Kumagai had been forcibly moved out of the way by Nasu.
As a result of that action, Nasu's arm could be seen missing and smaller parts of her body were leaking trion.
"Rei…"
"You're at your best when you're using two hands to attack. If I lose an arm then I just need to make up for the loss of balance myself. You would have a tougher time doing that. Besides…"
Kumagai nodded as she looked in the direction that Nasu was looking.
In front of them was a girl with lines tracing all along her body. Each one connected and showed them just how much the damage had done to her.
Sthénos only grinned at them though.
"I did more damage to myself than anyone else. So if I Bail Out, none of you get the point. Isn't that great!?"
Kumagai said nothing while Nasu only smiled down to the girl.
It would have been easy to take this point in front of them, but they all knew better than to try something like that.
After all…
"Here they come."
As if to signal the final battle, Sthénos' body turned into light before flying off into the distance.
Bail Out.
But that was not what the two Nasu Squad members were focused on at the moment.
Instead, they looked towards the girl rushing them with a scythe in her grasp.
Kumagai reacted first by moving away from Nasu.
If this scythe girl went for her, Nasu would be able to fill her full of holes.
If she went after Nasu, the result would be the same. The weight of the scythe was just too much to move against someone like Nasu.
So instead of going for one of them, the scythe girl took a different action.
"Oooooohhh!"
She turned.
.
Shana had gotten used to being pulled by the weight of Reaper to the point of incorporating it into her fighting style.
But then she found something new.
It had been something she noticed when watching how certain others moved.
Use your body more!
At Noah's suggestion, she had added Grasshopper to her Trigger set. It gave her speed to move around, but it also helped add momentum to her attacks and an easy way to change their directions.
But that also gave away her movements.
It would be easy to see where her attacks would come from just by looking at where she placed the Grasshopper plates.
So she had tried to find a different way of changing directions.
And what she found was something she felt she could do.
I lose some speed and momentum by doing this, but it makes moving easier. It also makes my attacks less obvious.
It was something so simple that others may have forgotten about it.
But someone had shown it to her through their actions.
That was…
Kick!
Still in the motion of her previous attack, she began to lift her leg into the air.
Nasu was ready to fire from the side, so that took priority over everything else.
Lifting her leg a bit more, she began to turn as if kicking the air.
With her forward motion forcing her to lean forward, she saw the ground get closer. Yet she still lifted her leg.
Her kick hit.
The kick had hit the dull end of Reaper.
The scythe was kicked to the side where Nasu was firing her shots.
As she began to lean towards the ground in a falling motion, she felt a sudden pull from the scythe Trigger.
The weight and momentum from the kick forcibly threw the scythe into the air. As a result, she was forced to move with it.
"Viper!"
The shots had been fired.
She would be filled with holes soon.
"—"
But that did not happen.
With a harsh swing, Reaper violently tore through the air. Once it had reached the height of the shots, Shana took hold of the shaft and swung the scythe even more.
The trion blade at the end of Reaper cut through the shots.
The surface was enough to hit each one of the shots that had been sent her way.
"What!?"
Instead of answering or stopping, Shana only lifted her leg again. This time it was a kick coming from behind her leg.
Like kicking a soccer ball, the direction of the scythe changed to match the direction the kick had come from.
With her momentum still intact, she rushed Nasu while fixing her grip on Reaper's shaft.
Nasu reacted by moving back.
Putting up a shield would have been pointless when this American Trigger was known for destructive power.
Shana did not worry about the dodge though and continued her swing.
Before the trion blade could stab into the ground, she placed a blue plate under it.
The blade landed on the blue plate.
The blade then jumped with a start.
"Keh!"
Feeling the pull from the scythe, Shana ground her teeth together.
Punch!
Like hitting it with a hammer, she brought down her fist onto Reaper's shaft.
She continued to move forward.
With a steady power to her blade, she made a repeated swing with Reaper.
She hit.
.
Nasu had thought she would be safe as long as she dodged the initial attack.
The Trigger Shana was using had been known for how difficult it was to move around. The Attacker had seemed to find a way to better move around with it, but there were still so many openings to her attacks.
That doesn't seem to be the case now.
There were still openings that were obvious, but now there was danger in going for those openings. Especially at close range.
Using her full body and physical blows, Shana had been able to better move Reaper around. The cost seemed to be momentum and speed, but it seemed worth it in Nasu's eyes.
This was just what happened when people wanted to grow stronger.
When there was something they wanted to do.
And especially when facing strong opponents.
Fights were not based on spirit alone, that much had always been true. But that spirit could lead to finding something new to use.
That was the case here.
The spirit of wanting to win had shown Shana a way to fight that used her full body as correction points for her heavy and difficult to use Trigger.
It was rather amazing.
Still…
We have our own reason and resolve to win too!
Sinking her feet into the ground, she gave a harsh push off the ground and into the air.
The starting "points" of her attack shone for a moment before she fired.
Each "line" was visible in her mind.
Even the turns needed for her attack had been thought out the moment those "points" had been prepared.
All she needed to do was fire them.
"Viper!"
The lines raced out from each point.
And they were going to move into their turns.
It doesn't matter if you figured out a better way to fight. I still hold the advantage when I create a distance between us. Sorry about-
Nasu's eyes went wide as her thoughts were cut off.
Before the turns could be completed, something had come down from above and collided with the lines.
Her Viper had been shot down.
"How did she…!?"
There was only one person who could have done such a thing on this battlefield.
But I thought she still couldn't do it!
Cloudy River: "What's this? Captain Nasu's Viper have been shot down!?"
Okay: "We're focused on the new way Lee's fightin' that we didn't notice attack coming from a distance. Although…"
Oki looked to the side.
To his left was the equally surprised Kumokawa.
And to his right…
Sniper Detective: "Heh heh~"
Svantje gave a small laugh.
Noticing that she was being looked at, she turned to Oki and flashed a smile.
He could only respond with his own smile.
Okay: "One of us had figured it out long ago."
Sniper Detective: "It wasn't that hard to figure out. You just needed to think about the situation and how people like Tsukiko Squad do things. Oh, but I'm not the only one who figured it out in time."
She continued to smile as she tilted her head down.
Following her tilting head, Oki looked down to see one person looking at the screen with his own smile.
Okay: "I see."
.
Nice!
Takeshi fixed his scarf to hide his smile.
It had not been until the attack started, but he had managed to figure out what would happen.
It was clear to him now and even he couldn't hold back the excitement that began to fill his body.
I had thought she got it down when we were fighting our match. I guess that method was just a placeholder.
During their match against each other, he had lost an arm to an attack that came from a hidden location.
The problem during that time was that the attack had still been easily tracked. It had been what gave Takeshi the chance to strike back. But now…
That attack was different. It followed a course that was not preset and the location it originated from is not something you could tell at a glance.
This was a freeform Viper in a true sense.
It was no longer a placeholder for a quickly thought of firing style.
This was how Asano Eri would fire from now on.
Good job, Asano-san!
The ever calm and reserved Asano felt pride in herself start to well up.
She had managed to fire a freeform Viper. She had even managed to shoot down Nasu's Viper from a distance.
I can feel happy about this, right? Yeah. Maya and Shana always feel happy when they score points, and Kuni gets so excited when making a masterpiece. So I can feel happy about this!
She still did not know what she had been missing to fire freeform Viper, but whatever it was, she had found a way through it.
Thinking back, she felt like it could have been some of the advice she had gotten from other Shooters. Even the ones who didn't use Viper had tried to give her some advice.
"I like to imagine my attacks following 'lines' and 'points'. It's like throwing attacks at people without them knowing where it will be coming from."
"I just want to see my attack hit and do damage. If they miss then even I'll feel like crap about it. That's why I prefer bombing. Making things go out with a 'BOOM' is so much better. …You shut up over there, Spear Idiot!"
"Um… My lasers work differently from normal shots, so I don't think I can help much. I still maintain control when I'm firing, so I don't even tend to use Viper or Hound. I can just move my attacks. Sorry for not being helpful here…"
"Eh? Me? Ya know I don't use Viper, dontcha? But I guess I'd say ya could try turnin' the whole thing into somethin' ya like. Like, turn it into a game or something'. If ya do that, ya might find out how to fi- Gah! Dammit, Frog! I told ya I'm not a pad!"
"…"
She could only stare into nothing.
How did some of them even reach that point again…?
She had many questions about others now.
But now isn't the time for that. I need to keep this up.
She saw it clearly.
There was no longer a reason to line up her shots or move her arms.
She had found out what to do.
Everything was laid out in front of her.
It was like a game of chess.
The way they all moved had begun to be viewed as pieces of a chess board. Each one had a specific type of movement that they liked to use.
From there, all she needed to do was use each one of their pieces correctly so that they could take the King.
Each one of them had their own roles to play.
Even her Viper.
If I think about it like this then that means my shots are the Pawns. They are expendable, but still useful.
And even they had a set movement. All she had to do was set that movement herself.
Think about how to move them and…
"Viper!"
.
Kumagai quickly took over her shock at what she had been and moved in to deal with Shana.
Nasu's Viper had been shot down and if Shana got closer, it would only take one hit to deal with the finishing blow.
So in that case…
"Fujin!"
Holding her blade close to her, she activated the prototype Trigger she had set.
The blade of Kōgetsu split apart like a blooming flower. Ribbons of light sprung of that blooming. There were five in total.
Kōgetsu's normal blade would not stand a chance against the heavy blade of Reaper. The durability was just not enough to counter that heavy hit.
So if the durability of Kōgetsu would not cut it, there was only one thing to do.
I'll control my slashes! If I can get at least one arm off, that should be enough.
When moving that heavy Trigger, it took Shana's entire body and movements to properly control the motions of Reaper. So if even one limb became useless, the entire Trigger would become too much of a hindrance for her.
That was Kumagai's aim here.
So she put that plan into action.
She moved forward.
But as she took a step closer…
"—!?"
She had to put up a shield to defend against the Viper shots that threatened to hit her.
Looking down at her split blade, she noticed that the ribbons of light were still there.
So once the blade split apart, it's like I'm only using one Trigger then.
There was an advantage to that as well as a disadvantage.
If it was registered as a single Trigger in use then it meant that she could use a second one while moving in to attack with Fujin.
But it also meant that she would have to recreate Kōgetsu's blade once she had used up all of her slashes. Something like that would take too much trion.
This just means I need to get this done before I use them all up!
Focusing too much on the Viper coming from the sky would only slow her down. If she wanted to hit before she used up all of her slashes then she would need to resolve herself to taking some hits.
Viper: "Kuma-chan, leave the distance attacks to me. Focus on cutting her down."
With a nod, Kumagai moved towards Shana. Now with the reassurance of not being hit by the shots, she dug her feet into the ground and moved forward.
.
Shana continued her movement even after Nasu had dodged the attack.
Kumagai was coming from behind, so she kicked Reaper upwards from the bottom.
The scythe flew in an arc above her head.
She shifted the position of her hands to hold the shaft of the scythe properly with both hands.
Kumagai was rushing forward with no blade but five slashes.
If she were to take a direct hit from Reaper, there would be no coming back.
But if Shana were to take a slash to one of her limbs, she would be unable to weird her Trigger properly anymore.
The two girls moved.
With a downward swing, Shana slammed Reaper towards the ground.
Kumagai moved by sliding to the right.
She commanded one of the ribbons of light to move towards Shana.
Shana lifted her foot before the blade could touch the ground. She gave a hard kick to the shaft of Reaper while also turning it in her hands.
The blade now cut horizontally through the air.
The first slash came before she could reach Kumagai.
It chipped the blade. But otherwise it did nothing more than that.
The second slash came soon after.
It moved in from behind Shana instead.
Leaving the scythe the way it was, she continued her turn. The pull from Reaper's momentum dragged her along.
She took a step back while still swinging the scythe.
The second blade collided with the shaft of Reaper.
Three slashes were left.
Kumagai came in from under the horizon slash made by Reaper.
She found herself at Shana's side and commanded her third slash.
Shana's response to this was to slam her down on the top of the shaft in order to force the weight of the Trigger towards the ground.
Kumagai jumped back to dodge the downward hit.
She saw her third slash connect.
"Damn it!"
It connected with Shana's side.
"Don't say that when you hit me!"
Shana kicked the back of the blade to forcibly throw it back into the air.
This time, instead of letting the force take her, she let go of the shaft.
Reaper flew into the air as Shana began to run.
"—!?"
Kumagai was quick to follow.
Without Reaper weighing her down, Shana's speed was able to keep her at a distance away from Kumagai.
"If I could just…"
Kumagai muttered to herself as she chased the other girl.
There were two slashes left connected to the hilt of the former Kōgetsu.
Shana was far ahead of her now.
"I just need to…"
Feeling desperate, she threw her arm forward.
At that range she would have a small chance of hitting Shana.
"Reach out!"
That was when something unexpected happened.
.
Shana went wide eyed as a slash reached her side.
The cut was not deep, but it had been the fact that it appeared on her side that surprised her.
She knew that she was barely in range of those ribbons of light. But…
It shouldn't have been able to reach my side!
At worst it would cut her back a bit. For it to reach her side meant that Kumagai had either gotten closer or something else happened.
And she had an idea as to what it had been.
With this new realization upon her, she turned her head to the sky as she took a leap.
Taking in air, she gave a shout.
"Eri!"
.
Kumagai had seen it happen along with her shout.
She had not expected anything to happen. All she had wanted was to let out her frustration of not being able to reach Shana.
Yet something did happen.
The ribbon of light she had commanded with her words followed through.
The ribbon of light had extended it's form out and cut through Shana's side.
It had not been a deep cut, but it was something new that she had not known about.
Extending out slashes like that had not been like what she heard about the original Black Trigger.
The original had even more range than this copy, being able to run along surfaces. And she had not seen Kotowari Squad's newest member use this kind of tactic in their match against her squad.
Did she not even know about that?
Had that girl created a replica of a Black Trigger without knowing everything it could do? Had her tests not shown her that she could do such a thing?
Or had she just chosen to not use this in their match.
Either way!
This was her chance.
Shana had taken a hit, but she had only one slash left.
That was when it happened.
"Eri!"
.
Shana gave her shout without reserve.
As soon as she leaped into the air, one of the shots that had been with the ones fired at Nasu turned.
It had not been a sudden thing. That single shot had been singled out as the one to move unlike the rest of them.
The shot separated from the rest of them and flew in the air.
The target had not been Kumagai.
It had been the thrown Reaper.
The shot collided with the blade of Reaper, throwing it into a spin while tossing it to the side.
Shana grabbed a hold of the spinning scythe and held the shaft of Reaper tightly with both hands.
The weight of the Trigger pushed down hard as she applied even more pressure with a swing.
There was only one target.
Kumagai.
"Viper!"
From the corner of her eye, she could see a set of shots moving towards her.
Another set of shots came down from above.
The second set of shots shot down she of the first set of shots, but didn't manage to hit them all.
With that now being a problem, Shana created a shield to her side.
The remaining shots from the first set collided with the shield and could not break through.
But…
"Extend! Fujin Kōgetsu!"
When she focused back down, she saw the remaining ribbon of light extend from the hit of Kōgetsu.
The ribbon of light continued to extend as a sharp slash directly toward her.
"Damn it…!"
Using the remainder of her swing, she attacked the extended slash.
The two attacks collided.
The ribbon of light left a deep cut in the blade of reaper while Reaper cut through the slash.
But that had not been all.
Beyond the colliding attack, something else happened.
Kumagai tossed aside the hilt.
There was no longer a blade and there were no longer ribbons of light.
So instead of holding onto it, she made a different action.
She made a cube of trion.
"Meteora!"
"Crap!"
For the second time in that moment, two attacks collided.
.
From her position to the side, Nasu could see what had happened.
Once all of Fujin Kōgetsu's slashes had been used up, Kumagai had tossed aside the hilt and fired a Meteora cluster shot.
The problem had been that she had no time to actually fire.
So instead, the heavy scythe Trigger clawed Reaper and tore through the cube of trion.
An explosion had filled the space as smoke rose up.
"!"
There was no chance of moving towards the explosion.
But she did not need to go over to see the end result.
Two lights flashed in that space before flying off into the distance.
Bail Out.
Bail Out.
Cloudy River: "Well that was unexpected."
Kumokawa spoke calmly as she watched the scene play out before them.
The double Bail Out had been a result of two attacks colliding with each other and causing an explosion.
When she looked at the new score, she was able to see who exactly got points.
Cloudy River: "It looks like the explosion had finished Agent Lee off, but not without a price. Both Tsukiko Squad and Nasu Squad gain a point."
Okay: "Lee had probably managed to get'er Reaper through at the last moment. And from the looks of things, it looks like that's what brings us to the last choice of the match."
She nodded her head at Oki's words.
Once the points had been distributed, there had been a sudden shift in the match they were watching.
The two remaining members were no longer attacking each other.
Cloudy River: "It looks like there is now a ceasefire."
Sniper Detective: "Neither one of them will be making any more attacks now that all of their teammates are gone."
Cloudy River: "If it came to a battle between these two, Captain Nasu would come out the winner. But that would only be if they were both full on trion and had no injuries. In this situation, it would be a toss up on who would win exactly. Neither one of them wants to give the other team the survival points. So no matter what, leaving it with no decisive winner is the best option for them. They don't want to go on a suicide run and end up losing it all."
Okay: "If Asano were to win then it'd put 'er squad in the winning position. But like you said, Kumo-san: there'd be too much to lose if she lost."
Sniper Detective: "So the two of them will be running down the clock."
Kumokawa nodded once more. This time it was to Svantje's words.
This was the final moment of the match. Once it was over, she would need to wrap it all up.
But until then…
Cloudy River: "They had all done well in this match."
.
Takeshi released a breath he didn't know he was holding.
The match had basically been finished. Now he just had to wait for the time to run out. Then it would be over and he could go talk to the ones who had participated in the match.
"Oh, my. That had my heart racing there. Between Kumagai-senpai and Lee-san, I was not sure who would win."
"Hey, hey, Hoshi, that's the Trigger you made, wasn't it? The one Kumagai-senpai used."
"Indeed. I was surprised to see someone as strong as her use a Trigger I had made. I will admit that it makes me happy though."
"In that case, you did a crazy good job making it! The way it extends out like that was nice!"
"Oh, yes… Um, Taichi-senpai, to be completely honest, I had no idea it could do that."
Takeshi was quick to turn to Hoshi.
During their previous matches, he had not seen her use the Trigger in such a way. He had thought that she only decided not to use it in order to keep it a secret. But this was new information for even her.
There was no reason to say anything to her. Taichi had already begun for him.
"You didn't know about that!? Th-th-then, Kumagai-senpai figured that out by herself!?"
Hoshi gave a nod and lowered her brows.
She truly had no idea that it was possible to do such a thing with a Trigger she had created.
Taichi let out a sigh of his own as he sat back in his seat.
"Man… Kumagai-senpai is really good. No wonder-"
This time with Takeshi and Hoshi turned to Taichi at the same time.
Both of them wore the same expression of, "What were you about to say!? Tell us, please!"
For his part, Taichi had covered his mouth and began to sweat profusely.
He rapidly shook his head. A clear sign that he wanted them to forget that he had said anything.
Takeshi only fixed his scarf as an answer.
I wonder how much I can get from Senpai with that information.
"Hyuu~~! That was fun while it lasted!"
"Honestly, with you…"
Sthénos gigged into her hands. Even if Shingai sighed in her direction, it meant nothing when she had already had her fun.
To the side she could see Senshi and Tekitai smiling at the two of them.
The match had been the entire time, but it lacked a certain feeling that she had gotten when fighting against the Mouri trion soldiers.
During that fight, she had been able to do so much and not hide her abilities. It had felt so liberating that she hadn't even felt the need to strip during that time.
Compared to that fight, this match felt like nothing more than playing around.
I do like playing around, but it just feels so restricting… I want to show off some more…
A normal person would have sighed at this point. But she did not.
She had not understood why people sighed when they felt bad or slap themselves when they tried to motivate themselves. But she had done the latter before, just to feel what it was like.
But sighing here would only worry her teammates.
So instead, she continued to smile for them.
"Hey, hey, does this mean I can get a treat since I was the last one to lose!? I even took myself out so that they wouldn't be able to get a point!"
"Sthénos, while that was indeed a good job… Please do not do something like that again. Even if everything is inside of your core, I don't even want to think about what would happen if you did that in a real fight."
"Yuki told us about how well you did during the attack a few days ago. He also told us about how you managed to beat one of those strong trion soldiers. It had been reckless. But well meaning. If you can keep that up then we will be fine. Just make sure not to self destruct on us."
"Senshi! Do not be so soft like that. Any damage is back. It was indeed reckless, so-"
Sthénos' smile began to falter.
Senshi must have noticed this since he looked over Shingai's shoulder to smile down at her.
Seeing that smile, she returned it with full force.
All these people wanted to do was make sure she was okay.
The least she could do was listen a bit to their wants. And if they wanted her safe, she would try for that.
The first thing Nasu came to once she was back with her teammates was Hiura bouncing up to her.
The next thing was Kumagai grinning over to her.
"Nice job. Leaving it with no survival points is way better than trying to fight a losing battle."
They had not even given her a chance to apologize for the end result.
Kumagai brought her over to the computer for the final comments, all with a smile on her face.
"You both did so well too. Akane-chan managed to get some good hits in."
"Yeah, but Kumagai-senpai was more amazing with the way she used that new Trigger!"
"Heh heh heh… I actually didn't know it could do that. It was a happy accident that seemed to work out, in the end." Kumagai sheepishly looked away from the starry-eyed expression on Hiura's face. "If anything you should be praising the girl who made it. She is the one who managed to come up with it."
Nasu placed a hand on her chin while looking at nothing in particular.
She thought back to the first time she had seen the Trigger in use.
It had been during their match against Katori Squad and Kotowari Squad. The user had been a new girl who seemed to be doing the best she could.
"Oh yeah, now I remember when I have met her!"
"Huh? You met Taiyōko before our match with them?"
"Yes," she nodded. "It was at the hospital. She was visiting Yuki-san. Once she had left, I asked him about her and he said that she was his younger sister. It was a while ago, so it must have slipped my mind during our match."
"Well we haven't really seen her since the match, so it makes sense that it wouldn't come to mind."
"Still, if she was the one to make Fujin Kōgetsu, it shows what kind of person she is. Someone who enjoys inventing."
Kumagai crossed her arms and gave a nod.
If anyone on their team could understand that at the moment then it was her.
"Kotowari Squad has a match later today, so it'll have to wait, but I want to really have a word with her. The fact that you know her, Rei, just makes me want to speak with her even more."
"Do you think she likes ice cream as much as Yuki-san?"
A shudder ran down their spines at the thought.
No matter what their upperclassman said, they all knew too well that he had an addiction to the frozen treat.
"Let's hope not…"
"Whoo! High fives all around!"
The sound of clapping hands could be heard as Amaya moved from one teammate to another.
Once she reached Asano, she found that her hands remained in the air while waiting for her friend.
The unimpressed look Asano was giving her did nothing to curb her enthusiasm.
After a moment more, the Shooter gave in with a soft smile. She raised her hands and clapped them to her captain's.
"See, it isn't so hard~?"
"You do realize that we lost, right?"
"That sucks, yeah, but I think it was worth it."
"How so?"
The sly smirk on Amaya's face was a bit irritating, but Asano said nothing about it and allowed her to continue talking.
Putting her arms behind her head, Amaya turned on one foot to face the other way.
"Because we now have an awesome Shooter who can fire freeform Viper. We'll be winning even more matches from no one."
"Wow. Thanks for putting that pressure on me."
"Don't worry, don't worry~ We'll be there to back you up. Well… I will, at least. Shana has this nasty habit of losing right away."
"I don't want to hear that from the one who got taken out first this time! I at least managed to take out Yūko!"
Asano lightly shook her head as the noise began to rise slightly.
Unlike the times before, she felt as if she could focus a bit better even with the noise.
Looking back up, she saw Kuni waving her over.
Curious as to what the Operator wanted, she moved over, being careful to dodge flying hands.
She looked down to Kuni. The other girl smiled and pointed to the phone on the table.
All of them had left their phones on the table, silenced.
"You got a message as soon as the match was called."
"I did? From who?"
Kuni said nothing as she picked up her phone.
Opening it up, she saw that it was a message on Border's chat. And what it said was…
Colors: "You were amazing in the match, Asano-san."
A light coloring dusted her cheeks at the message.
From the way it appeared, it had been sent only to her.
It was only after she calmed down a bit did she see the next message after that.
Colors: "As did the rest of your squad."
She did not feel down at that.
The first message had been one directed only to her. This second one was for Tsukiko Squad as a whole.
The small smile she had before grew a bit more when she read over the message again.
"Oh ho~? What do we have here~?"
"I think Eri got a special message~"
"I think so too~"
"Wonder what it says~"
She could feel the two grinning girls looking over her shoulder.
To make sure they could not see her phone, she closed it with a snap.
After turning to their grinning faces, she waved a hand nonchalantly.
"Takeshi was just saying that we did a good job in the match."
The look the two of them shared said that they knew there was more to the story.
Thankfully, they said nothing more on the topic and only whistled while looking away.
Asano rolled her eyes at their antics and turned back to Kuni.
"It's about time for the final commentary."