A/N: A quick note. The first 30 or so chapters of SSR have been rewritten, so these next few chapters are just the last few of the ones that were already out. Feel free to go back and read the rewrites if you want.

A moonless night, huh?

Ninomiya glared beyond the towering buildings and into the pitch black of the night.

There was no light from the moon and the stars seemed to also abandon that sad sky.

"Is this supposed to be poetic? Or…are they mocking me here?"

No, that had not been it.

"I see…"

That dark sky had not been abandoned by the lights of a night sky.

The true night sky simply did not want to show itself.

It was obvious when taking in the surroundings.

While the sky remained dark, the lights from buildings were turned off and a slight breeze could be felt running through the narrow paths around him.

"A faceless moon…and a wind coming in from all directions…this is…"

A recreation of history.

The night he would never forget, no matter how much he tried.

"That boy… I don't know how he found out about the specifics, but he better not think that it will affect me here. This terrible history recreation would only do something like that if that faker himself was here. …No, that faker has nothing to do with that. The one who had been involved that time was that delinquent. He's the one that I…"

Ninomiya shook his head with a sigh.

Maybe this really is affecting me after all.

This history recreation should have had nothing in it to make him think. But only if there had been nothing else going on.

Besides this match, there had been other things for Ninomiya to think about. No matter if he tried to focus, what needed to come first had been switching constantly the last few days.

This was no different.

Inu: "This is kind of harsh, isn't it…?"

Between this, that faker, and Minoru… Harsh is a light way of putting it.

Inukai understood that as much as he did.

Nino: "We have to put our emotions on the matter aside. Remember that this history recreation can't be complete since that faker isn't here. That is something that they can't recreate."

Inu: "Right. But, Ninomiya-san…"

"What is it?" he asked while beginning to move forward.

The setting was not complete and the people who had originally been there could not appear.

This was no longer that time and everything had moved on from that point.

Still…

Inu: "Try not to think about it too much, okay?"

Ninomiya stopped walking.

Those words played back in his mind a second and third time.

He gave a huff.

It's too late not to think about that.

White Fox: "That's really harsh…"

Manager: "What do you mean?"

The way Yuki shook his head at the question had been a bit concerning, but the looks from the ones in the seats under them were even worse.

Don't give me those looks! You don't know what he's talking about either!

WorTri: "It has to do with there being no moon, right? Hah. Really now…"

White Fox: "There is a moon there."

Kimura shared the same look as Sekai when they both turned to Yuki.

The boy looked at the screen with dulled eyes and a bitter smile. Even so, he kept up the persona he had started this off with.

White Fox: "It's a faceless moon. Or I guess we can just call it a new moon. You wouldn't be able to see it unless you were there, but it's clear what it was after seeing Ninomiya's expression while looking up."

Manger: "So what exactly does that mean?"

"It means that guy really wants to dig into us," Yuki said while looking at the screen.

Everyone had begun to move and most of them put Bagworm on to hide themselves from Radar.

With the way they had all started moving, it seemed like regrouping was the strategy here. But in particular…

WorTri: "Well, looking passed the moon thing, we can see exactly what each squad is thinking. Hah. Or at least how they want to go about starting this match."

Manager: "Yeah. Each squad is beginning to move towards each other. Regrouping when there are so many people means that the ones to do it first will have the advantage."

WorTri: "Hah. It looks like each squad has specific people they want to reach too. Take Suzunari-1 and Kotowari Squad for example. Tatsuya and Kō spawned a good distance away from each other, but are moving in the direction of each other. The same applies to Kotowari Squad. Misaki is closer to Taiyōko, but they don't seem to be moving towards each other. Hah. If anything, it looks like Taiyōko is trying to reach Awdry."

Manager: "So each squad as a certain grouping they plan on using here."

WorTri: "Seems to be that way."

Manager: "Then that means Ninomiya Squad has the advantage here. Agent Inukai and Agent Tsuji were transported in relatively close to each other. The only one in the way would be Captain Meishō."

White Fox: "Kimura, look at it as a whole instead of each person individually."

She raised an eyebrow at the comment.

There was no need to look over since she knew that Sekai understood what Yuki had meant. So instead of asking about his words, she did as was advised and focused less on each member and instead to the map as a whole.

What she saw was…

Manager: "The Snipers!"

White Fox: "That's right. It's true that Ninomiya Squad has the advantage if they regroup quickly, but there is something lacking for them to have the full advantage of this situation."

And that was…

White Fox: "Besides Suzu, the Snipers have free rein in this situation. While she looks to be regrouping with Take, the same doesn't seem to apply with the others."

WorTri: "Hah. So while everyone is regrouping, those remaining three Snipers can attack or keep people from regrouping. That is currently the true danger they currently provide."

Manager: "I see."

But wait.

There was something she knew.

Manager: "That makes it strange on Meishō Squad's part. Agent Asagi does tend to do things himself, but Agent Ariake is a pure support. This entire season he has only supported his teammates and has never once gone on the offensive himself."

She could hear a bitter laugh form next to her.

Yuki knew this just as well as she did, but he still gave that laugh.

There was something she was missing.

White Fox: "That just shows how much effort he's putting here. And how much he wants to let everything out…"

The first attack.

Reactions to an attack were key in battles and Ninomiya thought nothing when he reacted to this.

The shot had been visible from the direction it came from. A concentrated Shield had been enough to block the attack without even a crack appearing in his defense.

The sound of the hit and the speed at which the bullet came at him told him that someone had fired Ibis. They would not be able to fire in rapid succession then.

Radar showed that there had not been anyone in that direction for a few seconds already.

Bagworm.

It was the only answer.

Asagi and Miskai are too obvious when firing, so it can't be them. As for the other two…

Taichi's attacks never seemed to hit that hard. The noise that came was different and held a different sort of power to it than if the Suzunari Sniper had fired.

That only left one option left.

So he is aiming for me.

He rushed things too much though. He should have let himself be forgotten before attacking. This only adds to his presence and makes it hard to forget him.

Still…

He knew that.

Ariake was aware of his lack of presence when going against strong opponents. So why had he attacked right away?

If it had been one of the weaker opponents then there would have been no issues, but attacking Ninomiya only brought caution.

"…"

Ninomiya faced the direction the shot had come from while turning on Bagworm. The seconds had gone by and the forgotten boy would have moved by now.

Firing in that direction would be pointless.

Instead of focusing on the boy who had missed his chance, he began to move to the locations of the ones who had no chance to begin with.

With the faker being one of the people commentating on his match, he had wanted to end things as quickly as possible.

This location would mean nothing for him in this fight as if left it soon.

Mitsuteru let out a sigh as he shifted Ibis.

Unlike the breaths that released tension, his sigh had been one of relief.

His attack had been blocked by Ninomiya, but no return fire had come afterwards.

He probably thinks I had a quick escape.

It was normal for a Sniper to run after having taken a shot, expected even. That was only more obvious when the shot itself had missed or was blocked. Since they would have been found out by their opponents it meant they would need to escape as soon as possible.

That much had been drilled into him by his mentors.

But…

If the opponent is also aware of that, they might not find it in themselves to give chance or attack back. Things like "They're already gone" or "Would I even hit them?" can come up and stop them from going after the attacker. So in certain situations, it's better to actually stay in place after firing a shot.

His mentors had said nothing of the sort to him before. This had been his own way of thinking about the matter.

With the black Bagworm over his body and the black coloring of his uniform, it would be visually impossible to find him in this faceless moon night. Radar would be of no help either, so it would have to be by other means that he would be found out.

Like the flash from his attack.

Since this was not training and was required, the flash from the muzzle of Ibis shone in the darkened city. It was only for a moment, but it would have been clear to see by anyone within the area.

But that was fine. After all…

Which do you react to? The flash would gain your attention, and then you would realize that the shot is coming. That's why it can actually be helpful to fire blanks at times.

Oh, but I guess I shouldn't do that too much. I'm way too average to be able to escape quickly or put up a strong defense. Shigeko might get mad at me if I start making this a habit.

The idea had come to him originally, but he had made sure to speak with his mentors on the matter. At the time, they had raised an eyebrow at his words while muttering something to themselves.

Once they seemed to reach a conclusion within themselves, they had grabbed him by the shoulders, shook a bit, then smashed their heads into his forehead.

"Are you an idiot!? Why waste a good shot on something like a blank! Just make sure you hit your target and you won't have a problem!"

"Yeah, yeah. You're pretty much average, and the only thing going for you is that you grow in an average way. Trying something like gaining attention will only lead to you getting beaten down easily."

"Hey, that was pretty harsh wasn't it?"

"And? You know that it's the truth. Seriously, just look at him. Don't tell me you don't want to beat him up at times just because you want to be that average?"

"I mean…"

They had been terrible people who never took in what he had said. Each time he tried to bring something up they would only flick him on the forehead and say that his way of thinking was "too average".

But that had only been two of them.

The third mentor he had was completely different.

She had always had something else to say on those kinds of matters.

"They are just that way. Terrible people tend to gather together so they can make a terrible community. Me? Oh, yes, I am pretty terrible too. But still, they let me hang out with them, go to karaoke with them, or just relax with them as they tear into someone else. It's a rather nice experience once you aren't the one getting torn into."

She was a lost cause right from the start.

Still, she thought nothing bad about them or him. When told specially what they had said to him, her only response was,

"That's good then. Being average is nice since it means you have less to worry about. Unlike the rest of us, you can just take your time to aim and take your time to fire. If you start coming up with those average ideas then that's even better. With your situation, you have more room to try things out since strong people tend to forget about you while fighting."

What had he said during that time again?

He always hated forgetting things, so this being the second thing that felt important that he forgot made his stomach churn. If he could not remember what he had said those two times then it felt like he had not responded at all and had been rude those two times.

Yet he still remembered what she had said to him. Even the bitter explosion and far-off look in her eyes were etched into his memory.

"You don't need to worry, Ariake-kun. I'm so useless and weak that I could never forget about you."

They had been words meant to stab into herself, but they had warmed him up on the inside.

No matter what she had thought of herself, he was aware of her skills. There had been no doubt in his mind that she was "strong". Strong enough that she would forget about him too.

But that had never happened.

Like she had said, she had never gotten about him no matter what happened. That strong person had always had him in her sights during training matches while her teammates would always forget about him.

The reminder put a smile to his face.

The fact Seiji-san and the others are fine with my average plans does help my self-esteem. Even if Shigeko yells at me afterwards and Shinichi-kun ends up going off to do his own thing…

Wait, how much of my plans do we actually follow through with?

This time felt like it would be different, but he had little hope that it would work out at all.

Oh well. I guess I'll just have to see how things work out here.

"What was that…?"

Hoshi stopped in her objective of regrouping with Toby.

A noise had filled the nighttime air and a flash was seen off in the distance.

It had not even been ten minutes since the match started and people were already attacking each other.

No, that makes sense. Stop being so clueless, Hoshi!

This was a match between squads who were in the top tier. Their plans, their power, their movements, and everything else about them would be on a level that she could only ever hope to reach. Compared to her lackluster abilities they were all monsters who could easily destroy the area.

Meanwhile the only thing going for her were some incomplete Triggers and her team.

The fact that someone had already started their attack only meant that she was behind and had to catch up to everyone.

It was not something that could be done easily and in a short amount of time, but that had never been what she aimed for. Only gong as far as she could push herself had been her limit. That had been what got her through the tough fights she had already been a part of.

This time would be no different.

And yet…

What is this feeling?

The strange sadness she had felt before the match started had not left her. At the sight of the flash and the sound that rang out, that sadness only seemed to grow. It felt as if those things were desperate attempts to gain someone's attention.

But who?

And who was trying so hard for that attention?

The answers to those two questions would not suddenly come to her, she knew that, so she instead focused on her task.

We are to fight as pairs in this match. Takeshi-kun and Suzume-senpai will be a distance focused pair while Toby-kun and myself will focus on the close-range and mid-range fighters. Although we must stay away from Kō-onii-san and Ninomiya-san. If we come across either one of them, we are to try and escape as best we can.

To her, it sounded fine. Both of them were well within the top five of their respective positions. Trying to fight either one of them without proper preparations would only lead to a pointless loss.

Even if Kō-onii-san and I are close, we are both aware that holding back simply because of that is unacceptable. We both must give our all, no matter who the opponents are.

She had learned self discipline from him as well as many other things that she found to be useful. He had always been an amazing person to her and someone she could happily look up to. If she did not respond to his resolve here then it would mean she was not as close to him as she had thought.

And by fleeing from him when she knew she couldn't win she would show that she understood the danger he posed and her own inability to keep up with that.

It was not something bad and not something she felt bad about.

Because of that resolve, it gave her time to realize some other things about her surroundings and her opponents.

When the conversation of "strong" and "weak" came up before, she truly felt her own weakness begin to take shape within her.

Unlike uselessness, weakness was something that was natural and that all people had. It was something that told someone what they were lacking and what they needed. Whether a person followed through and did something about that weakness was up to them.

Uselessness was something that a person felt towards themselves. There was nothing natural about it as each person would determine whether they were useful or not. It had been something that Hoshi refused to believe herself to be and something her teammates had made sure not to believe in when it came to her.

This match had a heavier feeling to her than the other ones, but those lighter matches had shown her the clear differences between uselessness and weaknesses. Those people she had seen fight knew which ones they were and worked to get over those things or give up because they could not advance.

But she had a feeling this heavy match would open her eyes to even more of that.

There had been nothing to show her that for sure, but her own instincts were telling her that she would see both weakness and uselessness within this match.

And the reason for that was clear to her now.

Everything is frozen.

She could feel her feet touch the ground, feel the slightly growing breeze through the narrow paths, hear the sound of a rising shot, and had seen the flash from said shot. In a literal sense, everything was moving rather quickly and with purpose.

But it all felt different when viewing it all conceptually. It felt like the world around her had changed and froze them all in a single moment of history. A situation where moving forward would be impossible unless something happened to force it to move.

It all felt like she was stuck within a hopeless and ephemeral dream.

Who was having this dream was still up in the air, but she was sure of one thing.

They have gone through so much…

.

As she ran, Hoshi thought,

They want to escape from something. Staying here would only continue to make them feel terrible.

She looked up to see the extremely vague outline of the moon.

Ah… That is so sad. A moon that refuses to shine for anyone. It is meant to illuminate the nighttime with the stars, but even those seem to have abandoned this terrible dream.

Was it conceited of her to think of the stars at a time like this?

She had not been sure, so she only continued to think to herself.

This frozen night… This terrible dream… Just how sad is the person who thought of all of this? Even the buildings make it feel so sad. They have nothing to reflect, nothing that can shine off of them.

It reminded her of something.

A group of people who could not fully express themselves in the world. Ones who tried to move alongside the word and its own ways, but found themselves being unable to do that.

The world had just been too small for them all.

Only the last one of them had managed to find her footing in this world.

Others had been against her, to an extent, but it had been far worse for those other people. Unlike her, they had felt as if the world itself was against them. Like they were outsiders in a place where no one seemed to be outsiders.

Those people had also been stuck in their own terrible dream.

A few things have changed, but they still remain there. And I can do nothing for them…

Lowering her head, she began to clear her mind.

Her feelings on trivial matters needed to be pushed aside so that she could focus.

Her partner for this match was Toby. The boy would wait for her, she knew that, but holding him back like that would mean that she never had a place next to him to begin with.

So it was not the time to think like she had been for so long now.

This terrible dream - this frozen night - it would need to be finished quickly so that the person who had created it could leave it behind.

She ran.

As she ran, she heard another sound ring out and saw another flash in the distance.

A third one soon followed and a message came through from Takeshi.

Colors: "Everyone, try to stay out of sight from those shots."

White Fox: "That's pretty scary."

Yuki's bitter smile continued to play on his lips.

Kimura was starting to get annoyed with it, but held back from saying anything. As long as he continued his commentary, she would not say anything about him.

So instead of bringing up his appearance, she instead followed up on his comment with a question of her own.

Manager: "What is?"

WorTri: "The way Ariake is messing with everyone."

What does he mean?

She had been watching the entire time and had only seen the combatants regrouping and Mitsuteru firing three times.

The first time had been an attack against Ninomiya, that one had failed miserably.

The next two shots had done no damage to the area. The noise and flash from Ibis was obvious, but the attack had not been aimed at anyone and had not even destroyed the ground.

So it made no sense as thaw he was messing with people right now.

White Fox: "When it comes to battles, something that is extremely important is following the flow of the battle. And just as important as that is keeping track of the battlefield."

Manager: "Now that you mention it, Captain Ninomiya seems to be looking around a bit and is moving rather slowly right now."

WorTri: "Yeah. Keeping track of each fighter is important, but so is keeping track of what the battlefield itself is doing. Hah. Things can change quickly and every action made leads to a new outcome. Topography changes in the land, air, and surroundings can make or break an entire plan."

Manager: "So what is Ariake doing that makes it scary?"

Yuki's smile fell while Sekai let out another sigh.

White Fox: "He's actively showing off his location. Um, I have some Sniper training, but I think Sekai-san would be better for this explanation than me."

WorTri: "You just throw me under the bus like that…"

Yeah, those people tend to do that, she thought while nodding at the words. People not used to that sort of sudden attack would normally find themselves at a loss for words.

This only showed how experienced Sekai was with this sort of thing.

WorTri: "Hah. A Sniper who gives his location and can't move in time is a Sniper who is already dead. The flash and the sound that comes from firing can only be ignored if the attack connects with the target or you have some immediate support with you. In this case, Ariake is using that sort of disadvantage to his own advantage. Hah. He's actively showing off his location to let his opponents know where the danger is. But they can't do anything about it since it would mean attracting attention to themselves. Even the Shooters and Gunners are out of luck here since their shots can be followed back by the lines they trace in the air."

Manager: "And the other Snipers are too afraid to give themselves away the same way he is doing now…"

WorTri: "Exactly. Ariake is using the common knowledge that the strong have when it comes to battles to make sure he can't be touched. He's accurately controlling the strong. Hah. As irritating as it is, I would probably end up getting sucked into that sort of thing too. I become too aware of my surroundings in that kind of situation, so this must be hell for Masataka and Kō."

Manager: "Is there a way to counter this sort of thing?"

White Fox: "There is one solid counter. The problem is that she would have to switch from the regrouping tactic."

Manager: "'She'? So it's a person and not an action?"

White Fox: "That's right. …Suzu."

.

Yuki felt himself smile a bit as he began to speak.

White Fox: "Suzu's Side Effect isn't something that only works on people or anything with a conscience. It's anything that can change. So that includes battlefields. Everything begins to have a rhythm once they start constantly moving. Battlefields are places of constant moving, so she is able to understand a battlefield's Rhythm as time goes on. So no matter if they're using wind, sound, light, or movement, she will be able to see it all and properly react."

Manager: "But, like you had said, she would need to stop regrouping with her teammates in order to fix this situation by taking out Ariake."

White Fox: "Right."

Kotowari Squad's plan was obvious, but it was also an effective one that was simple and easy to enact.

Under normal circumstances, that squad would have gone their own ways to fight who they wanted. Seeing them do something like this made him start to swell with some pride.

They have grown up. If just a bit.

Teamwork had never been something they were particularly keen on back when he had been their captain. The most they would do was support him or have him support them.

Each one of them had relied on him and never on each other. It had always been bad in large-scale battles.

It had been embarrassing in its own right as well, but he overlooked it easily enough. They were only lost children who he found comfort in him and Mei. Putting up with all of that had only been natural for the two of them.

As time went on it became more and more clear that they had built up their own ideas on him and became too attached to him.

But now…

They are trying to rely on each other. Hoshi being there may have played a part, but they had made that choice for themselves.

They were no longer relying on him. Those three were now trying to rely on each other while incorporating Hoshi into that.

He had started to view them as something that he should begin to strive for. A place where he could rely on others without worry or fear of being quickly rejected.

But that would never work.

A strong bitterness filled his heart as he thought about his own situation.

At this point I really will just be fading away. No reason to prolong anything by using them as an excuse to feel needed.

There was no reason to think about himself anymore. This was a match for his former team now, so that would be what he focused on for the time being.

This was now something only for them.

It was starting to make sense.

When Hoshi had brought it up earlier, it sounded a bit strange, but now it made complete sense.

The sky was lonely, the wind had a strange feeling to it, the hollow shots that rang out, the faded light from the attack; all of it created a depressing rhythm. It felt like someone was trying to say something to those who were around, but could not get anything out.

The entire situation had made even her feel like something was wrong.

"Who else honestly feels this way…?"

Suzume looked into the frozen night air.

Night vision had been turned on for them once they realized there were no lights on within the city. Seeing everything became easier until the faded flashes started to appear. At that point, Suzume had to look away so as not to be blinded.

That had likely been the reason those hollow blanks had been fired in the first place.

"What are they trying to express here? If they want a distraction, that is honestly fine. But this amount of effort into everything feels too much like an expression of feelings instead of a simple plan to get on the rest of us."

Colors: "Is everything okay, Senpai? You stopped moving."

Honest Sister: "Heh heh heh. No need to worry too much, foolish captain. I am only trying to decide on some things."

Colors: "Those three shots, you mean."

Very perceptive, Take.

Reaching that conclusion would have been easy for anyone to reach since those had been the first things to happen in this match. It was even more obvious when thinking about how she had been able to see everything.

From her spot atop one of the many tall buildings, she brushed her hand through her hair.

The hair that came off her head began to fall before being picked up by the wind and pushed away from the building.

Honest Sister: "That's right. Do you want me to go after them and take them out, or do you honestly want me to continue making my way over to you?'

Pushing her hand back through her hair, she repeated the process and tossed some more hair into the air.

This time, instead of it being lightly pushed away form her, the hair was forcibly moved forward as if keeping the hair away from her.

She narrowed her eyes as what had just happened.

Colors: "For the time being, just stick to the plan. Pairing up makes it easier for us to take on the more difficult fighters."

Honest Sister: "Hah. Fine. I'll stick to the plan. Oh, but I do have something to tell all of you."

Toby and Hoshi gave indications that they were also listening to her words.

The calm breeze she had been feeling for some time now became slightly harsher. The force she felt coming from it had made her change her positioning of her feet as she took a leap to the next building.

This was not a change in any one person, rather, it was a change to the battlefield as a whole.

Honest Sister: "All of you, be careful when crossing the narrow paths."

"Wind?"

"That's right. Suzu-chan was checking the wind just now."

"But why? It just looks like there's a small breeze going through. Yeah, that can change things for Snipers, but she should be able to accommodate for that."

Satori gave a hum while crossing his arms.

Sitting to his right were a line of girls while to his left were some boys. In front and behind him were other Border members who were there to watch the match. It seemed that everyone had come to an agreement to stay close so they could discuss what they were seeing. The only ones who seemed to make their own group in another area were those terrible upperclassmen who were already making snide remarks at two of the three commentators.

I'm really glad they aren't over here. I don't think I would be able to take any hits while talking about Suzu-chan.

Those terrible upperclassmen would eat him alive if he even tried that over near them.

Well, it wasn't like the group he currently was with had been any better. They just knew that they had their own people that he could make of them for.

But that was neither here nor there, he thought. Right now was to go over what Suzume had just done.

"Yeah, she can do that easily enough. But she probably wasn't doing that for her own sake." She would have no reason to do it twice to check if that was the case. "The setting for this match probably has more to it than we can see right now. Just look at what they said about the moon. We all thought that there wasn't a moon at all, but it was just hiding."

"So what do you think Suzu-nee figured out? If it has to do with the wind, does that mean it will get worse or will it get better?"

"Narrow spaces like that are good for us Snipers, those tall buildings adding even more, but wind makes things more tricky with those kinds of things. Do you get it, Akane-chan?"

"Hm… Oh! So you're saying that the wind will move through those narrow spaces!?"

She was quick to figure that out.

Before he had a chance to agree with her, someone spoke it.

"It is like what we had tried against Tamakoma and Suzunari. The difference here is that the settings were placed so the wind would not be a constant. At least from the look of things."

He had thought that Nasu being here would cause her problems, but she had waved him off to ease his worries. Like the sick boy above them, she had used her Trigger to be here now.

It still worried him and a few others, but they all seemed to agree that it was fine for her to be here.

"You understand what it felt like to fire in that constantly strong wind, right?"

"Yeah! You really had to fix yourself in place or else you would be sent flying! We even had the rain, which made it even more difficult because of how slippery it was!"

"Well they don't have rain there, but if I am right, it might be even worse than that."

That's right. She was also well acquainted with how Suzume did things.

She also understood that there was a reason for the other girl's actions.

"Akane-chan, you know how it feels to snipe in that sort of situation. Meanwhile, for us Shooters, areas like this are actually a bit difficult to fight in. Oh, well… In my case maybe not. Eri-chan, have you reached the point where it isn't much of an issue."

"Eh? Gek. That one was rather harsh, Nasu…"

"I was only asking a question."

Satori felt a slight shiver run down his spine.

They're starting to catch up to those terrible upperclassmen alright.

"Those narrow paths mean that you can't just attack as you please. The tall buildings prevent you from firing over them all. It is more like a maze with overwhelming height. So if you add wind into those narrow spaces, what do you think will happen when you need to fight in those narrow spaces?"

"You will be blown back?"

"Or forward," Nasu smiled. "But the point is that even the wind can play a large part in this match. The fact that Suzume-chan was checking it just now proves it. If it wasn't going to be a bother then she would have not stopped at all."

"Oh! I get it!"

Still Young Girl: "Ko ko ko. To be that young and foolish. Just what kind of show are you watching, I wonder?"

Every single one of them jumped as the sudden text from an unknown person appeared.

Satori quickly online to message Suzaku about what they were seeing.

Umi: "About that… Mogami-san asked for some access to our transmissions. The same goes for Kobayashi as a whole, Kurosaki, and Shiraishi. We kind of had to agree on that much. I think we went over that during our meetings with them, but I can't really remember right now."

Still Young Girl: "Oh? Does that Arashiyama Squad boy not want me here? But it was Akane who invited me in the first place."

All attention went to the red haired girl.

From the corner of his eyes, Satori could even see the three commentators staring down at them.

Crap! Kimura-senpai and Yuki-san are judging us! They definitely are! But what I'm really worried about here is how Hikigane-san is staring at us! Is he going to murder us!? Is he going to make sure we can't be found!?

The B-Rank Captain had started giving them all a full force glare that dared them to say anything about what they had just heard.

It was terrifying.

"Ha ha ha… G-good job there, Hiura."

"Y-yeah. H-having some so important listening could be a good thing!"

"'Could be'? Idiot! You're supposed to say, 'That's perfect! We wouldn't want anything else!' Do you want to die that badly!?"

The only ones who seemed to be unaffected by everything going on right now were the rest of Nasu Squad and a few people above and below them.

When a laugh reached his ear he turned back to see Nasu with a hand over her mouth and Kumagai giving a sigh as she rubbed her forehead.

"It is very nice to see you making friends like that, Akane-chan."

"Yoshiko-san has been nice ever since I went over to Kobayashi!"

"Oh? I would like to personally thank her for that some time then."

Still Young Girl: "Is that your captain, Akane?"

"Yup! Nasu-senpai and Kumagai-senpai ar ebt here with me!"

Still Young Girl: "I would like to meet them both at some point. From what you told me, they seem like very good girls."

"Likewise. We have also heard some nice things about you, Mogami-san. Isn't that right, Kuma-chan?"

"R-Rei! Please don't bring me into this! I just want to watch the match!"

Still Young Girl: "Ko ko ko. How truly wonderful it is to be young and foolish. You must be Kumagai then. Well, in that case, carry on. You likely have someone you want to see in that match you are watching. I wouldn't want to interrupt you on that."

The way Kumagai jumped at the comment and furiously turned her head only made Satori feel for the girl. Even without those terrible upperclassmen nearby, there had been someone to call her out and take a shot at her.

And it had been a direct hit.

Wanting to leave that dangerous conversation, he also turned back to the screen.

With the knowledge that Yoshiko would be listening in on their conversation, he felt the need to organize his thoughts and speak properly now. The consequences may end up being terrible otherwise.

Kuruma had been surprised by so many things within the first few minutes that the match started. There had been some hollow sounds and flashes, but nothing that sounded like they had hit.

The entire night sky had been empty so it made things hard to see without the night vision. But that same night vision had caused those flashes to momentarily blind him. It had come form nowhere and there was no way to pinpoint where it had come from.

But…

We're the first ones to regroup.

The ones without Bagworm in their slots were visible on Radar, so he could see that they had not seemed to connect with one of their squad members yet. Finding out if the others had managed to regroup yet was difficult to tell while they had Bagworm on, but there had been no obvious moves by them, meaning they could not have found each other yet.

So it was only natural to believe that he had managed to reach his squad members before the rest of them as Murakami came into view down the street.

Along the many narrow paths, roads led the ways like a maze throughout the city. Each narrow path felt like a dangerous shortcut, so the main roads had been the best way to regroup for the time being.

It seemed to work out well enough as there did not seem to be anyone else nearby.

"Kō! It looks like we managed to get to each other before any of the others could."

"On my way I managed to catch glimpses of some others." Murakami lifted his hand and pointed in three directions, all of which had been along the path he had taken. "Asagi was rooftop hopping over in that direction. The north has Takeshi and Inukai though. None of them managed to find me and I didn't engage any of them."

"Right. Good job. Kon-chan, can you mark those down for us?"

Mi-Kon: "Already done. Oh, and we got a sudden message as you guys got transported in. I just checked it."

"A message? Who is it from?"

It must have been a delayed one otherwise they would have been told beforehand.

Mi-Kon: "Apparently it is from Kurosaki. Their CEO had sent one that really made me scared. A followup one sent by their Saitou Tonbo-san saying that they were rooting for us in this match."

"Kurosaki is watching!?"

That was just another surprising thing that he would have to deal with.

After their meeting with the sponsors, Kurosaki had started sending his family some messages to deepen the bonds between the two of them. After being told the full circumstances and that Kuruma's family was sponsoring the Suzunari Branch, Kuroskai had begun to put some more of their money into the branch as well.

It came as a shock to them when Nagao Kanetsugu came through the door, spouting some stuff about love, camaraderie, and how he was on business for Kurosaki Shin. And like a moth to the flame, Taichi had run right into his back, causing the two of them to hit the ground with a rough tumble.

Kon had made sure to give the boy an earful right after making sure they were fine.

But I guess it was to be expected that Nagao-san took an immediate liking to Taichi. Those two really did become friends quickly.

The fact that there was someone else who caused a bit too much noise for Kon's liking had been concerning.

It had taken some nice words and sweets to calm the girl down. If not for Murakami knowing what to do after so long, he was sure that she would have blown up at the two of them.

"We should thank them once this match is over. But for now…"

"Yeah."

Something needed to be done.

The sign on their Radars were telling them that someone had caught up to them.

"We worked hard to get this new formation right. Are you ready, Kō?"

The black wolf said nothing as he raised his arm.

They both knew the answer to that question already. This fight, unlike the ones before, would not be the same for them.

This would be where they tested themselves against the top tier.

"They're here!"

A wind blew through one of the narrow paths in front of them. The body that came after that wind slid to a stop.

The girl with glasses and a sharp expression turned to them while lifting the rifle in her grasp.

"Shigenaga, engaging."

She fired.