The room was filled with noise as people moved around, finding their seats while continuing their conversations.
Three people sat in the middle of the large hall, watching as everyone came in to watch the fight that would be occurring soon.
One of them was Sawamura Kyōko, another was Denji, and the third was...
"Are you sure you should be here, Minoru~? Don't you have better things to do~?"
Minoru continued to look around the hall, ignoring Denji's taunts towards him.
The two of them had known each other a good amount of time and this was nothing new to Minoru. It wasn't something he liked, but it was something he was used to at this point.
"Denji, stop that already."
"I'm just having a nice chat with my former teammate~"
"Since when have you cared about that sort of thing?"
Denji gasped, but they knew it was just for show.
"What ever do you mean? I speak to Sekai all the time! And Ketsu... Well, he's weird, so I stay away from him."
"Look who's talking," came a chorus from around them.
Minoru had not expected that one, but Border had quickly become filled with people who could give a tsukkomi at a moment's notice. At this point it would have been weird if no one responded to that.
With his attention fully on the people around him now he could see that the seats were beginning to fill up more than they had been before.
Was this because of the usual top tier squads or was it something else?
It was hard to tell since both of those reasons could be truth or they could both just be assumptions.
Either way, he noticed how there were starting to be little sections where people would divide to groups. The amount of regular agents was rather low this time, but that was to be expected when another match would also be going on at the same time.
"Well, there isn't much time left. We should begin soon," Sawamura said from his left.
Both he and Denji nodded with this.
They would begin, give each squad five minutes to prepare, then watch everything happen.
"Stop glaring down there already."
"I can see Takeshi's brother down there with Shiraishi. I'll continue to glare as long as I want."
Yuki heard Mei sigh from her seat behind him, but did not stop glaring down at the seats below.
From what he could tell, a good amount of C-Ranks had come by to watch the match while B-Rank agents could be seen loitering around each other. Minoru, Denji, and Sawamura were in the commentators' booth, waiting to begin. And a few seats behind them was...
...Shiraishi and Kotowari Musashi.
The only blood relative of Takeshi.
We hadn't even heard of him until the issues with the sponsors came up. If he's been here the whole time then I have a lot to say to him. If he gives a poor answer, I'll beat him to the ground.
He had done it to Kageura before and he had done it to Ninomiya before. Both times had been for a different reason, but only the one concerning Ninomiya he felt no remorse for. Even so, he knew that he had been right to do so.
But what about here?
If he did such a thing to Musashi, what would happen?
He would feel like it was deserved, but interpretations could ruin his self victory for him.
I want to hit him as an older brother and for Take. It might even feel cathartic after what we were put through during the issues with the sponsors.
But...
...They could use that in a different way since I'm the representative of the Yagura Branch and an A-Rank agent. They might even know about what was happening yesterday, so they could use that against me. It wouldn't do me any good to hit him while I'm on my probation either.
There were too many factors working against him here.
He wouldn't be able to do anything without getting in trouble.
He gave a bitter smile upon realizing this.
"I guess it would be arrogant to say that I've grown enough to stop myself from doing something stupid."
"Then I'll congratulate you for actually thinking of the consequences of your actions before doing anything."
He could only nod at Mei's words.
There was no reason for her to be considerate, so those words were her honest feelings.
.
"What should I do here?"
He asked Mei that question, but she found it hard to properly answer when she wasn't looking down at the man in question.
So instead, she answered with her own question.
"Who is he currently with?"
"Shiraishi. The two of them are sitting a bit-... Wait, Shiraishi is getting up. Is she going somewhere? No, she's turning to Musashi. She's bending down? She's lifting him up!? She can lift that guy over her- Whoa! An overhead throw across the hall! The C-Ranks are having to move away! Oh! He landed crotch first on the back of one of them! Oof... That one hurts just from here."
He seemed to be enjoying himself here, so she only smiled and let him be for now.
But she did think about his worries.
They were now on equal ground and understood what they needed to do to remain that way.
...What to do concerning this man who appears from nowhere, goes against us the way he did, says that he is Takeshi's older brother, and is refusing to speak directly to said brother? As someone who cares about Takeshi myself, I would rather they never meet again. If this Musashi person has refused to meet his only known family member then he should not be allowed to see that family member he has given up on.
That was only her new emotions speaking. Her mind had already calculated out how each end result would look and exactly how to reach those conclusions.
Each one of her calculations fit together into a nice sequence that would solve this entire problem with little to no issues arising because of it.
But she would not be happy by the end of it.
The people she cared for might not be happy about it either.
This was not a life-or-death situation, so she had decided to ignore her calculations in favor of her emotions. The wants she had built up over the course of these past few days.
Those were what was important to her right now.
So...
"Yuki, can you come here for a moment?"
Without saying anything Yuki made quick strides to reach her within a few steps.
She was satisfied with how much effort he put into simply moving towards her.
"What is it?"
"Can you...hug me?"
"Are you sure you don't want a kiss instead?"
He was pushing it here, but it was also an honest question.
She did want a kiss from him, but she knew that she was not ready to casually kiss him just yet. It meant settling for what she could right now.
With ams held out she looked to the side with her face beginning to heat up.
If she had done this while only having her calculations then she was certain that the room would have been destroyed by now.
But instead, she only felt another body against her own.
Yuki had lowered himself down so that his face with level with her chest. His arms had spread out and wrapped around her mid back nicely and she had placed her head atop his.
...This feels nice.
But it could not last.
Any more than this and she knew that Yuki would end up going through the glass a few feet away from them.
He also knew this, giving reason to him pull away away before she could tighten her grip on him for her own overhead throw.
"Is that better?" he asked.
"Very much so," she answered.
It seemed to have calmed him down as well. The tension that had been in his shoulders seemed to have disappeared.
It's enough if that's what I can do for him.
Now that they had both gotten that out of their systems it felt like it would be easier to focus on the match proper.
.
GM Aide: "Welcome to the sixth match of the B-Rank Wars. I will be your commentator for this match. Along with that I have with me two A-Rank captains. Hatohara Minoru and Bakuto Denji. Thank you for joining me here."
Deer Prince: "Thank you for having me here."
Gambler: "Ooooohhh! Nice throw there, Shichi! Next time aim for the wall itself! I wanna record this for your parents!"
GM Aide: "Denji!"
Gambler: "Hm? Oh, yeah. Thanks, thanks."
Mei released a breath.
It was worrisome to have that man next to Minoru, but she knew that her cousin could handle himself.
"...I feel bad for Kyōko-san and Minoru right now. To have Denji right there..."
"Are you sure you want to be speaking about him?"
"If you're talking about Minoru then... Yeah. I guess I should be talking to him instead of about him. But it's not like I can do it right now."
"If you did then it would at least seem like entertainment for some people."
"It would also get me in trouble."
It was good that he understood his circumstances now.
GM Aide: "Looking at the current rankings shows that Kotowari Squad is currently the lowest ranking squad out of the currently fighting ones. They have been given the right to choose the map this time and their decision seems to have been cityscape D."
Deer Prince: "The buildings are rather low for this one and the only notable place are the large amount of stairs leading to a shrine. The high ground it gives is good for Snipers and Shooters, but they still need to be precise if they want to do anything important there."
Gambler: "If we're looking at who's all in this match, I'd say that Mizusato, Tonokazu, and Sekai could properly use that kind of thing to their advantage. Otherwise it's just a nice plot of land for close-range fights. Even then, Mizusato and Sekai might be too lazy to fire from that kind of position."
Deer Prince: "Takeshi could likely fire a straight shot beam from there, but it would give him away and make him too close to leave the location. It's normally better to leave that place alone, hide there once time looks to be running out, or get rid of it so someone else can't use it."
GM Aide: "The location is also one filled with narrow streets and little room is given for open fights. It's an anti-Sniper and anti-Gunner stage."
Gambler: "With the way Kototake fights, it also goes against him. Kotowari Squad picked this place because they have a close-range main attacker and a close-range support while also have a Sniper who can fight at close-range. That means they dubbed their captain useless against these guys and are ready to throw him away."
Deer Prince: "Denji!"
There was an audible snapping sound from somewhere within the room.
Mei looked to Yuki but found that he was staring at her hand.
To be more exact; he was staring at what was in her hand.
"Um, Mei? I'm pretty mad at Denji for that one too, but please try not to destroy the furniture."
"I will try," she said while tossing the broken arm rest to the side.
It would be difficult, but she would manage not throwing a chair out the window at Denji. She could promise that much.
GM Aide: "Ahem... With all of that being said; each squad has five minutes before they will be transported in."
"So I honestly think we should take the shrine before it is blown up or already in use. If we let one of the other squads take it then they will use it as a fort and attack us from there."
Tonooka explained his thoughts while standing at the table displaying the map they would be fighting on.
The map was not one suited for him as a Sniper, but it worked well enough for him as a person. The low builds and narrow streets meant that others would find each other easily enough, giving him a chance to hide in the shadows and wait to strike. His location would be given away quickly, but that was fine as long as he took out his target.
Yuba Squad as a whole was currently going over their in-depth plans, though.
Compiling a list of options was going to take too long, but Obishima and Fujimaru were already looking ready to go into this match. They had the simple jobs as an Attacker and an Operator, so they likely decided to go with what their captain had in mind here. It would be no different for him, but Obishima became a factor depending on where she would be sent during this match. When compared to the other fighters, she was likely the weakest out of pure lack of experience. Thus, she would likely be teaming up with one of them or waiting for her own moment.
Quick work could be exhilarating, but the excitement did not last long.
According to Mitsuteru, "Everyone thinks five minutes is enough, but we know better, Tono. Waiting and figuring things out as we go along and taking the time to do so is where we are most comfortable. That's why Yuba-san lets you go off on your own, isn't it? Well, think more about what you will do during the fight instead of before it."
He had been harassing other squads quite a bit this season, so it was hard to find the true value in his words. It was true that the two of them focused more on stealth tactics, but while he kept to them, Mitsuteru had gone and made a name for himself as a harasser. News from yesterday was also spreading, saying that he was getting rather comfortable with Kageura Squad.
Since that looked to be the case from his perspective, he resolved himself to have an intervention with Kodera later on about this.
"It all comes down to each squad's progress, doesn't it?"
"We have two or three steps of leeway there," said Fujimaru. "So let's take them into consideration."
"...Are you okay?"
"I feel like you want to start something before the match begins. I'm in a good mood since I know that Mei's all good and well at this point, so I'll leave it at that."
Fujimaru puffed out her chest, almost hitting Obishima with it, but she may have just been using that as an excuse to brag about the choices her friend had made recently. Tonooka could understand that completely.
"So the normal run-and-gun tactic should be fine against Ikoma Squad, but what about the other two squads?"
"Hikigane Squad has been rather up and down with how they have been fighting this season, haven't they?" asked Obishima. "Maybe they are having a fulfilling life."
"That isn't something I expected from you," nodded Tonooka. With Fujimaru in a good mood and Obishima being optimistic, it was up to him and their captain to bring in reality. "But even so, that squad can be scary or a pushover most of the time. ...At least, until recently."
"That's right, and we know who to blame for that," said their captain. "With Girikage now a part of their squad, Kirikari doesn't have to worry about fighting by himself when his lazy captain decides that he doesn't want to do anything. Their defense is still low, but their offense and mobility has gone up because of him."
"Because of Girikage? Does he really make that big of a difference?"
"He does. There was something that has been bugging me since I watched the logs of the current season. ...It involves him."
"Oh," they all said, with Obishima raising her right hand. She was tilting her head. "Um, are you saying that Hikigane Squad has been keeping something a secret about Girikage-senpai this whole time? I had never seen him fight, so I wouldn't notice a difference."
"I will let that one slide since Tonooka might be the only one to notice it in full among our squad, so there is nothing to be done about it. You understand what I'm talking about, don't you, Tonooka? The thing that is making Girikage a factor in this match."
"Oh?" Tonooka tilted his head before nodding. "It's the way he isn't falling for any traps, isn't it? He seems to always move away from them as soon as he is nearby."
"Yes, I am. Just before walking into a trap set by an opposing squad, he stops and moves a different way from it." He crossed his arms, looked at everyone there, and continued. "Listen. Unless you have great instinct and a lot of experience, that sort of things doesn't happen. With the way Hikigane treats Girikage, I doubt he is warning him of any threats too. He would rather let Girikage walk into them before telling him where they are."
Everyone exchanged a glance and nodded, so Fujimaru raised a hand.
"Hey, so what are you saying?"
"You can't figure it out?"
"Thinking about it is all well and good."
"Yes, and?"
Their captain stared them all down and Fujimaru pressed her lips together before answering.
"Why are you holding back from telling us this time? Being all cryptic like that makes it sound like you're an upstanding member of society."
.
"Haaaaaah!?"
Obishima saw her captain glare down, arms still crossed.
He went on to push his upper body back even further until his chest was puffed out and he was actually looking down at them from behind his glasses.
"Figure it out already and deal with it."
"What the hell!?"
Obishima felt like she should have joined the others' complaint, but she knew it was best to just watch.
"Excuse me?" she said. "Are you talking about Girikage-senpai having a Side Effect by any chance?"
"I think he didn't get the memo when Jinsei came out and said it," said Fujimaru.
Obishima appreciated how Tonooka opened his phone and brought up the messages about this.
But her captain's words led her to a realization.
"Are you saying that Girikage-senpai is one of the more dangerous fighters here?"
"That's right. Hikigane Squad as a whole is trouble, but they had just added someone who can add on to their abilities by providing something that took them time to figure out. Since Girikage can already figure out how to get around traps and the like, they needed to no time spent on that for him. It means they were able to train him to better work with them instead of focusing on basics. Besides that, there has also been word of how he and Sasamori managed to take out a special Neighbor before continuing on. Even if he had help, the fact remains that he was able to do something like that in the first place. Also," said her captain. "Everything we have seen from the logs shows that he has learned from Tsukiko when it comes to mobility. The actions he takes while on unstable footing or even in the air are not ones you can do without going to see that kind of guy first."
Someone responded to her captain's explanation in confusion.
It was Fujimaru and she was tilting her head.
"Oh? But Hikigane should be able to do those kinds of things, shouldn't he? When he was dropped down onto the issues with the sponsors and we went hog wild, I think it took Murakami in full to push him back even a bit and it only stopped because his boss made him do so."
She was sharp.
Obishima knew what Fujimaru was asking.
"If Tsukiko-san could do something like that, it would mean that Hikigane-san can also do and teach those things. So Girikage-senpai could have learned it from him."
"It was an insightful question from the most brilliant and erudi- gah! Yes, I just bit my tongue, but it was on purpose to wake myself up!"
"Fujimaru, your vainglory is getting better."
Fujimaru gave Tonooka two thumbs up.
Then she opened her phone, made a search, and nodded a few times.
"Now, according to my flawless memory..."
"You openly made a search just now..."
"You were imagining things, Kazuto."
But Fujimaru left the imagined search results in front of her as she continued.
"According to the logs, the things that look like they could be learned from Yuki are Teleport and the Dan-no-I...Irea? He doesn't take on any students and usually keeps to his branch, so Girikage would need to try and something cop...compensate for it."
Everyone eventually gave a scattering of applause.
Fujimaru held out her hands and bowed to the left and to the right to accept their praise. And then...
"I'm impressed you could all keep up with my brilliance."
"W-we mostly know about it because one of us was told in full what happened, so we could guess."
Obishima nodded in agreement with Tonooka. And...
...I know a fair amount about Girikage-senpai's actions.
It was not only him who had been able to gain something from Hoshi's brother, but he was the only one who openly showed it.
"So I figured out where you guys should probably take before getting into any real fights."
- Main Shrine: A location for Kotowari to fire without worrying about the narrow streets.
- Below the stairs of the shrine: The area is more open there and makes it easy to move around
- The inner sections of the map: It helps to have traps set there since everyone might be avoiding the shrine
Kumokawa wrote out the three places of the map that Kotowari Squad likely wanted.
"I believe I see Kotowari Squad's strategy." Kumokawa tapped the screen. "First, they settle in to these locations to that they have the advantage. But they will be waiting things out to see if anyone will go after them or attack each other, so they have less people to fight."
Thinking back, it was a pretty reckless plan to make. She could find holes litter all throughout it, but they likely had something planed for this.
All of their planning would ultimately be to repel the opposing forces, but...
"They decided to go with a location that would put their captain at a disadvantage. It might not be smart when compared to other maps, but they have more than enough people to make up for that sort of thing. And if they can gain these locations quickly, they have a strong defense."
"In that case." Daigo raised his right hand. "They decided to defend against us all instead of fighting us head on, didn't they?"
"That's right. They know what they are up against here, so they likely want to maintain a good place in the top tier instead of risking it. Even with someone like Awdry on their squad, so..."
Kumokawa added information to her list.
- Main Shrine: It will be used as a location for a visual over the entire map.
- Below the stairs of the shrine: This lets them prevent anyone from going up the stairs to the shrine.
(After acquiring these two locations)
- The inner section fo the map: A place where they won't have to worry since they have a high viewpoint.
"This is the importance of those locations in full, but this means they will rush to gain those locations."
"Why would they do that?" asked Daigo.
"As we have said before, to fight back against the rest of us," answered Kumokawa with a smile. "Ikoma Squad just lost a match and Yuba Squad went down after Kanda-kun left, but since we fluctuate a lot without you around, they are being even more careful. They don't know our captain's current condition, so they have to be cautious here. The other two squads will also be trying their best to rise back up after their loses, so it puts even more pressure on Kotowari Squad to defend against them all. Us included in that."
Everyone fell silent there.
She knew that was the correct answer.
They had been modifying their formations to better fit their captain's attitude, but it was still difficult to do when he was their strongest member both on the field and outside of it.
This was no half-hearted effort.
But Kumokawa also smiled on the inside. Their captain was turned away on the couch, but Jinsei and Daigo were looking silently over at her. And...
"Asu-chaaaaaaaaaaaaaan!"
"D-do you need something, Jinsei!?"
"No, not really. I just couldn't stand the silence and you had been in control of the conversation for so long I thought it was about time I shouted."
"I see," said Kumokawa while noticing the dual gazes.
The expectation in their eyes set off warning bells in her mind.
"I-I only know this because I researched how they have been doing."
"I'll let Shin know all about that and get you promoted," said Jinsei.
"Eh?" thought Kumokawa while Jinsei wrote something on his phone and sent it.
Daigo looked her way and tried to help by giving an explanation.
"This is something that they should know as your boss and Captain-san's former boss. It is relevant data on how our top tier squads are."
"Hah. We don't want to interrupt their work too much," agreed Sekai with a quiet sigh. "But this whole situation sounds irritating."
.
"That aside," said Jinsei.
He was not listening to this, but he had always been good enough to not need to follow a plan when fighting on his own. But...
"There's something important I need to talk about here and can't wait."
Kumokawa and Daigo stiffened at his tone and both nodded.
"I've been having Dai-chan here dress in our squad's outfit outside of matches to see what kind of impact it has. He's been gaining some extra muscle while with us here and I noticed some things. Besides the usual Hisa and Yoshi-chan, there have been others who are looking at his bare arms! They've been staring at his muscles! And some have even been saying the straps we have on our upper forearms make him look even better!"
"But couldn't that be their appreciation for the style?" asked Daigo.
Kumokawa nodded.
...But knowing how things are around here, that might not actually be it.
Daigo was obvious to when he was being used, so having others look at him a certain way likely did not register in his mind.
There was only one thing she could say given the current situation.
"Those people mean nothing when the only ones who will openly do it and have no trouble are Sasmaori-kun and Hanzaki-kun. Disregarding the looking aspect, those two are fine with touching his arms and having him touch them without any problem."
So...
"They have the advantage when it comes to these sorts of things since they have no shame when it comes down to it. Yes, Osano and Kagami have even brought up their muttering of his body before during some of the gatherings with the other Operators."
That was followed by the sound of someone giving a loud sigh from the couch behind them all.
Eventually, the one responsible for the sigh spoke up.
"You people are all so damn irritating. Just hurry up and fu-"
"Language, Sei-chan!"
Mizukami sense a change in the mood as the clock struck 3 minutes.
He could feel the feel the excitement coming from his teammate, which led to the current situation he found himself in here.
They were apparently going to actually do something instead of go in and do as they wanted this time.
...I guess having that Musashi guy come around turned into a big deal for us.
The man had been insufferable when he had high amounts of energy, but that was not why he had created this situation.
Here, his squad had decided to go against their usual antics in favor of coming up with something to do so that Musashi could be proven wrong and Chisato could properly see them in a fight.
Ikoma and Kai had gone on to shout out how they were excited for the match while Oki simply raised a hand with a smile. Hosoi was shaking her head off to the side, but that was to be expected in this kind of situation for them.
Mizukami could not help but notice how they had changed a bit.
"Iko-san, are ya sure ya wanna go through with sorta thing instead of the usual?"
"Mizukami, be blunt with him. Tell him he needs to stop tryin' to be cool for Chisa-chan because he's a nuisance!"
"I think I'm fine, Mario."
But the Attacker opened his phone, turned it toward them, and began to speak.
"Ya see, that Musashi guy pissed me off from the start, so I wanna get back at 'em for that by makin' Take-chan look super cool in front of everyone. Plus, I've gotta look even cooler for Chisato."
"Yeah, keepin' that sorted out sounds like a pain," said Mizukami.
He decided to take a break and something occurred to him, so he commented while Ikoma looked back over his phone.
"I can't believe the rest of ya're goin' along with all of this."
"Hm. Well Iko-san didn't say we have to lose, so I don't have a problem with it. Isn't it the same for you?"
Mizukami thought back. A lot had happened yesterday, but it had all been necessary.
"I guess you're right. What about you, Kai?"
"I get to just fight Take-chan and make him look cool, so I'm fine with it!"
I should've expected that answer from him, thought Mizukami, but then Ikoma said more.
"I can't fight him since I would just make myself look even cooler, and you'd just be bring down his cool factor because of Fuyushi." He smiled. "But Oki already has too much of a cool factor, so it's fine if Take-chan takes him on. And Kai's fine with fighting him too."
"What kind of response is that?"
"The plan's to make Take-chan look cool, so also make sure no one else butts in. Or at least help the guy out if it looks like he needs it. Just make sure not to give nay points away."
"Is that so?" said Mizukami.
Oki gave a snort of laughter.
"Looks like this is a mission to make sure that Musashi guy is put in his place. I don't really care for that kind of thing, but I don't mind helping out Mittsun's new bud."
"So our real problems are making sure we don't get taken out instead of taking out all of out opponents? That seems kind of backwards, but I see where you're coming from with that one."
Toby nodded in agreement with Suzuka.
"There are a good amount of people I could take on here, but the ones who can take me out are way too much. If I work with anyone else and am taken out, they won't have much in keeping the pressure on to the other squads."
"Right," said Takeshi, but Toby was not done talking.
"But, Take? Are you sure you want to go this way during this fight? This puts you had a heavy disadvantage, limits your movement, and restricts what you can do in whole while leaving too much to our abilities against these squads."
"I don't think I planned it out quite like that..."
"No," said Suzume, looking over their room and noticing how things have changed. "It is rude or impressive that we can honestly have these kinds of discussions?"
"Senpai, Senpai. Try not to respond to every little thing you see. Didn't you have something more relevant to say?"
"That's right." Suzume nodded and looked to Takeshi instead. "When honestly discussing anything, it's useful to keep in mind the current ideas are not perfect and they should honestly be modified to suit the current situation. Also..."
Also...
"You have given some thought to what kind of plans you want to have in the future, haven't you?"
...Oh?
Toby and everyone else turned to look at Takeshi.
Their current captain fixed his scarf in response.
"Well, I do plan on trying to be useful here, but it makes more sense to play to the strength of the majority. That's why I want Toby and Hoshi to take the shrine before anyone else so that Senpai can take a position there for sniping. But," he said. "It means I will need to be keeping everyone busy in order for them to reach the shrine in the first place. I don't plan on getting taken out, so it's not going to be a sacrificial thing, but if it happens, it happens."
"Takeshi-kun, do you plan on actually winning this or just make it through the fight in general?"
"...I want to win. There is someone who said they wanted to keep winning with me, so I don't think I ever want to lose or to settle for what I can do. I want to win, but I need to be realistic in how to accomplish that. Right now, that means I need to create a space where all of you can work best. ...As the ones who are strong enough to fight."
It was clear Takeshi was choosing his words carefully. Statements like this could easily get you in trouble if they got out to others. Because...
...He's saying that he wants us to place ourselves above everyone else so that we can all win in the end.
But how well would that actually work?
"If we ignore all of the usual standard, it will seem like we are working toward our own self-interest," pointed out Toby.
"Yes, almost certainly." Takeshi nodded. "But that is fine. A lot of the squads are doing this in their own self-interest, so I figured that it would be fine if my self-interest involved having the people I care for also end up winning alongside me. It's something I've learned after being with all of you for so long."
The first one to react was Suzume. With arms already spread out, she reached forward and wrapped Takeshi in a hug, putting his face within her breasts.
"Oh, Take!" Suzume sounded like she had just found the best material to use in the world. "Just leave it to us then! We'll honestly win and then show you off for being such a good boy! Yes, our Take is someone who can be counted as a 'person' now, so we're going to honestly beat the crap out of anyone who sys otherwise! This match is the second-to-last, but we'll make sure that even losing the next one will mean nothing for all of us!"
"But I had already planned for us to win that round too."
Toby felt pride well up inside his chest as he registered Takeshi's words here.
"We won't let you down, so make sure to stay with us and continue winning alongside us until the end, got it!?"
He too wanted to continue winning for them all. He had never liked losing, but this gave meaning behind his wins now and placed him in a spot where he would only want to win.
Takeshi has been trying to change himself for the better, so that is nice already.
But he was here, he was thinking, he was seeing things, and he was touching things. Toby could be absolutely certain that Takeshi was now here.
But how certain was that from an outsider's perspective? All of the people within their groups, in Border itself, and in Mikado City as a whole were definitely "here", but most of them would not recognize that Takeshi had finally made it.
Existing and being remembered were two different things, as were not existing and not being remembered. The difference was obvious, but it was also a funny thing to think on.
"How many people thought that our captain here wouldn't be able to change anymore?"
"Getting kind of poetic there, Lobo."
"I won't deny it. It was trying to get a grasp of something abstract within this. But," he added. "We're all glad that you finally made it to join us, Takeshi. You're here."
.
He was here.
The weight of those words only hit Takeshi after Toby had already said it.
While talking about these sorts of things he had never understood what they meant and only made educated guesses.
...Now I think I understand the basics.
Just like it took time and a want to change himself as a person, he needed to work toward reaching the freedom and mindset of everyone around him. Coming to an understanding with them all was where he wanted to be, meaning that he needed to be "here".
And at some point, he had reached the place where they were.
He had told Asano that he would go to where she was, but even he had been unsure where that truly was. But...
"I'm there, aren't I? I made it to where everyone is, where we can all enjoy a win or be sad about a loss, even if it means someone else loses or wins."
Everything he had worked for had brought him here, so it was nice to know that none of it had been wasted during that time.
"But does this mean... No, I suppose I would still be wrong."
"What's wrong with that?" Toby had been the one to speak up. "If you're wrong then it means you just need to correct yourself. It's fine to be wrong as long as you know that you have been really wrong and not wrong for the sake of someone telling you that much."
But...
"You know, I don't think you're wrong at all," he commented again.
"Our squad's mutt has a point, Take. If you think you're wrong in what you do, it means the rest of us are also wrong. Now that you're here too, it means you feel the same things we honestly do and understand how important everything else is like the rest of us."
"So that means we're all wrong for feeling the same way you do. You get it?" asked Toby.
Toby had been the one person int he room he could say he felt most connected to. Saying it out loud would cause too much trouble so he only thought about it. He thought about how Toby had stuck with him both as a Border agents and as a person. They lived next to each other, were in the same class as each other, and were even the same age as each other. They fought constantly, but Toby had always been quick to smile afterwards.
Both during the hard times of the disbandment and the current times, he stuck with him and looked out for him. It may have been his instincts as an older brother, but he stuck to it all without asking for anything in return. Nothing but his constant companionship.
And now he was here, saying that everyone around them was wrong since he alone was wrong.
But if they were all wrong like they were saying...
"No matter what, if you think you're in the right, don't hold back and keep going. If someone tells you that you're wrong, tell them that you're right."
Takeshi had already decided that Mikumo was his first friend, so Toby could not take that.
But he at least thought that he was a better replacement for Musashi.
"That would make him look honestly arrogant, wouldn't it?"
Suzume was right. But what if he was allowed to be a bit arrogant now too?
"There's so much we think we understand but don't really."
Suzuka suddenly raised her hand.
"I just had a thought. Is there anything we can do to combat those idiots who think that way?"
.
I didn't even consider that, thought Hoshi concerning Suzuka's question.
...A way to combat the thoughts of others.
They had let Takeshi know that they were proud of him for making it to where they were, but not anything having to do with what that meant as a whole.
She had come to realized that she was also lacking in a lot areas, but she had managed to catch up to everyone recently and enjoy her time here. Now that Takeshi had managed to do the same, she wanted him to feel the same way she had.
Well, the others seemed to be thinking the same way when it came to this, but...
"Let's show them how great Take is by winning this."
They had a plan based on letting other stake each other out. But...
"If we do things right, we might be able to score enough points to where it will not matter if we don't get the survival points." Hoshi and the others turned toward Suzuka. "Would you be fine with putting in the work for that?"
"Eh? I wouldn't be against it, but it has to be something everyone agrees on." Suzuka lowered her eyebrows and tilted her head in thought. "And I refuse to help if it's your average run-and-run type of thing instead of something that actually works. So keep that in mind here."
"What if we just change our current plan to one that focuses more on winning instead of surviving?"
"Well." Suzuka nodded and held out her open palms. "I think I would have no choice up to make sure you all survived while also winning."
That was a good thing to hear.
It meant that she would be flexible for this match and they would have the freedom to change what they wanted.
"In that case," Takeshi said while pulling down his scarf. "Senpai, there is something particular I want you to do. The in-depth settings for the mat will also be changed to something else. I'm just glad we still have enough time for this."
"Heh heh heh. Make sure the show is enough to make everyone realize how wrong they are. But I see what you really want, Take~?"
"I'm afraid to ask..."
Suzume gave another laughed before twirling on her toes.
"You want to honestly look good in front of Eri-chan, don't you!"
"(Atta boy! Take's getting a girlfriend before we even know it!)"
If Toby was switching to English then it meant he was too excited for his own good now.
Even so, Hoshi laughed into her hand.
This was always how it should have been.
And now that they were all here, it meant that they could continue this for as long as they wanted.
GM Aide: "The five minutes are up. Each squad will now be teleported into the map."
Lights filled the screen as fourteen lines traced the sky before circling inwards and shooting a beam down.
Each fighter was sent in.
GM Aide: "The map is, once again, cityscape D. And the setting is..."
A clear white under a cloudy sky could be seen on the screen.
Everyone watched in anticipation as the match began.
GM Aide: "...a snow field under a cloudy sky."