It was irritating to participate in this match.
What was even more irritating was how he was so far away from his target location.
But the most irritating part was knowing about who was watching him from their seats in the commentators' booth.
Life: "Ha ha ha! Looks like I lost! Sorry about that!"
Simple Boy: "Should I say 'congratulations' or 'you damn idiot'?"
Cloudy River: "Probably both, honestly."
Those three were also irritating.
As he began to climb up the mass amount of stairs he could feel nothing but his mind trying to work, and failing to do so since it would be too irritating.
Sekai gave a heavy sigh as he moved up the stairs, ignoring the possibility of someone striking while his back was turned.
If I have to fight Ikoma and Yuba then it'll be too troublesome. Outsmarting Mizukami also sound irritating.
They were possibilities for him, and things he would be able to do if he felt like it, but that was all too much for him.
"Hah," he sighed. "It's irritating to be here."
But it would be irritating to be anywhere lower than this.
There was someone who he could not fight against. That someone was currently in the mid tier of B-Rank squads, meaning he needed to remain at the top so that he could not have to fight her.
So now he had to deal with people more irritating than his own squad.
I'll leave it up to that brat to do things. We have enough points that not getting a single one in this match doesn't mean we go to mid-tier. They can all fight amongst each other to see who can take our place. Oh, but I guess that could go to another squad. Tamakoma's been going crazy to get some points. I guess it would make them happy to move ahead of people like us.
It would be less irritating to deal with everything if that were the case.
Everything would resolve even if he didn't get involved.
"So I shouldn't get involved at all. Hah."
With an extra long sigh, he looked up to the stairs he now had to climb.
"So damn irritating."
"That guy's just as troublesome as ever. But damn if that isn't a turn on."
Deer Prince: "Should you really be saying that right now?"
Denji grinned as his spot next to Minoru. His trap had been used to perfection and he would use that.
Even if they were in the middle of something, having no fun while commentating was something he would not stand for.
Gambler: "Oh? And here I had my mic turned off. Tell me exactly what you heard there, Minoru~ Yeah. Let us all know what you heard come from me."
Deer Prince: "You...!"
GM Aide: "Ahem. It looks like each squad is figuring out what to do now that someone has been taken out."
Nice call there, Kyōko, Denji thought bitterly. She had used her own chance to strike at his words before they got too far.
The professionalism she showed here was her own way of countering his way of doing things and Minoru's understanding of how he was.
If she could keep this up for the entire match then even he would find it amazing.
But he would not make it easy for her.
Gambler: "With that idiot out of the way it makes room for everyone else to move, but it also keeps them in place, knowing that the idiotic girl who beat him is still around. It's really pathetic to even consider that a win, but I guess people like that just gravitate to whatever they can for a victory."
Deer Prince: "The fact that she was able to get away from another Sniper who had a keen sense of focus while also not giving away where Takeshi should prove that she knows what she's doing."
Gambler: "But wouldn't you say that it would be an even bigger win if they took advantage of that by striking down Tonokazu after he had taken his shot? They were the closest ones there and have Teleport. Moving within range to take him out should have been easy. But they stopped before that because their captain is too much of a weak shit to do anything about it."
GM Aide: "That would also give them away to the other squads. They likely want to refrain from drawing too much attention to themselves."
Gambler: "Misasuzu is used to getting a lot of attention from the way she carries herself around like a sl-"
A harsh feeling came to his side before he could finish his sentence.
Someone had jabbed his side.
Now he had already seen it coming before it even reached him, but he actively held himself back from doing anything about it. If he had then it would have turned into something else entirely.
And besides...
I'd rather die than lay a finger against her.
Standing directly to his right was a small girl with brown hair and heterochromatic eyes. Her facial expression was twisted into a deep frown and her hands were placed on her hips.
Instead of asking what she was doing he only reached out towards her.
She took a step backwards to avoid his reach while still frowning at him.
He could hear Kyōko asking Minoru about this and him giving a response, but they were pointless people here. There was something he wanted from this girl and he was determined to get it.
But first he had to do something about her attitude towards him.
"(No bad words! You were saying some really mean things and were thinking even worse things! I don't like that!)"
"(What if I apologize to her afterwards?)"
The girl crossed her arms and held her frown.
From beside him he could hear Minoru move.
"(I'll make sure he apologizes to her. I'm also mad at him for that, so don't worry about it.)"
That seemed to be it as she lowered he arms and moved forward slightly.
Once she was within his range he stretched out his arms, grabbed her torso, then placed her in his lap. Making sure she could not get away was on his mind so he wrapped his arms around her and place his chin of her head.
"Child captured. You're my little hostage now, so play nice and enjoy your time watching these people."
He had to hold himself back from saying more of what was on his mind while shifting his thoughts so that she could not read through the worst parts of his thoughts.
She seemed contend with this as she relaxed in his hold and laid her head and back into his chest.
"Now then..."
Gambler: "Where were we?"
Yuki scowled as he watched the entire event happen inside of the large hall. It was disgusting to hear what Denji had to say about one of his former teammates and it unnerved him to see the way he acted towards the girl that had gone up to him.
The large room had gone silent and were stunned to see the end results, but he made no comment about it.
He already knew that this would happen once he saw the girl move towards Denji.
So instead of speaking about that he addressed the new person in the room.
"Why did you bring Michelle here, Pyrínas?"
"...She had wanted to come by to watch Sekai. ...It only went further once she had been told that Minoru and Denji would be commentating."
The Autonomous Trion Soldier spoke with something new in his voice, but Yuki found that it fit too much for him to bring it up. Also, there was the matter before him that had his mind racing and Mei calmly sipping tea that she had pulled from somewhere.
Pyrínas was the most trusted person to watch over any children that they knew, so it made sense for him to come over here when Michelle had said she wanted to stop by. But that also meant he knew what to be careful of when moving around with those children.
Yuki could not let that fact go.
"You just let her go off like that? Even if they're in the middle of something, and both Kyōko-san and Minoru are there, being around Denji is dangerous."
"...As a trion soldier - amounting to a machine - I determine that it's fine for her to go down there. ...Minoru will make sure she is fine, and Denji had a record for taking care of her."
"Where did you hear that?"
"...From her mother."
That had Mei stop her sipping in order to look to him with a raised brow.
Yuki knew where this was going and so let Mei take care of it.
Oh, does it mean I can leave things to her now? Damn, aren't I great now? Yeah, I'm a great boyfriend. I could be better, so I'll work on that, but I'm a great enough boyfriend to know that my girlfriend can take care of this.
Mei placed her cup of tea down and fully turned to Pyrínas. It was a bit tense as she motioned for him to sit down.
Doing as he was instructed, Pyrínas took a seat by the window, giving him a full view of everything below.
"I only know what Minoru and Yuki have told me about her, and we don't have time for this talk, but can you answer something for me, Pyrínas?"
"...What is it?"
"Is she a good woman?"
"...Compared to the ones that I have met... ...She is someone who is fit to be a mother."
"Then that's good enough for me."
Yuki shook his head at her. He was pleased by the way she went about that, but it felt like she was still holding back here.
But telling her something like that might mess things up, so he stuck to his own thoughts.
After meeting her already I can say that she really is mother material. I can't go against her for the same reason I can't honestly go against Sensei. I don't like having Michelle around Denji, but I have to just trust that things will work out for that.
Besides, there was something else he needed to focus on.
It was the match currently playing out on the screen in front of everyone.
.
"Pyrínas, can I ask you something?"
"...Hah. ...I guess that would be fine."
"Did you just do that?! What happen to you!?"
Both Mei and Pyrínas waved their hands in front of their faces so he had no choice but to move on.
Even if it annoyed him to do so.
"Anyways... You saw what my past was like from taking in that imposter last night. That means you've seen my past of watching and fighting against all of these squads. So, as an outside perspective, how do you think things will turn out?"
"Are you sure that's what you want to ask?"
"If I ask what I really want to then I might also end up saying things I'll regret later."
"It's good that you realize that now."
The way Mei smiled at him was enough to sooth his worries.
All that he needed to hear now was Pyrínas's thoughts as someone who knew just as much as he did now.
"...If Sekai doesn't get involved then Ikoma and Yuba squads have the highest chance of winning, their captains being the main factors. ...Oh, but that guy there, the one who is similar to broccoli. ...That one is also trouble, isn't he?"
Yuki was quick to latch on to something he had just heard.
Instead of answering right away he pulled out his phone and began typing. Some people would be involved in matches right now, but they could always look over it later.
White Fox: "Hey, someone else said it! Satoshi is broccoli! He's steamed broccoli!"
Ōji: "Oh? Maybe we should do something about that then. What does everyone say to adding some beef and sauce?"
Isa: "Wouldn't the sauce come from what happened yesterday. Some pretty nice secrets were handed out like candy."
Competent One: "If we add in rice to the side then we need to be careful that Murakami doesn't tackle us."
A quick silence came over the chat.
White Fox: "There are too many of us currently in a match. It sucks. How are we supposed to attack each other when they aren't here for us to attack them?"
Ōji: "At least three of us are also watching a match, so they might be focused on that."
TetsuG: "We are, so shut up already. And Yuki, pay more attention. Even if that idiot Bailed Out, you still have others to look forward to watching, don't you?"
That was right. There was an entire squad who he was happy to see gain the first point.
But this and that were different.
"What a nice day it is," he heard Mei say from behind. Pyrínas had commented back about being indoors, but Mei only shrugged.
They were so carefree right now.
Closing his phone with a sigh, Yuki turned back to his question.
"To answer your question: yes, Satoshi is trouble. ...But he's similar to Sekai-san in that it only applies when he feels like really getting involved. The guy likes to hide his smarts, but he's pretty scary when you give him free rein."
"...Then what matters in this match is determining who will get involved and who won't. ...From what I can see, both from your past and what is currently in front of me, Sekai refuses to get involved since he views things as solutions only waiting to happen. ...Meanwhile, Satoshi gets involved on a basic level as a fighter. ...Most of the time he is confident in his captain's abilities and his own, meaning he doesn't need to outsmart anyone. ...Compared to those two, everyone else seemed to get involved as much as possible. ...But..."
"But?"
Pyrínas nodded.
"...That's right. ...But some of them seem to want to get involved much more than anyone else."
He lifted his finger and pointed to the screen in the large hall.
The first person his finger landed on was Yuba.
"...That man, Takumi, will likely try to accomplish things out of his depth simply because he needs to get involved. ...Then there is that boy. ...Daigo will also be getting more involved, but that may be because he had lost his only teammate that would help him. ...He will try to strike wherever he can, but he has been partially trained by you, so he must know how to do so properly."
"The guy is amazing in the fact that he can do more than he lets on, he just ended up holding back because of his nature and the people around him. Besides Shobu, I really do see him as someone who can be my student."
Mei took another sip from her tea before saying, "That makes you sound conceited."
"That isn't how I meant it. I just think that it would be nice to have students I can also rely on."
That was enough to appease her, so he went back to Pyrínas.
"Was there anyone else you had in mind for this?"
"...There is. ...One other person who I can see getting so involved that it backfires horribly on him."
"Oh? And who would that be?"
"...I'll hold back from saying anything at the moment. ...There's something I want to confirm for myself first."
Yuki gave a bitter smile as he turned to the screen and watched the match continue on.
Before knew it, a hand was to his mouth so that the other two wouldn't see his expression.
...Just tell me straight up that you're also worried about Takeshi.
It was nice that they had scored the first point. But it was only the first from the match that had only just begun.
Takeshi knew this and so made sure to keep any feelings from coming to the surface.
Lobo: "I'm coming up the the shrine right now! Hoshi, how close are you?"
Shooting Star: "I am moving in from the side! I will meet you in the plaza!"
Lobo: "Sure thing!"
Things were going fine enough, but he made sure not to let that get to him.
"Heh heh heh. Take a moment to breath. You're Take disturbance was perfect. Although, we could have also said that it was honestly the distorted length of your attack that was helpful."*
"Is now really the time for jokes, Senpai?"
"It's best to lighten up before moving in for the real fight."
He wished he knew what that really felt like. But that only meant it was something else he now had to learn about.
"So what do you want to do now, Take?"
"Tonooka-senpai should still be close by, so we should be careful with how we move. Because of your move I doubt that anyone saw my attack properly."
"As long as you make sure not so waste my efforts, we will honestly be fine."
"In that case," he said while looking from the narrow space between buildings. "We can separate here while Toby and Hoshi take care of the shrine. We will stay close enough to help each other, but far enough that the other won't be noticed if they support."
"And once those two take the shrine?"
It was good that she didn't doubt they could manage that. At the moment, he needed some reassurance that he was in the right mindset for this.
Suzume probably knew this and only swayed slightly while he looked around.
"It's like we planned. We'll have you trade off with the two of them so that you can have a good sniping location."
"And what about you? Being at that kind of location would honestly be good for your Laser-Shooter."
"...Yes, but I don't have the ability to fire from there without causing some issues. So we'll be relying on your sniping and the other two for close range."
The bitter smile she was giving him was a bit troubling, but he tried not to think about it too much.
His value here was less than his teammates, so all he could do was make sure they had more free range for them to move around.
.
This is honestly the problem with this boy, Suzume thought.
Takeshi was always learning while people like her had already learned and accepted things about themselves.
But...
He already learned and already accepted that this is who he is now. It's honestly a hassle to know that this is just how he really is as a person. At the same time, it's rather adorable to see him act so childish with us openly.
She had heard about his situation and understood that he had never been able to express himself properly until they had regained themselves as a squad and as people. Everything had felt like it was locked behind an impossible level with the people around him acting as pseudo-bosses.
It was laughable.
That included us back then. Yuki-san and Mei-san were too giving to his plight while Toby and I ignored it completely. We are honestly terrible people in our own right, but that's why these times are honestly the best. I feel so alive with them all right now. In this instance.
She had no idea how things were like with Hoshi concerning this, but it was fine since the current moment was what mattered more.
Suzume laughed in her head as she held herself back from showing any more affection for the boy in front of her.
Opening Radar in front of her, she looked at any of the people who were not wearing Bagworm and at the single spot that was tagged as being Daigo.
"Since that's what you want to do, who do you think we should take on in the meantime?"
"Which Rhythms do you have the most on?"
"That shouldn't be what you ask me."
"You're right."
It was good that he understood that much.
Takeshi gave a sigh as he fixed his scarf and turned back to her.
"Fine. Seeing as how he is the one who is tagged, we can go after Girikage-senpai. He has no support right now and is a highly close-range Attacker. He can cover distance with his Trigger set, but that can be deterred as long as we can tell what he will do."
"We should make sure to keep an eye on the skies in case MizuMizu decides to attack us from long distance. In the sane sense, looking out for other Snipers will be important. I can help with that a bit, but it's honestly up to you to be vigilant on that. Do you think you can do it?"
"I don't have a choice...is what I want to say."
He gave another sigh as he lowered his scarf.
Decide what you want to do with that thing, she thought amusedly.
He really was a child.
"I'll make sure to be on guard while fighting here. I would like to not get too close to pretty much anyone in this match, so I'll see what I can do."
"Don't forget to enjoy yourself while you're here."
"None of you would let me live it down if I didn't do that much."
He really had learned if he knew that much by now.
Daigo had been taken aback by the first shot fired at him during this round, but now he was in a situation where being taken aback was not allowed.
"Uwah~ I didn't expect to end up seeing both of you here."
"Tch. So I found one of the irritating ones here too."
There was someone in front of him and someone behind him.
The trouble with this was not the fact that there were two enemies here, instead it was something else.
"Having to deal with Yuba-san sounds like something I shouldn't like."
"What was that!?"
"Ah. I accidentally said it out loud. Please forget I said anything."
"Not gonna happen!"
Yuba's shout was followed by repeated gunshots.
There was no time to see him fire the gun, but Daigo had already noticed something off the moment he made contact.
Lighting sparked around his body as a straight line tore through the air.
In an instant, he found himself in a different location.
Idāten.
It was not the self displacement of Teleport and he couldn't mentally keep up with the speed like Grasshopper, but that was what made it so effective.
...No one expects something like that.
He tilted his head as he saw Yuba turn around and Minamisawa move around Yuba's firing range.
With their positions changed he could see the both fo them clearly now. He had only one thing to say about it as he felt something begin to well up inside.
It was a feeling that something was off.
"Oh. That would be a pretty cool line, wouldn't it?"
"What would!?"
"What are you even saying!?"
It was hard to figure out who to pay attention to, so he did something else.
Idāten.
He found himself in a new location, looking directly as Yuba fired in the spot he had been in.
Mmm... I guess that's what others mean when they say their body moves on its own.
"That still feels strange."
Oops. I said that out loud again.
But he had been told that he could speak out when he was thinking of something, so it was fine.
All he had to do was follow those words with movement.
And that movement was not the same as before.
"It would not work on Yuba-san again."
"I can hear you!"
The same feeling from before came from somewhere. A line traced along the ground as it came.
Daigo brought up Kōgetsu, fully sheathed, as an Escudo wall was raised in front of him.
To his right a blade came in, clashing with the sheathed Kōgetsu.
"Next..."
A blue plate appeared below the airborne Minamisawa. He was sent a good distance away as the sounds of repeated gunfire hit the Escudo in front of him.
In a single fluid motion, he lowered Kōgetsu, grabbed it's hilt, and attacked.
Senkū.
.
Yuba saw the diagonal slash from his spot a few meters away. It was the third Trigger used in succession and was aimed at Minamisawa while he was stopped by the Escudo wall.
He moved to the other side of the wall while preparing his next attack.
...He can somehow predict how I'm going to fire. Awdry had been able to do it because of his Side Effect and Kiyome.
That much made sense to him. But...
How can he do it? Idāten is pretty quick with its activation, but it still takes time to set where you want to go. I know I'm fast enough to fire before he has a chance to fully finish the activation. So then why?
Minamisawa had noticed this and chosen to stick closer to Girikage in order to figure out when to move away from his range. The two of them were lightly clashing swords while making sure to stay out of his range by any means they could.
Girikage was trading blows to keep him within his field of vision while Minamisawa was using those reactions to stay in the fight. It was made worse since he was keeping Girikage on guard, meaning he was not seriously fighting and leaving Minamisawa to use him like this.
Tono: "Oh, Sasamori and Hanzaki might not like that. But they also might forgive it, given the circumstances."
Polished Place: "You're nearby, Tonooka!?"
Tono: "I wouldn't say 'nearby'. More like I'm a good enough distance to tell what's going on. Oh, but don't expect me to fire on that guy. Between you putting him on guard and his Side Effect, I'd rather not lose some of my pride because of this."
Polished Place: "You sound like Tōma."
Tono: "I'm not that bad. Plus, our strengths are different from each other."
So even Snipers have those kinds of thoughts, Yuba thought as he moved closer to fire.
Girikage brought up an Escudo a moment before he even fired, leaving him with little time to pull back his shots.
The repeatedly fired trion bullets hit the shield with solid impact but didn't reach beyond that.
This is annoying!
As he thought that something flew into the air.
It was Minamisawa.
"Huh!? That's messed up, Dai-chan!"
"I regret nothing about my actions here," he heard from beyond the wall. The voice continued as Yuba readied himself to fire again. "Yuba-san, please take this sacrifice as an apology for the way I have been acting."
"Who do you think I am!?"
"A Yazuka member."
"I'm not!"
"Then why are you firing on me!?"
"Because you're an opponent!"
Minamisawa had decided that was a good enough answer and used his leg to latch onto the end of the Escudo before throwing himself over the wall.
From the corner of his eye, he could see Girikage moving to the side.
"Keh!"
Polished Place: "Hey, you all said that Wetman gave away what Girikage had a Side Effect. Did he ever say what it was!?"
Obi-nyan: "'Wetman'...?"
Gudako: "Jinsei. He's talking about Jinsei. And no, he never said exactly what it was."
Tono: "They don't know how to describe it. Dai-kun had tried before but everyone just got confused, discussed it among each other, then ended up trying to thaw some ice the upperclassmen left in the school pool."
Polished Place: "What the hell are things like for you!?"
Tono: "You know...the usual."
That was probably the most terrifying answer he could have given.
But there were two people in front of him that lived that same life as Tonooka, so...
"Just how crazy is your age group!?"
"About as crazy as you would expect."
"We're living in our youth!"
"Don't you end up getting into weird situations!?"
He spoke over his repeated gunshots and the movement from the other two.
They seemed to look at each other for a moment before turning their attention back to him, blades moving to increase their movement's speed.
"It's, you know...the usual."
That was a truly terrifying answer.
...I just heard something that makes me worried for the future.
Takeshi lifted his scarf as the laugh of Suzume echoed inside of his head. It was terrifying to think that these upperclassmen were all likeminded when it came to how strange they were.
He thought back to his interactions with others his own age and found that they were pretty normal when compared to everyone older than him.
Toby is the only strange once, but even then, it's still pretty normal. Shishō, Kitora-san, and Hoshi are very normal. Kuga and Toby can be a bit much and Kusakabe-san, Köhler-san, and Hiura-san are hard to talk to, but the three of them are still nice. Kashio is...well, I think he doesn't like me very much.
He wanted to fix that, but that was for later.
What he was hearing from a distance was something he felt he should worry more about right now.
Three close-range fighters were currently a street across from him while he hid behind one of the short buildings. Suzume would be watching from a safe distance away but would not get involved if there was no real reason to do so.
That left him here.
And all he could think was...
...What's the right choice here?
He shifted his scarf.
...The others wouldn't criticize me for my choice, but I want to make a choice where I don't even have to think that in the first place.
So what would he do?
Looking across the street again, he saw Yuba trying to land attacks against his two opponents while said opponents were managing to get out of his range just before he could fire. Girikage led by making snap decisions before Yuba fired and Minamisawa followed that lead, using Girikage to get out of the way. It was a strange sight to see.
But it showed him that all three of them were in a stalemate until one of them messed up or someone else got involved.
...But if I get involved, would it be enough?
The doubt weighed on him.
But then he saw it.
Something that could be viewed as an opening and something that he could use to intervene.
It was strange to see it when he took into consideration how the fight had been going up until this point.
But...
I'll use it.
Gambler: "Oh? That's pretty smart of the brat."
Deer Prince: "Was the praise just now?"
Gambler: "Do you want me to say something about you?"
Chisato found it strange that Denji had calmed down once he had gotten a child on his lap. Said child had slapped him for his comment, making him stop completely.
"That's a bit terrifying."
"I'm going to choose to ignore what's going on over there and focus on the commentary."
That was probably the better choice, but she couldn't just let this go now.
The only reason she let it be was what she was watching on the screen.
Yuba had been trying to get around the strange behavior of his opponents while said opponents only continued to barely evade his attacks. Each time he had tried to attack they would begin their next actions a moment before he even went for his guns, giving them a head start in their own defenses or dodges.
She had wanted to ask how they were able to do that when she knew that Kai was not skilled enough to pull that off. The only thing that she could think of had been the third person there.
The dull boy was one of Sekai's teammates, meaning he would be more than capable of fighting in these matches. That seemed to be the case as he was the starting point for Kai being able to dodge any of the attacks coming towards him.
"That boy... What's his name again?"
"Girikage Daigo. The dull-looking one, right?"
"That's right," she nodded. She crossed her arms and narrowed her eyes. "His moves are sloppy when he's trying to counter Yuba, but he's pretty good at moving otherwise. That means he knows when an attack will come but is guessing as to how and when exactly it will happen. It's throwing him off a bit and giving Kai some time to react."
"Apparently it's because of a Side Effect, but I have no clue exactly what it is."
"Likely something to do with warning him of offenses that have yet to happen. Then again, it could be something like reading his opponent's body movements. But Yuba isn't so green as to show that until he's already taken out his opponent."
"You know a good amount for barely joining Border."
"Hm?"
She glanced towards Kakizaki but focused on the match.
"Oh yeah, you weren't there at the time. Tatsuhito wanted to brag about me and showed me off to everyone in your age group. Yuba and I ended up having a match to see where I stood compared to some others."
"What was the end score?"
"I lost. I had no idea what he could do, told Tatsuhito to keep his mouth shut, and fought right away. Meanwhile, he had some information on me because of Tatsuhito's bragging."
"Who would win now that you know what he can do?"
She shrugged. That wasn't something she had cared to think about since she only needed to keep up with Tatsuhito.
But she continued beyond that question.
"That boy - Girikage - really does seem like the troublesome type."
"I guess he can be. But we have some people looking out for him."
She didn't know him personally, so she couldn't say anything about his attitude.
But there was something she could speak on here.
On the screen, she was able to see Yuba preparing another attack but holding back to find the best moment for it.
Girikage had moved before he even prepared.
His next action was to create one of the large and sturdy walls between him and Yuba, placing a defense beforehand.
Lightning flickered along his body as Minamisawa moved to get behind the shield and attack him.
A step before he could reach it, the wall came down and a streak of light cut through the air.
Minamisawa's arm went into the air as Girikage appeared at the other end of the light.
Neither one of them could react to an attack from that angle, so...
Who will you go for, Yuba?
The repeated gunshots came soon after.
They filled the space between him and Minamisawa, leaving Daigo to gather himself and prepare for the rest of the fight.
If it had ended there then it would have simply been a good bait on Daigo's part. Something to end the stalemate and give him some room to breath.
But then something else happened.
A white beam cut through the air at the same time as the gunfire.
"That's..."
.
She had seen a beam like that before. It had been green when she first saw it and it felt more forceful than anything.
The heated noise that came with it still rung out his her ears when she thoughts about how it fought against a large Neighbor.
"Laser-Shooter...right?"
"That's right."
Kakizaki sounded rather pleased so she let it go.
But she was still in a bit of awe as she watched the white beam tear through the air, capture and destroy the gunfire, then move on to cut through Minamisawa before he could move away.
It didn't end there.
Daigo saw this as his own chance and left in a streak of light once again. This time he moved towards the direction of where the beam had come from.
Once he got there he found...
"Nothing."
The user of the Laser-Shooter had fired away from his attack so he wouldn't be caught once he had fired.
So it can do something like that. That's sounds like it takes a good amount of setup. Just what is he thinking to prepare like that?
Feeling some movement to her other side, Chisato looked over to see Musashi quickly turning his head from side to side, as if asking something. Using words right now may cause him to be throw to the seats again, so this was his way of communicating to her.
It was really annoying.
"What do you want?"
"Uwah! You asked me! Everything that happens is on you! Don't blame me for anything!"
"I'll take responsibility by throwing you across the room again. Got a problem? Good. Shut up and tell me what you want."
"Now she's asking for the impossible!"
Kakizaki looked ready to leave so she grabbed his arm and got Musashi in a chokehold with her other one.
After three taps on her arm she let go.
"So rude... Anyways! I wanted to ask what that was all about! How did that attack even fire if the user wasn't near it to fire!? And who even fired it!? I didn't know Border had Triggers like that!"
"The one who fired it was Takeshi. And we don't know everything that Border can do, so stop talking like they should give us everything."
"But they should!"
This time she had to stop Kakizaki from glaring at Musashi.
"Besides, there's no way that came from Takeshi. That kid isn't capable of that kind of planning. Yeah, I doubt he's doing much of anything right now. Hm, hm. Yeah. I won't say it's the right choice, but putting him to the side for others to fight really is the best course of action for him. Good job, Takeshi's squad!"
She was tempted to not stop Kakizaki from jumping Musashi, but she figured it would cause too many problems.
So she settled on letting him punch Musashi on the arm.
"Hey Shiraishi, is it fine if I don't hold anything back with this guy? He's pissing me off and I'm ready to fistfight him."
"You would probably win, so try not to get to that point."
"He's supposed to ask that before he hits me! And what was that hit even for!?"
Calling it quits, she reached down to grab her shoe before shoving it into Musashi's mouth.
He tried to give a muffled argument, but it meant nothing with a shoe in his mouth.
"I don't want that shoe back. You're going to buy me some new ones once this match is over."
.
Those guys sound like they're having fun, Denji thought as he leaned into Michelle.
The match had been rather boring and predictable for his standards, but he had to at least pretend for everyone around him. Michelle and her mother wouldn't like if he lazed around for this, meaning he had to at least say something.
But what was there to say?
Everything's going pretty much how I figured once they started actually fighting. Sekai probably knows this, so he's just chilling by himself. Makes sense since he's more lazy than I am when things get too predictable. But...
A grin spread across his face as one of the cameras caught onto the slow moving Sekai walking through the snow.
Damn if he isn't sexy in the outfit.
A sharp pain hit his side, making him double over a bit.
Looking down he could see Michelle narrowing her eyes at him.
Hey, hey, stop reading my thoughts. I can't help what I'm thinking when that guy's around.
She shook her head and gave his side another jab.
There was no winning with her, so he went to having no thoughts run through his head and only look at the match going on.
GM Aide: "With a quick intervention from Captain Kotowari, Agent Minamisawa is taken out. Kotowari Squad has managed to take two points right away from two different squads."
Deep Prince: "I doubt they had planned on something like that happening, but the fact that Takeshi was able to use the fight to his advantage shows just how much he's grown."
Minoru was laying it on a bit too much for his liking, but neither one of them were people he particularly cared about.
Denji watched the points go up and let Sawamura and Minoru speak so he didn't have to.
GM Aide: "Oh? Captain Hikigane has reached the top of the shrine first. As one of the four going for the shrine right away he now has the advantage when it comes to firing and sight across the map."
More like he thought no one would go to it and decided to just wait out the rest of the match there.
Sekai was lazy. Both he and Minoru knew that. It was for the reason that Minoru only gave a hum in response to Sawamura.
Guess I'll say something here then.
Gambler: "Well it sucks for those other three who wanted to get to the shrine. Now that Sekai's there they'll need to make a choice."
GM Aide: "...What kind of choice?"
Gambler: "You already know."
The three of them already knew.
Gambler: "They either need to give up the shrine..."
Or.
Gambler: "Give up their points."
Toby felt himself tense up as he reached the top of the stairs leading to the shrine.
He had managed to meet up with Hoshi along the way and they had taken the main stairs leading to the shrine's plaza.
Once they got to the top they could see just how different it was compared to the rest of the map.
A single path went from the front stairs to the main shrine. The path was liked with multiple trees and a single torii gate that had ceremonial rope wrapped around it. Snow covered the area, leaving it a white plane.
Except for a single spot.
"Hah. So irritating."
Someone stood at the front of the main shrine.
"I just got here and I don't even have time to rest."
The person turned around to face them with a relaxed posture.
"Hey, you two, look, I don't really care for this match. I won't just hand you two any points, but I won't go chasing you if you run off. Hah. So if it's cool with you, can you go and fight someone else? I'm not in the mood for this."
Hikigane Sekai was standing before them and telling them to leave. He would not go after them and fight, but that sounded too good to be true.
Lobo: "So this is his current attitude..."
He still puts out a lot of pressure.
Toby felt himself tighten up before being forced to relax.
His Side Effect was something that he relied on during fights, but if his opponents put too much pressure on him then he would slow down.
And the amount of pressure he was feeling here was enough to freeze him for a moment.
Shooting Star: "...Toby-kun, what do you want to do?"
Lobo: "We need to take this shrine for the other two, but..."
That meant fighting Sekai.
Shooting Star: "Do you think we can fight him?"
Lobo: "We could fight him, for sure. It's just...I don't know about winning."
He was confidant in his own abilities, but he also understood when someone was stronger than him.
The man before him was someone who showed strength by doing nothing.
It was exciting and terrifying.
Lobo: "...Let's-"
"Hah."
Toby froze as he heard another sigh from Sekai.
He had continued to face forward, looking directly at the man, but he had failed to notice when he had placed a hand on his head or when Kōgetsu had appeared at his side.
"Fine, fine. Let's get this over with."
Toby felt his body tense before being forced to relax again.
Then his reflexes moved him.
Sekai had covered the distance between them in only a few seconds, giving Toby only enough time to create a Scorpion blade and block the sheathed attack from Kōgetsu.
Moving his body to the side, he redirected Sekai's attack to send him past both himself and Hoshi.
"Oh?"
Toby looked down at his shaking hand.
"While it's still sheathed?"
"Toby-kun!"
Toby wasted nothing as he prepared Headfirst Fall.
"Hoshi, don't stand there! He's an enemy!"
*The word for "disturbance" in Japanese is "midare". The way to say "distorted length" in Japanese is "take midare". Suzume was using a play on words with Takeshi's name.