"Will we make it on time?"
"Don't worry. We're almost there."
As they walked down the hallway, Yūma found himself feeling that they had taken their trip too leisurely. Their pace had been rather slow the whole time, but he had no reason to think that Midorikawa would be lying about almost being there.
So he continued to follow along.
As they did so, Midorikawa began to slow down a bit.
"Huh?"
"Hm?"
"The door's open."
Taking the first action, Midorikawa moved forward to look inside the room, Yūma following behind him.
He tilted his head in a bit and gave a greeting.
"Oh!" he said as he moved from the door.
Now being able to get a full view of the room, Yūma saw him.
A man with slick-backed hair, glasses, and a white jacket stood across from the door with his arms crossed. His expression was hard and the way he moved his feet along the ground told him that the man before them was trying to size him up while also intimidate him.
It would have been effective were it anyone else.
"So you're here...Kuga."
"Hi there. Good to meet you."
For him, it was just another meeting.
Instead of greeting him in return, Yūma watched as Yuba held his glasses in place while taking in a breath.
And the result of this was...
"Obishima!"
"Sir."
Looking beyond Yuba, he could see someone move out to the make their appearance.
And next to them was a familiar face.
"Midorikawa-kun and Kuga-kun?"
.
"Heya," Midorikawa said with a wave.
Hoshi smiled at her underclassman while moving to stand next to Yukari.
"So you know them, Taiyōko? Well, that doesn't matter right now. Obishima, we have guests. Greet them."
"Y-yes..."
Hoshi quietly moved over to stand next to Yuba while Yukari moved out front so that she stood between them and Midorikawa and Kuga.
It had been no secret that Yukari had wanted to meet Kuga for some time now, but she had refused Hoshi's attempts to introduce them. It had been nice when she said it felt like she would be using her, but it was likely due to her nerves that she never accepted the offer.
Now that he had come for something else, there was no escaping the meeting.
Go for it, Yukari! I'm rooting for you!
"H-hello..."
"Yeah, hello."
Hoshi felt something inside of her twitch at the greeting. It somewhat reminded her of herself, but that was far from being the issue here. It was something much more fundamental than that.
She has becomes too meek!
That in itself would not be bad. Going at your own pace was always a good thing in her eyes. It made sure that you would not go beyond what you were capable of and maintained yourself in a situation.
But this was not even the pace Yukari would normally make for herself.
And what would come next was no better.
"Obishima..."
Hoshi felt a sigh leave her lips as the dangerously calm voice next to her was followed by Yukari freezing in place.
It was strange for her to give such a sigh, but it felt like the right thing to do here.
"Are you wimping out? Put some spirit into it!"
"Yes."
Preparing herself for what was coming next, Hoshi pushed her hair behind her ears.
This was her way of encouraging Yukari while she took in a breath and placed her arms behind her back.
And then...
"I am Yuba Squad's All-Rounder, Obishima! Kuga-senpai, I admire your sharp judgement, creativity, and grit in battle! It's absolutely an honor to meet you!"
The silence that filled the room only lasted for a moment, but that moment gave Hoshi time to come up with a single thought.
Good job, Yukari! Whoo! If not for Yuba-san looking ready to do something, I would give you a big hug!
So she just settled on a smile and an encouraging thumbs up.
She returned it with a nod instead, likely thinking the same thing about her captain.
"This one got blown away, watching your matches. Be nice, will ya?"
"Is that so. I am very flattered. Let's keep doing our best..."
This was nice.
"Obishima, my boy."
Until it wasn't.
Hoshi felt herself freeze at the words she had heard.
"Yes, thank you."
That did nothing to help.
Oh, dear.
Taking a step back, she shared a quick look with Midorikawa and prepared for the next thing.
Today sure is lively. Maybe a bit too much.
"What the hell, Kuga..."
"Hm?"
"Obishima-chan's a girl," she heard Midorikawa say to Kuga.
Letting out a second sigh, Hoshi covered her ears so that she would be able to hear what comes next at a reasonable volume.
"Um, that's right. I'm a girl."
But what came was different than what she expected.
"Oh?"
Kuga dropped to the floor in an instant and performed a perfect dogeza. His arms were the length apart, his head was parallel to the ground, and he looked ready to move away at a moment's notice.
And he did just that while speaking.
"I am terribly sorry! My deepest apologizes!"
"No, please don't! People make that mistake a lot! Don't worry about it!"
"Performing a high level dogeza like that is not necessary, Kuga-kun. A simple apology would have been fine."
"Yeah, you don't need to be that sorry. You're overdoing it."
"No, not at all," Kuga said while raising his head. "The last time I made that same mistake, I was nagged at for ages..."
"'The last time'...?"
Even if that were the case, it was not needed in this situation.
But it did more than to apologize, Hoshi realized. This was just what would be needed to make a good impression here.
After all, Yuba was just that type of person.
"That dogenza shows your sincerity, Kuga. How about adding to it by giving Obishima some training?"
"Ah! I'd like that very much! Oh... But I did promise Hoshi-chan that I would continue helping her with her Triggers."
"If that's what you want, it's fine. And Hoshi-chan can join us."
"Oh, that is a mistake, Kuga-kun."
The way he tilted his head told her what she needed to know.
He knew nothing about the prototype Triggers.
I suppose it is a good thing that they are not our opponents then. But I do doubt that any of the others would complain if I said anything regardless...
They would probably leave it to her to decide on what to do. Since this was not the case, they would have nothing to say about her speaking on the topic.
"I am working on some prototype Triggers. And Yukari has been assisting me with them." She then turned to Yukari. "But it's fine. You really want this, right!? Go for it, Yukari! This is a perfect chance!"
"Are you sure?"
Instead of answering with words, Hoshi began to move toward Yukari.
.
Midorikawa watched as Hoshi moved to stand behind Obishima before pushing her forward. Once they had taken a few steps forward she held Obishima's shoulders and leaned over to look at Yūma with a smile.
"Please do train with Yukari. It would make her very happy, and I would very much appreciate it."
"Now I really can't say no. Hoshi-chan is asking me and I need to make it up to Obishima-chan."
"Thank you very much, Kuga-kun!"
Well that was new.
Midorikawa stood to the side and observed the quick interaction between his senpais.
This isn't like Hoshi-senpai at all. Normally, she would be more reserved and say the necessary things for a conversation. Even grabbing Obishima-chan like that isn't what she would do.
She had always been the sensible one out of his three senpai he would casually hang around with at school. Everyone at the school has said that she was their princess while Toby and Takeshi were her guards, making it hard for others to approach the two of them.
Midorikawa had always found it easy to approach them since he was friends with Toby and never liked Takeshi's attitude. He was viewed as something special by his classmates since he could talk to them freely and without any sort of reservation. It really was not anything special, but he liked the attention it brought him.
Hoshi had been the true catch for it all, though. Everyone wondered how he was able to get past the two guards and speak to the princess herself.
He had told them that it was nothing and that he was just being friends with them. Everyone in his class found that hard to believe, but they had nothing to disprove him.
So with that being the way things were, he had gotten to know Hoshi more while also enjoying his time with Toby and Takeshi. It was always nice to see them around since Toby was similar to him and Takeshi tended to ignore him. Hoshi would simply smile and nod to him, speaking only to greet him.
But this was different.
Is it because she's on the same squad as them now?
Not much would change just because of that.
Suzume was on the squad too, but she was generally an oddball and not someone Hoshi would normally start to take after.
Then...
It was just how things turned out.
She had to fight people in the B-Rank Wars, meet new people who are different form our schoolmates, and had Toby and Takeshi-senpai with her the whole time. This isn't anything like that princess our school admires so much. ...But it's way better.
It felt more freeing seeing Hoshi like this instead of like the proper girl image she had built up while holding things back.
There was no more straight back, perfect smile, or held tight appearance that everyone had been fond of.
In its place was a happy girl who was leaning over her friend with a loose smile.
"Are you done being confused as to how that squad was a thing?"
Mei spoke while resting her elbow on the railing covering the edge of the Yagura Branch's open window. She was not smiling, but she was enjoying herself here.
Yuki responded while letting out a sigh and throwing his back onto the floor.
"I just don't get how that could happen. It had to be before our time. But then again, a lot happened before our squad was made. It's just...weird."
"I suppose that is one way to put it."
Mei turned to the sky filled with lazy clouds, held up her phone in her hand, and too a quick picture of the calm sky.
"By the way, don't you think that Hoshi and Nakagami may be too focused on the B-Rank Wars instead of being branch members?"
She looked to the city then into the distance.
"They are still registered as Yagura Branch members, but they have done very little for the branch."
"I say let them live their lives here. Sensei has no problem with it, so I can't say anything."
Yuki sat up and looked out into the sky as he spoke.
"After what happened, and what we talked about, I want Hoshi to be completely free with any choice she makes. She has people to back her up better than I can." He took a breath. "But if possible, I would like for her to still enjoy her time with me. ...Now, Mei, it's time we go on a proper date. ...And you're already blushing. Crap."
Things were not good. That was the best way Hoshi could describe what she was seeing.
They had all moved to the training room so that they could watch Yukari and Kuga do their training. The entire time she had been able to tell that Yukari was excited about this chance, so she happily went along with it and did her best to encourage her the whole time.
She knew that Tamakoma-2 would be Yuba Squad's next opponents, so this was a good opportunity to figure out how their opponents would be moving.
Both she and Yukari had long since decided that she would not be using the prototype Triggers since they were still in a state that someone like Yukari would not be able to properly control. It made sense, and both of them smiled about their choice to simply improve themselves as they were.
Finally getting to see those results in this training had been what they wanted. Something to show them just what they could do as they were and see what they could improve on with Triggers. It felt like there was nothing that could go wrong with this.
But then...
"Kuga, you little punk..."
Hoshi furrowed her brows as she looked at the fallen Kuga.
In front of her was a mad Yuba. Next to her were an unimpressed Midorikawa and a rather disappointed Yukari.
But none of them said anything, instead leaving it to Yuba.
"Why the hell are you holding back!?"
"Honestly, I'm not. Obishima-chan's got a lot of talent."
"Nah, you were clearly holding back."
"I already know you're way better than this. Now put your ass into it!"
There was no need to cover her ears this time. Yuba was right.
"Then... Will you fight me?"
Something was there, with that question.
Hoshi felt something begin to well up inside of her chest.
It was unlike anything she had felt before. The closest thing she could point it to was what she felt when first meeting Katori, only much more intense.
The feeling would not subside and it began to simmer before she knew it. The silence between everyone at the question remained for a moment, but she could only focus on the feeling inside of her that was causing her to frown and furrow her brows.
Something needed to be done about it.
"No w-"
"Pardon me for a moment."
She had taken a step forward before she knew what was happening. Doing so had interrupted Yuba, but it seemed that he was too stunned to say anything at the moment. Midorikawa and Yukari looked at her with matching raised brows while Kuga only turned to her with a neutral expression.
Now that she was in this situation she could not back down.
The feeling inside her chest refused to go down until she did something about it.
"Kuga-kun, I can understand that you would not want to show off too much in front of your next opponents. Yuba-san likely doesn't want to do that either. But that is no reason to insult Yukari like this." The feeling had moved up from her chest and was now coming out of her mouth. "We have seen what you are capable of, so you can at least do that much. Even if it is not anything new, doing nothing but throwing yourself around while she is doing her best to fight is nothing but an insult to her. She has been looking forward to meeting you and fighting you, but you are doing nothing that can be viewed as favorable."
"Hoshi-chan, you don't need to..."
"I do! Kuga-kun, please do not make my friend sad simply because you wish to keep things hidden! At the very least, show us what we already know! Otherwise..."
The feeling had reached its peak.
"I will get mad with you and do something about it myself!"
.
Obishima could only stare with wide eyes as Hoshi spoke louder than she had heard before. The only times she had raised her voice was when she had been excited over something, but even those times failed to compare to what she was hearing now. Even more was the reason behind the raised voice.
...She is doing it for me.
Hoshi was getting mad for her sake and even raising her voice at someone who was better than the two of them combined.
This same girl was someone who refused to make selfish decisions and held back any negative emotions simply because it would cause trouble for those around her. Someone like her should have been able to hold back that anger and never let it show.
But she had.
And it was for Obishima.
The only things Obishima could feel at the current was happiness. It overtook the disappointed feeling she had gotten after fighting Kuga, overpowering it and giving her a renewed fire for their friendship. A friendship she had already decided would never be lost.
"Hm. For you to make make Taiyōko mad... You should watch your back if this ever gets out, Kuga."
"Oh? Will you be doing something?"
"Uh, that isn't..."
"I'm nothing compared to that guy when it comes to her. All I can say is that you are going to need to make it up somehow."
There was no question that her captain was speaking of Hoshi's older brother.
While it was a small secret that her captain was in charge of making sure Hoshi was fine when he was around, it was no secret that Hoshi's older brother was fiercely protective of her. Even when someone was being kind to her, that older brother would come in just to scare off the person. So if someone were to make Hoshi mad...
...This won't end well.
Midorikawa must have thought the same thing since he moved next to Kuga with a light sweat on his brow.
"Maybe you should show him something new. I bet he's not going to let you leave otherwise. And besides that, you don't want him telling Yuki-san."
"You seem to be having fun... So it was Yuki-senpai you were talking about."
"Yuba-san! Please don't use my brother to intimidate Kuga-kun!"
"Er..."
Now that one was new. For her to raise her voice at Yuba it meant that she held nothing back while mad.
Feeling the need to calm things down, Obishima moved a step forward.
"Uh, it doesn't have to be something new. Like Hoshi-chan said: I just want to fight you full-on."
"Hmm... Okay, just this once."
That seemed to be enough for everyone. Her captain backed down while Hoshi took a breath and stepped back to make some room for them.
Obishima watches her from the corner of her eye. It was unlike her to do something like that, but it seemed to be alright now that Kuga had agreed to a real fight.
.
...Was that what it felt like to get angry?
Hoshi lowered her head as she moved to stand next to Yuba. Midorikawa would signal the start of the fight, but she was not focusing much on that.
She had just gotten mad and raised her voice at both Kuga and Yuba. Everything would have been resolved without her intervening, but she had gone ahead and moved on emotion alone.
It was something her squad was known for by this point, but it did not mean it was a good thing.
...Things could have turned out bad if I had said something wrong here.
Making things worse for Yukari would have put her in a bad mood once everything had been settled. Yuba may have ended up telling her not to come back. Kuga and Midorikawa could have started to dislike her and never want to speak to her again.
Many things could have happened and it would have been her fault.
Things only turned out this way because Midorikawa had stepped in and Yukari had been understanding.
It hurt to think about.
"Hey, Taiyōko. Thanks for standing up for Obishima. And I'm sorry for bringing your brother into this. I'll make it up to you later."
"Huh?"
She looked up at to see Yuba facing forward. Midorikawa had called for the start of the fight and both Kuga and Yukari went into actions.
The first one to move had been Kuga, taking a leap into the air. Scorpion blades were protruding from his forearms as he came down.
Yukari already had Kōgetsu out. She began to parry the attacks coming at her in rapid succession and without holding anything back. It was exactly as she wanted, and they could all see that.
"It was wrong of me to bring your brother into this, but even I couldn't stand to see you angry like that. I'll admit that I let my own emotions come out when bringing him up."
"...There is nothing to apologize for. I should be the one doing that, for raising my voice at you."
"I'm glad you did."
Hoshi paused.
One reason was for what Yuba had just said to her. It was not something she had expected, but, oddly enough, it lightened up the feeling of dread inside of her a bit. There was only sincerity in his words, so she knew that he was not saying something to just make her feel better.
But the second reason was due to the fight.
After blocking the attacks, Kuga and Yukari had come to a momentary stalemate.
The one to back off had been Kuga. He had made another leap into the air and began a motion she had not seen from from before.
A throwing motion.
Something flew through the air towards Yukari.
She managed to dodge the attack, but the object stabbed into the ground and leave a scratch on her because of it.
...He threw a projectile?
As she thought this, Yuba finished speaking.
"I'm glad to know that you can freely raise your voice at someone, get mad at others, defend your friend, and feel bad about it afterwards. It means all of the work the rest of us put in means something. So, thanks for being Obishima's friend."
There was no time to think about his words as the fight continued on.
Kuga made a quick rush after landing.
Yukari was quick to right herself for the next attack, but...
...That projectile is still there.
Hoshi saw it from her position.
The ground cracked with the initial step Kuga had made to strike. His arm was pushed back, as if ready to strike, but his legs did not move any more than they already had.
There was no reason to do so.
.
The three observers watched on in shock as a blade from the Scorpion projectile sprang up, piercing Obishima's chest from the ground.
Lighting filled Obishima's body as they were informed of her Trion supply system being destroyed.
Everyone had their speculations on what had just happened, but Kuga did nothing to answer their internal questions.
When thinking about it more they had all reached the same conclusion as to what had happened and could only be amazed by such a feat.
"It's a variation on Kage-senpai's Mantis," Kuga said.
Hoshi was quick to move towards Obishima while she rubbed the restored spot where the blade at pierced her body. For something like that to happen and it to be new meant that it was only recently that it could have been made.
When using Scorpion, the user had control over how it formed, shaped, and moved. That freedom had been used to pierce through the ground, connect to the projectile, and fire an attack from a position Obishima could not see. It was not something simple that others could figure out simply by thinking about it, giving it more credence to Kuga's skills and what he had been holding back the entire time.
In the same vein it was clear that he had done so to cover all of his bases and make sure that there would be no more hard feelings between anyone in the room.
"Was that new move good enough? Then I'll be leaving."
"Stop right there."
Lighting could be heard as Yuba spread his arms out. Two guns inside of their holsters began forming at his sides as he continued.
"You overpaid, Kuga. Here's your chance. I'll fight you just this once."
"Oh... Now we're talking."
.
Obishima moved to the side with Hoshi as her captain and Kuga moved to stand across from each other. Once again, Midorikawa was in charge of starting the match.
As she got in place to watch the fight, she felt something loop through her arm. Looking down, then up, she saw that Hoshi was smiling at her while holding her arm. The anger and momentary sadness from a moment ago was completely gone and she was back to how she had always been.
"You were still wonderful, Yukari."
"Uh, thank you... But I didn't expect the projectile, or for it to be used as a connecting point."
"I'm sure that none of us expected that. Yuba-san and Midorikawa-kun also seemed surprised. Until that point, you were doing well. You were thinking straight and your next actions were not obvious enough to figure out exactly where you would move. I think Suzume-senpai would think that was 'honestly good'."
The two shared a laugh as they saw both her captain and Kuga take their place.
"It looks like they are going to start..."
"I may never get tired of watching Yuba-san's attacks. They are nice to see, for some reason."
Obishima found that she could understand why Hoshi would think that much. Even while she had not fought her captain in their last two rank war matches, she had seen him in action during other times. Her teammates had likely described the sensation as well, so she had some information as to how this would turn out.
This would be Hoshi's third time seeing her captain's attacks in person.
That felt like it was enough for her.
"Are the two of you ready? ...Okay. Ready... Go."
.
It was only an instant.
Light flashed from where Yuba stood.
Holes filled Kuga's body in that single instant.
Obishima and Hoshi watched from the side as the lights vanished as quickly as they game. The only thing telling them that they had been there at all being the rapid noises that filled the space for that instant.
"No offense," Yuba began. "But keeping our top rank depends on the Final Round. So that's all I can show you today."
"I see. Like I thought, you're way faster than you seem in the logs."
.
Hoshi watched with a smile.
A new feeling had sprouted inside of her and it was one she was already familiar with.
It was something she had seen in her teammates before and one she got when facing people like Yukari, Katori, and Kumagai. A heart-pounding feeling that got her to smile even when things looked bad.
"I want...to fight as well."
Kuga was getting up with his own smile and Yuba was turned to the side, but they had heard her.
"I want to fight now."
Yukari, who was next to her, turned to her.
"I'm sorry if this is troublesome for you, Kuga-kun, but I would like to fight you as well. Even for a moment, I would like to see it for myself. The same place where Toby-kun is at."
"Toby?"
Midorikawa was the one to question her, but she did not stop smiling.
"Yes. I want to see that place for a moment. I also wants to see the places where Takeshi-kun and Suzume-senpai are. Once I have seen then, I can properly back them up. And after that, I want to see many more places to better understand everyone else. It seems that I am still in a rather basic place while the rest of you are in other places. I won't stay long, but I would like to see them for myself. ...If that is fine."
Everyone had stopped in their actions and words once she had finished.
All of them seemed to be thinking about what she had said. Nothing like this had been said from her before while around them, so this must have been new.
The frozen state of things was broken by Yuba turning his head.
"Everything between Kuga and us has been settled. It's up to him to either agree to this or not. I can't help you here, Taiyōko."
"Oh, that is fine, Yuba-san. I wouldn't want to put this on you in the first place."
He only nodded at her, but she could tell that he felt a bit bad for doing this.
Now it left everything up to Kuga.
"...I'm going to have to decline. Sorry, Hoshi-chan, but I showed off a lot already. Any more and we might have problems."
"I see. Yes, that does make sense. Then, in that case, may I ask for something else?"
"Hm? Depends on what it is."
There was no teammate to help her, and Yuba Squad would not coddle her and her actions. Everything was left up to her for this.
From the very beginning, she had always been held close and protected by her family. While her two oldest siblings had to do intense training with their parents, she had been treated like glass. Even when they had ben pronounced dead, others treated her as fragile. Her schoolmates and teachers had done nothing but look on her favorably.
That had changed upon meeting Toby and Takeshi, but that had quickly turned into a dependence on them. Even now, she found it hard to properly work beside then, only feeling like she was leading them on to her whims. That much had been clear during the last two matches. Her own feelings and emotions had been what led them to make incorrect decisions and lose points that they would have otherwise kept.
Then came the conversation with her siblings.
It had hurt to talk about everything, and most of the things they needed to get out were still bottled up, but they had come to a conclusion. One that included all of them and gave her hope that they would treat her less like glass and more like someone who they could rely on.
Now it was on her to convince Kuga to do something for her without the help of anyone else. There was no one who would come in to help her or speak for her. It was only her and her own thoughts that could move Kuga to move here. So...
Here I go.
She would see what she could accomplish.
"Kuga-kun, can you please be my opponent?"
"I won't fight you."
"I am not asking you to fight me." she shook her head. Kuga seemed confused, but he let her continue. "I only want you to guard or counter as you see fit. If I am unable to properly mount an offense or see a counter coming, I will only find it harder to keep up with everyone else."
"What about Midorikawa? He knows toby well, right? Maybe he can help you."
"Don't just bring me into this!"
She shook her head again.
"That would not work. You have the experience that I have only seen in my parents and older siblings. While they are more advanced than Toby-kun, it means that you know your way around a battlefield better than someone like Midorikawa-kun. No offense, of course."
"None taken."
Kuga had suddenly gone quiet, but it did nothing to quell her thoughts and feelings on the matter.
In the current members of Border around her age there had been no one who could match her siblings in experience of battlefields and warfare. It was terrifying to think about, but she could tell that Kuga had seen his fair share of these sorts of battle before from the way he held himself during a fight.
It's as if he has been to war before...
She had never experienced anything like that before, but she had seen the results of such things in her parents before. A certain dullness in their eyes and a fondness for simple things that other would take for granted. It was something that always made her worry that her parents would end up doing something they regret later in their lives.
When looking at Kuga she found similar things to that, but there was something else. In his eyes there was something missing that her parents always held.
The dullness in his eyes was not as bad and the way he lived his life was unlike them in all sorts of ways that Hoshi found it amazing.
It meant that he was a perfect person to have go against her.
Someone who had experience that she only saw in her family.
"...Can I ask something first? Before making my decision."
"Of course. What is it?"
There was no hesitation in his voice.
"Why do you want to go to all of those places?"
.
Yūma waited for the answer to his question.
But the wait time was small.
"Because I would like to support them as best I can."
It was a simple answer.
It was also an answer he liked, but found to be a bit naïve.
"But..."
But.
"It's also because I just want to be there with them. Supporting them is nice, but it usually ends once the battle is over. So I want to go there so I can stay with them once that is over. You can understand, can't you?"
Hoshi did not know of his status as a Neighbor, so she must have meant his position as a member of Tamakoma-2. It was something he could respect, but it felt like she did not understand the full responsibility of it.
Still, he knew that she meant well and was doing this for both herself and the people around her. He was reminded of his teammates in that way, but the difference was that she was more than able and willing to do what is needed to be done to accomplish this, nothing holding her back but her own selflessness.
If there was something he liked, it was this type of person, so...
"Sure thing. I can manage defense for a bit. But I think I can only do it once before we need to be going."
That seemed to be enough from the way Hoshi smiled and clapped her hands in front of her.
"That is more than enough! Thank you for this opportunity, Kuga-kun!"
"No problem, no problem."
"If this is how it is," Yuba said while pushing up his glasses. People with glasses tended to enjoy doing that, he realized. "I can watch this. A defensive showing doesn't give much away. The most would be movements that most people use already."
It really sounded like an excuse, but that was fine.
Yūma had come to the conclusion that Yuba had a soft spot for Hoshi.
"I don't mind that."
"Very well. I will get in position then."
Yūma nodded as Kōgetsu formed at her side, electricity only adding to her looks. To the side he could see the Yuba Squad members move to be out of the way.
They must have also been interested in seeing how this would turn out.
Well, it's not like this isn't a good chance for me, too. Toby is pretty good at fighting, so Hoshi-chan has a good way to go if she wants to back him up. I can see just how far she had before she can reach that point.
It would also be good to see these prototype Triggers in person to determine if they can be useful for later.
One: "Hey, do you think you will end up having to fight that Kotowari Squad girl again? You know, the one you thought was inexperienced, but totally copied your Hikigane Shield."
Shigenaga almost broken her phone upon seeing the message sent directly to her. There was no doubt that Asagi was enjoying himself while teasing her, but his question did hold some important.
The inexperienced girl on Kotowari Squad had proven herself to be naïve about what is right on a battlefield, but her skills and adaptability made up for that. Those same things had let her fight against an unfocused Shigenaga and even harass someone like Mitsuteru.
Shige-ko: "Considering that we are going to be fighting Kotowari Squad, it would make sense if I end up fighting her again."
One: "Boo. That was a boring answer."
Now he was just being a brat.
One: "Oh, but I doubt that she will manage a win against you, so there's that. Last time you were more focused on what was going on with Tsu, so it makes sense that she would hold her own there. This time there's none of that. You can take her on easily now."
Shige-ko: "You're pretty optimistic there. You need to remember that there will be others there. And last time she also had a handicap. She was trying to prevent me from attacking Tsuji."
One: "Eh. I still think you would be fine. Your style of fighting isn't something that just anyone can get used to after fighting once. I've seen a lot of people get annoyed since it's hard to deal with you. At that point I just tell them 'Hey, try being on a squad with her' and we have a laugh."
Something began cracking next to Shigenaga.
Everyone around her watched with varying expressions as they saw her begin crushing the table she was sitting at.
It was always dangerous to give people like her Triggers.
One: "Whatever. We can think about that stuff when we get to the planning. By the way, who's going to be doing that this time?"
Shige-ko: "All of us are. This isn't a round we can just slack on, after all."
Asagi knew that, so why was he asking?
This would be their final round for the current season.
There would be no reason to hold back in the slightest or falter for even a moment.
One: "I guess that means I should get some things done first."
Hoshi and Kuga stood on opposite ends of each other, Midorikawa standing in the space between them.
The distance was a few meters, but the one who could cover that quicker would normally be the winner in an instant. Normal circumstances meant that Kuga would cover that quickly, reach around Hoshi, and pierce her with his blade.
But that was only if he was on the offensive.
On this defensive display it was up to Hoshi to make the first move and for Kuga to react to it.
If she tried to cover that distance then it would give him reason to maintain that distance or block her attack. Rushing forward would give away all of her movements.
Attacking from a distance using Shooter-type Triggers felt like the right thing to do, but Kuga had already fought against more skilled Shooters and Gunners. That made it hard to determine if that was really the right choice when he would be guarding and countering the entire time.
Even while only being a guard, Kuga put up too much pressure for her to decide how she wanted to go about fighting here.
So as Midorikawa began to speak, she made a particular strange choice.
"Ready..."
She lowered her stance to a point where her left leg was far behind her while her upper body was near parallel to the ground.
"Go!"
Then she disappeared.
A ring appeared where she had been, closed in on itself, and seemed to fill the space back up with air. The sound that rang out along with it was only for an instant, but it did nothing to distract Kuga from what was coming.
"!"
He brought up his arm to block the sword strike from above and began lowering his body.
Hoshi had teleported above him while using a form used for instant sprints. Any one inexperienced in fighting would have been taken out by the initial attack, thinking it would be a rush instead of an instant attack.
The strike itself held power behind it, but not enough that there was no preparation for a followup action.
She had been prepared for her attack to fail.
Kuga responded to this by lowering his body even more while sliding to the side.
The rest of the attack came down and crashed into the ground. The followup was immediate - a sideways sweeping strike with Kōgetsu.
Being a one-handed strike, the power it had was low, but the speed at which it moved made up for it. Kōgetsu had always been the sturdy blade, meaning Kuga's Scorpion blades would only take so much damage before shattering.
That explained his next action.
"The air again!?"
.
Hoshi did not hold back her movements.
Chasing others would be like walking into a trap, but she had already planned on doing as much.
It doesn't seem to matter what trap or plan our opponents have at times. Suzume-senpai and Toby-kun's Side Effects let them bypass a lot of that. Takeshi-kun tends to tear through those, so I need to be at least at that level!
She saw the result of this action right away.
Her blade was stopped by a shield after her next attack, but...
This should be nothing!
Pushing through would take too much time, so she made a different action.
Grabbing the top of the shield with her bare hand, she lifted herself up and over the shield.
Throwing her leg over the shield, she used it as a springboard and pushed closer towards Kuga.
From her position it would be hard to attack with Kōgetsu before he could move or counter. The space between them was too small and the time it took for him to react was shorter than her own. The only way to counter those odds was to supplement her movements with something else.
These are what Triggers are for!
They were weapons to use and tools to use when needing to boost a person's natural capabilities. Ones like Kiyome and Grasshopper were meant for enhancing speed while ones like Raygust, Escudo, and Shield were meant to bolster defense. One of the more odd ones was Teleport - a Trigger meant for instantaneous movement.
The one to give others a cause to be wary of Teleport users had been her oldest brother. His use had multiple applications other than simple movement. It had gotten to the point for him that teleporting had become a part of his own movements and the downsides of the Trigger were overlooked due to how well he was able to use it.
During his time in Border he had two squads that he had been a captain of. The first one she knew little about, but the second one had turned into her current squad. When first joining them, Takeshi had tried to joke, saying that they all used Teleport. She took it to heart and found to easy to use. It was only after that first attempt at a joke did he tell her that she did not need to use Teleport if she did not want to.
But it was fun.
Teleporting itself was an enjoyable feeling, but that was not where the value came from.
Knowing that I can do this with a team just feels nice.
So she would continue to use it for her own enjoyment.
It was selfish of her to do so.
But that is fine, isn't it?
.
Yūma place a Grasshopper plate near him the moment he saw Hoshi disappear from his sight.
He knew about Teleport from fighting Toby multiple times by now. There would a small moment where the user would lag to gather themselves after teleporting. There were other downsides to using the Trigger, but that was currently the most important one to him.
Attacking after teleporting required the user to already be in a motion. Something like that was not easy to do when most people would be more focused on teleporting instead of preparing an attack.
It was what he used to get away.
His body was thrown forward by the Grasshopper plate before Hoshi could finish her next swing.
The moment his feet touched the ground he jumped back to create distance between the two of them again.
Defending was reliant on both defense and evasion. Countering had seemed easy at first, but Hoshi was making reckless movements that could end up hitting her later on for it.
These sorts of movements were not something Yūma was used to seeing from her.
But he had seen them from Toby countless times.
She's going to try and close the distance again. She doesn't have enough firepower to attack from a distance, so she doesn't have a choice.
Contrary to what others would think, distance still mattered to Teleport users. Maybe even more so.
The distance that they had to cover was no issue. The problem came in the time it would take to use Teleport again. Maintaining a distance meant that he could cut how many times Hoshi was able to use Teleport.
All he needed to do was move back until time had been called.
She still gives away what she plans to do, but it isn't as bad. Probably because she isn't sure what she wants to do either.
It usually happened to people who had built up too much energy.
Hoshi was not the type to let that get to her, so it must have also been a mix of her emotions being put on full display here.
In a way, it was a good thing that he was able to help her get it all out here.
She had already been friends with Osamu before meeting him. That had quickly extended to him the moment they had met. Hoshi had spent no time in showing him just how nice she was. This had left a good impression on him from the start.
Now he was able to repay some of that.
At least no one is going to get mad at me for doing this.
He left it at that thought and focused on Hoshi's next action.
She had landed in front of him and turned around, hand on Kōgetsu.
Senkū?
There was little time into her stance changing. From what he could see, she was planning a rush or to attack with Senkū. The distance was just enough for the latter, but the former felt like it would be more reliable.
It would still be hard for her to reach him like that, but she would supplement that with something else.
In all likelihood it would be Teleport again.
So he prepared for that.
Instead, she took a step forward to his leaning motion.
So she's going to go by foot.
He began another leaping motion with his arms slightly spread out.
The movement would force her to use Teleport to close the distance again or move with more rushed steps.
From there he would only need to read her movements again.
"—!?"
But that was not what happened.
Yūma felt a solid object crash into his body the moment he tried to move back.
.
That was...!
Yuba watched with a wide expression as Kuga was hit by a shield that had been thrown at him.
There had been two people in Border who used shields like bashing weapons while also creating a defense. The best of them managed three shields at once while the lesser of the two managed a double shield.
Taiyōko had only thrown one shield, but the form she took and the way it was used were the exact same.
"Hikigane Shield!"
He could not stop the words from leaving his mouth.
That sort of strike was meant for people who thought their offense was good enough to be a defense. Each time it was used had been because the user had been a rough person with a tough personality.
It was a bit scary to think of Taiyōko becoming like that.
But this is where it matters most.
What would she do next?
He saw the answer to that in Taiyōko disappearing before his eyes and appearing directly behind Kuga.
She pulled out her Kōgetsu and went for a strike.
Even with his body pushed by the shield, Kuga managed to turn his body and create two blades to block the double-handed Kōgetsu strike.
Evading was no longer an option and a shield made now would only shatter.
But even this would not be enough for her attack to land.
"She did it!"
He wanted to correct Obishima here, but he waited to see what would happen.
It was a good thing he did.
"I'm sorry for the sudden strike like that, Kuga-kun!"
"Don't apologize to him," Yuba found himself yelling.
She either did not hear him or just ignored him as she pushed Kōgetsu forward.
As she did so something amazing happened.
One-by-one ribbons of light began pouring out from the hilt of Kōgetsu until there was a total of five ribbons. Each one was roughly the length of Kōgetsu's blade and none of them stopping moving along with her action. The brilliant light he saw appear consumed the space around Hoshi, blocking her out slightly.
This was...
"The fixes to Fujin worked! The blade is still there!"
From the moment he saw the ribbons of light when Taiyōko came by he knew that it was incomplete. The blade had been missing and the light from the ribbons had been dull. The length of each ribbon was only half the length of Kōgetsu's blade. There were many things that just felt wrong about the prototype Trigger.
But that was no longer the case.
He was looking at the end result of Taiyōko and Obishima's hard work on the Trigger.
And each piece of that end result landed.
.
The first one to hit was Kōgetsu's blade. It struck Kuga's two blades at once. They held strong, but they were being pushed back.
Next, a ribbon of light reached down and cut through Kuga's leg. The hit was shallow, but it was proof that the attack had hit.
The second and third ribbons passed by his torso, causing gaseous Trion to leak out.
What had finished the attack were the fourth and fifth ribbons.
The remaining two ribbons had struck the two Scorpion blades. Each one applied a cutting pressure to the blades, cracking them enough for Hoshi's Kōgetsu to break through.
It reached him.