There was something wrong with a person if their first response to someone jumping to them was to grab their waist, lean back, slam that person to the ground, then get back up like nothing happened.

Then again, there's something wrong with someone flying like that in the first place, thought Maki.

Hyuse brushed off his clothes as if nothing happened while a lump of flesh twitched behind on, unmoving otherwise. It was not a new sight, but one that really took some getting used to. Even more so for the ones who had seen this for the first time.

"Hyuse!? What are you doing!?"

"Making sure he didn't put anything on me."

"That's not what I'm talking about!"

The way Usami rushed to check on the lump of flesh was nice. It showed that she was ready, even when something unthinkable happened.

Maki decided to give her some credit for that one.

"If I'm going to be down here...so are you!"

"Keh!"

As if wanting to mimic an octopus, the lump of flesh jumped up, wrapped around Hyuse, and dragged him onto the floor. There was no room in his grip to move and the hold his legs had on Hyuse's waist seemed too sturdy to get undone.

Usami stopped just before reaching them, but Maki could not blame her for that.

"Damn you! Let go of me!"

"Not until you apologize for that! I could have been hurt by that!"

"I wanted to make sure you got hurt!"

"Then try harder! that sucked more than when we were at Border's base!"

"I'll throw you out of the window next time!"

Each time it seemed as if Hyuse was going to escape, the lump of flesh would tighten around him and keep him in place.

It was mildly interesting to watch, but it was also wasting time.

"That's enough for the two of you," said Maki with a step.

The lump of flesh was the first to react. He did so by rolling to the side, never once letting go. The sound that Hyuse made to this as he was thrown to the floor came out muffled from under the lump of flesh.

This rolling continued until they stopped right in front of the door leading to the room.

Once it came to a stop everyone looked at the two to see that Hyuse was disoriented while the lump of flesh was shaking a bit.

Being tosses around and held in a grip like that would lead to anyone feeling like they had been tossed around too much and unaware of what was around them. It was amazing that Hyuse had not fainted from that sort of thing already, so only looking disoriented felt like it was a major win.

But...

"Say you give up! Give up already, Little Hyu!"

"...Never..."

The single word response came out a bit slurred. Maybe he isn't completely alright, Maki thought.

"I feel like I don't even want to know what's going on here. Especially since I had to lie to Konami to save Torimaru's ass."

"Oh, it looks like Futoyuki is having some fun with his childhood friend."

"Those two were friends?"

"I guess you can call them that."

All attention turned to the opening that was next to the lump of flesh and Hyuse. The lights steps they heard continued to get louder as two people moved closer to them.

Once they were in sight...

"Thank you for doing this, Yuki-san."

"Don't thank me when it's just returning a favor."

The Yagura Branch Representative was looking down at the tangled mess at his feet with his arms crossed. The casual and secretive expression Maki had seen him wear before was replaced with an unimpressed look with his eyes halfway closed and his foot lightly tapping the lump of flesh's side.

It was the most honest Maki had seen him since first taking in his appearance.

Behind him was the girl he had met during the latest enlistment day at Border. She stood behind him, waving towards him directly.

Oh, right, she understands my pain with these two.

.

Yuki knew that Hatohara Squad's Maki was waving in his direction, but he didn't respond to it. It was meant for Arisa behind him. It was a bit of awkward wave that proved that the two of them were acquainted, at the least.

That's good. At least there's someone else who can help her out.

Arisa had been having trouble since she did not have her teacher around and the only ones she could speak freely with were her fellow new member and the ones most related to her teacher. It put them all in a strange situation where she would stick to them while also trying to keep a distance.

Knowing that there was someone else in Border she could feel comfortable with made it easier to relax with issues concerning her.

All that left was the pile in front of him to worry about.

"So what's happening with these two?"

"Can you first do something about it?"

"This seems like an issue for someone else. ...But fine. Only because he's part of my branch and Sensei doesn't have time to deal with everyone's lunacy."

"Because he has to deal with your's?"

"Keep talking, see where that gets you."

Placing his foot in the small gap between Futoyuki's stomach and Hyuse's back, he applied some pressure downwards. The feedback made him narrow his eyes.

Why does this guy have that much muscle!? Hasn't he been in a ship for a good amount of time?! And he's mostly been eating hotdogs while over here! That's just not fair! What the hell!? If not for Hyuse being here, I would have kicked him instead!

And what the hell's with him flexing when I do this!? This guy wants to get in trouble, doesn't he!? He does! He totally does!

Feeling his irritation rise even more, Yuki applied more pressure until he heard a small groan.

A few more seconds passed until Futoyuki released his suffocating grip on Hyuse to hold his side.

Hyuse moved away, slightly tilted in his movements. That was understandable from the way he had been held up until now.

Yuki narrowed his eyes for a second time at this.

The way he was holding onto Hyuse and what Arisa just said... It's better if I let Sensei know about this. Things getting messy can't be helped, but it's better if this isn't kept a secret from everyone.

All he could do was sigh.

It was not hard to figure out where Futoyuki came from with those sorts of things coming out easily. The only thing was that it was not something that could come back to bite them if they were not careful with how they went about this entire situation.

"You looked like you are enjoying yourself, Tsukiko-senpai."

Yuki had to snap his head up when he heard that.

Finding the source of the comment he found that it had been Mikumo who had said that. Everyone turned to him at the same time, making him realize what he had said and cough into his hand. There was no taking it back and nothing he could do to get the attention away from him.

Bu that was fine.

Yuki knew that he started giving a bitter smile, but he did nothing about it.

"I am. Thanks for that, Mikumo."

"Uh, right. I'm sorry for just suddenly saying that."

"There's nothing wrong with that." Yuki shook his head. "The last time we spoke, I was dealing with some things. I should be the one apologizing for that. ...But you won't accept that. So why don't I just say that I plan on enjoying things by letting you rely on me here?"

"Are you sure that's fine?"

He would have said it was not fine a few days ago, but this is different.

He was different.

So he nodded his head.

"I don't mind helping out when it comes to good people like you all."

"Oh, then this won't count for my owed favor, right?"

"Try again. This applies to Mikumo, Amatori and Kuga. I haven't even properly met Hyuse, so this is going to cover it for him."

It felt fair to him.

Torimaru must have figured it was his loss since he only nodded his head and turned away.

"Anyways," he began. "I know why you called me over and all, but who exactly do you need me to copy here? Let's see... Your next opponents are Yuba Squad, Ikoma Squad, and..."

"Screw off, you assholes! I'm not gonna be copying that guy! I don't even care if you guys pay me! I Won't! Do! It! (Fuckers can go to hell!)"

Jin grinned as he heard the sudden yell ring out in the other room.

He could see Konami jump while making dinner and got a glare in return for his laugh.

"They sound like they are enjoying themselves."

"Are you kidding!? Yuki-san screaming like that was terrifying!"

"It was just him being happy about getting to do something for us."

"...Really?"

"Probably not~"

"You!"

"Hell no! No way am I copying that stupid, idiotic, no brain, air-headed piece of shit! I would call him a son of a bitch, but that would be insulting his mother more than him! He's the type of guy who doesn't even realize when he's being an idiot! Just look at his squad's uniform! Do you know how long most of us were making fun of Inu for it!? That crap is seriously lame! The reasoning for it is even more stupid! That crap looks more like cosplay than anything else! And that emblem! Oh, I've heard the reason for that one too! What kind of loser decides on something that represents their squads to look like that for that kind of reason!? Someone who thinks highly of themselves and can't look beyond that much! Yeah! That's who! Ha! That idiot can't even see how stupid his entire getup looks when compared to everyone else! I feel so damn sorry for the other three because of it! Having to put up with that guy for so long - Ha! Yeah, that sounds like it's the worst thing that can happen to anybody! I wouldn't even put someone I dislike in that kind of situation! Look! If you guys ever end up in that sort of situation, do me a favor and flip that idiot off before ignoring all of his orders, got it? Good. Right, then. Try and convince me to help you out on that. Let's see what you've all got here."

Osamu could only stare in amazement as Tsukiko tried to catch his breath.

...So this is what everyone has meant.

People had told him before that Tsukiko and Ninomiya did not like each other, but there had been barely any time to see why that was. Everything he had seen felt mild compared to what everyone had told him about the situation.

But now he saw it in full.

There was real hatred for Ninomiya in everything that Tsukiko had said. Nothing was held back and nothing was hidden. All of the hatred Tsukiko had inside of him was brought out and directed towards the Ninomiya Squad Captain.

There was more to it than that, he noticed.

...He sounds like he respects Ninomiya-san, even if he hates him.

And...

...He wants us to give him a reason to work based off of that respect instead of that hatred.

This was a test for them to see if they could handle more than just the physical aspect of being a part of everything. Relying on that alone would not reach stubborn people or people who could not understand things they were not used to.

In a way, he was showing them something for later on.

He was trying to act like their senpai.

We are currently looking at the Yagura Branch Representative, not Tsukiko-senpai.

Looking over at Karasuma, he saw that they would be receiving no help. Their senpai from Tamakoma were leaving it up to them to decide on how to handle this situation.

They likely knew what they could say to help, but all they did was shake their head or look away.

Karasuma in particular took to keeping the Yagura Branch members preoccupied alongside Takahashi. The two new members seemed to have taken to speaking with others over focusing on the conversation here.

So...

"Tsukiko-senpai," he started.

"Yes?"

There was no hesitation in the response.

"Will you help us by copying anyone other than Ninomiya-san?"

"You have my word that it's only that airhead I won't copy."

"And what good is your word..." Takahashi said from the side. It may have been meant to be said under his breath, but it came out clearly.

The bitterness in his tone was new, but he could understand why Takahashi would say something like that.

Word had gotten around about Tsukiko's silver tongue and how he would play with words. The events a few days ago had been blamed on him and had been revolving around him. A lot of people had spoken about how he could be at times. ...A fake smile and hollow words. It was the simple people would talk about him.

But there was something else he had been told.

...Jin-san said to ignore what others say and think about what I know of him when I feel uncertain about Tsukiko-senpai.

Jin had told him to make his own judgement at times like these.

As a squad captain, and someone from the outside, he did what he could.

"Right, thank you for the opportunity."

"Don't thank me yet. My job is done when you all win your next match."

"...Do you think we can?"

Having Kuga in the room with them would determine if his words were true or not. No matter how he were to twist his words there would be a sign to look for.

"I think there's a chance of it. You just have to look at everything first."

"Huh?"

A cough followed his words. It was not from him, rather, it was from one of the people to the side.

Tsukiko ignored the obvious cough and continued to smile to him. There might not have been anything to note since Kuga gave no response to what he had said.

It made things a bit confusing.

...Oh.

It was right there, glaring at him. The words that everyone said were now twisted had been meant or him to figure out and decipher. If he could not do that much then it might have meant that there would be no winning in this situation or later ones.

But he had gotten help.

Tsukiko-senpai isn't really that bad.

.

"You want us to give you a reason to copy Ninomiya-san to help us win, right? I'm asking to clarify what is needed here."

Smart guy, Yuki thought with a smirk. He's mixing in the two things I said and putting it into a single point to get me to help them.

He had given some hints in his words as a courtesy, but Mikumo seemed too straightforward to understand his way of doing things. Even with a slight interruption from Torimaru it felt like Mikumo would not see what was in front of him, but hidden in plain sight.

I think Hyuse or Kuga would have said something if they didn't think he could handle it, though. It's a good thing he has them on his side.

Still, I'm glad he found that out by himself. Trying to give white lies or half truths with Kuga around becomes a hassle, so honesty might trip him up.

It might have been due to his time with those terrible people that made him want to mess with Kuga a bit. Having someone who could see beyond his usual way of speaking made him want to mess around and see what he could bring out.

If being honest was the way to mess with him then it would be no issues to do just that.

Now let's see what you came up with from everything.

Messing with Kuga meant helping Mikumo speak to people like him.

People who would use anything they could to win.

"That's right. And regardless of the outcome concerning that airhead, I'll be helping you guys with everyone else as a repayment to Torimaru."

"You already said to hold off on thanking you, so I won't do that again."

He really is smart. Yuki had to give a chuckle at that.

It was unlike the two branch members he was with.

"So then, what do you plan on saying to me instead?"

This would determine how things turn out for them.

Tamakoma-2 would still have Torimaru to help them in copying the airhead, but it would be to a lesser extent when compared to him. Catching him and getting him to work with them on that would be beneficial for them, so they could not afford to lose here.

...When did I start viewing these things as fun?

It was a bit worrying to know that he was enjoying this even more, but it brought up another question.

Who exactly do I want to win here? Me or them?

There may have been no real answer to that.

All he had to do was wait.

.

The rest of the Tamakoma members, Maki, and the two Yagura Branch members waited for Mikumo's response to what Yuki wanted from this. A reason to copy his enemy so that Tamakoma-2 could go into their next match more prepared.

It only took a few second before their wait was over.

Mikumo opened his mouth and spoke.

"You would get the satisfaction of knowing that your help was what got us victory, if we win. You can boast about it to Ninomiya-san and we will let others know that your accurate assistance beat Ninomiya-san. So in a way...it would be an indirect win for you against him."

There was a silence in the room.

Everyone waited for the response to his answer. If this failed then they would need Karasuma to copy Ninomiya's fighting style. But if it worked then they would have a perfect imitation of their strongest opponent.

So...

"I'm afraid of what you can come up with, but I'm looking forward to it even more."

"Does that mean you will help us?"

"If you lose to Ninomiya Squad, I'll take responsibility as a terrible copy."

Yuki crossed his arms with a smile. The words coming from him contradicted his appearance, giving mixed feelings. But there was one thing that was certain.

"I'm rooting for you guys, so just make sure I won't have to do that."

They had gotten his agreement to help them here.

Three collective sighs could be heard throughout the room as the atmosphere lightened up.

Yuki walked over to Mikumo in that moment and placed a hand on his shoulder. The feeling was light, but it was clear that he was serious in the action.

"I never thanked you, by the way."

"Huh? Did I ever do something for you?"

He shook his head.

"Not for me," he said. "You're friends with Takeshi. I should thank you for doing that. He had lost a friend early on in the B-Rank Wars, so seeing him with more than then makes me happy."

"Um..."

"Tell it to him straight, Osamu. It won't reach him otherwise," Karasuma said from next to Usami.

Mikumo nodded and turned back to Yuki.

His eyes were focused and trained on Yuki.

"There isn't a reason to thank me for being his friend, Tsukiko-senpai. I'm not his friend because of I feel sorry for him or because I think it's the right thing to do. I'm his friend simply because we can be friends. ...It's no different from being friends with the people here."

"Is that so...?"

Yuki slowly removed his hand and took a step back.

Sagging his body a little, he placed that same hand on his head and shook it a few times.

Everyone looked at him oddly, but he only continued by lifting his head to give a bitter smile to them all.

"Yeah, you're right. Sorry about that. I guess I shouldn't be the one to say anything about them anymore."

There may not have been a place for him by their side anymore.

"Don't leave them. Don't feel like you are left behind."

Instead of Mikumo responding, it had been Futoyuki who spoke up.

It was the former leader of the Wanderers.

"Don't feel like anyone needs to be left behind, Boss. Even if you feel like you were an ass or didn't do the right things for them, I doubt they would hold it against you. Those guys always seem like they're having fun, so I doubt anything you did to them has stuck with them in a bad way. Even that guy who sometimes comes over sometimes to fix the office seems like he's forgiven you for something."

"Oh, like how your group kept following you after all of the stupidity you did!"

"Hey, I'm trying to be serious here, Arisa! And where did you even hear about that stuff!?"

"Pyrínas-san, of course."

The huffing noise Hyuse made was drowned out by Maki turning to Karasuma and asking, "Was he in a gang or something?"

"You could say that."

"A Neighbor gang, huh..."

He looked to Hyuse for a moment, only getting a deadpanned expression, before turning back to the whining Futoyuki.

With any hesitation, he spoke.

"They must have been desperate to have you as their leader."

"Another one! That's messed up! Little Hyu, do somethiiiiiing! I'm being attacked here!"

"Do you think I wouldn't attack someone like you?"

"Those are just love taps! I know they are! You love me, don't you!? You do! Yeah! I'm the one who watched you cry sooooo many times that-"

He was cut off by a well-timed uppercut from Hyuse. The sound his jaw made was amazing, but did nothing to threaten someone who was in a trion body.

Even so, it got Amatori, Usami and Arisa to quickly move and see if he was fine.

.

"Well..."

Yeah, I don't blame you for reacting like that.

Yuki had seen his fair share of strangeness from the terrible people he called friends. Having Mikumo react like this was understandable to him.

"I can only say to not worry about your former squad too much, Tsukiko-senpai. Kotowari and Awdry seem to be doing just fine, and they also talk about you freely. I think they still see you as a friend."

"Misaki-senpai also says nice things about you," Amatori said from the side. It was nice of her to check over the lump of flesh.

"Right. I guess I should just calm down when it comes to them and look forward a bit more. I've been looking back a bit too much. I hope the rest of you don't end up doing that."

It may be harsh to say it, but it was what he felt needed to be said.

Feeling all of the tension begin to leave is body with his eyes closed, Yuki clapped his hands with a fresh smile. They had spoken enough and needed to get to the main reason they were here.

"Anyways! Why don't we start the training!? I'm assuming that you all understand how this training will go, since you're the ones who called for it."

"That's right. Usami-senpai explained how we can modify trion values."

"Great. Makes things easier for me. So let's begin, then."

"Okay, this is goodbye to our last day before the last round."

Toby stretched a bit in front of the Yagura Branch Office.

The night sky of Mikado City was usually either dark blue or the yellow of the city's lights.

But for the first time in a while, it was replaced by the Yagura Branch's ceiling and lights. The lights were dimmed at night, but as a nature person, he found the lack of true night interesting.

...It might be fun to invite everyone over to go see some stars once everything is settled.

"Anyway, there is a lot this branch handles for us now. So..."

"That's right. We've finally returned, haven't we?" Suzuka stepped forward and placed her hand on the Yagura Branch Office's door. "Ooooooooopen! Seeeeeeesameeeeeee!"

"Um, Suzuka-senpai? Our branch office lock scans out faces like normal, so you don't have to do that."

"And Suzume-senpai and Toby are right behind you."

Also true, thought Toby, but then the door opened on its own.

Eh? he thought when he noticed no one on the other side.

"Ho ho." Suzuka nodded once. "So it totally opens at my command, does it? It's such a well-made door."

Toby decided to pretend he hadn't seen Suzuka quickly type out a password on the door and pulled her arm back.

Yuki could feel himself fuming from within the confines of the suit and tie he was wearing.

A cube of trion was prepared in one hand before firing violently upwards. The shots were not too powerful, but they covered a distance and moved beyond the trion-made buildings. They leaped over them, gave an impact, then were replaced.

Without turning away, he prepared another cube of tiron, this time with more clusters than the other one.

Damn them!

He fired without hesitation.

The cluster power shots flew forward and crashed into a trion shield that blocked his attack from reaching Hyuse.

A second volley of weak shots were fired immediately after.

This suuuuuucks! he thought while bringing up his own shield. Hyuse had fired his own volley of shots at the right time, but none of them reached.

I didn't know they already prepared this sort of thing! I don't want to wear this kind of stuffy clothing! What's more, I can't move around!

This idiot likes to think he's hot shit by standing still and firing, but it's just annoying! Move around, do a dance, jump up and down! Just do something!

I fight while moving around, so this sort of thing really sucks!

He created another cube of cluster trion shots from behind the shield and aimed properly.

Hyuse stopped his volley to touch the ground.

Green lines traced along the ground, but Yuki fired before the walls could come up.

Some of them reached Hyuse.

See!? I would have just teleported right behind him there and taken his head! It's so easy! Why can't you do that, you damn airhead!?

The Escudo walls Hyuse had created were destroyed in instant by the cluster shots.

They had started by chipping at parts of the wall, but Yuki knew how his enemy would handle this.

The next volley of weaker shots came from his other side. They flew over the Escudo walls while the cluster shots rammed into the walls. They became fewer in numbers, but the power they had onyl increased before they were destroyed in only a few hits.

I can't wait to go to Yuba and Tatsuhito. The two of them move way more than this asshole.

All defenses had been broken through and Hyuse was filled with holes.

Yuki let out a sigh as his shoulders sagged.

They had gotten to see what a true imitation of the airhead looked like.

"It gets tough when he moves first."

"But you held out longer this time. Maybe if you can speed up the Escudo process then it would help."

"Hyuse is already pretty fast with that sort of thing," said Yuki. "The speed I used here was what you can find in that airhead. I matched him pace-for-pace, so if you can deal with me here then you can deal with him there. Why did you guys decide on a one-on-one?"

"That's what I want to know."

Torimaru walked over with a wave.

He might have been bored. Or maybe he just wants to keep up appearances so that Konami doesn't wring his neck.

Either way, he was here and asking questions alongside him.

"To get the advantage, you should keep him from going into full-attack mode."

"I thought so at first too. But I'm seeing things differently now." The look Mikumo gave was similar to the one Yuki had seen before. It interested him. "Ninomiya-san's Full Attack is super powerful in a duel. But it also creates a moment when he's defenseless. So if we set up a one-on-one for him, we can get that opening in his defense. This training is to get a feel for the timing of that opening and to prolong the duel situation to keep him unguarded longer."

"So it's not about guarding against Ninomiya-san's Full Attack but about inducing it to create that opening? ...I understands your thoughts."

Yuki chose to keep quiet abut the situation he was hearing.

Having more experience than any of them on the matter of the airhead, he wanted to see how they would go about this.

"But what if he doesn't get into the one-on-one you set up? The only first-place squad wouldn't bother to give Hyuse a one-on-one firefight."

"That may be true of Ninomiya Squad, but..."

But...

"Not of Ninomiya-san himself."

There was no holding back anymore.

Yuki scoffed and turned away to hide his laugh.

This caught the attention of mentor and student.

"Nice going there, Mikumo. Makes me less bitter about having to wear this getup. But you're on the right track."

"Yuki-san, do you have anything to say, as someone who has fought Ninomiya-san a lot?"

"Nothing you don't already know. Or at least, not something you can pull off." He waved his hand, knowing they were going to question him. "My style is different from most people. You're on to something about that opening, but Torimaru is also right. Inu and Tsuji are definitely going to make it hard for you all. Especially Inu."

"Huh? Inukai-senpai specifically?"

"That's right. If Shiro is going to be watching your match - and he will, trust me - then Inu is going to be doing his damnedest to make sure he can show his best side. Maybe even Tsuji, considering they're friends."

Looking at the confused expression Mikumo wore, Yuki felt bad once he realized he hadn't explained something.

"Shiro is the other guy you met on our first meeting. He's Inu's boyfriend."

"Oh, I, uh, knew who he was. He sometimes comes over to speak with some of us. I also figured that they were together from the way Inukai-senpai spoke about. I just didn't know it would cause that big of an impact for this."

That makes sense, he agreed.

"Well, getting back on topic. To speak of that advantage you were talking about. Even if we take at least one of those two out of the picture, it's still going to be hard to get to that situation. Even for me, it's hard to take advantage of that opening. I live in a world of speed and teleportation, so I've made him wary of those sorts of things. You would need someone as fast, or faster, than me to get through that opening."

"What about distance shots?"

"Those work too, but then you have to be wary fo his return fire on that. Don't forget that he can just set his attacks to go both forward and backwards. If you're found out even a second before you fire, he will tear right through you."

Neither Torimaru nor Mikumo said another for a moment.

It was only a seconds later did they turn to each other, nod, then turn back to him.

"You really do know him well, don't you, Tsukiko-senpai?"

"That's because he's an idiot who likes to pick fights with me!"

"Ariake-senpai was right..."

"Mitsuteru? Did that guy say something!? I'll have Tetsu and Pokari increase his training..."

"N-no! It wasn't anything bad!"

"Hm..."

It was hard to believe, but he chose to let it slide this time.

This is fine enough, I suppose.

Placing his hands into his pocket, he loosened the tie around his neck. It had been bothering him the entire time, but he felt like it was needed if he wanted to keep this up.

"Yuki-senpai, give us some of Yuba-san's quick draw!"

"And Ikoma's Senkū!"

He perked up at this.

The chance he was hoping for.

"Finally! I get to moooooove!"

Takeshi tried saying "I'm home" and was a little bothered by how natural it felt.

Suzuka stepped into the Yagura Branch Office ahead of him and...

"Maaaaaaaake wayyyyyyyyyy forrrrrr Suuuuuuzuuuukaaaa!"

Maybe it was that, maybe it was how a small dog carried his slippers to him, maybe it was how someone said "welcome home", maybe it was Toby said "we're here, Mr. Akasora", and it probably wasn't how Suzume said "Look, Hoshi-chan! Slippers! I was warming them in my pockets!" But regardless...

...It feels like forever since things were like a natural life.

He had been so busy with the B-Rank Wars and everything Border had to do with the city along with his familial problems. Toby had tried to be involved with it too, perhaps because he thought he should stick by Takeshi's side for things he was not used to, and some others had actively joined in this time to get in the way- No, let's say they were helping things run smoothly. Sort of.

For several days now, they had generally only been at their own homes, the Yagura Branch's rec room, and the Border base, with the occasional other destinations for educational purposes or for fun.

But they could finally rest tonight. Their planning had been done already for their last round of the B-Rank Wars and they had been invited to spent a night properly sleeping at the branch.

Thus, they were back at the Yagura Branch Office, but...

"The place seems a little different."

Since he needed to get used to others being around, Takeshi saw preparing the bath as his job, so he checked that room to find a water heater. Akasora-sensei must have arranged things so they could feel more comfortable here. He recalled Mitsuteru mentioning some kind of construction work.

It felt awkward taking the first bath since he might not feel comfortable with others using the water. He usually took showers, so he wasn't used to having people waiting for him to finish. And Suzuka had established an order for them all while they ate a light late-night meal beforehand.

"Ok, so, like, most people are out for the night, so it's really just us. That means Izumo goes first, then Honest Sister over there, myself, Hoshi-chan, and Lobo."

"Um, what order is that even from exactly? Seems weird."

"It's by volume. That way there will totally be enough bathwater even when some overflows."

Toby spat out what he was drinking, but Suzume asked Hoshi for some tea.

"Heh heh. Putting Take first means he's got the biggest ones around, right? I can honestly use that. Meanwhile, Toby gets to enjoy Hoshi-chan's used bathwater. even if he wished it was Kōchō-chan's."

"Wouldn't it be a mix of all of us, though?" asked Takeshi. "He wouldn't be able to tell."

"I-I can tell with you guys."

You can? he thought, weirdly impressed.

But then Suzuka opened her phone and raised both arms.

"Tah dahhhhhhhhhh! It is now time to add up Kotowari Squad's expenses!"

"In other words, you're going to calculate the cost of the food and whatever else we need to see who is the biggest burden?"

"Right. So smart of you, Lobo. We're all living here for the night, but we can't expect to live according to this branch's usual standards. Plus, if you guys wanna move in when you join, this makes it super easy for everyone. For example, Lobo eats meat, meat, and more meat for every single meal and Izumo needs to be properly pampered all day long if he hopes to stands out."

"Um, I doubt even being pampered would help me stand out compared to the rest of you."

Suzuka gave him a double thumbs up.

At any rate, they discussed things all around and calculated out their individual needs for food and other necessities.

"If you're ever wondering if you should earn some money to help out, this can help you make that decision," said Suzuka. "On the other hand, Lobo has enough money to pay off two udon's worth of debt, but he has the good sense to not waste it. Damn, must be nice being in a sponsor's favor."

"Yeah...not even I'm going to spend money unnecessarily when it comes to you guys."

Toby and Suzume bother gave him emotionless smiles and nodded.

...Th-they don't trust me at all, do they!?

But Suzuka turned toward Toby.

"And if we get someone like Hoshi-chan for LL to ask Lobo to do some task for some reason we don't know of, he would bark and pant while pulling out his Scorpions to oblige them."

"I-I don't react like that!"

Takeshi discovered exactly the feeling that led to one of those emotionless smiles.

But he also had a thought about Suzuka's suggestions here.

…She feels the need to lay out some ground rules.

Really, it could all be summed up as "don't get carried away".

Now that it was more likely they would be living together, if any of them got carried away in how they lived their everyday life, it would place a burden on the others. Even more so since there would be even more people living here. So…

…Try to solve things on your own if you can.

Suzuka nodded.

"As long as we do that, we can keep anyone from pushing their luck."

"Now wait just a minute. This was sounding real nice, so why do you have to turn it all against everyone in the very end?"

After Takeshi finished his bath and put on a pair of sweat pants and a long shirt, he really did feel like he was beginning a new life.

This new life had actually already started, but he had been too busy to really notice.

…We're going to see what this new life is really like over the next few days.

During the incident with Musashi, it felt as if he was being offered an everyday life as a present when he was stolen away. So...

"..."

Suzume would take the next bath, but since there were people after her, he made sure to adjust the temperature setting.

And before putting on his scarf, he checked the mirror to see what he looked like in his causal wear.

...It's no different from when I'm at home and getting ready to sleep.

The lack of dullness in his expression was the real chance here. Not to mention how he had recently learned it was dangerous to not be prepared when in front of other people. So if he was going to be living around other people, he had to take possible emergencies into account. Since he would need to be around others who could be as bad as his brother, this was the better choice than someone who looked down on him or being alone. But...

"Next time I'm with them for shopping, I need to look at other options so they don't worry."

He was still himself, but he was no longer just that. He had left the worst version of himself to live alongside some others.

He kept that in mind while he walked to the room designated for him and found the space felt unusually large.

Would it eventually feel cramped?

"That was a long bath. Did you enjoy it?" asked Toby, from the chair by a table.

"Yeah, I wanted to make sure I started off this sort of thing on the right foot."

Takeshi suddenly realized there were plenty of other who had undergone changes much like this one.

Those same people could even be their next opponents.

...Our last match of the current season is tomorrow. I wonder how everything will go.

Would they win, lose, tie, do their best, fail in what they did, or maybe they would show how much they had grown since the start of everything?