Takeshi sent instructions to the collective of white trion orbs.
They had just one thing to do: position themselves as a single long line and rotate it like the hand of a clock to reach the reverse side of the duo towards the east.
But with such a large collective, he could not send individual orders to every single orb, so the movement of the lines of orbs had to be broken down into smaller groups and then sent to individual group from there.
He knew how difficult that would make the command he was giving.
Cross over into a single line and then rotate all of them around the two of them!
The orbs forming the lines traded places as they began a southward slide.
A single orb could do this right away, but with an entire collective...
Do not get out of place! Continue rotating quickly toward the back of those two!
The key to this movement was his own concentration on each action. He was the one who had created each of those trion orbs, so it was up to him to determine when they could fire or when they could move.
On the other hand, the trion orbs could make simple sliding movements, but they generally could not move with speed.
The trion orbs moved between them to create a single line, but...
...This only works thanks to others figuring out the correct movements I need.
Suzume's Side Effect helped in determining the timing and speed they could move while the JK Operator's calculations helped him divide them up without losing control of any of them during the entire move.
That had one important meaning here.
I can set up whatever I want while in the middle of a battle and continue to fight.
Most of the command had been preset orders that were easy to follow on and enact.
That may have been why the sudden feedback from them was awfully lively.
"Just dodged another wall! Whoo! Keep moving!"
"Hey! Yes! In, in! Firing when ready!"
"Move, move, move! Next, next, next! Hey, you, move and you'll hit the rest of us on firing!"
"Good! Good! So cute! Just the cutest in the entire world! Good, good!"
Takeshi was not quite sure why those phases appeared in his mind, but he concluded that he may have been losing his mind after dealing with energetic people for too long. But...
JK: "Okay!"
Honest Sister: "Everything looks good to go, Take!"
That meant he had gotten each one of those trion orbs into the best positions for this fight, so he checked the current situation on all around him.
...We really are going to do this!
The area showed that Koarai and Okudera were dealing with the minor attacks from Hoshi at a distance.
They were moving counterclockwise around his trion orbs and the buildings. The long line of trion orbs was sliding in a soon-to-be obvious way.
There was a slight curve, but they were mostly keeping a straight line.
He was hiding out of plain sight, so he was able to see how his own attacks would come out.
It was a forcible high-speed rush attack and it was all meant for one purpose.
To move behind the two of them!
Okudera saw the enemy's movement.
Flickers across the glass of the buildings showed what Kotowari was after.
...An attack from behind!?
He was going for a surprise attack at this stage.
Getting behind the enemy was a fairly meaningless act in these kinds of battles.
In battles such as these, firing from more distance and keeping yourself hidden or safe was more effective than firing from head on.
The back of an opponent could quickly turn into the front.
The next set of attacks after that would have to be re-aimed, but the number of attacks from a distance was generally the same and they could still fire just as many shots toward the enemy.
The trion orb army was currently showing their slow movement as they prepared to fire, so even if the army did move "behind" them...
Demon Child: "Those attacks will end up being slow because of the amount of trion he has to use! Calm down, you two!"
Okudera knew she was right.
So he decided this was both a surprise attack and a diversion.
...Takkun's true purpose here is...
"Taiyōko!
The Offensive Support Hybrid Girl was not following those trion orbs.
.
"Well done noticing my movement."
The sky was brighter with Takeshi's trion orb army's largescale movement.
Hoshi bend back in her Kotowari Squad uniform while viewing that movement all around her.
"The real battle begins now."
The rumble of the glass shook in her ears and she slowly swung her entire body to the left.
"I am Taiyōko Hoshi...moving out to continue this fight! Pardon my introduction while fighting!"
The entire hall was filled with a brilliant light.
Kumagai had to cover her eyes after the screen started to hurt her vision, so she experienced the general more than the sight itself.
"He's really firing that much against them!?"
She was sitting in her seat while waiting to see what would happen. She had a good view of the screen from there, but it was still up to the cameras to show them what they need.
But even with that being the case, she could see the giant straight line spinning across the battlefield.
...Here it comes!
She could see them.
Bright lights from the buildings in what almost looked like the sun itself. The occasional lower rumbling was seen with those white light beams streaming down.
Then a clear sight arrived.
The long needle in the sky was not just pushing through the buildings.
"It's raining glass too!"
The white light beams launched a glittering rain toward the ground. The air itself seemed to split as far as Kumagai could see.
That rain with the white light beams rushed toward the ground.
...Whoaaaa!
She had almost activated Shield on reflex.
Kumagai knew that it was only on the screen, but she felt as if those attacks would soon reach her, and...
"How much is that!?"
How much trion was it taking to attack with those sorts of numbers and that much power?
But in the moment before the white light beams and glass reached the ground, she sent Kakizaki footage of what she had seen.
This was not like anything the current Takeshi had done before. That meant something had come up in him to make him feel that it was fine to create this sort of great attack. In other words, he had found something.
Meanwhile, Koarai and Okudera's movements would be heavily restricted.
They were in a situation where moving almost anywhere would get them killed, so...
...They need to focus on surviving instead of countering or even simple attacks.
Okudera did not make any changes to their sudden defensive formation including their stances.
"Don't move yet! Just get ready to make a quick getaway!"
He could see the entire line of trion orbs sliding. It was curious that they were somewhat descending as they went, but they may have intended to establish another stepped line of trion orbs to construct an angle of fire for more of them.
Meanwhile, Okudera and Koarai needed to wait. The attacks would soon reach them, so...
"Koarai, get ready with Grasshopper!"
Okudera made his decision.
"Prepare to get as close as possible to these laser beams!"
"As I thought. You aren't the type to gamble, Okkun-senpai!"
At the rear of the rotating line of white light beams, Takeshi had his trion orbs descend while he checked on Azuma Squad's response.
He was receiving observation data from Suzume to the west. When he combined that with what he could see in front of him...
"You aren't shaking, huh?"
His hope for this largescale slide was to wear down or take out the Azuma Squad Attacker duo.
Not only would this wear down the defenses and fighters themselves, but it would wear down their mentality and trion resources.
The two of them were nimble and quick enough to move around a battlefield to the point that they could keep up with Toby at a starting dash.
As things went on, they would start to either gain momentum when not reined in or lose momentum if they were put in check.
They could support themselves and each other to the point of reaching an A-Rank state.
When they were focused on taking out an opponent, it felt as if they could only be stopped by people better than them. People who had fought agains them before would likely have a plan to deal with both of them.
Combat was a fluid thing.
There was no guarantee you would have everything you need, the right location, or that things would go your way. In most cases, everything would be used to gain the best advantage against an opponent or respond to the unexpected.
Takeshi had just spun all that around to the opposite side.
So what would happen then?
...They will focus on escape more than anything and begin righting themselves for a counter once they have seen my trion is low enough.
But since the entire area was either an open space or a narrow space, they would not be able to move freely without at least one white light beam chasing them.
Everything was reset in a way that would hinder the two who had already fought.
And by keeping Suzume hidden and Toby being on his way, they would not have much time before something was done to them.
...This rotation's true value is only seen when the battlefield has reached a stalemate.
He had hoped to break them down, but...
"They really are tough."
Takeshi saw a certain decision.
Someone had given their orders while well aware of how this battle could turn out.
"Azuma-san will now be destroying my orbs, and Kageura Squad will prevent themselves from being put even further behind by letting Kitazoe-senpai go wild."
"That's not very nice," said Inukai while placing his hands on his knees and leaning forward.
Azuma's tactics came from his confidence in his squad's abilities.
He trusted them to be able to dodge any of the attacks he would not hit.
He trusted them to use him as best they could while they were able to.
He split attack and defense between himself and his teammates.
And in so doing...
"The internal flow of the battle itself becomes a lot simpler, so no one gets confused when they are trying to deal with the attack."
"Same with trion," said Sekai with a sigh. "They only need to use Grasshopper and momentary shields to get away in time."
And...
"There will only be a short gap while the initial movements change and they figure out the best way to counter this offense, but once that rearrangement is complete, this will be a little different from before."
"Then what are they supposed to do?"
The sky compass was already braking. At this rate, Azuma Squad would simply return fire as before.
"Are they screwed?"
"Don't worry, Inu. Takeshi will handle this."
Just as Yuki said that, a color appeared in the sky filling the screen.
It was green.
The explosive attacks were much too large to simply call a fire and they erupted from the white light beams rotating through the sky.
That had to be a trion orb being destroyed thanks to a sudden explosion at the rear of the rotating line of trion orbs.
.
"They were hit!? But Azuma Squad hasn't started countering, have they!?"
Nevertheless, Inukai saw trion orbs getting destroyed while they tried to move. The sky was lit up by the flames enveloping them.
The exploding orbs had been thrown from the largescale sliding.
But the timing and the location seemed odd.
"They shouldn't have been in range of those two or Azuma-san yet!"
Plus, it was toward the back of the collective, so the other trion orbs should have acted as a shield.
This was a sniper attack.
...It's one of the other Snipers!
No...
Inukai immediately looked all across the screen.
From a brief moment, he saw something flash in the southeaster sky. The Tron orb's explosion had reflected off of the buildings.
...Was it her!?
Someone was moving across the roofs through the southern sky to purse the sliding line of orbs.
They kept themselves low from the orbs that could have shifted and used a burst of mobility to hop upwards.
"Meishō Squad's tough girl - Shigenaga!"
Inukai saw a rapid light display from the sky.
That was the sight of two shots being fired back-to-back.
...I screwed that up!
Shigenaga clicked her tongue in her heart while using his full body to move across the roofs.
She had failed to snipe the Kotowari Squad Captain.
Asteroid's power output even from a distance was pretty impressive to her. That meant she had been forced to follow after them during the rooftops so no one would notice her, but the movement had been faster than she had expected. She had been following the route Kenzaide gave her, so she could always use that as an excuse, but...
"I can't be called our main fighter if I can't even take someone like him out after I changed plans!"
The enemy's rotation was too quick for how much there was. And more than that...
...The defense they can put up while firing is really annoying.
The Kotowari Squad Captain's army was made up from his white trion orbs and any support from his teammates. Each one was connected through the Kotowari Squad Captain's trion and orders that he would give to them.
But anything other than that was not his own doing.
When those were mixed together, it created an odd feeling for an attacker.
Things were only made more difficult when he ran the risk of being found out.
Those white trion orbs had an offensive style.
Those white trion orbs had a defensive style.
Both of those styles could be used in tandem with each other, but they could deflect attacks depending on their angle.
The heavy offensive style would swat down any attacks while forcing its way through, but the defensive style would wear down any sort of attack with the sheer volume of the defense itself being greater than the attacks.
This was not just limited to those two style. The same happened if anyone else got involved from the outside.
Some white light beams deflected things sharply and others deflected them shallowly. The mix of lights caused by that had diverted her Asteroid shot. It was meant to blow through the orbs of the Kotowari Squad Captain, but it tore into one of the trion orbs in front of him instead.
She had shot down a group of trion orbs being used by the Kotowari Squad Captain, but that was not her goal.
She immediately took to running away and jumped.
She had to hurry.
The enemy army was about to complete its largescale sliding.
They were stopping.
Her target had been the Kotowari Squad Captain himself that commanded that army movement. If she destroyed the one ordering them around, they would be nothing up orbs that were destroyed upon impact or his loss. That would greatly reduce the burden on any future plans.
"Also," she quietly began while exhaling a heated breath into the daytime air. "We need to make up for losing Asagi earlier."
.
Asagi had always been annoying to her and someone she felt should calm down most of the time. But he was the only other person on their squad who could properly keep up with her. The battles leading up to this final match had shown just how good he was, but...
...In my case...
She had to be in the forefront of their entire offensive tactics. It was because of her heavy offensive style that they were able to put up a good fight.
If she lost then it would be up to Shinichi to follow up by scoring more points while the others would help however they could.
But she had always done her best to make it never came to that, even more so during times like these.
"This was the perfect chance for this kind of style."
That was not why she had done it, but since this final match setting was something they chose and their opponent matched their needs so well...
"It feels like a good luck charm. Like I'm guaranteed success."
She ran across the rooftops. She pushed herself forward to reach her target better and used her entire body to move around the area where she would be figthing.
"Shigenaga Naki, moving out once more."
"Wow."
The rest of the people in the heard heard that comment while they were watching the match continue on to the next phase.
"Oh, what is it, Kimura?"
They looked over to see Kimura turned to one side of the screen with her eyes focusing on a single point.
She was holding her phone at the ready. And on the other side...
Kotowari Squad and...is that Ariake's teammate?"
She held her right index finger up toward the screen as if she were pointing at the lights there.
"That's incredible."
The trail her finger drew in the air was following the All-Rounder's rush.
The lights of white light beams flew through the sky there.
Lights were shined to capture the rushing All-Rounder and definite lines were drawn out by the beams.
It was all a counterattack made by the Kotowari Squad Captain as everything slid, but...
"Oh?" said the Hikigane Squad Captain while looking over at the trion light trailing through the sky. "She isn't running away."
"She must have her pride as Meishō Squad's main offensive force. Everyone loves that that pain-in-the-ass concept when they're young."
"I guess even idiots and pointless people like you can feel that way."
"Hey, shut up before I throw you out the window."
After exchanging some blow, Inukai spoke up.
Kimura kept her eyes on the screen where she traced her fingers along like a conductor's baton.
"Really, she's the type of person who most would not be able to handle for too long."
"Hah. She's just decided to live her life where she started and doesn't want to move away from it. Even fighters need some other skills to put food on the table once the fighting ends. ...It's an irritating part of growing up."
"But," said Yuki with a growing bruise on his cheek. "Mitsuteru being friends with her becomes strange when you look at it like that. Still, I'm glad to see that the both of them are able to have someone with them."
"Which is why you are just another idiiiiiiiiot!"
The second scuffle began, but they were still watching Shigenaga charge toward the enemy's counterattack as shown through the sharp lines drawn out by Kimura.
Mom: "Now, boys."
.
Kimura and Inukai looked around at the sudden silence that filled the room.
Yuki and Ninomiya had stopped their charge towards each other while both Denji and Sekai stiffened up for a moment.
Manager: "Um, what happened?"
Inu: "I kind of got hit with that one too..."
Deer Prince: "Urg... It wasn't anywhere near directed towards me and I already feel bad..."
They seemed to not be the only ones affected as both Denji and Sekai looked away from everyone in the room. Their expressions looked the same, but the emotions behind them were clear even to her.
They had all taken a hit as collateral from that.
Kiyome: "Oooooh! What a technique! To be able to stop Kagerei-dono like that! He is completely frozen!"
Rampage Dress: "I don't think it takes too much to do that. But we sure are seeing a lot of sides to him today. Maybe he will be able to be his own character after this."
Myth: "That one was unnecessary! And I was just thinking of the past times when Yasuko-san has used that voice!"
Rampage Dress: "Tch. I couldn't get a point out of that one."
Myth: "These Mei Rules are harsh!"
"Yeah, that seems to be the case," Kimura said with a nod. Mei had been rather unfair lately, so it was a good thing that she had not been targeting Kimura at all.
What was really amazing was not the unfairness of Mei. It was the woman who had spoken before here.
The woman who sat next to Mei had only said two words, but those words had managed to completely stop people like Yuki and Ninomiya from fighting and gotten all of a former squad to freeze in place. Even halting Inukai for a moment as collateral was something to note.
And she had done so without any effort.
...Who exactly is she?
She had introduced herself at the start of the match, but that only gave Kimura a name to use.
It was something to look into later.
For now...
The match is still going.
Shigenaga moved rapidly toward the enemy army from above center.
The enemy army could use the top of their shapes for anti-air fire, so this allowed them to utilize their greatest firepower. She knew full well that she was in grave danger here. However...
...I want speed for my approach.
She had a single reason for that.
Her Triggers were currently in a casual movement position. She hoped to fix them into a more aggressive position to break through the army.
But switching positions would take a small amount of time.
She used gravity to eliminate that gap. The difference was slight, but she could maintain her speed better when shifting her position during a descent than while moving up or forward.
So she did so.
The enemy had plenty of speed too. They were a modified version of Shooter Triggers after all. Their horizontal slide was reflected off the glass of the city and she was hit with the illusion of them moving away from her.
They had noticed her.
The enemy was swinging around with the Kotowari Squad Captain in the back.
They drew a large arc and revealed a single line to her.
It was the long line of white trion orbs.
She would have to pass above or between the doze or so orbs in front of the squad captain to reach him.
She tore through the wind and pushed her sunglasses up until they seemed to be attached to her as she viewed that image and task.
"Fine then."
More lines of white light beams had appeared in the sky to shoot her down. To avoid friendly fire, they appeared to be using more linear patterns than normal.
That was fine with her.
She leaned her body forward, opened her Trigger slots, and spoke.
"I accept your challenge."
For just a brief moment, Kumagai saw a light that looked like a blade piercing the daytime sky.
It stabbed diagonally down toward the long line of trion orbs.
That was Shigenaga's Strike Forcer style of combat.
It was a lot like passing a needle through a piece of cloth, but there was no hesitation in that burst of speed.
That All-Rounder was up against a massive number of white light beams, defense barriers, and orbs, but instead of dodging them, she broke straight through.
…Incredible.
That trajectory was reminiscent of iaido.
Kumagai doubted anything in that rotating army had been able to track that movement.
That was clear enough from how they continued their anti-air fire despite losing sight of their target. However…
"Wow."
Shigenaga had moved down below the enemy army and she had already changed positions.
Unlike before, her rifle was held out and Kōgetsu was already out in an offensive position.
That would be her high-mobility form, which told Kumagai why Shigenaga had forced her way through a moment before.
…She needed enough speed to avoid being targeted mid-alteration, and…
"She was practicing how she would plunge deep into the enemy formation now!"
Her Kōgetsu filled with light to take her not just close to the enemy, but in their midst.
She rocketed forward.
Shigenaga "pierced" them.
Shooter Trigger attacks could be divided into two major categories based on which one was being used: straight-line shots and curving shots which were either controlled or autonomous.
The people who used Asteroid and Meteora were use to primarily using straight-line shots.
The people who used Viper and Hound were use to primarily using curving shots.
Gunners stilled used that thought process, but they would also incorporate both methods on top of their specialty or switch between the types as they fought.
Shigenaga was a Viper and Houd-type, ut she actually preferred straight-line shots.
She thought of advancing forward as a world of speed where you could not afford any distractions. So...
"There."
She understood the general speed of the enemy artillery and defenses.
She passed through them.
She dove between the white light beams, slopped below them, and pushed off the ground between the white ligth beams.
She was not dodging them.
She chose a route void of enemy attacks to arrive at her ending point as quickly as possible. Instead of a curving path that tried to follow the most direct path, she took a rectangular path of linked inner corners.
She launched her entire body forward and kept her rifle and Kōgetsu under control to harness that straight-line stability.
She went full speed. That was not as high a sit might be since she was using her natural strength, but she could have used the actual top speed that Triggers could provide while holding out with her offensive Triggers. She needed the high-mobility, heavy offense form that brought her speed back up as much as possible with each consecutive burst of acceleration.
Her body was already leaning past her legs and her chin looked like it was trying to press into the gorund.
She thought of it like tensing her sides and making herself as skinny as possible.
She closed her arms, and...
"Moving forward."
She dove between the enemy artillery and through the gaps in the lines drawn by the white light beams. But more than that...
...Toward the location where he is!
She flipped around and moved alongside the enemy orb's side with her back toward it.
The wind from the movement pushed on her, causing her to pull her Triggers toward her body this time.
"...!"
She made it through.
There was no thrill in moving between the white light beams. Since the Shooter Trigger used the user for assistance, the lines of fire never overlapped.
So if she moved along one line, she was guaranteed safety.
If she did that for a second and third line, she could "thread the needle" with a series of straight lines.
She was in a hurry.
She set her sights on another enemy orb. She moved toward it while it rapidly rotated through the world in its high-speed slide.
While moving alongside the orbs, the light from its attacks interfered with her own sight if not for her sunglasses. Instead of shaking, it was more like her was gently hopping up as she moved away from it.
That signaled the beginning of her turn.
She broke through the light and bathed in the glass fragments while swinging her rifle around.
She was as close to the orbs as she could get without running the risk of hitting it. They repelled each other, so...
"Thanks."
That gave her some initial speed to work with.
The heated noise reached her only after she was moving forward. She accelerated and held herself down to move straight ahead. The path she wanted was one through the gaps in the enemy's attacks.
The trion lines of white light beams raced after her.
Great speed and many paths pursued her, so if those caught her, a ton of white light beams would hit her. However...
"I can make it."
Shigenaga accelerated. Her method of fighting was perfect for acceleration, so she pulled away from all those trion lines.
This felt good. She enjoyed her everyday life, but this version of herself and this world here could never be found there.
It was wonderful.
But it was the one that she could never bring her friend into.
Still, she did not even need to look back because she would have known what was happening even with her eyes closed. That was why she had dived down from above to earn enough time to prepare.
Now she only needed to accelerate.
She chose a direction and rocketed forward.
She was surrounded by motion.
...But...
She launched herself and then there was nothing at all around her.
She could not be touched by the enemy's attacks or hostility. She had once felt a massive amount of persecution before joining Border, but Shigenaga thought there was more to it than having inherited combat abilities.
Solitude was a wonderful thing when it was intentionally sought out.
So she tore through the air.
The air was clear. The emptiness and chill she felt there were no illusion. That was simply what all of this felt like.
She sent herself forward and swung her legs to control her angle. Then she viewed the proper route once more.
"There it is."
She could see it.
The Kotowari Squad Captain was visible through the line of enemy trion orbs.
.
The enemy was coming.
Takeshi could see his current opponent moving through the battlefield.
...So it really is you.
But as the person who had once thought little of others, he could never forget the name Shigenaga Naki.
Technically speaking, she was not the one who he had looked down on. It was someone she considered a friend.
But they were connected by the fact that he had done something bad back then.
"Let's see."
He viewed his enemy and raised his right hand.
"What is it I am fighting against here?"
He swung his hand outwards.
"Fire!"
.
Shigenaga saw it while she moved rapidly between the orbs.
...On both sides!?
The trion orbs on either side of her hand begun to glow brilliantly.
Of course, firing those would hit the opposite trion orb, so the control of them would alter the angles and instead use the secondary beams from other orbs.
Or so she had thought.
Instead, every one of those white light orbs moved to target her.
That meant they had no real control put into them.
"You're willing to suffer friendly fire over this!?"
The subsequent cacophony was all the answer she needed.
White light beams fired from either side of her.
.
Shigenaga made no mistake when responding to the twin barrages.
She fearlessly continued her acceleration.
The white light beams filling the narrow path between each other included some sniper shots from above.
The white light beams were going to strike each other or the other trion orbs.
And she took action just before any of that happened.
She spread her arms out and took a leap into the air.
"...!"
She kicked off and took flight.
.
Takeshi saw the collision and his enemy's decision in the sky out ahead.
Shigenaga Naki was no longer rushing or accelerating.
She had slammed her speed into her own body.
...Are you insane!?
He saw the All-Rounder collide with the air. Her arms strained, her sunglasses flew off, and her rifle seemed to be trying to escape her grasp.
Golden hair - almost white - scattered into the sky. The white light beams from the army behind her pursued and locked onto her, but...
"Did she take flight!?"
Her legs were angled upwards, so this collision with the wind would launch her skyward.
She used that to avoid the white light beams from either side.
And he heard her voice. Or he thought he did.
"Hikigane Shield."
As she uttered those words, her outstretched right fist touched something.
It was a collection of white rectangles that rose form below. It was her specialty.
Just before tightening her grip, she had kicked off of it and jumped, but she had not simply been using it as a foothold or stepping stone. The kick had sent it downwards, so it had come crashing down and trapping one of their other opponents in place.
She had thought ahead and captured Koarai, who was already rushing him.
Then she adjusted her position in the air to right herself once more.
Instead of trying to move towards him again, she moved higher into the air.
It was because of the next set of grenades moving towards them.
As soon as her gaze was undeniably directed toward him, he gave an order.
"Fire."
This time, his Laser Shooter's white light beams were fired toward the attacks coming from above.
Kumagai saw the All-Rounder's split-second decision in response to the white light beams and rain of grenades.
She used the Hikigane Shield. They collided with the grenades the white light beams did not reach, so they detonated behind her.
The force of the explosion blasted her forward.
It was a rought evasion.
...Is this why she spread herself out and scattered the orbs!?
The action had enough force to push her away from Takeshi and his white light beams. But...
"Eh?"
Kumagai was confused because Shigenaga was hit as she performed her flying evasive action.
.
Shigenaga had supposedly dodged the attack, but Kumagai saw an attack hitting her.
However, this was not the attack from Takeshi's white light beams. It was from one of the enemies she had already passed by.
Takeshi had not actually fired a white light beam. He had instead fired...
"An actual shot!?"
That shot had taken the form of a cue of trion before it was sent out to make sure it hit the All-Rounder even if she took evasive acion.
Kumagai was certain this had stopped Shigenaga Naki's charge, but...
"Huh?"
Why? she wondered as she watched the attack collide in the air.
"Why did it sudden go off?"
Takeshi looked to the right.
He turned to the eastern sky horizontally right of the empty space his regular Asteroid had fired through.
There was a single glimmer of light there, but not all of them were from Shigenaga.
"I had forgotten about him again!"
The Meishō Squad Sniper was holding the smoking Ibis in one arm. He was clearly making sure to remain hidden, but...
"–––––"
The Hikigane Shield Shigenaga liked to use appeared. It functioned as a shield bash before, but now it was...
"A springboard!?"
Shige-ko: "Mitsuteru!?"
Shigenaga had been prepared for the bullet to hit her, but someone had revealed themselves just before it did.
It was Mitsuteru.
The boy had readily shown himself to any nearby enemy so he could fire and support her by making sure she was not taken out by the attack.
He must have stopped what he was doing without any hesitation at all.
His targets and opponents should have been Kageura Squad. He had chosen to rescue her from danger over keeping himself in play against them.
Daybreak: "Naki."
He only spoke her first name when he felt like he needed to say something important.
Daybreak: "Hold still until you see your enemy in your scope."
Shige-ko: "I guess I did get ahead of myself there."
That simple response was enough to calm Shigenaga. She realized how important this sense of peace was as she accepted the support from Mitsuteru and righted herself in her heart.
All of her acceleration had been lost, but she was able to move where she wanted now.
This was what she enjoyed about having him around.
She readied herself while thinking of which enemy she would be going after now.
She sent her thanks to him while letting her body ride the wind. And there was one thing she had to say now.
Shige-ko: "I remember what we had spoken about that day."
Seiji breathed a deep sigh at Shigenaga's successful retreat.
So that's how it is, huh?
Seiji smiled to himself as he followed Kitazoe.
He had yet to make any move against Kitazoe due to not being capable enough to take him on in a one-on-one setting. Rushing into that sort of fight would only lead him to a loss.
That was why he listened to what his teammates had to say.
The entire time he had been following Kitazoe he had been able to see the white light beams from a distance and get an understanding of what was happening through commentary from Kanji.
This was the conclusion of that fight.
Looks like she has calmed down a bit.
From the very start, Shigenaga had seemed to be overly focused on this match and how it would turn out.
Seeing those white light beams not being the cause for her defeat did inspire some feelings inside of him. In their previous shared match, Kotowari had been taken out before they had to deal with him.
...I suppose it was because of his opponent.
Given Kotowari's former opponent, it could have been said that he was doing better simply for remaining on the battlefield after this.
Seiji almost felt disappointed at not being able to fight him directly, but he wondered if that was only because Kotowari seemed to have changed even after that match.
2Truths1Lie: "Well done, Shigeko."
Shige-ko: "We aren't done yet. But I couldn't have done even that much without Mitsuteru."
2Truths1Lie: "Focus on the results, Shigeko. And Teru-kun, you gave yourself away with that that, but can you still manage your position even after all fo that?"
Daybreak: "Oh, right! The settings are done! I still see Kageura-san!"
"Could I go help him instead of going to Kitazoe, if that is the case?" suggested Shigenaga.
They switch gears quickly, thought Seiji with a bitter smile. But...
"Hm?"
The entire building suddenly shook.
No, the shaking was not the issue. Kitazoe had fired more of his grenades and the impact they left could be felt from here.
Kotowari's trion orb army had been shaken and disturbed, this their plan had been destroyed.
If things were shaking like this at this point...
"There is something going on."
He realized what the shaking really was.
It was not the building itself that started shaking, that would have been too simple of a response at this point.
He realized something when he checked visually and with an accurate eye on the surrounding area.
"Did the entire city just...jump up?"
.
The entire city had made a jump that felt like it had a reason to it.
Seiji considered what that could mean while reviewing the actual information he had at his fingertips and before his eyes.
...Why would it do that?
He could think of a few different reasons.
The most likely was that someone had launched an extraordinarily powerful attack that would cause that sudden jump.
The next most likely was that someone had done something major enough that it could cause such a thing to happen.
Beyond that, it was also possibly just a trick that he was playing on himself while enjoying himself.
...Now, then.
The roars and booms of the white light beams were already sounding in the sky behind him.
Kitazoe was preparing his next set of attacks that would likely gain the attention of everyone else and divert attention was from his teammates.
But, he thought. Is there some other reason for such a thing to have happened?
"There is."
He could think of one other possibility.
But he did not think there was any point in accepting it as a reason. Surely it couldn't be, right?
"The city had just become more alive because of the fight that just happened. ...But that's strange, right?"
That could not possibly be the reason. But...
Feeling Alive: "Seiji-san!"
Kanji's excited voice reached him.
Feeling Alive: "Misaki-san is the kind fo crazy that could party wherever she is!"
"Heh heh heh. I was just enjoying myself after seeing Take try so hard. I didn't expect the entire city to enjoy itself along with me."
Suzume twirled as she smiled down at the scene before her.
Shooting Star: "What was that, Suzume-senpai?"
Lobo: "Just how much of a lunatic are you to make the kind of shaking!?"
She gave another laugh with a jump across the rooftop.
Honest Sister: "That is honestly for you to know and for me to find out."
Lobo: "That makes no sense!"
Was that his way of saying that he wouldn't even try? It felt boring to her, but she was in too good of a mood to bother with that dog.
What had her attention right now was the way Takeshi now had to face the Azuma Squad Duo with Hoshi until Toby reached them.
That had been the plan from the start, but it was made more difficult when Shigenaga had rushed in and thrown off the entire attack.
Suzume had been able to see where the rhythm of the entire thing had ben thrown off, but she could do little without giving herself away.
A shame too. I was enjoying the show. I even got some ideas from it.
But that was just how things were.
Now it was up to Takeshi and Hoshi to make sure they were not taken out before Toby got there.
There was just one thing wrong with that.
Honest Sister: "Take, your trion is running low right now, isn't it?"
Izumo: "...Yeah. That's why I had wanted that to work on Koarai-san and Okkun-senpai. Shigenaga-san coming in really did a number on me."
Honest Sister: "Heh heh heh. You just wanted to give me some ideas with that one, didn't you?"
Izumo: "I have a...g-girlfriend now..."
That only made things better. His stutter added on to his innocent charm in these kinds of situation.
"Well, regardless of what I can honestly do later," she said.
She took another leap and readied herself for what was next.
"Just know I will honestly be ready to help you foolish boys and Hoshi-chan."