The noise filling the hall as the match was called became a light din that blanketed the entire room.

Some people were trying to understand what had been happening while others were working through the process and nodding along. The match had been something else in multiple ways, leaving a lot fo them confused.

But among everyone there, a certain group was speaking without holding anything back.

"So Kage got his revenge..."

"Tch! What the hell was that guy doing the whole time!? I'm fine with what he was doing, but the way went about it was just terrible! What kind of guy...! And why did he have to use that Trigger!?"

"I can hear Yuki yelling up top."

Everyone heard the yelling and banging that followed it.

Something had happened in that room above them, but finding out what it was felt more like a hassle than anything.

"Oh yeah, the wrap-up should be interesting here."

"Do you think that Mei-san will go full offense here again?"

"Who knows?" they all said at once.

Mom: "With the match over, is there anything that our three commentators would like to say?"

Kiyome: "Besides certain moments, each squad seemed to be very fixated on something particular.

Myth: "Yes, they had been wanting something to happen, but things only got more chaotic as it went on. By the end of it, it had turned into a two-sided front that merged into one when there was no one else."

Rampage Dress: "That's because of Suzume."

The remaining noise began to lower even more.

With the commentators speaking it left everyone in anticipation for what they could hear.

Mom: "You are speaking of Kotowari Squad's Suzumebachi, correct?"

"That's right," Mei nodded.

Rampage Dress: "Azuma-san should have caught on to it. That is probably why held back from firing much this time around. ...That chaotic nature was something brought about by someone who knew what they were doing. But with that being said..."

She nodded a second time. This time she looked to Yasuko for her to continue.

If she were to go into this then there would need to be something said first.

Mom: "We can look at what was happening by reviewing it all form here, if no one else has anything to say."

Kanzaki and Ketsueki shook their heads.

This had been what they all waited for.

"Very good. Then shall we begin?"

.

Mom: "The beginning of the match saw everyone getting into place with Azuma Squad and Kotowari Squad going for stealth at the start. The only exception being Agent Awdry."

Myth: "He has always been a forward type of person, so it makes sense that he would be the first one moving in this type of match. But, contrary to that statement, he was not the first one to make a move. That went to Ariake-kun. Without any provocation, he had gone after Kageura-kun, showing a way to fight against him as a Sniper while also harassing him."

Kiyome: "Kageura-dono was held in place for too long because of that. He would have normally met up to fight someone by the time he got out of that situation. That set a precedence for the rest fo his fights this round."

Mom: "While that was happening, Agent Shigenaga had confronted Azuma Squad by attacking Agent Koarai."

Rampage Dress: "She was likely feeling the pressure of the match at that time. The way she attacked was even more of an offense than usual, forcing Koarai to answer that with just as much force. Defending against those attacks would have only gotten him stuck until Okudera arrived or someone else interrupted them. He did a good job of figuring out when to move back and when to push back, though. He even managed to damage Shigenaga by surprising her with his Shooter Trigger."

Myth: "He must have been keeping track of his teammates, as well as his opponent. The timing of Okudera-kun had been off, but that was because of the pace that Koarai-kun and Shigenaga-kun were going at. If not for that, I am sure he would have been able to perform even better than he had here."

Kiyome: "Even so, the following two battles had been a good way to show us just what Azuma Squad and Meishō Squad are capable of."

Mom: "That's right. After putting on his Bagworm, Agent Awdry had come in contact with Agent Asagi. At the same time, Agent Shigenaga had to continue her fight with Agent Koarai, this time with Agent Okudera assisting him."

Toby turned his head at the words, not wanting to remember what happened at the end of his first fight here.

The entire fight had been fun enough, but the end result was something he did not want to think about.

"Heh heh heh~ Don't mind, don't mind. Azuma-san was just being a bit unfair with that one."

"I don't need your pity, you crazy girl."

"Then how about Kōchō-chan's?"

He froze for a moment, thinking about how that could turn out.

The thought of having someone like her talking him down from his anger reached in to the core and held it there for a moment.

Once he thought more about it he could feel his face begin to heat up.

Suzume knew what she was doing.

"...You're the worst..."

The odds of her caring were slim.

Kiyome: "The showing we had from Awdry and Asagi helped show us just how things can go when it comes to those types of excitable people. As a user of Kiyome, I can say that Awdry has gotten a good grasp at using it to its fullest extent here."

Myth: "To be able to push off of the building and glass fragments like that... He may have been in a rush, but that kind of thing is not easy for most people to do. The thought process necessary for that would normally be too long for the body to keep up. The time and training he had put in to perform those kinds of movements shows best at times like those. I will have to say that he should have kept in mind his surroundings more. And I do not mean his immediate surroundings."

Mom: "You are talking about Haruaki, aren't you?"

Myth: "That's right. ...I-I mean..."

Rampage Dress: "You lose so long ago that I stopped keeping track. Just do whatever you want now."

Myth: "!"

"Mei-san has gotten more harsh, hasn't she?"

Wasn't it a good thing that she was so free that she could be that harsh?

Maybe it could come back to bite them later, but Toby was hopeful that this sort of thing would not apply to them later on. Enjoying what was here now was probably the best solution he could come up with here.

"Regardless of that," Suzuka said from her chair. "He's got a point. You pay more attention to what's directly around you. Is that because of your Side Effect?"

He didn't want to think that was true, but...

"It probably is. I move according to what's coming at me or what is moving around me. Whenever I start thinking during a fight I tend to only think of what could happen next for that fight. Maybe what comes after, but not more than that."

"So Azuma-san took that chance. He knew that attacking you would still be difficult, so he used you to wear down Asagi-senpai and take that kill from you."

"You know, when I think about it... I should have seen that coming from the start."

Suzume shrugged her shoulders and performed a single twirl before moving back in place.

It looked like a pointless movement, but Toby understood that it was her way of telling him it was fine.

"It isn't like you could have predicted Azuma-san's movements, of all people. You should honestly just be happy that he through you were too troublesome to shoot at."

"Hah... I guess you're right. Mr. Azuma is too much for me to think about right now."

Maybe it was too much to try and think the same way someone older than him thought.

Rampage Dress: "Give it time. I have no doubt that Toby will be able to turn into someone just as annoying as Azuma-san when it comes to plans."

Myth: "...I would rather not see that from someone so active."

Mom: "That brings us to our next section of this match..."

Inukai could understand why she sounded uncertain.

This was where Shigenaga's worries were on full display.

It had been obvious to everyone in the room what they had been watching.

Rampage Dress: "Let's get this out there. Shigenaga was trying to do too many things at once. This messed up her squad's performance, not knowing what to do about everywhere she wanted to go."

Mom: "Yes, it seemed as if she wanted to go somewhere else after the grenades had been launched. This left Azuma Squad to end up in a clash with Kotowari Squad's captain."

Myth: "The setup for that battle must have taken a long time to do, but..."

That's right, he thought.

"The setup was intricate, but he didn't plan for something to wrong with it, even with that many people around."

"The value of the attack seemed like it would handle anything else needing to be dealt with."

Even so, that didn't meant it could handle those who would be able to get around it.

An army had been created to handle two people who could move around and entire area with speed and flexibility. If they could not do that much, it was a pointless effort that could have been used somewhere else.

Ninomiya and Yuki disagreed a lot, but he saw both of them nod at the same time. They had probably thought the same thing as him.

Mom: "The largescale performance from Captain Kotowari had seemed to be able to take most anything on, but it had been too focused on two single points. Once that had been figured out, it only went downhill for him from there."

Kiyome: "This coincides with what we had been talking about. Shigenaga's sudden appearance felt like backtracking that was not needed. Kotowari had been fighting the Azuma Squad Attackers, leaving her to do as she wished with worrying of them striking her. Yet she returned to enter that battle once more. From there, she proceeded to tear down Kotowari's army, but by doing so left the Azuma Squad Attackers to continue without much worry either. Overall, it was not a good choice to do so."

Myth: "She would have been taken out due to that as well, if not for Ariake-kun assisting her and giving away her position."

From his perspective, it seemed like the entire time the match had been going on it was left up to Mitsuteru to keep Shigenaga from going overboard. The teammate that came afterwards had only been because of a sudden shift in the fight, not due to them already working like that.

It reminded him of when he had first seen Hogo Squad in full.

Damn. I didn't want to think of that guy right now. If I ever...

Inukai let out a sigh to get the thoughts of the past out of his head. There would be no reason to focus on something if Oshiro was not thinking about it as well.

"Shigenaga... That girl needs to focus more on what she wants instead of what she thinks will work."

"Mitsuteru fixed that later. You don't need to be hard on her."

"Someone like you would enjoy that kind of thing."

"I don't like that sort of thing, you piece of crap airhead. I'm just telling you that people have different circumstances."

"I know about that, you actual idiot. Don't have me beat some sense into you."

Kimura looked over to him while moving away from the two of them.

"Are those two...trying not to sound like they are arguing?"

It seemed that way to him too.

They probably didn't want to get in trouble again, even if ended up bringing in some collateral damage.

"I say we just ignore them and keep listening. Our sanity will be safer that way."

Rampage Dress: "That save did bring her to her next fight, though. Her fight with Kageura had been due to needing to help Mitsuteru. This was also where she had finally resolved herself to her fights, something that we can see come with an interesting sight."

Myth: "Ariake-kun must have a lot of faith in her to give himself away, take a grenade, then have to face Kageura-kun like that."

Kiyome: "That sort of thing was not seen too much when we had a team, so it is good to see that here."

Rampage Dress: "That's right... For him to believe that she would be enough to handle Kageura shows just how much more comfortable he is in this squad."

Mom: "It was not only her, though. They must have known that Captian Meishō had a lock on Agent Kitazoe from the way they did not seem worried about cover fire."

Myth: "That was probably because they thought Kotowari Squad would deal with that too. Those grenades would be distracting more than anything, so they had sent Awdry-kun to handle it. But..."

Rampage Dress: "We had seen him scale the sides of a building before, so that was nothing new. But losing his last kill must have gotten him more excitable than before. He didn't wait before attacking Kitazoe. That was where he messed up, though. He kept his focus on Kitazoe too much and chose to ignore his Side Effect when he had to move away from Meishō's attack. Another example of him thinking of only what is directly in his way."

Mom: "It was due to that mistake that both of his targets had been taken from him again. He looked to be working so hard too. I do feel bad for him."

Rampage Dress: "Don't worry. He isn't the type to let this get him down. He can build up from this and move forward. ...That's what that entire squad does. They aren't the same as before."

.

Multiple people nodded their heads in the crowd listening to the commentary.

If they didn't know the fighters personally, they would turn to someone who did and get an understanding from them.

"Still," one of them started.

Myth: "It was good on Meishō-kun and Kitazoe-kun that they were able to realize what their situation was and go from there. Neither one of them would have been able to outrun Awdry-kun. They took that to mean they would just have to fight each other and hope to not give him any of the points."

Kiyome: "The quick thinking there had ben fine, but their execution of it was off. Holding off Awdry is one thing, but the two of them could have pressured him enough to where his Side Effect would not have been enough. The two of them made the incorrect choice against someone so straightforward."

"And that's coming from an overly straightforward person," a crossdresser said from within the crowd.

He was thrown against the wall before being pulled back into another headlock.

Everyone looked over to see two people waving them all off with smiles.

This was nothing new for them.

Myth: "Anyways... The end result of that fight had forced Awdry-kun to go to the last of his battles here. One that had relied on the remaining two battles before it."

Mom: "Answerer... That is what Sekai had called it, right? It is such a lovely name."

A sudden noise came from the observation room above them.

Rampage Dress: "Yes. The final fight for Shigenaga had been against Kageura and Ema. The original plan had likely been for Mitsuteru to help her, but the movement of those two had reached a point where that wasn't possible. From what we were able to see, Mitsuteru had found a way around Kageura's Side Effect, but it only worked so long as he was kept from moving too much."

And that was just not possible.

Rampage Dress: "Kageura and Shigenaga had turned it into a close quarters fight that left both of their snipers needing to figure out the best timing for them."

Kiyome: "Kageura-dono looked to be getting far too into it, from what I had been able to see. His excitement did cause him to take some damage, but that was only because Shigenaga had been strong enough to cause that excitement."

Rampage Dress: "This was something else both of them had messed up on, though. Instead of focusing on each other so much, they should have figured out how to incorporate their teammates into the fight. Both of them are the types to accidentally get caught up to the point where, if their opponents know what to do, they can be taken out by even a surprise attack. Especially in Shigenaga's state. Mitsuteru had found a way around Kageura, so she should have used that against him."

Myth: "So by the end of it she had realized what went wrong and come to a different conclusion."

That which attacks last strikes first.

Rampage Dress: "Answerer. The counter meant for certain attacks. Shigenaga had performed something that used two Triggers at once and used her own timing to get right. Along with that, we got to see that Kageura was able to perform Shukuchi. Something that I had thought only Yuki could do fine enough."

A small voice could barely be heard over the commentary, but it was there.

Someone from that terrible group had taken those words and didn't like them.

"Damn him... So getting Senpai's praise means I need something like that."

He received three immediate hits to the head for that.

Mom: "That brings us to the last fight before everyone joined together. Kotowari Squad's two members had been holding back Azuma Squad's Attackers after Captain Kotowari's attack had been taken apart by Agent Shigenaga. The trion he had lost due to that kept him from breaking through their defenses, making it harder for Agent Taiyōko to move forward as well."

Rampage Dress: "Hoshi had been their support member, but with Takeshi's trion so low it left them waiting for Toby to join them before they could do something impactful."

Myth: "It was a mistake to rely on that single attack forward and put so much trion into it. It had come back to ruin their chances against Azuma Squad. Spreading out the attacks had been fine, but only if he could have guaranteed that he would be surviving."

Mom: "It was good to see that he would still fight. Actually...it seemed like he continued to fight because he was so low on trion."

Kiyome: "He must have concluded that running out of trion would have been fine so long as he did not give his opponents another point. It was not a matter of having guts or trying to perceiver. ...He simply wanted to use up everything he had before he would be taken out."

Myth: "That is neither admirable nor something to strive for. That was just something he could think of as a fighter. It's the only thing I'll say on the matter."

It was nice sounding when he said it out loud, but...

"You lose!" the crowed shouted due to his own mistake.

Mei nodded along with them and Ketsueki lowered his head down.

Mom: "Everyone sure does get along well here."

Rampage Dress: "We take out comedy seriously here."

No one attempted to deny that.

.

Rampage Dress: "Getting back to the matter at hand. This match was one filled with firsts. We had been able to see how far Azuma Squad has come for Azuma-san to allow his teammates Shooter-type Triggers. Those had been helpful during their fights so far by keeping others away or striking whenever there was a chance. Such as when Koarai had fired on Hoshi."

Myth: "The timing had been correct, too. Awdry-kun coming when he did meant that he had no one to support him besides Misaki-chan."

Rampage Dress: "That's right. But Hoshi managed to do enough damage with her White Fujin there. Taking body parts from them and stalling out for that long as not something easy for most people. She even had the foresight to mask Toby's arrival."

Kiyome: "Yes. We might not have been able to hear it, but her speaking up had masked the feint noise of him running. Most people use Radar, and if that is not enough, they go by their senses. The sound of someone's footsteps is usually small, but it is distinct when the only other noises are swords clashing. That was a well done idea from her. The only way to improve on it would have to been directly interfere with the Azuma Squad Attackers directly."

Mom: "I have been hearing that a lot here. ...Do those two get referred as a single unit a lot?"

Rampage Dress: "Oh, yes. It's because they are together. I have no doubt in my calculations and they say those two are certainly together. Most likely going beyond what we can see."

.

A great noise filled the hall once more.

"That's not it at all!"

"Takato-san, what the hell!?"

"Mako-san, put that pen down! We aren't like that!"

Azuma laughed into his hand when he saw the reactions from his teammates.

People had spoken about his strategies, but Mei could be just as bad when she was free to do so. Be it plans or harassing others, she was much more ruthless than him.

The proof was right in front of him.

"Now that I think of it, didn't Suzaku's sister say that she would be watching the match in the hall?"

Koarai and Okudera froze before slowly turning to him.

Behind them, he could see Hitomi slowly widen her eyes before furiously writing something on a notepad he never bothered to ask about. The only thing that ever came from that notebook were bad things he tried not to get involved with.

"Noooooooooo! Asuka-san is going to think I'm in a relationship with this guy!"

"Crap! She's going to be asking me about it! Why did Takato-san have to say that!?"

"Away! stay away from me, Okudera! Stay away until I can convince Asuka-san that we aren't like that!"

"How do you think I feel about this!?"

The two shouting was overshadowed by how quickly Hitomi seemed to get things done and sent. The way she smiled as if doing a good job only worried him more.

But more than her, he focused back on the people commentating.

Mom: "Fufufu. I see. Well I hope the two of them are happy together."

Rampage Dress: "With the way they are, I'm sure they are enjoying each other everyday. In every possible way."

The next set of yells were followed by loud groans.

"I expected as much from Takato by this point, but I didn't think Yasuko would play along so well. She knew exactly what she was doing by asking that question."

He knew her well enough to understand that she would not ask something without understanding the basics of what it would mean. Mei being how she currently was had probably led up to that question in the first place.

It was only when they could get over the jokes that they could find out that what was being said held value. Even more so as an outside perspective over his inside view of the situation.

Kiyome: "Disregarding Azuma Squad's love life..."

"That wasn't the point to begin with!"

Everyone was always lively when you gave them the chance to be.

Kiyome: "I did not expect Awdry to go as wild as he did when attacking the two of them. Especially the usage of Hound."

Rampage Dress: "I would have thought he would go with Viper, considering he could pull that off easily. I suppose he wanted to keep with his theme, which I can respect."

Mom: "I would not have expected him to pull that off so flawlessly, though. He must be used to working with those types of Triggers."

Rampage Dress: "The opposite, actually. Until recently, he had only been using simple Triggers. For him to go for Kiyome and Hound like this... It means he's advancing at a good pace. Maybe he could slow down to allow his teammates to catch up, but it isn't a bad thing for him to be like this.

Mom: "You really do care for them, don't you?"

Rampage Dress: "As much as I do myself."

The silence that followed in the hall allowed for them to hear a yell of "That's why she's great!" from the observation room.

The cannibals off to the side were quick to stand up, but sat down when seeing Mei looking directly at them. Some of them decided to harass that voice by pulling out their phones.

Yasuko laughed into her hand for a moment before straightening up again.

Mom: "This brings up to the climax of the match. Everyone had gathered to a single point in order to gain any remaining points. The ones who had been left at that time seemed to be the ones prepared for such a thing. But something I had noticed was the desperation in their movements."

Rampage Dress: "And that is where we can explain why that is."

Myth: "The part involving Misaki-chan, right?"

Rampage Dress: "That's right. The way she was able to modify things by leading everyone who had not been able to focus on it. Besides her own squad, I'm sure only Azuma-san had noticed it. As an entertainer, Suzume knows how to guide others and be guided by them. Something she had told us before is that she would gauge how her audience is and decide how she wants to perform. If they are too rowdy then she will be able to calm them down to enjoy the performance. If they are lacking in energy, she will pump them up so they can enjoy the performance. It's all about how you move and show things off, along with how they are viewing what is in front of them."

Myth: "I see... By altering the situations to where things seemed more desperate than they actually are, she was able to cause everyone there to feel like they would need to rush through their fights before they lose their chance."

Rampage Dress: "Exactly. There had been many times when she could have sniped someone, but she refrained from doing that, likely due to not wanting to put everything back at a base level. Holding her position to view the battlefield was the best way to keep things going. The only time had been when the city shook."

Mom: "She must have a lot of influence if she could pull that off with so many people."

Rampage Dress: "She does performances quite often, so she is use to dealing with a lot of people."

Most of the people in the hall had been to those performances before, so they understood how Suzume could have done such a thing.

Yasuko looked around in interest, but she kept herself professional.

Mom: "And the only one who had been able to notice that shift in the match had been Haruaki. ...That does make sense. But from there, it was a show of who could last the longest while also taking out whoever was open."

Myth: "Ariake-kun's final attack against Okudera-kun and his attack against Kageura-kun showed that he will be prepared. Awdry-kun and Kageura-kun continued to their their own incredible fighting ability by continuing to fight. But the part that had caught my attention the most was the way Kageura-kun was being held back by both Awdry-kun and Okudera-kun. They had been fighting each other, but they had managed to also keep track of Kageura-kun and hold him back with their Shooter Triggers."

Kiyome: "Those attacks had not been able to reach him, but I doubt that was the point of it. They had wanted to chase and escape respectively, doing so while they were pushing Kageura-dono back. The awareness the two of them had while on the move is not something to overlook. In particular, Okudera, who had been missing two major body parts, had been able to escape until Ariake reached him."

Rampage Dress: "As someone who is meant to keep up with Koarai, that is expected. Still, that is an accomplishment in itself. He even managed to not get harassed by Mitsuteru and only go taken out by him."

.

Mei nodded to her own words, but waited to see the reactions from others.

They were just as she calculated.

Kanzaki and Ketsueki looked around to gauge others' expressions on the commentary and Yasuko continued to smile into her microphone.

The match was over and they had concluded their commentary.

I should go to each squad after this.

Kotowari Squad had an obvious reason, but she decided to go over why she had wanted to go to the others.

Each had something for her.

Telling Kageura and Kitazoe they did a good job should be interesting. I want to see Shigenaga up close for myself, and speak with Mitsuteru for a bit. And Azuma Squad...

Maybe there wasn't a reason for visiting them, but she knew that she could do something to get them riled up a bit.

A bit of mischief was always good.

But, for now, there was one last thing to do.

Mom: "With that, the commentary for this match has ended. Is there anything our three commentators would like to say, as parting words?"

Kiyome: "None of them were as bad as Arafune-dono and the crossdresser!"

"I'm being compared to that lunatic now!?"

Arafune was quickly brought down by Hokari and Kanda, but he was held in place by Minoru.

That's such great teamwork.

Maybe for a bad reason, but it was still worth something.

Myth: "I can only say that, regardless of the end result for points, it is clear how hard each squad has worked so far. I thank you all and appreciate you continuing to help Border."

Ah... I will let him have this one. Even if thanking them is a bit much.

She had done a lot of damage by this point. Any more and it would quickly turn into overkill.

As for her...

Rampage Dress: "The growth we have seen from each squad is a good way to gauge how things can go from here, but it's up to them to decide how they want to do things. Even if they did well here, it doesn't mean they will continue to do so. If they did terrible here, it doesn't mean they won't do better next time. Striving for something else and climbing higher is enough. You don't need to reach it, but just have that sort of thing in mind."

And more than that, there was something she knew she had to say.

Rampage Dress: "Relying on someone is fine, but make sure you can support them. Fighting with others and a good plan can get you far. That is all I have to say."

.

A smart girl.

Yasuko smiled as Mei gave a light bow.

It was not directed at any one person in particular, but everyone as a whole.

Her words had been meant to send a direct message based on her experience and not how she wanted to view everything. That alone was enough to fill some things in for Yasuko.

Well, I suppose now is the best time to call it. I still need to go to the Tamakoma Branch to see my family.

Lighting clapping her hands together, she looked over to her fellow commentators and spoke.

Mom: "That will conclude the daytime match for the final round of the B-Rank Wars. I have been your commentator for today, and I would like to thank you three for being here with me."

Even if the match was over, there were still things needing to be done.