"A toast to all of us making it through these matches!"
Hitomi raised a wooden mug and everyone else in the Main Red Lightning followed suit.
While they were wooden, the hoops were made of metal and they made a nice sound when bumped together. After that, everyone breathed a sigh of relief.
"I thought I was going to die of weariness and exhaustion when I got in the bath, but I'm glad I didn't!" announced Hitomi.
"You could have had the party there."
"No, no, no," Hitomi said to Seiji, snatching some food from the golden chains carrying platters to the tables. "The guys and the girls are separate there and we can't hold a private party out in a public park either."
.
Kagami checked on the general atmosphere while watching Seiji nod in understanding.
The crossdresser, Mei, Kon, and Kitazoe were cooking in the kitchen while Murakami and Yuki worked as waiters. Seiji was providing support wherever it was needed, so it was all about the same as usual.
"Hey, Murakami-kun, what's with those chains coming from you?"
"Oh, that's on me," said Mei from the kitchen. "I won't be participating in the exam Akasora-san wants you all to take, so I asked if we can allow for Shikifuku to be used. Akasora-san agreed to it, so Kō has been given two of Shikifuku's parts to use."
The others nodded and continued on celebrating.
The fascination part was how at home the Ōji Duo and Kageura looked. The duo was focused on the recordings of the B-Rank Wars summing up the day's events within Border and Kageura was drinking happily, perhaps thinking back on what had happened during the day. Even Yuki and Minoru had seemed to come to an unspoken agreement to let their tension remain with themselves and no speak to each other.
Hitomi was giving herself a good head start on completely letting loose, so she was already slapping Akashi on the back.
"Ah ha ha ha ha! Way to go commentating Anus Eye! Now you've got nothing to fear! You're the fearless Anus Eye! Ah ha ha ha!"
It was honestly impressive. Murakami commented on it while carrying some Red Lightning boiled pork to their table.
"Hitomi doesn't usually get excited this much, does she?"
"Yeah, I don't think she expected this B-Rank Wars to be so much fun."
"She didn't expect her squad to do so well?"
"It's not that." Kagami waved a hand and looked up at Murakami skillfully slicing the boiled pork with a knife. "Maybe I shouldn't say so, but this felt like it was a nice change of pace when we consider everything that has happened."
It was normally business as usual. They would sometimes get some major events happening or have a moment of amazement, but...
"This season had a lot of new things added to it that made it feel even longer, but it wasn't anywhere near as boring because of that. And since things usually stay the same with the rankings for some of our squads, this was a fun time to show off a lot of new things."
So...
"It was really to go through the motions here, but I think she still enjoyed everything that has been happening with us. Also, I think this was a lot of pressure on her."
I'm saying way too much, thought Kagami, but she decided it didn't matter.
"It might not look like it, but she actually feels kind of bad about focusing on so many things at times."
"Really?" asked Seiji.
"Probably."
Why did it sound so much more convincing now that she had said it out loud?
Anyway, she had a pretty good read on this.
"The more time she spends on those sorts of things - or personal business or whatever you want to call it - the less time she can spend on whatever else is going on with everyone else. She also ends up feeling sick from sleep deprivation."
"I get the feeling her grades actually improve when she's sleep deprived," said Murakami.
Seiji smiled a it at that. Kagami kind of agreed too. However...
"Everyone understands. Especially since a lot of us had been doing the same thing until today."
Seiji was right.
Once they had started working, they had all focused on the fights they were involved with. When everything was said and done, Inukai and Seiji high-fived by the table and Kitazoe had hurriedly joined in to not feel left out.
...Everyone can relate to each others' success like it's their own.
This was different from other situations she had seen. With those, it was more about sharing a mutual understanding of highs and lowers of this kind of fights.
But this is more about hanging out with some freak- with some friends. Yes, friends. I didn't actually say it, so it's all good. But anyway...
"I guess everyone wants to understand each other, but we also don't want everyone to pretend they do. As selfish as that might be."
"I know what you mean."
Murakami could say that because he was only here with everyone because the others had come to understand him.
The wolf smiled and sniffed at the boiled pork.
"But I'm not sure if we really do understand each other. I mean, I would expect a baffling answer if anyone asked what was so great about all of this. And I think everyone would have a different answer as to what made this season such a success."
"I think we all understand that. Which is why we can be happy we could share this with everyone. What we're seeing now is a reaction to the pressure everyone was feeling."
Kagami pointed over at Hitomi who was laughing with Kunichika.
Hitomi had likely received praise from other agents for how well she managed her squad, so she was passing that thanks along to Kunichika who had helped her out with that. For there, they began discussing the kind of people who had watched the matches.
"Heh heh. You can always count on me to know how to deal with troublesome teammates," said Kunichika, taking Hitomi's hand and checking her nails for damage. It was enough to tell that Kunichika really had helped.
"What would have happened if the lot of you had lost majority of your matches?" asked Fuyushi, moving as Yuki was carrying a bowl full of blanched cabbage.
.
"In that case..." began Kagami.
Yuki placed a few hand towels on the table, so the idea was probably to wrap the meat in the cabbage. She spotted Kon slicing some bread in the kitchen, so they were apparently making lighter snacks to last a while instead of one big heavy meal.
"Oh, I want some of that fresh-baked stuff," said Kagami and a right arm raised and nodded its hand.
Then she returned to Fuyushi's question.
"If something amazing like that happened, we would be right here having a consolation party. Then it would be best if we just grumbled and complained and commiserated with each other. Don't tell each other we will do better next time, though. See, we try to keep up with the latest events, but sometimes that doesn't work out. We would probably start by helping each other figure out what went wrong this time. I guess we would say we will do better next time after that."
"I see. These matches really are a group effort, aren't they?"
"That's right," said Murakami, shrugging. "It really is a battle. If you win, you celebrate. If you lose, you accept that and come up with a plan. And you do that by reviewing what happened and planning for next time."
"Right. But as passionate as some of us can get about planning out next time, it tends to be useless since things change or we change our minds."
"In that case," said the wolf. "Wouldn't it be more fun to discuss it all with everyone instead of feeling responsible for everything?"
Kagami felt some brief surprise at that. Oh, we should make sure to tell Hanzaki next time he screws up, she realized. That's exactly right, she laughed. Everyone who messes up doesn't need to feel responsible for their failures. But...
"But none of us want to fail if we can avoid it."
"Then this season was enjoyable in about every way," said Murakami as he finished slicing the meat and wiped off the knife with a hand towel.
"Murakami-kun, why does that pork smell weird? Not bad, just unusual."
"It was boiled the Western way but seasoned the Far Eastern way. It was boiled in a pot of water in the oven and then left to soak in a pot of tsukedare sauce overnight. Then that entire pot was reheated in the oven."
Kagami could easily imagine that method had been designed to produce a lot of it at a time.
The entire pot was placed in the oven so it wouldn't take up a spot on the stovetop. And heating the entire boiling pot in the oven during peak hours would let them prepare some soft meat in about an hour with minimal effort.
...The Far Eastern seasoning will trick you into thinking it's roasted more than Western sauces or salt would.
Was that to make the soft meat not seem so disappointing? But...
...I bet this is how they do it at the other Red Lightning.
That would make it a tradition Kirikari-kun learned from his mom, she thought.
"Hey, Yuki!" called the crossdresser from the counter. "Take these noodles."
Noodles? wondered Kagami as Yuki brought over a wooden bowl covered with a lid. Murakami and Kurauchi looked over in interest, so Yuki dramatically opened the lid. He managed to look pretty cool doing it.
"Not bad, Yuki. Way to show off."
To add to the mix, he had brought an especially large container of rice.
Meanwhile, the wolf groaned.
The bowl was full of pasta cooked in olive oil. Then Yuki brought enough small bowls for them all.
"First, you add a layer of blanched cabbage! Then you add as many noodles as you want and finally some boiled pork in tare sauce! We even managed to add the rice in a way that doesn't offset anything!"
The wolf's eyes followed the bowl he handed to Kagami, but Kagami wasn't about to hand it over.
"Hey, thanks."
"Think nothing of it," said Yuki as he turned around to grab a bowl for Murakami too.
"Rin-chin, do you want some bread?" called the crossdresser.
"Yes, absolutely."
"Okay, Kō. If you're free, you can take these cod fritters to the tables."
"J-Jinsei, asking that of me now is just plain mean!"
"I see you aren't going to let yourself be 'free' right now, Murakami-kun. ...Huh, this meat splits real easy with only a fork, so it's easy to divide into bites inside the bowl."
Was that why it was boiled instead of roasted? The thick pork could be split into three or four layers, so Kagami started by splitting it into its layers. She considered cutting it to bite size from there, but she instead stabbed her fork into it, tangled up some pasta, and shoved it all in her mouth for an extra-big bite.
...Oh.
The olive oil made the pasta smooth but also gave it a somewhat fruity flavor. She split it with her teeth.
After feeling a non-noodly squishiness within, a teriyaki flavor and some pork oil flowed out through the net of pasta.
"Now this is a flavor that will get you fat."
This was designed for guys, she concluded just as Yuki returned with a plate covered in several glistening green sticks on it.
"Yuki-kun, what are those?"
"Skinned and boiled asparagus. Umi made them."
Kagami speared one on her fork and tried it.
...Oh? Oh?
It was soft. She had expected a crunchy texture since it was asparagus, but skinned it was more like a really long grape. It was seasoned with only a hint of salt, so it would go well with most anything and would probably be good cold as well.
"Now this is a flavor that will trick you into thinking you are being healthy."
Seiji nodded in agreement repeatedly, so he must have really liked them. Murakami had already finished his noodles, but golden chains had carried over some freshly toasted bread and he was enjoying a sandwich made by taking some of his cabbage soaked in pork oil and olive oil and placing it between two slices of bread. Of course, he had added his own copious amount of rice into the mix.
I can be creative too, thought Kagami as she grabbed some parsley from the toppings on the table and sprinkled that on some pasta that she wrapped around some asparagus and pork. And...
"Kagami."
A hand reached over her right shoulder and snatched the fork from her hand.
Hitomi brought the fork to her own mouth and pulled the rolled-up pasta off with her lips.
"Hee hee. That's mine now, Ka-"
She froze before finishing her sentence. She chewed a few times in silence.
"...!"
Then she pointed at the crossdresser while listing to the side. It was kind of cute.
.
Kimura took a breath while sensing the others heating up.
She sat at the side table next to the counter. She was using a stool, so she had her back resting against the wall. This position gave her a view of the entire room because she had hoped it would let her speak to them all at a moment's notice, but then she realized that was how it always worked.
...Still, a lot happened today.
She felt exhausted and she knew why.
It was about one of her former teammates.
She had know this was coming for some time. She had suspected that something would be coming soon due to her former teammate.
But that former teammate seemed the odd man out compared to everyone else around them and who they had seen before. That former teammate had always seemed the type and she hadn't even thought about it.
That would mean it was all of their fault for not noticing it in the first place or doing anything about it. What would that mean if something like that happened for a second time with them?
"What a pain."
"What is, Kimura?" asked Kanzaki.
"I started thinking about Misó again and what my captain ended up going through because of it. Whether it was our fault or not, I have to look over everything again."
"You guys and Shiro weren't the only ones who ended up being effected by that, Kimura." Inukai turned her way while grabbing a slice from a pizza given a square shape for more efficient use of oven space. "Based on what we know, he had been a Neighbor the entire time and had did not hide it all too well. We were just too focused on other things or just not looking directly at him to notice any of that, and as a result, we ended up being fooled and used by him until he felt like he could leave."
"My captain did not look at those details because he decided to trust that guy."
"In that case." Kitazoe turned around with a stack of empty plates. "Why not ask someone about it? I'm sure Hiki-san or Bakuto-san would know something."
"Hmm. I'd have a hard time asking them since my personal feelings would rise to the forefront."
"Really?"
"Yeah." Kimura nodded. "I don't know what his reasons were, but he did have some sort of connection with Misó. So me asking about it would be awkward and him talking about it would be awkward. And if he doesn't know anything about this, it's all the more awkward. Besides, we know it happened with him and we know he didn't hide it from us, so I'm not sure what we could learn."
"It could help you come to terms with what happened."
"Honestly, I think we've done fairly well already." She nodded again. The idiot held out a cutting board of sushi and she placed one on the small plate Kitazoe handed her. "I mean, we managed to have Border allow us to remain here, albeit on probation the whole time, and the rest of our squad has managed to help out wherever we could. So..."
She decided to pause long enough to eat the sushi. At first glance, it looked to be gomoku sushi. But...
...Nh!
She froze whens he detected an unexpected flavor.
"Oh, this is pretty good," said the Ōji Squad Shooter. "It's consommé gomoku rice sushi, isn't it?"
.
Kimura had expected the sushi to taste Far Eastern, but it actually tasted more like a pilaf. She looked over to see Mei raising her hand.
"I was trying to make some takikomi gohan, but I don't care about dashi, so I received a consommé cube from Kon, threw that in with the gokoku fried rice, cooked it, and – abra kadabra – now we have some lightly-seasoned oilless fried rice."
"I thought using it for sushi would make it easier to eat and I thought it would taste fine chilled. That's why I chilled it and wrapped it up like that, but from your reaction, I'm thinking making chicken consommé would have been better."
Kon's smiling addition to the explanation meant this had been a joint effort.
The idiot held out the cutting board again.
"This one has vegetables inside it. It's the whole roll, though."
"Surely I'm supposed to cut it apart and eat it with chopsticks..."
Kanzaki looked interested, so Kimura let her have it. However...
"That was surprisingly edible for you, Takato."
"Heh. An accident I assure you, Kimura. I never imagined it would turn out so appetizing. And you can just call me by name at this point."
"What are you trying to make your food if not appetizing?" asked the idiot.
But the others hung their heads and whispered to each other.
"Come to think of it, you never see the dishes served here over at the other Red Lightning."
"They sometimes have limited-edition menus like the 'Fun Morning' one or the 'Chancy Lunch' one, but never anything normal."
"How did it end up like this when you're teaching her how to cook, Jinsei?" asked Murakami.
Mei silently struck a triumphant pose, which seemed to be all the answer anyone needed.
Kimura had nearly lost herself in thought about that, so she appreciated the easy escape.
Then, without warning, Akashi turned around and spoke to her.
"You might not be aware, Crossdressing Manager-kun, but you aren't the only person here who someone go over with the Neighbors."
"I think I heard something about that before."
Hadn't there been one other case in the past?
The way Inukai and Minoru slowed their movements caught her eyes, but she asked anyway.
"Who was it again?"
Mei raised one of his hands and clicked his tongue.
"I believe you are referring to me!"
Inukai and Minoru's bodies relaxed for a moment.
.
"That's right," confirmed Kon. "But, Takato-san, try to look a little more sad about it."
"How can I when I have zero memory of it?"
After some scattered comments on Mei's positive outlook on life, Kimura turned toward Kon with a frown.
"Really? Was it someone Mei knew?"
"Well, it would be more accurate to say it seems like it was. It was never confirmed because all trace of it was gone by the time anyone from the area could show up to inspect it."
"Where did it happen?"
"The Red Lightning. The other one, I mean."
Mei turned toward Kon, trembling.
"Are you telling me I have been practicing in a haunted building this entire time!?"
"Well, it has been remodeled since then. But what made you think it was you?"
"Heh," laughed Mei, brushing a hand through her bangs. "Ōjiiiiiiiiiii! Oh, that was a random selection. Now, go ahead."
"It is easily deduced from the fact that no one seems to be able to know where her parents are and there are no traces of them."
"Since when can you be so reasonable, Ōji?"
That was a good point. Kimura was worrying over her teammate leaving them, but the same conditions applied to Mei's parents.
"But." Suzaku opened a tablet. "This was before we really knew her at all. Takato lived with her parents in Mikado City and their home was being remodeled into a café at the time. Then one day, they went to check on the state of the remodeling and never returned."
"Oh, I see where this disconnect happened. Right, right. Minoru, if you would be so kind."
"So that's where the rumors started." Minoru let out a sigh from next to Inukai. "I guess now is a good time to clear the air here. Everyone, there's something to know about Meimei's parents. They like to go on trips very frequently. The information had likely gotten mixed up up over time."
Mei began to sweat.
"Um, I would much prefer to learn it was not where the rumors started. Then they might find out about how I thought the Border rooms seemed so cramped and dirty, so I thought I would remodel it and slammed my luggage against the wall, which made a bit of a crack and...well, let's just leave it at that. There was also my high-powered tossing and turning or the very artistic way the corner of my dresser smashed the tatami mats...and I may have moved in there without telling anyone about any of it."
"You should really report that for the sake of whoever moves in next. I can take care of that for you."
Mei gave her a double thumbs up, so Suzaku sent a template report.
Netsuki: "Director Shinoda! Director Shinoda! I have received a request for a full interior replacement for a small room in Border's base even thought we are so busy with other things!"
Shinoda: "Director Netsueki, that is the room Takato once used for a short time, so it had been left untouched since. If she has damaged it herself, that means she is asking to have it remodeled instead. How could you let this happen, Director Netsueki?"
Netsueki: "Eh!? This is my fault!?"
Megane Director: "If you ask me and my ample experience, you should have sent a warning or a notice to have something done as soon as she started coming around."
Red Sky: "We haven't been able to see eye to eye since you became an idiot, but for once we agree, Takumi! To think those people would actually solve our problem...oh, but they were the cause of it as well."
Suzkau received a message from Netsueki saying "Understood..." The ellipsis was troubling, but he chose to continue the discussion instead.
"And here the info says it was done by Neighbors... I need to really have a talk with the people who make these reports. Then again, since it was so long ago, it was actually categorized as a spiriting away. No one actually saw a Neighbor and when Jinsei's mom arrived to check on things, she only saw some red light fading away."
"Thanks to that, Mom was actually a top suspect," said Jinsei.
"That's true," added Kunichika. She had just finished a slice of pizza, so she licked off her fingers and wiped off her fingers and lips with a napkin. "From I know, he used to be a real mama's boy at the time, so when the guards were questioning her, he said, 'Mom wouldn't do that! If she was gonna kill you, she'd be way more direct about it!' Needless to say, that didn't help her case."
"Yeah, but Yuu, I seem to remember you laughing your ass off next to us saying, 'Auntie's going to the pigpen!? Please no! I don't want to be a piglet!' "
Suzaku hated how he kind of remembered that.
What he remembered more vividly were the grim look on his father's face and that his sickly mother had been in charge of the inspection. It was possible that was a false memory he had created for himself, thinking back, the choice was probably because another woman would have an easier time investigating.
At the time, Neighbor disappearances had been a minor type of spiriting away and there was no sign of them happening in the first place, so...
"After an inquiry to the it itself, it was judged 'a spiriting away that is currently thought to be a Neighbor abduction'. That appears to be what was put in there, and the idiot on my squad seems to attest to that...if you can trust him."
"What's that supposed to mean, you lazy idiot!?"
"Now, Suzaku." Mei tilted her head. "Why did these rumors start in the first place?"
"Really, it comes down to no one thinking they were just on a trip. And once we got to learn more about you...well, nothing was known for certain. And..." He hesitated but decided to say it. "You, um, never mentioned your parents."
Mei froze.
.
Everyone was sweating nervously in the nighttime air. Hitomi watched Mei raise her right hand, smack herself on the head, and turn toward the others.
"Now that you mention it!"
Kagami clearly wanted to say something and poked at Hitomi's hip and Hitomi felt the exact same way.
But Mei crossed her arms and continued.
"It was partially just that it slipped my mind, but I also didn't think much about my parents after the extreme impact left by my awful mentor."
"To be honest, um, I did try to steer the conversation in that direction a few times," said Suzaku. "Like with the unopened room over there."
"I didn't pick up on your hints in the slightest. I suppose that one is one me!" said Mei. "But this never caused me any trouble, so it all worked out in the end. Yes."
She's the real deal, thought Hitomi as Kagami poked at her hip again.
.
Suzaku actually had something else to say about this.
"Jinsei's mom has her reasons for refusing to accept that those parents were a victim of Neighbor abductions. According to her, 'they just wandered off somewhere and she'll be back before you know it'. So..."
So...
"That's why she runs the other Red Lightning. She originally ran her café here, but if she doesn't use that one, she would lose the rights to it. And it had just been remodeled into a café."
"So technically speaking..." said Mei.
"Yeah, it should belong to you," said Jinsei. "But I guess this means my mom got in contact with your parents and is just choosing to run it for them."
So...
"You staying here while your parents were on a trip was probably a big surprise for her."
That made Mei freeze again.
She was sweating again and she raised her right hand.
"Um, I just thought everyone knew they had gone on a trip and didn't bother to ask about it in the first place, so I'm not sure about suddenly finding this out. Especially since Minoru knew about it already.."
"W-well, I doubt we can't just end those rumors right now." Suzaku sighed. "It really won't be too hard, but we would need full proof that your parents are still around."
"Right. They should actually be coming back relatively soon, according to their latest call. But anyway..."
Mei took a breath, nodded a few times as if to accept the information she had just received, and turned toward Suzaku.
"Excellent work, Suzaku."
"Please, I didn't do anything. I am happy that something in me could be useful, though."
Hitomi turned toward her with a straight face.
"Something in you? Useful? Which inner part of you were you hoping would be useful?"
"Hitomi, let's not think about a new book when you're still celebrating the season."
"That aside, I am very glad to have this many people with me, Suzaku." Mei bowed. "And your family was part of the true issues just like my family, Kimura and Oshiro's teammate, and Yuki's parents, weren't they?"
.
Suzaku didn't know what Mei was talking about.
The first thought in his head was simply...
...Huh?
His mother had died of illness. It had been a constitutional thing and her body's mold had been affected by it. He recalled his mother saying she had chosen to live for the things she wanted in life instead of inhibiting herself. In that sense, it was less dying of illness and more...
...Yes.
Suzaku belatedly realized his mother hadn't been just been waiting for death to arrive. She had been using her limited life to live as much as possible. But...
"My mother wasn't a Neighbor abduction victim."
"Um, but, Kasumi."
Murakami turned Suzaku's way after constructing a yakiniku and rice burger. Whatever he might claim, he had clearly used too much rice. It was spilling out from between the bread.
"Oops."
"Um, you can take care of that first."
"Excuse me," said the wolf before shoving the burger into his mouth, starting with the bottom where the rice was falling out. After quickly consuming about half of it, he wiped off his mouth with the napkin Kitazoe handed him. "Isn't that why you fire on the biggest ones like a close range Shooter?"
"Eh? I do that because it's my job. But more than that, I'm curious as to why you brought Yuki's parents into this."
Kimura raised her hand.
"I guess now is a good time, don't you think?" she asked. "Might as well come clean."
.
Murakami saw Yuki freeze.
He frowned with a hand on his forehead and mimed moving a parcel from right to left.
"Umm..."
"Yuki?"
"What is it, Kō?"
"Right." He nodded. "Your family situation is actually pretty important. Maybe say something about it now."
"Eh?"
Yuki squeezed his lips together and Murakami thought he knew why.
"Did you think I should be the only one to know about this?"
"Yes, but, um...why would I say something about a situation that doesn't normally involve those around me?"
"Well, no, I suppose that makes sense," said Kagami.
"Right?" replied Yuki.
Yuki then tapped the right side of his neck and Mei moved closer.
"Yes," said the senpai.
"Oh, Mei. They say my family situation matters here as if they already know it. Is that true?"
"––––––"
Murakami saw Mei give Yuki one hell of a look.
...I didn't realize she could make faces like that.
They were fairly in tune with each other on the emotional front, so it meant a lot when they had such different reactions. Yuki didn't know what this meant exactly, but he seemed to accept it. However...
"But...why?"
"W-well, I doubt it's because of that," said Murakami.
"You know." Yuki averted his gaze. "This is kind of depressing. I managed to semi-patch things up with my siblings and I've put together some countermeasures against my sister, but if my situation matters that much, it means nothing I did really mattered."
"But you are too use to that sort of things," said Jinsei. "Yuka doesn't care about that stuff, Kawa's too poor to care, and everyone else is sort of a beginner on your family, so their information on the stuff wouldn't be on your level."
"Huh, now that you mention it..."
"Hold it," interrupted Kimura. "Why did my reason have to be a personal attack!?"
Yuki faced them again and gave a troubled smile.
"Sorry about that, Kimura. ...Jinsei, try to be nicer."
Seeing Yuki's posture and attitude recover, Murakami performed a mental fist pump.
...Way to go, Jinsei!
Everything to do with Yuki's family had taught them he could fall hard when something got him down. But with that dealt with, Murakami felt comfortable asking another question.
"You, you only want to keep it a secret so others don't have to worry?"
"I'm embarrassed to admit it, but yes. After I learned what I did, I tried to figure out a way to say it and thought that someone as unnee-... Someone like me would just end up having everything backfire on him. Basically, I didn't look much past what I could do for myself."
"Since there wasn't much difference between the four of you, failing to notice the people around you doesn't seem to have led to too many problems," said Arafune.
Murakami appreciated that comment.
"Based on the known situation, this would relate to your parents, wouldn't it, Yuki?"
"We can't say for sure...and I don't like the idea of it," said Yuki. "You see, my mother and father sort of showed up here uninvited and my father used to be fairly passionate, and, well...he didn't get along well with a lot of people. My mother was honestly not that much better, but I suppose she was the type of person who could at least speak with others on an even level." He placed a hand on his chin - or his lips really - and tilted his head. "If I manage to trace back their origins and see what came before us, then it might explain some things about my parents."
"That's right." Kunichika pointed at Kimura, Kanzaki, and Mei in that order. "Heh heh. But the fact that you were too busy being angry with that squad to think about that says to me your want to remain ignorant was activating."
"I see," said Ōji. "You do hear of a Western saying 'ignorance is bliss' when it comes to unsettling matters."
"Oh, come on. What I did was something even I regret."
"It really shouldn't be." Murakami sighed. He knew what he had to say here. "When you find people you want to be around you get tunnel vision, you can also lose sight of yourself. You really need to focus on your own situation first."
"Oh."
Yuki pressed his lips together and turned away.
...Ho ho.
"Did that remind you of something?"
"I'm guessing something Takato-related."
"I-it's not a guessing game, Kagami!"
"Well, he saved my ass before, so I'd say he's fine," said Jinsei. "Besides, he understands what you're saying. And if he doesn't, the rest of you will help him out."
"I see." Mei moved toward Yuki. "I should have done this much earlier, but I will be making sure you can focus on yourself while I also put my focus on you."
"No, thank you..."
Yuki bowed his head. Was he going back to his fake persona or was this simply his true feelings finally showing?
"I will see what I can look up to see if it helps us any and confirm with Kushikage on it later on."
He already had his phone out, so he clearly saw this as an opportunity. Meanwhile...
"We have two more day," said Murakami. "Sensei had said that we had to take one final exam after the B-Rank Wars were over, but if we can get some things done in that time, we might as well. After that, it will be business as usual, so we should look to see how we can improve in anything we need to."
"We have our tasks to complete too," agreed Hitomi before raising her wooden mug again. "This party somehow turned itself into a meeting, so how about we have another toast to focus back on what really matters?"
"Haaaaah..."
Sekai took an extra long sigh as he stared up at the night sky.
"This life sure is tiring."
The day had finally ended and his squad had remained in the top once more.
The new member to his squad had been a surprisingly big help at times, but he made sure to never say it out loud.
"Telling him that much would be giving away my true feelings on the matter."
Besides...
"He has those two to say those kinds of things to him. There's no need for someone with an irritating personality to tell him 'Good job' or 'I'm proud of you'. It would only serve to be pointless motivation."
He closed his eyes and continued to face the sky.
The stars that were out shone, even when they were fighting with the lights of the city. Within his closed eyes those light shone brighter than anything else.
He understood what the end of this season for the B-Rank Wars meant for him. It was the same meaning for his niece and his former boss.
"Leaving in some shape or form... Sorry, Akane. I know I'm the one who originally brought it up, but I had a reason for that."
What reason was it?
"..."
He could not remember what it was.
It could have been his real feelings coming out, or it could have just been the facts that were in front of him, telling him it was the right thing to do.
His sister had seemed to be fine with the idea.
"Ah... Hah. So irritating...this person I am."
He lifted his bottle into the air and gave a toast to the stars only he could see. The ones who would soon be going out and would never be seen again.
Those stars that once shone even brighter had become terribly dull to him some time ago.
He knew where it had started.
"This will be the only time I am determined to completely destroy Denji. This win will be mine and mine alone. I'll make sure to take it with me when I leave and I won't even rub it in his face. ...Yeah, I'll do just that."
The party that had been going on under his roof he sat on had brought up some interesting things. The information he got from it was registered in his mind and was something he felt like he needed to focus on now.
Something that he could do to make it up to them, as well as anyone else.
"Heh. Yuki still thinks like that, does he? ...What a dumb child. He looks up to me a bit, that much I can tell. ...What a stupid child. Now he thinks he will be so unneeded as to figure these things out..."
He muttered something under his breath before slowly placing his arm on his knee. The bottle in his hand was held tightly, but didn't shatter.
Even his thoughts on what he needed to do was filled with regret.
"Sorry I said I wanted to do that, Yuki. ...Not that you can hear me."
None of them could hear him.
And that was what he wanted.
"Haaaaaaaah."
He gave another sigh while opening his eyes and finishing his bottle.
He looked at the glass in his hand and gave another sigh.
"...I can't even get drunk off of this stuff. What a waste."
He placed it next to him and laid back until his body was spread out on the roof of the café.
"I guess that stuff doesn't matter. I still need to make sure everyone is happy, no matter if they sell me crappy alcohol."
When was the last time he had any alcohol by himself?
Drinking with others was no uncommon to him, the sight of Tsutsumi and Tachikawa stumbling around even less so. But those times had always been with others around, creating noise that he could use to feel as if he was a part of what was going on.
There was no such noise around him now.
The most he could hear was the sound of people moving below him. Some yelling while others were simply enjoying themselves.
That was what he was striving for.
A place where everyone could be happy.
"Aaaaahhhh... Akasora-san said he needed my help for that exam, so I should probably get ready for that. And besides, Yasuko-ane would hate it if she found out I was like this."
But the worst case scenario was if Michelle found out about this.
"...I don't think I would be able to handle that kind of expression from her."
Children were his weak point and the ones he knew understood that better than anyone. They would use that against him, for him, or just to mess with him.
That was why he was choosing to keep his distance from them all.
"...What a pathetic guy I am."
Slowly standing up, he looked to the sky once more before looking into a nearby window to check the inside of the café. Everyone seemed to finally be situated.
That meant he had no other reason to stay here.
"Hah... This is such an irritation."
Yes.
"...I am the most irritating thing of all."
There was more than enough for him to do now.
All that would matter after that was up to what he could find out.
The party continued until early the following morning. Seiji and the others who tapped out early went to sleep in the futons laid out in the bedrooms, but Hitomi was in high spirits and lasted a lot longer.
Hitomi herself claimed she wanted to "see the day through to the end", but she was still exhausted and ended up falling asleep in the café area. When the others carried her to the bedroom, they decided it was time for the rest of them to get to sleep in the bedrooms or café.
There was no one on night watch duty and the boys set up a camping tent in the bedroom for some indoor camping ("I thought this would be useless after our trip, but here we are using it again"), but after waking up the following morning, Kunichika made the mistake of saying that looked fun and ended up the unwilling new owner of a tent. They had it sent to her house.
Once everyone was up the next morning, they returned to their homes and then went back out into their normal routines. Each one of them had met up with who they needed to and some of them went in for some extra training with others.
Each branch had come together to discuss what they needed to do now, what members they had, and how their scheduling with each other would be for now. Once that was done, they had informed the main Border base and went about their day.
With everything back in place, they had reached their most dreaded day - their final exam with a hardcore teacher.