The city would not absorb voices.
On the vast cityscape, everyone's voice traveled far.
So the acoustics would not change if two more people began speaking in the area.
There was no unique sound to the area, making it feel more normal than it had the day before.
The voices and other noises were not reflected up from below, so they always arrived horizontally.
"Hey."
"Over here!"
"The food goes great with tea from that shop!"
Below the clear night sky, the starlight was overpowered by the lights shining on the glass from the buildings. The large buildings and vehicles cast dark shadows.
Sounds and people were moving throughout the city.
"Hey."
People were walking all around, trying to get from one place to another.
A single voice could be heard past the footsteps, people, and vehicles.
"Are you for real, Denji? Knowing you, I find it hard to believe that your reason can be so...like you. As weird as that sounds, someone being like you isn't like you at all."
"Minoru. To be clear, that's nothing but trouble when someone like you says it. I mean, you created an incident before when it came to our #-... Yuki. When it came to Yuki."
"What does that matter?" asked Minoru.
Citizens and workers were walking back and forth along the wide, open street while trucks and cars carried materials. Minoru spread his mouth horizontally and kept talking while walking next to an irritated Denji.
"That had to do with us two and Mei. At this point, we can say that it was a family argument. I have no doubt that those two will get married at this point."
Honestly.
"I never would have expected that you two would have a similar situation like that."
"Don't compare us like that. My problems and his were fundamentally different," said Denji while checking the locations around them out of habit. "I mean, deciding that your entire existence is unneeded sounds way easier than trying to take on the world's hatred."
"The way you talk about it makes you really sound like a chuuni, you know that? It's kind of painful."
"Look, man, don't talk down to me just because you fought me. It took you and three other people to beat me." Denji pointed to Minoru's chest. "Besides, I had been holding back a lot there. I didn't actually use any strategy. There's also the fact I wanted Yūko to beat me."
"It really sounds like you're making excuses."
"It does!" responded someone from behind the nearby building.
Akagami and Kurome poked their heads out with their phones in hand.
"Denji always sounds like he's making excuses for things, but this time it sounds especially bad! Sounding mad about it makes it seem like he's just being a loser who can't accept how things turned out! Make sure to really tell him off, Hatohara! ...C'mon, Sei! Give us a word on this weird new version of Denji!"
"Creepy! Creepy!
"That's two words!"
Denji slammed his foot down onto the road with a shout, and his teammates fled.
"Honestly," sighed Denji and Minoru patted his shoulder.
He gave a satisfied nod and sighed.
"You're fine, Denji."
"That's now what this is about. It's just..."
"It's just?"
"Well," he said while looking ahead. There was a group of people there who were friends with his teammates. They walked toward one of the buildings beyond the group. "There's no way we would have gotten off so easily without help, right?"
"Yes, there is. ...To be clear, it was because of particulars. But even if that weren't the case, there are more people who would vouch for you and Sekai than you two seem to think."
"Is that so? ...Keh, there's no way that's actually true. Not for me, at least."
Minoru kneed Denji and sighed.
"Well, the agro you built up over time with people is a fair point to make when you think about it all."
"Then don't knee me over it."
"Don't worry about it and keep walking straight, okay? ...Anyway, we're focusing on the people who you guys unintentionally dragged into your mess and pathetic showings. If they were weak enough to just leave you alone, you wouldn't have bothered to be close to them. Especially not to this extent."
"Yeah, but how much of those connections actually matter when it comes to people like us?"
Minoru raised an eyebrow at that.
"You make it sound like you're special."
"Idiot." Denji's breath lingered in the air for a moment. "Things with me and Sekai could easily end, so I don't get why anyone would be worried about people who only make life harder on themselves."
"What, do you have some new sickness now?"
"Shut up," said Denji. "It's just that Sekai was worried about that."
.
Denji recalled everything that had happened recently.
The results and content of the different battles Border had fought both inside and outside of their own world had been things of note for him.
The external attacks on the city had been pushed back, albeit with some major problems the first time they happened.
The internal battle against themselves had been dealt with, and things went smoothly enough.
The former meant a lot because it told them that Neighbors could be fought against when coming at them with armies.
That had brought an odd sense of relief but also a bit of irritation.
He wanted to berate the enemy and tell them to back off already.
During the large-scale invasion, Border's forces had pushed back Aftokrator well enough. Aftokrator had attacked them with trion soldiers first, their Trigger users came at them next, and their leader had finally arrived to attack them in full.
But Denji still felt oddly unsatisfied with their counters.
After all, their Combatants had been turned into cubes, he had not been able to defeat one of their Black Trigger users while in the base, and he had only managed to do as much as he did because he convinced the directors to allow him special permissions.
Even against Galopoula, he had not really had a place on the battlefield. Worse, their side needed help from all angles while not being allowed to lose anyone, damage had still been done to their hanger, and their #1 Attacker had to be taken out in order to win.
So it was still a question what would happen in a pure battle between individuals. Of course, the many overlapping factors on the battlefield did not allow for battles between individuals. An extended battle without injuries was nearly impossible.
But that could happen with a duel.
Murakami Kō of the Suzunari Branch had demonstrated something in one such duel.
He had fought against Denji himself.
Denji had been restricted to using tactics as forward as the Neighbors, but the records from all of his previous battles showed that he still had a lot of power backing him up. And since he had included a Black Trigger to his arsenal, his individual attack power would have been great this time.
And he had tied with Denji's Neighbor-like fighting.
That was the reason behind Denji's feelings.
...Although it's weird to feel like he did it as a regular fighter.
He might not have felt as bad if Hogo had not intervened, but he could feel one side of him growing intensely irritated with himself that someone like that was around but unable to do anything more than act as a guardian.
...God, I'm such a gloomy bastard.
"I don't remember my anger coming with envy and spitefulness on this level, but I guess this is how I really am."
"Yeah, just when I think you've grown as a person, you start getting all smug about figuring out something everyone else figured out ages ago."
Minoru smiled at him.
"You're more childlike than I remember."
"Shut up!"
But there was one thing about which he felt justified in feeling so weirdly angry: Yūko.
.
Minoru listened to Denji's question.
"Minoru, did you see how Yūko had fought during that time?"
"During the last B-Rank Wars match?"
"Not that," he said.
Minoru knew he did not mean that one, of course. What a pain, he thought. That was why he had tried to steer the conversation elsewhere, but trying to be considerate was useless with this guy.
Fine, he thought, half in resignation.
"You mean her battle with Kō while they were fighting against you, don't you? The unofficial one. Only they would know about that one."
"What are your thoughts?"
"Those two kept you down to a point where you could only throw explosions at them. ...They might be better than you, Denji."
"Not that," he said again.
Minoru knew that was not what he meant, of course. That was why he had tried to avoid the issue, but...
...He really is hopeless...
Fine, fine, he thought while responding.
"Yūko was trying her best to reach you while asking Kō for any help he could give. And you know what?" he said to get ahead of Denji's inevitable response. "She had already accepted that. She knew you well enough that she didn't need to question you. ...What, did you want her to give you even more attention?"
"It's not that."
He added an "it's" this time.
"Then it's what?"
Minoru added an extraneous "it's" as well. And to get ahead of him again...
"Looking at things as a whole, I think it's important to be looking to those kinds of people when needed. Although it's all been settled after this morning, a lot of people are probably like, 'wait just a second' on that."
"In that case...well, setting aside what's been done," said Denji. "How should Sekai and I actually move forward?"
...Ohh.
He had not expected this one.
But Minoru knew what he was thinking.
"You can't."
"Why not?"
"Because."
Minoru nodded and pointed toward the buildings up ahead, where they had been meaning to go.
"Everyone should be there already."
"I think our #3...Yuki had something to do before meeting with the rest of us. But everyone else looks like they're there."
This would be the only time tonight where they would be able to speak without others around to listen in. They had already spoken a bit about their general situations, but that was all. He felt like a more in-depth conversation was needed, but...
...He isn't allowed to run away anymore.
With that in mind, he continued their conversation.
"The two of you seem to just be bad influences on each other. So moving forward with only you two will just end in a repeat of everything that happened."
"Yeah, I guess that's true."
That had been how everything started.
They did not look beyond each other and themselves.
"What matters is that you learn that you can lean on the rest of us when you need to do so. So instead of going off on your own, just have one of us around to make sure you don't end up going back to being 'Unneeded'. Yuki already figured that out, so it should be easy enough for you and Sekai to learn. Basically, don't go off on your own while thinking that the weight of the world is on you two. Next time it won't end as well."
"But can we really pull that off?"
"It would be an insult to everyone if you didn't, right?"
Denji had spoken to himself more than Minoru, but he answered anyway.
He knew that he was taking some damage from his own words, but it was something that both of them needed to fully accept. That way they could be equals.
Minoru was constantly reminded of how seriously Denji took things. He would never reach the top of an organization, but he would always be an important part of it.
He made mistakes, but once he put his mind to something, he would see it through to the end. That was the impression one got from Denji from the records, but it described the man himself pretty well too.
...Although that's not always a good thing.
Even when he was looking at things the wrong way, he would go through with it if he believed in himself. And afterwards, he would regret his actions and feel depressed.
Minoru had managed to catch a glimpse of that side of Denji only a single time.
So...
"Well, I'm just saying to do your best."
"Coming from you... Tch. Yeah, it kind of annoys me."
"That's fine," replied Minoru. A vibrating noise came from his pocket, signaling that he was getting a message. "I know that I can be bad at times too, but like how I made sure that Meimei and Loki know that they can come to me and the rest of us any time something happens with them, I know I can rely on them if something comes up for me. That's the kind of thing we figured out the day after you spoke to be nearby my aunt and uncle's house. So let us show you two how it's done."
Denji turned his head and ran a hand through his slicked-back hair.
The sound of his footsteps began to fade, but Minoru knew he would remain.
He saw Denji sigh, and he spoke toward the back of his head.
"Denji, do you know what I learned from all of this?"
"What?" he asked without turning around.
"That you aren't actually as bad as you make yourself out to be. It explains what happened when we had gone to see Yoshiko-san."
They seem to be getting along now, Sekai thought with a sigh.
Being too nervous to look at a lot of people in the eye now, he had decided to wait outside the restaurant their group would be eating at.
The night air felt nice on his skin, and the sound of people moving around reminded him that he didn't need to be on guard the whole time.
I should think more about the future, he reminded himself suddenly.
Denji and Minoru were talking to each other while walking down the street leading to him. Something like that would have been hard to imagine if they had remained the same.
But this should become the standard.
Others had taken the time to smack them around to reach this point, so they should give those people a new chance.
"From my experience with those sighs, you really aren't taking things lightly, are you?"
"Did you want to give Minoru a welcoming kiss that badly?"
The sudden noise next to him made Sekai huff in amusement.
Ninomiya had started coughing after failing to get any words out.
Sekai gave him another moment to compose himself. Once that was done, Ninomiya made it a point to look away when speaking.
"As I was saying..."
He motioned for Ninomiya to continue.
"I'm not sure if it's because of Yasuko-san or not, but you tend to take things lightly. When you decide to be serious about something, you give a particular sigh."
If that were true, then he would have taken a lot more things seriously than he had.
There was little doubt that Ninomiya had only said that to keep his mind away from other things.
If anyone would understand how to do that, it would be him.
He gave another sigh into the air.
"Maybe stop sighing like that? It makes it feel like you do not want to be here."
"Great... Another one."
"This one plans on dragging you around for as long as he can."
The temptation to sigh had become even greater. If just to mess with the man.
Not bothering to look over, Sekai heard Ninomiya greet their new addition.
"What do you want, Ketsueki?"
.
The three of them stayed silent for a moment.
The noise from the people around them filled the space, but it had reached a point.
Ketsueki was the first to speak up, looking into the night sky.
"There really are a lot of stars in the sky."
"...You're really stating the obvious," said Sekai.
Ketsueki shrugged and continued.
"I used to love settling down like this and looking up at the stars."
Sekai remained quiet.
"Any constellations you remember, Sekai?"
"No."
"There is one constellation that really fits you. Do you know what it is?"
"Hah. Not interested."
Ignoring the rude comment, Ketsueki lifted his hand to point at a spot in the sky.
Ninomiya made sure to follow along as best he could.
"That big star right there, and that other one right there, and then those five small ones... Put them together, and they form a constellation."
"Oh, which one?" Ninomiya asked.
Ketsueki smiled.
"The Grump."
"I never knew that was a constellation."
"It is not. I made it up," Ketsueki said with a shrug.
Ninomiya gave an "Oh..." and turned away.
It was clear why Ketsueki had done this from the say Sekai covered his face.
Another silence fell on them as they watched Denji and Minoru slowly get closer to them.
Unlike before, it was Sekai who broke it.
"Ketsueki," he said.
"Yes?" he responded.
Sekai looked away and made sure to hide his expression.
"Do you know how to live life without regrets?"
"Of course not."
That had been why he asked them that question twice now.
But...
"It has been some time since I stopped letting myself agonize over things I could not do anything about."
"Is that so?"
"Of course, it does not erase the fact I kept quiet and turned my back on you all. I messed up. And as you once said, history will not change. All of time will remember me for that."
And.
"The same goes for you."
There was nothing already done that could be taken back.
They only needed to accept that.
"I don't know what you did or how you lived in the times when you weren't with the rest of us." Ketsueki realized he had gone back to his former speech, but it felt right to do so. "But the time in which we're living is now. We've still got a long road ahead of us that we have to walk. It's up to us how we act from here, what we think, how we live... What's important right now isn't the past but the present."
"The past is immortal," said Sekai solemnly and bitterly. "It is neither forgotten nor erased. Its inalterability affects both the present and the future. The present is a continuation of the past, and the future's course is determined by the past."
Ketsueki looked up again and pointed to a new set of stars.
Ninomiya made a gamble by looking back up as well.
"Do you see that constellation there? That one is called 'the Stubborn'."
He regretted it immediately.
"I understand what you're trying to say, but it's okay. Don't get trapped in the past. You won't repeat the past, nor will you return to it. You have us all by your side now."
A new silence fell upon them.
This time they relaxed within it.
.
Once Denji and Minoru arrived in front of them, Ketsueki greeted them, and Ninomiya moved to stand by Minoru's side.
Denji and Sekai remained quiet as they walked towards the entrance to the restaurant.
The other three followed behind, talking about nothing in particular.
Once inside, they took in the full view of the restaurant and marveled at it.
The interior was nothing too extravagant, instead going for a more homely feel to it. The tables were spaced properly, and there seemed to be more than enough room for large tables to be seated without a problem. Even the waiters moving around seemed to be doing so as if dancing instead of simply walking.
Over all, it was a nice place.
"Who was the one to get us a table here again?"
"That was Loki. Apparently, he has it in with someone here, so we were able to get a good table."
"Okay, that makes sense. But why is he even going to be here?" asked Denji with a raised brow.
They all looked at each other and shrugged.
The only one to really seem angered by this was Ninomiya.
"Well, we owe his former squad a good amount for last night, so we invited them. Besides that, again, Loki was the one to book us this place."
"Keh. We didn't need that damn fox here. Everyone else would have been fine."
"Wow. So since you can't call him a faker anymore, you resorted to an Ōji-style insult?"
Sekai and Ketsueki whispered something to each other before shaking their heads at Ninomiya.
Ninomiya tightened his fist, but said nothing.
"It makes sense that they would be here, but I didn't expect them to invite others. Rather, I know that Yasu-nee said they could invite more people, but I didn't expect the ones who are here to show up."
"In a way, we have a pretty dangerous table, don't we?"
"That's for sure," they all said as they were directed to the table.
The waiter gave a bow while motioning for them to take their seats.
But what they found was not what they had expected.
"What is he doing here?"
.
Minoru felt that it had been rude of them to say that, but it was a legitimate question they all shared.
They all understood why everyone else was sitting at the table, but there was one person who seemed out of place, no matter how you looked at it.
And that was...
"U-um... I was invited? ...I was, right? I'm not overstepping anything, right?"
"You were indeed invited, Mitsuteru. Stop worrying about that."
"Right...sorry about that."
Mei looked up from her seat on the other side of the table to look at them.
From the spot next to her, Kako leaned into her hand and grinned toward them.
"I expected as much from Bakuto-kun and Hikigane-kun, but I would have thought Minoru would have more sense than to say that. And Ninomiya-kun is just a lost cause."
"I don't want to hear that from you. I'm sure you didn't even realize he was here until we came along."
"Oh? Do you mean like in your match with him? That sure was fun to watch. The great Ninomiya Masataka being bested by someone so ordinary. And now that I think about it, it happened twice, didn't it?"
The clash between the two continued even as Masataka went to take his seat.
Minoru tried to sooth him while taking his own spot.
"I'm sorry, Mitsu-kun. We didn't mean anything by it. It's just that..."
"You forgot that I was part of Taiyōko Squad, right?"
Minoru felt bad at seeing Mitsuteru look so down.
That's right. Compared to his former teammates, and even his current ones, he's actually pretty normal.
There had been times where he questioned that, but overall, Mitsuteru was someone who was considered extremely normal by Border standards.
"Do you want to go out for a bit?"
"I'm fine, Shūji, really."
Oh, that's kind of rare, isn't it? Miwa is looking like he really cares for Mitsu-kun.
That was nice to see.
Minoru smiled at the two from his spot.
But he received a strange response.
Instead of answering with one of his own, Mitsuteru jumped and looked away.
Minoru's smile fell at seeing this.
It wasn't because I questioned why he was here, was it?
"In any case," Masataka started. It was clear that he wanted to just forget that Kako was there. "The only ones we look to be missing are that idiot fox and Yasuko-san and her family."
"Actually..."
As soon as Mei began, a body ran into Minoru from the side.
.
"Sorry for being late, everyone."
"It's fine. Some of us just got here."
Jonas nodded to Azuma, moved to his seat, and listened to his daughter start talking to Minoru.
Making sure there was enough room, he pulled out the chair next to his own, allowing his wife to sit down. He took his own seat next.
Everyone else seemed to have taken their seats already.
"What were you doing exactly?"
"I needed to get some things done for the branch. I got to see Jin, Mikumo, and Kuga. That was fun."
"So you got to see Tamakoma's ta-..."
"We're going to stop you right there," the majority of the table said in unison.
Jonas was interested in what the Operator girl had wanted to say, but she had been shut down before she ever got the chance.
"Hey, there aren't enough seats here. Should we ask for some for the kids?"
"That's my bad. I didn't think these three would be here."
"It should be fine." Jonas looked over to see that his daughter had already settled on Minoru's lap. But that left the two remaining children there. "Michelle seems comfortable like that. So maybe just two more? Unless these two feel like doing the same thing."
The older friend of his daughter jumped at the chance. In a rush, she moved to throw herself onto Miwa's lap.
"I call Shūji-kun!"
"I never agreed to this."
"Are you going to turn down this poor girl's wants, Miwa-kun?"
"Kako-san, I know that look in your eyes."
"Why not give it a chance, Miwa-kun?"
Kako had been unable to get anything from Miwa, but his own Operator appeared to have more of an influence.
His daughter's friend cheered and placed herself on Miwa's lap.
All that was left was the remaining boy.
"Hey, you can come over here," said Yuki as he patted the table. "As Toby's brother, I need to make sure you're alright."
"That sounds very suspicious. I won't blame him if he sees you as a creep who wants to get close to him."
"Why do you say it like that, Mei!? It isn't like that!"
"Kiyoshi-dono can definitely be like that at times."
"You shut up! And just call me by my current name, already. It makes things difficult when you still call me like that."
"You don't need help for that," some of them said at once. It happening more than once was a surprise.
Jonas felt bad for the Yagura Branch Representative, but there was little he could do here.
This felt like it had more to do with certain people. Putting himself in this situation could only make things more difficult.
All he could do was leave it to everyone else.
.
Kimura watched everything go on from behind her glass of water.
Yuki being made fun of was a given, but what she had not expected was what the Awdry brother did.
Instead of going to one of his friends or the Schneider parents, he started with one of her former teammates.
"Um... I am sorry, but may I sit with you?"
It was Mitsuteru.
"Huh? Me? Are you sure?"
The Awdry brother shyly nodded.
From both sides, his friends pumped their fists.
He must always be this shy.
It reminded her of her captain's dog.
After getting over his initial surprise, Mitsuteru smiled and slowly moved.
Lowering himself a bit, he placed both of his hands under the Awdry brother's armpits and lifted him up.
With a gentle movement, he placed the brother on his lap. He made sure to put an arm around the Awdry brother to keep him from falling.
It's going to be difficult for him to eat like that, she thought while drinking some more water.
"Are you sure you want to sit with me? I would think that you know Yuki or Mei better."
"Well, uh, I kind of do, but... You feel more...comfortable."
Kimura had to force herself to look away, along with some others.
The unexpected attack had hit them all.
"I get that. It's like the same when I'm around Yuzuru! Ahem. Then feel free to come to me whenever you need. Oh, but I guess I should give my name then."
The two boys introduced themselves to each other in a similar way to making new friends.
Oh yeah. I forgot that not everyone starts their greetings with either a joke or a shield to the face.
The people around her had started to become a bit more wild than she remembered, but this sort of normalcy was nice every once in a while.
She was not the only one who thought as Kanzaki, Yuki, and Minoru gave far off smiles.
"In any case, I'm a bit surprised that we're eating out. With the people here, I would have thought that we would go to someone's house."
"Oh, we had thought about that," said Yuki carefully. The way he gave a sideways glance made her a bit worried. "Kako-san had wanted to make some fried rice and Mei some curry. But, you know...I thought that they should get a break?"
Why did that turn into a question?
But it was clear why they were not allowed to do that.
"That was kind of you, but I would have been fine, Yuki-kun."
"Yes, so would I. Besides, after what you told my parents, I need to keep up. So, when we get married, I will be doing the cooking. And when we have children, I will teach them what I know. Especially about making curry."
Kimura felt herself completely stop.
She was not the only one.
.
Half of the table froze at the horror of what they had heard.
Minoru, Kanzaki, and Kimura bowed their heads low. Azuma, Sekai, and Ninomiya made it a point to look away. Miwa and Mitsuteru distracted themselves by talking to each other and the children on their laps. Denji and Ketsueki pretended not to hear anything while looking at the menu.
The ones who were not affected by the news tilted their heads in confusion.
There was only one person who spoke up against this.
"Now, now, I think that may be a bit much."
It was Tsukimi.
With a smile on her face, she looked at Mei and spoke.
"At that point, you would be busy with other things, right? In all honesty, I would think that Tsukiko-kun would be the one to stay at the house."
"That does make sense. Yuki tends to cause trouble wherever he goes, so leaving him at home would be best."
"That is not what I meant, but we will go with that."
White Fox: "Why am I being attacked like this!?"
Nino: "Shut up. She is trying to help you. ...For some reason."
White Fox: "Meet me out back, you stupid airhead!"
Minoru made the two of them settle down before they ruined the conversation.
"If Tsukiko-kun is the one staying at home, it will be up to him to teach your children what they need to learn. Right, Tsukiko-kun? You wouldn't put any pressure on her?"
"Of course," he said resolutely. They had already gone over this. "I plan on working together with Mei on everything. Neither one of us will leave the other behind, so I plan to support her while also accepting her support."
Tsukimi nodded before taking a drink of her water.
They were getting somewhere.
"When you have free time, it will be fine to do those sorts of things. But try to only do so if they seem interested, okay?"
"If they would rather do something else, it would be on us to decide if we should join them...is what you are saying, Ren?"
"It is," she nodded. "Teaching them things like that later on is fine and all, but don't force it on them when they are young."
Mei nodded three times and settled into her seat.
White Fox: "Thank you so much, Tsukimi-san! I owe you big time!"
Mature Woman: "It is no problem. But if it comes up in the future, that will be on you. As her husband."
Everyone watched Yuki go slightly red, give a light laugh, and nod his head.
He accepted that future position
"Hehehe. Ren-chan speaks like she has experience," Yasuko laughed.
They knew she was teasing, but Tsukimi only smiled into her cup.
"I do have some experience. Particularly with a certain #1 Attacker."
.
White Fox: "I feel sorry for Kei-san, but at least I'm not the one getting attacked."
Fried Rice Queen: "To be fair, she has dealt with Tachikawa-kun's stupidity the longest here."
Nino: "If he wasn't such an idiot, I would feel slightly inclined to defend him."
WorTri: "That idiot went full brawn, throwing away whatever brain he had left."
Kiyome: "After fighting him last night, I can say that it does feel like he has very little to think about."
Manager: "Maybe we should stay out of this conversation."
Daybreak: "I feel like this is a dangerous chat to be in..."
Black Bullet: "I would say the same, if it weren't true about that guy."
.
I haven't interacted with Tachikawa-san enough to say either way, thought Mitsuteru.
The interactions he had had with the Attacker boiled down to greetings whenever he visited Izumi.
A lot of the time, he would be harassed by Yuiga before Izumi came in to stop him. It was an interesting dynamic, but one Mitsuteru thought he had seen a few times during his time in Border by now.
"Ah, but if Tachikawa-san is really that bad, it only makes Tsukimi-san look better. I knew she was a strong person, but managing our #1 Attacker really adds to her charm."
"Oh, my," the girls said.
Tsukimi smiled at him and waved her hand.
"I see you haven't changed, Ariake-kun. Hanao always gushed about how adorable you were. I could never deny it."
"I-it's nothing like that! Besides, when it comes to those sorts of things, she is far more adorable than me."
He could feel his cheeks heat up at the compliment.
The heat only grew when the girls leaned in, whispered to each other, and cooed at him.
On his lap, Stepney looked up with an expression similar to a curious puppy.
"It is fine to call males adorable?"
"Hm? Of course it is. While I wouldn't say that about myself, calling other guys adorable is still fine."
"When would you call them that then?"
Mitsuteru wasted no time in patting his head.
"Like right now. You're pretty adorable yourself, Awdry-kun."
"And that right there is adorable," the girls said together.
Mitsuteru lowered his head a bit but did not stop patting Stepney.
"G-getting away from me... Yuki, you and Mei are really getting married?"
.
Yuki saw Mitsuteru lift his hand in apology, but he could only think of one thing.
This traitor! This is harassment at its finest!
Somewhere along the way to this point, Mitsuteru had mastered the art of harassment. Far better than him or any of the cannibals.
What exactly did this mean for his age group?
"U-um... I mean... Yes, that was the plan. At this point, I can't really see myself with anyone other than Mei."
"Some doujinshis would say otherwise."
Yuki glared at Kimura and ignored Kako and Tsukimi's laughter to the side.
None of them were in denial that Suzume had made many different doujinshis about them.
But she was not the only one.
I've seen the way Hitomi and Kagami look at me and Kō! They're definitely working on something big for that one!
.
Demon Child: "Hey, Kagami. Is everything ready for the next event? I don't want to lose to Suzume again."
Artist: "Yes, everything is ready. I have a reference photo of every guy in our age group."
Kage: "What the hell!?"
Zoe: "The girls put that in the wrong chat..."
Demon Child: "Oh, my bad. Forget you saw anything."
Most boys: "Like hell, we will!"
.
Alright, I take it back. Or group is still the worst.
He could think of too many things they could be using them all for.
Aaaaaaand deleted from my memory.
It was the only safe thing to do.
"How long do you think it will be before you two get married?"
"We are both of legal age, so it's only up to this guy. When will he get the guts to properly ask me?"
"Oh, that is true. Yuki-kun can be pretty reserved when it matters," Kako said with a laugh.
Yuki narrowed his eyes at her, but said nothing.
She's enjoying this too much.
But saying so would only make him a bigger target.
All he could do was try to take control of the conversation.
"I would like to have some proper dates first, you know? There have been a lot of things going on, so that should be a first step."
"At this point, you can count our fights together as dates. Battle dates. Yes, I'm fine with that. So when will you ask me?"
Mei's words had finally hit the nerve.
Something in Yuki started to form.
Once it had completely come together, he let it out.
"Getting a ring also matters! Plus, there are a lot of things to think about, you know! Just going into this isn't that easy, right? There are so many people we would need to talk to, and even more we would need to deal with, just to make this work. Hoshi and Mukuro would be easy, but Kushi-nee isn't someone we can just deal with. There's also our situation in Border to think about. Oh, and I would feel pretty bad for Sawamura-san if we got together before she finally got the-... Ahem. Everyone, please never tell her I said that part. I'm looking directly at you, you stupid airhead! Yeah, I see you going for your phone already! Anyways. We can't just walk up and have a wedding, you know? Ah, but did you even want a wedding? Maybe it would be easier to just get the papers signed and call it a day... I mean, if that's what youwant!"
"Oh great, he started rambling again," his former female teammates said.
Quickly shutting up, he saw that Minoru was looking away and hiding his face.
Everyone had their own expressions, but the ones who gave him ones of understanding were Yasuko and her husband.
Other than that, there were three others who never seemed to care about what he said.
"Can I get this? This too! That one seriously looks good!"
"Mitsu, don't just pick what you see!"
"Michelle is right, Mitsubachi. Please try to get only things you think you will eat."
"Stop talking like that, and you have yourself a deal!"
The children seemed to be enjoying themselves here.
Yuki felt all the heat in his body begin to gather in his face.
Once it was too much for him, he slammed his head onto the table.
He had lost this round.
.
Minoru knew that Yuki was taking it seriously, so he said nothing about the rambling.
It's proof of his dedication to her.
"Minoru?"
"There's nothing to worry about," he said while patting Michelle's head.
They had ordered during Yuki's rambling, so now they could speak without worrying about that.
But there was something else he had a feeling about.
Those three sure are staring a lot...
Three of his former teammates were all either staring at him or taking glances his way.
The reason why was obvious.
They all want Michelle to sit on their laps.
Even without reading their minds, he knew what they wanted.
So what would happen if some actually did read their minds?
"No! Everyone but Mino has been bad! I'm going to sit right here!"
The impact from that statement slammed into his former teammates like an attack.
The damage was evident from their expressions.
The first to fall was Ketsueki. With a solid sound, he followed Yuki's lead and slammed his head onto the table.
Sekai froze completely. For a moment, Minoru thought he would recover. Instead, he remained unmoving, even as Kanzaki tried to push him.
As for Denji...
"Come on, Michelle. But it was fun when I carried you around, right? I can do that now too."
He resorted to pleading.
It was amazing to see someone like Denji act like this because of one little girl.
"No. Den was the meanest one. He was fighting Mino."
"But I-..."
"I don't want Den near me tonight," she said with crossed arms.
Denji got it the worst.
As if being physically stuck, he fell back from his chair and landed on the floor with a sound worse than Ketsueki.
His eyes remained close, but his entire expression was one of horror.
"Border and I are not the only ones who need to give some punishment. Let this be a lesson to you boys."
"I would help, but you three deserve this."
The husband and wife duo spoke so casually that Minoru could only take their words as facts.
If there was anyone who could hurt his former teammates with words worse than Yasuko, it was her daughter.
"And that is four down. Fufufu. Who is next?"
"You really are enjoying this a lot, aren't you?"
Kako just gave him another laugh and waved him off.
Minoru considered himself lucky that that was all he got.
"In all honesty, I was having fun with the love talk just now. I wasn't done with Yuki-kun, but he looks like he already lost."
"To lose to someone like that... That guy really is pathetic."
"Oh? Then how would you like to be the next target, Ninomiya-kun?"
Minoru raised his hand and said, "Please leave me out of this then?"
Kako waved him off for the second time.
One more time, and he would worry that he would be the next target.
"I am fine bugging Ninomiya-kun and talking about Minoru-kun, but there has actually been something else on my mind."
"The same goes for me," Tsukimi said with a raised hand.
Next to the two of them, Azuma gave a pitying look to one person in particular.
This would be the second time he had been targeted.
And this time it would be by two strong women.
"Ariake-kun, is there anyone that you like?"