They were such troublesome boys, thought Yasuko.

Those were memories she was fond of.

Each one of them had their own uniqueness, which made their interactions fun.

I suppose the only bad thing was that they liked to keep those interactions between me and my family.

Besides Minoru, their squad had been forced together. They had all warmed up to her quickly, but they had not done so with each other.

She could see that it was only now that they were able to speak freely with each other.

"I don't think there's a reason to talk about the past."

"But I remember you all being so...you."

"Mei, that sounds very confusing when you don't properly say it."

"What other way can I explain it?"

"That's true," the former Azuma and Taiyōko squads said.

The boys understood that to be true.

"I guess after my own problems, I shouldn't be asking about someone else's past. Sorry about that."

"Oh, there is no need for that," Yasuko said.

This was different from that.

"I suppose that the best way to describe them would be... Yes. They were boys of their age."

Even as those boys threw their heads forward and backward, Yasuko continued to smile.

Next to her, Jonas and Azuma chuckled. Azuma must have easily understood what she meant. His own teammates tended to be like that.

As for the other former squad.

"Ah, yeah, I get that one..."

"We were all like that at some point."

"It would have been strange if the likes of Bakuto-dono and Kagerei-dono were not like that."

"That's too true."

It looked like they had been the same way as well. The only one who had not given a clear reaction had been the sniper boy.

Just as she was about to question him on it, he nodded and patted the boy on his lap.

"Stepney, try not to be like most people at this table, okay? I would say that the only good examples we have here are the Schneider parents, Azuma-san, and Tsukimi-san."

"Masa's whining that he's a good example!"

"Michelle, it isn't good to say those things out loud."

"Tch. Leave it to an airhead to complain to someone who beat him. Keh. He's just probably pissed about Mitsuteru being right."

"Only a fool like you would assume I would be bothered by something like that. And, from how I remember it, I never lost to him."

Michelle's friend had found the argument funny, but Yasuko thought they were starting to go overboard now.

But once again, she was beaten to the punch by the sniper boy.

"See there? Try not to argue like Yuki and Ninomiya-san. Others will start giving you looks like the people around us."

"Okay. I will try my best to not be like that."

"Good boy. I'm already proud of you."

They have hit it off very well.

It must have been the sniper boy's natural personality. From the way people spoke about her, she could relate.

Still...

"Mitsuteru-kun, I noticed that you did not include yourself in the people who could be a good example."

"It's because I know I'm not the best example here. Especially after what we had talked about here."

"That is a rather mature viewpoint. A lot of people would think themselves to be good examples."

"Is it? I think it's a bit childish of me to say that. It sounds more like I'm trying to act grown up. Especially with the kinds of people around me."

He laughed, but it was not in a self-deprecating way.

"I'm pretty immature for talking back to someone so mature like you."

.

Mom: "I try not to be on my phone while at the table, but I must ask. Is he always like this?"

Girls: "Yes!"

Fried Rice Queen: "It makes things difficult when you want to tease him. At the same time, it makes you want to tease him more."

Rampage Dress: "Kako-san, you make it too obvious what you are trying to do. Your earlier question, especially."

Fried Rice Queen: "What can I say? I needed to meet this month's quota. And you and Yuki-kun are too open about things now."

Rampage Dress: "At least make sure he is with someone good for him."

Fried Rice Queen: "There are too many options, from what I can tell. But there is also the fact that I just want to tease him endlessly."

Mature Woman: "My sister has complained about the same thing many times."

Kiyome: "It is best not to think too much about it."

Manager: "We think it's just the natural thing for him to do at this point. Especially when he had to deal with Yuki for so long."

Rampage Dress: "I will accept this loss against him."

Girls: "That means we all lost!"

.

Ninomiya raised a brow while wiping the remains of food from Michelle's cheek.

The way Minoru looked at him made him turn his head so he could not see his expression.

Getting caught up in the moment right now is dangerous.

That was why he was looking at the reactions of the girls around them.

The Hogo Squad Operator hung her head. To the two sides of her, Kanzaki and Takato seemed to accept something. The three of them had a feeling to them that he felt was a bit familiar.

Then there were the girls near him.

Kako and Tsukimi exchanged hums before letting out simultaneous sighs.

But the most curious reaction was from Yasuko.

"Mitsuteru-kun, do you happen to have any siblings?"

"I'm an only child."

"I see," she said with a smile. She looked in his direction. More accurately, at her own daughter. "Michelle, I am leaving him to you and your friends."

"Okay!"

With a start, Michelle bounced off of Minoru's lap and started for the Meishō Squad Sniper.

Seeing her movement, the younger Misaki sister got off of Miwa's lap, and the younger Awdry brother made sure to hold on.

Michelle motioned for the Meishō Squad Sniper to lower his head as if to tell him something.

Doing just that, the Meishō Squad Sniper went wide eyed.

I think we don't have to worry about him for a while.

Michelle started patting his head while the other two children did similar things.

Soon enough, the Meishō Squad Sniper was flooded with affection from the children.

"Starting with the most dangerous ones, huh? I suppose that makes sense when it comes to Ariake."

"Azuma-san, isn't that a bit much to say?"

"Did you want to be in the middle of what would happen?"

The former faker looked away.

That's right, you idiot. You already know what would happen, stupid.

As if hearing his thoughts, the former faker threw his head back and glared at Ninomiya.

Don't look at me.

.

The next round of pettiness from Yuki and Ninomiya had started up.

Knowing it would go nowhere, Sekai sighed into his hand and let them be.

Things managed to move away from the main topic. Now we don't need to talk about those days.

He had forgotten that there was someone who could read minds.

"Kai thinking about what you were talking about!"

"Michelle, don't just read my mind like that."

"You know, at this point, there's no way she can take you seriously when you say that," said the Hogo Squad Operator.

"That's right. Hikigane-dono will do nothing if it is Schneider," agreed Kanzaki.

The worst part was that they were right.

"I'm not the one who is supposed to tell her not to do that."

"Does that mean you're blaming Yassan?"

"Of course not, idiot. She hasn't been around until recently, so that falls on the fools who were taking care of her."

"Uh, Sekai? I do tell her to be careful with that."

"Then it's the fault of the idiot who keeps having a mental fight with Yuki. One that can probably be heard by Michelle."

The table went quiet, save for the children and the boy they were messing with.

The silence was quickly broken by Takato and Minoru smacking their respective partners' heads.

"Ow!" they said together.

Fools like them deserved that sort of thing. As long as the children could not see it happen, he would do nothing to stop that sort of violence.

"You know, things really have changed since the last time I saw you boys."

"Coming from Yassan, that would sound great. When something like that comes from Jossan, it's, well..."

"That is true. When it is Jonas-san saying something like that..."

Sekai rolled his eyes at Denji and Ketsueki's antics.

Their former squad had all been tamed by Yasuko. By extension of that, her family members were also safe from anything they did.

But it's been Denji and Ketsueki who got along best with Jonas-ani. The way they bounce off of those conversations has always been too much for me to keep up with.

That had gone up even more after last night.

"If you two are going to talk like that, we can go over there instead."

"Ah. I'm good, I'm good. Jossan isn't someone I want to go to the corner with."

"Leaving the table right now would just be rude. Jonas-san never does think about these sorts of things, does he?"

"Keep at it. See what happens later on."

"Right, right," said the two fools while waving.

A laugh soon reached his ears.

Sekai had thought that it would just be Yasuko enjoying herself, but it was more than just her.

.

Sekai looked around to see that everyone was enjoying themselves in some way.

His former teammates, the former Azuma Squad, the former Taiyōko Squad, and the three children were all talking to each other and enjoying themselves.

This had been what he always wanted.

Happiness for everyone around him.

But...

They want me to be part of this happiness.

He had been fine with leaving this behind to them to enjoy.

They had wanted to drag him along until he was with them all.

We have three former squads here, but no one is actively trying to bring up bad memories. Any hard times or issues from the past are being left behind to enjoy this moment.

This was the present that everyone tried to reach.

They moved beyond the past, looked to the future, and lived in the present.

Sekai tried his best to accept that. Something that they all did easily.

No... It probably isn't easy for some of them.

Saying something like that would just be like looking down on their hardships.

But how could he just join them like it was nothing?

There were a lot of black marks in his past.

It had been the reason he had been Unneeded in the first place.

And now, with everyone here, he had to find a place in the present.

He had to look to the future with them all.

"Try not to think too much about things, Hikigane."

Unexpectedly, it had been Azuma who spoke to him.

Miwa had been speaking with him, so their conversation must have just finished.

"You want to be a teacher, right? I know you're a freelancer, but you have been learning a lot from Akasora-san on how to be a teacher."

"I...have. Yes. What about it?"

"If you are thinking about unnecessary things too much, try to focus on that. There is someone here who is in the same position as you, so it should be a bit easier on you."

That's right... I had forgotten about that since Border has been pretty busy lately, and I needed to keep up with that.

The B-Rank Wars had taken up a good amount of his time. Besides that, the issue with the sponsors and others coming to the city were things he needed to keep up with.

He had been part of the problems the day before and last night.

I didn't think I would still be here after all of that, so I never went back to it. Becoming a teacher was not on my mind.

So that was what it was.

Ariake had included him in the people the children should not be like when growing up.

At first, Sekai thought it was because of the things he had done. How much trouble it caused everyone.

But that made no sense when he thought about how Ariake was.

He had included Sekai because he had given up on himself.

Azuma could see that as well. It was why he had brought it up in the first place.

"So that's how it is... Hah."

I'm such an irritation.

"Yeah, it's just like that. So don't worry about it anymore," said Minoru from the side.

Sekai lifted his head to see Minoru looking directly at him.

.

"Just be happy with everyone else. If you can't do that, we will make sure to make up for it."

"That's a rather selfish way of saying it."

"Being selfish isn't all that bad at times. Isn't that right?"

Even while glaring at each other, Yuki and Masataka responded to Minoru. Yuki nodded his head, and Masataka made sure to squeeze his hand.

Next to Yuki, his cousin also responded. She smiled at him, making him return it.

"Being selfish and sounding selfish are different from each other. You aren't as bad as some others."

"Coming from you, I'll take that as a compliment."

"It wasn't meant any other way."

That was why he took it as a compliment.

He really isn't a bad guy, thought Minoru.

Maybe without knowing it, Sekai had looked out for him at times. He only wanted to repay that in kind.

"Now that I think about it, Sekai isn't all that selfish."

"Haaah. Don't go bringing up my name like that. It becomes an irritation when it sounds like I'm not a bad guy."

"Do you think you are?"

"I wouldn't say I am. At best, I'm also an irritation."

That was unexpected.

Minoru had always thought Sekai and Denji were people who viewed themselves as the ones in the right.

"Trying to get that guy to think any higher of himself is just a waste of breath. Trust me, I've tried."

"Trusting someone like Denji is a bit much. Ketsueki did that, and look what happened to him."

"Please do not remind me of that..." Ketsueki looked to the side, looked back, and then lowered his head. Minoru thought it was a bit amusing. "I still feel bad for what I did. Fighting Sekai did nothing to really make up for it."

"I want to point out that you have Yuki and Rei helping you."

"Yeah. Neither you nor Minoru beat us properly. That means we're still at the top of our squad."

Minrou felt something inside him stir.

While not being a really competitive person, he refused to let this one slide.

After all...

"Neither one of you beat your opponents before we got there."

.

Ketsueki looked at Minoru and both of them nodded.

They would be winning this.

"Of course we didn't beat them! We were making sure they could handle themselves once we left things to you all!"

"Why would adults go all out against children in the first place? Besides, my opponents were both people with poor bodies. I didn't want to risk them staying on the battlefield afterwards."

Their excuses used more words than needed.

Ketsueki knew this was how they worried when they were in a losing battle.

All he needed to do was counter.

"From what I remember, Denji was unable to defeat Murakami-kun earlier in the day. So having Kumagai-kun around must have really put him on edge. And Sekai, you know as well as any of us that Yuki-kun and Nasu-kun are too stubborn to let that one slide."

As if to prove his point, Yuki was being held down by Mei.

Getting him in this fight would drag Ninomiya into it.

That would be the point where everything would go wrong.

Thank you very much, Takato-kun.

"That girl did nothing! Kō's defense was annoying, but that's all it was! No way would I lose to them properly!"

"Hah. That's why I didn't want them to stay. I knew they would do that because of how stubborn they are."

"But Denji, you were barely able to keep up with me and Mei."

"And Sekai, what happened once I got there?"

"Yeah, what does that say about me, Minoru? Huuuuh?" As if to prove a point, Denji pointed to both Minoru and Mei. "Besides those two idiots, I took on you and that girl! Yeah, Sekai had trouble with three people, but I was fighting four people at once! Ha! Yup! I'm just that good!"

"Then why did you need special privileges to fight us?" countered Minoru and Mei.

Ketsueki smirked to himself.

Getting one over Denji tended to be difficult, but the duo readily managed it.

That only left one more.

"Anything to say for yourself, Sekai?"

"Hm? My lack of actions speak for themselves. By that, I mean I didn't have time to prepare anything. Of course I would lose to two idiots who think about nothing but attacking. Even Rei was going trigger happy there."

"Is that so...?"

Sekai narrowed his eyes in a way Ketsueki rarely saw.

These simple responses had always annoyed him.

"But Sekai is always well prepared, is he not? I wonder why he could not get everything done. Actually, he should be able to set up a lot of things while fighting."

"I don't want to hear that from someone who has crashed into walls because he didn't pay attention to his own speed."

"Keh! Why do you need to bring that up!? If that's how it is, I could bring up the times when you've blown yourself up because you didn't remember where you put things!"

"Aaaaaaaaaand it's over! Sekai is the winner!"

The collection of voices shocked Ketsueki back to the reality of the situation.

Minoru and Mei had won against Denji here.

He had lost to Sekai.

.

Ketsueki put his head back on the table due to his loss.

Near him, Sekai held up two fingers and stuck his tongue out.

"My, my. I feel like I never see these sides to them," said Kako impishly.

"Probably because they usually keep it inside most of the time," answered Jonas.

The entire thing was something new to a lot of them.

The one who was most freaked out was Yuki.

"Oh, looks like he started rambling again."

"That fool should just keep his- Whoa!?"

"Oh, his aim is pretty good for someone rambling."

"Azuma-san, that's a bit..."

Everyone nodded at once and looked away from the confused Azuma.

When he started to question them, they waved their hands and continued to look away.

"You know, I have been wondering something for a while now."

Mitsuteru quickly ducked his head away from Kako's sight.

"No need for that, Ariake-kun. This time it isn't about you."

"Ha ha ha... R-right..."

Kako laughed into her hand and turned toward Yasuko.

"I obviously know how our squad had formed, and I know what happened with Taiyōko Squad. But I have no clue how your squad had come together, Yasuko-san."

"Oh? Did none of the boys tell you about it?"

"They moved the conversation away whenever I asked."

Yasuko looked at each one of her former teammates, but they chose to look somewhere else.

Sighing into the air, she placed her cheek on her palm and smiled at Kako.

"There is a lot we cannot talk about here, but I can give you the basic understanding of it. If you are fine with that."

"Yes, of course."

The others who were not part of this former squad stopped talking to listen.

Yasuko laughed a bit at this.

"I suppose I should give some context as to why I was even a part of Border. It will make things a bit easier."

"Yasuko..."

Jonas's brows lowered, but Yasuko patted his hand.

The two gave each other a look, and Jonas grabbed her hand.

"You see, we had been in Mikado City during the first invasion. We were visiting some relatives. Once it had been over, my husband had gone into a coma. We had to stay here, seeing as how I refused to leave him."

White Fox: "It makes me wonder what certain people would do in that kind of situation."

Rampage Dress: "You hate being in one place at a time. A coma would drive you mad to the point where you would wake up, just so you could move around."

Deer Prince: "The worst part is that I can imagine that happening..."

White Fox: "You know, I figured this would be a troublesome thing to think about. But I'm glad to know that Mei had faith that I would bounce back."

Rampage Dress: "More like you would be too stubborn to just let things be."

"True, true," some of them said.

Yasuko waited for them before continuing.

"After that had happened, I had started to hate the fact that I was unable to do anything. That had brought my attention to Border. So I had joined."

Then...

"From there, I met someone. The first person in this squad."

That person had a girl on his lap and his partner holding his hand.

"The first one had been Minoru. I suppose there is not much to say there. We had gotten together as a normal Captain-Operator squad. I believe there is one like that now."

"Oh, that's Wataru-kun and Rika-san," said Mitsuteru with a raised hand.

Yausko nodded in thanks.

The children had settled once more on the laps of certain people, so he was now free to move around.

"There had been a few things I worried about when it came to Minoru, so I had decided to help him."

.

Minoru remembered that time vividly.

A time when he also felt like there had been very little he could do about the situation around him.

At the time, things had been pretty embarrassing. Having someone so warm like that nearby while he had unwanted thoughts had felt somewhat off to him.

Fuji-nee and Mirai had been at my side, but I didn't want to bother them with my problems.

Then Yasuko had come along and shown him a special kind of warmth. It had filled him with embarrassment, but it had not been a bad thing.

It was only after that had settled in that it hit him.

I had started to feel that familiar numbness again.

It was horrible. I really thought that there would be little that could be done about it at that point.

Yasuko had been kind to him. Even so, he had gotten that feeling once more.

But...

But...

It helped me get some hope that she really could help me.

That Yasuko's kind and caring nature could shut out the voices in his mind. Those voices that always came when he was reminded of his family.

"That's right. I have never properly given my thanks to you, have I? Yasuko-san has helped a lot."

"Oh, there is no need for that. My time with Minoru and the other boys has been great. There is no need to thank me."

"Very well. In that case, can I ask that you continue to be on his side?"

"Yes, of course. You have a connection with him, right? I will also watch out for you as well."

Minoru smiled as his cousin and Yasuko agreed to help each other and the others they have connections with.

That included him.

This is nice.

Minoru felt two hands on both of his arms. The first was from Masataka, who was patting his right arm.

The other person who patted his left arm was the girl on his lap.

"Michelle."

"It okay."

He patted her head with the same smile as before.

"Yeah, it is."

There would always be something that would hold him down. Voices that would not leave him.

But there was something else there.

There were people around him that would drive away those voices and lift him up with their own.

"Who came after Minoru then?"

"That would be Sekai. Although, unlike with any of the others, his situation was very special."

That's right. After all...

It had not been voluntary on Sekai's part.

.

"Instead of Sekai asking us or us seeing him out, Shinoda-san had assigned him to our squad."

"Tora-san did? Maybe I should ask Sensei about it later."

"Hah. There's no need to do that." Sekai gave a second sigh and looked away. "Talking about that is just a bitter memory that no one needs to know about."

If they knew about it, they would only think less of him.

He already thought as much about himself because of it.

Gambler: "This is interesting. I actually don't know much about the time Sekai joined them. Yassan had mentioned some things, but not enough for me to get the whole picture."

Myth: "The same goes for me. Asking Minrou about it had not gotten me much."

Deer Prince: "I kind of promised him that I wouldn't mention it."

WorTri: "You idiots need to stop talking about the past when it's pointless."

"Due to certain things, Shinoda-san had asked us to take him to our squad to watch over him."

"There was a bit of tension when it was just us two out on the field, but we made it work."

"I wouldn't leave a brat like that on his own. Hah."

No matter how much of a delinquent I was.

There had been something about Minoru that made him always keep an eye out for anything that happened to or by him.

At the time, he had been rough and uncaring about anything but orders.

It was only on Shinoda's orders that he joined them.

The actions he had taken had caught the eye of Border's directors. They would view him as someone not considered "normal" and send him to a Captain-Operator squad.

From there, it would end up opening his world a little more.

"I will admit that having Yasu-ane around lowered my guard a bit. Enough that I could talk to Minoru freely at times."

"There were times where I saw him pouting because Yasu-nee had scolded him for the way he acted."

"Oh-ho? So Sekai was a rebel before my time there, then? Interesting~"

Sekai stopped himself from getting up to punch Denji in the face.

Even Ketsueki's intrigued face made him want to do something.

He sighed instead.

Don't go back to that version of yourself, idiot.

You finally find yourself in this place, so don't ruin it for yourself.

That had always been his own undoing.

While Denji had been verbally violent and Minoru only showed that side of himself on certain occasions, Sekai once allowed himself to be violent for the sake of being violent. If something got in his way or irritated him, he would just beat down the problem without any remorse or expression.

It got to the point where that irritating version of me was getting into trouble all over the place. The only reason I never got caught was because I knew how to get around things. That, and because of my connections at the time.

Shin had come after all of that, so he had never been caught up in that.

Keeping it from him was never an accident.

He would be irritating and try to help me with something that doesn't even matter anymore.

That side of himself would be kept inside with a lid over it.

And the best way of doing that is by sleeping.

Putting himself to sleep had always kept him from acting on any sort of violent impulse he had.

"Sekai was very helpful when it came to moving forward. The professionalism he always had made things easier."

"Is that how it's really viewed...?"

"Should you really be denying that?" asked everyone else.

They always came together for the worst things.

"Hah. I never did anything that was praiseworthy."

"Then how do you think you did?"

Sekai narrowed his eyes.

Stop mocking me like that, idiot Denji.

"I did what was required of me. Anything more than that, and it would be an irritation."

"I have been wondering this for some time, but where did you pick up that bad habit of calling things 'irritating'? You had never said anything like that when we had been working together."

"So Sekai-san got that habit after you guys disbanded?"

How long ago had that been?

Sekai tried to remember, but nothing came to mind.

"That happened after you left, Yassan. I don't know what made it come up, but he started saying that more and more until it became his catchphrase."

"You talk too much, Denji. Shut up already."

"Make me, then. My lips are right here."

"And my fist is right here. Now shut up before I throw you in sewage water."

"Boys."

.

Sekai and Denji froze on the spot.

As collateral damage, Yuki, Ninomiya, Minoru, and Ketsueki also went stiff at the tone.

It had been a full-scale assault against many of them.

Fried Rice Queen: "She really does hold a lot of power over these boys."

Mature Woman: "I would expect as much from her former squad, but it hit some of the others as well."

Rampage Dress: "And she did all of that without needing to raise a fist."

Manager: "I think your character has changed a bit too much recently..."

Rampage Dress: "Has it?"

Kiyome: "I believe she has remained the same since when we were on the same squad."

Fried Rice Queen: "This is why I enjoy teasing this former squad."

Mature Woman: "It's very cathartic."

"Thank you very much," said Kako and Tsukimi in unison.

Azuma and Miwa ignored their former teammates and spoke a bit to each other.

"Azuma-san, were we ever that bad?"

"I'm pretty sure we were in the right area to be considered normal."

"Then what does it mean if I'm friends with someone who is already too far gone?"

"It means you need to put up with the craziness that comes from it."

"Eh? Are you talking about me, Shūji? Eh? But I'm still really normal! I am! Oh, but you called us friends! That's a win!"

Azuma motioned as if to say "See what I mean?"

Miwa nodded and pushed Mitsuteru aside.

"In any case," said Jonas. "From what I know, Denji was the next one to join you, right?"

Yasuko nodded.

"He was."

"And it was terrible," said Sekai and Minoru.

Yasuko gave the two of them a look, making them turn away.

"My bad..."

"I let that slip..."

.

That's right, you assholes.

Denji quickly turned to Michelle and held a finger to his mouth.

I'll buy you as many sweets as you want later.

She smiled and covered her mouth.

Good girl.

She had always been good at helping him out.

"I've got nothing to hide, so go ahead and say whatever you want, Yassan."

"Oh? Then let me take the reins a bit."

Wait...

Having Yasuko speak about him was more of a reward than anything. Something to look forward to when it came to his former squad.

But when it came from the husband?

"Ew. No. Go away. I don't need to hear anything from Jossan."

"Keep on talking like that. I'll do the same."

Normally, this would not have been a problem. But that would have only been if it was anyone other than Jonas.

"Oh, but I guess I can't talk about Denji without talking about Ketsueki too."

Ha! You're gonna have to help me here if you don't want to be messed with too!

Ketsueki had reached the same conclusion and nodded toward him.

"Jonas-san, I think that might be a bit too much. Besides, we have gotten done with our food, so I am sure that the workers here would like to clean the table."

"That's right, Jossan. Don't go making trouble for the workers here. Besides, don't some of us need to get ready for some coming things."

"You two aren't getting out of this," said his former teammates.

They refused to let him and Ketsueki escape now.

"Really now? I wouldn't think that the two most rough boys I've seen in a while would act like this."

"I don't know what you're talking about. I have always been the perfect example of a well-educated and sophisticated man."

"Eeeeeeeeehhhhhhh!?"

The collective response from everyone was enough for a win.

Even still, Jonas just grinned at him and Ketsueki.

"Then explain why the two of you were never satisfied until you were spoiled rotten."

.

This got interesting very fast, thought Kako. She smiled into her cup.

The night was indeed getting late, and some of them did need to leave, but this had become far too entertaining to miss out on.

She took a look around the table and saw the children starting to yawn. Even Ariake looked like he was fighting some sleep. Miwa made sure he could sit properly, though.

How adorable.

The two of them would make for good material.

But that was for later.

Right now, she wanted to hear more about the boys who would sometimes cause trouble.

"Denji and Ketsueki had joined relatively close to each other. Unlike my wife and the other two, they had been found and joined of their own volition. From what I was told, Denji got jealous because of Sekai, and Ketsueki wanted to keep his traveling in check."

"Tch. Don't go saying things like that! I wasn't jealous. I just figured that things would be fun if Sekai was around. The squad couldn't have been the worst if they had him around."

"My traveling had nothing to do with that. Please get things right."

"Both of you, look me in the eye and say that."

Kako could not help the laugh that came when she saw them turn away.

It was not just the wife who had power over them.

We were right about who is at the top among them.

The entire family had these men wrapped around their fingers.

In a way, that was the most terrifying part.

There is something I am wondering about, though.

"Jonas-san, from what I can tell, you didn't really have much time to interact with them all, right? How are you this close to them?"

"Hm? That because they visit us in Germany a few times a year. Ketsueki does it the most, for obvious reasons, but the others do come by every once in a while. They also call us to check up on things a lot."

"It is sweet of them to do so," said Yasuko.

Doing that must have put them all at ease after everything they had all gone through.

I don't know nearly as much about them as some others, but I know enough to say they all have a pretty rough time.

A lot of those things had been settled or were being dealt with.

It was because of that that she knew tonight would be fun.

They could all enjoy themselves.

"Fufufu. It really is starting to get late."

So.

"Could I get your contact information? I would love to hear more about how they all were back then."

"Yes, of course. We can all exchange contact information. Feel free to let us know about anything. We will do the same."

.

Things had worked out in the end.

Ketsueki let himself give a sigh as he watched Yasuko and Jonas trade their contact information with Kako. Once that was done, they did the same with anyone else who wanted to do so.

Tamakoma's Muscle: "Are you guys done?"

Myth: "Just about. We are finishing things up. I will be leaving soon."

Tamakoma's Muscle: "Sorry to bother you while you're enjoying your night out."

Rei-san is very considerate.

There was likely a reason he was messaging Ketsueki, but he still felt the need to apologize for it.

Everyone was starting to get up. Ketsueki made sure to only glance at his phone while he followed their lead.

Once he was up, he answered back.

Myth: "Was there something you needed from me?"

Tamakoma's Muscle: "Some of the people over here were wondering when you would get back."

Was he one of those people?

No, I suppose not. He knew I was here. Rei-san would have no reason to worry about me with that information.

As sad as that was, it was the truth.

Tamakoma's Muscle: "I also wanted to make sure you were doing fine. What with them being your former teammates and all."

"What's wrong with him?"

"Maybe it's just his weirdness coming back up?"

"Mei... You know what? Forget it. Ketsu-san's on his own here."

Ketsueki ignored all of them while he covered his face with both hands.

People who were trying to move around the area would walk towards him. Even with his eyes closed, he would move to the side so as not to be in their way.

"Rei-san is just unfair..."

There was nothing he could do about the sudden attack, either.

Myth: "Thank you very much. I am fine over here. They are not really bad people, and both Yasuko-san and Michelle are here, so they are kept in check."

Tamakoma's Muscle: "I see. That's good."

And...

Tamakoma's Muscle: "I also wanted to give you a bit of a warning. The punishment for what you did yesterday has arrived."

Myth: "So I will finally get to know what it is, huh?"

Director Rindō had been quiet the whole day about what his punishment for fighting Kanzaki the day before would be.

It seems that now I will know what it is.

From the way Reiji spoke, it had to wait until something arrived. Now that it had, he would learn what it was.

Myth: "Thank you for letting me know ahead of time, Rei-san."

Tamakoma's Muscle: "It's no problem. I won't take any more of your time, so I'll see you when you get back to the office."

Myth: "Yes, of course. I will see you then."

.

"You seem to be in a good mood."

"I need to be; otherwise, I will be far too worried about my punishment."

"Is Kagerei-kun getting into the kinky stuff now?"

Ketsueki stopped, looked up, cleared his throat, then settled back down.

From where she stood, Kako laughed and gently patted Mei's shoulder.

"Let me know if you ever see Yuki-kun do something like that, okay?"

"That would depend on the situation."

"Fair enough."

Tsukimi nodded, and Yuki tried to move away from the dangerous women.

It took a few more minutes before everyone managed to get outside.

Everyone made sure to stay out of the way of the entrance. It was meant to allow other customers to enter or exit easily.

"My, they sure got tired fast."

"They enjoyed themselves a lot, so it makes sense that they would be like this."

"But this does cause a bit of a problem. Particularly with Awdry-kun and Ariake-kun."

Kako and Yasuko looked to see Mitsuteru shifting Stepney in his arms. A tired smile was on his face.

Next to him, Miwa held Mitsubachi in his arms with care.

"Mitsubachi's house and the place Stepney is staying are both pretty far away from here. Taking them to the Yagura Branch would be the best choice for them. I can contact Seihana-san and the Awdry Representative to tell them where they are. There would just be a need for someone to take them there."

"If it's fine with you, I can still carry Stepney. I'm not too sure I can make it home, so I was thinking I could crash at your branch office."

"I'll let Sensei know," said Yuki with a nod.

Mitsuteru gave a tired nod and shifted Stepney again.

"I'll tell my parents then."

"In that case, why don't we continue our time together and just go to the Yagura Branch? Oh, and I'm just talking about our former squad. That way I can carry Mitsubachi there too."

"Futo and Arisa will be out tonight; Kotowari Squad has their own places to stay; and Kushi-nee is a coin toss. If you girls are fine with it, I'll make sure to add it when I tell Sensei."

Kimura gave a sigh into the air and looked at her phone.

Kanzaki only nodded without a word.

"I can go. My dad is going to be out tonight too," said Kimura.

With that settled, Mei moved to take Mitsubachi from Miwa's arms.

Yuki nodded, looked down at his phone, and spoke.

"What about everyone else who isn't the airhead?"

"Is that something you need to know?"

He raised his head and looked at Sekai.

"I'm asking out of curiosity, not for any other reason."

"Hah. You sure got comfortable with the situation."

"I guess I did," he said with a smile.

There was no need to hold back with any of them now. Doing so would only put them back to where they had been.

Both of them understood this and let things be.

"Excuse me, Yuki-kun. May I ask that you take Michelle with you then?"

Most of them had not expected that one.

"I wanted to enjoy some more time with these boys."

"Oh, that should be fine. Pyrínas should be there, so it isn't a problem to have all three of the children there."

"I can actually go with you. As fun as it is to mess with them, there are some things I want to talk to your boss about."

Jonas got Michelle from Minoru's arms and moved to stand behind Yuki.

"We should be going then. The walk is closer, but it's still kind of long."

"We should also get going," said Azuma. "There are things some of us need to prepare for."