Umi: "Just a heads up for the rest of you. Ariake will be coming by to tell you that he doesn't want to be our student anymore."

Isa: "Damn, I didn't think Umi would just give a spoiler like that."

Umi: "I figured that it would be better for him if I told you all."

Pokari: "Now we can properly scold him. Good job, Umi."

Umi: "That's not why I did this!"

It was amazing how the human body would react to sudden information.

Arafune clicked his tongue and waved his hand at nothing in particular.

"Where does that guy get off thinking he can stop being our student?"

"Some joke, maybe it is?"

Their student wasn't that type of person.

He's a pretty annoying guy to deal with at times, but he doesn't do that sort of thing to the people training him.

There had been a time when he might have done that, but too many things had happened since then. If something like that came up then he would be apologizing without restraint.

"I can't tell if I should be mad at him or not. Both Murakami and Yuki came to ask me to mentor him after becoming a Sniper. At the time, he was already learning from you and the other two, right? What are your thoughts on the matter?"

Hokari shrugged his shoulders and took two steps forward. This placed him at least three steps ahead of Arafune.

Aarafune rolled his eyes at the action but said nothing.

TetsuG: "What about you two?"

Isa: "I'm fine with it, really. It just means I won't have to worry about him anymore."

Umi: "I was never much of a teacher, so it doesn't really matter to me."

Am I the only one who's pretty mad at this?

It seemed that way based on everyone's reactions.

Pokari: "Arafune's mad because he had two people ask for his help."

Umi: "I guess being a mentor to Kō gave him a pretty big mentor ego."

TetsuG: "Don't be stupid. It's just annoying since I told both Murakami and Yuki that I would help."

But...

TetsuG: "That guy doesn't take things seriously enough. All of his sessions have focused on the basics. I don't think he learns that quickly."

Isa: "What do you expect when you start to become harsh? If anything, I'm surprised it took this long for him to cancel on us."

Umi: "Are we some kind of ad service now...?"

Pokari: "Considering how you do things... Umi is definitely an ad service. I'm canceling this service now."

Isa: "I'm going to be doing the same."

TetsuG: "This is why I never subscribed to it in the first place."

Umi: "Since when have I ever been an ad service!?"

There were too many examples to give a list. If they started that now, then they would get done in at least two days.

These guys really don't take things seriously, do they?

Maybe he was taking this too seriously, but there was a reason for that.

.

Arafune could remember when he was asked by those two for his help. It had happened at two different times, but it had still happened.

The first to come up to him had been Yuki.

"Please help Mitsuteru as his mentor," he had said.

At the time, Arafune had still been getting his footing as a Sniper. The practice he had been through helped him a lot, but he was unsure if he could really mentor anyone at the time. That was why he told Yuki as much.

And his response?

"Then can you do it when you've become satisfied with yourself?"

"I guess... We'll see what happens first. I'm not promising anything, so don't hold me to this."

Saying that had been enough for Yuki to accept his words.

Then Murakami had come up to him. This time it had been when he had already established himself as a Sniper.

"Excuse me, but...could I ask you for a favor?"

"Depends on what it is."

"Well..."

He had gotten nervous and had been fumbling with his hands. It was very unlike Murakami to do, so he wasn't sure what this favor could be exactly.

Instead of rushing Murakami, he let him take his time to sort out his thoughts.

Doing so had been the right call.

"You see, there's this guy I know... He's really important to me. Some of the others have been helping him with being a Sniper, but I thought that maybe having you help him would be nice." There was a slight blush on his face, so this must have been pretty embarrassing for some reason. "You're free to decline, but if you do agree, could you, maybe, possibly...not tell him that I asked you for this...?"

Yuki had no reservations about letting others know that he had asked for help, but Murakami was actively trying to not be known here.

Between the two of them, he favored Murakami much more. As his former mentor, he could understand what he was asking, but it was also the difference in personalities between the black wolf and the white fox.

"So you want me to help mentor this guy but not tell him that you asked me to do so? That sounds shady as hell."

"I know, I know, but... I can't really have him know that I'm doing this for him. There might be problems later with that, and he would probably get mad at me."

"So he's the same type of person as Kage?"

Murakami furiously shook his head. It reminded him of a dog, making him shudder for a moment before hiding it.

"The opposite, actually. He's a pretty calm person, but I know him well, and vice versa. He would have no problem lecturing me on something."

"Then he's strict? That must be something for those other guys."

Murakami shook his head again, this time at a much slower pace.

"I'm sure he's getting along with the others, but I know how you are as a mentor. I really want you to help him. Would that be fine?"

"You're really invested in this, aren't you? Just who is this guy exactly for you to be this stubborn about it?"

Murakami smiled in a way that told Arafune everything. This smile would only ever come out when Murakami spoke about his captain.

This person was someone special to him.

"He's like an adorable little brother to me."

"That's one hell of an expression you're showing right now."

Murakami only laughed and agreed with him.

This person was someone Murakami wanted to entrust to him.

It was after that conversation that he had learned that the person Yuki wanted him to mentor was that same person. There were now two people he knew well who wanted his help on this matter.

So he accepted.

Upon meeting the person in question, he could see what Murakami was talking about. The way the boy held himself showed only respect for Arafune, and the way he spoke was not like someone his age. It was clear that he was doing what he could to make sure he would not end up insulting Arafune.

But under all of that was what Arafune was really looking at.

He's very tense. And...

And...

He's barely holding himself together right now.

Something must have happened to this boy to make him seem like he would fall apart at a moment's notice.

It wasn't his place to ask about it, so he only began their introductions and tried his best to keep what he saw to himself.

.

I get why those two asked me for my help now, thought Arafune.

"I don't know if it was because of you guys or because of Yuki and Murakami, but I couldn't let him go by himself."

Isa: "Whatever you saw came after we were already his mentors. After all, you were asked by Murakami and 'Yuki'. The rest of us were asked by 'Kiyoshi'. We probably got too used to how he was and didn't notice anything at first. By the time we did, we couldn't do anything."

In a way, that was a good thing. It meant that he had gotten to see what their student was like while at the bottom, instead of watching him descend.

Umi: "We really aren't that close to him. Both then and now."

Pokari: "Speak for yourself. I'm close to him. Enough that I can throw my arm around him and drag him around."

Isa: "Is that why he flinches whenever you do that? And why he always looks like he wants to run away?"

Hokari gave another shrug and moved toward the nearby vending machine.

The only one of them who had definitely been close to him was Minoru's sister.

"Either way," said Arafune.

TetsuG: "Why does he want us to stop being his mentors? You know, besides the fact that you all are terrible people."

Almost Everyone: "Looks who's talking!"

Of course, they would be quick with that comeback.

Arafune gave a sigh into the air and thought back on everything. It was at that point that he remembered something.

A common occurrence with their student.

TetsuG: "Hey, who here has forgotten about that guy before?"

If it had been about anyone else, then it would not have even been a real question.

But this boy was different in that sense.

Isa: "At first, I always forgot about him. Even on days we were supposed to practice. That lowered down to just forgetting him if I haven't seen him in a bit."

Umi: "I saw his records a lot, so it wasn't too bad for me. But it was easy to have him leave my mind when working on other things."

Pokari: "Here and there. Most times I remember him, but our match against Meishō was rough since I forgot about him."

I also forgot about him during that match.

It had been both annoying and embarrassing to have been taken out by him just because he had forgotten their student.

And if this does end up being the case, I'm sure we will end up forgetting him even more. The practice with him was an easy way to start making sure we remember him, so if you take that away...

Would they be able to remember him? If they didn't, would any of them feel like something was missing?

Others had spoken about how they couldn't remember him, how they felt nothing after they realized they had forgotten, and how they knew he would accept their apology for forgetting. None of them doubted that he would do that, but they had all gotten mad at hearing that.

Someone's forgiveness wasn't something as simple as that. Especially when it came to something like this.

Would it be fine if we forgot about him?

It wouldn't be fine. They all knew that, but that question came to Arafune readily.

Isa: "Hey, Umi. What did you say when he told you that? I forgot to ask that since we were already attacking each other."

Umi: "So you knew what you were doing!"

Isa: "It's the usual. What did you expect?"

That was a fair point.

Suzaku also knew that and had no way of denying it.

Umi: "About what I said to him. It really wasn't much, so I told him that that was fine. He probably didn't believe that since he started apologizing."

Isa: "So he was apologizing like crazy then. Got it."

Umi: "Not really. He apologized, but only once. I guess there was still some guilt there, but it really looked like he resolved himself to do this."

Isa: "So this is what he chose to harden his resolve on, huh?"

They could have made fun of him for not taking other things seriously, but that was what made this situation all that much more important.

He was doing this with a hardened resolve.

He had his resolve waver a lot of times, but we have never seen him harden his resolve.

Their student was just that type of person. A normal person had no real reason to have a strong resolve. They only needed to continue living with a normal resolve that would let them back out of any situation if things started to look bad.

Maybe because he knew that, Arafune thought about the last time he properly looked at their student.

That student had followed through with his resolve and told Suzaku that they would no longer be his student. Doing that meant little, but if he was going to say that to the rest of them, then it meant he had decided that he could start doing things without them.

Even if he needed their help, he didn't need them as mentors.

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

"Figured it out, you finally did?"

"I guess I've been holding on to too much pride."

.

Hokari nodded as he moved to get a drink from the vending machine.

You can be like that sometimes. Suwa-san has complained about it before to the rest of us.

Even if he could be playful at times, Arafune was still a serious person. Especially when it came to other people.

That part of him always seemed to show whenever it involved their student.

I guess he would be our former student now.

In that case...

"On his own, ready to let him go?"

"If he has the guts to tell us as much, there isn't anything else we can do. Besides..."

Besides?

"I got an interesting message earlier. Apparently, that guy from Germany is going to be coming over soon."

"Things sure are nice and peaceful right now. Maybe that is just my thoughts going soft."

Trochískos sighed atop the bench that was placed for anyone walking by to sit on.

The area around the city was still being repaired after the damage it took during the test. Most people had stopped to take a break for the day, but construction vehicles were still coming and going. The workers were working on the ground, so an entire wide block of the area had been placed there to provide support.

Trochískos was at an open-air teahouse near the center of that, and he was accompanied by someone else.

"Things can end up getting especially hot when you aren't paying attention." The valkyrie wore a tracksuit with two cooling pads hanging from her neck. "At least I managed to finish removing the sections I damaged."

"Hard to believe I played ping-pong with someone who could do that."

Trochískos realized anew just how ridiculous he was himself, but that was part of the reason Miden was even here.

...This place is even more comfortable and dangerous than I thought.

He did not find Moíra Tou Monachikoú uncomfortable just because things felt more artificial there, but it was still nice to be somewhere where the weather was much more natural.

"If only my home was like this."

"Isn't that the point of an alliance?"

"That is right," he confirmed. So this fighter knows all about that, does she?

...Well, from how Border seems to be, that is no real surprise.

At the counter, Trochískos ordered some ice water and some yuzu to squeeze into it.

"Do you need anything more?"

"Just some honey to go with it."

"Very well." Trochískos nodded. "We can reach each other by Gates, but not by land."

"If everyone could reach you by land, they would bring war with them."

"Which is why I want a stable world."

This was the perfect chance for that. His generation had lost so much, but...

...We can get some support from Miden.

So he spoke.

"I will be leaving very soon, so I will make sure to have good memories of Miden before my next trip here. Along with that, I will make sure that the connections Miden has will increase. Also..."

Yes, there was one thing illusionists did far better than the valkyrie before him.

"What's that look for?" asked the valkyrie.

"We illusionists are nothing but trouble."

So he continued speaking.

"If anyone takes issue, tell them you were all tricked by Moíra Tou Monachikoú's illusionist. They might try something, but Moíra Tou Monachikoú is out of their reach as long as you deal with things on your own."

Trochískos heard an "oh?" from the valkyrie.

"That could be trouble. You're telling a no-good older sister this?"

"What will you do then?" Trochískos watched the valkyrie squeeze a yuzu while keeping it away from the porcelain tumbler. "You are effectively saying that you will not be sending this message over to your higher-ups. That would mean you would be going against them."

"If only it was that easy, you know?" agreed the valkyrie. "I'm not really the best person to speak with the higher-ups. Most of the directors hate my guts, so they wouldn't listen to anything I say. Especially if I said it was because a Neighbor told me about it. True, we have some connections with the other side, but that doesn't mean they just accept something like that so easily. Besides, your original alliance applied to Germany, didn't it?"

"That is right," agreed Trochískos. "I had figured that the Far East and Europe had a good connection with each other. Well, speaking about Border only, that is. But..."

"But what?"

"Well," said Trochískos, reaching for the honeypot next to the valkyrie's container.

"Oh? I'm pretty sure that's mine."

"You already used it."

"Since you didn't try to trick me out of it, you can have some," said the valkyrie, smiling bitterly.

"So you do have a sweet tooth." Trochískos held up the container. "Anyway, the real question is whether your higher-ups will find out."

.

"I guess there is still something I can do. If that's fine with you."

Kushiage addressed the illusionist who was drinking his yuzu ice water. He was prepared to play the trickster, so he appeared to be toying with the fates of the nation in the Neighborhood here. And since his neighboring nations might just be ordered to do as they were told...

"I can always let my idiotic little brother know about this sort of thing," said Kushikage. "But he's not being a real idiot anymore. So I wonder if that will go."

"Remember, though. I have made contact with other Border members. I would say I was more than just 'present,' wouldn't you?"

"In that case," said Kushikage, smiling. "I just have to make sure my idiotic little brother is present while I speak to myself."

And...

"You did end up helping out during that test for our members. I'm sure that smooth teacher would be fine vouching for you, along with that rhinoceros beetle and his master."

"Yes, that is an interesting idea.

Oh? thought Kushikage.

...Was I wrong?

This was no fight, so she had no way of determining if she was winning or not. Then Trochískos hid his mouth below his black book and stared into the distant sky.

"Just make sure Miden ends up prospering. Otherwise, there would be no reason to sit and relax here."