The sun had already set on Mikado City and night had fallen. Even so, noise filled the nighttime air and lights could be seen in the distance.

In a certain part of the city stood a tall building that loomed over the empty streets and buildings. Around it was silence that would only be filled when Neighbors arrived through Gates to attack the city.

This was the main Border base. It was placed within the Forbidden Zone, an area where the members of Border could fight without worrying about civilians.

One person was walking within the area. A boy with black hair and gray eyes turned his head every now and then, shaking a small bag as he did so. This was Girikage Daigo.

For an animal to come this deep into the Forbidden Zone… I wonder if that's true.

He had been told by a classmate that a lost cat could be seen walking towards the Forbidden Zone many times. The description had been the same as a picture he had been shown by a different classmate. After telling him as much, the two classmates had asked him to go search for the cat.

Now here he was, walking through the Forbidden Zone in search of the cat. A bag of treats was in his hand while his other hand remained in his pocket, holding on to the black object in there.

While continuing to walk he could hear the distant sounds of destruction and saw lights that were not coming from the city proper.

I wonder what is going on over there. Maybe Misaki-san is putting on a spontaneous show? But that noise does sound different from her usual antics.

That was neither here nor there so he simply shrugged his shoulders and continued walking through the Forbidden Zone.

The noise continued on at random intervals but he thought nothing of it. Noise in Mikado City was not anything new and it would have been weirder if things were quiet.

Soon enough, though, another noise mixed with the sound of destruction. It was a noise he was familiar with and one that made him turn his head towards it.

"..."

It was the sound of a Gate opening.

First came the electricity. Following that came the blade orb that continued to expand until it overtook his being. It had destroyed any nearby buildings, but those had long since been empty.

Once the orb had grown enough, something began to come out of the orb. The first thing to do so was a large, white foot. It was unlike anything seen on Earth and the body that followed was larger than the remaining buildings.

Daigo could only look up at the monster as it gave a roar.

Who was on defense duty tonight? he thought while looking up.

He started to pull his hand out of his pocket but stopped suddenly. A feel started to build inside that told him to stay still. That moving would be the wrong choice in this situation.

The Bambaster that came from the Gate looked around for a moment before looking directly at him. It made its first movement by taking a step forward.

Everything in Daigo's body told him to run away or do something against the Neighbor. The only thing that was telling him otherwise was the feeling that continued to build up. It had gotten to the point where that single feeling outweighed everything else.

It finally paid off when a flash of light came from the side. It was a straight line that cut through everything in the air. What else it cut was the armor and core of the Bamber that had been staring down at him.

"Hah. What the hell is a brat doing here?"

"Oh, come on! He's just a scared little bunny! Look at him!"

"Hah. So irritating…"

Two voices reached him as the Bambster started to fall to the ground.

Not wanting to be crushed under it or hit with the dust and dirt that would come up with its fall, Daigo took three steps back.

The two people who had spoken approved soon after.

One had red hair while the other had yellow. One looked tired and the other seemed to have too much energy. One was clearly irritated so the other had to be happy.

More than their appearances, Daigo focused on something else entirely.

"Excuse me. I have been more associated with a rat or mouse than a bunny."

"Oh! He's pretty good at his tsukkomis!"

"He was being serious, you idiot."

"Doh!? But that straight faced expression is perfect for my Super Jumpy Bunny Face!"

"Excuse me again. Does he have some sort of fascination with bunnies?"

"No, he's just an idiot," the red haired one sighed.

The blond one made a twirl and jumped two steps to the side. He repeated the process before making a full leap back to where he had been standing.

It felt very pointless, but Daigo could find nothing to say about it.

The red one sighed and slouched further. At this point his head was below Daigo's height and he looked ready to drop to the floor.

"Hah. So what's going on here? Why are you-"

As he spoke a new sound rang out. Rather, it was the sound of the fallen Bambster. As a final push before being decommissioned, he raised a leg and dragged it along the ground.

Daigo's body started to react. Then he stopped. More than before, the feeling that had subsided had built backup and beyond anything he had ever felt. It screamed at him as if to say he would die if he moved.

Then he saw why.

"So irritating."

Before he could register what had happened, three lines traced along the air and tore through the Bambster's leg. The back leg was hit as collateral and the Bambster's body fell to the side.

One more line tore through the entirety of the Bambster's core before it even hit the ground. The end of the line went well beyond the back of the Bambster's body and left a trace in the air.

The red haired man had not once turned to look at the Bambster.

"Hey! You're supposed to let it go to its next phase before overkilling it like that!"

"That's too irritating. Hah. It's better to kill off things like that before it can even get to the first phase."

"So you're saying you screwed up? Looks like I need to report this right away then! Headline for the chat 'Hikigane Sekai Screwed Up!? A New Revelation About the Man Who Always Sleeps!'"

"It'll be put right next to your obituary."

"Kyaa! Help me, Rat-chan!"

The blond boy had gotten behind him in an instant. Daigo had felt nothing but the wind before hearing the voice directly behind him. A pair of arms had grabbed him, one going up his shirt and the other going down his shirt.

It was a new experience for him to have his shirt scrunched up from both the top and the bottom.

"You can just kick him in the nuts."

"It is fine. One of my classmates is just as eccentric as this. If not more so. I'm pretty used to it."

"Sounds irritating."

Maybe it was, maybe it wasn't. He was never able to tell if that was true since his classmate always seemed to be having fun when doing that sort of thing. It was only when others started to complain that he thought she could slow down for a moment.

The red haired man, Hikigane Sekai, as he had heard, gave another sigh and scratched his head.

He put a hand to his ear and started talking. If he had to guess then he was contacting either his Operator or the base directly.

"Hey, Kumokawa. We're done for tonight. Some idiots are going crazy nearby and we just found someone loitering around here. …Yeah. Just let the directors know that I got bored of doing this tonight. If it's Kinuta? Tell him that I'll get Denji to pay him back. Yeah. Yeah. Just like that. …Good."

Daigo had no way of hearing the entirety of the conversation going on and so could not determine if what he was hearing was a good thing or not. From the way the blond boy was wiggling he could assume that it was fine enough.

When he looked over at the boy he got a peace sign in return.

This must have been the norm for the two of them. That much he was able to tell from their interactions.

"Hey, Rat-chan. You don't look dumb enough to just loitering around here. You're a part of Border, right?"

"Hah. He is," said Sekai. He looked directly at Daigo with tired eyes. "Girikage Daigo. B-Rank. Solo agent. You don't have defense duty tonight, so you being here is for something else."

"So Dai-chan is your name! Name's Kirikari Jinsei! Border's best little supply bunny!"

"Daigo."

"Dai-chan!"

"...Very well."

He had no real attachments to his name. If this person wanted to call him by a nickname then that was fine with him. His classmates always did that and he had never had a problem with them before.

Jinsei seemed to be on the same wavelength as his classmates, so there was nothing to really think about when it came to him.

The one who he felt he should worry about was Sekai. For good reason, he felt. The man, even having spoken to him for the first time in his life, had gotten the basics of him from seemingly nowhere.

"So what are you doing out here, Dai-chan?"

"Looking for a cat."

"Oh? Did your cat run away or something?"

"No. A classmate had asked me to look for it."

"I see. Then we can look for the cat before heading back!"

"I'm not going to do that."

That made sense to him. Daigo had met these two for the first time. There was no reason for either one of them to help him here.

At least that should have been the reason.

"Hah. There's no animal in the Forbidden Zone."

"Is that so?"

Daigo had asked the question honestly, but the way Sekai looked at him made it hard to tell if he thought it was honest or not.

To ease the slight tension, Daigo lifted his hands and lightly waved them. Sekai hummed but said nothing about it.

"There is no animal here," he reiterated. "A full search of the place came up empty. Hah. So you don't need to be out here."

"When did you do that? If you don't mind me asking."

"Hah."

"It's best not to worry about these sorts of things when it comes to him, Dai-chan. Just go along with it and enjoy yourself without the sighing."

"I'lll keep that in mind."

He bowed to the two of them.

"If this is the case, I will take my leave. Thank you for your assistance with the Neighbor."

"Just like that!?"

Jinsei's shock was unfounded. Even so, Daigo remained still, waiting to see what else he had to say.

To the side, Sekai gave another sigh and sagged his body even more than before. By this point Daigo was certain that he would end up falling to the ground and remaining there. At that point he would be unsure what to do.

After a few more seconds of silent humming and Jinsei leaning his body one way or another, he straightened up, smiled, and snapped his fingers at Daigo. Then he turned to look at Sekai.

"I want him on our squad!"

"No."

"Why not?"

The answer had been sudden, but the comeback has been even faster.

The only times he had something like that was when his classmates were debating about something either important or pointless.

"Hah. I don't want to be babysitting anyone."

"But you do that for me all the time!"

"That's because you're a menace to society if I don't. Hah. And because Kumokawa has given up on you."

If that was true then even he could tell that that was rather sad.

Jinsei groaned and crossed his arms. The way he stomped his foot reminded Daigo of a child, but it still looked like he was enjoying himself.

"Then how about we ask Dai-chan? You said he's a solo agent, right?"

"Urg… Just shut up, you idiot. This is my squad and I'm saying that we aren't adding anyone else."

"Then do you plan on leaving me to fight by myself again~?"

The way Sekai remained quiet to the question was interesting. It had caught Daigo's attention, but he knew not to question it when he didn't know these people.

From the looks of things, he was fully expecting to either be fully denied entry or be forced to join their squad. If either one happened then he would accept it and go on with his life.

That did not seem like it would be the case here.

"So what do you say, Dai-chan? You want to join Hikigane Squad? The worst, best squad around!? We have an always irritated captain, an organized Operator, and this cute bunny battery who is always full of energy!"

"What would it make me if I joined?"

"Our very own Dai-chan for Fortune! Because it was fortunate that we came across each other!"

If he were to agree here then there would be no going back. Becoming a solo agent against or moving to a different squad would be more difficult than he could imagine. That was what the feeling in him told him this time.

Most of the time that feeling would guide him towards something. Whether it was good or bad had been up to other people to decide, but he had always felt like he could trust the feeling. As if his own body and mind was telling him what the good choices would be.

This time it was only letting him know a general outcome to his choice here.

It was up to him to decide if he wanted to join them or not. Doing so would lead to something he could not see as a solo agent. Declining would lead to something he could not see as a squad member.

A flash of his classmates came to mind. The ones who were a part of Border all had something in common.

They can all freely express themselves.

Was that because they were all part of different squads or was that just how they were? He could never tell. Now he was being given a choice that could place him in a similar situation as them.

Maybe he could find out what it felt like to be like them. If only for a moment.

"If you will have me, I want to join your squad."