“Good morning, Border! I’m Sakurako Taketomi, Operator for Ebina Squad!” Sakurako opens up with a cheerful greeting. “This is the day five of day division, where we’ll be witnessing clashes between the lower rank squads; Yoshizato squad, Hayakawa squad, and Chano squad!”
“As for the commentator, this time, we have Agent Asano and Itou, the aces of Hayanuma First!” Sakurako gestures to Akari who’s sitting beside her and Kura sitting next to Akari.
“Hello, it's been a while,” says Kura, raising her right hand. While Akari adjusts his mic for a second before speaking.
“Sakurako-san~ How are you? It's nice to be able to commentate again,” says Akari.
“I'm pretty good! Pretty good! But it's too bad your captain can't join us today…”
Akari runs his fingers through his black hair in an attempt to tidy them. “It just can't be helped. Oda-kun's narcolepsy does keep him down for quite some time.”
“That's all fine and good though since our higher-ups know about his health problem and have given him a pass,” Sakurako says. “Moving on to our commentators… while Agent Itou sometimes drops by here, Agent Asano, you're not a face people usually see here, huh?”
Kura closes her eyes, keeping her arms crossed. “Ah, that… I've been busy tweaking the weight of Casuarius, and I'm hoping to lighten its weight by the end of next month,” she says, “my aim is making it at least as light as Ibis.”
“Well,” Akari butts in, “it's just too bad you can't use any of your prototypes in Rank Wars. We would've finished Suwa squad clean last round if only you used a poison bullet on Tomoe.”
“Right~?” Kura sighs.
“For those who didn't know, Agent Asano here is known for her engineering ability. She has even crafted a few prototype triggers on her own! Casuarius is a sniper trigger that she owns exclusively! How great is that?!”
“Yup yup. If any of you wanna know about details of a certain trigger and how to change your triggers yourself without breaking it in half, feel free to ask me,” Kura says, “but I must make clear, I can't create a prototype trigger for you because I've been reprimanded enough times already. Any question other than that is fine to me.” She finishes with a light laugh.
Sakurako also laughs. “It might sound peculiar for an agent to know so much about engineering, but she's actually going to move to engineering in the next few years, so catch a lesson with her while you can!” Then Sakurako turns to Akari. “Speaking of prototype triggers, you have one too, right, Agent Itou?”
“Exactly.” Akari grins. “I have Limpet, a spear and shield trigger in one. The shield is adapted from Escudo, so it's as thick as it can get. Also, since it's as tall as me, it's effective at blocking any sort of attack. And the spear is adapted from Yoneya-san's model—with his permission, of course—but unlike his spear, the Limpet's spear has a shorter stick and longer blade so it can reach more. Even without the shield, you can use it as a spear or even a swordstaff!”
Sakurako clasps her hand over her mouth. “Woah, do you think it can be added as an official trigger?”
“Depends on what the engineering team and directors think,” Kura pipes in. “Casuarius is already on its way being tweaked by the engineering team, but Limpet is too… hm, what's the word?” She throws Akari a glance.
“Specialized.”
“Right.” Kura nods. “It's far too focused on defense and will hinder mobility. And even though using it without the shield is doable, the power of the spear alone is not as good as say, Kogetsu. Not effective if you're going to use it to attack, especially on the real battlefield. I think the only one aside from Akari who can utilize Limpet fully is Kou-kun from Suzunari-1.”
“Agent Murakami and his side effect will definitely make learning Limpet easier, huh!”
“And since he's my mentor, my style overlaps with him, closing the gap even more,” says Akari.
Sakurako nods in understanding. “Hearing about your prototype triggers makes me think that Hayanuma-1 can join the top B ranks if only prototype triggers are allowed.”
Akari elbows Kura, giggling. “Our sniper here wouldn't want it though. Right, Kura?”
Kura mumbles a complaint of how painful Akari's jab is before talking. “Well, no one in Hayanuma-1 is interested in climbing up the ranks. We're already busy with our schools and… other stuff. Also, personally, I'm just not interested in seeing how competitive the top ranks are.”
“Like Tamakoma-2,” says Akari, “they're tough. Climbing the ranks in such a short time takes powerful passion and sharp eyes towards their goal. I admire them.”
“Tamakoma-2 is powerful, but other top ranks can't be overlooked too.”
“And that's why I'm looking forward to all their future matches!” Akari clasps his hands together. “It would also be nice if I can have one with them!”
“That's the 'Rook' for you! Looking forward to a match with powerful foes as casual as that,” says Sakurako.
“I'm gonna prove how much of my title is true.” Akari chuckles.
Sakurako looks at the timer for the match for a second. “Well, Yoshizato squad hasn’t picked a map yet so I think we can go for a few more questions.” She looks at Kura. “First, Agent Asano, as the former captain and the ace sniper at Hayanuma-1: If you're given the chance to fight the top ranks, which team you wouldn't want to face the most?”
“Only one?”
“One.”
Kura hums. “Definitely Ninomiya squad.”
“The number one is always the scariest one, right~,” says Sakurako, “what about the top three?”
“Ikoma and Ouji,” Kura answers without missing a beat.
Akari stifles a giggle, distancing himself from the microphone as best as he can.
“Ah, now it's a bit scattered. Do you have any reason why?” asks Sakurako. “Your team has the same number of members as the Ikoma squad, so you're on quite an even ground in countering their attacks.”
“N-no, I don't think it's because of that, pfft—” says Akari, unable to fully contain his laugh. He starts turning away from Kura.
“Akari, stop laughing.” Kura grabs the back of his collar and pulls him to sit straight again. She then sighs and looks around, trying to find a fitting word before Akari blurts out something dumb.
“I, uh…” Kura mumbles and clears her throat. “It's because they have Kouji-kun and Kazuaki-kun.”
“Oh?”
Kura can feel her ears heat up as whispers start to go around. But she continues.
“They're formidable opponents, especially because I usually train with Kouji-kun. He most likely can read my movements, and even without knowing my movement he's already a good sniper. Especially because he's also a mobile sniper and can catch me up,” says Kura, “and as for Kazuaki-kun, short-range is just bad news for a sniper, right? And I don’t think I’ll have time to charge up my Ibis if he keeps chasing me, haha. Akari is a good defender, don’t get me wrong, but his mobility is limited, and if Kazuaki-kun decides to pursue me, he can split us easily.”
“That's interesting!”
Akari fakes a cough to compose himself and pipes in. “That’s what I think our team is still lacking, honestly. Just more cohesion so I can cover my teammates better. It would be bad if Kura gets the attention of more than one attacker or Haimura gets out of the range of my raygust.”
Sakurako nods. “Right, cohesion is important for a squad in the battlefield, Rank Wars or not.”
Kura sighs in relief as Akari and Sakurako continue talking. At least the pressure is off her. She was afraid she's gonna say something that implies she has a relationship with them or maybe even accidentally reveals that she's just bad at dealing with them.
“Speaking of Agent Oki and Agent Ouji,” Sakurako adjusts her mic, “they're waving at you from there, Agent Asano!”
“W-WHERE?!”
Kura snaps her head to where Sakurako points. And there they are, sitting next to each other while wearing their respective squad uniform, gaining small chatter from the C rank around them.
Crap. Crap crap crap. She doesn’t know they’ll be here!
Unsure what to do, Kura raises her right hand and waves it in a nervous motion. “K-KOUJI-KUN! KAZUAKI-KUN! GOOD MORNING!”
“Good morning,” says Ouji. His smile is as calm as usual. “Please don't mind us, just continue commentating.”
Oki chuckles. “Mornin’ senpaai~ Keep up the good work, wouldya? We’ll be seeing ya later!”
“Y-YES! SURE THING HAHA!”
“Aw, but you do have a good relationship with them, aren’t you, Agent Asano?” asks Sakurako.
Kura averts his eyes and makes a ‘uhhh’ noise. What should she answer with? What kind of strings of words does she need to make sure weird rumors aren’t flying around? What is the correct response?!
“Uh, yeah, I sure am.” Kura follows with a nervous laugh.
“I mean, it’s more than that, actually.”
“A-AKARI!”
“B-BWAHAHA! LOOK AT YOUR FACE, KURA!”
“Shut up you goblin! We're still live!”
“Sure sure~” Akari adjusts his mic. “Just don't stay mad for long though, because it would ruin your event after this~ You know, your dat—”
Without warning Kura forces Akari’s head into a dunk as she looks over to the panel in front of Sakurako, earning an almost scream from Akari. “Taketomi-san, look! The map has been picked!”
“Oh, is it?!”
And while Sakurako is busy with the panel, Akari struggles to get out of Kura’s hold.
“Kura, release me. The match is about to start,” he whispers.
“Not if you keep misbehaving like that,” says Kura, “now, promise me you won’t talk about non-important things again. We’re supposed to commentate about the match.”
“Suure! Just, let me go!”
Sighing, Kura releases her grasp on Akari’s neck and lets him sit up straight again. “Sorry for the uproar, Taketomi-san.” Kura bows slightly at the operator, keeping a strained smile.
“No, no, it's fine! A lively commentary is always welcomed here!” Sakurako waves her right hand in a dismissing motion. “Besides, it’s great to know more about our field engineer!”
“A-ahaha, yeah…” Kura looks away in shame.
“Now, let’s talk about Cityscape C, the map for this match!”
Sakurako then proceeds to talk about the details of the map, with Akari piping in. Kura tidies up her hair and tries to compose herself. This is not what she hoped would happen, but she hopes the C ranks still see her as a cool field engineer. Because that’s what she wants to be viewed as by her junior!
For a second, Kura glances at the seats where Ouji and Oki are sitting. They’re still looking at her, being charming as always. Oki mouths a ‘do your best’ while Ouji flashes a smile.
Damn it. She looks away, back to the main screen. If she looks at them for one more second, she’ll go haywire again and she must focus on her commentary for now. But to be honest with herself, she doesn’t think she can ever focus while those two are there.
Why do they have to be so charming anyway… this is bad for my health, Kura thinks to herself, crossing her arms together.