It has been a week since the first training session we had and met some new friends. During the training sessions, Yuuma came over with Chika and Osamu to introduce themselves. Once Yuuma and Chika reach B-rank, they'll officially be the second team from the Tamakoma Branch.
Both Yuuma and I were competing for top score in the training simulations for topography, covert, detection, and tracking. Considering our performance, we were tied for first place in every category.
I sensed someone watching behind me and Yuuma as I asked, "Hey Yuuma, do you have any friends I should know about? I feel like someone is stalking us for a while now."
Yuuma looked at me and replied, "No one I know of. Do you want to go to the Rank Wars? We still need 2900 points to advance."
Dismissing the obvious stalker, I nodded, "Sure, let's swipe some points and reach the B-rank fast."
As we headed to the Rank Wars Hall, we met up with Tokieda from Arashiyama Squad. He told us how to use the room for earning points. The higher score can yield more points if your points are lower and the same could be said the opposite way. We both thanked Tokieda for the advice before Yuuma and I went to different rooms. Mine was Room #203 while Yuuma's was #202.
I turned on the computer and saw the rankings. I picked the one with the highest points and waited for acceptance. It wasn't long before they accepted and then we were transported to the battle field. Upon spawning, I noticed it was one of the three people who were very arrogant and he also noticed me. He was shocked and trembling to see me as his opponent.
I said to the trembling boy, "Oh? You're one of those arrogant boys. Well then, let's begin."
The match finished quickly as it didn't even last a minute before striking him down. I laughed when I saw my score went up from 1100 to 1325. Seeing the rapid amount of points, I queued up for another high points match and found another opponent.
Safe to say, it was another of the trio that got picked. As expected, he also was shaking from fear. The match ended just like how his other friend did-fast. This point grabbing session continued for another ten matches before exiting the room. My final points ended up at 2450.
I looked down at my hand and smiled satisfiedly as I thought, "This was a good start. It shouldn't take long before I reach B-rank."
I searched around for Yuuma to see if he had already left. I saw him at the vending machines. There's also that little attack dog staring daggers at Yuuma. As I was approaching them, he picked up a coin next to feet and walked towards Yuuma before handing him the coin.
I thought, "Ohh! Did the attack dog gain a conscience? Probably not from his scowling."
I only arrived behind Yuuma when I heard him say to Miwa, "What's wrong? You seem down."
Miwa looked at Yuuma with a heated look and said, "Since HQ accepted your enlistment, killing you would be a violation of the regulations."
I tapped Yuuma's shoulder and smiled, "Hey Yuuma. Who's your friend?"
Yuuma looked behind and greeted, "Oh hey Y/N, I don't think we're friends but he's pretty strong."
I looked at Miwa with sympathetic eyes as I heard he's also a victim of their family destroyed by Neighbors. If it was me, I would do the same but I wouldn't include every single Neighbor for the actions of the few.
I held my hand to Miwa and greeted, "Nice to meet you."
Miwa only squinted his eyes and left without saying anything. Yosuke was seen coming down from the second floor with a kid sitting on his shoulders.
I said to Yuuma, "Why does that guy look like he wants to kill you?"
Yuuma held his chin in thought and answered, "Perhaps it's because I'm a Neighbor."
Yosuke and the kid on his shoulder looked bewildered. Yuuma said that so casually to a new person.
Yosuke ran to Yuuma, "Oi, oi, oi. You can't just say that to anyone. You know, a lot of these people don't like Neighbors."
The boy sitting on Yosuke's shoulders, Yotaro, also commented, "Yeah, Yuuma."
Yuuma looked at me with an honest face and said confidently, "Don't worry, you can trust Y/N. I don't think he minds at all. He's my friend, after all."
Both Yosuke and Yotaro had their mouths wide open at Yuuma's honesty while I just grinned at his trust.
I said to Yosuke and Yotaro, "Yuuma's right. Although it was a surprise to know that he's a Neighbor, he's my friend first and I believe in him."
Yuuma grinned as he looked at Yotaro and asked, "By the way Yotaro, why are you together?"
Yosuke chuckled and replied, "I'm taking care of Lord Brat."
Yotaro smiled with his hands on Yosuke's head, "Shiori-chan is Yosuke's cousin."
Yuuma realized, "Oh. Shiori-chan's."
I asked Yuuma, "Oh Yuuma, how far along are you till you reach 4000? I'm up to 2450."
Yuuma gaped as he looked down at his own score and said, "Mine's only 1350. You got it so fast! Didn't we start at 1000 points?"
Yosuke widened his eyes when he heard a trainee reached 2450 points in just a week.
Yosuke thought, "Another genius joins. I wonder if he'll accept a match from me?"
I chuckled at Yuuma and said, "I was busy farming the ones with the highest points. I think I fought against a trio of idiots a few times. Anyways I'm just taking a break before heading back in."
I inserted the money into the vending machine before a cold can of cola popped out. I opened it as the carbonation fizzled out of the can slowly. I took a sip and took a breath in satisfaction.
I continued, "Anyways it's nice to meet you all. My name is Y/N. I'll see you guys around."
I walked away from them and watched some of the battles on the big screen above the Rank Wars Hall. The trio was a little baffled but continued their conversation. Not far from me, Kitora was still spying on me, thinking she's hiding her intentions well.
I side-glanced at Kitora with a sweatdrop and thought, "Why is she staring at me? I don't believe I did anything to her."
I shook my head of those thoughts and finished my drink before heading back to the room for rank wars. This battle frenzy for points easily caught the attention of the trainees as well as other official agents watching.
Some B-rank Captain said, "This newbie is good. I wonder if he'll join my team."
Another B-rank squad member cursed, "You wish, this sister has dibs on this handsome guy. I gotta find my captain now."
Various talks among squads were spreading and it alarmed Border HQ higher ups and eventually my battles were seen by them in the conference room along with various A-rank captains.
Commander Kido asked, "Any opinions about this young man?"
Shinoda commented, "He's impressive to say the least. His skills are enough for him to be listed as an A-rank agent."
Director Rindo of Tamakoma Branch also interjected, "That cold and calculating aura on him are a bit concerning."
Jin stepped up and said, "He's okay. I heard from Yotaro, he's a friendly guy. He made friends with Yuuma quite easily from what he told me. He didn't even mind when Yuuma told him he was a Neighbor."
Everyone's eyes widened at that statement. For people who joined Border, they usually have some sort of hatred towards Neighbors in general like Miwa. To hear a young man befriending Yuuma despite being known as a Neighbor, was a shock to them.
Arashiyama also commented, "Also the young man's companions were also making a scene as well. All of them seem to have high levels of trion and have experienced some sort of combat."
Arashiyama used the computer to show recordings of battle from Wednesday, Enid, and Nitocris. Everyone looked at the various battle footage.
Wednesday's footage showed an aggressive style of combat as she decisively cut the arm of her opponent before stabbing their chest. Her use of the Scorpion Trigger was easily malleable in her hands as it changed from a one-handed sword to a dagger the next. The whole match only lasted a few minutes.
Enid's footage showed a continuous barrage of trion bullets against her opponent. Her laughter brought tears to her opponents as they were just pinned down from their position before being blasted off the field with a Meteor.
On one hand, the shortest footage was with Nitocris as she used her Ibis to blast the opponent's location with a single shot. Her attack power using the Ibis made it as if it was an RPG and destroyed the whole street. They had compared her to Tamakoma's Cannon known as Chika Amatori.
After the footage were watched, the commanders were quiet. They never expected that these foreigners were very skilled and showed great potential. It was lucky for Border to accept such geniuses. The last time they had such a genius was when Midorikawa joined and now three more joined.
Commander Kido closed his eyes and calmly ordered, "Keep a close eye on these people and try to raise them up to official agents. There have been more and more frequent Neighbor attacks and the injection of these new blood will help relieve some pressure."
All the squad captains responded, "Roger."
In the next few days, I had accumulated enough points to be promoted into B-rank. Maybe I should've calmed down a bit since I went crazy from all the lackluster fights I've been getting. I was called up to the HQ meeting room by Osamu per Director Shinoda's request. Osamu was escorting me there now.
Osamu said to me, "Congratulations Ashborn-san for promoting to B-rank."
I smiled and waved dismissively, "Thanks Mikumo-san. You can call me Y/N since we're all friends."
Osamu scratched the back of his head embarrassed and said, "Haha-okay Y/N. Since you're going to be an official agent, are you gonna be staying in HQ most of the time?"
I hummed in thought and replied, "Hmm...yeah. I'll probably try to reach the number one attacker position. So don't tell Yuuma or else he'll get jealous."
Even Yuuma hadn't reached the required amount and was stuck at around 2900 points. The rest of the girls were also far below Yuuma's. Wednesday was at 2100. Enid was at 1925. Nitocris was at 2075.
Osamu could only laugh in awkwardness as we strolled through the meeting room. It didn't take long since we only needed to take the elevator to the top floor. Inside were Commander Kido along with Director Shinoda and Director Rindo. They also saw Miwa as well as Jin to one side of the room.
Director Shinoda stood up and called us out, "You're finally here! Have a seat, Ashborn-kun."
I walked to one of the chairs and sat down while Osamu walked towards Jin and Miwa. The atmosphere in the whole room was a bit stagnant before Commander Kido started talking.
Commander Kido narrowed his eyes and asked, "Can you tell me why you joined Border?"
His stern and intimidating expression can make people around feel as if they had fallen into an ice cellar. Unfortunately for them, I was not affected by this whatsoever and clearly feel disdained just from the provocation.
I simply smiled and said, "Oh nothing. I thought joining would be fun is all. But so far, none of my opponents are worth the trouble so I wanted to rank up to be an official agent. I'm sure there's more people to play with at higher ranks."
My casual answer was not the answer they were hoping for but they all ultimately let it go. After a brief silence, Commander Kido along with Director Shinoda and Director Rindo made eye-contact.
Commander Kido said, "You are now an official agent. Discuss your duties with Director Shinoda. You're free to leave."
I stood up from my chair and bowed slightly before walking towards Director Shinoda.
Director Shinoda saluted me and said, "Ashborn-kun, you may report to the Missions office tomorrow. You can officially brand your own logo for yourself and the squad. For any other questions, I'll have Mikumo-kun guide you. Once again, congratulations on becoming an official agent."
I saluted back before I excused myself from the room. Osamu also followed me out to show me where everything was. The Missions office was nearby and I got to think about what kind of logo I would use for myself. I thought of a serpentine pattern twisting together with a sword in the middle. Satisfied with my design, I registered it to the Missions office and bid farewell to Osamu for helping.
On the way out, I saw plenty of agents coming and going. I even got some curious eyes on me as they saw the rank on my uniform. All in all, the whole architecture of Border is one enormous building with the middle completely open. I could only guess that is where Neighbor Gates are concentrated, seeing the multiple snipers posted watching.
While I was looking around, I was stopped by a tall, young man with a black surgical mask on. He had black unkempt hair with amber-colored eyes with slit pupils. His whole demeanor is as if a wild dog is ready to bite.
The wild dog-like young man arrogantly said, "Say-you're the newbie who got promoted the fastest right? You don't look like much!"
The crowd were whispering, "Oh man. Poor guy. Kageura's causing trouble again. Someone should call for help. It could get real ugly, real quick."
Kageura dismissed the crowd whispering and continued to yell, "Are you deaf?! Are you the guy or not?"
I looked him straight in the eyes and said, "How about you shut your mouth first, you damn dirty dog? Before I do it for you."
Everyone heard my counter and their eyes widened as it got quiet. One can hear a pin being dropped from the level of silence in the room. Even senior agents who were watching the drama couldn't believe their eyes. They know that Kageura was a problematic person but his skills are no joke. He was an A-rank agent but was demoted for multiple disregard for the rules. Now they saw a newbie agent, just threatened him in front of everybody.
They could only think of the same thing--"This guy is a goner.."
Kageura's expression turned grim as he gnashed his teeth in anger and shouted, "You wanna say that again?!!"
I remained undeterred and said, "I said shut your mouth, dirty dog."
Veins could be seen popping out from the amount of anger Kageura was exuding. He cupped his hands behind him as if hiding something. Unfortunately for him, I could feel two Scorpions in his hands were connecting and I swiftly raised my Kogetsu straight in front of me to block.
A second later, Kageura revealed a high-speed slash from the connected Scorpions in order to hit my vital area. A loud clang resounded in the room as Kageura's slash was blocked by my Kogetsu. A gust of wind generated from the collision pushed other agents away.
Kageura tried to attack once more but he was restrained by other agents while I sheathed back Kogetsu.
Kageura shouted, "Get off me!! Damn it!"
His cries were ignored and continued to restrain him before the other agents managed to transform him back to his physical body.
I continued my way out before leaving a message, "If you want me to beat you like the dog you are, reserve a match with your team. I'll take you and your team by myself. Good luck, dog."
As soon as I left the room, various conversations littered the room from my arrogant statement. The one who took the brunt was the captain of Kageura Squad. Various veins were clearly shown on his forehead from the anger he is feeling.
Kageura roared, "FUUUUCK- let me go, you bastards!!"
Kageura stomped his way out to his team and called for a meeting. Now the solo challenge against a full team had fermented and spread all over Border HQ. Yuuma, Osamu, and Chika caught wind of it and tried to find me.
Wednesday, Enid, and Nitocris smirked before reminding themselves to hurry up and advance into B-rank agents. Everyone knew there would be a good show to see in the coming days.