Meanwhile, at Tamakoma Branch, Karasuma reveals that Yuiga is the son of Border's biggest sponsor. When he joined, he was put in the A-Rank #1 unit as per his request. Karasuma notes that being in A-Rank without any skill is particularly difficult.
On February 11, Chika's birthday, Usami asks why she didn't tell her in advance so they could celebrate. Chika expresses disappointment in herself for revealing to Ema that she cannot shoot people. While she is rebuked by Osamu, Yūma points out that Ninomiya and Azuma probably guessed her weakness due to the resemblance she had to Hatohara. The team agrees that they should make sure Chika is extra-well hidden. Yūma recommends to Chika to shoot when the enemies think she cannot, though she seems to disagree. Now all that had to be done was analyze and train.
Azuma Unit strategizes for the battle. Koarai suggests choosing a map with gimmicks like Nasu Unit, though Okudera disagrees. He notes that Nasu Unit's strategy was too dependent on luck in spawning areas. They begin arguing, which is settled by Hitomi. Azuma asks them to agree on something, and they agree that the other teams had ranged attackers, and they should choose a map which neutralizes ranged attacks. Azuma would need support from Mako since his line of sight would be affected, and notes that he could take on Chika and Kitazoe, whose attacks weren't affected by landscapes, as long as a non-gimmicked map was chosen. Now that they had a general strategy, they needed to analyze their opponents for more specific strategies.
Kageura Unit watches records of Tamakoma Second, and Osamu continues to battle Yuiga, at 152-48 points, Yuiga in the lead. On the day of the Rank Battle, Ayatsuji is the narrator, while Kazama and Kako appear as commentators. The map chosen was City B, which had high and low buildings, and the weather was snowy.
Flashback
Azuma gives Koarai permission to play with the MAP settings once he though it out.
Flashback End
The MAP that Azuma Unit chose was Urban Area B with the weather as snow, which had piled up 30 cm high. Kako and Kazama note that it wasn't Azuma's style, and most likely Koarai. Ayatsuji points out that the combatants were evenly distributed. In the arena, Tsuji observes that there weren't many enemies on Radar, and Hiyami explains that Azuma Unit was probably using Bagworm and might try a surprise attack. Tamakoma Second and Azuma Unit were trying to reunite, whereas Kageura Unit was trying to fight as it was. Azuma Unit managed to reunite first, and set Osamu as their target. Osamu, finding it difficult to move, wonders whether he should use Bagworm, when he is nearly hit by a Meteora, shot by Kitazoe, who had shot at others. Ninomiya counters with his Asteroid. Ema snipes at Ninomiya, though the latter easily blocks it, and then goes on to hunt them down. He orders Tsuji and Inukai to hunt down Tamakoma Second. Kageura hunts down Yūma, desiring a fight with him. The commentators explain the situation and their analyses and Kako points out that a brawl would be advantageous for Kageura, since the only one who could stop him was Ninomiya.
At Tamakoma Branch, Hus comments that everyone would aim for Tamakoma Second since they were the weakest, much to Yōtarō's dismay. Jin then makes a bet with Hus; if Tamakoma Second loses, then the former would do any one thing for the latter, like returning Lampyris, but if Tamakoma Second wins, the vice-versa occurs. Hus agrees.
Back in the battle, Inukai reaches his target: Osamu, and the two prepare to fight.
Osamu gets into a firefight with Inukai, who is determined to not let him unite with Yūma. Yūma attempts to get to Osamu on Usami's orders, but is intercepted by Tsuji. Yūma prepares to fight Tsuji, but Kageura appears, insistent of fighting Yūma himself. Tsuji uses the opportunity to leave and meet up with Inukai.
Flashback
While training with Arashiyama, Osamu learns that the advantage that a Shooter has over a Gunner is controlling the bullet before shooting. Using this advantage well would make bullets more effective. At the same time, if a Shooter is unable to get near the Gunner, the Gunner would have the advantage.
Flashback End
Osamu, realizing this, flees from Inukai by heading into a building and then turning into a hall. Inukai pursues him and gets into a close-up with Osamu. Osamu attempts to shoot him with Asteroid bullets he had placed while Inukai was on the other side of the hall. Inukai blocks the attack though, commending Osamu on his efforts, and nearly defeats him when Koarai and Okudera burst in and cut off his left arm. Okudera and Koarai prepare to go in for the kill when Tsuji breaks through the wall to save his teammate. While Tsuji and Inukai fight with Okudera and Kodera, Osamu attempts to use this distraction and earn points. At the same time, because he is stationary, Azuma uses this opportunity to snipe him, successfully hitting him and forcing him to Bail Out.
Osamu finds himself in Mikumo Unit's operation room after being shot by Azuma. He initially berates himself due to being taken out very easily despite training with so many people, as well as making the foolish decision of not using Bagworm. With four enemies in one area, Kazama wonders why Chika doesn't take them all out with her cannon-like fire. Inukai reveals that Chika cannot shoot people, but contrary to his statement, Chika fires at them, though she didn't get a hit. With Azuma in range, she cannot Bail Out, so she is pursued by Inukai. Yūma abandons his battle with Kageura to go help her out. He is blocked by Tsuji, so he has a Grasshopper come under Chika's foot to propel her. As Inukai closes in, he is suddenly shot by Ema. Kageura comes in and defeats Inukai, forcing him to Bail Out. Both Inukai and Ninomiya, who has now found Ema, note that Kageura Unit was being partial to Mikumo Unit. Ema explains that he simply loathed Ninomiya Unit. Now far away enough from her foes, Chika uses Bail Out. Yūma, Tsuji, Kageura, Koarai, and Okudera now stand in a faceoff.
Ninomiya chases Ema while the other combatants excluding Azuma and Kitazoe begin a fight. Kazama notes that it was advantageous for Azuma Unit if their opponents began to move out to avoid Azuma's shots, one of which hit Yūma. Chika berates herself for not being able to take down a single opponent despite having the advantage of a surprise attack. Ema orders Kitazoe to go assist Kageura, before being taken out by Ninomiya. The battle continues, with Koarai and Okudera attacking Yūma relentlessly. Hyuse explains that this was because Yūma posed a threat to Azuma by being a Grasshopper user. Kitazoe then shoots on Kageura's command, but Azuma blocks the shot sent at him by shooting the bullet, and Azuma's shot continues on. Ninomiya blocks the shot so that he can take out Kitazoe for himself and earn a point, which he does. Kageura takes out Okudera, Yūma takes out Koarai, and Azuma takes out Tsuji so simultaneously that Ayatsuji cannot determine who took out whom. Kageura and Yūma are left to fight a one-on-one, in which Kageura revels.
Yūma and Kageura begin their battle but it is quickly interrupted by Ninomiya's Hound. Yūma charges at Ninomiya to take him down but Ninomiya shoots Yūma and damages him severely. Yūma attempts a long Scorpion but ultimately fails and Bails Out. Losing the bet, Jin offers to do any one thing for Hyuse, which includes returning his Trigger. The battle goes on with each party keeping their distance. All the teams decide that not making a move is in their best interests, so they wait until time's up, giving Ninomiya Unit the victory. With this, Tamakoma Second goes down to #8. Commenting on the battle, Kazama points out that while the aces got the points, the non-aces were the important factor. When asked whether Osamu's defeat led to Tamakoma Second's loss, Kazama states that learning through defeat was the way Rank Battles worked, but that Osamu should have depended on something more reliable than his growth. Reflecting on Kazama's words, Osamu asks Jin to join Tamakoma Second.
Osamu asks Jin to join his unit, and Jin responds that he wasn't allowed. Osamu refutes this, having asked Usami about the regulations concerning adding new members during Rank Battles. Osamu explains that he saw the difference in ability between Tamakoma Second and the upper B-Rank units after the Rank Battle. By adding Jin, he would effectively be able to get to A-Rank sooner. When asked by Jin about why he was hurrying, he responds that Yūma's real body may die soon, and he would rather have Yūma reunite with Replica sooner. Jin still denies joining Tamakoma Second, saying that he had other things to do. Osamu apologizes for the request, but Jin forgives him, revealing that during the invasion, he foresaw the Aftokrator Neighbors aiming for Chika, but regardless, had her stay where they could catch her so losses in other places could be reduced. Jin apologizes, only for his forgiveness to be reciprocated by Osamu. He assures Osamu that he would help him out when he could. He also states that there was someone more worthy of joining than he.
Osamu cheers Yūma and Chika up after the Rank Battle by pointing out that they managed to get even one point, while many other teams simply ran away or delayed until Time Out. He declares that they would reduce the gap in points.
Jin walks with Kazama and talks about Osamu's offer to him. He explains that Kazama's words motivated him to do such. They join a meeting, an emergency defense meeting.
Shinoda begins the meeting by introducing the topic, a possible second invasion. Three planetary nations currently were headed to Earth, two of them were vassal nations of Aftokrator: Galopoula and Rodochroun. Since there was little time before the nations were in range of Earth and could invade, countermeasures had to be created immediately. Miwa brings up the possibility that the objective could be Trion users again. Jin answers this by explaining that he saw various people inside and outside of Border and didn't see any futures where they got kidnapped or killed. Azuma and Kazama bring up the possibilities of trying to get technology, information, or prisoners. As both nations were small, espionage could also be a possibility. Until Galopoula and Rodochroun pulled away, a special defense would be put in place on top of the regular one. Kido orders information of this to be kept confidential to avoid widespread panic in the public, as well as damage to Border's projects and reputation. A third Large-Scale Invasion is another possibility, so A-Rank teams are on watch. Azuma also recommends sending out Amō due to his Side Effect apparently being useful.
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