Episode 4: "The Legendary Minato Tribe"

Tsuki fell silent as the group followed Gotanda. They were headed toward the Lovely Ocean now, endeavoring to meet back up with Kazuki.
Despite her earlier excitement, Tsuki was all but gloomy, the occasional sigh escaping her, her mind clearly wandering somewhere else.
It was a sharp turn from her full-of-energy self from earlier.

Tsuki Iroha
"*siiiiiiiiiiiigh*..."

Yo Kuronaka
"Are you all right, Tsuki?"

Yo reached out to her, unable to ignore the drastic change in mood.

Tsuki Iroha
"Yeah. I'm just feeling a little weird, heading out to the Minato Tribe's hideout."

With a distant look on her face, she looked up to the sky.

Tsuki Iroha
"The three of us used to say that we'd play a match of XB against the Minato Tribe one day."

Sadness and melancholy dripped from her every word, her eyes facing up toward the sky, yet looking past it and toward a long-gone memory.
A memory of a time where the three of them were young still, obsessed with nothing but playing XB.

Yo Kuronaka
"I see... I bet they were strong."

Tsuki Iroha
"They sure were! There's so many crazy stories about them! Like that time they had a match against the Chiyoda Tribe and introduced so many new ways to play! Like—oh! I probably won't be able to explain it well... Tsuruko, would you mind?"

Tsuruko Semba
"Not at all!"

Having the baton passed on to her, Tsuruko enthusiastically began expositing as if she'd prepared for it her whole life.

Tsuruko Semba
"To start, you gotta know the Minato Tribe is a legend in Neo Tokyo! They're basically the heroes that saved Neo Tokyo! This is all related to what we now call the Great Chiyoda Battle, so I'll explain.
Before Zero's governing rules, all disputes in Neo Tokyo were resolved by playing XB. Back then, the rules were different, but Ojiro Otori, the King of Neo Tokyo, decided to implement new XB rules that allowed for people's deaths.
The public fell into disarray, many of them losing their lives amidst the chaos.
And that's where the Minato Tribe came in! In cooperation with people from other cities, they chose to challenge Ojiro Otori and won!
Ojiro Otori's pursuit of power led to his downfall. He fell into an ocean of rubble and was never seen again.
And that's why the Minato Tribe is regarded as heroes!"

Tsuruko wiped a bead of sweat from her forehead, coming to the end of her explanation with a satisfied look on her face.

Yo Kuronaka
"I see... It's no understatement calling them heroes, then. They really saved Neo Tokyo."

Yutaka Gotanda
"And just so you're aware, Kazuki was a part of the Minato Tribe."

Yo Kuronaka
"He was?!"

Now that was a piece of unexpected news.
Kazuki was clearly no ordinary person, but Yo would never have guessed he was a renowned hero.

Tsuki Iroha
"Yup! He was actually one of the original members!"

Tsuruko Semba
"There were other members! Like the heir Haru Shirokane. Then there's Minato and Santaro, who were swept up—"

Yutaka Gotanda
"I think that's enough tale telling for now. We're almost at the Lovely Ocean.

Yutaka stepped right in right before Tsuruko had time to launch into another spiel.

Yutaka Gotanda
"You can instead see for yourselves."

That's when a retro-styled hamburger joint came into view.
It was an authentic-looking American diner.
A sign hung above the doors, the words 'Lovely Ocean' written in stylish cursive.

Yo Kuronaka
"All right. Let's head inside."

Tsuki Iroha
"Yes, let's! To the Minato Tribe's sacred grounds!"

Enthusiasm renewed, Tsuki threw the doors of the Lovely Ocean open. They all walked in.