Episode 9: "The Beast Their Childhood Friend Became"

Santaro Mita
"Geez, that punk Kazuki. He didn't have to go sayin' it like that.
It's not like I was out lookin' for the throne to be stolen. How was I supposed to know the guy I saved was gonna go and backstab me?
Sui, that bastard... He thinks he's so high and mighty. Can't believe he betrayed me."

In the secret base, Santaro had thrown himself onto the couch, and was complaining endlessly.

Yo Kuronaka
"Hey, I'm... sorry. For all the terrible things Sui has done."

Yo sat next to Santaro and lent an ear to his complaints.
He was still in disbelief that his childhood friend could be capable of doing such cruel things.

Santaro Mita
"I just... I didn't think he was a bad guy. He even talked about how he loved to play XB."

Santaro stood up as he whispered those words. He walked over and picked up the bat case that was standing on his desk.
He opened it, and what he took out was...

Yo Kuronaka
"That's a..."

It looked like a normal bat at first glance.
However, there was a switch installed near the handle, which seemed to suggest that pressing it would change its form.
Which was similar to the beam bat that Yo has.

Santaro Mita
"Oh, this? It's a beam bat that's been handed down within the Minato Tribe.
A guy named Haru was usin' it before, but I'm keepin' an eye on it for now. For us, it's our most important piece of gear."

Yo Kuronaka
"That's also a beam bat?
It looks a little different from the one I have."

Compared to Yo's, this one didn't have as many parts; he found himself staring at the simple construction of this beam bat.

Santaro Mita
"Yeah? Haha, well...
Ya see, all beam bats out there were made referencing this one. That's why it looks pretty old fashioned.
Perhaps that's why it moved him. The moment Sui saw it, he was impressed."

Yo Kuronaka
"Really? Sui was?"

Santaro Mita
"You bet. His eyes were glowin' like stars. That's when we ended up talkin' about XB. Dude really knows his stuff. He knew all the members of the Minato Tribe.
Perhaps that's why I let my guard down. I just couldn't imagine someone who liked XB could be bad..."

Yo Kuronaka
"..."

He was knowledgeable about XB, and was familiar with the Minato Tribe.
Hearing that, it was very likely that the Sui that had appeared in Minato City was actually the real one.
Yo went looking for Tsuki to tell her what he had found out. She was outside, cooling off.

Tsuki Iroha
"..."

Tsuki was sitting at the entrance of the secret base, staring up at the sky.

Yo Kuronaka
"You thinking about Sui?"

Tsuki Iroha
"Can't stop..."

The moment Yo spoke out to her, Tsuki turned her eyes toward him.

Tsuki Iroha
"I kept hoping with all my heart that he was just simply an imposter. But that... that was actually him back there.
We've been friends since we were kids, if it wasn't really him I would've known right away."

Yo Kuronaka
"...Yeah. It was definitely him. There's no mistaking it."

Tsuki Iroha
"Guh..."

Tsuki covered her face with her hands as she began to cry.
Considering it had been a shock to Yo, whose memories still hadn't come back, for Tsuki, this must have been a devastating blow.

Yo Kuronaka
"I think... there's gotta be some reason why he's ended up like this. If we can figure it out, we can bring him back to his senses."

Tsuki Iroha
"Y-Yeah, you're right! Zero's gotta be the one behind all this! I won't forgive him for doing this to Sui! We'll find a way to snap him out of it, no matter what!"

Tsuki wiped away her tears, and tightly clenched her fists.
With red eyes, they made a promise to each other.
They thought about going into their promise pose, but decided against it.
It didn't mean anything if it wasn't all three of them.

Kazuki Aoyama
"Sorry to interrupt, but I'd like to talk about what our plan is going forward. Everyone's gathering together."

Kazuki opened the door to the secret base, and called out to Yo and Tsuki.

Tsuki Iroha
"Let's go, Yo! Let's do our best for Sui's sake!"

Yo Kuronaka
"Yeah!"

With their spirits lifted, Yo and Tsuki walked into the secret base. Heads held high.
They carried their promise within their hearts to bring Sui back to normal, no matter what.

Yutaka Gotanda
"Well then, shall we begin? We will have to be detailed with our movements going forward, since the XG game has already begun. Versus the Numbers... no, rather, versus Mr. Yakumo."

With Yutaka's facilitating words, the meeting inside the secret base began.
Their discussion was going to focus on their strategy to take on the Minato Rankingdom...
And how they were going to confront the XG game.

Santaro Mita
"XG? Just what the heck is that?"

Kazuki Aoyama
"Whoops. Forgot to explain that part. XG refers to the game that uses the governing rules. It's where Yo and the others battle with the Numbers."

Tsuruko Semba
"To put it simply, it's the death game that Zero is forcing Yo to play."

Without missing a beat, Kazuki and Tsuruko quickly explained what XG was to Santaro.

Santaro Mita
"So, Zero's involved in all this? And if you win, does anything good happen?"

Yutaka Gotanda
"Should we win, Zero will grant us a variety of requests as a reward. In the XG game we played in Shinagawa, he abolished the governing rules and replaced them with XB."

Santaro Mita
"Seriously?! Oh man, that's rad. I really wanna play some XB, it's been too long."

The moment Santaro heard the words XB, the leaf in his mouth began shaking like a dog's tail.

Kazuki Aoyama
"You see, Santaro's only really good at XB. So times have been tough on him."

Santaro Mita
"Yeah, yeah... DO YOU EVER SHUT UP?!"

Kazuki and Santaro went back and forth like a comedic duo.
It seemed like the two of them got along really well.

Yutaka Gotanda
"If we win this XG game, it'd be best if we abolish the governing rules here too."

Saburo
"That would be ideal. The people of this city are quite familiar with XB."

Tsuki Iroha
"..."

While the topic of the reward was exciting everyone, Tsuki seemed to be deep in thought.

Koishi Kohinata
"Tsuki, you've been quiet this whole time. Are you feeling okay?"

Tsuki Iroha
"Um... about the reward. Could we use it to do something about Sui?"

It was true that if they used their right to a reward, they could easily return Sui back to normal, but...

Kazuki Aoyama
"...Look, I get you want to do something about Sui, but we must think carefully about how to use this reward. We can't let our personal emotions get in the way."

Tsuki Iroha
"I get it, you're right. I'm... sorry for my weird suggestion."

Having been sternly spoken to by Kazuki, Tsuki returned to being quiet.

Yutaka Gotanda
"I don't know Mr. Yakumo that well, but from what I've seen, he doesn't seem to be acting normal.
Wouldn't bringing him back to his senses nip this situation in the bud?"

Santaro Mita
"Even so, I think I speak for the majority when I say that the citizens would want the governing rules gone.
If we have the chance, shouldn't we do that instead?"

Should they return Sui to normal considering they don't know what he would do? Or should they change the governing rules?
It was a difficult decision forced upon everyone.
Just as they were deciding which option would help bring peace back to Minato City...

Yo Kuronaka
"Hear me out. If we return Sui back to normal and the governing rules stayed as they are, I think things would be okay."

Yo came up with an idea that killed two birds with one stone.

Tsuruko Semba
"Wait, huh?! What are you talking about?"

Yo Kuronaka
"Earlier, Santaro told us that Saori managed Minato City in peace even under the governing rules."

Santaro Mita
"Yeah, I mean, I did say that..."

According to Santaro's story from before, Saori had become King, and created an atmosphere that encouraged people to help each other and changed the meaning of asserting dominance.
Showing that rules could change depending on how they're interpreted.

Yo Kuronaka
"Well, if that's the case, then if we take back the throne, there's a safe path forward. Just like what Saori did, if we change the meaning of asserting dominance, everything will work out."

Tsuki Iroha
"Oh... Oh! I get it! If we take down Sui, one of us will become the King!"

Kazuki Aoyama
"Hm. Yes, that's not a bad idea. Santaro, thoughts?"

Santaro Mita
"If we can take back the Minato City that Saori entrusted us with, then full speed ahead I say!"

If they took the throne from Sui, then by changing the meaning of asserting dominance, they could bring about peace to Minato City.
Which would allow them to use their reward for winning XG to return Sui to normal. That was their new plan.

Kazuki Aoyama
"Right, now that we have collected our thoughts. Let's see what the current situation is like. Who's the King?"

As Kazuki said the magic words, the rankings appeared in the air.
He scrolled on the screen confirming everyone's position.

Tsuruko Semba
"Seems our positions haven't changed much..."

Yutaka Gotanda
"Thankfully, numbers-wise, it doesn't look like any of us will fall down enough to need to flee the city. But we can't afford to get careless.
We have to prepare for any emergency, and focus on climbing the ranks."

Kazuki Aoyama
"But we won't be able to overcome any of our obstacles by just simply climbing the ranks.
We can't even challenge Sui so long as our rank is Commoner."

Only Nobles could challenge the King.
That was one of the rules of the Minato Rankingdom.

Kazuki Aoyama
"That's why we need to focus on these two things.
First, everyone must raise their dominance power, and keep it out of the threshold that would force you to flee the city.
Then, we give all of our points to Yo so that he becomes a Noble."

Yo Kuronaka
"Wait, you want me to become a Noble?"

Kazuki Aoyama
"Well, anyone can become a Noble, but eventually we'll have to face Sui in XG. And, well... it's only right that it's you."

Tsuki Iroha
"Kazuki's right!"

Nekomaru
"Meow!"

Tsuki and Nekomaru both strongly agreed.
Yo didn't have any intention of denying the role.
Before, Sui had saved his life, so this time, it was Yo's turn to save Sui!

Santaro Mita
"That's that! Everything's decided, if it's points ya need, the Minato Tribe's got ya back!"

Kazuki Aoyama
"Did you come up with something?"

Ichiro
"Helping others is a way to raise your dominance power."

Jiro
"If you want to help others, you go to Rubble Mountain."

Saburo
"There are many people there who need help."

Shiro
"If we help them, we'll be able to gain a ton of points."

Kazuki Aoyama
"Sounds as good as it's gonna get. Let's head over there and solve some problems. And gain a mountain of dominance power while we're at it!"

Leaving the Four Children to hold down the fort, Yo and the others departed the secret base.