Episode 14: "The Stolen Beam Bat"

Santaro Mita
"...What the..."

The moment Santaro opened the door and walked into the secret base, a puzzled look appeared on his face.

Tsuruko Semba
"Something the matter?"

Santaro Mita
"It's just that... it looks a bit more disorganized."

Suddenly, in a bit of a panic, Santaro quickly looked around his room, from the floor to his desk.

Kazuki Aoyama
"You really think so? Dunno how to tell you this, but it was pretty messy to begin with."

Santaro Mita
"Shut up! I can tell, okay?! I'm going to take a look around."

Santaro rushed to the back of the room.
It seemed like he was checking that nothing had been stolen.

Koishi Kohinata
"Think a burglar broke in?"

Yutaka Gotanda
"If that were the case, I would think they would target a cleaner house than this one."

In contrast to Koishi's worries, Yutaka let out a sarcastic sigh.
Considering how messy the room was, he was convinced that it was nothing more than a misunderstanding on Santaro's part, who seemingly had an incredibly hard time keeping the place tidy. However...

Santaro Mita
"Gaaah!! Shit! It's gone! Who the hell...?!"

His sorrowful yells echoed throughout the secret base.
Yo and the others rushed over to where he was.

Santaro Mita
"It's not here, I can't find it anywhere! The beam bat I had sitting here is gone!"

Tsuki Iroha
"Wasn't that the Minato Tribe's treasured bat?!"

It was true, the beam bat that had been sitting near the couch had disappeared, case and all.
No matter how messy the room was, there was no way such a large item would get lost among the clutter.
It seemed Santaro hadn't been imagining that the room looked more disorganized than usual.

Kazuki Aoyama
"Chill out. Your screaming isn't going to cause the beam bat to rematerialize, now is it?"

Santaro Mita
"Chill out?! How in the world am I going to do that?! And how will I ever be able to face Haru?!"

Santaro fell to his knees, and buried his face in his hands.
He was blaming himself for the important bat that his teammates entrusted him with being stolen.
Even Yo's chest hurt seeing him like that.

Yutaka Gotanda
"Was anything else taken?"

Santaro Mita
"Nah, nothin' besides the beam bat is missing. My money and bank book are still here."

Kazuki Aoyama
"Which means we can say for certain that the thief came here with the intent to steal the beam bat.
How many people knew you had it here?"

Santaro Mita
"I don't remember tellin' anyone outside of my Minato Tribe teammates and all of you that I even had it..."

As soon as he said that...
The face of 'that person' returned to the forefront of Yo's mind once again.

Yo Kuronaka
"...No, there was one other person who knew the beam bat was here."

Santaro Mita
"W-What?! Who?!"

Yo Kuronaka
"Sui. You mentioned earlier that you showed it to him."

Santaro had told Yo the story earlier.
That when he invited the collapsed Sui into the secret base, he showed him the beam bat.
Sui knew about this secret base.
And knew that the beam bat was here.

Santaro Mita
"That guy? But why would he...?"

Tsuki Iroha
"Maybe he just simply wanted it? I mean, he did used to look up to the Minato Tribe."

Tsuruko Semba
"Shouldn't his personality have changed due to the brainwashing?"

Tsuki Iroha
"Yeah, but like, maybe something caused his heart to remember XB for a moment."

It was true that there wasn't another explanation why he would go out of his way to steal only the beam bat other than a deep love for XB.
Sui's personality had completely changed due to Zero's brainwashing, but a part of him might still be there. The part that loved XB...

Yo Kuronaka
"Wait... That's right!"

In that moment, a divine revelation descended onto Yo.
He realized something.
A way of defeating Sui, who currently wielded an overwhelming amount of strength.

Yo Kuronaka
"Guys, listen! If Sui still has those emotions, we might be able to use that to our advantage and beat him!"

Yo quickly shared the strategy that had just dawned on him.

Kazuki Aoyama
"...Not gonna lie, that's risky. But if it's true, we might be able to finish things without having to fight using the governing rules. There's also the chance he just flat out rejects the idea. Sure that's a good idea, Yo?"

Yo Kuronaka
"Even though my memory hasn't fully come back yet, I am still his childhood friend. I've got a gut feeling he won't turn me down."

The plan Yo came up with was based on the assumption that Sui still had emotions.
If that assumption was wrong, there's no doubt Yo would be heading to his death... but he was prepared for that.

Kazuki Aoyama
"Gotcha. If that's how you're feeling then I won't stop you. But, you won't mind if I prepare a back up plan, would you?"

Yutaka Gotanda
"Hm? A back up plan?"

Kazuki Aoyama
"It's better to prepare for the worst. To be honest, I'm not sure if it'll actually be any good. But on the off chance we find ourselves in a situation where we need to use it, just leave things to me."

Santaro Mita
"Leave things to you? I've got a bad feelin' about this. Whatcha thinkin' anyway?"

Santaro scowled as he asked.

Kazuki Aoyama
"It's better if I don't say. Should everyone get too caught up in their own head about it and it ends up coming off as just some cheesy play, then it will all be for nothing. So, if it comes down to it, when you realize that I'm starting something, no matter what I say, I don't want any of you to be surprised."

Tsuruko Semba
"Got it. Should it come to that, we'll entrust you with the situation, Kazuki!"

Kazuki Aoyama
"Everyone else okay with that? Best case scenario, I won't even have to use my plan."

No one raised any objections as he looked around at everyone's face as he asked.
There was a part of Kazuki that was a bit sneaky, but he was not someone who would betray his teammates. One way or another, Yo and the others trusted him.

Tsuki Iroha
"Okie dokie! That's all we had to talk about, right? Now let's go find Sui!"

Tsuki raised her fist in the air enthusiastically.
She couldn't help wanting to rescue Sui as quickly as they could.

Santaro Mita
"Reckon he's probably at Minato Tower. That's where his stronghold is."

Yo Kuronaka
"All right, then. Let's go!"

Yo and the others took up their weapons, and shot out of the secret base.

Tsuki Iroha
"Just wait for Sui! We're on our way!"

Panting, Tsuki ran ahead at full speed.
They knew exactly what direction to head in. No matter where you were in the city, Minato Tower was always in sight.
It towered over all the other buildings. Yo and the others made their way to the tallest radio tower in all of Neo Tokyo.