Purpose | World Trigger

にじゅういち

Twenty-One | Scouted.

"Once again! Mikumo-tai has won the round of Rank Wars!" Ebina exclaimed in delight and excitement.

The recent round of Rank Wars definitely showcased how well the addition of Luna contributed to the team. Everything was seamless and Osamu's strategies were on point. The audience was buzzing with murmurs while the commentators were talking about the Rank Wars before ending it off and the agents involved with the current round of Rank Wars were teleported back into their rooms.

"A good job done, Captain." Luna said with her poker face before everyone was brought back to their rooms.

When her view changed back to the briefing room, Luna was about to walk over to Shiori and thank her for her guidance during the fight, but the presence that she picked up with her Side Effect brought the corners of her lips down.

"Why is Tachikawa-san here?" Yuma asked Osamu, who shrugged in response, signalling that he wasn't expecting the leader of the strongest team's presence either.

"I don't mean to be intruding or anything, but I couldn't help myself after seeing today's fight." Kei said in a serious tone, and turned to Luna after he finished his sentence.

"Why don't you join us?"

Everyone in the room had different reactions, but the one common reaction that everyone had was shock. The atmosphere in the room suddenly turned heavy, and Luna disliked how it was Kei's fault for doing so.

As usual, Luna stood there and stared at him, not giving a reply. She didn't understand why the male standing in front of her was inviting her to join his team. Regardless of the reason, she wasn't planning on accepting his invitation. After all, if her goal was to climb up the ranks, she would have achieved that a long time ago.

Yuma watched the situation as the stagnant silence continued to develop, he definitely noticed how Osamu was getting nervous with each second passing, and Yuma understood why he was so nervous.

Besides the reason of being Osamu's friend, Osamu wouldn't deny that Luna is a great asset to the team, and her leaving the team would increase the amount of time for them to climb up again.

"If you don't give me a reply, I'll assume that you're giving-"

"No." Luna cut off Kei's words.

Everyone except Yuma was shocked to hear the response. Going up the ranks, not to mention the highest ranked team would give Luna much more freedom, she wouldn't be too constricted with strategies and having to be treading on thin ice like she was right now.

"Why not? Megane-kun over here isn't competent enough to pull out your full potential, and it's such a waste. Why be here when you can be at a higher place?"

"And you won't be able to pull out my full potential either. My answer remains unchanged." Luna said, waiting for him to leave.

"We won't know until we try-"

"No. Please leave." Luna rejects his offer for the last time in front of everyone as she walks over to open the door for Kei, silently telling him that he had already overstayed his non-existent welcome.

Luna sighed in exhaustion as she turned around to see the glum expressions on her teammates' faces, however, Luna only picked that up as tiredness, just like how she was tired.

Knowing that she has nothing else in her schedule today, she excuses herself and leaves first. It was unfortunate that Luna was unable to pick up those foreign emotions. Now, slowly but surely, even if Luna rejected the offer in front of them, a stir in Mikumo-tai's dynamics will definitely be created. The feeling of uncertainty will only make the ice they tread on even thinner if nothing is done to amend the situation.