Chapter 337: Former Anbu Menber

Time passed quickly, and soon it was the day for Takitsubo to be discharged from the hospital.

ITEM now existed in name only. Although **Frenda** had gone out some time ago to complete a mission for the Board of Directors—to kill an American, which was quite straightforward since everyone is equal in the face of bombs—missions were just missions. Currently, **Frenda** was considered an external member and still had to follow orders from above.

However, that had little to do with **Frenda** right now.

"Hamazura, I really can't believe someone like you could become a hero. A pervert who gets turned on by Kinuhata, really?" **Frenda** teased.

"No, no! What I like are mature big sisters in bunny girl outfits! I'm not into someone with Kinuhata's figure!"

"Your body is the most honest, Hamazura. Aren't you bleeding from your nose?"

"This... this is an uncontrollable factor. Wait, Kinuhata, why are you stepping on me?!"

Watching her companions bicker, **Frenda** couldn't help but shake her head. "Alright, Kinuhata, stop being mad. Hamazura is just a trashy character. Let's hurry and book a salon room."

The salon rooms in District 3 were great gathering spots because they were "surveillance-free" safe zones, places where one could do anything freely.

District 3 was the district responsible for receiving foreign guests, so it needed such private spaces for confidential conversations.

Thus, the salons were born.

However, the Anti-Skill officers were quite troubled by these surveillance-free zones, as they were essentially black boxes. Who knew what the students might be doing inside?

Of course, this didn't affect **Frenda** and her group much. As denizens of the dark side, Anti-Skill, the city's surface-level organization, meant little to them.

"**Frenda**, I have a question. Are you really sure about what happened with Mugino?"

"Mugino? I saw her not too long ago. At the time, she seemed to be soaking in a life-support device, looking absolutely furious. That's why I'm keeping Takitsubo away from Hamazura. If Mugino ever comes looking, we can just throw Hamazura to her."

**Frenda** suggested this cruel plan right in front of the person in question.

Hamazura Shiage protested, "Hey, hey! We've been through life and death together for so long!"

"Huh? Have we? Hamazura's just a perverted bunny girl fanatic. Oh, and let's add a perverted big-breast fanatic to that."

"I protest! Slandering a guy like this deserves punishment!"

"I totally agree with **Frenda**'s assessment!" Kinuhata Saiai chimed in.

"Come on!" Hamazura retorted. "Mugino was seriously injured. How could she recover so quickly? Even if she did, it wouldn't be this fast, right?"

"It's totally possible, you know. Academy City is full of all kinds of miracles. Like turning into a cyborg or something. Totally possible."

"Exactly. So, Kinuhata, let's ditch Hamazura."

"But wouldn't Mugino be super mad at us? ITEM doesn't even exist anymore," Kinuhata said.

"Hmm..." **Frenda** thought about the person staying in her safe house. To that person, Academy City's #4 probably wasn't a big deal. "If it comes to that, I have a backup plan."

"**Frenda**'s backup plans are super unreliable, right? Hamazura, go book the salon room, and then we'll go pick up Takitsubo!"

As for Mugino, let's just set that aside for now.

Kinuhata believed what **Frenda** said about Mugino, but the most important thing right now was Takitsubo.

Today was the day Takitsubo Rikou was discharged from the hospital. The group had come to District 3 to rent a salon room to celebrate her discharge.

—Although Kinuhata had suffered serious injuries during the battle with the #2, her wounds were easier to heal compared to Takitsubo's. She was able to move around just a few days later and was now fully recovered. She hadn't been the primary target of the #2's attacks.

But that didn't necessarily mean it was a good thing.

Kinuhata and **Frenda**'s phones rang simultaneously. They both took out their phones and exchanged a glance.

"This is why I totally doubt your reasoning, **Frenda**. If Mugino were still around, we wouldn't be in this situation."

"**Frenda** has no idea why this is happening. Being reassigned to a new dark side organization? No thanks," **Frenda** said, scratching her hair and adjusting her beret.

Hamazura, who had just finished handling the rental procedures, returned to the two and, seeing their expressions, asked, "Did something happen?"

"We've got a mission. Hamazura, it's pretty clear now that ITEM is gone. So you don't have to act as our subordinate anymore," Kinuhata said. "After all, dragging you along would just slow us down."

"Exactly."

"Come on!" Hamazura said. "Will the mission take long?"

"Don't know. The message just says to meet up with the new team members. For some reason, **Frenda** has a bad feeling about this."

"Should I come with you?" Hamazura asked. He had previously served as ITEM's driver.

"Better not. This is a secret mission. **Frenda**, let's go."

"Got it, got it."

Soon, Hamazura bid a brief farewell to the two girls. But none of them expected that they would meet again shortly after.

This time, they ran into each other outside the hospital. Seeing the two girls alone, Hamazura looked puzzled.

"Weren't you two forming a new organization to deal with terrorists?"

"Totally because we ran into a super annoying woman."

Mental Out.

That woman from the #2's organization. In the last big battle, ITEM, SCHOOL, BLOCK, and MEMBER were all wiped out. The surviving members were formed into a new team.

"Trying to make former enemies get along or something. That woman said something like that. Oh, and Mental Out sends her regards."

"Really? But that's not a reason to skip the mission, right? Won't there be consequences?"

"Totally not okay. So I thought of another plan. **Frenda** and I will handle the job ourselves. So, Hamazura, help us out," Kinuhata said, looking at the stunned boy. "We'll just steal a car and deliver a super fatal blow to those **'Welcome Back Squad'** members. It won't take long. We'll finish it super quickly."

Hamazura asked, "**Frenda**, aren't you scared? Won't something go wrong if you're on your own?"

"With me here, it's totally fine," Kinuhata, the Level 4, said, thumping her chest.

**Frenda** added, "I'm not scared! **Frenda** has a lucky charm now."

"Ah, you mean that Gekota badge? Super suspicious. It looks like something you got for free with a crepe purchase."

"No way! That was given to me by *that person*. It's a life-saving item!"

And so, in the eyes of the two girls, Hamazura Shiage used his skills to steal a private car and drove them off to their mission.