The Battle of the Top B-Rank Teams

Short Summary
While waiting for their next match, each participating squads, except Ninomiya Squad, reviews their strategy and improving their individual skills.

Long Summary
The episode begins with Kō Murakami, having just arrived with Yūma Kuga, apologizing to Masato Kageura for being so late. Kageura complains about having to wait, and due to the fuss he causes, but Murakami says it's not his fault. The trainees who Kageura previously decapitated in their Trion bodies recognize Murakami and ask for him help, saying he attacked them unprovoked, and Murakami explains that Kageura "can read their minds" with his Side Effect, which also surprises Yūma. They assume he knew they mocked him through their communicator and run away, scared.

After they leave, Murakami tells Kageura he'll get another penalty if he keeps calling attention like that, but Kageura says he's much more concerned with being made a fool by idiots. He says he even decided to overlook it at first, to which Murakami says he knows. Yūma then asks if that means he doesn't care about rising to A-Rank and Kageura finally notices his presence, asking who is the midget. After Yūma introduces himself, Kageura realizes he's the person who defeated Murakami (and Arafune and laughs at the idea of them being defeated by a midget like Yūma, and states he'll watch the logs, adding that he hadn't done that in a while, but Murakami asks him not too.

Kageura then changes to a more serious tone, saying that Tamakoma Second is his squad's next opponent. He notes that they quickly rose to B-Rank's upper tier after becoming B-Rank, presuming they want to join the Away Team, and teasingly asking Yūma if "his girl" was abducted. In response, Yūma tells him to read his mind, aware that that's not Kageura's actual Side Effect. Kageura, annoyed, says that's not how his "shitty ability" works and announces that he's leaving. Murakami says that he just arrived, and Kageura says that there's a lot of people around and that annoys him. He notes that Yūma probably wanted to battle him to gather information, and says that he's not willing to help with that. He states that his squad is not interested in joining the Away Team, but they're not taking it easy on someone weaker than them either, and tells Yūma that he has to defeat them if he wants to join A-Rank.

With Kageura's departure, Yūma says his Side Effect is really not reading minds and asks how it works. Murakami explains that Kageura feels others' emotions pierce his skin like needles, and the sensation depends on the emotions, being more unpleasant the more negative the emotions are, which is why Kageura is usually so aggressive. Yūma now understands that he feels pain, and Murakami says that despite being aggressive and insensitive, Kageura is a direct and sincere person on the inside. He says that when he battled Yūma, he had the impression that Yūma and Kageura are similar.

Elsewhere, Osamu is blocked by an unknown boy wearing the Tachikawa Squad uniform. He tries to explain that he has an appointment with Kōhei Izumi, but the boy, after asking Osamu's rank, says Tachikawa Squad doesn't have the time to play with B-Rank agents as they're the No. 1 A-Rank Team. Osamu asks himself who is this person, as the boy continues explaining that it's weird that a B-Rank agent would have an appointment with an A-Rank agent, to begin with, and Osamu explains that it was Karasuma who got him the appointment. The boy, enraged to hear Karasuma's name, tries to forcefully expel Osamu, who keeps insisting he has an appointment with Izumi, and wondering if that boy really is part of Tachikawa Squad.

Izumi then kicks the boy to the ground, calling him Yuiga and berating him for mistreating his guest, and causing Tachikawa to laugh. Yuiga says Izumi was being cruel to him, which annoys Izumi as Yuiga was in his Trion Body and therefore wouldn't feel pain (to which Yuiga adds "his heart was hurt"). Izumi then apologizes to Osamu for being late, and Osamu says it's alright, but asks who is that person. Izumi introduces him as their "little burden". Yuiga says that's too much and that he was just trying to get rid of someone suspicious, and Izumi says he was annoying. Izumi then tells Osamu to just tell him if Yuiga is annoying him, and he'll take responsibility and kick Yuiga, which Yuiga says is abuse and that he'll call a lawyer.

At this time, Yuu Kunichika comes outside and asks why they're fighting. Izumi tries to explain, but Yuiga interrupts by saying he did nothing wrong. Kunichika says she understands, and asks Tachikawa to say something "captain-y". Tachikawa tells them not to fight and that Yuiga has too little composure and that he should be more self-aware. He then explains the origin of the squad's emblem, that the first sword is his own sword, the second blade is Izumi while the third sword is his second sword so Yuiga is still too much of a to be arrogant however he also adds that Kunichika is the moon in the back.

Inside Tachikawa Squad's operation room, Izumi tells Osamu it's not a bad idea to train in order to be able to earn points on his own, as there are times only a Shooter survives. He then asks what Arashiyama Squad has already taught him, and Osamu explains Arashiyama and Tokieda taught him how to catch an opponent off guard, but Kitora said she had no advice for him, as nothing she could not help him at his current condition, and Izumi notes Kitora is as brazen as always. With this, Izumi wonders if there's anything left for him to teach to Osamu, and Osamu asks about Composite Bullets. Izumi says Osamu will be full of openings if he starts using composite bullets with so little experience and that he'll need more experience in Shooter battles. Then, calling Yuiga, Izumi explains to Osamu that Yuiga is the weakest in A-Rank and weaker than many B-Rank agents too. Izumi then says he'll teach Osamu about composite bullets if he can defeat Yuiga 100 times.

At first, Yuiga declines to battle Osamu, saying Izumi plans to destroy his pride by making him lose to a B-Rank agent multiple times, but Izumi says someone with pride wouldn't act like he's acting. Eventually, Yuiga accepts, and even takes the advantage in the battle with 8 victories out of 10, apparently by staying atop a building. As Yuiga boasts his superiority, Izumi tells him to get down and that he's being annoying. Izumi points out to Osamu that even with the tips he learned from Arashiyama, it's hard to actually land a hit, and asks Osamu if he wants to make it a day since it's already late, but Osamu asks for 10 more rounds. Osamu thinks to himself that he's trying too hard to make the tricks he learning, which is making his movements stiff, realizing that Karasuma and Arashiyama were right by saying changing his strategy would affect his abilities, but he adds that Yuiga doesn't cause as much pressure as the B-Rank agents he has been fighting, and that his win rate would increase if he could move better. However, he still wonders how can Yuiga be an A-Rank agent.

Later that night, Karasuma explains that Yuiga is the son of a sponsor, also explaining to Yūma what is a sponsor (as he doesn't know). He explains that Yuiga is the son of a major sponser for Border, and knowing that, he insisted to join an A-Rank team immediately. Since Border's leaders tossed Yuiga to Tachikawa Squad, his plans didn't go as plan. Yūma is surprised one can become an A-Rank like that, but Karasuma says that only if they want to be A-Rank for the title, and it'll be really hard for them if they don't have enough skills to back it up. Karasuma then asks them to finish eating already, as he can only go home after cleaning up. Osamu apologizes, while Yūma says the food is delicious.

The next day, Yōtarō Rindō says that he's got secret information that Chika's birthday was the day before. Shiori Usami realizes that he's right, and says that they were busy with the situation in Shizuka City and Rank wars, so she forgot completely. Usami then makes a small party for Chika, apologizing for missing her birthday, but Chika says it's alright. Yūma notes that Chika is not alright, and she explains that she let it slip to one of their opponents that she's unable to shoot people. Chika apologizes for it, but Osamu says that people would realize it sooner or later, although it's still bad that she let it slip. Yūma then says that if Hatohara is similar to Chika, her captain Ninomiya and Osamu adds that her master Azuma must've noticed too, Shiori then notes that all teams know she can't shoot people. Osamu then say the'll definitely have to make sure Chika is not noticed, as people will target her if they know she won't be able to counterattack. Yūma says that if Chika managed to shoot them after making them think she wouldn't be able to, it would be good, to which Chika agree, and Osamu points out that again, they're not the ones to select the field, so they don't know what will be chosen. He then says that each team must have a different strategy, so they should watch old matches, and then review their teamwork and train individually.

Adapted From

 * Chapter 109
 * Chapter 110

Anime and Manga Differences

 * The following scenes are not present in the manga:
 * When Karasuma explains how Yuiga got into A-Rank, a flashback depicts Yuiga offering to join Kako Squad, saying they could feel insecure when leaving Border or be unable to open a jar, so it would be better to have a man around, to which Kako responds by opening a jar in front of him and saying they're fine. Yuiga then says that Arashiyama Squad would be good too, as they take care of publicity and constantly appear in media to represent Border, and he'd be perfect for that. Kitora tells Arashiyama not to let him join, but Tokieda says it could be fun. In the end, Osamu concludes Karasuma is just trying to trick Osamu and Yūma like he usually does with Konami.
 * When Yōtarō says Chika's birthday was a week ago.
 * Ergates' invasion, which is why the rank wars were delayed by a week, only happened in the anime. So in the manga, rather than apologizing for forgetting Chika's birthday, Usami has just discovered it's Chika's birthday and is disappointed that she didn't know beforehand, as she couldn't prepare anything.
 * In the manga, the console Tachikawa and Kunichika are playing with while Izumi talks to Osamu is different, as seen from the controllers, which look like PlayStation family controllers in the manga. The game and the console themselves are also not seen in the manga, while in the anime they are.

Trivia

 * While Izumi talks with Osamu, Tachikawa and Kunichika can be seen playing a game similar to on a console similar to a Super Famicom.