Scepter 4 represents order.

Order is represented by their perfectly pressed blue uniforms and the way they wear their specially issued sabres on their left side.

Order is represented by their disciplined actions, obeying their superiors without question.

Order is represented by the way they battle in choreographed formations, the way they meticulously wrote reports at the end of each day, and the way they protected the order in the city.

As such, the existence of the two problem children baffled everyone, both in and out of Scepter 4, to no end.

…

"Lieutenant, the strain has been located! He's on the top floor of the highrise."

Awashima nodded and gestured sharply. "Draw your swords! We will surround the building and block off all of the escape routes-"

"HEADS UP!"

Everyone fell silent as they watched a striking streak of blue fly across the sky. Yata Misaki swung his sword above his head, still in its sheath, as he crashed his skateboard onto the large glass window on the top floor. The blue clansmen on the ground quickly scrambled to evade the falling glass.

"… Who located the strain?"

"It was a kid from the intelligence unit, Lieutenant. He had black hair, glasses and didn't button up his uniform."

Awashima didn't bother to inform them that the kid was not part of the intelligence unit. In fact, both that kid and the one that just destroyed the top floor window were supposed to be running errands on the other side of town.

"Akiyama, Benzai, collect the strain." The lieutenant tried to cool the annoyance on her face as she turned around and marched towards the vans. She found the problem child leaning behind one of the vehicles, rapidly typing on his PDA. "Fushimi!" Awashima stared at him sternly. "What are you and Yata doing here?"

Saruhiko clicked his tongue, not bothering to take his eyes off his screen. "We capture some strains and this is all the thanks we get?"

"Answer the question!"

"We saw the strain and followed it here." The infuriating boy pressed on his PDA, letting a hologram of the wanted poster appear above it. "It's hard to not notice the rainbow mohawk. Even Misaki was able to recognize him."

Awashima schooled her emotions. "You two are normal officers of Scepter 4. You are obligated to inform the Special squad of strains, not engage in combat by yourselves."

"Tch. We did." This time, the screen from Saruhiko's phone changed into his call history. "Misaki insisted on following the stupid rules so we messaged the strain line and then waited the required 5 minutes before engaging. It's not our problem that the deployment response rate takes longer than 5 minutes."

Suddenly, things made a lot of sense. Awashima and the special squad had spent the entire morning going to random locations to find strains already knocked out and tied to a pole.

"Saru!" The other problem child cheerfully ran towards his friend, sheathed sabre under one arm and skateboard under the other. "I'm… Ah! M-m-m-madam Lieutenant!"

Saruhiko smirked at Misaki's blushing face, flicking his forehead when the shorter boy quickly hid behind him. "Virgin."

Misaki jammed the grip of his sabre into Saruhiko's back.

Awashima suppressed a sigh. "Yata, Scepter 4's uniform consists of more than just the blue jacket. Wear the issued waist jacket, pants, and boots. Fushimi, you too. Button up your shirt and jacket."

Saruhiko clicked his tongue and refused the same time Misaki complained about how stuffy the clothes are. "We are running errands for the captain today, lieutenant. There is no need to dress properly."

"If you two are running errands, what are you doing here?!"

The taller of the two responded by lifting up a plastic bag. "Buying a puzzle."

"C-captain said we should take our time!" Misaki cried out, still hiding behind Saruhiko's back.

"So, lieutenant, the two of us will continue on our 'errand'. Chances are, we will be seeing you later. Let's go, Misaki."

"Don't call me that in public!" Misaki jammed his sword at Saru again. He quickly gave Awashima a deep bow and ran after his partner. "So, who's next?"

…

On that day, Saruhiko and Misaki single-handedly cleaned up a good third of the risk 4 strain backlog, leaving a legendary record to beat and a lot of paperwork for the special unit.

Munakata's glasses glinted as he began assembling his newest puzzle.