Strategy

Soga Kugisaki tests how well Koichi Haimawari can snipe with Slide and Glide, setting three targets at twenty meters, two of them round and one shaped like a person. Koichi opens up with his new Ultimate Move, Shooty-Go-Kablam, firing concentrated bullets of air. Moyuru Tochi and Rapt Tokage cannot make sense of the result: the round targets take bull's-eyes, and the human-shaped one is untouched. Koichi has no explanation either, and Soga supplies it. Something below conscious thought makes him miss anything shaped like a person. That forces a rewrite. With full-power shots at people ruled out and Shooty-Go-Blam too short on range and speed, Koichi will have to corner her with movement and hand-to-hand instead.

Days of work follow. Moyuru and Rapt drill him while Soga runs the mission on paper, studying maps of the district, weighing what actions are viable, and grinding through footage of the attack. Moyuru comes back from a supply run and a look at the bombing site with a report: reconstruction is crawling because everyone expects another strike, the streets are nearly empty, most shops are shuttered, and heroes are thick on patrol. Soga keeps picking the videos apart for her physical ability, the destructive yield of the bees, the control she has over the swarm, which is slow going since fans shot all of it badly. Moyuru tells him to ease off and remarks that Pop looks like someone pulling an extreme prank. Soga sees something else. To him she looks like she is suffering.

Koichi, listening, decides he will simply talk to her, certain she will hear him out. Rapt and Moyuru remember how the last meeting went and doubt it, but he points out that whenever Kazuho used to be angry for reasons he could not name, time spent together sorted it out. They stay unconvinced. Soga sends the three of them to sleep and promises a strategy by morning; Moyuru takes over the video search so Soga can rest too, and mentions that helping people turns out to be sort of fun. Soga tells him to take the job seriously.

In a high-rise apartment, the possessed Kazuho is bloodied and close to breaking. She drags herself off the bed to the window and looks out at the city while her head churns with violence and a tangle of love and hatred she cannot separate. She weeps over Koichi, insisting he will never forget her, blood running from her left eye.

Come morning, the police pair Pro Heroes off to patrol and protect the streets still under repair from the previous week. One of those heroes is the villain Number 6, working under the name Rock, drawn as partner to Compass Kid, who is friendly from the first word. On the walk, Compass Kid admits his wife hates that he spent a day off on poorly paid work instead of with their children, but says peace of mind for the neighborhood is worth it. Rock agrees, adding that they are also insurance in case Pop comes back. Number 6 knows she will, today.

Koichi's Shooty-Go-Kablam proves accurate on objects and useless against anything human-shaped, forcing Soga to plan around close-quarters capture instead of shooting.

Soga studies footage of the rampage and concludes that Bee☆Pop is in pain rather than enjoying herself, which the chapter confirms by showing the possessed Kazuho bloodied and weeping over Koichi.

Number 6 is revealed to be operating as the Pro Hero Rock, patrolling Naruhata with Compass Kid while knowing the next attack is coming.

Compass Kid, real name Hokuto Hario, debuts in this chapter. Koichi appears alone on the cover.

The serialized title was Strategy Meeting, 作戦会議, shortened for the volume release.