Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

“Cheers!” 

The confetti cannons going off left Hyuse staring in confusion while the rest of his team just accepted it with grins.  

“Congratulations on passing the away mission exam!” Konami wrapped an arm around Yuma’s neck and ruffled up his hair. “But I had no doubt you guys would pass with us as your mentors.” 

Yuma smirked at his mentor. He pulled himself free and looked over at the breakfast counter to see all the food spread out, lighting up his eyes in excitement. Instead of replying to Konami, he made his way over to the food.  

“We really couldn’t have done it without you guys.” Osamu agreed, smiling over at his own mentor.  

“We may have been the ones to train you, but if it wasn’t for your determination to get stronger and get on the team, you wouldn’t have gotten here.” Karasuma replied as he put down the used confetti cannon.  

“I don’t understand.” Hyuse said.  

“It’s a party to celebrate your success.” Jin said as he came up behind Hyuse, who turned to shoot him a glare. “Your difficulties aren’t over. In fact, they are only starting as you have not only your training for the mission to go through, but the actual mission itself. It's certainly going to be rough.” He glanced over to the kitchen where Yuma was already snatching up a cookie. “Though, it seems some people don’t know what it means to stress about the future.”  

Yuma waved his cookie in the air. “Training starts in a few days and will go on for a while before the actual mission. There is no need to worry about any of that for now.”  

“True,” Jin grinned, reaching across the breakfast counter to ruffle Yuma’s already messed up hair from when Konami messed it up. “Stressing too much about the future will make you forget to enjoy the present.”  

Hyuse's eyes flickered from the food to everyone in the room as they spread out to enjoy each other’s company. Parties weren’t completely foreign to him. He had just never seen anyone have a celebration for something so trivial. Well, considering he saw taiyaki sitting on one of the plates, he would accept Tamakoma’s weird need for parties. He went to snatch one of the taiyaki, but another hand covered the one he was going for. His eyes shifted across the counter to catch Yuma’s eyes as the shorter agent smirked at him. “Let go.”  

“There’s more there.” Yuma replied.  

“That’s the biggest one.” Hyuse retorted.  

“And?” Yuma quickly pulled his hand back and took a bite out of the taiyaki before Hyuse could even think to stop him. He raised a brow at Hyuse as if asking what he would do about it.  

Hyuse replied by smacking Yuma’s hands away and grabbing the whole plate of taiyaki and walking away with it making Yuma snicker at his retreating back.  

“They can be such children.” Konami said as she watched Hyuse move to the farthest sit from the kitchen with his plate as if he thought Yuma would follow him to steal them from him.  

“Considering his mentor can act like such a child, it’s not surprising Yuma hasn’t learned any maturity.” Karasuma teased.  

Konami’s brow twitched as she twisted to look at her partner. “I am a very mature young woman!”  

“Do mature people normally torment boys who are shy around girls?” Osamu wondered as he thought back to when Shiori and Konami tried to tease Tsuji at the restaurant a few weeks ago. It had been a surprise how easily flustered he got around girls.  

Konami gaped, as if surprised by Osamu’s daring to even join in. “How can I not tease him? He makes it so easy!” 

“Sounds like a lack of maturity to me.” Reiji said. 

“Is this gang up on Kirie day?!” Konami cried, making the group laugh in amusement.  

“It sure is noisy in here.”  

“Boss!” Came multiple cries as Rindo appeared in the doorway holding a cake in his hands.  

“Oooh,” Yuma leaned on the counter to get a better look at the cake that Rindo was putting down. It was a layered cake with a chocolate glaze running down the top and sides with cookies circling the top and a sign in the middle of the cake that said ‘congratulations.’ “That looks delicious!”  

Rindo took in the young agent and his messed up hair that he still didn’t bother to fix. He poked him in the head to push him back from the cake. “Actual food before the cake, Yuma.” He took in the cookie in his hand and shook his head in amusement.  

“Doesn’t this seem like a bit much?” Osamu asked as he took in all the food and desserts that had been set up for them.  

“There’s nothing wrong with letting loose and having fun once in a while.” Jin replied.  

Seeing the smiles on his team’s face and feeling the excitement and joy in the air, Osamu had to agree. They had been working so hard the past few months to get stronger and work as a team all for the chance to get on the away mission. It was nice to see that all the hard work was being acknowledged and that everyone in Tamakoma wanted to celebrate with them. In just a few days, they would be training for the away mission so taking a night to relax and have fun before they dived into that intense training was something they all deserved.  

Yotaro peaked over the armrest of the chair with the help of Raijinmaru to eye the plate that was in Hyuse’s hand. Hyuse caught his eye and nudged the plate a bit his way. Yotaro didn’t need any more prompting than that as he eagerly reached forward to grab himself a snack. Hyuse glanced away and happened to caught sight of Yuri who was smiling at him. It was an innocent smile, but Hyuse still felt like he was being teased so he twisted his head away with a scowl.  

Chika appeared at Yuma’s shoulder in the kitchen as she reached across him to get to the rice. Yuma stepped back to give her more space so she could pile all the plain rice she wanted on her plate.  

“You should really try to eat more than just rice.” Konami said. “You’ll stay small forever if that’s all you eat.”  

Chika smiled softly. “What does that say about Yuma-kun? He’ll eat anything and everything that is put in front of him and he’s still so short.”  

Yuma gasped dramatically. “I thought we would be short partners forever, Chika, but now you’ll pulling out the short comments too? Who have you been hanging around with that has been influencing you?”  

Glancing over at her teammate, Chika gave a teasing smile. “The comments of the midget white-haired devil from Tamakoma never died down, Yuma-kun. It’s hard to avoid them.”  

“It’s not like the Trion monster of Tamakoma ever died down either.” Yuma retorted easily, grinning at her. “We can be midget monsters together!” 

Chika laughed as she and Yuma high faced. “Forever then!” 

“Oh yeah!” Yuma said excitedly.  

Osamu raised a brow, but made no comment. The only reason Yuma was so short was because his Trion body couldn’t physically change. His real body was injured and trapped in his Black Trigger and slowly dying. With that information, Osamu didn’t understand how Yuma could joke so easily about his height. The reason for his short statue was nothing to take so lightly, but he wouldn’t be Yuma if he let anything truly stress and worry him.  

“Being that he is fifteen and still so short, I doubt there is much luck for Yuma to get much taller, but Chika is only fourteen. She still has a chance to get some height. She needs more food filled with more nutrient.” Shiori said before suddenly latching onto Chika into a tight hug around her neck. “But then again, she is so cute being so tiny. Do we really want her to grow?” 

Chika ignored Shiori’s hug as she happily scooped some rice into her mouth.  

“I can see a growth spurt in Chika-chan’s future.” Jin said.  

“Don’t even tease, Jin-san!” Shiori threw a cookie at Jin, who caught it with ease and grinned at her as he ate the cookie.  

“They certainly are lively.” Yuri approached her uncle from behind as he sat at the table, observing his agents with a fond smile. “It’s like Osamu-kun and his team are a breath of fresh air to the branch.”  

Rindo laughed and twisted in his seat to rest an arm on the back of his chair so he could look more properly at his niece. “There was a lot of excitement back when Jin first brought them to the base and it seemed that it hasn’t managed to die down. In fact, it has only gotten rowdier in here.” Not that Rindo would ever complain about that. The noise of the branch brought back such fond memories of the time when he first joined Border so long ago.  

“I heard,” Yuri glanced over at Jin, taking in the lack of Fujin at his side. She knew how much Jin admired his mentor and so he wanted to desperately keep his mentor’s memento safe so it had to be a very hard decision for him to give up Fujin to protect Yuma. It was a hard decision, but Jin was to be admired for his strength. He never backed down from what he thought was the right thing to do. “It’s nice to see Tamakoma accepting more agents to the branch now. It really helps to fill the void that was left after everything that happened.”  

Rindo glanced over at Hyuse conversing with Yotaro then over towards Yuma who was eagerly scarfing down some food. Border was an organization originally designed to make friends with Neighbors. While beliefs had been shifted over the years from all the pain and suffering caused by the Neighbors, Rindo wasn’t going to turn his back on the lessons that Yugo and Mogami had taught him. Tamakoma would always be a safe place for any Neighbors that wanted to be friends with them.  

Yuma wandered pass the counter with the cake on it, eyeing it eagerly. He couldn’t wait for that cake to be cut into. Just by the looks of it, he was sure it was going to be absolutely delicious. Dragging his eyes from the cake, Yuma continued on his trek to get himself a drink when his eyes caught sight of the calendar on the wall. His steps slowed down as he stared at the approaching week. His eyes moved past each day until they landed on the date that was about a week away.  

He took a half step closer to the calendar before retracting it and shaking his head. His grip tightened on his empty glass before he was loosening his grip and continuing on his way to the kitchen with an air of nonchalance. He kept his back to the rest of the room as he stood at the counter pouring his drink, but even as he finished with that, he didn’t move immediately as he rested his hands on the counter and took a few deep breaths.  

When Yuma finally turned around, he was surprised to find Jin standing on the other side of the breakfast counter staring at him with a question in his eyes. For a moment, the two just stared at each other, blocking out the sounds of everyone else talking over one another and having a good time. It was only broken when Yuma shook his head.  

Jin took it for what it was, a sign that he didn’t want to talk about what caused him to falter a moment ago. He gave his young friend an understanding smile that he hoped also conveyed he was here when Yuma did want to take. There wasn’t a reply from Yuma who just snatched his drink off the counter and melded back into the party with an easy smile like he usually did.  

As Yuma laughed at whatever Konami said, Jin stayed by the counter just watching his friend. He was truly amazed at the ability at which Yuma could fake his smiles. The conversation about his father and time in Calvaria felt so long ago, but Jin could still easily recall that night on the roof. It was his first insight to the depression that Yuma held inside. If it wasn’t for that night, Jin would have a hard time seeing it as Yuma hid it so well behind easy smiles. Over the months he got to know Yuma though, Jin was becoming quite adept at being able to read when those smiles were real and fake.  

And right now it was fake.  

The joy from earlier was washed away by whatever had crossed his mind earlier when he was staring at the calendar.  

And the smile never became real again for the rest of the party.  

*Mimics*

Compared to the liveliness of the party earlier, it was quiet. Too quiet for Yuma’s liking, but there was nothing he could do. It was late at night so everyone in the base was asleep. Even Osamu, who had a habit of staying up late to work on their strategy for upcoming matches, was asleep. It was good he was sleeping again. The bags under his eyes were finally receding. Without the stress of rising through the ranks in the Rank Wars and passing the Expedition Exam, he was relaxing and sleeping much more. They still had the training to get through before the Expedition, but the hard part of getting on the team was done.   

Without needing to prepare for a Rank battle and strategize for the next Ace he needed to beat, Yuma found himself feeling the loss of Replica even more than usual. During the day, he was always busy doing something, but at night when everyone was asleep and he didn’t have a fight to prepare for, there was nothing to keep his mind from straying to everything he loss.  

Not only Replica, but also his father.  

Sitting on the roof, staring up at the stars, Yuma found himself remembering the nights his father and him would be sitting outside at night. The stars in the Neighborhood were the other nations orbiting around and there were less in the sky than this world, but as a child, he thought it was very pretty. It was such a simple time of sitting under the night sky with his father pulling out the orbital map of the Neighborhood and teaching Yuma all the names of the countries he had mapped out. 

Perhaps this was nostalgia he was feeling. The simple days of just traveling the Neighborhood with his father were long gone, and yet, was something he desperately wanted to do, even if only for a few days. It was strange for him to suddenly want this. He was content where he was in life currently. He was enjoying every moment he spent in Border.  

That enjoyment didn’t take away the pain and guilt he felt when thinking of his father. It wasn’t any mystery to him why he was feeling the nostalgia of wanting to travel with his father and Replica again.  

In a week’s time, it would be the anniversary of his father’s death. Even if he was in a different world with a different way of calculating time, he was still keeping track. He wouldn’t let himself forget.  

And that was why he found himself missing the old days of just the three of them always together.  

So much has changed since those days.  

Hearing the familiar sound of metal creaking open, Yuma looked over his shoulder real quick to see his boss walking onto the roof before he was looking back up at the sky.  

“What are you doing still awake, boss?” Yuma asked. “It’s late.”  

“Just couldn’t sleep and knew I would find you up here. I didn’t expect to find you looking so solemn though.” Rindo teased as he approached the ledge. He held out one of the two mugs he was holding to Yuma. It seemed it was becoming a rule that if someone went to the roof to find Yuma, a drink must be brought.  

Yuma took the mug, holding it in both hands to let the warmth sink into his skin. “Thank you.”  

“So,” Rindo leaned against the ledge. “What has you looking so sad tonight, Yuma?”  

“I was thinking about Dad. We would camp out a lot and use his orbital diagram of the Neighborhood and try to match the nations with the stars in the sky.” Yuma explained as his eyes traced the stars in the sky.  

Rindo eyed the young agent out of the corner of his eyes. “I didn’t think you were the type to reminisce.”  

“Perhaps not usually.” Yuma looked away from the sky to meet Rindo’s eyes. “The anniversary of his death is in a week. And with Replica gone, I'm just missing him a lot more.” A sad look passed through Yuma’s eyes as he glanced down at his ring. “Without Replica, this is all I have left of Dad.”  

“That’s not true.” Rindo took a sip of his drink as he waited for Yuma to look at him. “Your ring may be the only material possession you have left of Kuga-san, but it’s not all you have. You have those memories of him and the experiences you shared with him that no one can take away from you. Not to mention, you have me and Shinoda. We can give you all the stories you want of your father.”  

Yuma turned his attention to the direction of the Restricted Zone. While it was still a good distance away, the Gates weren’t exactly small. From here, he could see the Gates opening. He wasn’t on duty tonight so he had to restrain himself from running towards the Restricted Zone to fight. It was like this almost every night. He's been fighting for so long that it was hard to not run towards enemies.  

“Did you know my dad for long?” Yuma asked, forcing his eyes away from the Restricted Zone.  

“We knew him for a few years before he decided to leave to go to the Neighbor’s world.” Rindo replied, a fond smile appearing on his face. “Back then, Border was such a small organization.” 

“And Tamakoma Branch was your HQ back then, right?” Yuma asked.  

“Yes, it was very crowded and noisy in here back then.” Rindo looked at his young agent with a warm smile. “With your team and Yuri and Michael being back, the energy and noise of the base is matching the past. It makes me want to reminisce too.” 

“Things had to have been simpler back then with Border being smaller.”  

“True, but Kuga-san always dreamed of growing Border into a big organization like it is today. He wanted more allies by his side. Border was always his biggest dream back then.” Rindo replied.  

“It’s a shame he couldn’t see what it has become.” Yuma said.  

“As much as he loved Border, I think he had a new dream that he cared much more about.” Rindo said.  

Yuma blinked in confusion. “What makes you think that? It's been a long time since you last saw him.”  

“Because I can see his dream right in front of me.” Rindo took another sip of his drink, but his eyes never left Yuma. “Your life was more important to him than anything else.”  

“More important than his?” Yuma brushed his thumb over his ring. “He's the one who should be here.”  

Rindo gave his agent a sad smile. “You made a mistake, Yuma.”  

“Yes, I made the mistake.” Yuma stared down into his drink, swirling the liquid around gently. “My father didn’t need to save me at all. The consequences were mine to suffer.”  

“And it was Kuga-san's choice to make to save your life. To him, there was nothing more important in his life than you. He would give his life a thousand times over if you could live.” Rindo continued to watch Yuma, but the teenager averted his head in the opposite direction. It was strange to see Yuma hide away like that, but he also was the type who didn’t like others knowing when he was hurting. There was always a smile on his face when he was with everyone. “He helped build Border and it was his dream to grow this organization but you became his new dream. It wasn’t in Kuga-san to let his dream die when he could prevent it.”  

“It’s not like he prevented it. He only bought me some time.” Yuma said softly.  

“And it’s more time than you would have had. He would rather you get to live a few more years than die at eleven.” Rindo replied.  

“Is me living a few more years better than the decades he had left?” Yuma retorted.  

“That wasn’t even a question for your father. I bet he had no hesitation in giving up his life. Besides,” Rindo swirled his drink around in his mug as he thought about all the friends he lost over the years he’s spent in Border. “Nothing in life is guaranteed. Your father probably had decades left on his life, but it was also possible he could have been killed by someone. He probably thought he had lived a long life already while your life had only just started. He wants you to experience more from life.”  

From the way Yuma’s face twisted, it seemed that he didn’t quite believe what Rindo was saying.  

“I think he wanted me to experience Japan.” Yuma looked towards the city, smoothing out the features on his face. This world was so different from the Neighborhood. In the Neighborhood, he would find himself fighting every single day while here, he wasn’t always in active combat. He might train every day, but it wasn’t the same as being in the field constantly. He got to take days that allowed him to just have fun and enjoy himself. It was a strange concept compared to his life before. “You’re at war with Neighbors, but it is still a lot more peaceful here than anywhere else I’ve been too. And there are so many interesting things here and your food tastes amazing. I can see why Dad loved it so much.” 

“Do you think he would have ever come back here?” Rindo asked.  

Yuma tilted his head in consideration. “I don’t know. He spoke fondly of Japan and Border, but he also really loved traveling through the Neighborhood and seeing the different nations. It was dangerous, but Dad could truly handle anything that got thrown at him.”  

“Mogami-san was the same way. There was never any hesitation to his actions or words. He and Kuga-san were great leaders.” Finishing the last of his drink, Rindo put the mug down on the ledge and relaxed fully against it. “We learned so much from them. It's a shame they both died before they could see Border become what it is today.”  

Yuma watched him from the corner of his eyes. “Border hates Neighbors and wants to kill them, but that’s not what Dad or Mogami saw in the Neighborhood. They both wanted to make friends with Neighbors. I wonder if they would be happy to see what the organization they helped create has become.”  

“Not everyone in Border hates them. There are groups that do and those that don’t. Everyone is allowed their own opinions on it. Mogami-san and Kuga-san wouldn’t turn their backs on Border because of differing thoughts. Instead, they would embrace it. They were both very vocal about everyone making their own choices.” Rindo replied.  

“Very true.” Yuma smiled fondly, looking up at the stars once more. “Growing up Dad gave me orders when out in the field, but whether I followed them or not was up to me. That's how I got into the situation I'm in now.” He looked down at his hands, opening and closing them a few times before looking back at Rindo. “But he never got mad when I made a choice contrary to what he wanted. He let me do it and if I got into trouble, that was on me and I had to sort it out myself. It’s why I can’t understand why he traded his life for mine. I disobeyed his order and got killed for it. He didn’t need to pay the consequences for me. Why would anyone throw their life away for someone else? Osamu does it all the time too. He puts himself into perilous situations he can’t handle for the sake of others.”  

“Can you really say you’re any different though, Yuma? Care to tell me again how you beat Viza during Aftokrator’s invasion?” Rindo retorted.  

Yuma jerked in surprise, twisting around to meet his boss’s stare. “That was completely different. I can handle myself alone in a fight. I took a calculated risk and it turned out fine. I couldn’t waste any more time in that fight when Osamu needed my help.”  

“It was a reckless move, and you and I both know that.” Rindo retorted. “But, sometimes, recklessness is what we need.”  

“It was strategic recklessness, and like I said, it worked out in our favor.”  

Rindo smiled at the offended look on Yuma’s face. “Just between me and you, I respect your strategic nature and sometimes a reckless move is needed. It's a lot different than what your father probably taught you about strategy and warfare, but as you grow and gain more experience, you’ll understand your own skill better and know when a reckless stunt like you pulled will work or not.”  

“Well, to be fair, if I had to fight Viza again, I wouldn’t win a second time. It was a reckless strategy coupled with the element of surprise on my part. He didn’t know about my body, but after that fight, he does now and if I have to fight him again, I couldn’t pull off that maneuver successfully a second time.” Yuma admitted.  

“He sounds like a very tough contender.” Rindo said.  

Yuma hummed in agreement before drinking his drink. “Probably one of the strongest people I’ve ever fought.”  

Rindo covered a yawn with his hand.  

“Hmm, getting tired now, boss?” Yuma asked, even though he wasn’t looking at Rindo to see that he had yawned. “You should try to get some sleep before morning comes.”  

“Sounds like a good idea. Don't stay out here all night, Yuma. You can spend time in your room.” Rindo said.  

“I’ll go in eventually.” Yuma promised as Rindo picked up his mug and headed back inside. Now that he was alone again, Yuma pulled his eyes back to the Restricted Zone. He didn’t see any more gates opening at the moment.  

*Mimics*  

“You okay, Shuji?” Yoneya asked, spear resting on his shoulder as he stared at his captain in confusion.  

Miwa looked down at his sword that he had dropped to the ground, blinking away the fuzziness that had suddenly clouded his mind. “Fine,” He muttered as he picked up Kogetsu. He wasn’t sure of what had reminded him of his sister, but the memory of her had shocked him so much. The reason he was an agent was to kill Neighbors in return for them stealing his sister from him, but he didn’t tend to let the memory of her distract him while he was working. 

“There’s still no sign of any Trion soldiers. I can’t figure out what that Gate opening was for.” Ren’s voice came over the communicators.  

“Is it possible we had some Humanoid Neighbors coming through?” Narasaka asked.  

“If that’s the case, we already lost them.” Kodera said.  

Yoneya looked down the street they were standing on. This reminded him a lot of when they found that Bamster destroyed in the Restricted Zone and no one was able to figure out who did it. Well, they knew it was Kuga now, but back then it was hard to figure out. They still don’t know how he got here. How did they keep missing these things? Their operating system was very top notch in alerting them of problems, and yet, they were starting to miss so much lately.  

“If it were an invasion, Jin-san would have alerted us already.” Ren said.  

“That doesn’t rule out the fact that Neighbors could be milling about right now.” Yoneya replied. “If it’s not a full on invasion, Jin-san would probably want to make friends with the Neighbors.”  

Miwa sheathed his sword, frowning. “Jin would be active right now if he saw something about to happen, but he’s been taking it easy lately. The fact that he’s not out here either means he didn’t see anything or...”  

Rubble shifting around had all the agents on full alert as they twisted towards the sound. Yoneya dropped his spear from his shoulder, twisting it around to grip it properly while Kodera and Narasaka backed up as they got ready to move to their position if they needed to.  

From the shadows of a building, a young woman stepped out, smiling softly at the team.  

“A civilian?” Yoneya lowered his spear, but didn’t drop his guard completely.  

The young woman raked her eyes over the group to take each of them in before landing on Miwa. Her smile grew as she looked at him. “Shuji, I've missed you so much. It's been too long.” 

“Uh....what?” 

*Mimics*  

Yuma looked down at his mug, swirling his drink around. He was feeling uneasy all of a sudden, and it wasn’t because of the loss of company and being alone again. Shifting his mug to his left hand, Yuma slipped his right hand into his pocket to take hold of his Trigger. It was completely possible he was just being paranoid, but if there was something he learned in his experiences in war, it was to never ignore his bad feelings.  

So when he felt a gentle breeze sweep across the back of his neck, Yuma didn’t even think. He simply moved on instinct and launched himself to the side. His mug went flying through the air and down to the river below, but Yuma didn’t notice as he used his left arm for leverage on the ledge to flip himself as he pulled out his Trigger.  

“Trigger on!” Yuma’s body switched over to his combat form as he was still flipping backwards. His feet hit the very edge of the ledge as he landed from the flip. He glanced over his shoulder as he teetered on the edge. His eyes shifted forward in time to see a shadowed arm reaching for him. Scorpion appeared in his hand as he twisted his body on the ledge to get better footing and move out of the way of the attack.  

Yuma jumped off the ledge and a little away from the arm, landing in a crouch on the roof. Eyeing the arm, his eyes followed it back to where it came from.  

A shifting in the shadows drew his eyes and as he looked over, a shadowy figure stepped out. It was a shadow walking towards him. The only thing that told Yuma it was a Trion soldier was the eye on the head where the face would be.  

Eyes narrowing, Yuma stood up from his crouch, calling forth a second Scorpion in his free hand. The shadow tilted its head at Yuma as if in consideration. As for himself, Yuma shifted his foot back. This was truly the last thing they needed right now.  

The shadow suddenly threw its arms forward towards Yuma, but they didn’t stop when they reached their maximum length. No, instead they extended forward even farther. Using his sword, Yuma knocked one of the arms away and ducked under the other before pushing himself off the ground to move to the side just as the arms retracted and tried to swing towards him again.  

Yuma crossed his blades in front of him to block the arms as he tilted his head back to make sure nothing touched him. Putting a bit more strength behind his blades, Yuma forced the arms back as he jumped onto the ledge behind him. He turned off one of his swords as he crouched down, eyes never leaving his enemy that just continued to look at him. The yellow eye flashed, purple rings circling it. Yuma hid his arm behind his back as he activated Grasshopper behind his foot.  

The pad launched him forward straight at his enemy. Before the Trion soldier could hit him with his arms, Yuma was using multiple Grasshopper pads to launch himself to the side then behind the Trion soldier. The shadow’s arm twisted around behind him as if it didn’t have joints. Yuma knocked the first arm back as he called Scorpion to his free hand. He twisted his body to avoid the second arm, but didn’t move his body enough. The hand of the second arm just barely brushed against his cheek.  

‘You fool...why were you defeated?’  

Ignoring the twinge he felt that was screaming at him to give in and bringing forth memories he didn’t have time to think of, Yuma brought his Scorpion down through the Trion soldier’s head and all the way to the ground.  

Yuma didn’t waste time waiting for the Trion soldier to collapse to the ground as he was already launching through the air with Grasshopper towards the Restricted Zone.  

*Mimics*  

“Someone you know?” Narasaka asked, eyes shifting back and forth from his captain to the woman in front of them.  

Miwa’s hand shook violently from where he was gripping his sheathed sword. He had been prepared to pull his sword back out, but now he couldn’t even find the strength to pull out Kogetsu. This wasn’t possible. He had to be hallucinating right now.  

“Shuji, are you okay?” The young woman stepped forward to get closer to the team. “I’m sorry that I'm in the Restricted Zone, but I couldn’t wait to see you again. I wanted to talk to you again.”  

“Shuji, who is this?” Yoneya asked confused.  

At his voice, the young woman turned towards him. “Oh, I'm sorry. I'm being so rude. I’m Shuji’s older sister.”  

“Older sister?” Kodera repeated, brows pulling down in confusion as he looked at his captain.  

“Tsk, it’s rude to interrupt people.” The woman scolded gently. She put a hand to her chest. “My name is Miwa-” 

The woman was cut off as a sword came slicing down through her body, surprising all the agents. As her body split in half, Yoneya could see Yuma crouched down behind the body.  

Her body split cleanly in half and just fell to the ground. The face of his sister has been maimed again. She was lying in two pieces, dead on the floor.  

“What the hell do you think you’re doing?!” Miwa screamed.  

Standing up, Yuma’s Scorpion dissipated from his hand. “That thing was calling itself your sister, wasn’t she? We all know your sister is dead.” He looked over his shoulder at Miwa. “Hate me if you like, but you would have eventually gotten over your shock and would have realized it’s not possible for her to be here. Even if that thing was a fake, it still had your sister’s face. It would be cruel to force you to be the one to strike her down. You don’t need the memory of your sister’s death being your fault.”  

“A fake?” Kodera asked. “What are you talking about? That was a human, wasn’t it?” 

“And what are you even doing here, Kuga? You’re not on duty tonight.” Narasaka added.  

“We have a problem.” Yuma turned to full face the team. The last time he faced the full Miwa squad like this, they were trying to kill him. When in the base, they were fine since there were eyes everywhere, but out here, it wasn’t the same. It didn’t mean anything since none of them were willing to break the rules, but it was just eerie to him. It was only a few months ago when they fought. Back when he still had Replica by his side. But that wasn’t here or now. They had more pressing matters. “We’re being attacked by Mimics.”  

“Mimics? I've never heard of Mimics. Are those Trion soldiers?” Yoneya asked.  

“You wouldn’t have heard of them.” Yuma sighed. “I only know of one nation that uses them, but that’s not important right now.”  

“Correct. What’s important is the fact that you just killed a woman.” Kodera said.  

“That woman was a Mimic. Mimics can take the forms of humans.” Yuma replied, glancing down at the body he just split in half.  

“That thing was claiming to be my sister.” Miwa snarled.  

Yuma glanced at him. At least the anger in his face wasn’t directed at Yuma this time. “Yes, that’s what Mimics do. You probably had a Mimic touch you at some point tonight. They’re shadowy figures that can’t take form until they touch someone and look into your mind to find fond memories of someone you loved that died. They take that person’s form. She may have looked like your sister, but that thing was about to kill all of you.” 

“Can they take the form of anyone?” Yoneya asked.  

“No, they have to be dead and they need the memories you have of them, but they have to be someone you truly care about and love. So if it’s an enemy that you have memories of that is dead, the Mimics can’t copy them.” Yuma explained.  

“What’s the purpose of a Trion soldier like this?” Narasaka asked.  

Yuma didn’t bother to answer the question as he turned his attention to the other end of the road. “Unless the Mimics take the form of someone, they can’t stay in the sunlight. We only need to hold them off for a few hours.”  

“Like they’re vampires?” Kodera asked.  

Yuma’s brows furrowed in confusion. “Well, I don’t know what vampires are, but sure.”  

“You really should look into what we have in this world if you’re going to stay here for a while. Everyone knows what vampires are.” Yoneya said.  

“Hn,” Yuma shrugged. “Who else is on duty tonight?”  

“Kazama squad.” Kodera replied.  

“Ren-san,” Miwa said. “Connect us with Kazama squad.” He paused and glanced at Yuma with a frown. “And add Kuga as well.”  

“Already on it, Miwa.” Ren said.  

“So, you didn’t answer, shrimp. What are you doing out here?” Yoneya asked while they were waiting.  

Yuma tilted his head. “I got attacked on Tamakoma’s roof and just immediately ran over after handling it. I figured you guys didn’t know what Mimics were.”  

“So what you’re saying is that you ran out here without alerting your branch that you got attacked at your branch.” Yoneya clarified slowly.  

“It’s fine. They're not going to get attacked.” Yuma replied confidentially.  

“Even if that’s true, you ran here without any backup, not even your operator.” Kodera pointed out.  

“They were sleeping. I didn’t want to wake them.” Yuma said. “Also, didn’t really have time to wake them.”  

“Why weren’t you sleeping? It's almost three in the morning.” Yoneya point out.  

Yuma shrugged in reply.  

“What’s wrong?” Kazama’s voice came through the coms.  

“Ah, good evening, Kazama-senpai.” Yuma greeted immediately, happy to get away from the conversation about why he was awake still. It wasn’t something he wanted to explain to anyone.  

“Kuga? You’re not on duty.”  

“So I've heard.” Yuma said, a twinge of amusement brushing his voice at the constant reminders. “But we are having a problem. Been attack by any shadows tonight?”  

“Shadows?” Kazama repeated.  

“Apparently, we have a new Trion soldier appearing tonight. According to Kuga they’re called Mimics and they’re shadowy figures.” Yoneya explained.  

“They’ll have a yellow eye where the face should be.” Yuma added.  

“I haven’t seen anything like that.” Utagawa said.  

“Danger level?” Kazama requested.  

“As shadow figures, their offensive capabilities are nothing to be concerned with, but that doesn’t mean to take them lightly. It's when they transform that they get dangerous.” Yuma replied.  

“What kind of transformation is that?” Utagawa asked.  

“They transform into our deceased loved ones.” Miwa snapped angrily.  

“That’s some anger. Did your sister appear or something?” Kikuchihara asked.  

“That’s didn’t need said.” Utagawa scolded quickly before Miwa could explode. “I’m sorry about him, Miwa.”  

“He wasn’t wrong.” Yuma piped up. “Mimic Miwa did appear. If the Mimics touch you, it will absorb memories of lost loved ones you have and transform into them. They might attack you. They might leave after that with their new forms. If they manage to get a form, they can stay out in the daylight. As the shadow forms, they can’t survive in the sun and will go into hiding.” 

“They transform into dead people from our memories?” Utagawa asked.  

“Why is that the part you all keep focusing on?” Yuma asked.  

“Because a lot of people in Border have lost people, Kuga. We don’t need Trion soldiers throwing those losses in our face.” Utagawa replied.  

Yuma sighed. “It’s less about throwing it in your face and more about manipulating your emotions. It's not going to be easy to strike down something that has the face of someone you already lost once.”  

“Should we alert Director Shinoda of the situation?” Kodera asked.  

“He won’t be in until morning. If Kuga is sure the Mimics won’t stick around once the sun rises, we can handle this until then. There’s no need to wake him up this late in the night.” Kazama replied. “Afterwards, I'll be sure to talk to him personally about the Mimics.”  

“What if the Mimics head towards the city?” Utagawa asked.  

“They won’t.” Yuma promised. “Mimics can only access memories from Trion bodies so they don’t have any reason to head to the city. Right now, we’re the only ones they can target.”  

“When the Gate opened earlier, I couldn’t get any readings on Trion soldiers coming through. It would be helpful if we were able to analyze one to get their signal on our radars.” Ren said. “You just killed one there, right? Can someone bring its eye back to HQ so we can analyze it?”  

Yoneya glanced down at the body at their feet. “Um, nope. It’s dead, but it’s still transformed into Shuji’s sister.” He looked around the body. While the outside looked like a human, the inside was just a hollow void. So the transformation only affected the outside appearance. Good to know there wouldn’t be any organs or blood flowing around when they destroyed the things.  

“What about the one that Kuga left abandoned on Tamakoma Branch’s roof?” Kodera suggested.  

“You left a dead Trion soldier on your roof?” Utagawa asked confused. “You just said the Mimics wouldn’t leave the Restricted Zone.”  

That was true, but the situation was unique. Yuma was always in a Trion body so the Mimics would be drawn to him. “There were extenuating circumstances in play that brought the Mimic to the base. Those circumstance no longer exist so the Mimics will be staying in the Restricted Zone to target us.”  

“Sounds like you’re don’t want to tell us something.” Narasaka said.  

“It doesn’t involve you and doesn’t affect the situation.” Yuma replied.  

“It’s not important anyway. Wake someone up in your Branch to get the Mimic looked at.” Miwa ordered.  

Yuma tilted his head in thought. “Michael-san would be the best equipped to analyze it, right? I don’t have his number. Guess I could just call Boss, but he just went to bed. And I don’t want to wake up my team. They need their rest.”  

“Just call Jin-san. He’ll probably want to take a look into this as soon as possible anyway.” Yoneya suggested.  

“I suppose.” Yuma deactivated his Trigger and moved away from Miwa squad as he pulled out his cell phone. He felt uneasy standing in the Restricted Zone without his Trigger activated. He wasn’t safe in this body or with his Trigger activated with Mimics running around. Not that Miwa squad knew that. Even so, they probably thought he was in his living body so at least Yoneya would watch his back. The other three he was unsure of since they had grudges against Neighbors, but at the same time, he felt they would watch his back. He was the only here who knew the most about Mimics after all. They needed his information.  

“Your room isn’t that far from mine so why are you calling me at three in the morning?” Jin asked groggily.  

“I’m sorry to wake you, Jin-san, but we have a bit of a problem. I'm in the Restricted Zone right now. I need Michael-san, but I don’t have his number.” Yuma replied as his eyes scanned the buildings around him.  

There was a ruffling sound on the other end as Jin pulled himself out of bed. “Explain it to me, Yuma.”  

“Short version or long version?” Yuma asked.  

“Short version for now. You can tell me the rest later.” Jin said.  

“Okay, there’s Trion soldiers called Mimics here right now. One attacked me on the roof earlier. We need Michael-san to analyze it and get it on our radars so we can scour the Restricted Zone for them until sunrise.” Yuma explained.  

“O-kay, I have many questions, but we’ll save that for the morning.” Jin replied. “I’ll get Michael-san and we’ll contact you in a bit.”  

“Thanks, Jin-san.” Yuma ended the call and reactivated his Trigger. “They’re going to take a look at it.”  

“You did leave it intact enough for it to be analyzed, right?” Yoneya asked.  

“I only cut it once so it should be fine.” Yuma replied. He twisted around to view the buildings again. It didn’t help much since he couldn’t see through the shadows of the buildings in the dark, but if anything stepped out, he could at least see them. Mimics were easier to take out before they could transform, but they were also fast. Their attacks needed dodged or blocked perfectly. 

Miwa looked down at the face of his sister split in half. If it wasn’t for the dark hollowness inside the body, he would think it really was his sister lying dead at his feet. That alone just pissed him off extremely. It was a sick joke to transform into deceased loved ones. Even worse, he was angry at himself for freezing. He was shocked to see his sister standing in front of him and couldn’t think or move. Then there was the small smidge of desperation he had felt that it was real. That she was really standing in front of him and he was wrong about her death.  

Kuga wasn’t wrong.  

He didn’t have it in him to strike down the fake in front of him. If there was the slightest chance she was real....he couldn’t be the one to end it.  

“Yuma.”  

Yuma perked up at Jin’s voice coming through his coms. “That was fast.”  

“Why did you feel the need to leave a Trion soldier on the roof and just run off?” Jin asked.  

Yuma grinned sheepishly. “I kind of ran off without really thinking about it. I was worried about the Mimics in the Restricted Zone.”  

“You were more worried about that then alerting us that we might be attacked in our sleep?” Jin asked.  

“That wasn’t a concern. Mimics go after people in Trion bodies. You were all sleeping so you weren’t targets to them.” Yuma explained.  

“I see. So no more Mimics will leave the Restricted Zone since you’re there.” Jin replied.  

“Mm-hmm, you’ve got it.” Yuma planted his foot on a piece of rubble and started to roll it around under his foot.  

“I understand, but Yuma, you don’t need to do this alone. You can ask us for help.”  

“I know. I just didn’t want to wake you guys, especially Osamu. He's been wearing himself out with the Rank Wars and Expedition Exam stressing him out.” Yuma explained before kicking the rock towards the nearby building. His eyes stayed locked on the shadows of the building, but he didn’t see any movement in it. “You didn’t wake up Boss, did you? He just went to bed like half an hour ago.”  

“As far as I know, he’s still sleeping. What is with your obsession with us sleeping?” Jin asked.  

“You guys need to get more sleep. You all tend to stress and not sleep.” Yuma replied.  

“Says the one who apparently hasn’t gone to bed yet tonight.” Yoneya interrupted the one side conversation they were listening to, but Yuma just waved him off. 

“Tends to happen when we get busy.” Jin replied. “Who are you with right now?” 

“Miwa squad and Kazama squad is out here somewhere.” Yuma said.  

“Alright, one sec.”  

“Good evening, Miwa squad, Kazama squad. Great night to be on duty, huh?” Jin’s voice rang over everyone’s coms a minute later.  

“You sound far too awake for someone who just got woken up not even ten minutes ago.” Yoneya said.  

“I’m the Power Elite. I only need a few minutes to be ready.” Jin replied.  

“Yuma, are you sure this is a Trion soldier? I've never seen one like this.” Michael’s voice crackled over the coms.  

“I’m positive. They're a bit different from what I remember, but they’re definitely Mimics.” Yuma replied.  

“It certainly is an uncommon design. It must be unique to a certain nation.” Michael said.  

Yuma hummed in agreement.  

“Are you able to analyze it and get it on our radars?” Kazama asked.  

“Sure, it will be easy enough, but it will take some time.” Michael asked.  

“Jin-san, you didn’t activate your Trigger, did you?” Yuma asked.  

“I did, why do you ask?” Jin replied.  

“You might need to deactivate if you don’t plan to come to the Restricted Zone. Mimics, at least when I last dealt with them, have something like a radar in them that led them to Trion bodies. If you’ve active, they’ll find you and come back to the base.” Yuma explained.  

“I think I can handle a Mimic, Yuma.”  

Yuma pursed his lips. “If it touches you before you manage to destroy it, it will transform. I'd rather not risk having Mogami show up. If he did, can you really say you could beat him?”  

“What do you mean?” 

“Mimics don’t just transform into someone. They have all their skills and experiences of that person. If Mogami shows up, he’s going to be as strong as you last remember him. And even if you could beat him, could you really strike down your mentor or even your mother? They’re fakes, but they look, sound, and move like the real thing.”  

“I get the point, Yuma. We can’t let them transform.” Jin replied.  

“You didn’t mention the skill thing earlier, Kuga.” Miwa snapped.  

“How many people in Border know agents that have died and would be the ones recreated with Mimics? Mimics in general when transformed are stronger, but when you add the skills of the person they transformed into on top of that, they’ve very dangerous. From what I've heard, Mogami was very strong. I don’t think it would be good for us to have him appearing.” Yuma replied.  

“Jin-san isn’t the only one with memories of Mogami-san. It would be dangerous for any of them to get those memories absorbed.” Kazama added.  

“So what you’re saying is for me to turn my Trigger off?” Jin asked.  

“Just until morning.” Yuma said.  

“What will change in the morning?” Michael asked.  

“Unless they transform, Mimics can’t be in the sun.” Yuma explained.  

“That’s a new one for me. Why would anyone make a Trion soldier that can only operate at certain times?” Michael asked. “Got it. I have the Trion signature for the Mimics. I'm only see three at the moment. I'll send the data over to Tsukimi-kun and Mikami-kun.”  

“Thank you, Michael-san, and sorry for making your get up in the middle of the night.” Yuma said.  

“Just don’t leave anymore Trion soldiers on the roof, Yuma.” Michael replied, making Yuma smile in amusement.  

“Only three, huh? Sounds pretty simple.” Yoneya said.  

“Don’t take it easy. The enemy can easily open more gates and send more through.” Miwa replied.  

“Then we’ll each take one? Kuga, you’re fine on your own?” Kazama asked.  

“I’ll be fine. Oh, and watch out for the Mimics. Long range attacks work best, but the Mimics can extend their limbs. All it takes is a touch and they’ll have the memories.” Yuma said before he was jumping up to a building with his Grasshopper. “Where exactly am I going?” 

“I’ll lead you, Kuga-kun.” Mikami said. “There’s only one near where you are right now so we’ll leave that one to Miwa squad.”  

“Much obliged, Mikami-kun.”  

*Mimics*  

Yuma crouched on the edge of the building, a dead Mimic lying on the ground below. They were truly easy to deal with when they hadn’t transformed yet. Still, it was strange. Why were they being attacked by Mimics? The fact that only five came through the gate was also very confusing. Once Border knew what to do, they could handle the Mimics. Though if more than five got sent, it would be easy to overwhelm agents and get them transformed. So why weren’t more than five sent? Were they waiting to send more?  

“Pretty sure I got a promise last night that you would go back to your room at some point.”  

Yuma perked up at the voice ringing in his ears. “Boss, the sun is barely up and you’re already awake?”  

“Well, there’s work to be done, even more now as Jin has informed me.” Rindo replied.  

“Hmm, it wasn’t too difficult last night. There were only a few Mimics hanging around.”  

“But more could still come. We don’t know who sent them, but they’re most likely still in range to send more.”  

“That is true.” Yuma agreed.  

“You didn’t need to stay out all night either. Miwa squad and Kazama squad had it handled after you explained it to them.” Rindo added.  

Yuma looked up to stare at the rising sun. “It’s not like I had anything better to do.”  

“Are you sitting on a roof?” 

“How’d you guess?” 

“Yuma, you don’t need to spend all night on the roof. We can find you a hobby.”  

Yuma laughed lightly. “I’m fine, Boss. Besides, it wasn’t all night. I hung with Miwa squad for a bit then found my target of the night to take out. It was quite eventful. I got three kills last night.”  

“Well, make your way back to base. We’ll have breakfast before we head to HQ to report if you’re sure we won’t have any more issues with Mimics until tonight.” Rindo replied.  

“Got it, Boss.” Yuma agreed as he rose up, stretching his arms above his head. “Hey, Mikami-kun, you still there?” 

“What is it, Kuga-kun?” Mikami asked.  

“I’m heading back to my Branch, but I'll be at HQ later with Rindo-san. I suppose we’ll be speaking to Director Shinoda about what happened. Can you relay that to him?” Yuma requested.  

“I believe Kazama-san plans to speak to him as soon as he gets in. I'll have him pass your message along.” Mikami replied.  

Yuma smiled. “Thank you, and thanks for being my operator last night!”  

“You're welcome. Have a good day, Kuga-kun.” Mikami replied pleasantly.  

*Mimics*  

Walking towards his office and seeing Kazama standing by the window, looking out it, as he waited made Shinoda sigh. If he had an agent waiting for him, it meant something happened recently. The plan had been to start training preparations for the chosen Expedition team, but it seemed that would have to wait.  

“Good morning, Kazama. What can I do for you today?” Shinoda asked he neared the agent and motioned for him to follow him into his office. “Normally, you would just submit your report after defense duty. Did something happen last night?”  

“I want to get ahead of this as fast as possible. Do you know what Mimics are? I don’t see anything in our records about them, but Border has been around a long time so I wanted to know if you knew of them.” Kazama started as Shinoda got himself situated behind his desk.  

“Mimics imitate other people, do they not? But I have a feeling you are not asking about mimics in general.” Shinoda replied.  

Kazama shook his head. “Last night, we got introduced to a new a type of Trion soldier. Kuga appeared in the Restricted Zone last night to warn us and he called them Mimics.”  

Shinoda raised a brow in confusion. “Yuma-kun wasn’t on duty last night.”  

“He said he got attacked at Tamakoma by a Mimic and rushed to the Restricted Zone because he was worried about the Mimics.” Kazama replied. “Honestly, the way he described Mimics made me think the idea was farfetched, but according to Miwa squad, they faced a Mimic that had transformed into Miwa’s sister.  

That seemed to get Shinoda’s attention fully as he leaned back in his seat and stared at Kazama. “His deceased sister showed up last night?” 

“I wasn’t there, but that’s what Miwa squad and Kuga said happened. It was the only Mimic that managed to transform last night. Michael-san at Tamakoma analyzed the Mimic that Kuga left dead on their roof and got their signal on our radar for us. Using that, we found the ones that were left last night. I've added an image of them to the report I wrote.” Kazama explained.  

Shinoda leaned forward to access his computer to find that report.  

“Kuga also wanted to let you know he would be arriving with Rindo-san later to go over this in more detail. I believe they are concerned this is only the beginning. I'm inclined to agree. It's strange to only send five Mimics here. They could have overwhelmed us with a surprise attack and gotten them transformed pretty fast, but they chose to only send five. It's strange.”  

“I’ll get a meeting set up for later this morning then. Thank you for bringing this to my attention. I'll want you and Miwa at the meeting as well so we can gather all the information both your squads have.” Shinoda replied as he opened the file for Kazama’s report. He would read it fully later, but for now he scrolled to the image attached to the file. It was rare to see Trion soldiers that walked on two legs, but it was feeling like it was becoming quite commonplace in the last couple of weeks.  

“Yes sir.” Kazama replied before pausing as he thought before adding, “It will perhaps put you at ease to know that Kuga says unless they transform, Mimics can only come out at night. We don’t have to worry about more Mimics until tonight. That should be enough time to get the intel together and alert the other squads of the situation.”  

Shinoda nodded. “Good to know. Unless the Mimic of Miwa’s sister is still out there?” 

Kazama shook his head. “Kuga took care of it apparently.”  

“Then we have until sunset to get a plan of action into place. I’ll plan the meeting for 9:30. That should be enough time for Yuma-kun and Rindo to get here.” Shinoda replied.  

Kazama gave a small tilt of his head in reply. “I’ll alert Miwa of the meeting.”  

*Mimics*  

Yuma landed outside Tamakoma and deactivated his Trigger as he stood up. He straightened out his hoodie as he walked inside the building. As he walked, his stomach grumbled at him. Ah, he was so hungry. He didn’t eat anything all night because he went to the Restricted Zone. Normally he would have grabbed a snack at some point in the night. Speaking of, now that he thought about it, where did his mug go last night? 

“What are we having for breakfast? I'm starving.” Yuma said as way of greeting as he walked into the kitchen, only to pause when he found Hyuse and Osamu waiting for him. “What?” 

Shiori looked up from where she was cooking. “They’re mad at you. And I am too for that matter. I have half a mind to not give you food.”  

Yuma blinked. “Are you upset that I left last night?” 

“We’re your team, Kuga, but you didn’t alert us to the problem and just ran off on your own.” Osamu said.  

“I can handle myself so there was no need to wake you up. I didn’t really want to waste time with that anyway. I was in a hurry.” Yuma replied as he walked around his teammates to approach the counter. He climbed onto the stool and leaned over to see what Shiori was cooking.  

“I don’t care what you do. I'm sure you had no trouble last night, but I am curious about these things Jin was calling Mimics.” Hyuse replied.  

Osamu looked at Hyuse, but just sighed. He really didn’t know what else he expected from Hyuse. Actually, Yuma acted the exact same way he expected as well. “I know you can handle yourself, Kuga, but we’re a team. You don’t have to do everything by yourself.”  

Yuma sat back on the stool and looked over at his captain. “I rely on you guys. I don’t think I'm invincible, but like I said, I was in a hurry. It would have taken time to get you guys up and out the door. Plus, I can move faster by myself with Grasshopper. I wanted to get a jump on the Mimics as fast as possible.”  

“And what about me? I'm your operator, Yuma-kun!” Shiori scolded.  

“Mikami-kun helped me last night. We weren’t on duty last night so I didn’t want to disturb you guys.” Yuma replied.  

“How considerate of you.” Konami said from where she was sitting at the dining room table. “Now explain to me why you know what Mimics are, but Hyuse and Michael-san don’t. They're both Neighbors too.”  

Yuma looked over at his mentor with a frown. “Hyuse is from Aftokrator. They spend their time conquering or destroying other nations whereas I spent my childhood traveling through the Neighborhood and learning about the nations. Just because we’re all Neighbors, don’t assume we have the same experiences.”  

“So Mimics are unique even in the Neighbor’s world?” Osamu asked.  

“Back when I was a kid, I only knew of one nation that used them.” Yuma looked off the side, frowning deeply as he thought about it. Mimics were never sent to other nations to attack. The purpose of them was never to be used as weapons in other nations, so why were they attacking? 

Chapter Text

Kodera stared through his scope to watch as Miwa and Yoneya jumped away from the Mimic to keep distance from it. Shifting his scope away to look at the Mimic, Kodera felt himself feeling uneasy as he looked at it. It truly just did look like a walking shadow. The only thing that made it obvious that it wasn’t a shadow was the yellow eye on the face.

“That thing is so creepy looking.” Kodera said.

“It doesn’t look any better close up.” Yoneya replied, distancing himself even more from the Mimic. He didn’t lose anyone in his life so the Mimic wouldn’t be able to imitate anyone from him, but he still wasn’t willing to get touched by that thing. Plus, with the look on Miwa’s face, he made the decision to let him work out the anger he was feeling at having a fake of his sister appearing earlier. That was probably the reason Narasaka and Kodera haven’t shot at it yet. Kuga said long ranged attacks would be best to avoid getting hit by the Mimic, but anger seemed to be a great motivator to avoid attacks as well.

The Mimic looked at him and Miwa, unmoving for a moment as it looked from one to the other. It seemed to make up its mind as it turned away from Yoneya and shot itself towards Miwa. Instead of getting into his sword’s range though, the Mimic suddenly jumped into the air and shot his arms towards Miwa.

Miwa threw his arm in front of him. “Shield.” While his Shield came up to defend him, to his surprise, the hands coming towards him went right through it. Though surprised by that, Miwa still reacted in time and brought up his sword and sliced through one of the arms as he jumped backwards to try to get out of range of the other arm, but it kept coming towards him. Just as he went to grab his gun, a shot rang out, piercing the second arm and blowing it off.

“Nice shot, Narasaka-senpai.” Kodera complimented.

“Kuga didn’t mention anything about Shields being ineffective.” Narasaka said.

Not wasting time for the conversation going on, Miwa pulled his gun out and fired Lead Bullet at the Mimic. While the Mimic tried to dodge his bullets, he couldn’t avoid all of them and the weights that did hit slowed it down enough that he could fill it full of more Lead Bullets.

With the Mimic moving slowly and distracted with Miwa, Yoneya slammed his spear through the back of its head, piercing through the eye on the front. “Don’t go around thinking you can forget I'm here.”

“Good job,” Ren said. “Kuga-kun finished his target off two minutes ago and Kazama squad is in the process of ending their target. So far, I don’t see any more Mimics appearing. Unless another Gate opens, we should be in the clear for now.”

Yoneya dug his foot under the Mimic and flipped the body over. Without it attacking him, he could take the chance to examine it more properly. It looked like a shadowy figure and walked on two feet, but didn’t quite look like a human figure. Maybe it was because of the Trion Soldier eye that took up the face. Though even its hands looked more like claws.

“Why do you think Miwa-senpai's Shield didn’t work?” Kodera asked.

“It could be because of a similar reason that Lead Bullet goes through shield. The Mimics wasn’t doing any physical damage when trying to grab you to get memories so it can bypass the Shield.” Ren suggested.

“So the name of the game is to block with a weapon or dodge.” Yoneya replied.

*Mimics*

“Why did you come with us?” Yuma asked Hyuse. He was used to Osamu going to meetings with the top brass with him, but he figured Hyuse would want to avoid these meetings as much as possible. Ahead of them, Rindo led them followed by Osamu and Jin.

“I want to know more about these Mimics. You didn’t really explain anything this morning.” Hyuse replied.

Yuma folded his arms behind his head as he continued walking to the conference room. “Hmm, there’s not much more to say.”

“Except that you didn’t say anything about them. Jin only mentioned the name to us, but even he didn’t explain anything. All I know is the name and that one nation uses them.” Hyuse said annoyed. “You didn’t even give us the name of the nation that uses them!”

Rolling his eyes to ceiling, Yuma formed a small ‘o’ with his mouth. Right, he only told Miwa squad, Kazama squad, and Jin about them. But he had to explain it three times, it slipped his mind that not everyone knew yet. “Ah, I didn’t, did I?”

Hyuse’s brow twitched angrily. “You...” He growled.

Jin looked back at the two with a grin. “They seem to get along well.”

“If that’s what you want to call it. Hyuse is very competitive.” Osamu said. “Kuga seems to enjoy it. Chika thinks he likes having a Neighbor as a comrade.”

Jin nodded along. “I can see that. It had to be hard for Yuma to be the only Neighbor around.”

“Except he wasn’t. There’s Cronin-san and Yotaro and his sister.”

“True, but you guys didn’t know that until recently. Besides, while they’re here, they aren’t your team. Hyuse and Yuma seem to work very well together.” Jin said.

Osamu nodded. “It didn’t take them all that long to work out good combos and get used to fighting alongside each other. Honestly, Kuga had an easier time accepting a former enemy as a new teammate than I did. They went after Chika and kidnapped so many of our C-Rank agents. It's hard to want to work with someone like that.”

Jin looked at the annoyed Hyuse and the carefree looking Yuma before looking back at Osamu. “It’s not easy asking a former enemy for help or to even trust him. Lucky for us, we have Yuma’s side effect to judge his intentions.”

“You think that’s why Kuga accepted him so easily?” Osamu asked.

“I’m sure it played a factor in it, but you also have to remember that Yuma fought in a war for three years and we don’t know everything that went on before that war or even after that war. I imagine he’s learned to read the situations he gets into and when he should accept the outcome or fight it.” Jin replied.

Osamu sighed. “Honestly, it feels like he accepts things too easily. It likes he doesn’t consider anything too difficult. He just goes with the flow.” He glanced over his shoulder at his teammates for a moment before looking forward again. “Then again, he’s really good at hiding his true feelings. If Replica didn’t tell me his history and if I didn’t confront him on the roof that night, I don’t think I would have ever seen through his mask.”

“The fact that he talked with you and let you in to see his depression means he trusts you a lot.” Jin said. “I don’t think Yuma lets people in easily. Even with all the friends he made here, he still keeps them at an arm's length by not telling them anything about himself. He probably thinks it will be easier that way in the long run.”

“He doesn’t tell Chika anything either.” Osamu said. “I feel sort of guilty for not letting her know about Kuga, but at the same time, I don’t want to tell her either.”

Jin eyed Osamu out of the corner of his eyes. “You don’t think she could handle the truth?”

“I don’t like thinking about it. I'm scared of when that day will come.” Osamu admitted, looking over his shoulder at Yuma. “It crosses my mind occasionally. Will this be the day? I don’t want Chika to live with that question clouding her mind.”

The Power Elite nodded his head in agreement. “You’re not alone in that. I can see the future and I still feel worried when looking into the future when I have to plan out our strategy against an invasion. I'm always scared to see someone dying in the futures I see. Losing comrades on the battlefield....it’s never something I want to experience again.”

That made sense. Yuri told him recently about losing a lot of their comrades when they went to help an allied nation in the Neighbor’s world five years ago. That would mean that was also the battle where Jin lost his mentor. He lost a good portion of his comrades and his mentor in one battle. Perhaps that battle is what started Jin’s steak of manipulating battles in Border’s favor.

“There’s no guarantee we can avoid losing allies in battle forever. It's something Chika will probably have to face one day, but I don’t want to force her into facing it right now by telling her about Kuga. It will cause her to lose her focus.” Osamu said.

“True,” Jin agreed. “We can only do the best we can. There is only so much we can control.” He eyed Osamu out of the corner of his eye. “And something we can control is trust. Chika-chan has grown a lot since joining Border. She’s been working very hard and has even managed to overcome her fear of shooting people.”

Osamu smiled softly. “She has, hasn’t she? I was the one who held her back in the end. I couldn’t bring myself to believe she could shoot people. She really proved me wrong in the end. If it wasn’t for her, we would have lost the last match in the Rank Wars.”

“Even so, we can’t make the decision for Yuma. He has to be the one to make the choice of whether he wants to tell people or not.” Jin continued.

Osamu glanced back over at Yuma before looking forward once more. He didn’t think that confession would ever leave Yuma’s mouth unless there was no other option. The fact that he was dying and they didn’t know when his time would run out might affect things with Border. How would Border feel having an agent who was dying? With no knowledge of when his time would run out?

The doors to the conference room slid open in front of Rindo, admitting the group entrance. While Rindo walked to the table to take his seat where Shinoda, Kinuta, Karasawa, Netsuki, Kyoko, Kido, Miwa, and Kazama were waiting, Osamu moved off to the side of the room with Hyuse to stand by the wall. Neither had anything to offer to the meeting so they didn’t need to be in the way. They were simply here to listen to get the intel about the Mimics.

Yuma and Jin stepped up to the table, but neither sat down.

“Reporting as requested!” Jin said cheerfully, giving a salute to the higher ups.

“Jin, did you not see this coming?” Kido asked immediately.

Jin dropped his grin, hand dropping from his forehead as he got serious. “It would seem not. I saw some troubling things to come, but I haven’t seen any damage to the city or civilians at risk. I was still working on figuring out what the visions meant when Yuma called me to tell me about Mimics. I imagine what I'm seeing in the coming days has to do with them now.”

“Which brings us to you, Agent Kuga.” Kido shifted his eyes to the shorter agent.

Yuma gave a small tilt of his head in acknowledgment.

“I do commend you for acting so quickly when you realized the problem.” Kido said.

While they probably thought Yuma acted so quickly because of the danger he saw in the problem of Mimics appearing, which wasn’t wrong since he was worried, the bigger reason for his quick response was his anger. He didn’t appreciate Mimics appearing here and attacking them.

“But now we need a fully detailed report of Mimics as well as where they come from so we can know who is attacking us.” Kido continued.

“Alright, simple enough.” Yuma replied easily. Time to explain for the fourth time. “Mimics are Trion Soldiers that look like shadows with an eye where the face should be. The reason for their lack of any special design is so they can morph into a person. They can only transform into someone by taking the fond memories you have of a deceased loved one. They can only take those memories from Trion bodies however which is why Jin-san probably didn’t see any harm coming to the citizens of the city. They aren’t the targets.”

Shinoda frowned, leaning forward in interest. “Only the fond memories? Wouldn't it be effective to use the memories of our enemies and transform into them?” He asked, thinking of Enedra. He was a tough opponent to beat and not someone he would want to fight again. Though it would probably be easier this time around since they knew how his Trigger worked now.

Yuma stared at Shinoda for a moment before looking off to the side with a frown. He was quiet for a moment as he debated his answer while everyone stared at him. “An enemy you already defeated once can’t manipulate your emotions the way someone you loved who has passed away can. Most people when seeing a dead loved in front of them will hesitate and that’s enough time for them to kill you.”

“A good explanation, but your hesitation speaks of another answer, Agent Kuga.” Kido said.

Of course he noticed. Yuma didn’t hide it well. It’s not like it was a big secret anyway. “The Mimics we encountered last night are a bit different from what I remember.”

“A bit different how?” Shinoda asked.

Yuma turned his attention to him. “I last dealt with Mimics when I was four so my memories might be a bit faulty, but one thing I'm absolutely certain of is that Mimics were not Trion Soldiers to be used to attack people like this. They were never meant to be weapons.”

“What? You can’t be serious. They're Trion Soldiers created by Neighbors. Their only purpose is to be weapons.” Miwa retorted.

“That’s very narrow minded. There are many types of Trion Soldiers, and yes, most of them are weapons, but not Mimics.” Yuma replied.

“Then what was their original purpose?” Rindo asked curiously.

“In the Neighborhood, there are constant wars between the nations because the goal of each nation is just to survive. These wars result in many losses since very few nations have the ability to have an escape route available to them when their Trion bodies get destroyed. In fact, I've never heard of a Bail Out system until I came here. I imagine your technology is what inspired the nations to create their own versions. It's quite a useful tool to have to avoid losses in war. That said, most nations don’t have that luxury and many people die over there.” Yuma explained.

“So Mimics were created to bring them back to life?” Kinuta asked, sounding very interested now.

“No,” Yuma said immediately, shaking his head. “There is nothing to be done to bring someone back from the dead. Mimics are still Trion Soldiers, even when transformed as someone. They may look real, sound real, move like the real thing, but it’s not. Its purpose is to fool your mind as much as possible as one last time to see a loved one before they’re gone forever. Mimics, at least the ones I saw as a kid, didn’t have the capability of staying transformed for long. Because they were used to say a last goodbye to your loved one that wasn’t a bloody corpse you found on the battlefield, and that’s the reason fond memories are used. You want to avoid having memories of an enemy being chosen and appearing in front of you.”

“So, it’s a tool used to deal with grief?” Kazama asked.

“That was the original purpose, yes, but it seems it has been weaponized.” Yuma replied.

“They will always find a way to weaponize anything.” Jin said.

Yuma hummed in agreement. “That said, from what I faced last night, what I concluded about these Mimics and the ones I saw as a kid, is that like the original version, Mimics aren’t strong offensively as the shadows. They will grow stronger when transformed, and those that have combat experience will be even stronger since they’ll have the experience and skills of the person they change into.”

“That doesn’t sound so too difficult. Most people in Border lost loved ones during the first invasion. They won’t have any training in fighting.” Kazama pointed out.

Yuma tilted in his head in confusion.

“This isn’t the Neighborhood, Yuma. Most people aren’t fighting for their lives every day.” Rindo explained gently.

“Right,” Yuma said. “But I'm thinking, if someone is going to weaponize Mimics, they have to expect them to transform into people who don’t use Triggers.”

“So you think they’ll be able to fight?” Shinoda asked.

Yuma shrugged. “I don’t know. I'm thinking about possibilities. Even if someone appears in front of you who you know can’t use a Trigger, don’t let your guard down. We don’t know what transformed Mimics are truly capable of.”

“Speaking of possibilities, you didn’t tell us Shields don’t have any effect against their attacks.” Miwa told Yuma.

“Oh?” Yuma said interested, turning his attention to Miwa. “I didn’t know that. Like I said, Mimics were never used for offense before so last night was the first time I had to fight them, and I didn’t use my Shield at all last night.”

“Why do you think they’re being used to attack us now?” Osamu asked.

Yuma glanced over his shoulder at his Captain. “I couldn’t say. Like I said, I haven’t seen them since I was four. Only one nation I know of had them, so when I left there, I never had another encounter.”

At that answer, Kyoko brought up the orbital diagram over the table. “Do you remember the name of it?” She asked.

Yuma approached the table, circling it as he searched for the nation. “It’s Tropoi.” He said as he came to a stop behind Shinoda and pointed to the nation. Staring at the nation, Yuma felt relief flooding through him. They weren’t in range to attack.

Rindo leaned forward in his seat, resting his arm on the table as he stared at the orbital diagram. “Are you sure, Yuma? They’re not in attacking range.”

“A hundred percent sure.”

“It’s possible another nation stole Tropoi’s design and weaponized Mimics.” Kinuta suggested. “It’s no different than us sending agents to the Neighbor’s world to get their technology to study.”

Kido brushed his finger over his scar. “It complicates matters if that’s the case since we’ll have no idea of who is attacking us.”

“Can you see anything, Jin?” Kazama asked.

Jin eyes shifted to Yuma, who leaned against the back of Shinoda’s chair and looked back at him with curious eyes. It was only for a second though before he was looking at Kazama. “I’m seeing some stuff, however, I can’t tell that much. I'm having difficulty seeing what is going to happen. It feels like the Mimics are blinding me.”

“What do you mean by blinding?” Shinoda asked.

“The events I'm seeing are even more distorted. For the most part, Trion Soldiers aren’t sentient beings so I can’t see the future for them, but I can see when an attack is going to happen. I've seen the pictures of the Mimics we managed to get, but I still can’t get a read on the situation about to occur.” Jin explained.

“Trion Soldiers aren’t sentient, but what about when the Mimics transform into people? You can’t see the future of people you haven’t met. Is their ability to transform into these people blinding you?” Kazama suggested.

Jin looked towards the ceiling as he thought about that. “Could be.”

“Doubt it.” Yuma retorted before the words had fully left Jin’s lips, surprising everyone else at his interruption. Shinoda glanced over his shoulder at the agent leaning on his chair. He was surprised to see the anger smoldering in his eyes. “Mimics are fakes. Even when they transform, they’re still Trion Soldiers. They can’t replace the real people you’ve lost. Their greatest skill is deception. Forget that, and you’ll get killed.”

Hyuse leaned back against the wall, crossing his arms, as he looked at Yuma with intrigue. “I’ve never seen Yuma get mad.” He whispered to Osamu.

“It happens very rarely.” Osamu replied softly. “It’s strange though. Why would the concept of Mimics anger him this much?”

Hyuse tilted his head in consideration. It was strange. Yuma was always so calm and level headed. Even when something was going wrong in a fight, he didn’t panic. He would keep his cool and try to think of the next step to get them back out on top. For that reason, he was a great partner to have in battle. Watching the Rank Wars before he joined Tamakoma-2 helped a lot in getting prepared to be his partner by allowing him to understand his fighting tactics. This heated attitude wasn’t him.

Miwa redirected his attention to Jin, deciding to not comment on Yuma’s anger. “If you’re seeing something occur in the future and can’t tell what it is, does that mean we have to worry about more Mimics showing up?”

“Yes,” Jin replied. “Whatever nation is doing this is going to continue. It’s very likely we’ll need to hold out until they’re out of range.”

“If that’s the case, Jin, you need to be careful when you’re in your Trion body. We don’t want to risk Mogami-san appearing.” Shinoda said.

Jin’s snorted in amusement. “You sound like Yuma, Shinoda-san. He's been harping on me about that since last night. If I may, you, Rindo-san, and Commander Kido will need to be careful as well.”

“We’re less likely to cause Mogami-san from appearing since we don’t enter the field unless there is an emergency.” Shinoda replied amused. He leaned back in his seat and looked over his shoulder at Yuma again. “And Yuma-kun, do I even need to say it to you?”

Yuma pursed his lips. “Don’t let a Mimic transform into Dad. I know.” He said, pushing off the chair he was leaning against, hands gripping the top of it tightly.

Miwa looked over at the two, frowning in confusion. He understood the wariness of Mogami appearing, but why was Shinoda concerned about Yuma’s father? They didn’t even know who his father was. They didn’t even know his father was dead, not that Miwa cared at all about the Neighbor’s problem. It was just something he realized he never considered. Yuma was only fifteen and came to this world without anyone. A lone Neighbor in this world that hated Neighbors. What was the purpose of coming here?

*Mimics*

Hyuse looked down at Yuma as they walked back through the halls after the meeting. They left Rindo behind to sort out the rest of the information with the higher ups to get it sorted out what to distribute to the agents in briefing.

“Something you want to ask?” Yuma asked, continuing to stare ahead even as Hyuse’s eyes bored into him.

“The nation you mentioned that created Mimics. Tropoi. I feel like I've heard of it before.” Hyuse said.

Yuma hummed thoughtfully. “You probably have. Viza mentioned Tropoi to me when he saw Replica so you probably heard of the name from him at some point.”

Hyuse’s brows furrowed in confused “What’s a Replica?”

“Replica is Kuga’s Trion Soldier partner. We lost him to Aftokrator. Kuga believes he’s still alive so he wants to get to Aftokrator to get him back.” Osamu explained before looking over at Yuma. “Speaking of Tropoi, you look quite relieved when it showed Tropoi wasn’t in range to be the ones attacking us.”

At that question, Yuma slowed down to a stop. He glanced at his friends before looking out the nearby window. Apparently, Osamu knew him too well if he was able to read that. “Oh, that. Tropoi is the nation I'm from. It's not like I have too strong of a connection to it though...I haven’t been there since I was four, but...”

Jin came up behind Yuma to drop a hand to his hair, ruffling it affectionately. “It’s alright, Yuma. You don’t have to explain. Still, the question remains about who it is and why.”

“I see. So the real reason you know so much about Mimics is because they’re from your home nation.” Osamu said as Yuma fixed his hair from Jin’s ruffling. “I understand why you didn’t want to say that. Miwa-senpai probably would have bitten your head off.”

“And why you’re so frustrated about all of this.” Hyuse added, causing Yuma to look over his shoulder at him with a raised a brow. “Your home nation created Mimics to help people deal with grief by seeing their lost loved ones one last time as something more than a bloody corpse. And now, someone stole that design and weaponized it.”

“Yep,” Yuma said. “You got me. I'm mad they’re being used as weapons. That's not their purpose.”

It was hard to tell with Yuma. He didn’t lie often so Osamu couldn’t read him, not that Osamu could read anyone who lied. It was hard to tell people’s true intentions after all, but even so, something was yelling at Osamu that Yuma wasn’t being wholly honest.

“In any case,” Jin said, drawing the attention of all three of the agents. “Yuma, you need to be really careful not to get your father to appear.”

“Right back at you with Mogami.” Yuma replied.

Jin shook his head and grabbed Yuma by the shoulders to force the younger agent to turn and look at him. “We can deal with Mogami-san, but we cannot deal with the consequences of your father appearing. Listen, Yuma, it’s not worth the risk.”

Yuma stared at him, feeling completely lost. “I’m not about to let Dad appear, so whatever you’re worried about, it’s not going to happen.”

The way Jin was staring at Yuma gave Osamu the feeling that Jin was looking into his future. He must have not liked what he saw by the way his grip on Yuma’s shoulders tightened.

“What is it you’re worried about?” Hyuse demanded. “I think last night is enough proof that Yuma can handle himself against Mimics.”

Jin stared at Yuma for a moment longer before releasing his shoulders and looking at Hyuse. “Never said that. Yuma is quite capable of taking care of himself.”

“If you believe that, then stop the worrying and mysterious comments. Just explain yourself properly.” Hyuse said annoyed.

“I can’t explain what I don’t fully understand, but I have a feeling Kuga Yugo appearing will be very bad.” Jin replied. “I can’t see the future clearly since I never met Kuga-san, but I'm willing to bet a month’s worth of fried rice crackers that he is the cause of the things I can’t understand.”

“Even if you did know Dad, you still wouldn’t be able to read the future properly. Mimics are Trion Soldiers. Nothing more.” Yuma snapped annoyed, before stalking off down the hall with his friends staring after him in shock.

“He’s certainly on edge.” Hyuse commented.

*Mimics*

Shun laid facedown on the couch in utter defeat.

“I’ve never seen you not take a single win from Kuga in a ten round match.” Yoneya said.

“Yuma-senpai had no mercy.” Shun said into the cushions.

“He was on edge last night. Looks like it hasn’t left his system.” Kodera explained.

Shun turned his head on the couch to stare up at them. “Why were you guys together last night?”

“He showed up to help us with a new Trion Soldier.” Yoneya explained.

That seemed to perk Shun up as he shot up into a sitting position. “New Trion Soldier?”

“There will probably be a report sent out to everyone before tonight.” Kodera said. “They were having a meeting about it this morning.”

“They really had a meeting because of a new Trion Soldier appearing?” Shun asked in disbelief.

“These ones are special.” Kodera replied.

“Special enough to cause Kuga enough anger to defeat you so harshly.” Yoneya clarified before looking up towards the training booths. “Speaking of, is he still in the booth?”

*Mimics*

“Explain it to me,” Hyuse said, causing Osamu to look up from his lunch. “What is the big deal about this Mogami person and Yuma’s father?”

Osamu studied Hyuse with a frown. Hyuse wasn’t the type to be interested in things that didn’t involve getting back to Aftokrator. Maybe this was his way of trying to make an effort? Even so, this involved the history of organization. Was it alright to tell him? It’s not like it was information that could hurt Border if it got out.

'Something we can control is trust.’ Jin’s voice echoed in Osamu’s head.

Hyuse was a member of the team and was doing so much to help them. The least Osamu could do was answer his questions to show that he trusted him.

“Mogami Soichi and Kuga Yugo were two of the founders of Border. Mogami-san mentored Jin-san and obviously, Kuga’s father trained him.” Osamu explained.

Hyuse leaned his chin in his palm, looking bored, but he was actually very intrigued. Not about Jin’s part in this since he hated him, but he was interested in his fellow Neighbor’s history. Something about his father was putting Jin on edge.

“They both died creating Black Triggers.”

*Mimics*

Yuma laid on the mattress in the training booth, hand stretched above his head so he could stare at his gloved hand. Under that glove was the ring his father gave everything to create to save his life. Dad and Replica. Those were the two constants in his life since he was a child, and now he’s lost both. After Dad died, Replica filled the space at night to keep the loneliness away. With him gone, what was left to fill the ache in Yuma’s heart on those long nights?

He could see it.

The last smile Dad gave before trading spaces with his disobedient son.

“Yuma.” The name spoken with so much love echoed in Yuma’s ears.

Yuma dropped his arm over his eyes, gritting his teeth in frustration. It wasn’t even nighttime. It was the middle of the day and he had his friends around, and yet, thoughts of his father were plaguing his mind and causing him nothing but distractions.

*Mimics*

“I know very little about Mogami-san and Kuga-san. What I do know is that both were extremely strong and that they created Border with the intention of making friends with Neighbors.” Osamu explained, running a finger over the rim of his cup as he thought through his reply carefully. “From what I understand, Kuga-san and Mogami-san were rivals while both were in Border, but they also trusted each other very much. Their friendship was so strong that even after not seeing each other for years, Kuga-san still told his son to come here to find Mogami-san if he ever died.”

“But it didn’t work out. Mogami is dead.” Hyuse replied.

Osamu nodded. “Mogami-san died five years ago, Kuga-san four years. Kuga had no way of knowing that and came here anyway. He ended up staying and joining Border.”

“So what I’m hearing is that they’re all on edge for your founders returning?” Hyuse asked.

Osamu took a sip of his drink. “Kuga-san trained Rindo-san and Director Shinoda. How many people can say they can defeat the person who trained them? For context, Director Shinoda is Border’s strongest Normal Trigger user and he trained Border’s No. 1 Attacker, Tachikawa Kei.”

“I’ve fought Tachikawa before. Out of six rounds, I only managed to get one win from him and it took three losses before I accomplished that.” Hyuse replied.

“Then you understand the strength. They don’t know if they can beat Mogami-san or Kuga-san if they appear. That's why they’re on edge.”

And what was worse was that Kuga was a shining beacon for Mimics that they couldn’t turn off. How long would Kuga have to fight them off before the nation that was doing this was out of range?

“Being worried they can’t win doesn’t explain Jin’s reaction to Yuma.” Hyuse pointed out, bringing Osamu out of his thoughts. “It was too extreme for that to be the reason.”

“I don’t know what is causing Jin-san's worry.” Osamu admitted before pausing, frowning down at his meal. “But Kuga...he blames himself for his father’s death. He believes he should be the one dead and Kuga-san should be the one here. The desire to see his father again...he longs for it.”

Hyuse lifted a brow in surprise. “You think he’d let a Mimic take his father’s memories on purpose?”

“No,” Osamu said without hesitation. “Kuga’s too rational to take that course of action.”

“But the temptation is there. A chance to see his father’s face, hear his voice, for the first time in four years. Who wouldn’t take the chance for one last conversation? To have the chance to say, ‘I’m sorry I got you killed.’” Hyuse retorted. “Yuma is completely rational. But the thing about emotions is that they’re not rational. Emotions always skew everything.”

Osamu shook his head in disagreement. “There’s too much risk involved. Kuga is fueled by logic and rational. He doesn’t let emotions rule his judgement.”

“Hn,” Hyuse muttered. “Well, let’s hope you’re right. Don’t think I want to see anything that puts Jin on edge.”

*Mimics*

“Oh, a message from the bosses?”

“Anything interesting?” Izumi asked, leaning over Yu’s chair.

Yu clicked through the briefing, eyes scanning the information quickly. “Looks to be about a new Trion Soldier that made its appearance last night. They're called Mimics.”

“Mimics? Like those people who can imitate others?” Izumi asked.

“Exactly like that.” Yu clicked open the picture attached to the see the shadow staring back at her. “Argh, creepy. It's like something out of a horror game. They take fond memories of deceased loved ones from you when they touch you and use those memories to transform into that person.”

“They transform into dead people? Thank heavens I haven’t lost anyone. Those fiends wouldn’t be able to handle me if they tried to take my memories.” Yuiga declared.

“The Mimics wouldn’t target you. They wouldn’t want subjected to that thing you call a brain.” Izumi said dryly, without bothering to take his eyes off the computer. “They have a standard to keep after all.”

“How rude!” Yuiga cried. “I’ll have you know my brain is of the highest quality!”

“Great pickings for the zombies to munch on then.” Tachikawa said.

“Zombies? Who said anything about zombies?” Yuiga shouted in dismay, but no one was listening to him at this point.

Tachikawa joined Izumi and Yu at the computer. “That’s a lot of information for something that just appeared last night.”

“Who do you think? Hyuse or Kuga?” Izumi asked, glancing at his Captain.

“I would say Kuga. He seems to be more willing to give us info than Hyuse.” Yu said.

“You’ve never spoken to either, yet you picked so fast.” Izumi replied.

“It’s not hard. Kuga is clearly the one who gave us info about Aftokrator before they attacked so we already know he’s willing to share information. Whereas Hyuse was captured by Jin. I doubt he would want to tell us anything.”

“Why do you analyze things so much?”

“This is why she’s the operator.” Tachikawa said. “She’s clearly smarter than you.”

“And I'm the lowly Shooter? I just can’t much up to Yu-san.”

“And don’t forget it.” Yu teased.

“Anything else important in there?” Tachikawa asked.

“Hmm, looks like they’re coming from one nation so these Mimics will only be a problem for a few days. And they only target Trion bodies so the city and citizens shouldn’t be in any danger.”

“Nice to know we’re the ones with targets on our backs.” Yuiga complained.

“That’s the job you signed up for.” Izumi snapped. “So quit the whining.”

“I didn’t sign up to be probed by Trion Soldiers.” Yuiga whined.

“You haven’t lost anyone so you won’t be targeted. Nothing to worry about it.” Yu promised to Yuiga’s relief.

“You’re too nice to that idiot.” Izumi said.

“No, you and Tachikawa-san are just too mean.”

*Mimics*

“Murakami-senpai!” Shun shouted, waving to the Attacker frantically. In his other hand was his phone which he was using to read the briefing on Mimics. “Nice timing. I need you to fight Yuma-senpai.”

Murakami ran his eyes over the group before resting back on Shun. “I don’t see him here.”

“He demolished Midorikawa in a ten round match and has not come out of the booth in an hour, but he’s not having matches so we don’t know what he’s doing.” Arafune explained.

“And what do you want me to do? If he wants to mope, let him mope.” Murakami replied.

“No, no.” Yoneya replied, waving his hand in a dismissal manner. “He's not moping. The Mimics put him on edge last night and he’s not let go of the bad mood.”

“Kuga in a bad mood? And here I thought he only had one setting. Unnaturally cheerful.” Murakami replied.

“Is the sarcasm really necessary?” Shun asked. “Look, there’s a huge difference between bad mood and ‘let’s drag Shun out of his squad’s operation room by the back of his jacket for a fight’ bad mood. There was no need for that! I'm always up to fight Yuma-senpai. He just had to ask!”

“That’s how you ended up here?” Yoneya asked surprised.

“That definitely not like Kuga.” Kodera agreed.

Murakami sighed. “Okay, I'll challenge him to a fight, though I don’t see how that will help. What booth is he in?”

“320.”

*Mimics*

“Hear you’re in a bad mood.”

Yuma dragged his arm off his eyes to stare at the computer with a scowl before forcing a smile on his face. “I don’t know who told you that, but I'm fine.”

“That’s impressive. Almost fooled me.” Murakami replied. “Unfortunately for you, happy people don’t hide in a training booth doing nothing for an hour. So you’re either upset or mad about something. Either way, I'm not here to force you to talk. If that’s what you wanted, you wouldn’t be hiding.”

Yuma pulled himself into a sitting position, fake smile falling way to a frown. Has he really been lying here for an hour? He let himself get too lost in his thoughts. He didn’t get much chance to think of anything else when he felt the familiar pull of the transportation into the virtual field. Blinking in surprise, he landed in a crouch on the ground.

“If you’re going to hide in a training booth, you need to be prepared to be challenged.” Murakami said as he pulled his sword out.

“Noted. I'll find a new hiding spot.” Yuma replied as he called Scorpion to his hand.

Murakami raised a brow. “Never pegged you as the type to hide from your problems.”

“It’s not the problems I’m hiding from.” Yuma said before he launched himself at Murakami to begin the fight and end this conversation he didn’t want to have.

Chapter Text

“Were you trying a new tactic or was your head just really not in the fight?” Murakami asked over the computer as he stared at the score of nine to one. He’s never beaten Yuma so badly. Well, he guessed that made it up to Shun who got demolished by Yuma earlier. “You have great defense, but you still more of an offensive fighter. Why did you focus so much on defense today?” 

Yuma closed his eyes with a sigh. “Trying something new.”  

“You’re a great combatant already with the way you fight. You have a nice balance of offense and defense. Why do you want to change how you fight all of a sudden?” Murakami asked confused.  

An image of Kuga Yugo flashed through Yuma’s mind. Pushing the image away, Yuma sat up, brushing a hand through his hair. He had to get the Mimics out of his mind. “I don’t want to change how I fight. I just wanted to work on defense. There might be a time when I need to rely heavily on defense so I wanted to practice it.”  

“Something about the Mimics has you worried.” Murakami surmised. “This wasn’t something you bothered to think about before. What happened last night?” 

“Nothing happened beyond the Mimics appearing. I just want to be prepared.” Yuma replied, breathing out slowly. Kuga Yugo could not be allowed to appear. That was what Jin said, and Yuma agreed. Perhaps his reasons were different from Jin’s reasons, but Yuma did not want his father here.  

“Your fighting strategy you have now is fine. You don’t need to be more defensive.” Murakami said.  

Yuma looked down at his hands, specifically his Black Trigger. That wasn’t it. He knew the way he fought. He could change it, but that would be something he wasn’t used to. He didn’t want to change how he fought. Still, if Yugo did someone appear from his memories or from someone else's, Yuma couldn’t take that threat lightly. He couldn’t risk getting defeated by him. His defense had to be ironclad because he knew. He knew that if Kuga Yugo appeared in front of him right now, he would hesitate. In that moment, he can’t afford to be killed. He needed a strong defense to have time to gather his wits about him enough so he could fight back.  

Fight back against the one person he didn’t think he could bear to lose again. 

When he fought the fake Replica weeks ago, it didn’t attack him which gave him time to get over his shock and replace it with anger to kill the fake. He didn’t have the luxury to freeze if a Mimic of his father appeared. Kuga Yugo did not hesitate. If the opening was there, he went for the kill. Yuma could not afford any faults in his defense. Unfortunately, it wasn’t easy to change how he fought. It was only something he wanted to test out in a safe environment.  

“The Mimics are concerning, but Yoneya said you’ve been on edge about them since last night when you first encountered them.” Murakami said. “Are you worried about someone appearing?” 

A lot of people have lost someone in Border. They could have been killed. They could have been taken to the Neighbor’s world. It wasn’t strange to have the story here. Yuma just never told anyone outside of Tamakoma since it wasn’t something he felt needed discussed. It wasn’t important before.  

“My father.” Yuma replied softly. “He died when I was eleven.”  

“I’m sorry, Kuga.”  

“Don’t worry about it. It was a long time ago. The thought of him appearing again....it’s just throwing me off. That’s all it is.” Yuma explained.  

“You sure? Because you don’t try to change to a more defensive fighting style because of a possibility of a Mimic of your father appearing.” Murakami replied.  

“I have my reasons to be concerned.” Yuma said, leaving it at that as he escaped from the booth finally.  

*Mimics*  

“Where’s Yuma?” Konami demanded. “I made curry tonight and he can’t even be bothered to show up?” 

Osamu took a step back from the irate Attacker. “He stayed back at HQ when we left. I think he’s worried about the Mimics.”  

“Huh?” Konami demanded. “He’s not on duty tonight. Unless there’s a full on invasion, what happens tonight isn’t a big deal.”  

Osamu just shrugged his shoulders. He didn’t know how to explain it to her without telling her the truth about Yuma’s body. That was something he knew Yuma still didn’t want people to know.  

“Get him on the phone and tell him to get back here. If he thinks he can skip our training session and dinner, he has another thing coming!” Konami raged.  

“I don’t think he’ll come back even if I call him.” Osamu replied weakly. “Besides, I think he ate at Border’s cafeteria.”  

“He chose that food over the dinner I slaved over?” Konami demanded, slamming a hand on the counter next to the pot of curry.  

“What’s wrong with the food at HQ?” Hyuse asked confused. It wasn’t anything too fancy, but he thought it still tasted good.  

Yuri leaned her chin on her hand, watching Konami in amusement. “There’s nothing wrong with it. It’s just the principle of the matter for Kirie-chan.”  

“She’s also upset she didn’t get to spar Yuma today. He’s never missed one of their scheduled training sessions before.” Karasuma explained.  

“He was in a bad mood anyway. I doubt you would have gotten a good fight.” Hyuse replied.  

Osamu quietly made his way over to Rindo sitting at the dining room table while the others were distracted in the kitchen. “I don’t think he’s coming back to base tonight.” He whispered so no one would realize the conversation about Yuma not coming back was continuing in a different direction over here. Though he did see Jin tilt his head towards them to show he was listening in. “I think he’s worried about more Mimics coming here if he comes back.”  

Jin rubbed his temples. “Damn it.” He muttered softly. Of course that would concern Yuma. His being here would put his team and all of Tamakoma in danger. Somehow, they had all become more important to Yuma than concern for his own well-being.  

“He can’t hang around in the Restricted Zone until the threat has passed.” Rindo said with a frown, glancing at Jin who dragged a hand down his face before standing. “We don’t know how long this threat will last.”  

“No worries!” Jin announced cheerfully, drawing everyone’s attention to him. “I’ll go pick up Yuma, Konami. Be sure to save him a plate of your curry. That is bound to cheer him up.”  

The Power Elite bounded out of the room before anyone could reply.  

“That was weird.” Yuri turned to her uncle for confirmation. “Wasn’t it?” 

Osamu stared at the door Jin exited through. Jin would normally leave Yuma to his own devices with the assurance that Yuma could handle himself. He trusted Yuma a lot. The evidence of that trust showed when he let Yuma fight Miwa squad alone and even when he left Yuma to take on a Black Trigger from Aftokrator by himself.  

This was perhaps the first time Osamu ever saw Jin this concerned about Yuma not being able to handle himself alone. His warning at HQ and now his abrupt exit here was just screaming that he was concerned about something.  

With the recent invasions they had, Jin was always calm. He used his side effect to manipulate the future battlefield to lead them to the best outcome. So, the question was, what would rattle Jin? It had to be something he thought he couldn’t change. 

*Mimics*  

Yuma’s eyes scanned over the stars above him. This was the first time he found himself on the roof of Border’s HQ. Usually he only hung around on Tamakoma’s roof since he wasn’t usually at Border this late at night.  

“This is a familiar sight. Yugo-san loved to watch the stars too.”  

At the familiar voice, Yuma looked over his shoulder to see Shinoda walking out onto the roof. He tilted his head in greeting before looking back up at the sky. “It was a habit he kept. He would watch them all the time with me. The stars are much vaster here though. Most of the ones in the Neighborhood were just the other Nations orbiting in the sky so they were fewer to gaze upon.” Yuma replied.  

Shinoda leaned his arms on the ledge next to Yuma, gazing upon the stars with him, smiling softly. “You probably know by now that Tamakoma Branch was the original HQ of Border. It was a location chosen by your father. Do you know why?” 

That seemed to be a strange turn in the conversation that was about stars so Yuma shook his head, looking over in curiosity.  

“He said you could see the stars better from there than anywhere else in the city. Back then, we would host celebrations on the roof and watch the stars.” Shinoda explained. It’s hard to believe that was about two decades ago. Has it really been that long since they saw Yugo? “He loved to point out the constellations and tell us their history.”  

“Constellations?” Yuma repeated confused.  

“Constellations are when a group of stars form a perceived shape when you connect them.” Shinoda moved closer to Yuma and directed his attention the sky. “Look up and to your left. You can see Gladius. Gladius is one of the twelve Zodiac Constellations you can find in the sky. It means The Sword.”  

Yuma tilted his head in confusion. “You have to connect the stars to make the shape?” 

“Yes, there’s a lot of different constellations that you can find in the sky if you know how to find them.” Shinoda replied, staring at Yuma who was looking up at the sky with more interest than before. “What has you here anyway? It’s late and you’re not on duty tonight.”  

Yuma glanced at him, unsure of how to explain his worries about his Trion body and putting his friends in danger by just being around.  

“You should go home and get some sleep, Yuma-kun. The squads on duty tonight can handle the Mimics.” Shinoda promised when he didn’t get an answer.  

“I’m fine.”  

“You were helping all last night and you weren’t even on duty then. You can’t run on adrenaline and a bad mood forever. You need to rest.” Shinoda said, giving his agent a pointed a look. The meeting they had that morning showed Shinoda enough that told him Yuma was frustrated by the appearance of the Mimics.  

“I don’t need sleep.”  

“Everyone needs to sleep, Yuma-kun. You need to recharge.”  

That response at Yuma laughing, but there was no amusement in it. It just sounded hollow. Sleep? If only he could, then he could escape the long, lonely nights. “If we’re speaking of sleep, you need to sleep as well.” He said, returning the pointed look to the Director. “A commander dead on his feet is of no use.”  

Shinoda smirked. “Another lesson from your father. ‘Take the time to sleep when it’s available to you. No one knows what the next day will bring so sleep when you can.’ Was it?” 

Yuma nodded. “And a Commander needs his wits about him.”  

“The same applies to my agents.” Shinoda gave Yuma another look that was ignored again. “Besides, I'm well rested since my agents decided to not alert me last night of the new Trion Soldiers appearing.”  

“That was on Kazama-senpai. He was the senior agent in the field last night. It was his call to make.” Yuma replied.  

The door to the roof slammed opened, keeping Shinoda from replying to keep the conversation going. They both looked over to see Jin approaching them.  

“Jin, what are you doing back here?” Shinoda asked surprised.  

Jin dropped a hand to Yuma’s hair, ruffling it. “Here to pick up my wayward charge.”  

Shinoda smiled in amusement. “You came all the way back here for that? Far be it from me to stop you then. Make sure he sleeps tonight.”  

Yuma wrinkled his nose in annoyance. He could take care of himself. 

“Got it. I'll make sure he takes it easy tonight.” Jin saluted Shinoda. 

Shinoda nodded with a smile. “Good night Jin, Yuma-kun. Stop trying to work so hard.”  

“Says the one who isn’t going to go home.” Yuma muttered softly. He waited until the door closed behind the Director before rounding on Jin. “You know very well that I can’t sleep, Jin-san.”  

Jin held up a finger. “Ah, I said you would take it easy tonight. I said nothing about sleeping. Now,” He held out a hand to his friend to help him off the ledge. “Konami made curry for you so let’s head back to Tamakoma to enjoy it.”  

“Except that’s a bad idea.” Yuma replied, diverting his eyes to the stars, ignoring the hand that Jin was holding out to him. “The Mimics will come.”  

“Here or there, they’re coming either way.” Jin pointed out.  

“Tamakoma Branch is outside the Restricted Zone.” Yuma retorted. Not only would his friends be put in danger when they were trying to sleep tonight, but so would the citizens. Why was Jin ignoring this? 

“You said it yourself, civilians aren’t their target.” Jin said.  

“And if the Mimics are more different than what I remember?” Yuma retorted. “Is that a risk you’re willing to take?” 

Jin stared at Yuma for a moment before dropping his hand and sitting next to him on the ledge. “I don’t like telling people what I see in the future. Instead, I like to tell people what to do or try to push them in the best direction with hints. If I go around telling everyone what the worst outcome is, it feels a lot like pushing us into that path since everyone will try everything they can to avoid that outcome. And if that happens, there’s the potential of making things worse.”  

“Like a self-fulfilling prophecy?” Yuma suggested.  

“Exactly.”  

Yuma raised a brow. “Was there a point to that explanation?” 

Jin looked down at him, locking eyes with his kouhai. “Within the next week, I see you dying.”  

“Ah,” Yuma turned his eyes back to the stars. “That’s too bad. I was having so much fun. The anniversary of Dad’s death is in six days. Maybe five years was all the time he could buy me.”  

Why did he have to accept it so easily? The Yuma who fought so hard to survive and help Border and his team these past few months, where was he?  

Jin grabbed Yuma’s arm, causing Yuma to look at him with a frown. “Listen, Yuma, until recently, this isn’t the future I saw for you. Something’s changed it, and I think that something is the Mimics. That's why I'm asking you to avoid going near them.”  

Yuma smiled sadly. “You know that’s impossible.” He brushed Jin’s hand off his arm and looked back towards the sky. “I know you try so hard to manipulate the futures you see because you want to protect your comrades and the city. But no matter how hard you try, there are some things you just can’t change. I accepted my death as inevitable a long time ago.”  

Jin stared at his friend, taking in the youthful face that would never age older than eleven. Even if Yuma survived for years, everyone would get older and change while he would forever be stuck in a child’s body with his death looming over his head. That wasn’t an easy life to live, and yet, Yuma still found the strength to smile and enjoy each day. Was it really just a front to hide how little he cared about living?  

“There was so much more I wanted to do.” Yuma continued, smiling sadly up at the stars. “Beat Konami-senpai in a ten round match, try all the amazing food your world has to offer, ride a train, reach A-Rank, fulfill my promise to Osamu and Chika, get Replica back....” 

“Yuma....”  

“I never cared, you know?” Yuma cut Jin off quickly before he could say anything. “When Dad gave up his life for me to live, I knew it was only temporary and I would die eventually. I never once cared my life had been shortened so much. I was the one destined to die when I was eleven. Dad trading places with me left me with nothing but guilt. What was I supposed to do without him? After I finished the war, I wandered aimlessly without a true purpose til I came here. I wished desperately to somehow bring Dad back, but it was all for nothing. There really wasn’t a reason for me to live, but I couldn’t bring myself to throw away this life that Dad gave up everything for me to have.”  

Jin watched Yuma silently, not daring to open his mouth and interrupt, lest it got Yuma to stop spilling his guts. Yuma rarely spoke of his past, but he even more rarely spoke of how he truly felt. If he interrupted now, Jin feared that Yuma could clam up once more.  

“Then I came here and met Osamu and you and Chika and everyone at Border. It’s ironic that when I finally learned how to be happy and have fun again that I'm destined to die.” Yuma ripped his eyes from the stars to look at his ring. He ran his thumb over the smooth metal before he turned to lock eyes with Jin. “For the first time since Dad saved me, I don’t want to die.”  

Jin closed his eyes with a smile. He wasn’t sure where Yuma had been going with that, but the end of his little speech had relief spreading through every inch of his body. The fear that Yuma truly didn’t care about living was washed away. “Then here’s what you’re going to do. Firstly, you’re going to retract the statement about me not being able to prevent some things.”  

“Uh...did that really bother you?” Yuma asked.  

“Yuma.”  

“Fine,” Yuma held up his hands in surrender. “I take it back. You can accomplish anything you set your mind to.”  

Jin nodded, satisfied. “Good. Secondly, I want to hear you say that you want to live.”  

“I mean, I basically already said it.” Yuma mumbled, glancing off to the side to avoid looking at his friend.  

“Yuma, are you just going to argue with me about all of this?” Jin asked.  

“I...”  

Could he really say it?  

“There’s nothing wrong with wanting it. This is the gift your father gave you.” Jin said gently. “I know it hurts to live without your father and you feel guilty for what happened. You can feel that pain and still desperately want to live. Pain is a gift, not a curse. Your father knew it would hurt you to go on living without him because he felt that pain when he found you dying. That pain means you’re alive. You're not betraying your father by wanting this. Instead, you’re embracing what he gave you. A chance to live your life the way you want to.”  

Yuma brushed his thumb over his ring. Jin was able to read him so well. It hurt so much to open his eyes and find his father turned to ash in front of him. The knowledge that his father was dead because Yuma couldn’t keep himself out a battle he was ordered out of just increased his pain. If he just listened to the orders given, his father would still be by his side. He was haunted by that painful knowledge, and yet, coming to Japan was giving him a new outlook on life. There was so much fun to be had here and so many new things to experience.  

He went through the motions of living and fighting in a war to keep himself busy with something. Honestly, he hadn’t even realized until he came here that he hadn’t experienced any real happiness or fun since his father died. It's like he forgot what it meant to truly live until he came here.  

“I want to live.” Yuma murmured softly. The words tasted bitter like betrayal, but also felt freeing. “I want to live!” 

“That’s more like it.” Jin stood up from the ledge, holding out a hand to Yuma once more. “Thirdly, we go enjoy Konami’s curry. The rest can come after.” When Yuma looked hesitant, Jin smiled. “Trust in my predictions, Yuma. There won’t be any more harm than if you’re here or at Tamakoma.”  

Yuma smirked. “Those same predictions just said I'm dead by the end of the week.” He replied, but took Jin’s hand anyway and let himself be pulled off the ledge.  

“Ahhh, nope.” Jin said. “That’s part of the rest that can wait til we had curry.”  

Yuma rolled his eyes, but smiled good naturedly and let Jin drag him back home.  

*Mimics*  

“This is freaking insane!” Suwa complained loudly. “Didn’t they only have to deal with five of these damn things last night? Why is it that when we’re on duty we get a huge ass army of the things?” 

“They’ll called Mimics.” Murakami corrected as he sliced an arm of one off. When they stretched their limbs to touch them, it was easy to cut them, but other than that, it was hard to get close as an Attacker. There was too much of a risk of getting touched if they got that close to them.  

“I don’t care what they’re called. Why do we have to deal with....argh, what’s the count?” Suwa asked.  

“I’ve counted thirty so far.” Osano replied.  

“Yeah, that! The A-Ranks got hit with five last night and we get thirty?” 

“It is strangely excessive when compared to last night’s attack.” Kuruma agreed as Murakami blocked another arm from hitting him. Their new strategy of Murakami working on defending Kuruma while Kuruma went into full attack mode seemed to be working out well here. Since Shield didn’t work against Mimics, it made defending against them harder and the large group of them made it hard for Attackers to approach and cut them down. It was for this reason that Hisato and Murakami were standing in front blocking the attacks and doing their best to the cut the limbs off that were approaching them. This gave Kuruma, Daichi, and Suwa time to focus on trying to gun them down.  

“You can wonder about why later! We have a problem.” Kon said. “A group is breaking off and trying to leave the Restricted Zone!”  

Taichi ducked behind a wall, rifle held tightly in his hands. He could take a shot. It would be hard to miss hitting a Mimic in that large crowd, but it would reveal his position to them so fast. “But the file said civilians weren’t the target!” 

“Tell that to the Mimics.” Kon retorted.  

“Nothing to do, but split up then.” Murakami said as he and Kuruma ducked behind a wall. “We can’t let them escape to the city.”  

Hisato blocked an arm. His sword pieced the arm a bit, getting stuck in it and giving Daichi the chance to shoot the Mimic’s eye. With it dropping down dead, Hisato ripped his sword through the rest of the arm and stepped back.  

“Even if you say that, these things aren’t going to let us pass easily.” Suwa replied as he fired onto the Mimics again to keep them from approaching Hisato anymore.  

Green slashes suddenly rippled across the ground and walls all around the surprised agents. The slashes ripped free from the walls to pierce the Mimics. The Mimics dropping down dead at their feet left the agents staring in shock.  

“Guess it is that easy.” Kuruma said.  

“Now this is fun.” Kako stepped onto the scene behind the agents, holding Fujin in her hand.  

“Kako-san,” Murakami greeted the A-Rank who was standing in the middle of the road, facing the Mimics without fear.  

“Oi! Did you get permission from HQ to use that?” Suwa pointed at Fujin. 

“Nope,” Kako replied. “But Jin asked me for a favor. How could I say no?” 

“Of course that’s the reason.” Murakami smirked.  

“I won’t complain. The help is greatly appreciated.” Kuruma added.  

“My job is to keep the Mimics from escaping the Restricted Zone tonight. You guys take care of the ones here.” Kako said.  

“Need any help?” Kuruma asked.  

Kako smiled. “No, I have this. Good luck.”  

With that, Kako jumped up to the nearby roof. The Mimics followed her movement, but Suwa, Daichi, and Kuruma took that chance to use the walls for cover and fired back on the distracted Mimics.  

Taichi popped up from his hiding spot and took aim at the Mimics. He didn’t hesitate to take his shot this time. After a few shots, he would have to run to avoid getting attacked by the Mimics, but this would be enough to cover for Kako to get pass this group.  

“At least we have an A-Rank agent out here now. Can’t really complain anymore, can you, Suwa-san?” Taichi piped up.  

“Shut up.”  

Leaving behind the B-Rank squads to battle the Mimics that were left, Kako ran across the roofs to reach the group trying to escape. It didn’t make sense why the Mimics were going this way since they weren’t supposed to be going after civilians. They needed Trion bodies to gather memories and transform. There was even the assurance from Jin that civilians weren’t in danger.  

“Hey, Kako-san,” Jin greeted cheerfully.   

Kako looked over her shoulder to see Jin approaching her. Behind him, waiting a bit down the hall was Yuma who was leaning against the wall. “Something wrong, Jin?”   

“I need a favor.” Jin asked.   

“Is it important? I was just about to leave for the night.” Kako replied.   

“I know you’re not on duty tonight, but I need you to stay here. There's going to a problem with the Mimics.” Jin explained.   

Kako raised a brow and leaned against the wall. “Shouldn’t we alert Director Shinoda and get more agents on duty tonight?”  

“I have every confidence in Suwa squad and Suzunari First being able to handle it, but there will be another problem that requires a bit more help. With you there, the situation will be handled just fine. There’s no need to risk any more agents getting memories taken by the Mimics than necessary.”   

“You can’t take care of it?” Kako asked. It’s not like she was opposed to helping Jin out, but it was strange that he didn’t want to join in on the battle.   

Jin looked over his shoulder at the waiting Yuma. “Let’s just say the week is going to be pretty long and I have to work out how to keep things from going horribly wrong.”   

Kako followed Jin’s eyes to Yuma. “Is there something wrong with Kuga-kun?”  

“Let’s just say if you can keep the Mimics from leaving the Restricted Zone tonight, it would be a huge help.” Jin replied.   

“Seems to me like this is more for Kuga-kun than you.” Kako said.   

“As smart as ever.” Jin smiled, shrugging back at her. “This isn’t going to end tonight, but our counter attack tonight will be a good step if we win the battle.”   

She could settle this battle. If winning tonight could help Jin change the future he saw, then Kako would win. It was for this reason she swiped Fujin from HQ. Jin didn’t tell her to use Fujin, but perhaps he saw her taking this course of action and didn’t feel the need to tell her.  

Kako came to a stop on a roof that gave her a good vantage point to see the Mimics that were gliding silently through the area. It was almost eerie how silent it was over here compared to the battle she had just left behind.  

There was no point in waiting.  

She activated her wind blades and sent them skating across the rooftops. It was truly amazing what the range on these blades were. If she could see it, Fujin could slash it. With the distance she wanted to stay at until she could learn how Mimics fought, her Hound bullets wouldn’t quite reach.  

Kako's slashes tore through the first few Mimics but the rest threw up Shields to defend against the slashes she had aimed at them. 

“Trion Soldiers having Shields. It’s becoming too common.” Kako mused. She was hoping to take more out with her first attack before they noticed her. Still, attacking them like this would get their attention.  

Or, that was what she thought would happen.  

Of the six Mimics left, only four of them turn to her. The other two continued to head for the edge of the Restricted Zone.  

What were they so fixated on? 

It was a question Kako would need to ponder later. For now, the job Jin asked of her was to keep them from escaping the Restricted Zone, and that was what she was going to do.  

Unfortunately, Kako used all her slashes in her attack earlier to help the other squads and her first attack here. As she reloaded Fujin, she ran across the roofs again. Fully loaded, Fujin had fourteen slashes. The lessons from Jin on how to efficiently use Fujin were locked in her head, though this would be her first time using those lesson in a real battle.  

As she approached the Mimics, their attacks came. The arms shot towards her, but Kako wasn’t going to give them the chance to look into her memories. She brought Fujin up to block the first arm as she eyed the other hands approaching her out of the corner of her eyes. Before they could reach her, the blades she set in the ground at her feet shot straight up into the Mimics’ arms which dropped heavily to the ground. With that threat temporarily gone, Kako added more pressure to Fujin to slice cleanly through the arm she had blocked. 

As that arm landed at her feet, Kako stared pass the four Mimics confronting her to the two trying to leave. Those were the target. None of them could be allowed to leave. Kako jumped off the roof, going flying over the four Mimics blocking her on the ground and landed neatly in a crouch between the two groups.  

Kako calmly stood up as the blades she laid down as she jumped down shot out of the walls and pierced all six of the Mimics.  

Kako slid Fujin back in the sheath as the Mimics feel to the ground in pieces. She looked in the direction that the Mimics had been heading. They were still pretty far in the Restricted Zone, but she had a good guess of where they were trying to get to based on their general direction.  

Tamakoma Branch.  

It truly was curious. She wondered what Jin was up to this time.  

“Kako-san already defeated her portion of the Mimics.” Osano informed the squads.  

“Yeah, well, great for the agent who stole a Black Trigger from HQ.” Suwa said.  

“These things get creepier by the minute!” Taichi planted a foot on the ledge and aimed his rifle down towards the Mimic that was scaling the wall to get to him. “Can we be done yet?” 

“Senku Kogetsu.”  

Murakami’s slash ripped through the air, slicing through the Mimic trying to get to Taichi. Assured that his attack would hit it, Murakami was already turning and blocking an attack from another Mimic as Kuruma gunned it down.  

“Thank you,” Taichi said.  

“You need to find better cover.” Kon scolded.  

“I ran after my last shot. Their ability to track us is ridiculous.” Taichi complained. “I’m wearing my bagworm too. It doesn’t make any sense.”  

“Maybe they aren’t using radar to find us.” Daichi suggested. 

“Well, they’re using something.” 

“A question for another time. We're almost finished here.” Murakami replied.  

“Better hurry up before Kako-san comes back and steals your kills again.” Kon said.  

*Mimics*  

Yuma stared in the direction of the Restricted Zone. He couldn’t see anything or hear anything, but he had a feeling there was a battle raging tonight. Being at Tamakoma was making him unnerved. Granted, he had a feeling he would be unnerved even if he stayed at HQ. It was why his hand was shoved in his hoodie pocket so he could hold onto his Trigger.  

“I told Hyuse about your father. Not everything, but just about his connection with Border and that he created your Black Trigger. He wanted to know about him and Mogami-san.”  

Yuma looked over his shoulder at Osamu who was walking towards him. “Does no one know how to sleep?”  

“It’s hard to sleep knowing that we’re being attacked by Mimics.” Osamu turned his attention to the Restricted Zone. “It’s one thing when it’s normal Trion Soldiers the agents on duty are dealing with, but when it’s unique Trion Soldiers attacking us, it’s more worrisome. Like when Aftokrator was scoping us out before invading us.”  

“You shouldn’t let it affect your rest. Taking care of yourself will help keep your wits about you.” Yuma replied. “And we will all need our wits about us in the coming week. The Mimics will try to deceive you so you need to be able to focus.”  

“When we face them, we’ll be using Triggers so the conditions of our physical bodies won’t matter.” Osamu pointed out as he leaned against the ledge next to Yuma.  

“That doesn’t mean you should neglect your body’s physical needs.” Yuma said. “This isn’t going to end tonight. We're still only just in the beginning of this attack. Just because you’re worried about Mimics doesn’t mean you can forgo sleep all week.”  

“The Mimics are concerning, but they’re not where most of my concern is.” Osamu looked at Yuma. “You act concerned about the Mimics, but will they really come here again if you’re here?” 

“Do you know why one appeared here last night?” Yuma asked, staring in the direction of the Restricted Zone. He was waiting for a Mimic to just appear at any moment. “Mimics can’t really see in their shadow forms so how do they find their targets?” 

“You said they locate Trion bodies and since your body is a Trion one, that’s why you’re worried, right?” Osamu asked.  

“But how do Mimics find the Trion bodies?” Yuma stressed. “Unless you have a radar, you can’t locate anyone, so how do Mimics? They don’t quite use radar. Instead, it’s more of a form of echolocation.”  

“Echolocation is the location of objects through sound. Bats and dolphins use it to get around.” Osamu replied.  

Yuma nodded. “What the Mimics do is very similar to that. It doesn’t seem that it has changed since they were first created. They don’t really use sound though. They use Trion to send out waves to locate Trion bodies and their range is far, probably the whole city. It's the only thing that can explain how they found me yesterday.”  

“So if the Mimics get out of the Restricted Zone, they will come here?” Osamu asked.  

“Mm-hmm, the danger is that to get to me, the Mimics will have to traverse through the city. While civilians aren’t their targets, seeing those Trion Soldier will terrify them, especially since Border has no intention of alerting the city to what is going on.” Yuma explained.  

“It would cause unnecessary panic, especially since they won’t be targeted by the Mimics.” Osamu replied. “I’m sure Jin-san is working hard to figure what the best course of action we should take is.”  

At Jin’s name, Yuma looked back over at Osamu with a frown.  

‘Within the next week, I see you dying.’ Jin said.   

Humming to himself, Yuma moved his eyes back to the Restricted Zone.  

“Is something wrong?” Osamu asked.  

“Yeah, what was that you said when you first came out here about telling Hyuse about my father?” Yuma asked.  

“Oh, that,” Osamu rubbed the back of his head. “He was asking about why everyone seemed worried about Mogami-san and your father appearing so I was telling him about them. It's impossible to hide anything from you so I just wanted to tell you as soon as I was able to.”  

Should that make Yuma feel guilty? It was making him feel guilty that Osamu was being so honest with him, but he couldn’t bring himself to do the same. Osamu was finally relaxing now that the Rank Battle and Expedition exam were over. He couldn’t put the stress of his impending death on him on top of the Mimics worrying everyone.  

“I didn’t tell him everything. He doesn’t know the truth about your body or that you’re dying.” Osamu assured his friend.  

It was strange that Osamu told Hyuse anything when the rest of their squad was still pretty much in the dark about everything. Chika only knew a little about his father, but nothing about his connection to Border and Shiori didn’t know anything at all. Shiori was scared enough when she thought Osamu was going to die after Aftokrator’s invasion. He didn’t want to put her through that again.  

“Kuga?” Osamu asked, frowning at his distracted friend. With the way Yuma had angled his body to look at the Restricted Zone, he couldn’t see his face to figure out what he was feeling.  

“It’s fine, Osamu. I'm not mad about it. There’re only a few hours until sunrise. You should try to get some sleep.” Yuma replied. He really wasn’t in the mood for a conversation with his friend being so honest while Yuma was hiding things.   

“You’re not going to run off the moment I leave the roof?” 

Yuma pursed his lips. “No trust. I don’t have any reason to run to the Restricted Zone tonight. I already alerted Border to what Mimics are.”  

“Just....if something happens, just alert us this time, okay?” Osamu asked. “Don’t try to keep us in the dark.”  

“I never do, Osamu. There just wasn’t time last night.” Yuma replied, looking over at his friend. “But if something happens again, I promise I'll tell you right away.”  

Osamu nodded, looking satisfied.  

*Mimics*  

“Behind you,” Kon warned.  

Murakami sidestepped as he turned to see the Mimic’s arm flying pass him. Though it missed, the Mimic didn’t retract its arm. Instead, the arm swept across the area to try to hit them. Kuruma ducked while Murakami’s Kogetsu sliced through the air to pierce the arm. These weren’t difficult to fight, but the sheer number could overwhelm them. Just a single misstep or distraction could lead to a Mimic touching anyone of them.  

“Where did those ones come from?” Taichi complained as he took aim and took his shot at the farthest one, leaving the closer ones for the gunners to take care of. “I thought we were almost done.”  

“Did another Gate open?” Kuruma asked.  

“I didn’t see one, but one must have. They weren’t around before.” Kon replied.  

“Only a few hours until sunrise, and Kako-san is on her way back to help you guys.” Osano added.  

“Makes for a long night still.” Suwa said.  

“Let’s just hope our Trion last that long.” Daichi added.  

*Mimics*  

Jin sat on the steps overlooking the river at the base, staring up at the moon. He had every confidence that the squads in the Restricted Zone could handle themselves tonight. It would be a war of attrition, but they could survive. They would survive tonight, but this war was only beginning.  

He made a promise.  

He told Yuma he could save him.  

Using his side effect, he has manipulated so many battlefields to lead Border to their wins.  

But how was he supposed to lead them away from Yuma’s death? So many paths he saw lead to Yuma dying. There had to be one somewhere that lead to his friend surviving. He could manipulate any bad future into a good future. He just had to find the right path.  

Chapter Text

Yuma shoved his cereal in his mouth, staring back at Jin, who was standing across the breakfast counter, staring at him. “I didn’t leave Tamakoma last night so why are you staring at me like that? I feel like I'm being judged.”  

Jin planted his hands on the counter, staring Yuma down. “Osamu isn’t panicking currently and is in fact sleeping in. You didn’t tell him, did you?” 

“That I'm going to die in a few days? Why would I put that on his mind? He worries too much already.” Yuma shoved another spoonful of cereal into his mouth.  

“He’s your Captain. You can’t keep this from him.”  

“It’s ‘I shouldn’t keep this from him,’ but  I  can do whatever I want.” Yuma stressed. “I'm the one with less than a week left on his life. I feel that gives me free reign to do whatever I want and I'd rather not spend that time with my team panicking and freaking out. That won’t solve anything.”  

Raising a brow, Jin leaned down on his arms. “Didn’t we just talk about this last night? About how there is nothing I can’t plan out to work towards preventing the worst possible outcome? You're not dying on my watch.”  

Yuma pushed his bowl to the side and mirrored Jin’s position. “I know you’re going to try hard, Jin-san, but I don’t want you to take it too hard if you aren’t able to prevent it. I know you feel extremely guilty when you have to put people in harm’s way to get the best possible future.” It wasn’t hard to tell from the look in Jin’s eyes when he offered to help Yuma find his Mini Replica. He knew Replica would be lost and Osamu and Chika would be in danger, but let it happen anyway because the invasion’s outcome would have been worse off without all those players in play. Yuma never begrudged him for it because he saw the regret Jin had for it. “If I die within the next few days, I won’t blame you for not being able to prevent it. I know you will have tried everything to save me. I don’t want you stressing out about this all week.”  

“You’re truly amazing, Yuma.” Jin replied softly. “I told you that you would die by the end of the week, but you’re still so calm.”  

“I’ve been dying for almost five years now. I’m not about to panic about it now.” Yuma explained, expression softening at his friend. “Besides, I'm not alone, right? You said it yourself, you didn’t see my death before and I know you’re going to help me in whatever way possible to try to prevent it.”  

Smiling, Jin reached across the counter to ruffle Yuma’s hair. Before he could say anything though, the door opened, ending the conversation that they didn’t want anyone else to hear. They both looked over to see Chika coming in.  

“Morning, Chika.” Yuma said happily.  

Chika smiled at them. “Good morning, Yuma-kun, Jin-san.” She paused to look around the room to find it empty except for them. “No Hyuse-kun or Osamu-kun?” 

“Osamu’s still sleeping. He was up late last night and I think Hyuse is down in the training rooms.” Yuma replied. Hyuse was trying hard to increase his skill with Border’s Trigger. Whenever they spared, Yuma still managed to come out on top and it seemed, Hyuse just could not accept that. That was fine with Yuma. It made their fights a lot more interesting.  

“Do you want anything to eat Chika-chan?” Jin asked.  

“I ate before I came over.” Chika replied as she came over to the counter and sat down next to Yuma. “What were you guys talking about?” 

Yuma pulled his cereal back to him to continue eating. “The Mimics.”  

“Mimics,” Chika said softly, twisting her hands over each other.  

Yuma eyed the movement from the corner of his eyes. “Something wrong?” He asked before shoveling his food in his mouth.  

“It’s just....” Chika paused, eyes drifting down to the counter. She was finally feeling so confident and getting stronger each day as a sniper. Getting over her fear of shooting people was tough, but she manage to overcome her own mental block. It felt amazing to be able to protect her team like that, but now it felt like she was taking a step back in all her progress. “Everything I worked towards was getting on an Away mission to try to find my brother and friend. I understood that they might not be alive, but there is always that chance that I can find them. But, what if I get attacked by a Mimic and I come face to face with my brother or friend? Everything I’ve worked for will have been for nothing.”  

“I see. I never considered that people would have that fear. A lot of people went missing in the first invasion, right? You don’t know if they’re dead or not so if you came face to face with them, you wouldn’t know what to think.” Yuma replied. “It could get confusing.”  

“People might believe someone who went missing suddenly came back.” Jin agreed. “I see what you meant, Yuma, about the emotional manipulation that the Mimics use.”  

Yuma nodded, turning back to Chika. “You knew it was always a possibility that they might be dead, Chika, but you never let that worry stop you before. You kept training hard to get to this point. Don’t let those what-ifs stop you from going for what you want. They'll only be a distraction.”  

Chika gripped her hands into each other tightly. “I know. I'm just scared to see them step in front of me. I've been able to get this far by letting myself dream of the day I find them. The Mimics can force me to face a truth I don’t want to hear.”  

“You can’t hide from the truth, Chika. If we go to on the Away mission and found out they are dead, we have to accept it for what it is. There is no bringing back the dead. But even if that is what we find over there, until we see it, there is nothing wrong with holding onto that hope.” Yuma replied. “Hope doesn’t win battles, but it can be the strength you use to stand up. When you have something to fight for, that determination to see it through can really make someone shine.” Yuma smiled, looking from Chika to Jin. “I saw it in Kumagai in our Rank War when she fought Murakami-senpai. She was clearly outmatched, but she never let that stop her. Her and Akane. Their spirit wasn’t enough to let them surpass Murakami-senpai's skill, but it gave them the strength to not back down when things got tough. When you have nothing to gain from winning a fight, it’s easy to back down and give up. When you have something to fight for, something to protect, it makes you want to try harder to win. You've displayed that stubbornness so many times already, Chika.” 

“That’s because we made the promise to go the Neighborhood together. I don’t want to be the reason we get held back.” Chika replied. “It was my selfish wish that put on this goal so I tell myself I need to be stronger. I want to be stronger, but it seems I can’t get rid of this fear.”  

Eyeing his teammate who was still frowning down at the table, Yuma nudged his shoulder with hers to get her attention. “Why would you want to? You can’t rid yourself of emotions. Fear might freeze you in place if you let it overwhelm you, but it is also needed in the field so you don’t forget to heed caution. Without caution, people would recklessly dive into situations they can’t handle. You need to plan things out and think clearly.”  

“Fear is good?” Chika said softly to herself. Was it? When Aftokrator invaded and she had a Rabit barreling at her, all she could do was freeze. She was terrified out of her mind that she would be killed that day. She couldn’t even move or think. That day when she picked up Ibis to save Izuho, it wasn’t because she had conquered her fear. She saw Izuho about to be taken and the fear turned into her determination to save a friend. It was her first time finding that strength to fight. The fear was still there while she was active in the battle, but with Osamu and Izuho standing with her, she was able to get her knees to stop shaking and stand tall.  

The fear was there when they had to save Osamu from Giev in the caves. The fear was there when she got separated from Yuma in the caves. She couldn’t see either of her teammates, but that didn’t stop her from moving forward. Her heart was pounding in her chest with the fear of them both being dead, but she still walked forward.  

The fear was still there when she looked through her scope in the Rank battles and saw targets that could give her points if she just pulled the Trigger. If she pulled the Trigger, she could help Osamu and Yuma have less opponents. The fear of being blamed wasn’t easy for her to get over, but if it meant protecting her team, she would take the shot. It was a relief off her shoulders when Inukai, instead of getting mad at her for killing his teammate, gave her a compliment. She was scared to shoot and get blamed, but she was more afraid of losing her friends because she didn’t shoot.  

She had those fears.  

No, Chika still had them.  

She may have conquered her fear of shooting people, but she would never lose the fear of losing her friends.  

The fear was there but she was able to use that fear of losing her friends and made it her strength to pick up her rifle.  

“Look, I know this is coming from your worries about the Mimics, but try to keep your mind focused. In battle, if you let that worry cloud your mind, you’re more likely to make a mistake because of the distraction. Focus on your job and you’ll be fine. You won’t have to go out on duty alone. You have allies to help you.” Yuma said.  

Chika nodded. “Right. Focus, I’m good at that.” She stared down at her hand, opening and closing it a few times.  

“So I've heard from Reiji-san.” Yuma said amused.  

“The practice helps. It gets my mind off of things and lets me focus on my shots so I think I'm going to go get some in.” Chika said, standing up from her seat. The more she practiced, the more focused she would get and the better her shots would be. If hitting the enemy saved her friends, she would do it.  

“Have fun.” Jin called after her as Chika left the room. “Not going to tell her either?” 

“Is that a serious question?” Yuma leaned his cheek on his hand. “She has her own worries and fears about coming face to face with Mimics. I don’t need to add my problems on top of hers.”  

“When are you going to start trusting your team?” Jin asked.  

“I trust them just fine. If I didn’t, it would have been hard to get to B-Rank #2.”  

“Which is an impressive thing to accomplish for a brand new team.” Jin agreed. “But if you really trusted them all, you wouldn’t be keeping this from them. I'm sure you trust them as fighters in the field. Osamu and Chika-chan have really done a great job for being so new to fighting, but you’re still keeping stuff from them.”  

“Chika blames herself for her brother and friend’s disappearance. My situation is in no way her fault, but I don’t want to add to her fears. She'll lose her focus.” Yuma explained.  

“Chika-chan is a lot stronger than you’re giving her credit for. She can handle the news.”  

Yuma eyed Jin, frowning deeply. “Does your side effect tell you that? Must be faulty since I have no intention of letting her find out.”  

“The futures I see are never wrong. They can just be manipulated to be changed.” Jin replied.  

“Then it’s getting changed. I don’t want anyone to know the truth about my body that doesn’t already know and I don’t want anyone to know you’ve predicted my death by the end of the week.” Yuma replied. “You don’t need to tell people what you saw to work on changing it, right? So this should be fine.”  

“Keeping it on the downlow won’t change anything so it will be fine. It's just difficult to plan what course of action to take since this isn’t a single day’s battle I have to manipulate. By asking people to do something for me on a particular day to warp the future I saw, I’m changing the week’s events by putting them in different places than they were in the original future I saw. Every action we take can cause a shift in the path that we end up on.”  

“You explained this during Aftokrator’s invasion.”  

“That was one day’s worth of actions I had to take account for, Yuma. I'm trying to say, it’s not as easy when multiple days are involved.”  

“And how does telling more people change the difficulty of that? The answer, it doesn’t so there’s no point in telling anyone.” Yuma pushed away from the counter, standing up. “I’m heading to HQ. Need to apologize to Shun for yesterday. I shouldn’t have taken my frustration out on him.”  

“Probably a good idea. You don’t have to come back here, but you need to be out of the Restricted Zone before dark.” Jin warned.  

“You’re giving me a curfew?” Yuma pouted.  

“The Mimics are always going to track you, Yuma, but you’re worse off if you’re in the Restricted Zone.” 

“I’m worse off, but the civilians are worse off if I'm in the city or even here. They’ll try to get out of it to get to me. I still think it’s better if I at least stay inside HQ.”  

Jin stared down at Yuma, frowning. To Yuma, it felt like he was looking into the future again. “There’s no good place to be, Yuma, but I would feel a lot better if you got out of the Restricted Zone altogether before dark.”  

It wouldn’t change anything.  

The only thing that could help was to wait out the time for the nation that was doing this to move out of range.  

“Yuma. Please.”  

“I will, Jin-san. I'll be back tonight.” Yuma promised.  

*Mimics*  

“Why did she have Fujin in the first place?” Kinuta demanded.  

Netsuki rubbed the back of his neck. “Agent Kako wasn’t even supposed to be on duty last night.”  

Rindo leaned forward, resting his arm on the table. “Jin requested her to help the squads on duty last night. He hasn’t explained anything to me, but we can trust him. He's already working hard on adjusting our future’s path.”  

“And why did he need Kako to do it, instead of doing it himself? He has a lot more experience with Fujin.” Kido asked.  

Without a doubt in his mind, Rindo knew Jin’s reasoning for this course of action was his worry about Yuma attracting Mimics with his Trion body. He imagine Jin would rather be at Tamakoma with Yuma just in case soemthing went wrong. That wasn’t something he could say without betraying Yuma’s trust, and that wasn’t something he was willing to do anytime soon. “Jin doesn’t do anything without a reason. He's the only one who can really understand his reasoning. We just need to trust him.”  

Kido eyed Rindo, seeming to distrust his response. With him and Jin, it always felt like they were hiding something. “Whatever his reason, we cannot overlook Agent Kako taking Fujin without permission.”  

“We made the decision to train all agents who can activate Fujin so it can be used in emergencies. What is the point of making that call if we can’t trust our agents enough to know what is considered an emergency and take it without needing to get permission from us every single time? It was the middle of the night and none of us were here to make the call.” Shinoda argued. “Our agents are responsible enough that they wouldn’t take Fujin out to play with and she returned it first thing in the morning once the Mimics had all disappeared.”  

“And what if they do take it out to play with when we don’t punish agents who take it without permission?” Kinuta argued.  

“If that happens, then we punish the agent that did that, but our agents aren’t immature enough to steal Fujin without a good reason.” Shinoda replied. “They’ll highly trained and respectable agents. We should return the trust they give us.”  

“We don’t tell them they have free reign to take Fujin without requesting to use it first, but if we look at each individual time it’s gets taken and judge the situation afterwards, it shouldn’t be an issue. If it gets taken advantage of, we can lay stricter rules in place.” Rindo suggested.  

Shinoda looked at Rindo, satisfied that his friend was working with him on this. Since Rindo was a Branch head and Shinoda was the General Manager of HQ, it was at times hard to get them on the same side. And when they did end up on the same side, it lead to them trading blows with Kido. Infighting was the last thing Border needed. “It’s rare that an emergency situation would occur without us here anyway. With Jin’s side effect, we can properly prepare so we would always be available if an invasion would occur. Something like last night was a special occasion.”  

“We’ll see if such a ploy actually works.” Kido said. “If Jin was requesting Kako’s presence last night, it means he saw the magnitude of the attack that would occur. Why did he not ask for more agents to help?” 

“That’s why he went to Kako. He saw that having her there with Fujin would be more than enough help. He’s concerned with the coming days and doesn’t want to overwork all the agents all week while dealing with this.” Rindo replied.  

“As usual, Jin can never be straight forward.” Kinuta complained. “Can’t he just say what needs to be done?”  

*Mimics*  

“Ten round match and lunch on me?”  

Shun turned at the voice to find Yuma standing there. “What?” 

Yuma rubbed the back of his head, sheepishly. “I want to apologize for taking my frustration out on you yesterday. Another round of matches and we can head to a restaurant of your choice for lunch on me?” 

“Oooh, that sounds awesome.” Yoneya popped up behind Yuma.  

Yuma eyed the other agent out of the corner of his eyes. “I owe you nothing.”  

“Oh, come on. You agreed to give me a fight months ago, but we’ve yet to have it.” Yoneya whined.  

‘I see you dying within the week.’ Jin’s told Yuma.   

Jin would do everything in his power to save Yuma. He truly believed in Jin, but that didn’t necessarily mean he would succeed in his endeavor. The chance he would die this week was still in Jin’s predictions. If he died this week, there were many things he couldn’t do, like keep his promise to Osamu and Chika to get them to the Neighborhood. At the very least though, he could fulfill his other promises.  

“Let’s have a match right now then. I'll fight Shun afterwards then we can go get lunch.” Yuma said, directing the last part at Shun.  

“Am I still not invited to lunch?” Yoneya asked.  

“You always find something to complain about.” Yuma said.  

“You can come.” Shun said, glancing at Yuma with a grin. “It’s your apology to me so what I say goes.”  

Yuma just shrugged in return. “Do I have to pay for him too?” 

“Naw, we can make him pay for himself.” Shun replied.  

Yoneya pouted. “So I get nothing?” 

“You’re getting a match with Yuma-senpai. Isn't that enough?” Shun asked.  

“I’m even going to fight you first so if something interrupts us, Shun will be the only one missing out on a fight.” Yuma added cheerfully. 

“Even though this is supposed to be an apology to me.” Shun pointed out.  

“Yeah,” Yuma grinned at his friend. “But we fight all the time. I've yet to give Yosuke-senpai a fight despite promising him one months ago.”  

Shun looked up towards the ceiling as he thought back. “Back when we first fought, you apologized to him for not being able to give him a fight because Jin-san dragged you away. You were C-Rank back then, but Yoneyan-senpai was eager to fight you anyway. Strange.”  

Yoneya waved his hand. “No, no, he promised me before that. We were just trying fulfil it then. I actually met Kuga a few weeks before he joined Border and we made the agreement to fight again at that time.”  

“Fight again?” Shun asked, latching onto that part of the statement. His eyes narrowed as he looked at his friends in time to see the subtle shifting they both made, like that part of the statement was a mistake. “Is there something you’re not telling me?” 

Yoneya glanced down at Yuma, giving him a shrug. That was his bad. Half of the A-Ranks knew about Yuma being a Neighbor and with how much Yuma and Shun trusted each other, it was hard to remember at times that Shun didn’t know the truth.  

“Jin-san was working personally to recruit me back in December. He was putting in a lot of effort to get me to say yes and during that time, I ran into Miwa squad. We didn’t hit it off too great back then. Even now, Miwa still doesn’t like me.” Yuma explained. It was all technically true. Maybe it didn’t happen in that order, but nothing he said was a lie.  

Shun’s brows furrowed in confusion. “You got into a fight with someone?” He asked Yoneya in surprise. “Someone who wasn’t even an agent at the time? What if that caused Yuma-senpai to not want to join Border?!” 

“We would have been screwed.” Yoneya replied, folding his arms behind his head. “We needed Kuga’s help during the invasion. Jin would have been mad if our fight with Kuga screwed up his plans.”  

“The invasion?” Shun repeated, eyes narrowed as he thought back to the day Aftokrator came here. “Oh! I remember now. It was chaotic at the time, but I remember Mikumo-senpai saying something about you fighting a Black Trigger during Aftrokrator’s invasion. That's pretty impressive, Yuma-senpai. Taking on a Black Trigger with a training Trigger.”  

Yuma blinked in confusion for a moment before he was smiling.  “Yep,” He agreed easily. Training Trigger. Yeah, no, Yuma was not insane enough to fight a Black Trigger with a training Trigger but whatever got them out of Shun’s line of questioning faster.  

“Pretty impressive indeed.” Yoneya said amused before he was ushering the younger two agents to move towards the training booths. “But let’s stop wasting time. I was promised a fight. Let's get to it before something interrupts us again.”  

As Shun turned to lead the way, Yoneya softened the sound of his voice. “Are you ever going to tell him the truth?”  

“Can I just tell people I have a Black Trigger?” Yuma asked quietly. “Kido-san won’t get mad if I start spreading that around?” 

“Telling one person isn’t spreading it around.” Yoneya pointed out. “But it is possible if it did get learned, people might get mad that you’re keeping hold of a Black Trigger, but aren’t using it to be S-Rank. There are plenty of agents who would love to be S-Rank and might feel you are keeping that from them by keeping hold a Black Trigger you aren’t using.”  

“Doubt they could activate it with that attitude anyway.” Yuma muttered. “What I want to do with it is my own business anyway.”  

“Fair enough. I don’t really care. You came here with it so we really have no right to it.” Yoneya replied.  

Shun glanced over his shoulder towards his two friends who were whispering softly to one another. He was letting it go, but he knew those two were hiding something from him. It hurt that his friends felt it was necessary to keep secrets from him, but he wasn’t about to betray their trust in him by demanding they give him actual answer to his questions.   

*Mimics*  

“Late night?” 

Osamu looked up at Karasuma, still trying to wake himself up fully. “What?” 

“It’s not like you to sleep in this late. Were you up late last night?” Karasuma asked again.  

“Yeah, I was talking to Kuga last night.” Osamu replied before covering a yawn with his hand.  

Karasuma raised a brow. “Yuma’s sleep habits are even worse than yours.”  

Blinking, Osamu lowered his hand to the counter as he frowned at his mentor. Right, Karasuma didn’t know about Yuma’s body or the fact that he didn’t sleep. Osamu needed to wake himself up properly before he started talking to people in the morning. “No one can outmatch Kuga’s horrible sleeping habits. Anyway, are we training today?” 

“That was the plan. We have to cut the training short today so we’ll be available for tonight if things get bad.” Karasuma explained.  

“Did Jin-san say anything about all of us being needed?” Osamu asked.  

“He hasn’t told me anything, but we should still be prepared in case an alert goes out. Jin-san likes to scheme behind the scenes and won’t necessarily tell us what needs done. He'll try to push us in the direction he wants to go or keep us in the dark completely. Since our enemy can currently only come out when it’s dark outside, I want us to be available then.” Karasuma explained.  

Osamu nodded in agreement. “I see. That’s alright.” He twisted on the bar stool to take in the rest of the room. “Do you know where my team is at?” 

“I saw Yuma this morning briefly. How he can get up so early every day when he stays up so late, I just don’t understand.” Karasuma replied.  

“Chika and Hyuse are both training downstairs.” Konami said as she came into the room. “And Jin said Yuma ran off to HQ again. I was going to make him train with me all day to make up for his skipping yesterday but he ran off before I could grab him.”  

Seeing the annoyed expression on her face had Osamu smiling. It could be hard to keep up with Yuma. He always seemed to be running off to do something. “Then what are you going to do?” 

“Hmm, maybe I'll go beat up Hyuse. He could use a training partner.”  

“I’m sure he’ll find more enjoyment out of that then fighting Trion Soldiers.” Karasuma agreed. “Just don’t be as upset when you lose a match to him as you did when Yuma beat you.”  

“Excuse you?” Konami demanded. “I’m not going to lose to him! It will be ten to zero! Like I would ever lose to someone so full of himself!” She spun around and marched back out of the door she just came through, making her way loudly down to the training rooms.  

“I’m not so sure that will go well.” Osamu muttered. “They are both very competitive individuals.”  

“It will be good for both of them. They’ll learn each other’s fighting styles and how strong each are.” Karasuma replied.  

“I suppose, and any experience fighting will help Hyuse get more used to our Triggers.” Osamu said. “There’s no experience that’s useless. All that matters is whether you can make use of it or not.”  

Karasuma’s brows furrowed. “What?” 

“It’s something Kuga said to me before after our training camp in Shizuka City. It’s something his dad told him before. I didn’t really believe it at the time. We never did any substantial training while there because we were under attack and before that, we hadn’t lost any Rank Battles, though I wasn’t much help in those battles. With each time I bailed out or we loss a match, I was just telling myself that I needed to get stronger or I needed a new Trigger.” Osamu admitted, looking down at his hands, clenching them into fists. On his own, he still wasn’t much stronger than when he started on this road, but that was okay. He had his team behind him. He wasn’t alone in any of this. “With time, I came to understand what he meant and looked at my failings from a new angle.”   

“Failing is part of the process.” Karasuma leaned against the counter, staring back at his mentee. “You see all the official agents or even when you look at Yuma and Hyuse, it’s hard to see, but they’ve all struggled and fallen many times. And when they fell, they just got back on their feet to try again. You take from your failures and learn what you did wrong so you can improve upon it.”  

Osamu shook his head. “Since I met Kuga, he’s always seemed like an immovable figure, like nothing can ever get to him, but I know that’s not true. When he was young, he made a huge mistake and it cost him greatly.” He said, choosing his words carefully so not to reveal anything about Yuma’s past.  

Though he was intrigued by what Osamu was saying about Yuma, who kept a lot of his past to himself, Karasuma didn’t ask for more information. If Yuma wanted them to know, he would have said something to them by now. Since he hasn’t, he wouldn’t betray his trust and privacy by trying to pry anything more from Osamu right now.  

“I know his story, and I know that he is still dealing with what happened, but even though I know what he went through, I still always saw Kuga as immovable. It’s hard to see Kuga as he is now to the one that made a mistake when he was a child. Perhaps because I wasn’t there or maybe it’s because I always see Kuga succeeding and getting stronger.”  

“Whatever happened to Yuma when he was a child, he clearly rose above it and became strong because of it. I’m not asking you to tell me what happened, but it sounds like he failed at something, right?” Karasuma asked, and at Osamu’s nod, he continued. “You see him as an immovable force to be reckoned with because that’s what he wants you to see. All the agents have had to fight and struggle to get where they are now. No one can be strong instantly. It takes a lot of training and understanding of yourself. You have to find the style of fighting that fits you. Though they all went through what you are going through now, none of them feel the need to share those struggles with others.”  

That made sense. If it wasn’t for Tokieda telling him, Osamu would have never known that Kitora struggled a lot with low Trion when she first joined Border so she had difficulty in getting to the level she’s at now. That was probably where Osamu made the connection to what Yuma telling him about experience and using his failures to learn. While she had a bad attitude at times, Osamu really respected her strength. It was hard to imagine her struggling once like he was.  

Yuma, Hyuse, Kitora, Arashiyama, Izumi, Yoneya, Midorikawa....all the agents. They’ve fought so hard to get to where they are now.  

“The more I fight, the more I fail, the more I learn. Maybe I'll never be as strong as the A-Rank agents, but that doesn’t mean I'm going to stop.” Osamu declared.  

Karasuma smiled. “Now that’s a good attitude to have. Those who lack determination will never get anywhere.” He pushed off the counter and motioned for Osamu to follow. “Let’s get to training.”  

*Mimics*  

A blade extended out of Yuma’s forearm to block Yoneya’s Kogetsu blade that he was manipulating to change shape to get around his Shield. The blade that came out of his arm was curved which locked up Kogetsu’s blade. His Shield dropped so he could call forth a second Scorpion.  

Yoneya ripped his spear free and jumped away from Yuma before that second sword could hit him.  

That spear was actually annoying, or maybe it was just because Yoneya was very skilled with his spear and switching to Gen’yo constantly. It was hard to defend against when it could get around his Shield. Still, it was getting a lot easier to contend with the more he fought against Yoneya. While Yoneya was a tough opponent, he was harder to fight when he had his snipers backing him up. 

Though he would give this to Yoneya, he was fast.  

If he wasn’t focusing so intensely, Yuma would have missed the fact that Yoneya had moved, but he was watching so he did notice the slashes coming to him. There were five that he released with his Whirlwind. Yuma dropped a Grasshopper behind him and stepped on it to send himself flying backwards and into the air while throwing up a Shield to avoid the slashes.  

Yuma threw multiple Grasshoppers in front of him and used them to propel himself towards Yoneya as the slashes dissipated. As he approached, Yoneya looked up towards him with a smirk, adjusting his spear to be ready to defend himself.  

Falling from the sky towards Yoneya, Yuma activated Scorpion, but created two to use Mantis. His Mantis extended faster than his fall towards Yoneya. A Shield appeared in front of Yoneya to defend himself from the attack. As his mantis slammed into the Shield, Yuma dropped another Grasshopper which allowed him to propel himself into a flip to get behind Yoneya. He landed in a crouch behind Yoneya, but instead of rising and turning to him, he extended a blade from his back, piercing Yoneya through the chest.  

Unfortunately, it seemed Yoneya predicted his moves as he had spun his spear in his hand and was stabbing Yuma. Stabbing behind him made his aim off so the spear only hit his arm. Though his arm fell off, Yoneya’s body broke apart causing him to bail out and ending the match.  

“7-3,” Shun pouted, folding his arms behind his head. “Better than the first time I fought him.”  

“I thought for sure I could get a few more wins from him.” Yoneya complained as he collapsed onto one of the couches with a sigh.  

“You’re strong, but Murakami-senpai is much stronger.” Yuma said, leaning against the back of the couch with a grin.  

“Which is why you never beat him in a ten round match.” Yoneya teased.  

Yuma pouted, pushing off the couch. “One day.” He declared. At least, he hoped the day came where he could beat Murakami in a ten round match. To do that, he had to get through this week. Yuma tightened his grip on the back of the couch. There was still so much he suddenly wanted to do. This wasn’t the week for him to die.  

“Yuma-senpai?” Shun glanced at Yoneya to a share a look before they were looking back at the sudden seriousness on Yuma’s face. “Are you okay?”  

“Fine,” Yuma said, breaking free from his sudden worries with a grin on his face. “Let’s fight, Shun. Time to make up for yesterday!” 

As Yuma ran off to his booth, Shun shared a look of concern with Yoneya again. “Is he still bothered by the Mimics?” 

Yoneya shrugged. “Can’t see what else would be bothering him. Whatever is worrying him, he’s clearly trying to distract himself from it. Just go have fun and help get his mind off whatever is bothering him. That's what you can do as his friend right now.”  

Shun nodded in agreement and ran off to his booth.  

*Mimics*  

“See anything interesting?” 

Jin looked over his shoulder at Arashiyama, smiling at the other agent. “Interesting? Not really. Worrying? Always.”  

“Worse than Aftokrator or what happened in Shizuka City?” Arashiyama asked.  

Leaning against the wall, Jin looked up and down the hallway of Border’s HQ. It would have been easier to come with Yuma together, but he had a feeling that Yuma wanted to run away from their conversation so he used the excuse of finding Shun to get away from him this morning. He allowed Yuma to get away with it since he knew that Yuma wanted to get away to avoid arguing about it anymore. Jin didn’t want to fight with Yuma about his upcoming death and he knew Yuma didn’t either. They couldn’t let their frustrations, fears, or worries get in the way of them working together. To that end, sometimes it was best to go their own way and calm themselves down.  

“The city doesn’t seem to be in any danger and the citizens aren’t going to be targeted so in that sense, you could say it’s not as bad as when Aftokrator invaded.” Jin replied. “But at the same time, this attack feels more personal since the agents will be the main targets for the Mimics. If we have to face our dead loved ones, it’s going to be hard.”  

Arashiyama joined Jin in leaning against the wall, crossing his arms lightly over his chest. “No one in my team has lost anyone so we’ll be fine, but what about you? Are you scared of seeing your mother or even Mogami-san again? I heard Miwa was furious because of a Mimic taking his sister’s form.”  

“Hmm,” Jin tilted his head back against the wall. “Am I scared? I haven’t thought much about having my memories of someone stolen to have someone appear. Yuma has been reminding me constantly to not let Mogami-san appear, but other than that, I haven’t thought about it. I've been more concerned with other things.”  

“You always do that. Jin, you’re not in this alone. Don’t try to do this all by yourself. You can ask us for help instead of trying to shoulder everything you see on your own.” Arashiyama scolded.  

Jin blinked in surprise for a moment before laughing, surprising Arashiyama at his response. “Sorry, I'm not taking what you’re saying lightly. It's just we’ve been scolding Yuma the same way for the past couple of days.”  

“Yuma doesn’t seem the type to try to do everything by himself. He seemed to respect the idea of working as a team a lot.” Arashiyama replied.  

“Unfortunately, Yuma’s head isn’t going to be entirely focused this week.” Jin muttered before sighing and looking back at his friend. He had a feeling the Mimics on top of the anniversary of his father’s death approaching was going to keep Yuma’s mind distracted, which was something they could not afford right now. “I’m going to need all the help I can get this week if I want to prevent a horrible outcome.”  

“So something bad is going to happen.”  

“I can’t tell you what will happen. I've been made to promise to keep it to myself, but I can’t stop it by myself.” Jin admitted.  

“You know you don’t even have to ask, Jin. We'll all help you no matter what.” Arashiyama promised. “Just tell us what we need to do to survive this attack.”  

Jin rubbed the back of his head. “Honestly, I'm still working on figuring it out. That's why I came here. I'm trying to get a read on what is going to happen to Border this week and if there’s any other horrible outcomes we need to prevent.”  

“My squad is on defense duty tonight. Is there anything we need to look out for?” Arashiyama asked.  

“There is something we need to prevent at all costs, but no matter how I try to work it out to prevent it, it still ends up happening. I can’t see a way to stop it. I look into next week and I still see us dealing with the outcome of what is meant to happen this week. I promised that I would prevent the worst outcome from happening, but I can’t see a way around it.”  

“If you talk to me, I can help.”  

Jin shook his head. “I promised I wouldn’t reveal the worst outcome.” 

“You also promised to do what you can to prevent, but aren’t able to find the path you need. Which promise is more important to you?” Arashiyama asked.  

“I told him that there is nothing I can’t prevent from happening, and yet, I'm stuck. I'm already struggling to keep this promise. I can’t betray his trust by telling you what it is.” Jin said, eyes drifting down to his side. Months ago he would see Fujin sitting on his waist, but now there was nothing there except an empty pouch. He told Yuma he could prevent anything from happening because that was what he believed. Since losing so many of his comrades five years ago, he made the promise to himself that he would do everything to manipulate the future to bring forth the best outcome. He hated seeing the future and seeing the death and destruction that would come, but after what happened five years ago, he made the decision to not run from his side effect ever again. And though it was hard, since Border went public, he managed to succeed in avoiding the worst outcomes. He had the allies he needed to accomplish that, but now, it felt like he was going to fail.  

“Okay, don’t tell me what you see. Instead, tell me what is it that I can do to help?” Arashiyama asked.  

“There is something.” Jin looked over at Arashiyama.  

*Mimics*  

“I thought it was meant to be an apology fight, but you’re as merciless as always.” Shun complained as Yuma happily shoved his lunch in his mouth.  

“If I went easy on you, you would have just whined about that too.” Yuma replied. 

“I don’t see why you’re complaining. You’re back to your average against Kuga. 7-3.” Yoneya pointed out as he dropped more meat on the grill.  

Shun slapped Yuma’s hand away from the meat on his side of the grill. “This is an apology lunch to me and now you’re trying to steal my portion of food?” 

Yuma grinned back at him. “So you say, but you’ve been complaining about your loss this whole time and haven’t eaten anything.”  

Locking eyes with Yuma, Shun took each piece of meat that he was claiming as his off the grill and put it on his plate. “I will bleed your wallet dry.”  

Considering how much money his father had left him and the money he had received from Border for all the Trion Soldiers he’s defeated, the reward money he got for beating Viza, and the reward money for successfully dealing with the situation in Shizuka City, Yuma just smirked back at his friend. While money was still hard for him to understand, Osamu had informed him he had a lot of money. He doubted Shun could even win in this.  

“What’s with that look?” Shun demanded. “You think I can’t?”  

Yuma shoved more food in his mouth, chewing slowly as he continued to stare confidentially back at his friend.  

“Albino shrimp!”  

Gulping down his food, Yuma looked over his shoulder at the familiar nickname to see Suwa squad approaching them. “Hi.” He said before grabbing his soda to take a drink.  

“Perfect timing!” Shun jumped up from his seat, raising his hand happily at them. “Join us right now. Lunch is on Yuma-senpai!”  

Yuma quickly swallowed his soda, putting his glass back down as he stared across the table. “What? I said I was only paying for you.”  

Shun just grinned mischievously at him. “If you’re so sure I can’t bleed your wallet dry, then what’s wrong with adding a few more people to the bill?” He teased, but by the challenging glint in his eyes, he was daring Yuma to back down.  

“Huh? What about me?” Yoneya asked, pointing at himself.  

“Obviously you’ll be added to the list. You're already sitting here.”  

“I don’t get what’s going on, but I'm in.” Suwa plopped down in the seat next to Yuma and proceeded to roughly ruffle his hair up. “Got a bone to pick with you anyway, shrimp.”  

Once Suwa was finished messing up his hair, Yuma fixed his hair, but eyed Suwa out of the corner of his eye. He wasn’t sure whether to focus on Suwa or Shun. Yuma felt no shame in losing so he had no problem turning down Shun’s challenge of bleeding him dry, but he was generally amused by Shun’s daring and besides, this was an apology. He would just let Shun win this one and just pay for everyone.  

“So what did Yuma-senpai do to you?” Shun asked curiously.  

“This punk,” Suwa wrapped an arm around Yuma’s neck and shook him. “Went out of his way to help the A-Ranks the other night when the Mimics first appeared, but when we got attacked by a horde of them last night, he couldn’t be bothered to show up.”  

Face squished against Suwa’s arm, Yuma still found the ability to give his friend a sheepish look. “I didn’t know you had a horde hounding you last night. Besides, Jin-san wouldn’t let me leave the base last night so even if I knew, you would have still had to suffer alone.”  

“It’s alright.” Daichi assured him. “Kako-san appeared last night in his place with Fujin to help us out. We had it handled.”  

“What’d you do to get grounded by Jin-san anyway?” Hisato asked curiously.  

Yuma pushed himself free of Suwa’s hold and looked at the other Attacker with a frown. Seeing the confusion on his face, Yoneya quickly leaned down to whisper in his ear, “Do they have nothing where you’re from? Being grounded is a punishment typically given by a parent to stop their child from leaving the house or doing something they like because they broke the rules.”  

Yuma twisted to Yoneya to hiss quietly back. “My father never grounded me for anything.”  

“You seriously never broke any rules growing up?” Yoneya asked surprised, curious eyes taking in Yuma. “I guess that makes sense. I can’t see you as one doing anything that would get you in trouble.”  

“I broke rules all the time. Dad just never punished me for it.” Yuma explained softly. “His mindset was if I got in trouble for going against his orders, it was my problem to deal with.”  

“What are you two talking about?” Shun asked loudly.  

Yuma and Yoneya ripped apart to look at the other occupants of the table just staring at them. Yoneya coughed lightly and leaned casually back in his seat while Yuma shoved some more food in his mouth.  

“I didn’t realize the question would bother you that much.” Hisato said softly.  

Yuma frantically shook his head, grabbing his soda to help get the food down. “No, that wasn’t it. Yosuke-senpai and I were talking about something else.” He sent a mock glare this friend. “He thinks it’s funny that you called it a grounding. I didn’t even consider that as what it would look like from an outsider’s point of view.”  

“So you not only manage to upset Midorikawa that you need to buy him lunch as an apology, but you abandoned us last night,” Suwa teased Yuma. “And made Jin want to ‘ground’ you. What did you do to anger everyone this week?” 

Yuma leaned his chin on his hand, frowning at Suwa. “I haven’t done anything.”  

Shun pointedly cleared his throat at his friend.  

“We’re making that up right now.” Yuma told Shun before turning back to Suwa. “Jin-san is worried about the Mimics. He sees a bad future in the making.”  

That one statement was enough for the amusement to leave the group and for frowns to settle into place as everyone gave their full attention to Yuma.  

“How bad is the future he sees?” Osano asked.  

“Hmm,” Yuma eyed the waiter who came back to set more meat and vegetables on the table for their growing number. Suwa and Daichi immediately went to work adding the food to the grill while the waiter moved on. Yuma waited until he was out of hearing range before explaining. “Jin-san said he didn’t fully understand what he saw in the visions he saw so I don’t really know what is going to happen.” 

“If he’s worried about something, then he saw something that has him concerned.” Yoneya pointed out.  

Yuma shrugged, staring at the grill as he watched Daichi flip the meat and vegetables over. He wasn’t feeling up to going into what Jin was really concerned over. There were parts of his visions he was confused about and that he didn’t go into with Yuma which probably had more to do with what he didn’t understand what he was seeing.  

“Sounds like things are going to get a lot worse. And I thought last night was horrible.” Suwa complained.  

“Was it really that bad?” Shun asked.  

“Final count for the Mimics that appeared last night was fifty-four.” Osano replied.  

“Fifty-four?!” Yoneya exclaimed, slamming his hands on the table as he leaned forward to look down the table at her. “We only had five appearing the other night. Whoever is doing this really upped their game. How can they have so many Mimics available to send that many?”  

“And what is the point of attacking us like this? What are they trying to accomplish?” Shun asked. “Five the first night, but fifty-four the second night?”  

That wasn’t a question any of them could answer unfortunately.  

“So you said Kako-san helped you last night?” Yuma asked, driving the conversation back to last night’s attack. 

Hisato nodded his head. “It was amazing! She appeared out of nowhere and just used Fujin to slash the Mimics to pieces!”  

“What is with agents who aren’t on duty just appearing out of nowhere in the Restricted Zone at night?” Yoneya asked, nudging Yuma’s shoulder in amusement. Yuma just rolled his eyes back at him with a smirk.  

“She said Jin-san asked her for a favor.” Osano leaned her arm on the table to see pass her teammates to look at the others. “Apparently he saw Mimics trying to escape the Restricted Zone last night so he asked Kako-san to help us out last night.”  

“Leaving the Restricted Zone?” Yoneya asked, brows furrowed in confusion. “They only go after Trion bodies so why for both attacks so far were they trying to leave? What is out there that they are after?” 

While the group pondered that question, Yuma stared at his hands curling into fists on the table. That's what Jin wanted to talk to Kako about before they left HQ yesterday. He knew that letting Yuma leave the Restricted Zone would lead Mimics to him so he was putting a plan in motion to prevent it from happening. It was Jin’s way of trying to protect Yuma while at the same time preventing civilians from seeing the Mimics.  

It worked last night, but what if another horde of Mimics appeared tonight and they couldn’t prevent the Mimics from escaping the Restricted Zone this time? Yuma couldn’t be the reason the city was put in danger. They had to keep the Mimics in the Restricted Zone at all costs.  

Chapter Text

Target in sight, Kako marched down the hall. “Well, this is convenient. Now I don’t have to go all the way to Tamakoma.”  

Jin came to a stop, looking over his shoulder at Kako. “Afternoon, Kako-san. Hear you stole Fujin last night.”  

Kako smiled, but it looked pretty devious. “Well, someone asked a huge favor of me last night, and I'm not in the business of failing to take out my target after someone begs so desperately to me.”  

“I don’t recall any begging.”  

“You were definitely pleading.” Kako teased before she dropped the jokes to get serious. “Are you ready to tell me what is going on?” 

Jin leaned against the wall. “I thought it was obvious. I'm working out our plan to prevent a horrible outcome from the Mimics.”  

Kako leaned against the opposite wall, mirroring Jin’s stance. “And I would believe you, except for one thing. Those Mimics trying to escape the Restricted Zone last night were aiming for Tamakoma Branch. Of course it is possible it was just a coincidence that they were running in that direction, but...” Kako leveled a stare at Jin who stared back unflinchingly. “I threw that idea out pretty fast. I saw that look you gave Kuga-kun last night. So, what is really going on?”  

First Arashiyama and now Kako. Border's A-Rank agents were not blind. They all worked with Jin enough times over the years to know how he operated. Those years of working together and using Jin’s side effect to lead them to the best outcome had built a foundation of trust. It was a foundation that needed to exist because no one can do everything alone. Jin needed his allies to beat the bad futures he saw.  

The trust they gave each other was something he valued greatly, but... 

He also valued the promises he made.  

Yuma asked him to not tell, and besides, Jin didn’t like telling people too much of what he sees in the future.  

“It’s not good, but I'm working on it.”  

“I have no doubt you are, but that doesn’t answer my question.” Kako replied. “If Kuga-kun is in danger, I want to know. Can't very well steal him for my team if something happens to him.”  

Jin raised a brow. “Excuse you? Who said you could try to snatch my kouhai away?”  

Kako rested her knuckles on her chin, smiling slyly at Jin. “Come on, Jin. How could you not see this coming? He's a very talented ‘K.’”  

“Well, I do see it never happening. Yuma won’t leave his team.” Jin replied.  

“We’ll see about that. You didn’t deny it, you know? That Kuga-kun is in danger.” Kako clarified when Jin looked confused.  

Jin blinked in surprise. Using the claim of taking Yuma for her team to distract him from her question of Yuma’s safety. It seemed that Kako could be just as sly as him.  

“Whatever it is must be bad if you think Kuga-kun can’t handle it.” Kako observed.  

“It’s not as simple as just defeating the enemy.” Jin replied. He tilted his head back, knocking it against the wall. “No, I can’t even see a solution. It would be a lot easier to prevent it altogether. But I keep putting plans in motion to prevent it, but I still see this bad future. It's like it’s inevitable.”  

“Listen, Yuma, until recently, this isn’t the future I saw for you. Something’s changed it, and I think that something is the Mimics.” Jin said.   

“Maybe I was wrong.” Jin murmured.  

Kako stared at Jin, who seemingly forgot he was talking to her. She didn’t think it was possible for Jin to be this downhearted before the future he was trying to change had even come to pass. 

“Even if this future you see happens, until it comes to pass, we will fight to the bitter end to change it. We can feel sorry for failing only when that future becomes our present.” Kako pushed off the wall to stand up straight. “And that’s an emphasis on we. None of us are going to let you fight the future alone.”  

Jin closed his eyes, smiling softly. Fight to the bitter end, huh? Jin could do that, but he needed to find the path. He needed a path to lead them down.  

*Mimics*  

“Argh! This is so frustrating!” 

“That’s my line.”  

“They seem the same.” Osamu told Karasuma softly so as to not draw Konami’s ire onto him. “Why did you think them fighting each other would make them like each other more?” 

“They’re both strong. When you fight someone who can keep you on your toes, you can gain a respect for their strength. It's how Konami-senpai and Yuma got so close. She wants him to grow much stronger, but not stronger than her. It's a healthy rivalry.” Karasuma glanced over to the couches where Hyuse and Konami were glaring at each other. “I was hoping Hyuse and Konami-senpai would be the same way, but their competitive natures might make that harder for them.”  

“I think they get along fine. At least Hyuse-kun seems to like Konami-senpai more than Jin-san.” Chika pointed out as she sat next to Osamu at the counter, keeping her voice low as well. “Hyuse-kun is like this with Yuma-kun too when they train. He always gets upset when Yuma-kun wins at the end.”  

“It’s surprising.” Karasuma said. “When we met him during the invasion, he seemed like a very level headed fighter.”  

“He’s definitely level headed when we’re fighting, but when the fight is over, his competitiveness takes over.” Osamu replied.  

“There was that time in the middle of a battle where you two argued over the orders you were giving.” Chika pointed out.  

Osamu waved that off. “I don’t begrudge Hyuse for that. It’s alright to have disagreements over orders. It gives us a chance to discuss them and try to see a different path to take. I may be the Captain, but I do value your guys’ input and advice.”  

“And that’s what makes a good leader. Someone who listens to his teammates and takes their advice into consideration is a better than a leader who refuses to listen and thinks his orders are absolute.” Karasuma replied. “One person can’t take care of everything by himself.”  

That was a hard lesson for Osamu to learn. When he first met Yuma, he didn’t have any friends in Border or the strength to fight at all, and yet he always tried to run into every situation by himself. It took so many people pointing it out in different ways that he didn’t have to fight alone. He wasn’t strong as a solo Attacker like Hyuse or Yuma so he needed to rely on teamwork and his sneaky strategies as people liked to call them. There was nothing wrong with relying on his team. He had to remember this, but it wouldn’t stop him from also improving himself.  

“Speaking of trying to do everything alone, where is Jin-san?” Osamu asked.  

“He headed to HQ earlier. He's probably working on his schemes.” Reiji explained as he came over to the group with a drink.  

“He and Yuma-kun did look concerned when I came in this morning.” Chika added. She looked over at Osamu with a frown. “They tried to hide it by distracting me with what I was worried about, but I heard them when I came in. They were arguing about something. I couldn’t make out what it was, but by the time I got in the room, they had switched moods real fast.”  

“They were arguing?” Karasuma asked surprised. “Those two never seem to disagree about anything.”  

“Seems they found something.” Reiji replied. “Do you know anything, Osamu? Yuma seems to tell you the most about what is going on.”  

Osamu shook his head. “I would guess it has to do with the Mimics, but Kuga hasn’t told me anything. Honestly, when I talked to him last night, I could tell he was bothered by something, but for the first time, he kept it to himself. I didn’t want to push him on it, but maybe I should have.”  

“Or you would have just made him mad. Yuma can be stubborn when he wants to be.” Konami appeared behind Osamu, surprising him since he didn’t realize she and Hyuse had finished their glaring contest.  

It was possible. Osamu could agree with that. There was a part of Osamu that was hoping that the only thing causing Yuma to worry was his Trion body attracting Mimics to the base, but logically, he knew it had to be more than that. From the moment Yuma and Jin met, they’ve been great friends and had a lot of respect for one another. If they were disagreeing about something, there had to be more of a reason than Yuma’s Trion body complicating matters with the Mimics.  

“You don’t need to worry about Yuma anyway. When he needs help, he will ask.” Konami added. “Him and Jin. Neither of them are stupid enough to think they can handle everything alone. When they need us, they’ll come to us.”  

“Yuma, you need to be really careful not to get your father to appear.” Jin stressed.   

Hyuse leaned back in his seat, frowning to himself as he listened to the group at the breakfast counter.  

“But Kuga...he blames himself for his father’s death.” Osamu said.   

Whatever was going on between Jin and Yuma was definitely because of the Mimics and Jin’s worry over Yuma’s father appearing. This wasn’t Hyuse’s problem. He only joined Border to get back to Aftokrator so anything else that went on didn’t concern him at all. All he had to do was sit back and let them deal with this until the Away mission began.  

That was always how he felt. He didn’t decide to help Border out of the goodness of his heart or to make friends with the agents. So why was he getting the urge to want to help his team? Something was wrong with Yuma and Jin was scared for him. Yuma was his Ace Attacker partner for Tamakoma-2. Somewhere in the midst of all the time they spent training together and fighting those Rank Wars by each other’s side, Hyuse came to consider Tamakoma-2 his friends.  

Not that they would ever learn that.   

*Mimics*  

Yuma's Scorpion slammed through Hisato’s chest. At this point, it was no longer a surprise as Hisato’s body broke apart. A smile just spread across his face as he bailed out and slammed into the mattress in his booth.  

Looking at his hand as he exited his booth, Yuma watched as his points increased. He had no intention of coming back to HQ after lunch, but somehow, he got stirred into having a rank match with Hisato.  

“9-1. You really know no mercy, do you?” Shun asked.  

“Hisato has improved a lot since our teams fought in the Rank wars.” Yuma replied as collapsed into the seat next to his friend.  

“You never fought him in that match though. You spent most of your time facing off against Arafune squad.” Shun pointed out.  

“I had a brief encounter with him, but we didn’t cross swords, true.” Yuma replied.  

“Because our squad didn’t want to cross swords with you.” Suwa grumbled.  

“The plan was to blow you to smithereens when you couldn’t move.” Hisato added as he came up behind the group, rubbing the back of his head with a sigh. “I thought I could get more than one win against you though, but I guess I was being too optimistic.”  

“You should be happy with that one win. Kuga is at A-Rank level, has been ever since he joined as a C-Rank.” Yoneya pointed out.  

Suwa whistled. “That’s some praise, Yoneya. I didn’t realize you knew him back then. I thought he was pretty good from his first test as a trainee, but I didn’t think A-Rank but I also wasn’t fighting him to see just how good he was.”  

“Apparently Miwa squad got into it with Yuma-senpai before he joined Border.” Shun explained.  

“What did you do to anger them?” Suwa asked curiously.  

“Existed.” Yuma replied much to the amusement of his friends who thought he was joking, except for Yoneya who just gave Yuma a knowing look. If the others ever found out the truth about Yuma, maybe they would realize just what that statement truly meant.  

Arashiyama looked down on the laughing group from one of the balconies. It was nice to see that they were all able to relax so easily, despite the looming threat of Mimics. He doubted any of them truly forgot what was coming. They were probably just trying to not focus on it.  

As for Arashiyama himself, he didn’t have the luxury of being able to laugh easily right now. He promised Jin that he would help him with whatever he needed tonight and he wasn’t about to fail in the one request he gave him.  

“What is it that I can do to help?” Arashiyama asked.   

“There is something.” Jin looked over at Arashiyama. “Protect Yuma.”   

The highly trained Neighbor, Ace of Tamakoma-2, holder of a Black Trigger, and Jin was asking for Arashiyama to protect him. It was at times like this that Arashiyama wished Jin wouldn’t be so vague in what he needed done to secure a good future for them. Everything he saw from Yuma screamed that the younger agent could take care of himself.  

Still, even if Arashiyama didn’t understand the request, he would fulfill it.  

“I’m trying to do everything I can to prevent the future I saw from coming to pass, but if tonight doesn’t go right, I can’t see a way out of it.” Jin admitted.   

“And what is going to happen tonight?” Arashiyama asked.   

“I can make a few vague guesses, but since I can’t see the futures of Trion Soldiers, I don’t have anything concrete.”   

“But Yuma is at the center of it?” Arashiyama asked.   

“No matter how I try to set the stage tonight, we still have the next week to contest the Mimics and what I'm trying to prevent can still come to pass.”   

“Then we take it one night at a time. The Mimics can only appear in the dark. If we survive each night without incident, we can make it through this.” Arashiyama looked up and down the hall to make sure no one was in hearing range before he leaned in closer to Jin and asked, “Are the Mimics going to transform into someone strong? Or do we have Humanoid Neighbors appearing?”   

“I think it’s a transformation.” Jin whispered.   

“From Yuma?” Arashiyama asked. “A Neighbor child coming here alone with no nefarious purpose and no reason to go back home is weird, Jin. Are you worried about someone appearing from his memories?”   

“I am worried about that, but that’s not my major concern. Just please, if you see Yuma tonight, protect him. I want him out of the Restricted Zone before dark and he promised me he would be, but....” Jin trailed off, a frustrated look coming over his features.   

Nothing in what he was seeing in Yuma’s body language indicated any worry or that he was about to break his promise to Jin to leave before dark. That didn’t mean anything though. Yuma was quite hard to read when he wanted to be.  

“Something wrong?” Tokieda asked, coming up behind his captain to lean against the railing to look down below at all the agents milling about.  

“Jin asked us for a favor while on defense duty tonight. Can you get started on it now for me?” Arashiyama asked.  

“What is it?” Tokieda asked curiously.  

“Protect Yuma.” Arashiyama replied. “For now, just keep an eye on him.”  

Tokieda raised a brow, confused about such a request, but just nodded his head. “Understood. If that’s what Jin-san is requesting from us, I can handle it. Though if Jin-san is worried enough to ask us to protect Yuma, I think things are about to get very bad. But why isn’t he doing it himself if he’s that concerned?”  

“I didn’t ask, but I'm sure he has his reasons for asking us to do this in his stead.” Arashiyama replied. “He fought off the top A-Rank squads and gave up Fujin to HQ all to protect Yuma. If he was able to, I know he would be at Yuma’s side, instead of putting it on us.”  

Tokieda smiled, pushing off the railing. “True.” 

*Mimics*  

“What do you make of these Mimics?” Kido asked.  

“Trion Soldiers with the purpose of helping people deal with grief by transforming into a deceased loved one.” Shinoda stood at the window, staring down at the destroyed city that was the Restricted Zone. “It sounds like a noble idea. We lost a lot of friends five years ago when we went to help our allies. It’s still hurts that my last memory of them is their bloody corpse. Perhaps having the chance to see them one last time without the blood and wounds would heal that memory, but it wouldn’t be real. Like Yuma-kun said, they are still fakes and perhaps not a very healthy way to cope with grief. Grief is probably one of the most painful things to live with, but having a Mimic of that person appear when it becomes too painful means never letting go and moving forward in life. You need to live in the present, not the past.”  

“It’s hardly surprising someone decided to weaponize them. Grief is something everyone deals with and it does make one weak. It's a distraction in battle.” Rindo added, rolling his cigarette in his fingers. “Any one of us would have been easy prey for Mimics five years ago when we lost so many of our friends.”  

“We still are easy prey. Just having those memories of our friends is enough.” Shinoda replied.  

“As long as you don’t use your Triggers, you will be fine. Besides Jin, we are the only ones with memories of Mogami. He is the one we have to fear the most if he appears.” Kido said.  

“Jin is more concerned with Kuga-san appearing than Mogami-san.” Rindo replied.  

“Kuga,” Kido leaned back in his chair, frowning. “I’m sure like Jin, Agent Kuga will be very diligent in avoiding having his father appear.”  

“Speaking of Jin, has he spoken any more to you about what he has seen?” Shinoda asked.  

“He’s here at HQ right now trying to work on a plan. Whatever he’s seen so far, he hasn’t told me anything. Though whatever it is, he’s concerned.” Rindo explained.  

“He gave the assurance that the city nor the citizens would be in danger. Does that still hold true?” Kido asked.  

Rindo leaned back in his seat. “He hasn’t said any differently.” 

Shinoda turned around and leaned against the window seal, looking at Kido and Rindo at the table. “The danger is hitting a lot closer this time since it’s our comrades that will be in danger from the Mimics. Considering our Bail Out function, our agents should be fine, but if Jin is still worried, there must be something else going on.”  

“Mimics can only go after people in Trion bodies, but from the report of last night’s attack, the Mimics were heading to the edge of the Restricted Zone. None of our agents activated their Triggers outside of the Restricted Zone last night so what was the reason for their movement?” Kido asked.  

It was a question that Kido didn’t expect to get an answer from. They didn’t know enough about the Mimics or even know who was attacking them to determine an answer to the question. That said, Rindo looked at the cigarette he was rolling in his fingers. He knew the answer very well.  

Kuga Yuma.  

Jin set his plan in motion last night to protect the base from Mimics that were coming for Yuma.  

“It’s simple enough.” Kido said. “If we want to prevent Mogami and Kuga from appearing, we ban Jin and Kuga from using their Triggers for the next week.”  

“It would be foolish to bench two of our strongest agents. We might need Yuma-kun's Black Trigger.” Shinoda pointed out.  

“From the reports we’ve got so far, our agents are able to handle the Mimics. They haven’t posed too great of a threat.” Kido replied.  

Shinoda shook his head, frowning. “This is only the start. We don’t know what will happen in the coming days or what is coming.”  

Perhaps it would be a wise idea to tell them about Yuma’s body. Benching Yuma would accomplish nothing. The Mimics would come for him no matter what he was doing. It would be a good idea to tell them because it would likely cause a problem, but that would be betraying Yuma’s trust. Rindo wasn’t about to do that to the kid who came here and opened himself up to trusting them. His agents at Tamakoma could handle the Mimics that came for Yuma.  

“Neither Yuma nor Jin would accept being benched.” Rindo said instead.  

“And what if this is for the best? The survival of Border is more important than their feelings.” Kido replied.  

“Even if you did bench them, they would both break the orders very fast if there was an attack happening. They aren’t able to keep out of a battle.” Shinoda said. “Besides, we need Jin’s predictions to lead us down the best path. He wouldn’t be much help if we benched him in fear of Mogami appearing.”  

Rindo leaned forward, resting his arm on the table. “Jin and Yuma aren’t on defense duty during the night for the next week so they shouldn’t be running into any Mimics.”  

“You best be right. We have no idea of what Mimics will do once they manage to transform.”  

*Mimics*  

“How am I ever going to surpass Yuma-senpai?” 

“Never. I'm going to be your superior until the day I die.” Yuma teased Shun, not looking up from his phone as he worked on typing his message.  

“Just you wait, Yuma-senpai. One day I will get four wins from you, then five, then six and at that point, I'll be the winner.” Shun declared.  

“Only in your dreams.”  

“Kuga-senpai!”  

The group that was relaxing together after Yuma and Hisato’s Rank battle all looked up to see Obishima standing at the end of the couches they were all on.  

“Kuga-senpai, please have a match with me!” 

Yuma and his friends stared at the bowing Obishima in surprise at her loud exclamation. Though after meeting Yuba, Yuma had a feeling that Yuba wasn’t letting up on teaching her to be loud and saying what she wants. Though he didn’t see her captain around so it was a surprise she wasn’t being her normal shy self.  

He glanced down at his phone to see a reply from Kageura. He probably had time if they were fast. “Alright, right now. No time to dally.” Yuma tossed his phone to Shun as he walked away. “When Kage-senpai gets here, tell him to have patience, Shun. I'll be right back. Obishima-chan, I do ten round matches, is that okay?”  

Obishima rose from her bow, blinking in surprise at the quick response. Yuma wasn’t even stopping as he was headed back to the booths.  

“Wait, why do I have to tell him? He’s going to bite my head off!” Shun shouted to Yuma’s back, but was completely ignored. “Does he not understand the wrath that Kageura-san has towards everyone? Especially towards people who are late?!” He flipped Yuma’s phone over in his hand to see the message from Kageura shining up at him to say he was on his way.  

Stopping outside his chosen booth, Yuma looked over his shoulder at the balcony across from him where he saw Tokieda leaning against a wall. He locked eyes with the other agent very briefly before he was entering the booth. There was no reason for Tokieda to be just standing there watching them, so what was he up to? 

*Mimics*  

Jin crossed his feet at his ankles, staring out the window of the jeep he was sitting in that Rindo was driving back to Tamakoma.  

“You look bothered by something. Are the Mimics scaring you that much?” Rindo asked, not taking his eyes off the road in front of him.  

“Forty-seven percent chance it all comes to a head tonight.” Jin muttered, rubbing his eyes.  

Rindo eyed his agent out of the corner of his eye, a frown tugging at his lips. “Do you want to go back to HQ?” 

“Seventy-five percent chance it all comes to a head tonight if I stay there. Sixty percent chance of Mogami-san and Kuga-san appearing tonight if I’m there.” Jin explained with a tired sigh. At least, he assumed those two would appear. It was hard to tell since he couldn’t see the future of Trion Soldiers or people he hasn’t met yet. “Yuma’s in danger, but I can’t protect him. If I'm with him, we’ll fall down the worst path so fast with no chance of getting off it.”  

Hands tightening on the steering wheel, Rindo locked his eyes on the road in front of him again. This was the first time he was hearing Jin saying that Yuma was going to be in trouble from this attack. Why did it seem like his agents were always the ones getting into trouble with the recent attacks on them? “How will you being by his side make things worse?”  

“Yuma and I have been going back and forth between arguing and being fine with each other the past couple of days. If I appear in front of him now, it will only lead to a fight. I know this, and I still want to go to him, but I don’t know how to defuse the fight when I don’t know what it is about. What I do know is that doing so will cause Mogami-san and Kuga-san, which from what I understand from what I can see is the worst path we can fall on to appear tonight, so I'm removing myself from the equation to lower the percentage of that happening.” Jin explained, rubbing at his eyes.  

Rindo slowed to a stop at a red light and took that chance to look at Jin completely. “Yuma doesn’t just get into fights with people. What is going on, Jin? And please, don’t hide anything this time.”  

“I don’t even understand it myself.” Jin admitted, watching as the cars went through the intersection. “Yuma is clearly mad about the Mimics. His home nation created them to deal with grief and now they’re being used as weapons. I understand why that would frustrate him, but I don’t know, it feels like there is more to it that he doesn’t want to tell me. It feels like if I push him on it, it will only make things worse. I told Yuma to avoid the Restricted Zone after dark for the next week and he promised me he would, but I still can’t get these horrible visions of the future to go away.”  

“Perhaps Yuma isn’t the catalyst for the bad future you’re seeing.” Rindo suggested as the light turned green and he started forward again.  

“It’s his future I'm worried about.” Jin admitted softly. It felt like a betrayal to Yuma to say it, but Rindo already knew the truth about Yuma’s body, and seeing as how Yuma was running off to do his own thing and leaving Jin to figure out how to save him, Jin needed someone to bounce ideas off of without having to beat around the bush. “Yuma’s going to die by the end of the week.” 

Perhaps it wasn’t a good idea to say that while Rindo was driving.  

Jin massaged his shoulder where his seatbelt had cut into it when Rindo had slammed on the breaks to stare at Jin. He turned his eyes to Rindo to meet his heavy stare with one of his own.  

“Yuma knows this and has accepted it as his fate. He says he won’t blame me if I can’t succeed in changing his future.” Jin explained. “And at this rate, I fear I won’t be able to.”  

Rindo’s knuckles turned white from how hard he was gripping the steering wheel. “Tell me, Jin, is he dying because of his body or because of the Mimics?” 

“Until the appearance of the Mimics, he wasn’t destined to die this week.” Jin replied. Though with the way he was struggling to change Yuma’s future, he was beginning to doubt that he was right about it being the Mimics’ fault.  

“And you didn’t tell me before because?”  

“Yuma doesn’t want anyone to know. He says it will be a distraction. I just broke my promise of not telling anyone by telling you so you can’t say anything either.”  

“If the Mimics are the cause, we could send Yuma out of the city until they moved on.” Rindo pointed out. “You should have told me sooner.”  

Jin shook his head. “It won’t work. Besides, Yuma would never choose to run away while we all stayed here to fight. Even if it would save his life.” He scoffed, looking down at his empty hands. “He claims he doesn’t want to die, that for the first time in a long time, he wants to be able to continue to live, but he won’t run. You know Yuma. He would rather be here protecting Osamu and Chika than running to save his own life. Even though he believes in the retreating option, he won’t take it.”  

“He has something he wants to protect. He already lost his father and Replica. He’s not willing to lose anyone else.” Rindo started driving once more, though his grip didn’t lessen on the steering wheel. They already lost Yugo. Were they about to lose the son that they’ve only gotten to know for a few months? They couldn’t. Shinoda and Rindo made Yuma the promise to keep him safe when he joined Border, and that promise wasn’t just meant to say safe from Border personal who hated Neighbors. He couldn’t help Yugo or Mogami or all his friends he lost five years ago. It would not be the same with Yuma. He was not about to lose another comrade. “So in return, we’ll protect him this time.”  

Jin stared at his boss. He was only able to see the side of his face since he was focused on driving, but Jin see the determination shining on his face. Right, he wasn’t the only one who didn’t want to lose any more friends. Closing his eyes, Jin smiled softly. “I asked Arashiyama squad to protect him tonight. Hopefully, it won’t be needed and Yuma will be safely back at base, but the chance is still there. We just need to survive the next week.”  

*Mimics*  

Kageura and Yuma slammed their blades into each other to block the other’s attack before breaking apart and jumping to opposite sides of the road. The Mantis came flying from Kageura’s hand towards Yuma who threw up a Shield to block the attack while calling forth Scorpion in his other hand. Yuma jumped farther away to get away from Kageura’s Mantis so he could drop his Shield to use a second Scorpion.  

“Doesn’t he ever get exhausted?” Shun asked as he watched Yuma and Kageura face off on the screen.  

“I mean, you could be the one fighting Kageura.” Suwa suggested with a smirk.  

“Where the hell is Kuga?” Kageura demanded, glaring down at the agents. “He said he wanted a fight and he can’t even be bothered to be in here.”   

Suwa shoved Shun’s shoulder, motioning to Kageura. “You’re up, sacrifice.”   

Shun grinned warily up at Kageura while silently screaming at Yuma in his head. “Yuma-senpai was here, but he decided to fight Obishima -chan while waiting for you to get down here.”   

“Huuuh?” Kageura snarled. “He texted me not five minutes ago to get down here and you’re saying in that time, he decided to fight someone else? Does he think I have all the time in the world to just wait around?”  

“Well, to be fair, you did get down here pretty fast so you must have not been doing anything.” Shun pointed out.   

Kageura glared at Shun and grabbed him by his jacket to shake him roughly. “What was that? You want to fight, Midorikawa? It seems I have some free time after all!”   

“No, I'm good. Yuma-senpai already creamed me pretty good and took a lot of my points.” Shun said, trying to snatch Kageura’s hand to get the shaking to stop.   

“It shouldn’t take Kuga too long to finish his match. He and Obishima-kun just finished their fourth match.” Suwa butted in to try to save Shun from getting killed. All Shun had to do was just pass along Yuma’s message. There was no need for the snarky side commentary.   

Kageura glanced up at the tv where Obishima and Yuma were having another round. Underneath it was the score 4-0 in Yuma’s favor so far. He snorted. “She has no chance of getting a win off of Kuga. Not enough experience or skill to be able to handle him.”   

“That’s the great thing about training. You learn something new every time you get in the ring.” Daichi replied.   

“I think I'm good. Yuma-senpai can focus on entertaining Kageura-san.” Shun replied, tossing Yuma’s phone in his hand a few times. He honestly didn’t know why Yuma tossed his phone to him, but he didn’t really care. He could hold onto it for him.  

“Are you trying to break Kuga’s phone?” Yoneya asked, watching the phone go up and down, up and down, up and down.  

“I’m not going to break it.” Shun said, rolling his eyes. “I have cat like reflexes.”  

“Uh-huh, that’s why Kuga sliced your head in half in the last round of your matches earlier.” Yoneya replied dryly.  

Shun stopped tossing Yuma’s phone to glare at his friend. “That’s completely different. Yuma-senpai is really fast.”  

“Ummm.”  

At the soft hum, the boys looked over at Obishima who was once again standing at the end of the couches they had commandeered for their impromptu get together of official agents that kept showing up.  

“Is something wrong?” Yoneya asked.  

“I have to get going. Could you tell Kuga-senpai I said thank you for having a match with me?” Obishima requested softly.  

“Easy enough. Consider it done.” Yoneya replied. He smiled at the younger agent. “Also, good job in your match.”  

Obishima’s brows furrowed in confusion. “Good job? I didn’t win a single round.”  

“So? No one can win all the time.” Yoneya jerked a thumb at Shun. “Look at him. He lost 10-0 to Kuga yesterday and it’s not getting him down. It happens sometimes. What's important is what you learn from the fight.” He grinned at the girl. “And keep challenging him. Learn everything about him and knocked him out in next season’s Rank Wars.”  

Obishima smiled softly, looking down at the ground shyly. “Kuga-senpai is scary strong. I wouldn’t want to fight him in a real battle.”  

Yoneya laughed at Obishima’s parting words. Fighting Yuma in a real fight? He fought the shrimp for real once months ago and he held back. It had him wondering what a real fight on the battlefield against him would be like without him holding back.  

“It’s totally getting me down.” Shun muttered now that Obishima was out of hearing range. “That fight yesterday wrecked me. At least Yuma-senpai seems to be in a better mood today.” He glanced back up at the teacher just in time to see Yuma get killed by Kageura again. “This is the fifth person he fought today. He didn’t invite anyone else to come fight him, did he?”  

“Not that I’m aware of.”  

“We should invite someone else. I'm all for watching the shrimp kick more ass.” Suwa said, crossing his arms behind his head as he watched the screen in amusement.  

Yoneya glanced back up at the screen with a brow raised as he looked at the current score. “He’s getting his ass handed to him right now.” 

“It is Kageura-san he’s fighting.” Hisato pointed out. “The fact that Kuga-kun can win any of the rounds is what I find impressive.”  

*Mimics*  

“What the hell do you think you’re doing?” Kageura snapped over the coms.  

Yuma turned his head to stare at the computer, grimacing at the anger that Kageura was somehow sending through the computer towards him. “I thought we were having a ten-round match.”  

“Your head clearly isn’t in it.” Kageura snapped.  

“You clearly haven’t seen my track record for the day.” Yuma replied as he pushed himself into a sitting position on the mattress.  

“Oh, I've seen it and quite frankly, with how your emotions are stabbing me right now, it’s surprising you won any of your matches.” Kageura snarled, scratching at his face in agitation. “This isn’t any fun. Ko said you were off your game yesterday, but this is just pathetic.”  

“I’m not fighting any differently so I don’t know what you want me to say.” Yuma retorted. “My head is completely in the fight. You're just a tough opponent.”  

Kageura scoffed. “Your head might be, but your heart isn’t. Your emotions are annoying me.” 

*Mimics*  

Kageura slammed both of his feet on top of the table and leaned back in his chair, snarling at his friend that sat across from him.  

Murakami glared at his friend as he caught his cup before it could fall over and spill everywhere. “Don’t put your feet on the table. People eat here.” He scolded. All he wanted was a peaceful lunch in the cafeteria, but somehow Kageura found him and was ignoring his scolding as he kept his feet on the table. “What has you mad this time?”  

“That damned shrimp.”  

Murakami raised a brow. “Thought we were pass calling him a shrimp.” 

“His emotions are worse than them all. It feels like knives jabbing me in every inch of my body.”  

“You never felt his emotions before.” Murakami said confused.  

“Yeah, well, I do now and it’s annoying the hell out of me.” Kageura snarled as he scraped his nails across his face. The sensation of Yuma’s emotions were still lingering. “Couldn’t even get a decent fight out of him. His attacks were so obvious.”  

“I see.” Murakami took a sip of his drink, staring coolly across the table at his friend. It wasn’t his place to intervene, but they were both his friends so he wanted to try to help. “I heard Kuga is on edge about the Mimics.”  

Kageura scoffed, crossing his arms behind his head as he looked towards the ceiling. “He’s an experienced fighter. He wouldn’t let his worries of a new enemy distract him like this. Besides, his emotions were  stabbing me . I can only feel emotions that are directed at me. Him being on edge because of Mimics wouldn’t stab me. I couldn’t even tell what he was feeling towards me. We were in a fight so it should have been a hostile intent I felt, but it wasn’t.”  

“I couldn’t begin to understand what Kuga is feeling towards you, Kage, but it will probably be a while before he straightens himself out. He told me that his father is dead and now with the threat of Mimics on top of that, he’ll probably be distracted for a while.” Murakami explained. “At least until the Mimics go away.”  

Dropping his feet from the table, Kageura straightened himself out in his seat to stare across the table at his friend, frowning. “Kuga’s father is dead? He's never mentioned that before.”  

“It’s not like he ever talks about his life outside of Border anyway.” Murakami pointed out. “He only just told me yesterday about it after our match.” 

“He fought five people today.” Kageura grumbled.  

“He’s probably trying to distract himself. Did he seem to be in a better mood? Midorikawa said he was furious yesterday.” Murakami asked.  

“Seemed like his usual happy, cheerful self until his emotions started trying to kill me.”  

Murakami nodded. “So no. If his senses are off enough that you can perceive him, he’s still off. He’s allowed a couple off days, Kage. Just let it go. You'll get a good fight with him eventually. Besides, you fight me all the time and you can perceive my hostile intentions.”  

“That’s different.” Kageura scoffed, swinging his arm over the back of the seat. “I’ve always felt emotions from you. I’ve never sensed anything from Kuga before this.” 

“I see. It's unfamiliar to you so it’s hurting a lot.”  

“Also because I don’t understand this emotion he’s swinging at me.” Kageura grumbled.  

Mirroring his friend’s posture, Murakami raised a brow. “Did you try to talk to him about it?”  

“If I could talk people into not having emotions towards me, I would have told all you idiots how to do it by now.” Kageura snapped. “Only Kuga and Azuma know how to hide their killing intent on the battlefield. That's not something you just slip up on.”  

Sighing at his friend’s agitation, Murakami rolled his eyes to ceiling as he thought. “I don’t really have an answer for you, Kage. It’s true that it’s not something Kuga would normally slip up on, but with the Mimics being here, just give him some leeway.”  

“Hmph, if Mimics truly transform into dead people, is he wondering if his father will appear?” Kageura asked. “Is the idea of seeing his father again distracting him?”  

“Would it?” Murakami murmured. “I think it would terrify me.” He leaned forward, pushing his lunch, which he didn’t get to finish because of Kageura distracting him, to the side. “Yoneya said when they saw Miwa’s sister as a Mimic, it looked like a real person. Nothing about her indicated that she was a Trion Soldier, but at the end of the day, those who are dead can’t come back to life. These Mimics are fake. It seems cruel to put a fake in front of someone who is already missing someone greatly. You don’t need to forget them because we can never truly forget those who we loved and lost. But it’s also not healthy to cling so desperately to the dead that you would have a Mimic pretend to be them. It's disrespectful to who they were when alive.”  

“No one is saying they like Mimics, but grief is painful. No one deals with it well.” Kageura scratched his neck, shooting a glare around the cafeteria. “And they tend to not think clearly when grieving either.”  

“Which is why I'm asking you to give Kuga some leeway.” Murakami requested.  

Kageura scoffed. “He better not do anything stupid.”  

*Mimics*  

Yuma turned sharply, scowling down hallway, locking eyes with the A-Rank agent in the hall with him. “Are you following me?”  

“No,” Tokieda said, smiling at Yuma. 

Yuma scowled, pupils turning black. “You make up the stupidest lies, Tokieda-senpai.” 

Tokieda jerked back a bit in surprise, staring at the other agent in surprise. That wasn’t all that surprising. It's not like Yuma ever bothered to tell all the agents about his side effect.  

“You’re spying on me, aren’t you?” Yuma asked, feeling annoyance rise up in him. He liked his comrades in Border and he liked Tokieda and all the help he’s given him since he joined Border, but he did not appreciate being spied on. There was no reason for this. He was capable of looking out for himself. 

“I have no reason to spy on you. Why would you ask that?” Tokieda asked.  

Yuma scowled as he watched black smoke drift out of his friend’s mouth. “I don’t know.” He replied as his pupils turned back to white. “You’re the one lying so you tell me.”  

Tokieda stared at Yuma in shock. He had lied the first time, not expecting to get called out on it, but the second lie was because he needed to see it again. Yuma’s pupils turned black there before he called him out on his lie. Was Yuma able to tell when people lied to him? 

When no answer was forthcoming, Yuma frowned. “Did Jin-san put you up this?” Did his friend really set a babysitter on him? He had promised that he would be out of the Restricted Zone before dark. Was Jin really not able to trust him?  

A blaring alarm distracted the two from staring at each other. They both looked out the window to see a Gate forming in the sky near the base.  

“Gate activity warning. Gate activity warning.” 

As they stared at the Gates, Mimics dropped from them, landing on the roofs of the buildings around the base.  

“Are those Mimics? It’s not fully dark yet.” Tokieda said shocked.  

Yuma shifted uneasily as he looked down at the Mimics. “Apparently twilight is enough darkness for them.” Looking down at the Mimics, Yuma watched as the Mimics looked towards the base. Purple rings circled their eyes as they looked at the base. They were pretty far away, but it felt like they were staring into his soul.  

Next thing he knew, the Mimics were launching themselves through the air. 

“Are they coming to the base?” Tokieda asked. “Would they be that daring?” 

There was time for Yuma to answer as one of the Mimic slammed onto the window between Tokieda and Yuma.  

Chapter Text

Launching himself through the air, a grin formed on Yuma’s face as the wind whipped around him before he landed on a branch that he then jumped from again. As he was soaring through the air, a shadow moved in the corner of his eyes. Before he could even turn to look, a pair of strong arms were wrapping around his torso to pull him back and hold him to the other’s chest.  

A surprised gasp escaped him but before he could pull out his daggers, a deep voice murmured in his ears, “What kind of mischief did you get up to this time?”  

The familiar voice had Yuma going limp, allowing Yugo to hold up all his weight as he pouted. “Why do you always think I'm up to something?”  

“Because you have a penchant for finding trouble.” Yugo replied as he jumped through the forest, carrying his young son.  

“Yeah, it finds me. I don’t go looking for it.” Yuma whined. At his father’s disbelieving snort, Yuma scowled. “It’s true! I just got bored while you were talking to that old man. I was just exploring.”  

Yugo sighed, jumping down from the trees to land in the clearing below and deposited his son on the ground. “Instead of running off to explore all the time, you could instead try to make friends.”  

“Why?” Yuma asked confused, blinking up at his father with a frown. “In a couple weeks, we’ll be leaving this nation and I'll never see them again. There's no point in trying to play nice.”  

“Just because you haven’t seen them in a long time, it doesn’t diminish that time you spent together.” Yugo looked up at the canopy of trees above them, smiling fondly. “All the friends I made over the years are still with me, no matter the distance between us. We may not see each other for a long time, but there is no denying the bond we share. If they need my help, I'll be there for them as they’ll be there to help me if I ever need it. You should never look down on making those connections when you can, Yuma. Being alone all the time isn’t going to be fun. These friends you make will be the allies you rely on when things get difficult.”  

*Mimics*  

“Would they be that daring?” Tokieda asked.  

It wasn’t even a second later when the Mimic was slamming into the window.  

“They’re that daring.” Yuma said, staring at the Mimic that was peering in through the window. 

The Mimic swung its arm backwards, stretching it out before swinging it forward to slam into the windows, smashing them to pieces. As shards of glass rained down on Yuma and Tokieda, causing them to jump away from the broken window, the Mimic pulled itself in while the alarms in the base began to blare in their ears at the invasion. It crawled through on all four of its limbs, twisting its head around from Tokieda to Yuma as if debating its target.  

Mimics went for Trion bodies. They needed Trion bodies to get memories to transform, so it was a shock to Tokieda when a mere second after breaking into the base, the Mimic launched itself at Yuma. Yuma currently didn’t have his Trigger activated so there was no reason for a Mimic to go for him.  

Seeing the Mimic coming for him, Yuma instinctively raised his hand to activate his Shield.  

“Speaking of possibilities, you didn’t tell us Shields don’t have any effect against their attacks.” Miwa said.   

That’s right. He couldn’t use his Shield to defend. Dropping his hand, Yuma instead jumped farther away from the Mimic. His feet hadn’t even landed back on the ground when he heard shattering behind him.  

Seeing a second Mimic break in behind Yuma, Tokieda brought his assault rifle out to unleash Asteroid upon the first one. His bullets managed to pierce its back before its head twisted all around its body to look at him. With the way it was crawling on all fours and twisting its head, it was even creepier. The Mimic flipped its arm backwards before doing a handstand and extending its feet at him.  

Tokieda was going to take that as a warning that if any part of the Mimic touched him, his memories were its for the taking. Shifting his gun to his side, Tokieda called out his Scorpion even as he moved farther away.  

The moment the Mimic was twisting its head around to see who shot it, Yuma was already turning around while shoving his hand in his pocket. Unfortunately, it seemed neither he nor Tokieda had acted quite fast enough.  

Mimics moved a lot faster than he remembered.  

As he turned, Yuma found himself staring up at a Mimic bearing down on him with its hand already clamping down on Yuma’s wrist. Yuma's eyes drifted down to the hand clamping down on his wrist. He felt his fingers wrap around his Trigger in his pocket, but the grip on his wrist was distracting him.  

Bad. That was bad.  

“Greetings, Yuma. I am Replica.”   

Yuma blinked, taking in the Trion Soldier that was floating in front of him. He tilted his head in consideration before casting his eyes towards his father. “Is this what you’ve been working on?”  

Yugo gathered his child in his arms to raise him up to where Replica was floating. Yuma wrapped one of his arms around his father’s neck for better support but looked over at Replica. “He’s an autonomous Trion Soldier that will be your friend and guardian. He's going to watch out for you if I'm not around.” Yugo explained.   

“Replica?” Yuma repeated the name that the Trion Soldier told him. He regarded the Trion Soldier curiously. “He’s looks a lot different from the other Trion Soldiers.”   

“I am a unique design created by Yugo to look after you, Yuma. My functions are determined by any given situation to keep you safe.” Replica replied.   

Yugo smiled. “Replica will protect you if I'm not there to do it myself.”   

******  

Lounging on top of a hill, Yuma stared up at the stars in the sky. The stars that were the other nations in the Neighborhood. They looked so peaceful up in the sky, but Yuma had been to plenty of nations over the years and he knew of the constant wars raging in them. While it looked peaceful sitting here, he knew that it was just a lie.   

The sound of leaves crunching had Yuma looking over his shoulder to see Yugo climbing the hill. “See anything interesting up there, Yuma?”  

“Not really.” Yuma looked back up at the night sky.   

Yugo smiled. “We need more stars in the sky. Earth has so many more. There are billions of stars filling the sky.”   

“Billions, huh?” Yuma’s eyes raked over the stars in the sky. He couldn’t imagine that many stars being in the sky. Would there even be any darkness left in the sky with that many stars lighting it up?  

Taking a seat next to his son, Yugo wrapped an arm around his shoulders and pulled him into his side. “In that vast sea of stars is another galaxy of stars and planets that the people of Earth are exploring. Only a handful of people know of the Neighborhood over there, and those people are my friends. They work in an organization called Border.”   

Yuma looked over at his father to see his fond smile as he spoke.   

******  

Yuma pushed himself up on his bed, staring at his father’s back. The room was dark, but his father was illuminated by the screen he was looking at. “Is something wrong?”   

At his voice, Yugo’s head shot up as he twisted around to look at his son. A small smile graced his feature. “Yuma, it’s late. You should be sleeping.”   

“I heard talking.” Yuma inched across his bed to the edge of it before raising himself up on his knees to try to see over his dad’s shoulder. “What is it?”   

“A friend just sent me a request for help.” Yugo replied, turning fully away from the screen so he could look at his son. “I can’t ignore a friend asking for help so we’ll be leaving tomorrow. We don’t have any time to waste. But listen, Yuma,” He grabbed his son’s shoulders, forcing his son to meet his eyes. “What we’re going into is going to be dangerous. I need you to take this seriously.”   

“When have I ever not taken a battle seriously?” Yuma replied.   

Yugo raised a brow at his son before dropping his head onto his son’s fluffy hair. His son that found trouble so easily. All he had to do was turn a corner and he would find trouble. “We’ll talk more in the morning. It's time to sleep. We have a long trip ahead of us.” He guided his son back to lying down and tossed the blankets over him.   

“Replica,” Yuma heard his father’s voice as he laid back down, slowly drifting back to sleep. “Calculate the faster route to Calvaria.”   

******  

Yugo turned back to his son, pointing at him even as the sirens rang loudly around them. “Listen. Don’t you dare go outside the gate. Stay put.”   

Yuma pouted as his father ran off to fight. “I don’t think we have enough Trigger users to take even one of us out of the battle.”   

“You should trust in your father, Yuma. Yugo does know what he is talking about.” Replica cautioned even as Yuma climbed onto the ledge of the fortress to watch the battle raging below them.   

******  

“You fool....” Yugo approached his injured son to kneel down in front of him. “Why were you defeated?” He smiled at his son, even though he was unsure if Yuma was even aware enough to take notice his smile. “Hang on a second. I'll save you soon.”   

The longer that thing held on, the more Yuma felt his resolve weakening as the memories flooded through his mind.  

Maybe....maybe it was alright to give up.  

“Yuma...”  

“Dad,” Yuma muttered softly, eyes glazing over as he saw the vision of his father in front of him. Yugo smiled down at his son. 

“Yuma...”  

It would be so easy to just let go right now. His father could appear before him in an instant. After so many years of missing his father, the chance to see him again was right here in front of him, gathering all his memories of Kuga Yugo into one.  

“Yuma...”  

Was it really so wrong to want to see his father appear in front of him?  

“We can deal with Mogami-san, but we cannot deal with the consequences of your father appearing. Listen, Yuma, it’s not worth the risk.” Jin warned.   

Yuma stared at him, feeling completely lost. “I’m not about to let Dad appear, so whatever you’re worried about, it’s not going to happen.”  

“Within the next week, I see you dying.”     

“Just....if something happens, just alert us this time, okay?” Osamu asked. “Don’t try to keep us in the dark.”     

There was a promise made.  

Two promises he made.  

Yuma jerked his body as his senses came back to him, eyes lighting up in fury as the memories were washed away. No. This was not the time. No matter how much he wished to see his father again, Kuga Yugo could not appear. He would not appear. That was the promise Yuma made to Jin.  

Twisting his body, Yuma planted his right foot more firmly on the ground. “Boost. Double.” He applied the seal to his left leg as he swung his leg up to hit the Mimic. His goal was to take the thing’s head off with one attack before it could transform.  

As his kick was reaching the Mimic’s neck, his leg got blocked by a Shield, surprising the young Neighbor.  ‘It has a shield strong enough to block Boost?’  Yuma managed to think before the Mimic twisted its body, pulling Yuma with him. Yuma felt his feet leave the ground as he was swung and forcefully thrown away from the Mimic. His body slammed into the window, glass shattering all around him and falling with him as he soared through the air. Before he could get the chance to recover, the Mimic followed him and slammed into him with enough force to send him crashing through the building below, smashing through the floors until he slammed into the ground creating a crater. Following after him was the rubble falling down and slamming into him, burying him.  

*Mimics*  

Blocking the arm that was coming for him, Tokieda jumped farther back. He kept trying to put distance between him and the Mimic, but with its ability to extend its limbs, he wasn’t able to increase the distance. Having to defend once against Mimics would make getting out of defense hard. Switching to offense would leave him open for a second, and that one second was all it took to get hit. If this kept up, he would run out of hallway to retreat through.  

What he needed was for Yuma and him to work together. That would give them an easier time in handling the Mimics. He glanced pass his Mimic to see if Yuma had activated his Trigger yet so he could call to him with telepathy, but to his horror he saw the Mimic slamming Yuma through the window with the Mimic flying after him.  

His Trigger wasn’t active.  

“Duck!”   

Without questioning it, Tokieda dropped down to his knees and switched out his Scorpion with his Shield which he threw up to protect himself as a volley of bullets ripped through the air behind the Mimic. The bullets that didn’t hit the Mimic soared pass Tokieda with a few slamming into his Shield, causing cracks to appear in it. He shifted to the side and morphed an opening in his Shield to be able to take aim with his rifle. Unleashing his own Asteroid onto the Mimic, with bullets raining down on it from both sides, the Mimic was wilted down into nothing but pieces.  

The moment the bullets had stopped, Tokieda dropped his Shield and ran pass the dead Mimic, eyes scanning the scenery out the window desperately.  

“I can’t believe they were daring enough to breach the base.” Kitora said as she came around the corner now that Arashiyama and Tokieda were done throwing bullets around.  

“There’s a second one. It threw Yuma out the window.” Tokieda said, ignoring what Kitora said. “He wasn’t able to get his Trigger activated before he was thrown.”  

“What?” Arashiyama asked sharply, feet crunching over the shards of glass to join Tokieda at the destroyed windows. He felt his heart jump to his throat as he looked below trying to catch sight of the Mimic or Yuma. He had promised Jin that he would protect Yuma tonight. The job got passed over to Tokieda since he assumed Yuma would be safe inside the base and since it wasn’t completely dark yet.  

Kitora eyed her two teammates at the windows, frowning. Her eyes drifted over the windows to look at the buildings around the base. “Let’s go. We're not going to find him by standing up here.”  

“If he’s still alive.” Arashiyama muttered. “If he didn’t manage to activate his Trigger on the way down....”  

None of them wanted to say it. Kitora couldn’t even bring herself to say it. A fall from this height was a death sentence, but it was Yuma they were talking about. She’s never seen him falter, but at the same time, no one could be perfect all the time. They were only human after all. Mistakes were part of being human, and sometimes those mistakes could cost people their lives.  

Still... 

“We don’t count him out til we find him.” Kitora said and without another word, she was jumping out of the window. She twisted around in the air and shot her wire at the building to help her descent to the ground.  

*Mimics*  

“Ooow,” Yuma moaned as he shoved the rubble off of him, squinting in the darkness around him as he tried to see in the hole in the roof above him. He hoped shifting this rubble around wouldn’t cause any more of the building to fall on top of him. Trying to see through the hole in the dark was next to impossible. It shouldn’t be this difficult to see though. It was currently twilight and there were stars in the sky.  

Pushing himself up into a sitting position caused more shifting of the rubble with dust raining down on him, but Yuma ignored that as he looked down at his hands. His clothes were all ripped but that wasn’t what caught Yuma’s attention. His vision was distorted as he looked at his hands, but he could still make out the cracks spidering over his hands. Putting one hand gingerly up to his face, Yuma felt around to find cracks all over his face. At least that would explain his vision problems. He brushed his fingers down to his neck to feel the cracks there as well.  

Even as he was looking at the cracks on his hands, they were slowly healing. It might take a couple minutes because of how broken his body was from being slammed out of a window and crashing through a building, but it would heal. Too bad he didn’t have time to sit around. That Mimic touched him.  

It saw his memories. 

It could transform into his father.  

Yuma could mourn about his screw up later.  

This wasn’t the time to be sitting around and waiting for his body to fully heal. He had messed up so badly thinking he would be safe in the building that he turned his Trigger off after his Rank Battles. This was on him to fix this.  

Reaching into his pocket to grab his Trigger, Yuma froze, eyes widening. “No, no, no.” He muttered as he frantically patted his pockets down as he tried to find his Trigger. His eyes slid shut his eyes in despair when he felt nothing in any of his pockets. “Crap,” His Trigger must have gone flying when the Mimic threw him out of the base.  

Scrambling out of the crater, Yuma found the nearest exit which happened to be a window, which he clambered out of and looked around. He walked around the building to approach the base, looking around the ground near the base for any sign of the Mimic or his Trigger. 

But all he found was an empty road.  

“Double crap.” Yuma muttered, rubbing at his eyes. Trigger missing, Mimic with memories of Kuga Yugo gone. Could this get any worse? 

Shifting his hand so the back of his hand could brush over the cracks in his face in annoyance, Yuma turned back to the building with a sigh. There was nothing he could do about a missing Mimic so the least he could do was try to find his Trigger. 

Staring at the area around the base, Yuma felt despair rise in him. His Trigger could have flown off anywhere in the area as he was falling through the air. Hell, it could have fallen from his hand when he slammed through the building. He didn’t even realize in the fall when his grip loosened on it to send it flying.  

“Yuma!” 

Looking up at his name, Yuma spotted Arashiyama squad making their way to him. He grimaced a bit, rubbing his fingers over the cracks on the palm of his hand. This wasn’t the time for someone to appear before him, but he couldn’t just run off after he saw them.  

“Are you okay?” Arashiyama asked concerned as he landed on the ground. His brows furrowed as he looked more closely at Yuma to take in the cracks on his face and neck as they slowly healed. 

“How can he be? He was just thrown out of a building!” Tokieda said, staring at Yuma with a frown. Cracks were slowly closing on his skin, but those that hadn’t healed yet were just like black voids inside. Tokieda didn’t know a lot about Humanoid Neighbors, but he had a feeling that this was not normal.  

“Why is your face all cracked like that? You didn’t activate your Trigger.” Kitora added. Not only was he not in his uniform that appeared with his Trigger activation, but Haruka had also been on the lookout for his Trigger activating while they raced down here. She hadn’t alerted them of any Trigger becoming active.  

“There was a Mimic.” Yuma explained, ignoring the question about his broken, healing face.  

“We know,” Arashiyama frowned at the younger agent before looking around the road they were standing on. “We took care of the one fighting Mitsuru. What about yours?” 

“That’s good.” Yuma mumbled as he started walking down the street, scanning the ground, as he ignored Arashiyama’s question about his Mimic. Perhaps the Mimic was more important than his missing Trigger, but it would be kind of hard to fight without it.  

If his Trigger went flying while he was falling through the air, it shouldn’t be buried under anything. It had to land somewhere on top of the ground. Even just this general area was pretty huge if he considered that it could have landed anywhere.  

“What are you doing now?” Kitora asked, turning to watch Yuma slowly walking through the area.  

“My Trigger went flying when the Mimic threw me.” Yuma admitted.  

“Why didn’t you just activate it before the Mimic threw you?” Kitora demanded.  

Yuma turned his head halfway around to look at her, frowning as he rubbed his wrist where the Mimic had grabbed hold earlier. It's not surprising she didn’t understand. Those who had been touched by a Mimic would get it. The Mimic was taking memories of loved ones. Those memories which one didn’t think of every day all come flooding to the front of the mind, and with those memories came the painful reminder that the person they were about was dead. It made one weak. It made them surrender that will to fight. It brought a hope, a desire, to see them again.  

That was what the Mimics could do.  

His will to fight was being diminished more and more the longer the Mimic had a grip on him. It wasn’t easy to fight a Mimic off once it got its hold on someone.  

While Yuma neglected to answer Kitora, Tokieda followed after him, looking on the other side of the road for his Trigger. “Even if we find it, it’ll probably be broken. Still, we need to find it so no one who shouldn’t have it, finds it.”  

Turning his attention back to his search, Yuma pursed his lips. “You think that Kinuta-san will be mad? He talks about how expensive they are enough times.”  

“It will be fine. It's more important that you’re alright.” Arashiyama replied, still staring at Yuma as the younger agent searched. Was he alright though? He seemed fine for someone who was just thrown through a building and plummeted hundreds of feet to the ground. Too fine actually. No one should be able to walk away from that, and yet, here Yuma was walking around with just his body cracked all over which was healing. It wasn’t natural, even for a Neighbor. Just what was Tamakoma hiding? There was no way Jin didn’t know about this.  

“Why didn’t you use your Black Trigger?” Kitora demanded, not letting this go. “Even if you lost your Border Trigger, you still had means to fight back.”  

“I doubt this would be considered an emergency. Kido-san would not let it slide this time.” Yuma replied, feeling his frustration start to rise. It's not like he planned for any of this to happen. He was inside the base. He should have been fine there. He had just finished up his Rank battles for the day and was thinking of heading back to base like he promised Jin he would. He had deactivated his Trigger since there should have been no need for it. It didn’t matter anyway. If he came across a Mimic, he was a target whether his Trigger was active or not, but he had been sure he could activate his Trigger fast enough if one showed up.  

It was his fault.  

He miscalculated.  

The Mimics were faster than he gave them credit for.  

“I think he would have.” Arashiyama said gravely. “Yuma, for that Mimic to throw you, he had to touch you.”  

Yuma stubbornly kicked a piece of a rubble to the side, refusing to face Arashiyama squad. No Trigger. Could it have fallen onto one of the roofs around here?  

“And now the Mimic is gone. If it's transformed into someone, I think Commander Kido would have preferred you used your Black Trigger to prevent this from happening.” Arashiyama continued, but Yuma just kept walking down the street leaving Arashiyama and Kitora to follow after him and Tokieda.  

Is this what had Jin worried? He had asked Arashiyama to protect Yuma, and Arashiyama promised he would, but perhaps he should have asked what to protect him from. Arashiyama assumed he meant from the Mimics, which if that was what it was, he had already failed. Yuma may be standing in front of them, wounds healing slowly, but a Mimic with memories from him was no joke. Just who did Yuma know from the Neighborhood that the Mimic could transform into?  

And that was a question to fear. Yuma came here as a highly trained, experienced fighter. He didn’t just have those skills. Someone ingrained them in him. Was that person still alive? If not, were they going to be the one to appear in Mikado City?  

Something had Jin scared and it involved Yuma.  

“Who is going to appear, Kuga-kun? We need to be ready for them.” Kitora demanded.  

A vibration distracted Yuma from what they were saying as he pulled out his phone, grimacing at the cracks in the screen. It was a miracle it was still working. As he looked at the caller ID, Yuma grimaced at Jin’s name. The longer he stood here looking for his Trigger, the darker it got. He had promised to be out of the Restricted Zone before now, but he had a feeling that what Jin was hoping to prevent had already taken place.  

Did Jin see the future shift? Was that why he was calling him? Or was he checking up on Yuma to make sure he was out of the Restricted Zone?  

If that was the case, Yuma would be infuriated. Or, he would have been infuriated that Jin felt he needed to check up on Yuma keeping his promise if not for the fact that he had already messed up. All the frustration and anger he felt was directed at him.  

He honestly had no intention of letting a Mimic take his father’s memories to transform into him. It wasn’t real. It wouldn’t be his real father so it wasn’t something he wanted to face. 

Unfortunately, he had messed up and let a Mimic get too close to him while he was distracted. This was on him. It was his mess to clean up.  

Yuma rejected the call from Jin and slid his phone back into his pocket. First, he needed his Trigger back.  

“Arashiyama-san.”  

Arashiyama stared at Yuma still desperately searching through the rubble for his Trigger as he put a hand to his ear. “Ayatsuji, the Mimics are no longer in the base, but please inform the personal inside the base to be careful. Also, can you tell us where the second Mimic went? We need to kill it quickly.”  

“About that,” Harkua said, eyes scanning rapidly over the map of the Restricted Zone in front of her. “I can’t track it anymore. It disappeared from radar a few minutes ago. Are you sure it wasn’t killed?” 

Arashiyama watched Yuma and Tokieda scoping the area for Yuma’s missing Trigger, a frown in place. Tokieda was sure Yuma got thrown from the building without activating his Trigger and the fact that they were desperately searching for it now told him that Tokieda’s assessment was right. “I’m sure it’s still alive.”  

“Hmm,” Haruka hummed. “Do Mimics have the ability to hide from radar?”  

“No, but a transformed Mimic with a Trigger might be able to.” Kitora said, looking over at her captain. “If it’s from Kuga-kun's memory, a transformed Mimic with a Trigger is very likely.”  

“Right. We’re going to help Yuma try to locate his Trigger, but keep a lookout for any incoming attacks from the Mimic.” Arashiyama replied.  

*Mimics*  

It wasn’t unusual. Since Osamu got his room at Tamakoma, Yuma had made a habit of coming into his room unannounced. The strange part was that he came in first thing in the morning when Osamu was barely awake. Even stranger was that his clothes were all torn up.  

Osamu closed his eyes, wishing nothing more than to simply go back to sleep and have this all be a dream. If only wishes came true. Reopening his eyes to face the reality of the situation, Osamu sighed as he found his friend had taken his bed as his seat. “Were you out all night, Kuga?” 

“I was busy.” Yuma said plainly.  

At his tone, Osamu raised a brow as he took a seat at his desk. “What’s wrong?”  

“Arashiyama squad saw my face break and heal last night. I managed to side step their questions for now, but that’s not something you just forget.” Yuma said, crossing his legs under him.  

“You can give them a simple explanation without telling them everything.” Osamu suggested.  

Yuma frowned. “I don’t just want to blab to everyone that I'm dying.”  

“It will get found out eventually.”  

“And by then, I'll be dead.” Yuma retorted before sighing as if the fight was simply leaving him as his shoulders sagged.  

It was Osamu’s turn to frown at his friend. He hated how accepting his friend was of his fate. There wasn’t anything either of them could do about it, but Osamu hated discussing it, especially when Yuma would be so callous about it. The fact that Yuma wasn’t going to be here anymore one day wasn’t something he wanted to think about. “Kuga...” 

“I got lucky with you and Jin-san.” Yuma interrupted quickly. “You don’t show me any pity or worry about it. I can’t deal with the pity. I don’t deserve it. It's my fault I'm like this.”  

Osamu stared at Yuma who was staring down at his ring with that look of guilt he rarely got to see since Yuma tried so hard to hide it. “You’re wrong.”  

Yuma looked up in confusion.  

“Jin-san, me, even Rindo-san. We're all worried and scared, Kuga. You're our friend, a valued comrade. We're scared to face the day when you’ll die.” Osamu admitted, turning in his chair to shift the papers around to find the picture of Old Border he managed to get back from Konami before she destroyed it. Most of the people in this picture were dead. He couldn’t imagine how much the living members of Old Border were hurting to lose their comrades in battle. And one day, Kuga would be another lost comrade. “But we can’t do anything to change it. Instead, we’re focusing on what we can do, and right now, that is getting ready for the away mission.”  

“Speaking of focusing on what we can do, there’s something else we need to take care of.” Yuma added.  

Osamu looked at his partner with a raised brow. “And that is?”  

“The Mimics attacked last night. Unfortunately, I didn’t get the chance to activate my Trigger, but since I'm always in a Trion body....” Yuma trailed off.  

“Kuga...” Osamu said warily.  

“He threw me through a window and then slammed me through a building so I lost track of him.” Yuma added unhelpfully.  

Osamu closed his eyes in despair, screaming internally. That would at least explain the destroyed clothes. “Please tell me there’s not a Mimic transformed as your father running around.” When Yuma didn’t reply, Osamu opened his eyes to glare at him. “Kuga!” 

“I have a thing about lying.” Yuma said. He planted his hands on his ankles and leaned forward. 

“Says the person who won’t tell anyone the truth about his body.” Osamu muttered to himself, not that Yuma was paying attention to what he was saying.  

“I got trapped in some rubble so I didn’t see him transform and by the time I got out, the Mimic was long gone. Maybe we’ll be lucky and because of the uniqueness of my body, the Mimic wasn’t able to take Dad’s image.” Yuma added.  

Osamu gave him a deadpanned look, not buying Yuma’s attempt at optimism to ease the panic that was starting to bubble up in him. “Why did you come back to base if he’s out there?” 

“I lost my Trigger when I got thrown through the building.  Tried all night with Arashiyama squad helping me. No luck in finding it. Can’t hunt down Mimic Dad without it.”  

Osamu closed his eyes in defeat before rising to his feet.  

“Where are you going?” Yuma asked.  

“Someone needs to tell the others we’re going to die. Maybe Jin-san can find us a path out of this.” Osamu replied.  

“You’re being overly dramatic. This isn’t the end of the world. It just makes things a bit harder.” Yuma said, trying to calm his friend down as they left the room. It was hard to do that when Yuma himself didn’t truly believe the words. Going against his father, even a fake version of his father, was not going to be easy.  

Marching into the dining room with Yuma on his heels, Osamu found Jin at the table eating his breakfast slowly. Seeing the bags under his eyes, Osamu felt bad for having to bother him so early in the morning, but the threat of Yuma’s father was not something that could wait.  

“Jin-san.”  

Jin lifted his head from his meal to look at Osamu, but his eyes immediately zeroed in on the fluffy white hair behind Osamu. Forgetting his breakfast, Jin found himself embracing Yuma, surprising both Osamu and Yuma. The hug was short lived though as Jin pulled back to grab Yuma’s shoulders, shaking him a bit. “Are you really that upset with me, Yuma? Not answering any of my calls, not coming home last night. I was up half the night. If it wasn’t for Arashiyama calling me to tell me you were fine...” 

That, Yuma did know. He rejected so many of Jin’s calls last night. It only made sense that Arashiyama would take the initiative to tell Jin he was fine. After all, it was Jin who gave him a baby sitter in the form of Arashiyama squad. “Surprised you tried at all. I figured you’d want to be awake twenty-four seven to scheme your way to a better future.” Yuma said coolly, surprising Osamu. 

Jin frowned at Yuma. “You really going to be mad at me for wanting to protect you?” 

“Yes,” Yuma said through gritted teeth, pushing Jin’s hands off his shoulders.  

“Kuga,” Osamu turned to his partner who went over to the breakfast counter to sit down, showing his back to Jin and Osamu. He didn’t understand this frustration that Yuma was showing. Yuma valued the idea of teamwork and needing allies. Not to mention the amount of work he put in to protect his team. So why when the tables were turned and Jin wanted to protect him, did he get mad about it? 

Jin breathed out all his frustration. He and Yuma couldn’t be both getting mad and saying things they didn’t mean to each other.  

“Jin-san,” Osamu said, hoping to get away from the awkwardness that had formed over the group. “About last night...”  

“The future has taken a horrible turn.” Jin said without taking his eyes off Yuma’s back.  

Yuma shifted uncomfortably on the barstool before settling by resting his chin in his palm. Did Jin know that before Yuma and Osamu came downstairs or was he looking into the future right now as they spoke?  

Footsteps pounding down the hall had all three of the room’s occupants glancing at the door.  

“Is Konami-senpai mad about something again?” Osamu asked. She was usually the only one stomping through the base like when upset about something.  

“First thing in the morning?” Yuma asked with a frown.  

“What the hell!” Tachikawa shouted as he slammed the door open, marching into the room with Izumi following more calmly after him.  

Jin, Osamu, and Yuma just stared blankly at him.  

“Uh, what are you doing in our base?” Osamu asked confused.  

Tachikawa glanced at him but didn’t reply as his eyes shifted to Yuma. “You!” He demanded, pointing at the other agent.  

“What?” Yuma muttered.  

“We’re supposed to be on defense duty right now.” Izumi motioned to him and Tachikawa.  

“And? I'm not preventing you from doing your job. I was in here minding my own business.” Yuma replied.  

Tachikawa slammed his hands down on the counter, leaning down to stare into Yuma’s eyes. “We were on duty, but we got killed so we can’t go back out til our Trion bodies recover.”  

“You got killed?” Jin asked shocked.  

Bad.  

That was bad. If Tachikawa and Izumi both bailed out and they were coming to Yuma to complain about it, there was only one possible person who could have done it.  

Osamu went back to silently screaming in his head, even as he continued to listen to the conversation. If Tachikawa squad lost, what hope did the rest of them have? 

“By someone claiming to be Kuga Yugo, and he also happens to be looking for his son.” Izumi gave a pointed look to Yuma, who simply closed his eyes in defeat.  

“Kuga Yugo?” Jin repeated slowly, turning back to Yuma. “Really? The one thing I asked you to not let happen.”  

Well, it seems that though Jin knew the future was taking a bad turn, he didn’t quite realize just yet what had happened last night.  

“You harped on me to not get hit by the Mimics so Mogami-san didn’t appear, and yet, you couldn’t follow the same advice.” Jin said.  

“It’s not exactly easy for me to hide from them.” Yuma hissed back at him.  

“More like impossible.” Osamu corrected, making his friend shoot him an annoyed look.  

“From the sounds of it, this Kuga Yugo is a transformed Mimic.” Izumi said, looking at each Tamakoma agent.  

“I may have screwed up last night.” Yuma admitted.  

“Did something happen last night?” Jin asked. He really should have hounded Arashiyama for more details when he called, but he got assured that they were handling it. Clearly, it did not get handled before morning like Arashiyama was probably hoping.  

Osamu nodded. “That’s what I came down here to tell you. Kuga got attacked by the Mimics last night.”  

Yuma raised a finger. “To clarify, they broke into the base at twilight last night. I didn’t even know they could be out at twilight.” 

“Would that explain the broken windows in one of the hallways?” Izumi asked.  

Yuma nodded.  

“Okay, so they broke into the base and you let one get a hold of you?” Jin demanded. “Yuma, your father being here is the worst thing that could happen.”  

“It’s that bad?” Izumi asked surprised.  

“It’s something I wanted to prevent at all costs. It complicates everything.” Jin replied, rubbing his eyes. Arashiyama only sent him a quick message last night to let him know that Yuma was fine. He didn’t mention a Mimic getting a hold of him. “It’s worse than if Mogami-san appeared.”  

“Imagine if they were both here.”  

“Let’s not. That can still happen.” Jin muttered, collapsing back into his chair. “Why didn’t you say anything sooner, Yuma?” 

“I was in the Restricted Zone all night with Arashiyama squad. I was hoping to get this all settled last night, but we never saw him.” Yuma replied.  

“I thought you were there all night looking for your Trigger.” Osamu said, making Yuma hiss at him to be quiet.  

“Your Trigger?” Jin asked slowly.  

Yuma dropped his face into his hands. “I may have lost it in the Restricted Zone last night. I couldn’t find it anywhere. Besides trying to find the Mimic, I also spent all night looking for my Trigger. Never saw the Mimic. Never saw my Trigger. It's like both of them just vanished into thin air.” 

“Well, this just gets better and better.”  

“So let me see if I got this straight. You got attacked by Mimics, one got hold of your father’s memories and disappeared. You lost your Trigger and spent all night looking for it.  And  you didn’t bother to report to HQ that a Mimic of your father, who apparently is stressing Jin out just by hearing his name, is wandering about?” Tachikawa asked. “Leaving my squad to get slaughtered by him this morning?”  

“Basically.” Yuma muttered. “Arashiyama-san said he would make the report to HQ about what happened and that I should go home since there’s nothing to be done if we can’t find him.”  

Izumi nodded. “I see, I see. Then I have a question.”  

“Hmm?” 

“Mimics can only take memories from Trion bodies, but you just admitted to not being in your Trion body. There's no way you could have lost your Trigger if it was active. So how did the Mimic manage to transform into your father?”  Izumi asked. “Were you wrong? Can Mimics actually take memories from normal civilians? That would explain why we had two instances where Mimics wanted out of the Restricted Zone.”  

Yuma's shoulders stiffened as he lifted his face out of his hands to look at the A-Rank squad standing across from him. Right, it wasn’t exactly possible for him to lose his Trigger and get his memories taken by a Mimic at the same time. Well, it was for him, but since only a few people knew the truth of his body, they would assume something was off by hearing that story.  

“It’s complicated.” Jin replied. “But Mimics can only take from Trion bodies. We weren’t wrong about that.”  

“Perhaps it’s time to make a trip to HQ. We need to get this worked out.”  

The agents turned to find Rindo leaning against the doorframe, rubbing his eyes. This was not what he wanted to wake up too. Why could quiet, peaceful days never exist anymore? 

“I imagine Arashiyama squad will have made a report of the incident last night. They need to explain some broken windows after all, but it seems they won’t know about Kuga-san being around.”  

“They know a transformed Mimic is around. I’m sorry, Boss. I really wasn’t trying to get Dad to appear.” Yuma said.  

“I’m not mad, Yuma. We were trying to prevent it, but we all knew the risk of it happening was there. Now, we need to figure out how to contest him.” Rindo paused before leaving the room to look at Yuma again. “And perhaps you should change into something less ripped up, Yuma.” 

Chapter Text

“When do we get defense duty at night? I want to see these Mimics.”  

Izumi looked over at his complaining Captain. His complaint wasn’t really all that surprising. He wanted things that intrigued him, and a new Trion Soldier was the most interesting thing happening right now. Well, besides all the agents waiting to start training for the away mission.  

“If you want to see one so bad, just jump onto defense duty without warning like Kuga and Kako-san did the past couple of nights.” Izumi suggested.  

“I should have gone out the night Kako joined the defense duty. It sounded like an insane night.” Tachikawa rubbed his chin thoughtfully. “What about last night? Did any Mimics appear?” 

“How would I know? I was sleeping last night.” Izumi retorted.  

“Something clearly happened last night.” Yu piped up over their coms. “There’s a bunch of broken windows in one of HQ’s hallways.”  

Izumi looked off to the side, staring at the buildings of the Restricted Zone that he and Tachikawa were currently patrolling through. “Broken windows? Who was on defense duty last night?”  

“Looks like it was Arashiyama squad.”  

“Was there another squad on duty? No way Arashiyama would let the base be destroyed. He hates property damage.” Izumi replied.  

“Hmm, Ikoma squad.” Yu replied.  

Tachikawa nodded. “I can see them breaking the base.”  

“Have you considered it was neither squad on defense duty and it was instead the base getting attacked by enemies?” Yu suggested.  

“Why would Mimics, who are looking for Trion bodies, break into the base in the middle of the night?”  

“The base sounds like a shining beacon to them if people have their Triggers activated in the base.” Yu pointed out.  

“Except no one is in the base that late at night.” Izumi argued. “By the way, is Yuiga in the squad room right now?” 

“No, why?” 

Izumi rolled his eyes. “That idiot skipping out on defense duty.”  

Yu hummed thoughtfully. “Maybe he has a good reason for missing.”  

“Yeah, his dad giving more money to Border which gives him more leeway.” Izumi muttered, glaring at the building he was walking past. Thinking of his missing teammate made him want to take down a building with his Meteor. “Should make him do another hundred matches with Four-Eyes.”  

“That would be punishment to Mikumo-kun too and he hasn’t done anything.” Yu pointed out.  

“I’m sure he’d be happy with the experience.”  

“And it’d be amusing.” Tachikawa added. Looking around at the empty street, he sighed. “More entertaining than this. Defense duty at night sounds a lot more exciting lately.”  

“You know,” Yu started. 

Whatever their operator was about to say, Izumi and Tachikawa missed it completely as there was the sound of metal clinking that distracted them. Before they could identify what the sound was, they both suddenly found themselves unable to move. Sprouting from the walls and ground surrounding them were chains that attached themselves to Izumi’s and Tachikawa’s limbs, neck and torso so tightly that all they could do was try to wiggle their fingers.  

Tachikawa tried to pull his arm forward to grab his sword but that only caused the chains to tightened and pull his arm farther back. “What the hell is this?” He growled.  

“What? What’s wrong?” Yu asked, eyes frantically scanning over her computer. She had alerts popping up on her screen to tell her about Tachikawa’s and Izumi’s problems, but she wasn’t understanding them. There wasn’t any damage done to them.  

“Chains?” Izumi’s eyes scanned the buildings around them. They had to have come from somewhere. Though even if he found the person who trapped them, it’s not like he could do much when he couldn’t move.  

“Kunichika, call for backup.” Tachikawa ordered, surprising both Izumi and Yu.  

“You think you’ll really need it?” Yu asked even as she got to work on contacting the other team on defense duty.  

Tachikawa tsked, eyes narrowed in annoyance as he shifted them downward. He couldn’t move any part of his body, but he was going to keep trying. If he could pull his sword out, he could cut these pesky chains away....hopefully. “If we can’t get out of these chains, we are just sitting ducks to be slaughtered.”  

“Ducks are far more adorable than you two so I wouldn’t go around killing them.”  

Following the sound of that voice, Izumi looked at the roof of a building to Tachikawa’s left. It was hard to see much of him because of the sun blinding him, but it was definitely a male standing there. He jumped down from the building, landing neatly in a crouch in front of his two captures.  

“Good morning, Border agents. I was hoping you could help me with something.”  

“Do you normally ask for help by trapping people in chains?” Tachikawa retorted, taking in the man with narrowed eyes. He wore a black uniform with a light blue cloak over his shoulder that looked suspiciously like one of Border’s Bagworms. Peeking out from the cloak, Tachikawa could make out the handle of a sword. Interesting, but what was really catching his attention were those eyes that were boring into him and Izumi. Those red eyes that looked so familiar. The only difference being that his were a lot more intense than the eyes Tachikawa was used to seeing, which said a lot about just how intense they were.  

“Just who the hell are you?” Izumi demanded.  

The man smiled, amusement radiating from every inch of him. “My name is Kuga Yugo. I think you know my son. Yuma? Short kid, has a reckless streak a mile line.”  

“Kuga’s father?” Tachikawa asked surprised. He tried to pull his arms against the Chains, but found the resistance too strong to be able to move them at all. The Neighbor kid’s father. Just what kind of Trigger was he using? “You do know your son is one of our comrades, right? Why are you attacking us?”  

“Where is Yuma?”  

“Don’t ignore my question!”  

Yugo smiled at the two. “Where is he?” 

Tachikawa’s brow twitched in annoyance.  

The kind tone told Izumi one thing, but the chains keeping him trapped told him another story. “I’m not sure I want to tell you that. What do you want with Kuga?”  

“That’s between me and my son.” Yugo shifted, allowing his cloak to fall back to reveal his two blades as he put his hand on one of the handles. “So, I'm going to ask you one more time. Where can I find him?”  

“If we’re being honest, he could be anywhere in the city right now. It's not like we keep track of him.” Tachikawa replied coolly.  

Izumi’s eyes widened, but unfortunately, he couldn’t turn to glare at his Captain. “Don’t tell him that.” He hissed quietly. “We don’t need him going into the city. We don’t know what his intentions are.”  

“We don’t want him in the city, but we can’t let him get to Kuga-kun without knowing his intentions either.” Yu said in their ears. “Toma-kun is on his way to you, but it will take him time to get there. Do you want me to request more agents be sent out from HQ from Director Shinoda?”  

“Y-” Tachikawa’s reply was cut off by a sword impaling him through his heart. Cracks spread across his body, starting from where the sword was in his chest. His eyes drifted up from the sword to meet Yugo’s cold eyes. “Cheap shot, Kuga.”  

Izumi watched his captain bail, the chains that were restraining him disappearing when Tachikawa was gone. Yugo lowered his sword, staring up at the sky as he watched Tachikawa fly off into the air.  

Tachikawa slammed into the mattress in his squad’s room, scowling up at the ceiling while Yu leaned pass her computers to stare at him. “That doesn’t count as a loss.” 

“You fell into an ambush, got trapped, and got killed. Sounds like a fair win to me. You don’t always win a fight by being stronger than your opponent. Being smarter helps a lot.” Yu replied.  

“Kunichika, don’t take Kuga’s side.” Tachikawa said as he sat up, hands curling into fists at his sides. “What even kind of Trigger was that?”  

Back in the field, Izumi decided that enough was enough. He didn’t care if this was Yuma’s father. He was hostile first. If Yugo turned out to be a good person later, he would apologize to Yugo and Yuma at a later date. For now, he had a city to defend against a possible threat.  

Forming his Viper cube and breaking it into his bullets, Izumi launched the bullets at Yugo. It was unfortunate for him that just restraining Izumi’s limbs wouldn’t be enough to stop his bullets from being unleased. Though Tachikawa might give him an earful later about waiting until after he had been killed to attack Yugo. To be fair though, he was still unsure of whether Yugo was an enemy or not. Yuma seemed to be very devoted to Border after all so why wouldn’t his father be as well? 

Yugo just smirked at the bullets zipping all around him at different trajectories. “Shield. Triple.” He said so calmly to activate a fixed Shield that surrounded him on all sides.  

Izumi stared at the kanji in the middle of the Shield as his bullets slammed into it, doing nothing to damage the Shield at all. “Oi, oi, seriously unfair.”  

As the bullets died down, Yugo dropped his Shield, still smiling at Izumi as he walked towards him. “When you see Yuma, tell him I'm looking for him.”  

Izumi launched the Asteroid bullets he had in his other hand, but Yugo merely lifted his hand with a Shield active to block them before he was striking Izumi down.  

Izumi slammed into the mattress in his squad’s room, staring blankly up at the ceiling.  “I hate Kuga’s dad.”  

“You guys were supposed to hold out until Toma-kun was able to get to you.” Yu said.  

“Kuga didn’t seem to agree.”  

“Maybe next time don’t invite trouble by complaining about not getting to fight Mimics.”  

*Mimics*  

“Ever since he came here, it’s been one troubling thing after another.” Tachikawa complained to Jin. 

Yuma pouted as he followed behind the two agents. “It’s not like I caused any of those attacks to happen.” 

“It was your presence here that caused a fight among the A-Rank agents and Jin-san back in December.” Izumi pointed out.  

“What fight?” Yuma asked confused, looking at Jin’s back as the older agent just continued walking down the hall.  

Tachikawa and Izumi looked over their shoulders to look at Yuma in surprise. Tachikawa whipped his head back towards Jin. “Seriously?” 

Jin folded his arms behind his head, looking off to the side like he didn’t care. “He didn’t need to know.”  

“What fight?” Yuma repeated, looking towards his own Captain and was surprised to find that he didn’t look confused like Yuma did. “Do you know, Osamu?” 

Osamu pushed his glasses up, coughing slightly. Yuma never asked about why Jin didn’t have Fujin anymore so Osamu never had to tell him. It just never got brought up before since Osamu didn’t feel the need to put that guilt on Yuma. He knew Fujin was Jin’s mentor and if he knew that Jin gave it up for Yuma to get in Border, he would feel horrible. But now that he was asking, it wasn’t possible to lie to him.  

“Border wasn’t keen on Tamakoma having two Black Triggers so Jin-san got into a fight with some A-Rank agents who were coming to steal yours. He fought them off then traded Fujin into HQ to get you enlisted.” Osamu explained. 

Yuma frowned, humming to himself. “So that’s why.” He would never ask Jin to do that for him. There was more than one reason why he could never part with his Black Trigger, and one of those reasons was because it was the last thing he had of his father. It was the same for Jin with his mentor’s Black Trigger.  

“It was my choice, Yuma. I'd rather have you safely enlisted in Border than selfishly hold onto Fujin.” Jin looked over his shoulder at his friend with a smile. “And Mogami-san would have agreed with my decision. The less fighting within Border, the happier he would be.”  

That didn’t lessen the guilt Yuma was feeling. In fact, it made it worse. Mogami sounded like a great person. He was probably a very good mentor to Jin, and because of him coming here, he forced Jin’s hand. He initially planned to go back to the Neighbor’s world when he found Border couldn’t help him because it would only cause problems if he stayed in this world. But then Osamu asked for his help and he joined Border. It was naïve of him to think it had ended there.  

It seems he did cause more problems, but Jin handled it all behind his back.  

Rindo dropped his hand on Yuma’s hair, causing the younger boy to look over his shoulder at him. He smiled down at the boy. “We all make our own choices, don’t we?  He wanted to protect you and help your team that much. Instead of feeling bad for that, you should show him your gratitude. You would have missed out on a lot of fun here at Border if he didn’t do this.”  

There was no denying that. Yuma truly loved his time in Border and that Osamu and Jin worked so hard to get him to join. But it’s not like he came to this world to cause trouble. He didn’t want to cause any trouble, but he ended up causing trouble simply because he refused to let himself be pushed around.  

“I didn’t consider this morning fun at all.” Tachikawa muttered. “This current trouble is also your fault.”  

“This could have happened to anyone.” Osamu protested.  

“Most people don’t have a powerful Trigger user for a father.” Izumi replied. He looked back over at Yuma. “I never heard anything about your father being dead.”  

“Not something I feel necessary to discuss.” Yuma muttered.  

“Well, now that we have him for an enemy, it is necessary.” Tachikawa said.  

An enemy. He didn’t like hearing that word associated with his father. Yugo was always such a skilled fighter and a wonderful father to Yuma. He could never imagine his father as someone who was bad.  

And that’s because his father wasn’t.  

“That thing is not my father. It’s a Mimic.” Yuma snapped. “Oyaji would never be an enemy to Border.”  

“Right, right. You're right.” Izumi said placidly, holding his hands in surrender. “I’m sure your father was a good person when he was alive. Nothing like the guy who decided to greet us by setting a trap for us.”  

Well, Yuma wasn’t about to say it, but his father did use traps sometimes, particularly when they were in a nation at war. Traps were a part of the strategies that Yugo taught him. Seeing as Tachikawa and Izumi were sour about the ambush they walked into earlier, he wasn’t keen to talk about the strategies lesson Yugo gave him.  

“Who is he?” 

The annoyed tone had the agents looking over their shoulders at a frustrated Toma standing there.  

“Shouldn’t you be on duty?” Izumi asked.  

“I came to back you up, and instead got killed.” Toma explained. He eyed the clothes that Tachikawa and Izumi were in. “I see that I'm not alone in getting killed.”  

“It’s Kuga’s fault.” Tachikawa said, pointing down at the white-haired agent. “It’s a Mimic of his father running around.”  

“Really?” Toma asked, frustration draining away to interest. “Kuga’s father?” 

“How’d he even get you? You’re a sniper. You would shoot him before he realized you were there.” Osamu said confused.  

“He somehow knew I was there and was able to Shield himself from my shot.” Toma said.  

“You’ve seen it before.” Jin told Osamu. “When Yuma fought Miwa squad, he managed to dodge a kill shot from Narasaka.”  

Osamu frowned as he recalled that fight. Yuma did dodge the headshot while in the air which was impressive by itself. Though now that he was thinking about it, why didn’t he used a Shield back then? “He still lost an arm.”  

“But he wasn’t knocked out of the fight.”  

“Or when he Shielded himself from Azuma-san’s snipe.” Izumi added.  

Yuma nodded, crossing his arms over his chest. “Still lost a leg to the second shot. Wasn't expecting Azuma-san to be using Lightning.”  

“Which brings up my point.” Toma replied. “It's damn impressive that you and your father have the skill to react so fast to snipes and defend against them. The only other person able to defend against my snipes is Jin-san and he’s using his side effect to do it. Is it something your father taught you?”  

Yuma’s brows furrowed as he frowned at Toma. “Being able to block bullets instantaneously like that isn’t something you can be trained to do. It takes a lot of experience in the field. Something I didn’t have when Oyaji was alive. Spending three years fighting in a war after he died tends to give you plenty of battle instincts to sense that killer instinct when someone is preparing to put bullet in your head. And unfortunately for all of us, Oyaji's instincts are a lot better than mine. You'll have a hard time trying to snipe him.”  

“If he’s saying that I'm destined to always miss my target, I don’t feel very inclined to go hunting this Mimic down.” Toma said.  

“Kuga-san is very skilled and dangerous, but no one is perfect. You should take it instead as a challenge to try to catch him off guard and hit him.” Rindo suggested.  

The sniper stared at the branch head with confusion. “Kuga-san? Why are we showing respect?” 

“Kuga Yugo.” Shinoda explained as he walked into the hall from a side hallway. He took in the group of Tamakoma agents, Rindo, the A-Rank squad, and Toma with interest. This was a strange group to be mixed together in HQ’s hallway talking about Kuga Yugo. “Why are we talking about him?” 

The A-Rank agents, minus Jin, pointed at Yuma.  

Shinoda stared at Yuma, contemplating the younger agent. “I would have appreciated if you came by this morning, Yuma-kun, instead of letting Arashiyama squad take care of the report from what happened last night. He told me you never found your Trigger.”  

“Is Kinuta-san going to yell at me?” Yuma asked with a grimace. He was finally doing a good job of getting along with the Development Chief. This would probably set them back so much.  

“Yes, yes, it’s absolutely horrible that Kuga lost his Trigger, but that seems far less important than the threat of Kuga Yugo currently roaming the Restricted Zone.” Tachikawa said.  

“Or the city. He could honestly be anywhere right now.” Izumi pointed out.  

Moving his eyes from Tachikawa squad to Yuma to back to the squad, Shinoda frowned, eyes narrowing. “Did they just say Kuga Yugo is back? Arashiyama squad didn’t mention that in the report. Yuma-kun?” He looked down at the young agent.  

“I think they forgot by this morning that the Mimic got a hold of me last night since we were trying to find my Trigger. The Mimic never showed up as my dad in front of us at all last night. I was hoping it didn’t succeed in getting those memories.” Yuma admitted.  

Shinoda was not going to get mad. They asked Yuma to try to avoid getting a Mimic of his father in the city, but it’s not like it was something they could control. Trion Soldiers were dangerous and this was a situation, while hoping to avoid, they knew was a possibility. The problem was that Kuga Yugo had been around all night and it was never mentioned. “You couldn’t tell us about him appearing this morning or even last night, Yuma-kun?” 

Yuma pursed his lips. “I promised Osamu that if something happened again, I would tell him right away.”  

“You waited all night.” Osamu pointed out.  

“You were sleeping and I was trying to find my Trigger. I told you first thing this morning.” Yuma replied. “And honestly, I was trying to locate him and my Trigger at the same time last night. It's like he vanished until this morning. I don’t know why he waited all night to make his appearance.”  

Sighing, Shinoda motioned for the group to follow him. “Let’s talk in my office about this. And while we’re on our way, Kei, Toma, tell me why you aren’t in the field. You’re on defense duty right now, aren’t you?” 

“Two words.” Tachikawa said. “Kuga Yugo.”  

That, honestly, was not a surprising answer to Shinoda. While Shinoda had deep respect for his mentor, for his strength, intelligence, and his kind heart, he was absolutely dreading the next few hours. Not only were they about to face the overwhelming force of Kuga Yugo, but it would seem, the curious nature of the agents would be coming out. Border’s history wasn’t a secret, but they typically kept the names of past members a secret. In actuality, Shinoda would wager that most of the members of Border didn’t even realize that the organization had been around long enough for there to have been a Commander in Chief before Kido.  

Leading the agents and Rindo into his office, Shinoda motioned for them to get comfortable as he sat behind his desk. While the older agents stayed standing, Yuma took a sit on one of the couches with Osamu sitting next to him while Rindo sat on the opposite couch, tossing his arm over of the back of it as he relaxed. Or, he tried to look like he was relaxed. Shinoda would guess that he was feeling the same type of dread that Shinoda was feeling.  

“So, Director, do you know Kuga Yugo? You knew his first name without hearing the full conversation.” Toma asked.  

Shinoda glanced at his agent, fingers tensing where they rested on his desk. It was hard enough to hear months ago that Yugo was dead, and now they had to deal with a reappearance of him in the form of Mimic which made him an enemy.  

“Border and Kuga Yugo share a long history.” Rindo said for Shinoda. “Though he left the organization about two decades ago.”  

“Twenty years?” Izumi asked shocked. “Border’s been around for that long?” 

“Longer than that, but back then, it was a secret organization and had a lot fewer people. Kuga Yugo was one of those people. In fact, he was one of the original founders of the organization.” Shinoda explained, glancing over at Yuma who was leaning back in his seat with his head tilted back to look up at the ceiling.  

“Wait, but Kuga’s a Neighbor.” Tachikawa said.  

“Yeah, I am,” Yuma agreed. “But my father was from Japan.”  

“Huh?” Izumi said.  

“When Yugo-san left Border, it was to travel through the Neighborhood. It seems he met a nice girl over there that he fell in love with and they had a child together.” Shinoda said.  

“Guess that explains why a Neighbor kid has a Japanese name.” Izumi replied, frowning in confusion. “But if Kuga was a Border founder and you all apparently knew him, why did we get the order to go after Kuga months ago when he first came here?”  

“That was more of a complicated matter. Kido-san was unnerved by Tamakoma having two Black Triggers, and there was also the added worry that Yuma-kun was just using the name. We needed proof that he really was Yugo-san's son.” Shinoda explained. “We hadn’t heard from Yugo-san since he left the organization. It was shocking enough to just hear the name Kuga after all these years.”  

“Even more shocking to hear it was his son that was here. It's hard to imagine Kuga-san as a father, but seeing Yuma now, I can tell he was a great father.” Rindo added, staring at Yuma, who was still staring at the ceiling.  

Yuma frowned, eyes sliding shut. His father was a great man and a very good dad, not that Yuma was able to compare his dad to anyone else. Yugo was the only person that treated Yuma like a son in his life. To everyone else, except Raymond, he was nothing but a soldier.  

“Kuga was looking for you, Kuga.” Tachikawa said.  

“Hmm.” Tachikawa already told him that at Tamakoma earlier.  

“Why was he looking for Yuma-kun?” Shinoda asked.  

“He didn’t say. We didn’t tell him where he could locate Yuma this morning so he decided to kill us.” Izumi said, rubbing the back of his head. “We didn’t even get a chance to defend.”  

“Not that the chains were going to give us the chance to defend.” Tachikawa said, rubbing his chin. This loss was not acceptable. He needed to get back out there to hunt down Kuga Yugo and get his revenge. Well, revenge and he could just tell, Kuga Yugo was strong. He wanted an actual chance to fight him.  

Chains. 

Chains. 

Chains? 

Yuma's head shot off the back of the couch as he sat up straight. “Did you say chains?” He demanded.  

Yuma’s harsh, shocked tone surprised the agents. He did seem out of sorts all morning with their conversation being so focused around his father, but his sudden intensity left them gaping.  

“Yeah, we got ambushed by chains shooting out of the walls and grounds to restrain us. Kuga never even gave us a chance to fight back.” Izumi explained.  

Yuma shook his head slowly, eyes wide. “That’s....not possible. My father doesn’t have a Trigger with chains. He only has two swords.”  

“Maybe he got a new Trigger because I'm pretty sure what took me out were bullets.” Toma pointed out.  

“Bullets?” Yuma repeated, despair rising inside him. “No, a Mimic of someone who was a Trigger user will use the Trigger they had the last time you saw them. They can’t change their equipment. My father never used bullets or chains.”  

“But do you know who does?” Jin asked, hands gripping the couch behind Yuma and Osamu tightly. “Do you know what those Triggers sound like, Yuma?”  

Yuma twisted his head to the side, eyes clenched tightly shut. “It’s not possible.”  

“And yet, it is.”  

“Do you mind filling the rest of us in?” Shinoda asked.  

Yuma dropped his face into his hands. His fingers curled into his hair, pulling at the strands. Is this what Jin saw that had him worried about Yugo appearing? His father was a tough enough opponent to begin with, but to add these Triggers on top of everything else.  

“The only person I've seen use chains and bullets is Yuma with his Black Trigger which coincidentally was created by Kuga Yugo five years ago.”  

Osamu’s brows furrowed at the number. Five years ago? When did that happen? The last he heard from his friend, his father died four years ago.  

“He never had those abilities though. The Chain Trigger my Black Trigger uses was something I had originally when it was created and the bullet Trigger is called Bolt and it’s a variation of Asteroid that I copied from Miwa a few months ago.” Yuma explained. “He shouldn’t have access to them. They’re not his to use.”  

“Are we sure they’re the same ones you have?” Izumi asked. “Can you show us those Triggers so we can compare?”  

Yuma lifted his head out of his head to look over the Shinoda, tilting his head in question at him. “From the descriptions, I'm pretty sure he is using my Black Trigger abilities somehow, but I can show them just to verify they’re the same if you think it would be a good idea.”  

“It sounds like a good idea. If nothing else, it can give us a chance to learn about the abilities a bit more if Yugo-san is using them.” Shinoda agreed, pushing himself to his feet. “We’ll use the training rooms for this.”  

*Mimics*  

Opening and closing his hand a few times, Yuma felt unnerved as he leaned against a wall in the training room, waiting for Shinoda to clear the room of the C-Rank agents and any official agents that happened to be in the room. It still wasn’t common knowledge that Yuma was in possession of a Black Trigger and it seemed Shinoda wanted to keep this situation quiet for the time being as they tried to figure out just what they were dealing with in regards to Kuga Yugo.  

That was fine with Yuma. He was confused and frustrated enough with everything that was going on as it was. Nothing about this was adding up. The original purpose of Mimics was to give someone the chance to see a lost loved one just one more time to say their goodbyes, for one last hug, a chance to see them not as a bloody corpse. Everything from someone’s memory of who they were missing was copied perfectly by the Mimics. That was to make the interaction as real as possible.  

All of that Yuma understood. He even understood why someone would take that idea and weaponize it. It was a great way to manipulate someone’s emotions. Losing a loved one was hard enough to begin with, but being forced to strike that person down would be next to impossible for most people. Mimics looked so real, sounded so real, moved so real. They could fool someone perfectly into believing their loved ones were back.  

It made it hard to strike them down.  

Losing someone once was hard enough, but being the reason for their death was a memory no one needed.  

‘You idiot...why were you defeated? Hang on a second. I'll save you soon.’   

Yuma closed his eyes, trying to will the image of his father kneeling in front of him with that smile away. He didn’t want to see that. Not right now.  

“Is he okay?” Tachikawa asked, jerking a thumb over his shoulder at Yuma. “I didn’t think anything could rattle him.” 

Jin looked where he was pointing to look at Yuma. His kouhai who was leaning against a wall with eyes scrunched shut, hands clenched so tightly into fists resting on the wall behind him to keep him propped up. He hated seeing Yuma like this. It made him look like the eleven year old that his body was. While he had a young body, Yuma always held himself with such strength and confidence that no one would consider him to be so young. Now, the pain and memories were making him so drained. The Yuma who held his head high, hiding away all that pain, was gone, revealing to everyone around that he wasn’t as immovable as he presented himself to be.  

“I told you before, Tachikawa-san, Yuma had a hard life before coming here. And part of that hard life involved his father.” Jin replied. “Kuga-san died about five years ago, but that hasn’t lessened the pain at all for Yuma. What happened to Kuga-san is probably something Yuma will never forgive himself for. I think he’s scared to stand in front of his father again.”  

Tachikawa stared at Jin with a frown. Whatever happened between Yuma and his father to cause this guilt that Jin spoke of was none of his business. He didn’t need to know that history. “You never told us his father was the creator of his Black Trigger.”  

“Is that really important right now?” Jin asked.  

“You gave up your mentor’s Black Trigger so Kuga could keep his from his father.”  

Jin tilted his head towards the ceiling. “Hmm. I couldn’t ask Yuma to give us his father’s last gift to him, but that wasn’t the reason I gave Fujin back to HQ. It was for Yuma though.” 

“What else could there be?” Tachikawa asked annoyed, but was ignored by Jin. If people didn’t stop ignoring his questions today, he might just lose it.  

With the last of the agents out of the room, Shinoda went to the computer to get the training room set up. As he was setting up the system, Rindo came into the room, rolling a cigarette between his fingers.  

“You know, this isn’t something we can keep quiet about. If Kuga-san is going to attack our agents while asking for his son, it’s going to get out pretty fast. I don’t want to tell anyone about Yuma’s history, but we’re going to need to tell the agents something. Kuga-san isn’t someone they can fight blindly, especially if he has access to Yuma’s Black Trigger abilities.” Rindo said.  

Shinoda paused in putting the settings in. “If Yugo-san is anything like he was when we last saw him....No, this Yugo-san we are dealing with is from Yuma-kun's last memory of him. I imagine he is a lot stronger than when we last saw him. If that’s the case, I doubt any of our agents could truly handle him.”  

“Even he is only one person. If we set enough of our agents on him, we could overwhelm him and kill him.” Rindo suggested as he sat down in one of the chairs. “Only, I can’t ask this of Yuma. He watched his father die once. I won’t put him through that again.”  

“Ready to go, Yuma-kun.” Shinoda said over the intercom before he sat down next to Rindo. “I know you want to protect Yuma-kun from this, Rindo. I want to protect him too. When he first came to this world and we found out who his father was, I was honestly shocked to learn that Yugo-san had a child. It was hard to hear that Yugo-san had died, but I'm really happy that I got to meet his son. Yuma-kun is an amazing kid. His father raised him well. As much as I want to shield him from a Mimic of his father, we can’t afford to bench him. Yuma-kun knows the most about his Black Trigger and about Yugo-san's fighting style. We're the only ones who could match Yuma-kun's knowledge on how Yugo-san fights. We need all the expertise and knowledge we have of Yugo-san to beat him. Preferably before all our agents on defense duty right now get killed.”  

“Our top two A-Rank squads already got taken out. The other squads aren’t going to have a chance if Kuga-san finds them.” Rindo replied.  

“I just hope he stays in the Restricted Zone.” Shinoda said. “I don’t want this fight taken into the city.”  

Opening his eyes, Yuma found himself seeing the training room with no sight of the ghost of his father haunting him this time. Taking a deep breath, Yuma stood up straight and made his way into the training room.  

Hard to believe the last time he stood in this room, he was a brand new C-Rank trainee. It was only a few months ago, but it was simpler back then. He just made a promise to help Chika and Osamu reach A-Rank and get on an away mission. Back then, he still had Replica by his side, and the only thing tying him to Border was the promise he made to Osamu and Chika to help them. It was promise with no stakes to him, then he lost Replica to Aftokrator, which now made it a personal mission for him as well.  

But before he could deal with that, the Mimics were the current threat.  

“Trigger on.”  

The black armor wrapped itself around Yuma.  

“Trigger on.”  

Yuma looked over his shoulder to see Jin had followed Yuma into the training room. With his Trigger active, he called out his Scorpion.  

“What are you doing?” Yuma asked.  

Jin smiled at Yuma as he pulled a second Scorpion out. He charged at Yuma, swiping his Scorpion up at him, but Yuma simply leaned back and blocked the sword with his Shield.  

“We said nothing about fighting. I was just going to show the seals I have.” Yuma said.  

Jin pushed more of his weight onto his sword, not that it did anything to Yuma’s Shield. “It’s always good to practice, Yuma. If we need to face Kuga-san with your Black Trigger abilities, any experience against them is good to have.”  

Izumi leaned his arms on the ledge, looking into the training room. “That symbol on his Shield. It's the one I saw when Kuga used his Shield this morning.”  

Osamu nodded. “This is the Shield attached to Kuga’s Black Trigger. It’s pretty strong. I watched it take four hits from a Marmod once without getting a single crack in it.”  

Izumi whistled, impressed by that feat. Marmod blades were not easy to defend against even with the use of Shields. If the Shield wasn’t reenforced with enough Trion, it would break easily.  

“The durability of it makes sense since it’s attached to a Black Trigger.” Tachikawa replied, rubbing his chin as he thought. Jin, that sneaky bastard. He wandered in after Yuma and was getting a fight against the Black Trigger. He should have thought of that first.  

Yuma stepped back, planting a Bound seal under his foot to launch himself farther away from Jin so that he could drop his Shield. His feet very briefly touched the forcefield wall surrounding them before he kicked himself off it and landed on the ground in a crouch, planting his hand on the surface before rising to his feet, eyes locked on Jin. Without Fujin, Jin didn’t have any ranged attacks. In contrast, Yuma had ranged attacks and could fight close combat with his Black Trigger. Though fighting close combat with Jin, who had swords, was not something Yuma was keen on doing recklessly.  

Jin launched himself at Yuma, who jumped back again, throwing his hand out in front of him. “Anchor. Plus Bolt. Triple.” 

From where his foot was just hitting the ground, Jin activated Escudo before stepping back as the Lead Bullets slammed into the shield and on the ground around him.  

“Oh, he stole more than just Asteroid from us, did he?” Toma asked amused.  

“He got them from Miwa-senpai when Miwa squad attacked him back in December.” Osamu explained.  

Izumi smirked. “Must be where Miwa learned that Kuga’s Black Trigger had the ability to copy other Triggers.”  

Yuma lifted his hand to his chest level. This was a seal he normally didn’t use because of how much Trion it consumed, but in a training room where Trion was unlimited, it wouldn’t hurt anything. “Gate.” A blue seal appeared on his arm as a black Gate opened above him. From the Gate, a black Rabit with Tamakoma’s emblem dropped down in front of Yuma.  

“Oi, oi, are you serious?” Toma asked. “He can open Gates?” 

Izumi gaped at the fight going on inside the training arena. How was that even possible? He didn’t have any of the equipment to just open a Gate! Was it really as simple as just having a Trigger with that ability?  

Rindo leaned forward in his seat, looking down at the arena with interest. That was unexpected. Perhaps he should have asked Yuma to tell him about his Black Trigger when he let the boy join his Branch.  

“He can call Trion Soldiers to fight alongside him?” Shinoda asked shocked, eyes locked on the black Rabit that was now standing in the arena.  

“Perhaps we should have gathered intel on his Black Trigger before.” Rindo said.  

Shinoda shot his friend a glare. “You didn’t investigate what his Black Trigger could do when you took him in?”  

“I didn’t think it was necessary. I knew Yuma wouldn’t do anything to harm Border or the city.”  

Listening to the sound of the Rabit, Jin leaned against his Escudo to look past it to see the Rabit by Yuma’s side. “Seriously, Yuma?”  

Yuma shrugged. “You started this fight. Besides, you said practice is good, right?” 

A blue seal appeared on the Rabit’s arm as he reeled it back and slammed it forward into Escudo, effectively destroying the Shield, but missing Jin who had jumped away from the attack.  

While the Rabit charged at Jin, who was still falling from the sky from his jump, Yuma stepped back, keeping an eye on what was happening. The Rabit opened its mouth, activating the Bolt seal which unleashed a barrage of bullets at the falling Jin. It seemed Jin was already ready for this as he had already thrown away one of his swords and was activating his Shield.  

“Those look like the bullets that killed me this morning.” Toma said.  

“A Rabit created from Kuga’s Gate seal can use the same abilities as his Black Trigger.” Osamu explained. “Those bullets he is using is called Bolt. Sounds like confirmation that Kuga-san was using the Black Trigger seals to kill you guys.”  

“Nothing about what was explained to us about Mimics said they could just use someone else’s Trigger abilities. Kuga, himself, said it was impossible.” Izumi replied confused.  

Osamu shook his head. “I don’t know. Maybe something in their design got changed when the Mimics design got stolen from Tropoi.”  

Jin landed on the Rabit’s shoulder, going to stab it in the eye with Scorpion, but his sword got blocked by a Shield. The Rabit twisted violently to throw Jin off of him, resulting in the agent flipping backwards through the air. His feet had barely hit the ground when he heard metal clanging and he was jumping away again as Chains slammed into the ground where he was just crouched at. While missing him entirely, the Chains didn’t vanish and instead blocked his path, leaving his back trapped against a wall.  

Staring into the arena where Jin had effectively trapped himself in a corner with Chains blocking his route and Yuma and his Rabit staring at him, Tachikawa found himself nodding his head. “Those are the Chains. When they got a hold of us, we weren’t able to break free.”  

Yuma lifted his hand, pointing it at Jin. “Boost. Plus Bolt. Quinte!” 

Jin dropped to his knees, planting his hand on the ground. “Escudo.”  

Multiple layers of Escudo popped up one by one in front of him as Yuma unleashed his attack. The bullets slammed into each Escudo shield one by one, knocking them down from the force of the attack.  

“Escudo.” Jin whispered, erecting multiple barriers along the side so he could escape the corner without getting hit. Jumping into the air, he soared over the Chains that were blocking his path, but had to immediately cross his Scorpion blades in front of him to block a punch from the Rabit that was waiting for him. The force of the blow sent him flying backwards.  

“Anchor. Plus Bolt. Quadra!”  

The Lead Bullets shot through the air towards Jin and Yuma’s Rabit while they were in the air. With no ground nearby, Jin wasn’t able to activate Escudo this time and wasn’t able to escape the wide range that Yuma’s attack had.  

Multiple anchors hit Jin in his various limbs, dragging him down to slam into the ground. Staring up at the ceiling with a Rabit suffering from the same weights next to him, Jin sighed. “I now know what Shuji felt like all those months ago.”  

Yuma’s Lead Bullets were definitely a lot heavier than the ones Border made.  

Sending his Rabit back through his Gate and then deactivating his Trigger was how Yuma ended the fight. He stood over the downed Jin with a scowl on his face. “If you’re going to challenge me to a fight, you could at least be serious about it.”  

“The point wasn’t for either of us to win, Yuma. It was to show your seals off to the others to get confirmation that it was the Black Trigger abilities your father was using.” Jin replied.  

Yuma’s brow twitched in annoyance. “For the last time, Mimics are not the people who they are appearing as. They are nothing but fakes used to manipulate people to kill them more easily. I'm not going to be fooled that easily.”  

“Yuma.” Jin said warily.  

“It’s my fault he is here. This is my problem to deal with, so stop trying to protect me, Jin-san. I'll stop this Mimic.” Yuma said before walking out of the training room.  

Chapter Text

ATTN: All Agents  

There is a Mimic of Kuga Yugo currently roaming Mikado City. I advise all agents to not take this lightly. Kuga Yugo was a former member of Border and a very powerful Trigger user. Along with his normal Trigger, he is able to access the abilities of Agent Kuga’s Black Trigger.   

I advise everyone to not try to fight him alone.   

General Manager and Commander of Self-Defense Unit,  

Shinoda Masafumi    

“I didn’t realize one paragraph could give me so many questions.” Tonooka said. He pointed down at the computer screen as he looked over at his teammates. “You guys interacted with Kuga-kun outside of our Rank War. Did you know his dad used to be a member of Border?”  

“Tch, no, it must have been before Border became a public organization.” Yuba said, crossing his arms. “Though if he had a father skilled with a Trigger, it would explain why Kuga is such a skilled fighter, despite only being in Border for less than a year.”  

Obishima locked her hands behind her back, staring at her teammates in curiosity. “If Kuga-senpai's father was a Border member and very likely is the one who trained him, why did it take him so long to join Border?” 

“That question can only be answered by Kuga-kun.” Fujimari replied. “Though it may be possible the loss of his father kept him away from Border. I'm more curious about the Black Trigger that is mentioned in this. Since when does Kuga-kun have a Black Trigger?”  

*Mimics*  

“What the hell?!?” Suwa shouted, practically shoving his face onto the monitor. Osano shoved him to the side in annoyance.  

“Get off my screen.” Osano said annoyed.  

Suwa stabbed a finger at the screen. “Since when does Kuga have a Black Trigger? When did he become S-Rank?!”  

“Is that really more important than the warning from the Director about Kuga-kun's father roaming about?” Osano asked.  

“They both sound like pretty important pieces of information.” Daichi said.  

“I think the Black Trigger part is important. We hadn’t heard any information about a Black Trigger being created. And if one did get created, why would they just hand it off to Kuga-kun? When they chose Fujin’s wielder years ago, they had a tournament, didn’t they?” Hisato asked.  

Suwa stepped away from the desk, much to Osano’s happiness, so he could look at his teammates. “Yeah, Jin won and took Fujin, though he handed it back into HQ a few months ago and no one knows why.”  

“I can’t see the point of dropping down from S-Rank if he’s just going to stay as a solo A-Rank agent.” Daichi said.  

Osano pushed her lollipop around in her mouth, frowning at the screen as she looked at the memo that was sent out. Was there really no more information that Shinoda was going to give them? “Black Triggers aside, Kuga-kun's father has become our enemy and the higher ups are worried enough about it that they sent out a memo to warn everyone to be careful.”  

“I’m not looking down on Kuga. If he is anything like his son, he won’t be an easy enemy, but it’s hard to plan anything against someone we don’t know anything about.” Suwa replied.  

“Well, it’s Kuga-kun's father, right? Couldn’t we just ask him?” Hisato suggested.  

*Mimics*  

“I’m a horrible friend.”  

“What are you upset about?” Saeki asked, staring down his depressed teammate.  

“I’ve been friends with Yuma-senpai for months and I never even knew his father was dead.” Shun muttered, staring down at his phone where the memo from HQ was staring mockingly back at him. “And now his father is back as a Mimic and we have to kill him.”  

“That’s the job.” Kusakabe replied, not looking up from her computer. “Instead of moping about it, go talk to your friend and see about getting information on his father’s fighting style. Any information will be helpful in beating him.”  

Saeki shot his Captain a nasty glare. “I know you’re gung-ho about getting the job done, but it would be insensitive of him to just go up to Kuga-kun demanding information about his father to prepare for a future battle right now.”  

Kusakabe looked up from her computer to look at Saeki over her monitors. “Is it? Kuga seemed like a very focused type person. He doesn’t seem like the type to let his feelings get in the way of what is important.”  

“His father just came back from the dead in the form of a Mimic. That would be distracting for anyone. Just because he knows how to control his emotions, it does not mean he is an emotionless robot.” Saeki argued.  

“And waiting for Kuga to get a handle on himself is time we don’t have. We have no idea of what Kuga Yugo will do while we sit around waiting for Kuga to be ready to talk to us.” Kusakabe retorted.  

Shun stood up suddenly, distracting his teammates from their argument. They could argue all they liked about this, but the truth was, neither of them knew Yuma at all. They’ve seen him around, but they didn’t hang out with him or spar with him like Shun did. Their arguments of how Yuma was feeling didn’t mean anything because the only person who could know what Yuma was feeling was himself. Shun couldn’t even begin to guess how his friend was feeling. He thought he would be able to, but sitting here, reading this memo, made Shun realize that maybe he truly didn’t know anything about his friend.  

He didn’t know Yuma’s father was dead.  

He didn’t know when Yuma got a Black Trigger.  

Hell, he didn’t even know Yuma had a Black Trigger.  

What kind of friend was he if he never inquired into anything about his friend? 

It was only now he was realizing just how little Yuma spoke of himself before Border.  

“I’m going to go find Yuma-senpai.” Shun muttered as he walked out of his squad’s operation room.  

*Mimics*  

Kako looked at the memo at her phone, frowning to herself. Is this what Jin was worried about happening? The way he kept looking at Yuma and talking about needing to help him. Was the appearance of Kuga Yugo really that serious?  

No, that wasn’t the right question.  

If this was what Jin was worried about, why did he let Yuma use his Trigger at night?  

So, this couldn’t have been what had Jin stressed out. There had to be something more going on.  

*Mimics*  

“Did you know he had a Black Trigger?” Kageura asked. 

“No.” Murakami replied with a sigh.  

Kageura tsked, leaning his head back on the seat. “I don’t get that guy at all. He could be S-Rank by now, but he wants to hang around in the B-Ranks.” He turned his head on the seat to look at the rest of the cafeteria, scowling at everyone he saw. “It’s all the official agents are talking. Kuga. Kuga’s Black Trigger. Kuga’s father.” 

“The memo dropped bombshells on all of us. Is it really that surprising that people would talk?” Murakami replied. “It also came from Director Shinoda. From the sounds of the memo, I get the feeling he is more worried about this than he lets on.”  

“Hey,” Kageura raised his head so he could lean forward, resting his arm on the table. “Didn’t that memo mention something about Kuga Yugo being a former member of Border?” 

Murakami raised a brow, but nodded. “It did.”  

“Shinoda-san has been with Border for a long time. Sounds to me like he could have known Kuga’s father a long time ago.” Kageura said.  

“It sounds plausible.” Murakami agreed. “Kuga is one of the very few people Shinoda-san addresses by first name. I thought it was weird, but if he used to be a friend of his father’s, it makes sense why he would be more casual with him.”  He glanced down at his phone sitting on the table next to him then back at his friend. “Have you heard from Kuga today? I sent him a message earlier, but haven’t gotten anything back.”  

“Haven’t seen him.” Kageura said, scratching at his face as he turned to glare at the room again. “He’s probably around here somewhere. I can’t see him as the type to hide his face.”  

Murakami looked around the room to see all the agents talking in intrigued voices, not even trying to be quiet about it. “I wouldn’t want to be showing my face to the agents right now. He would get hounded with questions that I doubt he wants to answer. If he wanted us to know about his father, he wouldn’t have kept quiet about it for months.”  

Kageura scoffed. “Kuga won’t let something like this push him down. He’ll be hounding us for Rank battles in no time, and knowing him, he’ll act like nothing is wrong.”  

Murakami thought back to the other day when Shun pushed him to fight Yuma when he was in a bad mood. “You know it’s just an act he puts on.”  

“Of course it’s an act. He doesn’t want to burden other people with his problems.” Kageura scraped at his face. “He can’t fool me when his emotions are all over the place. That idiot’s distractions are probably what got him into this mess.”  

*Mimics*  

“Oh, boy, Kuga’s father? I want to fight him. He has to be crazy strong.”  

“Will you stop treating everything like a game?” Miwa scolded his teammate, looking over his shoulder at Yoneya who was leaning over Ren's shoulder to look at the computer. “If it’s that Neighbor’s father, he’s not going to be easy to beat. Kuga knocked us out of the battle without fighting seriously. Having his father here who can use his Black Trigger abilities isn’t a joke.”  

Yoneya and Ren shared a look.  

“Sounds like he respects Kuga’s strength.” Yoneya whispered conspiratorially.  

“You’re not as quiet as you think you are, Yosuke.” Miwa snapped.  

Yoneya grinned at Ren.  

Miwa pulled his hand out of his pocket, opening his hand to look at the mini Replica that rested there. The thing just died at the end of the Aftokrator invasion, but Miwa, for reasons he didn’t understand, couldn’t just leave it lying in the road. He had intended to just toss it out at some point, but he kept the annoying flea on him. 

“Arashiyama-san, you’ll eventually regret that you sheltered a Neighbor. You guys don’t get it. You people whose families or friends haven’t been killed by Neighbors can’t understand how truly dangerous they are. Jin, who underestimates Neighbors, will definitely regret it someday. And when that day comes, it’ll be too late.”   

“I don’t think he’s underestimating them.” Arashiyama replied. “Jin too, had his mother killed by a Neighbor. Five years ago, his master, Mogami-san passed away as well. The pain of losing someone close is something I'm sure he knows well. Being aware of how dangerous Neighbors are and the pain of losing someone important, Jin has his own plans. That’s what I think.”   

Miwa scowled, closing his hand around the annoying flea.  

Was he the one that didn’t understand? Jin had lost people to the Neighbors, but he didn’t let that pain turn into hatred for all Neighbors. He still constantly tried to make friends with them. They both lost people they loved, but they still somehow ended up on different paths.  

“Even if that thing was a fake, it still had your sister’s face. It would be cruel to force you to be the one to strike her down. You don’t need the memory of your sister’s death being your fault.”      

It was frustrating just how blind Miwa was feeling. He only ever focused on his own losses and pain that he didn’t ever notice Jin’s and he just made the assumption that since Yuma was a Neighbor, he couldn’t understand pain or loss. Neighbors were horrible people that just caused death and destruction when they came here. They needed to be killed. That was Miwa’s purpose. It allowed him to push his anger and hatred towards something.  

But ever since that Neighbor showed up and joined Border, Miwa felt like he was losing all sense of direction. Miwa never saw Yuma as someone who could have lost someone or had a hard life. He just saw a Neighbor, someone who was supposed to be his enemy.  

But that didn’t feel right anymore.  

His father had appeared as Mimic.  

If his father was appearing, it meant Yuma had fond memories of him, that he very dearly loved his father which meant the pain and hurt that Miwa felt when he lost his sister is something Yuma also felt. It was hard to tell that he ever suffered like that with the way he acted.  

Him and Jin.  

They acted so carefree but underneath that exterior was the same pain that Miwa had a hard time hiding.  

*Mimics*  

“By the way, why did you come to this world, Yuma-kun?” Chika asked.   

“Because my father died.” Yuma said bluntly.   

Taking another shot, Chika hit dead center on the target. Steadying her breathing, she took another shot and got another bullseye.  

“‘If I die, go to Japan. Someone I know should be working for an organization called Border.’ He often said this and so that’s why I came to Japan.”   

Another shot.  

“What was your father like?” Chika asked.   

“He was unique.” Yuma replied.   

Another bullseye.  

“Both Osamu and I are just doing whatever we want.” Yuma told her.   

“Then I’ll pay back my debt because I wanna do so.” Chika replied.   

Another shot.  

“You knew it was always a possibility that they might be dead, Chika, but you never let that worry stop you before. You kept training hard to get to this point. Don’t let those what-ifs stop you from going for what you want. They'll only be a distraction.”  

Another bullseye.  

“Chikako seems kind of scary today.” Izuho said, watching her friend take shot after shot at the targets without slowing down or having any hesitation whatsoever in her aim.  

“She’s always been really focused while training.” Ema pointed out, though he shoved his hands in pockets and sighed. “You’re still C-Rank so you wouldn’t have gotten the memo that was sent out a little while ago.”  

“Huh? Did something happen?” Izuho asked.  

Ema nodded. “Kuga’s father has appeared as Mimic recently. It has the higher ups worried enough that they issued a warning to all official agents to be cautious of him. Apparently, the Mimic is able to use Kuga’s Black Trigger abilities. It has all the agents in an uproar since no one knew he even had a Black Trigger in his possession.”  

Izuho hummed thoughtfully. “I see."  

Ema eyed her out of the corner of her eyes. “You’re taking this easily.”  

“I knew Ochibi-senpai had a Black Trigger. He was fighting with it in Aftokrator’s invasion. Though Chikako had to explain it to me after the invasion since I had questions.” Izuho explained, crossing her arms as she thought back to then. “I never knew his father was dead though.”  

“Can you back up?” Arafune asked as he walked over. He had heard the two talking, but didn’t want to interfere in the conversation, but now it was pulling at his interest. “Did you just say Kuga was using his Black Trigger during Aftokrator’s invasion?” 

Izuho nodded. “He used it to fight some old guy on the enemy’s side.”  

“He was C-Rank during that invasion.” Arafune said confused as Toma walked over to join the group.  

“Kuga came to Border with a Black Trigger, but wanted to rise through the ranks normally so Kido-san only lets him use his Black Trigger when it’s an emergency.” Toma explained as he watched Chika continue her nonstop firing on her target. At the rate she was going, her target was going to be nothing but pieces soon. “Only a handful of the A-Rank squads and Tamakoma knew this though. The severity of the situation with his father being back has made it necessary to reveal that information.” 

Oki took one more shot, hitting the bullseye before he deactivated his rifle and turned to the agents talking behind him. “If you know something, tell us. Any information will be helpful if we need to go after Kuga. If he’s anything like his son, he won’t be easy to take down.”  

“I tried to snipe him down this morning and was blocked easily, then was gunned down by him using Kuga’s Black Trigger ability, Bolt, which is a variation on Asteroid.” Toma explained.  

“You got killed?” Izuho asked shocked. Whenever they have sniper training exercises, Toma never got hit. He was just that skilled at hiding after taking his shots. No one could ever find him.  

“Not just me. Tachikawa-san and Izumi got killed by him too.” Toma replied.  

“Are you serious? Our top squads?” Arafune asked shocked.  

“If you talk to Tachikawa-san about it, he’ll just complain about how Kuga ambushed and trapped them so it wasn’t a fair fight.” Toma said, amusement touching his voice very lightly. The situation wasn’t a joke and should be taken very seriously, but Tachikawa’s annoyance was a bit fun to watch. “Kuga had a fight with Jin-san this morning to show off his Black Trigger’s abilities to give us an idea of what to expect for next time.”  

“Jin-san and Kuga-kun?” Oki asked interested. “Shouldn’t we all have gotten to see that? If we need to prepare for Black Trigger abilities from Kuga Yugo?” 

“They didn’t fight for long. It was just a quick showing of Kuga’s Black Trigger.” Toma replied. “And right after it, Kuga ran off and no one knows where he went.”  

Arafune looked towards Chika who was still firing nonstop at her target. “Everyone is going crazy about the revelations from that memo and now they all have questions. I’m not surprised he’s hiding out somewhere. He could have even left to go back to Tamakoma to avoid everyone.”  

Chika stood up suddenly, turning off her Egret as she turned towards the agents.  

“You doing okay, Chikako? You went kind of hard on the target today.” Izuho’s eyes shifted to Chika’s target which was barely hanging up by a thread still.  

“I’m fine. I'm heading out for today.” Chika said, giving a polite bow of her head to her fellow agents before leaving.  

“I think she’s mad.” Izuho muttered.  

“Well, it is her teammate everyone is gossiping about. She's allowed to be a bit upset about that.” Arafune said.  

Chika walked down the hall, hands clenching and unclenching at her sides. Why did she have to hear the name Kuga coming out of every mouth of someone she passed? Yuma already had to be suffering enough without everyone gossiping behind his back. She understood they were curious about what was going on with the information in the memo about Yuma and his father, but it had to be hard for Yuma to hear all this gossiping. He had to already be having a hard time having his father reappearing. It was hard to get Yuma to talk about his past before he came to Japan which just told Chika that he didn’t like talking about it. It couldn’t be easy for him to have this getting out now.  

“Should you be an operator or a combatant?” Shiori asked.   

“Well, of course she should be a combatant, since her Trion is really impressive.” Yuma said. “Plus, in case she gets attacked by a Neighbor in the future, Chika should be able to fight.”   

Shun rounded the corner so fast, he almost ran into Chika. He quickly retracted his forward step by turning it into a back step.  

“Midorikawa-kun?” Chika said surprised.  

“Ah, Amatori-chan!” Shun greeted after he caught his balance. “Have you seen Yuma-senpai around? I need to talk to him."  

Hearing her friend’s name again, Chika’s eyes narrowed at him, studying him for a moment before her expression softened. Shun was one of Yuma’s closest friends. She doubted he was looking for Yuma to harass him about the memo. “Sorry, but I haven’t seen him today.”  

“Oh,” Shun said, looking defeated. “I’m not surprised he wanted to hide.”  

Chika smiled sadly at the other agent. “Is something wrong, Midorikawa-kun? Anything I can help with?” 

Shun sunk onto a nearby window seal, just feeling so drained after searching for so long for Yuma. He wasn’t the one to become the hottest topic in Border today with everyone gossiping about him, but Yuma was his friend. How could he know so little about him?  

“I’m horrible.” Chika said softly when Shun didn’t speak up. She sat down next to him on the window seal, wringing her hands in her lap. “I was telling Yuma-kun about my fear with the Mimics the other day. The whole time he was reassuring me and telling me I would be fine because I wouldn’t be alone. I would have all my allies fighting by my side to help me. He was telling me all this to help build up my strength and courage when all I felt was fear in my heart. But I never once thought about him. I knew his father was dead, but I didn’t even consider his own fears against the Mimics, and now, his father is the one that has appeared before us.”  

Shun stared at Chika for a moment before turning to face the wall across from them. “I can’t even say that. I didn’t even know his father was dead. We’ve been friends for months and I’m only now realizing I don’t know anything about him outside of Border. He never told me anything. Maybe....maybe we’re not as good friends as I thought.”  

“No!” Chika said so passionately that it surprised Shun into looking back at her. “Don’t think like that. I know Yuma-kun values his friendship with you a lot.” She stared back at Shun with so much determination in them that it surprised him. He wasn’t expecting such conviction from her about this as she always seemed so gentle and soft-spoken. “Yuma-kun is a pretty private person. I only know a few things about his past and I had to ask him about that stuff directly. He won’t ever share anything out of nowhere, but if you ask him, he will tell you.” She looked down at her hands, frowning softly. “He told me his dad died when he was eleven and he acted like it wasn’t a big deal, but I think he just likes to act strong so as to not burden people with the pain he is going through. I don’t think he had an easy time growing up and rather than talk freely about it, he keeps it to himself. I don’t know all that he went through, but sometimes when he thinks he is alone, he gets this sad look in his eyes.”  

Shun stared back at her, eyes softening. “I had no idea. He always seemed so happy all the time.” He replied as his attention drifted back to the opposite wall. “The other day I was talking with him and Yoneyan-senpai and they kept mentioning stuff from before Yuma-senpai was an agent and even about Aftokrator’s invasion. They gave me answers to my questions, but they didn’t feel truthful, or at least not fully truthful. It felt like they were hiding things behind the answers they were giving me, so I stopped asking questions because I didn’t want to hear the excuses anymore. I want honest answers, but I guess Yuma-senpai doesn’t trust me at all.”  

“It’s not because of that.” Chika looked down the hall, glad to see they wasn’t anyone nearby trying to eavesdrop on them. “Yuma-kun helps the higher ups with sensitive information so he can’t share everything that goes on. They ask for his help with the understanding that he knows how to keep secrets. It's not that he doesn’t trust you, but that he isn’t allowed to tell this information to people. Like his Black Trigger.” She glanced back at Shun, giving him a gentle smile. “That was a secret that wasn’t meant to be shared unless it was absolutely necessary. Try again, Midorikawa-kun. Now that it’s known he has a Black Trigger and his father was a Border founder, Yuma-kun might be able to find it in him to talk a bit more freely with you.”  

Shun blinked. “A Border founder?”  

“Huh?” Chika said shocked.  

“The memo only said he was a former member of Border.” Shun explained.  

Chika gaped at the other agent, covering her mouth with one hand. “Oh, no.”  

Shun smiled, a light laugh coming from him. “Don’t worry. I'll keep it a secret that you told me. I don’t see what harm that tidbit of information could do anywhere. It doesn’t change the fact that Kuga-san was once a Border member. Hey, listen, whoever finds Yuma-senpai first, we tell him we both looking for him.” At Chika’s confused looked, Shun shrugged. “I figured you could use a talk with him too. I don’t think Yuma-senpai would fault you for not taking his feelings about the Mimics into account, but I think you still want to talk to him.”  

“Right,” Chika nodded. “If I see him, I'll let him know you need to talk to him.”  

Shun glanced at his phone to see a message from Murakami, one from his captain, and one from Izumi, but still nothing from Yuma. “If only he would reply to me.”  

“When you find him, good luck with your conversation. And please don’t be mad at him for keeping secrets.” Chika requested.  

“I was never mad at him. I’m just disappointed in myself for not realizing sooner how bad of a friend I was.” Shun scratched his cheek, an almost ashamed look crossing his features. “I don’t know anything about him before Border and when he was in a bad mood the other day, I pushed Murakami-senpai into dealing with him, instead of trying to talk to him myself.”  

“Yuma-kun probably respected the fact that you did that. He has a hard time talking about himself, but I think it will be good for him to open up. He always helps me and Osamu-kun when we’re feeling down and need to vent out what’s wrong. Yuma-kun needs that too. He puts on a brave front, but even he needs people to talk to. I think Osamu-kun and Jin-san can usually get him to open up, but...” Chika trailed off, frowning once more. “I think something’s been wrong lately. He and Jin-san have been having arguments about something lately. I don’t know what they’re about though.”  

“It’s natural for friends to disagree sometimes. I'm sure those two can work out what’s wrong.” Shun assured her. “And I don’t think he would be mad at you for not recognizing his own worries about the Mimics. It’s hard to realize what someone is feeling if they don’t want to speak up.”  

“True,” Chika looked down at her hands, opening and closing them a few times. The feeling of holding a rifle had been so foreign to her when she first joined Border, but now she couldn’t imagine not having her gun in her hands. “When I first said I wanted to join Border, Yuma-kun was the only person to tell me to fight. I could tell by Osamu-kun's face that he didn’t want me to join, but he accepted my choice. During Aftokrator’s invasion, everyone was telling me to run. To get away from the Rabits and Neighbors. Honestly, I wanted to. I wanted to run so far away. It was what I was best at. Because of my Trion levels, I've been hunted by Neighbors practically my whole life. It's a miracle I survived this long.” Chika smiled at Shun. “Standing on the road that day Aftokrator attacked, I was so terrified, I couldn’t even move. Osamu-kun and Kitora-kun fought so hard to protect us and without any fear, Izuho-chan picked up an Ibis to protect me. The me who couldn’t even get my knees to stop shaking. All the while I kept hearing the word ‘run. Run away.’ Then I remembered Yuma-kun's words. He was the first person to ever tell me to fight. To protect myself. When that Rabit was staring me down, it was his words that reminded me of why I joined Border in the first place. Yuma-kun has done so much to help me since I met him. I want to pay him back for all of it.”  

“It must have been really hard for you back then, being alone against the Neighbors.” Shun said, smiling at her. “It’s hard to believe no one told you to fight before. Your Trion levels are insane! You're amazing.”  

Chika blushed, rubbing the back of her head. She didn’t think she would ever get good at taking compliments. “Well, no one knew about my Trion levels back then. It was because of Yuma-kun that we realized why I was being hunted by Trion soldiers.” 

“This was before you joined Border?”  

Chika nodded. “Back in December.”  

“Why is it always December?” Shun muttered.  

“Huh?” 

“Yoneyan-senpai said that is when he met Yuma-senpai too.” 

“Oh,” Chika laughed lightly. “That is when Yuma-kun came to Japan.” 

“He wasn’t in Japan before?” Shun asked surprised. “Guess that would explain why, despite having a former Border member for a father, he didn’t join Border into recently. I wonder if Jin-san knew who his father was and that’s why he chose to recruit him.”  

Chika leaned forward slightly, tilting her head to look better at Shun. “Yuma-kun refused Jin-san's offer to join Border. He and Jin-san had a long talk on Tamakoma’s roof after his refusal, but his answer stayed the same. Osamu-kun is the one who convinced him to join. He and I both knew that we couldn’t achieve our goal of getting on an Away mission without a lot of practice and probably years of work so we asked Yuma-kun to help us.”  

“Why is it that I'm learning more about Yuma-senpai just talking to you then I did from the months of knowing Yuma-senpai?” Shun asked, folding his arms behind his head. Yuma didn’t want to join Border originally? That was strange. Looking at his friend, he seemed to really love his time in Border. The dude was a fighting maniac.  

“When you find him, just walk right up to him and be blunt about what you want to ask and be truthful. He doesn’t like it when people lie to him.”  

“Ironic for someone full of secrets.” Shun said amused, making Chika smile softly at him.  

*Mimics*  

“I am sorry.” Arashiyama held out a cup of coffee to Jin. “You look exhausted by the way.”  

Jin smirked in amusement, taking the cup. “You were the one on duty all night. I just spent half the night worrying.” He rubbed his tired eyes, leaning back in his seat. Of all things he figured would happen today, he didn’t expect Arashiyama to drag him into a conference room without warning.  

Arashiyama smiled, taking a sit on the other side of the table, wrapping his hands around his cup of coffee. “My tiredness will hit me when I deactivate my Trigger. But back to my point, I want to apologize to you. I promised you I would protect Yuma last night, but it seems we messed up. I left Mitsuru watching him since I wasn’t expecting Mimics to attack us in the base.” 

“That’s not your fault. There was no good solution in keeping Yuma safe.” Jin replied taking a sip of his coffee, relishing in the caffeine that he was going to need to get through the day. “I can see the future but each action we take shifts that future. Asking you to watch over Yuma yesterday wasn’t guaranteed to keep this from happening. And even if you succeeded in keeping the Mimics away from him, that didn’t mean the future where Kuga Yugo appeared wouldn’t happen. It would only delay it.”  

“It would have been nice if we would have been able to delay it until the nation that is sending Mimics here was out of range.” Arashiyama replied. “So, just how bad is the future as you see it is now?” 

A grimace crossed Jin’s face at the question, and was honestly all the answer that Arashiyama needed.  

“Alright, do you have a plan of how to beat Kuga?” Arashiyama asked.  

“He’s a tough opponent, but no one is unbeatable. Some people are just much harder to beat than others.” Jin replied.  

“Which means you don’t know how to beat him yet.”  

“I’m working on it. My top priority the past few days was to try to avoid this outcome. Now that it is here, we need to kill him. Need to find him first though. Besides killing Tachikawa squad and Toma this morning, he’s not making any flashy moves to help us locate him.”  

Arashiyama hummed to himself. “If we knew what he was after...”  

“By someone claiming to be Kuga Yugo, and he also happens to be looking for his son.” Izumi gave a pointed look to Yuma, who simply closed his eyes in defeat.     

It was Yuma. The Mimic of Kuga Yugo was looking for his son, but Jin wasn’t about to use Yuma as bait. That would be the last course of action he would suggest if nothing else worked.  

Instead of saying any of that, Jin just took another sip of his coffee.  

“There was something else I wanted to talk to you about, regarding what happened last night.” Arashiyama added, drawing Jin’s back to him. “About Yuma-” 

“There you are, Jin. You think you can hide from me.” Kako said as she walked in the room.  

Jin leaned back in his chair, looking over his shoulder at the girl in the doorway. “Would have been more dramatic if you slammed the door open.”  

Kako glared at the door. “Right, stupid automatic doors.”  

“Is there something wrong, Kako-san?” Arashiyama asked.  

“Right,” Kako joined the two at the table, taking a seat next to Jin. “Kuga Yugo. This is what you were worried about the other night, wasn’t it?”  

“He’s been worried about it all week.” Arashiyama pointed out.  

Kako glanced at him, then back at Jin. “Okay, then, if this is what you were worried about, why didn’t you just send Kuga-kun out of the city?” Kako asked. “Whatever you saw in the future, involved him and had us falling down a horrible path. If we subtracted him from the equation, couldn’t we have avoided this altogether?”  

Jin gave a bitter laugh. “It wouldn’t have worked. The Mimics would have still found him. So, I thought, if I kept him here where we could watch him, we could keep him safe.” 

“Still find him?” Kako repeated confused. “If you sent him away and told him not to activate his Trigger, he would be fine.”  

Jin shook his head, smiling bitterly at the other agent. “He wouldn’t have been.”  

The Mimics would still find Yuma if Jin sent him out of the city. The Mimics only went after Trion bodies because that’s what they needed to get memories. Last night, Yuma’s body was all broken and cracked and right in front of his eyes, Arashiyama watched those cracks heal.  

“Because he’s in a Trion body.” Arashiyama said, all the pieces finally falling in place. While Kako looked at him confused, Jin was shocked. “Jin, he was thrown through a window last night and then crashed into a building without his Trigger active. He stood up like it barely fazed him. His body was all cracked and broken, but I watched it heal right in front of my eyes. So, if he isn’t in a Trion body, then tell me what he is?”  

Jin stared at his friend before sighing softly, raising his hands to show he was giving up. “You got me, Arashiyama. You’re right that he is trapped in a Trion body.” 

Kako looked from Arashiyama to Jin, eyes widening just a faction in surprise. Coming into room was leading to more confusion and questions than she was initially prepared for. “We can leave the story of how that is possible aside, but will you answer some other questions for me? Because I am suddenly finding myself very shocked.”  

“Depends on what the questions are.” Jin replied, rubbing at his eyes and silently apologizing to Yuma in his head. It had never been his intention to let people find out about his body, but he couldn’t very well lie to Arashiyama after what he saw. There wasn’t another explanation for how Yuma’s body broke and healed like it did.  

Kako and Arashiyama shared a look. Arashiyama tilted his head at her, allowing her to go ahead with her question.  

“Has he been trapped in his Trion body for a long time?” Kako asked.  

Lowering his hand from his eyes, Jin glanced at her, raising a brow. “That is your question? He was eleven when he got trapped in a Trion body.”  

Kako nodded her head. “I was curious about why he was so short for being fifteen. If he’s been in a Trion body for four years, then it makes sense since Trion body can’t change.”  

“Closer to five. The anniversary is in a few days.” Jin replied.  

“And what does it mean that he is trapped in a Trion body?” Arashiyama asked.  

Jin took a sip of his coffee. “Not much. He doesn’t change physically. He can’t sleep. His physical abilities are greatly enhanced. His body’s durability is weaker than a combat Trion body, but in return, his body can heal almost instantly. His Black Trigger is what is sustaining his body.” 

Kako’s brows furrowed in confusion. There wasn’t too much there that was surprising if Yuma was truly in a Trion body, though none of it helped ease any of her curiosity. “That causes more questions. Where is his real body right now, Jin?” 

“Sealed in the Black Trigger.”  

“So, someone sealed Yuma’s real body inside a Black Trigger and he somehow has another Trion body to live in that isn’t the combat body he uses when he uses his Black Trigger?” Arashiyama said slowly as he tried to wrap his head around what Jin was saying. He was sure he would understand better if Jin told them the full story of how this all happened, but he didn’t want to pry that much.  

“Yes.”  

“No, yes is not a good enough answer to that. That makes no sense. By doing that, the Black Trigger got tied to Kuga-kun. Why would anyone want to tie a Black Trigger in that way? Normally people want to get their hands on a Black Trigger, not tie it to someone.” Kako argued.  

Jin rubbed his chin, trying to think of how to explain this. He didn’t think Yuma would appreciate any more of his life being revealed but if he avoided the specifics of what happened and just went with the general information, it would be fine. “The Black Trigger was created by Yuma’s father to save Yuma’s life. You read the memo that said Kuga-san was a skilled Border member in the past, right? Well, he was very powerful and was able to create a Black Trigger while sealing Yuma’s dying body inside it and creating a Trion copy so Yuma could go on living.”  

Dying...? 

“You keep dropping bombshells.” Kako said, eyes narrowed. “What do you mean dying?”  

Jin grimaced. Perhaps he should have left that word out of it, but it would be hard to justify Yugo sealing Yuma’s real body away like this without a good reason. “Yuma was gravely injured when he was eleven. The only way to save his life was for Kuga-san to create a Black Trigger.” He explained.  

Kako shook her head. “Is that saving though? It doesn’t solve the problems of his injuries. He can’t go back to his real body with the wounds there.”  

“Hence, the reason he is trapped in a Trion body.” Jin replied. “Could you two do me a favor and not mention this to anyone? I only told you since Arashiyama figured it out, but the truth is, only myself, Osamu, and Rindo-san know this. Yuma was keeping it quiet, even at Tamakoma.”  

“I can keep it quiet, Jin, but if Yuma’s body is damaged enough that his father saw this as the only option, what does that mean for Yuma? He can’t live in a Trion body forever.” Arashiyama asked.  

Sighing, Jin ran a hand through his head, leaning back in his seat again. Why did Arashiyama and Kako have to be so smart and read the situation as well as they were doing? “What Kuga-san did prevented Yuma from dying in the moment, but that’s all it did. It was only a temporary solution. Even now, Yuma’s real body is slowly dying. From my understanding, when his body dies, his Trion body will disappear as well. It will probably be in that moment when his real body will come back to this world, but at that point, there will be nothing we can do for him.”  

“I see.” Kako said softly, hands curling into fists under the table as she recalled her first meeting with Yuma and how carefree he was with those easy smiles. “Your kouhai is truly amazing. The strength to face every day with the knowledge that he will die one day hanging over his head. I don’t think it’s something most people could handle.”  

After his talk with Yuma the other night, Jin had a feeling that Yuma made it through each day, not because of strength, but because he just didn’t care about his life. He was living with the intention of walking to his death. Yuma hid it well, but Jin could tell his words that night on Tamakoma’s roof when Yuma told him about his father. While Border needed Yuma’s help, the more important reason that Jin wanted Yuma to join the organization was because he wanted Yuma to learn to enjoy life again. He didn’t want Yuma to just focus on the bad.  

“He lived with the knowledge for four years before he came to us. I can’t begin to imagine how he dealt with everything when it first happened to him.” Jin replied.  

“True,” Arashiyama said, staring down into his coffee. “Not only was he gravely injured, but his father had to give up his life so Yuma could live.” That would be so horrible. Arashiyama was a Border agent so he could protect his parents and siblings. Everything he did to protect the city was because he couldn’t bear to lose his own family. It was asking a lot of an eleven-year-old to go through that, but that troubled past of his was what built Yuma into who he was.  

“Thank you for the honesty, Jin.” Kako said. “Now, perhaps we should make a plan of how to stop this Mimic? I imagine the father of Kuga-kun, who gave up everything for a son he loved so much, wouldn’t be happy about a Mimic of himself running around and terrorizing Border.”  

“Probably not.” Jin agreed. None of them knew Kuga Yugo so they couldn’t say for sure, but from what he has heard of Kuga Yugo and knowing his son, he imagined he wouldn’t want be happy about this. Not only was it attacking Border, but it was also putting Yuma in danger. “I don’t want to cause a panic, but counting today, we only have five days until the horrible future I see comes to pass.”  

Chapter Text

“Yuma, keep out of the battle for a while. Stay inside the fortress.”   

“Listen. Don’t you dare go outside the gate. Stay put.”   

“Hang on a second. I'll save you soon.”   

“Yuma.”  

“Yuma.”   

“Yuma.”   

“Kuga.”   

“Kuga!”  

Yuma’s eyes snapped to the side, landing on Ninomiya with a scowl. “Do you need something?”  

“Do you?” Ninomiya retorted, taking in Yuma’s civilian clothes. “It’s not safe to be wandering the Restricted Zone without your Trigger active.”  

Yuma scoffed, turning his attention back to the buildings he was staring at. Could he not just stand on a roof far away from the base and get some alone time? How did Ninomiya even find him? “What? Worried?” 

“Not at all. It would just be a hindrance if you got in our way while we’re on defense duty.” 

“I’m minding my own business.” Yuma motioned for Ninomiya to move on. “Continue on with your patrol.”  

“You should mind your own business at your base.” Tsuji said.  

Yuma looked over his other shoulder to find Tsuji and Inukai relaxing on the ledges there. It wasn’t surprising that they were where their Captain was. In fact, he already knew they were in the area. He just didn’t care and assumed they would leave him to his thoughts.  

“This may not be what you want to hear, Kuga-kun, but with your father roaming about as an enemy, it might be best for you to avoid being alone in the Restricted Zone right now.” Inukai added.  

Scowl deepening, Yuma turned his attention the empty streets below them. Why did Shinoda have to send out that memo informing all the agents that a Mimic of his father was around? That wasn’t anyone’s business but his. This didn’t involve Border. Yuma made the mistake. He got Kuga Yugo created so he would take him out.  

Yuma's hand curled into a fist at his side. He could do it. He could beat his father. It was his fault his father died once. It happened right before his eyes. And that was his real father. While the Yugo walking around right now had his face and voice, he wasn’t real. Yuma just had to remember that. He couldn’t falter. He needed to kill him before things got worse.  

“Are you looking for him?” Ninomiya asked. “Really, Kuga? You're out here searching for your father without your Trigger active? These Mimics aren’t our friends. He will try to kill you.”  

“You think I don’t know that?” Yuma snapped back, surprising the agents since they were so used to Yuma being in control. It wasn’t in his nature to snap like this.  

“No, I don’t. If you did, you wouldn’t be acting this recklessly.” 

“What’s reckless about walking through the Restricted Zone?” Yuma scoffed.  

Ninomiya scoffed back at him. “And here I thought you were the sensible one of your team. I can’t begin to fathom or care about what is going on through your head, Kuga, but you’re going to get yourself killed.”  

“That almost sounds like concern.”  

“No, I just think it would be a waste of a skilled agent if you got yourself killed out here because you’re distracted.”  

“I’m not distracted.”  

Inukai snorted. “It took a few minutes to get your attention. If that’s not distracted, I don’t know what is. I'm not trying to be rude, Kuga-kun, but I don’t think it’s a good idea for you to go looking for your father.” 

Yuma whipped his head around to face the other agents, eyes ablaze with fury. “What is wrong with everyone in Border? Mimics are not the people we lost. They are Trion Soldiers wearing their faces.” 

Inukai blinked in shock. “Are you okay, Kuga-kun? You seem stressed.”  

“I’m fine.” Yuma bit out as he turned his attention back to the city.  

Ninomiya looked at Yuma in disbelief, but he wasn’t here to argue with the younger agent. He was currently just trying to find Kuga Yugo. The faster they took care of Kuga Yugo, the sooner they could get back to normal. He was sure all the agents wanted to get to their training for the away mission, rather than have all their focus on the attack from Mimics. “Either activate your Trigger or get out of the Restricted Zone, Kuga.”  

“Being an agent of Border, I can be anywhere I want.” Yuma replied as he went back to scanning his eyes over the area.  

Inukai whistled. “Who knew Kuga-kun had a reckless side?” He said to Tsuji who just sighed at his friend’s easy-going attitude. “Hey, Kuga-kun! If you just activate your Trigger, we’ll let you go back to your brooding without another word. But we can’t in good conscious leave you here defenseless with Mimic Kuga running around.”  

Without turning back to him, Yuma raised his hand above his shoulder to show off his ring. “I have a Black Trigger. I'm hardly defenseless.”  

Ninomiya eyed the ring on Yuma’s hand. So that was the Black Trigger that was mentioned in the memo. He rarely came across Yuma when he wasn’t in his Trion body, but the few times he did, he had seen that he was always wearing that ring. It was amazing that a Black Trigger could be hidden so plainly in sight. It also confirmed to him that Yuma had had it for at least a couple months now. In fact, it was very likely he had it before he came to Border. If his father was a former member of Border, Yuma had to have come to Border with more knowledge about Neighbors than regular recruits. The question was how he managed to get his hands on a Black Trigger before coming here.  

Ninomiya smirked, shutting his eyes. No, it really wasn’t that much of a mystery to him. “That Black Trigger of yours, it was created by your father, wasn’t it?”  

Yuma's hand dropped limply to his side as he eyed Ninomiya out of the corner of his eyes.  

“Really?” Inukai asked.  

“It’s not hard to figure out. Border allowing a B-Rank agent to hold onto a Black Trigger which we could have used to get another S-Rank agent. Not to mention that Shinoda-san said in the memo that Kuga was a powerful Trigger user. Mogami was a strong member of the Old Border and he left Fujin behind. So why couldn’t Kuga do the same?” Ninomiya explained his reasoning.  

“My father being the creator of my Black Trigger is not why they let me keep it. I never told the higher ups who made it.” Yuma replied. “So, you were mostly right.”  

“I’m sure you have a powerful Trigger in that, Kuga-kun, but I don’t think that will be enough to beat your fa-” Tsuji paused when he saw Yuma getting ready to turn to him, hackles raised. “The Mimic you’re after.”  

“You think I can’t win?” Yuma asked.  

“No, I don’t.” Tsuji replied, drawing Yuma’s eyes over his shoulder to look at him. Tsuji met those cold eyes unflinchingly.  

“Well, good thing I don’t take much stock in the opinion of the team who didn’t think my team could reach B-Rank #2 or get on the Expedition team.” Yuma said coldly.  

“This isn’t about skill. You may see the Mimics as just fakes of our dead loved ones, but that doesn’t change the fact that it has your father’s face and voice. Skill isn’t the issue. Emotions are your worse enemy here.” Inukai explained. “You might understand that it’s a fake in front of you, but that doesn’t mean it will be easy to strike it down.”  

Scowling at the sky, Yuma hands closed into fists. Did they really think he needed to hear those words? Those words so similar to what he told Miwa the night the Mimics first appeared? He knew how hard it was to be the reason a loved one died. He would never ask anyone to strike down a Mimic that had transformed into a loved one they had already lost once.  

But he wasn’t like everyone else.  

Yuma had already caused his father’s death once. He watched him die right in front of his eyes.  

He would watch the life leave his father’s face again. The only difference being that it was a fake version of him, but Yuma would take responsibility, no matter how much he didn’t want to face the Mimic of his father.  

He was not going to run from this.  

“Don’t assume to know me.” Yuma replied.  

“They might not know you well, but I do.”  

Yuma’s scowl deepened at the voice.  

“Jin-san, what are you doing here?” Inukai asked surprised.  

Jin smiled at the squad. “Yo, guys, how is the patrol going?” 

“Pretty boring. We haven’t seen anything.” Inukai complained.  

“Boring is nice.” Jin replied before turning his eyes back to Yuma, who still refused to turn to face him. “Come on, are you mad at me again, Yuma?” 

“Why are you out here, Jin-san?” Yuma asked. 

“I was worried about you. You lost your Trigger. It’s not safe for you to be wandering the Restricted Zone.” Jin replied.  

“Wait, what?” Inukai asked surprised.  

Yuma simply raised his hand again. “Can you all remember that I have a Black Trigger? I'm not a defenseless child without Border’s Trigger.”  

“How could you lose your Trigger?” Ninomiya snapped. “That’s the most important thing the organization gives its agents. They’re not supposed to leave your side.”  

“You speak as if I lost it on purpose. Hardly my fault I got thrown out a window and it went flying off somewhere.” Yuma retorted.  

“A window?” Inukai repeated, brows rising. “What have you been up to?”  

Yuma rubbed his cheek absentmindedly as he recalled the cracks in his broken body last night. “Nothing. Can you all leave me alone now?” 

Jin stared at Yuma, unimpressed with his sudden attitude. He knew Yuma claimed he would take care of his father on his own, but unfortunately for his friend, Jin had seen the future and it was not possible. “No, I can’t do that.” He nodded his head at Ninomiya’s squad. “You can head back to your patrol.”  

Ninomiya nodded back at Jin before taking his leave.  

“Don’t do anything reckless, Kuga-kun!” Inukai shouted as he and Tsuji followed after their Captain.  

Yuma listened to the squad take their leave. He waited until they were far enough away before he rounded on Jin, only to step back in shock to fight the Power Elite suddenly standing right behind him. He hadn’t even heard him move. Smoothing the shock off his face, Yuma turned it into a frown and glared at Jin. “Listen, Jin-san, I know you want to keep me safe, but you don’t need to follow me or set babysitters on me. I'm not going to die the moment there are no eyes on me. I can take care of myself.”  

“I know you how strong you are, Yuma, but that strength of yours means nothing when you act recklessly. You cannot go after your father alone.” Jin replied.  

Yuma’s eyes flashed angrily. “This Mimic is not my father. Why do you all keep saying that?” He turned back to stare at the Restricted Zone with a scowl.  

“Why do you keep getting so angry about it?” Jin retorted. He walked around Yuma to get in front of him to force Yuma to look at him again. “You’re scared. Chika-chan went on about her fear of seeing her friend and brother from the Mimics because it would mean they were dead. But you? You scared of facing your father. The last time you saw him he was giving up his life for yours and now a Mimic of him is looking for you. Do you think he will blame you for what happened to you? Maybe he wants to kill you for causing his death in the first place. Or maybe, he just wants to see his son again. You’re scared to see his reaction.” 

“I don’t care what this Mimic thinks of me. It’s nothing but a Trion Soldier.” Yuma retorted. “My job is to kill him.”  

“You make up the stupidest lies.”  

Hearing his line thrown at him, Yuma narrowed his eyes at his friend.  

Jin leaned down far enough that he was almost touching his forehead with Yuma’s. “Did you know your pupils turn black when you lie? Seems your side effect doesn’t like it when you lie either. You can say you don’t care or don’t think Mimics can be anything but fakes all you want to try to convince yourself that is what you think is the truth, but clearly, your heart is another matter. Your heart and mind aren’t in sync with what you’re saying because you want to be wrong. You want it to be your father. You want to go to him and have him smile at you again, but you’re also scared to face this Mimic. After all it was because of you that your father died in the first place and because of that you’re scared to hear the words come from your father that he hates you for what you forced him to do.”  

In sharp contrast to his words, Jin was still smiling at Yuma.  

Yugo smiled at Yuma.  

The sun blazing down on Yuma made it hard to see all of Jin’s face.  

The blinding sun matched with Yuma’s dulled vision made it difficult to see his father’s face.  

Jin’s lips moved as he spoke.  

Yugo was saying something to Yuma.  

Why was Dad here?  

Why did he come to see his disobedient son? 

“Yuma!” 

Jin grabbed Yuma’s shoulders tightly, shaking the younger boy lightly to try to bring him back to focusing on him.  

“Yu-” 

Yuma shoved Jin off of him and took a step back to put me distance between them. “What do you know?” He snapped. “This doesn’t involve you, Jin-san. This is between me and my father.”  

Jin’s expression softened. He didn’t come here to fight with Yuma, so he would let his friend lass out, but Jin was not going to do the same. Despite what Yuma said, Jin did know. Yuma’s mind was as war with his heart. He said one thing about the Mimics being fake and not being able to replace the people who died, but his heart was screaming at him to take the chance to see his father. The father who was coming up on five years of being dead. Yuma’s mind was spiraling and for a child who was used to repressing his emotions to focus on fighting wars and surviving, he didn’t know how to handle it.  

“I’m not trying to get in between you and your father. Your history with Kuga-san is your own, but the fact that you will die in a few days is my business. It's my job to protect my kouhai.” Jin said softly.  

Yuma twisted away from Jin, walking across the roof. “No, it isn’t. It never has been. You just made that your job. Your real job is to protect the city from Neighbors. That is what is important here. You can’t risk the safety of the civilians for one person.” He looked up at the sky. “I know you want to save my life, Jin-san, but like I told you before, I won’t begrudge you if you fail. The safety of the city and the citizens is top priority. As an agent of Border, my life is second to their protection. That is what it means to be a soldier. Taking care of my father’s Mimic is top priority. If I die in the process, then I die, but I will kill him before the citizens or my friends are put in danger because of him.”  

“I don’t know what it was like in the wars you fought in, Yuma, but here at Border, we don’t make a habit of abandoning our comrades. We can protect the city and save your life at the same time.” Jin retorted. He walked towards Yuma, but hearing him approach this time, Yuma twisted away from the hand Jin went to put on his shoulder and put distance between them once more.  

“I already have one foot in the grave. If it’s between me and Border and the city, you choose them.” Yuma turned sharply to meet Jin’s stare with an intense gaze. “Meaning, I want you to stop sending agents to watch over me and for you to stop coming to find me. I can take care of myself. Send the agents to do something more important to get us safely through this week.”  

“They are plenty of agents in Border. I don’t need them all doing the same thing.” Jin replied.  

“Well, I don’t need them on my trail.”  

Not giving Jin a chance to reply, Yuma jumped off the roof, propelling himself to the next roof, then the next as he ran off. Jin could have followed him, but just sighed as he watched his friend disappear in the distance.  

Yuma wanted to live, but it seemed, he respected his duty more than he did what he wanted. There wasn’t any doubt in Jin’s mind that fighting a war for three years with people who just wanted to use him for his Black Trigger created Yuma’s mindset. It wasn’t wrong to put that much effort into his duty as a soldier, but Yuma needed to understand that didn’t make his life worthless.  

*Mimics*  

“Do you think Kuga is strong?” Kikuchihara asked.  

Utagawa raised a brow. “What are you asking? You've seen him fight. I think at this point everyone recognizes him an A-Rank agent without having the rank of an A-Rank agent.”  

“Not him.” Kikuchihara waved his phone around. “His father. How good can he be if he got himself killed?”  

“Being killed doesn’t make someone weak. A lot of strong people have been killed over the years. You have to remember Kuga and his father were in the Neighborhood. Who knows what kind of strong enemies they faced over there?” Kazama replied.  

“Did you know that Kuga’s father was a member of Border at one time, Kazama-san?”  Utagawa asked.  

“I hadn’t heard anything about it. I’m not surprised they were trying to keep a lot about Kuga on the downlow though.” Kazama said.  

Mikami looked over her computers to look at her team. She understood that they were just talking in general about the situation to get their thoughts and ideas out there. She was hearing it all over the base today, though it sounded a lot more like gossip from the agents who didn’t know Yuma. Those that did didn’t seem to have any ill intent when talking about the memo. They seemed to just want to understand the situation they were in more than anything. Still, she felt bad for Yuma. It was one thing to have people talking about his skill all over his base. It was another when it was people talking about personal information that he never revealed to them before.  

A beep on her computer drew Mikami’s eyes back to the screen to see a message icon flashing at her. Opening it up, she read the e-mail quickly before looking up at her captain. “Kazama-san, Arashiyama-san needs you.”  

Turning his attention to his operator, Kazama frowned. “For what?” He asked as he walked around the desk to look at the screen to see the e-mail. His eyes caught sight of everyone the e-mail was sent to.  

Curious.  

“Seems Jin-san is acting.” Mikami replied.  

“He should have acted before Kuga screwed up and caused his father to appear.” Kikuchihara said.  

Utagawa glared at his teammate. He worked with Yuma for a while for the expedition exam so having gotten to know him quite well, he felt more protective of his former teammate. “I’m sure Kuga didn’t let this happen on purpose. This could have happened to anyone. It’s just worse in Border’s eyes because he has a powerful father.”  

“It’s just one transformed Mimic. How bad can it truly be?” 

*Mimics*  

“What is the purpose of this?” Hyuse asked.  

Yotaro clambered onto the barstool so he could watch Hyuse, who was holding the milk in his hand in confusion. “You mix all the stuff together and a drink worthy of a hot day like this is created.” 

Hyuse looked from the milk he was holding to the blender in front of him and shrugged before dropping all the milk into it.  

“We can make it into a chocolate one too if we add the syrup.” Yotaro said.  

Hyuse never really cared for chocolate in Aftokrator, but he found the food in Japan tasted a lot different than what he was used too. He was always willing to try something new, and besides, Yotaro looked excited for a chocolate milkshake so Hyuse grabbed the bottle and added a generous amount to the blender.  

“To make it a proper milkshake, we also need ice cream.”  

Taking up the spoon that Yotaro had set out for him to use, Hyuse plopped some ice cream into the blender, splashing the milk onto the counter as he did so. Ignoring the mess, Hyuse tossed the spoon to the side as he looked at the buttons on the strange machine that Yotaro kept calling a blender. Each button said something different, not that Hyuse was able to read any of the words so he just hit a button at random.  

The machine immediately whirled to life and to Hyuse surprise, he got a face fill of ice cream, milk, and chocolate. The stuff that didn’t hit him went flying through the air, splashing against the cabinets, roof, counter, and floor.  

A surprise squeak escaped Yotaro as he got hit by the mess before he dropped down from the stool to hide under it.  

Hyuse did not see the appeal of these things called milkshakes.  

“Aaaah! What are you doing?” Shiori shouted, ducking behind the door she just came through. “Turn it off! Turn it off, Hyuse-kun!” 

Shrugging, Hyuse hit the button he used to turn it off, but it stayed pushed in. Smashing it with more force did not, made the Neighbor scowl.  

“No, no, the button on the far right. The last button.” Shiori said.  

Hyuse smacked that button, successfully ending that annoying buzzing noise.  

With the blender successfully off, Shiori peeked back into the room to look at the milkshake dripping from every surface in the kitchen. She watched as it dripped from Hyuse’s face as he tried to rub off using his sleeve. “What were you guys trying to do?” 

Yotaro popped out from under his stool. “We’re making milkshakes!” 

Shiori looked at the mess of the kitchen with a sigh. She wanted to turn right back around and pretend she never saw this mess. Unfortunately, Hyuse and Yotaro already saw her and if the mess got left here, they would quickly rat her out as being here as well. “You can’t just turn a blender on. You have to put a lid on it first.”  

“Why does Meeden have such complicated machines?” Hyuse grumbled.  

Shiori pushed her glasses up. A child and a Neighbor who had no idea of what they were doing should never be left alone together. “If you don’t know what it is, you shouldn’t be touching it, Hyuse-kun.”  

Hyuse hmphed back at her.  

Grabbing some wash cloths from the drawer, she threw one at Hyuse then one at Yotaro. “Well, get to it. This kitchen needs to be sparkling clean. You make the mess, you clean it.” She added when Hyuse looked ready to complain. “If you do a good job, I'll make you a proper milkshake after.”  

“I don’t see anything good about milkshakes.” Hyuse grumbled.  

“You need to try one to see.” Yotaro said.  

Hearing the floorboards creak, Shiori whipped her head around to the doorway. That wasn’t Konami coming down, was it? She would freak out if she saw this mess. Well, freak out, then mock Hyuse. Considering he made the mess, Shiori didn’t need him getting mad and storming off without cleaning it up.  

Lucky for her, she saw familiar white hair in the hallway. “Oh, Yuma-kun, you’re back. Did things go well at the base?” She called out into the hallway.  

Yuma glanced into the room, taking in the mess that was Hyuse and the kitchen, before continuing past and heading upstairs without a word.  

“Is he in a bad mood again?” Hyuse asked, using the cloth Shiori gave him to wipe his face clean, instead of wiping up the counters.  

“Guess things didn’t go well at HQ.” Shiori said.  

“Did you not see the memo from Director Shinoda?” Hyuse asked, drawing Shiori’s attention to him.  

“I’ve been helping Cronin-san analyze the Mimics all day. We’re trying to see if we can get any more information about them then what Yuma-kun was able to tell us.” Shiori explained.   

Hyuse nodded. “A Mimic of his father has made its appearance and he somehow is able to use Yuma’s Black Trigger abilities.”  

“Ah,” Shiori said, worry spreading across her face as she looked out into the hallway. For someone who didn’t like to talk about his past, it must be difficult for Yuma to have that revealed to Border.  

*Mimics*  

Kazama entered the conference room, eyes taking in the occupants sitting at the table. There was Azuma, Kako, Arashiyama, Tachikawa, Fuyushima, and Miwa. “Where is Jin?”  

“He had something to take care of. He said he would come back if he was able to.” Kako replied as Kazama took a seat next to Fuyushima.  

“So, what was it that you needed to call us all together for, Arashiyama?” Azuma asked. “Does it have to do with that memo we got this morning about Kuga’s father?”  

Arashiyama nodded his head. “Jin wants us to get everyone up to date on exactly what Yuma’s Black Trigger can do. We don’t want to be charging blindly into it.”  

“If that’s the case, then shouldn’t Kuga be here? He will be the one best able to tell us about his Black Trigger.” Kazama pointed out.  

“Unfortunately,” Jin said, announcing his presence as the door slid open to reveal himself. “That is a no go.”  

“Did something happen?” Kako asked.  

“Besides Yuma getting mad at me for the third time today?” Jin asked. “No, not really, but I don’t think he’s in the mood to tell us about his Black Trigger.”  

Azuma raised a brow. “How did you find him? Midorikawa has been running around for hours looking for him.”  

Jin shrugged. “Despite what Yuma thinks, I do know him very well.”  

That statement confused the agents who didn’t get the pleasure of having Yuma rant at them. Jin wasn’t going to take the time to explain it, especially since it wasn’t any of their business. He instead just took his seat next to Tachikawa.  

“Sorry I'm late.”  

“You’re the one who called the meeting. You could at least be here before the rest of us.” Miwa grumbled.  

“Ah,” Jin held up a finger. “I didn’t call it. Arashiyama called it.”  

“On your orders I bet.” Miwa argued.  

The grin that Jin gave Miwa made the younger agent twitch in annoyance. While he had come to respect and understand Jin’s position over the last few months, his easy-going attitude was still able to set him off. It felt like he wasn’t being serious at times because of how laidback he was, but on the other side, he could be so blunt with his words showing a more serious nature.  

“Perhaps you shouldn’t antagonize anyone else today, Jin.” Azuma suggested.  

“I never antagonized anyone today. Yuma has just been in a rotten mood all week.” Jin replied as he looked at his phone as he typed out a message.  

“He didn’t seem too mad yesterday. Koarai said he was fighting an array of people in the rank booths and was whining about missing his chance to challenge him to a fight.” Azuma said.  

Jin looked up from his phone, raising a brow. That didn’t seem too surprising. Yuma took his fights seriously. To him, they were a way to empty his mind from his worries and give him something to focus on, that being to not get killed by his opponent.  

“Sounds to me like he’s just sick of you.” Miwa said.  

“I don’t think so. Mitsuru said Yuma was snapping at him when the Mimics attacked them last night.” Arashiyama replied.  

“Speaking of the Mimics, I heard they attacked the base.” Azuma said, looking over at Arashiyama since his squad was on duty last night.  

Arashiyama nodded. “We hadn’t even gone on duty yet since it wasn’t night yet. It seems the Mimics are able to appear at twilight. I suppose they found Trion bodies in the base which is why they came here. Lucky for us, only two got into the base.”  

“Is that lucky? That's where Kuga ran into them and a Mimic got a hold of his father’s memories.” Fuyushima said.  

Running a hand through his hair, Arashiyama sighed. It could have been worse all things considered. They did run into a few more Mimics last night, but his squad was able to take care of them. Yuma had to opt out of the battle since he didn’t want to use his Black Trigger. He ended up escorting Yuma out of the Restricted Zone when it was close to daybreak so he would go home. There was no finding his Trigger.  

“On his father, you saw in the memo from Shinoda-san that apparently Kuga-san is using Yuma’s Black Trigger seals.” Jin said, bringing the conversation back to the point of this gathering. “I want to go over what those seals are, at least the ones I know of so you guys can be prepared if you have to face Kuga-san.”  

“Do you see us facing off against Kuga in the future?” Fuyushima asked.  

“He is still a Trion Soldier so I can’t see his future but I do see a battle in our future. We're going to need all of our agents in top form.” Jin explained, glancing at his phone to see the reply from Konami shining up at him.  

*Mimics*  

Yuma stared up at the sky. He didn’t usually come to Tamakoma’s roof during the day, but he really didn’t want to deal with his friends inside. While his eyes were locked on the sky, Yuma’s thumb ran over the smooth metal of his ring. Just five more days. Five more days until the anniversary of his father’s death. The anniversary of the day Yuma should have died.  

“Join us in avenging Yugo’s death. I’m sure that’s what Yugo would want.”   

“And you must despise those Spintales too. Yugo is dead because of them. They need to pay for what they’ve done.”   

“In other words, this is a crusade!”  

Even after all these years, those lies still rained deeply in Yuma’s mind. He was hoping to forget them, but it seemed he would never be able to until he died. When those old guys were talking to him to get him to agree to use his Black Trigger for Calvaria’s sake, that was when Yuma learned he had also inherited his dad’s side effect.  

The first lies he ever detected with his father’s side effect would never leave him.  

He couldn’t forget them because they weren’t the only ones to realize the truth.  

It was Yuma’s fault that Yugo was dead.  

“After all it was because of you your father died in the first place.” Jin said, black smoke flowing from his mouth.  

Jin lied.  

Jin said it was his fault his dad was dead.  

Jin was lying.  

Jin didn’t believe it was Yuma’s fault that Yugo was dead.  

But it was.  

It was his fault.  

Jin wasn’t there.  

Jin didn’t see it happen.  

He only had Yuma’s words to go back on.  

Yuma was completely honest with Jin about what happened when he was eleven, and he still didn’t see it as Yuma’s fault.  

Why?  

“Heard you snapped at Jin. Three times today in fact.”  

“Konami-senpai.” Yuma greeted without looking away from the sky. With his back to her, he was able to take the moment to compose him. He came up here with the expectation of being left alone. The longer he stayed in Japan, the less it was working. Everyone kept coming to the roof to hunt him down.  

Konami raised a brow. “Really? That’s all you have to say. Jin is worried about you with a Mimic of your father appearing but you keep running from him. So, care to tell me why you’re mad at him for wanting to protect you?” 

“You wouldn’t understand.”  

Konami scowled. “That is not a reply fitting you.” She wrapped her arms around Yuma’s neck from behind him. “Skipping out on our training sessions, skipping dinner, fighting with Jin. You’ve been acting strange for days now. Something is clearly bothering you and it’s enough to throw you so obviously off. So instead of trying to hide and deal with it on your own, talk to me. I'm your mentor. It's my job to help and guide you.”  

Yuma grabbed one of Konami’s arms that were choking him. While he squeezed her arm a bit tightly, it wasn’t tight enough to hurt her and he didn’t try to pull her off. There wasn’t any reason to tell her. It wasn’t her business. His problems were his own and he could work through them by himself.  

And yet... 

“That last time someone wanted to protect me, they died.” The words left Yuma’s lips before he even realized it.  

That...was not what Konami was expecting to hear. For it to be guilt coating Yuma’s voice. Her chokehold loosened into being a hug instead.   

“And now I found Jin lost Fujin to HQ to protect me from Border. His mentor’s memento.” Yuma looked down to the hand he was using to grip Konami’s arm so he could look at his ring. Even if his Black Trigger wasn’t keeping him alive, Yuma would never want to part with it. Jin was perhaps stronger than him to be able to make that decision. “I never asked anyone to protect me. I was taught to always rely on my own strength to protect myself. I don’t want to bring others into my problems.”  

Very briefly Konami tightened her hug on Yuma before she was releasing her mentee. She turned back to pick up the glasses she had set on the ground earlier so she could harass Yuma. “Here,” She held out one of the glasses to Yuma.  

That seemed like an abrupt shift from what Yuma was talking about, but he took the offered glass anyway.  His brows furrowed in confusion as he looked at the thick liquid in the glass that he took.  

“It’s a chocolate milkshake, courtesy of Shiori.” Konami explained.  

“Looks like the stuff that was dripping from every surface in the kitchen I walked pass earlier.” Yuma said.  

Konami raised a brow, but didn’t comment. That would at least explain why Yotaro was covered in milkshake with Shiori leading him upstairs earlier. At least the kitchen wasn’t a sticky mess when she went in there.  

Yuma took a small sip of the drink before his eyes were lighting up and he was taking a sipping more eagerly through straw. 

“Careful you don’t drink it too fast. You don’t want a brain freeze.” Konami warned as she sipped her milkshake.  

Yuma paused, glancing over at her. “Is that bad?” 

“It won’t be fun.” Konami replied. She set her drink down on the ledge and climbed up to sit next to Yuma, dangling her legs over it. “Now.”  

When Konami didn’t continue, Yuma turned his head to her to ask what was wrong when he was met her hand as she flicked him in the forehead.  

“Eh,” Yuma rubbed his forehead.  

“Never thought I would have to call you an idiot.” Konami said, picking up her milkshake to enjoy the refreshing beverage. “Being taught to rely on your strength to protect yourself doesn’t mean you have to do everything alone. No one can do everything by themselves. I know you know that, Yuma. You would never have made it to B-Rank #2 without Osamu, Chika, and Hyuse fighting besides you. In your last match, Chika killed Tsuji-chan. Her first intentional kill.”  

Yuma smiled as he recalled the final moments of that last Rank War. “It was a good shot.”  

“And she did it to protect Osamu, to prevent him from getting stabbed in the back. If she didn’t take that shot, you guys would have lost that fight. It's no different from what you do to defend them in the Rank Wars or even when we were fighting Aftokrator. So why, when it is the other way around, do you get upset? You're our friend. We’re allowed to want to watch out for you the way you do us.”  

Yuma looked at his mentor. His mentor who was so easily tricked and who lashed out in anger constantly. His competitive mentor who hated losing. His mentor who valued loyalty and trust so much that her anger overrode her logic when her comrades were threatened. “I never told you this before, Konami-senpai.”  

That sounded like the beginning of a confession. A confession of what? Konami had no idea, but she was here to listen. Even if Jin didn’t text her to see if Yuma came back to base and then asked her to check on him, she would still be willing to listen. When Osamu had problems, he went to Karasuma. When Chika was struggling with her concerns about shooting someone, it was Reiji and Shiori she opened up to.  

Yuma had never opened up to Konami before, and Konami thought he never would. He was always so confident in himself and his skills so she thought there would never be anything that Yuma would feel the need to confide in her.  

That had been fine with her.  

While she had trained Yuma for months, her mentee had never truly opened up to her. She had never pushed him to tell her more about his life before Border because it wasn’t important. Having spent time with Yuma, she knew he was a good kid, but the way he held himself, full of strength and confidence, showed her that he clearly had gone through something. Whatever it was, had made Yuma strong. To her, that meant a difficult life. No one got strong by having an easy time growing up.  

That didn’t make for easy conversation and Konami didn’t want to push him into talking about his difficult past. If he ever felt comfortable to open up to her, he would do it on his own time.  

For now, Konami wrapped an arm around Yuma’s shoulder and pulled him in her, resting her chin on his hair as she waited for Yuma to go on.  

“My dad. It was my fault he died.” Yuma admitted. “I blatantly disobeyed an order he gave me and got hurt because it. My father died to save my life. If I hadn’t done that, he would still be here with me.”  

Him and Replica.  

If he hadn’t gotten his dad killed, Yuma would have never come to Japan. He wouldn’t have met Osamu or Chika. He wouldn’t have met all his friends. He wouldn't have joined Border. He wouldn’t have fought Aftokrator. He wouldn’t have lost Replica. 

“If I never disobeyed his order and he never died, I would have never come here. I wouldn’t have made all these amazing friends. I love all my friends here, but I also loved my dad so much. I want him back so much.” 

“The past can’t be changed, Yuma. You can’t know what would have happened if he didn’t die. It doesn’t do well to dwell on what ifs.” Konami said softly.  

“Then what of the future. I don’t want anyone else to die because they want to protect me. It's my fault a Mimic of my father appeared. It's on me to fix this.”  

*Mimics*  

“Do we have any idea of why Kuga is able to us Kuga’s Black Trigger abilities anyway? Like, did Kuga have the Black Trigger before he died and that’s why he can use it? Kuga could have taken hold of it after his father’s death.” Fuyushima said.  

“Hold up, let’s back track before we answer that.” Kako said, raising her hands from the table. “This is getting too confusing with Kuga being around like that. Can’t you call one of them something different?” 

“Kuga’s father will be known as Cheater.” Tachikawa suggested.  

“You can’t call Yuma’s father cheater just because he successfully ambushed and killed you.” Jin pointed out, making Tachikawa glare at him.  

“Fine, then Kuga is Chibi.” Tachikawa retorted.  

“That seems kind of demeaning.” Arashiyama protested. Now that he knew the reason behind Yuma’s short statue, he wasn’t feeling in the mood to give him a nickname based on it. “You could just call him Yuma or just add an honorific to his name.”  

“He’s not even here. Who cares?” Miwa said annoyed.  

“It doesn’t matter what you call him.” Kazama added. “We’re here to discuss his Black Trigger powers and how to deal with the future events Jin sees coming. Kuga’s name is irrelevant.” 

At his input, the argument came to a halt as the group stared at Kazama before Kako piped up, “Which one?”  

*Mimics*  

Shiori glanced up the stairs that led to the roof. She would like to go up and check on Yuma herself, but she kept herself from doing so. Hopefully the milkshakes and his mentor’s presence would help Yuma’s mood. While she let Konami handle the conversation part, perhaps Shiori could do something else, like make one of his favorite snacks.  

Though the last thing she wanted to do was make another mess in the kitchen after they just got it sparkly clean after Yotaro and Hyuse’s disaster. Even so, doing what she could to cheer Yuma up was more important. She couldn’t begin to understand what he was going through with his father haunting him like this so supporting him in any way she could was what she could do.  

Making her way back to the kitchen, Shiori found herself freezing the doorway for the second time that day when she found a stranger standing in the room.  

That wasn’t possible.  

The alarm should have gone off when an intruder came in.  

*Mimics*  

“Were you not listening to me at all before?” Konami griped.  

“It’s kind of hard not to hear you.” Yuma replied.  

“Huh?” The arm around Yuma’s shoulder suddenly shifted to wrap around his neck once more in a chokehold. “What are you trying to say, Yuma? You think I can’t-” 

A sudden scream broke through the air, cutting Konami off. The two agents broke apart quickly and were both on their feet and running back inside without so much of a glance at each other.  

As she ran down the stairs, Konami was pulling her Trigger out of her pocket. There was a chance nothing was wrong and the scream was just of surprise, but it wasn’t one she was willing to take, considering the past few days.  

“Trigger on.”  

While Konami shifted to her Trion body, Yuma continued running down the stairs, not bothering to activate his Trigger. Unless there was an absolute threat, he wasn’t going to risk punishment by activating his Black Trigger needlessly.  

Yuma slammed into the living room, door bouncing off the wall with the force he slammed it open, but he didn’t notice as he took in the sight of his operator being held up by her neck. Following that hand to its body, Yuma found himself staring into a pair of intense red eyes.  

“Hello, Yuma.”  

Chapter Text

“I don’t see what’s wrong with calling him Chibi!” Tachikawa protested. “He’s fifteen and looks like a grade school kid.”  

“It does seem kind of degrading. He can’t help that he is short.” Azuma said.  

Miwa wanted nothing to do but bury his face in his hands. He should have pretended he didn’t see the e-mail from Arashiyama for this meeting. They were getting absolutely nowhere. Each time they started to focus on the point that Jin wanted to talk about, they just got sidetracked. This whole time, he thought the issue of Kuga’s father appearing was a pressing matter, but clearly not.  

“So? I don’t think Chibi cares at all about his height.” Tachikawa retorted.  

“Have you already decided on that name?” Kako asked amused.  

Fuyushima smiled. “What’s wrong with it? From what I’ve seen of the logs, Kuga excels at using his height to his advantage in battle.” 

Kazama sighed as the conversation went on around him. He looked at Jin sitting across from him with the hope of getting Jin getting them back on track, but when he looked at him, Kazama saw the smile sliding off of Jin’s face and his eyes narrowing. And....was that a flash of fear through his eyes. “Jin-”  

Jin stood up abruptly, causing all conversation to come to an end. Hands planted firmly down on the table, Jin stood silently for a moment as he let his visions wash over him. The future was shifting.  

And not in a good way.  

“What’s wrong?” 

“Tamakoma is under attack.” Jin said, surprise and horror coating his voice. How did he miss this? This wasn’t in the futures he saw.  

*Mimics*  

“Hello, Yuma.”  

Yuma’s mind was frozen. All he could do was stare at Yugo standing in front of him. He knew about how good Mimics were at their transformations. He went on about them constantly to the agents in the past few days so they could understand just what they were going up against.  

Yet, despite that, staring into those eyes of his father, hearing that voice, hearing his name pass his father’s lips once more was all it took for Yuma to freeze.  

Yugo somehow got into their base and was attacking his operator.  

And yet, Yuma’s mind could barely process that fact while staring at his father.  

“I don’t know who the hell you are and I don’t give a damn. You will release my friend right now.” Konami growled from behind Yuma.  

Yugo glanced at the girl still in his hand. Having found what he was after, he no longer had any need for her. Throwing her to the side, leaving the girl to scream in fear, he turned his attention to the two agents.  

Even with his mind being a whirlwind of thoughts focused on his father, Yuma still processed the fact that his father was throwing his operator, eyes widening in horror. “Bound, double!”  

The seal appeared under Yuma’s foot. Using the speed of his seal, Yuma soared past Yugo and caught Shiori, wrapping one of his arms protectively around her head. Twisting their bodies in the air, Yuma slammed into the wall. With his speed coupled with the force that Shiori was thrown, they crashed through the wall completely, falling into the river below.  

Konami stared at the hole now adorning their living room in horror. Gripping her axe more tightly in her grip, Konami took a calming breath as she shifted her eyes back to Yugo. She wasn’t sure how Yuma had done that, but she wasn’t going to question it right now. If Yuma was with Shiori, there wasn’t a doubt in her mind that she would be safe. That meant she could focus on the enemy in front of her who dared to breach their home.  

With her attention fully focused on the enemy in front of her, Konami took him in. Black uniform similar to Yuma’s when he first starting to use Border’s Trigger. Swords that looked like Kogetsu. The familiar red eyes staring her down with confidence.  

“Oh,” Konami said, smiling without any true happiness. “Kuga Yugo, I take it?”  

“I’m flattered you know my name.” Yugo replied, still having not drawn his swords, despite having Konami staring him down with a promise of pain in her eyes.  

“Not only have you broken into our base, but you’re the one who has been causing my Yuma so much suffering lately. That is something I cannot overlook.”  

Yugo’s eyes narrowed, smile wiping away to a frown. “My business is with my son so I'm sorry to say I don’t have time to play with you.” He stretched his arm out to his side. “Gate.” A blue seal appeared on top of his hand, and to Konami’s horror, a Gate was opening in the middle of the living room.  

Trion Soldiers fell out of the Gate forcing Konami to jump backwards to avoid them landing on her. Tamakoma’s living room was not big enough to house Marmods.  

“What’s going on?” 

“Yuri-san, please get out!” Konami blocked the Marmod’s blade that was suddenly bearing down on her. She wanted to back up to get more space to get a moment to get her bearings as the Trion Soldiers came through the Gate, but she couldn’t move with Yuri behind her. “Get Yotaro and get out of the building!” 

It was a testament to her time with Border that Yuri didn’t need any more than that or freaked out having Neighbors in front of her. She trusted in Konami to watch her back and to keep the enemy in the living room as she ran back upstairs to get Yotaro and Raijinmaru.  

With Konami sufficiently distracted, Yugo made his way over to the hole that his son had fallen through.  

“Hey!” Konami shouted angrily when she saw Yugo leaving. Slicing the blades off the Marmods attacking her, Konami took a single step backwards before launching herself through the opening she just made and sliced the first Marmod in half. “No one said you could leave!” 

They were being pulled by the current. Yuma wanted to desperately use his Bound seal to get him and Shiori out of the water. Neither had been expecting this so they both had swallowed the water. If this continued, Yuma was worried Shiori would drown, but if he used the seal while Shiori was in her normal body, he would severely injure her from the force.  

Shifting Shiori to one arm, Yuma extended his hand, aiming upwards.  ‘Chain, Triple!’  He thought as his seal activated. The Chain shot forward, latching onto Tamakoma’s walls. Retracting the Chain, Yuma pulled him and Shiori out of the water. Looking at his operator, Yuma frowned as her eyes were shut, but focused on swinging them up to the bridge. Landing, he dropped her as lightly as he could, falling to his knees behind her as he started coughing to expel the water he swallowed.  

“Shi-” Yuma was cut off as he started coughing up more water. Looking over at the girl he dropped, Yuma’s heart dropped when he saw her lying still on the ground.  

 Forgetting his own misery of trying to hack up water, he instead turned to her. Pulling her into a sitting position and leaning her front on him, Yuma whacked her back, hoping that he didn’t put too much force into it to hurt her even more than she already was. The whack seemed to do its job as Shiori started coughing. Letting her rest on him as she expelled the water from her lungs, Yuma looked towards Tamakoma Branch. He could hear the sounds of blades crossing inside there.  

But whoever Konami was fighting, it clearly wasn’t Yugo.  

Yugo, who was currently standing on the bridge that led to Tamakoma, drew his sword from its sheath.  

“Shiori-chan,” Yuma whispered in his operator’s ears. “I know you’re hurting, but I need you to get out of here.”  

Shiori gripped Yuma’s arm in response, still coughing.  

Looking at Shiori, then back at Yugo who was now walking towards him, Yuma scooped his operator into his arms. While it surprised Shiori, Yuma didn’t have time to talk to her. Instead, he was jumping backwards to put distance him and Yugo. It was taking him farther away from the base, which meant his comrades that had his back were further away, but he couldn’t leave Shiori on this battlefield. Unfortunately, there really wasn’t anywhere that she would be safe while she was with Yuma.  

Yuma couldn’t even go anywhere. Leaving the area of the base would lead them into the city and that would put civilians in danger.  

Hyuse wasn’t even fully in the room yet when he unleashed his Viper. The bullets zipped around the room, going around Konami to slam into the Marmod that was behind the one she was fighting, effectively destroying it.  

“And here I thought your bases had better defenses than this.” Hyuse said. All he had wanted was to enjoy his shower, getting that sticky milkshake out of his hair. Instead, he was now staring into a room of Marmods, half of them corpses that was taking up any walking space.  

“Shut up! And stop firing bullets in here! You'll destroy the base!” Konami shouted before she was slicing her Marmod in half.  

Hyuse raised a brow, taking in the hole in the wall and the corpses lying around. He highly doubted his bullets could do any more damage than what was already down to the base. “What is going on?” 

“Yuma’s father is attacking us!” Konami jumped, twisting her body through the blades of the last Marmod. Now behind it, she sliced it in half easily. “They’re outside. Let's go!” 

Having his father approach him like this had Yuma shaking. He was actually shaking in the face of his father. The intensity radiating off of him, the gleam of his sword, the sun bearing down on him.  

Yugo had never been an enemy to Yuma so he never had a reason to fear his father.  

But now, now Yuma could see why their enemies trembled in the wake of his father.  

Or perhaps Yuma was trembling because it was his father attacking him.  

The father that gave everything to save Yuma’s life once, now wanted to kill him.  

“Yuma-kun!” 

Yuri. Yuri was here.  

Yuma wanted to acknowledge her, but he didn’t dare take his eyes off of Yugo.  

“Yuma-kun,” Shiori said, voice hoarse. It sounded painful for her to talk, but she went on. “Yuri-san has a jeep.”  

“Can you get to it alone?” Yuma asked softly, still staring at the man that at one time would have done anything to protect his son.  

“It was my throat injured, not my legs.” Shiori replied, pulling at Yuma’s cheek as punishment for doubting her.  

“I’ll guard your retreat.” Yuma said, ignoring the way Shiori was pulling his cheek. The normalcy of her personality and actions did nothing to calm the worry that was pulling at him. That wasn’t necessarily bad since he couldn’t let himself be distracted here, but it was somewhat reassuring that Shiori was strong enough to behave like this and wasn’t trembling in fear from what happened. It meant she could stand and get out while Yuma handled this. Perhaps it would hit her later when the adrenaline wore off, but that was a problem for later.  

Releasing his hold on his friend, Yuma stood to face his father on the bridge. Tamakoma behind Yugo, the truck carrying his friends behind Yuma.  

As Shiori stood, wobbling a bit as she did, Yuma walked in front of her. “Trigger on.”  

His black armor warped around his body.  

“Do you really want to fight, Yuma?” Yugo asked, pausing in his walk towards his son.  

“You’re the one who attacked us.” Yuma replied, but didn’t make a move to attack yet. Yuma was an aggressive fighter. He wasn’t one to play on defensive too long unless he truly had to, but his father wasn’t a person Yuma could just attack. Yugo was always a powerful Trigger user, but now that he had Black Trigger abilities mixed into his arsenal, Yuma didn’t know what to expect. Considering that Yugo didn’t have the Black Trigger seals when he was alive, he couldn’t be that good at using them. It took Yuma years of training to get where he was at using his Black Trigger, and even then, it was hard to use, especially without Replica by his side.  

Yugo smirked. “Bound, Double.”  

The seal launched Yugo straight at Yuma, whose eyes widen in shock.  

“Shield!” Yuma threw his hand up. “Double!” 

The reenforced Shield blocked Yuma’s side of the bridge, not only stopping Yugo from getting through, but also blocking the strike from his sword that he had swung while launching at Yuma.  

With the barrier between them, Yuma stared up at his father, who was applying the force of his sword down on the shield. Yuma’s Shield could block a Marmod’s blades. There was no way Yugo could break through it, at least not easily. At the very least, it would take more than his sword.  

“All I wanted was to find you, Yuma.” Yugo said, smiling down at his son.  

“You fool....why were you defeated? Hand on a second. I’ll save you soon.” Yugo said, smiling at his son.   

Why?  

Why did he have the same smile on his face as he did back then?  

Shiori scrambled into the passenger’s seat through the door that Yuri had thrown open for her. Slamming the door shut, Shiori looked back over at the bridge to see Yuma and Yugo with only Yuma’s fixed Shield separating them.  

“Who is that?” Yuri asked as she slammed her foot on the gas to get them away from the base.  

“If I was to make a guess,” Shiori said softly, throat too damaged to speak much louder. “Kuga Yugo.”  

Yuri eyed the younger operator out of the corner of her eye, but didn’t ask any more questions due to her injury. There would be time to get answers later. For now, her job was to get them out of the danger zone.  

“Why is someone related to Yuma attacking our base?” Yotaro asked.  

Yuri glanced in the rearview mirror to look at Yotaro in the backseat. “We’re leave this to the agents to deal with, Yotaro. We need to focus on getting to Suzunari Branch.” 

*Mimics*  

“How exactly did you miss an attack on Tamakoma?” Tachikawa asked, staring at Jin’s back as he followed the other agent.  

“There was never an attack on the Branch.” Jin retorted as he flew through the air, landing on the next building and running across the roof.  

“Maybe you just missed it.” Kazama said from where he was running alongside Jin. After's Jin declaration of his branch being under attack, he had run out of the conference room, leaving the Captains to just follow after him. With the suddenness of the declaration, they didn’t even have time to get their teams or alert their operators that they needed them.  

“Fuyushima-san is alerting Director Shinoda of the problem.” Arashiyama said, lowering his hand from his ear. The older captain made the decision to not follow them since being a Trapper wouldn’t help them in this situation. It was a lot more helpful for him to remain back and get everything sorted with the higher ups about the situation. “Do we need backup, Jin?”  

Jin stared in the distance, towards his home that he was running towards. He could see the flashes of battle even from here, despite how far the base was still from them. If he didn’t know any better, he would just assume those flashes were from a battle taking place in the Restricted Zone.  

“No, we should be enough.” Jin replied. They had to be enough. Top notch A-Rank Captains would surely be enough for this battle. That was, if they even made it to Tamakoma before the battle was over.  

Kako glanced briefly over her should at Jin before she was focusing in front of her again as she jumped to the next building. She didn’t think she had ever seen Jin this stressed. “Do you know who is attacking?” 

“No, but if I had to guess, I'd say Kuga Yugo. He was looking for Yuma this morning, and back when he was a member of Border, Tamakoma was Border’s HQ. If Mimics truly have all the memories of who they transform into, that’s likely how he found the base.” Jin explained.  

This could not get any worse.  

Yuma was at the base, but Jin trusted the younger agent to take care of himself.  

It was the others he was worried about.  

Shiori, Yuri, Yotaro, and Raijinmaru, Border’s Crown Trigger.  

It was putting all of them in severe danger.  

*Mimics*  

Back at the Branch, Yuma heard the jeep leaving which gave him a small wave of relief. With them out of the area, Yuma could focus on Yugo, who Yuma knew wouldn’t be following them. He was here for Yuma, not anyone else in the Branch. It was frustrating that they were even put in danger in the first place from Yugo’s search for Yuma.  

“What is it that you want, Dad?” Yuma asked. Yugo was clearly after Yuma for something, which he assumed was to kill him, but when he spoke, he had a lightness to his tone that didn’t match his actions at all. It was strange. Mimics were designed to help cope with grief by letting people see their lost loved ones one last time. They were never designed to be weapons. Seeing a Mimic of his father attacking him, but with a light, almost carefree tone to his voice, and that smile, it was like the Mimic was contradicting itself.  

Instead of replying, Yugo dragged his sword down the Shield as he ducked, revealing Bolt seals behind him. The bullets slammed into his Shield, cracking it.  

Jumping out of range of the attack, Yuma landed farther back on the bridge, missing the smirk that crossed Yugo’s face.  

The moment Yuma’s foot hit the ground, he was surprised to find Chains wrapping around his limbs and neck from the ground and side of the bridge, restraining all of his movements.  

He now understood Tachikawa’s annoyance with these.  

Did Yugo predict a fight on the bridge and lay these seals out that far in advance?  

Unable to move his limbs, Yuma could only look up as his fixed Shield was destroyed by Bolt. Behind Yugo, Yuma saw Hyuse and Konami barging out the front door of the base.  

Without taking his eyes off his son, and clearly having heard the noise, Yugo threw his hand behind him with the blue seal appearing on the back of his hand again. “Gate. You guys are nuisances.”  

The black Gate appeared over the bridge dropping down three Rabits.  

Yugo always had more Trion than Yuma ever did, but even then, he shouldn’t be able to call Trion Soldiers so recklessly like this. It cost a lot of Trion to open the Gates and call Trion Soldiers. Just one Trion Soldier required a lot of Trion to bring it here. 

“How is he able to call Rabits?” Hyuse asked even as he threw up Escudos to defend him and Konami. “Only Aftokrator has access to those Trion Soldiers.”  

“He shouldn’t even be able to open Gates.” Konami snipped before running out from the cover of Escudo to the nearest Rabit. Before she could even get close, the Rabit was opening its mouth and using the Bolt seal. Using her last step, Konami forced herself into a jump backwards, throwing up a Shield in front of her to defend from the hail of bullets.  

As she landed back behind Escudo, Hyuse looked over at her from the one he was still hiding behind with a raised brow. “That went well, didn’t it?”  

“Shut up.” Konami growled, leaning her back against the Escudo, ignoring the hail of bullets raining down on the shield. Hopefully it would hold up for a while. “I’m pretty sure that attack just now was a Seal that belongs to Yuma’s Black Trigger. Now that I'm thinking of it, Osamu said Replica opened a Gate to get a Rabit during Aftokrator’s invasion and it was able to use Yuma’s Black Trigger abilities.”  

“Then this isn’t shocking. This is Yuma’s ability that his father has stolen.” Hyuse replied as he leaned his back against his Escudo, hand resting on the hilt of his Kogetsu so he was ready to pull it out quickly if he needed to. The bullets had died down, but he could still hear the Rabits on the other side of his shields. He doubted they would just stand there for much longer while he and Konami talked. They couldn’t keep hiding behind Escudo.  

“I’ll take the first two. You get the third.” Konami decided, seemingly coming to the same conclusion as him. They needed to act quickly.  

Hyuse glared at her. “How about I take two and you take the one?” 

“No. I'll take the first two and you get through the third and get to Yuma from there. I'll deal with the Rabits.” Konami replied, glancing over at the Neighbor. “I’ve been training with Yuma for months, but always as opponents. You trained with him as a partner so you know how each other fights. Help Yuma fight his father.”  

Hyuse stared back at Konami, erasing his scowl from his face. He may not be a big fan of the Attacker, but he did like Yuma. He couldn’t very much let his partner get killed here. They had an expedition to go on soon after all. These past few months will have been a complete waste of time if his partner ends up dead before the mission.  

Nodding his head at his consent, Hyuse drew Kogetsu from his side. Seeing that he was ready, Konami pushed off of Escudo. Readying her Meteor, Konami ran around Escudo and unleashed her attack, dividing it up between the two Rabits. It would lower the power of the attack by sending it at two enemies, but it would get their attention. To her surprise, despite the suddenness of her attack, both of the Rabits were able to throw up Shields to defend against her onslaught.  

“Seriously? Shields?” Konami complained.  

Running around Escudo, Hyuse, ignoring Konami’s complaints, slammed a foot on the ground, activating his Escudo right under it to launch himself through the air to get over the two Rabits that were now distracted with Konami. The third Rabit looked up at him. The Bolt seal appeared in its open mouth. Activating his Shield, Hyuse let that take the brunt of the attack though a few bullets got past and scraped his limbs as he soared over the Rabit. Landing behind the Rabit, Hyuse activated his Viper, sword at his side ready to swing.  

When the Rabit turned to face Hyuse, arm swinging at him with a Boost seal active, Hyuse swung his sword up to block the attack. The force behind the punch had more power than he was expecting which sent Hyuse skidding backwards. He managed to stay on his feet though and unleashed his Viper which soared through the air, twisting in many different angles even as the Rabit tried to follow them. It threw up a Shield to defend, but half of Hyuse’s bullets simply went around it and slammed into the Rabit.  

Unfortunately, while the bullets did some damage, it wasn’t enough to be anywhere near killing the thing. Just like the real Rabits from Aftokrator, the armor on these things was very hard. It was something to be proud of when Aftokrator was using them in invasions. Now that it was an enemy to him, it was just annoying.  

“Your friends are quite determined.” Yugo said, staring at his son, who wasn’t even bothering to struggle in the Chains restraining him.  

“I don’t understand the purpose of this attack.” Yuma said. “Who sent you here?”  

Yugo looked at Yuma in confusion. “What do you mean, Yuma? I came here of my own choice.”  

“A nation had to have sent you here.” Yuma snapped annoyed. “Who is sending the Mimics here?”  

“There are no Mimics here, Yuma. Mimics only exist on Tropoi, you know that.” Yugo replied, walking forward towards his immobile son.  

There was no recognition in Yugo that he was a Mimic. That made sense. Mimics became the very people they transformed into. In Tropoi, they never recalled being Mimics because that would take away the point of seeing a lost loved one for the last goodbye. Those ones came with the intent of saying goodbye.  

They never attacked their loved ones this way.  

Yuma was sure that Yugo recognized Border in some way. It’s probably why he was able to find Tamakoma Branch. This was the HQ he remembered when he was here.  

Still, even though he recognized his once beloved Organization, even though he recognized Japan, even though he recognized Yuma, he was still attacking. Someone had severely corrupted the Mimics if they were able to get them to attack loved ones and former allies this way.  

*Mimics*  

There were sounds of explosions.  

It's not like that was anything new to Chika. Border had been around publicly for years now so all the civilians had gotten used to the sounds of fighting coming from the Restricted Zone over the years. Becoming a Border agent got Chika even more used to the sound and feeling the rumble under her as explosions went off or she fired her Ibis.  

It was honestly normal to her by this point.  

Except, she was far from the Restricted Zone currently and closer to Tamakoma Branch.  

This was not normal.  

Looking into the distance, she could see the flashes of explosions going off.  

It was the direction of her branch.  

Chika didn’t need any more information beyond that as she whipped out her Trigger. “Trigger on!”  

Transferring over to her Trion body, Chika made her way onto the nearest roof and took off for the direction of her branch. Being on the roof now, she could see more clearly the flashes of bullets flying through the air.  

As she got closer to her branch, she began to make out figures on the bridge. Chika felt her heart jump to her throat. While the flashes she saw were in this direction, she was hoping that it wasn’t going to be at Tamakoma and was just in the area. That would be easier to deal with then asking the question of why their branch was under attack. 

Finding a roof to use as her sniper’s nest, Chika called out her Ibis and laid down on the roof. Looking through her scope gave her a better look at what was going on. Konami and Hyuse were fighting three Rabits and Yuma was restrained by Chains and talking to a man. That man was probably the cause of this attack.  

Chika felt a pit in her stomach as she looked at the man. The memo of Yuma’s father appearing in the city came back to her. Of all the current information they had so far, Yuma’s father was the only person who could be attacking them right now. Shifting her scope from the Rabits to Yuma’s father, Chika’s finger stilled.  

She couldn’t fire.  

If she fired her Ibis now, she would destroy their base.  

If she fired her Ibis now, she would hit her comrades.  

Is she fired her Ibis now, she could probably hit Yugo among everyone else.  

Yugo was the reason for Yuma’s stress this week.  

Yugo was who created Yuma’s own fear of the Mimics that Chika never even noticed.  

Yugo was the enemy attacking her friends, her second home, now.  

Yugo was Yuma’s father.  

Chika couldn’t fire.  

She could possibly take everyone on the bridge out, but the base was in the way and she didn’t know if it was fully empty of everyone.  

And if somehow her shot missed or got blocked by the enemy, she might only hit her comrades and force them to bail out.  

Their bail out location was Tamakoma Branch.  

Yuma didn’t have a Bail out function with his Black Trigger.  

Chika couldn’t fire her Ibis.  

Ibis was switched for a Black Lightning. Chika shifted from lying on the roof to kneeling down as she took aim.  

A bullet zipped past Yugo’s head, slamming into the Rabit that Hyuse was fighting. It was followed by another, then another, then another, alternating between all three of the Rabits, surprising all the agents and Yugo, who was looking over at the Rabits getting weighed down by Lead Bullets.  

“Lead bullets?” Konami said shocked, looking up towards the sky. “At that distance.”  

“It could only be Chika.” Hyuse said, smirking. That was certainly good timing. 

With Yugo distracted by the sudden attack, Yuma made his move. “Boost,  Quinti!” Applying the Seal to his body, Yuma used the strength it gave him to destroy the Chains restraining him.  

The sound of the Chains snapping brought Yugo’s attention back to Yuma. He smiled at his son. “About time you decided to act, Yuma. I thought you were just going to stand there and take it.” He readied his sword at his side, but jumped backwards, instead of forward to avoid the Lead Bullet that hit the ground where he was previously standing.  

Yugo looked up where the shots were coming from, an annoyed frown overtaking his face. “Gate.” The blue seal appeared on Yugo’s hand once more.  

Yuma watched the Gate open, allowing an Ilgar to come through.  

Hyuse stabbed his Rabit that was pinned to the ground by weights through the eye as he watched the Ilgar emerge. “If he is opening the Gates from a Black Trigger and calling all these Trion Soldiers, it has to be costing him. How much Trion can he possibly have?”  

“A question for Yuma later.” Konami stepped over her dead Rabits. It wasn’t how she had planned the fight to go, but Chika’s sudden appearance had a helped a lot.  

*Mimics*  

“Oi, is that an Ilgar?” Tachikawa asked, seeing a giant whale appear over the city.  

“You said the city and civilians wouldn’t be in danger from the Mimics!” Miwa snapped at Jin as the group came to a halt to stare at the bomber Trion Soldier that was starting to circle the area.  

“They’re not the targets of the Mimics, but Kuga Yugo is acting out of all my predictions.” Jin replied, frowning. He never met Kuga Yugo so he couldn’t see his future, and even if he had met him, there was no guarantee Jin could see the future of a Mimic. It was very likely he wouldn’t be able to predict the future if a transformed Mimic was the one causing the chaos. There was only so much he could see when certain people were hidden from his foresight.  

“I don’t have a Grasshopper on me to get me high enough to attack it.” Tachikawa replied.  

“We just need to injure it enough to force it into self-destruct mode. The rest we leave to Chika-chan.” Jin said, smiling as he put a hand to his ear. “Chika-chan, you’re in the area, right?” 

*Mimics*  

Chika ran across the roof, jumping to the next one. She would like the chance to attack the Ilgar, but with the bombs it was dropping, she wasn’t given the chance to get into position to shoot it down.  

It was lucky for them that the fighting at Tamakoma had already scared away the civilians in the area so the Ilgar bombing shouldn’t hurt anyone. That was assuming the Ilgar stayed in the area surrounding their Branch.  

“Chika-chan, you’re in the area, right?” 

“Huh? Jin-san?” Chika asked surprised. She hadn’t seen him anywhere when she was scoping the area out.  

“We’re going to destroy the Ilgar. When we do, it’s going to enter self-destruct mode. I need you to blow it away when that happens, okay?” Jin asked.  

Chika nodded, a pointless action when no one was in front of her. “Understood, Jin-san.”  

*Mimics*  

It was aggravating. Using his Black Trigger, Yuma could take the Ilgar out easily, but his father wasn’t giving him the chance to get there. Instead, Yuma was stuck throwing up Shields to block Yugo’s sword. The Shields were making it hard for him to even counter. He had hand-to-hand combat attacks and ranged attacks, but those wouldn’t do anything for him if he couldn’t get through Yugo’s sword without getting hit. Bolt would work if he could just get some distance from Yugo to get his Seal activated. 

Konami came flying down from the sky with her axe, distracting Yugo into throwing up a Shield to block her strike.  

Taking that moment of distraction, Yuma jumped away from his father, throwing his hand up as he did. “Bolt. Quadra!”  

Escudo came up in front of Konami to defend her and Hyuse from Yuma’s attack. Even as he was hiding behind Escudo, Hyuse was activating his Viper and sending it flying around the shields to mix with Yuma’s Bolt.  

“Shield, Quadra!” Yugo created a Full Guard Shield that surrounded him on all sides to defend from both attacks. While the bullets put cracks in his Shield, they weren’t able to pierce it enough to let any bullets through to hit him.  

“Tsk.” Yuma said. For someone new at having access to Black Trigger abilities, Yugo was too adept at using it.  

“He’s not opening any more Gates.” Konami said. “That has to mean he’s almost out of Trion from all the Gates he’s been opening.”  

“Can’t be that low, if his Shield is blocking us that well.” Hyuse said annoyed as he stayed hidden behind his Escudo, gripping the hilt of his sword tightly his hand. He wished he knew more about how Kuga Yugo fought or even more about Yuma’s Black Trigger abilities. He was lacking sufficiently in information that would be helpful in knowing how to approach this fight.  

*Mimics*  

“Counting on you, Arashiyama, Kako-san.” Jin said.  

Positioned on two different roofs, Kako and Arashiyama eyed the Ilgar circling the cities, dropping bombs as it went.  

“Amatori-chan better be ready.” Kako said as her Hound bullets activated. “We have no time to spare.” She looked over the roof where Arashiyama was. He nodded back to her.  

Kako released Hound upon the Ilgar. Her bullets were followed by Arashiyama unleashing his Meteor upon the Illgar. The bomb hit the Ilgar causing an explosion that had it convulsing in pain, bringing it lower in the sky. That seemed to do the trick as Arashiyama saw the protrusions on its back appear, signifying that it was entering self-destruct mode. This was the hard part, but with Chika here, he didn’t think there would be much to worry about.  

A moment later, he was proven correct as a powerful blast rained through the sky, slamming into the Ilgar before it could get any closer to the ground.  

Pushing back the hair whipping around her face, Kako watched in amazement as the shot engulfed the whole Ilgar. The blast lit up the whole sky, blinding everyone in the vicinity.  

When it finally died down, there was nothing left of the Trion Soldier.  

“She is a monster, that one is.” Tachikawa muttered.  

*Mimics*  

A blast behind him had the sky lighting up so much that it made it hard for Yuma to see what was happening. Throwing up a Shield while moving away from where his father was last standing was all he could do when he couldn’t see properly.  

When the light died down and he was able to see again, Yuma was surprised to see that Yugo was no longer between him and Konami and Hyuse. Was he seriously able to move while being blinded? 

“It seems,” Yuma froze at the voice that was speaking directly into his ear. His eyes shifted to the side to see his father standing there, his sword now angle up Yuma’s front with the point resting towards his throat. “That we are out of time, Yuma. Your comrades have arrived.”  

Konami and Hyuse ducked around Escudo.  

“Kuga!” Konami snarled when she saw Yugo had his sword on Yuma’s throat as he spoke softly to his son. She took a step forward to get to her mentee, when to her surprise, a seal activated under her foot. “Crap.”  

Konami jumped backwards, activating her Shield to deflect the bullets, but instead of bouncing off, the bullets came through, turning into weights that pulled her down.  

The moment she had activated the trap, Hyuse had ducked right behind his Escudo again so that he missed getting hit. His Escudo took the Lead bullets for him as he instead glanced down at the downed Konami.  

“Unfortunate.” Hyuse said.  

Konami glared up at Hyuse, but ignored him to shout at her mentee instead. “Damn it, Yuma! What doesn’t your Black Trigger have?!” To make it worse, the Lead Bullets keeping her trapped on the ground were from a Black Trigger, meaning the power and weight of them was significantly worse than the ones from Border’s Trigger. She couldn’t move at all.  

“See you soon, son.” Yugo said before releasing his son, shoving him forward while he jumped onto the wall of the bridge.  

“Kuga!” Tachikawa shouted as he made his way to the bridge.  

Yugo sent a smirk to the way of the approaching agents as he let himself fall backwards, bagworm activating as he went down into the river below.  

While he fell, disappearing from their radars and any chance of find in him, Yuma turned to Tachikawa in confusion. “What?”  

Tachikawa just pointed a finger at him in annoyance as he looked over the bridge, scowling in annoyance when there was no sight of the enemy. They wouldn’t have a chance of finding him even if they jumped in after him. “Not you, Chibi.”  

“C-chibi?” Yuma repeated even more confused than before.  

“He ambushes and kills me the first time, then runs the second time!” Tachikawa said, slamming a fist down on the wall as he ignored Yuma’s confusion. “Damn you, Kuga.”  

“What did I do?” Yuma mumbled to himself.  

“Ah,” Jin said as he looked at the wrecked bridge leading to Tamakoma Branch. It was full of lead bullets, bullets holes, pieces of the bridge falling into the river below, Escudos everywhere, and had Rabits strewn about. At least the building looked like it was in pretty good shape. “Is everyone okay?” 

“Yuri-san took the others out of here. Shiori might be a bit hurt, but everyone is alive.” Konami said, turning her Trigger off so she could rise to her feet. It was quite demeaning to be trapped on the ground with Lead Bullets.   

“The living room is also full of Marmods and holes in the wall.” Hyuse added, turning his Trigger off as it seemed Kuga Yugo would not be returning.  

“Ah, if only we got here faster.” Kako said.  

Yuma looked down the bridge to see Chika and Azuma approaching them. “Hey, Chika! Thanks for the cover fire!”  

Chika rubbed the back of her head, smiling shyly at Yuma. “Sorry, I couldn’t do more than use Lead Bullet. I didn’t want to risk blowing you guys away with Ibis.”  

“It was more than enough to help.” Hyuse told her before turning to Yuma. “What was he doing here anyway?” 

“Not a clue. He didn’t answer my questions.” Yuma replied as he deactivated his Trigger.  

Jin put a hand to his ear as he looked over to the side, nodding his head along to whatever he was hearing.  

“So why didn’t you fight harder?” Hyuse asked Yuma.  

Yuma pursed his lips. “Don’t know what you mean.” He replied innocently.  

“You only bothered to attack once.” Hyuse accused, narrowing his eyes at his partner. He fought against Yuma and trained alongside him enough times to have a pretty good understanding of his fighting style and what he just saw was not it. “You stayed on defense the rest of the time.”  

“It’s hard to get pass his defense.” Yuma protested.  

Miwa stared at Yuma and Hyuse arguing before he looked over the bridge. It was amazing the only Trion Soldier to escape the bridge leading to Tamakoma was Ilgar. Though that might have been the worst Trion Soldier to let escape. Looking back at Yuma, he found the Neighbor glancing over towards the river where his father disappeared into.  

Didn’t fight hard, did he? 

That was hardly surprising.  

It wasn’t easy to fight seriously against a face of a loved one.  

Having met his sister the other night, Miwa, to his annoyance, did understand the Neighbor’s plight. In the face of his sister that night, he had frozen. It wasn’t until long after it happened and the anger was pulsating through him that Miwa thought he could have killed the Mimic who transformed into her. But hours later after it happened wouldn’t be useful in the field. That being said, letting his anger at it lead him wouldn’t help Miwa. He could let his anger control him to kill a Mimic of his sister, but that memory of striking her down would stay with him forever. Yuma was right about no one needing that memory.  

“Alright, Yuri-san has gotten a hold of Boss and told him they are safely at Suzunari Branch. Shinoda-san is sending a crew out here to clean up this mess.” Jin said, motioning to the mess on the bridge. “Other than that, we need to head to HQ and get this sorted out.” 

“Are you sure there will be no more trouble today?” Kazama asked.  

“There shouldn’t be.” Jin replied, though for once, he was feeling unsure of his other. He finally saw a transformed Mimic, and to his frustration, Yuma was right. He couldn’t see the future of it. That was going to make his job so much harder.  

“Speaking of.” Konami glared at Jin. “You couldn’t give us any warning that Kuga was going to show up and attack us?”  

“Sorry about that, Konami. I didn’t see this attack coming.” Jin apologized.  

“Huh? Didn’t see?” Konami demanded, planting her hands on her hips as she looked at Jin with narrowed eyes. “What is the point of your side effect if you couldn’t even see this?”  

“Calm down, Konami.” Azuma said soothingly. “We can’t expect Jin to be able to foresee and plan for everything.”  

Kazama looked over the Trion Soldiers that littered the ground. “I thought the nation attacking us would only send Mimics.” He looked over towards the destruction caused by the Ilgar. It wasn’t too bad, considering what Ilgars were capable of.  “Kuga said before that not all nations have the resources to send Ilgars here. Do you think we can learn who is doing this now?” 

“Nope,” Konami griped, shifting her glare over her shoulders at the dead Rabits. “Because the person who called these Trion Soldiers was Kuga.”  

“He’s a Mimic. He shouldn’t have the ability to open Gates.” Miwa said, dragging his eyes off the river below them to frown at Konami.  

“This is what I wanted to explain to you guys in that meeting we were trying to have. Yuma has a seal in his Black Trigger that allows him to open Gates and call Trion Soldiers. Apparently, he can call any kind he wishes, and now Kuga-san has that ability.” Jin explained.  

The agents, who didn’t know about this Seal Yuma had, turned to look at him in disbelief.  

“You’ve been able to do that this whole time?” Miwa demanded.  

Yuma gave a small shrug of his shoulders, staring out at the river, not bothering to correct Jin in the fact that he could only call Trion Soldiers that had been analyzed and stored to his Black Trigger. “I don’t rely on Trion Soldiers to fight my battles for me. Besides, opening Gates and bringing out Trion Soldiers takes up a lot of Trion. I don’t even understand how Oyaji was able to bring out so many.”  

Jin glanced at Yuma, frowning. That was troublesome. Yuma had been fervently denying that the Mimic was his father. It made him mad when people called the Mimic Yuma’s father whereas Yuma was always saying angrily that it was nothing but a Trion Soldier. Seeing the Mimic for the first time as his father was already confusing Yuma. It was no wonder he didn’t attack more aggressively.  

“Oyaji always had more Trion than me, but this is ridiculous.” Yuma muttered.  

“What’s more ridiculous than that,” Konami grabbed Yuma’s face, pulling both of his cheeks. “What the hell is with the Lead Bullets he has, Yuma?!” 

“I copied Lead Bullet from Miwa months ago.” Yuma replied.  

“And you didn’t think to maybe warn me?” Konami demanded.  

“I didn’t think he would lay it on the ground as a trap.” Yuma protested.  

“Why did he leave though?” Hyuse asked as Konami released Yuma.  

Yuma rubbed his now pink cheeks. “He saw our backup coming and I guess he used too much Trion to continue the battle. I feel like he came here for something.”  

“He was looking for you.” Konami pointed out.  

“I know that,” Yuma said annoyed. “But there was a purpose to it, and I don’t know what that is.”  

“We’re not going to figure anything out by just standing here.” Konami said, glancing at Tamakoma. “And our Branch is no good right now. So, to HQ?”  

*Mimics*  

“I’m sorry that I wasn’t there.”  

Yuma waved his Captain’s apology off, taking the offered beverage that Osamu had brought for him, Chika, and Hyuse. “None of us saw it coming.”  

“How is Shiori-san?” Chika asked worriedly.  

“Just a few bruises. There was no serious damage.” Osamu said.  

Yuma looked down into his drink, running his thumb over the rim of the cup. That was his fault. His father had come looking for him and it put everyone in the Branch in danger. This was exactly why he didn’t want to spend time at Tamakoma.  

Chika sighed in relief, heartbeat slowly down at the relieving news. Next to her, she saw Yuma’s hands tightening on his glass. She gingerly reached out and gently rested her hand on Yuma’s, trying to smile reassuringly at him, but Yuma didn’t even try to return the smile. There was no point in trying to act happy around his time with the situation they were in.  

Osamu sat on the couch across from the two with Hyuse. “And you, Kuga? How are you?” 

“I’m not the one who got injured.” Yuma replied.  

“But it was your father.” Hyuse pointed out. “It’s not easy going against someone you love. He attacked your friends, but he’s still your father. It has to be hard.”  

“What’s hard about it? He hurt Shiori-chan and attacked our home.” Yuma protested immediately, but there was truly no passion to his argument. Hyuse wasn’t wrong. Yuma was angry at what happened, but still couldn’t fight his father seriously. What was Yuma supposed to do now? His father would come after him again. What for, Yuma had no idea, but just by being around, he was putting his friends in danger. Yuma was of no use to them if he couldn’t bring himself to hit his father with some real attacks.  

“And yet you still held back in fighting him.” Hyuse retorted.  

Osamu looked at Hyuse before shifting his eyes back to Yuma. It wouldn’t be the first time that Yuma held back in fighting someone. He did it against Miwa squad months ago, but the difference was that Miwa squad had only been attacking him. This time, Yuma’s father had attacked their base and hurt their operator. That normally was something that Yuma wouldn’t let go, though it wasn’t surprising that Yuma was conflicted right now. Not that Yuma would ever speak these kind of doubts out loud.  

“Sounds like you all had a hard day.”  

The agents looked up to see Rindo, Jin, and Tamakoma-1 approaching them.  

“More annoying than anything.” Hyuse complained.  

“Well, I can’t say I have any good news. Until we’ve managed to deal with Kuga-san, Tamakoma Branch has been deemed too dangerous for us to go back too.” Rindo explained. “Osamu, would it be alright if you went back to stay at home with your parents while we deal with this?” 

Osamu nodded. “That’s fine, but what about Hyuse and Kuga? They don’t have homes in the city.”  

“There’s a barrack in HQ that they can sleep in. People don’t really use it. It's for emergencies like this.” Jin replied. “It won’t be comfortable, which is why Osamu and Chika-chan can head to their homes.”  

“What about my horns?” Hyuse asked.  

“Well, like we said, the barracks are rarely used so it shouldn’t be a problem.” Rindo said. “No one outside of our branch should bother going in there. I'm sure the agents will respect our privacy.”   

Hyuse nodded.  

“Also, Yuma,” Rindo turned his attention to the young agent. “Kinuta-san said it would take time to get you a new Trigger.”  

Yuma looked up.  

“He wants you to know just how expensive it is to make Triggers and to not lose them so carelessly. He can’t just hand you a new one constantly. The C-Ranks that are becoming B-Ranks need updated to their combat Triggers so they are taking priority over you.”  

“What kind of reasoning is that?” Konami complained. “Yuma is way more useful in the field than some newly minted B-Rank agents. How is he supposed to help us if he can’t fight?” 

“It’s fine. I'll just use my Black Trigger for now.” Yuma replied.  

“You need permission from HQ to use that.” Reiji pointed out. 

“Didn’t get permission today.” Yuma looked back at Rindo. “Is Kido-san mad about that?” 

“Of all things that are angering him today, Yuma, that isn’t even on his radar.” Rindo replied.  

Yuma scratched his cheek. He had a feeling that even if he wasn’t upset about Yuma using the Black Trigger, he was upset at Yuma for the other things, like causing his father to appear in the first place.  

*Mimics*  

When the rest of his squad went with Yuri to check in on Shiori, Yuma found himself slipping away from them to head towards the roof. He would prefer to distract himself with some Rank Battles, but that was currently impossible with his lack of Border Trigger.  

Sitting on the ledge, Yuma pulled his knee up to his chest, resting his chin on it as he stared off into the distance. The sun was beginning to set which meant the Mimics would soon be returning. What's worse is that even though there was already a Mimic of Kuga Yugo somewhere in the city recovering his Trion so he could come after Yuma again, that didn’t mean the Mimics would stop targeting Yuma. Not that Yuma would mention it to the others, but other Mimics could transform into the same person.  

They did not need more than one Kuga Yugo running around the city so Yuma would have to be extra careful. He couldn’t mess up with this again.  

Having just one version of his father confronting Yuma was hard enough. It was so chaotic that they didn’t even get to talk properly.  

No. 

What was Yuma thinking? 

He shouldn’t talk to Yugo. Talking to Yugo would only make it harder for him to take his father out.  

Yugo did not hold back when he attacked them earlier. He came at them with everything he had, and Yuma? Yuma just couldn’t find the strength to attack Yugo seriously back. That smile he wore on his face was the one he wore when giving his life for Yuma.  

It was cruel to show Yuma that smile again.  

Especially when he was attacking Yuma in the process.  

What Yuma needed to do was get his head back in working order. He couldn’t hesitate to attack next time Yugo appeared in front of him.  

The silence engulfing Yuma was interrupted by a loud cracking sound. Following the sound, Yuma’s eyes drifted down to his hand. Starting around his Black Trigger, cracks were spreading along Yuma’s hand. Yuma turned his hand over to see the cracks spreading all across the palm of his hand and leading up his arm that he couldn’t see because of his jacket’s sleeves.  

Cracks that appeared out of nowhere.  

Cracks that weren’t healing shut. 

Chapter Text

Chika sat next to Shiori’s bed, lightly holding her friend’s hand. Once everything had settled down earlier, Reiji and Karasuma had gone to pick up Shiori and the others from Suzunari Branch and brought them back to HQ. This allowed Shiori the chance to get checked out properly by the doctors at HQ.  

“I’m so glad you’re alright, Shiori-san.” Chika said. 

Shiori smiled at the younger girl as she turned her hand over so she could grip Chika’s hand in return.  

“I want to know how he managed to get into the Branch in the first place. We have an alarm system in place to alert us of this kind of thing.” Osamu said.  

Shiori shook her head, unsure of the answer. By all reason, Kuga Yugo should not have been able to get into their Branch without an alert going to all their phones to warn of the intruder. The fact that he got as far as he did meant that there was an oversight on their part. It was hard to tell what it was since Border only knew what Yuma told them about Mimics so far. They needed to gather more intel on them.  

“How long will you be in here?” Hyuse asked.  

Shiori glanced at Hyuse in surprise before she was grabbing her phone off the side table and typing rapidly before showing it to Chika.  

“Awww, Hyuse-kun cares about me.” Chika read out loud, fighting hard to keep a smile off her face.  

“I do not.” Hyuse said hotly, turning his back on the group and stubbornly crossing his arms. “It’s just inconvenient to have our operator out of commission.”  

Shiori gave a grin to Chika. To Chika that grin clearly said how much she didn’t believe Hyuse. Chika knew that Shiori liked to tease people so it must be hard for her to rest her voice to recover.   

Taking her phone back, Shiori typed another message out before turning it back to Chika.  

“Where’s Yuma-kun?” Chika read softly before looking at the rest of the room.  

At the question, Osamu looked over his shoulders in confusion. “He was with us earlier. He must have cut off from us at some point on our way here.”  

Shiori lowered her phone to her lap, looking down at it downhearted. It would have been nice to have her full team here.  

Chika looked at Shiori’s injured neck, wincing softly as she took in the bruises there. Shiori was an operator. She never went in the field so there should never have been a time where she could get hurt. To make it worse, her injuries were caused by Yuma’s father.  

Chika’s hands curled into fists on her lap.  

*Mimics*  

“I need to change my assessment of the situation.” Jin said. “I was wrong.”  

Kido leaned back in his chair, motioning for Jin to continue.  

“I initially did not see the city in danger. The attack on Tamakoma Branch today isn’t a future I saw.” Jin explained, staring at the conference room full of the higher ups. It seemed that it was going to be a long week for everyone, not just the agents. “I got a look at Kuga Yugo today and I still cannot see the future for him so I do not know his goal.”  

“That tells us more than anything that he is nothing more than a Trion Soldier.” Kinuta said.  

Jin gave a small tilt of his head in acknowledgement to the statement. That was something they all knew, but it didn’t take away from the difficulty of facing the person that was once a friend. This would be harder for Yuma and the few people that knew Kuga Yugo when he was alive.  

“And what of this other matter, with the Gates opening outside the Restricted Zone.” Netsuki asked, brushing the back of his neck anxiously. “How long has Kuga-kun had the ability to open Gates?”  

“It seems his Black Trigger always had a Seal to open the Gates, but when he came to us, we didn’t inquire about all the Seals he had at his disposal and he didn’t feel the need to inform us.” Rindo replied, rolling his cigarette around in his fingers. “He hasn’t used the Seal in all the months he’s been here, except for this morning when he gave us a glimpse of it in the training room.”  

Kinuta hmphed. “So, we’ve had a Neighbor running around with the ability to summon Trion Soldiers this whole time?”  

“Yuma-kun never once used it to attack us so it isn’t a problem.” Shinoda argued.  

“He may not have, but this Kuga Yugo is using it to attack us.” Kinuta retorted. “It causes a big problem if he can open the Gates anywhere in the city. If it’s the ability of a Black Trigger and he’s around for days, we don’t have the capability of forcing the Gates to stay shut.”  

“Would he though?” Karasawa asked. “From the reports, I understand that Kuga-kun ran into the Mimic last night which means it’s been close to a whole day since Kuga has been in the city. The only time the city was in any danger was near Tamakoma Branch when he attacked the agents there. To me, it seems like he has no interest in the city. If we can figure out what he is after, we can hopefully minimize the damage.”  

Jin shifted his eyes over to Rindo, catching his boss’s eyes. It would be hard to keep it a secret since Tachikawa and his squad already knew. Besides, it really wouldn’t be all that surprising considering what they knew of Mimics so far.  

Rindo rested his arm on the table to take his weight as he leaned forward. “About that, it seems he has been looking for Yuma. I imagine the attack on our Branch was because he was trying to find his son.”  

Kido slid his eyes towards Rindo. “To kill him?”  

“That would seem logical considering the purpose of these Mimics, but Konami said he had the chance to but didn’t take it.” Rindo replied. His attention shifted briefly to Jin, recalling the conversation they had in the car the other day, before moving to the rest of the table. If Jin was predicting Yuma’s death by the end of the week, the chance of Yugo coming back to actually take it was pretty high. “It’s possible his goal is something else.”  

That was concerning, but it was also a relief to know that Yuma was still safe for the time being. “It would help if we knew how Kuga Yugo got into the base without anyone being alerted.” Shinoda said. “There’s the chance he could get into HQ if we don’t figure this out.”  

“It seems there was an oversight.” Kinuta grunted, crossing his arms over his chest as he stared at Shinoda and Rindo with a scowl. From the moment they had been alerted to the attack happening at Tamakoma, he had been looking into the problem. “Kuga Yugo is still in Border’s system. Despite having left the organization years ago, he was never removed from the security codes.” 

An oversight, indeed. None of them had deemed it necessary to remove Yugo from a system he helped design because they always knew Yugo would never be an enemy to Border. If he ever came back to Japan, it would make things easier if he could access the base without a fight. That was the decision made decades ago, and since then, it had been so long since they heard from him, that they had forgotten all about it.  

When Yuma came bearing news of his death, the security measures weren’t even something they bothered to think about. A dead person can’t access the base after all. It shouldn’t be something that they would have to update. It didn’t even cross their minds at the time since, among everything else going on, that wasn’t important.  

“Considering this Kuga Yugo we are dealing with is a Trion Soldier wearing his face, is it really possible for the fake to copy his security clearance to get inside?” Karasawa asked.  

“He just did it!” Kinuta retorted.  

Karasawa rolled his cigarette between his fingers as he thought that over. “Makes you wonder just how fake these Mimics are then.”  

*Mimics*  

Chika shoved the door open to the roof, looking across the huge roof for any sign of Yuma. She knew that he liked spending time on Tamakoma’s roof so a change of location shouldn’t have changed that. A moment later her eyes landed on the figure sitting on the ledge.  

Staring at Yuma sitting there alone on this huge roof somehow just made him look extremely lonely and even smaller.  

Crossing the roof, without a word, Chika was sitting on the ledge, back to the city so she could keep her feet firmly down on the roof. She didn’t understand how Yuma could always just let his feet hang over the edge of when he was sitting on the roof. She would be scared of falling off, especially since Border HQ was a lot higher than Tamakoma’s roof.  

Yuma shifted slightly when she sat next to him. He pulled his knee tighter to his chest, hugging it with one arm. “What’s up, Chika?” He asked as he subtly pulled the sleeve of his jacket down over his hand to hide the cracks there while also using his knee to hide his arm from view.  

“Shiori-san was asking about you.” Chika replied softly. She turned her head slightly to look at Yuma. “We had a bad, unexpected attack today, Yuma-kun. She wants to see you to make sure you okay, especially since it was your father attacking us.”  

“Hmm.”  

When that was all Chika got as a response, she turned her whole body to angle herself better to look at Yuma. Her friend still refused to look away from the scenery he was staring at, but Chika wasn’t going to let that bother her. She came up here to find Yuma for a reason. “Yuma-kun, I want to apologize.”  

Yuma blinked in confusion, but kept his eyes locked on the city ruins in front of him. “What for?”  

“The other day I was telling you how scared I was to come face to face with the Mimics because I was scared my brother and friend would form. If they appeared in front of me, then it would all be over. My reason for wanting to be an agent would be gone from me. I wouldn’t be able to save them from the Neighborhood.” Chika explained, resting her hand lightly on her chest. The fear of the Mimics still resided in her, but like Yuma said, she wasn’t alone. The battle today proved it. So many of her comrades at Tamakoma were there and backup came from HQ as fast as they could from HQ. They weren’t alone in this fight. “The idea that they might be dead terrifies me, but the chance to have the unknown revealed to me like this was just as, if not more so, terrifying. You talked me through it, but I not once considered your feelings. I know your father is dead and that you must have been scared to have him appear like this, but I never once thought about your feelings. It was selfish of me.”  

“That’s not on you, Chika. I didn’t want you to know.” Yuma replied. “I don’t begrudge you for not realizing. It's hard to focus on what other people are feeling when your own worries and fears are clouding your mind.”  

“Maybe that’s why you haven’t noticed.” Chika suggested.  

“Noticed what?” Yuma asked, finally glancing over at his teammate.  

Chika held her hand out to Yuma. “Can I see you phone?” 

Even more confused now, Yuma relented to her request and passed his phone over.  

Chika tsked lightly as she opened the phone. “You should see about putting a password on your phone, Yuma-kun.” She scolded before going into his messages. “Here we go. ‘Where are you? I need to talk to you. It's important.’ That’s from Midorikawa-kun. He asked me to pass the message along that he needs to talk to you since you weren’t answering him, by the way. Oh, and here’s one from Murakami-san. ‘I understand why you disappeared from HQ. Just let me know you’re fine. It can’t be easy having a Mimic of your father running around.’ Oh...and one from Kageura-san. ‘Idiot...get your act together.’”  

Yuma snorted. That was just like Kageura.  

“‘Who the hell do you think you are hiding the fact that you have a Black Trigger?’ From Suwa-san.” Chika said, feeling a bit amused. She scrolled down through the messages that were left unread by Yuma all day. “There’s too many to go through, but my point is, they’re worried. They all express it their own way, but you didn’t notice because you’ve been worried all day about your father. Yuma-kun.” Chika put Yuma’s phone down beside her so she could lightly grip his arm. “No one is blaming you for what happened. Not for your father appearing or the attack that happened at our base. They’re just worried about you.”  

Pausing for a moment to gather her thoughts and see if Yuma replied, Chika diverted her eyes to stars that Yuma loved to stare at. The stars always used to feel so very far, so out of reach. They were completely untouchable.  

Like Chika’s dream of someday seeing her brother and sister again. That was her hope that they would come back one day, but it was so unrealistic, so far out of reach. It was Yuma appearing in their lives and showing her a path where that dream could be made into a reality, but one that she had to work for.  

It didn’t feel so impossible now.  

“I never told you the reason why I wasn’t able to shoot people before.” 

“You don’t have to, Chika. The fact that you found the strength to overcome your doubts is amazing enough. I don’t need to know the reasons to know you’re incredible.”  

Chika shook her head. “I know I don’t have to tell, Yuma-kun, but I want to because you’re my friend and I trust you. My Trion volume always attracted Neighbors and I was always running from them. The only people I ever told were Aoba-chan and my brother. After they both knew, they went missing into the Neighbor’s world. It's because of me that they’re both gone. I always believed that and thought if others knew the truth, they would blame me and would be too scared to be around me. So, I stopped talking about the Neighbors coming after me. I was always really good at getting away from them.” She smiled at Yuma.  

The smile she was showing. It was a fake. Yuma would know. He had mastered faking his smiles after his dad died. The truth behind that smile was that she was scared and lonely. Feelings that Yuma knew too well. It was easier to fake a smile then to show what he was really feeling after his dad died.  

“I didn’t realize it when we first joined Border but Hyuse-kun saw right through me. He was so positive that I could shoot people. The idea that I was able to honestly scared me. His words put things into perspective for me and I realized the reason why I was scared to shoot was because I was afraid. I’m scared of getting blamed and ostracized because of my Trion. Aoba-chan and Rinji-niisan were hurt by me. I was scared that if I shot someone, people would get scared of me. They would realize that I'm to blame for what happened to my friend and brother and hate me for it.” 

“No one did though.” Chika moved her eyes back up the sky, smiling softly. “I killed two people in the Rank Wars and no one hated me for it. They all gave me praise for my excellent marksmanship instead. There was nothing for anyone to blame me for just because I took out my target. It was thanks to Hyuse-kun. He helped me realize that if I never took the shot and you or Osamu-kun got killed for it, then I would be the one to blame. Sitting back and doing nothing is what I did when I lost Aoba-chan and Rinji-niisan. I won’t sit still anymore. I won’t hesitate when I can protect my team.”   

Turning his head away and shutting his eyes, Yuma smirked to himself. “You’re such a stubborn person, Chika, and you’re grown so strong in the past few months.” 

“It’s all thanks to you, and Osamu-kun, and Hyuse-kun.” Chika replied earnestly. “And all my sniper senpais and our senpais at Tamakoma. If it wasn’t for all of you, I wouldn't be here right now.” She looked down at her lap, hands wringing around each other. “For the longest time, I blamed myself for what happened to them and I feared everyone else would blame me too, but no one has. Not a single person had said that it is my fault for anything. Everyone makes their owns choices. So, Yuma-kun, I don’t blame you. It’s not your fault our base got attacked today and I'm sure if you talk to Shiori-san, she won’t blame you for her injuries either. None of us are going to blame you. We’re just worried about you.”  

Yuma knew he had slipped up the past few days. With the approaching anniversary of his father’s death and the Mimics on top of that, the weight of it all was starting to pull him down. That stress had been slipping through and his fake smile was getting harder to plaster onto his face, making it hard to hide from his friends. He knew they were seeing it. It was hard to miss when he was dragging Shun out of his operation’s room after all.  

It wasn’t fair to any of them for Yuma to take his frustrations about everything out on them. Yuma was doing his best to keep from snapping at them. In turn, his frustrations and worries started to build up in him, and unfortunately, it kept coming out on Jin. Jin didn’t deserve any of that. He was just worried and trying to save Yuma, and Yuma was repaying that by getting mad at him.  

Yuma didn’t want to die. He wanted Jin to find the path that would lead them out of this, but protecting the city and citizens from his father had to come first. The problems Yuma was having with his father couldn’t bleed into the city. It would only cause problems with Border, and right now, they didn’t need any more problems piled on top of them.  

“You don’t need to be, Chika.” Yuma smiled at his teammate. “I’m fine. Whatever happens in the next few days, I'm prepared for it.”  

The look Chika was giving him was telling Yuma that she didn’t believe him, but Yuma didn’t let that deter him. He kept up his confident smile.  

Reaching across his friend, Yuma snatched up his phone. “But maybe you’re right. I've been in my head too much today. I should at least reply to everyone.” 

“I don’t know about the others, but I know Midorikawa-kun wants to talk to you in person.” Chika said.  

“Hmm?” Yuma looked up from his phone. “Wonder what’s so important that he wants to talk in person.”  

“That’s for you two to talk about.” Chika replied as she stood up, smoothing out her skirt. She looked up at the sky. “I know you like spending time on the roof, Yuma-kun, but perhaps not right now? Mimics could make an appearance at any time.”  

Yuma nodded. “Speaking of, it's dangerous at night with the Mimics now. Will you and Osamu be alright getting home?” 

“Kizaki-san offered to drive us both home.” Chika replied as she led the way back to the door.  

Yuma pulled his sleeve down some more, gripping the material in his fingers to keep it over his hand. “That’s good. You'll be safe with Reiji-san.”  

*Mimics*  

“Is Tamakoma alright?” Utagawa asked.  

Kazama sat down on the couch, trying to relax as much as he could. It wouldn’t do any good to get stressed out from all the recent activity. They needed to all rest properly to prepare for the next few days. “They all made it out of the attack alive. Usami got a bit hurt, but she’ll recover with some rest.  

Utagawa sighed in relief. He would have to take a chance to go visit her at some point. It was rare for Border’s personal that weren’t fighting in the field to get hurt. Though in the past few months, it seemed like their bases were getting targeted more often. “What attacked them?” 

“I bet it was Kuga Yugo. He's the only Mimic transformed and able to come out in the daylight.” Kikuchihara said. He doubted that there was any threat beyond the Mimics that they should be concerned about after all. “Did you guys at least manage to kill him and end this?” 

“We weren’t that lucky.” Kazama replied. “He’s still out there somewhere. From what I heard, Tamakoma Branch will be staying at HQ until their Branch can get fixed and Kuga is killed.”  

“The father, right?” Utagawa asked warily.  

Kazama closed his eyes, trying to will himself not to groan at the reminder of what the Captains spent their meeting arguing about earlier. It was confusing to call both Yuma and his father Kuga, but context of the sentence should make it obvious who he was talking about. “Yes, the father. We're not killing our ally.”  

“Technically speaking, Kuga is an ally since he used to be a Border member that died, right?” Kikuchihara replied.  

“We’re fighting a Mimic, not the real former Border member.” Kazama said.  

Mikami leaned around her monitors to look at her Captain. “How was your meeting with the Captains?”  

Kazama almost groaned at the question. Could people stop trying to remind him of the failure of that meeting? “Unproductive. If Jin tries to schedule another meeting among the Captains to attempt this meeting again, pretend you don’t see it and don’t tell me. It’ll be faster if I just go directly to Kuga.” 

“Kuga, our enemy to kill him? Or Kuga-kun, our ally to get information on his father?” Mikami asked.  

Kazama was beginning to see the appeal of Kako’s argument to call one of the Kuga’s something different if this was going to be every conversation he had about Kuga in the few days.  

“You might not have any luck with Kuga-kun. Tsukimi-san said Yoneya-san said he hasn’t been in a good mood the past few days.”  

“I think I can deal with Kuga-kun in a bad mood.” Kazama replied. “He can’t be worse than Enedra was.”  

Yuma being in a bad mood. He had heard that a few times already, but when he saw him at Tamakoma earlier, he seemed fine. Perhaps in a bit of shock since his father had just attacked him and his Branch, but there was relatively no anger in him that Kazama could see. He could have easily gotten over whatever was bothering him, but the rumor of his bad mood hadn’t faded yet.  

“No one can match the attitude of Enedra.” Kikuchihara said. “Even as a rad, he hasn’t dropped the arrogance.”  

“He knows we need information from him.” Utagawa replied.  

“Isn’t that what Hyuse-kun is for?” Mikami asked.  

“It’s good to get information from a variety of sources and compare what we learn since it’s likely people will lie.” Kazama replied. “Though it is easier now with Kuga’s side effect to get proper information. And yes, I mean our ally, Kuga.”  

“You know it might be easier to distinguish which one we’re talking about if you gave Kuga-kun or his father a different name.” Mikami suggested.  

“I will not be part of another conversation about that.” Kazama replied as he stood up. “Be sure to rest well tonight. The next few days are going to get pretty busy.”  

“Are you sure we won’t be needed tonight?” Utagawa asked.  

“No, but if something does happen, an emergency summons will go out.”  

*Mimics*  

Kusakabe looked up as Shun came into the operations room, slouched over in defeat. “Did you talk to Kuga-kun?” 

“I couldn’t find him anywhere.” Shun muttered as he sat down on the couch, leaning back into the cushions with a sigh.  

“Apparently he was at Tamakoma Branch.” Hayato said.  

Shun’s head shot off the back of the couch to look at his teammate. “Why didn’t you tell me sooner? I could have gotten there and talked to him and still have made it back here in time for defense duty!”  

“I didn’t know before. You haven’t heard yet?” Haytao asked surprised. “Tamakoma Branch got attacked a few hours ago by Kuga Yugo.”  

“What?!” Shun shouted, flying to his feet and slamming his hands on the table between the two couches so he could lean in closer to his teammate. “Yuma-senpai’s father attacked?”  

Hayato leaned back in the seat to get away from Shun. “That’s what I just said. You’ve been running around the base all day. How did you not hear this?”  

Sighing, Shun dropped back into seat. “Yuma-senpai has been a hot topic all day. I started tuning out what everyone was saying. All I wanted was to find him and talk to him. Is everyone from Tamakoma alright?”  

“Usami-chan got a bit injured, but other than that, they all made it out relatively fine.” Kazuma replied. “Kuga-kun should be at HQ now. Considering the attack on their Branch, it’s not likely they’ll be able to stay there. You should have an easier time finding him now.”  

Shun turned his head, smooching his face on the back of the couch. “I can’t now. We have to go on defense duty.” He mumbled. 

“You can do what Kuga-kun does. Take your frustration, or in your case depression, out by fighting.” Saeki said.  

“Who's to say we’ll even find any enemies tonight?” Shun moaned.  

“In the morning, drag Kuga-kun to the booths like he did to you the other day.” Kazuma suggested.  

“Great plan. Let them beat each other up, instead of talking to each other.” Saeki said sarcastically.  

“Could I do that?” Shun said interested. “Yuma-senpai already apologized for that.”  

“No,” Kusakabe replied. “Just get ready for defense duty.”  

Shun grumbled to himself as he glanced at his phone, blinking in confusion. “When....Yuma-senpai texted me back! I didn’t even hear my phone go off.” 

“Congrats,” Kusakabe replied dryly. “Defense duty!”  

Sorry, Shun. We’ll talk in the morning.   

“I have been looking for him all day and that’s all he has to say?!”  

“At least he replied.” Kazuma said.  

“And basically said nothing!”  

“Defense duty!”  

*Mimics*  

“Doing alright?” Rindo asked.  

Jin rubbed his hand over his face. “I could be doing better. If only I had seen that attack sooner.”  

“You can’t blame yourself for that. We take too much advantage of your side effect to get us through the invasions. It places a heavy burden on you. We all need to remember that we have skilled agents. Our agents can get through battles without your interference. So perhaps instead of trying to plan for all these battles, let’s focus on the main part of the future that leads up to the bad path. Are these smaller battles that will happen going to largely effect the future?” 

Jin took a sit on the window seal. “They were important the past few nights when I was on the route to prevent Kuga-san's appearance, but now that we’re on the path where he is here, these smaller battles have lost some importance. Not enough to ignore them, but enough that I shouldn’t have to interfere with them. Still, the agents need to stay vigilant. We don’t want any more transformed Mimics running around.” He ran a hand through his hair, sighing softly. “I can trust the agents to handle the smaller battles, but not being able to see the futures of the Mimics has me worried. I can see a large battle looming in the horizon but the details are sparse. I would like to avoid having Mimics transform as much as possible.”  

Rindo blew out smoke from his mouth, holding his cigarette off to the side. “I don’t think any of our agents are eager for the Mimics to transform. The idea for them to be used for managing grief is honorable, but I haven’t heard any favorable talk about them.”  

“Because these aren’t the Mimics Yuma spoke of. They're corrupted. Nothing more than weapons now.” Jin said. “The agents know this so getting attacked by someone you love would make this harder. Harder to fight against, but it also destroys the memory of them. Because of these Mimics, the last memory you have of someone you love will be them trying to kill you. If the Mimics were following their original purpose, I can’t say I would disagree too much. A chance for one last goodbye.”  

Rindo looked at Jin out of the corner of his eyes, frowning sadly at the melancholy tone. When they went to help their allies five years ago, Jin had only been fourteen. He had only been with Border for a few years then and that battle to help their allies had been his first big battle. While Jin knew of his side effect, he didn’t like using it. He was scared of the futures he saw. 

Then that battle took place. 

So many of their comrades were lost that day. 

To make things worse, Jin had been the one to find Mogami who was dying. Jin had to watch his master create Fujin.  

That battle had been the turning point for Jin. He decided he didn’t want to lose any more friends so he turned to his side effect, something that he once hated, he turned into one of his most useful skills in his arsenal.  

It didn’t take away the pain and grief of those they lost, but it could prevent any more grief from coming their way. 

“Would you want to see Mogami-san again?” Rindo asked.  

“It’s been almost six years.” Jin replied softly, leaning forward to rest his elbows on his knees. It truly felt like the weight of the world was going to pull him into the dirt. “It still hurts to remember what happened, but it’s been such a long time that if I were to see him now, it would only end up being more painful. Besides, I can’t save our futures if I'm focused on looking at the past.”  

Rindo smiled. “You’re really deserving a long vacation, Jin.”  

“No time for that. I have a future to protect.” Jin said, wiping away the pain that was trying to force him to the ground and instead grinned cheerfully at his boss.  

“Don’t overwork yourself.” Rindo ordered, looking off the side with a sigh. Yuma and Jin were too much alike with trying to hide their true feelings so much. They never wanted anyone to see just how much they truly were hurting and suffering. It was like they believed they always had to be strong.  

*Mimics*  

“The whole day has been ruined and we’re not allowed to go home.” Yotaro complained.  

Hyuse sat down on one of the beds in the barracks, staring at the young boy sitting on the bed across from him. Tamakoma was not his home. That was Aftokrator, a place he had been gone from far longer than he liked. Being displaced from his home, he could understand Yotaro’s frustrations though. Home was always where everyone felt safest and most comfortable.  

As for Hyuse, he could sleep anywhere, but he did prefer Tamakoma. Since all the members of Tamakoma knew he was a Neighbor, he didn’t need to hide anything about himself. Being at Border HQ meant he had to be more alert when he didn’t have his Trigger active. It shouldn’t be too difficult. He managed in the away mission test, though he got to sleep in a capsule bed the whole time to hide at night. An open room while he slept at night was a bigger risk for anyone that could just walk in.  

“It’s only for a few days while we deal with the Mimics and the Branch gets repaired.” Hyuse replied. “They want to make sure it will be safe for everyone when we go back.”  

“It’s a Border Branch base! It should always be safe!”  

“Your Branches have only been safe thus far because they are outside of the Restricted Zone. If your enemy gets out of there and finds your base, your security systems are going to do little to stop an enemy who doesn’t care about setting it off if their goal is to kill you.” Hyuse pointed out.  

Yotaro deflated, anger dissipating. “Is that why we were attacked today? Someone was trying to kill us?”  

“You weren’t the target, Yotaro.”  

Yotaro and Hyuse looked up to see Yuma standing in the doorway of the barracks, hand gripping the door frame tightly.  

“No one is going to try to kill you.” Yuma promised.  

“Then why were we attacked? I heard it was your father.”  

Yuma’s smile turned into a grimace. “I’m sorry you got involved in my problems. He was looking for me. If you’re at Border HQ, you’ll be a lot safer. I’ll take care of the matter with Dad. Once this gets settled, you can go home.”  

“We.” Yotaro said.  

“What?” Yuma asked.  

“We can go home.” Yotaro declared stubbornly. “It’s not home if not everyone is there.”  

Staring at his partner, Hyuse was surprised at the look that passed through Yuma’s eyes. Yotaro was talking about wanting all his friends to be back home with him at Tamakoma. That wasn’t something that should make Yuma sad. The look was only there for a moment before it had disappeared. It was a blink and miss it type of expression.  

His partner had been acting strange recently. The warning from Jin for Yuma to be careful. The frustration and bad mood that Yuma had been in. And now sadness was radiating from him. This wasn’t the confident, strong Yuma that Hyuse had come to know the past few months.  

That was telling Hyuse that Yuma knew something and wasn’t willing to share that information with the rest of them.  

If Yuma wanted to keep secrets, Hyuse didn’t really care. It's not like his purpose here was to learn every little thing about Border. He was only here to get back to Aftokrator.  

He had no personal stake in any of this.  

However, the Mimics were getting in his way. This attack was postponing the start of their training for the expedition mission. The longer that got delayed, the longer it would be to start the mission and get them to Aftokrator. For that reason, he wanted these Mimics dealt with as soon as possible. If Yuma knew something, it would be a lot more helpful if they were on the same page.  

“I can’t promise anything, Yotaro.” Yuma said, not wanting to lie to the kid. It didn’t feel right to promise a child so young that he would come back home with everyone when it wasn’t a guarantee. If he didn’t know the future Jin predicted, it would be a different matter, but he did know so he couldn’t make these promises.  

“You have to come back! Tamakoma isn’t Tamakoma if anyone leaves!” Yotaro declared. “You’re all a part of Tamakoma now!”  

“We’re in a dangerous situation. There is no way to tell how it is going to turn out. I can’t let Dad continue to run around the city as he is.” Yuma replied.  

“Then you beat him and come back! I know you can do it! You're super strong!” Yotaro shouted passionately, waving his hands in the air aggressively.  

“The person we’re fighting is Kuga Yugo. This is the man who trained Yuma into the warrior he is, Yotaro. It's not going to be that easy.” Hyuse said.  

Yotaro looked from Hyuse to Yuma in confusion. “But you’re all going to help Yuma, aren’t you? He’s not alone in this.”  

“No, he isn’t.” Hyuse agreed, turning his eyes to Yuma, the promise shining in eyes. “We’re going to take care of this matter then get to our original goal of the away mission.” 

*Mimics*   

Shun crouched down on the building, overlooking the rumble on the ground below him with a frown. “Why is it that the night we’re on defense duty, it is quiet?” 

“There’s nothing wrong with quiet.” Hayato replied. He was crouched next to Shun on the roof, looking through his sniper’s scope, not that there was anything to see with how quiet it was.  

“I don’t like it.” Saeki said, agreeing with Shun. “It feels like one of those calm before the storms type of situations.”  

Shun looked down at where Saeki and Kazuma were standing on the road below him and Hayato. “Because of the attack at Tamakoma.”  

Saeki nodded. “It was flashy, very flashy, and now there are no Mimics out tonight?” 

“It’s possible the nation that was sending them here is out of range.” Kazuma suggested.  

“After only three days? Unlikely.” Kusakabe replied.  

Kazuma hummed as his eyes scanned over the empty roads. “Then perhaps the enemy ran out of Mimics to send here. I did hear they got hit with an insane amount the other night, but then only a few showed up last night.”  

“Or maybe by that pattern, we’re going to get slammed with another horde tonight.” Shun argued.  

“I can’t see you or Ryuji being much help against the Mimics. I hear the best type of offense against them is long range attacks.” Hayato replied.  

“As long as they end up dead on the ground, who cares how it gets done?” Saeki scoffed. “Besides, at least I have ranged attacks to help me. What does Shun have?” 

Shun pouted. “I don’t have any memories of deceased loved ones for the Mimic to copy from me so I don’t think there would be any harm if a Mimic touched me.”  

“What do you think would happen if a Mimic got a hold of you?” Hayato asked curiously, looking up from his scope to look at his comrade next to him.  

Shun shrugged. “Get angry that there is nothing to steal?”  

“Hm,” Hayato shrugged back before looking back through his scope, scanning the empty roads. If there was truly an attack, Kusakabe would likely notice before he did, but this was at least giving him something to do. The past few days were noisy with attacks, so honestly, the silence was a bit unnerving.  

Roaming his scope over the area, Hayato caught the glow of something. Going back towards the glow, he was surprised to find it was a sword. A sword held by a man standing on the edge of a building.  

“I think our peaceful night has just ended.”  

*Mimics*  

“So, what’s wrong with you?”  

“Could ask the same of you.” Yuma replied. He was sitting comfortably on his bed in the barracks just because he agreed with Chika he shouldn’t be outside at night time right now. It would be pretty boring to just sit here all night so he was contemplating just walking around the base. He hasn’t expected Hyuse to still be awake. Jin, Yotaro, Rindo, Yuri, Michael, and Reiji were all sleeping soundly already. “It’s late. You should be sleeping.”  

Hyuse glared at his partner. “It truly is a wonder how you function properly with the very little sleep you get.” He hissed back quietly as neither wanted to wake the others up. “And don’t think you can distract me. You're worried about something.”  

Yuma raised a brow. “That is my business, Hyuse. It doesn’t affect our goal of getting to Aftokrator.”  

“Liar.”  

“I’m not lying.”  

“Try that again in a timeline where I didn’t hear you tell Yotaro the truth. You're unsure of whether you’ll be going back to Tamakoma or not after this.” Hyuse retorted. A soft snore caused both boys to glance over at their sleeping friends before Hyuse was looking back at Yuma. “Jin’s warning and your lack of promise to Yotaro tells me you don’t plan to make it past this week.”  

“Plan?” Yuma repeated. “I’m not planning anything, but sometimes bad things happen and we can’t prevent it.”  

“Which only means you’re not trying hard enough.” Hyuse hissed. “Don’t think you can just go ahead and die, Yuma. I can’t be the only Ace on our team. We need all of us here to be a strong team if we’re going to survive Aftokrator.”  

Yuma shook his head. “You can’t just will the future to change.” 

Hyuse raised a brow, glancing over at Jin. “I see. The future. He predicted your death this week.”  

“Very astute.”  

Hyuse turned a glare onto Yuma. “What the hell do you think you’re doing? Your death has been predicted by the fortune teller over there and you’re not even trying to do anything to prevent it!” 

“I’m working on it.”  

“No, you’re not.” Hyuse accused angrily. “Someone who is trying to change the future doesn’t try to do everything by themselves. You haven’t told us anything. How can we help you if you don’t talk to us?”  

“What good would come of telling you guys?” Yuma hissed. “It would only cause worry and distractions. That's no help on the battlefield.”  

Leveling a stare on his partner, Hyuse scowled. “You’re the last person I thought I would have to say this to, but you are an idiot.”  

Yuma raised a brow in surprise at the statement.  

“Osamu and Chika worry about a lot as it is, but they don’t let those worries stop them. The Rank Wars taught them a lot about focusing when out in the field. They’re not about to let those worries cause them to hesitate in the heat of the moment. Instead, knowing the hesitation will lead to a bad future will cause them to focus more because they need to succeed.”  

Yuma narrowed his eyes at his friend, scowling softly. He didn’t need the reminder of how much work and effort Osamu and Chika put into improving themselves. They have been together since Yuma came to this world, and throughout all that time, he has watched them struggle and grow as fighters. It wasn’t easy to become a strong fighter so Yuma let them struggle while he supported them. Until they were both ready to stand on their own on the battlefield, he was their Ace attacker who got the points. It was amazing to watch the difference in them from the beginning of the Rank War season to the end of it. In just eight rounds, they both learned so much.  

“They will do just as fine without knowing what Jin-san predicted.” 

“Border is fighting against the Mimics to prevent transformations as it will be harder to fight off familiar faces. They’re not fighting against a bad future they need to prevent. Not knowing the future leads you down the bad path. Knowing the future gives you a chance to fight to get a different future.”  

“You sure are eager to use Jin-san's side effect. Thought you hated him.” Yuma retorted.  

Hyuse’s eyes narrowed. “Jin is a manipulative jerk who acts like he knows best.” 

“That’s what he does.” Yuma agreed.  

“It’s annoying. He has this high air about him and a smile that hides his true intentions. I can never tell what he is thinking.”  

“He is hard to read.”   

“And the way he says things. It’s like he’s trying to get you to do what he wants without saying it clearly. I don’t trust him at all. He never speaks clearly. He’s a manipulative bastard.” Hyuse said, eyeing his teammate with a frown.  

Yuma eyed Hyuse out of the corner of his eyes, lightly tugging the blanket under him. Hyuse’s words didn’t surprise him in the slightest. From the beginning, he made it perfectly clear that he did not like Jin.  It wasn’t hard for Yuma to see why. It was likely Hyuse blamed Jin somewhat for his being stuck in this world and then having Jin making bets with him that made it seem like he was trying to trick Hyuse into doing what he wanted. Jin was a nice person who generally wanted to help, but it was also true he could be manipulative with his schemes. It was worse for those who didn’t like him since they had the mindset that Jin was out to get them.  

“So, the fact that he was warning of you to be careful to prevent your life from being forfeited, it’s strange. There has to be another meaning behind it. But I'm not the one with a lie detector side effect. So, tell me, what are his lies in his statement?”  

Yuma looked at his teammate strangely. “What lies? Jin-san hasn’t lied about anything. He's always completely honest with me.”  

Hyuse raised a brow. “Oh, really? So, you’re saying he’s going to all this effort to fight against the Mimics and your father just to save your life? There must be an ulterior motive. After all, it’s always the good of the organization and city above all else, isn’t it? No one ever does anything for personal gain, like recruit a Neighbor that was once an enemy into their team to raise their strength to rise through the ranks more easily.”  

Yuma frowned.  

“Do you know why I want to get to Aftokrator so badly?” 

Yuma didn’t reply. He had a fairly good idea from what Enedrad told him. Though Enedrad also told him not to tell Hyuse since it would cause him anger and most likely to do something reckless. Not that Yuma thought it would make a difference. Hyuse was pretty smart. He had to have ideas already of why he was left behind.  

“It’s not because I want to help my country find a new god. I don’t care about that anymore. I'm a soldier for them, but I'm not trying to get back to help them. I want to save my master. Serving your military isn’t the most important thing. If Hyrein is really planning to betray my master, then I will go against him. I value the family that raised me, more than my loyalties to Hyrein, more than my loyalty to my country. What point is there in swearing fealty if my family has to die just so Hyrein can get power?” 

What could Yuma say to that? He would have done the same years ago. He would have chosen his father to save. If it was between Calvaria and his father, it would have been his father every single time. Perhaps that was horrible of him, but before he went to Calvaria, he knew nothing about them. His father was the one who wanted to help them, but Yuma had no stake in it. He knew no one there. Years ago, that was true, but then he spent three years fighting a war.  

Those three years introduced him to the people of Calvaria. While Yuma held no love for the top brass of their military, he spent years fighting alongside those soldiers and making friends with Raymond and his kids. He valued that friendship, but the love he felt for his father, the pain he felt from his death, told Yuma that he would still choose his family.  

“I’m not about to let myself get killed, Hyuse.” Yuma replied.  

“Your inability to strike seriously at your father speaks otherwise.” Hyuse replied coldly. “This is not something you have to deal with alone. You have all of Tamakoma at your back. The fact that you don’t want to rely on them is telling me something is running through your head.”  

“I caused Dad to appear here as an enemy and I’ll settle the matter.”  

“Getting yourself killed in the matter.” Hyuse retorted, crossing his arms and glaring at Yuma. “Alright then, if you’re so sure, I'll give you one day to get it sorted. After that, you need to tell Osamu what is really going on.”  

Yuma scoffed. “And why would I agree to that?”  

“Because I can call him right now and tell him the truth.” Hyuse held up his phone to make his point. “These Mimics are interfering with us starting the away mission so I want this settled, but I do understand the need to settle something personal by yourself. So, one day, and no more. Can't go having my partner getting killed because of something he can’t handle.”  

Jin settled down more comfortably, pulling his blankets tighter over himself. He could see the future, and yet, even he couldn’t see it being Hyuse that scolded Yuma for his actions. Hopefully Yuma would be more willing to accept their help now. As long as the one day limit that Hyuse gave Yuma wouldn’t cause Yuma to do anything reckless.  

Chapter Text

“Gate activity warning! Gate activity warning!”  

That siren was annoying.  

And totally unnecessary.  

It was pretty hard to miss the Gate opening above them.  

Even as the agents were dodging the attacks from the man they had spotted, it was hard for them to miss the Gate opening and dropping Mimics to the ground.  

“That’s on you, Hayato.” Saeki said as he ducked behind a building to avoid the bullets that were being fired at him. “Where’s the backup, Saki?”  

“Azuma squad is on their way but it will take them time to get there.” Kusakabe replied.  

Hayato looked at the Mimics through his scope. He had stayed hidden this whole time without taking a shot against this man. He wasn’t willing to reveal his position against a man he wasn’t sure he could hit. The man who stood on a building and staring down at them to reveal himself to them to begin a fight was someone who was confident in himself. Confident enough that he didn’t think a sniper could kill him standing out in the open like that. It made Hayato itch to pull the trigger to prove him wrong, but it was also a risk that wasn’t worth taking. If he missed, it would only reveal that there was a sniper in the area.  

At the same time though, if he took a shot on the Mimics that were appearing, it would also reveal that there was a sniper in the area. Even so, he couldn’t sit here doing nothing. Otherwise, the Mimics would go after his team. His team would have to be able to keep the man busy enough that he won’t have time to worry about Hayato killing the Mimics.  

Shun lunged out from behind the wall, a Grasshopper appearing behind his foot to launch himself faster at the man. His Scorpion swung forward, slamming into the man’s sword as he blocked the attack. Pressing down on the sword, Shun stared into the man’s face with a frown. Those red eyes stared right back at him.  

Familiar red eyes.  

“Yuma-senpai?” Shun whispered in shock.  

A second sword came swinging into his face that Shun just barely dodged. He dropped a Grasshopper in front him, planting his free hand on it to launch himself backwards and away from the man. As he hit the ground, skidding farther back from the force he threw himself, Kazuma was letting loose an Asteroid on the man. A Shield came up in front of him to defend from the bullets though.  

Shun stood up, glancing at Saeki. “I think this is Yuma-senpai's dad.”  

“Why do you say that?” Saeki asked, coming to stand next to Shun, but his eyes never left their enemy.  

“His eyes. They're just like Yuma-senpai's. Same shade of red, same type of intensity radiating from them.” Shun explained. “And we know Kuga Yugo is in the city.”  

“You really couldn’t have talked to Kuga-kun about his Black Trigger, could you?” Kusakabe asked.  

“Ah!” Shun groaned. “I tried to. I couldn’t find him! Well, the best way to get better at something is to fight it.”  

“Rather than fight, let’s kill him.” Saeki said before pulling Kogetsu to his side. “Senku Kogetsu.”  

As Saeki swung his sword forward, a slash extended from his blade, going for Yugo. Instead of looking concerned, Yugo merely took a step back while lifting his sword to block the slash. At the same time, he twisted his body as he brought up his second sword to block Shun who had tried to get behind him, thinking Yugo would be too distracted with Saeki. Yugo twisted his sword around Shun’s, knocking the Scorpion loose from Shun’s hand. With the weapon out of the way, Yugo was free to slam his foot into Shun’s stomach, sending the young agent flying backwards to slam into the building.  

Shun landed in the rubble, staring up at the ceiling above him. “I shouldn’t be too surprised that didn’t work, considering he is the one who most likely trained Yuma-senpai.”  

Hayato looked at the Mimics through his scope, getting ready to shoot when the Mimic turned its face up to look directly at him. Was that Mimic staring at him? Something to think about at a later time. Hayato pulled the trigger, and as usual, his aim was true as he took the Mimic’s head off. One down, who knew how many more to go. Shifting his rifle to the next Mimic, he found that one looking at towards him too. That one at least made sense. He did give his position away by taking that first shot.  

As he was looking at the Mimic, it jumped into the air and landed on the side of a building, slamming its claw like hands into it to keep itself from falling off as it scaled up it to reach Hayato. It was a bad angle for Hayato to take a shot at it, but he might be able to disrupt it enough. Before he could get into position, Kazuma’s Hound slammed into the Mimic, knocking the corpse into the building.  

“Thanks, Kazuma.”  

“I’ll take care of Mimics coming for you. Focus on the far away ones. We’ll leave Kuga to Shun and Ryuji.” Kazuma said over the coms. “That okay with you, Ryuji?” 

Ryuji threw up a Shield to block the bullets that were flying towards his face. He glanced towards Shun who was lying in the rubble. “What do you think, Shun? Should be simple enough to take care of Kuga.”  

“You’ve never fought Yuma-senpai.” Shun moaned.  

“What does that have to do with this?” Ryuji asked as he was forced to block a sword strike from Kuga who was suddenly in his face.  

Shun pulled himself up from the rubble, rubbing his head. “I think his dad is far stronger than him. You know I’ve never beaten Yuma-senpai in a ten-round match.”  

“Move, Shun!” Hayato ordered as he took another shot, blowing the head off of another Mimic.  

As the Mimic fell dead to the ground, Shun stared at the body now lying at his feet. He glanced up to see the horde of Mimics descending onto him. Without even standing up, Shun dropped a Grasshopper pad which he dropped his foot onto and launched himself into the air. As he twisted his body in the air, he brought out a new Scorpion blade from his wrist to block the Mimic’s arm that was following after him.  

Well, he got the first one.  

Multiple arms were coming towards his face from all the Mimics on the ground. Another Grasshopper pad appeared under his foot which he used to launch himself backwards towards Ryuji, though the arms twisted in the air to follow after him.  

Kazuma looked down from the building he was standing on. Taking aim with his assault rifle, he began unleashing his Asteroid. The bullets soared through the air, slamming into the arms chasing after Shun. His bullets did the trick in slicing the arms off, leaving them to drop harmlessly to the ground. The arms that he wasn’t able to hit were sliced off by Shun before he managed to land safely behind Ryuji.  

“You’re supposed to be helping me, not them.” Ryuji grunted as his foot slid back from the pressure Yugo was applying on their locked blades.  

“O-kay,” Shun said as he once more launched himself off of Grasshopper to go flying at Yugo this time.  

Seeing him coming, Yugo knocked Ryuji’s blade upwards before taking a step back and holding his other hand towards Shun. “Anchor, Plus Bolt. Triple!” An orange Seal with a smaller blue Seal appeared in front of Yugo’s hand before bullets were flying towards Shun.  

Shun threw up a Shield while at the same time using his Grasshopper to throw himself to the side. With the amount of bullets being unleashed, he doubted his Shield could hold up. He wasn’t quite fast enough though as the bullets went through his Shield and slammed into his left leg, dragging him out of the sky to hit the ground forcefully.  

Pushing himself up to his knees, Shun looked down at his leg in surprise. “Lead Bullet? Why....How does he have Lead Bullet?”  

Ryuji’s blade swept through the air, blocking Yugo’s sword before it could cut Shun’s head off. While holding Yugo’s sword back, Ryuji called his assault rifle with his other hand.  

Seeing the gun appear in his partner’s hand had Shun blinking. He wouldn’t dare fire that at close range, would he? As he watched his team member begin to pull the trigger, Shun decided he would be that crazy and threw his Shield back up to defend himself as Ryuji unleashed his Asteroid.  

Unlocking his blade from Ryuji’s, Yugo jumped backwards as he threw a Shield up behind him to defend from Asteroid. While the Shield defended his back, his front was wide open, giving Kazuma the chance to unleash his Hound on the Mimic. With the bullets incoming, Yugo smiled before he was deflecting the bullets with his sword.  

Every. Single. Bullet.  

The trajectory of the bullets could be read with Hound since they just tracked the target, but to be able to deflect every single one?  

“That’s some grade A bullshit.” Ryuji griped, tightening his grip on his sword. Not a single one of their bullets hit Yugo. “Your friend can’t do that, can he?” 

“No,” Shun said, dropping his Shield. “Scorpion wouldn’t hold up doing something like that. I told you. I think he is way stronger than Yuma-senpai!”  

“There’s strong, and then there’s-” Ryuji stopped as shadowy arms suddenly shot past Yugo and towards him and Shun. Slicing through the one that was closest to him, he scowled. “Hayato! Kazuma!”  

“Did you know Mimics have Shields?” Hayato asked as he ran from his hiding spot. “My shots aren’t getting through anymore.”  

Scorpion blades came out of both of Shun’s arms as he deflected the arms that were suddenly upon him. He would prefer to put distance between him and all of his enemies currently on the battlefield, but his weighed down leg was not helping. These Lead Bullets felt heavier than the ones he was used to getting hit with. 

Bullets rained down from the sky to hit where Yugo was standing. While the bullets did their job of hitting the Mimic’s shadowy arms, destroying them enough to drop to the ground which saved Ryuji and Shun, they did nothing to Yugo who had a fixed Shield encircling him completely.  

“I’m about done with this guy. Does he predict everything?” Ryuji complained.  

“Hey, uh, Kuga....eh, Kuga-san!” Shun shouted. Using Ryuji for support, Shun dragged himself to his feet. Even when he was fully up, he kept a hold of Ryuji so he wouldn’t topple back to the ground. “Can I ask a question?” 

Yugo eyed the shadows that the buildings were casting, but smiled at Shun. “What is it?”  

“Oh, oh good, you sound willing to talk.” Shun said.  

“What are you doing, Shun?” Kusakabe asked. “Our job is to kill him.”  

“Which we’ve been failing spectacularly at.” Kazuma said, eyeing the Mimics warily. With the reach those arms could achieve when they extended, he didn’t feel that safe on the roof anymore. They managed to cut so many of their arms off with their bullets, but there were still plenty around that had arms. “Give Shun a chance.”  

“Why are you attacking us? We’re Border agents. I heard you were one of the founders of Border so why do you want to attack us?” Shun asked, surprising his team. Shun would have to apologize to Chika at some point. He made the promise to not mention that Kuga Yugo was a Border founder just a few hours ago. Of course, that was before he saw himself getting attacked by the man. He knew he was just a Mimic of Yuma’s father so he wasn’t real but from his understanding, the transformed Mimics had all the memories and skills of the original. If that was the case, why would Kuga Yugo want to attack the organization that he helped create?  

“Why?” Yugo repeated. “If I’m being honest, I don’t really have anything against you guys, but I know attacking Border will anger my son and drive him to seek me out.”  

“So, we’re just collateral damage in a family spat?” Hayato asked as he jumped to the next roof and hid by crouching down to take aim at the Mimics.  

“I don’t believe that.” Shun retorted. “You love your son. That's the only way you can be here.”  

 Yugo smirked, amusement sparkling in his eyes as he ignored the shots being taken behind him by the agents trying to kill the Mimics. “Tell me, you claim to be his friend, but has he ever told you about me?”  

Shun looked taken aback at the question before shame filled him. It felt like Yugo was seeing right through him. Yuma hadn’t told him anything about his life before Border, but Shun also never bothered to ask. His friend was just always so happy that it was hard to see that he might be troubled by something from before his time in Border.  

Yugo dragged his second sword out of its sheath. “You should ask him about it sometime, if you’re able to.”  

“What?” Shun asked confused.  

Ryuji shifted, adjusting his grip on his sword. It would be hard to move fast enough with the way Shun was using him to stay standing. It made difficult to just defend like this, and that statement from Yugo felt ominous enough that he would need to defend.  

“Yuma won’t survive the week.”  

That statement had Shun’s heart dropping to his stomach. He understood this person in front of him was a Mimic, but he couldn’t understand why he would want to kill his son. A Mimic was meant to deceive people by perfectly imitating the person they transform into. So why did Yugo talk of Yuma dying like this? Was his son’s death his true desire? 

“I don’t understand.” Shun said. Shifting his Scorpion from coming out of his wrist into a blade he could hold in his hand, Shun sliced his leg off, ridding himself of the weight holding him back. It caused him to be unbalanced, but it was better than being completely immobile from the weight. “I will never understand your logic, but I won’t let you kill Yuma-senpai!” 

Yugo smiled. “You’re already too late.”  

“What?”  

Yugo suddenly shifted his weight back on his right leg and was blocking the two blades of Koarai and Okudera. He knocked both of the Attackers back before taking swings at both of them, which were blocked by Shields. Both Attackers landed on the ground, dropping their Shields.  

“Sounds like nonsense.” Okudera said.  

Koarai nodded in agreement. “We saw Kuga in the halls before defense duty. He was perfectly fine. In fact, if anything is wrong here, it’s you. You sound like a horrible father!” 

“We may just be pawns to you in your squabble with your son, but if that’s your attitude to him, I'm not feeling very inclined to let you two meet up.” Okudera added. He didn’t know Yuma well since he tended to only run into him in Rank Wars, but hearing the way this version of his father was speaking, was angering him. He had no idea of what Yuma’s father was like when he was alive. He could have been like this Mimic in front of him or he could have been nicer than this. In any case, this wasn’t how Yuma shoulder remember his father. He didn’t need to know a father that wanted him dead. 

“Azuma-san is going to help Uno-san and Satomi-san take out the Mimics.” Koarai told Shun and Ryuji over their telepathy.  

“Wish they would hurry up with that. We could really use some help over here.” Shun replied.  

“Hey! You have us!” Koarai protested.  

Shun just gave him a look. If they were able to break past Yugo’s defense, then they should go for it. Shun, honestly, wasn’t feeling all that optimistic.  

*Mimics*  

“He’s a monster.”  

Mako looked up from her computer to look at the depressed Koarai. “I’m not sure what you were expecting. He is Kuga-kun's father.”  

“We went all that way to help Kusakabe squad too.” Okudera groaned.  

“Looks like the warning from Shinoda-san about the dangers of Kuga Yugo were nothing to scoff at.” Azuma replied. He didn’t get a chance to see what happened with Kuga Yugo as he spent all night helping Hayato and Kazuma deal with the Mimics to keep them off the Attackers so they could deal with Yugo. By the time they had finished, all their Attackers had bailed out and Kuga Yugo was gone. He seemingly wasn’t concerned about forcing the snipers to bail out. It was strange and explained nothing of what he was hoping to achieve if he was willing to leave the snipers to kill the Mimics.  

This was Yugo’s third time in attacking them, but there seemed to be no reason for the attacks. He had to realize by now that Border had a bail out function so he wasn’t able to actually kill any of them, and yet he kept attacking. Besides talking about Yuma dying before the week was over, there still wasn’t much clue as to what the end goal of this attack was.  

Before they could worry about that though, perhaps they should ask Jin what he saw in the future or warn Yuma that his father was coming for his life.  

*Mimics*  

Yuma didn’t need to see his arm. He could feel it instead. The cracks that started on his hand were extending up his arm to his shoulder. This wasn’t good. Were these cracks appearing on his body the first sign to the future Jin predicted? It was weird. Jin said he didn’t seem him dying this week before the Mimics made their appearance. If his body was breaking like this, then had to have something to do with his real body sealed inside the Black Trigger, didn’t it? 

Even if that was the case, Yuma didn’t have time to focus on that. There were more important things than his body starting to give out. Hyuse gave him a day to get things fixed. It wasn’t something he was agreeing with, but Hyuse wasn’t looking for an agreement to his promise.  

No, it wasn’t a promise.  

It was more like a threat.  

With first light hitting, that meant the Mimics would be gone, Yuma was sneaking out of the barracks as quietly as he could to avoid waking anyone up. Hyuse gave him the go ahead to take one day to fix this and he was going to take the whole day without having anyone hounding him.  

Making his way down the hall, Yuma eyed the hallways that all looked the same. Why did they have to build the base with such similar looking hallways? It just made it complicated to get away. He thought he was finally getting used to the base, but then he found a new floor with the barracks on it. It was once again making him lost.  

If he could just find the elevators, he could find the way out of here.  

Standing at the intersection, Yuma looked left and then right as he debated on which where to turn.  

“There you are!”  

Yuma looked down the right hallway to see Shun approaching him. Shun’s Operation room wasn’t on this floor so if he was coming to Yuma, the elevator had to be in that direction. Walking past Shun, Yuma shoved his left hand in his pocket to hide the cracks on it and muttered a good morning but didn’t stop to chat.  

Shun came to a stop, blinking at the abruptness of Yuma’s departure. Was the way he called out to Yuma not obvious enough that he needed to talk to him? Turning sharply on his heel, he followed Yuma down the hall.  

Hearing the footsteps behind him, Yuma sighed. “I’m busy, Shun. We'll talk later.” 

“Later?” Shun repeated as he picked up his speed so he could walk next to his friend. “Later! I was looking for you all day yesterday and then you said we would talk in the morning and now you’re avoiding me again?” 

“I was never avoiding you, Shun.”  

“Not answering anyone’s messages all day is a sure sign you’re being avoidant.” Shun retorted.  

“I was busy.” Yuma said simply. It wasn’t exactly a lie. He was in the Restricted Zone for a lot of yesterday to find his father, which he failed at, and then he was fighting his father at Tamakoma. There wasn’t much time to be chatting with anyone yesterday.  

“And then you said we would talk in the morning! I just got off defense duty where I had a very long night because of your father.” Shun replied. “We're talking now!” 

That had Yuma coming to a stop as so he could turn to focus on Shun in surprise. “My father?” 

“He attacked us with a horde of Mimics last night.” Shun explained. “It wasn’t exactly fun. Your father has no mercy.”  

Yuma stared at Shun for a moment longer before he was walking down the hall. “He’s not invincible. I'll take care of it.”  

“Yuma won’t survive the week.”  

“No!” Shun shouted, running in front of Yuma, forcing his friend to stop so he didn’t run into him. “You can’t go after him!” 

Yuma looked at his friend, completely unimpressed. “And let him keep running around attacking Border agents? Or even the city? We can’t leave him unchecked.”  

“I’m not saying we should. He needs tracked down and taken care of, but not by you!”  

Eyes narrowing in annoyance, Yuma shoved past Shun. He didn’t have time for this. He was sick of people telling him he couldn’t handle his father. None of them knew what he had been through or what’s he done. This was something he could handle. He could handle killing his father a second time. Kuga Yugo appeared because of him so it had to be his responsibility in dealing with it.  

Before Yuma could get too far, Shun twisted around and grabbed Yuma’s arm, pulling him back forcefully to stop his advancement towards the elevators. Yuma stumbled back a few steps in surprise before he was stopping to glare at Shun. The concern on Shun’s face had Yuma’s anger crumbling. As frustrated as he was, he wasn’t in the mood to get into another argument with a friend. A friend that clearly wasn’t going to let him leave to find his father.  

“....Let’s go to the train station.” Yuma said, dropping the argument for now.  

Shun looked at Yuma strangely, as if he had never seen him before. “What?” 

*Mimics*  

“Good morning, Usami!” Jin greeted cheerfully.  

Shiori cracked her eyes open to look at her friend coming into the infirmary. “Morning.”  

“Eh, your voice still doesn’t sound good.” Jin took a seat in the chair at Shiori’s bed. “I wanted to stop by to apologize.”  

“Apologize?” Shiori whispered, throat hurting from speaking. She pushed herself into a sitting position, blanket bunching up on her lap. “Did something happen?” 

Jin motioned to her position in bed. “I should have seen this attack coming. You wouldn’t be lying here if I had managed to see the attack on our base faster and gotten back in time.”  

Shiori shook her head, smiling softly at her friend. “Not your fault. It’s not anyone’s fault. We’re all part of Border.” She explained, gently massaging her throat as it was starting to hurt. “We knew the risks when we signed up.”  

Jin did his best to smile back her. Ever since he made the choice to use his Side Effect to protect his comrades and the city from attacks, whenever something does go wrong, this guilt always ate at him. He didn’t think there would ever be a time where he didn’t feel bad when something goes wrong when he should have been able to prevent it.  

“We all know you’re doing your best, Jin-san. We're all still alive and surviving because of you.” Shiori said gently. “Besides, you can’t be around for everything that goes wrong. Konami, Hyuse-kun, and Yuma-kun were at Tamakoma and they did an amazing job. Speaking of, have you seen Yuma-kun? He's the only one who hasn’t come to visit me.” 

If Jin was feeling this guilt, he couldn’t imagine what Yuma was feeling. Tamakoma was his home now and all the residents were his friends, and they were all put in danger by Yugo coming there for him. “It was a Mimic of his father, Usami. He's probably working up the courage to come face you to apologize. Kuga-san was there for him. Everyone else is just collateral. If this continues...”  

It seemed that response was not what Shiori wanted to hear with the way she was scowling at Jin, like Yuma’s feelings were his fault. “Yuma-kun can’t the control the actions of a Mimic. Where is he? You tell him to come here so I can scold him properly.” Shiori wanted to say more, but the way her throat was hurting made her stop, coughs spilling from her lips from the pain. She drank some water from her glass before leaning back on the bed, sighing. How could she hope to properly scold Jin and Yuma if she couldn’t even speak? 

“He’s not here, Usami. I imagine he went out looking for his father again.” Jin replied.  

Once again, that just seemed to annoy Shiori. “By himself?” Her voice came out as more a whisper this time. She really shouldn’t be talking this much right now. 

Jin stood up, patting Shiori on the shoulder. “Rest up well so you can get released. Tamakoma is having a meeting tonight. Or tomorrow morning, depending on how things play out, but I’m hoping for tonight. Until then, I'm sorry to cut this short, but I have a lot to do.”  

*Mimics*  

“Where did you even want to go?” Shun asked, looking around the train station.  

“Go?” Yuma repeated confused as he adjusted the gloves on his hand that he managed to snag from his stuff. He hadn’t wanted to put them on but when Shun ended up joining him, he decided it would be easier to just wear the gloves then try to remember to hide his hand all day. “I just want to ride a train.”  

“You want to ride a train just because?” Shun repeated slowly. “That’s a waste of money!” 

“Is it really that expensive?” Yuma pulled out his money, staring down at the bills. He could afford a huge meal for his friends, but not a train ticket? Strange.  

Shun gaped at the huge stack of bills in Yuma’s hand. “What are you doing? If you’re trying to purposefully get mugged, I'm abandoning you here, Yuma-senpai. Put it away!” 

Yuma looked up. “Osamu says I shouldn’t take my money out in public.”  

“And for good reason!” Shun shouted, shoving Yuma’s hand into his chest, trying cover up the stack of money. “I’m serious. I was on defense duty all night. I don’t have the energy to be dealing with people trying to rob you.” 

“Oh,” Yuma said blankly, looking down at the money with a confused look. “Osamu says I'm not allowed to break people’s legs anymore when they try to rob me.”  

Shun’s brain was going to malfunction the longer this went on. He lost his Trion body last night so the lack of sleep was catching up to him. If Yuma continued the way he was, he was going to break Shun’s brain. That is not what a sleep deprived Shun needed right now. “Why were you breaking legs in the first place?” 

“Because he asked me too.”  

“What?” Shun asked blankly. 

“He wanted money for the hospital for his broken leg but his leg wasn’t broken so I broke it for him and gave him the money.” Yuma explained cheerfully. “Osamu wasn’t happy about it though.”  

Shun had to restrain himself from smacking his face. He could not understand how Yuma’s thought process came into existence. Rather than continue this conversation where he could not follow, Shun just turned and marched into the train station. “Just put your money away. We’ll go get on a train.”  

While waiting for the train, Shun eyed his friend out of the corner of his eye. He had found Yuma this morning because he wanted to talk to him. What he wanted to talk to about though was something that needed to be held in private. They didn’t need any of the public overhearing them which meant no conversation was going to take place in the train station.  

Shun’s eyes drifted down to Yuma’s hands resting on his lap. “So, what is with the gloves? It's not even cold today.”  

Yuma glanced at his hands before shrugging. “They’re a choice.”  

“Uh, okay,” Shun muttered. He looked away from his friend, glancing down to his feet, scraping his shoe across the ground. There was so much he wanted to ask, but he wasn’t sure of where to start, especially in such a public setting.  

“So,” Yuma started, bringing Shun’s attention back to him. “You saw my father last night?” 

Shun nodded. “Yeah. He's a tough opponent. The Black Trigger abilities he’s stolen from you make him an even tougher opponent.”  

Yuma tilted his head towards Shun in consideration.  

That was the sign Shun needed to go on. “You father said something last night that has me worried.”  

“Really?” Yuma repeated, looking down the station to see the train approaching. “Is that ours?” 

“Huh?” Shun glanced at the train. “Uh, sure.”  

Yuma eagerly jumped to his feet with Shun following more slowly in confusion. He truly didn’t understand Yuma’s eagerness to get on a train when he had no true destination in mind.  

“That is amazing. I can’t believe how long it is!” Yuma said excitedly, practically bouncing on his feet as he looked up and down the train that was pulling to a stop. Considering the amount of people in the station, it made sense why the train would be so long, yet he still didn’t expect how big it was going to be.  

Shun looked at Yuma strangely. The way his eyes were lighting up in excitement at seeing the train in front of them was just weird. It was just a just a train. His friend was acting like a child that has never seen a train in his life. 

“So, about your father,” Shun said, trying to get back on track to the conversation as he followed Yuma onto the train. He shoved through the crowds and joined Yuma by one of the windows, keeping his voice low as he continued to talk, though Yuma look more invested in looking out the window. “Last night he made this declaration that you would die this week.”  

At least that seemed to get Yuma’s attention, even if the older agent didn’t turn to look at Shun.  

Yuma looked at Shun out of the corner of his eye, feeling a frown form on his face. His death had already been predicted by Jin. Jin, who had the ability to see the future, could explain why he saw his incoming death. A Mimic of his father declaring his death by the end of the week? There was no explaining that, unless the Mimic was really just that determined to kill him, which wouldn’t be all that surprising to Yuma. It was an enemy version of his father.  

“Doesn’t that concern you at all?” Shun asked, leaning forward to try to look at Yuma’s face, holding onto the pole to keep his balance on the moving train. “He’s your father and he wants you dead.”  

“I’d rather have him come after me than attack my friends or home again.” Yuma replied, tightening his grip on the pole he was holding. “Border doesn’t need dragged into my problems.”  

“The Mimics are a Border problem.” Shun argued. “And even if they weren’t, you’re our friend. We're not going to just stand by when someone is trying to kill you.”  

Yuma glanced at Shun for barely a second before looking back out the window at the scenery soaring past. “I can’t believe how fast trains are. You must get to where you need to go so fast.”  

“Maybe a few hours to get somewhere, depending on far you are going, but we’re not traveling a long distance. We need to get off at the next station.” Shun replied, much to Yuma’s disappointment.  

“But this is fun.”  

“We can ride a train back later.” Shun replied. “Not that we even have a destination in mind.”  

“Actually, I do have a place in mind.”  

*Mimics*  

“A shrine?” Shun asked as they reached the top of the stairs.  

“Mm-hmm,” Yuma hummed. “The day I met Chika, she brought me here.”  

Shun looked around the shrine. It looked a bit rundown so that probably meant no one really came here. Despite being a bit rundown, it looked like a pretty peaceful, relaxing place. “Why did she bring you here?” 

“Osamu told her to watch me while he dealt with Border things. Since no one comes here, it would be hard to find us up here.” Yuma explained as he took a seat on the steps of the shrine.  

Shun's brows furrowed as he stood in front of Yuma, refusing to sit down. If he sat now, he would just want to take a nap. “Why would you want to hide from people finding you?” 

“The day I met Chika is the day Miwa squad and I got into a fight. I told you about that the other day, right?”  

“Yeah, you guys got into it. Was it really a big enough deal that Mikumo-senpai needed to talk with Border about it?” Shun asked.  

Yuma stared at Shun, locking eyes with his friend.  

Staring right on back, Shun subconsciously straightened up, standing taller. He managed to snag this conversation with Yuma and he wasn’t about to waste it. Chika said to ask him what he wanted to know directly so that is what he would do. “I thought we were great friends, Yuma-senpai, but these past few days have shown me just how horrible of a friend I’ve been. I truly didn’t know anything about you. I didn’t know you lost your father. I didn’t know you had a Black Trigger. I should have realized something was off when Mikumo-senpai said you were fighting a Black Trigger during Aftokrator’s invasion but it went completely over my head. And now the Mimics are stressing you out and I'm still just thinking about my problems.”  

“You’re a great friend, Shun.” Yuma replied. His Side Effect hadn’t activated at all during Shun’s little speech. He truly felt like an awful friend for knowing so little about Yuma’s life before Border. It was actually something Yuma respected. No one asked about his family or life before Border. Perhaps it might mean they don’t care about Yuma enough to ask, which is how Shun saw it, but to Yuma it was the opposite. It was a sign of respecting his privacy. If he wanted to offer something, he would. “I really appreciate our friendship.” 

“Do you? I've learned more about you these past few days from anything and everything except your mouth. I understand you value your privacy, and I don’t want to butt into that,” Shun paused, unsure of how he wanted to say what he felt needed said.  

“I do,” Yuma said, freeing Shun of trying to work on his wording. “In our first meeting, you lied to me, but since then, you haven’t told me a single lie. I really appreciate that. It's hard for people to be truthful.”  

“How did you know I lied to you that day?” Shun asked. This wasn’t want he wanted to talk to Yuma about, but it seemed the conversation kept getting diverted.  

Yuma tapped the side of his head. “A Side Effect that allows me to detect me lies.”  

Shun blinked in surprise. “I didn’t even know you had one.”  

“I don’t advertise it, but I figured some people might realize it since I call people out on their lies.” Yuma explained.  

“I never did.” Shun replied, rubbing at his eyes. That Side Effect would explain a few things over the last few months.  

Yuma nodded, looking pass Shun towards the gate that led them here. Beyond that was the city which is where he actually wanted to be right now. He needed to find his father, but he didn’t see that being easy. No matter how much he needed to kill his father, it would be hard to do it in the day that Hyuse gave him. It wouldn’t be easy to find his father in the first place so he instead changed his plans and just dragged Shun up here since it seemed his friend wouldn’t leave him alone until they had their talk.  

“I never considered you a bad friend. I just didn’t tell you anything because it’s not easy to talk about things without revealing other things.” Yuma shifted his eyes back to Shun’s. “I have secrets. My Dad being a former Border member being one of them. My dad being the creator of my Black Trigger. The things I got involved in before joining Border. There's a lot more but I can’t tell you without revealing my biggest secret to you. That secret ties everything about me together.” 

Shun tilted his head as he thought, looking down at the ground. How could one secret possible tie everything about his friend together? Maybe he just meant one big secret is what kept him from talking about the other stuff. He would never ask Yuma to tell him everything about himself. There was plenty of stuff that Shun hadn’t told Yuma either.  

Yuma stared ahead at his friend, smiling softly as he saw him refusing to ask for that one secret. A secret that was never meant to be shared.  

“I’m a Neighbor.”  

Shun's head snapped up to stare at Yuma, mouth gaping.  

Chapter Text

Osamu checked his phone to look at the message from Jin then up at the door he was standing in front of. He kept waiting for the message from Shinoda to tell them about their training for the away mission, but he wasn’t surprised that it wasn’t coming. The Mimics had been a distraction, but it shouldn’t have been enough to stall training for the expedition team. He had a feeling the threat of Kuga Yugo in the city just amped up the threat so now the training for the away mission was going to be on hold until this threat was taken care of.  

None of that explained why Jin was asking Osamu to come to the conference room for a meeting with some of the other Captains.  

Sliding his phone back into his pocket, Osamu entered the conference room. “Morning.”  

“Good morning.” Arashiyama replied, smiling at his friend. “I didn’t realize Jin called you here too.”  

“Do you know what it is he needed?”  

“We wanted to talk yesterday about the abilities that Kuga’s Black Trigger has, but got sidetracked and then Jin got a vision of an attack at Tamakoma so we had to rush there.” Azuma explained. “I suppose this is his second attempt at that meeting.”  

Osamu nodded in understanding as he took a seat at the table. “I don’t know why I'm here then. I understand how Kuga’s Black Trigger works already.” He glanced at Arashiyama. “Don’t you as well? You fought alongside Kuga when he used it in the Aftokrator invasion.”  

“We fought together briefly, but I don’t think he fought too seriously with it. We only saw a little of what he could do with it.” Arashiyama replied.  

“Makes sense. Even when I watched him fight Miwa-senpai with it, he went easy on them.” Osamu replied. “He doesn’t use it often, but it’s rare for him to go one hundred percent with it.” He paused as he thought over the times Yuma used his Black Trigger and how Replica would fight alongside him. “It might be too hard for him to go full out. His Black Trigger isn’t easy to use.”  

Kako raised a brow, looking from Osamu to Arashiyama. “What is this about a fight with Miwa?” 

“Oh, uh,” Osamu hesitated, looking at Kako and Azuma. That's right these two didn’t know about Yuma’s Neighbor status. He could only hope that didn’t cause too much an issue.  

Azuma smiled easily back at Osamu. He did help Tamakoma recently with covering Hyuse’s status as a Neighbor. It wasn’t hard to realize the truth that Tamakoma was hiding. It wasn’t surprising either considering their loved of befriending Neighbors. “Kuga is a Neighbor.”  

“Oh?” Jin sang, standing in the doorway of the conference room with a smile. “You knew?” 

“Why are you always last to arrive when you schedule these meetings?” Miwa griped.  

Azuma glanced at Miwa. It seemed no matter how much Miwa changed and matured from his experiences in Border, he couldn’t fully let go his attitude. That was okay. There was no need to make Miwa change completely. Looking back at Jin, Azuma shrugged. “When I saw the memo about his father being a former Border member, I had a moment of doubt, but from what I've seen of him the past few months, he is too experienced of a fighter. He has to have been through some tough stuff.” 

Considering that story that Jin told him yesterday, Arashiyama found that to be an understatement. He always saw Yuma as a strong person, but learning his history of his father and that he was dying put a whole new perspective to what it meant to be strong and overcoming those obstacles in life.  

Kako raised both of her brows, looking around the room in shock. Not one face in this room looked shocked at the revelation of Yuma’s status as Neighbor. Azuma seemed to be the only one that this wasn’t confirmed for, besides her who didn’t even have a clue. After that story from Jin yesterday, she really should have seen this one coming. The story of what happened to Yuma would make a lot more sense to her now that she understood it happened in the Neighborhood.  

It would also really explain why Miwa had a very obvious disdain for Yuma.  

Miwa could dislike Yuma all he liked. Miwa had his own feelings about the Neighbors, and Kako had her feelings about them. If they attacked them, they were enemies that needed taken out. But Yuma hadn’t attacked them and instead has been a pretty helpful ally. He was truly a sign that not all Neighbors were bad people.  

Besides, Neighbor or not, he was still a talented ‘K.’  

Him being a Neighbor didn’t make her want him on her team any less.  

Jin took a seat besides Osamu. “Anyway, Yuma being a Neighbor wasn’t the point of this discussion.” He paused, taking a look around the table at the gathered captains. “It seems I’m not the last to arrive. Where is Kazama-san?”  

“Not here,” Tachikawa shrugged. “You didn’t see that coming, Mr. Fortune Teller?”  

“Contrary to popular belief, I don’t use my side effect every waking moment every day.” Jin replied. “That’s alright. I can find him later.” He turned to look at Osamu. “I wanted your help in explaining Yuma’s Black Trigger since you’ve seen him use it the most.”  

Osamu pushed his glasses up, adjusting them. “That may be true, but Kuga would be the best person to talk to about that.” 

“Hmm, true.” Jin agreed. “But he left the base early this morning and he’s not going to be back all day.” 

Osamu’s brows furrowed. Jin didn’t sound concerned, but Osamu was feeling worried. The Mimic of Kuga Yugo was out there and his main target was Yuma. He didn’t like the idea of his partner just running around the city by himself, especially when he was down his Border Trigger. He couldn’t very well just activate his Black Trigger if he was in the city and his father found him. Well, he could, but it would lead to a lot of chaos and likely destruction of the city, not to mention the civilians that would be put in danger.  

“Don’t look so worried. Shun is with him.” Jin assured Osamu.  

“Why are they together?” Osamu asked. He knew they were friends, but he also knew that Shun’s team was on defense duty last night. He didn’t think Shun would want dragged around by Yuma all day.  

“Shun hunted him down this morning and forcibly included himself into Yuma’s plans for the day.” Jin explained.  

“You didn’t think of stopping them so Kuga could come here to talk to us?” Fuyushima suggested.  

“If I got in Yuma’s way today, he’d be biting my head off.” Jin replied, giving an easy grin to the other agent. “Speaking of,” He looked over at Osamu. “Tamakoma is having a meeting tonight. Or tomorrow morning, depending on what happens today.”  

Osamu looked at Jin in confusion. “On what happens?”  

“Hyuse and Yuma made a deal, or more like Hyuse forced Yuma to accept a deal. When Yuma ultimately fails to succeed his side of the deal, all of Tamakoma needs to have a meeting.” Jin explained.  

That did nothing to help Osamu understand. In fact, it was only making him more confused. Yuma and Hyuse seemed to get along just fine, when Yuma wasn’t intentionally angering him to tease him. It was strange that Hyuse was forcing Yuma into a deal. Osamu would just let it go though. If Jin said they would talk later with the rest of Tamakoma, then there was no need for Osamu to ask for more information now.  

“What did you do to make Kuga-kun so mad? You said he wasn’t happy with you yesterday either.” Kako pointed out.  

Jin rubbed the back of his head, grin turning uneasy. “Yuma is just stressed out right now. He has a lot going on. The Mimics just topped off his stress levels for the week. I hope a day in the city with Shun will help calm him down. It’s hard to get anything done when he’s snapping at me all the time.”  

“So, it wasn’t just yesterday morning?” Osamu asked.  

“I don’t begrudge him for it. He has a lot on his mind right now, more than he’s told you. It's part of what we’re going to talk about tonight when he gets back.” Jin explained. “Or, Hyuse is going to talk about it. He and Yuma were arguing about it last night. Hyuse called him an idiot.”  

Osamu’s brows were going to disappear into his hairline soon if Jin kept talking about this. Now he was just really curious about what was going on. Hyuse called people out on things easily, but he never called Yuma an idiot. He didn’t even tend to call Yuma out on anything since Yuma was so levelheaded and had plenty of wisdom when it came to battle. Something serious had to be going on for Hyuse to get on Yuma’s case.  

A frown pulled at Osamu’s lips. If Hyuse was feeling the need to get involved and call Yuma out, it also meant that Yuma was keeping something from him. That hurt, especially since Yuma had promised him the other night to tell him immediately when something was going on. Osamu had stepped back the past couple days to give Yuma some space to think about what was going on, but it was with the understanding that Yuma would come to him to talk and get help when he needed it. He thought Yuma trusted him enough to not just keep everything to himself.  

“Sounds like you were eavesdropping.” Miwa muttered.  

“They woke me up with their chatter. If I alerted them to that, they would have halted their conversation.” Jin replied. “Anyway, let’s go over Yuma’s Black Trigger.” 

*Mimics*  

“Nice to see you looking lively.”  

Shiori looked up from the book she was reading, smiling at Konami trailing in with Karasuma behind her.  

“Do you feel better?” Karasuma asked.  

“You are all overreacting. I wasn’t that injured in the first place.” Shiori replied softly.  

Konami dropped into the chair next to the bed, frowning intently at her friend. “Sounds like bullshit. I saw Kuga choking you out and then he threw you through that wall!” 

“Yuma-kun protected me from taking the force of that.” Shiori pointed out.  

“He did!” Konami dramatically threw her hands into the air, leaning back in her seat. “And the fact that he is up and running around makes no sense. He should be injured from slamming into a wall so hard he went through it. And yet, he doesn’t have a scratch on him!”  

“That’s because Yuma was wearing a set of armor designed by R&D that was designed to enhance his clothes with Trion to protect him getting hurt when getting thrown like that.” Karasuma told Konami as he took a seat on the other side of the bed.  

“He was?” Konami asked surprised. “I didn’t even know Border was designing something like that. It’s a good thing Yuma had that to keep himself safe.”  

Shiori’s lips twitched in amusement. One of these days Konami would learn not to trust everything she hears, but that day was not today.  

“He doesn’t have it.” Karasuma replied, staring straight at her. “I lied.”  

Konami stared blankly back at her teammate for a moment before shock overtook her and she was jumping to her feet. “You lied to me!” She shouted as she tried to grab Karasuma from across the bed, but he just leaned back to stay out of her reach. Konami would never clamber on the bed where Shiori was resting so she had to give up on strangling him. “Don’t think I'll forget this!”  

Dropping back into her seat, Konami scowled. “It’s not something to joke about. He and Shiori could have been hurt horribly.” 

“Or drowned.” Karasuma said. “They did fall in the river. It's amazing Yuma was able to pull them both out.”  

“He probably activated his Black Trigger when they went under. Not much of a mystery how he got them out.” Konami replied airily. 

Shiori looked down at the book she put down in her lap, confusion coating her face. When she woke up to Yuma holding her, she was pretty sure she had grabbed a hold of his hoodie. She was exhausted and struggling to breathe at the time, but she was almost certain that Yuma’s Black Trigger wasn’t active at the time. “So, he’s alright?” 

Dropping their argument, Konami and Karasuma looked over at her, both frowning.  

“Who? Yuma? Did he not look fine to you?” Konami asked.  

“He hasn’t been by.” Shiori admitted. She understood from Jin that it was most likely guilt keeping Yuma away. It was surprising from Yuma since he always seemed very open about not blaming anyone for anything. He worked so hard when Osamu was in the hospital to find proof that Replica was alive to ease Osamu’s guilt over what happened, and yet, it seemed Yuma had a hard time easing his own guilt.  

“I see.” Karasuma replied. “He was fine last night. I haven’t seen him today, but I doubt he got into trouble since I last saw him.”  

Konami scoffed, crossing her arms over her chest. “Yuma finds trouble real easily. I wouldn’t be surprised if he’s in a fight right now, but you don’t need to worry, Shiori. He can take care of himself.”  

“I know, but I want the chance to thank him.” Shiori replied.  

“He’ll show up eventually. I think he just has a lot on his plate right now with his father running around.” Karasuma replied.  

Shiori wrapped her hands around her book tightly. She needed out of this bed as soon as possible. With Kuga Yugo out there, this was no time for her to be lying around. She needed to support her team as their operator. They needed her to be watching their backs while they dealt with the threat of the Mimics.  

“But what about you?” Konami asked. “You’re looking better, but how do you feel?” 

“Better, not one hundred percent, but better.” Shiori replied, massaging her throat lightly as she looked around the infirmary. “I can’t wait to get out of here.”  

“Are you going to head home when you do? Tamakoma Branch is off limits because of the attack yesterday so those who can are staying at home. The rest are staying in the barracks here.” Karasuma explained.  

“I’ll stay here. I want to be available to help the others the moment something happens.” Shiori replied.  

“Don’t work yourself too hard. You need to give yourself time to recover.” Karasuma said.  

“There will be time for that once we’re no longer being attacked.”  

Konami smirked. “Glad to see you still have the spirit! But Torimaru is right. It won’t help if you’re collapse because you’re trying to do too much before you’re ready.”  

“I’ll be fine. From the sounds of it, Jin-san doesn’t expect trouble today so I have all of today to recover.”  

“He could have missed something.” Karasuma pointed out. “He didn’t see yesterday’s attack coming.”  

Karasuma couldn’t begin to understand why Jin missed it since he didn’t know that much more about Jin’s side effect than the basics. From what he understood, the movements of a Trion Soldier were making it hard for Jin to plan since he couldn’t see the future of Kuga Yugo.  

But, just as Jin was frustrated that he didn’t see Tamakoma being attacked sooner, Karasuma was frustrated that he wasn’t there to help Konami and the others in the attack. He had been busy with his part time job and didn’t even know about the attack happening until it was too late.  

“It’s not like we have to rely solely on Jin.” Konami replied. “Things turned out just fine yesterday. It could have been a lot worse.”  

“You were lucky Chika was on her way to the base and saw what was happening so she could cover you guys.” Karasuma said, leaning forward to rest his elbows on his knees. “I’m sorry I wasn’t there to provide help.”  

“You were at your part-time. It can’t be helped.” Konami assured him. She could never blame her allies for not being there to help her in battle. No one could make it to every battle every single time. This was why the agents needed to be able to handle themselves in fights, but also be able to fight alongside their allies that weren’t their teammates. None of them who they would be with or where when a surprise attack happened.  

“A part me wonders if we could have ended this yesterday if I had just been there.”  

Konami shook her head. “I doubt it. Yuma’s father was tough and he was doing a good job of keeping us away from him and Yuma. To him, we were just an annoyance while his son was the target.” She griped, punching her fist into her hand. “If I see him again, he’s dead. He’s not going to get the chance to ruin Yuma’s memory of his father.”  

“I see no problem with you wanting to help, Konami-senpai, but I don’t think Yuma is looking for help. To me, it seems like he is lone wolfing this.”  

“My dad. It was my fault he died.” Yuma admitted. “I blatantly disobeyed an order he gave me and got hurt because it. My father died to save my life. If I hadn’t done that, he would still be here with me.”     

The father that died to save Yuma’s life. That was the father that Yuma needed to remember. They couldn’t change the fact that Kuga Yugo was here, but she could prevent the memory of him being corrupted in Yuma’s mind.  

“I don’t care what he wants. I know he is strong and can handle himself, but having to fight his father as an enemy that we need to kill. That isn’t something he needs.”  

*Mimics*  

“Calm down, Shun.”  

Shun paused in his pacing as he spun on his heels to stare at Yuma. “Calm down? Calm down?! You can’t just say you’re a Neighbor and not expect me to freak out!” Whatever secret he thought Yuma had, it definitely hadn’t been this one. This was bigger than anything he could have thought of and just hearing those words from Yuma had given him a burst of adrenaline, which is exactly what he needed right now to wake himself up a bit to deal with this conversation.  

“I didn’t think it would be so surprising. I am part of Tamakoma, which is a Branch that makes friends with Neighbors.” Yuma pointed out, relaxing back on the stairs by leaning his elbows behind him on the top step. He was hoping by showing how calm he was that Shun would relax himself.  

“I can’t believe this. I have to have fallen asleep somewhere. Like on the train.” Shun muttered. “This is all a dream.”  

“It really isn’t.” Yuma replied, only his eyes moving as he watched Shun started to pace again. “You were worried that I didn’t trust you so I told you a secret that most people in Border don’t know.”  

Shun glanced at Yuma, but didn’t stop the pacing. At this point, the pacing was the only thing keeping him sane. “Most?” 

“Well, Tamakoma knows, the higher ups know, and about half of the A-Ranks know.” Yuma explained.  

Half of the A-Ranks knew about Yuma being a Neighbor. Half of them knew. Why didn’t Shun know before this? No, that didn’t matter. Yuma was telling him now about it. He was telling Shun personally to show the trust he had in him. He was trusting Shun to not turn on him now that he knew he was a Neighbor and to not tell anyone else.  

Not that Shun would. Neighbor or not, it didn’t change who Yuma was to him or the last few months of their friendship. Shun was never really bothered by the Neighbors. If they attacked here, he would fight back. If they came here without any ill-intents, then whatever. They could be friends.  

It was just unexpected, but at the same time, Shun was now feeling like an idiot for not realizing. All the tidbits of information that he had that made no sense originally were all falling to place and completing the puzzle for him.  

Shun collapsed onto the steps next to Yuma, sighing. “You fought Miwa Squad back in December because they found out you were a Neighbor.”  

“Yep.”  

“The money thing at the train station earlier was because you’re still not completely used to our money.”  

“I still get confused sometimes.”  

“Your experience as a fighter comes from what you went through in the Neighbor’s world.”  

“You got it.”  

“There were so many clues, but I missed them all.”  

Yuma glanced over at his downhearted friend, who was staring down at his hands. “Isn’t the point then that I was just really good at hiding it?” 

“You know that I don’t care, right? I never would have, no matter when you told me.” Shun replied.  

A smile broke out on Yuma’s face when his side effect didn’t activate. He shifted his eyes to the sky, feeling happy for probably the first time in days. The past few days had been hard and stressful for him so to be able to just sit here, telling his friend one of his biggest secrets without any judgement was just a huge relief to him. At least one thing was going right this week. “Thank you, Shun.”  

Shun glanced at his friend then back at his hands. Somehow his friend was a Neighbor and yet his father was a founding member of Border. Was Kuga Yugo a Neighbor that traveled here and decided to form an organization to fight Neighbors? It didn’t really make much sense. Kuga Yugo was difficult to understand, but maybe it was because he only met a Mimic version of him and hadn’t heard anything about him from Yuma before.  

Chika told him to ask Yuma anything directly.  

Yugo said to ask Yuma about him sometime.  

Yuma just told him his huge secret of being a Neighbor so there shouldn’t be anything forcing him to choose his words carefully anymore.  

“I told you earlier that I met your father last night.”  

“Yeah.”  

“He said to ask you about him.” Shun said, glancing at Yuma out of the corner of his eyes, but his friend kept his eyes lock on the sky. “He was talking of killing you and when I asked why he would want his son to die, he said to ask you about him. Mimics need fond memories to be able to transform so you have to have loved your father, but from the way he spoke, it sounded like something happened between you two.”  

That was right. Shun was worrying earlier over the fact that Yugo wanted him dead. That wasn’t too surprising from a weaponized Mimic. It's pretty easy to guess that a weaponized Mimic that was transformed into someone had the goal of killing. There had to be more to it than that though if Yugo was telling Shun to ask him about his father.  

The thing was, what was Yuma supposed to say to it?  Was Yugo expecting Yuma to tell Shun about their relationship as father and son? Was he supposed to tell Yugo how it was Yuma’s fault he died? Was the point here to tell Shun why his father would want him dead? 

Did Yugo want him dead? 

It was Yuma’s fault that Yugo had to give up his life to create a Black Trigger to save his son’s life. Was the Mimic version of him feeling resentment for that and that was leading him to wanting to kill Yuma? If so, Yuma couldn’t blame Yugo. It would only be natural to feel anger about that.  

“Yuma-senpai?” 

Pushing himself to his feet, Yuma walked away from his friend, keeping his eyes locked ahead on the Gate. He couldn’t look at his friend right now.  

“Something did happen between you and your father, right? That's why you’re not answering?” Shun asked. “But whatever happened, it can’t have been too bad, right? I mean, the Mimic was able to transform into your father. That is proof of the love you guys share.”  

“No, it’s not.” Yuma said softly. “The Mimics need fond memories from you to transform. It's based on your feelings. The person who the Mimic transformed into doesn’t have to share those feelings.”  

“Do you really think it’s possible for someone you loved so much that a Mimic can steal their form wouldn’t love you back?” Shun asked, staring at his friend’s back in confusion. If his friend was hesitating this much in talking about it, then his relationship with his father was much more complicated than he realized.  

“You wouldn’t understand.”  

The confusion Shun felt quickly turned into a scowl forming on his face. “How do you know?” 

“You’ve never lost someone you love.”  

“Good thing this isn’t about love.” Shun retorted. “You seem to think your father doesn’t love you so try again about why you don’t want to talk about this.”  

When Yuma didn’t reply, Shun just sighed. While it seemed that Yuma trusted him enough to speak of his status as a Neighbor, he still didn’t find it easy to speak of his problems.  

“You’ve been stressed and frustrated so much this week, Yuma-senpai. You relaxed a bit when we all went to lunch the other day, but then you closed back up. Yoneyan-senpai told me to fight you in ten-round matches to help distract you from your thoughts, but I don’t think it is a good idea to just keep trying to distract yourself. It won’t solve whatever is bothering you. If you don’t want to talk to me, that’s fine, but you need to speak to someone. Just to get the thoughts out of your head. Maybe you won’t get an answer, but you can have someone listen to your worries and provide comfort.”  

“I was talking to Konami-senpai yesterday, but Dad interrupted our conversation.”  

Shun nodded. “Your mentor is a good person to talk to. I think she can help you better than I ever could.”  

“I don’t need help. I need to find Dad.” Yuma walked closed to the Gate and looked down towards the city.  

“Is that such a good idea? He wants to kill you.” Shun pushed himself to his feet, but didn’t approach his friend. “I know you’re strong and that you have your Black Trigger, but your father is really strong and can use your Black Trigger. Do you really think you can succeed in beating him?” 

Yuma couldn’t imagine Yugo being stronger than Viza, but then again, his father didn’t have access to a Black Trigger when he was alive. Their fight on the bridge yesterday gave him a small taste of what his father was capable of with it. It was strange just how capable Yugo was with the Black Trigger. It took Yuma months of constant fighting to get used to handling the Black Trigger. Yugo was a much more experienced fighter than him, but that shouldn’t make using the Black Trigger that easy for him. Then there was the ability to open so many Gates. With how many Gates he was opening and pulling so many powerful Trion Soldiers through while using other seals to fight Yuma, he should have depleted his Trion so fast. So, how did he manage to last so long in the fight?  

It was easy to understand that when using a Black Trigger, a person’s Trion got amplified way passed their natural Trion levels. That was easy for Yuma to understand, but Yugo didn’t have access to the Black Trigger. He had access to the seals, but he was still using a normal Trigger. Yugo always had more Trion than Yuma, but it was never to this point.  

The longer he and Yuma hung out, the more exhausted Shun was feeling by the minute. With his Trion body getting destroyed last night, he had to spend the day in his real body and the lack of sleep last night was catching up to him. He could probably reactivate his Trigger soon, but there was no point in doing that since there was no threat. Instead, he would just smack his face and try to keep himself awake. He had expected to talk to Yuma at HQ, but instead found himself on a field trip with Yuma opening up to him little by little.  

No matter how tired he was, Shun was doing his best to give this conversation all his attention. Chika was right. If he just asked directly, Yuma would talk to him. It might take a while to get to the answer, but he was talking. Considering how Yuma never talked about himself before, Shun wasn’t about to let his tiredness end this conversation.  

The fact that he was tired was nothing compared to how Yuma was feeling. The frustration and stress Yuma was under was more important than his desire to take a nap. Perhaps he couldn’t offer any solutions to his friend’s problems, but he could at least provide a listening ear.  

“I killed my dad before.”  

That was an answer that had Shun raising his brows. There were a few things that had him confused with that statement, but the biggest was, “No offense, Yuma-senpai, but I fought your father last night. There is no way you would have been able to kill him.”  

Yuma looked over his shoulder at Shun, lips pulled down into a frown. “I don’t mean I struck a killing blow on him. He was my father. I could never do that to him.”  

Well, that at least fixed some of the confusion Shun had. If Yuma had really killed his father, then he had trouble seeing how a Mimic could transform into Kuga Yugo. There would have had to have been a lack of love if Yuma really did kill his father. So, if it wasn’t a killing blow from Yuma, then Shun didn’t understand what he meant by killing his father.  

“Dad told you to ask me about him. I’m guessing this is what he meant.” Yuma raised his gloved covered hand that hid his ring. “My Black Trigger was created by my dad.”  

Shun stared at the hand. There was always a ring on Yuma’s finger on that hand. Since he always wore it, Shun just saw it as part of Yuma’s aesthetic, but perhaps it was more to it than that. Was his ring really a Black Trigger? Shun had to admit, that if that’s what it was, he was impressed at how Yuma hid it so clearly in plain sight to all of them and none of them were any the wiser. “How does him creating a Black Trigger pertain to you killing him?” 

Yuma looked up at his hand that he had raised over his head. “I was in a bad way, only got that way by disobeying the orders from my father. To save my life, my father created a Black Trigger. If I had just obeyed his orders, I wouldn’t have been injured to the point that he had to do that. Why would he not resent me for that? He should hate me for putting him in that position, yet he was smiling as he did it.”  

It felt like there was more to that story, but Shun wasn’t about to press Yuma for more. He was already trusting him with so much that he kept hidden about himself. If Yuma wanted to tell him the other part of the story, he would have by now. Instead of focusing on what was left out, Shun would take the parts that he did hear. “Sounds like love to me. People don’t go around giving up their lives like that for anything other than love.”  

When Yuma didn’t reply, Shun frowned and moved to walk around his friend to see his face. Yuma was no idiot, but seeing the look on his face right now, Shun felt like his friend truly didn’t understand this concept of love. The kind of love where someone would sacrifice everything for someone else. “This Mimic of your father speaks of killing you and said to ask you about this so you’re assuming its leftover resentment from what happened that caused him to die in the first place.” 

“Why wouldn’t it be? There was no reason for my father to die then. He had to be mad at me for disobeying his orders and putting him in that situation.”  

Shun stared at Yuma’s eyes. Yuma’s eyes were usually very intense or held laughter in them. It depended on whether he was in a fight or was just hanging around. This was the first time Shun was seeing any sort of other emotion in them. It was disheartening that his eyes just looked so sad, but it wasn’t surprising. Yuma may not have spoken about his past before to hide the fact that he was a Neighbor, but Shun also suspected it was because it was truly just hard for him to talk about his dad.  

“Because it’s a Mimic. I never met your father before, but I can’t imagine someone who gave his life for his son would feel this kind of resentment and want to kill the son he gave everything for.” Shun said, locking eyes with his friend, lips set in a determined frown. “He’s a Trion Soldier designed with the purpose to kill. I can’t believe the person who raised you would say he wants to kill you otherwise.”  

That was what Shun truly believed. Yuma knew that without a doubt. Just because it was what Shun believed was true, it didn’t mean it was true. Some truths were easy to read since some things were just set in stone. Other truths were subjective. What one person believed to be true did not mean someone else would believe it as true as well.  

In this case, it was something Yuma wanted to desperately believe.  

He understood that the Mimic was coming for his life. That was the job of the Trion Soldier.  

It hurt to see his father coming for him, and part of him was believing it was because he was mad at Yuma. The other part of him was hoping that the Mimic wasn’t portraying his father’s real feelings. Unfortunately, there was no real way to tell. He doubted a Mimic could give him the answer he wanted.  

“Did he say anything else?” Yuma asked, not wanting to focus on the true intentions of his father or the Mimic.  

“Why are you attacking us? We’re Border agents. I heard you were one of the founders of Border so why do you want to attack us?” Shun asked, surprising his team.   

“Why?” Yugo repeated. “If I’m being honest, I don’t really have anything against you guys, but I know attacking Border will anger my son and drive him to seek me out.”  

Shun didn’t want to put the idea of seeking Kuga Yugo out in Yuma’s head. He didn’t want him walking straight into the arms of the person who wanted him dead, but he had a feeling that was already his friend’s plan. Yuma had been agitated this morning and likely going to seek out his father. “No, there wasn’t anything else said.”  

Black smoke surrounded Shun as Yuma’s pupils turned black and a scowl overtook his face. “I just told you how much I appreciated how you haven’t lied to me since we met and so now you decided it was a good time to start telling me stupid lies?” 

Shun’s eyes widened. Right, he was so stupid. Yuma had just told him about his side effect. Hiding a grimace at the reminder by turning his face towards the trees, Shun gnawed at his lips. Yuma was giving him personal information about him to show that he did indeed trust Shun and valued their friendship, and at the first opportunity, Shun tried to lie. He didn’t want Yuma to start to regret opening up and showing his trust to Shun, but with how Yuma had been acting all week, he was scared his friend would do something stupid and get hurt.  

“Fine, I just don’t want you to do anything stupid.” Shun muttered. “Kuga-san called Border agents collateral damage. He thinks by coming after us, he can anger you enough into going to him.”  

“There’s no need for that.” Yuma said, though he felt a twinge of anger making its way through him. He did not want his friends involved in the dispute between him and his father. “I am going to kill him.”  

A pain looked was the reply Yuma got from Shun. It was really getting irritating how everyone was reacting when he said he was going after the Mimic. This was his problem and he would take care of it.  

“By yourself?” Shun asked.  

“You think I can’t?” Yuma asked, allowing some of his frustration to pour into his voice.  

“If I'm being honest, no, and not just because he is really strong. He’s a Trion Soldier, but it’s still your father we’re facing off against.”  

“Does everyone really think I'm incapable of killing a Mimic because it is my father?” Yuma asked, trying to force the anger down. It wasn’t fair to Shun for Yuma to snap at him just because he was concerned for Yuma.  

“Yes!” Shun snapped back, surprising Yuma at the harshness of it. That was unusual for Shun. “Are you blind to how you are feeling right now? Or how you’ve been acting the past couple of days? You're already struggling with the fact he is here and just talking about his death is causing you pain. Do you really think you’re capable of killing him? There is no doubt in my mind that even if you managed to get him to the point, you would hesitate to deliver the final blow and you should! You don’t need the memory of him dying by your hand.”  

The words he spoke to Miwa the night this all started. It seemed he wasn’t the only one to see the cruelty in forcing someone to do that. The difference was that he was already at fault for his father’s death once. What did it matter if he caused it a second time?  

“Who else can do it?” Yuma retorted. “He’s not an easy opponent.”  

“Which is why it’s a stupid idea to say you want to do it alone.” Shun retorted. “He wants you dead. I'm not about to stand by while you try to fight him alone, not with your life on the line. Why is that so hard for you to understand? I'm your friend and I want to help you! So, stop trying to push me away!” 

Yuma blinked in surprise as he stared into those angry eyes. Shun was an energetic and happy kid. The only time he really saw him get mad was when Yuma was defeating them in their first ten-round match. Since then, it’s been nothing but smiles and a cheerful disposition, unless he was in the field. It was strange to see him get mad because Yuma wanted to keep him safe and out of his problems.  

“The Mimic may be of your father, but he is an enemy to all Border. All the Mimics are. This isn’t on you alone to fix, so please, instead of biting our heads off and trying to do everything alone, talk to us. Tell us what we need to know about Kuga Yugo and how he fights. I'm sure everyone is tired of bailing out because we don’t know how to fight him.”  

Staring into the earnest eyes of Shun was making Yuma uncomfortable.  

It was clear to Yuma that it wasn’t Shun. 

It was looking more like maybe Yuma was the one being the horrible friend lately.  

Everyone was only trying to help him, but he just kept snapping at them all. Jin was getting the worst of his frustration the past few days.  

The cracks spreading up his arm to his shoulder became all too noticeable to Yuma. The impending prediction of his death by Jin had unnerved him more than he admitted. He put on a strong face in front of Jin so he wouldn’t realize how uneasy he was about it.  

He told Jin the truth that he desperately wanted to live now, but he couldn’t see a way out, even less so now. He knew Jin was working hard to save him, but there was never any guarantee in life, so Yuma set out with the purpose of finishing things with his father on his own so time wouldn’t be wasted on anything unimportant. If his death was incoming, he needed to take Kuga Yugo out with him.  

Deep down though, he knew the truth, the truth that everyone was shouting at him lately. He lacked the strength to kill his father. If he tried, he could probably beat him, probably. He wouldn’t know until he tried, but they were right, and Yuma knew it, that he couldn’t deliver a killing blow.  

At least not fast enough.  

Yuma's hand curled into a fist as he looked down at it, imagining a Scorpion blade there. He would hesitate to strike the killing blow.  

In his heart, Yuma knew this. He realized it when he fought Yugo on the bridge yesterday.  

And more than anything, it was just so frustrating to him to know that in his heart.  

His Dad was a fake. Yuma knew this to be fact, but hearing his name come from that familiar voice, Yuma was blinded. He couldn’t find the strength to fight seriously.  

He didn’t want to see his body dead on the ground. 

Seeing him turn to dust the first time was horrible enough.  

Sighing, Yuma turned away from Shun and went back to the steps, collapsing down onto them.  

“Yuma-senpai?” 

“Turns out, you’re not the one being a horrible friend.” Yuma admitted. “It’s me.” He shut his eyes, rubbing at them in frustration. “I’ve been taking my frustration out on everyone lately. Jin-san said something that has had me worried and I've been letting that, among other things, distract me and dictate my actions. I had forgotten...” He trailed off as he opened his eyes to look at Shun with a smile. “That my allies here aren’t just using me for my Black Trigger. They are willing to help me. It only took how people yelling at me to remind me?” 

Shun was confused about Yuma’s statement of being used for his Black Trigger, but let that go since it wasn’t the important part of what they were talking about. “Trust me, we’ve all noticed your frustrations lately. We let it go since it’s you and you don’t really get mad like ever, but perhaps you should still apologize?” 

Yuma scratched his cheek. “Probably. For now, though, I have some things to take care of.” 

Shun gave his friend a wary look. “And that is?”  

When there wasn’t an immediate reply, Shun scowled at his friend. “I swear, Yuma-senpai, if you’re about to run off on your own after that speech of yours about remembering you have people by your side willing to help you, I'm going to smack you.”  

“When did you get so aggressive?” Yuma teased, but the lack of amusement on Shun’s face had him sighing and lifting his hands in surrender. “Fine, you got me. I'm going after my dad.”  

Shun groaned. “That’s what he wants.”  

“This isn’t about what he wants.” Yuma argued. “I want to go after him.”  

Shun stared back at Yuma, trying to get a read on the situation. Was it because he wanted to see his father? Or was it because he honestly felt it was his responsibility to kill his father? Honestly, at this point, the answer didn’t even matter. What truly mattered was that his friend was an idiot and trying to walk towards his death that much faster.  

Unfortunately, he was seeing the stubbornness shining in Yuma’s eyes that told him that nothing Shun said or did was going to talk him out of this.  

“Fine, but I'm coming with you. Can't have you dying in a ditch somewhere.”  

Chapter Text

“Heard your base got attacked yesterday.”  

Chika looked up from her Egret. She wanted to work on being able to read the radar better and take her shots focused on what the radar was telling her and not just what she saw through her scope. Yuma wasn’t always going to be around to give her the target that she couldn’t see and tell her to shoot there. She needed to be able to do it on her own.  

“Oooh, yes, I heard about that too.” Izuho leaned over Ema’s shoulder to look down at Chika. “Like, there were a bunch of Trion Soldiers around your base.”  

“Yeah,” Chika shifted her rifle around as she stared at the targets in front of her. Ema had gotten his operator to imbue Trion into the targets and then added objects to the field so she could practice finding and shooting her targets with the radar. “Yuma-kun’s father got into our base and Trion Soldiers got involved in the attack. It's a good thing I left HQ when I did yesterday. I got there just in time to back them up.”  

“Are you okay?” Izuho asked.  

“Oh, I'm perfectly fine.” Chika laid down her rifle so she could stand up and turn to face her friends fully. “I can’t say the same about our base though. It looks like it might take a while to fix the building and bridge.”  

“Is Kuga still running around?” Ema asked.  

Chika nodded.  

Ema’s brows furrowed. “You didn’t shoot him? This could have all been finished yesterday.”  

Chika looked down, twisting her hands together. “The situation wasn’t ideal for me to take that kind of shot. Besides, it’s Yuma-kun's father. I know it’s a Mimic of him, but the idea of it being his father had me hesitating to take action against him.”  

That kind and generous heart was one of the things that Ema admired about Chika. Even so, perhaps that kindness was just too much sometimes.  

“Would Ochibi-senpai be mad at you if you did kill his dad?” Izuho asked curiously.  

“Hmm, I think Yuma-kun wants to go after the Mimic on his own. He blames himself for the attack on our base yesterday.” Chika said softly. “Kuga-san was there for him after all.”  

“It’s not his fault our enemy is using a cruel method to attack us this time.” Ema muttered. “This could have happened to anyone.”  

“I told him that, but with Shiori-san getting hurt, it made his guilt over the situation worse.”  

Izuho blinked a few times. “Your operator was injured? Is she okay?” 

Chika smiled at her friend. “Her injuries weren’t severe. She should be getting released from the infirmary soon, but she still needs to take it easy.”  

“Then no worries. It sounds like you all made it out of the attack relatively fine.” Izuho said cheerfully. “All that’s left is to deal with Kuga Yugo. How hard can that be?” 

A grimace passed over Chika’s face.  

“I heard that the squads that have gone up against him are getting slaughtered. No one has managed to get a single hit on him.” Ema said.  

“Wah?!” Izuho whipped her head towards Ema, mouth dropped open in shock. “He hasn’t been hit once yet?” 

“And he keeps disappearing after or even in the middle of battles. It's a strange tactic to take and tells us nothing about what he is after.” Ema grumbled. “At this point, even if the nation that is sending the Mimics here move out of attacking range, we’ll still be stuck dealing with Kuga Yugo. It doesn’t look like he will be leaving until he accomplishes his goal.” 

“Is it his goal? Or the goal of the nation that sent the Mimic here?” Chika asked softly. A part of her hoped dearly that whatever Kuga Yugo was planning was because of the orders from the nation the Mimic came from. It would probably make facing Yugo as an enemy a bit easier on Yuma.  

“That’s a question for him.” Ema said.  

“Then we should find him and beat his head in!” Izuho declared passionately.  

Chika chuckled, an uneasy feeling in it. “Perhaps wait until you make B-Rank before talking about charging into the field.”  

Izuho groaned. “Was there really a need to bring that up? I can’t believe you made it all the way up to B-Rank #2 in one season while I'm still stuck at C-Rank.”  

“At least you have Nasu squad waiting for you when you do move up. You'll do great with them!” Chika said, putting as much cheer into her voice as possible. It was hard to do when half of her mind was focused on Kuga Yugo and Yuma and Shiori who was hurt in the infirmary. There was so much coursing through her mind currently that it made it difficult to enjoy the time with her friends.  

“With the way you’re progressing, you should make it into B-Rank by the middle of next Rank War season, at the end of the season at the latest.” Ema added.  

“If that’s the case, I'm going to miss next season no matter what. I can’t wait to participate in the Rank Wars. They looked like a lot of fun.”  

Ema eyed the other girl, frowning. “It’s for the best. You'll make it to B-Rank soon enough, but Nasu Squad is currently in the top group of B-Rank. If you join B-Rank halfway through the season and join their squad like is planned, you’ll have a hard time with them since they’ll be facing stronger squads. Best to wait until the season is over and you have time to train with them as a team.”  

“So, what you’re saying is that I can’t be like Chikako and just do a baptism by fire?” Izuho retorted.  

“Tamakoma-2 went the insane route.” Ema muttered. “No one else is crazy enough to do that. They only succeeded because of Kuga and then later adding Hyuse to their team. Amatori-san and Mikumo wouldn’t have gotten to where they are now without them.”  

Chika smiled. “True. Yuma-kun put in so much effort to protect our squad and pull us through the ranks while Osamu-kun and I struggled to learn how to fight. He was very patient and understanding with us the whole time. We couldn’t ask for a better Ace.”  

Ema turned his full attention to Chika. “Speaking of that, Kage-san was going off yesterday about the memo we got regarding Kuga’s father and how he was a former Border member. Did Kuga get trained by his father before joining Border? It would explain why he was so skilled coming into the Rank Wars.”  

“I don’t know much about Yuma-kun's father since he only spoke to me once about him, but to my understanding, it was Kuga-san who trained him.”  

“Someone had to have. You don’t just join the Rank Wars and suddenly be able to take out all these highly skilled Aces without previous training.” Ema said, frowning as he looked off to the side with a thoughtful look. “I think the real fault lies with all of us for never really questioning why a new agent was wiping the floor with agents who have been here longer.”  

Smiling softly, Chika turned back to her rifle and worked on getting herself into position again. “Yuma-kun loves fighting, but he doesn’t brag about his skills because he knows there are people who are better than him.” She looked down at her hand as she brought up her radar to see the targets that were in the arena in front of her.  

“Even if he does get beaten, Ochibi-senpai's fights are amazing.” Izuho said. “He fights in such unexpected ways. It's fun to see what crazy tactic he’s going to pull out each time he’s in the arena.”  

“You enjoy it. I'm sure he enjoys the fights too, but he spends hours upon hours planning out his strategies to fight the aces of each team.” Chika explained. “He’ll be on the roof half the night just planning out the fights and how to use his Triggers to his advantage.”  

Ema raised a brow. “That sounds like a lot more effort than my captain used to put in. In fact, the first time I saw him watching the Rank War logs in a long time was because he wanted to see Kuga’s fights after he met him.”  

“With Kageura-san's side effect, how much does he even need to prepare? It sounds pretty difficult to hit him.” Izuho replied.  

“He didn’t try all that hard before, but he’s started to try to put more effort in.” Ema replied. It's not like he was much different. Kage put in almost no effort before while Ema put a little more effort to prepare for Rank Wars. They had gotten overconfident with having their position of B-Rank #2 locked in for a long time. Like the other squads, they got blindsided by Tamakoma-2 and in the end, loss their #2 spot to them. Ema couldn’t bring himself to be upset about that. Watching Chika work so hard and even helping her these past couple of months, Ema could say that the squad deserved it. Their skill, strategies, and teamwork was truly incredible. “I imagine Kage-san will be putting more effort in next season. He’ll be gunning for Kuga and Hyuse even harder.”  

“To get revenge or because he thinks it’s fun?” Izuho asked.  

“It could be both.” Chika suggested. “Yuma-kun went into the fight against Kageura squad and Azuma squad with the idea of revenge for our previous match against them, but I know he was also having fun. He was excited about the chance to get to fight alongside Hyuse-kun finally.”  

“I can see why. Their combinations were amazing.” Izuho said.  

Ema wouldn’t know. He didn’t see Yuma and Hyuse fighting together since he was busy with his own things in that battle and then in Tamakoma-2's final fight, Hyuse was taken out before Yuma could get to him so he never saw them fighting together. Though, it didn’t surprise him that they would fight well together. Both of them were highly skilled so they would be able to form great combos.  

Izuho grimaced, scratching at her cheek. “I am getting used to being a sniper, but I don’t think I'll be able to work with a team like you guys do. The coordination you guys have with your partners is extraordinary.”  

“That’s just practice.” Ema replied. “When you join Nasu squad, you’ll spend a lot of time with them learning how to coordinate together. You will make mistakes as you learn timing when to shoot to assist your partners.” 

Chika nodded her head in agreement. “We’ve spent whole days in our training room just learning how to fight together. It took me a long time to be able to get the timing right to shoot past Yuma-kun's head without hitting him. There were times where I read his movement wrong and almost took him out.” She grimaced at the thought. She wanted to protect and support her teammates. That was her role so misjudging her read on how Yuma was moving had terrified her. The only reason she never accidentally killed him was because Yuma’s reaction time was amazing and he was dodging or throwing up a Shield to save himself.  

“I didn’t even consider that I would have to learn to read my team’s movements. I only thought about watching the enemy.” Izuho muttered, scratching the back of her head with a sigh. The longer she was in Border, the more she realized just how complicated being a fighter was going to be. She had vastly underestimated a lot of this.  

“If you don’t know how your team moves, you can’t properly assist them.” Ema said with a small shrug of his shoulders. “But that is something to worry about when you reach B-Rank.”  

*Mimics*  

“You should go home and take a nap.”  

Shun raised a brow, looking unimpressed at his friend. Yuma wanted to find his father, which was still a stupid idea to Shun, and yet they were just walking through the city. Currently, Shun was dragging his feet behind Yuma. The longer they hung out, the more exhausted he felt. If only his Trion body hadn’t gotten destroyed last night.  

“I’m not going to let you hunt down a dangerous version of your father by yourself. Did you forget what happened at your base yesterday?” Shun retorted.  

“Those Trion Soldiers only appeared because Dad wanted to distract the other agents there and focus on me. If I'm alone, there won’t be any Trion Soldiers appearing.” Yuma argued.  

“And how sure are you of that?” Shun retorted. He looked off to the side before suddenly grabbing Yuma’s arm and pulling him back to make him stop. Yuma gave him a curious look but Shun didn’t pay attention to it as he went over to the vending machine nearby to get himself some caffeine.  

Sighing, Yuma crossed his arms and leaned against the wall while Shun got his drink. “Seems pretty obvious to me. You said he said that I would come to him and he wants me dead. To me, that means this will be personal between me and Dad, no Trion Soldiers involved.”  

Shun pulled his drink out of the vending machine, popping the can open. “Except you’re not going at it alone.” He took a long sip of his drink, relishing in the caffeine hitting him. “I feel like I need to make you promise me that you won’t go after your dad by yourself at all. I never thought I would see you being so reckless.”  

Yuma tilted his head back, knocking it against the wall as he looked towards the bright blue sky. “I don’t even have any idea of where he could be. I'm just wandering aimlessly right now. I was hoping to get this over with today.”  

Shun looked at his friend out of the corner of his eyes, frowning in confusion. “Is there a reason you feel the need to hurry?”  

The fingers on his hand curled into themselves. There were many reasons that Yuma wanted to hurry. His dad couldn’t be allowed to continue to run around and attacking Border agents. Jin’s prediction of his death was putting a time limit on him. Then there were the cracks that were starting to spread on his body. He wasn’t sure what was causing his body to break, but it was concerning. With the way the cracks were spreading, he imagined that he wouldn’t be able to hide it for very long.  

“Can’t really leave Dad alone to run around, continuing to kill you guys on defense duty. It becomes a problem if he keeps taking out everyone who is supposed to defend the city.” 

“True,” Shun agreed. It was strange when Yugo disappeared last night without killing all the agents in the area. The way he would pop up, kill some of them, and then leave made no sense. There was nothing to explain what his attacks were meant to signify. “Are you sure you don’t know where he would be? The way he keeps appearing to kill us and then disappears is going to make it hard to stop him.”  

“All we need is to be able to stop him in one of his attacks.”  

Shun didn’t even think Yuma noticed his wording there. It wasn’t that they needed to stop Kuga Yugo. They needed to kill him to end all of this, along with all the Mimics that were appearing at night. At the very least, Yuma said ‘we.’ That gave him the hope that Yuma was getting to the point that he would accept their help in this.  

Yuma looked down at his crossed arms, more specifically, where his ring was hidden under his gloves. “I never spent any time with my dad in Japan. I was born and raised in the Neighborhood. My dad died over there when I was eleven. It was a few years after his death when I came over here so I don’t know any areas that he would have been drawn to.”  

Well, besides Tamakoma Branch. When Yugo lived in Japan, Tamakoma Branch was Border’s HQ. It made Yuma wonder. Did Yugo go there looking for Yuma or was drawn to an old base the probably held many fond memories for him?  

“He didn’t tell you anything about Japan? He didn’t have to take you here. He could have simply told you stories.” Shun pointed out.  

Yuma hummed to himself as he pushed off the wall and went over to the vending machine to buy his own drink. “I don’t believe I'm a good judge. Dad told me a lot about Border growing up, but I never made the connection that he was a Border member until Rindo-san told me.”  

“I would insult you for not realizing that, but considering I don’t know how the conversations between you two went, I'm going to let that go.” Shun replied, earning a grin from Yuma in return as he pulled his drink out of the machine. “By the way, my captain has been nagging at me to ask you about your Black Trigger. We need to know its abilities, though after last night, I think I have a good idea of how it works.”  

Yuma rolled his can around in his hand, frowning down at it. The topic of his Black Trigger seemed to be a hot one. He understood people were curious about where he got it from and what kind of powers it had as it would help them when fighting Kuga Yugo. He understood all that, but he wasn’t eager to share the strengths and weaknesses of his Black Trigger. It could come back to haunt in the end. Though, that reason wasn’t as important as the other one.  

The one which had a part of him just wanting to deal with this on his own. He wanted to face off against Kuga Yugo without having to drag his friends into this.  

Still, Shun, Jin, Osamu, Hyuse and even Ninomiya’s squad were all right. He was being stupid in thinking he could deal with this alone. 

That didn’t mean he wouldn’t try.  

Hyuse gave him a day to figure this out and he was going to try. He just happened to have Shun following him around to give backup.  

*Mimics*  

“The only question I have regarding all of this is Chibi’s Black Trigger being able to copy other Triggers.”  

Osamu stared at Tachikawa, still unsure of why he kept calling Yuma Chibi throughout this whole meeting. Tachikawa had never bothered with calling Yuma anything but his surname before. It was actually weird to hear him call him anything else, plus the nickname was clearly not one of affection. It almost sounded like there was a twinge of annoyance to it. If Osamu had to guess, Tachikawa was still feeling a bit bitter at the way Yugo ambushed and killed him. Tachikawa didn’t seem the type to let a loss get to him, but perhaps it was because he didn’t actually get the chance to fight Yugo. There was that glint in his eyes that was showing an interest to actually get to properly fight Kuga Yugo.  

It was honestly frustrating Osamu to see it. He knew that all of Border’s agents were serious about their jobs and didn’t take these invasions lightly. What he didn’t realize was just how many of them were fighting maniacs like Yuma was. It seemed hard for those fighting maniacs to rid themselves of the enjoyment they felt when they got into tough fights. Though to Osamu, it looked like Yuma had managed to drop the enjoyment he got from fighting at the moment. The threat of his father was too daunting for him to smile easily at this challenge.  

“What question is that?” Jin asked.  

“Does Kuga Yugo possess the ability to copy Triggers as well since he is using the Black Trigger’s abilities?” Tachikawa asked.  

Jin hummed, looking up towards the ceiling as he mulled over the question. “That’s a difficult question to answer, especially since I don’t know how Yuma does it. I know he can, but he’s never explained to us how he copies them. You know, Four-eyes?” 

Osamu pushed his glasses up. “The only time I saw him do it was when he fought Miwa squad and it wasn’t even him stealing the Trigger for his own. Replica inputted the Trigger into the Black Trigger at the time.”  

“Who’s Replica?” Azuma asked.  

“He’s Kuga’s Trion Soldier partner.” Miwa explained. At least with everyone in the room now knowing of Yuma’s history as a Neighbor, they didn’t have to be careful with their words anymore. Everything could come out in the open now.  
Arashiyama raised a brow. “I didn’t realize he had a partner.”  

“Replica hides in Kuga’s Black Trigger when not needed.” Osamu replied. “Or, used to. Replica aided us in Aftokrator’s invasion by forcing Aftokrator’s ship to perform an emergency launch, forcing the Neighbors to leave. Replica got trapped on the ship and taken to Aftokrator.”  

Miwa raised a brow. He had heard Osamu had a hand in forcing Aftokrator to withdraw, but it at least made a lot more sense now if that Trion Soldier was involved. It would also explain why the annoying flea that was helping him out had stopped working without warning. The Trion Soldier either died on the ship or because of the distance, the copies it left behind couldn’t continue to function. Either way, it wasn’t Miwa’s problem.  

“Hmm,” Kako rested her chin on her fist, staring across the table at Osamu with curiosity. “Would that explain why he wants to go to Aftokrator? Everyone knows why Amatori-chan wants to go. I just thought that was the only reason.”  

Osamu nodded. “We’re doing this for Chika, but Chika and I made a promise to help Kuga get Replica back. He only lost him in the first place because of his promise to help us.”  

If Osamu had let Yuma stick to his original plan of going back to the Neighbor’s world when he couldn’t accomplish what he wanted here, Yuma would have never lost his partner in the first place. Granted, had that happened, Osamu imagined Aftokrator’s invasion would have turned out worst for them. Yuma's help was essential in that invasion. They needed him. Jin knew it before the invasion. Osamu realized the reasons after the invasion. Jin held guilt over what happened, what he had to put Osamu, Chika, and Replica through. Osamu felt just as much guilt since he threw Replica towards the ship, even if it was what Replica agreed to and Yuma put on the grin, saying it was fine and they would get him back.  

Yuma didn’t put any blame on him or Jin for what happened to Replica. It wasn’t in him to blame others for something that happened, but he was very willing to live with the guilt of what happened as a result of his actions. Osamu knows Yuma is living with the guilt of his father’s death hanging of his head. He hid that guilt under a carefree attitude, but it was beginning to shine through. His frustration and stress was building up with guilt pouring out of him. This time though, the guilt was because he was blaming himself for putting Border and the city in danger by having his father appear. He had a feeling Yuma disappeared for the day wasn’t to get away from Border. It had to do with hunting down his father. That thought was making Osamu’s stomach turn. He knew Yuma could take care of himself, but the enemy being his father would be tormenting his mind.  

“Anyway,” Osamu said, pushing the thoughts of his partner to side. That wasn’t what he needed to focus on right now. “Kuga told me that Replica can analyze and add Triggers to his Black Trigger instantly so it can be done in battle, but without him, it takes Kuga time to do it so he can’t do it in the midst of battle. If his father does have the capability to copy Triggers, he shouldn’t be able to do it during a fight.”  

“That’s good. From the sounds of it, he is a tough enough opponent with the abilities he has already. We don’t need to give him anymore weapons.” Arashiyama replied.  

“What about Murakami?” Azuma suggested. “If we have him fight Kuga’s Black Trigger, he can use his side effect to learn and be more prepared to fight Kuga?” 

Jin hummed as he thought about that. “I’m not so sure. Yuma and Kuga-san are still different people.”  

“They have to fight similarly. Kuga is the one who trained his son.” Tachikawa argued. “Isn’t he?”  

“Years ago.” Jin replied. “You have to understand that Yuma fought in a war for three years with a Black Trigger. I imagine that changed his fighting style. He's probably even more different now that he is using a Border Trigger.”  

Tachikawa raised a brow at the word ‘war,’ but didn’t comment on it. If Yuma got involved in a war before coming to Border, it wouldn’t be too surprising. In his trips to the Neighbor’s World, there were always wars going on there. It would actually be more surprising if he didn’t have any time spent in wars.  

“Then we just ask anyone who gets into a fight with Kuga-kun.” Kako suggested, glancing over at Azuma. “I heard your squad and Kusakabe squad got into a fight with him last night. We learn from those fights to go at him with a better strategy.”  

Azuma nodded his head. “I was assisting in a fight against the Mimics so I didn’t see the fight, but there should be data on the fights we can access.”  

*Mimics*  

“I think you should buy me lunch if you’re going to drag me all over the city. I had a very tiring time last night.”  

Yuma gave his friend an unimpressed look. “I’m not the one who told you to follow me. I was content with going out by myself.”  

Shun glared back at Yuma. “You did say to follow you.”  

“Only because you didn’t want to get out of my path.” Yuma retorted. “And besides, I bought you lunch the other day. Shouldn't it be your turn to buy food?”  

“Eh? But you're the senpai here! The senpai should always treat the kouhai!” Shun protested.  

In response, Yuma narrowed his eyes at Shun as he tried to get a read on this situation. He was still unsure of how things worked in Japan.  

Staring right on back at Yuma, Shun blinked a few times, mouth dropping open. “Oh, wait, no, Yuma-senpai, I'm just teasing. I'm sorry. I need to remember you’re not used to Japan and all our customs yet. It's true senpais treat their kouhais sometimes, but it doesn’t mean they do it all the time. How about we just pay for our food this time?”  

Yuma looked down, rubbing at his stomach. It wasn’t wrong to say he was hungry, but he wasn’t a fan of the idea of taking time out of his day of trying to hunt his father down to get food. At the same time, he knew it wasn’t a good idea to just go without food all day. “We’re near Kage-senpai's family’s restaurant. Let's go there.”  

And hopefully, Kage was at the base today and not hanging around his family’s restaurant.  

“Kageura-san’s family runs a restaurant?” Shun asked surprised. He didn’t hang out with Kageura ever so he felt justified in not knowing that little tidbit of information about the older agent.  

“You’ve never been there?” Yuma asked.  

“If I have been, then I didn’t know it was his family’s restaurant.” Shun looked up at the sky as he thought about Kageura. “It’s hard to imagine that scary guy’s family owning a restaurant.”  

“Well, the food there is amazing so you’ll love it.”  

“You like anything.” Shun said. He looked at the people on the sidewalk as they walked. “Do you think your father will come into the city? Would people panic if they saw his swords?” 

Yuma followed Shun’s eyes to look at the squads, frowning to himself. “I wonder if he can turn his Trigger off. I don’t know how much control Mimics have of the people they’re transformed as.”  

“The Mimics don’t just look how you last saw them?” 

“No, my father’s Trigger wasn’t activated the last time I saw him alive, but now it is so I was wondering if the Mimic has the ability to turn the Trigger on and off. It's not really that important though.”  

“True, the threat remains the same.” Shun folded his arms behind his head, tilting his face towards the sky as he continued to follow Yuma. “It’s just that, if he can walk through the city without catching anyone’s eye, we’ll never be able to find him. Do we really have to wait for him to attack us again?” 

“Hmm.”  

Shun shifted his eyes to Yuma. “Are you sure you don’t know where he would be? He said you would come to him.”  

“Like I already said, I don’t know.” Yuma replied. If anyone would know where Yugo was, it wouldn’t be him. It would be better to ask Rindo, Shinoda, or even Kido. Yugo seemed to have all of his memories so the places he liked in Mikado City would be best known by the people who went to those places with him. “I figured if I put myself out in the open, he would eventually come to me if he wants to kill me that badly.”  

Shun bit down on his lip to avoid scolding his friend for trying to make himself a target. Well, he was already a target for Yugo, but he was blatantly putting himself in more danger just by wandering around in the open like this. “The city is pretty big. Just like you can’t find him, he’ll have a hard time locating you as well. He also didn’t ask where you were last night, just that you would come to him.”  

“Weird. He annoyed Tachikawa-san enough about my whereabouts that they came and yelled at me for it.” Yuma looked up towards the sky, humming to himself as he thought. “Perhaps he wanted to have a small fight as a way to greet me which is why we got into it at Tamakoma.”  

“I think it’s more like he’s planning something.” Shun muttered. “We just can’t figure out what it is he’s after. I wonder how he found you at your base anyway.”  

“Tamakoma Branch was the original base of Border when it was first founded. It’s the base Dad remembers. I don’t know if he went there looking for me or if it was just to see his old base.” Yuma explained, hiding a grimace by looking off to the side at the stores they were passing. Whether he had been at the base or not, Yuma had a feeling that the attack on Tamakoma would have still happened.  

“What? Like he’s reminiscing the past?” Shun asked, raising a brow in disbelief. “A transformed Mimic wants to revisit his past while trying to kill his son. Doesn't that sound pretty crazy?” 

Yuma gave a small shrug. “Not sure what you want me to say. I don’t know how transformed weaponized Mimics work.” When he spoke to Yugo yesterday, he seemed to have no recollection of being a Mimic, so that left Yuma with the question of whether Yugo remembered the sacrifice he made for his son. His loving tone towards Yuma when spoke didn’t match Shun’s words of Yugo saying he would kill Yuma. Why would Yugo want to kill Yuma so badly? Yuma thought it would have been anger at him that made Yugo want to go after him so badly or maybe it was the Mimic’s programming to kill the person who the memories were taken from to allow them to transform.  

There were just too many unanswered questions.  

“Weaponized?” 

Yuma tilted his head towards Shun, pursing his lips. The agents of Border were only told about the threat of Mimics and not how they were once used for grief. There wasn’t a need for the agents to know that as it wasn’t important in the plan to hold out against the attack. “Mimics were once designed to deal with the grief of losing a loved one. The purpose of them was to transform into someone you lost so you could have one last moment with them. Someone took that design and made the Mimics into weapons to attack us so I don’t know how different they are or what transformed weaponized Mimics are thinking.”  

If it was possible, Shun’s eyebrows would have disappeared into his hair by now. He never imagined Trion Soldiers being used for anything but attacking people. That was, of course, a bias that probably all of Border shared. Having never been to the Neighbor’s world, his only interaction with Trion Soldiers were the ones trying to kill him, so he felt vindicated in having that view. “O-kay,” He said slowly. “If that was the purpose of them, then why not just have the Mimics take over the role of the loved ones so it’ll be like they were never lost?” 

“Because they’re not real.” Yuma snapped, regretting the harsh tone immediately when Shun flinched back. “Sorry, it’s just, nothing can replace the real person that died. It's....hard to separate the Mimic and the person who died. I know they’re fakes, and yet, I let myself get fooled by Dad yesterday.”  

Having met the Mimic of Kuga Yugo last night, Shun couldn’t blame Yuma. He didn’t know the real Kuga Yugo so he didn’t know his personality to match it with the Mimic’s transformed version, but just the appearance of it was enough to fool him. It was impossible to tell that Yugo was a Trion Soldier at all.  

“Also,” Yuma hesitated which drew Shun’s eyes back to him, giving him a curious look. “Mimics typically can’t hold their transformed forms for long. You might get twelve hours out of them if you’re lucky.”  

Shun frowned. “But your dad is still wandering around.”  

“I did say typically. That was the original design of the Mimics since they weren’t meant to replace what was lost, but give a sense of closure with one last conversation. These new Mimics that are designed to attack us, they’re different.”  

“I hadn’t heard anything about that.”  

Yuma shrugged before he was shoving a door open to the restaurant before standing to the side to let Shun follow him inside. “When I was telling the higher ups about the Mimics, I did mention it, but in the grand scheme of things, the time limit I was talking about wasn’t too important because if the Mimic transformed, you’re already in deep trouble. Besides, that time limit clearly doesn’t exist since Dad is still around.”  

“Huh, the extensive report we got on a new Trion Soldier that just appeared makes so much sense now.” Shun replied while his eyes drifted around the restaurant as he shook his head. “Nope, never been here.”  

“You’ll really enjoy it.” Yuma paused as he glanced back over at Shun, taking in the features on his face which included the bags under his eyes. “And after we eat, you should head home for a nap.”  

“And leave you to run off on your own to hunt down and most likely get killed by your dad?” Shun grunted. “Not happening.”  

“You pass out on the street from exhaustion and I will leave you there.” Yuma said.  

Shun smirked at his friend. “You wouldn’t do that.”  

“Who’s getting killed by who?” 

An inaudible groan escaped Yuma’s lips at the voice. He didn’t even bother to look off to the side where it had come from.  

Even if he wasn’t able to fully see Yuma’s face, Shun saw enough to be able to grin viciously at his friend. “You knew this was his family’s restaurant. You were taking a risk in deciding to come here.” 

“Huh?” Kageura dropped a hand to Yuma’s head, shaking it around roughly. “Were you avoiding me, shrimp? After that memo went out yesterday and you disappeared all day, only to give me a two worded reply late last night, I shouldn’t be surprised.”  

“I’m not avoiding anyone. I'm just busy.”  

“Not too busy to drop in here for lunch apparently.”  

“I was thinking Shun could pass out at the table after we eat and I could sneak away to get what I need done.”  

“Hey!” Shun nudged his shoulder against Yuma’s. “So, you are trying to get rid of me. I thought we agreed you wouldn’t do this alone.”  

“Someone dead on their feet from exhaustion isn’t my first pick of backup.”  

Kageura shoved the two arguing agents into the nearest, empty booth. He sat them on one side so he could take the other side of the booth to himself. At least their arguing kept them from projecting any of their annoying emotions to him. “Shut up.” He snapped, glaring at the other customers in the restaurant that were starting to look over at them. “We don’t need anyone hearing any sensitive information.”  

As the two younger agents ceased their discussion and settled in to get comfortable, Kageura leaned back, rolling his eyes to ceiling. For everything that went down yesterday with Yuma being a hot topic at Border and his disappearance from HQ for whatever reason, he seemed relatively fine. Nothing wrong with that, but considering the worry his friends were showing yesterday about his disappearing from HQ, it was actually irritating Kageura to see him perfectly fine, not a wound in sight and looking as lively as ever.  

“So, who’s killing here?” Kageura asked.  

“Yuma-senpai’s dad is looking for him and talking about how he is going to die before the week is over.” Shun, the traitor, explained immediately, resulting in Yuma shooting him another glare. He didn’t even need to tell anyone about Jin’s prediction of his death if his father was just going to spread the word about wanting to kill him.  

To his credit, Kageura’s facial expression didn’t change. He was still scowling at the two. “Hardly surprising. He's a Trion Soldier. It's their programming to kill. Though, I suppose it is surprising he is zeroing in on the shrimp in particular.”  

Shun rested his arms on the table, leaning forward to look at the scary looking agent in front of him. “You haven’t seen him yet, have you?”  

“I haven’t been on duty since before Kuga Yugo made his appearance.”  

“Then you don’t understand without having met him!” Shun replied, throwing his hands into the air. “He was pretty friendly when I spoke to him, but his actual words had that threat to them when he was talking about Yuma-senpai dying!” 

“It was the same when I spoke to him. The tone of his voice was...” Yuma hesitated as he rolled over the conversation he had with his dad in his head. “His tone of voice was very similar to how he spoke to me as a child. Even his movements matched Dad exactly, but with what he said, those words were ominous.”  

Kageura stared at Yuma across the table, frowning at the albino agent. Now that Shun and Yuma were no longer arguing and were focusing on him as part of this conversation, he was starting to get the pinpricks of emotions from the two. It was expected from Shun, but there was a small part of Kageura that was hoping that Yuma had gotten his head back on straight. Unfortunately, that didn’t seem to be the case as there were emotions striking him from Yuma, but they were significantly weaker and less painful than the ones from the other day.  

“Is having your father around really that much of an issue for you?” Kageura asked, surprising Yuma.  

“Isn’t that pretty obvious? No one that has gone up against him so far has survived.”  

“I don’t think anyone has even been able to hit him yet.” Shun added.  

Ignoring Shun, Kageura shot Yuma a glare. That punk knew perfectly well what it was that Kageura was asking, but was acting like he didn’t, which was an answer all on its own. That, coupled with the emotions striking Kageura, was showing just how much Yuma’s head was not in the game. None of this was acceptable. If he wanted to get a good fight out of Yuma, he would have to get this problem solved.  

“So, where is your dad?”  

A scowl morphed over Yuma’s face. “Why do you guys just think I'm going to know where he is hiding? If I knew that, I would have already gone to him.”  

“That has to be one of the stupidest ideas I've ever heard.” Kageura sneered.  

“Thank you!” Shun almost shouted, feeling vindicated while he sat his triumphant look towards Yuma.  

Yuma rolled his eyes. “You all think that, but it’s my dad. He trained me and fought alongside me. I know best how he fights so why shouldn’t I be the one to go after him?” 

“Knowing how he fights clearly didn’t help you beat him yesterday.” Kageura retorted.  

That was fair. Just knowing how someone fought didn’t mean he would win. It wasn’t all that surprising. Kuga Yugo would never be an easy target to take down. Knowing how he fought was only adding a little bit of help to the situation. Though, considering that he now had access to Black Trigger abilities, that made it harder to know how Yugo would fight. From the fight Yuma had with Yugo, he was able to recognize that though they both had access to the same abilities from the Black Trigger, they utilized them differently.  

“But it improves my chance of beating him.” Yuma argued.  

“Our. Our chance.” Shun corrected, shooting a glare towards Yuma. “This isn’t a Kuga Yuma problem. It's a Border problem. Besides, knowing how he fights and using that to your advantage isn’t going to help anything if you can’t find him.”  

Kageura raised a brow. “Know what will help?” He leveled his own glare at Yuma. “Actually talking to your friends and working with them on this, instead of trying to handle everything on your own. You know, sharing information.”  

“We can start a manhunt for him.” Shun suggested. “And when we start to see people bailing out, we’ll know where he is at.”  

Yuma snorted in amusement. “You’re already expecting everyone to die. You'll never win with that attitude.”  

“That because his defense and offense is so impressive. When he had that shield up, nothing we threw at him could break it!” Shun whined.  

“The Shield he has been using is the one attached to my Black Trigger so in general, it’s a tougher Shield then the ones we got from Border. The durability of the Shield can be increased by multipliers and if it’s fixed, it’s unlikely you’ll break through it.”  

“I bet Tamakoma’s cannon could rip through it.” Kageura pointed out. 

“She definitely could. We would have to be in the Restricted Zone though to avoid damage to the city.”  

“Good point.” Shun leaned back in his seat, looking up towards the ceiling as he thought about Chika’s cannon blasts in the Rank Wars. “It’s easy to have her shoot like that in a virtual city, but not very practical in the real city.”  

“As long as she aims well and doesn’t use too much Trion, it would be fine.” Kageura said.  

Yuma hummed in agreement.  

“So, what brought you guys in here today?”  

“Food.”  

“Trying to get Shun to fall asleep by getting him to sit down.”  

Shun whacked his friend’s arm halfheartedly. “That’s not what we’re doing. I don’t care how tired I am from defense duty last night, I'm not letting you wander around the city looking for you dad alone. He’s going to kill you the moment he sees you!” 

Yuma resisted the urge to roll his eyes. He didn’t want to add any attitude into this conversation that he was trying to keep serious. “He had his sword at my throat when he attacked Tamakoma, but didn’t take the chance to kill me then. If he wanted me dead immediately, he would have done it then.” He explained, not noticing the look of horror on Shun’s face as he continued. “While I'm sure my death is what he wants, it’s not an immediate death he is after. So, logically, I should be fine if I go to try to kill him.”  

“You let him put a sword to your throat?” Kageura demanded, surprising Shun and Yuma as they seemingly forgot about him sitting there.  

“I didn’t let him do anything. He's just fast.” Yuma replied. “And we got blinded by Chika’s blast destroying the Illgar that was there.”  

“Un-freaking-believable.” Kageura muttered to himself, looking off to the side as he scratched at his neck. “You don’t get caught off guard like that, Kuga. Whatever is distracting you, you need to get it worked out before you get killed by your dad.” 

Yuma's eyes shifted to the side so he could avoid looking at his friends. It was easy to say to stop being distracted, but it was actually a very hard thing to do, especially in this situation where his distraction was because of his dad. And, he didn’t just mean the Mimic of his father wandering around. There were only four more days until the anniversary of his dad’s death. The date was still locked in his head. With the date approaching and his father running around the city, was it any surprise that Kuga Yugo was occupying every single part of his mind?  

There was nothing more important to Yuma right now than his father.  

Chapter Text

“Why are you following us?” 

An innocent enough of a question, and quite frankly, one that has been plaguing Yuma’s mind since they finished lunch at Kageura’s family restaurant. Though, Yuma had a pretty good idea as to why Kageura had decided to follow him. Not only did Shun not fall asleep and was still glued to his side, he had gone and gotten himself a second tagalong in what he had planned to be a solo venture when he left HQ this morning.  

Going after his father was something he was supposed to do alone. It was his mess to clean up, just as it was his job to finish the war in Calvaria after he got his father killed. The military echelons used him for his Black Trigger, and he let them. The guilt he felt from his father’s death was carved too deeply into him for him to care that Calvaria just saw him as a weapon to win their war. It worked out for everyone. Calvaria got their weapon and Yuma had something to distract himself from his guilt and impending death.  

He was built to handle things alone.  

…Except he was never truly alone.  

Replica was always there, fighting by his side.  

Even with him gone, Yuma still wasn’t alone.  

Fighting by his side.... 

Yelling at him for trying to go solo against the Mimics... 

Trying so hard to help his stubborn self... 

Was Border. 

This wasn’t like Calvaria where all he was good for was his Black Trigger.  

The Border agents were not as willing to let Yuma wander alone into what they knew was dangerous territory.  

That was the difference.  

Yuma making a mistake here didn’t mean he had to handle it alone. His comrades...friends would have his back.  

They all wanted to help and no one was trying to pull him from the fight. They called him out on his recklessness, which was fair since they weren’t wrong, but no one told him to not fight. Everyone did believe he wouldn’t be able to kill Yugo, and that was angering him, but not for the reason they might think.  

It was because deep down, Yuma knew they were all right. Hyuse was right to call Yuma out on not attacking his father more seriously at Tamakoma. Yuma was hesitating to take any shot against his dad, and he was just angry at himself for behaving like that. Yugo attacked his home. He hurt Shiori. He’s attacking Border agents on patrol. All of that should be angering Yuma, which it was, but despite that anger, Yuma couldn’t bring himself to attack seriously and it was just so frustrating for him.  

Honestly, knowing how he felt and about his hesitance, he didn’t know why he was desperately searching for his father. Currently, he was in an all bark, no bite mindset towards Kuga Yugo. Perhaps his desperate search right now came from Hyuse’s threat to tell Tamakoma the truth tomorrow. He needed to deal with this before tomorrow, but Yuma knew it, but didn’t want to admit it aloud, that even if he found his father today, he wouldn’t be able to strike him down and it was angering him. He shouldn’t be this weak.  

“I’m looking for a decent fight since I can’t get one from Kuga, maybe the Mimic of his dad can give me one.” Kageura snapped at Shun, though his glare was directed towards Yuma.  

“My bad. If we fight again, I'll do my best to feel better so you get a decent fight.” Yuma replied.  

Kageura narrowed his eyes, still staring at Yuma as he tried to get a read on him. “We will fight again. One bad fight isn’t going to keep me from pounding you into the dirt.”  

The sharp grin on Kageura’s face had Shun shivering. He was glad he wasn’t the one it was directed towards. Yuma could take all the wrath for Kageura himself. He seemed to thrive on pushing Kageura’s buttons anyway. “Did something happen the last time you guys fought?” Shun watched them fight the other day. The only thing weird was that Yuma lost worse than he usually did against Kageura. Then again, the same thing happened in his fight with Murakami the other day.  

“I’ve just been distracted lately. Apparently, it’s enough for me to activate Kage-senpai's side effect.” Yuma explained.  

“Oh, your frustrations this week is well known.” Shun replied, making Yuma give a sheepish smile in return. “The Mimics had you mad before one even transformed into your dad.”  

Smile turning into a grimace, Yuma looked away from his friends to stare at the crowds across the street. It's not like it was a secret or that big of a deal. There was just never a need to bring it up before. “It was frustration mixed with grief. The anniversary of my dad’s death is in four days.” He admitted, still looking off to the side so he could avoid looking at his friends. “And now with a Mimic of him running around, memories that I long tried to bury are resurfacing.”  

Yuma was opening up to Shun, but he didn’t feel great about it. Everything he learned today about his friend was far from happy. It was no wonder Yuma didn’t open up freely about himself. It all sounded like he had a difficult life.  

“Grief is a hard emotion to hide.” Kageura scoffed, looking away from the two younger agents. “You’ve been hiding yours behind anger this week.”  

Shun raised a brow as he looked from Kageura to Yuma, who both decided to avert their eyes. Neither of them seemed to be good at talking about feelings if all they wanted to do was look away as it was brought up. Seeing it now, it wasn’t a surprise to Shun that he didn’t learn anything about Yuma’s past until today. Honestly, he was lucky to learn anything since it looked like it was difficult just for Yuma to force the words from his lips.  

*Mimics*  

Jin took a huge gulp of his coffee, ignoring the burning sensation as the hot drink traveled down his throat. It was already late in the afternoon, surely too late to be having coffee that would make it hard for him to sleep, but with everything going on this week, Jin didn’t think he was going to be sleeping much anyway.  

Across from him, Arashiyama was leaning against the window, but wasn’t looking at Jin. Instead, he had his arms crossed and had his head turned to the side so he could glance out the window at the Restricted Zone. There wasn’t truly anything to look at since no Mimics would be able to attack right now.  

Then again, Mimics managed to attack them at twilight the other night so Jin supposed it wasn’t wrong for Arashiyama to be cautious. They didn’t need any more Mimics breaking into the base.  

“I met with Kido-san the other day for a meeting. He’s,” Arashiyama paused, a grimace coming over his face.  

“Not happy with Kuga-san being here.” Jin stared down at his drink, twisting the cup around, watching the liquid swish around. “I don’t need my side effect to see that happening. No one was going to be happy with this turn of events.”  

“Then it shouldn’t need to be said, he wants this problem solved as fast as possible. He's probably only getting more agitated the more he hears Kuga’s name in everyone’s reports. Our squads keep getting decimated by him.” Arashiyama replied. He didn’t read the reports from the agents on duty, but word of mouth was a pretty fast way to get information. It was one thing to get a memo about Kuga Yugo appearing and to be cautious, but it was another to have multiple A-Rank squads getting destroyed by him. People were already interested in who Kuga Yugo was, but this just ramped up that interest tenfold.  

“Did he say anything about Yuma?” Jin asked, concern etching itself onto his face. He knew Kido wasn’t a fan of Neighbors, but he seemed to be making an exception more and more these days with them.  

“Kido-san isn’t the type to complain about an ally to another ally.” Arashiyama dragged his eyes off the ruins below them so he could frown at Jin. “That said, he is irritated, but I don’t think he is blaming Yuma that much. It's not like Yuma planned for this to happen. He had a bad night and got caught off guard. We can’t expect perfection from him.”  

“True.”  

“Since we’re already in this situation, it seems Kido-san is willing to allow Yuma to use his Black Trigger as needed. He wants Kuga taken care of quickly.” Arashiyama said. 

A frown morphed onto Jin’s face that mirrored the one Arashiyama was wearing. “Even if he could win, I'm not letting Yuma kill Kuga-san.”  

“Do you really think that is a decision you can make for Yuma?” Arashiyama asked softly.  

Dropping his eyes down the ground in front him, Jin sighed softly to himself. “Yuma has been carrying the guilt of his father’s death on his shoulder for nearly five years now.” Jin looked up from the ground, locking eyes with his friend. “Yuma believes Mimics to be fake versions of lost loved ones and hates them, but that was before coming face to face with Mimic Kuga Yugo. It's becoming hard for him to distinguish Kuga Yugo and this Mimic of him. So, even if he found the strength to deliver the killing blow to Kuga Yugo, it would destroy him. He would have the weight of that guilt double down on him, and I don’t think he could stand back up after watching the life leave Kuga Yugo a second time.”  

Arashiyama’s brows furrowed in confusion for a moment. He knew that Jin had left things out of the story he gave him and Kako about Yuma and his father. From what Jin was saying now, there was clearly a lot more to the story if Yuma was blaming himself for his father making the choice to create a Black Trigger. That, however, was none of Arashiyama’s business. He didn’t need to know Yuma’s past to be able to fight in the present. “Would it really drag him down?” He asked instead. “Like you said, it’s a Mimic of him. He's not real. Yuma should know that.”  

“His mind and heart are in conflict. He knows it’s fake, but that doesn’t change the fact, that killing him will haunt his memories. You saw Kuga the other day at Tamakoma, right? You saw how real he looks.” Jin asked.  

Arashiyama shook head. “I didn’t get a good look because of how far away we were when he left. But you didn’t get a good look either, right?” 

Jin shrugged. “I got closer than you. I was moving pretty quickly once you guys finished with the Illgar.” He looked off to the side, staring down the empty hallways. “Besides, Yuma wouldn’t hesitate to attack like that in a normal situation. He had to have been caught off guard real bad by how real he looked.”  

“So, you want to protect his mental state.” Arashiyama clarified. “Then, let's take that part out of the factor for a moment. If you weren’t worried about this hurting him mentally, do you think Yuma could defeat his father if his emotions weren’t interfering?” 

There wasn’t an immediate answer, leaving Arashiyama to just stare at his friend, unable to read what the pinched expression Jin was wearing meant. It didn’t look like he was trying to see into the future to answer his question, so he must just be thinking carefully about his answer. At this point, he had probably already exhausted all the possible futures and didn’t even need to look.  

“Using his Black Trigger, Yuma has the ability to beat opponents that are much stronger than him and he should logically have no chance of defeating. He proved that during Aftokrator’s invasion.” Jin explained slowly, seemingly testing each word in his head before saying it. “There is always a way to defeat someone stronger than you. It's just not an easy feat to accomplish. I think Yuma has the ability to do it, at least hold his own against his father...” 

“But, you don’t think he will.” Arashiyama finished when Jin trailed off. “I didn’t think you were one to doubt in him.”  

“Even if I believed Yuma could bring himself to deliver the killing blow, I wouldn’t let him. I don’t even want him there to see it.” Jin replied, rubbing his eyes. He really wished he had slept in this morning. It was about time he began pulling some all-nighters for the rest of the week.  

Arashiyama quirked a brow at Jin. It was no surprise to anyone how protective Jin could be. He worked so hard to fight for their future, but that required him to make tough decisions where he had to occasionally put his allies in danger to get them down the path towards a good future. None of them ever blamed Jin for the roles he assigned them in these invasions since they knew he was doing his best to save the city and his allies.  Just as Arashiyama couldn’t understand the guilt pulling Yuma down, he couldn’t begin to understand the stress Jin had weighing him down. All he could do was be there to help both of them and try to alleviate some of that burden from them. 

“Then we’re going to need to get an A-team together that has the skill to beat Kuga before Yuma finds him.” Arashiyama replied. “I’m sure Tachikawa-san would like a second chance at him.”  

Jin snorted into his coffee. Everyone could see the fire burning in Tachikawa’s eyes at the mere mention of Kuga Yugo. He wasn’t taking the situation lightly, but he was excited for a chance to actually cross blades with the man.  “Maybe if that happens, he’ll stop complaining about getting killed in an ambush from Kuga-san.”  

“Do you think Tachikawa-san could beat Kuga?” Arashiyama asked.  

“Hmm,” Jin hummed to himself, casting his eyes upwards as he thought over the question. “I couldn’t say honestly. I know from Yuma and Shinoda-san and Rindo-san that Kuga-san is a very powerful Trigger user and now he has the abilities of a Black Trigger at his disposal as well, making him an even bigger threat. I know that, but I haven’t truly seen him in action myself so I couldn’t say if Tachikawa-san could beat him in a one-on-one fight.” Jin took a sip of his coffee before sighing. “I could fight alongside him to give us a better chance against Kuga-san, but we wouldn’t have the advantage of my side effect giving us the edge since I can’t see the future of Kuga-san. I don’t know how he will attack.”  

Arashiyama gave as reassuring a smile as he could muster up. “Then that puts you in the same boat as the rest of us.”  

“A shame. I truly enjoyed having my own private yacht.” Jin replied, a teasing smile sent towards his friend.  

“A yacht, truly? You really have abandoned the rest of us for a life of luxury.” Arashiyama replied, amusement rolling off of him in waves.  

“Not completely. I'm still here to help Border in any way I can.”  

“And we appreciate it, but don’t try to take on everything alone, okay? We’re all here to help you. This isn’t a fight you have to go into alone.”  

A humorless laugh escaped Jin. “Could you do me a favor and tell Yuma that? I have a feeling if I say it, he’ll just get mad at me again.”  

“Yuma’s not above getting mad at my team as well.” Arashiyama replied, thinking back to the other day when Tokieda told him that Yuma was annoyed when he realized they were watching him on Jin’s orders. Orders which Arashiyama was still ashamed that they failed in succeeding at. They had messed up in keeping Yuma safe, which resulted in Kuga Yugo appearing as an enemy to Border. He had a feeling that Yuma was blaming himself for letting that happen, but if he was being honest, Arashiyama was feeling the same guilt. Jin asked something important of him and he couldn’t manage to do what he asked. “Listen, Jin, this isn’t just about Yuma, okay? We’ll help him, of course, but you shouldn’t let your instinct to protect him keep you from remembering yourself. You need to take care of yourself.”  

Jin’s easy smile turned into a grimace. “There’s a lot that needs done.” That wasn’t to say he didn’t understand where Arashiyama was coming from. He understood that he needed to rest and keep up his own strength. Letting stress and worry about the coming consume him would make him useless in the field when he needed his mind to be at the top of its game. Just knowing and understanding that didn’t make it easy for him to do. It was hard to sit back and rest when there was so much he could be doing to try to fight against the future he didn’t want to see come to pass.  

Shifting his eyes pass Arashiyama, Jin looked out the window, staring at the ruins of the city that surrounded the base. “Kuga-san is out there in the city somewhere and we still have Mimics attacking us every night. Even if the nation that is sending them moves out of range, Kuga-san will still be the city. How many times can he attack and kill our squads? This is our home turf so we should have an advantage, but he so easily appears to attack and then just as easily, he slips away.”  

“Makes you wonder what he is trying to accomplish by coming and going like that.” Arashiyama mused.  

“It has to be personal.” Jin said softly. “Yuma told me that Kuga-san didn’t even know he was a Mimic when they spoke at Tamakoma. He can’t have a mission from the nation that sent the Mimics here then, so what he is doing is personal to him.”  

Arashiyama hummed to himself, glancing off down the empty hallway. “Kuga used to be a Border member, right? So why would he want to attack his old organization.” He looked back at Jin, frowning. “Even if he doesn’t realize he is a Mimic, there has to be some type of programming in there. I don’t know anything about Kuga, but do you think he would be the type to attack Border unless there was an outside force controlling that action?” 

Staring at his reflection in the window, Jin narrowed his eyes as thoughts flew around in his head as he twisted the question over in his mind. Kuga Yugo was a mystery even to him. He knew more than the agents since Yuma spoke to him about his father and the few things he heard from Rindo, but those few tidbits of information couldn’t tell him much about Kuga Yugo. Though, there was one thing he was absolutely certain of. “Kuga Yugo loved and trusted Border. Yuma always said his father told him to come to Japan and find a friend of his in Border if he were to die. Kuga-san left Border about two decades ago, but he still always told Yuma that, so I can’t believe he would attack his old allies willingly like this.”  

“It makes sense that there would be some type of outside force. If Mimics were originally created to help deal with the grief of losing a loved one, to make it into a weapon, there has to be some tampering with the Mimics control to make them want to attack after they transform, especially if they don’t know they are a Mimic.” Arashiyama replied, glancing up and down the hall to make sure no one else was approaching them. “I can’t imagine the Kuga Yugo that died for his son would attack him like this otherwise.”  

“He wouldn’t.” Jin agreed, completely sure of his statement, despite never having met the real Kuga Yugo. There could be no way a father who gave up his life for his son would try to kill him like this if they managed to meet up again. Despite what Yuma felt with the guilt that ate away at him, thinking his father’s death was his fault, Jin couldn’t believe that Kuga Yugo would ever truly blame or hate his son for what happened.  

“And how is your plan in solving this coming along?” Arashiyama asked.  

Jin scratched the back of his head as a weary look passed over his face.  

Arashiyama’s heart sank at seeing that expression. “You don’t have a plan, do you? It's not like you to not have a plan.”  

“It’s not that I don’t have a plan. It's more like, before I can move forward on anything, Tamakoma needs to have a meeting. A meeting that can’t take place until Yuma comes back tonight. There's something we need to discuss.”  

Arashiyama nodded. “Okay, you deal with Tamakoma tonight. The agents will deal with any Mimics that might try to attack us.” It was Arashiyama’s turn to grimace after he finished talking. He already failed in one promise to Jin when he said he would keep Yuma safe, and now he was making the promise of having agents take care of the Mimics tonight so Jin could focus on the problems that were inside of Tamakoma. If those problems were keeping Jin from focusing on the attack from the Mimics, then that meant it had to be important. And not just important on a personal level. With the Mimics and Kuga Yugo looming over Border, Arashiyama doubted Jin would let personal matters distract him right now. He was sure that the problems in Tamakoma were related to their current situation. Perhaps what they needed to talk about involved the attack on their base the other day. Whatever it was, Arashiyama would make sure they had the time to sort it out. After all, it seemed Jin really thought this was something that took priority in the face of all their other problems.  

“That would be helpful.” Jin replied. “In fact, do you know who is on defense duty tonight?” 

“No, but I can find out. Why?” 

“The first few nights with the Mimics left the agents confused since the Mimics tried to leave the Restricted Zone, which doesn’t match up with the report we all received about them.”  

As Jin spoke, realization began to shine in Arashiyama’s eyes.  

Jin glanced up and down the hall to make sure they were still alone. “Now that you know the truth about Yuma’s body...” 

“He was attracting Mimics to leave the Restricted Zone.” Arashiyama finished, shock and horror coursing through his veins. It was no wonder Yuma had been on edge the past few days. No matter where he was, he would be a target for the Mimics. Yuma hadn’t even been on defense duty the past few nights, but he still didn’t get the chance to relax. The threat of the Mimics attacking him every night loomed over his head so he had to be uneasy while sitting at Tamakoma... 

Which was outside the Restricted Zone. 

The Mimics were trying to get into the city for one of Border’s agents.  

And Jin knew that, but didn’t warn them.  

“You didn’t think that was something we needed to know sooner? Civilians could have gotten hurt if they stepped into the path of the Mimics gunning for Yuma.” Arashiyama demanded.  

The look on Arashiyama’s face had Jin wincing. If it was possible for facial expression to kill, Jin would already be six feet under. “Do you really think I would just let that go?” He replied, forcing a calmness to his voice to try to ease the sudden tension in Arashiyama. The defense of the city was always a top priority for Arashiyama’s squad so it wasn’t a surprise to Jin that it would frustrate him that Jin let Yuma into the city at night, knowing the Mimics would be coming for him which could put everyone at risk. “I’m not putting the city in danger, but I'm not going to abandon Yuma to the Mimics either. I had Kako-san keep the Mimics in the Restricted Zone the other night and your squad was on Yuma duty the next night.”  

Arashiyama’s anger washed away to be replaced by guilt at the reminder of their failed job.  

“Yuma doesn’t want people to know about his body so I was doing my best to keep his secret while protecting him and the city. You only know because you figured it out.”  

Arashiyama breathed out slowly, letting himself calm down. “I understand you’re in a difficult spot, Jin, but couldn’t you have done anything else? Like have Yuma spend his nights at Border HQ or send him out of the city?” 

Jin shook his head. “Sending him away wouldn’t have helped. It just led to the Mimics attacking cities to get to him. There is no way to hide him from them, even with the distance. Their ability to track Trion bodies is uncanny.”  

Uncanny? It sounded more ridiculous than anything. There was a limit to everything. Like with Border’s radars. They only extended so far, so logically, the Mimics had to have a limit to their ability to locate Trion bodies.  

And perhaps the answer was staring directly at them the whole time.  

“Kuga created Yuma’s current Trion body during the process of creating a Black Trigger. The same Black Trigger that is the only thing keeping him alive.” Arashiyama said slowly as the information Jin gave him about Yuma’s situation rolled around in his head to form into his theory. “When using a Black Trigger, your Trion volume gets raised exponentially.”  

Realization for where Arashiyama was going with this began to shine in Jin’s eyes. “You think a body created from Trion that was converted into Black Trigger Trion is like a shining beacon to Mimics?”  

“You tell me. You’ve known about Yuma’s situation longer than me.”  

Uneasiness settled onto Jin’s face. “I don’t know the specifics of how this works.” 

“You didn’t look into it at all? No tests?” Arashiyama asked surprised.  

“Yuma didn’t care to look into the problem with his body so we left it alone. Besides, this situation is unprecedented. We would need Kinuta-san's help to even know what to research and telling people isn’t what Yuma wanted.” Jin explained, dropping his head to the wall behind him. In hindsight, they should have tried to convince Yuma to let them look into his situation before this. Any information on his situation would be extremely helpful at this point. Unfortunately, since Jin didn’t see this attack from Mimics coming and that it would lead to Yuma’s death, he didn’t think to push Yuma into letting them study his body and Black Trigger since he didn’t want to force Yuma into doing something he didn’t want. Though, if things continued on the way they were, Jin wasn’t sure how much longer they could keep things a secret.  

Arashiyama sighed. “I guess it hardly matters now since the Mimics already got to him.”  

Jin hummed in agreement. “I didn’t want Yuma anywhere in the vicinity of them. That’s why I didn’t want him at Border at night since I was worried it would make it easier for the Mimics to target him. I thought if I kept him at Tamakoma and put agents in the Mimic’s path, I could prevent the future I see from coming to pass. But now we’re here and it’s going to be a hard fight to stop the future, which leads me to my point. Once Yuma is back at HQ, the agents tonight won’t need to worry about the Mimics trying to get out of the Restricted Zone, but they need to keep them far away from HQ.”  

“I’ll let them know, but do you really think the Mimics will continue to target Yuma? His father is already here.” Arashiyama asked.  

“Don’t know, but I'd rather not risk anything.”  

*Mimics*  

Hyuse's sword came swinging down, slicing cleanly through Tomoe, cutting him in half. As the dead agent bailed out, Hyuse felt himself transported back into his booth, a scowl on his face. That fight was no way near as exciting as when he fought Yuma or even his fight against Konami the other day. It's not like he expected much from it anyway. It was just something to keep himself busy while he waited for Yuma to come back to HQ.  

He gave his word that he wouldn’t mention that Yuma was dying until tomorrow. If that met keeping quiet until 12:01, then he had to do something to keep himself busy until then. Fighting the Border agents was supposed to be a nice way to distract himself from thinking about what his idiot partner was getting up to in the city.  

At least, that’s where Hyuse assumed Yuma had gone too. Despite both of them staying up late last night to talk, Yuma had woken up very early and disappeared before Hyuse decided to get up to face the new day. There was no doubt in his mind that Yuma thought he needed all the time he could get to try fix things with his Mimic father so Hyuse would keep his mouth shut. Yuma could do anything he liked, as long as he didn’t get himself killed, but Hyuse would still be informing their comrades of what was wrong. After all, how would settling things with Kuga Yugo stop Yuma from dying? 

Hyuse didn’t know, but he didn’t know a lot about what was going on. In fact, it seemed no one beyond Yuma and Jin even knew, and they were both idiots. If Jin really saw Yuma dying in the future, that wasn’t something that he should be keeping quiet about. Keeping quiet about it was not going to help them prevent Yuma’s death, and that was something that needed prevented at all costs. Tamakoma-2 could not survive an away mission with only one Ace Attacker. They needed both to make it to Aftokrator. That was the only reason Hyuse cared about making sure he didn’t lose his partner.  

There was no other reason.  

He just didn’t want a new idiot partner that he had to figure out how to coordinate with.  

Especially if a new idiot partner showed up in front of him that lacked the skill and experience that Yuma had. That was not something he could work with.  

“Man, Cronin-kun is just as cruel as Kuga-kun.”  

Hyuse glanced over at Tomoe as he stepped out of his booth to see him talking to his squad.  

“At least your head didn’t get chopped off this time.” Teruya replied.  

“No, I just got sliced in half which isn’t any better.” Tomoe grumbled.  

Kakizaki laughed lightly. “You may have lost, but every fight is good experience to help you down the road to becoming stronger.” He glanced up, eyes locking with Hyuse’s as he smiled at him. “It was a good fight, Cronin.”  

Hyuse nodded back, but didn’t reply as he shifted his eyes away from the squad below him to see who else was in the area that could give him a good fight.  

“What are you looking for?” 

He was not snuck up on.  

Hyuse knew the owner of that voice had been approaching him.  

He would forever deny that he flinched at the loud voice behind him.  

Glancing over his shoulder, Hyuse recognized the agent there as Yoneya. He had never spoken with him before, but he was sure Yuma was friends with him. His eyes dropped down to the crest on his chest. An A-Rank agent should give him more fun than the B-Rank agents. “Want a fight?”  

That seemed to be the right question to ask as Yoneya’s eyes lit up with excitement. “Sounds like fun. I notice you usually do first to five-win matches.”  

“It’s the most time efficient.”  

Yoneya smirked. “Perhaps against B-Ranks you can beat easily. It won’t be that easy against A-Ranks.”  

*Mimics*  

Yoneya was a fighter that relied on quick attacks. He was fast and mobile, but Hyuse spent a lot of time fighting against Yuma at Tamakoma Branch and he was much more mobile and a lot faster than Yoneya could ever hope to be. Despite his speed being less than Yuma’s didn’t make him an easy opponent though.  

The Kogetsu spear that was bearing down on him was proof enough of that. Hyuse’s Kogetsu came up to block the spear, feeling the blade scrape along his own before his vision was getting distorted and the next thing he knew he was staring up at the ceiling in his booth.  

“You know,” Yoneya’s voice rang out over the coms, amusement coloring his voice. “Kuga was able to dodge my surprise attack enough that he only got a shallow wound on his neck when we first faced off.”  

Hyuse pushed himself up to a sitting position and glared at the computer, wishing to set Yoneya on fire. There had to be some kind of trick to it. In the first place, Hyuse knew he didn’t know all there was to know about Border’s Triggers, but he knew there wasn’t a spear weapon. He didn’t get a good look at Yoneya’s weapon, but Hyuse would guess it was a variation of the Kogetsu sword that he used.  

So, to be able kill Hyuse when he knew he had blocked the blade initially meant it had to be Gen’yo. Michael had explained the optional Triggers for Kogetsu to him, but he opted out of having them added to his Trigger since he felt it would have been too much for him to handle along with his other optional Triggers. He wanted time to get used to Border’s Triggers before taking on extra skills to his sword.  

Even though that was how he felt, he still took the time to listen to Michael as he explained the optional Triggers for Kogetsu to him. Since Hyuse knew he blocked the spear perfectly, it had to be Gen’yo. That was the only optional Trigger he was told about that made sense for why he was killed. He didn’t see the blade shift until it was already stabbing him through the throat.  

It was frustrating enough already that he lost so quickly; he didn’t need the mention that Yuma survived that surprise attack his first time fighting Yoneya. He couldn’t even see the attack coming so how had Yuma managed to prevent himself from getting killed by it?  

Well, whatever, it hardly mattered. It took him by surprise once since he didn’t know Yoneya had that Trigger, but it wouldn’t get him a second time.  

With that decided, Hyuse jumped back into the arena for round two.  

*Mimics*  

Hearing a soft groan, Chika looked up from her phone, smiling softly at her captain that had collapsed into the couch across from her. “Are you okay, Osamu-kun?” 

Osamu removed his glasses to rub at his eyes. “Jin-san and I just had a meeting with the A-Rank captains to explain how Kuga’s Black Trigger works. It just....” He motioned in the air weakly. “Feels like a betrayal, telling everyone about the strengths and weaknesses of his Black Trigger.” 

“Isn’t telling them supposed to help them prepare to face Yuma-kun's dad?” Chika asked.  

“Yeah,” Osamu replied softly as he slipped his glasses back on. “But typically, you don’t want to show your full hand. I don’t think there will ever be a reason for Kuga to have to fight Border. I don’t think he would betray the organization, but what if they betray him at some point? Not everyone in Border likes Neighbors. By telling them about his Black Trigger, it feels like giving them an edge over him if it ever comes to that.”  

Chika lowered her phone to her lap to give her full attention to Osamu. “I see. I can’t say I know the future so I don’t know if that would ever happen, but,” Her eyes dropped to her hands, curling them softly as she recalled the feel of her rifle in them. “Yuma-kun isn’t alone. I joined Border for the purpose of getting on an away mission to find my brother and friend, however, if Border did decide for some reason to go after Yuma-kun, I wouldn’t sit by and watch it happen, even if it put my position as an agent and my spot on the expedition team in jeopardy.” Chika lifted her head, locking eyes with her captain who was now staring back at her in surprise. “And I know I'm not alone. You would be right there alongside me and so would everyone at Tamakoma. But not just us,” A soft smile graced her features as she recalled her conversation with Shun the other day. “Midorikawa-kun and Arashiyama squad would be right there with us. This isn’t like when Yuma-kun first came to Japan. He’s made all these wonderful friends here who I don’t think will care about his status and would defend him. It’s not just you and Yuma-kun anymore.”  

For a moment, Osamu looked surprised at her declaration before it morphed into smile. When Yuma first came to Japan, he didn’t have any allies in Border to help so he just focused on trying to hide Yuma. It was a stressful situation since Osamu lacked the skill to do much to help and Yuma just kept drawing attention to himself from how weird he was. He does not fit the stereotypical normal of their world at all.  

Despite that, Chika was right. Through meeting Yuma, a whole world of possibilities opened up to Osamu. If it wasn’t for Yuma, he and Chika wouldn’t be where they are at right now in Border. They wouldn’t have met all these agents. In all honestly, Osamu would most likely still be stuck at C-Rank right now. He hadn’t been making any progress as a trainee before meeting Yuma and being dragged into this world of the top ranks of agents.  

Osamu owed so much to Yuma for getting him on the path to being an official agent and for all the help he’s given to get their team to the top B-Rank squads.  

“I really can’t let myself forget how insightful you can be.” Osamu said, causing a faint blush to spread across Chika’s cheeks. It seemed that Jin had been right to point it out to him that he wasn’t seeing just how much Chika had improved. It wasn’t just her shooting abilities that had grown. “I guess I was just worried the friends we made would betray Kuga if they found out about his status.”  

“Perhaps some of the agents would hate him for his status, but not the ones he is close to. They all like and respect him too much.” Chika replied. “I wouldn’t dismiss that worry about Kido-san sending agents after him one day, for whatever reason that could possibly be, but I like to think we have more allies than we realize. Yuma-kun said it himself the other day. We don’t have to fight alone on the battlefield.” 

Osamu snorted. “He says that, but lately, he’s been running off on his own a lot. I can’t begin to understand what he is going to through with his father being back and attacking us, but I want to help. He makes it hard to do though when he disappears all the time.”  

“He’s probably scared.” Chika replied softly, causing Osamu to look at her with raised brows.  

Yuma, scared? Osamu was under the belief that his friend didn’t know what fear was.  

“Or maybe I'm projecting.” Chika continued, dropping her eyes to lap as she twisted her jacket sleeve in her hand. “When I heard of the Mimics, I was terrified of coming face to face with them. I didn’t want to see them transform into my brother or friend because then it would mean that everything I've fought so hard for up to now would have been for nothing. Then I started to think, but what if they did appear in front of me? What would I do? What would I have to do? And the idea terrified me. They’re Trion Soldiers but when I saw Yuma-kun's father, he looked so human and if I shot him, he wouldn’t bail out and go back to his normal body. He would just be dead because he’s not a real human. I know I can shoot.” Her eyes snapped back up to Osamu, desperation in them to get Osamu to believe her. To believe that she was able to shoot in battle now and protect her team.  

“I know.” Osamu replied gently, smiling at her. “You’re an amazing shot, Chika. Even so, there is nothing wrong with being scared of the idea of shooting your brother or friend if they appear as Mimics in front of you. Mimics are designed to transform and manipulate our emotions to make us hesitate in taking those shots. Even Miwa-senpai froze when faced with his sister the first night of this attack. No one would look down you if you hesitated.”  

Chika gnawed on her bottom lip as her eyes fell to the ground once more. “Yuma-kun is suffering right now because his dad is here and everyone is talking about him so much. They are all so curious about it now. I could have ended this.” She squeezed her eyes shut as she recalled sitting next to Yuma on the roof the other night as they just each let their worries tumble out of their mouths. “When his father was attacking Tamakoma, I made it there and stared at him through my scope. He looks so much like Yuma-kun.” 

That was something Osamu would have to take her word on since he had never seen Kuga Yugo yet. It wasn’t a surprise to him that the Mimic looked very human and real though. From the moment the Mimics first appeared, Yuma had been on edge and frustrated by the whole situation. He spoke of the emotional manipulation and deception that the Mimics could pull so much that it told Osamu just how much the idea of the Mimics being here as weapons was worrying him. If the transformations weren’t this good, weren’t good enough to fool someone, Yuma probably wouldn’t have been as concerned as he was about the situation and could have brushed this off more easily.  

“Yuma-kun told me about his father before. He tried to act like his death didn’t bother him, but for a split second after he mentioned his father being dead, I saw the pain in his eyes before he hid it.” Chika explained. There was no doubt in her mind that Osamu knew something about Kuga Yugo. To tell the truth, he most likely knew more than she did. Osamu was probably the person that Yuma trusted the most. “I know he misses him so when I saw them on the bridge, I convinced myself I couldn’t shoot because I would hurt my allies, but I had Lightning on me. I could have shot Kuga-san before he even knew I was there and ended this. But knowing Yuma-kun's pain and how much it would hurt me to watch my brother get killed like that, even if it was a fake, I pulled back.”  

Osamu leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees and interlocked his hands, hiding the bottom half of his face behind them as he stared at Chika. He hadn’t seen her this distressed since the B-Rank wars when she was struggling to deal with her fear of shooting. Whether it was her fear of shooting or because she didn’t take the shot and that led to losses on their team, both stressed her out in the tournament, but since she got over that fear, she was more at ease with herself, like a weight had been lifted off of her.  

Chika was growing into a fine sniper, a great agent for Border to have. It would be a shame to let her fall back into any old habits because of one failure in a fight.  

“I don’t think it would have mattered, Chika.” Osamu said. “Toma-senpai tried to snipe Kuga-san the other day and was blocked by a Shield. It seems Kuga’s skill of blocking sniper shots when he shouldn’t know where the sniper is at isn’t a skill that only he has. If anything, taking the shot on Kuga-san would have just revealed your location to him and could have made the situation harder.”  

“Huh?” Chika blinked in surprise. She had seen Yuma block sniper shots before, though she never understood how he managed to get the shield up so fast when he didn’t know the snipers were there. It was really impressive when he blocked Azuma’s sniper from Lightning, though he still lost his leg to a second shot. Lightning was just that fast of a rifle. “Perhaps, but even if I missed, it could have been a good distraction to help.”  

“I think you helped them pretty well with Lead Bullet. Konami-senpai was singing you praises for your excellent backup. It got them through the Rabits a lot faster.” Osamu replied. “You learned this in the Rank Wars, but your shots aren’t always going to hit. You shouldn’t let a failure discourage you. Instead, you should use it to grow and get stronger.”  

A small nod came from Chika. There was no reason to be discouraged. No one got killed in the attack on their base and Shiori was healing from the injuries she received. Their base was currently off limits because the enemy might go back there, but relatively speaking, everything turned out quite well.  

Despite that, her heart was screaming at her. She didn’t know why, but ever since her conversation with Yuma on the roof, she has felt so uneasy. There was something in Yuma’s expression that night, something he seemed to be holding back. She didn’t know what it was since Yuma was a difficult person to get to open up, but with everything else going on this week, it was making her concerned and was the reason why she started to wish she didn’t hesitate in trying to snipe Kuga Yugo. There was no guarantee that killing Kuga Yugo would help Yuma get over what was bothering him, but he was a problem and was clearly hurting Yuma by just being here.  

Chapter Text

“Do you even have a plan?” 

“My plan was to make Shun pass out and abandon him.”  

“Hey!” Shun glared at Yuma, or tried to. With each passing minute, he was getting more and more tired so it was hard to keep his eyes open. He was more likely squinting his eyes angrily at his friend. “Stop saying that.”  

“Go home and nap then.” Yuma retorted.  

Kageura rolled his eyes at the two. He was beginning to question why he followed these two out of the restaurant. Could he be blamed though? He honestly expected more from Yuma who was supposed to be an experience, wise fight. Instead, he just seemed like an idiot right now. “I meant, your plan for finding your father. That’s what you’re doing, right?”  

Yuma rolled his eyes towards the sky, watching the clouds drifting slowly by.  

When there was no reply, Kageura scowled and resisted the urge to smack his friend in the head. “Do you honestly not have a plan? What do you think you’re going to achieve by running around the city like this?” 

“I never visited Japan with my dad before he died so I don’t have a clue as to where he would go to rest.” Yuma replied, folding his arms behind his head with a sigh. “With how eager he was to attack us so much already, I didn’t think it would be this hard to find him.”  

For a moment, Kageura just stared blankly over at Yuma. He had never been to Japan with his father before? That didn’t make much sense to him. Kuga Yugo had been a member of Border at one point so how was it that Yuma never spent time with him in Japan? Maybe it was just that Yugo left Border and moved to another country before Yuma was born and then died before he could bring Yuma to Japan. Whatever it was, it wasn’t important to the conversation. “Even he needs time to recover after all those fights. He probably found some place to hide out at. You would have better luck just waiting for him to appear.”  

“Except when he does appear, people don’t bother to alert me until it’s too late.” Yuma shot a glare towards Shun.  

“It was the middle of the night and you weren’t on defense duty, Yuma-senpai!” Shun retorted, huffing to himself in frustration. “You need to sleep like the rest of us. You’ve been so reckless this week with your running around trying to deal with the Mimics and your father all on your own.” 

Kageura snorted. “You know it’s serious when Midorikawa is snapping. So,” He dropped his hand on top of Yuma’s head and shook it violently. “Stop doing stupid shit.”  

“I haven’t even done anything.” Yuma pouted, while Kageura and Shun looked at him in disbelief. “Today. I haven’t done anything today.”  

“Better.” Shun said, eyes narrowed at Yuma. “But there’s still plenty of time in the day for you to do something stupid.” He glanced over at Kageura, pointing at Yuma. “There was a time when I wouldn’t expect him to be the stupid, reckless one.”  

“I don’t see anything I'm doing as stupid or reckless.” Yuma mumbled. “There is a problem and I want to solve it as quickly as possible.”  

“His father is looking for him to kill him and Yuma-senpai thinks the best idea to do is run straight to him.” Shun continued, completely ignoring everything that just came from Yuma. He needed an older, wiser agent on his side right now to tell Yuma off.   

“That is stupid.” Kageura agreed, turning his attention back to Yuma. “You don’t run towards people who want to kill you, especially alone.”  

Yuma rolled his eyes. Why did everyone think he was trying to run towards his death? The life he was living was one his father, his real father, gave everything for him to have. He wasn’t about to let it go to waste by letting himself get killed, but he also couldn’t just sit around while his father was wandering in the city and attacking his comrades.  

Of course, it was going to be dangerous to go after his father, but it’s not like anything Border agents did was safe. They were fighting a war against the Neighbors. That wasn’t a safe job so the agents were always in danger, even if they have the bail out function. Though, currently, Yuma was lacking the bail out function since he did lose his Border Trigger. He was going to have to rely on his Black Trigger to fight, which hopefully wouldn’t cause Kido to be angry and reprimand him for it.  

He had to do it.  

All he had to do was find his dad and use his Black Trigger to kill him.  

It shouldn’t be that hard to do.  

His dad just needed to die...again.  

“Weren’t you just asking me how I plan to find my dad?” Yuma asked.  

“That was before Midorikawa said your father was actively out to kill you. What is that about? I thought the purpose of the Mimics was an attack on Border, so why is he after you personally?” Kageura asked.  

“Couldn’t say.” Yuma replied, looking off to the side at the playground that they were walking pass. His eyes fell onto a father pushing his son on the swings. The sight brought Yuma to a stop as he stared at the smiling duo. His friends made it a few more steps before realizing he had stopped and turned to look at him. “When we fought at Tamakoma, we only managed to exchange a few words. I need the chance to have a proper conversation with him to try to get a better understanding.”  

Kageura followed Yuma’s eyes to the family playing in the park “A better understanding?” He scoffed, dragging his eyes from the playground to Yuma. “Seems to me like you just want to talk to your dad.”  

Annoyance flashed quickly across Yuma’s face before it smoothed out to an indifferent mask. “He spoke just like Dad...with a carefree, light attitude. It didn’t match the battle we were in at all, but Shun also points out that he does speak of wanting to kill me. His words and actions don’t match up. Maybe it is just because at the end of the day, he was created from a Trion Soldier.”  

That wording at Kageura’s eyes narrowing. That was making it sound like Yuma actually believed Kuga Yugo was really back alive. “He is a Trion Soldier.” He stressed. “Despite appearances, he is still a Mimic.”  

Yuma ripped his eyes from the playground, shaking his head. “I know.” He did know that Kuga Yugo was just a Mimic. It wasn’t a reminder that he needed. It was just a slip of the tongue that it came out the way it did. The Yugo running around was a fake that needed killed. All Yuma had to do was fight him. It shouldn’t be that hard for him. It was a fake.  

It was a fake.  

It was a fake.  

Shun glanced from Kageura to Yuma, frowning at the latter with worry creasing his brows. He didn’t want to believe it, but it was looking like Yuma was starting to see the Mimic as his father, which was worrying, considering that this version of his father was after him to kill him. Maybe that was just the way to show that Yuma was struggling a lot with his father’s death. Shun had never lost anyone in his life so he couldn’t relate to the grief that Yuma was going through from his father’s death.  

A blaring alarm ended the conversation as everyone in the area stopped what they were doing as all eyes turned towards the sky. While the civilians watched in horror at the Gate opening above the playground, the Border agents were already on the move as they pulled out their Triggers. 

Well, Kageura and Shun did.  

“Trigger on!” 

While they activated their Triggers, Yuma kept his eyes locked on the Gate as black Rabits fell from it, making his heart jump at the sight of them. This timing was far too convenient. He had been walking all over the city today, trying to figure out where his dad would be at, only for him to come to Yuma. How did Yugo even find him? 

“I’ve never seen black Rabits before.” Shun said, Scorpion blade appearing in his hand.  

“Are you going to help or just stand there, Kuga?” Kageura demanded, even as he was already jumping over the wall into the playground.  

Yuma’s hand twitched. If his Rabits were here, Kuga Yugo would be here. This was what he had been looking for all day, the chance to end this by fighting his dad, and yet, Yuma was frozen in place.  

“This probably isn’t the best time to say this, but I lost my Trigger the other day.” Yuma felt himself say. He could see an annoyed look cross Kageura’s face, but he didn’t get to reply as he was lunging pass the fleeing civilians and throwing his Mantis blade forward, but got blocked by a Shield.  

Shun used his Grasshopper to launch into the air above the Rabits, but didn’t get the chance to attack before bullets were flying towards him, leaving him forced to use another Grasshopper pad to propel himself to the side to dodge. He landed on the wall that surrounded the park, a Shield already up in front of him. He wasn’t even crouched there for a second before there was a tugging on his jacket and he was toppling backwards over the wall. Yuma didn’t give him a chance to recover as he was pulled into hiding behind the wall.  

The bullets from the Rabit slammed into the wall, sending broken pieces of brick flying through the air, but even as the stray pieces hit him, Yuma didn’t seem concerned as he leaned over to hiss in Shun’s ears, “Unless you use a focus Shield, your Shield won’t survive a hit from Bolt.” 

The name of the attack drew more of Shun’s attention as he focused his eyes on Yuma. “Have you seen a black Rabit before?” 

“Yes,” Yuma answered simply, offering no more explanation on the matter.  

With no more bullets coming their way, Shun and Yuma peaked over the wall to see Kageura dodging a fist that had a blue seal attached to it. With the attack missing him, the Rabit’s fist hit the ground with enough force to smash it, forming a pretty deep crater.  

Shun whistled, impressed by the strength.  

“Are you two idiots just going to sit there?” Kageura snapped, without bothering to look towards the two. If he took his eyes off the Rabits for a second, he knew he would be killed in that instant. “Kuga, activate your Black Trigger!” 

“Kido-san says I'm not allowed to use it in the city.” The excuse fell from Yuma’s lips easily as Shun took it as his turn to pull Yuma as he launched them into the air with his Grasshopper to avoid the Rabit that was smashing what was left of the wall they had been hiding behind.  

When Yuma had left Border HQ today, he had been planning on fighting if he found his father. He swore that he had every intention of that, but now that the Rabits were here, indicating his father was in the area, the idea of actually getting into a fight with his father left Yuma frozen. The last time he had faced off against his dead, he only managed one attack because he couldn’t bring himself to attack that man. If he activated his Black Trigger now, it would likely be the same scenario.  

Yuma could claim as much as he wanted to that he would handle the Mimic of his father, but when it came down to the moment of truth, he couldn’t bring himself to want to fight.  

It was probably the most frustrating thing ever for him.  

There had never been a time where he couldn’t bring himself to fight.  

“You cannot be serious right now!” Kageura shouted up towards them before he was jumping backwards with a Shield thrown up in front of him to let that take the force of the punch from the Rabit. Despite making it a focused Shield after seeing the last punch create a crater, the Shield still cracked from the force behind the punch.  

“He said people might mistake me for a Neighbor if I use it in public.” Yuma shouted back. It was a relief that the civilians moved quickly to get out of the area so no one could hear what the agents were shouting at each other.  

Shun snorted softly. “They wouldn’t be wrong.” He mumbled quietly into Yuma’s ears as another Grasshopper pad pushed them higher into the air.  

If Shun wasn’t holding his arm tightly to take him flying through the air with him, Yuma would have elbowed him in the side. “Put me down and go help Kage-senpai.”  

“Are you going to use your Black Trigger?” Shun asked.  

Yuma pursed his lips, but didn’t look at Shun as his eyes were locked on the four Rabits below them that Kageura was doing his best to dodge all of their attacks. Even if he had a Side Effect that alerted him to attacks, even he could get overwhelmed if there were too many opponents. Four Rabits using his Black Trigger abilities wasn’t an easy fight. Shun and Kageura plus his Black Trigger would make it an easier fight.  

That is, if Yugo didn’t interfere.  

It would be simple to activate his Black Trigger and explain to Kido about how much of an emergency it was. He would accept it easily, and besides, Yuma was never that worried about keeping his Black Trigger under wraps. If the situation was dire enough, he would use it without an ounce of hesitation for the rules. He would not let himself get killed because he couldn’t get into contact with HQ to request permission.  

It would be so easy to help Shun and Kageura with his battle.  

But... 

“Alright then, if you’re so sure, I'll give you one day to get it sorted. After that, you need to tell Osamu what is really going on.” Hyuse said.  

He had to settle things with his dad before midnight.  

*Mimics*  

“I know you’re trying to work out a plan, Jin, but is it really alright that we aren’t doing anything right now?” Arashiyama asked.  

Jin shrugged. “I know everyone wants to take care of Kuga-san quickly since the longer he is here, the more likely the situation will get worse, but there isn’t anything we can do when we can’t find him.”  

“He attacked the squads on defense duty last night, but they weren’t able to beat him.” Arashiyama said with a frown. “Perhaps instead of trying to deal with him on their own, they should have called in reinforcements from off duty agents.”  

“Having numbers would help in the fight. I doubt anyone could beat Kuga-san one on one now that he has access to Yuma’s Black Trigger.”  

Arashiyama raised a brow at the admission. “Must be hard for you to accept the fact that against him, you have to fight like the rest of us.” He teased.  

Normally, Jin would use his Side Effect to predict attacks when he was fighting. It gave him an edge in battle, but at the same time, it could also be a weakness as he sometimes relied on it too much which would distract him from the actual fight. There were so many times in the past that he lost to Tachikawa because he was over thinking the whole fight, instead of focusing on what was happening in front of him.  

That wasn’t the case here. 

“Hmm, it’s true I can’t see the future of the Mimics so if I fought Kuga-san, I would have a hard time. The most I can do right now is seeing ba-” Jin cut himself off, eyes narrowing for a moment before they widened, smile slipping from his face. 

Across from him, Arashiyama was standing up straight as he turned his full attention to the window to see what caught Jin’s eye. It wasn’t anything in the city ruins that captured his attention though. He was looking beyond the Restricted Zone and into the city where the black Gate had opened.  

With his visions dying down, Jin joined Arashiyama by the window, setting his coffee cup on the window seal before he could spill it everywhere from gripping it too hard. “Are you coming with me? My reckless junior is there.”  

“Even if he wasn’t, we couldn’t just stand here. That's in the city.” Arashiyama replied as the two took off down the hall. “It’s not the Mimics, is it?” 

“It hasn't reached twilight just yet.” Jin replied. “Besides, there’s only two people in the city who can open Gates anywhere.”  

“And we know Yuma would never do it.” Arashiyama finished. “So, he’s with his father in the city? How bad is that?” 

“I was hoping for an easy day.” 

“I’ll alert my team. Is anyone from Tamakoma available?” 

“If not, they’re going to be soon.” Jin said as he took his phone out and scrolled through his contact list without breaking stride.  

*Mimics*  

Shun jumped backwards as the Rabit’s fist slammed into the ground, shattering it once more. While there was definitely a lot of power behind the attacks, especially when those blue seals were attached to it, they weren’t that fast. At least with the physical attacks. The problem was that there were four Rabits and they were currently in the city. While the area had been evacuated, with the Rabits seemingly to care more about the agents then the civilians, it could cause problems if the Rabits got out of the playground.  

Kageura lunged pass Shun to strike at the Rabit, but his sword barely made a scratch in the armor. Tsking to himself, Kageura slammed a foot into the ground and propelled himself backwards and landed back next to the Shun, staring up at the four Rabits. “I thought only Aftokrator had these monsters. Who sent these things here?”  

“Thought you’d be happy to get a chance to fight a Rabit. You missed the Aftokrator invasion.” Shun said, though he didn’t look at Kageura. The last time he faced Rabits, he was forced to bail out, though that was a combination of the Rabits and the animal shaped bullets. Still, that didn’t diminish the danger of the Rabits. The humanoid Neighbor joining in on the battle with the Rabits back then just upped the difficulty in that fight. One thing he did learn from that battle was that it wasn’t easy to break through a Rabit’s armor so just striking it wasn’t going to be very effective.  

Despite that, the lack of a humanoid Neighbor getting in their path should have made this fight easier, but there were four Rabits here with special abilities that Shun had never seen before. From the reports of Aftokrator’s invasion, there had been four types of Rabits and none of them had been black or had these type of powers. In fact, those Rabits only one had type of special ability attached to them.  

These black Rabits had already shown the ability to shoot bullets and increase their strength with the blue seals. That was already two unique abilities that the other Rabits didn’t have.  

Kaguera and Shun ducked behind some trees as bullets flew through the air from two of the Rabits. Shun wanted to keep his eyes on the Rabits that weren’t firing bullets, but found that hard to do with pieces of the tree flying through the air. The pieces of the tree couldn’t hurt him, but it was instinct to shift away from something coming towards his eyes.  

“I’ve been wondering something.” Kageura said, looking out of the corner of his eye at the other side of the trees, in case the Rabits decided to come from there. It was hard to get close to the Rabits since when they did, it would immediately fire bullets at them. If they were close to the Rabits, they would use the blue seals to up their strength. Shields would have a hard time surviving those blows and Shun’s and Kageura’s Scorpions would shatter instantly if they tried to block with them. A sniper or gunner would be nice to have right about now.  

“How do you have any time to wonder about anything?” Shun muttered.  

“Did you not notice?” Kageura retorted. “The Tamakoma Branch emblem is on these Rabits’ shoulders.”  

Shun glanced at Kageura quickly in disbelief before creating a focused Shield. “Those things came through a Gate. There's no way they can be involved with Tamakoma.” He hissed before he was jumping out from behind the trees, using his Shield to block the bullets from the Rabits that turned to follow him. A Grasshopper pad appeared under his feet, launching him into the air, over the Rabits. Being the only one out in the open, the Rabits focused their attention on him, allowing Kageura to duck out from the trees on the other side.  

Using his Grasshopper, Shun bounced around the playground, purposefully getting close to the Rabits and trying to strike them with his Scorpion. Unfortunately, the armor on the Rabits was too strong to piece through, but it was more of a distraction move than to be an attack that he thought would work. To even succeed in getting through that armor, it would either require something like Meteor to break through or they would have to go through the most obvious weak spot, the Rabit’s eye.  

Even knowing that was what he needed to do, it wouldn’t be easy to get close to the Rabit to do it. With four of them here, if he focused on just one, it would leave his back open to the others to attack him and even if he did get close, he would most likely get Bolt shot point blank at him again.  

Still, even if it wouldn’t be easy to do, he and Kageura were the only ones here who could.  

Ah, wait.  

“Hey, where did Yuma-senpai go?” Shun asked. He would take the chance to look for where Yuma was, but he couldn’t afford to take his eyes off the Rabits. He put him down as requested earlier, but he wasn’t expecting his friend to just disappear after that.  

A Mantis blade came zigzagging through the park from the cluster of trees and slammed into the eye of one of the Rabits that was looking up at Shun.  

With Trion pouring from the eye, leaving the Rabit to drop dead to the ground, Shun bounced on another Grasshopper pad over it, finally taking note of the Tamakoma emblem on its shoulder.   

Huh, Kageura was right about that.  

Weird, but that was for later.  

“Reinforcements are coming from HQ.” Kageura informed as Shun landed next to him.  

“Just three more to go. Maybe we can kill them before they get here.” Shun suggested, glancing at Kageura out of the corner of his eyes. “Or get permission from HQ to use Yuma-senpai's Black Trigger.”  

“Kind of hard to do when that idiot has disappeared.” Kageura snarled.   

Shun glanced towards the spot where he dropped Yuma earlier to see it empty before he was stepping on another Grasshopper and launching himself through the air. This time, instead of grabbing all the attention of the Rabits, he only got one. It seemed that the one who managed to destroy one of the Rabits was getting the most attention now.  

Well, it was Kageura. He would be fine.  

As for Shun, he was jumping around with Grasshopper to stay in the air as he tried to close the distance with the Rabit without getting shot full of holes. He wasn’t feeling too eager to bail out again after last night. He needed some form of accomplishment in his life.  

Also, he needed to finish this fight and figure out where the hell Yuma went, which he couldn’t do if he bailed out here. It wasn’t like Yuma to just disappear when there were enemies.  

Staring down at the Rabit, Shun stared in surprise at seeing an orange seal appearing over its mouth with a smaller blue seal attached to it.  

“No way.”  

Shun used Grasshopper to launch himself towards the playground, slamming down into the ground behind the jungle gym for cover, refusing to make the same mistake as last night. As the bullets slammed into the jungle gym, forming weights into the structure, Shun knocked his head back against the wall.  

He was so stupid.  

He got attacked by Bolt so many time last night from Kuga Yugo so he should have recognized the attack sooner.  

From what he understood, during Aftokrator’s invasion, the specialized Rabits were modified to have the Neighbor’s Trigger abilities. It made sense for the black Rabits to have the same skill. They were using the abilities that Kuga Yugo used which were from the Black Trigger that Yuma used. Yuma said he’s seen black Rabits before and they had Tamakoma’s emblem on them.  

Hence, Yuma knew immediately that Kuga Yugo was in the area. 

Yuma had disappeared.  

Yuma was looking for his father all day.  

None of that explained how Yugo was able to get access to Rabits, but in the grand scheme of things, that was not important to Shun. What was important was that Yuma left him and Kageura distracted with Rabits to go after Kuga Yugo alone.  

He wasn’t sure of whether to be mad that Yuma abandoned them to this fight alone or if he should be mad at Yuma for going after his father, who wanted him dead, alone.  

“Shun, Kageura, what have you got?”  

Shun perked up at hearing Jin’s voice coming through his communicator. “Four Rabits, one of them is dead. But I think they’re from Kuga Yugo. The abilities they’re using are just like the ones I faced from Kuga Yugo last night.”  

“Are they black?” Jin asked, but he already knew the answer. Aftokrator was too far out of reach to be sending Rabits here and unless more rads somehow got into the city, only Yuma and Yugo could have opened a Gate so far out of the Restricted Zone.  

“Yes, and annoying as hell.” Kageura griped, ignoring Shun’s comment about Kuga Yugo. This was the first time he was hearing of it in this fight, but it also wasn’t important to him where they came from. They just needed to die. “Also, that idiot junior of yours has vanished.”  

“You lost Yuma?” Jin snapped.  

“It’s not my job to keep track of him when I have Neighbors in the city.” Kageura snapped back. “He lost his Border Trigger and refused to use his Black Trigger since Kido-san would get mad at him for using it outside the Restricted Zone so he wasn’t of any help here anyway.”  

“Yuma doesn’t care about that rule. He will activate his Black Trigger outside the Restricted Zone if there are enemies and there is no other choice.” Konami said, thinking back to Shizuka City. It had been a surprise to seeing him using his Black Trigger when they finally found them that night, but Yuma insisted it was an emergency and it’s not like Tamakoma was going to report him to HQ anyway.  

“Huh?” Kageura snarled before he was forced to block a punch from one of the Rabits with his Scorpion. To his displeasure, his assumption earlier was right as his sword shattered. He had to jump back a few steps to get out of range of any more physical attacks coming his way. “Then why did he refuse to this time?”  

“Because he knew this attack was his father’s doing.” Shun said, eyeing his surroundings warily as he stayed crouched behind the jungle gym. He wasn’t ready to go dodge attacks and have this conversation at the same, like Kageura was doing. “He's been looking for him all day and saw the perfect opportunity while we were distracted to go after him.”  

Jin came to a stop on the roof, looking off in the distance towards where the fight was currently taking place. Arashiyama, Kitora, and Tamakoma-1 came to a stop a little ways in front of him, having not expected him to stop their hurried rush to the playground.  

Reiji stared at Jin, who was staring off towards the setting sun. It was going to get dark soon which meant Mimics were going be able to come out soon. Taking this fight to the city meant if Mimics came out, they would be attracted out of the Restricted Zone because of all the agents that were currently active in the city. That couldn’t be Kuga Yugo’s plan though. According to Yuma, he didn’t even recognize that he was a Mimic.  

So, using agents to attract Mimics to the city wasn’t his plan.  

His goal then just had to be what it always was, Yuma. Yuma was in the city and Yugo was going for him.  

The Rabits were used to distract Shun and Kageura while Yugo got to his son.  

“Within the next week, I see you dying.”      

Jin frowned, hands clenching into fists at his side.  

“There’s only three Rabits left.” Reiji said, turning his eyes towards where the playground was. “We’ll go there. Jin, find Yuma.”  

Jin shot Reiji an appreciative look.  

“Do you know where he will be?” Konami asked.  

“I’m going to find him.” Jin promised. “Make sure the Rabits don’t get out of the park.”  

“Leave it to us.” Karasuma replied before turning to Konami. “You should hit Yuma when this is all over. He’s been way too reckless lately.”  

“Hit him? I'm going to lock him up in HQ when this is over!” Konami raged as she jumped to the next roof and took off towards the playground again, muttering promises of punishment to Yuma about his recklessness.  

*Mimics*  

Guilt gnawed at Yuma as he ran from the park, following after the familiar form of his father. Even after all these years, he could still recognize the back of his father with such ease. Guess that was what happened when he spent his whole childhood following after his father.  

The sounds of the battle raging at the park he was abandoning almost made Yuma hesitate in his steps.  

Almost.  

The whole day was spent trying to find his dad while humoring Shun. Now that his father was finally appearing in front him, he couldn’t give up this chance to help Shun and Kageura fight the Rabits. If he could settle things with his father, then this wouldn’t have to happen again.  

Besides, he was sure Border had already been alerted to the problem and reinforcements were on their way to assist Shun and Kageura.  

Yuma wasn’t stupid. The fact that Kuga Yugo was leaving the park meant he knew Yuma was following him and he wanted alone time with him. That was the purpose of the Rabits, to get the agents he was to be distracted.  

Perhaps Yugo wanted another fight where no one would disturb them.  

“Are you mad?”  

Yuma looked up in surprise at his father’s voice. Yugo never once stopped his stride or even looked over at Yuma, which was proof that he knew Yuma was following him.  

When he didn’t answer, Yugo did stop and half turned to look at Yuma. “I asked you a question, Yuma. Are you mad?”  

Yuma came to a stop as well. Usually, the distance between him and his father wasn’t something he ever thought about, but right now, it was a major concern. If he got too close, he feared that he would get stabbed by his dad’s sword. He hadn’t forgotten about what happened at Tamakoma. “You mean about how you attacked my home and hurt my friend? Or about how you keep attacking my allies when they’re on defense duty?”  

A smirk crossed Yugo’s face as he shifted his attention towards the fight happening down the road at the park. “I told your little friend back there that you would come to me. You were never good at keeping out of things.”  

He...wasn’t exactly wrong.  

There was never anything that Yuma thought he couldn’t handle growing up. He was willing to throw himself into every situation because he thought he couldn’t lose so he was willing to interfere in everything. It was for that reason that he ran into a Black Trigger assassin and got himself so injured that his father had to pay the consequences to fix his mistake.  

Since that mistake, Yuma learned to always be more cautious in battle. He took the time to step back and analyze the situation before he would make the decision of whether it was his problem or not.  

When he first came to Japan and met his Captain, Yuma hounded on Osamu to not get involved in things he couldn’t handle because Yuma already lived through what happened when getting involved in things that were too tough for him to handle. He didn’t want to see Osamu get hurt doing the same thing that Yuma did.  

It never worked though.  

Instead, Yuma was taught by Osamu that he couldn’t run away from problems that were too big for him to handle anymore. It was why he stayed and fought Viza. Even if he couldn’t win that fight, he couldn’t run away. That battle wasn’t just about him. If he ran, Viza would have been free to go after his friends and they most likely would have lost the battle.  

It was time to look at the bigger picture.  

It wasn’t just about him.  

They were other people who would be put in danger if Yuma didn’t act.  

And right now, everyone at Border was in danger from Kuga Yugo. Yugo proved that himself when he attacked Tamakoma and by constantly going after agents on defense duty. This would only end when Yugo ended up dead or he got what he wanted.  

*Mimics*  

Konami came flying down the sky with her Meteor already active and flying towards the Rabits ahead of her. Despite not knowing that she was coming, the Rabits were already forming Shields above them to defend against the bullets raining down on them.  

“Nice of you to show up.” Kageura ducked behind the jungle gym with Shun to avoid getting hit by any of Konami’s stray bullets.  

Shun eyed Tamakoma-1 and Arashiyama and Kitora who were landing in the park and ducking behind the trees and jungle gym. “Where’s Jin-san?” 

“He’s gone to find Yuma.” Karasuma replied. “With all of us here, we can take down the Rabits without him.” 

Shun nodded his head, but a guilty look passed over his face. “I’m sorry we let him out of our sight. I didn’t realize this attack was caused by his father until too late.”  

“It’s not your fault Kuga-kun is being reckless.” Kitora replied over the coms. “He is making his own choices in this. Allow Jin-san to take care of it. We need to focus on the Rabits.”  

“Be careful with them. These Rabits use Yuma’s Black Trigger abilities.” Konami warned. 

“That would have been nice to know earlier.” Shun muttered. “They have Lead Bullet as well.”  

Karasuma glanced at the jungle gym where the Lead Bullets were sticking out of it. “You don’t say?” 

“We’ll take the one on the right.” Arashiyama said.  

“I got the left one.” Konami said.  

“We’ll take the middle one then.” Reji said, motioning to him and Karasuma. “Midorikawa, Kageura, help where needed.”  

“If we can get close.” Shun muttered. Grasshopper appeared before him and he was slamming a foot onto it to launch himself into the air and over the jungle gym, once again drawing the attention of the Rabits.  

As Shun launched himself behind the Rabits, Kitora launched herself at the Rabit she and Arashiyama chose. Being out in the open drew the attention of their Rabit to her while the other two stayed focused on Shun who was bouncing around the playground with his Grasshoppers. Whenever he got close to the Rabits, he tried to swipe at them with his Scorpions but wasn’t able to do any damage against their armor.  

In contrast, when Kitora approached her Rabit and she saw it reeling back its arm with a blue seal attached to it, even though she didn’t know what the seal was as she didn’t get informed of Yuma’s Black Trigger abilities yet, she pulled her gun out and shot a wire towards the tree behind it. Once the wire was connected, she began to retract it as she crouched and let herself be pulled quickly towards the tree and away from the Rabit’s punch which slammed into the ground.  

The ground trembling beneath her had her glancing towards the crater that was now in the ground. Somehow, it wasn’t surprising to her that the seal increased the Rabit’s strength. The fact that its strength increased made more sense than having one firing high powered shots at her, like the one during the invasion.  

Kicking off of the tree, Kitora shot her wire towards the Rabit’s arm. With her wire attaching to its arm by wrapping around it a few times, she yanked its arm back before attaching the wire’s other end to the ground. If the Rabit used another strength seal, the wire wouldn’t hold it back, but it would buy them a second or two.  

A Grasshopper appeared in front of her, and without questioning it, Kitora dropped her foot on it and let herself be launched into the air just as her Captain came out from his cover and unleashed his Meteor at the Rabit. The Meteor created a huge explosion at the Rabit. Shun and Kitora floated in the sky, bouncing with the Grasshoppers that Shun was throwing down for them to keep them above the explosion.  

With the explosion dying down, Kitora eyed the Rabit that was still standing. At least the Shield that it managed to create didn’t manage to protect it completely. Arashiyama’s Meteor managed to shatter that Shield and blow half of its body off.  

Shun glanced over at Kitora, lifting his hand up to show his Grasshopper was active. Kitora nodded, allowing Shun to sling multiple Grasshoppers in the air. He and Kitora crisscrossed over each other as they used the Grasshoppers to rapidly approach the Rabit. Despite being injured, the Rabit wasn’t willing to just die as a Bolt seal appeared in its mouth.  

“Dodge it!” Shun shouted, throwing more Grasshopper pads towards Kitora, giving her the chance to jump through the air and jump around the bullets flying through the air. Since the Rabit could only target one of them with that attack at a time and he was missing the left side of his body, Shun used Grasshopper to wrap around behind the Rabit, slamming his Scorpion into the eye, effectively ending its attack and killing it.  

“So much easier with long ranged attacks.” Shun cheered, shooting a grin towards Arashiyama, who smiled back at him as Kitora dropped down to the ground next to him.  

Kitora stared down at the downed Rabit. It truly did help to have allies fighting alongside her. She only managed to destroy one Rabit in the invasion, but was forced to injure herself to just accomplish that one kill. Those injuries then hindered her when three more Rabits appeared in battle and she lost instantly to them. It was a failure she was ashamed of, but none of them had been able to predict so many specialized types of Rabits like that.  

She had the skill to fight on her own, but after her failure with stopping the Ilgar alone and getting captured by Rabits, she found a new type of appreciation for having her comrades by her side to help her. She was never against teamwork, but it wasn’t always possible which was why individual skill was just as important as knowing how to coordinate with her allies. All of those skills were important, and it truly showed why.  

*Mimics*  

Yuma twisted towards where he left his friends when he started to hear the big explosions going off. He and Yugo were pretty far from the park now, and yet, he could still see the blinding light from the explosion followed by the bullets flashing through the air. With those type of explosions, it had to mean agents with bullet Triggers had arrived as backup.  

“Your friends sure are showy.” Yugo said amused.  

“What is it you want?” Yuma demanded. He did not follow after his father for small talk. Honestly, he didn’t even know why they were talking. When he left Border HQ this morning to find his father, it was with the intention of ending this situation. Kuga Yugo couldn’t be allowed to wander around, attacking Border anymore.  

But, Hyuse was right to call Yuma out on his inability to fight Yugo seriously. Not just Hyuse though. Everyone was saying he wouldn’t be able to do it.  

And they were all right.  

Yuma couldn’t even bring himself to activate his Trigger right now. He froze when the Rabits appeared and he was freezing now in the face of his father.  

And what reason was there to?  

Besides summoning Rabits to distract the agents, Yugo hadn’t shown Yuma an ounce of hostility and just looked so amused about everything. That smile Yugo was currently giving Yuma, it seemed to always be a part of Yuma’s memories of his father.  

When he would step into Yuma’s fights to help him.  

When he was warning him of danger and to stay out of it. 

When he was giving his life for Yuma’s.  

There was never a moment where Yugo wouldn’t smile at his son.  

“Your friend didn’t tell you?” Yugo asked.  

“He said you wanted me dead.” Yuma confirmed, dragging his eyes away from the battle raging in the distance so he could look back at his father. “If that’s the case, you should have killed me at Tamakoma the other day.”  

Yugo’s smile widened at his son. “When did I ever say I wanted you dead, Yuma? I told your friend you wouldn’t survive the week. I never said I would be the one to kill you.” His eyes drifted down towards Yuma’s gloved hand. “At least, not directly.”   

Yuma stared at his father in confusion. It was hard to understand that purpose of Mimics that were made into weapons. The act of attacking old allies but still seeming like the person when they were alive made it difficult to follow their train of thought. Yugo very clearly attacked Tamakoma Branch the other day with the intention of locating Yuma. What was the point of that, if not to kill Yuma?  

“You’ve had to have realized by now.” He said, stepping closer to his son, getting rid of any distance that had been between them, and grabbed Yuma’s wrist to pull it up between them.  

Instead of resisting and trying to pull his arm free, Yuma just followed the action, staring at his arm that was held up between them. Underneath his glove and sleeves were the cracks that were spidering along his body. They were hidden and Yuma hadn’t told anyone about them, but Yugo was acting like he knew what Yuma was hiding under his layers. Well, unless he was vying for the ring that was hidden under the glove.  

The father-son duo just stared at each other. Yuma didn’t want to admit to anything so he was waiting to see if Yugo would say anything. The rule was never to admit anything without the other person saying something that clearly said they knew what was going on. If he spoke and Yugo really didn’t know, then he was just informing him of something he didn’t need to know.  

But nothing was said.  

Instead, a bullet was slamming into a Shield that had appeared to protect Yugo’s head. Yuma turned his head in the direction that the bullet had come from, not that it did anything for him. Whoever the sniper was, they were very well hidden in the buildings and most likely already on the move after their shot had failed to hit Yugo.  

“Should have guessed that wouldn’t have worked. I heard Toma-san's attempted snipe failed the other day too.”  

Yuma looked in the other direction to see Miwa and Yoneya had appeared on the scene, leaving him blinking in surprise. If they were here, that sniper had to have been Narasaka or Kodera.  

“Yo, Kuga, is this your father? You guys share the same eyes.” Yoneya greeted cheerfully.  

“Take this seriously. Kuga Yugo has already defeated multiple squads.” Miwa scolded, keeping his eyes locked on the Mimic, a scowl in place, as he placed a hand on the hilt of his sword, but he didn’t pull it out yet.  

“What are you doing here?” Yuma asked surprised.  

“Just happened to be in the area when the explosion started going off. Saw you walking away from them so we decided to follow you since it seems the enemies over there are already being taken care of.” Yoneya explained, eyeing the hold Yugo had on Yuma’s arm between them. It was quite concerning how Yuma wasn’t even acknowledging it. He did remember that this was a Trion Soldier and not someone he should be acting familiar with, right?  

Yugo looked at the agents in annoyance. Why did it seem like there were just Border agents all over the place? He just wanted the time to be able to talk privately with his son. “Sorry, but I'm not in the mood to entertain agents today.” Yugo said as he raised his free hand, a blue seal appearing on the back of it. “Gate!”  

Yuma watched the Gate open above them, releasing a horde of Marmods onto the city. This was exactly what he feared would happen if his father was left unchecked. Forgetting the fact that he shouldn’t have the Trion available to open this many Gates and call forth so many Trion Soldiers so often, it was putting the city in danger.  

Though, this was on Yuma. He came into the city to find his father, and his father wanted him alone, so he would do whatever he needed to get the agents to leave them alone. He should have never have let the argument with Shun wane at HQ. He should have snapped at him harder and left him alone there and gone out into the city by himself. At least then, Yugo wouldn’t have felt the need to bring so many Trion Soldiers into the city just so he could talk to Yuma alone.  

It would be so much easier if it was just Yugo alone they had to deal with.  

Yuma went to twist his wrist free, but the pressure of Yugo’s grip coupled with the twisting movement had Yuma feeling the cracks protesting on his arm and he froze in fear. Usually when his body broke, it healed instantly, but his regenerative ability has made the decision to go on vacation. What would happen if the cracks broke anymore on his arm? Would his arm fall off? If he lost his arm now, he wouldn’t be getting it back if his healing didn’t kick back in, but even worse than that, was his Black Trigger on his finger. If his arm fell now, Yugo would have his hand and the Black Trigger. Not that it mattered since Yugo could already use the Black Trigger abilities, but Yuma did need it if he didn’t want to die faster than what Jin had predicted.  

Yugo yanked Yuma closer to him before refocusing his attention on Miwa and Yoneya. Both agents were looking from him to the Marmods separating them. “If I'm free, we should fight sometime. I'm curious to see the strength of Border nowadays, but for now, I have business with my son. Bound, double!” 

Yoneya watched in surprise as Yugo launched himself away from the area with Yuma. “Did...Did Kuga just get kidnapped by his father? Tamakoma is going to kill us!” 

Miwa didn’t reply as he was busy blocking the Marmod’s blades that were trying to stab him through the head.  

Chapter Text

Everyone trusted in Jin’s predictions. Even those who weren’t his biggest fans knew not to scoff at his warnings and when he came to someone with a request, people tended to listen. If he was acting, it meant he saw a future which needed changed. With all the wins and good futures he had gotten them, the agents weren’t going to argue with him about what he asked of them.  

Despite that, blind faith would be a folly.  

It wasn’t a lack of trust that Azuma had in Jin, but everyone needed to be on the same page and for a while now, it felt like Jin was keeping things quiet. There was nothing wrong with that. If he told them everything that was going on or everything that could happen, they could easily get overwhelmed with too much information and make things worse.  

If at all possible, Azuma would have liked to talk to Jin, but there were too many people in the captain’s meeting earlier and then he disappeared afterwards with Arashiyama. He supposed he could just find him later, but something, likely his instincts, were telling him this couldn’t wait. Instincts, he learned, were something that shouldn’t be ignored.  

Following a gut feeling could mean the difference between life and death. 

Which is why he found himself walking into Shinoda’s office, finding the Director and Rindo both looking stressed.  

“Sorry to interrupt.” Azuma said by way of greeting.  

“Azuma,” Shinoda greeted. “If this isn’t important, can it wait? We have Trion Soldiers in the city right now.”  

Azuma rose a brow, eyes drifting behind Shinoda to look out the window, not that he could see anything in the sky. From the meeting earlier, he did know that Yuma’s Black Trigger could open Gates, but it wouldn’t be Yuma opening Gates to allow Trion Soldiers into the city. “Is Kuga around?” He asked, directing his attention to Rindo.  

“He went somewhere this morning.” Rindo replied, worry creasing his brows. “Why do you ask?” 

Azuma nodded, redirecting his attention to Rindo. “Considering Kuga is not here and there is currently an attack happening in the city, I feel this cannot wait.”  

Shinoda looked surprised at his curt tone, but nodded his head and diverted his attention from the window to Azuma. Considering he couldn’t do anything but rely on the agents on the scene to protect the city, he might as well hear Azuma out if he thought it was this important. “What seems to be the issue?” 

“Last night, there was an attack by Kuga Yugo on the defense duty agents.” Azuma said, though neither Shinoda or Rindo looked surprised. He was sure they both already read the reports about the attack and the agents getting wiped out again. That was, besides the attack currently happening in the city, the reason for the stress in their eyes. “In the ensuring battle, Midorikawa spoke to Kuga and something he said has caused me some concern. He said Kuga would die before the week is over and that we’re already too late.”  

The last part was directed towards Rindo since Yuma was an agent of his branch, and because he was speaking towards Rindo, Azuma was surprised to not see a single flicker of surprise on his face. The worry and stress was there, but this information didn’t even cause a shred of shock.  

That was more telling to Azuma than anything.  

Rindo already knew of Yuma’s incoming death, which could only mean Jin.  

It seemed he wasn’t the only watching Rindo as Shinoda’s eyes narrowed at his friend. “You don’t seem surprised, Rindo. Did Jin already predict this?”  

Rindo leaned back into the couch he was sitting on, rolling his cigarette between his fingers. “It may have come up.”  

“May have?” Shinoda repeated, pushing himself to his feet, planting his hands on his desk. “You’re telling me you heard Yugo-san's son was going to die in a few days and you decided to not act on it?”  

“We don’t know what causes his death. Jin has been trying to work on it to prevent it, but not knowing the cause complicates matters and we do have to deal with the Mimics and Kuga Yugo as well.” Rindo argued, but with no real heat to his voice. He understood that Shinoda’s frustrations were just stemming from the fact that he wanted to protect his late mentor’s son. It was what Rindo wanted as well after all.  

Shinoda leveled a stare on his friend, staring him down. “This isn’t a Tamakoma problem alone. The Mimics are a Border problem. If Yuma-kun's death comes from this, it is a problem related to the Mimics. I understand keeping it quiet from the rest of Border, but I would appreciate full disclosure of what is going on. If I don’t have all the information, I can’t make the right calls.”  

“Jin wouldn’t let you, and neither would I. We would have stepped in before any call you made could drastically effect the future that Jin is trying to change.” Rindo assured him before sighing. “But since Kuga-san has felt the need to mention it to the agents, I suppose it won’t stay a secret for much longer. That is going to annoy Yuma. He didn’t want people to know.”  

“About that, you said Kuga went into the city? The city that is currently under attack from Kuga Yugo?” Azuma looked back out the window, frowning. “If Kuga Yugo’s goal is the death of his son, won’t Kuga be in danger if he’s in the city?”  

“Yuma still has his Black Trigger so he can take care of himself and if something were to happen, Jin would be acting.” Rindo said just as an alert started beeping from Shinoda’s computer.  

Shinoda looked down at his computer, accepting the incoming request for communication from Ren. “Tsukimi-kun, if this is about the attack in the city, I've already been alerted.”  

“It is in reference to that.” Ren said. “Miwa squad encountered Kuga-kun with his father, but were sidetracked by Marmods, leaving Kuga to take his son as he escaped the area. We do not know where they’ve gone.”  

Azuma raised a brow, glancing at Rindo who had dropped his cigarette in shock.  

“I see.” Shinoda said, forcing a calm into his voice that he wasn’t truly feeling. “Thank you for keeping me informed.” He quickly ended the call and shot a look at Rindo. “Why is he not using his Black Trigger? This is an emergency. He wouldn’t normally hesitate to use it, even in the city.”  

“Maybe he really can’t find the nerve to attack his father.” Azuma suggested. To Azuma, that seemed like a reasonable excuse. He didn’t know much about the Mimics when they transformed, but he was certain Yuma wouldn’t hesitate like this for no reason.  

“Yuma-kun was the most adamant about Mimics being fakes and that we shouldn’t let ourselves be deceived by them.” Shinoda rubbed his eyes. Of course, that was easy to say, but it would be harder to follow through on that understanding when the transformed Mimic was standing in his path.  

Shinoda went back to his computer and pulled up the agents’ information to see who was active in the city. Arashiyama, Kitora, Shun, Kageura, Tamakoma-1, Miwa squad, and Jin moving on his own and away from the two battles taking place.  

“Jin,” Shinoda said as he connected with the agent’s comms.  

“I’m a bit busy.” Jin’s voice came from the computer.  

“You’re moving away from the battles taking place. Are you heading for Yugo-san?” Shinoda asked, hands curling on his desk.  

“If that is where Yuma is, then yes, I would be heading towards him as well.” Jin replied.  

“We just got a report from Miwa squad that said they approached Yugo-san and Yuma-kun, but Yugo-san attacked them with Marmods and took Yuma-kun away.” Shinoda explained.  

There was silence for a moment from Jin’s side.  

“Are you saying he got kidnapped?” Jin asked after a long silence. “By his father?” 

Rindo grimaced. “It would seem that way. Unless Yuma went with him willingly.”  

“Willing or not, I'm going to find him and drag him back to HQ.” Jin said, a hint of anger at the edge of his voice. How many times was he going to have to warn Yuma of his impending death before it stuck? Going with his father, for whatever reason that may be, was just plain reckless. He wasn’t even going to mention the part where Trion Soldiers were attacking the city and that should be the priority over whatever issues Yuma was having with his father.  

“Be careful, Jin. Kuga-san already attacked Miwa squad with Trion Soldiers to get to Yuma alone. You might be at a disadvantage going at this alone.” Rindo warned.  

“I have an ace up my sleeve.”  

*Mimics*  

Yuma stared at his wrist which was still gripped his father’s hand as he was dragged along the road. Both the playground where the Rabits were and the street where the Marmods had appeared were long behind them. This wasn’t right of him to just walk away from the Trion Soldiers, but he was sure the agents in the area could handle them.  

Even so, he was sure Shun and Kageura were going to give him hell later for leaving it all to them.  

He doubted they would understand why he felt the need to go after his father, especially Shun. Shun would be furious he ran after his father on his own after he had been adamant all day about how it was a stupid idea with his father being after him and talking about his coming death. Perhaps Shun mentioning that was a way to ease some concern into Yuma so he would be more cautious, but unfortunately for Shun, Yuma already knew of his impending death this week and wasn’t scared to face it.  

Did he want to live? 

Yes, more than anything.  

Coming to Japan, meeting Osamu and Tamakoma, becoming a Border agent and making all these new friends.  

All of it taught Yuma how to enjoy life again and it was something he wanted to desperately to cling to.  

Even so, Kuga Yugo was not someone Yuma could run from.  

Letting him wander free the way they had been forced to was a mistake. If Yugo was doing all of this to get his son to come to him, then he succeeded.  

Yuma was here and he wasn’t going to run away.  

“You’re being awfully quiet, Yuma.”  

“Just waiting for you to answer my question. Or have you forgotten? You never told me what it is that you want.” Yuma narrowed his eyes at his father’s back. “Do you even know what it is that you want?”  

Yugo twisted around to look at Yuma, still keeping a hold of his son’s arm, to stare down at him. There was a strange look on his face that Yuma couldn’t decipher. It was a look he had never once seen on his father’s face.  

Before Yugo could even open his mouth, he was yanking his son closer to him and jumping backwards, throwing up a Shield to defend them from the green slashes ripping across the street towards them. Yuma may have only seen those slashes once, but he knew what those were.  

Fujin.  

Perhaps if Yuma had been in danger, he would have been relieved at having the slashes appear. It would mean that backup had come here to help him get away from his father.  

That was not the case, however.  

Why did people have to constantly interrupt them when they were talking? 

Yuma was trying to deal with the situation with his father, but it seemed no one else wanted that to happen. First Miwa squad, and now...Yuma twisted around in his father’s hold to see who had appeared, and wasn’t surprised at all the find Jin jumping down from a roof with Fujin gripped tightly in his hand.  

“I’m going to need you to unhand my kouhai.” Jin said, and though he was smiling as he said it, there was an icy chill to his voice. His playful demeanor was nowhere to be found with the cold look in his eyes that was directed at Yugo.  

“Jin-san,” Yuma took a step back from his father, but still couldn’t get his wrist free. He did take a hold of his father’s hand with his free hand to try to pry it off, but had his eyes directed towards his friend. “We’re just talking. Or trying to. People keep interrupting.”  

“I was truly hoping we would make it through the day without you doing anything reckless, Yuma, and then we could let Hyuse go through with his threat of telling Osamu what is going on, but I suppose I was being too optimistic.” Jin replied.  

A scowl formed over Yuma’s face. It really shouldn’t surprise him that Jin knew about the threat Hyuse gave him. Jin always seemed to know everything that was going on and seemed to have a knack for getting in his way.  

Amusement filtered across Yugo’s eyes. “Yuma only knows how to be reckless, so I don’t know why you would expect anything else.”  

Jin raised a brow in surprise as he stared at Yugo. While it certainly was true that Yuma was being a bit reckless this week, it wasn’t true of him in general. He was usually a lot more cautious and thought things through before taking any action. Running off alone and looking for a Mimic that was transformed as his father wasn’t something a levelheaded Yuma would be doing.  

A fifteen-year-old Yuma who had grown from his mistakes and fought in a war for three years would be a lot more sensible.  

The eleven-year-old Yuma who was injured from a result of disobeying orders and was the son that Kuga Yugo remembered would be a reckless child. He never got to see his son grow and learn from that mistake. He never saw him grow into a warrior he could be proud of.  

“That child you’re remembering has persevered through many difficulties since then and has grown up past the recklessness of a kid who wanted nothing more than a fight.” Jin argued. In his hand, Fujin came to life once more with eleven new slashes. “But no matter how much stronger he has gotten in the past four years, he doesn’t have to deal with this alone. I will end this nightmare for him. This is my job as his brother.”  

Yuma stared at Jin, unblinking, shock overtaking his system. There was no black smoke encircling Jin. There should be black smoke all around him right now after that lie. Yuma and Jin weren’t siblings. That much was painfully obvious, and yet, there was no lie coming from Jin about his statement. Did Jin really think his statement from telling Konami that they were siblings was true? That was just a prank they had pulled on her, wasn’t it?  

Unfortunately, there was no time for Yuma to question it.  

The last two times there were Border agents around, Yugo had opened Gates to bring in Trion Soldiers to attack the agents and get Yuma alone. As much as Yuma wished to talk to his father alone and he wished Jin hadn’t interrupted them, enough was enough. A third Gate could not be opened in the city.  

Bracing his right foot behind him, Yuma began to apply the seal to his left. “Boost. Double.” He whispered softly, but it didn’t matter as he was standing so close to his father, he was still heard by Yugo. As Yuma swung his leg forward, it wasn’t a surprise to him to find Yugo reeling back with a Shield already up to defend from the kick that was coming for his head. He twisted his body and swung Yuma towards Jin, who was surprised enough to drop his sword before he could stab Yuma with it as he caught the smaller boy.  

Jin grunted a bit as the weight of Yuma hit him, but quickly adjusted his hold so he wouldn’t drop him on the ground.  

“Sorry,” Yuma muttered, pushing himself out of Jin’s arms, landing neatly on his feet as he turned to face his father.  

Jin scooped his sword off the ground before moving to stand next to Yuma, also staring at Yugo. “It’s alright, Yuma. At least you’re away from him.”  

A frown tugged at Yuma’s lips.  

“You make it sound like I'm the villain.”  

“Aren’t you?” Jin retorted, pulling up his sunglasses to protect his eyes. “You attacked our base, hurt our friend, been attacking our agents on duty, and have been harassing your son for days. From our perspective, you look pretty villainous.”  

Yugo’s eyes followed the action of Jin pulling his sunglasses up, locking onto them as he ignored what Jin said. It was that action that had Yugo canceling the Gate seal he was planning to use and instead taking a few steps onto the street towards the two Border agents, hand resting lightly on the hilt of his sword. “You remind me of someone.”  

“Oh?” Jin said, intrigue coloring his voice.  

“Do you know Soichi?” Yugo asked, and though it shouldn’t have, the question still surprised both Yuma and Jin. Besides a casual remark about the agents in the area of his attacks, this was the first time Yugo had mentioned anyone but Yuma.  

“Yes,” Jin replied simply. There truly was no point in hiding it. They already knew that Mogami and Yugo had known each other years ago and were great friends. It wouldn’t be at all surprising that a Border agent might actually know who he is.  

Yugo narrowed his eyes, shifting his eyes from Yuma to Jin, the two agents standing side by side. One that was his son, a Kuga. The other radiating an air so similar to his old friend, looking so much like him with those sunglasses. The term ‘brother’ that Jin had thrown out when Yugo knew for certain that Yuma was an only child. “You don’t just know him. You were close to him.” Yugo said, drawing his sword from its sheath.  

“Heh,” Jin smirked, stepping in front of Yuma. “He was my mentor.”  

“That makes this even more interesting. Let's see what my old friend managed to teach you.”  

Yuma’s eyes moved from his father to Jin, a wary look overtaking his features. A fight where Jin was wielding Fujin, created by Mogami Soichi, against his father who had not only his two swords, but also the Black Trigger abilities from the Black Trigger he created at the time of his death. Two old friends were meeting on a battlefield to fight.  

It wasn’t a fight that should ever take place.  

“Jin-san. This isn’t your fight.”  

Jin glanced at Yuma out of the corner of his eyes. “It’s not yours either.”  

Yuma frowned, eyes drifting towards his father.  

“No one should be forced to fight someone they love.” Jin said, leaving out the part where Yuma clearly couldn’t bring himself to fight, let alone kill, his father. Without even turning to him, Jin dropped a hand to Yuma’s fluffy hair, fingers curling in the white locks. “Just sit tight, Yuma.”  

Watching Jin walk ahead of Yuma, towards his father, and already with Fujin active to fight Yugo had Yuma clenching his hands tightly. It was supposed to be him taking care of his father. This whole mess was his fault in the first place. He told everyone he would do it.  

Yet, he couldn’t even activate his Trigger because staring at his father’s face made him lose all will to fight.  

Now Jin was taking the struggle from him to deal with it for Yuma.  

Whether Jin could win or not...Yuma didn’t know.  

But...staring past Jin and at his father, Yuma felt his heart jump a beat.  

He didn’t want Jin to win.  

For years, he wanted to be able to see his father again, and now almost five years after his death, his father was standing right in front of him. Maybe not the sanest version of his father since, while his father enjoyed fighting, he was not the type to attack people like he has been doing the last few days.  

He didn’t even get the chance to have a proper conversation with Yugo since all the Border agents kept interrupting them. Until he had a chance to ask him what he wanted, he didn’t want Jin to defeat him.  

At the same time, Yuma knew this was the wrong response to be having. The sooner they defeated the Mimics, the sooner everything would go back to normal. It would hurt a lot less if Yugo was no longer here, practically taunting Yuma.  

Yugo launched himself forward with so much speed that it could only have been a Bound seal that had forced him forward so fast when he had been standing still before. Despite that speed, Jin was already acting and Fujin’s slashes were swinging through the air. One of the slashes coming for Yugo was blocked by his shield while the other two were deflected by his first sword and before the final slash could strike him, he had already drawn his second sword and was deflecting it.  

Before he could unleash any more attacks, Jin was blocking Yugo’s sword with Fujin and grabbing the wrist of his other hand to stop his second sword. Being this close to him, Jin was able to see his eyes more clearly. Yuma’s eyes were truly a carbon copy of his father’s eyes. The only difference would be that Yugo’s eyes held far more intensity than Yuma’s, which was an achievement when considering how intense Yuma’s were.  

Yugo released his sword so he could twist his hand and grip Jin’s wrist in return. He took a step back before letting himself fall backwards, taking Jin with him to throw him over him. Being flung through the air, Jin had no way to right himself so when he saw the Bolt seal that was lying in wait for him that Yugo had planted before he initially moved, all he could do was stab his sword down into the ground and twisted his body in the air as the bullets came flying at him. He wasn’t able to pull his body out of the way completely so some of the bullets hit him in his arm, but at least it wasn’t a fatal wound.  

Yuma was itching to move as Jin fell from the throw, planting a hand on the ground to flip himself and land back on his feet. While Jin was getting back to his feet, Yugo scooped his sword back up and the two were immediately locking blades again. With the two exchanging blows, Yuma looked down at his glove covered hand which hid his Black Trigger. Even if he wanted to help Jin fight his father, he knew it wouldn’t be all that helpful since he didn’t know how Jin fought, especially while wielding Fujin. They would just get in each other’s way.  

To make matters worse, they were still in the city as well. The civilians had abandoned this part of the city a long time ago so there was no danger to their lives, but that didn’t change the fact that there were three battles taking place in the city currently. At this rate, Netsuki was going to scream all of their ears off about the public blasting Border for putting them in danger like this.  

That was the last thing Yuma wanted to hear right now.  

Especially since this was Yuma’s fault.  

If he hadn’t been in the city, Yugo wouldn’t have initiated this attack.  

Jin blocked Yugo’s first sword with Fujin before he was backtracking quickly to get some distance so he could block Yugo’s second sword before his head could get cut off.  

Tachikawa was right before when he said Fujin worked better at long range. It was hard to use the wind blades when Yugo was bearing down on him like this. Normally he would use his side effect to determine the best ways to use the wind blades to strike his enemy down. That plan would not work against a Mimic that he couldn’t see the future of.  

It would be like a normal fight, just like how all of his comrades fought.  

Jin forced their blades apart and jumped backwards again to get more distance between them. As he moved away, he swung Fujin, sending two wind blades wrapping through the ground behind him. The slashes traveled through the ground under his feet. The blades were fast but so was the approaching Yugo. Yugo backstepped and quickly brought up his swords to deflect the slashes.  

While he got the two that Jin sent straight for him, he missed a third slash that Jin sent through the ground and up the building behind Yugo. Even though the slash came from a wall behind him, Yugo still managed to shift away from it, not enough to dodge completely, but he avoided any serious damage.  

Yugo simple brushed away the Trion spilling from the cut on his shoulder. “That’s a Black Trigger? Pretty impressive.”  

Jin readjusted his grip on Fujin, watching Yugo silently.  

“Did Soichi create it?” Yugo asked, surprising Jin and Yuma at his correct guess. He turned to look towards the Restricted Zone, swords lowered, but Jin wasn’t fooled; Yugo’s guard was still up. “I’ve been in the city for days, but Soichi hasn’t appeared before me. Instead, I get his student wielding a Black Trigger.”  

“Mogami-san died five years ago.” Jin confirmed.  

For a moment, a pained look crossed Yugo’s face, hands tightening on his swords.  

The grief looked so raw, so real, that it almost convinced Jin he was standing in front of a real person, who was learning his friend was gone, and not a Trion Soldier who was just supposed to be a weapon. He could see how people could be deceived by the Mimics. If he had been able to see the future of the man in front of him, he would have believed he was real.  

“I see.” Yugo said softly. “Yuma, why did you stay here if you couldn’t find Soichi?”  

Yuma blinked, surprised at being addressed. “Because...” He paused, unwilling to say his friends’ name and getting them on Yugo’s radar. “They needed my help. You loved Border and I couldn’t just turn my back on them.” He looked pass his father to look at Jin. Their fight had flipped them around, making Yugo closer to Yuma. “And I see why now. Everyone in Border has helped me in a way they will never know or understand. I can’t just walk away now.”  

“Your words would have been stronger had you not abandoned your friends to fight the Rabits alone to follow me.”  

Jin scoffed. “If Yuma hadn’t followed you, you would have dragged him away, but it stops here. Whatever you want from Yuma isn’t going to happen.”  

Yugo stared at him, smirking slightly. “And here I was thinking my son and Soichi’s student would be a lot closer to each other. At least close enough to not keep dangerous secrets.”  

Eyes flickering from Yugo to Yuma in confusion, Jin felt a frown tugging at his lips. His father’s statement brought a flicker of guilt to Yuma’s eyes. Jin swore that if Hyuse hadn’t already threatened to out Yuma to Osamu tomorrow, he would be telling all of Tamakoma what was really going on the second they made it back to the HQ. He understood Yuma’s reason for not wanting to tell anyone, even if he didn’t agree with them, but Jin already knew Yuma’s future. How was he supposed to help if Yuma didn’t talk to him? 

“Maybe the trust between the next generation isn’t as strong as the previous generation.” Yugo said.  

Yuma gripped his left arm, feeling the cracks under his hand protest at the pressure. This wasn’t about a lack of trust.  

It wasn’t.  

A Bound seal appeared under Yugo’s foot, launching him at Jin to resume the battle. Jin jumped backwards, twisting out of the way of Yugo’s swords that were trying to cut him in half. He landed on the side of one of the buildings and launched himself off of it, swinging Fujin as he did to send two more slashes towards Yugo. The slashes didn’t do more than stall Yugo as he was forced to defend against the wind blades.  

As Yugo moved out of the way of the slashes, Yuma looked around the street they were fighting on. When Jin used the Fujin’s wind blades, they were invisible as they traveled through the surfaces until they were striking which made it impressive that Yugo was able to defend fast enough against them. Just as the wind blades were invisible, so was Yuma’s Black Trigger seals. The seals his Trigger used could be planted as traps on the ground and they wouldn’t appear until they were being set off.  

With Border’s Trigger, the Trigger had to be set to left or right hand to be able to use it. That meant, at most, someone could only use two Triggers at a time. If Yuma had two Scorpions out but needed to defend from a sniper’s shot, he would need to cancel one of his swords to be able to activate his Shield. It required a lot of switching in the midst of a chaotic battle, but Yuma had gotten faster at it over the course of the Rank Wars.  

That was how the current Border Triggers worked, but Yuma would say the old version of Border’s Triggers that Yugo used wasn’t much different. Normally if Yugo wanted to use a Shield and sword at the same time, he could only wield one of his swords. The problem was that technically the Black Trigger abilities he was using were from a different Trigger. It shouldn’t be possible for him to be using his normal Trigger and Black Trigger at the same time, but he was able to pull it off, which meant that even if he was wielding two swords at the same time, he could still use the Black Trigger seals he had at his disposal.  

Which meant... 

Yuma looked around the street that Jin and Yugo were fighting on. With the way they were bouncing around the street, just how many seals was Yugo planting while distracting Jin with a sword fight? Jin wouldn’t even see the attack coming since his side effect wasn’t working. He might be able to predict damage he might take, but that was only if he took the time and distraction to use his side effect, which was something he couldn’t afford to do against Yugo.  

So, by the time the attack was released, Jin wouldn’t be able to do anything as Fujin didn’t even have a Shield. It was a completely offensive Trigger with zero defense. It was a Black Trigger that was too rigid, making it difficult to use.  

It was no wonder Miwa refused to be its wielder and become a S-Rank agent.  

Seeing his father break away from Jin and jump back had Yuma moving before he even realized it. “Bound, double.”  

The force of his seal sent Yuma straight into Jin, surprising the older agent, but Yuma didn’t spare him a thought as he pushed off of Jin to turn around, throwing up a hand. “Shield, triple!” The Shield came up just in time to block the bullets from the Bolt seals that were planted around the street.  

Jin lowered Fujin as he watched the bullets slam into Yuma’s Shield. He had a brief fight against Yuma the other day and in that fight, Yuma had planted seals like that to attack Jin from different angles while Yuma was moving in a different direction. It was a brief fight, but he should have still remembered that. It seemed there were a bit of similarities between Yugo and Yuma in terms of using sneak attacks with the seals.  

Though, even if he did remember this type of trap, that many Bolt seals would be hard to defend against without a Shield. He didn’t think he would have been able to dodge all of them. “I didn’t think you would be able to fight your father.” Jin said.  

“This isn’t fighting. This is saving you.” Yuma replied, not even looking back at Jin. “If you get killed, you won’t bail out since you’re using Fujin. If you reverted to your real body here, I don’t know what Dad will do.”  

Jin stepped forward, bumping his arm against Yuma’s, unaware of the tightness winding up in Yuma’s arm from that small jolt. Jin may not have heard it, but to Yuma, the sounds of the cracks wheezing on his arm was blaring like sirens, but he kept his face as impassive as he could. “Yuma, you need to remember, he’s not your father. Don't let it deceive you.”  

“I know.” Yuma said, avoiding looking towards Jin as he knew his friend would have that look on his face that said how little he believed in Yuma’s words. He didn’t want to see that expression, not on another one of his ally’s faces. He already knew that he was failing in remembering that the Kuga Yugo in front of them was not his real father. The constant reminders from his allies to not fall for it were not helping.  

Yuma's hand twitched slightly at his side. The tension that had been spreading up in his arm seemed to finally reach its limit. The creaking of the cracks snapping was impossible to hide, especially with Jin right next to him. Jin snapped his head to him, watching in shock as Yuma jerked his head to the side, giving Jin a good view of the cracks snapping at Yuma’s neck.  

Shield dropping, Yuma slapped his hand that wasn’t breaking yet over the cracks on his neck. It was truly a fruitless effort seeing as Jin was already staring at him in horror. Jin’s eyes drifted down to the glove on Yuma’s hand, realization dawning on him why there was a sudden addition to Yuma’s wardrobe choices.  

When Yuma’s legs buckled under him, Jin moved before he realized what he was doing and was trying to grab Yuma’s arm to prevent him from slamming too hard into the ground. Grabbing Yuma’s arm as roughly as he did, Jin was able to feel the arm giving way under his hand, like it was about to snap from the pressure he was applying to it. Jin quickly changed his grip to wrap his arm around Yuma’s torso as they kneeled on the ground.  

Jin looked over towards where Yugo was, but he was standing in the same spot he had jumped to before when he was unleashing the Bolt seals onto Jin. Yugo was clearly looking pass Jin to eye his son. Turning his attention back to Yuma, but still doing his best to keep his guard up in case Yugo moved, Jin pulled Yuma’s hand down from his neck to get a better look at the cracks that had moved up to his neck.  

“You already saw my death incoming. I didn’t want to worry you with how close it was.” Yuma said softly.  

Looking into Yuma’s face, Jin saw the future around him shift. The future where Yuma died was becoming clearer and clearer. It was still there, but Jin didn’t see Yuma’s body breaking like this, he only saw his impending death. He had been so sure Yuma’s death had been about the Mimics, not because of his real body dying. Was this a prelude to warn them that Yuma’s real body was reaching its limit? 

“Damn it, Yuma.” Jin muttered, dropping his face in Yuma’s fluffy hair. He took Yuma’s hand and plucked the gloves off to look at the cracks spidering all across his hand. There was so much they needed to talk about to get to the bottom of this since Jin was absolutely certain that Yuma was not meant to die this week before the Mimics arrived, but that would have to be done later. Kuga Yugo was still here.  

When Jin went to stand to face Yugo, Yuma hand, the undamaged one, flew up to grab Jin’s wrist to stop him.  

“We can’t let Kuga-san roam free any more, Yuma. I need to stop him here.” Jin said.  

Yuma looked off to the side. “It’s dark out now, Jin-san, and how many agents are active in the city right now? The Mimics will come.”  

Jin glanced down at Yuma, then back up at Yugo. It was more of twilight at this point than it was dark, but Yuma wasn’t wrong. The Mimics managed to make an appearance at twilight the other day so they were in danger of Mimics appearing and leaving the Restricted Zone if they located so many prime targets in the city. Enough Trion Soldiers had already appeared in the city today, not to mention the fight between Jin and Yugo.  

Unfortunately, Jin didn’t think he could beat Yugo fast enough and get back to the Restricted Zone before the Mimics started to appear. That was, if he could defeat Yugo at all. His reaction time was a lot faster than Jin was expecting. More than one of his slashes should have hit Yugo. The fact that they didn’t meant this would be a long fight with no guarantee of a win that he couldn’t waste time with. If he was in the Restricted Zone already, it would be another matter entirely.  

Jin twisted his hand around to get his arm under Yuma’s and pulled him to his feet as he tapped his communicator. “If your fights are over, get to the Restricted Zone or deactivate your Trigger.”  

“What’s wrong?” Konami asked.  

“Yuma made a good point. If we all stay in the city with our Triggers active, Mimics will be coming out into the city.” Jin explained.  

“You found Yuma?” Konami demanded. “Tell him I'm going to kick his ass when I get there.”  

Jin was not going to tell Yuma that. It was a threat that Konami wasn’t going to be able to follow through on when she saw the cracks on Yuma. On that note, it seemed they were going to have to explain the true nature of Yuma’s body to Tamakoma. They weren’t going to be able to hide it now that his body was breaking.  

“We’ll head back to HQ.” Arashiyama said.  

Taking a step back to put himself back at Yuma’s side, Jin never removed his eyes from Yugo. “We’re going to head to the Restricted Zone. Can you move?”  

“Yeah.” Yuma’s eyes flickered to his dad.   

“You go first. I’ll keep Kuga-san off you.”  

“No.” Yuma declared, surprising Jin. “Dad doesn’t want to kill me. He won’t attack me so you go first.”  

That got Jin to glance at Yuma, displeasure shining in his eyes. “Did you forget what happened at Tamakoma the other day or how Tachikawa-san said your father was looking for you the other day? He’s after you.”  

“He’s not going to strike me down.” Yuma said with all the conviction he could muster thrown into his voice. He needed Jin to understand. His conversation with his father kept getting interrupted so he didn’t fully understand, but he was certain that his dad was not about to impale him with a sword today. He may still not know what Yugo’s end goal was, and he could agree that it probably wasn’t good as he seemed to know about Yuma’s body breaking before it spread to be visible on his neck, but he could have hit Yuma at any point and yet chose not to.  

It was true that Yuma didn’t have a scratch on him when Jin found him, disregarding the cracks on his body which seemed to have been there before he met up with Yugo. That didn’t mean they should just trust Yugo though. “He was dragging you over the city and away from your allies.”  

“Granted, that wasn’t ideal.” Yuma agreed, though to be fair, he hadn’t really resisted it either. His father seemed to want to talk to him privately so they kept having to move away from his comrades.  

“Ideal? Yuma, your father kidnapped you!” Jin retorted.  

“He didn’t do anything.” Yuma said with a blasé tone.  

“And what if you’re wrong and he does?” Jin argued.  

“Then I'll throw up a Shield.”  

“Did you just forget what happened the last time you activated your Shield?” Jin’s fingers wavered over the cracks on Yuma’s neck to make his point. “You take lead, I'll follow and keep Kuga-san busy while we make our way to the Restricted Zone.”  

Instead of giving Yuma another chance to argue, Jin was swinging Fujin twice and sending two wind blades flying towards Yugo before he was shoving Yuma to get his feet moving. Righting himself from the shove, Yuma was running into an alley and using the dumpster there to boost himself up to the roof of the restaurant. As he made his way across the roof towards the Restricted Zone, he could hear Jin’s feet smacking onto the roof behind him. This was followed by a third pair of feet and then the sounds of blades striking each other as they continued their run.  

They were going to need to stay on the roofs as they ran if Jin and Yugo were going to continue their fight while moving to the Restricted Zone. As they left the scene of the battle behind them, they would be moving into parts of the city where the fights didn’t reach so there were going to be civilians around again.  

As long as they moved quickly, they could hopefully avoid any damage to the city or danger to the civilians. Though that would mean that Jin wouldn’t be able to use Fujin’s wind blades. He couldn’t take the risk the blades would miss or be deflected by Yugo and possibly injure civilians.  

He was sure Jin knew that. The problem was Yugo. If he used any of the long-ranged attacks from the Black Trigger, there would be damage to the city and injuries to civilians.  

Yuma glanced over his shoulder at the two fighting men. With how fast they were moving and seeing as they were leaving the path behind them with no intention of returning, there was no need for Yugo to plant any seals as a trap.  

Jin knocked Yugo’s swords backed before looking towards Yuma, catching the younger agent’s eyes before his eyes were flickering pass Yuma. His eyes widened slightly behind his glasses before he was blocking a strike from Yugo. “Yuma, front!” 

Refocusing on front of him, Yuma’s step almost hesitated when he saw the Mimics coming straight for him. They hadn’t acted fast enough in getting out of the city.  

Yuma was jumping over the gap between the two buildings, straight for the Mimics as he had nowhere else to go. He couldn’t go back as Jin and Yugo were there and if he went down, he would endanger the civilians.  

A Shield would be ineffective against the Mimics and he didn’t have access to a sword so all Yuma could do was jump to the side as the Mimic’s arms came for him. All he had were long ranged attacks that he could use, but he didn’t want to risk those in the city, but he couldn’t let himself get hit a second time.  

As Yuma jumped over another pair of hands and landed on the edge of the roof, his eyes looked around the Mimics on the roof. This was not a good situation to be in without being able to attack.  

If only they had moved faster in getting back to the Restricted Zone.  

Jin landed on the next roof, ducking under the Mimic’s arm before slicing it off as he stood back up straight. Yugo was slinking around the roof behind the Mimics so unless he used long ranged attacks, he wouldn’t be able to hit Jin. He wasn’t sure what Yugo was planning, but Jin couldn’t let himself get too distracted by that. He had Mimics trapping him and Yuma on this roof and currently there wasn’t much Yuma could do to help while they were still present in the city.  

Tightening his grip on Fujin, Jin’s eyes flickered around the roof. There was only one slash left on Fujin. He wouldn’t get a chance to reload Fujin’s wind blades with the amount of Mimics here and Yugo being around. This last strike had to count.  

Jin’s eyes landed on Yuma, who was crouched on the edge of the roof with Mimics closing in on him.  

“Jin,” Rindo’s voice crackled in Jin’s ears.  

“Chain, triple!” The chain seals planted on the ledges next to Yuma before the chains were shooting towards the Mimics closest to him and grabbing their limbs to restrain them. It would prevent them from moving, but he didn’t know how good it would be at keeping their limbs from extending.  

“You can tell Yuma he’s been approved to use his Black Trigger.”  

Jin watched as Yuma jumped over the Mimics’ arms, soaring over their heads to get behind them, still too close to the Mimics for Jin’s liking. The cracks on his neck seemed to wince at the movement. There was no way Jin could tell Yuma to activate his Black Trigger. Those cracks on his body should be healing, but instead they were spreading along his body. There was no telling what would happen if Yuma used his Black Trigger and wasted his Trion for this battle. 

What Jin should have done was asked Tamakoma-1 to meet up with him and they could move back to the Restricted Zone together. Though, with how far they were from each other, there was no guarantee they would have made here fast enough.  

“The Black Trigger isn’t an option right now.” Jin replied as he sliced through another Mimic’s arm as he tried to make it to Yuma’s side without getting touched. He slammed Fujin through the eye of one of the Mimics before using the momentum of pushing it into the ground to vault over the Mimics.  

While in the air, Jin swung his blade, sending the last wind blade soaring through the air to cut down the Mimics at their legs before he was landing in a crouch behind Yuma. He leaned back, resting his back lightly on Yuma’s. “Doing okay?” 

“I’m not an invalid because my body is starting to break.” Yuma said, feeling annoyed but not currently at Jin. He wanted to be doing something more than dodging. Bolt was out of the question in the city and Boost would bring him into contact with the Mimics. Jin may have cut their legs off, but didn’t help much when they could extend their arms.  

Jin’s hand wrapped around Yuma’s arm and yanked him to the side as he brought Fujin down to impale it through the Mimic’s arm and pin it to the roof. There were two Trion bodies on this roof, but the Mimics were mostly going for Yuma. To Jin, that just felt like confirmation to his and Arashiyama’s theory that Yuma’s body made from Trion transformed into Black Trigger Trion made him shine like a brighter target for them.  

Yuma twisted his body as Jin pulled him and threw up his hand. “Shield, double!” 

Hearing the seal coming from Yuma had Jin grimacing as he turned to see Yugo’s blade slamming into the Shield. He was really hoping to have Yuma avoid using any more of his seals until they could figure out why his body was breaking. His eyes glanced down towards Yuma, eyeing the cracks on his neck to see if they would expand.  

Yugo stared at the two through the Shield before his eyes moved upwards. Jin, who was looking at Yuma, didn’t see, but Yuma was watching his father and didn’t even bother to look to see what he was looking at. Instead, he just immediately slammed his shoulder into Jin’s stomach and the knocked the two off to the side just as a Mimic’s arm came flying through where they were just previously standing. 

With that distraction, Yugo was striking the shield with both of his swords, shattering it, and allowing him to make his way forward again. Jin brought Fujin back up to block the strike as he tried to regain his footing. Out of the corner of his eyes, he saw the Mimic’s arms coming again. He yanked on Yuma’s arm that he was still holding to pull him under his and Yugo’s blades to get him farther from the Mimics.  

As Yuma got pulled under, he twisted his head to look at his father, getting ready to activate his Boost seal to attack his father who was so close to him, but when he caught his father’s eyes, his hand twitched in hesitation. With Yuma not able to act against his father, Jin had to keep his blade locked with Yugo’s which gave him no time to stop the Mimics. All he could do was shift the left side of his body forward to cover Yuma’s body from getting struck by the Mimics. In return, the Mimic had latched onto his arm.  

The effect was instantaneously.  

The memories from long ago forced their way to the front of Jin’s mind. Searing emotions burned through his veins, slackening his grip on Fujin as his will to fight left him to be replaced with the pain of remembering who was lost.  

“I saw you in a dream.”   

“Excuse me?” Mogami turned to find a child staring up at him. He looked around the sidewalk in confusion, but there was no one else around. He was just trying to make it back to HQ, not attract some kid to him.   

“I knew we would meet here.”   

Mogami just continued to blinked at the child. “Sorry, who are you?”  

“I’m Jin Yuichi.”   

“Mogami Soichi.” He did not have a clue as to why he was entertaining this child, but he couldn’t just leave the kid here alone. “Did you say you saw me in a dream?”  

Jin shrugged. “It wasn’t exactly a dream and I didn’t exactly see you. I was awake when I saw myself meeting someone here. I didn’t know what it meant, except that it will change my life forever. I think that someone was you.”   

None of that helped Mogami feel any less confused. “You saw it?”   

Jin puffed out his cheeks in frustration. “Yes. I was to meet someone here today and I would get a sword.”   

This kid seemed miffed that Mogami wasn’t giving him his sword fast enough.   

“Right, a sword.” Mogami eyed the child in front of him who seemed to have some idea of the sword that was housed inside of Mogami’s Trigger. Well, this wasn’t the strangest situation he had ever found himself in. Now, he just had to hope no one called the cops on him for kidnapping. The kid approached him first after all. “Hey, want to go meet some friends of mine? I'm sure they can help us figure this out.”   

*****  

Jin’s sword went flying through the air. All he could do was watch it spin out of control as Mogami was plunging his sword through Jin’s chest.   

As Jin laid on the ground of the training room, staring up at the ceiling, Mogami rested his sword on his shoulder and looked down at him with a raised a brow. “You should have been able to block that. You were trying to see into the future to predict my moves, weren’t you?” He sighed at the innocent expression Jin was trying to portray as he pushed himself into a sitting position. “You have to actually know how to fight without predicting how people will move. If you try to use your side effect every time you fight, you’re going to die more times than you’ll win. Experienced fighters will be able to move faster than you reading the future and then moving.”   

“Not if I read far enough into the fight that I can see their every move.”   

“The more you counter their moves, the more the future will change since they will need to adapt to you blocking them.” Mogami argued. “So, this time, Jin, you and me, no side effect.”   

*****  

“Do you find the stars that interesting?” Jin asked.   

Mogami turned, an easy grin on his lips. “The man of the hour! How does it feel to finally be thirteen?”   

Jin looked over this shoulder, smiling as he took in his friends on the roof of Border as they celebrated his birthday. It was a strange tradition, but whenever they had something to celebrate, it would be on the roof. “Doesn’t feel that much different from twelve.”   

Mogami sat on the ledge, setting his glass down next to him. “Maybe it just hasn’t hit you yet.”   

“So?” Jin prompted, casting his eyes towards the stars. “The party is over there so why are you looking at the stars all alone over here?”  

“I was just thinking about an old friend. He’s been gone for a long time so I was wondering how he was doing.”   

“An old friend?” Jin repeated. “Was he a part of Border?”  

Mogami’s grin widened. “Oh, yeah, he was just as strong as I was. We were constantly going at it, trying to one up each other all the time. It's fun to have someone you can fight constantly and not know who will win. Perhaps one day, when you find a rival, you’ll understand the thrill of having someone like that to challenge you to better yourself.”   

*****  

A blinding grin was the first thing Jin saw before a hand was landing on his head, ruffling his hair, affectionately. “There’s my favorite mentee.”   

“Did you acquire another mentee that I don’t know about?” Jin asked, eyes shining in amusement as he stared up at Mogami.   

“If I had a second one, he would be my favorite without a doubt, but alas, I'm stuck with only one so I have no other choice but to dub you the favorite.” Mogami teased.   

Jin gasped dramatically. “I should always be the favorite, no matter how many you have.”   

Mogami scoffed, knocking Jin’s head to the side as he walked towards the kitchen. “I bet my other mentee would listen to me when I tell him not to use his side effect during training. Unlike that troublemaker, Jin.”   

“He probably wouldn’t even have a side effect.” Jin retorted, though he was grinning widely.   

“Truly a shame.” Mogami said as he grabbed a bottle of water from the fridge.   

Jin hopped onto one of the stools are the counter, staring at his mentor in confusion. “Do you not like side effects?”  

Mogami paused in taking a drink to stare at Jin in consideration. “I have nothing against them. They are certainly useful to have, but they are an added struggle to those who have them. I knew someone who could tell when someone was lying. It sounds useful, but it comes with the realization of just how often people truly lie. When we were kids, long before we knew about Neighbors and side effects, he never understood what he was seeing and when he would question people about it, they would get mad at him for calling them out on their lies.” Mogami set his bottle down on the counter and leaned down on his arms to catch Jin’s eyes at his level. “And what about yours? You can’t tell me it’s easy to see the future all the time.”   

Jin’s eyes flickered from his mentor’s face to the side for a moment before they were back to locking eyes. “When I was seven, I was heading to a park with my mom when I saw the future of this guy in front of me. He was going to die from getting hit by a car running a red light. I didn’t do anything to save him. I didn’t even know what it was I saw or why I saw it. I thought it was just a morbid imagination I had. I had plenty of visions where I saw bad things happen before they did and I always did nothing. Then, I had the vision of me joining Border. Everything else I saw came true so I thought if the vision of my future could be real, I could come here and understand why I could see what I could.”   

Mogami nodded his head, smiling sympathetic at Jin. “That’s what I mean. Side Effects are powerful gifts to the users, but it also puts a heavy burden on them. Don’t try to shoulder all of it by yourself, Jin. You have plenty of friends here who can help you carry it.”   

*****  

Mogami bumped his shoulder into Jin’s, smiling at his mentee. “Nervous?”  

“Not at all.” Jin said, putting a brave face on.   

“You tell the stupidest lies, Jin.” Mogami said, a teasing smile on his face.  

Jin looked at him in confusion, but Mogami didn’t acknowledge it.   

“There’s nothing wrong with being nervous. It's your first time going to the Neighbor’s world and it’s to help Aristera. It’s going to be dangerous. We’re going into a warzone. Everyone’s scared.” Mogami looked down at his Trigger which he gripped tightly in his hand. “Even me, but fear is not something to be ashamed of. It's the ability to stand tall, despite that fear, where true conviction comes from. When you refuse to back down for what you think is right, you will find your strength.”  

 *****  

Jin stumbled over his feet, gripping his shoulder where Trion was spilling out from a stab wound. It wasn’t where Jin’s mind though was, instead he was staring at the prone figure on the ground, blood pooling around him.   

The sounds of battle faded to nothing as Jin dropped to his knees, not taking notice of the blood soaking into his clothes. “You’re alright. You’re alright, Mogami-san.” Even as he said it, Jin saw the truth reflected in the visions flashing before his eyes.   

A smile formed on Mogami’s face. “You’ll be alright.” His hand gripped his Trigger tightly, feeling his power well up inside of him. If this was his last moments of life, then he would leave a parting gift to Jin that would hopefully get Border out of this war safely. “You’re far stronger than you realize, Yuichi. You've made me so proud.”   

Coming to, Jin found himself lying on the ground with Yuma on top him. A Shield hung over them in protection, but Jin looked pass that to see Mogami, hand relaxing on the hilt of his sword, standing next to Yugo, towering over the two downed agents. 

Chapter Text

Jin practically jumped out of his skin when the hands landed on his shoulder. He had been so focused on staring at the door of the away ship, waiting for them to arrive in Aristera, that he didn’t realize someone had come up from behind him.  

“Don’t get so focused that you lose awareness of your surroundings.” Mogami scolded.   

“I’m just trying to get in the right mindset for battle.” Jin replied.   

“Staying calm helps.” Mogami said. “But it’s also okay to be nervous. Without nerves of fear, we would be too confident in the field and you would lose the ability to be cautious of the dangers around.”   

“And what if the fear is too great to find the strength to stand?” Jin asked.   

“When you’re alone, it’s easy to give up to the fear.” Mogami squeezed Jin’s shoulder. “But you’re not alone. When you have allies by your side, it is easier to stand because you will be a united front.” He removed his sunglasses and dropped them around Jin’s neck. “Here, carry these with you so even if we get separated in the fight, I'll be right there with you. You just have to promise to return them to me when this is all over.”   

Jin gingerly touched the sunglasses that his mentor never seemed to take off. He smiled brightly at Mogami. “It’s a promise.”   

Staring at the arm that was blocking him, Yuma’s eyes locked onto the black claw that was wrapped around Jin’s bicep. A Mimic had managed to latch onto Jin. That was bad. It was already too late to stop the Mimic from transforming. The only chance they had was if the Mimic got destroyed right now!  

“Bound, double!”  

Yuma soared across the rooftop, eyes locked onto the Mimic that was latched onto Jin, fist pulled back as he got ready to end it in one strike. “Boost, double!”  

Before his punch could even make contact, a hand was latching onto his wrist and pulled his attack back before yanking him bodily away from the Mimic. Furious eyes turned to stare at Yugo. Without even thinking about it, Yuma was raising his free hand to punch Yugo when that one was caught by his father as well.   

Out of the corner of his eye, Yuma could see the Mimic beginning to transform. With his father here, he wasn’t going to be able to prevent this. This could not possibly get worst.   

“Boost.”   

The seal was attached to his leg. Knowing his father’s skill, he doubted the kick would connect, but that was fine with Yuma. He didn’t really want to cause any damage. He knew he shouldn’t feel that way since his father was the enemy, but that was something Yuma would concern himself with later. For now, he needed to get to Jin.   

Yugo released Yuma’s wrists and jumped backwards to dodge the kick. Instead of following someone he didn’t want to fight, Yuma was jumping back towards Jin, tackling him to the ground while throwing a Shield up over them. The Mimic was no longer holding onto Jin’s arm so that meant it was transformed. With no idea of what the two transformed Mimics would do, he would rather have him and Jin covered while Jin worked on coming back to his senses. Yuma's hand curled around the Fujin blade that Jin had dropped to keep it with them. If his father was able to use the Black Trigger abilities of the one he created, he would hate to see Mogami get his hands on Fujin.   

“Mogami-san.”   

“Great,” Yuma mumbled, rolling off of Jin, eyeing the swordsman on the other side of his Shield. “You’re back.”   

Yuma pushed himself to his feet, eyes shifting to Jin before back to Mogami and Yugo. Though, Yuma’s eyes avoided his father completely this time. He was more interested in seeing the man that was Jin’s mentor, the man that his father wanted him to find if he even died. The most distinctive things he saw in Mogami was the light brown hair that was slicked back and the sunglasses that were dangling around his neck.   

Those sunglasses were exactly the same as the ones that Jin wore. While Yuma got a Black Trigger from his father as the last thing his father left him, it seemed that Jin inherited those sunglasses and adopted his slicked back hairstyle. There was no other evidence that Yuma needed to tell him that Mogami’s death hit Jin hard. It seemed Jin was doing everything he could do to honor the memory of his mentor.   

Mogami didn’t even seem to acknowledge that fact that Yugo was standing next to him. His attention seemed to be locked on Jin who was climbing to his feet. “You’re grown a lot, Yuichi. How long has it been?”  

Yuma's brows furrowed. ‘Yuichi?’ He had never heard anyone call Jin by his first name.   

Jin’s jaw clenched shut tightly, not answering Mogami. A small part of him was wishing desperately that this could be real. How many nights did he have where dreams assaulted him where that battle in Aristera had gone differently? Where his friends hadn’t died? There were so many nights he sat in his room, awake all night, as he mapped that day out in his head, trying to figure out what he could have done differently that would have changed the outcome.   

Trying to figure out how he could have saved everyone.  

The hours he would stare at the Fujin blade that was locked up in Tamakoma for months.   

‘Mogami-san would be disappointed if he could see you right now.’ Rindo said.  

Jin looked up from running his finger over the smooth exterior of Fujin’s sword handle. He glanced over his shoulder to see Rindo leaning against the doorframe. “Our friends were killed.” He said softly.   

Rindo pushed off the doorframe to walk into the room. “I’m not saying you aren’t allowed to grieve. Losing friends to death is never an easy thing and if you don’t grieve, you’ll never be able to accept that it happened and learn to live your life again. So that means,” Rindo clapped a hand on Jin’s shoulder, turning the young teenager around so he was no longer facing Fujin. “Losing sleep over thinking of what you could have done differently isn’t helping. We can’t change the past. All we can do is fight for a better future. That’s what Mogami-san would want for you. He wants you to keep that smile on your face and look towards your future.”   

It had been painful, probably one of the hardest things he’s ever done, but Jin managed to find his footing after Mogami’s death. While the grief never truly left him, he managed to do what Mogami always wanted for him and that was the strength to overcome any obstacle and never let his convictions waver.   

Jin was looking towards the future, and sadly, no matter how much he wished it to be, Kuga Yugo and Mogami Soichi were not part of that future. Their futures couldn’t be read and he would not let himself be fooled.   

The past could not be changed.   

The future could.   

Reaching across Yuma, without taking his eyes off the two Mimics in front of him, Jin took Fujin from Yuma’s limp hand. The moment the blade was back in his hand, it sprung back to life. Without wasting a moment, Jin activated the wind blades, gaining eleven new slashes.   

Jin shifted his foot back a step, grabbing Yuma’s arm with his free hand to drag him back a step with him. Yuma glanced at him out of the corner of his eye in confusion. His movement brought Yuma to Mogami’s attention.   

“And who is this?” Mogami asked, eyeing the child, taking in the cracks spreading up his neck. Moving pass the cracks, his eyes moved up to Yuma’s face, stopping on the red eyes that were staring at him. Familiar red eyes that caused a smile to twitch onto Mogami’s face. Despite it being a long time since he saw those eyes, he could still recognize them anywhere.  

Jin’s hand tightened on Yuma’s arm. He couldn’t ask Yuma to use his Black Trigger since he had no idea of what that would do to him with the way his body was already breaking. It meant he was the only fighter here, and if his battle with Yugo was any indication, he would not be able to hold off Yugo and Mogami at the same time.   

“Your son, Yugo?” Mogami asked, finally turning to acknowledge his old friend, eyes lit up with happiness at seeing Yugo for the first time in decades.   

“His name is Yuma.” Yugo replied.   

On the other hand, Jin couldn’t just let Mogami and Yugo roam free because he wasn’t sure he could beat both of them here. Yugo proved today why that would be a bad idea.   

When Mogami and Yugo shared a look, Jin realized it didn’t matter how he analyzed the situation, the choice of how to proceed wasn’t his to make.   

To both Yuma’s and Jin’s surprise, when Yugo and Mogami, moving in sync, jumped away from them, Mogami drew his sword and from that sword, fifteen slashes sprung from it, just like with the Fujin blade. Neither agent was given the chance to ponder the how as Mogami was swinging his sword and sending the wind blades through the ground.  

When wind blades traveled through surfaces, they were invisible until they struck.   

A fast reaction time like Yugo possessed was needed to survive the wind blades.   

Or...  

Jin’s side effect.   

Jin could not see the futures of the Mimics, but he could see the future of where those slashes would hit him. To prevent those injuries, Jin swung Fujin, sending his own wind blades to strike Mogami’s. The slashes slamming into each other blinded Jin and Yuma.   

And to neither’s surprise, Yugo and Mogami were gone when the light died down.   

“Things could not be worse.” Jin muttered, deactivating Fujin and storing it back in his pouch as he looked around the roof full of dead Mimics. “A cleanup crew will deal with this. We need to get out of here before more Mimics can come.”  

Yuma glanced at Jin before looking across the rooftops, seeing nothing. It was a horrible idea to leave transformed Mimics to their own devices, but they had both vanished very fast in those few seconds that Jin and Yuma were blinded. There was no point to chasing after someone they couldn’t find, especially when Yuma wouldn’t be much help currently in battle.  

*Mimics*  

Konami soared across the rooftops of the Restricted Zone, worry pulling at her gut.  Yuma had gone with his father so if Jin found him, he also found Kuga Yugo. The agents had followed Jin’s order to get out of the city, but it felt like the wrong move to Konami. She should have gone to Yuma and Jin.   

Even as she twisted in the air and cut through another Mimic, she didn’t feel like she was doing enough. It didn’t matter how many Mimics she killed and kept from escaping the Restricted Zone, the worry never eased.   

Normally, there would be no cause for concern.   

It was Jin and Yuma.   

Those two could truly handle anything.   

“My dad. It was my fault he died.” Yuma admitted. “I blatantly disobeyed an order he gave me and got hurt because it. My father died to save my life. If I hadn’t done that, he would still be here with me.”  

Except, after talking with Yuma, Konami realized the hesitancy that lived in Yuma in regards to his father. If it came to a battle, Konami couldn’t see Yuma being able to fight seriously against his father. Jin would be alone against Yugo, and after seeing the strength radiating from him, Konami didn’t think Jin alone would be enough.   

“Yuri-san, how are Jin and Yuma?” Konami asked.   

“Jin-kun is making his way back to the Restricted Zone. I presume Yuma-kun is with him. Yuma-kun's Trigger isn’t active so I can’t know for sure.” Yuri replied.   

Yuma’s Black Trigger wasn’t registered with Border’s systems so even if he activated it, Yuri wouldn’t have been able to tell. Though, Konami had the feeling he wasn’t using it, not if it was Yugo he was against. Konami wasn’t going to blame Yuma for that though. It wouldn’t be easy to fight someone that was a loved one.   

“Are they okay though?” Karasuma asked.   

“Jin-kun took some damage, but it was nothing major.” Yuri replied, surprising Tamakoma-1.   

“Jin took damage?!” Konami repeated.   

“Yes, but I don’t know who he was fighting. They didn’t show up on radar.”   

“Kuga Yugo, most likely. He has a bagworm.” Konami said.   

“Should we head towards him to assist him?” Karasuma asked, glancing towards their captain as he left Arashiyama to unleash his meteor on the Mimics, blowing them all to pieces.   

Reiji shook his head, disregarding the explosion currently taking place. “They’re moving back to the Restricted Zone. Our job is to keep the Mimics from escaping into the city.”   

“Got it.”   

*Mimics*  

Yuma eyed his surroundings warily as he and Jin neared the Restricted Zone. He did not understand the goal of his father. He just kept leaving battles and popping back up later for another fight. What was he trying to accomplish? He had been so close to finally getting some answers out of his father when Jin had to interrupt. As annoying as it was to be interrupted by Miwa Squad and then Jin while trying to talk to his father, which was fair seeing as Yugo was an enemy to Border, Yuma couldn’t bring himself to be mad about it. Jin was only there out of concern for Yuma.   

Speaking of Jin, Yuma glanced over towards his friend. His face was pinched into a tight expression.  

Jin had been hoping for an easy day. So, truly, it came as no surprise that everything about today had completely gone off the rails. Gates opening in the city, Yuma running off with his dad for whatever reason, Yuma’s body was breaking, and now his own mentor had made his appearance.   

Things could only get worse from here on out. Kuga Yugo was a tough enough enemy on his own, but now it looked like Mogami and Yugo were going to be working together. It was one thing if they had two transformed Mimics running around, doing their own thing and getting in Border’s way, but it was another thing entirely if they were working together. A united front would be much stronger and harder for Border to fight against.   

It wasn’t that surprising since he knew Yugo and Mogami were friends when both were alive. They would want to work together now that they were by each other’s side again. Though, whatever their goal was, it had to be a Mimic thing since Mogami would have had no idea of what Yugo was attempting since he only just appeared here. If it wasn’t a Mimic thing that was programmed into them, then it was simply loyalty to an old friend that he hadn’t had contact with in years.   

The moment Yuma’s feet hit the first rooftop in the Restricted Zone, he was stopping and turning to Jin, who stopped a few steps later since he wasn’t expecting Yuma to halt their run.   

“Jin-san, I'm sorry.”   

“For?”  

A simple question, but one that had so many answers which had Yuma pausing. Sorry for snapping constantly and getting mad. Sorry for hiding that his body was breaking. Sorry for being reckless. Sorry for not being able to fight and forcing Jin to defend him from the Mimics which resulted in Mogami appearing.   

“For everything.” Yuma said softly. “I know I've been difficult the past few days and not thinking clearly. It wasn’t about you.” Keeping his attention on Jin, Yuma locked eyes with the older agent. “My father gave his life to protect mine when I was dying. And now that I'm being told I'm going to die again, I just didn’t want to see anyone else die to protect me, but I also knew I couldn’t stop you from trying to find a way out for me. I thought...” He raised his hand as he looked down at it, tracing the cracks with his eyes. “I thought if I could avoid letting you know that things were getting bad, there would be less risk of you do anything reckless and getting hurt. My situation isn’t on you to fix.”   

“So, instead you decided to be the reckless one?” Jin asked, forcing his eyes to Yuma’s face and not the cracks on his hand or neck. “Kuga-san could have hurt you.”   

“I may not be able to fight him, but I'm not about to let him kill me either. It's not like my guard was dropped so if I saw any hostility, I would have defended myself.” Yuma replied.   

Jin’s brows rose in surprise. Something had changed in Yuma from last night to this point in time if he was freely admitting that he could not fight Yugo. It looked like the day with Shun in the city did do some good for Yuma. Well, it was Shun’s influence or it was because of his meeting with his father but it seemed Yuma was ready to talk to him.   

“And abandoning Kageura and Shun to fight the Rabits alone?”  

That got a wince out of Yuma, who looked away by turning to look towards the city outside of the Restricted Zone. “Not my best move.” He admitted. “When I...The war I fought in Calvaria. After Dad died to save me, perhaps the only people who ever truly cared for my wellbeing were Raymond and his kids. To the upper military echelon, I was nothing more than a tool because of the Black Trigger Dad left for me. I knew they were manipulating me into continuing to fight in the war, even though I had no obligation there. I was only there because Dad wanted to help Raymond out as a favor he owed. So, it's strange to be here and have people generally want to help me because they care about me.”   

“I told you before, Yuma. Border doesn’t abandon their friends. This was never on you alone to fix.”   

Yuma shook his head, pushing down the frustration that was building. He couldn’t expect anyone to understand why he made the choices he did. “I was used as a weapon to fight a war for three years. I knew the military was using me, but I didn’t care because the alternative was dealing with Dad’s death.”   

Fighting a war to cope with Yugo’s death was not a healthy way to work through grief. Though, considering Jin spent his time grieving staying up all night, trying to find the path that could have saved his friends, it’s not like he had the right to judge. The difference was that he had Rindo and what was left of Border to talk to sense into him and they could help each other in their grief. Who was there to help Yuma grieve properly?   

“I don’t expect you to understand. The situation I was in when Dad died is completely different to the situation you were in when Mogami died.”   

“How so?” Jin countered. “They both died fighting in wars in the Neighbor's world.”   

“You didn’t kill him.”   

“I can see the future with my side effect but I used it for myself, for my battles. I didn’t see Mogami-san's death until it was too late because back then, I didn’t think I needed to watch the future of my comrades. I wanted to focus on my battles at the time since it was the first war I had found myself in.”   

Yuma shook his head. “That’s not your fault.”   

“Exactly.” Jin smiled, confusing Yuma. “I’m no more at fault than you are for getting targeted by a Black Trigger assassin and your father making the choice that your life was more important to him than his.”   

“I stepped into the path of that assassin.” Yuma said softly, casting his eyes towards the night sky. If he focused, he could hear the sounds of battle raging in the distance so he assumed there were Mimics around.   

Jin stepped closer to Yuma, touching his sunglasses gently. “And I was scared.” His admittance got Yuma to look at him. “I was scared of going to the Neighbor’s world for the first time because we were going there to fight in a war to help our allies.” Jin ran his thumb over the rim of his sunglasses. “These were a form of comfort Mogami-san gave me before we began fighting.”  

Yuma eyed the sunglasses for a moment. He kind of figured those were Mogami since they looked so much like the pair that the Mimic of Mogami was wearing. Though, Yuma had just assumed Jin picked them up after Mogami’s death or bought a similar pair to Mogami’s as a way to remember him.   

“There was a promise to return them when the war was over, but,” Jin trailed off as there was no reason to say it. He and Yuma both knew what the outcome of that battle was. “I’ve never been able to let go of these sunglasses. A part of me wanted to throw them out because of the reminder they gave me, but at the same time, they are the last thing Mogami-san ever gave me. The reminder is painful, but we shouldn’t just remember the bad moments. The reason the Mimics can transform into them is because of the love we shared with them. Mogami-san and Kuga-san aren’t just their deaths. They are so much more than that.”   

“It hurts.” Yuma admitted, shifting his eyes back to the stars. How many times did he and his father just sit under the stars and watch them? “It hurts knowing you’re here and they’re not. After Dad died, it felt like a betrayal to smile and to genuinely be happy because he couldn’t do that anymore.”   

“What right did I have to move on from his death and live my life?” Jin asked, dropping a hand to Yuma’s shoulder and squeezing it tightly. “I spent months trying to figure out what I could have done differently to save my friends, but it’s not healthy to stay trapped in that grief forever. At the same time, it hurt so much to smile because when I did, I would turn to share the moment with Mogami-san, but he wouldn’t be there.”   

“How did you get through it?”  

“Time. Time helps, but there were also my friends in Border. We helped each other through that difficult period, and then the first large scale invasion happened. Border went public then and so many new allies flocked to us.” Jin explained. “And one of those people was Tachikawa-san. He challenged me in a way I never expected. With each day we fought and tried to one up each other, it became easier to look towards the future and not cling to the past. I finally understood what Mogami-san said about having a rival that can push you like that. I think that is what I needed more than anything. The path to the future had been unlocked and since then, I found the ability to smile again becoming easier with each passing day. That doesn’t mean I've let go of what happened, but I don’t let it prevent me from living. There will be days where it will be difficult, but having friends by your side can give you the strength to face it.”   

A light smile danced across Jin’s face. After that disastrous mission to the Neighbor’s world five years ago, life in Border was hard. Everyone was grieving and it was so silent in a base that used to be full of life and noise. It would have been easier to simply leave Border and leave that world behind him forever.   

Except, with his side effect, running wouldn’t have been easier. The future would still haunt him.   

And it was a good thing he stayed. After the first large scale invasion, Border blew up into a much bigger and stronger organization. With that happening, all the new agents coming into Border filled the painful silence that had fallen over the Border agents. Among those agents came Tachikawa Kei who didn’t take long to get used to using a sword and challenged Jin in a way that Mogami or anyone ever could. Mogami, Shinoda, and Rindo had always been strong and taught Jin a lot, but since they were always so strong, Jin never saw a chance to truly surpass them.   

Then, Tachikawa came along and stood in Jin’s path. Tachikawa didn’t allow Jin to just sit around and continue to grieve. He brought a new liveliness to training which made Jin want to stand back up and beat Tachikawa. His cockiness and skill gave Jin a thrill as he finally found someone who he could beat, but also be beaten by. A rival that he could go and back forth on with one upping. It was what Mogami told him to look for. Seeing the skill that Tachikawa had, Jin latched onto it and he knew Tachikawa found joy in having a rival in him.   

It was something Jin would never tell Tachikawa, but the agent helped Jin pull himself out of his grief by giving him that excitement for fighting he thought he had lost after Mogami’s death.   

“Did you have anyone like that for you?” Jin asked.   

Silence came from Yuma for a moment before he was shrugging lightly. “Dad’s friend tried his best to help me, but I wasn’t after help in grieving Dad’s death. I just wanted to fight.”   

Jin’s eye slid shut as he turned his face to the sky, feeling the light breeze brush pass his skin as he smiled sadly. “Far be it for me to tell you how to find the ability to continue to live after going through what you went through. It’s not easy to find the strength to stand up after losing someone you love. It's good to be able to stand back up, but that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t take time to grieve. Grieving helps with recovering from the deaths.”   

“Just because I didn’t spend months crying didn’t mean I didn’t grieve.” Yuma replied.   

“Grief isn’t a process that you can just move on from after a week. Some people can move through the grieving process quickly while others take years to accept the death of a loved one.” Jin said softly. “It took me months to accept what happened. Things started to get better after Border starting to grow, but even before that first large-scale invasion...”  

Yuma glanced over towards Jin when he trailed off.   

Jin nudged the door open to the roof, standing there briefly to take in his friends scattered over the roof, nursing their drinks in the cool night air. When he came up here, he was expecting a solemn atmosphere, but was surprised at seeing the big grin gracing Konami’s face.   

“Jin!” Konami waved at the older boy, motioning for him to come join her and Rindo at the ledge. “Rindo-san was just telling me this amazing story.”   

The energy she was projecting seemed to be contagious as Jin felt himself giving a small smile back. “Oh, yeah?”  

Rindo grinned, rolling his cigarette between his fingers. “Have I ever told you about that time that Shinoda cut Kido-san's car in half?”  

Jin blinked in surprise before his smile turned into a grin that was stretching across his face. “I need to know more. Why would he do that?”  

Rindo leaned in, sharing a conspirator’s smirk with Jin and Konami. “Don’t tell Kido-san, but Mogami-san was egging him on while they were training one day.”  

“What?” Jin asked, wide eyed in surprise as it didn’t sound like his mentor to engage in such mischievous acts. His eyes slid to the side to look at Shinoda across the roof who was engaging with Kiriyama in conversation. The way he held himself with that air of maturity made it hard for him to see Shinoda as the type who would have cut Kido’s car in half.   

A light laugh came from Rindo as he followed Jin’s eyes. “It was a long time ago, before Konami had even joined us. They were sparring and Shinoda was frustrated at the fact that he couldn’t manage to get a hit on him. The car unfortunately got in the way of one of his very enthusiastic swings.”   

“Mogami-san ducked out and left Shinoda to deal with Kido-san.” Kiriyama leaned over, smirking while Shinoda groaned behind him.   

“I remember, Mogami-san ran into the commander’s office to hide and have a laugh with him while Kido-san laid into me.” Shinoda mumbled.   

Despite his grumbling, a smile spread across Shinoda’s face as he recalled the memory. Seeing that smile made Jin come to the realization of the smile pulling at his lips. They had all gathered on the roof just like months ago and were talking and smiling so easily. For the first time in months, it didn’t hurt to hear Mogami’s name. The smile he gave didn’t feel forced.   

It was possible to heal.   

“Remember the person you lost. The good and the bad. Those memories can help bring your smile back. Don’t let their death be the only thing you remember from them. They are so much more than that.”   

Yuma smiled softly. “True.”   

Those moments were hard to remember at first after Yugo died, but over time it did become easier to talk about his dad and smile. If it didn’t, he wouldn’t have been able to tell Chika about his dad or even open up to Jin about how his dad died. It still hurt to think of his death and the smiles were more sad than happy when he spoke of his father, but at least his voice was stable when he had to speak about him.   

*Mimics*  

Rindo took a long drag from his cigarette, staring off into the distance towards the flashing lights of explosions from the agents’ battle with the Mimics. Perhaps it wasn’t the smartest move to be on the roof when there was a battle happening in the Restricted Zone, but considering it was his agents out there, he knew they would keep the battle from reaching HQ so there was no need for concern.   

“I know you want to protect Yuma-kun, as a way to repay Yugo-san for everything he’s done for you, but keeping his impending death a secret isn’t going to help him. We're stronger when we’re working together.”   

“There would be no significant change had we informed you sooner. That is what Jin determined so we decided to honor Yuma’s request for silence.” Rindo told Shinoda, who just sighed and rested his arms on the ledge as he overlooked the city with Rindo. “But it seems Kuga-san has no issue revealing the fact. Though, how he knows what Jin predicted is a mystery.”   

“Not really, if he is the one who plans to kill his son.” Shinoda replied.   

A frown twitched at Rindo’s lips. “Which reveals just how much of a fake he is.” His eyes shifted over towards Shinoda. “Yuma can’t fight him.”   

“I’m realizing. The use of his Black Trigger would have been extremely helpful in the battle but if he can’t bring himself to strike Yugo-san, he would just be in the way.” Another sigh escaped Shinoda. It's not like Shinoda could blame Yuma for his hesitance. Anyone would find it difficult to fight a loved one they already lost once. The pain of losing them the first time would be awoken when seeing them standing there and knowing that that person needed struck down a second time, but this time by the very people that loved them.   

It was a very cruel joke.   

“If it was just Yugo-san, we could probably handle it, but with him having access to a Black Trigger and being fairly proficient at it, we have quite the challenge on our hands.” Shinoda added. He glanced over at his friend. They could possibly handle Yugo if they fought him together, but neither of them were field agents anymore. It was only when the situation was so drastic that there was no other option then for them to enter the field to assist the agents that they would take over the fight.   

“You were able to defeat Enedra’s Black Trigger so I'm sure we can find a way to outmatch Yuma’s Black Trigger.” Rinoda said. “Nothing is unbeatable.”   

Shinoda’s hand curled into a light fist on the ledge. “Enedra was something different. He was an enemy who was killing our personal inside the base. Yugo-san...”  

“Is an old friend.” Rindo rolled his eyes towards the stars shining down on them. An old friend who used to be standing right alongside them on the roof on nights like this. Even if he and Shinoda did enter the fight, it wouldn’t be easy for them to want to strike down Yugo either.  

“It’s been close to two decades since we last saw him. When Yuma-kun arrived with the news of his death, we were forced to accept it. The day we said goodbye to him is now the last memory we will ever have of him.”   

Rindo hummed to himself. “Except, we now have a version of our old friend running around, attacking an organization that he helped create which forces us to instead fight against him. You don’t think it will be easy to fight against him either.”   

“Would you?” Shinoda asked. “He was a great mentor, always so kind, but also very tough on us. We wouldn’t be standing here right now if it wasn’t for him. To have him as an enemy now, it soils his memory. I haven’t seen a transformed Mimic yet, but if it’s causing Yuma-kun this much hesitation, he must really feel like the real thing to him.”   

“Despite his murderous intentions.” Rindo pointed out.   

“Having Yugo-san come to Border will only hurt his reputation so I want to end this quickly, but it will be hard to fight an old friend. With that said, we can’t afford to be the ones hesitating. We need to be able to lead our agents without showing an ounce of doubt.”   

“The challenge of those at the top.” Rindo took another drag from his cigarette. “Did I ever tell you that Yuma had to watch his father die?”  

Shinoda raised a brow, looking over at Rindo in surprise. It wasn’t too surprising that Rindo knew more about Yugo’s death than he did. He was sure he and Jin took the initiative to look into it when they took in Yuma. The surprise came from Rindo breaching the subject with him. While he did wonder how someone like Yugo managed to die, he never sought Yuma out to discuss it. Kuga Yugo was a dear friend and mentor to him, but he was a father to Yuma, who was so young, so he never wanted to push Yuma for information. He made the decision that he would leave Yuma in the care of Rindo and if anything vital came up from Yuma’s past, Rindo would come to him as needed. “You mentioned something about it before.”   

Yugo created a Black Trigger when he died. If it was anything like what Jin went through when Mogami did the same thing, he imagined that it would have wrecked Yuma. It wasn’t an easy thing for a child to have to bear witness to.   

“I think seeing his father die the way he did plays a factor into why he can’t bring himself to fight Kuga-san.” Rindo explained. “He can’t admit it to himself though. For Yuma, there’s never been something that would prevent him from fighting so he keeps trying to go after Kuga-san because he can’t believe there is a reason for him to hesitate.”  

“I said before that we couldn’t afford to bench him, but if he can’t fight against Yugo-san, do you think I should bench him?” Shinoda asked.   

“Not that I think it’s a bad idea to let him take a break, but Yuma would never accept it.” Rindo replied. “When he wants to be, he can be very stubborn.”   

“He doesn’t have to like it, but if you or I gave the order, he would have to accept it.” Shinoda replied. It was like having Yugo here with them all over again. Yugo was never one to step down from a fight either. He was steadfast in always standing up for what he believed in. Considering the fact that back in those days that Yugo was their Commander-in-Chief, it’s not like any of them had the power to order Yugo to stop and let them handle a problem, but Yuma wasn’t Yugo. He was another agent under their command so they could make him step back.  

And if Yugo’s goal was to kill his son, who didn’t want to kill his Mimic father, then perhaps the best course of action was giving the order to Yuma.   

*Mimics*  

Osamu rested his hand on the desk as he looked over Yuri to see the monitors in front of her. He could see Jin moving rapidly towards HQ and could only assume that Yuma was with him. There was no way Jin would be coming back to HQ if Yuma wasn’t safely with him. After this type of attack in the city, Jin wouldn’t be letting any of his friends run off alone. They all needed to regroup and think this through.   

Though, honestly, it would be simpler if they could just get Kuga Yugo defeated.   

“Why didn’t Jin-san contact us when this started?” Osamu asked.   

“They were jumping into action pretty fast. Arashiyama-kun only managed to grab Kitora-kun before they were running out of here.” Yuri replied.   

Hyuse lunged back on the couch he had taken to sitting on when Osamu dragged him and Chika into the operations room Tamakoma had taken possession of when they got relocated to Border HQ. He didn’t know what he expected from Yuma when he told him he had a day to get his problems into order, but it was not this type of recklessness. The one person he thought was the most sensible on his team seemed to be one of the stupidest. All that teamwork Tamakoma-2 prided themselves on just seemed to fly out the window.   

“Midorikawa-kun and Kageura-san are out there as well.” Chika said as she stood behind Yuri’s chair, gripping the back of it in a tight grip.   

“Makes sense. Jin-san said Midorikawa was with Kuga today.” Osamu replied.   

That got a small smile out of Chika. If those two were together today, hopefully that meant Shun got to talk to Yuma like he wanted to yesterday. Though, it did suck that it seemed their day was interrupted by yet another attack. That thought caused Chika’s smile to melt away. It was frustrating to be stuck in HQ while her friend and teammate was out fighting without them.   

It seemed to be coming a very common theme lately. How many times was Yuma going to run off on his own? Tamakoma only got the chance to help him once because their base had been attacked by Yugo. She wished that she could give Yuma a more helping hand.   

Osamu’s fingers curled on the desk, eyes locked on the monitor as he watched Tamakoma-1, Arashiyama squad, and Kage and Shun making their way towards HQ. This had to end, and he wasn’t talking about the Mimics or Kuga Yugo. Leaving Yuma alone for days to deal with his feelings on his own seemed to be a mistake. To be fair though, with everything Osamu knew of Yuma, he wasn’t expecting him to constantly run off on his own and try to solve the problem alone.   

That normally wouldn’t be something that would worry Osamu so much. He had seen Yuma fight plenty of times and knew enough about his strength to understand that Yuma could handle himself alone.   

But that was the thing.   

Normally.   

This wasn’t a normal situation.   

Knowing about Yuma’s past with his father, Osamu understood he was going through difficulties involving his father’s return. Osamu stepped back to give him the space he needed to think, but he did not like that Yuma was running off on his own and getting into it with Yugo constantly. He didn’t want to get into Yuma’s face about it, but Osamu didn’t think it was healthy for Yuma to go after his father this way after what happened with Yugo when he was eleven.   

Perhaps it was time for Osamu to step up as Captain of his squad and get answers from Yuma about what was going on with him.   

*Mimics*  

As they neared HQ, Yuma brushed his hand over the cracks on his left hand. His gloves had gotten abandoned in the city so he was going to have to swipe another pair. Not that it mattered too much right now. He was going to go hide in the barracks the moment he got back. He just had to get through HQ without running into anyone.   

“Yuma,” Jin called over his shoulder, staring at the looming building of HQ.   

“What?”   

“I don’t want to ambush you and cause you to run off from being cornered, so I'm telling you now. Tamakoma is having a meeting tonight.” Jin dropped down from the roofs to land in front of the main entrance to Border with Yuma dropping down next to him. He looked over at Yuma, but his eyes were focused on the cracks on Yuma’s neck, instead of his face. “I know you like your privacy, but that is no longer an option.”   

Following those eyes, Yuma put a hand over the cracks on the left side of his neck, brushing his fingers gingerly over those cracks. With the lack of durability on this Trion body, this wasn’t the first time it’s been damaged like this, but it was the first time that it got progressively worse, instead of healing. So, Jin wasn’t wrong in stating that he could no longer hold onto his privacy.   

Besides, Shun was also right. His friends here wanted to help him. Not once did anyone in Border try to take advantage of his Black Trigger, but seeing the Mimics and having Kuga Yugo return to him, brought the memories of the military higher ups of Calvaria to the forefront of his mind. Not just them, but everything about his time in Calvaria and that war.   

He was relied on for his Black Trigger, so he was always expected to be able to handle himself alone. So, when he made the error in judgement that led to Yugo appearing, it just felt like the right thing that he had to be the one to take care of the problem.   

*Mimics*  

Silence reigned over Jin and Yuma as Yuma took a seat on his bed in the barracks while Jin stayed standing, though he did take the moment to deactivate his Trigger. It didn’t even take a full minute of them being back before the door to the barracks was slamming open had the two agents looking up.   

“Yuma-kun,” Chika breathed out in relief as she tore into the room with Osamu and Hyuse following her. That relief melted away into confusion after a few steps into the room when her eyes caught sight of Yuma’s neck.   

Osamu eyed the cracks on Yuma’s neck, the pit of concern of his stomach growing. He only saw Yuma’s body getting damaged once, but that damage healed almost instantly. The fact that he came back from the city with damage that wasn’t healing was causing concern and frustration to take over Osamu. Something was wrong with Yuma and maybe if he didn’t step back to give Yuma space, he could have been helping Yuma. No matter how strong his friend was, Osamu should have known better than to think that Yuma could handle himself alone all the time.   

Hyuse, on the other hand, was glaring at Yuma. He gave his partner a day to sort his stuff out and instead he came back from a battle in the city with his cracks on him. How did he even get his body broken like that? “What did you do?”   

When Yuma brought up his hand to self-consciously cover the cracks that caught everyone’s attention, Hyuse’s eyes got drawn to the cracks on his hand, which got him scowling in frustration.   

“There might be a problem.” Yuma said.   

Might be? That was it. Hyuse was absolutely done with this game. A few more hours being left in the day truly meant nothing at this point as he snapped his head towards Osamu. “Jin predicted Yuma’s death this week.”   

“What?” Yuma snapped, flinging his attention towards Hyuse. “You said you would give me until tomorrow.”   

“And then you came back today looking like this!” Hyuse retorted. Not to mention that blasé attitude he was portraying. His impending death should be a lot more important to him.   

Osamu looked from Hyuse to Yuma, brows pulling down with a frown forming as he settled all his attention onto Yuma. He could see Chika collapsing onto one of the beds at Hyuse’s declaration, but paid it no thought currently. Instead, he looked at the cracks over Yuma’s hand and neck, but who knew what else was hiding under his clothes. While it was important to know how far those cracks had spread, that wasn’t what Osamu needed to focus on now. “Is it because of your body or because of the attack from the Mimics?”  

If it was the former, then Osamu didn’t see a way out, but if it was the latter, then they could save Yuma’s life. The former meant that not all hope was loss yet. Osamu was not willing to drop the hope they could save Yuma yet.  

Jin crossed his arms, sighing. “I assumed it’s because of the Mimics since I didn’t see his death coming until the attack started, but with the way his body is breaking, I'm not so sure now.”   

Hyuse's shifted his eyes from Jin to Osamu, scowling deeply. It was nice to not see Osamu freaking out about Yuma’s possible death, but by his question alone, it told Hyuse that there was a lot more going on here. Looking over at Chika and seeing that she looked worried, but still confused, it at least told Hyuse he wasn’t the only one out of the loop. “So, are you going to share with Chika and I about what is going on?” Hyuse demanded.   

“Patience.” Jin replied. “I want to fill you guys in, but we need to wait for the others to get here. I only want to go over this once.”   

Osamu raised a brow, surprised at what they were going to talk about. He knew Yuma preferred to keep the state of his life a secret, but it made sense that Jin wanted to talk about it since it looked like Yuma’s time was running out. He truly hoped that this was some strange new attack from the Mimics that they could counter.   

Osamu always knew there would be nothing he could do to prevent Yuma’s death. He always wanted to do everything he could to save and protect people because it was the right thing to do, but he just didn’t have the power or knowledge that could save Yuma. So, instead, he made a silent promise that he would get Yuma on an away mission to Aftokrator as soon as possible so they could save Replica. He wanted to see his friend find his partner before his death, but for that to happen, they needed to survive this week.   

“Are you okay, Kuga?” Osamu asked as he took a seat next to Chika on the bed she was sitting on.   

At his question, Chika’s eyes flickered from the cracks on Yuma’s neck to look at his face instead.  

“Yeah, I don’t really feel pain.” Yuma replied.   

Osamu raised a brow. He knew his friend wasn’t in pain from his body cracking like it was since it was something he witnessed before when he got hit by a car, but like usual, Yuma found a way to avoid talking about how he was actually feeling. That alone told Osamu more than enough.   

“When will the others be here?” Osamu directed his attention to Jin instead.   

“Boss is on his way and Tamakoma-1 will be a few minutes behind him. They took care of the Mimics that appeared so the teams on defense duty tonight will be taking over for them.” Jin replied.   

Chika glanced up at Yuma, catching his eye so he smiled at her which she returned as strongly as she could. The smile wasn’t reaching Yuma’s eyes though so she could tell that he was just trying to reassure her that everything was fine. It wasn’t working though. A hollow pit had already formed in her stomach. First from seeing Yuma’s body the way it was, then at Hyuse’s declaration that Yuma was dying. The fact that Yuma didn’t look surprised or concerned told her that he already knew about this, and that was adding frustration to everything else Chika was feeling. Why did Yuma not tell them anything? They were supposed to be a team, but Yuma had been distancing himself from them so much this week.   

There was a silence that reigned over the group. Silence wasn’t something that usually bothered Chika, but this time, it was stifling and felt like it was going to choke her. Hyuse was glaring at Yuma, so it looked like they had gotten into it. Osamu was quiet, looking thoughtful and from his comments, Chika got the feeling he had somewhat of an idea of what was going on with Yuma so he was going over everything in his head. And Jin was just looking at the door, waiting for the others to arrive, but there seemed to be stress shining in his eyes which was unusual for the power elite.   

“So, Yuma-kun, how was your day with Midorikawa-kun?” Chika asked weakly, just trying to do anything this break the silence that was suffocating them.   

Yuma looked surprised for a moment before shrugging. “It was fine. Eh,” He looked towards the ceiling, a guilty look on his face. “I kind of abandoned him to fight Rabits with Kage-senpai though. I wonder if he’s mad about that.”   

“You didn’t use your Black Trigger?” Osamu asked surprised. He knew that Yuma got the okay from HQ to activate it since they were in an emergency and he doesn’t have his Border Trigger. Though, seeing how Yuma looked now, perhaps it was a good thing he didn’t use it.   

“I had something else to do.” Yuma said, not elaborating. He didn’t need Jin’s side effect to know Osamu would be upset if he found out Yuma went with his dad to talk while having no backup.   

The door creaked open again as Rindo came in with Shinoda, Yuri, and Michael who was assisting Shiori following him.   

“Oh, Director Shinoda!” Jin said, smiling, though it looked very forced. “I didn’t know you were coming as well.”   

Shinoda crossed his arms, looking unimpressed at Jin and Yuma. “It came to my attention that I wasn’t being informed of important information.” He paused and took a closer look at Yuma, frowning intently. “Like, for example, why Yuma-kun's body is full of cracks or how that is even possible.”   

Yuma felt like he should hide the cracks on his body just to get people to stop focusing on them, but at the same time, knew it would be pointless since they all already saw them.   

“We have a lot of new problems.” Jin said, looking from Rindo to Shinoda. Mogami appearing was a host of new problems on top of the other problems. It made things a lot more difficult, in battle and in saving Yuma’s life.   

“Where is my idiot mentee?!”   

Yuma's eyes snapped to the door. Konami’s voice came barreling into the room a few seconds before she even reached the door, Trigger still active as it seemed deactivating it was not as important as getting back to the barracks to yell at Yuma. He had a feeling that there was going to be a lot of yelling, or at least lecturing, tonight.   

Jin stepped into Konami’s path before she could get to Yuma though. “You might want to save your yelling for later. We have a lot to talk about, Konami.”   

Konami glared at Jin. “I believe yelling at Yuma for running off with his father should be addressed. Of all the reckless, stupid things...”   

“I was fine. We were just talking.” Yuma grumbled.   

“Just talking?” Konami leaned pass Jin to focus her glare on Yuma. “He tried to kill you at Tamakoma!”   

Yuma tilted his head in thought. Did he though? He certainly put his sword to Yuma’s throat as a threat, but with the way he was talking today, it sounded like he didn’t plan to directly kill Yuma. He spoke of Yuma’s death, but he also said he wouldn’t be killing him. At least, not directly. He could have been lying, but Yuma had his side effect. Though, it was possible that like Jin’s side effect, Yuma’s didn’t work on Trion Soldiers.   

“Konami-senpai, calm down. This is Yuma we’re talking about. Let’s hear him out first.” Karasuma said calmly. Unlike Konami, he and Reiji had already deactivated their Triggers on the way back to the barracks.   

“Fine,” Konami took a step back and to the side so she could see Yuma pass Jin. “So, what is so important that we need all of us here for?”  

“I’m dying.”   

Chapter Text

Konami considered herself to be a happy, competitive agent. She had been with Border since she was a child and even got to go to the Neighbor’s world a few times. Though, one of those times was to fight in a war, a war where she lost so many of her valued comrades. She had so much training and had been through quite a few battles throughout all her years in Border.  

Despite all of her experiences, she was still a very gullible person. Karasuma loved to tease her for it with all his ridiculous lies and she knew Yuma loved to join in on the fun. If it wasn’t for his side effect to detect lies, she would have long gotten back at him with ridiculous lies of her own since he was still so new to Japan and was still learning new things about their world. It would be easy to trick him about this world if his side effect didn’t tell him she was trying to fool him. 

She would never be able to get back at Yuma for all his teasing, but she would like to think she could get better at figuring out his lies before she fell for them.  

Konami scoffed, crossing her arms. “How gullible do you think I am? I’m not falling for such an obvious lie.” 

A pained look crossed Yuma’s face. “Konami-senpai, we wouldn’t lie about this.” He glanced towards Rindo. “Death isn’t something I joke about.”  

“It’s your choice on what you want to say, Yuma.” Rindo said.  

Yuma moved his eyes around the room taking in all of his comrades from Tamakoma and Shinoda. Everyone at Tamakoma were the people he could trust the most. While he had friends in Border that weren’t part of Tamakoma, the Tamakoma Branch was the one who took him in when he came here and knew the most about him. Nothing about him could make them turn their backs on him. It was the same with Shinoda. He came to Yuma with respect for his father and wanting to pay back what Yugo did for him with protection and understanding to Yuma.  

In return, the moment he started to have a problem, Yuma chose to turn his back on his friends and keep his mouth shut. It was nothing against them. Since he had met them all, they had all been nothing but trustworthy to him. The problem had always been Yuma who was willing to help his friends, but had trouble asking for assistance in return.  

Yuma looked over at his captain, who gave a reassuring smile. It wasn’t an answer to what he thought that Yuma should do, but one that said he would stay by Yuma’s side. Osamu never pried into Yuma’s life, but would be willing to listen when Yuma was ready to open up. Next to him, Chika lifted her eyes to Yuma, worry and curiosity shining in them. Chika always trusted in Yuma to look out for her and showed that trust by opening up to him about why she wasn’t able to shoot before, even though Yuma assured her she didn’t have to tell him personal things if she wasn’t comfortable. The fact that she still wanted to talk to Yuma after he said that showed the trust she had in him.  

Perhaps it was time to reciprocate that trust.  

Sitting back down on his bed, Yuma crossed his legs under him and planted his hands on his ankles. “You guys know I’m a Neighbor, but beyond that, I haven’t told you much about my life in the Neighborhood.”  

Shiori took a seat next to Chika, giving Yuma her full attention. She noticed the cracks on his neck and hand, but kept quiet about it for now. There was a lot she wanted to say to Yuma, who didn’t come to see her once after the attack at Tamakoma Branch, but it seemed there was a lot Yuma felt the need to say as well. For now, she would let him have the chance to speak. The fact that Jin wanted them to have a meeting about Yuma’s past now meant that it was important to what was currently going on.  

“When I was about eleven, Dad and I went to a nation called Calvaria who was being attacked by another nation.”  

“Spinthir.” Hyuse said, surprising Yuma, who looked over at him. “You fought in that war?” 

“You know it?” Osamu asked.  

Hyuse shrugged, crossing his arms. “I heard of it briefly, but there are a lot of wars in the Neighborhood, so I don’t really know much about it. It was just something I heard in passing from Councilor Visa. How do you know it?”  

“I heard this story from Replica before.” Osamu replied.  

Hyuse nodded before turning his attention back to Yuma. “Why were you in that war? I thought you said you were from Tropoi.”  

“A friend of my father’s asked for help and to return a favor, my father agreed to help Calvaria with the war.” Yuma explained. 

“What’s Tropoi?” Karasuma asked.  

“It’s the nation I'm from.”  

“Also the nation where Mimics were originally created.” Jin added.  

Karasuma nodded. That made sense. For Yuma to claim only one nation used Mimics in the past, it was strange he knew so much about them from the start. If they were a part of his childhood, it made more sense why he had all that information.  

“So, you do still have a home.” Konami crossed her arms, staring at Yuma with a raised brow. “Why did you choose to come here, instead of going back home after your father’s death?” 

The look that passed through Yuma’s eyes told Shiori enough. Something had happened in Tropoi, but if Tropoi wasn’t mentioned until now, it was because it was something he didn’t want to revisit. “I’m sure Yuma-kun had his reasons for not going back.”  

“It also doesn’t relate to what we’re talking about.” Reiji added, saving Yuma from Konami’s curiosity. “How does your time in a war pertain to our situation with the Mimics?”  

“While fighting the war, the Spinthir’s hired a Black Trigger assassin. I suppose their goal was to kill strong Trigger users to weaken Calvaria to force them into surrendering.” Yuma explained, looking down with a sad look in his eyes as he stared at his ring and the cracks spidering out from it on his hand. “When the assassin arrived, my farther ordered me to stay out of the battle since the assassin was easily killing strong Trigger users, but I didn’t listen and snuck out into the battle.”  

Hyuse raised a brow. That was a stupid, reckless move. He was thinking the recent recklessness from Yuma this week was a new thing that came from his stress of what was going on, but it seemed that this side always lived in Yuma. He just learned over the years to not follow that reckless streak.  

“I met the assassin and didn’t stand a chance.”  

A Black Trigger assassin against an eleven-year-old Yuma. That outcome was not surprising at all. Konami knew how strong Yuma was, but this was as a fifteen-year-old. An eleven-year-old going to war for the first time would have a lot to learn and wouldn’t have the strength to match an assassin in battle, especially when it was a normal Trigger against a Black Trigger. It wasn’t impossible for normal Triggers to stand a chance against a Black Trigger, but that required skill and experience she doubted an eleven-year-old Yuma had.  

Shinoda felt his heart plummet as he listened to Yuma’s story. If there was one thing he was certain of, it was that when Yuma was in the Neighbor’s world, his Trigger didn’t have a bail out function. Bail out was something Border created and the other nations copied it from there. An eleven-year-old Yuma wouldn’t have had access to something like that. Having fought in wars in that world, Shinoda knew that if a Trion body got destroyed, the Trigger user was left to the mercy of the enemy. He lost so many good friends that way. “Did Yugo-san fight the assassin?”  

Yuma shook his head. “This was the last time I ever saw the assassin. He disappeared after this day, but he left me in a horrible state. To save my life, Dad created a Black Trigger and sealed my dying body inside it.” He lifted up his cracked hand to show off his ring and the current state of his body. “And created this Trion body so my life could be extended.”  

Without realizing it, Chika’s hand latched onto Shiori’s, squeezing it tightly, but kept her eyes locked on the broken hand Yuma was showing off to them. She had understood that Yuma had a Black Trigger from his father, but she always assumed he had simply been killed in battle and left it behind in his passing. The real story reaching her ears was so much worse.  

Chika knew that Yuma understood guilt. He spoke of feeling bad if Osamu lost B-Rank status when it was discovered he was a Neighbor as a way to relate to her own guilt of feeling it was her fault her friend and brother were lost to the Neighbors. Now she was realizing that there was even more guilt that built Yuma into the person he was. She imagined that what he experienced at the hands of the assassin and then immediately losing his father afterwards left him with immense guilt. Just as Chika felt it was her fault her loved ones were gone, Yuma probably blamed himself for his father’s death.  

He truly did understand the best how she felt.  

Konami’s eyes softened, her anger at Yuma from earlier disappearing completely.  

“That last time someone wanted to protect me, they died.”  

“My dad. It was my fault he died.”  

Their conversation on the roof the other day was making a lot more sense now. Anyone would feel immense guilt at that situation, but it was also very likely that Yuma felt guilty for surviving while his father passed away.  

It was a feeling that Konami could relate to. When she came back from Aristera years ago, it was so hard to integrate back into normal life. She had seen so many horrible tragedies occur in Aristera and saw her friends die. It felt wrong to even smile and enjoy anything when her friends weren’t there to share in the moment with her.  

But life didn’t stop because her friends died. It hurt and took months, but she had to learn how to live again. They all had to learn that lesson. They couldn’t stop living in the present because letting go of the past was hard. It was perhaps one of the hardest things she ever had to do.  

The situation that Yuma went through would cause survivor’s guilt in him. It was no wonder he was hesitating so much against his father if this was the way he died.  

“I’m sorry you went through that, Yuma.” Karasuma said, but Yuma just shook his head in reply. His expression softened at Yuma’s response. This wasn’t about getting pity from his friends. That was something that Yuma would never want so Karasuma would do his best to act normal, despite the worry that was beginning to flood through him. “Can you tell us why your body is breaking?” 

“This body has regenerative properties, but its durability is weak. Normally when this body gets broken, it heals immediately, but after our fight against Dad at Tamakoma, my body began breaking that night, and it’s spreading.” Yuma looked down at his hand. “I don’t know why that is. I’ve never had it break for no reason before.” 

Jin glanced at Yuma out of the corner of his eyes, watching as the younger agent focused on his hand, instead of those gathered in the room, who were keeping their eyes locked on Yuma as he revealed everything to them. “When the Mimics started to attack us, I saw Yuma’s death coming this week. Since I didn’t see it before, I thought his death was caused because of the Mimics, but if his Trion body is starting to break, we thought that it’s possible it might be because of his body. His real body.”  

Michael nodded in understanding. “Even if Kuga-san was able to save Yuma’s life in the moment, that doesn’t change the fact that his real body is gravely wounded. Sealing his body away into a Black Trigger would theoretically slow down his body’s time to buy Yuma some time, but he is still dying.”  

“How does it work?” Chika asked breathlessly.  

“When your Trion body takes damage or gets destroyed, you need to give it time for the Trion body to heal before you can fight again so your Trigger needs deactivated. However, a real body sealed inside a Trigger for a long time can’t heal because your body is sealed in the Trigger holder and locked in another dimension type space until you return to it. A Trion body can’t heal in this dimension just as a real body can’t heal locked in the Trigger holder. Time will move slower for the body in that dimension which is buying Yuma time, but eventually that time will run out, no matter how slow it is going.” Michael explained as he glanced over at Yuma.  

“What are you saying?” Konami demanded, shooting a look at Michael before turning back to Yuma, taking in the cracks on his body. “That we’re going to lose Yuma?”  

Shiori looked away from Yuma for the first time in the conversation to look at Jin. “Can’t you find the path to save him?” 

“I’ve been trying to, but it’s been difficult to work around a future when I don’t know for certain what causes Yuma’s death and when I can’t predict anything about the Mimics.” Jin replied, glancing towards Rindo and Shinoda. “And we’ve got another problem.”  

Yuma looked up at that. “Mogami.”  

“What about him?” Rindo asked, dread filling him as he already expected the answer that was going to come from Jin and Yuma.  

“I’m sorry.” Jin said by way of an answer.  

“No, it’s my fault.” Yuma said before Rindo or Shinoda got a chance to say anything to Jin. “Jin-san was trying to keep the Mimics off of me, but got attacked by them instead. I shouldn’t have let myself get so distracted.”  

Jin grimaced, rubbing the back of his head. “No, it’s not, Yuma. I got the okay from HQ to allow you to use your Black Trigger, but with the condition of your Trion body, I was worried about the effect using your Black Trigger would have on you, so I didn’t tell you about it.” 

“Weren’t you guys with Kuga-san?” Reiji asked, frowning at the two. “So, you had him and the Mimics to deal with but you didn’t tell Yuma to use his Trigger?” 

Yuma leveled his stare at Reiji, curling his hands into fists. “I can’t do it.” He said softly, allowing the truth to slip from his lips. The past few days have been full of nothing but frustration and aggravation from Yuma because in his mind he knew the Kuga Yugo that was attacking them was nothing but a fake and he should feel nothing for him.  

Transformed Mimics were not real people. They were excellent at deception and emotional manipulation.  

It was something Yuma understood well and preached to the agents constantly so they would understand because the truth was.... 

Even when he was a child in Tropoi, Yuma always faltered at the sight of transformed Mimics. The Mimics never transformed into anyone for him back then, but he had seen people requesting the chance to have a moment with Mimics. Just seeing them transform and how real they looked and sounded, Yuma knew it was easy to believe that the Mimic was the real deal.  

The difference from when he was a child and now was that the Mimics in the past never attacked anyone. With the weaponized Mimics, they were dangerous, and yet, Yuma still could only see his father. He knew his father had been attacking agents and had attacked his new home at Tamakoma and he needed to be stopped, but at the same time, he just wanted a chance to spend time with his father.  

He was just at war with himself and it was absolutely frustrating because he knew what the right thing to do was, but his heart screamed that his father could be back which is all he ever wanted. For the longest time, before he met Osamu, having his father at his side again was the only thing he wanted out of life. Even if getting his father back would mean his death. He just wanted one moment of time with him. 

Yuri’s expression softened. “There’s nothing wrong with feeling like that, Yuma. Most people would never be able to hurt someone they love.” She cast her eyes towards Jin. “Could you fight Mogami-san?”  

The word ‘yes’ almost spilled from Jin’s lips before he was hesitating and snapping his mouth shut. It was easy to fight against Yugo since Jin never knew the man and he wouldn’t force it onto Yuma. The difficulty of Yuma’s life and how his father died would stall Yuma’s hand, but Jin? Would Jin’s hand stall if he came face to face against Mogami in a fight? He didn’t live with the guilt of Mogami’s death, even though he did have regret for not using his side effect to manipulate the battle field. Despite not having that guilt bearing down on him like Yuma did, Mogami was the person Jin was closest with in Border when he first joined the organization.  

Jin hunted down Mogami when the visions of his future as a fighter wouldn’t leave him alone. He had to know why he kept seeing his future with an organization he didn’t know about, and it was lucky for him, Mogami was such a kind, cheerful person who would entertain a strange child saying weird things.  

Anyone in Border back then could have taken Jin under his wing to train him. There was no need for one of the founding members of Border to mentor Jin. It was Mogami’s choice though to allow Jin into Border and it was his choice to take on the mentor role for Jin. Jin, himself, was happy with the choice that Mogami made. He couldn’t have asked for a better, more caring mentor.  

Which is why it was so painful to find him dying on the ground with Jin not being able to do anything to save him. He was forced to watch the life leave Mogami and Fujin take his place.  

It was one of the hardest things he’s ever had to do, because in the end, he couldn’t do anything. He was simply a spectator in all of it.  

Jin refused to just be a spectator again. He would not let any of his friends die without putting up one hell of a fight. Yuma would not die this week, if there was anything he could do to prevent it, but to prevent it, would he have to fight Mogami?  Fighting Yugo had been easy to do, but would he be able to go against his old mentor and friend to save a new friend?  

Logically, Jin knew Mogami was just a Mimic and he couldn’t be left to wander around. When he saw Mogami standing beside Yugo earlier, his train of thought was that both needed killed, but there was also a sense of relief flooding through him when Yugo and Mogami chose to leave. He could say it was because there wasn’t a chance for him to win when he didn’t want Yuma to use his Trigger, but perhaps there was a part of him that didn’t want to face Mogami in a real battle.  

Whereas Yuma didn’t want to fight his father because he didn’t want him to die, since Jin knew that Yuma did desperately want his father back, Jin couldn’t bear to see his mentor lying on the ground, dying again.  

Konami’s eyes softened as she looked over at Jin. While she was always close to Rindo as a child, Jin had been very close to Mogami. It made sense since they spent so much time together to train. The losses they suffered in Aristera hit them all very hard. They all knew the risks of war, but it didn’t truly hit her just how bad it was until their failure in Aristera.  

“If you knew you couldn’t fight him, why did you go after him?” Karasuma asked Yuma.  

“The lessons.” Yuma admitted, confusing everyone except Chika, Rindo, and Shinoda. He held up a single finger.  “‘Lesson one. Protect yourself by yourself. Parents can’t protect you forever. Work out or think hard and figure out a way to take care of things by yourself. Don't get close to things you can’t take care of. Use your imagination to avoid danger.’ I’ve always worked on being able to handle things on my own. I always believed that I can’t rely on others to help me all the time.”  

“There is nothing wrong with trusting in your own strength and abilities to save you in the field, Yuma-kun.” Shinoda said gently. He had nothing against lesson one. It was a good lesson in saying that they had to improve their own strengths and strategies. It wouldn’t do to get into a tough spot based on his own actions, and then expect someone to always be there to bail him out of trouble. That said, when there were allies by his side, there was a new type of strength and it was one that Shinoda never took for granted. “But focusing on that lesson alone and you’ll forget lesson two. ‘There’s more than one answer. Things can be resolved in many ways. On the contrary, there’s no answer in some cases. Don’t get hung up with one way.’ Dealing with this alone isn’t the only answer you have. The better plan is to work with your allies.” 

Shinoda kept his eyes locked on Yuma’s, trying to get his meaning across. He didn’t want Yuma to think he was alone. As long as he was one of his agents, Shinoda would always have his back. Shinoda didn’t make a habit of abandoning his soldiers in battle. Their safety was one of his top priorities. After what happened in Aristera, Shinoda was determined to not only protect his home, but all of his comrades. The losses they suffered in Aristera were something he never wanted to experience again.  

“What are these lessons you’re talking about?” Reiji asked.  

“Kuga-san had these two rules that he lived by. The purpose of the rules was to help us learn how to not only fight, but also to live our lives. He wanted us to learn to be self-efficient and not get stagnant by trying to solve problems with only one way.” Rindo explained. “Take a look at how Border is currently divided. Kuga-san and Mogami-san created Border with the intention of making friends with Neighbors, but the war in Aristera and then the first large scale invasion caused much hatred and fear against the Neighbors. The Old Border members each had different ideas of how to deal with this as Border went public. Kido-san declared Neighbors our enemies and has helped Border grow into a stronger organization. Shinoda doesn’t hate Neighbors, but wants to focus on defending the city from any more attacks so that has become his priority. And I stayed at the old HQ to continue on with Kuga-san and Mogami-san's life work of making friends with Neighbors. We all chose our own paths, and none of them are wrong. That is what Kuga-san meant with these rules. But it also works in the field as well. You shouldn’t rely on only one plan in battle. If your first plan doesn’t work in defeating the enemy, then look at the battle from a new angle and try something new.”  

“So, basically, Yuma’s plan of going after his father is stupid and we need to look at it from a different angle.” Konami said, looking over at Yuma, eyeing the cracks on his body. “And work on a solution to keep him alive.” She whipped around so fast to glare at Jin that Jin was surprised she didn’t get whiplash, but wisely kept his mouth shut when he saw the fiery glare in her eyes. “Why didn’t you tell us about this problem sooner, Jin?”  

“Yuma asked me not to tell you guys about his predicted death. He thought it would be a distraction.” Jin replied, looking over at Chika and Osamu. While he was sure Yuma didn’t want to cause anyone concern which is why he kept it from everyone, Jin had a feeling Chika and Osamu were his biggest reasons. “He didn’t want us all distracted with worry.”  

A frown pulled at Osamu’s face. “Kuga, I already knew about what happened to you as a child. What’s the difference between knowing that is killing you and what Jin-san has predicted for this week?”  

“The time.” Yuma admitted. “When I got hurt years ago, no one knew how much time Dad had managed to buy me, and I still don’t. But Jin-san predicting my death this week puts an immediate threat on it and I didn’t want to scare you guys.”  

“Lesson three.” Chika said, surprising Rindo and Shinoda since there weren’t three lessons. “Parents aren’t always right.” 

A lesson designed specifically for Yuma, who was a child when Yugo taught him the lessons. That made sense. When Yugo taught Shinoda and Rindo, they were in their late teens/early twenties. They had the critical thinking skills to question things. A child like Yuma would need a lesson where he learned to not take his father’s word as gospel.  

“Lesson one is good advice on how to survive, but you don’t have to rely on just yourself, Yuma-kun. You're not alone.” Chika said softly. “I know we relied heavily on you in the Rank Wars, forcing you carry the burden of scoring the points to rise our team to the top.”  

“It wasn’t a burden. I had a lot of fun and you and Osamu helped more than you realize. I wouldn’t have made it this far without you.” Yuma assured her, but instead of looking reassured, Yuma would say she looked almost smug. Almost, because it was Chika, and to Yuma, she could only really pull off her overly kind nature.  

“Then you’re practically calling yourself an idiot.” Hyuse said, and he could actually properly execute the smug look so Yuma opted to glare at him. His glare did nothing to Hyuse, who just glared right on back. “It’s not like you can disagree. Despite the fact that you have all these allies at your side, you fell into an old habit of trying to do it all on your own. From the sounds of it, that didn’t work out for you as a child so why would you attempt it again?” 

“I believe in cleaning up my own messes.” Yuma snipped back.  

Karasuma sighed. “There’s nothing wrong with wanting to fix a mistake, but it’s also not a show of strength to refuse help when it is readily available to you.”  

Numbers were a powerful asset in battle. Even against a tough opponent, if the opposing force had more numbers, they could hold out, even win against someone like that. Yuma understood how valuable numbers were in battle. It was something he told Osamu when he first came to this world.  

Even when he fought in the war in Calvaria, being used for his Black Trigger so they could win, there were still the other soldiers in that war. Yuma had no particular love for Calvaria’s military upper echelons, but those soldiers and civilians of Calvaria? Yuma may not love Calvaria, but he did hold respect for those soldiers who stood strong and fought for their country. Because those soldiers were the ones that Yuma fought with. He didn’t fight alongside them in fights as he chose to fight his enemies alone, but they were all fighting the war together with a common goal of keeping Calvaria free.  

So, yes, Yuma understood the strength in numbers, but though he preached about it, he didn’t actively start fighting with a team against the same enemies until he joined Border. He briefly fought with Osamu and helped Arashiyama squad before he ran off with Jin to face off against Viza alone.  

This was why Yuma was at fault here. Hyuse wasn’t wrong to say that Yuma had fallen back into old habits. Truly that habit of fighting and relying on his team for support was something he only recently starting doing, so it wasn’t surprising to him that he fell back into his habit of going at it alone.  

“I know I've been saying for the last few days that I would deal with Dad,” Yuma said. “But if we’re being honest, with the Black Trigger on his side and without Replica to assist me, I never truly believed I could win the fight. Knowing I can’t beat Dad didn’t bother me though. What made me mad, that I couldn’t even admit it to myself, was that I desperately want it to be real. I wanted to be able to freely talk to him, for it to be like the old days.”  

“And so, you wanted to go after him alone.” Reiji concluded, crossing his arms over his chest. “Because if we’re not there, we can’t fight him.” 

Yuma looked off to the side, frowning. “I don’t disagree with him needing to be dealt with. He can’t be allowed to continue killing Border agents, but I think I need to distance myself from this. I can’t think straight right now.”  

Shinoda raised a brow, surprised at the option that Yuma was suggesting. It wasn’t an option he was against, as he was just talking about it with Rindo earlier, but he and Rindo both thought that Yuma would be stubbornly against it. They never considered that Yuma would be the one to say it. “Knowing when to back down is also a sign of strength. Anyone can continue a hopeless fight, but those with the experience are the ones who can say when it is time to call it quits, which is not an easy thing for anyone to do. The adrenaline pumping through you when in battle makes it difficult to accept the idea of turning away from the fight.”  

“Besides,” Rindo eyed Yuma’s body, wishing desperately for a cigarette right now to calm his nerves, but that would have to wait until later. Yuma did an excellent jump of making it hard to protect him. Though, he had to admit, Yuma is what he always imagined a younger Yugo would have been liked at this age. He couldn’t say for sure since Yugo was already an adult with his life in order by the time Rindo met him. “With your body like that, Jin is right in that you shouldn’t be using your Trigger until we can figure out what is happening.” 

“What else could it be besides his real body reaching its limit?” Konami asked. Though she sounded calm, Konami felt anything but calm on the inside. Yuma had just admitted that he had been dying for five years and now Jin was seeing his death right in front of them. How could that not freak her out? Yuma had only been with them for a few months. She wasn’t ready to say goodbye to another friend. She was ready to pull Yuma into a giant hug and never let him out of her sight again, but she held herself back. All the cracks on Yuma’s body made him look so fragile and she was scared to touch him. What if she broke his body even more from a single touch?  

“The situation Yuma is in is unprecedented, so I can’t say for sure, but I don’t think his body cracking like this is related to his real body.” Michael said, eyeing the cracks on Yuma that were visible. “Yuma is injured to the point that his father made the decision to seal his body into a Black Trigger because he didn’t see another way for him to survive. The condition of his real body hasn’t affected his Trion body in all these years, so that tells me that until his body dies, his Trion body shouldn’t take any damage in relation to what his flesh body is going through. But like I said, this is an unprecedented situation so there is a chance I might be wrong on that. It’s something that we would need to look into.”  

“If it’s not related to his flesh body, then what could be causing the problems?” Yuri asked. “The only other thing going on that is unusual this week is the Mimics.”  

“Hopefully that is something we can figure out when we do tests.” Michael said.  

Rindo caught the distaste that crossed Yuma’s face and smiled sympathetically at the boy. “I know you didn’t want people to know about your situation, Yuma, but if we’re to figure this out, are you alright with letting us look into it?”  

“Kinuta-san would be a great help to this as well.” Shinoda added. He understood that Kinuta and Yuma got off to a rocky start because of Yuma’s Neighbor status, but seeing as Yuma had been helping Kinuta for the past couple of months, he hoped they had a better relation and Kinuta would be more willing to offer his assistance.  

“What could doing any tests actually accomplish?” Yuma asked warily, not really thrilled at the idea of doing tests. It wasn’t that he didn’t trust the Border agents. It just didn’t sound all that comfortable.  

“It can accomplish a lot more than just letting you sit there as your body breaks.” Michael replied. “When did you say this started?”  

Yuma sighed. It’s not like Michael was wrong. He couldn’t just avoid this because it didn’t sound fun. “Last night after Dad attacked Tamakoma.”  

“Your body has been breaking for close to twenty-four hours and you didn’t think to inform us?” Osamu clarified, a frown twitching at his lips. “What happened to your promise to tell us if something happened from now on?” 

Osamu would have to reassess the trust he put into Yuma’s word, which is something he thought he would never have to do. Ever since Yuma saved him from the Bamster that day they met, he had always been straightforward and honest with him, so when he agreed to come to him the next time something happen, Osamu had no problem stepping back and letting Yuma have the space he needed.  

“To be fair, I was breaking that promise the moment I made it since Jin-san told me beforehand that he saw my death coming.” Yuma replied.  

“How does that make it any better?” Osamu demanded before squeezing his nose as he tried to will his stress away. It was beginning to feel like the day that he met Yuma all over again. Nothing but stress.  

“Sorry.”  

That seemed to be it from Yuma apparently. He seemed to feel no need to offer any explanation to Osamu which just had the Tamakoma-2 Captain sighing. It didn’t come up often, but there was a stubborn streak lying under Yuma’s indifferent expression.  

Shinoda glanced at Rindo, motioning with his head towards the door as they had somewhere else to be.  

“If there is nothing else, Shinoda and I will take our leave. Be sure to rest up.” Rindo informed his agents.  

*Mimics*  

“So?” Rindo prompted as he and Shinoda made their way down the hall.  

Shinoda pinched his nose, breathing out slowly. “I’ll get Sawamura to send out a memo to the agents as soon as possible about now having Mogami-san to contend with.”  

“Jin didn’t allow it to happen on purpose.” Rindo replied, not commenting on the stress that was starting to show on Shinoda’s face. They had been friends long enough that Shinoda felt at ease allowing his calm demeanor to slip in front of him. It wasn’t easy for anyone to hide the stress all the time, but Shinoda did his absolute best to hide what he was feeling in front of his agents. If the agents saw the Commander worried, they would lose confidence themselves.  

“I’m not blaming him or Yuma-kun for this situation.” Shinoda replied. He wasn’t in the business of blaming his agents for the skill of their enemy in succeeding in their plans. If they had easy enemies, Border wouldn’t need to be so big. Unfortunately, the enemies that came here were quite powerful and it took all of Border’s strength to contend with them. “I just wonder if this could have been prevented if we had sent the agents to Jin and Yuma-kun instead of having them head straight to the Restricted Zone after dealing with the Trion Soldiers in the city.”  

“It would have only allowed even more Mimics to escape into the city.” Rindo pointed out.  

That was true, and besides, thinking of what if’s did not help with the matter at all. They couldn’t change anything so what Shinoda needed to do was to think of how to get them all through this situation. “Were you ever going to tell me what Yugo-san did for his son?” 

“No,” Rindo said without an ounce of hesitance. As close as he and Shinoda were, having joined Border and trained alongside each other, they both still chose their own paths to take in the current Border. While Shinoda and Rindo would work together when it mattered, like to stop Kido from stealing Yuma’s Black Trigger, there was still much Rindo kept from Shinoda. What Tamakoma did in the background would only be shared with Shinoda when there wasn’t another option and they needed more backup. “Yuma wanted to keep it quiet, so only Jin, Osamu, and I knew. I wasn’t about to betray that trust, but the fact that Yuma was willing to explain it to everyone while you were in the room shows that he does trust you with the information.”  

“Unfortunately,” Shinoda sighed, rubbing his eyes as he felt a pressure building up behind them. He understood why Rindo kept quiet about Yuma’s situation. It wasn’t something that upset him, but it was hard to hear the truth of Yugo’s death and Yuma’s incoming death. Even if they managed to prevent his death this week, how much time did he have left? Shinoda wasn’t ready to say goodbye to his friend’s son that he was only just starting to get to know. “If his body keeps cracking like that, I don’t see a way for us to keep it hidden unless we lock him in a room and restrict anyone from visiting him.” 

“If we’re going to ask Kinuta-san for help, we won’t be able to keep it quiet from the top brass anyway.” Rindo said. “And Jin said Arashiyama and Kako already figured it out. There's nothing we can do about it. This is something we have to leave up to Yuma. If he wants to tell people, he can. If he wants to hide in a room until we figure this out, he can.”   

*Mimics*  

“There is something about the Mimics that has been bothering me.” Yuma said, tugging at the blanket beneath him.  

“Well, you’re the expert on them. What seems to be the problem?” Shiori asked. Though it was her speaking, Yuma didn’t look at her. He hadn’t looked at her once since she came into the room. First, he’s been avoiding her since his dad attacked their base, and now he just refused to look at her. Just how long did he think he could avoid looking at her?  

“The first time I met Dad at Tamakoma, he had no realization that he is a Mimic. He didn’t seem to think of anyone but me. It wasn’t until Jin-san appeared in front of us, that he mentioned another person from his past. Mogami Soichi.” Yuma explained, glancing over at Jin, taking in his sunglasses around his neck. It was when Jin touched those sunglasses that Yugo made note of another person. “It’s like no one was a thought in his mind when he first arrived.”  

“It took him an almost full day since he transformed to even come to Tamakoma.” Osamu added, looking thoughtful. “If that was his old home when he lived here, why did it take him so long for him to come to Tamakoma if he was looking for Kuga?” 

Michael rubbed his chin, glancing from Yuma to Jin.  

“If Kuga-san didn’t acknowledge the fact that he is a Mimic, then why was he working with the Mimics last night and today?” Jin added. “He also didn’t react to Mogami-san being born from a Mimic. He just accepted that his friend was back.”  

“Mogami also didn’t acknowledge that Dad was there at first. He was much more focused on you.” Yuma told Jin, brows furrowed as he thought about the attack they had endured earlier.  

“Miss Shiori and I have done some research into the Mimics.” Michael said. “I’m sure HQ has done their own research into them, but there is still a lot we don’t know about them. We can learn much about the Mimics before they transform, but we have no idea of how they function once they have transformed. When you first told us of the Mimics, I was under the impression that once they transform, they would have all the memories of the person they transform into, but from the sounds of it, it’s taking time for the memories of everything to form.”  

“Is it though? Sounds like Mogami only took a few minutes to realize Kuga was there.” Hyuse pointed out. “Whereas Kuga took a couple days to think of anyone besides Yuma.” 

“Maybe it’s because Mogami-san was right next to Kuga-san when he transformed. The reminder was there for him, but Kuga-san was the only transformed Mimic in the city for a couple days.” Karasuma suggested.  

“At this point, it will only be speculation. What's important is that they are remembering everything, even if it’s not immediate upon transformation.” Reiji replied. “And they are a threat to Border.”  

“But since they are attacking us, the memories have to be twisting with something involved with their Mimic programming.” Yuri said, glancing at Yuma and Jin. “How did they behave when you were with them?” 

Jin tilted his head in thought. Today was the first time he interacted with transformed Mimics, so he might not be the best judge of how their minds worked, but...“I can’t speak for Kuga-san, but Mogami-san seemed like his normal self from when he was alive, perhaps a bit too willing to attack though.”  

Yuma's head jerked up at the reminder of Mogami attacking them. “Oh, I forgot, but Mogami’s sword was able to use wind blades, just like Fujin.”  

That got everyone’s immediate attention as they all stared in disbelief at Jin and Yuma.  

“That’s kind of important information. Why didn’t you say that sooner?” Konami demanded, glaring at Jin and Yuma. One transformed Mimic with a Black Trigger was bad enough. Having two running around now would just make it harder for Border to bring an end to this conflict.  

“So much happened tonight.” Jin replied. His mind was honestly a whirlwind of information right now and there was so much to discuss with Tamakoma, that Mogami using wind blades slipped his mind. He was sure it would come back to him eventually. “Though I should inform Boss and Shinoda-san of this as soon as possible.”  

As Jin left the room to follow the bosses, Osamu looked down at Yuma’s ring. The two transformed Mimics who died creating Black Triggers were able to use the abilities of the Black Trigger they created. Yuma was convinced that shouldn’t be possible, but with it happening twice, this had to be some sort of new design to the Mimics that didn’t exist when Yuma was a child.  

Was the purpose of this type of function just to make the Mimics stronger? 

Or was there another reason that Border was missing? 

*Mimics*  

“If this goes on for much longer, the public will lose faith in Border. The attack on Tamakoma Branch was bad enough with the public thinking that if we can’t defend our own bases, how will we keep them safe. But now, we’ve had three fights happening around the city today.” Netsuki said, rubbing at his neck nervously. “If this keeps up, we’re going to lose our funding because they don’t believe we are strong enough to protect the city.”  

“This is the fourth major attack Border has had this year. It would have been nice if we could have kept the Mimics a secret from the public.” Karasawa said.  

“Will it be a problem for you?” Shinoda asked.  

Karasawa waved Shinoda’s concerns off. “Keep the agents doing a good job of dealing with the threats and I can spin it to the sponsors how much good Border is doing. If it wasn’t for these agents, the city would be in a horrible state right now.”  

“If it wasn’t for the agents, the Mimics wouldn’t be attacking us right now.” Shinoda replied.  

Karasawa smirked. “The sponsors don’t need to know that. All they need to know is that Border is handling the Trion Soldiers that are attacking. No civilian deaths and minimal damage to the city so far will help a lot in the long run.”  

Kido tapped a finger on the table as he thought things over. “For the time being, we will prohibit the use of Triggers outside the Restricted Zone. We must keep the Mimics from following them into the city.” He decided, looking over at Rindo and Shinoda. “Be sure to let all the branches know. If their agents want to train, they’ll need to come to HQ until we have dealt with this threat.”  

Kinuta scoffed, shooting a glare at Rindo. “The attacks in the city recently haven’t been because of Mimics. It’s because of your agent.”  

“I will admit that Kuga-san has been attacking to drive his son towards him.” Rindo agreed. If Yuma hadn’t been in the city today, Yugo wouldn’t have attacked like he did, most likely, and the active agents wouldn’t have been in the city which drew the Mimics out of the Restricted Zone towards them. “To that end, Yuma has made the decision to withdraw from the frontlines for the time being.”  

Kido eyed Rindo out of the corner of his eye. “A surprising response from a boy who is so much like his father. Kuga would always do everything in his power to help. So, it’s strange, why didn’t Agent Kuga use his Black Trigger to help earlier?”  

Rindo pursed his lips. While Yuma did admit to them that he couldn’t bring himself to attack his father, it wasn’t something he was willing to say out loud to everyone in the room. Yuma’s feelings with his father, Mimics or not, was a personal one. While Yuma agreed to ask Kinuta for help, it didn’t mean they needed to divulge everything about what was going on recently.  

“Yuma-kun didn’t make this decision lightly.” Shinoda said for Rindo. “There’s actually a problem, which is why Yuma-kun made this decision, that we need Kinuta-san's help with.” 

That was an unexpected twist to Kinuta. He already had his men researching into the Mimics and trying to learn as much about them as they could. Any bit of information would be helpful in defending against them. So, what else could Shinoda and Rindo want from him? “And that is?” 

“When Yuma was a child, he was severely injured by a Black Trigger assassin. To save his life, Kuga-san created a Black Trigger and sealed Yuma’s dying body inside of it. In doing so, he created a Trion body for Yuma to live in, but that body is beginning to break.” Rindo explained, trying to be as brief as possible about the situation. He saw the surprise on the faces of everyone in the room, but none of them asked any questions which he was grateful for. He wasn’t willing to answer questions that would tell them everything about Yuma’s problem. For Yuma’s sake, he wanted to respect his privacy as much as he could.  

Kido leaned back in his chair, listening to the conversation, but taking no part in it. Kuga Yugo chose to die so his son could have the chance to continue living. That sounded like the exact thing that man would do. Yugo was never the type to stand by and do nothing when there was something he could do to change the situation. It was actually a death very fitting for the friend he once knew.  

“Did he do something to get hurt?” Kinuta asked.  

“Yuma’s Trion body has regenerative abilities so his body shouldn’t be maintaining any type of damage.” Rindo explained. “Before the Mimics attacked, Jin didn’t see anything like this happening, but soon after the first attack, he began to predict Yuma’s death this week. I fear his body breaking is the beginning of Jin’s prediction so we don’t have much time to figure this out.”  

“Then perhaps you should have asked for help sooner.” Kinuta retorted. “I’ve never heard of a situation like this before. I’m not a miracle worker. Trion bodies aren’t like real bodies. We can’t just wrap the wounds up and hope they’ll heal.”  

“We’re just asking you to work with Cronin to look into it. None of us know how to proceed with this.” Shinoda replied.  

Kinuta scoffed. “Kuga has been pretty helpful with getting us truthful intel from Enedra. It would be a waste to lose his assistance now.”  

Shinoda gave a small smile. Kinuta was very against Neighbors, but Shinoda had a feeling that working closely with Yuma had softened him a bit towards the young agent, not that Kinuta would ever admit it.  

“Does Jin have any idea of what the cause is?” Kinuta asked.  

“He thought the cause would be the Mimics, but now we’re not sure since Yuma’s body is starting to break.” Rindo replied.  

Kinuta nodded. “Is he okay to wait until morning for me to look into it?” 

That was an excellent question. Yuma seemed as lively as he usually did. The only thing that was off about him was the cracks on his body and his sudden decision to step back from an active role in the field.  

Before Rindo could determine an answer, the doors to the conference room slid open to allow Jin entry.  

“Perfect timing, Jin.” Rindo said.  

Jin raised a brow. That wasn’t a greeting he was expecting, but he would roll with it. “Is something wrong?”  

“Kinuta-san wants to know if Yuma-kun will be fine to wait until the morning to get checked over.” Shinoda explained.  

Considering Jin only predicted Yuma’s death coming soon and that he wasn’t able to see that his body was going to crack like it was, that wasn’t an easy question for him to answer. The best way to look at it was to see if he could still see Yuma’s future beyond tonight, and the answer to that question was yes. It couldn’t tell him the condition Yuma would be in, but as long as he was still alive, they still had a fighting chance.  

“Yuma will be fine for a night.” Jin decided, planting a hand on Fujin’s hilt as he still had the Black Trigger on him. They hadn’t been time to return it upon returning to HQ. “Yuma reminded me of another issue that I came to discuss with you.”  

Kido eyed the Black Trigger at Jin’s waist. For someone who gave his Black Trigger up to HQ as part of a deal, Jin seemed to be taking a hold of it quite often. Considering he was using it to protect the city and Border, Kido let it go easily since Jin always made sure to return it. “And that is?” He asked, focusing his attention of Jin’s face.  

“When Mogami-san appeared earlier, he was able to use wind blades on his Kogetsu.” Jin explained.  

There was a slight twitch to Kido’s facial expression. It was hard to see, but Jin still saw it and it told him that Rindo and Shinoda hadn’t managed to mention that Mogami was now in the city. He supposed that wasn’t surprising. He didn’t think they had been in this meeting long enough to bring it up yet.  

“Mogami and Kuga are both here now?” Kido said.  

“And what do you mean he is using wind blades?” Kinuta demanded.  

“Exactly what it means. He has Fujin’s abilities, just as Kuga-san's can use the abilities of the Black Trigger he created.” Jin replied.  

“Yugo-san being able to do it was a mystery, but if both of them are able to use Black Triggers, it has to be a design of the Mimics.” Shinoda said, staring at Fujin at Jin’s waist. In a sense, the design choice made sense since allowing Mimics to use the Black Triggers the people they transformed into created before death would make them stronger. At the same time, though, Shinoda was wondering how it was possible for Trion Soldiers that were fake versions of the people they transformed into were able to do that. The more he learned of these Mimics, the more he was seeing just how complicated their design truly was.  

“And it’s very likely Kuga-san and Mogami-san will be working together.” Jin added.  

“If we can survive an attack from Aftokrator, who came here with four Black Triggers, we can hold out against Mogami-san and Kuga-san.” Rindo said.  

Border had a wide array of powerful agents now. It was a much stronger organization than when Yugo and Mogami were members. Despite the strength of their agents, Kido did not believe any of the agents alone would be enough to defeat Yugo and Mogami. It would take a strong group of agents to be able to handle them, or even Black Triggers. Unfortunately, two of their three Black Triggers were being used by the Mimics. It would make it hard to counter them with the same Black Triggers.  

*Mimics*  

Jin stood in the vault, staring down at Fujin in his hand. He had only taken it from storage because it was an emergency earlier, but the Black Trigger wasn’t allowed to stay in his hands. Coupled with his side effect, Fujin was a powerful Black Trigger. It would be a powerful ally for him to have in this current attack, but the agreement he made with Border to get Yuma safely enlisted said that agents would only use it when there was not another option.  

There were plenty of agents who would find Fujin useful in the next couple of days.  

Setting Fujin down on the pedestal, Jin turned to leave, empty hand clenching into a tight fist at his side. Mogami would never be upset at him for giving up his Black Trigger to bring peace into an organization he loved. It still didn’t make it an easy decision when Jin originally decided to give it up.  

But even without Fujin, Jin would be alright.  

It was silent in the vault as Jin walked to the exit, so any sound splitting through the air was deafening.  

And terrifying.  

The sound of cracking caused Jin’s heart to miss a beat.  

Looking over his shoulder, Jin’s eyes widened in shock at a crack on Fujin’s hilt.  

Chapter Text

“Why do we have to walk everywhere?”   

A smile tugged at Yugo’s lips when he felt the small hands latch onto his leg. “How else would you suggest we get around, Yuma?” He looked down into his young son’s big eyes so full of the wonder of life still. Being only seven years old, Yuma still didn’t know just how cruel and harsh the world could be. It wouldn’t take long for him to learn. The Neighbor’s world was a tough environment to live in, but Yugo would try to get Yuma to stay innocent as long as possible.   

“Hmmm,” Yuma seemed to doing his best to come up with an answer, so Yugo left him to it as he continued to walk while dragging his son, who was still attached to his leg. “We could ride the animals!”  

“And make them do all the work?” Yugo looked down at Yuma, feeling amused as he saw that he was doing all the work for Yuma, who didn’t look too eager to begin walking on his own again.   

“Well, they probably have stronger legs.”  

Yugo snorted. “I always enjoyed taking trains around.”   

Yuma blinked in confusion. “Trains?”   

“Hmm,” Yugo hummed to himself. Vehicles like trains and cars weren’t really a thing in the Neighbor’s world, at least he’s never been to a country that had them. It was a difficult thing to explain to a child who would have no idea what vehicles were. “In Japan, we have these tracks that run all over the country, and on these tracks are the trains which are multiple connected cars that are being pulled by a locomotive car which houses the power of the train.”  

Confusion continued to shine in Yuma’s eyes, which didn’t surprise Yugo at all. Without having ever seen vehicles, there was no easy way to explain it to Yuma.   

“What’s a car?”  

“It’s a vehicle with wheels on it that is powered by an engine that the people in my world use to travel.” Yugo replied, smiling as he leaned down to pluck his son off his leg and pulled him into his arms. “You would love it since you could sit down in it as we traveled.”   

“So, it’s like our ship?” Yuma asked.   

“That’s a good comparison.”   

Yuma wrapped his arms around Yugo’s neck, tilting his head back to look into his father’s face. “Are they fun to ride?”   

Yugo’s eyes sparkled in amusement. “I think they are quite fun. Maybe a bit crowded during certain times of day, but it is certainly a lot faster than walking everywhere.”   

“We should get trains here then.” Yuma said.   

A light laugh escaped Yugo. “It’s not that easy, Yuma.”   

*Mimics*  

“Is there something special about this train station?” Mogami asked, pushing a piece of rubble around with his foot as he stared around the abandoned railway station.  

Yugo brushed his hand over the post as he looked at the rundown station. From his understanding, this station was part of an area of Mikado City that was called the Restricted Zone. It was an area blocked off by Border who tried to contain their fights with the Neighbors in this area to keep the civilians out of harm’s way.  

The moment he had arrived in Mikado City, things have been so strange to him from the Restricted Zone to the giant Border base in the center of the Restricted Zone to the number of agents that were running around. It looked like in the time he was away from Japan, a lot had happened to get Border to grow into such a large and powerful organization.  

It was hard to grasp all these new changes while trying to make sense of the thoughts whirling through his mind that were leaving him with nothing but confusion during his first few days back in Japan.  

“I used to tell Yuma a lot of stories about Japan.” Yugo crouched down and looked over the ledge at the rusted tracks below him. “One of the things that fascinated him the most were the trains. It was one of the things he wanted to see the most if he ever came here.”  

“I’m surprised you even had a son. With your obsession with Border, training, and learning everything about the Neighborhood, I thought a woman would never catch your eye.” Mogami teased.  

Yugo sent a smirk over his shoulder at his friend. “And I see you went and found yourself a pupil.”  

“More like he accosted me in the streets.” Mogami said, though amusement was rolling off of him in waves. “I saw it in his eyes that day that if I just walked away, I would have been stalked and harassed by that boy endlessly.”  

Yugo laughed lightly for a few seconds before the amusement he felt was washed away. It had been so long since he last saw his friend, but it was still distressing to hear from that boy that Mogami had died. Mogami was supposed to protect Yuma for him if he died, but he wasn’t here when Yuma came. At least it seemed like Kido and the others were still around.  

With his old friends here, Yuma would be safe with Border.  

Yuma was alive and safe.  

As his father, that knowledge should thrill Yugo, especially since the last time he saw his son, he was missing limbs and bleeding out so fast from his injuries. There had been no time for Yugo to think. All he saw was his son barely hanging onto life and he had to move quickly to avoid watching his only son die.  

Making the decision to create a Black Trigger to save Yuma was the last thing he remembered doing.  

Well, now it was the last thing he remembered. The day he woke up in Japan, nothing had made any sense to him. He couldn’t remember anything of what happened or where his son had gone. One moment he was in Calvaria, the next in a rundown part of Mikado City. It had been very disorientating to say the least.  

Until the memories of his last moment alive began to return to him.  

From there, the pieces began to form the full picture.  

When he finally found Yuma at the old Border base, there had been such a huge relief coursing through him to see that he was alive and his last-ditch effort had actually succeeded. When he went to save Yuma’s life, there was no guarantee that his plan would work to save him. For all he knew, he would have died right alongside Yuma and he would never know. To Yugo, though, that was a better deal than just standing around doing nothing while the life left his son.  

And yet, despite all the effort he had put into save Yuma back then, when he arrived in Mikado City and saw that Yuma wasn’t with him, it wasn’t a drive to find his son and make sure he was okay that had him moving. Instead, he was driven by the urge to find his son and see him dead. That feeling of seeing that Yuma was killed...it made no sense to Yugo. He knew that he loved his son more than anything else in the world.  

Because it didn’t make sense, the moment the Border agents arrived during his attack on Tamakoma, Yugo stole the chance to run. He had the upper hand, he had Yuma at his mercy, but why? Why was his mind screaming to kill him while his heart was screaming to stall his hand? He said goodbye to his son, even though he didn’t want to.  

He wanted time with his son to try to figure out what was going on.  

Unfortunately, his attack on Yuma’s base drove the agents from it and he was hiding inside of Border’s main HQ. Rather than fight all the agents, Yugo made the decision to fight the agents he found in the city. If he went around killing Yuma’s friends, his son would surely come to him. If his friends were being hurt, Yuma wouldn’t just stand by and do nothing.  

Even as he made the plans to force Yuma to want to find him, Yugo could feel his strength increasing with each battle he fought. He had assumed his increase in strength had come from the sudden ability of being able to use a Black Trigger that he didn’t own. Yugo was no idiot. He knew the Black Trigger abilities he had been utilizing were the ones in the Black Trigger he left behind for his son.  

Yugo could feel it throbbing through his blood when he was near Yuma. The Black Trigger that Yuma carried on his person was resonating with his person. His skin was itching to grab the Black Trigger from Yuma, and it was hard to resist the urge to steal it, but he had to. That Black Trigger was created to keep Yuma alive. Yugo couldn’t just take it from him.  

Nothing about his feelings towards his son were making sense to him.  

At least, they weren’t making sense the first day he was here.  

Then, Yuma started to mention Mimics and the Mimics began to back him up when he fought the Border agents. In his heart, Yugo knew that he was a Mimic. There was nothing else it could be if he remembered he created a Black Trigger for Yuma and now suddenly he was here. The only explanation that Yugo knew of would be a Mimic.  

But it wasn’t the Mimics that Yuma was thinking.  

The Mimics of Tropoi weren’t capable of this.  

The Trion Soldier from Tropoi didn’t know hostility and didn’t survive for more than a few hours. Yugo was here for days and the desire to see his son die was still pulsating through him. Nothing of what he felt matched what Yugo knew about the Trion Soldiers created in Tropoi. When those Trion Soldiers Transformed, they weren’t supposed to have any different feelings from when they were alive. So, why was Yugo feeling like this? He was so sure he loved his son more than anything which is why he gave his life for Yuma to live without a second thought.  

No....why was he even asking? 

It was a long time ago, but Yugo clearly remembered what happened.  

“That boy, the one who is your pupil, do you want to see him dead?” Yugo asked. He was sure he knew of the reason why he was feeling like this, but he needed more confirmation. Mimics were what these Trion Soldiers were called, but they weren’t the proper Trion Soldier that he knew from Tropoi.  

“Jin?” Mogami asked confused. “He is less of a concern to me than the Black Trigger he holds. When we were facing off against him, I could feel it calling to me.” His hand curled open and shut a few times as he imagined holding that Black Trigger he saw in Jin’s hands. 

“The Black Trigger.” Yugo mused.  

“It needs destroyed.” Mogami said, surprising Yugo.  

“Destroying the Black Trigger you created.” Yugo said, not towards Mogami as it was more of a statement to himself.  

Though his statement was met with confusion from Mogami. Seeing that confusion shining in his friend’s eyes had Yugo turning away from his friend and looking down at his hand. When he arrived here, the only thing running through his mind was needing to find Yuma. He couldn’t even remember what had happened or that he had died in the beginning. As the days went by, his mind became clearer and the memories of his last moments with his son returned to him, but the need for Yuma to die never left him.  

The point was that he lived in a haze of hunting Yuma down the first day before everything began to come back to him. If it took him time to begin to remember, surely the same could be said for Mogami. He probably didn’t even remember that he died to create a Black Trigger right now.  

“You think I created the sword?” Mogami asked as he joined his friend in crouching down by the ledge.  

“That’s what that boy said.” Yugo replied.  

Mogami shook his head. “It takes your life to create a Black Trigger. As you can see, I am very much alive.”  

Yugo eyed his friend out of the corner of his eyes. Unlike him, Mogami didn’t know what Mimics were. The Mimics were something Yugo was introduced to after he had left Border so Mogami would have never heard of them so he wouldn’t be able to connect the dots like Yugo did. If things went the same for Mogami as it did Yugo, he would eventually remember his death, but wouldn’t be able to realize what it meant.  

“Aren’t you questioning why you have an urge to see the destruction of a Black Trigger? Or why you wanted to get away from your pupil?” Yugo asked.  

“I hope you’re not taking me for an idiot.” Mogami replied, dropping down from the crouch to sit, swinging his legs over the ledge of the station’s platform. “The last time I saw Jin, he was fourteen. He looks nowhere near as young as he did back then. Some time has clearly passed from the last thing I remembered, something that made Jin want to look at me like he did.” He dropped a hand down to the hilt of his sword, gripping it tightly. “And now my blood is throbbing and screaming at me to see the destruction of his blade. Nothing is making sense to me which is why I needed to run. I need to think.”  

Yugo stood up and walked away from Mogami, stuffing his hand into his pocket to find the Trigger inside it, wrapping his hand around it tightly. “I can answer some of your questions,” He pulled out the sleek green Trigger he picked up the other day and stared down at it. “But knowing the answers may not make it any easier for you.”  

“They do say ignorance is bliss.” Mogami replied, leaning back on his hands to look up at the clouds drifting by in the sky. “But refusing to learn the truth is dangerous. Knowledge is one of the most powerful tools to have since you can’t make any decisions about what to do when you don’t know what is going on.”  

“True, but free choice isn’t an option for us.” Yugo said, turning his eyes towards the sky, taking in the stars flickering in the sky as the clouds moved by. “Not anymore at least.”  

Mogami glanced at Yugo, but couldn’t tell what was going on with him as his back was still turned away from him. Since they had met up, something had clearly been bothering Yugo, not that Mogami was any better off. One moment he is in Asteria with his comrades to help their allies and next thing he knew he was opening his eyes to a much older Jin glaring at him. There was something in between those two memories that he was missing, and it seemed Yugo was convinced that it was Mogami creating a Black Trigger.  

“It’s likely you never heard of them, but there is a Trion Soldier called Inchoate.” Yugo started. “They are a fairly new type of Trion Soldier, but they weren’t created to be used as weapons like Marmods or Banders.”  

Mogami’s eyes rolled over the stars, looking for the constellations that Yugo used to love looking at. If he imagined they were at HQ, it could feel just like the old days before Yugo left Border and all the members were hanging out on the roof, just relaxing and having a cookout.  

Sadly, reminiscing the past would get him nowhere. His past was what made him into the person he was, but he couldn’t live in the past. What he needed to be doing was looking at the present and seeing where it took him.  

And right now, that was listening to Yugo explain about Inchoates.  

“If Inchoates aren’t used to attack, then what is the purpose of them? It takes a lot of resources to create Trion Soldiers. If they aren’t helpful in a country’s military, they wouldn’t bother to invest the time and resources into them.” Mogami replied.  

“You’ve been to the Neighbor’s world so you know how the wars rage on constantly over there.” Yugo turned back to his friend as he sat down, leaning his back against the post with his legs stretched out in front of him towards Mogami. “There is so much death happening there. The people there are no strangers to loss, but that doesn’t make it any easier. There are times when the corpses of those fallen in battle are so brutalized that it can be traumatizing for that to be the last way you see someone you love.”  

Looking down at the Trigger in his hand, Yugo squeezed it. The image of his son bleeding out would forever be burned into his mind. If his son had died and Yugo had lived, that last memory of Yuma would have been such a painful experience. Yugo was no stranger to battles or death, but he had never seen someone so beaten outside of their Trion bodies. Seeing that blood pooling around his unresponsive, injured son was the worst thing he had ever seen.  

“The Inchoate were designed with the purpose of taking the memories of someone you love who has passed away, the good and bad moments you have shared with them with the purpose of allowing them to transform into that person. It allows you to spend a few hours with them where there is no battle and no injuries to distract you. A final moment to say goodbye forever.” Yugo explained, smiling sadly. “Truly a bittersweet moment for the ones who are alive, but it is meant to be a better memory than seeing their bloody corpse as the last memory you have of them.”  

“They sound very farfetched, Yugo.” Mogami said, keeping his eyes locked on the stars above them. The concept of Inchoate didn’t sound horrible, not compared to some of the other stuff that Mogami had seen in the Neighbor’s world, but Mogami just could not process how it was possible for a Trion Soldier to transform into someone. It sounded impossible, but if he considered the fact that people could convert all of their Trion and their life force into a Black Trigger, then honestly, anything could be possible. “What would make someone want to create something like that?”  

“Grief is a very hard emotion to deal with for everyone. It is like a powerful current pulling you under the water and not giving you a chance to break the surface to breath. The Inchoate were created with the intention of giving people that chance to break through it, to find that closure they need.” Yugo knocked his head back against the pillar, eyes sliding shut with a soft smile as he thought of the gentle, warm smile of the only person who ever got Yugo of thinking that he might be alright with settling down. “Inchoate were created in Tropoi a few years ago by my wife.”  

That got Mogami to look over at Yugo in surprise. A woman smart enough to design a Trion Soldier. That seemed like the type of girl that Yugo would be attracted to. He smiled softly at his friend, glad that he had managed to find love at some point in his life.  

“Shortly after I met her, she had lost her mother who she had been very close to. The pain of the loss caused her to bury herself in her work to create the Inchoate. She wanted the chance to see her mother and get one last hug from her before she had to give up on her forever.”  

“Did she succeed?”  

“In creating the Inchoate? Yes, but she didn’t take the chance to use them to see her mother.”  

Mogami raised a brow. “She put in all that effort to create them but didn’t use them for her own purposes?” 

Yugo stared off into the distance. “Things changed as the years passed. To be honest, when she began the project, it was with the intention of Inchoate taking over the life of the person that was lost so they could be back in their loved one’s life. That is why their official name when the concept was first designed was Aionia. My wife was desperate to have her mother back, but as the years went on and we got to know each other, her thoughts on the matter changed because together, we had formed a new dream that helped her heal from her grief.”  

Mogami eyed Yugo thoughtfully.  

“Creating the Inchoate was her job though. She got the money and resources and spent years working on it so she couldn’t back out because her opinion had changed. She finished her creation of them as was her job, but she changed the design so instead of the Inchoate staying forever, they could only last a few hours so it truly would be a way to say a last goodbye, and thus they became known as Inchoate by her coworkers since she refused to take the project any farther than that. It took her so long, but, despite the pushback from her commanders to take the Inchoate to the next level which would be Aionia, everlasting life, she closed the project. It was her decision to end the project at that point so she could focus on her new dream. Yuma. Our son filled her life with a new light and she could finally focus on him.”  

Time was what everyone needed to heal from grief. Grief wouldn’t just go away overnight. Even using an Inchoate to say goodbye wouldn’t ease the pain completely. In fact, it might make it harder to let go, but everyone dealt with grief differently so for some, the Inchoate might be helpful to them.  

“How does your story of Inchoate relate to answering my questions?” Mogami asked, though he had a good idea of what the purpose of this story was. If Yugo was convinced Mogami created a Black Trigger upon death, but he was here now, the only thing that connected all of this was Mogami being an Inchoate.  

“I don’t want to believe it, but I remember dying for my son and now I'm here.” Yugo looked down at his hand. There was a time when his body had turned to dust when he converted everything he had left to give life back to his son. “It has to be the same for you. You just transformed recently so your memories of what happened are probably a bit hazy so you can’t remember your last moments.”  

Moving his eyes back to the stars, Mogami felt a frown pull at his lips. “If what you are saying is true and Inchoate aren’t supposed to be used as weapons, why do I feel this urge to destroy the Black Trigger I created?” 

“I don’t know the answer to that.” Yugo said, rubbing his eyes. “I feel a violent urge towards my son, but this isn’t how the Inchoate were designed to be. They supposed to be an exact replica of appearances and feelings. What we’re feeling now isn’t correct. But...”  

“But?” Mogami prompted.  

“There was an incident that made me take Yuma and leave Tropoi behind forever.” Yugo said. “One night while my wife was at the lab, Tropoi was attacked and her Inchoate design was stolen. She didn’t survive the attack. Yuma knew his mother got killed, but that was all I ever told him about that night.”  

Mogami hummed, looking down at his hand, opening and closing it a few times. “So, you think the design was changed by the people who stole it?” 

“I know it was.” Yugo replied. “Meraki is the country that stole the design and twisted it into the Trion Soldier known as Mimic. I never even refer to them as Inchoate anymore since that doesn’t exist anymore. All that remains are the Mimics.” He turned his eyes towards the sky, gripping Yuma’s Trigger tightly in his pocket. “I never did anything about it though. I couldn't go on a full assault against Meraki for their thievery and murder of my wife when I had Yuma to look after. My wife would have wanted me to focus on him instead of getting revenge for her.” He scoffed softly, turning away from the sky. “Even if we realize it though, there is no free will. We can’t stop ourselves from wanting to fulfill the programming that is designed into us as Mimics.”  

“To destroy the Black Triggers.” Mogami said softly, though his eyes were locked onto Yugo.  

“To kill Yuma.”  

“You’ve been here for days, and yet, you haven’t killed him.” Mogami pointed out. Surely, if Yugo was able to resist killing Yuma for this long, there was a way to stop this.  

“Because I don’t need to strike him down. He'll be dead soon enough.”  

Mogami eyed Yugo. “It’s not what you want though.”  

“But it’s the order.”  

“But why is it the order?” 

“Why did someone steal the Mimics design and change it?” Yugo retorted before sighing. “I don’t know those answers. I just know when I see my son, I want to see him dead, but at the same time, I want to protect him.” Closing his eyes again, Yugo pulled his hand holding Yuma’s Trigger to his chest, gripping it tightly. “But I'm not programmed to protect. Perhaps once upon a time, Mimics could have done something like that, but whoever stole the design and reworked it had other ideas in place it seems.” 

Dropping his eyes down to the Kogetsu blade at his waist, Mogami gripped the handle tightly in his hand. It was an unusually cruel tactic done by whoever changed the design of the Mimics.  To use the deceased loved ones to fight the battles for them. It wasn’t just cruel on those who were living and had to fight the ones they already lost once. To bring back the deceased and take away their free will to force them into fights against the ones they love was just so harsh.  

Mogami didn’t want to be forced to fight and try to kill his old friends.  

“Then what if we just don’t go near Border?” Mogami suggested.  

“If that was possible, I would, but the order to attack and destroy is too strong. I can’t resist it forever.” Yugo looked down at his shoulder where his clothes had been cut by Jin when one of his slashes pierced him. The cut had healed pretty quickly after the battle. It was the first time he had gotten hurt since he came back, so he didn’t expect the wound to heal and he had to wonder how it happened. More than that, though, he was amused that the first person to land a hit on him was Mogami’s pupil.  

“Is that why you were fighting Jin and your son when I arrived?”  

“I wanted to see Yuma, but it dissolved into a fight when the agents arrived.” Yugo replied, chuckling at the end though there was no humor to it. “If it wasn’t for them getting in the way, I probably would have hurt Yuma at some point. I am grateful to them.”  

These agents were trying to kill Yugo, and yet, he was glad for them. He would rather get killed by them again then to see his son die by his hand. If the programming overwhelmed him too much and he ended up killing his son, it would destroy Yugo. He didn’t want to see everything he had done for Yuma to go to waste. As much as he wanted to be with his son and see all his friends again, he didn’t belong in this world.  

He had lived his life and he had died fulfilling the most important role of his life- being a father. If he were to kill his son, it would defeat the purpose of everything he had done and erase who he was. However, the Mimic programming was ingrained too deeply into him for him to resist the burning sensation of the orders running through him.  

Yugo didn’t want to fight Border. He didn’t want to hurt his son. He didn’t want to attack his home.  

But the programming didn’t care what Yugo wanted.  

He had been fighting so hard to resist causing too much damage, but he couldn’t avoid Border forever. If he attacked the agents on duty, it helped lessen the pain of resisting as much as he did. He always had to retreat when he felt the strength to resist the pull of the programming that was telling him to go after his ‘enemies.’  

But, just how long could he fight against the programming?  

What Yugo needed was for himself to be killed by Border. If that happened, the city would be safe. Border would be safe. And most importantly, Yuma would be safe and free from the suffering of seeing a Trion Soldier with his father’s face.  

Unfortunately, it wasn’t so easy to get killed. The part of him that was the Trion Soldier was fighting him every step of the way and wouldn’t let him drop his guard in battle. It forced him to give everything he had to win those battles. When he was in front of those agents, Yugo just couldn’t think of anything but the fight.  

The fight.  

The need to find Yuma and see him die.  

The destruction of the Black Trigger he left behind.  

It was torturous to live like this.  

*Mimics*  

“What made you want to join Border?”  

Mogami lowered his sword as he dropped out of the stance that he was practicing so he could look over at Jin, who had sat down for a break a while ago. “Why do you ask?”  

Jin glanced away from those intense eyes to instead fiddle with the sleeve of his jacket. He was still fairly new to being a member of Border so while everything he was seeing was interesting, it was also strange. He was currently in a Trion body, but it didn’t feel any different to his real body, and yet, he could lose limbs on this body and still be fine. So weird. “My Side Effect allows me to see anyone’s future. I can tell where anyone is going in life, but I never know what they’ve been through to get that point.” He gave a small shrug. “I guess I’m just curious about a person’s past since I can’t see it.”   

Mogami smiled. “Well, there’s nothing wrong with wanting to know more about your friends, but just know this, if you ask and they aren’t comfortable speaking about it, don’t push them on it, okay? Life isn’t easy, and can in fact, be quite cruel so not everyone has an easy time opening up about themselves.”   

Jin nodded his head to show his understanding.   

“But, to answer your question,” Mogami sheathed his sword and slid down the wall to seat next to Jin. “I actually formed Border with some friends of mine in the past. We happened to meet a Neighbor and became good friends with him. He told us all about the Neighbor’s world, so naturally, we wanted to form connections with them. There’s a lot we still don’t understand about that world and it’s hard for us since we’re still so new at using their technology, but it’s exciting, isn’t it? I guess, besides wanting to make those connections, there is also a thrill to me about getting to learn so many amazing things about this new world.”   

“Have you ever been there?” Jin asked curiously.   

“A few times.” Mogami smiled softly. “Just like this world, there are so many different countries over there and each place has their own unique culture. It's amazing to witness. But, just like with the countries in this world, the countries over there aren’t always at peace. There are a lot of wars over there so to survive, you need to have a lot of training before you go there.”   

Jin hummed softly as he looked upwards as he thought. “I wonder if I would like it over there.”   

“You can’t know the answer to that until you’ve seen it. However,” Mogami pushed himself to his feet and rested his hand on the hilt of his sword. “You won’t be going near that world until you’ve actually managed to hit me at least one time in a fight.”   

“You’re too fast.” Jin whined.   

“No,” Mogami smirked, drawing his Kogetsu blade from the sheath. “You’re just slow.”   

As he jumped to his feet, Jin’s Kogetsu came swinging at Mogami, but was blocked and pushed above his head. With Mogami locking their swords above them, it gave Mogami the space to lean forward into Jin’s face with a teasing smile. “Even your surprise attacks are slow. Am I perhaps failing as your mentor?”   

There were times when Mogami had joked that he had failed Jin as a mentor. Well, they were partly a joke, but also a way to push Jin harder. He had known how much Jin respected him as a mentor so if he made questions about him failing in Jin’s training, Jin would try even harder to improve and prove Mogami wrong.  

It became his way of pushing Jin.  

But, now, it was looking like that Mogami was truly going to fail as a mentor. Yugo was perhaps the person that Mogami trusted the most out of everyone he knew, even though it had been years since they last seen each other. Their friendship/rivalry was always so strong that no matter the distance or time that has passed, Mogami knew that Yugo would always be on his side. If Yugo was saying that as Mimics, they had no free will, then Mogami would believe him on that. Honestly, he had felt it burning in his blood when he saw Jin standing there with a Black Trigger. Yugo was only just confirming what he was feeling.  

Being a Mimic with no control of his actions when faced with the ones considered the ‘enemy’ was the only thing that could make any of this make any sense.  

There was a battle raging on in the area. Mogami knew that the battle was still going, but he couldn’t hear it anymore. He felt like he was swimming under water with how all the sound around him was muted.  

At least the pain in his body was dimming.  

In the back part of his mind, he realized that was bad.  

Death was coming.  

Mogami could see it from the way his vision was beginning to black out.  

One moment he was staring at the sky and the next when he opened his eyes back up it was to see Jin leaning down over him, tears filling his eyes, though the boy refused to let them fall.  

He watched Jin’s mouth move, but couldn’t hear what it was he said.  

Despite the pain and his mind beginning to go numb, Mogami forced a smile on his face for his precious pupil. “You’ll be alright.” He gripped his Trigger tightly. Jin was here. He could take hold of it. It would help him survive this battle. “You’re far stronger than you realize, Yuichi. You’ve made me so proud.”  

Mogami’s body snapped forward, leaving him grasping at his head, heavy breaths escaping him. That day he died to help his allies. That day he laid on the ground, having been defeated in battle and left for dead, and all he could do was stare up at Jin. His young pupil who didn’t deserve to see his mentor die. 

The created Black Trigger with wind blades.  

It was his.  

*Mimics*  

“Everything about them is a contradiction.”  

“Why do you say that?” Hyuse asked, not at all surprised anymore at the frustration that coated Yuma’s face.  

“If a Mimic’s true purpose was to say a final goodbye to someone who died, then what of a Mimic who is designed to be a weapon? They still transform into the deceased and have those memories since they are meant to deceive you, but they still act like they love you.” Yuma grumbled.  

Osamu leaned forward, staring at Yuma. “Are you sure you’re not just seeing things, Kuga? You, yourself, said that you were too close to this so maybe you aren’t a good judge of how your father is.”  

Yuma glared at Osamu. “And who would be a good judge of deciding how my dad is acting as a Mimic compared to his self when he was alive? You certainly can’t be.”  

Shiori moved from the bed she had been sitting on with Chika and Osamu to join Yuma on his bed. This movement finally got Yuma to glance at her, but he quickly looked back at his captain. Unfortunately for Yuma, Shiori was not going to accept his avoidance anymore. She grabbed Yuma’s hands and pulled on them until Yuma was looking back at her. “We’re not trying to fight you, Yuma. It sounded like you suffered a lot as a child when you lost your father. It's only natural you would want him back so you want to latch onto the Mimic of your father.”  

“I know what I'm feeling, and that’s the problem.” Yuma snapped, pulling his hands from Shiori’s. “I know he’s not the father I lost. My dad would have never attacked Tamakoma like he did. He would have never hurt you like that. This isn’t him. I know that, and yet, I still long for him to be real.”  

For a moment, Shiori just stared at her friend that had avoided her since he saved her at Tamakoma Branch. The normally confident Yuma just looked so pained and stressed. It was something she had never once seen on him since she met him. Yuma always stood so tall and strong, like there was never anything that could get to him. At least, that was what he always portrayed to all of them. It actually reminded her a lot of Jin, who everyone looked to for answers when they were in the middle of a big attack, and Jin always had to be strong and confident as he worked his way through the paths he needed to set the agents on. They were all carrying way too much on their shoulders and if they continued like this, that pressure would drag them all the way down and pin them underneath it with no way to escape.  

Taking Yuma by surprise, Shiori lunged forward to wrap her arms around him in a tight hug. “And I don’t blame you for any of it. Even before I knew how your father had died, I didn’t blame you. This isn’t going to be easy for you, but it doesn’t mean you have to go at this alone. Your friends can be your strength to get through this.” She pulled back, grabbing Yuma’s shoulders to shake them violently.  “But I swear, if you try to avoid me for days on end again for something that wasn’t your fault, I will hunt you down and throw you back into that river.”  

“Sounds fun. I'll help you throw him in the river.” Hyuse said.  

Yuma grabbed Shiori’s wrists to get her to stop shaking him so he could shoot a look over at Hyuse. “No thanks. I think I've taken enough swims in that river.”  

“Then stop doing stupid things.” Hyuse retorted.  

“Shouldn’t be too hard since Yuma-kun has agreed to stay away from his father from now on.” Chika said, shooting a smile at Yuma, forcing her eyes to stay on his face and not drift to the cracks on his neck. “You’re going to trust us to help you now?” 

Yuma's grip on Shiori’s wrists tightened for a moment before he was placing them gently in Shiori’s lap as he turned to look at Chika. “I didn’t run off because of lack of trust in you guys helping me. It’s like Shiori said. I'm struggling with my feelings for my dad about whether I can talk to him and trust in him. He has been taking up all thought space in my head. I wasn’t even thinking about you guys.”  

“Why would you want to trust him?” Hyuse asked confused. “He attacked you at Tamakoma.”  

“He hunted me down and attacked me that day, but when he attacked the city today, it was to get to me, but he didn’t attack me. It was like he wanted to get rid of the agents to talk. That's why I say the Mimics are a contradiction. One day, it’s an attack. The next day, he wants to talk.” A sigh escaped Yuma as he looked towards the ground. “I didn’t get to talk to him properly either time we met. I was so close to getting to talk today but Miwa squad got in the way and then Jin-san.”  

“Wow, got in the way?” Hyuse scoffed, crossing his arms as he looked down at Yuma. “They’re jumping in to help you against a Mimic and you call it getting in the way.” 

“I want answers.”  

“It seems pretty clear to me what it is. Mimics sent by a country to attack us. You said that they are fakes, but clearly you were just trying to convince yourself of that being the truth.” Konami retorted. “Still, having seen him at Tamakoma, I do understand why. If I didn’t know he was a Mimic, I would have believed he was the real thing. It's an impressive design.”  

Yuma shook his head. “I want to know what Dad is after. His actions make no sense and don’t match his words.” Sighing, Yuma leaned his chin in his upturned palm. “Honestly, when he does speak, nothing he says makes much sense. He spoke a lot more clearly to me when I was a kid. Now, it just feels like riddles.”  

“Maybe it means nothing.” Hyuse pointed out. “In the end, he is still just a Trion Soldier. He’s probably just trying to confuse you.”  

“But the memories we share are real.”  

Shiori looked at Yuma sadly. When the Neighbors attacked this world, she didn’t lose anyone in her family or any of her friends, so while she couldn’t relate to the feeling of losing someone she loved forever, she could understand the memories of those moments shared with others. Those memories formed the connections between them. That's how it was with her and Kazama Squad. She worked hard with them to rise up to A-Rank and there was a lot of trust and understanding among them. It was those moments that they shared that built the bond between comrades. To have someone who shared those moments of friendship and trust turn on her to try to kill her, the betrayal would hurt so much. “I know it must hurt to see your father like this, but please, Yuma, don’t get near him again. If you can’t figure out what he is trying to say, then it might be best to not engage with him. You were lucky he didn’t kill you yet.”  

“I’m not sure he wants to kill me.” Yuma said, but he smiled at Shiori. “But I will stay away from him now on and leave it to Border to deal with.”  

Those were words that Osamu had heard before, back in December when the irregular gates first made their appearance. Yuma said to let Border handle them, and yet went out of his way to find the cause of them. Hopefully, though, this time he would keep the promise he made to step off of the frontlines. Seeing the damage done to his body, Osamu wanted nothing more than to order Yuma to stay out of the fights until they solved this. Considering that Yuma already broke a promise he made to him, Osamu wasn’t sure he could trust Yuma’s new promise to step out of the fight. However, if Osamu gave the order, there was no doubt in his mind that Yuma would obey it without question.  

Just throwing his orders around and expecting them to be followed without question wasn’t what Osamu wanted though. There was trust among him and Yuma. The promise Yuma gave him was only broken because of his confusion and frustration over the Mimic of his father. If his head was clearing up enough to talk to his friends in Tamakoma about what was really going on, then Osamu would try to trust in his word once more.  

Chapter Text

Yuma stretched his arm above his head, staring through the darkness at his ring. Lying in a bed, doing nothing, all night was so boring, but with it being late, everyone was sleeping or at home. There was no one to fight and Yuma couldn’t do his normal hobby of sitting on the roof, watching the stars, since it was dangerous now with the Mimics.   

Honestly, it would be just as dangerous on the roof as it was lying in the barracks. The only difference was the number of walls the Mimics would have to plow through if they even managed to get pass the agents on defense duty.   

Still, he agreed to stay in the barracks if only to comfort his friends.   

It was a comfort to them, but it hurt him so much. They were all sleeping soundly, which was good for them, but for Yuma, surrounded by the silence of his friends' sleeping forms, he had never felt more alone.   

When he lost Replica, Yuma spent the nights preparing strategies for Rank Wars or studying his past battles to see where he could improve on. It was something he could do even now while lying in a bed, but he couldn’t get his mind to move away from his father.   

There were only three more days until the anniversary of his death.   

A Mimic of Dad and Mogami were running around.   

Yuma's body was cracking.   

It felt like the breaking point was near.   

*Mimics*  

“Good morning!”  

The owner of the voice alone was enough to pull a groan from Hyuse, but the loudness of it just added another layer of annoyance. He pulled his pillow out from under his head and launched it at Jin’s face. Out of the corner of his eyes, to his aggravation, he saw Jin dodge the pillow. “Do you have to be so loud first thing in the morning?”   

“We have a long day ahead us. Need to start early.” Jin replied.   

Hyuse snarled at him. “That doesn’t mean you need to yell in people’s ears to wake them.”   

“He didn’t seem that loud to me.” Yuma said, sitting crisscrossed on the next bed, looking far too awake.   

Pushing himself into a sitting position, Hyuse stared at Yuma, who stared right on back. “You’re in a Trion body.”   

Yuma quirked a brow at him. “We established that last night.”   

“Trion bodies aren’t capable of sleeping.” Hyuse glared at Yuma. “All those comments we made about how you survive on so little sleep and here you just don’t sleep at all.”   

“I don’t see why you’re mad about it.” Yuma replied.   

“Because some of us do require sleep!” Hyuse snarled, shifting his glare to Jin, who remained unaffected by it.   

“It’s good to see everyone getting along.” Rindo said as he stepped into the barracks, a steaming cup of coffee in hand. “Yuma, we’re meeting Kinuta-san soon so you should go get breakfast before we do. I don’t know how long he’s going to keep you so eat up now.”   

“That’s what going on this morning?” Hyuse snapped at Jin as Yuma slipped out of the barracks, pulling the hood of his hoodie up over his head as he did. “Why did you wake me then? I could be sleeping.”  

“Because you should get up and support your teammate.” Jin replied.   

Hyuse turned himself on the bed, swinging his legs over to plant his feet on the ground as he scowled at Jin. “He’s not going to die in the next couple of hours and I'm not going anywhere to support him if he’s going to be with your higher ups.”   

“You sure are confident he’ll be fine.”   

Hyuse resisted the urge to roll his eyes. “If Yuma were to die in the next hour, you wouldn’t be so calm.”   

Jin grimaced. He was far from relaxed. The situation only kept getting worse with each passing day. He was able to predict the future, but it didn’t seem to be helping them at all in the past couple of days. “Things are going to get worse.”   

“Before they get better, though?” Konami asked, though having seen the state of Yuma’s body, no matter what Jin said, she didn’t think the uneasiness was ever going to leave her. “Jin? Yuma will be fine, right?”  

The pressure of having everyone stare at him as they waited for his response would have once been stifling to Jin. The pressure of expectations was tough to live with and Jin only managed to get through it because of his allies having his back and helping him complete his plans. They trusted him and had his back so it was only right for Jin to return the favor. “I’m not going to give you false hope by lying to you.”   

“It’s that bad?” Yuri asked.   

“Even if Yuma had been truthful from the start, he wasn’t wrong in saying that it wouldn’t have changed the outcome.”   

Konami's heart skipped the next couple of beats. From Jin’s expression, it was an answer she had been expecting, but it still didn’t take away the fear of the future or her anger. Her anger at the Black Trigger assassin for targeting a child so viciously and forcing Yugo to make the ultimate sacrifice for Yuma. Her anger at Yuma for keeping quiet and trying to handle everything alone. Her anger at the Mimics for the pain they were causing Yuma and Jin.   

She wanted to help, but she wasn’t good at the technical stuff. She excelled in fighting. Rindo wanted to send Yuma to Kinuta, though she wasn’t sure what he could do to help, it was more than what she could do. Kinuta could handle that part. In the meantime, Konami was itching to fight. Would fighting the Mimics help? She didn’t know, but it was what she could do. Sitting around, thinking of what could happen, would just be a waste of time, which is something they seemed to be short on.   

“It’s simple, isn’t it?” Karasuma asked, rubbing the back of his neck as he thought. “The problem with Yuma started with the Mimics, so we just kill them, right?”  

“You make it sound easy.” Jin scratched the back of his head. “Besides, I can’t see the Mimics future. It's possible we do manage to defeat them, but if that is a possible future, why does Yuma’s death seem so set in stone?”   

“Maybe it means the Mimics aren’t the cause for Yuma’s body breaking.” Reiji suggested.   

“But Cronin-san is convinced the cause isn’t Yuma’s body dying. So, what else could there be?” Konami asked, receiving no reply from anyone as no one had any idea.   

*Mimics*  

“The more I learn about this Kuga Yugo,” Kinuta mumbled. He was staring at Yuma, just trying to find something off about him. He never bothered to look too closely at the Neighbor, but now that he knew he was living in a Trion body, he wanted to see if there was something he missed that was off about him, but he couldn’t see it. To be able to create a Black Trigger while making a perfect Trion body copy for his son, this Kuga Yugo just kept getting more impressive. It was a shame the man was dead. There was probably so much he could tell them about Triggers and the Neighbor’s world.   

Yuma looked beyond Kinuta to glance at Rindo, who was relaxing against the wall next to the door to the research lab they were in.   

“Please focus, Kinuta-san.” Rindo said, smiling reassuring at Yuma over Kinuta’s shoulder.   

“I am focusing. I came in extra early to do this for you, so don’t rush me.” Kinuta grumbled.   

That was something Yuma was grateful for. Kinuta coming in early to help them meant there were very few people around so it was easy for Yuma to sneak around for food and to get to Kinuta without people seeing the damage done to his body. If his body continued to break, Yuma doubted he could hide it from the rest of Border unless he stayed in the barracks, but that was a problem for later.   

For now, he removed his hoodie, but left his t-shirt on. While he had let his friends see the cracks on his hand and neck, Yuma had kept the rest of his torso covered to hide the full extent of the damage done to him. So far, the damage was contained to the left side of his body going from the tip of his fingers all the way up to his neck. There were cracks from his neck that were spreading down to his torso, but those couldn’t be seen through his t-shirt.   

“When did your body start breaking?” Kinuta asked.   

“Like the first time it happened after I got this body or just these cracks in general?” Yuma asked, wiggling his fingers of his broken hand.   

Kinuta scowled at Yuma, already feeling annoyance with the young Neighbor. “Do you damage your body often?”  

Yuma shrugged. “Not usually, but it’s been happening a lot this week.”   

“And is that what all this damage is from?”  

Yuma shook his head. “My body got damaged when the Mimic threw me out of Border’s windows and into a building and then Dad’s attack slammed me through Tamakoma’s walls. Both times, my body managed to heal.”  

Rindo raised a brow at that. He hadn’t heard anything about Yuma’s body taking damage when Yugo attacked Tamakoma, but considering Yuma’s penchant for keeping quiet about things, that wasn’t surprising. He probably thought some damage to his body that would just heal immediately wasn’t important to mention. Then again, any damage done to his Trion body didn’t seem worth mentioning to Yuma, even the damage that refused to heal.   

Kinuta’s scowl deepened. For such an experienced fighter, he actually expected more sense and caution from Yuma. “This may be a Trion body, Kuga, but that doesn’t mean you should be so reckless with it.”    

“It’s not like I feel any true pain.” Yuma replied. “My body can heal so it’s better I took the damage than Shiori-chan. She would have been out of commission for much longer if I let her take the full force of hitting the wall.”   

Actually, she probably would have died if he didn’t take the hit for her, but that really didn’t need said out loud.  

“Forgetting to consider your own well-being is what will get you killed one day.”   

Yuma quirked a brow, an annoyed look overtaking his face. Despite what everyone was coming to think this week, Yuma was not selfless like Osamu was. The only reason he was bothering to concern himself with the safety of the city was because it was part of his duty as a Border agent. If he wasn’t an agent, he wouldn’t care about the city. Osamu was the altruistic one. Yuma only bothered to get involved with Border and the safety of the city because Osamu asked him for help. From there, the growing friendships he had in Border made him want to protect his friends and if he knew he could handle the attack with minimal damage, he would take it. He wasn’t just throwing himself recklessly into situations without thinking it through.   

“So, when did your body start cracking like this?” Kinuta asked, motioning towards Yuma’s body when Yuma made no effort to reply to him. “When did the healing stop?”  

“The night after Dad attacked Tamakoma. It was a few hours after the attack.” Yuma replied. “It started on my hand, but has been spreading up my body since that night.”   

“And you thought it would be a good idea to hide it?” Kinuta scoffed.   

“I thought it was related to the Mimics. Jin-san already saw my death coming this week and we thought it was because of the Mimics. If my body is breaking like this because of the Mimics, it would be best to destroy the Mimics as fast as possible.”   

Michael looked up from the computer he was at to give Yuma a frown. “There is no guarantee that this is because of the Mimics, and even if it is, there is also no guarantee that destroying the Mimics will fix this.” Since they didn’t want Yuma’s situation getting out to everyone, Michael agreed to help Kinuta looking into it as he was the engineer of Tamakoma and already knew. It was better than letting the engineers under Kinuta in on the secret of Yuma’s body. Non-combat employees of Border would have a harder time helping Yuma as it would be hard to keep his history as a Neighbor secret. The technicalities of his situation were complex and hard to believe that it happened in this world. If people thought too much into it, they might come close to the secret that Yuma was holding. It wasn’t out of the realm of possibilities that what happened to Yuma could have happened in this world, but it was still best to keep it quiet as much as possible.   

Yuma shrugged. The cracks were concerning, but considering Jin already told him he was going to die soon, he didn’t let the cracks worry him too much.   

“Well, have you felt anything off? Any pain? Weakness?” Michael asked.   

Looking down at his hand, Yuma opened and closed his hand a few times, watching as the cracks squeezed and pulled as he did. “Not really. There is some tension I feel in them when pressure is applied, but that is it.”   

“With the damage you’re showing, it’s lucky you feel relatively fine.” Rindo said surprised. He understood it was a Trion body, but even Trion bodies could be susceptible to pain and weakness. Aftokrator proved that when they programmed the Rabits to have the ability to override the Trion body’s systems that turned the pain sensors off. There were plenty of systems in place to make things easier on the user when they were in their Trion bodies, but that didn’t make them full proof.   

“There’s no telling if that will last however.” Kinuta grunted. “I’m sure you’re very aware of this, Kuga, but when Trion bodies sustain damage, it takes time and Trion for them to heal. I've never seen a Trion body as unique as yours, but I imagine the same rules apply. You need Trion available to you to allow your regenerative abilities to work.”  

“I do have Trion. I was using my seals last night to help Jin-san.” Yuma replied.   

“Do your seals require a lot of Trion?” Michael asked. “Remove your shirt too, Yuma.”   

“Depends on which one I'm using. Anchor requires a lot of Trion, but Shield requires less.” Yuma explained as he pulled his t-shirt over his head.   

Michael nodded as he pulled out his equipment and got it set up on the table that was next to the examination bed that Yuma was sitting on, not even flinching when he saw the cracks were spreading down from Yuma’s neck to his chest. It hadn’t spread that far down his torso yet, but it was concerning to see just how much his body had cracked in just two days.   

Michael held his hand out towards Yuma, waiting for the young agent to give out his permission. Once Yuma lifted his hand, Michael got to work on hooking up wires to his ring and electrodes to his chest and arms while Yuma watched curiously.  

“What are these for?”   

“It’s similar to an electrocardiogram.” Michael paused and looked at Yuma with a frown. While they were both Neighbors, Michael had been in this world long enough to study up on the technology that this world offered. He knew that Yuma still struggled to understand all the different technology here and how it worked. It was hard for him to understand how this world didn’t rely on Trion for everything. “Do you know what that is?”   

Yuma shook his head.   

“Electrocardiogram is a way that we can evaluate the heart using electrodes. This is similar to that, but we are going to be measuring your Trion levels to try to see what is happening with it.” Michael explained as he pulled Yuma’s hand down to keep him from messing with the electrodes. “It’s easy enough to measure your Trion levels, but we want to see what is happening to them over the next few hours.”   

That got Yuma wrinkling his nose in displeasure. “Is this going to take all day?”  

“It will take as long as it needs to until we get an idea of what is happening to you.” Kinuta replied. “Considering it’s your life on the line, there shouldn’t be any complaining.”   

Yuma raised his hands in surrender to that.   

  *Mimics*  

“We have a problem.” Jin ambushed Shinoda in the hall while he was heading to the office.   

It felt like it was becoming too much of a common occurrence for agents to hound him the moment he made it to HQ in the morning. It would be nice to be able to get to his office to sit down and enjoy his morning coffee as he worked himself into work mode before the headaches of the day began. “We seem to be having a lot of those lately. What is it this time?”   

“We need to go to the storage vault.”   

Nothing good could come from Jin asking to have a conversation in a certain place.   

Turning back down the hallway he just walked through, Shinoda led the way towards the elevators.   

“Did anything happen last night?” Shinoda asked.   

“Seemed pretty peaceful on our end. We all managed to sleep through the night, besides Yuma, who can’t sleep.” Jin replied, glancing out the windows they were walking pass. With it being day time now, it looked so peaceful out there currently. It was all just an illusion though. Mogami and Kuga were both out there and could attack at any moment. That was the reason he wanted to get up early. He needed to get stuff done and be ready for an attack at any moment, but at the same time, he wanted to sleep more so he could be able to stay up late if he was needed at night. He honestly needed to be available 24/7 right now, but that just wasn’t feasible. “If anything else happened last night after the attack in the city, I don’t know about it.”   

Shinoda nodded. “And you? How are you after you got attacked by the Mimics?”   

The question brought the phantom touch of the Mimic’s grip on his bicep to his mind. Jin held back the urge to rub the feeling away from his arm. He didn’t think too much on the Mimics attacking him in the moment yesterday. At the time, the only thought in his mind was keeping Yuma out of the line of fire. He didn’t want to risk anyone else from Yuma’s past appearing, but there was also the worry of any attacks hitting Yuma. With his body already breaking, he didn’t want to risk seeing what any attacks would do to Yuma.   

Jin had put all his thoughts on Yuma that he had forgotten about himself. No, that wasn’t right. It's not that he had forgotten about himself in everything that had been going on, but there was just too much going on between Kuga Yugo, Yuma’s situation which kept Jin from wanting him using his Black Trigger, and the Mimics. It was a difficult situation they had been in and Jin’s thoughts never once went to that he needed to keep Mogami from appearing.   

It was a lapse of judgement on his part in a chaotic fight.   

“I haven’t given Mogami-san much thought since we parted ways.”   

Shinoda eyed Jin out of the corner of his eyes, but never broke his stride. “I see. I can’t say the same.” He said, surprising Jin. “Mogami-san wasn’t just a mentor to you. He was a friend of mine. Yugo-san as well. Having Mimics running around with their faces and attacking the organization they helped create feels disrespectful towards their memory.”   

“I felt anger when I saw Mogami-san standing there.” Jin admitted, shoving his hands into his jacket’s pockets to hide the fact that he was clenching them shut tight enough for the knuckles to turn white. If Shinoda could say that, then Jin could talk about what he felt in the moment of Mogami’s appearance. “When he first died, it took months to be able to recover from what happened, but eventually I was able to smile again. It definitely helped that Border began to grow a few months after his death and we got all these new allies and friends. I was able to move on with my life, but seeing him again, like this, it hurts because I know it’s not real. I can’t let myself get attached, can’t let myself smile when I see him, because that will only make it harder when he dies again.”   

And he needed to die.  

Mogami could not be allowed to stay here.  

That was something that Jin could not let himself forget.  

“You want to distance yourself to avoid going through the grief again.” Shinoda nodded. “I can understand that too. Yuma-kun took a different approach.”   

“I don’t blame Yuma for struggling with seeing his father again.” Jin replied, looking over at Shinoda, feeling guilt build up inside of him with what he was about to say. “He didn’t say it last night because it wasn’t important, but Yuma didn’t come to Japan with the intention of joining Border. He wanted to see if Border had a way to bring his father back through the Black Trigger which he poured everything into.”   

Shinoda would give Yuma this, he certainly had a lot of creative ideas. While most of the ideas he saw Yuma pull off worked out in his favor, some of the things he thought of just weren’t that feasible. The thought of being able to revive anyone through a Black Trigger they created was just a ridiculous idea, but he could also see where Yuma was coming from. “Mogami-san was gravely wounded and dying so he created Fujin so his life wouldn’t go to waste. He left Border with a powerful weapon, but because he was injured, even if there was a way to revive him, he wouldn’t survive because of his injuries.”   

“On the other hand, Yuma’s dad wasn’t hurt when he created his. He gave his life up to save his son, and because of that, Yuma feels immense guilt and wanted to have his father back, even if it would kill him to do it.” Jin took over.   

“How bad are Yuma-kun's injuries? I can’t imagine Yugo-san would trap his son in a Trion body unless they were really bad or that Yuma would never try to find a way to get his original body back if it was possible.” Shinoda asked as he pushed the button to call for the elevator.   

Jin shook his head. “I don’t know. Yuma never told me the type of injuries that he received. I do know he was in a horrible state. It was probably bad enough that Yuma can’t even properly recall what type of injuries he sustained. Those injuries, though, probably weren’t that important to him after he realized what his father did. Watching his father give his life for him was probably more painful than the injuries that got locked away in a Black Trigger forever.”   

Shinoda stepped into the elevator, resting a hand on the railing as he looked out the glass wall to take in the Restricted Zone. A giant base in the center of part of the city that Border cordoned off for their battles with the Neighbors. Mogami and Yugo would have never believed this was what would come of Border one day. The organization they built out of their love for the Neighbor’s world and wanted to connect with it was now a military organization with the goals of expedition missions to gather intel on their technology and to fight any stray Neighbors who came into this world.   

Before that first large-scale invasion, Border was a secret organization with elite agents. Even before that first invasion, they knew Trion soldiers were coming here and kidnapping people, but back then, they had no good way of locating the Neighbors and stopping those attacks. When the organization was forced to go public, it felt like Border blew up into a huge organization overnight. The fear and anger at the Neighbors from that first attack didn’t give them time to grow slowly.   

It was lucky for them Kinuta arrived to join Border and he managed to get a good understanding of the Neighbor’s technology. He was a rough old man who had no patience, but there was no denying that he was smart and good at what he did. Michael and Kinuta working together back then were an impressive team that got Border’s Gate guidance system up and running within a few months after the first attack.   

The amount of allies that they gained was nice, especially after the tremendous loss they all felt when so many of their friends were killed in Aristera. Being one of the longest members of Border left, it put Shinoda in a Commander’s position that he never wanted, but someone had to stand up and take charge of the new agents arriving. Taking on the role of Border’s defense commander was one of the hardest things he ever had to do as he was only used to ever being an agent back when Border was smaller. Before Border’s growth, the organization was small enough that they only needed Kido as the Commander-in-Chief. When Shinoda took his position in the new Border, he finally realized why Mogami agreed with Yugo on giving the role of Commander-in-Chief to Kido when Yugo left Border.   

Mogami clearly had the right idea, but sadly, Shinoda didn’t have the option of declining. Border needed its experienced members to step up to the plate in a time of a crisis.   

It was for that reason, unless there was no other option, Shinoda took a step back from active combat. The agents needed him to lead them in large invasions so he couldn’t just actively go charging into fights all the time. While he used to enjoy fighting, the attack in Aristera and then the large-scale invasion here truly opened his eyes to how dangerous all of this was. It was for those reasons that the safety of his agents and the city was above everything else.   

Shinoda never developed a hatred for Neighbors like the Kido faction did, but depending on the circumstances, he would focus on the city before he did any Neighbors. When Yuma came to Japan, there was no danger to the city so he allowed all his focus to go to defending the young Neighbor who turned out to be the son of an old friend, and he felt no regret for his actions back then.  

Especially now that he had been let onto the truth of Yuma’s Black Trigger. He always knew that Yugo was an amazingly powerful Trigger user, but he just kept outdoing Shinoda’s expectations.   

Jin leaned on the wall of the elevator, following Shinoda’s gaze to look out the window. “Yuma jumped right into fighting a war for three years so he never properly grieved his father’s death or find the strength to move on from it. Instead, he held onto hope of somehow bringing him back. So, I'm not too surprised he’s struggling this much with a Mimic of his dad being here. Honestly, if I have to spend any time near Mogami-san's Mimic, I might be in the same boat as Yuma.”   

“Any of us could be.” Shinoda agreed, a sad smile overtaking him. “Don’t forget Rindo and I were close to both of them.”  

Jin turned his eyes to Shinoda, staring at him for a moment before letting his eyes slide shut as he dropped his head to the elevator wall behind him. Right. That was right. He shouldn’t overlook the fact that Rindo and Shinoda could both be taking all of this hard right now, but they had to stand tall as the leaders and not show how everything was affecting them.  

*Mimics*  

Hyuse glared at Chika and Osamu as they entered the barracks.   

“Good morning to you too, Hyuse.” Osamu said, confused as to what he did to earn such a heated glare first thing in the morning.   

“Good morning, Hyuse-kun,” Chika greeted cheerfully, unbothered by Hyuse’s intense look. It was his default expression when he was first captured by Border so it wasn’t anything new to her. She did like the more relaxed state he had adopted with Tamakoma-2 in the last couple of weeks, but since everyone seemed on edge this week, she wouldn’t look into it too much.   

“Did you get to sleep in this morning?” Hyuse demanded.   

Osamu’s brows rose as his confusion only intensified. “I guess? I got up at eight.”   

That seemed to only irritate Hyuse even more.   

“Why do you ask?” Chika asked as she sat on Yuma’s empty bed.   

“That idiot Jin woke me up at six thirty because he wanted Yuma to get an early start to his day of being a lab rat to Kinuta.” Hyuse explained, annoyance coating every inch of his face and voice. “And funnily enough, Yuma doesn’t even sleep because he lives in a Trion body so why did I have to get up?”   

Osamu truly did not need to know about the ridiculous things his teammates did when he was not around. If he had to listen to all those stories, he was just going to get a headache. At least Hyuse’s complaining told him why Yuma wasn’t in here.   

“Yuma-kun doesn’t sleep?” Chika asked surprised.   

“He’s in a Trion body twenty-four/seven so he doesn’t have the capability of sleeping.” Osamu explained, ignoring Hyuse’s question that he didn’t have an answer to. He wasn’t here this morning to know what really happened so he had no opinion on any of it.   

Chika nodded, eyes flickering from Osamu to Hyuse then to the empty spot beside her that would normally be occupied by Yuma. She knew that he was just off getting checked over, but after hearing his story last night, she had a lot of trouble sleeping when she went home. If she was being honest, she spent half an hour just standing outside of her parents’ bedroom door, not daring to go in and interrupt their sleep. She just silently stood there, pain and guilt gnawing at her.   

When she first met Yuma, she told him that she felt it was her fault her brother and friend were taken by Neighbors. They had been near her and had been lost because of it. Yuma had related to her by saying he would feel guilty if Osamu got in trouble for harboring him. That was his reasoning at the time, but after hearing his story and seeing that look in his eyes last night, Chika realized that underneath that cheerful grin of his, Yuma understood her feelings of guilt better than anyone else possibly could.   

After learning the truth of his father’s death, Chika could understand why he didn’t mention it that day. They had only just met, and since then, Chika had realized that Yuma wasn’t fond of speaking of his past. The couple of things she did hear from him about his past would cause a sad look to pass through his eyes.   

Perhaps there was nothing Chika could do to help Yuma, the complications of his situation were too difficult for her to solve, but she could at least be a friend to him. Yuma would always be a friend to her, but she wouldn’t lie and say she wasn’t a bit scared. Jin had said that he saw Yuma’s death this week, but he saw Osamu’s death in the past and managed to get them on a path where Osamu would survive his injuries. So, surely, Jin would accomplish the impossible again.   

She knew he would. She just had to believe in him.   

Believe in all of them.  

The fear she was feeling came from the fact that even if –no, when- they saved Yuma’s life this week, it didn’t change his situation at all. Yuma was gravely wounded and still slowly dying, even without whatever was damaging his Trion body. He had been living like this for years, taking the pain and fear of the situation silently.   

He didn’t have to be alone anymore, though. Tamakoma was aware of his situation now and wouldn’t let him suffer in silence anymore. Even if she was worried for Yuma, she wouldn’t run from the fear of losing him. She stood still when she lost her brother and friend, but not anymore. She would never stand back and do nothing again.   

Was there anything she could do to help Yuma?  

Probably not, but she could at least offer her support to him.   

*Mimics*  

“What was the problem?” Shinoda asked as he and Jin entered the storage vault.   

Jin led the way to the pedestal that Fujin sat on, resting his hand on it. “When I came in here last night to return it, as I was leaving, I heard it breaking.”   

“Breaking?” Shinoda repeated, disbelief in his voice as he stepped up to the pedestal so he could pick up the sleek handle. He turned it over in his hand, and to his surprise, he found some small cracks on the end of it. While Triggers were powerful weapons, they weren’t impossible to break. Even Black Triggers were susceptible to being destroyed, but it wasn’t easy to do. Just being rough with the blade in battle wouldn’t be enough to do any actual damage to it. “Do you know how it happened?”  

Jin shook his head. “I just put it down and turned away when I heard the cracking happening.”   

“So, the damage wasn’t here when you took it out yesterday?” Shinoda asked, frowning. Kako used it the other day, but she wasn’t the type to damage Border’s stuff.   

“No, but I also wasn’t looking for any damage to it when I grabbed it. I was in a hurry to get out of here, but I'm pretty sure it wasn’t there.” Jin replied.   

Shinoda nodded and held the sword out to Jin. “Activate it.”   

The moment the hilt was in his hand, Jin was willing the blade to activate and calling out his wind blades. It wasn’t too much of a surprise when of the eleven wind blades he was able to summon, two of them were looking like they were cracked themselves.   

“The blade doesn’t look damaged at least.” Shinoda said, resting his hands on the pedestal as a sigh escaped him. “But if it’s already cracked that little bit, it’s possible the damage can spread easily. We should have Kinuta-san take a look at it before we let anyone use it again.”   

Jin deactivated Fujin. “He should be in the labs with Yuma right now.”   

*Mimics*  

A tiled white ceiling was a lot more boring to look at for hours than star gazing. Yuma itched to move, but knew Kinuta wouldn’t appreciate that so he settled for turning his head to look at Michael and Kinuta, who were reading whatever the computer was saying.   

“Bored, Yuma?”  

Yuma's eyes flickered to where Rindo had taken a seat next to the bed Yuma was lying on. “I’ve never been good at sitting still.”   

A response to his statement came in the form of a chuckle. “I’ve seen you sit on the roof for hours, Yuma.”   

“That’s different.” Yuma grumbled. “I choose to be up there thinking.”   

“Yes, thinking of your strategies to beat the other Aces so your team can win Rank wars, but perhaps it is time to think of your own well-being now.”   

Yuma stared at his boss for a moment before looking back at the boring ceiling. “Dad always told me to never get involved in things I couldn’t handle alone. If I got in trouble, it was on me to get myself out of it. He started training me when I was around five years old. By the time I was eleven and entering the Calvaria war, I considered myself to be pretty strong. I was an overconfident child so when Dad ordered me out of battle because of a Black Trigger assassin, I wasn’t scared of the idea of the assassin. I was just annoyed that I couldn’t fight.”   

Despite already knowing the story, Rindo was listening intently to Yuma. This wasn’t a cold retelling of what happened to him. This was Yuma actually speaking of what he had felt back then. Yuma rarely went into what he actually felt. It made sense. Rindo was sure that Yuma normally spoke of his past in a detached manner because it made it easier for him to talk about it.   

“Dad told me to not leave the fortress, no matter what happened. Growing up, I brushed a lot of Dad’s orders off and everything always turned out fine, so when I saw the Calvaria soldiers getting pushed back, I thought it was the perfect excuse to disobey orders and fight. Part of it was because I was on their side and we couldn’t let Spinthir invade the nation. That was the reason I was there, but the bigger part of it was my inability to run from a fight.”   

It was hard not to listen to Yuma speak when they were in an enclosed space like this and Yuma chose not to whisper to Rindo. While he had heard the story last night, hearing it explained in a child’s voice was making Kinuta actually feel sympathetic towards the Neighbor he had written off as nothing but trouble. Granted, Kinuta still saw him as a troublemaker; his story proved that. However, being a father to a young daughter, Kinuta understood the plight of Kuga Yugo. There was nothing he wouldn’t do to keep his daughter safe.   

“When I laid there dying and Dad appeared in front of me, I didn’t understand. Why did Dad appear in front me with the intention of giving up his life for mine. I could never figure it out.” Yuma murmured softly.   

“You fool....” Yugo approached his injured son to kneel down in front of him. “Why were you defeated?” He smiled at his son, even though he was unsure if Yuma was even aware enough to take notice his smile. “Hang on a second. I'll save you soon.”       

“What was that smile for?” Yuma asked.   

“Because you’re his son.” Rindo replied, making Yuma glance at him as he listened intently. “There is no reason to overcomplicate this, Yuma. Kuga-san was your father and any father would do anything to keep his child safe. I know he raised you to be able to stand on your own, but a parent’s duty is never over. He would want to protect you until the end.”   

Yuma laid an arm over his face to hide his eyes, clenching his hand shut tightly. The cracks in his hands protested at the movement, but Yuma barely noticed as he gritted his teeth. No, he wasn’t going to let Rindo’s words get to him. “I was there for Calvaria’s sake. I stayed after Dad’s death to fulfill the promise he made to Raymond, but I never put anyone’s safety above mine again. If it didn’t benefit me in any way, I stayed out of it.” Yuma shifted his arm up to his forehead so he could crack open his eyes so he could stare at his broken hand. “That was my decision and I followed it rigorously for four years. No one was more important than my life. But, then I came here and met Osamu. At every turn, he was getting in my business and wanted to help me, even though he was weak. It confused me so much how someone could so selflessly throw himself into danger and almost die constantly. I have never once helped someone just because it was the right thing to do.”   

That was surprising. It wasn’t at all like Yugo, who did fight for what he believed in, but, then again, Yuma was also his son. Yugo likely raised his son to think of his self-preservation before anything else. It would have been Yugo’s goal to just keep his son alive.   

“Watching Osamu, I seemed to get dragged into his flow of how to do things, and it was fun. After Dad died, I forgot how to enjoy life and saw no purpose to it. Osamu and Chika taught me how to be happy again. They showed me a world I had long forgotten existed. Protecting them, this world of fun and happiness became my top priority because I can’t lose it again, because if I do, I don’t think I'll be able to find it again.”   

Rindo smiled sadly. “It’s hard, isn’t it? When we went to Aristera to help our allies, I lost so many of my dear friends. Before that battle, Border had never lost one of its own, except Kuga-san, but he left the organization voluntarily to explore the Neighbor’s world. We knew the dangers of what we were doing, but didn’t truly understand until that day.”   

Buildings collapsing, people screaming in fear as they fled, his friends slain on the ground...all the moments flashed before Rindo’s eyes. Besides fighting Trion Soldiers they were able to find in this world, the only experience any of them had with fighting back then was their training sessions. That day in Aristera taught them the true horrors of war and the harshness of the Neighborhood.   

“It’s not an easy place to survive, so when Kinuta-san came up with a bail out system, we latched onto it because none of us wanted to go through the pain of losing our friends again.” Resting his elbows on his knees as he leaned forward, Rindo caught Yuma’s eye. “That includes you. You’re not just Kuga-san's son that we swore to protect. You're a friend and Border never turns its back on its friends. Just as we trust you to help us, you need to trust us to help you.”   

Yuma shifted his arm back down to cover his eyes again. He couldn’t bear to look Rindo in the eye right now. “Only if you promise no one will die.”   

“That’s not a promise I can make. We added as much protection to the agents as we could, but there will always be a risk of danger.”   

Yuma shook his head. “No, that’s a risk I know too well. That’s not what I'm asking. I don’t want anyone to put my life above theirs in the next few days. I already have one foot in the grave. If it’s between me and someone else, choose the person with the more likely chance of surviving the week. There's no reason for anyone else to die.”   

Rindo stared at his young agent sadly, the words never coming to him. Saving someone with their whole life ahead of them would be the most logical choice, but logic wasn’t something that always won out in the end.  

Emotions were a pretty strong determinate in the heat of the moment.  

There wasn’t time for any type of response to come from Rindo as the door to the lab sliding open had Rindo jumping to his feet so he could shift his body in front of Yuma. To his relief, it was just Jin and Shinoda coming in.   

“We are not having a party in here.” Kinuta grunted in annoyance.   

“Sorry, sorry,” Jin replied, far too cheerful for Kinuta’s liking. “Since you’re doing tests on Yuma’s Black Trigger, I thought it would be a good time to ask you to take a look at Fujin.”   

“Why?” Kinuta asked suspiciously.  

Jin placed Fujin gently down on the desk with the cracks facing upwards. Kinuta and Michael stared down at the Black Trigger in disbelief.   

“How the hell did that happen?” Kinuta demanded.   

The angry screaming had Yuma pushing himself into a sitting position to watch curiously, brushing the annoying wires out of the way.   

“It began to break last night when I was putting it back.”   

Yuma blinked, staring at Fujin. He wasn’t close enough to the desk to see the damage done to sword, but it’s not like he needed to see it. It was strange no matter how bad the damage was. “It’s not hard to destroy a normal Trigger, but Black Triggers are extremely difficult to even crack. It would probably require the power of another Black Trigger to do any damage.”   

Jin looked at Yuma, intrigued shining in his eyes. “What about the power of a false Black Trigger?”  

“You mean the Mimics?” Shinoda asked.   

“They’re the only ones Fujin has been used against recently.” Jin pointed out.   

“And Mogami was using wind blades against us.” Yuma’s brows furrowed in confusion as he looked towards the boring ceiling in thought. “Mimics using the Black Trigger abilities of the Black Trigger they made before death. Nothing about this makes any sense.”  

“They’re using the Black Trigger abilities, but they don’t actually hold the Triggers, so how strong can they actually be?” Kinuta asked.   

“The strengths of those abilities is nothing to scoff at. The seals Kuga-san was throwing at me felt just as strong as the ones Yuma flung at me.” Jin replied, glancing at Yuma for confirmation.  

“I wouldn’t put it out of the realm of possibilities.” Yuma agreed while Kinuta glanced back at the computer than at the Fujin blade.   

Kinuta rubbed his chin as he thought. “Kuga, you said your body is made from a Black Trigger, correct?”  

Yuma nodded. “Yup.”   

“Black Triggers amplify the user’s Trion,” Kinuta looked at the tablet he had resting on the desk which held Yuma’s file. “But when you got tested when you joined, your levels, while impressive, weren’t Black Trigger levels.”   

“Ah, my levels match that of my normal body. I don’t match Black Trigger levels unless I activate it and use my combat body. When it’s not activated, the Trion is being poured into the body’s systems to keep it functioning as well as powering the special features, like my regenerative ability.” Yuma tilted his head in thought. “My body lacks the same durability as normal Trion bodies though. I got hit by a car when I came here and that was enough to break my body.”   

Michael looked up from the computer to join the others in looking at Yuma in disbelief.   

“You’re not careful with that body at all.” Kinuta scoffed. “Just because you don’t feel the pain doesn’t mean you shouldn’t be paying attention.”   

Yuma pouted. “I didn’t know about cars!”   

“I thought Osamu explained everything about this world to you.” Jin said.   

“He helped a lot, but the first car that hit me was before I met him.” Yuma explained.  

Jin raised a brow. “First?” He asked shocked. Holy Mother of....this child needed to attend a class about safety or something.   

Kinuta shook his head, ignoring everything Yuma said. That kid’s lack of understanding of how to survive in this world was not important to him. It wasn’t what Tamakoma had asked him to look into. “The Trion powering your body is supplied by the Black Trigger so it makes sense that you wouldn’t have access to it. That Trion is working in overdrive to sustain that body for you. Normally for someone to recover Trion, they would deactivate their Trigger and rest. Eat and sleep, but it seems you recover Trion just by not fighting. Despite that, your body requires a lot of Trion to sustain itself and its special abilities it has, but that Trion is also spread thin throughout your body, which is why your durability is so low that it can be damaged by non-Trion attacks.”   

Michael turned the monitor around to show the rest of the room the numbers on the screen from measuring Yuma’s Trion. “We never got the chance to examine your Black Trigger before this so we have nothing to compare it to, but the Trion levels in the Black Trigger and what it should be sending to your body seem unnaturally low for being a Black Trigger.” He tapped on the screen at the numbers that were in relation to Yuma’s Black Trigger. “In fact, the number has dropped in the last couple of hours that you have been in here.”   

“It’s getting weaker?” Shinoda asked surprised, looking from the screen to Fujin. Fujin was starting to break and now Yuma’s Black Trigger was weakening. They had been unsure if Yuma’s body taking damage was because of the Mimics, but if both Black Triggers were getting damaged, the only relation between them were the Mimics.   

“I would have considered the possibility that it had to relate to his body inside the ring, but now that I'm seeing Fujin, it’s looking more like it’s an issue caused by the Mimics.” Kinuta said as he worked on hooking Fujin up to the computer to take some results. They at least had information about Fujin in the system so studying the Trion levels of Fujin in its current state would tell him something.   

Rindo sat back down in his chair, crossing his arms over his chest. “If that’s the case, will it be enough to kill the Mimics to fix the Black Triggers?”  

“Considering I don’t know how the Mimics are weakening our Black Triggers, I can’t answer that.” Kinuta tapped the top of the monitor. “Fujin’s level is still high, but it less than its normal levels. If we consider the fact that this is caused by the Mimics, it makes sense that it is related to Mogami appearing last night.”   

“Which means Yuma-kun's Trion levels are getting so low because Yugo-san has been in the city for days now and has been actively using the Black Trigger a lot.” Shinoda concluded.   

“It’s a working hypothesis, but I need to look more into this. For the time being however, neither this,” Kinuta motioned to Fujin on the desk then pointed at Yuma. “Or your Black Trigger should be used. We don’t know how they are being affected, but it’s possible that the more they are used, the more it will speed up the process of them breaking.”   

Jin eyed Mogami’s memento, fists clenching and unclenching at his side. Fujin was the last thing that Mogami had left behind. Besides his sunglasses, Fujin was the only thing he had of Mogami which was why he fought so hard to become its wielder a few years ago. He held onto the memory of his mentor for four years. He never truly gave up Mogami’s memory. Instead, he was honoring who his mentor was by turning Fujin in to protect a Neighbor and end the fighting. A peaceful resolution that Mogami would have been proud of. Since no one became the owner of Fujin afterward, Jin was still able to use it when the situation was dire enough.   

Even after all this time, for the organization he loved so much, Mogami was still helping Border so much. That help kept his mentor alive, but now there was the risk of them losing Mogami forever. Losing his mentor’s memento was not something that Jin would ever be able to accept. Fujin was left behind by his real mentor. He would not stand by while a fake version of his mentor destroyed his real mentor’s memento.   

Yuma wrinkled his nose. First, he lost his Border Trigger and now he couldn’t use his Black Trigger? That practically made him defenseless. He could still use his seals even without activating his Black Trigger, but he had the feeling Kinuta meant to not use his Black Trigger for anything. He knew he had said he would step out of the field for a while since he couldn’t be near his dad, but that didn’t mean he didn’t want access to his weapon in case something did happen.   

Chapter Text

“Oyaji...?”  

Yuma stared blankly ahead, mind not processing the fact that the dust blowing away in the wind was his father. All the pain he had felt in his body was gone, though the phantom memory of it was still in his mind, but there was a new pain added to them. When his father had appeared in front him a couple minutes ago, he was barely able to acknowledge that he was there because his body had been in the process of shutting down.   

Now, he was wishing that he never came to if this was what he had to return to.   

It wasn’t making any sense. He should be dead right now, so why was it flipped and he was sitting here, staring as his father turned to dust and blew away in the wind?   

This wasn’t right.   

“Yuma!”  

Yuma didn’t acknowledge the owner of that voice as he just continued to stare in front of him. Even when the hands fell on his shoulders, Yuma wasn’t even seeing Raymond.   

Raymond’s eyes flickered to Yuma’s bloody and ripped clothes and his now white hair before looking towards the spot where Yuma was staring at where a blue cloak laid surrounded by dust. Raymond’s eyes closed, defeat radiating off of him in waves as his hands tightened their grip on Yuma’s shoulders.   

Raymond may have done it out of shock and confusion as to what was going on, but to Yuma the pressure being applied to his shoulders was a grounding force, telling him that this was all reality. Yuma was alive and his father was just gone. He shifted his attention downwards towards his hand where a new accessory had been added, a ring...a Black Trigger.   

Why?   

“Osamu.”  

Osamu glanced towards his friend, raising a brow as he took in the gloves and the dark hoodie Yuma was wearing with the hood drawn over his face. “Going out to rob a bank, Kuga?”  

Yuma pouted, drawing the hood farther down his face to hide his eyes. “I just don’t want anyone to see the cracks on me as I leave HQ.” 

Osamu had to hand it to his friend. He really was trying his hardest to keep this a secret from everyone else, even though they were currently in the barracks. Still, that didn’t stop Osamu from frowning. “I don’t think it’s a good idea for you to be leaving HQ right now.”  

“I’m not running off this time. I am right here telling you that I will be back in a short while. I just need to pick something up.” Yuma replied, catching Hyuse’s eyes on the other side of the room, who had been entertaining Yotaro while listening to him explaining what they had been watching on the tablet between them. Hyuse turned his eyes back to what Yotaro was saying, but Yuma had a feeling he wasn’t listening to the kid anymore.  

Osamu raised a brow. His friend had been in the city all day yesterday and he couldn’t have bothered to get what he needed then? “You’ve been attacked by your father two times in the last two days. Do you really want to get attacked a third time?”  

That was a fair argument, especially after Yuma just said last night that he was going to step back from getting involved with his father anymore. He didn’t really want to step out of the field completely. His plan was just to step back from getting involved with his father, but Osamu did have a point that both times he got attacked, his father had managed to find him. If he went outside, maybe his father would be able to locate him a third time. While he still wanted answers from his father, Yuma also recognized the fact that he had messed up last night.  

From the moment he did it, Yuma felt immensely guilty for leaving Shun and Kageura to deal with the Rabits on their own. He left his friends behind for his own selfish desires. Before he came to Border, Yuma only bothered to look out for himself. Back then, he would have never second guessed his decision to go after his father while leaving his comrades behind to deal with their own problems.  

Ever since he met Osamu though, Yuma had been feeling himself change. It started with just caring about Osamu and Chika so his goal was to keep them safe and help them succeed in their own goals. Somehow it went from that to actually liking all the people he met in Border and wanting to help his friends. Now that he was involved in Border, he was seeing why his father spoke so fondly of the organization.  

This world was at war with Neighbors, but compared to the countries he visited as a child, it was the most peaceful place he had ever seen. They had their invasions here, but considering their attacks only last a few hours, maybe a few days, at most when compared to wars in the Neighborhood which lasted for years, the peace here was something Yuma wanted to protect. While he enjoyed fighting, all that time in war and meeting his new friends, Yuma has learned to value the peaceful moments.  

“I need something from Tamakoma.” Yuma said, shoving his hands in his pockets.  

Osamu raised a brow. “Tamakoma is off limits currently, or have you forgotten how destroyed it got in the attack the other day?” 

“Or the dangers of going back to a place Kuga already knows as a Border base. What if he is staking it out to see if you would come back?” Hyuse butted in. He handed the tablet to Yotora and left him on the bed to join Osamu and Yuma in their corner of the barracks.  

“He wouldn’t expect me to go back there so soon after his attack on the base.” Yuma argued.  

“Probably because he trained you better than that.” Osamu retorted, leaning over to duck his head as he took his glasses off so he could rub his eyes. After the first couple of days of Yuma being in Japan, he thought they were pass the headaches that Yuma would cause him, and they had been doing so good. Then, this week came and it’s been constant headaches caused by Yuma. Osamu wasn’t blaming Yuma too much. He understood this was a difficult week for his friend, but Osamu was done letting Yuma run off with his reckless actions. He wasn’t willing to lose his friend if there was anything they could do to prevent his death.  

“Did he though?” Hyuse asked, crossing his arms and staring at Osamu with a raised brow, not acknowledging Yuma. “This week shows me the recklessness lying underneath.”  

Osamu put his glasses back on with a sigh. “He’s not wrong, Kuga. You're usually a lot more cautious than this. I know your history with your father is hard for you, but I didn’t expect such recklessness from you in going after the Mimic of him.”  

Yuma stared at his captain for a moment as his shoulders slumped. He hadn’t just been a bad friend to Shun this week. There was nothing he had anything against Osamu. Osamu was his captain and friend, probably the friend he trusted the most out of everyone he had met in Japan. Despite that, Yuma had run from all his friends and could only focus on his problems and not the fact that he had friends here who were willing to help him.  

“Five years.” Yuma said softly, dropping down on the closest bed. “It will be five years since he died to save me in a few days.”  

It will be five years since the passing of Kuga Yugo in a few days. That would explain the mention of five years that Osamu heard about the other day. Having spoken with Yuma before about his father, Osamu understood that the anniversary of Yugo’s death would be a difficult time for his friend. Perhaps Yuma was feeling even worse than usual with the anniversary approaching because there was a Mimic of his father roaming about, haunting him. Osamu knew Yuma didn’t talk easily of what he was feeling, but his actions spoke pretty loudly to Osamu.  

The fact that Yuma was running off on his own constantly this week and the frustration he showed told Osamu just how much he was hurting this week. The Mimic was likely bringing up painful memories of his last moments with his father. 

Hyuse raised a brow. “Are you out to kill the Mimic for revenge to cover the pain of the loss or are you desperate to see your father again because you miss him?” Either answer would make sense to Hyuse. He may not know the pain of losing a loved one to death, but he did understand love. He was raised by a kind, loving master who Hyuse would do anything for, even join his former enemy to get back to Aftokrator. It may be seen as a traitorous action to Aftokrator, but saving his master was more important than the politics occurring in Aftokrator. Did that make him a horrible person? Like he told Osamu the other day, emotions skewed everything, so he didn’t think he was a horrible person. Everyone had their own personal reasons for doing what they believe in, and what Hyuse believed in was his master. For that reason, he could understand why Yuma was hurting from this. He had to be very confused.  

That didn’t change the fact that Hyuse still considered Yuma an idiot for his recklessness this week.  

“I’m not sure that should be a serious question.” Yuma replied. “We all realize at this point that I’m not able to fight him.”  

“But what is it you want from him?” Osamu asked.  

“Would you believe me if I said I want to know why he is attacking us?” 

“No.” Hyuse said instantly.  

Yuma rubbed the back of his neck. “Fair. Though I am after that information.” His eyes flickered to the ground. “When my dad died, he was smiling at me. There was no reason that smile should be on his face. He knew he was going to die to keep me alive. I just want to know why he was then.”  

“Do you really think a Mimic of your father can give you a real answer to that question?” Osamu asked.  

“He’s the closest thing I have, but,” Yuma hand’s curled into tight fists. He felt the cracks on his hand pull tight at the action, but didn’t shy away from possibly making them worse and just squeezed tighter. “I do recognize the dangers of this. I wasn’t expecting Dad to attack so viciously in the city like he did to get to me. I didn’t want Border involved in this, but they were better equipped than me to deal with this, and if I avoid getting involved anymore, the attacks in the city will stop.”  

Osamu stared at his friend in surprise, but felt a smile pull at his face. The Yuma he met months ago wouldn’t have cared about the city or civilians that were put in danger. The Yuma that appeared at his school so long ago was so clearly out for himself so it was nice to see him trying to avoid dragging his problems to the city.  

“And yet, you’re asking to go to Tamakoma.” Hyuse pointed out. “That’s in the city.”  

“I need to grab something.” Yuma reiterated. “It won’t take long.”  

A sigh escaped Osamu. Right, that was the point of this conversation. He didn’t think Yuma would risk going back to Tamakoma in the midst of this attack unless it was truly important. “You’re not going alone.” Osamu pushed himself to his feet, digging a hand into his pocket to make sure he had his Trigger on him. “Besides the danger of Border’s founders being in the city, we have no idea what will happen if your body continues to break. I don’t want you going to Tamakoma alone. Just, promise me there will be no running off to handle things on your own if we do get attacked.”  

A guilty look passed through Yuma’s eyes which he hid by pulling his hood down farther over his eyes.  

“I’m coming too.” Hyuse decided, leaving no room for argument from his teammates. “Where’s Chika? We should get her to come with us too.” 

“She’s at a joint sniper practice.” Osamu replied, following Yuma who was practically running out of the barracks, probably eager to start moving before Osamu could change his mind about this little trip. To be honest, he was already regretting agreeing for them to head out. There was no specific order for Yuma to stay in HQ, but it was likely because Yuma did make the promise to stay away from his dad.  

“Behave, Yotaro. We’ll be back later.” Hyuse shouted at the child before he and Osamu were heading after their teammates. “A shame. It would have been nice to have a sniper as backup when we inevitable get attacked.”  

“You’re too pessimistic.” Yuma shot over his shoulder.  

“Is it pessimism when we take your track record for the week into consideration?” Hyuse retorted.  

The headache from earlier was making a fast return to Osamu. He was pretty sure Hyuse and Yuma were friends, but sometimes he just couldn’t tell with them.  

*Mimics*  

“Have you heard from Yuma-senpai?” 

“Huh?” Kageura rested his arm back on the booth he was sitting in as he turned to find Shun standing by his table. He swears, he had lunch with him once because he and Yuma barged into his restaurant. That was not an invitation for the kid to interrupt him in the cafeteria at HQ.  

Shun narrowed his eyes in annoyance, hands slamming down on the table so he could lean more into Kageura’s space. “Yuma-senpai! I haven’t seen him since he abandoned us at the park yesterday!”  

Kageura shoved Shun’s face out of his space before scraping his nails over his neck. His self-restraint to keep from attacking people over setting off his side effect had been improving, but if Shun didn’t get some control, he was going to lose it and behead him. “No, I haven’t. I know he came back to HQ last night with Tamakoma, but I haven’t heard anything from Tamakoma all day. They're probably busy.”  

“Oh, so he’s okay?” Yoneya popped up from over at the other booth. He was sitting on his knees on his seat as he turned to face Kageura’s booth, forcing Murakami to inch a bit to the side to get Yoneya’s head away from being so close to his. “That’s good to know. Things weren’t looking good last night.”  

Kageura snarled at the other agent. Why could people not leave him the hell alone? “Yes, he’s still alive.”  

“I didn’t know you were involved in that mess yesterday.” Murakami said.  

Yoneya crossed his arms on top of the booth and leaned his head down on them. “Ah, we just ran into Kuga and his father. His father was not happy about that and called Marmods on us. The last I saw of Kuga, he was gone with his Mimic father. I thought Tamakoma was going to kill us for losing sight of him.”  

“At least you only had to deal with Marmods.” Shun replied. “We got stuck with Rabits that could use Yuma-senpai's Black Trigger abilities!” 

Yoneya whistled. “Lucky. Sounds fun.”  

Shun glared at Yoneya. “Then next time, you can deal with them and I'll take the Marmods. I hate Rabits.”  

“We don’t want there to be a next time.” Murakami pointed out.  

“Except we’re not delusional.” Kageura retorted, eyes roaming around the cafeteria to take in the agents and trainees that were milling about. “Kuga’s father already shown he’s not shy about opening Gates.”  

“It would have been nice to get some warning that he could do that.” Shun muttered.  

Yoneya raised a brow. “Jin-san was working on getting as much information about Kuga’s Black Trigger together as possible, but I guess they haven’t gotten around to sending a memo out about it. Shuji was telling us about it yesterday before that attack in the city happened.”  

“They need to get a handle on getting that done. If we can’t figure out the Black Trigger, it’s not going to be easy for us to win.” Murakami replied.  

Shun pointed at himself. “I’ve already seen the Black Trigger. Fought Kuga-san, even fought Rabits that use the same abilities as the Black Trigger. And during all of that, seeing the crazy seals that the Black Trigger houses and it even has the ability to open Gates to summon Trion Soldiers, I can safely say, Yuma-senpai's Black Trigger is overpowered! Like to an unfair level!” 

“Shuji said the same thing when we first encountered his Black Trigger.” Yoneya said, smirking. “We had the opportunity to fight Kuga using it, and we truly had no idea of what to expect. Granted, we didn’t know what type of Trigger he was using or that he would be that skilled at using it since he looks so young.”  

“Why were you fighting Kuga?” Murakami asked.  

“Training,” Yoneya lied easily while Shun shot him a knowing look. Interesting. That look was telling Yoneya that Shun knew more now, so maybe he and Yuma finally talked things out. He would have to ask later to confirm though. “Jin-san didn’t think it important to warn us it was a Black Trigger Kuga held though.”  

Kageura snorted. “How badly did you guys lose?” 

“Not that badly. Kuga held back in the fight. Like, in the end, he only threw one actual attack at us and that was all he needed to defeat us. The rest of the time, he just dodged us.”  

“Kuga? Kuga Yuma?” Murakami asked in disbelief. “He’s like one of the most aggressive fighters.”  

Yoneya hummed to himself. With it now being known that Yuma came to Border with a Black Trigger, there were plenty of ways to spin this without revealing any sensitive information about Yum’s Neighbor status. “We met Kuga before he was a Border member and just got off on the wrong foot. He didn’t actually want to fight us and cause trouble with Border so he held back on us. But there is something I learned.” He glanced at Shun. “Don’t assume you know everything about Kuga's Black Trigger. Those seals that are used are powerful, but you weren’t wrong to call the Black Trigger overpowered. His true ability is to copy other Triggers and make them his own. The only seals we know are the ones that Kuga has shown off to us. Who really knows just how many his Black Trigger actually holds?”  

Kageura scoffed. “It is stupidly overpowered.”  

Shun looked towards the roof thoughtfully. “Is that why he was firing lead bullet at me?” 

“He copied it from Shuji.” Yoneya explained amused.  

“It makes Kuga a great ally to have, but with those abilities in the hands of a Mimic of his father,” Murakami trailed off. Perhaps he should take the chance to find Yuma and get into a fight with him using his Black Trigger. If he could use his side effect to at least get an understanding of Yuma’s Black Trigger, it would help him against Kuga Yugo using the Black Trigger. It wouldn’t be exactly the same since it was likely Yuma and his father fought differently, but just learning how the Black Trigger worked would be a lot of help.  

*Mimics*  

“How do I keep missing all the action?” Tachikawa complained.  

Izumi looked over at his captain in disbelief before looking towards their operator. “Can you believe this guy? The city gets attacked and he’s whining about missing the fight.”  

“I still owe Kuga some revenge.” Tachikawa grumbled.  

“It was a fair defeat. An ambush is just as much as allowed as a loss in a fight.” Yu pointed out.  

Izumi waved her off. “Don’t try to rationalize with him on this. Nothing will satisfy him until he gets his rematch.”  

“Will he get a chance for a rematch?” Yu wondered. “He seems to be missing all the battles.”  

Tachikawa rubbed his chin. “Clearly what I need to do is go hang around Chibi. His father will show up eventually.”  

“It really feels so demeaning the more you call him that.” Izumi muttered.  

“Until his father is dead, that is his new name.”  

“I don’t think it’s fair to take your frustration out on Kuga.” Yu replied as the door to their operation room opened. She looked up, expecting Yuiga, but was surprised to see Jin strolling in. 

“Don’t you know how to knock? What gives you the right to just barge in here?” Tachikawa demanded.  

Jin raised a brow. “Did you and Izumi not just barge into Tamakoma a couple days ago to yell at my kouhai?”  

“That’s fair.” Izumi replied, grinning at Jin. “So, what’s brings you here?”  

“Mogami-san appeared last night.” Jin wasted no time on preamble. Of course, being so plain with what happened left the agents staring in surprise at him. “And to make matters worse, Fujin and Yuma’s Black Trigger are currently not able to be used. If we want to beat Kuga-san and Mogami-san, we’re going to need to work together.”  

“We’re being attacked by two of Border’s powerful founders and we can’t use the Black Triggers to end this conflict?” Izumi asked.  

“Both Black Triggers are damaged. It's not safe to use them.” Jin explained.  

“How exactly do you damage a Black Trigger?” Tachikawa demanded.  

Jin scratched the back of his head. “Uh, working theory right now is the Mimics of Mogami-san and Kuga-san are weakening the Black Triggers somehow.”  

Izumi leaned on Yu’s desk, planting his hands on either side to stable himself. “So, we just kill the Mimics then. Problem solved! If you knew how bad it was going to get, you should have come to us to work together to fight Kuga sooner.”  

“I can’t predict the future of Black Triggers. I didn’t know they were going to start to break. It shouldn’t even be possible.” Jin replied, taking a seat on their couch. “We only have Amo’s Black Trigger now, but...” Amo was strong, but the destructive nature of his Black Trigger wasn’t going to help them right now.  

Tachikawa raised a brow, crossing his arms. “What is it that you are after?” 

“Is the city in danger?” Yu asked. “When this all started, we were told the city wasn’t in danger since Mimics can’t target civilians, but we’ve now had two attacks in the city.”  

“Attacks I missed. The future is shifting constantly.” Jin replied, rubbing at his eyes. “If we’re not careful in the coming days, the danger can lead to the city. I can’t say exactly what will happen, but we’re all going to need to act.”  

“Do you know when?” Izumi asked.  

“Could be tomorrow. Could be the day after. It will happen some point in the next few days. I want you guys to be prepared, because I can’t see any of us beating Kuga-san or Mogami-san alone when they can both use Black Triggers abilities along with their normal Triggers.” Jin replied.  

Izumi’s head snapped up at that. “Both? Mogami-san can use a Black Trigger? You said nothing about that.”  

“Ah, right,” Jin said sheepishly. “He’s got Fujin’s wind blades on his side.”  

“How?” Izumi asked confused.  

Jin raised his hands weakly, just as confused as Izumi. “Mogami-san created Fujin and Kuga-san created Yuma’s Black Trigger so maybe being their creators, the Mimics of them get access to those powers.”  

“How does that make any sense?” Tachikawa retorted. “They are still just Trion Soldiers underneath that layer of their fake faces.”  

Jin rubbed at his chin, diverting his eyes towards the ceiling. They were both just fakes. Last night was his first time truly interacting with transformed Mimics, and it was truly amazing just how real they looked, how real they sounded. Unfortunately for the Mimics, Jin was not easily fooled. If he couldn’t see the future of someone, he would not fall for thinking they were real. In fact, he just felt anger at seeing Mogami. That Mimic had no right to take the form of his late mentor.  

“He is making a good point for once. I can accept that a Mimic has the skills and Triggers of the person it transformed into, but to have access to Black Triggers that the originals created upon death? I don’t see how that is possible or how that would wreck our Black Triggers.” Izumi replied.  

“I’m not the technical expert. You need to ask Kinuta-san about it, but he’s still working on it.” Jin said. Though, it was probably a good idea for no one to go bother Kinuta. With trying to work out why the Black Triggers were breaking in relation to the Mimics and trying to help Yuma, he was going to be plenty busy without agents interrupting him.  

“Heh, well, I don’t need to know the answers to that anyway. I'll just go out there and kill them and this will all be over.” Tachikawa replied.  

Jin glared at Tachikawa. “Don’t take this lightly. They will not be easy enemies. I only managed to get one hit on Kuga-san yesterday and I was using Fujin at the time. His reaction time is even better than Shinoda-san's.”  

“But, you got a hit.” Izumi pointed out. “That’s more than anyone else can say.”  

“We can end it today. We use Chibi as bait and draw Kuga to us, then we kill him.” Tachikawa said.  

“Yuma is dropping from field work for the time being. He needs to stay in HQ for a while.” Jin replied.  

Izumi raised a brow. “It doesn’t sound like Kuga to take time out of the field.”  

“Normally, he wouldn’t.” Jin agreed. “But he’s not feeling well right now.”  

“Is he really sick or can he just not face his father?” Izumi asked.  

“A bit of both actually, but it’s for the best. His Border Trigger got lost and now his Black Trigger is going to be off limits. He doesn’t have a means to fight right now.”  

*Mimics*  

The darkness of the room wrapped around Yuma like it was a blanket, his only comfort in the too big for one room. He laid on his side on his bed, hand scrunching up the blankets under him in a tight grip. The side of his face was smooched down on the bed, eyes locked on the ring locked over his finger. New white hair fell over his eyes making his heart clench at yet another reminder that nothing was the same anymore.   

“Replica,” Yuma’s hoarse voice echoed out in the too silent room. Somewhere around the room, he knew his partner was hovering. “What am I supposed to do now?”   

“I cannot answer that, Yuma. Only you can decide.”   

Yuma didn’t know what he was expecting. That was always Replica’s response when he asked about what course of action he should take. Dad made Replica in a way that Replica could never decide the actions that Yuma should take because he wanted Yuma to make his own choices in life.   

It was something he really hated in the moment.   

Yuma’s teeth gritted, pain somehow radiating through a body that couldn’t truly feel pain anymore. “Me decide? The evidence shows that I'm terrible at making decisions.”  

There was very little that Yuma brought with him when he came to Japan. To begin with, Yuma always had few belongings. When he left Tropoi years ago, Yuma never had a proper home again since he and his dad were constantly traveling from country to country. They didn’t have space for anything that wasn’t essential. If they couldn’t carry it, they couldn’t take it with them.  

It was a habit Yuma kept up with until he came to Japan and saw people riding bikes. He bought his bike on a whim to try it out with the intention of abandoning it here when he left to go back to the Neighborhood. Though, he never did leave and now had a steady place to live and store his bike.  

But he didn’t drag Hyuse and Osamu all the way to Tamakoma for his bike.  

Yuma kneeled on the floor of his room with his pack that held everything he brought from the Neighborhood. He was pretty sure he never threw it out. It had to be somewhere in his bag. 

*Mimics*  

Osamu rested a hand on the breakfast counter, or what was left of it, as he took in the destroyed living room and kitchen of Tamakoma. Nothing seemed to be intact. All the furniture was destroyed, wires were hanging around, there were holes in the walls. Having not been here during the attack, he really didn’t know just how bad the attack had been. At least Border didn’t waste any time in taking out the Trion Soldiers. 

Even without seeing the Trion Soldiers, it still hurt to see the destruction that was on the bridge that led to Tamakoma and now seeing the damage that was inside. When he first came to Tamakoma Branch all those months ago, he thought it was a very strange branch since it didn’t feel very military when in comparison to HQ. It felt weird, but now that he was a member of Tamakoma, he couldn’t see his life in Border being anything but a Tamakoma agent. It was all thanks to Yuma and the Tamakoma agents that he managed to succeed as an agent.  

So, to see his branch get wrecked like this wasn’t a sight he wanted to see. Tamakoma was becoming a home to him just as much as his home with his parents was. It was frustrating that he hadn’t been here to help defend it. By stepping back to give Yuma his space, he hadn’t been around to help like he should have been.  

Hyuse planted a foot on the rubble by the wall as he leaned forward to look out the hole in the wall to look at the river below them. “Anyone could be breaking into this base right now and stealing Border’s technology. Should this place really remain unguarded like this?” 

“The only holes in the building are over the river. No one is getting in that way and the doors are still locked so I doubt anyone will be getting in.” Osamu replied.  

“If someone is really determined, anyone can get in.” Hyuse retorted. “You guys should really be more careful.”  

Osamu shrugged. He was sure the security system was still working which is why Rindo wasn’t worried about the base. That, or he was just more concerned with the well-being of his agents than a building. “Since we’re already here, is there anything you need to pick up?” As much as Osamu loved Tamakoma Branch, he was not willing to come back here until the base was fixed and they were allowed back here. It felt like they were breaking some rules being here right now. 

“My Lampyris would be nice.” Hyuse replied.  

“I thought you got that back?” Osamu asked.  

“I used it briefly to help Yotaro, but I gave it back to him when I made the decision to join Border. With the situation we’re in, we shouldn’t be opposed to using any powerful Triggers we have on our side.” Hyuse turned away from the hole to look over at his captain.  

“I understand where you are coming from, but not only do I not know where it is locked up at, it’s dangerous to be using it right now. We don’t know what is going to happen in the next few days, but using Lampyris could draw unwanted attention, especially if any more of these attacks happen in the city and civilians see.” Osamu replied. “It’s too dangerous to just whip out that Trigger.”  

Hyuse raised a brow. “Are keeping secrets really more important than surviving?”  

“You said before that none of this affects you.” Osamu retorted, narrowing his eyes at Hyuse, trying to read him. “Using Lampyris puts you at risk. What do you think will happen to you if it is learned that you’re a Neighbor?” He shook his head, not bothering for an answer to that question. “I’m not making light of the situation we’re in, but we can’t just focus on the present. We need to look to the future as well and we need you on the away mission.” 

Hyuse shrugged. “The problems of this world don’t concern me, but Yuma is a part of our team. It's problematic for us if he dies before we can begin the away mission.”  

Osamu leveled a stare at Hyuse. From the moment he joined Border, his goal had always been the away mission. To him, it was never about making friends. He had made that perfectly clear to all of them. His job was to make their team stronger and get them up the ranks so Tamakoma-2 could qualify for the away mission.  

Not only did Hyuse improve their strength by being their second Ace, he went above and beyond to push Chika into doing what Hyuse was sure she was capable of–shooting.  

Everything Hyuse did was for the good of the team.  

But the fist bumping with his teammates after winning a rank war... 

Training with Yuma and getting competitive with their scores... 

Entertaining Yotaro by listening to him go on about whatever had his attention and just spending time with him... 

Osamu didn’t care how much Hyuse tried to deny it. Tamakoma, minus Jin, were growing on Hyuse. He could protest all he liked, but his need to help right now wasn’t just about his desire to get to Aftokrator. He wanted to help Yuma. There may be no love he felt for Border so he didn’t care that they were struggling with Mimics, but there was a care for his team that was slowly growing, not that he would ever admit it and Osamu wasn’t going to try to play therapist with him about it.  

Besides, he had other important things to focus on.  

Stepping into the hall, Osamu looked up the stairs. What was taking Yuma so long? He was expecting this to be an in and out kind of stop.  

*Mimics*  

Mogami slid his Kogetsu out of its sheath. He held the sword out in front of him and watched as he activated his wind blades. The gold semi-transparent blades blew around his main blade. He could make out fifteen wind blades that were at his disposal.  

Yugo lounged back on the pillar he was sitting by, eyes sliding shut. “A blade with the ability to produce wind blades that travel through surfaces before striking anywhere. It seems quite fitting of you.”  

“Well, not anywhere.” Mogami said, swinging his sword and sending three slashes through the ground at his feet. The slashes traveled through the ground before protruding out of the wall on the other side of the train tracks and slamming into one of the pillars over there. Those three strikes were enough to break the pillar and knock it over. Without the support, part of the roof on that side of the track was knocked down. “I can only send the blades through surfaces that I can see. If I can’t see the enemy, I won’t know when to have the blades to strike.”  

“Your protégé seemed quite adept at handling it. He even blocked your attack.” Yugo replied.  

“He does have a side effect that allows him to predict the future. It will be hard to hit him.” Mogami explained, getting Yugo to open his eyes to look at him in surprise at the information.  

Yugo hummed to himself. “How convenient it was of you to leave behind a Black Trigger that worked so well with your protégé.”  

“It wasn’t necessarily for him. I wanted to leave behind a powerful weapon that would help make Border stronger.” Mogami said.  

“Which is why the weapon is so fitting for you. But, what forced you into that position?” 

Mogami diverted his attention to the sky, watching the clouds slowly drifting by. He could clearly recall going to Aristera. It had been absolute chaos with all the fighting, buildings collapsing, the screaming from civilians, blades swinging through the air.... 

“I was in Aristera.” Mogami said slowly, trying to recall everything that happened back then. “They were being invaded and called us for help. We gave all our strength into helping them.”  

Yugo cracked one of his eyes open to look at his friend. Aristera? He knew that Aristera was one of the nations that Border had made an alliance with a long time ago, back around the time that Border was created. He hadn’t heard anything about Aristera ever being attacked, but with how large the Neighborhood was and how he was constantly traveling, it would be easy to miss that information, because had he known, he would have gone straight there to assist his friends.  

“But it wasn’t enough.” Mogami said softly. That was right, wasn’t it? They got to Aristera as fast as they could, but even with Border assisting, it was overwhelming. They did what they could to push the invaders back, but.... “It was a horrible war. I created a Black Trigger in it as a last resort.”  

“War is unforgiving.”  

Mogami glanced at Yugo out of the corner of his eyes. It was a simple response, but one that Mogami felt spoke volumes about Yugo. His friend had spent a lot longer in the Neighborhood than anyone else in Border. Yugo loved the Neighborhood and always wanted to know more about it, but it was not a safe place. There was so much war over there. “What kind of Black Trigger did you leave behind?” He asked curiously.  

“It was armor with the power of seals and it can copy other Triggers to add to its arsenal.” Yugo explained.  

“Armor?” Mogami repeated, looking over at Yugo with a raised brow. “And seals? What was your goal when you created your Black Trigger?” 

Yugo tilted his head down, eyeing the sword at his waist. “To save my son. I wanted to protect him. That's what I was thinking at the time.” 

“You are a warrior who is a protector at heart. Your Black Trigger makes sense.” Mogami replied as he turned his sword over, watching as the blades blew in the wind. “What about Black Triggers? Can yours copy these abilities?”  

“No, there is a limit to even what Black Triggers can do.”  

Mogami smiled. “True, there is a balance to everything.” He lowered his sword, pointing the tip towards the ground as he turned to his friend, who was still relaxing on the ground. “It’s been a long time. What do you say to a spar?”  

Yugo raised his head to take in his old friend. The last time they had fought was right before Yugo had left Border to go to the Neighborhood. It was a fight that came to be because Yugo had said he was leaving and there was no guarantee that he would come back to Japan. Since they had been friends since they were kids, practically brothers at this point, it had upset Mogami that Yugo said he was leaving. Their last fight was probably the most brutal, but also most emotionally invested one they ever had. They had each been so determined to win what could have possibly been their last fight ever. 

It was ironic that it was their only fight to ever end in a draw.  

Pushing himself to his feet, Yugo planted a hand on one of his swords, smirking at his friend. “Sounds fun, but no Black Triggers. We don’t want to draw attention to us.”  

Mogami replied by turning his wind blades off and taking a few steps back away from Yugo.  

Yugo slid one of his swords from its sheath. 

*Mimics*  

Jin’s eyes roamed around the room in confusion before settling on Yotaro, who was relaxing on his bed with Raijinmaru and his tablet. “I didn’t think Yuma would want to leave the room.”  

“He went to Tamakoma.” Yotaro said without looking up from his tablet.  

“Tamakoma?” Jin repeated blankly. Their branch that was currently off limits? 

“Osamu and Hyuse went with him.” Yotaro added, a pout in his voice. He should have asked to go with them, but when he heard their conversation, which he started to eavesdrop on when Hyuse left to join it, there was a small part of him that was scared to see Tamakoma after the attack. He's seen the destruction caused to the city by Neighbor attacks, but somehow that would be different than seeing it done to his home.  

Jin pinched his nose. At least there was a positive. Yuma wasn’t running off on his own. It was slightly better he went with his teammates, but not by much since none of them were supposed to be at Tamakoma. He had assumed when Yuma said he would take a step back from field work for the time being, that he wouldn’t be running off into the city. After that attack from Kuga Yugo yesterday, no one in a Trion body was supposed to be in the city. That meant Yuma was not allowed to leave the Restricted Zone until the Mimics were done with.  

Leaving Yotaro alone, Jin turned around and pulled his phone out, hitting speed dial without much of a thought. “Hey, Captain Four-Eyes, Tamakoma, really?” He said by way of greeting once the phone stopped ringing, not even giving Osamu a chance to say hello. The groan he received in response to his greeting was enough to tell Jin that Osamu knew what a bad idea this was.  

“Kuga needed to pick something up.” Osamu replied. “I am sorry, Jin-san. I know it’s reckless to be here right now since Kuga-san knows about the base, but it seemed like it was important to Kuga and he was going to come alone originally.”  

“Well, is everything fine at least? You haven’t run into any trouble?” Jin asked.  

“No, it’s been very peaceful.”  

Jin nodded, even though Osamu couldn’t see him through the phone. “Just have Yuma get what he needs and come straight back to HQ, no detours.”  

*Mimics*  

“Mistakes are a part of life, Yuma. It is how you learn and grow from them that matters.” Replica said.   

Yuma’s hand curled tightly into the blanket under him.   

Something dropped onto the bed. The slight added weight that bounced the bed by his feet had Yuma cracking his eyes open to stare down at his feet to see a Trigger lying down there. “Is that....?”  

Yuma stared down at the Trigger resting in his hand. His father’s old Border Trigger. He always claimed his Black Trigger was the last thing he had left of his father, but that wasn’t necessarily true. While Yuma’s Trigger back then was destroyed by the Black Trigger assassin after he was defeated, Yugo’s Trigger had survived the day. There was never any need for Yuma to need it, but Replica had picked it up before anyone had seen to give it to Yuma.  

His father’s old Trigger that Yuma always held onto, but never used as he always had his Black Trigger. In the war, it was far better to rely on the Black Trigger, then a normal Trigger. There was honestly no point in keeping Yugo’s Border Trigger back then, but Yuma could never bring himself to toss it out. If he wasn’t going to use it, then it was just taking up space so he should get rid of it.  

That was the logical course of action, and Yuma was a logical person.  

Usually.  

Yuma slid the Trigger in his pocket as he rose to his feet, sweeping his eyes over his room. It was technically the guest room that Rindo let him take. Despite being here for months, the room was still bare of any personal effects. All he bothered to keep in here were his clothes and his pack with the stuff he brought from the Neighborhood. He truly saw no purpose in decorating a room that he spent no time in. Honestly, the only reason he even had a room was so he had somewhere to put his clothes. Even if he wanted to decorate the room, he didn’t know how. He’s never had a space that was actually his to do with what he wanted.  

Even his room in Calvaria was never truly his as it was just handed to him so he had a place to sleep when he first went there to help them. He always knew he wouldn’t stay in Calvaria forever and the room wasn’t his to keep. It was never something that bothered Yuma before, and it still wasn’t. A room was just a room. He could live without having a personalized space for himself because what he truly cared about were his friends.  

Even with that being the case, Yuma was feeling so helpless as of late, a truly foreign feeling to him. His friends were constantly being attacked by his father, and Yuma was doing nothing except trying to find his father to talk to him. If he couldn’t bring out the strength to fight his father to stop him, then he needed to step back and allow Border to take care of it, which was not how Yuma tended to handle things.  

There wasn’t another choice though. With his Border Trigger missing and his Black Trigger at risk of breaking, possibly because of the Mimics, there wasn’t much he could do. It was a horrible position for him to be in. He hated that there wasn’t anything he could do.  

Yuma gripped the Trigger he picked up tightly in his pocket. Even with this Trigger, there wasn’t much Yuma could do. At the very least, the Trigger at least gave him a weapon to use to defend himself. He was sure he could still activate his Black Trigger, but since Kinuta gave the warning that it could be dangerous and it was tied to his current Trion body, Yuma was going to try to avoid being put into a position that would force the use of a Black Trigger.  

He came here to find his dad’s old Border Trigger, not because he was going to go back on his word to step back from the field, but because he would not sit back with no way to defend himself. Just because his body was damaged, that did not mean he was a helpless damsel.  

“Kuga! What's taking so long?” Osamu shouted up towards him.  

The shout woke Yuma up from his thoughts and he was turning and running out of his room without another thought. “Sorry, sorry.” He shouted back as he jogged down the stairs. “You guys ready to go?” 

“You’re the only one who wanted to come here.” Hyuse grumbled, slamming the door to the living room shut behind him as he joined his team in the hallway.  

Yuma raised a brow, but didn’t comment on Hyuse’s sudden shift to being in a bad mood. He would be over whatever it was that was bothering him in a few minutes. Hyuse seemed to never stay in his bad mood for long.  

“Did you find what you wanted?” Osamu asked.  

“Yeah, ready to go.”  

“Straight to HQ. Jin-san called while you were up there and he wasn’t happy we were here.” Osamu replied.  

“Oh? Did he have a vision?” Yuma asked.  

“He said nothing about that, but you did make the promise last night to step out of the field.” Osamu replied.  

Yuma folded his hands behind his head, looking away with a frown. “This isn’t actively taking part in any field work. We just went back to our base.”  

Osamu glanced down at his phone in his hand. “And now we’re heading back to HQ before Jin-san feels the need to call me again.”  

“You could just not answer. That's what I do.”  

“That’s a horrible idea, Kuga. We're in the middle of an attack from an enemy we know nothing about and who currently have two of Border’s founders on their side. It's not a good idea to not respond when someone is trying to reach you. They might think something is wrong.” Osamu scolded.  

Yuma raised his hands in surrender. There really wasn’t any way for him to respond to that since he had been in plenty of danger this week. Normally, his friends wouldn’t worry about him when he was off on his own, but because it was his father and Yuma couldn’t bring himself to fight his father, they did have reason to be concerned, as frustrating as it was for Yuma to find himself in this situation.  

“Lead the way then, Osamu.”  

The sunlight was blinding as Osamu led his teammates out of Tamakoma. It was disheartening to look at the destruction on the bridge from the attack the other day, but at least all the Trion Soldiers were gone. When he agreed to come with Yuma to Tamakoma, he had been worried there would be workers here fixing up the base and bridge, but it seems Border hadn’t gotten around to sending them out here yet. They might be waiting for the issue with the Mimics to be resolved so they didn’t risk any lives at Tamakoma’s Branch in case Yugo did come back.  

“Do you have anyone that the Mimics could transform into?” Yuma asked.  

Osamu glanced over his shoulder, but when he saw Yuma was looking at Hyuse, he looked back forward and continued walking, though he did keep listening to the conversation.  

“No.” Hyuse replied. The only person he probably cared about enough for the Mimic to be able to transform would be his master, but his master was still alive. Even if Hyrein managed to make his master into the Mother Trigger before he managed to get home, his master would still be alive. Though being made one with a Mother Trigger and being forced to sustain the nation did not sound at all like living to Hyuse. Considering they had a few more years before their current God died, Hyuse’s master should still be safe. It shouldn’t take them years to get on the away mission and get to Aftokrator. There was no need to rush. Their team had already been selected for the next mission. Once they had dealt with the Mimics and get through their training for the mission, they would be on their way.  

There wasn’t much that Osamu knew about the Neighborhood, apart from what Yuma had told him. From the way that Yuma spoke, Osamu was under the impression that there were a lot of wars over there which led to a lot of causalities. It was impressive that Hyuse hadn’t felt any of that pain or loss yet. Though, perhaps that was because Aftokrator was the military powerhouse of the Neighborhood. They probably rarely felt the suffering that other countries were hit with constantly. Though, from what Enedra told them, that wouldn’t be the case for much longer if they didn’t get a new God soon.  

“That’s good. I imagine everyone you know is pretty strong.” Yuma replied.  

“I doubt the people you’ve met over the years are slackers.” Hyuse said. “Especially your father. I've been around the base quite a bit the past few days and everyone is complaining about him, but I think they are also very impressed with his strength.”  

Yuma hummed in agreement. While he had always been amazed with his dad’s strength, never once in all their training sessions had he been able to get a clean hit on him, it was a pretty big problem for them all now.  

Hyuse stared down at Yuma, frowning. They both had really different childhood, despite both growing up in the Neighborhood. The past few days had really shown Hyuse just how different they were. He didn’t think it would be this difficult to get Yuma to open up about it though. Hyuse was just genuinely curious, but he didn’t expect it would take prying for him to learn anything. “Japan is your father’s home, but Tropoi is yours. Why did you choose to come here after his death, instead of heading back home?”  

“To Tropoi?” Yuma asked surprised, as if the idea of going back to his home country had never been an option for him.  

“Where else would I mean?” Hyuse asked annoyed. “You’re certainly not invited to Aftokrator being your home.”  

“Eh, been there, seen better.” Yuma shrugged, making Hyuse glare at him.  

“Like Tropoi is any better.”  

Yuma shrugged again. “I’m partial to Liberi myself. It was fun there. I don’t remember enough about Tropoi to argue that it is better than Aftokrator.”  

“But it’s your home country?” Hyuse said confused.  

“That I haven’t seen since I was five.” Yuma pointed out.  

“Do you not consider it home anymore because of that?” Osamu asked.  

That question was apparently important enough to get Yuma to freeze in answering right away as he mulled over the answer. He had nothing against Tropoi. He didn’t remember enough about it to really have much of an opinion. He remembered their Tsuchigami because they had been such a constant in the first few years of his life and because his father would tell him things about Tropoi growing up since he said it was important to know his heritage.  

But, it was just information. Yuma wasn’t going to form an opinion on Tropoi without seeing it again. So, without many memories of Tropoi, the only thing tiring Yuma to it would be his mother.  

However... 

“The only thing that would entice me to go back to Tropoi would be my mother, but the night my father and I left Tropoi, she was killed. I have nothing left to tie me to Tropoi.”  

Osamu was now founding himself under the impression that life was just out to get Kuga Yuma. He cannot recall one good thing that Yuma told him about his life before Border.  

“I’ve never called anywhere home since I left Tropoi. I never stayed in one place long enough.”  

“Not even Calvaria?” Osamu inquired.  

A dark, unpleasant look crossed over Yuma’s face.  

Osamu grimaced. “Sorry, Kuga. I know that war was unpleasant for you, but you had your friends to help you and be your support so I thought...”  

Yuma shook his head, dismissing the rest of Osamu’s thought. “I’m not selfless. I didn’t help Calvaria out of the goodness of my heart or because I felt for them.” He looked to the sky, a scowl forming. “I don’t care what Kido-san says. I'm nothing like my father.”  

Osamu’s steps came to a halt as he turned to face his friend, catching his eyes. “I never knew your father personally, so I can’t compare you two, but I also don’t think Kido-san would make that comparison lightly.” He broke eye contact before Yuma to look at the sky, feeling a sense of calm wash over him. “Besides, I seem to recall Replica saying your father helped Calvaria to return a favor to an old friend. He did it to help a friend, not because he was selfless enough to help a country that was being invaded. Just as you chose not to get involved in this world’s Neighbor problem until I needed help.”  

“I’m sure that didn’t take long.” Hyuse mumbled.  

“It truly didn’t.” Yuma agreed, amusement rolling off of him in waves. “He was running after Neighbors as an ill-equipped trainee.”  

“I thought trainees weren’t allowed to fight?” Hyuse held no care to Border’s rules to trainees since he knew he was going to rush through that phase, but he was sure he heard a rule about no fighting Neighbors with a training Trigger.  

“They’re not, but Osamu has no regards for the rules.”  

“Clearly. He did accept two Neighbors into his squad.”  

Was he being insulted? Osamu couldn’t tell with these two. They were both usually a lot blunter about it. He didn’t think either of them learned the meaning of subtle recently.  

*Mimics*  

Mogami took a step back to better brace himself as he took the force of Yugo’s strike, locking their swords together. He looked at the second sword still sheathed at Yugo’s waist before he was meeting Yugo’s smirk with one of his own. As it wasn’t against the rules they set, Yugo could pull his second blade out, but he would be waiting until he could catch Mogami off guard with it. 

That wasn’t going to happen though. 

Adding a second sword to his arsenal was something Yugo originally did to one up Mogami years ago. He wasn’t ashamed to admit it caught him off guard plenty of times, but Mogami had since mastered the art of fighting Yugo.  

Besides, Yugo wasn’t the only one improving over the years.  

Mogami's sword scraped along Yugo’s as he forced them apart, putting distance between the two fighters. When he pulled his sword to his side, Yugo hesitated in moving towards him and instead backstepped, looking on curiously. It had been a long time since he last saw his friend so his fighting style had to have improved over the years. 

Seeing it for the first time, the extending blade slash was a surprise but it would have worked better if there wasn’t a set up for it that Yugo could see. It gave him more than enough time to block the slash.  

At least, the first slash. Mogami didn’t let up after one Senku. He sent multiple extending slashes flying towards Yugo, who took a step back with each slash he blocked. With Yugo distracted with the Senku slashes, Mogami used the nearby bench as a stepping stone to jump over the last of his slashes that Yugo was contending with and swung his sword towards Yugo’s head. It was not at all surprising when Yugo’s second sword was swinging up to meet his sword to stop his swing.  

“My best time yet.” Mogami said.  

Yugo raised a brow. “At what?” 

“Twenty-seven seconds to force you to draw your second blade.”  

Yugo snorted, swinging one of his swords up to rest it on his shoulder. “You kept track of that?” 

“You wouldn’t? It was a sense of pride to force you into drawing it, but you don’t seem to hold back on pulling it out anymore.” Mogami may not have seen the fight he had with Jin and Yuma, but he did see the swords he wasn’t hesitating with.  

“I don’t make a habit of holding back in a real battle.” Yugo replied. “I held back on using two swords against you because I enjoyed our spars and wanted to have them last, but you were never an easy match. It wasn’t easy to learn to wield two swords, but I was determined to learn it just to throw you off in one of our matches.”  

Mogami stepped back from Yugo, sheathing his sword as there was no point in continuing the fight. “You consider Jin and your son a real battle?” He didn’t wait for an answer as he turned away from Yugo and walked down the platform, looking up towards the sky. He had asked for a spar with Yugo because he has been itching for a fight. It hadn’t even been a full day since he arrived in Mikado City, but the burn to hunt down the Black Trigger that Jin was carrying last night and destroy it was getting strong. He wasn’t sure how much longer he could keep himself from going to Border to find Jin and that sword.  

“I don’t see them as the enemy.” Yugo admitted, sheathing his swords. “But I can only hold back the urge to destroy the Black Trigger for so long. I don’t understand this need to destroy them, but I do know I dread this feeling.” He looked down at his empty palm, imagining the feeling of his Trigger being there while looking at his injured son. “I know when I can’t hold back the urge anymore, I will go after the Black Trigger, but that Black Trigger is the only thing keeping my son alive. If I can’t fight this programming, I am going to kill him.”  

“You’ve always been so strong, Yugo. If you can’t find the strength to resist this programming, there is nothing we can do.” Mogami planted a hand on the hilt of his sword, gripping it tightly. He wasn’t sure what Yugo was referring to about the Black Trigger keeping his son alive, but if Yugo wanted to tell him, he would. “So perhaps, we should just make a move while we’re still thinking clearly.” 

“Except, it’s not that easy.” Yugo replied. “Even if I approach Yuma with a clear mind, the closer I am to the Black Trigger, the more my mind fogs up and I lose sense of myself and what I want. All I can think of is that the Black Trigger needs destroyed.”  

“What will come of destroying it?” Mogami asked.  

“Maybe I'll found out when it gets destroyed.” Yugo replied. He looked down at his hand, opening and closing it a few times. With each battle he found himself surviving, he felt stronger after it. And he didn’t mean that each battle was giving him more experience which was helping him grow.  

“Thought you didn’t want that.”  

“It feels inevitable at this point.”  

Mogami could offer to kill Yugo right now to prevent it, but he wouldn’t be able to succeed in striking down Yugo. In that short thirty second spar, he felt a pull in his muscles that wanted to pull him back from fighting Yugo. It was never a feeling he had when he fought his friend in the past, so he had a feeling this was part of the Mimic programming that Yugo was talking about. It was hard to throw those few strikes at Yugo since it felt like something in him was fighting against him, like the programming in him was fighting with him about attacking his fellow Mimic, even though it was just a spar with no intention of killing.  

*Mimics*  

Finding himself alone on Border’s roof, Yuma pulled the hood of his hoodie down, letting the sun bare down on his face. Ignoring everything around him, Yuma pulled out his father’s old Border Trigger. 

“Trigger on.”  

A few sparks of Trion frizzled out from the Trigger, but nothing else happened.  

Yuma stared in displeasure at the Trigger he went out of his way to pick up. “Trigger on!”  

Trying to activate the Trigger a second time yielded in the same results. A few sparks, but no transformation into a combat body. What he did get was the feeling of the cracks on his neck spreading up his neck and reaching the left side of his face as in warning to not try that again.  

Yuma dropped to his knees, Trigger falling to the ground near him as he grabbed his face in shock.  

“Damn it.”  

Chapter Text

If there was one thing he was absolutely certain of, it was that he, Rindo Yotaro of Tamakoma Branch, age five, was really good at keeping secrets. He knew that he and his sister were Neighbors and royalty from a nation that was destroyed five years ago. He knew about every member of Border that was a Neighbor. He knew about Raijinmaru being a Crown Trigger.  

And he never spilled those secrets to anyone who wasn’t supposed to know.  

Which is why it felt like a betrayal when he got thrown to his sister last night and told to have a sleepover with her. As much as he loved his sister, they never had sleepovers like that. Yotaro was not as blind or deaf as the Tamakoma members believed. He knew they wanted him out of the way so they could talk privately in the barracks.  

They were keeping something from Yotaro and that was something he would not stand for. He was just as much a member of Tamakoma as everyone else and was a great secret keeper. Why should he be left out?  

“What are you doing wandering around alone, munchkin?”  

Yotaro peaked his head out from the table he and Raijinmaru were under. “My favorite ‘Yo’ brother!” He greeted with a wave. “I’m working as a spy.”  

Yoneya raised a brow before he grabbed Yotaro by the back of his shirt and pulled him out from under the table. “Don’t crawl under the tables. People are trying to enjoy their lunches peacefully.”  

“We’re not really doing anything right now.” Shun pointed out, leaning in his chin in his upturned palm as he stared at Yoneya dropping Yotaro onto his shoulders. “We should head to the solo rank booths. It would be more productive than this.” 

“As fun as that sounds, I think the munchkin needs dropped off with his babysitters.” Yoneya replied. “He really shouldn’t be left to wander around alone.”  

“If you’re looking for a fight, I'll gladly take the chance to kill you.” Kageura called over to Shun from his booth.  

Shun grimaced. He should have talked softer to Yoneya so Kageura’s table couldn’t hear him. “You know, I should help Yoneyan-senpai get Yotaro back to Tamakoma.”  

Murakami turned around in his seat, resting his arm on top of the booth as he looked at Shun with a smirk. “That’s not a two-person job.”  

“Nooo,” Yotaro tugged at Yoneya’s cheek. “I need to find out what they’re hiding.”  

Yoneya pried Yotaro’s hand off of his cheek. “Who is hiding what now? It certainly isn’t us so I don’t know why you were trying to spy on us.”  

“Tamakoma!” Yotaro cried.  

“You part of Tamakoma.” Murakami replied confused.  

The aggravation dropped out of Yotaro as he planted his face in Yoneya’s hair. “And they’re hiding something from me. I got booted out of the barracks last night so they could all talk.”  

That seemed to get the agents’ full attention as they all seemed to perk up. Before, they were just entertaining Yotaro’s game of being a spy, but now it seemed like he was truly trying to figure out something important.  

“Tamakoma seems to be keeping a lot of stuff private lately.” Shun said. He supposed that he could add Yuma’s Neighbor status into that. There was no way his branch didn’t know about that. That was the only secret that Shun had been let in on, but he was sure there was more going on in Tamakoma. While they were a part of Border, they were still allowed their secrets as a separate branch. There was no need to share all information if it didn’t affect anything.  

However, considering they decided to have a meeting after that attack in the city last night and sending Yotaro away for the night, Shun had a feeling it was probably important. He was curious what it was about, but if they needed to know, he was sure Tamakoma would inform them eventually. Trying to snoop around and steal the information would just make them mad.  

“Perhaps it’s best to not get in the way.” Murakami suggested, clearly thinking along the same lines as Shun. “We have a lot going on right now. It's best not to complicate matters for them.”  

“I’m not! I am a member of Tamakoma too. I deserve to know!” Yotaro argued. “Things have been weird for days. Yuma has been talking as if he doesn’t plan to come back to Tamakoma when this is all over! He needs help!”  

Shun’s eyes widened momentarily before he was relaxing his expression. There was that conversation with Kuga Yugo the other night about Yuma dying this week and Yuma clearly knew something about that since he wasn’t surprised and didn’t even look worried when Shun told him. It seemed there was more being hidden under Yuma’s Neighbor status. 

“When did he say that?” Shun demanded, surprising not only Yotaro at the assertiveness, but the other agents as well. “Was it yesterday?” 

Yotaro’s brows furrowed as he tried to think over when he heard Yuma say that. “It was after Tamakoma got attacked.”  

Which was before Shun had even met Yugo.  

“Are you absolutely certain he was implying he wouldn’t be coming back to Tamakoma?” Shun asked.  

Shun’s questions seemed to spark a new light in Yotaro’s eyes as he saw a partner in Shun for his spying. “Yes! He kept skirting around the answer.”  

“Are you really going to entertain his spy game?” Kageura asked.  

Shun pushed himself to his feet. “I am now. I have to talk to Yuma-senpai about something.”  

“Oh?” Yoneya said intrigued, climbing out of the booth, being careful not to knock Yotaro off of his shoulders. “Did you figure something out?” 

“Possibly, but I need Yuma-senpai or Jin-san to confirm for me so I guess I really am going with you to see Tamakoma.” Shun replied.  

“Or you’re making an excuse to avoid a fight with me.” Kageura shouted at their retreating forms.  

Murakami snorted at Kageura’s annoyance. When Shun loses a lot of points, he tends to avoid having fights with agents who he know he will lose to so he won’t suffer that much, and from what Murakami knew was that Shun lost a lot of points to Yuma this week already. Kageura would have better luck getting a match from Shun in a few days. Though it was strange he was vying for a match from Shun anyway. He didn’t think those two ever hung out.  

*Mimics*  

It didn’t seem like a bad idea at the time.  

He had agreed with Kinuta about it being dangerous to use his Black Trigger. His ring, unlike Fujin, didn’t have any cracks in it, but his body which was powered by the Black Trigger was taking all the damage in return. With that being the case, it felt like a good idea to not activate his Black Trigger since there was no telling what could happen if he did that.  

With that in mind, he went to Tamakoma to pick up the old Trigger from his father since he wouldn’t be getting a new Border Trigger anytime soon. While the situation he was in was unprecedented, he didn’t think he would be in such a bad place that he couldn’t even get a Trigger to activate.  

If he couldn’t even activate a Trigger, that was a huge sign that things were way worse than he thought. It was a telltale sign that he was dangerously low on Trion. His Black Trigger supplied the Trion to keep his body operational, but it seemed the damage being done to his body was affecting all of his Trion. Yuma was no expert on what was going on since the situation he was in was unique and he was still learning new things about how his body would be affected by different things. He could, however, make an educational guess though.  

Perhaps his own supply of Trion was trying to make up for the Trion that was being lost from the Black Trigger. It couldn’t heal his body, but it could try to keep his body going, but it required so much Trion that he didn’t have enough left over to use Trigger. If that was the case, it would be dangerous to use any Trion at all. If all of the Trion available in his Black Trigger and his own Trion were working to keep him alive, he couldn’t afford to waste any, which wouldn’t be hard to do if he couldn’t get a Trigger to activate. He would have to resist trying to use any more of his Black Trigger seals though.  

Yuma scooped up his father’s old Trigger and pulled his hood back up over his head. He shoved himself to his feet in the same motion, but almost immediately fell back over as his vision blurred. If it wasn’t for the ledge next to him that he used to brace himself on, he would have fallen back to his knees.  

This was a feeling he hasn’t felt in a long time. Since his father gave him this Trion body, Yuma didn’t feel much of anything. He didn’t get tired. He didn’t feel weak. He didn’t get lightheaded. All he had was a feeling of hunger and some pressure he felt that was reminiscent of pain. In the almost five years of living in a Trion body, he had never been in a spot bad enough that he would be in a position like this so he never thought it was possible.  

Trion bodies weren’t invincible. Yuma did understand that so in the back of his mind, he knew that it was possible for the systems of a Trion body to be overridden. Aftokrator proved that with their Rabits that were able to override the pain systems of the Trion bodies and painfully shock the agents.  

It's just been so long since Yuma felt like this. He had forgotten how it felt and how weak it made he feel. Keeping a hand to his head as he made his way off the roof, Yuma used his other hand to brace himself on the wall to try to keep himself upright. That Trigger had been such a horrible idea. For the first time in years, he wanted to, felt like he needed to actually, lie down and wait for this feeling to pass. Perhaps if he rested he could recover from that stupid move.  

All he wanted was to see if the Trigger would still work. He never bothered to try to activate it after his father died so he wanted to confirm that it was still operational. It was just meant to be a backup for him until they could get all these problems with the Mimics and the Black Triggers being damaged fixed.  

*Mimics*  

“What did you go to Tamakoma for anyway?” Konami asked, staring down at Osamu sitting on the bed with crossed arms.  

Osamu shrugged. “Kuga needed to pick something up.”  

Konami scowled at him. “You could have told me. I would have liked to come.”  

Jin sighed, rubbing his temples. “No one is supposed to be at Tamakoma right now. In case you forgot, Kuga-san knows about the base, and not just him, but Mogami-san too. Neither one of them knows of Border HQ. They both only remember Tamkoma as being Border’s main HQ.”  

“It didn’t look like anyone had been there since Kuga-san attacked.” Osamu pointed out. Besides, he didn’t think Yugo or Mogami were stupid. Tamakoma may be the Border base they remembered, but the current Border HQ was pretty hard to miss. Not to mention that it was surrounded by a destroyed part of the city known as the Restricted Zone. Whether or not they cared to approach the current HQ was another matter though.  

“That doesn’t mean they can’t show up.” Reiji replied. “I’m surprised you managed to get there and back without getting attacked.”  

“A feat worthy of an award considering the past few days.” Karasuma added.  

“Perhaps Kuga-san is busy being distracted by the appearance of Mogami-san.” Jin suggested. Compared to the last few days, today had been a relatively silent and peaceful day. It was certainly a change of pace that was needed to help them gain their bearings. “They’re probably trying to figure things out which is more important than attacking Border and Yuma.”  

“Speaking of,” Konami looked around the barracks. “Where is Yuma anyway? He didn’t stay in the city, did he?” 

“He’s in the base.” Osamu replied, glancing over at Hyuse. “I think he went up to the roof?” 

Hyuse shrugged. “I don’t keep tracked of him. As long as he’s in the base and not off doing something stupid again, who cares? He’s still alive.”  

Jin rubbed the back of his head, sighing tiredly. “I hate to do it, but Kido-san made the decision that no agents should activate their Triggers in the city unless there is a sudden attack. However, considering the situation with Mimics and it being likely that Kuga-san and Mogami-san won’t be going for civilians, this should keep our problems confined to the Restricted Zone.”  

“Which means Kuga has to stay in the Restricted Zone.” Osamu finished, grimacing slightly. The Restricted Zone had nothing for Yuma to do in so it basically meant that he had to stay HQ. It would keep Yugo from attacking the city again if he was really after Yuma, but at the same time, it kind of felt like locking Yuma in a prison by forcing him to stay here. None of this sat right with Osamu.  

“Yes. I hate to have him confined here, but it really is the best so please, don’t take him to Tamakoma again.” Jin replied.  

Osamu waved off Jin’s concerns. “If anything, you have to be concerned about his other friends who he likes to go out to eat with. They don’t know about his Trion body.” Though, he had a feeling that Yuma wouldn’t want to go out to eat with them anywhere. If they saw the cracks on him now, it would only bring up questions. Honestly, they were going to have to explain it to the agents at some point. That wasn’t something they could hide forever.  

Konami scoffed. “It’s not exactly easy for him to hide the cracks on his body and the agents aren’t stupid. Trying to hide all of this from them will only add another complication to an already difficult situation.”  

“That may be true, but we should at least try to keep as much of the situation quiet as we can.” Karasuma replied. “For Yuma. I think he realizes the difficulties of this, and it would be easier to be open with the agents right now, but I think it is hard for him to come to terms with this. When this all started for him, he was eleven and had to face this alone. There was no one to hold his hand back then. At only eleven, he was forced to confront the cruelty of the world alone, so I don’t think it will be easy for him to open up about this and ask for help.”  

“It would be easier on him if we ease him into the idea of accepting all the help that is being offered.” Reiji said.  

Konami gripped her forearms tightly. It was so aggravating. The events of Aristera were so hard on her, so many of her good friends were lost back then. All of the survivors of Border from that tragedy had suffered, not only injuries, but the pain in their heart from losing their friends and from failing to save Aristera.  

They were never alone though.  

All of them went through Aristera together and they all acted as each other’s strength and form of comfort when they got back. It took a long time for them to recover from that loss, but slowly they did and if anyone had a bad day where the grief suddenly came back out of nowhere, one of the other members would be there to help them through it.  

Yuma had Replica with him, and Konami liked the Trion Soldier, but he wouldn’t be good at comforting a grieving child. He could give advice and information, but he couldn’t provide the warmth of a hug that anyone would need after the sudden death of a loved one.  

It made her wanted to hunt down Yuma and give him a big hug. Yuma never gave out any type of physical contact, but whenever he received it, he never shied away. Perhaps Yuma did crave a friendly touch that he never got after his father passed. It was a comfort that Konami could give him.  

Something she would give him the next time she saw him so he would remember that he wasn’t alone. Even with Replica gone, he had plenty of people here willing to help.  

*Mimics*  

Yotaro hummed cheerfully while riding Raijinmaru in front of Yoneya and Shun. Personally, for the situation, Shun saw no reason to be so happy, especially if his theory was correct. Since it was a five-year-old though, Shun let it be. Yotaro did not realize just how bad the situation was. He perhaps had an inkling of an idea, but didn’t truly understand the dangers. If he did, perhaps he wouldn’t be so eager to run head first into all of this.  

“Are you going to share your theory?” Yoneya asked.  

“Hmm,” Shun hummed. “It’s not like you were ever going to share that Yuma-senpai is a Neighbor.”  

Yoneya quirked a brow, but otherwise didn’t react. He had a feeling that Yuma and Shun had talked. It was nice of Shun to confirm for him without him having to ask. “No need to hold a grudge. I can’t just share classified information with you because we’re friends.” He eyed his friend closely. “You do understand, right? Kuga trusted you enough to tell you, but it is a classified secret. You can’t tell your team, or anyone. He's an agent so we can’t do anything about it, but if some people find out, it could cause an uproar. Border can’t afford a civil war, especially right now.”  

Shun puffed out his cheeks in annoyance. “I know how to keep a secret.”  

“You blabbed to me real fast.”  

“Because I knew that you knew. Your squad got into a fight before Yuma-senpai joined Border? Things make a lot more sense now.” Shun replied, and at least now, Yoneya and Yuma wouldn’t have to tiptoe around him with information and feed him lies to hide things. “But, who all knows? Knowing that will make things easier for me.”  

“Tamakoma, obviously, my squad, Tachikawa squad, Fuyushima squad, Kazama squad, Arashiyama squad, Kido-san, Shinoda-san, Kinuta-san, Netsuki-san, Karasawa-san, Sawamura-san. Oh, and recently, Azuma-san and Kako-san found out.”  

With each name that Yoneya ticked off, Shun felt a bit of his soul leave him. “Do you know how many people that is? How it remained a secret is more of a mystery than anything else!” 

“It’s easy to keep a secret when we don’t talk about it.” Yoneya replied.  

“Oh yeah? Then why do Azuma-san and Kako-san now both know?” Shun retorted.  

“Because they’re both smart.”  

Shun’s eyes narrowed, trying to read the amused look on Yoneya’s face. “And I'm not?”  

“Did you figure it out on your own?” Yoneya asked with a wide grin.  

There was no retort as Shun marched forward to join Yotaro in humming his too cheerful song, making Yoneya laugh. That’s what he thought.  

*Mimics*  

If this feeling was what he had been missing for the last five years without having a real body, Yuma did not miss it at all. There was stuff he missed out on by not having his real body, like having the ability to sleep so he could have some time to escape the thoughts in his head.  

This feeling of being lightheaded with the floor being blurry under his feet was not one of the things he missed. It was so hard to stay standing up right when the floor kept shifting under his feet.  

He wasn’t ever sure where he was at currently. It was hard enough to navigate Border HQ on a good day for him. Being dizzy, all of the halls looked even more similar. He just needed a moment to get his bearings and get that annoying, cheerful humming in his ears to stop.  

Yuma collapsed against the wall, letting it take all his weight as he slid down it to just sit on the floor.  

Just a minute to try to ease some of the dizziness off and then he would be right back to trying to figure out the maze that was Border HQ’s hallways.  

Yuma let his eyes close, welcoming the darkness before he knew no more.  

Rounding the corner, Shun slowed his steps in confusion when he found someone sitting on the floor, ending the song they had been humming. Raijinmaru didn’t bother to stop and just continued forward until reaching the boy on the floor.  

Yoneya stepped around the corner, raising a brow but continued on pass Shun to reach the sleeping boy. He leaned down to see under the hood of the tilted down head. Seeing some tufts of white hair sticking out from under it, Yoneya huffed and stood back up straight. “Hey,” He nudged Yuma’s foot, but got no reaction. “Oh, no, you are not doing this to me. First, you getting kidnapped by your dad in front of me and now this? Nope, no, not happening. Wake up.”  

Shun stepped up next to the others, tilting his head in confusion. “That’s a strange place to take a nap.”  

When there was no response from Yuma, Yoneya kneeled down and shoved his shoulder roughly, but still got no reaction. Before, he was a bit amused at finding him napping in the hallway, but that amusement was giving way to concern when Yuma gave him no response, not even a twitch, to any of his attempts to wake him up.  

Shun was beginning to have the same worries as Yoneya. In the first place, people didn’t just sit and take naps in the hallways. He crouched down by Yuma and leaned down to try to look up into his downturned face. Almost immediately, he wheeled back in shock and glanced at Yoneya, eyes flickering briefly to Yotaro in worry before back to Yoneya. “Do faces just break like that?” He asked softly so Yotaro wouldn’t hear him.  

“Like what?” Yoneya copied Shun’s previous motion and got a better look at Yuma’s face. He blinked in confusion, wondering if his hood was casting shadows on his face. He nudged Raijinmaru and Yotaro out of the way so they were behind him so his body could shield Yuma. Tilting Yuma’s head back, Yoneya brushed the hood back a bit, showing off the cracks spidering up his neck and starting to touch the bottom half of his face.  

Yoneya yanked the hood back over Yuma’s face, catching Shun’s shocked, freaked out eyes.  

“What’s going on?” Yotaro demanded, trying to peak over Yoneya’s shoulder. “Why is Yuma sleeping out here?” 

Yoneya shoved a hand in Yotaro’s face, pushing him back so he would settled back down on Raijinmaru. Okay, he had an overly curious child who was being kept in the dark by Tamakoma about something. He had Shun, who looked pretty freaked out and probably a step or two away from having a panic attack and he had an unconscious Neighbor with cracks on his body.  

What the hell was he supposed to do with this?  

“Infirmary?” Shun asked.  

“I don’t think they can do anything about...” Yoneya waved his hand weakly over Yuma. “Whatever this is. So, the best thing to do is to find Tamakoma and see if they know what is going on.”  

Shun nodded in agreement and pushed himself back to his feet. “Let’s go, Yotaro! Off to find Jin-san it is.” He said, forcing his panic back so he could put some cheer into his voice to make it so Yotaro didn’t think anything was wrong.  

As Shun worked on leading the curious child away, Yoneya worked to pull Yuma onto his back. It really was strange. He always saw how short Yuma was and they liked to tease Yuma for his height, but he felt really too light for a fifteen-year-old. Considering he’s seen how much Yuma liked to eat, it was amazing he was still so tiny.  

Perhaps there were more important things to be thinking about than why Yuma was so small and way too light for his age, but considering he had no idea of what was going and Yuma could provide him with no answers, trying to think it over would only give him a headache.  

“I think Yuma-senpai was just really tired. He’s been pretty stressed the last few days and it finally pulled him down into a deep sleep.”  

Yoneya could hear Shun ahead of him, probably trying to assure Yotaro that Yuma was fine and just sleeping too deeply to be woken up. Despite Yotaro insisting earlier that he was trying to figure out what Tamakoma was hiding from him, Yoneya agreed with Tamakoma’s decision to leave the kid in the dark. He didn’t know what was going on with Yuma, but it didn’t look good so he didn’t want to take chances with Yotaro realizing anything was wrong if it wasn’t what Tamakoma wanted.  

As he rounded the corner, he found Shun and Yotaro waiting for him with Shun holding the elevator doors open for him with one hand and holding his phone with the other as he typed out a message.  

“I’m going to let Mikumo-senpai know we’re on our way to their barracks. I hoping at least one person will be in there.” Shun explained without looking up from his phone.  

“Rindo-san or Jin-san would be nice.” Yoneya said, shifting his arms to push Yuma farther up his back to keep him from sliding off.  

Yotaro frowned at the two agents. “Why do you need them? You can just put Yuma to bed if all he is doing is sleeping.” He said suspiciously.  

Shun caught Yoneya’s eyes, giving a weak shrug.  

“We just need to make sure they know that Kuga isn’t feeling well. I don’t just want to dump Kuga in his bed without warning them.” Yoneya replied, the lie falling easily from him.  

“I guess.” Yotaro muttered.  

Leaning back against the wall, Shun looked at the panel next to the doors to watch as the numbers went up. He had warned Yuma of his father’s threat to his life, but Yuma didn’t seem to care at all and now he was passed out in the hallway with cracks on his body. It seemed that despite opening up to Shun yesterday, Yuma was still keeping secrets. That was, if Shun’s theory about Yuma knowing that he was in trouble this week was true.  

There was no reason for Yuma to tell him all his secrets. It was more than enough that he trusted Shun enough to tell him his Neighbor secret, but if Yuma was in trouble, he wanted to be able to help his friend.  

Feeling his phone vibrate in his hand, Shun took his eyes off the panel to see a message from Mikumo coming through.  

‘Kuga isn’t here if you’re looking for him.’  

Shun frowned at his phone, but didn’t reply as he heard the elevator doors ding open. He looked up, thinking it was time to get off, but was surprised to come face to face with Suwa and Kazama standing there. “Elevator’s taken.” He blurted out without thinking.  

Kazama raised an unimpressed brow as he took in the occupants of the elevator before his attention landed on the white hair peeking out from under the hood of the person on Yoneya’s back. Without a word, he stepped into the elevator with Suwa following his lead, letting the doors shut behind him without bothering to hit the button for the floor he needed. “What is going on?” 

“Um,” Yoneya’s eyes flickered to Yotaro, then back to Kazama, hoping he would get the message.  

“Did you kill the albino shrimp?” Suwa asked, trying to see Yuma on Yoneya’s back, but Yoneya shifted away so Yuma’s head was farther away from Suwa. It got a suspicious look from Suwa, which Yoneya expected since there should be no reason to try to hide Yuma, but he didn’t have time to care about that. Until he knew what was going on and if what was going on with Yuma needed shared with the agents, he was trying to do Yuma a favor by hiding it.  

“No! He’s just sleeping.” Shun retorted hotly. He knew that Suwa was simply teasing them about this. He mostly like thought Yuma had just fallen asleep, but considering all the talk of death and killing that was surrounding Yuma this week, he didn’t appreciate the joke. It really wasn’t funny when it could be a very real possibility before the week was over.  

Kazama gave the two A-Rank agents deadpanned looks. “Yes, because Kuga would just let himself be carried through HQ like that.”  

“You know, everything is fine. We’re just heading to Tamakoma. No need for the third degree, Kazama-san.” Yoneya replied a lot calmer than Shun.  

“Which makes it sound like you’re hiding something.” Suwa pointed out.  

Yoneya shrugged, jostling Yuma a bit, making his head fall off his shoulder. He didn’t bother trying to adjust him again. He would only be carrying him for a few minutes. He couldn’t get a stiff neck with his head dangling like that for only a few minutes. “We’re an open book. Can’t you see? We’re not even trying to hide.”  

“I don’t believe that for a second.” Suwa grumbled, leaning against one of the walls to try to keep his space in the crowded elevator while eyeing Yoneya and Shun suspiciously.  

“I really don’t know what you want from then. I speak nothing but the truth.” Yoneya replied innocently just as the doors dinged open again. “Oh, look at that, it’s our floor. Let’s go, Midorikawa!” 

Suwa and Kazama stared at Yoneya and Shun’s retreating forms with Yotaro following them until the elevator doors closed.  

“Should we do something?” Suwa asked.  

“No.” Kazama said. “If they’re going to Tamakoma, it’s Jin’s problem now. If he needs us, he’ll let us know.”  

“True,” Suwa said, folding his arms behind his head as he leaned back against the elevator wall. He chewed on his cigarette thoughtfully as Kazama chose the floor they were after. It might be best to leave things to Tamakoma, but that was Yuma on Yoneya’s back. The stupidly strong rookie, who seemed to be ready for anything, had been acting off all week and now he was unconscious? It was so weird that it was worrying him.  

*Mimics*  

Kido tapped a finger on his desk, staring across it at Shinoda and Rindo who were sitting on the couches in his office. This current Neighbor attack was beginning to turn worse and worse. He could handle the idea of the Mimics. He could handle the idea of said Mimics turning into his old friends, but now both of those old friends had access to Black Triggers which was causing Border’s own Black Triggers to break? The longer this went on, the more outrageous it was all becoming.  

“Is Kinuta-san certain that we can’t use the Black Triggers?” Kido asked.  

“There’s no guarantee that using them would cause more damage, but if the theory is right and the damage is being caused by the Mimics, Kinuta-san doesn’t want to risk breaking them completely by using them.” Shinoda replied.  

“Our agents have proven they are capable of holding out against Black Triggers. However, to beat them in the end, they had to resort to Black Triggers or have the help of Shinoda-kun to be able to beat them.” Kido leaned back in his chair, brushing a finger over his scar. “Without our Black Triggers, do you think we have a chance against Kuga and Mogami?”  

Rindo leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees. “If the past few days are any indication, it doesn’t seem likely.”  

“Black Triggers aren’t unbeatable. We would need to get our A-Ranks together. At this point, I don’t think any squad alone would be enough.” Shinoda added.  

Kido tilted his head back on his chair, frowning. That would hardly be surprising. Kuga and Mogami were always strong fighters. The added Black Triggers to their arsenal would make it too hard for a single squad to beat them. Even after all these years, Kuga and Mogami still knew how to throw a wrench into everything. It was very much like those two. “And Agent Kuga? How is he?”  

“Without his Border Trigger and his Black Trigger taking damage, Yuma needs to be benched.” Rindo replied. That was actually one of the easier things to deal with since Yuma himself made the decision to step back from the field. It was honestly a relief to Rindo that Yuma was able to read the situation and made the decision himself. It kept Rindo from having to force it onto Yuma, but it also showed the maturity and experience in Yuma. By making that choice of saying he’ll step back and let the others handle his father, he was coming to term with relying on others to help.  

“I understand that we can’t send him into battle without a weapon, but did Kinuta-san figure anything out about his condition?” Kido asked. It had been a very long time since he last saw Kuga Yugo, but that man was still once a friend of his. Even if his son was a Neighbor, that boy was currently one of his agents so he felt need to make sure Yuma was alright.  

“Our working theory is that because his Trion body is tied to his Black Trigger, the damage being done to his Black Trigger is affecting his body, so if the Mimics continue damaging his Black Trigger, it’s very likely Yuma-kun will die in a couple days.” Shinoda said gravely, staring at Rindo on the couch across from him, meeting his distressed eyes with his own.  

This situation they were finding themselves was turning into a horrible mess. As much as they all missed their old friends and would love to have them back in their lives, these Mimics weren’t real. It hurt a lot, but nothing could bring their friends back from death, so what they needed to focus on was the present. If their presence was going to hurt Border, then Kuga and Mogami needed to be dealt with quickly, because if there was one thing Shinoda was absolutely certain of, even more so after hearing the story of how Yugo died from Yuma, then it was that Yugo would want them to kill him if it meant saving Yuma’s life.  

When Yuma came to them, bearing the news of his father’s death, Shinoda had agreed with Rindo on the promise that they would protect him. They couldn’t be there to help Yugo since he left a long time ago and they failed with Mogami when they couldn’t hold out in Aristera, but they would not fail here.  

They couldn’t fail again.  

“I see.” Kido said. So far Kinuta’s team that was researching the Mimics wasn’t coming up with any new information that Yuma hadn’t already been able to tell them. At most, the information about the Mimics being able to use the Black Triggers they created before death was all they found out, and that was from simply fighting them. They couldn’t even figure out the reason why that was. Any information they could get on the Mimics would be helpful just so they could know what it was they were truly going up against.  

However, they were severely lacking in time here. The Mimics had been here too long already. Not only did he have an agent’s life on the line, but they couldn’t take any more attacks in the city.  

The real Mogami and Kuga would never allow harm to come to civilians, but these Mimics had no qualms about doing damage in the city. He could order the agents to not use their Triggers outside of the Restricted Zone to prevent the untransformed Mimics from leaving the Restricted Zone, but it would do nothing to stop the ones who were already transformed. They had no idea of what those two were planning or what they were after.  

With time not being a luxury, they needed to get moving, but there was nothing they could do if they couldn’t find Kuga and Mogami.  

“Does Jin have anything that could help us?” Kido asked.  

“I don’t know what he’s seen, but he seems to be moving. Or at least, trying to set things up.” Rindo replied. “He said we had five days, but that was two days ago. I don’t know what happens on the fifth day, but if we can, we need to get this solved before then.”  

“To do that, we need to be able to find Yugo-san and Mogami-san, but they are both still managing to hide from our radars.” Shinoda said. “I can have the agents on defense duty scour the Restricted Zone for them, but if they’re in the city, we’re going to be out luck. We need to send out a warning about Mogami-san to the agents as well.” 

“Until a better option presents itself, that is what we will do. However, tell the agents if they do encounter them, alert HQ for reinforcements right away.” Kido ordered. “Kuga has already proven trying to fight him without backup is a fool’s errand.”  

“Understood.”  

*Mimics*  

“I need you to not freak out.” Shun said as a greeting when he barged into Tamakoma’s barracks, though he immediately froze when he saw the horns on Hyuse’s head. He gaped for a moment before shaking his head and letting it pass. Honestly, after Yuma’s bombshell of being a Neighbor, he shouldn’t even be surprised that Tamakoma would pull this, and considering Hyuse had been a member of Border for a few weeks now and hasn’t done anything, it was a revelation that was low on his list of importance when Yuma was in a bad way.  

“Well, when you greet us like that, it’s asking us to freak out.” Karasuma replied. “What’s wrong?”  

Shun peeked out the door to the hall to see Yoneya and Yotaro getting closer. He had run ahead to warn Tamakoma since Yotaro was with them and they were trying to keep this from him. “I’m saying that because Yotaro is with us and I assume you guys don’t want him to know about anything that is going on right now.”  

“Depends on what it is.” Reiji said, frowning.  

Jin stepped up next to the bed that Osamu and Chika were sitting on, frowning as he stared at Shun, activating his side effect as he did. It wasn’t entirely necessary to see into the future for the next few minutes, but he was glad he did.  

It gave him the few seconds he needed to calm the sudden racing of his heart at what he saw. This wasn’t the time to freak out or panic. They needed to be level headed.  

Besides, Osamu and Chika handled the panicking part very well when Yoneya stepped into the room after Yotaro with an unconscious Yuma hanging over his back. While they had both flown to their feet, staring wide eyed at Yuma, looking close to hyperventilating, Hyuse just glared at his unconscious partner.  

“Thirty minutes! We leave him alone for thirty minutes. How does he do this?” Hyuse demanded, disbelief radiating from him.  

“Um, we don’t really know what happened. We found him sleeping in the hallway.” Shun said, inching away from the angry Hyuse.  

“Right,” Jin took Yuma off of Yoneya’s shoulders and passed him off to Reiji to settle on the bed. “Thanks for bringing him by. We'll take care of it. On another note, can you drop Yotaro off with Ruka for me? We’re going to be too busy to watch over him.”  

“What? I’m not leaving again!” Yotaro said angrily, clambering down from Raijinmaru. “You are all hiding something from me! I’m a Tamakoma member too!”  

“Stop screaming, Yotaro.” Reiji scolded, dropping Yuma carefully onto his bed. As he stepped back, Chika and Konami were immediately standing over him. Konami’s hands hovered over Yuma, unsure of what she could do to help her unconscious student who looked so easily breakable with those cracks on him. “Yuma hasn’t been feeling well lately and we need time to focus on him. We just want to make sure you’re not alone as we’re going to be busy dealing with this and the Mimics.”  

Yotaro looked over at the bed, seeing a little bit of Yuma’s prone form between Chika and Konami. “It’s because of the Mimics, isn’t it? Yuma was fine until they showed up!” 

Chika turned to look over at the group standing by the doorway, worry shining in her eyes. She pressed her hands firmly into the mattress by Yuma, curling her fingers tightly into the blanket under him. She hardly thought this was the time to be arguing about this. Just this morning they had been talking about how Yuma didn’t sleep since he was in a Trion body and now, he was brought here unconscious? That was a sign of how bad things were getting. They didn’t have time to be arguing. Yuma needed all their attention.  

Jin stared down at Yotaro, trying to figure out how he could reply to this child. Yuma’s future was hanging on the edge of falling into the bad or good path for him, and currently he was teetering so close to falling off into the bad path. He didn’t want to put false hope into Yotaro. That would only make things so much harder for him if they did fail in saving Yuma. “Regardless of what is making Yuma sick, we can’t afford any distractions, Yotaro. Let them take you to Ruka.” He caught Yoneya’s eyes as he said this to which the agent nodded in understanding.  

“Understood! We will get this mission accomplished!” Yoneya agreed, forcing some false cheer into his voice before he was scooping Yotaro up and throwing him onto his shoulders again. “We’re going on an adventure to find where Shinoda-chan is hiding.” 

Yoneya didn’t give Yotaro any more time to argue with Jin or fight with him on why he should put him down as he marched out of the barracks with Raijinmaru trotting at his feet. Shun hesitated in following them as he stared pass Jin and through the Tamakoma agents to look at Yuma.  

Jin saw where he was looking and took a step in front of the younger agent to force his eyes to meet his. “Shun, we’ll take care of it.”  

“We saw his body.” Shun said softly. “Those cracks...” 

Jin grimaced. He was hoping to hide the condition of Yuma’s body, but that was pretty much next to impossible when Yuma’s body kept getting worse. Dropping his hands to Shun’s shoulders, he gave a reassuring squeeze to them. “We’re working on it, Shun. Leave Yuma to us.”  

There had never been a time where Shun doubted Jin’s words. Whenever he promised something, it was sure to come to pass, but this was perhaps the first time where Shun found himself doubting Jin. It wasn’t because he thought Jin wouldn’t try to help Yuma. It was because there wasn’t a promise in his words. Even with his side effect, he didn’t know if Yuma would be okay after this.  

Tamakoma clearly knew something because as worried as they looked, none of them seemed surprised that there were cracks on Yuma’s body. That wasn’t too surprising. This was Yuma’s branch so Yuma would of course let them in on what was going on. Shun wanted to stand here and demand to know what was wrong, how it was possible for Yuma’s body to break like that, but instead, he backed up a step towards the barracks door, eyes flickering from Jin to Yuma. 

He may have come here with the intention of talking to Yuma or Jin about what Yugo said, but it didn’t seem like the time now. Standing here and trying to demand answers would only waste time. Time which they may or may not have.  

So, instead of arguing with Jin, Shun would do what he asked and get Yotaro to Ruka. From there, he could figure out what to do.  

“Good luck.” Shun replied by way of farewell before he was disappearing into the hallway and running off to catch up with Yoneya.  

With him gone, Jin’s shoulders sagged down, a sigh escaping him. “How bad is it?” 

“The cracks have started to move up to his face.” Konami replied, brushing a hand slowly through Yuma’s hair. She wanted to scream at Yuma and demand to know how this had even happened. He was fine this morning. Well, as fine as he could be with his body breaking slowly over the last couple of days, but he was up and moving around without any problems. How did things change this quickly?  

Jin rubbed his jaw, thinking things over. Kinuta and Michael did say that Yuma’s Trion levels were dropping because of the damage being done to his Black Trigger. They said to be careful and let him leave the lab as there wasn’t anything they could do to raise his Trion levels. If they suspected that a few hours after they let him out that he would just pass out, they wouldn’t have let him leave. None of them had seen it getting this bad so fast.  

“I’m going to take Yuma back to Kinuta-san and see if he can figure something out.” Jin said.  

“About why he is sleeping?” Osamu asked. “I thought Trion bodies couldn’t sleep.”  

“Is he even still alive?” Karasuma dared to ask, getting glares from the other members of the branch for the question. He held his hands up in surrender. “I’m just saying. Osamu is right. Trion bodies don’t need sleep. Since he hasn’t slept since he got that body, I was just wondering how this was even possible.”  

“If he was dead, his Trion body would have disappeared, leaving his real body for us to find.” Jin replied.  

“Will Kinuta-san be able to do anything for Yuma?” Reiji asked.  

“It’s not looking good, but it can at least get us some answers hopefully.” Jin replied, glancing at the downed Yuma for a second before he was pulling out his phone to send a message to Rindo. “Osamu, Hyuse, are you sure nothing happened on your trip to Tamakoma? Anything out of the ordinary?”  

“Besides our base being wrecked, it was a really normal trip.” Osamu said, though he did try to think of anything that felt off about the trip or Yuma. It was hard to figure out what was wrong with Yuma though when he wasn’t in a good way already. 

Jin hummed softly. This was getting real bad. Yuma’s future was getting harder for Jin to read. If he couldn’t get a read on his future, that meant only one thing and that was not something Jin was going to accept easily. He would not lose his friends again, not without a fight.  

*Mimics*  

“What part of busy do you people not get?” Kinuta growled, glaring at Tamakoma-2, Jin, and Rindo. “His Trion levels were being depleted earlier, but it certainly wasn’t fast enough for it to come to this in just a couple hours.” He waved an arm over Yuma who was now back on the bed he was on earlier this day, though unconscious this time.  

Rindo stepped up to the bed, staring down at his charge sadly. The moment he got the text from Jin, he just about bolted from Kido’s office without bothering to explain. They knew that they were short on time, but he didn’t think they had so little left.  

“Are you going to tell me what happened?” Kinuta asked as Michael got to work on connecting Yuma to their Trion measuring device.  

“We don’t know. Midorikawa and Yoneya-senpai dropped him off to us like this.” Osamu replied, resting his hands on the back of the chair that Chika was sitting on next to Yuma’s bed. His knuckles started to turn white from how hard he was starting to grip the chair as he stared at his partner.  

Kinuta hmphed to himself. “I don’t see much that I can do. He’s entered a sleep mode.” 

“A sleep mode?” Chika repeated.  

“Yes, that’s all I can figure it could be.” Kinuta replied, motioning down at Yuma. “Trion bodies are as similar to real bodies as they can be. Trion bodies don’t have the capability to sleep, but there is a safety system in them that is similar to sleep. Kuga's body forced itself into a sleep mode to try to recover some Trion. The Trion that was keeping his Trion body going and his own Trion reserves are stretched very thin right now and he couldn’t keep going. I can’t say for sure, but my hypothesis is that his sleep mode is working like a safety mode. His body couldn’t sustain the ability to keep going so it forced him out.”  

“I can give him some of my Trion. That might wake him up.” Chika suggested.  

Osamu shook his head. “I’m not sure that would be a good idea, Chika. When I borrowed your Trion during Aftokrator’s invasion, it made my Trion unstable. We shouldn’t risk it with how Kuga is now.” 

Kinuta nodded in agreement. “The Black Trigger is what is supplying Kuga’s body with the Trion for it to function. That Black Trigger is keeping his real body alive by sealing his wounds as best it can while creating a Trion body twenty-seven. Without enough Trion to sustain his body and keep the wounds on his real body sealed, which is slowing down his death, a choice had to be made so he went into sleep mode so the Black Trigger can focus on his real body.” 

Chika gently brushed her thumb over the back of Yuma’s hand that she was holding, feeling every rough crack her thumb traveled over. “Does that mean he won’t wake up?” 

Michael smiled softly at her. “His body forced itself into sleep mode to try to recover his Trion. It won’t be enough to fight, as his Black Trigger can’t recover any Trion with the Mimics still around, but once he can get enough back, he will wake up. His Trion body is going to have to rely solely on what his real body can supply though.”  

“Even if he wakes up, we still don’t have time.” Hyuse pointed out. “Our only working theory is that this is caused by the Mimics so we need to kill them quickly.” 

“There’s no guarantee that will work.” Michael warned.  

“No,” Hyuse agreed. “But it’s better than spending time standing around here doing nothing.” He eyed Yuma’s sleeping form. “Being that he is unconscious now, he can’t get into any more trouble.”  

Osamu turned to catch Hyuse’s eyes, nodding in agreement. “Chika, Hyuse and I going out to look for the Mimics.” He pushed off the chair he was gripping and dug his hand into his pocket to wrap his hand around his Trigger.  

“There’s plenty of agents on duty right now trying to find them.” Jin said, though his eyes were locked on Yuma.  

“An extra pair of eyes doesn’t hurt. Besides,” Osamu looked at Yuma. It felt so strange to seeing him lying so still and being the one that had to be left behind. Normally, he would be right there on the frontlines with him. “There isn’t anything we can do here for Kuga. I just feel like we’re wasting time staring at him.”  

Jin pulled his eyes from Yuma to catch Osamu’s eyes. While his posture radiated a calmness, his eyes spoke of worry and fear for his teammate. It was something Jin understood quite well. He was the Power Elite and always had to appear calm as he manipulated everything around him to get Border the wins they needed. Underneath the calm exterior he displayed, Jin had his own stress and worries about everything. He could scheme as much as he wanted, but that didn’t mean it would always work out in their favor.  

That was something Jin always knew, but he always put up this front that he could do anything. That the Power Elite did not fail. He put on that confidence so his comrades wouldn’t lose their morale. If morale dropped, so did the agents’ ability to concentrate and act in battle. If agents lost their calm, they were more likely to make mistakes.  

It was a calmness that Osamu was steadily getting better at showing off. That wasn’t to say he didn’t have his worries or fears, but that he was getting better at controlling them when in the field. With each new experience he faced, he was growing more into a Captain. 

And with being a captain, it meant making the decisions that were best for his team. It wasn’t on Jin to dictate how Osamu chose to lead his team. If he wanted to have them spend their free time in the Restricted Zone trying to find the Mimics, that was their choice. It didn’t matter that they weren’t on duty, as Border agents, they could act whenever they deemed it was necessary.  

“I see. Well, be careful. Kuga-san and Mogami-san are dangerous. If you see them, call for backup immediately.” Jin replied.  

Osamu nodded. “Of course. Chika-” 

Chika pushed herself to her feet, smoothing out her skirt as she did. “I’m coming too.”  

While Osamu looked surprised at her declaration, Hyuse just caught Chika’s eye and smirked. Chika smiled back at him. She would like to stay by Yuma’s side. Kinuta and Michael seemed convinced that he would wake up if his Trion could recover properly. She didn’t want him to wake up alone, but they had no idea of how long that would take and she didn’t think she could sit here with the knowledge that Hyuse and Osamu were running into danger to find the Mimics. She was their teammate and their sniper so it was her job to provide them with backup.  

Besides, if the cause of Yuma’s condition was because of his father siphoning Trion from his Black Trigger, then Chika would not hesitate this time. She no longer cared that Kuga Yugo was Yuma’s father. If it meant saving her friend, she would shoot without hesitation.

Chapter Text

Chika crouched on the roof’s ledge, eyeing the surrounding buildings for any signs of movements. Unfortunately, everything was silent except for the slight movements of Osamu and Hyuse on the ground below her. They had dragged Shiori into their mission to be their go between with HQ and quickly left for the Restricted Zone to find the Mimics.  

That was an hour ago and it had been a fruitless search so far. It wouldn’t be so disheartening that this was a waste of time so far if not for the fact that Yuma’s life was hanging by a thread. With each minute that they didn’t make any progress, it felt like Yuma’s death was becoming more and more assured. 

“Do you have any ideas of how to find them, Shiori-san?” Chika asked.  

“Hmm,” Shiori’s voice hummed softly in Chika’s ear. “From my understanding of the Mimics, they should appear on our radars but when Kuga and Mogami transformed, they received their Triggers which have bagworms equipped to them. Unless they remove the bagworms, I have no way of tracking them.”  

“Which is why Border is scouring the Restricted Zone for them.” Hyuse said, feeling a bit frustrated at their lack of progress. This was turning into a complete waste of time. His partner was going to end up dying at this rate. “They have no way to track them but can’t just do nothing and let them wander around freely with no resistance. We saw how horrible that idea is when Kuga attacked the city yesterday.”  

“And our base the day before.” Osamu added, sighing softly. How many attacks were they going to have to suffer before they could stop this? This week had been difficult enough for Border, and it was far from over since it was no long Kuga Yugo alone they had to deal with. With Mogami added in, the situation had become more complicated. The past was fighting the present and if they didn’t get a handle on this soon, it was going to win. That couldn’t happen. If the past won, they were going to lose Yuma. “We can search the Restricted Zone as much as we like, but that doesn’t mean they are hiding out in here and even if they are, the Restricted Zone is huge. It will be hard to find anyone in here.”  

Hyuse glanced at Osamu before going back to scanning the area of the Restricted Zone they were in, resting a hand on the hilt of his sword. “We came out here with a purpose. I'm not in the mood to go back empty handed.”  

To Osamu, the way he was speaking was making it sound like he had an idea forming. During the last couple of months, he’s learned to not just trust Yuma and Hyuse for their strength, but for their tactical expertise in the field. The strategies they tended to come up with were quite unique. “If you have a plan, I'm willing to listen.”  

“You are all thinking about this one way. How do we find them?” Hyuse asked. “But why should we be the ones to find them?” The answer to the question was obvious, being that waiting for Mogami and Kuga to attack led to Border keep losing to them. Trying to hunt them down though was going to be difficult if they never wanted to take off the bagworms until they attacked. “There is always the option of luring them out with a trap.”  

“How will a trap help if we don’t even know where they are at?” Chika asked intrigued. Their team had used plenty of traps before since they were quite helpful to them as a new, inexperienced team, but she couldn’t see how helpful they would be when the enemy didn’t feel inclined to come out right now.  

“Because we will make them think we are closing in on them. It will work better when it is dark though.” Hyuse replied, looking up towards the afternoon sky before turning to look at Chika crouched on the roof behind them. “And we will need a new Trigger.”  

Chika blinked in confusion.  

*Mimics*  

Jin leaned against the wall of the lab, arms crossed over his chest, as he stared down at Yuma’s prone form on the bed, wires hooked up to him so Michael could keep monitoring Yuma’s Trion levels. Next to the bed, Rindo, hunched over like the weight of the world was pulling him down, had taken the seat that Chika had vacated earlier.  

He had been working all morning on figuring things out and getting his plans set in motion. Shinoda had been informed of the issues with Fujin. He had told Tachikawa squad he would need their help to take down the Mimics. And finally, he took a walk around HQ to see what else he could find out about the battle that he saw approaching soon and what else he could set up beforehand.  

With two powerful transformed Mimics with access to Black Trigger abilities, it seemed they were ready to move into a big battle. He still couldn’t figure out what the point of this attack from the nation that was sending the Mimics was. Mimics didn’t kidnap people and had the goal of getting memories from Trion bodies to transform. It didn’t seem like the goal of them was to kill until they transformed.  

So, what was the point of them? 

What was the nation that was doing this after? What did they gain from ordering Mimics to come here to transform and then just hang around attacking them?  

It was one of the many things that had been plaguing Jin’s mind the past few days. With trying to think of the answers to these questions and trying to see what he could of the battle he saw coming, he had overlooked Yuma’s future. He knew his friend was dying which was part of the reason he was trying to set up for the approaching battle as much as possible, and because of that, he had missed the fact that Yuma would be falling into this sleep mode.  

Staring at him now, Jin was having trouble seeing his future pass the next couple of days. It was disheartening for him to see how hazy it was all becoming. He could still see Yuma’s future, but it was hazy and he couldn’t get any concrete details from it which told him the chance of Yuma surviving through the next few days was very slim, but it wasn’t zero. That meant that there was still a fighting chance.  

Jin's head jerked up as he stared at Rindo, seeing the future shift before his eyes. With his back to him, Rindo didn’t realize that Jin was now staring at him instead of Yuma. As the vision died down from his eyes, Jin pushed off the wall, smirking slightly. “Now that is interesting.”  

“Hmm?” Rindo sat up, turning to look at Jin. “Did you see something?” 

Looking towards the door to the lab, Jin nodded. “I see an interesting course of action for tonight. I have something to go take care of.” He glanced back at Rindo. “We’re going to be busy tonight. Can you and Shinoda-san watch over Yuma for me?”  

Rindo’s brows furrowed in confusion. He hardly thought it was necessary for both him and Shinoda to be in here, but if Jin was asking it of him, then he must think it was important. If Jin was asking this before something major was about to happen, then even Rindo and Shinoda would listen to his orders. Jin was not going to be playing around when the life of a friend was on the line and his old mentor was running loose with the intent to harm Border. 

*Mimics*  

“Explain it to me.” Konami crossed her arms, staring at Hyuse. Osamu and his squad had returned to HQ with the request of Chika and Hyuse getting access to an optional Trigger. It was something that could easily be done by Shiori, Yuri, or Michael, but Konami was itching to join the team on their mission. It hurt so much to see Yuma lying unconscious earlier. She wanted to go visit him, but at the same time, she wanted to go knock some heads in. If killing the Mimics would help, then she would be of more use with Osamu and his squad.  

“The only time we’ve been able to find the Mimics is when they’ve come to us. They are too good at hiding. It would be a waste of time trying to just find them by exploring the Restricted Zone.” Hyuse replied, leaning back on Shiori’s desk, planting his hands on the edge for leverage. “So, we’re going to use the trick Azuma squad used in our match against them.”  

“Their trick?” Osamu repeated, brows furrowed in thought. “You mean their plan of using the beacons to hide?” 

Konami raised a brow. “The point of that tactic is to hide from radar and overwhelm the enemy by distracting them as they try to figure out which are the fakes and which is their real target. How does that help us find the Mimics?” 

“Does Border lack the thought process for creative strategy?” Hyuse retorted, making Konami angry enough to glare at him. “I imagine if these Mimics are using old Border Triggers, they should also have a radar on them. If we can overwhelm them with enough beacons to make them think they’re surrounded, they’ll make a move. It works better at night when it will be harder for them to see that no one is there.”  

Osamu seemed to catch on to the trick a lot faster than Konami and Chika. “The radars have a limited radius, but if we move from area to area setting the beacons off, we might be able to get them thinking they are surrounded and they’ll either want to get out of the area of the enemy they think is there or they’ll come out of hiding to fight us.”  

“There’s no guarantee that it will work. If they know about the beacons, they’ll realize no one is there.” Hyuse said.  

Shiori stood up from her desk and walked around it to lean against it next to Hyuse. “The dummy beacon Trigger was created not that long ago. It’s technically still a prototype, so it’s not something Kuga-san or Mogami-san could possibly know about. The beacons can mimic your Trion signature or with my help, I can mimic an ally’s Trion signature as well, however, these beacons can only last a few minutes before they run out of Trion and deactivate.”  

“And what if Chika and I are the ones using them? Could we supply them with enough Trion to keep them active longer?” Hyuse asked. “Long enough to push the Mimics into thinking someone is there? If they disappear too early, it won’t be able to fool the Mimics.” 

“Perhaps for a few minutes longer.” Shiori said. With how new the dummy beacons were, she wasn’t a true expert yet on how they worked in the field. “And considering how much Trion you two have, you can activate a lot more than Azuma-san could.” Considering how many Azuma did activate, Hyuse and Chika’s amount of dummy beacons would be scarily impressive.  

“I’m not sure activating that ridiculous amount would be a good idea. If there are too many beacons appearing on the radar, Kuga-san and Mogami-san might see it as a trap and not move how we expect.” Osamu replied.  

“You also have the issue that when using beacons, you mimic your Trion signature. That will reveal the trick to Kuga and Mogami.” Konami added.  

“Not necessarily.” Shiori replied. “It works like that in Rank wars because we know who we are fighting and we can see the signature as copies. Kuga-san and Mogami-san don’t have access to our records so they will just see unknown Trigger signatures on their radars so it should work.”  

Konami nodded in understanding. It also helped that Mogami and Yugo didn’t have an operator to back them up. They would have to rely on themselves and what they had stored in their Triggers. “It’s not a bad plan, but it would take a long time to do every area of the Restricted Zone, and remember, there is a chance they aren’t in the Restricted Zone.” 

Osamu nodded, looking off to the side as he thought. If they couldn’t find the Mimics, then the best idea would be to draw them out to them. There were actually two ways to do that. One was by Hyuse’s plan, and the second was to use what Kuga seemed to care about most, which was his son. While the second would likely work, it truly wasn’t an option. Osamu would never use his friend as bait, especially when he was in such a bad position currently.  

“If time is an issue, then perhaps we should have Chika and Hyuse both use the beacons and activate a lot. Our radars only reach so far so if we make a lot and spread them out, their radars shouldn’t pick up all of them.” Osamu suggested.  

“That may draw them out, but it doesn’t help if we’re not in the area where they are when they move.” Konami pointed out.  

“We don’t need to be.” Osamu said, glancing over at Shiori. “Jin-san said to call for reinforcements if we found the Mimics. How about if we just go out with multiple squads with this plan? We have Chika and Hyuse spread the beacons out and have the squads each take their own sections of the area of the Restricted Zone we’re in. If we do big sections like this, it will save us time. We don’t have to do this alone.”  

“Oooh?” Shiori smirked, nodding in agreement, glasses sparkling in the light of the room. She pushed them up, feeling quite eager to move now that they were getting a plan worked out. It was better than sitting around, doing nothing while Yuma was unconscious. “I’m sure Tamakoma-1 will want in on this.”  

“Hell yeah we will.” Konami declared, not bothering to ask her team if they wanted to take part since they weren’t in the operation’s room at the time. If it would help Yuma, there was no way either of them would say no anyway. And if by some weird chance that they said, Konami would bash their skulls in. No one was around to sit around while her precious student could possibly die by the end of the week. 

“Then, we’ll leave Hyuse’s and Chika’s Triggers with Usami-senpai to get the dummy beacon installed. While she does that, we need to get some squads to help us out tonight with this.” Osamu decided.  

“Know of any squads that would want involved in this?” Hyuse asked.  

“Ask any squad and they’ll agree easily.” Konami replied, crossing her arms over her chest. “The Shinoda faction will say yes just because it’s a plan in the works to end this attack which will save the city. The Kido faction squads will say yes because they hate Neighbors and will want to take part in killing them. So, you’re not short on help.”  

“As long as we keep that annoyance out of it.” Hyuse muttered.  

Konami raised a slender brow. “Annoyance?” 

“My side effect tells me a fun plan is in the works for tonight!” Jin said loudly as he entered the operation’s room his branch was using as part of their temporary base of operations. It was much better than having to spend all their time in the barracks.  

Hyuse just closed his eyes in defeat. He wasn’t even surprised, just annoyed that he had to show up. It seemed to be his motif to show up when he wasn’t wanted. 

“If you need squads,” Jin jerked a thumb over his shoulder, grinning. “I got them.”  

*Mimics*  

Osamu looked around the room they were in. It was the same room they were in just a couple weeks ago to get assigned their teams for the away mission exam. Considering just how much went into that exam and how hectic this week had been, that day felt like it was such a long time ago. The excitement of that time of starting the test for the away mission wasn’t here right now. Instead, it was replaced by a serious, tense air hovering over Osamu. He did not take a threat to anyone in his team lightly.  

Taking stock of the room and seeing it jam packed with agents again, Osamu was realizing just how fast Jin worked. To have gathered this many agents so fast, he must have saw them developing their plan with his side effect. That, and Osamu had seen before just how good Jin was at networking. He wasn’t one to waste time when a plan was in front of them that could actually help.  

“So, do they actually know why they are here or did you just order them all to come here?” Konami asked.  

“They all probably think it’s one of his schemes.” Karasuma said amused. 

“They wouldn’t be wrong.” Konami muttered.  

“Hey now,” Jin protested. “It’s Osamu and Hyuse’s plan. Let's not diminish the work they put into this idea by saying it’s mine.” He clapped a hand on Osamu’s shoulder. “Since it is your idea, we’re going to lead this meeting together.”  

Osamu raised a brow, but shrugged in agreement. “Is it alright to do this without telling Director Shinoda? This is a lot more agents than I was counting on for help.”  

“It’ll be fine.” Jin said as he walked down the steps to head to the front of the room. “He trusts my judgement on these kinds of things.”  

“I’m not so sure.” Osamu muttered softly.  

Karasuma stepped up next to Osamu’s side. “It’ll be fine. We’re working on stopping the Mimics. Shinoda-san won’t get upset that we are taking the initiative to try a plan to end this before it gets any farther. He doesn’t expect us to be able to do this with just Tamakoma agents, so I’m sure he would be fine with us taking all these agents to help.” 

Osamu nodded, walking down the stairs after Jin. He stepped onto the stage at the bottom, stopping by the desk on it where Shiori was setting up her laptop. “Are you still feeling okay, Usami-senpai? I know you got released from the infirmary last night, but that doesn’t mean we should have dragged you into working so soon after. You deserve some rest.”  

Shiori looked up from her laptop, smiling softly at Osamu. Lifting her head like that revealed the bruises on her neck which made Osamu grimace a bit. He hated seeing the injuries on his friends. Just by not being at Tamakoma, it felt like he failed in helping them. This was likely how they felt when he was the one who got hurt months ago.  

“I’m fine, Osamu-kun. I’m not about to sit around doing nothing when we’re being attacked, especially when Yuma-kun is in danger. If I don’t do anything to try to help stop this attack and he dies, I'll feel horrible.” Shiori replied, hands curling into fists over her keyboard. “Because maybe if I am here, something could change. I may not be a field operative, but I'm not useless.”  

“I know you’re not.” Osamu said, appreciation touching his tone. “It was with your expertise as an operator that we got this far. Every member of our team plays a part. We don’t work without one of us, which means Kuga can’t die. We do everything in our power to beat his father to save him.”  

Shiori nodded. “We’re all worried about Yuma-kun, but remember, don’t let your worries about him distract you in the field. Getting killed in battle because your mind is on Yuma-kun will be a waste. Don’t let those worries be the reason you get pulled out of the battle.”  

As concerned as he was about his partner, Osamu was doing his best to not think about the fact that he was lying in one of Kinuta’s labs, unconscious. It felt wrong that he was in a lab and not in an infirmary, but the infirmary could do nothing for him. Not that Kinuta could do anything for Yuma either, but he and Michael could at least keep an eye on Yuma’s Trion levels for them with the hope that they would see an improvement in it. That was something for those two to keep an eye on. Osamu needed to focus on the current attack with the hope that solving this would help his partner. This was what he could do.  

“Good afternoon, Border!” Jin greeted cheerfully. There was nothing to be happy about in the situation, but Jin needed the façade on. He couldn’t let the worries he had be a distraction.  

Shiori and Osamu looked up from their conversation as Jin started the meeting. Giving one more gentle smile to Osamu, Shiori took a sit at the desk while Osamu stayed standing next to it, but now facing the room full of agents.  

“I’m sure you’re all wondering why I asked you to meet here.”  

“Knew he didn’t tell them anything.” Konami muttered to Karasuma. They had chosen to stay standing at the top of the room with Chika and Hyuse instead of taking seats or joining the others on the stage.  

“It is easier and faster to explain it to everyone all at once.” Karasuma replied softly so as to not interrupt Jin.  

“Just get to the point, Jin.” Tachikawa said. “Do you have a plan for what to do about the Mimics?” 

“Well, Osamu and Hyuse have a plan in the works to find Kuga-san and Mogami-san.” Jin replied.  

“Who is that?” Nasu asked confused. She had heard about Yuma’s father roaming about, not that she had seen the Mimic of him yet.  

“Alongside Kuga Yugo, Mogami Soichi was one of the founders of Border. He is also the creator of the Black Trigger, Fujin.” Osamu explained, pushing his glasses up as he adjusted his posture to be straighter as everyone’s eyes turned to him as he spoke. It seemed that Shinoda and Kyoko still hadn’t managed to get the memo about Mogami sent out yet. “And he appeared last night and has joined up with Kuga-san.”  

Jin nodded. “Speaking of Fujin, just like Kuga-san can use Yuma’s Black Trigger abilities, Mogami-san can use Fujin’s wind blades.”  

Not to mention, the Mimics being able to use the Black Trigger abilities was leading to their destruction. If they waited too long, Border was going to lose two Black Triggers and an agent. There was no need to inform the agents about the possible destruction of the Black Triggers though. As long as Fujin stayed locked up in Kinuta’s lab, no one could get to it and see the cracks on it. It wasn’t information that the agents needed to know at the moment, though they might start questioning why no one was using Fujin to help in the battle against the transformed Mimics. A problem for the future.  

“After what happened in the city yesterday, we can’t afford to let Mogami-san and Kuga-san to wander around freely, but we have no chance of finding them when both of them are wearing bagworms.” Jin glanced over at Shiori, who saluted back at him before she was displaying the map of the Restricted Zone on the huge screen behind them. “It’s your plan, Captain Four-Eyes, so you take over.”  

“Actually, it was Hyuse’s plan.” Osamu corrected, but he stepped up anyway, not flinching away from all the eyes of the agents focusing on him now. “Since we don’t have the time to locate the two transformed Mimics by just looking normally, especially since we are not even sure they are hiding out in the Restricted Zone, and we can’t wait for them to attack us again, we’re going to draw them out towards us.”  

“How are we meant to do that when we don’t know where they are?” Yoneya asked. Though he was intrigued with where this was going, he couldn’t help but noticed when he first saw Tamakoma enter the room that Yuma wasn’t with them. If all the other agents were here and he wasn’t, then that was telling him that Yuma hadn’t woken up yet. He wasn’t waking up and suddenly Tamakoma was making a huge move that involved gathering this many agents for one of their plans? He let it go earlier so Tamakoma could focus on Yuma, but if this went on, maybe he would join Yotaro’s spy game and found out what they were hiding.  

“We’re going to use the prototype Trigger, dummy beacon.” Osamu explained as Shiori added an example of showing the dummy beacons to be all over one section of the Restricted Zone. “We don’t know where they are, so we’re going to go section by section through the Restricted Zone and have Chika and Hyuse use the dummy beacons. We don’t have the time to take this slowly, which is why we are asking for your help. We’re spreading the dummy beacons over sections of the Restricted Zone to fool Mogami-san and Kuga-san into thinking we have them surrounded. If they think they’re surrounded, we’re expecting them to make a move. We need agents spread around the section we’re releasing the beacons in to keep watch for the Mimics moving.”  

Katori eyed her former teammate curiously. The Mimics have been an issue for days, but they had been dealing with the attacks as they came. Tamakoma hadn’t been making any big moves beyond when their branch got attacked, but that wasn’t on them. They had simply defended themselves. Then the attack yesterday happened and Tamakoma-1 had made a move to help in the city, and not that long ago, she had seen Tamakoma-2, minus Yuma, moving quickly out of HQ. And now they were back just a couple hours later and were gathering agents for a plan. There was clearly something more going on.  

“Is there a reason for the sudden rush you guys seem to be exhibiting?” Katori asked, not at all shy or hesitant to just boldly ask Tamakoma what they were hiding.  

The question was enough to catch Osamu off guard as he hesitated in answering and instead glanced over at Jin. If there was any doubt that Tamakoma was pushing to get the Mimics dealt with quickly all of a sudden, then it was gone with just that one look. Just knowing that they had a reason to rush didn’t mean Tamakoma was going to freely tell everyone that reason easily though.  

“Is Kuga-kun not joining in on the mission?” Kumagai asked, staring at the back of the room where the rest of Tamakoma’s agents were, noticing the lack of Yuma. “I would think he would want involved since his father is among the Mimics we’re going after.”  

They needed to answer these questions or more would just keep popping up the more they hesitated in giving answers.  

“Kuga is...” Osamu locked eyes with Jin, unsure of what answers to give to these questions.  

“Yuma is incapacitated right now.” Jin took over for Osamu, easing an easy smile on his face that hid his stress as he stepped forward.  

It wasn’t exactly a lie, but definitely not the full truth. 

Kako lifted her head slightly off her palm, eyeing Jin with a frown. His statement would normally make her think that Yuma was just sick and needed to take a break. Normally, but after Jin telling her and Arashiyama about Yuma’s situation the other day, hearing anything about Yuma being incapacitated was concerning. Being that he was in a Trion body all the time, there was no reason for him to be incapacitated. It shouldn’t even be possible.  

She looked towards other side of the room, catching Arashiyama’s eyes, seeing the same concerns shining on his face.  

Shun sat up straighter in his seat, surprising his team at the abrupt movement, but he paid no them no attention. His eyes were focused on Jin. When they left Yuma with them, Jin said they would handle it. If Tamakoma was planning a move against the Mimics and Yuma was still in a bad way, it didn’t seem like it had been handled at all.  

The Mimics were a problem. Shun understood that. He wasn’t against any plan that might end their attack, but why was this the focus of Tamakoma? He couldn’t see how going after Kuga and Mogami would help Yuma. Maybe Yuma’s father did something to hurt him? That could explain the cracks on his body...sort of. If he was being honest, the thoughts Shun was having after seeing Yuma were ridiculous as he tried to find a reason for Yuma’s body to break like that. 

Real bodies didn’t just break. Bone could be broken. Cuts could split the skin open and let blood flow freely. Bruises caused a discoloration on the skin.  

There was no type of injury that put a hollow crack in the body, so Shun needed to forget the real body for a moment. Instead, he needed to focus on what he knew.  

Yuma was a Neighbor.  

He grew up in the Neighbor’s world. 

What would that change for Yuma when compared to the childhoods kids had in this world? 

Shun had no idea whatsoever. He had never been to that world so he didn’t know how different it was. With that being the case, Shun had to take the Neighbor’s world out of the equation as well. That left him with what he knew about Neighbors and their technology that Border gave him.  

Neighbors.  

Triggers. 

Trion Soldiers.  

Trion bodies.  

All stuff that Yuma spent his childhood with. Did any of that explain his body having cracks in it? 

The only thing that would make any sense through the knowledge Shun had was a Trion body. It was a ridiculous thought though. There was no reason for Yuma to stay in a Trion body, especially one that was breaking. Yet, Shun couldn’t come up with another explanation.  

After Yuma told him he was a Neighbor, Shun didn’t think there would be any more big secrets. Yuma was allowed his secrets. He didn’t have to tell Shun everything, but he thought the Neighbor secret would be his only big one. Clearly, he had been mistaken.  

What was going on in Tamakoma? 

*Mimics*  

“Not going to try to hide it this time?” 

Rindo didn’t bother to look up from Yuma’s prone form. Since he had sent the message to Shinoda for him to meet him in the lab, Rindo had been waiting to hear the doors open to announce his arrival. “It’s hard to hide an unconscious agent.”  

Shinoda stepped up to the stand next to the chair his friend was sitting on. He clapped a hand on his friend’s shoulder, but his attention was locked on Yuma. Shinoda never wanted to see any of his agents in this state, but this somehow felt worse. They could help Osamu when he was injured and Jin had assured everyone he would be fine. When his agents got turned into cubes, the Research and Development team had been able to save them.  

Right now, no one was able to give the guarantee that Yuma would make it. To make matters worse, the agent injured was the son of his dear friend and mentor that they made a promise to protect. Neither he nor Rindo had been there when Mogami or Yugo died. There wasn’t anything they had been able to do for them.  

To make up for those past failings, they had promised to keep Yuma safe, and yet, despite Yuma being right in front of them, they weren’t able to do anything. They were going to fail their old friends again at this rate.  

“I’m surprised none of your agents are here.” Shinoda said. It wasn’t like Tamakoma to just leave their friend behind when he was in a bad state.  

“It looks like they have a plan tonight.” Rindo replied, looking at Shinoda out of the corner of his eyes. “And the reason I asked you here. Jin has requested that you and I stay with Yuma tonight.”  

Shinoda quirked a brow, curious about the request. When there was a big attack happening and his agents were in the field, Shinoda tended to stick to the war room so he could keep a view on the battlefield and easily relay orders to the agents. For that reason, Jin didn’t tend to ask things of Rindo and Shinoda. When he was setting up the playing field, he always went to the active agents.  

Rindo snorted at the confused look his friend was displaying. “If he’s asking this, it must be important.”  

“I know.” Shinoda replied, pulling out his phone. “I’ll have Sawamura keep me appraised of the agents in the field from here. I just wish Jin would give more of an explanation.”  

“Jin is doing the best he can.” Rindo replied. “He’s had his own stress this week with seeing Yuma’s death incoming and now Mogami-san is back. You know Jin had a hard time coming back when he first died.”  

Shinoda smirked, but there was no amusement to it. “You speak as if you didn’t also have a hard time after losing our friends back then.”  

A hollow chuckle came from Rindo. “I’m not denying my own grief, but at the time, we had Jin, Konami, Ruka, and Yotaro. They all suffered in Aristera, and so they needed us to be strong. The Commanders don’t have the luxury of faltering.”  

“Perhaps in that sense, we failed Jin.” Shinoda said. “He’s not a Commander, and yet, he pushes his concerns and stress to the side for the greater good of Border. We ask too much of him.”  

“Is it though?” Rindo asked. “Jin and Konami aren’t those bright-eyed, innocent kids they were when they came to us. Despite what they went through in Aristera, both of them chose to stick with Border, because for them, to step back and do nothing while an attack is happening would be a betrayal to those who died to get them to this point.” Rindo rolled a cigarette around his fingers, but didn’t light it since Kinuta would probably kill him from smoking in his lab. “We can’t protect them forever. All we can do is make sure they’re ready to face what life is going to throw at them.”  

Shinoda stared down at the cracks on Yuma’s neck, tracing them up to his jaw. “Life is quite cruel. Kids shouldn’t have to face it at such a young age.” He dropped into the empty chair next to Rindo, leaning forward to rest his arms on his knees and interlocking his fingers. “When Yuma-kun told us his story last night, I was amazed at just how strong a kid he is. When I think back to when I was eleven, I don’t think I could have stood back up after what he went through.”  

“You also didn’t grow up with Kuga-san for a father.” Rindo pointed out. “Yuma was raised to stand on his own two feet.”  

“Yugo-san and Mogami-san were relentless in making sure everyone could stand on their own.” Shinoda agreed.  

“And now they are both here hurting their organization.”  

“Mimics are fake version of the ones that we already lost once before. The real Mogami-san and Yugo-san would want us to kill them, right?” 

Rindo found his attention drifting back to Yuma, more specifically the damage being done to his body. “If Kuga-san knew his presence would kill his son, he would kill himself without hesitation. Since that’s not possible, we have to do it for him. Yuma's life was the most important thing to Kuga-san. To pay Kuga-san back for everything he’s done for us, we protect his son at all costs.”  

It was an easy thing to say, but neither of them had seen the Mimics, but if Jin and Yuma were having any hesitance, it spoke volumes of how real the Mimics seemed. Jin and Yuma were not easily frazzled.  

*Mimics*  

“What the hell does incapacitated mean?” Kageura demanded, glaring down at the Tamakoma agents on the stage. That idiot of a shrimp had looked perfectly fine yesterday. Maybe he had a few reckless thoughts from the stress of what he was going through this week, but there was nothing to indicate that he was unwell. He had been so sure Yuma was fine when he returned to HQ yesterday. How could it go from that to this all of a sudden? 

“It means he doesn’t feel well.” Reiji stepped down the stairs towards the front of the room. “And thus, he is taking a few days off from field work.”  

“Kuga wouldn’t let himself be taken off by a cold at a time like this.” Murakami said unconvinced, eyes narrowed as he sat up straight in his seat. Maybe the agents who didn’t know Yuma as well as his friends would believe Tamakoma, but not him or Kage. He heard it in Yuma’s voice the other day after their match. This would not be a fight he would just abandon without good reason. A cold was not a good reason for him to pull out of the field, not when it was something as personal as this.  

Suwa would have to agree with Murakami on that one. A cold wouldn’t take Yuma out of the fight, but being unconscious would. He saw Yoneya and Shun dragging the unconscious Yuma back to Tamakoma and now Tamakoma was acting without him. Kazama said Jin would come to them if he needed them.  

Well, it seemed like Tamakoma needed help. Suwa didn’t believe it was a coincidence that Tamakoma would make a plan against the Mimics on the same day Yuma went out of commission if the events weren’t connected. 

Reiji joined Jin and Osamu on the stage, catching Jin’s eyes. There wasn’t much more they could say. They all agreed to try to keep things about Yuma’s condition quiet. They were never going to reveal the state of his real body, but they had to decide if they wanted to tell the agents that Yuma was unconscious and there was no telling when-if- he would wake up or make up a lie about why he wasn’t here. Telling the agents the truth would only cause worry amongst his friends and more questions than Tamakoma wanted to answer.  

Though, it didn’t seem to matter what story they chose to go with. Yuma's friends were not going to buy any of it. They had wanted to avoid his friends wanting to visit him since they had no way to hide the cracks he had on his body, but it seemed they were not going to make it that easy. There was no easy lie they could give that would convince the agents why Yuma was taking a step out from such a personal matter. 

“Your call, Jin.” Reiji said.  

Staring back at the faces of the agents that were accepting none of Tamakoma’s bullshit, Jin was left wondering if Yuma even realized how many people he had befriended. He knew Yuma liked the people he met in Border, but he also knew Yuma had likely wanted to keep them at a distance because of his secrets, and he didn’t mean the Neighbor secret. He only joined Border to help Osamu and Chika. It hadn’t been his plan to like the agents who tried to kill him when he joined so when he realized he was starting to grow fond of Border like his father, Yuma lost the sense to keep his distance. The only thing Yuma had left was to force distance between them was a lack of trust by choosing to not disclose his secrets to them.  

It was understandable why Yuma didn’t want people to know he was dying. It wasn’t something he could just tell people easily, but that distance he wanted didn’t do much when the agents didn’t know it existed. Perhaps Yuma thought his death would hurt his friends less if when it happened, they would be more focused on being mad at the fact that he never trusted them enough to tell them that he knew it was coming.  

It was Yuma’s choice to keep it quiet and Jin respected that, but his friends also deserved an answer that wasn’t about Yuma being sick and dropping the problem with Mimics which wasn’t like him.  

“Kuga has been injured by the Mimics and is currently unconscious in Kinuta-san's lab.” Osamu said, surprising Jin and Reiji. He caught both of their eyes head on without flinching. “I’m his Captain. If Kuga gets mad about this, I’ll take the fall for it.” Being hurt by the Mimics would be the only reason Yuma wouldn’t get involved in this battle. Even if he didn’t want to fight his father, if he wasn’t hurt, Osamu was sure Yuma would still go after Mogami or even just join to help protect Chika and Hyuse in the mission. None of that was possible though, and none of his friends would accept any lies from Tamakoma. Osamu wasn’t much of a fan of lying anyway. He could keep secrets that he was let in on and no one asked him about them, but lying directly to someone about what was really going on here wasn’t how he wanted to handle this. They didn’t need to know Yuma was dying, just that he was currently injured.  

“He’s hurt?” Obishima said confused. How could he have gotten hurt? They fought in Trion bodies so unless extenuating circumstances were in play, they couldn’t really get hurt.  

“Ah, so Tamakoma is going after revenge.” Ikoma said.  

Well, revenge was one way they could explain their actions. It was definitely better than saying that Yuma was dying and they were desperately trying to save him.  

“Call it what you want.” Jin replied. “Now, who wants in on our plan?” 

To no one’s surprise, not a single agent in the room refused to take part in the plan. Even the agents who didn’t like Yuma wanted to take part in the plan, but that would be because the need to defeat the Mimics and end this attack was more important than their feelings towards Yuma.  

*Mimics*  

Mogami found himself crouched on the roof of the train station, staring off into the distance towards the towering building. Things really felt really different in Mikado City than what he last recalled of the city. The building ruins that were in the middle of the city couple with the new giant base in the center of those ruins. That base was the new HQ of Border. It was amazing to see how Border had grown in the past few years. He wasn’t sure how many years it had been, but from seeing Jin, he could tell that quite a bit of time had passed. For an organization that had been around, although secretly, for a couple decades and remained small to suddenly, in just a couple years, grow to be this big was impressive sight to behold.  

A base that big told Mogami that there would be a lot of agents. He didn’t know if their original base was still being used, but if it was, then that would give Mogami two possible options as to where the Black Trigger he needed to destroy would be located at. Since the Black Trigger he felt drawn to that he needed to destroy was in Jin’s possession, if he found his prodigy, he should logically be able to find it. The problem was that it wasn’t exactly easy to just find anyone in the city.  

Footsteps behind him had Mogami looking over his shoulder to see Yugo approaching, though his attention was locked on the base in the distance. “What are you thinking about, Soichi?”  

“How to find the Black Trigger to destroy it.”  

“Even if you find it, it won’t be easy to destroy it.”  

“True,” Mogami pushed himself to a standing position. “But if I could at least get it into my possession.”  

Yugo hummed in reply. “Yuma has the one I need. I wonder if he is at HQ.”  

“Won’t it hurt him if you take it from him?” Mogami asked. That was what he had taken Yugo’s words to mean earlier at least.  

“And?” Yugo asked, raising a brow at his friend. “I need to take hold of it.”  

Why did they both want the Black Triggers they created so badly? When he first appeared in the city, he chose to run from Jin and Yuma out of confusion. He could have dealt with the confusion of why he was suddenly in Mikado City and Yugo and his son were there. He couldn’t deal with the confusion of why he felt an unnatural anger at the sword Jin was holding and that he needed to destroy it. That was a normal feeling to have towards a weapon at all.  

That was last night and now almost a whole day later, there was a burning sensation traversing through his veins that was telling him to move, to find that Black Trigger. It had been a slight itch when he first saw the sword and Jin, but now his blood felt like it was boiling the longer he stayed away.  

It wasn’t right.  

Mogami shouldn’t want to attack his old friends to get to a Black Trigger and steal it from them. 

Attacking Border would never be what he wanted.  

And yet, if they got in his way of getting the sword, he wouldn’t hesitate.  

He would kill anyone in his path.  

*Mimics*  

“If it can be helped, we shouldn’t just choose a random location to start at.” Kako argued, glancing towards Osamu. Tamakoma had moved down from the back of the room and joined together on the stage as they tried to work out their plan of attack. “Isn’t there anywhere that you can think of that Kuga would hide at?” 

Osamu raised a brow. “I know nothing about Kuga’s father. He died long before I ever met Kuga.” 

“That’s alright. Think about Kuga-kun. They're father and son so they have to share some similarities.” Kako replied.  

Osamu wasn’t convinced. “You say that, but Kuga doesn’t talk easily about his father. It’s hard to make any comparisons when I know very little.”  

“The stars.” Chika piped up, causing Osamu to look at her in confusion. “Yuma-kun told me before he spent his childhood traveling with his father. During their travels, they spent many nights outside watching the stars together. It’s a habit he keeps up to this day. So maybe his father would go somewhere with a good view of the stars.”  

“Oh,” Jin grinned. “That’s a good idea. Mogami-san would watch the stars sometimes and talk of an old friend who liked the stars. He was probably referring to Kuga-san.”  

“Would the Mimics really choose a spot that has meaning to them like that to hide?” Tokieda asked.  

Jin crossed his arms over his chest and tilted his head to the side as he thought. “Considering they’re Trion Soldiers, you wouldn’t think they would, but they’ve got all the memories of the people they’ve transformed into. If those memories can be there, those feelings should be as well. The pain, anger, nostalgia, love, sadness.”  

“If that was the case, then why is Kuga’s father so hellbent on killing him?” Katori retorted. “He’s even managed to put the shrimp in such a state that Tamakoma is ready for an all-out assault against them.”  

“I can’t begin to understand all the mechanisms of the Mimics. From what I saw of them though, their feelings and their Mimic design are twisting around one another.” Jin replied.  

“Yuma called it a contradiction.” Hyuse added. “The Mimics don’t work as weapons because those memories and feelings get in the way of what they are supposed to do which is to kill us.”  

“If that’s the case then we use those feelings to our advantage.” Mizukami said, leaning his chin into the palm of his hand as he stared down at the stage. “The purpose of the Mimics transforming into our loved ones that died was to manipulate our emotions and make it hard for us to fight them. Let's just turn it back around on them.” 

That was an interesting idea. Considering how little they knew about the Mimics, Jin didn’t know how well it would work, but they wouldn’t learn anything if they didn’t try out any of the ideas they had. If he could get Mogami to recognize him and pause in his attack for even one second, it would help them a lot. Perhaps he could then figure out where the Mimic ended and Mogami started.  

“That works for Mogami-san since Jin was close to him, but Yuma was the one close to Kuga-san and he’s currently out of commission.” Konami pointed out.  

“Kido-san, Rindo-san, and Shinoda-san were all close to Kuga’s father in the past.” Osamu replied. “But we can’t ask them to join us in the field.”  

Tachikawa perked up at the name of his mentor being close to Yuma's father. It made sense if he thought about it now that he knew Yugo was a Border member in the past and he knew Shinoda had been with the organization for a long time. He wondered just how close they were all though. Then again, Shinoda did join forces with Rindo all those months ago to stop their teams from stealing Yuma’s Black Trigger. Tachikawa snorted at the thought. The son of a former member and friend of Border would be the one to almost cause a civil war in Border by just walking into Japan.  

“Considering he put his son in this state, how close could they really have been?” Yuiga muttered.  

His statement seemed to light a fire under Tamakoma as they all turned heated glares towards Tachikawa squad. The amount of anger in their looks had Tachikawa and Izumi inching away from Yuiga as they wanted no part in any of this.  

“You don’t know a damn thing about what happened between them in the past so you don’t get to say anything about their relationship.” Konami snarled, the only thing keeping her from marching up there and slapping Yuiga silly was Karasuma holding her arm to keep her back. “If it wasn’t for Kuga-san, Yuma wouldn’t-” 

“Konami-senpai.” Karasuma snapped, stopping her tirade as he was sure Yuma didn’t want people to know the history with his father.  

Konami seemed to realize her mistake as a scowl twisted on her face, but she stopped saying any more. She just sent one more glare at Yuiga as a warning to never open his mouth again before she was turning away from him. It was true that they knew very little about Kuga Yugo. They only knew what Yuma was willing to give them. From what they heard from Yuma though, she couldn’t believe that man didn’t love his son. No one would trade their life for another for any reason other than love.  

It was love that made Yugo save Yuma and it was Yuma’s love for his father that manifested Kuga Yugo as a Mimic. Everything about their relationship was based on love, which is why knowing that the existence of the Mimic of Kuga Yugo was hurting Yuma was making Konami mad. It didn’t match up with who Kuga Yugo was from Yuma’s story. That version of Yugo was someone that Konami could never imagine would hurt his son.  

She couldn’t stand to let Yugo run around anymore. His being was not only hurt Yuma physically, but also mentally.  

“Anyway,” Jin coughed, trying to hopefully get back on track and wipe those curious looks off the agents’ faces before they could begin to question what Konami had been about to say. “That’s what we mean by calling the Mimics a contradiction. The love they show with the ones that brought them into this world is being twisted. The Kuga-san we all heard about from Yuma would never do the type of things he’s been doing.”  

“So, find them quickly and destroy them. Is there anywhere in the Restricted Zone that has a good spot to view the stars?” Kako asked, trying to assist Jin in moving on from Tamakoma getting ready to murder one of their allies.  

With her question bringing things back on track, Shiori brought up a view of the whole Restricted Zone for them to examine to try to figure out where would be a good place to start their plan.  

As the suggestions flew from the agents about the best place to start, Osamu took a step back, ending up standing between Chika and Hyuse, who were listening silently to the options they were being provided with. Being unknown with the Restricted Zone, there wasn’t much Hyuse could offer to the conversation so he instead chose to look at Osamu.  

“Even with all these agents agreeing to help us, do you think we stand a chance against them?” Hyuse asked, mostly because he was curious how Osamu felt about this. The other day he spoke of the uncertainty of being able to handle this scenario, but with Mogami and Kuga both here, they didn’t have another choice but to get it handled.  

Osamu pushed his glasses up to readjust them as he stared at the agents who were throwing ideas out, all ready to go to war with the Mimics. “It doesn’t matter how I feel. We don’t have another choice but to win.”  

Chapter Text

“Jin-san.”  

Jin stepped back from listening to the captains discussing with Osamu where they should release the beacons first. He turned to take a look at Shun and the unusually serious expression on his face. “What’s wrong?” 

“I don’t believe that is a serious question you actually think you need to ask.” Shun retorted, eyes flashing with annoyance.  

“Alright,” Jin raised his hands in surrender. “Calm down.” Once he made sure the others were still busy talking, Jin guided Shun to a corner of the room. “I know you want to ask about Yuma, but I told you, Shun, that we would handle it.”  

Shun shoved Jin’s hand off his shoulder and rounded on him, eyes ablaze with a fiery determination that was burning into Jin. “Yuma-senpai...” He hesitated, glancing towards the group of agents that were arguing over where to start their plan. “His father told me of him dying this week and when I told Yuma-senpai about it, he had no reaction to the news. It was like he wasn’t even concerned by the threat his father’s made to him, so I need to know...”  

“Need to know?” Jin prompted when Shun made no move to continue.  

“Did you predict it?” Shun asked softly. Though his tone was soft as he asked, his trembling, white knuckled fists at his side spoke another story to Jin, who was surprised at the anger radiating off of the younger agent. “Did you predict his death this week and tell him about it?”  

“How am I ever going to surpass Yuma-senpai?”   

“Never. I'm going to be your superior until the day I die.”  

Jin’s expression softened at the young agent. This anger coming from Shun was just another form of concern for his friend. It was actually sweet to see how worried Shun was. He clearly wasn’t afraid to show it so openly.  

“Did he know?” Shun demanded when Jin didn’t answer him.  

“I told him.” Jin admitted.  

Shun gave a jerky nod of his head, looking off to the side with a dark scowl in place as he stalked off towards the agents, signifying the end of the conversation as he wanted no more answers right now. The one thing that had been bothering him had been confirmed. He needed time to calm his frustration at Yuma who acted so carefree despite knowing the future Jin predicted for him. His incoming death was not something that Yuma should have been taking so lightly.  

Somehow, Jin felt like he just got Yuma into a lot of trouble with Shun. Well, that would be something for those two to sort out when this was all over. It was something he would make sure they could take care of. Yuma would make it through the wake and he could properly explain things to his friends about what was going on.  

“You okay?” Kazuma asked upon seeing the anger on Shun’s face.  

Shun didn’t want to be mad. He shouldn’t be mad, but Yuma had been walking around with the knowledge of his death to come this week and Jin’s predictions were rarely wrong. They only became wrong when he worked on manipulating events to prevent what he sees. He was sure Jin was doing everything he could to save Yuma, but Shun wasn’t feeling all that confident that Yuma was putting in the same effort. His friend knew his death had been seen by Jin, but he was still acting so recklessly all week. 

“If he wasn’t already unconscious...” Shun grumbled to himself, ignoring the concerned and wary looks his teammates were giving him.  

*Mimics*  

“I can’t believe you told them Yuma was injured by the Mimics.” Karasuma said, looking over his shoulder at Osamu as Tamakoma-1 and Jin lead the way back to the lab where Yuma was resting. They had a little bit of time before they had to enact their plan to try to draw the Mimics out so they had decided to use this time to check in on Yuma. None of them felt any kind of hope that Yuma’s situation would have changed in the time they’ve been gone though.  

“It’s not technically a lie.” Osamu replied. “And besides, you saw their faces. They were not about to believe that Kuga was sick. They're not stupid.”  

“So?” Konami replied. “They can be suspicious all they like of what is going on. It's still none of their business.” 

Osamu pushed his glasses up to adjust them. “I agree which is why I said his condition was caused by the Mimics and nothing else.” He wasn’t about to betray Yuma’s trust by telling all the agents the full truth of what was going on. The agents just needed an explanation that wasn’t complete lies and something they could understand that would explain Tamakoma’s sudden haste to get this done.  

“It doesn’t matter what we said. If any of them go see Yuma, questions will arise.” Reiji pointed out. “We were trying the sick story to avoid having them go visit him since they wouldn’t want to get sick as well. Obviously, they weren’t buying it, so we’ll just have to keep them from visiting Yuma.”  

If she thought back to Shun’s face the other day when he couldn’t find Yuma to talk to him or even when she looked through Yuma’s phone at all the messages he ignored, Chika did not think it would be that easy to keep his friends from wanting to check up on him. Besides, if they couldn’t kill the Mimics in time, it wouldn’t matter. Yuma would die and they would have to tell the agents the full truth of what was really going on.  

No.  

Chika shook her head, hands clenched into tight fists at her side. She couldn’t think like that. They had to win. There could be no ifs in this situation. Losing Yuma was not an option. She was not going to lose anyone else important to her.  

Not without a fight.  

Never again.  

At their entrance into the lab, Shinoda and Rindo turned to look at them.  

“Didn’t expect you guys to come back today.” Rindo greeted.  

“We can’t stay for long. We have work tonight.” Jin replied as he stepped up next to Yuma’s bed, staring down at his friend. Seeing Yuma lying unconscious made him look every bit the eleven-year old’s body he was stuck in. Jin knew he was fifteen but when he was up and moving, his actions and the look in his eyes made him look so much older than his body. Being forced to sleep made him look so small and young.  

“And what is that work? Were you ever going to inform me?” Shinoda asked.  

“I didn’t think it would be much of a mystery.” Jin said with a small shrug of his shoulders. “We’re going after them.”  

Chika stepped up next to Yuma and gently grabbed his broken hand in both of her hands. She didn’t know how sleep mode worked in Trion bodies. Maybe it was just like a dark abyss that Yuma didn’t even realize he was in so he was unaware of everything going on. To him, when he woke up, it could feel like no time had passed at all. Or, it was possible he was aware of some stuff going on around him like it was possible with coma patients. If it was the latter, then Chika wanted her friend to know they were here with him.  

After hearing his story of what he went through when he was eleven, of hearing about the guilt he was living with about surviving when his father couldn’t, Chika didn’t want Yuma to ever think he was alone. It wasn’t all on him to do everything. They were going to be right by his side to help him through this.  

He just had to let them in.  

And slowly but surely, Yuma was opening up to them. He found the strength to tell them the truth, and now it was on them to return that trust and stay by his side as they helped him through this. They were not going to lose him to this.  

Osamu stepped up next to Chika, looking down at his partner sadly. It really didn’t feel right to be heading into battle without him. Yuma had always been there in the battles that Osamu got himself involved in, from the moment they met at school all those months ago. They were partners to the end, and if Yugo had his way, that end would be far sooner than anyone wanted. It was an end that Osamu knew was coming when he was let in on the secret. He knew that one day he would be forced to accept it, even if it was something he wished they could desperately avoid, but that day when it would happen was not going to be today or tomorrow or the day after. Yuma would die because of the effect of a Mimic of his father. He wouldn’t lose his friend to this, and he wouldn’t let the legacy of Kuga Yugo who gave everything for his son be tarnished like this.  

“Did you find them?” Shinoda asked, heart racing at the thought. He hadn’t heard any news about any of his agents managing to find Mogami or Yugo. If they could locate the Mimics, then he was ready to let Jin take the lead tonight. The sooner they managed to end this, the sooner they could make sure Yuma would be alright. This tormenting week could finally be over if the agents could take out the Mimics. He had to have faith in them that they could handle this.  

“No, but we’re working on a plan to drive them out.” Jin replied, refusing to let himself be frustrated at the thought. He couldn’t start this mission with any frustration at the lack of progress they had currently. The plan would work tonight and they would find the Mimics. “Let us focus on that. I need you and Boss in here with Yuma tonight.”  

Shinoda pushed himself to his feet. He looked towards Yuma before looking back at Jin. “Is there a reason for that?” He wasn’t against doing what Jin was asking of him. He was sure the reasoning was important, but it would be nice if Jin would stop being so cryptid all the time.  

Jin stared down at Yuma instead of looking at Shinoda. “It’s a reassurance. I don’t know how tonight will go, but the future I'm seeing is telling me that if things go wrong, I need you and Rindo-san here to keep Yuma safe.” It was bothering Jin just how much harder it was to read Yuma’s future, but he wasn’t going to say that aloud. No one else needed to know just how bad the situation actually was. “Most of the agents are going out in the field with us to take care of this, but Yuma is still in a Trion body. It could attract Mimics to him, though I'm hoping having so many agents active will keep the Mimics distracted with us. But, just in case...” He turned to look at Shinoda. “Yuma can’t take much more.”  

Shinoda clapped Jin on the shoulder, smiling reassuringly at him. “Rindo and I have got this. You just go do what you have to do.”  

To save Yuma required them to kill Kuga Yugo and to keep Fujin from being destroyed required the death of Mogami Soichi. That was their working theory currently. Even knowing that was what they had to do, if he took out the fact that it would be hard to defeat Yugo and Mogami to begin with, Jin still saw the difficulty of the task set out before them. Agents who had no connection to Mogami or Yugo would be better equipped to take care of this.  

Perhaps that would be the smartest decision. The anger Jin felt at seeing Mogami hadn’t diminished. It was just pushed to the side because he had to focus on Yuma, but seeing the copy of his dear mentor was not something he was going to easily accept. His friend had died a long time ago. Jin was not going to accept a Trion Soldier wearing his face.  

Mizukami believed that using the feelings and memories he had for Mogami against the Mimic would be enough to make him hesitate, but Jin didn’t think he could do that easily. The future of Mogami and Yugo couldn’t be seen because they weren’t real. Could he really stand in front of them and try to bring out the person who they were with his own feelings? Could he push his anger at seeing a fake away long enough to do it?  

Hyuse walked to the other side of the room, pausing to take a glance at the desk where a black and green sword handle was sitting. It was only something he saw once before when it was at Jin’s side yesterday. It wasn’t the Scorpion blade that he used against Hyuse in their fight so many months ago. To bring out a unique blade for one day and then get rid of it, it had to be a Black Trigger.  

Seeing the weapon now, Hyuse was confused to see a crack on the handle. He was certain it was a Trigger and Triggers didn’t break easily, especially Black Triggers. In fact, the crack on it reminded him of the cracks on Yuma’s body. Those similar cracks could only mean this was the Black Trigger that was connected with Mogami. Since the theory was that the Mimics were draining the Black Triggers of Trion, it would make sense that this sword was his. With how difficult Black Triggers were to break, that was the only thing that made sense to him about this.  

Konami threaded her fingers through Yuma’s hair before resting her hand gently on his scalp. She hated how he didn’t react to her touch at all, no tilt of his head or snide remark coming from him. He wasn’t allowed to be so still and silent. She wanted to see him open his eyes and see them shining with mischief as he lied to her again. She wanted to have another training session with him. She wanted to see Yuma’s smile again when she made her curry for dinner.  

She didn’t want to attend another funeral.  

“We’re going to save him.” Karasuma said, though his eyes were locked onto Yuma, instead of Konami. They had to believe those words. This wasn’t the time to let doubt cloud their minds. It would only get in the way of their judgement making, which something they could not afford when they were planning to go out to fight two of Border’s founders. They had to fight like they normally did.  

There was a strength to Karasuma’s words, and he knew that his agents were fighting to believe these words because the only other option was not something any of them would easily accept. Rindo didn’t want to accept it either, but seeing Yuma so unresponsive, he knew that he had to be realistic. Yuma’s death was not one he wanted to see, but he had to be ready for the worst-case scenario. If the worst-case came to be, he needed to be ready and able to stand up in that moment since his agents needed him as an example. If Yuma died, none of his agents would take it easily. Rindo would have to be the strength his agents needed in that scenario.  

“Be careful out there.” Rindo replied.  

Speaking of the mission, Shiori held up two Triggers. “I suppose I should return these then. The dummy beacon Trigger is all set up for you, Chika-chan, Hyuse-kun. We shouldn’t waste any time.”  

*Mimics*  

Shun was sitting on the couch of their operation’s room, just hunched over and staring down at his Trigger which was resting in his open palm. It was very strange to see him so still. In fact, it was so unusual to see him so unenergetic that it was unnerving to the rest of the squad.  

“Are you okay, Shun?” Ryuji asked.  

“Why does everyone keep asking stupid questions?” Shun muttered, leaning over more so he barely had to lift his arm to scratch the back of his neck. “Tamakoma wasn’t telling the full truth about Yuma-senpai.”  

Ryuji raised a brow. It was obvious that Tamakoma was being purposefully closed lip about what was going on. If their lack of information didn’t get in the way of the mission, then it wasn’t a big deal. The agents still understood what the plan for tonight was.  

“He’s dying.” Shun muttered. “He’s dying and they want to go after the Mimics? Why? I don’t understand what is going on.”  

Kazuma’s eyes widened slightly before he morphed his expression back into a calm one as he made his way over to the couch Shun was on. “It’s Jin-san, Shun. If this is the action he is taking when Kuga-kun is dying, then it’s what he thinks is best.” 

“Jin-san isn’t the person who would sit around while a friend was in trouble.” Kusakabe agreed. “You should know that better than anyone, so instead of moping there, stand up and get ready. Go see your friend if you must. Just get your head into battle mode soon.”  

Go see him? Should he go visit Yuma? When he saw his friend unconscious in the hall earlier, he had been terrified when nothing they did would wake him up. That fear only intensified when he saw the cracks on Yuma’s face. He had no idea of what was going on with Yuma or Tamakoma. He did understand that Tamakoma didn’t have to tell him anything. What went on inside their base was their business, but at the same time, Yuma was his friend. He was allowed to be concerned about him and want to know what was going on.  

Despite that, there was a part of Shun that didn’t want to go near Tamakoma. He didn’t want to go to the lab where Yuma was lying unconscious because he was scared to see that. The Yuma he saw in the hallway that was injured and unresponsive wasn’t the Yuma he knew. His friend was always so strong and confident. He wasn’t looking down on Yuma for falling. No one was impervious to getting hurt and needing help. At some point, everyone needed help.  

That wasn’t why he wanted to avoid seeing Yuma though.  

He was scared.  

Kuga Yugo spoke of Yuma dying this week, but Yuma didn’t react at all to that information, which was because Jin had already warned his friend. Yuma was going through this week with the knowledge that it might be his last week alive. He had known for days and yet when they were at lunch the other day with Suwa squad and Yoneya, he was smiling and laughing. When he was going at it with all the agents in Rank wars, he was clearly enjoying himself with his matches.  

In contrast to that, when they were in the city yesterday, he didn’t care about his dad’s threat to his life, but he was clearly stressed about having his father in the city. Was the stress just because of his father? Or was Yuma allowing Shun to see that the stress of knowing what his future held for him was weighing him down? Was he finally felt comfortable enough with Shun to let him see what was truly going on underneath his façade?  

“Stop overthinking it.” Hayato said before he was yanking Shun off of the couch. “Just go see him. If Jin-san has predicted his death, I'm sure he is doing everything he can to prevent it, but there is the chance he will fail. Don’t sit here and mope. Visit Kuga before you come to regret it.”  

And with that, Hayato shoved Shun out of their operation’s room, letting the door slide shut in a surprised Shun’s face.  

“Wow, kicked out of your own squad’s room.”  

Eyes widening in surprise, Shun whipped around to find Yoneya leaning against the way. “Why do you just keep popping up out of no way constantly?!?” 

Not the reaction that Yoneya was expecting, but it was a pretty amusing one. “It’s not really me popping up. I was just stopping by to ask you something.”  

Shun glanced at the closed door to his operation’s room before sighing and walking down the hall with Yoneya following him. “What is it?” 

“What did Jin-san tell you?” Yoneya asked, surprising Shun. “Don’t go acting like you’re the only one friends with Kuga. I saw you talking to Jin-san earlier and you didn’t look happy. So, what was Tamakoma holding back from us in that meeting?” 

“Ah,” Shun slammed a finger into the call button for the elevator. “I didn’t learn anything about Yuma-senpai's condition. I was asking Jin-san to confirm a theory I had.”  

“And that was?” Yoneya prompted.  

Shun eyed his friend out of the corner of his eye. Yoneya wasn’t there when Kuga Yugo said his son would die this week and it was something that he never brought up with him. However, he was with Shun when they found Yuma earlier and he saw the cracks on his body. He had to have his own suspicions about what was going on.  

Before Shun could determine an answer, the elevator doors were opening up in front of them.  

And Shun was founding himself face with a sense of déjà vu he did not appreciate.  

“Murakami-senpai, Kageura-san.” Shun greeted politely, making no step to get on the elevator. At least they weren’t dragging an unconscious Yuma with them this time.  

Yoneya seemed to have no issues as he shoved Shun onto the elevator and stepped on after him. “Afternoon. Not off prepping with your teams for the mission tonight?”  

“Could say the same to you.” Murakami replied, leaning back against the wall, eyeing the two new occupants to the elevator. “Where are you off to?” 

Yoneya glanced at the panel on the wall to see the floor he wanted already selected. “Same as you it seems. Tamakoma may not be happy about us all showing up though. They didn’t seem to want us to visit him.”  

Kageura scoffed as he looked out the window of the elevator. “Then they shouldn’t have told us where they had him resting.” 

Yoneya's eyes narrowed at the two B-Rank agents in front of him. He knew they were close to Yuma, but he had a good idea of why Tamakoma was hesitant to tell the agents anything. If they got too worried, they would want to visit Yuma and that would result in them seeing the cracks on his body. Yoneya didn’t even have an explanation for those cracks and he saw them hours ago. He couldn’t very well tell these two to leave though. That would only make them more suspicious.  

Tamakoma had to know it wouldn’t be easy to hide Yuma’s breaking body.  

“What is wrong with you?” Kageura suddenly snapped, shooting a nasty glare at Shun.  

Shun blinked in surprise, backing up a step at the hostility. That was his fault. He had forgotten about Kageura’s side effect. Perhaps entering an elevator with him while feeling depressed at the knowledge that they might all lose a friend soon wasn’t the best idea. Then again, it was Yoneya’s fault for shoving him into the elevator. “It’s nothing.”  

That seemed to only rile Kageura up even more, but luckily for Shun, Murakami held out a hand in front of Kageura, an inch away from shoving his hand into his chest. “Calm down. I'm sure Midorikawa is just worried about Kuga.”  

“It feels similar to what Kuga was attacking me with the other day.” Kageura snapped, shoving Murakami away from him and taking a step towards Shun. “You know something. There is more to this situation than Tamakoma is letting on.”  

Shun glanced towards the top of the elevator doors. How long was it going to take to get to the floor he needed? Then again, getting to their floor wouldn’t do much since Murakami and Kageura were going to be getting off there as well, so it’s not like he had an escape from Kageura’s wrath. 

“Oi!” Kageura snagged Shun’s jacket roughly to drag his attention back to him.  

“Kage!” Murakami grabbed his wrist, but Kageura refused to release Shun’s jacket or take his glare off the younger agent.  

In return, Shun glared at Kageura. He might like to avoid angering Kageura, but he wasn’t scared of the other agent’s temper. Things were just easier if they didn’t set Kageura off.  

“I think we all need to calm down.” Yoneya said. Why did he have to be the mature one here? “This isn’t the place to be getting riled up.”  

“I don’t like it.” Kageura shoved Shun back with enough force that he knocked him into the wall behind him. As he did, Murakami released Kageura’s wrist so he could help steady Shun. “I can’t figure out this emotion that you idiots keep striking me with.”  

Shun leaned all of his weight against the wall, folding his hands behind his back on the railing as he looked down at the ground. “Yuma-senpai was projecting emotions at you?” He asked softly. He recalled Yuma mentioning offhand to him one day that he didn’t set off Kageura’s side effect. Shun had nagged Yuma for hours about how he did it, but wasn’t able to get an answer. All he got was killed by Yuma for hours in their rank matches.  

“In our rank match the other day.” Kageura grunted. “It was similar to what you’re feeling.”  

“So, it was getting to him.” Shun whispered.  

The three agents stared at Shun, confusion on their faces.  

Shun valued his friendship with Yuma, and if there was one thing he didn’t want to do, it was to betray the trust Yuma had in him. However, there was also the case that Shun realized this wasn’t a burden that anyone should carry alone. He mentioned it to his team because they were with him when Yugo spoke of Yuma dying this week. These three agents in front of him were not a part of that conversation, but they were all Yuma’s friends and they deserved the truth. Perhaps knowing would cause worry in them, but at the same time, it gave the motivation to fight harder to win tonight. “Jin-san predicted Yuma-senpai's death this week. He’s worse off than Tamakoma was letting on earlier.”  

“Dying?” Murakami looked completely baffled by the idea of any of them dying. It’s not that he didn’t know they could be killed. Being in Border was a dangerous job and they lost people back when Aftokrator invaded. Death was a real threat to them, but it still wasn’t something he liked to think about. If he did think about it, he didn’t consider Yuma to be in danger to it. He always seemed to be so capable and assured of his strength to survive.  

What absolute garbage that was. That stupid shrimp dying this week? No. No way was that shrimp going to die this week. There were only two people who didn’t set off his side effect and that was something he wasn’t willing to let go of.  

“My bad. If we fight again, I'll do my best to feel better so you get a decent fight.” Yuma said.     

That idiot. He was blatantly dropping hints in his wording, but none of them had any idea to see his words for what they were since there was no reason to think Yuma’s life was going to be in trouble. He had clearly been off all week, but they had passed it off as frustration towards the Mimics and the appearance of his father. It seemed that there was a lot more going under the surface that Yuma didn’t want them to know about.  

“Right,” Kageura muttered, shoving past Yoneya as the elevator doors slid open.  

Yoneya peaked out of the elevator doors to watch as Kageura stalked down the hall towards Kinuta’s labs. “Perhaps not the best person to tell that too.” He muttered, glancing at the depressed Shun. “None of that, Midorikawa. This isn’t the time to be depressed. Jin-san and Tamakoma have made a plan to go after the Mimics which means they must think this will help. This is the time to bring our A-game.” 

Murakami nodded. “I agree. You only get to be depressed if we fail in stopping the Mimics and lose Kuga.” He stepped out of the elevator and stared at Kageura’s back in the distance. “We should stop him before he does something stupid.”  

Shun slapped his cheeks a few times. He had been ordered by his captain to get himself into battle mode. Everyone was right that he couldn’t just stand here and mope. Standing around and being upset was not going to save his friend. If he just stood here and moped and, in the end, Yuma died, he would never forgive himself. He had to fight for the future he wanted.  

*Mimics*  

Stepping out of the lab, Jin was surprised to find Arashiyama and Kako waiting there. “I thought you would be off preparing for tonight.” 

“Not much to prepare for when we already laid out the plans. All that is left is actually starting the mission.” Kako replied, brushing her hair out of her face. Her team wouldn’t be fighting any differently tonight so she had no special orders to give them. “In the meantime, you can tell us the truth. How is Kuga-kun really?” 

A light huff came from Jin. “I should have seen you two making an appearance for that reason alone.” Just as fast as it came, the amusement was gone from Jin’s face as he glanced back at the closed door to the lab. “Osamu wasn’t lying when he said the Mimics were injuring Yuma. It's just we didn’t explain everything but since you two know the truth of Yuma’s body.” He looked back at his friends, a grimace crossing his face. “Kuga-san being able to use the Black Trigger that is keeping Yuma alive is draining the Trion that he needs to sustain his body and that is causing his body to break. If his body breaks completely, he’ll lose his Trion body and his real body will come out which will result in his death.”  

“I see.” Arashiyama replied softly, shoulders sagging at the news. It was hard news to hear, but it wasn’t because of Yuma’s real body, they still had a chance. They just had to solve the issue with the Black Trigger and that would hopefully fix everything. “You asked me to protect Yuma earlier this week. Is it because you saw this coming?”  

“I wanted to do everything I could to avoid this future, but we failed, so all we can do now is try to fight to stop the future I am seeing from becoming a reality.” Jin replied.  

“And going after the Mimics will do that?” Kako asked.  

Jin turned his head to the side, staring down the empty hallway. “I don’t know.” He admitted. “I don’t know how tonight will turn out. I can see us going out on a mission, but I can’t know how the battle will go since I can’t see the futures of Mogami-san or Kuga-san.” Not to mention the haze that was covering Yuma’s future. “If we do manage to find them tonight, it’s not going to be an easy battle.”  

“We have no choice but to find them.” Kako replied. “Otherwise, we’ll lose Kuga-kun.”  

Seeing the determination shining on Kako and Arashiyama had Jin smiling back in appreciation. This wasn’t a battle any of them could do alone. Yuma might have wanted to keep his impending death quiet, but truthfully, the burden was too heavy for any one person to carry. This was something that Jin knew only too well from being forced to carry the knowledge of the future and have everyone rely on him to plan their course of action. Arashiyama once told him to not keep all the burden to himself. He had Border at his back who he could rely on to carry the burden with him.  

“Of course, because you can’t steal Yuma for your team if he dies.” Jin said, seeing the sparkle in Kako’s eyes at his statement.  

“Kuga-kun hasn’t seen just how relentless I can be when I am trying to recruit someone. He can’t die yet when I’ve hardly tried to steal him yet.” Kako teased.  

Jin snorted in amusement.  

“That’s better.” Kako said. “Don’t forget to smile. You can’t let these burdens pull you so far down you forget who you are. You’ve been letting your stress about everything get to you too much. I know you need to keep yourself focused on this attack, but you can’t forget everything else.”  

Jin stared in surprise at his friend. Had he really been so transparent that all of his focus had been on Yuma and the Mimics the past few days? It was hard to focus on anything else when his friend was dying and his mentor was back, bringing up painful memories he had already healed from. They weren’t memories he needed to revisit.  

“She’s right.” Arashiyama agreed. “If we only focus on the bad things happening, we’ll forget what it means to live. I know you are determined to fight the future, but you can trust in us. Yuma’s death is something none of us are willing to accept.” Movement from the other end of the hall caught his attention. “Any of us actually.”  

“Hmm?” Jin looked at the other end of the hall, this time not feeling any surprise at seeing another agent approaching them. Though, the amount of anger radiating from Kageura was concerning. Why did everyone seem to be getting mad at him this week? 

“You bastard, Jin!” Kageura snarled, never slowing down in his stride down the hall. “You think you can just hide the fact that Kuga is dying?” 

Why did Jin even try?  

Honestly, there was truly no way they were going to be able to hide this. It was only a matter of when it would come out. Though the question was, did Kageura put the pieces together from talking to Yuma the past couple of days and add that to his current situation or did someone tell him what was going on? 

The answer presented itself when Shun, Yoneya, and Murakami rounded the corner after Kageura.  

“Calm down, Kage.” Murakami shouted at his back, hurrying down the hall towards his friend. “I’m sorry about him, Jin-san.”  

Behind the older agents, Shun rubbed the back of his head sheepishly, giving Jin an apologetic smile. He really had no excuse for telling them the truth other than it was a heavy burden to bear the knowledge alone and being Yuma’s friends, they deserved an honest answer. He was sorry that telling them the truth sent Kageura on a rampage towards Jin though.  

“I was hoping to last at least an hour before it started to get around.” Jin muttered.  

Kako checked her watch. “Forty minutes is actually a pretty good time.”  

“It’s really not when you consider that the agents are supposed to be better at keeping secrets.” Arashiyama replied, giving Shun a disappointed look.  

“There’s Border secrets and then there is life threatening secrets.” Shun argued. He caught Jin’s eyes, not backing down an inch. “You’re going to try to save him, right? Well, we’re all want him to survive, but I think they deserved to know the truth. If we fail, don’t we deserve to see him before then?”  

Jin stared down at Shun, blinking in surprise at the look in his eyes. The Shun who was always so excited to see him wasn’t standing in front of him right now. This was a more serious Shun who was scared to face the future of losing his friend, but also pulling himself up to stand tall in the face of what he considered to be the right course of action. Seeing the change brought a small smile to Jin. It truly was wonderful to see the younger agents growing so much.  

Relenting, Jin stepped back, raising his hand in surrender. “There’s nothing I can do when you’ve already told them.”  

The question that Jin was left with though, was what should he tell them? Shun and Yoneya already saw the cracks on Yuma’s body so they likely already had their suspicions. Murakami and Kageura were the only ones here that were pretty in the dark about what was going on. Yuma told Tamakoma the full truth last night, but that didn’t mean he wanted everyone to know. Jin couldn’t make the choice for him to tell anyone his history.  

Jin could easily just tell them nothing and to just focus on tonight’s mission. They weren’t entitled to know anything that was happening inside Tamakoma. This wasn’t a Border secret though.  

It was, however, the life of a friend at stake.  

While Jin knew why Yuma didn't tell people–he didn’t want their pity or to burden them with the knowledge of a friend dying soon-he also understood the pain of not knowing and standing around doing nothing. The agents weren’t doing nothing as they were all going out tonight to take the fight to the Mimics, but they likely had questions raging through the minds that were a distraction.  

There was something to say about not telling the agents that Yuma’s life was hanging by a thread so as to not distract them with worry tonight. On the other hand, knowing the danger their friend was in would add an extra layer of motivation for the agents tonight. He wasn’t sure they needed any more motivation to want to kill their enemy though. All of the agents were always ready to take on the enemy.  

Glancing over his shoulder at Kako and Arashiyama, Jin saw that the traitors had stepped away to leave him to the ire of the other agents. That was fair. It was an agent from his branch so it was Tamakoma’s decision on how to handle this.  

“Right,” Jin stepped in front of the door that led into the lab. “I’m going to give you the barest of explanation and you will ask no questions. If he wants you to know, Yuma can tell you everything else when he wakes up. I’m not taking that choice from him. If you can’t agree to that, you can leave right now.”  

“That sounds fair.” Murakami replied with Shun and Yoneya nodded in agreement while Kageura just huffed and looked away, but considering he stayed, he must have agreed as well. “I just need to know that he will be okay.”  

Jin eyed each of the agents separately, judging their expression before he nodded. “Yuma was gravely injured as a child so to save his life, Kuga-san created a Black Trigger and sealed Yuma’s dying body into the Trigger. It seems that the Mimic of Kuga-san is siphoning the Trion from the Black Trigger which is sustaining Yuma’s body and causing him damage which is why we need to kill him quickly. We don’t know if this will help Yuma, but it’s the only idea we have right now.”  

His explanation just had the four agents staring blankly back at him. It was the simplest explanation that Jin was willing to give. There was no need for the full story of what happened to Yuma, and if Yuma felt he trusted his friends to tell them, that was up to him in the end. Since they already knew Yuma’s life was in danger, Jin just wanted them to understand the full stakes of what was going on. The rest of Yuma’s past did not relate to the current situation he was.  

“What you’re saying is that Kuga is in a Trion body?” Kageura asked, glaring at Jin. This was in no way his fault, but this entire situation was really starting to piss Kageura off. Yuma really had gone and gotten himself into a stupid situation. They were going to have to put the work in overtime to drag him out of it so Kageura could personally bash his head in during a rank match for causing this much worry about the agents. All their concern flying through the air was really making his skin itch.  

“Correct.” Jin replied. “And that body is starting to break. We don’t have much time is left so we need to find the Mimics as soon as possible.”  

Having his theory confirmed only made Shun wish that he was completely off. The idea of living in a Trion body sounded interesting, but not when the context of how it came to be was added in. There were so many questions running through his mind about what Jin said. Obviously, he couldn’t ask anything since he agreed with no questions, but honestly, he felt like the more answers he got this week from everyone in Tamakoma, the more questions he had. He could make a few guesses to try to get to the answers, but what was the point? It would only leave him more curious and worried with overthinking his what-ifs.  

The one thing he was certain of though was that Jin was telling the truth, as much as he wanted to tell them. Yuma had already told him before that he was severely injured once and his father created a Black Trigger to save him. What Yuma conveniently left out back then though was that those injuries from the past were still affecting him to this day. The fact that he was living with the consequences of an action from so long ago showed just how truly dangerous and insane the Neighbor’s world was.  

“I tried to kill you. I can’t complain if you kill me.” Yoneya said.   

“Forget about it.” Yuma replied. “I doubt you could’ve killed me anyway.”   

Yoneya stared at the door behind Jin, his meeting with Yuma from so long ago flashing through his mind. The confident Neighbor kid who was convinced Miwa squad couldn’t beat him. It made a lot more sense now. It wasn’t confidence. It was the fact that he was already dying because Yoneya wasn’t stupid. If Yuma’s body was that injured, just sealing it in a Trigger wouldn’t save him. His body was still dying. Otherwise, Yuma would have gone back to his real body a long time ago. In the face of that, what more could Miwa squad do?  

Nothing.  

There was nothing they could do in the face of someone who had to live with his death hanging over his head for years. If he was already dying, then he had nothing to lose.  

It was actually quite sad. No one should have to live with their death hanging over their head and any day it could be the end. Not accounting the Mimics that was speeding up his death currently, did Yuma even know how much time he had left? 

He couldn’t imagine living like Yuma did. It wasn’t an easy life, and yet, he seemed to smile so easily through each day.  

Murakami's eyes softened.  

“My father.” Yuma replied softly. “He died when I was eleven.”  

It seemed there was a lot more to that statement than Yuma was willing to let on when he told Murakami that. If his father gave up his life to save Yuma’s, it made sense why he never mentioned his father’s death before. It couldn’t have been an easy topic for him to ever bring up. Just from the little bit Jin had been willing to give them, he could tell there was a lot more to the story and it was likely a very tragic tale.  

Yuma hid that pain well, but now it made sense why that pain and frustration was becoming so prevalent throughout this week. It would be difficult for anyone to keep themselves calm and thinking straight when being faced with the trauma of their past in the version of a transformed Mimic forcing them to revisit it. 

Knowing that Yuma’s father used to be a member of Border and a strong one, if he considered how worried the top brass was at his return, Murakami could believe the story Jin was telling. It was too farfetched to even be considered a lie. It did leave him curious as to how Yuma got hurt and when. It was strange that it took Yuma years to join Border if his father was once an established member of the organization. Perhaps the loss of his father and the trauma he went through at eleven kept him away from Border. Something like that had to be very mentally taxing for him.  

It didn’t matter how strong Yuma was. Everyone needed time to heal after tragedy occurred.  

Seeing as the agents were following their agreement to ask no questions, Jin stepped through the door to head back into the lab with the agents. At this point, his traitorous friends, Kako and Arashiyama, came back to join the group. With this many agents, it was a good thing Kinuta had stepped out earlier. It meant there would be no complaining about there being a party in his lab again.  

“Mikumo-senpai and his squad aren’t here?” Shun asked surprised as he looked around the lab to only see Tamakoma-1, Michael, Rindo, and Shinoda present.  

“They went to test out the dummy beacons before the mission.” Konami replied, eyeing the group of agents that Jin led into the lab. She was certain Jin was leaving to get ready for tonight, but he wasn’t even gone for fifteen minutes before he was coming back in with agents.  

“It shouldn’t take them long to master them with Usami’s help.” Reiji said. “But it’s always good to get some practice in.”  

“The real challenge will be making sure all squads are in sync tonight.” Murakami said.  

“Shiori and Yuri-san will be in control tonight so there won’t be any issues there.” Konami replied. 

Murakami nodded in agreement. Yuri and Shiori were two top notch operators. They could handle that job. Looking past Tamakoma-1, Murakami found his attention focusing on the unconscious Yuma. There had never been a time where he had been unnerved by a Trion body until this moment.  

It was one thing to see cracks spreading on a Trion body in combat since they all knew once that body broke, their real bodies would return to this space. The same concept applied to Yuma here, but the difference was that his body was in no good condition to be in this world. Those cracks spreading on his body were like a ticking bomb.  

“He doesn’t look any worse at least.” Shun said softly as he stepped up next to Yuma’s bed. As terrifying as those cracks were to Shun now that he knew what they meant, he would say this was the most peaceful Yuma had looked all week. Considering the state he was in, that was pretty sad. It showed just how truly stressed his friend was all week. It was time to end this nightmare for him. Though, it would probably be frustrating for Yuma to be forced to rely on others to solve all his problems for him.  

“His body entered a sleep mode to try to recover some Trion.” Rindo said as he shot a surprised look at Jin for allowing this many agents to know. In return, Jin could only offer a helpless shrug that just had Rindo giving up as well. Border agents were extremely loyal so they didn’t go around abandoning their friends. They obviously weren’t going to accept Tamakoma’s excuses easily.  

“I thought you wanted to keep this quiet.” Shinoda said softly to Jin.  

“For Yuma’s sake, I wanted to keep his condition private.” Jin stared at the agents who were gathering around Yuma’s bed, solemn expressions on their face. “However,” He glanced back at Arashiyama and Kako who were watching the agents. “There is something to be said about living your life to the fullest and enjoy every moment with your friends.” He smiled softly as his attention shifted to watch Yoneya and Shun shove at each other to get closer to Yuma. Yoneya used his bigger build to win and get to Yuma where he ruffled his hair roughly, muttering soft words under his breath. “If you forget those moments you shared with everyone, you’ll forget what you are fighting for. We’ve been so focused on the Mimics and fighting for the future that we’ve forgotten those moments. Yuma didn’t though. He knew there was a chance that he would die this week, so he was on the move. He went to his friends and worked on fulfilling as many promises he made as possible and trying to have fun before he got focused on finding his dad to end this. Those moments of laughter and smiles are what we need to remember. I want to protect his smile.”  

That had been Jin’s goal, and Arashiyama and Kako were right in saying he had been so focused on it, that he had forgotten everything else. All he could think about was how to stop this horrible future that he forgot what it meant to live in the first place.  

He glanced over at Shinoda. “When Yuma first came to us, he admitted to me how much fun he was having after only being in Japan for a few days. He said he hadn’t had fun in years. What he went through as a child stole his enjoyment of life from him. I'm not willing to let him lose that just yet. His friends who helped him smile deserve to know what the fight tonight will do.”  

Jin understood what Arashiyama and Kako wanted him to know in the hall, but it was something for Jin to focus on later. There wasn’t any time to think about anything else tonight. He needed all his focus on stopping Yugo and Mogami. The slightest distraction could get them killed.  

Shinoda shifted his attention to the agents who were being told off by Reiji for their roughhousing around an injured Yuma, smiling softly at the scene. He was certain that if Yuma was awake right now, he would be right there antagonizing them into even more roughhousing. When he needed to be serious, he could be one of the most serious fighters, but when there was no need for battle, he was very relaxed and willing to goof off and have fun with his own brand of mischief. It reminded him quite a bit of Yugo. While Yugo could be quite serious, he never forgot to smile and enjoy every moment. Very little could actually scare Yugo. He was ready to face the world doing whatever he wanted and what he believed to be right.  

Yugo raised a great son. It was easy to like him so it didn’t surprise Shinoda that besides all the Tamakoma members, the Border agents liked him. It was exactly like Yugo, who made friends with anyone he met.  

Leaving the younger agents to visit with Yuma, Jin joined Kako and Arashiyama by the door where they were silently watching the other agents.  

Staring at the group around Yuma, Kako found herself frowning, amusement at the scene dropping. “I seem to recall you saying we had five days two days ago. Will this really end tonight?” 

“The future isn’t set in stone. Every action that everyone takes shifts the balance of which path to the future we are on. The mission we’re going on tonight, if it succeeds, could shift us to a better path or we could fail and make things worse. It could very well speed up the time to the bad future.” Jin explained. “The future is fickle like that.”  

“Perhaps it is, but Border agents are quite stubborn. This will not end the way you predict.” Arashiyama replied.  

Jin looked through the group of agents surrounding Yuma’s bed so he could see his cute little kouhai. “I certainly hope I can be surprised.”  

Chapter Text

“We’re going to begin in the northeast sector.” Yuri said, glancing over at Kyoko. It felt weird being in HQ’s war room. Director Shinoda typically took charge of big missions from here with Kyoko relaying his orders to all squads in the field. That wasn’t the case this time. It was a Tamakoma Branch mission with Border HQ agents as backup. Commander Kido and the other directors were present, but Jin sent Shinoda and Rindo to watch over Yuma for the duration of the mission. She hoped that didn’t mean anything bad.  

On her other side, Shiori was sitting next to her to take care of Tamakoma-2. When it was decided that Yuri would use the war room to keep track of all the squads in the Restricted Zone, it was deigned necessary to have Shiori here as well to help keep track of Tamakoma-2 and their movement with the dummy beacons.  

“All squads should get into position in the northeast sector. Don't be too close to each other and keep an eye out for movement from Mogami-san or Kuga-san when Chika-chan and Hyuse-kun release the dummy beacons.” Yuri said, glancing towards Shiori, nodding her head at her.  

Shiori nodded in reply. “Chika-chan, Hyuse-kun?” 

*Mimics*  

Chika crouched on the ledge of the highest roof she could find in the area her team had chosen as their starting point. A lower roof below her was where Osamu and Hyuse were waiting, but Chika wasn’t focusing her attention on them. Instead, she was looking out towards the dark city. With no electricity in the Restricted Zone, it was only thanks to Shiori’s support that they were able to see as well as they did in the city.  

A slight breeze blew pass her, blowing her hair across her eyes. She brushed her hair back, holding it off to the side. There was a calmness to the air that didn’t match the situation at all. If Osamu and Hyuse were anything like her, there was a tenseness to their hearts. None of them had been in Border long so they hadn’t faced many missions, but somehow this mission felt different from the rest.  

It wasn’t hard for her to realize why. In all the Neighbor attacks they’ve been involved in, Yuma was always right there by their side. He would be fighting there with them, taking care of the strong enemies, usually being forced to fight alone. This time though, there was no Yuma to fight alongside them. There was no Yuma to save them when they got into trouble. Instead, this time, they were the ones who had to save Yuma.  

There was nothing calming about this mission. There was so much riding on it. It hurt that they were out here while Yuma was lying unconscious in Border HQ. Chika’s hand that was resting on her knee curled into a fist. When Aftokrator invaded, she was barely able to do anything as she was such a new trainee at the time and got turned into a cube.  

She was not going to be useless this time.  

All of her effort would go into this and they would save Yuma. She wasn’t going to cry like she did when she saw Osamu had gotten hurt.  

She was going to fight for the future she wanted with her squad.  

“Why are you really helping us with this?” Osamu asked Hyuse, though he was scanning the surrounding area. With it being night now, Gates could open to allow Mimics through at any point. It would add a complication to their mission tonight, but one they would have to deal with. They couldn’t prevent the Mimics from interfering in their hunt, only deal with them as they showed up. “Are you really doing this to help Kuga?”  

“I made a promise to get the squad on the away mission. The Mimics are getting in the way of that happening.” Hyuse replied.  

Osamu glanced at Hyuse out of the corner of his eyes. “Tamakoma-2 has already been selected for the mission. You fulfilled your promise. There is no reason for you to want to go out of your way to help Border defeat the Mimics and save Kuga.”  

“The longer this goes on, the longer it will take to get on the away mission.” Hyuse replied, resting his hand on his sword handle, glaring at Osamu. “There is nothing more to it than that. Besides, things will only be harder for us if Yuma dies here. His strength will be helpful in getting us to Aftokrator.” He looked up towards where Chika was watching the city above them. “Neither one of you understands how dangerous it will be to get to Aftokrator. We need all the strength we have access to.”  

Osamu stared at Hyuse for a moment, giving up on trying to get Hyuse to admitting that he saw Yuma as a friend that he wanted to help. Hyuse was a very stubborn person who would never admit to anything. He kept everything close to his heart. Neighbors being stubborn seemed to be a theme for all the Neighbors he met.  

“Perhaps I don’t understand the dangers of the Neighborhood, but hearing about the Black Trigger assassin from Kuga’s story is a good starting point to learn of those dangers. I'm not taking the away mission lightly for that reason.” Osamu replied.  

Stepping away from Osamu, Hyuse stepped up onto the ledge, staring towards the stars in the sky. He was wasting too much time in this world. All he wanted was to get back home and make sure his master was safe. That was his reason for joining and the reason he pushed Chika to realize why she couldn’t shoot. She needed to get over that fear. If she couldn’t do that, their team would always be held back. Everything he did was to better the team so they could make it onto the away mission.  

He did not want to get attached to anyone here.  

It was never in the plan.  

So, why was it that lately all his plans seemed to be awry?  

It started with Hyrein’s trick that left him abandoned in this world and from there, it grew. Joining Border had been a stepping stone to returning home and it turned into enjoying the battles. His competitive nature urged him to improve and get stronger, not only to advance in the ranks, but because he wanted to win and had fun cutting down his opponents.  

Winning those Rank Wars and fist bumping his team afterwards. It wasn’t something he had thought he cared about when he joined, but there was something enjoyable about planning strategy with the team and fighting for that win alongside allies turned out to be more fun than what he thought. Of course, he would admit that to no one.  

Could he fully trust Border? 

No, he was still fully aware that he was a prisoner captured by Jin. The higher ups of Border could not be trusted, but Chika and Osamu didn’t know how to not be honest. Osamu was tricky and manipulative to get what he wanted, but when actually facing Hyuse, he wasn’t playing tricks. They trusted too easily.  

Yuma was the opposite. He didn’t trust easily and when he did, it was because he used his side effect to his advantage to determine what course of action to take. Being that he was a Neighbor and grew up in a harsh environment, it wasn’t surprising. He understood the harshness of life better than the rest of their team.  

He understood just how truly unfair life was.  

That was something that Hyuse could relate to with him. Life was cruel and unforgiving. It wasn’t easy to fight the cruelty of life alone. Everyone needed allies by their side to survive it. Hyuse needed his team to get him back to Aftokrator, and his team needed him to get to the Neighborhood. They all needed each other for the same reason. There was a promise to get them to the Neighborhood and that promise was made to all of them.  

Yuma wasn’t allowed to die until his promise had been completed. Osamu thought it might be completed because the team got picked for the mission, but until they were on the away ship and in that world, Hyuse didn’t consider his promise finished.  

“Chika-chan, Hyuse-kun.” Shiori’s voice came over the comms. “Are you ready?” 

“I’m all set, Shiori-san.” Chika replied.  

“Ready here as well.” Hyuse said.  

Osamu nodded. “Right, Chika, take the right side of the northeast sector. Hyuse, take the left. Produce enough that if the radars pick it up, they’ll move, but not too many clustered in one area that will make them suspicious.”  

“Just like we practiced, Chika.” Hyuse called up to the sniper.  

“Right.”  

As Chika and Hyuse separated from him, Osamu found himself glancing back in the direction of HQ. Their plan wasn’t a bad one, but that didn’t mean it would work. Their time in Shizuka City proved that not everything would go their way. The enemy would always move to counter them. It was in those moments that Osamu relied heavily on Yuma for help.  

Relying on Yuma wasn’t an option this time though. Osamu had to work his friend out of his plans, hopefully only for the next few days. He wasn’t ready to say goodbye to his partner forever.  

Osamu shook his head. This wasn’t the time for depressing thoughts. He had to move, staying in-between the two paths that Chika and Hyuse had taken while maintaining a bit of distance so he could keep an eye on them with Shiori’s help.  

“I’m starting.” Chika’s voice crackled in Osamu’s ears.  

*Mimics*  

“Wow!” Satori said as all the Trion signatures began to pop up on his radar. Unless he expanded his radar, he could only see the beacons in the area Arashiyama squad was keeping an eye on. Just the amount of beacons being released by Chika and Hyuse that he could see was amazing. It was definitely more than he thought they would use. Considering all the agents were wearing bagworms to not be spotted by the Mimics, the amount of beacons shouldn’t be an issue though.  

“I’m not seeing any movement.” Kitora said.  

“It would be too much to hope we would catch them in the first location we checked.” Arashiyama replied even as he kept his eyes roaming over the area he was in. He could just barely make out the beacons floating in the sky above him if he tried to find them. The night air was so calm that it was adding tension to the air somehow.  

Every agent came out here tonight expecting a fight, so the calmness, when compared to the last few nights, was unnerving. There weren’t even any Gates opening currently to drop untransformed Mimics into the area. When they came out here, they were expecting Mimics to get in their way which would draw attention to the agents. They want the transformed Mimics to see them before any attention was drawn to them by them getting involved in other battles. That would defeat the purpose of an ambush after all.  

“None of the other squads have spotted anything either.” Haruka said. “Yuri-san said to scope the area for any movement that might be the Mimics on the move and if we don’t get anything, we’re moving to the east sector in a few minutes.”  

“If we have to scope out the whole Restricted Zone, this could take all night.” Tokieda replied. They had chosen the northeast sector to begin with because of the buildings it had that had a good view of the stars. Unfortunately, it wasn’t feasible to move randomly throughout the Restricted Zone to get to the areas that have a good spot to view the stars from. They would have to make their way around the Restricted Zone.  

“True,” Arashiyama said. “That’s why the lower tier B-Ranks will be taking defense duty in the morning. It will be safer for them anyway. With how little we know about the Mimics, they shouldn’t be dealing with them.”  

“Still doesn’t seem like a good idea to have all our top squads out tonight dealing with this.” Kitora said. “If we can’t find them tonight, they could attack in the morning.”  

“You’re assuming all of the agents out here tonight have any intention of resting when we finish this.” Tokieda pointed out. “There are quite a few agents who don’t know how to take it easy.”  

Arashiyama glanced towards Border HQ before looking towards the building where Kitora was crouched to scope out the area. “Tamakoma definitely won’t be relaxing until Yuma has woken up.”  

Kitora closed her eyes, imagining the last time she had seen Yuma. His body had been all cracked at the time and then healed right before their eyes. If she took the time to think about it, she could come up with the answer, or at least a good theory, as to why and how that happened. However, she hadn't wanted to pry into his life. She saw it from how he skirted around answering their questions at the time so she chose to respect his boundaries and didn’t think too much on it.  

Opening her eyes, she looked towards her Captain. She knew he was good friends with Jin and had been talking to him quite a bit the past few days. “You know more about Kuga-kun's situation than you’re letting on.”  

Arashiyama smiled slightly. His young ace was always so perceptive. “It’s not good.” He said, getting serious. “His life is in serious danger. That's why Tamakoma is desperate to find the Mimics tonight and end this.” 

“I see.” Kitora looked at the abandoned buildings again. “It was always personal to Kuga-kun, but now the attack has become personal to all of Tamakoma.”  

To Tamakoma, it probably felt like a personal attack on them so of course they would want to handle this. At the same time though, they came to the other agents for help. With a friend’s life on the line, they weren’t willing to risk anything by trying to do this alone.  

*Mimics*  

“Why do I have to be out here?” 

“It’s an all-hands-on deck situation and you skipped defense duty the other morning.” Izumi snapped at Yuiga. “If you want to be an agent, you have to put the work in.” His life would be a whole lot easier if he left Yuiga to continuing to abandon his duties as an agent. At least then, he would have less headaches to deal with.  

“Exactly. Cannon fodder for the Mimics would be quite useful.” Tachikawa said.  

And there was Izumi’s second headache. His overeager Captain who was begging for his squad to find Kuga. He would have thought his Captain would be content finding Mogami or Kuga. It would be a Mimic with a Black Trigger either way, but no. Tachikawa wanted Kuga to get revenge for his ambush the other day.  

“Who’s cannon fodder?” Yuiga retorted. “Surely not me! I'm an elite among elites.”  

“Maybe among babies.” Tachikawa replied.  

“That’s an insult to babies.” Izumi said dryly.  

“Kunichika-senpai! I don’t want to work with these two!” Yuiga bawled.  

“Oh?” Yu piped up over their coms. “You could go off looking for the Mimics on your own, but you’re likely to get killed by Kuga-san if you do that.”  

“Oi! What’s that?” Tachikawa said angrily, ignoring the weeping of Yuiga behind them. He twisted on the spot, but Izumi had no idea of what he was looking at since Yu was in their squad’s operation room in HQ. “We don’t add respect to Kuga’s name! He is not deserving of any of it!”  

“I think it’s pretty impressive he managed to successfully ambush and kill you two so easily.” Yu replied cheekily, making Izumi amused as he watched the annoyed twitch in Tachikawa’s brow. “That deserves respect.”  

“He only managed that because we didn’t know what to expect from him! He just came out of nowhere!” 

“Yes, that’s a successful ambush.” Yu said, amusement touching every inch of her voice.  

If Tachikawa didn’t get to fight Kuga Yugo and get his revenge, Izumi just knew he was going to have to hear about this for months. He would have to deal with headaches every day from the combination of Tachikawa and the annoyance of Yuiga. Who did he hurt to have to be punished like this? 

“Yuri-san says we’re heading east.” Yu said.  

‘Come on, Kuga. Show your face.’ Tachikawa thought as he propelled himself across the rooftops.  

Izumi followed after his captain, glaring at his back. He knew exactly what his overeager captain was thinking about. Honestly, please, Kuga Yugo walk into their path. He didn’t even care if Yugo managed to kill them again, just let Tachikawa get a fair fight against him so he will stop complaining. If he gets a fair fight and still gets killed, Tachikawa can’t say anything else. Please, for him, end this misery he has found himself in.  

*Mimics*  

“Do you see anything, Jin-kun?” Yuri asked. “Will we find anything tonight?” 

Jin stared out into the distance. If he focused, he could hear the quiet talking of the squad that was near him. “I can see a battle tonight. I don’t know who against, but let’s hope it’s Kuga-san.” 

Yuri’s expression softened. “Let’s end this this before Yuma-kun wakes up. He shouldn’t have to see his father die a second time.” She said, deciding not to point out to Jin that they were also looking for Mogami as well. There was no need to as she was sure Jin understood that. It's just that defeating Mogami wouldn’t be what would save Yuma. It was Kuga Yugo that was killing his son.  

The life of his friend was more important than his personal issues with the Mimic of Mogami Soichi right now.  

“Sawamura-san, can you please keep an eye on the areas around the base?” Jin requested.  

“I’m keeping an eye on all of the Restricted Zone, Jin.” Kyoko replied.  

“And you do an excellent job at it, but please, give special attention to the areas around the base. Usami and Yuri-san can focus on the rest of the Restricted Zone.” Jin replied. He didn’t need all three of them keeping an eye on everything taking place in the mission. Kyoko was there to give help to them, but she was also the one who was connected to Shinoda to keep him informed of the situation. That was what he needed. He needed Shinoda to always be aware what was happening while keeping an eye on Yuma.  

Shiori glanced up, sharing a look with Yuri before she was leaning forward to see Kyoko pass her, who looked surprised at the request.  

Shinoda had asked her to keep an eye on the mission and the agents for him since Jin had asked him to be somewhere else. It would be hard to keep Shinoda appraised of everything that was going on if Jin wanted her to keep her attention elsewhere. Yuri and Shiori could be trusted to handle the mission well though.  

“Would you like to tell me what I am watching for?” Kyoko asked curiously. If Jin was requesting this of her, it had to be important. It was rare for him to ask anything of her or the directors since they were never in the field anymore.  

“With all the agents we have out in the field tonight, if Mimics do appear, we will be drawing them towards us. However, Yuma is still in the base and being that he is in a Trion body, he could draw the attention of the Mimics to the base.” Jin explained. “Not to mention all the operators who are in there.”  

“Would the Mimics target operators? They haven’t seemed that interested in attacking the base when there are no agents present inside.” Kyoko asked, not reacting to the news of Yuma’s situation at all. Even though she wasn’t at the meeting last night, Shinoda had kept her informed of what had happened and why he would be spending the time during the mission with Yuma in the lab.  

“Kuga’s Trion body was created from a Black Trigger so the power pouring from it is really strong while most of the Operators have low Trion. It’s likely the stronger the Trion, the bigger a beacon it will be to the Mimics.” Kinuta explained, drawing the eyes of the Operators to him. “For example, Agent Amatori would draw them easily to her because of the vastness of her Trion. Kuga and Jin both became targets of the Mimics because of the Black Triggers they had in their possession during the times when they were attacked. Taking that into consideration, the Operators shouldn’t draw any attention from the Mimics.”  

“Would Yuma-kun still be drawing the attention of the Mimics then? He is severely low on Trion right now.” Shiori asked, concern easing into her voice which she normally tried to keep out of her voice when she was working.  

“I hope it’s nothing, but to ease my concerns, I put Rindo-san and Shinoda-san with Yuma and would like Sawamura-san to just keep an eye on things around the base.” Jin replied. “With how low Yuma is on Trion and the amount of active agents, nothing in the base should attract attention from the Mimics. Perhaps I am being too cautious, but I'm not willing to take the risk right now.”  

“I understand, Jin. I'll keep an eye out for enemies.” Kyoko promised.  

With Kyoko’s promise ringing in his ears, Jin started to move through the northeast sector to get to the east sector. As he moved, he kept his eyes locked on his surroundings in case Mogami or Kuga happened to appear. He was moving on his own through the Restricted Zone, but he knew Kazama squad was the closest squad to him. If he came across the Mimics, they would be able to get to him quickly to help him.  

*Mimics*  

Dummy beacons didn’t require a lot of Trion to use, but when using a lot and constantly activating and deactivating them as they moved through the areas to try to trick their enemy into coming out of hiding, it could end up be taxing even for him by the time they did this to the whole Restricted Zone. There was a reason why he said that Chika and himself would do this together. They both had enough Trion to release dummy beacons all over the Restricted Zone on their own, but he didn’t want to waste Trion that they would need to use to fight when it came down to it.  

Hyuse was certain that it would come down to a fight before the night was over. The Mimics could very well not be in the Restricted Zone and this was all a waste of time, but Hyuse was willing to bet they were in the area somewhere. Before they transformed, they were Trion Soldiers that were attracted to Trion bodies. They may be transformed, but they were still Trion Soldiers so their programming can’t have changed that much and the Restricted Zone was a place that always had Trion bodies active somewhere in it.  

According to Yuma, Mimics used a form of echolocation to locate Trion bodies since they didn’t have the ability to see. Being that Mogami and Yugo were transformed Mimics, they had more abilities at their disposal, which meant they weren’t going to focus on echolocation to find agents. They would be using their radars which was why the dummy beacons would fool them into coming out.  

“How are things looking, Usami-senpai?” Osamu asked.  

“Still nothing from the other squads.” Shiori replied.  

Disappointing, but they were only in the third area of the Restricted Zone. Hyuse hadn’t expected this to be easy or fast. It would be time consuming and boring just running around the Restricted Zone and releasing dummy beacons, but at least it it felt like it was accomplishing more than just searching the Restricted Zone with no real course of action.  

“It’s the south area next. Chika-chan has already started moving. You two should go catch up with her.” Shiori replied.  

Osamu's brows rose. When she first joined Border, Osamu didn’t think Chika would do that well as an agent, despite her large volume of Trion, since she was the type of person that didn’t take action without prompting. These few months in Border had really helped her grow into a stronger person who was proving Osamu wrong at every time. She wasn’t hesitating any more. She was ready to stand and fight without needing any prompting from him or Shiori.  

It brought a smile to Osamu. He was happy to see Chika growing and little by little coming out of her shy shell. The agents in Border have really helped her in more ways than he ever expected from them.  

Hyuse launched himself across the rooftops without any more prompting. He hoped Chika would at least wait until he was in the area before unleashing her next wave of dummy beacons.  

Hyuse's foot had barely hit the next roof when an alarm was blaring through the air.  

“Gate activity warning! Gate activity warning!” 

A few rooftops behind him, Osamu came to a halt, staring up at the Gate forming above them. They knew this was likely going to happen in the middle of their missions, but couldn’t it have waited a while longer? They weren’t even halfway through the Restricted Zone yet.  

Seeing the Mimics drop down from the Gate had Hyuse and Osamu both taking a close look at them. Neither of them had seen an untransformed Mimic yet. A shadowy figure with long limbs with a large yellow eye taking up the face of it. It looked like a thing of nightmares to Osamu. He couldn’t imagine ever going to something like this with the hope of getting to see a loved one for a moment before being forced to move on forever.  

Hyuse opened his hand at his side, getting ready to activate his Viper when a shot came shooting through the sky to slam into the closest Mimic to him.  

“We’ll take care of the Mimics.” Arafune’s voice sounded in their coms. “You guys don’t have time to waste on them right now. Go find Mogami and Kuga.”  

Two more shots come from different directions to kill two more Mimics which told Osamu that Arafune’s teammates were also around. He hadn’t realized they were the squad nearest to them, but perhaps Jin saw this coming and set them up for this reason.  

“Right, thank you.” Osamu replied. He looked at Hyuse, nodding at him.  

Hyuse dropped his hand and instead changed course to get around the Mimics, though he kept looking over his shoulders to watch for their position in case they chased after him and Osamu. With Shields being ineffective against them, all they could do was pay attention and dodge any attacks that came from them as they retreated.  

Osamu twisted around as he jumped to the next building to get a look at the Mimics. Despite Arafune squad shooting at them, they couldn’t stop all the Mimics that had come through the Gate, especially since some of the Mimics were turning away from Osamu and Hyuse to head straight towards where the snipers were which was forcing them to focus on those ones.  

That left Hyuse and Osamu with the group that was following- 

A slash ripped through the air, cutting half of the Mimics in half.  

Well, never mind then.  

“At that distance with Senku,” Hyuse said, looking in the direction that the slash came from.  

“Ikoma-san.” Osamu finished, looking in the direction as well to see Ikoma standing on a roof quite far from them. That would explain why his attack only managed to get half of the Mimics.  

“These are our target, Four-eyes. Get out of here.” Ikoma said.  

Osamu rested a hand on his ear where his coms were. Did Jin lay out both of these squads here or was it Yuri ordering the squads to move in so Tamakoma could focus on locating Mogami and Kuga? He supposed the answer didn’t really matter. Either way, he and Hyuse were going to be leaving the other squads here to deal with this.  

“Chika, Hyuse and I got a bit delayed. Wait a few minutes before releasing the dummy beacons.” Osamu replied as he and Hyuse got on the move again, leaving the sounds of battle behind them. 

“Is everything alright?” Chika asked.  

“Some Mimics appeared, but Arafune squad and Ikoma squad are taking care of them. We need to focus on our mission.” Hyuse replied.  

“Okay. I'm in position. Tell me when you’re ready, Hyuse-kun.”  

*Mimics*  

“Woah, these things look so creepy.” Kai said. 

“Kai, don’t you dare think about charging in.” Maori ordered. “It’s dangerous to fight Mimics close range.”  

Kai folded his arms behind his head, pouting. “Then what am I even doing here?” 

Oki looked through his scope at the hoard of Mimics that were redirecting their attention to the squad that was attacking them, leaving Tamakoma-2 free to move to the next area. “Kai has no memory of deceased loved ones for the Mimics to steal. He should be fine even if one does manage to touch him.”  

“So, I can fight!” Kai cheered.  

“No, you’ll only get in the way of our attacks.” Mizukami replied as he unleashed his Hound on the Mimics. Even though his bullets curved as they locked onto their targets, he still found himself tsking when the Mimics deployed shield to block his bullets from hitting them. “Why are Trion Soldiers with Shields becoming a common theme lately?”  

“Just blow the shields away.” Ikoma said. He got a good amount of Mimics with his surprise attack, but if they started to throw up shields, it would be harder to slash them in half. Still, they were only Trion Soldiers. They couldn’t be that smart.  

Mizukami started to form his Asteroid, breaking it into pieces. “Or you could just cut them in half again. Their shields aren’t that strong.”  

“What about if I use my Senku?” Kai asked. “I can slice them in half." 

“Your Senku doesn’t have the range that Iko-san has. You would have to get closer to them and that would just get you in the way of Iko-san's Senku.” Maori replied. 

Mizukami unleashed his Asteroid at the Mimics on the next building over. His bullets were strong enough to penetrate the shields of a few Mimics, but he couldn’t send the bullets wide enough to get all the Mimics approaching them. It was enough though as Ikoma unleashed his Senku once more to cut them in half.  

He got two.  

The other Mimics extended their arms behind them to latch onto the ledge of the building and used the force of retracting their arms to fling themselves backwards while using their Shield to defend from the range of the Senku if they couldn’t get far enough in time.  

“Ah, they dodged.” Oki said. 

“Why is this a thing?” Ikoma demanded, pointing his sword at the Mimics in the distance. “I can accept being dodged in Rank Wars, but from Trion Soldiers?”  

“It seems they are adapting to us.” Mizukami replied, already having his Hound formed at his side. “Doing the same thing over and over again isn’t going to work here. Show it to them once and they’ll be ready to fight against it.”  

“Oki, shoot them down!” Ikoma shouted angrily.  

“Did you miss the part where Arafune squad is getting targeted at close range after only taking a few shots against the Mimics?” Oki asked. “I might get two, maybe three, if I'm lucky.”  

“Kai will back you up then. Anything to lessen the numbers out here.” Mizukami replied.  

“Huh? I get to do something?” Kai asked excitedly. “Yes! I'll cut down any Mimics that try to approach Oki-senpai!” 

“With caution.” Maori stressed.  

Oki swapped out his Egret for his Lightning. It would be best to get his shots off as fast as possible before the Mimics could close in on him. Doing it this way would divide the Mimics up into groups that would focus on him and Kai while the others went towards Ikoma and Mizukami. It would at least make things easier if they each had less targets to focus on.  

“Try not to die, Kai. I'll be dead pretty fast the moment you bail out.” Oki said.  

“Don’t you worry! I'll protect you!” Kai assured.  

Oki did not feel very assured, but he didn’t have another option except to put his trust in Kai. Unlike Arafune, he didn’t have ability to switch to close range when the Mimics closed in on him so that was when Kai could interfere with his Senku, and hopefully not cut Oki down along with the Mimics.  

*Mimics*  

“Gates have begun to open.”  

Rindo leaned back in his chair, glancing over at Shinoda. “Gates have been opening all week. The agents can handle some Mimics.”  

Shinoda lowered his hand from his ear as Kyoko finished talking so he could focus on his friend. “For all of our sakes, I hope that is true. We don’t need any more Mimics transforming. Mogami-san and Kuga-san will be more than enough hassle for the week.” 

“Hn,” Rindo smirked, though it lacked amusement, as he stared at Yuma’s still form. “Ever since Yuma came to us back in December, everything has been so hectic. Even after that first large-scale invasion and Border growing into what it is now, practically overnight...” 

“It certainly got lively in Border, but nothing like the past few months.” Shinoda finished, expression softening as he looked at his old friend’s young son. “Yuma-kun brings a certain thrill to things like his father did before him, although I would say Yuma-kun is a lot more of a trouble magnet than Yugo-san ever was.”  

Rindo laughed lightly. “I would say he just has bad luck.” 

“Then here’s hoping we break his streak of bad luck tonight.” Shinoda replied.  

“All of our bad luck. We haven’t been doing that well this week.” 

“We’re surviving though. Just managing to survive is a win, but it won’t be enough if we can’t beat Yugo-san and Mogami-san.” Shinoda stared sadly at Yuma. They could manage to push back the attacks as much as they wanted, but it didn’t mean anything if they didn’t kill Mogami and Yugo.  

There wasn’t much time left.  

When the nation that was sending the Mimics here moved out of range, would Mogami and Yugo leave to go back to that nation or would they stay here to continue causing havoc? 

Neither option was favorable.  

If they survived, not only would two Black Triggers be destroyed from it, but they would lose Yuma. He had once told Yuma that if he ever needed anything, then to come to him. There wasn’t anything Shinoda wouldn’t do to help his late mentor’s son. He owed that much to Yugo, but despite that, Yuma still kept his problems to himself.  

It didn’t surprise Shinoda at all.  

Yugo was quite a private person when it came to important things, and it seemed, Yuma was the same way. Though Yugo did manage to ask for help when he really needed it. It seemed to be something Yuma still struggled with.  

*Mimics*  

“I wish something would appear already.” Yoneya said, twirling his spear around in boredom. In the darkness, he could barely make the dummy beacons that were floating in the sky above them. It certainly was an interesting tactic to use beacons to fool Kuga and Mogami into thinking they were surrounded so they would want to act. He just hoped that it would work to draw them out. He was excited for a good fight.  

“Would you take this more seriously?” Miwa scolded. “This isn’t a game.”  

Yoneya rested his spear on his shoulder as he turned to glance at his Captain. He was looking for a fight, that was true, but he wasn’t taking any of this easily. While his team held grudges against the Neighbors, Yoneya had nothing against them himself and found himself as someone who could probably enjoy their company easily. He certainly liked Yuma, which was why he was eager to bash some heads in.  

Even if the rest of his team didn’t care, Yoneya did. He had never been hurt by Neighbors before and he didn’t feel like starting now by losing a friend.  

“I’m being completely serious.” Yoneya replied, looking at his Captain with a smirk. “Don’t you want a rematch against Kuga’s Black Trigger?” 

“No, and besides, it’s not being wielded by the same person.” Miwa replied.  

“Even better, someone stronger is using it.” Yoneya replied.  

Kodera lowered his Egret when he saw no movement around him. “That is not something to be celebrated, Yoneya-senpai. Kuga-san and Mogami-san will be difficult to deal with.”  

“No one is unbeatable. Even those two have to have a weakness.” Narasaka said, rising up from his crouched position, turning off his Egret since there was nothing in sight.  

Miwa rested his hand in his pocket, curling his hand around the mini Replica copy he had there. He really didn’t know why he kept hold of this thing for so many months now. There was no reason for him to still have it. It didn’t work anymore so it’s not like the Neighbor needed it.  

That Neighbor who sliced his sister down in front of him just a few days ago. He said that the Mimic of his sister was about to kill his team. That's what he said, but his sister seemed like her normal self and wanted to see him. If he looked at Mimics from their design as Trion Soldiers and with what Yuma said, the obvious solution was that it was a manipulation tactic to get close to them to strike them down.  

That was how Yuma told them to look at the Mimics, but there was another side to them. When they transformed into someone, they got all the memories and feelings of that person.  

“Mimics, at least the ones I saw as a kid, didn’t have the capability of staying transformed for long. Because they were used to say a last goodbye to your loved one that wasn’t a bloody corpse you found on the battlefield, and that’s the reason fond memories are used. You want to avoid having memories of an enemy being chosen and appearing in front of you.” 

“So, it’s a tool used to deal with grief?” Kazama asked.  

“That was the original purpose, yes, but it seems it has been weaponized.” Yuma replied.  

The idea of transformed Mimics being used to manipulate emotions and kill their target made sense, but at the same time didn’t make sense. If they had all the memories and feelings as when they were alive, then they obviously wouldn’t want to fight their friends and family. Attacking allies and friends went against who the transformed Mimics were when they were alive.  

It was a contradiction.  

Like Mizukami said.  

They needed to use those memories the Mimics possessed to their advantage. It could make them hesitate as their memories and their programming fought against each other.  

By that logic, that would make anyone connected to Mogami and Yugo their weakness. He would bet Jin and Yuma would be the best people to get to Mogami and Yugo.  

That was if Yuma ever decided to wake up from his nap.  

*Mimics*  

While the other squads were trying to see if they could locate any movement from the Mimics if they were trying to avoid the dummy beacon trap, Kikuchihara was relying on his hearing. His teammates could look for any movement in the area from where they were hiding, but he was keeping his ears open for any movement near them. Oji squad was the nearest squad to them so he focused on blocking out the noise they were making so he could focus on trying to locate any sounds that might be the Mimics.  

His side effect enhanced his hearing, but it didn’t give him the ability to hear miles away. It was only a few times better than average hearing so he could only hear in the area he was in. If Mogami or Kuga made their way through the shadows of the buildings around here, he would hear them moving.  

Utagawa glanced towards his teammate, but didn’t say anything as he knew it would distract him from differentiating between the sounds that he was filtering through. He knew Kikuchihara found it annoying to have to use his side effect like this for long periods of time, and they’ve already been in the Restricted Zone for a few hours trying to draw out the Mimics. It would have been easier to just release the dummy beacons all over the Restricted Zone in one go, which Chika and Hyuse had the Trion to be able to do, but they didn’t have enough agents to cover every inch of the Restricted Zone to keep an eye out for them moving.  

Even now, they had only made it a third of a way through the Restricted Zone. If they did manage to find the Mimics, it wouldn’t be over then. It would just lead to a fight, and speaking of fights, they already lost Arafune squad, Ikoma Squad, Kakizaki squad, and Katagiri squad when they all got sidetracked by Mimics appearing from Gates. It meant they had a smaller area that Chika and Hyuse could release the dummy beacons in since those four squads couldn’t cover their areas in the sections the squads were moving to.  

There was a ruffling of cloth that had Kikuchihara lifting his head. His eyes scanned the area, but he couldn’t see anything, so instead of using his eyes, Kikuchihara closed his eyes. When one sense was gone, the others got heightened. His sense of hearing was already much better than everyone else’s with his side effect but the focus he got from not being distracted by his sight added another level to his hearing. If anything approached him while he was doing this, he would hear it or his team would notice.  

It was impressive.  

There was barely any sound to the steps that were being taken. The ruffling of the cloth had to be because of the bagworm. Despite the skills of the person trying to be silent, Kikuchihara’s side effect was still better.  

“Movement to the west of us.” Kikuchihara informed, opening his eyes to look at his captain. “Only one person though.”  

“I thought Jin-san said Mogami-san and Kuga-san would be together though.” Utagawa said. “Are you sure it’s them?” 

“That was just an assumption made since they disappeared together last night.” Kazama replied. “Mikami, alert HQ that we may have located one of the Mimics.”  

“On it.” Mikami replied.  

Kazama glanced at his team. “We’re moving. Stick to the shadows.”  

Following their Captain’s lead, Utagawa and Kikuchihara dropped down from the building they had been on and fell into the building’s shadow. Kazama took a stepped back and motioned for Kikuchihara to lead the way to where he heard the movement.  

*Mimics*  

Jin came to a halt, staring at the vastness of the buildings ahead of him. “They’ve found something?” He repeated.  

“Yeah, they’re investigating it now.” Shiori replied.  

Jin looked in the direction that Kazama squad would be in, eyes narrowed. Kikuchihara’s hearing told them it was only one person moving through the area they were in. Was it Yuma’s father they happened upon? Kuga Yugo was the one that Jin cared about tonight. His grievances with Mogami’s mimic were being put on hold in face of the danger to Yuma’s life. Making sure Yuma didn’t die was first priority. Killing Mogami would come second to that.  

So, the question was, who was near Kazama squad? Mogami or Kuga? If he used his side effect to look into the future, it gave no clear answer. He could see a battle waging, but he couldn’t see who it was against. There were two options here. Wait for Kazama squad to report back on who it was or move towards them now.  

If he moved now and it wasn’t Kuga Yugo, it would be a waste of time if he had to move again if Kuga appeared in a different area. If he waited and it was Kuga, it would take time to get to Kazama squad to help them against him.  

Even if it was Mogami, it wouldn’t be an easy fight for Kazama squad. Jin could go to Kazama squad and help them anyway. Both of the transformed Mimics needed to be dealt with after all.  

It was an option, but Jin knew without a single doubt, that if he faced off with Mogami right now, he would be nothing but distracted. Of all the agents out here tonight, Jin was the one in the best position to bring forth Mogami’s feelings from when he was alive since he shared so many moments with his mentor.  

By that logic, he should be moving to Kazama squad quickly.  

It was the logical option.  

Jin wasn’t looking for logical right now though.  

Killing Mogami right now wouldn’t save Yuma.  

But leaving Mogami alone would only keep him around longer and he would get in their way later on.  

“Not completely. I'm still here to help Border in any way I can.” Jin said.   

“And we appreciate it, but don’t try to take on everything alone, okay? We’re all here to help you. This isn’t a fight you have to go into alone.” Arashiyama replied.    

Jin closed his eye, breathing out slowly. That was right. This wasn’t his battle alone. He had plenty of allies out here tonight. Instead of focusing on his own determination to save Yuma’s life as he promised the young Neighbor, he had to focus on the whole picture. Both Mimics were the target tonight. It didn’t matter which one Kazama squad found, he had to assist them. He could trust the other teams to take on the other Mimic.  

“Jin-san.”  

“Yes, Captain Four-Eyes?” Jin asked, opening his eyes back up, a new determination shining in them as he began to move towards Kazama squad.  

“Should we continue to move on with the mission? If only one Mimic is there, the other could still be in this section or he could be moving to a different section.” Osamu asked.  

“It could be possible the other one is near Kazama squad but hasn’t drawn any attention to him.” Shiori pointed out.  

There were too many maybes mixed into all of this. It was making it difficult to determine what the best course of action to take was. Part of the reason they were doing the mission this way, with this amount of agents, was because they needed all their strength to kill Kuga and Mogami. Their skills and experience coupled with the ability of Black Triggers on their side made them formidable opponents. Kuga Yugo had proven that with his decimation of the squads in the past couple of days.  

“Stay in the area for now.” Jin decided. “We need to see what we’re up against.”  

“Who we’re up against.” Osamu corrected, dropping down to the building that Chika was crouched on. She glanced at Osamu, but the captain was looking through the darkness, still looking for any movement from the second transformed Mimic that should be in the Restricted Zone somewhere. The mission they spoke of to all the agents was about going off to find both of Mogami and Kuga, but honestly, Osamu was more focused on trying to find Yuma’s father. He was the cause of Yuma’s pain, so Osamu wanted to focus on helping Yuma to deal with this.  

The plan of the dummy beacons wasn’t concrete, but it was better than nothing, and it seemed to that it was paying off. One of them was making an appearance. Where was the second?  

*Mimics*  

Yuri’s fingers froze over her keyboard. Her attention got pulled to the screen that was flashing in warning to showcase the Gates that were beginning to open.  

“Gate numbers....Eight...twelve...fifteen...nineteen...twenty-two.” Kyoko counted.  

“Just how many Mimics are coming through?” Shiori asked shocked.  

“It’s not Mimics.” Konami’s voice came through the coms. “We have Marmods here.”  

“I’ve got an Ilgar over here.” Azuma’s voice echoed in the war room.  

“Is it another invasion?” Yuri said shocked as the reports began to ring through of what the agents were encountering.  

“Jin.” Kido said, staring with narrowed eyes at the monitor as the alerts flashed with each Gate was opening. There had been a risk of Mimics appearing tonight while the mission was ongoing, but there had been no mention of an attack on this scale happening tonight. The only thing that was talked about was Mogami and Yugo needing to be found.  

“It could be the nation that sent the Mimics here or it could be Kuga Yugo’s doing. We know he is capable of opening Gates.” Jin replied.  

“He is capable of opening the Gates based on his Trion levels. Based on that, he shouldn’t be able to open this many Gates or call this many Trion Soldiers to fight by his side.” Kinuta pointed out.  

“Mimics have come through some of the other Gates.” Kyoko said. “It has to be the nation that sent them here that is opening all of these Gates.”  

That was something that Jin wasn’t so sure about. He called his Scorpion to his side, eyeing the Bander that had stepped into his path to stop him from getting to Kazama squad. In the past few days, the only Trion Soldiers that got sent here from the nation that was attacking them were Mimics. If they faced anything besides Mimics, it was when Kuga Yugo was opening the Gates. 

Kinuta wasn’t wrong though. Kuga Yugo didn’t have the ability to open this many Gates, as far as Jin was aware, and he certainly never called any Mimics to his side.  

“Jin-san.” Shun’s voice came through his com.  

Jin raised a brow in surprise that Kusakabe would agree to connect them in the middle of all of this. “What is it, Shun? A bit busy.” He replied as he dodged the laser from the Bander before jumping into the air and slicing it down.  

“HQ is wrong, or half right, I don’t know.” Shun explained.  

Jin landed on the ledge of a roof, putting a hand to his ear. “You need to be a bit clearer than that, Shun.”  

“There’s Rabits here with Tamakoma’s symbol on them. It can’t be the Neighbor nation that sent these Trion Soldiers.”  

Jin’s eyes widened for a moment before his expression was smoothing out, Scorpion disappearing from his hand. The dummy beacons were their plan to draw the Mimics out and ambush them, but this sudden appearance of so many Gates....Were they the ones who walked into a trap?  

There was no way for the Mimics to have been aware of their plan to lure them out with dummy beacons, but the timing of this attack was too convenient. All of the Gates were opening in the sector of the Restricted Zone that all of the agents were in...the Trion Soldiers they were used to and the Mimics in the same sector. The Mimics made sense. They would appear where all the agents were located.  

However, the same could not be said for the Trion Soldiers that bore the symbol of Tamakoma. They would only appear here if Kuga Yugo was here.  

There was no way for him to know about Border’s plan to lure him and Mogami out, so were the Gates dropping his Trion Soldiers in the area just his form of retaliation to the amount of agents he thought were in the area? Was he cornered and using the Trion Soldiers to open the path for him? 

Jin had no way of knowing what the Mimics were after with attacking this world. He couldn’t figure out the plan the nation that was doing this had, but the transformed Mimics? At least with Kuga Yugo, his focus seemed to be solely on Yuma. He wouldn’t want to get trapped by all the agents in the Restricted Zone when he hadn’t gotten what he wanted from Yuma.  

Did that mean Kazama squad was closing in on Kuga Yugo? 

“I’m not trying to get in between you and your father. Your history with Kuga-san is your own, but the fact that you will die in a few days is my business. It's my job to protect my kouhai.” Jin said softly.     

Yuma twisted away from Jin, walking across the roof. “No, it isn’t. It never has been. You just made that your job. Your real job is to protect the city from Neighbors. That is what is important here. You can’t risk the safety of the civilians for one person.” He looked up at the sky. “I know you want to save my life, Jin-san, but like I told you before, I won’t begrudge you if you fail. The safety of the city and the citizens is top priority. As an agent of Border, my life is second to their protection. That is what it means to be a soldier. Taking care of my father’s Mimic is top priority. If I die in the process, then I die, but I will kill him before the citizens or my friends are put in danger because of him.”    

Jin closed his eyes briefly. It wasn’t a promise that Jin had been able to say, and it still wasn’t something that Jin could bring himself to say. There would never be a reason for Jin to ever promise that he would turn his back on a friend. It was even what he told Yuma after his friend was going off on him. He would not abandon his friend, but even though that was true, Yuma was right that the safety of the city was important. If the Trion Soldiers weren’t dealt with, they would get into the city and go after civilians.  

“Osamu, have your squad go assist Azuma squad with the Ilgar. Chika-chan will be helpful there.” Jin decided. “Taking care of these Trion Soldiers is going to take priority right now. We can’t let them run rampant.”  

Osamu gritted his teeth, but murmured his consent to the order. This wasn’t the end of their mission. It was just a side mission that needed taken care of before they could save Yuma. He had to believe in the strength of Yuma to hold on while they made sure the Trion Soldiers didn’t escape.  

*Mimics*  

Kazama fell into a crouch on the ledge of a building, overlooking the road below them that Kikuchihara had led them to. In the street, he could see a figure walking slowly, a hood from his bagworm pulled over his face. The darkness and the hood pulled over his face made it impossible to tell who they had found. Whether it was Kuga or Mogami, it didn’t matter. Their job was to kill both of them.  

His preferred method of attack would be to use Chameleon to sneak up on the Mimic down there and strike him down, but if he turned his bagworm off now, he would pop up on the radar. It wouldn’t be a problem if the Mimic wasn’t checking his radar, but Kazama couldn’t see what he was doing with his back to them.  

Still, with their bagworms, there was no way for the Mimic down there to know they were there. They could sneak up on him and attack before he realized, but Kazama was hesitating in making a move. The dummy beacons were still in play and now a Mimic was out and about, but he should be moving more cautiously. He didn’t know the dummy beacons weren’t agents closing in on him.  

Did he see the Trion signatures on the radar and decide to come out into the open, begging the agents to attack him? Was he that confident he could take them all on? 

Kuga Yugo? 

He certainly held that confident if the attacks from the past couple of days were anything to go by. He had the skill and experience to fight multiple squads at once. That confidence Kuga Yugo held was nothing to scoff at as he was able to back it up with his strength.  

Confident or not, they couldn’t let him continue to wander around.  

A Scorpion appeared in his hand in a reverse grip as he launched from the building. Utagawa and Kikuchihara followed his lead, but jumped in the other direction from him.  

Kazama landed lightly behind the Mimic, bringing his sword up in an upwards slash. Before his Scorpion could make contact, a sword was meeting his without the Mimic even turning around to face him. There was no reaction to this as Kazama simply jumped backwards and let his teammates strike instead. 

The Mimic simply ducked and slid under their falling figures. Without Grasshoppers, it wasn’t possible for his team to change angle easily while falling in the air to follow the enemy. The Mimic twisted around when he was behind the two so he could swing his blade at them, but Utagawa and Kikuchihara both managed to activate their Shields behind them to protect their backs. The attack was strong enough to break their Shields, but by then they were already hitting the ground and propelling themselves sideways to get distance from him.  

A single Kogetsu blade.  

From the brief moment he saw Kuga Yugo on Tamakoma’s bridge, he had two swords on him and neither were a Kogetsu blade.  

Kazama called a second blade to his side. “Mogami Soichi.”  

If Mogami was here, begging the agents to attack him, where was Kuga Yugo? 

*Mimics*  

“Huh?” Kyoko’s hands hovered over her keyboard, brows furrowed in confusion. She was doing as Jin had asked of her. She left Yuri and Shiori in charge of the agents in the field and would watch over Border HQ for Jin just to ease his worries. When he asked that of her, she had assumed he saw an attack coming and expected Trion Soldiers to reach the base again.  

Seeing a message saying that the main doors to Border HQ had been accessed had not been what she was expecting.  

Kyoko got to work accessing the security footage from the main doors. There was no reason for anyone to be returning to HQ right now. No one but agents were supposed to be in the Restricted Zone tonight and none of them would be coming here.  

Seeing that Kyoko was bringing up the security footage on one of the big monitors, Yuri looked up at the screen, surprised to see the figure of Kuga Yugo unlocking the doors to enter the base. He wasn’t even trying to hide his presence as he strolled in like he owned the place.  

“Kuga Yugo,” Kido said, brushing a finger over his scar. Seeing that man walking into the base standing tall and full of confidence, it truly felt like he was back among his friends.  

How could he be here? 

All the Gates opening in the Restricted Zone, weren’t some of them from him? 

The report of the Trion Soldiers having the Tamakoma emblem was enough proof that he had a hand in the amount of enemies appearing.  

He needed to be in the area to open them, so how did he get here so fast? 

“Where is he going?” Kido asked.  

“Yuma-kun has been his target the past couple of days, but he can’t know that he is here?” Yuri said confused as Kyoko continued to access the cameras in HQ to switch to them to keep an eye on Yugo as he moved through the base. “Or where he is located at.”  

“Shinoda-san,” Kyoko called urgently. “We have an intruder in the base. It's not guaranteed, but it looks like he is heading in your direction.”  

*Mimics*  

Shinoda rose to his feet, turning to look at the door to lab with narrowed eyes. “So, this is what Jin saw.”  

Rindo rolled his unlit cigarette between his fingers. He really could use a smoke right now. Pushing himself to his feet, Rindo gave his unconscious agent one more look before he was joining Shinoda in staring at the door. “If Jin saw Kuga-san coming here, he would have left more agents here. Hell, Jin would have stayed here to deal with him. It's more likely he thought Mimics would attack the base.”  

“True,” Shinoda looked at Rindo from the corner of his eyes, pulling his Trigger out. “Like old times.”  

Rindo smirked, lighting his cigarette and taking a drag on his cigarette. “Just like old times.” He reached his hand into his pocket, wrapping it around the Trigger he hadn’t used in so long.  

“Trigger on!” 

Chapter Text

It was time to reclaim what belonged to him.  

The Black Trigger that was keeping his son alive was calling out to him. It was currently inside the Border HQ. While the agents were on the move tonight, his son was staying inside the base. It was strange when he stopped to consider it. His son was never one to stay out of a fight. His reckless nature urged him to step into every battle.  

The strangeness didn’t concern him though. If his son wanted to hang around HQ, it made Yugo’s job easier. He wouldn’t have to fight through all the agents to get to his son. He would keep them distracted with his Trion Soldiers in the Restricted Zone in a faraway sector. Mogami had agreed to help him keep the agents distracted while he headed to the base. It was a shame. He would have liked to have fought alongside Mogami again.  

Perhaps another time.  

For now, Yugo would be going for his son. He stepped up to Border’s HQ, looking down at Yuma’s Trigger in his hand.  

His son should really be more responsible with his stuff.  

Planting the Trigger on the panel, the doors to the base slid open to allow Yugo entrance.  

Border really needed to improve their security measures. It was disappointing how easy that was. 

*Mimics*  

Jin stood atop the Bamster he just killed, head tilted back to look up at the stars in the sky. He knew Kuga Yugo wanted his son, but he didn’t think he would go the base. Even if he took out the fact that Kuga Yugo had no way of getting into the base, he shouldn’t even know that Yuma was unconscious in a lab in the base.  

Jin tightened his grip on his Scorpion. This was the future that he couldn’t make sense of. He thought it would be Mimics going for his unconscious kouhai, but it was really his father. He made the right call in making it Shinoda and Rindo being the ones to watch over Yuma then. They would be able to protect Yuma. For now, Jin had to focus on getting to Kazama squad. If Yugo was in the base, they were about to face off against Mogami.   

In the distance, he could see the Ilgar circling the Restricted Zone as it dropped its bombs which lit up the night sky. There was no doubt in his mind that the civilians were able to see that and would be asking questions, but as long as they kept everything contained to the Restricted Zone, it would be fine.  

Chika could handle the Ilgar. The agents could handle the Trion Soldiers and the Mimics that were filling the Restricted Zone. Jin would assist Kazama squad with Mogami. Shinoda and Rindo had Yugo. Every enemy would be covered and none would get into the city to attack civilians. They could handle this.  

This would end tonight.  

*Mimics*  

“So, he’s in the base.”  

Izumi sent a side glare at his distracted captain as he used his Viper to kill the Marmods blocking their path. “Shinoda-san and Rindo-san will take care of things at the base. You are not running off there to get your revenge on Kuga. We have Trion Soldiers to deal with.”  

“Tsk,” Tachikawa shot a look at the Marmods that Izumi already killed. He couldn’t even take his annoyance out on the Trion Soldiers about missing his chance to get revenge against Kuga Yugo again. They were too easy to kill and did nothing to help ease any of his frustration.  

“Jin-san asked for our help earlier today and now he’s heading to Mogami. Perhaps we should move over there.” Izumi suggested after seeing his captain’s annoyed expression.  

“Hmph, us elites shouldn’t be running around at the whim of others.” Yuiga scoffed.  

“Good thing no one asked for your help.” Izumi retorted. “You can stay here and take care of the Trion Soldiers. Tachikawa-san and I will be moving to help Jin-san.”  

Yuiga blinked for a moment before his mouth was dropping open in shock. “By myself? You want me to take on the Trion Soldiers all by myself? What if the Mimics come?”  

“Then you have nothing to fear. The Mimics will only get stupid if they touch you.” Tachikawa replied, eager to get a move on now that Izumi had suggested a good idea. Mogami was strong if he was able to create a Black Trigger upon his death. It may not be the Mimic he wanted, but he was sure to get a good fight out of this. “Be sure to not let them escape the Restricted Zone.”  

“Wait!” Yuiga yelled helplessly as Izumi and Tachikawa abandoned him in the middle of the street as they scaled the buildings and disappeared into the distance.  

“That was mean.” Yu scolded Tachikawa and Izumi.  

“It’s not our job to baby him. He’s an agent.” Izumi replied. “He needs to make up for his laziness this week.”  

“Lead us to Kazama squad. I need something to take my frustration out on.” Tachikawa said, not caring about silence that came from Yu for a moment. He knew she was just taking a moment to silently scold them before she was directing them to Kazama squad’s location.  

Izumi gave his captain a disproving look. He knew he was looking to have a fun fight while getting revenge against Kuga Yugo, but this was the time for a more serious attitude. Izumi usually didn’t care about his captain looking to enjoy his fights when in the field. He was still extremely efficient with his job. The only reason Izumi didn’t think it was appropriate this time was because Jin was not his easy-going self currently. Jin took all the invasions seriously, but there was still usually a lighthearted air to him. That mood was just gone though. There was more going on here than Jin was telling them, and Izumi didn’t need to be a psychic to know that it was related to Yuma.  

Jin had already told them Yuma wasn’t feeling well. With Osamu mentioning it had to do with the Mimics and the urgently that all of Tamakoma was acting on, it was obvious there was more to the story. It was something he could hound Shun about later since it looked like he knew a bit more than the rest of the agents, but that was something for later. Taking care of the Mimics was the mission right now and that was what he would focus on.  

*Mimics*  

Osamu stretched his arm forward as he released his Hound. In this narrow street, the Marmod couldn’t move as freely as it would have liked, but even if it could, his bullets would have followed it anyway. His bullets were able to pierce the armor which caused the Marmod to stagger. Osamu stole this chance to move forward, ducking under the blades before stabbing his Raygust into the Marmod’s eye.  

Yanking his Raygust free of the Marmod, Osamu turned to find Hyuse sitting atop one of the two Marmods he had killed, looking up towards the roofs where Chika had positioned herself with her Ibis. It would be too dangerous and hard for Chika to get a good shot if they got any closer to where the Ilgar was bombing so they had decided to stop here.  

“Azuma-san,” Osamu said, putting a hand to his ear. “Chika is getting ready to take the Ilgar down.”  

“About time you got here.” Koarai replied, ducking behind a building to avoid the explosion of one of the bombs. It would be easier to leave the area, but unfortunately, there were other Trion Soldiers here. They couldn’t leave them unchecked which is why they had been sticking around, despite the Ilgar’s bombs making it hard to get around.  

“Ilgars enter self-destruct mode when they take damage.” Azuma said. “But, then again, I don’t suppose you will let it get there.”  

“No,” Osamu agreed, staring at the Ilgar in the distance. “Chika will blow it to smithereens with one attack so I’d advise any agents in the area to take cover.”  

Chika adjusted her Ibis on the ledge she planted it on before looking through her scope to watch the Illgar circling the Restricted Zone. The last time she had to shoot one of these it had been easier since the A-Ranks had already killed it so it was just freefalling to bomb the branch with its self-destructing mode. This time she had to kill it on her own.  

It wouldn’t be the first time she had to hit a moving target. Reiji had trained her for this. She just had to remain calm and keep her breathing steady. She couldn’t overthink the shot as there wasn’t time with its bombing. She could only take one shot to end this.  

“Amatori, you’re good to fire when you’re ready.” Azuma said.  

“Roger,” Chika rested her finger lightly over the trigger as she watched the Ilgar through her scope. The Ilgar only circled in the area as it dropped its bombs. The course never changed and its speed never changed. She just had to wait for the right moment when the Ilgar moved into her line of sight.  

A sniper was always patient and calm. If she let herself get worked up, she could end up flinching and pulling the trigger when it wasn’t the right time for the shot. Snipers couldn’t just shoot without planning their shots. Her job was to keep patient and wait for the perfect moment to take a shot that would kill the Ilgar.  

And....there! 

Chika pulled the trigger the moment the Ilgar was a second from moving back into the sight of her scope. Her Trion ripped through the sky at a great speed and engulfed the Ilgar before it could move out of her line of fire.  

Hyuse smirked as he watched the cannon blast of Trion ripped through the night sky. As usual, the power of it was impressive. It was strong enough to whip up a powerful wind that left Osamu lifting his arm to cover his face from the wind. Hyuse let himself be unconcerned with the strong wind biting at his skin as he watched the blast engulf the Illgar.  

As Chika’s cannon fire of Trion died down, there was nothing left of the Ilgar so there would be no self-destructing Ilgar trying to fall onto the city. Their sniper was truly someone to be filled. Ilgars were never meant to be dealt with so easily.  

“Still so terrifying.” Okudera’s voice came over their coms.  

“Nicely done, Amatori.” Azuma said.  

Chika dropped from her crouch to rest on the roof, leaning forward slightly on the ledge, one hand on top of her Ibis as the tension eased from her shoulders. “Thank you, Azuma-san.” She replied softly. She couldn’t let himself relax too much here. She got rid of the Ilgar, but that didn’t mean the battle was over. There were still plenty of enemies around that needed to be dealt with.  

“It’s not over yet.” Azuma replied. “Where will you be heading? Did you hear Kuga Yugo has broken into HQ?” 

Osamu glanced back in the direction of HQ, hands clenched into fists at his side. It wasn’t in him to abandon his comrades ever. He was determined to always protect his team, but this situation was different from when Aftokrator attacked and he ran after Chika. She had been alone with no official agents coming to help her. It wasn’t the same this time. Yuma had Shinoda and Rindo protecting him. The two students of Kuga Yugo. If anyone could keep Yuma safe, it would be them.  

Turning his back on HQ, Osamu stepped forward. “We’re going after the Trion Soldiers. Jin-san was right. Making sure they don’t escape the Restricted Zone is important.”  

Besides, Chika and Osamu didn’t have the experience to take on the Black Trigger that Yugo would be using. They would only get in the way of Shinoda and Rindo’s fight. His squad would be more helpful by staying out here and assisting with the Trion Soldiers.  

*Mimics*  

Jin could hear the sword strikes before he could see Kazama squad fighting Mogami on the street nearby. As skilled as Kazama squad was, they weren’t able to beat Jin when he was using Fujin. Granted, Jin had his side effect on his side. His Foresight and Fujin were a powerful combination, but for anyone else, Fujin would be a difficult Black Trigger to use effectively because of its rigid nature.   

Crouching on the corner of a roof and watching the fight from a distance, Jin would have to make a reassessment. While Miwa called Fujin rigid and agreed that it wasn’t easy for anyone but Jin to use, it seemed that Mogami was having no trouble matching Kazama squad. He had his wind blades active, but was making no effort to use them. He seemed to be content with backing up and just blocking their strikes.  

It didn’t match how Kuga Yugo had been attacking them the past few days. He went full force against the squads with the intention of killing all the agents in front of him. Being that Mogami was a Mimic from the same nation, he had to have the same goal–to kill the agents that got in his way.  

The fact that he was holding back had to mean something.  

No. 

Jin shook his head. There was no need to overthink it all of this. It was a tactic that Jin used. Mogami was just trying to keep the agents busy here. The mimics, Trion Soldiers, and Mogami. It was a retaliation plan against the agents’ dummy beacon plan. If Yugo and Mogami were working together then was their plan to have Yugo go for his son while Mogami kept them busy? 

In any case, their plan would not succeed. Mogami and Yugo were not going to succeed tonight. 

Instead of dropping down to join the fight, Jin ran across the rooftops as he followed the battle that was moving down the street. He was aiming for a surprise attack on Mogami. Kazama squad seemed to be doing a good job of keeping him plenty distracted. He just had to wait for the right moment. 

Mogami twisted his body to the side, grabbing Utagawa’s wrist as he did. Using his momentum in the turn, he swung Utagawa towards Kazama to stall those two before he was blocking Kikuchihara’s Scorpion as he came down from the sky. He ducked under the falling agent, slamming his elbow up into his stomach as he did to flip the agent behind him. Kikuchihara threw a hand onto the ground to flip himself back over to land on his feet.  

“Being Jin-san's mentor, I was expecting him to move similar to him.” Utagawa said.  

Kazama deactivated his bagworm so he could use two Scorpions now. “There are some similar moves in there, but the best fighters aren’t just mirror copies of their mentors. They learn from them and improve from there as they find their own style of fighting. However, unlike Jin, he can’t predict our moves.” 

“But he can react faster to our attacks.” Utagawa pointed out.  

“When he fought us, Jin had a second delay because he was predicting the future as he fought us. It's hard to see because he has so much practice integrating predicting the future into every move he makes in a fight.” Kazama replied as he rose from his crouch, staring at Mogami who was turned sideways in the street so he could watch Utagawa and Kazama while keeping an eye on Kikuchihara who was at the other end of the street. “Mogami doesn’t predict the future so that lack of delay is giving him a faster reaction time to us.” 

“We’ve faced faster than this before.” Kikuchihara said over their telepathy.  

“Tachikawa squad is on their way to provide backup.” Mikami added.  

“Eh?” Kikuchihara muttered.  

“It’s appreciated.” Kazama cut in before Kikuchihara could say anything rude. While he valued his team’s strength, there was still a lot for their team to improve on. If Mogami didn’t have a Black Trigger, he would have wanted his team to attempt to fight Mogami on their own. The danger of the situation plus the power of the Black Trigger meant this was not something Kazama was going to take lightly though. 

Kazama shifted his foot behind him, watching Mogami warily. He wasn’t moving. There wasn’t a single attack coming from him. He was waiting for them to make a move. This was strange for a Mimic if he considered how Kuga Yugo’s Mimic was acting the past few days. He was a very aggressive fighter, much like how his son fought. If he thought about it, the way Mogami was waiting and holding back it was like how Jin started their fight back in December. Was this just how Mogami fought or was it for another reason that he was holding back? 

Kazama launched himself forward, striking quickly which was blocked. Pushing forward with his Scorpion to keep their blades locked, Kazama swung his second sword forward, but Mogami stepped back and twisted a bit to escape the blade. As he twisted, he broke their blades apart and blocked the attack from Kikuchihara. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Utagawa disappear.  

Mogami broke away from the two agents and put some distance between them, eyes scanning the street trying to figure out where the third agent had gone. That was an impressive technique, to be able to go invisible. What kind of new Triggers had Border managed to come up with in the years he’s been gone? Well, no matter how impressive it was, nothing was perfect. There was a balance to everything so there would be a downside to that type of Trigger.  

The downside to the Trigger would be something he would think about later.  

There was a Trion body coming at him from the side.  

Mogami stepped back, swinging his Kogetsu blinding to the side. While he could locate the body there, he couldn’t see where the attack was coming from. With his sword swinging, Utagawa was forced to deactivate his Chameleon so he could block the attack with his Scorpion.  

There was another Trion body behind him.  

Kicking Utagawa away from him, Mogami threw his arm up and over his shoulder so his Kogetsu was above his head, blocking the sword coming for his head. He twisted around, scraping his sword along Jin’s Scorpion. He knocked the Scorpion to the side to free his sword so he could swing it at Jin, but Jin activated a second Scorpion to block the attack as he landed lightly on his feet from his jump from the roof.  

Jin had been certain that Mogami hadn’t seen his approach. He should have been completely focused on Kazama squad, but it wasn’t too much of a surprise. Mogami was never the type of person that would let his guard down. It was just extremely difficult to watch his surroundings for more enemies while focusing on the squad right in front of him that was trying to kill him.  

Mogami stepped back, holding his sword to the side as he stared at his former pupil. “That’s a different blade from last time.”  

To Jin, he would say that Mogami almost sounded disappointed that Fujin was not on Jin currently. It stung a bit that Fujin was Mogami’s focus right now and not the fact that his student was standing in front of him.  

No, there was no sting of pain at that. This was a fake Mogami. Jin couldn’t let himself be sucked into believing he was anything but a Trion Soldier.  

Though, that wouldn’t be easy to do if he followed Mizukami’s plan of turning back the manipulation of emotions onto the Mimics. It could probably work, but there would be a backlash of pain from bringing up those emotions and the hurt of twisting that back at someone he once loved.  

If he could, Jin would rather go the route of just beating Mogami with a fight. He didn’t want to bring the past into this.  

*Mimics*  

It had been a long time.  

Joining in on the battle was something that Rindo had stopped doing a long time ago. When Border began to grow, it was time for the older members of Border to step back from the field. They could no longer be agents as they had to lead the new agents instead. It was a role that had been so foreign to Rindo years ago, but despite that, he was able to step back easily. He was glad to see his young agents grow in front of his eyes.  

Rindo didn’t need to be in the field in as an agent. While he had enjoyed his time in the past as an agent and there was a deep longing for those old days where all his friends were still alive, that past couldn’t be brought back. His time as an agent was something to be left in that past. He had absolute trust in his agents to be able to handle whatever was thrown at them. There was no need for him to join the battle.  

When Border began to grow into a bigger organization, it became time for him to lead.  

Being in the field was a distraction when his agents needed him to lead.  

It was the same for Shinoda. They didn’t belong in the field anymore. Shinoda only entered the field when it was an absolute emergency because he too had to act as the commander.  

They weren’t meant to fight anymore.  

Despite that, they both kept up with their training. There was no telling if they would ever have to defend themselves from an attack or if the agents would need help one day.  

And that day was here.  

It was strange to be back in his Trion body with the intention of going into battle. He was dressed in dark grey combat pants with black combat boots. A zipped up black jacket with a fur lined hood with dark blue lining on the edges covered his torso with black gloves on his hands. Resting at his side was his Kogetsu blade.  

Agjusting his gloves, Rindo stepped out of the lab.  

“Not rusty, are you?” Shinoda asked, stepping up next to Rindo’s side, hand resting on the hilt of his sword.  

Rindo snorted. “Like you can talk. You've been in one real battle in years.”  

“Still more than you.” Shinoda replied.  

“The real question is, can we still work together?” Rindo asked. 

“Right. Try not to shoot me in the back.” Shinoda said, walking ahead of Rindo to lead the way down the hall. It would be best to intercept Yugo before he got close to the lab where Yuma was sleeping.  

“One time when we were still both rookies and you can just never let it go, can you?” Rindo retorted, though he was grinning at his friend’s back. The banter that was so familiar from their youth as new rookies to Border eased some of the tension from Rindo’s shoulders. There would always be some tension when going into battle. It was the natural response as the fight-or-flight instinct kicked in.  

But Border didn’t run from fights.  

And the banter with a comrade was just what he needed to ease the tension. Normally it wouldn’t be something that got to Rindo as he had enough experience and skill to stand on the battlefield without fear.  

This wasn’t a normal situation though.  

The one invading their base was their old mentor who was now turned into an enemy.  

The mentor who was here for his dying son.  

A fight against their dear mentor to protect the son he loved so much that he gave up his life.  

It was a fight that didn’t need to take place near the room that Yuma was sleeping in. There was no reason for them to allow Yugo to be anywhere near his son. He had done enough damage.  

Stepping into the adjacent hall, Shinoda and Rindo came to a halt as they watched the figure at the end of the hall approach them. Rindo’s hand dropped down to his Kogetsu to grip the handle tightly, but it was more in warning as he didn’t draw the blade yet.  

Yugo stopped a good distance from them, planting a hand on his sword handle in preparation to draw it as he stared right on back at them. It had been a long time since he last saw them, but he would recognize these two anywhere. There was a part of him that was glad to see them. It was nice to know that not all of his old friends from Border were gone. “Are you really going to stand in the way of me seeing my son, Masafumi-kun, Takumi-kun?” 

It had been a couple of decades since he last saw Kuga Yugo, but that was definitely his voice he was hearing. There were also those striking red eyes that were burning into his very being, as well as the confidence radiating from him. This was the old friend, old mentor, from so long ago. The one to help create Border and the first one to leave the organization. It had hurt all those years ago when the one who recruited them into Border chose to leave them behind, but it had been Yugo’s choice and that was something that they had to accept.  

Perhaps there was a time in the past when they had wished for their friend to return.  

But over the years, many friends came and went from Border. It was something that they had been forced to accept since there was no return for their friends who had died. The loss of friends was painful and the hurt caused be it would always be there, but they weren’t so naïve as to be fooled by the Mimics of their friends.  

“Yuma isn’t in good enough condition for visitors, especially a fake calling himself his father.” Rindo said.  

Yugo stared down the hall at his two students standing side by side to block his path forward. The way their held themselves with their commanding presence showed to him just how much the two have grown from the young rookies he knew so long ago. “I knew I could trust my friends in Border to protect my son if something would happen to me. It was right to tell him to come here if I died,” The smile Yugo was wearing dropped away to a fierce look, daring his students to continue standing in his path. “But I’m back now. You will not keep my son from me.”  

“You really do put up a good act. It almost seems like you want to get to your son to make sure he is safe.” Shinoda replied. “It makes it hard to tell you’re a Mimic.”  

“Maybe I am real.”  

Rindo scoffed. “Our Kuga-san wouldn’t be running around causing this chaos and controlling Trion Soldiers to attack our agents while his son is dying.”  

That statement got no reaction out of Yugo, so he either already knew about Yuma’s condition or he simply didn’t care about his son’s life. Neither painted this Mimic in any good light. Even if he already knew about Yuma’s dire state, Yugo would still show concern for his son’s well-being.  

Releasing his grip on his Kogetsu’s handle, Rindo opened his hands down at his side, cubes of Trion forming under each of his hands. “As much as I wish you were back, Kuga-san, and that we could talk like the old days, I have to live in the present and Yuma is more important right now.”  

Yugo eyed the Trion cubes with a raised brow. “Are you really going to attempt to fight me, Masafumi-kun, Takumi-kun?”  

“I would have thought you realized this in your confrontations with Yuma-kun.” Shinoda said as he pulled his Kogetsu out and pointed it at Yugo. “Nothing is as you remembered it, Yugo-san.” 

A reply came in the form of a smirk and Yugo drawing one of his swords.  

*Mimics*  

“Where the hell is Yoneyan-senpai?” Shun complained as he used a Grasshopper to dodge a Rabit’s bullets. “I said he could have these things the next time they showed up.”  

“It’s not like we’re the only ones with Trion Soldiers to deal with.” Hayato replied as he looked at the two Rabits through his scope. He never fought Rabits himself, but from what Shun had told him about them, their armor was very hard to break through. He wouldn’t be able to take a shot on the Rabit with Egret and have it do anything besides reveal his position to them.  

“I swear if he got Marmods again while I’m stuck with Rabits,” Shun muttered as he propelled himself backwards with a Grasshopper to get farther from the Rabits.  

“You fought this type of Rabit before so you should know how to beat them.” Kusakabe replied. 

“They have shields so it makes it hard to break through their already tough defense.” Shun said.  

“Tonight would have been a good time for you to have equipped Ibis, Hayato.” Ryuji said.  

Hayato leaned back from his scope, frowning. “You know I don’t like Ibis.”  

“You aren’t going to break through a Rabit’s armor with Egret though.” Shun replied to which Hayato grumble to himself about already knowing that.  

Ryuji jumped backwards and the moment his foot landed on the ground, Escudos were popping up from the ground in front of him and Shun and another in front of Kazuma. Kazuma leaned his back against his and raised his assault rifle towards the sky as he unleashed his Hound. The guided bullets twisted in the air to come down towards the Rabits, distracting them.  

With the Rabits sufficiently distracted with Shielding themselves from Hound, Ryuji leaned out from behind his Escudo with his assault rifle ready to go to let loose his Asteroid. The Rabit in front opened its mouth, revealing a Bolt seal that unleashed bullets that slammed into Ryuji’s Asteroid, stopping the attack.  

Ryuji twisted back around to get behind Escudo again, glancing at Shun. “Anything else you want to tell us?” 

“Rabits made from Yuma-senpai's Black Trigger are completely unfair, but they can be beaten.” Shun replied. “Their weakest point is the eye. We just have to break through its defenses. Once we do that, it will attack when we get too close to its eye. All of its attack are similar to Yuma-senpai's Black Trigger. As long as you read up on the memo that was sent out earlier today about that, there shouldn’t be any surprises.”  

“We already faced Kuga Yugo once. We've seen what that Black Trigger can do.” Ryuji said. “And some Trion Soldiers have nothing on that man. No defense is unbeatable. We just have to coordinate our attacks.”  

*Mimics*  

“Is this really what you want to be doing?” Hyuse asked, staring at the Bamster that had his sword stuck in its eye.  

“And what is it that you’re referring to?” Osamu retorted. “I know you joined Border as your attempt to get to Aftokrator, but I'm not the same as you. I joined because I hated sitting back and doing nothing. And tonight, our job as Border agents is to protect the city.”  

Hyuse yanked his sword free of the Bamster, turning his full attention to his captain. “And right now, Yuma is in danger. You choose the strangers in the city over your partner?” 

Osamu turned around, meeting Hyuse stare straight on.  

Chika dropped down from the nearby roof, silently watching her teammates have their stare down.  

“There is no choice to be made here.” Osamu replied, glancing at Chika with a smile.  

“I guess I was just worried the friends we made would betray Kuga if they found out about his status.”     

“Perhaps some of the agents would hate him for his status, but not the ones he is close to. They all like and respect him too much.” Chika replied. “I wouldn’t dismiss that worry about Kido-san sending agents after him one day, for whatever reason that could possibly be, but I like to think we have more allies than we realize. Yuma-kun said it himself the other day. We don’t have to fight alone on the battlefield.”    

“We have plenty of allies on our side. We’re not alone.” Osamu looked in the direction of HQ. “Kuga couldn’t have better protectors right now. What we can do to help is keep the Trion Soldiers out of the city and away from HQ. It's a job just as important as anything else that the others are doing. Along as we can take care of this, the directors only have to put their focus and worry on Kuga-san.”  

Chika nodded in agreement, stepping up to join her team. “Osamu-kun is right. Our friends will not let us fight this battle alone. We can’t think that this is only about us. If we do that, it would be no different than abandoning our allies.”  

“Why are you even asking about this?” Osamu asked.  

Hyuse shrugged. “You’re the type to run after your team when they are in danger.” 

Osamu would assume he was referring to the Rank Wars, but it was also possible he was talking about what he saw when he was their enemy as Aftokrator invaded them. “Those Rank Wars were different. Those are training so we act as enemies in them, but at the end of the day, we are all allies.” 

Osamu wanted to point out that Hyuse should know what it means to work with allies since he came here with a team and they all worked together to attack them, but considering it was those same allies who betrayed him, it was perhaps something that shouldn’t be mentioned. There had to be a sting of betrayal there that made it hard for Hyuse to trust, especially since Border was technically his enemy. It would be hard to trust them after his own country betrayed him.  

This was not the time to be bringing up Hyuse’s feelings of betrayal and about how to trust. Hyuse wasn’t one to talk about anything easily and bringing up his problems with Aftokrator would only result in anger. It seemed unnecessary when it was obvious how much it would hurt Hyuse to be in this position. Osamu wasn’t going to rub it in his face.  

“One person can’t do everything. I'm putting my trust in everyone else.” Osamu said. “I told you before, Shinoda-san and Rindo-san were trained by Kuga-san. I think they’ll have the best chance at fighting him.”  

“I wonder if your so-called allies would still feel that way if they knew the truth about him being a Neighbor.” Hyuse replied.  

Osamu didn’t have a reply for that. That was a concern that he did have, but Chika had a point the other day that not everyone in Border hated Neighbors. They had plenty of friends who wouldn’t care about having Neighbors as allies if they were friends. There were those who would hate Yuma and Hyuse for it, but that wasn’t something they needed to be thinking about right now. The secret of the Neighbors was not something that was going to be coming out. Actually, having it revealed that Yuma’s father was a former member of Border helped solidify the fact that Yuma was from this world, or at least the lie that he was from here.  

Chika’s head jerked to the side, catching the attention of Hyuse and Osamu, who both turned to follow her eyes. She threw her hand up, creating a Shield when she saw movement in the shadows of the building. Since her Shield was already up, it came as a surprise when Hyuse was suddenly sliding in front of her Shield and slicing through multiple shadowy arms that were coming out of the shadows.  

Hyuse swung his sword down to his side when he chopped the last of the limbs that were coming at them off. He stared into the shadow of the buildings, waiting for something else to make its move.  

Osamu looked down at the black limbs lying on the ground before looking towards the nearby alley. “Mimics, I take it?” 

“That would be my guess.” Hyuse agreed. While none of them had encountered Mimics this week, there wasn’t another known Trion Soldier that was this color or that could stretch its limbs like that. “Shields are ineffective against them, Chika.”  

“I see.” Chika murmured as she dropped her Shield and instead raised her hand above her head as she activated her Hound, surprising the two boys with her. Hyuse jumped off to the side, joining Osamu as Chika wasted no time in separating her cube into smaller cubes and unleashing it into the alleyway. Osamu raised an arm to shield his eyes from the blinding light of Chika’s attack blowing up the buildings along with the Mimics hiding in the shadows.  

“She uses Hound like a Meteor. It's utterly terrifying.” Yoneya said.  

Osamu whipped around, shocked to find Miwa and Yoneya there. “What are you doing here?”  

“Watching the light show.” Yoneya replied amused.  

“That was overkill.” Miwa stared at the crumbling buildings. It seemed, unlike Arashiyama, Chika had no qualms about destroying buildings to get to her target. An obvious conclusion if they took in her nature of changing the terrain of the battlegrounds in the Rank Wars. Though there was a different between a virtual city versus the real city.  

“They’re all dead though. Right, Shiori-san?” Chika asked.  

“Yep,” The grin in Shiori’s voice was easily heard by the agents. “All the Mimics in your area are dead.”  

“Your team is full of such scary people.” Yoneya told Osamu.  

Osamu opened his mouth to defend his team, but found himself snapping it back shut. There was no way to defend them. From the moment the Rank Wars started, he had his team showing off their skills and power. While Chika lacked experience, she was able to strike fear and shock into people with her powerful cannon. Then there were the two powerful Aces he had recruited who were blowing all the other Aces out of the water. By all reason and logic, his brand-new squad shouldn’t currently be B-Rank #2, but they were also an impatient squad when it came to wanting to reach their goals.  

“So, why did you really come over here?” Osamu asked instead.  

Yoneya pointed at Chika’s destroyed alley. “Those Mimics were our target, but for some reason they moved away from us to come over here so we were following them and then hightailing it out of the way when Amatori decided she wanted to blow up the area.”  

Osamu raised a brow. “They changed target? Shouldn’t they be happy targeting anyone out here since we’re all in Trion bodies?” 

“Actually, we were talking about this earlier, Osamu-kun.” Shiori chimed in. “A theory was proposed that those with higher Trion reserves might be more likely to be targeted by the Mimics since they would be a bigger shining beacon for them since they used echolocation to locate Troin bodies. Chika-chan and Hyuse-kun have so much Trion that they would be more easily tracked by the Mimics.” 

“I can see that making sense.” Hyuse said.  

“Wouldn’t Ninomiya-san be an easy target too then?” Osamu asked.  

“Well, easy isn’t a word I would be using in the same sentence as Ninomiya-san.” Shiori replied. “His squad is decimating any Mimic that comes near them.”  

“Sounds about right.” Osamu looked up towards the sky. The more Trion one had, the easier it was for the Mimics to locate them. Black Triggers amplified one’s Trion. Being in a Trion body made from a Black Trigger, did that make it easier for the Mimics to find Yuma as well?  

“Shiori-san,” Chika piped up. “How are things going with Mogami-san and Kuga-san?” 

“Eh, well...” 

*Mimics*  

“I thought Tachikawa squad was coming here. Where are they?” Utagawa asked as he landed on the nearby roof and watched Mogami and Jin going at it. The speed of their swords was pretty amazing. Kazama squad used Scorpion since they were speedy fighters, but Mogami was using a Kogetsu and yet his speed was still incredible. That heavy sword didn’t seem to be slowing him down at all as he and Jin moved down the street, never once stopping in swinging their swords. It was a sharp contrast to how Mogami was fighting them earlier, in that he was actually attacking Jin back.  

“They were pretty far from you guys so it is taking them time to get there. They are closing in though.” Mikami replied.  

“Then let’s take the fight to them.” Kazama suggested before he was launching into the fray to join Jin. He flipped over Mogami and planted a foot on the wall which he kicked off of to launch back at Mogami, swinging his Scorpion at his neck. Mogami blocked the strike before taking a step back and leaning his head back to avoid the Scorpion that came from Kazama’s forearm.  

Knocking Kazama away, Mogami swung his blade, sending a senku slash forward which cut into the nearby lamppost. The falling lamppost forced Jin to jump backwards to avoid having it fall on him.  

Kazama flipped himself over to land back on his feet and brought up his Scorpion just in time to stop the Kogetsu from cutting his head in half. The strike from Mogami was strong though as he saw the cracks begin to form on his Scorpion from taking the blow. Mogami took a step back, swinging his sword to the side as he did.  

“Move left!” Kikuchihara warned.  

Utagawa didn’t take any time to process the order ringing through his mind. He just acted and jumped to the next building just in time to avoid the two slashes that were suddenly protruding from the roof of the building he was previously crouching on.  

The wind blades.  

If Mogami was starting to use those then that meant he was done playing around with them and was actually preparing to kill them now.  

Jin eyed the wind blades above them as they vanished after missing their target. Kikuchihara’s side effect was really a nuisance to anyone trying to make surprise attacks with those wind blades. It was the reason he was the first one he chose to kill when he got serious in their fight all those months ago. Mogami, however, had no idea about that side effect so they wouldn’t lose that trump card. Kikuchihara’s side effect plus Jin’s, which couldn’t see Mogami’s future but he could see the attacks landing on his allies with his, meant that they would have the edge here.  

“Jin-kun, incoming.” Yuri warned.  

“What?” Jin twisted around just in time to slice the arm off of a Mimic that was reaching him before he was hopping back a few steps to get some space from the Mimics that were bleeding out of the shadows around them. “A little more warning would have been nice.”  

“You can ask me to control the whole field of the Restricted Zone or ask me to be your operator. If you want both, you’ll have to accept that I might miss some things.” Yuri replied.  

Jin gave a small grin. “Right, of course, Boss-lady. My apologies.” He said teasingly as he called a Scorpion to his free hand and went to town blocking the Mimics’ limbs. Having experienced their memory theft once before, it was something he had no desire of going through again.  

With each limb he managed to lob off or block, Jin was taking a step back. The Mimics were able to extend their limbs to get close to their target, but they had to be a limit to how far they could extend their limbs. Of course, even if he did manage to get out of their range, he had no other plan of action. He didn’t have any ranged attacks that he use to destroy the Mimics from a distance.  

Utagawa came flying down from the roofs to stab a Mimic that was clinging to the wall through the eye before it could get to Jin. Leaving the dead Mimic dangling there, Utagawa joined Jin on the ground, ducking under the limbs of one of the Mimics as he did.  

From the corner of his eyes, Jin watched as Kazama and Kikuchihara charged at Mogami and resumed exchanging blows with him. It was a bad idea to be separating right now. The idea had been to take on Mogami together. His plan had been to overwhelm Mogami with numbers. No matter how strong someone was, if they could overwhelm him with numbers, it would make it harder for Mogami to survive the onslaught from multiple attacks coming from all directions.  

Mogami’s eyes sifted to the side. Seeing this, Kazama went to attack, but missed when Mogami jumped away, landing on the side of the nearby wall. He pushed off the wall just in time to miss the bullets that blasted through the wall. The momentum from the explosion helped carry his jump to the nearby roof where he was swinging his sword and sending three slashes traveling across the roof.  

“Coming from behind, the left, and right.” Kikuchihara thought.  

Tachikawa twisted around to use his first sword to block the slash from behind and held his second sword to the side to block the one coming from the right. He went to lean away from the one coming from his left when a Shield appeared there to defend him from it.  

Instead of looking annoyed, Mogami just looked on in amusement as he looked at the roofs on the other side of the road to see Izumi standing there. Wind blades were invisible when moving through surfaces, but it seemed these agents had a way of knowing where they were before he could hit them. Was it Jin warning them of the attacks coming? Looking towards his formal pupil, he saw him busy with the hoard of Mimics that had appeared. He might have been able to warn the first agent, but he was too busy to warn these two.  

“I would much rather get my revenge on Kuga.” Tachikawa said.  

“He’s never going to stop complaining about that.” Izumi muttered.  

Mogami smiled. “Yugo is a bit too busy to entertain you right now.”  

“Yeah, trying to kill his own son.” Izumi retorted. “How sick is that?”  

Izumi’s response caused Mogami’s face to twitch. Being on a roof on the other side of the street with it being nighttime, Izumi couldn’t see it, but being on the same roof as the Mimic, Tachikawa could. “Oh? Is that displeasure I see? Guess there is more humanity in you than meets the eye. What do you say, Jin?” 

Kazama launched himself off the building to approach the hoard of Mimics with Kikuchihara following him. The two agents crossed over each as they sliced through the closest Mimics before landing in front of Jin. “Time to switch.” Kazama said over his shoulder.  

Jin eyed the Mimics pass Kazama squad. In the first place, Mogami and Yugo were the targets that Tamakoma had been going after. Anyone could attempt to fight Mogami and Yugo, but this was a personal matter for Tamakoma. It was something Jin felt the need to take care of himself. He didn’t want to pass it off onto someone else if it could be helped. He had to preserve the memory of his mentor and Yuma’s father by getting rid of these Mimics as quickly as possible before any more moves come from the Mimics that would disrespect the real Kuga Yugo and Mogami Soichi.  

Leaving the Mimics to Kazama squad, Jin jumped up to the nearby roof, joining Izumi.  

“Should I go help them?” Izumi asked. “It’s better to fight Mimics with long ranged attacks, isn’t it?”  

Jin stared across the roofs to lock eyes with Mogami over there. He smiled. “No, I need you over here.” He looked at Izumi out of the corner of his eye. “Don’t forget. You’re not the only one here with bullets.”  

Explosions drew Izumi’s attention to the battle with the Mimics below to see the bullets streaking through the air, though the Mimics were able to shield themselves from the attack. “I always forget he’s an all-rounder. He never brings out his bullets.”  

“They can handle the Mimics, but we’re lacking a sniper. Think you can fill the role?” 

“Heh,” Izumi smirked. “My range isn’t as great as a sniper’s, but I'll see what I can do.” He dropped down behind the building and reactivated his bagworm to move sneakily through the shadows.  

The whole time they were planning, the confident smirk never left Mogami as he waited for them to finish.  

With Mogami looking at Jin, Tachikawa decided to use this moment to act. His second sword came out and he was sending two senku slashes at Mogami. In return, Mogami jumped backwards and unleashed two of his own Senku to stop the slashes in their tracks.  

“You do know Mogami-san designed Senku, right?” Jin asked. “You’re not going to hit him with his own creation easily.” 

Tachikawa’s eyes narrowed, shifting from Jin then back to Mogami. “Why didn’t you say that sooner?” 

“Because-” 

“I’m going to beat him at his own game.” Tachikawa began to unleash Senku after Senku after Mogami who sent back his own to deflect every single one. 

Jin just gave a tired sigh as he watched the flashing slashes clash in the air. “That’s why.”  

“Maybe he’ll shut up about revenge against Kuga now.” Izumi’s voice sounded in Jin’s ears. “Gimlet!” 

The bullets came flying up through the air from behind the building Mogami was on.  

The moment Jin saw them flying in his eyes, he was reading the future, the movement of the bullets fading away from his vision as he chose to focus on the future. “Move!” Jin shouted telepathic when he saw the future that would only make things harder for them if it came to pass.  

Mogami moved to the left while throwing up a Shield to defend from the bullets. Even as they were raining down on his Shield, Mogami swung his sword, unleashing three wind blades traversing down the side of the building before he was turning his full attention back to Tachikawa.  

“I think Jin-san is trying to kill us.” Izumi said a moment later.  

“Huh?” Jin asked.  

“You had me move into the slashes!” Izumi snapped.  

“What?” Jin said, feeling even more confused. His vision had told him Izumi would suffer some injuries. He shouldn’t have been hurt if he moved. In fact, Mogami reacted too fast and accurately to that attack. He defended against it instantly and didn’t even look to see where it had come from. Up into the moment he attacked, Izumi was wearing his bagworm and Mogami never accessed his radar. In fact, Mogami was defending too well against the agents that he shouldn’t know were there.  

“You okay, Izumi?” Jin asked.  

“Lost a foot, but other than that, yes. I managed to shield myself from the other blades.” Izumi replied. “So, if you’re not trying to kill us, does your mentor have Foresight, too?” 

“No,” Jin tightened his grip on his Scorpion. “He doesn’t.” He wasn’t using radar and he had no operators to back him up. How was he able to defend so well against their attacks that he shouldn’t see coming? 

*Mimics*  

Shinoda’s Kogetsu came bearing down on Yugo’s with all his strength behind the attack. Even with all his strength in it, Shinoda couldn’t push Yugo back as he stood firmly in place. Shinoda scraped his sword along Yugo’s as he ducked, revealing Rindo behind him as he unleashed his Viper. The bullets twisted around Shinoda as they headed to their target. Yugo jumped backwards, revealing a Bolt seal that had been under his foot. The bullets came flying out of the seal to slam into Rindo’s bullets as they neared his side of the hallway. With that taking out half of the bullets, it made it easier for Yugo to defend from the bullets that did get through by cutting them down. 

“Heh,” Shinoda stood up straight, smirking at the sight. “I expect no less from you.”  

“Your teamwork has improved immensely over the years.” Yugo said, an amused twinkle in his eyes as he took another step back and lowered his sword.  

“Is he thinking about that time you shot me in the back?” Shinoda asked.  

“Neither one of you could ever let that go.” Rindo griped.  

“But you haven’t shot an ally in the back since.” Shinoda pointed out.  

Rindo shook his head in disbelief, getting a smile from Shinoda before he got serious once more as he locked eyes with Yugo. Just like Shinoda, the amusement had dropped from his face as he adopted a more serious expression as he eyed his two former students.  

“I didn’t come here to fight you.”  

“Didn’t you?” Rindo retorted. He stayed behind Shinoda to let him take the lead in this fight, but his hand was resting on the hilt of his Kogetsu in preparation to draw it if it was needed. He could never reach Shinoda’s or Yugo’s level of mastery with a sword, but he was no slouch with it either. “You’re attacking the city. A city you grew up in and love while your son’s life is hanging by a thread, and then you broke into our base to take your son who is in no condition to go anywhere. This isn't the Kuga-san I know.”  

“My Trion Soldiers haven’t left your Restricted Zone, but,” Yugo replied, eyes darkening in warning. “That can change in an instant.”  

Shinoda tightened his grip on his Kogetsu, glancing at Rindo out of the corner of his eyes. Yugo didn’t even try to hide the threat. Could he really control them from this far away? If the Trion Soldiers got out of the Restricted Zone now, it would cause even more chaos than what they needed right now. The past few days already had Netsuki stressing out with Border’s publicity in the face of the fear from the civilians about the constant attacks in the city with Border not giving any explanation.  

It shouldn’t have even been a concern. The Kuga Yugo and Mogami Soichi from the past would have never thought of putting the city in danger.  

The fact that the threat was there in the first place was making the Mimics show their true colors.  

It was showing just how fake they were.  

“So, how about a deal?” Yugo asked. “I’ll end this attack if you give me my son.”  

Chapter Text

Yugo stared at his friend sitting on the edge of his desk with a disappointed look. Even with his window closed, he could still hear Kido going off on Shinoda for destroying his car. “Was there really a need to egg Masafumi-kun on while outside? You guys couldn’t have sparred in the actual training rooms?”  

“It’s not my fault he doesn’t have any self-control. If he had some, he would have noticed Kido’s car there and stopped himself from cutting it in half.” Mogami replied cheerfully. “In fact, I taught him a valuable lesson today, to be aware of your surroundings and to not let your enemy’s taunt get to you in battle. It will just blind your judgement.”   

“You could have done that in a training room where there was no fear of destroying property.” Yugo pointed out.   

“Nope,” Mogami said, eyes shining with mischief. “He won’t learn to control himself if he doesn’t know the consequences of actually breaking something.”   

Yugo leaned back in his chair, eyeing his friend suspiciously. “Uh-huh, and it had nothing to do with wanting to get back at Kido for breaking the coffee machine.”   

“Of course not. I understand that was an accident. Besides, I didn’t even cut his car in half.”   

Yugo watched the black smoke that surrounded Mogami, closing his eyes with a sigh. “You make up the stupidest lies.” He opened his eyes and shot his friend a frown as he stood up. “And such a mean person. Manipulating Masafumi-kun into your schemes to get back at Kido.” He walked around the desk, clapping his friend on the shoulder as he walked pass him. “Hasn’t Kido suffered enough? He is more coffee obsessed than you so the broken coffee machine is harder on him than you.”   

“It’s that obsession of his that broke the coffee machine.” Mogami shouted at Yugo’s back as he left the office.   

Yugo caught sight of their newest member leaning out the door to look outside to watch Kido laying into Shinoda. “Don’t you have training to do, Takumi-kun?” He scolded, waving Rindo off to have him head downstairs to the training rooms. Honestly, it was like herding children. He might accept it with Rindo and Shinoda since they were just teenagers, but why were Mogami and Kido like this too? They had almost ten years on these kids.   

“Hasn’t he had enough, Kido?” Yugo shouted from where he was leaning against the door to the base, drawing the attention of the other two. “You’ve been at it for thirty minutes now. Surely your voice is tired.”   

“I just bought that car!” Kido growled. “I haven’t even had it for a week!”   

Shinoda winced, shying back from the angry Kido.   

“Accidents happen.” Yugo replied. “And at least no one was hurt. You have insurance so it shouldn’t be a problem.”   

“Insurance?!” Kido waved a hand over his car. “How do you explain a car cut clean in half to the insurance company?”   

Yugo eyed the car with comprehension. “Ah, I see.” He nodded and pushed off the door frame. “We just have to crush it a bit more to make it look more like a crash and then file a police report. We can use my car and wreck both of them.”   

Kido stared at Yugo in complete disbelief. Why was his solution more destruction?  

On the other hand, Shinoda was looking excited at the prospect of getting to wreck the cars.   

Seeing his excited look, Kido pointed a finger in his face. “Not you. You will not be rewarded for this behavior.”   

Yugo stood to the side and waved a hand forward in the direction to the open door. “Go and join Takumi-kun for training, Masafumi-kun. Do try to not break anything down there.”   

“So, how about a deal?” Yugo asked. “I’ll end this attack if you give me my son.”  

Rindo stared in disbelief at his old friend in front of him. Perhaps Yugo would want to take his son back like this if his son was in enemy hands. The thing was, this wasn’t the real Yugo, no matter how much he looked and sounded like him, and Yuma wasn’t in enemy hands. Border was one of the safest places for him.  

“Before we could even consider that, what is it you want from Yuma-kun?” Shinoda asked, though the offer was so ridiculous, he had no intention of taking it. His agents could handle the Trion Soldiers, Mimics, and Mogami. They wouldn’t let them escape the Restricted Zone. He would trust in his agents while not turning his back on Yuma. He was not about to betray a friend to an enemy.  

It hurt to even think of it. The Kuga Yugo in front of him was an enemy. This wasn’t his friend that he missed for years. This was someone with the intention of hurting Border, threatening the city, and after his own son. Shinoda would love to have his friend back and get to talk to him again. He would even love to spar against him again for old time’s sake.  

Unfortunately, that was something that could never happen.  

“I would have thought it was obvious.” Yugo replied. “I want his ring.”  

“So, it’s not even your son you want to see.” Rindo said disgusted. How much could this Mimic say to prove he was nothing like the real thing? In the face of a powerful weapon and his son, Yugo would always choose his son. He always cared more about people then he did about having powerful weapons.   

Yugo looked confused for a moment at his student. Why would it be important to see his son? What Yugo was desperately after was the Black Trigger. As long as he got the Black Trigger, everything would be alright. He will have fulfilled his job. Getting the mission done was the most important thing.  

Shinoda scoffed. “Yuma-kun said Mimics were exact replicas of who they were when they were alive. Seeing you now, I can’t see how he made that comparison. I know the real Yugo-san loved his son more than anything.” Maybe he never saw Yuma with his father, but he didn’t need to. He knew Yugo and the type of person he was, then there was the story Yuma gave him about his father giving his life for him. That solidified the fact that Yugo hadn’t changed in the years he had been gone. “I can buy Yugo-san attacking Border if he believed we were hurting his son and he wanted him back. But this? All of this for the Black Trigger? Not for a single second would I believe he would ever do this.”  

“So, that’s your choice.” Yugo's eyes darkened in threat. It wasn’t a surprising result. This was exactly like the Border he had built. When he created Border, it was about forming connections with the Neighborhood and gaining allies. The organization looked a lot different than from what it was when he formed it, but the foundation of protecting their allies had remained. “If I have to kill you two to take him, so be it then.”  

*Mimics*  

Without ranged weapons, fighting Mimics was hard. Just the slightest touch against the Mimics would be a failure so it meant they had to dodge or block perfectly every single time. With Utagawa being the only one with ranged weapons, he would have an easier time, but he couldn’t take on all the Mimics alone. Not to mention, the Mimics’ Shields would make it hard for him to kill them.  

Kazama jumped back, his Scorpion slicing through a lamppost to knock it down so it would fall onto the limbs of the Mimics that were chasing him. 

Kikuchihara fell from the sky, Scorpion slicing through the limbs that got trapped under the lamppost. They could cut off the extended limbs as much as they wanted, but if they didn’t cut the limb off from the source of the body, it wouldn’t make a difference. With their ability to detect Trion bodies, they couldn’t even use Chameleon to approach them.  

If it was just two or even three Mimics, Kazama would take the chance to approach them. He was certain he could get through that many without getting touched and kill them. However, it wasn’t three Mimics they were up against. It was a hoard of Mimics in their path. It would be hard to dodge them all when they were in a cluster like this.  

“We should have made Tachikawa squad deal with these things.” Kikuchihara complained.  

Utagawa backed up from the Mimics, using his Scorpion to deflect the limbs. “It’s not like we were making any progress against Mogami-san either.”  

“You could try something besides Asteroid.” Kikuchihara suggested. “These things don’t have any armor like Rabit. Just get pass the Shield and killing them is easy.”  

“True,” Utagawa jumped back to get more distance so he had the time needed to form a Trion cube under his free hand and began to split it up into smaller cubes, but didn’t get around to firing it because he was surprised to see some of the Mimics began to turn away from Kazama squad. That was weird. Mimics went after Trion bodies and they were currently close to six of them, so why were they trying to break off now? “Meteor!” 

Utagawa’s bullets launched themselves forward, slamming into the surrounding buildings, road, and Mimics. The destructive force of the Meteor knocked the buildings over to fall on the Mimics. The mix of rubble and dust would be a nice distraction to the Mimics that didn’t get hit by the bullets. The attack should hopefully be enough to bring the Mimics’ attention back to the Kazama squad so they would stop trying to leave.  

Kazama moved first, propelling himself over the rubble of the falling buildings. His Scorpion pierced through the first Mimic’s eye he came across that had gotten buried in the rubble. He could hear Kikuchihara and Utagawa running through the destruction to kill the Mimics before they could gain their bearings and get out of the rubble.  

Kazama twisted downward to avoid a Mimic’s limb coming for him before extending a Scorpion from his elbow that pierced the limb. The sliced off part dropped to the ground behind him as Kazama jumped and rolled in the air to get through the next set of limbs, slicing at them nonstop, leaving limbs to rain down on the ground around him. Even buried under rumble, they were quite persistent.  

His foot barely touched the ground when he felt something hit his ankle. Looking down, he just barely saw a black, claw like hand wrapped around his ankle before his vision faded out.  

“Shin-niisan!”  

The little five year held his hands up this brother to get his help to get the snack on the counter. Grinning Shin wrapped his arms around his brother’s torso to lift him up so he could steal the snacks from the counter. Before their mother could get back to the kitchen and seeing the brothers ruining their dinner, Shin and Soya snuck out of the kitchen with their winnings.   

*****  

“I win!” Soya cheered, throwing his hands up into the air in celebration.   

Shin smiled, dropping the cards that would have won him the game into the pile of cards between the brothers. He pushed all the cards together to get them back into a neat pile. “You did, didn’t you? I guess you win the pot.”   

He motioned to the pile of snacks that he had won from Soya throughout their day of playing games that he didn’t really want, but losing all day and then getting that one win at the end to get all his snacks back would make his little brother happy so it was a win for both of them.