The Skies

By: Aviantei

A World Trigger One Shot

[For Amulet Misty and Chronic Guardian]

[Twelve Shots of Summer: Second Raid 5/12]

"You're up pretty late. Are you nervous?"

Jin Yuichi looked over his shoulder to see Tachikawa standing in the entrance to the roof. Jin himself had been up there for a few hours, and had figured that everyone else had gone to bed by now. His friend's presence proved that to be not the case.

Turning back to the sky, Jin laughed softly. Despite being an urban area, Mikado City still managed to have a great view of the sky, stars and all. "Not at all," he answered. "Though I could ask the same about you."

There was the tap of footsteps as Tachikawa came closer. "Yeah, I'm nervous," he admitted, leaning on the same railing Jin was sitting on. "We're about to go to a completely different world tomorrow. How can you stay calm?" Jin provided a shrug. "Don't tell me you saw something about the trip."

"Nah," Jin lied. He had seen many things since everyone had been approved for the away mission to the Neighbor Worlds. Some things were okay, and others were less pretty. But in the end, they were all just possibilities, so there was no point in worrying anybody over what-ifs. "We just wouldn't be sent over if we couldn't handle it. Besides, you guys have got an elite agent in your midst. Everything will be fine!"

Tachikawa just barely softened his snort. "Fine, fine," he said, laughter loosening him up. "We'll be counting on you then." Jin grinned, catching Tachikawa's smile out of the corner of his eye. "But if you're not nervous, what're you losing sleep over?"

"Well," Jin admitted, "we're gonna be on the away mission for a while. We don't know what the skies in the Neighbor World look like so…

"I figured I'd take one last long look at my own."

The first thing that Jin noticed was that being in a different dimension didn't really feel different.

The travel through the gate was a bit rougher than expected, but it made sense that partially experimental travel across dimensions wasn't exactly smooth. Still, other than the initial discomfort, he still felt like he was on Earth, in Mikado City, and he would dismount from the ship right back into the launch bay in Border Headquarters, like the whole thing had been a silly joke.

Of course, he knew otherwise. He had seen otherwise.

"Now opening viewport."

It wasn't anything particularly extravagant—just a small window hatch in the side of the Trion ship. Probably only three people could cluster around it if you sacrificed comfort. Still, Jin stood up, taking the steps over, not knowing what to expect, even with the descriptions from Mogami and Rindo in the past.

They were here to hunt for Triggers, to learn more about Trion Soldiers. It was a goal-oriented trip, and there wouldn't be much time to fool around. There was too much danger risk in going into enemy territory, to a world where several nations expended their military power on attacking and capturing humans.

But the view was astounding.

The Neighbor worlds were stars. That was what Mogami had said. And Jin had taken it literally, had considered the facts that each world was a planet built out of Trion, less material than the ground the earth was composed of. Like, planets, they had orbits, and crossed close to each other and the access points to earth.

Except when you looked at them, it was hard to tell. Jin could barely think, slack jawed. Each point was a brilliant as stars, and it was hard to believe that each one held a civilization, a potential exploration. They were bright, shining brilliantly even in the distant, much like the stars visible from earth, only more luminous, more colorful.

"Hey, Jin, you gonna hog the view for yourself?"

"He must be really impressed. He's not even listening to us."

"I never thought we'd see the day when the 'Elite Agent' shut his mouth for once."

And Jin looked for a future where he could see this view again.

In the end, there was more to see to the Neighbor World, but Jin only got to see an incredibly small fraction of it. Of course, in time, the away missions piled up, and Jin saw more and more of the Neighbor Worlds. He met more Neighbors, learned new things, maybe even grew a little.

And everything was amazing, but the thing that never ceased to amaze him was the sky flying in, the constantly changing constellations of each world, each country existing as part of a bright, blinding, light show.

The ships had improved since Jin's first trip, that was for certain. The passenger capacity hadn't changed much, and there was still the rough jot that happened when passing through the Gate, but that's always been part of the fun. What had changed was that the Trion Ships were more refined, with somewhat more comfortable seating and more advanced navigation specs.

But the best part was that the once tiny viewport had been expanded, covering an entire side of the ship, showing off space in a massive display of lights.

Mikumo and Chika were in awe, almost pressing their faces against the Trion glass, their breaths creating patches of fog. Jin couldn't blame them. Part of him was still amazed, just over how the Neighbor's sky never seemed to be the same once, had become even more spectacular by the view.

Kuga was less impressed, but Jin could understand. This was his home world after all, a place he grew up in. On top of that, Kuga traveled with his father for all those years, jumping worlds, taking the trip to the human world on his own. Kuga has seen more of the Neighbor Worlds than Jin can even imagine.

"You're not excited to come back home?" Jin asked. Remembering, he added, "Or nervous?"

Kuga glanced at him, looking as calm as usual. "Not at all," the Neighbor answered. "I spent so much time traveling that I never really stayed in one place for long. I have memories but…" He glanced to his teammates, who were chatting amongst themselves, pointing out the planets and wondering which one they were going to first. "…I think that Earth's my home now."

Jin smiled, patting Kuga on the shoulder. "Well, we've got a mission to do now. And this is your guys' first expedition as a team. I know you'll do great."

For a moment, they met gazes, Kuga staring intensely. There was a second, then his face broke out into a grin as he looked out the window. "Yeah," he agreed. "We worked hard for this. We're not gonna come back empty handed."

And with that, Kuga ran off to talk to his teammates, increasing their chatter, alleviating their nervousness into laughter.

Kuga, Mikumo, and Chika.

Jin could see a bright future for them, just as easily as he could see the possibilities in the stars before them.

For Dina, because I know you like World Trigger, too.

For CG, because you've been nothing but encouraging, and I figured I'd write something a bit more optimistic for you.

That aside, this was written for the [Twelve Shots of Summer: Second Raid] challenge, a fun, weekly one-shot summer adventure. The prompt this week was "Star Gazer," and with all the talk of the Neighbor Worlds being stars in the manga made me think this was appropriate. Also, the alternate prompt was "Top of the Class," which is just really a big giant excuse to write about Jin, cause, hey, I love that guy.

As part of this is tributed to the wonderful Amulet Misty, it is also partially inspired by her lovely World Trigger one shot, "We'll Be Counting Stars." It's a great Mikumo Squad fic, and I'd check it out (for sure!)

I kinda wanted to write something that goes beyond the reaches of where we are in canon. So I peeked back into the possible past of Jin's first Neighborhood expedition (which I imagined to be around the time Mogami-san is still alive, which is why he and Tachikawa are able to act so friendly), and the eventual future where Mikumo Squad take their first jump (and Jin's pretty much the fourth main character, so you know he's gonna go with them). It was pretty fun to try and put together some scenarios that would fit the set-up in canon.

Anyway, if you want to read some more one shots by a group of great guys, go check out the [Twelve Shots of Summer] forum/C2! These guys are super cool, and they deserve your support! And if you're interested, feel free to join us. There's always room at the Tea Table for one more. :)

The next week's prompt is "Written in Sand." I'm actually gonna be writing for an obscure set of Vocaloid songs, so this should be interesting...

Happy Fourth of July, all you Americans!

Thanks for reading!

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