Tachikawa and Shiori seemed like they had noticed something, too. Even Arashiyama Squad was intensely focused on whatever Jin had pointed out, and Arashiyama and Kitora both had one hand on their weapons.
Then, Osamu saw it.
Snowy white hair was ruffled by the breeze, and a pair of eyes like twin rubies stared back at Osamu. The figure was clad in a zipper-less sweatshirt that seemed darker than the night sky, and baggy pants the color of a thick smoke. It was male, and, despite his apparent age, in his face there were years of pain trapped in his young features.
Before the infamous Tamakoma, outside of the wall as if he were waiting for something, there stood a child.
"Hey, Misuru, was it?" Jin slowly turned to the dull-eyed soldier, still having his body facing the white-haired figure in front of him. "You guys can make Trion appear on radar, right? Any in this guy?"
Tokieda, still staring ahead, checked a small device that he had pulled from his pocket. The soldier's face dropped at what he saw, which told Jin what he needed to know. "Yes," he replied quietly, eyes fixed on the small device in his hand.
Jin narrowed his eyes, and his threatening stance sent shivers down Osamu's spine. Arashiyama cautiously pulled out his gun, although he didn't take aim just yet.
Jin was the first to step forward. The child didn't come closer, but you could notice him brace himself for an attack. Naturally, anyone else probably would do the same, if someone who could go from smiling and waving to stabbing someone to death in a split second was walking towards them.
Osamu then realized that Jin didn't appear to have any weapons on him, and the green-eyed student became curious to see the young man's strange ability activate again. He wondered if Arashiyama Unit had witnessed it yet, and if they hadn't, they would be in for one hell of a surprise.
"Yuma Kuga." The boy spoke in a voice that was barely audible from Osamu's distance, although it would make sense that Jin would be able to hear it better. Even so, it was a small, sensitive voice that trembled with each syllable it murmured. "Do you know who that is?"
Jin met the child's wide crimson gaze with his own sky-blue one. Osamu, on the other hand, couldn't take his eyes off of the figure, whether he wanted to or not. Meanwhile, Jin ignored the question. "Who are you?"
Then, without any warning, the child looked like he was about to cry, which took the usually calm Jin by surprise. "I-I..." He clenched his fists, and jerked his head up to face Jin with a random burst of courage. "Yuma Kuga? Do you know Yuma Kuga?"
It was most likely a rare event to see Jin confused, and yet, Osamu had witnessed it within about a half an hour of knowing the him. "Are you a Neighbor? Why do you have Trion? Who is Kuga?"
The boy's expression suddenly went blank, as if any emotion had suddenly died. "I'm asking you, whois Kuga? What's Neighbors and Trion?"
It was fairly obvious that Jin was having difficulties in attempting to come up with responses on the spot, and that his patience was wearing thin. Either the strange kid was just playing dumb, or something was actually wrong. Jin would ask a question, and the person being asked would respond with another question. The cycle had only begun a few moments ago, and yet it already seemed endless.
"Do you know who you are?" Jin intrigued, speaking slowly, as if he was mocking the child. (Even though he had no intentions to.) "A name? At the least, what are you?"
Osamu, after about thirty seconds or so of mental preparation, spoke up before the fluffy-haired boy could reply to Jin's question. "D-Do you have any memory?"
Jin looked back at Osamu from over his shoulder. "Oh? Good thinking, Four-Eyes."
"I don't-" He stopped almost instantly when he noticed Jin walking up to him, and his cherry eyes became round as he looked up at the considerably taller man.
Osamu couldn't see Jin's face, but he was willing to bet that the Tamakoma leader looked nothing short of terrifying.
Jin lifted an eyebrow, towering over the kid - who couldn't be anything more than five feet tall, for that matter - with a facial expression that screamed, 'I'll probably stab you if you don't give me a straight answer this time'. "Amnesia, then?"
The child lowered his head, and even from where he stood, Osamu could tell that he was fighting back tears. "I... I don't know who I am..." His hands were shaking, and Osamu hoped, for the mysterious kid's own sake, that Jin looked sympathetic.
He was probably wrong.
Out of nowhere, Jin swung a fist into the child's gut, and the minuscule boy's face was flooded with a sudden shock, before going completely limp, his mouth hanging open ever so slightly. Jin followed with a sharp blow to the boy's head, which, after wobbling around for a second or two, resulted in the child collapsing to the ravaged ground.
"J-Jin!" Shiori was staring at him, and was speaking on behalf of all the people who were at a complete loss for words. Which was everyone else, by the way. "The hell was that?"
Jin picked up the child and flung the small body over his shoulder, then turned to face the blank-faced Tamakoma group. "Osamu's right; I don't think this kid has any memory. Either that or he's a Neighbor sent to kill us. It would be better to knock him out now, restrain him for precautionary measures, and proceed to interrogate him then."
Kazama, as expected, just scowled at him for it, but on the opposite end of the spectrum, Tachikawa broke out laughing. "Damn, you're too harsh. Poor guy."
Shiori looked from Jin to Tachikawa, giving each of them the 'mom' glare. "Honestly, it's just a kid. Even if he was a Neighbor, one of them couldn't hold a candle to you alone, Jin."
"You can't be too careful," Jin countered, grinning back at her. "In a world like this, anything is possible."
Tachikawa lifted his eyebrows, facing Jin in the way a thirteen year-old would in one of those junior high arguments you'd see in a health class video about bullying. "Jin, half the time you sound like an anime protagonist giving an inspirational speech. Or, maybe antagonist-"
Jin pretended to be hurt, and hilariously staggered around like a cat who had just stepped on a wooden floor for the first time. "You're so mean, Tachikawa!" Really, it was hard to tell if he was being sarcastic. He dragged the last syllable of Tachikawa's name out as long as he could go without taking a breath, which made Shiori and Izumi crack up. Kazama didn't have much of a reaction, Tachikawa went to scold Jin like a brother would, and Osamu just stared at everyone, dumbfounded.
"So you're taking another unconscious kid back with us?" Kazama challenged Jin, bringing his hand to his forehead.
"Even you can admit that this one could prove to be good for something," Jin replied in a teasing manner, although what he said was most likely true. "Amatori, on the other hand, isn't a main priority, if a priority at all. If we run in to trouble, we're not going to stress over getting her to safety."
Osamu felt anger swamp his senses like a wildfire at Jin's comment on Chika. Once again, the man and deemed her life as nothing to be concerned by. Osamu didn't say anything, being well aware that, at this point, Jin and the Tamakoma people were his most reliable source of protection from the Neighbors.
Osamu's gaze, no matter what he did to avoid this, always traveled back to the tiny body flung over Jin's shoulder. His sleeping face looked so peaceful, which was, basically, the exact opposite of what he had looked like when conscious.
"H-Hey, just a quick question, h-how do we get out of here?" Osamu's words were choppy and his voice shook, not to mention that he was still involuntarily staring at the powder-headed child.
Shiori was the one who answered him, and Izumi had looked like he had wanted to provide a reply as well, but let his colleague speak. "Jin and Kazama both know how to hot-wire a car, as well as a bunch of people who are back at Tamakoma, so we have a few abandoned military vehicles at the base. We've got a Jeep-ish thing somewhere up ahead."
"Isn't that illegal?"
This time, it was Izumi who answered, with a couple seconds of uncontrolled laughter. "Our entire existence is illegal. Especially Jin. Okay, definitely Jin."
"You're always falling behind," Tachikawa sighed loudly before Osamu responded, and for a moment, he had thought it was directed at him. "Izumi. Walk faster." He grabbed the blonde man by the ear and dragged him along, which almost made Osamu chuckle.
"You too, Osamu." Shiori waved him over as she began to walk after Jin and the others. "We won't be walking long."
"R-Right..." Osamu's voice trailed off as he used his absolutely graceful half-limp, half-walk to follow Shiori.
Shiori had been right about the fact that Jin's stolen car - or rather, the 'Jeep-ish' thing - wasn't very far from where they stood; he had said that it would only about a ten minute walk. Personally, Osamu was extremely surprised that they were able to walk any longer than five minutes without being attacked.
They lasted about nine minutes, actually.
Their only method of effective transportation was in eyesight, only about a hundred meters away. Osamu began to feel the stress of awaiting an attack that had not yet come being lifted from him, but he had no way of knowing that it was far too soon to be feeling that way.
A four-story building, already rotting away from years of neglect, suddenly fell over as if it were a tiny obstacle in the path of something massive. Rubble flew everywhere, and the ground shook from the impact of the abandoned structure. As it came down, a terrifying creature crashed through it like a bowling ball flying through its set of organized pins. In Osamu's eyes, it resembled a giant spider. He had a phobia of spiders.
"W-What is that thing?" Osamu felt himself backing away on shaky legs, and he couldn't take his eyes off of the monster, despite how much he wanted to turn and run for the hills.
Then, it spotted them.
It didn't look like it had a face, but there was an 'eye' of some sort located in its mouth-like structure. The eye focused on Jin and his followers, before the creature made a huge jump towards them as it prepared itself for some form of an attack.
"Usami!" Osamu shouted at the person closest to him, not understanding how she (and pretty much everyone else) was able to stand there with a calm expression.
Jin dropped the child in a split second, and in the same moment, Osamu saw the strange, unexplained blades shoot out of the young man's sleeves. All this time, the student had been wondering where they came from; whether they were a part of Jin's body, or somehow built into his jacket.
Osamu watched in sheer awe as Jin, the same, luminous pale green markings appearing on the lines of his major veins, charged at the creature at a speed that very few people could match. The spider-like animal brought one of its "legs", a long, silver blade attached to its armored flesh, down in an attempt to injure its attacker. On the defensive side, Jin skillfully used the arm as something that he could use to boost himself up to the creature's eye. He planted a foot down on it, with balance that looked like it was as close as you could get to being flawless, and threw himself into the air.
Jin, with a jump that sent him flying one or two feet above the creature, landed right in front of its mouth, and his position made Osamu's heart skip a beat. Pulling his left arm back as if to fire an arrow, Jin stabbed a wound straight through it's eye, obviously knowing beforehand how to take one of the creatures down. It went by so fast, and based off of everyone's relaxed expressions, Jin had done it before.
"Good thing it didn't crush the car," Jin commented, the blades sliding back into his sleeves, and his skin and eyes returning to normal.
"Jin, w-what was that thing?" Osamu nervously spoke to the man for the first time since they had left the shelter of the walls. "Why did it attack us?"
At the same time, a petrified Arashiyama Unit had their own questions to ask. Arashiyama, Kitora, and Tokieda were all pointing their guns at Jin with terrified faces, while Ken, his skills as a sniper not a threat to Jin at this distance, stood a step or so behind the rest of his squad, in a close-range fighting stance.
"W-What?" Arashiyama couldn't take his eyes off of Jin, who was obviously expecting the squad's reaction. "What was that? You said we could trust you!"
Jin smiled at him warmly, while bending down quickly to pick up the limp child lying a few feet away. "Ah, I guess I forgot to mention that. Although, I haven't explained crap to Four-Eyes yet, and he's probably way more confused than you guys are."
Kitora turned to Osamu at Jin's mention of him, attempting in vain to mask her horror with a cold glare. Even though it was clearly false, Osamu still couldn't look the female soldier in the eye without flinching.
"E-Explain what the hell I just saw!" Arashiyama caught Osamu's attention as he looked away from Kitora, as curious as the squad captain was to learn the science behind Jin's ability. "I'll shoot, I swear!"
Jin waved his free hand, the one not supporting the child, implying that Arashiyama's accusation was incorrect. "No, no, I'm not anything to be scared by! I told you that before, remember?"
Arashiyama's face looked like an unorganized mess of fear and confusion, and sweat was visible on his forehead. "And I told you to explain yourself, before I kill you right here."
Jin laughed nervously, and he was probably impatient to get going. "Now's not a good time-"
"That wasn't a question," Arashiyama snapped, and Osamu wondered if he knew yet that Jin could literally catch bullets, and shooting from right in front of him would be useless. Tokieda had seen it, and it wasn't clear if he had told his captain or not.
"I'm serious." Jin returned the fury with a childish tip of the head, although he wasn't joking. "Talking about stuff like that out in the open isn't safe. You never know who could be listening."
Arashiyama whipped around to interrogate Osamu next, glaring green fire. "Did you know about this?"
Osamu took a step back, his eyes darting back and forth to Jin and Arashiyama. "Well, y-yes, sort of, but I'm just as confused as you are-"
"See?" Jin cut him off, looking somewhat proud that he had proved the soldier wrong. "I already said that."
Arashiyama started to speak - or, well, shout - again, but Kazama stepped between the two men, growing impatient. "Both of you are idiots. Now, before more Trion soldiers show up, I suggest we leave."
Arashiyama just scowled, but did nothing to protest.
"Don't worry." Shiori approached Arashiyama, probably feeling as if she was responsible to reassure him. (Since, well, Jin wasn't doing much about that on his own part.) "Everyone's confused and scared at first, especially when you witness something like that." She smiled at him. "It'll all make sense soon, trust me."
Unexpectedly, Kitora was the one who responded. Although, noticing the look on her face, it was only a matter of time until she joined in. "You honestly expect us to walk away from a field of corpses to see this," she glared at Jin, "and not have any questions? Personally, I don't know why Arashiyama didn't kill your friend on the spot."
"Remember what I said?" Jin glanced over his shoulder over a head of white, fluffy hair, narrowing his eyes with a teasing smirk. "If you follow the right path, people like you can change the world. All you need to do is recognize that as a vision in order to make it reality."
Kitora gritted her teeth, expecting Arashiyama to counter that himeself. He did, and it seemed all the previous exasperation had left him - for now, at least. "There's nothing that points towards trusting you. We're not standing here because we believed what you said, we're here because it's our duty to fight the Neighbors. And if tagging along with this Tamakoma is the only current way to do that, then that's the path we will take."
Jin raised an eyebrow, and nodded slowly. He did not reply with words, but none were needed. Kitora, with a final scowl of defiance, trudged off behind Kazama, Tokieda, and Ken, while Arashiyama offered Jin a look of, 'You had better know what you're doing, and I'd better get some explanations. Today.'
"Osamu, I expect you'll want to be next to Chika?" Jin's voice made Osamu almost jump as he approached the shorter male, the child hanging limply like a rag doll.
"We're leaving, I guess..." Osamu murmured under his breath, but Jin was somehow able to catch it. Osamu unconsciously clenched his fist, and his face was creased in an uncontrollable sense of worry. "Actually leaving..."
Jin sighed quietly, brushing the stray strands of hair from his forehead. "You're probably wondering if people inside those walls - your family, more specifically - will live, if my assumption is accurate. To answer the question before it's asked, if they're still somewhat physically able and in good health, there's a chance of them living. I can't tell you if they're going to be the same person as when you saw them last, but in my opinion, seeing them alive is more than enough."
Osamu attempted to keep himself from staring, but it was useless. Jin had responded to a question that hadn't even been spoken yet, and left the would-have-been questioner speechless.
Jin smiled at him, and for the first time, it actually looked honest. "I'm pretty sure that this is one of those moments when reality slaps you across the face." His blue gaze drifted over the ground, which was littered with pebbles that once held a place in skyscrapers, and he wore the most sincere expression Osamu had expected to get out of the man. "Trying to see through your eyes - if you know what I mean - I owe you one hell of an explanation, don't I?" Glancing at Osamu, and expecting a reply that never came, he continued. "Hey, the last thing I want is to see a kid scared. Sorry if you're feeling forced into this, really."
"U-Um, I-" Osamu truly had no idea what to say, and he shook his head in a rapid motion as he stopped mid-sentence. Still, he remained silent.
Jin, after a couple of seconds, decided that Osamu wouldn't be saying anything else anytime soon. Accepting the short-lived response he got, Jin waved Arashiyama over.
"Same goes to you, Arashiyama." Jin's eyes drifted over the four soldiers, his voice softened by sympathy. However, this time, it was difficult to tell if the emotion was false or not. "Bear with me here, you'll get what you came for soon enough."
Arashiyama's stone-cold look did not change, although his voice wasn't as infuriated as before. "I expect an explanation," he muttered, trying for the first time to meet Jin's gaze. With that, he turned back to his squad mates, who were looking angry or terrified. Or perhaps both.
"Osamu, you don't mind keeping an eye on the white-haired kid - I guess we'll call him Yuma - for now, do you?" Jin asked the question plainly, losing any scrap of empathy he may have had in the few seconds before. "Like, you don't have to carry him or anything, just see if he wakes up in the car."
"Y-Yeah, sure..." Osamu stuttered, his mind alive with an infinite amount of clashing emotions, not even certain that the words he spoke were his own. "A-And what if he wakes up?"
Jin froze for a couple of seconds. "Well, er... I won't drive, then. Just tell me if that happens."
Osamu sighed inwardly. Jin's mood seemed to change more often than it probably should, and shifted the group's aura along with it. He was certainly 'something else', at the very least.
In the back of his mind, Osamu wondered when Chika would wake up, and what her reaction would be. (To Jin's entire existence, especially.) He was still being dragged down by the thought of his mother, dead or not dead, Tamakoma as a whole - as well as their inhuman ideas of a future outside of the walls - and the ominous presence of Yuma Kuga, if that's what they were calling the boy for now. There was no way he was older than twelve, which only made it all the more confusing as to why, in any situation, he would be seemingly stranded outside of Mikado District in the middle of a battle.
In the hands of those who dared to defy fate, this is where humanity's future began.
