A/N: New chapter is up! I had this moment of realization a few minutes after I got home today, since I forgot that it was Tuesday. Almost forgot to update. I'm really stupid sometimes. Anyway, what do you guys think of the "Fugitives from Another World" plot? It seems interesting to me, but I don't have an opinion yet really. That aside, sorry for any OOCness, errors, or just overall crappiness. Hope everyone likes the chapter and I'll be back next week with another.
The next day, when Yuma spotted Chika and Osamu heading for Tamakoma from his vantage point on the roof, he could already tell they had processed last night's incident. They no longer looked shooken up, though Yuma doubted they were completely over it. There was no way anyone would be anything less then a little uneasy. A Black Trigger assassin had gotten into Tamakoma undetected. If it had done it once, it could do it again.
Yuma walked down from the roof, and met his team as they walked in. Shiori walked up to Chika and grabbed her by the cheeks. She stretched Chika's face, just as she had after Chika got shot during the Rank Wars.
"Chika-chan, you look so much better today. That must have been terrifying last night to see that thing when you were alone!" Shiori said, using the same sad tone as she had the last time she did this. Chika nodded.
"It was pretty scary, but I'm okay now," the girl said, looking at the other agents in the room. Osamu looked at his younger friend with a small smile. He was glad she felt safe, though he hated that if it came down to it, there was no way he'd be able to protect her. He noticed Yuma watching Chika with a small smile. At least Yuma could do it. Osamu had no doubt that Yuma could defeat the Black Trigger. That is, unless it was the assassin that had gotten Yuma into the situation he was in. Sure, Yuma was much more skilled, but it would be extremely unnerving if that thing was the one that ruined Yuma's life. It wasn't though. Yuma said it wasn't, and he had no reason to lie.
"Do any of you have defense duty today?" Jin asked, munching on some rice crackers. Shiori shot him a look that showed that she didn't approve of his breakfast choice.
"None of us do, unless they changed something. But we never heard anything, so I doubt it," Yuma said. Jin nodded, then looked to Chika. The girl didn't look like she was planning to take the day off.
"I'm going to be practicing my sniping, Jin-san," she said, noticing the older teen's eyes on her. Jin nodded approvingly. Osamu fished his Trigger out of his pocket and looked at it.
"I'm going to do some more training today. Yosuke-san said he'd fight with me today if I wanted, and Midorikawa said he was also up to it unless he Kuga or Jin-san showed up," the four-eyed boy explained. Jin sighed.
"Make sure you don't overwork yourself and pass out again," Jin said. Osamu nodded, though Jin's Side Effect told him Osamu wouldn't be paying attention to how much energy he had left. Jin decided he would go with Osamu to HQ, so no one else would have to deal with the fifteen year old when he passed out again.
"I was planning on training today, but instead I'm going to try to find anything that might be related to the Black Trigger from yesterday," Yuma said, still putting on his clueless act. He didn't miss the slightly suspicious look from Jin, but he showed no sign of noticing. Without another word, Yuma turned and walked out of Tamakoma, waving behind him.
"Is it just me, or has he been acting weirder since yesterday?" Kyosuke asked. Konami shrugged.
"Maybe the assassin reminds him of the one that attacked him when he was eleven. I don't blame him for being a little distant," she said. Jin looked at the door that Yuma had just gone through, narrowing his eyes. His Side Effect still wasn't working, but he was getting that hair-raising feeling he got whenever his Side Effect showed him something bad. He was convinced Yuma knew more then he was telling. Much more.
"Four-Eyes, are you going to HQ soon? I have to go to a short meeting with Kido-san, so I might be able to walk with you," Jin said, pulling himself from his thoughts. Osamu nodded, and the two headed for HQ. Chika watched them go with a small smile, not realizing she had forgotten about her plans to train until she noticed the small weight of her Trigger in her pocket.
"I'm going to go practice," Chika said, waving to her senpai as she headed for the shooting range. Kyosuke watched the girl go.
"I take back what I said earlier. Everyone is acting weirder," he said. No one replied, though Rindo did look at the teen. He had been thinking the same thing.
A few streets away, Kei Tachikawa stoo in civillian clothes, eyes on Tamakoma. When Yuma came out, he watched the boy pass then began to follow him. He kept himself at a good distance, knowing Yuma had strong detection skills and he would be found out if he got too close.
Tachikawa followed Yuma to the Forbidden Zone around HQ, where the Neighbor sat down on a piece of rubble. He stuck his right hand into his sweater pocket, digging around a little until his hand closed around something somewhat found. Yuma pulled the Mini-Replica out of his pocket and held it in his open palm. He then held his left hand up next to it, splaying out his fingers so that his Black Trigger was visible.
For the next ten minutes, Yuma looked back and forth between the Mini-Replica and his Black Trigger. Tachikawa didn't have a clue what the Neighbor was thinking, but at the moment it wasn't important. His job was surveillance, making sure Yuma wasn't planning anything. For the sake of Jin and every one else at Tamakoma, Tachikawa hoped the Neighbor was hiding something.
However, that hope disintegrated when Yuma's head rose sharply. His ruby red eyes fixed on something in the distance. Tachikawa followed the boy's line of vision, searching. At first he saw nothing, just broken down buildings in the Forbidden Zone. Then his eyes began to focus on the distant spot, and Tachikawa felt his blood turn to ice.
Flames. That's the only way he could describe it. There was a figure, one that couldn't possibly be human. It floated in purple flames, and it didn't move from its spot. Tachikawa got an odd feeling, as if the figure was staring at Yuma, though he couldn't tell. He couldn't see any eyes. Then, he suddenly went rigid as he felt a strange gaze on himself. He stared at the figure with slightly wide eyes, and it seemed to now be staring back. For the first time in years, Tachikawa felt intimidated, possibly even a little scared.
In an instant, the figure vanished. Tachikawa let out the breath he had been holding, and turned to leave.
"Did you think I wouldn't notice you there, Tachikawa-san? If so, you make up some weak lies."
A/N: Just wanted to add in that I was thinking about writing some Halloween one-shots, since it is October. I'm not sure if I'll get around to doing it, but if anyone has any prompts for that or if you have a pairing you want to see in some Halloween-related situation, you can review or PM me. If anyone is interested in this, I'll do my best to get their prompts and pairings made into stories. If no one is interested, I might just do a little "introducing Yuma to Halloween" thing and leave it at that.