I bet you ten bucks that you're all sick of my vonstant revision :/

SO i realized that i had uploaded the wrong draft of chapter 10, which then fucked up chapter 11. So bear with me as i fix this-i had two separate ideas in mind, but little things like extra descriptions for clarity make things confusing as balls so im sorry :(

"Stop—struggling—!"

Osamu ignored her as he frantically pulled at the chains, eyes wide and panicked. He had just been where he thought was reality—he spent a whole day at school, went on defense duty afterwards, and even participated in a team Rank Battle in the evening. His capture seemed nothing but a distant nightmare.

But then he woke up.

His struggling gradually decreased as his wrists began to burn. Get a hold of yourself, he chastised mentally, going postal won't improve your chances of escaping.

Dr. Mariposa raised an eyebrow when he ceased his thrashing. "…are you okay?"

"…sorry," he apologized, "just a nightmare."

Chika felt her chest constrict as Osamu's hands began to shake.

"That's…that's not my trigger, is it?" he stammered, "H…how…?"

"That's a standard B-Rank Border trigger," Commander Kido explained, "outfitted with the same exact triggers as your previous one."

There was a tense silence that seemed to suffocate the room.

"Why?"

"Why what?" Commander Kido asked, "I wasn't the one who gave you your Side-Effect."

"You made Usami-sempai give me a psychological evaluation," Osamu stated, "you obviously planned this, and I'm asking why."

Chika flinched at the green-eyed brunette's apparent anger. "Now that we know that the Side-Effect is not exclusive to you," the Commander answered, "You're going to resign from you position as a B-Rank Agent."

Osamu narrowed his eyes as the realization set in.

"You're saying I'm expendable," he stated, "you knew I wasn't the only one who could get this Side-Effect, and you wanted to know how to activate it so others could use it, didn't you?"

Osamu's face betrayed no emotion, but his eyes clearly burned with months of resentment and pain—pain the Commander seemed to almost pointedly ignore.

"Up to a point, yes," Commander Kido acknowledged, "It's important to choose wisely who gets to use this Side-Effect—"

"Choose!?" Osamu demanded, "This isn't something you can just choose to have! Look at what happened to Kitora-san—you think she'll want to use that over and over again!? You don't even know if it'll work for her!"

"We'll keep trying until it works," Commander Kido answered coolly, "Perhaps it'll even pave the way for those with a…monstrously high amount of Trion to use."

Osamu seemed to hesitate, and Chika felt her fists clench underneath the table. She knew exactly what he was hinting at, and it terrified her. I'm not strong enough, she thought, I couldn't…

"If that's how you're going to go about it," Osamu stated coldly, "then that makes you no better than the neighbors who tortured me against my will."

The room seemed to hold its breath as Commander Kido narrowed his eyes.

"Excuse me?"

"I'll use this Side-Effect for your benefit," he continued, "but I'm not going to harbor any illusions about it being for the 'greater good'. I already went through hell and back to get it, and I'm not going to let you try to force it on someone else. You keep talking about how neighbors are our enemies, yet you're willing to stoop just as low—"

"What I am doing is for the protection of Mikado City," Commander Kido snapped, making Chika flinch.

"I don't care what your excuses are," Osamu snapped right back, "I just want to do the right thing—so if what's right happens to coincide with whatever plans you have, then so be it. But I will not tolerate you threatening my teammates."

Commander Kido took a deep breath as he visibly forced himself down. "And what if the right thing is to retire and stay out of my way?" he asked, "You can't possibly believe that you can be a normal agent with a Side-Effect as dangerous as yours.

"Is it the Side-Effect you think is dangerous?" Osamu asked, "Or is it the person using it that scares you?"

"I-I have an idea," Director Rindo spoke up suddenly, all eyes turning to him. "Mikumo-kun has been through a lot to get this Side-Effect—why not just let him learn how to use it instead of wasting unnecessary time and resources?"

"I agree," General Shinoda added hastily, "It would make more sense to just utilize Mikumo-kun's Side-Effect—we don't want it getting into the wrong hands."

Development Chief Kinuta nodded in agreement. "We don't have time or assets to chase down a rabbit hole when we have more pressing matters to deal with. Like he said, it'd be tiresome trying to force the Side-Effect on someone else."

…They're avoiding Osamu's main point, Chika realized, that they'd be just as bad as the neighbors who captured him if they went along with it.

"…Fine," Commander Kido said finally, "But don't expect any special treatment. For now you're going to remain a B-Rank agent, and you'll be banned from Rank Wars until you learn how to control your Side-Effect—we'll discuss more once you do."

"That's fine," Osamu agreed, "I'll be sure to master it before next month."

Commander Kido raised an eyebrow and Chika smiled. "Now that that's settled," he murmured, "this meeting is adjourned."

Everyone stood to leave, and Chika couldn't get out of there fast enough.

"I'm not telling you shit!"

Kinuta sighed as the Neighbor woman continued to lash out unreasonably on the other side of the glass. "I hate you!" she screeched, "You—you got my son killed!"

He heard a familiar chuckle behind him, causing his stress to skyrocket exponentially.

"Netsuki-san!" he bellowed, turning on the taller man. "Why the hell are you here!?"

"I was told to check on how you were doing with the Neighbor," he replied, smiling his usual fake smile. "And I think I can easily say—"

"Not well, no duh," Kinuta muttered, crossing his arms and sighing again. "All I asked is if the chains were too tight and she went off! We'll never get anything out of her at this rate!"

"Well you can take your time," Netsuki replied, "the media doesn't know anything about this so it's not like you have reporters breathing down your neck for information."

The stout man raised an annoyed eyebrow. "Are you expecting a 'thank you' or something? Because I have some bad news for you—"

"—are you fucking ignoring me!?" the Neighbor shouted, and Kinuta felt his blood pressure rise.

"A feisty one, eh?" Netsuki chuckled.

"I don't need your damn commentary Netsuki—!"

"—the fuck is that Four-Eyed bastard!?"

The two chiefs ceased their bickering immediately.

"That got attention, huh?" the woman smirked, "I asked where that Four-eyed bastard was—"

"That's none of your business," Kinuta snapped tiredly.

"Well…what about that girl he was with?" she tried, "The one with the fuck-ton of Trion? I'm curious about her…"

She grinned suddenly, making the Development Chief feel very uncomfortable. "Maybe if you let me meet her…I'll tell you about that Four-Eyed bastard's trigger?"

Kinuta and Netsuki glanced at each other, thinking polar opposite thoughts.

"No," Kinuta said firmly.

"But the trigger—" Netsuki began.

"Amatori-kun doesn't need to be dragged into this," Kinuta insisted.

"You're just upset because you're pervy for her!" Netsuki shot back, "I know you like young children—"

"She's reminds me of my daughter you damn asshole!" Kinuta shouted, his face turning crimson. "I'm a father for fuck's sake!"

"That's what they all say—"

"Kinuta-san?"

The chief whipped his head towards the door, actually relaxing a bit. "It's about time you got here," he snapped, "what took you so long!?"

"I had a few words with him," a less irritatingly familiar voice answered, stepping into the room.

"C-Commander Kido?!" Netsuki and Kinuta exclaimed in unison, bowing in respect.

The Border Headquarters Commander in Chief nodded in response. "Once you're through with him, bring in Mikumo-kun as well."

Forget being relaxed; now Kinuta legitimately felt like he was going to have a heart attack. "B-But Commander—I thought we decided not to—"

"Have I made myself clear?" The Commander asked, narrowing his eyes and making the other two chiefs flinch.

"Y…yes sir," Kinuta grumbled.

"Good," Kido said, nodding in approval. "I'll leave you to it."

"Are you Amatori Chika?"

Chika looked up from her riffle to see an unfamiliar girl around her age clad in a B-rank uniform standing next to her, with long blonde hair pulled back into a ponytail and almost unearthly, bright blue eyes. "Um…yes," she answered, standing up and bowing her head. "I-I'm Amatori Chika. N-nice to meet you."

"I'm Polilla," she said, pronouncing the double 'll' like a 'y'. "Nice to meet you."

The dark-haired girl couldn't help but feel that something was off when she glanced at Polilla's uniform again. "What squad are you in?"

"Oh, I'm a solo agent," she explained, "I just became B-rank last week!"

"Congratulations!" Chika said enthusiastically, "I hope you find a squad soon, so you can make it up to A-Rank!"

"Of course!" Polilla agreed, "I'm an attacker, but I was hoping to see how other types of people fight too—I'm hoping to become an All-Rounder one day, so I figured I should try to pick up on other styles early on."

"That's really smart," Izuho put in, "I should probably start doing that…"

"It'll help you become a better attacker too," Akane added, "so you can engage each type of fighter appropriately, no matter the situation. With that kind of determination, you'll make it up to A-Rank in no time!"

The blue-eyed blonde blushed, and Chika went back to shooting as the other three girls continued to converse. She didn't pay much attention as she focused on her training, until—

"Have you been looking at what squads you want to apply for?" Izuho asked, "You'll need to join one to get higher in the rankings."

"That's…what I actually came to talk to you guys about," Polilla said shyly, her face turning pink. "I don't know many people here…and I've heard a lot about you…can I join your squad?"

It took her a second for Chika to realize that she was speaking to her. "Join…our squad?" she repeated uncertainly, the off feeling growing worse. "O-oh, I-I'm not the captain! You'd have to ask Osamu-kun—Mikumo Osamu I mean—since he's the captain…"

"Can you take me to him?" the blonde asked eagerly, bright blue eyes shining eagerly. "Please?"

"Aw," Izuho said, coming up behind her and patting Chika's head. "You'll have a little kouhai of your own!"

"You've got quite the reputation now, huh?" Akane laughed in agreement, "Go on, we'll keep your spot until you get back!"

"T-thanks guys," Chika replied, bowing her head in thanks. "Let's go then…"

Polilla nodded enthusiastically as the two left the training area, though Chika couldn't shake the feeling that something bad was about to happen.

When the Commander left, Yuma glanced at the woman chained to the wall. It was hard to get a good look at her when she was fighting Osamu back then, but now he could clearly see the wrinkles and grey hairs in amidst the blonde—he had assumed she was young by the way they had fought, but she was obviously much, much older.

"Osamu didn't tell me he beat up an old lady," he commented.

"If you're just going to in aggravate her for no reason then get out!" Kinuta snapped, "You're here to get information out of her, not mess around!"

"Why you—!" the neighbor woman growled, pulling on her chains. "What gives you the right—"

"We're getting miles off topic," Kinuta interrupted, desperate to avoid another emotional fallout.

"He started it!" the woman screamed, "How dare you just make such offhand comments—"

As she went on, Kinuta sighed for what seemed like the millionth time. "She's going off again," he muttered, "we're not going to get anything out of her now…"

"There has to be something…" Yuma murmured as the woman continued to throw a fit, "any ideas?"

Kinuta shook his head in exasperation. "She's been like this ever since we've captured her—at this point I don't know what we can do…"

"…what did the Commander want with Osamu-kun?" Yuma asked suddenly, "You seemed pretty put off by it."

The development Chief sighed, staring at the still screaming woman. "You would be out of the loop since you weren't at the meeting," he muttered, "You know about Mikumo-kun's trigger, I assume?"

"It's no secret at this point," Yuma replied with a shrug, "Some people call him a 'blood trigger' user behind his back."

"Well the –WHAT!?" Kinuta screeched, "THEY KNOW!?"

His outburst was loud enough to quiet the neighbor woman. "…know what?" she asked.

"Well yeah," Yuma replied with a shrug, ignoring her. "I think the operators were talking about it at some point, and some C-Rank eavesdropped and spread it around."

Kinuta clutched his chest as he forced his breathing to remain calm. "NETSUKI!"

"I-I'll get on it," the Media Countermeasures Chief stammered, rushing out of the room.

"Do you know what could happen if this gets out to the public!?" Kinuta demanded. "How in the hell—!?"

"Your guess is as good as mine," Yuma sighed, "It's mostly been just whispering behind his backs, but surprisingly no one's confronted Chika or I for it."

"I wonder how long that's going to last," Kinuta muttered, running a hand over his face. "Are you ready to talk yet?"

"If you're referring to me then no," the neighbor woman spat, "not until—"

"You can go then," Kinuta stated, turning to Yuma. "Sorry for wasting your time."

"No, it's fine," Yuma assured him, "besides, it wouldn't be quite a waste if you told me what happened during that meeting."

"Meeting?" the woman asked, "What meeting?"

Kinuta rolled his eyes. "Another time," he muttered, "I wanted to tell you while the prisoner was screaming her lungs out, but now it seems like she's going to be hanging on to every word we say."

The neighbor woman rolled her eyes. "Fine," she muttered, "It's not like it matters—by the time it's all over with, he'll probably just give up and kill himself or something useful like that."

Yuma stared down at the neighbor, his carefree attitude dissipating into an intimidating aura.

"By the time what's over with!?" Kinuta demanded.

The woman flinched, almost as if she hadn't meant to say that out loud. "Nothing," she stated, turning away from them. "Just this whole fiasco over the trigger—the one that you stole from me by the way."

Kinuta glanced over at Yuma, who shook his head. "You're lying," he growled, "What did you do?"

"I-nothing!" the woman insisted, her voice starting to sound panicked.

"There's another neighbor in Meeden," Yuma pressed, "Are they in Border?"

"Wha—no!" she shouted, "What are talking about!? I-I've been here the entire time!"

Yuma's eyes widened at her answer. "Kinuta-san," he stated, "We might have a big problem."

Right as he said that, a giant boom shook the building.

"…a really big problem."