A/N: I keep forgetting what day of the week it is =3= someone throw some ice water at me. I think Rindo could use some ice water too at this point, or a vacation, or both. Sorry Rindo. Anyway, sorry for any typos, OOCness, errors and overall crappy writing. I also apologize because I've been procrastinating posting the Yuma one-shot I meant to upload a few weeks ago. Maybe I'll get that posted this week, maybe. I hope you all enjoy this chapter, and I'll be back next week with another. That is unless I start procrastinating on this story too because it's nearing its end *que existential crisis*
Tamakoma was far too quiet. It's usual inhabitants always seemed to be making some sort of noise, whether it was Yotaro ordering Raijinmaru to go to this room and that room, Konami growling at Kyosuke when he tricked her, or the oven beeping as Reiji cooked meat pies. Now though, the only noises were the occasional creaky floorboards and stairs protesting when weight settled on them.
Kazama squad was on alert, watching 360° of their surroundings. Kikuchihara had his hair pulled back in a pony tail, and he sat on the floor in the living area, leaning against the wall as he listened intently. Utagawa was patrolling outside, wander the roof as he kept watch for anyone and anything trying to get into the building. Kazama stood in the hallway where the rooms of the Tamakoma-2 agents were, watching the doors. All three agents were in their rooms, so as long as nothing got passed Kazama, they would be safe. At least that's what Kazama squad was thinking. They didn't know just how skilled and stealthy their opponent was. The assassin would be able to effortlessly get in through a window, and no one would notice.
It was halfway through the day after Jin's attack when Utagawa spotted movement. He materialized Scorpion in his hand, then squinted at the incoming being. Utagawa couldn't tell who is was, but as the person got closer, he was able to make out rectangular glasses, spiky, dark hair and a suit. The teen on the roof raised his hand to his ear.
"Kazama-san, Kikuchihara, Rindo-san is headed in," he told his team mates through their comms, letting them know that Rindo was not an enemy infiltrating the building. The last thing they needed was for Kikuchihara to hear someone coming and accidentally shishkabob the Director of Tamakoma Branch.
When Rindo walked into the building, he headed straight for the living area, where he knew Kikuchihara was. Kazama squad had taken up their positions the previous day when they had first been sent as guards, and had not changed where they were, nor did they plan to unless someone got through their current setup.
In the living area, Rindo greeted Kikuchihara with a nod, wearing a grim look. It was the same one that seemed to have plastered itself permanently to his face days ago.
"Kikuchihara-kun, could you ask Kazama to send Mikumo squad down here?" he asked. Normally, Kikuchihara would say something along the lines of 'go get them yourself,' though he was talking to one of his superiors. Even if Rindo didn't have direct authority over him, the man was still higher up on the chain of command. Plus, the look on Rindo's face, along with the current situation, left Kikuchihara with no desire to let his sharp tongue loose. The teen nodded, getting to his feet and lifting his hand to his comm.
"Kazama-san, Rindo-san asked if you could send Mikumo squad down," he said. There was no response, though a few moments later, Osamu and Chika walked into the living area, followed by Kazama. Rindo looked at his two agents before frowning.
"Where's Yuma-kun?" he asked before Kikuchihara tensed. The teen looked behind himself to see Yuma standing their, still and silent as if he'd been there all along.
"Be louder next time. Ninjas make more noise than you do," Kikuchihara said in his usual monotone voice, pointing his finger accusingly at the Neighbor behind him. Yuma didn't respond, and he showed no sign that he had even heard the teen. Instead he moved to stand next to Osamu, not even a squeak of protest from the floor or the soft thump of footfalls echoing through the room. It was a bit creepy actually, even for Osamu, who had known Yuma longer than anyone else in the room.
Rindo cleared his throat and sighed. The meeting with Shinoda and Kido had been pushed back a day from its original date, and he had just finished it not long ago. It was as he was leaving that Kido contacted him and told him that Jin had woken up momentarily, and revealed some very interesting and somewhat alarming facts.
"Jin woke up briefly today. I didn't get to talk to him, but Tachikawa did. Jin himself is fine, but he'll be kept overnight to make sure he wasn't poisoned. Anyway, we originally thought Jin's encounter had been planned by him. With his Side Effect, it only made sense that he would have foreseen what was going to happen and gone to fight thinking he'd win. However, Tachikawa learned that we were wrong. Jin's Side Effect was more defective than we thought. The things he saw weren't delayed for a few hours, or changed to something that wasn't actually a possible future. As it turns out, his Side Effect never worked at all. Whenever he tried using it, he'd get bad headaches, and he was at the point that he always had some kind of headache. The only time he saw any of the future was when he had headaches he described as so bad he couldn't stay on his feet, or something along those lines. He'd see random bits of the future, and it overwhelmed him. Apparently, he had been doing well during the fight, but then his Side Effect activated and gave him one of those bad headaches, disabling him long enough for his Trigger to be broken and for him to be captured," Rindo explained. Osamu and Chika were wide-eyed with surprise, trying to process what they had been told. Next to them, Yuma was lost in thought.
'Was it the assassin that was messing up his Side Effect before? I've been a bit unsure whenever I use my own, something seemed a bit off. Plus, Chika never noticed the assassin with her Side Effect. Jin-san said he already couldn't see my future or things related to the assassin when it first showed up, so maybe his Side Effect only got worse because of how long the assassin was around, or maybe because he tried to use it when it wasn't working right. I don't think the assassin made it worse, or the same probably would have happened to other people with Side Effects. Either way, I'm sure it was the assassin.' It had to be the assassin. There was no way this was all a coincidence.
"Unfortunately, when Jin lost the fight, he was injected with something. It was a mixture of a sedative and something Border couldn't recognize. Just before falling asleep today, Jin told Tachikawa that his headaches were completely gone, but so was just Side Effect. Whatever was in that injection took away Jin's Side Effect. Temporarily or permanently, we don't know," Rindo added. Yuma tensed, his mind putting things together.
Jin had probably been right, back when he said that the assassin had likely attacked Osamu because Yuma was close to the four-eyed boy, and was trying to lure him out. When Yuma first heard of Jin's attack, he'd thought that maybe it was the assassin trying to rile him up again, since the news of the attack had done just that. The only thing that stopped Yuma from going after his enemy was Jin's words from after Osamu's attack. He couldn't walk right into a trap and get himself killed. He had to be smart, and he had to make the assassin play his way.
However, now that Yuma knew of the fate of Jin's Side Effect, he realized Jin had more than likely not been bait. If the assassin had taken away Jin's Side Effect, then it probably knew about the older teen's abilities. The assassin likely saw Jin as a threat, and had killed two birds with one stone by taking out both a dangerous Side Effect and a powerful opponent.
"Jin-san lost his Side Effect?" Osamu asked in disbelief, his mouth hanging open. Rindo nodded. That explained the grim look on his face. The man looked to Kazama squad.
"You three will be able to return to HQ tomorrow when Jin and Tachikawa come back, but make sure you stay alert right now. Jin's Side Effect was heavily relied on by Border as a whole, and without it, we don't know when an attack may come," Rindo warned before heading to his office.
Osamu and Chika didn't move, still shocked about what they had learned. Yuma, on the other hand, was looking at the wall. The situation had gone from bad to worse very quickly, and he was running out of time. If he wanted to make the first move, he'd have to act quickly. Otherwise, it'd be the assassin coming for him, and in that scenario, Yuma had no doubt that others would be caught in the crossfire.
Without a word, Yuma returned to his room.
Osamu, Chika, Kazama, Utagawa and Kikuchihara watched Yuma go, the latter three with somewhat confused looks on their faces.
"What's with him?" Kikuchihara asked, earning a glare from Utagawa. Osamu shook his head.
"He's been a little off since this all started. I think he wants to find the person who attacked Jin and take them out himself. Kuga might not seem like the type, but he doesn't take it well when people he's close to get hurt. During the Second Invasion, on his way toward HQ to fight the Neighbor with the weird animals made of Trion around them like a shield, a C-Rank saw him with a really angry look on his face. He wasn't happy about Aftokrator attacking Mikado," the fifteen year old said.
"I hope this ends soon. Yuma-kun hasn't said a word since we went to see Jin-san after he was attacked," Chika said quietly. Osamu nodded in agreement, and Kikuchihara raised an eyebrow at the two.
"You better make sure he doesn't get himself killed, or you two are going to end up at the bottom of B-Rank. Or maybe you'll get killed too, since you're definitely too weak to defeat something that beat Jin-san," the teen said before a hand slapped itself over his mouth.
"Kikuchihara! Sorry about that, he's always really rude," Utagawa apologized, giving his team mate another glare before releasing him. Osamu waved a hand, telling him not to worry about it.
"Kikuchihara-senpai is right, but I couldn't care less right now about where we end up in the rankings. I just want to make sure Kuga doesn't get hurt," he said, Chika nodding in agreement. Utagawa nodded as well, glad that Osamu and Chika weren't taking his sharp-tongued team mate's words to heart.
"Utagawa, Kikuchihara, get back in position. We don't want anything getting in while we're wasting our time listening to Kikuchihara complain about the skill level of those two," Kazama said, gesturing to the two members of Tamakoma-2 still in the room. The younger two members of Kazama-squad nodded, moving back to their original positions for guarding the building. Osamu nodded to the stairs, and Chika followed him up to their rooms, though the two both went to Osamu's room to play a game with a deck of cards that the older of the two had bought.
In his office, Rindo stuck a cigarette between his teeth and lifted his lighter to the end, lowering it when smoke began to rise into the air. The man sighed, rubbing his forehead. The assassin was making his job far too stressful. Tamakoma agents were usually a bit more carefree than the agents of other branches, though at the moment, there was no one more tense.
Jin had lost his Side Effect and would be out of comission for at least a week. Osamu was healed from his encounter with the assassin, but he wouldn't be able to defend himself should the assassin attack Tamakoma. Chika was the same way. Tamakoma-1 wouldn't be back for another day or two, and Yuma was losing it. Rindo was sure that despite Yuma's level-headedness, it was only a matter of time before the teen would explode from pent-up rage, attacking the assassin and fighting it to the death. The way he was acting was similar to how Jin had been after the First Invasion, quiet and stuck in his own mind. Of course if Yuma fought and lost, Tachikawa and likely Tamakoma-1, or Kazama squad, would be their only defense, depending on the timing.
"Could this possibly get any worse?" Rindo wondered aloud. Just then, his phone rang, and the man quickly answered when he saw that it was Kido, hopeful that Jin might've woken again.
"Rindo, Tamakoma-1 just informed me that they found remains of a Neighbor in Shizuku. After what happened to Jin, I know you'd rather have those agents back to defend your branch, but they're staying in Shizuku for another week. The safety of the civilians there is not something Border can risk," Kido said, crushing the hope that Rindo had previously had. Tamakoma-1 wasn't coming back for another week, which left the remainder of Tamakoma nearly defenseless.
Rindo sighed, muttering an acknowledgement before pulling his phone away from his ear, though Kido's voice caused him to put it back before he was able to his the 'end call' button.
"Next time, pick up your phone," the older man said before hanging up. Rindo frowned, then noticed a notification at the top of his screen. A missed call from Reiji. No wonder Kido had been the one to inform him of Tamakoma-1's extended stay in Shizuku. Reiji must have called when he was talking to Mikumo squad, and he likely hadn't noticed.
Rindo let his phone drop onto his desk, followed by his head. The man made a mental note to never again ask if any situation could get any worse. That was the same as him saying he wanted things to get worse, especially since he worked for Border.