A/N: I don't own World Trigger
Mimics
Chapter 41: Ground Zero
That stupid door never did stop squeaking when someone opened it to come up to the roof. No matter how much he tried to fix it to get it to open silently, that door just refused to cooperate. The only thing it offered was a warning when someone was coming out to join someone who clearly wanted to be alone.
Mogami didn't bother to turn around to face who had opened the door. He just grabbed his bottle of sake to pour himself another shot.
"Since when do you drink that much?"
Mogami responded by downing the shot and immediately pouring himself another to throw back before he finally turned to face Yugo, who was leaning against the wall, staring impassively at Mogami. That was just like that jerk. He never let anyone read him unless he was showing absolute joy and excitement. Anything else would be hidden behind a mask.
Mogami mirrored Yugo's position by leaning against the ledge. "Since my idiot friend decided to abandon us."
"I'm not abandoning you."
Mogami scoffed, looking off to the side as he contemplated pouring himself another shot. "Didn't we make a promise to build Border together and grow it into a big organization? You're running away when we're just getting started."
"We're not just getting started. We've been at this for a few years. It's not like when we first got this base. We've learned so much about Triggers and the Neighbor's world, but we're still only scratching the surface of the knowledge that the Neighborhood can give us." Yugo pushed off the wall to move to the ledge to join his friend. His eyes caught sight of the fact that there were two glasses on the ledge which got him smirking. Mogami had been ready for company. Taking the sake bottle, Yugo poured himself a drink.
"And you think going to the Neighborhood is going to help?" Mogami scoffed, snatching the bottle from Yugo to pour himself another drink.
"There's so much I still want to learn and want to see." Yugo replied. "I still love Border. I will always love Border, but you know me, Soichi. I'm not the type to be tied down. It was a horrible choice to make me the Commander-in-Chief. I'm not suited for such a stationary job."
"Don't you think you're rushing into this?" Mogami asked though he did agree with Yugo's statement. They chose Yugo as their commander because of his ability to mediate and make friends with the Neighbors they met. He had a good heart there, but Yugo really did much prefer action to sitting behind a desk doing paperwork and having meetings with Neighbors. He hated the stuffy life of being in the office which was if he could, he would meet their allies somewhere more open. "There's a lot we don't know about that world."
"And we're never going to learn about it if we stay here, just waiting for a friendly Neighbor to come here to visit Japan." Yugo retorted. "We've known about that world for five years and it's been three since we formed Border and we've still only scratched the surface about that world. We can't remain scared of actually going there for ourselves forever."
Mogami downed another shot, eyeing his friend out of the corner of his eyes. "It's caution, not fear. The only things we know about that world is what our allies have told us, and if you consider the fact that the countries of that world are separated and floating in a dark abyss, our allies can only tell us so much. Even they can't know everything about the countries of that world."
"Which is why I want to see it for myself. The different nations, the cultures, the people. I want to see it all."
"The people who will want to kill you." Mogami retorted hotly. "Not all Neighbors are friendly. You know this. We've talked to our friends about this, about how the countries they are always at wars."
Yugo eyed his friend for a moment before moving his eyes up towards the stars. "Do you really think I would die so easily?"
"How many times do I have to beat you in a fight for you to understand that you're not unbeatable?" Mogami growled. If Yugo did this, he would be going at it alone. Yugo knew this and still wanted to go to a world without any allies to watch his back.
Chuckling softly, Yugo downed his shot. "I never said I was, but with how much we've fought each other, you know how strong I am. I can take care of myself. You don't have to worry about me."
"And what about us?" Mogami asked softly. "Kido, me, Takumi-kun, Masafumi-kun. All the friends you've recruited into Border. We made a promise to grow this organization into one filled with powerful Trigger users that can protect Mikado city and who had the same ideas of wanting to make friends with that world. Are you really going to abandon that dream, that promise we all made together, to go to the Neighborhood?"
Yugo diverted his eyes from the sky to look back over at his friend who was now the one looking at the sky, a scowl on his face. It seemed the liquor was doing nothing to ease his annoyance at Yugo. Yugo snatched up the sake and poured himself more before shaking the bottle at Mogami as an offer. Without a word, Mogami held out a glass for Yugo to pour him the last of the sake before putting the bottle down on the ground. "Border is always going to be a part of me. Just because I'm leaving, it doesn't mean I'm giving up on the idea of Border. I just won't be the one here leading it anymore." He nudged his friend's shoulder, grinning at him. "Which means you and Kido need to put your differences about the coffee machine aside and be the leaders that Border needs."
"I'm not the leader type, Yugo. You know that." Mogami said, not feeling up to matching Yugo's teasing. Usually he was all for giving as good as Yugo gave in the mocking department, but learning that his friend since early childhood was just going to leave had left him in a sour mood.
Yugo leaned forward on the ledge so he could properly catch Mogami's eyes. "And you think I am? When we made Border, it was just a handful of us and we are all friends. I may be the Commander, but if it wasn't for you and the others, I would be more unsure of my actions. Having you guys with me gives me the chance to bounce ideas off and we can work together to figure things out. Border is so new and we all made it together which means we should all have a voice in what do. It shouldn't be just me who decides things. It wouldn't be fair to you and Kido and the others to not have themselves heard. When we set ourselves down this path, we all had a lot to learn about the Neighborhood, about ourselves, how to actually fight and use Triggers. We've had five fun years with this, but I'm ready to learn more and see more. I can't do that here. You may not like leading, but we've both have grown so much. I know you can step up when I leave. Takumi-kun and Masafumi-kun respect you, maybe not as much as me, but enough that they will listen to you."
Mogami looked affronted at that. "Excuse you?"
"I'm not the one who trick Masafumi-kun into destroying Kido's car and then abandoning him to Kido's wrath." Yugo said with a blitheful shrug, eyes twinkling with amusement. "Hard to earn respect when you abandon them like that."
Mogami bristled with annoyance. "Says the one who is always lecturing them about their reckless behavior."
"I don't understand where Masafumi-kun gets his crazy ideas. Why would he try to run on water? A Trion body doesn't give you superpowers so why would he think that would work?" Yugo went off, remembering the most recent lecture he had to have with one of his students.
Mogami's lips twitched into a smile for the first time since his and Yugo argument began earlier that day. "Takumi-kun was egging him on so neither of them were truly innocent in that." Rindo may not take part in Shinoda's reckless stunts to test his limits, but he was always eager to push Shinoda into doing things, especially when it seemed like Shinoda might be thinking over the reckless ideas he had. They were quite the duo. Mogami may trick them into some chaos to get back at Kido, but Yugo was the one who had to reign them in all the time. "The real reason you want to go to the Neighborhood. You want to run away from those responsibilities of keeping the sanity around here."
Rolling his eyes, Yugo shoved Mogami's head. "Don't say that. If the kids hear you say that, they really will think I left to get away from them. No." Yugo lifted his eyes to the stars, taking in all the twinkling lights in the sky that were a sign of the vastness of space. "It's just the idea of being able to travel. I'm getting antsy just being here in Japan."
"We've lived in Japan our whole lives. You've never even visited the other countries of this world." Mogami pointed out.
"Exactly. I've always wanted to travel, and now I have the chance to travel to a whole new world. There is so much to see and experience. I knew you would be upset when you found out I was leaving, which is why I held off talking to you about this. I was still debating whether or not I would do it."
"What happened to talking to us to get our ideas?" Mogami said.
Yugo grimaced. He had just said that. "That was with Border stuff. This was something I have been thinking about for me. With Border stuff, I do want your opinions, but I didn't want anyone to influence my choice on this matter. And, look, I don't plan to stay there forever. I don't know how long I'll be there since it's supposedly a very large place and who knows how long it will take me to explore it, but Japan is still my home. I doubt I could stay away forever."
Everyone had to make their own choices. That was always a motto of Yugo's. He wasn't against the idea of giving advice or getting advice as that was needed to make informed decisions, but there was no information any of them could give to help Yugo make this decision. All they had were arguments on why Yugo shouldn't leave for the Neighborhood. It made sense why he didn't want to talk to them about it if they were just going to argue about it the whole time. He would rather have his last few days on Earth be full of fun moments, so it basically meant that nothing Mogami said was going to change Yugo's mind. He was just wasting his breath.
He knew how much Yugo loved the Neighborhood. Well, he loved the Neighbor friends they made and their technology, but he hadn't yet gotten the chance to go to the world. At some point, it was going to be the next step for Yugo. In the back of his mind, Mogami always knew that this was going to happen eventually. He just didn't want it to be so soon because he didn't want his best friend to just leave.
Mogami lifted his cup to Yugo, choosing to instead smile at his friend than to let his sadness at Yugo wanting to leave show. He didn't want their last few days with their Commander to be full of sadness at his departure. They needed to see him off with smiles and show that they could continue on without him. One day when he came back, they were going to show off to him how strong Border was able to get without him. "You better come back, and when you do, you'll be blown away by how amazing Border will be."
Smiling, Yugo knocked his glass against Mogami's before they both downed their last drink they would ever share together.
The moment Yugo had stepped into the hallway, he had been assaulted by bullets from the end of the hallway. It had been expected since they knew an agent was waiting for them down there. While Yugo had turned his attention to him, Mogami chose to go the other way. They hadn't yet decided how they were going to fend off this attack, but Mogami was choosing to separate. Yugo was right to say it would be overkill to have them both go after each group.
Leaving the sounds of Yugo facing off against the gunner, Mogami walked down the hall, staring down at Fujin in his hand. Mogami had made the promise to Yugo that Border would have amazing strength by the time he returned to Japan. While they had managed to grow a bit since Yugo left, it wasn't as big as Mogami had hoped it would get in the fifteen years he had since Yugo left. There was only so much they could do when Border was still a secret organization in all those years.
Somehow though, after his death, Border had managed to grow into quite a big, strong organization. It was amazing to see. It was too bad that he wasn't here to make peace with his old friends and he wasn't here to show Yugo the power of Border like he once promised.
Mogami was here to simply steal the Black Triggers he and Yugo created and then head back to Meraki. It wasn't what he wanted, but it was what he was meant to do, and if it got him away from hurting his old friends faster, all the better. If they couldn't succeed in stopping him, then he just wanted to leave. After seeing Jin last night, he knew he was hurting his dear mentee so much by being here. That anger mixing with the suffering at seeing his mentor who he had already lost years ago shining in Jin's eyes was not a look he wanted to see, from Jin or any of his other friends.
They had already suffered so much by losing him and possibly others in Aristera, and now, they were suffering in another way. Mogami had returned, but not as their ally. He was forcing them into seeing their old friend as an enemy because that was how Mogami was seeing them. This was not a joyous reunion for any of them. It was simply another way to hurt them.
Mogami turned into another classroom, and without wasting a second, drew his Kogetsu while also activating Fujin and his wind blades. He had never trained to use two swords at once as that was more of Yugo's thing back when they founded Border. It was Yugo's way of trying to one up Mogami during their rivalry. Mogami didn't care to learn to wield two blades as he wanted to find a way to outsmart Yugo's dual wielding fighting style and break through it.
Now, though, he had been gifted the chance to use both his Kogetsu and Fujin. Two blades that could use wind blades at his disposal. That gave him thirty wind blades since both of his swords got fifteen slashes each. After his test with them at the train station, he determined that the only thing that really changed with the wind blades was that the ones from Fujin held more power in them. That was likely because he had the physical Black Trigger on him now. He wasn't just copying Fujin's ability with his Kogetsu anymore.
Instead of using any of his wind blades, Mogami instead chose to use his Senku, sending the extending blade flying forward to shatter the windows in the room, leaving glass shards to rain down to the ground.
"Why do you want to make a new Trigger?"
Mogami looked up from his computer to look at Jin standing on the other side of his desk, playing with his sword handle. A habit that he developed when he was eager to get into the training room for a fight. "That's a silly question. We could continue to use the same weapons we had when we first created Border, but when we designed those weapons, we had been complete novices and were struggling to get going. There was so little we knew about Triggers back then. We need to continue to study Triggers and improve on them. The more we know, the more type of weapons we can make and we can make them stronger and more efficient."
Jin tilted his head, studying Mogami. "The Kogetsu seems pretty strong to me."
"True, but it's a close combat weapon. When you train with Takumi-kun, how do you fare?" Mogami asked, and by the way that Jin's face twisted into displeasure, he got the answer he was after. "He can attack from a distance so he can prevent you from getting close to him or he can use his bullets to make it feel like you are fighting two people while you and him are in close combat with your Kogetsu."
Jin wrinkled his nose at the reminder of his fights with Rindo. When it seemed like he was beginning to get the edge in battle, Rindo would use his Asteroid to push Jin back. It was frustrating to have to constantly back up and use his Shield. Rindo never let up to give Jin a chance to close that distance again. It was for that reason that Konami began to study bullet Triggers with Rindo. She wanted to be able to play that game as well. Though, Jin was sure that was only part of the reason she wanted some type of bullet Triggers in her set. With the way she admired Rindo, it was like she was also trying to in part copy his style.
"So, how would you fight against someone who is keeping you at a distance?" Mogami asked.
"Use your surroundings?" Jin suggested.
Mogami nodded. It had been something that he was trying to teach Jin, to pay attention to the environment and use whatever was available against the enemy. "That is one way, but another way is to have more than just your sword at your disposal. Escudo, Shield, Bullet Triggers. They were all designed to aid you in battle, but we shouldn't limit ourselves to just that. We need to be creative and try to think of other weapons or support options to have at our disposal. Who knows? It might just save your life in battle."
"I suppose." Jin walked around the desk, dropping his hand from his hilt to look at the screen to try to figure out what Mogami was working on. "Are you thinking of making something for support?"
"Not quite." Mogami said with a grin. "I'm not a bullet expert like Takumi-kun is, which makes it difficult to get close to him when we fight. It got me thinking that this will always be an issue for me, especially if I end up in a battle where I have to fight alone, so I want to try to find a way to give myself some range with my Kogetsu."
"Can you do that if you refuse to use bullets? A sword can't give you range like what you want." Jin argued.
A fond smile formed on Mogami's face as he reached over to ruffle Jin's hair affectionately. "You're thinking too simply, Jin. You need to expand your creativity. A normal sword couldn't give you range, but we're using Triggers that use Trion to function. It gives us a wider range of possibilities."
Jin tilted his head back, trying to look pass Mogami's hand that was giving him a comforting grip on his head. "You sound excited. Did you already think of something?"
Mogami's grin stretched even wider.
That day with Jin felt so long ago. Senku was created by him as means to give Border agents more options to add to their fighting style, but also because he was always trying to think of new ways to beat Yugo. There had been a promise made that Yugo would come back to Border one day and when he did, Mogami had been prepared for their rivalry to start back up. He was sure that Yugo had learned a lot and gotten so strong while traveling the Neighborhood so Mogami couldn't slack because he stayed back in Japan.
It had never been his intention to use his own design for Border against them, and yet here he was. Using the Trigger he designed to help Border get stronger against them. Using the Black Trigger he left behind to give Border strength to destroy them. He had never expected that this would be where he would end up.
With the window out of the way, Mogami swung Fujin multiple times to send his wind blades flying out of the window and winding down the side of the building and across the campus to then climb the opposite building towards the roof where the agents were at.
The shattering of the window had been the first mistake that alerted Arafune of the problem coming his way. It had immediately drawn his attention to tell him that the Mimics were on the move and the window shattering had Arafune shifting his attention to that classroom. It was hard to see what was going on, but he could make out the glow of yellow and green. Knowing what he did about Kogetsu and Fujin, Arafune was immediately able to make the connection.
Arafune jumped away from the edge of the roof, effectively pushing Wakamura and Miura back with him. Moving back would do nothing to stop the wind blades if Mogami chose to use them, which was what Arafune was guessing was his plan if he was going to a different classroom instead of coming to the roof.
Unlucky for Mogami, though, was the fact that Arafune was friends with Murakami and had joined his friend on his training sessions with Jin on how to use Fujin a couple times. He may not be able to use Fujin, but he had been curious to see how it worked, and to him, it was always a good idea to have as much information about Triggers as possible. There was no telling when that information would come in handy.
Wind blades were invisible until the user of Fujin decided to attack. They could use them as a trap by leaving them hidden or send the blades flying through the ground and attack immediately. Arafune didn't even need to guess which one Mogami was going for. He wasn't trying to lead them anywhere. He was simply returning fire to Arafune.
In response, Arafune threw up his Shield, dividing it into a few different shields to protect from multiple angles against the wind blades protruding from the roof. His shield wasn't going to be enough since he had no way of telling how many wind blades Mogami would attack with so his Kogetsu came into play to block a couple of the slashes.
While he had time to do that, he didn't have time to explain to his makeshift team what to do. It seemed the pair was always ready for defense, which likely came from the fact that they were often covering for Katori. They had to be quick on the update with no words needed to keep their team alive.
Miura seemed to be just a bit quicker on the update as his Shield, while it did shatter, managed to protect him completely from the attack. Wakamura, on the other hand, had been a bit slower and his Shield hadn't been positioned right so he ended up losing his hand from a wind blade.
"You got their attention at least. Now how do you plan to get close to him?" Miura asked.
"Wakamura, distract him." Arafune shouted as he was running straight for the edge of the roof and jumping off. As he was falling to the ground, he threw up a Shield just in case Mogami decided to try his wind blades again.
"Guess that means I'm going with him." Miura said and he was flinging himself off the roof after the sniper.
"Why do I have to?" Wakamura griped as he activated his rifle. "He's the sniper with better range." He planted a foot on the ledge as he stared at the classroom with a shattered window. He couldn't see Mogami from where he was so he guessed the Mimic was standing farther back in the classroom to not give them a chance to lock onto him with their bullets. Just below him, he could see Arafune and Miura making their way to the building the Mimics were in, but didn't let that distract him. At any point, Mogami could attack which would be a problem if he aimed for his team on the ground who was aiming to enter his building. He had to keep him busy while those two made their move.
Despite all the training in the rank wars and the away mission exam, Wakamura was still far from being at master class as a Gunner. He didn't have the confidence to be able to handle Mimics equipped with Black Triggers. Very few people had the capability of dealing with Black Triggers though. It wasn't something he was ashamed of, but that didn't mean he wasn't going to try.
This wasn't about him. It was about assisting his allies by being a distraction. It was much more important than any of his worries. It was very likely he would die here, but if that was to be the case, he was going to make his death matter by giving Arafune and Miura all the time they needed to reach Mogami.
Wakamura swapped out his Asteroid and instead turned his Hound on. He wasn't the best with Hound, but as long as he used his Detection Guidance to target Mogami, he could even target the enemy that he couldn't see. As long as he aimed for the room where he was sure Mogami was hiding at, Hound would do the rest of the work for him and that should be enough to give Arafune and Miura the opening to break into the building without Mogami targeting them with any more wind blades.
Aiming his rifle straight at the window where the wind blades had come from earlier, Wakamura pulled his trigger without thinking any more on it. During the away mission exam, he had acknowledged his weakness for his hesitance and over thinking everything. There was nothing wrong with analyzing the situation, but at some point, he had to act. He couldn't just continue to step back and fear voicing what he had decided. Being scared of making those decisions and acting when it was time was likely part of the reasons why he couldn't achieve a higher level of combat skill. He didn't take the risks when he should because he was scared of failing.
Wakamura's Hound bullets tore through the air, breaking into the building opposite him. Knowing the Mimic's skill, he wasn't fool enough to think that attack would do anything to him so instead of sticking around, Wakamura ran across the roof to keep himself on the move. If he chose to stand still, he would be killed so easily by the wind blades.
Neither Chameleon or Bagworm were going to help him in this situation so his best bet was to use his sub Trigger as a Shield the whole time. It seemed like the best option against Fujin's wind blades that were invisible before they attacked and could attack from any angle that the user could see. Though, if he considered that the Mimics could track them by their Trion bodies, it was possible Mogami could attack him with the wind blades without having to see him.
It seemed his assessment of keeping his Shield active as he ran was a good idea as a moment later, they were shattering because of wind blades. His Shield wasn't able to defend from every wind blade as he felt one of them slice through his leg. He may have lost a leg, but he avoided immediate death.
This was just completely insane. He knew that Arafune was simply using him as a distraction so he could get to Mogami, and he was letting it happen. This was basically going to be a sacrificial play. It was a plan he had seen others go for in rank wars and he knew some agents did it in the field, but it wasn't something that Katori squad ever did. It just wasn't their style to die to take someone out, or in this case die just to be a distraction until the others were in position. They typically did a method of him and Miura defending Katori who just charged in and trying to not get killed but here he was doing a sacrificial plan because he was following another captain's lead.
*Mimics*
The agents on the roof had split up, which had been expected. It was only a matter of time until they decided to move from the roof. A long-range battle was never going to turn out well for those agents. Though, he would have to commend them. He had yet to kill any of them. Considering it had been years since his death and Fujin had been with Border for years, it was likely they knew what to expect from him. They were using that knowledge to survive. If he just used Fujin, he would be predicted, which was why he needed to mix Fujin with his Border Trigger.
Another round of bullets came soaring into the room so Mogami activated his Escudo right in front of the windows to block any more attacks from getting in. The agent outside was just a distraction while the two were moving into the building. They were the ones that Mogami needed to concern himself with. With them now in the same building as him and Yugo, he needed to focus on them in case they went after Yugo if he ignored them.
The agent outside was still alive, but that didn't particularly bother Mogami. He had no real grudge against the agents so killing them all wasn't his goal. He was simply taking part in this battle so Yugo could work out any aggravation he might be feeling. They were both in a completely different state of mind right now.
Mogami looked down at Fujin in his right hand, taking in the cracks that were spreading up the hilt. A Black Trigger didn't take damage easily so the fact that it was breaking like this had to do with him. He was absolutely certain of that. Not only because of Yugo talking about his son being hurt because of him being here as Yuma's life was tied to the Black Trigger, but also because nothing should break a Black Trigger. And yet, here it was, beginning to break and the outlier in this situation was Mogami. He was draining the power of Fujin to heal his injuries and to return all the power and life to Mogami. At some point, this would end up destroying Fujin completely. Mogami would steal everything from it and Fujin would just cease to exist.
The weapon Mogami left behind to give Border the chance to grow strong and protect was going to be destroyed and exist solely in him as a powerful living weapon to Meraki. That was the path that Mogami was falling down. The haze may be clearing in his mind to help him realize all of this and bring out the true nature of his feelings and thoughts much stronger, but it didn't stop the Mimic part of him from being ready to return to Meraki.
Mogami hated this feeling. The feeling of himself and the Mimic twisting around each other. It left him so confused and frustrated with himself. He wasn't sure if it was better for his mind to be clearer to know he hated this but still doing it because the Mimic part of him demanded he fought to keep himself alive or if it would be better to be more unaware of what he truly wanted similar to how when he first appeared in Mikado City. At least then, the guilt about what he was doing wasn't eating him alive.
Mogami stepped out of the classroom and started walking down the hall, focusing on following the signals of the Trion bodies that were his targets. He could sense the ones behind him that Yugo went for so he was trying to not get distracted by those ones. His targets were over here. In a vertical space, it was slightly harder to track them. He could tell their location, but not what floor they were on, but one thing he was certain of was that they were below him. They had jumped down from the roof so they would have to climb back up the building.
It would be quite easy for Mogami to stand here in the hall, just waiting for these agents to come to him, but that would put them on the same level that Yugo was fighting on. He would prefer more distance between their fights so the agents couldn't try to meet up with each other easily.
Mogami came to a stop in the middle of the hallway when he felt that he was in the right spot for the agents. They were moving fast so he needed to do this quickly.
Using his Kogetsu, Mogami swung his sword in two quick swings towards the floor. His two Senku slashes crossed over each other to form an X before they were cutting through the floor. Since it was right at his feet, the floor crumbled under him, but Mogami didn't react. He simply let himself fall with the rubble to the next floor, smirking at the surprised looks of the two agents he could see through the falling rubble that halted their progress. Before Mogami had even landed on the floor, he was swinging Kogetsu mid-fall to send those wind blades flying towards the surprised agents.
Doing it so openly, the agents who had been watching him closely were able to see the attack he was sending their way and were able to react quickly. The agent wearing the hat responded by sending out his Senku slash to meet the wind blades while the agent in purple chose to use his Shields to keep from getting killed.
Landing on the ground, Mogami immediately hopped back a few steps to put distance between them with the pile of rubble separating them. The two agents immediately got ready with their Kogetsus while Mogami just smiled. He would have been so ashamed of these new agents if his surprise attack had managed to take them out that easily. Perhaps being proud of seeing how strong Border had gotten wasn't the appropriate reaction to have, but this strength, this growth, the loyalty these agents had and the fact that they were able to work with other squads so efficiently was everything he always wanted for his organization.
Jin, Konami, Rindo, Shinoda, Kido. Everyone he knew in the past. They had done such a great job of building up Border after Aristera.
Mogami's only regret was that he wasn't able to be here to do it with them. He wanted to grow Border just like he promised he would do to Yugo. It happened without him though, and he could see the fruits of everyone's labor right in front of him.
"Greeting, Border agents." Mogami greeted with a polite smile, lowering his swords ever so slightly. He didn't particularly feel like killing anyone, but he wasn't going to drop his guard and let any of them get an attack on him. He was simply going to keep them busy here while Yugo worked off some of his stress. "I seem to be meeting a lot of new agents lately."
Arafune gave Mogami a strange look. The last thing he had been expecting was any type of conversation, but he supposed it wasn't too strange. These transformed Mimics they were dealing with were once members of Border after all, though it was possible it was just a way to distract them to get them to lower their guard.
"Please," Mogami sighed. "Don't look so suspicious. I'm not planning any sneak attacks."
"You just attacked us by coming through the ceiling so my apologies if you're offended that I don't believe you." Arafune retorted. "Besides, you're the one who trained Jin-san. Who else could have taught him how to be such a good manipulator?"
That seemed to drain Mogami of all life as he groaned and pinched his nose. "If you're looking for the cause of his sneaky, mischievous nature, you would have to look at Takumi-kun and Masafumi-kun for that one. They were a bad influence on him growing up."
Arafune blinked, whirling back a step and catching Miura's eye briefly before he was focusing back on Mogami. That hadn't been the reaction he was expecting. It was a reaction that had felt so real and stressed at the reminder of the aggravation he had to deal with in the past. This was the first time that Arafune was meeting a transformed Mimic. He had thought he knew what to expect, a Trion Soldier pretending to be human to get under their skin. He expected him to be a perfect replica of the person the Trion Soldier copied. He expected a perfect human voice. Yuma had called them masters of deception, so the perfect copy was something to expect. What he didn't see coming were the expressions and reactions that just looked and felt so real. It was how he would expect a friend to react to something stupid another friend did. It certainly didn't feel like a Mimic just trying to fake a reaction. If this was how Mimics were liked when transformed, it was no wonder Yuma and Jin seemed so stressed all week.
"I can't believe he addressed our directors so informally." Miura muttered. He understood this was someone from their past who was probably a close friend to them, but it just felt so weird to have Rindo and Shinoda addressed by their first names. It didn't seem fitting to have anyone address their powerful directors like that.
"Hmm?" Mogami raised a brow. Directors, huh? That made sense. Rindo and Shinoda have been some of the people with Border the longest. It was only right that they became some of the leaders of Border. It had only been a matter of time until they were ready to step up. "No matter how amazing they are, everyone has to start somewhere. Even Takumi-kun and Masafumi-kun were once underlings like you guys are now."
"What does that say about you and Kuga who were apparently founders of Border?" Arafune asked. A conversation hadn't been planned. He had planned to fight one of the Mimics to keep him distracted while Suwa marked the other with his starmaker. He had been expecting a difficult fight where he struggled to keep from bailing out for as long as he could so he could buy Suwa as much time as needed. However, if Mogami wanted to talk, Arafune would take it. It would keep him here longer after all.
"That we had it worse than you guys." Mogami replied lightly. "We had nothing when we started. No money, no base, no weapons, no idea of how to fight and no one to train us. We started from ground zero and laid the foundation that you are now standing on."
Arafune chuckled but found no humor in the situation. "A foundation that you are now trying to destroy."
"Not at all." Mogami said airily. "Neither Yugo or I want anything to do with Border. We are simply here for the Black Triggers and then we're heading back to Meraki. Though, your friends stole Yugo's Black Trigger back so I assume by this point, it is back in the hands of Yuma."
Friends? So, someone had managed to find the Mimics before him and Suwa and managed to get into it with them. If that was the case, why was Kazama giving the order to not attempt to kill the Mimics right now? He and Suwa had left HQ around lunch time and while tensions were high in HQ, which was the norm for the week, there hadn't seemed to be too much of an issue with the idea of going after Mogami and Yugo so something must have changed in the last few hours. Yuma getting his Black Trigger back seemed like a good thing so something bad must have happened to outweigh the good.
"I see." Arafune said coldly. "That tells me two things. One, Kuga will be going after his son again to attempt to get his Black Trigger back. And two," Arafune's Senku suddenly activated, being flung straight for Mogami who simply brought Fujin up vertically to defend from the surprise attack. "Despite your words, you are going against Border by targeting one of our agents!"
Since Arafune had already made the first attack, he was already moving before he even finished speaking. Heading for Mogami, who held two swords, wouldn't make this an easy fight but out of the corner of his eye he saw Miura had moved a second after he did so hopefully their two blades could do something to match Mogami's two swords.
*Mimics*
Yugo's blade cut through Suwa's bullet, slicing it clean in half. Despite the fact that he was destroying every bullet that Suwa sent his way, the agent didn't stop firing at him as he ran backwards, refusing to turn his back on Yugo. Anyone who knew anything about fighting would know that he was clearly trying to lead Yugo somewhere. It surely had something to do with the second Trion signature that Yugo was detecting on this side of the building.
When anyone tried to lure the enemy in, the stupidest thing he could do would be to fall for it and follow them in. Sometimes, it was unavoidable and stepping into the trap was the only option.
This was not one of those times.
There was no reason for Yugo to follow this agent into a trap.
Yugo brought himself to an abrupt halt, opening his palm down by his side. "Bolt, Double!"
Seeing the orange seal appearing, Suwa immediately turned to the nearest door and slammed his foot into it, kicking it down so he could throw himself through the doorway while throwing up a Shield behind him to block the doorway. That blocked the entrance, but these bullets from a Black Trigger weren't going to stop because of a classroom's walls, so Suwa threw himself to the ground, lying flat as the bullets slammed through the walls, flying over him and through the classroom where they shattered the windows.
Rolling over on the ground, Suwa watched the bullets flying above him and slamming into everything in the room. Suwa quite liked Yuma. He found the kid's insane strength and battle prowess to make him a very fun individual to fight and to watch him fight. He always came up with some crazy new tactic to help him win. Watching these bullets above him, Suwa found himself remembering the time he asked Yuma why he didn't equip a bullet Trigger to his set to help cover his back during battle when he had no cover from any of his teammates. It could act like a comrade to him that was covering him when his back was opened.
Yuma glanced over his shoulder to stare at Suwa with a strange expression. "I'm an Attacker built with speed and agility in mind. Bullets would only slow me down if I had to focus on deciding whether I wanted to plant bullets or use Grasshopper to dodge or Shield to block. Trying to figure out how to incorporate the bullets into my fighting style would slow me down during a chaotic fight and switching between Triggers is something I only just got used to doing. Adding bullets now would get me killed."
"There are plenty of All-rounders who use bullets just fine." Suwa replied.
"And they do a great job with it, but I'm built for fast, close combat, not a shootout. It's easier for me to have Osamu take care of forcing the openings for me with his Asteroid. If I don't have to think of how to use the bullets or focusing on the trajectories of Viper or Hound, I can move faster, react in the midst of Osamu's attack, to break through that opening he gave me. If I use the bullets myself, I'm having to take a moment to adjust, and that moment slows me down. I'm known for speed and agility," Yuma gave his friend a shark-like grin. "And even if you guys know that you still can't catch me to kill me."
Especially now that Osamu had just added Spider to his Trigger set and Chika got Lead Bullet. They were doing everything in their power to make Yuma stronger and faster. A part of Suwa was glad Tamakoma-2 had moved back to the top tier of B-rank. He did not like the idea of facing their wire zones. The top tier squads could deal with the insanity that Tamakoma-2 was bringing out.
"Heh," Suwa rolled onto his knees as the bullets stopped assaulting the classroom. He didn't think much of it back then, but Yuma had never said he couldn't use bullets. He just called them a hindrance to his close combat style of fighting. In truth, if his Black Trigger had bullets, then Yuma probably knew how to handle them. Or at least, knew how to handle a certain type of bullets that his Black Trigger had. If he wanted to, he surely could have figured out Border's bullet Triggers but simply didn't want to. He had chosen to be solely an Attacker for some reason, but if he had to fight alone like Yugo was doing now, he was sure Yuma would whip out the bullets from his Black Trigger because having ranged attacks was a gift when fighting alone. It could be the only ally he had against an opponent that was too dangerous or too hard to get close to.
Like one Kuga Yugo.
He was a complete pain in the ass.
"I somehow always have the worst damn luck." Suwa complained. "I bet Mogami is less of a pain in the ass."
"I wouldn't be too sure about that."
Suwa took an immediate shot at the figure leaning lazily against the doorway of the classroom. As usual, his shot was merely cut in half.
"Soichi is the type to look for a way out of a situation without fighting, but when he wants to, he can be a real pain in the ass to deal with." Yugo continued, undeterred by the second shot that Suwa took at him that he deflected to the side.
"Oh, yeah? Can he deflect bullets?" Suwa demanded.
"Don't know. I haven't seen him do it, but I also haven't seen him in twenty years so he could have learned how to." Yugo replied, pushing off the doorframe to fully enter the classroom.
Suwa scowled, biting down on his cigarette. There was only one door in this room and Yugo was blocking it. It would seem that Suwa was the one who had gotten lured in. He knew it wouldn't be easy to draw Yugo to another agent. This was the father of one Kuga Yuma. From what he learned of Yugo this week and what he knew of Yuma, luring Yugo anywhere with the possibility of a trap was never going to work.
"Somehow, you radiate even more confidence than your son." Suwa muttered, inching around the room, while keeping his eyes locked on Yugo. "I know when I'm outmatched, Kuga."
"And yet, you attacked anyway." Yugo replied, taking another step into the room, but making sure to stay in front of the door. "Some would call that bravery, but those with just an ounce of common sense would know just how foolish this was."
"And yet," Suwa mocked. "Playing it too cautious will yield you no results. Sometimes, there are circumstances which demand recklessness. As a father, I'm sure you know this." These types of moves were not Suwa's forte. He was usually more straightforward. Tricky maneuvers and overthinking belonged more to Jin and Tamakoma-2. "After all, creating a Black Trigger to save Kuga's life? There was no way you knew that would work or that you could successfully create a Black Trigger. You took a big risk, betting yours and your son's life on it, so don't you go trying to lecture me on foolish moves when you've made the biggest."
Suwa smirked at the flash of anger that crossed Yugo's face. It had only been for a moment, not even a full second, before Yugo was smoothing out his expression to his usual indifference. Seeing that mask of indifference fall into place, for the first time, it hit Suwa just how similar Yuma and Yugo were. Everyone always compared their eyes as that was all the two shared, but now Suwa was seeing Yuma in Yugo's expression or maybe it should be that he could see Yugo in Yuma's expressions. It was the same cool, collected expression that was reading all of their moves. The fact that Yugo just let his anger slip out told Suwa that Yuma felt anger too but hid it well. This was just something he probably learned to do by watching his father over the years.
"That was a calculated risk." Yugo said, forcing a calmness into his voice. He always scolded Yuma on his recklessness because he didn't want to see his son get hurt. He did his best to get Yuma to understand strategy so that he would think things through and limit his jumping into battles without a solid plan. All he wanted was Yuma to be safe so he went hard on Yuma in training and strategy lessons because that was what he needed to survive the Neighborhood.
The lesson of 'protect yourself' worked well when there was no one to save. It didn't work as well when there were allies to help or friends that needed protected. Yugo knew Yuma would want to protect his friends because Yuma was very much his son. He would use a reckless strategy to win or protect someone the same way Yugo chose to give his life for Yuma. It was either watch his son die while doing nothing or die while trying to save him. If it didn't work, creating a Black Trigger to save Yuma, then at least he wouldn't have had to live with the guilt of Yuma dying while he just stood there and watched the life leave his son's body.
If he failed, he would have died with Yuma. Yugo didn't believe in anyone just throwing their lives away for nothing. Living was a gift that needed to be treasured, but his life wasn't the only treasure to Yugo. He was willing to throw it away for the son he promised to do everything to protect. For him and for Eleni.
No one got to insult that sacrifice. Saving Yuma was one of the, if not most, important things he had ever done.
"As was this one." Suwa replied, slamming the butt of his shotgun into the window that he had managed to approach during their conversation.
The shattering of the window gave an opening for Katori to propel herself into the classroom amidst the falling glass with her gun drawn and pointed at Yugo as she pulled her trigger multiple times to unleash her Asteroid.
Suwa cocked his shotgun, pointing it at Yugo who was Shielding himself from Katori's attack. "I never thought for one second that I could lure you anywhere."
