A/N: I don't own World Trigger

Mimics

Chapter 2: Border's Founders

Kodera stared through his scope to watch as Miwa and Yoneya jumped away from the Mimic to keep distance from it. Shifting his scope away to look at the Mimic, Kodera felt himself feeling uneasy as he looked at it. It truly just did look like a walking shadow. The only thing that made it obvious that it wasn't a shadow was the yellow eye on the face.

"That thing is so creepy looking." Kodera said.

"It doesn't look any better close up." Yoneya replied, distancing himself even more from the Mimic. He didn't lose anyone in his life so the Mimic wouldn't be able to imitate anyone from him, but he still wasn't willing to get touched by that thing. Plus, with the look on Miwa's face, he made the decision to let him work out the anger he was feeling at having a fake of his sister appearing earlier. That was probably the reason Narasaka and Kodera haven't shot at it yet. Kuga said long ranged attacks would be best to avoid getting hit by the Mimic, but anger seemed to be a great motivator to avoid attacks as well.

The Mimic looked at him and Miwa, unmoving for a moment as it looked from one to the other. It seemed to make up its mind as it turned away from Yoneya and shot itself towards Miwa. Instead of getting into his sword's range though, the Mimic suddenly jumped into the air and shot his arms towards Miwa.

Miwa threw his arm in front of him. "Shield." While his Shield came up to defend him, to his surprise, the hands coming towards him went right through it. Though surprised by that, Miwa still reacted in time and brought up his sword and sliced through one of the arms as he jumped backwards to try to get out of range of the other arm, but it kept coming towards him. Just as he went to grab his gun, a shot rang out, piercing the second arm and blowing it off.

"Nice shot, Narasaka-senpai." Kodera complimented.

"Kuga didn't mention anything about Shields being ineffective." Narasaka said.

Not wasting time for the conversation going on, Miwa pulled his gun out and fired Lead Bullet at the Mimic. While the Mimic tried to dodge his bullets, he couldn't avoid all of them and the weights that did hit slowed it down enough that he could fill it full of more Lead Bullets.

With the Mimic moving slowly and distracted with Miwa, Yoneya slammed his spear through the back of its head, piercing through the eye on the front. "Don't go around thinking you can forget I'm here."

"Good job," Ren said. "Kuga-kun finished his target off two minutes ago and Kazama squad is in the process of ending their target. So far, I don't see any more Mimics appearing. Unless another Gate opens, we should be in the clear for now."

Yoneya dug his foot under the Mimic and flipped the body over. Without it attacking him, he could take the chance to examine it more properly. It looked like a shadowy figure and walked on two feet, but didn't quite look like a human figure. Maybe it was because of the Trion Soldier eye that took up the face. Though even its hands looked more like claws.

"Why do you think Miwa-senpai's Shield didn't work?" Kodera asked.

"It could be because of a similar reason that Lead Bullet goes through shield. The Mimics wasn't doing any physical damage when trying to grab you to get memories so it can bypass the Shield." Ren suggested.

"So the name of the game is to block with a weapon or dodge." Yoneya replied.

*Mimics*

"Why did you come with us?" Yuma asked Hyuse. He was used to Osamu going to meetings with the top brass with him, but he figured Hyuse would want to avoid these meetings as much as possible. Ahead of them, Rindo led them followed by Osamu and Jin.

"I want to know more about these Mimics. You didn't really explain anything this morning." Hyuse replied.

Yuma folded his arms behind his head as he continued walking to the conference room. "Hmm, there's not much more to say."

"Except that you didn't say anything about them. Jin only mentioned the name to us, but even he didn't explain anything. All I know is the name and that one nation uses them." Hyuse said annoyed. "You didn't even give us the name of the nation that uses them!"

Rolling his eyes to ceiling, Yuma formed a small 'o' with his mouth. Right, he only told Miwa squad, Kazama squad, and Jin about them. But he had to explain it three times, it slipped his mind that not everyone knew yet. "Ah, I didn't, did I?"

Hyuse's brow twitched angrily. "You..." He growled.

Jin looked back at the two with a grin. "They seem to get along well."

"If that's what you want to call it. Hyuse is very competitive." Osamu said. "Kuga seems to enjoy it. Chika thinks he likes having a Neighbor as a comrade."

Jin nodded along. "I can see that. It had to be hard for Yuma to be the only Neighbor around."

"Except he wasn't. There's Cronin-san and Yotaro and his sister."

"True, but you guys didn't know that until recently. Besides, while they're here, they aren't your team. Hyuse and Yuma seem to work very well together." Jin said.

Osamu nodded. "It didn't take them all that long to work out good combos and get used to fighting alongside each other. Honestly, Kuga had an easier time accepting a former enemy as a new teammate than I did. They went after Chika and kidnapped so many of our C-Rank agents. It's hard to want to work with someone like that."

Jin looked at the annoyed Hyuse and the carefree looking Yuma before looking back at Osamu. "It's not easy asking a former enemy for help or to even trust him. Lucky for us, we have Yuma's side effect to judge his intentions."

"You think that's why Kuga accepted him so easily?" Osamu asked.

"I'm sure it played a factor in it, but you also have to remember that Yuma fought in a war for three years and we don't know everything that went on before that war or even after that war. I imagine he's learned to read the situations he gets into and when he should accept the outcome or fight it." Jin replied.

Osamu sighed. "Honestly, it feels like he accepts things too easily. It likes he doesn't consider anything too difficult. He just goes with the flow." He glanced over his shoulder at his teammates for a moment before looking forward again. "Then again, he's really good at hiding his true feelings. If Replica didn't tell me his history and if I didn't confront him on the roof that night, I don't think I would have ever seen through his mask."

"The fact that he talked with you and let you in to see his depression means he trusts you a lot." Jin said. "I don't think Yuma lets people in easily. Even with all the friends he made here, he still keeps them at an arm's length by not telling them anything about himself. He probably thinks it will be easier that way in the long run."

"He doesn't tell Chika anything either." Osamu said. "I feel sort of guilty for not letting her know about Kuga, but at the same time, I don't want to tell her either."

Jin eyed Osamu out of the corner of his eyes. "You don't think she could handle the truth?"

"I don't like thinking about it. I'm scared of when that day will come." Osamu admitted, looking over his shoulder at Yuma. "It crosses my mind occasionally. Will this be the day? I don't want Chika to live with that question clouding her mind."

The Power Elite nodded his head in agreement. "You're not alone in that. I can see the future and I still feel worried when looking into the future when I have to plan out our strategy against an invasion. I'm always scared to see someone dying in the futures I see. Losing comrades on the battlefield...it's never something I want to experience again."

That made sense. Yuri told him recently about losing a lot of their comrades when they went to help an allied nation in the Neighbor's world five years ago. That would mean that was also the battle where Jin lost his mentor. He lost a good portion of his comrades and his mentor in one battle. Perhaps that battle is what started Jin's steak of manipulating battles in Border's favor.

"There's no guarantee we can avoid losing allies in battle forever. It's something Chika will probably have to face one day, but I don't want to force her until facing it right now by telling her about Kuga. It will cause her to lose her focus." Osamu said.

"True," Jin agreed. "We can only do the best we can. There is only so much we can control." He eyed Osamu out of the corner of his eye. "And something we can control is trust. Chika-chan has grown a lot since joining Border. She's been working very hard and has even managed to overcome her fear of shooting people."

Osamu smiled softly. "She has, hasn't she? I was the one who held her back in the end. I couldn't bring myself to believe she could shoot people. She really proved me wrong in the end. If it wasn't for her, we would have lost the last match in the Rank Wars."

"Even so, we can't make the decision for Yuma. He has to be the one to make the choice of whether he wants to tell people or not." Jin continued.

Osamu glanced back over at Yuma before looking forward once more. He didn't think that confession would ever leave Yuma's mouth unless there was no other option. The fact that he was dying and they didn't know when his time would run out might affect things with Border. How would Border feel having an agent who was dying? With no knowledge of when his time would run out?

The doors to the conference room slid open in front of Rindo, admitting the group entrance. While Rindo walked to the table to take his seat where Shinoda, Kinuta, Karasawa, Netsuki, Kyoko, Kido, Miwa, and Kazama were waiting, Osamu moved off to the side of the room with Hyuse to stand by the wall. Neither had anything to offer to the meeting so they didn't need to be in the way. They were simply here to listen to get the intel about the Mimics.

Yuma and Jin stepped up to the table, but neither sat down.

"Reporting as requested!" Jin said cheerfully, giving a salute to the higher ups.

"Jin, did you not see this coming?" Kido asked immediately.

Jin dropped his grin, hand dropping from his forehead as he got serious. "It would seem not. I saw some troubling things to come, but I haven't seen any damage to the city or civilians at risk. I was still working on figuring out what the visions meant when Yuma called me to tell me about Mimics. I imagine what I'm seeing in the coming days has to do with them now."

"Which brings us to you, Agent Kuga." Kido shifted his eyes to the shorter agent.

Yuma gave a small tilt of his head in acknowledgment.

"I do commend you for acting so quickly when you realized the problem." Kido said.

While they probably thought Yuma acted so quickly because of the danger he saw in the problem of Mimics appearing, which wasn't wrong since he was worried, the bigger reason for his quick response was his anger. He didn't appreciate Mimics appearing here and attacking them.

"But now we need a fully detailed report of Mimics as well as where they come from so we can know who is attacking us." Kido continued.

"Alright, simple enough." Yuma replied easily. Time to explain for the fourth time. "Mimics are Trion Soldiers that look like shadows with an eye where the face should be. The reason for their lack of any special design is so they can morph into a person. They can only transform into someone by taking the fond memories you have of a deceased loved one. They can only take those memories from Trion bodies however which is why Jin-san probably didn't see any harm coming to the citizens of the city. They aren't the targets."

Shinoda frowned, leaning forward in interest. "Only the fond memories? Wouldn't it be effective to use the memories of our enemies and transform into them?" He asked, thinking of Enedra. He was a tough opponent to beat and not someone he would want to fight again. Though it would probably be easier this time around since they knew how his Trigger worked now.

Yuma stared at Shinoda for a moment before looking off to the side with a frown. He was quiet for a moment as he debated his answer while everyone stared at him. "An enemy you already defeated once can't manipulate your emotions the way someone you loved who has passed away can. Most people when seeing a dead loved in front of them will hesitate and that's enough time for them to kill you."

"A good explanation, but your hesitation speaks of another answer, Agent Kuga." Kido said.

Of course he noticed. Yuma didn't hide it well. It's not like it was a big secret anyway. "The Mimics we encountered last night are a bit different from what I remember."

"A bit different how?" Shinoda asked.

Yuma turned his attention to him. "I last dealt with Mimics when I was four so my memories might be a bit faulty, but one thing I'm absolutely certain of is that Mimics were not Trion Soldiers to be used to attack people like this. They were never meant to be weapons."

"What? You can't be serious. They're Trion Soldiers created by Neighbors. Their only purpose is to be weapons." Miwa retorted.

"That's very narrow minded. There are many types of Trion Soldiers, and yes, most of them are weapons, but not Mimics." Yuma replied.

"Then what was their original purpose?" Rindo asked curiously.

"In the Neighborhood, there are constant wars between the nations because the goal of each nation is just to survive. These wars result in many losses since very few nations have the ability to have an escape route available to them when their Trion bodies get destroyed. In fact, I've never heard of a Bail Out system until I came here. I imagine your technology is what inspired the nations to create their own versions. It's quite a useful tool to have to avoid losses in war. That said, most nations don't have that luxury and many people die over." Yuma explained.

"So Mimics were created to bring them back to life?" Kinuta asked, sounding very interested now.

"No," Yuma said immediately, shaking his head. "There is nothing to be done to bring someone back from the dead. Mimics are still Trion Soldiers, even when transformed as someone. They may look real, sound real, move like the real thing, but it's not. Its purpose is to fool your mind as much as possible as one last time to see a loved one before they're gone forever. Mimics, at least the ones I saw as a kid, didn't have the capability of staying transformed for long. Because they were used to say a last goodbye to your loved one that wasn't a bloody corpse you found on the battlefield, and that's the reason fond memories are used. You want to avoid having memories of an enemy being chosen and appearing in front of you."

"So, it's a tool used to deal with grief?" Kazama asked.

"That was the original purpose, yes, but it seems it has been weaponized." Yuma replied.

"They will always find a way to weaponize anything." Jin said.

Yuma hummed in agreement. "That said, from what I faced last night, what I concluded about these Mimics and the ones I saw as a kid, is that like the original version, Mimics aren't strong offensively as the shadows. They will grow stronger when transformed, and those that have combat experience will be even stronger since they'll have the experience and skills of the person they change into."

"That doesn't sound so too difficult. Most people in Border lost loved ones during the first invasion. They won't have any training in fighting." Kazama pointed out.

Yuma tilted in his head in confusion.

"This isn't the Neighborhood, Yuma. Most people aren't fighting for their lives every day." Rindo explained gently.

"Right," Yuma said. "But I'm thinking, if someone is going to weaponize Mimics, they have to expect them to transform into people who don't use Triggers."

"So you think they'll be able to fight?" Shinoda asked.

Yuma shrugged. "I don't know. I'm thinking about possibilities. Even if someone appears in front of you who you know can't use a Trigger, don't let your guard down. We don't know what transformed Mimics are truly capable of."

"Speaking of possibilities, you didn't tell us Shields don't have any effect against their attacks." Miwa told Yuma.

"Oh?" Yuma said interested, turning his attention to Miwa. "I didn't know that. Like I said, Mimics were never used for offense before so last night was the first time I had to fight them, and I didn't use my Shield at all last night."

"Why do you think they're being used to attack us now?" Osamu asked.

Yuma glanced over his shoulder at his Captain. "I couldn't say. Like I said, I haven't seen them since I was four. Only one nation I know of had them, so when I left there, I never had another encounter."

At that answer, Kyoko brought up the orbital diagram over the table. "Do you remember the name of it?" She asked.

Yuma approached the table, circling it as he searched for the nation. "It's Tropoi." He said as he came to a stop behind Shinoda and pointed to the nation. Staring at the nation, Yuma felt relief flooding through him. They weren't in range to attack.

Rindo leaned forward in his seat, resting his arm on the table as he stared at the orbital diagram. "Are you sure, Yuma? They're not in attacking range."

"A hundred percent sure."

"It's possible another nation stole Tropoi's design and weaponized Mimics." Kinuta suggested. "It's no different than us sending agents to the Neighbor's world to get their technology to study."

Kido brushed his finger over his scar. "It complicates matters if that's the case since we'll have no idea of who is attacking us."

"Can you see anything, Jin?" Kazama asked.

Jin eyes shifted to Yuma, who leaned against the back of Shinoda's chair and looked back at him with curious eyes. It was only for a second though before he was looking at Kazama. "I'm seeing some stuff, however, I can't tell that much. I'm having difficulty seeing what is going to happen. It feels like the Mimics are blinding me."

"What do you mean by blinding?" Shinoda asked.

"The events I'm seeing are even more distorted. For the most part, Trion Soldiers aren't sentient beings so I can't see the future for them, but I can see when an attack is going to happen. I've seen the pictures of the Mimics we managed to get, but I still can't get a read on the situation about to occur." Jin explained.

"Trion Soldiers aren't sentient, but what about when the Mimics transform into people? You can't see the future of people you haven't met. Is their ability to transform into these people blinding you?" Kazama suggested.

Jin looked towards the ceiling as he thought about that. "Could be."

"Doubt it." Yuma retorted before the words had fully left Jin's lips, surprising everyone else at his interruption. Shinoda glanced over his shoulder at the agent leaning on his chair. He was surprised to see the anger smoldering in his eyes. "Mimics are fakes. Even when they transform, they're still Trion Soldiers. They can't replace the real people you've lost. Their greatest skill is deception. Forget that, and you'll get killed."

Hyuse leaned back against the wall, crossing his arms, as he looked at Yuma with intrigue. "I've never seen Yuma get mad." He whispered to Osamu.

"It happens very rarely." Osamu replied softly. "It's strange though. Why would the concept of Mimics anger him this much?"

Hyuse tilted his head in consideration. It was strange. Yuma was always so calm and level headed. Even when something was going wrong in a fight, he didn't panic. He would keep his cool and try to think of the next step to get them back out on top. For that reason, he was a great partner to have in battle. Watching the Rank Wars before he joined Tamakoma-2 helped a lot in getting prepared to be his partner by allowing him to understand his fighting tactics. This heated attitude wasn't him.

Miwa redirected his attention to Jin, deciding to not comment on Yuma's anger. "If you're seeing something occur in the future and can't tell what it is, does that mean we have to worry about more Mimics showing up?"

"Yes," Jin replied. "Whatever nation is doing this is going to continue. It's very likely we'll need to hold out until they're out of range."

"If that's the case, Jin, you need to be careful when you're in your Trion body. We don't want to risk Mogami-san appearing." Shinoda said.

Jin's snorted in amusement. "You sound like Yuma, Shinoda-san. He's been harping on me about that since last night. If I may, you, Rindo-san, and Commander Kido will need to be careful as well."

"We're less likely to cause Mogami-san from appearing since we don't enter the field unless there is an emergency." Shinoda replied amused. He leaned back in his seat and looked over his shoulder at Yuma again. "And Yuma-kun, do I even need to say it to you?"

Yuma pursed his lips. "Don't let a Mimic transform into Dad. I know." He said, pushing off the chair he was leaning against, hands gripping the top of it tightly.

Miwa looked over at the two, frowning in confusion. He understood the wariness of Mogami appearing, but why was Shinoda concerned about Yuma's father? They didn't even know who his father was. They didn't even know his father was dead, not that Miwa cared at all about the Neighbor's problem. It was just something he realized he never considered. Yuma was only fifteen and came to this world without anyone. A lone Neighbor in this world that hated Neighbors. What was the purpose of coming here?

*Mimics*

Hyuse looked down at Yuma as they walked back through the halls after the meeting. They left Rindo behind to sort out the rest of the information with the higher ups to get it sorted out what to distribute to the agents in briefing.

"Something you want to ask?" Yuma asked, continuing to stare ahead even as Hyuse's eyes bored into him.

"The nation you mentioned that created Mimics. Tropoi. I feel like I've heard of it before." Hyuse said.

Yuma hummed thoughtfully. "You probably have. Viza mentioned Tropoi to me when he saw Replica so you probably heard of the name from him at some point."

Hyuse's brows furrowed in confused "What's a Replica?"

"Replica is Kuga's Trion Soldier partner. We lost him to Aftokrator. Kuga believes he's still alive so he wants to get to Aftokrator to get him back." Osamu explained before looking over at Yuma. "Speaking of Tropoi, you look quite relieved when it showed Tropoi wasn't in range to be the ones attacking us."

At that question, Yuma slowed down to a stop. He glanced at his friends before looking out the nearby window. Apparently, Osamu knew him too well if he was able to read that. "Oh, that. Tropoi is the nation I'm from. It's not like I have too strong of a connection to it though...I haven't been there since I was four, but..."

Jin came up behind Yuma to drop a hand to his hair, ruffling it affectionately. "It's alright, Yuma. You don't have to explain. Still, the question remains about who it is and why."

"I see. So the real reason you know so much about Mimics is because they're from your home nation." Osamu said as Yuma fixed his hair from Jin's ruffling. "I understand why you didn't want to say that. Miwa-senpai probably would have bitten your head off."

"And why you're so frustrated about all of this." Hyuse added, causing Yuma to look over his shoulder at him with a raised a brow. "Your home nation created Mimics to help people deal with grief by seeing their lost loved ones one last time as something more than a bloody corpse. And now, someone stole that design and weaponized it."

"Yep," Yuma said. "You got me. I'm mad they're being used as weapons. That's not their purpose."

It was hard to tell with Yuma. He didn't lie often so Osamu couldn't read him, not that Osamu could read anyone who lied. It was hard to tell people's true intentions after all, but even so, something was yelling at Osamu that Yuma wasn't being wholly honest.

"In any case," Jin said, drawing the attention of all three of the agents. "Yuma, you need to be really careful not to get your father to appear."

"Right back at you with Mogami." Yuma replied.

Jin shook his head and grabbed Yuma by the shoulders to force the younger agent to turn and look at him. "We can deal with Mogami-san, but we cannot deal with the consequences of your father appearing. Listen, Yuma, it's not worth the risk."

Yuma stared at him, feeling completely lost. "I'm not about to let Dad appear, so whatever you're worried about, it's not going to happen."

The way Jin was staring at Yuma gave Osamu the feeling that Jin was looking into his future. He must have not liked what he saw by the way his grip on Yuma's shoulders tightened.

"What is it you're worried about?" Hyuse demanded. "I think last night is enough proof that Yuma can handle himself against Mimics."

Jin stared at Yuma for a moment longer before releasing his shoulders and looking at Hyuse. "Never said that. Yuma is quite capable of taking care of himself."

"If you believe that, then stop the worrying and mysterious comments. Just explain yourself properly." Hyuse said annoyed.

"I can't explain what I don't fully understand, but I have a feeling Kuga Yugo appearing will be very bad." Jin replied. "I can't see the future clearly since I never met Kuga-san, but I'm willing to bet a month's worth of fried rice crackers that he is the cause of the things I can't understand."

"Even if you did know Dad, you still wouldn't be able to read the future properly. Mimics are Trion Soldiers. Nothing more." Yuma snapped annoyed, before stalking off down the hall with his friends staring after him in shock.

"He's certainly on edge." Hyuse commented.

*Mimics*

Shun laid facedown on the couch in utter defeat.

"I've never seen you not take a single win from Kuga in a ten round match." Yoneya said.

"Yuma-senpai had no mercy." Shun said into the cushions.

"He was on edge last night. Looks like it hasn't left his system." Kodera explained.

Shun turned his head on the couch to stare up at them. "Why were you guys together last night?"

"He showed up to help us with a new Trion Soldier." Yoneya explained.

That seemed to perk Shun up as he shot up into a sitting position. "New Trion Soldier?"

"There will probably be a report sent out to everyone before tonight." Kodera said. "They were having a meeting about it this morning."

"They really had a meeting because of a new Trion Soldier appearing?" Shun asked in disbelief.

"These ones are special." Kodera replied.

"Special enough to cause Kuga enough anger to defeat you so harshly." Yoneya clarified before looking up towards the training booths. "Speaking of, is he still in the booth?"

*Mimics*

"Explain it to me," Hyuse said, causing Osamu to look up from his lunch. "What is the big deal about this Mogami person and Yuma's father?"

Osamu studied Hyuse with a frown. Hyuse wasn't the type to be interested in things that didn't involve getting back to Aftokrator. Maybe this was his way of trying to make an effort? Even so, this involved the history of organization. Was it alright to tell him? It's not like it was information that could hurt Border if it got out.

'Something we can control is trust.' Jin's voice echoed in Osamu's head.

Hyuse was a member of the team and was doing so much to help them. The least Osamu could do was answer his questions to show that he trusted him.

"Mogami Soichi and Kuga Yugo were two of the founders of Border. Mogami-san mentored Jin-san and obviously, Kuga's father trained him." Osamu explained.

Hyuse leaned his chin in his palm, looking bored, but he was actually very intrigued. Not about Jin's part in this since he hated him, but he was interested in his fellow Neighbor's history. Something about his father was putting Jin on edge.

"They both died creating Black Triggers."

*Mimics*

Yuma laid on the mattress in the training booth, hand stretched above his head so he could stare at his gloved hand. Under that glove was the ring his father gave everything to create to save his life. Dad and Replica. Those were the two constants in his life since he was a child, and now he's lost both. After Dad died, Replica filled the space at night to keep the loneliness away. With him gone, what was left to fill the ache in Yuma's heart on those long nights?

He could see it.

The last smile Dad gave before trading spaces with his disobedient son.

"Yuma." The name spoken with so much love echoed in Yuma's ears.

Yuma dropped his arm over his eyes, gritting his teeth in frustration. It wasn't even nighttime. It was the middle of the day and he had his friends around, and yet, thoughts of his father were plaguing his mind and causing him nothing but distractions.

*Mimics*

"I know very little about Mogami-san and Kuga-san. What I do know is that both were extremely strong and that they created Border with the intention of making friends with Neighbors." Osamu explained, running a finger over the rim of his cup as he thought through his reply carefully. "From what I understand, Kuga-san and Mogami-san were rivals while both were in Border, but they also trusted each other very much. Their friendship was so strong that even after not seeing each other for years, Kuga-san still told his son to come here to find Mogami-san if he ever died."

"But it didn't work out. Mogami is dead." Hyuse replied.

Osamu nodded. "Mogami-san died five years ago, Kuga-san four years. Kuga had no way of knowing that and came here anyway. He ended up staying and joining Border."

"So what I'm hearing is that they're all on edge for your founders returning?" Hyuse asked.

Osamu took a sip of his drink. "Kuga-san trained Rindo-san and Director Shinoda. How many people can say they can defeat the person who trained them? For context, Director Shinoda is Border's strongest Normal Trigger user and he trained Border's No. 1 Attacker, Tachikawa Kei."

"I've fought Tachikawa before. Out of six rounds, I only managed to get one win from him and it took three losses before I accomplished that." Hyuse replied.

"Then you understand the strength. They don't know if they can beat Mogami-san or Kuga-san if they appear. That's why they're on edge."

And what was worse was that Kuga was a shining beacon for Mimics that they couldn't turn off. How long would Kuga have to fight them off before the nation that was doing this was out of range?

"Being worried they can't win doesn't explain Jin's reaction to Yuma." Hyuse pointed out, bringing Osamu out of his thoughts. "It was too extreme for that to be the reason."

"I don't know what is causing Jin-san's worry." Osamu admitted before pausing, frowning down at his meal. "But Kuga...he blames himself for his father's death. He believes he should be the one dead and Kuga-san should be the one here. The desire to see his father again...he longs for it."

Hyuse lifted a brow in surprise. "You think he'd let a Mimic take his father's memories on purpose?"

"No," Osamu said without hesitation. "Kuga's too rational to take that course of action."

"But the temptation is there. A chance to see his father's face, hear his voice, for the first time in four years. Who wouldn't take the chance for one last conversation? To have the chance to say, 'I'm sorry I got you killed.'" Hyuse retorted. "Yuma is completely rational. But the thing about emotions is that they're not rational. Emotions always skew everything."

Osamu shook his head in disagreement. "There's too much risk involved. Kuga is fueled by logic and rational. He doesn't let emotions rule his judgement."

"Hn," Hyuse muttered. "Well, let's hope you're right. Don't think I want to see anything that puts Jin on edge."

*Mimics*

"Oh, a message from the bosses?"

"Anything interesting?" Izumi asked, leaning over Yu's chair.

Yu clicked through the briefing, eyes scanning the information quickly. "Looks to be about a new Trion Soldier that made its appearance last night. They're called Mimics."

"Mimics? Like those people who can imitate others?" Izumi asked.

"Exactly like that." Yu clicked open the picture attached to the see the shadow staring back at her. "Argh, creepy. It's like something out of a horror game. They take fond memories of deceased loved ones from you when they touch you and use those memories to transform into that person."

"They transform into dead people? Thank heavens I haven't lost anyone. Those fiends wouldn't be able to handle me if they tried to take my memories." Yuiga declared.

"The Mimics wouldn't target you. They wouldn't want subjected to that thing you call a brain." Izumi said dryly, without bothering to take his eyes off the computer. "They have a standard to keep after all."

"How rude!" Yuiga cried. "I'll have you know my brain is of the highest quality!"

"Great pickings for the zombies to munch on then." Tachikawa said.

"Zombies? Who said anything about zombies?" Yuiga shouted in dismay, but no one was listening to him at this point.

Tachikawa joined Izumi and Yu at the computer. "That's a lot of information for something that just appeared last night."

"Who do you think? Hyuse or Kuga?" Izumi asked, glancing at his Captain.

"I would say Kuga-kun. He seems to more willing to give us info than Hyuse." Yu said.

"You've never spoken to either, yet you picked so fast." Izumi replied.

"It's not hard. Kuga-kun is clearly the one who gave us info about Aftokrator before they attacked so we already know he's willing to share information. Whereas Hyuse-kun was captured by Jin. I doubt he would want to tell us anything."

"Why do you analyze things so much?"

"This is why she's the operator." Tachikawa said. "She's clearly smarter than you."

"And I'm the lowly Shooter? I just can't much up to Yu-chan."

"And don't forget it." Yu teased.

"Anything else important in there?" Tachikawa asked.

"Hmm, looks like they're coming from one nation so these Mimics will only be a problem for a few days. And they only target Trion bodies so the city and citizens shouldn't be in any danger."

"Nice to know we're the ones with targets on our backs." Yuiga complained.

"That's the job you signed up for." Izumi snapped. "So quit the whining."

"I didn't sign up to be probed by Trion Soldiers." Yuiga whined.

"You haven't lost anyone so you won't be targeted. Nothing to worry about it." Yu promised to Yuiga's relief.

"You're too nice to that idiot." Izumi said.

"No, you and Tachikawa-san are just too mean."

*Mimics*

"Murakami-san!" Shun shouted, waving to the Attacker frantically. In his other hand was his phone which he was using to read the briefing on Mimics. "Nice timing. I need you to fight Yuma-senpai."

Murakami ran his eyes over the group before resting back on Shun. "I don't see him here."

"He demolished Midorikawa in a ten round match and has not come out of the booth in an hour, but he's not having matches so we don't know what he's doing." Arafune explained.

"And what do you want me to do? If he wants to mope, let him mope." Murakami replied.

"No, no." Yoneya replied, waving his hand in a dismissal manner. "He's not moping. The Mimics put him on edge last night and he's not let go of the bad mood."

"Kuga in a bad mood? And here I thought he only had one setting. Unnaturally cheerful." Murakami replied.

"Is the sarcasm really necessary?" Shun asked. "Look, there's a huge difference between bad mood and 'let's drag Shun out of his squad's operation room by the back of his jacket for a fight' bad mood. There was no need for that! I'm always up to fight Yuma-senpai. He just had to ask!"

"That's how you ended up here?" Yoneya asked surprised.

"That definitely not like Kuga." Kodera agreed.

Murakami sighed. "Okay, I'll challenge him to a fight, though I don't see how that will help. What booth is he in?"

"320."

*Mimics*

"Hear you're in a bad mood."

Yuma dragged his arm off his eyes to stare at the computer with a scowl before forcing a smile on his face. "I don't know who told you that, but I'm fine."

"That's impressive. Almost fooled me." Murakami replied. "Unfortunately for you, happy people don't hide in a training booth doing nothing for an hour. So you're either upset or mad about something. Either way, I'm not here to force you to talk. If that's what you wanted, you wouldn't be hiding."

Yuma pulled himself into a sitting position, fake smile falling way to a frown. Has he really been lying here for an hour? He let himself get too lost in his thoughts. He didn't get much chance to think of anything else when he felt the familiar pull of the transportation into the virtual field. Blinking in surprise, he landed in a crouch on the ground.

"If you're going to hide in a training booth, you need to be prepared to be challenged." Murakami said as he pulled his sword out.

"Noted. I'll find a new hiding spot." Yuma replied as he called Scorpion to his hand.

Murakami raised a brow. "Never pegged you as the type to hide from your problems."

"It's not the problems I'm hiding from." Yuma said before he launched himself at Murakami to begin the fight and end this conversation he didn't want to have.

Note: Just watched the most recent episode of World Trigger and I'm just in love with it. The way they animated Hyuse confronting Chika about being able to shoot people and then Chika explaining her feelings on the roof to Shiori and Reiji was absolutely amazing. The anime is doing such a good job. I wanted to cry for Chika! So, it got me happy enough to post this chapter a bit earlier than I was planning.