A/N: I don't own World Trigger
Mimics
Chapter 9: Recklessness
"Yuma, keep out of the battle for a while. Stay inside the fortress."
"Listen. Don't you dare go outside the gate. Stay put."
"Hang on a second. I'll save you soon."
"Yuma."
"Yuma."
"Yuma."
"Kuga."
"Kuga!"
Yuma's eyes snapped to the side, landing on Ninomiya with a scowl. "Do you need something?"
"Do you?" Ninomiya retorted, taking in Yuma's civilian clothes. "It's not safe to be wandering the Restricted Zone without your Trigger active."
Yuma scoffed, turning his attention back to the buildings he was staring at. Could he not just stand on a roof far away from the base and get some alone time? How did Ninomiya even find him? "What? Worried?"
"Not at all. It would just be a hindrance if you got in our way while we're on defense duty."
"I'm minding my own business." Yuma motioned for Ninomiya to move on. "Continue on with your patrol."
"You should mind your own business at your base." Tsuji said.
Yuma looked over his other shoulder to find Tsuji and Inukai relaxing on the ledges there. It wasn't surprising that they were where their Captain was. In fact, he already knew they were in the area. He just didn't care and assumed they would leave him to his thoughts.
"This may not be what you want to hear, Kuga-kun, but with your father roaming about as an enemy, it might be best for you to avoid being alone in the Restricted Zone right now." Inukai added.
Scowl deepening, Yuma turned his attention the empty streets below them. Why did Shinoda have to send out that memo informing all the agents that a Mimic of his father was around? That wasn't anyone's business but his. This didn't involve Border. Yuma made the mistake. He got Kuga Yugo created so he would take him out.
Yuma's hand curled into a fist at his side. He could do it. He could beat his father. It was his fault his father died once. It happened right before his eyes. And that was his real father. While the Yugo walking around right now had his face and voice, he wasn't real. Yuma just had to remember that. He couldn't falter. He needed to kill him before things got worse.
"Are you looking for him?" Ninomiya asked. "Really, Kuga? You're out here searching for your father without your Trigger active? These Mimics aren't our friends. He will try to kill you."
"You think I don't know that?" Yuma snapped back, surprising the agents since they were so used to Yuma being in control. It wasn't in his nature to snap like this.
"No, I don't. If you did, you wouldn't be acting this recklessly."
"What's reckless about walking through the Restricted Zone?" Yuma scoffed.
Ninomiya scoffed back at him. "And here I thought you were the sensible one of your team. I can't begin to fathom or care about what is going on through your head, Kuga, but you're going to get yourself killed."
"That almost sounds like concern."
"No, I just think it would be a waste of a skilled agent if you got yourself killed out here because you're distracted."
"I'm not distracted."
Inukai snorted. "It took a few minutes to get your attention. If that's not distracted, I don't know what is. I'm not trying to be rude, Kuga-kun, but I don't think it's a good idea for you to go looking for your father."
Yuma whipped his head around to face the other agents, eyes ablaze with fury. "What is wrong with everyone in Border? Mimics not the people we lost. They are Trion Soldiers wearing their faces."
Inukai blinked in shock. "Are you okay, Kuga-kun? You seem stressed."
"I'm fine." Yuma bit out as he turned his attention back to the city.
Ninomiya looked at Yuma in disbelief, but he wasn't here to argue with the younger agent. He was currently just trying to find Kuga Yugo. The faster they took care of Kuga Yugo, the sooner they could get back to normal. He was sure all the agents wanted to get to their training for the away mission, rather than have all their focus on the attack from Mimics. "Either activate your Trigger or get out of the Restricted Zone, Kuga."
"Being an agent of Border, I can be anywhere I want." Yuma replied as he went back to scanning his eyes over the area.
Inukai whistled. "Who knew Kuga-kun had a reckless side?" He said to Tsuji who just sighed at his friend's easy-going attitude. "Hey, Kuga-kun! If you just activate your Trigger, we'll let you go back to your brooding without another word. But we can't in good conscious leave you here defenseless with Mimic Kuga running around."
Without turning back to him, Yuma raised his hand above his shoulder to show off his ring. "I have a Black Trigger. I'm hardly defenseless."
Ninomiya eyed the ring on Yuma's hand. So that was the Black Trigger that was mentioned in the memo. He rarely came across Yuma when he wasn't in his Trion body, but the few times he did, he had seen that he was always wearing that ring. It was amazing that a Black Trigger could be hidden so plainly in sight. It also confirmed to him that Yuma had had it for at least a couple months now. In fact, it was very likely he had it before he came to Border. If his father was a former member of Border, Yuma had to have come to Border with more knowledge about Neighbors than regular recruits. The question was how he managed to get his hands on a Black Trigger before coming here.
Ninomiya smirked, shutting his eyes. No, it really wasn't that much of a mystery to him. "That Black Trigger of yours, it was created by your father, wasn't it?"
Yuma's hand dropped limply to his side as he eyed Ninomiya out of the corner of his eyes.
"Really?" Inukai asked.
"It's not hard to figure out. Border allowing a B-Rank agent to hold onto a Black Trigger which we could have used to get another S-Rank agent. Not to mention that Shinoda-san said in the memo that Kuga was a powerful Trigger user. Mogami was a strong member of the Old Border and he left Fujin behind. So why couldn't Kuga do the same?" Ninomiya explained his reasoning.
"My father being the creator of my Black Trigger is not why they let me keep it. I never told the higher ups who made it." Yuma replied. "So, you were mostly right."
"I'm sure you have a powerful Trigger in that, Kuga-kun, but I don't think that will be enough to beat your fa-" Tsuji paused when he saw Yuma getting ready to turn to him, hackles raised. "The Mimic you're after."
"You think I can't win?" Yuma asked.
"No, I don't." Tsuji replied, drawing Yuma's eyes over his shoulder to look at him. Tsuji met those cold eyes unflinchingly.
"Well, good thing I don't take much stock in the opinion of the team who didn't think my team could reach B-Rank #2 or get on the Expedition team." Yuma said coldly.
"This isn't about skill. You may see the Mimics as just fakes of our dead loved ones, but that doesn't change the fact that it has your father's face and voice. Skill isn't the issue. Emotions are your worse enemy here." Inukai explained. "You might understand that it's a fake in front of you, but that doesn't mean it will be easy to strike it down."
Scowling at the sky, Yuma hands closed into fists. Did they really think he needed to hear those words? Those words so similar to what he told Miwa the night the Mimics first appeared? He knew how hard it was to be the reason a loved one died. He would never ask anyone to strike down a Mimic that had transformed into a loved one they had already lost once.
But he wasn't like everyone else.
Yuma had already caused his father's death once. He watched him die right in front of his eyes.
He would watch the life leave his father's face again. The only difference being that it was a fake version of him, but Yuma would take responsibility, no matter how much he didn't want to face the Mimic of his father.
He was not going to run from this.
"Don't assume to know me." Yuma replied.
"They might not know you well, but I do."
Yuma's scowl deepened at the voice.
"Jin-san, what are you doing here?" Inukai asked surprised.
Jin smiled at the squad. "Yo, guys, how is the patrol going?"
"Pretty boring. We haven't seen anything." Inukai complained.
"Boring is nice." Jin replied before turning his eyes back to Yuma, who still refused to turn to face him. "Come on, are you mad at me again, Yuma?"
"Why are you out here, Jin-san?" Yuma asked.
"I was worried about you. You lost your Trigger. It's not safe for you to be wandering the Restricted Zone." Jin replied.
"Wait, what?" Inukai asked surprised.
Yuma simply raised his hand again. "Can you all remember that I have a Black Trigger? I'm not a defenseless child without Border's Trigger."
"How could you lose your Trigger?" Ninomiya snapped. "That's the most important thing the organization gives its agents. They're not supposed to leave your side."
"You speak as if I lost it on purpose. Hardly my fault I got thrown out a window and it went flying off somewhere." Yuma retorted.
"A window?" Inukai repeated, brows rising. "What have you been up to?"
Yuma rubbed his cheek absentmindedly as he recalled the cracks in his broken body last night. "Nothing. Can you all leave me alone now?"
Jin stared at Yuma, unimpressed with his sudden attitude. He knew Yuma claimed he would take care of his father on his own, but unfortunately for his friend, Jin had seen the future and it was not possible. "No, I can't do that." He nodded his head at Ninomiya's squad. "You can head back to your patrol."
Ninomiya nodded back at Jin before taking his leave.
"Don't do anything reckless, Kuga-kun!" Inukai shouted as he and Tsuji followed after their Captain.
Yuma listened to the squad take their leave. He waited until they were far enough away before he rounded on Jin, only to step back in shock to fight the Power Elite suddenly standing right behind him. He hadn't even heard him move. Smoothing the shock off his face, Yuma turned it into a frown and glared at Jin. "Listen, Jin-san, I know you want to keep me safe, but you don't need to follow me or set babysitters on me. I'm not going to die the moment there are no eyes on me. I can take care of myself."
"I know you how strong you are, Yuma, but that strength of yours means nothing when you act recklessly. You cannot go after your father alone." Jin replied.
Yuma's eyes flashed angrily. "This Mimic is not my father. Why do you all keep saying that?" He turned back to stare at the Restricted Zone with a scowl.
"Why do you keep getting so angry about it?" Jin retorted. He walked around Yuma to get in front of him to force Yuma to look at him again. "You're scared. Chika-chan went on about her fear of seeing her friend and brother from the Mimics because it would mean they were dead. But you? You scared of facing your father. The last time you saw him he was giving up his life for yours and now a Mimic of him is looking for you. Do you think he will blame you for what happened to you? Maybe he wants to kill you for causing his death in the first place. Or maybe, he just wants to see his son again. You're scared to see his reaction."
"I don't care what this Mimic thinks of me. It's nothing but a Trion Soldier." Yuma retorted. "My job is to kill him."
"You make up the stupidest lies."
Hearing his line thrown at him, Yuma narrowed his eyes at his friend.
Jin leaned down far enough that he was almost touching his forehead with Yuma's. "Did you know your pupils turn black when you lie? Seems your side effect doesn't like it when you lie either. You can say you don't care or don't think Mimics can be anything but fakes all you want to try to convince yourself that is what you think is the truth, but clearly, your heart is another matter. Your heart and mind aren't in sync with what you're saying because you want to be wrong. You want it to be your father. You want to go to him and have him smile at you again, but you're also scared to face this Mimic. After all it was because of you that your father died in the first place and because of that you're scared to hear the words come from your father that he hates you for what you forced him to do."
In sharp contrast to his words, Jin was still smiling at Yuma.
Yugo smiled at Yuma.
The sun blazing down on Yuma made it hard to see all of Jin's face.
The blinding sun matched with Yuma's dulled vision made it difficult to see his father's face.
Jin's lips moved as he spoke.
Yugo was saying something to Yuma.
Why was Dad here?
Why did he come to see his disobedient son?
"Yuma!"
Jin grabbed Yuma's shoulders tightly, shaking the younger boy lightly to try to bring him back to focusing on him.
"Yu-"
Yuma shoved Jin off of him and took a step back to put me distance between them. "What do you know?" He snapped. "This doesn't involve you, Jin-san. This is between me and my father."
Jin's expression softened. He didn't come here to fight with Yuma, so he would let his friend lass out, but Jin was not going to do the same. Despite what Yuma said, Jin did know. Yuma's mind was as war with his heart. He said one thing about the Mimics being fake and not being able to replace the people who died, but his heart was screaming at him to take the chance to see his father. The father who was coming up on five years of being dead. Yuma's mind was spiraling and for a child who was used to repressing his emotions to focus on fighting wars and surviving, he didn't know how to handle it.
"I'm not trying to get in between you and your father. Your history with Kuga-san is your own, but the fact that you will die in a few days is my business. It's my job to protect my kouhai." Jin said softly.
Yuma twisted away from Jin, walking across the roof. "No, it isn't. It never has been. You just made that your job. Your real job is to protect the city from Neighbors. That is what is important here. You can't risk the safety of the civilians for one person." He looked up at the sky. "I know you want to save my life, Jin-san, but like I told you before, I won't begrudge you if you fail. The safety of the city and the citizens is top priority. As an agent of Border, my life is second to their protection. That is what it means to be a soldier. Taking care of my father's Mimic is top priority. If I die in the process, then I die, but I will kill him before the citizens or my friends are put in danger because of him."
"I don't know what it was like in the wars you fought in, Yuma, but here at Border, we don't make a habit of abandoning our comrades. We can protect the city and save your life at the same time." Jin retorted. He walked towards Yuma, but hearing him approach this time, Yuma twisted away from the hand Jin went to put on his shoulder and put distance between them once more.
"I already have one foot in the grave. If it's between me and Border and the city, you choose them." Yuma turned sharply to meet Jin's stare with an intense gaze. "Meaning, I want you to stop sending agents to watch over me and for you to stop coming to find me. I can take care of myself. Send the agents to do something more important to get us safely through this week."
"They are plenty of agents in Border. I don't need them all doing the same thing." Jin replied.
"Well, I don't need them on my trail."
Not giving Jin a chance to reply, Yuma jumped off the roof, propelling himself to the next roof, then the next as he ran off. Jin could have followed him, but just sighed as he watched his friend disappear in the distance.
Yuma wanted to live, but it seemed, he respected his duty more than he did what he wanted. There wasn't any doubt in Jin's mind that fighting a war for three years with people who just wanted to use him for his Black Trigger created Yuma's mindset. It wasn't wrong to put that much effort into his duty as a soldier, but Yuma needed to understand that didn't make his life worthless.
*Mimics*
"Do you think Kuga is strong?" Kikuchihara asked.
Utagawa raised a brow. "What are you asking? You've seen him fight. I think at this point everyone recognizes him an A-Rank agent without having the rank of an A-Rank agent."
"Not him." Kikuchihara waved his phone around. "His father. How good can he be if he got himself killed?"
"Being killed doesn't make someone weak. A lot of strong people have been killed over the years. You have to remember Kuga and his father were in the Neighborhood. Who knows what kind of strong enemies they faced over there?" Kazama replied.
"Did you know that Kuga's father was a member of Border at one time, Kazama-san?" Utagawa asked.
"I hadn't heard anything about it. I'm not surprised they were trying to keep a lot about Kuga on the downlow though." Kazama said.
Mikami looked over her computers to look at her team. She understood that they were just talking in general about the situation to get their thoughts and ideas out there. She was hearing it all over the base today, though it sounded a lot more like gossip from the agents who didn't know Yuma. Those that did didn't seem to have any ill intent when talking about the memo. They seemed to just want to understand the situation they were in more than anything. Still, she felt bad for Yuma. It was one thing to have people talking about his skill all over his base. It was another when it was people talking about personal information that he never revealed to them before.
A beep on her computer drew Mikami's eyes back to the screen to see a message icon flashing at her. Opening it up, she read the e-mail quickly before looking up at her captain. "Kazama-san, Arashiyama-san needs you."
Turning his attention to his operator, Kazama frowned. "For what?" He asked as he walked around the desk to look at the screen to see the e-mail. His eyes caught sight of everyone the e-mail was sent to.
Curious.
"Seems Jin-san is acting." Mikami replied.
"He should have acted before Kuga screwed up and caused his father to appear." Kikuchihara said.
Utagawa glared at his teammate. He worked with Yuma for a while for the expedition exam so having gotten to know him quite well, he felt more protective of his former teammate. "I'm sure Kuga didn't let this happen on purpose. This could have happened to anyone. It's just worse in Border's eyes because he has a powerful father."
"It's just one transformed Mimic. How bad can it truly be?"
*Mimics*
"What is the purpose of this?" Hyuse asked.
Yotaro clambered onto the barstool so he could watch Hyuse, who was holding the milk in his hand in confusion. "You mix all the stuff together and a drink worthy of a hot day like this is created."
Hyuse looked from the milk he was holding to the blender in front of him and shrugged before dropping all the milk into it.
"We can make it into a chocolate one too if we add the syrup." Yotaro said.
Hyuse never really cared for chocolate in Aftokrator, but he found the food in Japan tasted a lot different than what he was used too. He was always willing to try something new, and besides, Yotaro looked excited for a chocolate milkshake so Hyuse grabbed the bottle and added a generous amount to the blender.
"To make it a proper milkshake, we also need ice cream."
Taking up the spoon that Yotaro had set out for him to use, Hyuse plopped some ice cream into the blender, splashing the milk onto the counter as he did so. Ignoring the mess, Hyuse tossed the spoon to the side as he looked at the buttons on the strange machine that Yotaro kept calling a blender. Each button said something different, not that Hyuse was able to read any of the words so he just hit a button at random.
The machine immediately whirled to life and to Hyuse surprise, he got a face fill of ice cream, milk, and chocolate. The stuff that didn't hit him went flying through the air, splashing against the cabinets, roof, counter, and floor.
A surprise squeak escaped Yotaro as he got hit by the mess before he dropped down from the stool to hide under it.
Hyuse did not see the appeal of these things called milkshakes.
"Aaaah! What are you doing?" Shiori shouted, ducking behind the door she just came through. "Turn it off! Turn it off, Hyuse-kun!"
Shrugging, Hyuse hit the button he used to turn it off, but it stayed pushed in. Smashing it with more force did not, made the Neighbor scowl.
"No, no, the button on the far right. The last button." Shiori said.
Hyuse smacked that button, successfully ending that annoying buzzing noise.
With the blender successfully off, Shiori peeked back into the room to look at the milkshake dripping from every surface in the kitchen. She watched as it dripped from Hyuse's face as he tried to rub off using his sleeve. "What were you guys trying to do?"
Yotaro popped out from under his stool. "We're making milkshakes!"
Shiori looked at the mess of the kitchen with a sigh. She wanted to turn right back around and pretend she never saw this mess. Unfortunately, Hyuse and Yotaro already saw her and if the mess got left here, they would quickly rat her out as being here as well. "You can't just turn a blender on. You have to put a lid on it first."
"Why does Meeden have such complicated machines?" Hyuse grumbled.
Shiori pushed her glasses up. A child and a Neighbor who had no idea of what they were doing should never be left alone together. "If you don't know what it is, you shouldn't be touching it, Hyuse-kun."
Hyuse hmphed back at her.
Grabbing some wash cloths from the drawer, she threw one at Hyuse then one at Yotaro. "Well, get to it. This kitchen needs to be sparkling clean. You make the mess, you clean it." She added when Hyuse looked ready to complain. "If you do a good job, I'll make you a proper milkshake after."
"I don't see anything good about milkshakes." Hyuse grumbled.
"You need to try one to see." Yotaro said.
Hearing the floorboards creak, Shiori whipped her head around to the doorway. That wasn't Konami coming down, was it? She would freak out if she saw this mess. Well, freak out, then mock Hyuse. Considering he made the mess, Shiori didn't need him getting mad and storming off without cleaning it up.
Lucky for her, she saw familiar white hair in the hallway. "Oh, Yuma-kun, you're back. Did things go well at the base?" She called out into the hallway.
Yuma glanced into the room, taking in the mess that was Hyuse and the kitchen, before continuing past and heading upstairs without a word.
"Is he in a bad mood again?" Hyuse asked, using the cloth Shiori gave him to wipe his face clean, instead of wiping up the counters.
"Guess things didn't go well at HQ." Shiori said.
"Did you not see the memo from Director Shinoda?" Hyuse asked, drawing Shiori's attention to him.
"I've been helping Cronin-san analyze the Mimics all day. We're trying to see if we can get any more information about them then what Yuma-kun was able to tell us." Shiori explained.
Hyuse nodded. "A Mimic of his father has made its appearance and he somehow is able to use Yuma's Black Trigger abilities."
"Ah," Shiori said, worry spreading across her face as she looked out into the hallway. For someone who didn't like to talk about his past, it must be difficult for Yuma to have that revealed to Border.
*Mimics*
Kazama entered the conference room, eyes taking in the occupants sitting at the table. There was Azuma, Kako, Arashiyama, Tachikawa, Fuyushima, and Miwa. "Where is Jin?"
"He had something to take care of. He said he would come back if he was able to." Kako replied as Kazama took a seat next to Fuyushima.
"So, what was it that you needed to call us all together for, Arashiyama?" Azuma asked. "Does it have to do with that memo we got this morning about Kuga's father?"
Arashiyama nodded his head. "Jin wants us to get everyone up to date on exactly what Yuma's Black Trigger can do. We don't want to be charging blindly into it."
"If that's the case, then shouldn't Kuga be here? He will be the one best able to tell us about his Black Trigger." Kazama pointed out.
"Unfortunately," Jin said, announcing his presence as the door slid open to reveal himself. "That is a no go."
"Did something happen?" Kako asked.
"Besides Yuma getting mad at me for the third time today?" Jin asked. "No, not really, but I don't think he's in the mood to tell us about his Black Trigger."
Azuma raised a brow. "How did you find him? Midorikawa has been running around for hours looking for him."
Jin shrugged. "Despite what Yuma thinks, I do know him very well."
That statement confused the agents who didn't get the pleasure of having Yuma rant at them. Jin wasn't going to take the time to explain it, especially since it wasn't any of their business. He instead just took his seat next to Tachikawa.
"Sorry I'm late."
"You're the one who called the meeting. You could at least be here before the rest of us." Miwa grumbled.
"Ah," Jin held up a finger. "I didn't call it. Arashiyama called it."
"On your orders I bet." Miwa argued.
The grin that Jin gave Miwa made the younger agent twitch in annoyance. While he had come to respect and understand Jin's position over the last few months, his easy-going attitude was still able to set him off. It felt like he wasn't being serious at times because of how laidback he was, but on the other side, he could be so blunt with his words showing a more serious nature.
"Perhaps you shouldn't antagonize anyone else today, Jin." Azuma suggested.
"I never antagonized anyone today. Yuma has just been in a rotten mood all week." Jin replied as he looked at his phone as he typed out a message.
"He didn't seem too mad yesterday. Koarai said he was fighting an array of people in the rank booths and was whining about missing his chance to challenge him to a fight." Azuma said.
Jin looked up from his phone, raising a brow. That didn't seem too surprising. Yuma took his fights seriously. To him, they were a way to empty his mind from his worries and give him something to focus on, that being to not get killed by his opponent.
"Sounds to me like he's just sick of you." Miwa said.
"I don't think so. Mitsuru said Yuma was snapping at him when the Mimics attacked them last night." Arashiyama replied.
"Speaking of the Mimics, I heard they attacked the base." Azuma said, looking over at Arashiyama since his squad was on duty last night.
Arashiyama nodded. "We hadn't even gone on duty yet since it wasn't night yet. It seems the Mimics are able to appear at twilight. I suppose they found Trion bodies in the base which is why they came here. Lucky for us, only two got into the base."
"Is that lucky? That's where Kuga ran into them and a Mimic got a hold of his father's memories." Fuyushima said.
Running a hand through his hair, Arashiyama sighed. It could have been worse all things considered. They did run into a few more Mimics last night, but his squad was able to take care of them. Yuma had to opt out of the battle since he didn't want to use his Black Trigger. He ended up escorting Yuma out of the Restricted Zone when it was close to daybreak so he would go home. There was no finding his Trigger.
"On his father, you saw in the memo from Shinoda-san that apparently Kuga-san is using Yuma's Black Trigger seals." Jin said, bringing the conversation back to the point of this gathering. "I want to go over what those seals are, at least the ones I know of so you guys can be prepared if you have to face Kuga-san."
"Do you see us facing off against Kuga in the future?" Fuyushima asked.
"He is still a Trion Soldier so I can't see his future but I do see a battle in our future. We're going to need all of our agents in top form." Jin explained, glancing at his phone to see the reply from Konami shining up at him.
*Mimics*
Yuma stared up at the sky. He didn't usually come to Tamakoma's roof during the day, but he really didn't want to deal with his friends inside. While his eyes were locked on the sky, Yuma's thumb ran over the smooth metal of his ring. Just five more days. Five more days until the anniversary of his father's death. The anniversary of the day Yuma should have died.
"Join us in avenging Yugo's death. I'm sure that's what Yugo would want."
"And you must despise those Spintales too. Yugo is dead because of them. They need to pay for what they've done."
"In other words, this is a crusade!"
Even after all these years, those lies still rained deeply in Yuma's mind. He was hoping to forget them, but it seemed he would never be able to until he died. When those old guys were talking to him to get him to agree to use his Black Trigger for Calvaria's sake, that was when Yuma learned he had also inherited his dad's side effect.
The first lies he ever detected with his father's side effect would never leave him.
He couldn't forget them because they weren't the only ones to realize the truth.
It was Yuma's fault that Yugo was dead.
"After all it was because of you your father died in the first place." Jin said, black smoke flowing from his mouth.
Jin lied.
Jin said it was his fault his dad was dead.
Jin was lying.
Jin didn't believe it was Yuma's fault that Yugo was dead.
But it was.
It was his fault.
Jin wasn't there.
Jin didn't see it happen.
He only had Yuma's words to go back on.
Yuma was completely honest with Jin about what happened when he was eleven, and he still didn't see it as Yuma's fault.
Why?
"Heard you snapped at Jin. Three times today in fact."
"Konami-senpai." Yuma greeted without looking away from the sky. With his back to her, he was able to take the moment to compose him. He came up here with the expectation of being left alone. The longer he stayed in Japan, the less it was working. Everyone kept coming to the roof to hunt him down.
Konami raised a brow. "Really? That's all you have to say. Jin is worried about you with a Mimic of your father appearing but you keep running from him. So, care to tell me why you're mad at him for wanting to protect you?"
"You wouldn't understand."
Konami scowled. "That is not a reply fitting you." She wrapped her arms around Yuma's neck from behind him. "Skipping out on our training sessions, skipping dinner, fighting with Jin. You've been acting strange for days now. Something is clearly bothering you and it's enough to throw you so obviously off. So instead of trying to hide and deal with it on your own, talk to me. I'm your mentor. It's my job to help and guide you."
Yuma grabbed one of Konami's arms that were choking him. While he squeezed her arm a bit tightly, it wasn't tight enough to hurt her and he didn't try to pull her off. There wasn't any reason to tell her. It wasn't her business. His problems were his own and he could work through them by himself.
And yet...
"That last time someone wanted to protect me, they died." The words left Yuma's lips before he even realized it.
That...was not what Konami was expecting to hear. For it to be guilt coating Yuma's voice. Her chokehold loosened into being a hug instead.
"And now I found Jin lost Fujin to HQ to protect me from Border. His mentor's memento." Yuma looked down to the hand he was using to grip Konami's arm so he could look at his ring. Even if his Black Trigger wasn't keeping him alive, Yuma would never want to part with it. Jin was perhaps stronger than him to be able to make that decision. "I never asked anyone to protect me. I was taught to always rely on my own strength to protect myself. I don't want to bring others into my problems."
Very briefly Konami tightened her hug on Yuma before she was releasing her mentee. She turned back to pick up the glasses she had set on the ground earlier so she could harass Yuma. "Here," She held out one of the glasses to Yuma.
That seemed like an abrupt shift from what Yuma was talking about, but he took the offered glass anyway. His brows furrowed in confusion as he looked at the thick liquid in the glass that he took.
"It's a chocolate milkshake, courtesy of Shiori." Konami explained.
"Looks like the stuff that was dripping from every surface in the kitchen I walked pass earlier." Yuma said.
Konami raised a brow, but didn't comment. That would at least explain why Yotaro was covered in milkshake with Shiori leading him upstairs earlier. At least the kitchen wasn't a sticky mess when she went in there.
Yuma took a small sip of the drink before his eyes were lighting up and he was taking a sipping more eagerly through straw.
"Careful you don't drink it too fast. You don't want a brain freeze." Konami warned as she sipped her milkshake.
Yuma paused, glancing over at her. "Is that bad?"
"It won't be fun." Konami replied. She set her drink down on the ledge and climbed up to sit next to Yuma, dangling her legs over it. "Now."
When Konami didn't continue, Yuma turned his head to her to ask what was wrong when he was met her hand as she flicked him in the forehead.
"Eh," Yuma rubbed his forehead.
"Never thought I would have to call you an idiot." Konami said, picking up her milkshake to enjoy the refreshing beverage. "Being taught to rely on your strength to protect yourself doesn't mean you have to do everything alone. No one can do everything by themselves. I know you know that, Yuma. You would never have made it to B-Rank #2 without Osamu, Chika, and Hyuse fighting besides you. In your last match, Chika killed Tsuji-chan. Her first intentional kill."
Yuma smiled as he recalled the final moments of that last Rank War. "It was a good shot."
"And she did it to protect Osamu, to prevent him from getting stabbed in the back. If she didn't take that shot, you guys would have lost that fight. It's no different from what you do to defend them in the Rank Wars or even when we were fighting Aftokrator. So why, when it is the other way around, do you get upset? You're our friend. We're allowed to want to watch out for you the way you do us."
Yuma looked at his mentor. His mentor who was so easily tricked and who lashed out in anger constantly. His competitive mentor who hated losing. His mentor who valued loyalty and trust so much that her anger overrode her logic when her comrades were threatened. "I never told you this before, Konami-senpai."
That sounded like the beginning of a confession. A confession of what? Konami had no idea, but she was here to listen. Even if Jin didn't text her to see if Yuma came back to base and then asked her to check on him, she would still be willing to listen. When Osamu had problems, he went to Karasuma. When Chika was struggling with her concerns about shooting someone, it was Reiji and Shiori she opened up to.
Yuma had never opened up to Konami before, and Konami thought he never would. He was always so confident in himself and his skills so she thought there would never be anything that Yuma would feel the need to confide in her.
That had been fine with her.
While she had trained Yuma for months, her mentee had never truly opened up to her. She had never pushed him to tell her more about his life before Border because it wasn't important. Having spent time with Yuma, she knew he was a good kid, but the way he held himself, full of strength and confidence, showed her that he clearly had gone through something. Whatever it was, had made Yuma strong. To her, that meant a difficult life. No one got strong by having an easy time growing up.
That didn't make for easy conversation and Konami didn't want to push him into talking about his difficult past. If he ever felt comfortable to open up to her, he would do it on his own time.
For now, Konami wrapped an arm around Yuma's shoulder and pulled him in her, resting her chin on his hair as she waited for Yuma to go on.
"My dad. It was my fault he died." Yuma admitted. "I blatantly disobeyed an order he gave me and got hurt because it. My father died to save my life. If I hadn't done that, he would still be here with me."
Him and Replica.
If he hadn't gotten his dad killed, Yuma would have never come to Japan. He wouldn't have met Osamu or Chika. He wouldn't have met all his friends. He wouldn't have joined Border. He wouldn't have fought Aftokrator. He wouldn't have lost Replica.
"If I never disobeyed his order and he never died, I would have never come here. I wouldn't have made all these amazing friends. I love all my friends here, but I also loved my dad so much. I want him back so much."
"The past can't be changed, Yuma. You can't know what would have happened if he didn't die. It doesn't do well to dwell on what ifs." Konami said softly.
"Then what of the future. I don't want anyone else to die because they want to protect me. It's my fault a Mimic of my father appeared. It's on me to fix this."
*Mimics*
"Do we have any idea of why Kuga is able to us Kuga's Black Trigger abilities anyway? Like, did Kuga have the Black Trigger before he died and that's why he can use it? Kuga could have taken hold of it after his father's death." Fuyushima said.
"Hold up, let's back track before we answer that." Kako said, raising her hands from the table. "This is getting too confusing with Kuga being around like that. Can't you call one of them something different?"
"Kuga's father will be known as Cheater." Tachikawa suggested.
"You can't call Yuma's father cheater just because he successfully ambushed and killed you." Jin pointed out, making Tachikawa glare at him.
"Fine, then Kuga is Chibi." Tachikawa retorted.
"That seems kind of demeaning." Arashiyama protested. Now that he knew the reason behind Yuma's short statue, he wasn't feeling in the mood to give him a nickname based on it. "You could just call him Yuma or just add an honorific to his name."
"He's not even here. Who cares?" Miwa said annoyed.
"It doesn't matter what you call him." Kazama added. "We're here to discuss his Black Trigger powers and how to deal with the future events Jin sees coming. Kuga's name is irrelevant."
At his input, the argument came to a halt as the group stared at Kazama before Kako piped up, "Which one?"
*Mimics*
Shiori glanced up the stairs that led to the roof. She would like to go up and check on Yuma herself, but she kept herself from doing so. Hopefully the milkshakes and his mentor's presence would help Yuma's mood. While she let Konami handle the conversation part, perhaps Shiori could do something else, like make one of his favorite snacks.
Though the last thing she wanted to do was make another mess in the kitchen after they just got it sparkly clean after Yotaro and Hyuse's disaster. Even so, doing what she could to cheer Yuma up was more important. She couldn't begin to understand what he was going through with his father haunting him like this so supporting him in any way she could was what she could do.
Making her way back to the kitchen, Shiori found herself freezing the doorway for the second time that day when she found a stranger standing in the room.
That wasn't possible.
The alarm should have gone off when an intruder came in.
*Mimics*
"Were you not listening to me at all before?" Konami griped.
"It's kind of hard not to hear you." Yuma replied.
"Huh?" The arm around Yuma's shoulder suddenly shifted to wrap around his neck once more in a chokehold. "What are you trying to say, Yuma? You think I can't-"
A sudden scream broke through the air, cutting Konami off. The two agents broke apart quickly and were both on their feet and running back inside without so much of a glance at each other.
As she ran down the stairs, Konami was pulling her Trigger out of her pocket. There was a chance nothing was wrong and the scream was just of surprise, but it wasn't one she was willing to take, considering the past few days.
"Trigger on."
While Konami shifted to her Trion body, Yuma continued running down the stairs, not bothering to activate his Trigger. Unless there was an absolute threat, he wasn't going to risk punishment by activating his Black Trigger needlessly.
Yuma slammed into the living room, door bouncing off the wall with the force he slammed it open, but he didn't notice as he took in the sight of his operator being held up by her neck. Following that hand to its body, Yuma found himself staring into a pair of intense red eyes.
"Hello, Yuma."
