A/N: I don't own World Trigger
Mimics
Chapter 11: Guilt
Chika sat next to Shiori's bed, lightly holding her friend's hand. Once everything had settled down earlier, Reiji and Karasuma had gone to pick up Shiori and the others from Suzunari Branch and brought them back to HQ. This allowed Shiori the chance to get checked out properly by the doctors at HQ.
"I'm so glad you're alright, Shiori-san." Chika said.
Shiori smiled at the younger girl as she turned her hand over so she could grip Chika's hand in return.
"I want to know how he managed to get into the Branch in the first place. We have an alarm system in place to alert us of this kind of thing." Osamu said.
Shiori shook her head, unsure of the answer. By all reason, Kuga Yugo should not have been able to get into their Branch without an alert going to all their phones to warn of the intruder. The fact that he got as far as he did meant that there was an oversight on their part. It was hard to tell what it was since Border only knew what Yuma told them about Mimics so far. They needed to gather more intel on them.
"How long will you be in here?" Hyuse asked.
Shiori glanced at Hyuse in surprise before she was grabbing her phone off the side table and typing rapidly before showing it to Chika.
"Awww, Hyuse-kun cares about me." Chika read out loud, fighting hard to keep a smile off her face.
"I do not." Hyuse said hotly, turning his back on the group and stubbornly crossing his arms. "It's just inconvenient to have our operator out of commission."
Shiori gave a grin to Chika. To Chika that grin clearly said how much she didn't believe Hyuse. Chika knew that Shiori liked to tease people so it must be hard for her to rest her voice to recover.
Taking her phone back, Shiori typed another message out before turning it back to Chika.
"Where's Yuma-kun?" Chika read softly before looking at the rest of the room.
At the question, Osamu looked over his shoulders in confusion. "He was with us earlier. He must have cut off from us at some point on our way here."
Shiori lowered her phone to her lap, looking down at it downhearted. It would have been nice to have her full team here.
Chika looked at Shiori's injured neck, wincing softly as she took in the bruises there. Shiori was an operator. She never went in the field so there should never have been a time where she could get hurt. To make it worse, her injuries were caused by Yuma's father.
Chika's hands curled into fists on her lap.
*Mimics*
"I need to change my assessment of the situation." Jin said. "I was wrong."
Kido leaned back in his chair, motioning for Jin to continue.
"I initially did not see the city in danger. The attack on Tamakoma Branch today isn't a future I saw." Jin explained, staring at the conference room full of the higher ups. It seemed that it was going to be a long week for everyone, not just the agents. "I got a look at Kuga Yugo today and I still cannot see the future for him so I do not know his goal."
"That tells us more than anything that he is nothing more than a Trion Soldier." Kinuta said.
Jin gave a small tilt of his head in acknowledgement to the statement. That was something they all knew, but it didn't take away from the difficulty of facing the person that was once a friend. This would be harder for Yuma and the few people that knew Kuga Yugo when he was alive.
"And what of this other matter, with the Gates opening outside the Restricted Zone." Netsuki asked, brushing the back of his neck anxiously. "How long has Kuga-kun had the ability to open Gates?"
"It seems his Black Trigger always had a Seal to open the Gates, but when he came to us, we didn't inquire about all the Seals he had at his disposal and he didn't feel the need to inform us." Rindo replied, rolling his cigarette around in his fingers. "He hasn't used the Seal in all the months he's been here, except for this morning when he gave us a glimpse of it in the training room."
Kinuta hmphed. "So, we've had a Neighbor running around with the ability to summon Trion Soldiers this whole time?"
"Yuma-kun never once used it to attack us so it isn't a problem." Shinoda argued.
"He may not have, but this Kuga Yugo is using it to attack us." Kinuta retorted. "It causes a big problem if he can open the Gates anywhere in the city. If it's the ability of a Black Trigger and he's around for days, we don't have the capability of forcing the Gates to stay shut."
"Would he though?" Karasawa asked. "From the reports, I understand that Kuga-kun ran into the Mimic last night which means it's been close to a whole day since Kuga has been in the city. The only time the city was in any danger was near Tamakoma Branch when he attacked the agents there. To me, it seems like he has no interest in the city. If we can figure out what he is after, we can hopefully minimize the damage."
Jin shifted his eyes over to Rindo, catching his boss's eyes. It would be hard to keep it a secret since Tachikawa and his squad already knew. Besides, it really wouldn't be all that surprising considering what they knew of Mimics so far.
Rindo rested his arm on the table to take his weight as he leaned forward. "About that, it seems he has been looking for Yuma. I imagine the attack on our Branch was because he was trying to find his son."
Kido slid his eyes towards Rindo. "To kill him?"
"That would seem logical considering the purpose of these Mimics, but Konami said he had the chance to but didn't take it." Rindo replied. His attention shifted briefly to Jin, recalling the conversation they had in the car the other day, before moving to the rest of the table. If Jin was predicting Yuma's death by the end of the week, the chance of Yugo coming back to actually take it was pretty high. "It's possible his goal is something else."
That was concerning, but it was also a relief to know that Yuma was still safe for the time being. "It would help if we knew how Kuga Yugo got into the base without anyone being alerted." Shinoda said. "There's the chance he could get into HQ if we don't figure this out."
"It seems there was an oversight." Kinuta grunted, crossing his arms over his chest as he stared at Shinoda and Rindo with a scowl. From the moment they had been alerted to the attack happening at Tamakoma, he had been looking into the problem. "Kuga Yugo is still in Border's system. Despite having left the organization years ago, he was never removed from the security codes."
An oversight, indeed. None of them had deemed it necessary to remove Yugo from a system he helped design because they always knew Yugo would never be an enemy to Border. If he ever came back to Japan, it would make things easier if he could access the base without a fight. That was the decision made decades ago, and since then, it had been so long since they heard from him, that they had forgotten all about it.
When Yuma came bearing news of his death, the security measures weren't even something they bothered to think about. A dead person can't access the base after all. It shouldn't be something that they would have to update. It didn't even cross their minds at the time since, among everything else going on, that wasn't important.
"Considering this Kuga Yugo we are dealing with is a Trion Soldier wearing his face, is it really possible for the fake to copy his security clearance to get inside?" Karasawa asked.
"He just did it!" Kinuta retorted.
Karasawa rolled his cigarette between his fingers as he thought that over. "Makes you wonder just how fake these Mimics are then."
*Mimics*
Chika shoved the door open to the roof, looking across the huge roof for any sign of Yuma. She knew that he liked spending time on Tamakoma's roof so a change of location shouldn't have changed that. A moment later her eyes landed on the figure sitting on the ledge.
Staring at Yuma sitting there alone on this huge roof somehow just made him look extremely lonely and even smaller.
Crossing the roof, without a word, Chika was sitting on the ledge, back to the city so she could keep her feet firmly down on the roof. She didn't understand how Yuma could always just let his feet hang over the edge of when he was sitting on the roof. She would be scared of falling off, especially since Border HQ was a lot higher than Tamakoma's roof.
Yuma shifted slightly when she sat next to him. He pulled his knee tighter to his chest, hugging it with one arm. "What's up, Chika?" He asked as he subtly pulled the sleeve of his jacket down over his hand to hide the cracks there while also using his knee to hide his arm from view.
"Shiori-san was asking about you." Chika replied softly. She turned her head slightly to look at Yuma. "We had a bad, unexpected attack today, Yuma-kun. She wants to see you to make sure you okay, especially since it was your father attacking us."
"Hmm."
When that was all Chika got as a response, she turned her whole body to angle herself better to look at Yuma. Her friend still refused to look away from the scenery he was staring at, but Chika wasn't going to let that bother her. She came up here to find Yuma for a reason. "Yuma-kun, I want to apologize."
Yuma blinked in confusion, but kept his eyes locked on the city ruins in front of him. "What for?"
"The other day I was telling you how scared I was to come face to face with the Mimics because I was scared my brother and friend would form. If they appeared in front of me, then it would all be over. My reason for wanting to be an agent would be gone from me. I wouldn't be able to save them from the Neighborhood." Chika explained, resting her hand lightly on her chest. The fear of the Mimics still resided in her, but like Yuma said, she wasn't alone. The battle today proved it. So many of her comrades at Tamakoma were there and backup came from HQ as fast as they could from HQ. They weren't alone in this fight. "The idea that they might be dead terrifies me, but the chance to have the unknown revealed to me like this was just as, if not more so, terrifying. You talked me through it, but I not once considered your feelings. I know your father is dead and that you must have been scared to have him appear like this, but I never once thought about your feelings. It was selfish of me."
"That's not on you, Chika. I didn't want you to know." Yuma replied. "I don't begrudge you for not realizing. It's hard to focus on what other people are feeling when your own worries and fears are clouding your mind."
"Maybe that's why you haven't noticed." Chika suggested.
"Noticed what?" Yuma asked, finally glancing over at his teammate.
Chika held her hand out to Yuma. "Can I see you phone?"
Even more confused now, Yuma relented to her request and passed his phone over.
Chika tsked lightly as she opened the phone. "You should see about putting a password on your phone, Yuma-kun." She scolded before going into his messages. "Here we go. 'Where are you? I need to talk to you. It's important.' That's from Midorikawa-kun. He asked me to pass the message along that he needs to talk to you since you weren't answering him, by the way. Oh, and here's one from Murakami-san. 'I understand why you disappeared from HQ. Just let me know you're fine. It can't be easy having a Mimic of your father running around.' Oh...and one from Kageura-san. 'Idiot...get your act together.'"
Yuma snorted. That was just like Kageura.
"'Who the hell do you think you are hiding the fact that you have a Black Trigger?' From Suwa-san." Chika said, feeling a bit amused. She scrolled down through the messages that were left unread by Yuma all day. "There's too many to go through, but my point is, they're worried. They all express it their own way, but you didn't notice because you've been worried all day about your father. Yuma-kun." Chika put Yuma's phone down beside her so she could lightly grip his arm. "No one is blaming you for what happened. Not for your father appearing or the attack that happened at our base. They're just worried about you."
Pausing for a moment to gather her thoughts and see if Yuma replied, Chika diverted her eyes to stars that Yuma loved to stare at. The stars always used to feel so very far, so out of reach. They were completely untouchable.
Like Chika's dream of someday seeing her brother and sister again. That was her hope that they would come back one day, but it was so unrealistic, so far out of reach. It was Yuma appearing in their lives and showing her a path where that dream could be made into a reality, but one that she had to work for.
It didn't feel so impossible now.
"I never told you the reason why I wasn't able to shoot people before."
"You don't have to, Chika. The fact that you found the strength to overcome your doubts is amazing enough. I don't need to know the reasons to know you're incredible."
Chika shook her head. "I know I don't have to tell, Yuma-kun, but I want to because you're my friend and I trust you. My Trion volume always attracted Neighbors and I was always running from them. The only people I ever told were Aoba-chan and my brother. After they both knew, they went missing into the Neighbor's world. It's because of me that they're both gone. I always believed that and thought if others knew the truth, they would blame me and would be too scared to be around me. So, I stopped talking about the Neighbors coming after me. I was always really good at getting away from them." She smiled at Yuma.
The smile she was showing. It was a fake. Yuma would know. He had mastered faking his smiles after his dad died. The truth behind that smile was that she was scared and lonely. Feelings that Yuma knew too way. It was easier to fake a smile then to show what he was really feeling after his dad died.
"I didn't realize it when we first joined Border but Hyuse-kun saw right through me. He was so positive that I could shoot people. The idea that I was able to honestly scared me. His words put things into prospective for me and I realized the reason why I was scared to shoot was because I was afraid. I'm scared of getting blamed and ostracized because of my Trion. Aoba-chan and Rinji-niisan were hurt by me. I was scared that if I shot someone, people would get scared of me. They would realize that I'm to blame for what happened to my friend and brother and hate me for it."
"No one did though." Chika moved her eyes back up the sky, smiling softly. "I killed two people in the Rank Wars and no one hated me for it. They all gave me praise for my excellent marksmanship instead. There was nothing for anyone to blame me for just because I took out my target. It was thanks to Hyuse-kun. He helped me realize that if I never took the shot and you or Osamu-kun got killed for it, then I would be the one to blame. Sitting back and doing nothing is what I did when I lost Aoba-chan and Rinji-niisan. I won't sit still anymore. I won't hesitate when I can protect my team."
Turning his head away and shutting his eyes, Yuma smirked to himself. "You're such a stubborn person, Chika, and you're grown so strong in the past few months."
"It's all thanks to you, and Osamu-kun, and Hyuse-kun." Chika replied earnestly. "And all my sniper senpais and our senpais at Tamakoma. If it wasn't for all of you, I wouldn't be here right now." She looked down at her lap, hands wringing around each other. "For the longest time, I blamed myself for what happened to them and I feared everyone else would blame me too, but no one has. Not a single person had said that it is my fault for anything. Everyone makes their owns choices. So, Yuma-kun, I don't blame you. It's not your fault our base got attacked today and I'm sure if you talk to Shiori-san, she won't blame you for her injuries either. None of us are going to blame you. We're just worried about you."
Yuma knew he had slipped up the past few days. With the approaching anniversary of his father's death and the Mimics on top of that, the weight of it all was starting to pull him down. That stress had been slipping through and his fake smile was getting harder to plaster onto his face, making it hard to hide from his friends. He knew they were seeing it. It was hard to miss when he was dragging Shun out of his operation's room after all.
It wasn't fair to any of them for Yuma to take his frustrations about everything out on them. Yuma was doing his best to keep from snapping at them. In turn, his frustrations and worries started to build up in him, and unfortunately, it kept coming out on Jin. Jin didn't deserve any of that. He was just worried and trying to save Yuma, and Yuma was repaying that by getting mad at him.
Yuma didn't want to die. He wanted Jin to find the path that would lead them out of this, but protecting the city and citizens from his father had to come first. The problems Yuma was having with his father couldn't bleed into the city. It would only cause problems with Border, and right now, they didn't need any more problems piled on top of them.
"You don't need to be, Chika." Yuma smiled at his teammate. "I'm fine. Whatever happens in the next few days, I'm prepared for it."
The look Chika was giving him was telling Yuma that she didn't believe him, but Yuma didn't let that deter him. He kept up his confident smile.
Reaching across his friend, Yuma snatched up his phone. "But maybe you're right. I've been in my head too much today. I should at least reply to everyone."
"I don't know about the others, but I know Midorikawa-kun wants to talk to you in person." Chika said.
"Hmm?" Yuma looked up from his phone. "Wonder what's so important that he wants to talk in person."
"That's for you two to talk about." Chika replied as she stood up, smoothing out her skirt. She looked up at the sky. "I know you like spending time on the roof, Yuma-kun, but perhaps not right now? Mimics could make an appearance at any time."
Yuma nodded. "Speaking of, it's dangerous at night with the Mimics now. Will you and Osamu be alright getting home?"
"Kizaki-san offered to drive us both home." Chika replied as she led the way back to the door.
Yuma pulled his sleeve down some more, gripping the material in his fingers to keep it over his hand. "That's good. You'll be safe with Reiji-san."
*Mimics*
"Is Tamakoma alright?" Utagawa asked.
Kazama sat down on the couch, trying to relax as much as he could. It wouldn't do any good to get stressed out from all the recent activity. They needed to all rest properly to prepare for the next few days. "They all made it out of the attack alive. Usami got a bit hurt, but she'll recover with some rest.
Utagawa sighed in relief. He would have to take a chance to go visit her at some point. It was rare for Border's personal that weren't fighting in the field to get hurt. Though in the past few months, it seemed like their bases were getting targeted more often. "What attacked them?"
"I bet it was Kuga Yugo. He's the only Mimic transformed and able to come out in the daylight." Kikuchihara said. He doubted that there was any threat beyond the Mimics that they should be concerned about after all. "Did you guys at least manage to kill him and end this?"
"We weren't that lucky." Kazama replied. "He's still out there somewhere. From what I heard, Tamakoma Branch will be staying at HQ until their Branch can get fixed and Kuga is killed."
"The father, right?" Utagawa asked warily.
Kazama closed his eyes, trying to will himself not to groan at the reminder of what the Captains spent their meeting arguing about earlier. It was confusing to call both Yuma and his father Kuga, but context of the sentence should make it obvious who he was talking about. "Yes, the father. We're not killing our ally."
"Technically speaking, Kuga is an ally since he used to be a Border member that died, right?" Kikuchihara replied.
"We're fighting a Mimic, not the real former Border member." Kazama said.
Mikami leaned around her monitors to look at her Captain. "How was your meeting with the Captains?"
Kazama almost groaned at the question. Could people stop trying to remind him of the failure of that meeting? "Unproductive. If Jin tries to schedule another meeting among the Captains to attempt this meeting again, pretend you don't see it and don't tell me. It'll be faster if I just go directly to Kuga."
"Kuga, our enemy to kill him? Or Kuga-kun, our ally to get information on his father?" Mikami asked.
Kazama was beginning to see the appeal of Kako's argument to call one of the Kuga's something different if this was going to be every conversation he had about Kuga in the few days.
"You might not have any luck with Kuga-kun. Tsukimi-san said Yoneya-san said he hasn't been in a good mood the past few days."
"I think I can deal with Kuga-kun in a bad mood." Kazama replied. "He can't be worse than Enedra was."
Yuma being in a bad mood. He had heard that a few times already, but when he saw him at Tamakoma earlier, he seemed fine. Perhaps in a bit of shock since his father had just attacked him and his Branch, but there was relatively no anger in him that Kazama could see. He could have easily gotten over whatever was bothering him, but the rumor of his bad mood hadn't faded yet.
"No one can match the attitude of Enedra." Kikuchihara said. "Even as a rad, he hasn't dropped the arrogance."
"He knows we need information from him." Utagawa replied.
"Isn't that what Hyuse-kun is for?" Mikami asked.
"It's good to get information from a variety of sources and compare what we learn since it's likely people will lie." Kazama replied. "Though it is easier now with Kuga's side effect to get proper information. And yes, I mean our ally, Kuga."
"You know it might be easier to distinguish which one we're talking about if you gave Kuga-kun or his father a different name." Mikami suggested.
"I will not be part of another conversation about that." Kazama replied as he stood up. "Be sure to rest well tonight. The next few days are going to get pretty busy."
"Are you sure we won't be needed tonight?" Utagawa asked.
"No, but if something does happen, an emergency summons will go out."
*Mimics*
Kusakabe looked up as Shun came into the operations room, slouched over in defeat. "Did you talk to Kuga-kun?"
"I couldn't find him anywhere." Shun muttered as he sat down on the couch, leaning back into the cushions with a sigh.
"Apparently he was at Tamakoma Branch." Hayato said.
Shun's head shot off the back of the couch to look at his teammate. "Why didn't you tell me sooner? I could have gotten there and talked to him and still have made it back here in time for defense duty!"
"I didn't know before. You haven't heard yet?" Haytao asked surprised. "Tamakoma Branch got attacked a few hours ago by Kuga Yugo."
"What?!" Shun shouted, flying to his feet and slamming his hands on the table between the two couches so he could lean in closer to his teammate. "Yuma-senpai's father attacked?"
Hayato leaned back in the seat to get away from Shun. "That's what I just said. You've been running around the base all day. How did you not hear this?"
Sighing, Shun dropped back into seat. "Yuma-senpai has been a hot topic all day. I started tuning out what everyone was saying. All I wanted was to find him and talk to him. Is everyone from Tamakoma alright?"
"Usami-chan got a bit injured, but other than that, they all made it out relatively fine." Kazuma replied. "Kuga-kun should be at HQ now. Considering the attack on their Branch, it's not likely they'll be able to stay there. You should have an easier time finding him now."
Shun turned his head, smooching his face on the back of the couch. "I can't now. We have to go on defense duty." He mumbled.
"You can do what Kuga-kun does. Take your frustration, or in your case depression, out by fighting." Saeki said.
"Who's to say we'll even find any enemies tonight?" Shun moaned.
"In the morning, drag Kuga-kun to the booths like he did to you the other day." Kazuma suggested.
"Great plan. Let them beat each other up, instead of talking to each other." Saeki said sarcastically.
"Could I do that?" Shun said interested. "Yuma-senpai already apologized for that."
"No," Kusakabe replied. "Just get ready for defense duty."
Shun grumbled to himself as he glanced at his phone, blinking in confusion. "When...Yuma-senpai texted me back! I didn't even hear my phone go off."
"Congrats," Kusakabe replied dryly. "Defense duty!"
Sorry, Shun. We'll talk in the morning.
"I have been looking for him all day and that's all he has to say?!"
"At least he replied." Kazuma said.
"And basically said nothing!"
"Defense duty!"
*Mimics*
"Doing alright?" Rindo asked.
Jin rubbed his hand over his face. "I could be doing better. If only I had seen that attack sooner."
"You can't blame yourself for that. We take too much advantage of your side effect to get us through the invasions. It places a heavy burden on you. We all need to remember that we have skilled agents. Our agents can get through battles without your interference. So perhaps instead of trying to plan for all these battles, let's focus on the main part of the future that leads up to the bad path. Are these smaller battles that will happen going to largely effect the future?"
Jin took a sit on the window seal. "They were important the past few nights when I was on the route to prevent Kuga-san's appearance, but now that we're on the path where he is here, these smaller battles have lost some importance. Not enough to ignore them, but enough that I shouldn't have to interfere with them. Still, the agents need to stay vigilant. We don't want any more transformed Mimics running around." He ran a hand through his hair, sighing softly. "I can trust the agents to handle the smaller battles, but not being able to see the futures of the Mimics has me worried. I can see a large battle looming in the horizon but the details are sparse. I would like to avoid having Mimics transform as much as possible."
Rindo blew out smoke from his mouth, holding his cigarette off to the side. "I don't think any of our agents are eager for the Mimics to transform. The idea for them to be used for managing grief is honorable, but I haven't heard any favorable talk about them."
"Because these aren't the Mimics Yuma spoke of. They're corrupted. Nothing more than weapons now." Jin said. "The agents know this so getting attacked by someone you love would make this harder. Harder to fight against, but it also destroys the memory of them. Because of these Mimics, the last memory you have of someone you love will be them trying to kill you. If the Mimics were following their original purpose, I can't say I would disagree too much. A chance for one last goodbye."
Rindo looked at Jin out of the corner of his eyes, frowning sadly at the melancholy tone. When they went to help their allies five years ago, Jin had only been fourteen. He had only been with Border for a few years then and that battle to help their allies had been his first big battle. While Jin knew of his side effect, he didn't like using it. He was scared of the futures he saw.
Then that battle took place.
So many of their comrades were lost that day.
To make things worse, Jin had been the one to find Mogami who was dying. Jin had to watch his master create Fujin.
That battle had been the turning point for Jin. He decided he didn't want to lose any more friends so he turned to his side effect, something that he once hated, he turned into one of his most useful skills in his arsenal.
It didn't take away the pain and grief of those they lost, but it could prevent any more grief from coming their way.
"Would you want to see Mogami-san again?" Rindo asked.
"It's been almost six years." Jin replied softly, leaning forward to rest his elbows on his knees. It truly felt like the weight of the world was going to pull him into the dirt. "It still hurts to remember what happened, but it's been such a long time that if I were to see him now, it would only end up being more painful. Besides, I can't save our futures if I'm focused on looking at the past."
Rindo smiled. "You're really deserving a long vacation, Jin."
"No time for that. I have a future to protect." Jin said, wiping away the pain that was trying to force him to the ground and instead grinned cheerfully at his boss.
"Don't overwork yourself." Rindo ordered, looking off the side with a sigh. Yuma and Jin were too much alike with trying to hide their true feelings so much. They never wanted anyone to see just how much they truly were hurting and suffering. It was like they believed they always had to be strong.
*Mimics*
"The whole day has been ruined and we're not allowed to go home." Yotaro complained.
Hyuse sat down on one of the beds in the barracks, staring at the young boy sitting on the bed across from him. Tamakoma was not his home. That was Aftokrator, a place he had been gone from far longer than he liked. Being displaced from his home, he could understand Yotaro's frustrations though. Home was always where everyone felt safest and most comfortable.
As for Hyuse, he could sleep anywhere, but he did prefer Tamakoma. Since all the members of Tamakoma knew he was a Neighbor, he didn't need to hide anything about himself. Being at Border HQ meant he had to be more alert when he didn't have his Trigger active. It shouldn't be too difficult. He managed in the away mission test, though he got to sleep in a capsule bed the whole time to hide at night. An open room while he slept at night was a bigger risk for anyone that could just walk in.
"It's only for a few days while we deal with the Mimics and the Branch gets repaired." Hyuse replied. "They want to make sure it will be safe for everyone when we go back."
"It's a Border Branch base! It should always be safe!"
"Your Branches have only been safe thus far because they are outside of the Restricted Zone. If your enemy gets out of there and finds your base, your security systems are going to do little to stop an enemy who doesn't care about setting it off if their goal is to kill you." Hyuse pointed out.
Yotaro deflated, anger dissipating. "Is that why we were attacked today? Someone was trying to kill us?"
"You weren't the target, Yotaro."
Yotaro and Hyuse looked up to see Yuma standing in the doorway of the barracks, hand gripping the door frame tightly.
"No one is going to try to kill you." Yuma promised.
"Then why were we attacked? I heard it was your father."
Yuma's smile turned into a grimace. "I'm sorry you got involved in my problems. He was looking for me. If you're at Border HQ, you'll be a lot safer. I'll take care of the matter with Dad. Once this gets settled, you can go home."
"We." Yotaro said.
"What?" Yuma asked.
"We can go home." Yotaro declared stubbornly. "It's not home if not everyone is there."
Staring at his partner, Hyuse was surprised at the look that passed through Yuma's eyes. Yotaro was talking about wanting all his friends to be back home with him at Tamakoma. That wasn't something that should make Yuma sad. The look was only there for a moment before it had disappeared. It was a blink and miss it type of expression.
His partner had been acting strange recently. The warning from Jin for Yuma to be careful. The frustration and bad mood that Yuma had been in. And now sadness was radiating from him. This wasn't the confident, strong Yuma that Hyuse had come to know the past few months.
That was telling Hyuse that Yuma knew something and wasn't willing to share that information with the rest of them.
If Yuma wanted to keep secrets, Hyuse didn't really care. It's not like his purpose here was to learn every little thing about Border. He was only here to get back to Aftokrator.
He had no personal stake in any of this.
However, the Mimics were getting in his way. This attack was postponing the start of their training for the expedition mission. The longer that got delayed, the longer it would be to start the mission and get them to Aftokrator. For that reason, he wanted these Mimics dealt with as soon as possible. If Yuma knew something, it would be a lot more helpful if they were on the same page.
"I can't promise anything, Yotaro." Yuma said, not wanting to lie to the kid. It didn't feel right to promise a child so young that he would come back home with everyone when it wasn't a guarantee. If he didn't know the future Jin predicted, it would be a different matter, but he did know so he couldn't make these promises.
"You have to come back! Tamakoma isn't Tamakoma if anyone leaves!" Yotaro declared. "You're all a part of Tamakoma now!"
"We're in a dangerous situation. There is no way to tell how it is going to turn out. I can't let Dad continue to run around the city as he is." Yuma replied.
"Then you beat him and come back! I know you can do it! You're super strong!" Yotaro shouted passionately, waving his hands in the air aggressively.
"The person we're fighting is Kuga Yugo. This is the man who trained Yuma into the warrior he is, Yotaro. It's not going to be that easy." Hyuse said.
Yotaro looked from Hyuse to Yuma in confusion. "But you're all going to help Yuma, aren't you? He's not alone in this."
"No, he isn't." Hyuse agreed, turning his eyes to Yuma, the promise shining in eyes. "We're going to take care of this matter then get to our original goal of the away mission."
*Mimics*
Shun crouched down on the building, overlooking the rumble on the ground below him with a frown. "Why is it that the night we're on defense duty, it is quiet?"
"There's nothing wrong with quiet." Hayato replied. He was crouched next to Shun on the roof, looking through his sniper's scope, not that there was anything to see with how quiet it was.
"I don't like it." Saeki said, agreeing with Shun. "It feels like one of those calm before the storms type of situations."
Shun looked down at where Saeki and Kazuma were standing on the road below him and Hayato. "Because of the attack at Tamakoma."
Saeki nodded. "It was flashy, very flashy, and now there are no Mimics out tonight?"
"It's possible the nation that was sending them here is out of range." Kazuma suggested.
"After only three days? Unlikely." Kusakabe replied.
Kazuma hummed as his eyes scanned over the empty roads. "Then perhaps the enemy ran out of Mimics to send here. I did hear they got hit with an insane amount the other night, but then only a few showed up last night."
"Or maybe by that pattern, we're going to get slammed with another horde tonight." Shun argued.
"I can't see you or Ryuji being much help against the Mimics. I hear the best type of offense against them is long range attacks." Hayato replied.
"As long as they end up dead on the ground, who cares how it gets done?" Saeki scoffed. "Besides, at least I have ranged attacks to help me. What does Shun have?"
Shun pouted. "I don't have any memories of deceased loved ones for the Mimic to copy from me so I don't think there would be any harm if a Mimic touched me."
"What do you think would happen if a Mimic got a hold of you?" Hayato asked curiously, looking up from his scope to look at his comrade next to him.
Shun shrugged. "Get angry that there is nothing to steal?"
"Hm," Hayato shrugged back before looking back through his scope, scanning the empty roads. If there was truly an attack, Kusakabe would likely notice before he did, but this was at least giving him something to do. The past few days were noisy with attacks, so honestly, the silence was a bit unnerving.
Roaming his scope over the area, Hayato caught the glow of something. Going back towards the glow, he was surprised to find it was a sword. A sword held by a man standing on the edge of a building.
"I think our peaceful night has just ended."
*Mimics*
"So, what's wrong with you?"
"Could ask the same of you." Yuma replied. He was sitting comfortably on his bed in the barracks just because he agreed with Chika he shouldn't be outside at night time right now. It would be pretty boring to just sit here all night so he was contemplating just walking around the base. He hasn't expected Hyuse to still be awake. Jin, Yotaro, Rindo, Yuri, Michael, and Reiji were all sleeping soundly already. "It's late. You should be sleeping."
Hyuse glared at his partner. "It truly is a wonder how you function properly with the very little sleep you get." He hissed back quietly as neither wanted to wake the others up. "And don't think you can distract me. You're worried about something."
Yuma raised a brow. "That is my business, Hyuse. It doesn't affect our goal of getting to Aftokrator."
"Liar."
"I'm not lying."
"Try that again in a timeline where I didn't hear you tell Yotaro the truth. You're unsure of whether you'll be going back to Tamakoma or not after this." Hyuse retorted. A soft snore caused both boys to glance over at their sleeping friends before Hyuse was looking back at Yuma. "Jin's warning and your lack of promise to Yotaro tells me you don't plan to make it past this week."
"Plan?" Yuma repeated. "I'm not planning anything, but sometimes bad things happen and we can't prevent it."
"Which only means you're not trying hard enough." Hyuse hissed. "Don't think you can just go ahead and die, Yuma. I can't be the only Ace on our team. We need all of us here to be a strong team if we're going to survive Aftokrator."
Yuma shook his head. "You can't just will the future to change."
Hyuse raised a brow, glancing over at Jin. "I see. The future. He predicted your death this week."
"Very astute."
Hyuse turned a glare onto Yuma. "What the hell do you think you're doing? Your death has been predicted by the fortune teller over there and you're not even trying to do anything to prevent it!"
"I'm working on it."
"No, you're not." Hyuse accused angrily. "Someone who is trying to change the future doesn't try to do everything by themselves. You haven't told us anything. How can we help you if you don't talk to us?"
"What good would come of telling you guys?" Yuma hissed. "It would only cause worry and distractions. That's no help on the battlefield."
Leveling a stare on his partner, Hyuse scowled. "You're the last person I thought I would have to say this, but you are an idiot."
Yuma raised a brow in surprise at the statement.
"Osamu and Chika worry about a lot as it is, but they don't let those worries stop them. The Rank Wars taught them a lot about focusing when out in the field. They're not about to let those worries cause them to hesitate in the heat of the moment. Instead, knowing the hesitation will lead to a bad future will cause them to focus more because they need to succeed."
Yuma narrowed his eyes at his friend, scowling softly. He didn't need the reminder of how much work and effort Osamu and Chika put into improving themselves. They have been together since Yuma came to this world, and throughout all that time, he has watched them struggle and grow as fighters. It wasn't easy to become a strong fighter so Yuma let them struggle while he supported them. Until they were both ready to stand on their own on the battlefield, he was their Ace attacker who got the points. It was amazing to watch the difference in them from the beginning of the Rank War season to the end of it. In just eight rounds, they both learned so much.
"They will do just as fine without knowing what Jin-san predicted."
"Border is fighting against the Mimics to prevent transformations as it will be harder to fight off familiar faces. They're not fighting against a bad future they need to prevent. Not knowing the future leads you down the bad path. Knowing the future gives you a chance to fight to get a different future."
"You sure are eager to use Jin-san's side effect. Thought you hated him." Yuma retorted.
Hyuse's eyes narrowed. "Jin is a manipulative jerk who acts like he knows best."
"That's what he does." Yuma agreed.
"It's annoying. He has this high air about him and a smile that hides his true intentions. I can never tell what he is thinking."
"He is hard to read."
"And the way he says things. It's like he's trying to get you to do what he wants without saying it clearly. I don't trust him at all. He never speaks clearly. He's a manipulative bastard." Hyuse said, eyeing his teammate with a frown.
Yuma eyed Hyuse out of the corner of his eyes, lightly tugging the blanket under him. Hyuse's words didn't surprise him in the slightest. From the beginning, he made it perfectly clear that he did not like Jin. It wasn't hard for Yuma to see why. It was likely Hyuse blamed Jin somewhat for his being stuck in this world and then having Jin making bets with him that made it seem like he was trying to trick Hyuse into doing what he wanted. Jin was a nice person who generally wanted to help, but it was also true he could be manipulative with his schemes. It was worse for those who didn't like him since they had the mindset that Jin was out to get them.
"So, the fact that he was warning of you to be careful to prevent your life from being forfeited, it's strange. There has to be another meaning behind it. But I'm not the one with a lie detector side effect. So, tell me, what are his lies in his statement?"
Yuma looked at his teammate strangely. "What lies? Jin-san hasn't lied about anything. He's always completely honest with me."
Hyuse raised a brow. "Oh, really? So, you're saying he's going to all this effort to fight against the Mimics and your father just to save your life? There must be an ulterior motive. After all, it's always the good of the organization and city above all else, isn't it? No one ever does anything for personal gain, like recruit a Neighbor that was once an enemy into their team to raise their strength to rise through the ranks more easily."
Yuma frowned.
"Do you know why I want to get to Aftokrator so badly?"
Yuma didn't reply. He had a fairly good idea from what Enedrad told him. Though Enedrad also told him not to tell Hyuse since it would cause him anger and most likely to do something reckless. Not that Yuma thought it would make a difference. Hyuse was pretty smart. He had to have ideas already of why he was left behind.
"It's not because I want to help my country find a new god. I don't care about that anymore. I'm a soldier for them, but I'm not trying to get back to help them. I want to save my master. Serving your military isn't the most important thing. If Hyrein is really planning to betray my master, then I will go against him. I value the family that raised me, more than my loyalties to Hyrein, more than my loyalty to my country. What point is there in swearing fealty if my family has to die just so Hyrein can get power?"
What could Yuma say to that? He would have done the same years ago. He would have chosen his father to save. If it was between Calvaria and his father, it would have been his father every single time. Perhaps that was horrible of him, but before he went to Calvaria, he knew nothing about them. His father was the one who wanted to help them, but Yuma had no stake in it. He knew no one there. Years ago, that was true, but then he spent three years fighting a war.
Those three years introduced him to the people of Calvaria. While Yuma held no love for the top brass of their military, he spent years fighting alongside those soldiers and making friends with Raymond and his kids. He valued that friendship, but the love he felt for his father, the pain he felt from his death, told Yuma that he would still choose his family.
"I'm not about to let myself get killed, Hyuse." Yuma replied.
"Your inability to strike seriously at your father speaks otherwise." Hyuse replied coldly. "This is not something you have to deal with alone. You have all of Tamakoma at your back. The fact that you don't want to rely on them is telling me something is running through your head."
"I caused Dad to appear here as an enemy and I'll settle the matter."
"Getting yourself killed in the matter." Hyuse retorted, crossing his arms and glaring at Yuma. "Alright then, if you're so sure, I'll give you one day to get it sorted. After that, you need to tell Osamu what is really going on."
Yuma scoffed. "And why would I agree to that?"
"Because I can call him right now and tell him the truth." Hyuse held up his phone to make his point. "These Mimics are interfering with us starting the away mission so I want this settled, but I do understand the need to settle something personal by yourself. So, one day, and no more. Can't go having my partner getting killed because of something he can't handle."
Jin settled down more comfortably, pulling his blankets tighter over himself. He could see the future, and yet, even he couldn't see it being Hyuse that scolded Yuma for his actions. Hopefully Yuma would be more willing to accept their help now. As long as the one day limit that Hyuse gave Yuma wouldn't cause Yuma to do anything reckless.
