A/N: I don't own World Trigger

Mimics

Chapter 17: Mogami Soichi, The Mentor

Everyone trusted in Jin's predictions. Even those who weren't his biggest fans knew not to scoff at his warnings and when he came to someone with a request, people tended to listen. If he was acting, it meant he saw a future which needed changed. With all the wins and good futures he had gotten them, the agents weren't going to argue with him about what he asked of them.

Despite that, blind faith would be a folly.

It wasn't a lack of trust that Azuma had in Jin, but everyone needed to be on the same page and for a while now, it felt like Jin was keeping things quiet. There was nothing wrong with that. If he told them everything that was going on or everything that could happen, they could easily get overwhelmed with too much information and make things worse.

If at all possible, Azuma would have liked to talk to Jin, but there were too many people in the captain's meeting earlier and then he disappeared afterwards with Arashiyama. He supposed he could just find him later, but something, likely his instincts, were telling him this couldn't wait. Instincts, he learned, were something that shouldn't be ignored.

Following a gut feeling could mean the difference between life and death.

Which is why he found himself walking into Shinoda's office, finding the Director and Rindo both looking stressed.

"Sorry to interrupt." Azuma said by way of greeting.

"Azuma," Shinoda greeted. "If this isn't important, can it wait? We have Trion Soldiers in the city right now."

Azuma rose a brow, eyes drifting behind Shinoda to look out the window, not that he could see anything in the sky. From the meeting earlier, he did know that Yuma's Black Trigger could open Gates, but it wouldn't be Yuma opening Gates to allow Trion Soldiers into the city. "Is Kuga around?" He asked, directing his attention to Rindo.

"He went somewhere this morning." Rindo replied, worry creasing his brows. "Why do you ask?"

Azuma nodded, redirecting his attention to Rindo. "Considering Kuga is not here and there is currently an attack happening in the city, I feel this cannot wait."

Shinoda looked surprised at his curt tone, but nodded his head and diverted his attention from the window to Azuma. Considering he couldn't do anything but rely on the agents on the scene to protect the city, he might as well hear Azuma out if he thought it was this important. "What seems to be the issue?"

"Last night, there was an attack by Kuga Yugo on the defense duty agents." Azuma said, though neither Shinoda or Rindo looked surprised. He was sure they both already read the reports about the attack and the agents getting wiped out again. That was, besides the attack currently happening in the city, the reason for the stress in their eyes. "In the ensuring battle, Midorikawa spoke to Kuga and something he said has caused me some concern. He said Kuga would die before the week is over and that we're already too late."

The last part was directed towards Rindo since Yuma was an agent of his branch, and because he was speaking towards Rindo, Azuma was surprised to not see a single flicker of surprise on his face. The worry and stress was there, but this information didn't even cause a shred of shock.

That was more telling to Azuma than anything.

Rindo already knew of Yuma's incoming death, which could only mean Jin.

It seemed he wasn't the only watching Rindo as Shinoda's eyes narrowed at his friend. "You don't seem surprised, Rindo. Did Jin already predict this?"

Rindo leaned back into the couch he was sitting on, rolling his cigarette between his fingers. "It may have come up."

"May have?" Shinoda repeated, pushing himself to his feet, planting his hands on his desk. "You're telling me you heard Yugo-san's son was going to die in a few days and you decided to not act on it?"

"We don't know what causes his death. Jin has been trying to work on it to prevent it, but not knowing the cause complicates matters and we do have to deal with the Mimics and Kuga Yugo as well." Rindo argued, but with no real heat to his voice. He understood that Shinoda's frustrations were just stemming from the fact that he wanted to protect his late mentor's son. It was what Rindo wanted as well after all.

Shinoda leveled a stare on his friend, staring him down. "This isn't a Tamakoma problem alone. The Mimics are a Border problem. If Yuma-kun's death comes from this, it is a problem related to the Mimics. I understand keeping it quiet from the rest of Border, but I would appreciate full disclosure of what is going on. If I don't have all the information, I can't make the right calls."

"Jin wouldn't let you, and neither would I. We would have stepped in before any call you made could drastically effect the future that Jin is trying to change." Rindo assured him before sighing. "But since Kuga-san has felt the need to mention it to the agents, I suppose it won't stay a secret for much longer. That is going to annoy Yuma. He didn't want people to know."

"About that, you said Kuga went into the city? The city that is currently under attack from Kuga Yugo?" Azuma looked back out the window, frowning. "If Kuga Yugo's goal is the death of his son, won't Kuga be in danger if he's in the city?"

"Yuma still has his Black Trigger so he can take care of himself and if something were to happen, Jin would be acting." Rindo said just as an alert started beeping from Shinoda's computer.

Shinoda looked down at his computer, accepting the incoming request for communication from Ren. "Tsukimi-kun, if this is about the attack in the city, I've already been alerted."

"It is in reference to that." Ren said. "Miwa squad encountered Kuga-kun with his father, but were sidetracked by Marmods, leaving Kuga to take his son as he escaped the area. We do not know where they've gone."

Azuma raised a brow, glancing at Rindo who had dropped his cigarette in shock.

"I see." Shinoda said, forcing a calm into his voice that he wasn't truly feeling. "Thank you for keeping me informed." He quickly ended the call and shot a look at Rindo. "Why is he not using his Black Trigger? This is an emergency. He wouldn't normally hesitate to use it, even in the city."

"Maybe he really can't find the nerve to attack his father." Azuma suggested. To Azuma, that seemed like a reasonable excuse. He didn't know much about the Mimics when they transformed, but he was certain Yuma wouldn't hesitate like this for no reason.

"Yuma-kun was the most adamant about Mimics being fakes and that we shouldn't let ourselves be deceived by them." Shinoda rubbed his eyes. Of course, that was easy to say, but it would be harder to follow through on that understanding when the transformed Mimic was standing in his path.

Shinoda went back to his computer and pulled up the agents' information to see who was active in the city. Arashiyama, Kitora, Shun, Kageura, Tamakoma-1, Miwa squad, and Jin moving on his own and away from the two battles taking place.

"Jin," Shinoda said as he connected with the agent's comms.

"I'm a bit busy." Jin's voice came from the computer.

"You're moving away from the battles taking place. Are you heading for Yugo-san?" Shinoda asked, hands curling on his desk.

"If that is where Yuma is, then yes, I would be heading towards him as well." Jin replied.

"We just got a report from Miwa squad that said they approached Yugo-san and Yuma-kun, but Yugo-san attacked them with Marmods and took Yuma-kun away." Shinoda explained.

There was silence for a moment from Jin's side.

"Are you saying he got kidnapped?" Jin asked after a long silence. "By his father?"

Rindo grimaced. "It would seem that way. Unless Yuma went with him willingly."

"Willing or not, I'm going to find him and drag him back to HQ." Jin said, a hint of anger at the edge of his voice. How many times was he going to have to warn Yuma of his impending death before it stuck? Going with his father, for whatever reason that may be, was just plain reckless. He wasn't even going to mention the part where Trion Soldiers were attacking the city and that should be the priority over whatever issues Yuma was having with his father.

"Be careful, Jin. Kuga-san already attacked Miwa squad with Trion Soldiers to get to Yuma alone. You might be at a disadvantage going at this alone." Rindo warned.

"I have an ace up my sleeve."

*Mimics*

Yuma stared at his wrist which was still gripped his father's hand as he was dragged along the road. Both the playground where the Rabits were and the street where the Marmods had appeared were long behind them. This wasn't right of him to just walk away from the Trion Soldiers, but he was sure the agents in the area could handle them.

Even so, he was sure Shun and Kageura were going to give him hell later for leaving it all to them.

He doubted they would understand why he felt the need to go after his father, especially Shun. Shun would be furious he ran after his father on his own after he had been adamant all day about how it was a stupid idea with his father being after him and talking about his coming death. Perhaps Shun mentioning that was a way to ease some concern into Yuma so he would be more cautious, but unfortunately for Shun, Yuma already knew of his impending death this week and wasn't scared to face it.

Did he want to live?

Yes, more than anything.

Coming to Japan, meeting Osamu and Tamakoma, becoming a Border agent and making all these new friends.

All of it taught Yuma how to enjoy life again and it was something he wanted to desperately to cling to.

Even so, Kuga Yugo was not someone Yuma could run from.

Letting him wander free the way they had been forced to was a mistake. If Yugo was doing all of this to get his son to come to him, then he succeeded.

Yuma was here and he wasn't going to run away.

"You're being awfully quiet, Yuma."

"Just waiting for you to answer my question. Or have you forgotten? You never told me what it is that you want." Yuma narrowed his eyes at his father's back. "Do you even know what it is that you want?"

Yugo twisted around to look at Yuma, still keeping a hold of his son's arm, to stare down at him. There was a strange look on his face that Yuma couldn't decipher. It was a look he had never once seen on his father's face.

Before Yugo could even open his mouth, he was yanking his son closer to him and jumping backwards, throwing up a Shield to defend them from the green slashes ripping across the street towards them. Yuma may have only seen those slashes once, but he knew what those were.

Fujin.

Perhaps if Yuma had been in danger, he would have been relieved at having the slashes appear. It would mean that backup had come here to help him get away from his father.

That was not the case, however.

Why did people have to constantly interrupt them when they were talking?

Yuma was trying to deal with the situation with his father, but it seemed no one else wanted that to happen. First Miwa squad, and now...Yuma twisted around in his father's hold to see who had appeared, and wasn't surprised at all the find Jin jumping down from a roof with Fujin gripped tightly in his hand.

"I'm going to need you to unhand my kouhai." Jin said, and though he was smiling as he said it, there was an icy chill to his voice. His playful demeanor was nowhere to be found with the cold look in his eyes that was directed at Yugo.

"Jin-san," Yuma took a step back from his father, but still couldn't get his wrist free. He did take a hold of his father's hand with his free hand to try to pry it off, but had his eyes directed towards his friend. "We're just talking. Or trying to. People keep interrupting."

"I was truly hoping we would make it through the day without you doing anything reckless, Yuma, and then we could let Hyuse go through with his threat of telling Osamu what is going on, but I suppose I was being too optimistic." Jin replied.

A scowl formed over Yuma's face. It really shouldn't surprise him that Jin knew about the threat Hyuse gave him. Jin always seemed to know everything that was going on and seemed to have a knack for getting in his way.

Amusement filtered across Yugo's eyes. "Yuma only knows how to be reckless, so I don't know why you would expect anything else."

Jin raised a brow in surprise as he stared at Yugo. While it certainly was true that Yuma was being a bit reckless this week, it wasn't true of him in general. He was usually a lot more cautious and thought things through before taking any action. Running off alone and looking for a Mimic that was transformed as his father wasn't something a levelheaded Yuma would be doing.

A fifteen-year-old Yuma who had grown from his mistakes and fought in a war for three years would be a lot more sensible.

The eleven-year-old Yuma who was injured from a result of disobeying orders and was the son that Kuga Yugo remembered would be a reckless child. He never got to see his son grow and learn from that mistake. He never saw him grow into a warrior he could be proud of.

"That child you're remembering has persevered through many difficulties since then and has grown up past the recklessness of a kid who wanted nothing more than a fight." Jin argued. In his hand, Fujin came to life once more with eleven new slashes. "But no matter how much stronger he has gotten in the past four years, he doesn't have to deal with this alone. I will end this nightmare for him. This is my job as his brother."

Yuma stared at Jin, unblinking, shock overtaking his system. There was no black smoke encircling Jin. There should be black smoke all around him right now after that lie. Yuma and Jin weren't siblings. That much was painfully obvious, and yet, there was no lie coming from Jin about his statement. Did Jin really think his statement from telling Konami that they were siblings was true? That was just a prank they had pulled on her, wasn't it?

Unfortunately, there was no time for Yuma to question it.

The last two times there were Border agents around, Yugo had opened Gates to bring in Trion Soldiers to attack the agents and get Yuma alone. As much as Yuma wished to talk to his father alone and he wished Jin hadn't interrupted them, enough was enough. A third Gate could not be opened in the city.

Bracing his right foot behind him, Yuma began to apply the seal to his left. "Boost. Double." He whispered softly, but it didn't matter as he was standing so close to his father, he was still heard by Yugo. As Yuma swung his leg forward, it wasn't a surprise to him to find Yugo reeling back with a Shield already up to defend from the kick that was coming for his head. He twisted his body and swung Yuma towards Jin, who was surprised enough to drop his sword before he could stab Yuma with it as he caught the smaller boy.

Jin grunted a bit as the weight of Yuma hit him, but quickly adjusted his hold so he wouldn't drop him on the ground.

"Sorry," Yuma muttered, pushing himself out of Jin's arms, landing neatly on his feet as he turned to face his father.

Jin scooped his sword off the ground before moving to stand next to Yuma, also staring at Yugo. "It's alright, Yuma. At least you're away from him."

A frown tugged at Yuma's lips.

"You make it sound like I'm the villain."

"Aren't you?" Jin retorted, pulling up his sunglasses to protect his eyes. "You attacked our base, hurt our friend, been attacking our agents on duty, and have been harassing your son for days. From our perspective, you look pretty villainous."

Yugo's eyes followed the action of Jin pulling his sunglasses up, locking onto them as he ignored what Jin said. It was that action that had Yugo canceling the Gate seal he was planning to use and instead taking a few steps onto the street towards the two Border agents, hand resting lightly on the hilt of his sword. "You remind me of someone."

"Oh?" Jin said, intrigue coloring his voice.

"Do you know Soichi?" Yugo asked, and though it shouldn't have, the question still surprised both Yuma and Jin. Besides a casual remark about the agents in the area of his attacks, this was the first time Yugo had mentioned anyone but Yuma.

"Yes," Jin replied simply. There truly was no point in hiding it. They already knew that Mogami and Yugo had known each other years ago and were great friends. It wouldn't be at all surprising that a Border agent might actually know who he is.

Yugo narrowed his eyes, shifting his eyes from Yuma to Jin, the two agents standing side by side. One that was his son, a Kuga. The other radiating an air so similar to his old friend, looking so much like him with those sunglasses. The term 'brother' that Jin had thrown out when Yugo knew for certain that Yuma was an only child. "You don't just know him. You were close to him." Yugo said, drawing his sword from its sheath.

"Heh," Jin smirked, stepping in front of Yuma. "He was my mentor."

"That makes this even more interesting. Let's see what my old friend managed to teach you."

Yuma's eyes moved from his father to Jin, a wary look overtaking his features. A fight where Jin was wielding Fujin, created by Mogami Soichi, against his father who had not only his two swords, but also the Black Trigger abilities from the Black Trigger he created at the time of his death. Two old friends were meeting on a battlefield to fight.

It wasn't a fight that should ever take place.

"Jin-san. This isn't your fight."

Jin glanced at Yuma out of the corner of his eyes. "It's not yours either."

Yuma frowned, eyes drifting towards his father.

"No one should be forced to fight someone they love." Jin said, leaving out the part where Yuma clearly couldn't bring himself to fight, let alone kill, his father. Without even turning to him, Jin dropped a hand to Yuma's fluffy hair, fingers curling in the white locks. "Just sit tight, Yuma."

Watching Jin walk ahead of Yuma, towards his father, and already with Fujin active to fight Yugo had Yuma clenching his hands tightly. It was supposed to be him taking care of his father. This whole mess was his fault in the first place. He told everyone he would do it.

Yet, he couldn't even activate his Trigger because staring at his father's face made him lose all will to fight.

Now Jin was taking the struggle from him to deal with it for Yuma.

Whether Jin could win or not...Yuma didn't know.

But...staring past Jin and at his father, Yuma felt his heart jump a beat.

He didn't want Jin to win.

For years, he wanted to be able to see his father again, and now almost five years after his death, his father was standing right in front of him. Maybe not the sanest version of his father since, while his father enjoyed fighting, he was not the type to attack people like he has been doing the last few days.

He didn't even get the chance to have a proper conversation with Yugo since all the Border agents kept interrupting them. Until he had a chance to ask him what he wanted, he didn't want Jin to defeat him.

At the same time, Yuma knew this was the wrong response to be having. The sooner they defeated the Mimics, the sooner everything would go back to normal. It would hurt a lot less if Yugo was no longer here, practically taunting Yuma.

Yugo launched himself forward with so much speed that it could only have been a Bound seal that had forced him forward so fast when he had been standing still before. Despite that speed, Jin was already acting and Fujin's slashes were swinging through the air. One of the slashes coming for Yugo was blocked by his shield while the other two were deflected by his first sword and before the final slash could strike him, he had already drawn his second sword and was deflecting it.

Before he could unleash any more attacks, Jin was blocking Yugo's sword with Fujin and grabbing the wrist of his other hand to stop his second sword. Being this close to him, Jin was able to see his eyes more clearly. Yuma's eyes were truly a carbon copy of his father's eyes. The only difference would be that Yugo's eyes held far more intensity than Yuma's, which was an achievement when considering how intense Yuma's were.

Yugo released his sword so he could twist his hand and grip Jin's wrist in return. He took a step back before letting himself fall backwards, taking Jin with him to throw him over him. Being flung through the air, Jin had no way to right himself so when he saw the Bolt seal that was lying in wait for him that Yugo had planted before he initially moved, all he could do was stab his sword down into the ground and twisted his body in the air as the bullets came flying at him. He wasn't able to pull his body out of the way completely so some of the bullets hit him in his arm, but at least it wasn't a fatal wound.

Yuma was itching to move as Jin fell from the throw, planting a hand on the ground to flip himself and land back on his feet. While Jin was getting back to his feet, Yugo scooped his sword back up and the two were immediately locking blades again. With the two exchanging blows, Yuma looked down at his glove covered hand which hid his Black Trigger. Even if he wanted to help Jin fight his father, he knew it wouldn't be all that helpful since he didn't know how Jin fought, especially while wielding Fujin. They would just get in each other's way.

To make matters worse, they were still in the city as well. The civilians had abandoned this part of the city a long time ago so there was no danger to their lives, but that didn't change the fact that there were three battles taking place in the city currently. At this rate, Netsuki was going to scream all of their ears off about the public blasting Border for putting them in danger like this.

That was the last thing Yuma wanted to hear right now.

Especially since this was Yuma's fault.

If he hadn't been in the city, Yugo wouldn't have initiated this attack.

Jin blocked Yugo's first sword with Fujin before he was backtracking quickly to get some distance so he could block Yugo's second sword before his head could get cut off.

Tachikawa was right before when he said Fujin worked better at long range. It was hard to use the wind blades when Yugo was bearing down on him like this. Normally he would use his side effect to determine the best ways to use the wind blades to strike his enemy down. That plan would not work against a Mimic that he couldn't see the future of.

It would be like a normal fight, just like how all of his comrades fought.

Jin forced their blades apart and jumped backwards again to get more distance between them. As he moved away, he swung Fujin, sending two wind blades wrapping through the ground behind him. The slashes traveled through the ground under his feet. The blades were fast but so was the approaching Yugo. Yugo backstepped and quickly brought up his swords to deflect the slashes.

While he got the two that Jin sent straight for him, he missed a third slash that Jin sent through the ground and up the building behind Yugo. Even though the slash came from a wall behind him, Yugo still managed to shift away from it, not enough to dodge completely, but he avoided any serious damage.

Yugo simple brushed away the Trion spilling from the cut on his shoulder. "That's a Black Trigger? Pretty impressive."

Jin readjusted his grip on Fujin, watching Yugo silently.

"Did Soichi create it?" Yugo asked, surprising Jin and Yuma at his correct guess. He turned to look towards the Restricted Zone, swords lowered, but Jin wasn't fooled; Yugo's guard was still up. "I've been in the city for days, but Soichi hasn't appeared before me. Instead, I get his student wielding a Black Trigger."

"Mogami-san died five years ago." Jin confirmed.

For a moment, a pained look crossed Yugo's face, hands tightening on his swords.

The grief looked so raw, so real, that it almost convinced Jin he was standing in front of a real person, who was learning his friend was gone, and not a Trion Soldier who was just supposed to be a weapon. He could see how people could be deceived by the Mimics. If he had been able to see the future of the man in front of him, he would have believed he was real.

"I see." Yugo said softly. "Yuma, why did you stay here if you couldn't find Soichi?"

Yuma blinked, surprised at being addressed. "Because..." He paused, unwilling to say his friends' name and getting them on Yugo's radar. "They needed my help. You loved Border and I couldn't just turn my back on them." He looked pass his father to look at Jin. Their fight had flipped them around, making Yugo closer to Yuma. "And I see why now. Everyone in Border has helped me in a way they will never know or understand. I can't just walk away now."

"Your words would have been stronger had you not abandoned your friends to fight the Rabits alone to follow me."

Jin scoffed. "If Yuma hadn't followed you, you would have dragged him away, but it stops here. Whatever you want from Yuma isn't going to happen."

Yugo stared at him, smirking slightly. "And here I was thinking my son and Soichi's student would be a lot closer to each other. At least close enough to not keep dangerous secrets."

Eyes flickering from Yugo to Yuma in confusion, Jin felt a frown tugging at his lips. His father's statement brought a flicker of guilt to Yuma's eyes. Jin swore that if Hyuse hadn't already threatened to out Yuma to Osamu tomorrow, he would be telling all of Tamakoma what was really going on the second they made it back to the HQ. He understood Yuma's reason for not wanting to tell anyone, even if he didn't agree with them, but Jin already knew Yuma's future. How was he supposed to help if Yuma didn't talk to him?

"Maybe the trust between the next generation isn't as strong as the previous generation." Yugo said.

Yuma gripped his left arm, feeling the cracks under his hand protest at the pressure. This wasn't about a lack of trust.

It wasn't.

A Bound seal appeared under Yugo's foot, launching him at Jin to resume the battle. Jin jumped backwards, twisting out of the way of Yugo's swords that were trying to cut him in half. He landed on the side of one of the buildings and launched himself off of it, swinging Fujin as he did to send two more slashes towards Yugo. The slashes didn't do more than stall Yugo as he was forced to defend against the wind blades.

As Yugo moved out of the way of the slashes, Yuma looked around the street they were fighting on. When Jin used the Fujin's wind blades, they were invisible as they traveled through the surfaces until they were striking which made it impressive that Yugo was able to defend fast enough against them. Just as the wind blades were invisible, so was Yuma's Black Trigger seals. The seals his Trigger used could be planted as traps on the ground and they wouldn't appear until they were being set off.

With Border's Trigger, the Trigger had to be set to left or right hand to be able to use it. That meant, at most, someone could only use two Triggers at a time. If Yuma had two Scorpions out but needed to defend from a sniper's shot, he would need to cancel one of his swords to be able to activate his Shield. It required a lot of switching in the midst of a chaotic battle, but Yuma had gotten faster at it over the course of the Rank Wars.

That was how the current Border Triggers worked, but Yuma would say the old version of Border's Triggers that Yugo used wasn't much different. Normally if Yugo wanted to use a Shield and sword at the same time, he could only wield one of his swords. The problem was that technically the Black Trigger abilities he was using were from a different Trigger. It shouldn't be possible for him to be using his normal Trigger and Black Trigger at the same time, but he was able to pull it off, which meant that even if he was wielding two swords at the same time, he could still use the Black Trigger seals he had at his disposal.

Which meant...

Yuma looked around the street that Jin and Yugo were fighting on. With the way they were bouncing around the street, just how many seals was Yugo planting while distracting Jin with a sword fight? Jin wouldn't even see the attack coming since his side effect wasn't working. He might be able to predict damage he might take, but that was only if he took the time and distraction to use his side effect, which was something he couldn't afford to do against Yugo.

So, by the time the attack was released, Jin wouldn't be able to do anything as Fujin didn't even have a Shield. It was a completely offensive Trigger with zero defense. It was a Black Trigger that was too rigid, making it difficult to use.

It was no wonder Miwa refused to be its wielder and become a S-Rank agent.

Seeing his father break away from Jin and jump back had Yuma moving before he even realized it. "Bound, double."

The force of his seal sent Yuma straight into Jin, surprising the older agent, but Yuma didn't spare him a thought as he pushed off of Jin to turn around, throwing up a hand. "Shield, triple!" The Shield came up just in time to block the bullets from the Bolt seals that were planted around the street.

Jin lowered Fujin as he watched the bullets slam into Yuma's Shield. He had a brief fight against Yuma the other day and in that fight, Yuma had planted seals like that to attack Jin from different angles while Yuma was moving in a different direction. It was a brief fight, but he should have still remembered that. It seemed there were a bit of similarities between Yugo and Yuma in terms of using sneak attacks with the seals.

Though, even if he did remember this type of trap, that many Bolt seals would be hard to defend against without a Shield. He didn't think he would have been able to dodge all of them. "I didn't think you would be able to fight your father." Jin said.

"This isn't fighting. This is saving you." Yuma replied, not even looking back at Jin. "If you get killed, you won't bail out since you're using Fujin. If you reverted to your real body here, I don't know what Dad will do."

Jin stepped forward, bumping his arm against Yuma's, unaware of the tightness winding up in Yuma's arm from that small jolt. Jin may not have heard it, but to Yuma, the sounds of the cracks wheezing on his arm was blaring like sirens, but he kept his face as impassive as he could. "Yuma, you need to remember, he's not your father. Don't let it deceive you."

"I know." Yuma said, avoiding looking towards Jin as he knew his friend would have that look on his face that said how little he believed in Yuma's words. He didn't want to see that expression, not on another one of his ally's faces. He already knew that he was failing in remembering that the Kuga Yugo in front of them was not his real father. The constant reminders from his allies to know fall for it were not helping.

Yuma's hand twitched slightly at his side. The tension that had been spreading up in his arm seemed to finally reach its limit. The creaking of the cracks snapping was impossible to hide, especially with Jin right next to him. Jin snapped his head to him, watching in shock as Yuma jerked his head to the side, giving Jin a good view of the cracks snapping at Yuma's neck.

Shield dropping, Yuma slapped his hand that wasn't breaking yet over the cracks on his neck. It was truly a fruitless effort seeing as Jin was already staring at him in horror. Jin's eyes drifted down to the glove on Yuma's hand, realization dawning on him why there was a sudden addition to Yuma's wardrobe choices.

When Yuma's legs buckled under him, Jin moved before he realized what he was doing and was trying to grab Yuma's arm to prevent him from slamming too hard into the ground. Grabbing Yuma's arm as roughly as he did, Jin was able to feel the arm giving way under his hand, like it was about to snap from the pressure he was applying to it. Jin quickly changed his grip to wrap his arm around Yuma's torso as they kneeled on the ground.

Jin looked over towards where Yugo was, but he was standing in the same spot he had jumped to before when he was unleashing the Bolt seals onto Jin. Yugo was clearly looking pass Jin to eye his son. Turning his attention back to Yuma, but still doing his best to keep his guard up in case Yugo moved, Jin pulled Yuma's hand down from his neck to get a better look at the cracks that had moved up to his neck.

"You already saw my death incoming. I didn't want to worry you with how close it was." Yuma said softly.

Looking into Yuma's face, Jin saw the future around him shift. The future where Yuma died was becoming clearer and clearer. It was still there, but Jin didn't see Yuma's body breaking like this, he only saw his impending death. He had been so sure Yuma's death had been about the Mimics, not because of his real body dying. Was this a prelude to warn them that Yuma's real body was reaching its limit?

"Damn it, Yuma." Jin muttered, dropping his face in Yuma's fluffy hair. He took Yuma's hand and plucked the gloves off to look at the cracks spidering all across his hand. There was so much they needed to talk about to get to the bottom of this since Jin was absolutely certain that Yuma was not meant to die this week before the Mimics arrived, but that would have to be done later. Kuga Yugo was still here.

When Jin went to stand to face Yugo, Yuma hand, the undamaged one, flew up to grab Jin's wrist to stop him.

"We can't let Kuga-san roam free any more, Yuma. I need to stop him here." Jin said.

Yuma looked off to the side. "It's dark out now, Jin-san, and how many agents are active in the city right now? The Mimics will come."

Jin glanced down at Yuma, then back up at Yugo. It was more of twilight at this point than it was dark, but Yuma wasn't wrong. The Mimics managed to make an appearance at twilight the other day so they were in danger of Mimics appearing and leaving the Restricted Zone if they located so many prime targets in the city. Enough Trion Soldiers had already appeared in the city today, not to mention the fight between Jin and Yugo.

Unfortunately, Jin didn't think he could beat Yugo fast enough and get back to the Restricted Zone before the Mimics started to appear. That was, if he could Yugo at all. His reaction time was a lot faster than Jin was expecting. More than one of his slashes should have hit Yugo. The fact that they didn't meant this would be a long fight with no guarantee of a win that he couldn't waste time with. If he was in the Restricted Zone already, it would be another matter entirely.

Jin twisted his hand around to get his arm under Yuma's and pulled him to his feet as he tapped his communicator. "If your fights are over, get to the Restricted Zone or deactivate your Trigger."

"What's wrong?" Konami asked.

"Yuma made a good point. If we all stay in the city with our Triggers active, Mimics will be coming out into the city." Jin explained.

"You found Yuma?" Konami demanded. "Tell him I'm going to kick his ass when I get there."

Jin was not going to tell Yuma that. It was a threat that Konami wasn't going to be able to follow through on when she saw the cracks on Yuma. On that note, it seemed they were going to have to explain the true nature of Yuma's body to Tamakoma. They weren't going to be able to hide it now that his body was breaking.

"We'll head back to HQ." Arashiyama said.

Taking a step back to put himself back at Yuma's side, Jin never removed his eyes from Yugo. "We're going to head to the Restricted Zone. Can you move?"

"Yeah." Yuma's eyes flickered to his dad.

"You go first. I'll keep Kuga-san off you."

"No." Yuma declared, surprising Jin. "Dad doesn't want to kill me. He won't attack me so you go first."

That got Jin to glance at Yuma, displeasure shining in his eyes. "Did you forget what happened at Tamakoma the other day or how Tachikawa-san said your father was looking for you the other day? He's after you."

"He's not going to strike me down." Yuma said with all the conviction he could muster thrown into his voice. He needed Jin to understand. His conversation with his father kept getting interrupted so he didn't fully understand, but he was certain that his dad was not about to impale him with a sword today. He may still not know what Yugo's end goal was, and he could agree that it probably wasn't good as he seemed to know about Yuma's body breaking before it spread to be visible on his neck, but he could have hit Yuma at any point and yet chose not to.

It was true that Yuma didn't have a scratch on him when Jin found him, disregarding the cracks on his body which seemed to have been there before he met up with Yugo. That didn't mean they should just trust Yugo though. "He was dragging you over the city and away from your allies."

"Granted, that wasn't ideal." Yuma agreed, though to be fair, he hadn't really resisted it either. His father seemed to want to talk to him privately so they kept having to move away from his comrades.

"Ideal? Yuma, your father kidnapped you!" Jin retorted.

"He didn't do anything." Yuma said with a blasé tone.

"And what if you're wrong and he does?" Jin argued.

"Then I'll throw up a Shield."

"Did you just forget what happened the last time you activated your Shield?" Jin's fingers wavered over the cracks on Yuma's neck to make his point. "You take lead, I'll follow and keep Kuga-san busy while we make our way to the Restricted Zone."

Instead of giving Yuma another chance to argue, Jin was swinging Fujin twice and sending two wind blades flying towards Yugo before he was shoving Yuma to get his feet moving. Righting himself from the shove, Yuma was running into an alley and using the dumpster there to boost himself up to the roof of the restaurant. As he made his way across the roof towards the Restricted Zone, he could hear Jin's feet smacking onto the roof behind him. This was followed by a third pair of feet and then the sounds of blades striking each other as they continued their run.

They were going to need to stay on the roofs as they ran if Jin and Yugo were going to continue their fight while moving to the Restricted Zone. As they left the scene of the battle behind them, they would be moving into parts of the city where the fights didn't reach so there were going to be civilians around again.

As long as they moved quickly, they could hopefully avoid any damage to the city or danger to the civilians. Though that would mean that Jin wouldn't be able to use Fujin's wind blades. He couldn't take the risk the blades would miss or be deflected by Yugo and possibly injure civilians.

He was sure Jin knew that. The problem was Yugo. If he used any of the long-ranged attacks from the Black Trigger, there would be damage to the city and injuries to civilians.

Yuma glanced over his shoulder at the two fighting men. With how fast they were moving and seeing as they were leaving the path behind them with no intention of returning, there was no need for Yugo to plant any seals as a trap.

Jin knocked Yugo's swords backed before looking towards Yuma, catching the younger agent's eyes before his eyes were flickering pass Yuma. His eyes widened slightly behind his glasses before he was blocking a strike from Yugo. "Yuma, front!"

Refocusing on front of him, Yuma's step almost hesitated when he saw the Mimics coming straight for him. They hadn't acted fast enough in getting out of the city.

Yuma was jumping over the gap between the two buildings, straight for the Mimics as he had nowhere else to go. He couldn't go back as Jin and Yugo were there and if he went down, he would endanger the civilians.

A Shield would be ineffective against the Mimics and he didn't have access to a sword so all Yuma could do was jump to the side as the Mimic's arms came for him. All he had were long ranged attacks that he could use, but he didn't want to risk those in the city, but he couldn't let himself get hit a second time.

As Yuma jumped over another pair of hands and landed on the edge of the roof, his eyes looked around the Mimics on the roof. This was not a good situation to be in without being able to attack.

If only they had moved faster in getting back to the Restricted Zone.

Jin landed on the next roof, ducking under the Mimic's arm before slicing it off as he stood back up straight. Yugo was slinking around the roof behind the Mimics so unless he used long ranged attacks, he wouldn't be able to hit Jin. He wasn't sure what Yugo was planning, but Jin couldn't let himself get too distracted by that. He had Mimics trapping him and Yuma on this roof and currently there wasn't much Yuma could do to help while they were still present in the city.

Tightening his grip on Fujin, Jin's eyes flickered around the roof. There was only one slash left on Fujin. He wouldn't get a chance to reload Fujin's wind blades with the amount of Mimics here and Yugo being around. This last strike had to count.

Jin's eyes landed on Yuma, who was crouched on the edge of the roof with Mimics closing in on him.

"Jin," Rindo's voice crackled in Jin's ears.

"Chain, triple!" The chain seals planted on the ledges next to Yuma before the chains were shooting towards the Mimics closest to him and grabbing their limbs to restrain them. It would prevent them from moving, but he didn't know how good it would be at keeping their limbs from extending.

"You can tell Yuma he's been approved to use his Black Trigger."

Jin watched as Yuma jumped over the Mimics' arms, soaring over their heads to get behind them, still too close to the Mimics for Jin's liking. The cracks on his neck seemed to wince at the movement. There was no way Jin could tell Yuma to activate his Black Trigger. Those cracks on his body should be healing, but instead they were spreading along his body. There was no telling what would happen if Yuma used his Black Trigger and wasted his Trion for this battle.

What Jin should have done was asked Tamakoma-1 to meet up with him and they could move back to the Restricted Zone together. Though, with how far they were from each other, there was no guarantee they would have made here fast enough.

"The Black Trigger isn't an option right now." Jin replied as he sliced through another Mimic's arm as he tried to make it to Yuma's side without getting touched. He slammed Fujin through the eye of one of the Mimics before using the momentum of pushing it into the ground to vault over the Mimics.

While in the air, Jin swung his blade, sending the last wind blade soaring through the air to cut down the Mimics at their legs before he was landing in a crouch behind Yuma. He leaned back, resting his back lightly on Yuma's. "Doing okay?"

"I'm not an invalid because my body is starting to break." Yuma said, feeling annoyed but not currently at Jin. He wanted to be doing something more than dodging. Bolt was out of the question in the city and Boost would bring him into contact with the Mimics. Jin may have cut their legs off, but didn't help much when they could extend their arms.

Jin's hand wrapped around Yuma's arm and yanked him to the side as he brought Fujin down to impale it through the Mimic's arm and pin it to the roof. There were two Trion bodies on this roof, but the Mimics were mostly going for Yuma. To Jin, that just felt like confirmation to his and Arashiyama's theory that Yuma's body made from Trion transformed into Black Trigger Trion made him shine like a brighter target for them.

Yuma twisted his body as Jin pulled him and threw up his hand. "Shield, double!"

Hearing the seal coming from Yuma had Jin grimacing as he turned to see Yugo's blade slamming into the Shield. He was really hoping to have Yuma avoid using any more of his seals until they could figure out why his body was breaking. His eyes glanced down towards Yuma, eyeing the cracks on his neck to see if they would expand.

Yugo stared at the two through the Shield before his eyes moved upwards. Jin, who was looking at Yuma, didn't see, but Yuma was watching his father and didn't even bother to look to see what he was looking at. Instead, he just immediately slammed his shoulder into Jin's stomach and the knocked the two off to the side just as a Mimic's arm came flying through where they were just previously standing.

With that distraction, Yugo was striking the shield with both of his swords, shattering it, and allowing him to make his way forward again. Jin brought Fujin back up to block the strike as he tried to regain his footing. Out of the corner of his eyes, he saw the Mimic's arms coming again. He yanked on Yuma's arm that he was still holding to pull him under his and Yugo's blades to get him farther from the Mimics.

As Yuma got pulled under, he twisted his head to look at his father, getting ready to activate his Boost seal to attack his father who was so close to him, but when he caught his father's eyes, his hand twitched in hesitation. With Yuma not able to act against his father, Jin had to keep his blade locked with Yugo's which gave him no time to stop the Mimics. All he could do was shift the left side of his body forward to cover Yuma's body from getting struck by the Mimics. In return, the Mimic had latched onto his arm.

The effect was instantaneously.

The memories from long ago forced their way to the front of Jin's mind. Searing emotions burned through his veins, slackening his grip on Fujin as his will to fight left him to be replaced with the pain of remembering who was lost.

"I saw you in a dream."

"Excuse me?" Mogami turned to find a child staring up at him. He looked around the sidewalk in confusion, but there was no one else around. He was just trying to make it back to HQ, not attract some kid to him.

"I knew we would meet here."

Mogami just continued to blinked at the child. "Sorry, who are you?"

"I'm Jin Yuichi."

"Mogami Soichi." He did not have a clue as to why he was entertaining this child, but he couldn't just leave the kid here alone. "Did you say you saw me in a dream?"

Jin shrugged. "It wasn't exactly a dream and I didn't exactly see you. I was awake when I saw myself meeting someone here. I didn't know what it meant, except that it will change my life forever. I think that someone was you."

None of that helped Mogami feel any less confused. "You saw it?"

Jin puffed out his cheeks in frustration. "Yes. I was to meet someone here today and I would get a sword."

This kid seemed miffed that Mogami wasn't giving him his sword fast enough.

"Right, a sword." Mogami eyed the child in front of him who seemed to have some idea of the sword that was housed inside of Mogami's Trigger. Well, this wasn't the strangest situation he had ever found himself in. Now, he just had to hope no one called the cops on him for kidnapping. The kid approached him first after all. "Hey, want to go meet some friends of mine? I'm sure they can help us figure this out."

Jin's sword went flying through the air. All he could do was watch it spin out of control as Mogami was plunging his sword through Jin's chest.

As Jin laid on the ground of the training room, staring up at the ceiling, Mogami rested his sword on his shoulder and looked down at him with a raised a brow. "You should have been able to block that. You were trying to see into the future to predict my moves, weren't you?" He sighed at the innocent expression Jin was trying to portray as he pushed himself into a sitting position. "You have to actually know how to fight without predicting how people will move. If you try to use your side effect every time you fight, you're going to die more times than you'll win. Experienced fighters will be able to move faster than you reading the future and then moving."

"Not if I read far enough into the fight that I can see their every move."

"The more you counter their moves, the more the future will change since they will need to adapt to you blocking them." Mogami argued. "So, this time, Jin, you and me, no side effect."

"Do you find the stars that interesting?" Jin asked.

Mogami turned, an easy grin on his lips. "The man of the hour! How does it feel to finally be thirteen?"

Jin looked over this shoulder, smiling as he took in his friends on the roof of Border as they celebrated his birthday. It was a strange tradition, but whenever they had something to celebrate, it would be on the roof. "Doesn't feel that much different from twelve."

Mogami sat on the ledge, setting his glass down next to him. "Maybe it just hasn't hit you yet."

"So?" Jin prompted, casting his eyes towards the stars. "The party is over there so why are you looking at the stars all alone over here?"

"I was just thinking about an old friend. He's been gone for a long time so I was wondering how he was doing."

"An old friend?" Jin repeated. "Was he a part of Border?"

Mogami's grin widened. "Oh, yeah, he was just as strong as I was. We were constantly going at it, trying to one up each other all the time. It's fun to have someone you can fight constantly and not know who will win. Perhaps one day, when you find a rival, you'll understand the thrill of having someone like that to challenge you to better yourself."

A blinding grin was the first thing Jin saw before a hand was landing on his head, ruffling his hair, affectionately. "There's my favorite mentee."

"Did you acquire another mentee that I don't know about?" Jin asked, eyes shining in amusement as he stared up at Mogami.

"If I had a second one, he would be my favorite without a doubt, but alas, I'm stuck with only one so I have no other choice but to dub you the favorite." Mogami teased.

Jin gasped dramatically. "I should always be the favorite, no matter how many you have."

Mogami scoffed, knocking Jin's head to the side as he walked towards the kitchen. "I bet my other mentee would listen to me when I tell him not to use his side effect during training. Unlike that troublemaker, Jin."

"He probably wouldn't even have a side effect." Jin retorted, though he was grinning widely.

"Truly a shame." Mogami said as he grabbed a bottle of water from the fridge.

Jin hopped onto one of the stools are the counter, staring at his mentor in confusion. "Do you not like side effects?"

Mogami paused in taking a drink to stare at Jin in consideration. "I have nothing against them. They are certainly useful to have, but they are an added struggle to those who have them. I knew someone who could tell when someone was lying. It sounds useful, but it comes with the realization of just how often people truly lie. When we were kids, long before we knew about Neighbors and side effects, he never understood what he was seeing and when he would question people about it, they would get mad at him for calling them out on their lies." Mogami set his bottle down on the counter and leaned down on his arms to catch Jin's eyes at his level. "And what about yours? You can't tell me it's easy to see the future all the time."

Jin's eyes flickered from his mentor's face to the side for a moment before they were back to locking eyes. "When I was seven, I was heading to a park with my mom when I saw the future of this guy in front of me. He was going to die from getting hit by a car running a red light. I didn't do anything to save him. I didn't even know what it was I saw or why I saw it. I thought it was just a morbid imagination I had. I had plenty of visions where I saw bad things happen before they did and I always did nothing. Then, I had the vision of me joining Border. Everything else I saw came true so I thought if the vision of my future could be real, I could come here and understand why I could see what I could."

Mogami nodded his head, smiling sympathetic at Jin. "That's what I mean. Side Effects are powerful gifts to the users, but it also puts a heavy burden on them. Don't try to shoulder all of it by yourself, Jin. You have plenty of friends here who can help you carry it."

Mogami bumped his shoulder into Jin's, smiling at his mentee. "Nervous?"

"Not at all." Jin said, putting a brave face on.

"You tell the stupidest lies, Jin." Mogami said, a teasing smile on his face.

Jin looked at him in confusion, but Mogami didn't acknowledge it.

"There's nothing wrong with being nervous. It's your first time going to the Neighbor's world and it's to help Aristera. It's going to be dangerous. We're going into a warzone. Everyone's scared." Mogami looked down at his Trigger which he gripped tightly in his hand. "Even me, but fear is not something to be ashamed of. It's the ability to stand tall, despite that fear, where true conviction comes from. When you refuse to back down for what you think is right, you will find your strength."

Jin stumbled over his feet, gripping his shoulder where Trion was spilling out from a stab wound. It wasn't where Jin's mind though was, instead he was staring at the prone figure on the ground, blood pooling around him.

The sounds of battle faded to nothing as Jin dropped to his knees, not taking notice of the blood soaking into his clothes. "You're alright. You're alright, Mogami-san." Even as he said it, Jin saw the truth reflected in the visions flashing before his eyes.

A smile formed on Mogami's face. "You'll be alright." His hand gripped his Trigger tightly, feeling his power well up inside of him. If this was his last moments of life, then he would leave a parting gift to Jin that would hopefully get Border out of this war safely. "You're far stronger than you realize, Yuichi. You've made me so proud."

Coming to, Jin found himself lying on the ground with Yuma on top him. A Shield hung over there in protection, but Jin looked pass that to see Mogami, hand relaxing on the hilt of his sword, standing next to Yugo, towering over the two downed agents.