A/N: I don't own World Triggers

Mimics

Chapter 18: Broken Promise

Jin practically jumped out of his skin when the hands landed on his shoulder. He had been so focused on staring at the door of the away ship, waiting for them to arrive in Aristera, that he didn't realize someone had come up from behind him.

"Don't get so focused that you lose awareness of your surroundings." Mogami scolded.

"I'm just trying to get in the right mindset for battle." Jin replied.

"Staying calm helps." Mogami said. "But it's also okay to be nervous. Without nerves of fear, we would be too confident in the field and you would lose the ability to be cautious of the dangers around."

"And what if the fear is too great to find the strength to stand?" Jin asked.

"When you're alone, it's easy to give up to the fear." Mogami squeezed Jin's shoulder. "But you're not alone. When you have allies by your side, it is easier to stand because you will be a united front." He removed his sunglasses and dropped them around Jin's neck. "Here, carry these with you so even if we get separated in the fight, I'll be right there with you. You just have to promise to return them to me when this is all over."

Jin gingerly touched the sunglasses that his mentor never seemed to take off. He smiled brightly at Mogami. "It's a promise."

Staring at the arm that was blocking him, Yuma's eyes locked onto the black claw that was wrapped around Jin's bicep. A Mimic had managed to latch onto Jin. That was bad. It was already too late to stop the Mimic from transforming. The only chance they had was if the Mimic got destroyed right now!

"Bound, double!"

Yuma soared across the rooftop, eyes locked onto the Mimic that was latched onto Jin, fist pulled back as he got ready to end it in one strike. "Boost, double!"

Before his punch could even make contact, a hand was latching onto his wrist and pulled his attack back before yanking him bodily away from the Mimic. Furious eyes turned to stare at Yugo. Without even thinking about it, Yuma was raising his free hand to punch Yugo when that one was caught by his father as well.

Out of the corner of his eye, Yuma could see the Mimic beginning to transform. With his father here, he wasn't going to be able to prevent this. This could not possibly get worst.

"Boost."

The seal was attached to his leg. Knowing his father's skill, he doubted the kick would connect, but that was fine with Yuma. He didn't really want to cause any damage. He knew he shouldn't feel that way since his father was the enemy, but that was something Yuma would concern himself with later. For now, he needed to get to Jin.

Yugo released Yuma's wrists and jumped backwards to dodge the kick. Instead of following someone he didn't want to fight, Yuma was jumping back towards Jin, tackling him to the ground while throwing a Shield up over them. The Mimic was no longer holding onto Jin's arm so that meant it was transformed. With no idea of what the two transformed Mimics would do, he would rather have him and Jin covered while Jin worked on coming back to his senses. Yuma's hand curled around the Fujin blade that Jin had dropped to keep it with them. If his father was able to use the Black Trigger abilities of the one he created, he would hate to see Mogami get his hands on Fujin.

"Mogami-san."

"Great," Yuma mumbled, rolling off of Jin, eyeing the swordsman on the other side of his Shield. "You're back."

Yuma pushed himself to his feet, eyes shifting to Jin before back to Mogami and Yugo. Though, Yuma's eyes avoided his father completely this time. He was more interested in seeing the man that was Jin's mentor, the man that his father wanted him to find if he even died. The most distinctive things he saw in Mogami was the light brown hair that was slicked back and the sunglasses that were dangling around his neck.

Those sunglasses were exactly the same as the ones that Jin wore. While Yuma got a Black Trigger from his father as the last thing his father left him, it seemed that Jin inherited those sunglasses and adopted his slicked back hairstyle. There was no other evidence that Yuma needed to tell him that Mogami's death hit Jin hard. It seemed Jin was doing everything he could do to honor the memory of his mentor.

Mogami didn't even seem to acknowledge that fact that Yugo was standing next to him. His attention seemed to be locked on Jin who was climbing to his feet. "You're grown a lot, Yuichi. How long has it been?"

Yuma's brows furrowed. 'Yuichi?' He had never heard anyone call Jin by his first name.

Jin's jaw clenched shut tightly, not answering Mogami. A small part of him was wishing desperately that this could be real. How many nights did he have where dreams assaulted him where that battle in Aristera had gone differently? Where his friends hadn't died? There were so many nights he sat in his room, awake all night, as he mapped that day out in his head, trying to figure out what he could have done differently that would have changed the outcome.

Trying to figure out how he could have saved everyone.

The hours he would stare at the Fujin blade that was locked up in Tamakoma for months.

'Mogami-san would be disappointed if he could see you right now.' Rindo said.

Jin looked up from running his finger over the smooth exterior of Fujin's sword handle. He glanced over his shoulder to see Rindo leaning against the doorframe. "Our friends were killed." He said softly.

Rindo pushed off the doorframe to walk into the room. "I'm not saying you aren't allowed to grieve. Losing friends to death is never an easy thing and if you don't grieve, you'll never be able to accept that it happened and learn to live your life again. So that means," Rindo clapped a hand on Jin's shoulder, turning the young teenager around so he was no longer facing Fujin. "Losing sleep over thinking of what you could have done differently isn't helping. We can't change the past. All we can do is fight for a better future. That's what Mogami-san would want for you. He wants you to keep that smile on your face and look towards your future."

It had been painful, probably one of the hardest things he's ever done, but Jin managed to find his footing after Mogami's death. While the grief never truly left him, he managed to do what Mogami always wanted for him and that was the strength to overcome any obstacle and never let his convictions waver.

Jin was looking towards the future, and sadly, no matter how much he wished it to be, Kuga Yugo and Mogami Soichi were not part of that future. Their futures couldn't be read and he would not let himself be fooled.

The past could not be changed.

The future could.

Reaching across Yuma, without taking his eyes off the two Mimics in front of him, Jin took Fujin from Yuma's limp hand. The moment the blade was back in his hand, it sprung back to life. Without wasting a moment, Jin activated the wind blades, gaining eleven new slashes.

Jin shifted his foot back a step, grabbing Yuma's arm with his free hand to drag him back a step with him. Yuma glanced at him out of the corner of his eye in confusion. His movement brought Yuma to Mogami's attention.

"And who is this?" Mogami asked, eyeing the child, taking in the cracks spreading up his neck. Moving pass the cracks, his eyes moved up to Yuma's face, stopping on the red eyes that were staring at him. Familiar red eyes that caused a smile to twitch onto Mogami's face. Despite it being a long time since he saw those eyes, he could still recognize them anywhere.

Jin's hand tightened on Yuma's arm. He couldn't ask Yuma to use his Black Trigger since he had no idea of what that would do to him with the way his body was already breaking. It meant he was the only fighter here, and if his battle with Yugo was any indication, he would not be able to hold off Yugo and Mogami at the same time.

"Your son, Yugo?" Mogami asked, finally turning to acknowledge his old friend, eyes lit up with happiness at seeing Yugo for the first time in decades.

"His name is Yuma." Yugo replied.

On the other hand, Jin couldn't just let Mogami and Yugo roam free because he wasn't sure he could beat both of them here. Yugo proved today why that would be a bad idea.

When Mogami and Yugo shared a look, Jin realized it didn't matter how he analyzed the situation, the choice of how to proceed wasn't his to make.

To both Yuma's and Jin's surprise, when Yugo and Mogami, moving in sync, jumped away from them, Mogami drew his sword and from that sword, fifteen slashes sprung from it, just like with the Fujin blade. Neither agent was given the chance to ponder the how as Mogami was swinging his sword and sending the wind blades through the ground.

When wind blades traveled through surfaces, they were invisible until they struck.

A fast reaction time like Yugo possessed was needed to survive the wind blades.

Or...

Jin's side effect.

Jin could not see the futures of the Mimics, but he could see the future of where those slashes would hit him. To prevent those injuries, Jin swung Fujin, sending his own wind blades to strike Mogami's. The slashes slamming into each other blinded Jin and Yuma.

And to neither's surprise, Yugo and Mogami were gone when the light died down.

"Things could not be worse." Jin muttered, deactivating Fujin and storing it back in his pouch as he looked around the roof full of dead Mimics. "A cleanup crew will deal with this. We need to get out of here before more Mimics can come."

Yuma glanced at Jin before looking across the rooftops, seeing nothing. It was a horrible idea to leave transformed Mimics to their own devices, but they had both vanished very fast in those few seconds that Jin and Yuma were blinded. There was no point to chasing after someone they couldn't find, especially when Yuma wouldn't be much help currently in battle.

*Mimics*

Konami soared across the rooftops of the Restricted Zone, worry pulling at her gut. Yuma had gone with his father so if Jin found him, he also found Kuga Yugo. The agents had followed Jin's order to get out of the city, but it felt like the wrong move to Konami. She should have gone to Yuma and Jin.

Even as she twisted in the air and cut through another Mimic, she didn't feel like she was doing enough. It didn't matter how many Mimics she killed and kept from escaping the Restricted Zone, the worry never eased.

Normally, there would be no cause for concern.

It was Jin and Yuma.

Those two could truly handle anything.

"My dad. It was my fault he died." Yuma admitted. "I blatantly disobeyed an order he gave me and got hurt because it. My father died to save my life. If I hadn't done that, he would still be here with me."

Except, after talking with Yuma, Konami realized the hesitancy that lived in Yuma in regards to his father. If it came to a battle, Konami couldn't see Yuma being able to fight seriously against his father. Jin would be alone against Yugo, and after seeing the strength radiating from him, Konami didn't think Jin alone would be enough.

"Yuri-san, how are Jin and Yuma?" Konami asked.

"Jin-kun is making his way back to the Restricted Zone. I presume Yuma-kun is with him. Yuma-kun's Trigger isn't active so I can't know for sure." Yuri replied.

Yuma's Black Trigger wasn't registered with Border's systems so even if he activated it, Yuri wouldn't have been able to tell. Though, Konami had the feeling he wasn't using it, not if it was Yugo he was against. Konami wasn't going to blame Yuma for that though. It wouldn't be easy to fight someone that was a loved one.

"Are they okay though?" Karasuma asked.

"Jin-kun took some damage, but it was nothing major." Yuri replied, surprising Tamakoma-1.

"Jin took damage?!" Konami repeated.

"Yes, but I don't know who he was fighting. They didn't show up on radar."

"Kuga Yugo, most likely. He has a bagworm." Konami said.

"Should we head towards him to assist him?" Karasuma asked, glancing towards their captain as he left Arashiyama to unleash his meteor on the Mimics, blowing them all to pieces.

Reiji shook his head, disregarding the explosion currently taking place. "They're moving back to the Restricted Zone. Our job is to keep the Mimics from escaping into the city."

"Got it."

*Mimics*

Yuma eyed his surroundings warily as he and Jin neared the Restricted Zone. He did not understand the goal of his father. He just kept leaving battles and popping back up later for another fight. What was he trying to accomplish? He had been so close to finally getting some answers out of his father when Jin had to interrupt. As annoying as it was to be interrupted by Miwa Squad and then Jin while trying to talk to his father, which was fair seeing as Yugo was an enemy to Border, Yuma couldn't bring himself to be mad about it. Jin was only there out of concern for Yuma.

Speaking of Jin, Yuma glanced over towards his friend. His face was pinched into a tight expression.

Jin had been hoping for an easy day. So, truly, it came as no surprise that everything about today had completely gone off the rails. Gates opening in the city, Yuma running off with his dad for whatever reason, Yuma's body was breaking, and now his own mentor had made his appearance.

Things could only get worse from here on out. Kuga Yugo was a tough enough enemy on his own, but now it looked like Mogami and Yugo were going to be working together. It was one thing if they had two transformed Mimics running around, doing their own thing and getting in Border's way, but it was another thing entirely if they were working together. A united front would be much stronger and harder for Border to fight against.

It wasn't that surprising since he knew Yugo and Mogami were friends when both were alive. They would want to work together now that they were by each other's side again. Though, whatever their goal was, it had to be a Mimic thing since Mogami would have had no idea of what Yugo was attempting since he only just appeared here. If it wasn't a Mimic thing that was programmed into them, then it was simply loyalty to an old friend that he hadn't had contact with in years.

The moment Yuma's feet hit the first rooftop in the Restricted Zone, he was stopping and turning to Jin, who stopped a few steps later since he wasn't expecting Yuma to halt their run.

"Jin-san, I'm sorry."

"For?"

A simple question, but one that had so many answers which had Yuma pausing. Sorry for snapping constantly and getting mad. Sorry for hiding that his body was breaking. Sorry for being reckless. Sorry for not being able to fight and forcing Jin to defend him from the Mimics which resulted in Mogami appearing.

"For everything." Yuma said softly. "I know I've been difficult the past few days and not thinking clearly. It wasn't about you." Keeping his attention on Jin, Yuma locked eyes with the older agent. "My father gave his life to protect mine when I was dying. And now that I'm being told I'm going to die again, I just didn't want to see anyone else die to protect me, but I also knew I couldn't stop you from trying to find a way out for me. I thought..." He raised his hand as he looked down at it, tracing the cracks with his eyes. "I thought if I could avoid letting you know that things were getting bad, there would be less risk of you do anything reckless and getting hurt. My situation isn't on you to fix."

"So, instead you decided to be the reckless one?" Jin asked, forcing his eyes to Yuma's face and not the cracks on his hand or neck. "Kuga-san could have hurt you."

"I may not be able to fight him, but I'm not about to let him kill me either. It's not like my guard was dropped so if I saw any hostility, I would have defended myself." Yuma replied.

Jin's brows rose in surprise. Something had changed in Yuma from last night to this point in time if he was freely admitting that he could not fight Yugo. It looked like the day with Shun in the city did do some good for Yuma. Well, it was Shun's influence or it was because of his meeting with his father but it seemed Yuma was ready to talk to him.

"And abandoning Kageura and Shun to fight the Rabits alone?"

That got a wince out of Yuma, who looked away by turning to look towards the city outside of the Restricted Zone. "Not my best move." He admitted. "When I...The war I fought in Calvaria. After Dad died to save me, perhaps the only people who ever truly cared for my wellbeing were Raymond and his kids. To the upper military echelon, I was nothing more than a tool because of the Black Trigger Dad left for me. I knew they were manipulating me into continuing to fight in the war, even though I had no obligation there. I was only there because Dad wanted to help Raymond out as a favor he owed. So, it's strange to be here and have people generally want to help me because they care about me."

"I told you before, Yuma. Border doesn't abandon their friends. This was never on you alone to fix."

Yuma shook his head, pushing down the frustration that was building. He couldn't expect anyone to understand why he made the choices he did. "I was used as a weapon to fight a war for three years. I knew the military was using me, but I didn't care because the alternative was dealing with Dad's death."

Fighting a war to cope with Yugo's death was not a healthy way to work through grief. Though, considering Jin spent his time grieving staying up all night, trying to find the path that could have saved his friends, it's not like he had the right to judge. The difference was that he had Rindo and what was left of Border to talk to sense into him and they could help each other in their grief. Who was there to help Yuma grieve properly?

"I don't expect you to understand. The situation I was in when Dad died is completely different to the situation you were in when Mogami died."

"How so?" Jin countered. "They both died fighting in wars in the Neighbor's world."

"You didn't kill him."

"I can see the future with my side effect but I used it for myself, for my battles. I didn't see Mogami-san's death until it was too late because back then, I didn't think I needed to watch the future of my comrades. I wanted to focus on my battles at the time since it was the first war I had found myself in."

Yuma shook his head. "That's not your fault."

"Exactly." Jin smiled, confusing Yuma. "I'm no more at fault than you are for getting targeted by a Black Trigger assassin and your father making the choice that your life was more important to him than his."

"I stepped into the path of that assassin." Yuma said softly, casting his eyes towards the night sky. If he focused, he could hear the sounds of battle raging in the distance so he assumed there were Mimics around.

Jin stepped closer to Yuma, touching his sunglasses gently. "And I was scared." His admittance got Yuma to look at him. "I was scared of going to the Neighbor's world for the first time because we were going there to fight in a war to help our allies." Jin ran his thumb over the rim of his sunglasses. "These were a form of comfort Mogami-san gave me before we began fighting."

Yuma eyed the sunglasses for a moment. He kind of figured those were Mogami since they looked so much like the pair that the Mimic of Mogami was wearing. Though, Yuma had just assumed Jin picked them up after Mogami's death or bought a similar pair to Mogami's as a way to remember him.

"There was a promise to return them when the war was over, but," Jin trailed off as there was no reason to say it. He and Yuma both knew what the outcome of that battle was. "I've never been able to let go of these sunglasses. A part of me wanted to throw them out because of the reminder they gave me, but at the same time, they are the last thing Mogami-san ever gave me. The reminder is painful, but we shouldn't just remember the bad moments. The reason the Mimics can transform into them is because of the love we shared with them. Mogami-san and Kuga-san aren't just their deaths. They are so much more than that."

"It hurts." Yuma admitted, shifting his eyes back to the stars. How many times did he and his father just sit under the stars and watch them? "It hurts knowing you're here and they're not. After Dad died, it felt like a betrayal to smile and to genuinely be happy because he couldn't do that anymore."

"What right did I have to move on from his death and live my life?" Jin asked, dropping a hand to Yuma's shoulder and squeezing it tightly. "I spent months trying to figure out what I could have done differently to save my friends, but it's not healthy to stay trapped in that grief forever. At the same time, it hurt so much to smile because when I did, I would turn to share the moment with Mogami-san, but he wouldn't be there."

"How did you get through it?"

"Time. Time helps, but there were also my friends in Border. We helped each other through that difficult period, and then the first large scale invasion happened. Border went public then and so many new allies flocked to us." Jin explained. "And one of those people was Tachikawa-san. He challenged me in a way I never expected. With each day we fought and tried to one up each other, it became easier to look towards the future and not cling to the past. I finally understood what Mogami-san said about having a rival that can push you like that. I think that is what I needed more than anything. The path to the future had been unlocked and since then, I found the ability to smile again becoming easier with each passing day. That doesn't mean I've let go of what happened, but I don't let it prevent me from living. There will be days where it will be difficult, but having friends by your side can give you the strength to face it."

A light smile danced across Jin's face. After that disastrous mission to the Neighbor's world five years ago, life in Border was hard. Everyone was grieving and it was so silent in a base that used to be full of life and noise. It would have been easier to simply leave Border and leave that world behind him forever.

Except, with his side effect, running wouldn't have been easier. The future would still haunt him.

And it was a good thing he stayed. After the first large scale invasion, Border blew up into a much bigger and stronger organization. With that happening, all the new agents coming into Border filled the painful silence that had fallen over the Border agents. Among those agents came Tachikawa Kei who didn't take long to get used to using a sword and challenged Jin in a way that Mogami or anyone ever could. Mogami, Shinoda, and Rindo had always been strong and taught Jin a lot, but since they were always so strong, Jin never saw a chance to truly surpass them.

Then, Tachikawa came along and stood in Jin's path. Tachikawa didn't allow Jin to just sit around and continue to grieve. He brought a new liveliness to training which made Jin want to stand back up and beat Tachikawa. His cockiness and skill gave Jin a thrill as he finally found someone who he could beat, but also be beaten by. A rival that he could go and back forth on with one upping. It was what Mogami told him to look for. Seeing the skill that Tachikawa had, Jin latched onto it and he knew Tachikawa found joy in having a rival in him.

It was something Jin would never tell Tachikawa, but the agent helped Jin pull himself out of his grief by giving him that excitement for fighting he thought he had lost after Mogami's death.

"Did you have anyone like that for you?" Jin asked.

Silence came from Yuma for a moment before he was shrugging lightly. "Dad's friend tried his best to help me, but I wasn't after help in grieving Dad's death. I just wanted to fight."

Jin's eye slid shut as he turned his face to the sky, feeling the light breeze brush pass his skin as he smiled sadly. "Far be it for me to tell you how to find the ability to continue to live after going through what you went through. It's not easy to find the strength to stand up after losing someone you love. It's good to be able to stand back up, but that doesn't mean you shouldn't take time to grieve. Grieving helps with recovering from the deaths."

"Just because I didn't spend months crying didn't mean I didn't grieve." Yuma replied.

"Grief isn't a process that you can just move on from after a week. Some people can move through the grieving process quickly while others take years to accept the death of a loved one." Jin said softly. "It took me months to accept what happened. Things started to get better after Border starting to grow, but even before that first large-scale invasion..."

Yuma glanced over towards Jin when he trailed off.

Jin nudged the door open to the roof, standing there briefly to take in his friends scattered over the roof, nursing their drinks in the cool night air. When he came up here, he was expecting a solemn atmosphere, but was surprised at seeing the big grin gracing Konami's face.

"Jin!" Konami waved at the older boy, motioning for him to come join her and Rindo at the ledge. "Rindo-san was just telling me this amazing story."

The energy she was projecting seemed to be contagious as Jin felt himself giving a small smile back. "Oh, yeah?"

Rindo grinned, rolling his cigarette between his fingers. "Have I ever told you about that time that Shinoda cut Kido-san's car in half?"

Jin blinked in surprise before his smile turned into a grin that was stretching across his face. "I need to know more. Why would he do that?"

Rindo leaned in, sharing a conspirator's smirk with Jin and Konami. "Don't tell Kido-san, but Mogami-san was egging him on while they were training one day."

"What?" Jin asked, wide eyed in surprise as it didn't sound like his mentor to engage in such mischievous acts. His eyes slid to the side to look at Shinoda across the roof who was engaging with Kiriyama in conversation. The way he held himself with that air of maturity made it hard for him to see Shinoda as the type who would have cut Kido's car in half.

A light laugh came from Rindo as he followed Jin's eyes. "It was a long time ago, before Konami had even joined us. They were sparring and Shinoda was frustrated at the fact that he couldn't manage to get a hit on him. The car unfortunately got in the way of one of his very enthusiastic swings."

"Mogami-san ducked out and left Shinoda to deal with Kido-san." Kiriyama leaned over, smirking while Shinoda groaned behind him.

"I remember, Mogami-san ran into the commander's office to hide and have a laugh with him while Kido-san laid into me." Shinoda mumbled.

Despite his grumbling, a smile spread across Shinoda's face as he recalled the memory. Seeing that smile made Jin come to the realization of the smile pulling at his lips. They had all gathered on the roof just like months ago and were talking and smiling so easily. For the first time in months, it didn't hurt to hear Mogami's name. The smile he gave didn't feel forced.

It was possible to heal.

"Remember the person you lost. The good and the bad. Those memories can help bring your smile back. Don't let their death be the only thing you remember from them. They are so much more than that."

Yuma smiled softly. "True."

Those moments were hard to remember at first after Yugo died, but over time it did become easier to talk about his dad and smile. If it didn't, he wouldn't have been able to tell Chika about his dad or even open up to Jin about how his dad died. It still hurt to think of his death and the smiles were more sad than happy when he spoke of his father, but at least his voice was stable when he had to speak about him.

*Mimics*

Rindo took a long drag from his cigarette, staring off into the distance towards the flashing lights of explosions from the agents' battle with the Mimics. Perhaps it wasn't the smartest move to be on the roof when there was a battle happening in the Restricted Zone, but considering it was his agents out there, he knew they would keep the battle from reaching HQ so there was no need for concern.

"I know you want to protect Yuma-kun, as a way to repay Yugo-san for everything he's done for you, but keeping his impending death a secret isn't going to help him. We're stronger when we're working together."

"There would be no significant change had we informed you sooner. That is what Jin determined so we decided to honor Yuma's request for silence." Rindo told Shinoda, who just sighed and rested his arms on the ledge as he overlooked the city with Rindo. "But it seems Kuga-san has no issue revealing the fact. Though, how he knows what Jin predicted is a mystery."

"Not really, if he is the one who plans to kill his son." Shinoda replied.

A frown twitched at Rindo's lips. "Which reveals just how much of a fake he is." His eyes shifted over towards Shinoda. "Yuma can't fight him."

"I'm realizing. The use of his Black Trigger would have been extremely helpful in the battle but if he can't bring himself to strike Yugo-san, he would just be in the way." Another sigh escaped Shinoda. It's not like Shinoda could blame Yuma for his hesitance. Anyone would find it difficult to fight a loved one they already lost once. The pain of losing them the first time would be awoken when seeing them standing there and knowing that that person needed struck down a second time, but this time by the very people that loved them.

It was a very cruel joke.

"If it was just Yugo-san, we could probably handle it, but with him having access to a Black Trigger and being fairly proficient at it, we have quite the challenge on our hands." Shinoda added. He glanced over at his friend. They could possibly handle Yugo if they fought him together, but neither of them were field agents anymore. It was only when the situation was so drastic that there was no other option then for them to enter the field to assist the agents that they would take over the fight.

"You were able to defeat Enedra's Black Trigger so I'm sure we can find a way to outmatch Yuma's Black Trigger." Rinoda said. "Nothing is unbeatable."

Shinoda's hand curled into a light fist on the ledge. "Enedra was something different. He was an enemy who was killing our personal inside the base. Yugo-san..."

"Is an old friend." Rindo rolled his eyes towards the stars shining down on them. An old friend who used to be standing right alongside them on the roof on nights like this. Even if he and Shinoda did enter the fight, it wouldn't be easy for them to want to strike down Yugo either.

"It's been close to two decades since we last saw him. When Yuma-kun arrived with the news of his death, we were forced to accept it. The day we said goodbye to him is now the last memory we will ever have of him."

Rindo hummed to himself. "Except, we now have a version of our old friend running around, attacking an organization that he helped create which forces us to instead fight against him. You don't think it will be easy to fight against him either."

"Would you?" Shinoda asked. "He was a great mentor, always so kind, but also very tough on us. We wouldn't be standing here right now if it wasn't for him. To have him as an enemy now, it soils his memory. I haven't seen a transformed Mimic yet, but if it's causing Yuma-kun this much hesitation, he must really feel like the real thing to him."

"Despite his murderous intentions." Rindo pointed out.

"Having Yugo-san come to Border will only hurt his reputation so I want to end this quickly, but it will be hard to fight an old friend. With that said, we can't afford to be the ones hesitating. We need to be able to lead our agents without showing an ounce of doubt."

"The challenge of those at the top." Rindo took another drag from his cigarette. "Did I ever tell you that Yuma had to watch his father die?"

Shinoda raised a brow, looking over at Rindo in surprise. It wasn't too surprising that Rindo knew more about Yugo's death than he did. He was sure he and Jin took the initiative to look into it when they took in Yuma. The surprise came from Rindo breaching the subject with him. While he did wonder how someone like Yugo managed to die, he never sought Yuma out to discuss it. Kuga Yugo was a dear friend and mentor to him, but he was a father to Yuma, who was so young, so he never wanted to push Yuma for information. He made the decision that he would leave Yuma in the care of Rindo and if anything vital came up from Yuma's past, Rindo would come to him as needed. "You mentioned something about it before."

Yugo created a Black Trigger when he died. If it was anything like what Jin went through when Mogami did the same thing, he imagined that it would have wrecked Yuma. It wasn't an easy thing for a child to have to bear witness to.

"I think seeing his father die the way he did plays a factor into why he can't bring himself to fight Kuga-san." Rindo explained. "He can't admit it to himself though. For Yuma, there's never been something that would prevent him from fighting so he keeps trying to go after Kuga-san because he can't believe there is a reason for him to hesitate."

"I said before that we couldn't afford to bench him, but if he can't fight against Yugo-san, do you think I should bench him?" Shinoda asked.

"Not that I think it's a bad idea to let him take a break, but Yuma would never accept it." Rindo replied. "When he wants to be, he can be very stubborn."

"He doesn't have to like it, but if you or I gave the order, he would have to accept it." Shinoda replied. It was like having Yugo here with them all over again. Yugo was never one to step down from a fight either. He was steadfast in always standing up for what he believed in. Considering the fact that back in those days that Yugo was their Commander-in-Chief, it's not like any of them had the power to order Yugo to stop and let them handle a problem, but Yuma wasn't Yugo. He was another agent under their command so they could make him step back.

And if Yugo's goal was to kill his son, who didn't want to kill his Mimic father, then perhaps the best course of action was giving the order to Yuma.

*Mimics*

Osamu rested his hand on the desk as he looked over Yuri to see the monitors in front of her. He could see Jin moving rapidly towards HQ and could only assume that Yuma was with him. There was no way Jin would be coming back to HQ if Yuma wasn't safely with him. After this type of attack in the city, Jin wouldn't be letting any of his friends run off alone. They all needed to regroup and think this through.

Though, honestly, it would be simpler if they could just get Kuga Yugo defeated.

"Why didn't Jin-san contact us when this started?" Osamu asked.

"They were jumping into action pretty fast. Arashiyama-kun only managed to grab Kitora-kun before they were running out of here." Yuri replied.

Hyuse lunged back on the couch he had taken to sitting on when Osamu dragged him and Chika into the operations room Tamakoma had taken possession of when they got relocated to Border HQ. He didn't know what he expected from Yuma when he told him he had a day to get his problems into order, but it was not this type of recklessness. The one person he thought was the most sensible on his team seemed to be one of the stupidest. All that teamwork Tamakoma-2 prided themselves on just seemed to fly out the window.

"Midorikawa-kun and Kageura-san are out there as well." Chika said as she stood behind Yuri's chair, gripping the back of it in a tight grip.

"Makes sense. Jin-san said Midorikawa was with Kuga today." Osamu replied.

That got a small smile out of Chika. If those two were together today, hopefully that meant Shun got to talk to Yuma like he wanted to yesterday. Though, it did suck that it seemed their day was interrupted by yet another attack. That thought caused Chika's smile to melt away. It was frustrating to be stuck in HQ while her friend and teammate was out fighting without them.

It seemed to be coming a very common theme lately. How many times was Yuma going to run off on his own? Tamakoma only got the chance to help him once because their base had been attacked by Yugo. She wished that she could give Yuma a more helping hand.

Osamu's fingers curled on the desk, eyes locked on the monitor as he watched Tamakoma-1, Arashiyama squad, and Kage and Shun making their way towards HQ. This had to end, and he wasn't talking about the Mimics or Kuga Yugo. Leaving Yuma alone for days to deal with his feelings on his own seemed to be a mistake. To be fair though, with everything Osamu knew of Yuma, he wasn't expecting him to constantly run off on his own and try to solve the problem alone.

That normally wouldn't be something that would worry Osamu so much. He had seen Yuma fight plenty of times and knew enough about his strength to understand that Yuma could handle himself alone.

But that was the thing.

Normally.

This wasn't a normal situation.

Knowing about Yuma's past with his father, Osamu understood he was going through difficulties involving his father's return. Osamu stepped back to give him the space he needed to think, but he did not like that Yuma was running off on his own and getting into it with Yugo constantly. He didn't want to get into Yuma's face about it, but Osamu didn't think it was healthy for Yuma to go after his father this way after what happened with Yugo when he was eleven.

Perhaps it was time for Osamu to step up as Captain of his squad and get answers from Yuma about what was going on with him.

*Mimics*

As they neared HQ, Yuma brushed his hand over the cracks on his left hand. His gloves had gotten abandoned in the city so he was going to have to swipe another pair. Not that it mattered too much right now. He was going to go hide in the barracks the moment he got back. He just had to get through HQ without running into anyone.

"Yuma," Jin called over his shoulder, staring at the looming building of HQ.

"What?"

"I don't want to ambush you and cause you to run off from being cornered, so I'm telling you now. Tamakoma is having a meeting tonight." Jin dropped down from the roofs to land in front of the main entrance to Border with Yuma dropping down next to him. He looked over at Yuma, but his eyes were focused on the cracks on Yuma's neck, instead of his face. "I know you like your privacy, but that is no longer an option."

Following those eyes, Yuma put a hand over the cracks on the left side of his neck, brushing his fingers gingerly over those cracks. With the lack of durability on this Trion body, this wasn't the first time it's been damaged like this, but it was the first time that it got progressively worse, instead of healing. So, Jin wasn't wrong in stating that he could no longer hold onto his privacy.

Besides, Shun was also right. His friends here wanted to help him. Not once did anyone in Border try to take advantage of his Black Trigger, but seeing the Mimics and having Kuga Yugo return to him, brought the memories of the military higher ups of Calvaria to the forefront of his mind. Not just them, but everything about his time in Calvaria and that war.

He was relied on for his Black Trigger, so he was always expected to be able to handle himself alone. So, when he made the error in judgement that led to Yugo appearing, it just felt like the right thing that he had to be the one to take care of the problem.

*Mimics*

Silence reigned over Jin and Yuma as Yuma took a seat on his bed in the barracks while Jin stayed standing, though he did take the moment to deactivate his Trigger. It didn't even take a full minute of them being back before the door to the barracks was slamming open had the two agents looking up.

"Yuma-kun," Chika breathed out in relief as she tore into the room with Osamu and Hyuse following her. That relief melted away into confusion after a few steps into the room when her eyes caught sight of Yuma's neck.

Osamu eyed the cracks on Yuma's neck, the pit of concern of his stomach growing. He only saw Yuma's body getting damaged once, but that damage healed almost instantly. The fact that he came back from the city with damage that wasn't healing was causing concern and frustration to take over Osamu. Something was wrong with Yuma and maybe if he didn't step back to give Yuma space, he could have been helping Yuma. No matter how strong his friend was, Osamu should have known better than to think that Yuma could handle himself alone all the time.

Hyuse, on the other hand, was glaring at Yuma. He gave his partner a day to sort his stuff out and instead he came back from a battle in the city with his cracks on him. How did he even get his body broken like that? "What did you do?"

When Yuma brought up his hand to self-consciously cover the cracks that caught everyone's attention, Hyuse's eyes got drawn to the cracks on his hand, which got him scowling in frustration.

"There might be a problem." Yuma said.

Might be? That was it. Hyuse was absolutely done with this game. A few more hours being left in the day truly meant nothing at this point as he snapped his head towards Osamu. "Jin predicted Yuma's death this week."

"What?" Yuma snapped, flinging his attention towards Hyuse. "You said you would give me until tomorrow."

"And then you came back today looking like this!" Hyuse retorted. Not to mention that blasé attitude he was portraying. His impending death should be a lot more important to him.

Osamu looked from Hyuse to Yuma, brows pulling down with a frown forming as he settled all his attention onto Yuma. He could see Chika collapsing onto one of the beds at Hyuse's declaration, but paid it no thought currently. Instead, he looked at the cracks over Yuma's hand and neck, but who knew what else was hiding under his clothes. While it was important to know how far those cracks had spread, that wasn't what Osamu needed to focus on now. "Is it because of your body or because of the attack from the Mimics?"

If it was the former, then Osamu didn't see a way out, but if it was the latter, then they could save Yuma's life. The former meant that not all hope was loss yet. Osamu was not willing to drop the hope they could save Yuma yet.

Jin crossed his arms, sighing. "I assumed it's because of the Mimics since I didn't see his death coming until the attack started, but with the way his body is breaking, I'm not so sure now."

Hyuse's shifted his eyes from Jin to Osamu, scowling deeply. It was nice to not see Osamu freaking out about Yuma's possible death, but by his question alone, it told Hyuse that there was a lot more going on here. Looking over at Chika and seeing that she looked worried, but still confused, it at least told Hyuse he wasn't the only one out of the loop. "So, are you going to share with Chika and I about what is going on?" Hyuse demanded.

"Patience." Jin replied. "I want to fill you guys in, but we need to wait for the others to get here. I only want to go over this once."

Osamu raised a brow, surprised at what they were going to talk about. He knew Yuma preferred to keep the state of his life a secret, but it made sense that Jin wanted to talk about it since it looked like Yuma's time was running out. He truly hoped that this was some strange new attack from the Mimics that they could counter.

Osamu always knew there would be nothing he could do to prevent Yuma's death. He always wanted to do everything he could to save and protect people because it was the right thing to do, but he just didn't have the power or knowledge that could save Yuma. So, instead, he made a silent promise that he would get Yuma on an away mission to Aftokrator as soon as possible so they could save Replica. He wanted to see his friend find his partner before his death, but for that to happen, they needed to survive this week.

"Are you okay, Kuga?" Osamu asked as he took a seat next to Chika on the bed she was sitting on.

At his question, Chika's eyes flickered from the cracks on Yuma's neck to look at his face instead.

"Yeah, I don't really feel pain." Yuma replied.

Osamu raised a brow. He knew his friend wasn't in pain from his body cracking like it was since it was something he witnessed before when he got hit by a car, but like usual, Yuma found a way to avoid talking about how he was actually feeling. That alone told Osamu more than enough.

"When will the others be here?" Osamu directed his attention to Jin instead.

"Boss is on his way and Tamakoma-1 will be a few minutes behind him. They took care of the Mimics that appeared so the teams on defense duty tonight will be taking over for them." Jin replied.

Chika glanced up at Yuma, catching his eye so he smiled at her which she returned as strongly as she could. The smile wasn't reaching Yuma's eyes though so she could tell that he was just trying to reassure her that everything was fine. It wasn't working though. A hollow pit had already formed in her stomach. First from seeing Yuma's body the way it was, then at Hyuse's declaration that Yuma was dying. The fact that Yuma didn't look surprised or concerned told her that he already knew about this, and that was adding frustration to everything else Chika was feeling. Why did Yuma not tell them anything? They were supposed to be a team, but Yuma had been distancing himself from them so much this week.

There was a silence that reigned over the group. Silence wasn't something that usually bothered Chika, but this time, it was stifling and felt like it was going to choke her. Hyuse was glaring at Yuma, so it looked like they had gotten into it. Osamu was quiet, looking thoughtful and from his comments, Chika got the feeling he had somewhat of an idea of what was going on with Yuma so he was going over everything in his head. And Jin was just looking at the door, waiting for the others to arrive, but there seemed to be stress shining in his eyes which was unusual for the power elite.

"So, Yuma-kun, how was your day with Midorikawa-kun?" Chika asked weakly, just trying to do anything this break the silence that was suffocating them.

Yuma looked surprised for a moment before shrugging. "It was fine. Eh," He looked towards the ceiling, a guilty look on his face. "I kind of abandoned him to fight Rabits with Kage-senpai though. I wonder if he's mad about that."

"You didn't use your Black Trigger?" Osamu asked surprised. He knew that Yuma got the okay from HQ to activate it since they were in an emergency and he doesn't have his Border Trigger. Though, seeing how Yuma looked now, perhaps it was a good thing he didn't use it.

"I had something else to do." Yuma said, not elaborating. He didn't need Jin's side effect to know Osamu would be upset if he found out Yuma went with his dad to talk while having no backup.

The door creaked open again as Rindo came in with Shinoda, Yuri, and Michael who was assisting Shiori following him.

"Oh, Director Shinoda!" Jin said, smiling, though it looked very forced. "I didn't know you were coming as well."

Shinoda crossed his arms, looking unimpressed at Jin and Yuma. "It came to my attention that I wasn't being informed of important information." He paused and took a closer look at Yuma, frowning intently. "Like, for example, why Yuma-kun's body is full of cracks or how that is even possible."

Yuma felt like he should hide the cracks on his body just to get people to stop focusing on them, but at the same time, knew it would be pointless since they all already saw them.

"We have a lot of new problems." Jin said, looking from Rindo to Shinoda. Mogami appearing was a host of new problems on top of the other problems. It made things a lot more difficult, in battle and in saving Yuma's life.

"Where is my idiot mentee?!"

Yuma's eyes snapped to the door. Konami's voice came barreling into the room a few seconds before she even reached the door, Trigger still active as it seemed deactivating it was not as important as getting back to the barracks to yell at Yuma. He had a feeling that there was going to be a lot of yelling, or at least lecturing, tonight.

Jin stepped into Konami's path before she could get to Yuma though. "You might want to save your yelling for later. We have a lot to talk about, Konami."

Konami glared at Jin. "I believe yelling at Yuma for running off with his father should be addressed. Of all the reckless, stupid things..."

"I was fine. We were just talking." Yuma grumbled.

"Just talking?" Konami leaned pass Jin to focus her glare on Yuma. "He tried to kill you at Tamakoma!"

Yuma tilted his head in thought. Did he though? He certainly put his sword to Yuma's throat as a threat, but with the way he was talking today, it sounded like he didn't plan to directly kill Yuma. He spoke of Yuma's death, but he also said he wouldn't be killing him. At least, not directly. He could have been lying, but Yuma had his side effect. Though, it was possible that like Jin's side effect, Yuma's didn't work on Trion Soldiers.

"Konami-senpai, calm down. This is Yuma we're talking about. Let's hear him out first." Karasuma said calmly. Unlike Konami, he and Reiji had already deactivated their Triggers on the way back to the barracks.

"Fine," Konami took a step back and to the side so she could see Yuma pass Jin. "So, what is so important that we need all of us here for?"

"I'm dying."