A/N: I don't own World Trigger

Mimics

Chapter 19: The Lessons

Konami considered herself to be a happy, competitive agent. She had been with Border since she was a child and even got to go to the Neighbor's world a few times. Though, one of those times was to fight in a war, a war where she lost so many of her valued comrades. She had so much training and had been through quite a few battles throughout all her years in Border.

Despite all of her experiences, she was still a very gullible person. Karasuma loved to tease her for it with all his ridiculous lies and she knew Yuma loved to join in on the fun. If it wasn't for his side effect to detect lies, she would have long gotten back at him with ridiculous lies of her own since he was still so new to Japan and was still learning new things about their world. It would be easy to trick him about this world if his side effect didn't tell him she was trying to fool him.

She would never be able to get back at Yuma for all his teasing, but she would like to think she could get better at figuring out his lies before she fell for them.

Konami scoffed, crossing her arms. "How gullible do you think I am? I'm not falling for such an obvious lie."

A pained look crossed Yuma's face. "Konami-senpai, we wouldn't lie about this." He glanced towards Rindo. "Death isn't something I joke about."

"It's your choice on what you want to say, Yuma." Rindo said.

Yuma moved his eyes around the room taking in all of his comrades from Tamakoma and Shinoda. Everyone at Tamakoma were the people he could trust the most. While he had friends in Border that weren't part of Tamakoma, the Tamakoma Branch was the one who took him in when he came here and knew the most about him. Nothing about him could make them turn their backs on him. It was the same with Shinoda. He came to Yuma with respect for his father and wanting to pay back what Yugo did for him with protection and understanding to Yuma.

In return, the moment he started to have a problem, Yuma chose to turn his back on his friends and keep his mouth shut. It was nothing against them. Since he had met them all, they had all been nothing but trustworthy to him. The problem had always been Yuma who was willing to help his friends, but had trouble asking for assistance in return.

Yuma looked over at his captain, who gave a reassuring smile. It wasn't an answer to what he thought that Yuma should do, but one that said he would stay by Yuma's side. Osamu never pried into Yuma's life, but would be willing to listen when Yuma was ready to open up. Next to him, Chika lifted her eyes to Yuma, worry and curiosity shining in them. Chika always trusted in Yuma to look out for her and showed that trust by opening up to him about why she wasn't able to shoot before, even though Yuma assured her she didn't have to tell him personal things if she wasn't comfortable. The fact that she still wanted to talk to Yuma after he said that showed the trust she had in him.

Perhaps it was time to reciprocate that trust.

Sitting back down on his bed, Yuma crossed his legs under him and planted his hands on his ankles. "You guys know I'm a Neighbor, but beyond that, I haven't told you much about my life in the Neighborhood."

Shiori took a seat next to Chika, giving Yuma her full attention. She noticed the cracks on his neck and hand, but kept quiet about it for now. There was a lot she wanted to say to Yuma, who didn't come to see her once after the attack at Tamakoma Branch, but it seemed there was a lot Yuma felt the need to say as well. For now, she would let him have the chance to speak. The fact that Jin wanted them to have a meeting about Yuma's past now meant that it was important to what was currently going on.

"When I was about eleven, Dad and I went to a nation called Calvaria who was being attacked by another nation."

"Spinthir." Hyuse said, surprising Yuma, who looked over at him. "You fought in that war?"

"You know it?" Osamu asked.

Hyuse shrugged, crossing his arms. "I heard of it briefly, but there are a lot of wars in the Neighborhood, so I don't really know much about it. It was just something I heard in passing from Councilor Visa. How do you know it?"

"I heard this story from Replica before." Osamu replied.

Hyuse nodded before turning his attention back to Yuma. "Why were you in that war? I thought you said you were from Tropoi."

"A friend of my father's asked for help and to return a favor, my father agreed to help Calvaria with the war." Yuma explained.

"What's Tropoi?" Karasuma asked.

"It's the nation I'm from."

"Also the nation where Mimics were originally created." Jin added.

Karasuma nodded. That made sense. For Yuma to claim only one nation used Mimics in the past, it was strange he knew so much about them from the start. If they were a part of his childhood, it made more sense why he had all that information.

"So, you do still have a home." Konami crossed her arms, staring at Yuma with a raised brow. "Why did you choose to come here, instead of going back home after your father's death?"

The look that passed through Yuma's eyes told Shiori enough. Something had happened in Tropoi, but if Tropoi wasn't mentioned until now, it was because it was something he didn't want to revisit. "I'm sure Yuma-kun had his reasons for not going back."

"It also doesn't relate to what we're talking about." Reiji added, saving Yuma from Konami's curiosity. "How does your time in a war pertain to our situation with the Mimics?"

"While fighting the war, the Spinthir's hired a Black Trigger assassin. I suppose their goal was to kill strong Trigger users to weaken Calvaria to force them into surrendering." Yuma explained, looking down with a sad look in his eyes as he stared at his ring and the cracks spidering out from it on his hand. "When the assassin arrived, my farther ordered me to stay out of the battle since the assassin was easily killing strong Trigger users, but I didn't listen and snuck out into the battle."

Hyuse raised a brow. That was a stupid, reckless move. He was thinking the recent reckless from Yuma this week was a new thing that came from his stress of what was going on, but it seemed that this side always lived in Yuma. He just learned over the years to not follow that reckless streak.

"I met the assassin and didn't stand a chance."

A Black Trigger assassin against an eleven-year-old Yuma. That outcome was not surprising at all. Konami knew how strong Yuma was, but this was as a fifteen-year-old. An eleven-year-old going to war for the first time would have a lot to learn and wouldn't have the strength to match an assassin in battle, especially when it was a normal Trigger against a Black Trigger. It wasn't impossible for normal Triggers to stand a chance against a Black Trigger, but that required skill and experience she doubted an eleven-year-old Yuma had.

Shinoda felt his heart plummet as he listened to Yuma's story. If there was one thing he was certain of, it was that when Yuma was in the Neighbor's world, his Trigger didn't have a bail out function. Bail out was something Border created and the other nations copied it from there. An eleven-year-old Yuma wouldn't have had access to something like that. Having fought in wars in that world, Shinoda knew that if a Trion body got destroyed, the Trigger user was left to the mercy of the enemy. He lost so many good friends that way. "Did Yugo-san fight the assassin?"

Yuma shook his head. "This was the last time I ever saw the assassin. He disappeared after this day, but he left me in a horrible state. To save my life, Dad created a Black Trigger and sealed my dying body inside it." He lifted up his cracked hand to show off his ring and the current state of his body. "And created this Trion body so my life could be extended."

Without realizing it, Chika's hand latched onto Shiori's, squeezing it tightly, but kept her eyes locked on the broken hand Yuma was showing off to them. She had understood that Yuma had a Black Trigger from his father, but she always assumed he had simply been killed in battle and left it behind in his passing. The real story reaching her ears was so much worse.

Chika knew that Yuma understood guilt. He spoke of feeling bad if Osamu lost B-Rank status when it was discovered he was a Neighbor as a way to relate to her own guilt of feeling it was her fault her friend and brother were lost to the Neighbors. Now she was realizing that there was even more guilt that built Yuma into the person he was. She imagined that what he experienced at the hands of the assassin and then immediately losing his father afterwards left him with immense guilt. Just as Chika felt it was her fault her loved ones were gone, Yuma probably blamed himself for his father's death.

He truly did understand the best how she felt.

Konami's eyes softened, her angry at Yuma from earlier disappearing completely.

"That last time someone wanted to protect me, they died."

"My dad. It was my fault he died."

Their conversation on the roof the other day was making a lot more sense now. Anyone would feel immense guilt at that situation, but it was also very likely that Yuma felt guilty for surviving while his father passed away.

It was a feeling that Konami could relate to. When she came back from Aristera years ago, it was so hard to integrate back into normal life. She had seen so many horrible tragedies occur in Aristera and saw her friends die. It felt wrong to even smile and enjoy anything when her friends weren't there to share in the moment with her.

But life didn't stop because her friends died. It hurt and took months, but she had to learn how to live again. They all had to learn that lesson. They couldn't stop living in the present because letting go of the past was hard. It was perhaps one of the hardest things she ever had to do.

The situation that Yuma went through would cause survivor's guilt in him. It was no wonder he was hesitating so much against his father if this was the way he died.

"I'm sorry you went through that, Yuma." Karasuma said, but Yuma just shook his head in reply. His expression softened at Yuma's response. This wasn't about getting pity from his friends. That was something that Yuma would never want so Karasuma would do his best to act normal, despite the worry that was beginning to flood through him. "Can you tell us why your body is breaking?"

"This body has regenerative properties, but its durability is weak. Normally when this body gets broken, it heals immediately, but after our fight against Dad at Tamakoma, my body began breaking that night, and it's spreading." Yuma looked down at his hand. "I don't know why that is. I've never had it break for no reason before."

Jin glanced at Yuma out of the corner of his eyes, watching as the younger agent focused on his hand, instead of those gathered in the room, who were keeping their eyes locked on Yuma as he revealed everything to them. "When the Mimics started to attack us, I saw Yuma's death coming this week. Since I didn't see it before, I thought his death was caused because of the Mimics, but if his Trion body is starting to break, we thought that it's possible it might be because of his body. His real body."

Michael nodded in understanding. "Even if Kuga-san was able to save Yuma's life in the moment, that doesn't change the fact that his real body is gravely wounded. Sealing his body away into a Black Trigger would theoretically slow down his body's time to buy Yuma some time, but he is still dying."

"How does it work?" Chika asked breathlessly.

"When your Trion body takes damage or gets destroyed, you need to give it time for the Trion body to heal before you can fight again so your Trigger needs deactivated. However, a real body sealed inside a Trigger for a long time can't heal because your body is sealed in the Trigger holder and locked in another dimension type space until you return to it. A Trion body can't heal in this dimension just as a real body can't heal locked in the Trigger holder. Time will move slower for the body in that dimension which is buying Yuma time, but eventually that time will run out, no matter how slow it is going." Michael explained as he glanced over at Yuma.

"What are you saying?" Konami demanded, shooting a look at Michael before turning back to Yuma, taking in the cracks on his body. "That we're going to lose Yuma?"

Shiori looked away from Yuma for the first time in the conversation to look at Jin. "Can't you find the path to save him?"

"I've been trying to, but it's been difficult to work around a future when I don't know for certain what causes Yuma's death and when I can't predict anything about the Mimics." Jin replied, glancing towards Rindo and Shinoda. "And we've got another problem."

Yuma looked up at that. "Mogami."

"What about him?" Rindo asked, dread filling him as he already expected the answer that was going to come from Jin and Yuma.

"I'm sorry." Jin said by way of an answer.

"No, it's my fault." Yuma said before Rindo or Shinoda got a chance to say anything to Jin. "Jin-san was trying to keep the Mimics off of me, but got attacked by them instead. I shouldn't have let myself get so distracted."

Jin grimaced, rubbing the back of his head. "No, it's not, Yuma. I got the okay from HQ to allow you to use your Black Trigger, but with the condition of your Trion body, I was worried about the effect using your Black Trigger would have on you, so I didn't tell you about it."

"Weren't you guys with Kuga-san?" Reiji asked, frowning at the two. "So, you had him and the Mimics to deal with but you didn't tell Yuma to use his Trigger?"

Yuma leveled his stare at Reiji, curling his hands into fists. "I can't do it." He said softly, allowing the truth to slip from his lips. The past few days have been full of nothing but frustration and aggravation from Yuma because in his mind he knew the Kuga Yugo that was attacking them was nothing but a fake and he should feel nothing for him.

Transformed Mimics were not real people. They were excellent at deception and emotional manipulation.

It was something Yuma understood well and preached to the agents constantly so they would understand because the truth was...

Even when he was a child in Tropoi, Yuma always faltered at the sight of transformed Mimics. The Mimics never transformed into anyone for him back then, but he had seen people requesting the chance to have a moment with Mimics. Just seeing them transform and how real they looked and sounded, Yuma knew it was easy to believe that the Mimic was the real deal.

The difference from when he was a child and now was that the Mimics in the past never attacked anyone. With the weaponized Mimics, they were dangerous, and yet, Yuma still could only see his father. He knew his father had been attacking agents and had attacked his new home at Tamakoma and he needed to be stopped, but at the same time, he just wanted a chance to spend time with his father.

He was just at war with himself and it was absolutely frustrating because he knew what the right thing to do was, but his heart screamed that his father could be back which is all he ever wanted. For the longest time, before he met Osamu, having his father at his side again was the only thing he wanted out of life. Even if getting his father back would mean his death. He just wanted one moment of time with him.

Yuri's expression softened. "There's nothing wrong with feeling like that, Yuma. Most people would never be able to hurt someone they love." She cast her eyes towards Jin. "Could you fight Mogami-san?"

The word 'yes' almost spilled from Jin's lips before he was hesitating and snapping his mouth shut. It was easy to fight against Yugo since Jin never knew the man and he wouldn't force it onto Yuma. The difficulty of Yuma's life and how his father died would stall Yuma's hand, but Jin? Would Jin's hand stall if he came face to face against Mogami in a fight? He didn't live with the guilt of Mogami's death, even though he did have regret for not using his side effect to manipulate the battle field. Despite not having that guilt bearing down on him like Yuma did, Mogami was the person Jin was closest with in Border when he first joined the organization.

Jin hunted down Mogami when the visions of his future as a fighter wouldn't leave him alone. He had to know why he kept seeing his future with an organization he didn't know about, and it was lucky for him, Mogami was such a kind, cheerful person who would entertain a strange child saying weird things.

Anyone in Border back then could have taken Jin under his wing to train him. There was no need for one of the founding members of Border to mentor Jin. It was Mogami's choice though to allow Jin into Border and it was his choice to take on the mentor role for Jin. Jin, himself, was happy with the choice that Mogami made. He couldn't have asked for a better, more caring mentor.

Which is why it was so painful to find him dying on the ground with Jin not being able to do anything to save him. He was forced to watch the life leave Mogami and Fujin take his place.

It was one of the hardest things he's ever had to do, because in the end, he couldn't do anything. He was simply a spectator in all of it.

Jin refused to just be a spectator again. He would not let any of his friends die without putting up one hell of a fight. Yuma would not die this week, if there was anything he could do to prevent it, but to prevent it, would he have to fight Mogami? Fighting Yugo had been easy to do, but would he be able to go against his old mentor and friend to save a new friend?

Logically, Jin knew Mogami was just a Mimic and he couldn't be left to wander around. When he saw Mogami standing beside Yugo earlier, his train of thought was that both needed killed, but there was also a sense of relief flooding through him when Yugo and Mogami chose to leave. He could say it was because there wasn't a chance for him to win when he didn't want Yuma to use his Trigger, but perhaps there was a part of him that didn't want to face Mogami in a real battle.

Whereas Yuma didn't want to fight his father because he didn't want him to die, since Jin knew that Yuma did desperately want his father back, Jin couldn't bear to see his mentor lying on the ground, dying again.

Konami's eyes softened as she looked over at Jin. While she was always close to Rindo as a child, Jin had been very close to Mogami. It made sense since they spent so much time together to train. The losses they suffered in Aristera hit them all very hard. They all knew the risks of war, but it didn't truly hit her just how bad it was until their failure in Aristera.

"If you knew you couldn't fight him, why did you go after him?" Karasuma asked Yuma.

"The lessons." Yuma admitted, confusing everyone except Chika, Rindo, and Shinoda. He held up a single finger. "'Lesson one. Protect yourself by yourself. Parents can't protect you forever. Work out or think hard and figure out a way to take care of things by yourself. Don't get close to things you can't take care of. Use your imagination to avoid danger.' I've always worked on being able to handle things on my own. I always believed that I can't rely on others to help me all the time."

"There is nothing wrong with trusting in your own strength and abilities to save you in the field, Yuma-kun." Shinoda said gently. He had nothing against lesson one. It was a good lesson in saying that they had to improve their own strengths and strategies. It wouldn't do to get into a tough spot based on his own actions, and then expect someone to always be there to bail him out of trouble. That said, when there were allies by his side, there was a new type of strength and it was one that Shinoda never took for granted. "But focusing on that lesson alone and you'll forget lesson two. 'There's more than one answer. Things can be resolved in many ways. On the contrary, there's no answer in some cases. Don't get hung up with one way.' Dealing with this alone isn't the only answer you have. The better plan is to work with your allies."

Shinoda kept his eyes locked on Yuma's, trying to get his meaning across. He didn't want Yuma to think he was alone. As long as he was one of his agents, Shinoda would always have his back. Shinoda didn't make a habit of abandoning his soldiers in battle. Their safety was one of his top priorities. After what happened in Aristera, Shinoda was determined to not only protect his home, but all of his comrades. The losses they suffered in Aristera were something he never wanted to experience again.

"What are these lessons you're talking about?" Reiji asked.

"Kuga-san had these two rules that he lived by. The purpose of the rules was to help us learn how to not only fight, but also to live our lives. He wanted us to learn to be self-efficient and not get stagnant by trying to solve problems with only one way." Rindo explained. "Take a look at how Border is currently divided. Kuga-san and Mogami-san created Border with the intention of making friends with Neighbors, but the war in Aristera and then the first large scale invasion caused much hatred and fear against the Neighbors. The Old Border members each had different ideas of how to deal with this as Border went public. Kido-san declared Neighbors our enemies and has helped Border grow into a stronger organization. Shinoda doesn't hate Neighbors, but wants to focus on defending the city from any more attacks so that has become his priority. And I stayed at the old HQ to continue on with Kuga-san and Mogami-san's life work of making friends with Neighbors. We all chose our own paths, and none of them are wrong. That is what Kuga-san meant with these rules. But it also works in the field as well. You shouldn't rely on only one plan in battle. If your first plan doesn't work in defeating the enemy, then look at the battle from a new angle and try something new."

"So, basically, Yuma's plan of going after his father is stupid and we need to look at it from a different angle." Konami said, looking over at Yuma, eyeing the cracks on his body. "And work on a solution to keep him alive." She whipped around so fast to glare at Jin that Jin was surprised she didn't get whiplash, but wisely kept his mouth shut when he saw the fiery glare in her eyes. "Why didn't you tell us about this problem sooner, Jin?"

"Yuma asked me not to tell you guys about his predicted death. He thought it would be a distraction." Jin replied, looking over at Chika and Osamu. While he was sure Yuma didn't want to cause anyone concern which is why he kept it from everyone, Jin had a feeling Chika and Osamu were his biggest reasons. "He didn't want us all distracted with worry."

A frown pulled at Osamu's face. "Kuga, I already knew about what happened to you as a child. What's the difference between knowing that is killing you and what Jin-san has predicted for this week?"

"The time." Yuma admitted. "When I got hurt years ago, no one knew how much time Dad had managed to buy me, and I still don't. But Jin-san predicting my death this week puts an immediate threat on it and I didn't want to scare you guys."

"Lesson three." Chika said, surprising Rindo and Shinoda since there weren't three lessons. "Parents aren't always right."

A lesson designed specifically for Yuma, who was a child when Yugo taught him the lessons. That made sense. When Yugo taught Shinoda and Rindo, they were in their late teens/early twenties. They had the critical thinking skills to question things. A child like Yuma would need a lesson where he learned to not take his father's word as gospel.

"Lesson one is good advice on how to survive, but you don't have to rely on just yourself, Yuma-kun. You're not alone." Chika said softly. "I know we relied heavily on you in the Rank Wars, forcing you carry the burden of scoring the points to rise our team to the top."

"It wasn't a burden. I had a lot of fun and you and Osamu helped more than you realize. I wouldn't have made it this far without you." Yuma assured her, but instead of looking reassured, Yuma would say she looked almost smug. Almost, because it was Chika, and to Yuma, she could only really pull off her overly kind nature.

"Then you're practically calling yourself an idiot." Hyuse said, and he could actually properly execute the smug look so Yuma opted to glare at him. His glare did nothing to Hyuse, who just glared right on back. "It's not like you can disagree. Despite the fact that you have all these allies at your side, you fell into an old habit of trying to do it all on your own. From the sounds of it, that didn't work out for you as a child so why would you attempt it again?"

"I believe in cleaning up my own messes." Yuma snipped back.

Karasuma sighed. "There's nothing wrong with wanting to fix a mistake, but it's also not a show of strength to refuse help when it is readily available to you."

Numbers were a powerful asset in battle. Even against a tough opponent, if the opposing force had more numbers, they could hold out, even win against someone like that. Yuma understood how valuable numbers were in battle. It was something he told Osamu when he first came to this world.

Even when he fought in the war in Calvaria, being used for his Black Trigger so they could win, there were still the other soldiers in that war. Yuma had no particular love for Calvaria's military upper echelons, but those soldiers and civilians of Calvaria? Yuma may not love Calvaria, but he did hold respect for those soldiers who stood strong and fought for their country. Because those soldiers were the ones that Yuma fought with. He didn't fight alongside them in fights as he chose to fight his enemies alone, but they were all fighting the war together with a common goal of keeping Calvaria free.

So, yes, Yuma understood the strength in numbers, but though he preached about it, he didn't actively start fighting with a team against the same enemies until he joined Border. He briefly fought with Osamu and helped Arashiyama squad before he ran off with Jin to face off against Viza alone.

This was why Yuma was at fault here. Hyuse wasn't wrong to say that Yuma had fallen back into old habits. Truly that habit of fighting and relying on his team for support was something he only recently starting doing, so it wasn't surprising to him that he fell back into his habit of going at it alone.

"I know I've been saying for the last few days that I would deal with Dad," Yuma said. "But if we're being honest, with the Black Trigger on his side and without Replica to assist me, I never truly believed I could win the fight. Knowing I can't beat Dad didn't bother me though. What made me mad, that I couldn't even admit it to myself, was that I desperately want it to be real. I wanted to be able to freely talk to him, for it to be like the old days."

"And so, you wanted to go after him alone." Reiji concluded, crossing his arms over his chest. "Because if we're not there, we can't fight him."

Yuma looked off to the side, frowning. "I don't disagree with him needing to be dealt with. He can't be allowed to continue killing Border agents, but I think I need to distance myself form this. I can't think straight right now."

Shinoda raised a brow, surprised at the option that Yuma was suggesting. It wasn't an option he was against, as he was just talking about it with Rindo earlier, but he and Rindo both thought that Yuma would be stubbornly against it. They never considered that Yuma would be the one to say it. "Knowing when to back down is also a sign of strength. Anyone can continue a hopeless fight, but those with the experience are the ones who can say when it is time to call it quits, which is not an easy thing for anyone to do. The adrenaline pumping through you when in battle makes it difficult to accept the idea of turning away from the fight."

"Besides," Rindo eyed Yuma's body, wishing desperately for a cigarette right now to calm his nerves, but that would have to wait until later. Yuma did an excellent jump of making it hard to protect him. Though, he had to admit, Yuma is what he always imagined a younger Yugo would have been liked at this age. He couldn't say for sure since Yugo was already an adult with his life in order by the time Rindo met him. "With your body like that, Jin is right in that you shouldn't be using your Trigger until we can figure out what is happening."

"What else could it be besides his real body reaching its limit?" Konami asked. Though she sounded calm, Konami felt anything but calm on the inside. Yuma had just admitted that he had been dying for five years and now Jin was seeing his death right in front of them. How could that not freak her out? Yuma had only been with them for a few months. She wasn't ready to say goodbye to another friend. She was ready to pull Yuma into a giant hug and never let him out of her sight again, but she held herself back. All the cracks on Yuma's body made him look so fragile and she was scared to touch him. What if she broke his body even more from a single touch?

"The situation Yuma is in is unprecedented, so I can't say for sure, but I don't think his body cracking like this is related to his real body." Michael said, eyeing the cracks on Yuma that were visible. "Yuma is injured to the point that his father made the decision to seal his body into a Black Trigger because he didn't see another way for him to survive. The condition of his real body hasn't affected his Trion body in all these years, so that tells me that until his body dies, his Trion body shouldn't take any damage in relation to what his flesh body is going through. But like I said, this is an unprecedented situation so there is a chance I might be wrong on that. It's something that we would need to look into."

"If it's not related to his flesh body, then what could be causing the problems?" Yuri asked. "The only other thing going on that is unusual this week is the Mimics."

"Hopefully that is something we can figure out when we do tests." Michael said.

Rindo caught the distaste that crossed Yuma's face and smiled sympathetically at the boy. "I know you didn't want people to know about your situation, Yuma, but if we're to figure this out, are you alright with letting us look into it?"

"Kinuta-san would be a great help to this as well." Shinoda added. He understood that Kinuta and Yuma got off to a rocky start because of Yuma's Neighbor status, but seeing as Yuma had been helping Kinuta for the past couple of months, he hoped they had a better relation and Kinuta would be more willing to offer his assistance.

"What could doing any tests actually accomplish?" Yuma asked warily, not really thrilled at the idea of doing tests. It wasn't that he didn't trust the Border agents. It just didn't sound all that comfortable.

"It can accomplish a lot more than just letting you sit there as your body breaks." Michael replied. "When did you say this started?"

Yuma sighed. It's not like Michael was wrong. He couldn't just avoid this because it didn't sound fun. "Last night after Dad attacked Tamakoma."

"Your body has been breaking for close to twenty-four hours and you didn't think to inform us?" Osamu clarified, a frown twitching at his lips. "What happened to your promise to tell us if something happened from now on?"

Osamu would have to reassess the trust he put into Yuma's word, which is something he thought he would never have to do. Ever since Yuma saved him from the Bamster that day they met, he had always been straightforward and honest with him, so when he agreed to come to him the next time something happen, Osamu had no problem stepping back and letting Yuma have the space he needed.

"To be fair, I was breaking that promise the moment I made it since Jin-san told me beforehand that he saw my death coming." Yuma replied.

"How does that make it any better?" Osamu demanded before squeezing his nose as he tried to will his stress away. It was beginning to feel like the day that he met Yuma all over again. Nothing but stress.

"Sorry."

That seemed to be it from Yuma apparently. He seemed to feel no need to offer any explanation to Osamu which just had the Tamakoma-2 Captain sighing. It didn't come up often, but there was a stubborn streak lying under Yuma's indifferent expression.

Shinoda glanced at Rindo, motioning with his head towards the door as they had somewhere else to be.

"If there is nothing else, Shinoda and I will take our leave. Be sure to rest up." Rindo informed his agents.

*Mimics*

"So?" Rindo prompted as he and Shinoda made their way down the hall.

Shinoda pinched his nose, breathing out slowly. "I'll get Sawamura to send out a memo to the agents as soon as possible about now having Mogami-san to contend with."

"Jin didn't allow it to happen on purpose." Rindo replied, not commenting on the stress that was starting to show on Shinoda's face. They had been friends long enough that Shinoda felt at ease allowing his calm demeanor to slip in front of him. It wasn't easy for anyone to hide the stress all the time, but Shinoda did his absolute best to hide what he was feeling in front of his agents. If the agents saw the Commander worried, they would lose confidence themselves.

"I'm not blaming him or Yuma-kun for this situation." Shinoda replied. He wasn't in the business of blaming his agents for the skill of their enemy in succeeding in their plans. If they had easy enemies, Border wouldn't need to be so big. Unfortunately, the enemies that came here were quite powerful and it took all of Border's strength to contend with them. "I just wonder if this could have been prevented if we had sent the agents to Jin and Yuma-kun instead of having them head straight to the Restricted Zone after dealing with the Trion Soldiers in the city."

"It would have only allowed even more Mimics to escape into the city." Rindo pointed out.

That was true, and besides, thinking of what if's did not help with the matter at all. They couldn't change anything so what Shinoda needed to do was to think of how to get them all through this situation. "Were you ever going to tell me what Yugo-san did for his son?"

"No," Rindo said without an ounce of hesitance. As close as he and Shinoda were, having joined Border and trained alongside each other, they both still chose their own paths to take in the current Border. While Shinoda and Rindo would work together when it mattered, like to stop Kido from stealing Yuma's Black Trigger, there was still much Rindo kept from Shinoda. What Tamakoma did in the background would only be shared with Shinoda when there wasn't another option and they needed more backup. "Yuma wanted to keep it quiet, so only Jin, Osamu, and I knew. I wasn't about to betray that trust, but the fact that Yuma was willing to explain it to everyone while you were in the room shows that he does trust you with the information."

"Unfortunately," Shinoda sighed, rubbing his eyes as he felt a pressure building up behind them. He understood why Rindo kept quiet about Yuma's situation. It wasn't something that upset him, but it was hard to hear the truth of Yugo's death and Yuma's incoming death. Even if they managed to prevent his death this week, how much time did he have left? Shinoda wasn't ready to say goodbye to his friend's son that he was only just starting to get to know. "If his body keeps cracking like that, I don't see a way for us to keep it hidden unless we lock him in a room and restrict anyone from visiting him."

"If we're going to ask Kinuta-san for help, we won't be able to keep it quiet from the top brass anyway." Rindo said. "And Jin said Arashiyama and Kako already figured it out. There's nothing we can do about it. This is something we have to leave up to Yuma. If he wants to tell people, he can. If he wants to hide in a room until we figure this out, he can."

*Mimics*

"There is something about the Mimics that has been bothering me." Yuma said, tugging at the blanket beneath him.

"Well, you're the expert on them. What seems to be the problem?" Shiori asked. Though it was her speaking, Yuma didn't look at her. He hadn't looked at her once since she came into the room. First, he's been avoiding her since his dad attacked their base, and now he just refused to look at her. Just how long did he think he could avoid looking at her?

"The first time I met Dad at Tamakoma, he had no realization that he is a Mimic. He didn't seem to think of anyone but me. It wasn't until Jin-san appeared in front of us, that he mentioned another person from his past. Mogami Soichi." Yuma explained, glancing over at Jin, taking in his sunglasses around his neck. It was when Jin touched those sunglasses that Yugo made note of another person. "It's like no one was a thought in his mind when he first arrived."

"It took him an almost full day since he transformed to even come to Tamakoma." Osamu added, looking thoughtful. "If that was his old home when he lived here, why did it take him so long for him to come to Tamakoma if he was looking for Kuga?"

Michael rubbed his chin, glancing from Yuma to Jin.

"If Kuga-san didn't acknowledge the fact that he is a Mimic, then why was he working with the Mimics last night and today?" Jin added. "He also didn't react to Mogami-san being born from a Mimic. He just accepted that his friend was back."

"Mogami also didn't acknowledge that Dad was there at first. He was much more focused on you." Yuma told Jin, brows furrowed as he thought about the attack they had endured earlier.

"Miss Shiori and I have done some research into the Mimics." Michael said. "I'm sure HQ has done their own research into them, but there is still a lot we don't know about them. We can learn much about the Mimics before they transform, but we have no idea of how they function once they have transformed. When you first told us of the Mimics, I was under the impression that once they transform, they would have all the memories of the person they transform into, but from the sounds of it, it's taking time for the memories of everything to form."

"Is it though? Sounds like Mogami only took a few minutes to realize Kuga was there." Hyuse pointed out. "Whereas Kuga took a couple days to think of anyone besides Yuma."

"Maybe it's because Mogami-san was right next to Kuga-san when he transformed. The reminder was there for him, but Kuga-san was the only transformed Mimic in the city for a couple days." Karasuma suggested.

"At this point, it will only be speculation. What's important is that they are remembering everything, even if it's not immediate upon transformation." Reiji replied. "And they are a threat to Border."

"But since they are attacking us, the memories have to be twisting with something involved with their Mimic programming." Yuri said, glancing at Yuma and Jin. "How did they behave when you were with them?"

Jin tilted his head in thought. Today was the first time he interacted with transformed Mimics, so he might not be the best judge of how their minds worked, but..."I can't speak for Kuga-san, but Mogami-san seemed like his normal self from when he was alive, perhaps a bit too willing to attack though."

Yuma's head jerked up at the reminder of Mogami attacking them. "Oh, I forgot, but Mogami's sword was able to use wind blades, just like Fujin."

That got everyone's immediate attention as they all stared in disbelief at Jin and Yuma.

"That's kind of important information. Why didn't you say that sooner?" Konami demanded, glaring at Jin and Yuma. One transformed Mimic with a Black Trigger was bad enough. Having two running around now would just make it harder for Border to bring an end to this conflict.

"So much happened tonight." Jin replied. His mind was honestly a whirlwind of information right now and there was so much to discuss with Tamakoma, that Mogami using wind blades slipped his mind. He was sure it would come back to him eventually. "Though I should inform Boss and Shinoda-san of this as soon as possible."

As Jin left the room to follow the bosses, Osamu looked down at Yuma's ring. The two transformed Mimics who died creating Black Triggers were able to use the abilities of the Black Trigger they created. Yuma was convinced that shouldn't be possible, but with it happening twice, this had to be some sort of new design to the Mimics that didn't exist when Yuma was a child.

Was the purpose of this type of function just to make the Mimics stronger?

Or was there another reason that Border was missing?

*Mimics*

"If this goes on for much longer, the public will lose faith in Border. The attack on Tamakoma Branch was bad enough with the public thinking that if we can't defend our own bases, how will we keep them safe. But now, we've had three fights happening around the city today." Netsuki said, rubbing at his neck nervously. "If this keeps up, we're going to lose our funding because they don't believe we are strong enough to protect the city."

"This is the fourth major attack Border has had this year. It would have been nice if we could have kept the Mimics a secret from the public." Karasawa said.

"Will it be a problem for you?" Shinoda asked.

Karasawa waved Shinoda's concerns off. "Keep the agents doing a good job of dealing with the threats and I can spin it to the sponsors how much good Border is doing. If it wasn't for these agents, the city would be in a horrible state right now."

"If it wasn't for the agents, the Mimics wouldn't be attacking us right now." Shinoda replied.

Karasawa smirked. "The sponsors don't need to know that. All they need to know is that Border is handling the Trion Soldiers that are attacking. No civilian deaths and minimal damage to the city so far will help a lot in the long run."

Kido tapped a finger on the table as he thought things over. "For the time being, we will prohibit the use of Triggers outside the Restricted Zone. We must keep the Mimics from following them into the city." He decided, looking over at Rindo and Shinoda. "Be sure to let all the branches know. If their agents want to train, they'll need to come to HQ until we have dealt with this threat."

Kinuta scoffed, shooting a glare at Rindo. "The attacks in the city recently haven't been because of Mimics. It's because of your agent."

"I will admit that Kuga-san has been attacking to drive his son towards him." Rindo agreed. If Yuma hadn't been in the city today, Yugo wouldn't have attacked like he did, most likely, and the active agents wouldn't have been in the city which drew the Mimics out of the Restricted Zone towards them. "To that end, Yuma has made the decision to withdraw from the frontlines for the time being."

Kido eyed Rindo out of the corner of his eye. "A surprising response from a boy who is so much like his father. Kuga would always do everything in his power to help. So, it's strange, why didn't Agent Kuga use his Black Trigger to help earlier?"

Rindo pursed his lips. While Yuma did admit to them that he couldn't bring himself to attack his father, it wasn't something he was willing to say out loud to everyone in the room. Yuma's feelings with his father, Mimics or not, was a personal one. While Yuma agreed to ask Kinuta for help, it didn't mean they needed to divulge everything about what was going on recently.

"Yuma-kun didn't make this decision lightly." Shinoda said for Rindo. "There's actually a problem, which is why Yuma-kun made this decisin, that we need Kinuta-san's help with."

That was an unexpected twist to Kinuta. He already had his men researching into the Mimics and trying to learn as much about them as they could. Any bit of information would be helpful in defending against them. So, what else could Shinoda and Rindo want from him? "And that is?"

"When Yuma was a child, he was severely injured by a Black Trigger assassin. To save his life, Kuga-san created a Black Trigger and sealed Yuma's dying body inside of it. In doing so, he created a Trion body for Yuma to live in, but that body is beginning to break." Rindo explained, trying to be as brief as possible about the situation. He saw the surprise on the faces of everyone in the room, but none of them asked any questions which he was grateful for. He wasn't willing to answer questions that would tell them everything about Yuma's problem. For Yuma's sake, he wanted to respect his privacy as much as he could.

Kido leaned back in his chair, listening to the conversation, but taking no part in it. Kuga Yugo chose to die so his son could have the chance to continue living. That sounded like the exact thing that man would do. Yugo was never the type to stand by and do nothing when there was something he could do to change the situation. It was actually a death very fitting for the friend he once knew.

"Did he do something to get hurt?" Kinuta asked.

"Yuma's Trion body has regenerative abilities so his body shouldn't be maintaining any type of damage." Rindo explained. "Before the Mimics attacked, Jin didn't see anything like this happening, but soon after the first attack, he began to predict Yuma's death this week. I fear his body breaking is the beginning of Jin's prediction so we don't have much time to figure this out."

"Then perhaps you should have asked for help sooner." Kinuta retorted. "I've never heard of a situation like this before. I'm not a miracle worker. Trion bodies aren't like real bodies. We can't just wrap the wounds up and hope they'll heal."

"We're just asking you to work with Cronin to look into it. None of us know how to proceed with this." Shinoda replied.

Kinuta scoffed. "Kuga has been pretty helpful with getting us truthful intel from Enedra. It would be a waste to lose his assistance now."

Shinoda gave a small smile. Kinuta was very against Neighbors, but Shinoda had a feeling that working closely with Yuma had softened him a bit towards the young agent, not that Kinuta would ever admit it.

"Does Jin have any idea of what the cause is?" Kinuta asked.

"He thought the cause would be the Mimics, but now we're not sure since Yuma's body is starting to break." Rindo replied.

Kinuta nodded. "Is he okay to wait until morning for me to look into it?"

That was an excellent question. Yuma seemed as lively as he usually did. The only thing that was off about him was the cracks on his body and his sudden decision to step back from an active role in the field.

Before Rindo could determine an answer, the doors to the conference room slid open to allow Jin entry.

"Perfect timing, Jin." Rindo said.

Jin raised a brow. That wasn't a greeting he was expecting, but he would roll with it. "Is something wrong?"

"Kinuta-san wants to know if Yuma-kun will be fine to wait until the morning to get checked over." Shinoda explained.

Considering Jin only predicted Yuma's death coming soon and that he wasn't able to see that his body was going to crack like it was, that wasn't an easy question for him to answer. The best way to look at it was to see if he could still see Yuma's future beyond tonight, and the answer to that question was yes. It couldn't tell him the condition Yuma would be in, but as long as he was still alive, they still had a fighting chance.

"Yuma will be fine for a night." Jin decided, planting a hand on Fujin's hilt as he still had the Black Trigger on him. They hadn't been time to return it upon returning to HQ. "Yuma reminded me of another issue that I came to discuss with you."

Kido eyed the Black Trigger at Jin's waist. For someone who gave his Black Trigger up to HQ as part of a deal, Jin seemed to be taking a hold of it quite often. Considering he was using it to protect the city and Border, Kido let it go easily since Jin always made sure to return it. "And that is?" He asked, focusing his attention of Jin's face.

"When Mogami-san appeared earlier, he was able to use wind blades on his Kogetsu." Jin explained.

There was a slight twitch to Kido's facial expression. It was hard to see, but Jin still saw it and it told him that Rindo and Shinoda hadn't managed to mention that Mogami was now in the city. He supposed that wasn't surprising. He didn't think they had been in this meeting long enough to bring it up yet.

"Mogami and Kuga are both here now?" Kido said.

"And what do you mean he is using wind blades?" Kinuta demanded.

"Exactly what it means. He has Fujin's abilities, just as Kuga-san's can use the abilities of the Black Trigger he created." Jin replied.

"Yugo-san being able to do it was a mystery, but if both of them are able to use Black Triggers, it has to be a design of the Mimics." Shinoda said, staring at Fujin at Jin's waist. In a sense, the design choice made sense since allowing Mimics to use the Black Triggers the people they transformed into created before death would make them stronger. At the same time, though, Shinoda was wondering how it was possible for Trion Soldiers that were fake versions of the people they transformed into were able to do that. The more he learned of these Mimics, the more he was seeing just how complicated their design truly was.

"And it's very likely Kuga-san and Mogami-san will be working together." Jin added.

"If we can survive an attack from Aftokrator, who came here with four Black Triggers, we can hold out against Mogami-san and Kuga-san." Rindo said.

Border had a wide array of powerful agents now. It was a much stronger organization than when Yugo and Mogami were members. Despite the strength of their agents, Kido did not believe any of the agents alone would be enough to defeat Yugo and Mogami. It would take a strong group of agents to be able to handle them, or even Black Triggers. Unfortunately, two of their three Black Triggers were being used by the Mimics. It would make it hard to counter them with the same Black Triggers.

*Mimics*

Jin stood in the vault, staring down at Fujin in his hand. He had only taken it from storage because it was an emergency earlier, but the Black Trigger wasn't allowed to stay in his hands. Couple with his side effect, Fujin was a powerful Black Trigger. It would be a powerful ally for him to have in this current attack, but the agreement he made with Border to get Yuma safely enlisted said that agents would only use it when there was not another option.

There were plenty of agents who would find Fujin useful in the next couple of days.

Setting Fujin down on the pedestal, Jin turned to leave, empty hand clenching into a tight fist at his side. Mogami would never be upset at him for giving up his Black Trigger to bring peace into an organization he loved. It still didn't make it an easy decision when Jin originally decided to give it up.

But even without Fujin, Jin would be alright.

It was silent in the vault as Jin walked to the exit, so any sound splitting through the air was deafening.

And terrifying.

The sound of cracking caused Jin's heart to miss a beat.

Looking over his shoulder, Jin's eyes widened in shock at a crack on Fujin's hilt.

A/N: I don't know the honorific that Michael uses for Shiori in the anime. The subs just say 'Miss Shiori' so I went with that. I know he adds something to her name, but it's not one I heard of before.