A/N: I don't own World Trigger
Mimics
Chapter 25: A Fickle Future
"Jin-san."
Jin stepped back from listening to the captains discussing with Osamu where they should release the beacons first. He turned to take a look at Shun and the unusually serious expression on his face. "What's wrong?"
"I don't believe that is a serious question you actually think you need to ask." Shun retorted, eyes flashing with annoyance.
"Alright," Jin raised his hands in surrender. "Calm down." Once he made sure the others were still busy talking, Jin guided Shun to a corner of the room. "I know you want to ask about Yuma, but I told you, Shun, that we would handle it."
Shun shoved Jin's hand off his shoulder and rounded on him, eyes ablaze with a fiery determination that was burning into Jin. "Yuma-senpai..." He hesitated, glancing towards the group of agents that were arguing over where to start their plan. "His father told me of him dying this week and when I told Yuma-senpai about it, he had no reaction to the news. It was like he wasn't even concerned by the threat his father's made to him, so I need to know..."
"Need to know?" Jin prompted when Shun made no move to continue.
"Did you predict it?" Shun asked softly. Though his tone was soft as he asked, his trembling, white knuckled fists at his side spoke another story to Jin, who was surprised at the anger radiating off of the younger agent. "Did you predict his death this week and tell him about it?"
"How am I ever going to surpass Yuma-senpai?"
"Never. I'm going to be your superior until the day I die."
Jin's expression softened at the young agent. This anger coming from Shun was just another form of concern for his friend. It was actually sweet to see how worried Shun was. He clearly wasn't afraid to show it so openly.
"Did he know?" Shun demanded when Jin didn't answer him.
"I told him." Jin admitted.
Shun gave a jerky nod of his head, looking off to the side with a dark scowl in place as he stalked off towards the agents, signifying the end of the conversation as he wanted no more answers right now. The one thing that had been bothering him had been confirmed. He needed time to calm his frustration at Yuma who acted so carefree despite knowing the future Jin predicted for him. His incoming death was not something that Yuma should have been taking so lightly.
Somehow, Jin felt like he just got Yuma into a lot of trouble with Shun. Well, that would be something for those two to sort out when this was all over. It was something he would make sure they could take care of. Yuma would make it through the wake and he could properly explain things to his friends about what was going on.
"You okay?" Kazuma asked upon seeing the anger on Shun's face.
Shun didn't want to be mad. He shouldn't be mad, but Yuma had been walking around with the knowledge of his death to come this week and Jin's predictions were rarely wrong. They only became wrong when he worked on manipulating events to prevent what he sees. He was sure Jin was doing everything he could to save Yuma, but Shun wasn't feeling all that confident that Yuma was putting in the same effort. His friend knew his death had been seen by Jin, but he was still acting so recklessly all week.
"If he wasn't already unconscious..." Shun grumbled to himself, ignoring the concerned and wary looks his teammates were giving him.
*Mimics*
"I can't believe you told them Yuma was injured by the Mimics." Karasuma said, looking over his shoulder at Osamu as Tamakoma-1 and Jin lead the way back to the lab where Yuma was resting. They had a little bit of time before they had to enact their plan to try to draw the Mimics out so they had decided to use this time to check in on Yuma. None of them felt any kind of hope that Yuma's situation would have changed in the time they've been gone though.
"It's not technically a lie." Osamu replied. "And besides, you saw their faces. They were not about to believe that Kuga was sick. They're not stupid."
"So?" Konami replied. "They can be suspicious all they like of what is going on. It's still none of their business."
Osamu pushed his glasses up to adjust them. "I agree which is why I said his condition was caused by the Mimics and nothing else." He wasn't about to betray Yuma's trust by telling all the agents the full truth of what was going on. The agents just needed an explanation that wasn't complete lies and something they could understand that would explain Tamakoma's sudden haste to get this done.
"It doesn't matter what we said. If any of them go see Yuma, questions will arise." Reiji pointed out. "We were trying the sick story to avoid having them go visit him since they wouldn't want to get sick as well. Obviously, they weren't buying it, so we'll just have to keep them from visiting Yuma."
If she thought back to Shun's face the other day when he couldn't find Yuma to talk to him or even when she looked through Yuma's phone at all the messages he ignored, Chika did not think it would be that easy to keep his friends from wanting to check up on him. Besides, if they couldn't kill the Mimics in time, it wouldn't matter. Yuma would die and they would have to tell the agents the full truth of what was really going on.
No.
Chika shook her head, hands clenched into tight fists at her side. She couldn't think like that. They had to win. There could be no ifs in this situation. Losing Yuma was not an option. She was not going to lose anyone else important to her.
Not without a fight.
Never again.
At their entrance into the lab, Shinoda and Rindo turned to look at them.
"Didn't expect you guys to come back today." Rindo greeted.
"We can't stay for long. We have work tonight." Jin replied as he stepped up next to Yuma's bed, staring down at his friend. Seeing Yuma lying unconscious made him look every bit the eleven-year old's body he was stuck in. Jin knew he was fifteen but when he was up and moving, his actions and the look in his eyes made him look so much older than his body. Being forced to sleep made him look so small and young.
"And what is that work? Were you ever going to inform me?" Shinoda asked.
"I didn't think it would be much of a mystery." Jin said with a small shrug of his shoulders. "We're going after them."
Chika stepped up next to Yuma and gently grabbed his broken hand in both of her hands. She didn't know how sleep mode worked in Trion bodies. Maybe it was just like a dark abyss that Yuma didn't even realize he was in so he was unaware of everything going on. To him, when he woke up, it could feel like no time had passed at all. Or, it was possible he was aware of some stuff going on around him like it was possible with coma patients. If it was the latter, then Chika wanted her friend to know they were here with him.
After hearing his story of what he went through when he was eleven, of hearing about the guilt he was living with about surviving when his father couldn't, Chika didn't want Yuma to ever think he was alone. It wasn't all on him to do everything. They were going to be right by his side to help him through this.
He just had to let them in.
And slowly but surely, Yuma was opening up to them. He found the strength to tell them the truth, and now it was on them to return that trust and stay by his side as they helped him through this. They were not going to lose him to this.
Osamu stepped up next to Chika, looking down at his partner sadly. It really didn't feel right to be heading into battle without him. Yuma had always been there in the battles that Osamu got himself involved in, from the moment they met at school all those months ago. They were partners to the end, and if Yugo had his way, that end would be far sooner than anyone wanted. It was an end that Osamu knew was coming when he was let in on the secret. He knew that one day he would be forced to accept it, even if it was something he wished they could desperately avoid, but that day when it would happen was not going to be today or tomorrow or the day after. Yuma would die because of the effect of a Mimic of his father. He wouldn't lose his friend to this, and he wouldn't let the legacy of Kuga Yugo who gave everything for his son be tarnished like this.
"Did you find them?" Shinoda asked, heart racing at the thought. He hadn't heard any news about any of his agents managing to find Mogami or Yugo. If they could locate the Mimics, then he was ready to let Jin take the lead tonight. The sooner they managed to end this, the sooner they could make sure Yuma would be alright. This tormenting week could finally be over if the agents could take out the Mimics. He had to have faith in them that they could handle this.
"No, but we're working on a plan to drive them out." Jin replied, refusing to let himself be frustrated at the thought. He couldn't start this mission with any frustration at the lack of progress they had currently. The plan would work tonight and they would find the Mimics. "Let us focus on that. I need you and Boss in here with Yuma tonight."
Shinoda pushed himself to his feet. He looked towards Yuma before looking back at Jin. "Is there a reason for that?" He wasn't against doing what Jin was asking of him. He was sure the reasoning was important, but it would be nice if Jin would stop being so cryptid all the time.
Jin stared down at Yuma instead of looking at Shinoda. "It's a reassurance. I don't know how tonight will go, but the future I'm seeing is telling me that if things go wrong, I need you and Rindo-san here to keep Yuma safe." It was bothering Jin just how much harder it was to read Yuma's future, but he wasn't going to say that aloud. No one else needed to know just how bad the situation actually was. "Most of the agents are going out in the field with us to take care of this, but Yuma is still in a Trion body. It could attract Mimics to him, though I'm hoping having so many agents active will keep the Mimics distracted with us. But, just in case..." He turned to look at Shinoda. "Yuma can't take much more."
Shinoda clapped Jin on the shoulder, smiling reassuringly at him. "Rindo and I have got this. You just go do what you have to do."
To save Yuma required them to kill Kuga Yugo and to keep Fujin from being destroyed required the death of Mogami Soichi. That was their working theory currently. Even knowing that was what they had to do, if he took out the fact that it would be hard to defeat Yugo and Mogami to begin with, Jin still saw the difficulty of the task set out before them. Agents who had no connection to Mogami or Yugo would be better equipped to take care of this.
Perhaps that would be the smartest decision. The anger Jin felt at seeing Mogami hadn't diminished. It was just pushed to the side because he had to focus on Yuma, but seeing the copy of his dear mentor was not something he was going to easily accept. His friend had died a long time ago. Jin was not going to accept a Trion Soldier wearing his face.
Mizukami believed that using the feelings and memories he had for Mogami against the Mimic would be enough to make him hesitate, but Jin didn't think he could do that easily. The future of Mogami and Yugo couldn't be seen because they weren't real. Could he really stand in front of them and try to bring out the person who they were with his own feelings? Could he push his anger at seeing a fake away long enough to do it?
Hyuse walked to the other side of the room, pausing to take a glance at the desk where a black and green sword handle was sitting. It was only something he saw once before when it was at Jin's side yesterday. It wasn't the Scorpion blade that he used against Hyuse in their fight so many months ago. To bring out a unique blade for one day and then get rid of it, it had to be a Black Trigger.
Seeing the weapon now, Hyuse was confused to see a crack on the handle. He was certain it was a Trigger and Triggers didn't break easily, especially Black Triggers. In fact, the crack on it reminded him of the cracks on Yuma's body. Those similar cracks could only mean this was the Black Trigger that was connected with Mogami. Since the theory was that the Mimics were draining the Black Triggers of Trion, it would make sense that this sword was his. With how difficult Black Triggers were to break, that was the only thing that made sense to him about this.
Konami threaded her fingers through Yuma's hair before resting her hand gently on his scalp. She hated how he didn't react to her touch at all, no tilt of his head or snide remark coming from him. He wasn't allowed to be so still and silent. She wanted to see him open his eyes and see them shining with mischief as he lied to her again. She wanted to have another training session with him. She wanted to see Yuma's smile again when she made her curry for dinner.
She didn't want to attend another funeral.
"We're going to save him." Karasuma said, though his eyes were locked onto Yuma, instead of Konami. They had to believe those words. This wasn't the time to let doubt cloud their minds. It would only get in the way of their judgement making, which something they could not afford when they were planning to go out to fight two of Border's founders. They had to fight like they normally did.
There was a strength to Karasuma's words, and he knew that his agents were fighting to believe these words because the only other option was not something any of them would easily accept. Rindo didn't want to accept it either, but seeing Yuma so unresponsive, he knew that he had to be realistic. Yuma's death was not one he wanted to see, but he had to be ready for the worst-case scenario. If the worst-case came to be, he needed to be ready and able to stand up in that moment since his agents needed him as an example. If Yuma died, none of his agents would take it easily. Rindo would have to be the strength his agents needed in that scenario.
"Be careful out there." Rindo replied.
Speaking of the mission, Shiori held up two Triggers. "I suppose I should return these then. The dummy beacon Trigger is all set up for you, Chika-chan, Hyuse-kun. We shouldn't waste any time."
*Mimics*
Shun was sitting on the couch of their operation's room, just hunched over and staring down at his Trigger which was resting in his open palm. It was very strange to see him so still. In fact, it was so unusual to see him so unenergetic that it was unnerving to the rest of the squad.
"Are you okay, Shun?" Ryuji asked.
"Why does everyone keep asking stupid questions?" Shun muttered, leaning over more so he barely had to lift his arm to scratch the back of his neck. "Tamakoma wasn't telling the full truth about Yuma-senpai."
Ryuji raised a brow. It was obvious that Tamakoma was being purposefully closed lip about what was going on. If their lack of information didn't get in the way of the mission, then it wasn't a big deal. The agents still understood what the plan for tonight was.
"He's dying." Shun muttered. "He's dying and they want to go after the Mimics? Why? I don't understand what is going on."
Kazuma's eyes widened slightly before he morphed his expression back into a calm one as he made his way over to the couch Shun was on. "It's Jin-san, Shun. If this is the action he is taking when Kuga-kun is dying, then it's what he thinks is best."
"Jin-san isn't the person who would sit around while a friend was in trouble." Kusakabe agreed. "You should know that better than anyone, so instead of moping there, stand up and get ready. Go see your friend if you must. Just get your head into battle mode soon."
Go see him? Should he go visit Yuma? When he saw his friend unconscious in the hall earlier, he had been terrified when nothing they did would wake him up. That fear only intensified when he saw the cracks on Yuma's face. He had no idea of what was going on with Yuma or Tamakoma. He did understand that Tamakoma didn't have to tell him anything. What went on inside their base was their business, but at the same time, Yuma was his friend. He was allowed to be concerned about him and want to know what was going on.
Despite that, there was a part of Shun that didn't want to go near Tamakoma. He didn't want to go to the lab where Yuma was lying unconscious because he was scared to see that. The Yuma he saw in the hallway that was injured and unresponsive wasn't the Yuma he knew. His friend was always so strong and confident. He wasn't looking down on Yuma for falling. No one was impervious to getting hurt and needing help. At some point, everyone needed help.
That wasn't why he wanted to avoid seeing Yuma though.
He was scared.
Kuga Yugo spoke of Yuma dying this week, but Yuma didn't react at all to that information, which was because Jin had already warned his friend. Yuma was going through this week with the knowledge that it might be his last week alive. He had known for days and yet when they were at lunch the other day with Suwa squad and Yoneya, he was smiling and laughing. When he was going at it with all the agents in Rank wars, he was clearly enjoying himself with his matches.
In contrast to that, when they were in the city yesterday, he didn't care about his dad's threat to his life, but he was clearly stressed about having his father in the city. Was the stress just because of his father? Or was Yuma allowing Shun to see that the stress of knowing what his future held for him was weighing him down? Was he finally felt comfortable enough with Shun to let him see what was truly going on underneath his façade?
"Stop overthinking it." Hayato said before he was yanking Shun off of the couch. "Just go see him. If Jin-san has predicted his death, I'm sure he is doing everything he can to prevent it, but there is the chance he will fail. Don't sit here and mope. Visit Kuga before you come to regret it."
And with that, Hayato shoved Shun out of their operation's room, letting the door slide shut in a surprised Shun's face.
"Wow, kicked out of your own squad's room."
Eyes widening in surprise, Shun whipped around to find Yoneya leaning against the way. "Why do you just keep popping up out of no way constantly?!"
Not the reaction that Yoneya was expecting, but it was a pretty amusing one. "It's not really me popping up. I was just stopping by to ask you something."
Shun glanced at the closed door to his operation's room before sighing and walking down the hall with Yoneya following him. "What is it?"
"What did Jin-san tell you?" Yoneya asked, surprising Shun. "Don't go acting like you're the only one friends with Kuga. I saw you talking to Jin-san earlier and you didn't look happy. So, what was Tamakoma holding back from us in that meeting?"
"Ah," Shun slammed a finger into the call button for the elevator. "I didn't learn anything about Yuma-senpai's condition. I was asking Jin-san to confirm a theory I had."
"And that was?" Yoneya prompted.
Shun eyed his friend out of the corner of his eye. Yoneya wasn't there when Kuga Yugo said his son would die this week and it was something that he never brought up with him. However, he was with Shun when they found Yuma earlier and he saw the cracks on his body. He had to have his own suspicions about what was going on.
Before Shun could determine an answer, the elevator doors were opening up in front of them.
And Shun was founding himself face with a sense of déjà vu he did not appreciate.
"Murakami-senpai, Kageura-senpai." Shun greeted politely, making no step to get on the elevator. At least they weren't dragging an unconscious Yuma with them this time.
Yoneya seemed to have no issues as he shoved Shun onto the elevator and stepped on after him. "Afternoon. Not off prepping with your teams for the mission tonight?"
"Could say the same to you." Murakami replied, leaning back against the wall, eyeing the two new occupants to the elevator. "Where are you off to?"
Yoneya glanced at the panel on the wall to see the floor he wanted already selected. "Same as you it seems. Tamakoma may not be happy about us all showing up though. They didn't seem to want us to visit him."
Kageura scoffed as he looked out the window of the elevator. "Then they shouldn't have told us where they had him resting."
Yoneya's eyes narrowed at the two B-Rank agents in front of him. He knew they were close to Yuma, but he had a good idea of why Tamakoma was hesitant to tell the agents anything. If they got too worried, they would want to visit Yuma and that would result in them seeing the cracks on his body. Yoneya didn't even have an explanation for those cracks and he saw them hours ago. He couldn't very well tell these two to leave though. That would only make them more suspicious.
Tamakoma had to know it wouldn't be easy to hide Yuma's breaking body.
"What is wrong with you?" Kageura suddenly snapped, shooting a nasty glare at Shun.
Shun blinked in surprise, backing up a step at the hostility. That was his fault. He had forgotten about Kageura's side effect. Perhaps entering an elevator with him while feeling depressed at the knowledge that they might all lose a friend soon wasn't the best idea. Then again, it was Yoneya's fault for shoving him into the elevator. "It's nothing."
That seemed to only rile Kageura up even more, but luckily for Shun, Murakami held out a hand in front of Kageura, an inch away from shoving his hand into his chest. "Calm down. I'm sure Midorikawa is just worried about Kuga."
"It feels similar to what Kuga was attacking me with the other day." Kageura snapped, shoving Murakami away from him and taking a step towards Shun. "You know something. There is more to this situation than Tamakoma is letting on."
Shun glanced towards the top of the elevator doors. How long was it going to take to get to the floor he needed? Then again, getting to their floor wouldn't do much since Murakami and Kageura were going to be getting off there as well, so it's not like he had an escape from Kageura's wrath.
"Oi!" Kageura snagged Shun's jacket roughly to drag his attention back to him.
"Kage!" Murakami grabbed his wrist, but Kageura refused to release Shun's jacket or take his glare off the younger agent.
In return, Shun glared at Kageura. He might like to avoid angering Kageura, but he wasn't scared of the other agent's temper. Things were just easier if they didn't set Kageura off.
"I think we all need to calm down." Yoneya said. Why did he have to be the mature one here? "This isn't the place to be getting riled up."
"I don't like it." Kageura shoved Shun back with enough force that he knocked him into the wall behind him. As he did, Murakami released Kageura's wrist so he could help steady Shun. "I can't figure out this emotion that you idiots keep striking me with."
Shun leaned all of his weight against the wall, folding his hands behind his back on the railing as he looked down at the ground. "Yuma-senpai was projecting emotions at you?" He asked softly. He recalled Yuma mentioning offhand to him one day that he didn't set off Kageura's side effect. Shun had nagged Yuma for hours about how he did it, but wasn't able to get an answer. All he got was killed by Yuma for hours in their rank matches.
"In our rank match the other day." Kageura grunted. "It was similar to what you're feeling."
"So, it was getting to him." Shun whispered.
The three agents stared at Shun, confusion on their faces.
Shun valued his friendship with Yuma, and if there was one thing he didn't want to do, it was to betray the trust Yuma had in him. However, there was also the case that Shun realized this wasn't a burden that anyone should carry alone. He mentioned it to his team because they were with him when Yugo spoke of Yuma dying this week. These three agents in front of him were not a part of that conversation, but they were all Yuma's friends and they deserved the truth. Perhaps knowing would cause worry in them, but at the same time, it gave the motivation to fight harder to win tonight. "Jin-san predicted Yuma-senpai's death this week. He's worse off than Tamakoma was letting on earlier."
"Dying?" Murakami looked completely baffled by the idea of any of them dying. It's not that he didn't know they could be killed. Being in Border was a dangerous job and they lost people back when Aftokrator invaded. Death was a real threat to them, but it still wasn't something he liked to think about. If he did think about it, he didn't consider Yuma to be in danger to it. He always seemed to be so capable and assured of his strength to survive.
What absolute garbage that was. That stupid shrimp dying this week? No. No way was that shrimp going to die this week. There were only two people who didn't set off his side effect and that was something he wasn't willing to let go of.
"My bad. If we fight again, I'll do my best to feel better so you get a decent fight." Yuma said.
That idiot. He was blatantly dropping hints in his wording, but none of them had any idea to see his words for what they were since there was no reason to think Yuma's life was going to be in trouble. He had clearly been off all week, but they had passed it off as frustration towards the Mimics and the appearance of his father. It seemed that there was a lot more going under the surface that Yuma didn't want them to know about.
"Right," Kageura muttered, shoving past Yoneya as the elevator doors slid open.
Yoneya peaked out of the elevator doors to watch as Kageura stalked down the hall towards Kinuta's labs. "Perhaps not the best person to tell that too." He muttered, glancing at the depressed Shun. "None of that, Midorikawa. This isn't the time to be depressed. Jin-san and Tamakoma have made a plan to go after the Mimics which means they must think this will help. This is the time to bring our A-game."
Murakami nodded. "I agree. You only get to be depressed if we fail in stopping the Mimics and lose Kuga." He stepped out of the elevator and stared at Kageura's back in the distance. "We should stop him before he does something stupid."
Shun slapped his cheeks a few times. He had been ordered by his captain to get himself into battle mode. Everyone was right that he couldn't just stand here and mope. Standing around and being upset was not going to save his friend. If he just stood here and moped and, in the end, Yuma died, he would never forgive himself. He had to fight for the future he wanted.
*Mimics*
Stepping out of the lab, Jin was surprised to find Arashiyama and Kako waiting there. "I thought you would be off preparing for tonight."
"Not much to prepare for when we already laid out the plans. All that is left is actually starting the mission." Kako replied, brushing her hair out of her face. Her team wouldn't be fighting any differently tonight so she had no special orders to give them. "In the meantime, you can tell us the truth. How is Kuga-kun really?"
A light huff came from Jin. "I should have seen you two making an appearance for that reason alone." Just as fast as it came, the amusement was gone from Jin's face as he glanced back at the closed door to the lab. "Osamu wasn't lying when he said the Mimics were injuring Yuma. It's just we didn't explain everything but since you two know the truth of Yuma's body." He looked back at his friends, a grimace crossing his face. "Kuga-san being able to use the Black Trigger that is keeping Yuma alive is draining the Trion that he needs to sustain his body and that is causing his body to break. If his body breaks completely, he'll lose his Trion body and his real body will come out which will result in his death."
"I see." Arashiyama replied softly, shoulders sagging at the news. It was hard news to hear, but it wasn't because of Yuma's real body, they still had a chance. They just had to solve the issue with the Black Trigger and that would hopefully fix everything. "You asked me to protect Yuma earlier this week. Is it because you saw this coming?"
"I wanted to do everything I could to avoid this future, but we failed, so all we can do now is try to fight to stop the future I am seeing from becoming a reality." Jin replied.
"And going after the Mimics will do that?" Kako asked.
Jin turned his head to the side, staring down the empty hallway. "I don't know." He admitted. "I don't know how tonight will turn out. I can see us going out on a mission, but I can't know how the battle will go since I can't see the futures of Mogami-san or Kuga-san." Not to mention the haze that was covering Yuma's future. "If we do manage to find them tonight, it's not going to be an easy battle."
"We have no choice but to find them." Kako replied. "Otherwise, we'll lose Kuga-kun."
Seeing the determination shining on Kako and Arashiyama had Jin smiling back in appreciation. This wasn't a battle any of them could do alone. Yuma might have wanted to keep his impending death quiet, but truthfully, the burden was too heavy for any one person to carry. This was something that Jin knew only too well from being forced to carry the knowledge of the future and have everyone rely on him to plan their course of action. Arashiyama once told him to not keep all the burden to himself. He had Border at his back who he could rely on to carry the burden with him.
"Of course, because you can't steal Yuma for your team if he dies." Jin said, seeing the sparkle in Kako's eyes at his statement.
"Kuga-kun hasn't seen just how relentless I can be when I am trying to recruit someone. He can't die yet when I've hardly tried to steal him yet." Kako teased.
Jin snorted in amusement.
"That's better." Kako said. "Don't forget to smile. You can't let these burdens pull you so far down you forget who you are. You've been letting your stress about everything get to you too much. I know you need to keep yourself focused on this attack, but you can't forget everything else."
Jin stared in surprise at his friend. Had he really been so transparent that all of his focus had been on Yuma and the Mimics the past few days? It was hard to focus on anything else when his friend was dying and his mentor was back, bringing up painful memories he had already healed from. They weren't memories he needed to revisit.
"She's right." Arashiyama agreed. "If we only focus on the bad things happening, we'll forget what it means to live. I know you are determined to fight the future, but you can trust in us. Yuma's death is something none of us are willing to accept." Movement from the other end of the hall caught his attention. "Any of us actually."
"Hmm?" Jin looked at the other end of the hall, this time not feeling any surprise at seeing another agent approaching them. Though, the amount of anger radiating from Kageura was concerning. Why did everyone seem to be getting mad at him this week?
"You bastard, Jin!" Kageura snarled, never slowing down in his stride down the hall. "You think you can just hide the fact that Kuga is dying?"
Why did Jin even try?
Honestly, there was truly no way they were going to be able to hide this. It was only a matter of when it would come out. Though the question was, did Kageura put the pieces together from talking to Yuma the past couple of days and add that to his current situation or did someone tell him what was going on?
The answer presented itself when Shun, Yoneya, and Murakami rounded the corner after Kageura.
"Calm down, Kage." Murakami shouted at his back, hurrying down the hall towards his friend. "I'm sorry about him, Jin-san."
Behind the older agents, Shun rubbed the back of his head sheepishly, giving Jin an apologetic smile. He really had no excuse for telling them the truth other than it was a heavy burden to bear the knowledge alone and being Yuma's friends, they deserved an honest answer. He was sorry that telling them the truth sent Kageura on a rampage towards Jin though.
"I was hoping to last at least an hour before it started to get around." Jin muttered.
Kako checked her watch. "Forty minutes is actually a pretty good time."
"It's really not when you consider that the agents are supposed to be better at keeping secrets." Arashiyama replied, giving Shun a disappointed look.
"There's Border secrets and then there is life threatening secrets." Shun argued. He caught Jin's eyes, not backing down an inch. "You're going to try to save him, right? Well, we're all want him to survive, but I think they deserved to know the truth. If we fail, don't we deserve to see him before then?"
Jin stared down at Shun, blinking in surprise at the look in his eyes. The Shun who was always so excited to see him wasn't standing in front of him right now. This was a more serious Shun who was scared to face the future of losing his friend, but also pulling himself up to stand tall in the face of what he considered to be the right course of action. Seeing the change brought a small smile to Jin. It truly was wonderful to see the younger agents growing so much.
Relenting, Jin stepped back, raising his hand in surrender. "There's nothing I can do when you've already told them."
The question that Jin was left with though, was what should he tell them? Shun and Yoneya already saw the cracks on Yuma's body so they likely already had their suspicions. Murakami and Kageura were the only ones here that were pretty in the dark about what was going on. Yuma told Tamakoma the full truth last night, but that didn't mean he wanted everyone to know. Jin couldn't make the choice for him to tell anyone his history.
Jin could easily just tell them nothing and to just focus on tonight's mission. They weren't entitled to know anything that was happening inside Tamakoma. This wasn't a Border secret though.
It was, however, the life of a friend at stake.
While Jin knew why Yuma didn't tell people–he didn't want their pity or to burden them with the knowledge of a friend dying soon-he also understood the pain of not knowing and standing around doing nothing. The agents weren't doing nothing as they were all going out tonight to take the fight to the Mimics, but they likely had questions raging through the minds that were a distraction.
There was something to say about not telling the agents that Yuma's life was hanging by a thread so as to not distract them with worry tonight. On the other hand, knowing the danger their friend was in would add an extra layer of motivation for the agents tonight. He wasn't sure they needed any more motivation to want to kill their enemy though. All of the agents were always ready to take on the enemy.
Glancing over his shoulder at Kako and Arashiyama, Jin saw that the traitors had stepped away to leave him to the ire of the other agents. That was fair. It was an agent from his branch so it was Tamakoma's decision on how to handle this.
"Right," Jin stepped in front of the door that led into the lab. "I'm going to give you the barest of explanation and you will ask no questions. If he wants you to know, Yuma can tell you everything else when he wakes up. I'm not taking that choice from him. If you can't agree to that, you can leave right now."
"That sounds fair." Murakami replied with Shun and Yoneya nodded in agreement while Kageura just huffed and looked away, but considering he stayed, he must have agreed as well. "I just need to know that he will be okay."
Jin eyed each of the agents separately, judging their expression before he nodded. "Yuma was gravely injured as a child so to save his life, Kuga-san created a Black Trigger and sealed Yuma's dying body into the Trigger. It seems that the Mimic of Kuga-san is siphoning the Trion from the Black Trigger which is sustaining Yuma's body and causing him damage which is why we need to kill him quickly. We don't know if this will help Yuma, but it's the only idea we have right now."
His explanation just had the four agents staring blankly back at him. It was the simplest explanation that Jin was willing to give. There was no need for the full story of what happened to Yuma, and if Yuma felt he trusted his friends to tell them, that was up to him in the end. Since they already knew Yuma's life was in danger, Jin just wanted them to understand the full stakes of what was going on. The rest of Yuma's past did not relate to the current situation he was.
"What you're saying is that Kuga is in a Trion body?" Kageura asked, glaring at Jin. This was in no way his fault, but this entire situation was really starting to piss Kageura off. Yuma really had gone and gotten himself into a stupid situation. They were going to have to put the work in overtime to drag him out of it so Kageura could personally bash his head in during a rank match for causing this much worry about the agents. All their concern flying through the air was really making his skin itch.
"Correct." Jin replied. "And that body is starting to break. We don't have much time left so we need to find the Mimics as soon as possible."
Having his theory confirmed only made Shun wish that he was completely off. The idea of living in a Trion body sounded interesting, but not when the context of how it came to be was added in. There were so many questions running through his mind about what Jin said. Obviously, he couldn't ask anything since he agreed with no questions, but honestly, he felt like the more answers he got this week from everyone in Tamakoma, the more questions he had. He could make a few guesses to try to get to the answers, but what was the point? It would only leave him more curious and worried with overthinking his what-ifs.
The one thing he was certain of though was that Jin was telling the truth, as much as he wanted to tell them. Yuma had already told him before that he was severely injured once and his father created a Black Trigger to save him. What Yuma conveniently left out back then though was that those injuries from the past were still affecting him to this day. The fact that he was living with the consequences of an action from so long ago showed just how truly dangerous and insane the Neighbor's world was.
"I tried to kill you. I can't complain if you kill me." Yoneya said.
"Forget about it." Yuma replied. "I doubt you could've killed me anyway."
Yoneya stared at the door behind Jin, his meeting with Yuma from so long ago flashing through his mind. The confident Neighbor kid who was convinced Miwa squad couldn't beat him. It made a lot more sense now. It wasn't confidence. It was the fact that he was already dying because Yoneya wasn't stupid. If Yuma's body was that injured, just sealing it in a Trigger wouldn't save him. His body was still dying. Otherwise, Yuma would have gone back to his real body a long time ago. In the face of that, what more could Miwa squad do?
Nothing.
There was nothing they could do in the face of someone who had to live with his death hanging over his head for years. If he was already dying, then he had nothing to lose.
It was actually quite sad. No one should have to live with their death hanging over their head and any day it could be the end. Not accounting the Mimics that was speeding up his death currently, did Yuma even know how much time he had left?
He couldn't imagine living like Yuma did. It wasn't an easy life, and yet, he seemed to smile so easily through each day.
Murakami's eyes softened.
"My father." Yuma replied softly. "He died when I was eleven."
It seemed there was a lot more to that statement than Yuma was willing to let on when he told Murakami that. If his father gave up his life to save Yuma's, it made sense why he never mentioned his father's death before. It couldn't have been an easy topic for him to ever bring up. Just from the little bit Jin had been willing to give them, he could tell there was a lot more to the story and it was likely a very tragic tale.
Yuma hid that pain well, but now it made sense why that pain and frustration was becoming so prevalent throughout this week. It would be difficult for anyone to keep themselves calm and thinking straight when being faced with the trauma of their past in the version of a transformed Mimic forcing them to revisit it.
Knowing that Yuma's father used to be a member of Border and a strong one, if he considered how worried the top brass was at his return, Murakami could believe the story Jin was telling. It was too farfetched to even be considered a lie. It did leave him curious as to how Yuma got hurt and when. It was strange that it took Yuma years to join Border if his father was once an established member of the organization. Perhaps the loss of his father and the trauma he went through at eleven kept him away from Border. Something like that had to be very mentally taxing for him.
It didn't matter how strong Yuma was. Everyone needed time to heal after tragedy occurred.
Seeing as the agents were following their agreement to ask no questions, Jin stepped through the door to head back into the lab with the agents. At this point, his traitorous friends, Kako and Arashiyama, came back to join the group. With this many agents, it was a good thing Kinuta had stepped out earlier. It meant there would be no complaining about there being a party in his lab again.
"Mikumo-senpai and his squad aren't here?" Shun asked surprised as he looked around the lab to only see Tamakoma-1, Michael, Rindo, and Shinoda present.
"They went to test out the dummy beacons before the mission." Konami replied, eyeing the group of agents that Jin led into the lab. She was certain Jin was leaving to get ready for tonight, but he wasn't even gone for fifteen minutes before he was coming back in with agents.
"It shouldn't take them long to master them with Usami's help." Reiji said. "But it's always good to get some practice in."
"The real challenge will be making sure all squads are in sync tonight." Murakami said.
"Shiori and Yuri-san will be in control tonight so there won't be any issues there." Konami replied.
Murakami nodded in agreement. Yuri and Shiori were two top notch operators. They could handle that job. Looking past Tamakoma-1, Murakami found his attention focusing on the unconscious Yuma. There had never been a time where he had been unnerved by a Trion body until this moment.
It was one thing to see cracks spreading on a Trion body in combat since they all knew once that body broke, their real bodies would return to this space. The same concept applied to Yuma here, but the difference was that his body was in no good condition to be in this world. Those cracks spreading on his body were like a ticking bomb.
"He doesn't look any worse at least." Shun said softly as he stepped up next to Yuma's bed. As terrifying as those cracks were to Shun now that he knew what they meant, he would say this was the most peaceful Yuma had looked all week. Considering the state he was in, that was pretty sad. It showed just how truly stressed his friend was all week. It was time to end this nightmare for him. Though, it would probably be frustrating for Yuma to be forced to rely on others to solve all his problems for him.
"His body entered a sleep mode to try to recover some Trion." Rindo said as he shot a surprised look at Jin for allowing this many agents to know. In return, Jin could only offer a helpless shrug that just had Rindo giving up as well. Border agents were extremely loyal so they didn't go around abandoning their friends. They obviously weren't going to accept Tamakoma's excuses easily.
"I thought you wanted to keep this quiet." Shinoda said softly to Jin.
"For Yuma's sake, I wanted to keep his condition private." Jin stared at the agents who were gathering around Yuma's bed, solemn expressions on their face. "However," He glanced back at Arashiyama and Kako who were watching the agents. "There is something to be said about living your life to the fullest and enjoy every moment with your friends." He smiled softly as his attention shifted to watch Yoneya and Shun shove at each other to get closer to Yuma. Yoneya used his bigger build to win and get to Yuma where he ruffled his hair roughly, muttering soft words under his breath. "If you forget those moments you shared with everyone, you'll forget what you are fighting for. We've been so focused on the Mimics and fighting for the future that we've forgotten those moments. Yuma didn't though. He knew there was a chance that he would die this week, so he was on the move. He went to his friends and worked on fulfilling as many promises he made as possible and trying to have fun before he got focused on finding his dad to end this. Those moments of laughter and smiles are what we need to remember. I want to protect his smile."
That had been Jin's goal, and Arashiyama and Kako were right in saying he had been so focused on it, that he had forgotten everything else. All he could think about was how to stop this horrible future that he forgot what it meant to live in the first place.
He glanced over at Shinoda. "When Yuma first came to us, he admitted to me how much fun he was having after only being in Japan for a few days. He said he hadn't had fun in years. What he went through as a child stole his enjoyment of life from him. I'm not willing to let him lose that just yet. His friends who helped him smile deserve to know what the fight tonight will do."
Jin understood what Arashiyama and Kako wanted him to know in the hall, but it was something for Jin to focus on later. There wasn't any time to think about anything else tonight. He needed all his focus on stopping Yugo and Mogami. The slightest distraction could get them killed.
Shinoda shifted his attention to the agents who were being told off by Reiji for their roughhousing around an injured Yuma, smiling softly at the scene. He was certain that if Yuma was awake right now, he would be right there antagonizing them into even more roughhousing. When he needed to be serious, he could be one of the most serious fighters, but when there was no need for battle, he was very relaxed and willing to goof off and have fun with his own brand of mischief. It reminded him quite a bit of Yugo. While Yugo could be quite serious, he never forgot to smile and enjoy every moment. Very little could actually scare Yugo. He was ready to face the world doing whatever he wanted and what he believed to be right.
Yugo raised a great son. It was easy to like him so it didn't surprise Shinoda that besides all the Tamakoma members, the Border agents liked him. It was exactly like Yugo, who made friends with anyone he met.
Leaving the younger agents to visit with Yuma, Jin joined Kako and Arashiyama by the door where they were silently watching the other agents.
Staring at the group around Yuma, Kako found herself frowning, amusement at the scene dropping. "I seem to recall you saying we had five days two days ago. Will this really end tonight?"
"The future isn't set in stone. Every action that everyone takes shifts the balance of which path to the future we are on. The mission we're going on tonight, if it succeeds, could shift us to a better path or we could fail and make things worse. It could very well speed up the time to the bad future." Jin explained. "The future is fickle like that."
"Perhaps it is, but Border agents are quite stubborn. This will not end the way you predict." Arashiyama replied.
Jin looked through the group of agents surrounding Yuma's bed so he could see his cute little kouhai. "I certainly hope I can be surprised."
