A/N: I don't own World Trigger

Mimics

Chapter 35: Kuga and Miwa

"Surprise!"

Miwa blinked in shock at seeing his sister on the other side of the door. He was so surprised that he just released his hold on the door and let it swing shut in her face. Or tried to.

His sister put a hand out to stop the door from slamming in her face. "How rude, Shuji. Your favorite sister manages to come home for the weekend and you try to slam the door in my face?"

Miwa yanked the door fully back open to stare at her as he was still amazed she was here. "You've been so busy at university. I didn't think you would have time to visit until break."

"I will always try to make time for you. Now, let's grab some lunch to catch up. My treat." She grabbed Miwa's arm and yanked him out of the house before he could answer her. "I'm craving BBQ."

Miwa snorted as he pulled the door shut behind him and locked it. "You didn't come back to visit. You were just missing your favorite restaurant."

His sister turned her head halfway in his direction to show off her teasing smile as she continued to tug him along with her.

Coming here gave Miwa nothing but painful memories so he tended not to visit his sister's grave that often. He really only came a few times throughout the year. The reason he was here this time was because of the painful reminder of his sister from last night when a Mimic stole her appearance and tried to manipulate Miwa's emotions.

No.

Try was the wrong word there.

It did manipulate Miwa's emotions and that was what was pissing him off.

In the face of his sister, he had frozen in shock. He knew his sister was dead. That day she had come home for a visit and they gone out to lunch had ended in disaster when the invasion began. By some miracle, he had survived the attack, but his sister he been killed by falling rubble. He clearly remembered holding her body in the rain.

"Nee-san?"

Miwa recognized that pink shirt lying on the ground. He stumbled over the rubble, ankle throbbing from how he twisted it earlier in the chaos, but that wasn't going to stop him. There were still flashes of light and sounds of fighting far in the distance and screams of fear, but none of it was registering to Miwa. The terror of the attack, the terror of the battle raging in the distance, none of it mattered to him. All he could focus on was the body that wasn't moving in front of him.

Falling to his knees next to his unresponsive sister, Miwa stared blankly. His sister never refused to reply to him when he called to her. She was always there with a sweet smile and a kind word but had a sharp tongue underneath it as she was ready to tell off anyone who she deemed was being disrespectful.

Despite the heavy rain falling around them, the blood pooling around his sister was so enormous that not even the rain could wash it all away.

Why...?

Miwa crouched down in front of his sister's grave to lay the bouquet of lilies on the ground. For all the chaos that happened in the Restricted Zone last night and the meeting with the higher ups and Tamakoma earlier that morning, the peacefulness of the cemetery felt odd. If he just focused on visiting his sister, it could be almost like they weren't in the process of getting attacked by Mimics.

Almost.

The thing was, he couldn't get it out of his head.

"A civilian?" Yoneya lowered his spear but didn't drop his guard completely.

The young woman raked her eyes over the group to take each of them in before landing on Miwa. Her smile grew as she looked at him. "Shuji, I've missed you so much. It's been too long."

"Uh...what?" Yoneya said, glancing from his Captain to the woman in front of them.

Miwa's grip was weak where he was gripping his Kogetsu. He couldn't pull his blade out. He had every intention of drawing it when they heard someone approaching, but the kind, loving eyes of his sister was stalling his hand. This didn't make any sense. His sister had been killed in the first large scale invasion from four years ago. How was it possible for her to show up in front of Miwa wearing the same clothes she wore that day?

"I met a fake of you yesterday." Miwa said softly. "For the briefest moment, I thought that you had somehow survived and came back to me." He read his sister's name on the grave stone before shutting his eyes shut. Even with his eyes shut, he was able to see his sister standing in front of him in the Restricted Zone last night. "Only for a moment though. Despite how much I wish it wasn't true, I know for certain that you died years ago. But I was still frozen. I know it's been years, but I could never forget your voice. Hearing it again after so long, I couldn't bring myself to draw my sword, especially when I didn't even understand what I was seeing."

Standing up, Yuma's Scorpion dissipated from his hand. "That thing was calling itself your sister, wasn't she? We all know your sister is dead." He looked over his shoulder at Miwa. "Hate me if you like, but you would have eventually gotten over your shock and would have realized it's not possible for her to be here. Even if that thing was a fake, it still had your sister's face. It would be cruel to force you to be the one to strike her down. You don't need the memory of your sister's death being your fault."

"The option to decide what to do with a situation I couldn't understand was taken from me by the Neighbor." Miwa opened his eyes, but instead of looking back at his sister's grave, he cast his eyes upwards. "That damn Neighbor kid who came here and threw everything into chaos."

"I'm the Neighbor." Yuma admitted.

"You're the Neighbor?" Miwa asked.

"Yep. I am."

"There's no mistake about that?"

"No, there's no mistake." Yuma replied and before anyone could react, Miwa had already drawn his gun and shot at Yuma. The force of his bullet sent the kid flying backwards and hard into the ground.

"What are you doing?!" Mikumo demanded angrily.

"Since he called himself a Neighbor, I can't let him walk free." Miwa replied, lowering his gun. "I'll kill every Neighbor. That's a Border agent's job."

"Hey, hey," Yuma said, revealing the Shield he used to defend himself, surprising Miwa. "What if I was a regular human?"

Miwa pulled his hand out of his pocket to look at the mini Replica he had clutched in it. This creature was part of the Trion Soldier that accompanied the Neighbor to this world. At the end of the invasion, it had stopped working. He later learned that the reasoning for that was because Replica had given it all to help them by forcing Aftokrator to withdraw. The Neighbor's Trion Soldier was gone, but apparently it wasn't the first time he had experienced loss.

"We're less likely to cause Mogami-san from appearing since we don't enter the field unless there is an emergency." Shinoda replied amused. He leaned back in his seat and looked over his shoulder at Yuma again. "And Yuma-kun, do I even need to say it to you?"

Yuma pursed his lips. "Don't let a Mimic transform into Dad. I know." He said, pushing off the chair he was leaning against, hands gripping the top of it tightly.

Miwa's hand curled tightly around the mini Replica that he could never bring himself to throw away for reasons even he didn't understand. He could have just destroyed it or even just thrown it at Yuma's head to get rid of it. Instead, he kept it on himself. No one probably knew he had one of them. When it fell to the ground in the invasion, he knew something had gone wrong with it instantly, and perhaps that was why he kept it. The Trion Soldier was clearly partners with Yuma and with it being gone–broken–then the Neighbor could know the same pain that everyone here had suffered in the first large scale invasion.

That Miwa had suffered when he lost his sister.

That Jin suffered when his mother was killed.

But that wasn't right.

Apparently, the Neighbor had already lost his father years ago.

Knowing that, the cheerful demeanor that the Neighbor seemed to always have really grated on Miwa's nerves. He was just like Jin in that regard. Miwa had known Jin since the day they met when his sister had been killed. He knew how to be serious when the situation called for it, but when he wasn't in the field, he was so carefree and lighthearted, though underneath that was still his scheming self.

Kuga Yuma was not a schemer in the same way as Jin. He smiled easily and acted like nothing truly bothered him. But, just like Jin, he was scheming, just in his own way. Miwa didn't realize it at the time, but having seen Yuma in action a lot in the past couple of months, he could tell just how aggressive of a fighter he was. It didn't match their fight in the train station at all. He decided to go completely on the defensive back then when he clearly could have attacked them viciously with his Black Trigger.

Did Miwa know the reasons why Yuma held back?

No, and the reasons why certainly didn't matter to Miwa.

What did matter was that he realized that Yuma had been thinking of what would happen after the fight was over. There was no telling what Yuma was worried about happening after the fight, but it was just like what Jin did to them when he fought the A-Rank squads in defense of Kuga Yuma. He was thinking beyond the present fight to instead think of what the outcome of the fight would be if he held back or if he fought seriously. What would the consequences of the fight be when it was over?

They were each so aggravating.

The death of his sister was such a painful day for him. It was a haunting day that was never going to leave him. Easy smiles and the lighthearted laughs didn't come to him. They died with his sister. So, where did Jin and Yuma find the strength to smile and be so carefree with so much? How could they not let their losses affect them?

*Mimics*

"You only bothered to attack once." Hyuse accused, narrowing his eyes at his partner. "You stayed on defense the rest of the time."

"It's hard to get pass his defense." Yuma protested.

"Yo, Kuga, is this your father? You guys share the same eyes." Yoneya greeted cheerfully.

"Take this seriously. Kuga Yugo has already defeated multiple squads." Miwa scolded, keeping his eyes locked on the Mimic, a scowl in place, as he placed a hand on the hilt of his sword, but he didn't pull it out yet.

"What are you doing here?" Yuma asked surprised.

"Is Kuga-kun not joining in on the mission?" Kumegai asked, staring at the back of the room where the rest of Tamakoma's agents were, noticing the lack of Yuma. "I would think he would want involved since his father is among the Mimics we're going after."

"Kuga is..." Osamu locked eyes with Jin.

"Yuma is incapacitated right now." Jin took over for Osamu, easing an easy smile on his face that hid his stress as he stepped forward.

"He got away with two Black Triggers." Ren said, eyes scanning the report that had popped up on her computer. "Not even our Directors could stop him."

Yoneya whistled. "Damn, that's cold." He rested a hand on the desk as he leaned over Ren's shoulder to look at the report. "I can't believe a transformed Mimic would go that hard against the person they are supposed to love."

Miwa slouched back into the couch, looking towards the ceiling as he listened to them discuss the report that had come through this morning. Last night's battle was ridiculously hectic with all the Gates opening and the black Trion Soldiers making things difficult. It kept all the squads busy so no one could get away to help stop Mogami or Yugo. Miwa didn't allow himself to be concerned with what was going on with the transformed Mimics last night. The fact that the Directors were ready to confront Yugo and Jin and Tachikawa squad were facing off with Mogami was supposed to mean there was no reason to concerned.

They needed to trust in their allies to handle their battles and keep their focus on their fights. Miwa never let himself get distracted with what his comrades were doing. When he was in the field, what was important was making sure the enemies in front of him were killed. Everyone else could take care of their own problems.

Yet, he failed.

When he couldn't bring himself to act against a Mimic of his sister, Yuma stepped in and killed her before any of them had even realized he was there. The act of killing a loved one, even if it was fake version, would be incredibly hard for anyone to do. When he couldn't act, couldn't even think to make a decision about what to do, Yuma came in to take the option from him.

Considering how he froze, was it really that surprising that Yuma was struggling so much in the face of his father? Was it strange Jin struggled against Mogami?

No.

There was no reason for any of them to condemn any of their comrades for not being able to fight a loved one. A Mimic's purpose was meant to deceive. Even if they knew that, that didn't make it easy to not fall for it.

"It doesn't matter that it is his father, underneath that skin, he is still a Trion Soldier." Kodera said.

"Hey, Shuji, how well did the Mimic replicate your sister?" Yoneya asked curiously.

Miwa turned his head in the direction of the desk to glare at his partner. "Perfectly." He muttered annoyed.

"Is that important?" Kodera asked.

"Not really, I was just trying to compare Kuga and his father's appearance. I would say he only got his eyes from his father and nothing else." Yoneya said. "I wonder where the white hair came from."

"That's a question for him." Narasaka said.

"I heard he's woke up last night." Kodera added.

"And had to come face to face with his father." Ren said. "That is quite a rude awakening."

"We wouldn't be in this situation if he could face off against his father." Narasaka said. "I thought there was nothing that could cause Kuga to freeze."

Yoneya stared at the report on the computer for a few seconds longer before he was looking up at the couches where the others were sitting. "Kuga's history with his father complicates things."

The two snipers shared a look before looking over at the desk.

"What does that mean?" Kodera asked.

"It means this isn't as simple as Kuga's father coming back from the dead. The way Kuga's father died, the reason behind it, that is what is stalling his hand." Yoneya replied, rubbing the back of his head. Jin gave him a brief overview of what Yugo did for his son. He didn't have the full story and he wasn't going to press for it, but he wasn't just going to tell the rest of his team about it either. "I have a feeling, that if it was anyone else, Kuga wouldn't be hesitating to kill them like this."

A tragic history with his father? If he heard that months ago, Miwa would have scoffed at the thought. The idea that a Neighbor could understand what it meant to suffer and lose someone they love would have just angered Miwa in the past. Those monsters that came here to attack them and kill or kidnap their people could never understand their pain.

Their fear when the first invasion happened.

How no one understood what was happening.

How the chaos and buildings collapsing and monsters showing up out of thin air left people staring in shock. They couldn't react fast enough. They didn't understand. They didn't move.

And people died for it.

People went missing.

The Neighbors came here towering over them.

The Neighbors saw them as weak and pushed them into the mud to take what they wanted.

How could a Neighbor ever understand the pain of feeling so helpless?

*Mimics*

"Can I help you?" Yuma asked.

"I can't believe you've been in a Trion body this whole time." Suwa said.

"How'd you get trapped in a Trion body anyway?" Arafune asked.

"A Black Trigger assassin gave me some pretty bad injuries and the only way to save my life was for Dad to create a Black Trigger to seal my dying body inside it and create this Trion replica so I could continue living." Yuma explained.

"You mean the Black Trigger that your father stole last night?" Arafune asked.

Yuma hummed in reply.

"What does it mean to have your real body pulled away from you?" Suwa asked.

"Means I can't get any nutrients to my real body." Yuma said. "So, this meal is doing nothing for me. With my real body already severely injured, it requires a lot more nutrients than you guys do. If I don't get my ring back soon and start supplying my body with nutrients again, I am going to speed up my death significantly."

"And you're so calm because?" Arafune demanded sharpy.

"My Black Trigger also supplies this body with Trion and allows it to heal, but as you can see, my body is all broken because the appearance of my dad has made the Black Trigger prioritize giving him Trion over me. If Dad isn't defeated soon, this body was going to fall to pieces and kill me anyway. Now I just have two ways to die in the next couple of days."

"So morbid." Suwa muttered.

"It's more of an incentive to get this finished faster." Arafune said, pushing away from the table, glancing over at Suwa.

"Sounds fun. Now we just have to find him." Suwa replied.

Sitting at the next booth over, hidden from Yuma by the plants, Miwa leaned his chin in his hand, scoffing silently to himself from what he had just heard. All he had wanted was a peaceful lunch. Why did Yuma just have to sit at the table behind his?

Miwa didn't care. When Yoneya hinted at there being something that happened between Yuma and his father before Yugo had died, Miwa didn't care. Yuma's history with his father was his own. The only thing that Miwa needed to know was where his enemy was so he could kill them.

And yet, here he was with the knowledge of what had happened to him. It seemed that Yuma no longer felt the need to keep it silent if he was telling Suwa and Arafune so easily about what the problem was. Knowing what the problem was would urge his friends to want to act more aggressively now that they knew why Tamakoma was acting so desperate.

But, that wasn't Miwa's problem.

"Your sister was killed by Neighbors, right?" Yuma asked, surprising Miwa.

"Why do you know that?" Miwa demanded.

"If you want revenge, I can help you." Yuma replied.

There was an offer to find out what nation killed his sister, and very likely would have revealed what nation attacked them in the first large scale invasion if Yuma was able to help him. It was an offer he refused because he refused to take any help from a Neighbor who couldn't understand just how much his sister's death had hurt him.

That was wrong though.

A Black Trigger assassin injured him and that resulted in his father dying to save his life. It was a tragic situation, and one that told Miwa that a Neighbor could understand the same agony that Miwa was living with.

Was revenge something that Yuma thought about?

Did the pain of losing his father make him want to go after revenge against the Black Trigger assassin? He knew that pain so he was able to offer Miwa the chance at his revenge against the right people. Miwa could hate all the Neighbors he liked, but there would be no sense of relief until he found out who caused the first large-scale invasion. Yuma had met the assassin who put him in his predicament. Did he ever go after him? Get his closure for what had happened?

Considering the way he was struggling in the face of the Mimic of his father, it didn't seem like it. It was like he never recovered from his own trauma, but still tried to offer Miwa the help to get his. Though, that was likely just Yuma's way of trying to make peace with him after their disastrous first meeting, not that Miwa was willing to accept anything from the Neighbor.

But, knowing that he knew the pain of loss that Miwa faced was showing him another side. Not once did Yuma make snide comments about any of the deaths or suffering that anyone faced from the Neighbors. Not once did he try to change Miwa's hatred for Neighbors. It was just something that Yuma accepted as a part of Miwa.

Miwa continued his distaste for Neighbors and Yuma accepted it.

They went their separate ways and tried to interact as little as possible with each other.

Miwa had assumed that Yuma was trying to make peace by not insulting them for their losses, but seeing as he suffered his own losses, it was empathy driving his words towards Miwa. It was that same empathy that led him to killing Miwa's sister for him so he didn't have to have the memory of cutting his sister down. He still saw his sister die a second time in front of him, but there was a sense of relief that he didn't have to strike down his sister with his own hands.

Knowing that it was a relief to him that someone else was able to handle the Mimic connected to him, that was likely something that Yuma needed as well. It was hard enough to face a deceased loved one and once his head cleared, the longing for his sister to be real had turned to anger. If his shock had turned to anger faster and he understood what Mimics were at the start, he would have slashed his sister. He would not be mocked by Neighbors.

But Yuma was right, it was a memory he didn't need as it would no doubt lead to nightmares. Nightmares that were likely similar to what Yuma was currently living through as Yugo continued to haunt Border.

That was Yuma's problem though. It didn't concern Miwa. His job was simply to dispose of the Neighbors that were an enemy to Border.

*Mimics*

It was the noise of a battle that got Miwa to stop. Though the noise didn't sound loud enough for it to actually be occurring so he knew there was no danger here. It was the fact that it was coming from one of the operation's room that Tamakoma was assigned to use while they were stuck in HQ currently.

For whatever reason, the door to the room had been left opened, giving Miwa the view of the back of Jin's head as he watched the footage of last night's battle. "Your precious kouhai is at death's door and you're here reviewing footage instead of going after the source? You worked harder to stop us when we were trying to steal his Black Trigger."

Even though his back was to him and he shouldn't have known Miwa was there, Jin didn't react to Miwa's voice suddenly snapping at him. He simply kept his eyes locked on the computer in front of him, never pausing the fight as he studied everything. "Nothing has changed between last night and today." Jin paused as he thought over what he said before shaking his head. "Actually, things have gotten worse now that Mogami-san and Kuga-san have the Black Triggers. We failed in stopping them last night. If I charge into another fight with them now, the result will not change."

"And watching the footage of your fight over and over again will change that?" Miwa scoffed, looking off down the empty hallway as he refused to step foot over the doorway to enter Tamakoma's squad room. "When we lose a fight, we bail out. There is no fear to us in that case. You would be better off fighting them over and over again until you can find their weaknesses."

"Bailing out means being taken out of the fight for a few hours. We don't have the time to wait around for our Trion bodies to recover constantly and try again." Jin replied. They basically had no time left. He had one, maybe two, more tries at the Mimics before Yuma was going to be too far gone for him to save.

"Especially since without his Black Trigger, Kuga is basically stepping into death's embrace."

That got Jin to whip around so fast, Miwa was surprised he didn't have get whiplash from it.

Jin stared challenging back at the agents, hand resting on Fujin in warning to them. "Kido-san must have his own various reasons, but so do we. To you guys, it might just be another Black Trigger, but for its owner, it's more important than life itself."

"When you confronted us that night back in December, did you know that his ring was the only thing keeping him alive?" Miwa demanded.

Jin stared at Miwa, taking in the scowl over his features. Was this about Yuma? Or was it about the fact that Trion Soldiers were soundly beating Border? "I had no reason to tell any of you Yuma's past. Besides, it wouldn't have changed anything. I know what you're like, Shuji, and I know how cold the away mission squads are when it comes to completing the jobs assigned to them. They didn't know Yuma so his history with the Black Trigger would have meant nothing to any of you."

Miwa's jaw clenched tightly.

Jin raised a brow before turning to set his laptop on the table so he could turn more properly on the couch to look more closely at Miwa. While his expression held the same irritation as it always did, there was a distinct lack of anger in his eyes. Normally anything involving Neighbors lit a fire in his eyes as Miwa was always so expressive in his hatred. That anger which should have been present at the discussion of the young Neighbor he despised was instead replaced with something more akin to understanding. "Did something happen?" He asked, reigning in his urge to tease Miwa about possibly learning empathy for a Neighbor. Now was not the time for that. "I didn't think it was common knowledge that Yuma's life was tied to the Black Trigger." While Jin had explained it to a few people, he didn't think any of those people would go around telling everyone, especially someone like Miwa.

"Your damn Neighbor friend doesn't seem to care about secrecy. He told Suwa-san and Arafune in the cafeteria about the assassin." Miwa hissed.

If possible, Jin's brows rose even higher. Yuma was the one telling people? He was even bringing up the assassin which was something that Jin left out of his explanation as there was no need for anyone to know the full story. Though, Jin omitted details because it wasn't his story to tell. If Yuma was feeling comfortable enough to explain, then it was his right to do so. Well, he was either comfortable enough with his friends to start opening up or he was just trying to give answers before he died. He was normally so secretive about it because he didn't want the pity or for them to have to live with the knowledge that he was dying. At this point though, there truly was no hiding it, unless they locked Yuma in a room somewhere, but there was no way that Yuma would ever accept that.

"Your reasoning for giving up Fujin makes more sense now. Kuga's Black Trigger is more valuable to him than Fujin was to you."

"That's cold." Jin said, chuckling bitterly. "Mogami-san always wanted peace in Border. He wouldn't want to see a power struggle happening among allies. I had the ability to stop it without forcing Yuma to hand over the one thing sustaining his life so I did."

Miwa eyed Jin, trying to make sense of him. There was just something about him and Tachikawa that just made his skin crawl. It was perhaps because neither of them were ever straightforward. Jin was always trying to manipulate things in his favor. Could he really have not found a way to keep Fujin and let Yuma keep his Black Trigger? "Kuga's father, he was a member of Border and a friend of the directors in the past. You're really telling me you couldn't convince Kido-san to let Kuga keep his Black Trigger without giving up Fujin?"

"At that point, it wasn't about the son of an old friend. That was never truly the issue. Two Black Triggers in Tamakoma would put us above the Kido faction. Kido-san would only relax when the power balance had been returned. If he knew taking the Black Trigger would kill Yuma, I think it could have led to a similar outcome we are in now because Tamakoma can't have two Black Triggers. I got us to that outcome without alerting Kido-san or Shinoda-san of the real reason I was being so stubborn about it because I wanted to respect Yuma's privacy on the matter."

"So, the life of a Neighbor child is more important than your mentor's memento."

"Yes," Jin said, meeting Miwa's eyes. "I loved Mogami-san and I cherished every moment we shared, but at the end of the day, he is dead, Shuji. I'm not going to forget the people I loved who died. They will always be a part of me and it killed me to give up Fujin, but he would have agreed with my actions because it not only brought peace to Border, but it protected Yuma's life. I will always choose to protect the living before I protect an object."

"That object was the essence of your mentor's life." Miwa retorted.

"And you can activate it." Jin retorted. "To activate a Black Trigger, you have to have compatibility with the creator's personality. Mogami-san wanted peace and to give Border strength because he wanted the organization to be strong to protect that peace and protect his friends. Hatred of the Neighbors is what got you back on your feet after your sister's death, but I don't believe it is your only driving factor, Shuji."

Miwa's hand curled around the mini Replica that was buried in his jacket's pocket. "I am not as noble as you." He snarled.

"It's not about being noble." Jin turned back to his laptop. "But, I think there is more to you then just your anger and hatred. Those who lost people they love are the ones who can best understand others who went through the same suffering."

Miwa glared at the back of Jin's head. He was not feeling empathy for Yuma. There was an understanding now about why Yuma acted like he understood Miwa's grief. It was because he knew and understood what Miwa went through. He never tried to lessen Miwa's hatred of Neighbors because Yuma wasn't trying to diminish the pain that Miwa was living with because there was nothing that could lessen that pain.

That was very likely something that Yuma understood very well.

Jin turned his head very slightly to the side to watch Miwa leave out of the corner of his eyes. He almost opened his mouth to tell Miwa where to go, but thought better of it. There was no need to control Miwa's future. This was something he could figure out for himself.

Miwa pulled the mini Replica out of his pocket as he walked down the hall. Talking to Jin was always draining, but at least it wasn't as aggravating as it was in the past. Knowing his mother had been killed by Neighbors helped him to understand the older agent a bit. He lost family to the Neighbors just like Miwa did, but he found the strength to stand by following a different path than Miwa. Jin still chose to try to make friends with Neighbors. He didn't let what happened to him rule his life. Unlike Miwa, he was able to smile and be happy.

Where did he find the strength to not hate every Neighbor he met?

Was it because he was able to see how Neighbors suffer too? Just like the humans of this world, Neighbors hurt too. Even against each other, Neighbors showed no mercy to one another. Jin saw them as more than just people from another world. Miwa was never able to see them as more then evil people because of the death and destruction they always brought to the city.

Perhaps Yuma was right.

He was very narrow minded.

He didn't think he would ever be able to let go of his anger at the Neighbors, but he could at least acknowledge that perhaps they were more human than he originally thought.

His phone vibrating dragged Miwa out of his thoughts. He swapped out the mini Replica for his phone to see a message from Ren that left him sighing. That idiot. Miwa turned on his heel and marched back down the hall. To make matters worse, Jin probably saw this future already and by staying in his operation's room was his way of telling Miwa that he trusted Miwa to take care of it.

If it wasn't for the fact that one of his teammates was already on the scene and it was a Neighbor wrecking havoc, Miwa would refuse to leave HQ just to make a point to Jin. He was not one of the people that he could manipulate.

*Mimics*

"Why did Yoneya-senpai go off by himself?" Kodera asked as they followed after Miwa who was running across the roof.

"He's not alone. Mikumo and Midorikawa are with him." Miwa replied, not bothering to slow down. "But considering how this is the man that defeated our directors, those three aren't going to be enough to stop him. They should have called for backup when they found him."

"Mikumo's team isn't with him?" Narasaka asked.

"No, for some reason, those three went out without any of their teams." Miwa replied.

"They were probably acting on a hunch and it just happened to be correct." Kodera suggested.

Miwa scowled, glaring off into the distance. "Then they should have alerted HQ before moving in to attack. Ren-san just happened to be on her computer and saw he was active and in combat."

"So, we don't even know who he is fighting. It might just be Trion Soldiers." Narasaka pointed out.

Miwa came to a sudden halt, forcing his snipers to stop behind him. He stared off into the distance, still not able to see the station he was running towards, but still glaring in its direction.

"Technically Kuga and Mogami are Trion Soldiers." Kodera said, pushing his glasses up. "They're not really the people that Kuga and Jin-san spent time with. They just stole their memories."

A Trion Soldier underneath the skin, but looking like a real person on the surface. It was hard to see through when the voice and face were so much like the real person. A master of deception up to the point when they attacked and showed their colors as a Trion Soldier. Even when they attacked like that, it was still able to bring enough hesitation out of the agents. Knowing what he did about Yuma's history with his dad now, it made sense why he couldn't bring himself to attack Yugo.

The man who raised him to be a fight.

The man who died to save his son's life.

It was hard enough to go against a Mimic of his sister. How did Yuma feel to see the man who sacrificed his life for his son's? It wasn't something Yuma asked his father to do and there had to be some form of guilt there as Yuma was the one injured to that point. He was the one who was destined to die and his father came in to swap their roles. There had to be underlying guilt there and that was causing another level of hesitation in Yuma.

Even though every second of hesitation led him closer to his death, Yuma still couldn't find the strength to strike the man who already died for him once. Would killing the Mimic of Yugo save his son's life? It was possible, but that also meant that Kuga Yugo would have to die to preserve his son's life a second time.

"Yosuke is at the same train station where we met Kuga months ago." Miwa explained. "There is no coincidence here."

"If it's the same station, we already know where we can set up." Kodera replied.

"No, go farther back this time." Miwa ordered.

"That will make it harder to get a clean shot on him." Narasaka warned.

"Being farther away will make it harder for him to detect you." If there was something Miwa did, it was study his enemies carefully. The type of echolocation they used to locate Trion bodies caught his attention. He's had days to think about the information and determined that even when transformed, it wouldn't take away their abilities as a Trion Soldier. Yugo and Mogami would be able to sense them being nearby so a sniper wouldn't get a surprise attack in. Placing his snipers farther out might work since he might not be able to sense them that far away or he would think they weren't involved in the battle he was involved in. Or, even if they overwhelmed Yugo and Mogami to keep them from having time to deal with the sniper's shots. There were ways around this. They just had to try different things.

"Understood." Narasaka said. "Then Shohei and I will break away here."

Miwa didn't even glance at his snipers as they began to move separately from him. With the range they were going to be taking, they should be safe from Yugo's ranged attacks. He needed to draw the attention of the enemy. Since Yugo should sense him coming, there was no point to a bagworm so Miwa continued on as was.

"It doesn't matter how strong the defense is, there is always a way to break through it."

Miwa reached the station just in time to hear Yoneya speaking. Instead of approaching his teammate or either of the other agents, Miwa continued walking along the tracks to the station, eyes locked on the Mimic standing on the same tracks just farther down from him. For some reason, Mogami seemed out of it, but that was something to concern themselves with later. If he wanted to be out of it currently, it would make things easier for them. If he knew Yugo wouldn't interfere, Miwa would just stab Mogami through the heart while he was defenseless.

No one seemed to notice him as they were all focused on Yugo. Yugo made no reaction either, but Miwa wouldn't take that as meaning he didn't notice him. He's fought Yuma and has seen the other agent in enough battles to know that these Kugas were always ready for a surprise attack.

"True." Osamu said.

Still, that didn't stop Miwa from grabbing his gun from his holster and lining it up to take aim at Yugo's head. Just like when he met Yuma all those months ago, there wasn't an ounce of hesitation in Miwa when he pulled the trigger.

His single shot soared through the air, and to his expectations, the bullet slammed into a Shield that had formed by Yugo's head.

All eyes shifted in the direction the shot came from to see Miwa standing on the tracks with his gun still pointed at Yugo's head.

Without taking his eyes off of Yugo, Miwa spoke to the other captain in the area, "There won't be any argument this time while I kill the Neighbor, will there be, Mikumo?"

"Miwa-senpai," Osamu greeted in shock.

"Not as impressive to see that shot blocked after already seeing Kuga do it hundreds of times." Yoneya said before he was suddenly launching himself off the platform and straight at Yugo with no warning.

Osamu didn't know why he expected any differently from Yoneya. He wasn't the type to play defensive. It really was only a matter of time until he charged at Yugo. With his captain now here who he was used to fighting with, Yoneya probably decided this was the best time to move in without fear. It seemed to be the right choice as Miwa was charging at Yugo from the other direction, gun replaced for his Kogetsu.

Shun didn't seem to want to be left out either as he was aiming for Yugo's back. He and Yoneya got to Yugo first so their weapons met his swords. He took a step back and twisted his head to avoid Yoneya's tricky spear. Neither Shun nor Yoneya made a move to pull their weapons free from Yugo's as they wanted to keep his swords locked in place to give Miwa an opening.

Yugo glanced at the approaching Miwa before he was twisting his body. With his swords still locked with the other two agents' weapons, he was able to drag them both with him as he turned and threw them off of him. Shun's body was sent flying towards Miwa, but before he could slam into him, a Grasshopper was activating under him and he pressed his hand into it to send himself flying into the air, clearing the path for Miwa.

Yugo suddenly jumped back a few steps, eyes flickering towards Osamu and his bullets flying towards him. When he saw the bullets start to turn, he threw up a shield to defend from them before his eyes were focusing back on Miwa. While his shield managed to stop the bullets, it wasn't able to hold up to the fury behind Miwa's slash. His shield shattered, but he didn't let Miwa's sword get any closer to him as he blocked his next swing. At the same time, Shun came back down from the air, aiming straight for Yugo's head with Yoneya unleashing five fast Senku slashes.

Swinging his sword upwards, Yugo cut through Shun's arm. Leaving his dead arm to fall on the ground, Yugo slammed a foot on the ground, a Bound seal appearing under it, allowing Yugo to fly into the air to avoid Yoneya's attack. Even though he kept his attention on the agents below him, Yugo was still able to react in time to activate his shield against the two shots from the snipers.

"He's more annoying than our Kuga." Kodera's voice came through Miwa's coms.

"Just keep pressuring him with your shots. It doesn't matter if he knows where you are at. None of his attacks should reach you." Miwa said.

It seemed his snipers were eager to follow his orders as a third shot was suddenly flying towards Yugo at a great speed. To Miwa's surprise though, the shot traveled through Yugo's Shield and turned into a lead bullet in his arm that dragged him down from the sky. That definitely wasn't a shot from his snipers.

Osamu blinked in surprise as Yugo hit the ground, landing in a crouch with the ground shattering under him from the extra weight pulling him down.

"Running off without us?"

Osamu pushed up his glasses, smirking at his teammate that appeared at his shoulder. "You ran off first."

"We at least told you where we were going." Hyuse retorted as he slid his sword free of its sheath.

"It was an impromptu trip out here." Osamu protested.

Miwa glanced at Yoneya. "You were supposed to call for backup before facing him."

Yoneya smirked, twirling his spear to plant it on his shoulder. "If I did that, you would get all the fun."

Miwa looked pass his teammate to glare at Yugo who was pushing himself back to his feet, getting over his surprise of the weight that ignored his shield. He focused on his hand to look at the ring sitting innocently there. "Do you really want to continue to treat this like a game? I thought you came out here with Mikumo because you wanted to save Kuga."

Yoneya eyed his captain out of the corner of his eyes, taking in his serious expression before shrugging in defeat. Miwa seemed to be more informed than he was earlier about why Yugo having the Black Trigger was such a problem. He didn't know where Miwa got the information, but was he acting based on that information now? "Did you come out here to help Kuga too?" He teased.

"I came out here to end this problem already. It's been going on for too long." Miwa growled. Without another word, he lunged at Yugo again. Yugo raised his blade that was held by his arm that wasn't being weighed down. Before Miwa's sword could strike Yugo's, he twisted his sword back and twisted around Yugo instead, revealing Hyuse there to strike at Yugo. Hyuse knocked against Yugo's blade, twisting his sword around it to force both of their swords down.

Hyuse slammed his foot down on Yugo's blade to keep it locked down as he ducked down to reveal his Viper behind him. The bullets zipped around the station as they approached Yugo. In retaliation, Yugo's own Viper seal unleashed to slam into Hyuse's bullets before they could hit him.

Miwa turned around once he got behind Yugo, ignoring the war of bullets Hyuse and Yugo were having. Hound bullets rained down in the midst of the chaos of bullets which had Yugo ripping his sword free from Hyuse so he could jump backwards as he went to throw up a shield. Miwa flipped his sword to face the sharp edge of his blade upwards so he could slash upwards, cutting through Yugo's arm. While the arm flew through the air, Yugo's second blade clattered to the ground.

Yugo's eyes followed his flying arm. He only cared about the arm because of the ring on it. After all the work he put into getting that, he wasn't going to lose it now. He watched it fall as he saw Hyuse swinging his blade at him out of the corner of his eyes. His sword came up to block the strike. While blocking Hyuse, Yugo rose the half of his other arm that was left to activate another Bolt seal.

"It's Viper." Osamu warned.

Miwa and Hyuse broke away from Yugo. Hyuse grabbed the back of Shun's shirt and dragged him back with him to get farther away before his Escudo was coming up on all sides to keep them safe. Even as Shun's Shield appeared above them to act as a roof to their cover, he was also trying to reach behind him to get to Hyuse's hand. "What is with you Tamakoma agents and grabbing my jacket?"

"Should have just left you to die." Hyuse grumbled. If this was the thanks he was going to get, why did he even bother?

Instead of trying to continue to pressure Yugo, Osamu turned on his heel to try to track the Viper bullets. Yugo had sent the bullets in every direction to aim at every agent in the station. He used a mix of his Raygust shield and his normal shield to block the bullets that were coming at him from all angles. This was taking all his focus so he couldn't even see if the others were okay, but considering they were all A-Ranks and Hyuse, he was sure they were fine.

Yoneya skidded back with his shield spread all around him to protect from the bullets. He didn't even pay attention to the bullets hitting his shield as his eyes were locked on Yugo standing in the center of the station calmly. Even with all of them attacking him, he was still acting so calm and confident. Was there anything that could shake him up?

Eyes zeroed in on the Mimic, Yoneya watched as Yugo took the chance to approach his arm as the agents were busy the bullets raining down on them.

It was hard enough to separate Yugo from the Black Trigger the first time. He didn't really want to have to do that again.

Before Yugo could pick up his arm, two shots were bearing down on him, forcing him to retreat a few steps with a Shield. It was only for a second there, but it was more than enough for Yoneya to move forward. Yugo caught his eyes before they were both racing for the arm. Unfortunately for Yugo, he was forced to dodge to the side to avoid the black bullets that were suddenly being shot at him by Miwa.

Using his spear, Yoneya knocked the arm into the air and caught it, grinning in triumph as he held his trophy. "I believe this belongs to our friend."