QUICK THANKS TO MY BETA READER, TheForgottenFables! Many thanks, this would be shit without them!

Another quick thanks to anyone that bothered to favourite, follow, or review! IT MEANS THE WORLD TO ME!

-0-

Mori had thought it through, no matter what anyone else thought.

(They thought it was stupid and suicidal. They weren't wrong, but they also were under the assumption that Mori hadn't gone over the consequences in the slightest.)

It was foolproof. The B-rank Triggers are equipped with a Bail out function, and even though Mori hadn't had enough time to add other Triggers to it, or get a proper B-rank uniform… The Bail out was still there. Without a doubt, what she had was a B-rank Trigger.

Switch with Chika, force her to Bail out. No matter what HQ had to say about that, or is the Neighbours figured out what she did, it didn't matter. Chika was safe.

But for the Neighbours… It was clear they had some sort of way to sense where they were, or how else would they keep finding them?

It was a good thing Mori still had the cube from when her arm was hit earlier. And it was a good thing her Trion body automatically reset when she turned Chika's Trigger on, not a thing was out of place. She looked the same as she did before.

They'd think the cube in her hand was Chika, and that Yoneya took Izumi's cube. With the Rad incident from a few months ago, they probably know that Chika and I's uniforms indicated we where a lower rank, and therefore weaker. So to protect Izumi's cube, the smarter course of action would be to give him to Yoneya to protect.

Well, in the end, no matter what the Neighbours believed, only one thing mattered.

Chika was safe.

-0-

Chika's side-effect had not stopped going off since the beginning of the invasion.

That was almost 2 hours of straight grating on her senses, with spikes of fear and alarm in between as enemies continued to rush them, attack them.

It was taxing on her patience, but it was fine. As long as she was beside her friends, she could keep fighting. It was fine…

As long as she was beside her friends. Beside the agents of Tamakoma branch. Beside her two teammates. Beside her sister.

The silence that reigned over her mind was deafening.

(Her side-effect… was so quiet now.)

Now, she wants nothing more than to rush back into battle, because it would mean that Mori is beside her, alive, still fighting.

(It's so very, very quiet.)

-0-

"AMATORI CHIKA HAS BAILED OUT."

"What?!" Konami nearly stumbled even in the heat of battle, but Kikuchihara's shared enhanced hearing let her hear the incoming attack and evade before it could run her through.

"Pay attention," Kikuchihara scowled, Chameleon fading as he landed beside her on a particularly high piece of rubble. "Don't get distracted."

"Shiori!" Konami spoke into her communicator, regardless of Kikuchihara's words. "Mikami-san?! What happened?!"

"I'm checking right now, Shiori isn't responding!" Mikami yelled back. Kazama and Utagawa were sharing bewildered glances over her shoulder, the former less expressive than the latter. "Karasuma-san over there isn't saying anything either…Wasn't Kizaki and Yotaro with them as well?!"

-0-

"Tsukimi, what was that?" Yoneya finally caught sight of one of the Rabbit chasing after the C-ranks, but worriedly spoke into his communicator instead of paying full attention to the battle.

"…I cut communications off with Usami as soon as you split from them, I know as much as you do right now," She flatly responded. "Miwa's dealing with the other Rabbit, you two should finish relatively quickly, and go escort the trainees… I believe that's the best course of action right now."

Yoneya nodded slowly, but his eyes kept flickering in the direction he originally came from.

'I saw that Bail out light, but C-ranks don't have that function in their Trigger… Four-eyes, what on earth did you do?'

-0-

Kunichika was panicking.

Although she was already alone, it was silent.

Her breathing came in just a little shorter than it should've, her eyes were just a bit wider than they should've been as she stared at the screen intently, her hands were sweating just barely, causing her grip on her mouse to slip every once in a while.

Yuiga wasn't here, he never seemed to be here when it really mattered.

Just like he wasn't there when they fought against Jin to retrieve the black Trigger, and he isn't here now.

Now, when Izumi was nearly captured by the enemy Neighbours.

Now, when Izumi is still in danger of being captured by the enemy Neighbours for god-knows-what-reason.

Izumi was still in cube form, and Kunichika couldn't help but feel like it was her fault. She could hear the dawning realization in his voice, she could hear the beginning of his order to Bail him out, and she wasn't quick enough in fulfilling that order.

They lost connection with him, and now he's out there on his own.

Tachikawa always had unwavering faith in the two of them, which was why he was so comfortable with leaving them to work on their own during this invasion while he was ordered to cover another section of the map.

He had unwavering faith in them, and now she had let him down.

Kunichika wishes there was something else she could do, just to make sure that everyone stayed safe for another day.

-0-

Azuma Haruaki was familiar with tactics.

(Familiar was downplaying it by a hundred miles.)

He was familiar with the feeling of defeat, and then hope once you realize that there's an opening you can exploit, a gap that you can formulate a winning plan around.

He was familiar with the feeling of being a captain. Of putting yourself on the line if it means the best for your team, he is much too familiar with those emotions. He used to be the leader of the No. 1 squad, for heaven's sake.

In fact, that last statement was why he was currently, and for nearly most of the invasion, connected to HQ via his communicator. If they needed something from him, he'd be there to help. Others had called him something like 'The backbone' of Border, and no matter how much he waved off the title, it seemed a name that couldn't be shaken off, even as a joke.

Regardless, he could hear everything happening.

Usami had obviously forgotten to cut off her connection to HQ in her panic, he idly mused, sniping down another Neighbour from the building he was hiding in. Not that he could blame her, being the operator for a team of four was no small task, but doing the work for Tamakoma-1, Jin, Mikumo, and the C-rank agent that they were prioritizing?

Honestly, he would've dropped his Ibis in shock, if he wasn't in the middle of an invasion.

'A Trigger switch,' Azuma thought. 'It wasn't a bad idea… And for the sake of the C-rank, it was clearly the best option. But what does this mean for their team?'

C-rank Triggers aren't equipped with a Bail out function, and Agent Mikumo seems to have no intention to head back to HQ.

What's a team, if the captain is dead?

-0-

Midorikawa, who had been saddled with babysitting Yotaro(who was making far too much noise when Karasuma was forced to Bail out), walked over to the bench where said child was sitting, unusually quiet.

"Yotaro?" Midorikawa asked curiously, sitting down beside him with two drinks in hand. "What happened?"

The child kept staring at the ground before his gaze lifted a bit to stare at the capybara at his feet.

"…I dunno," Yotaro sniffled, gratefully taking the drink Midorikawa held out to him. "It's just— A-All of a sudden, I feel really sad. I d-don't know why."

Midorikawa paused, his own expression turning sombre as he leaned back against the wall beside Yotaro.

"…I," He began, eyes dropping to the floor. "…I'm worried about Izumin and Yoneyan too. I don't really know what to do."

Yotaro leaned sideways, hands gripping the edge of Midorikawa's blazer as he sniffled.

"I should've been paying attention," Midorikawa added morosely. "Maybe then, I could've still been out there fighting with them…"

He trailed off slowly, before tilting his head up at the ceiling.

"…I still need to apologize to Mikumo-senpai when all of this is over."

-0-

"Replica," Yuma muttered, gloved hand wiping his cheek absentmindedly as Trion leaked out. "You've been awfully quiet for a bit."

"It's nothing," The Trion soldier responded, tone flat although Yuma could still sense the lie woven in between the words. "Focus on your own battle."

Yuma paused, but turned back to Viza with a dark scowl marring his face nevertheless. "…I hate it when you lie to me."

-0-

Jin's eyes remained flat and half-lidded, Scorpion batting away a magnetic shard absentmindedly.

'I see,' He sighed heavily, eyes flickering darkly for a moment before his cheery facade slipped back into place. 'So that's what you chose to do.'

He stared at Hyuse from across him, the Neighbour not familiar enough with him to see the lingering sadness in his eyes.

'It's a 50/50 chance from here… and there's nothing else I can do, it seems. It's up to you three, Yuma, Miwa, and…'

-0-

"AMATORI CHIKA HAS BAILED OUT."

"Chika-chan?!" Shiori spun around in her chair, eyes wide in horror as she stared at the mat that belonged to Mori.

The mat that was linked to Mori's Bail out.

Shiori tried again, desperately, as she got up and ran over to the bedside of the mattress to face Chika. "Chika-chan, what happened?!"

Kizaki was standing eerily still at the door, eyes uncharacteristically wide in shock as he slowly stepped towards his pupil's other side. He played a gentle hand on her shoulder, shaking her gently as if to snap her out of a daze. "Amatori?"

Karasuma was still at the doorway, having been just behind Kizaki. There was silence for a few more moments.

Chika was still unresponsive, eyes pulled wide yet glazed over as she stared at nothing, still trying to comprehend the last few seconds that led up to this.

Her hands clenched tightly around the Trigger in her hand, and if you looked close enough, you could see the small tremors shaking her small frame.

Shiori ripped herself away from the bedside with a scowl, running back to the desk as she held the headphones up to her ear desperately. "Miku—Mori! What happened, all I could hear was static for a second after you traded Triggers, and then—?!"

"I'm sorry."

There was dead silence, as Shiori tried to gather her thoughts to respond. "Mori, I don't g-get it, wha—?"

There was a slightly muffled cough that cut the operator off. "I think… this was the best I could come up with such a limited amount of time. For all I try to keep my grades up and improve, it seems I'll always end up being a moron in the end…Huh?"

There was an audible shake to Shiori's voice as her hand tightened its grip on the headphones. "Mori, just please get back to HQ, now! All you have is a C-rank Trigger, you need to hurry!"

"No, there's really not enough time…" Mori sighed. "Replica sent a mini-Replica ahead earlier, and just confirmed for me. The Neighbour guy is heading right towards me, I don't have enough time to get back to base without endangering the people there. There are tons of defenceless engineers and business workers, yeah, but…" She paused.

-0-

Unseen to everyone but the Trion soldier beside her, Mori's hand shook.

The tremor was worse than anything else she had ever gotten for the entire invasion, and she thanked the stars that her voice never wavered over the communicator.

Replica watched. Silently.

-0-

"…Chika's at HQ too." Shiori jolted at that statement, eyes wide behind her glasses as her fingers desperately grasped the headphones.

She never noticed in her panic that earlier, when Chika had first bailed out, she had pulled the headphones from their plug in her haste to get up.

She didn't notice that she wasn't the only one listening to Mori's words, the speakers of the computer doing their work as the headphones lost their connection.

She didn't notice Kizaki's eyes darken at Mori's words.

'Mikumo, protect Amatori with your life.'

'Yes sir.'

She didn't notice Karasuma nearly stumble by the door, usually blank expression twisting with something that was alike to regret and fear.

'Don't underestimate him.'

'You don't need to tell me.'

'…Don't push yourself, either.'

Mori blinked in honest confusion, but he had already walked away by the time she had spun around.

She didn't notice the icon in the corner of her computer, Kunichika, Mikami, and everyone else in their rooms still connected to the line as they wordlessly listened to Tamakoma's world fall apart.

Konami still on the battlefield, eyes narrowing in bitterness and hopelessness as she pushed herself harder, to fight the Neighbour in front of her, to listen, to fight, to win so that she could run over to Mori and get her to snap out of it.

'I know, I know. Don't worry about it, Mori has Chika and Replica with her. She'll be fine.'

Kikuchihara, swinging his Scorpion not too far from her. Ears intently capturing every word over the radio.

'I didn't waste my time here for your empty head to not have learned anything!'

'See you around, Kikuchihara-senpai!'

She didn't notice that they hadn't yet cut communications with HQ from before, the directors sitting in their seats silently as they listened.

'Good grief four-eyes, look after her right, you hear me?!'

'I wanted to thank you for all your help today. Especially for all of the information regarding the Neighbourhood.'

'I see no fault in your logic, although there are more productive ways to spend your time than to steal a Trigger and run at a Neighbour, swinging around a weapon as if you're qualified to use it.'

She didn't notice anything. It was as if the world was deafened, and the only thing she could hear was Mori giving a less-than-heartfelt goodbye over a goddamn combat-oriented communicator.

"…Say, Shiori, could you do me a favour? I'd ask Replica to say goodbye to Yuma for me, but I don't really think I'm mentally strong enough to do that right now—"

Shiori didn't notice Chika stand up from behind her, because Shiori couldn't breathe.

Her teams were her life, her family, people that she had always vowed to protect and support from her position as an operator. Kazama squad was her family, Tamakoma-1 was her family, and although they'd only been together for a few months…

Tamakoma-2 was her family too.

"Chika probably doesn't want to talk to me either," Mori thought out loud over the radio, a bitter sigh slipping out of her throat. "I guess that's reasonable. After all, I'm not the first person to have left her a half-assed goodbye over the phone, I wouldn't blame her if—"

"WHY THE HELL WOULD YOU SAY THAT?!"

-0-

Chika wasn't registering anything.

'It was happening again,' was all that she could think. 'It's happening again, and it's all my fault.'

A flash of Aoba's face went through her mind.

'Again.'

Rinji this time, a kind smile painting his face as the three of them sat down in their living room, talking about their dreams.

'Again.'

Mori this time, a light, embarrassed blush painting her cheeks as she sheepishly asked Chika if she could call her 'little sister'.

'Why is it happening again? What am I doing wrong?!'

It was raining heavily outside, Chika wrapped in Mori's arms as she sobbed openly, freely, for the last time in her life.

Chika had always hated that day, having been the day that Mori changed. It was awful, and Chika knew it was all her and Rinji's fault. But she couldn't find it in herself to hate her older brother, so what could she have possibly done next?

Never cry again, never throw her burdens on other people.

Never throw her burdens on Mori, she's already done so much for her.

She's already given up her dream because of her.

(Except now, crying once again had never seemed less outlandish.)

-0-

"WHY THE HELL WOULD YOU SAY THAT?!"

Mori jolted from where she was sitting in the wreckage of the house, having been patiently waiting for the humanoid Neighbour to show up.

She tried to respond to the unexpected voice, with even more unexpected words to say. "Chi—?!"

"No, don't you dare start! I'm still a C-rank agent, we're not a team yet! You're not my captain, I won't accept any orders you give me!"

Mori's jaw shut with an audible click, eyes wobbling as she restrained her despair, her sadness, every negative emotion surfacing at this exact moment.

(I can't deal with this, it hurts it hurts it hurts—)

"You're not my captain… S-so why…"

Chika's voice shook, and the floodgates nearly tore open along with it. A hint of regret leaked out, causing angry, frustrated tears to well up in Mori's eyes.

"WHY ARE YOU LEAVING?! You p-promised—!"

Chika's tone steeled again, the urge to cry ultimately losing the battle as she continued to scream.

"—You promised we'd be a team! You hate making promises, you hate it with a passion! So when I heard you tell me that You and Yuma would bring us to A-rank, I didn't have a single doubt that you two would make it possible! So why are you giving up before we've barely left the starting line?!"

Mori grit her teeth, tears slowly sliding down her cheeks as she directed her gaze at the floor. "Chika, I'm not—!"

"DON'T CALL ME THAT!"

Replica was silent as he set himself down beside Mori's hand, silently offering comfort.

Mori accepted it. Because that was all she needed, someone who understood what she was trying to do without judging her for her stupidity.

(I know it's dumb. I know I'm a moron, but god, I've never felt more alive than when I heard the announcement that told me Chika was definitely safe.)

"I thought you knew!" Chika went on, years of untold thought spilling out in a single instant.

(Mori, you taught me so much. You were my sister, I love you, you're my role model, my world—)

"I thought you knew what it was like—!"

(You taught me to speak up when I want to be heard so badly that I can feel my frustration bubbling over.)

"—To be left behind, to be said goodbye to so halfheartedly, to want nothing more than to hate the person that you once, and STILL love like family!"

(You told me that sometimes, I need to set my calmness, my ability to be soft-spoken aside to get my point across. To use harsh words, to cut deep into the issue so badly that sometimes it'll hurt. You told me to love who I was, to care about myself, to never lower myself to be less than others, because you always told me I was so more than that—!)

"I THOUGHT YOU NEVER WANTED TO BE JUST LIKE HIM, BIG SISTER!"

"I-I'm sorry," Mori choked out. "I-I have t-to go—"

The communications line shut off with a click, and Chika's legs went limp as she fell to the floor, eyes not daring to release the years of restrained tears and sadness, even as a muffled scream made it through the hands she pressed to her face.

(—You never followed your own advice. Regardless of all my efforts, you still consider yourself worth less than I always knew you were.)

-0-

"…Mori, I apologize," Replica began softly. "But we must get moving. The Neighbour is almost here."

Mori brushed her arm against her red eyes harshly, scrubbing away the tears. "Don't have anything to apologize 'bout. You did as I asked."

Replica hummed, tongue sticking out as he tapped the first cube in her grasp. "You should put Izumi-san down."

"Yeah," She mumbled sticking the Trion cube underneath some nearby rubble and covering it with a rock. "Could you…?"

"You don't need to ask." Replica opened his mouth. "Omit."

The familiar seal appeared, hovering softly over the single lone cube now surrounded by cement bricks and debris.

"They won't find it, even if their ship has a Trion scanner," Replica commented, tongue pushing the last rock to cover the cube. "He'll be safe there until the invasion is over, I've sent the exact coordinates to HQ."

"Thank you." She mumbled quietly and flatly. "Thanks for everything you've done this invasion Replica… You've been so much help."

"It's what I'm for," He responded, voice unusually soft. "…When this is all over, I believe it would be better for you to talk to someone about this. You're under a lot of emotional—"

"I'm fine," She cut him off. "I don't—"

A deep, shuddering breath. "…Maybe after this is all over. If I can."

"I will be available for you to talk to after the invasion," He coaxed. "You need to get this out, it's not healthy."

"Yeah." Mori opened her dull eyes, the second cube in hand as she stood up. "…After all of this."

The nearby wall blew up, rocks of stone and concrete flying outwards and barely missing Mori and Replica.

Hairein stepped through the wall, brushing the dust off of his cloak nonchalantly as his eyes slowly caught the glowing cube in her hand.

Mori couldn't help but notice his previously shot at limbs were perfectly intact. (A function of his Trigger, no doubt. Damn overpowered black Triggers.)

"I see," He murmured, loud enough for everyone in the room to hear. "So I did get one of you with my last attack. I saw the other one with the spear go the other way, so that in your hand… must be the golden egg, or the shooter from before." He tilted his head. "You seemed to have an emotional attachment to the golden egg however, so that must be it."

"Duck!"

I grabbed Chika and covered her and the cube in my hands with my body as I pushed her to the ground in response to the yell. I could see Yoneya dropping to the ground in a similar fashion a little further away from us as glowing birds flew from over the roof of a nearby house and just barely missed us. They dissipated once they hit the wall of a nearby house, though the barrage of luminescent animals didn't cease.

One of the birds barely grazed my arm, and I shot a small, hastily created Meteora to blast the limb off as a cube fell to the ground uselessly.

Mori lifted her free hand and formed a Meteora, both arms having been regenerated when she created a new Trion body with Chika's Trigger.

"You're not getting her," Mori responded with steel in her voice. "I'll protect her 'till my dying breath, bastard."

(It's not like it's a lie. She's already in safe hands.)

Hairein's eyes narrowed, birds raising in the air around them as her glared at her. "Then die. Unlike the others, your worth is non-existent."

(You'll never get her.)

-0-

"This is really starting to piss me off…" Enedora growled, lashing out with another spike as Konami launched another Meteora at him from afar.

"Get in line!" She yelled back, shared hearing with Kikuchihara letting her hear his remark. "Why don't you just drop dead?!"

"Konami, are you ok?" Mikami asked worriedly, being the only operator on the line at the moment. "You've been awfully… aggravated since the Bail out."

"Of course I am!" She hissed lowly, twirling Sogetsu around and allowing them to smoothly separate into the two hatchets to conserve Trion. "Mori just went and—!" She trailed off into a slight growl. "And no word from Shiori or Chika since that argument! Not to mention, this guy just won't DIE!"

"…Jeez," Kikuchihara breathed from his spot across the battlefield. "…The Bail out wasn't actually a bad idea. Although it puts her in much more danger than ever before, for the sake of the C-rank, it was the smartest idea…"

He trailed off and let his voice lower enough that Konami wouldn't pay attention to him in her rage, lest she cut his head off.

(I think Kikuchihara has had enough of getting his head cut off.)

"You sayin' it's irritating that I WON'T DROP DEAD?!" Enedora responded just as angrily. "What about you two small fry?! All of the jumping around is irritating as fuck, and not to mention how mad the bitch is—" He was cut off by a faint, barely heard irate voice from the circular window hovering beside his ear, the noise loud and close enough to his ear that it made the Neighbour wince. "—The bastard Hairein's getting all worked up too, all because of you Meeden small fry!"

"Call me small fry ONE MORE TIME!" Konami yelled, nerves finally getting to her and she appeared in front of him in the flash, slamming her Sogetsu axe into the ground where he had been.

He jumped back in a flash and attempted to strike back at her, but Kikuchihara slashed eerily close to his Trion supply system, forcing him to abort the gesture and block the Scorpion blades.

Konami lifted the Sogetsu from the ground in an instant, waving it around much quicker than her size would usually indicate she could, and aimed the slice to cut him directly in half.

Enedora growled, and a black spike emerged from the ground and stabbed into one of her arms. "Oh, would you—?!"

All of a sudden, the three combatants were overcome with a terrible, crawling emotion that they couldn't shake.

It caused Kikuchihara to unintentionally step back, Konami to freeze directly where she was, and Enedora's mismatched eyes to widen in shock.

(No, it wasn't shock. No matter how much everyone in the vicinity would deny it… the emotion they were overcome with, undoubtedly, was…)

A shoe 'clacked' lightly against a nearby piece of road, the first sound Kikuchihara could hear that indicated the newcomer's arrival whatsoever.

(…Fear.)

"Ah, not here… huh?"

One slice, and Enedora was cleaved in half.

The sudden attack snapped everyone out of their dazes and the black-haired Neighbour scowled angrily, slightly fearfully as he attempted to reshape himself. "Nice try, but—!"

He cut off with a choke, as the liquid substance making up his body stuttered in the air, coming to a halt and spastically twitching in the air.

"W-what…" He growled. "WHAT THE HELL IS THIS?!"

His body twitched violently once again, the liquid around his Trion supply system revealing a not-quite-deep-enough cut in the object for just a moment.

"Sorry, but you're in the way." The figure gave his clipped apology. "I have other places to be."

Their hand twitched towards their sword, but Konami had already moved to cleave Enedora in half before they could move.

She faced the figure with a slightly confused frown, Enedora behind her collapsing to the ground as his Trion body was destroyed.

The figure paused, hand already grasping their sword as they gave a short glance to Konami.

She only scowled at them, axe twirling in her hand before she separated them into her two original Sogetsu. "…I didn't want you taking our opponent, I already had him handled."

The figure gave a clipped, unnerving grin to her that was familiar, yet unnerving at the same time.

-0-

Shinoda caught his breath first.

"What are you doing over there?! You were supposed to be—!" He cut himself off, waiting agitatedly for a reply.

There was a long silence, before the figure spoke up in a mumble again, but it wasn't the response or reasoning that the directors were hoping for.

"Hm… definitely not here."

They jumped off without another word.

Shinoda scowled, and the disappearance of the bone-chilling stare caused Konami, Kikuchihara, Kinuta and Netsuki to let out deep breaths.

The owner of said stare, however, was still roaming free around the map.

-0-

"Agent Konami, agent Kikuchihara, retrieve the black Trigger and bring it to HQ before going east to cover their previous position!" Came Shinoda's order from the communicator, spurring everyone mentioned to begin moving again.

"Shinoda-sa—!" Konami began to object, but Kikuchihara only shook his head tensely as he stepped towards the crouching form of the flesh-and-blood Enedora.

"Don't argue about it," He muttered, watching Enedora lift his head with a scalding glare. "Let's just do as we're told, that guy… didn't look happy. I'm sincerely amazed you could stand talking to him."

-0-

"Mira?" Ranbanein asked curiously. "Aren't you going to retrieve Borboros? Captain's orders, you know?"

Said Neighbour was nearly frozen in her seat, eyes wide as she stared at the screen in front of her in fear. Her hands were barely shaking, but she only snapped out of it once she noticed the two Border agents already beside Enedora, who was growling and glancing around angrily.

"T-They're already recovering him and the black Trigger, I have no chance of getting close." She recovered her composure, trying to ignore the shocked stare from the other Neighbour on the ship. "Captain Hairein, what's the next course of action?"

There was a tense pause, before the small window she had been keeping up beside Hairein finally emitted sound other than that of the chaos around him.

"If you can't retrieve Borboros…" Hairein began darkly. "…Then settle for killing him. He may turn on us the moment he's aware we've betrayed him, kill him so that Meeden cannot use the information he possesses."

"... And Borboros?" She asked.

Hairein waited for another moment before his voice gained more aggravation as he spoke once more. "I suppose there's no other choice. Leave it with Meeden, we can retrieve it another time."

"Yes, sir." She obliged, beginning to open portals near Enedora to stab him before the Border agents could begin to drag him away.

-0-

"From the left."

Mori ducked under a bird.

"Above and right."

She threw herself to the side, narrowly evading another bird.

"At your feet."

She leapt over the lizards positioned on the ground.

Everything she couldn't see with her own eyes, Replica would catch for her.

Hairein's eyes were continuously narrowing further and further, more and more animals pouring out of Alektor as he grew more aggravated with the situation.

It didn't help that Mira had been too late to retrieve Borboros, and now they had to leave a black Trigger behind with Meeden.

"Why won't you just die?" He finally bit out irately, another bird making it so close to her hand, but not close enough to do any damage.

"Because I have someone I need to protect," Mori responded blandly, although a hint of irritation had made its way into her tone. "Not like someone like you'd understand, huh?"

Hairein's eyes flashed angrily and for a brief moment, he lifted his hand holding the Alektor egg. "I think it's about time—"

"Hey."

It was so sudden.

But that one word, so many emotions poured into that one greeting yet leaving the tone so blank…

All of the birds in the area stopped, freezing in the air where they were. Mori, Replica and Hairein were no better, all three of them not daring to move an inch from where they were, save for the movement of slowly twisting their heads to the figure standing nonchalantly at the peak of a nearby house.

Eyes cold as he looked down on the three of them, barely scanning the area as he finally made eye contact with the Neighbour leader.

"Neighbour," Tachikawa greeted, none of his usual playfulness in battle present as his hands made their way down to both of his swords. "Where's my shooter?"

Hairein's eyes widened, and Mori had to remind herself how to breathe as both swords were drawn from their sheaths.

"…Senkuu Kogetsu."

The buildings, the road, everything around them… shattered.

-0-

Mori used the distraction to slip away.

It was chaotic, those few moments as the building collapsed around them, Tachikawa launching himself at Hairein with a dangerous gleam in his eyes as he drew both swords.

Hairein's eyes took everything in as he decided between chasing after the 'golden egg', or fighting for his own survival.

The decision was made for him, as he desperately commanded more birds to form a pseudo shield between the No. 1 attacker and himself, every glowing animal protecting him only buying milliseconds at most.

"Mira," Hairein growled into the portal hovering beside his ear, hand waving in the air to take control of Alektor's animals better. "You want to make up for the loss of Borboros? I have a new mission for you."

-0-

"Replica, what do we do now?"

Mori was still a little light-headed from fear, but she still needed to move.

Replica hummed, just a tad impatiently as he thought to himself, "…We need to find some way to get the Neighbours to leave."

"Like, negotiating?" Mori asked blandly. "With the Neighbours?"

"Like finding their means of escape, and forcing them into action." Replica corrected patiently.

(He was well aware of how erratic Mori's mental state was at the moment. She was stressed from all of the fighting, worn out from all her worry for Chika, still feeling the aftershocks of the fear of Tachikawa not even a moment ago, and loneliness because other than Replica, she was all alone. He had to be patient.)

"I'm still listening to the HQ's communications line, and due to that being my own outside influence… They have no visible indication that I am still connected." He commented shortly. "Over with Konami and Kikuchihara, another black Trigger revealed herself and killed the Neighbour they had been fighting. Judging by how she finished him off, it is highly probable that her Trigger is a wormhole opening type."

"Interesting," Mori muttered distractedly. "What about it?"

"They must have a ship to have gotten here," Replica commented, releasing multiple mini-Replica's. "Should we find it, I can hack it in seconds and force them to leave."

"Alright, but it's not like they'll just show us where they're hiding it," Mori turned another corner, cube still tightly held in her grip. "For now, let's—"

Replica's form jolted in the air. "Mori!"

A spike pierced through the air, stabbing straight through the side of her head.

Mori's eyes blinked in startled shock, just before the Trion body around her collapsed to nothing.

"Meeden…" Mira started lowly, heels 'clack'ing again the concrete ground as she stepped out of her own portal.

Mori coughed and scrambled to her feet, making a short run away from Mira's position as she stared at the Neighbour in slight fear. Her flesh-and-blood body was starting to feel the strain of the entire afternoon's worth of running and fighting.

"…We will retrieve the golden egg." Mira gave her clipped comment, hands raising as multiple portals opened in the air around her, lances emerging from the black holes. "Without fail."

'It's too late already,' Mori chuckled dryly in the safety of her own mind. 'We've already won, can't you see?'

-0-

Hairein finally managed to buy himself enough time to retreat just far enough away that he was out of Tachikawa's range.

Black clouds of Trion leaked from small cuts littering his body, save for one dangerously large slice making its way along the arm he had just regenerated after Replica, Chika and Mori attacked him.

Tachikawa was standing still, watching and waiting for the Neighbour to make the first move with his unnerving stare of his, swords loose in his grip.

"…Are you just going to stand there all day?" He finally spoke up, tone as bland as it had been since his first arrival. "Or are you going to finally answer my question? Because as much as I'd hate to pass up fighting a black Trigger… My team comes first."

"Are you a moron or something?"

Tachikawa's eyes barely glanced back to the new figure behind him, although Hairein regarded the newcomer warily.

(Hairein would probably never underestimate a Meeden soldier again, after this experience.)

"Why're you calling me a moron, Miwa?" Tachikawa asked, not even a sliver of amusement making it into his voice. "Don't think I did anything to warrant that."

Miwa frowned, his own sword loose in his grasp as his eyes briefly flickered towards the Neighbour. "You obviously turned your damn communicator off. HQ confirmed where Izumi is earlier, he's fine for now. Why the hell did you leave your post?"

Tachikawa hummed, a line of tension slowly, unknowingly bleeding out of his frame. "…So he's fine. That's good."

Miwa's frown grew, and he finally clicked his tongue in impatience. "So, what the hell are you doing? Are you going to take down the fucking Neighbour, or just stand there angsting?"

Tachikawa let out a huff of amusement, at last, starting to act normal once again. "Angsting? Is that what I'm doing?"

There was an elongated pause. "I'll deal with this guy. There was a C-rank here earlier though… I dunno, I wasn't paying attention. She ran away earlier, I think the Neighbours were targeting her."

Miwa scowled in irritation. "…Are you seriously asking me to go after her?"

Tachikawa shrugged. "I mean, I guess you could meet up with Yoneya, wherever he is… did he Bail out yet?"

Miwa sighed aggravatedly, hand slamming the Kogetsu into his sheath angrily as he finally left. "You really weren't listening to a damn thing HQ was saying."

Tachikawa gave a lazy wave over his shoulder, other hand coming up to tap the communicator in his ear. "…Ren, Miwa…Tell me if you find Izumi, please."

Tachikawa's childhood friend, Tsukimi Ren, sighed over the communicator. "Stop angsting then."

-0-

Another spike grazed the side of Mori's torso, and she let out a pained hiss through her teeth as she turned another corner to get away from the Neighbour.

Replica hovered in the air beside her worriedly, diving down to inspect her wound. "Mori, you're—"

"I'm fine." She bit out, adjusting the cube in her grasp to hold with her other hand. "Let's keep running, my legs can still run."

Replica was silent.

-0-

"I'd say you're just about finished." Tachikawa nonchalantly commented, swords tapping against the ground as he stepped closer, but not too close to Hairein. "Judging by how much Trion is leaking out, you're nearly out."

Hairein glared up at the No. 1 attacker, eyes already having scanned the area for any nearby cubes. 'There's nothing around to steal Trion from… I can't heal my wounds.'

"Hey, I'm not blind, you know." Tachikawa commented. "Stop looking around, there's no way out. According to Miwa, Izumi's safe, but I still feel really mad…"

He sighed, one hand raising to the back of his head to scratch it sheepishly. "Man, Shinoda-san and Kido-san're gonna chew me out big time for this… Might as well bring you in, maybe they'll let it slide then."

Tachikawa took a step towards the Neighbour, who gave a sharp glare to the Border agent.

(How the tables have turned.)

"Mira, teleport me," Hairein muttered quickly, eyes flickering backwards as the dark gate opened behind himself on command.

He only waited a moment to give the wide-eyed Tachikawa a slightly triumphant glance, before stepping back and disappearing.

Tachikawa staying in place for just a few more seconds, before he scratched the back of his head sheepishly.

"Well… Shit. I lost him."

-0-

"Give up." Mira finally snapped, heels stepping harshly into the ground as she finally cornered Mori into an alleyway. "Hand over the golden egg, or else the consequences will be severe."

"I'm already kind of bleeding to death, lady." Mori bit out, pushing off of the back wall she was leaning on. "You're not getting Chika, fuck off."

Mira's eyes narrowed. "So you choose death."

A snap from behind Mira.

"Fujin, activate."

Both Mori and Mira's eyes widened, and Mira barely had the time to turn halfway around before blades of light struck from both sides of the alleyway walls, cutting off one of Mira's outstretched hands, cutting deep into one of her legs to the point where it was unusable, and making two thin cuts on both her cheek and neck, just barely skimming the area where her Trion body's relay system was.

"The only one dying here… will be you."

Mira coughed harshly, remaining usable leg nearly buckling under her own body's weight. She glared up hatefully at Miwa, who was standing at the edge of the alleyway with a glare even more poisonous than her own.

The A-rank agent only scoffed, glowing Fujin blade at his side and illuminating the area. "Give up, Neighbour. We've already won."

Mira swiped a hand over her cheek, blocking the Trion flow for a moment. "If that's what you think…" She commented in a clipped manner, portal hovering over her ear relaying Hairein's message as she lifted her hand one final time. "Then how about this?"

Hairein was instantly teleported behind Miwa, who swiped Fujin behind himself to attack Hairein.

The Neighbour only lifted Alektor however, two small birds blocking the blades of light without much effort as two cubes clattered to the ground.

"Mira," Hairein growled, just as Alektor reached for the cubes and began healing what few of his numerous wounds it could. "Finish him off."

"Yes, commander!" She obliged, lashing out with a lance, but Miwa was quicker.

"Do you honestly think I'm that slow?" He growled, lifting Fujin as he reloaded the ribbons, nearly half a dozen more forming around the hilt. "Don't mock me."

Mira's eyes flickered uncertainly before she narrowed them challengingly. "You're not our target, regardless."

Mori, who was still trapped in the furthest point of the alleyway, jolted and began to run, but—

Three lances, and a hiss of pain as they pierced through her.

(Two in the torso, one in the leg, ow, ow, ow, ow—shit—)

They retracted just as quickly, and Mori fell to the ground uselessly as the cube clattered out of her grasp, landing a few meters in front of her.

Miwa's eyes lingered on her fallen form for just a second too long, and before long, 2 other lances had appeared from just behind him.

They stabbed directly through his torso, one missing and making a jagged stab through his shoulder, and the other piercing right through his Trion supply system.

His eyes widened as his pupils slowly lowered to the wound, Trion body slowly deconstructing before his eyes as he reverted back to his flesh-and-blood body.

"…Hmph." Mira sniffed, watching him with scorn in her eyes as Hairein walked past her to retrieve the cube. "Don't try anything, or you'll be dead in seconds."

Miwa grit his teeth, hand slowly slipping Fujin in his pocket as he watched Hairein slowly step towards the Trion cube in front of Mori's unconscious body.

Hairein finally reached the cube at his feet, turning back to Mira for a brief moment as he bent down to reach for it. "Open a gate back to the ship. We'll be leaving in a moment."

Mira nodded, a portal opening behind her almost absentmindedly as she waited for her captain.

The Neighbour himself finally held the cube in his grasp, flipping the geometric shape over in his hands contemplatively, before he froze.

Mira noticed immediately, taking another step towards him. "Captain? What is it?"

"…This isn't the golden egg." He finally growled, narrowed eyes making their way to the only conscious human in the area… Miwa. "What is the meaning of this?"

Miwa's furious expression never shook, although the hint of smugness was unmistakable. "Seems like you couldn't get what you came here for. Shame."

Mira's eyes widened in rage, and her hand lashed out in frustration as another lance stabbed in his flesh-and-blood body this time, red liquid splattering against the nearby wall as he coughed harshly.

He didn't scream however, as the lance retreated just as harshly as it had gone in. He only stayed standing, hands rising to clutch his bleeding stomach with grit teeth.

Hairein threw the cube to the ground, face never wavering from its mask of cold fury. "I see. A smart tactic."

He lifted Alektor once again, preparing to leave the alleyway and head to Border HQ. "However, we are in no hurry, as long as we achieve our objective. Mira, prepare to teleport us to their main base."

Miwa eye's widened in shock, and he prepared to step forward just before a robotic voice spoke up in the startlingly dark alleyway.

"It's come to my understanding… that you have run out of time."

All three of the alleyway occupants spun around on their heels (albeit Miwa was slower, as his wounds were much graver than he let on) wide eyes finally landing on the hovering figure at the entrance of the alleyway…

Right in front of the portal to the Neighbour ship.

Replica retracted his tongue-like appendage, control panel for the ship beeping alarmingly as he turned to face them. "…You left your transport vessel wide open to attack. Shame."

Already consumed with anger, Mira lashed out with another spear quicker than anyone could move. Replica fell to the ground, being cleaved in half by the unusually thin weapon as Mira ran to the ship's control panel.

"Mira." Hairein growled, reaching the end of his rope. "What's the status."

Mira grit her teeth in frustration, hands deftly taping out something on the keyboard as her eyes scanned the screen at inhuman speeds. "A return home command has been issued! Only 60 seconds until emergency launch… I can't cancel the command!"

Miwa smirked, finally falling to his knees as he clutched at his bleeding stomach.

(Suck on that, Neighbours.)

Hairein's eyes narrowed into a dark glare that sent shivers down Mira's spine.

"We…" She choked out in slight fear, never having seen Hairein so upset. "We don't have enough time to search for the golden egg."

-0-

"…We have no choice." The Neighbour finally muttered. "We will give up on the golden egg… You recovered Viza not too long ago, didn't you?"

"Yes commander." The female Neighbour replied hurriedly. "About Hyuse…?"

"According to plan." The Neighbour gave his clipped response. "We couldn't capture the golden egg, so he's left behind. Prepare to leave."

(Thank god… Chika's safe.)

"…Mori." Came the familiar robotic voice from the mini-Replica I still had in my pocket.

(I'd kept it there since the first time Yuma and replica gave it to me. It's never left my side.)

"I'm sorry," He apologized, and I couldn't get out a response through the blood in my mouth. "I wish I could move, maybe I should have moved out of the portal before I began to mock them."

There was a small pause.

"I suppose you rubbed off on me as well. Mori, you…"

(I'm so sorry, I should've stopped you from sacrificing yourself… I should've been strong enough.)

I could barely hear the sound of the portal beginning to close as Replica gave me his last statement.

(I swear. I promise… Just please, please don't leave us.)

"…You matter much more to others than you believe. I have no doubt you will live through this… Please, take care of Yuma, Chika… and yourself."

(…Come back….)

A muffled zap that barely made it through the white noise in my ears, and the Neighbours, along with Replica, were gone.

-0-

Miwa was perfectly content with laying down and waiting for reinforcements to come to find them.

(Except for the fact that he was currently bleeding quite heavily out of his severe stomach wound… Hopefully, reinforcements were quick, or else he might actually die.)

So why was he doing what he was currently doing?

"…For fuck's sake," He mumbled under his breath, finally moving both arms to lift himself up.

"…W-what," A cough, and a spit. "What are y-you doing…?"

"Oh, you're still awake." He grumbled, dragging himself over to her body. "Why aren't you moving then?"

She twisted her head slightly, just enough so that Miwa could see one of her dull eyes. "…'hurts."

"I'd imagine." He huffed, grabbing the edge of her body and flipping her over on her back. She let out a pained hiss escape through her clenched teeth, but Miwa only continued to move her towards the nearest wall. "But I'm certain this is all your fault."

"Shut'." She slurred, and it was startlingly clear to Miwa how much blood she had lost as he felt it soak into his pant legs. "What do y'know?"

"What I know," Miwa cut in sharply, angrily, "Is that you have a goddamn little sibling that you're leaving behind."

"Was," Mori coughed again, the blood splatters on her uniform becoming an even deeper red as it dripped from her lips. "Protecting her."

"Protecting her?" Miwa repeated with even more anger, pressing his lips together to silence another wave of anger to avoid agitating his wounds. "Did you ever consider that she maybe wanted to fight alongside you?! That she didn't want you to leave her behind if it meant you'd die?!"

(Ouch, yeah, he didn't want to yell again. That stung.)

Mori's eyelids twitched, less in anger and more over the loss of control over her own body. "…Leav' me 'lone."

Miwa huffed and flipped over, finally giving into the pain as his back harshly landed on the wall a meter and a half away from her. "HQ will send reinforcements to us soon. If not them, then that bastard Tachikawa will find us. He was the one supposed to be fighting that Neighbour bastard, anyway."

Mori blinked, her disoriented state of mind already getting whiplash from the topic change. "…Huh."

Miwa sighed aggravated, falling silent as he stared up at the sky peeking in between the two buildings they were wedged between.

"…The sky finally cleared up."

(The large-scale invasion… has officially come to an end.)

-0-

Meeden was strange, but Yuma always had a feeling that this entire experience would be strange.

It was where dad had come from, it'd be weirder if it wasn't weird.

…And wasn't that a concept.

It had all begun, with one person though. It was just one person that had stood up and been tasked with escorting Yuma, although reluctantly.

It had all begun, with Mikumo Mori.

She was strange.

…Where to begin?

His first thought of her. She was weak, yet not. She had a cynical outlook on how the school handled the victims of, and the bullies that tried bothering him, an outlook that he only somewhat shared. Her classmates obviously didn't have too high an option of her, and yet every person that she seemed to interact with (bar the asshole bullies) seemed to treat her indifferently. Like a distant stranger that you knew virtually nothing about. Then, she had insisted on following him when the asshole bullies tried leading him into the emergence zone after school.

That was dumb, in his opinion.

But she had dodged, and no matter how little that seemed in comparison to everything that had happened that day, it stuck out to him.

She had practised, it was clear. Her eyes whipped around at a speed that surprised him, and she still managed to drink in all of the visual information like it was nothing. Her dodges were obviously something self-taught, not at all polished by personal experience, yet still honed with the fine art of practice.

Then, the Bamster had shown up before he could have enough time to ponder that.

That was an experience. She ran right into battle, despite knowing it was dumb and wouldn't do anything. She had made that very clear, with her final words before the Trion soldier knocked her through a brick wall.

"It's cause I'm a moron!"

Moron indeed.

He still doesn't know why he used his black Trigger to save her, he still didn't have too high an opinion of her at that time. She bruised her ribs because of her foolish action, but still owned up to it. Still didn't impress him much, so why'd he stick around?

He told her why he was here, because why not? She denied literally half the things he said, and complained a bit before conceding to his demands; 'teach me about Japan'.

It was simple. It was supposed to be a simple, temporary agreement.

(It wasn't)

Then she starts making up rules that he didn't exactly agree with. 'Don't stand out', 'Don't use your Trigger'… what's next, 'Don't breathe'?

Replica concurred with her rules though, so he reluctantly agreed. Then, he found the hidden side of her that wanted to see the bullies get what they deserve when he offered to beat them up. That was a pleasant surprise.

She was completely unexpected as a whole, honestly. While he was expecting her to be mocking at times, she was nagging instead. When he was sure she'd be strict and snobby, she was awkward and kind. When he thought she'd lecture him for doing something wrong, she simply muffled a snort and reluctantly told him to knock it off.

Then, once again, Neighbours attacked. Marmods this time though.

And without another word, she rushed into danger.

For a moment, for god-knows-what-reason, he had internally panicked at the thought of reaching the top of the stairs only too see her dead corpse, but instead, she was skillfully fighting the Marmods off with a trainee Border weapon she stole from a nearby, unconscious teen.

He felt a surge of panic when she nearly got her head chopped off, but mangled to save her with a hastily created shield.

(He just doesn't know why he reacted like this. He barely even knew her, compared to what other things he's seen from her in the months to follow.)

She'd shaken off her panic and gave him a grin, one that he couldn't help but return with his own. Along with a promise to start using her own name, instead of calling her something else.

"We don't make a bad team… You should have your own Trion soldier to fight next time though."

"Maybe. And I'm sorry for underestimating you, four-eye— no, Mori. Those were some amazing moves."

Then Replica had come out. Those few days felt like one thing after another, and Replica had not come out to greet anyone that he met since he was back in Calvaria.

The Trion soldier even agreed to answer any questions she had. It was a shock, but he stayed surprisingly quiet as the questioning followed.

They carried the C-rank out of the building, along with a new type of friendship bonding the two of them together.

Of course, just in time for Kitora to show up.

He hated her.

She was stand-offish, jealous of Mori, and he saw another unexpected side of his friend when Kitora made her first insult to her. This side, however, wasn't nearly as pleasant when he watched her wilt like a flower in the sun under Kitora's harsh scrutiny.

Replica quietly teased him for a bit after the incident, but he still thought he was justified in lashing out harshly following Kitora's insults.

Mori was incredibly susceptible to insults. It almost saddened him, since he had gained a new respect for his bespectacled friend after seeing her fight off the Marmods with the Trigger. Regardless, he fought back against Kitora whenever she tried to attack Mori again with her words, and the girl eventually stopped the pointless attacks on his friend as they walked along the sidewalk.

Then the Illgar. Yuma was starting to get the idea that Neighbours insisted on interrupting any progress he was starting to make with Mori, but anyways.

Kitora jumped off, and Mori insisted he follow the A-rank agent. He felt an objection rising in his throat, but the expression on her face and her argument caused him to reluctantly oblige to her demands.

What the hell is with this girl. She doesn't even realize how quickly she platonically wrapped him around her finger.

Following that… of course, this was something that changed his perspective of her for the rest of their lives.

The Border conference.

Despite him telling her to update him afterwards if anything happened, he decided to just listen in on the entire conference on a whim. It was enlightening, to say the least.

Her outburst against Kitora made him fist-bump the air silently, but he made Replica promise not to tell anyone that.

Her refusal to join Border however, lit up a few bulbs in his head, but he shoved them aside for the moment. They'd come up eventually, he didn't really care about her reasoning at the time.

Later on, he went to the school to look for Rads. It was mostly Replica's idea, but he had a similar thought to him, so he went along too.

They called Mori, her antagonization towards Jin was made clear, and she offered to go over there and join them looking for Trion soldiers.

Uh, no. Go back to bed Mori, what the hell.

She thankfully conceded to his order quickly, and Replica took slight amusement in his heavy sigh of relief as the sound of her head hitting the pillow echoed over the communications line.

They met Jin, cleared out the Rads, and what followed was a rollercoaster as he met Chika, learned of Mori's reasoning to not join Border, fighting Miwa and Yoneya, being ordered by Mori for Chika and him to have lunch…

It was a mess.

Then Jin invited them to Tamakoma, learned about Mogami's fate, and joined Border in the end. But most of that was small compared to what else had happened.

… Mori really didn't care too much about herself.

It was startlingly obvious to him, a hidden self-loathing woven in between each and every one of her words, an emotion so deep that Yuma struggled to pinpoint how long it had been festering for.

Maybe under other circumstances, it would've disappointed him.

But no, he couldn't help but be amazed.

Mori had been struggling with this for such a long time, and not broken… he was proud of how far she'd come. He imagined he had Chika and any family Mori had to thank for her progress, but that didn't matter.

He'd be the one to continue making progress, to lift up her self-esteem, to snap her out of it when she was bending under the force of someone else's insults. He wanted to walk beside her for that. To walk beside both her and Chika, to bring all three of them to the finish line.

The finish line, which would be the No. 1 spot in Border.

(She didn't understand that, but that was fine. He'd carry them there regardless, and he knew she'd never let him down for that either.)

So he agreed to be on their team, and the three of them made an agreement that day to never let each other down.

Mori was funny too, he found. She froze up at the names of the current No. 1 squad members, and he was worried for a moment that she'd stopped breathing as they watched different clips of the Border agents. Pure nervousness.

(… Opponents. Possible allies…? Depends on how HQ reacts to their enlistment.)

Mori was also smart at times. She could come to unique conclusions that Yuma had to twist his brain to get around, even though he was more strategic-smarts oriented while she was primarily academic-smarts. it was a strange mix, but it worked. But for all that Mori seemed to be smart at times…

She could be so dumb.

(A flash of the Bamster smacking her through a wall came to mind, but he batted that away. Not the time.)

He met Konami, Karasuma, Kizaki, Mori's mother (that was a pleasant surprise), and before he knew it, the Border enlistment day finally came.

After a few months, he, Chika and Mori had bonded quite a bit. He finally felt like a team, instead of just an outsider as he fought for his life, only Replica by his side.

(This wasn't Calvaria, he kept reminding himself. People here, they cared. They were kind, Tamakoma was a family. And Chika and Mori were even closer to him. This wasn't Calvaria. Not in the slightest. He wasn't being forced to fight a war in which he didn't particularly care about the outcome, he chose to fight here. For Mori, Chika, Replica, and himself.)

It felt good to watch Mori talk back to Kitora and prove her wrong. It felt even better watching Mori fight freely against someone else at Border, someone else that recognized Mori's talent for what it was.

(He didn't like how he worded some of his comments, but Kikuchihara had honest and good intentions. No one else around seemed to understand, although Yuma had seen a glimmer of understanding swirling around in pools of red from the top of the seating areas. Kazama Soya, No. 2 attacker, huh?)

They shook up HQ with their opening debut and separated less than two weeks later to wander around the large building.

Then, he saw her once again. But watching, what was so clearly set up, dozens of C-ranks watch Midorikawa beat Mori 20-0…

Well, that just wasn't allowed.

Jin subtly teased him for losing his head, but the embarrassment was minor compared to the white-hot fury he felt when Midorikawa smugly smirked at Mori once their rank battle was over.

He wanted the two of them to feel less crappy after that ordeal, so he goaded her into a challenge to get to B-rank. It was pleasing, watching her fall for the trick even though she knew exactly what he was doing.

And for the last time… Just when Mori was taking steps forward, the Neighbours attacked.

It was huge this time though. There was chaos left and right, and once he noticed the obvious tremors in Mori's hand, he felt a sliver of regret for forgetting her circumstances.

This was Mori's first battle experience where she was fighting for her life, and the battle seemed to never end.

The Bamster? He took it out instantly, and she didn't even fight that time. Done.

The Marmods? That was over fairly quickly, and she entered the fight of her own free will.

The Illgar? Again, she wasn't fighting. She was rescuing people. And despite how much she grumbles and complained, that seems to be when she thrives. Helping others, primarily people she knew and liked though.

This? This was war. She was thrown in instantly, and fighting for her life with barely any time to prepare.

And there was nothing he could do about it, and that stung.

They had to split up eventually.

Jin later found him and told him that Mori might die while Chika would get captured, and the two of them left to go protect their two friends.

Admittedly, half of the time in the invasion after that was a haze of anger and protectiveness as he blindly fought the black Trigger.

Pride welled up in his chest when Replica gave him a new seal, stating dryly that it was 'a gift' from Mori.

Replica went quiet near the end of the battle, and he rushed to finish off the black Trigger out of pure worry.

(What happened to Mori and Chika?)

He was in his normal Trion body now, and wouldn't be able to fight if another humanoid Neighbour showed up, but it hardly mattered. With directions from Replica, he rushed through the emergence zone, running past all of the abandoned buildings with a sense of dread that only grew in size as the mini-Replica beside him dropped to the floor, dead to the world.

With his last words stating a clear message, just before he dropped out of the air.

"Chika's safe, and Mori will be too… I apologize for not doing more."

(He could mourn later. Replica— Yuma told him to protect Chika and Mori, he did as Yuma asked. He could be weighed down and crushed by guilt later, he needed to know what happened to his partners.)

Then, he finally arrived at his destination.

Blood covered the alleyway. There was nearly no light, although that seemed to slowly improve at the sky cleared up above them.

And at the back of the alleyway, Mori lay. Blood rushing out of a wound just above her stomach, another in her shoulder, a deep graze by her ribs, and the last wound in her thigh.

It was all white noise now.

He barely registered Miwa a few feet away from her, already running towards Mori as he dropped to his knees, blood coating his uniform as he grabbed both of her shoulders desperately.

(The uniform doesn't fucking matter. Ah— jeez… I'm picking up her language now, aren't I.)

He barely registered the world around him as he pulled Mori to his chest. Her heartbeat was slow, and he could barely feel her breathing.

(…I'm sorry. Please come back. Promise—Promise you won't leave me.)

He doesn't know how much time passed after that. Yoneya and Natsume showed up at one point, and with hazy directions from the worried A-rank, the three of them carried the two injured agents to the nearest hospital.

He handed Mori over to the doctors and collapsed in the waiting room chair, other patients bustling noisily around them. The white noise seemed to grow, overpowering everything around him as he barely dared to breathe.

(Please don't take my family away from me. Not again.)

His Impression of Mori… at first, he thought she was cold. Mocking, irritated easily, and still a stickler for the rules. As well as strict and harsh when she wanted to be.

That's all changed now. Now, she's a friend.

Sure, she's cold. But only if she doesn't know you, and that's only her awkwardness resurfacing. Yeah, she's mocking at times, but that's one of the only ways she knows to be casual with you. She gets irritated at the flip of a dime, and it's generally amusing for everyone cause we all know she's not really mad. She's far from a stickler for the rules, but hates meeting higher-ups so she follows said rules to avoid that.

She's not strict. She's nagging, like a mother hen. She's not harsh, she's blunt.

…She's not a stranger, or even just a friend. Not even a love interest, the two of them would be absolutely disgusted at the thought.

She was family, but not a sister. A best friend, but maybe more.

She was Mori.

And for the first time, Yuma prayed to whoever was up there that they wouldn't take her away from them.'

-0-

A/N -

(Drops a bunch of angst here)

Also, Miwa is seriously underrated in this chapter. Jesus, I am so sorry about that, but with the plans I had, it couldn't fit any other way... whoops.

Moving on- A review asked very politely for a description of Mori! So just a quick one here, Mori's around the same height as Osamu (168cm, which is really f-kin tall for a female her height) and has the same green eyes. She has straight, long hair that goes down to her shoulder-blades that she usually keeps in a ponytail or a messy bun. For clothes, she's very basic and sticks with sweaters, usually greys/dark purples. I'm bad with descriptions, but I think that's good...? She looks pretty similar to Osamu and Kasumi face-wise.