A/N: Heeey. I have some time, so I decided to post the next crap-tastic chapter before going to school. It's a shortie, again, I'm sorry. Anyway, I apologize in advance for typos, misspelling, OOCness and all that. I've been looking at chapters not yet animated, and may reference some things from those if I think it's relevant. I'm not sure what I'll be doing in school, but I still plan to continue Black Trigger, no matter what. Actually if everyone hates this, THEN I'll stop. All that aside, enjoy the chapter and expect a new one next week.
Yuma's eyes opened slowly. His mind was hazy, and he couldn't process anything. Why was he so sluggish? And why had he been unconscious? The last time Yuma had slept had been four years ago, before his 'death'. It was so long ago that the feeling he now had was completely foreign, like Japan still was.
Suddenly, in just an instant, it all came back to him. The B-Rank Wars finishing for the day, watching the end with Jin, Osamu and Chika. The odd feeling like he was being watched. The purple flames. The assassin from four years ago. He shot upright, hands gripping the blankets in tight fists. That thing, whoever or WHATEVER it was, had tracked him down. He never thought he'd see it again, let alone have it focused on him. He had no doubt. He had felt its gaze on him, burning through his skin and marking his bones. The worst part was that he couldn't think of why it had been looking at him.
No, that actually wasn't the worst part. The real worst part was that he'd completely lost it and broke down in front of a crowd of people. In front of Osamu, Chika and Jin. He had lost control of himself in a way that would make it impossible for him to lie out of the situation. He couldn't tell them it was nothing, they wouldn't believe him. At the same time, if he told them, they would get hurt. Yuma was especially worried about how Osamu would react. The raven haired teen was weak, but a sucker for those in need. If he thought Yuma's life was in danger, he would likely get himself killed trying to protect him.
Chika would probably feel bad and blame herself because she had a large amount of Trion that attracted Neighbors to her. At least she would stop after he explained that it wasn't after her, but it would be hard to explain how he knew it was after him without any evidence or any knowledge as to WHY he was being targeted. In this case, just having the feeling wasn't enough.
Jin had a tendency to get very protective over his kouhai, and Yuma knew that being the Elite agent's 'cute little junior', he would not be left alone. He had heard about what Jin had set up awhile ago when Kido sent agents to seize his Black Trigger and kill him. Not only would Jin want to keep him from dying, but his other friends in Border such as Konami, Reiji, Kyosuke, Midorikawa, Shiori, Arashiyama Squad and likely a few others would try to help him. If the Black Trigger was truly after him, it wouldn't hesitate to fight any of them. Yuma knew how powerful that Trigger was and how skilled the user was. None of them would stand much of a chance. He himself had fought it with a normal Trigger and the experience of someone who'd only ever fought their entire life, and he had lost easily. That being said, he has to make sure they stayed out of it at all costs.
Taking a deep breath, Yuma composed himself. There wasn't a snowball's chance in hell that he'd let himself pass out again. Once he was sure his face and eyes were blank and empty of all hints and tells, he pulled the blankets off of himself and swung his legs off his bed, planting them on the floor as he stood up. He stumbled slightly when he got to his feet, his legs half asleep. Shaking them awake, he headed for the door before taking the stairs one at time, dreading what he knew was coming. For the safety of everyone he knew, he had to stop them before they started. That was, if he could. Though even if he couldn't stop them, he still would have to. No matter what.