A/N: Another chapter is up! I apologize in advance for any errors I missed, OOCness, bad plot, etc etc. Since school started I've found myself with no time to write. My math teacher thinks it's necessary to assign three pages of our textbooks a day as homework. That's also why this update is so late in the day. When I got home I had to do all my homework before posting or I'd forget. Anyway, my boring school problems don't matter, I'll always find a way to get a chapter up. This one is a longer, since I've been posting lots of shorties. Not much suspense this chapter, it's more of a building block. You can probably expect suspense from the next chapter though. Hope everyone likes it, but if you don't that's okay. Enjoy and I'll be back next week with another update.
When the stairs creaked out of the blue, everyone turned. Sure enough the white haired Neighbor they were all waiting for appeared in their line of vision, blinking away the last of the blur in his vision from his "nap".
"How'd you sleep, Shrimp?" Konami asked, using the nickname derived from Yuma's height. She had slightly annoyed glint in her eye. Despite that, she also looked a tad bit worried. In fact, everyone in the room looked even the slightest bit worried, even Reiji and Kyosuke. Some of them were tapping their fingers, and other had it on their faces. They were all worried about Yuma.
"I wouldn't exactly call that sleeping," Yuma said plainly, shaking his head nonchalantly and if he hadn't passed out just hours ago.
"I wouldn't exactly call your little episode at HQ nothing," Jin said, joining the conversation. Yuma glanced at his senpai. Jin had likely set up everything that had been said so far. He knew what Konami was going to say, and he predicted Yuma's response before coming up with a way to connect that to the episode in Border in order to get Yuma's attention. He had taken what Yuma said and used it to say the exact same thing back, but about something else.
Yuma felt something twinge in the back of his head. As much as he respected Jin, he knew that the Elite was good at getting on people's nerves when he needed to. He was doing a pretty good job at the moment.
Despite his slight annoyance at finding out his comrades were indeed trying to pry into his mind and find out what had happened, Yuma shrugged. He remained straight-faced, not willing to give anything away.
"Kuga, well as know that wasn't normal. We also all know about the situation with your Trion body and some of your past. If there is something wrong, you need to tell us. We could find a way to help you," Osamu added, cringing at how much he sounded like a therapist.
Yuma remained silent, choosing to fix his stare on the four-eyed teen in front of him. He didn't let it waver and he didn't blink, just letting his eyes burn holes into the other teen's eyes. Osamu himself held his own for awhile, not blinking over waver. Then Yuma made his own eyes glint with anger, and Osamu immediately looked away. Yuma was good at being intimidating. Once people looked past his small size and saw his real abilities and the look in his eyes, they were always stared down. Ever since Yugo died, no one had beat Yuma in an intimidation game.
"Yuma..." Jin said, his voice 101% serious. When Yuma heard the voice of his Elite, he pulled his attention from Osamu, instead fixing his intimidating stare on Jin, though he already knew it wouldn't work.
Jin raised and eyebrow at the stare he was receiving. It didn't faze him at all, being who he was, but he now understood why Osamu has suddenly stopped looking Yuma in the eye altogether.
"Glare all you want, Yuma, but it's not going to change anything. This conversation isn't over," Jin said sternly. He hated how much he was acting like that parent who had found out their kid got in trouble at school, but in the end that attitude was required. Yuma was hiding something, and when Yuma was hiding something, it was usually something important.
"It's probably just my real body. You guys said you knew about it, so I assumed you would realize that's all it was," Yuma finally said, breaking his silence. His words sounded like those of someone speaking the truth, which split Tamakoma in half. Shiori, Jin, Kyosuke, Rindo and Reiji weren't buying his story, while Chika, Osamu and Konami were. That wasn't favorable for Yuma. Chika and Osamu were too soft, so of course they'd believe him, even if Osamu was brilliant. Then Konami was just plain gullible.
"You aren't close to dying, are you?" Konami asked, her eyes on the floor. It was easy to tell she was a bit worried. While she'd never admit it, Yuma had grown on her. If he died, she didn't know how she'd react. Yuma shrugged.
"Maybe, maybe not. It doesnt really matter. The only problem would be that if I die soon, then I would be letting down Osamu and Chika by not getting them to A-Rank and on an away mission first. Either way, I'm just living on borrowed time, so I can't complain," he said.
Everyone in the room was almost digusted by how lightly Yuma was taking the fact that he was close to dying. He spoke about it as if he was talking about some barely decent sandwich that was almost gone.
"If it was just some thing with your real body, then why'd you say "it's here" before passing out?" Jin asked. He was at the point where he was going to get answers whether Yuma liked it or not. Even if this turned into an interrogation, it was better to have Yuma hate them then have the boy die because they weren't persistent enough.
"I can't remember anything after I fell," Yuma said, dismissing the question. Jin didn't look amused. His Side Effect wasn't working, but only on Yuma. The Neighbor kept dismissing and dodging their questions. He had passed out in the middle of Border HQ. Yuma seemed a little more tense, but it only showed in the way he stood, with slightly stiffer posture. None of that was right.
"What we're you thinking about before you passed out?" Jin asked. Yuma duckfaced.
"The teams in the B-Rank Wars that we'll be fighting," he said. Then, Yuma's duckface vanished.
"Jin-san, I already told you nothing was wrong. You don't need to get worked up," the Neighbor said, a little confusion on his face. It was as if Jin had just kicked a puppy purely to hurt the kid. Even so, Jin saw right through the act. Unfortunately, Osamu, Chika and Konami bought it.
"Maybe that's enough, Jin-san," Osamu said. While he knew Yuma was a master of deception, he also couldn't be completely sure Yuma was lying. As long as he wasn't sure, he would just watch from a distance.
Jin sighed, rubbing the back on his head.
"Alright. Just tell us if there's something wrong, Yuma. The last thing we need is for Tamakoma to lose the Tamakoma-2 ace AND a Black Trigger," he said. That ended the interrogation officially. There was nothing more anyone could do at the moment. Yuma wasn't going to talk, and if it continues, Chika, Osamu and the gullible Konami would likely all start to get agitated and think Jin was trying to be mean. What those three didn't realize was that Jin, Reiji, Shiori, Kyosuke and Rindo had all dealt with people hiding important things or even done it themselves many times over, and none of them were gullible. They knew there was something going on and they knew Yuma was lying.
"Chika, Osamu, I'll walk you guys home. It's late," Yuma said, making it obvious that he wasn't taking no for an answer. The two teens nodded, getting up and heading for the door. Mikumo Squad then left Tamakoma, both Osamu and Chika biding their comrades farewell. Yuma didn't say a word though, he didn't even wave over his shoulder. He was too busy thinking about how he was going to hide from people who could see right through him. Tamakoma had strong, smart agents, and it was obvious they wouldn't be easy to fool in the slightest, except Chika, Osamu and the ridiculously gullible Konami. Even worse, as soon as Osamu got solid proof, he would know Yuma was lying as well. That left the young Neighbor one option. He had to solve the problem before anyone figured him out.
Back at Tamakoma, it was silent for at least a minute after the youngest three agent left.
"He's lying," Kyosuke said plainly. All but Konami nodded.
"Are you sure? He sounded like he was sure it was nothing," she said. Reiji sighed.
"You believe everything people tell you, Konami," he pointed out. The strawberry blond froze, realizing she may have been tricked.
"I'm gonna kill that shrimp!" she growled.
"Something might beat you to it. He could die or be killed. After that conversation, I'm sure one of those two will be happening soon. Either he's almost dead and he doesn't want anyone to find out, or he's being hunted by something and he wants to keep us out of it. And actually, I don't blame you for getting fooled this time. Yuma's a damn good actor," Jin said, running a hand through his hair.
"It just bothers me that my Side Effect won't work on him, but it'll work on everyone else," he added. Rindo nodded and stood up.
"We'll all have to keep an eye on him. Border as an agency owes both Yuma and his father, Yugo. Both have played significant roles in the agencies growth. We owe it to them, and Mr. Replica, to keep Yuma safe. Now, this is an order. Monitor Yuma Kuga, but don't let him know. Just pay more attention to his words, actions, responses, what he does, where he goes, all of that. Also, keep it a secret from Yotaro. He's five, and he'll only made this harder," the man said. The rest of the agents nodded, accepting their mission. It would be a difficult one, given Yuma's powerful instincts, but they should be able to manage. They had to.
A few miles away, Yuma was back to Tamakoma. He'd already dropped off both Chika and Osamu at their houses. Yuma had his hands in his pockets and he was staring down at the pavement.
"This will definitely be one of the most difficult things I've ever had to do," he muttered under his breath. He was thinking about ways to rid his comrades of suspicion. It wasn't going to be easy at all.
Then, Yuma suddenly stopped. In the corner of his eye, he could see purple flames in the distance. He quickly whipped his head to the side, but saw nothing. No purple flames. Even so, he couldn't stop the shiver that went down his spine. The rest of his walk back to Tamakoma was the fastest he'd ever gotten back.