A/N: This chapter was a bit longer, which I'm very glad about. I wrote it at 2am Sunday morning, since I actually ended up being busy for the Halloween weekend and of course after being busy it's impossible to sleep. I hope all of you had a good Halloween, or at least a nice weekend if Halloween isn't your thing. Anyway, I was thinking about maybe doing a bit of the assassin's point of view in the next chapter. Just a little explanation as to why it had decided to stalk instead of attacking. I kind of want to get that out there before I forget and never put anything about it in the story, leaving everyone confused. That aside, sorry for OOCness, typos, errors and overall crappiness. R&R and enjoy the chapter. I'll be back next week with another chapter.
The next morning, when Chika met up with Osamu on their walk to Tamakoma, she noticed that the older boy looked tired. Osamu was dragging his feet slightly, his eyelids drooped, his eyes were bloodshot and his hair was a little messy. His light skin was paler than usual. The way he looked was very not-Osamu.
"Osamu-kun, do you feel ill?" Chika asked, slightly concerned for her friend. He looked completely exhausted, even though they had actually left Tamakoma at a decent time the night before. There would have been plenty of time to sleep. That meant Osamu could be sick or stressed out, which under the circumstances was very possible.
Osamu blinked after a moment of unresponsivness, Chika's words slowly registering in his hazy mind. He felt like he hadn't slept a wink the night before, though in reality he had slept restlessly for at least a few hours. Jin's words had unnerved him in a strange way. They had been very truthful, though the statement had seemed to be somewhat of an accusation directed at Yuma. Osamu had been unable to sleep as he pondered their meaning. Did Jin think Yuma was lying about his knowledge of the Black Trigger assassin? Or maybe Jin was trying to tell him that Yuma was in some sort of danger and he was lying or keeping quiet to keep anyone from worrying. Was his body nearing complete deterioration? Was Yuma linked to the assassin? Was it after him because he's a Neighbor?
"Osamu-kun?" Chika said unquestioningly, pulling Osamu from his confusing thoughts again. They had stopped walking, and Chika was staring up at Osanu with worried violet eyes. Her hand was on his arm, having previously been shaking it gently in attempts of pulling Osamu out of his mind. Osamu felt kind of bad that she was getting worried about him, since there was already enough for her to worry about. To remedy that, Osamu put on a small smile.
"I'm fine. I was just up a little late last night working on strategies. Even with everything going on, we still have the B-Rank Wars. Our next match is in just a few days, you know," he said, rubbing the back of his head sheepishly. Chika nodded. Their match kept getting delayed, and no one was sure why. Osamu was sure it had something to do with the assassin.
"You look really tired. Maybe you should lay down for a little bit at Tamakoma? I'm sure Karasuma-senpai wouldn't mind if you got a little rest before starting your training today," Chika recommended. Osamu nodded, then resumed walking.
"We'll see. Speaking of training, how are you doing with Reiji-san?" he asked, trying to steer the conversation in a more normal direction. Chika smiled.
"Reiji-san says I've gotten much better from lots of practicing. My accuracy using Ibis has gotten much better. During joint sniper practice, someone at HQ recommended I try using other guns. Reiji said maybe he'll have me try using Lightning soon, since I have lots of Trion that can make up for its weakness. I have to finish up what I'm doing with my Ibis right now first, though," she explained. Osamu nodded, a smile on his face. He was very proud of how far Chika had come since joining Border, and he was sure she would end up being one of the top snipers in Border. That is, if she was ever able to actually shoot a person.
The two completed the rest of their walk to Tamakoma in a comfortable silence, their untrained instincts blind to what was near them. Even Chika's Side Effect didn't pick anything up. That was okay though, because they weren't in any actual danger. Yet.
Across town, at Border HQ, Yuichi Jin strolled down the hallways. His Side Effect, which had recently been getting less and less accurate as time went on, showing him less and less, told him that Kido and Tachikawa would be having a conversation near Kido's office in two minutes. Jin was only a minute away, so he had no doubt that he would make it there in time. However, he didn't count on the thing he didn't foresee.
"Tch!" The sound escape Jin's mouth as his head suddenly throbbed. He stopped walking and leaned against the wall, rubbing the sides of his head in attempts of calming the waves of pain going through his skull. That had recently started as well. Just a few days ago, Jin started having headaches. At first, he wasn't exactly sure what it was, thinking maybe he was just tired, but then he realized he had brought it upon himself. He had spent a lot of time watching Yuma, trying to force his Side Effect to work. He had grown so accustomed to using it that without it, he felt that a piece of himself was missing. As horrible as his Side Effect could be sometimes, showing him horrible deaths of his comrades, it was what allowed him to keep people from dying by getting them out of a situation before it even started. Now that it wasn't working right, he couldn't foresee a single thing related to Yuma. It bugged him, it bugged him a lot. The stress had been building, accumulating more are more as more questions arose.
That is what caused the headaches. All the strain he was putting on his mind by trying to force his Side Effect, coupled with the stress of wondering what the hell that assassin wanted and not knowing if the odd-acting Yuma was in danger, had all caught up with him. He'd seen the night before that Osamu had noticed his stress when they talked on the roof. It had been clear in the younger teen's eyes. Then of course, there was also the fact that Jin couldn't stop thinking if maybe telling Osamu about Yuma's willingness to lie in order to keep other people out of danger was actually a good idea. It was likely that had just added more stress to the crushing pile Osamu was already always stuck under, with all the strain he put on himself as he tried to get better at fighting. Jin had done it not just because he thought maybe Osamu should know, but also because if someone as close to Yuma as Osamu started doubting the Neighbor, that would be confirmation for Jin's theory. His theory that Yuma was the target of this mysterious assassin.
Jin's headache lasted longer then he would have preffered. It grew from a thob to a pounding headache before it began to grow weaker. When the headache finally disappeared, allowing Jin to stand on his own and continue walking, almost two minutes had passed. He wouldn't be able to make it in time to hear even the tail end of the conversation. His Side Effect told him that if he tried to catch at least part of their conversation, he would be seen. Jin had heard from Yuma that Tachikawa had been following the Neighbor the previous day. The fact that Tachikawa was having secret meetings with Kido now, meant that they were likely investigating the assassin and Yuma, thinking they were plotting together, and they wanted to keep their thoughts private. Otherwise, more people would be involved. That being said, if Jin was caught eavesdropping, it could cause trouble.
Feeling a bit defeated, Jin turned around and headed for the more crowded parts of HQ. The feeling of impending doom that had been tickling his mind was growing stronger, but he didn't know anything. The feeling of helplessness he'd felt during the invasion when he knew Osamu was possibly going to die and there was nothing Jin could do about began to build up in the Elite agent. Now though, it was worse than before, because at least during the invasion, Jin had been pulling the strings. He'd set things up in his favor, and he had known that there was the possibility that Osamu would emerge alive. Now though, now he didn't know. Sure Jin has taken on a strong Black Trigger user by himself with the standard issue Scorpion and Escudo, but this Black Trigger was different. It was an assassin with only one objective and a Trigger that Jin was sure could at least rival Amo's, if not overpower the teen. Now, Jin's sixth sense had been blinded, leaving him unable to see an outcome. He didn't know how to set things up now so that the resolution of this situation would at least be favorable. For the first time in his life, Jin truly felt like a normal human being. He felt almost useless and helpless, and he hated it. After all, how could he do anything if he couldn't even beat the top attacker in Border, let alone a Black Trigger who could probably beat Shinoda?
When Osamu and Chika reached Tamakoma, they weren't surprise to see everyone in the living area eating breakfast. Everyone but Jin, that is. The Elite agent was missing, but it wasn't very surprising. After all, with everything that was going on, Kido probably had him working overtime with his Side Effect.
"Hey, Osamu, Chika," Yuma greeted from where he sat on the couch. He had a foreign food Osamu recognized as 'Pop Tarts' in his hands, the strawberry ones that Shiori had bought off the internet for everyone to try. "You guys should try these, they're good," the Neighbor claimed, gesturing to the pastry in his hand. Osamu nodded.
"Where's Jin-san?" he asked. Rindo, who had been staring at the TV, turned toward Osamu with raised eyebrows. He hadn't even noticed the agents come in, since he'd been paying attention to what was on the TV screen. They were watching the news, searching for anything related to the mysterious Black Trigger assassin that may have occurred near civillians.
"Jin? He said something about talking to Kido. I guess he was going to talk about the Black Trigger we're dealing with, maybe come up with a plan," Rindo explained. Osamu nodded, his gaze shifting to the ground. He had wanted to talk to Jin more, curious about just what the older teen had meant when he whispered in Osamu's ear the night before.
"Osamu? Are you okay? You look like you've been thinking a lot," Yuma pointed out, as observant as ever. Osamu shook his head, then told the half truth, enough to get past the Neighbor's Side Effect.
"It's nothing, Kuga. I'm just tired."
It seemed that lately, everyone was telling more and more lies. On top of that, all the agents in Tamakoma were so caught up in using laser-focus to look for the small details in the news for information that they were completely oblivious to the thing watching them from outside, right in front of their faces.