A/N: It's so late at night. I feel really bad for updating so late in the day, but I didn't even get home until a few minutes ago. Anyway, sorry if this chapter is a little slow. It's a little shorter than I wanted because I had to rewrite it multiple times, since the first two drafts were lost to bad internet connection and lag. I just wanted a chapter to explain Osamu's feelings at this point. After all, I did just set the assassin on him. Though that aside, sorry for any typos, errors, or just crappy writing over all. I hope everyone who celebrates Thanksgiving has a good holiday and I'll be back next week with another chapter.
It was later in the evening when Osamu came to. He blinked his eyes open slowly, staring at the plain ceiling above him as he let his eyes focus. The teen glanced around the room, turning his head side to side slowly. He recognized the blurry area as one of the Tamakoma guest rooms, where he occasionally stayed if he was working late. Though despite the familiarity of the room, Osamu couldn't help the small amount of anxiety that appeared in his gut, fueled by his confusion.
The last thing Osamu remembered was leaving his house and heading to Tamakoma. He didn't remember ever getting there. After the memory of leaving his home there was just a blank, a gaping hole. In that case, how did he get where he was now? The agent drew in a deep breath and sat up, but he barely made it a few inches before a sharp pain stabbed the side of his chest, cutting off his breath. Osamu dropped back down, wincing slightly when he hit the mattress. He then tried again to get up, this time much slower with most of the strain going on his wrists. That ended horribly as well. Another stab of pain, this time in his left wrist, sent him back down.
Osamu exhaled deeply, then took into account that breathing caused only minor discomfort in his side that lessened with every breath. He then lifted his left arm, slowly and carefully, so he could see his wrist. It was wrapped and bandages, and when Osamu peeled them back a little to take a look, he saw a somewhat swollen purple bruise underneath. No wonder it had hurt when he tried to get up.
Next, Osamu used his good arm to pull off the blanket that was on him, then he felt around on his ribs. There were bandages there, too, and his hand was cold on his skin, causing him to instinctively withdraw it quickly.
Having finally taken stock of his injuries, Osamu tried once again to get up. He kept in mind the factors that had rendered his previous two attempts fruitless as he began moving. He propped himself up on his left elbow, pushing up as far as he could before putting his right arm down behind him. Osamu was able to move himself into sitting position with no pain at all. He had been a lot more careful then he needed, obviously, but after what happened in the Second Invasion, he didn't want to take any chances with injuries. He still didn't know exactly what was wrong, after all.
Now that he was sitting, Osamu encountered yet another problem. There was a dull throb at the back of his head, coming from an external source. The teen lifted his good hand and brushed his fingers over in gently. There was yet another bandage in the way, but he could feel a small knot. Taking that injury into account, Osamu moved his legs one at a time until they were hanging off the edge of the bed, his feet touching the floor. To ensure he wouldn't fall over, not sure if there were maybe other injuries he had missed, Osamu put his hand on the bedpost before shifting his weight to his feet and standing. He moved a little too quickly, and a small wave of dizziness washed over him, but it was gone quickly.
Finally on his feet, Osamu took a few test steps and found that he was okay. His head didn't hurt much, and the pain he had felt earlier in his chest seemed to be a one time thing, now reduced to only discomfort. His wrist was completely unbothered as long as he let it be.
Suddenly, Osamu heard the clanging of pots from downstairs, and he realized he was completely alone in the room. He had noticed before, but it hadn't really registered in his mind, which had been more preoccupied by other things. The smell of curry was detected by Osamu' s nose, and it made his stomach growl. The teen glanced at the window, and his eyes widened when he saw that it was getting dark out.
'What happened? How did I get injured? How long was I out?' The questions buzzed around in his head, starting a headache that matched the dull throb of his head injury. Deciding not to ponder the questions any longer, Osamu headed for the stairs to get some answers and some dinner. He was pleased to find that the stairs had little effect on his injuries. They were apparently much more minor than they had first seemed to be.
When Osamu got downstairs, he saw that the living area was empty, but he heard voices in the dining area. He moved quietly, incase he was interrupting something, and found nearly all of Tamakoma finishing up dinner. At least, he believed it was Tamakoma. All he saw were colorful blobs, and the teen realized his glasses weren't on his face, they actually hadn't even been with him when he woke up.
Everyone was talking, but one by one they silenced as their eyes landed on Osamu.
"Ah, Mikumo-kun! You're awake!" Shiori said. Osamu recognized her voice even though he couldn't see her. He shifted his gaze around the room, trying to locate her, but he couldn't really tell who was who, since his vision was so bad. Osamu even wondered how he had made it down the stairs. He'd only been able to see his wrist because it was so close, though he still wondered how he hadn't noticed the blurryness in his sight. He settled on the fact that he had been focused on other things, and was so used to putting his glasses on without thinking about it that he hadn't noticed that they weren't on his face.
"Usami-san?" he questioned, glancing around again. There was a sigh from another part of the room, followed by Kyosuke's voice.
"Shiori, his glasses," the teen reminded. There was a surprised 'oh' followed by the sound of a chair moving and footsteps. Shiori's face got clearer and clearer as she neared, before holding out her hand. Osamu saw his glasses and he nodded in thanks. The teen slid the glasses onto his face, then looked up at his comrades. He could now see that his earlier prediction had been right. All of Tamakoma was there, except for a boy who's hair matched the color that had been missing when every one was just blobs.
"Mikumo-kun, do you feel alright? You seem to have taken a couple good hits when Reiji found you," Rindo said, interrupting Osamu's train of thoughts. The teen blinked, then looked down at his damaged wrist.
"Oh, um, I'm fine. I'm just wondering, what happened?" he asked. Rindo raised and eyebrow, somewhat surprised that the agent didn't remember anything but also having expected it. Next to Rindo, Jin set down his spoon.
"I foresaw you being attacked this morning, so I told Rindo. He called Reiji to check up on you, and he found you unconscious in an alleyway. It seems my Side Effect predicted your attack a bit late. Reiji brought you here and someone from HQ came over here to make sure you weren't hurt too bad. Tachikawa came as well, since he's been working with Kido on the issue," the older teen explained. Osamu nodded, then stared at the wall, trying to remember anything at all. Slowly, the memories came back. Leaving his house, checking his phone, the odd feeling, the growl-like noise, the assassin, then, nothing. He could just remembering being frozen, unable to react at all as he was attacked.
"The assassin attacked me," he realized, voicing his thoughts. Those at the table nodded.
"That's what we thought," Rindo replied. Osamu gave a nod, then once again noticed the lack of an agent.
"Where's Kuga? He didn't get attacked too, right?" Osamu asked. He was sure that even if Yuma had been attacked, he'd be fine. Even so, the young Neighbor's absense worried him a bit. When the movement at the table suddenly stopped, Osamu's worry grew. Was Yuma okay?
"Yuma-kun was pretty upset when he found out that you had gotten hurt. He didn't look too upset, but he seemed like he was about to to find the assassin and fight it," Chika said, remembering Jin's words and Yuma's actions from earlier that day.
"Yuma left shortly after he found out about you. He said he was going to look for leads on the assassins whereabouts. Since you were attacked, we know that no one is safe. The assassin isn't afraid to hurt people. The hard thing is that we don't understand its full ability or what it's true goal is. Though in the end, whether it's after one person or looking to take down the whole of Border, we need to do something. If we just let this be, you could be attacked again, or someone else could be attacked. The next person might not get away with just some bruises and a sprained wrist, either," Jin added, his voice taking on a serious tone that turned the mood in the room to something dark. It left everyone quiet, not a single person moving at all.
"That aside, you look hungry, Mikumo-kun. I'll get you some curry," Shiori blurted randomly, breaking the silence and clearing up the heavy atmosphere that hung over the room. The others nodded, returning to their food. Osamu took a seat at the table, and despite the light chatter that had restarted, his mind refused to move out of the dark place it was lodged in. Why had the assassin done so little with him? If by chance this was the assassin that killed Yuma, why didn't it just kill him just like it meant to kill Yuma years ago? Did that mean this was a different assassin? Was Osamu himself the target? Was someone else in danger?
Osamu glanced over at Chika, who was smiling and talking to Reiji about her training. Could Chika be attacked? There were just too many questions and not nearly enough answers. When Shiori set a plate of curry in front of Osamu, he thanked her and began filling his empty stomach, pushing aside the questions for the time being. Though even with the nagging questions out of his mind, Osamu couldn't help but notice the thought in the back of his mind, something he had been thinking about the past couple minutes since he learned of Yuma's current activities.
The assassin was likely very strong and dangerous, and it had a Black Trigger. Yuma was strong too, and he also had a Black Trigger, but would he be okay outside in the dark by himself?
A/N: I hope you guys found Osamu's little glasses mishap amusing. I always think I have mine on even if things are blurry, so I forget them a lot. I was trying for something a little funny, but I'm not sure if it worked out how I hoped.