A/N: I didn't forget to update I promise! Turns out I had to work today right after school and I didn't get to go home first. I ended up getting home 16 hours after I left for school, but at least I don't have homework. Anyway, sorry for any typos, errors, OOCness and just overall crappy writing. I was going to say something else but I completely forgot what it was so it must not be that important. I'll make sure I have a chapter written and edited for next week in case I work late on Tuesday again, so I can at least get it up as soon as I get home. Happy Holidays :)
For the next few days until the meeting, the agents went about doing their own thing. Rindo sat in his office, doing paperwork and receiving daily reports from Shiori, Konami, Kyosuke and Reiji. The agents had found nothing suspicious in Shizuku, and were watching over the city. The three Trigger users worked eight hour shifts each, one of them watching the city while the other two either slept or waited for their shift. At HQ, Miwa squad was surprised to find that their defense duty had been moved to another time on another day.
The fact that nothing seemed to be happening in Shizuku was both relieving and bothersome for Rindo. He was glad that there was nothing going on where Tamakoma-1 was, since Tamakoma as a branch was already dealing with enough. To have a conflict in another city to worry about could cause instability and holes in their defense, a way for the assassin to slip in and do some damage. It could also cause those in Shizuku to be sloppy, and that would reflect poorly on Border.
For Osamu, the few days before the meeting was time to rest and recover, and to do a little bit of light training that didn't involve too much work. He felt pretty useless, partly because he couldn't do anything to combat the assassin and partly because he was still recovering from the attack that he had been defenseless in. The fact that he didn't even last long enough to activate his Trigger was pitiful, and the only thing that really raised Osamu's spirits was how serious everyone was about the assassin issue. It made him feel like being taken down so quickly wasn't as horrible as he thought. The enemy was a strong and smart one, and everyone knew after what they'd seen it do.
Jin didn't show his face much in the days before the meeting. He was supposed to go to the meeting, along with Shinoda, Kido, Tachikawa and Rindo, even though his Side Effect wasn't working. Rindo knew Jin's Side Effect was off, and Kido had probably received the information as well, along with Shinoda, but only Jin knew that it was random and defective. The fact that it still worked made him think that someone was doing this to him intentionally, messing with his Side Effect. That fact that it first started with Yuma, not working on him, and the fact that Jin was sure the assassin was after Yuma, made the brunette think that maybe it was the assassin. Though when it came to Triggers and Neighbors, it was hard to tell.
When asked about the assassin, Jin had few words. When he got his headaches, which began the voices and images in his head, he saw enough to know that the words he spoke were completely factual.
"This enemy is a troublesome one. More troublesome than we think," he said whenever the topic came up. His words were vague and mysterious like always, to the point that it was a little creepy, but at the moment that didn't matter. All that mattered was finding a solution, and once again, just like in the past few weeks, Jin didn't have one. No matter how long he flipped through the thin file of information, he came up with nothing.
Chika was a little worried about Tamakoma, especially after Konami, Shiori, Kyosuke and Reiji left for Shizuku. They had little defense, and while Chika herself had a lot of Trion, she couldn't utilize it well. To even make herself the slightest bit more useful, she practiced sniping when she could. Whether she was at Tamakoma or HQ, she practiced. Even if she could get one shot in, be it offensive or a distraction, maybe even a signal, she wanted to be able to help. She had been helpless when her friend and brother were taken, and she didn't want things to turn out the same way with whoever the assassin was after.
Yuma in particular knew how strong the assassin was. Instead of sitting in his room reading old files about Black Triggers and Neighbors like Jin, or practicing like Chika and Osamu, Yuma investigated. He went over everything that had happened so far, from his encounter years ago to Osamu's attack days ago. He ran his thumb over the bumb on his finger that was his Black Trigger, thinking. He'd done too much of that lately.
When he could, Yuma talked to the other's at Tamakoma. He asked Osamu about his encounter, and he asked Chika if she was ever even able to feel the assassin's presence. He avoided talking to Jin, since that would end up with Jin picking away with him, taking information and being cryptic until he knew what he wanted to know. Yuma also didn't talk much with Rindo, only asking the man about what Kido knew. With what he already knew, combined with the information he got from the other's, Yuma had a bit of a plan. It was almost identical to what he'd been thinking before, but still a little better. He would stay alert and watch for the assassin, make sure neither Chika or Osamu were targeted, and get the problem solved as soon as possible. He'd probably ask Jin for help in taking down the assassin, once he found the other Neighbor that is.
-000-
The day of the meeting, Rindo woke up at 6am. The meeting was in an hour, and the man cursed himself for not recommending to have the meeting later in the day. There was no reason to throw a fit though, since that would change nothing. Instead the man took a quick shower, combed his spiky hair to make it look just a little bit neater, then put on a clean suit. He cleaned his glasses, slipping them onto his face before walking out of his room and heading to the living area.
Jin had gotten up earlier than Rindo, and decided to wait for the man in the kitchen. More accurately, Jin had been unable to sleep the night before. At one point he had gone up on the roof where Yuma was, walking to the edge, where he stood behind the white haired Neighbor who was perched on the ledge. The two were unmoving, both staring at the bright moon in the sky as if it would solve all their problems.
A few times, Jin had shifted his gaze down at Yuma. He tried using his Side Effect on the Neighbor, but it didn't work at all. A mild headache began behind Jin's eyes, growing stronger with every attempt to see into the Neighbor's future. The brunette tried a many times as he dared, returning his focus to the bright sphere in the sky after the headache became too overpowering. With other people, despite being random, his Side Effect still showed him things. However, Jin noted that nothing had changed when it came to Yuma. He still couldn't see a thing.
Soon the chill of the night properly acquainted itself with Jin, and the teen retreated back to his room without a word. He laid awake the rest of the night, reluctantly rolling out of bed to get ready to go to HQ for the meeting that was at 7am.
When Rindo got to the kitchen, he was slightly spooked when his eyes landed on Jin. He hadn't expected to see the teen sitting on one of the stools, though after recovering from the slight scare, Rindo gave his subordinate a wave.
"You ready to go?" the Director asked. Jin nodded and hopped off the stool, heading for the door. Rindo noticed the slight sluggishness of Jin's movements that the agent was no doubt trying to hide, as well as the fact that the teen seemed completely disinterested in the food in the room. The four-eyed man sighed, coming to the correct conclusion. He'd know Jin for years, so he knew that the two things he'd noticed were signs that the teen hadn't gotten much sleep the previous night. There wasn't much that could be done though, so Rindo simply headed for the door behind his subordinate.
The walk to HQ was quiet, and would have been silent if not for the sound of the rushing river under Tamakoma and the growls of cars that passed by. Rindo and Jin made their way quickly to Border, finding the room where the meeting was to be held with minutes to spare. Shinoda was talking to Kido, and Tachikawa was leaning against the wall, the three having already been in the room. Tachikawa gave Rindo and Jin a nod which the two returned before the latter tapped his boss on the shoulder.
"I'm going to step outside for a few minutes before the meeting starts, Rindo-san. I didn't sleep much last night, so I have a bit of a headache," Jin said quietly. Rindo nodded, turning to watch his subordinate leave the room before being called over by Kido. Rindo joined Shinoda and Kido, who were setting out papers from the file that had been made concerning the assassin.
Near the wall, Tachikawa was staring at the door. His lip reading skills were poor, and he hadn't been able to hear Jin as he spoke to Rindo, but Tachikawa could tell by the dark marks under the teen's eyes that he was tired. Jin had begun to show exhaustion, a rare sight. It was a bit concerning actually. Tachikawa noticed him rubbing his head a lot, and had bought ibuprofen, but the pain relievers hadn't yet gotten into Jin's possession. Tachikawa checked his pocket, finding that the pills were still there. He decided to give them to his rival when the teen came back.
A few hallways away, Jin was leaning against the wall, rubbing his aching head. The headache was mild, but Jin was exhausted, so it seemed worse than it really was.
Suddenly, Jin's head flew up. The teen swore he had seen movement at the end of the hallway. He stared at the spot for a moment before slowly and silently walking toward it. He soon was at the end of the hallway, and he peeked around the corner, but saw nothing. Confused, Jin started down the hallway, ignoring his instincts, which screamed 'trap' and 'danger'.
After getting about halfway down the hall, he suddenly dropped, narrowly missing a black projectile that flew through the space where he had just been standing. Rolling to his feet, exhaustion being swapped for adrenaline, Jin turned to see his attacker. He wasn't surprised to see a black figure shrouded in purple flames, bloodred lines spreading like lightning bolts across its chest and legs, just like Yuma's Black Trigger, but with a more dangerous look.
"So, you're the one who's been antagonizing my kouhai. Fair warning, I really don't appreciate it when people do that," Jin said almost nonchalantly, his voice tinged slightly with anger as his hand slipped into his pocket, fingers closing around his Trigger just as the assassin lunged again.
A/N: Just a side note, I'm only going to be working for maybe the next two or three weeks until the place I work at gets things sorted out. It's a new place that just opened. After I'm done, updates will hopefully go back to being earlier like they were.