A/N: I survived exams, somehow, I'm not entirely sure. However, even the one week hiatus of this story threw me off so much, and this chapter literally took me five days to actually get sort of right just because the writer's block. Thankfully school was cancelled today, which left me with some more time to work on this chapter. This story seems like it likes being problematic for me. Anyway, sorry for OOCness, errors, typos and overall crappy writing. I hope you guys enjoy this chapter, and I hope I didn't make it too friendshippy. After all, I think those two are probably good friends with the whole mostly-hateless rivalry =3=
Beeping. That was the first thing Jin became aware of as he slowly rose through the numbing, murky ocean of oblivion that was unconsciousness. Not long after that, he started feeling an ache in his chest, kind of like someone had punched him, but different. Next was a feeling of tightness around his throat, making it harder to breath. One thing after another was processed by his waking brain.
After what could have been minutes, hours, or even days, Jin couldn't tell, he could feel almost everything. He was laying down, and there was something on top of him, something light. Whatever he was laying on was comfortable, though his body itself was not. The ache in his chest that he had felt earlier remained, and the tightness on his throat hadn't gone away either. He was now also aware of a a cold feeling that stemmed from a spot on his neck, going through his veins and fading once is got a certain distance from the source, though the feeling seemed to go away as quickly as he'd noticed.
Slowly, Jin opened his eyes a sliver, though he snapped them shut against the blinding light that assaulted his pupils. After the ache disappeared from his eyes, the teen tried again, slowly blinking his eyes open to let them adjust to the harsh light.
As his eyes adjusted, the white that had flooded Jin's vision disappeared. The plain ceiling of Border HQ came into view, along with a fluorescent light right above him.
Curious as to where he was, Jin glanced to the right, where he found the source of the beeping. A heart monitor. Why was there one of those?
The sound of a page being turned caught Jin's attention, and the teen looked to his left, but only saw a wall. Slowly, still waking up, Jin turned his head just a little, enough that his eyes landed on the other person in the room. Tachikawa sat in a chair a few feet away from Jin's bed, eyes on a book. Jin squinted and saw that it was a manga, Prince of Stride, one he'd never heard of.
Jin's eyes shifted from the book to his rival's face, and he noticed that Tachikawa's jaw was tense. The older attacker had the startings of dark circles under his eyes, like he hadn't slept in awhile. Jin stared at Tachikawa, searching for any clues of what might of happened that would have landed him where he was now, but got nothing. He did notice that Tachikawa was spending a lot of time on the page he was reading though, and Jin knew that the twenty-year old wasn't one to take a lot of time looking at the pictures in manga. Instead, Tachikawa always tended to look over them quickly and skim the dialouge before moving on to the next page. It was likely there was something on the young man's mind.
Suddenly, the book snapped shut, and stormy gray eyes locked on icy blue ones.
"You look like hell."
Jin blinked slowly, finally waking up enough for his brain to process Tachikawa's words.
"I'm flattered," the brunette replied sarcastically, though his tone was a bit dull and his voice was somewhat scratchy, making him cough. His coughing made his chest ache more, and the tightness on his throat seemed to squeeze a bit more. Thankfully, the fit ended quickly.
"If you can still be a sarcastic ass, then you must not be hurt too bad," Tachikawa pointed out, getting up from his chair and walking closer so Jin wouldn't have to turn his head to see him. Jin wasn't sure if he liked or hated the gesture, because while he no longer had to strain his neck by turning his head further and further to the side, he was now looking up at his rival, who was suddenly annoyingly tall. Tachikawa picked up on Jin's annoyance and smirked triumphantly, giving the two a sense of normalcy despite the situation.
Tachikawa's smirk faded quickly though, his lips turning down into a small frown.
"Do you remember anything? Fighting the assassin?" he asked, confronting the seriousness of the current situation that Tamakoma Branch and Border's Directors were in. Jin fixed his rival with a quizzical look, then his expression suddenly changed and he shut his eyes, exhaling deeply as the memories suddenly returned, as if Tachikawa's words had broken a seal that had been withholding them.
The past events flashed through Jin's mind like the future did when his Side Effect went berserk, but without the headache. The meeting, stepping out of the room for a minute, the constant throb in his head, his encounter with the assassin, managing to hold him own, the horrible headache, being released from his defective Side Effect's suffocating hold only to find himself in the assassin's clutches, that odd cord cutting off his airway, a claw slicing open his chest, the syringe, then finally nothing. He had fought the assassin, and he had lost.
When Jin opened his eys again, he saw that Tachikawa wasn't looking at him. The older attacker had his eyes fixated on the wall, and his face was blank. The air in the room had completely shifted into something tense.
"Do you feel like explaining why you thought it was a good idea to take the assassin on by yourself?" Tachikawa asked, his voice quiet and serious, deadly. Jin took a second just to stare, keeping his reaction internal. It was rare for Tachikawa to be serious, and Jin was sure he'd never see his rival this serious before, even during the Second Invasion.
Tachikawa's gaze moved to Jin, causing the teen to tense and turn his head the other way, diverting his eyes in discomfort. Usually Jin stood his ground in a staring battle, but at the moment he was on the losing side and he knew it. It was obvious that Tachikawa was in no way amused. In fact, he sounded angry, and his eyes had an intensity to them that Jin had last seen years ago when the elder had found he wasn't compatible to Fujin
"I didn't foresee the assassin being there," Jin stated simply. Tachikawa sighed.
"Are you sure you didn't? Is it possible that you foresaw the fight and saw yourself winning, so you went to fight by yourself without saying anything, even though you knew your Side Effect was off? That's what the Directors are thinking," the older of the two said, his tone still serious. It was Jin's turn to sigh. He was tired and everything from thinking to moving to speaking hurt and exhausted him. He didn't feel like getting into an argument at the moment, despite the fact that Tachikawa had every right to be a bit pissed. Jin was a wild card at times and everyone knew it, so Tachikawa's accusations were well warranted.
"I didn't foresee it. My Side Effect was worse off than any of you knew, even Rindo-san. For awhile before the meeting, it was almost completely busted. I couldn't look into futures no matter how hard I tried, I'd only get a headache. I had a headache almost 24/7 from trying to force my Side Effect, but that was the least of my problems. At times I'd get really strong headaches that made it hard to even stay on my feet. I'd see random bits and pieces of the future during those, and that was the only time I foresaw anything. I left the meeting because I had a headache that was a bit worse than usual. I thought I was going to have a huge headache, but I didn't want it to happen in the middle of the meeting room and cause more problems. I ran into the assassin by chance, and I fought it because I didn't want it to keep coming after Border agents. I was doing fine for awhile, but then I had one of those nasty headaches. The next thing I knew, the assassin had broken my Trigger and I couldn't even move. It had a syringe full of something glowing, and I passed out after I called you," Jin explained, recounting how his Side Effect had blown up in his face before nearly getting him killed.
Tachikawa thought over Jin's story, eyes lingering on the injured teen who was still looking away. It had been stupid to take the assassin on by himself, especially when Border was being so cautious about the issue, and Jin knew that had it been the other way around, he'd be pretty pissed of at Tachikawa. He should have at least called someone before fighting rather than after he was defeated. After all, if the assassin had been targeting someone else who was attending the meeting, Jin's actions could have left them with one last person to defend them, which could have lead to injury or worse.
"Jin."
Jin turned his head back to look Tachikawa in the eye.
"At least do everyone a favor and don't nearly get yourself killed again. It wasn't fun finding getting a phone call just to hear you dying on the other end, and neither was finding you bleeding out in the hallway. Blood doesn't come out of clothes easily, you know. Your stuff was beyond saving, and my coat still has blood on it, you just can't see it since the material is dark. I'm pretty sure you took a few years off of Rindo's life as well, and your kouhai looked ready to cry when they came to see you. For awhile I thought the Neighbor kid was going to go on a killing spree, by the look on his face," Tachikawa said. His face wasn't as hard as it had been before, the older attacker's anger gone. "While you having some massive headache in the middle of the meeting room would no doubt have caused a problem, it wouldn't be as stressful as wondering if you were going to die was. The last thing we need right now is for someone to die, especially someone with a Side Effect that Border depends heavily on."
Jin nodded, then Tachikawa turned around and stretched his back, stepping toward the chair he'd previously occupied.
"I hope you're comfortable. Kido ordered the doctors to keep you here an extra night to make sure you weren't affected by some poison or whatever could have bee in that syringe, and I'm stuck as your babysitter. Hopefully if the assassin comes back for you, I'll have better luck," the twenty-year old said, his tone a bit lighter now. Jin swore that Tachikawa even sounded a bit excited at the thought of fighting the very thing that had taken down two Border agents already, and wondered how he was so good as switching gears so quickly.
"That syringe didn't have poison in it," Jin informed suddenly as something clicked in his mind, catching Tachikawa's attention.
"How do you know? The scientists here analyzed your blood and found a sedative and an unknown drug," Tachikawa said, turning back to face Jin, his slight excitement gone. Jin nodded, shifting on his bed. He slid his elbow back, propping himself up on his forearm and attempting to sit up as he spoke.
"Remember I said I had a headache constantly in the days before the meeting from trying to force my Side Effect? That headache is gone, and earlier I tried to look into your future when you were reading, but I saw nothing. I didn't even get a headache. I tried again a few other times, but there was nothing. The assassin probably knew I could see the future and wanted to make sure I didn't get in the way of its plans. It's been around long enough to have figured out some useful stuff. I think Four-Eyes was attacked as bait to draw the target out, and I was a problem. The unknown drug the scientists found? I'm pretty sure it took away my Side Effe- tch!" Jin explained, his words interrupted at the end by a pained noise he hadn't been able to hold back as the throb in his chest turned to a sharp pinch when he tried to sit upright.
Tachikawa looked at his rival with eyes slightly widened by surprise, processing the other's words. He recovered quickly though, and nodded.
"I'll let Kido know," he said, putting a hand on Jin's shoulder and giving him a slight nudge. "Now lay back down. You'll aggravated your chest wound by moving, and if you rip the stitches, I'll get yelled at," Tachikawa added. Jin sighed before laying back down, hiding a wince. The teen let out a long breath and blinked, suddenly feeling exhausted. His eyes burned, and the feeling only intensified every time he closed them.
Tachikawa noticed Jin's sudden weariness and moved back to his chair, sitting down and picking up his manga.
"Get some sleep, you looked like you were about to drop during the meeting, and you still don't look much better. That sedative from the assassin's attack probably hasn't worn off yet, either. It put you out for a whole day already," he said.
Normally, Jin would have been surprised about something like that, but at the moment he was too tired to react. Instead, he let his eyes slip shut, not fighting yet another battle that he would lose. The sooner he was released from the infirmary, the sooner he could end this problem with the assassin once and for all, for the sake of Border, the people of Mikado and his own kouhai. He just hoped nothing happened before he was able to fight again, though he had a nasty feeling that something would.
'Don't do something that'll get you hurt again, Yuma'
A/N: I put up a poll for fun regarding Jin's loss of his Side Effect, so if you want to vote on what you think happens with his Side Effect later on, go ahead, I want to see what you guys think I'll do.