A/N: Its really late and I just got home half an hour ago. Turns out only half of this chapter saved, so I just had to rewrite the second half from what I could remember, how fun. I hate extra-curricular activities and I'm gonna go fall asleep on my feet now. Anyway sorry for and typos, errors OOCness and overall crappy writing. I hope you all like this chapter though it is a bit shorter than usual. At least it ended where I wanted it to :)

Two days after his attack, Jin was released from the infirmary. The teen was glad to finally be getting out, since that meant he would be able to sort the assassin business out. Even if he couldn't fight the assassin directly, he could still defend his kouhai. However, that idea was quickly crushed as Jin finished changing into some clothes Rindo had brought him, the agent exiting the restroom and tossing the bag holding his old blue robe down a garbage chute as instructed.

"You are not to, under any circumstances, use your Trigger. Even if you're in a Trion body, you'll get tired quicker and damage your real body. Your wound wasn't extremely deep, but it'll bleed if you rip your stitches open," a nurse informed with a serious glint in her eyes as she filled out some paperwork on a clipboard before tearing a sheet of paper off of a notepad and handing it to Jin, along with a small bottle of painkillers.

Jin internally cringed when he looked at the brand. It was the brand of painkillers that were too big to be swallowed, but tasted so nasty when chewed that Jin wasn't sure if he'd rather just deal with whatever his injuries dealt out. The only positive benefit was that they were quite strong and long lasting with limited side effects.

"Take two each morning, and if you need to, you may take one at night as well. Any time at least six hours after the previous morning dose and six hours before the next dose is fine," the nurse instructed before turning and leaving to tend to another patient. Jin watched the woman with raised eyebrows. She radiated intensity that made it hard to disobey her, and Jin found that he hadn't even cracked a joke when the woman was around. She reminded Jin of Kido in a way.

"You ready to go Jin?"

Said teen turned to see his rival leaning against the wall of the hallway, hands in his pockets. Jin nodded and wordlessly walked with Tachikawa out of the infirmary and to the exit of HQ.

The trip was silent until the half-way point, where Tachikawa suddenly spoke up.

"Do you think I could beat the assassin? After all, you always were ranked below me in the rank wars," he said, his tone a bit smug as he said the second half. Jin looked at Tachikawa from the corner of his eye, having been lost in thought. He'd barely caught what Tachikawa said.

"That was what, over three years ago? I would say that you could probably hold your own for awhile, but it would definitely take more power to beat it, Tachikawa-san," Jin decided. Tachikawa narrowed his eyes, catching onto what Jin was implying.

"You think it'll take another Black Trigger?" the older of the two asked. Jin didn't respond, and Tachikawa turned his head to face forward, though he kept his eyes on Jin.

"What are you planning, Jin?"

-000-

Jin and Tachikawa were quick to run into Utagawa, who had spotted them on their way over. The teen came down from the roof to meet them, along with Kazama and Kikuchihara when they reached Tamakoma.

"Thanks for keeping an eye on Tamakoma for me," Jin said, giving Kazama squad his famous cheshire smile. Utagawa and Kazama nodded while Kikuchihara tilted his head to the side in slight confusion.

"Why'd you let yourself nearly get killed, Jin-san? You're supposed to be better than that," the teen said before Utagawa's hand clamped over his mouth. Jin just put his hand on the back of his head sheepishly.

"Bad timing," he said simply, his answer vague and indirect like usual. Kazama nodded and headed out of Tamakoma without a word, Utagawa following behind him along with Kikuchihara, who was trying to pry his team mate's hand off of his mouth, though he wasn't putting much effort into it.

Jin and Tachikawa watched the group leave, then their heads whipped to the side when a familiar voice called their names, a small wince registering on Jin's face from the sudden movement. The bruise on his neck from the assassin's strange head-cord was faded, but still visible. It was sore too, and it hurt when Jin turned his head too quickly.

"Rindo-san," Tachikawa greeted politely. Rindo gave the young man a nod, then gestured to the stairs.

"I'll go get Yuma and the others. I'm sure they want to see that you're alright for themselves, Jin," he said before walking off, leaving Tachikawa and Jin alone. The two stood in silence for a moment, then Jin saw his rival shift slightly before something slipped into his pocket.

Jin glanced down to see the familiar shape of his Trigger in his pocket, the exact one that the assassin had broken.

"Kinuta-san fixed it, since the damage wasn't as bad as it looked and he had some extra time on his hands. He probably would have done it later if he was busier, since Kido-san, Rindo-san and Shinoda-san decided they didn't want you to have it back yet because you'll aggravate your injuries by using it. They didn't consider the fact that the assassin may come after you again, or may come after someone near you, and without your Side Effect, you won't see it coming. As far as Kido-san and the others know, I'm holding onto your Trigger until you recover. I thought it would be best if you at least had it though. Even if you hurt yourself more, you'd be better off in a fight if you had it rather than if you didn't," Tachikawa said, his voice low and quiet so there was no chance of anyone else on the building overhearing.

Jin nodded, thankful for his rival's actions. Tachikawa would no doubt get an earful if they were found out, but the young man was right. Without a Trigger, Jin wouldn't stand a chance in a fight.

"Jin-san!" The self-proclaimed Power Elite turned to the source calling his name to see Osamu, Chika and Yuma coming down the stairs followed by Rindo. The former two had smiles on their faces, glad to see that Jin was okay. However, Yuma was not smiling. His face held no emotion except for slight relief and curiosity in his eyes, as well as an undertone of anger directed at something undeterminable.

"Hey Four-Eyes, Chika-chan, Yuma," Jin greeted, giving the three a smile, which was once again only returned by Osamu and Chika.

"Was is hard?" Yuma asked suddenly, his red eyes fixed on the brunette in front of him. Jin looked at his kouhai with very little surprise. It was mostly expected that Yuma would be interested in the facts. Jin shrugged.

"I would have been okay, but a problem arose," he explained.

"Those bad headaches," Yuma stated, letting Jin know that they knew about his defective Side Effect. The older of the two nodded.

"Exactly," he said. Yuma stared for a moment before speaking again.

"If that hadn't happened, do you think you could have won?" Jin didn't respond immediately. His face slipped into a serious expression as he debated the fight, his own skill, and the assassin's power.

"I could probably hold my own for awhile if needed, but I don't think I could win," he admitted after a stretch of silence. Yuma nodded, and an intense vibe began to radiate from his small being, filling the room with eerie tension.

"Jin, why don't you rest? You need to take it easy so you recover faster," Rindo said out of the blue, shattering the tension. Jin hesitated for a moment before nodding. His chest ached from moving, and he was really tired. The teen blamed the latter on his days in the infirmary.

Jin moved to the couch where he sat down, slouching in his seat as he let his eyes grow heavy. Mikumo squad watched him with surprise, since they weren't used to seeing Jin so tired. However, Yuma quickly pulled his eyes off of his comrade and turned to the stairs, retreating to his room without another word. The information from Jin had been useful. It gave Yuma an idea of the assassin's current abilities. Now, it was time to make a plan.

Osamu and Chika quickly followed their team mate, returning to Osamu's room to finish the movie they had started about an hour ago. Back in the living area, Tachikawa gave Rindo a nod before heading for the roof to do some surveillance. Rindo watched the young man go before retiring to his office.

Outside, Tachikawa circled the perimeter of the roof and found no threat, though he knew that could change in an instant. He also knew that just surveiling on the roof would give the assassin plenty of ways into Tamakoma. Deciding it was best to watch from inside, Tachikawa returned to the living area and sat down in a chair. He opened his mouth to ask Jin a question about Yuma, since he found it odd that the young Neighbor didn't seem to care about his comrade's improved condition. However, he closed it when his eyes landed on closed eyelids. Jin was stretched out on the couch on his side, out cold.

-000-

That night at about 11pm, when Rindo was just about to leave his office, there was a knock at the door. Rindo called for the source of the noise to come in, and the door opened to reveal Jin, who had a serious and grim look on his face. Rindo tilted his head to the side in confusion, a frown on his face.

"Did you need something?" he asked, concerned that Jin might have done something stupid and hurt himself again. However, the response he got was completely unrelated.

"I think the assassin in targeting Yuma." Rindo's eyebrows went up. That had been a theory at the beginning on the whole ordeal, but had been ruled out quickly. On the other hand, Jin looked dead serious, and Rindo didn't think it was necessary to question the agent's instincts.

"Let's talk."

A/N: Funny story, I accidentally turned in a World Trigger fanfic for an English assignment last week when I emailed the wrong link. I hope my teacher likes fanfics...