A/N: Heeeey. Longer chapter for today. It's actually a miracle I finished writing this because I have a big project due tomorrow that still isn't done (it's close though I promise) and I've been working non-stop on it the past few days. I guess my hatred for projects reflected in this chapter's beginning because I sorta-kinda gave Jin my massive headache, though unfortunately it doesn't work that way, so that isn't gone. Pro tip, if you're ever doing a project, don't change your topic five times and finally settles on one four days before the project is due, or you'll regret it. Especially if your printer stops working the day before everything is due. Anyway, sorry for any typos, errors, OOCness and just overall crappy writing. I hope you guys like this chapter, though who am I kidding you probably just want to see Yuma fight already. Not yet, sorry. I'll be back next week with another chapter :D
The next morning, Jin woke up a whole hour before he wanted to with a nasty headache and a feeling like needles prodding his chest. He glanced over at the clock and saw that it was 7am. Letting out a sigh, the teen slowly pushed himself upright, wincing as the pain intensified. It had been just a few days since his attack, and while he noticed his chest was healing nicely, it still wasn't even close to being fully healed. Movement hurt, and if he stretched the wrong way, he'd freeze up at the first stab of pain. To sum it all up, his injury was bothersome, and in many more ways than one.
Careful not to put stress on his stitches, Jin leaned over and grabbed his painkillers from his nightstand, along with a glass of water he kept there for swallowing them. He set the water between his knees so it wouldn't spill, then twisted the cap off of the small bottle in his hand. He shook two pills into his palm, making a face of digust before bringing his hand up and tossing them into his mouth. He then used his free hand to grab his water, lifting the glass to his lips before downing half the glass. He choked slightly, the size of the pills paired with the remaining tight feeling in his throat from the bruises around his neck making the painkillers even harder to swallow. Thankfully, the tight feeling was fading along with his bruises, so swallowing wasn't as hard as when he first woke up.
Drawing in a breath, Jin put his water back before running a hand through his sleep tousled hair. He'd forgotten about his conversation with Rindo for a minute, but as the memory came back to him, he suddenly felt the urge to go back to sleep. Talking with Yuma could go two ways. In the case that he was willing to talk, things would be simple. However, if the Neighbor continued to dodge questions and sit in his room by himself, things would be much harder. Jin knew Yuma wasn't trying to be uncooperative, he wasn't that type of person. Instead he was keeping to himself and making vague comments, working to solve the problem himself. Whether Yuma was the target or not, the teen would still more than likely end up fighting the assassin. It was simply preferred that Yuma would not keep details of the upcoming fight to himself. If he were to lose, he could at least escape alive if he had back up. It he went in by himself, the chances of that were much lower.
Sighing, Jin decided go face the problem, so he pushed his blankets away and climbed out of bed, rubbing away the blurriness that sleep had left in his eyes. The brunette quickly changed into something clean before heading to the living area to wait for both Rindo and Yuma.
-000-
Surprisingly, Rindo walked down the stairs first, the startings of dark circles under his eyes betraying any hopes he might have had about wanting to appear well-rested. The man straightened his tie and ran a hand through his hair that, despite having been combed, was quite disheveled.
"Rindo-san," Jin greeted with a nod. Rindo returned the nod and walked to the kitchen, where he went straight to the coffee maker. That had become a habit for him over the past few weeks. The man quickly started to brew a pot, and he stifled a yawn just as he pressed the start button. Jin frowned at his boss' sleepy state, though he knew that he probably didn't look great himself.
"Has Yuma come down yet?" Rindo asked, leaning back against the counter and yawning again as he waited for the coffee to brew. It would be awhile until it was done, but with the young Neighbor in question nowhere in sight, the Tamakoma Director didn't really have much else he could be doing.
Jin shook his head, glancing to that stairs before changing the topic to something else.
"How are Shiori-chan and the others? Shizuku's been pretty quiet on the news," he commented. Rindo nodded, his lips turning up into a small, tired smile.
"Something is going our way this time. They haven't encountered any Neighbors or found anymore remains of destroyed one. If things keep going this way, they'll be back in a few days as planned," he said, though Jin knew the man was leaving something off. He knew because he was thinking the same thing. 'If only they could just come back sooner'. If Tamakoma-1 were to return before everything went to hell in a hand basket, the situation would undoubtedly be easier to handle. Tamakoma-1 was a powerful group, one that had a good shot at overpowering the top squads of HQ if they ever really tried. If they were around, Yuma wouldn't be stuck fighting alone with only Tachikawa as back-up. The assassin may be strong, but Jin had no doubt that along with Tamakoma-1, Yuma and his Black Trigger would give the strange being a run for it's money. Unfortunately, that would not be the case. Tamakoma-1's strength was the exact reason why they were in Shizuku. Kido had entrusted the job of watching the city to a group who he knew could handle a situation, should one arise.
"That's good," Jin said simply, closing his eyes and dropping his head against the back of the couch he was seated on.
"You just don't want to miss out on all the fun, don't you?" Rindo asked teasingly, trying to lighten the mood. However, Jin could bring himself to laugh.
"I have a feeling that they're going to be the ones missing out, and we'll be having a bit too much fun," the teen said. The two fell into silence, only broken by the soft hiss of the coffee pot. The mood in the room, which had lightened slightly when Jin changed the topic of conversation to Shizuku, had shifted to be even darker than before as the two in the room thought about just how true Jin's words were.
-000-
An hour after Rindo came downstairs, Yuma finally appeared. The stairs creaked under the weight of the Neighbor, a telltale sign that Yuma was relaxed. Whenever he was tense or angry, he was silent.
Jin and Rindo, who was just finishing his second cup of coffee, looked to the stairs. They saw poofy white hair and deep ruby eyes come into view, the latter fixed on their own eyes.
"Hey Jin-san, Rindo-san," Yuma said, his voice not betraying a single thought he may have been having or emotion he may have been feeling. Jin gave the Neighbor a nod, while Rindo set his coffee down.
"Yuma, could you come with me for a few minutes? You as well, Jin," the man said, nodding his head toward his office. Jin looked to Yuma, since he already knew what this meeting would be about, and noticed that the Neighbor had tensed. However, Yuma gave no other visible reaction except for a nod before he followed Rindo to the latter's office. Jin sighed quietly through his nose, then got to his feet with care. With one last glance at Yuma, he headed to the office.
The two Border agents and the Tamakoma Director settled down into chairs in Rindo's office, taking a moment to get comfortable before speaking.
"You've been acting a bit weird since this assassin business all started, Yuma. Are you feeling okay?" Rindo asked. Yuma looked to his boss, his eyes holding a look that let Rindo know that Yuma was not clueless or stupid. He knew where this conversation was headed. Still, he did answer the question.
"I'm fine, but are you? You look tired Rindo-san," the Neighbor pointed out. The man sighed and nodded, pulling a cigarette from his pocket. He lit the small white and yellow stick, breathing in the chemicals before looking back at Yuma.
"I'm alright. I don't think you are, though. You're familiar with the assassin, aren't you? When it showed up here at Tamakoma that one night, it wasn't the first time you had seen it," Rindo said, his tone serious like he was in an important meeting with Kido, though it was also skirting the border of accusing. Yuma stared for a moment, and Rindo didn't miss the way the teen's eyes seemed to flash as he used his Side Effect.
Yuma knew Rindo wasn't lying when the man said he thought something was up, even without his Side Effect. It wouldn't hurt to double check though, so that's exactly what Yuma did, and he found that Rindo wasn't lying for sure. Yuma didn't need to look at the brunette next to him or ask any questions to know that Jin shared thoughts similar to Rindo's. Yuma wouldn't even be surprised if it was Jin who got Rindo thinking this way. He had known from the start that he could't lie forever, and even when the net of suspicion around him has loosened a bit, Yuma knew the time would come fairly quickly that the other's would figure out his link to the assassin. Now seemed to be the time that he would be found out. Whether he admitted to recognizing the assassin as the one from his past, or if he lied and said he was clueless, Rindo and Jin would still know the truth. Something was different about both Jin and Rindo from the previous few weeks, like they had sudden gotten much more confident in their theory, which could only mean they knew exactly what was going on. The fact that Jin always seemed to know what Yuma was thinking wasn't helping the Neighbor keep the assassin business more to himself, and as long as Jin had Rindo on his side, the Tamkoma Director would know what was going on inside of Yuma's head as well, and would no doubt do what he could to make Yuma talk.
Yuma sighed. He would be better off at least letting Jin and Rindo know that he trusted them, rather than making them believe he didn't.
"You're right. I saw it before then," Yuma said, his tone not changing from what it had been before. Rindo raised an eyebrow at Yuma's sudden cooperative behavior, while Jin simply continued to watch. While he'd known that Yuma would want to keep them out of the situation, he could tell from the way that Yuma had gone silent that the Neighbor knew very well that the two in the room with him were aware of the situation. If he were in Yuma's place, Jin would have resorted to at least renewing the trust between himself and his comrades rather than damaging it and still get figured out anyway. The brunette had the feeling that Yuma had acted on similar reasoning.
"When was it that you saw it before?" Rindo asked.
"Border HQ, after our Rank War," Yuma replied almost instantly. Rindo nodded, then glanced at Jin. It seemed that the teen had been right when he came to Rindo's office the previous night to explain his suspicions.
"The assassin, you saw it even before then, didn't you?" Rindo said, his words sounding less like a question and more like a statement. Yuma nodded.
"It's the assassin that attacked you when you were younger, isn't it? The one who started all 'this'?" Jin said from where he sat next to his kouhai, gesturing to Yuma's Trion body with a finger. Yuma was silent for a moment, as if he was taking one last minute to rethink what he was doing. His eyes hardened, and it seemed that he hadn't changed his mind.
"Mmhm," he hummed, nodding his head as a visible response to go with the verbal one.
"Do you think you're the one it's after?" Jin asked, getting another nod from Yuma.
"I can't think of anyone else who it could be after. On the other side, Border is just Meden. I'd be surprised if anyone had a picture or a name to give an assassin. The only people who would have any chance of being targeted by Neighbors is Tachikawa-san, Kido-san, Shinoda-san and you two, but the assassin didn't kill Jin-san when they fought. If it was any of the others, they would have been attacked and killed by now," the Neighbor explained. Rindo and Jin both stared. They had been hoping Yuma would be cooperative, and they were glad that he was, but at the same time they had held onto the sliver of a chance that Yuma wasn't the target. They had hoped it would be someone else who hadn't already lost so much, and hadn't been through more than any fifteen year old ever should. Unfortunately, Yuma was the target, and they couldn't change that. All they could do was figure out a way to eliminate the threat.
"Does the assassin have any weaknesses that you know of? Anything we can use to our advantage?" Rindo asked. Yuma shrugged.
"The first and last time I had a run in with it, I didn't stand a chance to fight, let alone find any weaknesses. Then there's the fact that if it had any weaknesses back then, it might have gotten rid of them by now. I think the best chance is to follow some advice my dad told me, 'Fight when the conditions are in your favor'. I've been thinking about ways to defeat the assassin over the past few days, but I haven't really come up with much. I have a place in mind that would work well for me though," he said. Jin leaned forward in his seat, then began coughing suddenly as he inhaled some smoke from Rindo's cigarette. The brunette struggled to cover up a wince, and Rindo looked at him apologetically before quickly putting his cigarette out. Jin took a second to catch his breath before speaking.
"Where do you have in mind?" he asked.
"I can show you later, but its an open area that's better for me since my Black Trigger is a ranged one. The assassin is more of a close-combat type, and even small people would be at a disadvantage fighting against it in a small space. I also made sure it was far enough away from civilians so that I can go a bit crazy if I need to without crashing through someone's roof," Yuma said. Rindo nodded, half in understanding and half in thanks for the Neighbor's consideration for civilians.
"We'll be relying on you to take the assassin out, but Tachikawa will be there to back you up," the man said.
"He'll be out of the fight though, since he'd get in the way of your attacks if you tried to attack at the same time, given his Trigger is Kogetsu, which is for mostly close-combat. It would probably be best to have him keep away from the fight unless you need help. The assassin probably will probably ignore him while it fights you anyway, at least as long as he stays out of the way," Jin pointed out. Yuma nodded.
"You're probably right. Tachikawa-san is good, and I'll probably need some help a few times since I don't have Replica to help me with my Trigger. Tachikawa-san would probably be more than happy to fight a Black Trigger user, too," the Neighbor pointed out. He'd heard someone talking about the Second Invasion, and they'd said that Tachikawa had been sulking a bit afterwards because he wanted to fight one of the Black Trigger users, but hadn't gotten the chance.
"You two should come up with a plan of some sort, and sooner rather than later. The assassin won't just wait for you to be ready, and it's best that you fight it where you want rather than get stuck where it wants to fight," Jin pointed out. Yuma nodded and stood, heading for the door.
"I'll go talk to Tachikawa-san before I forget," the teen said simply before walking out of the room. Jin and Rindo watched him go, a slight weight lifting off their shoulders, though a heavy burden still remained. They knew Yuma was the target and they were formulating a plan, but that was easy compared to what was coming up. After all, they still had to win the actual fight.