A/N: I don't own World Trigger

Mimics

Chapter 62: But It Was Mine

Yugo jumped back a few feet to put some distance between him and Yuma, keeping his sword out in front of him to be ready to defend if Yuma made any movement.

Mirroring his father, Yuma kept his sword up at the ready, watching his father steadily. The words his father just spoke had been true. For a moment, Yuma had thought the hug was real too. It felt like all the times Yugo hugged him as a child. He was trying to ground Yuma and remind his son he was safe. Those strong arms engulfed Yuma enough times for him to remember the feeling of love and safety. It had almost distracted him, but Yuma came into the church with the expectation of distractions and brought himself back to reality quickly.

The memory of being caged in those arms and being protected had now been warped like everything else by this damned Mimic. He took the memory of protection and made it into one of danger.

Lacking any grace, Yuma stumbled into the inn room that he and his father were staying at in the country they were currently visiting. Replica followed behind the small child, watching as he ambled over to the couch and threw himself on it. He still had so much to learn about grace, but the wild movements were expected of a child barely seven years old. Even with Yugo having been training him for a couple years, Yuma was still a child and he clearly hadn't mastered elegance yet.

Or how to be silent with his movements.

Yugo looked up from his tablet to glance at his son laying face down on the couch he had thrown himself at. "Shoes off the couch, Yuma."

Yuma was quick to answer Yugo's order by kicking his shoes off his feet and then tossing them over the back of the couch.

Yugo raised a brow, meeting his son's cheeky grin with a frown. "Let's try that again. Get your butt off the couch and put them away properly." He scolded.

Yuma whined a bit, but at his father's pointed stare, he got up and started moving, but he grumbled the whole way.

Yugo resisted the urge to roll his eyes at the sound of his son complaining. Had he just taken his shoes off when he first came inside and put them away, he wouldn't have had to get up so soon after throwing himself on the couch. "Any problems?" Yugo turned his attention to Replica who had settled himself on the nearby bed.

"It was a peaceful day." Replica assured.

Well, that was an expected answer seeing as how Yuma was back at the inn without a scratch on him, but it was still a relief to hear. He only let his son run around the city on his own because he carried his Trigger on him and Replica was with him and could alert Yugo via his clone of any problems as they came up. Those problems typically consisted of Yuma and Replica running into trouble or quite often, Yuma causing trouble, whether on purpose or by accident being the trouble magnet that he was.

Yuma was back to throwing himself on the couch, grabbing one of the throw pillows to curl himself around. "Which means it was also a very boring day."

This child. He was always looking for some type of excitement. He was still young and hadn't been in wars so he didn't understand the meaning of enjoying the peaceful days. Despite the claims of a boring day, it still seemed to have been a long one because when Yugo glanced over at his son again, he could see his eyes struggling to stay open. "If you're tired, go to bed."

In response, Yuma curled tighter around his pillow and buried his face in it.

Cute, but Yuma would be a lot more comfortable in a bed. Yugo placed his tablet down on the desk and got up to go over to his son. His arms engulfed his son and swept him off the couch, getting a small squeak of surprise from the child.

Yuma's pillow came with him as he was scooped off the couch, squished between him and Yugo. He looked up with half-lidded eyes at his dad. The warmth and strength of those arms pressed all around Yuma were really comforting so he found himself snuggling into it as Yugo moved him over to one of the beds.

When Yugo leaned down to drop his son, Yuma suddenly latched onto his dad's jacket so he couldn't pull away. Yugo raised a brow as he looked down at the pleading look in Yuma's eyes and found himself caving right away. With a defeated sigh, Yugo twisted around his son to fall on the other side of him on the bed. While Yuma cuddled up into his side, Yugo used one hand to pull the covers up over his son before threading his fingers through Yuma's hair and used his other hand to reach over to the desk to get his tablet to continue his work. "I feel like I spoil you sometimes." He grumbled, but Yuma didn't reply as he just smiled contently and fell asleep.

Those arms would never wrap protectively around Yuma again. The days of needing to be protected by Yugo were long gone. As much as Yuma loved his father, he had to move past him. Yuma was a powerful warrior on his own. He didn't need protection or for arms to wrap around him and hide him from the ugliness of the world.

He came to this church with the purpose of killing Yugo.

To do this, he had to face the worse parts of the world and what it means to be alive.

Living meant facing all the problems that came to him and dealing with the pain they caused.

There was no such thing as a life without pain.

Yuma wasn't going to hide from Yugo anymore.

And he wasn't going to let Yugo hide from Yuma.

He would see his father's eyes opened, as cruel as it was to force Yugo to remember the love for his son in this moment before he was killed.

"I'm not the child you remember from years ago. If you want to kill me that badly, you're going to need to do it while staring me in the face." Yuma challenged. Yugo just tried to kill him with a sword to the back while hugging him which to Yuma told him two things. One, Yugo thought it would be the easiest way to kill his son who he thought would be distracted. And two, he did it to avoid seeing his son's face as he did it. It was a huge shift from how Yugo was attacking him at the beginning of the week. The Yugo who first appeared stared Yuma straight in the face each time they came into contact with each other. He never broke eye contact with Yuma when he stole the ring from his son's hand, even knowing that doing so would lead to Yuma's death. The Yugo from the beginning of the week wouldn't have surrendered to Border and let himself be locked up all night.

There had been a shift in Yugo.

Yuma didn't know when it happened, but something inside his father had snapped. He couldn't pull away from the Mimic part of him so now he was trying to kill Yuma without looking him in the face.

However, Yuma wasn't going to allow Yugo the chance to hide from him.

"It seems I'm not the only one to have changed." Yuma continued. "Trying to stab someone in the back like that? Since when are you the type to attack someone defenseless?"

Yuma fell to his hands and knees on the ground, curling his hands in the grass to practically tear it out of the ground while his blades slammed into the ground behind him. He tilted his head back slightly to look through his bangs at the sword being pointed at him by his father, feeling frustration pool at him. The only thing stopping Yugo from killing Yuma in this moment was that training wasn't over. He lowered his sword and motioned for Yuma to get his blades and go again.

"You haven't been a defenseless child in a long time, Yuma." Yugo replied softly. He may not have known what his son went through in these past five years, but the little he saw from Yuma showed a fire lurking in there somewhere. He didn't get to see how strong it was since Yuma couldn't fight him this week, but he did see how strong Yuma's defensives have become and how he didn't hesitate to kill his copy of Replica. It was only in the face of hurting Yugo that he hesitated. If he didn't have that weakness, then Yugo was sure he would see a powerful warrior in his child.

"And yet, you still treat me like one." Yuma replied. A defenseless child who was the victim in all of this. Yuma hadn't been a victim since he got attacked by the Black Trigger assassin. He got attacked and targeted plenty of times, but he was never a victim because he always had the strength to fight back and win. Enemies tried to make him a victim and he showed them why that was a mistake.

Yuma had promised himself a long time ago that he was done being a victim. No one was ever going to have to worry about him because he would show everyone just how strong he was. Even if he didn't feel strong, he would smile and show strength.

It took five years and the appearance of a Mimic for that façade to crumble.

His friends saw him falter.

His enemy saw his weakness.

His father took advantage of that.

In return, Yuma was going to get it back and save his father from himself.

Yuma kicked off the ground as he threw himself down the aisle straight for his father. As he neared him, their swords clashed between them. Yugo knocked Yuma's sword back to give himself space to swing his second blade towards Yuma's neck. Yuma ducked and rolled away between the pews. Using his size to his advantage, he rolled under the pews to get to a different row. As he did, he planted a hand on the bottom of the pew to plant his seal.

Yuma heard his father's feet land on the pew above him and before he could plunge his sword into it to kill Yuma, he activated his seal. Yugo likely already sensed the attack coming before Yuma unleashed it so he was able to jump away from the bullets slamming through the pew and into the air. While Yugo was able to use Hound and Viper, somehow, with the seals, Yuma didn't have that luxury so he couldn't curve his bullets like how he wanted, but he at least got Yugo to retreat to give himself time.

*Mimics*

"I wish they wouldn't remain hidden in the church. If we can't get eyes on Yuma, we won't know when he needs help." Konami said, staring down at the church with worried eyes. The air around them really felt too calm considering what could possibly be happening in the church.

"When?" Karasuma asked. "I thought you would have more faith in Yuma than that."

Konami shot a glare towards her partner. "I'm allowed to trust in his ability and still worry about his safety. No one is unbeatable. With the right strategy and power, anyone can be defeated." And that was in reference to both Yuma and Yugo. Either one of them could come out on top of this fight. That was the reason why they were here. To make sure that this was Border's win.

As he was still staring at the building, Karasuma saw before Konami the way the bullets slammed out of the roof of the church. At this rate, what little was left of that church was going to come crashing down. "At least we know they are both still alive."

Konami's head snapped back towards the church, locking onto the bullets flying through the air. Whether it be Yuma or Yugo, they didn't waste any time in using the Black Trigger seals. She had thought they had both been wary of using the seals now. "Yuma?" Konami snapped, putting a hand up to her comms. "Are you okay? Yuma?"

"Such a sweet, caring mentor." Karasuma said dryly.

"Shut up! This isn't the time for your jokes." Konami snapped.

"Busy. Don't talk to me." Yuma's voice informed Konami, causing her to sigh in relief.

"Strange for Yuma who is usually ready to talk no matter what fight he is in." Karasuma said.

"This isn't a normal fight for him. He needs to be entirely focused on his enemy and he doesn't have a team fighting with him that he has to be worried about as well." Reiji replied. "We shouldn't distract him."

"Wouldn't have to distract him if I could see." Konami grumbled. If she could see the fight happening, she would be a bit calmer. If Yuma lost this fight while they couldn't see him, they couldn't pull him out to safety before Yugo killed him. Why did Yugo have to be hiding in a building that didn't have windows for them to see inside?

Reiji ignored the two talking as he kept his eyes locked on the church through his scope. He understood Konami's frustration. As a sniper, without being able to see his target, he couldn't take a shot. He couldn't be sufficient backup to Yuma. Since Yugo could already sense their presence, he had chosen to forego his bagworm since he couldn't remain hidden anyway and activated his radar instead. With his radar activated, he could see when a second signature had entered the church which told Reiji that Yugo had switched to using two swords and removed his own bagworm. He could track the two with his radar to know they were both still alive even if he couldn't take a shot since Yuma asked them to let him handle this and Yugo would sense the shot and dodge before it could hit anyway. All he really could do was lie in wait.

*Mimics*

Yuma jumped away from Yugo and landed on the back of the pew, balancing precariously on it. Or, that was what it looked like to Yugo, but looking at Yuma, he could see on his son's face that he was perfectly fine and had no worry about toppling over. Yuma had always been a more agile fighter focused on acrobatics and keeping himself on the move to overwhelm with speed and unreadable moves. That was the style that Yuma had been learning years ago, but he was far from being a pro at it. Looking at his son's calm expression now, Yugo could see just how far Yuma had come. When he was actually able to act against Yugo, he could see just how much growth they had been in him. There was no hesitation in his moves. He wasn't overthinking how to move anymore. It seemed all those acrobatic moves were just ingrained into his body now.

Yugo turned his head to the side, to look towards the door of the church. "Not going to ask your little friends for him."

"No." Yuma said simply, but it was enough for Yugo to hear the truth in his words. He wanted Yugo focused on him. They knew Yugo would sense the agents in the area, but Yuma wanted his father's focus only on him. Now that he's seen the truth from Yuma's word that the agents wouldn't act, maybe Yugo would focus solely on him and give Yuma the chance to hinder him mentally.

"Seems foolish." Yugo replied.

Yuma didn't give that a reply. He didn't come here to talk about the agents acting as a barrier to keep their fight contained so Yugo couldn't escape this time. He didn't want Yugo focused on them. He needed all his attention on Yuma.

"What are you really after here, Yuma?" Yugo asked.

"To save you."

Surprise filtered across Yugo's face at the unexpected answer. "I don't recall asking for saving."

"You don't need to say it to want it." Yuma replied. Sometimes, actions spoke louder than words. A Mimic that was an enemy and suddenly surrendering when told his son was so close to dying if he continued the fight had more than enough meaning to it. Plus, Mogami's words helped Yuma a lot. His father died a long time ago. The Mimic in front of him was simply a ghost of the past being tormented by the enemy forcing his hand. If only Yuma had been able to see this truth days ago. They could have avoided how bad this had gotten.

"And how do you plan to 'save me?'" Yugo taunted.

Yuma raised an unimpressed brow as he raised his sword a bit higher as if to make his point.

"You're willing to kill yourself just to stop me?" Yugo asked.

Yuma stared at his father–fake father–for a moment. He wasn't willing to die here. He had promised his friends that he wasn't doing this to die. He had every reason to want to live right now. There was so much he wanted to do and so much more to experience. This was not where his story was going to end. "If I were to die to save you, would that make you happy?"

Yugo's eyes sharpened on Yuma in surprise at the question. "What kind of question is that?"

"It's a fair question, isn't it?" Yuma taunted. It was difficult to manipulate Yugo's emotions when he had a lie detector side effect getting in the way. It was going to force Yuma to have to be careful with his words. He didn't want to die, but he had to trick his father somehow. He needed to push Yugo to the brink. "You've tried to kill me every time we've met this week, so if we die together, surely that would make you happy?"

Yugo's jaw twitched violently as he listened to Yuma's words. There was no lie spoken by Yuma. Everything he said was true. Every action that Yugo took this week was going against his son. Maybe not every action was him trying to actively kill his son, but they were actions that would pile on top of each other and eventually lead to Yuma's death. It was a natural assumption to assume that was what he wanted. That he wanted Yuma dead so he could take the power of the Black Trigger for himself and have this life all for himself. He would be alive once more and working for Meraki.

That was the mission.

That was the order.

Do whatever it takes to survive and return to Meraki.

Though, it couldn't be farther from the truth of what Yugo truly wanted.

Staring down at his son's red eyes, Yugo was reminded of why Mogami went after Yuma last night and why Yugo went to play the distraction. He couldn't handle being around Yuma. The Mimic wanted to kill him and take the ring. The father wanted to collapse to his knees and hug Yuma and never let him go. He wanted to apologize and leave, but that wasn't to be. He avoided Yuma last night and left him to Mogami to avoid the mixed feelings he was having. He didn't want to deal with the pain of trying to kill his son to save himself while at the same time trying to fight his urges and remain the father he always wanted to be.

Yuma slowly slid his foot behind him to avoid drawing attention to it. "No reply? I've never seen you not know what to say. That's okay. A fight is no place for talking anyway." The spot where Yuma's foot had been previously lit up orange and a Chain shot out of the ground, heading straight for Yugo. Before it could hit him, Yugo dodged to the side, allowing the Chain to pass and hit the wall behind him.

Yugo jumped over the pews to get to Yuma, swinging his sword towards his neck, but Yuma was already on the move by the time Yugo jumped. He was running up the Chain he created to get above Yugo.

Yugo looked up at his son running away from him and raised a palm towards him. "Bolt, Double!"

"Bound, Double!" Yuma slammed his foot on the seal that appeared in front him. Just as his father's Bolt unleashed onto him, he sent himself flying into the air, slamming through the roof of the church to get himself outside. He was sure that drew attention from his friends, but Yuma had no time to consider them as he kept looking down as he waited for Yugo to follow him outside.

It was dangerous for him and Yugo to be using the Black Trigger seals as much as they were. Yuma had intended to use them sparingly, but that wasn't going to be possible. He wasn't going to beat Yugo in a swordfight. What he could do was focus on the Black Trigger seals. Yugo excelled in swordsmanship and his experience outclassed Yuma's, but at the other end, no matter how well Yugo was using the Black Trigger seals, Yuma's experience with them was much greater than Yugo's. It would even out the playing field a bit.

A second Bound seal appeared by Yuma which he used to throw himself to the side to get away from the church. He hit the nearby building, landing gracefully on the side and planted his hand on it as he placed his next seal. He wasn't going to have much time. Yugo wouldn't let him remain out of his sight for long.

*Mimics*

Jin watched warily as Yuma came flying out of the church. The vision of Yuma defeated on the ground with Yugo pointing a sword at his throat flashed in his mind. There were multiple futures that could come to pass in the next few minutes. After Mogami helped Yuma, he saw those futures be born so the first one he saw wouldn't necessarily be the one to come to pass, but he couldn't shake his worry off.

Though, despite those worries, Jin was not going to leave the roof he was on. All of the agents needed to keep their distance from the fight. Yugo likely already knew they were here, but that didn't matter as long as they stayed out of the fight. Just as Jin felt the need to take responsibility for Mogami's appearance as a Mimic, Yuma felt the same. He had been claiming that responsibility all week up until he realized he couldn't fight him. Something helped Yuma find the strength to fight Yugo and Jin was going to respect that, despite any concerns he had. He was going to trust his friend.

He had always trusted Yuma in being able to win, even when the odds were stacked against him. Jin's faith in Yuma was not going to be shattered here.

*Mimics*

A Chain sprung from the wall Yuma had landed on and shot across the street to connect with another building. His Chain was wide enough and durable enough that Yuma had no issue keeping his balance as he walked along the Chain while keeping his eyes locked on the church below him.

"How do you beat someone who is stronger than you?"

Childish, wide eyes blinked up at Yugo in confusion. "Someone stronger than me?" He repeated, feeling annoyed as he looked at his daggers sitting so innocently on the ground behind his father as he had lost them in their most recent scuffle. "You don't beat them. It's impossible."

Yugo hummed softly. "You think so? Tell me, Yuma, if you caught sight of two strangers fighting, which one of them would win?"

"The strongest."

"And which of the two strangers is strongest?"

Yuma's eyes narrowed to slits as he took in his father's amused smirk. This had to be a trick question. There was no way he could pick out the stronger fighter in a hypothetical situation, but his father never asked a question that didn't have an answer to it. Every question had an answer. He just couldn't get hung up on the obvious answers that would be wrong.

Yugo chuckled at the expression his son had which was a mix of confusion and concentration as he tried to work out the answer. He kneeled down and ruffled those black locks affectionately. "Don't think too hard. It's not an answer I expect an eight-year-old to get." Yuma's offended expression did nothing to wipe away Yugo's amused look as he sat down. "The strongest can't be determined until the fight is over and one person stands as the victor."

That answer did nothing to ease Yuma's confusion. "So, I need to be stronger to beat someone strong?"

A warm chuckled replied to Yuma. "That would certainly help, but strength isn't the only way. You're not going to be in a favorable position every time you fight. You will have bad match ups. The truly strong can find themselves against opponents they're not suited to defeat and still find a path to victory." Yugo tapped Yuma on the forehead. "It's about using this. All that strength is useless if the other's strategy is better. Fighting is about surviving. You do whatever it takes to make sure you're still standing at the end. There's no such thing as fighting dirty when it's your life on the line."

Yuma turned his palm towards the sky, an orange seal appearing above his hand. Surprise attacks didn't work on Mimics. Yugo would sense the attack coming before the bullets even reached the church, but this wasn't attack to hurt. It was meant to keep Yugo busy so he wouldn't have time to plant any of his seals as a trap and it would also flush him out of the church faster.

"Bolt, Quadra!"

Yuma's attack held no mercy. His bullets slammed into every inch of the church. If the building wasn't already falling apart, Yuma's attack would have been the sole reason for its collapse.

Well, it's not like it was the first building that Yuma had brought down in the Restricted Zone and it likely wouldn't be the last.

*Mimics*

He always looked so powerful. Even from this far of a distance which made Yuma look even smaller than he already was, Osamu could still see the power radiating in his friend as he stood on top of his Chain. That confidence, the strength, the battle intelligence. From the moment he met Yuma, Osamu had been in awe of him. The awe was soon twisted into horror when he saw Yuma's violent tendencies, but once they got that under control, Osamu found himself amazed. He saw the strength of Border agents, but seeing Yuma move, seeing the experience that controlled his actions, seeing the blank expression that gave nothing of his intentions away, Osamu saw a soldier. He wasn't just another Border agent. He was a battle-hardened soldier that just drew attention to him. It was the reason he was able to outshine a lot of the A-Rank agents because as strong as they were, they didn't have the same experience as Yuma. Experience in real battles, which according to Yuma, was very important as training in simulated events could only teach so much. To Yuma, being in the field and actually facing life or death situations was a great teacher because it showed them how they would react in the face of real danger. The rank battles taught them how to fight as a team and strategize. It couldn't teach how to survive the ruthlessness of a real enemy that wanted to kill or capture them.

They learned how to deal with those enemies when it came to invasions. Invasions that involved humanoid Neighbors that could think and change tactics in response to what Border was doing. Osamu always wanted to do what was right, to help people, to save them. He was weak, but he was determined. He was scared during the Aftokrator invasion, but he didn't let that stop him. He had to keep moving to save Chika.

Now, though, he hadn't felt any fear for himself all week. All his fear and concern was placed on Yuma. The only time that Osamu had ever felt the need to worry about Yuma's safety was when Miwa squad first attacked him and Border found out that he was a Neighbor. Since that got resolved and Border accepted him, there had never been a reason for Osamu to be worried about Yuma. Yuma's strength was an invaluable source of power for Border. His confidence in his skills kept him from ever hesitating.

There was nothing that could beat Yuma.

Even when Yuma lost, he just smiled and rose above that loss to get stronger.

There was nothing that could keep Yuma down.

That was truly what Osamu believed. Despite how much life had beaten him down, despite the pain he felt from Yugo's death years ago, Yuma stayed standing. He smiled and laughed through the pain so it wouldn't beat him.

But, how much did Osamu misjudge?

For as strong as his friend was, Osamu saw him fall this whole week. The pain he lived through for five years began to beat him down and cause cracks to appear in his mask, both figuratively and literally. For as much as the past was the past, it had its way of rearing its ugly head.

The past became the present just to taunt to Yuma and force him to face all the mistakes and pain from when he was eleven. No matter the challenge in front of Yuma, Osamu never saw him falter in the face of adversary.

Seeing it happen when faced with Kuga Yugo for the first time in five years had Osamu's concern reaching new heights that he didn't know even existed. For all the worry Osamu had for Yuma when he was forced to confront a past that was being revealed to his friends when he didn't want it to be, Osamu was also feeling a sense relief as he stared at Yuma in the distance. He was worried that Yugo would crush Yuma's spirit when Yuma couldn't bring himself to fight against his guilt, but with the help of his friends, Yuma had managed to rise back up. He was no longer afraid to confront his father about what happened.

For that reason, Osamu would trust Yuma to handle this fight, but was prepared to enter the fray to help Yuma if it came down to that.

"I've never seen him use his Chain like this." Hyuse murmured.

Chika stared into her scope at Yuma. He seemed to be waiting, which didn't surprise her. There had been plenty of times in their rank wars where Yuma would be waiting, either in hiding or out in the open to draw their opponents to him. He had confidence and strength to put himself in this position, waiting for his enemy to make the first move or relying on Chika to cover him with her sniping. Seeing him standing on the Chain though gave her a different image. It reminded her of the times when he would be balancing on wires, staring down his opponents or just relaxing on them in training when they were discussing tactics. "How many times have you actually watched Yuma-kun use his Black Trigger?" She countered, because she could count on one hand the number of times that she saw Yuma swathed in his black armor and each time he fought differently with it. He had his fighting style, but he was forced to fight differently depending on his enemy. Sometimes he was more offense orientated and sometimes he was focused more on defense. Depending on the fight, it would determine which seals he used and how he used them.

If Hyuse counted this whole week, he would say they had all seen the Black Trigger quite a bit. Though, most of the time, Yuma wasn't even using the full power of his Black Trigger since he was only using his seals mixed with his normal Triggers. Even when he activated his Black Trigger fully, he had still been holding back against his father.

Hyuse's eyes flickered to the crumbling church as they waited for Yugo's next move. He wasn't the real Kuga Yugo, but with the way Yuma was hesitating all week, he was truly seeing his father inside of the Mimic. Yuma was one of the few people that Hyuse did highly respect in Border for his strength and common sense so if he was freezing in front of his father, there was a good reason for it. Hyuse would like to say he would never falter in front of a fake of his family, but Yuma had insisted the same thing and look where that got him. Considering that, Hyuse couldn't berate Yuma for needing time to fight through his memories and find the courage to actually face Kuga Yugo.

Because as much as Hyuse wanted to believe otherwise, he was beginning to think that even he would hesitate. The family that took him in, that raised him, had been nothing but kind to him and treated him just like family. He knew that not all children got the same luxury, the same love, and so he cherished and respected what he had. If that was snatched away from him and was then thrown tauntingly in his face by a Mimic, he didn't think he would be able to accept it rationally either.

*Mimics*

Yuma jumped to the side, being sure he didn't throw himself away from his Chain so he could land on another part of it as the bullets blasted through the air where he had previously been standing. He landed in a crouch on his Chain in a new spot, briefly grabbing hold of the edge of it to steady his balance. He looked in the direction of the church, waiting to see his father step out of the cloud of smoke that came from his bullets slamming through what was left of the building.

Going into this fight, Yuma had wanted to limit his use of the Black Trigger seals. He didn't want to risk abusing them because he knew Yugo was still draining power from his ring. That determination didn't last long. Yuma couldn't survive a fight against Yugo with just a pair of swords that were heavier than what he was used to.

In all the times his father trained him, Yuma had never gotten a hit on him. For as good as he was when he was a rookie, his father was just at a completely different level to him. It led to a great deal of frustration when Yuma was young since never being able to slice Yugo led him to believing that he wasn't improving at all. Once Yugo started to allow Yuma to fight Trion Soldiers and against humans that weren't Yugo, Yuma was able to see his strength. He may have never been able to tag Yugo, but as he trained and got stronger, when he saw how he could match his enemies, he realized that he was slowly starting to make his father sweat. Getting lighter blades in the form of daggers had certainly helped a lot.

Which basically meant, from using daggers to going to hand-to-hand combat with a Black Trigger and then moving to the lightweight Scorpion, Yuma wasn't equipped to use his speed-based, agility focused fighting style when wielding a pair of heavy swords so he needed to instead distract with seals and create an opening that he could abuse.

The problem was that he was fighting someone with the exact same weapons at his disposal. Not to mention, Yugo had gotten experience with using the seals by getting into fights with the Border agents all week. Knowing Yugo's skill and experience, Yuma was certain that it wouldn't take his father long to master using those seals.

On the opposite side, for as fast as Yugo learned mastery of the seals, he was moving quite slowly in coming out to face Yuma to continue their fight. Strangely, Yuma found himself flashing back to the early training sessions he had with Yugo. Those first few years where he was getting drilled with the basics of fighting. Since Yuma was so young and just starting to learn, Yugo went so easy on him as Yuma learned the motions of fighting and how to swing his sword. Instead of rushing at Yuma, Yugo would stand still or slowly approach Yuma. As he gained more of an understanding of fighting, Yugo would move faster and allow Yuma a few months to get used to that speed before taking it up another level.

With the way Yugo was taking his time to come out of the collapsed church right now, it was like he was taking it easy on Yuma, giving him the time to readjust, which was something that Yuma didn't need and it caused a familiar twinge of annoyance in him. An annoyance that Yuma started to feel against his father when he was ten and he was skilled enough to acknowledge when Yugo went easy on him in training or when Yugo stepped into a battle to protect Yuma. At that point in his life, Yuma was trying to show off his strength to his father, to get Yugo to acknowledge him and how far he had come as a warrior.

It was just like the other night when Yugo acknowledged Yuma as the same reckless child that he was when he was eleven. That was all Yugo remembered him as and Yuma hadn't given him much else to think about in regard to how he had grown since he couldn't find the strength to stand against his father. His father had the kid gloves on because he was seeing the child that was dying on the battlefield because of recklessness and disobedience.

The thought...was frustrating. He watched Yugo go all out with Jin because he recognized him as a threat that was trained by his best friend. At the same time, he didn't see Yuma as a threat.

Yuma was going to make Yugo regret that.

If his father couldn't see how much Yuma had changed in five years, then it was a weakness that he could exploit. There weren't many weaknesses that Yugo had and if there was one, he was well aware of it and gave it extra attention to defend against it.

This wasn't the same.

Yugo couldn't possibly guard against a weakness if that weakness was the person he was fighting.

Yuma's sword shifted in his hand, but it was a pointless move to guard as Yugo launched himself out of the church and instead of making his path towards Yuma to attack, he snagged the Chain and used his momentum to flip over it and land on top of it a few feet from Yuma.

Pivoting on his foot, Yuma faced his father directly, silently examining the crouched form of Yugo. Something was off with him. Something had been off with Yugo since Yuma entered the church. Despite the way that Yugo was attacking him, Yuma felt a distinct lack of passion in the attacks. A lack of aggression, of killing intent. It's not like Yuma had a side effect that let him sense it like Kageura did, but with experience, it was possible to acknowledge the killing intent in someone's actions.

And right now, Yuma couldn't see it. It was like Yugo had nothing left to give.

"You were a lot harsher that day at Tamakoma." Yuma mused. "And the night you went to war with all of Border with Mogami."

Yugo pushed off the Chain to rise to his feet, planting a hand on the sword that was sheathed at his side. Instead of replying right away, he turned his head, staring towards a group of Trion signatures that he was sensing. It wasn't the only group around as he was detecting them all around the area he and Yuma were in, but it was the group where he felt the strongest signature. Despite now being out in the open, none of the agents around were making any moves. They were still just hiding in the distance even though they knew that he knew they were there. Not even the snipers were trying to make a move to shoot him now that he gave them a clear line of sight.

Perhaps they simply didn't want to shoot since he had managed to block or dodge all of their attempts to snipe him in all their encounters throughout the past week. He and Yuma weren't exactly engaged in close combat right now so if they tried to shoot, he had nothing to distract him from dodging.

"If your friends stay out of this, I have no reason to go as hard as I did the other night." Yugo said. He wanted the agents out of his way because he needed nothing from them, but he knew they wouldn't let him get close to Yuma to steal his Black Trigger so he and Mogami made the decision to go to war against their organization. It wasn't what either of them wanted since they had nothing against Border. The only enemies they saw were the ones holding their Black Triggers and were keeping them from them. Everyone else was simply a roadblock they had to get around. If they stayed out of the way, Yugo didn't have to concern himself with targeting them.

Yuma tilted his head, eyes narrowed in contemplation as his father continued to look off into the distance. He had no reason to target the agents that were hiding since they weren't making a move, but Yugo wasn't foolish. He wouldn't disregard the agents around since he had no idea of what they were doing or what plan Border was working on. Without that knowledge, Yugo, despite his being compelled to get to Yuma and his ring, would not show himself so openly like this without having a plan in place. He had to have been working on something while in the church if he was willing to stand so openly in the air with Yuma.

"No reason, true, but that doesn't mean you won't." Yuma replied evenly.

Yugo straightened up and swung his sword up to rest it on his shoulder as he stared at his son with a curious look. "I have nothing against Border. They have simply been getting in my way. If they stood down, things would be so much easier for all of us."

Yuma's brows furrowed. "You created Border with the intention of making friends with Neighbors. The idea of Border got twisted over the years because of the large-scale invasions, but the sense of loyalty among comrades and desire to protect the city haven't changed. What kind of agents would they be if they just stood by and watched a friend die and let a Black Trigger fall into the hands of an enemy?"

"Hmph," Yugo smirked, eyes alit with amusement. "So, you did listen to me all those times I spoke of Japan and Border." His eyes crinkled in fondness when Yuma adopted an affronted expression. His son was just so cute when he pouted like that. "I'm sometimes wondered."

"With the way you constantly made me repeat Mogami's name, how could the thought I wasn't listening to you ever come to mind?" Yuma retorted.

Yugo's amusement melted away as his brows furrowed. He kept his sword on his shoulder to show his lack of ill intent as he walked gingerly across the Chain to get closer to his son. Despite not holding his sword out in a threatening manner, Yuma's muscles tensed up as he prepared to defend in case of a surprise attack from Yugo. "Perhaps it's because of the very reason you're in this predicament." He made a vague motion that covered all of Yuma.

"About to be killed by my own father?" Yuma asked.

"Not that." Yugo started for Yuma's hand, but pulled back abruptly to halt the motion. "The fact that your life is tied to the Black Trigger. Had you just listened to me when I ordered you to stand down, I would never have died, and you would have never gotten your body trapped in a Trigger."

A frown tugged at Yuma's lips, but he didn't make a move to refute what Yugo had just said. It was true he got himself killed five years ago when he chose to disregard a warning from not only his father, but also his commander in the field, and ran into a fight with the knowledge that there was possibly a highly dangerous enemy roaming around. It was the last moment he ever truly shared with his father, but it seemed to be the moment most fresh in Yugo's mind. The last real moment he had before awakening as a Mimic hellbent on killing his son to get the Black Trigger he created.

A memory of disobedience.

A memory of his son not listening to him.

Yugo was having a hard time seeing the way Yuma had changed in the five years since his death because his last memories of his son are from a war. He remembers the pouty child who thought he didn't need help. It didn't help that Yuma physically hadn't changed pretty much at all. The only difference between his appearance now and when Yugo last saw him to save him was his hair as it went from black to white. Yugo looked at Yuma and saw the eleven-year-old that was always eager to run into danger instead of away from it.

"But continuing to harp on that isn't going to change what happened. It's not going to pull us out of this situation." Yugo motioned between him and Yuma this time as he spoke. "The past can't be changed."

"No one ever said anything about changing what happened. It's about coming to terms with it and finding peace." Yuma replied. His eyes flickered in the direction where he knew his team was keeping watch over him, but it was for barely a second before he was focusing back on Yugo. "I never found the strength to accept what happened in Calvaria, but coming to Japan has done absolute wonders for me."

"Perhaps that is because fighting a war doesn't give you the time to deal with those emotions." Yugo replied. "Or, perhaps, it simply wasn't the place to do it."

Yuma quirked a brow. "Oh?"

"I chose to go to Calvaria to return a favor to a friend. To defend his home from invaders." Yugo backed up a step from his son. "Calvaria isn't a large nation nor does it have a strong offensive capability so it is one of the few nations that doesn't try to invade others to gain power. They simply want to live their lives and protect their home. However, I was very aware of the fact that we were working with a military during our time there." He cast a look off to the side, a strange look in his eyes. "The men we fought with directly were loyal and held a brotherhood, but it wasn't them to be cautious of. It was the higher ups. They are the ones that have to make the difficult choices. They are the ones who have to push their morals aside, to make the calls that will save their nation, but they aren't the ones who get crushed by doing the dirty work. They simply give the orders while others have to carry them out. They don't see how their orders pile on top of each other and destroy the will of the soldier."

Yuma's eyes narrowed. "They didn't break me."

"I spoke with Soichi's kid."

"Jin-san," Yuma's mind supplied him.

"I'm aware of how they manipulated you to fight their war."

"No one manipulated me into anything." Yuma shook his head. What exactly had Jin told him? It didn't seem like he said enough. "You gave me your side effect. I could see all their tricks and did not let myself fall for them. I made the decision to fight because helping Calvaria was what you wanted. I was going to see it through to the end."

Yugo studied his son's face for a moment. "But what is it you wanted?"

"I think I made it perfectly clear all week what I wanted." Yuma replied. "And also how I had to face reality that it wasn't possible. You coming back, even in the form of a Mimic that is my enemy was enough to throw my mind in disarray."

Yugo hummed softly to himself. "I did you a disservice."

Yuma's brow furrowed in confusion. "By saving me?" He knew his father made the choice from love to save him years ago so he didn't think he would regret it, but he was basing that on his real father. The Mimic version of Yugo, however, could regret everything about their past together.

"I taught you to be independent growing up. I wanted you to make your own choices and be strong enough to protect yourself, but I guess I forgot an important lesson." Yugo looked towards the sky, staring at the clouds slowly drifting across the sky. "Allies are good to have. No one can win all the time by themselves. I told you that many times, but I didn't give you the chance to make proper friends. I constantly uprooted you to drag you across all the different nations, into different wars. You didn't get a proper childhood."

Yuma blinked a few times, feeling his confusion rise to new levels. What was this? Were...were they in a therapy session? He came out here today expecting a fight. They were in a fight. Why were they talking about this now? Yugo had mentioned Jin earlier so clearly this was Jin's fault somehow.

"Maybe that is true." Yuma admitted softly. With no warning, he suddenly rushed forward to swing his sword at Yugo, but as he expected, it got blocked because Yugo's guard was never truly down in battle. "But, then again," His head tilted back to he could look challenging up into his father's surprised eyes. "Who is the one who gets to decide what is proper and what isn't?"

*Mimics*

"That bastard is right there."

Izumi resisted the urge to smack his captain upside the head. "Remember what Jin-san said when he said you could come along. This is Kuga's fight. You don't get to butt in."

Tachikawa was silent for a moment as he observed Yuma and Yugo standing on the Chain, but when they just continued to talk, he dragged his eyes away to look at his teammate. "I can't tell what Jin is thinking. What good can come from letting him be the one to kill his father?"

"When have we ever understood what Jin-san is thinking?" Izumi retorted. "We never even see what he is planning until things are already long over and usually his schemes lead us to a positive future. We can only trust him on this."

"His schemes lead us to the future, but what he fails to predict is someone's mental state afterwards." Tachikawa said.

Izumi turned to his captain in surprise. "Worried about the shrimp?"

Tachikawa grunted softly, mostly to himself. If the situation wasn't so serious, Izumi's tone would have a much more teasing sound to it when he asked that question. Izumi was good at keeping himself serious, but also keeping a light tone to his voice in battle. He had no problem teasing his comrades in the midst of battle, but there were times when even he couldn't joke and the chance of someone being broken down, mentally or physically, because of what was happening was something he took seriously. It didn't do anyone any good to have a comrade crumble to pieces. "Jin said Chibi would be very strong in the future, even stronger than he was when he first joined Border. I'd rather not see him break before I get the chance to face off against him at his strongest."

Izumi stared at his captain for a moment more before turning back to the Kuga family just in time to see Yuma launch himself forward and end with himself locking blades with his father. Having been privy to Tachikawa's rivalry with Jin for so long, Izumi had gotten quite good at reading his captain's underlying words. As strong as their rivalry was, despite being in different fractions in Border, they had a strong friendship as well. Tachikawa showed his concern for his friend through their rivalry. If Jin was stressed or depressed from thinking of the past or because of his schemes to protect the future, Tachikawa was there to push him forward, to help him forget his problems for a moment by pushing for a fight, by challenging him. Tachikawa wasn't great with emotions or dealing with them, so he handled things the way he knew how, which was by easing the tension away through a challenge. Tachikawa enjoyed fighting and he knew how much fun Jin had fighting with him. It was easy to see the similarities that Yuma shared with Jin. He may not grin the same way Jin did when he fought, but there was a spark in his eyes when he was having rank wars with his friends.

Izumi supposed that Tachikawa was looking for that challenge in Yuma. Having tough opponents to fight and train with was a thrill a lot of their comrades shared. He was excited at the prospect of facing off against Yuma, but was also concerned the Mimics would hinder Yuma's progress.

Hinder, but not stop.

Even through the difficult week he had, Izumi couldn't see Yuma giving up on being an agent. For one thing, Izumi doubted it would ever be allowed since Yuma was a Neighbor and he couldn't see Kido letting Yuma run around Japan freely without having ties to Border. But, for another, though Izumi didn't know Yuma as well as others in Border did, he saw the fighting spirit in Yuma. Perhaps it was because of how he was raised in the Neighborhood, but Izumi didn't see Yuma as the type to roll over and let anyone tell him how to live. He seemed the type to persevere through anything.

Looking at him now, even from this distance so Izumi couldn't see his face clearly, Izumi saw the strength rolling off of him. He wasn't hunched over. He wasn't frozen. He was standing tall. He was the one attacking first. Maybe when this was over, it would hit Yuma what he had to do, but Izumi had no doubt that he would recover from it if the past week was anything to go by. Izumi wasn't a part of it, but he did see Yuma in passing throughout the week. He looked horrible some times, but other times, he looked more like himself, even with his injuries. Clearly, his friends were doing what they could to reach out to him to help him through this week, and so Izumi was sure, even when this was over, Yuma was going to be just fine.

"If I can't get revenge against the father, I can get revenge against the son."

Izumi snapped his head back to his captain at his mumbling, but his captain wasn't even looking at him anymore. He was focused on the father and son duo again. Forget it. He was just going to forget it. Tachikawa was never going to let that first meeting with Kuga Yugo go. It was an ambush which was a fair tactic in war, but Tachikawa was not going to ever forget how blindsided he got that morning, which might be a good thing. Live and learn from mistakes and all that, but Izumi was the one who had to deal with his captain never forgetting the mistake they made that morning. If they had been more wary of the man claiming to be the father of Kuga Yuma, they probably wouldn't be standing here right now having to watch father and son try to kill each other.

For all of Tachikawa's complaints and wanting revenge, it truly came from a place of frustration because he made a mistake that morning. They could have ended this before it got so serious. They heard the name Kuga and let themselves get distracted because the son was an ally of theirs.

"I'm sure Kuga would love the chance to fight you one on one." Izumi said instead of going off on his captain about his complaints again. "Though you should tell him a few days in advance. Given time to prepare, I'm sure he'll show you something amazing."

And it would give Yuma something to focus on so he could think about something other than the traumatic memories he gained this week.

*Mimics*

Yugo knocked Yuma's blade above them, but Yuma just twisted his sword to bring it down vertically to block Yugo's attack to keep him from getting impaled. Still, the force behind Yugo's attack had Yuma's knees trembling. He dug his feet into his Chain to keep from stumbling back a step. He was not going to lose ground here.

"Let's get one thing clear." Yuma said, pressing his foot a bit more firmly in the Chain. He avoided drawing attention to what he was doing by talking. He needed to keep Yugo focused on his words. "Maybe my childhood wasn't like other kids. I didn't spend every day going to school or playing games at the park with other kids," Yuma broke his blade free from Yugo's and jumped backwards.

As soon as his feet left the Chain, the new seal he had planted glowed, though if it wasn't for the kanji in the center of the seal, it would have been hard to see as it blended in with the Chain. The new seal launched a Chain directly towards Yugo. Seeing a Chain coming for his face, with only a narrow Chain to stand on, Yugo took a step to the side and dropped down from the Chain he was on. His hand swung up as he fell to grab the Chain to keep himself from plummeting to the ground.

It truly was hard to get one over on Yugo.

Yuma stepped forward, staring down at his father, who turned his head up to meet Yuma's stare with a confident smirk. "It wasn't conventional, but I never regretted or hated how you raised me. And maybe that is because I never knew what I was missing, but it's my choice to decide how I feel. To others, it wasn't a normal childhood, but it was mine."

Yugo stared up at his son. Neither of them were lying in this conversation. Yugo didn't think about it before, about how Yuma's childhood wasn't normal. It only crossed his mind because Soichi's kid brought it up. It led him down a path of thinking of all of his mistakes as a father. He never saw his mistakes because his son had been happy and alive and eager to be with Yugo. A child who didn't know any better, who didn't know another life, wouldn't see it as mistakes.

A Bound seal appeared under Yugo's foot which he used to propel himself. Using the force of the seal, he flipped and twisted himself to land on top of the second Chain that had connected diagonally with another building. Being on the higher Chain, Yugo looked down at his son, who followed his father's movement very closely as if suspicious of a trick. A wariness that Yugo ingrained into his son from a young age. He taught his son to be on guard, but for all Yugo trained Yuma for, he was still just a child when Yugo died. He hadn't mastered anything that Yugo taught him. Looking down at his son now, a son that was ready to fight him and not back away while remaining on the defensive, Yugo could see the growth. He could see the strength radiating his stance. He could see the unyielding determination shining in those narrowed eyes.

It really did make him look a lot different from the child he saw bleeding out on the ground. Physically, Yuma didn't change much since that day, but appearances weren't everything.

"Do you feel like you failed?" Yuma asked curiously.

Failed?

Failed as a father?

Yugo liked to believe that he had been a great father to Yuma. He taught him life lessons and trained him to be strong so he could survive in such a harsh world. One of his most important missions in life was to protect his son and to make sure his and Eleni's legacy lived on. He gave everything to make sure that happened.

He did not fail in protecting Yuma.

But he was failing now.

The son he had sworn to protect was now the enemy he needed to kill to save himself.

Nothing about this was right.

"I have a lot of failures." Yugo felt a chuckle build up in his chest the longer he stared at his son. He held back the urge to let it out, but he did allow a grin to form, earning a confused look mixed with suspicion from Yuma. "If I didn't believe it's been years since my death, seeing you now would force me to believe it. The son I saved from death five years ago lacked the maturity and strength I see in you. That could only come from years of hardship for one still so young."

"But you never doubted it."

"I wouldn't say never. That day on the bridge when you mentioned Mimics to me is the day I realized." Yugo's bright grin lessened as he turned to look up at the sky. "When I woke up in a city of ruins, I was confused and felt something off in me, but I didn't know what it was."

"Is that why you didn't make a move until morning?" Yuma asked.

"Hardly." Yugo scoffed. "I woke up in an unfamiliar place. I needed time to orientate myself and make a plan." He shifted his head to stare back down at his son. "And figure out why I had a sudden drive to attack my son. Something in me was urging me to find you, but I couldn't figure out what or why it felt so wrong. When you said Mimic to me, it became obvious and so I ran that day. It's unfortunate that running away is never going to solve this."

With that, Yugo pulled out both of his swords, forcing Yuma to jump farther back on the Chain to put distance between them. He would need this distance just so he could react in time to Yugo's speed if he attacked first.

"We were having such a nice talk too."

"Nothing good lasts forever."

On top of his already fast speed, Yugo also used a Bound seal to propel himself that much faster towards Yuma. Yuma barely got his sword up next to his head in time to deflect Yugo's sword from plunging into his skull.

His father was not playing around today. There have only been a handful of attacks from Yugo today and each one had been aiming for an instant kill shot.

"Too obvious." Yuma said. "I met a friend a few months ago who had moves designed to kill in one shot. To the neck, the heart, or the head. They never worked for him because those are always the most guarded spots. It never worked so he started to go for limbs and had far better success."

"It's easy to kill rookies with an instant kill shot."

Yuma broke their swords apart and took a step back to reveal the hidden Bolt seal there. Since he couldn't use Viper or Hound seals like Yugo, his bullets could only shoot straight into the air, but it was enough to push Yugo back again.

As the bullets began to die down, Yuma stared at his father through the last of the bullets. "Too bad there's no rookie here."