A/N: I don't own World Trigger

Mimics

Chapter 64: Father and Son Part III

Shiori stared at her computer in confusion. It was for less than a minute, but Yuma had turned his Trigger off and then back on, at least according to what her radar told her. She had a brief moment where she thought he was switching to his Black Trigger which was why she couldn't track him anymore. His Black Trigger still wasn't registered in Border's system after all. His Trigger coming back on disproved that theory though. Did something fault on one of their sides? She didn't have a lot of time to register the old Trigger in Border's system earlier, but she was pretty sure she hadn't made any type of error in her hurry.

"Yuma-kun? Are you okay? Everything alright on your end?"

"I'm fine, Shiori-chan."

Shiori frowned at her screen, feeling uneasy. If anything went wrong here, Yuma couldn't safely escape with bail out. "Yuma-kun, the snipers can't support you while you remain underground."

"I can make do without backup. Besides, Dad refuses to drop his guard. They wouldn't even get pass his defenses."

Shiori sighed. Yuma sounded like his normal, confident self. This was the agent she had come to know in the past few months. He was the agent they trusted to get things done. Yuma never failed in getting his mission accomplished. "Alright, just be careful."

"When am I not?"

Shiori raised a brow, staring unimpressed at the dot on her radar that was Yuma's icon as if it would make Yuma feel her disapproval. "Do you want a list that is from just this week alone?"

Yuma chuckled. "Maybe save it for another time. I'm a bit busy right now."

*Mimics*

Jin walked to the edge of the roof where Reiji was kneeling with his rifle to get a better look at the hole that Yuma just blasted into the ground. He couldn't even bring himself to be surprised at the fact that Yuma took him and Yugo back out of the view of the agents. It was like he was trying to make the snipers' job harder.

Harder, but not impossible for some of them.

They truly had some very impressive snipers.

And though Jin struggled with scheming them to the best future because of the constant changing variables this week, he hadn't been just sitting by idly. The future was changing constantly this week so it was difficult to manipulate, but right now, it was just a single fight. If he just focused on the battle taking place right in front of him, he could do something to help Yuma.

"Reiji-san," Jin kneeled down next to the older agent. "I'm going to need you to get ready."

Reiji's rifle held steady in where he had shifted it when Yuma and Yugo fell away from his view. He was keeping it locked on the father and son duo simply by using his radar to track them. He turned his head slightly to look at Jin out of the corner of his eye. "And what will I be shooting at? Kuga-san will detect my attack before it reaches."

"And I thought we agreed to let Yuma handle this alone. Are you going back on your word?" Konami demanded.

"We said Yuma would fight Kuga-san, and we are letting him do that. He's not going to be our target."

Behind Jin and Reiji, Konami and Karasuma shared a look. That statement meant one of two things. Jin wanted Reiji to shoot Yuma or the more likely option which was Trion Soldiers. Since Mogami destroyed the Trion barrier last night, there was nothing to prevent Trion Soldiers from interfering in the battle between father and son.

Well, except for them.

*Mimics*

"Wow!"

Yugo couldn't help but grin when the joy threatened to split Yuma's face in half. It wasn't often that Yuma showed such childlike wonder as it was something he mostly lost after his mother's death, so it was something Yugo savored when Yuma did display it.

"I've never seen so much water in one place." Yuma said amazed, eyes practically glowing as he took in the vast expansion of water.

"It's called an ocean." Yugo said. "And the reason why this is known as the Marine nation. A world filled with water all around." Yugo took his son's hand and tugged him along to get him to approach the water with him.

Down by the water, Yugo released his son's hand and kneeled down on the shore and dropped his hand into the water. Yuma peaked over his dad's shoulder, watching the water rush pass his hand.

"It's so clear!" Yuma said amazed. "You can see clear down to the bottom! The rivers we've seen were never so pretty."

Yugo smiled at the excitement and splashed some water over his shoulder, hitting Yuma in the face which made his son squeak at how cold it was.

Yuma twisted around his father to get to the water and quickly smacked the water towards Yugo, splashing him in the face. Yugo laughed as he shook his head and brushed his wet hair back out of his face.

Yuma looked towards the large city nearby. "It must be amazing to live here. It's so pretty here, and so much better than Kion."

Yugo smiled. Yuma would never not complain about Kion. He hated how cold that place had been and couldn't wait to leave. Of all the places he and Yuma had traveled to, Kion was the place that seemed to offend Yuma the most, simply because of the freezing temperatures.

"I don't see how anyone can stand to live there." Yuma continued as he turned his attention back to the water. He plunged both of his hands in the water and watched the water ripple over his arms. It was so cold but Yuma was so fascinated by how clear the water was. Movement ahead caught his eye, and he looked forward to see a school of fish swimming away from him as he spooked them with his splashing.

Yugo watched Yuma's lit up eyes for a moment before he stripped himself of his jacket. He followed it by taking his boots and socks off and rolled his pants up. As he waded into the water, he glanced back at his son who got the idea and grinned brightly as he followed his dad's example and then chased after him. Being shorter, it didn't take long for the water to reach up to his knees and start to get the rolled up part of his pants wet, but he didn't care. He was too excited to go farther in the water. His toes curled as he felt the wet sand at the bottom of the ocean between his toes, but not in a bad way, just in a curious moment at the new type of feeling.

Yuma's eyes stared glued on the water as he traced the ocean floor, trying to catch sight of everything that he could see. An ocean was something that he never got to see before. He only ever saw rivers and ponds in the other nations they had traveled to.

Yugo saw a wave approaching, but instead of warning Yuma, he let it hit the distracted Yuma, who reeled back in surprise, dripping wet, before the surprise was washed away as a laugh bubbled out of his chest.

It was like magic to Yugo's ears. These peaceful moments with his son getting to be just happy and relaxed.

The smile Yuma shot Yugo sparkled with the water splashing in his face.

Yuma's smile wasn't as carefree or as bright as it was that day, but it was present. For the first time this week, Yuma was allowing Yugo to see his smile. It should make Yugo happy. Seeing his son happy always made Yugo happy, but right now, it was just painful to look at. The fact that this was the first time Yuma was smiling at him this week was a sign of how much Yugo had been hurting him.

Why was Yuma smiling now?

Why after he just threw his ring away?

"Why do you look so confused?" Yuma asked. "Let yourself be distracted like that and I'll beat you easily."

"If I recall correctly, in all the times we trained together, you have never managed to hit me once." Yugo replied.

"The difference was you weren't distracted by guilt in the past."

"And what makes you think I am now?"

Yuma's eyes shifted beyond Yugo in the direction that his ring had landed. He could survive for a while without his ring. It had only been such a big deal the other day because of how injured his body had been from Yugo draining his Black Trigger and taking the Trion from Yuma. Mogami managed to stave-off Yuma's impending death by feeding him Trion from a Black Trigger, even though it was only a temporary measure. It was risky to throw the ring away, but he was expecting Yugo to catch it. If he wanted it so badly, Yuma would give it to him. When Mogami held Fujin, he regained more control and could make the conscious decision to save Yuma. When Yugo originally took the Black Trigger from Yuma, he didn't hold it for long and apparently never actually activated so he didn't gain as much control as Mogami.

That was why Yuma threw the ring at him. The more Trion Mogami siphoned from Fujin, the more control he got. He only lost it in the end because he offered that help to Yuma. Yugo had been without his Black Trigger for over twenty-four hours now so his control of his real self was suffering from that. Yuma thought if he threw the Black Trigger at him, he would catch it and start to fight to regain himself as more of who he was from when he created the Black Trigger poured into him.

He did not expect Yugo to force himself to not take it.

Perhaps Yugo was fighting harder than either of them realized.

Considering Mogami was able to resist his programming the most when he had Fujin in hand, it was amazing Yugo was able to fight against his instincts like this without his Black Trigger on him.

Mostly.

Yuma hadn't forgotten that look on Yugo's face before he destroyed the road under them to distract Yugo and take them out of view of his friends. They would be screaming in his ear right now if they saw him throw his ring at Yugo. He could see Miwa being the worst since he went to all the trouble of helping to recover it in the first place when he didn't even like Yuma.

"If it's not about guilt, then go pick up the ring." Yuma stabbed his swords in the ground in front of him, staring at his father with a challenging glare. "I'll wait." To further prove his point, Yuma folded his arms behind his back so even if Yugo did move, it would take Yuma time to grab his swords and attack his back if he went against his word.

Though, Yuma had no intention of doing so.

The whole point of going after Yugo alone was to force him to acknowledge Yuma and their relationship. He needed to break through to his father to bring out his true self that the programming was trying to block.

This wasn't just about their shared memories though.

Rindo said that Yugo was smiling when he saved Yuma all those years ago because he wanted to protect his son. That was his duty as a father, but the Mimic was forcing him to go against that. It hurt to think that maybe these were his father's true feelings about what happened years ago, but Yuma was going to believe in what Rindo said. He wanted it to be true, so he would trust in his words. In the words that Rindo so heartily believed, Yuma would trust in them. He would trust in his father's old friends that Yugo loved Yuma with all his heart and didn't have any negative feelings towards his son, despite what the Mimic was trying to get him to believe.

His father loved him and wanted to protect him but was being forced against those desires.

Yuma had to keep reminding him of this until in his heart, the words were ingrained as fact.

There were so many times Yugo could have ended this by just plunging his sword through Yuma, but he didn't. Yuma took that as meaning Yugo was trying to protect Yuma in the only way he could right now.

If that was the case, Yuma would force that protective father out of him.

It didn't quite work how Yuma planned since Yugo didn't catch the Black Trigger, but Yuma could make this work.

"What are you waiting for?" Yuma asked when Yugo didn't make a move to either attack or to go pick up the ring.

Yugo stared at his son. There had been no lies in his words. Yuma was clearly going to wait for Yugo to get the ring. He didn't need to get to the theatrics of locking himself in a waiting pose when Yugo could tell he was telling the truth about not stopping Yugo from getting the Black Trigger.

Mirroring Yuma, Yugo crossed his swords and slammed them into the ground in front of him. Yuma didn't even flinch as Yugo did it. He was as calm as ever, never breaking eye contact with Yugo as if he wasn't even scared that Yugo might ignore him and come to attack him instead.

Yugo itched to go get the ring, but at the same time, he wanted to fight against all his instincts and ignore it to keep his son safe. The moment it was on him, he would drain the power of the already fragile Black Trigger that much faster. It wouldn't be a slow drain like before as he had already stolen so much of its power. There wasn't much left to steal before the ring broke and Yugo had fully realized the mission that was ingrained in the Mimics when they came here.

As soon as he reclaimed all the Trion and lifeforce he poured into the ring when he originally created it, the ring would break and shatter Yuma's Trion body and bring out his real body. That was where this was all going. Yugo was going to go against his role as a father. Instead of protecting his son, he would be the one to kill him.

Yuma won't survive the week.

That was what Yugo realized days ago and that was what he warned the agents of what would happen.

Ever since he told the agents that, the agents had been coming at him in full force, but it just wasn't enough.

Yugo couldn't be stopped.

Had he just had his swords, he would be defeated by now since no matter how strong he was, even the strong could get overwhelmed by multiple opponents attacking him all at once. The problem was that he didn't just have blades. When he died years ago, it was with the intention of saving Yuma's life and leaving him with a powerful Black Trigger that could protect him.

Yugo succeeded in that endeavor.

And now, now it was coming back to haunt him.

The Black Trigger he created was so strong and versatile.

The Black Trigger that Yugo had stolen access to by being its creator was making it so Yugo could survive the onslaught from the agents.

That was the only reason that Yugo could beat back so many agents coming at him at once.

The was the only reason that Yugo was still here hurting his son.

His programming demanded his survival at all costs and so even if he didn't want it, he would fight tooth and nail to keep himself alive.

There was no room for both Yugo and Yuma here.

Only one of them could be left standing at the end of this.

This ended today.

Yugo stared at his son for a second longer before turning his back on him. For a moment, he just stood there with his back to Yuma, but there was no sound coming from Yuma. Not even a little shifting. He really was just going to let Yugo take the ring.

Yugo's eyes scanned the ground for where the ring should be based on how Yuma threw it. It likely bounced a bit when it hit the ground so he would need to take that into account.

No fear.

There was no fear beating at Yuma's heart. He had considered death inevitable for years and made peace with that fact.

Except, that was no longer true.

Once, it had been true that Yuma was just going through the motions of life. He wasn't happy or having fun. In fact, he forgot what both of those felt like until he came to Japan and met all of his friends. With a newfound enjoyment of living, Yuma was no longer ready to die. He had found a new world full of new experiences and a way to be happy.

He wanted to keep on living.

Everyone told him this was the life Yugo would have wanted for him, and so, he was going to take it.

Which was why there was an actual beat of fear in his heart. If he messed this up, he would die and as he came to realize this week, that really wasn't what he wanted.

He had so much to live for.

So much to fight for.

That something to fight for right now was his father.

Not only did Yuma want to live, but Yugo wanted him to live. The father that saved him years ago wanted him to live so Yuma would live for him which meant he couldn't let this Mimic win.

Yuma watched as Yugo started to move which he took as meaning that he spotted where the ring fell.

Yugo kneeled down to grab the ring, but his hand hesitated over it. Being this close to the Black Trigger when he was so close to being complete got the burning in his blood to a level that was so strong that it felt like it was on fire.

"It hurt."

Yugo's hand twitched over the ring, but didn't pick it up as he stayed frozen there as Yuma decided to speak again. "What did?"

"Living." Yuma replied. "After you died. You told me to stay inside where it was safe, and I ignored your warning and got myself attacked because of it. When you saved me, I was left with immense guilt because you should have never died that day. It was so hard to be happy after that when that guilt and grief was weighing me down every day." He smiled sardonically. "I didn't even have the sweet relief of sleep to escape that guilt even momentarily."

Yugo shifted his hand to the side so he could stare at the cracked ring on the ground. The symbol of his love for his son. He poured everything he had left into creating it so he didn't have to watch the last of his family die. He scooped the ring up, feeling a pulsing between it and his hand as his body began to eagerly drain the last of the power left in it. "How do you think I would have felt if I found you that day and just stood there as I watched the last of the life leave your body? I failed in protecting my wife. I couldn't bear it if I lost you as well."

"And what about me?!" Yuma snapped. "My mom was killed and then I had to see my dad choose my life over his! I disobeyed you and got myself into that situation! It wasn't your responsibility to save me!"

"Not my responsibility?" Yugo echoed. He pushed himself back to standing and turned to face his son. "It doesn't matter that you broke the rules and got hurt. Kids often do that because they don't understand the consequences that actions have, but they learn. I can't just tell you not to do something and expect you to understand. You have to learn from your mistakes, but getting killed? That is too harsh of a punishment for a child who didn't understand. For all I trained you and let you battle Trion Soldiers, you didn't understand the severity of war. As your father, it was my job to make sure you got to grow up and see what all life had to offer. You were and always will be my responsibility."

"Strange way to show it." Yuma taunted. He knew it wasn't his father's fault. A week of dealing with this and his twisted emotions on the situation had taught Yuma that. Everyone he spoke to about it had been so honest in their belief that the Yugo that died for Yuma wouldn't want this so he was going to use that. Maybe it would hurt his dad to throw the idea of him failing his son in his face, but if it helped Yuma to save him from being Meraki's pawn, he would do it.

Yugo's hand curled tighter around the ring in his palm. This was never about Yuma. It wasn't. The whole mission was always about the Black Triggers. That was all Yugo was after, but seeing his son each time the urge to complete his mission became too strong because of the proximity of Yuma and the Black Trigger. It caused a wave of fear to spiral through Yugo. It was never supposed to be about Yuma, but it became about him.

The throbbing in Yugo's hand felt like it increased as his body sucked up the power from the Black Trigger. Or, maybe, it was all just in Yugo's head as he recognized the fact that holding this ring would have dire consequences for Yuma.

"You got your ring, so what will you do now?" Yuma asked. With his father now back to facing him, Yuma grabbed the hilt of his swords and yanked them out of the ground. "Shall we get back to what we were doing?"

Yugo stared at his son, at the readiness in his stance to break through to Yugo. He had an aura full of confidence, but it wasn't quite the same aura of confidence he had years ago.

Yuma stared down at the map to study the battle that Yugo had laid out with the little soldier figures, brows furrowed as he thought.

There was no reason for Yuma to think so hard. Yugo wasn't testing him on anything. He laid the battlefield out to give Yuma a visual since he had an easier time learning something if he could see it. He was teaching Yuma strategy, but he also wanted to impart a good lesson on protecting himself.

Yuma was strong. However, he was still just a rookie as he didn't have a lot of experience in real battles, but Yugo had been very efficient in training Yuma. He wouldn't allow Yuma to fight in real battles if he didn't think he could handle it to some degree. The problem with that was that only allowing Yuma to take part in battles he was certain Yuma could handle meant that Yuma hadn't faced any true challenge in real combat. It was making him too confident in his skills.

Yugo would need to make sure Yuma didn't get too overconfident in his abilities. Whenever someone got too confident, it could be used against them and lead to a harsh loss which could also lead to death.

"Listen, Yuma. When you fight someone stronger than you, don't try to defeat them."

"Don't? Then, what should I do?"

"Back up, defend yourself, and buy time. It makes things easier for your allies. If a weak fighter can stall a strong one, it's an overall gain in terms of the battle."

"Hmm, what should I do when I have no allies?"

"Well," Yugo huffed, a bit of amusement coating his tone. "Evasion is the only option, of course. Understand your capability and do what you can do. If you ever overestimate your abilities on the battlefield, then you will die, Yuma."

There was no overconfidence in Yuma. He was confident in the skills he possessed, but there was nothing wrong with that. It was when a soldier became too cocky about their strength because of how often they won and so thus began to look down on their opponents when it truly became an issue.

Yuma wasn't recklessly charging forward. He was stepping back and observing. It was almost like he wasn't trying to beat Yugo, but that couldn't be right. If Yuma didn't win this fight, he would die and that death was quickly approaching, and even faster while Yugo held the Black Trigger. Despite that, there was no hurry in Yuma. He was completely patient as he waited for something from Yugo.

Yugo tilted his head back to stare up at the hole in the road above them. He had allies up there. There was backup waiting but none of them had made a single move to interfere in this battle. He didn't even sense any of them using their Trion to try for a sneak attack. It was completely peaceful from the agents which was strange as they were all here for backup. Despite being here backup, they were all leaving this to Yuma. Was it confidence and trust they had in Yuma? Or were they planning something and that was why Yuma was so calm right now?

Walking forward, Yugo slid the ring in his pocket next to where he stored Yuma's Border Trigger and yanked one of his swords out of the ground. He did not know what Yuma was planning, but it hardly mattered. Yugo got what he needed. There was no point in continuing this fight.

Yuma would die with or without his intervention.

Yugo ignored his second blade as he instead raised his hand. "I'm sorry, Yuma."

Yuma blinked in confusion until he saw the blue seal forming on the back of Yugo's hand.

"Gate!"

What was he doing?

Running to Meraki through the Gate or summoning Trion Soldiers to fight for him?

"You gambled on me backing down and you lost." Yugo scolded.

The Gate overtook the tunnel, separating Yuma from Yugo. Yuma held an arm up to protect his face from the sudden gust of wind, but kept his eyes open so he wouldn't be blindsided by an attack. Doing so also allowed him to see Trion Soldiers dropping out of the Gate. It was an attack then and not an escape route.

As the Gate vanished, Yuma spotted Yugo turning his back on Yuma to head further into the tunnel. He took the Black Trigger and was just leaving. He was going to leave Yuma to die again.

Yuma looked on in shock as the hand he just blew off was back on Yugo's arm and he was grabbing his wrist again. Yugo yanked on Yuma hard enough to make him off balanced as he stumbled forward.

Yugo's much bigger hand came to cover Yuma's completely, hiding the ring on his finger from Yuma's sight. He had to stop this. Yugo couldn't be allowed to get a hold of both of the Black Triggers, but what was Yuma supposed to fight with? He had nothing that could help him stop Yugo from stealing them.

"It wouldn't be you." Yuma said, wincing as Yugo squeezed his wrist tightly causing the cracks on his arm to protest that by snapping more along his arm. If his arm broke any more, he wasn't sure his arm would remain attached to his body much longer. It would probably fall off if Yugo continued to break it. "Even if using the Black Trigger would give you the chance to survive forever, it would kill me. My father died to protect me. You may have the memories, but you lack the emotions. A man who kills me to save his life could never be the real one."

Yuma did try to pull his wrist free, but to his complete frustration, wasn't able to get away from his father's stronger grip. Ever since he got the Black Trigger from Yugo, there had never been a time where Yuma had taken it off, so it felt strange when Yugo slipped it off. The moment he had it, he released Yuma's wrist, shoving his son back into the bed as he stepped away with his prize.

Slamming back into the bed frame had Yuma tensing up as the cracks split on his back. He slid down the side of the bed until he was back on the floor, watching through heavy-lidded eyes as his father turned his back on him, taking the ring and Fujin with him. He never once spared his son a final glance as he walked out of the lab while taking away Yuma's only lifeline.

Yugo couldn't do it. He couldn't actually strike Yuma down himself so he was choosing to have Yuma die slowly by having his Trion body get destroyed by being drained of all of its Trion. Yugo couldn't bear to see what he was doing to his own son so he was taking the Black Trigger and running.

He was running from what he was doing.

The fear of rejection Yuma had felt all week was turned into a spark of anger. An important rule Yuma had was to never turn his back, never forget, the things he had done. No matter how much he tried to forget or hide what he had done, it wouldn't erase what he had done. Just as he wouldn't forget those who had hurt him, they wouldn't forget what he did to them. So, Yuma wouldn't forget. He would always face what he had done.

Yuma had never forgotten or forgiven himself for Yugo's death.

Yugo did not get to hide from this.

"OYAJI!" Yuma slammed his sword into the Marmod's blade to prevent himself from getting cut in half, but his eyes were looking beyond the Trion Soldiers at Yugo's back.

Yuma turned around and threw his dagger, hitting dead center on his enemy. "Oh yeah, I got it." He looked surprised as his enemy fell to the ground and two more enemies were revealed there. Yuma took a step back in surprise, but before he could make a plan, Yugo was suddenly in front of him to defeat them instantly.

"Hey, rookie." Yugo turned, not surprised to see Yuma's annoyed expression directed at him instead of a fearful one from having two enemies coming at him at once. "What were you looking at?"

Yuma rolled his eyes, pouting. "I can manage without your help, Oyaji."

The way Yuma was gasping for air was so painful for Yugo to listen too. His son was barely getting any air to his lungs. Even if he did recognize that Dad was here to save him, he didn't have the strength to speak. Yugo wasn't going to get to hear his son's voice one last time before death claimed him.

No matter how many days passed since his return, Yugo couldn't get the memory of his son ripped to pieces out of his head. It just kept popping up in his head. It was the one memory that would never leave him alone. It just kept haunting him.

When he saw his injured son.

When he saw the desperation on his son's face.

When he heard his son call out to him.

His pouty son who always wanted to do everything by himself and prove himself.

His son who was too stubborn to ask for help.

His son who sounded so desperate right now.

Everything in his being was screaming against it as he had no reason to stick around, and yet, Yugo was stumbling to a stop. His head twisted around just in time to see Yuma slice the Marmod's blades off and then glance at Yugo again. His confident aura had been replaced by a fiery rage with a twinge of desperation.

"Incoming, Yuma-kun!" Shiori's voice slashed through the moment.

A blinding flash of Trion tore through the road above them to pierce the Marmod's armor.

Yuma blinked in surprise at his enemy dying from something that wasn't his blade, but decided to not snub the gift. His allies were not going to leave him alone to a hoard of Trion Soldiers.

Yuma threw himself through the blades of the next Marmod, slicing the blades off as he went. Trusting in the snipers, Yuma didn't turn around to kill it. Instead, he locked eyes with Yugo.

"If you're going to kill me, then you are going to look me in the eye as you do!" Yuma ducked under the next Marmod's blades and slammed his sword in its eye before looking back at Yugo. "You don't get to run from this!"

"Yuma," Yugo said in a pained voice.

Yuma scoffed, not even flinching when another blast of Trion tore through the Marmod behind him. He pointed his sword at Yugo. "For all the stories of the supposedly powerful former Commander-in-Chief of Border, this is vastly disappointing. I've heard Oji-san was your rival."

Yugo raised a brow at the mention. "Oji-san?" He mouthed to himself. By context, he could tell that Yuma was referring to Mogami, but since was he called Oji-san by his son? What did he miss last night while he hung out in a Border prison cell? Yuma seemed to not care about his confusion as he seemed more focused on his rant.

"For all the claims of you two being rivals, Mogami is clearly the stronger of you!" Yuma declared. "He didn't try to run from what he was being forced to do and even managed to fight through his programming in the end to help me."

Yugo blinked at the tirade he was just subjected to. "In the end?" He asked, focusing at the last part as it was easier to deal with than thinking about how his rival beat him again or that he and Yuma apparently became close last night when Mogami was supposed to be stealing his ring.

Actually, if 'in the end' meant death than Mogami beat him so many times in a single night. He saved Yuma and managed to do what both of them wanted.

To die.

Neither of which Yugo had been capable of all week.

"Jin-san killed Mogami last night." Yuma admitted. "You don't have any back up coming." He glanced at the dead Marmod at his feet. "Well, no backup that won't use up your Trion."

Yugo didn't spare his dead Trion Soldiers a glance. They were just meant to be a convenient distraction so he could leave unbothered, which clearly failed. Honestly, good on the agents for acting so fast to dispatch the Trion Soldiers for Yuma. "And he helped you?"

"If he hadn't, I probably would have died last night." Yuma added. That wasn't something he had told any of his friends since it would have just freaked them all out, but he felt death closing in last night when he forced his seals to activate. He had pushed his already broken body too far by doing that.

Yugo's heart leaped to his throat. His throat felt so tightened at the news that Yuma was so close to dying last night that he didn't think he could speak right now. He had known that Yuma was in a bad spot and that it was getting worse with each new day, but for it to have been that close already...

The Black Trigger in his pocket was feeling very heavy right now. What would have happened last night if Yugo didn't gain the control he needed to surrender the fight to the Border agents?

"Oji-san said he came to me last night because you couldn't handle being around me." Yuma said. "Well, now there is no one to act as a buffer between us! So, until one of us is dead, we're not leaving each other's sight! If you're too weak to break free of your programming, then you better acknowledge what you are doing!"

It was harsh.

It was beyond harsh.

Yuma lived for five years with the guilt of his father's death. It was one of the most painful things he ever had to do. To go on living with the guilt never letting him go. It was part of the reason why this week had been so difficult for him. He was being forced to face his past.

Knowing how difficult it was, it was cruel to want to force Yugo to go through the same pain, but Yuma had to. If he didn't force Yugo into this, his dad would escape back to Meraki with the Black Trigger. If Yugo went to Meraki, Yuma would surely die and though Yugo didn't want to face it, he would know what he had done and be forced to live with it forever while working as a pawn to Meraki.

Yuma already knew how painful it was to live with the guilt of getting his father killed.

He wouldn't force that on anyone.

He would save Yugo from this life he was being forced into, even if meant having to kill him.

Yuma had lived with the painful guilt for five years now. He could continue doing it while making sure no one else had to take on a similar guilt.

So, Yuma would force Yugo to acknowledge him and keep him from leaving as he worked out a plan to kill him because Yuma had no intention of dying here.

Yugo gritted his teeth but forced himself to breathe deeply and unclench his teeth. It would do no good to let himself get frustrated here. Feeling frustration in battle would just be the beginning of his downfall. It was good for Mogami that he managed to escape this hell, but it wasn't that easy for Yugo. The reason he chose to surrender last night was the same reason the agents held off on causing him serious injury. In the end, it seemed both sides were trying to protect Yuma in their own ways. Mogami didn't have his life tied to anyone so no one would be hurt if he was injured so it was easier for the agents to fight him.

Mogami.

His dear friend and rival.

The person he trusted to protect and look after Yuma if he ever died. Even though Mogami never knew he had a son, he knew that Mogami wouldn't even hesitate if his son appeared before him needing help.

Mogami had proven that loyalty to Yugo a hundred times over this week. He acknowledged Yugo's suffering at hurting his son and stayed by his side through it all to make sure Yugo wouldn't drown. He was there to help Yugo make sense of his conflicting emotions and thoughts.

Mogami was there doing what Yugo couldn't do. He was protecting Yuma. He was keeping Yuma alive.

It was Mogami's decision to go after Yuma last night while Yugo distracted the other agents. He knew Yugo would have a hard time stopping himself from hurting Yuma to get the ring so he put himself between them.

Even while resurrected as a Trion Soldier that was an enemy to Border, Mogami was still so loyal. He was doing what Yugo always expected of him.

Looking out for his son.

And what was Yugo doing?

He was trying to kill the very same son just because his life was connected to the Black Trigger. Mogami had only been after Fujin so he didn't feel the same confusing mix of emotions towards his protégé or the agents. For that reason, Mogami's mind had been clearer and helped him recall his loyalty to Yugo.

And it wasn't the loyalty to Mimic Kuga Yugo.

It was the loyalty to the friend and rival, Kuga Yugo, that left years ago. Mogami remembered the trust they shared and he did what was expected of Mogami Soichi. What Yugo always expected of his old friend since Yuma was born, even though the two had never met.

Keep him safe.

Even while being a Trion Soldier with programming dictating loyalty to Meraki, Mogami hadn't forgotten the bond he and Yugo shared. For days, he had been Yugo's support and made sure he remembered the love he had for Yuma so it wouldn't get lost in his Trion Soldier programming.

And now, he was gone. The person that had been supporting Yugo through this was gone. He couldn't rely on his friend anymore.

It truly was just Yuma and Yugo now.

But...

Yugo held his hand up again, showing off the blue seal once more.

Truly, Yugo had no reason to stay around. He got what he needed and Border couldn't force the Gates to remain closed. As much as he wanted to stay and prevent himself from allowing Yuma to die, a bigger part of his mind was moving on its own and saying that it was time for him to escape.

He couldn't focus on the desperation in his son's voice.

The plea for his father.

He should focus on the desperation.

It would remind him of what was truly important.

But he couldn't. Meraki was what was important.

It was never about Yuma.

Yuma.

Yuma.

Yuma.

Eleni.

"Mama!"

A tiny blur with black hair barreled into the room and into Eleni's legs. She grabbed the edge of the table with her hand to stabilize herself to keep her and Yuma standing. She looked down at her son to scold him for running in her lab, but when she did, she saw him looking up at her with such a big, excited grin that the words died on her tongue. The lecture could wait until later.

"What is it, Yuma?" Eleni asked.

"Look! Look what Oyaji gave me!" Yuma extracted himself from his mom's legs so he could reach into his pocket where he pulled out a Trigger. "Trigger on!" Yuma's body swapped out for a Trion version dressed in a black uniform. "Look! I look just like Oyaji now!"

Eleni took a step back to fully examine her son. From the black hair to the red eyes and the black uniform with dual swords, she could truly see. "You do! A little miniature Yugo." She looked up to see Yugo leaning against the doorframe of the lab, arms crossed and wearing a fond smile as he took in his family. "Are you planning to start training him soon?"

"It can never be too early to start learning to start defending yourself." Yugo replied. "Especially in the Neighborhood."

Eleni considered Yugo for a moment. "Not in Japan?"

"Neighbors attack mostly in secret in Japan and it happens far less than it does here. It would be a lot more of a peaceful life." Yugo explained. He pushed off the door and approached his wife and child.

Eleni nodded as she dropped a hand to Yuma's head and subconsciously threaded her fingers through his soft hair. "You always speak so fondly of your world. I wouldn't mind going there one day and meeting all your friends."

Yugo's eyes sparkled. He leaned forward and pressed his forehead against his wife's. His hand reached down to join Eleni's in Yuma's hair, brushing his fingers against hers. "I would gladly show off my beautiful wife and cute son to them." His free hand came up to brush her white hair out of her face to get a better view of her crystal blue eyes. "One day. Perhaps when Yuma is a bit older, and you finish your work." Yugo stepped back from his wife to glance at the table which had a holograph above it, showing off the blueprints of the Inchoate.

Eleni huffed as she was reminded of what she was working on before Yuma and Yugo came to visit her. "My Inchoate are as good as they are going to be."

Yuma grabbed the edge of the table and stood on his tiptoe to see what his parents were looking at.

"That can't be true. There is always room for improvement." Yugo replied.

"At this point, the next step in improvement would be taking them to the next level, Aionia." Eleni explained, hitting a button on the table to change the holograph to another blueprint.

Yugo raised a brow at the information on the side of the Trion Soldier design that spoke of how to get Aionia to become a realization. "I thought you didn't want to make Aionia anymore."

"I don't, but my bosses keep pushing for it. I've been studying on how it would be possible to achieve and it is much harder than I originally planned for when I came up with the idea." Eleni got distracted when Yuma seemingly got bored with the conversation and walked away from his parents. She wanted to make sure he didn't get into anything he wasn't supposed to, but when Replica floated down from the sky and landed on Yuma's head, she was assured that Yuma would behave and even if he didn't, Replica would alert them soon enough about Yuma's mischief making. "It's difficult for a Trion Soldier to take the memories of a cherished person and maintain that form forever. It requires a substantial amount of power and Trion for an Aionia to retain its' transformation forever. Power and Trion on par with a Black Trigger. Without that, an Aionia can never truly be realized. It would at most be an Inchoate mimicking an Aionia."

"No other way to complete it?" Yugo asked.

Elenia smiled, though there was sadness shining through it. "Nope. The dream of bringing my mother back was just that. A dream."

Yugo's expression softened. "You still have the Inchoate. If you want to say a final goodbye to her." While he never agreed with the idea of Aionia, the concept of Inchoate was an interesting one. Yugo had never lost anyone truly close to him so he couldn't fully comprehend the grief and pain his wife went through when her mother died. He could imagine what it felt like but that just wasn't the same as living through it.

Eleni hummed at the idea. "As much as I miss my mother, it has been years since her death. To have Inchoate take her form now would be reopening old wounds that have already scarred over." She glanced towards Yuma. He had snatched Replica off his head and was hugging him against his chest while he stared into one of the pods that had an Inchoate inside it. "I can't look to the future if I'm constantly staring at the past."

"And what is your dream now?" Yugo asked.

"To spend forever with you." Eleni batted her eyes at Yugo.

Yugo laughed. "So cheesy."

Eleni whacked his arm playfully. "I'm serious. I want to spend time with you and Yuma. Working on the Inchoate project has taken up so much of my time. Time I could have spent with my family. It's part of the reason I want to visit Japan. It will give me an escape from my responsibilities for just a bit."

Yugo leaned forward to kiss her cheek. "It will be a family vacation."

Yuma blinked as the new Gate was again not used as an escape route. Instead, Mimics stepped out of the Gate. Almost immediately, Yuma was slicing an arm off of one that was approaching him before it could touch him and steal his memories again.

How?

Yuma jumped back, landing on top of one of the dead Marmods. As he stood there, he stood under the hole the snipers made when they were shooting through the road to kill the Marmods for Yuma. The sun was blazing through the hole, casting a glare in Yuma's eyes. He wasn't crazy. The sun was still out so Mimics shouldn't be here.

It was his father though.

He was the one who knew the most about Mimics.

Yume deflected another Mimic's arm as he jumped backwards and reached up to tap the side of his comms. "Jin-san, problem."

"We're aware, Yuma." Jin replied. "Mimics, right?"

"Yeah."

"If you could not get caught by one again, that'd be great, Yuma-senpai. One Kuga Yugo has been more than enough." Shun said.

Yuma couldn't help but snort at the murmurs of agreement from various agents. His dad certainly left an impression. Unfortunately, it didn't seem like a good one.

"Yuma-kun," Chika's voice broke through the noise. "You should move."

Yuma stared through the Mimics to see Yugo at the far end of the tunnel. While Yuma was busy evading the Mimics, Yugo had one right by his side. With Chika's warning ringing in his ears, Yuma had no time to think on that. Without turning his back on the enemies, Yuma used the rubble from the collapsed road to jump back up to above ground.

Weirdly, the Mimics didn't follow him as they stopped chasing him right before the hole. They weren't even looking at him when he moved away. They were turning away.

The last thing he saw as he escaped the tunnel for Chika's Hound to level what was left of the road was a flash of white.

*Mimics*

Yoneya whistled, holding a hand to his forehead to try to defend from the wind while his other hand gripped the ledge to keep himself standing through the violent trembling caused by the ridiculously overpowered Hound. "She gave Kuga like no time to escape the blast's radius."

"Is that overestimating his evasion abilities?" Kodera wondered.

"It's a sign of complete trust in each other." Miwa replied. "Kuga has always allowed Amatori to shoot right past him or in his general area without fear."

Narasaka stared through his scope, trying to see anything through the smoke. It could be Yuma or Yugo or even any Mimics that survived Chika's attack, if that was even possible. His scope shifted around to try to locate something in the slowly clearing smoke until it landed on a figure at the edge of all the destruction. "He certainly looks afraid."

"Who? Kuga?" Yoneya asked. "He doesn't even flinch when any attack approaches him, whether it is aimed at him or not. Honestly, until this week, I didn't think he even knew what fear was."

"No, Narasaka-senpai is right." Kodera said as his scope finally landed on Yuma crouched by the crater, mouth agape. "Something isn't right. I would say Kuga looks freaked out by something, and I highly doubt it was Amatori's Hound that caused it."

Yoneya followed where Kodera and Narasaka had their rifles pointed as the smoke began to clear away and he could see a figure with white hair on the ground. Unfortunately, they were too far away for him to get a good read on Yuma's face, but he would trust the snipers' assessment of the situation. "Did one of the Mimics get him? Can you imagine two Kuga Yugos running around?"

Miwa grunted, annoyed at the very thought. Dealing with both Mogami and Yugo had made this week frustrating enough. They didn't need to add another Kuga Yugo into the mix when they were struggling enough to kill the first one.

*Mimics*

Yuma stared down into the tunnel, being careful not to move as he was crouched on the edge of the destroyed road. Any sudden movement could lead to the area he was on collapsing even more and sending him tumbling back into the tunnel.

He didn't really see what he saw, did he? It had to have been just a trick of the light from Chika's Hound blinding him as it crashed into the tunnel to get rid of the Mimics.

It wasn't possible.

It couldn't be possible.

Why did Yugo summon Mimics if they weren't going to try that hard to get to Yuma?

"Yuma? Yuma, what's wrong?" Konami's voice demanded in his ear.

Yuma didn't reply as he was staring down in the hole, just waiting. Yugo wasn't using the Gates to escape. Perhaps he was worried about Yuma following him through them so he couldn't escape alone. He wasn't leaving Japan just yet, but he also wasn't keen on staying here and fighting Yuma. Yuma wasn't meant to let him leave his sight, but the Mimics got in the way of that since Yuma couldn't recklessly charge through them as there was too much risk of getting hit by one. Maybe that was why Yugo chose Mimics. Yuma would fight his way through other Trion Soldiers, but Mimics were a completely different matter.

"Kuga, you need to talk to us. Did a Mimic get a hold of you before you got out?" Osamu asked.

"I think..." Yuma murmured. He didn't understand what his father was playing at.

"You think you got hit by a Mimic?" Hyuse demanded.

Yuma shook his head. "You guys need to calm down. Nothing touched me. However, I can't say the same about Dad."

"He's a Mimic." Hyuse said incredulously at what Yuma was implying.

"A transformed Mimic with memories." Yuma argued, though to be fair, he also thought it wasn't possible. Part of that was because he didn't put any real thought into it. He hadn't thought about Mimics in years and when they attacked this week, he was too busy dealing with his father and his emotions to think on it. In a way, it made sense. Transformed Mimics had the memories of the person they were which meant memories of other people in their lives from when they were alive.

"Are you saying he brought Mogami-san back from his memories?" Konami asked.

Yuma cautiously stood up. "I think he allowed a Mimic to take his memories, but they weren't of Mogami."

"Argh, don't tell me we got another powerful person to deal with from your past." Kageura groaned.

"I call first dibs on the fight." Tachikawa said.

Yuma stared down the hole for a moment more but when he saw no movement, he turned to stare in the direction that he knew Tamakoma-1 was stationed at in disbelief. He understood the enjoyment of a good fight, but that was when he was doing it for sport like with the rank wars where no one had to die. After he nearly died five years ago and Yugo sacrificed his life for him, any enjoyment in real combat that was serious was lost. "Shiori-chan," Yuma said, deciding to ignore his comrades. "I lost sight of Dad. Where is he?"

"I'll bring the Starmaker up on your radar." Shiori replied. "He seems to still be in the area though."

Yuma stared at the purple mark indicating Yugo's location which seemed to still be underground. "Right." With nothing more to add, Yuma jumped right back into the hole to head back to underground, feeling uneasy as he did. He wanted to be wrong. He wanted what he saw to just be a trick of the light. This was not something he wanted to deal with on top of everything else.