A/N: I don't own World Trigger
Mimics
Chapter 50: Loyalty of Comrades
"Boss. Shinoda-san." Karasuma shook Rindo's shoulder roughly. He wouldn't usually be so forward with his directors, but he was in a hurry. He had made the decision to escort Kinuta safely and get the directors up since one of them had to keep them all safe, but he was in a hurry to get back out there. Their base was currently under attack and while they all understood the importance of keeping the directors safe, Karasuma didn't want to just abandon his allies out there either.
"Argh, my neck." That was the first thing Rindo felt when he started to become aware. When did he even fall asleep in such a horrible position? He straightened himself out as he rubbed his neck. He was going to feel that in his neck for like an hour. Who let him sleep like that?
Unlike Rindo who was taking his time to wake up, Shinoda ignored the crick in his neck as he snapped his feet. He did roll his neck a few times to try to loosen up the muscles, but for the most part his attention was locked onto Karasuma and Kinuta. "Strange to see you in here, Kinuta-san." He greeted.
"No times for pleasantries." Kinuta said by way of greeting, jerking a thumb over his shoulder. "HQ is under attack by your friends."
Rindo's lackadaisical attitude was immediately zapped away as he climbed to his feet as well. For all the laziness and carefree attitude that Rindo presented on a daily basis, when things got serious so did he. He took a lot of situations easily because he found being serious all the time to be a real depressing way to live when he just wanted to enjoy his life, but that was not to say he couldn't get serious when the situation demanded it of him, and this week demanded all his attention. For someone who enjoyed a carefree lifestyle, the seriousness of the week was draining him but he would continue on despite that because his agents needed him. "Where is everyone?" He demanded.
"Konami-senpai and Reiji-san are defending the Research and Development floor while Jin-san went looking for Yuma since he says Mogami-san is going after him this time. The other agents were in the virtual combat rooms." Karasuma explained quickly, turning his attention to Shinoda. "Jin-san wanted you to get the operators set up as fast as possible."
Shinoda was already on his phone before Karasuma had even gotten halfway through his explanation. "Kido-san is still here most likely. Sawamura as well." Even though it was already nearing nine pm, very few of the directors would have left by now. Yuma was right when he called them workaholics. He wasn't sure if it was a good thing right now or not. While he had access to plenty of operators to help them in this current situation, HQ being directly attacked also put a lot of staff and the directors in danger. He needed the agents to focus on the enemy attack but he also couldn't leave his staff or the directors defenseless.
Getting the confirmation from Kyoko that she was still in the building and would head to the war room and get the operators online to assist the agents in the field, Shinoda put his phone away. "We're heading to the war room." He directed to Kinuta. While Shinoda would prefer helping his agents right now, he had all the confidence that they could handle this attack without him.
"Good thing you took a nap earlier. Your brain can function to make decisions now." Rindo said.
"And what are you going to do why I do all the work?" Shinoda retorted.
Rindo pulled his Trigger. "You get to the war room and get directions to the agents. I'll go find Kido-san."
"If you're good on your own," Karasuma pointed to the door. "I would like to go back up the others."
"Do you know where you're most needed?" Shinoda asked. "It would be just as well for you to come with me to the war room. Once I get a handle on the situation, I can know where the best place for you to be."
Karasuma hesitated for a second as he thought that over. It would be a waste of time to run around the base, but he was sure the attacks were currently locked into two locations with a possible third fight breaking out soon. "I understand that, but it would take just as much time to get to the war room and find the best spot to be before making my way there. That is just as much of a waste of time that could be used for me to be making my way to a fight." He replied, and Karasuma didn't want to waste his time. During Aftokrator's invasion, when Jin said he would die without contributing anything, he had felt so frustrated upon hearing that. He didn't want to bail out without having done anything to help so he kept out of the battles as much as possible while protecting the trainees alongside Osamu. He fought his hardest at the end so that it would mean something and, in the end, he had beat Jin's prophecy by forcing the enemy to make an attack that saved Miwa's life later on. It had helped propel them to a better future.
Every agent Border had actively moving in the field gave them more strength and the chance to beat Jin's prophecies. Not a single one of them would be taking this attack lightly so they would all be fighting their hardest to defend their base.
"You said Mogami-san was going after Yuma?" Rindo asked.
"That's what Jin-san said." Karasuma replied. It was a sharp contrast from the Aftokrator invasion where all the humanoid Neighbors had been focused on Chika and Osamu. This time the focus was on Yuma. One of the Mimics constantly targeted him while the other played the distraction. Ever since he met Yuma, Karasuma never thought for a moment that Yuma would ever need to be protected or saved. He always seemed so strong and ready to take on the world. This week had been a real eye opener that even the strongest people can falter. No matter how strong someone was, everyone needed help at some point.
Karasuma wanted to be there for his friends.
"Oh, thank you very much, Torimaru-senpai." Yuma said.
"Hey!" Konami protested loudly. "How come you're calling Torimaru 'senpai' from the beginning?!"
Karasuma glanced up from his notebook at Konami's loud shout. He had heard her complaining about how Yuma wouldn't call her senpai until she beat him in their first training session the other day. It really was just like her to get upset about that. Konami was the type to demand respect that she felt she was owed. "Maybe your brash personality put him off at first and he needed to see your strength before he could give you respect." Karasuma suggested.
"Brash?" Konami repeated offended. "And what? Your caring senpai act is a better way to get Yuma to like you?"
Yuma raised a brow.
"Clearly. Yuma has no problems with me." Karasuma teased.
"I don't have a problem with any of you." Yuma said before Konami could choke Karasuma. He truly didn't. In fact, he was growing quite fond of his mentor. The way she fought reminded him a lot of fighting styles in the Neighborhood so it was actually something he was quite used to and gave him quite a bit of comfort. It was the most familiar thing to him in this world that was so strange and different.
"Your better not." Konami retorted, roughly ruffling up Yuma's hair that he just managed to fix. "I'm the best mentor you could possibly ask for."
"Hmm? I thought Reiji-san would be the best. He actually knows how to train people while you and I just try to smash each other's heads in." Yuma pointed out.
Konami's brow twitched, but she couldn't really argue against that. She did tell Yuma from day one that she wasn't good at teaching. She learned best by actually fighting so that was how she trained Yuma. They truly just beat each other up. It was a good thing for her that Yuma was already a skilled fighter. "I'm going to go get a drink." She said before Yuma or Karasuma could come up with another way to insult her. "Do you want anything, Yuma?"
"You're not going to ask me if I want anything?" Karasuma asked.
"Get your own drink!" Konami retorted much to Karasuma's amusement. He didn't really want a drink. It was just amusing to see Konami already favoring her student and trying to get him to adore her in any way possible.
"I'm good." Yuma called after his mentor as she headed upstairs. Once she was gone, he turned his attention to Karasuma. "You know, it wasn't her brash attitude that had me not calling her 'senpai.'"
"I figured as much. It's just fun to tease her need to be respected." Karasuma replied, looking back at his notes as he tried to figure out how to train Osamu. With how weak he was and being that he knew very little, almost nothing, of fighting, this was going to be quite tricky. "She's very gullible so you'll find it easy to get her flustered."
"I saw with Jin-san the other day." Yuma said, grinning widely as he remembered Jin's lie about them being his siblings. That had come out of nowhere, but it really had been funny. The easy-going nature of the branch left him with a warm feeling that he didn't realize could exist amongst soldiers. The soldiers of Calvaria were never so relaxed.
"Is that why you kept 'senpai' off her name before? You wanted to make her mad?" Karasuma asked.
Making people mad was a good way to get them to forget themselves in battle and they were more likely to make mistakes and it was a tactic that Yuma used, but he honestly didn't know not giving Konami respect on her name would make her so mad at the time. He just ended up using it as a cover. "No." Yuma admitted, getting Karasuma to look up from his notebook in surprise. "I'm a Neighbor."
"I'm aware, Yuma. Jin-san and Boss explained your situation and why you're in Tamakoma to us after we met you guys the other day." Karasuma replied.
"My father was from Japan and he told me a lot about this place, but I'm still unfamiliar with a lot and make a lot of mistakes." Yuma explained, thinking back to the other day when he got hit by a car twice. "Osamu has been helping me with quite a bit, but I've only been in Japan for a few days." He scratched his cheek, a sheepish look on his face. "And I don't really understand honorifics that well. Osamu has been using them here and there so I've been attaching them where I feel it is appropriate and he's been guiding me through how to use them properly and when. 'Senpai' never came up though. Konami-senpai demanded it if she won so I attached it, but I'm still unsure."
"Ah," Karasuma nodded, finally understanding. There were a lot of honorifics to choose from and unless one knew what each meant, it could get confusing very fast. "Senpai is simply someone who is your senior in work or school. It is attached to someone who is above you and you tend to respect them. The opposite of it is 'kouhai' which is how Jin-san has been addressing you and your team. Kouhai is someone who is your junior but the word 'kouhai' doesn't get attached to your name like 'senpai' does."
Yuma tilted his head, looking quite confused. "Your language is so complicated. If 'senpai' is someone above you then why does 'san' exists? Wouldn't everyone older than me be Jin-senpai and Reiji-senpai?"
"Typically you would use 'san' when addressing someone politely but you aren't close to them, but it is also a sign of respect for who you are addressing so it works for Reiji-san and Jin-san, especially since they are much older than you. As for me and Konami-senpai, we are closer to your age but still older and are teaching you so you want to use 'senpai.'" Karasuma explained, trying to keep it as simple as possible. Even if Yuma didn't fully understand, if he could learn enough to figure out which one was the most appropriate to use in a situation by himself, he would be fine.
"Do I have to use honorifics for everyone or can I drop it with people my age?" Yuma said, thinking back to Kitora who he refused to use a honorific for. Her attitude really rubbed him the wrong way so he didn't feel the need to use one for her.
"If they are your age or you are close to them, you would be fine. If they are older than you, I would use caution. Make sure you are good friends and are comfortable with each other, even ask beforehand if you want to be really sure." Karasuma replied.
Yuma pressed a fist into his mouth as he thought it all over. "It sure is weird here."
Karasuma raised a brow. "How did you address people in the Neighborhood?"
"I typically just used their first names."
"Even to those older than you?"
"I guess..." Yuma tilted his head in thought. "With most of the adults, yes. There were a few I didn't, but that was with Generals and stuff. I was more wary around them."
Generals...? Karasuma's brows rose even higher. He knew the Neighborhood had a lot of wars, but what was Yuma doing around military Generals? He was only fifteen. Then again, Karasuma couldn't say Border was any different. They didn't have Generals, but directors and a lot of the agents were teenagers. He supposed it wasn't too strange of an idea if Yuma was spending time with militaries.
"The longer you are here, the easier it will come to you on how and when to use honorifics." Karasuma assured Yuma. "But maybe don't push anyone else by not giving them a honorific from the start. They might not all be as nice as Konami-senpai about it."
"Was that Konami-senpai being nice?" Yuma asked amused. "She's been riled up since the day we met."
"She's very excitable, but she's not just a gullible, ready to throw down all the time person. There is more to her and as long as you're with us, you'll get to see that." Karasuma replied.
"As long as I'm here?" Yuma repeated wistfully.
Karasuma glanced back at Yuma and found himself surprised at the longing expression on his face. "As long as you want to be here." He corrected himself. "Whether that be a month or for years, you can always be a Tamakoma agent. You only have to leave when you want to."
That, at least, managed to get a smile out of Yuma before he was distracted with Konami loudly making her way back into the training room.
Karasuma had always thought he had made a mistake with his words back then. He had thought Yuma had thought he was saying that for the time being while they let him in Tamakoma so he had changed his wording, but that hadn't been it. Yuma had been thinking about his impending death back then. His death had been hanging over his head since he was eleven. It was only natural that it would sneak its way into his mind and distract him at times.
How hard was it for Yuma to be happy and enjoy life while knowing that it would be ripped away from him sooner than all of his friends?
Yuma already had to live with the fact that he would die sooner than most. Karasuma wasn't willing to stand by and not help when something was trying to kill Yuma even faster than his already dying body was. With Shinoda and Rindo awake and ready to move, Karasuma wasn't needed here. Those who did need him were his own kouhais.
Shinoda smiled. "I understand. Usami will be here soon most likely. She can lead you to Tamakoma-2 if that is where you feel you need to be." Shinoda could not fault the Tamakoma agents who were constantly looking out for their own branch members. He was always quite fond of the loyalty the agents would show each other.
"It is." Karasuma said. He knew that was where Jin was already going, but Karasuma was certain that Reiji and Konami weren't going to need his help. They were likely about to finish up with the Trion Soldiers soon anyway.
*Mimics*
The sound of the room turning off and the door unlocking met Kazama's ears which told him that Suwa accomplished his goal, but that did nothing to get rid of the chains keeping the doors firmly shut. "You want to break those chains any time soon?" Kazama asked Tachikawa.
"Do you want to take care of this?" Tachikawa retorted.
"My Scorpion isn't going to break those chains." Kazama replied, not that Tachikawa's Kogetsu was doing much better. The chains weren't invincible as evident by the cracks that Tachikawa had managed to create in them but they certainly weren't easy to break. At this point though, with the room turned off by Suwa, there was no reason for Yugo to want to keep the door seal shut since he wouldn't be able to summon any more Trion Soldiers without wasting his own Trion now. The only reason for him to want to stay in there was to stall them from taking care of this. None of the agents could leave this room as that would give Yugo the chance to unleash his Trion Soldier army on the base if the agents left the room defenseless.
"Chibi's Black Trigger could break them easily."
"Perhaps more power is needed."
Kazama and Tachikawa looked over their shoulders to see Izumi standing a bit above them on the bleachers as he merged his bullets into one.
"As long as no one complains if I take the door down along with the chains." Izumi added.
"Wanton destruction." Arashiyama said.
"Get off your high horse, Arashiyama-san. This isn't the time for your honorable, prevent all types of property damage nature." Izumi retorted as his two Asteroids formed into his Gimlet that he split into its bullets. "You can try to avoid property damage all you like, but I'm not like you. I'll do anything to get the job done." That was his final word on the situation as he unleashed the Gimlet bullets through the space between Tachikawa and Kazama, aiming straight at the weakened cracks in the chain that Tachikawa had managed to create.
Izumi's Gimlet exploded upon contact against the chains and doors, leaving him smirking. "Besides, Tamakoma has done more damage to HQ than anyone else. I feel we have to catch up to their wanton destruction of our own base."
"Really not something to be proud of." Arashiyama replied.
"And yet," Izumi retorted as the door to the virtual training room fell to the ground with a loud thud. "It is so satisfying."
The moment those doors fell down, the swarm of Trion Soldiers that Yugo had managed to summon stormed the exit. With how big they were, they couldn't get out the door so the Rabits instead chose to open their mouths as a Bolt seal formed.
"You want to play?" Izumi asked as he formed his Viper and Meteor above his hands before he began to merge them together. "Tomahawk."
Izumi's Tomahawk bullets unleashed, twisting around Tachikawa and Kazama before heading towards the Rabits. His attack didn't hit the Rabits, but that hadn't been Izumi's goal. He simply wanted to prevent the Rabits from killing anyone with their Bolt bullets so his Tomahawk bullets slammed into the Bolt ones in the air before they could reach their top two attackers. The explosion of bullets damaged the walls of the training room enough that the Rabits were able to slam through the damaged walls and escape.
Tachikawa and Kazama jumped away from the training room and back up onto the bleachers.
Kazama stared into the training room where Yugo was standing in the center of the room, just relaxing with his army of black Trion Soldiers around him. With the amount of Trion Soldiers that he had summoned, it was going to be difficult to get to him, but they had to. If they left him alone to focus on the Trion Soldiers, he could just summon more Trion Soldiers or try to activate another training room and continue summoning Trion Soldiers to his side without wasting his Trion. "Kako, Arashiyama, take charge here. Tachikawa and I will take care of Kuga."
"Or you can take charge here and I can kill Kuga." Tachikawa suggested.
"Don't joke around. None of us can beat Kuga alone." Kazama scolded.
"If it gets him to stop complaining, I say let him solo him and get killed in a 'fair fight.'" Izumi said.
"And then you can join in right after and actually make an effort?" Tachikawa retorted.
Yep, his captain was annoyed that Izumi didn't try to make a move until after he had already bailed out the other day. To be fair, Izumi was still trying to get an understanding of the situation back when Yugo had first appeared and it didn't even truly matter since Izumi's attack did absolutely nothing.
"If you want to get to Kuga, we'll need to destroy this room and unleash the Trion Soldiers." Kako told Kazama.
Arashiyama sighed. He hated causing any kind of property damage, but he did understand that sometimes it just couldn't be helped. It was just because there was already enough destruction caused by their enemies that he felt the agents shouldn't run around and cause destruction so openly. So many times his allies just destroyed buildings and walls with no thought of the consequences. At the very least, most of the time they were in the Restricted Zone so they weren't affecting the livelihood of the civilians by destroying their homes.
"Do whatever it takes to clear the path for us." Kazama replied. While Izumi and the Rabits' clash of bullets had destroyed some of the walls of the training room, it wasn't enough to get the Trion Soldiers all out. They were shoving against each other to get out.
"Do you want to take this, Arashiyama-kun?" Kako asked with a teasing grin that didn't fit the serious situation, but she was always the type to be lighthearted in any situation. Even so, under her easy smile was a seriousness that she didn't often show. She may give a light attitude, but she never took a single attack against them lightly.
Arashiyama gave her a look of disbelief.
"No? Then what about Mizukami-kun and Izumi-kun?" Kako requested.
"The walls are going down either way." Mizukami said as he and Izumi both activated their Meteors. "You shouldn't be so uptight about this, Arashiyama-san."
"Bet I can destroy one of them while bringing the walls down." Izumi challenged Mizukami.
Mizukami gave Izumi a look, but didn't deem his statement worth a reply. Izumi's attacks tended to have more power since he had more Trion to add to the power of his bullets. If anyone was going to be able to break through the black Trion Soldiers' armor in here, it was going to be Izumi.
Their Meteors fired at the same time, but headed for different sides of the door that Izumi had already destroyed so they could fully open up the walls to allow the Trion Soldiers to come out.
"Don't let them escape the room. We can't risk the safety of the staff still here." Arashiyama ordered.
"Roger!" Shun and Yoneya shouted.
"We'll cover the doors." Arafune promised over his comms as he, Kodera, and Satori got themselves set up on the balcony.
"You'll have a hard time stopping them with just Egret." Kodera warned as he summoned his Ibis. Having dealt with the black Trion Soldiers the other day, he already knew not to waste his Trion or time by using his Egret. Unfortunately, neither Satori nor Arafune had an Ibis as they both relied only on Egret. They were going to have to make do though.
"Their weak spot is their eye." Arafune replied. "If I aim there, I'll be fine."
"They all have shields so it won't be that easy." Shun said over the comms.
"Then you best stay around to back us up, Midorikawa." Arafune retorted. "Don't go getting killed again."
Shun made an offended noise at that. The only reason he had been bailing out so much this week was because of Kuga Yugo. Not once has he bailed out because he was fighting Trion Soldiers. "Why don't you try fighting Kuga Yugo and see how you fare against him?"
Arafune looked through his scope at Shun who was now engaged in combat with a Rabit with Yoneya and Izumi at his side.
"No, this is your fight, Yoneyan-senpai. I said I would take the Marmods this time." Shun complained as he used a Grasshopper to fling himself into the air above the Rabit's punch.
"It seems the Rabits would disagree." Yoneya retorted as he backed up the bleachers to get some distance from the Rabit as Izumi's Asteroid fired at the Rabit's back. "You're stuck with us."
Izumi's bullets were strong enough to weaken the armor of the Rabit which Shun and Yoneya used as the chance to move in on it. Shun came down from the air, slashing at the Rabit with his Scorpion to break through the damage that Izumi caused before he was getting flung away. With the Rabit distracted from Izumi and Shun, Yoneya saw his opening and activated his Senku. He managed to slash five times in quick succession before the Rabit even knew what was happening. Each of his slashes tore through the openings in the armor that Shun and Izumi gave him.
"So that's one point for me." Yoneya said as the Rabit fell on the ground, unmoving.
"Excuse you?" Izumi retorted as Shun landed neatly by him having righted himself from getting flung by the Rabit. "You took the easy part of that."
"You and Midorikawa can have an assist point if it makes you feel better, but I killed it."
"Oh? Are we keeping score?" Kako asked amused with her Hound activated at her side as she eyed the Marmods making their way up the bleachers. Futaba's Idaten zapped her around the Marmod's blades while she slashed at it. Against that armor, her Kogetsu couldn't break through completely but the damage it did do was enough for Kako to fire her Hound, directing her bullets straight for the cuts that Futaba gave it. Even if the armor was crazy thick, it wasn't indestructible so they just had to keep chipping away at it until they could destroy them completely.
Raining bullets came crashing down on the Marmods that Kako and Futaba had been focusing on. Even with the Shields that that Marmods had put up to defend themselves, the amount of bullets crashing down on them just ripped through their Shields and then continued on to rip through the armor.
"Could you guys please stop treating it like a game?" Kakizaki asked as his team continued to unleash their barrage of Asteroid on the Marmods as they refused to let up until their bullets ripped all the way through the armor and left the enemy dead on the floor.
*Mimics*
"Keep yelling at the kids like that and you're going to have a very wrinkly, scary face before you're thirty."
Kido's brow twitched in annoyance at the cheerful voice behind him. "I wouldn't have to be scolding them all the time if our commander-in-chief actually did his job and led." He spun around to glare at Yugo who was standing on the other side of the counter, grinning at him.
"It was an accident. Masafumi-kun didn't mean to cut your car in half."
"Accident or not, he still needs to learn responsibility and accept the consequences of his actions." Kido retorted. "If you continue to brush off their mistakes like this, they aren't going to listen to you when you really need them to."
"If I try to tell them to not do something, that will just make them want to do it even more. It's better for them to make their own mistakes and learn from them."
"And how will they learn anything when you don't lecture them?" Kido argued as he turned back to the coffee machine to see if it was finished brewing.
"Getting arrested seems like a good way for them to learn something."
Kido and Yugo looked towards the doorway of the room with disbelieving looks.
"Why is that where your mind went?" Yugo asked.
Mogami jerked his thumb over his shoulder. "There's a police officer at the door wanting to return Takumi-kun and Masafumi-kun to us."
Yugo averted his eyes to the ceiling as Kido turned an 'I told you so' look towards him. "Getting arrested is technically a consequence that they can learn from."
Kido slammed a mug on the counter, scowling over at his friend. "You teach consequences before they get severe enough to cause them trouble in the real world. You don't just throw them into the real world and tell them to get out of any trouble they find themselves in. They are children that we are allowing to carry weapons. It's on us to teach them responsibility. No one should have allowed you to be in charge of children."
"Geez, you're uptight." Yugo muttered.
"You're twenty-two, Kuga. At some point, you're going to need to learn how to properly discipline your subordinates." Kido snapped. "Before someone ends up getting hurt. Before the consequences are too severe and if you can't teach them to think before they act, then you're going to need to learn to take responsibility for their mistakes."
"When Yuma was a child, he was severely injured by a Black Trigger assassin. To save his life, Kuga-san created a Black Trigger and sealed Yuma's dying body inside of it. In doing so, he created a Trion body for Yuma to live in, but that body is beginning to break." Rindo explained.
Familiar red eyes full of intensity stared Kido down. Every time that Kido had to have a meeting with Yuma, he was reminded each time of Yugo. Yugo was easy going and lighthearted sometimes, but when it was needed of him, especially in combat, he was easily able to strike fear into everyone by simply staring at them. The cold, focused expression of a warrior was one that Kido was used to seeing from his friend and it was obvious to him that Yugo taught the same expression to Yuma. When he was serious, he was just as hard to read as Yugo was. It was an expression that didn't fit on such a young child's face, but that cold focus was something Kido was getting used to seeing from children who shouldn't have to be throwing themselves in the lives of soldiers. The serious expressions he got from his agents was nothing compared to the cold, calculating look in Yuma's eyes. Those were the eyes of someone who had seen so much, done so many horrible things, and of one who didn't trust easily.
Kido never asked Yuma what happened to him or his father because he never needed to. A child full of strength and a cold attitude that was ready to do anything to protect himself wasn't born that way. Having been to the Neighborhood before, Kido could say with absolute certainty that Kuga Yuma was a product of war and misery.
He was the product of growing up through hell.
"A Black Trigger assassin." Rindo's voice repeated in Kido's mind.
Why would Yugo let his son near an assassin?
Kido scoffed to himself. As much as Kido scolded Yugo when they were younger for his careless ways of mentoring, he didn't believe for a second that Yugo would ever let a child near a Black Trigger assassin. It was more likely Yugo's lack of discipline led to the outcome of Yuma getting hurt and Yugo giving everything to save his son's life. Yugo and him always argued around the ways to teach responsibility and consequences of actions and it seemed Yugo's way finally revealed why it was going to fail him. He accepted the responsibility of it by giving up his life in a situation that should have never happened to begin with.
"Osamu! You can stop dragging me. I'm following you."
"Oh, sorry, Kuga. I forgot I was dragging you."
"How do you forget you have a vicelike grip on someone?" Hyuse wondered.
Kido looked up at the group of agents that had suddenly rounded the corner to walk down the hall he was making his way through. Tamakoma. They always seemed to just show up. He had assumed they would still be in the solo rank booths having their little party that he had no doubt was instigated by Tamakoma. If they had left that room, they better have cleaned it up or Kido really was going to get after the agents for having a party in HQ.
"He probably got lost in his head." Kitora said, but her eyes were focusing forward to catch Kido's eyes. "Commander Kido. It's not safe out here. HQ is under attack."
"Is it now?" Kido asked calmly. With how often their headquarters had been attacked this year, Kido couldn't find it in him to be surprised at yet another attack, especially when it was Yugo and Mogami currently being the enemy. He wouldn't call either of them reckless fighters as neither were. In fact, both of them were quite strategic, cunning, and careful fighters but with their strength there was a mix of confidence in there that allowed them to be quite daring with their plans.
"And it seems they broke the Trion barrier as Kuga-san is able to open his Gates again." Tokieda added.
It was one thing if it was just Yugo and Mogami running around HQ as they clearly would keep their focus on the agents, but if Yugo was opening Gates, that put everyone inside the building at risk. "I see, and where are you going?"
"Kazama-senpai told us to get Kuga to safety." Osamu said which got Yuma to wrinkle his nose in distaste. He quite hated having to be protected like this.
A frustrated expression at not being able to do anything. That was an expression that belonged solely to Yuma. For as long as Kido knew Yugo, which was a long time, he had never seen Yugo not in control. He might goof off and argue with Kido about how to mentor his students, but frustration and anger didn't exist within him as he had great control of his emotions and his strength meant nothing ever made him falter.
Though, perhaps, that was only the Kuga Yugo that Kido remembered. He remembered the fighter, the Commander-in-Chief, the one who always had a plan. Though Yugo was always Yugo, there was a difference between being a soldier and being a father. Each role required something different so the father version of Kuga Yugo that Kido had never met was one that he couldn't understand.
"The safest place to head to would be the war room right now." Kido said.
"That's where Shinoda-san takes charge of the agents when we're in an attack. I don't believe it's a good idea for us to all gather in the same room." Yuma argued.
"Mogami and Kuga don't care about any of us. They only want to get your ring. The rest of this attack is just a distraction." Hyuse pointed out.
"I know that." Yuma retorted, turning on his partner. "Mogami and Dad are coming for me for the ring which is why it's not a good to lead them to the war room when Shinoda-san is trying to focus on the attack we're currently in."
"So, what would you suggest, Agent Kuga?" Kido replied sharply. "Allowing yourself to be targeted?"
Yuma's jaw twitched in frustration. "I never said that. I'm not going to let myself get killed, but I won't put the directors in danger alongside me."
Before anymore could be discussed about what to do, footsteps accompanied by a scraping noise met the agents' ears. There wasn't any time for any of the agents to look over their shoulders to see what it was, but there wasn't any need for them to. The real question was why he gave them a warning at all by dragging his sword along the ground.
Yuma reacted before the others by throwing himself between Osamu and Hyuse to get to Kido. He was not like Osamu or the other agents. He could be respectful but in a situation like this, respect went out of the window when lives were on the line which was why he was tackling Kido around the waist while Osamu and the others were twisting around as they threw up Shields against the Senku slashes that Mogami was flinging as he pulled his Kogetsu up from the ground he was dragging it against. Doing it this way, the Senku slashes tore through the floor towards them, causing it to crumble under their feet and sharp gasps escaping them as their feet left the ground.
Having tackled Kido away from the attack, Yuma pushed himself up on his hands, barely sparing a glance at Kido lying on the ground under him as he looked over his shoulder to see the hole in the ground that Mogami had created. His friends had fallen down to the floor below them, but that would only stall them for a few seconds.
A few seconds was all an experienced fighter needed though.
Kido closed his eyes briefly before opening them back up as he got his bearings back after being tackled by a child. He shifted his eyes to Yuma, but could only see half of his face. Since he had turned his head to look Mogami, the side of his face towards Kido was the injured side that had an eye missing. Even as injured as he was, there was no hesitance in Yuma's actions nor was his reaction time slowed down at all. Yuma moving to push Kido out of the way of the attack had also been a surprise. Kido made it clear from the beginning that he didn't trust Neighbors and though Yuma gave him and the other directors respect, that didn't mean he dropped the wariness around them. He was always cautious and watching them carefully when he had to meet with them.
And yet, he was the first one to move to Kido's side. Part of that was because Kido knew for certain that Yuma's reaction time was the fastest among the group of agents here. In fact, this kid likely had one of the top reaction speeds among all the agents which to Kido was simply a sign of the hard life that Yuma had to lead. It was like Konami and Jin. They had such great speed and reaction times because they've been in real wars. Training only did so much to teach experience. It was real life situations where fighters could learn so much more.
The experiences he got in the Neighborhood gave Yuma his strength, but it didn't give him the loyalty to defend a commander he didn't fully trust. The loyalty in Yuma was likely something engrained in him by his father, but it was Yuma's choice to determine who deserved his loyalty. Was it because he was the commander who agreed to give Yuma protection in Border as long as he followed their rules that made Yuma want to keep him safe?
Staring across the hole, Yuma met Mogami's eyes as he stared back at Yuma. He had used his Kogetsu for his initial attack but Fujin was held in his other hand and already had its wind blades activated.
Mogami took a step forward and as his foot hit the ground, his Escudo activated and spread over the hole he just created to seal it shut. It not only prevented Osamu and the others from jumping back up here once they got their footing back from that fall, but it also gave Mogami a walkway to approach his target and old friend.
Mogami looked down at Yuma and Kido with an easy smile. "Geez, Kido, you look rough. What happened to your face?" He asked. It really was strange to see his friend looking so much older than he last remembered and now with an added scar to his face.
Yuma pushed off the floor and turned to face Mogami, standing over Kido.
This was only the second time that Mogami had gotten to meet Yuma and the first time he barely remembered as he had just arrived in Mikado City. He saw Yuma that night, but was more focused with getting away with Yugo as he tried to get his bearings back.
Now, though, he was entirely focused on this child of his old friend. This child who didn't share many physical features of his father so he most likely got looks from his mother, but the eyes. The eyes were an exact copy of Yugo.
It was in the facial expressions of standing up against adversary without a trace of fear.
In the stubborn set frown.
In the calculating look in his eye.
In the tensioning of his muscles as he got ready.
The physical features of Yugo weren't there, but the attitude and strength were.
"What a brave face. Even when completely outmatched." Mogami said amused. "I know you can't use your Trigger right now, Yuma."
Even when Mogami took a step towards him, Yuma didn't flinch back. He didn't have a weapon and had no way to defend himself, but facing Mogami like this was a whole lot easier than facing his father. There were so many memories that Yuma shared with Yugo, so much love and affection that when Yugo's hatred and anger were turned towards Yuma, it caused Yuma to flinch because it was something he never received from Yugo. He couldn't separate the Mimic from Yugo so his mind was a jumbled mess, but the same issue didn't exist with Mogami because Yuma didn't know Mogami beyond the stories he got of him from his father and Jin.
A hand planted itself on Yuma's shoulder, surprising him as he was yanked backwards. Yuma found himself blinking in surprise as Kido stepped in front of him to face his friend directly. Yuma's muscles tightened up as he leaned pass Kido to eye Mogami warily as he waited for an attack from him. He knew the directors had Triggers they used for defense during attacks, but he had no idea if Kido had his activated or not.
"I never thought there would ever be a day I was disappointed to have been yours and Kuga's friend." Kido said, glaring at his old friend. This was his first-time coming face to face with one of the transformed Mimics and it was truly off putting just how real the Trion Soldier looked to his real friend.
"You really going to blame us for becoming slaves to Meraki?" Mogami replied, taking a step towards Kido. Behind Kido, he saw Yuma shifting at his movement as if getting ready to retaliate. Even without a weapon at his side, Yuma was still revving to fight. It was foolish but it was a sense of loyalty that reminded Mogami of Yugo.
"I'm blaming you for not trying harder to resist. I don't recall my friends being this weak-minded and pathetic." Kido retorted before he was suddenly twisting around and wrapping his arms around a surprised Yuma and flinging them both to the ground.
At the same time that Kido moved, Mogami had been jumping away from them as well just as bullets tore through the ground where they had all just been standing. As the bullets ripped into the hall, they twisted in the air to follow Mogami down the hall. In response to the bullets aiming to kill him, Mogami swung Fujin a few times and sent his wind blades flying to strike the bullets down.
On the other side of the hall, Yuma found himself staring at Kido's chest as Kido returned the favor by throwing Yuma out of danger this time. With how fragile his body was right now from the lack of Trion, Yuma expected damage from getting tackled like that, but was surprised when he didn't feel anything. That more likely had to do with the fact that Kido had wrapped his arms around the back of Yuma's head and his torso so his arms took the brunt of the fall even though Yuma was the one to hit the ground first.
Yuma pushed himself up on his elbows and looked over Kido's shoulder to see Mogami distracted with the Viper bullets. At the edge of Kido's feet was the floor beginning to crumble away where the Viper had torn through it. "How did you know that was coming?"
"Your operator is in my ear." Kido said.
"Shiori-chan?" If Kido was hearing Shiori shout a warning at him to get out of the way, he had to be in a Trion body right now.
Kido released his hold on Yuma and turned to get out of his space, sitting on the ground so he could watch his friend retreating down the hall as he fought the Viper bullets.
A wire shot up from the floor below to connect to the ceiling above them. The wire retracting allowed Kitora to pull herself up to this floor. She swung herself over the hole and landed by Kido and Yuma as she released her gun from the wire so she could store it back by her side. A second later, Hyuse, Osamu, and Tokieda came flying up from the hole, likely from one of Hyuse's Escudos. They landed on the Escudo floor that Mogami had created earlier. Well, Tokieda and Hyuse landed while Osamu stumbled and landed on his hands and knees. He couldn't even handle Grasshopper so he definitely wasn't going to land neatly while being flung by an Escudo.
"Are you okay?" Osamu asked.
"Just fine. Nice aim with the Viper, Hyuse." Yuma complimented.
"Shiori guided me." Hyuse admitted as he wasn't going to take all the credit. Had Shiori not connected to their comms when she did, he was going to aim blindly up into the ceiling just to break through it and get them back to that level.
"Were you just going to blow us away too if she didn't arrive in time?" Yuma demanded.
"Don't be an idiot. I know which side of the hall you threw yourself on. If Shiori didn't manage to guide me where to shoot, I was going to destroy the other side of the hall." Hyuse retorted as he grabbed the hilt of his Kogetsu. "It should have been an easy kill shot since he couldn't see us. That ability to sense Trion that is coming at him is really annoying. Yuma, you would be in the way here and make it easier for Mogami to get your ring so you need to leave."
Yuma's cheeks puffed up in frustration before he breathed out slowly. Hyuse wasn't wrong so he wasn't mad at him for stating the facts, but he was mad at himself for not being able to fight. He was really hating this whole having to be 'protected' thing that was going on. There was no shame in running away when it was the safest option, especially when he couldn't fight, but it was so aggravating that it was all he was able to do for days on end.
Kitora looked pass the boys to eye Mogami who was down the hall. He had successfully escaped all of Hyuse's Viper bullets and was very likely going to make his counterattack within the next few seconds. Her eyes flickered to Fujin in his hands. If she was able to get her hands on that blade, maybe she could turn the tides in the favor...
No, she couldn't. Fujin was already damaged, and it was likely getting more and more damaged as Mogami kept using it. Even if they got it back, they would likely just break it if they tried to use it to stop Yugo and Mogami.
Osamu glanced over his shoulder at Yuma. Kazama had told him to get Yuma to safety, which they were currently failing at with Mogami already having tracked them down. All they could do now was stall Mogami while Kido and Yuma left the area, but he didn't think it would be a good idea to let them leave without any protection. Hyuse would be better equipped at fighting here than acting as a guard, but Osamu couldn't let him try to take on Mogami alone and Hyuse would be better at fighting with someone he had trained alongside with so Osamu would stay as well.
"Kitora-"
"I'll stay with Commander Kido and Kuga-kun." Kitora finished Osamu's request. She would prefer to stay to fight, but no task was insignificant. It was just as important to protect their commander and help their ally who was the one actually being targeted right now.
"I'll go with her." Tokieda added. It would be better to throw more of their power at Mogami, but there was no telling what the others would run into when they left here. It was possible one fighter wouldn't be enough and there was also the fact that Tokieda wanted to make up for his failure the other day. Arashiyama had asked him to protect Yuma and he had failed almost immediately, and since then, it has been utter chaos. Tokieda was going to make up for that.
"Thank you." Osamu said gratefully.
"Just doing our job." Kitora replied.
Tokieda turned his back on the approaching Mogami and jumped over the hole to land by Yuma. As he landed, Hyuse put his hand on the wall next to him and activated his Escudo, creating a barrier on the other side of the hole to block off that group.
Mogami responded by swinging his Kogetsu towards them. Having studied Border's Triggers enough and seen enough Kogetsu users in the rank wars, Osamu was already throwing himself forward with his Raygust in Shield mode raised to defend against the Senku slash coming their way.
"Are you doing the dirty work for Kuga-san now?" Osamu asked.
"It would be cruel to ask the father to be the one to kill his own son." Mogami said by way of answer.
Osamu lowered his Raygust slightly to get a better look at the Border founder standing a few feet away from him. The confident posture, Fujin in his hand, the slicked back hair, the sunglasses resting around his neck. It truly felt like he was staring at a copy of an older Jin. It was easy to see where Jin picked up his mannerism and how he copied some of his mentor's traits. Was that because of his great respect for his mentor or was it from the grief of losing him that he ended up copying things about Mogami so he wouldn't forget them?
Kazama pointed towards where Yuma was sitting in the bleachers. "In exchange for the enlistment of him, Jin offered his Black Trigger to HQ."
"Jin-san held onto Fujin for years. He became S-Rank just so he could protect your memento." Osamu replied. "But he gave it all up to protect Kuga a few months ago. He chose a living friend over the dead mentor he loved so much, and I don't believe he made that choice lightly. I do believe though, that Jin-san respected you a lot and took into account who his mentor was when he made that choice. It was an action I'm sure you would have respected that he did, but here you are, throwing it all in his face by trying to kill the person Jin-san wanted to protect when he gave up Fujin in the first place."
"Jin's past actions do not define my current actions. I am here for myself." Mogami replied, even though that wasn't completely true. He truly didn't want to be going after Yuma, but when it was between Yugo and Yuma, he had to choose Yugo, his partner. It wasn't the option he wanted nor was it what Yugo wanted, but Meraki didn't care about the feelings of the dead when they designed these Mimics. They only thought about themselves.
"You're here because Meraki demands it of you." Hyuse retorted sharply. "There's a difference between doing something because you want to and because you are being forced to. You're not here for yourself. If you were, you wouldn't be attacking us right now."
Mogami's glare sharpened on the two agents. "I didn't come here to debate my actions with a bunch of children." It was constant from these agents every time he engaged with them. They felt the need to argue and debate with him about the actions he took. It didn't matter what any of them said. He knew he didn't want to be doing this. A constant reminder from the agents wasn't what he needed because it wasn't going to change anything. "Nor did I come here to fight anyone so if you step aside, I'll allow you to live."
Hyuse scoffed. "You're not just going after a Border agent that is our ally. You're going after our teammate so if you think we're just going to stand by and let that happen, then I really don't understand the respect Jin has for you."
Osamu stepped back to be next to Hyuse again, eyeing his teammate out of the corner of his eye. The loyalty that Hyuse was showing to their team was impressive if Osamu considered the fact that he knew from Enedora that it was very likely that Hyrein told Hyuse of a plan where they would kill Enedora while on the mission to invade Mikado City. Hyuse was willing to throw his ally under the bus then, so it was surprising to see him doing the reverse and actively showing this loyalty. Osamu was certain that this loyalty only went so far though. Hyuse didn't have complete trust in Border which was a completely understandable feeling, but he had made a promise to Tamakoma-2 and he intended to keep it. With that promise came the complete loyalty he would offer to this team to fulfill that promise.
"Any tips about fighting Fujin?" Hyuse asked Osamu.
"None that I know. I've never seen it used until Mogami-san got a hold of it." Osamu replied. They were truly in a bad spot to be fighting Mogami. The floor was just a giant hole at this point. They had the one Mogami created and then the one Hyuse created and right now, they were standing on Mogami's Escudos with another hole behind them so they had nowhere to back up to. If he wanted to, Mogami could deactivate his Escudo at any point and send them falling back down to the next floor. They needed to move this fight to more reliable ground.
"Close combat!"
Osamu's eyes widened in surprise. "Jin-san?"
"I connected him to you. He is on his way towards your position." Shiori explained.
"Fujin is better at long range. If you fight in close range, he won't be able to use the wind blades as easily. It will also prevent his Senku slashes."
Understanding the tip from Jin, who would know the best about Fujin since he was the wielder of it for so long, Hyuse charged directly at Mogami. It was to get as close to him as fast as possible but also so he couldn't see the Viper cube that Hyuse had left behind.
"Any risk of Trion Soldiers getting in our way?" Osamu asked.
"There's always a risk."
With just him and Hyuse here right now, they really didn't need any Trion Soldiers showing up as well. Trion Soldiers on top of Mogami would make this a next to an impossible fight. They couldn't afford to get distracted from Mogami.
Osamu chased after Hyuse, being just a few steps behind him. Hyuse tried to hide his Viper by being right in front of it so he could force Mogami to keep his attention on him, but being a Mimic that could sense Trion, Osamu was sure that Mogami was already preparing for the Viper bullets.
Mogami redirected Hyuse's Kogetsu with his own Kogetsu, knocking them both downwards. Hyuse didn't let that deter him as he twisted to the side to give Osamu the space he needed to slash at Mogami. To his and Hyuse's surprise though, a wind blade came down from the ceiling to chop Osamu's arm off before Raygust could reach. Seeing Fujin moving out of the corner of his eye, Osamu jumped back to escape while Hyuse ripped his Kogetsu free and brought it up to block Fujin before it could swing completely. His heel kicked backwards to hit Raygust's hilt that Osamu had dropped so he could fling it back to his captain. Osamu caught it in the hand he had left and reactivated it.
Hyuse slashed at Mogami again, clashing with his Kogetsu and this time, he was the one to twist their blades away as he moved out of the way for his Viper bullets to fire upon Mogami. Unfortunately, like he already guessed would happen, there was nothing he could do to make a surprise attack against Mogami who was activating a wall of Escudos behind the agents to prevent the Viper bullets from reaching him.
Mogami broke away from Hyuse and jumped backwards, but Hyuse didn't relent and kept following after him while continuously attacking him to force Mogami on the defensive as much as he could. Since Mogami had two swords while Hyuse only had one, he was only using Kogetsu to block Hyuse. He left Fujin open to either attempt to use wind blades or if Osamu made a move.
This was not the reason that Mogami entered HQ. There were two jobs assigned to him when this mission started. Destroy the Trion barrier and steal the Black Trigger from Yuma. Agents were always going to be an obstacle when they invaded the base, but spending the effort to kill them was not something he had time for. The longer they wasted on this, the more time the agents had to regroup and retaliate. If they gave the agents too much time, this was going to turn into a failure of events. Not to mention, Mogami had no doubt that Jin was racing to find him to prevent him from getting to Yuma and stealing the Black Trigger.
Fighting these two was just going to be a waste of his time and end up hindering him, but his path to Yuma was behind them. He needed to get pass them before Jin could join up with them. If Jin arrived and got in his path, then this would turn into a pointless endeavor.
He would have better luck and it would be faster to just go around the agents blocking his path so, he might as well.
*Mimics*
A wall of Escudos popping up to block his view of his team had Yuma closing his eyes in frustration. Someone had to stay and distract Mogami and it was true that Yuma was the worst person possible for that role. Staying here would only distract Osamu and Hyuse since he couldn't defend himself but that didn't mean he wasn't allowed to feel annoyed at how useless he was currently.
"We need to move." Kitora said, eyeing the Escudos that Hyuse had put up. Escudos had great durability, but they weren't invincible. Mogami could easily cut them down if he wanted to.
"To the war room?" Tokieda suggested.
"That's still a bad idea." Yuma argued.
"I would disagree. Shinoda-san is there. There is no safest place in HQ right now." Tokieda protested. "Mogami-san isn't targeting them so he won't go to them unless you are with him because he won't want to deal with him when he just wants the Black Trigger so it will force his hand."
"Dad and Mogami have already proven they aren't easy to beat. Even Shinoda-san couldn't win." Yuma replied. And it really wasn't a good idea to distract their commander when there was an attack happening in HQ.
"Even if he can't win, he is a better option than just running around." Kitora replied. It hurt to admit that it was likely they couldn't win either. It's not that they were going to give up the fight, but they have had a constant string of losses against Yugo and Mogami these past few days. That made it easy to get disheartened. "Besides, we have to go there anyway to get Commander Kido there safely."
Why was everyone so damn selfless? Ever since Yugo died, Yuma had chosen to look out for himself. He offered his help to Calvaria and when doing that, he gave his all to help them in the war. It was the same for Border now that he was an agent. While he didn't fully trust Border, particularly the higher ups, as one of their agents, he would give his all to helping the organization. Despite that, it didn't mean Yuma would put them above his own self-wellbeing. There was a need to watch out for himself and others should do the same. Getting hurt or killed by trying to do too much for someone else was just a way to cause more victims.
Yuma didn't ask for their protection, and yet, everyone was offering it so freely. To be fair, Yuma did need it as he couldn't keep himself safe and there was no shame in relying on allies. He just hated that they had to put in all the work while he just constantly had to step back. He was constantly throwing his allies in front of him to keep the enemies off of him while he sat around doing nothing. He didn't want to do that anymore. He didn't want to purposefully choose to lead the enemy to his allies.
What had become of him?
It was so stupidly selfless of him.
Choosing to go away from his allies to keep them safe which would put himself in more danger since he couldn't fight right now? When did he begin to learn to make that kind of selfless choice? It was probably all Osamu's fault with the influence he had on Yuma.
"It's a waste of time to debate it here. We need to get away from Mogami." Kido said as he rose to his feet.
"Is that an order? To go to the war room?" Yuma asked.
"If it has to be." Kido stared down at Yuma. When it came to things that truly mattered, Yuma was quite like his father in that he did what he thought was the best course of action for any situation. Not accounting the current week where Yuma's mental state was full of stress, hesitation did not exist in the Kuga family. They didn't tend to overthink the matters. When the situation was severe enough, they acted. Yuma did his best to follow the orders given to him, but previous orders be damned when lives were on the line.
"Even if you don't like it, Yuma, it will be better than staying here. We can figure something else out once we're there." Tokieda pointed out.
An explosion shook the fragile ground under them, drawing all their eyes back to the wall of Escudos. It seemed Hyuse and Osamu were wasting no time in starting their fight.
"Let's move." Yuma said, consenting to the decision. Not that it would matter if he consented or not. It was the order from Kido so he had to head to the war room for now anyway.
*Mimics*
Jin turned sharply down the corner. According to Shiori, Tamakoma-2 was on this floor with Mogami in their path. Even as he ran down the hall towards the hallway they were fighting in, the windows of the future kept popping up in front of his eyes. He needed to see as many paths as possible before he got engaged in a battle and had to shift all his focus there.
Now that Mogami held Fujin and was becoming more real with each passing hour, his future was as clear to Jin as any of his friends' futures. There were so many different paths that Mogami could go down and it all depended on how he decided to move and if he could get pass the agents.
More importantly than that though...
Jin broke his stride by changing into sliding on the ground to avoid having his head chopped off by a wind blade that came out of the adjacent hall that he had just reached. Following the wind blade was the sound of a collapsing ground. Jin didn't even need to look down the hall to know what had happened.
He had already seen this future coming.
Mogami had no reason to fight them. In fact, it was a waste of his time and Trion to fight them when none of them were his target. He wouldn't want to spend all his time focused on fighting them. Mogami wasn't the one charged with being the distraction this time. That role was handed off to Yugo while Mogami went for Yuma instead. It made sense that Mogami would want to avoid confrontation when it wasn't his goal. That part was quite similar to his real mentor.
Avoiding unnecessary fights.
Of course, only Mogami saw this fight as unnecessary.
Jin pushed himself up to his knees and looked down the hall to see the destroyed floor that Mogami had created so he could disappear to the floor below while a wall of Escudos blocked the hallway from the floor and ceiling. His eyes focused on the arm holding a Kogetsu that was trapped between two of the Escudos. At least Mogami didn't get his whole body.
Jin put a hand up to his comms. "I told you to stay in close combat with him."
A loud metal sound clanged in the air, indicating that someone had hit the Escudo on the other side of it.
"Shut up." Hyuse snarled. "He doesn't exactly make that easy when he keeps pushing us back with his Escudos." Escudo had a great amount of defense and could be helpful in so many ways that weren't just about defending from attacks. Hyuse learned just how annoying Escudo could be when used against an enemy back when he fought Jin. He saw it as a good Trigger to have when he joined Border and now he got to face the frustration of it being used against him again.
"He went to the floor below. He wants to avoid conflict with us as much as possible." Jin said.
"We can get down there from over here, but Hyuse and I are both down an arm." Osamu replied.
"I also need my Kogetsu back." Hyuse added.
"I'll get it." Jin said. "And then meet up with you. Yuma is with Kido-san, right?"
"And Kitora and Tokieda-senpai." Osamu said. "They're heading for the war room where Shinoda-san should be at."
Jin yanked Hyuse's Kogetsu from his dismembered arm in the Escudos. "Unfortunately, they're not going to make it."
"We just need to get to Mogami-san before he reaches them." Osamu said confused.
It was easy to say that, but it wasn't easy to achieve. It was already well known that HQ was under attack so the only reason for Mogami to want to stealth around HQ was to avoid getting into any conflicts with agents when all he wanted was to get to Yuma. Stealthing took more time though and with Mogami knowing about Jin's side effect to see the future, he would see no point in trying to be sneaky. He was just going to plow through until he got to Yuma.
The danger there was because there were more than just agents in HQ right now. Directors, engineers, operators. Jin didn't want to believe his mentor would hurt anyone who stepped in his path, but he did just try to kill the engineers to distract Jin earlier. This would be a lot easier if there weren't so many workaholics here who stayed late to work on projects.