Mimics

by Fallen Crest

Trion soldiers with the ability to transform into deceased loved ones have made their way to Japan. Border will have to face their worse enemy yet...the ones who created Border: Mogami Soichi and Kuga Yugo. In the face of Mogami and Yugo, can Jin and Yuma find the strength to destroy the ones they already loss once before?

60. Chapter 60: Preparation

A/N: I don't own World Trigger

Mimics

Chapter 60: Preparation

"If we're going to do this, we will make this the last battle." Osamu said.

"No if about it. Kido-san already gave me the go ahead." Yuma replied.

Osamu looked up from the map of the Restricted to glare at Yuma over his glasses. "My point was, you and Kuga-san will have the area to fight in, but I don't want him getting away again whether it be because he feels he is going to lose control again or he thinks he is going to lose and die so he wants to run to protect his life. If this is our last fight with him, we're not going to give him the chance to run. We need to figure out where he is hiding and then form a perimeter to keep him from escaping again."

"He's going to know what we're doing." Hyuse pointed out. "He'll sense us there."

"Which I'm counting being enough to keep him from making a move to escape. He'll see there is no way out so he'll stay and face Kuga." Osamu replied. He looked down at the map in front of him. "We'll ask some of the squads to help us form it, but you'll be out there alone, Kuga, so make this count." He looked back up to smile at his partner on the other side of the table. "No more freezing."

Yuma smirked and gave Osamu a two-finger salute. "Roger that, Captain."

"Yuma-kun wants to handle this quickly, but finding one person in the Restricted Zone is going to be really difficult to do." Chika said, gaining the attention of the boys as they glanced towards where she was sitting. "How are we supposed to set a perimeter and get Yuma-kun into a fight with Kuga-san when we don't have time to set it up?"

"That's actually pretty easy." Yuma said with a grin, confusing his team. "Suwa-san's squad is able to track Dad for us so we should get them in on this plan."

Osamu raised a brow. Since when were they able to track any of the Mimics? "Alright, I'll trust your judgement there if you trust mine. I want snipers." He looked over at Chika. "As many as you can get."

"We agreed this was my fight." Yuma protested.

"I'm going to let you do it your way, but if this goes south and you need backup, I'm having snipers there." Osamu said, voice giving no room for argument from his teammate. They already almost lost Yuma more than enough times this week. He wasn't going to give Yugo the chance to escape again. They had a small window of opportunity with Mogami having healed Yuma enough to give them this chance. He wasn't going to waste it.

"When you said you wanted a perimeter around the spot I would fight him, I didn't think you meant that close." Yuma grumbled.

"We need to be close enough to get to you quickly if something goes wrong." Hyuse argued.

Yuma threw his hands up in surrender. He wasn't opposed to his allies being out there to assist him if something went wrong. He was just worried how Yugo would react to this perimeter that Osamu wanted to set up. If this was going to work, he really needed Yugo to focus on Yuma.

Chika smiled happily at Yuma's acceptance of the plan. Or, well, less acceptance and more of a surrender to Osamu's orders. Yuma never went against Osamu's order. He followed them as well as he could. "I'll see who is available and willing to help." She told Osamu.

"Make sure they know not to take a shot unless I'm in trouble." Yuma said quickly, though with the Mimic's ability to sense Trion, he doubted anyone could get a hit in if they wanted.

"Before we go out there, get Usami-senpai your Trigger and have her get it connected to Border's systems so we can stay in contact with you." Osamu said.

That was fair. It was probably something they should have done the other day, but Yuma had been focusing on using the old Trigger as a mean of defense. He wasn't intending to use it as his main choice of offense, but he also wasn't intending to go on the offense like this. He was the one who made the choice of being benched the other day after all. "Got it."

"There isn't time or the resources to get you a bail out function equipped to it so you really need to be careful." Osamu added.

Yuma stared at Osamu for a moment as he thought that over. "Alright, but know this, if it looks bad, I am going to switch to my Black Trigger."

Hyuse snorted. If it wasn't for the fact that his ring was getting weaker by the hour, it would be the smart decision to just use his Black Trigger from the start. However, it was getting weaker and close to the breaking point so forcing it to activate was quite a stupid idea. Though, that seemed to be Yuma's modus operandi for the week. Stupid and reckless. "Just don't go getting yourself killed by using it too much."

"I want to avoid using the seals altogether, but I won't survive a fight with Dad with just my swords. I really wish I had my Border Trigger. Scorpion and Grasshopper would help me so much." Yuma said. Using his Dad's old Trigger was going to slow him down just by the weight of the swords and the fact that he was using a different fighting style since he had to use one that matched these swords.

"You're really planning on fighting him?" Chika asked.

"That was the plan."

"I thought the plan was to talk to him."

Yuma shrugged. "They are both part of the same plan. Dad isn't just going to let himself die or even kill himself. As much as he is trying to resist his programming, he can't resist it enough to kill himself." Which was completely fine with Yuma. He really didn't want to see his father commit suicide. Though, at the same time, Yuma didn't want to kill Yugo either, even though that was what he was going to be forcing himself into doing. This wasn't going to be easy, physically or mentally, for him to do. He had to ignore the fact that it was his father staring at him and remember the Mimic he was so he could fight him while at the same time trying to connect with Yugo to distract him and give Yuma the edge. It sounded horrible to him, and to think, he pushed this on Jin last night.

"He'll be fighting his hardest to survive then." Hyuse said. "If we think about that, do you really think he is going to just ignore the perimeter we're going to set up? What if he opens Gates again?"

"Opening Gates and calling Trion Soldiers requires a lot of Trion." Yuma replied, glancing down at the map in front of him as he thought. "While I'm sure he has plenty of Trion to spare after taking the night to recover, the reason he surrendered last night was to protect me." Or, that was the consensus he got from the others when they talked about why Yugo did what he did. Whether it was the truth or not could only be discerned by Yuma and Yugo.

"So, take advantage of those fatherly instincts peeking out and make him not want to open any Gates." Osamu suggested.

"If I can make him not want to use any of the Black Trigger seals, it will make my life a lot easier." Yuma replied. He knew exactly how powerful his Black Trigger was and why it was so difficult to fight against, especially when in highly capable hands.

Osamu pulled his phone out to check the time. It was nearing lunch time. "We want to finish this today, right?"

"Yes," Yuma's hands curled into fists on the table as he caught sight of the date on Osamu's phone. He wasn't sure whether to laugh or not at the fact that today was the anniversary of his father's death. It felt quite meaningful that five years ago today was when Yuma's life changed completely and now, today, he was either going to lose that life forever or find the closure he needed.

"Then we better get the agents we want to help us gathered quickly. I want to settle this before it gets dark. We don't need Mimics hounding us when we need to focus on Kuga-san."

A daytime battle sounded quite nice about now.

Though, that also meant that there were going to be no shadows to hide Yugo or Yuma's faces. They were going to be completely open to each other, no darkness being used to hide any flicker of emotions or intent between them.

It was exactly what Yuma needed.

He didn't want any more tricks or manipulations.

A final moment, a final battle, to clear the air between father and son.

Clear the air from five years ago.

And, clear the air from this week.

*Mimics*

"Are you okay?"

"Why wouldn't I be?"

Shinoda raised a brow, staring Jin down. "Perhaps because you fought Mogami-san alone last night and killed him. I don't expect that to have been easy for you."

"I can't believe Yuma or Karasuma didn't alert us of that fact last night. We could have sent backup to help you." Rindo said.

Jin shook his head. He lounged back into the couch, trying to get comfortable. They had moved to Shinoda's office after their meeting with Kido since Jin figured they would want to talk about Mogami. He hadn't really explained much of anything to them about Mogami except that he was dead and that Fujin was fine. "Backup would have gotten in the way. Mogami-san allowed me to kill him, but I feel if other people were there, I wouldn't have been able to reach him enough for him to find the strength to let me do that."

"Which is why you want Yuma-kun to face Yugo-san alone." Shinoda said.

"Exactly. We already know Kuga-san has been fighting against his programming like Mogami-san had been doing so putting someone with a strong connection to him in front of him should affect him enough to cause him hesitation." Jin replied.

"Chance of it succeeding?" Rindo asked.

Jin scratched the back of his neck uneasily. "There's a good chance of Yuma ending this, but there is also a good chance of failure and Yuma dying. It's fifty-fifty really." Yuma or Yugo could win their next fight. In fact, the future he saw with Yugo pointing his sword at Yuma's throat just wouldn't leave his mind. That future still existed, but around it were futures of Yuma's survival. Like with any confrontation, there was no one future for how it could end. There were multiple ways for it to end. The ending of a fight changed constantly depending on how each party acted in the fight. "We really should let Yuma fight alone as much as possible. No one should interfere unless it truly looks like Yuma will be killed."

"So, only if he loses his combat body." Rindo concluded.

"Preferably." Jin said, though he did understand that Yuma's friends might not totally agree with that idea. It was hard to sit back and watch an ally struggle alone in a fight. There was an anxious feeling to jump in and give assistance, to save their friend. It was something Jin felt plenty of times this week when he saw Yuma with Yugo and Yuma just couldn't bring himself to fight back against Yugo. "It's not going to be easy for Yuma to do this, but he's strong. He survived Kuga-san's death before and he can do it again."

"Like you survived Mogami-san's death." Shinoda said.

Jin's hands curled into fists that were so tight his knuckles turned white. "That's why I can say it. Last night wasn't easy, but it was what he wanted. He wanted to be free of being Meraki's slave. Kuga-san feels the same. It's painful for those us who remain here when they're gone, but at least Mogami-san is free of his suffering. As much as it hurt to kill him, there is a sense of relief as well. Nothing will ever truly bring Mogami-san back to life. He died years ago. In a sense, the Mimic forcibly drew his soul back to this world." Against Mogami's wish. In a painful way by making him an enemy to his friends. The Mimic was stealing Mogami's life force that was passed onto the Black Trigger just so it could sustain itself. "I managed to save him and set his soul free once more. It has given me the closure I needed. Yuma needs it too."

"I understand." Shinoda said softly. Jin and Yuma were raised by Mogami and Yugo. They were both the ones to watch Mogami and Yugo die. There was quite a bit of trauma involved in watching someone they love die. Having those loved ones return as enemy was incredibly hard for them, but it sounded like Jin got to set things right with Mogami in the end. He wanted Yuma to have the same chance with his father. Shinoda wouldn't get in the way of that, but he truly hoped Jin was right and that this would help Yuma. He would hate to see Yuma break at the end of all of this.

*Mimics*

Yuma crossed his arms on the back of the couch that he chose to lean on as he looked up at that monitor to watch Kageura and Murakami's fight. It was hardly a surprise that Murakami dragged Kageura out of the cafeteria for a fight. It was the best way to get Kageura to calm down by giving him a fun time. Yuma was just upset that he couldn't join them. He was really missing going ten rounds with all the agents who agreed to fight him. He was missing his training sessions with Konami where they kept trying to one up each other. Forget waiting for Kinuta to get him a new Trigger. Yuma knew where his Trigger was and he was going to get it back before the day was over.

"What are you doing here, shrimp?"

Yuma forced his eyes away from the fight to smile at Yoneya. "I wanted to see if Murakami-senpai and Kage-senpai wanted to be guards today."

Yoneya leaned next to Yuma, mirroring his position. "Guards for what?" He asked curiously.

Yuma looked at his friend in consideration. Osamu did want to have enough agents to form a perimeter that gave no openings for Yugo to get away. He did not know how big that perimeter was meant to be since he didn't know the size of the area that Osamu was going to give him free range of to fight with Yugo in, but perhaps it was best to get as many as agents as possible. "You want in?"

"I don't even know what you're concocting this time." Yoneya said, eyeing the younger agent suspiciously.

Yuma raised his hands innocently. "I'm not doing anything by myself, sort of. In fact, it's all been sanctioned by Kido-san."

"Well, that makes me feel loads better." Yoneya replied, only sounding partly sarcastic.

"We walk into danger all the time when we're out in the field. It's part of the job." Yuma said, feeling a bit annoyed at the constant jabs at him for doing something dangerous this week. Border did their best to minimize the danger the agents were put into by giving them bail out, but the Neighbors were able to get around that sometimes by having their attacks outside of Mikado City or like when Aftokrator's Rabits were able to bypass the pain sensors. For all the safety measures that Border put in, they didn't always work. "In fact, danger is something I'm used to. Don't forget I grew up in the Neighborhood with Triggers that didn't have bail out."

"I know it's something you're used to." Yoneya replied. "But for all our training, it's not something we're used to. We rely heavily on the safety features Border installs in our Triggers so when they don't work, it is easy to panic and not think straight." They learned that lesson during Aftokrator's invasion. They had bail out, and yet, seeing official agents not use it to escape from Rabits before they got turned into cubes was unbelievable. They had been unprepared for that tactic and the inexperience of Border showed in it.

"It will become easier the more you deal with it." Yuma replied. While Border had impressive strength and numbers, there was no denying their inexperience. There were plenty of impressive agents in Border, but there were even more inexperienced agents to outnumber them. Even as much as he was impressed with the A-Ranks, he could still see the inexperience in a few of them. He guessed that came from the fact that until Border went public, all of them were just normal kids who didn't know a single thing about fighting. Border only excelled as much as it did in the past few years because of their advanced training rooms that allowed the agents to train as much as they wanted as often as they wanted. Their training was leagues above what Yuma was able to do in the Neighborhood and it gave amazing results.

"Something to look forward to." Yoneya said, a gleam of anticipation in his eyes. He was always excited for anything that seemed like a lot of fun. He wasn't good at understanding the dangerous part of the fights he got himself into because he did believe heavily on the safety features that Border gave him, but that was why he had his team. They could reel him in easily enough.

"Only for you. I don't go looking for danger. It just finds me." Yuma said. It found him way too much. He never searched for it, but it constantly came for him. He only survived this long because of his Black Trigger and Replica always being there to provide assistance. "Anyway, I doubt you'll have any fun on guard duty if you join us."

"Who is we and what are we guarding?" Murakami asked as he and Kageura walked over to the two, having spotted Yuma's white hair immediately as they came out of the training booths.

"You in then?" Yuma asked, shifting his attention away from Yoneya.

"I'm not agreeing to anything until you start talking." Kageura snapped, glaring at the mirth shining in Yuma's eyes. It was the same taunting expression he always gave Kageura when he was teasing them. He knew exactly what he was doing and knew exactly how to get a reaction out of Kageura. Kageura knew Yuma knew what he was doing and he knew that Kageura knew and yet, Kageura always gave him a reaction.

"Hopefully, a final showdown with Dad today." Yuma replied. "By myself." He added quickly when he saw his friends looking ready to make plans. "But, Osamu wants to prevent Dad from escaping again so he wants a perimeter set up to form an arena of sorts for my dad and I to fight in. You guys are not to interfere in the fight unless I am about to get killed, and by that, I mean actually killed, not my Trion body being destroyed."

"You seriously just want us to hang out and watch you two try to kill each other?" Kageura demanded.

"Yes."

Murakami grabbed the back of Kageura's jacket before he could throw himself forward at Yuma to attack him again. "It sounds dangerous, Kage, but he's not going out there alone if they are asking us to assist like this."

"If he gets himself into a jam like that, we aren't going to be able to get there fast enough to help him." Kageura snarled.

Yuma rolled his eyes. "Do you really think my overly cautious captain didn't consider that? He's asked Chika to get as many snipers to join this guard as she can." Though, if Yuma had his way, he was going to make sure none of these precautions that Osamu was setting up were going to be needed. He appreciated that everyone wanted to help him, but at this point, this was Yuma's fight. "You guys are going to probably be really bored doing this. It's basically just being a sentry."

"With the purpose of keeping your father in the center of the perimeter." Yoneya said.

"Exactly. In all the fights against him this week, how many times has he escaped?" Yuma asked, though it was a question he didn't need answered so he didn't pause in his explanation. "We want to end this today so we can't let him escape again."

"In a rush to get it done?" Yoneya asked.

"I would prefer if my body didn't start breaking apart again." Yuma replied dryly. "I may look fine right now, but I'm still in danger of dying. We can't waste any more time on this. You don't have to take part in this. The fight is going to be mine so you most likely won't have anything to do and you guys have been working hard enough all week."

"Exactly." Kageura snarled. "We've been busting our asses all week. Why should we stop now when we're finally going to finish this?"

Murakami smirked. "He's saying he wants to see it through to the end."

"Aww," Yoneya teased before he was patting Yuma roughly on the head. "Kageura-san wants to protect his little friend."

Yuma shook his head to dislodge Yoneya's hand.

"I'm in it for the overtime pay we are getting for this." Kageura snarled.

Yuma snorted before a smirk slid into place. "You make up the stupidest lies, Kage-senpai. If only you could be more honest with yourself."

"Shut it, Kuga!"

*Mimics*

Osamu was typically unnerved when he had to meet with a squad at headquarters. It was somehow easier to meet with the higher ups at this point than barging into a squad's operation room, especially right now when they didn't know he was coming. Though, it did feel less nerve wracking since it was a B-Rank team's room he was going to and not an A-Rank team's room again.

Or perhaps he was pushing all his nerves away because this was something he had to do. The higher ups gave them the go ahead for this mission and Osamu was going to make sure that his partner was going to be safe during it. He hadn't been doing a good job all week of helping Yuma out. That wasn't going to be the case this time. This time, they weren't all going to be separated while doing their own thing. This time, Yuma wasn't going to be unconscious at headquarters while they made their attack.

They were going out as a team this time. Yuma was going into the fight alone, but he was going to have the reassurance of his team and allies being there to back him up if he needed it. Osamu was not going to fail as a friend or captain today.

Osamu's hand came up to knock on the door in front of him. He knew this was Suwa's room, though he didn't know if anyone was in here. He didn't know where Suwa would be at the moment so he was going to try his squad's room first. Perhaps he should have tried to text Suwa first.

The door slid open to reveal Osano standing there. "Mikumo." She greeted, pulling her lollipop from her mouth. "This is a surprise."

"Is Suwa-san here?" Osamu asked.

Osano raised a brow, not expecting the polite boy before her to forgo a greeting. "No, but I can get him here." Even as she was saying this, she was already pulling out her cell phone and not giving Osamu a chance to protest. She stepped to the side while typing a text to Suwa so Osamu could step into the room. "I heard Kuga came back."

"Yeah, apparently things got chaotic last night between him and Mogami-san." Osamu said, choosing to leave it at that. He didn't come here to explain how Jin ended up fighting Mogami and killing him. He was sure that story would get out there, but for now, he was focused on Kuga Yugo.

Osano slipped her phone back in her pocket and moved back to her desk. "I'm glad he's safe." She settled down in her desk chair, staring over her monitors at Osamu standing awkwardly in the middle of the room. "You can take a seat. It will take Suwa a few minutes to get here."

"Ah, right, of course. Thank you." Osamu said, feeling a bit awkward as he took a seat and the two fell into silence.

*Mimics*

Chika said she would see about getting some of the snipers to join them on their mission today, but taking the lead on this wasn't something she normally did. She was usually taking orders or learning to work on her own and take the shot when she thought she had it. It wasn't in her nature to go out and find agents to bring into their plans. She knew Reiji would join them on this mission as there was no way Tamakoma-1 would sit out when their kouhais needed their help and there was also Ema who wouldn't hesitate to say yes if she asked. Beyond that, she found herself shaking at the idea of accosting her senpais for a job where they were simply acting as guards.

She said she would do it because Osamu asked this of her and she wanted to do something to help Yuma. Making sure he could fight Yugo safely and without fear of Yugo escaping again was what she could do currently for him. They were going there as backup that was only to interfere if Yuma was in dire need. Perhaps that would sound boring to some, but being a sniper meant waiting around a lot. They hid and waited for the chance to take a shot or to be the eyes in the sky for their team. Hiding in the shadows was something she was used to by this point.

If this was what Yuma needed from her, it was what she would do for him. She wasn't going to interfere in this personal matter of his unless it looked like he was going to be killed. She hesitated to take the shot against Yugo the other day and that led to Yuma's body beginning to crumble apart. If she needed to take the shot for Yuma, she wasn't going to hesitate this time. She wasn't going to freeze in fear and watch her friend die. It was just like Hyuse told her before. If she continued to do nothing, Osamu and Yuma could die.

It wasn't going to happen.

Not today.

It was scary to approach her senpais and demand their help, but she would do it if it meant protecting her team.

Chika stepped into the sniper's range, eyes scanning the room until they landed on Ema and Izuho at the other end of the room. She would start with Ema since he would be the easiest one to ask and he could surely help her get other snipers to join in on this.

"Chikako!" Izuho shouted as Chika neared them, effectively ending her conversation with Ema. She threw herself at her friend, locking her arms around Chika's neck. "I heard that Ochibi-senpai got himself in trouble again last night!"

Chika grabbed one of Izuho's arms that was around her neck and gave it a small squeeze, smiling slightly even though her friend couldn't see it as she was too busy hugging her. "It's alright, Izuho-chan. He did get in trouble, but he made it back last night as well. I think he went to find his friends."

"Geez," Izuho pulled back from Chika, pouting a bit. "I can't believe how much trouble your team finds itself in. You're like all trouble magnets and forming a single team has made the power of that trouble magnet even greater."

That got a small chuckle from Chika. "We tend to run straight towards the danger, instead of waiting for it to come to us so I'm not sure trouble magnet is the right term." At this, she turned to Ema who had been watching them silently. "Which is why I'm here. Osamu-kun wants some snipers."

Ema raised a brow and turned his phone to show a message from his captain that was already ordering him to mobilize in a few hours.

Chika read the message quickly, feeling her laugh turn into an amused smirk. It seemed that Yuma had beaten her to Kageura squad. "Then, could you help me recruit some more snipers?"

"I want in!" Izuho said, waving her arm frantically in the air.

"You're not B-Rank yet." Ema said dryly.

Izuho pouted again. One of these days, she was going to be B-Rank and could finally help her friends with these problems. She was really hating having to stay on the sidelines all the time when she could be out there helping her allies. "Fine, but I'm coming with you to convince the other snipers to help."

*Mimics*

"The starmaker?"

"Yes," Osamu nodded. "Is it still usable?"

Suwa leaned back in his seat and turned his head to where Osano was and nodded his head to her. Getting the message, Osano turned her attention to her computer to bring up the information. "It should be. We haven't touched it since I planted it on him, and as far as I know, he hasn't realized it is there. What do you want it for?" He knew that Yugo had escaped the base as an alert had been sent out to all the agents, but there hadn't yet been an order to track him down which Suwa had thought to be strange. It had seemed like an obvious choice to have the agents immediately mobilize to track Yugo before the trail went cold, but neither Kido nor Shinoda had given the order. "Tamakoma isn't going to chase after him recklessly, are you?"

"We're not going rogue." Osamu assured Suwa. "In fact, Kido-san has given our plan the green light. We just need some backup and to know his location. Kuga said you could help with that."

"And he was right." Osano said, staring at the tracker on her screen. "He's not moving right now. It seems he is hiding out in the Restricted Zone."

"At least he didn't go into the city again." Suwa said. "If you need backup, my team would be willing to give it. We are more use than just giving you the enemy's location."

Osamu smiled faintly. "Already planned to ask you that. It's going to be more like sentry duty though."

"I might have to retract my offer than." Suwa replied blandly, though he knew he had no real intention of taking his offer back. Sentry duty was just like the patrols they did of the Restricted Zone when on duty. They wouldn't necessary get into a fight every time they were on duty. Some nights were quite boring. "You want us to stand around and play guard?"

Having gotten to know Suwa quite well over the past few weeks, Osamu only smiled at his brash reply. He knew that Suwa wasn't being serious with what he said. It was just his own brand of mockery. "If you back out, then you're going to miss seeing Kuga fight." He replied, knowing that would entice the brash captain. As much as he loved fighting, Suwa also really enjoyed watching fights, especially when it involved strong fighters as those battles always taught so much about strategy and skill and experience.

Suwa's attention zeroed in on Osamu. "Our Kuga? He's going after his father?" He asked surprised. The last he knew, Yuma had been benched because Yugo being here had been too hard on him. "Is that safe?"

"I know this week has proved much the opposite, but we do need to remember that Kuga is quite capable of taking care of himself." Osamu replied. As much as they all wanted to help Yuma, Osamu needed to remind himself that Yuma was no damsel in distress. He never had a reason to fear when Yuma was outside his sight on the battlefield because Osamu trusted Yuma without a single doubt in his mind. When it came to fighting, there was no reason for Osamu to be worried about Yuma's safety. He had been worried about Yuma all week simply because Yuma wasn't focused and his emotions were getting all twisted, but from what he saw of Yuma today, his friend was ready. He was ready to face his father and Osamu was going to give Yuma his trust, even as he secured backup. Though, the backup Osamu wanted was more of a reassurance that Yugo wasn't going to get away this time. This was going to end today.

"Perhaps a reminder of Kuga tearing through all the aces in the rank wars is what we need." Osano piped up. "I can pull up the footage easily."

Suwa waved his operator off. "I hardly need reminding of the way Tamakoma-2 slaughtered us last season." He grumbled since he knew that his match with Arafune squad and Tamakoma-2 was the match that Osano had at the ready on her computer. She never stopped teasing him that he was the only one on their team that didn't get a point that match. "If Mikumo says Kuga is back to his normal self and ready for this fight, then I believe him. He knows Kuga the best after all."

Osamu nodded in assurance. "He is."

"Doesn't mean he can defeat his father though." Osano pointed out.

"True," Osamu agreed. Yugo had proven himself all week to be a tough foe with the ability to defeat multiple opponents at once. Fighting just Yuma would likely be a cinch for Yugo, but it seemed that Yuma didn't plan to fight fair. He wanted to manipulate Yugo the same way the Mimics manipulated their opponents. Though, there was no way to tell if that would be enough to throw Yugo off to give Yuma the edge in the fight until it was already playing out in front of them. "Kuga has been given the go ahead to face his father alone, but we're not just going to let him go out there alone. We'll be there if he needs help."

"I suppose Suwa squad can lend you a hand." Suwa replied, a smirk forming. "Though, considering how Kuga left us to battle a hoard of Mimics alone the other night, I'm not sure he deserves it."

Osamu was sure there was a joke in there somewhere, but he was also certain he wasn't involved in the joke. It seemed to be something between Suwa squad and Yuma and with that likely being the case, Osamu just wasn't going to pursue that topic. He really didn't need to know. "Right. Anyway, I'll let you know when we're ready to make our move. It will probably be in a couple hours."

"We'll be ready." Suwa promised, already pulling his phone out to contact his team about the new mission as Osamu gave a polite nod to Osano as he left the room.

*Mimics*

Yugo's hand opened and closed a few times before he shook his hand out, trying to get the urge to go back to Border go away. It hadn't been a part of his plan to escape the prison cells as he was waiting for Yuma to show up. He knew that at some point, Yuma was going to come down to see him. He just had to be patient.

It wasn't even that his patient snapped that made him decide to blow up the lower floor of the Border base. It was the fact that he was able to sense the Black Trigger was back in the base. Yuma had come down to the cells last night, but didn't come in. It had been enough to alert Yugo that his son was in the base, and he knew that at some point Yuma would appear before him. It was only a matter of time.

While waiting in that cell with the knowledge that Yuma was in the base, his blood began to burn. It was a burning sensation that he was becoming very familiar with through this week. The control he had to allow the agents to put him in a cell had been slipping away because of how close his Black Trigger was to him.

He was losing it.

Being that close to his Black Trigger, being that close to draining all the power and lifeforce from it and reforming Kuga Yugo completely.

He was so close but losing it at the same time.

The closer he came to having all his power and lifeforce restored to him, the closer Yuma came to dying.

He couldn't stand it, being in the same building as his Black Trigger. If he stayed any longer, he just knew he was going to do something he could never forgive himself for.

He had to get out, so he did. He needed distance from Yuma before he lost control altogether.

He had to find some agents that he could take all his frustration out on. It wasn't a very healthy way to cope with the chaos assaulting his mind and body, but considering he was a Trion Soldier masquerading as a dead person, he wasn't really looking for healthy coping mechanisms. He was just looking for a distraction so he could forget about Yuma and his Black Trigger. He needed to clear his head of his son so focusing on any Border agents he could find while looking for where Mogami went was the new plan.

Mogami was supposed to go after Yuma last night and they were supposed to meet up at a new location for another home base. It truly was amazing how often these Border agents tracked them down, essentially burning their current base and forcing the Mimics to move to a new location.

Yugo took a moment to pause, crouching down on the roof he had been crossing over. He stared off into the distance, taking in all the destroyed buildings around him. Being in the middle of the Restricted Zone, there were no sounds of the usual hustle and bustle that would be accompanied by city life. All he could make out were the sounds of explosions in the distance which he took as meaning that there were agents engaged with Trion Soldiers nearby.

It was tempting to follow the sounds of battle and join in, if just so he could try to work out some of the frustration building up inside of him, but Yugo withheld that urge. Instead, he kept staring ahead at the church stationed below him. A half-demolished church with a hole in the roof that allowed sunlight to shine into it. From his vantage point, he could just see a bit into the church and it looked quite empty. That didn't mean it was since if Mogami was waiting for him there, he wouldn't be stupid enough to leave himself in the open where he could be seen through the hole in the roof.

What did tell Yugo that the church was empty was the simple fact that he couldn't sense any source of Trion inside the building. All the Trion he could sense in the area was coming from the area where the Border agents were engaged in battle.

Instead of making his way to the agents for the fight he was looking for, Yugo dropped down from his building and approached the church. He shoved the heavy doors open and stepped into the dusty room. As skilled as he was at being silent, there wasn't anything he could do to stop the old floorboards from squeaking under each step he took down the aisle. His eyes shifted from one side of the church to the other to take in all his surroundings as he made his way to the altar.

Stepping up to the altar, Yugo brushed his hand along the table which came back completely covered in dust. He brushed the dust off of his glove as he turned and took in the full view of the church. The place was completely undisturbed. A church this rundown and dusty would have some signs of disturbance if anyone had been here recently.

Which meant that Mogami never came here last night. He had no way of knowing that Yugo spent his night in a cell so Mogami should have still come here to wait for Yugo's arrival. It seemed that both of them had deviated from their plan last night.

Yugo spun back around and planted both of his hands on the altar as he hunched over the table, a laugh with no humor escaping him. Without meaning to, they had ended up betraying each other last night and Yugo couldn't even find it in him to be upset with his friend. Mogami refusing to show up at the church with Yuma in tow and Yugo choosing to sit in the cell were just them resisting their orders, and they were doing it without telling the other because they couldn't trust the other when they were trying to fight for control.

They each knew that they didn't want to do this. They had talked about that enough times, but being with each other didn't do much to help them resist. Mogami could pull Yugo back from doing something he would regret and Yugo could return the favor and stop Mogami, but that couldn't last forever. They were just playing a game of tug of war this whole time with their hearts being the rope. One minute, they were going one way and the next, they were switching up their tune and going for a new plan. It was a game he was so sick of playing.

He had to pick a side.

Fully embrace his Mimic side and do what Meraki was ordering of him.

Or, embrace the Kuga Yugo side and protect his son.

Yugo knew what he wanted, but he also knew, it was something he could never fully embrace while being a Trion Soldier.

So, why was he still trying to fight against his programming?

*Mimics*

Shiori laid Yuma's Trigger down on her desk, having just finished adding a communicator to it. She did what she could to improve it by adding a new Shield to it, but that was all she was able to do in the time allotted to her. It was an old Trigger so it didn't have the power in it that their newer Triggers had so there wasn't much she could do to change it without overloading it. She couldn't even give Yuma a bail out function, not that she had time or the resources to install one. She didn't want to send Yuma out in the field without one, but she also knew that Yuma was quite used to not having that safety feature. He would be fine without one. She had to believe that.

As she sat down behind her desk, Shiori took note of the information that Suwa squad had sent her way. "We have Kuga-san's location." She said, gaining Osamu and Hyuse's attention.

Osamu walked around the desk to take a look at the screen over her shoulder. "With this, you can keep track of Kuga-san as well?"

Shiori nodded. "Osano has given us access to the starmaker on him. She still has full control, but we can at least see his movements." She leaned back in her chair and looked over her shoulder at her captain. "We just need Yuma-kun to be ready and then we can make our move."

"Did you get enough squads to agree to help us with this?" Hyuse asked.

"Probably more than we need." Osamu said, not taking his eyes off the icon that was Yugo. He seemed to be in a building, not moving. "I'm surprised they all agreed to help. They're not going to get to fight if Kuga succeeds."

"They want to finish this as much as we do." Shiori pointed out. "If that means making sure Kuga-san doesn't escape again, then they will do their part."

"We may not fight Kuga, but we shouldn't let our guards down." Hyuse said, stepping up to the desk. "We know he can summon Rads so there is a chance he will use them to drain our Trion and call Trion Soldiers to distract us while he is fighting Yuma."

"I know." Osamu replied. "I'm hoping he will be too focused on his son to care about us to do that. If we keep our distance and make no move, he might just ignore us."

Hyuse had his doubts about that, but they didn't know enough about Yugo to really have any idea of what he would do in this kind of situation. "He doesn't know what we are going to do by being there and leaving Yuma to fight alone, so it's possible he will attack us."

"We'll deal with that when it happens." Shiori said. "We managed to analyze Kuga-san's rads so if he brings any out, we'll see them on our radar right away. We just need to destroy them before they can get any Trion to open gates. We only had so much trouble the other night because we didn't realize he had access to Rads. Now that we do, we won't fall for that trick again."

They never should have fallen for the Rads the first time around. Osamu knew that Replica and Yuma had analyzed the Rads and he knew that Yuma could open Gates since he saw Replica do it during Aftokrator's invasion when he brought out his own Rabit. Maybe no one else in Border knew the full extent of Yuma's Black Trigger, but Osamu had known Yuma the longest. He never sat down with Yuma and got an explanation about his Black Trigger or what Yuma was capable of, but he had seen it bit by bit with each situation they found themselves in. Osamu should have put it together much sooner.

His phone vibrating brought Osamu's attention away from the computer so he could check the message that came in from Chika. He smiled as the list of snipers that she procured came through. "She outdid herself. With this, I can put snipers on all sides of the perimeter."

"Do you have a plan?" Shiori asked.

"Yeah," Osamu slid his phone back in his pocket. "Trust Kuga."

"Which isn't really a plan." Hyuse said dryly. Really, all they were doing was putting trust in a teammate that had been reckless all week and hoping he had his head back on straight so he could take care of this. For all that trust they were trying to put in him, the amount of backup they were providing felt like they were saying something else entirely.

"It will be just like the days when I first met Kuga. I watch in awe as he takes care of the problem." Osamu replied, feeling amusement tug at his lips despite the seriousness of the situation. He had watched Yuma win so many battles with complete ease during that first week he knew him. That confident, strong Yuma with the unwavering stare was the person Osamu met. He knew that Yuma had his own trauma, but he never let it effect him. It wasn't until this week that Osamu saw just how much his friend was holding back. There was nothing Osamu could do to fix Yuma's trauma because it couldn't be fixed. It was up to Yuma to learn how to cope with his past and for that to happen, Yuma needed Osamu to trust him and let him confront that past. For all the pain that Yuma had been displaying all week, he had now pushed it back and had the strong, unwavering gaze in his eyes that Osamu had seen when they first met.

Osamu was going to trust that expression was not just a front from Yuma to get them to agree to his plan. He was going to trust that Yuma was ready to confront his father and deal with his trauma.

He was going to put all his trust and belief in his partner.

*Mimics*

"We really have to stand aside to let Yuma do this alone?" Konami demanded.

Jin held his hands up in defense. "It was Yuma's request." He looked behind Konami at Karasuma and Reiji who had seemed to accept Jin's request easily. "You can still be there acting as guards, but please, don't intervene unless Yuma really needs help."

"We won't even know what that looks like." Konami snapped. "Even when he's losing a fight, Yuma's expression doesn't change. How are we supposed to tell when it's time for us to step in?"

"Because you're not stepping in unless Yuma's Trion body is destroyed." Jin retorted, holding a hand up as he said it to stall any response from Konami as he could already see her ready to launch into an angry tirade. "It's sweet that you want to protect him, Konami, but before this week and his father came back to haunt him, have you ever felt that he was the type to need protected?"

"Can you really ask that when you went out with Arashiyama squad to fight the top A-Rank squads to keep them from coming after Yuma?" Karasuma asked. He was simply pointing out how Jin was being a bit hypocritical by saying Yuma didn't need protection when he went out of his way to keep Yuma safe months ago.

"That was a different situation." Jin argued. "Yuma couldn't fight the A-Ranks without it causing him more trouble with enlisting, so I took care of it for him. This situation isn't at all like that. Nothing is holding Yuma back here. He can fight freely and with all his strength."

"But will he?" Konami stressed. "I know very well how strong Yuma is, but we all have seen how much he has been struggling this week. He freezes in the face of his father."

"Konami," Jin stressed his friend's name just as much as she stressed her question. "If I had any doubts about this, do you really think I would be telling you all to stand back and let Yuma handle it alone?" His eyes flickered away from Konami to look at Karasuma, hoping that he would get the message and keep quiet about how Jin let Mogami take Yuma yesterday. There was a purpose to that plan and it worked out well, but even so, he didn't think Konami would take it well if she ever found out what happened.

"Even if Jin is wrong, he'll be right there to tell us if there is an unfavorable shift in the future." Reiji added. "He can change the plan up on the fly if need be."

There were already unfavorable futures in front of Jin. There were good ones mixed in with them so he wasn't speaking up about them. It was a matter of what happened between Yuma and Yugo to determine which future they were going to get. Until that fight was playing out in front of him, Jin couldn't determine anything. All he knew was that he was going to believe in Yuma. Believe that he could fight against his father this time. Believe that he could win.

Konami looked from her captain to Jin, releasing a long sigh to let all her frustration bleed out. "You better be right this time."

Jin smiled faintly. "Even if I'm not, Yuma needs this, Konami. He needs this moment with his dad." It wouldn't take away the painful memories of the past or the ones accumulated this week, but by confronting Yugo, Yuma could get rid of any doubts or questions he had.

"Like you with Mogami-san?" Konami asked softly.

Jin stared at Konami, wondering if she desired a moment with Mogami before he was killed. Jin had always been the one closest to Mogami while Konami had latched onto Rindo. They all had the ones they were closest to, but that didn't make them care for the others any less. "He regretted his actions, Konami. Mogami-san hated everything he did. I think that at the end, he was trying to make up for it, as much as he could while the Mimic programming was trying to dictate his actions."

"Our Mogami-san was there?"

"I think he was always there. He just didn't have all the control." Mogami had to sit back and watch the Mimic control his body and do things he would never do. That had to be absolutely heart wrenching for Mogami who only ever wanted cooperation and peace. The fact that Mogami let Jin kill him at the end felt like Mogami's form of repentance for what had happened this week.

"If Mogami-san was able to come out enough last night for Jin to believe it was him, then Kuga-san should be able to do the same." Reiji suggested. "In which case, it would be best to let Yuma do this alone."

It was what Jin was banking on. He needed the real Kuga Yugo to break free and see his son. Mogami fought against his programming to give Jin the opening to kill him, so if he could do it, then why couldn't Yugo? The founders of Border were equally strong so if one could break free enough to give Border a chance so could the other.

That was what Jin was hoping for.