Light Shines Anew
Chapter 28: A Strange World
Yuma shifted uncomfortably, hating the way he could feel eyes continue to glance over at him. He knew they were talking about it. It was hardly a surprise as Jin felt the need to fill his boss and the others in on Yuma's amnesia. They could get the information of Yuma's amnesia without glancing over at him every ten seconds though. Yuma wasn't going to go anywhere, not that he could since he was now stuck in another medical ward getting another check up by another an unfamiliar face.
It was getting annoying having so many faces turn to look at him and greet him like they were old friends or colleagues and all Yuma could do was stare at them with blank eyes and have to ask them for their names. Every time he asked for a name, he saw their faces momentarily drop in disappointment before they were shifting back to a smile and acting like everything was normal as they gave him a name that he clearly should know already.
It's not like Yuma liked this either. When he saw their expressions drop, it made him feel horrible. Their disappointment made it all the more clear to Yuma that he clearly belonged here and was their ally, but even knowing that they felt like that, it didn't help Yuma. While he was curious about Japan from his father's stories, right now, Yuma felt nothing for this place.
Everything felt wrong.
He wasn't sure why, but maybe it was because of the looks he was getting from the people he forgot. The disappointment. The way their brows creased in concern. The worry as they stared at him and just saw his blank eyes that didn't recognize them.
It all felt so off.
Yuma wasn't sure of what he should say to them.
'Sorry that he forgot them?'
Somehow that didn't feel like the right thing to say to them.
"Alright, Kuga."
Yuma's eyes snapped to Kinuta. That was what he was told the man's name was. He was apparently the head of the Research and Development department and according to Shinoda, he was the one that they trusted to study up on Yuma's condition. He was becoming somewhat of the resident expert on Yuma's health issues. Somehow, Yuma had a feeling that Kinuta wasn't actually pleased with the development, but he was diligent in his work.
"I'm going to study the notes your doctors gave us with Kubo-sensei here." Kinuta motioned to the doctor that had been doing Yuma's general check up. "Along with that, I'm going to study information about the surgery they performed. They gave us a general idea of the surgery before you left, but it seems we got a more detailed report so I'm going to study it with Kubo-sensei so we can make sure we can properly help you if something goes wrong with your prosthetics."
Yuma nodded his head along with what Kinuta was saying. He already figured all of this would be happening when he was told he was heading to Japan. It certainly was what his doctor in Galopoula implied. Everyone who was in charge of his health needed to be on the same page if something went wrong with his prosthetics. It had been a couple weeks since his surgery, and while his Trion parts still felt weird and unnatural to him, they were functioning as they should according to Deacon.
"Be sure to send copies of those files over to Tamakoma." Rindo butted into the conversation. "I would like myself and Michael to read them as well."
"Understandable." Kinuta replied. It would be good to have people inside of Tamakoma knowing the full details of Yuma's surgery as well. It was likely if anything ever went wrong, they would be the first ones to notice since Yuma did live and train there. They would see Yuma the most so they should understand the files as much as Kinuta did.
"Kuga-kun," Kubo snapped his folder shut and clicked his pen before sliding it into his pocket. "All things considered, you seem to be in perfect health. If anything ever feels off, you can come here at any time. Someone should always be in here. I would recommend not going to a hospital in the city since they will not know how to deal with your Trion prosthetics."
"Understood." Yuma replied, having already heard the spiel from Deacon in Galopoula. It was amazing how even though the doctors were in different worlds and this one didn't understand the surgery Yuma underwent, they still said the same thing. It was annoying to hear the same orders over and over again, but he understood why. The dangers of the surgery he underwent was not something to joke about or to dismiss lightly so he accepted the doctor's orders without argument. He would never make the mistake of disregarding his own wellbeing again.
"As long as you understand," Kubo waved towards the door. "You are free to go when you're ready, Kuga-kun."
"Thank you." Yuma practically jumped off the bed he had been sitting on. He was so ready to escape the medical ward. He had enough of stuffy hospitals in Galopoula.
"Yuma-kun," Shinoda approached him now that he was free from the doctor.
Yuma glanced up at the older man. He introduced himself earlier as Shinoda. He was in charge of the agents at HQ. "Director Shinoda?"
Shinoda grimaced. "Shinoda-san is fine, Yuma-kun." Yuma didn't ever use the director titles with Shinoda and Rindo. There was no reason to get him into that habit now when Shinoda and Rindo didn't require it of him. "I just wanted to check in."
Yuma stared at him curiously. "Do you care that much about your subordinates?"
"Any good commander should watch out for those who work under him." Shinoda said confused, staring at Yuma with a frown. That was a weird question. He knew Yuma had lost five years worth of memories, but that still left him with eleven years worth of experience and knowledge from the Neighborhood. He didn't know much about those years of Yuma's life, but he knew he had been around battlefields. Surely Yuma knew about the loyalty comrades shared with each other, but, then again, if he thought about it, the Neighborhood held very little mercy. Shinoda saw that for himself when Enedora got killed by his own comrade in the Aftokrator invasion. Perhaps that loyalty wasn't well known to Yuma.
Yuma's nose scrunched up in confusion. "Only partly true."
Shinoda blinked in surprise. He hadn't been lying about caring about his subordinates at all. That wasn't a lie, but if Yuma was saying it was only partly true then it was in regards to his question of why Shinoda cared about Yuma. "I see. Your father was a good friend of mine and my mentor back when he was a Border member. I couldn't help him when he left to travel the Neighborhood, but when you came to us, I promised to look after you as a way to repay him."
"I see." Yuma murmured back as that registered as fully true. He hadn't been prepared for his father to be brought up. He knew Yugo had connections with Border as he talked about them all the time, but...wait. "Your mentor? Border member? Oyaji?"
"Ah, right," Jin was suddenly reminded of the fact that Yuma had been unaware of how closely tied Yugo was to Border. He hadn't brought it up with Yuma at all while in Galopoula because he had been more concerned about the amnesia than his father's past connections with Border. "Kuga-san was a Border founder and Rindo-san and Shinoda's mentor and Commander Kido's friend."
Yuma just blinked as a new name entered the conversation. It was very likely he was supposed to know who Kido was, but his mind was just coming up blank again. It was causing a surge of frustration to well up inside of him. He hated how everyone just kept throwing names and information around like it was just common knowledge to Yuma.
And it likely was common knowledge to him...
At one point.
It was all supposed to be stuff he knew and he just didn't.
Not anymore.
And nothing anyone said was causing any surge of memories to fill in the blank puzzle in his head.
Not since Tachikawa triggered something on the away ship.
Why wasn't anything triggering his memories now?
Yuma hated the pain that hit him when the blurry memory played in his head. He hated the way it made him dizzy and confused. He didn't want the memories to come back if they felt like that, but at the same time, he wanted his memories back. He wanted things to actually start making sense again and the confusion to go away.
He wanted to stop standing here like an idiot while everyone talked around him about things he should clearly know. He wanted their conversations to stop seeming like gibberish and for him to actually understand what was going on.
He just wanted things to make sense.
"Where is Replica?" Yuma asked suddenly. If anyone could help him make sense of things, it would be his partner.
Hearing the familiar name, Kinuta looked up from the file he and Kubo had been looking at. He had thought that Yuma would have run out of here a lot faster than this as he was cleared to go and he clearly didn't want to be in the medical ward when they dragged him here earlier. "He's still in my office, Kuga. We're still working on repairing him. I knew Trion Soldiers were complex, but I didn't think it would be this difficult to fix him."
Yuma frowned in displeasure. He should have known. If Replica had been fixed, his mini Replica would have been talking to him by now and helping him through the confusing mess that was in his head. "He's an autonomous Trion soldier. They tend to be more advanced than the common Trion soldiers you're used to." This was something that Yuma knew. He knew how complex Replica's design was. His father built him and his father never did anything the easy way. It was why his father was so good at handling Triggers and Trion Soldiers. He knew so much about them.
"I've realized that in my attempts to repair him. I'm trying to put him back together like he should be, but I have little experience with Trion Soldiers so it's taking me longer than I thought." Kinuta explained.
"Michael has more experience with Trion Soldiers so he has been working with Kinuta-san on it." Rindo added.
Yuma's brows furrowed in frustration. Michael? Michael. That name got brought up earlier. Yuma didn't know who the hell Michael was, but by the way people kept mentioning him, it was clear he was someone that Yuma was supposed to know. It was nice that people were speaking to him and not just around him without including him in the conversation, but he wished they would take into consideration his mess of a head. These names truly meant nothing to him.
It seemed that his frustration was evident on his face because Jin turned to him with a gentle smile. "Cronin Michael. He is our engineer at Tamakoma."
"Right. Cronin." At this point, Yuma just said the names to try to get them ingrained in his head because honestly, the names were doing nothing to jog his memories.
"Michael-san." Jin corrected, grimacing when Yuma just scowled in frustration.
"Why does everything have to be so complicated?" Yuma grumbled. It was so easy to just address people by their first name in the Neighborhood. He didn't have to think about how to call them, and now he had to figure out whether to use a first or last name and then remember which honorific he used for them?
Jin just sighed sadly at Yuma's frustration. This was the reason why Jin wanted to keep Yuma at Tamakoma to get him adjusted to the world. Everything was already too much for his friend. Recovering from a surgery and having to readjust to a world that he should already know was going to be confusing and frustrating. He didn't want to overwhelm Yuma with too many people. Just throwing a bunch of names at him was becoming too much.
Jin didn't blame Yuma. This wasn't easy for Jin or anyone else to see their friend just staring blankly at them. Knowing it wasn't easy for them, Jin could say with certainty that it likely was doubly hard for Yuma to deal with. He could see how hard Yuma was trying to follow the conversations and explanations they had been giving him since they met him in Galopoula, but he could also see how some of it was just going over his head. They were really throwing too much at Yuma and his exhausted, confused brain just couldn't keep up right now. They needed to take this slower. They couldn't just throw all this information at Yuma and expect him to just soak it up and understand with one explanation.
This needed time.
Yuma needed time.
Yuma needed them to explain things slowly.
Yuma needed them to reexplain things later on when something they already told him came up again and he needed the explanation again to help it stick.
Yuma needed to see these things they were talking about.
Just telling him about Border and Japan while in Galopoula's hospital wasn't enough. He needed to see and experience everything Japan had to offer. It would help him understand things better.
"Come on, Yuma. Let's get you to Tamakoma." Jin said. "Boss will drive us back."
"Who's boss?" Yuma asked.
Jin chuckled humorlessly. Nicknames weren't going to help anything either. "Rindo-san. We sometimes call him Boss at Tamakoma."
"Oh."
Yuma's brows furrowed even more. Nicknames. Inside jokes. Secrets.
There was so much that he should know. So much that was common knowledge for him.
Would any of it actually come back?
Doctor Deacon said the amnesia was likely temporary. If it was, Yuma wished the door blocking his memories would fall down already. He was tired of being confused by something as simple as a nickname.
*L*S*A*
Breathe in.
Breathe out.
Breathe in.
Breathe out.
Shinoda pinched the bridge of his nose. The Kuga family truly knew how to go the extra mile in everything they did. To make it worse, it was usually just a matter of bad luck. No one in the Kuga actively searched out trouble. It just came to them and because of that, there was nothing they could do to warn or scold Yuma against doing. He could just be sitting somewhere and have it suddenly turn into trouble where he gets hurt or targeted.
It was like the Kuga family was just cursed to have something horrible happen to them.
Knowing that, Shinoda should have seen something like amnesia coming since it was something that hadn't happened yet. Yuma was going to keep finding new ways to stress him, all of them, out. It really was quite ironic how he got a lifesaving surgery, but couldn't accept being completely healed from his health issues so he turned around and got amnesia when he woke up.
Ironic or sad.
One of the two.
Rubbing at his temple, Shinoda turned to enter the room that was next to the room that Yuma had just vacated after his checkup. "I see that you aren't feeling any better."
Fuyushima groaned from his bed. "Why do I even have to go on away missions?"
"Because your team signed up to be on the roster of teams that could be selected for away missions." Shinoda replied. Fuyushima always complained about the away ship making him sick, but he never requested to have his team removed from the list of teams interested in away missions. Clearly, Fuyushima still wanted to see the Neighborhood, but he also liked to moan in misery about his seasickness. "In any case, I just wanted to check on you and thank you for going to pick up Yuma-kun."
"It was a real easy mission." Toma replied from where he was sitting by his captain's bed as he came here to tease his captain. "It would be nice if more missions were that easy."
Shinoda raised a brow. "Really? You don't think it wasn't too boring?"
"Oh, it was boring, but it was nice to get to look around the nation without having to be on edge the whole time." Toma replied.
"And you didn't run into any trouble?" Shinoda asked.
"Just some Trion Soldiers so pretty much the normal."
Shinoda nodded. Getting attacked by Trion Soldiers was pretty much a daily occurrence in the Neighborhood so there wasn't anything strange about that. That, among other concerns, was the reason that Shinoda sent Jin with multiple agents to back him up. He wasn't up to taking risks with sending his agents to the Neighborhood.
"Shinoda-san."
"Yes?" Shinoda shifted his attention back to Fuyushima.
"The files on Kuga's surgery. Where are they?"
"Kinuta-san has them."
Fuyushima lifted his arm off his eyes to look at the director. "I wasn't done reading them."
Toma snorted. "What are you even gaining from reading it? You're no doctor."
"I'm not reading for Kuga's medical reports. I'm studying the information they gave us on the surgery. It's quite intriguing what Galopoula is capable of doing with Triggers in the medical field." Fuyushima explained.
"I'm sure Kinuta-san will let you finish reading it." Shinoda replied. If anything, Kinuta would want more engineers to study Galopoula's unique surgery. That way, he could have someone to bounce ideas off of with the knowledge and if Yuma, god forbid, did have an issue with his Trion prosthetics, Kinuta could get help from others who were knowledgeable on Yuma's medical Trigger.
"I hold you to that." Fuyushima said before he was groaning in misery and dropping his arm back over his eyes. If Yuma wasn't suffering with amnesia, he would demand retribution from Yuma for making him have to go to Galopoula on a pick up mission. Maybe when his memories recovered, Fuyushima would demand payment from him.
*L*S*A*
Yuma couldn't help but be fascinated by the sight of the car that Jin and Rindo had led him to in some underground area. He wasn't sure what it was, but there seemed to be a bunch of these "cars" around. At least Yuma assumed they were all cars. They looked to be the same. A hunk of metal with wheels on them.
What also caught Yuma's attention was the logo that was on the hood of the vehicle. "That looks like the emblem on your jacket, Jin."
"It's the Tamakoma emblem. All our agents have it on their uniforms." Jin explained, waiting patiently as Yuma looked over the vehicle. He knew that his young friend had a lot of fascination with everything in this world when he first came here months ago. It seemed that even without his five years worth of memories since his father's death, Yuma's curiosity wasn't taken from him. In fact, he seemed even more curious now than when he was when Jin first met him months ago.
Yuma looked up from the car. "The emblem? All the agents you came to Galopoula with had different emblems."
"Each A-Rank team has a unique emblem designed for their team. Tamakoma agents have our branch's emblem." Jin shifted to show his arm towards Yuma to show off his emblem. "Most of the B-Rank teams have HQ's emblem on their uniforms."
"Hmm."
That seemed weird to Yuma. Everyone was a member of Border so why wouldn't they all have the same emblem? He understood distinguishing the teams which was why they had their own unique uniforms and emblem, but wouldn't it make sense to also have the Border emblem on everyone's uniform?
Border was strange.
Rindo opened the back door of the jeep. "Ready to go, Yuma?" He asked, motioning to inside the car for Yuma to climb inside. He was inclined to let Yuma look around more to ease his curiosity, but he didn't want to hang around here for too long. If they wanted to keep it a secret that Yuma was back in Japan while they got him adjusted to this world, then they should leave as soon as possible before someone else came into the underground parking lot and saw them hanging around.
"To Tamakoma?" Yuma asked. Going to Tamakoma meant meeting more of the people that he was supposed to know. Going to Tamakoma meant having to see more sad looks when these people he was supposedly friends with realized he didn't remember anything about them. He didn't want to see those looks anymore. He didn't want to be reminded of how broken his mind was right now. Every time he saw the expressions of those around him drop, all Yuma could think of was how he messed up.
According to everyone, it had been over five years since he was attacked by the assassin. It had been five years since his father's sacrifice to save his son. For five years, Yuma had to live with the consequences of disobeying Yugo's orders which caused him to get hurt and for him to lose his father.
Even now, even after he got a surgery to save his life, Yuma was still suffering from that mistake he made years ago. It really was a cruel irony that even after all the effort that was put in by so many people to save Yuma from the mistake he made as a child, he still had consequences to live with.
It really was stupid how bad his luck was.
"Yes, Tamakoma." Jin replied. He didn't move until Yuma had jumped into the backseat and Rindo slammed the door shut. When Yuma was in the jeep, Jin jumped in the passenger seat in the front and twisted back around to look at Yuma. "Seatbelt, Yuma."
When Yuma just stared at him in confusion, Jin tugged his seatbelt around in the front so Yuma could see it. He snapped it in place and then turned to look at Yuma again who seemed to get the idea and got his own seatbelt snapped into place.
"Any reason for them?" Yuma wondered as he tugged at the strap after he secured it in place.
"There are a lot of cars on the road. If we get into a crash with another car, the seatbelt will keep you from getting flung from the car." Jin explained before grimacing at what he said. He hid the grimace by facing the front and staring out the windshield. Speaking of getting flung by a car, they were going to have to make sure Yuma understood the dangers of cars and how to cross the road. They did not need Yuma getting hit by any more cars now that he got his real body back. They were really going to have to get on his case about a lot of things like traffic lights and honorifics and things he had to keep secrets like any Neighbor agent.
It was a lot they were going to have to tell Yuma. Unfortunately, Jin could tell that they were already overwhelming Yuma with a lot of information and that was causing frustration in Yuma. His usual chill and calm friend was going to get worked up with each reminder that he didn't know things that he was supposed to.
It was horrible that Yuma lost his memories, but of all the bad things that could have happened as a result of the surgery, the amnesia was probably one of the best outcomes. Jin understood that Yuma was frustrated with being confused all the time and probably feeling out of the loop with what was going, and Jin himself felt disheartened every time he saw the confusion shining in Yuma's eyes, but he could deal with it. They could all deal with it. It would be difficult and there would be frustration on all sides, but as long as Yuma was alive, they could help him through with the amnesia.
He wasn't going to be alone in this.
Staring out the window, Yuma watched the underground parking lot turn into a rundown city. He blinked in surprise at the destroyed buildings that Rindo drove them past. This wasn't really how he imagined Japan would look when his father spoke of his home. The way Yugo always talked to him about Japan, Yuma imagined it to be a nicer, more peaceful place than the Neighborhood. Seeing a destroyed city like this didn't really fit in with the image his dad built for him, but he also didn't feel all that surprised. His father did always tell him that parents could be wrong. Just because parents had been around longer and had more experience, it didn't mean they knew everything. It was why Yugo told Yuma to think for himself and to check everything out and form his own opinion.
To Yuma's actual surprise though, as Rindo continued to drive through the city, the destroyed buildings soon turned into stable buildings and people began to appear. People were walking around, smiling and laughing as they went about their days. The roads also smoothed out so it was no longer a bumpy ride, but a smooth one that made it feel like the car was gliding on the road and alongside Rindo's jeep, more cars appeared on the road all around theirs.
As Yuma stared at all the people and cars that suddenly appeared around them as they drove out of the destroyed part of the city, he found himself just staring at them. They all looked so relax and happy like they didn't have anything to worry about. Their smiles looked like they came very easily.
Smiles weren't foreign to Yuma, but it was strange how relaxed all these people looked. During his travels in the Neighborhood, everyone always seemed to have tension in their muscles. They always seemed ready to be attacked at any given moment. The people here looked like they would be easy targets because they didn't have their guards up like the people in the Neighborhood did.
Yuma found it strange. He didn't have the luxury of letting his guard down. His father taught him to always have it up and be wary of the people around him. There was no telling when someone around him would want to attack him.
Was it different in this world?
"You okay back there, Yuma?" Jin called. "You look confused."
"Your world is strange."
Jin blinked in wonder. "Strange?" He asked, a smile playing at his lips. "You haven't even experienced anything here yet."
"Everyone looks so relaxed." Yuma clarified.
That got the playful smile to fall right off of Jin's face. That was a sharp reminder that Jin didn't want. Yuma grew up surrounded by war. He grew up fighting for his life every single day. He only lost five years worth of memories. There were still eleven years worth of memories that Yuma had that were about having to do whatever he could to survive in the Neighborhood. It wasn't until Yuma moved to Japan back in December that he could settle down and learn what peace was and that he didn't have to spend every day on edge.
Looking at Yuma right now, Jin could see the tension in his shoulders. When he saw it earlier, Jin had assumed the tension was from his frustration at his missing memories which was making him confused as to what was going on and who was standing in front of him. There was a part of Jin that did believe that was part of the tension that was causing Yuma's muscles to tighten up, but he was now seeing it wasn't the only reason. Right now, Yuma was in an unfamiliar place with people who said he was their comrade and his actual partner, Replica, that he fully trusted was still broken and couldn't give Yuma the support he needed.
Right now, this Yuma was an eleven year old with the mindset of a soldier. He wasn't the relaxed Border agent that escaped the world of wars and found a new life for him in Japan. When Jin looked at those tense shoulders, the tight smile, and the eyes that flickered around as he studied everyone and everything, Jin felt sadness fill him. He missed Yuma's relaxed smile and the eyes that were always filled with laughter.
Yuma deserved to be happy. That was all Jin wanted for Yuma. Yuma had been happy ever since he moved to Japan and joined Border, but when Jin saw his death incoming, he saw Yuma's happiness slipping away and not just Yuma's. Yuma's team and his friends would have suffered through grief if Yuma died from his injuries and they had to go through with the funeral that Jin saw in his visions.
Jin pushed Yuma to take the surgery because even with a low success rate, the surgery was still the only way for Yuma to fight for his life. What Jin wanted for his friend was for him to able to live his life without the threat of death dangling over his head. He wanted him to have peace in his mind.
And Yuma didn't have that.
His life had been saved thanks to the hard work of the Galopoula doctors and engineers, but his mind was in turmoil.
He wasn't at peace like Jin had wanted for him.
*L*S*A*
"It's Jin's night to make dinner." Konami said, brow twitching in annoyance.
"Yes, it is." Osamu agreed, looking around the room with a frown. His team had come upstairs with Reiji as they had finished training for the day just to find Konami and Karasuma in the kitchen, frowns seemingly burned into their faces. "But I haven't seen Jin-san for days."
Konami smacked a hand on the breakfast counter and leaned her body forward as Osamu was standing on the other side of it. "Exactly, Osamu! Torimaru said you said Tachikawa squad and Fuyushima squad weren't around either. Something is going on."
"Jin said there was no threat of large invasions coming." Reiji pointed out.
"And yet, a bunch of our top agents just vanished!" Konami argued. It was way too suspicious. Jin didn't just disappear for days on end. This had never been something he did before. He would spend a lot of time in the city or at headquarters when he was trying to manipulate the future for an incoming attack, but he would always come back to Tamakoma those days. He didn't stay away for multiple days and make himself scarce like this.
"I think it's been amazing." Hyuse replied, walking around the counter to go get himself a drink. "Not having to deal with his manipulative ass is a wonderful experience. Feels very freeing."
Konami watched him go with a glare. Jin didn't even bother Hyuse with his future visions, but Hyuse had never let what happened in the Aftokrator invasion go. He would forever hold onto that grudge. Well, it was whatever. She wasn't going to waste her breath arguing with Hyuse about the past or his annoyance with Jin, especially because she was feeling quite annoyed with Jin right now because of his secretive nature.
"Reiji-san!" Konami snapped her attention towards her captain. If anyone was going to know what Jin was up to, other than Rindo, it would be Reiji. "Did Jin tell you anything? Like what he was going to be up to?"
"No. He already assured us that we aren't in danger of being attacked." Reiji replied. "It's possible he just took a trip to relax."
"A trip?" Konami repeated dubiously. "Without telling any of us that he was going to take a vacation? And with his phone not working so we can't contact him if there is an emergency?"
Osamu got the feeling that Konami had been thinking about this for a long while. She seemed to have all of her arguments locked in and ready to counter anything they said. She would not be satisfied until she knew what Jin was up to.
"I trust in Jin's prediction when he says there is nothing to worry about." Reiji replied. "Now, do you want me to make dinner since Jin isn't here?"
Osamu raised a brow. He hadn't expected Reiji to just ignore Konami's concerns, but if he really didn't know anything about what Jin was up to, he probably had nothing more to add to the conversation. They would just talk themselves in circles if they tried to argue about what Jin could be up to right now.
"You cooked yesterday and helped Osamu and the others train all day." Karasuma replied. "Why don't we just order pizza? Make things simple tonight."
"I could go for pizza." Hyuse said as he turned back to them with a glass of water.
Osamu was getting the feeling that Hyuse was quite glad that Jin wasn't here to cook dinner on his night to cook. Even after all this time, even after he began to train with Jin on the rare occasion, he still had some type of bitterness towards Jin for what happened months ago. Osamu hoped that someday Hyuse would let what happened go, but he wasn't holding his breath.
"Pizza it is then." Reiji pulled his phone from his pocket to go ahead and order it. They ordered pizza enough times in the time since Tamakoma-2 was formed that he knew what their preferences were so he walked away from the group to make the call.
"How was training?" Karasuma asked.
"It went good. Reiji-san has been an amazing help with his knowledge of bullets." Osamu replied.
"Not with Viper." Hyuse complained.
"Reiji-san doesn't use Viper. There are plenty of agents you can ask for advice from at HQ." Karasuma suggested and got a scowl in return. "Or I can work with on it sometime, but though I'm good with it, they are better Viper users at HQ. You could go with Osamu when he trains with Izumi-senpai sometime. You could learn a lot from him."
While Hyuse still looked annoyed at asking HQ agents for advice, he did look intrigued at the mention of Izumi. He was aware that Izumi was on the A-Rank number one team and that was where Tachikawa Kei was. Maybe he could go there and drag Tachikawa into a match sometime.
"You could try, but would Izumi-senpai agree to that?" Osamu asked. He only got training with Izumi because Karasuma requested it for him. When Ninomiya went to Izumi for help, he had to beg to get Izumi to agree. Osamu just couldn't see Hyuse putting in that same effort for advice.
"It would be fun to see." Was all Karasuma said in response.
Osamu felt sweat drip down his brow. So, even Karasuma couldn't see Izumi agreeing to give Hyuse advice. He just wanted to cause some chaos.
"Who is your next match against anyway?" Karasuma asked.
"Ninomiya squad, Ikoma squad, and Azuma squad."
"Woo," Konami grimaced. "Those are some tough contenders you have to face."
"Ninomiya squad is going to hit us hard." Chika said.
"They've never shown mercy to our team." Osamu agreed. Ninomiya squad, as usual, was keeping a solid hold on the number one spot. Osamu had a feeling that since their punishment for Hatohara's rule breaking was up that Ninomiya would be aiming for A-Rank at the end of this season. For that reason, Osamu knew no mercy would be coming from that team, not that Ninomiya squad gave mercy to anyone. They were a terrifyingly efficient team.
Hyuse scoffed. "We don't need mercy anyway." He glanced towards Chika with a smirk. "We proved that last match."
Chika gave a small smile back. "We're only at B-Rank number three, Hyuse-kun. We haven't exactly made it back to number two yet."
"And flashy explosions like you used in your match Wednesday aren't going to get you to the top." Konami warned. "It was amazing to watch, but doing something like that just reveals your spot. If you can't hit everyone with an attack like that, you shouldn't do it because the ones left will just close in on you."
"Or get me sniped by Azuma-san again." Chika admitted. While she managed three kills with a powerful Meteor in the last match, it revealed her spot and got her sniped in the head by Azuma. There was a reason why she didn't normally use Meteor and Hound in matches. She was much more comfortable at hiding and shooting from a distance over being a mid-range shooter.
Hyuse snorted. "The looks on Oji squad's faces was amazing though."
Chika blushed and rubbed the back of her head as she was still unused to getting praised for killing her allies in the Rank Wars.
"Okudera-kun and Koarai-kun had an amazing reaction too." Shiori added as she draped an arm over Chika's shoulder, grinning at their sniper.
"You would think they wouldn't be that shocked at the move. Chika threw a Meteor at them last season." Konami said.
"Maybe it was because we haven't been–" Osamu cut himself off when he saw the door open in the corner of his eyes and saw a familiar blue jacket walking through. Well, talk about perfect timing. "Oh, Jin-san, we were just–"
"JIN!" Konami screeched, whipping around the moment the name escaped Osamu's lips. "Who do you think you–" Her voice caught in her throat when a small head popped out from past Jin, showing off unfamiliar black hair, but familiar red eyes staring at her. "YUMA!"
Anyone who hadn't looked over to watch Konami rage at Jin were suddenly whipping around at the shout of the name of the person that had been gone for three weeks. Konami basically vaulted over the counter to reach her two friends, but to her surprise, Jin grabbed Yuma's hood and yanked him back a couple steps before Konami could get to him.
"Konami, wait!" Jin ordered, holding up his free hand to get her to understand while keeping a hold on Yuma's hood to keep him from moving forward again.
"Ah, we probably should have called first." Rindo said as he came into the room behind his young agents.
"Called? Called?!" Konami seethed. "You!" She jabbed a finger in Jin's chest. "Disappeared for days and now you're showing up with Yuma! If Yuma was coming home, you should have told us before you go and vanish for days. We could have planned a welcome back feast for him!"
Jin stared at her for a moment, not acknowledging the way she was jabbing his chest. It was better than the punch he thought he would be getting. He didn't warn Tamakoma of Yuma returning because he wasn't sure of what the problem was when he left to go to Galopoula. He hadn't wanted to make them all worry even more than they had already been doing since Yuma left three weeks ago.
Even so, maybe he should have sent a warning text when they were on the drive back to Tamakoma, but Jin had been more focused on Yuma then he had been on what would happen when they got back to Tamakoma. The amnesia explanation was something he preferred to give in person, similar to why Rata waited until they saw each other in person to tell him about it. Still, Jin could have shot a warning to the Tamakoma branch that Yuma was with him.
Jin released his grip on Yuma's hood to instead put his hand on his back and pushed him back forward. "Yuma is still recovering from his surgery so no roughhousing, Konami." Though he shot the sentence towards her, he made a point of looking at everyone in the room. It was just more directed at Konami because she was the one who showed her affection in a rough, physical manner.
Konami heard what Jin said, but she didn't even acknowledge it. When Jin pushed Yuma in front of him, she found her attention drawn to her young friend. Something seemed wrong with all of this. Yuma, who had been scared to take the surgery, should be ecstatic at its success and shooting them a big grin. He should be announcing his return or jumping at them as he returned and could live his life with them to the fullest now.
Instead, Yuma was just silently staring at them.
Studying them.
"Yuma?" Konami called confused. It wasn't right. That look being directed at her felt all kinds of wrong.
Those red eyes shifted to stare at her. His brows furrowed as he stared at her, and then he was looking away from her and pulling his phone out.
"Seriously? You just got home and you're going to look at your phone?" Hyuse scoffed.
Yuma replied by twisting his phone around to show Konami. To show her the picture that he had pulled up. "This looks like you."
Konami looked at the picture. It was the last picture she took with Karasuma, Yotaro, Yuri, and Michael that she sent to Yuma when he was getting ready to leave. Her eyes flickered to Yuma's face to the phone and then back to his face. "Jin."
Jin found it impressive that Konami could convey so much with just his name. It was confusion. It was a demand. It was worry. It was fear.
Jin's hand came down on Yuma's shoulders from behind him, forcing a smile on his face. "Yuma's surgery was a success, but there were some complications from the surgery."
"Meaning?" Osamu asked worriedly.
"Sorry," Yuma said, frowning at the group in front of him. "I don't remember you guys."
"It seems five years worth of memories got wiped away." Jin clarified and was rewarded with looks of concern and despair. Honestly, it was a pretty crappy reward, but it had to be worse for Yuma as Jin could feel the tightening of Yuma's shoulders under his hands.
"You don't remember anything about us, Yuma-kun?" Chika asked softly as she suddenly appeared in front of Yuma, big eyes softening in worry. She felt her heart drop to her stomach when Yuma just stared at her with eyes that held not a single ounce of recognition and he just shook his head. "I...but...how? I thought you were just getting a surgery to repair your body."
Yuma shrugged.
"Most likely cause was trauma from the surgery." Jin replied, pushing Yuma forward to get them farther in the room. "His doctor believes it to be just temporary. We need to help his memories recover."
"How do we do that?" Osamu wondered, withholding the urge to wince when Yuma shifted a sharp stare towards him. The intensity in that stare reminded him a lot of when he first met Yuma months ago. This was the Yuma that was only used to war and violence. "Please tell me you haven't broken any legs."
His statement was so abrupt that it had Yuma wheeling back in surprise, intensity dropping from his eyes to be replaced by a baffled look. "What?"
"Yuma hasn't been back in Japan long enough to break any legs." Jin said.
"Legs?" Yuma echoed, staring down at his legs in confusion. "My legs? Or...?" Wasn't he living in a Trion body when he knew these people? That had to mean it wasn't his leg that he broke.
"Don't break any legs, Kuga." Osamu said. "Or give anyone concussions. Or break any bones. Know what, just don't hit anyone, Kuga."
Yuma could only blink blankly at Osamu. Why did he look so frazzled already? Was Yuma's amnesia that upsetting to Osamu?
"I need to sit down." Osamu went and collapsed in a chair at the dining room table and buried his face in his hands. His friend had amnesia. His friend survived his risky surgery, but came back with no memories which meant they had to start all over in getting Yuma adjusted to this world. Or, they manage to get Yuma his memories back and all was good. After everything he had been through with Yuma, Osamu didn't think..."Oh, no. Please don't get hit by a car again."
"What?"
Osamu couldn't go through this again. There was so much stress with Yuma in those first couple of days that he knew him. Broken bones, concussions, car crashes, multiple Trion Soldier attacks. Osamu wasn't alone in getting Yuma adjusted to this world this time, but that wouldn't take away the stress from Osamu.
His friend's memories were gone.
Everything they experienced together.
Joining Tamakoma.
All those months of training together and fighting to the top of B-Rank.
All their fights against Neighbors.
The away mission they went on together.
Everything that helped their friendship grow strong and into one of immense trust.
While it still all existed for Osamu, it had all been lost to Yuma.
They were just strangers to Yuma.