Light Shines Anew

by Fallen Crest

The incident with the Mimics is in the past. The Away Mission is complete and all the agents are back in Japan. Peace had settled down around Border once more, but there is one problem yet to be solved. Yuma's body is still sealed away and dying inside his black trigger. With each passing day, the clock ticks down for Yuma.

6. Ch 6: A Sibling's Viewpoint

Light Shines Anew

Chapter 6: A Sibling's Viewpoint

"What do you know about the operation that Galopoula wants to perform?" Kinuta asked, getting straight to the point.

Yuma approached the table to stand right next to it. He tilted his head back to look up at the hologram of the body. It was a blue hologram with specific parts that were dark blue and flashing. "Nothing. It's just an operation with a twenty percent chance of success. That's all Jin-san told me. I'm not concerned with how the surgery is done. The success rate is too low for me to want to do it."

"The success rate is low because of how severe your injuries are and how close you are to death." Kinuta replied. "Had you gotten this operation years ago, the success rate would have been higher. Not one hundred percent because the severity of the injuries is still the same."

"So what? Since I'm a month away from death, my chance is that much lower?"

"For being a month away and the chance of success being lower the closer you are to death, twenty percent is actually pretty high." Shinoda pointed out.

Yuma eyed the commander out of the corner of his eye, scoffing slightly. Twenty percent was still twenty percent no matter how they looked out it.

Kinuta coughed pointedly to get the attention back on him. "I'm not here to discuss the success rate. We're here to talk about what Galopoula has sent us in this file." He pointed at the hologram above them. "They were in quite a giving mood with what they gave us to explain the operation. I'm guessing Tamakoma gave them quite a bit of information as well."

"Seeing Yuma's real body a few months ago gave us a good idea of the injuries so when Jin and I spoke to Galopoula about this, we gave them as much information as we could." Rindo explained. "The more information they had on the situation, the better their plan would be to solve this."

"Have they ever performed an operation like this?" Yuma asked out of curiosity. He had no plan to do the operation or change his mind, but since he was already here and Kinuta and the others seemed determined to talk about it, he would at least voice his questions. It reminded him of how his father always told him there was more than one answer. He already made his choice, but he could at least gather more information about the other options since he was being provided with this.

"This type of operation is commonplace for them. At least how they normally do it which means usually the person getting the operation simply lost one arm or leg, not multiple limbs and organs." Rindo started slowly, cautiously. "On top of that, your situation is unprecedented so it causes a few complications."

Yuma glanced down at his ring. "My body being sealed in the Black Trigger."

Kinuta nodded. "Exactly. The type of operation they plan to do sounds pretty simple, but requires technology that we don't have as of the moment."

That sounded like Kinuta was invested enough in Galopoula's medical uses of Trion and Triggers that he planned to look that much more deeply into it. Yuma suspected this a while ago, and it didn't really surprise him, but Border was quite greedy with wanting to get knowledge and a better understanding of Triggers, Trion, and Neighbors. Although, they still seemed to have a moral code since they still wouldn't harm Neighbors they already captured. It really was quite different when compared to places Yuma traveled to as a child.

"To begin with, this operation requires a Trigger that Galopoula possesses along with someone skilled enough to use it and doctors and engineers who are trained in this kind of surgery." Kinuta began. He paused and glanced over at Yuma. "Especially in your case as those doctors will be the ones fighting to keep you alive while the Trigger users perform the operation."

"Meaning Yuma-kun's Trigger which is always passively active will need deactivated." Shinoda said for clarification. "That's where the danger of this situation comes into play, right? Because the doctors in Galopoula know how to do this surgery so the risk is coming from returning Yuma-kun's body to this dimension."

Yuma stared at his ring. He figured this would be deactivated and this Trion body would need destroyed for the surgery to be performed. That idea did not set well with him at all. He knew that this body would not survive forever. It would disappear when his real body died, but he had been prepared for that. He knew that day would come one day. He never planned to return to his real body and the idea of doing so left him uneasy. Yeah, this body signified he would die early one day, but he had been like this for five years now. This Trion body was a form of comfort for him now.

Kinuta tapped the tablet screen once more and the hologram above them zoomed in on the right arm. "The operation is designed to help soldiers who get injured in combat. The operation is designed to combine Trion limbs with the real body. Galopoula has a special type of Trigger designed for this procedure. It creates a Trion limb that is attached to the real body where the flesh and blood limb has been lost." He zoomed in either further to the arm to show where the Trion limb and real body would meet. "I would say it's similar to a prosthetic."

Yuma could just make out a glowing line where the two met. As real as Trion bodies looked, they weren't real bodies. They were a lot like avatars designed to protect the real body to allow people to fight without fear to their real bodies. Trion bodies and real bodies being attached to each other was a pretty weird concept. Yuma had traveled through so many nations in the Neighborhood, but he had never heard of anything like this.

"In a sense, the Trion parts operate in a similar way that your non-combat Trion body works. They are not very durable, but can regenerate like your current body." Kinuta continued. "Similar to your current body that is powered by a Black Trigger, these Trion limbs also are powered by a Trigger that you would have to keep on your body."

"The procedure sounds pretty simple if it's just done with a Trigger." Yuma commented.

"It's not." Kinuta refuted. "There is a reason this surgery requires Trigger uses, engineers, and doctors. Trion bodies and flesh and blood bodies don't just go together. You can't simply slap a Trion limb on a real body and call it a day. They need to be properly synced up with the nerves and other organs. If everything is not connected properly, it could cause problems with your Trion limbs and organs or it can cause your real body to shut down. In your case at least."

Yuma pursed his lips. "Why in my case in particular?"

Kinuta swiped along the tablet to shift views from the arm to the torso on the hologram. "Because you're missing organs from your torso being ripped to shreds like it was. While some of the organs on the left side of your body are not needed for survival, based on the size of the hole in your torso, your lungs were damaged. That's going to need repaired with Trion."

A grimace caused through Yuma's face. His hand came up to rub the left side of his body. This conversation was not making him feel any better at the idea of surgery. If he did this, he would have to rely forever on the Trion limbs and organs that would supplement the missing ones. If anything ever went wrong, he would die. Which, honestly, wasn't too different from now, except that his current body was completely Trion so he didn't have to worry about Trion limbs and flesh and blood limbs clashing.

"If something went wrong with one of Trion limbs or eyes, you would be fine and we could get it fixed. If your lung malfunctioned, it would fill with blood and drown you quite quickly." Kinuta said.

Shinoda glanced at Yuma, frowning in worry when he saw the widening of his eyes. This was not what they wanted when he asked Kinuta to look into this. "Kinuta-san, not helping!"

"I'm telling him the truth of everything that I figured out and my theories about this." Kinuta argued. "It's better to have all the information." He glanced at Yuma, feeling his heart ache a bit for the Neighbor child. Those wide eyes made him look like the age of the child body he was trapped in. Seeing the young look made him think of his own child who he would do anything to protect. From one parent to another, he truly did understand why Kuga Yugo did what he did for his child.

"If blood were to enter your lungs, it wouldn't kill you immediately." Kinuta cautioned. "But if you ever feel anything wrong, you need to come to me immediately. You should never wait on that."

If he ever did?

If?

Why was everyone talking as if Yuma was going to do this surgery?

"Anyway, what I'm getting at with this operation is that when you return to your real body, your missing limbs and organs will be supplemented by Trion ones. However, they would need a steady supply of Trion similar to how your current Trion body is supplied Trion by your Black Trigger."

"Won't that siphon my Trion constantly?" Yuma asked.

"Galopoula has a special type of Trigger they give people who go through this operation. Depending on how many Trion limbs and organs you need will determine how much Trion is needed. It works in a way similar to your Black Trigger." Kinuta explained. "It will always be passively active like your Black Trigger."

"But it's not a Black Trigger." Yuma concluded. "Which means it is easier to break." Black Trigger were a lot stronger than normal Triggers. Neither were simple to break, but it was more likely a normal Trigger would get destroyed than a Black Trigger.

"If you're reckless with it. For example, getting hit by a car, then yes, it would be easy to break." Kinuta said.

Yuma blinked, processing what Kinuta said before he slowly turned to look at Shinoda on the other side of the table.

Shinoda stared back, unapologetically.

Yeah, so, Yuma was right. He was never living that down. Apparently, three car accidents was one too many.

"The longer you put off going to Galopoula, the less likely the operation will succeed." Kinuta warned.

"Well, that's fine since I don't plan to do the operation."

"If you don't do this, you will die."

"I know that better than anyone. You know the low success rate this has. I only have a month left. I would prefer to have fun and live my life rather than die on an operating table." Yuma retorted. He had a limited amount of time left. All he wanted to do with this last month, his first summer vacation in Japan, was to have fun, but people kept bothering him about his body or leaving Japan to go have this operation.

"Yuma, I understand your reasoning." Rindo said compassionately. "You're scared of losing what little time you have left so you don't want to go to Galopoula. But, have you ever stopped to think about how much fun you will have when you're healed and can come back here and fully live your life and have all the fun you want without this hanging over your head?"

Yuma blinked and when his eyes opened, they had shifted towards Rindo, eyes seemingly dulled. "No." Because he had never looked towards the future. He had spent so much time looking at the past that he never saw a future for himself. The past and present were the only things he ever saw. Living with an expiration date that was approaching faster for him than everyone else meant that he didn't want to see the future.

"Try it." Rindo suggested gently.

*L*S*A*

"Try it."

Yuma had long left Kinuta's office, leaving the adults behind which found him standing in the doorway of the solo rank booths. Only the doorway though as he didn't dare take that final step to actually enter the room. He stood in the hall at the edge and just watched all the agents, official and C-Rank, hang out or get ready to train and just smiling and laughing with their friends without a care in the world.

Two days ago that was Yuma. Even with his life shortened, Yuma had been able to smile and laugh in such a carefree manner ever since he joined Border. With each day he spent in Japan, the smile became easier and easier with each day.

Until now.

Yuma could feel the frown that was pulling at his face.

He hated it.

"Yuma?"

Yuma jerked back and glanced over his shoulder. "Arashiyama-san."

"Are you okay?" Arashiyama studied Yuma's face carefully and what he saw made his brows crease in concern.

Yuma looked back into the room full of agents. "Yeah, I'm fine." He mostly looked away because he didn't know anymore if what he was saying was the truth or not. If he was lying about being fine, he didn't want Arashiyama to see his eyes turn black and call him out on it.

Arashiyama followed Yuma's attention to look into the training room. He had never seen the younger agent hesitate to go in there and find himself a training partner. "Are you going to have rank wars?"

Red eyes scanned over the agents before looking up at the tv in the room that showed a match between Murakami and Kageura taking place. It seemed they were having a thirty-round match. That sounded like a lot of fun. A three-way match with Murakami and Kageura was always exciting, but after their discussion turn argument yesterday, he wasn't sure it was the best idea. None of them had texted him today. He could just say Kageura was getting ready for the match tomorrow, but considering how they fought yesterday, Yuma had a feeling preparing for the first round tomorrow wasn't why Kageura hadn't texted him all day. He simply didn't want to talk to Yuma right now after their fight.

"Yuma?" Arashiyama leaned forward to try to get a better look at his friend's face. He stared at Yuma's eyes as they flickered around the room, seemingly only focusing on something for a few seconds before moving again. He seemed very distracted which wasn't like him at all. "Yuma."

A tug on his arm had Yuma dragging his attention back to Arashiyama. "Sorry, what?"

Arashiyama pointed back down the hall he and Yuma both just came from. "Come with me?"

For a moment, it looked like Yuma was going to refuse as he glanced back at the tv to see Murakami's sword pierce Kageura through the heart. He watched Kageura bail out to give Murakami another win before he let Arashiyama's tugging on his arm turn him around to move back down the hall.

"You know, I'm working as a commentator on your match tomorrow." Arashiyama started.

Yuma hummed. He had heard about that.

"Is your team ready? I thought you would be making final preparations with them all day." Arashiyama continued when it became obvious that Yuma wasn't going to give a verbal reply.

"That had been the plan, but Kinuta-san needed me." Yuma replied. It seemed Rindo and the others decided hounding Yuma about the operation he didn't want was more important than Yuma's final preparations with his team for the B-Rank Wars. "It's getting late anyway. It's best to not train all day as we need to rest before the match. Overworking is bad."

"True." Arashiyama agreed. "I can't wait to see how the match turns out tomorrow."

*L*S*A*

Jin sat on the ledge on the roof of Tamakoma, legs stretched out in front of him as he looked up at the orange sky. It truly was so peaceful in the evening as everything and everyone started to settle down after a long day. Though, that peace was often an illusion. Yes, it was peaceful but behind closed doors, who really knew what was happening?

For Jin, it was just countless windows of the future. As the power elite, he had to always make sure that the city would be protected. It was his job to control the chaos by manipulating the battlefield and giving secret messages to the agents so they would end up doing the right thing to protect their future.

Right now, though, the future of Border and Mikado City was peaceful. There were no current threats to them so he was focusing on the future on a more personal manner.

"Do you and Kuga think I'm stupid?"

Jin smiled as he heard the roof door close and a pair of footsteps approach him. "Not at all, Four-Eyes." He brought his eyes down from the sky to look at the young captain.

"I can let go you two getting into an argument the other night, but after that, you have Rindo-san change the defense duty schedule so you and Kuga go out together? Or the fact that Rindo-san dragged him off to HQ when we were supposed to be preparing for the first round of the Rank Wars tomorrow? Or the fact that Kuga seems depressed about something?" Osamu demanded. "Something is going on. Something that I feel I need to know as his captain."

"Have you asked Yuma?" Jin asked.

Osamu raised a brow, unimpressed with the question. "You know how Kuga is. There isn't much he keeps silent about, but when he doesn't want to discuss something, he can be particularly stubborn."

Jin tilted his head in agreement. Although, in this situation, Jin saw Yuma mostly being quiet out of fear as he realized last night. He just didn't seem to want to think about it now that he knew of his time clock flashing red as it got close to hitting zero. "It is something you should know, but I'm not sure how I feel about disrespecting Yuma's decision right now."

"I don't want to pry. Kuga has a right to privacy as much as everyone else. It's just, I'm worried." Osamu admitted. "He doesn't fight with his friends or openly show his depression like this unless something is truly bothering."

"Are you worried it will affect the match tomorrow?" Jin asked.

Osamu's frown deepened, eyes flashing angrily at his senior. "I don't care if we lose the match. Kuga is more important than that." He glanced pass Jin, staring at the setting sun in the distance. "This just feels too much like the Mimic situation, Jin-san, so I want you to answer me honestly, did you see Kuga's death again?"

That was just like Captain Four-Eyes. Smart and always thinking of the worst case scenario. Osamu tended to overthink things a bit too much, but because he did that, it allowed him to think through tricky strategies in battle. Outside of battle, that over thinking led him to worst case scenarios popping into his head. Perhaps thinking of the worst case and it turning out to be something bad, but not as bad as the worst case scenario he thought of made it easier to take the bad news.

Unfortunately, Osamu hit the nail right on the head and it was as bad as he thought it was.

Jin could easily lie to Osamu since he didn't have Yuma's side effect, but that wasn't what he wanted to do. Eventually Osamu would find out the truth and Jin didn't want to betray Osamu's trust in him by lying and saying he was wrong here.

It seemed that Jin took too long to reply though as Osamu's expression dropped to one of despair. "I knew we would get here one day, Jin-san. He's out of time, isn't he?"

"Yes." Jin admitted.

Osamu looked down, hands clenching into tight fists at his side. There was never anything he could do to save his friend. He had always known this from the moment Replica told him about Yuma's past. Knowing he couldn't do anything to help Yuma didn't take away the sting of feeling useless from him though. He had done everything he could do by doing as Replica requested and gave Yuma a reason to keep holding onto life.

What could Osamu do now that Yuma's time was done?

Nothing.

There wasn't anything Osamu could do for his friend except be by his side.

Jin watched all the emotions flash across Osamu's face. Shock, grief, pain, despair, regret. He perfectly understood what Osamu was feeling. After working and manipulating his way to this point, Jin couldn't do anymore. From this point on, it was up to Yuma to decide to take the surgery and then it was like Yuma said, they had to rely on Galopoula to do their job and make the operation a success.

"Osamu," Jin said, dropping the nickname for the seriousness of the conversation. "Don't fall into complete despair."

Osamu sat next to Jin on the ledge. "How can you say that when Kuga is about to die?"

"Soon doesn't mean tomorrow." Jin replied. "It means a month from now." He picked up his drink off the ledge to take a sip of his, relishing in the taste of his green tea to soothe his active mind. Osamu should try some of this to calm himself down. He was always so high strung.

"A month isn't a long time." Osamu pointed out.

"It's not." Jin agreed. "I saw Yuma's death coming when I met him, but this is a lot sooner than it should have been." He took a sip of his tea, shifting his eyes up at the sky. "We should have had more time than this when he came back from the away mission. This is really cutting it too close to your return from the Neighborhood."

Osamu frowned. "Too soon? Did we do something to cause Kuga's time to run out sooner?"

"No, it wasn't us. It was because of the incident with the Mimics." Jin explained. "Yuma forced his body back to this world to force Kuga-san to fix things. It siphoned quite a bit of time from him. I planned for there to be more time."

Osamu looked down at his feet. Yuma's death was always coming, but the incident with the Mimics, because Meraki sent Mimics here, they sped up Yuma's impending death. If that incident never happened, Yuma wouldn't be dying in a month. From what Jin said, it sounded like he saw this coming, but needed more time to work out saving Yuma's life.

"You were planning something? Does that mean there is something out there that can help Kuga?" Osamu asked.

"Yes, but Yuma doesn't want do it."

"What? Why?!" Osamu demanded.

"Tch," Kageura broke the staring contest first. "Even as injured as you are, you still know how to put up a confident, threatening aura. Your pupils didn't turn black, Kuga, but tell me a lie right now. I want to see them turn black."

"Okay." Yuma agreed. "I want to die."

The effect was immediate as the black swarmed into Yuma's pupil.

Osamu felt a huge surge of relief when he saw the black. He knew Yuma suffered from a lot of guilt and self-hatred over what happened years ago, so it was a weight off his shoulders to learn that his friend really did want to live.

Yuma didn't want to die. Osamu was absolutely certain of it from that day during the Mimic incident. He proved his desire to live and Osamu was positive that it still held true to this day. His friend had become so much happier since joining Border and making so many friends.

"The only solution I've been able to find is a surgery that Galopoula can perform, but it doesn't have a high success rate so Yuma doesn't want to do it." Jin explained.

"But he'll die if he doesn't do it!" Osamu protested, ignoring the tidbit of information about Galopoula. It didn't surprise him one bit that Jin would go to a Neighbor nation that attacked them then Tamakoma formed a secret alliance with to get help. It seemed like the exact thing he would do. "Even if the success rate it low, it is still his only chance to fight for his life!"

Jin smiled sadly. "In all the time you have known Yuma, have you ever seen him scared?"

Osamu jerked back in surprise. Kuga? Scared? Those two things didn't seem like they belonged together. He was always happy and laughing in a carefree manner. When the situation called for it, he would get serious. When he got lost in his thoughts when he was alone, he got depressed when thinking about his father. If something pushed him over the line, he would get angry. Even in the Mimic incident when he had to deal with a fake of his father, he didn't get scared. He was depressed and dealing with grief and his anger took a hold of him, but he was never afraid. Despite all the twisting emotions he felt back then, fear was not one of them twisted in there.

"No."

Jin nodded. "He is now." He set his glass down on the ledge and twisted it around to watch the liquid inside swish around. "We allowed him a chance of a happy life when we accepted him into Border and now he's scared of losing it. If the operation fails, he'll die immediately. He's scared of that so he would rather spend his last month having fun than taking the chance to fight for his life."

Osamu glanced down at Jin's drink, watching as the liquid hit the rim of the glass but with Jin's careful spinning of the glass, it just spun around the rim until it sloshed back into the cup. Instead of seeing Jin's tea though, he saw red. Red like blood sloshing around the cup as it raced to escape before Jin turned the cup again to keep it in.

Osamu blinked and forced his eyes away to look at the door that would lead back inside. That day when Yuma had his final fight with his father was a horrible nightmare. He didn't want to see his friend's blood pouring out on the ground ever again. When he did have nightmares of that day, it was so easy for him to leave his room and go find Yuma since they both stayed at the base. Seeing Yuma turn and smile at him those nights made it easy for Osamu to relax in the moment, but in the back of his mind, he always knew it wouldn't be like this forever. Someday, that nightmare would become a reality.

"I don't want him to die." Osamu whispered.

Jin clapped his friend on the shoulder in understanding. "You're not the only one to feel like that."

Osamu turned his hands over in his laps, staring at his open palms. He was only alive right now because of Yuma. He was only in top tier of B-Rank because Yuma dragged them up here while giving him and Chika time to train and get used to fighting. There was so much he owed Yuma and he couldn't do anything to return everything he owed to him.

It was so frustrating.

*L*S*A*

"I don't think we ever had Kuga-kun in here." Haruka said.

"Sorry about this, Ayatsuji." Arashiyama apologized as he watched Haruka make some tea. He stayed by the doorway of their kitchenette in the squad room so he could glance back at where Yuma was sitting on the couch.

Haruka shook her head. "It's not a problem, Arashiyama-san. It's nice to have guests." As the water was heating up for the tea, she turned to their fridge. "What does Kuga-kun like? Something sweet?"

"Yuma likes anything." Arashiyama replied. He looked back towards the other room to find Yuma staring intently at the papers that his squad had left on the table. His team was still swamped with extra work to deal with the flood of applicants to Border. Even though it had been a few months since Osamu's declaration at the press conference, the amount of applicants had yet to slow down. It was causing Border to grow even faster.

Haruka hummed thoughtfully as she looked through the fridge before her eyes lit up. "Ah-ha. Kuga-kun!" She approached the doorway and looked out towards Yuma with a cheerful smile. "Do you like daifuku? I bought some earlier."

Yuma glanced up, blinking a dazed look out of his eyes.

Arashiyama got a feeling that Yuma hadn't really been staring at the papers on the table based on that look. He must have been lost in thought and just staring mindlessly at his messy table.

"Sounds fine, Ayatsuji-san." Yuma said politely.

"Alright, the tea will be ready in a few minutes." Haruka said before disappearing back into the kitchenette. As she went back in, she gave a small shove to her captain's back and gave him a pointed look. "Go talk to him."

"Alright, no need to be pushy." Arashiyama said with a small chuckle.

Arashiyama came out to the meeting room and sat on one of the sits across from the couch so he could look at Yuma as they spoke. "Sorry about the mess, Yuma." He said as he gathered up the papers to get them out of the way for when Haruka brought out the snacks.

Yuma shook his head. "You haven't seen the mess we make in our room at Tamakoma when we're preparing for a match." It was mostly Osamu and his overthinking that had papers flying everywhere. Yuma and Chika were usually just watching him stress out. Osamu got stressed trying to plan the strategy. Chika got stressed with training back then since she couldn't shoot people. And Yuma just sat on the roof as he planned how to defeat the aces. It was a system that got them through the majority of the B-Rank Wars last season.

"I can imagine though." Arashiyama replied. "Seeing the strategies and tricks your team pulled off last season, I can see the work you guys put in. I can't wait to see what your team comes up with this season."

Yuma glanced up from watching Arashiyama clean the table, eyes shifting away as pain filled them. How many matches would he get before he died and left his team without one of their aces?

Arashiyama paused in what he was doing as he was met with silence. He glanced up and found himself frowning when he saw a twisted expression of pain on Yuma's face. Something definitely happened. The Yuma of last season was very excited and had so much fun with the B-Rank wars. Yuma was distracted when he found him and brought him back here. He knew Yuma was miserable for some reason, but he thought distracting him with the B-Rank Wars that he loved would cheer him up.

Perhaps the B-Rank Wars was why Yuma was distressed, though Arashiyama couldn't figure out why.

"Yuma?" Arashiyama straightened the papers out and put them in a corner on the table so they were out of the way. "Is there something bothering you?"

"I guess so." Yuma said as he didn't feel up to any more lying about being fine. It's not like anyone was buying it anyway. He glanced back at Arashiyama, at the concern the older agent was throwing his way. It reminded him of Osamu and Jin. Maybe like a mix of them. He knew Osamu came to Arashiyama squad for training and advice on what to do as a shooter. It always seemed to help Osamu a lot and Osamu sang praises of the squad. Yuma knew those praises to be true as he had much trust in Arashiyama squad himself. "Can I ask you something?"

Arashiyama blinked in surprise. He was more than happy to give any advice to those who needed it. He just never expected one of those people to be Yuma who always seemed so assured of everything he did. "Sure, ask me anything, Yuma."

Yuma rolled his hand over in his lap to stare at his ring. The ring that existed because all his father ever wanted for him was for him to live. His father bought him five years. Was that enough time for him to have honored what Yugo wanted for him?

"If..." Yuma paused.

Arashiyama waited patiently for Yuma to find his thoughts. As he did, he leaned back slightly to look through the kitchenette doorway. He caught Haruka's eyes as she stood there with a tray of tea and snacks for them. It seemed she realized the sensitivity of the topic and didn't want to disturb them.

"If you had a difficult choice to make and made your decision already, but everyone around you disagreed with it and argued with you, what would you do?" Yuma asked.

Arashiyama blinked and turned his attention back to Yuma. "I would listen to them." By Yuma's pained expression, that wasn't what he wanted to hear. He stretched his arm behind him and wiggled his fingers in a come here motion to his operator.

Haruka stepped out of the kitchenette and brought the drinks and snacks over. She looked at her captain with a silent question and he motioned for her to sit next to him.

Haruka set the tray down on the table and passed one of the drinks to Yuma. "Green tea. It pairs perfectly with daifuku, Kuga-kun."

Yuma nodded.

Arashiyama took his mug and blew on it to cool it down so he could take a sip before putting his mug down to look at Yuma again. "I'm not sure what you're struggling exactly with, Yuma, but the situation you described is similar to what a captain goes through. Surely your team has done this. Mikumo-kun makes the orders, but surely you have argued about his orders, right?"

Yuma didn't argue with Osamu that much about his orders. He could usually follow them and make them work out. That's not to say he never disagreed with Osamu's decisions. When he first met Osamu, he constantly thought Osamu was an idiot with the reckless decisions he made when he was so weak and he argued with Osamu about them. He gave Osamu advice and information, but Osamu often ignored him and did what he wanted. In their current team, Hyuse was the one who argued with Osamu the most about his orders.

"I suppose." Yuma said.

Arashiyama nodded. "Every team has that, right, Ayatsuji?"

Haruka picked up one of the snacks. "Mm-hmm. In a skilled team that trusts each other and everyone's skills, it doesn't happen often, but it does happen. My job as an operator is to watch the whole field and inform Arashiyama-san of what is going on and any changes. With that information, he makes the decision of what we are to do."

"In some cases, my teammates might argue with me or hand me a different idea." Arashiyama said.

"Go, Osamu. We told Chika we'd go help her if things got dangerous." Yuma said. "I'm counting on you."

"I got it." Osamu replied.

Kitora approached her captain. "Arashiyama-senpai. Let me go with Mikumo-kun." She said, surprising the other agents. "I owe these two."

"Kitora," Osamu said in relief while Yuma just smiled.

Arashiyama smiled. "Got it. Make sure to protect the people in the city for us too." He put a hand to his ear. "You wouldn't mind that, would you, Director Shinoda?"

Arashiyama smiled. "As the captain, it's my job to take those ideas or arguments into consideration. You can't make a good decision without understanding every side."

Yuma closed his eyes, hunching forward slightly to hide his face. He truly could be such an idiot sometimes. That's what he did to Osamu when they first met. He constantly advised Osamu because he was so weak and if he didn't give Osamu the information, he would get killed so fast.

So stupid.

It was just like the incident with the Mimics.

When the tables were flipped and Yuma needed help or advice, he just turned it away. He was used to being self-sufficient because of how he was raised, that he constantly forgot that he could turn to others.

"Kuga-kun," Haruka pushed a snack towards him. "Good food always lifts my mood."

Yuma cracked his eyes open to see the snack on the table waiting for him.

"The role of a captain is listening to his teammates and deciding on what to do may not be the same as what you need right now." Arashiyama said. "But without knowing what is bothering you, that is the closest I can compare it to from what you asked."

Yuma picked up the confection and without hesitation took a bite of the new type of sweet. His mouth immediately salivated at the delicious treat and he eagerly took another bite.

His eyes blurred just as fast as he took another bite.

Arashiyama's daifuku froze halfway to his mouth as he stared at the silent tears trailing down Yuma's face. That wasn't...normal.

Haruka didn't hesitate like him. She immediately put her green tea down and ran around the table to sit by Yuma. "Kuga-kun, what's wrong? You don't have to eat it if you don't like it."

Yuma shook his head frantically, pulling his treat away as Haruka tried to take it away. "No, it's delicious." He dragged his arm across his face to use his sleeve to rub at the tears in his eyes. "I'm sorry. It's so stupid. Ignore it."

"If it's making you upset, it's not stupid." Haruka said gently.

"Yuma, I know I'm not Kirie or your team, but you can talk to me." Arashiyama promised. "Whatever you say here won't be spread around."

"I know." Yuma said. It didn't even need to be said. Arashiyama squad was always a team Yuma knew he could trust with his life. "I'm turning sixteen in a couple days."

Arashiyama blinked and shared a confused look with Haruka at the sudden turn the conversation I took. "I'm aware. Kirie was quite excited about your first birthday with us coming up."

'She was?' Yuma hadn't heard anything about it from Konami. He hadn't even been aware his friends knew his birthday was approaching until Shun mentioned it yesterday.

"I thought I had lived a full life, experienced everything there is to experience." Yuma said. "In the Neighborhood, it's kill or be killed. You just fought for survival. I traveled to so many countries, fought every day, and saw many new things. I thought there was nothing more for me to learn. And then I came here. I've been learning so much and a lot of it has nothing to do with fighting. You know, I finally mastered how to ride a bike? I say I'm even faster on a bike than Osamu now."

Arashiyama smiled at the small Neighbor child. It was such an innocent thing to be proud about. Riding a bike was nothing special for most people, but for a child from a Neighborhood who knew nothing about bikes before coming here, it would be quite an achievement. He had never been to the Neighborhood himself but based on stories he heard about it, it was very dangerous and there was a lot of fighting. There wasn't much time for peaceful activities. So for Yuma, learning to ride a bike was special to him.

"That's great, Kuga-kun." Haruka said gently.

Yuma's hand which wasn't holding his snack curled into a tight fist. "Your world is huge. There is so much to learn and experience." He set the daifuku back on his plate so he wouldn't destroy it. "And I'm realizing I haven't fully lived. I never had daifuku before. It's so good. I want to try all the amazing foods your world has to offer."

"You can." Arashiyama felt so confused. He knew Yuma was upset about something, but this speech felt like it came completely out of nowhere. He hadn't gotten to see Yuma much since he returned from the away mission, but every time he did see him, he was smiling brightly. What had happened?

Yuma shook his head, scrubbing at his cheeks. Stupid tears.

"It's not a weakness to cry." Jin said softly.

Of course it wasn't. Yuma saw his friends cry plenty of times, whether it be out of frustration or from grief or from guilt. He hated seeing them hurt like that.

"It just means you've been strong for too long." Jin put a hand to the back of Yuma's head and before Yuma realized what was happening, he was being pulled forward and his face was hitting Jin's shoulder. "I can see that you're smiling to just stop the tears from falling, but you don't need to prevent yourself from crying. This confusion and pain you're feeling, just let it out, Yuma."

"I think I haven't fully lived yet." Yuma admitted.

"Of course you haven't." Arashiyama smiled sadly as Yuma's red rimmed eyes snapped to him. "You're a teenager, Yuma. I'm only nineteen and I know I still have a lot to experience. We all do."

Yuma's eyes dropped to his snack. It was so good. So sweet and yummy. He wanted to taste more delicious foods. When he thought he had tasted everything there was to eat in this world, he would find something new. He couldn't believe the variety of food this world had to offer.

"If you want to experience more, what about dango?" Haruka suggested. "I have some of that."

Yuma nodded, unable to resist the temptation of more good food.

"I'll be right back." Haruka promised. She shot her captain a look as she walked pass him to head back to the kitchenette.

Arashiyama didn't need it. He understood there was something more serious going on here than Yuma wanted to let on, and he had a pretty good idea of what it was. "Hey, Yuma." He called softly to get Yuma to look back at him. "This is about your injuries, isn't it?"

Yuma hated how easy he was for people to read nowadays. Though, ever since his friends found out about his body, it was easy for them to figure out why Yuma was distressed since his past was the only thing to cause him to act like this.

This wasn't about Yuma being upset about the B-Rank Wars. Yuma was upset over the fact that he was dying. Arashiyama should have realized it sooner. Yuma's injuries were a major concern and Jin was obviously staring at him in concern in the cafeteria the other day. The day after that, Yuma got into a fight with his friends and was now wondering through HQ all depressed. It couldn't be anything else.

"I want to experience more that this world has to offer." Yuma said softly. "My father loved his home and I want to see more of it. I heard at school that Japan has summer festivals that have really good food and games and fireworks. I want to attend one." A sad smile graced his features. "In one of the nations I visited as a child, there was a festival going on. I wonder if a festival in Japan would be anything like that one."

The way that Yuma was talking. To Arashiyama, it sounded a lot like someone wishing for something that they wouldn't get.

"Yuma, do you want to tell me what happened?" Arashiyama asked gently as he didn't want to push Yuma to talk if he didn't want to. If Arashiyama thought about the worst case scenario, based on the information he had, and with Jin involved, he had a good idea of what the worst case was here.

"Not really." Yuma said. "But I know I can't keep it a secret forever either."

Haruka returned with a plate of dango that she placed in the center of the table so they could all share it. "Then don't tell us. You don't have to tell us anything you're not ready to talk about."

Yuma couldn't believe how many nice people were in this world. Not everyone was nice, but Yuma had certainly met more kind people in this world than he did in the Neighborhood.

"Fuko! Saho!" Arashiyama shouted as he ran towards his siblings. He grabbed hold of them and nuzzled his face into theirs. "I was so worried! I'm glad you're safe!"

Yuma glanced down at his ring. Arashiyama was an older brother. He gave love and affection to his siblings so easily. The only person Yuma ever got that from was his father, and he supposed his mother, though he couldn't really remember her to say for sure.

Konami scowled. "That is not a reply fitting you." She wrapped her arms around Yuma's neck from behind him. "Skipping out on our training sessions, skipping dinner, fighting with Jin. You've been acting strange for days now. Something is clearly bothering you and it's enough to throw you so obviously off. So instead of trying to hide and deal with it on your own, talk to me. I'm your mentor. It's my job to help and guide you."

Yuma grabbed one of Konami's arms that were choking him. While he squeezed her arm a bit tightly, it wasn't tight enough to hurt her and he didn't try to pull her off.

"That last time someone wanted to protect me, they died." The words left Yuma's lips before he even realized it.

*L*S*A*

Yuma's brows rose in surprise before furrowing in frustration. "I never realized just how similar you are to Osamu. You two are so stupid with your need to feel responsible for everyone and everything that has happened." He pushed off the ledge and turned to walk away. "I expected more from the power elite of Border. I guess I never realized what a stupid nii-san I have."

Yuma had just wanted to tease Jin with that line, to maybe get a smile out of him since they had been joking about it all night.

What he didn't expect was for the pair of strong arms to suddenly wrap around him, forcing him to a stop as he was pulled back into Jin's chest with Jin leaning down to bury his face in his hair.

"You weren't meant to cry." Yuma kept staring forward, not only so he wouldn't knock Jin off by trying to look up at him, but also because it was Jin.

*L*S*A*

"Never do something like that again!"

Shun laughed at the baffled look Yuma was wearing as Chika hugged him tightly but also shouted at him. The soft-spoken, sweet girl was the one yelling at him.

"Chika, Chika." Yuma grabbed Chika's shoulders and pushed her back a few steps to escape the hug. "I'm fine. Everything is fine."

Affection wasn't something Yuma was used to. It's not that he was deprived of it. It just only came from his father and after he died, he didn't really get physical affection anymore. What he got were orders to fight and a respectful distance to his personal space. He didn't hate physical contact, but he didn't go looking for it. Since he wasn't averse to it, he didn't shy away from it when his friends gave it to him.

Amusement filtered across Yugo's eyes. "Yuma only knows how to be reckless, so I don't know why you would expect anything else."

Jin raised a brow in surprise as he stared at Yugo. "That child you're remembering has persevered through many difficulties since then and has grown up past the recklessness of a kid who wanted nothing more than a fight." Jin argued. In his hand, Fujin came to life once more with eleven new slashes. "But no matter how much stronger he has gotten in the past four years, he doesn't have to deal with this alone. I will end this nightmare for him. This is my job as his brother."

Yuma stared at Jin, unblinking, shock overtaking his system. There was no black smoke encircling Jin to indicate he was lying.

"Arashiyama-san, you're an older brother." Yuma said.

"Yes?"

"So, maybe your insight would be different." Yuma continued. "If one of your siblings was dying and the only way to save them was a surgery that was more than likely going to fail and kill them, would you want them to take it? Or give them the chance to live the last of their life out having as much fun as possible?"

It was a loaded question, and it was one that told Arashiyama exactly what the issue was. Jin found a way to save Yuma, but it didn't have a high success rate. It wasn't enough information for Arashiyama to go on, but he wouldn't bother Yuma with demanding more information. He would leave that to Jin. For now, he would just focus on what Yuma was actually asking him.

To attempt a dangerous situation that would kill his sibling right away if it failed or give them the best days of their life before their time ran out?

Arashiyama's brows furrowed as he thought. It really wasn't an easy question. A surgery that could save them and give them a long life afterwards but with a high risk of immediate death. Or make those last few days very fun which would probably have them dying with a smile?

"I think I would want them to do the surgery." Arashiyama decided.

"Why?"

"It's death either way. At least with the surgery, they have a chance to fight for their life." Arashiyama explained. "I understand your reasoning of making their last days the best they ever had, Yuma, but I can do that too. Before the surgery, give them a very fun time so they can go into the surgery with a smile. And then after that, all I can do is pray. Pray that they will make it out and we can go out and have another fun day where we can build more memories. If they do die, then we at least have those last few days together."

Make memories and smile. Make those last few days the best. That was what Yuma wanted to do.

Yuma shifted from crouching to sit crisscrossed, but kept his eyes locked forward, but he could still see Jin from the corner of his eyes. "I get that you trust me enough to bet on me when the odds are against me, but Jin-san, in this situation, you have to bet on Galopoula for this to succeed. All the trust you have in me means nothing. I can't do anything to change the outcome. If I have to die, I want to have as much fun as I can before that happens."

"And how is that working for you?" Jin retorted. He knew. He knew that today did not go the way Yuma wanted. There wasn't any fun for him.

Yuma was failing. He wasn't smiling and neither were his friends. They were just getting upset with each other.

"Is there a surgery you can have that will save you, Yuma?" Arashiyama asked.

"Yeah," Yuma replied. "But it's in the Neighborhood."

Arashiyama wondered why that sounded like a deal breaker for Yuma. He was originally from the Neighborhood so going there for a surgery shouldn't bother him. "And you don't want to do it?"

Yuma shook his head. "Not really, but Jin-san and the few who know of the operation, want me to do it."

Ah.

Arashiyama was now understanding Yuma's original question a lot better now. "I think you should listen to what your friends tell you. Gather information and acknowledge what your friends think about doing this and then make a decision. I understand you said you don't want to do it, but you can always change your mind later after you talked to people, Yuma."

The thing was, after everyone he talked to in the past couple of days and talking with Arashiyama now, Yuma had a good feeling of what they would all say.

If he already knew what they would say, what would be the point of asking them?