Light Shines Anew
Chapter 15: Chaos
Rindo rested his arms on the back of the couch as he looked down at Yuma lying face down on the couch. This was certainly not what he was expecting when Jin told him that Yuma agreed to try the surgery. "You didn't faint again, did you?"
A muffled grunt was the response given to Rindo.
"That's good at least." Rindo replied.
"Do you really think I would just be standing here cleaning the kitchen if he passed out again?" Jin called from the kitchen.
"I can't see another reason why Yuma would choose to spend his last day in Japan lying face down on a couch instead of playing with his friends." Rindo pointed out.
Yuma turned his face to the side so he was no longer suffocating himself with the pillow. "Jin-san said no training."
"What would training even do for you when you're leaving for a surgery tomorrow? You're going to be out of the field for a while, Yuma." Jin said.
Yuma groaned and went back to smooching his face into his pillow. He couldn't train and he didn't want to bother his team when they needed to prepare for a match tomorrow. Everything was at a standstill for him because he couldn't do what he wanted and his friends were busy until tonight.
"I told you to go explain to your other friends that you were going to be leaving." Jin said. "You can hang out with them until dinner tonight."
Yuma was already upset at having to leave tomorrow and he had to spend the evening saying goodbye to his team and mentors. He didn't think he could handle it if he had to say bye to all of his friends and give them all the same explanation. "The party last night was good enough."
"No one knew you were going to be leaving during that party." Rindo pointed out with a sigh. He supposed this was one of those things that Yugo never taught his son.
How to say goodbye.
"We didn't even know you were going to be leaving." Jin added.
Pushing himself up to his knees, Yuma turned to shoot Jin a look of disbelief. "Even you?"
"I've told you before, the future isn't set in stone." Jin replied as he dried his hands as the kitchen had been fully cleaned from breakfast. "I see multiple paths. The path we are on can constantly shift at any point in time."
Yuma fell onto his back and stared up at the ceiling, watching Rindo from the corner of his eyes. "Is that why you're pushing me out the door so fast? You want to get me to Galopoula before I can change my mind."
"No. We're simply out of time." Jin replied.
"Also, it's about how you're going to get to Galopoula." Rindo added.
"Away ship?" Yuma questioned.
"Nope," Rindo said, grinning down at Yuma. "We just finished an away mission. We can't justify the expense of another trip to the Neighborhood. However, we never planned to use the away ship. We had a different plan in mind."
Yuma hummed curiously. He knew that Rindo and Jin had been working on this for a while, long before Jin came to Yuma with the idea of the surgery. Those two always seemed to have some hidden agenda going on in the background. The agents at HQ thought all Tamakoma was like that, but truly it just Rindo and Jin. The rest of them just got dragged along in the plan after those two had already planned it. "Are you going to tell me what that plan is now? Or keep me in suspense until I leave tomorrow?"
"There is no need to keep it a secret." Rindo replied. "We have some visitors hanging around nearby in their ship."
For a moment, Yuma just stared at the ceiling as he thought about what Rindo told him. It didn't take more than a few seconds for him to fly back into a sitting position and stare at Rindo in disbelief. "The Galopoula Neighbors are here? They've been here the whole time?"
"We've been in talks with them to properly develop the alliance between us. When they suggested doing something for us to put us on equal ground when we finalize the alliance, it developed into more serious, longer conversations as we needed to iron out the details." Rindo explained. "It was easier if they stayed near this world. They've been hanging around, exploring Mikado City in their free time, and just waiting for a definitive answer from us about your choice."
"Eh, uh," Yuma glanced towards Jin who was coming out of the kitchen to join them. "Really? You've made them hang around for days for what was likely going to be a no?"
"But it's not a no." Jin replied, ruffling Yuma's hair.
"And you want me to get on their ship?" Yuma asked.
Jin shrugged. "I don't see the problem, Yuma. Whether you use their ship or ours, you were going to end up in Galopoula by yourself anyway. No worries, honestly. They aren't going to betray us."
"You sure about that?"
"I wouldn't have suggested this plan if I thought they would betray us and kill you." Jin assured his friend. "They honestly want to alliance with us so you're safe with them."
Yuma hummed and twisted to sit properly on the couch. "And what if the surgery fails? Will that affect this alliance? With such a low success rate, I'm surprised they agreed to these terms to bring us onto equal ground."
"The success rate may be low, but Rata is confident in the surgeons and engineers to be able to do it." Rindo explained. "And if it does fail, we won't blame them for that. We all understand the risks involved with this surgery."
As much as the idea of the surgery scared Yuma and how he was at the point in his life where he wished he wasn't in this situation, Yuma did appreciate the honesty Rindo and Jin gave to him. Neither of them held back when it came to discussing things with him. They didn't just throw pretty words at him to boost his optimism about something. It wasn't that his other friends did that, but a lot of their arguments were based on emotions. Jin and Rindo used emotions and facts.
It was a relief to know that no matter the outcome of his surgery, Border–Tamakoma–would have an ally in Galopoula. He would hate for an alliance to fall through just because he couldn't make it through the surgery.
"So, we're meeting up with Galopoula tomorrow?" Yuma asked.
"Mm-hmm," Jin hummed in reply. "We'll be seeing you off early on in the day. We already have a location locked in for the Gate to open."
"Won't it draw attention from Border?" Yuma asked. He was aware they said Kido approved the plan, but the agents didn't know the plan.
"As it so happens, Arashiyama squad is on defense duty and the Gate is going to open in their section." Jin replied with a grin.
Yuma snorted. "Coincidence or did you plan my departure time in their section on purpose."
"It certainly made things easier for me that you told Arashiyama about the surgery."
Yuma chuckled. "It just came out when I was upset. Arashiyama-san is very easy to talk to."
"And what? Your friends aren't? You aren't going to tell them about the surgery."
That got Yuma to throw his head back onto the couch, resisting the urge to groan. It seemed like Jin was going to take every opportunity he could to bring that little fact up. "You are aware that apparently Kage-senpai and I have been fighting for days, right?"
"Yeah, about the fact that you were going to let yourself die from your injuries. I think he would be quite relieved to learn you changed your mind and were leaving to have a surgery done." Jin pointed out. "Besides, he seemed fine last night."
"Yeah, because I passed out in front him the day before. He went easy on me yesterday out of concern." Yuma grumbled. He cared for his friends dearly, but he didn't want that sympathy because of his health issues. He would have preferred that he and Kageura settled their argument in the rank war like Kageura wanted to. The fact that Kageura dropped the argument just because he watched Yuma collapse was frustrating and embarrassing. He didn't want to use his health issues to win arguments.
Jin nodded along to Yuma's complaints. "I see. You're annoyed at him for that so go yell at him for that." He suddenly grabbed Yuma's wrist and pulled him up and off the couch. "Go. Go see them."
Yuma dug his heels into the floor to stop Jin's push from forcing him forward. "Like my team, they will all be preparing for their matches tomorrow."
"Yes, but unlike us, they don't know you're leaving tomorrow. You should tell them."
"I can just text them!" Yuma argued.
Jin paused in trying to push Yuma out of the room to stare at his friend, completely unimpressed.
"I'm not lying about that!" Yuma said annoyed.
"No, but don't think you can fool me. If I let you get away with that, you wouldn't text them until right before you get on that away ship. It's no different than a child leaving a note behind in the middle of the night as they run away so no one can process it and stop them." Jin scolded.
Yuma's brows scrunched down in confusion. "But no one would be stopping me from going." Well, the going to the Neighborhood for the surgery might be off putting for some of them, but it's not like Yuma would be telling them that. However, Yuma had a feeling most of them would realize that was what would be happening. With his situation, the Neighborhood or Border's Research and Development department were the only options available to him. It would depend on who had the solution.
"Exactly. So why don't you want to talk to them?" Jin asked.
Yuma looked away, scratching his cheek as he looked quite embarrassed. "It's just, seeing all of them would make it hard for me to want to leave. It was already a difficult choice to leave for the surgery because I don't want to leave all this behind. I can't take seeing their faces as I leave as well. I might hesitate."
"Oh my god."
Yuma whipped his head around to see Konami had returned from her shopping trip, bags of groceries dropping from her hand as she stared at Jin and Yuma.
"That has got to be one of the cutest things you have ever said." Konami was suddenly in front of Yuma and was latching onto him to hug him tightly. "I never would have guessed you were horrible at goodbyes."
Yuma pat Konami's arm, trying to get across that she needed to let go of him. His mentor was very loving once he got past her tough exterior. Loving and protective. That was her core beyond being a powerful fighter. In fact, Yuma would say that his mentor had gotten more affectionate with him in the past few months and he had a pretty good idea of why that was the case.
Instead of Konami releasing Yuma when he requested, Konami chose to drag him across the room instead.
"Uh, Konami-senpai?" Yuma questioned, trying to get his feet under him to straighten himself out. Just as he managed to find his feet, he was shoved out of the room and was left stumbling as he adjusted himself to prevent himself from faceplanting the floor.
"Go see your friends." Konami ordered, standing in the doorway to block Yuma was getting back into the living area.
"Konami-senpai."
"Nope," Konami pointed to the front door. "You may be bad with goodbyes, but that doesn't mean you get to leave tomorrow without saying anything to them. Trust me, Yuma, you will feel better about leaving tomorrow if you just talk to them. We'll be here when you come home tonight."
As he was practically shoved out of Tamakoma, Yuma blinked and stared up at the blue sky. He understood the reasoning that Konami and Jin were giving him for going to see his friends. It was something that Yuma needed to do. If he didn't do it, he would be throwing it onto his team to deal with when his friends started to question why Yuma wasn't in the B-Rank Wars tomorrow. That wouldn't be fair to his fellow Tamakoma members.
This was Yuma's problem.
But he wasn't just saying it to get out of it earlier.
All his friends were busy preparing for the Rank War matches tomorrow. He really didn't want to bother them.
Well, it wasn't all of his friends.
*L*S*A*
"Why do I have to be here?" Izumi asked.
"Because I need your advice on how to beat Yoneyan-senpai." Shun replied.
Yoneya pointed at himself in confusion. He had been dragged to the solo rank booths by Midorikawa today. It seemed that he wasn't the only one getting dragged here based on Izumi's question. "We haven't even fought yet today."
"I want to crush you in a ten-round match." Shun declared. "But it never seems to work out for me. We're too evenly matched."
"And what? You think I can help with that?" Izumi butted in. "I'm a shooter, not an Attacker. If you want to crush the Spear Fool, you should ask another Attacker. Preferably a Scorpion user."
"One of the best Scorpion users." Yoneya added. "Like Jin-san or Kazama-san."
"Or Kageura-san." Izumi's nose wrinkled at that thought. No, Kageura was not a good choice for advice. "Or, maybe Kuga is a better idea." Despite how many Scorpion users there were, those four were definitely the best at using Scorpion. It was impressive for Yuma to be on the list with his less than a year of experience using Scorpion. The years of combat training did wonders for him.
"They're all busy so I had to settle for you." Shun explained.
"Settle?" Izumi repeated offended. "Like I'm a last resort kind of thing?"
Shun raised a brow. "You just asked me why I asked for you! You are quite aware you are a last resort for an Attacker!"
"Then why did you even come to me? Another Attacker, even one who uses Kogetsu, would be better." Izumi retorted.
"Because you're creative!" Shun admitted. "I don't have the same type of creative thinking you or Yuma-senpai have to develop new ways to use weapons."
"Just ask Kuga to teach you some of his moves." Yoneya suggested. "You taught him how to use Grasshopper so ask him to teach you how to use his curving blade."
Shun clapped his hands together. "Great idea! Except, that takes time. I want to crush you today. And he is busy preparing for his next match tomorrow."
"Is he?" Izumi asked, pointing towards the other side of the room.
Yoneya and Shun turned to see what Izumi was pointing at and were surprised to see Yuma had come in and was approaching them. Shun felt a frown tug at his lips when he saw Yuma. He was always thrilled to see his friend, except for when he was collapsing from health issues in front of him. However, Shun didn't feel excited to see his friend since Yuma didn't look particularly cheerful right now.
What had happened this time?
"Shouldn't you be preparing for your match tomorrow, shrimp?" Yoneya asked. "You already lost one day of training by having that birthday party yesterday."
"Or are you not participating in the match tomorrow?" Izumi wondered.
"What?" Shun twisted fully to face his friend. "Is that it? Is your health still bad after you fainted the other day? You seemed fine last night!"
Yoneya leaned an arm on Shun's shoulder to also get into Yuma's personal space. "I can see that being the case. You did after all find a way to pass out in a Trion body in a Rank War's virtual space. Did your boss pull you out of the matches? I can't help but notice that your Trigger isn't active here. Not planning to train, are you?"
"You guys ask a lot of questions." Yuma replied.
"How can we not? We let you off the hook yesterday because it was your birthday." Izumi pointed out. "There's nothing to save you today."
"Yoneyan-senpai suggested you teach me your curving blade." Shun piped up. "You gave a thin explanation when you showed it to Obishima-chan, but even with that, I couldn't replicate it on my own when I tried. There has to be a secret to it that you aren't sharing."
"Maybe I'm just better than you." Yuma teased.
Shun gritted his teeth, hands balling into fists. That right here was fighting words. "I would say get in a booth right now, Yuma-senpai, but from my understanding, you haven't tried fighting since you passed out the other day."
Yuma scowled. "Can we stop mentioning that?"
"Why?" Yoneya poked Yuma's cheek, grinning at their short friend. "Are you embarrassed by the whole thing? There's no need to be like that. We all understand that you have..."
"Health problems." Izumi finished, eyeing the nearby C-Ranks. They weren't too close and none of them were giving them any attention. For the most part, the C-Ranks seemed to stay out of the way of the official agents unless the official agents were making a huge ruckus and drawing attention to them.
"Speaking of those problems, you haven't answered any of our questions." Shun pressed.
"Because you changed the direction of the conversation." Yuma pointed out. "But if you want an answer, yes, I'm not taking part in the B-Rank Wars this season."
Yoneya blinked in surprise. "Because you passed out in one match? They pulled you out of the Rank Wars altogether?"
"That seems extreme." Izumi agreed, frowning in thought. Based on what he heard from Tachikawa and from what he saw from Yuma before that match, something had clearly been bothering Yuma. To go from being depressed to just collapsing in front of everyone, it meant things had gotten a bit more serious. These last few days had been really weird in regards to what was going on with Tamakoma. "What is actually going on, Kuga?"
Yuma scratched his cheek, looking off to the side. He admitted the first part of how he was dropping out of the Rank Wars. All he had to do now was mention the surgery and he could get the hell out of here. If he just told one person, they could spread the news to the others and he could hide out at Tamakoma and avoid having to go through goodbyes.
"What's wrong, shrimp?" Yoneya asked, dropping his teasing tone as Yuma truly did look bothered by something and the teasing wasn't doing its usual job of getting Yuma to smile in amusement.
"Sorry, Shun. If you really want to learn the curving blade, you're either going to have to learn how to do it on your own or wait until I come back for me to teach it to you." Yuma said instead.
"Huh?" Shun's brows furrowed down in confusion. "When you come back? Are you going somewhere?"
Yuma rubbed his neck. Why was this so hard to say? All he had to say was that he had a surgery scheduled and he didn't know when he would be back. When he glanced back at his friends and saw confused, worried eyes staring at him, the words got stuck in his throat. He hated having worried looks thrown his way. All he ever wanted since he came to Japan was to have fun. Osamu and Jin and Chika set him on this path of remembering what fun was and when he agreed to join Border, it became one of his main goals.
To have as much fun as possible.
Something like this...
A heavy topic wasn't fun at all.
On top of that, though they weren't looking at the group, Yuma was quite aware of the C-Ranks around. This wasn't really something he wanted to discuss so openly. Coming in here was a bad idea.
Yuma spun on his heel and immediately backstepped in surprise at having Kazama standing there, eyes narrowed in suspicion.
"Hey, Kazama-san." Izumi greeted.
Kazama ignored him to glare at Yuma. "Jin said no running away."
Yuma lifted a brow in surprise before he was frowning. "He texted you?"
"He said the future was high for you to avoid talking to your friends." Kazama said.
Yuma resisted the urge to smack his face in disbelief. Jin really was serious about him talking to his friends if he was using his side effect to make sure Yuma did this and sending Kazama in as a guard. Well, at least it wasn't Tachikawa this time.
"What are you two doing this time?" Kazama demanded. It was bad enough that Jin dragged him into the distraction game yesterday. He was going to simply ignore the fact that he inserted himself into helping distract Yuma without Jin ever verbally asking him for help.
"Nothing?" Yuma frowned, though from the looks all the A-Ranks were giving him, none of them were believing his words. It wasn't even a lie. He and Jin weren't doing anything. Yuma was the one who had to get ready to leave and didn't want to voice that fact out loud. "Fine, just not in here?"
"So, there is something going on!" Yoneya declared, smirking once more. He was eager to be let in on this secret. "Must be serious if Jin-san is going to give you a watchdog."
*L*S*A*
"It will be in this general area." Shinoda used his finger to circle an area on the map on the table.
Arashiyama stared at the virtual map that Shinoda had opened on the table. "Do we know what time they're going to open the Gate?"
"It should be around ten thirty as long as there are no issues on Galopoula's side." Shinoda replied. He was certain Jin and Rindo had their side planned down to the letter so they weren't going to be late to the departure point. "I assume Jin or Rindo will alert you to be sure that the Gate opening is the one for them so you don't have to worry about whether you need to go there or not."
Arashiyama nodded in understanding. When he heard about the surgery from Yuma, he didn't expect that Jin would ask him for help by asking his team to ignore a Gate that would be opening to get Yuma to the Neighborhood. He was all for helping Tamakoma with this by running interference here, but it's not like it would be particularly hard for them to do. He would just have to tell the rest of his team what was going on. It's not like it was going to remain a secret that Yuma was taking a leave of absence once he had all but vanished from the B-Rank Wars. Yuma stood out too much for anyone to not realize he was just gone.
"I assume they would prefer that my team didn't show up there while they are seeing Yuma off." Arashiyama said.
"I don't know how they feel on the matter, but I don't want to pressure Galopoula with too many people meeting them there." Shinoda replied.
"I thought we were forming an alliance with them." Arashiyama replied.
Shinoda nodded. Well, Tamakoma was, but Shinoda wasn't going to say anything against what they were going to do. What Tamakoma did behind the scenes normally benefited all of Border somehow in the end. It was why Shinoda and Rindo never got into it. Having known each other so long and been partners, they understood how each other operated so well. They understood each other even better when they weren't fighting alongside each other and he had to worry about Rindo shooting him in the back.
It only happened twice in all the years he worked alongside his friend, but that was two times too many. It would never be forgotten.
Shinoda didn't care that both times it happened it was against Yugo and Rindo tried to say it was because of Yugo. Rindo's reasoning whenever they argued about it was that Yugo understood them too well so he was able to twist Rindo and Shinoda's stellar teamwork into a problem.
"We are, but that alliance isn't going to become official until Galopoula is back on equal ground with us. Performing Yuma-kun's surgery is how they plan to pay us back for the help we gave them to free them from Aftokrator. So, until the alliance is official, I don't want to pressure them with more agents like it's an ambush, especially since the only ones they've interacted with have been Tamakoma agents." Shinoda explained.
"Understood, sir. We'll be sure to stay out of Tamakoma's way."
As he left Shinoda's office following the debrief, Arashiyama found himself frowning. The departure time being at ten thirty meant that Yuma was leaving during the day matches of the B-Rank Wars. It meant agents who weren't on defense duty would be distracted watching the matches, but it also meant Yuma would miss seeing his team fight one last time before his departure.
There wasn't anything Arashiyama could do about that as everything had already been finalized for Yuma to leave tomorrow. He was glad that Yuma had chosen to fight for his life by accepting the surgery, but he was sure there was a part of Yuma that was sad to leave. When Yuma was in his squad's room, he could see it on the younger boy's face how much he wanted to stay in Japan.
Arashiyama understood the surgery wasn't foolproof, but it was better than Yuma staying here just to die. He would pray for the success of the surgery so Yuma could return to Japan and live his life freely in Japan without his death hanging over his head.
*L*S*A*
"Are we having another party?" Kunichika asked curiously.
"Hey, Yu-san!" Izumi greeted cheerfully, taking a moment to scan his team's operation room. He was pleased to see that Yuiga wasn't in here right now. "No party. Just a private place to talk."
Tachikawa cracked an eye open from where he was lying on the couch as he had been taking a nap. His other eye opened upon seeing how many agents Izumi had brought back to the room. "You couldn't have used your room, Kazama-san?"
"I'm a watchdog." Kazama dropped down on the couch that Tachikawa wasn't lying on. He then sent a pointed look at Yuma. "For that one."
Yuma pouted. "I get it already, Kazama-san. I'll tell them what is going on. You don't need to watch me anymore."
"But now I'm invested." Kazama replied.
"You don't know what is going on either?" Yoneya asked surprised.
"Unsurprisingly, Tamakoma keeps a tight lid on things." Kazama replied.
"Should I know what that means?" Yuma asked confused.
"It just means Tamakoma keeps secrets." Shun explained. He nudged his friend in the side. "Sometimes dangerous, life-threatening secrets."
Yuma pursed his lips. "That came out." Honestly, his secret of his dying body and his Trion copy came out very fast. It wasn't a secret he needed to keep in Calvaria since most of the people he interacted with were soldiers so they already knew what happened to him. After he left Calvaria, he didn't stay in one place long enough or make strong enough connections in that year of traveling for his secret to even become a suspicion in anyone's mind. His time in Japan was the longest he had stayed in one place since he left Calvaria and he connected very easily with people here. That, on top of the Mimics attack, made it very difficult for the secret to be kept. If it wasn't for the Mimics, Yuma was certain he would still be hiding so much from his friends.
It would have made Yuma's life easier if the secret was still kept.
Yuma's original plan had been to keep his secret of his injuries because he didn't like people knowing, but also it was just easier to keep distance between him and his friends. He could have fun with everyone and keep the distance by not sharing any personal information about him. That plan failed completely when Mimic Oyaji entered his life and ripped his carefully crafted plan to shreds.
"I can't believe you were going to keep it a secret forever." Shun grumbled. "What was your plan? Tell no one you were dying and just randomly die on us one day?"
"Basically."
That got all the agents and Kunichika to give Yuma a deadpan look.
Yuma sighed and raised his hands in surrender. "It's no longer the plan. The new plan is me leaving for Galopoula tomorrow since they have a surgery they can perform that could save me." He said as quickly as he could to get it out without the words getting stuck in his throat again. Once it had been said, a sigh of relief escaped him. There, now Jin couldn't say anything about him avoiding the topic.
Before Yuma could process the stares he was being given, Shun launched at Yuma and grabbed his shoulders to shake him. "There's a surgery? You're not going to die?!"
Well, it seemed the thing about Galopoula was unimportant to Shun or he hadn't processed anything except the word 'surgery' and 'save me.'
"If there is a surgery, why did you look so upset when you came in earlier?" Izumi asked confused, though he did feel relieved as he realized that Jin had actually been working on something behind the scenes. They should have realized sooner that of course Jin would be investigating something like this.
"Um, well, it's not guaranteed to succeed."
That got Shun to stop shaking Yuma. "What do you mean?"
Yuma pushed Shun's hands off his shoulder and took a step back to get his personal space back. "The surgery's success rate is low so when I leave tomorrow, I might not come back."
It hurt.
This was why Yuma didn't want to tell them he was leaving.
He hated staring at Shun right in front of him and seeing his face completely drop from excitement that his friend could save his life to despair that today might be the last day they ever see each other. This wasn't how Yuma wanted his last conversation with them to go. He would have preferred his last memory with them to be from the party last night where they had fun all evening.
Yuma couldn't take his eyes off Shun because that meant looking at everyone else in the room and he didn't want to see their expressions as well. These were the looks that were going to be ingrained in Yuma's mind when he left.
These pained, scared looks.
"Why don't you wait until a better option becomes available? Kinuta-san is looking into this too, isn't he?" Tachikawa pointed out. He was certain Jin mentioned something about Kinuta trying to help Yuma. Not to mention, whenever something did go wrong with Yuma, it was Kinuta that Yuma always got dragged to.
"For the same reason why Kuga hasn't activated his Trigger in days and why he passed out in the Rank Wars." Kazama said, eyes locked on Yuma who refused to look at the rest of the agents behind Shun. "You're out of time. This is why you and Jin are rushing this."
"Out of time?" Shun repeated. "What does that mean?"
"It means I have less than a month before I die." Yuma admitted.
"I thought you had no way of judging when your time would run out." Kunichika said. At least, that was what Shiori told her when they talked about it.
Yuma closed his eyes. His eyes scrunched shut when he saw his imaginary timer flickering at him. He breathed out slowly and opened his eyes once more. "Jin-san saw it coming and warned me."
"So, this surgery is the only option you have right now otherwise you will die in a few weeks." Shun concluded.
Yuma nodded.
Shun breathed in and then released it slowly. Everything about the past couple of days was finally starting to make sense. Yuma had been upset because Jin told him his time was running out. That put Yuma in a bad mood and it caused him to lash out against his friends. They realized something was wrong, but couldn't figure it out when Yuma didn't want to explain what was bothering him.
And now that Shun knew the full situation, his brain just felt frozen. They all knew this was coming. They all had a sudden stroke of fear when they watched Yuma passed out the other day because they thought his health was getting worse. Everything was adding up and now Yuma was standing here, looking completely miserable as he told them about the surgery.
"You don't want to do the surgery." Shun realized.
Yuma was seriously losing his edge if he was being read this easily.
"I didn't realize you were suicidal." Kazama commented.
Yuma scowled and finally stepped to the side to look beyond Shun. "It has nothing to do with me wanting to die. If the surgery is going to fail anyway, I would rather spend the last of my time having fun." He sighed and held his hands up for peace. No, this was not happening. He was not going through with this argument again. "It doesn't matter. I thought it over for days and I have decided to do the surgery."
"But," Shun's brows furrowed as he leaned to the side to look at Yuma more closely in the face. "You're still conflicted, Yuma-senpai. Are you sure you really want to do it?" It's not that Shun wanted to talk Yuma out of the surgery. If the surgery was the only way to save Yuma's life in this very short timeframe, then that was all that mattered to Shun. He didn't want his friend die. If Jin was pushing for the surgery, then he truly saw this as the only way. Shun didn't need to hound Yuma for any more details regarding what kind of surgery it was or any more information of how any of this would play out. He would, however, worry about Yuma's miserable attitude.
"Of course I don't want to do it. I don't want a surgery, but even if I did have other options available to me, they would all involve a surgery anyway. I just have to deal with that." Yuma replied. "I just..."
"You just?" Yoneya promptly gently.
Damn it. Yuma really didn't want to say it. This was so embarrassing. It was bad enough when he said it around Jin and Konami. "I don't want to leave Japan."
"Eh?" Izumi gave him a confused look. "Whether you do the surgery or not, you're going to depart from Japan regardless. At least if you do the surgery and it's a success, it will only be a temporary departure. You'll be back before you know it, being your usual nuisance self in the Rank Wars."
"First, I'm a bug. Now I'm a nuisance." Yuma mumbled.
"What was that?" Shun asked.
"Nothing." Yuma sighed. "I just wanted to tell you guys that I was leaving tomorrow."
"I have a feeling you didn't want to tell us at all if Jin-san sent Kazama-san to babysit you." Izumi replied.
Yuma stuck his tongue out at him. "Because I hate the looks on your faces right now. I didn't want to see them."
"Yes, yes. You hate it when people are concerned about you." Kunichika suddenly appeared in front of Yuma with a streaming mug. "Sit down, drink this, and calm down. You shouldn't be getting all worked up."
Yuma glanced at the mug. "What is this?"
"Chamomile tea. It's said to calm nerves." Kunichika said.
Did everyone just have tea lying around everywhere? How did Yuma keep getting tea shoved into his hands?
"My nerves are fine." Yuma said, but he did take a sip of the tea to be polite.
"They truly aren't." Kazama replied. "I hope you don't plan to go into the surgery as agitated as you are now."
"I'll either be in extreme pain or unconscious so my nerves aren't going to matter." Yuma retorted.
"And on that note, I think it's time to change the subject." Yoneya said quickly. Whatever this surgery was that Yuma was going to be in was not something they needed all the details of. If they knew exactly what he would be doing, Yoneya had a feeling that they would just be worried about Yuma while he was gone. He did not need to know what kind of miserable, painful experience Yuma would be going through. He saw enough of that when he saw Yuma's real body for that brief moment a few months ago. "Today is your last day in Japan. What are you doing?"
"Jin-san and Konami-senpai told me to tell my friends I was leaving and then we're having a farewell dinner at Tamakoma tonight." Yuma explained.
Yoneya nodded. "A good plan. Have you spoken to anyone else?"
"I would prefer not to."
Shun whacked his friend on the head at that response. "Are you kidding me? You can't just not tell them. I get you didn't want to see our downcast expressions when you told us, but you can't just not tell the others because of that. Would you prefer their furious expressions when you came back and them trying to beat you for leaving without saying goodbye?"
"Yes, actually. That is so much easier to handle."
"There's something wrong with you." Shun muttered in disbelief.
"Something we always knew." Tachikawa interjected.
Yuma leaned pass Shun to give the other Attacker a deadpan expression. After a moment, he sighed and took another sip of his tea. "I'm going to Galopoula. You do realize that is in the Neighborhood, right?"
"We heard you the first time." Tachikawa said, completely unconcerned with that tidbit of information. It was exactly the kind of thing Tamakoma would do. Compared to the Aftokrator invasion, Galopoula's invasion wasn't nearly as bad or threatening. With that being the case, sending Yuma to Galopoula was easier to justify then allowing Hyuse to join Border.
"My point is, most of the other agents don't know I'm a Neighbor so it's probably for the best if when it gets out why I'm taking a leave of absence that they don't know I'm in the Neighborhood for a surgery." Yuma replied. He had only mentioned the Galopoula part to them because they were all A-Rank agents who knew about his Neighbor status. It would be a much harder sell to agents who didn't know.
"Even if that part isn't mentioned, the agents aren't dumb. They'll realize something is up when you return with your real body." Kazama replied. "Does Tamakoma have a cover story for that?"
Yuma shrugged. "Never asked. We were more focused on if the surgery would even be a success."
"So, basically, you're making this our problem as well." Shun deduced.
"Naw, it should be Netsuki-san's problem. Public relations outside and within Border is his job." Izumi replied. "Let him and Tamakoma think of a way to spin this to everyone who doesn't know."
Yuma tilted his head in consideration. It was thanks to Netsuki and Azuma that they were able to create an effective backstory for Hyuse so fast when people started to get suspicious of him right after his first match in the B-Rank Wars.
"It's not something you should worry about right now, Kuga. The only thing that should concern you is the surgery." Kazama said. "I'm sure Jin and Rindo-san will have everything figured out by the time you come back."
By the time...
Those words did so much for Yuma. It wasn't just Kazama's words though. Everyone he talked to about the surgery spoke as if the surgery was going to for sure be a success. They never used the word 'if' when they were talking about what came after the surgery. The surgery wasn't a guarantee, but the agents used words as if there wasn't a shadow of doubt in their minds that Yuma would be back.
The simple phasing the agents used was somehow more of a relief than Yuma thought it would ever be.
*L*S*A*
Somehow, Yuma found himself in the cafeteria in HQ. It was probably a good thing as Jin and Kinuta heavily advised not skipping meals again which was why he was sitting at a table with lunch in front of him as he observed everyone in the room. He had told Shun and the others about his surgery so that was good enough for Yuma. When people started to question where he was tomorrow, there were people besides the Tamakoma members that they could get the answer from. It would take some of the burden off of his team.
With that said, he knew that no one would be happy if he didn't tell everyone. However, Yuma did not have the time to hunt all of his friends down to tell them he was leaving. If he excluded some of his friends from learning from him directly, he knew Shun was right about the angry reactions he would get when he come back.
But this was honestly so last minute. He didn't have time to hunt them all down, go through an uncomfortable conversation he didn't want to have in the first place, and bother them when they were training for the B-Rank War matches tomorrow.
Yuma groaned and threw his head on the back of his seat. It really was too much. Just that one conversation in Tachikawa's squad room was too much. He couldn't do that again with how many times it would take to find all his friends. He didn't want to see their downcast, worried expressions.
Really, his method was so much easier.
If they wanted to talk, they could find him.
Attackers Group Chat:
Kuga: Today is my last day in Mikado City. I'm leaving tomorrow for a surgery out of the city.
Yuma nodded in satisfaction. There. He told them. It was simple and to the point and it avoided the whole uncomfortable conversation that would require so many questions from so many different people.
Midorikawa: Oh my god
Midorikawa: I thought Jin-san told you to tell people in person
Jin: I did.
Jin: Yuma!
Obishima: There's a surgery?
Obishima: And you're leaving tomorrow? That's so soon!
Hisato: Suwa-san wants to know why you didn't say anything sooner
Hisato: There may also be some swearing about Tamakoma and their secrets
Tachikawa: Hahahaha! Jin, your protege just does whatever the hell he wants, doesn't he?
Utagawa: I heard from Kazama-san. I hope your surgery goes well, Kuga.
Kageura: Where the fuck did this come from all of a sudden?
Kageura: Didn't you just say the other day you didn't plan to search for a way to get your body back?
Kageura: And now there is a damn surgery popping up out of nowhere?
Kageura: Kuga, where the hell are you? I'm going to come cave your head in!
Murakami: Not the appropriate response, Kage.
Murakami: Kuga, I can see you're active. You should reply.
Yuma's scrunched his eyes up as he read Murakami's response. That somehow felt vaguely threatening even in text form.
Jin: Yuma, what happened to talk to people in person?
Konami: I don't know what we were expecting honestly.
Ikoma: Does this mean we don't have to deal with Kuga in the Rank Wars until he returns?
Until he returns.
Yuma smiled. He didn't give any details about the surgery, but it was still a relief to know that he was expected to return when everything was finished. It somehow brought a huge sense of relief to Yuma to know that they wanted him to come back.
Kageura: KUGA!
Kageura: If you make me hunt you down, it will be so much worse when I found you
Kageura: I will get answers
Yuma may have made a mistake. Maybe Kageura was someone he should have made the effort to tell in person.
Kakizaki: I don't think yelling at him and threatening him will get him to tell you where he is.
Kageura: It will if he knows what's good for him
Midorikawa: He went to cafeteria a little bit ago
Kuga: Shun!
Midorikawa: I feel no guilt. You were supposed to talk to them in person
Kageura: Don't you dare run, Kuga.
Kuga: Or what? You're going to kill the already dying child?
Kakizaki: Please don't antagonize him, Kuga.
Okudera: He already left the cafeteria.
Kageura: Where did he go?!
Okudera: I'm not stalking him!
Okudera: I just don't want you barging here while screaming as you look for him. I want a peaceful lunch.
Jin stared down at his phone, just watching it blow up in the Attackers Group Chat. He really didn't know why he expected any differently from Yuma.
"At least he told them." Reiji said, looking over Jin's shoulder to read the flurry of messages that were coming through.
"Yuma's causing chaos at HQ. Maybe we shouldn't have pushed him to go there."
"Chaos is Yuma's natural ground. I'm betting he is loving it." Konami said as she flicked through the tv in a bored manner while watching the chaos unfold on her phone in her other hand. They still had a few hours until dinner so she didn't have to start prepping for it just yet. "He shouldn't have told them in text format, but if it's causing this kind of chaos and Kageura-san is chasing after Yuma, I'm sure Yuma is loving it."
Jin thought about that for a moment before shrugging in agreement and slipping his phone back in his pocket. Konami made a very excellent point. Yuma couldn't participant in any kind of training right now, but that didn't mean he couldn't still find a way to drive his friends up the wall. He excelled in doing that in every way possible.
"We really should have sent a babysitter with him." Jin said though.
"Didn't you send Kazama-san after him?" Konami asked.
"I did, but that was only to make sure he didn't back out initially." Jin replied.
"Do I even want to know?" Osamu asked as he came into the living area, already rubbing his temple as he felt a headache brewing.
"What do you know?" Konami asked.
"Hyuse checked his phone as we're taking a break." Osamu really wanted to bemoan just how this was his life. He lifted up Hyuse's phone. "What is Kuga doing?"
"His usual. Chaos and mischief." Konami replied.
Osamu looked completely done with the world. He turned his eyes to the ceiling and counted to ten in his head before he took a deep breath. "Is HQ going to still be standing after today?"
"Yes." Jin replied.
"I'm going back downstairs." Osamu decided. He truly loved his friend. He hated knowing that he was going to leave tomorrow and he couldn't wait for him to return to Japan even though he hadn't left yet. None that took away from the fact that Yuma really knew how to exhaust him though.
"Do you want to take a snack with you?" Reiji asked before he could leave. "If you're taking a break, you should eat something before you get back into training."
"Please."
*L*S*A*
Considering the argument he had with Kageura a few days ago, Yuma really should have spoken to him before he sent out that text in the Attackers Group chat. He could admit that this was his fault, but he really thought Kageura would be happy to know that Yuma was attempting something to save himself. It really made no sense. Kageura was mad when Yuma said he wasn't going to find a way to save himself. Kageura was mad when Yuma said he was leaving for a surgery. At this point, Yuma did not know what his friend wanted from him.
"I left you alone for ten minutes." Shun suddenly appeared by Yuma's side as he marched down the hall. "I really didn't think you could cause chaos by going to the cafeteria for food, Yuma-senpai."
"I just decided trying to find everyone would be too much work when I need to head back to Tamakoma in a few hours." Yuma replied. "Plus, most of them are training for the B-Rank Wars tomorrow. I didn't think they would all be available to check their phones right now!"
"Well, it is lunch time so I don't know what you were expecting." Shun replied.
"My mistake." Yuma sighed. "What's a good place to hide in here?"
Shun snorted. "Oh? You thought I came back to help you hide from him? No, you dug this hole. You're on your own. I came for the laughs."
Yuma shot his friend a betrayed look, but Shun looked back at him unimpressed. He told Yuma to talk to them in person. Yuma chose not to so now he had to deal with Kageura looking for him to strangle him.
"Is running away from the city your attempt to escape currency lessons?"
Yuma bit back a curse and spun around to find Arafune coming down the hall this time. "You're still on about that?"
Arafune looked at him with a frown. "Each time I think you're finally starting to understand our currency, you find a new way to escape the lessons by having to leave for something. By the time you get back, all the lessons I have given you have just slipped away and we have to start over."
Yuma held his hands up in disbelief. "I really have to go for this." He motioned at his body.
"I'm not saying you don't, but don't think for one moment that I won't be ready to shove the lessons back into your head when you get back." Arafune threatened. He took a moment and looked Yuma up and down. "Considering the extent of your injuries, even after the surgery, you'll be in recovery for a while. Maybe I should make you some homework to do while you're on bedrest."
Yuma wrinkled his nose in distaste. "Can't you just let a sick person be miserable in peace? Why do you have to add more pain to it?"
Arafune snorted. "I'm not the one you should be scared of right now."
Yuma whipped around, but upon not seeing Kageura anyway in the hallway, he sighed in relief.
"You know you can't hide from him." Arafune said. "Even if you manage to evade him, he knows you will be back at Tamakoma tonight. If you don't talk to him here, he will just go there later." He then bopped Yuma on the head. "Considering the arguments you two have had the past few days, you need to talk to him before you leave tomorrow. Don't leave tomorrow without clearing the air between you two. Honestly." He shoved Yuma's and Shun's heads around in a rough, affectionate manner as he walked past them. "Such children."
Yuma huffed in amusement as he fixed his hair.
"He's right, you know." Shun said.
"I know."
Yuma didn't even realize he and Kageura were in a fight until his friend came at him before their first round Rank War battle. He realized that he upset his friends when he said he wasn't going to find a way to get his body back, but he didn't realize that caused a full blown fight between them to the point that the next time they saw each other, Kageura was going to yell at him and make a bet with him.
It seemed like with all his other friends, Kageura dropped it last night for Yuma's birthday and the fact that he was recovering from passing out in the match. Today was a new day though and Kageura had no reason to hold back his thoughts.
And honestly, Yuma understood what Arafune was saying. He did need to talk to Kageura and resolve this argument before he leaves tomorrow. He couldn't just run off to the Neighborhood without resolving this matter. It would make things much easier on him if he didn't have this bothering him in the back of his head.
The air needed fully cleared between them.
"Hey, Shun."
"Hmm?"
"I think I'm going to tell Kage-senpai and Murakami-senpai."
"They already know about the surgery. Remember you caused the group chat to blow up not even twenty minutes ago."
Yuma shook his head. "Not that. About the fact that I'm a Neighbor."