Light Shines Anew
Chapter 5: Preparing For Battle
Crouching on the edge of a roof, Yuma sighed as he watched the sun rising. The night felt so exhausting between the conversation with Jin and then running around killing Trion Soldiers because of the bet they made. It made the night go by quite fast but with the day over and a new one beginning, it meant one less day Yuma had to live.
Jin said a month if he was lucky.
Did that mean thirty days? Thirty-one? Twenty-nine?
A month was a rough estimate.
The sound of rubble shifting had Yuma pushing himself to his feet and turning to face Jin.
"What do you want?" Yuma asked. By one. Jin won their bet by one Trion Soldier. He had been hoping another Gate would open up so he had been waiting on the roof to try to spot it from up here. Jin's side effect really gave him too good of an advantage here.
Jin stared down at Yuma, seeing something that Yuma couldn't see. He smiled and turned away from his friend to face the direction they would need to go to head to Tamakoma. "I'll have you cash it in later." He decided.
"Later." Yuma repeated dryly. "You only have a month. Don't forget."
Jin smiled and reached behind him to ruffle Yuma's hair. "What have you got planned for today?"
"Team training." Yuma replied. "And hanging out at Tamakoma. What about you? Going to take a nap?"
Jin hummed thoughtfully. "Breakfast. Your team has the night match tomorrow, right?"
"Yeah." Yuma replied. "Why?"
"You have Kazama-san and Arashiyama for commentators tomorrow." Jin said.
"Hmm," Yuma pouted. "Kazama-san still hasn't given me a solo rank war. Hey, Jin-san."
Jin laughed. He could already tell what Yuma wanted from him. "If you want a match from Kazama-san, you should ask him."
"I have." Yuma huffed. "He keeps refusing. Yosuke-senpai told me he has his pride, but I am an official agent and in the top of B-Rank. What more do I have to do to get a match from him?"
Jin glanced at Yuma again, paused for a moment before looking away with eyes sparkling with amusement and laughing heartily.
"What?" Yuma asked.
Still laughing, Jin jumped off the roof and began to make his way across multiple roofs to head back to Tamakoma.
"Jin-san!" Yuma called as he chased after him. "What's so funny?!"
*L*S*A*
Kageura stormed down the halls of HQ, snarling at anyone who dared to walk in his path. The poor C-Rank agents that were in the hall scattered or pressed themselves against the wall to stay out of his path. His reputation truly preceded him even after so many months of peace and control from him.
"What's wrong with him?" Ikoma asked, eyeing the other captain curiously as Kageura stormed down the hall. "Hey, Mizukami, you're in the same class as Kageura. Why is he mad?"
"It's summer." Mizukami replied. "I don't know what he's been doing to get so mad."
"Do you think a mad Kageura will be easier or harder to fight tomorrow?" Ikoma asked.
"Anger usually blinds you and you make mistakes that way." Mizukami said. "But with his side effect, I doubt it will change anything for him since Kageura spends a lot of time angry."
"So we should avoid him in the match tomorrow. Let's just kill Tamakoma then." Ikoma said.
Mizukami snorted. "Tamakoma isn't an easy target. We spent most of our first match against them chasing Kuga around and the second time we were distracted with Cronin for a good portion of time. If those two can keep us that busy on their own, we need to make sure they don't meet up. Their tag team is deadly."
"Sounds right." Ikoma said. "So we make Kuga the target first."
"You sure?" Mizukami asked surprised.
"A majority of Tamakoma's strategies revolved around him." Ikoma replied.
Mizukami raised a brow. "I suppose that is true. If Cronin and Kuga meet up, we have to deal with their deadly combinations. If they use Mikumo's wires and Amatori-chan's lead bullets, Kuga will be too fast to catch. If we take Kuga out, their usual tactics can't be used, but we shouldn't forget that Amatori-chan can use regular bullets now. And leaving the other members of Tamakoma alone will give them time to set up their traps."
"Those traps are useless if Kuga is dead. Cronin can't use the wires the same way Kuga can." Ikoma argued. While Hyuse could use the wires, he couldn't use them like an extension of himself to make himself faster like Yuma. Hyuse was a power attacked with bullets to back him up. Yuma was a speed attacker. It made them a complete pain to deal with when they teamed up together since they were both so strong and could cover each other so well.
"That we know of." Mizukami pointed out. Though, it was likely Ikoma was right. Hyuse was fast, but he wasn't Kuga Yuma fast. While Yuma spent a lot of time jumping around the battlefield, Hyuse seemed to find a solid footing and held out. "We targeted Mikumo before to prevent the traps from being laid and we assumed he would be the easier target. That didn't work so taking out Amatori-chan or Kuga is another plan. Kuga is just harder to kill. We wasted the whole match chasing after him the first time we fought them so we ended up losing while everyone else was killing each other."
"It shouldn't be that hard to kill Kuga this time." Ikoma pointed down the hall where Kageura had disappeared around the corner. "Kuga is one of his favorite people to fight. He'll definitely go after him."
"You want to team up with Kageura?"
"Unofficially."
Mizukami eyed his captain suspiciously. "Did you plan to go after Kuga the moment you saw Kageura was also in this match?"
"Kuga knows what he did." Ikoma replied.
"I don't think he does."
*L*S*A*
"Usami-senpai and I studied the logs for matches where Ikoma squad was the lowest ranked to try to guess what map they would choose." Osamu started.
Yuma straddled one of the benches in the training area of the Tamakoma basement. He looked at the papers that Osamu laid on the bench between him and Chika.
"These are the stages that Usami-senpai and I think that Ikoma squad might choose." Osamu continued. "Our guess is that since we're the top ranked squad in this match and we have a lot of strategies that we can switch between, that Ikoma squad will want to limit our choices of which ones to use as much as possible."
Hyuse picked up one of the papers to see an image printed out on it. "The riverside. You think Ikoma squad will try to implore Nasu squad's tactic of separating the squads and blowing up the bridge? That didn't exactly work out for Nasu squad."
"True, but Ikoma squad is a stronger team than Nasu squad." Shiori replied. "On top of that, all the squads entering this match are strong in their own right and have strong agents. Just keeping the agents separated by the river is enough. Remember, the top tier of B-Rank typically has low scoring matches because the agents want to keep the teams from getting the survival points by running out the clock."
"I didn't think Ikoma squad was the type to run out the clock." Chika said. "Both times we fought them, they seemed quite aggressive."
"Kage-senpai is aggressive too, but he'll stop fighting if the odds are against him." Yuma pointed out. "Those two survival points at the end can give too much of a lead in the top tier so it's best to avoid giving them out if possible."
"We're still going to aim for them though, right?" Hyuse demanded.
Osamu pushed his glasses up. If they followed the tactic of the top teams, they could just hide at the end of the match to run out the clock. It would be safer than giving another team two extra points and allow them to keep their lead to stay in B-Rank No. 2, but he had a feeling his team (Yuma and Hyuse) wouldn't be happy about that.
"You want to knock Ninomiya squad out of their No. 1 spot before we aim for A-Rank, don't you?" Yuma asked with a teasing smile.
"Someone needs to take them off their high horse." Hyuse replied.
"What about yours?" Yuma asked.
"My what?" Hyuse demanded.
Hyuse was such a competitive person. Osamu didn't regret adding him to his team as his strength and insight was valuable, but right now, there was no pressing goal for Tamakoma-2. Hyuse and Yuma didn't care about that. They made their own goal and even without that, they would never take the easy route. Despite how Hyuse initially felt about the rank wars, his competitive nature really pushed him to excel in them and he seemed to get some enjoyment out of this. As their captain, Osamu should support their desire to reach the top.
"The river side was just the first idea we had, but since we already fought that map and Ikoma squad is going to want to block our strategies, I think they will go for a map that we haven't fought." Osamu reached down and pointed at one of the other papers on the bench. "Which is why I considered the Exhibition Hall as a highly likely choice for them. This stage gives mid-range and long-range snipers an advantage and it has a vast open space. Basically, this map seals Kuga."
Yuma pursed his lips. If the fight was inside the exhibition hall, he might be fine. Might be because the snipers could get him through the large glass windows while he was inside. Though most snipers didn't like shooting through walls or windows. Azuma was the one who excelled the most at that. The open area and the open staircases would be a problem though.
"He's not completely sealed." Hyuse said. "Yuma can use Mantis and his curving blade."
Yuma hummed thoughtfully. While he did have those options available to him, in an open area where bullets would be flying around and his moves were already known, it would be highly difficult for Yuma.
"The inside of the building is large open rooms so wires won't be as effective as they are in cities." Osamu added. "And the staircases on the outside of the building are too open which puts anyone on them in danger of being sniped." They wouldn't be able to force their opponents into their wire zones since there was already so much open space. It truly was a disadvantaged map for their wire strategy.
"On this map, I would be the front attacker with Yuma as my backup. Like we did in round seven last season." Hyuse suggested. Yuma was an aggressive fight, but he was also very good at playing support when it was needed. On this type of map, support was going to be the most that Yuma could do.
Shiori grinned. "And we can't forget Chika. The Exhibition Hall is excellent for snipers. If she is outside, she can't use lead bullet to cover you if you're inside, but it won't matter if she just blows apart the whole building like she did to the mall."
"That would put everyone out in the open." Osamu said.
"From that point, it would just be an all out brawl." Yuma said. No tactics. No strategies. Just survival. It actually sounded kind of fun. "And we have Hyuse's Escudo on our side so we could get some protection for us."
Hyuse nodded. In an open space, Escudo wouldn't do much if the snipers had the height advantage. He paused as he thought about it. Maybe he could connect all of his Escudos to make a box with a roof. He could do it, but it wouldn't keep an Ibis shot from breaking through. Ikoma's Senku would also be a problem.
"The Exhibition Hall seals Yuma-kun, but doesn't it put Ikoma squad in danger too? All our squads have snipers." Chika asked.
"It doesn't matter what map we use, with your Ibis or Meteor or even Hound, you can decimate the field whenever." Hyuse pointed out. And now that Chika wasn't scared of shooting people, her destroying the field where enemies were located was an easier choice for them to take. Though, he wasn't sure if Chika could handle blasting an area filled with enemies while her allies were there. Friendly fire to kill the enemy might be too hard for her even if it just sent her team back to their base. "So, there is no good way to seal Chika so blocking Yuma's close combat expertise is next best."
"If they use this map, then they aren't fearing Hyuse and Osamu's shooting abilities enough." Yuma commented.
Shiori nodded. "A well-rounded team can be feared on any map. That is why time of day and weather are also included in the choice."
"I want to play in the snow again." Yuma said.
Chika chuckled. "We've only ever got to pick the map choice once. We reached the top too fast." The map choice was given to the lower ranked team in the match and that was only them twice. They didn't mess with the map in the first match and Osamu stressed over it in their second match so they didn't add weather or time of day into it.
"A shame." Yuma said. "It's quite fun to have different configurations to the maps and people seem to rarely mess with the weather."
Yuma was the type to want to do something just because it seemed fun while it just constantly stressed Osamu out. Being captain was really difficult since he ultimately had to make the final call on their decisions. Even after being captain for a few months, Osamu still realized he had a lot to learn if he wanted to be at the skill and knowledge level of the A-Rank captains. He would work hard to get there though because he knew Hyuse and Yuma wanted to make it to A-Rank.
"We don't need any snow. You're the only one on our team that can move efficiently in the snow." Hyuse pointed out.
Yuma pouted. "Fine, whatever. It's not like we have the right to choose the map." He fell back to lay on the bench and folded his arms under his head to act as a pillow. "Ikoma-san seems like the type to like having fun. Maybe he'll add something crazy into the configuration just to make it interesting."
"Kuga, please be serious. Chika and I still aren't pros at fighting in extreme weather conditions." Osamu said.
Yuma held up a finger, but stayed lying down. "You'll never get better if no one ever chooses to change the weather. I'm surprised more people don't do it. You never know what the weather will be like when you're on defense duty or in the Neighborhood. It's something you need to prepare for."
"That is...true." Osamu agreed. Still, the agents were more focused on the rank wars and getting points over getting experience to deal with bad weather in the field.
"A logical argument, but truly you're just pouting." Hyuse told Yuma. "Didn't you fight in a vast amount of different types of weather when you traveled the Neighborhood."
"Yeah," Yuma drawled, eyes falling shut lazily. "I hated it back then because it was something I wasn't used to. The worst one was Kion."
"Why?" Chika asked curiously.
"Kion's nickname is the Frozen Super Power." Hyuse answered for Yuma. "It's a frozen terrain with a severe climate." He kicked at Yuma's ankle. "It constantly buried in snow from all the blizzards it has which makes its defense impeccable. Why do you want a map with a snow setting if you hate Kion so much?"
Yuma cracked an eye open to look at Hyuse, smirking. "One, I got good at it. I spent enough time in horrible weather during my travels that I'm used to it. Two, my Trigger set now is better than the one I had as a kid."
"What did you have as a kid?" Shiori asked curiously.
"Daggers and wires." Yuma replied. "Though, not wires in the same vein as what Osamu uses. My wire connected my daggers together so I could throw them around and bring them back to me. I could pour my Trion into the wire that connected the daggers and use it as a weapon too."
And Osamu had no doubt that Yuma was just as deadly with his daggers as he was with Scorpion. If it was a blade, then Yuma could figure it out easily enough. Osamu supposed that came from the time and effort Yuma had put in since he was a child. It wouldn't have surprised Osamu if Border agents thought Yuma was a prodigy with the sword since he was so skilled when he first joined Border, but the incident with the Mimics taught them all that Yuma had been trained since he was child so his skill came from years and years of practice.
They at least didn't have to make an excuse for Yuma like they did for Hyuse when he showed up in Border as a master swordsman too. Yuma starting from the bottom of B-Rank and spending a few weeks as a C-Rank at least kept too many questions being thrown his way as opposed to Hyuse doing it in one day. Though, Osamu was sure if Yuma had the same enlistment test that Hyuse had, Yuma would have done the same thing as Hyuse. Osamu thanked his lucky stars Yuma didn't have that. His team did not need more attention than they already got in the first couple rounds of the previous B-Rank War season.
"Was that designed specifically for you by Kuga-san?" Shiori asked curiously. "I don't recall seeing any records of daggers in Border's old Trigger sets."
"It may have." Yuma replied. "I don't really know. My Trion body with that Trigger had Border's logo on it, but that may have just been because it was designed by Oyaji and he added that to it."
"Throwing daggers around. It's no wonder you came up with that curving blade." Hyuse said. "Throwing you sword around was something you were already used to."
Yuma grinned. "Border agents are good, but they don't have enough creativity in them."
"Don't think your methods are going to stay your own." Shiori warned. "Just as you copied your opponent's techniques with Scorpion, your opponents will do the same as you. You revealed a lot of new ways to use Scorpion last season."
"And Grasshopper." Osamu added as he recalled how Yuma would send his opponents or rubble flying with Grasshopper. He was really showing the other agents what it meant to think outside the box.
"Ah," Yuma agreed. Most of the agents who used Scorpion used it as a sword and then used a couple of the applications of the sword. Yuma was greedy though and he used every technique that existed and that he could think of. Skilled users could apply those techniques, but switching to them rapidly in the midst of a chaotic fight wasn't easy, so for most people, it was best to stay to the techniques they were more comfortable with. Since they only used a few of the techniques for Scorpion, one could say they were quite proficient at those ones whereas Yuma used them all and while good at them, he could be better.
"Right," Osamu looked over to where Shiori was sitting at her desk. "Can you bring up the Exhibition Hall for us? We should get used to that map in case Ikoma squad picks it since we've never fought on that map before."
At that, Yuma jumped up from the bench in excitement. "Want to fight in the map, Hyuse?"
"If I win, I demand you buy me taiyaki." Hyuse replied as the two Neighbors made their way to the training room.
"You should try other foods besides taiyaki. Japan has a lot of delicious foods." Yuma replied.
"Is it okay for them to fight while we do this?" Chika asked.
"They'll learn the difficulties of an open field map as they run around it." Shiori replied. "Just try not to get caught in their crossfire, Chika-chan."
"Right."
Knock. Knock.
The team paused in running into the training room to turn to the door. Rindo smiled from where was he leaning against the door frame.
"Morning, my young agents. I'm going to let you get back to your training in a minute." Rindo pointed at Yuma. "I'm going to need you later so you can't train all day."
Yuma simultaneously pouted and narrowed his eyes at Rindo. It was only on his face for a moment before it slipped away and he smiled at Rindo and nodded. He couldn't suspect every time Rindo or Jin needed him that it had to do with Jin's prediction. "A specific time?"
"In the evening."
*L*S*A*
"Yuzuru!" Izuho greeted cheerfully as she turned to take a break from the tutoring Toma was giving her and saw him coming in. She got a blank stare in return but she was used to that from the boy. "Not training with your team today? Shouldn't you be training for the match tomorrow?"
"Dealing with Kage-san is the last thing I want to do today, Natsume." Ema replied as he joined her at one of the booths in the sniper's range.
"Don't usually see you hiding from your captain, Yuzuru." Toma teased. "Being on his team, I thought you and Zoe would be the most used to Kage's foul temper."
Ema eyed the older sniper disdainfully. "He's in a worse mood than usual. I don't want to be anywhere near the squad's room. Hopefully he stays in there. The other agents don't need to deal with that either."
"Ah, Kage's mood is that bad?" Toma said. "Just throw him in a solo rank booth with Kuga. That always calms him down."
"That's a horrible idea right now." Ema retorted. "Since it's Kuga's fault he's like this. They apparently got into a fight yesterday."
Toma blinked a few times. "Kuga? Kuga Yuma?" He repeated confused. It was normal for Kageura to get mad and yell and curse at people. His side effect tended to put him in a bad mood. However, it wasn't normal for Yuma to get into a fight with someone which made it even more rare for it to be with Kage who was usually at his calmest with Yuma since Yuma didn't activate his side effect.
"Well, it's certainly not Kuga Yugo." Ema grumbled. "I hope we never have to deal with him again."
"Do you know why they were fighting?" Toma asked curiously.
"No, and considering Kage-san's mood, I have no desire to bring it up either." Ema replied. "Kuga better watch his back because based on Kage-san's mood, he'll be gunning for him in tomorrow's match."
Izuho chuckled nervously. She had never been near enough Kageura to know much about him, but from the news that traveled through HQ, he was not someone to make mad. He didn't care at all about losing points if he got in trouble. "Poor Ochibi-senpai."
"I have no sympathy for the person who made me have to deal with Kage-san's rage." Ema said.
"Sounds like tomorrow is going to be bloodbath." Satori piped up from a booth two spots away. He deactivated his Egret and stood up.
"It will make it a better show." Toma said amused.
"You people are horrible." Izuho said blankly. She was glad Chika wasn't here for this. Although, maybe it would help if she was warned that Kageura was going to aim so aggressively for Yuma's head.
Toma laughed. "Maybe Kage will have calmed down by tomorrow."
"Doubtful." Ema replied blankly. Toma did not see Kageura kicking stuff around the squad's operation room while ranting about why Yuma was a dumbass and how he was going to stab him with his Scorpion. Ema felt bad for their operator who liked to relax in there. He was sure Hikari would make Kageura clean up his mess though.
"Maybe he will calm down after the match." Satori suggested.
"And if not, we throw Kuga and Kage into a room together and let them sort it out." Toma added.
"An actual room or a solo rank booth where they just kill each other over and over again until they get it out of their system?" Izuho asked.
Toma snapped his fingers at her. "I like your style. We'll do that."
Izuho was going to have to apologize to Yuma, wasn't she?
*L*S*A*
A wide berth was being given to Kageura. Murakami stopped at the entrance to the solo rank booth room to watch his friend. He was sitting on one of the couches and every couch that surrounded it was empty as the aggravated Kageura turned to glare at anyone who dare to enter his radius.
Murakami had only come here because Hikari asked him to come reign him in to save the squad's operation room. Honestly, he didn't know what Hikari expected him to do when Kageura was like this. This wasn't simple anger from his side effect hurting him. This was just anger directed at a friend. Preferably, it would be best Kageura wasn't in here, but from what Murakami understood, Hikari kicked him out of the operation room to save her stuff from getting destroyed.
"Kage," Murakami said as he approached the couch his friend was sitting on.
"Huuh?"
Murakami raised an unimpressed brow. "Don't take your anger out on others. They have nothing to do with what Kuga said."
Kageura scoffed and twisted his head back around to glare at the ceiling. "Doesn't it piss you off how he doesn't acknowledge how we feel about it?"
Murakami stared at his friend. He shouldn't stare as the longer he looked, the more his emotions were going to slam into Kageura. Though, with how angry Kageura was now, he might not even acknowledge the pricks from his side effect.
It would be a lie for Murakami to say he wasn't mad. He was frustrated to learn that Yuma wasn't fighting for his life. He understood that Yuma had a lot of complicated feelings about everything. Even knowing that, it didn't take away the sting of knowing that their friend was willing to just die. Granted, they didn't have a solution for him to survive, but it still hurt to know he wasn't willing to try.
Well, right now, Yuma had no interest in getting his real body back.
"I understand where your anger is coming from, Kage, but do you really think getting mad at Kuga is going to help or make him change his mind?" Murakami demanded. "It's just going to push him way."
Kageura scoffed, foot tapping ferociously against the ground. His nails scraped against his neck.
Murakami wondered if it wouldn't be better to take him into a solo rank booth and jump into a match to take him away from all the wary eyes. They could talk and fight it out. It would probably help Kageura's aggravation. Maybe. It would also mean more privacy for Yuma's situation. It was already well known among the official agents that Yuma was dying, but there were still parts they should keep private.
"I know." Kageura said, pulling Murakami's attention back to him. "I know getting mad at him isn't going to help."
"You're just frustrated that he doesn't want to change his situation and he was being very blase about the whole situation." Murakami guessed.
Kageura grunted. "I can't accept his choice to just die."
"Kage..."
Yuma leaned back in his seat, knocking his head against it. He looked up to meet the attentive eyes of his friends and smiled. "I also knew my life was limited. I knew I would die earlier than everyone else and accepted this fact. I was fine with it." He chuckled softly. "I realized a while back that fact changed. Something I decided was inevitable so I had no choice but to accept it now scares me. Because when I came here, I met Osamu and Chika and Jin-san and began to learn what fun was again. Then I joined Border and met you all and each day became more and more fun. I realized that I'm now scared of dying so early and losing all of this."
"Then why–" Shun started.
Yuma smiled sadly, looking down at his ring. "The worst thing is, I can't change the fact that I'm dying. Trying to, trying to bring hope into my life that I don't have to die only makes it worse when I learn that it won't work and I have to accept my death again so it's just easier to not try."
"I'm not buying his damn bullshit or his fake as shit smile." Kageura snarled. "If he wants me to accept it, then he has to properly accept it first."
"He did." Murakami pointed out. "But then his time here made him not anymore."
"Good." Kageura snapped angrily. "A child shouldn't be okay with dying so damn young. And that same brat shouldn't be giving up. He fights to the end in everything he does. What makes now any different?" He stood up and angrily kicked the table in front of him.
The loud noise got Murakami wincing as he saw the heads of the agents in the room turn to face them. He shot them a strained smile in return, hoping that they would get the message and quickly look away. He really should throw Kageura into a booth.
"Ah, Kageura is still mad."
Kageura whipped around to snarl at the person who dared to encroach on his space.
"Oooh, scary." Ikoma said.
"Maybe not the best time, Ikoma-san." Murakami said.
Ikoma pointed a finger in Kageura's face. "I hear you got into a fight with Kuga."
Kageura snarled. "Where did you hear that?"
"Well, you've been stomping all over base since yesterday." Mizukami pointed out. "And if that wasn't enough your sniper ratted you out at the sniper's range earlier according to Oki."
"That damn Yuzuru. Well, do you actually want something?" Kageura snarled.
Ikoma smiled. "No. Just found it amusing we have the same target for tomorrow." He turned away from Kageura and Murakami with a wave over his shoulder. "It should be fun."
"The hell?" Kageura snarled as Ikoma and Mizukami walked away. "What did they come over here for?"
Murakami watched the members of Ikoma squad walk away with a frown. That was more than just weird. "It's not normal to announce who you're targeting in the match, even if people can make a pretty good guess." He turned back to Kageura. "Are you going after Kuga in the match tomorrow?"
"Of course I am. I want to knock some damn sense into that thick skull of his." Kageura snapped. "And now I have to race to kill him before Ikoma squad can."
"Kage, maybe you should head out for the day and relax to clear your head before the match tomorrow." Murakami suggested. "You're not going to win when you're as wind up as you are now." He glanced in the direction that Ikoma squad went with a thoughtful expression. Were they trying to set Kageura off even more? Kageura already proved last season that when he fights differently than his usual style, he wasn't as effective. He didn't think Ikoma squad were ones for mind games like that though.
"Why don't you focus on your own match instead of mine?" Kageura retorted.
"Because I actually want you to enjoy this match, Kage. You and Kuga. With how you are now, you're not going to have fun in this fight." Murakami replied.
Kageura snarled, scratching at his skin as he glared at Murakami.
"We don't even know when Kuga is going to die so there's no point in getting so worked up over what he said that you can't enjoy your fight with him tomorrow." Murakami added.
"He's the most fun to fight." Kageura grumbled.
Murakami blinked. He would be offended, but he knew the reasoning behind Kageura's declaration. He felt something similar because of his own side effect. Kageura could tell where attacks would hit and Murakami learned everyone's moves. They were both pros at defense because of their side effects. It was the reason why Murakami and Kageura found so much fun fighting each other. Yuma didn't have a side effect to help him in battle, but he was skilled and very creative. He brought a thrill to the fights for Murakami that not many could copy. And for Kageura, Yuma brought peace since he didn't set off Kageura's side effect. It brought a special kind of excitement to a fight for Kageura.
"Kage," Murakami said, frowning in worry as a thought occurred to him. "I get that you're worried about Kuga, but there is more to it, isn't there?"
Kageura slammed his foot on top of the table, turning to furious eyes onto Murakami.
For his part, Murakami met the stare head on. Despite his attitude, Murakami had never once been scared of Kageura. He embraced Kageura's attitude and harsh personality instead because it kept his friend from backing down and getting disheartened when faced with Murakami's side effect. "He's one of two people who doesn't set your side effect off. It makes you more comfortable and relaxed with him so you're scared of losing someone you consider a close friend."
Usually, it was the opposite. People were unnerved by people they didn't understand and were completely closed off. However, Kageura knew everything that someone felt about him based on the emotion he got hit with. It made people too open for him. Being unable to read Yuma was probably a blessing for him. He was someone Kageura could be around without getting hurt from pinpricks of emotions directed at him.
Kageura scoffed. "As if that's something new." He narrowed his eyes at Murakami. "Isn't it natural to be scared when someone you care about is going to die?"
"Your fear makes you meaner." Murakami retorted. Kageura was always aggressive with how he cared. Granted, he had an aggressive type personality in anything he did so it wasn't that much different. The only difference in his aggressive nature was how he treated someone based on if he liked them or not.
"And what about you?" Kageura snapped. "You're mad at Kuga too."
Murakami sighed. "Yes, but I'm not going to cave his head in. There are other ways to deal with this."
Kageura looked up at the screen that let them watch rank wars in here. He glared at the screen, frown tugging at his lips as he thought. Another way to deal with how he felt with Yuma and his stupid decision.
His frown shifted into a sharp grin.
"Oh no." Murakami muttered.
"Oi, Kō, let's go have a match." Kageura said as he marched towards one of the booths.
People still seemed wary of his bad mad since they shifted out of his path so Kageura didn't have to take the time to go around them.
*L*S*A*
"Was that a good idea?" Mizukami asked.
"Probably not." Ikoma replied as he and his friend left the solo rank booths. "But if it keeps Kageura off us until he and Kuga work out their issues, I'm fine with it."
"I thought we were going after him." Mizukami said.
"We are." Ikoma replied.
Mizukami eyed his captain with a frown.
"Get rid of Kuga and then we can focus on the rest after that." Ikoma replied. "But that is tomorrow. Let's get dinner instead."
"Udon sounds good." Mizukami suggested.
Ikoma scoffed. "We had that yesterday."
"It doesn't make it any less good." Mizukami pressed the elevator button to call the elevator to them.
"I didn't say that. I just want to try something else." Ikoma said. "The food from Kageura's family restaurant is good, but we can't go there."
Mizukami laughed. "Until after the match with them tomorrow, right?"
"Right," Ikoma nodded all serious like. "We don't enter the enemy's domain."
The elevator doors opened.
Ikoma almost stepped in until he realized who was in the elevator.
The enemy.
Yuma stared back at him, blinking in confusion.
Mizukami leaned pass his captain. "Yo, Kuga. You getting off?" He pointed over his shoulder. "Kageura and Murakami are in the solo rank booths if you're looking for them."
Ikoma choked on air. Considering what he heard about Kageura's bad mood and Kuga's name being involved in the gossip, it was probably best to not send Kuga in his direction. Was Mizukami trying to get Yuma killed before the match tomorrow?
A hand came out above Yuma's head to keep the doors from closing. "We actually have somewhere to be. Are you boys getting on?"
"Oh, Rindo-san, sorry. Didn't see you there." Ikoma apologized.
Mizukami snorted. He could see the shrimp, but not the adult behind said shrimp. "Evening, Director Rindo." He greeted politely as he pushed his captain forward so they could enter the elevator. "Sorry for holding you up."
The doors closed but Ikoma paid no attention to Mizukami as he watched youngest person in the elevator rock back and forth on his feet as he stared at the elevator numbers changing for each floor they passed. He didn't spend much time with Yuma, but Ikoma saw him around HQ enough to know that when Yuma wasn't fighting, he was actually pretty still. He jumped around a battlefield like crazy, but didn't spend any time fidgeting when outside of a fight.
"Ready for the fight tomorrow, Kuga?" Mizukami asked politely.
"Yeah..." Yuma seemed to answer distractedly.
Huh.
Mizukami's eyes narrowed suspiciously. He and his captain shared a look behind Rindo and Yuma's back. If there was one thing they knew from the last season, it was that Yuma found great joy in the B-Rank Wars and took pleasure in riling up his opponents before the match.
A ding later and the elevator doors opened. Rindo's hand gently fell on Yuma's shoulder as he pushed the younger agent out of the elevator. "Good luck in the match tomorrow." Rindo said politely to Ikoma squad as they left.
As the doors closed shut, isolating Ikoma squad from the Tamakoma members, Ikoma found himself blinking in confusion.
"Did Kuga seem depressed to you?" Mizukami asked.
"He didn't seem like his usual self." Ikoma stared at the elevator floor numbers. "And this is the Research and Development floor." A floor that agents didn't often go to. A floor Tamakoma agents definitely didn't need to go to since they had their own engineer at Tamakoma.
"A fight with Kageura and now going to R&D?" Mizukami said. "Whatever Kuga is up to, I hope his head in the match tomorrow or it won't be any fun."
"That would be a shame." Ikoma agreed. While he wanted his team to win the match tomorrow, he didn't want to win because his enemies were so distracted that they didn't put up a good fight. That would be a disappointing win.
*L*S*A*
Yuma knew it. He tried the benefit of doubt when Rindo asked to meet him in the evening, but now that they were heading to Kinuta's lab, he knew he shouldn't have. His intuition about this being about his body had been right from the start.
"Rindo-san."
"I know, Yuma." Rindo said without Yuma having to even explain what was going through his head. "I know you said you didn't want anything to do with the surgery." He squeezed Yuma's shoulder to offer comfort, but also to get Yuma to look back at him. "But know this, until you're dead, we're not going to stop fighting for you."
Yuma squeezed his eyes shut.
"I recognize that might be hard for you. Make it harder for you to know that you will die soon, but I would never forgive myself if I sat back and watched you die while knowing there was an operation that could have saved you." Rindo replied.
"It's not full proof." Yuma protested.
"Nothing in life is." Shinoda said.
Yuma's eyes snapped open to see Shinoda relaxing against the wall outside of Kinuta's office. "Shinoda-san."
Shinoda pushed off the wall, smiling softly at his mentor's son.
"You're in on this too?" Yuma asked displeased.
"I realize this isn't what you expected, but I do hope you realize how many people you have in your corner, Yuma-kun." Shinoda replied. "Whether it be friends or allies or just comrades, you've connected with a lot of people since you came to Japan. And those same people would hate to lose a friend. I don't think any of them would tell you they would be fine with you dying."
"You need to get it out of your system, Kuga." Murakami said. "When you get your real body back, you're not going to bounce back from getting smacked around by a car."
Yuma blinked. When? "But I'm not going to get my real body back." He said confused.
"Huh?!" Kageura growled. "The hell you mean you aren't getting it back?"
"Yuma-senpai, you're going to die if you don't get your real body back." Shun said desperately.
"Well, yeah." Yuma said slowly.
"And you're just okay with that?" Murakami asked softly.
*L*S*A*
"If you've already accepted it, then nothing I do to try to change your mind should bother you." Jin replied. He scooted forward on the Marmod so he was in front of Yuma to force eye contact. "I accept that you think you've accepted your death, but you have to accept that your friends and me haven't accepted it and are going to fight you on your choice."
*L*S*A*
"Jin-san, I respect that you want to save me because you feel you owe me for the help I've given Border–"
"It's not just because of that. You are my friend, Yuma." Jin stressed.
Yuma glanced out the nearby window, rubbing viciously at his hair.
If everyone knew what Jin had predicted, Yuma would have all of his friends hounding him. He learned that much from his conversation with Kageura, Murakami, and Shun yesterday.
"I realize, but it's still my choice." Yuma said.
"Just as it is our choice to look into the option that Galopoula has given us." Shinoda said. "Before that though, Yuma-kun."
"Yeah?"
"Why did you get hit by a car yesterday?" Shinoda asked.
Yuma made a pained noise in the back of his throat. That one moment of lapse in judgement would never be forgotten. "Just got distracted. That was my bad. I'll be more careful from now, promise."
Shinoda eyed the young agent suspiciously for a moment. "Right. Be careful for your own safety and so you don't traumatize the citizens anymore. Also, is there a reason you didn't involve the police and sent it my way?"
Yuma held up his hand with the Black Trigger on it and wiggled his fingers. "Murakami-senpai thought it best not to call the police and have them see an uninjured kid that just got flung across the street by a car. He thought it would involve too many questions." He wasn't exactly wrong. The first time Yuma got hit by a car, he couldn't avoid having the police called and it involved a lot of questions and confusion.
Shinoda shook his head. He didn't even want to imagine the stress and fear Yuma put his friends through. He rapped his knuckles against the doorframe to Kinuta's office as the door slid open for him. "Kinuta-san, we're here."
"About time you got here." Kinuta said.
Yuma walked into the office behind Shinoda taking a moment to scan the office. Usually when he was meeting up with Kinuta, they were in a lab. "Kinuta-san." He greeted politely. His eyes landed on a table in the corner, or more specifically, onto the pieces of Replica. Kinuta seemed to keep Replica in his lab to work on him. Strangely, it made Yuma feel better. He would prefer that a bunch of strangers in R&D weren't handling his friend.
"Kuga, pay attention." Kinuta demanded.
Yuma turned back to Kinuta to see him on the other side of the room at another table. He watched Kinuta pull a tablet towards him and do something. A second later, a holograph of a body appeared above the table. Examining the body, Yuma could make out that portions of the body were glowing a darker color. Certain portions that were the exact same as Yuma's injuries on his real body.
Kinuta set the tablet down and turned to Yuma. "Let's talk about your surgery."