Light Shines Anew
Chapter 10: Reflection
Blink.
Mizukami was leaning over him and saying something. Something that Yuma couldn't hear.
Blink.
Oyaji was here.
Blink.
Oyaji was suddenly crouched by Yuma's side, staring down at his son in concern.
"Oya–" His voice wavered.
Blink.
"Kuga...hear me...Sorry..."
Something bright suddenly appeared above him, blinding him as his eyes already hurt too much.
Blink.
His shoulders were being roughly shaken. Black hair brushed against his face.
"Yuma–"
A voice desperately trying to break through the static.
Blink.
Yuma was left alone to stare with blurry eyes up at the ceiling.
"Osamu-"
Blink.
A new blurry face was above Yuma. His lips were moving as he said something.
Blink.
He was moving.
Or was the room moving around him?
Blink.
A pair of arms were wrapped around him.
Someone was carrying him and moving quickly through the halls.
Blink.
There were two new blurs.
"You...trust me...handling it?"
"I trust that...into it." Murakami replied.
Blink.
"-you smile?" Jin requested. "For Yuma."
"What?"
Blink.
A blinding light hit Yuma's eyes.
Blink.
*L*S*A*
The round lost all importance to Osamu the moment Yuma had collapsed. He had stuck it out at Jin's request, but as soon as the clock had hit zero, Osamu was out of their room with his team right behind him. He did not care what the commentators had to say about the match this time. He didn't need to hear about how he fumbled through the match as he couldn't focus properly.
Jin had said 'Kinuta-san's lab' and that was where he was going.
Jin had also said Yuma would be fine, but knowing that Yuma only had a few weeks left to live meant that nothing was going to put Osamu at ease. This was only going to be the start.
No words were spoken amongst the team as they made their way through the base. Osamu felt like he should say something. He hated the distressed look on Chika's face, the tears starting to cloud her eyes, and the way her lip wobbled. It reminded him too much of the day he went to her house and she told him her brother was gone.
And just like that day, there were no words that Osamu could say that would make this better.
As they reached the Research and Development floor and rounded the corner, Osamu saw Jin halfway down the hall.
"Konami–" Jin stopped talking and hummed along to whatever Konami was saying on the other side of the phone call he was in the middle of.
Even as distracted as Jin was with the phone call, when he saw Osamu and his team, he still shot them a smile, albeit, a strained one. He pointed over his shoulder at the door behind him and mouthed 'In there' to them.
"Yes, Konami. I'm listening." Jin said as his call distracted him again as Tamakoma-2 made their way into the lab.
Osamu was the last to enter as he slowed down when he heard the angry yelling coming from Jin's phone. He winced in sympathy as Jin was subjected to Konami's protective rage.
When he turned his attention to inside the lab, he found Shiori and Chika sitting by Yuma's bed with Chika holding Yuma's hand in both of hers. Hyuse was leaning against the wall, glaring at Yuma's nonresponsive body. The sight nearly had Osamu snorting. Hyuse hated showing concern so he hid it behind anger.
"This is not a place for gathering." Kinuta complained.
"Sorry, Kinuta-san." Osamu apologized, though he was smiling a bit. Kinuta had a rough exterior, but whenever Tamakoma came to his lab when Yuma was having health issues like this, all he did was complain about their presence. He never tried to actually kick them out.
"He looks very young like this." Shiori said, drawing Osamu's attention to his team.
Hyuse snorted. "He has the body of an eleven-year-old."
Shiori shook her head. "That may be true, but he has eyes of a hardened fighter. That coupled with his experience and wisdom hid the youth from his face. Like this, with his guard striped away, that youth is on full display."
Osamu stared at Yuma and saw the youth of a child like Shiori had said. It just served as a reminder to Osamu just how young Yuma was when his life got ripped away from him.
It wasn't right.
There was a lot wrong in life, but still, Osamu couldn't understand how anyone could hurt a child. It had him wondering how the assassin who attacked Yuma lived with himself doing the kind of horrible things he did.
"His vitals and Trion are stabilizing at a good pace." Kinuta told Osamu. "Considering that, I'm going to have him transferred to the medical ward. They can't do anything for him, but it will be more comfortable for all of us."
"Thank you." Osamu replied. He understood they were keeping Kinuta from his work by taking up all this space in his lab. "Do you know when he will wake up?"
"Could be sometime tonight. Could be tomorrow. It's hard to tell." Kinuta said. "And when he does wake up, let me know. I have a few questions for him."
"Will do."
Osamu didn't say that. He turned to see Jin leaning against the door frame. "Is Konami-senpai done yelling at you?"
"I don't think she will ever be done yelling." Jin replied. "She's coming to HQ with Kyosuke and Rindo-san. Could we get Yuma settled in the medical war before they arrive?"
"Please do. It's already too crowded in here. I don't need more people." Kinuta said.
*L*S*A*
"Where the hell is he?!"
"Kage," Murakami held up a hand, asking for peace from his friend. "Jin-san took him. Please calm down."
"Calm down? Calm down after that shitty match?" Kageura demanded.
The agents put up a fight after they got Yuma out of the match, but Kageura could tell. None of them had the heart to properly enjoy the fight. How could Jin expect them to not be distracted after Yuma basically fainted and they all knew he was dying?
"We didn't see the match. We left after Kuga bailed out." Arafune replied.
Kageura kicked the couch in his squad's operation room.
"The clock ran out." Zoe said for his captain. "It was three to two to two in Ikoma squad's favor."
"Ikoma was bitching about it. He didn't want the point for killing Kuga and was wondering if he could get it removed from the score." Kageura added.
"Sounds like Ikoma-san." Arafune said. Ikoma, like most Attackers, got a thrill out of fighting strong opponents. Killing a collapsed child who couldn't put up a fight probably felt all kinds of wrong to Ikoma.
"If they do remove it, it will be a three-way tie then." Murakami said.
Kageura scoffed. Like he cared about having a three-way tie right now. The whole match was a sham to him anyway. He had been left with a sour taste in his mouth ever since Yuma had collapsed in the match. It just wasn't going to go away.
"Where is Kuga?" Kageura asked again.
Murakami sat on the couch and got himself comfortable. "I'm not telling you until you calm down. You being all riled up is not going to help anyone right now."
"I'm not going to calm down until I know he is okay." Kageura argued.
"Jin-san said he would be fine." Arafune said. "He wasn't responsive when we saw him, but if Jin-san says he will be fine, then he is going to wake up."
"Please, Kage, Yuma-kun and Tamakoma are probably stressed enough." Zoe added. "You going on a rampage is only going to make things so much worse."
"Who said anything about a rampage?" Kageura demanded. He collapsed on the couch to join his friends and teammates in sitting down. "In all the time we've known Kuga, the only time he ever collapsed was when that Mimic was siphoning his Trion and weakening him. There is no Mimic right now. Do you know what that tells me?"
"Already reached that conclusion." Murakami replied.
"Do you mean Yuma-kun is going to die soon?" Zoe asked.
Murakami nodded. "Jin-san did confirm it. He didn't give a time frame of when. Just that it was fast approaching."
Zoe felt his heart sink to his stomach. This was not at all what he was expecting when Kageura starting raging a couple days ago about Yuma doing something to make him mad. He had found out that it was about Kageura simply wanting Yuma to put in the effort to get his real body back. How did it go from that to Yuma passing out?
Kageura kicked the table in front of him.
"We knew this would be coming at some point." Ema said.
"I know." Kageura replied. "But what is pissing me off, beyond Kuga just frustrating me, is that Tamakoma hasn't done anything to figure this out."
"You mean Jin-san, don't you?" Hikari asked.
"Who else? He manipulates and controls everything else from the shadows! And yet he can't figure out Kuga's problem?" Kageura asked.
Jin eyed Murakami out of the corner of his eye. He huffed an unamused chuckle and shifted his arms to readjust Yuma. "He's not going to die today or tomorrow. It's not even going to be next week. It is soon, Kō. I won't lie about that, but we still have a little time left."
"That doesn't make me feel better." Murakami replied. A few weeks wasn't enough time to figure this out.
"Maybe not, but can you smile?" Jin requested. "For Yuma."
"Jin-san said to smile." Murakami said.
"Huh?" Kageura said confused.
"I don't know what is going through Jin-san's head right now, but he asked that we keep smiling. I think he thinks it will help Yuma." Murakami explained. Even as he said it, he knew it sounded weird and it made them all confused. Jin could never tell them anything straight.
"How is smiling going to help the fact that he is dying?" Kageura asked in disbelief.
Murakami shook his head. He didn't have the answer to this. He got to talk to Jin for a bit while Kageura was still in the match, but it's not like he got much new information. Jin was more focused on getting Yuma to Kinuta. He didn't have the time for a full conversation where he could explain everything, and Murakami didn't think Jin would have fully explained even if he had the time.
"I'll say this," Arafune piped up. "It felt like Jin-san was holding something back. So, I do think there is something more going on. If Jin-san isn't explaining it fully, then he doesn't think we need to know. For now, just do what Jin-san asked."
"Tsk."
*L*S*A*
"Why am I getting news that Agent Kuga fainted in a rank war?" Kido asked.
Shinoda breathed out slowly. He had barely been caught up on everything that had happened as he hadn't been watching the rank wars. Jin had only shot him a quick call earlier after he got Yuma to Kinuta's lab. With Yuma's collapse in the rank war, it was going to cause gossip. Gossip got around to everyone and it would eventually get to Kido's ears. The agents in the Kido fraction would obviously mention something to him.
"Because Yuma-kun's health is getting worse." Shinoda admitted. It's not like they were trying to hide anything from Kido. In fact, if Yuma chose to go to Galopoula, they were going to have to discuss this with him eventually which was why he came to Kido's office prepared. With Yuma publicly showing his health getting worse, he needed to move quickly.
Shinoda placed a tablet on Kido's desk.
"We're running out time in regards to Yuma-kun's body failing. To save his life, this is what Jin and Rindo have come up with." Shinoda explained. "They have requested help from Galopoula."
Kido scoffed to himself. It was just like the Tamakoma branch to start making moves behind everyone's back. What was that saying? It's better to ask for forgiveness then permission. Tamakoma basically lived by that motto. They did whatever they wanted as they did what was right in their eyes and only came to him or Shinoda afterwards to tell them what happened. They were always unrepentant in their actions.
"Alright." Kido said as he scanned the file that Shinoda was showing him.
"Alright?" Shinoda echoed confused. Kido had barely looked at what Shinoda had handed him.
"As of the moment, I am quite aware that Kinuta-san is nowhere near a solution that can help Agent Kuga." Kido replied, leaning back in his chair, slowly tapping the edge of the tablet.
"I want you to promise you'll guarantee Yuma's safety." Replica said.
"Fine." Kido agreed. "As long as he follows the Border's Agent Regulations, we'll guarantee Agent Kuga's safety and rights."
"I promised Agent Kuga's safety and rights as long as he followed the rules." Kido explained. "He has been an exemplary agent since he joined Border. For that reason, I will stick through to my end of that promise. Like all our agents, Agent Kuga has the right to medical aid. Unfortunately, we aren't equipped to give him the help he needs." He tapped the screen of the tablet he was handed. "Kinuta-san already showed me this."
Shinoda should have guessed that Kinuta wouldn't have kept this from Kido. He was part of the Kido fraction after all. Shinoda and Rindo were the ones who were constantly teaming up against Kido when their ideas differed.
"I've agreed to the allow Kuga to take the operation if he chooses to go." Kido continued. "But as far as I'm aware, he hasn't asked to go and is now collapsing in Rank Wars."
"Yuma-kun seems to be worried about the low success rate of the operation so he doesn't want to go." Shinoda admitted. "We're still working on convincing him to go. I was not expecting him to collapse though."
Kido nodded. It wasn't expected, but he couldn't say he was too surprised that Yuma fainted. With the type of injuries he had and with his death getting as close as it was, Yuma couldn't keep pushing himself like he was used to. His Trion body wasn't going to hold out forever when his flesh and blood body was getting so much weaker. It was just a surprise that it hit him while he was using another Trigger.
"If he does decide to go to Galopoula, how do you plan to do it? Were you going to wait until the last moment to request use for the away ship for this?" Kido asked.
"Actually, about that–"
*L*S*A*
Ikoma glared at the results from the match. "That's a dirty point. I hate it." It was making his skin crawl just looking at it. This didn't feel like a proper win at all, and that's because it wasn't. The one point that put them above the other teams was from killing someone who wasn't fighting. There was no challenge to it. Only confusion and fear as they all had the thought that maybe Yuma was dying in front of them. That when he collapsed in front of them, it was the moment where his time had finally run out.
Ikoma didn't know the full story of Yuma's situation. He knew the kid was trapped in a Trion body produced by his Black Trigger and his real body was slowly dying. He had heard that much, but he never went out of his way to get more information than that as it felt like an invasion of privacy to someone he was really close with.
Regardless of not having all the details, he and Mizukami were able to recognize that something was seriously wrong when it started to affect Yuma inside a Border Trion body. There was nothing fun or amusing about watching a comrade fall to his knees and struggle to stay awake as his body broke apart from the inside out.
"If you really want it removed, you'll have to take it up with Director Shinoda." Maori said.
"I will." Ikoma declared. "He'll surely agree, won't he?"
"Hard to say." Mizukami replied. "It was an official B-Rank War. Regardless of how we did it, we did kill Kuga."
"But it was an emergency!" Kai interjected. "And Kuga-chan was practically passed out! It wasn't even a fight at that point."
"Director Shinoda also has a soft spot for Kuga-kun." Oki added.
"Because of his father being Director Shinoda's mentor." Ikoma suddenly realized. "The nepotism!"
Mizukami snorted. "He has a soft spot for him, but I haven't seen Director Shinoda actually give Kuga anything that puts him on a different level then us. Despite having a personal connection to the Kuga family, the directors don't seem to let it interfere with work."
"Is him kicking me across the room and not getting in trouble for it not nepotism?" Ikoma demanded.
"Extenuating circumstances."
"Extenuating circumstances?" Ikoma repeated. "Like being on death's door gives you permission to get away with breaking the rules?!"
"No, the extenuating circumstance was Iko-san sneaking up on an injured, traumatized child." Mizukami replied.
"I don't see Kuga-kun as a traumatized child." Oki protested. "He went through something hellish, yes, but he seemed to only get stronger from it."
"Thank you, Oki!" Ikoma said.
"No, you still chose a bad time to sneak up on him." Oki refuted, making Ikoma sulk. "I'm just saying I can't see him as traumatized. He was a victim to what put him in this position and it hurt him, but I don't think Kuga-kun would be able to jump into battlefields and fight the way he does if he was completely traumatized."
"He seemed to struggle plenty during the Mimic incident." Maori said.
"Wouldn't anyone when the past they left behind came back and smacked them right across the face?" Mizukami countered. "The point is Iko-san made a mistake by sneaking up on Kuga, but he is making the best of it."
"How so?"
"Kuga definitely hates that his health issue is well known among the official agents. Iko-san's joke about being offended by Kuga's kick is probably a sense of normal he appreciates." Mizukami explained.
"Joke? How do you know I'm not completely offended by it?" Ikoma counted.
"Because if you were, you would have reported it to Director Shinoda and filed a complaint against Tamakoma."
"Oh? Iko-san has a soft side." Maori teased.
Ikoma blushed. "It's not a soft spot! Maybe it's pity!"
"Kuga would get mad if he heard that." Mizukami said.
"He would probably punt you across the room again if he knew." Oki teased.
"Well, he's not going to find out because I'm going to buy you all dinner tonight and we're not going to mention this. Ever!"
Kai raised his hand eagerly. "If you're buying our silence, is this dinner going to be comprised of our favorite foods?"
Ikoma could already feel his wallet crying.
*L*S*A*
Shun didn't have defense duty tonight nor was he spending any time training, and yet, he found himself hanging around in the solo rank booth just bouncing on his feet anxiously. There wasn't even anything to see in the solo rank booth because he just knew that his friend was not suddenly going to walk into the room.
Even knowing Yuma wasn't going to show up, Shun didn't know what else to do. He had just wandered in without any thought. Arafune's text said Jin was taking care of Yuma and that he said Yuma would be fine, but Shun wasn't going to be able to relax until he saw his friend. The problem was that he had no idea of where Jin took Yuma. He didn't even know if Yuma was even still in HQ. The only other place Jin would take Yuma would be Tamakoma though since they definitely couldn't put Yuma in the hospital with his body.
"Midorikawa."
A pair of hands slammed down on Shun's shoulders.
"Stand still." Suwa ordered.
Shun's attention flickered to the captain that suddenly appeared in front of him. "How can I?" He countered.
"Come on, that damn albino shrimp is strong. He'll be fine." Suwa replied.
Shun scowled and shoved Suwa's hands off his shoulders. "It doesn't matter how strong someone is when their body is rebelling against them!"
Suwa shoved the younger agent so he would fall onto the couch.
Shun just let it happen and sunk into the couch. "He was clearly bothered by something the other day and now he's fainting!"
"I understand that you're worried about him, but let me ask you this, what can you do for Kuga?" Suwa asked.
"What?" Shun asked confused.
Suwa sighed and chewed on his cigarette. Somewhere down the line he had become a babysitter for the younger agents. "We all know Kuga is dying and that is horrible. I wish it wasn't the case, but tell me, can you do anything to change Kuga's situation? Can you do anything about the fact that he passed out today?"
Shun shook his head. He was absolutely scared for his friend and his health, but he was just as frustrated at the fact that he could do nothing to change his friend's situation. All he could do was stand by and stare at his friend every day with the fact that he was dying hanging in the back of his head, but forcing himself to not focus on it. Thinking about it wasn't going to help anything. It didn't change the fact that he was frustrated that he couldn't help Yuma with anything.
"That's right. You can't do anything that will prevent his death." Suwa said, holding up a hand to stop Shun as he looked ready to retort. "But that's not your responsibility. That's on our R&D department and on Jin to figure out. That doesn't mean there isn't anything you can do."
"I can't change Yuma-senpai's situation." Shun said, sounding defeated. He had been excited to watch the Tamakoma-2's match earlier, even despite being frustrated with what Yuma said the other day about not getting his real body back. That excitement died down when he saw the Scorpion blade disappear from Yuma's hand and his hand shift to cover his face. He didn't need to be in the match to realize that something was wrong. Yuma never acted like that in a fight.
"No, but you can go see him." Suwa said. "Just being his friend is enough to help him." He collapsed onto the couch next to Shun. "I haven't talked to him in a few days, but I have seen him around the base."
It was hard to miss Yuma when Kageura and him almost got into it in the cafeteria earlier today. Good thing Murakami and Arafune were with the both of them to pull them apart and get them out of the cafeteria.
"He looks really stressed about something and that is not at all like that shrimp." Suwa continued. He was certain the stress he saw on Yuma's face had nothing to do with Kageura getting in his face as well. He saw those two together enough times to know that they got along just fine. "Nothing ever gets to him."
"I thought it was because of the conversation we had the other day, but now I'm wondering if he wasn't feeling well." Shun admitted. "I know we saw him collapse a few months ago, but that was because of Kuga-san siphoning his Trion and weakening him. Even since then, Yuma-senpai has been perfectly fine and happy. I thought something like that would never happen again. Obviously, we all knew he had...health issues, but I don't know...I thought since he was in a Trion body, we wouldn't see anything afflict him until his death hit. So when I saw him collapse earlier..."
Suwa dropped his hand onto Shun's hair and ruffled it. Yeah, he totally got that feeling. He bet they all had that thought pass through their mind when they watched Yuma fall without warning. He couldn't lie and say his own heart didn't skip a beat when he watched the shrimp hit the snow. Watching Yuma fight was always so exciting so he liked to catch Tamakoma's matches when he could, but he usually didn't almost get a heart attack while watching a rank war.
"Did you know?" Shun asked miserably. "His birthday is tomorrow. We were supposed to celebrate. Even though we got into an argument the other day, I still went and got his gift."
"Supposed to?" Suwa repeated, knocking Shun's head to the side. "Just because he fainted earlier doesn't mean you still can't celebrate his birthday."
"But what if he still doesn't feel well when he wakes up?" Shun asked. "What if he doesn't wake up?"
Suwa flicked Shun's forehead. "I saw the Attackers group chat on Hisato's phone earlier. Jin said Kuga would be fine so trust in what he said. If he's saying that, then Kuga isn't dying yet. So instead of moping, put a damn smile on your face and go see him."
"We don't know where he's at." Shun muttered.
"I saw them moving Kuga to the medical ward not that long ago." Yoneya suddenly appeared behind the couch Shun and Suwa were sitting on. "He wasn't conscious though."
Even though he felt his heart jump in shock at Yoneya suddenly being behind him, Shun ignored it as he flung himself off the couch and turned to his friend. "How did he look?"
Yoneya blinked. He lifted his hands in slight confusion. "The same? He's in a Trion body so even when he passes out, he doesn't look sickly or anything. It's the same as always, just with closed eyes." It was actually kind of creepy and worrisome how Yuma always looked the same. It made it so hard to tell when he was going to collapse like this.
"So, his body wasn't broken?" Shun demanded. "No cracks or leaking Trion?"
"Nothing like that." Yoneya assured as he was suddenly reminded of the day he and Shun found Yuma unconscious in the hallway with his body breaking. It was a day that he didn't like to remember so he pushed it out of his mind and pointed over his shoulder. "Are you going to go?"
Shun hesitated.
"I thought you were worried." Suwa said.
"Yeah, but based on Arafune-san's texts, it sounded like Jin-san didn't want us there." Shun explained.
"Will you be able to go home tonight and sleep easily if you don't go see Kuga before you leave?" Suwa asked.
That was probably one of the easiest questions he's ever been asked.
"No," Shun admitted. Though, even if he saw Yuma, Shun knew this concern he was feeling wouldn't just evaporate. When the Mimics attacked, they at least had a reason for why Yuma was falling to pieces. Right now, with no current enemies attacking them, the only reason for Yuma to be collapsing would be because of his real body faltering. If that was the case, it meant this was just the prelude to Yuma's body shutting down on him.
"Then let's go." Yoneya reached over the couch and grabbed Shun's shoulder to give him a push. "Jin-san can deal with it if he gets upset. Even if he isn't conscious right now, Kuga will appreciate his friends coming to visit him."
*L*S*A*
Jin leaned against the wall in the hall, staring out the window to watch as the sun began to set. Soon, another day was going to be over with and with it, one less day on Yuma's ticking time clock. It was okay though. Everything was going to be okay. Jin had to believe that.
He turned his attention back to the room that was across from him. They had left the door opened so Jin could see inside where Konami was fretting over his unconscious student. She had gotten here so fast that Jin was certain that when she was screaming at him on the phone, she had already been in a car on her way here.
"Yuma, please wake up." Yotaro cried. "If you do, you can pet Raijinmaru all you want!"
"He does that anyway." Osamu said.
"Do we know when he will wake up?" Karasuma asked.
"Kinuta-san said tonight or tomorrow." Osamu replied.
Konami leaned over her student, brushing her hand through his hair. "You have to wake up, Yuma. Tomorrow is your first birthday with us. We have to have a huge celebration!"
First.
Jin sighed, heart feeling heavy. It could be his first and last birthday with them. Or the first of many. It all depended on what would happen and if Yuma would change his mind. Jin, as well as everyone else, hoped that Yuma would agree to the surgery. The success rate was low, but it was all he had at this point. Perhaps in the future, Kinuta could figure something out, but that future wasn't near. They had no time to wait for him.
When he looked back at the room, he caught Osamu's eye as the agent had glanced towards him. Jin jerked his head to the side and pushed off the way to move a bit down the hall. As he moved down the hall, he heard Osamu's steps following behind him so at least the captain understood what he was asking.
Once Jin deemed they were far enough from Yuma's room that they wouldn't be overheard, he stopped and went back to leaning against the wall and staring out the window. "I want to start with apologizing about the scare you all received during the match."
Osamu frowned, coming to a stop a few steps away from his friend. "Did you see Kuga fainting in the match?"
"It was one of the possible futures I saw." Jin replied, rubbing at the back of his head. "I don't think Yuma would have stopped himself from entering the match even if I told him it could happen."
"I think Kuga is taking his approaching death seriously." Osamu argued. Yeah, Yuma was stressed and upset, but to Osamu, that just told him how much Yuma was concerned about what Jin said and was thinking about it.
"Perhaps, but he really likes the Rank Wars so if him passing out was only a chance, I think he would have still tried to fight." Jin sighed again. "Listen, Osamu, Yuma's body is shutting down."
Osamu grimaced, ducking his head. That tracked with them learning that Yuma was running out of time. "What do we do now?"
Jin scratched his head, feeling the stress starting to pile on. "Yuma will wake up. What we do after that though..." He paused, glancing down the hall towards Yuma's room. "Listen, Four-Eyes, Yuma can't fight anymore."
Osamu felt his heart sink to his stomach. "Jin-san, fighting is Kuga's favorite thing to do. We can't just take it from him in his last month alive. Is taking away something he enjoys most, your way of pushing him towards the surgery?"
"No," Jin felt a frown tug at his lips. "I would never do that to him. As his death gets closer and closer, his body needs to start shifting priorities to keep itself alive. Yuma can't waste his Trion or energy on combat. It will only weaken his body that much faster."
"Kuga will hate that."
"I know." Jin knocked his head back against the wall. All he wanted was for Yuma to have as much fun as possible and to enjoy life to the fullest. He didn't want to see it end like this. If Yuma couldn't fight and do what he enjoyed the most, he could just see depression hitting his friend in full force. "Yuma told you to start preparing to train the team as a three men squad, didn't he?"
Osamu's brows furrowed. Yuma did say that, but it was in the privacy of his room when they talked about it. "He did, but I think he was saying more along for after he died, not because this was going to happen." He dragged his fingers through his hair, feeling his own stress to rise. "Jin-san, tell me, if I tell Kuga he can't fight anymore, is it going to destroy him?"
"Don't tell him." Jin advised, turning his eyes back to Osamu's. "I'm telling you this to prepare yourself for your next Rank War, but don't tell him."
Osamu's eyes narrowed. "What? Jin-san, he's going to figure it out when I don't include him in the training for our next match."
"That's on Saturday. For now, tomorrow is his birthday. Let's focus on making it a great birthday for him, okay?" Jin requested.
No, it wasn't okay. Osamu was seriously confused on what was going on through Jin's head. He wasn't against celebrating Yuma's birthday since he did want to see his friend happy. With his death quickly approaching, Yuma deserved to be as happy as possible right now. Unfortunately, Jin saying Yuma couldn't fight anymore was going to take what little he had away from him. Perhaps that was why Jin didn't want to tell Yuma this just yet. He wanted him to enjoy his birthday as much as possible.
"So, we are celebrating his birthday still?"
Osamu twisted towards the hallway intersection in surprise as Shun and Yoneya rounded the corner.
"Ah, you found us." Jin said by way of greeting.
"Kind of hard to miss when you transport Kuga here very openly." Yoneya replied, glancing behind Osamu towards the open doorway a little ways down the hall. "Is that his room?"
"Yeah," Osamu answered a bit hesitantly. He glanced at Jin, but the other agent was just giving a small smile. If he wasn't protesting, then it must be fine for them to be here now. Based on Shun's question, it seemed he hadn't heard the first part of his conversation with Jin which was a relief. He would hate to see their shattered looks when they learned they couldn't fight Yuma anymore.
"About Yuma-senpai's birthday." Shun said, bouncing a bit on his feet. He both wanted to run down to Yuma's room and talk about his friend's birthday.
"Tomorrow." Jin assured. "His birthday is not being canceled." He waved a hand down the hall. "He's not awake, but you can go in. It might be a bit crowded though."
Shun didn't need any more of an invitation than that to rush pass Jin and Osamu to run to his friend's room. Yoneya followed at a more sedate pace.
"So, he'll be awake for his birthday." Osamu asked to confirm.
Jin smiled. "Yeah, do me one more favor, Osamu. I know you want Yuma to do the surgery, but don't mention it to him tomorrow, okay?"
"Because it will stress him out?" Osamu asked.
Jin nodded. "Just let tomorrow be about his birthday and having fun." He pushed off the wall and clapped Osamu on the shoulder as he walked down the hall to return to Yuma's room. "The rest can come later."
Shun skidded to a stop inside Yuma's room. It wasn't hard to spot his friend lying so still on his bed. Konami sat on the edge of the bed, carding her hand through his hair while her other hand held Yuma's hand. Chika and Shiori sat on the other side of the bed with Chika holding Yuma's other hand. At his entrance, Karasuma turned to look at him.
"You're first." Karasuma said.
Shun blinked in confusion.
"First agent from HQ to find his way here." Karasuma explained. "I'm surprised there weren't others."
Yoneya appeared behind Shun. "No one knows where you guys hid him. I just happened to see him being transported here."
Shun didn't engage in the conversation as he stepped forward until he came to a stop at the end of Yuma's bed. It truly was unnerving to see how still Yuma was when normally he saw his friend jumping around a battlefield. His eyes weren't completely closed. They were half opened, but they seemed to lack light. With how dim they looked, it made Shun feel like Yuma wasn't actually alive. That was the problem with a Trion body collapsing. There was no pulse and Trion bodies didn't need as much oxygen to function so it was impossible to see the rise and fall of Yuma's chest. It made him look like a lifeless doll.
"We're not hiding." Konami scoffed, jerking her head at the opened door. "Anyone can come in."
"Be careful what you say." Yoneya warned. "You might open the floodgates."
Chika pulled her attention away from Yuma to glance down at Shun. "Are you okay, Midorikawa-kun? You look pale."
"Like any of you can talk." Shun replied, grabbing hold of the bedframe, gripping it tightly. "I don't even know how you even managed to finish the match after he collapsed."
"Not easily." Chika admitted, turning back to look at Yuma's face again. She could barely focus during the match after Yuma bailed out. It was amazing that she didn't get killed in the match with how distracted with her thoughts she had been. That had been the weakest showing their team had ever had.
Jin slipped into the room behind Yoneya and made his way over to the chairs pushed in the corner and sat down in one next to Hyuse, who shot a glare at him for daring to sit next to him. Jin simply ignored it as he was too used to Hyuse's annoyance with him. Though, he liked to say that he thought Hyuse had softened up just a bit with him since the away mission. If he ever voiced it out loud, Hyuse would vehemently disagree.
Osamu came in after him and leaned against the wall besides them, but kept his eyes on his friend on the bed. He stared at the crowd that surrounded his friend. Yuma was so open and outgoing that he made friends so easily. There were so many agents that just enjoyed his company either as a friend or a trusted comrade that they just enjoyed fighting.
Hearing some typing, he glanced to the side to see Jin on his phone.
"Something wrong?" Osamu asked.
"Nope." Jin replied. "But Yoneya did remind me that no one knows Yuma is here." He glanced up from his phone with a small smile. "I kept where Yuma was a secret before since I didn't want everyone barging into Kinuta-san's office. Now that we're here, they can come visit if they want." He went back to his phone to finish tapping his message before slipping his phone back in his pocket. "It's going to get crowded with everyone coming and going." He glanced at Hyuse to make sure his horns weren't showing and was glad to see the Neighbor already had his Trigger activated.
Good. Though Hyuse was working as a liaison for Aftokrator, there were still only a handful of people who knew of that and his status as a Neighbor. They had enough problems right now without Hyuse forgetting to activate his Trigger to hide his horns.
*L*S*A*
Her finger twirled in the ribbon of the gift sitting on the table. She untangled her finger from it and then twisted her finger around it again. Obishima had been working up the courage for days to give Yuma a gift after Fujimaru had found out his birthday was approaching. She was going to take it to him after his Rank War ended. She had been hyping herself up while watching the match only for all of it to disappear when she watched Yuma collapse.
A glass was set down next to where Obishima had her head resting on the table. Obishima's eyes flickered up to meet Fujimaru's.
"Green tea." Fujimaru explained as she sat down next to her teammate with her own glass.
"Thanks, Fujimaru-san." Obishima peeled her head off the table and pulled her drink closer to her.
"I'm sure he'll be fine, Yukari." Fujimaru said.
Obishima turned her phone over to look at the earlier messages of the group chat. "Arafune-san said Jin-san got Kuga-senpai and that he said he would be fine."
"Then there's no need to worry." Yuba said as he walked into the room. "If Jin is saying it, then it will be true."
"You think so?" Obishima asked.
"I think we can't do anything about what is going on so we trust Jin knows what the hell he is doing." Yuba replied.
Obishima sighed. She knew getting depressed and scared wasn't going to change anything, but the concern for her friend just wouldn't leave her. Even if Jin assured them everything would be fine now, they all still knew Yuma had health issues. She was scared the senpai she admired so much was going to die soon.
Her phone vibrating had her attention being drawn back to it.
Attackers Group Chat:
Jin: Yuma is in the medical ward. He isn't conscious, but anyone who wants to can visit him.
Fujimaru read the text over her shoulder. "Isn't that good? You can take Kuga his gift."
"No!" Obishima slammed her hands on the table so passionately that it surprised her captain and operator. "I can't just put the gift in his room. I have to hand it to him personally!"
"That's surprisingly forward of you." Fujimaru teased good-naturedly.
Obishima blushed and fell back into her chair, ducking her head to hide her red face. Yuba always got on her case to be more forward and to say what she really means. It was hard for her to want to speak her mind like that, but with him pushing her constantly, it was getting easier. It helped that Yuma was so friendly and listened to her when she spoke. For that reason, she knew he wouldn't turn her away when she came to give him a birthday gift. She just needed him to wake up first so she could hand it to him.
*L*S*A*
"Have you seen Yuma-kun?" Shinoda asked as he entered his office and once again found Rindo sitting on his couch. "That seems more important than you raiding my office again."
"I saw him briefly." Rindo replied, rolling his cigarette in his hand. "He's in good hands. He doesn't need me crowding over him when he's got all his friends to do that."
Shinoda nodded as he sat down at his desk and leaned back in his chair with an exhausted exhale. He rubbed at his eyes as he felt the pressure building up in them from the stress of the past few hours. "Has he woken up yet?"
"Not as far as I know." Rindo pulled his phone from his pocket. "Jin hasn't texted me so I assume he still hasn't."
"Commander Kido knows the plan for Yuma-kun's surgery. Everything has been approved." Shinoda said.
"Oh? Is that why you look so drained?" Rindo asked.
Shinoda was drained because Yuma was doing everything in his power to make this a severely stressful week for him. It wasn't Yuma's fault that his health was failing him, but it did make Shinoda stressed out as he now had to worry about Yuma fainting on top of trying to convince the kid to go to Galopoula.
"No, actually." Shinoda replied. "Kido-san actually agreed very easily. I suppose he wants to save Yugo-san's son as much as we do." Kido could phrase it however he wanted. That he simply wanted to do this as Yuma deserved the chance to fight for his life and Kido wasn't going to stand in the way of that, but Shinoda saw through it. He was doing this to honor his deceased friend's wish to protect his son.
"I'm not sure whether I should be surprised or not that the hold out in starting this plan is Yuma." Rindo said.
Shinoda snorted, covering his eyes with his hand. "As stubborn as Yugo-san."
"Maybe, but you know, even Kuga-san didn't refuse everything he disagreed with. His decision could be shifted." Rindo replied.
Shinoda spread his fingers to glance at Rindo through them. "Did Jin see something?"
"I didn't ask." Rindo admitted, making Shinoda groan. "I trust Jin to handle this without me hounding him about it." Though, he hadn't seen Yuma and Jin spend much time together beyond them being on defense duty all night the other day. After that night, Yuma hadn't changed his mind about the surgery so he guessed Jin hadn't gotten through to him. Since then, Yuma and Jin seemed to be doing their own thing. Jin, while worried, wasn't hunting Yuma down so he guessed that Jin had something else in mind.
Whatever it was, Rindo knew he could trust Jin with this. There was no way Jin would just sit by while Yuma chose the death option over the surgery.
They just had to wait to see what would happen next.