1A/N: Heeey. So my sadist mind came up with this crap story after I saw a few things reminding me of the fact that Jin could very likely be killed off. He's so convenient that he would be better off wearing a neon shirt that says "kill me". Anyway, I'm not sure if I'll leave this up since its really bad and I regret writing it. That aside, the next chapter for Black Trigger is ready to go, and I'll be putting that up tomorrow. Sorry again that this is all complete crap writing.
"How long will you be away, Jin-san?" Yuma asked as he sat on the Elite's bed, watching the older teen pack a small duffel bag about the size of a backpack.
"The mission will take just about a week," Jin said, finishing his packing. He zipped the duffel bag up and slung it over his shoulder. On away missions, agents could only bring a bare minimum of things. Usually they just had a change of clothes or two. Jin was going on away mission that no one but Rindo, Kido, Shinoda and the four that were going were supposed to know about. However, Yuma had overheard something and interrogated his superiors. His Lie Detecting Side Effect was inescapable, and he was let in on the plan under an oath that he wouldn't mention it to anyone.
"So everyone will know where you went after you're gone?" Yuma said. Jin nodded.
"The others will be told where I was when the away ship gets back, or if they figure it out themselves. Otherwise, they'll think I'm investigating something overseas with Tachikawa squad," the teen explained. Yuma duckfaced and nodded.
"Have fun then. Neighborhood can be fun I guess," the Neighbor said, standing up. The two walked out of Jin's room, shutting the door behind them. Yuma walked with his senpai all the way to Border. Chika and Osamu were training with Konami, Kyosuke and Reiji, so Yuma had nothing to do.
When the two agents reached Border, they walked together to Kido's office. They found Tachikawa squad waiting for Jin, along with Kido, Rindo and Shinoda. Kido looked a little miffed when he saw Yuma.
"Why is the Humanoid Neighbor here?" he asked, his displeasure obvious in his tone. Jin smiled and ruffled his kouhai's hair.
"He was bored since everyone else is busy and he already knows about the mission, so I let him walk with me," the brunette explained. Kido rolled his eyes, but changed the topic. He started going over the mission with Jin and Tachikawa squad one last time, Yuma listening intently as well.
The mission was quite simple. The four agents would infiltrate a nation in Neighborhood that was likely to attack and try to gain information. The more they knew, the better. If their cover was blown, they were to retreat immediately. They were to not use their Trigger's unless absolutely necessary. Most importantly, no one was to go off alone. They had to stick close.
Once the explanation was done, the agents headed for the away ship. Yuma stood with Rindo, Shinoda, and Kido to watch as Jin and Tachikawa squad headed for the away ship.
At the top of the ramp, just like in a movie, Jin turned around. His eyes locked on Yuma, and he stared at the Neighbor as if he was studying him. He then gave a small wave before continuing into the ship. Soon a Gate opened and the ship disappeared.
As the ship left, a dark feeling began to grow in Yuma. He had noticed something odd about Jin earlier. The agent had answered all his questions indirectly, saying things like "the mission is supposed to be over in a week" rather than "I'll be back in a week". Then there was the fact that Jin had stopped on the ramp and stared back at his kouhai. It didn't make sense. Why would he do that, unless there was something going on? The mission had just started, and Yuma already had a bad feeling.
Rindo seemed to sense Yuma's unease, and he put a hand on the teen's shoulder.
"They'll be alright," he assured. Yuma just stared at the spot where the away ship had been. He wasn't so sure.
For the next few days, everyone noticed that Yuma was a little off. They supposed maybe he was a little worried, since Jin was overseas. Or at least that's where they thought Jin was. It made sense that they would think he was worried about that. After all, Yuma didn't know much about the world outside of Japan.
It was five days into the mission that Yuma asked Rindo is he could disclose the information regarding the mission to the others. He said that every one in Tamakoma could be trusted, and it wouldn't hurt for them to know. After a phone call with Kido, Rindo gathered up all the Tamakoma agents and told them about Jin's real mission.
"Jin-san is on an away mission?" Osamu asked, processing the information. Rindo nodded.
"He should be back in two days." By revealing the truth about Jin's mission, Rindo had taken everyone's thoughts off Yuma's odd behavior as of late. Unfortunately, two days later, he realized he had dug himself into a deep hole.
*In Neighborhood*
"Tachikawa, head to the away ship. Get your squad on there and get back to Mikado!" Jin ordered, even though he had no authority over the others.
"What the hell have you been smoking?! We aren't leaving you!" Tachikawa said. Jin grunted as his Scorpion clashed with the sword of his enemy.
"Tachikawa, you need to leave, we've been found out. Besides, im not leaving this battle. My Side Effect tells me so," the agent admitted before yanking his comm out of his ear. He didn't need to listen to Tachikawa screaming at him. He already knew what was going to happen. His hair was full of mud and tangled up, and his clothes were ruined. At least it was just a Trion body. Even so, he wouldn't be Bailing Out to the away ship. He wouldn't be leaving this battle at all.
*In Mikado*
"What's taking so long? The away ship got back hours ago," Konami said as she looked out the window for any sign of their resident Elite agent. It was storming outside. The clouds were dark and heavy, pouring rain into the city with rumbles of thunder and lightning strikes.
"This is Jin we're talking about, Konami. He's probably day dreaming about some pretty Neighbor lady he saw, forgetting to come back here to report," Rindo said, letting out an exasperated sigh. Konami sighed as well, plopping down on the couch. Things had grown tense in the past few hours, every one wondering where Jin was.
Finally, the doorbell rang. Every one looked to the door in surprise, but became suspicious when they realized Jin would have just walked in.
"I'll get it," Rindo said, getting out of the chair he was seated in. The man approached the door slowly, pulling it open reluctantly. Kei Tachikawa stood outside, his hair and clothes soaked. He was looking at the ground, and even when Rindo opened the door, he didn't look a single person on the eye. That made everyone worried.
Rindo grabbed Tachikawa's arm and pulled him inside of out the rain. The agent seemed a little out of it as he stood in a room with the Tamakoma agents.
"Tachikawa-san, where's Jin-san?" Yuma asked. Tachikawa looked at the Neighbor, and Yuma noticed darkness in the man's eyes. Slowly, Tachikawa lifted up one of his hands and opened it, revealing what every one recognized as Jin's sunglasses. Dread filled every person in the room.
"From what he said, it seems he knew what was going to happen when he agreed to the mission. He ordered everyone to get on the away ship and leave him. We weren't going to, then he started yelling about his Side Effect before taking out his comm. We...we found him and hour later. He'd been fighting a couple Humanoids, and he didn't win," Tachikawa admitted. The room was silent. Slowly, Rindo took the sunglasses from Tachikawa's hand. One of the lenses had a crack, something Jin wouldn't approve of.
"I shouldn't have let him go," Yuma said suddenly. He was standing behind the couch with his back to everyone.
"I noticed that he was answering my questions about when he'd be back indirectly. It seemed like he was avoiding my Lie Detector. He probably knew he was going to die. I knew something was wrong, but didn't stop him," he said. Everyone looked at him, feeling guilty. Yuma sounded like he was blaming himself, even though Jin was responsible for getting himself killed. It was understandable in a way that Yuma felt guilty, even though he hadn't done anything wrong
Chika and Osamu had tears in their eyes. Hell, everyone had tears in their eyes. Everyone except Yuma. He wasn't even sure if he could cry. Instead he did the same thing that he had done when his dad died. He sat down against the wall and kept himself out of the way as the others used their own techniques for releasing emotion. Whether it was to go and train like Konami, Kyosuke and Reiji, or to cry like Chika, Yotaro and Osamu, everyone had their own thing that they did.
A few days later, it rained again. The Tamakoma agents were standing around a new grave, saying goodbye to an old friend. No, they weren't saying goodbye. Saying goodbye meant letting go, and letting go meant forgetting. There wasn't a chance in hell that anyone would forget Yuichi Jin