2A/N: Hey, im alive! Somehow... Unfortunately in the past few weeks I have gotten sick a ton. I'd be sick for a few days, fine for a few days, then sick again. The whole ordeal was horrible, and I'm still in the process of taking care of work I missed at school. My multichapter plans are ruined, partially due to that and partially because I can't decide on a prompt. I've got about three, but I don't know which one I want to do. I admit that I am also a huge procrastinator who gets worried about potential crap starts for long stories. I'll keep trying, but I make no promises. Anyway, once my immune system came back from its vacation, I was finally able to focus and I ended up with this little story about Kumagai. I don't know much about her, but this is just how I imagine her Border story may have gone. Sorry for any errors, OOCness, typos and just overall crappy writing. I hope you all enjoy the story :)
Kumagai was angry. She was angry after the First Invasion, seeing the city she had lived in for so long turned to ash and rubble. She was angry at the Neighbors and wanted revenge on them, but even more than that, she was angry at herself. Why hadn't she been able to protect the city? All she'd done was hide with her family as the Neighbors stormed the streets nearby. She hadn't even moved when she'd heard her own neighbors' houses get demolished, followed by screams that were cut short. She could have at least tried, even if she failed to save anyone. That's because, even if she had failed, she would only be left thinking that she wasn't strong enough, rather than stuck drowning in the guilt of her cowardice. At least if she just wasn't strong enough, she could get stronger, so that she could protect people next time disaster struck.
A few years after Border was created, Kumagai heard a classmate at school saying they were enlisting. That caught Kumagai's attention, triggering something in the back of her mind. She had always been thinking about joining Border ever since they went public and began to invite members in. She had always put it off, though, too busy with school work and unsure of how she was supposed to join. Neither of those was the main problem, though. The main problem was that she was afraid. The First Invasion had scared her, and that fear overtook her at every thought of fighting back against the Neighbors. That fear could be crippling at times, especially when it was quiet, because that was when she could hear the echos of the screams from her memories, the screams of both her neighbors as they were murdered, and her family as they feared for their lives. That fear almost turned Kumagai away as she went to ask her classmate about how to enlist in Border, but she just so happened to hear a boy across the room mention that he was joining Border because Neighbors had killed his whole family, and that was the last straw.
Upon joining Border, Kumagai found that she was not special. She had average Trion and no Side Effect. Her skills were that of the average newbie, if not a little worse. She barely managed to defeat the Neighbor simulation that she faced on her enlistment day in time, unlike a few others, who defeated their's in just a minute or two. However, that did not cause Kumagai to shut down. She didn't becone depressed, and she didn't let her confidence be swallowed by self doubt. Instead, she let her disappointment fuel the fire that burned in her heart, and she turned her pain into power.
Every day, Kumagai practiced, going to every session that Border hosted and fighting in the C-Rank boths for hours on end. No matter how many times she won or lost, she kept going. She ignored her points, as well as the nasty taunts of the talented people she couldn't beat. She focused all of her energy into training and getting better, using her unstoppable perseverance to keep pushing forward. She wasn't strong, not even close. She was a C-Rank nobody, but not for long. She would practice until her Trigger stopped activating, until her flesh and blood body was so exhausted she collapsed. She would practice until she was strong enough to guard the city that she had sworn to protect.
After months of training in C-Rank, Kumagai finally reached 4000 points. The road had been long and harsh, but she had gotten there. She was an official agent, and while she was still no one special, with no talents or Side Effect, she was acknowledged. Some agents thought she was strong, and her classmates treated her as their protector, putting all of their faith into her blade. Kumagai silently swore that she would not let them down.
In her B-Rank training, Kumagai struggled. Her opponents were all so strong and firece, driven by their own reasons. These were the people who hadn't joined Border for status or play. They hadn't joined to kill time, but to kill Neighbors. Unlike C-Rank, B-Rank was strong, and no one was ready to give up a single point to anyone who they believed to be weaker than themself.
The strength of the other B-Rank agents was overwhelming at first, but Kumagai held on. She pushed back with a blade filled with her own determination, determination to protect. In some cases, her determination was enough, and she won her battles. At other times, she couldn't match the fire that burned in her opponents' eyes, and she was knocked down. However, she kept moving forward, persevering through each failure just like she had back in C-Rank. Each time she was knocked down, she get back to her feet, even if she had to drag herself up with every ounce of energy she had left. She would return with more power each time, and whatever moves hadn't worked on her opponents, she'd practice until they did. She fought with strength and fire that shoved those who we weaker to their knees around her. She stood above the opponents who she beat, and worked to surpass those who stood above the pedestal she had made herself with more sweat and passion than she had ever unleashed before.
In her training, Kumagai became her own rock. When a number of losses occured straight in a row, she refused to cry on someone else. She fortified her own emotions and kept moving forward, letting her unshed tears build her blade further. When she needed someone to lean on because her legs were going weak, she'd focus to stay standing. She would give every ounce that she had to offer in order to keep going, to keep herself from falling into that helpless pit of cowardice and failure that she had wallowed in for so long. She would not be weak, and she would not lean on anyone else. She would keep herself strong, and she would not rely on anyone else to protect her. She wouldn't put herself at risk of becoming afraid ever again.
It was on a random day that Kumagai felt the tap on her shoulder. She turned around, eyeing the person who'd tapped her suspiciously. As she turned, her thoughts instantly went to fighting. Obviously someone wanted a match. After all, that was the only reason she was ever singled out, even if it did only happen rarely. However, when Kumagai found herself facing a girl close to her own age, with silvery blonde hair and kind blue eyes, her thoughts derailed. The girl was not in a Trion body, and her body was so thin that she looked like she could be snapped like a twig. Even just looking at her, Kumagai could tell that the girl in front of her was frail and sickly, and that was without taking into account the unhealthy pale color of her skin. What this girl wanted from Kumagai, the dark-haired Attacker didn't know.
The strange blonde introduced herself as Rei Nasu, a B-Rank Shooter. She was apparently starting her own team, and had already found an Operator. She had set her sights on a Sniper as well, and was awaiting an answer to the offer to join her team. It turned out that Nasu had also set her sights on Kumagai, and based on the stubborn glint in her eyes, it was safe to say that she wouldn't leave until Kumagai was at least thinking about joining.
At first, Kumagai wanted to turn the girl down. Nasu was very kind, and she sounded completely honest when she said that she liked Kumagai for her perseverance, determination, and strength. On the other hand, whil Kumagai didn't usually judge based on appearances, Nasu was so small. She even looked weak with how sickly she was. It seemed Nasu was expecting Kumagai to hesitate, though, and she expected it was for the exact reason that Kumagai was stuck on, because she gave the dark haired girl a soft smile before she pulled a Trigger from her pocket and activated it. In an instant, the intimidating power of Rei Nasu that hid behind her tiny, frail frame swallowed Kumagai. Nasu didn't need to ask her to join her team again. Kumagai was already asking where she needed to go for the paperwork.
Three days after accepting Nasu's offer to join the newly formed Nasu squad, Kumagai met all of her team mates. There was the Operator, Sayako Shiki, the Sniper, Akane Hiura, and the captain and Shooter, Rei Nasu. The three were all very sweet in Kumagai's eyes, and despite Akane's initial awkwardness and Shiki's quiet nature, the whole squad was quick to form a friendship. By the time Kumagai left them that night to go home, she had already made up her mind. She would protect them. She would keep the Triggerless Shiki, innocent Akane, and frail Nasu safe outside of Rank Wars and battles, should they ever be in danger. She would also be their rock, and she would let them all lean on her when something went wrong, just as she had always leaned on herself for so long. Then, in Rank Wars and battles, when Shiki was far away with her computer and Akane was lying in wait for a good sniping chance, Kumagai would protect the person who needed her most; Nasu.
While Nasu was more than strong enough to protect herself, stronger than anyone else on the team, no one wins a war by themself. Nasu was the captain and ace, and she would be both the one putting in the most offensive effort out of everyone on the team, as well as the most targeted. That being said, she'd need someone to watch her back as she attacked, and Kumagai knew that she was perfect for the job. With her close-combat skillset and drive to protect, she would defend Nasu in battle with every fraction of Trion in her Trigger body. When Nasu didn't need her help, or if someone else was in more danger, she would protect them. If Nasu was her team's spear, then she would be their shield, and she would fight for them until the end.
However, contrary to what she believed, Kumagai was not meant to be the team's rock. That became apparent after their third Rank War as a team, which ended in defeat. In the team's HQ Operations room, Akane was crying. Unlike she had imagined before, Kumagai didn't know how to support her or cheer her up. She could only sit on the couch next to Nasu, who gave Akane a soft smile before pulling her into a gentle hug. It was then that Kumagai realized something more about Nasu. While she was frail in body, she was strong in mind. She was not just the team's captain and ace, but also their true rock. It was so natural that Kumagai felt herself accepting the idea quickly, despite her previous determination to hold the team up. Kumagai herself didn't cry, despite their loss, wanting to at least keep some pressure off Nasu since she was surely also feeling the sting of failure, but still... For the first time since she joined Border, Kumagai let herself give something up, and after that, the strong walls she had worked to build up since joining Border came crashing down one by one.
As time passed, Kumagai grew softer. Instead of trying to focus purely on strategy while with her team, she spent more time just enjoying their company. She started bringing snacks to share, and even went to sleepovers at Nasu's house with Akane a few times. The team got to the point where they'd spend a lot of their time together laughing and acting like three normal teenager girls who didn't fight to protect their city from alien invaders each day. Sometimes, Akane would point out how all of the sweets from their sleepovers were making Kumagai's butt bigger, causing the Attacker to growl while Nasu just laughed. It was things like that, that knocked down Kumagai's defenses and stopped her from forcing herself to grow up faster than she needed to. Her team managed to pull her back into the world of sleepovers and sweets and gossip in just a few weeks, where she was left with very few of her once rock-hard defenses remaining, and even what was left was bound to fall soon.
The inevitable destruction of the very defenses that had made Kumagai into her own rock came soon in the form of another lost Rank War. Unlike any other they'd lost, this specific one was all on Kumagai. Akane had been spawned in a bad spot, and was taken out by an Attacker before she could even find somewhere to snipe from. Not much later, the other two teams ganged up on Nasu, recognizing her strength. With a temporary truce, the two teams ambushed Nasu and took her out, losing only one of their own in the process.
After that, Kumagai had been the only one who remained. She promised her team that she'd win for them, and internally scolded herself for leaving Nasu's side. Maybe if she had been there during the ambush, Nasu would've still been in the fight.
In the end, Kumagai only claimed two points before she was defeated. Nasu squad was crushed alongside their meer three points, while the winning squad managed five, plus two for survival. As the commentators explained their thoughts on the outcome of the match, Nasu squad didn't listen. Akane was sitting on the floor, her eyes puffy from the tears she'd shed after her nearly-instant defeat. Nasu was looking at Kumagai with concern, while Kumagai herself stared at the ground with a hard expression. She bit her lip as she attempted to hold back her tears, but the guilt she felt over her team's loss was too much. All she could do was apologize as her voice grew tight and her salty tears tracked down her cheeks. Kumagai didn't move as a frail arm wrapped around her shoulders, before a gentle hand rested on her head, coaxing in onto a warm shoulder. As Kumagai sobbed into Nasu's shirt, her last defenses crumbled, until she was no longer the independent rock she had been before.
-000-
Kumagai was sad. She was sad because Akane was moving soon, leaving Mikado City completely, all because her parents thought it was too dangerous to stay. Akane leaving Mikado meant Akane was leaving Border, and Akane leaving Border meant Akane was leaving Nasu squad. That wasn't fair. Their team had come so far since it formed, and they had risen through the ranks to reach middle B-Rank so quickly. They were only getting better, and to lose Akane would mean that they would not be able to become A-Rank together. That happy dream was gone, destroyed by the whim of two cowardly adults. The team had gone from four best friends to four girls trying to get as far as they could before they were forced to split up. It made Kumagai want to cry, but she managed to stop herself. She stopped herself because that would only make things harder for Akane when the time for her to leave came. Instead of crying, she worked harder, falling back into her hard working habits from when she had been a solo agent. If she couldn't keep Akane from leaving, she'd at least make sure the younger girl left with some good memories of their last days together.
It was with that determined mindset that Kumagai went into the Rank War against Tamakoma-2 and Suzunari-1. She worked as hard as she could to hold her own against Kuga and Murakami, who were both far above her level. She tried to help Akane even when she couldn't leave her swordfight with Murakami, telling the younger girl to Bail Out. Akane didn't, and while that gave Tamakoma-2 a point, Kumagai later realized that she was glad that Akane had fought until the end. Akane had fought until she was defeated, just like Kumagai, who even set a trap for Murakami after he cut her down. While he didn't fall for it, she had still at least shown that she wasn't giving up.
After the match, which ended in Tamakoma-2's victory, Kumagai cried. Kumagai cried and Akane cried, while Nasu hugged them both comfortingly with a soft smile. The captain was the team's rock, despite her own disappointment and sadness at the loss. She let Akane and Kumagai cry on her because they worked so hard and did not deserve their defeats.
As Kumagai cried, she didn't make a single move to stop herself. Before she had joined Nasu squad, she would have slapped herself and told herself to work harder. As her own pillar of support, she couldn't break down. However, she was no longer that pillar. All of her defenses were gone, destroyed by the calm, kind atmosphere of her team. It was easy to think that her loss of that strength was a bad thing, and that she had become weak. Before she had joined Nasu squad, Kumagai would have thought that her current softness was weakness, and that she was stuck in a freefall back to the dark hole of guilt and cowardice she had been in before joining Border. Only now that she had a supporting, kind team did Kumagai realize that she had been so wrong back then. The ability to hold back tears was not a measure of strength. Holding back emotions hadn't gotten her anywhere. Being able to cry out her disappointment and sadness made it easier to stand up and move forward afterwards. Shedding that weight made it easier to take each step. Nasu squad had taught her that. That was why she was stronger than she had ever been before. She had a team she protected, a team who would take care of her during her low times in return. Whenever the day comes that they will all go their seperate ways, Kumagai will be sad. She will be sad and she will be angry, but she won't stop moving forward. With the same fire that had fueled her for years, she would keep herself moving. She would protect everything she cared about, even if she couldn't do it directly.
The thing Kumagai hadn't realized about being the strong one until she was no longer that person, was that a rock can't move. If she kept her defenses up forever, she would never move forward. Now that she was freed from those walls and that weight, she could see the life that was ahead of her. Even though the day would come that she would never see Akane, or Nasu, or Shiki ever again, she would not harden her shell again. Instead she would cry it out and shed the weight of her regrets and sadness, moving forward with only her memories remaining.
Kumagai was no longer angry or sad. She was free.