Archive of Our Own

"Well, that's it for the day," Mogami sighed, deactivating his trigger and stretching. "Good job today, kid. You're making good progress, I can really see the practice you're putting in between our training sessions."

The man reached out a hand, ruffling Yūichi's hair. "Trigger off, remember? It's not healthy to stay in one for too long if you don't have to."

Yūichi didn't want to. Trigger off meant today's training was over, which meant it was getting late and, as it was a weekday, he'd have to head home. His mother didn't care where he went and how long he stayed out on the weekend, but he was supposed to head back as soon as his extracurriculars ended on any other day.

He briefly considered telling his mentor about how he didn't want to go, but that wouldn't be fair to Mogami.

Besides, even stalling here would only delay the inevitable, so he smiled and turned his trigger off, allowing Mogami to tussle his hair again.

"Mr. Mogami…" He began, still unsure whether he could ask this question or not.

"Yeah?" The man seemed unaware of Yūichi's inner turmoil. "What's up? Need a ride home?"

Oh no, no he didn't. None of that.

"No, I'm alright, I don't live far. You know that."

"Aren't you tired from training?"

Yūichi shook his head. The break he'd been given before they'd moved to the actual trigger training had been enough, he could make it back no problem.

"No, as I said, I'm alright. Would it be possible for me to come here tomorrow after school and potentially stay the night? My mother will be busy, I don't want to bother her. We were planning that sleepover on Friday, it's just one extra night! Please?"

Mogami looked thoughtful, but then he shrugged.

"I don't see why not. I'll be going to work in the morning, I can drop you off at school along the way. Just don't forget your homework, alright? Here's some crackers, I know how much you like them, but don't forget about lunch!"

Yūichi smiled and grabbed the packet. Maybe his mother's birthday wouldn't be as bad as he was used to it being.

Yūichi walked home, lost in thought. He'd picked up the groceries for the week, his grades weren't looking too bad, his mother had no reason to suspect anything was off about his extracurricular activities and he'd arranged a different place for himself to stay while she "celebrated" her birthday. Sometimes, he wished she'd give him as much freedom as she demanded he give her, but he'd take what he had.

Doing his best to stay quiet, he unlocked the door and took off his shoes. He could smell the alcohol already, she must have come back early. He hadn't stayed out training that long, he should've had a moment to himself-

The boy slunk to his room, quickly changing out of his school uniform. Just in case.

"Yūichi?"

Shit. No point in hiding out in his room now that she'd heard him. Might as well head to the kitchen.

"Hello, mother," he said, making sure to keep his eyes on the floor. She sounded like it was one of her bad days today.

"Where on earth have you been?! Do you not realise how late it has gotten?! Wandering around after school, you know you're supposed to come straight home after school!"

"It's Wednesday, I had a club meeting. I came straight home after it ended."

"You and your club. Have you not noticed your grades slipping?" She spat, then took an audible drag of her cigarette. "You're almost thirteen, you can handle yourself better than this."

My birthday has already passed, mother.

"And wipe that look off of your face before I make you! Show some respect. I get back early and this is what I get? Honestly. Go make yourself scarce, you know where the food is for later. Don't you dare touch it now. I've got a guest coming over in the evening, so I better not see hide nor tail of you, is that clear?"

"Clear, mother."

"And you either come home at seven pm sharp or you don't at all. Got it?"

"I'll be staying with a friend-" Yūichi began, but his mother interrupted him by scoffing.

"You? A friend? You don't have to tell me everything, but it'd be good if your lies were at least believable. You haven't had a friend since preschool and you are definitely not going to start now. Unless…" She scrutinised him from above her cigarette. "Yūichi, have you found yourself a girlfriend? Is that what this is about?"

Yūichi shook his head quickly. Whatever he said now, the chances of his mother getting angry with him were high. He had to play this right, and while Mogami had encouraged his use of what the man called a 'side effect' if he didn't rely too much on it, his mother had never taken kindly to his "little hallucinations."

"No, it's not. We're planning a sleepover during the weekend anyway, so this is an extra day with one of my classmates, he's in the same club. He said I can stay a night at his place if I want to, just requested I help him with some of his housework and homework in return."

A puff of smoke drifted his way and Yūichi wrinkled his nose. He didn't like the smell of cigarettes, although when it was Rindō, it somehow didn't feel so bad.

Maybe because the man made sure not to smoke indoors around the younger Border members. Yūichi's mother had no such qualms.

"You didn't tell him about anything at home though, did you?"

Yūichi shook his head, eyes still firmly glued to the floor.

"I hope not. We had enough trouble when you forgot to tell me to get your hair cut, we don't want a repeat of that, do we?"

No, no they didn't. Yuri had taken one look at the monstrosity on his head, grabbed a pair of scissors, sat him down and cut his hair there and then. He'd told his mother the girls from his class had done it, she'd said she was glad he was scoring points with the girls. She'd had a good day, he'd gotten lucky.

The next time around, however, four of the girls in Yūichi's class had actually decided to give him a haircut. The teacher wasn't amused when he found the five of them huddled in the bathroom, and only later did Yūichi realise that it wasn't just the hair that had made it so. All five of them had gotten sent to the principal's office. Yūichi had ended up staying behind and talking about his home life, after which his mother had gotten a call about the hair-cutting incident. That wasn't a pleasant day. Yuri had to finish the job anyway, and now she did it regularly.

Not that his mother noticed.

The woman reached down, pushing a stray strand of hair out of Yūichi's face and behind his ear. It was all he could do not to move away — the move, while steadier and less messy than Mogami's tussle lacked the warmth that his mentor's carried.

"Don't worry, it's all going to work out. Now scurry off and do your homework."

Yūichi didn't wait for her to change her mind and all but fled the kitchen.

Two hours later, Yūichi had finished his homework and was preparing to leave his room, grab the first semi-edible thing from the fridge he could see and sprint back to his room, when he heard the doorbell ring. Shit. Mother's guest must've arrived earlier than he'd supposed. No dinner for him in that case, but it wasn't like he'd actually promised Mogami anything.

He debated going outside and practising outdoors for a few moments, but despite what he'd told Mogami, he was quite tired after the training they'd done that day. Then he remembered the crackers he still had in his bag — maybe he could have those… No, he hadn't prepared the bento for school tomorrow. That was supposed to be done after scouring the fridge before dinner. Unless he managed to get up earlier, he wouldn't have anything at all to eat the next day.

Maybe he should get an early night's sleep. Yeah, that sounded like a good plan. A quick (and quiet) shower, then he'd make sure his alarm clock was set and go to sleep. He grabbed his pajamas and quietly crept to the bathroom — luckily enough, the bathroom was at the opposite end of their small of the corridor from where the kitchen was, meaning that if he was quick and switched the water on low enough at the right moment, he'd be alright.

Shaking the stray water droplets out of his hair, (how did those get there?) he headed quietly back to his bedroom, fully intending to go to sleep.

According to his clock, however, almost and hour and a half passed between his going to bed and when he checked the time again — his stomach was grumbling at him to eat something, refusing to let him fall asleep.

Yūichi weighed his options — he could either head to the kitchen and risk his mother getting angry, eat the snacks he'd gotten from Mogami or keep trying to fall asleep.

Luckily for him, he heard footsteps that sounded different from his mother's on the corridor, which made the decision for him: he'd make a run for the kitchen.

He opened the door and rushed into the kitchen, ignoring his mother's startled yelp as he opened the fridge, shielding himself from her view. He'd pay for this another time, but right now, he grabbed the first thing that looked like leftover lunch, remembered a fork he had in his room, slammed the fridge shut and dashed back towards the safety of his room.

On his way out, however, he heard something hit the floor in front of him. His eyes widened — a bottle has just exploded right in front of him. He tried to stop, to avoid it, do whatever, but it was too late — his foot collided with the slippery floor and the wind was knocked out of him and he landed on his back.

His mother's voice came to him, but he could only make out the fact she was angry. His head wasn't working right, had he hit that too? Ignoring her, he shakily got to his feet and, still aching and slipping, rushed towards the safety of his room and locked the door. No matter how flimsy the lock, it provided a sense of comfort.

Grabbing the fork he hadn't put away after eating the previous day, he tore the cover off the tupper he'd grabbed and dug into the food. The rice was cold and the vegetables tasteless, but it was better than nothing. He wolfed down his food, then put the Tupperware on the plate already occupying a corner of his desk. He'd take that to the kitchen and clean it in the morning, hopefully. No, not hopefully; he had to do it, even if it meant no breakfast or no bento. His mother would have his head as soon as he returned otherwise.

He could hear his mother telling whoever it was about a roommate of hers, but he didn't care. He'd rather not listen, so he tuned them out. The adrenaline was wearing off, and he became acutely aware of the pain in his back and feet; it hasn't been as obvious when he was sitting at his desk and eating, but it was becoming hard to bear now. Looking down, he saw his left hand, the one that hasn't been gripping his food and the one he'd used to attempt breaking his fall, was bleeding.

Yūichi knew what had happened. She'd thrown a half-empty bottle at him. At least, he hoped it had been emptied at least halfway. He couldn't bear her anger if he'd made her waste some of her precious booze because he couldn't make it through the night without sneaking food. Now that he thought about it, there was definitely something making his shirt cling to his back, more so than it usually would, even when he was sweaty.

He wasn't sure whether he would prefer it to be blood or the alcohol he'd landed in. Both were bad, but the alcohol would at least disinfect the cuts… Right?

Oh, who was he kidding. Now that the adrenaline had finally worn off ever so slightly , Yūichi could feel a burning sensation begin to spread on his back. There was no explaining this one, not unless his mother helped him get the glass out. This had happened before, when one of the men she'd brought over had gotten angry and thrown a glass at Yūichi. However, it had only been his front and arms that had gotten sliced that time, not his back. Far from it, really.

She'd been surprisingly nice to him when it'd happened. Maybe because Yūichi had only been six or so at the time.

He wondered whether or not he should do something with the glass. Probably, at least the parts in his hand and feet. Putting the tupper on the floor, he began picking out all of the glass he could find and reach. More blood welled up as he did it so, causing him to hiss due to the open wounds. It wasn't long before his fingers were covered in red and his fingers became slick against the blood and glass. Yūichi hissed as he accidentally drove a shard of glass deeper into his flesh. He probably wouldn't get that one out anytime soon and his back hurt whenever he stretched to reach it, so he decided that, since he couldn't do much else, he should just take his shirt off and then head to bed.

Unfortunately, the shirt had other plans, snagging on the class and jostling it, causing Yūichi to hiss in pain. Reminding himself to stay as quiet as possible, he gritted his teeth and yanked it off, only to stuff the bloodied fabric of his sleeve into his mouth to stop himself from yelling out loud. Cringing, he lay down on the bed, making sure to keep whatever blood was still on his back away from the covers. He needed to wash those anyway.

It took him a while, but at some point, his attempts at sleep must've been successful — he awoke with a start to the sound of the door to his room being forced open and his mother's annoyed muttering. Glancing at the clock, he blearily figured that her guest must have left, allowing her to deal with the aftermath of his behaviour.

Shoving his face into his pillow, he figured he might as well go back to sleep. On the off chance the lock held, his mother would go to sleep and leave him alone, but he didn't want to listen to her berating him if she was awake.

Or worse, she could appear empathetic instead of angry. That always hurt the most, because she was just so painfully nice that holding her angry moments against her became difficult and Yūichi felt like he was the problem here.

Maybe he was. If he could just follow her instructions instead of insisting on doing so many things his own way, maybe their relationship would be better.

The treacherous lock clicked and let go, allowing his mother to open the door and enter his room. Yūichi did his best to pretend he was asleep. Unfortunately, with his wounds and all, it was easier said than done — his back throbbed in pain, while his palm felt like someone was driving nails into it.

He felt the bed shift beside him, his mother's movements surprisingly gentle. Oh god. It was one of those days. He could feel her watching him, not judging, just… Watching. It felt somehow worse than being judged.

Her hand slid across his back and he flinched; that hurt. Unfortunately, at this, Yūichi heard her sigh, then shift. She got up, turning the overhead light on, then returned to where she'd been sitting.

Something from the floor was placed between them and in the next moment, he was gritting his teeth with a hiss. It stung. Badly. The adrenaline having worn off entirely by now made matters worse, doing nothing to dull the unexpected, stinging pain.

As if having somehow heard him, his mother stopped suddenly. For a moment, they were both still; then, she spoke; Yūichi held his breath, praying, hoping she'd leave it. For a few seconds, all stayed quiet between them. Then, to Yūichi's mounting horror, she spoke.

"Yūichi?"

Her voice was quiet, as if she was worried she'd wake him if she was wrong. As if the pain wouldn't have done so already.

"Yes, mother?"

"Why don't you ever turn to me anymore? I know I haven't been the best mother, that I drink too much and don't pay enough attention to you, but it's still hard for me to see you locking yourself away like this."

Yūichi didn't say anything; he didn't want to, nor did he know what to say. His mother only sighed again at that, returning to picking the shards out of his back.

"It… I'll be honest, baby. I've done the best I can, but…. It might well scar, at least- at least some of it. It's not a bad place though, is it? Most people will never see it. I'll clean it up and everything will be alright, right? We won't even…. We won't even need to go hospital if I… if I bandage it up."

Yūichi had heard this before, this sentiment would be gone by morning. It was only the drink speaking.

So why was he feeling bad for her now?

"Is it just your back, or do you have glass anywhere else…?"

"I had some in a few other places. I've pulled it out now though, so it's fine. No need to worry."

"Show me."

Yūichi hesitated. The way they were seated, it would be hard not to look at her.

"Yūichi." Her voice was stern. Slowly, with his back screaming in pain at him all the while, he sat up and showed her his hand and feet. When she pulled out the disinfectant to put it on these wounds too, he asked if he could do if himself instead.

She agreed, but there was hurt in her voice as she did. He couldn't see her expression, but it was probably a disappointed one too.

He handed the bottle back to her, then lay down again, silently allowing her to clean his back as he tried to ignore the stinging pain it caused. If his wounds kept hurting even a bit like this in the morning, he may have to switch to his trion body in order to get through school… Mogami wouldn't be happy.

With that, he drifted off to sleep, unaware of his mother still watching him sadly.

When his alarm started ringing and he reached out a hand to silence it in the morning, he instantly felt the fact he'd made a mistake. First of all, he'd reached out his left hand, the one that had been wounded last night. Second, he'd reached out at all, which caused his back to complain in protest.

He knew Mogami would kill him later, but Yūichi gingerly climbed out of bed and grabbed his trigger anyway. He'd rather die by Mogami's hands than under the scrutinising gazes of his peers and teachers.

Dressed, he left his room (the lock was utterly busted, he checked it as he left) and began cleaning the mess he'd made yesterday. The glass from the dinner tupper ended up in the trash and breakfast was hastily prepared. Then, he remembered he was going to Border after school and rushed to pack a bag. Overall, he left the house late and barely made it to school on time.

His day was average. His visions made concentrating hard, as usual, but he managed well enough. By the time he left though, he was exhausted.

He knew the route by heart and walked almost entirely on autopilot, ignoring most of the people around him. That wasn't to say he didn't notice them, no. A younger boy with his older sister walked towards him, the girl's red scarf unravelling and blowing away in the wind just as passed him. Yūichi caught it, handing it back to her. She thanked him, then continued on her way.

A teenager nearby was engrossed in some kind of novel, then let out an audible "HAAAH?!" as something particularly unexpected happened on the last page of whatever he was reading, causing Yūichi to almost jump. Almost.

Finally, he reached the river and with it, Border. Yūichi breathed a sigh of relief, then jogged up to the door. He rang the doorbell, half-expecting the place to be empty, but the door unlocked, Konami's suspicious gaze locking onto him instantly.

"What are you doing here? The sleepover is tomorrow, idiot. Mogami isn't home yet either if you're looking for him."

Despite her words, she opened the door the rest of the way as she spoke, letting Yūichi enter.

"Sooooma! Jin's here! Do you know anything about that?"

Soma did not, unfortunately, answer, but Wakisaka stuck his head out of one of the corridor's side doors.

"Jin? Oh, you're early. You got the stuff you'll need for tonight?"

"Tonight?!" Konami squealed. "It's tomorrow!"

Their friend looked at her incredulously.

"No, it's tonight. Jin's here already, see? And so am I."

"But- But you don't even have any of your stuff yet!"

"I live literally next door," the boy shrugged. "I'll pick it up while everyone's doing the washing after dinner."

"But-"

"Relax, I'm kidding. What are you doing here though, Jin? She's right about the sleepover being tomorrow."

"Oh, I'm staying over tonight too. Some extra training, getting out of the house sometimes, you know how it is."

"Luuuucky!" Wakisaka deflated. "My parents would never let me stay anywhere on a school night. Anyway, it's just the three of us right now, most of the others have some homework or another to do before their parents let them come. We could probably get Mr. Kai to let us use the training rooms before the rest of the adults return, do you guys want to?"

"You still have to ask?! Come on, Jin, drop your bag somewhere and get downstairs already!"

"Konami, he's still in his school uniform-"

"Who cares! Triggers mean it doesn't matter what we're wearing, don't they?! Come onnnn!"

"Uh, actually, I'd much rather go get changed first- You two go on ahead."

In reality, Yūichi just didn't want to turn his trigger off in front of them. It would raise too many questions that he didn't feel like answering. At all.

He considered checking whether his wounds were better yet, but thought better of it. They probably weren't, so instead, he sat down before turning his trigger off and back on, this time in his usual Border clothes. He waited a short moment more, then joined his friends by the training room.

Konami eyed his clothes with distaste.

"Seriously? Already? We're supposed to do this together!" She huffed, before switching her own combat body. "It's a whole thing!"

"Yeah, sorry, I forgot," Yūichi rubbed the back of his neck in embarrassment.

"Anyway, are we having a three-way match? Or taking turns?"

Somebody behind them sighed dramatically.

"Honestly, it's like I'm invisible sometimes. Although, maybe an invisibility trigger wouldn't be so bad…"

"Kazama!"

"So, kids, do you think you have a chance of taking me down if all of you work together?"

"Oh, you're so going down!"

He was, in fact, not going down. The kids fell in quick succession, their number advantage quickly overcome by their opponent.

After leaving the training room, Konami instantly deflated and dropped onto the closest couch with a groan.

"We were so close…" she complained, kicking her legs in the air.

Jin patted her hair in an attempt to comfort her. "Nah, we weren't. It was fun though, wasn't it?"

Konami grumbled something into the couch. The couch, as it was an inanimate object, gave no response, but the girl didn't repeat whatever she'd said.

"So, do you kids want some tips, or do you need to wallow in despair for a while before we move onto that?"

Konami turned her head to glare at Kazama. "You just want an excuse to tell us what we did wrong!"

"If that's what you want to think…" The man shrugged innocently. "Well, I suppose I'll just keep on beating you all until you figure the stuff I want to tell you yourselves."

The ginger girl glared at Kazama, but he only laughed. Perks of already being used to living with a younger sibling, Yūichi supposed. "I'll take a lesson," he shrugged. Maybe he'd finally be able to properly challenge Mogami with whatever advice Kazama could give.

"Well, for one, you could stop letting your side effect distract you. Never once have I seen you with your head really in what's going on at the moment."

"And me?" Wakisaka yawned, joining Konami on the couch. Unlike her, though, he was actually sitting upright.

"You could take some initiative, not just wait for your friends to make an opening. By distracting me, you could've given a heavy hitter, like our little Kyrie here, a chance to actually wound me."

Konami grumbled something into the couch again.

"If you talk to the couch, the couch will answer."

"I said it wasn't my fault we failed then! I just didn't have a good chance!" She huffed.

"Well… You could hold back sometimes or work with lighter hits."

"That's not my style though! I can't work right with these two!" Konami returned to keeping her face in the couch. Knowing nothing good would come from this, Yūichi lightly elbowed Kazama to get him to lean down.

"I think only asking Rindō for help could save us at this point... She's going to throw a tantrum at this rate," he whispered, eyeing his friend, but Kazama shook his head.

"She'll get over it. It's not that she's a bad fighter, she's actually dangerous, but she's becoming fairly predictable as of late. Although, if she had a different trigger, maybe that would change…"

The doorbell rang, saving them from the awkwardness of the dying conversation. Konami jumped up from the couch, running to be the one to open the door.

"Shinoda! Mr. Kido!"

"Hey Konami, what's up?"

"Kazama is being boring! When are Mr. Rindō and Mr. Mogami coming back?!"

Yūichi gave Kazama a mistrustful look. Rindō wasn't even there? Was that why the man hadn't gone to him for help when Konami got annoyed over losing?

"A little later, they called us the say they're stuck in traffic. Anyway, we saw your cousin out with his dog on the way here," Shinoda went on, "So you should start getting your things."

"Already?!" The girl yelled, annoyed. "But it's not even three yet!"

"Didn't you say you had some kind of family dinner?"

Konami wrinkled her nose. "Yeah, but that's boring… Ma won't even let me help her in the kitchen, she says I can't be trusted around anything that isn't curry. I just think she's got no taste, most of her food is absolutely bland!" She stuck her tongue out to underline her point.

"Manners," Kido chided.

Konami stuck her tongue at him too. "You wouldn't like it either, I've seen how many spices you add to your plate when nobody's looking! You can't even have your rice without-"

Those gathered (Yūichi himself included) would've loved to hear what Kido added to his rice, but unfortunately for them and fortunately for the man, the sound of a doorbell ringing interrupted them, followed quickly by a dog 's barking.

Konami huffed in annoyance, then stalked over to grab her things, leaving Yūichi and Wakisaka to open the door for Jun.

Jun was about his own age, but unlike Yūichi, the boy had a stable family comprised of both parents, a grandmother, two younger siblings and a dog.

"Hi, is Kyrie here?" The boy waved without a hint of awkwardness.

"Yeah, she just went to grab a few things, she'll be right-" Jin began, but then a schoolbag flying from upstairs hit him on the head. Whirling around, he caught sight of a ginger head vanishing in the direction of the stairs.

"Konami!" He yelled, more annoyed than hurt thanks to the fact he was still in trion. It would've definitely hurt if he wasn't though.

"Are you okay?" Jun asked, his face worried. It was not an expression often seen on Konami, but once again, Yūichi was struck with how much family resemblance the two bore.

"Kazamaaaa! Jin's still in trion!"

That little traitor. Konami may be young and often gullible, but that didn't make her any less clever. Jun was still looking at him a little strangely, so as soon as Konami came close, Yūichi shoved her bag at her, waved them both goodbye and shut the door.

Time to find Kazama and beg him for help with his maths homework. Curse procrastination, he'd known that he would end up like this and still left it for the last possible moment.

Yūichi supposed one must have at least a little luck in their life, because it didn't take long for Mogami to arrive once the boy was done with his homework. He could also safely say he was actually ahead of the work for once, having managed to pull the information as to what they'd be doing next week out of his visions.

It had taken considerable effort on his behalf, so Yūichi was quite proud of himself for having done so.

As soon as he heard his mentor's cheery voice in the entrance hall, however, the boy ran to greet him, all thoughts of homework and spread out schoolbooks forgotten.

"Hey, teach! How was your day? How are you? Can we go train yet?"

Mogami laughed, placing his bags on the floor to mess with Yūichi's hair.

"Whoah there, madlad. At least let me come inside and take my shoes off first, eh?"

"What he means," Kido joined in to translate, "Is that he's got a few things he wants to try with you today, but that he'll be down as soon as he's had some food."

Mogami rolled his eyes, but picked up the grocery bags he'd put down to untie his shoes and headed towards the kitchen. "Jin, could you grab one of the bags from Shinoda when he comes in? I'm quite worried he'll drop them, not that he's likely to."

Yūichi narrowed his eyes. This could be a ruse to get him out of his mentor's hair, but Mogami wasn't that kind of guy, so Yūichi just shrugged and agreed.

To give credit where credit was due, Shinoda had stacked the three bags in a fairly balanced way. Yūichi jumped up and grabbed the one at the top anyway, ignoring the man's protests claiming he'd manage.

He probably would, but Yūichi wasn't going to take any chances. Not when it meant he has something to do with himself.

He was brutally reminded of the consequences of his actions when he entered the kitchen, only to find the groceries stacked up on the unoccupied side of the table. Slightly embarrassed, he ran to collect his books as fast as possible, to the apparent amusement of the adults.

It wasn't the bad kind of amusement though. Not the cruel, jeering amusement of some of the guests who came to see his mother, but good-natured amusement at the mere unusualness of the situation.

Yūichi supposed Yuri, who lived at the Border base permanently, was way less careless with her things and vowed never to let this happen again. He hoped Mogami would let him stay over again, but when he looked up from packing his books, the others had already begun unpacking the shopping and talking between each other. True to his word, Mogami was eating a sandwich as he talked.

Finally, his teacher wiped his hands on his trousers and indicated the door. Yūichi lit up, nodding, and ran off to drop his bag with his other things, more than ready to meet Mogami in the training room. Whenever his mentor had new ideas, it meant training would be more experimental than normal. This in turn meant that it would be even more fun than usual, as the two of them would focus on taking chances, making mistakes and getting messy instead of getting his technique better.

Yūichi knew the latter was a necessary evil, but it was still the most bothersome and boring of things one could do in Border.

"Yūichi, go upstairs and take a break," Mogami sighed. "You're not going to learn anything at this rate, and if we move to a physical workout, you may straight up hurt yourself. We started with a spar because I wanted to see if Kazama was right, but I can't keep this up in good faith."

Yūichi's teacher deactivated his trigger, a worried look in his eyes. "You know, if this is to do with why you're staying over tonight-"

"It doesn't!" Yūichi snapped. The man shrugged, but didn't push him. Yūichi almost wished he would. Maybe then he'd have an excuse to tell him all about his troubles, but he didn't want to burden Mogami with all of that anyway, so he brushed the thought off to the side to dwell on later. Not.

"Look, I'm just- Tired. I didn't sleep so well last night."

Again, the man didn't push. Instead, he indicated upstairs, probably in the direction of the kitchen. "So, dinner? You can get an early night if you want, it's not like you kids will sleep at all tomorrow. Just keep a bit of silence for those few whose old bones do need a rest over the weekend."

Despite himself, Yūichi cracked a smile.

"Aye, teach. I'll keep quiet. Although, I think you'll have to remind the others yourself tomorrow, you know how they are."

"If only they could be as considerate as you are… Well, that doesn't matter, I suppose. Let the kids be children and all that."

"Teach! I'm not a kid, I'm thirteen!"

"I never said that. Also, I was there for your birthday, remember?"

"But I'm more or less in the middle of the group, so if the others are kids, so am I!"

While talking, the two made their way to the kitchen upstairs. Kido was there talking to Rindō, who was, in turn, preparing food for the morning with Yuri's help.

The girl waved to them politely as Yūichi and his mentor entered the room, so the two waved back. Mogami's wave was more energetic than Yūichi's own, but that was only because the boy was tired.

"Hey there, Jin," Rindō greeted the two, then returned his attention to Yuri. "Hasn't Shinoda been out fishing for long enough? Could you go check on him and make sure he didn't fall in the river or some-"

Yūichi was about to ask about the falling in the river thing, but before he could, the kitchen window opened and the aforementioned man climbed inside, closing it behind him.

"Gof thh thuckah!" He proclaimed proudly, dumping a decent-sized fish in the sink, then dropping the one he'd been holding in his mouth right after it.

Content, he turned to face the rest of the room.

"What?"

"What what? Kido said we needed fish for tomorrow's lunch and that he wanted to marinate them. So I went to get fish from the river and I'm saying that I got the fucker. Why is everyone staring like that?"

"You're dripping water all over the floor. And you're gonna catch a cold at this rate. Also, don't swear in front of the young ones."

Shinoda looked stunned for a moment, then laughed. "Oh yeah, I forgot. Either way, it's not like even you held your tongues back around me and I turned out just fine, see? Trigger off!"

In a blink, Shinoda's trademark hair was back to its usual windswept state, his clothes fully dry. "I'm going to go grab a mop now, so whoever is dealing with lunch tomorrow can deal with the fish, see you!"

The young man saluted, then went off in the direction of the broom closet, all eyes in the kitchen following him. Yūichi sat up a little straighter, something about what Shinoda had said having caught his attention. Kido was, unfortunately, faster than him.

"And that is exactly who you kids shouldn't aim to be when you're older," the man sighed, hiding his face in his hand. "That guy is going to remain a child for as long as he lives, mark my words."

"Yeah, you'd know something about that, huh, Kido?" Rindō jabbed playfully, pointing the spoon he was using to scrape rice out onto his workspace.

"I don't know what you're insinuating," Kido gave his friend a sidelong glance.

"Oh yeah? Who dragged Yūgo into this mess and then let him teach Shinoda?"

"Speaking of Shinoda," Mogami looked at Yūichi, who silently cursed his luck. "Jin, kid, come on, get out of trion. You sure are forgetful about that recently, huh?"

Rindō and Kido's bickering faded into the background as Yūichi processed Mogami's words.

"But- But why can't I stay like this? It's way more comfortable-"

Mogami sighed and shook his head good-naturedly. "It's unhealthy. And, since one of the side effects it has is sleep trouble, you generally shouldn't make a habit of staying in trion when you don't have to."

Yūichi rolled his eyes dramatically, but quietly changed places so that he could see Yuri and Rindō at work better. As he deactivated his trigger and did his best to ignore the dull pain he could now feel again, he watched the uncle-niece duo. He wished that his mother and him could be more like that, enjoying familial moments and flicking rice grains at each other as they worked. Maybe in another life…

Instead, all he had was the dull reminder of the bottle his mother had been aiming at what could've well been his head. He didn't need his combat experience to know a direct hit like that could've been very bad indeed. Mogami had said head wounds were always bad bleeders and that concussions were no joke. No joke…

A previous thought suddenly occurred to him again, causing him to abruptly sit up even straighter and, for the shortest second, grimace at the flare of pain on his back. That was stupid.

Over in the kitchen, Kido huffed in amusement as Rindō said something particularly unbelievable. Right. Kido. Yūichi still hadn't asked his question yet.

"Wait, Mr. Kido swore?"

At that, Rindō and Mogami also snorted, with the latter actually choking on his drink.

Kido only sighed. "That's what you focus on in the middle of all of that? Yes, I did swear once or twice after some people did something particularly stupid," he looked at the door, shaking his head in disapproval. "I find it quite unnecessary."

"Yeah, I think the two times he ever gave anyone a proper earful, it was always Shinoda. One time it was because he fell in the river and someone called the cops on him, although that wasn't as bad as when he cut Kido's car right in half… That was a fiasco and a half."

Yūichi giggled. He could imagine. Kido was in charge of all the finances and was a very practical man, so Yūichi wasn't surprised that such an event had gotten Shinoda in trouble. He quickly stopped though, feeling his shirt stick unnaturally to his back. Maybe he should've checked those wounds.

Someone knocked on the kitchen door, and Yūichi tensed, forgetting for a moment where he was and thinking his mother had a guest again, but it was only Kazama bidding them goodnight as he made his way out.

"You alright, Jin?" Kido asked, eyeing him over his mug of coffee. Maybe it was because of how meticulous he was about everything, but the man seemed to notice even the smallest of changes in another person's demeanour.

Yūichi nodded.

"Hey, Jin, do you like your onigiri shaped or not?" Yuri turned away from her work and towards Yūichi. "Uncle messed a few up at the beginning, so they're not quite triangular. Is that alright with you or do I give the extra wonky ones to someone else?"

Yūichi thought about it for a moment. He didn't usually bring any food to school with him, so showing up with wonky onigiri wouldn't be too weird, but he'd caught a glimpse of the boxes the two were preparing. There were bound to be questions anyway, and Yūichi was good at dodging those.

"It's alright, I'll take the weird ones, Yūichi can have mine."

Yūichi snapped his mouth shut, looking at Mogami. No! His mentor didn't have to do that for him, no way! He opened his mouth to protest, but Yuri had already turned back to her work.

"Mr. Mogami, you don't have to-" Yūichi objected, but the man shrugged.

"I'll have extra motivation to actually take a break and not just eat while I work if my food is at risk of falling apart. Don't worry kiddo, it's not a problem."

The man went over to the table, patting Yūichi on the back.

The boy did his best not to grimace. Well, at least his mother had gotten the worst of the glass out yesterday, so-

Mogami paused, his hand still inches away Yūichi's back.

"Kiddo. Did something happen? Is that why you've been a bit off today?"

Yūichi turned to look at him, fear mixed with confusion on his face. How had he-

"No, scratch that. You're distracted, you're constantly in trion, you're hiding something, likely pain. You're also constantly hunching over ever since you switched to a non-trion body, which is another point for the pain theory. So, can you show me?"

Yūichi ever so slowly shook his head. If he showed them now, there would definitely be problems later.

"I'm alright. Seriously. I just stubbed my toe just as you reached out to pat me, give me a moment. Please?"

For a moment, it seemed as though Mogami would keep pushing the subject, but, luckily enough, he didn't. As the conversation shifted to other hopes, Yūichi hoped this would be the end of the matter, but the shortest glance towards his mentor told him otherwise.

The guilt that overwhelmed him almost instantly didn't exactly help either. Mogami didn't mind if Yūichi used what he called a "Side Effect" to aid him in combat and everyday life, but years of living with his mother had drilled the lesson of not using it around people deep.

Footsteps neared Yūichi. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw spiky, slicked back dark hair - apparently, Shinoda was looking for excuses not to mop up.

"You're in one of the spare rooms tonight, in case the others forgot to tell you. It means you can cheat at tag tomorrow, so remind me to show you later," the young man whispered conspiratorially.

"Shinoda! The mop!"

"Coming, coming!" With a sigh and a look of 'what are you gonna do?' thrown over his shoulder, he trudged off to deal with the aftermath of his impromptu swim in the river. Yūichi snickered, watching the playful banter between the Border members gathered in the kitchen. He wished his own home could feel as safe as this, but he was content enough with being able to witness these moments once in a while.

He didn't even notice himself slipping away, his head coming down to rest on his hands. Noticing this, the adults in the room lowered the volume of their conversation. Not that the boy knew that.

Unfortunately, they seemed to come to the conclusion that Yūichi couldn't stay at the kitchen table for the whole night, so as everyone left the kitchen, Kido came over to gently wake the boy up.

"Hey, Jin. Come on, get up, I'll show you where you'll be sleeping and then you'll shower quickly and go to sleep, hmm?"

Yūichi did not, in fact, want to get up. This was already more comfortable than sleeping at his desk, which in his book, meant it was enough to spend the night on. He dragged himself up and, remembering his injured feet, turned the trigger on.

Kido gave him a strange look, but said nothing. Quietly, they went upstairs, with Yūichi grabbing his things along the way.

When Kido showed him through the door, Yūichi was almost convinced he was dreaming. He'd thought he'd be lucky if he got a couch to sleep on, but here Border was, allowing him to sleep in a proper room with a proper bed and everything.

"The bed creaks a bit, so I hope you don't mind. Well, you know where the bathroom is, so I'll leave you now; you know whose room is where, don't you?"

Yūichi nodded.

"Good. If you need anything, you can wake us up, but please avoid it if possible. If you're not up by 7:30, we'll send Rindō after you. I wouldn't recommend it though, he'll steal your blankets. Well, Jin, goodnight and sleep well. I'll see you in the morning."

With those words of farewell, Kido receded into what Yūichi assumed was his room. He didn't go out into the corridor to check, still too stunned by the mere size of the room. Shaking himself slightly, he dropped his bag on the bed and grabbed whatever he'd need for a shower, then left for the bathroom.

After a quick wash (he'd been in trion for most of the day anyway, his normal body hadn't even had time to get dirty) Yūichi went back to the room and headed straight into bed, only bothering to pause for a second to throw his bag onto the floor and his uniform onto the desk chair. Then, he clambered under the blanket and was about to go straight to sleep, when a knock on the door brought him back to the land of the living.

The knocker paused for a second, then, quietly, asked, "Jin? Can I come in?"

Ah, Mogami. Yūichi muttered an agreement, but didn't make a move to rise from the bed. Despite Kido's earlier warning about it creaking, the bed might just have been the most comfortable one Yūichi had had the chance to sleep on in a long time.

The door opened slightly.

"Jin? Are you asleep?" His mentor asked in a whisper. For a moment, Yūichi considered ignoring him (he'd just walked into Yūichi's space,) but then he felt bad again. Not only was his teacher not his mother, he was also being kind enough to house him, Yūichi shouldn't be mean to him.

"No, not yet. Did you need something?"

"Just a quick chat. May I come in?"

This caught Yūichi off guard. Mogami had already opened the door, there was nothing to stop him from entering the room at this point. Why was he asking?

"Yeah, sure," he muttered, still not moving from where he was hugging his pillow.

The door clicked as his mentor closed it behind him, coming to rest on the floor by the bed.

"Jin, I'm… I'm not going to ask what exactly happened. You can tell me yourself when you're ready, not that you ever have to be. I just want to ask, was whatever happened cleaned properly? Your hand looks red and you visibly recoiled when I patted you on the back," the man smiled sadly. "It's also hard to ignore the dressing on your hand, no matter how decent of a job has been done with it, or how much you tried to hide it in your sleeves. I didn't look too well though."

Yūichi didn't respond. He'd known the toe stubbing excuse was a bad one, but he'd hoped it'd at least stop any questions. For a moment it had, he supposed - not that that was enough to save him from all of this.

"As I said, you don't have to tell me anything. But if it's something I can help you with, I'd rather know now rather than when it's too late. I also don't want to dig, so if you tell me to stay out of it, I will. But please remember your peers will definitely notice something tomorrow evening, Konami was already complaining today."

Yūichi snorted. Yeah, their friend was gullible, but she also noticed things on her own with surprising speed. Well, unless someone was actively lying to her. Then she believed them with all her heart.

"It's… It's clean, teach. I broke a glass and cut myself while cleaning up. I did the dressing like you taught me though." He didn't mention the fact he'd done the dressing in secret on his way to school.

"Is there some on your back too?" It seemed that, now that Yūichi had begun talking, Mogami's word about not digging didn't apply any longer.

So, all the boy said was, simply, "Slipped. Can I sleep yet?"

"Not unless you show me your back. Something isn't adding up here, Jin. Please, whatever is going on, let me help you. I'm genuinely worried, you haven't been your usual self over the last few days."

"Mmmhh," the boy groaned. "It'll heal in a few days, no need to make a fuss."

"Jin. I'm not making a fuss, why would you think that? I'm genuinely worried and want to help you as best I can. Also, wounds like that heal within a few days don't make you flinch that hard. I saw how you reacted after the failed prank on Kizaki, you're no drama queen. When something makes you cringe, it's actually serious."

Yūichi snorted involuntarily. Yeah, he remembered that time. He and Chihiro had tried to spook Kizaki by jumping onto him from the back of the couch, but instead Yūichi had gotten judo flipped onto the floor while Chihiro got flung off to the side. While the latter was lucky enough to land on a pile of pillows, Yūichi had come crashing down onto the floor. His tailbone had, indeed, been sore for days afterwards, reminding him of the incident whenever he tried to sit down anywhere. He did suppose he'd done a good job hiding it at the time though, not that anyone had expected him to.

"…alright then," he finally agreed. "You can check it."

Yūichi gently removed his shirt, then lay down again.

"I'm going to turn the light on so that I can see, alright?" Mogami asked.

When Yūichi made a noise of agreement, the man flicked the light switch on. Had Yūichi turned to look at his teacher at the time, he would've noticed the sadness in the man's eyes. Unbeknown to the boy, however, the members of what would come to be known as 'Old' Border in only two years' time currently saw their younger colleauges as siblings. In the case of Mogami's thoughts towards Yūichi himself, one could argue that it was even children of their own. Unfortunately, Yūichi didn't look up, so he would never actually find out.

"You… You said this has been cleaned, right?" Mogami asked, his voice serious, but surprisingly steady.

"Mhmm."

"Would you mind if I cleaned it again? I'll be honest with you, that doesn't look so good… Well, actually, not good at all. It's hot and definitely inflamed. When did it happen?"

Yūichi did, in fact, mind Mogami cleaning it again. No matter how bad it looked, he felt very open like this, very vulnerable. He endured it with his mother because, well, she was his mother. But here? Sure, he trusted his teacher, but he didn't think he trusted anyone that much. On the other hand though, whatever was left on his back had to be cleaned at some point or other, be it Mogami or a hospital.

Yūichi was pretty sure that Mogami's silence would be easier to buy than a whole hospital's.

"Yesterday night."

"Yesterday?" His teacher asked incredulously, moving to get a closer look at what he was dealing with.

"Yeah, yesterday."

"This should've been redressed and cleaned since then, the bandages are all crusted. Can I do that for you?"

"I don't know, can you?"

"Cheeky boy. I've honestly got no idea who you picked that up from, you were perfectly nice when you first showed up here," Mogami ruffled Yūichi's hair. "I'll go get the first aid kit, you stay here and don't bleed to death. Can you do that?"

"I didn't say you could clean it…"

"Well, I'll get the first aid kit anyway, just in case you do make up your mind and let me. That sound fair?

"I s'ppose…"

"I'll be back in a minute, don't do anything stupid. On that note, maybe don't do anything at all, the job of cleaning it will be easier for me if it stays as it is right now."

As the man left the room, Yūichi considered his options. He could make life harder for Mogami and hope he would give up; he could handle the increase in pain for a few moments. But he'd already let his teacher take a look at his wounds, so why should he be difficult for no apparent reason? No, Mogami would come back to find Yūichi exactly as he'd left the boy.

Even if Yūichi's left foot was getting kind of cold from being out from under the blanket. He quickly shoved that back under.

The man took a few minutes, but he came back. To Yūichi's surprise, he knocked again, instead of simply entering.

"Come in," he muttered.

The door's lock clicked once more. Yūichi fleetingly thought that it sounded much sturdier than his own at home, but then remembered most locks would be. He'd know. He'd tried to fix his lock as best he could on multiple occasions.

Mogami sat down next to him again. "As there are a few pieces left for me to clean out, this might sting a bit." he said, "I'll be using tweezers for what's left here, so as not to injure myself by accident too. Don't worry though. I've already disinfected them, so they're sterile. As sterile as I could get them, at least."

Yūichi nodded, not trusting his voice not to shake.

Mogami's hands were much steadier than his mother's had been, but Yūichi chose to put that down to the alcohol. It was a weird sensation, getting the glass pulled out. It was sort of gritty, a bit like sand. Although, Yūichi had never had sand under his skin. It also stung sharply whenever Mogami managed to remove one, though even that didn't occur every time. Glass was a right bitch to have stuck in oneself. It was a fate Yūichi didn't wish on anyone.

"Hey, Mr. Mogami, have you- Ack!"

Mogami stopped what he was doing. "Are you alright? If something hurts too much, I can always stop for a moment or figure something else out, just tell me."

"No, I'll be alright, just… didn't expect it at that moment, that's it," That, and it had also stung particularly bad just when he hadn't been prepared for it. His hand was also not helping matters, heating up uncomfortably as the shard inside aggravated it more and more.

"Alright, but don't try to shoulder things you don't have to, okay?"

"…yeah, I'll tell you if it hurts."

"There's a good kid. Now, you wanted to ask something? We can take a short break for you to say it if you want to."

"Well, I was asking if you'd done this before. You just seem so knowledgeable about what to do, so I guess I was just… curious?"

"Don't sound so apologetic, curiosity is good. I'll continue while I reply, is that alright with you?"

Yūichi nodded. That made sense.

"Well," Mogami moved to a different shard, this one right under the boy's shoulder, "When we first started Border, I already had a friend who had a knack for getting into all kinds of trouble. While the knowledge about glass removal never ended up coming in handy around him, first aid is always good to know. You can never quite guess what you'll encounter next, can you? Although I do suppose it's a little different for you, what with your Side Effect and everything."

"You know I only see the future of other people. It's useless, it only bothers me and drives a wedge between me and other people," Yūichi burried his face in the pillow, letting it envelop him. It was a very soft pillow.

"But you can use it to help too," Mogami countered. "Do you remember the friend I was talking about earlier? Well, he had a Side Effect too. It told him whenever someone else lied and made lying very difficult for him. Even so, he was a really fun guy, although he found most social situations exhausting when he was younger. And then… Then we found out about neighbours and founded Border."

"I don't see what that has to do with anything," Yūichi hissed, but it was done more in pain than in annoyance.

"What I'm saying is that you, Jin Yūichi, can do a lot to help many others. More importantly though, you're a really fun kid-"

"Not a kid."

"If you insist. In that case, you're a really fun guy," Mogami chuckled. "A guy we all treasure alongside every other ally in Border. Someone without whom this place wouldn't be the same. And who knows? Maybe someday the whole city or even the whole world will have you to thank for saving them."

Yūichi groaned. "Teach, life isn't some action anime, that sort of thing just doesn't happen."

"I don't know, would you say Side Effects just happen?"

"That's different-"

"Christ, kid, give yourself a bit of credit. You're way too harsh on yourself. Now sit up, I'm going to rebandage this mess."

Yūichi obliged, but he was unable to hide the grimace of pain in his face. Mogami's digging had aggravated the wounds again, causing his back to flare up with burning pain whenever he moved.

"Speaking of pain, who did your bandages before?"

"My mother-"

"Well," The man interrupted before Yūichi could defend her, "She didn't do a very good job with it. You should've gone to the hospital with this, I should still take you, really-"

"No!"

The man paused where he was rolling the bandage around Yūichi's front. "No?"

Yūichi recoiled as if struck. He'd fucked up. Badly. Shit. He was a goner now, his mother would kill him.

"What- What I meant was there's no need! You've dealt with it now and- And my mother is busy anyway, so bothering her wouldn't be very good-"

"Jin," Mogami's voice was soft. Worried. Oh god, Yūichi had really messed up this time, hadn't he? "Kiddo. She's your mother, of course she'll make time to help you deal with something like this. And… even on the off chance she won't, I'll take you to the hospital no problem."

"I don't want to!" Tears welled up in Yūichi's eyes. He didn't want to drag his teacher into this, he wouldn't have if he had the choice. Stupid, he'd been so stupid and careless! He balled his hand into a fist to wipe his eyes, only to yelp in pain as his fingernail jostled the glass still in his palm. He knew Mogami was watching him all the while. It scared him.

"Jin, I'm sorry, I didn't know you'd react like this," The man began, tying up the bandage and edging slightly back. Seeing Yūichi's lack of reaction to his words, he frowned, extending a hand towards the boy's shoulder. "Jin? Kiddo? Yūichi. I'm going to touch your shoulder now, alright? I need you to breathe with me. I won't ask any other questions now, let's just wind down, alright? In and out, like that, yes."

Slowly, Yūichi's breathing slowed and the tears stopped flowing.

"It's- It's just too much of a hassle, it's not worth it-" He hiccuped, only to start crying once more as he pinched his palm trying to wipe his face again. "'m sorry, 'm gonna wake ev'ryone up-"

"I don't care."

Yūichi stopped, dumbfoundedly staring at his mentor. "You… You don't?"

"No. I don't and neither should you. Kiddo, you're thirteen and went through a clearly traumatic event. It's clear you haven't had time to process it. If it was up to me, I'd keep you at home tomorrow and let you rest until these are at least a little more healed, trion body available or not."

"Give me your hand now, I'll clean that up too," Yūichi hesitantly extended his arm, allowing Mogami to clean his wound and dig out the remaining piece of glass. As it had gotten in pretty deep, it was not a pleasant experience in the slightest; Yūichi did his best to grit his teeth and bear it, but in his already fragile state, he found it impossible. He yelped as the glass came out, a new wave of tears welling up.

"There, done. You're a brave one, kiddo, good job-" The man broke off as the entire weight of a thirteen year old boy hit him all at once with full force. "Oh, Jin." He said, his voice soft. For once, Yūichi didn't care; he just sobbed quietly, holding onto Mogami as if he'd never let the man go.

Yūichi didn't know how long he spent like that, nor did he care. It had been so long since he'd felt so safe and comforted, he just didn't want the moment to end. His teacher didn't move away either, allowing Yūichi to let it all out.

Finally though, the man spoke. "Jin, I need to get some sleep, okay? If you need anything, I'll get up for you, just knock on my door. But… if you're ready to talk about it, can you tell me who did this to you?"

Yūichi shook his head. Mogami sighed.

"Okay, what about if I ask questions and you just tell me yes or no, alright?"

The boy didn't reply, so the man took it as a yes. While he really would've preferred not to pry, this was his student's safety that was on the line. Judging by the marks on his arms, this wasn't the first time this had happened either, not that Mogami was going to bring that up.

"Is this someone close to you?"

Yūichi froze entirely, then shook his head. Mogami sighed. He could leave the topic until morning. For now, he'd stay here and make sure his mentee would get a night's sleep, since, unfortunately, a good one was no longer an option. The boy needed it, that much was clear.

When Yūichi awoke, it was quiet. Too quiet.

That was not to say it was silent, no. He could hear rushing water and an insistant knocking on wood. The wall…? No, the direction he was lying in was wrong, so it probably wasn't the wall. The wall was behind him, he was facing the room — the specks of light dancing behind his eyelids told him that much. He didn't have any idea why anyone would be knocking on any wall, let alone why it had to be one he couldn't see from his position.

With a groan, he turned over to look towards the so

With a groan, the boy turned to look towards the source of the noise, only to instantly regret it. The bed ended more abruptly than he'd thought it would; he must've moved closer to the edge of the bed at some point in the night, not that it mattered. He collided with the floor before he had time to think about what had happened.

Despite the fall having been relatively short, he gave a sharp cry as he hit the floor; none of his pre-existing injuries had actually been jostled in the accident, his shoulder had absorbed the momentum of his landing and made it travel into the bandages. Those, in turn, had shifted and pulled at his wounds. Then there was also the unexpectedness of the situation.

The door flew open with a bang, someone's loud footsteps rushing into the room. "Jin?!"

"'m fine, I'm fine, I'll be ready in a second-"

"That's… Jin, that's not what I'm worried about in the slightest, I couldn't care less if you're ready or not right now, I want to know if that fall hurt you or not."

"'m alright. Just got scared, let me grab my uniform and I'll be down in five."

"You need any help? Do you want me to ask Mogami to come up here?"

"No, no-" Yūichi grimaced. "I'll get up, don't bother the teach."

"Jin, it's not bothering-" Rindō began, but the boy had already clambered to his feet.

"I'm alright. Let me grab my uniform and I'll be downstairs."

Rindō looked at him, but didn't say anything. As he closed the door behind him though, Yūichi heard him sigh. He wished he knew if it was a sigh of relief or disappointment though.

Just in case, he wasted no time getting dressed, even ignoring the scratching that quickly turned to burning on his back whenever he was too rough with his shirt.

He grabbed his trigger, then his schoolbag,(in that order) before rushing downstairs.

"I'm ready! When do we leave?"

Mogami stared at him with raised eyebrows from behind his cup of coffee.

"You sure you don't want breakfast first, kid? We've got a good half hour before we gotta get out of here. Also," The man smiled before taking a sip of his coffee, "Your hair's still a mess, did you even visit the bathroom on your way down?"

Yūichi raised his hand in an attempt to check how bad his bed head was, then decided it was pointless. He'd definitely rushed out of his house faster with it being worse before anyway.

"There's bread out on the counter already, the butter is around too. Jam's in the fridge, but I'm afraid we're out of rice. Rindō miscalculated and used it all up last night. Please don't go chasing him, Shinoda has done that already…"

Yūichi snorted. The mental image of the two running around with Shinoda angrily yelling about the lack of rice was just the thing he needed to wake up.

"Wait, Shinoda lives here?"

Mogami shook his head and went to wash up after his morning coffee.

"He leaves for the night, but that's basically it. Honestly, that boy would pitch a tent on the roof and live there if anyone even implied it was an option. No, he just joins us for breakfast and then refuses to leave until he's exhausted."

That was interesting. Maybe it would be possible for Yūichi to do something like that? It would mean living nearer the school and being less of a burden on his mother. Then again, he didn't want to force himself on Border either; he'd been shown more than enough kindness from them.

"Well, I'll leave you to your breakfast. Don't forget to brush your teeth and I'll see you back down here in a few. If there's anything in the fridge to your liking, feel free to grab it."

With that, Mogami left the kitchen and Yūichi was left alone to deal with his food. Deciding he'd do fine on two slices of bread with butter (he'd the bento box for lunch, so he only had to survive until then), he gobbled them down, then went to brush his teeth.

Mogami had been right, his hair was a mess. With a noise of complaint, he got to tidying it up. Unfortunately, his hair had a tendency to stick up no matter what he did (especially at the back,) so after the third attempt to get it under control, he just went his hands and ran them through his hair. It would be enough, he wasn't about to agree to Kai's hairtie suggestion anyway. That would be too embarrassing.

Done in the bathroom, he ran downstairs, almost tripping up Rindō in his haste to not make them late.

"Whoah, Jin! You must really like school, you're a whirlwind today. That fall didn't keep you down for long, huh?"

"We might get stuck in traffic on the way and I don't want Teach to be late just because he's dropping me off."

"Don't worry, Mogami wouldn't make a big thing out of it. Besides, you can always check whether or not we'll get stuck, right?"

It took Yūichi a moment to register the fact that the man was talking about his Side Effect. Of course. This wasn't home, he could practice it more. That and it hadn't actually occurred to him to use it for mundane, everyday things — Side Effects were something to do with trion and trion was something that happened around Border. Border was the opposite of mundane and everyday.

"You're driving with us?" He asked, just to make sure. Rindō nodded, so Yūichi allowed himself to look directly at the man's face. It was a strange feeling, so many years of avoiding looking at anyone important to him only to now do it so blatantly.

It wasn't like this was the first time or anything — Mogami insisted Yūichi learn to use his ability in a fight, all while not letting himself get distracted from the current fight by what he was seeing.

Yūichi paused, taking in what he could see. It wasn't easy, there was an overwhelming amount of future possibilities, and traffic jams weren't exactly easy to spot.

"Assuming Mr. Mogami doesn't fall- No, nevermind, that's really unlikely. There's about… A ⅗ chance we'll get stuck? That makes 60%."

"Clever. Mogami's been teaching you well, huh? Good for you both."

"Are you talking about me behind my back with my student?" Mogami had chosen that exact moment to come meandering down the stairs. He didn't seem worried about the prospect of being late in the slightest. "That's kind of mean, Rindō."

The other man scoffed. "As if you don't do the exact same thing. Either way, Jin and I are both ready to go, so get in the car already."

"Isn't Mr. Kido coming with us?" Yūichi asked, confused.

"He's gone on his own already, had to go into work early. It's why Rindō's driving."

"Oh, I'm driving am I? Throw me the keys then."

Without even turning to look at the man, Mogami pulled the car keys out of his pocket and threw them to Rindō. "Has anyone seen my shoes? I swear I left them over here yesterday-"

"Try looking less than half a meter to your left."

Mogami did, then laughed. He really had only missed them by a few inches.

Mogami tied his shoes and got up. "You ready, Jin?" He asked, to which the boy nodded.

They walked to the car and Yūichi climbed into the back behind the driver's seat, only for his eyes to meet Mogami's, who hadn't sat at the front, as Yūichi had expected him to. Before he had time to ask, however, Rindō turned the key and the car started up. The man wasted no time in turning out onto the road, meaning they were on their way before Yūichi even had time to properly fasten his seatbelt.

Although most of the drive was spent in silence, it wasn't awkward. Rindō's whistling, broken occasionally by him commenting about something on the road, kept them occupied. It wasn't like the school was far anyway.

As he was getting out, thought, Mogami lightly tapped him on the shoulder.

"Wait for me after school, alright?" He asked. "I'll pick you up and we'll go for ice cream or something."

Yūichi froze up. Had he done something wrong? Mogami noticed his discomfort and quickly added, "You haven't done anything wrong, I just thought we should get something on the way. Maybe not ice-cream, I know of a good restaurant nearby for lunch?"

"How come you never invite me for lunch?" Rindō complained from the front seat, but Mogami shushed him saying they could get takeout tomorrow or leave the kids with Shinoda. Yūichi figured that, if he was suggesting leaving the younger Border members under the care of Shinoda, Mogami couldn't be mad, so he agreed, then got out of the car and headed towards the school with a wave towards the car.

It was a nice feeling. He didn't know why the other kids complained that their parents were being too overbearing whenever they did anything similar.

School went as usual, which meant boring. He really didn't like learning about all of this, nor was he exactly friends with any of his classmates. They all tolerated each other, but neither side seemed particularly likely to reach out. Maybe it was due to the fact Yūichi himself didn't reach out, or maybe it was because of the fact he'd managed to get himself the reputation of the 'weird, haunted kid' thanks to his Side Effect when he was younger.

The prospect of Mogami coming to pick him up after class wasn't exactly helping with his patience either.

Finally, school let out, with Yūichi being one of the first out of the door. He scanned the parking, zeroing in on the car that had dropped him off that morning and waving to Mogami inside.

The man motioned for him to come over to the front of the car, leaning over and opening the door.

"So, how was your day?"

"Boring, just the same old stuff. There was some drama because someone from a lower grade got into a fight with someone from my class, but I wasn't really paying that much attention."

"That's still more than I witnessed at work. Either way, hungry?"

Yūichi nodded. He'd ended up distributing his food differently thanks to the fact he knew they'd be having lunch right after school, so he was starting to feel peckish now.

"Good. Anything you don't like eating, or…?"

The boy shook his head, to which the man nodded to himself. "Good."

They reached their destination, parked and got their food. Mogami, however, seemed a bit hesitant, as if he had something to say, yet didn't quite know how to formulate it. Finally, he sighed and put down his fork.

"Jin. I need to talked to your mother."

Yūichi's heart stopped then. Of course it had been too good to be true. Of course it had to have to end like this. His mother would well and truly kill him as soon as Mogami was out of their sight. Worse, Mogami would discover the fact he'd forged all of the paperwork for Border and that his mother didn't even know what exactly his extracurricular activities were.

He didn't even realise when he started crying. He was still absolutely battered after the previous night (he'd actually fallen asleep during literature) and the unexpectedness of Mogami's statement had just been too much for him.

"Jin, hey. Jin. Look at me."

Mogami's voice was coming from somewhere far away, Yūichi wasn't quite catching the words. Everything was suddenly too much and he just couldn't deal with it any longer.

All of a sudden, Mogami's voice disappeared entirely, replace by a woman's. Gingerly, Yūichi looked up to see what was going on.

What was going on shocked him enough to stop his crying and just make him stare at the situation in front of him. There was Mogami, hands over his head and a lady standing over him with a metal tray.

"…what kind of father takes his son out for a nice meal just to berate him?" The woman tutted. "Shame on you, honestly."

She then turned to Yūichi, her entire demeanour doing a complete turnaround.

"I'm not sure what you did, but you don't look like a rascal to me, you've been nothing but polite here today. I can give you a sweet if you want, it always helps my son when he's overwhelmed?"

Yūichi shook his head. He didn't need sweets, he just needed to regain his composure and figure out what to do next. He couldn't have Mogami talking to his mother, if she found out the man was poking around that would be the end of Yūichi's remaining freedom. Also, however important Mogami was to him, Yūichi did not want to bring him into the troubles between himself and his mother. The woman gave him a worried look, glared a warning at Mogami, then went back to her work.

He wiped his eyes, turning to Mogami again, "Why do you want to talk to her?"

"Jin, whatever is going on, and I don't have to know the details, you're clearly not safe at home. I want to help you, but I don't want to start a misunderstanding, so I want to talk to your mother first."

"It's best if you… Don't. I don't know what you want to discuss with her, but I can deal with it! Honest!"

"Oh, Jin," Mogami sighed. "I don't want to tell you this is adult business or anything, I know you can handle yourself perfectly well, it's just that there are certain things that a thirteen year old shouldn't have to handle on his own yet."

"But I can handle them-"

"Jin. Kiddo. I'm not saying you can't. You're a brave boy and you can handle a lot more than most of your peers, but let the adults take off some of the burden, at least sometimes. Enjoy yourself. Have some fun. Leave the logistics to the old and boring people.

Jin snorted. "You're not old, teach."

"I'm old enough to be dealing with paperwork and whatever it is your life is trying to throw at you. It's okay to ask for help, kiddo. I'm offering you that help right now."

"Okay, I'll… I'll let you talk to her then," The boy finally agreed. "But… If anything happens, can I…"

Mogami watched Yūichi all the while, patiently waiting for the boy to get the words out. Yūichi still felt like he was wasting his mentor's time though.

"Can I… Could I stay at Border again? Just for a day or two?" He finally managed to get out, the words much quieter than he would've liked. Less confident. More like pleading than asking.

"Well… There's the legal side of things, but-"

Of course. Legalities.

"And I couldn't just… Tell a police officer that I like it better in Border? If you let me stay that long, that is-" He quickly corrected himself.

Mogami sighed and shook his head.

"Oh." Yūichi said, disappointed.

"That would be considered kidnapping, we could have some real problems if your mother went to the police with this. Either way, I think we should finish our food before it gets cold, do you agree?"

Yūichi nodded, but he wasn't hungry anymore. Not really. He ate a few bites, but more out of politeness than out of hunger, before putting his cutlery down and staring out of the window.

It was a nice day. Not a good day for everything in his life to come crashing down, that was for sure. Blue sky, people enjoying their walks outside. No world-changing accidents. No stalking neightbours. Just Yūichi and his own problems.

A hand touching his shoulder broke him out of his thoughts. He looked up to see Mohami, who gestured towards the door.

The boy swallowed. Was he ready for this? No, no he wasn't, let him go, let his life go back to the way it was only a few days before-

Yeah, he was. Or even if he wasn't, Mogami was there to help him, right?

So Yūichi nodded, getting up. He followed Mogami to the car, then gave him directions on how to get to their house. After so much time refusing to let anyone know about his living situation, Yūichi managed to get them lost. He'd never taken this route home by car, everything looked completely different from this perspective. He thought his teacher would get annoyed, but the man accepted the fact they were lost without even a trace of annoyance, even asking if Yūichi wanted a map to help him find his way.

Finally, they made it, and Yūichi did not miss the way his mentor's eyes sweeped over the low roof, overgrown garden and broken-down gate. He had to admit, that it did present a pretty sorry sight — maybe that was why his mother's guests always came at night, so that they couldn't see the mess?

The boy expected Mogami to say something, but Mogami gestured for Yūichi to lead the way.

"She, um, she might not be home-" The boy realised, a bit late.

Mogami looked at his watch. "If that's the case, we'll just wait for her. You've got a while yet until the sleepoveer gang rounds themselves up."

Well, there went that excuse. Without anything else to do, Yūichi dug his house keys out and opened the door.

Silence.

The boy went inside, took off his shoes (all quietly, of course) and turned to look at Mogami. He started when he saw the man just behind him — his mentor was quieter than expected and the man was already taking off his shoes. He caught Yūichi's eye, giving the boy a reassuring nod. Taking a deep breath, Yūichi dared a peek into the living room.

His mother was there, lying on the couch, her eyes closed. She probably wasn't asleep as much as she was hungover — good.

"Mother? I'm home."

His mother looked up at him through bleary eyes, but she didn't seem angry.

"Yūichi…? You're supposed to be back tomorrow, what the hell are you doing here…?"

"I- I needed something, mother."

She sat up, suddenly more awake, then grabbed her head.

"Not from me, I hope. Well, if you're here… Do make yourself useful and get me a painkiller, would you?"

Yūichi nodded. Doing his best to try to ignore Mogami's eyes following him as he went, he entered the bathroom, checking the first packet he found. Expired. Technically it wasn't by much, so maybe he could give them to her…? No, there should be more deeper in the cupboard. He clambered up, searching the higher shelves until he found what he was looking for. An almost empty bottle of pain medication, still valid, but abandoned where it stood due to some bottle having leaked out onto it.

Grimacing, he grabbed it and stuck it under the tap. Icky. Once he'd deemed enough of the ick was off, he opened it, dried his hand and grabbed the medicine inside. Good enough, time to go back and talk.

Now that he wasn't moving stuff around, he could hear voices in the living room. Well, it seemed Mogami had entered the living room while Yūichi was in the bathroom…

He crept towards the living room, hoping to eavesdrop on what they were saying. Luckily for him, he wasn't disappointed; he managed to get almost to the doorway without disturbing them, so he decided not to push his luck and stop there.

He didn't even have to try particularly hard to listen in.

"…he's my child, do you hear?! Mine!"

"I'm not doubting that. What I am doubting, however, is your ability to take care of him. He is a bright, resourceful-"

"And where do you think he got that from?! I'm not letting you take him from me!"

Take him from his mother? No,no, that wasn't what Yūichi wanted! He just wanted a break, not to leave entirely, where would he even go? He liked Mikado, and who knows where an encounter with cps could potentially take him.

"If it's not me, it will be child protection services. I've known Yūichi for a few months now, but I doubt that you'd ever see him again if I took this case to the authorities."

This wasn't talking. This was a full-blown argument. Yūichi had never heard Mogami raise his voice at anybody, no matter how bad the situation got, and, while he wasn't anywhere close to shouting now, his voice was level in a way that told the boy just how serious his mentor was about the situation. It scared him a little, not that he'd ever admit that.

"You would not. You will not take my son from me!"

"With all due respect? I would. If I believed even for a second that you are causing harm to him, I would not hesitate. And I do believe so. It is your choice as to how we proceed from here, but one thing is for sure. Jin- Yūichi cannot stay with you, it is causing him harm."

Yūichi couldn't listen to this any longer. He entered the room. Immediately, both pairs of eyes turned to him.

"Yūichi," both of them said at the same time, but the ways they did so couldn't be more different. His mother's tone was harsh, accusing; he'd brought trouble to their doorstep, a stranger into their house. A stranger who wanted to take him away.

Mogami's voice, on the other hand, changed instantly. It wasn't the cold, level tone of a negotiator; it was the soft, caring voice of his mentor.

It occurred then to Yūichi, he had to make a choice. A choice between the life he had now and the life he could have. A choice between his mother and Border. A choice that could affect his entire future.

Somewhere deep inside, he'd known that he'd have to make this choice ever since Mogami told him he wanted to talk to his mother back in the restaurant. But was he ready for this choice.

He looked at them, properly looked at them. Visions popped up in his mind. Visions of conflict. Visions of difficult times. Visions of carefree laughter. Visions of comfort. Visions of being somebody to someone-

Yūichi wanted the last three more than he was willing to admit. But this was his mother they were talking about. He couldn't just abandon her, could he…?

He could ignore the fact that there were no futures he could see where Mogami treated him in a way that made him want to return to his mother while many of those with her were filled with moments he had every reason to fear.

He walked into the room, then headed towards his mother.

"Here. The non-expired painkillers," he said.

Then he turned to Mogami.

"Can we go in a minute? I'll just grab a thing or two from my room."

"Yūichi, I forbid you-" His mother began, but he turned his back on her and walked to his room. There wasn't much to grab; an old photograph, day clothes. He grabbed a duffel he used to use for training back before he'd joined Border, then threw the clothes inside. A hand-made bracelet he'd gotten from Konami for his birthday. And… That was it really, all his earthly posessions. Most of them fit in his school uniform's pockets.

He could still hear his mother yelling at Mogami, but the words made no sense at this point, not to Yūichi. He wasn't listening anymore.

"Hey, teach? I'm ready to go."

He walked out of there and didn't look back. And if he started sniffling again in the car? Well, that was between him and his teacher.

Four months passed in the blink of an eye. Even though he wouldn't admit it out loud, it was the calmest four months of Yūichi's life, at least so far. Slowly, he settled into Tamakoma's routine; in the morning, Mogami or Rindō would drop him off at school (since she went to a different school, Yuri usually went with Kido to save driving around half of the city,) after which the two of them would spend a while over their respective homework, asking the older Border members for help if something proved particularly troublesome.

He learnt about who came to Border on what days; when to expect who where and, slowly, to not repress his Side Effect as much. Except for fighting. Mogami actually said he could do with less of that, especially at the moment, when he wasn't that proficient of a fighter. The man had ruffled his hair and told him that he'd advance in no time though.

Not having to sneak food was also nice. One night he'd gotten really hungry in the middle of the night and snuck down to get something small from the fridge, only to have Rindō walk in and turn the lights on. Yūichi had frozen in place like a headlight, ready for a scolding, but the man had simply waved at him and grabbed a glass of water. In the morning, he'd also reminded Yūichi that he had the right to food, he didn't have to sneak around.

"Alright, everyone ready? The countdown is set to fifteen, so be ready!" Kiriyama's voice rang out, pulling the boy out of his thoughts.

"Will you make it? Wouldn't it be easier if you and Kai switched places?" Someone behind Yūichi, probably Shinoda, asked.

"Actually… Could one of you go on my spot and I'll go up front? Kizaki, maybe you?"

Reiji nodded, then stood up and moved to the designated spot… Only to realise he'd been moved right next to Yuri. It was no secret that the poor guy was crushing on her hard. Yūichi smirked.

"Alright then, everybody ready? Three, two, one…"

The man clicked the photo, then rushed to his spot, the camera flashing just after he made it there. Everyone broke their formation and walked over to the camera.

Kido's already bright smile turned to laughter as he looked at the photo. "Kiriyama!"

"What is it, what is it?" Yūichi found himself asking alongside all of the other kids.

Kiriyama smiled and turned the camera towards the rest of the Border members in order to allow them to see the photo.

"Kiriyama, you prick! You set the timer to less than you said you would, no wonder it caught me off guard!" Kai burst out, but he was laughing alongside everyone else.

"Look at Shinoda, you can't even tell where exactly he's looking!"

"Reiji's better, look at the poor guy-"

"Hey, Jin. Look at that," nudged the boy, pointing at the photo. "You and Mogami managed to look at the same spot, without even trying to. Ain't that something?"

Yeah. It was definitely something, just like the whole of Border.

The best kind of something. Something like home.