Before Border

I Wasn't Dreaming

"Jin, can you announce in my place for the B rank wars today? I have something to...take care of..." Rindo suddenly became awkward.

"Sure! It's Arashiyama Squad's match today! I'd love to!" Jin cheered and nearly ran through the entire HQ in excitement.

"I thought you'd be excited. Thank you, be good, bye." Rindo grabbed his keys and was out the door before Jin could say "Mikumo".

Jin left shortly after with his trigger and a bag of fried rice crackers to tell Inukai, Tsuji, and Arashiyama the news. He changed into his trion body so he could get there faster, knowing that no one would do anything to him for using his trigger this way. No one really bothered Jin now, but there was still tension between him and Kido. Everyone was a little on edge even though it had been nearly 2 years since the old man's death.

However, Soichi wasn't the only name shaking up Border. Between all of the branch commanders and heads of Border, one name kept popping up, and Jin finally knew why.

Flashback 2 weeks previous

Jin walked through the winding halls of Border, past the room where Jun's older brother had resided with his team. Now the sniper was the team captain, and no one had taken Arashiyama's place yet, because they had been a 4 combatant team anyways.

He overheard some voices speaking in a strained, hushed tone in the main meeting room, and decided to listen in.

"Kido, think about it. Yugo. Do you not remember him? He was the only one you ever listened to, why are you acting this way? Think about what Yugo wanted. He was my teacher, I owe it to him to pass down his knowledge to you. Please don't push us all away. Not again Kido. Please not again." Shinoda's voice was panicked and upset.

"I don't care. He was a neighbor. He was as bad as the rest of them." Kido responded, and something clicked inside Jin's head.

Shinoda fought like a neighbor because he was trained by one. Kido had something against neighbors because of a man named Yugo. But what did Yugo do?

"He lied to all of us. He fooled us all, even me. I don't think any neighbor deserves to come to Earth and make it back out alive." Kido's voice was stone cold.

"You're not listening, Kido! Yugo didn't do anything. When he was leaving more people came in. It wasn't his fault. He didn't do anything. If he would have stayed, the same thing would have happened. He's been loyal to us until death, if he's dead, we don't even know!" Shinoda responded.

"I know. I know he's dead. I can feel it." Kido said, and a sudden crashing noise could be heard. Shinoda stormed out, not even noticing Jin, who stood there, wide eyed.

Jin waited a moment, then turned to go into the meeting room. He entered to see Kido straightening out a metal pencil cup.

"Yes Jin." It was more of a statement than a question.

"I came to report that I will be using training room A7 with some B-Rankers I am assisting. Permission?"  Jin would still not look Kido in the eye.

"Granted." Kido waved Jin off.

End of flashback

Jin continued his trek to the main Border HQ, the thought of Yugo still fresh in his mind. The new year was nearing, and with it had come the freezing cold December air. The seasons in Meedem had always mystified Jin, though the cold bit at his face.

He came up on one of the hidden entrances, and pulled out his ID. He scanned it at the door, which then creaked open, letting him in to a short passageway to a hall near the room Inukai, Tsuji, and Jun would be waiting.

The match would be starting in a half hour, and Jin was excited to see how the new Arashiyama squad would match up against another B-rank team. By default they were in last place of the B-Rankers, but Jin was sure that would change soon.

They stacked up against Jin fairly well, so he had good faith in them. Plus the recent protection duties they had been on went well.

Jin came up on the door to their operations room, and let himself in to see them huddle around a table, carefully going over strategies. Jin smiled at them as they all looked up at him, greeting him warmly.

"How does it feel to be the youngest B rank squad?" Jin asked them, and they all laughed.

"Pretty amazing, especially since we have the little Inukai, only 9 years old!" Jun teased.

"Hey! It's not like you're much older!" Inukai complained, but Jun just laughed.

"I'm basically a year older! So is Jin!" Jun laughed, and Inukai joined in.

"Well joke's on you because now I'm technically the youngest B-Ranker ever" Inukai retorted.

"Just keep talking." Tsuji smirked. He was only 8 now, it was a wonder anyone let him in Border. I guess things happened when you knew someone like Jin.

"We need help with our strategy." Jun became more serious now, and the other boys nodded.

"Well, I'm sorry to say I can't help you." Jin sighed, closing his eyes and feigning sadness.

"Aw why? Is everything okay?" Inukai tugged at Jin's sleeve, worried about his friend.

"Yeah. I just can't help you because I'm doing commentary for your match!" Jin exclaimed excitedly. He would be eliminated from commentary if he already knew their approach, or the battle field they would choose since they were the lowest ranked team in the match.

"Really?" Jun gasped, and Jin nodded. "AWESOME! You can tell everyone how amazing we are!"

"I'm probably going to hold back on that, I can't say much because we need to keep your talents a secret. People are going to assume they will get an easy victory against a bunch of kids. It's your job to prove them horribly wrong. Be careful about all the skills you show early on, because your future opponents will start to be more careful around you if they get to know how skilled you really are." Jin lectured, and they all nodded, determined looks on their faces.

"To the first ever Tamakoma squad!" Jun put his fist forward, and everyone else nodded and put their fists in with his. Even Jin.

"Alright boys, the match starts soon! Jin, you better go meet up with the other announcer, have fun!" Tamima reminded than and they all nodded. Jun turned to her, his fist clenched with determination at his chest.

"We can do this." He said in a lower voice than usual. All the young boys smirked with determination, knowing they could overcome the challenge of being the youngest team border had ever seen.

And Jin was ready to witness it.