Yūma Kuga 6

This article is about Chapter 38. For other uses, see Yūma Kuga (disambiguation).

Short summary
''Yūma participates in Virtual Training and C-Rank War. Meanwhile, Commander Kido asks Director Rindō about the new recruits and their goal.''

Long summary
In order to raise his point, Yūma participates in Virtual Training, and having done all the training he can that week, Yūma manages to raise his score up to 1100. While Yūma figuring how long will he takes to reach 4000 points, Tokieda informs him that if he keeps getting full marks, it will take 19 weeks to reach B-Rank with just joint training. When Yūma says he can't possibly wait that long, Tokieda takes him to the lobby for C-Rank Wars and explains how it works. Tokieda notes that he will gain more points if he defeats opponents with higher points. He adds that Yūma also able to gain points from those with the lower points, but if he loses, he will lose the greatest amount of points.

In another room, three C-Rank agents discuss among themselves on how the "Strong Ones" will not take an unnecessary risk by challenging opponents with higher points. When they receive a challenge from someone with low points, the leader jumps up and decides to teach this "weak" rookie about the harshness of reality. The two fighters enter Cityscape A, and their battle begins. When Yūma appears, the leader is not only terrified, but loses splendidly. The same happens with his teammates. Impressed at how much faster the Rank Wars will get him points, Yūma instantly prefers this method, but Replica cautions him from beating his opponents too badly.

Meanwhile, Kido observes Yūma's progress and asks Kazama for his opinion. Since he is still a trainee and cannot be challenged, Kazama can only guess that if Yūma had a combat Trigger, he would most likely be at the master level, around 8,000 points. Shinoda says that they should have started him at 3,000 points and raised him to B-Rank earlier. Inwardly, Rindō admits that he had wanted to do that, but was afraid Kido would reject his idea. Kido then demands to know why Yūma doesn't use his Black Trigger, as it is the fastest way to be promoted to S-Rank. Rindō says that if Yūma had used his Black Trigger, Kido would seize it since he didn't give any approval regarding its use.

When Kido brings up the incident where Chika blew a hole in the side of Border HQ, Rindō asks him to give her a chance as she will be useful in the future. Kido asks the purpose of putting both Yūma and Chika together. Rindō says that Chika's brother and friend were abducted by Neighbors, and now Yūma and Osamu are helping her to get them back. Kido calls this ridiculous, but Rindō says it will be good for them to have a purpose, whether revenge or rescue. He looks to Kazama, who says he isn't seeking revenge for his brother, unlike Miwa. Kazama mentions that Miwa has changed since the mission last month when Arashiyama said something to him. Just then, Jin walks in, and Shinoda begins their discussion on the future: a large-scale Neighbor invasion.

Yūma buys a drink from a vending machine and Replica attempts to explain metal coins versus paper money and the concept of change. Miwa walks up and confronts Yūma.

Characters in order of appearance

 * Yūma Kuga
 * Mitsuru Tokieda
 * Kōda Squad
 * Replica
 * Masamune Kido
 * Takumi Rindō
 * Masafumi Shinoda
 * Sōya Kazama
 * Ai Kitora (Flashback)
 * Chika Amatori (Flashback)
 * Osamu Mikumo (Flashback)
 * Rinji Amatori (Flashback)
 * Aoba Harukawa (Flashback)
 * Jun Arashiyama (Flashback)
 * Yūichi Jin
 * Shūji Miwa