Disclaimer: This is a work of fiction. Any coincidental relations and similarities to real world persons and events are strictly unintentional. The Sekirei anime and Manga are not owned by me nor do I claim to own them in whole or in part. All the characters depicted herein are copyright to the creator of Sekirei.

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Sekirei Days - Miya

Asama Miya woke up from her deep slumber, rubbing away the dried tears that crusted on her eyes while she was asleep. Turning her head from side to side, her glance caught the huddled form of Kusano under the blanket. Smiling gently, Miya lightly brushed Ku's hair to expose the child's sleeping face. As she looked on, her gentle smile slowly slipped and grew into a frown. Kusano was just a child; yet she was involved in this crazy game invented by a crazy man. To think that her husband was a friend of that man... Well... No. She wouldn't soil her husband's memory. She was sure that, if Takehito were alive, this game could have been less deadlier. Briefly, she wondered again if she was doing the right thing. She could change the face of the Sekire plan. All she had to do was flick a finger and MBI would be finished; and with that, the Sekirei plan as well. But she did promise Takehito when he was still alive; when they left the island behind. She had promised never to unleash her fearsome powers except to defend herself. Even Karasuba was safe from her, as long as Karasuba didn't attack. Grimly, she got off the futon and stood up quietly, very careful not to wake the sleeping Ku.

Shrugging her moody thoughts away, Miya put on her genteel landlady facade and got ready to face the day. First off was a bath, she thought to herself. No lady in her right mind would go anywhere else first thing in the morning except to the baths. That was what she had learned while taking human etiquette classes back on the island. At first it was hard for her. She didn't understand a human's need for hygiene... Bathing was so tedious. After all, the ship provided quick and efficient sonic baths to cleanse the body of dirt. But if she were to live here in this world, then she would have to do as the people did. She was sure there was a clichéd saying for that, but she couldn't quite remember. It was one of those trivial things. At any rate, she had come to appreciate bathing. Among other things, it was relaxing and very conducive to constructive thinking.

Miya slowed as she neared the bath. She paused at the door and looked around with studied leisure. Everything was quiet. Everyone was asleep. Which was good. She valued her privacy in the bath. Not that she didn't appreciate bathing with others from time to time. She certainly liked bathing with Takehito.

"Oops... Naughty thoughts, naughty thoughts. Fu... Good thing they can't read minds", she said softly to herself, a sly grin threatening to break out on her face.

Stepping into the bath's anteroom, Miya closed the sliding door and took off her robe. It was a plain white shrine maiden's robe with purple skirting. Twice a day, she would change outfits. One shrine maiden's robe after the morning bath and one shrine maiden's robe after the evening bath. It was quite tedious to wash them since the clothes were voluminous, but since Minato and his gang moved in, she was able to delegate washing to him or one of his sekirei. Fu fu fu, she giggled inwardly. It was good they didn't notice. After all, there were a lot of girls here and only two men. If Minato were a little more observant, perhaps he would notice that Asama Miya's underwear was always missing from the laundry. And if he dared to ask her where her underwear was... What would she say? As far as Miya was concerned, a shrine maiden's robe was thick enough that wearing underwear was useless.

Having disrobed, Miya stepped into the bathing chamber and started running the water; hot enough to make it steam, but not enough to burn. Going to one wall, she opened a recessed compartment and took out her bath time companion, a yellow rubber duck which was more valuable than it looked. Thanks to Matsu's technical wizardry, the duck was an ingenious way to keep herself abreast of everything that happened in her inn. A must have for hard core gossip mongers. Not that she was a gossip monger. She was just ever curious. Duck in hand, Miya stepped into the hot tub and let her thoughts drift.

Takehito. He's been dead long since. More than long enough for her to have found someone else. But she never did find anyone else. Takehito's image was still larger than life in her mind. Not only did she owe him for showing her what life on earth was like, she had loved him and still did. In some cases, Minato was much like her dead husband. Minato was very protective of his sekirei as Takehito was protective to those sekirei assigned to him. But that's where the similarities ended. Takehito was grown up. Minato was still growing up. But well, for as long as he behaved like Takehito towards the sekirei, she, Asama Miya, would secretly protect him. Indeed, the sekirei needed all the help they could get.

As she relaxed in her bath, the first glimmers of life began to surface. The built-in speakers hidden inside the duck started to emit sound. From what she could hear, it would seem that all of Minato's sekirei had once again slept in his room. Miya clucked her tongue then giggled. She would let them have fun for a while then nip it in the bud. With that thought in mind, she got up from the bath to shampoo her long mane of purple hair. She had received a lot of stares because of her hair, but no one ever had the courage to ask her why it was purple. But purple was really her hair color, so even if someone was brave enough to ask, what would she answer? Shrugging the thought aside, Miya proceeded to vigorously scrub her skin with soap. When she was done, she rinsed her hair and body, eager to get dry and into her clothing. Finally dressed, she marched upstairs with a glint in her eyes, eager to act as the prim and proper hostess. Where the spatula in her hand came from, no one knows...