Note: Hello! I absolutely looooove Sekirei, and I've wanted to write a fanfic about that amazing anime/mana for a loooong time- now I finally have! I was inspired to actually begin writing this by the amazing RykOakwine and his equally as amazing fanfic, No Game for Old Men! Please make sure to check it out as well! I worked really hard, I hope you all do enjoy but please leave feedback! Thank you very much!

-Yuli

Chapter 1

A piece of strawberry shortcake shined in the moonlight as it was being eaten, quickly devoured in a minute.

"Mm!" A satisfied smile appeared on pink lips, a small hand patting a trim stomach. "That was good!" A feminine voice rang out, brown boots clicking onto the cement side walk. Small hands clutched onto a cat-shaped purse, a long, flowing, off-white skirt that ended just above her ankles swayed as she walked. Nimble fingers pushed circular modern glasses towards her face, reflecting off the moonlight. Naoko Kobayashi stopped underneath a streetlamp where the crosswalk was; stretching her clothed arms and releasing a silent yawn. It was roughly around 21:00 (9:00pm), and Naoko was extremely tired. Opening emerald irises, directly across from her on the other side of the street on the opposite sidewalk was another girl. Naoko smiled awkwardly at the other, studying her closely. She had long hair that was so orange Naoko couldn't even call it 'red', a white with thin black vertical striped button up shirt, a black tie, an overall dress that began under her large bust with material which definitely wasn't denim; more like a light blue cotton material that made the dress go into a flowing short skirt type of look, black thigh highs, and brown loafers that school girls would wear. It was kind of… cute. Naoko smiled at how cute the outfit was, but her smile quickly evaded once she focused on the girls' face. She looked like she was lost, dazed, sad, and just… in another planet.

Snapping Naoko back into reality, a white walking figure appeared on the crosswalk light, signaling her to go. She took a step, but quickly tripped on a rock that she hadn't noticed. Falling on her face, her glasses knocked off her face and into the street.

"A-Ahh!" Naoko yelped, scrambling to her feet. Feeling that her glasses weren't on, she, with her limited vision, spotted them on the road. What she failed to notice, however, that a car was speeding down the street. Walking onto the road, she reached for her glasses—directly in front of the car. Seconds before a fatal accident, Naoko and her glasses were pulled back onto the sidewalk.

"—?!" Naoko yelped, breathing heavily as the car whirred past her. Turning to what pulled her back; she was surprised to see the same girl as before. She had grey coloured eyes that Naoko must have missed when she studied her; they were so beautiful yet mysterious. Those mystical grey orbs stared into Naoko's, soft lips forming to say a simple, yet blunt

"Be careful."

"Uh…" Naoko paused, memorized by all that was happening around her. "O-o…okay…" She spoke softly, pallid hands gripping onto her glasses tightly. Before she knew it, the girl had disappeared, leaving Naoko breathless.

"What… was that…?" She questioned, placing her sleek glasses onto her face. Eyes focusing like a camera lens, Naoko gazed at the world around her, unsure of what to do. Shaking her head, the small female grasped onto her bag tightly, and dashed off to her destination.

"… She pulled me back, and then just ran away!" A frail voice spoke erratically, but quickly retracted once she was conscious of this fact. Naoko was a very soft spoken girl who didn't like to cause scenes or draw any form of attention to her. She was usually found in a café, book store, or the library reading books on end to help extract herself from her lonely life. Naoko wasn't particularly happy with her life—or even herself. She didn't have anything exciting going on, she was always alone, and no one really associated themselves with her. She wasn't always like this, though. She once had so many friends, so much potential, so much of well… everything. But her parents divorced, her mother remarried while her father died a miserable drunk, her step father did some… inappropriate things to her, her mother ignored her, and one by one each of her 'friends' left. So, in response, she acted out. She was the stereotypical bad girl; getting into fights and not caring about the world around her, attempting destroy her already broken life. But one day, she realized how her attitude was destroying her when her mother kicked her out. It was then that Naoko realized that she needed to change. So, she returned to her love of reading, chopped off her hair, moved away, and started over… but no one told her how hard resetting her life would actually be. The only real joy in her life was her boyfriend, Kiyoshi. Kiyoshi and Naoko began dating when she moved to Shinto Teito, and soon started a full blown relationship. They've been going steady for about 3 years now, and everyone was waiting for Kiyoshi to pop the question. But he hadn't yet… Naoko wondered if he even wanted to.

"I hope I can meet her again… I want to properly thank her…" Naoko was walking down the street with Kiyoshi, waiting patiently for a response from him. But all he did was kind of nod, and gaze off to the side. His girlfriend noticed this, and sighed, feeling extremely helpless. As of late, Kiyoshi had been very… distracted, not having any time for Naoko. She tried prying into him, but he immediately shut her out and told her he was fine. Of course Naoko didn't believe it—she wasn't stupid.

"A…are you listening?" She cautiously questioned, gazing up at him through her glasses.

"Oh…uh… yeah honey, you look super cute today." The Japanese man's words stabbed into Naoko like a knife. She just wanted to scream 'what's the matter with you?!', but restrained herself. Heaving a heavy sigh, she glanced down at her outfit, wondering if he was at least giving an honest compliment. She adorned herself in her normal attire: A mint green sweater, long flowing white skirt, and knee high brown boots that were mostly covered by her skirt. Her straight dark brown hair was cut into a choppy yet neatly styled bob with bangs, but her two front pieces of hair were long enough where they almost landed on her shoulders. She was a very pretty girl, but she would never see herself as such. Her boyfriend wasn't bad himself, with choppy black hair, blue eyes, a black cardigan with a maroon undershirt, blue jeans, and a pair of white sneakers.

"Thank… you…" Naoko wanted to cry, she felt like she was losing him, but didn't know why. She didn't understand why he was being so aloof… so cruel. Tears welled in her pretty green eyes as she thought about losing her boyfriend, teeth grit as she tried to fight them back. Finally composing herself, she looked up to see that he was well… gone. She gasped, frantically looking around for him—but he was nowhere to be seen.

While she was searching for him, that beautiful orange hair caught her eye, flowing past her. Turning towards where the hair was going, it donned on Naoko that it was the same girl as before!

"Ah w-wait, please!" Naoko waved her arms, following the other. She followed her into an alley, seeing her stand between two girls in dark grey cloaks. One was wrapped in gauze and had huge gauntlets with… fingers like knives; while the other had heavy combat gloves and bright pink hair. Naoko felt anxiety pool into her stomach, filling her entirely; yet, she did not want to leave—she had to watch. She hid behind a trash can, poking her head out slightly to see what was going on. The orange haired girl stood with her defenses up, eyeing the two carefully.

"C'mon 17, face your punishment!" The pink haired one snarled, raising her fist to hit '17.' The wrapped one raised her gauntlets that almost resembled claws, ready to strike in unison with the other. Naoko gulped, taking a shaky breath, and stepping out behind the trashcan.

"Excuse me!" She spoke nervously, waving her arms and stepping in between the girls while standing beside '17.' The two girls lowered their hands, staring at Naoko questionably.

"What the hell do you want?!" The pink haired one barked at Naoko, sending a chill down her spine.

"I… I don't think you guys should fight! Why don't you all just talk whatever this is out at a café or something…I…I'll pay!"

"Piss off!" The pink haired girl yelled, raising her fist again. "Or you'll get hurt too!"

"I-I'm not…not leaving! S-she saved me now, I have to save…her…" Naoko shut her eyes, holding her breath—preparing for the worst.

"Tch… fine bitch!" She was about to punch the girl straight in the face, but halted once pink irises landed upon what unfolded before her.

17's plump lips pressed against Naoko's thin ones, grey orbs shut tight as the other's widened. Erupting from her back seemed to be a pair of wings, big and beautiful wings. Parting lips from the girl, 17 turned to face the pink haired one, narrowing her grey eyes.

"You—!" The other female yelled, taking her fist and attempting to punch 17 in the face, but to no avail. Grasping onto her hand, 17 opened her mouth to let out a

"I will not stand for your abuse any longer, Benitsubasa." The newly identified Tsubame yelled, taking Benitsubasa's hand and twisting it, causing the other to scream out in pain.

"YOU FUCKING CUNT!" Benitsubasa attempted to hit her with her other hand, but Tsubame quickly dodged it and head butted her, causing the angry girl to fall back on her ass.

"W-who are you…?!" The grey haired one stepped back, too stunned to use her attacks. Tsubame's grey irises shifted towards the other, allowing her to fix her posture and speak clearly.

"I am #17, Tsubame, Sekirei of the Phoenix." Tsubame returned to her defensive position, eyeing the other carefully.

"Benitsubasa, Haihane, leave. She's been winged; we cannot bring her back now." A commanding voice came from atop one of the buildings on the alleyway, clutching onto her nodachi tightly. Haihane immediately followed orders, appearing beside the other.

"But, Karasuba—!" Benitsubasa protested, but was quickly shut down. "This aint over, swallow." Benitsubasa sneered, disappearing along with Haihane.

Turning towards Naoko, her eyebrows raised seeing the other on the ground, all the way backed up against one of the brick walls. She was breathing heavily, blush dying her pale face red, glasses fogged and falling off her face. Bending down, Tsubame smiled and fixed Naoko's glasses, bushing herself.

"W…" Naoko began, causing Tsubame to tilt her head.

"W-w…"

"W-wha…"

"W-what was that!? Why d-did you kiss me?! W-what is your problem!? I…I'm not into girls!" Naoko screamed, grabbing the girl by the shoulders and shaking her. "I-I have a boyfriend! W-why would you…why?!" Tears began to form in the angry girl's eyes, which were looking directly into the others.

"I… I love you… that's why." Tsubame spoke quietly, a very concerned expression on her face.

"W-WHAT?! YOU L-LOVE ME?! No! N-no you can't… I don't k-know you!"

"But… you're my ashikabi… I love you… I will protect you… do whatever you need…"

"W-Whaaaat?!"

Heavy footsteps pressed onto the wooden staircase, black hair covering weary blue eyes. Big calloused hands shoved into small jean pockets, white teeth gnawing on a piece of strawberry-flavoured gum. Kiyoshi wasn't very in touch with his feelings, but he knew that he was stressed; so stressed it was causing him to distance himself from his beloved Naoko. He loved Naoko, loved the way she would get all red and stutter while she was embarrassed, her cute smile, her array of sweaters, books, and cat-themed items. He loved how she would go on and on about her day, usually repeating herself because she was a little ditzy and didn't remember which parts of her stories she had already said. He loved the way she would cling to him while they slept—with her stuffed cat, Bebe, in between them. Kiyoshi just loved… her. But, it was becoming extremely difficult to be with her. He didn't know if he should stay or go, he loved her so much that the thought of leaving tore him to pieces… but if he stayed, his secret that's been stashed in a hotel until his money ran out would tear them to pieces.

Sighing, Kiyoshi shook the thoughts about Naoko out of his head; inserting the key and unlocking the door. The young Japanese male stepped inside the small, cramped apartment he and Naoko shared, shutting the door behind him. Their apartment was modern and more westernized in style, but still maintained traditional Japanese-style components. Setting aside his keys and removing his jacket, he froze once he heard a sultry, yet angry voice interrupt the silence.

"You still haven't told her about me, have you, Kiyoshi?"

"Ugh…" Kiyoshi signed in annoyance, spitting out his gum at the trashcan by the front door. "No, I haven't, Chihiro." He hissed, turning around to face a slender, yet curvaceous woman leaning against the wall; turning to meet his sekirei.

Note: Benitsubasa calls Tsubame "Swallow" because in Japanese, the name Tsubame (燕) means "Barn Swallow", which is the opposite of what Tsubame referred to herself as—"Sekirei of the Phoenix".

Naoko's name can be written as 直子, meaning "Straight child" which relates to her straight forward personality, also in certain writing/aspects her name can mean "green child", relating to the colour of her eyes.

Kiyoshi's name can be written as 淳, meaning "Pure", which is ironic due to his secret of having his own sekirei.

Chihiro's name is written as 千博, meaning "A thousand fathoms", this is also the name of the heroine in Spirited Away.

Tsubame's outfit is the same as Asa Shigure's from the anime series Shuffle!

Naoko's outfit is the same as a Project Diva F module for Luka Megurine for the song "Megane"- this outfit module is called "light and fluffy"

Second Coming refers to the poem "Second Coming" by W.B. Yeats