Sweet Memories

Hi!

Sorry, I didn't mean to startle you.

I know what you're thinking right now, "You're…!", right?

I know, because it's the same thing I thought when I saw your face. Neat, huh?

Listen, I know it's kind of sudden, but can we go sit on that bench and talk?

Thanks, I'm really nervous to be talking to you in person like this.

You, too, huh?

Yeah, the only time we have actually talked was in the dreams. You remember the dreams, right? I know I do. Those dreams are my most treasured and precious memory, and…

(clears throat)

Anyway, once we started sharing the dreams, I knew I had to find you, because you were the one, you know? The one destined to become my Ashikbi.

What's an Ashikabi?

Well, I'll have to explain Sekirei to you for that one.

Okay, long story short, Sekirei are aliens that Minaka Sahashi, yeah, that MBI guy, found in a spaceship on Kamakura Island about twenty years ago. There are exactly one hundred and eight of us, and w all have different powers and abilitites that we can use.

What's mine?

(laughter)

You're taking this pretty well, all things considered. My power, like my name and number, isn't important right now. What is important is spending time with you right now.

Where was I…

Right, Ashikabi.

An Ashikabi is someone we are born to love, and through our Ashikabi's love, we grow stroger and better able to protect and care for our Ashikabi. We never know just who it is until we get close enough to them for our bodies to react.

You felt it too, didn't you? That intense heat, the pounding of your heart in your chest, and the absolute certainty that your missing half was nearby. Yeah, intense, isn't it?

Well, at any rate, you can't be my Ashikabe anymore, I got winged against my will.

What does that mean?

Weeeellll…

Okay, when a Sekirei, like me, meets their Ashikabe, like you would have been, they seal the bond with a kiss. The kiss imprints the Ashikabe's DNA on the Sekirei and connects them with bonds of love for all eternity.

However, and this is the big one here, any Ashikabe can wing a Sekirei, regardless of whether or not they're reacting to the Ashikabe or not. We call it force-winging, and it's kind of like being raped, I guess.

No, I've never been touched like that; I was saving myself for you. If only…

Nevermind, that's in the past. A sekirei can only be winged once, and that's that.

(A deep, mournful sigh)

Do I love my Ashikabe? No, not really. It's kind of like loving the warden at your prison, you know? The warden's there, every day, and you feel something for them, not love, just something,but if you could, you'd be gone like the wind.

At any rate, I had to see you, face-to-face as they say, and talk to you. Even if I can't be winged by you, I had to see you and know your warmth before I'm taken out of this horrible game.

I mean the Sekirei Plan. It's a cruel and horrible game where we Sekirei fight each other in a sort of battle-royal until only one of us is left, then that Sekirei and their Ashikabe gain the prize and can ascend into the higher skies. No clue what that means, but it's what we got told before that psycho let us out. The part that makes it cruel is that any Sekirei who has lost a match also loses their crest, and can't be with their Ashikabe anymore. For those like me, it's kind of a blessing, but for the ones lucky enough to find their Ashikabe, it's the cruelest of torment. Fight for love, but risk losing it at the same time, and all for the entertainment of a madman.

(Silent tears, a comforting embrace)

Thank you. At least now I can remember you warmth and scent, along with the dreams.

I'm almost out of time, but I want one more memory of you to carry away with me.

Could you kiss me? I've already been winged, so it won't change anything, but at least this way, we'll both have the memory of it.

Please?

(Warm embrace, and a tender, loving, yet sorrowful kiss. They separate.)

Thank you.

Good bye, my Ashikabe. Stay safe, and always remember that I love you.

(The Sekirei leaves, tears streaming from their eyes.)

Author's Notes:

It kind of ruins the mood to put this here, but I wanted to touch on the Sekirei that get force-winged. What if one was almost there when they got caught? What then? I figured that they would at least try to meet their Ashikabe once, before resigning themselves to a life of servitude. And I really do think that the force-winging is kind of like rape to the Sekirei. At any rate, let me know how you feel about this one, okay?

Oh, and I don't own Sekirei.