Chapter 1

Hanatarou Tanaka leaned back in his chair and sighed, having finished another finance report. Being a 3-year accountant, he has become fairly used to crunching numbers for hours on-end, except he was called into over-time today by his supervisor Hirano Namikaze. Hanatarou deftly arranged the finance report, did a quick once-over to make sure he made no errors and was quickly glad he did; he found a simple error where he forgot to carry a number over and rectified his mistake. Finishing his once-over with a nod to signify his satisfaction, he tucked in the report into a manilla folder and went over to Hirano's desk to deposit it on the "completed" bin. Hinaro, who was busy on the phone with a client, put a hand over the receiver and with the slightest of smiles said, "Good work Tanaka-san. You can head out now, I've kept you working long enough. Hanatarou simply nodded and waved, taking off his coant and slinging it over his shoulder. Before he escaped his workplace, he made a quick detour to the restroom and took a leak, sighing once again but in relief.

One hell of a day. Hanatarou mused to himself. I can't imagine taking anymore overtime like this next week. I'm bound to burn out! He shuddered a bit, imagining him absolutely fried trying to work the stock market. A true recipe for disaster, that. The young accountant wisely decided it would be in his best interest to leave his current investments alone. He finished his business in the restroom and left the building do bask in the mid-afternoon sun. I'm still not used to that, working from 6pm to 2am. Hanatarou pondered. What was to his internal clock evening was to the rest of Shinto Teito the liveliest part of the day. Hanatarou may be too exhausted to work on his own finances, but he figured he could still have a few games of Chess with the old geezers he meets every now and then at the park just down the road. As he strolled over to the crosswalk he lifted his head up and gazed at the clouds, wondering what to do for dinner. Being so submerged in his thoughts, he didn't notice a pair of figures jumping at impossible speeds and bounding inhuman distances from rooftop to rooftop. Hanatarou didn't even notice one of thos figures slipping and falling down into an alleyway and straight into an open dumpster.

Sekirei #02 Matsu's feet got caught on a ledge on that last rooftop she was attempting to leap over and wound up falling into the alleyway below. Being the brain-type she is, she threw her arms and legs out in a skydiver's stance to attempt to control her descent and aimed herself at the open dumpster right in front of her. Tucking in her arms and legs and executing a frontflip, she landed bum-first into the dumpster with an audible "Oof!" Pulling herself from the disgusting refuse, she looked up to see Sekirei #10 Uzume peering down in the alleyway, worry painted all over her beautiful features.

"Matsu! Are you ok?" The Sekirei in question had a banana peel currently slapped on her lips like a starfish and some sort of slimy substance on her palms she'd rather not know the name of, opted for an OK sign with her hands. Uzume snapped her head up to see their pursuers surveying their surroundings, having lost their prey for the moment. Uzume turned back down towards Matsu and called out, "Stay there, I'll lure them away!" Uzume rose from her kneeling position and quickly resumed her flight from the Disciplinary Squad.

Haihane caught the movement with her peripheral vision and focused on the fleeing Veiled Sekirei and called to Benitsubasa, "There she is!" and continued the chase. Thankfully, neither of them bothered to look down the alley they just bounded over to see Matsu cleaning herself off as best as she could. After #02 finished, she slid to the end of the alley and peeked her head out like a certain brown mouse would to make sure a certain blue cat wasn't in the area. Once she deemed it was safe enough, she calmly blended in to the crowd and made her way to the park across the street, hoping the trees would give her overhead cover from MBI's satellites. The bespectacled Sekirei found herself fairly deep in the park and noticed a tall birch tree next to a trio of geezers enjoying a board game and drinks and decided it would be an ideal perch for her wagtail self. Stealthily leaping up to the tree's thick limbs, she took a moment to survey her surroundings through the gaps in the foliage and noticed a young man dressed in the standard working man's outfit trudging over towards the 3 old codgers. That young man turned out to be none other than...

Hanatarou raised a hand in greeting to the three old men on their usual meeting spot while the grandpas all cried out in unison, "Hanatarou-sama!" The first coot went by the name of Kentarou. He was dressed in old work jeans, stained with soil, paint and beer, a blue shirt and with a straw hat upon his cranium like a king's crown. Kentarou rose up from his seat and embraced Hanatarou with a good-natured laugh. The second who responded to Nijima, had a similar ensemble of clothing like Kentarou's, except his shirt was teal and had a breast pocket. From the depths of said pocket, he withdrew a pack of cigarettes and a lighter and offered Hanatarou one, which he declined. The third, named Sanji brought out a bottle of green tea from their cooler and extended it towards Hanatarou, which he graciously accepted with a thank you. Sanji was sporting faded khakis and a light purple shirt, with a red and white baseball cape with a capital N on the front. Nijima spoke up once the young accountant had settled down across from him on the table while Sanji and Kentarou continued their game, "How was work, Hana-sama? We couldn't help but notice you were a tad late in joining us!"

The self-made stockbroker downed a mouthful of green tea and replied, "Rather tiring Nijima. Hirano had to ask I stay for some overtime." The three geezers voiced their outrage simultaneously, as if their baseball team had just struck out on the ninth inning. Considering their age however, it was a rather mild flavour of outrage.

"Why, that good-fer-nothin' superviser of yers, I betcha it was his work an' he didn't feel like doin' it so he just left it to ya!" Sanji grumbled while moving his rook in a position to check his opponent. Kentarou was nodding his silent agreement until he finally looked down at the board and noticed the predicament he was placed in. While the old codger across from him furrowed his brow in concentration, he continued his little rant, "Next time ya see 'im, ya make sure to give 'im a piece of yer mind fer bein' such a lazy good fer nothin'!"

Hanatarou chuckled at his weathered friend's speech, "Sanji, don't you think you're being a bit to presumptuous? It was my client's fault I ended up having to work overtime! He ended up forgetting to file some of his numbers too late." All three old coots once again opened their mouths, undoubtedly to slander said client but the sharp young man interrupted them, "He even sent me a letter personally apologizing, aaand he included a coupon to his brother's ramen place!" On cue, he brandished said coupon from the depths of his coat's pocket. "50% off my order! Guess where we're heading after I had a game, eh?" Sanji and Nijima both whooped for joy after hearing this but Kentarou had a look of skepticism.

"Now hold on just one bloody minute! Which ramen place is this?" He drawled with a squint in his beady eyes. Being a former chef at a four-star restaurant, he took food rather seriously.

Hanatarou smiled, anticipating this line of questioning, "None other than Makunouchi's place, 5 blocks down from here!" The three geezers jaws all dropped, a waterfall of drool suddenly gushing from their chins.

Nijima rose from his seat with the energy of a man 35 years younger, "Well, what are we waiting for?!" He made to run off in the direction of Makunouchi's but was stopped when Kentarou grabbed his forearm, a strong aura of energy surging from him.

"Just where do ya think yer goin' ya senile bastard?" Kentarou sneered, saying words only old friends could get away with saying towards each other. "I ain't done handing Sanji's ass back to 'im!" At this, the four men gathered simultaneously turned towards the board to see Kentarou's right hand reach out to his queen and block the advance on his king while at the same time putting Sanji in checkmate!

Nijima whistled in appreciation at the abrupt reversal of fortunes. "The best defence is a good offence. Well done Kentarou." Kentarou started to bask in the limelight of the compliments but was quickly scowled when Nijima continued, "I guess even a burnt-out old codger like yourself still has a few lucky plays in you, huh?"

Sanji took his loss in stride, knowing he was at fault for not noticing his old friend's gap in his defences was a ploy for him to let down his guard. He rose from his seat at the table and lifted a hand for Kentarou to shake in good sportsmanship. Kentarou didn't leave him hanging; they shook hands and both told the other, "Well played!" and removed themselves from their seats to stretch their weary bones.

Hanatarou played the impartial analyst while all this happened, calling his read of the board's finishing situation with his voice growing in volume with each spoken word, "So Kentarou opened a false hole in his normally stellar defensive line, lured in various power pieces of Sanji in a dangerous game of cat and mouse and struck while on the verge of losing himself! Kentarou, you sly old dog, that could've come back to bite you on the ass hard!" He grinned at the old coot in question. Sanji silently made the next play that would've won him the game, had he had that one more turn to make it. Truly a game only two players could have after knowing each other and their respective play-styles for decades.

Nijima piped up, "Can we go get some delicious ramen now! I'm hungry enough to eat a horse's ass!" Once again, the geezer rose with the energy of someone many decades younger and attempted to run down towards Makunouchi's place, but history repeated itself and he was stopped, this time by Hanatarou, a surge of energy similar to Kentarou's emitting from the young accountant.

"Now you're getting ahead of yourself again, you senile bastard. I still haven't had my game, and there's no way in hell we're gonna go until I've had my fun beating on the elderly!" Hanatarou verbally jabbed at Nijima, already attempting to maneuver himself into a victory by provoking the older man's temper to off-set his game.

Of course, Nijima didn't get to his ripe old age on his rather average looks alone and was quick to catch on to the younger fox's game. He deigned not to dignify Hanatarou's verbal thrust with a response, instead opting to reset the board in preparation for the clash of minds about to take place. Sanji and Kentarou both stood on the sidelines, tired from sitting and each grabbed a fresh drink from the cooler to refresh their dry throats. Both uninvolved geezers gazed down with practiced eyes at the prepared board with the two players of Hanatarou as the black pieces and Nijima as the white and awaited for the figurative bloodbath to begin.

Hanatarou realized his early attempt to rile up Nijima was fruitless and instead decided to let his gameplay do the talking. He opened his arms, saying without words, "Your move." Unbeknownst to the four men, they had a fifth pair of eyes watching their sport from a bird's eye view.

45 minutes later

Since the start of the match, Matsu's eyes hadn't left the board. In hindsight, that wasn't the wisest course of action; she was a wanted fugitive being hunted by MBI and their dogs, the Disciplinary Squad had ways of finding their prey. #02 couldn't help it though. She was treated to one hell of a show by the young man underneath her. His cold and calculating attitude was a tank, unyielding and merciless in it's march towards the inevitable conclusion of this mock-war. Her focus on Hanatarou's exemplary gameplay isn't to be interpreted as Nijima lacking skill. The weathered old coot kept the young accountant on his toes, forcing him to make sacrifices or even straight up lose pieces at no cost to himself, much like any seasoned general would. But Nijima's defenses and counter-offenses wouldn't be enough in light of the onslaught unleashed by Hanatarou's precise placement of his forces and Nijima wound up defeated.

Once the bright stockbroker hammered the final nail in the coffin of Nijima's king, the weary old man raised his hands in surrender and huffed out, "Well that's that. Got my ass handed to me by someone old enough to be my grandson, shame on me." He shook his head in disbelief, a cynical laugh escaping his weathered lips.

Hanatarou leaned back and let out the breath he was holding. After finishing his bottle of green tea, he spoke up, "Don't sell yourself short now Nijima. When you sent your bishop to take my knight and put me in check at the same time, I was afraid you were about to go on a killing spree through my forces. And you would have gotten away with it too, if it wasn't for my meddling rook." The squad of men all erupted in laughter, recognizing where Hanatarou stole that last line from.

Sanji piped up from the sidelines, "Mind if we get going, Hana-sama? It's been a while since we sat down and enjoyed a good bowl of ramen, ya know?"

Hanatarou nodded and rose from his seat, extending a hand in good sportsmanship towards Nijima. Nijima took the offered appendage and both uttered, "Well played!" and prepared to leave for Makunouchi's ramen stand. The unseen spy on the previous game watched Hanatarou stroll away with his posse. What an interesting human. Matsu pondered. His strategy was sound and his tactics were very flexible. His mind, despite his young age is kept to a very keen edge. I can't help but wonder what else he practices~ #02's perverted nature taking over as she chuckled with a blush. Matsu ceased her cackling immediately and raised her hands to her face, feeling the heat in her cheeks. "No way... I'm reacting?" she whispers to herself.

After treating himself and his chessmates to ramen, Hanatarou bid warewell to the old coots and head off towards his home. As he entered the keypad combination to his locked gate, he gazed up at his two-story home and shook his head. "Why did I get the six-bedroom three-bathroom complex again?" He muttered to himself. Hanatarou just shook his head once again and made his way to the front door, keys in hand. "I'm home!...Not like anyone else even lives here." He called out to himself. He hung his coat on the rack by the door and slid his shoes into a basket at the mouth of the hallway leading to the various rooms in his home. The young accountant trudged towards the kitchen, dropping his briefcase on one of the four chairs surrounding his table and waltzed over to the fridge to pour himself a glass of grapefruit juice. He chugged down the juice quickly and started stripping on the way to his bathroom for a shower, keeping all the clothes he wormed out of slung over his shoulder so he could deposit them in his laundry basket. As he bathed himself, he started to reflect upon his life. Working as an accountant and managing stocks on the side, no real close friends beside that trio of old codgers and no girlfriend...am I really ok with that? He asked himself, as if expecting a voice in his head other than his own to answer. Of course, none responded to his inquiry. I mean, it's not like I have a BAD life. I already own the house, I've got more than enough finances to keep me afloat for a year, I'm healthy. It's just...something's missing. Something to fill the void of extra time I've got and I just don't know what. What could it be? The unhappy young man shook his head at his own mental question. He's been asking himself the same question for a year and a half. A small part of him wants to give up his pursuit of happiness and just go with the flow; it's not like he really needed to go out of his way to fill the gap in his life, it wasn't really impeding him from his routine. He was self-disciplined enough to keep on keeping on. After thinking that, another part of him started to boil up to the surface. Give up? That just went against his nature.

Hanatarou decided he'd be better off resting than thinking about his existential crisis right now. Finishing up his shower and drying himself off, he left the bathroom and went to his room to change into his nightly wear of a muscle shirt and basketball shorts. He shambled down to the living room, forgetting his earlier decision to think about it in the morning, completely oblivious to the fact someone was seated in his kitchen, enjoying a snack.

A/N: Apparantly didn't like my previous fix and deigned to have me do that re-write after all! I kept for the most part true to the first chapter, just added a tad more of "me" into it now that I'm getting more in the swing of things. I would've gotten this out to you on the same day I "fixed" chapter 1's spacing last Saturday, but life happened. Unfortunately, this kept my fourth and so far largest chapter from coming out and since I've got uni stuff to do all week, I'm going to be hard-pressed to add the finishing touches on that chapter. Worry not my readers, as I'm writing this, it is at I'd say three-fourths the way there so the wait won't be much longer. Feel free to leave me your constructive criticisms in a review or PM me about them if you so wish, and most importantly, I hope you enjoy my little tale here. Until next time, this is B. Suarez signing off.