It didn't take Miya any longer than the walk to the Inn's indoor washroom to realise that she quite liked the buoyant Sekirei that Takami had chosen as her son's champion. There was a guileless and completely open quality about Musubi that she couldn't help but find refreshing having spent so long playing a life or death game with opponents who were little more than bloodthirsty sharks.

"How do you feel?" she asked as she walked in step with her newest charge.

"Ummm, hungry" Musubi answered, her stomach as usually controlling her thoughts.

Miya smiled, again charmed by the girl's inherent honesty.

"Don't worry – Minato will be back and I will cook you a feast that would satisfy a king," she promised with a little flourish.

Musubi stopped to bow, "thank you so much Landlady – I don't know what I would've done if Minato hadn't found me and brought me here to your wonderful home."

Miya dismissed her thanks with a gentle wave, "My husband always believed that the Inn should be open to anyone and everyone. To cast you out would be an insult to his memory."

"Enough talk about that – you are here now and that is all that matters," she announced as they arrived at the single wooden door that marked the changing room to the Inn's indoor bathing area. "As this is your first night here, I want you to make a good impression with the other tenants." She slid the door opened and pointed at the various features of the large room in turn.

"You probably don't have a change of clothes so you can take one of the kimonos from this basket there once you're finished. Put your dirty clothes in this basket and I'll wash them immediately so they're ready for you to wear tomorrow. I imagine it's probably been a while since you've had a decent wash so I want you to spend at least twenty minutes scrubbing and then another ten soaking. Not a second less," she decreed with a warning finger.

Musubi nodded eagerly and immediately started to undress, blessed with that common Sekirei trait of having no sense of modesty whatsoever. Miya elected to say nothing for the time being, remembering that she too had started out with a very lax view to clothing.

She watched over Musubi until the girl was tentatively testing the water's temperature with her hand.

"Remember, thirty minutes," Miya chimed.

"Yes, Landlady," Musubi replied as she settled down on a stool in the shower area.

Satisfied that Musubi would be busy enough for the next half hour, Miya took up the basket of dirty clothes, closed the door behind her and left the young girl to the cleansing waters.

"Are you sure she won't just walk in on us," Uzume asked as she flopped down on a cushion.

"No. She'll do as she's told. Possibly the first tenant in the history of the inn who will…" Miya muttered wistfully.

"Landlady wounds me," Homura proclaimed holding a hand over his heart. He then took his seat opposite Miya as he asked "what's she like?"

"Matsu," Miya delegated the answer to the bespectacled girl sitting alongside her.

Matsu pushed her glasses up before beginning. "Number88, Musubi. Her file is quite unusual. While most of it's pretty standard stuff - disciple of the fist, mid level power expectations, notes of high strength, endurance, agility and so on. What makes her interesting though was the presence of highly encrypted sealed entry in her record. After some masterful hacking on my part I was able to get through the security and unlock it. It concerns an incident that occurred on the ship about two years ago. From what I could gather - Number 08 was involved and there were quite a few casualties. The details are vague and there's mention of some unforeseen event but at the end of it all – no more #08."

"Uhh mysterious," Uzume cooed, head resting on her hands.

"Who knows what craziness Minaka was up to back then," Homura grunted.

"Takami has put her son's life in the hands of this girl so I imagine she was pretty stringent in the selection process. Though it may gall some of us to do so, we must trust her for the time being."

Homura makes sure to keep his face neutral but suspects it's actually most difficult for the landlady to have faith in Takami.

"The reason I've called you two here is that as un-winged, I felt it only fair to warn you of what was going to happen once an Ashikabi is present here," she said looking directly at Homura though he seems to miss her intense stare.

"We've lived with him for long enough to know that Minato isn't going to become a different person overnight," Homura stated lightly, not worried in the slightest when it came to the kind hearted boy.

"Perhaps his character won't change but your perception of him might. An Ashikabi's ability to attract Sekirei will increase exponentially as he wings more Sekirei."

"Number 88 is quite low powered. Matsu and I will be in little danger after just her winging."

So dismissive was he of the danger that he failed to notice Matsu sinking back in her cushion.

"I fear it won't be just one for long," Miya declared.

Uzume tried to diffuse the tension – "I think it will be fun to have an Ashikabi and some new Sekirei around."

"It will be dangerous," Miya countered firmly "Especially for you."

"Who me?" Uzume declared, surprised at suddenly becoming the centre of attention.

"You are a rival Sekirei representing another Ashikabi. While things could be friendly and fun it is quite possible you will eventually have to face one another. You should prepare yourself for that eventuality."

"I hadn't given it that much thought," Uzume muttered as she too sank back in her cushion, suddenly deflated.

"The inn will remain a place of sanctuary of course but I cannot enforce that rule beyond these walls," Miya warned them all, the unsaid threat of what would happen to anyone breaking that rule hanging in the air.

Uzume nodded, accepting the Landlady's decree as always and not wanting to give voice to the dark thoughts clamouring for voice in her head.

Miya raised herself from the table, effectively ending the discussion.

"Minato will be back soon. Matsu, once things have settled down, you can return to the Inn as promised. The rest of you, please return for food and greetings in thirty minutes."

They all nodded before going their separate ways.

Minato wasn't sure exactly how a simple meal had turned into a party but to call it a raucous affair would have been understating it slightly. Though they often ate together in the Inn's rather spacious common room, he didn't believe he had ever seen Uzume and Homura as carefree and wild as he did that evening.

Uzume had always been an exotic mystery to him. He had almost walked into a wall the first time they met, her idea of casual wear being an impossibly small white camisole that failed completely at keeping her decent. A stern talking to from Miya had meant an end to Uzume's almost naked parading but it didn't mean a stop to her haunting his sleep for some time after.

For all that, he found her to be a generally kind and enthusiastic girl but there were times when he caught her in sombre moments of melancholy, when no amount of teasing could raise her spirits. Other than that she was quite a closed book. Besides sleeping and appearing for meals, he wasn't sure what it was exactly she did all day. He figured it must have something to do with the entertainment business given the number of costumes she owned. She was always evasive and quickly changed the subject whenever he shyly quizzed her about it so he dropped the matter with her.

The first and only time he brought it up with the Miya, she had told him that Uzume was entitled to her privacy so that was pretty much that.

If possible Homura turned out to be even more of a mystery but for the exact opposite reason. All the guy appeared to do work constantly – reappearing briefly before some call would drag him out again. After a week of seeing this, Minato had ultimately decided that he was never going into the hosting business - not that it had ever really been an option for him as he felt he had neither the looks nor the attitude to carry it off.

If he was completely honest though, he was quite intimidated by the debonair Homura whose sly wit and gentle manner made him the centre of attention no matter whom he was with.

That was at least until tonight.

Musubi's appearance seemed to set something off in the two as both Uzume and Homura doted on her with an almost frightening zeal. Though she constantly sought his opinions on what the other two were saying, Minato found himself too tongued around the energetic group to offer anything more elaborate then a shrug or a mono-syllabic response.

His shyness didn't go unnoticed either. The other tenants cottoned on quickly to his situation and in the manner of older siblings everywhere and proceeded to make things worse by making insinuations that the completely innocent Musubi missed but that Minato grasped all too quickly and painfully.

When Uzume helpfully suggested that Musubi should loosen the kimono that Miya had found her a little to let her prodigious chest "breath", Minato almost spat a piece of carrot clean across the room.

Uzume of course loved this and declared aloud that this spit take was a clear indication of how he would love to see Musubi's chest "breath"

For his part, Minato would have thanked any deity involved if the ground had been kind enough to open up and swallowed him right there.

This type of behaviour went on for a good hour until Miya called time on the festivities and sent everyone away, insisting that Musubi and Musubi alone help her clean up which of the course the young girl was only too happy to do.

Alone in the dark a little while later, Musubi lay wide awake staring at the wooden roof of what was now her room.

Her own room!

She could scarcely believe it. One minute she had been hiding in a pile of garbage and the next she was carefully stacking her meagre belongings in the corner of a large room that had been given to her.

"This room is yours Musubi," the landlady had told her as she guided her in by the arm. "Tomorrow we will discuss the conditions of your stay but for tonight…" and she quietly trailed off. Realising that she hadn't finished what she was saying, she smiled at her young charge and quickly changed the topic.

"There are some old clothes on the counter over there – they probably all won't fit you properly but they'll do until you get the chance to purchase some of your own."

Not for the first time that evening, Musubi bowed low, "Thank you Landlady – you are too kind to Musubi."

Miya smiled again and made her way out, closing the door without a word.

And so Musubi found herself left to her own devices.

Having come from a place where the only view was of sterile white walls, she immediately opened the window to discover what scenery surrounded her. To her delight, she had a pleasant view of the large open garden that was situated behind the inn. A large sakura tree dominated one corner of the garden but its strong branches spread far enough that she thought she could reach one if she leaned out far enough through her second story window. Immensely pleased with this, she closed the window again and elected to turn in for the night.

The bed provided for her consisted of a single mattress and a number of thin colourful blankets. Still feeling warm from the bath and the food, she discarded the blankets and most of what she was wearing and tried simply lying solely atop the mattress in the hope that sleep would take her.

She stayed like that for at least twenty minutes and yet still didn't feel anywhere close to tired. Her head was alive with the sound of ringing laughter and the joyous shouting that she had experienced with her new friends under an hour ago.

Musubi had quickly determined that Uzume was a lot like Karasuba - like how she imagined an older sister should be. Wise and funny and full of helpful advice on any topic Musubi could think of. She didn't quite get everything she was saying but everyone seemed to find her funny. And if Uzume was the older sister of the group, then Homura was naturally the older brother – courteous and handsome while kind and funny all at the same time.

And lastly there was Minato.

He had been largely quiet through the meal but she found that she was happiest when it was him that was speaking to her, that somehow his opinion was the most important thing in the world. Even before the meal while bathing she had been reflecting on their encounter and had resolved to find out more about him. After all, it had been him that had rescued her from the garbage heap.

But all those questions had to wait as Uzume especially was demanding of her attention. She guessed she should be happy that they had liked her so readily but now that she was alone she felt a stinging disappointment that she had not spoken more with the young man who had brought her here in the first place. She felt that there was so much she wanted to know, almost needed to know.

This line of thinking brought her to the conclusion that she was never going to get any sleep while all her important questions remained unanswered.

Rising quickly, she was almost out the door before she realised she had probably put something on. The landlady had mentioned something about behaving in a ladylike manner as they had cleaned away the food and Musubi figured that this is probably what she meant. She threw on a large shirt and some furry slippers and quietly slipped out the door into the dark corridor.

Two doors down from the room where Musubi had just left, Miya eyes flashed open, her hand already reaching for her ornate katana. Realising immediately who and what the noise was, she slowly released her hand from the hilt.

Having observed Musubi and Minato at the meal, she watched the slight connection between her and her other charge form into something stronger, something unstoppable. The only way to keep Musubi from Minato now would be to either kill her or have some other Ashikabi wing her. And so she let things play out.

Miya believed deeply that there was a special place in hell waiting for Takami and herself for what they had done and would continue to do to the pair. People so young should not have to carry such a burden.

But when faced with the alternative, what choice did they have?

Though it was a reasonable excuse, it offered little solace to the landlady of Izumu Inn as she wept silent tears.

Bathed in the illumination of a multiple large screens, Matsu charted Musubi's slow progress through the Inn via the multiple cameras that were secreted in almost every area of the building. She had been surprised when Miya herself had insisted on them being installed without the divulging the reason why. Being a natural voyeur, Matsu was only too happy to oblige and had personally placed most of the gear herself.

Secreted away as she was, she had lived vicariously through the myriad images on the screen. She had shared every triumph and tasted every bitter defeat that had occurred within the Inn's walls over the past few months.

And most of all, she had watched Minato. At first she had been largely unimpressed by the young man and more so by the fact that he was the principle reason she was banished from the Inn in the first place But over the following hours they had shared together (not that he had known about her presence in his life) his uncertain cautious nature and almost naïve charm had chipped away at her resentment.

Soon the majority of her screens were devoted to him – catching every emotion and expression in high definition. She came to realise that he was a work in progress, a grand experiment that she herself could help to shape.

Matsu was self aware enough to realise that her senses had determined that he was the one for her, knew that it was her destiny to be winged by his touch and to become his Sekirei. When she had bravely confronted Miya with this realisation, she was again surprised by the landlady actions. She had expected a furious and overwhelming response but instead was met with acceptance and quiet resignation. Miya had only asked for time - that Matsu could not be his first as there were greater stakes involved.

At the time, Matsu had willingly agreed as the relief of not having to go against Miya wishes flooded through her. But now in hindsight she regretted that decision, feeling that maybe Miya's wrath would be far less painful then the burning longing she felt for Minato.

It was only now, after what felt like endless hours of waiting that their inevitable union was no longer some far off event. Once Minato fulfilled Miya's stipulation and became an Ashikabi then she would be allowed return to the Inn, allowed to claim her place by his side.

But first she would have to endure this.

She had watched the meal with numerous digital eyes - had seen Minato's coyness about the girl and her eagerness towards him in turn. There were a few moments when she thought that the winging might take place right in front of everyone but Uzume or Homura would usually intercede, knowingly or not.

This time though, alone in his room, there would be no interruptions.

On the largest screen, Musubi crept along the corridor, stopping finally when she reached Minato's door.

Matsu glanced at another screen where Minato was still struggling to find sleep before quickly turning back to the anxious Musubi.

Musubi knocked lightly on the thin wooden door, causing Minato to stop his restless movements as he wondered if he had really heard the soft knock.

She knocked again, a little more insistent this time.

Sure of what he heard, Minato threw off the few blankets he was using and grabbed his thin robe and made his way tentatively to the door.

In her little room, her heart bursting with a mixture of fear and joy, Musubi turned off every feed from the Inn. She didn't want to watch this, couldn't watch it in fact. She knew well enough that her body would respond the moment Minato embraced his fate and became an Akishabi.

"Musubi! What are you do-? Musubi! Your clothes!!" Minato practically shrieked as he was met with the sight of a practically naked girl outside his door. He had dreamed of this scenario quite a few times and it had usually involved him sweeping a willing girl off her feet. It turned out that he didn't quite respond like that in reality.

"They are not dry yet so kind Landlady Miya gave me these," Musubi explained, missing the intent of the question and instead making things worse by holding up the edges of the flimsy shirt and emphasising the root of Minato's distress.

Bravely (or at least he thought so anyway) looking anywhere then at her, Minato quickly removed his robe and held it out at arm's length in her general direction.

"Please put this on before…just put this on," he pleaded.

While not understanding why he was acting the way he was, Musubi didn't wish to upset him further so she took his robe and draped it over her shoulders without comment. The robe felt warm to her, maybe all the more so because it came from him.

After a few moments Minato sneaked a peek and was relieved when a relatively decent Musubi beamed back at him expectantly.

"If Miya saw you like that, she'd get very upset," Minato explained weakly, leaving out what would happen to him if the quiet but sometimes lethal landlady saw him standing with her looking the way she did outside of his room.

"Was I not ladylike?" Musubi asked, still not grasping totally what Miya had mentioned earlier on when she said that she would have to teach her to behave and dress in a civilised manner.

"Not really," Minato answered lamely, not wanting to point out that Musubi was currently at the complete opposite end of the spectrum to ladylike.

"Then Minato has saved me again," Musubi declared happily.

"I – wait, what?" Feeling completely flustered, Minato wished he didn't always feel like he was always talking about something else when around the intriguing girl.

"This is Minato's room?" she asked, peering around him into the darkened chamber beyond, the only light coming from the half opened window that allowed in some of the moon's light.

"Uh yes," Minato answered before Musubi surprised him again by stepping past him to enter. "Musubi, you shouldn't be here – Miya wouldn't approve" he whispered desperately.

"Why?" she asked, turning to face him.

"A woman in a man's room alone is improper," he responded feebly as he followed her in.

"Why?" she asked again.

"It…it isn't safe," Minato couldn't bring himself to elaborate on what that meant exactly.

Musubi shook her head.

"It is safe because you are here. You will keep me safe and I will keep you safe," she declared solemnly as she stared up at him intently. Looking back into her eyes, he found himself believing her, nodding at her powerful proclamation.

"Do you believe in destiny Minato-chan?" she asked, closing the distance between them, her hands clasped with almost prayer like fervour in front of her chest.

"I...I never gave it much thought," he answered, fearful and excited all at the same time.

"Musubi believes in destiny," she countered, edging closer still until her arms were resting against his chest.

"You do?" Minato felt time slow allowing him to remember every detail of this moment.

Musubi nodded as she moved her arms around his back to embrace him, laying her head beneath his chin and totally unconcerned that his robe had fallen off her shoulders. She had never felt as warm before.

"I can hear your heart beating," she whispered, closing her eyes in dreamy pleasure. "It's a strong heart, a good and gentle heart," she decided.

Minato could manage nothing in reply, his mind reeling at the softness of her bare chest against his, the soap clean smell of her skin and hair overwhelm his senses.

He wasn't sure how long they stood like that, he didn't even care.

Musubi broke the embrace and angled her face towards his. Their eyes held each other for a moment before Minato leaned down to meet her waiting lips.

Then the world went white.

A distance across the city, springing eagerly across the rooftops in pursuit of the two twin Sekirei foolish enough to pick a fight with her, the powerful Sekirei of water known as Tsukiumi pulled up suddenly as she felt something pull at her chest. She staggered against a wall in an effort to stay upright, all thoughts of the chase now forgotten as she focused on the intense feeling gripping her.

What was this sensation? She had never before felt this weak!

She needed to get to safety, needed to go to the only place she could really call home. Summoning on reserves of strength, she leapt back the way she came.

Eyes flickering open, Minato awoke to find a naked Musubi sleeping peacefully beside him, her head nestled on his chest.

Too scared to move, he glanced down and was relieved beyond words to find that his pants were still on meaning that he hadn't done anything unforgiveable.

The loud intrusive buzzing of his phone caused Minato to shriek out loud and awaken a slightly startled but apparently content Musubi who quickly clasped her arms about him.

He grasped the phone from the table and flipped it open

"Congratulations, you were magnificently chosen to be the partner of a Sekirei" a rather odd looking man beamed at him from the display on the phone.

"Who are-" Minato began to ask, still quite confused by what was going on.

"Oh Porfessor!," Musubi laughed, letting go of Minato to poke her head in front of the phone's camera.

"Oh Musubi," he laughed as all he could see was her impressive bust, "are you doing well?"

"Yes Professor," she replied happily – "I have found my Ashikabi"

"What's going on Musubi, who is this guy?"

"How can you not know my face? Read the newspaper at least at least Minato," the man proclaimed, a little put out about not being known.

"How do you know my name – wait, how did you even get this number?"

"There's nothing I don't know," he responded with a smirk.

"Minato Sahashi, welcome to the Sekirei Plan – that's the name of the game you're participating in"

Ignoring Minato's confused expression he continued with the speech he gave every Ashikabi.

"The Rules of the game are simple. There are 108 freed Sekirei about the city. Those 108 Sekirei fight and fight and fight until one remains. And the Ashikabi of the last remaining Sekirei is given permission to ascend. The Ashikabi who overcomes those odds will hold the fate of the world in their hands."

"But remember this, the Sekirei plan is the most important event in human history – and since you now know about, you must keep it secret. In the case that you leak any information, MBI will be forced to retaliate with every power at its disposal."

"Wait! Retaliate?"

"You'll have to excuse me now Minato and Musubi as I'm a busy man and there are matters I must attend to. Good luck in the game"

And the screen went dead, leaving a stunned Minato and a grinning Musbi sitting together in the middle of his room.

"That bitch!" Minaka flung the phone clean across his office, smashing it to pieces against the far wall.

"How dare she interfere," he bellowed to the empty room.

Did she think he wouldn't put it together - that her son and the Sekirei she handpicked to train becoming pair the same day she is released and in the home of one of the most powerful and ruthlessly independent Sekirei of all?

Did she not understand that to tamper in the destiny of the game was to render it pointless?

Anger abating, he settled back into his large seat.

No, anger would achieve nothing. He had to restore the balance and teach her that the game was beyond such worldly concerns as family and her petty scheming.

He tapped a few buttons on a console and a 3D display sprang into existence in front of him. He waited a moment before an impatient voice echoed through the room.

"It's the middle of the night - what do you want?"

"I have a proposal for you Mikogami," Minaka declared, his smile almost evident in his tone.

There was a moment's hesitation from the other party.

"Go on"

"I need you to discipline one of my workers. She is not to be hurt but a message she will understand must be sent."

"And what do I get in return for this?"

"She will be with a very powerful un-winged Sekirei whom you may take for your own. I will give you the location and time to make contact and ensure that security is…elsewhere. Are we agreed?"

There was no hesitation this time.

"Yes."