Well, this was more popular than I thought it would be. 10 reviews in a little over two days.
"Leave me alone you perverted twins!" Naruto yelled back as he ran.
Behind him a pair of twins chased him, one in purple leather gear and the other in pinkish red. They were Hikari and Hibiki respectively. They were infamous amongst Sekirei for only targeting the un-winged.
It wasn't against the rules per se, but it was seen as underhanded and borderline cheating.
They both had long black hair and light brown eyes, almost yellow.
They were the only twin Sekirei in existence, and so paradoxically their sameness made them unique. However, Sekirei siblings were more common. Naruto had briefly met two Sekirei who had a striking family resemblance to each other, and in fact their numbers were sequential.
Those twins were unique, although family members were not.
Every so often the two would clasp their hands and send a bolt of lightning his way. He had managed to dodge most, but one had gotten through and burnt his back.
It hurt to jump and it hurt to land, but Naruto put that to the back of his mind as he fled.
If this was the treatment he gave to that give he remembered seeing them chasing a week or so ago, he would have helped. Too late now though.
A particularly well timed bolt destroyed his footing, causing him to stumble onto the ground.
The girls were quick to catch up; by the time the blond was on his feet, the two had stopped right in front of him.
"Give up! This is for your own good!"
"How so? You have an Ashikabi, don't you? Why would you deny me that right?"
"Once it gets to the latter stages, it'll be too dangerous. Dropping out of the plan now is for the best." Hibiki said gently.
"Besides, not all Ashikabi-sama are great. Ours is a bum – you have no idea what its like!"
"Yeah, you're right. I don't know what its like. But I intend to find out!" Naruto yelled, performing a leg sweep.
Both easily jumped over it and back, putting distance between them.
"I see you don't subscribe to the idea that Sekirei fights are one-on-one."
"My sister and I fight as one."
"That's too bad; I though I'd found someone who isn't a bitch who agreed with me."
"What are you talking about?"
"I'm kind of like you two; I don't fight by my self, even when I'm alone."
"Explain."
Naruto gave them a feral grin and put his fingers together in a cross shape. "Kage Bunshin!"
With a twist in the air, two people materialised, one on each side of Naruto. They looked identical to him, right down to the orange scarf.
"I'll leave you four to play," the middle Naruto told them, already running away.
The twins clapped their hands together and through a lightning bolt at the two clones. They separated quickly, just barely dodging the electric discharge.
They rolled on the ground and then quickly ran at the S&M twins. A quick spread of sparks hit both clones, causing them to dissolve.
By the time they were gone and the way was clear, Naruto was no where in site.
"Damn! What was with that ability?" Hikari called out to the havens.
"Illusions," an almost velvety voice came from behind them.
They spun around to find Homura casually leaning on a lamppost from where he had been watching the entire show.
He was one of the few male Sekirei, one of twelve. He had gray hair and dark brown eyes. He wore a dark jacket that went down to his ankles and a face mask that covered his mouth and nose.
"Homura! Are you here to interfere again?"
"With what exactly? He's already long gone."
Hikari growled.
"What was it you were saying about that guy?" Hibiki asked.
"Naruto-kun's power is a strange one."
"You said something about illusions?"
"Yeah, his ability is illusionary."
"You mean those things weren't real!"
"Oh no, they were very real. Naruto-kun's ability is to create solid illusions. A simple punch, even a weak hit will destroy them though. Then again, they can still do quite a bit of damage," Homura told them, idly cradling his jaw in a phantom memory of pain.
"So he can create those clone things. Is that all?"
"Not quite. He has quite a few tricks up his sleeve."
"That's a powerful ability."
"It is. But it's also incredibly hard to control and they can only last a few minutes at a time."
"Che, annoying."
Naruto lay down to rest an hour later, confident he had completely lost his pursuers. By instinct he had arrived at the ramen place he worked at. With a grin he entered.
He gave a smile to Ayame as she spotted him just as he sat down.
"One Pork ramen please," he ordered.
"Coming right up Naruto-kun."
Ayame was the chief waitress at the restaurant, and one of the few who discouraged the other girls from peeking at him while he changed.
Ayame placed the steaming bowl in front of him with a smile, and Naruto didn't hesitate to start digging in.
Half way through though, a strange chill ran through his body, quickly followed by an uncomfortable feeling in his chest. It was almost a fluttering sensation, or at least to ghost of one.
Naruto put down his chopsticks, his appetite suddenly gone.
"Thanks Ayame-nee-chan." He called into the back and left. It would come out of his next pay-check he knew, but that was fine.
He walked home after that; he lived in a small apartment not far away from the ramen place. It was a cosy little place, if slightly messy.
It was in the Western Sector, where bike gangs often roamed. Luckily the Ashikabi of the area wasn't interested in adding Naruto to his squad; Sanada was not in the least interested in male Sekirei, and only seemed to care about 'his lovelies'.
Sanada was a member of a biker gang; he went around in only a leather jacket and pants, the former of which he never closed up, meaning his chest was on display at all times.
He and Naruto had met a few times, and seeing as Naruto was an un-winged, they had no quarrel. He had even gone out drinking with the man and his Sekirei once, which had led to quite a party.
Naruto's room was simple; it had a bed, a desk, bedside table, a closet, and finally a few changes of clothes scattered around. He jumped onto his bed, causing it to bounce due to the force. He tossed and turned, trying to get comfortable.
Failing that, he grabbed a book from the nearby table. It was the story of a magician, and Naruto was using it to give him ideas, but it wasn't working, and so he began to practice his ability.
So far he only had the ability to coat himself and other objects in an illusion, and create those clones.
Right now he was practicing creating objects, though he hadn't had much luck. It was much easier to create a copy of something that he held in his hand, something he could literally feel the weight and balance of. He could create one such copy, using a pencil as practice, but not anymore, and even the pencil was unstable and would only last fifteen seconds maximum.
Without that medium, his illusions were pale, almost transparent, and wholly insubstantial.
He sighed an hour later. The feeling in his heart wasn't going away, and nothing he could do was going to get rid of it for him.
With a final frustrated growl he grabbed his coat and went out once more, searching as all Sekirei must – for his Ashikabi.
Yukari held the young boy protectively. She was Sahashi Yukari, an eighteen year old girl with jet black hair that didn't even reach her shoulders. Her eyes were dark blue, almost gray. She was wearing a short black dress and thigh length socks, as well as a short red tie with a black cross.
"Yukari-san," the boy pleaded. He was No.107, Shiina. He looked around 15 years old, had pale skin, silver hair the same length as Yukari, and light brown eyes. He would be considered beautiful, a true bishonen. Right now he was wearing a long white frilly dress as a disguise; combined with his slight frame and pretty face, he was easily mistaken for a girl.
As he stood in Yukari's embrace, his heart beat and his body burned. "It hasn't been long since I met you, but I really like you Yukari-san," he told her hopefully."
"Me too," she smiled. She leaned down, while he moved forward, moving to stand on his tiptoes to gain extra height. "This is my first kiss" she admitted, lightly grabbing his chin and moving it into position for a kiss.
They leaned into each other and kissed; instantly, a multitude of dark wings made of light erupted from his back, originating from a tattoo like symbol. It was made up by a bird in flight, its wings outstretched above it; the view was from the side, so the bird was visible from the tail to the beak, the wing above it. Below the bird was five symbols in a loose semi-circle; the middle symbol was the Yin-Yang symbol, and on either side were two more. On the right there were two symbols that looked like the number 9, and to the left were their mirror images.
As they broke the kiss, the wings disappeared, and Shiina began to recite his Norito.
"The corpse of my covenant completely, rot the cross of my Ashikabi," he started, glancing at their two companions emotionlessly.
One was an adult male with very pale, almost white, brown hair and gray eyes. He was wearing a light orange scarf and black clothes with an open front. He had a sword in his hand, still sheathed.
The other person was younger and shorter, looking the same age as Shiina, 15. He had brown hair and brown eyes, and was wearing a white hoody with dark brown sleeves and shoulders.
While the older looked on in apathy, only a crease of his forehead displaying worry about the beginning of the Norito, the younger obviously distressed. Not at the words, but at the fact his prize has been winged in front of him.
They were No.05, Mutsu, and Hayato Mikogami, aka the Ashikabi of the South, respectively.
"We should go," Mutsu told his Ashikabi, gathering him up in his arms and preparing to jump away. He could tell that this kid was powerful, so it was best to leave quickly. The Sekirei had been winged anyway; fighting was pointless now.
"Why should we?" Mikogami weakly protested.
Mutsu ignored him, and began to jump away anyway.
Finally, Shiina finished his prayer. "World End Garden!" he yelled, causing waves to radiate around the pair, decaying anything the clouds of dust touched.
The Southern pair just barely managed to get away unscathed.
"Shiina…" she started.
He smiled in response, taking her hand in his. "From now on, I'll be by your side forever and ever."
She took his hand in her own and nodded with a smile.
The Devil and Death pair was born.
AN: Well, there we have the second chapter. The third will be posted on Monday.
As you can see, Shiina still exists; I haven't phased him out.