Secret of the Ashikabi

Musubi

"Damnit Hibiki! We were so damned close!" The irritation was quite evident in her voice as she glared at the figure that stood before the two of them.

"Hikari, you know we can't do it anymore. She's emerged," responded Hibiki, her hand reaching out and grasping her sister's shoulder.

Anyone who saw the two of them would be able to immediately tell that they were twins. They looked exactly alike save for the fact that Hikari had larger breasts, which Hibiki was annoyed about but had long ago accepted. It was nice after all to not be completely identical physically so that they could each be very similar and still unique even without wearing different clothing.

The girl that they had been chasing for some time now stood before them with a renewed determination and strength. Her fists were clenched, red fighting gloves covering her hands. Her hazel eyes looked at the twins unblinkingly and with an eagerness that was somewhat unsettling to the two of them.

"You two wanted a fight, right? Well, I'm ready for you!" she said confidently, puling her fists close to her in a fighting stance. "I'm Sekirei number eighty-eight! Musubi! Now which one of you is first?"

Hibiki shook her head, her black hair waving from the motion. "Sorry, we don't fight emerged Sekireis."

"Huh? Why not?" asked the brunette, putting a finger up to the side of her mouth and looking at them, confused.

"She seems pretty confident, Hibiki, though a little clueless. I want to at least see what she's got," said Hikari, a grin forming on her face.

Hibiki let out a sigh. "If you want, but remember we aren't supposed to beat them if they're emerged, so take it easy." She leaped up onto a wall that separated this alley from the next and moved further away, turning around and crossing her arms across her chest as she prepared to watch the fight.

Hikari snorted and locked her eyes on the brunette, "Let's see what you've got number eighty-eight!"

At that statement Musubi's demeanor changed immediately. She grinned and got an excited gleam in her eyes as her body tensed. "Okay! Here I come!" she said in a sing-song manner. True to her word, she ran towards the raven black haired girl, who had begun to have electric currents crackling around her.

Her quickness was impressive as Musubi launched her assault, leaping to Hikari's left and swinging her right fist at her. She missed as Hikari stepped back and the fist sailed past her face, but Musubi didn't miss a beat as she kept up the pressure launching several more punches and even a few kicks. All of them missed by an inch or so.

Concentrating, Hikari let the electricity course through her and then let out a burst of it all around her, shocking Musubi.

The brunette hissed in pain but did not pause for more than second before she was at it again. Hikari was barely able to dodge the attacks, some of them coming in so fast and hard that the air currents created by the attack actually cut and damaged her clothing a little. Retaliating, she launched some short-range bursts of electric energy.

One of the bands of electricity connected with Musubi, shocking her and ripping her clothing. She staggered on her feet, shaken by the attack, then she somersaulted backwards and weaved between the arcs of electricity that followed that initial counter-attack.

Then she suddenly launched herself up into the air, causing Hikari to look up and immediately be blinded by the sun that was directly behind where Musubi had jumped up to and so she had looked directly at the sunlight. Her eyes hurt and she couldn't see as Hikari stumbled backwards a little. Concentrating, Musubi dove downwards towards her opponent with an outstretched fist for a heavy aerial attack on the momentarily blinded young woman.

Hibiki actually unwrapped her arms and looked ready to defend her sister when she saw that Hikari got to her senses in time, throwing up a strong electric shield.

Musubi's fist connected with the shield and she lay suspended in air as she gritted her teeth and tried to push through it forcefully. The shield held however, so Musubi abandoned that attack and somersaulted backwards again, landing nimbly on her feet. Her fists were up, ready to continue when she noticed that the black-haired young woman was holding her hand up to stop her.

"Not bad, number eighty-eight. With more practice you could be a very good," she complimented her truthfully.

The brunette wasn't sure what to say. "Oh... uhh, thanks?" She hadn't expected her first fight to be like this. To be so friendly, or at least she expected it to be more hostile than what she was currently going through. She thought that it would be more intense and a fight to the finish, where she would hopefully come out on top. This was not what she had imagined.

"Too bad we can't continue this. As my sister said, we don't really fight emerged Sekireis," Hikari said, her gaze drifting to the young man who was looking at them wide-eyed and in shock. Though if he was frozen from the kiss or from the fighting, she couldn't tell. "Congratulations on finding your Ashikabi. See ya!" With that she leaped away towards her sister and soon they jumped up onto the rooftops again and disappeared.

Musubi watched them leave and her body began to relax, her fists unclenching. She looked at her hands with disappointment. She had wanted that to be a real fight, but she could see now that it was not at all even close to a real one. She wondered if her opponent had even been really trying, which made her feel more disappointed in her abilities. She had always thought she was a strong fighter, but apparently she was not as strong as she made herself out to be.

"What the heck just happened?" said a very dazed and confused Minato, causing Musubi to jump up as she remembered why she was in that alleyway in the first place.

"Oh! Are you alright?" she asked worriedly, rushing to his side and kneeling down. She grabbed his hand with both of hers, "Did you get hurt anywhere? I forgot that you were here and could've gotten hurt... I'm sorry."

He smiled weakly, surprised at her apology. "Heh heh," he rubbed the back of his neck with his free hand, "No need to apologize." He tried to stand but suddenly lost balance halfway up, only to be caught by the brunette.

His face smashed up against her chest, her large breasts feeling very soft and warm.

"Oh no! You're not feeling well, are you?"

"Mmm... fine..." he murmured, his vision getting cloudy.

"Umm... excuse me where do you live? I think I should take you home," she said with concern.

He mumbled an address as he slowly slipped into unconsciousness. The last thing he remembered was being lifted up and carried.

-xxxxxx-

Unbeknownst to the two of them, they were being watched by a masked man with shoulder-length gray hair. He wore a long black suit that hugged his frame to match the black mask that covered half of his face. He was standing on top of a nearby building and had seen the entire scene unfold from his vantage point. He now watched as the young lady carried the young man off to wherever they were going to go.

"She's out of my hands now," he whispered towards the young man, "You better take care of her." His mind shifted to thinking about the others out there that he had to protect. He wondered how many more exactly there were, because he did not even know for certain the exact number.

He stiffened suddenly as his instincts told him that there was someone behind him. Sure enough, his ears caught the faintest sound of movement coming from behind him. In a flash he whirled around, arms up and ready to react to an attack he thought was coming. But it wasn't an attacker, or at least the person was not attacking.

Standing a few dozen feet away was a beautiful woman wearing a very revealing light purple Chinese dress. Her long dark purple hair flowed to the side as the wind blew. She had her hands clasped behind her back and she was looking at him with slight interest, a smirk on her face.

"Well," she started to say, her voice husky and alluring, "hello there."

He relaxed his body, recognizing who she was. She meant him no harm as far as he knew.

"Were you enjoying the show too?" she asked.

He looked back at the alleyway that he was only recently watching intently. "I was protecting the unemerged Sekirei," he explained, "But it looks like she found her destined one, so she's now out of my hands."

"What are you going to do when they're all emerged?" She seemed genuinely interested in the answer to that question.

He turned back to her, putting his hands in his pockets and ignoring the question completely. "What are you doing here?"

The woman leaned back a little and ran a hand through her long purple hair. "Oh, well I heard the commotion since I was nearby and thought I'd check it out... be entertained. You know, it's been rather boring around here lately." She let out a sigh at that.

"Is this really all a game to you?" asked the man in black, irritated by her taking this situation so lightly.

"What's wrong? Didn't he say this was a game? Why shouldn't we enjoy ourselves while we play?"

The masked man shook his head and turned on his heel. "If you have nothing else to say, I'm leaving." He started to walk towards the edge of the building, pausing at the very end as if waiting for her to say something.

"Goodbye then! I'll see you again soon!" she called out to him as he leaped away and was soon out of sight.

She pulled her arms out from behind her, revealing a large bottle of sake that was already half empty gripped tightly by the neck in her right hand.

-xxxxxx-

Minato slowly regained consciousness. As he woke up more, he started to groan as he felt his body aching, not to mention his head was hurting too. He opened his eyes a little, noticing that he was on his bed in his apartment. He yawned and stretched out. As he did so his hand touched something soft and somewhat round.

Groggy and a little confused, he slowly grabbed it in an effort to try and figure out what that was. He didn't remember having anything nearby that would remotely resemble what his hand had just grazed. He squeezed it a little. It was very soft. This is almost like a... he began to think but then he heard a slight moan of pleasure that completely disrupted his train of thought.

His eyes snapped completely open and he withdrew his hand, memories of what happened flooding back to him instantly. His gaze went to the figure that lay about a foot away, near the edge of the bed. It was the brunette that had landed on him from yesterday and who apparently had some kind of special martial arts abilities because he recalled seeing her leaping and moving higher and faster than he thought was humanly possible.

Then he remembered the two identical women who had been chasing after them, one of whom the brunette had fought. Things after that were a bit hazy and he couldn't quite remember how they had gotten back to his apartment. How did she even know that he lived there?

She started to move, stretching out herself and turning over, bringing her closer to Minato.

He instantly noticed two things: one, she was not wearing a bra. Two, the shirt was only half-buttoned up. His blood started to pump and he could feel himself heating up, causing him to move away in embarrassment and subsequently falling out of bed. He hit the floor with a thud. Minato slowly got to his feet, rubbing his back where he had landed. Thankfully the floor was carpeted and so his fall was cushioned somewhat.

"Good morning!" greeted the brunette with a smile.

"Uhh... hi." Minato was trying very hard to avert his eyes.

The brunette sat up on the bed, tilting her head ever so slightly to the side and giving him a curious look. "What's wrong? Are you okay?"

"Nothing!" he blurted out, "Nothing's wrong. I mean... well, I'm okay."

She smiled again. "Good! I was a little worried there. You had hit your head pretty hard earlier and you were bleeding, but I washed you up and put some clean clothes on you and let you sleep."

His face turned absolutely red at that statement. "D-did you just say you washed me..." he asked weakly.

She gave a vigorous nod, "Yup yup! You were covered in dirt and some blood and I didn't want you going to bed so dirty." She saw the look on his face and looked apologetic, "I'm sorry, I hope that was okay..."

He raised his hands and waved them at her, "Oh! No, no! It's fine, no need to apologize I'm just..." not used to having a girl wash me... he finished the thought in his head. "If you, uh, don't mind me asking... who are you? And... well, what exactly are you doing here?" He felt it was very awkward to ask, but he needed to know.

She crawled over to his side of the bed and sat on the edge, her feet flat on the floor. "Well, my name is Musubi. I'm Sekirei number eighty-eight, and... you're my Ashikabi, which is why I'm here. Your name is what by the way?"

Minato gave her a blank stare, not understanding. "Okayy... uhh, my name is Minato," he said slowly, "and well, it's nice to meet you Musubi. But... what do you mean I'm your Ashikabi? What is an Ashikabi?"

Musubi opened her mouth to start responding when her stomach suddenly growled really loudly. She looked slightly embarrassed at that, placing a hand on her stomach. "Sorry," she said meekly.

He realized then that he was actually feeling hungry too. "Well, how about this. Let's go get something to eat, and you can explain what the heck is going on. Deal?"

"Okay!" came the reply almost as soon as he finished speaking.

He opened his closet and got some clothes and got dressed. As he turned around, he stumbled back a step as his eyes went wide for what seemed like the thousandth time as Musubi stood a few feet away from him in nothing more than her panties. She was regarding her clothing from yesterday and when Minato finally peeled his eyes off of her he noticed that her clothes were all tattered and torn.

Averting his gaze and feeling his cheeks heat up, he spoke, "Musubi... why don't you use some of my clothes for now. I'll get you something to wear after we eat."

She enthusiastically agreed and, still looking away for the most part, he gave her some clothes she could use temporarily. As she was changing she noticed that he was not looking at her and she could not help but feel a little sad as well as concerned that he did not like her figure. As her Ashikabi, Minato's opinion of her mattered a lot and she wondered what it was about her that he did not like seeing. Her stomach growled again and she resolved to ask him about it later.

Twenty minutes later, they were back in Minato's apartment in his small living and dining room. They had gone to Burger Queen since it was close by and they served the food really fast and he had bought them several cheeseburger meals. Minato had only finished his first when he noticed that Musubi had already eaten four of the eight burgers he had bought her. Each hand held a burger as she ate two at a time.

He marveled at how much she could eat and how fast she could eat it and wondered how on earth she kept her figure if she ate like that all the time. She was absolutely sexy and barely had any fat on her and yet here she was easily chowing down on hamburgers.

"So, Musubi... what's this whole Ashikabi business and what has that got to do with me?" he broached the subject again after she finished her fifth one and was about to finish her sixth burger.

Her hazel eyes looked at him and he couldn't help but feel a warm sensation building within him. "Well, Minato. An Ashikabi is our destined one. The one that we Sekirei are fated to meet and love."

"Love?" he repeated, his complexion paling a little. That meant that she loved him. He couldn't believe what he was hearing. This beautiful girl that he only met yesterday was saying that he was her destined one and that she loved him. Truthfully, he was not exactly sure how he felt about that, but there was no denying the attraction he could feel for her.

She nodded vigorously again, "Yup! Love! Fate brought us together, Minato, and when we kissed we created a contract between us. A love contract between a Sekirei and her Ashikabi, and I promise that I will be together with you forever!"

Minato was starting to feel dizzy again. This whole notion of her being in love with him was already a lot, but now that she was talking about being with him forever it was a little too much to handle in one sitting. Taking a moment, he closed his eyes and took a few deep breaths to steady himself. When he opened his eyes he noted that Musubi had finished all her burgers.

"I remember when we kissed..." he started to say, his mind flashing back to it and he felt flushed as he remembered it vividly, "I remember when we kissed there was a glowing light and I could feel some kind of energy course through me... and then you kinda floated and had these strange wings appear behind you... was that.. was that part of the contract?"

"Yup! It's called emerging, or winging. When a Sekirei kisses her Ashikabi, it unlocks her powers further and so she emerges," she traced her lips with an index finger, her eyes staring off into space as she too recalled the kiss. Her cheeks went slightly red.

Minato scratched his head, still not quite sure what to make of the situation. After what he had seen in that alleyway, he could not discount the fact that superpowers definitely existed. Still, it was hard to fully change such a previously strongly held belief that there was no such thing as powers and magic. The whole situation seemed straight out of some TV show or movie and at face value he should have simply went to the police about a crazy women claiming to be some superpowered ninja. He believed her though. After seeing it with his own eyes, he knew she was telling the truth.

"So each Sekirei has their own powers? Like those two were lightning or electric type Sekireis?" he asked, trying to understand better.

She nodded in the affirmative again, "You're right, Minato. And I am a fist-type Sekirei!" A wide smile formed on her face as she pumped her fist.

He couldn't help but smile. Her personality was very childish and it was very cute, and that plus her actual beauty made her very attractive to Minato. He still was not too comfortable with the idea that this girl was now going to be living with him, apparently forever.

"Uh, Musubi, if you don't mind me asking... Why exactly are there Sekireis? Like why were those two girls trying to kill you?"

Her expression turned serious, which made Minato pay even closer attention. "It's all part of the Sekirei Plan. 108 Sekirei have been released here in Shinto Teito in order to find their Ashikabis. Once found, they are to fight each other until the last one is left standing, then she can claim her prize for winning the Plan!"

Minato thought he could not be any more surprised than he already had been, but he was mistaken. His mouth was hanging open, disbelief in his eyes. "You mean to tell me that the Sekirei Plan involves you guys fighting each other until there is only one left standing?"

Musubi gave him a solemn nod, "Not exactly. We don't actually try to kill each other, only to defeat our opponents. Once defeated they are out of the game."

"And what's this prize that you win for being the last Sekirei?"

"You get to stay with your Ashikabi forever!" she said, getting a little excited again.

"But what happens... what happens if you lose?"

Before she could reply, however, Minato's television crackled to life. Static burst from its speakers before disappearing and a image of a bespectacled man in white clothing appeared.

The young man reached for the remote to try and turn the TV off. "What the heck is wrong with this thing...?" he mumbled, wondering why it had started up on its own.

"Please don't do that, Minato Sahashi," said the man in the TV.

The remote slipped from Minato's grasp and fell to the ground, his eyes glued to the TV.

"Good, now that I have your attention, I'd like to personally congratulate you on joining the Sekirei Plan, you've become a very important player in a very important game. I do hope that you know what the Plan is...?" he trailed off, looking expectantly at Minato.

The young man stammered a reply, "Ah, y-yeah well basically th-the last Sekirei standing wins."

"Good. Good, good," said the man on the TV, pushing his glasses up his nose, obviously pleased. "That's the basic gist of it."

"E-Ex-Excuse me, sir, but who a-are you?"

Musubi finally spoke up gleefully, "It's the professor!"

"The professor?" repeated Minato, "You know this man?"

Musubi nodded.

"You haven't been watching a lot of television lately, have you Minato Sahashi? If you did, you would recognize me. Anyways, I don't have a lot of time to chat so I'll tell you this right now: do not under any circumstances reveal the nature of the Sekirei Plan to anyone outside the Plan. This is a secret. If you don't keep it a secret..." he trailed off again, this time with a threatening tone.

Minato's mind finally clicked into action and he vaguely recalled that this man was involved somehow with Mid Bio Informatics, the behemoth global conglomerate. "Wait! W-what happens? What are you going to do?"

"Remember, don't reveal the Plan to anyone. Got it? Excellent. Good luck, Minato Sahashi!" With that the television turned itself off, leaving a dark and empty screen.

Thud. Thud. Thud.

A knocking at his door made Minato jump up in surprise, his head swiveling to look at the door. He wondered who it was as he walked over and unlocked it, opening the door and instantly regretting it. Before him on the landing stood a tall, large man in a dark suit with sunglasses and a radio ear piece. He held a box in his large hands. A small button on his suit jacket lapel read MBI.

Minato looked warily at the man, fear gripping him. "I-I haven't told a-anyone! I promise! I've k-kept it a secret! Please don't hurt me."

The man simply grunted and shoved the box towards Minato, who reflexively grabbed it. Without a word, after handing over the package, the man closed the door and left.

Musubi walked over to him and glanced at him curiously, "You look very pale, Minato. Maybe you should lie down again and rest." Her gaze drifted to the box, "What's in that?"

He walked back to where they had been sitting before and placed the box down, Musubi following him and sitting right next to him and the box. He simply looked at it, his mind churning, and so she ended up opening it herself. The box turned out to be full of clothes for Musubi, and she was very happy about it. So happy that she started to change right then and there, which brought Minato out of his thoughts.

"Musubi!" he cried out in surprise as for the second time that day she was practically naked in front of him. "I'll wait outside while you change!" He quickly slipped out the front door and closed it, sitting down on the landing.

Back inside, Musubi had watched him leave and again did not understand what was wrong. Was she not attractive to him? She got dressed and then opened the door, sidling next to Minato on the wooden landing.

"Minato?"

"Yes, Musubi?"

"Do you not like me?"

He turned to her, his gray eyes meeting her hazel ones, "O-of course I like you!" he proclaimed.

"But why do you turn away when I get undressed?"

Minato blinked a few times. Did he really have to explain this to her? "Well, it's just that... I'm not used to beautiful women getting undressed when I'm around... plus, I mean... you should be concerned about your modesty and... we don't really know each other that well... basically, it makes me a bit uncomfortable."

She looked down, "So you don't like my body?"

He placed a hand on her shoulder. "Look, Musubi. I do like you, I mean what guy wouldn't? And your body is wonderful. I'm... I'm just not comfortable with the whole getting naked as if it was nothing idea."

"But it is nothing! it's just clothes..." she replied, still not understanding.

"Look, you're a very sweet and innocent girl, Musubi. And like I said I like you, and I feel uncomfortable when you get undressed because it feels like I'm taking advantage of you. I... I need some time to get used to this whole thing, okay? So at least try and be a little more modest when I'm around," explained the young man.

The brunette slowly nodded, "I guess I understand. I'm sorry for making you uncomfortable." She moved closer and wrapped her arms around him, putting her head on his shoulder.

He found himself to be enjoying her closeness, her wonderful scent wafting up into his nose. His elbow was brushing against her breasts, but he didn't complain or move for the first time that day. She seemed very comfortable and content and he didn't want to ruin the moment.

"Minato?" She snuggled closer to him.

He looked down at her, "Hmmm?"

"I love you."

Author's Notes: Aaaand another one in the books!