A/N Again, sorry for the long delay. Things happened and my life didn't allow me to actually sit down, write, and update the story. Or at least, to update the story. I have this and the next chapter fully ready to go.
No Fighting?! That's not allowed!
Red yawns and stretches out as his alarm goes off. He looks out the window at the slowly brightening sky and grins, jumping out of it and landing on the ground in nothing but a pair of gym shorts. It's early enough that no one will be up! He grins and starts up on his regular morning exercises. The first day of the weekend. No school! No brats to deal with who think they're too hot to trot and have chips on their shoulders. No high school girls trying to hit on him. No principal throwing things at him for cussing! He flips up onto a hand and starts doing pushups, using his energy to keep himself centered and balanced as he works.
Minato yawns himself, coming downstairs the regular way, tail trailing behind him lightly as he walks, dressed in nothing but a pair of pajama pants. He goes into the fridge and grabs out some milk to drink. Idly, he wonders why only Yume and Matsu were in his room. Even Kuu wasn't in there. He turns around and blinks. There's Tsukiume. And she's staring at him, slowly turning red. He follows her gaze down and blinks, his pajama pants are unbuttoned. He quickly looks back up to her with a rich blush on his cheeks. "Now…Tsukiume…there's no need to…" He gulps as he sees that she is hiding Kuu behind her, what he was going to say blanking from his mind. 'Ah crap…' He thinks to himself, 'I'm dead…'
Tsukiume, with her face beet red, speaks in a surprisingly calm voice. "What you need, ashikabe…" She says sweetly, "…Is a cold shower!" She yells, flicking out her hand. "Water Celebration!" As the water hits him, all Minato can do is yell as he's propelled along.
Red blinks as he hears this, then boosts himself up fast with his energy as he hears Minato shout. Soon enough, Minato rockets through the wall, propelled by water, and skids across the ground. "Man, day just started and yer already in trouble!" He yells, then laughs.
Tsukiume peers out through the hole, then glares up at him after hearing him. "YOU! Put some clothes on! Then fix this hole!"
"What? Why? I didn't do nothin'!" Red says in protest, still hovering upside down in the air.
"…neither did I…" Minato groans from his position on the ground.
"I shall remember that while I'm making breakfast!" She says, spinning around and heading inside.
Red is busy fixing the hole a half hour later and winces as he hears Minato being scolded by Tsukiume. "Really, ashikabe. To expose yourself in that way in front of Kuu!" She says.
"But I didn't mean to!" Minato says pathetically, "It just kinda happened! And I thought no one was awake…"
Red winces. Powerful Saiyans are still no match for their wives. He had heard time and again that Bulma ruled the Vegeta household, and that ChiChi ran the Son household. All his experience out here in the real world is proving that right. He shakes his head and focuses on his work, using his energy to precisely maneuver the boards back into position, then using a finger to hammer in the nails precisely where they should be. He's melding together training and work! Smart for him. He and Minato worked out a deal, too. He would fix the hole, Minato would paint.
"Anyway…" Minato says, "Changing the subject, I want to make it so other Sekirei don't fight in our northern territory here. It used to be like that, back when Miya was around. I want it to be the same under us."
This catches Tsukiume completely off guard. She crosses her arms under her ample bosom. "And how will you enforce this, husband?" She asks.
Minato grins and cracks his knuckles. "If we catch anyone fighting out here, we'll go and break it up. By force if it's needed." He says. This response, and his actions during it, surprise Tsukiume. Her sweet, innocent, cowardly Minato is gone it seems, replaced by a sweet and innocent, yet firm, Minato, one who will fight for his beliefs. She saw it a few days ago, when he did not cower when Miya came to the door. She saw it when he first got back, when he didn't cower and bow and scrape for forgiveness and instead had explained what he did and why and let them decide to forgive him or not.
"While I do appreciate the sentiment, we may anger the discipline squad." She says, "And I do not look forward to fighting with Miya and the others in the squad."
Minato nods in agreement. "She's strong alright, but all we have to do is show we'll break up a fight, right?" He says, "So we break it up, quickly beat anyone who resists, and leave the area without deactivating anyone."
Tsukiume blinks, then nods after a few seconds. Her mind is reeling. SHE had to be the one to talk HIM into letting them fight before, and now he's ready to go on the offensive! "We will need Matsu for this then. We will need to send a mass email to all the Ashikabe in the city to keep them from fighting here."
"Sounds like a good idea." Minato says, "My only worry is Red. He will want to fight, even though he is not an ashikabe. I think Miya may kill him for it…"
"Hey yo, Minato!" Red calls out. "Yer hole's fixed! Come out here and paint it over, will ya!"
Minato sighs. "We can talk about it more later, Tsukiume." He says, waving to her as he heads off to get the paint. Fortunately, house repairs are fairly common here and they have a stockpile of materials for it.
Red waits on the roof, laying back on it and looking at the sky. His mind is miles away and in the future, thinking about things. What would he be like if he ever got married? Would he bend and scrape to his wife's every whim? Would she bend and scrape for his? Would they be more equal, both working together like his mom and pop did? He just…doesn't know. Before he became a saiyan, his ideal woman was submissive and proper. After, he doesn't quite know. The female saiyans he's known all stood on their own two feet and fought like lionesses defending their cubs. Does he want a wife like that? He stands up and hovers his way up into the air, his tail swaying out behind him in typical saiyan fashion.
'May as well get my mind off it.' He thinks to himself. High up above the street, he reaches out with his senses, trying to feel what was going on around him. The Sekirei all stick out to him, beads of power in the city of dull lights. Their ashikabe also stick out a bit, glowing slightly more brightly than the regular people around them do. The ones who don't train to use their energy to fight that is. The military base, far to the south in Okinawa radiates to his senses even over here in Tokyo. He blinks then. He can feel the dark energy of the devils in the Gremory household! Or rather, he can feel two of them. He focuses a bit and briefly, the flash of the face of Rias and her friend Akeno go through his mind. He backs off from them. No need to worry about those two. He feels around some more and grins, focusing on a corrupted light energy source. A strange person flashes through his mind, a woman dressed in a skimpy black outfit, black wings behind her back, a cocky grin on her face and long black hair, violet colored eyes sparkling a bit in the glow of a candle. A fallen angel. He sighs. So much crap has been put into his life since he became a saiyan. It'd almost be preferable to go back to being a normal human and being picked on.
"So, your mind seems a bit troubled." Says a voice from behind. Red jumps and spins, only to see a woman hovering in midair behind him, white wings spread behind her to keep her aloft. "You're…" He says, trying not to stammer.
"An Angel, yes." She says, smiling but getting right to the point. "Your guardian angel, in fact. My name is Sophia. It's nice to finally meet you face to face." She offers her hand. Red is so stunned to see an actual guardian angel that all he can do is limply shake her hand. "Oh come on, that's a limp handshake for someone who's been watching out for you!" She says, grinning.
Red blushes a bit and shakes more firmly. "Nice to meet you…" He says in a low, embarrassed tone.
She smiles to him. "I won't be your guardian much longer though. Lots of people need guarding, and you're getting strong enough to guard yourself better than I would be able to. The fact that you can see, hear, and interact with me shows how far you've come." She says, "I just wanted to meet you and tell you I'm proud of you and how far you've come. Many other people would need a lot of help to keep their lives on track after what you went through, but you've turned out really well." She says, grinning and giving him a wink. "So do me a favor, keep up the good lifestyle and make me proud! Your future has a lot in it!" With that, she flies off and vanishes in a golden cross.
"My future, huh…weird…" Red says to himself, then descends down to the house once more. His mom would FREAK if she knew that angels were active in his life. But, he has a feeling that telling her would cause those angels to stop appearing in his life, and that's something he does not want.
Soon after he lands, Yume jumps up, landing on the roof. "Oh! There you are." She says, smiling and bowing a bit to him. "I was wondering if you wanted to spar a little bit before I tell you what chores Tsukiume wants you to go and do." She says, smiling sweetly.
"Sure, I'm game!" Red says, grinning at her. He can feel the girl is slightly more powerful than he is, but it's be close enough that it'll be a good workout for them both. The two jump down off the roof and into the sparring area in the back yard and immediately go at it, starting with Yume rushing forward and punching at him. Red blocks with his right arm and spins around to her side, aiming his free elbow at her head. She flips forward on her hands and comes up, spinning a kick around at him that he blocks with is left arm. "Yer pretty good!" He says, smiling.
Yume grins at him. "I'm just getting started." She says, spinning around and lashing out with a straight punch. He ducks under it and aims an uppercut at her, tearing her shirt a bit as she dodges back. She then rushes forward and slams her fist against his block. This time, however, a blast of energy rushes through and sends him skidding backwards a bit. "Woah, what was that?" He asks. It was just enough energy to blast through his defense without being enough to send him through half the house.
Yume sticks out her tongue a bit. "I'm more powerful than the amount of energy I regularly radiate, you know." She says, then rushes at him and punches again, getting him to block it with more of his energy. He reaches out with his senses and realizes she's right! She's a good deal more powerful now than she was before! "Do…Woah!" He ducks under another punch. "Do all Sekirei hide their power like this?" He asks as he blocks a kick then counterattacks with a punch of his own, hitting her in the gut and sending her back a bit.
"Of course!" She says excitedly. "It wouldn't be very smart to let our opponents know our full strength ahead of time, would it?" She then kicks it up a bit more. She throws a punch that he blocks, only to have a second come in and slam into his face, followed by a kick to the back of his head after he is spun a bit by the punch.
Red rolls on the ground after taking the hit and comes up, but she's already there, attacking more. "Come on, kick it up more!" She says excitedly, obviously getting really into the sparring match. Red just barely dodges her next two punches, working to pull more of his energy out. He then blocks another punch and throws two of his own in rapid succession at her, putting her on the defense. Then she kicks it up a notch more and kicks him hard enough to send him into the house. "Oops…" She says, blushing a bit and putting her hands together in front of her mouth.
Tsukiume pops out from inside the house with an apron on and runs over in response to the loud crashing noise. Upon seeing the hole in the wall and Red staggering out of it a little bit dazed, she glares at Yume. "YOU get to fix that!" She says. "Red! Are you okay?" She asks. Red waves a bit and rubs his head. "Yeah. Sorry for the hole!"
Tsukiume sighs in relief. "Well, get cleaned up. It's your turn to go to the store. You saiyans eat a lot, so it's only fair that you get it." She says, glaring at Yume afterwards. Yume knocks her head once to show she had pulled a bonehead move. Red simply nods, goes into the house through the hole in the wall, and heads to the bathroom. He has a LOT of work to do to catch up to her in power.
MBI Tower
Miya looks out the window and sighs. Those fools over there in the north. They had sent out an email to ashikabe all across the city, including the ashikabe in charge of two of the five Sekirei in the discipline squad, Haihane and Karusaba. She shakes her head. As soon as MBI finds out they are interfering with a fight, the discipline squad will be dispatched. Their job will be to fight with the northern ashikabe until the other two Sekirei conclude their fight. It won't be enough to simply destroy them. No, they need to destroy their idea of interference. Otherwise, other Sekirei and ashikabe may take it into their heads to try to stop the fighting.
Then there was her other little problem. She had definitely felt someone last night while singing. Both she and Kazehana. And it had NOT been the man that MBI has put in charge of the discipline squad as its ashikabe. She knew there was a reason she had not let herself be winged by the guy, why her heart kept stopping her, but to have it confirmed in such a way… She sighs and puts those thoughts out of her mind as she sees Kazehana walk up to her in the reflection in the glass.
"There is going to be a fight in the north tomorrow night." Kazehana says to Miya, "It's a setup by MBI to draw the northern ashikabe into disrupting it so we can show how serious we are. It's a certainty that he will be there." She says, smiling a little bit and blushing. "We can see what kind of man he is while we keep him clear of the official fight." She smiles a bit at that, squirming just a little bit. Just thinking about the man from Maison Izumo, the one in the cowboy hat, makes her heat up. She has the same exact feeling when she thinks about the man whose silhouette she felt while singing last night with Miya. She'll need a drink of sake to cool down!
"Who are you talking about?" Miya asks, looking at her only true friend, even if she is indecent, and likes to drink…and dresses skimpily…though Miya does feel a little squirmy herself, having an inkling of who she's talking about. That strong, muscular silhouette. She blushes a bit.
"Oh…I think you know who..." She says, winking and turning away to saunter on back over to the open bar. Miya is in denial. She's number one after all, and had thought she wouldn't react to anyone. Now she is, and her mind is a bit torn between her pride being hurt at being wrong, and her heart being overjoyed at reacting to someone. Right now, she seems to be stubbornly holding onto her pride, but she knows the heart will win. It's LOVE, after all!
After a second's thought, Miya joins Kazehana at the bar, but only for a glass of cool water. She has to cool herself off so she doesn't embarrass herself in front of the others by indecently showing off that she's got a guy on her mind. She will NOT be like Kazehana!
Karusaba watches the pair out of the corner of her eye. They are up to something and with all that blushing…Perhaps they are reacting to someone? Oh, that'd be grand. Wait for that annoying pair to bond to some foolish human, then wipe that human out and watch them both fall. Oh, nothing would be sweeter…She turns her attention back to her sword. Soon. Very soon.
The next night, as Red and Minato are watching a television show, an American football game broadcast internationally, Matsu comes running down the stairs. "Minato! There's a fight between Sekirei going on just three blocks away!" She says. Minato jumps up. "Looks like it's time to prove we mean what we say!" He says, smiling. Yume smiles and nods, fists clenched and held up to her chest. Tsukiume grins. The three of them turn and start to leave the house.
"Matsu, I leave the care of this house in your hands until our return." She says, then blinks as Red puts on his cowboy hat. "You do not need to come. You cannot fight." She says.
Red simply grins. "I will come. No way am I gonna miss this!" He says, walking out the door with her. "Besides, with the two of us, we can fly yall to where the fight is and set ya down." To emphasize his point, he grabs Yume's hands and lifts into the air. Yume doesn't seem to protest and thinks it's one of those unexpectedly fun things to have happen to you. When Minato does the same with Tsukiume and lifts off, Tsukiume only sighs and lowers her head a bit. She lost this one. So be it, at least there's a fight ahead! Matsu grins, correcting her glasses. What an interesting turn of events! She starts waving. "Be sure to have your cell on!" She yells after them.
A few blocks away, two Sekirei, one armed with a staff, the other armed with nothing but her own fists, are going at it. Minato and Red set down the two Sekirei nearby. "Stop!" Tsukiume yells out, causing the two Sekirei to freeze. "What are you doing?! You were told not to fight in the northern area!"
"Yeah!" Yume yells down. "If you don't stop, we will stop you!" Her enthusiasm at this makes Minato grin. It reminds him so much of Musubi.
Red, meanwhile, looks off to the side, then hovers down into an alleyway. "Well…what do we have here?" He says to himself as he sees two men chatting together. Their energy indicates they are ashikabe, but if their Sekirei are dueling, shouldn't they be watching them and hoping their Sekirei will emerge victorious?
"You can't stop us! This is an official duel!" Yells one Sekirei. The other simply readies her staff to fight with the two newcomers.
"Resume your fight." Comes another voice. All of the Sekirei present look over and see Karusaba, Haihane and Benitsubasa ready to fight. "The discipline squad will handle these interlopers who dare break the rules of the Sekirei plan."
Minato groans a little bit. That speech was CLEARLY rehearsed! This must be a setup. Before he can say anything, the black clad Sekirei launch into the attack, as the other two resume fighting each other. Tsukiume begins to fight with Haihane, using her water to block her slashes while Yume begins fighting with Karusaba, easily dodging her sword strokes. Benitsubasa lands in front of Minato, who immediately readies himself for battle. Benitsubasa, however, begins to blush a bit. She shakes her head and finds escape in her anger and rushes forward into the attack.
In the alley, Red grins at the two guys who don't know he's there. "Oh man, all this money, just to have our Sekirei spar with each other out here to lure out the Ashikabe of the North." One says. Red grins. Leave it to nervous guys to reveal what the plan is.
"Yeah, I know! Totally worth it! I've got no problem taking MBI's money!" The other says as they look at their bank accounts on their phones.
"Hey guys." Red says low, amused voice, causing them both to tense and spin around to stare in shock at him. "Mind if I join the party?" He says with a smile, then grabs both of the guys by the arm and lifts into the air.
On a nearby building, Miya and Kazehana, also dressed in their black discipline squad robes, look down on the battle. Miya sighs. "So, where's this him you were so convinced would be here?" She asks as the two look around. A whistle and a 'yoo hoo' from the sky nearby draws both of their attention up. "Ah…" Kazehana says in an almost lustful voice. "There he is." Miya looks up and feels a slight flutter as she sees the silhouette against the moon as he hovers there in front of it. It matches the silhouette she saw in her mind's eye during her singing. That is the him she was talking about. She must admit, he's a very important him and she now understands exactly why Kazehana had emphasized the word him when referring to him. She also feels like a fool for not realizing her own reaction sooner. She then blinks. "Is he holding two men by their arms?" Miya asks. Kazehana lets out a soft, nervous laugh. He was about to break the rules, it seems.
Red grins as he holds the two ashikabe up in the air, more in satisfaction about the reactions of the ashikabe and their pleas to be let go than Sekirei stopping their fight. "Illegal donation! On the Defense! Fifteen yard penalty. Automatic. First down." He says, lowering himself to the ground and dropping the guys onto their asses. Minato, standing nearby and squared off with Benitsubasa, sighs and facepalms. Such a terrible one liner. Kazehana and Miya also facepalm at almost the exact same time. Such a terrible one liner! What was that even from?
"Red! This isn't the NFL!" Tsukiume yells at him in a very annoyed tone. "Will you be serious?!"
"You JERK!" Yell the two Sekirei, rushing forward to attack him, only to stop dead as he holds his hands over the two ashikabe, energy balls forming. The two ashikabe look terrified and their Sekirei go pale.
"Nuh uh uh!" Red says, grinning at the sekirei. "It'd be a shame if these two fine gentlemen got hurt after getting such a fine payday from MBI." He says. "So how about yall leave off the attack, grab yer guys, and go home? Hmmm?" He asks, turning his head a little bit at the end there to grin at one of the ashikabe.
The Sekirei seem to lose their will to fight almost immediately now that their ashikabe are threatened. Seeing the Sekirei are done fighting, Red allows the two guys crawl off slowly towards where their Sekirei are and then run off, their Sekirei following. Both run in the same direction, giving further indication it was a setup.
"Wait…" Benitsubasa says, "MBI paid them to fight?" She only just now got it. She looks at the other two members of the discipline squad. "Why aren't WE paid to fight?!" Haihane simply shrugs.
"Who cares why we're fighting?" Karusaba says. "Finish them off!" The fight resumes with the discipline squad rushing at their opponents, almost catching them off guard.
Red lifts off and watches the fight from a rooftop. He knows he can't really get involved since it's a Sekirei fight, but dammit! He wants to! Only then does he think that grabbing those two may be considered getting involved, as well as threatening to blast them in front of their sekirei…but he shrugs it off. At least he didn't attack any Sekirei, only almost their ashikabe. "Wow, they're really goin' at it." He says to himself out loud to get his mind off that line of thought. His gaze goes from fight to fight quickly. Tsukiume and the spike fingered Sekirei are going at it, the spike fingered girl launching quick attacks meant to cut the busty blonde to pieces, only to be blocked and countered by Tsukiume's overwhelming water power.
Over there are Yume and the girl with the arrogant smile and katana. She is trying hard to cut her, but Yume is avoiding the slashes and stabs and counterattacking where she's able. He can feel the power difference between those two is MASSIVE. Unlike with Tsukiume and the spike finger girl, it seems that the swordswoman is outclassed. He has to focus on her to understand what is being said between them.
"Finally." Karusaba says, slashing at Yume. "I will defeat you and show you we don't need these wretched humans."
"So sad. You still don't get it." Yume says back as she dances around the blade easily. "Even though you were winged, you didn't get any more powerful because you don't get it."
Finally, there are Benistubasa and Minato fighting. Something's off about that fight. The pink haired Sekirei's power level is dropping as she fights him. It's like, for some reason, she doesn't WANT to fight, and yet as she gets weaker, she gets pissed off, which spikes her power back up and lets her get back into the fight with Minato. Then, as she goes along, she seems to lose the will to fight all over again until she repeats the process. What's going on there?
His attention is drawn off from the fighting by a gust of wind from his left and the sound of someone landing. Red looks over and sees Kazehana standing there. She smiles and gives him a wink, adopting a pose that thrusts out her chest. "Nice to see you again, handsome." She says.
"Kazehana, we are in public. Please keep your urges to yourself." Comes another voice. He whips his head to the right and sees Miya there. She had said that with eyes closed and a sour expression on her face. She opens her eyes and looks at Red, those brown eyes looking into his. "We need you to come with us." She says, those eyes seeming to pull him into her gaze.
Red feels an undeniable pull towards them, but he resists, jumping back. "No way. I'm not gonna stay out of this whole thing just because I ain't an ashikabe." He says in a serious tone, completely misunderstanding in the worse way possible as he gets into a fighting position as his mind yells 'oh crap' over and over again. 'These girls are CRAZY strong. What the fuck am I doing?!' He yells at himself.
Miya smiles, "Now now…" She says, her voice sweet and soothing. Red isn't having any of it and launches himself at her. As he does, Miya goes from looking sweet and having a smiling face to looking slightly upset. She dodges to the side as he comes right up to her and turns as he goes skidding past her. "We don't need to fight. We just want you to come with us." She says, trying once again to sooth him, but the stubborn saiyan is not getting it. "You'll have to drag me off." He growls at her, still ready to fight. She sighs then, her face going from slightly upset to clearly annoyed. She lifts up her sheathed sword. "Fine." Is all she says to him. Kazehana facepalms and lifts herself up into the air, landing 90 degrees to his right.
"Kazehana, we need to end this quickly, before Karusaba and the others notice what's going on." She says, her voice showing her impatience and annoyance. Kazehana nods, then holds up an outstretched hand, palm up. Red can feel her energy surge but before he can really react, he is caught in a whirlwind, somehow with pink flower petals flowing around to show the wind current even though there are no trees with pink anything nearby. The winds lift him off the ground but due to his experience flying, he does not lose his balance. Instead, Red growls a bit and starts to summon up his power, then lets it out in a burst, scattering the winds away. This causes Kazehana to blush a bit. She could feel his energy spike in her body, as if they were already bonded! Such an amazing feeling! She places her hands on her cheeks and squirms, letting out a soft moan. Oh yes! She has been waiting a long time for this!
Miya huffs a bit. "Kazehana, focus!" She snaps. She too feels the swelling of power but is not distracted by it. She leaps forward and swings her sword down, but Red dodges away just in the nick of time, heading straight for Kazehana. He had seen her distraction and is hoping to take advantage of it.
"Oh…you want to play?" She says as he rushes at her. She gives him a very glorious smile, meant to melt his heart. While doing this, she rubs her hands along her sides suggestively and causes Red to stumble to a stop, confused. What the hell is this girl doing in the middle of a fight? She then smiles and lifts up her hand. "Oh crap." Red says, realizing the trick and trying to defend but instead takes the blast of wind full force in the chest. He goes flying back only to stop abruptly against a warm body and soft chest pillows pressing into his back.
Two arms come up, locking over his shoulders and pulling them back while the stiff presence of the sheathed sword presses down against the back of his head, forcing him to look down instead of up as Kazehana approaches slowly, hand on her hip and hips swaying as she walks, trying to be just as sexy as possible. Of course, Red's focus is on those boobs that are now mashed into his back. Miya's voice, soft and sweet, comes into his ear. "Are you satisfied now? Will you stop this fighting and come with us?"
Red growls as he starts gathering up his energy. This is just another trick. Now they've got him exactly how they want him and he can think of only one way out. It'll exhaust him quickly, but the upwelling of energy should be sudden enough to force her to let go! 'I gotta do it.' He thinks in desperation, not realizing that he is blushing from the closeness of the Sekirei, not noticing the pull he feels in his heart due to his battle fury. He closes his eyes, focuses on his power, and draws it out in the way taught to him by Goku. When he reaches the point he wants, red energy radiates around him. He snaps open his eyes, his aura flaring up brightly, and yells, "Kiaoken!" Energy erupts around him, causing Miya to break her hold on him. "Kiao-what?" Miya says in shock as Red spins around and slams his fist into her belly. He lifts her up over his head with the momentum of the strike, opening his hand up in her belly and gathering a ki blast. As he brings her down onto the roof beneath them, he lets the blast go, firing her through the roof and into the floors below. As she sails down through the ceiling and into the floor beneath, Red stands there panting. The short burst of Kaioken has exhausted him.
"Oh my, you really did it now." Comes the seductive, and amused, voice from ahead. Kazehana stands there, not advancing, but she has her head in her hand now and a grin on her face, as if she knows something he doesn't. As he watches, she brings her gaze back to him, shaking out her hair and simply giving him a rueful smile. "When you recover, just remember that you brought it on yourself."
"What?" He asks, blinking. Suddenly, from out of the hole, a woman jumps up into the air. He can feel the power in her as she hovers there from the momentum of her great leap countering gravity's pull, sheathed sword at the ready above her head in a striking position, and her eyes…it seems like they are glowing red. He stands there in shock and can only gaze in horror as that sword comes down. He hears and feels a THWACK on his head that makes his vision actually black partially out from the impact. He can't help but crouch and hold his head as it throbs in pain from the impact of the sword! Why?! Why is she hitting him on the head with a SHEATHED sword?! Isn't she taking this seriously?!
Miya brings her sword up and points it right at him. "Enough!" She says in a stern voice, like a mother scolding a child…or a wife reigning in her husband. "STOP this foolishness and come with us." She orders.
Red hisses, bringing his hands down and jumping back several feet, getting into a position where he can easily gather up his power and tense his muscles up to prepare for the REAL fight. "My…that is quite the lump…" Kazehana says, still amused, as she sees the lump on Red's head where Miya hit him at. As if responding to her statement, the lump on his head throbs with pain.
"Let's see how you take this!" He snaps at her, bringing out his power in a flaring aura. He can see it all in his mind. He'll power up and fire a blast attack at them. That'll do it! At the very least, all the smoke and dust kicked up from the attack and their defense against it will cover him getting away from these two and that blasted sheathed sword.
Miya sighs as he jumps back and begins powering up. "Oh for goodness' sake." She says in exasperation, rushing forward and slamming the butt of her sword into the center of his chest, sending him flying through the air, the charging growl converted instantly into a shout of pain, until he slams into an air conditioning unit, his shout of pain that had been a power up growl now turned into a gasping, wheezing sort of sound an old man makes when he's getting up from the couch. He slowly topples over out of the air conditioner and down onto the roof's concrete. "...fuuuuuuuck..." He groans, still trying to get his wind back.
Kazehana sighs and shrugs, bringing her hands up. "I told you so." She says simply, starting to walk over to the fallen saiyan. She arrives at his crumpled form right as Miya does. Miya stops, places one hand on her hip while the other hand holds her sword at her side, and glares down at Red's back. The look on her face shows her annoyance. Destined one or not, he was being EXTREMELY stupid. "Are you done?" She asks in a stern voice.
A muffled 'yes ma'am' rises from the crumpled saiyan who is face down on the concrete. He looks up at them, eyes a bit glazed over as he struggles to rise, then face plants onto the concrete, out cold.
"Good." Miya says. She HATES that she had to do this, but this stupid, stubborn saiyan…and yet, she feels her anger fading and a smile on her lips.
"Wow, you knocked him out." Kazehana says as she reaches down and grabs one arm. Miya nods and grabs the other. Both bring the saiyan's arms up and onto their shoulders, put their other arm around his back, and prepare to leave. "Wait…" Miya says, noticing something on the roof nearby. She goes to it, leaving him leaning against Kazehana and walking over to a cowboy hat laying on the concrete. She picks it up and walks back over, settling it back on his head and taking back up her arm. The two then leap off together with their saiyan between them. After a few building hops, Kazehana grins at Miya over Red's unconscious shoulders. "You know, Miya, this brings a whole new definition to 'go get your man and bring him home.'"
Miya gives her a wink. "Let's just hope this does not become a regular thing."
Kazehana nods. "Where are we going?" She asks.
"There's a hotel not too far away." Miya says. Kazehana nods and as they jump along, the two make plans for how to do this. Gone is the idea of walking into a hotel room arm in arm with their man and emerging there. No, instead, they have to drag him unconscious into it. NOT the way either had imagined emerging in their fantasies. They decide to explain that their man got drunk and passed out. It's the simplest and most easily accepted explanation. It also has the added benefit of not drawing the attention of the Police, MBI, or the EDF.
Back at the fight, the discipline squad is having a hard time dealing with the Sekirei under Minato's control. Even Benitsubasa is having trouble with Minato, who is matching her blow for blow. Every punch she throws, he blocks, and every time he attacks, her reaction is just a little bit slower. With a final lunge, Minato plants a solid punch in Benitsubasa's stomach, sending her flying and crashing into a brick entryway leading to a stairwell. She gasps as she gets up from the impact, wiping a little blood away. "No way! How am I losing to you?!" She yells angrily.
As she does, Haihane drops down next to her, narrowly having avoided the water blast Tsukiume launched at her. "I think we need to leave." She says in her lower tone she uses when she's serious.
Karusaba, being steadily backed up by Yume's attacks, growls a bit. "NO! Keep fighting." She says. She swings her sword quickly, putting Yume back on the defense for a few strokes before Yume counterattacks with a kick to her side, sending her skidding off. As she recovers and prepares to attack, her phone, and the phones of all the other members, buzzes and lights up. She ignores it, going into the attack. Haihane, however, answers and reads the text. "We're being withdrawn." She says, hiding her relief.
Karusaba yowls in frustration. "No! Nothing could possibly…"
"Miya and Kazehana are missing." Haihane says, causing Benitsubasa to gasp a bit and look in shock at the bandaged woman, and stopping Karusaba dead in her tracks, sword up and ready to strike. At first, her expression is one of shock, but it quickly turns into a grin. She was right! They were reacting to someone and had taken this opportunity to go off and find their ashikabe! How wonderful! If they can find the wretch and kill him, they'll also kill the two powerful Sekirei and remove the threats they are to her.
"You're lucky." She says, straightening up and looking at Yume, who is still standing in a fighting position. "Work calls and I must go. I'll be back again if you try to interrupt another fight though."
With that, the discipline squad leaves, jumping from building to building. Karusaba seems to be more interested in getting away quickly now than in keeping the other two with her and starts to outpace them. She wants to get back quickly and find out who this unlucky man is.
Minato walks over to Yume and smiles to her. "We won! Great job!" He says, grinning, bumping fists with her.
"You did great Minato!" She says happily, giving him a big hug, once again reminding him of Musubi.
"Yes." Tsukiume says, landing next to him. "I suppose your change is not as unwelcomed as we first thought." She says, smiling to him. Their bond had grown deeper, just by the simple act of fighting alongside one another. She can already feel the fresh strength from the increase in their bond flowing through her.
"Yeah, I'm so happy I could help out for once." Minato says, looking around. "Uh…guys? Where's Red?"
A half hour later, Red wakes up inside strange room, laying on a strange bed, with his face wet from the glass of water that Kazehana splashed upon it. He groans and sits up, only to see Miya ready that sword again. "No fighting this time. Understand?" She says, her eyes showing she will accept no argument on this subject. Red winces visibly and nods to her. He is deathly afraid of Miya, remembering the dark form of the woman in the air after jumping up through the hole in the roof. Miya nods and sets her sword on the bed.
Kazehana smiles at this. "See? He does have some brains." She says. "We'll just have to work on his mind…in addition to his body…" She says seductively as she runs her fingers down along his chest. This causes him to blush at the meaning behind it. Of course, being in close proximity to the two women has his heart racing for some reason.
"Why did you bring me here?" He asks the two of them. "What do ya want with me?"
"You'll find out." Kazehana says as she stands and backs up, giving the other woman room. Miya looks down at the saiyan on the bed and gives him a smile. "Stand up." She says. Red slowly rises to his feet, wondering why she's suddenly blushing so brightly. Before Red can say anything or, even worse, object, Miya presses herself against him, her soft chest pressing against his hard muscular one, and kisses him firmly on the lips. As she does, Red can feel a gate seem to open in his mind, and bright golden energy flows in through that gate, connecting his essence to hers, allowing their energies to flow back and forth as easily as water would flow from one part of a pond to another. The kiss seems to last for hours, and when Miya lets it go, she can't help but hug herself. She moans out, the blush on her cheeks even more pronounced than before. Intense energy springs out from her back as her Sekirei wings pop out, glowing radiantly with golden feathers.
As Miya's wings emerge and her bond to Red is completed, Kazehana steps closer. "My turn." She says, drawing Red's attention. She leans in and joins her lips with his. Once again, Red can feel energy pouring into him, a deep purple energy, just as his energy pours into her. The kiss lasts just as long as it did with Miya. This time, when Kazehana breaks the kiss, she doesn't hold herself so much as arch her back and moan. Her wings spring out as well, glowing bright purple as her bond to him is completed.
"I am number one, Miya." Miya says to him as the glows fade.
"I am number three, Kazehana." Kazehana says immediately after.
"We recognize you as our ashikabe. We shall always be with you, now and forever." They both say as one.
Red simply blinks about this, then plops down on the bed as realization finally dawns on him. "And I'm a dumbass." He says simply, bringing laughter from the two Sekirei.
