A/N: Here I am again, dood! Chapter seven is here, dood! Now, for the thrilling conclusion of the Introduction Arc, dood!
Ahem. Okay, I'm done saying dood, dood. Er, sorry. Ahem.
Anyway, yes, this is the last chapter before the real action begins. The fight scenes may suck at first, since I haven't really written any of those either. It's gonna be a pain when it comes to deciding how long I want each fight to last, especially against stronger Sekirei. But I guess I'll do my best, as always.
Disclaimer: Nope, still don't own Sekirei.
Chapter Seven: Minato's 'Wife' and the Beginning of Our Troubles
Steam hung in the air. I still had my hand outstretched from my failed attempt to rescue Minato from a watery death.
Rage coursed through me. How dare this soggy pond princess come and murder my best friend right before my eyes? That son of a bitch. She will PAY.
Evidently my anger was shared by quite a few people. Akitsu and Uzume were glaring daggers at Tsukiumi, promising pain. Miya…still looked impassive. Well, screw you too, Miya. Nice to know that you don't even care that one of your tenants was murdered right in front of your face.
Musubi, Ku, and Shiina looked downright murderous. Matsu, in her own way, also had similar features on her face, although there was a hint of perversion; I shuddered slightly, not even daring imagining the things she will do to Tsukiumi before finally letting her die. I almost began to feel sorry for the pond princess. Almost.
Then it hit me; Akitsu once mentioned that if an Ashikabi is killed, all of his/her Sekirei would be terminated. In other words, they would drop dead, or at least fall unconscious. So why was Minato's Sekirei all still standing?
I looked at Homura. No expression. Just staring at Tsukiumi. With his hand stretched out…right towards where Minato was standing before. Could he have-?
A battle cry assaulted my ears. As one, Musubi, Ku and Shiina all ran at Tsukiumi, plants bursting through the ground to strangle the blonde witch, Musubi's fists glowing with unrestrained energy, the grass decaying as Shiina passed. They were all about to undoubtedly slaughter Tsukiumi, when-
"STOP! DON'T HURT HER!"
All three of the Sekirei stopped. They turned around, unbelieving. The owner of the voice, who they presumed dead, stepped out of the steam.
Minato smiled at Homura. "Thanks for the fire shield at the last second. I thought I was a goner for sure."
Homura shrugged. "Miya would have murdered me if I didn't do anything to stop your death."
Minato began walking towards Tsukiumi. She tried to conjure up water, but it was all repelled by a burst of fire and the water freezing; Homura and Akitsu were doing their job of protecting Minato. But what was he doing?
Minato stopped just short of Tsukiumi. I suddenly sensed a corny and sappy speech approaching…
"Look, I don't know what I did to you," Minato began, "But that's no reason to come and attack me. Surely we can talk things out." I groaned; I had been right on the money. I began to tone out Minato's voice as he went into the whole 'we can work this out' speech.
Several hours later, I woke up from my nap on Akitsu's lap. Uzume was sleeping on my chest, Ku, Shiina and Musubi were all sleeping in a small heap, Miya and Homura were nowhere to be found, and Minato…
"-So, those are all the reasons why we can work this out through talking and not fighting. All right?"
Tsukiumi had a dazed look on her face. In a dazed voice, she said, "Yes, let's talk this out."
I groaned. Dear god, Minato, you frigging brainwashed somebody.
Hmm. I wonder if I talked to Miya for a few hours about how it was alright to have sexual relations-
WHACK!
…In retrospect, I should've totally seen that coming.
With that out of the way, we gathered up everyone who was sleeping, and went inside. I took the liberty of raiding the fridge for something to snack on, and once again got brain-damaged, courtesy of Miya and her ladle. Seriously, does she carry that thing EVERYWHERE?
Making my way back into the dining room, I arrived just in time to hear Tsukiumi saying "You are my Ashikabi…now, and forever." and promptly got blinding by the flash of light that signified a winging.
As soon as I could trust my eyesight again, I finished my quest of making it to the dining room. And was promptly thrown back out due to the sheer force of Tsukiumi's voice.
"WHAT DO YOU MEAN I CAN'T SLEEP WITH MY HUSBAND?"
…Husband? Oh dear, I have a bad feeling about this…
Wait…sleeping with Minato? How come he gets to sleep with his Sekirei (in THAT way) and I can only cuddle with mine?
One blow to the head later, I watched in amusement as everyone else was scared out of their mind as Miya pulled out her hannya mask.
"You WILL adhere to the rules of Izumo Inn…or there will be dire consequences…am I understood?" Miya asked, a demonic aura exuding off her.
"Y-yes! As they say, when in Rome, do as Romans do!" Tsukiumi yelped, fear evident in her voice.
I barely repressed my laughter on the look on her face. I also had to restrain myself from making any jokes about her wetting herself. C'mon, she's the WATER Sekirei. Get it? Yes, I'm sure you do. But Miya was in the room, and I felt like I've had enough brain damage for one day. Telling Miya to not make supper for me, I went up to my room.
Knowing perfectly well I was not going to get any sleep any time soon, I decided to do some organizing. So I spent an hour or two going through boxes, throwing away crap I didn't need anymore, laughing at old memories, and promptly putting them back.
I was on my final box when I discovered a picture, long forgotten. I smiled at it. It brought back so many memories.
A noise alerted me to somebody entering the room. To my great surprise, it was not Akitsu, or Uzume. It wasn't even Minato or Homura. It was Miya. It appeared that she went and made my supper anyway, and was obviously going to force-feed it to me if I refused.
Waving my hand towards the table, she sat it down on said table. Then she walked over to me.
"I didn't peg you as a photographer," she noted, looking at my picture.
"I'm not. This is just a picture to remind me of all of my old friends." I replied, smiling as I turned back to the picture.
Miya leaned in closer. Figuring she wanted an explanation, I began pointing out my friends.
"Okay, that's me in the middle, obviously. On my right side, that's my best friend, Alex. On my left, that's Craig. On the other side of Alex is Dylan, and Cody K. is in front of him. In front of me and Craig are Sarah and Jessica, respectively. To Craig's other side is Jill, with Matt being in front of Jill. And that's Cody L. in front of Alex."
"Quite a collection of friends you have there," Miya said. I chuckled.
"Yeah, they're all a bunch of weirdoes. Then again, I can't really talk, seeing as how I'm the same as them. They were all rough around the edges in their own way, but I couldn't ask for a better group of friends." I smiled, touching the picture fondly.
"Do you miss them?" asked a voice. Startled, I looked up. Akitsu, Uzume and Minato all stood there. I relaxed.
"Yeah, I guess so. Then again, they have their own lives to live, so I can't complain too much."
"What about your family? Do you have any pictures of them?" Uzume asked. I laughed at that.
"Well, I do, but not on me. Besides, I've got two families, even excluding my friends, who are my extended family."
Receiving blank looks, I sighed.
"Okay, my parents got divorced not too long ago. My mom met this guy online who lives in London. So, I've got two families. My dad is still in the States, and is, as far as I know, single. My sister is currently living with in Chicago, although she might've moved to Kansas. I haven't talked to her recently. And my mom is in London, living with her boyfriend, although they are going to marry soon. So, once they marry, I will have three more sisters to deal with, as well as a niece. So, I've got two families, see?"
A look of understanding crossed their faces. "So, are you close with your family?" Minato asked. I laughed again, although it was a bit hollow.
"Kind of. Me and my dad have never really seen eye-to-eye, due to him being a typical male who likes sports, working on cars, masculine type things. Me, on the other hand, was quite content to sit inside and play videogames, fool around on the computer, and read. Although he has tried to make amends with me recently, although I think it's quite possible just because he didn't want me to move away with mom, since their relationship was strained after the divorce, which is kinda understandable.
"My sister, on the other hand, was in a kind of love-hate relationship with me. Well, at least on my end. I can stand to be around her for a certain amount of time, but she tends to get on my nerves really fast, since I preferred being alone most of the time. It wasn't that I was withdrawn, it's just that whenever I was around my family for too long, we tended to fight a lot, so I decided that I didn't want any part in that. Other than that, my sister and I got along rather well.
"My mom and I had the best relationship, although it was strained most of the time. She has rheumatoid arthritis, and was in constant pain. Not to mention that she was a human smokestack, so I didn't hang around her much, since the smoke always seemed to follow me no matter where I went. But, despite that, we got along rather well, although she was frequently cranky due to the amount of pain she was in.
"So, yeah. That's my family life for you."
They all looked unsure as what to think of my family life. I waved it off.
"It's in the past now. Besides, I guess I could say you guys are my family now, too. So, I've got four families. I'm pretty lucky, don't you think?"
They all smiled and nodded at that. I was in the middle of gulping down my dinner when we heard rapid footsteps. Matsu burst into the room, panting.
"We've got trouble. A couple Sekirei are approaching the Inn. They look like they mean business."
I caught Minato's eye. A look of understanding shot between us; there was only one person who would attack the Inn like this.
All of us rushed downstairs, with mine and Minato's Sekirei taking defensive positions in front of us, with the addition of Uzume. Homura and Miya stood off to the side, both ready in case if we truly needed help.
As Matsu had said, two Sekirei were approaching us. Akitsu gasped in recognition. I grimaced; it looked like I was right.
"Broken Sekirei Akitsu," One of them said. "We are here to take you back to our master."
The other looked at me accusingly. "Stealing another person's Sekirei; you're the worst!"
I glared at her. "And who are you to call me a thief?"
"We are numbers 38 and 39, Mitsuha and Mitsuki!" They both shouted. "And we will take back our comrade, one way or another!"
A whip shot out and headed towards Minato, while I was suddenly constricted by something invisible.
"That string is made by MBI!" shouted Homura.
Musubi intercepted the whip, smashing her fist into it. I noticed movement; a second later, I was on the ground. I looked up. Miya had her sword out, and was glaring at the two Sekirei who had dared to attack her tenants, hannya mask and all. Homura helped me up; I turned to glare at our opponents.
It was show time.
A/N: And there you have it! The Introduction Arc is complete! Yet another cliffhanger, but it keeps you in suspense, doesn't it?
And I've discovered that it is hannya, not hannyo. So, I'll need to go change it in my previous chapters at some point.
With that, I bid you adieu. Stay tuned for the beginning of the Mikogami Arc!
