A/N: I apologize once again. Oriha is not going to be in this chapter either. I wanted to put her P.O.V in, but the chapter was already long enough as it was. Don't worry, she'll be in chapter 11 for sure! Anyway, I hope you enjoy this chapter anyway!
As always, I don't own anything, except Oyamada. All characters belong to the creators of Sekirei and no, I don't profit from this story (though that would be awesome!)
Chapter 10: Exploring the Past
Hikari, Hibiki, and Oyamada departed the high school and started toward the 'Paper Dragon' bookstore, located not far from the school. Thankfully, his boss was kind enough to give him a short five-hour shift, since today was supposed to be his day off. He had until 4pm to get there and clock in, which was plenty of time.
Throughout the walk, Oyamada detected a tense silence between the three of them, and it didn't take much effort to pinpoint the source of it all. Hikari and Hibiki still blamed him for the incident at school, forcing them to hide for no apparent reason and causing them to unintentionally hurt him. It was even worse after the principal called them to his office and explained the new arrangements at school in catering to the Sekirei Plan.
Starting tomorrow, Kogei High School would gain two new students, at least until the Sekirei Plan ended, or they get terminated. Oyamada desperately hoped it was the former and not the latter. The thought of losing any of these wonderful beings caused an uncomfortable heaviness in his chest. Even now, it was still amazing that these girls could entwine themselves so deeply into his heart, especially after knowing them for only a two weeks. Oyamada definitely admitted he was careless with his actions, especially grabbing their hands, fully knowing that he would get electrocuted. After all, there was no guarantee that the electricity would have hurt anyone, Hikari and Hibiki's control over their abilities was easily apparent.
As he reflected on his actions, and his self-loathing grew, Oyamada found himself slowing down and stopping, causing Hikari and Hibiki to bump into his wide back. Evidently, they were lost in their own thoughts as well.
After recovering, Hikari spoke up in her usual belligerent tone. "Don't stop so suddenly Kenshin-sama! It's dangerous!" Her irritated expression quickly faded when she took in her Ashikabi's downcast expression.
Hibiki gently pulled the two of them to the side and out of the flow of foot traffic, before looking at Oyamada with worried eyes. "Kenshin-sama, are you…okay?" she asked gently.
Oyamada sighed and gently grasped each of their hands, his wrists flinching reflexively as his body remembered getting electrocuted by the limbs. Looking each of them in the eye and conveying all the sincerity that he could, Oyamada tried to apologize and explain his actions. "Hikari, Hibiki. I'm deeply sorry for putting you through all that at the school. Believe me, I didn't request that you two hide for my own selfish reasons, I did it for your sakes. I've noticed that your personalities and fears are similar to the power you wield. Lightning is an element that thrives in open spaces and freedom right? However, this also means the two of you share certain fears-."
Hikari piped up in slight annoyance, claiming they didn't fear anything, but to her surprise, Oyamada lightly placed a thick finger over her mouth, shocking her into silence. "Please let me finish," came the polite request, before his hand returned to hers.
Oyamada began gently rubbing their palms with his thumbs as he continued. "I've noticed how you two behave in public, how you tense up as we walk the crowded streets. You guys are claustrophobic, at least to some degree. You don't like enclosed or crowded spaces just as lighting exists in open sky as opposed to confined places…At least, that's what I think…"
Oyamada dropped their hands and rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly, Hikari and Hibiki barely suppressing their disappointment at the loss of contact. "I guess, what I'm trying to say is-I'm sorry for being selfish and putting you two in such uncomfortable positions, I hope you can forgive me," he concluded.
After a moment's pause, Hikari and Hibiki threw their arms around his large body, hiding their faces in his broad chest. "Of course we forgive you Kenshin-sama, though no apology is needed" came Hibiki's muffled reply. "My sister and I would do anything for you and are happy to assist you anyway we can. However, you're only partially right, master."
Hikari spoke up next, picking up where her sister left off. "Yes, but truthfully, it's not that bad most of the time. We just get a little uneasy in crowded spaces. Besides, when we're with you, Hibiki and I feel like we can do anything, as silly as that might sound. You give us courage Ashikabi-sama, never forget that," she admitted, face turning red at saying what was in her heart. "Today was just…overwhelming. We were more embarrassed about freezing up like that than anything else."
Hikari grabbed his hand again and gave her own sigh as she concluded her response. "After really thinking about it, Hibiki and I understood why you did what you did. We're thankful that you considered our feelings like that, even if we didn't agree. Besides, we already forgave you, so no lasting harm done! Though we still stand by our earlier statements that it was one of the most idiotic things you've ever come up with!" Hikari couldn't resist that last part.
Hibiki rolled her eyes. "Hikari, I think he gets it…"
Oyamada could have jumped with happiness, not caring about the elder twin's last-minute comment, knowing he deserved that and more for his trouble. "Thank you! I will do my best to continue to be worthy of your feelings," came the somewhat emotional reply.
Oyamada didn't know what he did to deserve the love of these two, but he wrapped his arms around them both and gave them each a lingering kiss. The resulting light from their wings flaring up caused a small group of people to stop and stare at them in amazement. Ignoring the bystanders, they pushed their way through and continued to head toward the bookstore.
O.o.O.o.O.o.O
When they finally arrived at the 'Paper Dragon,' Yahan seemingly materialized from the alleyway beside the one-story building. The three of them exchanged greetings with her, as she remarked with a casual "about time you showed up…"
Hikari and Hibiki stood on their tiptoes for one last good bye kiss, as Oyamada wrapped one arm around each of their waists. As their wings faded from existence, Hikari whispered in his ear that they were looking forward to seeing him at home, along with promises of things to come that made the heavyset Ashikabi blush and clear his throat nervously.
Yahan rolled her eyes before coming over to the group and grabbing one of Oyamada's thick arms, tugging him from their seductive embrace. "Yes, yes, he gets it! I swear, from the way you two carry on, you act like you're never going to see him again! Besides, don't forget to save some of that for me!"
Hikari and Hibiki backed off with red faces, as their sister-bonded clung to his arm and rested her head on his shoulder. "Honestly! There's a time and a place! Oyamada-sama needs to start his shift!"
Hikari covered her embarrassment by shooting the Shadow Sekirei a glare. "Fine, but he is now in your care, so we better see him back unharmed and in one piece, or Hibiki and I will make you regret it!"
Yahan stuck her tongue out in a surprisingly childish gesture and hugged Oyamada's arm between her breasts. "Yeah right! I'd love to see you try!"
"Guys, I can take care of myself, I'm not an invalid. Don't I have any say in this?" came Oyamada's meek reply.
"No!" answered the three irate Sekirei in unison.
Oyamada sighed and hung his head. "I didn't think so…" he muttered. Ignoring the comically bickering girls for the moment, he released his arm from a now-distracted Yahan. Fishing around his pocket for his cell phone, he brought it out to check the time and his email. Seeing as he had five minutes before shift, and nothing of interest in the mailbox, he looked back up, intending to break up the fight.
To his surprise, the Sekirei were still arguing, but without any heat. Oyamada's heart warmed at the sight of the three of them with laughter in their eyes as their argument descended into playful bickering. As much as he hated to interrupt their interaction, Oyamada knew he had to clock in and begin work. So it was with regret that he called a stop to their play.
Oyamada and Yahan bid Hikari and Hibiki one last good bye, as the twins turned to leave, leaping toward a two story roof and out of sight.
Turning back to Yahan, he gave her a warm smile and her own lingering kiss, which she melted into, glad to finally have him to herself. While the Shadow Sekirei didn't mind the twins most of the time, she was always hoping for 1 on 1 time with her Ashikabi, even if she didn't always show it.
Even after being his Sekirei for more than a week now, Yahan was still reluctant to let her Ashikabi and sister-bonded in. Unbeknownst to the others, Yahan used her outrageous flirting and seductive personality as a shield to protect her true feelings, since she was still not comfortable enough to let others see them. "It's because of them I'm like this! Those other Sekirei. Especially you! I blame you most of all!" Yahan thought furiously. Silently cursing a certain triple-digit Sekirei into oblivion. The tan girl disliked the majority of her fellow kin, some more than others. However, she blamed a certain one more than anyone else. Too furious to even clearly visualize her name and face, Yahan bottled up her negative feelings with a smile up at her Ashikabi.
Oyamada got the distinct impression that Yahan wasn't quite as happy as she appeared. He found it strange that he was able to pick up on her feelings like this, but chalked it up as the Sekirei Bond. Looking down at her saccharine smile, only gave him additional proof that all was not right. Oyamada made a mental note to confront her about it later as he ushered her into the book store.
O.o.O.o.O.o.O
Oyamada and Yahan crossed the threshold into the large one story bookstore where he was greeted by the grinning face of his elderly boss, Atsushi Hondo.
The owner and proprietor of the 'Paper Dragon' was a large man adorned with numerous tattoos decorating his face and arms. He was known for his strict but fair way of running his business and his explosive temper. The man had arms the size of tree trunks and stood even taller than Oyamada at a staggering 6'6. The man also had a barrel chest and a "beer gut." All-in all, he was probably the most intimidating man Oyamada had ever met and the employee talk was that Hondo was a retired Yakuza and one of the very few to escape from 'the business' alive. Of course, there was no evidence to back up these rumors, and everyone was too scared to approach him about it. However, Hondo did require his employees call him 'boss,' so it was hard to say one way or another.
"Glad you could join us Kenshin. I see you've brought Sekrei No. 57 with you; Yahan as I recall," said Hondo in his deep, gravelly voice, as he eyed the nervous looking girl. Oyamada felt for her. His manager was always an intimidating site to see for the first time, even if she was still probably much stronger than him due to her status as a Sekirei.
Oyamada winced at the indirect mention of his Ashikabi label, but was fully expecting his boss to mention something about it, even if he didn't come right out and say it. "Ah, yes boss. I hope this won't be a problem," he said, even though there was no way he was going to make the same mistake again and send her away.
Hondo let out a raspy laugh before shaking his head. "Of course not Kenshin, I received a letter from MBI's president explaining the situation. It's alright, as long as she doesn't interfere with the day-to-day running of this joint. Understood?" Hondo directed the last word at Yahan, even as he gave her an uneasy look. Thankfully, the Shadow Sekirei didn't notice his boss's expression, too intimidated to do anything other than answer quickly and respectively with a "yes sir!"
Satisfied, Hondo turned his gaze back to his employee. "Don't expect to be treated special, just because you're an Ashikabi now. Unless another Sekirei comes by for a scrap, you're my employee first! Clock in and get to work Kenshin. You've got books to shelve and people to help," he said firmly.
"Yes boss! I expect no special treatment." was the respectful reply. Without further ado, Oyamada made his way behind the checkout desk with Yahan in tow. The student quickly donned one of the aprons in the back and began his shift. Unseen by either of them, Hondo gave his favorite employee a small smile before following him to the back and continuing his task of checking the inventory.
It was just before dinner time at the 'Paper Dragon Bookstore' and there were people milling about the shelves, eagerly looking over the variety of books. A young woman dragged her reluctant boyfriend behind, as she eagerly browsed a shelf of Supernatural Romance books, gleefully pointing out some of her favorites, which Oyamada guessed were probably in the same category as the Western series, Twilight, much to his consternation.
In another part of the store, a Hispanic man was holding an infant girl with one arm and browsing a collection of easy books designed for babies. He had a thoughtful expression on his face as he examined the cover of a book on the alphabet. To Oyamada's slight surprise, it was written in Spanish.
Elseware, a group of American tourists were trying to make out a fiction book written in Japanese kanji. Oyamada smiled slightly, as he realized it would be a completely strange but exciting experience for them. The young man had to admit seeing the characters could be weird if you weren't used to it.
Throughout the store, there were all kinds of people from different walks of life. Oyamada knew from what his boss had told him that the 'Paper Dragon' was known for its diverse collection and wide variety. As a result, it was able to compete with the bigger bookstore chains. Hondo would sometimes talk of expanding the business, but thus far, there has been no visible evidence of it.
Oyamada pushed a sturdy metal cart lined with books waiting to be re-distributed throughout the store. Approaching the 'Mystery' shelves, the student bent down to examine the cart, searching for the corresponding books. Picking out a handful, Oyamada organized them by the author's last name, shifting and straightening other titles as necessary. He absently nodded to Yahan, when she announced that she was going to patrol around the store.
After finishing in the 'Mystery' section, he pushed the cart to the next aisle, doing his best to organize the books on his trolley by genre for ease of replacement. The time ticked by and Oyamada distributed the 'Romance' and 'Horror' books that were on his cart. Before too long he stopped at his favorite section in the store: 'Historical Fiction.' He knew it was going to take him a while to get through this one since he had the bad habit of getting distracted with reading the various titles both on the cart and on the shelf.
Oyamada's favorite subject in school was history. It didn't really matter what type of it there was, or the time period. There were very few sub-genres that he didn't like about it, but his favorite type of books by far were either historical novels or alternate history novels with elements of fantasy mixed in. Oyamada recalled the last 'Historical Fiction' novel that he read was about dragons existing during the time of the European Napoleonic Wars. With that final happy though, Oyamada began to go through the Historic novel books on his cart, gleefully reading the backs of the most interesting ones.
O.o.O.o.O.o.O
It didn't take long for the novelty of visiting her Ashikabi's place of work to wear off, and after the first hour, Yahan was bored out of her mind. She had already made several circuits of the store, checking with all her senses for any potential enemies that might attack, regardless of how low the probability was. It certainly didn't help that she did not even have her fated one to talk with, given how seriously he was taking his job. After their run in with her Ashkabi's intimidating boss, Oyamada-sama had clocked in and immediately set to work wheeling out a metal cart stacked to the brim with books and clad in a ridiculous looking apron with two frontal pockets. It was annoying as he almost flat-out ignored her, in favor of distributing the contents of his cart to the different shelves. She tried talking to some of the patrons who approached her, recognizing her as a Sekirei, but Yahan found that she didn't have the patience to deal with complete strangers.
Yahan supposed that Oyamada-san's dedication was to be expected, but that didn't mean she had to like it! From what she had already seen, her Ashikabi was an intelligent man who gave his all in everything he did from loving his Sekirei to working and school. Unfortunately, that meant he would almost ignore her and the twins completely if he was busy with something else.
As Yahan's mind began to wander, her thoughts returned to her time back at MBI and how everyone was scared of her because of her uncommon skin color and shadow powers. Unfortunately, these thoughts always brought up memories of her, Yahan's one and only supposed 'friend' amongst the Sekirei.
Yahan remembered it like it was yesterday, how she shared everything with her and confided about her deepest fears, and biggest dreams. She acted as a sounding board whenever the teasing of the others got to be too much. Yahan thought she had finally found someone who was willing to be her friend and maybe… dare she hope…? Something more…
Yahan was so lost in her dark thoughts, that she failed to notice the fact that her feet absently brought her to rest next to her Ashikabi in the 'Historical Fiction' section of the bookstore. Ironically she now had her Ashikabi's undivided attention, but was too lost in her own thoughts and emotions to notice.
The Shadow Sekirei's mood turned blacker still, as buried feelings began to rise to the surface as the memories continued to flow. Yahan had thought at the time that as long as she had this one friend, then everything else was bearable. But no! She ended their friendship! She was just like everyone else! It's because of Her that Yahan's demeanor became as cold and dark as the shadows that she could manipulate. She had better hope they never run into each other in this Sekirei Plan, because Yahan had every intention of pursuing and putting an end to her traitorous, manipulative, and foul existence!
"So, are you going to tell me what was bothering you before and apparently now?" Yahan snapped out of her bleak thoughts and quickly pasted a sensual smile on her face as she looked up at her Ashikabi. "Whatever do you mean master?" came the innocent question.
Oyamada was not fooled for a second. He was reading the back of an interesting looking book on the Japanese Empire, when he noticed someone approaching him in his peripheral vision. Thinking it was a customer, he had looked up with a friendly expression on his face, ready to help them. However, the smile melted off his features faster than a snow cone in the middle of summer when he took in Yahan's dark expression. Oyamada had to admit that the anger he found in her normally beautiful dark purple eyes was frightening. When he got her attention, he could practically see the falsity of her smile as whatever was troubling her was forced into the back of her mind. How long had it taken him to notice? Longer than it should have probably.
After asking if she wanted to share what was wrong, he could almost sense the gears turning in her mind as she thought up a response, and unfortunately, it had been the predictable 'I-don't-know-what-your-talking-about' response.
Oyamada gave her a stern glare, slightly insulted that she really thought him that stupid. Thankfully, she cowed under his gaze and hung her head in shame before answering.
"It's nothing serious. Not really. I was just thinking about my time back at MBI," she admitted with reluctance, hoping he'd be satisfied with the semi-truthful answer. No such luck though, as he gave a sigh of exasperation.
"If it was 'nothing serious,' then you wouldn't have had such a murderous expression on your face. The look in your eyes scared me Yahan…" he said after a moment. Gently tilting her chin to look up at his worried face. "That was a look of hatred directed at a 'someone' or 'something.' Trust me, I've been there too remember? Now, please tell me what's wrong. I hate seeing my seductive, sexy, and mischievous Yahan looking so angry…"
The girl in question blushed at the compliments, but sighed as he was expecting an answer to his question sooner rather than later. Should she tell him about her? About what's really in her heart? More to the point Could she? The memories were unpleasant with many dark emotions attached to them and Yahan wasn't sure if she was able to share them yet.
Unfortunately, Oyamada never got his answer, because Yahan had suddenly grabbed his hand and quickly but quietly led him a few shelves away to duck behind the 'Non-fiction' shelf, which was further from the door.
"Yahan, what the hell is-?" But the Shadow Sekirei shushed him, before peaking around the bookcase toward the door, where a girl in a school uniform and a male in a woman's dress stood, chatting with Hondo. "It's an Ashikabi and Sekirei, and it seems their looking for us Oyamada-sama" Yahan said quietly, answering his incomplete question.
O.o.O.o.O.o.O
A few minutes earlier…
Sahashi Yukari growled in annoyance as she listened to her pathetic older brother's voice mail for the fifth time in as many minutes. For some reason, Minato's cell phone was either off or out of power. Honestly, the girl thought it would be the latter as she wouldn't put it past her bone headed brother to forget about charging the device.
Letting out a frustrated sigh, she turned to her companion, Shiina, Sekirei No. 107. "Damn, he really looks hot in that outfit! I'm so glad he's willing to put up with it, not that he has much choice! Hehe~" she thought with a slightly perverted smile.
The unfortunate Shiina was dressed in a pale yellow dress with frills, complete with a matching bonnet that obscured part of his messy silver hair. He also had on striped knee-socks that disappeared under the dress, and flat-heeled stilettos on his feet.
Ever since winging himself to this girl, his face was almost permanently flushed red from embarrassment, thanks to his Bishōnen-obsessed Ashikabi. Thus far, he had been mortified by her perverted moves, disturbed/scared by her unnecessarily cruel treatment of every other Ashikabi and Sekirei they've come across, and finally, had his dignity peeled away after being forced to dress like a woman!
Yukari had told him it was all for the sake of disguising him from that other Ashikabi's Sekirei. However, after the actual winging took place, and Shiina told her of his mission to find his little sister, Kuu, they had left immediately; his new Ashikabi determined to help him out. Personally, the boy Sekirei thought the outfit was for her own twisted desires though.
But Shiina put up with it all, because finding Kuu was much more important. And that brought them to the present, where they were standing across the street from a large bookstore, as Yukari tried to call her brother to let him know that she wouldn't be able to visit today after all. Shiina heard her leave another violent sounding message to the unfortunate sibling, before turning her attention back to him.
Before she could say anything though, Shiina's attention was drawn to the bookstore across the street. "Yukari-sama!" he said excitedly, "There's an Ashikabi and Sekirei in there! Maybe they've seen Kuu?!"
Yukari doubted it, but after seeing his hopeful expression, she gave him a more sincere smile. "Alright then, let's ask them Shiina! Besides, if they don't know where she's at, I do have some frustration to vent, since I still can't get a hold of my pathetic big brother!"
O.o.O.o.O.o.O
Oyamada, along with Yahan witnessed a slender girl with short blue hair and dressed in a light brown school uniform and matching skirt. She wore dark knee-high socks and matching short and flat heels with a buckle.
The person next to her looked to be a boy of about 13-14 years of age, though he couldn't be sure due the stranger's effeminate features and atrocious pale yellow dress that he had on. The young man couldn't help but feel bad for the boy, as he shuffled his feet embarrassingly at his companion's obnoxious behavior.
Oyamada noticed his boss's face was split between equal parts anxiety and anger. His eyes kept sliding over to the boy, almost as if Hondo thought that the kid was going to attack him. It took him a moment to figure out why, but Oyamada surmised that the boy was a Sekirei and he had a feeling that his boss was rather superstitious, which explained his concerned face when he was near Yahan earlier.
"Do you think they'll attack us?" Oyamada wanted to know. The volume of the girl was getting louder and louder with the other bookstore patrons taking notice. His fellow employees were too caught up at seeing another Sekirei in the store that they didn't bother stopping the rude girl.
Yahan glanced at the serious and downright sexy expression on her Ashikabi's face before answering. "No, I don't sense any killing intent from them. But we should still be cautious."
"Good, we need to jump in. The boss looks like he's at the end of his rope. Follow my lead, I don't think either of us are in the mood for a fight," said Oyamada, and Yahan had to agree. Those memories of her time at MBI and her had the girl's emotions all over the place, and a Sekirei fight required one to be focused, especially since her power of shadow teleportation required a calm mind to use effectively.
Yahan had no idea what her Ashikabi was planning, but she trusted him-she had to. Even if the same couldn't be said for anyone else. With a murmur of "Understood," Yahan melted into the shadow of the book case, as Oyamada stood up and began walking toward his boss, the girl, and the young boy.
As Oyamada drew closer, he began to make out what they were saying:
"Listen here Ojii-san! We're looking for an Ashikabi, and if you know what's good for you and your establishment, you'll tell us where we can find him. Otherwise, Shiina here will make life very unpleasant for you!" the girl said in a faintly-arrogant tone. Oyamada saw that his boss was close to cracking. It appeared he was definitely afraid of Sekirei, though he was touched by how his employer still hadn't given him up yet.
"I already told you, we don't have any Ashikabi working here! So I'm begging you, please stop asking!" Honda said, an edge of desperation in his voice.
Oyamada cleared his throat, causing three sets of eyes lock onto him: one set was furious, the second set embarrassed, and the third set a mixture of relief and apologetic. "It's alright boss. Please leave this to me!"
Oyamada stifled a chuckle as his boss tried to save face through a stoic reply. "Hmmm, I see then. So be it Kenshin, I'll leave them to you," he said solemnly, before turning on his heel to venture deeper into the store without giving the impression that he was trying to escape.
With his boss gone, Oyamada turned his brown-eyed gaze on the newcomers. "Welcome to the 'Paper Dragon Bookstore,' can I help you two find something?" He asked with a friendly smile, treating them like regular customers. Mentally, he gauged their reactions carefully. The boy, who he supposed was called Shiina was about to speak up, when the belligerent girl talked over him, causing Oyamada to inwardly frown at her lack of manners.
"No we're not interested in any stupid books. And you can cut the 'helpful employee' crap, we both know you're an Ashikabi. Shiina sensed you and your Sekirei from across the street! We aren't leaving until you tell us where to find No. 108 Kusano!" she replied in an obnoxious tone, glaring up at him furiously.
Oyamada sighed, as he tried to put up with the difficult girl. "I am an Ashikabi like you said, but right now I'm an employee. If you don't quiet down, I'm going to have to ask you to leave. You're disturbing our other patrons. As for your question, I don't know a Kusano."
Oyamada had been surprised at the mention of the bright little girl that he, Hikari, and Hibiki had rescued, but hid it behind his mask of friendliness. Since that night, he'd been over to Izumo Inn a couple times, for some of Miya's delicious cooking, and he remembered the shy but sweet Sekirei with long blond hair. Unfortunately, he hadn't visited recently, something he's secretly regretted the last few days. Oyamada was unsure what their intentions toward her were, but had decided to play dumb to find out their motives.
Unfortunately, this seemed to only anger the girl further, as she stepped forward and did her best to get in his face, even though Oyamada stood more than a head taller than her. "No, you're lying! I'm pretty good at telling if someone is bullshitting me and I think you're hiding something! So spill it fat ass!"
Oyamada wondered if he was that bad of a liar or if certain Sekirei and Ashikabi could see through deception, because Shiina didn't look convinced either, or at least was not ready to give up yet. He held down a sigh at the girl's thoroughly un-original insult. He knew it was time to drop the façade of 'friendly employee,' since it was clear they weren't interested in browsing the store anyway. Oyamada replied in a stern but calm voice, "I said I don't know who that is, try somewhere else. Now walk away-or I'll have you thrown out!"
"Please, tell us what you know. I promise, Yukari-sama and I don't want to hurt her. Just the opposite in fact. You see, she's-" Oyamada glanced down at the boy, glad that he found the courage to speak up. Sadly, his belligerent Ashikabi cut across him again.
"No! Don't interact with him Shiina, it's the sacred duty of a woman like myself to protect the perfect Bishōnens from all that is ugly and wrong!" she cried dramatically, as the now named Yukari, stepped away and threw her arms around him.
Oyamada subtly rolled his eyes at her theatrics, before glancing at the boy expectantly. He had a feeling on what Shiina was trying to say, but wanted to be sure. "What was that Shiina-kun?"
"Shiina don't-" started Yukari, but Oyamada silenced her with a look, before giving a friendly smile to the younger boy.
Glad to have a chance to speak, the male Sekirei gently shoved his Ashikabi away, before staring up at the employee. "I said, we don't want to hurt her because Kuu is actually my sister! I'm the only one who can keep her in check, if her powers get out of control! I could tell that Kuu was sad and crying up until last week. I just want to see that she's alright!"
The reply was earnest, and Oyamada nodded in acceptance, having already guessed that he was a brother-figure "I promise you, she's in good hands. My Sekirei and I were able to rescue her, and she ended up leaving with a Sahashi Minato. I'll admit I don't know him that well, but he seemed like a good guy to me." Oyamada gave him directions to Izumo Inn, much to his evident relief.
"Thank you so much! I don't know how I can repay you! Come on Yukari-sama, let's head there right away!" Shiina said with a wide smile, already drifting toward the door, only to stop and wait impatiently when he realized his Ashikabi wasn't following him.
For her part, Yukari looked downright murderous at being ignored and for him interacting with her Bishōnen Sekirei. Raising her right foot, she aimed for right between the older boy's legs-only to gasp, as Oyamada managed to clumsily grab the limb before it could strike, causing her to windmill her arms comically as she fought to remain balanced.
After seeing the furious look on her face, Oyamada had a feeling she'd get physical. From how she treated both himself, his boss and her Sekirei, it was clear that this girl was used to bullying and dominating males and her temperament seemed explosive enough that she'd get physically violent about it. So when she attempted lash out with her leg, the only thing that surprised him was the fact that he managed to grab the offending limb at all.
"Fat Bastard!" she cried, after he let go of her leg. "How dare you treat me like that, take this!" she screamed. With such an obvious telegraph, Oyamada was able to block the punch aimed at his jaw with ease. Fed up with her tantrum and attitude in general, the hefty Ashikabi grabbed her by the wrist firmly with one hand and the collar of her school uniform with the other and calmly dragged her outside, ignoring her cries of 'pervert, rapist, and fat ass.'
Out of the corner of his eye, he could see Shiina was about leap to her defense, but before he could, Yahan successfully materialized out of the shadows and had her long knife at his throat in a flash. She pressed her other hand to where his Sekirei crest was at, just in case he wanted to try something anyway. "That's enough of that I think!" she said in a steely voice. "You have your information! I demand that you leave, girl, before I terminate your Sekirei here and now!"
Yukari was shocked by her sudden appearance, but still looked like she wanted to make something of it, before Yahan's fierce expression caused her to re-consider her options. "Let's go see Kuu, Shiina. No sense sticking around here anymore," she said, grabbing his hand. The two of them took off down the sidewalk, but not before Yukari gave the hefty employee one last glare, which Oyamada returned with interest.
O.o.O.o.O.o.O
Yahan sniffed, as if she'd smelt something foul, before remarking, "What an unpleasant girl."
Oyamada chuckled at her haughty response, but nodded his head in agreement. "Yeah. But I feel bad for her Sekirei though."
Yahan shrugged indifferently, before the two of them made it back into the library. Hondo strolled over to where they were standing, giving Oyamada a bright smile, while some of the bystanders who witnessed Yukari's display lightly applauded them for their efforts.
The rest of the shift passed uneventfully, though Yahan became the center of attention for many of the patrons and employees. The Shadow Sekirei was still uncomfortable with all the attention, but still answered their questions as best she could. Hondo let it drag on for a minute or so, before politely requesting that the patrons leave her alone and threatening his employees with bodily harm if they didn't get back to work.
Oyamada finished up the shelving, while Yahan remained close by, chatting with him about nothing in particular. The shadow Sekirei was finally enjoying her time with her Ashikabi, at least until he clocked out.
The two of them exited after wishing Hondo and the rest of the employees a good night. As they stepped into the cool night, with Tokyo's buildings lit up like a neon wonderland, Oyamada sent a text to both Hikari and Hibiki, letting them know that he and Yahan were on their way toward Sarutahiko Coffee. The large Ashikabi of course, managed to fill the Shadow Sekirei in on where they were going to go after work sometime during the shift.
After clasping hands with the Yahan, Oyamada turned to her with a gentle reminder, "You know, you still haven't told me what was wrong earlier. And before you ask, no I never forgot, I just wanted to hold off bothering you about it, until after work. Besides, you looked like you were enjoying yourself in there," he said with a kind smile.
Yahan sighed, before eventually giving in. Part of her was glad that she was going to tell at least some of it, while another part of her cursed her feelings and wondered when she became such a pushover.
"I'm not ready to talk about it completely Oyamada-sama, but I will tell you what I can…" she replied. Yahan was silent for a few minutes more, as they strolled down the sidewalk, casually dodging the occasional pedestrian. The words were initially stuck in her throat like a glob of peanut butter, but Oyamada was patient, knowing that she needed this time to gather her thoughts.
"I was badly treated at MBI by my fellow Sekirei. I was teased and feared because of my shadowy powers and my somewhat uncommon skin color, this you already know. However, there was one, whose name I can't bare to say just now. She ended up being my greatest friend and worst enemy from my time at the laboratories…"
Yahan choked up again, as drops of saline made their way quietly down her cheeks. Oyamada wrapped an arm around her and she leaned her head against his chest, as they strolled down the well-lit sidewalk.
He stroked her hair and planted a kiss on her forehead, as he waited for her to continue. After another minute, Yahan gathered her strength and forged ahead, intent on finishing the tale as quickly as possible.
"I shared everything with her, and before I knew it, we were best friends. Unfortunately, as the time at MBI tower came to a close, she began distancing herself from me…" By this time, it was getting harder for Yahan to keep her voice steady, but she soldiered on regardless. "Not long before I was scheduled to leave…she called me all sorts of nasty things and claimed that our friendship was all a lie!"
Finally, she couldn't take it anymore and collapsed, crying into Oyamada's arms. The portly young man couldn't believe such viciousness existed between Sekirei! It made Oyamada's blood boil at the thought of this hypothetical girl putting his beloved Yahan through such pain.
He pushed his angry thoughts away though, and focused on calming his distressed Sekirei. Oyamada hugged her tightly, before bending down and planting numerous kisses on her wet cheeks, and hair. He held on for what felt like an eternity as he continued to murmur that he was here and that he would never betray her in such a way.
Seeming to take comfort in his words, she calmed down enough to give him a watery smile. Despite how much she cried, Yahan was glad that she was able to tell him most of what was bothering her. Still, the Shadow Sekirei still didn't feel comfortable enough to tell her Ashikabi that she was in love with her at the time.
"Are you still up for coming with me to see this Lee person?" Oyamada asked gently, after she dried her tears on his shirt, unintentionally soiling it.
"Yes Oyamada-sama, though I may not stay the whole time." Honestly, she probably wasn't going to stay long at all. True to form, Yahan knew she needed time away from everyone to calm down and sort out her emotions. She really hated getting weepy like this, but even after all these months, the sting of her betrayal was still fresh.
However, after everything that's happened tonight, the Sekirei knew she wanted to show her Ashikabi how much his words and actions meant to her. Already her mind was crafting the many physical ways she wanted thank him, each one more lustful than the last. Yahan felt a certain wetness in her crotch just thinking about it. With some disappointment, she knew it probably wasn't going to happen tonight, but very very soon.
O.o.O.o.O.o.O
Oyamada and Yahan spotted Hikari and Hibiki by the main entrance of the Sarutahiko Coffee shop and lifted their hands in greeting. The Lighting Twins shot an empathetic look at Yahan when they noticed her red, puffy eyes. They looked to their Ashikabi with a question in their gaze, but he shook his head to forestall any inquiries.
Oyamada took in the atmosphere, as he and his Sekirei made their way inside. Three wooden shelves went around the perimeter of the small coffee shop. On the shelves were numerous potted plants lined in careful rows like soldiers at attention.
His shoes made a dull thunking sound on the hard wooden floor as he scanned the lounge area for his former classmate. It didn't take long to spot Yoshikawa Lee in the corner of the café, patiently waiting with a styrofoam cup of coffee.
The only other occupants were two figures in the opposite corner of the establishment. They were attired in large black cloaks with hoods turned up, obscuring any facial features. Taking a closer look, he realized that their clothing appeared to be a few sizes too large for their owners' frames. The large Ashikabi glanced at Yahan, and was shocked at the wary look she was giving the strangers. Oyamada was about to remark to Hikari and Hibiki about the strangers when he noticed that they too were staring at the clothed individuals with narrowed eyes and serious faces. Furrowing his brows at their behavior, he turned away to greet Lee, who had stood up in preparation for their arrival.
Yahan and Oyamada sat across from Lee as Hikari and Hibiki dragged over two more chairs for themselves. After settling in and making small talk for a minute, The waitress, who appeared to be in her mid-twenties wandered over with a notepad in hand. "Hello, and welcome to Sarutahiko Coffee. Would you or your Sekirei like anything to drink? she asked.
Oyamada didn't bat an eye at the casual mention of the alien women, though she did look excited to serve them. "No thank you, can't speak for anyone else though," he said with a small smile.
Hikari decided she wanted to try coffee, and ordered a cup with cream. Hibiki went with the less daring option of a plain green tea. Yahan elected not to get anything either, as she mentioned that she was leaving soon.
The waitress gave them a friendly smile of thanks, before asking for their names. Happy at an apparent fan, Hikari and Hibiki eagerly complied with proud smirks on their faces. Yahan did too, albeit with noticeable reluctance. As she bombarded his Sekirei with questions regarding their abilities and how they worked, Oyamada began to grow suspicious. Eagerness was one thing, but there seemed to be an undercurrent of something else that he couldn't put his finger on. However, before he could put a halt to the stream of questions, the waitress seemed to realize that she hadn't delivered their drink orders to the back yet and made a hasty, if slightly forced retreat.
Oyamada pushed the mystery of the nosy waitress out of his mind as he turned toward the now troubled look on Yahan's face. Knowing they needed to talk, he excused himself and the shadow Sekirei from the table, as Lee and the Lightning Twins continued to chat after the waitress had left.
Hand resting on her shoulder, Oyamada led her a short distance from the table, missing the server from before as she tried to move closer without arousing suspicion. "I take it you want to leave right?" he asked.
"Yes, but not for the reason you think Oyamada-sama, at least not completely. I'll be keeping an eye on things from across the street," came the reply. At her Ashikabi's puzzled stare, Yahan reached up and wrapped her arms around his neck, pulling him down to her level. "Don't look now, but those two hooded figures in the corner are Sekirei, I'm certain of it." She mutterered under the pretense of a hug.
Oyamada's eyes widened as he felt her breath on his ear. "If that's true, how come Hikari and Hibiki didn't sense them when we first came in?" He responded. Yahan's embrace idly reminded him of the night they met and subsequent winging.
The Shadow Sekirei smirked against his cheek before answering. "Who says they haven't?." He glanced over curiously, and sure enough, while Hikari was continuing the light hearted conversation with Lee, Hibiki's gaze would occasionally slide over to the pair, alert for any and all movement.
After a pause, Yahan continued, "also, I believe our waitress is trying to eavesdrop on us. I don't trust her Oyamada-sama. Please be careful, I'll be nearby" Giving her Ashikabi a peck on the cheek, the Sekirei exited the cafe. Unseen by anyone, she melted into the darkness, as soon as she was clear of the outdoor lights.
Turning around, Oyamada glared at the waitress, who blushed at being caught red-handed and retreated into the kitchen.
O.o.O.o.O.o.O
Returning to his seat, he gave Lee a sheepish smile. "I apologize Yoshikawa-san, Yahan was not feeling well and had to excuse herself."
"No problem Kenshin-san, Hikari was just telling me how she and her sister became your Sekirei. I must admit, this Seo character doesn't sound like a pleasant person, I'm sorry that you live next to him." Lee responded.
Oyamada gave a small smile at the memory of the winging, before shrugging his shoulders in reply. "I agree, I don't think I'll ever be Seo's friend, but in his defense, he's actually been behaving himself lately. Though, it could be due to the little alliance we have going on."
Lee blinked in surprise. "Alliance? Hikari never mentioned that," he said, while glancing over at the Sekirei in question. The girl just scoffed, before turning away. Completely lost, he turned his gaze back to the Ashikabi.
Oyamada nodded, not surprised by her behavior. "Hikari and Hibiki have an especially big reason to hate the man and I don't think they agree with this alliance; can't blame them, to be honest. If they left out that detail while Hikari was telling you about how we met, I'm not going to tell you either. Sorry." While he left out how Seo almost forced himself on Hikari, he did give the other student a rundown on how the informal alliance came to be.
While Lee accepted Oyamada's omission on certain things, the Askhikabi could tell that he was even more curious for answers at the story's conclusion. Deciding a change of subject was in order, Oyamada decided to ask about Lee's life.
As it turned out, the reason why Lee was absent at school the day after his fight with Oyamada, was because he and his family were on a plane to Tokyo, thanks to his Dad's promotion. The reason why Lee wanted to make friends with him, was so he could have at least one person to talk with during and after the move. Sadly, Oyamada's negative preconceptions about how Lee was going to act, ended up wasting their only chance at friendship, until now.
Currently, Lee lives with his mother, who is unemployed, and his little sister who attends middle school. His Dad works long hours for the Tokyo branch of a large software company as director. Oyamada could see why they moved out here; getting promoted to such a prestigious position is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.
In exchange, Lee asked him about his family, which Oyamada reluctantly told him about. Family was somewhat of a touchy subject with the hefty student due to his Mom's near-obsession with making her son physically attractive.
Back when Oyamada was living with them in one of the quieter suburbs of Japan, they tried to get him to lose weight. Initially, Oyamada was all for this idea and strove to make his parents proud. At the start they were as supportive as could be, but when it became clear that his weight wasn't going down, things turned sour quickly.
His Mom began to accuse him of straying from his diet among other things, while his Dad took it as a personal failure for not succeeding. Despite Oyamada's insistence that he was sticking to every bit of advice they gave him on the subject, they didn't believe him. The arguments would escalate rapidly and would often turn into full-blown shouting matches.
Oyamada tried to be understanding, really he tried. Prior to going to the doctor, and for a good time after, he did his best to alleviate their worries. Over time, he began to see the truth. For the most part, they wanted him to get in shape, not for his health, but because they didn't want to tarnish their image of the perfect looking family.
Both of his parents were fairly famous with his Mom's career as a model, and his Dad's reputation as a personal trainer. Having grown accustomed to renown, Oyamada could see that they didn't want to tarnish their image. Thankfully, after that trip to the doctor's office, his Dad accepted for the most part, that it was a medical thing, and thus beyond his power to control. His Mom was a different story though…
When she was younger, Oyamada's mother was a successful fashion model for a big-time clothing company. As a result, she hired various physical fitness trainers in order to keep herself in-shape for photo shoots. In fact, that was how his parents ended up meeting, when his mother hired his father for those services.
Oyamada knew that his mother was quite shallow and superficial, when it came to how people should look. He tried not to blame her for it, her chosen profession drilled that way of thinking into her. Still, there was a limit to how much even he could take and it all came to a head a few days before he left for Tokyo.
In hindsight, it probably would have been better to tell his parents about his intentions to move sooner rather than later, but Oyamada was afraid that they would somehow keep him from going. As a result, it wasn't until the night before that he finally told them about it. As expected, the news was taken in the worst possible way and everyone went to bed angry. The next day, he left without saying good-bye to his parents, only contacting them once more when he had arrived at Tokyo. Oyamada had sent them an apology letter for not telling them about his plans until the night before, along with an explanation for his actions. Unfortunately, he never received a reply and figured his parents were still too mad at him to talk.
O.o.O.o.O.o.O
Eventually, they talked about hobbies. Lee was an avid writer and wrote fanfiction in his downtime. Additionally, he was captain of his school's Kendo team and admitted that they've been to nationals two years running. He also mentioned that he enjoyed playing American Soccer as well.
Oyamada could never get into sports, mainly because he feared people would give him a hard time about it for trying to compete. Other people's opinions never really mattered to him, but he figured that they would constantly get on his case about his less-than-athletic looking build, which is something he didn't feel like putting up with any more than necessary.
Hikari and Hibiki enjoyed talking to Lee, and learning more about their Ashikabi's past, even as they made sure to have someone watching the hooded strangers at all times. Yahan's departure was unsurprising to both twins. After seeing her red and puffy eyes and they held onto the hope that their sister bonded would recover from whatever caused them.
They had to admit, it took a couple days to warm up to Yahan after she joined their group. The twin Sekirei held onto the belief that she would steal Oyamada away from them and that their Ashikabi would be taken in by her tan skin, and exotic look. Thankfully, neither was the case and their master made every effort to treat them all equally.
Oyamada checked the time on his phone, and was surprised that it was almost 1am, Wednesday morning. It appeared that they ended up talking with Lee for two and a half hours!
The Large Ashikabi looked up with a sheepish smile at Lee, before gesturing to his phone. "My apologies Yoshikawa-san, but we should really get going. I didn't realize it was this late!"
Lee glanced down at his own phone and nodded his agreement. "I see your point Kenshin-san, we both have class tomorrow. Oh by the way, please call me Lee! After telling you all about myself, I think we're beyond honorifics at this point."
Oyamada grinned. "Very well, Lee. Feel free to call me Oyamada then. Anyway, it was a pleasure to talk with you at last! We definitely need to hang out again sometime. Have a safe trip home!"
After everyone exchanged farewells, they rose from the table and made ready to leave. Oyamada and Lee shook hands, while Hikari and Hibiki tossed out their empty cups. The Twin Sekirei headed up to the counter and paid for their beverages with their MBI cards. With a final glare at the hooded figures still seated in the other corner, they headed for home, with Yahan following, unseen from the shadows.
O.o.O.o.O.o.O
After their targets had left, Mitsuki and Mitsuha, better known as Sekirei numbers 39 and 38 lowered their hoods and stood up from the table. Making their way to the young waitress behind the counter, they got her attention.
"So, what were you able to learn?" Mitsuki asked, eyeing the woman with a serious gaze.
"I was able to learn some. That tanned skin girl called herself No. 57, Yahan. From what I could glean through eavesdropping and my own questions, she has the power of shadow teleportation and carries a dagger for a weapon. I don't know why you had me tell you these details though, when it's easily available on the MBI web site.
Mitsuha snorted and gave the waitress a glare. "Don't you think we tried that? In the interest of fairness, Minaka is somehow able to block Ashikabi and Sekirei access to the web page that displays all that information. We also didn't want to take the risk of asking you to look it up for us, in case that demented president was able to somehow prevent us from obtaining the info. Now was there anything else?" she asked impatiently.
Shrugging off her behavior with the ease of someone used to dealing with rude customers on a daily basis, the waitress continued to relate what she found out as if nothing happened. "Other than the fact that I think his Sekirei knew that you were the same, that's about it. Now do you have your part of the bargain?"
The two Sekirei shrugged, not surprised by this revelation. Sekirei have always been able to sense each other and Ashikabis. Mitsuki reached into the pocket of her cloak and withdrew a generous stack of yen bills, which she slid over to the eager waitress. "Your information has been most helpful. Mikogami-sama thanks you for your service." So saying, the Sekirei departed the café without a backward glance.
A/N: Whew, this was a long chapter. I think it's also the longest of this story so far. I hope you all the interaction between Oyamada and Yukari. In the anime, I found her character annoying and her treatment of those other Ashikabi unfair. So of course, my guy is not going to put up with it. Anyway, I hope it was believable! Don't worry, they'll finally be some fighting coming up in the future chapters. And as you might have guessed, it'll be another showdown between twins, though it won't be for another couple chapters.
Hope you all have a great weekend and a safe week! Until next time, Snakespur
Edited 9/10/17