MBI Sekirei Adjustment Facility
201?
Friday
It hurt.
Everything...hurt.
All the muscles in her body were crying out in agony.
Her forehead burned as if it had been scalded.
The spots on her body where the needles were piercing her skin sent angry spikes of searing pain into her spine and neck.
A whining, keening sound was in her ears, shaking her down to the very core.
The taste of bitter copper stained her tongue, and her throat was sore from coughing and wheezing. Before her vision had gone completely mad, she'd seen blotches of vivid, shining red staining the pristine white of the medical dress, the tiled floor...
She hated red, now.
Pain was nothing new to her, not with the tests she'd been through so far, but this was too much. She wanted to die if she would do nothing but endure this pain.
Even so, she could make out the horrified, remorseful expression on the dark-haired man's face, even though the light shining above her head was blinding to her, now. She could hear him muttering "it wasn't supposed to be like this, why was she so hard when the others weren't?"
A sound broke through the pain; the laboratory door had been opened, violently. Someone was walking into the room, their stride harsh and angry. A woman's voice was yelling out at the man, but she could no longer bear to keep her eyes open. The pain from the light flooded flooded flooded flooded into herand wouldn't stop hurting her. She had to shut it out.
"Idiot! What the hell are you doing in here without authorization—" A gasp. "Shit! What the hell is...?!"
Firm hands were on her shoulders, shaking her gently, soothing the pain in the briefest way because they were so, so cool on her blazing hot skin. The woman's voice cut through the painful fog around her remaining senses. "Are you all right? Akitsu! Akitsu! Speak to me!"
"It hurts," she said, her voice harsh, rasping. The tang of copper in her throat and on her tongue came back in full force. "Why does it hurt?"
Something cool slipped down her cheek.
"Make it stop... Please..."
When the pain stopped, emptiness filled its place.
Her ordeal had a few 'benefits', in the end. She was stronger and faster than she remembered, once she could move. The ice, once temperamental and fickle, subject to only as much control as she could force upon it, obeyed her on reflex now. She needed nothing but a thought to do whatever she wished with her powers.
But on her forehead, the Sekirei crest lay, immutable. A permanent scar, an eternal reminder that her body was incapable, unworthy of receiving a Sekirei's greatest reward.
When others saw her, they stepped out of her way, avoided looking at her, whispered between one another. And always, except from one, it was the same thing she heard. The reminder of the isolation imposed on her by an incompetent, a situation that only made her feel more and more distant even in the middle of a crowd.
"She's the scrapped one."
~Petal 10: Lunar Sea Wagtail~
Shintou Teitou, Izumo Inn
2020
Sunday, 8:30 AM
Though tomorrow was going to start a new chapter in his life, Minato Sahashi couldn't quite rest like he wanted to today.
There was work to be done.
He woke up at 7 AM, like he always did, but things were different. For starters, the three women (and one young girl) that always slept in his room were all awake, instead of pinning him to his futon like they always did. Aside from brief, friendly greetings, they didn't do anything to hamper him; no inappropriate flirting from Matsu, no sleepiness and sluggishness from Musubi.
The specter of the last dream he'd seen still hung around him. Neither him nor Tsukiumi had said a word to each other in the dream, this time; they'd simply locked eyes, wordlessly daring the other to look away first. In the end, they'd kept it up until he'd awoken, without ever breaking the glare.
Within ten minutes, Minato himself was dressed and making his way down the stairs. In a line behind him, the girls followed, dressed as they usually were; Musubi's boots clomped on the steps, while Matsu's and Akitsu's slippers, and Kusano's bare feet, barely made a sound. At the foot of the stairs, Matsu and Musubi stepped out of the line, and faced Akitsu, Kusano, and Minato.
"Mina-tan, I'll track you, Akitsu-tan, and Kuu-tan on my computers, and stay in touch on your phone," Matsu said, looking between him and the two that were going to accompany him. "If you're in trouble, I'll send Muu-tan after you. If you need help and you don't think I'll get to you in time, just call the number I programmed into your phone. The moment the call goes through, Musubi-tan will head out to intercept."
Minato nodded once. "Got it."
"And I'll practice hard while you're gone, Minato," Musubi added, clenching her fists and smiling with a furrowed brow. "I've almost got the Hayate perfect. You'll have to teach me a bunch of new things soon!"
Akitsu blinked at how casually Musubi used Minato's name without any honorifics attached. Matsu had been privy to Musubi's conversation with Minato already (thanks to the magic of surveillance equipment), so she sat back and observed Akitsu's unconscious reaction with the barest hint of a smile on her face.
Minato smiled at her, nodding once. "Then show me what you've got when I come back, and we'll see what I can teach you."
"Onii-chan, we gotta go find that scary lady, right?" Kusano said, tugging at Minato's jeans with one hand; her other was holding a small pot with a singular sprout. "Let's go, let's go~"
Akitsu put a hand on Kusano's head, and the smaller Sekirei balked at first, staring up at Akitsu with clear annoyance. Said annoyance faded when she saw that Akitsu's expression wasn't scolding, but calm.
"We should get going, yes," Minato replied, smiling first at the pacified Kusano, and then, more gratefully, at Akitsu. "Don't worry about a thing, Matsu-san, Musubi. We'll be just fine."
Once again, the lack of an honorific took Akitsu by surprise. This time, though, she visibly twitched, drawing everyone's attention to her.
"Is something wrong, Akitsu-san?" Minato asked, raising an eyebrow.
Something bitter rose up in her throat, but she swallowed it back with great effort, and shook her head. "It's nothing. We should go, Minato-sama."
8:40 AM
The wind was cool and pleasant early in the morning, even amongst the highest rooftops of Shintou Teitou's central area.
Tsukiumi was not normally partial to a strong wind, herself, but the breeze blowing out her hair and brushing at her back right now was oddly refreshing; calming, even.
She'd left her hotel room early to clear her head from the dream she'd experienced yet again last night. Unlike the first dream, where she'd been able to make a show of force to intimidate the gangly, dopey-looking man that had appeared in front of her, the second had been something completely different. He'd stared her down without backing down, completely unafraid of her and the violence she threatened. His wiry frame seemed less shaky; there was a solidity and surety that had not been there before.
I am loath to admit it, she thought, frowning at the small specks moving around on the sidewalks below, but his will was unshakable. I had hoped that he would be frightened off by me, but instead he gave back in kind what I gave to him. For a fool monkey, he is much more than I gave him credit for at first.
The sound of clicking heels behind her drew her from her reverie, and she turned her body partway to look at who was approaching. She locked eyes on two unfamiliar girls with long black hair, wearing oddly cut latex outfits with go-go boots—the lightning twins Hikari and Hibiki. "Well, well, what do we have here?" she muttered. "A nice pair of clowns, it seems. You have done quite well to match with each other, but I would think that you would want to try and defend your chastity better in a city of uncouth elements such as this."
Ever the shorter tempered one, Hikari clenched her glove-enclosed fist, causing the maroon material to creak ominously, and snarled at Tsukiumi. "Who the hell are you talking to like that, you pompous blonde ass?! And you should be the last person talking about chastity! Haven't you ever heard of a bra before?"
Tsukiumi flinched at the insult, then pulled her mouth into a tight smile, crossing her arms and continuing to regard the twins coolly. Sadly, the veneer of calm she tried to project was completely ruined by the throbbing vein pulsing on her forehead and on the back of her hand, as well as the fact that her hair was being blown back in the wind, spreading out behind her and moving as if it were alive. "Sharp-tongued as well. Very well. You seek a fight; I can provide one." Slowly, she raised her left hand, and streams of water slowly began to coalesce around her arm, swirling up to meet in front of her palm. "I am number 09, Tsukiumi," she said, her hair rising even further as a ring of water began to circle around her feet. "I accept your challenge! May the battle be joined!"
Hibiki immediately paled, and looked anxiously at Hikari, who had already begun to pull her hand back to throw a bolt of lightning. "Sis, she's number 09. I've heard a few stories about her. I don't think we can take her unless we come with a better plan!"
"Hibiki, less talking, more shocking!" Hikari shouted, flinging her hand forward to do just that. Tsukiumi scoffed, and brought her raised arm down, pointing directly at the twins. The water that had been gathering into a sphere near her hand burst into two separate streams. One intercepted the incoming lightning bolt and burst apart; the other began to rapidly swell as it approached Hikari and Hibiki, and became a powerful, rushing deluge that knocked both of them off of the building.
Snorting, Tsukiumi relaxed her body, releasing her mental control of the water that had been circling her. As the water splashed onto the roof and began to run off, her irritation returned. The skirmish had done nothing to settle her nerves, and she was sick of thinking about the issue of her "Ashikabi". It was simple to say that she would kill him, but remembering the resolve in those eyes...it gave her pause. Even with such willpower, he would be powerless to stop her from killing him; he was only human, after all. Considering the problem from that angle, that meant she was little more than a bully, didn't it? To kill someone that was defenseless against her...
The wind stopped blowing momentarily, and she sighed, folding her arms again. "Hmph. It cannot be helped, then. I'll not be cozened by him, but I have no right to strike him down. It was not his choice to cause my body to react." She looked towards where the twins had been blasted off of the building, and arched an eyebrow. "However, those two fools did attack me unprovoked. It is only natural that I punish their stupidity."
With light steps, Tsukiumi made her way to the edge of the rooftop and leaped to a lower building. If the twins had survived the fall, they would likely be taking to the streets in order to avoid her. It didn't matter where they ran, though. She had all the time in the world to find them.
And the search would give her time to get those flinty gray eyes out of her head.
9:15 AM
Impatience wasn't exactly something that Minato was unfamiliar with. He'd spent his formative years sitting still in a dojo for hours at a time when his body wanted to be doing anything but that. Age, and training, had mellowed him out in that regard, such that he could rarely remember times when he'd been actively impatient in the last ten or twelve years.
Right now, though, his brow was furrowed in clear agitation as he looked up at the buildings surrounding himself, Akitsu, and Kusano. They'd been wandering aimlessly around the streets, following Matsu's advice on places to search that she'd compiled from satellite footage of Tsukiumi's movements. However, Tsukiumi was nowhere to be seen, and they'd come a long way from Izumo Inn. With tomorrow being the start of classes, he really didn't want to be stuck dealing with something related to the Sekirei Plan when he could be getting himself mentally prepared for school after more than a year as a repeating student. As he stood at the center of the back alley where they'd been walking, his hands were clenching and relaxing as he squinted skyward, thinking he might catch a glimpse of Tsukiumi.
Akitsu had already looked over the areas where Minato was checking now, and her eyesight being superior to his, she'd already seen that nothing was there. Since it was clear that Tsukiumi wasn't anywhere nearby, her mind drifted back to the conversation between Musubi and Minato at Izumo Inn. When had they gotten so close that they referred to each other so casually? Had they somehow taken the next step in their relationship without Miya knowing? How would they have even pulled that off?
Will he abandon me now that he and Musubi are closer?
The thought was small and traitorous, and passed as soon at it came. But its echoes stuck in her mind, buzzing angrily. It took all of her self-control to keep herself from starting to shake.
"Hey, Sahashi! What's up?" a rough, male voice asked.
She looked up from her bemused thoughts to see Seo approaching Minato, smiling lazily. She could feel the frown tugging at her lips, but forced her face to remain still, just like always. She could not let her emotion show. Not here.
"Hey, Seo-san," Minato said, smiling in response. "What are you doing out here?"
Seo signed and scratched his head. "Runnin' a job today. Looking for a lost cat or some crap like that. Ain't paying too well, but it's a living, yeah?" He gave Minato a casual, questioning glance from the side of his eyes. "What about you?"
"Just a few errands," Minato replied. "Nothing big, really."
"With the icebox and the squirt?" Seo said. "Pretty weird errand to me, but then again I'm chasing after a cat." He grinned again, and sniffed the air. "Then again, at least the little one looks a hell of a lot happier than I remember from last time, and you've even picked up another one—Matsu from Izumo, I think. You're pretty good about looking after you and yours, ain't ya?"
Minato folded his arms, and Akitsu had to fight to keep her neutral expression again. This time, though, she was hiding a smile at how confident Minato looked; she had no fondness for Seo to begin with, so seeing her Ashikabi stand his ground against the older, louder Ashikabi made her feel warm inside. "You said you could trust Kusano to me to begin with, didn't you? Did you expect me to treat her badly even after saying that?" Then, he paused, and blinked before giving Seo a suspicious glare. "Wait a minute, how did you know I winged another Sekirei?"
Seo eyed Minato for a moment longer, then shook his head, sighing dramatically but making a point to look up into the sky. Akitsu noticed his eyes seemed suspiciously moist. "Let's just say the nose knows, kid, and Takehito is why the nose knows," he said. "But, seriously, you're reminding me way too much of him right about now. That ain't ever good. I get all teary-eyed and shit when he comes up. You wanna see a grown man start bawlin' his eyes out like a baby?"
"No, I don't," Minato replied, grimacing. "My father is already weak-willed enough to do that at the drop of a hat whenever he sees something 'manly' or 'cool'. If you started to do it, I think we'd have to stop being friends forever."
Seo laughed heartily at that, and slapped Minato on the back with a wide grin. Before he could say anything else, though, the sound of footsteps clacking down the sidewalk made everyone turn to the mouth of the alley, where they saw Hikari and Hibiki running toward them as quickly as they could. Their clothes were sopping wet, and their eyes were filled with terror.
"Girls, girls, what's the matter?" Seo yelled. "Didja run through a sprinkler or something?!"
Neither twin answered him, grabbing him by one arm each as they rushed past. Despite Seo's repeated demands for them to quit freaking out and tell him what was going on, both of them ignored him, and went straight on ahead without stopping for a second. Minato, Kusano, and Akitsu watched them go for a few moments, but soon turned their attention back towards the mouth of the alley when the distinct sound of boots hitting pavement echoed off the walls. Akitsu failed to stop her body from stiffening as number 09, Tsukiumi, came striding toward them, with her hair flowing freely down her back and her fists clenched tightly as her outer dress trailed out behind her.
"Where did those blasted spark-plugs go...?" Tsukiumi muttered to herself, seemingly unable to see the people standing in front of her. "Weak as they were, I admit that at the very least they were the only challenge I've faced aside from Homura." Her frown tightened. "I am not so patient that I will hunt them down like dogs, much as they deserve it."
Minato cleared his throat, and Tsukiumi jumped, then focused on him properly. Once she saw his face, her eyes narrowed dangerously. "...those eyes, that frame. You are...him." Her hand clenched into a claw, and water began to circle around her feet. "For you to come face your death so willingly, 'Ashikabi'...should I call you a fool or applaud your courage?"
"I'm only here to talk, Tsukiumi-san." Minato told her, keeping his face perfectly straight. "I know you don't want to be my Sekirei, and I wouldn't dare force you into it either. The only thing I wanted to do was warn you that there are Ashikabi that are actively looking for Sekirei to wing, and that you need to be on the lookout for them."
Tsukiumi's hand stayed frozen in the same position, but she slowly loosened it as she kept staring into his eyes. His calm was infuriatingly contagious, and his eyes were still as magnetic as they had been in their shared dream. She was loathe to hear him speak, but she had already decided that she wouldn't kill him, after all. She couldn't quite bring herself to rudely send him on his way, either; the warmth blossoming in her chest, which threatened to bring her to her knees, would not allow it. "And why, pray tell, would you think me unaware of this fact? I have seen more than enough interaction between Sekirei and Ashikabi to know of the less scrupulous ones."
"Because you deserve the warning," Minato said. "If it were up to me, this entire plan wouldn't even exist. It's stupid, wasteful, and harmful to people who should just be allowed to live as they are, human or Sekirei." He noticed the scowl crossing Tsukiumi's face, and decided to abridge his argument before he did something to offend her even more. "Anyway, that's all I came here for. I know you don't want me as your Ashikabi, so I'll leave now."
With that, Minato turned on his heel and headed for the other end of the alley, but to his surprise, she spoke again. "Hold." He turned back around and saw that a light blush was coloring her cheeks. Despite that, she was still standing perfectly straight, the very image of unbent pride. "What profession do you hold presently?" she asked.
"I'm going to be a student at Shintou Teitou University starting tomorrow," Minato replied, loosening his expression into mild confusion. Where's she going with this? "I'm going to work on getting a business degree."
"There is more to you than that," Tsukiumi said, damning her body as she felt warmth spread through it. "Thin though your body is, your movement and behaviors..." And your eyes, she thought to herself, before violently shoving the thought from her traitorous mind, "speak to experience in matters related to something that is not 'business'. I would know what that 'something' is."
Minato scratched his chin and smiled feebly, despite his continued confusion about Tsukiumi's sudden curiosity in him. The sight made Tsukiumi's blush flare up against her will before she managed to fight it back. "Well, my father taught me a little bit of Karate," he said. "That's pretty much the only thing of note about me, I guess."
"Then you, too, are a fighter," she said, stepping closer to him. At Minato's side, Akitsu tensed, and once Tsukiumi was about a foot away from him, she began to call on her ice, ready to freeze Tsukiumi at a moment's notice. "If that is so, then why would you condemn the Sekirei Plan? It is a gathering of those that must fight to become the strongest. Is that test of strength not what fighters like you and I live for?"
Now that she was closer to him, Minato realized that in terms of height, he towered over Tsukiumi. However, her wilfulness and the imperious way she carried herself compensated quite nicely. No longer feeling shy, confused, or intimidated once the conversation came back to the meaning of a fight, Minato answered her question without hesitation. "If the participants don't have a choice but to fight, then it's no fight I want a part of. That's not what my kind of fight is like." Memories of his spars against Yukari and his father all flowed into his mind, and he clenched a fist.
"Then, pray tell, what is it like?" Tsukiumi asked, scowling up at him, but less in anger and more in confusion. "You say that it is nothing like the Sekirei Plan, but offer nothing to provide an example. How am I to understand what you believe?"
Minato's righteous indignation faded as he seriously considered Tsukiumi's response. Eventually, he shook his head, and shrugged helplessly. "You'd have to experience it, I guess. There isn't any way to just up and describe it."
Tsukiumi closed her eyes, humming for a moment, then refocused on him, her eyes determined. "Then show me."
Minato blinked, as did Akitsu and Kusano. "What now?"
"You said that I would need experience a true fight to understand its essence, did you not?" She uncrossed her arms and shifted into a fighting stance, her hands spread wide. "Then come. Show it to me."
"Tsukiumi-san, I'm a human, you're a Sekirei, and you can control water," Minato said flatly, and Kusano peeked out from behind him to nod vigorously, puffing out her cheeks. "How am I supposed to be an even match for you?"
Tsukiumi rolled her eyes, sighing. "Clearly I will not fight at my full strength, fool. I have interest in making it a fair contest, after all. Just come. Show me your conviction."
Akitsu's eyes narrowed. One of her hands rose up as the temperature around her dropped, but Minato reached out and put his right hand on top of hers, then pushed it down. When Akitsu gave him a confused stare, he shook his head, then turned back to Tsukiumi and looked down into her crystal-clear blue eyes. "I accept."
With a slow nod, Tsukiumi backed up several steps, giving ample room for Minato to maneuver. Quietly, Akitsu took a protesting Kusano by the hand and led her away from Minato, standing to watch him from another corner of the open area where they were.
"You did not introduce yourself to me," Tsukiumi said to Minato. "If you would be so kind?"
"Minato Sahashi. Rindoukan School of Martial Arts."
"I am number 09, Tsukiumi." Her eyes narrowed. "Minato Sahashi. Show me what fight you desire!"
Water surged upward from her feet and began to swirl ominously around her arm. Refusing to hesitate, Minato charged in, using his breathing and walking technique as soon as his foot hit the ground. However, Tsukiumi was still faster than him, and at a gesture from her index and middle finger, the water slammed into him. Unlike the dream, he wasn't lifted off of his feet, but his charging attack was stopped cold and he was knocked back quite a bit. As the water dripped off of his body, he lowered his arms from their crossed position in front of his face, just in time to see Tsukiumi gathering a sphere of water in her hand.
"Water Festival!"
Rather than attempt to beat her attack again, Minato waited, beginning his breathing again. When she threw the attack, creating a wild burst of water that rushed straight at him, he side-stepped it and immediately ran straight at her again. However, Tsukiumi had anticipated his strategy and was already preparing another attack to hit him with—but she wasn't the only one that was ready. As her hand swept out at him again and the water rushed from behind to consume him, Minato let out a huge breath and kicked off of the ground, hurtling forward and to the side slightly. Tsukiumi hadn't accounted for him being able to dodge the attack, and so the water splashed against nothing while he was already in arm's reach.
Minato took another deep breath, charging himself with ki, and fired a straight punch directly at Tsukiumi's exposed face.
Everything seemed to slow down for her at that point as the attack drew closer.
Something about the punch was extremely strange. She could almost feel the strength rolling off of it even though it had yet to connect, and something instinctively told her that a human shouldn't have had a punch that strong. For the briefest of moments, her mind rolled back over how he had taken a direct hit from her water, albeit weakened, and hadn't fallen over. How he had been able to move just fast enough to avoid getting hit by her rear attack. His movements were direct, nothing like the more graceful movements of a Sekirei, but his speed... He was only human. He shouldn't have been able to react so fast.
She spent so 'long' puzzling that over that she didn't realize that Minato had yet to hit her, at least initially. When she became cognizant of it, she flinched away from him and stared incredulously, while he lowered his fist and sighed, letting his ki flow out with the release of his breath. "Are you mad?" she said, her voice angry and hard. "Why are you stopping? You did not even land the blow!"
"Let me ask you this," Minato said, slowly straightening out of his ready stance. "Just now, right before I actually struck you, were you afraid of dying? Or were you more concerned with trying to understand how I got close to you?"
Tsukiumi growled in annoyance, shaking her head to clear away the confusion. "What need would I have to fear for my life? You had no intent to harm me, and I doubt you could have done so anyway."
Minato simply looked at her, and then, he smiled. "That's part of what makes my kind of fight different from the Sekirei Plan."
Tsukiumi blinked, outright unfolding her arms to stare at Minato. "What?"
Minato put his hands in his pockets and slouched slightly as he let his ki flow out, while Akitsu and Kusano silently returned to his side. "Instead of worrying about whether you'll die from the next blow, you try to focus on what you've done wrong so that you don't repeat it. Instead of being forced to kill your enemy, you can just beat them and battle them again later. And instead of being killed when you lose, you just lose."
Kusano leaned against his leg, pouting out of both jealousy and slight fear for his safety. He patted her softly on the head before continuing to talk. "Freedom to think and act in the moment without worrying for your life. Freedom to focus on making your weaknesses into strengths. Freedom to make your strengths even stronger. Those kinds of things exist in the Sekirei Plan, yes, but in a real fight, they aren't matters of life and death. Adversity is good for the spirit, but living every day on the edge...in the long run, it doesn't give you the balance you need to become the best. There is a time to fight and a time to rest; a time to be active and a time to be passive."
His eyes narrowed. "That's why I hate Minaka and hate the Sekirei Plan. Sekirei have to live from battle to battle, with their survival dependent on their ability to fight more than their will to. Not everyone wants to fight. Not everyone can fight. And they shouldn't be forced to."
Tsukiumi was taken aback by the venom in Minato's voice once he brought up Minaka, and drew back from him, contemplating what he had just said to her. The idea that there were Sekirei that didn't want to fight was startling enough to her. From when she was young, she had been told that she would have no other choice but to fight when the time came. No other Sekirei, to her knowledge, had been told otherwise. It was even more shocking that as foreign as his viewpoint sounded to her, she could actually understand it the more she thought about it and applied it to her own life. She was confident in her strength, but she knew, much as she would say or think otherwise, that she was no immortal. A misstep, however small, would leave her without the slightest chance of winning the Sekirei Plan. And, as Minato had just reminded her, she was more than capable of being killed because of that misstep.
His understanding is profound, she thought, frustrated that she had come around to his way of thinking despite herself. He reasons as if he were a human three times his age. Honestly, it is perplexing, but... A blush spread across her cheeks again as she slowly dared to meet his eyes. It is...attractive, as well.
Unknowing of that debate taking place in her head, Minato simply nodded at her once she looked up at him, and then he, Akitsu, and Kusano headed for the end of the alley that Seo and the twins had left through earlier. The sounds of their feet woke Tsukiumi from her contemplative trance, and she shouted, "And where is it you're going, Minato Sahashi?"
Minato paused in mid-step and gave her a puzzled glance over his shoulder. "Home?"
"I do not recall dismissing you," she said, surging forward to stand in front of him again. "Our conversation was not yet ended."
Minato allowed himself a small frown, putting his hands in his pockets. This was the second time she had stopped him from leaving. Either she was in denial about her feelings or she was just being contrary for the sake of being contrary. "What is there to talk about? You don't want an Ashikabi, and I'm not going to wing you against your will."
Tsukiumi's arms folded again, and her hair seemed to take on a life of its own, rising ominously behind her. "That does not mean we were finished speaking!"
Minato reflexively stepped back, and feeling threatened by the response, Akitsu stepped forward. Tsukiumi glared at her, only to falter when she saw (or rather, paid enough attention to notice) the crest on Akitsu's forehead. "That mark...you are a scrapped number," Tsukiumi said, her expression growing harder. "What, pray tell, are you doing here?"
"Minato is my Ashikabi," Akitsu replied, her voice brittle enough to snap. Some small part of her grew giddy at actually managing able to call his name without an honorific, but it was by and large overshadowed by the urge she felt to pepper Tsukiumi with icicles. "If you harm him, you will die."
Tsukiumi tensed at the threat, but realized that she was doing little to actually persuade Akitsu that she was not a danger to Minato. With an effort, Tsukiumi sighed through her nose and dissipated the water that she was unconsciously collecting, then closed her eyes and counted to ten in her mind before looking at Akitsu with a calmer, but no less intense, gaze. "I will admit that while you may have needed concern about that matter ere today, you no longer need worry. I have no interest in harming him."
"Then what is it that you want, Tsukiumi-san?" Minato yelled. "You said in the dream that you didn't even want me coming near you, then you tell me to stay, challenge me to a fight, listen to me wax poetic for a second—which I appreciate by the way," he added, scratching the back of his head, before launching back into his rant—"and then you tell me to stay again when it was clear from before that you didn't want me around. You're giving me a bunch of mixed signals here and I don't know what you're trying to say! Please, make up your mind!"
"Is it not clear?" Tsukiumi replied, her voice rising in volume to match his. "I...desire you as my Ashikabi!"
The alley went silent after that, as Minato stared blankly at Tsukiumi, who was now blushing violently. Akitsu's body betrayed her feelings by making her hands twitch once or twice before she clasped them together and put them behind her back. Kusano had never heard Minato yell before, and looked between him and Tsukiumi with visible fright, pressing herself against Minato's leg.
"...I admit it is hypocritical, to say this now," Tsukiumi said at last, breaking the silence as she continued to look away. "But your attitude and beliefs...they are far nobler than I expected of an Ashikabi. I began to think that mayhap...if you were my Ashikabi, and you alone, I would be amenable to the idea of becoming your Sekirei. I am...ashamed to admit it, because it was my goal to win without the power of an Ashikabi in the first place." Her blush grew even more violent. "I did not mean to be so contrary, nor so harsh. I simply...could not decide. It is a difficult thing to violate one's word to oneself." She squirmed slightly, and Minato waited for her to continue. Instead, though, she forced herself to look at him and stood tall again. "W-Well?!" she asked, her voice imperious and impatient. "Shall you accept my proposal or deny it? Speak, man!"
The volume of her statement made Minato step back for a minute, but he quickly gathered himself, coughing into one hand. "Well, if you're all right with it, then, yes. But, I should let you know, as far as Sekirei are concerned, you won't be my firs..."
Tsukiumi cut him off without saying a word, striding up to him and pulling him down to her level by putting her hands on his shoulders and pushing down slightly. The sudden contact made him blush, but he forced himself to pay attention to her, even though her expression was less fierce than before as her angry frown became pensive. "You would bring no ordinary child into a situation such as this, and the scrapped number is strongly attached to you," she said. "I am not entirely blind to what that means, nor what it could mean in the future. But what I said before still stands. You are an Ashikabi of convictions that I can respect. I will trust in you."
And, without haste, she kissed him. It was a short, brief one, but like always, something lingered on Minato's lips once she pulled away. The wings burst from Tsukiumi's back, glowing gentle blue as she wrapped her arms around herself; the surge of heat that overcame her made her a bit light-headed at first, but she soon calmed the sensation and looked at Minato with clear resolve in her eyes.
"Now and forevermore, I, Tsukiumi, am your loyal Sekirei and wife," she said, stepping back slightly to regard her Ashikabi. "Please take good care of me, my husband."
Minato nodded with a smile on his face, which froze as he realized what she had just said to him. "Wait, I'm sorry. Did you just call me 'husband' a second ago?" He paled. "And call yourself my 'wife'?"
The new stiffness in his posture and face made Tsukiumi frown slightly as she folded her arms once more. "'Tis only natural, is it not? As the Ashikabi I chose for myself, you are my destined partner, one that I am...to love." The admission made her blush again, but she recovered herself far faster than before; the idea had apparently begun to grow on her. "It is as good as a marriage."
Nothing wrong with that line of logic, Minato thought. Ignoring the fact that we didn't actually get married... "Yes, but..."
"Then Kuu-chan is onii-chan's wife, too!" Kusano replied fiercely, gripping Minato's leg tightly. "And so is Muu-chan, and Ma-chan, and Aki-chan!"
For a few moments, Tsukiumi simply stood stock-still, staring blankly at Kusano. Then, she slowly, carefully, turned her gaze back to Minato. "I am slightly annoyed that you did not see a need to inform me," she said, smiling in a way that was far too similar to Miya, "that you had more than two Sekirei."
"No, I tried to tell you," Minato replied, brow furrowing at the accusation. "But you said it yourself, you 'are not entirely blind' to what it meant for me to have more than one Sekirei. Are you going to go back on that now?"
"Minato, there is a difference between me being your third Sekirei and me being your fifth!" Tsukiumi shouted. "What kind of a cavalier woman do you think I am? I need not share you with the child in that way, but to vie for the attentions of three other women...?! You jest!"
Minato pressed his face into his palm and groaned. "Where we live, I couldn't get away with as much as giving you a suggestive glance, unless I wanted Asama-san to break every bone in my hand with her ladle. Look, Tsukiumi-san, you can't tell me that you trust me and my judgment, and then flip out over this, especially since you said you were OK with it. I know how it looks, but I'm promising you that it isn't that simple."
Minato could have sworn that Tsukiumi's teeth were beginning to grind with the way they were clenched together. "I most certainly have the right to 'flip out' as I like! And I most certainly know it is not simple! You are building a harem! Are you completely blind to how this situation looks to outsiders?!"
Minato groaned again, though he had to concede that Tsukiumi was making extremely strong points. Before he could respond, Akitsu spoke for him, her voice calm now that her Ashikabi's life wasn't in danger. "Trust Minato-sama. If you do not want to, I can release you from our company right now."
Tsukiumi choked for a moment, then slowly clenched a fist, completely unwilling to let that threat go unanswered. Frothy bubbling sounds filled the air as water began to surge around Tsukiumi's feet. And then, Minato interrupted, stepping between the two of them, drawing his eyebrows together, and staring down at Akitsu. "Akitsu-san. That threat is entirely inappropriate, wouldn't you say?" His voice was calm and cool, but Tsukiumi could hear the disapproval all but flinging itself into Akitsu's face. "Tsukiumi-san is our comrade now, correct?"
Akitsu's body visibly trembled, and she bowed her head. "Yes, Minato-sama."
"We'll talk about this later," he said, putting a hand on his temple to ward off the incoming headache that he'd be feeling. The effect on Akitsu had been much more pronounced than he meant it to be, but for now what he wanted was for the two of them to quit feuding more than anything else. "For now, let's go back to Izumo Inn."
He walked off, with Akitsu following him, her frame hunched and small. Kusano hung back, looking at Minato with nervousness in her eyes, while Tsukiumi simply gawked at the sight of how oppressively frightening Minato had been. Eventually, though, both blonde Sekirei got a hold of themselves and hurried to catch up with their Ashikabi.
Izumo Inn
10:45 AM
In the time since Minato had left the inn, Musubi had eagerly thrown herself into her self-practice, following the steps to perfecting the Hayate that Minato had reviewed with her endlessly the day before. The usual audience was out on the porch to watch her progress, though Matsu was paying more attention to the screen of her tablet while muttering under her breath and typing rapidly into the keyboard she'd attached to it.
Though Miya didn't know what exactly the move was supposed to look like, she could tell that Musubi's movements were changing each time she repeated the steps—she would breathe in once, then exhale, step, and punch simultaneously. Each repetition brought her actions into closer and closer synchronization, little by little.
However, not even Musubi's energy was infinite, and she eventually began to flag, getting slightly sloppier. Seeing this, Miya stepped down from the porch and put a gentle hand on Musubi's shoulder before the exhausted Sekirei could begin the exercise again. "That's enough, Musubi-san. It won't do you any good to keep practicing if you're too tired to focus properly."
"But Minato-shishou won't show me anything new if I don't prove I've mastered this," Musubi said, panting as she straightened up for another try. "I have to keep going. Until I get it perfectly..."
Miya sighed, and quietly invoked her intimidating aura, forcing Musubi to look directly at her. "I'm sure Sahashi-san will be a lot happier to see that you've mastered it without nearly working yourself to death. So, why don't you take a break for a little while?"
Musubi smiled, but the sweat running down her brow betrayed her real feelings. "O-of course, Landlady-sama. What was I thinking?" With movements that were perhaps a bit too smooth considering her exhaustion, she plopped down on the ground, spreading herself out like a starfish. Uzume let out a not-so-quiet chuckle from the porch, and Miya's response was to round on her and smile rather widely. "Did you say something back there, Uzume-san?"
"No, not at all," Uzume replied. "Think you're starting to hear things, Miya."
Miya would have responded to that if Musubi had not suddenly sat up and looked toward the front side of the house. At the same time, Matsu stopped typing on her keyboard and tapped something on her screen. A window with the hidden camera footage from the front door popped up on the screen. "Mina-tan is home," the braided Sekirei said. "And he's got Tsukiumi-tan with him!"
Without a moment's hesitation, Musubi rocketed inside, leaving Miya and the others to follow her wake through the house. By the time everyone had managed to gather at the front door, Musubi was already opening it wide, with a joyful smile splitting her face. "Welcome back, Minato!"
Minato smiled and put up his left hand in a weak salute. The primary reason was that Tsukiumi was more or less attached to that arm and wasn't letting go, pouting furiously at an oblivious Musubi, and it didn't help that Akitsu was subtly doing the same to his other hand (with her mouth drawn into a tight, hard line) and that Kusano was more or less strangling his leg with one arm while holding her small pot in her free hand. "Hey, Musubi. How did training go?"
Musubi wrinkled her mouth into a tiny frown and knocked on the side of her head, sticking out her tongue. "I'm almost there but not quite," she replied. "The second step is really hard." She then noticed Tsukumi's hostile glare, and in a moment of pure friendliness, bowed, then reached out a hand. "Tsukiumi-san, correct? I'm Musubi, number 88! It's so nice to meet you in person!"
For a moment, Tsukiumi just glared at Musubi's hand as if it were covered in oozing sores, but after Minato gently cleared his throat, she muttered something under her breath, and detached herself from him long enough to return the bow and shortly shake Musubi's hand. "Number 09, Tsukiumi," she said, biting the words off as they came from her mouth. "A pleasure."
Completely oblivious to (or perhaps because of) the blatant hostility, Musubi simply smiled wider, clasping her hands together. "I have a feeling we'll get along just fine!"
"We shall, so long as you lay no hands on my husband," Tsukiumi replied, re-attaching herself to Minato. "You may have been in the household before I was, but I will be damned if I allow you to usurp my position as wife."
Musubi simply stared blankly in her direction for a moment, the smile on her face appearing genuinely frozen. Then, a surge of hostile intent like nothing Minato had ever felt practically burst out of Musubi, rolling over everyone present like a wave, before vanishing as quickly as it came. Save for Akitsu and Miya, everyone shrank away from her as if they'd been hit in the face.
"Oh good heavens, no, she couldn't have," Matsu muttered to herself, eyes hidden behind the shine of her glasses. "There's no way that Musubi actually learned how to...it was like a bear..."
"I felt kind of strange for a second there," Musubi said aloud, scratching the side of her head. "That was really weird." She turned to Minato with a quizzical frown. "Minato, what just happened?"
"Nothing at all," Minato replied, silently patting himself on the back for keeping his voice from cracking. "You sort of just spaced out for a second."
Tsukiumi's reaction to the murderous intent was much less placid; she outright let go of Minato and kept staring at Musubi with undisguised shock and nervousness, and her hand twitched as if she wanted to call water. She restrained the urge when she felt a flash of intimidation come from Miya's direction, more tightly controlled than Musubi's but even more potent.
"Tsukiumi-san," Miya said, "there is no fighting at Izumo Inn outside the boundaries of training. Is that understood?"
"Perfectly," Tsukiumi replied, lowering her hand and her head with legitimate humility (mostly to avoid the oppressive gaze of the demon mask peeking out behind Miya's head). "I apologize."
Miya smiled, and relaxed her aura. "Then, we should eat. Come, let's go inside. I've prepared a nice brunch."
Without further debate, everyone filed inside and found their seats at the dining room table, sitting quietly in their usual spots while Minato and Miya went to get the serving trays of food. The other residents of the Inn were avoiding Musubi's gaze as carefully as they could, though Akitsu and Tsukumi, sitting next to each other, got a little twitchy when Musubi sat down on the left side of Minato's normal spot (Kusano, being Kusano, always got to sit on the right). After a few moments of the awkward silence, Uzume picked up the remote for the television from its spot on the center of the table and turned it on, hoping to catch a bit of news and ease tensions.
"...And in breaking news," the reporter said, smoothing out a slightly unruly lock of his curly black hair, "MBI CEO Hiroto Minaka has announced the 'lockdown' of the imperial capital. Details are sketchy as to why this is happening now, but a press conference with him is forthcoming..."
Aside from Kusano, Matsu, Akitsu, and Tsukiumi, all of the Sekirei in the room stiffened and stared at the TV. As the announcer continued to speak, Minato and Miya came into the room, each holding two platters in hand, and saw the headline "Shintou Teitou now under full MBI supervision" crawl across the bottom of the screen.
Memories of his mother's last words to him on Saturday flashed through Minato's mind, and he grimaced.
The lines had been drawn.
The battlefield was set.
It was time.
Author's Notes:
I want to apologize first for basically dropping off the face of the earth for the last three months or so. School began to get a little busy and I had to put this story to the side so that I could properly deal with it. I've got a break for a while, so I'll be trying to catch up while I have the time, and hopefully my schedule won't be so wacky this time around.
Chapter 11 is currently finished, so I'll be working on 12 and hopefully 13 after that. It's dependent on whether my writer's block comes back with a vengeance or not.
Review Response:
I'd like to thank everyone who's favorited and followed the story even though I've been AWOL to a rather unacceptable degree. For those that wanted a little more Akitsu face time, I hope the opening and a few of the other lines in this chapter scratched that itch for a while.
Next chapter will be out two weeks from this Friday, keeping to the old schedule. In between then and now, I'll be writing the new chapter and working on fixing a few hiccups in the earlier ones. Till then, take care.
~ZS