In Flight

by gabriel blessing

Honestly, Shirou was beginning to think that he should be used to this; being unwittingly selected to take part in brutal tournament that he had no idea existed until he found himself in the middle of it. Then again, second times the charm, right?

35. Thirty Fifth Wing

In Flight: Thirty Fifth Wing

Author's notes: Well, as mentioned before this chapter was mostly finished before the stupid real world interrupted me. After that, well, Honor Thy Masters kinda jumped me, and that happened.

However, at the request of several reviewers, I decided to button down and finish this new chapter of 35 by Christmas, so here you go! Happy solstice all.

Anyway, reviews for 34 mostly focused around whether or not Karasuba was gonna kill or kiss Shirou, and here's your answer: does there have to be a difference?

Anyway, a few notes for this chapter.

*Spoiler Alert*

First off, the conclusion of the Third Match. Mostly what you would expect. I tried to make Karasuba powerful, because as any good writer knows a story is only as interesting if the antagonist is strong enough to oppose the protagonist. Sense I tend towards having powerful protagonists, I have to make sure that my bad guys are tough enough to deal with them. Fortunately, Karasuba is already that badass, so here we go.

After that, I mentioned that everyone saw the fight. Reactions of Takami and Uzume are just a few examples of what I meant by everyone. I'm still catching up on my forums, but as soon as I do expect a few omakes about how other reactions went down, the ones that happened out of sight of Shirou.

Now, Uzume. Maybe its a bit of reflection of my 'Bromance of Uzume and Shirou', but I like Uzume. I like her a lot. She was just such a properly sympathetic character for Shirou, a sort of foil as someone that could connect with him at a different level then his flock, that I had to emphasize that.

Sadly though, just like when Yukari and Haruka, she just couldn't hang around any more. With so many characters in Izumo House, especially Chiho who has little in the way of development in cannon besides moe sick girl, it just is simpler to get them kicked out than continue to try and characterize them. That aside, I could very well see Uzume getting her the hell away from Shirou. Uzume would kill the innocent for her Ashikabi. If protecting Chiho involved her leaving, she'd do it in a heartbeat. Don't expect her to be gone forever, I'm not putting the two on a bus, but for now they get to disappear for a bit and have adventures of their own out in the real world.

Might be an omake or two there for them too.

*End Spoilers*

Anyway, there you go folks. Third Match complete. With this there are only three arcs left of In Flight.

And yes, before anyone starts bothering me about it again, Saber and Rin will show up in one of those arcs.

So, drop a review if you wanna give a first impression about the chapter. Gonna start another threa in the Mechanics of In Flight forum, so questions and concerns can head that way.

And as always, enjoy.

*Story Start*

It actually took me a second to gather my thoughts. I blamed the high of adrenaline which I was still riding on after the fight, maybe complicated by the rush of endorphins I was no doubt experiencing after impaling myself.

After that second, I found that the only response I could still generate at the sight above me remained, 'Oh crap!'

I had seen Karasuba before. Normally, the Black Sekirei was rather calm, smiling that benevolent grin of hers, eyes crinkled in unspoken merriment. I had known what she was capable of, had sensed from the very first moment I had come into contact with her, and that once in the lot behind Izumo Inn she had shown me a face which I had no doubt many others had seen, the face of a predator judging its prey.

But this was different. This was Karasuba, with her eyes wide open and a savage, teeth bearing smile that bore no joy in it besides the euphoria of bloodshed. This was Karasuba, steel drawn and target selected. This, this was a Karasuba that I had no trouble believing had slaughtered probably over a thousand people.

And if I wasn't careful, it looked as though my life might be added to the tally soon as well.

Even as I finally managed to collect myself, it looked like at least one other present hadn't been so distracted.

Karasuba was coming in from above, and not with the usual speed of someone who had just jumped. With the speed she was approaching it was far more likely that the Black Sekirei had deliberately launched herself from a higher purchase, using her own power to supplement the force gravity would give her. It was a much better tactic than just jumping was, but even as she closed too fast, her eyes shifted, and she twisted midair to avoid the sudden massive spike of ice which speared through the space she had occupied seconds ago.

"You shall not.." was as far as Akitsu got, hand outstretched as she manipulated her Norito, only to be interrupted as the same attack she had just launched shattered, fragmenting just as the edge of her Norito had only seconds ago.

Karasuba's sword glinted as it carved its way through the several feet thick dagger of frozen water. Her dark grey cloak trailed behind her as even mid strike, she simply adjusted her footing so that her feet rested on the remains of the pillar, still angled downwards towards me, and then she kicked, her descent barely even delayed for a moment. If anything, her grin seemed even wider now.

What happened next was so sudden it was nearly a blur to me, even with my combat experience. Akitsu had apparently not taken being dismissed so easily well, and without another word the world around me erupted. Pillars of dagger sharp ice erupted from every surface around me, both near and far, the attacks launching themselves towards the still descending Dog of MBI. It was an attack so overwhelming it reminded me that for all Akitsu's passive nature, she had a tendency towards over kill which was damn near overwhelming.

Even more terrifying though, was Karasuba's reaction to it. It was a chilling reminder that the now dead Toyotama and Ichiya weren't the only ones in the Plan who were consummate killers. Every pillar that closed with the Black Sekirei was either dodged or blocked, her gleaming nodachi moving like a blur of silver as it intercepted, often outright destroying, dozens of attacks. More than that, every blow it did block provided leverage for Karasuba to force her body out of the way of another half dozen attacks. At one point it honestly looked like it would be enough, that the sheer number would catch Karasuba, and then she spun once more, briefly obscuring her body with her long grey coat which was a moment later perforated from nearly every angle, only for her to somehow appear beneath it, now free of a large number of the blows Akitsu was launching at her.

And throughout it all, somehow, impossibly, not only had Karasuba managed to maintain her speed, but had actually increased her velocity!

"Sahashi!" Karasuba cried out once more, her volume increasing with every syllable, and then there was no more time to think, to observe. The Black Sekirei had closed enough that Akitsu could no longer attack her, not without risking me being caught in her assault. The closing Sekirei was mid spin, a motion which would add even more power to an attack which was already backed by gravity, her earlier launch, and what would no doubt be this walking genocide's own considerable strength.

There had been no time for me to dodge or escape. In fact, retreat was even being hampered by the pillars of frost and ice which Akitsu had attempted to impale Karasuba on. The only thing I had time to do was bring up Bakuya, Reinforcing myself dangerously to prepare even as I grasped the back of the point of the blade like I had earlier and prayed that I would be able to survive this strike.

The Black Sekirei struck me like a meteorite. I had known that trying to match a power type Sekirei straight on would be suicide, and nothing reinforced that idea like the breath stealing strength of the blow that I had managed to interrupt.

I managed to keep my arms from buckling for nearly a half second, and then even with my own personal strength being magically enhanced I just didn't have the capability of stopping the strike. Desperately, I leaned forward, and caught my collapsing guard square on the broad side of my shoulders, trying to use my own body and mass to stop the one attack. It helped, as the full strength of my arms was joined by my mass and the power of my body.

Than even that proved to be not enough, and so I collapsed further, letting one leg go out beneath me so that I could go to one knee. I tried to control the descent, but too much power bled into my collapse and when my left knee hit the pavement I nearly cried out as the force behind it shattered the joint, the unyielding concrete an immovable object catching me between it and Karasuba's unstoppable force.

Still, even as the pain of the sudden wound shot through me, I grit my teeth, forcing myself to ignore it, to resist it, to continue struggling against the one blow which had just done more damage to me in a heartbeat than I had taken from the entire duel with numbers sixteen and eighteen.

And somehow, through some miracle, it proved to be enough.

"Oh?" Karasuba panted above me, and I had to glare up through my bangs to meet her gaze, sparks showering down on me from above as her nodachi ground into the edge of Bakuya. If the white sword hadn't been a Noble Phantasms, the very real fear that the strike would have been strong enough to shatter the steel would have been an alarming concern. "You stopped it? Not bad, Sahashi!"

In one move, despite my own fighting prowess, despite all my combat experience, and even with all the preparation I had been investing in, I had been brought to my knees, and may very well perish in just a handful of moments more.

And despite that, the only thing I could think to do was snarl back up at the creature leering down at me.

"My name…" I ground out, my entire body shaking as Karasuba tried to force her blade down through sheer physical strength. Even though it was dangerous, that it might cause me to lose my grip, I released my right hand from the tip of Bakuya, bringing it down to the shattered hilt of the lance buried in my gut. "… Is Emiya!"

With a force inspired either by rage at the continued use of that name or a desperation inspired by my current condition, I tore the spear out of my body, hoping that the edges of the wound would be enough to keep any of Ichiya's blood from getting mixed into my own. Karasuba's eyes widened even further in what was either delight or surprise at the move, but whatever it was she was feeling was enough to cause her to hesitate as she failed to discern my motive for the action in time.

Thus, she didn't have time to jump back quite quick enough as I used my own height and reach advantage to stab upwards with the bloody implement, aiming the point of the spear right between the Black Sekirei's eyes. She managed to dodge in time, pulling away and relieving the awful pressure on my body significantly, but not completely and the weapon managed to find the flesh of her face, drawing a line of crimson across the Black Sekirei's cheek even as she continued to leap backwards. I tried to follow the sudden attack with a strike from Bakuya, but found that my body's strength had been sapped enough that I couldn't quite manage to cut Karasuba any further.

Even as she leapt, Karasuba's attention whipped away from me, locking on something outside of my sight range. Her grin grew as twin shouts made their way to my ears.

"Water Dragon!" Tsukiumi declared, somewhere outside of my range of vision.

At the same time, Akitsu's voice also sounded, definitely louder than it usually was. "Ice Dragon," the snow woman declared as well.

Karasuba's eyes narrowed, still gleaming with bloodthirsty glee, and she readied her nodachi. I managed to lift my head enough to catch sight of my two Sekirei standing next to each other, great serpentine beasts of their elements forming in response to their attacks. It looked at first like the Black Sekirei was going to dismiss the two completely, and then her expression changed, a hint of caution appearing as the two separate dragons, rather than charging independently at her, instead coalesced at point a few feet in front of the two, the elements combining.

The end result was something bigger than what the two separate combined should have made, a great speeding mass of razor sharp ice combined with roaring whitecap covered water. It was something which Matsu had suggested earlier. When two Sekirei were winged to the same Ashikabi, than they were unconsciously synchronized to each other to a certain extent. Normally, combining an attack like this would take too much precision for two independent Sekirei, but with the aid of the Ashikabi, a joint attack was indeed possible.

Even as the enormous serpentine assault closed, rather than dismay, Karasuba just seemed to grow more excited. At the last moment, when the dragon shaped maw should have closed down on the Black Sekirei, Karasuba instead struck, slicing deeply into the attack with her nodachi. Somehow, again seemingly impossibly, the slim length of steel in her grip managed to not stop, but rather cut directly through the combined might of two of the strongest Sekirei in the Plan.

Okay, I thought to myself as I forced myself to my feet, gritting my teeth to keep from crying out as my ruined knee made its protest known at the movement. This is just unfair!

The others had mentioned that Karasuba was possibly the most dangerous Sekirei in the Plan, some of my flock even going so far as to informing me that I should have winged her just to keep us from having to fight her later on. I had dismissed their concern, not because I had been underestimating Karasuba's power, but because I had thought it would be wrong to take a Sekirei by force.

I was not regretting that decision. Nope. Definitely not. No matter how much my leg hurt, I was absolutely not going to regret that decision.

"Shirou," Tsukiumi shouted, and the water user landed beside me in a flurry, having leapt to my side probably the instant she had finished her attack without even checking on its effectiveness. "Are you alright?" she asked me, a thumb hovering near her lips as she seemed about to start gnawing at her nail again. Her concern over me was obvious, and I could actually make out a shiver of fear going through her as she seemed to waffle between holding an appropriate distance and checking me physically for wounds.

"I'm fine," I told her, lying through my teeth as I did so. I was most certainly not anything near fine right now. I had a bleeding hole in my stomach, had lost just about all mobility in one of my legs, and still only had one of my blades. More than that, the final spray of water and chipped ice was finally settling around Karasuba, the Black Sekirei's maniacal grin proof that she was most likely having fun rather than being pressed by the attempted assault.

I don't know what had gotten into the number zero four, but if she kept up in this vein, than not only were my plans going to be threatened, but I could very well end up dead, here and now, bleeding out in the snow just like Toyotama and Ichiya were. I had to find some way to get Karasuba to stop, to force her to back off, and judging from the way she was already turning to face me, I had to find it fast.

I just wouldn't be able to survive another attack like I had just repelled.

Well, if I couldn't survive the battle, I would just have to avert it.

With that thought in mind, I brought Bakuya up. Karasuba's eyes widened as she took the move as me preparing to rejoin the battle, but then they narrowed as I continued to raise the blade until it was resting on my own throat.

"Shirou!" Tsukiumi hissed, jerking backwards at my unexpected response, "what are you doing?"

I ignored her, instead locking eyes with the still Karasuba. For a moment the developing tableau held, and then Karasuba sighed, her smile receding into something a little less blood thirsty, but still showing more teeth than I was comfortable with.

"And just what do you think you're doing?" she asked me, her tone friendly and conversational, as though she hadn't just done her absolute level best to slaughter me where I stood. "Do you really expect me to be stopped by something like that?"

"Honestly? No," I replied frankly. Karasuba's grin remained, though she cocked her head to the side, silently encouraging me to continue. "Seems a shame though," I continued, my tone conversational as though I hadn't been affected in the least by what had just happened. It was taking more self-control than I was comfortable with to maintain that tone, what with the agony in my leg. "With what would happen to number eighty eight, and all."

It actually took a moment for Karasuba to understand what I was saying, but once it did it looked like it came as a surprise to her, the Black Sekirei actually blinking as she seemed to realize something that she had previously forgotten.

After all, I was the Ashikabi of Musubi. The same Musubi that was apparently one of Karasuba's friend, maybe even her only one, the Musubi that Karasuba had a promise with that was so important that the Black Sekirei would even pass up on being winged to an Ashikabi that she was reacting to so that she could fulfill that promise.

The same Ashikabi she had nearly killed only a second ago, and was even now holding her dear friend hostage at the cost of his own life.

"Ahaha," Karasuba finally laughed, her smile fading again into that much more accustomed grin, her eyes narrowing until they crinkled in a friendly fashion at their corners. "Good point, Shiroi-kun," she noted, sounding for all the world like she was just commending an acquaintance for reminding her that she had forgotten a phone or something. One eye opened a bit more, giving me a level look as she continued. "It seems I'll have to put this on hold until after I take care of that little matter."

"That's good," I nodded, giving her a polite smile of my own. "It would be a shame to have to terminate you before you got the chance."

"Oh?" Karasuba's eyebrow rose, amusement obvious in her voice. "Was that how you saw this fight going?" She seemed a bit skeptical at my prediction of the battle's conclusion, and her sword shifted, as though she were going to raise it once more to a ready position.

In response, I took Bakuya from my throat, confident that whatever had gotten into the Black Sekirei it had at least been pulled back enough that she wouldn't be attacking me at any second. "Oh yes," I nodded, raising the sword to point above and behind her. "That's exactly how I see this going at the moment."

Eyebrow still raised, Karasuba turned to follow my blade to where it was pointing, and I was treated to the sight of Karasuba actually blinking in surprise again.

"Hi, Crow-chan!" Kazehana called cheerfully, from where she was wrapping her arms around a suddenly surprised Natsuo. At her shout, both Benitsubasa and Haihane flinched, the Red Sekirei whirling about to find that while she had been to wrapped up in staring at the fight that had erupted between Karasuba and I a new strange Sekirei had gotten within arm's reach of her Ashikabi. "I hear you've been doing well!"

"Who the hell are you!" Benitsubasa screamed, starting to take a threatening step forward, before Kazehana took a step back herself, dragging a now very uncomfortable looking Natsuo with her. The Red Sekirei froze, only then realizing the danger that had appeared to her Ashikabi.

"You get away… from him…" Haihane also realized the situation, and though the Blue Sekirei didn't make any sudden moves, it looked like it was taking a lot of self-control to keep herself from reacting.

"Oh?" Karasuba was the only one of the Disciplinary Squad who seemed unconcerned, simply raising a hand to her eyes as though to shield her gaze. "Is that you, Kazehana?" she asked casually. "I heard you were still out on a quest to drink all the sake in the world."

"Oh, I was," the Wind Sekirei called back, waving one hand idly at her former coworker. "But then I met the most amazing man and settled down!" Despite her casually cheerful tone, at no point did Kazehana let Natsuo out of her grip. "I see you've met him already!" With those words, one hand came up to delicately rest on Natsuo's chin.

Karasuba appeared unaffected by the action, even as both Benitsubasa and Haihane both stiffened at the casual treatment of their Ashikabi, but when she turned back I knew that the Black Sekirei had gotten the message.

Kazehana, for all her innocent debauchedness, and casual drinking, had been right alongside the Black Sekirei when the two were carving their legend on the bodies of entire armies. The number zero three had killed before, and back then she had been doing it just because she had needed to protect the rest of her species. Now though, now Kazehana had an Ashikabi, and for a Sekirei there was nothing they wouldn't do for their Ashikabi.

With a sigh, Karasuba gave an exaggerated shrug, turning back to me with an innocent smile. "Alright, I guess we'll have to do this some other time, Shiroi-chan," she surrendered easily, and despite the very real danger to her Ashikabi and by extension herself, the Black Sekirei appeared completely unaffected by the threat. When a moment later her eyes cracked a bit, locking onto mine with sly amusement, I think that she was actually enjoying the situation in some way.

"Now just wait a second!" Benitsubasa shouted, stomping angrily as she quivered in impotent fury, unable to even make a move to help her Ashikabi due to Kazehana's proximity to him. "Just who are all these Sekirei? Where are they coming from?" Shaking with rage, she turned level a murderous glare at me. "And you… don't think I'll forget this! Breaking the rules like this…"

"Oh?" I cocked my head to the side, unaffected by the very real threat. "The rules were that I could bring three with me in the first place, weren't they?" I nodded my head from Akitsu to Tsukiumi, and then at Kazehana, indicating that I had indeed brought only the specified amount. "And as for breaking any other rules," my tone turned amused as I put my hands on my hip, Bakuya and the bloodied spear being directed akimbo as I did so, "who do you think broke them first?"

"Whoops?" Karasuba laughed lightly, holding her hands up innocently.

"Karasuba-san," this time it was Natsuo's turn to speak up, and he leveled a stern look at his Sekirei. He paused, turning to give a surprisingly serious looking glare at Kazehana for a second, before continuing to address his Sekirei in a carefree tone. "You know you weren't supposed to interfere."

"Ah, that's my fault," the Black Sekirei admitted easily. "You see, I was watching from above, and after having such a wonderful show put on in front of me, I just got so excited I couldn't resist joining in. And, well, I'm a bit clumsy," she shrugged, sounding as though she was confiding a secret to the rest of us. "I generally have trouble avoiding attacks from below, so when I attack from above I just can't hold myself back and usually end up carelessly slaughtering them." She said something so bloodthirsty so casually, that it only made the meaning behind her words that much more chilling. And when she turned to give me another sly look, I knew she was being serious. "Well, that's usually what happens. Someone surviving like this…" Her grin flashed bloodthirsty once more. "It's kind of exciting, actually."

Despite the words not being aimed at them, both Haihane and Benitsubasa seemed unable to suppress a shudder at their more experienced partner's words. Actually, if it wasn't for the blinding pain in my knee consuming most of my attention, I might have done the same.

"Karasuba-san," Natsuo at least seemed unaffected as he sighed, leaning forward to put his head in his palm before he once more paused, giving Kazehana another fierce look for some reason. The Wind Sekirei caught the look this time, and merely smiled at him, not letting him go despite the antipathy. The head of the Disciplinary Squad seemed like he was about to continue when for the third time this match his phone rang once more. The clerk gave his pocket a bemused look, beginning to reach for it before he turned yet again to glare at Kazehana.

"Excuse me," he said firmly, not sounding at all carefree or cheerful at that moment. Kazehana continued to grin innocently at him, no doubt expecting him to say something about letting him go, but then she blinked in surprise as he continued. "But could you stop touching me with those?" he emphasized the word 'those' with immense scorn as he gave her breasts a pointed look.

"Oh?" Kazehana glanced down too, taking in the sight of her own chest with surprise. "What's wrong with these? Don't you like big breasts, Pretty-Boy-kun?" she taunted the other Ashikabi, no doubt expecting the usual reaction to her teasing.

"No," Natsuo confirmed bluntly. "Since they're usually attached to women, I don't enjoy them at all." He honestly seemed more offended at the close proximity to such a luscious figure then he did at being so obviously held hostage as he pulled his phone free, opening it so he could hold it to his ear.

"Oh?" Kazehana seemed surprised by the confession, before her eyes widened in understanding. With a sly grin, her eyes tracked to the chests Benitsubasa, and then to Karasuba herself. "So that's why you winged so many pancakes?"

"I am not a pancake!" Benitsubasa screeched, hands instinctively coming up to protect her chest from further leering. Karasuba on the other hand just smiled, either honestly not being affected by the dig or just a lot better at hiding it than the younger Sekirei.

Haihane, despite the tense standoff, actually snorted, one hand coming up to cover her mouth as her body again shook with suppressed laughter. "… pancake," she repeated, and Benitsubasa flushed even brighter as even her teammate got in on the teasing.

"Yes?" Natsuo answered the phone, once more slipping back into his carefree persona. "Ah, Director! Why yes, we are having fun. A little too much perhaps," the Ashikabi somehow managed to make the look he directed at Karasuba both scolding and yet still friendly. The Black Sekirei just smiled back with crinkled eyes. "Oh?" Natsuo's attention turned back to his conversation, and he listened for a moment more, before nodding. "Alright then."

Still not seeming at all concerned about his predicament, Natsuo promptly hung up his phone, turning slightly to address me directly. "Well, it seems that since Karasuba decided to interfere, it looks like we've officially been ordered to surrender! It looks like this is your win then, Emiya-san!"

"What?" It was Benitsubasa again who expressed her astonishment at this somewhat unexpected turn of events, her voice still remaining annoyingly high pitched as she did so. I didn't see what she was so surprised about actually.

A retreat at this point was the absolute best option for the Disciplinary Squad. They had effectively been neutralized with Kazehana's capturing of their Ashikabi. In fact, there was a very real danger that MBI was about to lose their most prominent and important personnel, their only real match for the rest of the powerful creatures they had released into the city already. Making a public offer to withdraw and allow me victory was most likely MBI's only option for trying to preserve their most powerful asset, Karasuba.

The question was, would I accept it?

I knew that MBI would need the Disciplinary Squad at some point in the future. Once I was gone with the Jinki, the plan would no doubt be stalled. That would leave a lot of Sekirei hanging around idle in a relatively small space. They would need a force capable of actually controlling the rest of the species, especially if some of the other Ashikabi began to get ideas about how to use their super powered mates in less than reputable ways. Not having the Disciplinary Squad around would possibly cost a lot of people lives.

However, that didn't change the fact that this might be the best, maybe the only chance, I would ever have to completely remove Karasuba as a threat. The Black Sekirei would almost certainly be tasked with finding and returning the Jinki at some point in the future, and given what I'd seen here any future chance of battle with her was risky. There was no guarantee that the next time we fought I would be so lucky.

For a moment I hesitated, and judging from the knowing glance MBI's dog sent me she had already deduced my train of thought. Her smile remained unaffected, the chance of being slain so casually not even enough to get her to change her expression. Just like Toyotama and Ichiya, this was someone who truly had given themselves up to battle and bloodshed, someone who had accepted the universal truth that those who live by the sword will always die by the sword.

This was not someone who would ever regret her way of life. And strangely enough, that was the reason that prompted me to glance up at Kazehana, and nod at her to release Natsuo.

I think that someday Karasuba would have to die. And I think when it finally happens it will be at an enormous cost. But for now, her reputation and power was just too important to the safety of her species to remove her from this world. It was better that the rest of the Sekirei have someone like her to protect them, so that they wouldn't have to walk the same path that she did.

Well, that and the fact that I really wanted to just hurry this up and get out of here. My stomach might as well be on fire right now, the normal sort of pain for having been run through, but my knee made even impalement seem pleasant right now. I had been cut and pierced many times in the past, and I've even been crushed in places on occasion, but I think this was the first time I ever had a joint in particular so thoroughly maimed. I was finding this whole new kind of pain to be a bit more distracting than normal.

"Well, looks like you get your wish, Pretty-Boy-kun," Kazehana told the once more imperturbable Natsuo as she released him. The moment the Wind Sekirei was no longer in striking distance of her Ashikabi it came as no surprise that the Red Sekirei charged my Sekirei with a war cry. It also came as no surprise that Kazehana had to do nothing more than gesture and a gust of wind both forced her attacker and herself apart, the Wind Sekirei summersaulting easily through the air like a leaf being tossed by a playful breeze before she landed nearby me. Kazehana mimed blowing a kiss at the still furious Benitsubasa. With a twirl, the number zero three gave zero four a playful glance. "You should get that looked at, Crow-chan!" Kazehana continued to talk to Karasuba as though the two of them were old friends. Which, I suppose, they actually kind of were. "A girl's face is her treasure, after all!"

"A girl's face?" Karasuba repeated, sounding pleasantly curious as she gave Kazehana a curious look. Idly, she reached up to brush a bit of her hair back, letting her fingers trace slightly across her cheeks as she did so. "What do you mean by…"

I wasn't certain why the walking genocide trailed off for a moment, her eyes widening, but when she pulled her hand in front of her eyes to find them spotted with her own blood I realized the reason for her confusion.

"This is your first time being wounded, isn't it?" I asked, once more disturbed by just how alike Miya and Karasuba could be at times. Their smiles, their light hearted teasing, their unreal fighting abilities, and now this: their previous flawless battle histories.

Karasuba didn't answer me with words, too busy taking in the realization that she had actually been injured, and then her expression changed in a way that set both me and all my Sekirei, even the so far playful Kazehana, on edge. It wasn't rage on the Black Sekirei's face, but rather an absolute euphoria, the kind you'd expect to see on a little girl who had just been given a dozen ponies, a whole new wardrobe, and a hundred dolls. It only lasted for a moment, and then Karasuba's eyes locked onto mine, and her grin was once more the kind you'd expect on only the most sadistic of killers right before they drove a knife home. With a healthy dose of fear, I realized the analogy might be proven too accurate as the Black Sekirei began to lift her blade, shifting to take a step forward, and I tensed myself, getting ready to fight for my life…

"Karasuba!" Natsuo's voice once more had taken a sharp edge to it, and it was enough for both the Black Sekirei and I to pause. The head of the Disciplinary Squad was setting an unusually stern glare on his wayward Sekirei. It looked like he at least knew her well enough to know when she was about to go on a killing spree without orders. "We have to be leaving now."

Both Benitsubasa and Haihane were already doing just that, though the process seemed to involve a slouched Blue Sekirei physically lifting a struggling Red Sekirei by the back of her shirt as the clawed Sekirei continued to drag her partner behind her. The two had chosen to head further up the stairs they had been perched on the entire battle, making their way towards the overpass that would lead them over a nearby highway. Natsuo was only a few steps behind them, but had apparently paused to check on his final Sekirei right before she had nearly been driven over the edge again.

Karasuba glanced at her Ashikabi, before her eyes once more shifted back to me. I could see the struggle in her eyes, the grimace on her lips as she seemed to weigh the consequences of disregarding her Ashikabi's orders, of ignoring MBI's intent and my Sekirei who were already shifting to put themselves between her and I and just charging forward to finish what she had started with me. I was still tensed for just that, not trusting the thing in front of me to have enough restraint to pull back after what appeared to be an irresistible provocation to her. If she charged than there would be no way for me to fight her besides with Magecraft. With my knee ruined I simply didn't have the mobility to fight her conventionally. I would have to resort to my swords, most likely some Noble Phantasms at that, in order to just live through her initial strike.

Then, like a cloud passing over the moon, the moment passed. The Black Sekirei relaxed, her smile settling back and her eyes crinkling.

"Very exciting," Karasuba corrected her initial assessment of my capabilities, and I felt the tension leave the group. Natsuo seemed to feel it too, and he favored me with one more beaming smile before he turned to follow his other two Sekirei. Karasuba also began to turn, and then paused, giving me a searching look.

Just like before, it took me a moment before I could figure out what was causing her to hesitate. It wasn't until I realized just where her eyes had settled that I understood what she was waiting for.

"You can't be serious," I deadpanned, and her eyes lifted to mine again, her smile widening. Even as she began to open her mouth, I interrupted her, knowing exactly what she was about to do. "Oh just take it," I snapped, flinging the broken lance that had tasted the blood of three people today at her. I aimed it like a thrown weapon, the shortened spear flying towards her heart, and just as casually as I had thrown it Karasuba caught it.

If I hadn't done it now, she would have just called me by the wrong name again until I did anyway.

"Why thank you, Shiroi-chan," the Black Sekirei told me with an amused tone of voice. She idly brought the very tip of it up to before her eyes, as though she would somehow be able to tell just which crimson stain belonged to which individual that had been stabbed with it today. She seemed immensely satisfied by my latest tool for attempted murder.

"You can even add it to your shrine," I told her back dryly, and her expression shifted a bit, drawing down in mild annoyance. Actually, the response to my little jab at her unusual collection would have been called a 'pout' on just about anyone else, but the idea of Karasuba pouting was just as unbelievable as that of Miya eeping. The day had already had enough twists in it for my tastes, so I decided to ignore that particular train of thought.

"That Benitsubasa," Karasuba murmured, apparently annoyed at the loose lips of her teammate, before she gave me one last beatific smile. "Well, I guess this is goodbye for now. Don't worry though. Next time, I'll be sure to take your head to use as the centerpiece of my so called shrine."

I had very little doubt that she was being absolutely serious with that promise.

"See you soon, Shiroi-chan," and with that Karasuba bade me farewell, turning and disappearing into the arctic scene, drawn sword at her side as she waved idly above her head with her newest prize.

"Ashikabi-sama," Akitsu murmured, and I pulled my eyes away from the disappearing genocide to find the snow woman once more behind me in her usual position. She too was staring after the vanishing Karasuba, her gaze intent and her frame tense as the Sekirei that very nearly killed me walked away as though she hadn't a care in the world. I knew Akitsu well enough to understand what she was implying with her single word though.

"No, Akitsu," I told her. "We still need her alive for now." Akitsu nodded, and though she relaxed slightly she never took her eyes away from where Karasuba had vanished.

"Shirou," this time it was Tsukiumi who interrupted, and I gave the Water Sekirei a brief look. The nervous blonde was still hovering on the edge of chewing on her thumbs, and seemed caught between reaching out to either support me or try to tend my wounds. "We need to get you to a hospital!"

"Why?" I asked, doing my absolute best to appear nonchalant, even though at the moment the thought of a hospital brought to mind thoughts of pain killers. Yeah, some of those would be nice right about now. "I only go to those for serious injuries."

"You have a hole in your stomach," Tsukiumi reminded me flatly, giving me an unusually deadpan look which oddly reminded me of Matsu for a moment. "How does that not qualify as serious?"

"It isn't through any of the important organs," I told her, also deadpanning. I would be able to focus more on my injuries later, when I wasn't still having my every move broadcasted to all the participants of the Sekirei Plan. For now, I just needed to maintain an air of strength. I absolutely could not falter now.

That meant I just needed to collect my prize and walk coolly into the sunset, and then I could start thinking about finding someplace quiet and dark to lay down in.

"You know," Kazehana murmured, sounding contemplative. "I think that might have been the first time I ever saw Karasuba flirt."

"That was flirting?" Tsukiumi snapped, turning to give Kazehana an incredulous look. "She tried to kill my husband!"

"Definitely flirting," the wind Sekirei confirmed, nodding her head.

"Yeah," I also agreed, causing Tsukiumi to give me a surprised look. Even Akitsu stirred restlessly as I agreed with the unbelievable statement. "It's not the most extreme case I've ever seen, but that was definitely too playful to be a real fight."

If Karasuba had been serious about trying to kill me, then the best chance to do it would have been right after the first strike, the one I only barely managed to stop. If she had struck again quicker, and with the speed she no doubt had she could have launched a dozen blows in the time she had held me pinned before I countered, then I would either be in far worse condition now, or have been forced to reveal my magecraft in order to survive.

Still, the nearness of my life and death encounter could wait for the moment. Now, the only thing I wanted to do was collect my prize and then retreat to lick my wounds.

Speaking of prizes…

It seemed that with the withdraw of the Disciplinary Squad, the Third Match was officially over. As though to confirm the end, fireworks were beginning to go off again. Amidst the loud booms of the detonating rockets, the sound of a helicopter approaching became evident. At first, the noise caused me to tense slightly. I was still standing amidst the corpses of two Sekirei, and I briefly worried that the retrieval squads were going to be coming for them.

I did not want to be here when the cleanup began. I had given MBI plenty of reasons to want to ask me questions, and I didn't want to answer them at the moment. I wanted to leave them guessing for a while.

However I relaxed slightly when I finally caught sight of the approaching aircraft. It wasn't one of those the fancier military crafts. Instead it was just a normal looking helicopter.

And dangling from the craft on a flapping rope ladder, clutching a Jinki in one outstretched hand, was none other than Hiroto Minaka.

"Winner: Shirou Emiya!" the Director of MBI declared, his voice magnified as it emitted from several of the nearby loudspeakers. The madman responsible for the Sekirei Plan sounded almost jovial as he made his dramatic entrance. "So sorry that we had to withdraw one of the teams early for disciplinary reasons. Come here and claim your prize!"

For a moment, I honestly couldn't believe that the man had actually appeared before me. He had to know that his actions had probably pissed off a lot of powerful creatures. To walk around, or fly around in this case, unprotected when so many had a grudge against him seemed ludicrous. I actually entertained the idea of following through on Homura's favorite plan, and just killing the man now. It might even work, after all.

And then, as though in response to my grim musing, the rope ladder the Director was hanging from snapped.

"Huh?" Minaka sounded confused, before he plummeted to the ground, ladder flailing behind him before he landed with a resounding crash.

"Hahaha!" despite what should have been a fatal impact, the Director's voice continued cheerfully. It took me a second to locate the body, obscured briefly by dust and snow where it had fallen. I would have liked to get closer, but at the moment my leg was in too much pain for me to move casually. When I finally managed to see the crash zone, it was to find that what I had thought was Minaka was in fact nothing more than some sort of animated mannequin of some sort.

Alright, using a body double made sense for someone in his position. Maybe he wasn't a complete idiot.

"Did I scare you?" Minaka continued, the sound coming as much from the doll's head as it did the loudspeakers around me. For some reason, the head was actually attached to a giant spring which was bouncing lightly. "It was just a little joke! A bit of extra amusement!"

I kept my face stony, not showing any reaction to the poor taste of the gag. Beside me, Akitsu hesitated for a moment, before slowly beginning to clap at the absurd prop humor. Beside her, Tsukiumi gave the snow woman a brief annoyed glare and elbowed her sharply in the side to get her to stop.

"Tough crowd," Minaka noted, before apparently brushing off the lack of response. "Now, for the winner!" A panel on the doll's chest popped open, and again revealed a Jinki. A quick glance confirmed that the one the doll had been holding originally had shattered, nothing more than a prop for the ridiculous prank. The one in the chest panel though was real. I had a moment of looking at it, but managed to glance away when I felt myself beginning to descend into my usual fit of constrained madness at the sight of the strange artifact. "Here! The winner may take his prize!"

"Kazehana," I gave the wind Sekirei a brief look as I gave her a nod. She nodded once at my abbreviated order, smirking as she approached the doll. With a flirtatious glance back at me, the smirking bottle fairy took the Jinki and gave me a smoldering look as she slowly slipped it between her breasts in a sensuous movement no doubt meant to tease.

I couldn't help but find it ridiculous that not only was she using her cleavage as an impromptu 'Jinki vault' but that the 'vault' was actually large enough to completely conceal the alien artifact from view. The fact that two objects capable of reducing me to a stuttering idiot were in such close contact just made me a little uncomfortable.

"It would have been more dramatic if the Ashikabi was the one to pick it up," Minaka's doll couldn't change expression, but the voice definitely sounded petulant as I failed to play along with the man's sense of theater. I remained stone faced and silent, partly to conceal my injuries and partly because I had nothing to say to the man who had caused so much pain on an apparent whim. As though sensing my distaste, Minaka cleared his throat briefly before continuing in a slightly more serious tone.

"The Jinki," Minaka went on, no longer sounding like he was trying to grandstand. "Or, 'the weapon of the gods', if all of them are gathered, the Age of the Gods will be restored." I felt my jaw clench. That could have just been more attempts at drama, but given everything I knew of the Jinki it came across more as ominous. Did Minaka know just how dangerous those things were? If he did, then just what was he planning to do with them? "The power of the gods," he continued, "if you were to obtain such power, Shirou Emiya, when such a time comes what would you, what would all of you do with it?"

It seemed like even though I was the only one present, Minaka was addressing the viewers as well. Still, I already had my response to his question.

"I've told you before," I finally spoke to the Director, my voice cool. "The Age of Gods is over, and mankind is better off without them."

"Hey!" Minaka protested, again sounding upset over my insistence that humanity was better off without the divine. "That's…"

"Akitsu," I interrupted the director, giving my Sekirei a glance. "Destroy that thing."

With no warning, just like with Karasuba, a dozen daggers of ice erupted to pierce the doll puncturing the mannequin in a number of places that would be lethal on a normal human.

"Understood, Ashikabi-sama," Akitsu murmured a moment after the deed was done.

"Aw," the voice that came from the doll's head started to fade. "I didn't even get to use my self-destruct function!" With a final whine accompanied by a few sparks, the machine finally died completely.

"Time to go," I announced, turning to leave the battlefield. I gave the frosted world around us one final look, wondering if I should maybe have Akitsu do something about it, or if she even could at this point. "Akitsu, would you take this down?"

The snow woman nodded again, and even as I lead the three Sekirei away from the killing field she raised one hand up to slowly snap it.

"Break," she ordered, and the icy castle we were leaving behind began to shatter around us, accompanying our exit with showers of lethal shards of ice that missed all four of us by a generous distance.

Well, I guess Minaka got a bit of drama out of me after all. It was one hell of an impressive way to leave.

*Scene Break*

We'd been walking in silence for nearly five minutes before my phone began to ring. Each step was a new shard of agony on my destroyed knee, but I resolutely gave no indication of my pain. I must have appeared particularly unapproachable because of it since none of my accompanying Sekirei seemed willing to speak up before me.

I tried to juggle Kanshou and Bakuya in my hands for a moment so that I could reach my phone, before remembering Akitsu's strange fetish. "Akit…" I began turning to the snow woman only to find her obediently standing nearby, an expectant look on her face. "Right," I nodded, and handed over the blood stained blades. With a slightly proud look she accepted them, paying no mind to the way the drying blood stained the front of her kimono and a bit of her exposed cleavage as well.

Was holding my swords really that satisfying? I wondered to myself as I fished out my phone. A quick glance at the front revealed the number calling me, and I gave a relieved sigh. Flipping open my phone, I prepared to speak only to be interrupted instantly.

"Shirou-tan!" Matsu snapped, sounding worried and nervous. "Are you okay? Your stomach, is it going to be alright?"

"My stomach is fine," I reassured her, voice still tense from the effort of not displaying my pain. "Are we off camera yet?"

"What?" Matsu repeated, sounding a little unsure of my question.

"I said, 'are we off camera yet?'" I repeated, still tense.

"Well, yeah," Matsu began, and I cut her off once more.

"Oh thank god," I gasped, and finally let myself react to my leg. With a grimace, I hopped, trying to get weight off of it and nearly stumbling. "Finally!"

"Shirou!" Tsukiumi gasped, and appeared beside me instantly. I managed to get one arm around her shoulder, and she wrapped one around my waist gingerly. She made an effort to avoid my stomach wound. "I knew that it was worse than it looked," the declared grimly, her lips pressed firm in worry.

"My stomach is fine," I reassured her with a grimace, thankful for the support. "Any swordsman worth their salt knows how to stab themselves there. It's my freaking knee!"

"You're knee?" Matsu repeated, sounding confused, only to be interrupted.

"Oh my," it was Miya's voice this time, sounding somewhat contemplative. "I'm afraid I don't know how to stab myself. It appears to be a very foolish thing to do. Does that not make me a proper swordswoman?"

Despite the light hearted nature of her words, it sounded like the landlady's voice had a note of rebuke in it, as though to chide me for doing something which she thought to be very foolish indeed.

"It's easy," I told her, still grimacing. "Instead of hitting all the important bits you usually aim at, you miss them instead." Then I paused, realizing that she had spoken at all. "Wait, are we on speaker phone or something?" I asked, confused.

"Just miss the important parts," Miya repeated, and I had the impression that she was shaking her head in either amusement or consternation. "Why did I not think of that? Perhaps it's because I focus too much on not being injured in the first place."

"Enough, Miya-tan," Matsu re-interrupted, sounding annoyed with the other alien for delaying her attempt at checking on her Ashikabi. "Yeah, we're on speaker," she continued, and then was cut off again.

"Shirou-sama!" Musubi sounded exuberant, and I heard a quick scuffle before her voice sounded even louder. "That was amazing! You and Karasuba-sama were so cool!" It looked like the battle maniac side of the shrine girl was firmly in effect at the moment. "The way you… and then you… and then… squeee!"

Distantly, in the background, I thought I heard Kuu-chan squee-ing as well. It was interrupted by yet another scuffle noise, and then Matsu was back on the line again.

"Just hold it down! Shirou-tan, what about your knee?"

"That crazy girl broke it earlier," I muttered, still grimacing at the discomfort in my leg. "That blood thirsty alien tart destroyed it when she jumped me. I take back everything good I ever said about her."

"You mean Karasuba?" Matsu asked, sounding like she needed clarification.

"At last, Emiya-kun starts to speak sense," I heard Miya in the background once more, sounding like she was enjoying my bad mouthing of Karasuba immensely.

"How bad is it, Lover-kun?" Kazehana at least seemed able to focus without a peanut gallery behind her to distract her and picked up where Matsu had left off. The wind Sekirei seemed cautious as she knelt near me, reaching out to tenderly brush against the leg I was favoring. I winced in response, trying to pull back and putting more weight on the increasingly anxious Tsukiumi.

"I don't have a joint anymore," I told her bluntly. "I have a bloody pancake where it should be."

"Will you be alright, Shirou-tan?" Matsu seemed to have once more regained control of the phone, and she sounded concerned at the update on my injury.

"As long as I can have a good night to rest, I should be fine in the morning," I informed her, hand coming down to trace the wound in my stomach lightly. As the first wound I received, it looked like it was already receiving Avalon's attention. It was definitely smaller than it should be. I could only hope that I had somehow managed to avoid getting any blood in the wound. That could cause an infection which would tie up the scabbard even longer before it could get to my knee.

It was about then that I realized just how much blood was covering me. When Toyotoma had fallen apparently I had gotten showered with more of the stuff than I had realized at the time. Glancing down, I realized that was probably the reason no one had realized just how badly my leg was injured. Wet blood was still staining the leg of my pants, and my own blood was probably concealed by it.

I guess I should be thankful for small coincidences like that.

Matsu was silent for a moment, probably taking in my projected time frame for recovery for calculations, before she spoke again. I could still hear Musubi and Kuu-chan in the background, the two of them still making excited noises after having witnessed my fight. I was a little surprised by just how exuberantly Kuu was taking the battle. She always did love to watch Musubi and Miya spar, so I had known she like watching fights, but this seemed a little excessive for someone so young.

"The battle," Matsu finally spoke up. "How do you rate it, Shirou-tan?" The hacker seemed subdued again, and it looked like she was seeking my battle experience in order to judge how successful we had been in our goals.

"This was a complete victory," I told her firmly, and despite my pain I felt a smile growing.

"You break your knee and stab yourself and you claim complete victory?" Tsukiumi scowled at me, and the hand wrapped around my waist tightened firmly. "I would think not being injured would be necessary for such a claim!" she glowered at me.

"This battle wasn't about just winning, or even just getting the Jinki," I reminded her, before pausing. "Which we did," I added a second later, giving Kazehana's chest and what was concealed there a quick look. She smirked briefly at me, straightening her back to give me a better view of her 'Jinki vault' before I quickly looked away, fighting back a blush. Dangerous. "This battle was about reputation, and in that regard it went even better than I could have hoped."

"How did it go better than you hoped?" Matsu sounded different, and I think she might have taken off her glasses as she primed herself for some serious analysis.

"Every Ashikabi and Sekirei in the city just watched me take down two Sekirei on my own," I began my list. "They even saw me go so far as to impale myself in order to do it. Right now they're going back over the forums, reviewing every 'sword bearing Ashikabi' rumor, and convincing themselves that it has to be true now. There probably won't be an Ashikabi in the Plan that will risk coming to the North again, and most of them will probably run the moment they see me."

That alone would have made this match worthwhile. This nearly eliminated any chance of future random encounters, and the less conflict we engaged in the better. My flock was strong, yes, and so was I, but there was always a chance to lose no matter how much the odds seemed stacked in your favor. I had overcome ridiculous disadvantages in battle before in order to secure impossible seeming victories. And if I could do it, so could anyone else.

"More than that," I continued my triumphant grin growing. "They saw me get right back up afterwards and face down the Black Sekirei herself. I even managed to injure her without taking any apparent wounds. Then I deadlocked the Disciplinary Squad and forced them to back down publicly. I was just a rumor before, an exaggerated mythological danger to trade stories about, but now I'm a credible power with proof of my ability."

"And all it cost was a hole in your stomach and a 'pancake' for a knee," Miya pointed out, still sounding like she was chiding me. "And MBI most likely will not stand for this either."

"They don't know about the knee," I reminded her defensively. "They only know what happened on camera. And MBI might focus more attention on me personally, but they're going to have to be cautious. I've already shown that I could possibly be a credible threat to Karasuba, their trump card. If there was a chance that I could actually overcome her, then they'd be without their primary enforcer. They'll have to be cautious while engaging, like they are with the other Great Ashikabi. More than that, they saw what I did with Akitsu. They themselves declared her unwingable, and yet here she is." Akitsu seemed to straighten a bit at the praise. "They'll have to be even more cautious while they investigate. If I could do something impossible with the Sekirei they thought they knew better than anyone else in the world then just what else might I be able to do?"

"Perhaps," Miya allowed after a moment, sounding as though she was seriously considering the points I had made.

"The Third Jinki is just the icing on the cake at this point," I was feeling distinctly good about the way this whole fight had gone down, and I had to force myself to remain calm. As good as this match had gone, it was no reason to gloat. There were always things that could still go wrong. "Matsu, when I get back we're going to start preparing."

"For…?" Matsu began, before she paused. "I see," she finally concluded, resolute understanding creeping into her tone.

"And what shall you be preparing for now, Emiya-kun?" Miya sighed, sounding as though she was finding my planning to be getting ridiculous at this point. "An assault on MBI? Perhaps to conquer the world?"

"No," I shook my head, tone going grim. Beside me Tsukiumi gave me a sharp look at the change. "Preparing to leave."

Miya drew a breath, understanding what I was saying. "I thought you were planning on collecting five?" she finally ventured finally.

"Five would be best, but the longer this goes on the worst things could happen," I declared bluntly. "We'll take our time getting our resources together, hopefully collect a fourth before we're ready, but right now we have the absolute minimum Jinki. It's best to be ready to leave at any time at this point."

Three Jinki might not be enough to stop whatever MBI was planning, but there was a good chance it would be. Now was the time to be preparing for the worst and hoping for the best.

"So sudden," Miya murmured, and I found I couldn't quite read the tone of her voice. It looked like the Landlady was a little surprised at just how quickly I was moving along with my plan to derail the Sekirei Plan.

It was about this point that I realized that apparently not everyone was present. "Where's Homura?" I asked, realizing that I hadn't heard one comment about leaving before we killed Minaka. The fire user had been quite persistent in trying to get me to add assassination into my plans before we escaped Shin Tokyo.

"Oh," Matsu began, sounding vaguely amused by something. "She was watching the fight with the rest of us, but halfway through she started to get quite distraught." I could tell by the tone of her voice that she was keeping something back from me, but there was no way I could figure that out with my current resources.

"Distraught?" I repeated, prompting her to continue.

"Something about suicidal idiots," Miya also seemed amused. "And how the moment they get back they're going to be tied to their bed until they heal."

"But when Matsu asked if Homura-tan would be getting in the bed too, Homura-tan got a little shy," Matsu added the last little bit so innocently that I just knew that some part of the story was being edited. I sighed, shifting to keep my weight off my leg a little better.

"I wish you two would just leave her alone," I muttered, trying to be stern and ending up more resigned. "She's having a hard enough time of this as it is." It shouldn't surprise me that Miya and Matsu would be the primary instigators of a little friendly tormenting, but still, I thought that the landlady at least would have the grace to wait at least a week before she started in on the fire user. "How would you like it if something like that happened to you?"

"Fuhuhuhu!" Matsu began to cackle maliciously, and I realized that she probably wouldn't have any problem at all with a change like that. Homura's predicament would probably be treated a great deal differently if the lascivious witch were being subjected to it.

"After that horrible woman made herself known," Miya at least seemed willing to focus on the exposition rather than the supposition, though she still sounded amused, "Homura grew quite distraught indeed. I believe she's in the back right now, burning things. She seems to have a few things she wants to talk to you about later, Emiya-kun!"

Okay, see, that's what I meant when I said things could still go wrong. I winced, a little concerned about just what Homura had in store with me. She had been through a rather traumatic change recently, and if I was a lesser man I might make comments about hormones becoming involved. The thing is, hormones probably were involved, what with the sudden, unexpected, and entirely natural transgender experience.

It was while I was considering just what awaited me back at Izumo that my phone began to beep in my ear.

"What the…?" I began, pulling the phone away so I could glance at it. "It looks like I have another call," I noted, not recognizing the number that greeted me. "I'll call you back in a bit."

"Get back quick, Shirou-tan!" Matsu still seemed to be engaging in some perverted fantasies and was willing to put off any more conversation until I returned.

"Return safely, Emiya-kun," Miya added gracefully, and the line went dead a moment later. It took me a second's fumbling, but I managed to answer the phone before whoever was calling got bored and hung up. I had a few guesses about who was on the other line.

Stupid telemarketers. I thought I had told them to take me off their list.

"Look," I began impatiently, already knowing this song and dance. "I already said I'm not…"

"Minato Sahashi," the voice that came out from the line was a low, animalistic growl that slowly enunciated each syllable of my name, and I wasn't ashamed to admit it scared me. It scared me a lot.

"Ah," I swallowed, freezing as I did so. "Takami. Uh. How are you?"

Okay, maybe I had forgotten just who it was that might also be watching my performance tonight. In my defense, I really wasn't used to having family around that might be concerned by some of my more fool hardy stunts. Well, Rin and Saber tended to get upset, but it was always accompanied by a sort of resignation, as though they knew well just what sort of person I really was.

Takami on the other hand, well, I don't think she had any preparation for this kind of event.

"What the hell were you thinking?" Takami continued, still speaking in that slow growling way she had said my birth name. She must be pretty upset if she was ignoring my chosen name despite knowing how much I preferred it. "I thought I had seen some stupid freaking things in my life. The Sekirei Plan, for instance. Or Minaka in general. But stabbing yourself? That has to be the most idiotic example of suicidal lunacy I have ever witnessed in my life!"

I swallowed, not even having a moment to interject as she continued to rant at me with ever growing speed and volume. I was honestly at a loss for what to say anyway. I suppose I would have to try anyway though.

"Ah, Mother," I began, trying to calm the woman on the other line down.

"Shut up, Minato," she snapped at me, and I instantly obeyed. "Where the hell are you?" she demanded immediately afterwards, so angry that she didn't even seem to realize the contradictory nature of telling someone to be quiet then interrogating them afterwards. "We're on hand for the pickup, and we are going to have words about that too later, and you are coming with me so we can get you to a hospital immediately."

That brought me up short for entirely different reasons. Takami was the MBI agent in charge of retrieving terminations, so it made sense that she would be at the location of two fallen Sekirei. It would also make sense that she would want to take me in to get me looked at as well, considering the fact that I had a hole going all the way through my intestines at the moment.

The problem was, I didn't need medical attention, and if I went with Takami, they'd know that too. I could not think up any sort of way to explain Avalon's regenerative capabilities to curious doctors without potentially revealing information that would get me in trouble with the Mage Association.

"Ah, mom," I began, hesitantly trying to decline her offer of medical attention, but that was as far as I got before she interrupted me.

"Don't 'mom' me," she snapped, apparently angry enough that even using her title wasn't enough to settle her down like it did in the past. "I didn't ask for excuses, I told you to get back here right now, and if you don't I swear to god, I will prove that you're not too old for spankings before I strap you to a hospital bed and tell the nurses to use the extra-large catheter!"

Okay. Wow. Now that was a truly terrifying threat. I thought doctors were supposed to be gentle and understanding?

"Well, when you put it like that…" I began, trying to find a way out of this that wouldn't involve me incurring my mother's wrath. When none came to me immediately, I quite rightly panicked and decided to engage in the better part of valor. "I'll be right there…" I began, before interrupting myself with a loud yell. "Agh! Help! I'm being abducted by aliens!"

Then I hung up, and frantically hit the off button on my phone before Takami could call me back.

"Abducted by aliens?" Kazehana repeated, sounding entirely too amused by my desperate ploy. It was probably right up there with 'legacy of a misspent youth' when it came to inadequate, but hey, I was still a little fuzzy on adrenaline so I think I had a pretty good excuse.

"It's not untrue," I pointed out, nervously looking behind me as I did so, checking to see if maybe Takami and the MBI forces might be coming after me directly. "Now get me the hell out of here, and quick. If we can make it to Izumo House we'll be safe."

Somehow, I felt a little less certain about how successful the night had been at the moment.

*Scene Break*

"Oh my," Miya tsked, looking down at my knee with a disapproving expression. "This really is quite bad, isn't it, Emiya-kun?"

"I don't think Karasuba was joking when she said she didn't hold back when coming from above," I agreed, looking down at where Matsu had just finished cutting the leg off my pants so she could get to the knee injury.

Spurred on by the threat of imminent Takami, we had made good time getting back to Izumo House. Once there, and having gotten past the greetings of an exuberant Musubi and Kuu which had involved a tackle, weight on my bad leg, and manly whimpering, we had moved onto the final part of every fight: the strategy meeting slash tending of the wounded. Since I was the only one who had taken any damage on our side, that meant mostly giving my flock a chance to smother me with concern.

It was a strangely nice feeling, actually.

I had already had my shirt stripped off by a stern Tsukiumi nearly the moment we got back to the inn, and at some point Miya had put down some plastic that I was led too so I wouldn't drip blood all over the tatami mats. Kazehana had cheerfully volunteered to bandage the wound on my stomach, an offer which was challenged by a glaring Tsukiumi for a minute before Matsu slyly pointed out that I would need a sponge bath to get the blood of me first. The water Sekirei had seen the benefits of having that task pretty quickly and jumped on it fast, leading to the current situation of me having my pant leg removed while shirtless and having a blushing well-endowed female slowly dragging a damp cloth over me while surrounded by other similarly well-endowed females watching me closely and trying to help.

I have got to stop comparing my life to eroges. I think something out there was hearing me and taking me seriously.

"Onii-chan has a boo-boo," Kuu pointed out, eyes watering in sympathy as she watched her sisters treat her brother. The small Sekirei was doing her best not to look at the blood, but seemed determined to remain in the room despite the gruesome nature of my injuries. "Pain, pain, fly away!" she chanted, throwing her hands up in the air as she used the childish charm that parents commonly told their children after they skinned their knees or something similar. She gave me a shy look after. "Did it work, onii-chan?"

"Yes," I told her, smiling while suppressing a wince as Matsu began to gently probe my knee and send sharp lances of pain back through me again. It was just pain though, and I could ignore it. "Thank you, Kuu-chan." The girl beamed at me happily, before again turning so she didn't have to look at the blood.

"It's definitely broken," Matsu finally proclaimed, sighing as she adjusted her glasses and giving me a sideways look. "Are you sure you're alright, Shirou-tan?" The hacker seemed concerned, but also curious about how long it would take my unusual healing to deal with the injuries.

"My stomach is already healing well," I confirmed, reaching down to finger the ragged hole in my torso. It was already smaller than it should be, a good sign that it was being dealt with quickly. Avalon was probably delayed slightly when I had accidently smeared alien blood all over it. Mixing blood was generally a bad idea, like when giving a blood transfusion of the wrong type to someone could be fatal, and alien blood was probably even worse, but I saw no symptoms indicating a reaction.

"Stop that, Shirou," Tsukiumi snapped at me, pushing my hand away from the injury much like I had chastised Miya after her own injury. The water user was blushing, despite her tone, as she continued to gently scrub the dried blood off of me. "Let it heal on its own."

"It certainly is a fine strike," Miya noticed, taking a moment herself to lean over and inspect the wound. The landlady seemed interested in the placement of the injury. "It seems you managed to avoid harming any of your organs, save your intestines."

"Which doesn't really matter when compared to the fact that you freaking stabbed yourself," Homura growled. The fire user was perched near the reduced hole in the living room, arms folded as she glared at me with a look that could probably set me on fire if it got any hotter. She smelled of smoke, and not just in the metaphysical sense like she normally did. Despite the change in her gender, Homura still seemed to favor a white shirt and black pants, though the shirt had shorter tails than her old ones and was untucked. The top few buttons were undone, enough to reveal the gentle swell of her modest breasts, and I wasn't certain if this was a sign that she was getting more comfortable with her condition or if she just didn't realize she was doing it like when she first began her change.

I wasn't certain which the more comforting option was, but I also noticed that her white shirt was darkened a bit in spots from what appeared to be soot. It looked like she really had been out back relieving her frustration by burning things.

"It seemed like a good idea at the time," I muttered defensively. It looked like most of my flock was willing to shelve their concerns for the moment while I healed up, but I had the impression that once I was back on my feet there might be a few pointed words about it later on. Homura in particular didn't seem patient enough to wait until then, and the fire user continued to glare at me.

"Why the hell did you do something so stupid, Shirou?" Homura continued, scowling as she did so. She had her arms folded, and her fingers were digging into her arms as she clutched her biceps hard.

"It was amazing!" Musubi chimed in, bouncing excitedly where she sat nearby. The bear Sekirei seemed to be battling the urge to launch herself into another hug at me as she continued to indulge in her battle junky side.

"It was suicidal," Homura snapped at the shrine girl, and Musubi blinked, apparently only then realizing that not everyone shared her enthusiasm for the match. Homura's head shot back to face me, her glare only intensifying. "Why didn't you have Akitsu finish them off?" she growled, fingers tightening as she did so. She gave the snow woman a harsh look too at that, but didn't press her. Homura already knew that Akitsu would obey all my orders without question, and I had ordered her not to interfere.

Akitsu endured it without any sign of discomfort. Instead she continued to slowly fold my blood shirt. She had seemed so disappointed when I released my swords that I had let her take my top afterwards so she could have something to do. The shirt at this point was a lost cause, drenched in blood and with two ragged tears in it, but she seemed content to slowly fold it before hugging it to her chest. I think I saw her actually sniff it, but didn't double check to verify.

Some things were even too weird for me.

"I already said why it had to be me that fought the two," I reminded Homura, before suppressing a wince again as Matsu stole one of Tsukiumi's rags so the hacker could start wiping up my knee. The joint looked horrible, distended and bloody as though someone had taken a crowbar to it, and even the hacker's soft touch was painful.

"Don't give me any shit about needing to make an impression," Homura snapped at me, finally pushing off the wall she had been leaning against and starting to stalk towards me. "Reputation doesn't mean anything if you're dead, god damnit!" The sheer frustration she seemed to feeling made the room seem warmer, before I realized that might just be the literal case. I realized that a small haze has started to surround the fire Sekirei, a shimmer of heat that reminded me of the way Tsukiumi's hair would sometimes start floating.

I was silent for a moment, before nodding slowly. "You're right," I admitted, causing the fire user to pause. "Tactically speaking it was foolish to engage those two. If it had been any other two Sekirei, it would have been better for me to handle them both, but those two were dangerous. They had no respect for the rules of the Plan, and would have killed me without hesitation. It was dangerous to fight them."

It was the truth, really. If it had been any other Sekirei, one that actually would fight in a straight up manner, one on one, and would stop at the edge of death, then it would have been safer for me to engage. But Toyotama and Ichiya hadn't been like that.

"Then if even you know it was wrong, why the hell did you do it?" Homura demanded, exasperation making her tone even higher than it had become normally.

"Because I wouldn't have let any of you get near those two," I admitted bluntly. Homura paused, not having expected my direct answer. "Those two were exactly the kind of thing I've trained myself to deal with: vicious, cruel, violent, and completely devoid of mercy. I wouldn't have let any one of you fight them. They were too dangerous, too much a chance that they might win. It's better that someone like me deals with things like that."

It was the truth. My flock was still so innocent in some ways, still so used to civilized conflict, to rules and honor. What had happened tonight wasn't a duel, or a fight. It had been a battle, a slaughter, and in the end I was the one best suited for dealing with battle and slaughter. Homura seemed honestly surprised by something, and I realized that during my explanation I had slipped into battle mode, my face expressionless once more. The rest of the room seemed unsure of what to say to my declaration, even Miya seemingly at a loss for words.

"Besides," I added a second later, feeling a bit sheepish as I did so. "Our last fight was interrupted. I wanted to finish it." There was that too. Even if it was childish, it didn't feel right to just let things stand as they had between me and those two. Even if it was tactically better to have had Akitsu take the two down, it didn't change the fact that I wanted to finish our fight. Tsukiumi at least seemed to understand that particular reason, nodding briefly as she resumed wiping me down.

"Oh Emiya-kun," Miya shook her head, my confession apparently prompting amusement. "Young men and their pride in their blades."

For some reason, Miya's comment set me on edge, and for the life of me I couldn't figure out why.

"Because Shirou-tan is a magus," Matsu muttered, and though my explanation seemed to set some of the flock at ease, she seemed more pensive than before as she resumed treating my leg slowly. "No," she corrected herself. "Because Shirou-tan is a magus killer."

"Yeah," a new voice agreed with the hacker's pronouncement, "bro over there is hard core like that."

"Uzume?" I blinked, only then realizing that the Veiled Sekirei had entered the room. She was leaning against the doorframe much like Homura had been earlier, dressed in her usual jean and shirt combo. The ponytailed Sekirei was giving me a crooked grin, but her expression was a serious, bordering on grim even. I wondered for a moment just why she looked so upset, and then it struck me like a bolt.

"Hidaka-san saw the match, didn't she," I closed my eyes with a sigh. I had honestly forgotten about the newest addition to Izumo House. She had only been here for a day or so, after all, and she had spent much of it out and about. In the heat of combat, in the urgency of the match, I had forgotten that there were those out there who knew me but were unaware of the more violent aspects of my life. First Takami, but also Chiho, and…

Oh god. My sister had been watching, hadn't she?

I swallowed at that. For someone who was so obsessed with manga and anime, who looked to them a little too closely for guidance, just what conclusion would Yukari make after having seen the match?

I was suddenly not looking forward to tomorrow so much. It would be Saturday, and that meant that Yukari would be coming over for dinner.

"Oh yeah she saw the match," Uzume admitted, still smiling slightly, her expression relaxing slightly at something my statement must have reminded her of. "I saw it too. Not bad bro. Not bad at all. I met those two a couple times myself," her smile grew fiercer and wider. "Those bitches had it coming."

The venom in her tone reminded me of the encounter with Kochou, and again I found myself not really wanting to know what had happened between Uzume and Higa's forces.

"Uzume-chan," Miya frowned, glancing at Kuu. "Language!" Despite her chastisement, the landlady didn't bring out her Hanya mask like she normally would. I think that maybe she was a bit surprised by Uzume's malice as well, and most likely had reached the same conclusion I had about the veiled Sekirei having a well-earned grudge or two from her time being blackmailed.

"You look a little worried, Tomboy-kun," Kazehana pointed out, her voice coming from behind me unexpectedly. I started to give a glance behind me, only to pause as I felt two large warm objects squish against my back and hands wrap around me unexpectedly. I started to open my mouth to yelp, only to feel something else soft against my skin and realized that it was just the Wind Sekirei starting to wrap bandages around me. I guess she just couldn't resist a chance to flirt even while treating my wounds. She continued to address Uzume as she administered the treatment. "Shouldn't you be happier?"

Uzume hesitated for a moment, her smile slipping. Finally she sighed, raking her hand through her hair as she seemed to resign herself to something.

"Chiho and I are leaving," she announced, looking to the side as she did so. Behind me, Kazehana paused, her surprise evident as the rest of the Inn also reacted in shock.

"This is a bit sudden, Uzume-chan," Miya pointed out, blinking at the proclamation, a small frown forming as she heard the other Sekirei's resolve. "Is there any reason for it?"

"You could say that," Uzume muttered, giving me a quick look. Our eyes met, and I realized that Uzume seemed hesitantly ashamed, and then I understood.

"Because of me," I finished for her softly. Uzume flushed at my words, but gave a quick brief nod confirming them.

"Uzume," Tsukiumi snapped, turning a glare at the uncomfortable Sekirei in the doorway. "After everything that Shirou has done for you, would you really think so little of him as to…"

"Tsukiumi," I interrupted the water user as her tone started to rise in anger. She paused giving me a haughty look at having broken in on her chastisement. "It's alright," I told her. "I understand."

"Do you, bro?" Uzume asked, a hint of hope showing up in her expression. I gave her a rueful smile, nodding again. Still tending my knee, Matsu gave the two of us brief look, before nodding herself and returning to treating me without a word.

"After tonight, even if they're gonna hesitate to make a first move on me, MBI probably wouldn't have a problem moving on someone else," I reasoned. "If they think they might get something, they might try to take anyone close to me as leverage, or maybe just for interrogations. With Uzume and Hidaka-san living in the same house they'd make prime targets." Tsukiumi bit her lip, not liking what I was saying but listening anyway. "However, if they leave right now, than it will look like even if they might have been friends before, after seeing me kill two people they got nervous and ran."

"But Shirou," Tsukiumi began, sounding as though she understood my reasoning but didn't like it. "To behave in such a cowardly fashion…" she trailed off, her fierce pride evident as she found the idea of distancing herself from someone solely for the sake of appearances to be a contemptible act.

"Uzume has to look out for her Ashikabi," I reminded her, and behind me Kazehana resumed her bandaging at a slower pace, apparently in agreement with the importance of a Sekirei protecting their lover. "So she needs to distance her from me, at least in the eyes of the public. Besides," I continued slowly. "Pretty soon, we're going to leave, and when we do MBI is not going to take that laying down. If Uzume is associated with us at all then there's no way they won't use her to try and get the Jinki back."

"Are you certain?" Miya spoke up then, giving Uzume a contemplative look as the landlady studied the Veiled Sekirei carefully. "Hidaka-san might have recovered, but she is still very innocent. Regardless of what MBI does, I can assure you that there will be no violence in Izumo House."

"He-heh," Uzume seemed a bit more cheerful as I took her side on her sudden announcement. "Yeah, but I got an idea for a place where we can go." She seemed confident in whatever destination she had settled on for her and her Ashikabi. "And even it's not like we have to go forever. After bro here splits, we could always come back."

"Making it look like it was just my presence which drove you away," I concluded for her, nodding at her logic. "It would seem like you left just to avoid us, and the moment we're gone you came back." I found myself nodding at her idea. "It's a good plan," I concluded, smiling at her. The grin she gave back was relieved.

"Great!" she chirped, bouncing slightly on her feet before she paused, a sheepish expression appearing now. "So, bro, could you help me convince Chiho-chan to do it?" she asked rubbing the back of her head awkwardly. "I kinda haven't brought it up with her yet, and I think I might need a hand getting her to go along with it."

"Uzume-chan," Miya sighed at the confession, though she had an amused smile on at the tomboy's impertinent request.

"Bah," Kazehana snorted behind me, still pressing against me flirtatiously. "It's alright, Uzume-chan," she announced in a sly tone. "You don't have to lie about why you're leaving. You're just trying to get away from Miya-chan so she doesn't get in the way of your love-love time with your Ashikabi!"

"Really," Miya huffed, giving Kazehana a dry glare at the other woman's insinuation about the landlady being a stymy point for intimate relations. It was completely true, but that didn't seem to bother Miya at all.

"Yeah," Uzume grinned instantly. "That too!"

"Uzume-chan!" Miya turned to give another dry look at the other Sekirei, now actually looking put out on by the continued dialogue.

"Yeah," I nodded, trying my best to sound serious as I got in on the action. It was just too rare to see Miya getting genuinely flustered to pass up the opportunity. "She does get in the way a lot, doesn't she?"

"Honestly, Emiya-kun," Miya turned her glare at me this time, "it doesn't seem like my efforts have been that successful at all lately."

"Yup," Uzume's grin was growing. "But not all of us are as awesome as Shirou, so looks like me and Chiho have to get on out of here." She gave the landlady a sly wink. "Ya know," she began, leaning forward in a stage whisper. "I think Miya might be sweet on you, bro."

"Uzume-chan!" Miya narrowed her eyes, though she sounded as much flustered as she did outraged at the implication.

"Why do you say that?" I rubbed my chin thoughtfully, internally delighting in the way Miya was getting teased. I would probably pay for it later, but it would also probably be worth it. It did help distract me from my wounds as well.

"Well, I think she's letting it slide with you so that she can peep…" that was as far as Uzume got before the whisper of steel being drawn was accompanied by a sudden feeling of absolute terror and helplessness.

"Uzume!" Miya snapped, "implying that I would sink so low as to peep like Matsu-chan is prohibited!"

Uzume started to flinch, and then freezing in surprise as the grim aura of the hanya suddenly winked out. Even Miya paused, blinking again as her technique disappeared beyond her control. She actually turned to look behind her as though to search for the masks, unable to understand why they had vanished so unexpectedly.

Her confusion lasted until she caught sight of me. I couldn't quite manage to suppress my smile of success.

"I've been trying to do that for ages," I muttered, folding my arms in triumph. I had suspected that if two opposing forces of malice were to meet, it might act in the same way that a superior amount of prana could overpower a mystery before it can form, but it had been hard getting the timing down right. It was a trick Rin had used when she was battling Caster, and I figured since I was experimenting with my own mask I might try to compare it to more conventional magecraft.

"Bro," Uzume began, the first to interrupt the shocked silence as the room stared at me. "Did you honestly just figure out a way to stop that thing?" My proud smile grew, and her eyes widened. "You are a god," she told me in an awed whisper. "Not even beach balls are big enough to describe the size of your…"

"Uzume!" Miya snapped, and again she tried to chastise the dirty mouthed Sekirei, and again I managed to get the timing right and the aura winked out. The landlady whirled on me, looking the most flustered I had ever seen her appear. "Shirou!" she snapped, using my first name again like she tended to do when she was at her most out of sorts. She actually stomped her foot angrily as she literally pouted at me. "Stop that right now!"

"I have no idea what you're talking about," I told her, though the smile was probably giving me away.

"This is the most disturbing thing I've ever seen," Homura muttered, face white as her arms went slack. It looked like even her rage couldn't be maintained in the face of the fact that I had managed to counter the dread hanya. "Ever," she added.

*Scene Break*

It was later that night, in the bath, that Miya's words came back to me from earlier.

Despite the fact that I had been wiped down and bandaged earlier, in the end it had been decided that a more comprehensive cleaning was needed. I had had blood all in my hair, and a lot of it had trickled down my pants as well. Despite the best efforts of Tsukiumi and Matsu I really needed a proper scrub down to get myself hygienic before I went to bed for the night.

And despite their wishes, I had come down with a still flustered Miya when she prohibited my flock from bathing with me. Just because I had a counter for her mask didn't mean I had to use it, despite how much my flock protested.

It was what she had said, about having pride in my blade. It was only later, when the thrill of adrenaline was finally gone, when the pain in my body was starting to diminish, that I realized what was wrong with her words.

I didn't have pride in my blades: pride was useless.

For me, my swords had always just been a means to an end. Even if at my most fundamental level, at the Reality Marble which was the core of my identity, my nature was to collect swords and weapons without distinction or restraint. Though also due to my ability to sympathize with their history I was capable of using those same blades at a diminished level, I was at nature a collector rather than a wielder. The awesome skill which made so many of my Noble Phantasms into the legends they had become were never something I really concerned myself with too much. As long as I could use the blades enough to accomplish my goals, that was enough.

I should have had Akitsu dispose of those two. They were some of the most dangerous opponents in the Sekirei Plan. I should have had her take one out immediately, and then gone to face the other in a one on one fight. I could have just exchanged a few blows, proven that I was capable of using my weapons, then retired, hidden the true depth of my skill, and then had Akitsu finish the job.

So why had I fought the two? Why had my sense of competition been so strong, my desire to end them with my own hands so irresistible? So long as they were gone, that would have been enough.

Silently, I held a hand in front of me, Kanshou flickering into existence. The dark blade gleamed paradoxically in the dim light of the baths, and I couldn't help but wonder…

Was Miya right? If so, when had I come to have pride in my blades? At what point did my skill matter to me as more than a tool to achieve my goals?

"Hey, Shirou," the first indication that the Veiled Sekirei was there was her voice, muffled from coming from behind the door.

"Uzume?" I called back, stirring briefly as I did so. I let the blade in my hand disappear, half turning in the bath to look towards the door. Uzume made no move to come in, and I heard a soft rustle, probably the sound of her sitting down.

"You're really cool with Chiho and I leaving, aren't you?" Uzume asked, her tone as soft as she could make it while still talking through the door to me. I shifted in the bathwater, feeling the heat help sooth some of the aches of combat, and noting that despite my washing earlier the water was starting to pink slightly. A trickle of blood was still flowing from my torso even though the wound was almost closed at this point, and more was leaking out of my knee as well.

I was going to have to clean the bath tomorrow once I was better, I decided.

"Yeah," I called back, putting the chore from my mind for now. "I understand," I told her, and I did.

"I thought you would, ya know," Uzume told me, relief in her tone. No, there was something else there too. For some reason, Uzume seemed happy as well. "Out of everyone, I knew that you would understand. About everything."

I sat up a little straighter, turning my head towards the door to the bathroom. It sounded like Uzume wasn't just talking about my supporting her decision to leave.

"Bro," Uzume continued, then paused. "Shirou," she corrected herself. "I want you to know that if it wasn't for you, I'm not sure what would have happened."

"I'm sure you'll be fine," I offered, not understanding the source of her gratitude. "You could convince Hidaka-san to leave on your own." We had decided to wait until tomorrow morning to convince Chiho to leave Izumo House. Apparently she wasn't quite as used to late nights due to her time in the hospital and had gone to bed before we had managed to make it back to Izumo.

"No, I don't mean just that," Uzume repeated insistently. "Back when I was hunting down other Sekirei for that asshole, if you hadn't understood then I'm not sure what I might have happened," she continued, her tone dropping until I had to strain to hear her. "I was in a bad place, and it was eating away at me. If you hadn't been there to help, I'm not sure what I might have ended up doing. And then again, when you helped me rescue Chiho, and made it so she wasn't sick any more. And now, understanding just why I need to get her away from here, and even planning a way to stop the Sekirei Plan." She sighed, a pensive noise. "It's like every time I turn around you're pulling my butt out of the fire."

It was such an honest and direct expression of gratitude that it left me a little speechless. Finally, the best I could manage was a, "uh…it's fine. I was just trying to help."

"He-heh," Uzume chuckled slightly at my stuttered response. "Chiho has a crush on you, ya know?" Now that made me sit up straighter, blinking in surprise. "You're like a knight in shining armor for her. Even after watching the match, she still won't think bad about you."

"Sorry," I muttered back, not sure how to deal with that particular tidbit. Sekirei and Ashikabi were mated, and for one of the mates to have an interest in someone else… I certainly did not intend to interfere in something like what I had seen between the two that night in the hospital! Though Natsuo had also been interested in someone outside of his flock, now that I think about it. Was this kind of thing normal?

"It's fine, bro," Uzume reassured me, sounding amused. "She's got good taste. If I was into guys at all, I might have swooped down on you too. He-heh," she gave another laugh, and I got the impression that if I could see her face there would definitely be a teasing leer on it. "Who knows, you might just have been able to get us in your harem after all if things were a bit different!"

"Uzume!" I snapped, glad she couldn't see the way I was blushing at the implication. She laughed again, and I got the impression that even if she couldn't see it she was well aware of it. "You shouldn't be implying that! I would never do anything to get between you two!"

"Oh? I'd think it might be fun to have you between us!" definitely a leer there, I was sure of it. "Don't worry about it. She'd still be mine first, and if I shared her with you, well, it's only fair you share yours with me, right? You do got a couple of cuties already!"

"Not happening, Uzume," I told her, sinking my head into my hands and worrying that my blush might be heating the tub to the boiling point. "Just… just not happening."

I was not having a conversation about partner swapping from my harem with a lesbian alien. And that might just have been the first time that particular sentence had ever been used in the history of language. And also oh god, I've even started calling my flock a 'harem' in my head.

This was not how I saw my life going all those years ago when my father pulled me from the fire. Something out there had to be laughing at me. I just knew it.

Probably that prick Archer, come to think of it.

Uzume chuckled a bit more, before going quiet for a bit. I thought that she might have left after getting her jokes in, but after a minute or so she spoke up again.

"So for everything, thank you," she said softly. "Thank you so much, Shirou." There was a noise, and I realized that Uzume must have been sitting next to the door of the bathroom and had just stood up. Before I could respond I heard quick foot falls as she left, probably running as she did so.

I sat in the tub in silence, idly watching a bit more blood trickle out of me.

I think… I think that might be the first time anyone actually thanked me for something like this. I always did my best to help others, and I'd get an expression of gratitude all the time from the more mundane jobs I did. But for some reason whenever I saved someone, truly saved them from a situation as grim as Uzume's had been, for some reason the words 'thank you' were rarely said.

It felt… good to hear them.

"You're welcome," I finally told the empty hallway, before settling back in the tub. Thoughts of Uzume and Miya's words lingered with me long into the night, even after I had gone to bed, my flock nestled against me.