Note: Sekirei belongs to Sakurako Gokurakuin and the only thing I own here is my OC.
Wish I could draw... Sometimes my muse sends me crystal clear images or even videos of scenes for me to write out. This one was one of such videos and gods was it hard to express it... I still think it could've been done better but after rewriting it a couple times I gave up.
"Was this what you expected?" Kara asked as we both looked at a man who lay on the ground before us, tied up. It was deep night at this point and the only thing that provided light in this small alley was a backdoor light to some pub or something along those lines. The trash squirming before us was picked for the sole reason he was near a light, it would be far more trouble to have to hunt down someone and then drag them over to the nearest light source.
"I feared as much…" I sighed, feeling the tiredness seep in. Using a Norito not only made me feel like my Tama was about to overheat but it also drained much of my energy and power upon use. I was nowhere near as tired as Beni or Haihane but I wasn't exactly skipping around like Kara or surprisingly Uzume. Speaking of which, it was rather odd how Uzume was perfectly fine after her Norito, even after spending about 10 minutes playing around with it. Perhaps her Norito drains Chiho instead? It would make sense as to why Chiho could barely move after Uzume canceled her Norito.
"Hmm." Kara stooped over the human trash with a frown on her face, examining the faint light blue sheen around him. "And it really does what you say it does?"
"Well, might as well test it." I sighed and drew my sword. The human had barely a chance to widen his eyes before my sword went right through his forehead. I wrenched it out and watched the pale blue effects of my Norito take place.
"Fascinating." Kara drew her own sword and slashed at the man several times. "I think your Norito might be more powerful than mine or Uzume's."
"Hardly." I frowned and kicked the body before us. "Useful, true, but hardly powerful."
"So what do you wish to do with this now?" Kara poked the object of my experimentation with her sword. "I don't think we can just leave this trash here…"
"Dismemberment, bag and a couple big boulders." I shrugged. "Should be enough for the immediate future."
Kara nodded as I took out a backpack I took with me and set to work doing what I was planned out to do. Honestly, it was a lot more troublesome than it sounds; my Norito was certainly something beyond what I was expecting. By the end of it I gave up the dismemberment portion and merely tied the body up tighter with several boulders, making sure that they'd stay on, and put it in a sack.
"We should get going," Kara yawned as we both sat on the edge of the bridge looking at the full crimson moon floating above the river. "I got a message from Minaka that he has a something he'd like for us to do tomorrow."
"Isn't it still our break?" I frowned as I got up. "Last day and all?"
"Yes, but he said it couldn't wait." Kara made a sound of disapproval. "Has to do with our status as Arbiters or something like that."
"Hmm, that does sound important." I acknowledged as we walked down the dark streets of Shinto Teito towards the great tower that loomed over everything else menacingly.
"To think that this could happen in mere 4 days we were gone." I grumbled as Kara and I walked down a street of Shinto Teito next day, the sun once more closing in on the horizon. "Gods, what a fucked up day."
"Well, at least we got to fight." Kara said whimsically, smiling briefly before frowning. "Somewhat…"
"Yea, I saw that girl kill herself on your sword." I sighed, I wasn't even joking, who the hell charges Kara at top speed with bare fists while she clearly has a sword pointing in your direction? Needless to say, Kara's surprise was so great that she barely had the time to move her blade away from the girl's Tama to pierce her heart instead.
"Tch." Was Kara's response as we walked on.
I never thought the day would go so downhill when we walked in as the entire Disciplinary Squad into Minaka's office at 10 am. Honestly, the news he dropped on us were so out there that I stood for a moment, thinking how the hell did I not account for the possibility of this happening? I mean, sure, Kara was as surprised as I was but we could've thought this would've happened.
A human's instinctual response to danger they believe they can't deal with is to seek help. Safety in numbers and all of that bullshit. So it should've been obvious that the obvious overwhelming might of the Disciplinary Squad as well as the power of the other 4 major players would call for some sort of a response. We, as a whole with Minaka included, didn't actually mind that about 2 dozen Sekirei-Ashikabi pairs banded together under the leadership of a certain Himura Youichi.
No, we didn't mind that there was now an alliance that could potentially be strongest in the whole Plan. Minaka didn't mind as he thought it added a bit of flavour to his mad plan while we didn't mind because we thought that they'd keep Minaka busy. What we all failed to realize however, was that this Himura was a coward. Honestly, he put weeks' worth of work into creating this alliance only to use it instantly on one mission: to escape Shinto Teito.
How fucking pathetic. He could've become a new major player to this plan, a new piece that would force Minaka to spend time planning it out. Instead he sends all of his assembled 'allies' in a single, suicidal head on attack at a city perimeter to break through and run. What a fool.
Their downfall was their lack of coordination. As a newly made alliance, none of them particularly trusted each other nor worked with each other. As such, it took them two whole days to gather their forces into one fist near the edge of the North sector. 2 Days too long, Minaka spotted the odd conglomeration by the evening of the first day and by the morning of the second; we were briefed on the situation.
Truthfully, it was Himura's failure as a planner that really got them spotted. Had they met somewhere other than Northern sector, Minaka might've missed them. But considering that MBI can keep track of most Sekirei in this city and considering that Northern sector is very poor on signatures… It was rather easy for Minaka to glance at the map and then wonder what the hell was going on. There was a reason no one went North. It had to do with things like Miya and the fact that last time people went there, 16 Sekirei wound up dead and quite a few civilians with them. I mean, it's still all over the news, days later. Of course, MBI covered it up with some BS and the Sekirei weren't actually mentioned but everyone who needs to know, knows.
However, even with his failure as a planner, Himura had a chance of success. There were 2 points he could've went to. Well, 3 really but no one thought he'd go for the 3rd as I proved how bad trying to escape across a bridge is. So, what we did was split up. Me and Kara would secure the smaller waypoint which had a significantly lower MBI presence while Chiho, Uzume, Beni and Haihane went to the larger checkpoint which was commanded by Specialist Captain Anton. Oh, and Anton mined the bridge just in case.
Anyway, had Himura done some scouting and then attacked Anton instead, they might've had a chance to overwhelm them…provided Chiho didn't empower Uzume, Beni or Haihane with a Norito. Now that I think about it, having either Beni or Uzume use a Norito in a city will result in catastrophic collateral damage. Just the thing we need for tomorrow's fight.
Moving back to the topic of the assault. It was rather funny to see this wave of Sekirei in all of their outfits and weapons with their Ashikabi in tow approach us in arrogance. To see Himura move out and tell the MBI soldiers to surrender with a sneer. And then see that sneer just slide straight off his face and turn into paleness so white that it was worthy of a corpse long dead.
The moment Kara and I walked out from behind the barricades, several Sekirei-Ashikabi pairs just straight up gave up and ran instantly, not even bothering to stand and fight. Even though we gave the option to yield, Himura ordered the attack anyway. So Kara and I charged them, taking the fight to them.
It was chaos in its purest form. Himura was an absolute imbecile. He threw 26 Sekirei-Ashikabi pairs into the fight without them knowing anything about each other. Without them knowing who does what or even what their preferred range is. They didn't trust each other; they didn't care about each other. The first time someone pulled out a Norito and ended up nearly completely destroying another Sekirei caught in friendly fire by accident, me and Kara had to not only watch out for the actual Noritos coming it, but also that they won't result in Level 5 terminations on those caught in friendly fire.
Had they showed anywhere near the teamwork and cohesion the team I fought at the bridge showed, we would've been steamrolled, Kara's power or not. Surviving a single Norito is difficult business but when your enemies got 26 of them? I trust Kara to be powerful enough to survive maybe 3 Noritos at point blank considering the general weakness of our enemies, but if they had anyone even near our level, their Norito would've wrecked us. I mean, sure I dodged the Ultimate Sekirei abilities by phasing into Spirit Realm but Kara couldn't do that and she was too far for me to get to her on time for each Norito that was fired at us.
Yea, that fight was nowhere near as fun for me as it was for Kara. That being said, I am rather proud that I managed to get through it without a single Termination! Granted, there was no need for me to do so, most of the Sekirei actually died to friendly fire rather than to me or Kara. It honestly wasn't that hard, the morons kept coming at me and all I had to do was phase into the Spirit Realm and watch them kill each other.
I was rather pissed to learn that 14 Sekirei were deactivated in that fight, all Level 3 or 4. Praise the gods there were no Level 5s but there were several close ones from what Akitsu told me. The rest of those involved ran away, some of them with wounds. In fact, they broke and ran at the same time the first Ashikabi began dying. Once again, it wasn't our fault but some of the Noritos sent our way were damn Anti-Army by Haihane's classification! Using those in close quarters combat with your allies everywhere is so stupid I just don't even have words to describe it.
Some of the Noritos sent our way were actually quite interesting, there was this one in particular that sent everyone in the area to sleep. I dodged it while in Spirit Realm and Kara, although it took her a second, simply resisted it with her aura.
Speaking of which, I am now very cautious of sparring with her. That aura of hers, after she got her wings and did her Norito, is now a virtual imitation of her Norito, just without the wings of uber death and destruction. The corrosive miasma stayed though - weakened somewhat - and some of the wounds caused by her sword that practically dripped with that stuff were terrifying to behold. So yea, I am in no hurry whatsoever to spar with her anymore if she brings that thing out, I rather like having all of my pieces still with me. Unlike that girl that got clipped by Kara's sword and then looked like her wound got splashed with acid. Her screams even got through the din of the fight for a while before her Ashikabi ran through the explosions and everything and saved her. I was rather impressed by the luck of that black haired boy; he got nearly killed by 6 separate misaimed abilities before he got to his Sekirei and saved her.
Even now, as we walked I glanced occasionally at her sword warily. That thing got its share of blood today and by the gods was it a horrific weapon when empowered by Kara's new ability. I don't even want to ask how many Sekirei fell to it today…
Despite the terrible nature of the fight and the fact that a good city block has been redesigned into rubble of various sizes, the fight only lasted about 10 minutes from start to end. After the remnants of the group broke and ran, Minaka called us and demanded to see the moron responsible for this mess. Preferably alive, but he understands if all we can do is bring his head in a bag. I myself fully intended on butchering the bastard the moment I see him. Really, here we were trying our hardest to stall the plan and keep as many Sekirei alive as possible and then we have this dumb fucker show up out of nowhere and lead the biggest force of Sekirei ever assembled straight to their doom.
Honestly, to lead a force of 26 Sekirei into a pointless battle and then proceed to lose over half of them in minutes due to stupidity was practically heresy in my eyes. Each Sekirei has the potential to become a force entire armies would fear to cross – as proven by Beni, Haihane and recently Uzume as well as some of the other Sekirei. When I looked at the dead bodies of my kin and those still alive, moaning in agony; I was severely tempted to go get Homura and hunt the asshole responsible down to the ends of the Earth if I had to. Homura would be quite a useful being on this hunt, not only is he a walking campfire but I bet he could do a very nice barbeque too.
Despite Kara's half-hearted objections that we should hunt now, I stayed and administered what first aid I could to those still alive. Makeshift bandages and what not to try and keep whoever I could alive before MBI evacuation helicopters got on site.
I noticed one peculiar trait as I did what I could. The weaker or more hurt a Sekirei was, the fiercer their Ashikabi were in defending them – provided they were able at the moment. Several even charged me with makeshift weapons, trying to defend their downed bond-mates that lay in pools of their own blood.
Impressive as it were, it was also quite a nuisance to me when I tried to bandage my kin before they completely bled out. Seeing what I was doing, the other Ashikabi relented and started doing what over first aid they knew. Actually, I was a bit biased here; several Sekirei also came to me, their wounded Ashikabi in their arms, injured from the friendly fire. And then there were of course those Ashikabi who lost their Sekirei too. Out of the 14 Sekirei that fell, only 4 Ashikabi died with them, the rest had to weather the feedback from their bond broken. It was easy to spot them, sitting on the ground with blank eyes, unblinking. Staring into nothing, comatose. And those were just the ones who got paralyzed by the shock; some of the Ashikabi already killed themselves, unable to take the pain.
I bit my lip as we walked, thinking back to the scene we just left. It was something straight out of hell I think. Even I, with my experience in creating such nightmares found it difficult to control myself.
Rubble, big and small, was everywhere. The city block was turned into shattered concrete and twisted metal with only a few lucky buildings still standing, full of holes like Swiss cheese. Everywhere, there was blood and bodies, over and under the rubble, in pools of blood and in graves of cold stone. All around, Sekirei, Ashikabi and civilians wandered, lost or searching for their loved ones or tending to those lucky enough to survive. And wails of despair and agony rising to the cold blue skies above the nightmare.
Contrary to her whining, Kara turned out to be a great field medic much to my surprise. Her skills in this field were far beyond my clumsy attempts to stop the bleeding and keep body parts in roughly the area they were supposed to be in. With a couple support type Sekirei who stayed in the back and were lucky enough to be unharmed in the madness, we worked hard to treat the wounded that people kept bringing in.
It was horrifying really, I thought as we walked, so much damage, destruction and death in only 10 minutes of combat. In those 2 hours that we spent trying to save whoever we could as MBI scrambled everything it could to get to us and transfer the wounded to nearby hospitals, I learned one thing. I learned that I really hated feeling helpless.
I couldn't help but slip into the nightmares, images of the horror and bitter powerlessness I felt flashing before me once more.
A woman, whose face was nothing but a mask of blood and tears, wearing what used to be nice clothes stumbled around, clutching a child to her chest. The child, so mangled that I couldn't even tell if it was a boy or a girl. So injured was the child that it was by far easier to list off what wasn't broken or ripped or shredded. And yet, despite all odds, the kid still breathed and still called for its mother to make the pain go away. And me, who stood there looking on, helpless to do anything as the woman walked around on the rubble, her shoes long gone, calling for help, for anyone to help her dying child. But those who could listen, those who weren't busy trying to do what they could for those they could help, only looked on, unable to do anything. Afraid that the child would die the moment they touched it.
I clenched my hands, the metal groaning in protest as Kara looked over in concern, yet another scene appearing before me, another nightmare of my failure.
A Sekirei, a proud and strong woman I fought for a brief period of time in the chaotic battle, – her lack of wounds attesting to her skill – sat on the rubble, not caring for the sharp fragments that bit into her fair skin. In her lap lay a richly dressed young man, barely older than Minato, his left arm and leg both missing, torn off by rogue ability no doubt. Despite his mortal injuries, the raven-haired man was smiling and I overheard him say to his Sekirei gently, that had he lived 7 lives more, he'd fall in love with her all over again, 7 times more. The woman smiled through her tears and leaned over to kiss her True Ashikabi, one final time. Her steel wings startled the surrounding people but all they could do was look on, like I did, – cursing my inability to do anything – as her wings faded and the Sekirei fell over, her hand still holding her bond-mate's in death. The sun glinted off the 2 golden rings on their intertwined fingers, causing me to blink and look away.
"Hey…" Kara waved her hand in front of my face, but I didn't see it, trapped in my nightmares, seeing the results of that horrible fight once more.
Just across the street from me was yet another pair, a schoolgirl still in her school uniform and her Sekirei, a young boy no older than she was. The teary girl did everything she could to help the red haired boy but it was far too little as the grievously injured Sekirei lay in an ever widening pool of his own blood. The young Sekirei raised his hand, trying to reach for his Ashikabi's face for one last time, but his strength failed him and his hand went limp even as the girl caught it. She stared at his face in disbelief for a moment before she let go, clutching her head and screeched in absolute agony, the sound piercing through the general din like a knife through hot butter. Suddenly, she stopped and a look of calm appeared on her face. Before anyone could as much as twitch, she grabbed her Sekirei's rapier and drove it through her own heart with such force that the guard touched her breast. With her last effort, she brought the dead body of her Sekirei to her chest and muttered with her dying breath, smiling serenely.
"Together, forever and ever."
I came back from my memories to find myself in Kara's arms as we stood on the street, the shorter woman holding me. I blinked, wondering why everything was so foggy and unclear and realised with a start that I was crying.
"Shhh now," Kara whispered to me, her face resting on my metal breastplate. "It's alright, it's over now. We are going to find the person responsible and we are going to make him pay."
"T-thank you." I swallowed hard as I embraced my lover back. "For being here, with me."
"Tch." Kara huffed. "As if I'd be anywhere else. Come, you wanted to grab Homura before we hunt."
"Y-yea." I slowly detached myself from Kara, her pale brown eyes looking at me with worry making me look away. I…hated worrying Kara. She rarely did it but when she did, it just didn't seem right to have that kind of look on her face. It hurt me, to see it.
"I'll be fine." I closed my eyes briefly and started to walk once I opened them. Kara gave me one final glance of concern and then we walked on once more, but this time my important person was walking at my side, her hand holding mine. I could feel her calmness and focus seep into me through our contact, Kara trying to restore my emotional balance.
When Chiho called and said she was coming over the moment the fight was over, both Kara and I ordered her and everyone else to stay the hell away. We even went as far as to promise to use them as test subjects for Kara's apparition if we so much as saw them there. Our Ashikabi may be growing rapidly into the Ashikabi we need but this… This hell was something neither she nor Uzume should ever see, it would shatter them. I wouldn't want Beni here either and considering Kara ordered Haihane to stay with Chiho in an unusually serious tone, neither did she. She may have used the excuse that it was a pain to restock the Alcohol cabinet the last time something like this happened but considering she looked away as she said this and used a strangely somber voice…
Regardless, after being subject to mental and emotional torture for more than 2 hours, I think my general mood of 'I'll get that fucker even if it's the last thing I'll ever do' is quite excusable. In fact, my greatest wish right now is to find Homura, enlist him on our hunt, chase down that fucking Himura and then barbeque him alive, very, very, very, very slowly. That bastard may have run off the moment things went sour but we'll find him. He can't escape the city and I'll search the whole place myself if I have to till I find him. And when I do… I'll make him pay for forcing me to feel so gods be damned helpless.
It was for this reason that we were now heading over to Izumo Inn, the sun in the cold blue skies above setting down before us.
