Author's note:

There is some Japanese in this chapter. There's no critical information in there, so if you get it, great, and if not, you're only missing a fun little nod. Frankly, the only reason I didn't write it in English is because I don't like how it sounds in English.


Stranger in a Strange Land

The buzzing blare of her motion tracker alarms woke Matsu from her sleep. Despite her rational mind, she hoped it was nothing, so she could resume her dream of being double-teamed by Homura and Kazehana. Sitting up, she immediately felt the moisture in her panties; hopefully it hadn't gotten on the bedspread.

Rubbing her temple, a click of a mouse brought up the new security screen. On a map of Maison Izumo, there was a blip of an unidentified person standing just inside the gate. Quickly Matsu brought up one of the hidden cameras she'd installed that day, the image crawling left from atop the roof. Though it was monochrome, she'd know that symbol anywhere, and bolted up to wake the others.

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"Too much! Too much!" Kazehana gasped, clutching her creamy ass cheeks as Matsu slammed home again.

Her mind was a haze of empty lust and kinky shame, for while she bounced atop Matsu and her rubber fixture, her half-closed eyes were staring into her husband's.

Minato stood against the featureless gray, his expression unreadable as he watched her give herself to another. There was no true lovemaking, as Kazehana reserved her most sacred gift for her one true love, but it still felt close to cuckolding. Her ass cheeks would've slapped Matsu's thighs if they weren't so clenched.

A wave of unholy pleasure washed through Kazehana. She felt so wrong and so ashamed of herself, but it just felt so good. She couldn't stop. The pressure was building, building, getting ready to taint her with its rapture. Her ass muscles grew tighter as a wordless, gutteral climax came spewing from Kazehana's throat. She tipped forward, panting hard as her heavyset breasts hung above Matsu's face. The redhead smirked at her, pulling on one of her engorged nipples with her fingers.

"Shame is overrated," said Matsu. "Kazehana!"

Matsu shook Kazehana's shoulder, making her gigantic breasts sway.

"Kazehana! Wake up!"

Groaning, Kazehana's true eyes opened. The door to her room was open, letting the moonlight inside, and beside her bedspread was Matsu.

Smiling groggily, Kazehana looked up and copped a feel. "Feeling brave tonight, are we?"

"No time for that! Get up!" Matsu took the hand that groped her and yanked it up. The rest of Kazehana followed, bits of lint left on her panties by the blanket as it tumbled off her near-naked body. Rubbing her eyes, it took a moment to remember where she left her laundry stacks. Matsu beat her to it, tossing a fresh purple dress into her arms.

"What time is it, anyway?" Kazehana asked as she slipped into her clothes.

"After midnight. Now go wake up Miya!" Matsu ordered, before leaving the room and running down the hall. Kazehana heard her open Minato's door. "You guys, wake up! Up! Minato, we have a situation!"

Ah, Minato, Kazehana's one true love. Or, so she thought. Still thought, even, despite her apparent subconscious urge to break his heart. She told herself she wouldn't do that to him, even as he drifted further away from her and into… wherever his obsession with Kagedansu led. She'd experienced heartbreak before, and wouldn't wish it on anyone.

But then, she'd been wrong about "true love" before, too.

Curious as to what had Matsu riled up, her Sekirei hearing picked up a ho-hum from outside. Walking over to the paper windows, she cracked one open.

"Well well," she mused, "now what could she be doing here?"

Miya should be woken indeed.

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Miya sat across from their surprise guest, perturbed and weary and probably wanting to go back to bed. That, or it came from the fact their guest had needed a pair of Matsu's underwear before Miya let her sit. For both of those reasons, her broom handle supported her hands, ready to dispense cleaning or punishment at a moment's notice.

"So," Miya said, eyes darting to the guest's knees as she uncrossed and recrossed her legs, "what brings you to Maison Izumo?"

Akitsu seemed unfazed, looking around at all the wary stares she was receiving. Then again, The Discarded Number never seemed fazed by anything, least of all a sextet of enemy Sekirei.

"I came to find something," Akitsu replied evenly. Her hands folded in her lap, pushing her breasts around the chain that bisected her cleavage.

"I see," Miya replied. "And what would that be?"

"I know not."

"Ah." Miya's grip slid down the broom, holding it more conventionally. "And this couldn't wait until tomorrow morning?"

"Someone was walking along the upper floor," Akitsu replied. "I assumed you were awake."

Kneeling on the floor, perpendicular to Akitsu and across from Minato, Matsu pursed her lip. "Riiiight..."

Miya shot her a glare, then returned to Akitsu. "Does that mean you'll be spending the night?"

Akitsu looked to her left, where an enemy Ashikabi sat surrounded by two women and a small child, one of whom was a Single Number. Then, to her right, where three more Single Numbers kneeled in a triangle.

"Is it safe?" she asked, though not to Miya.

"There is no fighting in the house," Miya stated, "nor in the yard, nor on the roof. This is one of the cardinal rules of Maison Izumo, alongside my rule against illicit relations."

Akitsu blinked, still looking at Matsu, Homura and Kazehana. "Okay."

Standing up, Minato mirrored her. "Are you able to make rent, Akitsu?"

Akitsu blinked again, then looked at him. "No."

Homura's eyes narrowed at that, as did Tsukiumi's. "Thou hast funds on thy card, yes?"

"I don't have an MBI card," Akitsu stated, still looking at Minato, then cocked her head to one side. "I ran away before they could give me one. Master looked after me."

Matsu sneered. "Of course he did. Mikogami's collection is all he cares about."

Akitsu looked at her, her expression as frigid and unchanging as the mighty glaciers her powers mimicked. "We serve him, and he cares for us. Is that so bad?"

"Not until the money runs out."

Minato's hands clapped together. "Okay! Tell you what, Akitsu. My allowance has been building up a little, since there's not much to spend it on right now, so I'll cover you for however long you want to stay."

Akitsu said nothing, before bowing to him, showing him all of her cleavage. Minato's eyes traced a line along that chain she wore, before she righted herself and made for the stairs. Tsukiumi and Ku pulled him to the corner of the living room, where furious words were dispensed.

Ku was the first, wagging her finger at Minato. "Big Brother, you're not letting her sleep with us."

"Quite right!" Tsukiumi agreed. "I saw thy gaze before her display! Thy mind is awash with uncleanliness!"

Minato shrugged. "What can I say? I like looking at beautiful women. How often do I look at you, Tsukiumi?"

Tsukiumi's blue eyes narrowed, and she stuck her face in his. "Thou art not suggesting my beauty compares to that docile iceberg's. Tell me this, Minato."

"I'm saying," Minato said, "that you're cut from the same cloth." He put his hands on his hips, running his eyes along her black, form-fitting nightgown. "And what a beautiful cloth it is."

"Uh-uh!" Ku interjected before Minato could move in for the kiss. "You're not getting out of this one, Minato! And what about me?"

Minato patted her head, trying very hard not to laugh. "Someday, Ku, I'm sure you will be."

Ku nodded. "I will!" she said with authority.

"Then the matter is settled," Tsukiumi said, leaning close for a kiss, only for Minato to lean back.

"Hey, Tsukiumi?" Minato said, pointing across the living room. At the bottom of the stairs, Musubi was speaking with Akitsu, though the latter was clearly looking past her. "Given that Akitsu apparently can't wing herself, maybe-"

Tsukiumi threw her arms around him and furiously kissed him. There was nothing he could do about it; her speed was superhuman. When they parted, Tsukiumi's look was beautifully cross, that mix of demanding and devoted he loved so very much.

"I care not what anyone thinks," she said, before pulling his arm to herself. "Now, escort me back to bed, husband."

Minato still hadn't gotten over his surprise. "Uh, okay. Come on, Ku."

"Don't I get a good-night kiss?" Ku said, hopping in front of them.

"That… Uh..."

"Thou hadst a kiss good night, brat," said Tsukiumi. "Mine was a marriage kiss, unfit for a child as thyself."

"Aw..." Ku pouted but otherwise didn't object. "You'd let me if my hips were bigger..."

Now Minato laughed, once again relieved that Ku wouldn't ask for "the talk" any time soon. Kagedansu spared him a bullet on that one.

"So, Akitsu," he said, approaching from behind Musubi, "since space is kinda limited, maybe you could sleep-"

"NO," came a duet from upstairs.

Minato stopped. His semi-energized expression dropped, lowering into a weary annoyance, then a frustrated anger, as he slooowly directed his glare, and his thoughts, upstairs.

"-in one of the girls' rooms," he finished.

"Oh!" Musubi chirped, facing him. "We were just talking about that. Since I don't need my bed, I told Akitsu she could have it!"

Minato sighed and nodded. "Good work, Musubi..."

She took Minato's other arm and leaned on him, boobs first. Regarding Akitsu again, she said, "Remember: only Minato's Sekirei can sleep with him. The Landlady says so."

Akitsu looked at her, then at Tsukiumi, then at Minato, then back to her. "That isn't illicit?"

Minato chuckled in spite of his mood, and wormed his hand down into Ku's hair. "That's why we have her."

Ku nodded, proudly thumping her chest. "I let everyone sleep together! Without me, Landlady would give them all a good whack."

"...I see." Without another word, she turned and leapt upstairs, clearing the whole flight in a single bound. As Minato and the girls followed suit, they heard a door slide open and shut.

Once there, they found Matsu and Homura in the hallway, cut off mid-conversation as something secretive was shared between them. The two turned towards Matsu's room, but before they could enter, Minato bounded down the hall and seized both of them by the arms.

"What was that about?" he demanded.

Matsu returned his angry glare. "We knew you'd invite her inside if we didn't stop you."

Minato scowled. "You know me, but you think I'm like that?"

Matsu jerked her arm away. She rubbed the spot where he'd gripped her, tinted pink. "Apparently not."

Homura said nothing and just glared at him. Minato looked into Homura's eyes and decided to be the mature one, releasing Homura's arm per his silent request. The Fire Sekirei followed Matsu into her room. Minato didn't feel like invoking the Landlady's rule against sharing rooms without Ku; he was too tired.

He returned to his room, and to the welcome embrace of his friendlier Sekirei. He very much included Tsukiumi in that.

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In her own room, Matsu sighed, pressing her fingers to her forehead as she laid back down. She knew how this would go. Akitsu wasn't here to switch teams, How much harder would Minato gamble on "What if it's legit?" before he lost everything?

And how many more enemies is he going to trust?

"I'll watch her," Homura said, before swinging the door shut behind himself.

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Homura stood behind Akitsu, watching her.

Akitsu stood behind Minato, watching him.

Minato stood behind a punching pad, huffing and puffing as he maintained a kung fu flurry of punches. Squatting down forced him to rely solely on his arms for power, pounding at the bright red circles embossed on the pad and leaving flour marks wherever his gloved hands struck. This was a technique Kagedansu showed him to train his muscular endurance, his speed, and his accuracy. When asked where he got it from, he'd said, "From the most amazing human being who ever lived."

10… 11… 12… 13-!

Minato's arm started tightening and he called off his flurry. This was his third set, and he was on the cusp of extending it to 14 seconds. Kneeling down, then sitting back, his eyes wandered over to where Tsukiumi and Musubi sparred with Miya, tagging out every time the Landlady landed a blow on them. Musubi was currently the legal lady, with Tsukiumi getting visibly frustrated by the brunette's elongating time.

Wiping a bead of sweat from his nose, Minato craned his neck to look at Akitsu. His eyes immediately went to her boobs. It was hard not to: that chain was like an elevator cable that lowered the gaze into her admirable cleavage. The other chain, which crossed it, suggested her kimono-like shirt would slide off if the links ever broke.

"Say, Akitsu?"

She blinked, then looked at him. Minato learned from her table manners that this signaled acknowledgment.

Minato gestured to her top. "Where did you get that shirt?"

The only movement came from a wind buffeting her super-long white sleeves. "Master gave it to me."

"Of course he did." Minato looked her over again. He hadn't thought Mikogami went for women, given how close he'd seemed to his most powerful Sekirei, Mutsu. "Do you like wearing it?"

"...It was a gift, to show how Master values me."

"Huh." Yeaaah, it seemed Akitsu was a long game, if he wanted to win her over. "Well, maybe after a bath, I could take you shopping."

Across the yard, Musubi spun towards him. "A bath?! Ouch!"

Clutching her head, Musubi looked as guilty as a puppy as Miya wagged a finger at her. "You mustn't get distracted, Musubi."

"But we're not fighting for real!" Musubi protested. "I can get a little distracted, right?"

Tsukiumi brushed past her and squared up to Miya. "Pay the price, Musubi," she said. Splaying her fingers, Tsukiumi drew a thick coil of water in the air. "I shall reap the rewards-"

Miya was on her before she could finish. Tsukiumi closed the jaws of her coil around the Landlady's scabbard, trapping it seemingly by water pressure alone. Triumphant, her willpower saw a geyser of water spring to life behind her, before Miya drew her blade and smacked Tsukiumi with the flat of it.

"Just because I have no desire to kill," Miya said, sheathing her sword, "does not mean I lack desire to harm."

This brought Minato's thoughts back to Akitsu. Clearly, she wasn't going to kill him, so what was she after? He didn't trust her to answer truthfully, not yet. Trust worked both ways, after all, despite what Matsu and Homura seemed to think.

Hankering for a drink, Minato picked up the punch pad and went inside. Or would have, if a busty brunette and a shorter blonde hadn't stopped him.

"I'm not a Sekirei," Chiho said with a smile, "but I distinctly heard the word 'shopping'."

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"Oo, wow! Already?" Musubi said, dipping her toe in the water. She shivered at the cold. "Why don't you wait for Miya to heat it up?"

The Ice Sekirei sat in the middle of the tub, her lovely pale skin exposed to the air and frigid water. "I'm fine."

"Oh, okay." Musubi sat down on a wash stool, hands between her thighs as she admired Akitsu's toughness. She knew of martial artists who bathed themselves in ice cubes to build their strength, but Akitsu didn't look like she was into fighting. Then again, neither did Musubi, compared to someone like Kosugi Sho or Inoki Antonio. But then, who could compare to Inoki-san's magnificent chin?

"Would you like the water heated?" Akitsu asked.

Musubi remembered where she was. "Yup! I love a hot bath."

Without a word, Akitsu stood, turned, and stepped out of the bath.

"What happened to your shoulder, Akitsu?" Musubi asked, pointing at the sizable bruise that had formed outside the shoulder blade.

Akitsu didn't answer, leaning on the lip of the bathtub. A thin layer of frost formed on the wood, crawling down into the water. Amazed, Musubi waited and watched as the frost drizzled down the outside of the tub, going all the way to the floor before it hardened into solid ice. The ice grew thicker, and wider, but the most amazing thing of all was that just before it reached Musubi's toes, steam began rising from the bathwater.

Akitsu straightened and stepped back in the tub. Right away, her mask of indifference melted as she herself melted into the water, sighing contently. Her pretty auburn hair swept back as she leaned against the bathtub lip.

Smiling, excited over the bath and this new side of Akitsu, Musubi tiptoed across the ice sheet on the floor and stepped into the tub. She resisted the urge to reach out and touch the crest on Akitsu's forehead. Still, she wondered if it would feel like touching an active Sekirei crest.

"Did you not want to do that before?" Musubi asked. "Is it hard?"

"No," Akitsu said, then moaned and sank up to her neck. "I was fine how it was."

"I know you were." Musubi beamed at her. "But why be fine when you could be happy?"

At this, Akitsu lazily opened her eyes and gazed at the ceiling. Musubi took it as a good sign.

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It seemed they were watching him in shifts.

Tsukiumi was attached to him at the hip, and the hand, while Akitsu walked in front of them. More than once, wary pedestrians stood aside when they saw the Ice Sekirei, a look of unease in their eyes.

"Akitsu?" Minato said.

She looked over her shoulder but continued walking.

"How often did you come around here?" he asked. "Up north, I mean."

"Only when Master bade me."

Getting no further response, Minato pressed further. "And how often was that?"

"Once," she answered instantly, "when I failed to retrieve Homura."

Sensing anxiety from her, Minato broke, or rather tried to break from Tsukiumi, forgetting his wife was clingy in all ways, the literal very much included. Thus, he towed her behind him when he picked up his pace, parking her between himself and Akitsu.

"You sound like you dwell on it a lot," he noted.

"I must," she said. "It reminds me to always excel, for Master."

Tsukiumi scoffed. "Hmph! Thou canst never excel, if thou art defined by failure."

"I am failure by my very nature," Akitsu stated. "I cannot be winged."

"And 'twas once the case that I," Tsukiumi replied, "wouldn't be thus. 'To be thus is nothing, but to be safely thus.'"

Tsukiumi clutched Minato tighter as she continued. "My husband saw to my safety, once at the cost of his own. I was wrong of him, and of… some humans. Truly humbled, as only the mightiest can be, but just as might, or beauty, does not beget perfection, reality does not beget truth. I'll say to thee as I said to another: thou art no Sekirei, if thou art content with misery."

Tsukiumi ran her gaze along Akitsu's outfit, showing a hypocritical amount of disgust at how much chest she was showing. "Or attire thou didst not choose."

Minato grinned. "Oh reeeally…" His hand slipped behind Tsukiumi, snaking around her back. Tsukiumi's breath hitched when his finger threatened to touch her breast.

"So you chose this outfit," Minato said, grinning, "thinking Ashikabi were sick monkeys?"

Akitsu tilted her head at this. "I thought MBI gave you that outfit. You chose it yourself?"

Tsukiumi was as red as Akitsu's Sekirei crest. Minato knew better than to think it came from their comments.

"I… Ah." Tsukiumi lowered her arm and trapped his hand, rolling her shoulder. This, in turn, rolled his hand, which remained just on the side of her sensitive breast. "I sought to showcase my beauty."

Minato guided her in front of him, walking in lockstep as he put his nose in her blonde hair and murmured, "It worked."

As Minato's breath washed through her scalp, feeling the tingles it sent through his wife, he let his gaze wander to Akitsu. Truthfully, he did not want her to find a new outfit, because he could not see anything making her look better. However, this wasn't about his horndog hormones, it was about making Akitsu happy, in the hopes her stay at Maison Izumo become permanent.

Minato's eyes found their way to Akitsu's chains. Then again, I know I'd be happy to have her around…

Without warning him, Tsukiumi shouldered him and slid back to his side, taking his hand off her chest and wrapping it back in her own.

"Thou wert looking at her," Tsukiumi muttered angrily. "Look at thy wife, instead."

There it was again: devotion and demand, rolled together. It took everything he had to not pull her aside and devour her whole. Akitsu being there certainly helped.

He soon spotted a pair of girls, one of them waving him to a department store.

"What took you so long?" Uzume called with feigned annoyance.

"Didn't you know?" Minato said. "Feet were made for walking."

"And Sekirei feet," Chiho replied, "were made for flying. It's a lot more fun."

As it turned out, the only thing he bought for Akitsu that day was a hot coffee.

And for everyone else, barring Tsukiumi. She didn't care that he didn't drink coffee, she was buying him one and that was final!

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Several days had passed when Minato finally got the courage to pop the question.

Once again everyone was outside, Minato working on his body while Tsukiumi and Musubi worked with Miya in the back yard. He hadn't seen Kazehana that day, and made a note to take Tsukiumi or Musubi and go look for her later.

However, his workout took place in the street, where Akitsu had conjured a localized snowfall upon Kusano's request.

"Wheeee!" With a push from him, the Green Girl went sliding on a tray-turned-toboggan down the sidewalk, the street tilted enough to get her from one end of the fence to the other.

While Ku splatted into a small snow drift, arresting her momentum with her face, Minato dropped and started doing squat thrusts.

"Have you figured out what you're looking for?" he asked, while Ku picked herself up.

Akitsu shook… More like "wagged" her head, just enough to indicate the negative.

"Okay," said Minato, standing up. "If you don't mind me asking, how do you know it's here?"

"...I don't," Akitsu replied blankly. "But I promised Master… I promised I would find it."

"The Jinki's gone." Homura appeared out of nowhere, moving to place himself between the two of them, watching Ku. "You're wasting your time if that's what you're after."

Minato shot Homura a glare. Was he trying to ruin everything? What was his deal? Was this about their prior battles? Sure, Homura seemed more moody and bitter than usual, but Minato didn't peg him as a man to hold a grudge.

Akitsu's barely-a-head-shake answered him. "It's something for me."

"Well," Minato grunted, jumping back to his feet, "how did you find out it was here?"

"I was beaten in a Sekirei battle," Akitsu answered, before adding, "...when I should have won."

"Really." The skepticism in Homura's voice was so thick that it could double for Akitsu's chest, maybe even Musubi's. "And how exactly did you avoid termination?"

Akitsu shrugged, her eyes tracking Ku as the little girl hurriedly approached. "He let me go."

Minato cocked his head at this. "Who did?"

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"Pick up the pace, Mutsu!" her master, Mikogami Hayato, commanded. "I want that Jinki! I want it!"

Ahead of Akitsu, Mutsu's billowing orange scarf shifted angles as he hung his head and sighed. Still, his speed increased, closing in on the black-clad form fleeing north under the moonlight.

Akitsu had no regrets for her actions, though she imagined Kagedansu had several for seeing her as he had. Then again, he'd known what would happen if he let her go, knowing as she did about the twin Jinki he possessed. Did he honestly think asking her to keep it a secret would've stopped her from telling?

Sometimes, he said, the way forward isn't the most desirable.

That response had perplexed her. It almost made her not want to tell Master.

Still, even as he skirted up a fire escape to reach the top of an apartment complex, he'd been kind enough to warn her about his growth in power, and his termination of Higa's Sekirei in the underground. Master had agreed with Akitsu's sentiment: better to gamble on fewer Sekirei failing than succeed at the cost of Master's close-range collection.

So Akitsu and Mutsu chased him up that fire escape and found themselves confronted with a clutter of air vents, an industrial-sized fan unit and no sign of their quarry.

"Check the fan, Mutsu," Master ordered, his favored guardian putting him down. "He might be using the sound to hide. Akitsu, sweep wide and cover him."

Nodding, Akitsu obeyed, taking a wide berth at the roof's edge while Mutsu slid up to the fan unit. When drawing his sword provoked no response, he circled the corner of the unit.

Akitsu didn't see Kagedansu before she saw his shadow, poking out of the fan unit's like a fast-growing tumor. Reflexively she threw up an ice enclosure around that side, Mutsu jerking back in surprise.

A light tap came from within the enclosure. "So," Kagedansu said, "you expect me to either jump in the air and leave myself open, or sit here and wait for Scarf-Samurai to shish kebab me."

Through the ice, Akitsu could see his form, crouching slightly as Mutsu leveled his sword for the killing thrust.

"RYEH!"

Crunch!

The form in the ice fell away as several cracks appeared in the roof, followed by a male and female shout of surprise. Mutsu didn't even try to catch him. He simply crouched and listened for what would open first: a window, or a door.

The door came first, and only then did Mutsu crumble Akitsu's ice with a tap of his scabbard.

"Watch Mikogami," he said, before slipping into the hole Kagedansu had stomped into the roof.

Footsteps which had been inaudible a moment ago became loud, sprinting towards the side away from the street.

Turning around, Akitsu heard a crash and saw a steel folding chair fly out the window. Attached to it was Kagedansu, using it as a shield to batter away the ice she launched at him

"Hey, kid!" Kagedansu called, hiding behind his dented chair as he fell towards the ground. "Give you a show if you call off one of the hounds!"

"Stop, Akitsu!"

The Ice Sekirei heeded her Master's sharp command, though she felt differently.

Master sprinted to the roof's edge, standing slightly behind Akitsu as he looked down at the parking lot below.

"What kind of show?" he shouted.

"The kind you wouldn't believe if I told you!"

She could see the wheels in Master's head turn, weighing his options. The moonlight made his white suit glow before her, and his youthful but still handsome face-

"Deal," he said, pointing down at him. "Then I'll take those Jinki! Go get him, Akitsu!"

Per usual, Mutsu was left to guard Master, despite being the stronger Sekirei. However, as she leapt off the building, her dress fluttering around her naked legs as she descended, Akitsu was left with a simple solution to her battle.

As soon as she touched down, Kagedansu charged. The sneakers he wore would likely be unsuited for slippery surfaces, so Akitsu froze the parking lot floor. The effect was immediate: Kagedansu lost his balance and his feet came out from under him. As he calmly, but hurriedly, regained his footing, Akitsu conjured another ice enclosure, this one angled inward like a cone.

"Aw, that's it?" Master said from atop the building. "How lame!"

Kagedansu was caught while hunched over, so began elbowing the walls around him. Immediately the ice began to crack, so Akitsu froze another, larger cone around it, then another around that. Soon, a small iceberg sat in the parking lot, airtight and at least two meters thick. At least, she assumed so. The ice was so blue against the night it was practically opaque, with only a blurry black shape to signal its occupant remained. He'd broken the inner cone like the flimsy thing it was, but into the middle and outer shells Akitsu had poured more power to create stronger, colder ice. There would be no smashing through the ground here; this was no stone roof, and there was no room below to escape to. All Akitsu had to do, disappointing though it would be to her master, was to wait for Kagedansu to suffocate.

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"And did he?" Musubi asked, sporting a bruise on her temple.

"As I said, he let me go," Akitsu replied, regarding her with vague perplexity. "Did you not hear?"

Musubi smiled sheepishly. "Sorry," she said. "I was focused on the Landlady."

With no more than a nod, Akitsu resumed her account.

"I heard him tap the ice from inside, then strike it," she said. "Then I think he sat down."

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Perplexed by his action, Akitsu approached her creation carefully. It wouldn't do much to freeze the air inside; besides already being at freezing temperature, she had no sense of position inside it. Through the ice, though, her honed Sekirei ears picked up his grunting breath. Then, words.

"Wakomono yo..."

His voice sounded older, more resonant. Was this some kind of mantra?

"Shinken ni torikunde iru mono ga aru ka!"

The shape of his arms planted beside himself, he was lifted, then sat a little taller.

"Inochigake de uchi konde iru mono ga aru ka!"

Akitsu drew back, confused.

"Segasatan shiro!"

Very confused indeed.

The silhouette within the ice rolled back on its heels to its feet.

"Yubi ga oreru made!"

It locked its arms beside its hips.

"YUBI GA ORERU MADE! HAAAAA-"

Rearing back, Kagedansu screamed and snapped his head forward. Ice exploded from a hole within the ice prison. Still screaming, his fists struck like a jackhammer, pounding the weakened ice around the hole. Akitsu quickly sealed it shut, but shock left her powers unconcentrated.

"-AAAAAA-"

Still screaming, the crazed wild Sekirei came bulldozing through the ice as the shards fell across his arms like water. Akitsu felt a spine-stiffening flash of fear and leapt back, waving an ice-spear into existence. Kagedansu slapped the tip off and headbutted it, shattering it.

He pointed to his forehead. "-AAAATAMA O TSUKAE!"

Kagedansu whipped his shoe off, directly at Akitsu's body. She lurched aside before freezing the ground again as Kagedansu came charging in. The big Sekirei never faltered, swinging his arms from side to side like twin metronomes as his bare feet, both of them, began running even faster.

Akitsu knew the tables had turned; a jump would leave her open. She conjured an ice wall to stall for a moment.

"HURYA!"

Kagedansu leapt and smashed the wall with a kick, flying so fast he struck Akitsu's shoulder. Akitsu stumbled back and took flight, leaping up to the roof. The pain was so intense and she could barely move her arm; he might've dislocated it. However, Kagedansu's leap from the ground caught her mid-flight, and he had her.

Mikogami grabbed hold of Mutsu. "Get outta there, Akitsu!"

She wanted to obey, but Kagedansu already had a death grip on her arm. An iced blade from her wrist was crushed by his hand, which then grabbed her by the-

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Akitsu paused. Her eyes wandered the street, searching for the right word to use.

"I'll never forget to wear underwear again," was all she said before resuming her tale.

Minato was a little shocked at this, as was Homura. Their opinions aside, neither had pegged Kagedansu as fighting that dirty.

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His arm followed his hand, and upon landing on the empty roof, Akitsu was body slammed on the stone.

Then she was lifted up, unable to breathe as Kagedansu placed her back on her feet, only to judo flip her into a rear chokehold.

"Segasatan," he said, a finger pressed to the crest on her forehead. "That was pitiful, Akitsu. What's the matter with you?"

"Akitsu!" Master arrived back with Mutsu. "Get in there, Mutsu!"

"Hold it, kid," Kagedansu warned, pushing harder against Akitsu's forehead. "Now I don't know if a crest like this plays by normal rules, but unless you wanna find out, you'll tell your scarf-wearing beatstick to lay off."

Master looked ready to protest but Mutsu had already sheathed his sword.

"What are you even doing here, huh?" Kagedansu asked her.

"What we're doing here?!" Master shouted. "I live here!"

Kagedansu ignored him. "Why are you picking a fight with me? You got nothing to gain. You're in the main event already, and getting yourself killed by me won't help your chances."

"I know that," she answered without hesitation, "but it pleases him."

Master seemed surprised by this.

"That so?" Kagedansu snorted. "You could please him any number of ways, a lot of which involve stripping down. But you don't, do you? So why do you fight? What's your purpose?"

"To win, as all Sekirei do." She turned her head, his finger remaining on her crest. "Do you not?"

"You can win without fighting, just like you can fight without winning. What made you decide to fight me?"

"My master would demand it. If you didn't wish to fight, you shouldn't have shown me the second Jinki."

"Yeah, we know that, but I wanted to do you a solid," he asked. "You got a lot of bad ideas, it seems, and sooner or later they'll get you killed. For example, I told you not to tell anyone, but you clearly thought that was a bad idea, and now here you are. Number Four's a no-go, especially after she killed your partner, so why am I okay?"

Akitsu's eyes widened. "How could you know that?"

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The Ice Sekirei looked away in shame. "It is… something I've only told my master. I'm afraid of The Black Hound, afraid I won't obey his order to fight her."

Minato wasn't the only one who read into how promising it was she was telling him this.

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There was a grin in Kagedansu's response. "You ever dance with the devil in the pale moonlight? 'Cause there was no moonlight at that dance, but there was most definitely a devil. A devil who's more than happy to brag, once plied."

Akitsu was… Blown away. It made sense now, why she'd lost: this man had done what she could not, confronting the Black Sekirei without fear and emerging alive.

"It's not that hard," he said, guessing what she was thinking while he adjusted his grip on her forehead. "All you need is the right music, and so many things become possible. Like, for instance, beating an elemental-type with Segata Sanshiro's theme playing in your head."

She felt him shrug. "And like the man said, 'Is there something in your life you're completely devoted to? Something you sink into so deep, you put your life on the line?'"

"...Yes," she said. "My master. My life is nothing, but for Master to give it meaning."

"Yeah?! And what meaning would that be? The meaning of getting yourself killed?!" With the pinkie she could see, he pointed where her Master watched. "Then how come your fire went out the moment I caught you? Where's the struggle? The hunger? What are you doing for anyone by being here? Actually, no, lemme rephrase: what do you think you're doing for anyone by being here?"

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Akitsu absentmindedly waved a cloud of snow into the melting tray luge. "I… had no answer to that. While my Master is all that matters, Kagedansu was right: what did I think would be accomplished by dying there?"

Musubi clasped her hands at her waist. "Well-"

Homura shushed her, making Musubi pout. Minato had to agree: it was obvious Akitsu wasn't done.

"After that," she continued, her dress catching snowflakes as a breeze blew them back at her, "he got out from under me and said I should come here. Then, he pulled down my top and ran off."

Minato blinked. "So, why come before sunrise? Why not wait until the next morning?"

"I wanted to sleep on it," she replied, "but I couldn't sleep."

Minato leaned in a little, theorizing a pattern. "You mean… Nightmares, or just insomnia?"

Akitsu looked up at him, oblivious to the momentary plunge he took down her cleavage. "I never fell asleep."

Minato hesitated for a moment, but then Stone Cold Steve Austin's words echoed and he placed a hand on her shoulder. "Well, whatever you're looking for, I'll help you find it."

Her dull blue eyes stared into his own. "Why would you help Master, your enemy?"

"I'm not helping Mikogami," Minato said, squeezing her shoulder. "I'm helping you. What you do next is up to you."

She looked at his hand, resting on her delicate shoulder. Her hand traced the hem of her top, shifting the chain across her bust before sliding along Minato's digits. Her flesh was cool to the touch, but not in an unpleasant way. She then stared off into the distance, down the street and past Kusano's advancing form.

She blinked, then said, "Thank you, Minato."

"Yay!" Musubi pounced and hugged them both, nuzzing Minato's chest while Minato got a detailed feel for Akitsu's lithe body. "Helping people is nice. You're so kind, Minato."

Off to the side, Homura's face showed the beginning of a scowl. "Kind?" he muttered. "Yeah… That's part of the problem."