And here we go.
Without further ado: read, review, enjoy
Disclaimer: I do not own Sekirei; if I did, the situation with certain characters would've turned out very differently and we'd have more than two seasons of the anime. It belongs solely to Sakurako Gokurakuin.
"I'm sorry sir, but there are no trains in or out right now."
"That's crazy! Then how did I get in then?"
"I do not know sir but all I can tell you is that company policies have changed. In addition there is a mandatory curfew in effect save for those with company business."
"But there has to be some-!"
"Uemoto-san, if you do not leave now, I'll have to order you removed from the premises," the clerk stated with a meaningful look over his shoulder.
The two – heavily armed, he noted idly – guards moved away from their place on the far wall and stood up, eyeing him darkly. If their body language was any indication, they were just itching for him to keep going.
"Fine! But this is the last time I'll be taking this line, you got me?!"
"That is deeply disappointing sir," the clerk said though he swore he could see her give a sigh of relief.
Grumbling to himself, he tore his luggage down through the terminal, doing his best to ignore all the looks he was getting.
'Way to make a spectacle of yourself, Tamo. Hell of a way to get noticed.'
As if he hadn't already even before he got to the terminal.
He sighed.
'It's a wonder nobody reported me for that yet,' he groused as he took out his phone to call his folks.
It took a few rings but soon he heard the familiar voice of his relative, particularly his grandmother.
"I told you," were her first words the second the call went through.
"Yeah, you did," he grumbled. "Now I'm stuck here."
"This was your decision – only you can own up to your mistakes."
"Can't learn from them if you don't make any," he recited.
"Well look where your creed has gotten you. Honestly Tamo – what were you thinking going to the capital? Haven't you paid attention to anything on the news?"
Of course, he had; he just thought that the rules magically would let him fly by because he thought he knew what he was doing.
Little preparation, all guts; thus, summed up his current predicament.
Awesome.
"Well, what am I supposed to do now? Akihabara was a bust – they tore the place down to build some sort of mall and the any place to stay here is going to cost me not just an arm and a leg – but my body along with it."
"That my boy you'll need to figure out on your own. After all you took this risk; you're a grown man now after all."
"I KNOW!" he shouted, but immediately regretted as his grandma went quiet. "Oba...Oba-san… I'm-"
CLICK.
"-sorry. Damn it. Just had to let her have it, didn't you? Nice one, Tamo. Really."
Well, there went that lifeline. If the modum was anything to go by, then she wouldn't be talking to him for at least several hours – a day if she was really feeling spiteful.
But that's what he deserved. The woman had been nothing but kind to him after all these years and had taken great burdens to help raise him up. She didn't take any crap though; hard to stick to your guns when the one source of food you have – and really, back there, it was – is not on speaking terms with you.
He gave another sigh and carried on with his trek, pushing outside into Tokyo – no, Shinto Teito proper. Through the revolving doors and out into the streets, the concrete jungle awaited him.
The city might as well have been an alien civilization when he first stepped out into it. So many towering buildings that made the small town where his grandmother lived look like an anthill in comparison.
Even now it still had his jaw on the ground at times.
And so many people too! There were at least over a hundred in this block alone, let alone the street itself.
He'd almost gotten swept away when he first stepped out and there had been no apologies or anything. Everyone just carried on like usual, not even sparing a glance.
He might as well have been a ghost.
'I might still become one if I don't figure something out soon.'
Right now, there was nothing left to do but try to survive the day. That's all that mattered.
GROWL
Yeah, yeah, I hear ya. Come on let's go find something. Hope WcDonald's isn't too busy…
"Open your eyes."
She'd much rather roll them but did as instructed, as the physician shined a bright light across them three times.
"Pupils are dilated, very good. Stand up please."
She barely held back a huff, rising to her feet, and let the unflattering hospital gown fall to her knees.
"Arms up. Down. Lift your legs. Left, now the right. Down."
On and on it went, the same circus she'd been through a dozen times before. It had gotten to the point where she could recite each manner of the procedure from memory alone, if out of nothing but spite.
And there was plenty of that to go around.
The physician tapped in a few things to his tablet, glancing up at her every so often before giving one final nod. "Well congratulations thirty-eight – you have a clean bill of health. Everything checks out. I just need to run through a few more things in my office and you should be set to go."
Finally.
"Where are my clothes?" she all but demanded.
"They're clearing de-con right now. Should be here within the next half hour," the medic told her.
"Fine. Anything else?"
"Nothing on your end. Just sit tight and I'll be back in a bit. Remote's in the cabinet if you want some entertainment."
'The only entertainment I want is outside this damned place!' she groused but kept her response limited to a terse nod.
The medical tech left her by her lonesome which was a godsend for her because she couldn't help but feel naked around the man.
'Least this one was gay,' she mused with a sardonic smirk as she walked over to the window.
Before her, the city that those humans called home stretched out seemingly into the horizon. She might've marveled at the achievement they'd made – if her kind hadn't built things like this in the matter of a few decades instead of millennia.
That might've been a bit of an unfair comparison since comparing the two was like comparing an ant to a horse. But what did she care? Apart from one of them, the rest of their race meant nothing to her.
And she could feel him…or at least, she hoped it was a him.
'I really, really hope it is. Because if I have to stick my tonsils down a girl's, someone's going to have to take the lead – and it sure as hell won't be her, hehe.'
She wasn't going to deal with a spineless wimp for a mate, destiny or not.
Still, an Ashikabi was an Ashikabi. Her destined one that she would fight tooth and nail for to stay with.
She'd known about this since she was just a child but hadn't put too much thought into it like the others. Sure, the idea of someone who she would come to love so deeply had been enticing at the time, but she wasn't a little girl anymore.
That didn't change the strong pull she felt calling her out to the city proper.
Unbidden, she held a hand to the window and laid her palm on it, as if her touch could somehow reach that fabled person of hers.
'Ugh, cabin fever is driving me nuts. I need to get out of here already. If my outfit isn't here in the next-!'
Suddenly, there was a soft beep as the door to her room was opened and a pretty young woman – not as pretty as her, of course – stepped in with a bundle of shrink-wrapped items.
"I have your clothes here Number thirty-eight. I hope you like them."
"Just leave them on the chair; I'll get them in a sec," she said dismissively, as though the woman was her servant.
Considering where she was and who she was, that wasn't entirely inaccurate.
The woman pursed her lips but remembered her place and bowed, uttering a quiet thank you before closing the door behind her.
Alone once more, 38 made her way over and took hold of the bundle, tearing open the wrap to unfurl her new clothes.
Immediately she made a grimace of disgust.
"Ugh, why'd they have to make it so short? I swear, the designers at MBI are nothing but perverts."
Still, for what it was worth, it was her style.
'And the sooner I'm in it, the sooner I can go find the one I'm meant to be with. Hope you're ready lover boy because I'm coming for you!'
"Achoo! Gah, where did that come from? I haven't been out here that long, have I?"
No but he was lost. Initially he'd been fine but as the streets became busier and busier, it got to the point where he had been eager for any kind of refuge from the sea of faces. And now here he was.
Wherever here is, he thought to himself as he tried in vain to find any landmarks. And with my phone dead, I can't even use the GPS to find where the nearest store is.
And any attempts to try and ask anybody walking around either ended pretty much the same way.
"Sorry, can't talk right now. Late for meeting."
"I'm in a hurry, can't this wait?!"
"Buzz off kid and go beg somebody else. Maybe get a job."
'Does everybody in this city look down on people from the country or what? Because I swear, I'm getting singled out!'
He let out a groan and glanced back at his luggage, the only things he had of home.
The thought of selling some of his valuables had come into thought more times than he could count already, but he quickly dismissed it.
The fact he even considered doing it left a bitter feeling in his stomach, one he ruthlessly squashed down before it could get anywhere.
'To hell with that. I'm nothing like you. I'll figure it out – my way.'
One step forward and he was back on his trek, turning a corner…only to find a sight he had to do a double take on.
Unwittingly, he let out a groan.
'Seriously, why me?'
Irritating.
That's all Uzume could call it, being heckled by these scumbags that dared call themselves human. The leers they pierced her with sent shivers down her spine and if it weren't for having to keep a low profile, she might've already wiped the floor with them.
'Matsu,' she growled to herself, you are so getting it when I get back.'
"Hey babe, what's a pretty little thing like you doing by yourself? Sure you don't got anybody with that bod of yours?"
"I dunno man but she's got an ass worth stuffing my face in."
"The only ass you'll be stuffing in your face is your own if you keep it up," she growled at them, hoping they'd bugger off already.
These cretins were nothing but vultures, picking on those weaker than them. If they thought her the same, they were in for a rude awakening.
Sekirei powers or no, she'd still wipe the floor with their asses.
But Miya had stressed to her patience in the face of adversity, so she was trying her hardest not to jump the gun like she usually did.
'Figures that the day I exercise restraint, these jackasses pop up.'
"Come on babe," one of them said with an oily smile, taking a step closer to her whilst peeking at her breasts. "Do yourself a favor and let us give you the undisclosed tour of our fair city. I promise you won't regret it! Yuji and I are great guides!"
"Kei, I don't think she really believes us," Yuji said and Uzume's momentary hope of sanity was crushed as he pulled out a taser, "but it'll come as a shock to her all the same, hehe."
Uzume gritted her teeth, taking another step back until she hit a wall – literally. The two began to close in around her, the one with the taser getting dangerously close to her…
'…sorry Miya, can't do it.'
"Hey, you guys got any directions?"
Slightly longer this time, and here we've got Uzume beset by some jackasses. Will she just beat the ever-loving snot out of them? Nah, that'd be too cliche. I'm all for Uzume kicking ass but I also want to develop her relationship realistically...or as close as I can get to in a world where there are super powered waifus from another planet.
Ahem. Anyways, catch you guys next time.