And here we go.

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.

After his third cheeseburger, Uzume was starting to become concerned for her new friend. She'd been more than happy to foot the bill and still was, but the fact that Tamotsu hadn't stopped other than to breathe after he got his food was worrisome.

'Just how much did he barf up back there?' she thought with a shudder. 'And yet he still put himself through that for someone…'

Even now she still found his measure gaining when compared to everyone else. Sure, most humans she'd met were polite enough especially when it came to the male persuasion. But she was more than positive they were more interested in her tits than anything.

To be fair, Tamotsu was the same but at least he was honest about it and seemed genuinely more worried about how she'd react than the other way around.

So, until he proved her otherwise, she'd be sticking with him – if only to make sure he didn't end up eating himself sick.

"Feeling any better?" she tried to get in as he unwrapped his fourth burger.

"Much, yeah. Still got room in the tank and probably should overfill it so I can last the night," Tamotsu replied as he started scarfing down this one, albeit a little slower this time.

"Yeah, that reminds me. You're not from around here, are you?" The way he acted, the way he talked, the way he carried himself screamed outsider, but she tried not to try pry too much.

Even though deep down she really, really wanted to.

Wiping a bit of sauce off the corner of his lip, he shook his head. "I'm from Hikone. It's pretty isolated from everything and the only thing we've really got going for us is a castle and a lake."

Uzume leaned in with a grin, "Castle, eh? But you're not allowed to go in I'm guessing?"

Tamotsu's own cheeky grin said it all, "I'm always up for a little adventure – it's why I'm here, really."

Her smile faded a bit at that. Was that all it had been?

"Ah! But that wasn't why I jumped in back there!" he was quick to reassure her, waving his hand frantically. "I couldn't stand by and let them do that to you if I could do something about it. Please don't think I was just satisfying myself, Uzume-san."

Her smile returned full force, eyeing the young man with renewed fondness, "I never said it was, silly," she told him, relishing in his tiny blushes before he dove back into his burger to hide his flush.

So cute.

"So, apart from that little mess back there – how has this adventure treated you?" she opted for instead.

Swallowing hard, Tamotsu let out a groan. "It's been awful! I came here to finally visit the holy land of otaku culture – Akihabara, a paradise favored by few and ignored by the many."

Uzume eyed him oddly, smiling a bit bitterly at his phrasing, "The…holy land, huh?"

But she couldn't bear to put a pall on his current mood now that he was finally starting to get used to her.

Well, somewhat – as evidenced by the flushes that came back every so often they locked eyes.

Not that she was complaining of course.

Still, the name of the place was foreign to her. MBI had only educated her and the other Sekirei on the basics of human culture and that particular bit hadn't been included in their studies.

"Akihabara, was it? What's so special about it?"

If it were anyone else – human or Sekirei – that had gotten in her face just then, she would've shoved them right back down - hard.

Barring the Single Numbers, of course. But anybody below her was fair game.

Tamotsu however had gained very special privileges it seemed.

"What's so special, you ask?" he seemed to hiss at her, not unlike a snake. "Everything Uzume-san! It's a literal holy site turned into another sort for all those who proudly call themselves otakus!"

The others inside the restaurant were starting to look their way, most out of aggravation but she paid them no heed. It was the liveliest Tamotsu had been since she'd met him, and he seemed overjoyed to finally rant to someone about his passions.

And more importantly, it offered a window into the mystery of his life she was quickly wanting to solve.

"There's so many stores and places where you can buy games, toys, memorabilia, and cosplay– hell, there are entire departments devoted to that section alone, so you can make your own! It's a shrine devoted to all things anime and manga-related and ever since I was a kid I've wanted to go!"

Uzume found herself giggling at the mental image of a young Tamotsu spouting all of this. "It's been a dream of yours then," she guessed, smiling.

"YUP!" Tamotsu acknowledged with a grin, but soon deflated afterwards for some reason. Worse, his smile completely vanished "…until I got here that is."

Her head cocked to the side, puzzled. "Why's that?"

His hands slammed down on the table so fast that it inadvertently triggered her instincts, her veil underneath her clothes slipping out from under her shirt out of sight.

"THEY TORE IT DOWN!" he all but shouted at her, ignoring the disgusted looks of the patrons. "All that work, all that accumulation of culture – gone, thanks to those MBI bastards! This is their most cardinal sin I tell you!"

Subtly reigning in her veil, Uzume couldn't tell whether to laugh at him or pity him – probably both. She settled for patting him on the shoulder, for all the good that would do. "There, there… So, wait. If that's the case, then how come you didn't just go home?"

"It wasn't from a lack of trying," Tamotsu grumbled, pushing himself back to sit up straight. "I tried. MBI apparently ordered a city-wide curfew that shut down all travel to and from the capital – including the trains, which is how I got here."

Uzume's eyes widened at this development. MBI was closing the net already? Did that mean…?

'Is it that close then? I thought we'd have more time, but if so many have found their Ashikabi…'

"And after I raised unholy hell about it at the terminal, they kicked me out and a short time after I came across you and those twats. Now here I am, getting treated to free food by a brunette angel."

Her thoughts careened to a halt at that word. "A-angel?" she stammered, her face flushing.

His mirrored hers but worse, "Ah, I mean, uh, you were as pretty as one not that you are – though given how you've treated me I'd be hard pressed to say otherwise…"

Uzume for the first time broke contact eye contact with him, trying to quell her racing heart. For all her bluster and pride, this was the first time she felt self-conscious around another and all because of one word.

Uzume had been called many things in her life: traitor, exhibitionist, whore…

But never an angel. Never something she felt she could never be, Sekirei or no.

A tense silence fell between the two until Tamotsu broke it, "S-so Uzume-san, are you from around here or did you get drawn here like me?"

"I-" she started to say but clammed up.

She couldn't very well say she was looking for her Ashikabi – her destined one – to an outsider of the plan, or else he might be dealt with. MBI prided itself on absolute secrecy and went to any kind of length to ensure it stayed that way. That's why Karasuba was allowed a lengthy leash by MBI; she was the one that swept little instances like that under a bloody rug. The thought of that happening to Tamotsu sickened her on so many levels.

She didn't want to lie to him either though… Not after all he'd done for her.

Especially after what he was starting to mean to her…

"I'm looking for somebody," she settled on, still not meeting his eyes.

"Oh! I'm sorry, I didn't know you were on such a mission. Douches like those guys earlier certainly don't help things I take it."

"You don't know the half of it," she muttered bitterly.

"In any case, who are you looking for? Siblings? Parents? If I can help you any I'd be glad to-"

"That's…! Not necessary," she started to shout, but quieted down near the end. She sighed, "I'm looking for somebody important to me…someone I can't live without."

Silence reigned for a few moments, and somehow Uzume felt she'd just destroyed something.

Tamotsu became eerily quiet.

"Tamo-chan…?" she called quietly, turning back to him to find him staring back at her with wide eyes.

The look of devastation was clear on his face, but his eyes seemed to scream at her.

All at once, something broke inside her.

"Oh I…I see," he murmured, lowering his eyes to the table. "I mean, it makes sense. Why else would you have been alone like that?"

"T-Tamo-chan?" Uzume started to get a sinking feeling, something left her feeling sick.

Tamotsu chuckled miserably, though he tried hard to mask it behind a smile, "That's good then. I hope you find him – her, whichever it is. Anybody who manages to draw your eye is one lucky bastard."

"Tamo-"

But he pushed himself away from the table, his hair masking whatever emotion his eyes were feeling though that damned smile stayed in place. "Thank you for the food Uzume-san. I think I'll be fine, no, I know I'll be fine. Don't worry."

"Tamo-chan wait a sec-!"

His flipped his head up to give her one last look, and the look in his eyes tore through her heart.

"Good luck."

"Tamo-chan stop-!" she was halfway out of her seat when he bolted, bursting out of the diner and down the street.

Uzume just stood there, in shock and with her hand outstretched as though to reach out to him.

But now he was beyond her grasp, perhaps forever… All because she had to keep her feelings to herself, like always.

Settling down in her seat, she just stared ahead to where she'd last seen him…feeling the connection to him slowly fading away as he got further and further.

She couldn't push it aside anymore, especially after what just happened; she felt his pain almost like if it were her own.

A bitter smile stretched over her lips as she laid her head down on the table, "I finally found him…only to drive him away."

And with a broken heart too, on top of it.

She clawed at the table with her nails, unknowingly leaving deep gouge marks in it that frightened anyone that saw it.

She didn't care anymore. One way or another, she'd find him again and set things right.

She had to – if only to see his smile once more.

Idiot.

Idiot.

Stupid, freaking idiot!

What had he been expecting, really? That the beautiful brunette that he risked himself for would somehow fall for him? Like this was some of the anime and manga he'd read as a kid.

Yeah, right. Life wasn't so rosy it seemed. Of course she was taken – of course someone like her would belong to someone who could take care of her.

It was stupid immature pride that made him think otherwise.

He didn't know how long or how far he ran – anything it took to get as far away from her as possible, if only to clear her image from his mind.

Her smile was like a plague to him at this point. It hurt him on a physical level to visualize that smile being directed at somebody else – somebody that wasn't him.

But when the images finally fled and he came to a stop, he realized that he had long since left behind his luggage somewhere during the trek.

"When it rains it pours," he muttered bitterly before turning on his heel and heading further into the city.

It wasn't raining for real at least. That was something.

But now he had no luggage, no phone to call home with, and nowhere to stay for the night. He really had stepped into things this time, hadn't he? All to settle, what? Some foolish childish attempt at going to some otaku paradise – only to find it torn down long ago.

Fuck it.

Tamotsu trudged on, alone with only his thoughts and little else save for the shirt on his back and the possessions in his pocket.

What little he had in the way of savings had been long since blown getting to and from Akihabara – or what was left of it – and wouldn't get him any kind of place of lodging for the night.

He was well and truly screwed it seemed.

The glow from neon lights splattering him from all around reminded him that night had long fallen and that people like him shouldn't be on the streets right now.

Not that he cared at this point. All he wanted was to find a hole to curl up in and die.

Uzume… She was perfect in almost every way – pretty, brilliant, and not one to take anyone else's bullshit. Even now he couldn't hep but feel that had he not stepped in, she would've been decorating the walls with those punks.

It seemed like a match made in heaven…

Only to realize that heaven, like all other things he'd been taught to believe as a kid, was just another fantasy at the end of the day.

It was a dream. Sooner or later, you have to wake up and face reality.

This pain, what he felt right now in his chest was that cold truth.

"Damn it," he murmured, his heart beating painfully against his ribcage. "Damn it."

He shouldn't have said a damned thing, really. He should've just taken the food and went on his way like a good leech, even if said leech did step in to save her from those goons.

Now she was gone, and that was probably for the best.

If he saw her again…

Tamotsu gritted his teeth so hard they squeaked, forcing himself to keep walking and ignore the pain that had only just now begun to dull.

So he walked. Letting the world pass him by in a blur, he eventually found himself standing at the end of a large alley staring up at the largest building in the city, a familiar logo emblazoned on the side.

It only made his misery turn to rage.

MBI…this was all their goddamn fault. If they hadn't shut down the trains he would've been back home by now probably, getting chewed out by his grandmother but at least he'd be fed and safe.

Not alone at night in the largest city on the planet.

…or about to ganged up on by some old friends.

Tamotsu sighed, forcing a smile onto his face as he turned to greet the growing crowd of thugs that had clustered around him. "So, guess you guys took my advice after all."

"It seemed too good to pass up, really," a familiar voice sneered, its owner pushing himself to the front with his partner in tow. "And we thought we'd show our appreciation by letting you see the results firsthand."

There were at least 6 to 7 of them surrounding him, all wielding a weapon of some sort – seems Kei hadn't been taking chances this time around.

"I'm flattered really," Tamotsu said, chuckling. "But mind if I take a raincheck? I really would rather pass out – and not the painful way."

"Oh, but it seems the choice is out of your hand this time, kid," Kei returned, smiling deviously with wicked intent alighting his green eyes. "And it'd break the hearts of my friends here if you rejected it. You wouldn't want to do that, now would ya?"

Tamotsu glanced around as more of Kei's fellows closed in on him, cutting off his chance of escape. They weren't letting go it seemed… Well, that was fine. His rage had been building and needed an outlet.

"Well, if you insist," Tamotsu said, giving a dark grin.

It wasn't healthy to keep things pent up, after all.

I really, really hope the drama that just played out isn't too cheesy or cringey. I didn't want Tamotsu just to just snag Uzume right off the bat; that'd be too easy. If I wanted to just hand people everything, I'd just make a self-insert -_-

Well, poor Tamotsu. He jumped to conclusions quickly, didn't he? Not that Uzume could really stop him given how zealous MBI is at protecting their secrets - especially the existence of the Sekirei. And right when she realizes just who she has sitting across from her too.

And now we have what is sure to be a bloodbath between Tamotsu and Kei's gang. Guess some pests are persistent, and they even brought insurance. But Tamotsu isn't a slouch in a fight and though he might now win, he will at least hold his own for a bit.

Anything further on that measure would be spoilers ;)

Until next time