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.

A crash of thunder boomed, sending the twin-tailed blonde skidding forth along the roof. The air felt charged, which was a result of the two women who now stood before her in matching BDSM outfits – the only difference between being their color.

"Can't you two give it a rest already! Why don't you go find your Ashikabi, huh?!"

"And give you a chance to find yours? Not a chance, blondie!" one of them sneered, adopting a haughty pose.

"I'm sorry, but we can't allow you to get winged. It's nothing personal," the other said, almost remorsefully.

"Hypocrites!" Mitsuha gritted her teeth, clenching her whip tightly in her white gloved hands. It seemed she wasn't going to get a break any time soon.

These two had been on her not long after she left MBI and hadn't given up since. For three hours they hunted her across the rooftops, calling down literal heavenly justice to smite her to no avail.

She knew who they were though; rumors got around, even to those who hadn't yet been adjusted by MBI.

The Lightning Twins: numbers 11 and 12, Hikari and Hibiki, respectively.

They had made a name for themselves hunting down and terminating any Sekirei that hadn't been winged yet. Thus far, they'd taken down a number of other Sekirei and now it seemed she was next on their hit list.

Mitsuha scoffed.

Like she'd make it easy for them. But even she knew she was at a severe disadvantage. The twins were already winged and could thus unleash all their power on her while she was still restrained, so to speak.

Put simply – she was outgunned and outnumbered.

But what she did have going for her was the unrelenting drive to survive and find her destined one, come hell or high water. Plus her whip was sturdier than most and with her Sekirei strength, she could use the environment to her advantage.

For instance-

"Hah!" Mitsuha cried, lashing out with her whip at the twins who effortlessly evaded it.

Hikari scoffed, "Really, what was that supposed to do-!"

"SIS LOOK OUT!" Hibiki cried, tackling her twin out of the way as a beam came swinging down towards them, aiming to knock them out cold

Mitsuha didn't wait around for them to collect themselves, dashing to the end of the roof and leaping off, "Later bitches~!" she sang, letting gravity take her. She lashed out her whip again and strung it around a fire escape, landing as nimble as a feline onto it.

"GRRR that little-! Where did she go, huh?!"

"Forget it sis, we've spent enough time out here as it is and I'm hungry."

"Tch! She got lucky tonight," Hikari spat as she strode away from the edge along with Hibiki, unaware of their quarry just below.

Once she couldn't feel them anymore, Mitsuha let out a sigh and rubbed her face. "Finally. I thought they'd never leave me alone."

If situations like this were what she had to look forward to as an un-winged Sekirei, then she needed to find her Ashikabi and fast.

But the chances of finding him at night with an MBI curfew in effect were slim so that left her with little choice but to turn in for today.

She gritted her teeth, letting a growl loose as she got up to head back to lodging for the night.

"The next time I see those two, I'll drop a billboard on them…"

Old habits died hard.

When the first punch came, Tamotsu felt something take over almost identical to what happened earlier with Uzume. His senses sharpened, becoming like a fine dagger and so he managed to deflect the first blow with little issue.

The second was another story.

"Urgh!" he groaned, stumbling back as another managed to get him from behind.

"That's it, boys! Don't give him room to breathe!" Kei jeered, content to watch from the back.

More were quickly getting involved but they were getting cocky, trying to get their pound of flesh in before the rest of them.

It was an oversight Tamotsu was happy to exploit.

As one guy moved in with a rusty pipe, he shifted his body just enough so the swing missed him and hit the other thug with brass knuckles who had managed that sucker punch. Brass man let out a string of curses as fell to the ground, clutching his head.

Tamotsu didn't hesitate; he swung his elbow back and beaned the prick in the nose, knocking him on his ass. It was a small victory but gave him some elbow room as the others moved in to replace their fallen fellow.

"Come on then!" he taunted them with a yell.

Two rushed in with war cries, each brandishing either a piece of plywood or a metal pole. Tamotsu let the one with the pole sail past him, catching plywood man's strike with the brunt of his arm - it hurt like hell but he'd dealt with worse. Shrugging off the blow, he capitalized on the man's momentary shock by jabbing him in the nose, throwing him backwards.

"Fucking get him already!" Yuji shouted, just outside the pack. He seemed more than content to let the others weaken him then would dive in to finish the job.

'Like it'll be that easy, fat ass,' Tamotsu sneered in his mind as he plucked the piece of wood from the ground.

"HRAA!"

Acting purely on instinct, Tamotsu whirled around with the piece of wood, just in time to block the downward swing of the metal pole. Shoving the wielder back, he bashed in the corner of his face with the weapon, sending him stumbling.

Two meaty arms wrapped themselves around his torso suddenly, constricting him. "Got ya now you little punk!" a voice hissed maliciously in his arms. "Well, what are ya waiting for?"

Both pole man and two others closed in, eager to redeem themselves from before.

Shit, this was getting dicey. Fortunately, these guys weren't very bright, and this guy was holding him just enough where he could pull it off.

Lifting his right leg, he smashed his foot right into the side of his captor's knee, feeling it give somewhat.

"FFFFFFUUUU-!" As the man crumbled the grip relented, allowing Tamotsu to get away just as a metal pole scored a hit across his captor's face, knocking him out.

"Damn you!"

Another burly thug sought to land a kick on his from behind, forcing Tamotsu to throw up his weapon – which he somehow still had – and threw it up to block the strike. The plywood snapped in two, the pieces flying into Tamotsu's face and leaving him open.

His head swam, but the momentary dizziness faded just enough for him to leap out of the way of another strike that would've sent him to the ground.

"Ah come on kid," Kei sneered. "Where's all that confidence you had earlier? Don't tell me you used all that up on us."

"Wouldn't you like to know, asshat," Tamotsu managed to quip, eyeing the two thugs in front of him warily. At least two were out of the fight but 5 more – including Kei and Yuji – were waiting in the wings.

Kei's showed a yellow-stained toothy grin, "I think you stepped into some shit you can't just wipe off, actually."

Tamotsu grit his teeth, making sure to keep a healthy distance between the other two thugs while he figured out what to do.

"Come one ya little prick, bring it!" the one with the pole jeered.

Tamotsu felt his heart lurch, and a cold fury settled over him, glaring at the thug, "Call me that again…one more time, and you'll swallowing your own teeth."

To his credit, the other thug seemed a bit more wary of him now but metal pole didn't seem to care about his skin and grinned.

"Make me you pri-"

Tamotsu was on him before he even finished, hammering his fist right into the smug bastard's nose. Metal pole cried out, clutching at his face but Tamotsu hammered a kick into his mid-section, knocking him down.

"My NOSE! My fucking nose…!"

Tamotsu scooped up the metal pole before anything else, brandishing it like a sword to the thug.

Kei, despite the sudden change in tone, laughed at him. "Well lookee here boys. We got ourselves a modern-day samurai. Still think you're a hero, kid? This ain't a fucking movie and you're not a star."

Tamotsu couldn't care less what the bastard said – all that mattered was kicking the shit out of each and every one of them, until either they were gone, or he was dead.

Nothing else mattered at this point.

"Boss, I really think we oughta-"

"Shut it retard! If I want your input, I'll goddamn ask for it!" Kei snapped at his men.

"You heard'im…retard," Tamotsu taunted. "Get to work."

His eyes burning with rage, the thug let out a furious roar and charged him, missing Tamotsu completely and earning a blow to his arm for his troubles. That however didn't stop the thug like the others; if anything it only enraged him even more.

"Shit!" Tamotsu cursed, as the weapon in his hands got knocked out of his grasp. Avoiding an overhand swing of the brute's arms, he fell to the ground and felt something jostle around in his pocket.

'Really? I forgot I had this? I really need to check my pockets more often…'

Whatever the case, now he at least had a fighting chance against these bastards.

"YOU'RE FUCKING DEAD!"

Skipping out of the way, Tamotsu wrenched forth his little ace in the hole and flipped it on, just as the thug was about to grind him to a pulp. Jabbing it into the side of his adversary, the taser brought the raging beast down with a howl of pain, electricity dancing across his body.

"Alright, now who's-!"

CRACK!

"GWAAAAGHH...!"

Blinding pain scored itself across his vision, making him see stars for a moment. When he managed to cover, he took stock of the result.

His arm now useless from the surprise strike by Yuji, he glared over at the fat thug who held the iron pipe from earlier, grinning smugly.

"Let's see you fight now, you little prick," Yuji chuckled darkly.

"Oh, I'm going to shove that pipe down your damned throat," Tamotsu promised, trying not to let the pain of his dislocated shoulder blind him completely.

It hurt like all hell, but his fury burned much hotter than it could ever do.

"Then I'll break the other one too!" Yui said gleefully, tromping over to him once more, pip held at the ready.

Tamotsu waited until just the right moment before Yuji swung, using his free arm to jam it into Yuji's chest, knocking the wind out of him. But it wasn't enough this time.

"Little FUCK!" Yuji roared, smashing his meaty fist into Tamotsu's face, throwing him to the ground.

Tamotsu tried to get up but felt pain overwhelm him as several feet began kicking him in the face, the body and literally everywhere else.

The pain was…too much to bear. Stars danced across his eyes and for the briefest instance he thought he could see his grandfather in the distance.

But that wasn't right, was it? Unless he was dying.

'Am I…going to die here? Like…this?'

"Yuji, I think you got him," Kei said, chuckling as he walked over to his bent-out-shape friend who was still kicking the kid's shit in. Not like he didn't deserve it of course, after he made such a fool out of them. He had it coming.

"I thought the little bastard would never go down," one of his cronies muttered crossly, favoring his arm. "Fucker's not normal."

No shit. Considering the fact he all but danced around a life-or-death situation before, Kei knew exactly how messed up this kid was. In any other setting, he might've tried to get him in his circle.

But instead, he tried to be a hero. It served him right. Kei had no patience for little pricks like him. He should count himself lucky that this was all he was subjected to.

And he was about to get a free ride out too. Really, he had it made.

"Little…fucking…shit," Yuji snarled, punctuating each word with a kick to the kid's body.

Kei frowned, "I said enough you dumbass. I don't want him dead."

'At least not yet,' Kei added to himself.

"You're the boss," Yuji mumbled, glaring down at the kid one more time.

Kei took the chance to give the kid and once over and, despite how he might detest the brat, he couldn't help but wince at the state he was left in. The kid had bruises and cuts all over his body, and if wasn't looking hard enough he'd say the kid was close to death.

For all he knew he probably was.

'But, I'm ok with that – if only it means I get to be the last face he ever sees.'

"You know kid," he said, kneeling down to the brat and patting his shoulder – the one Yuji had hit with the pipe, as evidenced by the way his body seized up. "I gotta hand it to ya. You lasted a lot longer than I thought you would. That makes you a real freak though and if there's anything I feel society don't need more of, it's freaks. So maybe I should do the world a favor and spare it from anymore guys like you – ya get what I'm saying?"

"… …hgh…" the kid murmured, letting out a tiny moan as an answer.

"You think so too, don't ya?" Kei smirked. "Atta boy. I knew you'd be a team player in the end. And just for that," he said, reaching into his pocket and producing a snub-nosed revolver, "I'm going to forgive ya for all the shit that happened earlier."

At this, the kid's eyes actually widened with the first bit of fear Kei had been able to see – and it was oh so delightful to the up and coming thug.

"Boss, you're really gonna kill'im?" one of his men questioned, and he shot a glare over the guy. "I mean, you've done it before but you usually let us deal with it."

True he usually didn't get his hands dirty if he could help it. That's what guys like Yuji were for after all. They were the muscle and he the brains.

But every once in a while, there was one guy he just couldn't let sit and tonight, it just had to be this poor bastard's lot to be one of them. Kei might've pitied the kid if he hadn't made a complete fool out of him earlier. Right now, all he felt was a distinct satisfaction that his beloved pride had been mended.

All that was left was to dispose of the evidence…and he couldn't really do that if the kid was still around.

And really, he did owe him for one thing: doing this at night was much, much safer than during the day. So, it only felt right to the kid off easy.

Kei held the muzzle of the revolver to the kid's head, relishing in the look of fear and horror that was quickly filling his face. "Scared, junior? You shouldn't be afraid of death. Think of it as… an old friend, come to welcome you back after so long."

"I…ugh…I still-"

"Shhhh," Kei hissed, his smile widening all the while as the rest of his gang clustered around him to watch – sick bastards he knew they were. He was in good company. "Take it easy. Sound your words out. They're your last, you know? Might as well make'em special."

"I…"

"Yesss?" Kei drawled, grinning widely. "We're listening~"

Then, the kid did something that would probably haunt him for a bit.

He managed a grin – weak as it was – but it held absolutely no fear to it and whispered, "Still…made it…longer than…you."

And like that, the grin on Kei's face vanished replaced by a growing hatred and desire to pull the trigger on this kid. "Tell that to Kami-sama when you see him next, cause he's the only one who is going to give a shit about you."

The grin however remained, unnerving Kei to the very end as he curled his finger around the trigger…

…and one of his guys let out a scream as he was yanked away.

"UWAAAH HELP AAAAH!"

"The fuck?!"

"What the hell is that?!"

Kei shot a look over to find out what the hell was going on…and paled.

What he saw would haunt him far more than the kid's words ever could.

A long figure stood a distance from them but they – she – was impossible to miss. Clad in white as she was, with a snake-like line of cloth fluttering around her, she stood quietly…even as that same cloth now constricted one of his boys like a boa.

"The…fuck?" Yuji muttered in disbelief. "How is she doing that…IS she doing that?"

Kei had no idea what he was seeing, but an innate sense of survival he had developed over the years was telling him to get out of dodge ASAP.

But his pride demanded he suck it up and stop being a bitch, so he listened – like always.

"Hey now, ain't it a little rude to barge in on other people's business?" he called out almost casually, doing his best not project any sign of fear to his boys. If they caught whiff of it, they'd bolt and he'd be the one facing this chick alone.

The woman said nothing; whatever kind of reaction she might've had – or how she might've been feeling – was concealed by a large white hood that only revealed the bottom of her face.

Kei smirked, striding forth to the front of his fellows, making sure to keep the gun handy in case things got…messy. "Look doll, that's quite a fancy show you're putting on but could you let my subordinate down – he looks like he's about to piss himself."

"Heh, I think he already did," one of his men chuckled.

"FUCK-!"

Without batting an eye, the woman threw him into the side of a wall, where he slumped down, unmoving.

Kei's smile vanished in an instant.

'...what?'

"Oh shit… Matsuo, hey Matsuo get up!"

No answer.

The woman took a step forth as that weird cloth began to flutter and wave about her body, almost as if it was alive.

Hell for all he knew, it was.

"Stay the fuck back you bitch!" Yuji screamed at her, holding his pipe.

She didn't say a thing, only continuing to get closer and closer – that cloth of hers getting more and more lively.

'This bitch,' he snarled, finger curled around the trigger.

"Fucking whore, this'll teach you!" one of his men growled and raced forward, aiming to beat her into submission.

Kei only wished that had happened – things might've made more sense.

That damned cloth lanced out like a serpent, slapping away one Kei's stronger members, and sending him skidding along the asphalt to a motionless halt. All the while she never stopped walking.

"Fucking bitch! What are you!" Yuji snarled but was held back by one of his other men. "Let go of me! I'll pulverize her!"

"Dude shut the hell up and listen I think she's one of them!"

Despite the situation, Kei almost rolled his eyes.

'Oh not this again…'

The word on the street was MBI had let loose some of its experiments, each one supposedly something far beyond what normal humans would be like. They were supposedly super-humans, able to do shit that no human could possibly do and had superpowers.

What a load of MBI propaganda bullshit…

…had been his first thought, but the fact that two of his best men had been taken out so easily by one woman was causing him to have second thoughts.

And what's more, said woman had come to a stop at his flunkey's words so that set off a number of alarm bells.

If it was true…

"What, you mean one of them Sakare?" Yuji fumbled, scratching his head a bit.

"Sekirei dumbshit, they're called Sekirei. I heard there are a lot of them too, and I'm talking dozens. And if she's one of them…"

"So what if she is? She ain't invulnerable or anything!"

No, but that did make her far more than human – a freak, basically.

Kei clutched the gun in his hands harder. If she really was one…then that meant it would only be right for her to be taken out, right?

"Screw this, I ain't scared of some super-bitch!" Yuji roared, racing forward with his fists held high towards the veiled woman.

"Damn it Yuji-wait!" Kei shouted to no avail.

Yuji started swinging, each punch missing by miles as the woman seemed to dance around him. "Dodge this THEN!" he growled, producing the taser that had been stolen from him that the kid had and jammed it straight into the woman's chest - her tits, specifically.

A brief lightshow erupted from them, forcing Kei to shield his eyes for a moment and wait for the light to fade. When it did, Kei stared in disbelief at the fact the woman was not only not on the ground, but didn't look affected at all.

'What in the goddamn-?'

She struck, grabbing the meaty thug's collar, and tossing him aside like he was litter. Yuji's massive form smashed through a concrete wall, falling to land squarely in a dumpster.

"F-fuck!" Kei hissed, fumbling with his revolver before turning to the remaining members of his gang. "What are you shits waiting for!? GET HER!"

At least they still feared him more for the moment.

The three brutes all charged forth with a myriad of war cries, aiming to overwhelm the hooded woman in one go. She waved a white gloved hand about her, spurning the long veil hovering over her into action as it ensnared two of them. With a scream, they were thrown to the left and right into the side wall, leaving craters there. The last sod who remained tried his best to land a hit on her, but her roundhouse kick was lightning fast and sent him careening into a nearby sign, denting it.

With the interference gone, she continued her walk towards him as he was now feeling his heartbeat pound in his ears.

"S-stay the fuck back you freaky bitch! I'll do it! Don't think for one second I won't!"

The fact that the threat of a gun didn't halt her cemented his belief that this woman wasn't normal. She was a freak and he did what he did to all freaks.

"Die!" he pulled the trigger, the gun going off with a bang and bright flash.

BANG!

Try and dodge a bullet you freaky bitch! This ain't the movies, so you can't-!

His thoughts careened to a cataclysmic halt as the cloth that had tore through all of his men suddenly enveloped the woman in a cocoon of white, the bullet whizzing forward at breakneck speed.

PLINK

The bullet merely bounced off the cloth – cloth – bubble, the cocoon shifting apart leaving her completely unharmed.

'This isn't real… This can't be real… THIS AIN'T FUCKING REAL!'

He pulled the trigger again, again, and again.

BANG! BANG BANG! BANG! BANG!

That damned veil of hers sprung up to block each shot as she strode forth, unafraid.

"DIE DAMN IT!"

CLICK!

'Huh...?'

CLICK CLICK!

"SHIT!" Kei yelped, tossing the gun away as he tried to make a run for it…

…only for something to snare around his arm and hold him in place.

"FUCK!" Kei hissed, shooting a glare over at the woman who held her arm out towards him. Her expression ever changed, her lips never moved as she closed her fist.

CRUNCH!

"GWAAAAAAAAAAAAGH!"

His howl split the night, pain consuming him as he cradled his now fractured arm on his knees. "Fuck…FUCK…FUCKING-!"

"Do you enjoy this?"

Kei's heart stopped. Slowly he turned to look up and found baleful brown orbs glimmering down at him. His blood turned to ice in his veins.

"Do you enjoy the pain you inflict?"

Kei didn't speak – he couldn't. It was taking all he had not to piss himself.

Her eyes narrowed and a second later, he felt something constricting his throat and lift him off the ground.

She didn't even have to move her hands this time.

'What…in all goddamn hell…'

"The misery you inflict on others – do you enjoy it?"

'What is she?'

"WELL?!" she screamed at him, and this time he felt something trickling down his leg. "Tch."

She let him go, letting him fall to the ground – right onto his broken arm.

"GWAAAHAGAHHH," he wailed fitfully, tears of pain and frustration springing to his eyes.

"Leave. Before I decide else-wise. And if you come after this boy again," she trailed off, and he felt that cloth wind around his throat again, almost strangling him.

"...that night will be your last."

The pressure faded, and he didn't question it. Pure flight or fight was in effect and damn his pride, he was going to live!

'Fuck…fuck…fuck!'

A demon… a literal demon.

That's what she was – what the Sekirei were.

The only consolation to all of this was knowing that the kid wouldn't be in better hands with her and would still probably die.

'So in the end, I still win...you fucking freaks!'

It was getting very hard to breathe now…to stay awake.

Tired…he was so tired…

His body hurt all over, and his head felt like it had been cracked open by a sledgehammer.

He could barely see now; all he could perceive was a pair of legs – probably Kei and his gang's.

He'd stopped trying to push himself up…to crawl away.

It was just too much effort.

The sounds of the city had dulled to a whisper, as though he were listening to it through a seashell.

Tired…so tired…

'Maybe…maybe just a minute will do…just…a minute…'

His eyes fell heavier and heavier, until it felt like something gave and he let them slide closed.

Soft. Something soft and warm held him.

It reminded him of simpler times, back when he had a family to go back to…

It pushed him over, and the pain brought back a wave of coherence however little it was.

But it was enough to perceive the sight that now dominated what was left of his vision.

"An…"

"… …" her voice was muffled, such so he couldn't make out her words. She was speaking to him, he knew that. But he wished he could hear her voice.

"An…!" he tried again but heaved a sigh through the effort.

Something soft grasped his cheek almost tenderly, and he took some comfort that his last moments would at least be something memorable. But he was a stubborn bastard and if he had to leave the world now, he'd do it on his terms.

So he had to get this last word out – even if it would kill him.

"An…an...gel…"

The last thoughts were of something warm…and wet.

That was a messy battle scene I know; writing battle scenes - brawl scenes, specifically - have never been my strong suit. Still, they come much easier to me than dialogue does.

I hope nobody was expecting my OC to beat all of Kei's gang to a pulp. He lucked out with them early on and Kei learned from his mistakes - he got backup. Still, Tamotsu isn't any stranger to fights and has honed a sort of survival instinct that helped him last as long as he did. And it took him getting his arm taken out of commission for them to be able to finally deal with him. That should speak volumes to his fortitude.

I wanted to really hone in on the fact that Kei is a sadistic bastard who doesn't even blink at the idea of taking another life, especially those who wrong him. He's petty and cruel and I hope I got that across. This won't be the last we see of him either. I already know where I'm sending him.

And then we have the Veiled Sekirei making her grand entrance. One thing that always struck me in the series is that, next to Karasuba, Uzume is one of the most feared Sekirei based on her presence alone. She's terrifying to fight and I could only imagine how all the Sekirei she terminated - and by extension Ashikabi - felt having to face her. It was that tone that I wanted to set, that feeling of absolute hopelessness when faced with something far beyond you. And I had to channel one specific character to nail that particular tone - kudos to any of you who guess who it is, but here's a little hint: she bathes in gratuitous amounts of blood via psychic abilities. Anyways, hope she comes off terrifying - to the gangsters that is.

I did take a bit of liberties with her powers here, namely the fact her cloth can deflect bullets. But if she can stop a full blast of Tsukiumi's water celebration, I think stopping a bullet is nothing for her. Hell she might've done this in the series but I don't recall it.

Until then,

Take care.