A/N: Hey everyone, to compensate the wreck that's been my recent update schedule, there's a double update today. This is the SECOND chapter I've updated today, so if you got here first, you might want to check the previous one first.
009 - How to set up a redemption arc and pin it on the villain.
"This isn't the last you've seen of me, Disciplinary Squad."
Silence falls for a while after Pyro Kamen's edgy farewell. Haihane's Ashikabi doesn't seem to be in any hurry to leave, the chibi is barely awake and seemingly has her plate full with holding on to consciousness and Haihane herself… Haihane is feeling a bit tired, actually.
Now that the adrenaline rush from the fight is over, she's kind of crashing. Turns out that tearing a mercury dragon into shreds without a Norito is an exhausting task. Man, she's also famishing. She would totally kill for a burger about now. Or seven.
She's still considering the merits of traditional beef burger versus something a bit more exotic -she saw an add about a new ostrich meat burger just the other day- when the chibi lets out a mighty groan and somehow manages to sit up against a wall from where she was laying on the floor.
"So this is… the might of the …Disciplinary Squad…" She manages to wheeze out, warily looking up at Haihane and her Ashikabi. "Such… power."
"Heh, and I wasn't even using my Norito."
"Tch!"
"Let this serve as a warning, your little crusade was doomed from the very start. Haihane isn't even our strongest fighter." Haihane's Ashikabi says, making her pout a bit. Because that might be true, but comparing her with Karasuba-sama isn't fair! "Your only way to effectively strike at MBI is through the proper channels. Compete in the Plan and win, then you'll be in a position to dictate your own terms."
"I'll never accept—! Not after–!" The chibi seems to have trouble with her retort but, then again, she's probably concussed, so Haihane doesn't judge her too harshly for it. "I don't want an Ashikabi."
"Pfffffft–!" Haihane can't help breaking out a laughing fit at the ridiculous declaration. Maybe she hit the chibi harder than she thought? All sekirei want an Ashikabi. Even Karasuma-sama. "Kukukukukukukuku!"
She tries to shut up when her Ashilabi sends her an amused glance but nope. It's too funny, she simply can't. The most she can do is keep it down so her Ashikabi can talk over her.
"Kukukukukukukuku."
"I hear Number 09, Tsukiumi, intends on winning without an Ashikabi." Her Ashikabi speaks up again, retaking the conversation. "I doubt she'll get anywhere, but her stance is… technically not against the rules."
"Hmpf!" The chibi puffs her chest up, trying and failing to make herself look more important. "Those are terms I might be… Amenable to.*
"Good. Can you stand on your own or do you require assistance?"
"What do you take me for? This weakness is but a temporary setback." Chibi protests haughtily, trying to stand up only to fall right back on her ass. If anything, the way she tries to keep her dignity through the process only serves to renew Haihane's laughter. "I'll be on my feet in a minute. Or two."
"One last thing, I have business with number 22. Would you know where I can find her, by any chance?"
Haihane perks up here, because that serial number certaily rings a bell. Wasn't she that Brain-type with the glasses and the big bazongas that her Ashilabi was interested in recruiting? The one someone else had their sights on and might get forcefully winged?
That's gotta suck, getting your wings from some unknown rando you've never seen before, who just comes and does whatever they want without caring for your opinion. That's not something that will ever happen to Haihane, she's already winged, for one. Too strong for your average Ashikabi to force her into anything, even if they already have one or two Sekirei with them.
But a Brain-type won't be able to put up much of a fight, if things get ugly. That gotta suck.
"Kochou-cha—? I mean, that glasses cow?" The chibi asks with wide eyes, making Haihane nod in satisfaction. Yup, it really was the big bazongas girl. And the chibi already knows her! Talk about lucky! "Why would I know? Just because we're batchmates doesn't mean I would keep track of her!"
"I see, sorry for wasting your time."
And with that, Haihane's Ashikabi fixes her glasses and turns around to leave. Wait, what? Are they really going to leave like that?
"Er… Ashikabi-sama?" Haihane calls out hesitantly, trading a confused glance between the chibi on the ground and her Ashikabi already leaving. "Didn't you say this was urgent and she was in danger or something?"
"Yes, but it can't be helped if number 21 didn't keep contact. We'll have to use our own resources to look for her and hope we make it in time"
"Indeed. I am under no obligation to keep tabs on people just because I know them." The chibi nods along, crossing her arms and closing her eyes and overall acting like she's not lying on the ground incapable of moving after taking the beating of her life. "So I wouldn't have any way of knowing she frequents that old and huge public library in the East District. I'm glad you understand."
"Ah." Did the chibi… just point them in the right direction while shamelessly claiming she wouldn't do it? Haihane knows the word for that. "Tsundere."
It's funny to watch the chibi forget her attempts at dignity and break down in sputtered denials, but that's when a sudden realization hits Haihane like a bolt from the blue.
"Wait, does this mean I can be the Metal Sekirei now?"
"Wha– No! Just what… No! How would you? Why would you? I'm the Metal Sekirei!"
"Well, I just beat you, so I get to take your title." Haihane crosses her arms -Careful with the claws…- and nods her head. "You can be the Blue Sekirei instead."
"But I have nothing to do with the color blue!" The chibi protests.
"Neither do I, really." Haihane replies, uncrossing her arms to carefully -very carefully- scratch her head instead. "I still have no idea where my title came from. I think it's because it matched Benitsubasa's or something. But that doesn't matter anymore because she's Terminated now."
"I'm the one who controls metal!"
"But I'm the one who looks metal." Haihane delivers her devastating counterargument, puffing up her chest victoriously. "No offense, but you look more like goth."
"Excuse you? Gothic Lolita, there's a difference." The chibi protest, sounding genuinely indignant for the first time. A strange hill to die on, but whatever. "And I don't think you have any room to talk with that makeup you're wearing."
"I'll have you know my pale skin and dark eyebags are all natural. And works for both. And my hair is totally metal."
"You're… No, this is pointless." The chibi rubs her forehead in frustration, taking a deep breath to calm herself before trying to get up again. This time, she manages, more or less. "I'll be the bigger woman and remove myself before I catch whatever affliction is addling to your brain."
Her piece said, the chibi finally manages to get up to take her leave, leaning on the building walls for support as she walks on wobbly legs. Haihane and her Ashikabi watch silently for the ten minutes it takes her to disappear into the darkness.
"Geez, what's her problem?"
"She hates everything in the world." Her Ashikabi, who had seemed content with watching their back and forth so far, finally speaks up again. "Herself the most."
"Yikes." Haihane mutters, It's probably not worth it to keep asking, no matter how curious she feels about the chibi. "But, like… Was she born like that?" … Of course, nobody ever accused her of having good impulse control. "Or was it an acquired hate?"
"Her adjuster turned out to be a potential Ashikabi that somehow flew under the radar. Number 21 reacted to her."
"That… doesn't sound too bad?" Adjusters are not supposed to have Ashikabi Potential, because working closely with their Sekirei pretty much guarantees a reaction. Sure, it's a bit unfair, but it's not the end of the world. "So are they part of the plan now? Why didn't they join the Disciplinary Squad?"
"Because, when MBI learned about the situation, the adjuster was called aside and given a… deeper understanding of the Sekirei Project." Her Ashikabi continues. "I hear she wasn't too enthused with the idea of getting dragged into it."
"... Yeah, that'd do it." Haihane admits with a wince. "Wait, how come the chibi has a grudge with MBI, then? It makes no sense, we did nothing wrong!"
"Logic and sense often take a back seat when emotions come to the fore. Number 21 feels like that woman chose MBI before her, hence the grudge."
Haihane hums thoughtfully, crossing her arms behind her head as she stares at the small strip of starry sky that can be seen between the buildings. She doesn't know much about tragic romance or emotions going out of control or anything like that, that's always been more of Benitsubasa's thing.
But reacting to someone only to be turned down? Finding your Destined One only to discover she's not interested? She can picture that, just a bit. It's not a nice picture.
"Well, I hope things work out for the chibi in the end." She concludes simply. "I kinda like her."
"She should be, assuming she follows my advice and stops trying become our problem. Speaking of luck, it's fortunate you were the one with me when we crossed paths. Things would've played very differently, had Karasuba been the one who faced her."
"Karasuba-sama is kind of Termination-happy, yeah." Haihane concedes. "But I think you could've talked her out of it."
It's not like the Black Sekirei cares all that much about random lives, one way or another. Killing is just simpler and easier. And no matter how much she tries to hide it, their shared Ashikabi has a lot of influence over her. She would stay her hand if asked.
"Karasuba may listen to me, but my influence isn't unlimited. With a Sekirei with Number 21's story? Someone who reacted to her adjuster and, once the situation fell through, abandoned her batch to deal with the heartbreak on her own?" Her Ashikabi replies, shaking her head softly. "Number 21 would've been terminated on the spot."
"But she knew where Number 22 is!" Haihane protests. "She didn't abandon her batch!"
"Maybe, but I doubt Karasuba would have waited long enough to learn about that."
"I don't get it."
"Number 21, Suigintou… Her very existence would've rubbed against some old wounds, stirring memories of a long-lost… friend."
"I didn't know Karasuba-sama had any friends."
"She doesn't." Her Ashikabi concedes without hesitation. "But that doesn't mean she never had them before."
Right, Haihane has no idea what that's supposed to mean, but she's kinda glad number 21 wasn't Terminated. The girl was pretty cool, even if she doesn't see what a Gothic Lolita has to do with Metal. But she probably isn't going to figure that one out anytime soon.
Reinforcements from MBI arrive as she reflects on this. Four vans that hurriedly close off both exits of the alley and swiftly work on cordoning the scene. One of them approaches her Ashikabi, thanking her for keeping watch while they arrived and asking for an update on the situation.
Oh, so that's why they stayed around after the chibi left! Haihane had been wondering.
Also, according to her Ashikabi, the driver survived and needs medical attention, but it's too late for the guy in the passenger seat. That explains why there weren't four guns in the chunky salsa for Haihane to easily count the number of casualties. The last one was pureed inside the vehicle!
The survivor is quickly moved to one of the vans and taken away to the hospital. Or so Haihane guesses, she really has no idea what happens to wounded goons after they leave her line of sight. As far as she can tell, they might all be mass-produced clones that are daily thrown away and replaced with a batch of fresh copies every morning. They all sure look the same to her.
Unfortunately, the rest of the goons take longer to leave, that with having to clean up the scene and everything. By the time the remaining vans disappear into the night, Haihane is bored out of her mind and ready to call it a day and get back to base for a round Smash. Or maybe Tekken. She's kind of in the mood for Tekken tonight.
But hey! At least her Ashikabi has been successfully distracted!
"Oh, crap." Haihane whines ten minutes later, once she finally notices the shredded front side of her uniform and tattered remnants of her bandages showing off generous portions of her breasts and barely hiding her nipples. "My clothes got ruined in the fight."
"That was two hours ago." Her Ashikabi deadpans in reply, the fond amusement buried so deep into her voice that Haihane doubts anyone else would've caught it. "At least it'll be a good chance to get you off those ridiculous belts and bandages getup."
"But I like them!"
"They're hard to remove and serve no practical purpose."
"..."
"Haihane?"
"You had me at 'hard to remove'."
Maybe she could look up some goth clothes and become the Goth Sekirei? Then she could be goth sisters with the chibi! Or a yukata? She's seen some ecchi games where the girls get stripped simply by pulling from the obi and being made to spin for a bit.
And then, since she's already out of her clothes, maybe they could do this and that and… Kukukukukukukuku~
That sounds even better than Tekken!
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