The next morning, like normal, Ranma wakes up to the feeling of cold water hitting her face. It only takes her a few seconds to realise that she's not in the Koi pond. Instead, Genma has thrown a bucket of water over her face. The reason for this becomes apparent as he realises that someone is lying next to him.
Kusano opens her eyes and looks at Genma, "You're a poo head, why did you do that?"
In a panic, Ranma scrabbles away from Kusano and off the futon, only for Genma's foot to catch her under the chin and launch her into the Koi Pond. Unseen by Genma, Kusano starts to cry at the violence happening outside the window. Outside, on her way to the toilet, Akane stops at the exchange before opening the door and walking in to comfort Kusano.
"Hey, what's wrong?"
Kusano points out of the window at Genma while she cries as Akane kneels down to hug the crying child. When she looks up, the fight has moved, and Kusano is now pointing at Ranma.
Meanwhile, on the lawn, Ranma and Genma are fighting like normal. This goes on for a few minutes until Ranma pushes a bit of chi, and something else, into a double handed strike. Genma doesn't have time to raise a block, dodge, or even redirect, before he's sent flying backwards with a collapsed sternum, and crashes through the boundary wall and the wall of the house on the other side of the street. Ranma just waits for him to stand up and attack, and she waits a few moments more. Finally, she lowers her guard and starts to walk over to where he went.
"Otousan, come on, I didn't hit you that hard."
As Ranma picks her way through the hole that Genma made, she sees him lying against a broken sink, cold water spraying all over the unconscious panda. After making sure that he's still breathing, she grabs a leg and trudges back to the Tendo's home.
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Minka looks up from his seat as one of the operators pops up in a window on his computer, "Sir, we've just detected 109's signature."
"Tell me you know where she is."
"She's very close to 108 in Nermia sir, beyond that we don't know."
Minka smiles, "Excellent, send out a message to all the current Ashikabi's, include the profile information we have. It's a pity we don't have a photo. Tell them… Tell them that she's a special release, how's the rest of the schedule going?"
The operator nods, "Certainly sir, we are releasing numbers 72, 88, and 100 later today, that will leave another 30 to release over the next few months."
"Delay the release for a couple of days to give the others a chance to catch 109."
Attention: A one time special, a unique Sekirei has been released in Nermia. She can be identified by her striking hair and her ability with martial arts. Will you be the one to wing #109?
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"Ashikabi, Sekirei, Ashikabi, Sekirei, Ashikabi, Sekirei…"
Ranma sits, sulking as Kusano pours hot and cold water over his head under the watchful eye of Kasumi. Genma is propped up against a wall, bandages wrapped tightly around his ribs.
It's into this scene that Akane stomps down the stairs into, "Pervert! how could you do that to a child!"
"What did I do?"
"Ranma no baka! Urk!" Kusano's eyes glow green and Kasumi's spider plant shoots out and wraps Akane up like a mummy, with her hands held over her head holding a mallet.
"No attacking my Ashikabi meanie."
While everyone turns to stare at the young girl, Nabiki tromps down the stairs, like a zombie, shuffles straight past Akane and into the kitchen.
A minute later she comes out holding a mug of coffee and stops, as she spots Akane, "Akane, what happened to you?"
"Mmmph!"
Ranma looks around the room at all the silent people before quickly dashing to the kitchen, "I'm just going to prepare breakfast, be right back!" A moment later he darts back in and grabs the still warm kettle and pours a little over his head.
For once, breakfast at the Tendo household is a quiet affair, with neither Akane, who is being hand fed by Kusano, or Genma, due to his ribs, causing any problems for the other diners. The only minor disturbance was actually caused by Kusano.
"Onii-chan, why do you eat so fast?"
Ranma stops with his chopsticks full of rice halfway to his mouth, "Hey old panda, why don't you answer this one?"
Genma coughs painfully, "Well… you see… it's speed training, if he can't eat fast enough then he deserves to go hungry."
As she thinks about the answer, Kusano puts on such a serious expression that it's comical, after a while she looks up at Genma, "You're a poo brain. You steal food from your child and call it training."
Ranma gently puts his hand on Kusano's, "The old man is often an idiot, but his training techniques did work."
"Na ah, you poo brain too. You like Akane?"
Ranma looks wildly around the table and then back to the child next to him, "Um, ah."
"See, you poo brain. Musubi says that love is the most important thing, if you love don't lie about it. You keep lying."
Weakly, Ranma responds, "But, I have other fiancés."
Akane stills as he says that and gets a chopstick full of rice up her nose for the trouble, as Kusano continues feeding her without looking, "Then you strong Ashikabi. I don't want to share when I'm older, but you're strong so it be ok."
Ranma chokes on his rice as Nabiki turns a calculating eye towards the young Sekirei.
"Hello the house!" Dr Tofu's voice from the front gate cuts through the tension in the room like a knife, and Kasumi smoothly stands up and glides to the door, smoothing her skirt on the way.
Opening the door, she bows and blushes faintly as the Dr's glasses steam up, "Please come in Dr, we were just eating breakfast, if you would like to join us."
Tofu laughs as he pulls a skeleton from somewhere, "Don't worry, Betty and I have already eaten. Please, just show me the patients."
Kasumi leads the way into the house, "Well, Genma is the reason we called. He needs his ribs setting."
Genma looks at Tofu's glasses before saying, "No, no, I'm fine, really, I'm fine. See, I can eat normally… Arrgh!"
Tofu looks over towards Kasumi as he manipulates Genma's body carelessly, "So, Kasumi, fancy seeing you here."
Kasumi giggles, "Well, I do live here."
Ranma and Nabiki both share a glance, before Ranma picks up Kusano and they leave the room. Soun takes a couple more bites of breakfast before remembering urgent business he has elsewhere.
A muffled cry of "Ranma!" comes from Akane.
Somewhat later, after Genma has been treated, and Akane freed and unnecessarily treated, Kasumi looks around, "Huh? I'm sorry Doctor, but Ranma and Kusano have both disappeared. I will have them both pop by for their check-up."
Tofu nods, "Certainly, Betty and I will seen them soon."
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Shampoo is cycling along the rooftops, her purple hair streaming behind her, as she's delivering food for the lunch rush. She's just hopped off of one rooftop to another when, seemingly out of nowhere the wheels of her bicycle are shredded by a multitude of bladed strings. As she leaps off the cycle onto a nearby chimney, a woman with short blond hair, and slender build lands on the roof she was just occupying, hanging from her fingers are loops of string. Landing next to her is a tall, curvaceous woman with long dark green hair, and pale blue eyes; in her hands she holds a quarterstaff.
As Shampoo sizes up the two newcomers, the green haired one speaks up, "Number 109, my Ashikabi wishes to add you to his flock. Come quietly and we will ensure that you arrive unharmed…"
"Shampoo not know what you talking about. But Shampoo already have Airen."
"Then, we will need to terminate you for the sake of the game. Know that you are facing #16 Toyotama."
The blond adds, "And I am #31, Sai."
With that, the two leap to the attack, even as Shampoo pulls her Bonbori from her weapons space and leaps backward. It quickly becomes clear that she might be able to hold her own against either of her opponents. And if not, she could at least escape. However, the two of them are obviously used to working together.
As it stands, their fight crosses almost the entire prefecture before she reaches Shakujii park, and is able to dodge behind some bushes into the pond.
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On the other side of Nerima, Kodachi Kuno has just finished 'discussing' the upcoming Martial Arts Gymnastics competition with some students from Kolkhoz High School. While she is winding up her ribbon, a faint clapping sound can be heard from behind her. Turning around, she sees a slim teenage boy with brown hair and hazel eyes, wearing an expensive suit. Behind him is a tall man with messy silver hair and grey eyes. Held loosely in one hand is a sheathed straight sword.
"HoHoHo! What can the Black Rose do for you gentlemen?"
The teenager bows, "I am Mikogami Hayato, this is #05 Mutsu, and I would like you to become one of my Sekirei."
Kodachi cocks her head to one side, "Are Sekirei a new gymnastics team?"
Mikogami laughs, "Of course not, they are super powered individuals who can do things far beyond normal people. Like that whirlwind you made. Now, will you come quietly, or will Mutsu here need to provide some encouragement?"
Kodachi saunters towards the teenager, "And what does coming quietly entail?"
Mikogami smiles, "Why, just a simple kiss."
Kodachi laughs, "Is that all?"
Confidently, she walks over and places a kiss on Mikogami's lips. A couple of seconds later Mikogami starts to convulse, as the poison that she always wears starts to take effect. Leaping backwards as Mutsu swings forward with his sheathed sword, she bounces twice before leaping up to a nearby roof and roof hopping away, her laughter following her. Mutsu stands there for a moment, looking between her retreating back, and his Ashikabi convulsing on the floor, before picking him up and leaping to the rooftops himself.
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Over in Edogawa, a young woman desperately jumps off a building and lands, sprawling, on the floor in front of a young man with a yellow and black bandana, a huge backpack, and an umbrella. As a lightning bolt flies down from one of the two women still on the rooftop, the man steps in the way and raises his umbrella, deflecting the lightning bolt into the ground. As he stands there, the two women drop down to ground level, "Out of the way, we have no quarrel with you. We only want that one before she emerges."
The man looks down at the young woman who's slowly getting to her feet, and then back at the attackers, "I don't think so."
Lightning sparks from the hands of both women, "Fair enough, can't say we didn't warn… Eeep!" The warning is cut off as the man takes a bandana from his head and throws it at the two of them. Dodging to one side, both of them turn to look at the bandana, lodged 3" deep in the brickwork before nodding to each other and leaving.
"We're just giving you a breather Ebinuma, we'll be back when you don't have a handy knight in shining armour to step in."
The man steps back and looks down at the now named Ebinuma, who is a young woman with black hair, grey eyes, and a tattered blue Yukata. The woman also seems to be breathing heavily, and her eyes are dilated. Concerned, he kneels down and bends over to have a closer look. As he does, she loops her arms around his neck and pulls herself up into a kiss. Wings of mirrored light leaping out from her back and surrounding the two.
"You are my Ashikabi, and I am Sekirei number 47, Ebinuma…"
She trails off as the man falls over backwards with a dazed expression and blood gushing from his nose. Worriedly, Ebinuma lifts the boy off the floor and kneels behind him, cradling his head between her breasts. This doesn't actually seem to help, as the blood flows even more freely from his nose, even as she dabs at it with her sleeve.
It's not long before a leaking toilet resolves the problem as it overflows, and a trickle of cold water pours out of the overflow pipe straight onto the their heads. At this point he turns into a small black pig.
Frowning, Ebinuma looks down at the pig in her lap, "I wonder if this happens to all Ashikabi?" Shrugging, she hefts the backpack onto her own back, and picks up the umbrella with a little effort.
"Wow, this is heavy, let's find somewhere to stay. I know, last night number 6 told me about an inn in the north, we can go there."
Ebinuma promptly turns east and starts to walk in the wrong direction.
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"Takami Ma'am, we've just lost #47."
Takami spits out the tea she was drinking, "What? How can we lose one of the Sekirei?"
"I don't know Ma'am, she was in Edowaga fighting with Numbers 11 and 12, we have cctv footage of an unknown male stepping in and helping her. 15 minutes later she starts walking towards the coast and then disappears."
Another operator calls out, "I've got her MBI card on satellite, she's currently in the Himalayas in Tajikistan!"
"Check that again!" Takami shouts.
"I have triangulation with 5 satellites, she is 200km northeast of Chikhok"
