Too Close for Comfort

4:46:24...4:46:23...4:46:22…

"Hmph. So that's what that thing around your neck is for, eh?" Benitsubasa snarked.

Minutes had passed since the first trial and Benitsubasa and Minato were aimlessly wandering the corridors in search of any signs or clues leading to the whereabouts of their next test, and hopefully his Sekirei.

The building was huge, and much to The Red Sekirei's vexation, it seemed as if they were walking in circles. As much as she didn't like having her hand held through things like a child, she still wanted at least some indication as to where they should be heading, especially when her Natsuo-kun's life was on the line.

The ronin, however, seemed significantly calmer and composed compared to when he first chose to "run this gauntlet" as his captor had said on the audio tape. Understandable, considering that he now had somebody watching his back, thus lessening the feeling of facing insurmountable odds alone.

Granted, Benitsubasa and him were not on the best of terms given their history (understatement of a lifetime the say the least), but it was always nice to have somebody to talk to, especially in dark times like this.

It keeps that voice in the back of your mind from plaguing you as often with 'what if' scenarios. Minato thought to himself.

The ronin rested his fingertips on the collar as they continued down the carpeted path. "Yep if my Sekirei try to escape their 'predicaments' by utilizing their powers, I try to remove it without the key, or the timer runs out it detonates and it's all over for everybody." his face took a horrified look to heart, unable to resist imagining his dearest people hurt despite trying desperately to put it out of his head.

"Damn, tough break kid. Why did this creep target you anyway?" she questioned him tactlessly. It didn't detract from her pertinent questioning, however. "And what the hell are those four red lights for?"

Minato took a deep breath before doing his best to answer both her questions.

"At first I thought it was somebody looking to purge me from the Sekirei Plan, since as of now, my flock is the largest of anybody's out of Mikogami's in the south and I figured that someone wanted to kill me in order to rid themselves of what they may consider to be their biggest threat." He gave a small shrug as he moved on to her second question,

"As for the lights, honestly I haven't a single clue. The tape really didn't mention anything about them, but they must have some purpose. Part of me wishes that this was all just some sort of elaborate prank or a dream." He took a tremulous breath before continuing. "...but now I know that's not the case. What we're dealing with now is something far, far worse. Unless we're fortunate enough to be dealing with a second-rate copy-cat, I believe we may be victims of The Jigsaw Killer."

"The Jigsaw Killer?" The Red Sekirei's pink eyebrow climbed upward, this she had to hear. "Who's that?"

Minato nodded absently, going into a sort of lecturing mode as they walked, having to dredge the details from memory,

"Back when I was studying for my first college entrance exam, we were required to write an essay on a notorious foreign criminal and their methods or noteworthy traits. It was required for those looking to apply to the field of Criminal Justice in an effort to show how other peoples and cultures might affect the nature of a crime. I found the subject interesting enough and started some research for it, particularly in the field of serial killers and 'unsub' identification. As I did some digging, I came across an American serial killer known as 'Jigsaw' who'd terrorized the USA for years over a decade ago."

Minato took a pause here to catch his breath before continuing, his voice becoming bitter and guilt-ridden,

"What I found to be most interesting about him was the fact that the people he targets are not just random victims, but people whom he considers to be unappreciative of their lives or the lives of others. Whether it be drug addicts, thieves, murderers, and even the suicidal, they are all susceptible to his 'games.'" His head seemed too heavy for his neck and sank down despondently.

Her interest piqued, Benitsubasa turned her head to look at Minato properly, giving the Ronin a curious expression. "Games?" She knew she wasn't going to like the answer but she liked how little she knew about the psycho even more.

Minato gave a slow nod in response, "That's what he dubs his method of killing as; or, rehabilitation as it were. Jigsaw doesn't personally kill his victims outright but instead places them in deadly traps or life-threatening situations that are often symbolic of what he perceives as a flaw in that person's life or their main failing in how they treat others. He usually addresses his "participants" via an audio or videotape like you've already seen, using them to explain the rules of the 'game' and what they must do in order to survive."

"You mean like the puppet thing on the TV and the tape recorder in my pocket?"

He nodded again. "Exactly...but their freedom always comes with a price. More often than not, the tasks the 'participants' must 'play' in order to escape with their lives involve acts of self-mutilation and varying degrees of psychological torture. The ironic, and what many called hypocritical, thing about it is that even though he subjects his 'participants' to these 'games', Jigsaw doesn't believe himself to be a murderer as he always leaves the victim's fate in their own hands, or in the hands of another one of his subjects. He never directly kills them, preferring instead to exploit their flaws or foibles and have them lead to their doom. Survivors are rare, and that's if you look at it strictly from a physical damage perspective. Every person that's managed to not die from being targeted by Jigsaw has had mental scars and trauma that are said to put the 'participants' on the same level as wartime vets with PTSD or rape victims."

"Well, that's reassuring…" She said with sarcasm so thick it seemed to drip to the floor, it didn't help the kid seemed to forget they were now said 'participants' when he went into lecture mode, "Hmm, then from the sounds of things, he shouldn't have targeted you at all. Granted I never really got to know you outside of...well...trying to kill you, but from what I gather you don't seem like the type of person that this "Jigsaw" guy would come after."

"That's where you're wrong," he claimed miserably. "Jigsaw targeted me because of my lack of self-worth and my own inability to be strong for the Sekirei I've Winged. By kidnapping me and my Sekirei, he believes that I could somehow overcome this and feel like I truly earned them."

"Huh...well, that seems to be a rather...judgmental and high-handed reason to kidnap someone and give them more issues than a shounen manga..." Her gaze drifted down to the corner of her eyes, continuing her statement with an almost inaudible whisper. "...like I'm one to talk..."

"Arrogant or not, we're still here and as unlikely as it may be, that means we have to keep moving forward. If we don't we're done for." He evidently felt a change of topic was in order. "But I've spoken enough about myself and my reasons for being here. Mind if I ask you about yours?"

"Well you did spare me, so I suppose I could answer a few questions since I'm stuck with ya. Shoot." She gave a lazy shrug but never really relaxed as she tried to anticipate what he might want to ask.

"Back when you were still chained to the ceiling, you told me that you couldn't use your powers to free yourself. Why~?"

Staring at the ground, Benitsubasa inhaled deeply through her nose and exhaled her explosively before answering. "If I did, Natsuo would have died."

"Natsuo? That name sounds familiar." he mused before his face lit up with recognition. "Isn't he your Ashikabi?"

She slowly nodded. "Yes, and I'm the only one that can save him...or at least that's what the creepy doll thing told me when I woke up a while ago."

"If that's the case, how come you didn't let me know during our argument?"

"I couldn't because I was under the threat that he would be killed if I did. The doll said something about 'my impending visitor's decision having to be made out of the true nature of his heart, rather than by distracting his moral compass,' or something like that." She tried her best to emulate the Billy doll's voice as best she could. The result would have been comical if it weren't for their lives being on the line.

"I see, so in other words, he wanted my decision to be genuine. He was testing my heart, my willingness to forgive." An image flashed through his mind. The kanji on the door leading to Benitsubasa's test chamber. 'Forgiveness.' It lingered for only a fraction of a second but burned its significance loud and clear into his memory.

"Your guess is as good as mine, pipsqueak." She gave a rough shrug before picking up the pace, causing Minato to push himself a little to keep up.

'Pipsqueak…'

Something told Minato that he would be addressed as such more often as time went on...

He decided that discretion was the better part of valor, and changed the subject again, "When I first woke up, I found a folder showing each of my Sekirei in their respective traps. I assume Jigsaw did the same for you as well?"

"Worse. The TV clicked on showing him inside an elevator shaft." She began to whimper unconsciously, holding back tears as the memory flashed through her mind. "His ribs were showing. It looked like he hadn't eaten in days..."

She took a long pause to regain her composure, wiping the unshed tears from her eyes quickly as Minato looked away so that he didn't see anything. "I won't go into detail about the trap itself, you don't need to know and I'm not putting myself through any more shit for you to get your jollies! Just know that if I even mentioned his name to you while I was still chained up, he would have been ripped in half. Next topic!"

Minato was shocked at the display of raw, concerned emotion Benitsubasa was displaying. Never did he imagine that one with as tough an exterior, as she had, could break down so quickly or openly, especially given how high the degree of cruelty and viciousness her actions were on the night of the bridge escape. That night she was set on killing everyone he loved, right in front of him no less, and did it with a smile on her face without even knowing him.

Now she was fighting to hold back tears at the mere thought of her Ashikabi's potential end... The dichotomy perplexed him.

Frowning, the ronin gradually shook his head, his eyes tightly clamping shut at the thought of his Sekirei languishing as they spoke and how Benitsubasa must be feeling the same thing. "I'm...sorry. That must have been hard to live through again. I didn't mean to make you upset."

'Is this kid for real...?' She gawked incredulously at the ronin's kind gesture, recalling how he'd acted when her life was on the line. Still, he seemed to be on the level now. "Th-Thank you..."

She had to admit she was taken off guard by Minato's heartfelt condolences. After everything she did to him and his Sekirei, he still managed to find it in his heart to comfort her when she was vulnerable...or at least give a reasonable facsimile thereof.

She had fully expected the ronin to berate her for crying as a way of further rubbing salt in her wounds or maybe sat on the high ground and rubbed her nose in how she'd treated him before, but she instead received warmth. A warmth her Ashikabi never let her feel or caused her to feel, a warmth that she had honestly begun to despair that she'd ever feel at all.

The kindness Minato had shown her was something she was not accustomed to needless to say, but it definitely helped a lot...her mind was pulled away from what she decided were treacherous thoughts of her feelings for her Ashikabi by Minato asking about the very same,
"You must really love your Ashikabi then, don't you?"

With her lips sucked in, she nodded fitfully. "I do. I would do anything for him..." She sighed mournfully, her shoulders hunched over as she verbally kicked herself.

"If only I hadn't left him alone at that damn doctor's office..."

"Is that the last time you saw him?"

"Yeah. A few days prior to our appointment, he received a phone call from this new doctor, calling him in to receive his annual flu shot. The doctor was a Yankee who had apparently been working for MBI's medical branch for the past few years. I think his name was "Gargon" or something. Fuck if I know. I really thought nothing of it and stepped out to buy a candy bar at the store a few blocks away. As I jumped along the rooftops, I suddenly felt my body give way and I fell into a nearby alleyway where a few trash bags broke my fall. Last thing I remember before waking up in this place was being dragged into some dark van by some guy wearing a pig mask and a red robe. Then...well...you know the rest."

"So you think the doctor may have had something to do with how you and Natsuo ended up here?"

"To be honest," she shook her head in disbelief before looking around the newest hallway they'd wandered into. "I'm not sure what to think anymore..."

"Was there anyone else keeping an eye on Natsuo before you left?"

"Yeah, Haihane was there, but she was too caught up playing her Vita to really notice anything suspicious." Or anything at all but the pretty, pretty lights Benitsubasa thought sourly to herself.

Giving a shake of her head, Benitsubasa returned to her verbal self-flagellation. "...like I said, if it weren't for me leaving him behind, none of this would have happened. It's my fault." Her face took an expression Minato had seen in the mirror all too often.

He stopped suddenly. "Don't say that!" the ronin snapped, taking her by surprise and causing her to turn back to the suddenly shouting Minato.

"There was absolutely no way you or anyone else for that matter could have predicted something like this happening, so don't blame yourself any of this! The fact you're here alongside me right now in spite of our history to save him, that's what matters. And I'm sure he'll love you for it."

Drawing her arms to her chest reflexively as if the idea of Minato showing fire shocked her like a white rabbit taking down fully grown knights, Benitsubasa stared at him. "I...I guess you're right. Come to think of it, Haihane should have been more alert while I was gone. If it's anyone's fault, it's hers." With a furious scowl appearing on her face, she slammed a gloved fist into her palm so hard that her knuckles audibly crack.

"Next time I see that bandaged transvestite, I'll beat her bandaged ass to a pulp! Damn that fucking mummified hussie!"

Theeerrre was the Benitsubasa Minato remembered...joy. Hopefully, this was just her letting off steam. If venting like this Benitsubasa kept her in a more stable state of mind, then he wasn't going to ruin that for her. Both she and him had enough on their plate to deal with as of now, and an argument was the last thing they needed, so Minato just kept a generous distance (a good yard or two) as she kept mumbling about all the ways she would shove Haihane's claws up her sphincter and other orifices that should never ever be near sharp objects.

"So, Minato," Benitsubasa began. He voice was still filled with barely suppressed rage, but she seemed to be cooling down nonetheless. Good..ish. "what's the last thing you remember before waking up?"

XXXXXX

"It's great to see that they're getting along," stated Dr. Gordon positively, though with a small hint of sarcasm. "Much quicker than I anticipated even."

As per usual in cases like this, Dr. Gordon and John were studying the live feeds, observing their subjects from afar engage in casual small talk. Karasuba watched along with them, struggling to stay awake. A yawn soon followed, drawing blood from her still yet to have healed wounds from two weeks prior showed how little she cared for the viewing...and the pain.

Resting a cheek upon his fist, John glanced at him. "Take into consideration that Mr. Sahashi was the one who spared her life, doctor. That decision must weigh heavy on her current outlook towards him." he was waiting for the pressure to set in before thinking things would go well.

"Well, he's not dead, so that's something I guess."

Karasuba leered down at them, taking a closer look at Minato who was still trying to soothe the angry pinkette. "Do you think he suspects me?"

"Given your recent actions towards him, I wouldn't be surprised," Dr. Gordon responded. "Considering, however, that Benitsubasa, one of your subordinates is alongside him in these trials though, that might lead him to think otherwise."

"Heh, given Red's incompetence and childishness, I doubt that they'll get very far." Flicking her cape in the air, she turned to leave, with her words lingering behind her. "I'll give them an hour before they start to rip each other apart."

"Where are you off to now, Karasuba?" questioned Dr. Gordon.

"Gonna check on our caged animal. Don't want it to die of starvation before the fun begins, do we?"

XXXXXX

"...then the next thing I know, I'm waking up in this building tied to a chair."

"Huh...so you were just struck over the head while walking home from work, eh?" she said as she mentally went over Minato's recollection of his kidnapping. "That's not as careful or calculating as I expected it would be...but given the fact that you're not a Sekirei, I don't think it needed to be."

Minato's eyelids dimmed, unamused to say the least. "Yeah, you would know all about that, wouldn't you?" The amount of sarcasm in that statement made Benitsubasa instinctively look for a mop for the puddle that was surely there on the floor.

Benitsubasa grazed her fingers through her pink hair, wincing at her tactless social faux pas. "Eh...not that I'm implying anything of course...heh, heh...ehhhh..." She mentally scrambled for a way to remove her foot from her mouth but just devolved into awkwardly forced chuckles.

Minato pulled them away from the damp quilt that was past drama and for the third time in short order, changed the subject. "Back on the topic of Natsuo's kidnapping though, where was your leader when all this took place? The one that visited Musubi the one time" His face was calm and neutral, but Benitsubasa could see the whites of his knuckles thanks to how hard he was clenching his hands.

Yeah, this wasn't a touchy subject at all~ nooo, Benitsubasa decided to tread carefully here.

"No idea, really."

"You sure she wasn't off slaughtering children again?" asks Minato in a deathly calm tone, looking straight ahead as he managed to speak surprisingly clear through his clenched teeth.

"Yeah~, I heard about what happened to #108." Breaking eye contact, she took a moment to gather her thoughts as to how to navigate this verbal minefield.

Blowing a sigh, she turned to the Ronin once more, eyes locking on his own. "I know this may not mean much to you, but neither I or Haihane have spoken to Karasuba at all since the... incident... occurred. Take that as you will." it had an effect...just not the soothing one she was hoping for. Fuck she sucked at this 'comforting' shit.

"Am I hearing this correctly?" the ronin blurted out incredulously. "Are you actually trying to imply that you feel remorse about someone getting killed that isn't yourself or someone close to you?"

"Look pipsqueak," she muttered (and there it is Minato mentally deadpanned) petulantly. "I'll be the first to admit that I don't have the moral compass of a shrine maiden, but I do have standards. Now I've willingly done a lot of bad shit as part of the Discipline Squad, but killing a little girl is where I draw the line."

"If that's the case, why didn't either of you try to stop her?"

"We weren't there, stupid. I can't speak for Haihane, but if I was there, I would have at least tried to talk her down."

"Talk her down?" Minato questioned with an unimpressed huff, his face showing how little he thought of the idea of trying to talk down Kara-fucking-suba like she was a huffy cat. "That's it? And don't give me the 'you weren't there' excuse! You both knew Kusano was her next opponent days before she was slain! Yet you didn't once bat an eye about it from what you're telling me!"

"You know as well as I do that if I even tried to get close to her, Karasuba would have struck me down in an instant." Benitsubasa retorted defensively, hating that Minato had a point but also getting pissed that he didn't get that you don't fuck with Karasuba period. "She wouldn't have let me stop her if I'd actually gotten in her way."

"I don't believe you." Minato spat out bluntly, shaking his head from side to side as he squared off against her. "Even in her weakened state, Musubi was able to hold her own against Karasuba shortly after we received the cure to Chiho's illness. You were able to dominate Musubi during the night of the bridge escape with Haihane, I have no doubt in my mind that both you and her could have held out long enough to hold Karasuba off so we could get Kusano out of there."

"So you're asking me to risk...no, throw away my own life to protect someone that I didn't even know?! Are you insane?!" Benitsubasa had her own look of disbelief present now, first, he offers sympathy for her Natsuo but now he expects her to have risked being killed to protect someone else and leave Natsuo unprotected? No way in fucking hell!

And things got worse from there as the pair shouted and hollered at each other without the pressure of imminent death hanging over them, their voices ringing an echoing around them in the empty hallway.

"You mean much like I risked my life to help Shigi and Kuno escape the city? When I dared to defy the rules of the Sekirei Plan knowing full well I could have been killed by you?! My actions had nothing to do with the degree of my sanity, Benitsubasa, they have everything to do with the kindness present in my heart...which is something you clearly lack."

"Pfft, Cry me a fuckin' river."

"I already did when Kusano was murdered right before my eyes, but that didn't bring her back." He flicked his hands like he was trying to shake something off them, cooling down visibly to Benitsubasa's eyes, before running a hand through his hair. "Crying will never solve anything, I've learned that the hard way and the only thing you can do is to move on and appreciate what you still have...and give your all to do your damnedest to make sure nothing is taken from you like that again. Ever. Not again. I won't go through that ever...again."

He hated how much he'd let himself fall apart after Kusano's death, and how much he'd let down the others even though he'd done his best to fight the depression. He knew that didn't matter with illnesses like depression but that didn't change that if he'd only been stronger, Jigsaw might not have hurt those he cared about...or gone after him.

Benitsubasa forced herself to come down from another adrenaline rush, the pipsqueak had a point...again and the last thing they needed right off the bat was to tear into each other.

"Yeah...I...I suppose you're right. I apologize for sounding so damn irritable. Either way, you have my condolences... I-I am sorry for your loss, truly."

Minato nodded as a smile briefly distorted his lips even though he was skeptical of how sincere Benitsubasa was. "Thank you. That means a lot."

Being caught up in their...conversation as they were, the unlikely pair almost failed to notice they had come to a dead end. At the end of the hallway were two reinforced steel doors that were cleaner and more polished than the rest of the crumbling building they'd moved through. As they make their approach, a steel gate slammed down behind them, trapping the two where they stood and preventing them from backtracking rather effectively.

Benitsubasa made a dash for the gate, pounding her fists into it again and again, only succeeding in making the bars of the gate ring out with dull "Gong!" noises.

She torqued her neck back towards the ronin. "What the fuck is going on?!" she demanded in fretful anger, he knew the freak in charge of this crap so he should have a clue about what the fuck was going on.

"I...I don't know but," he raised his now trembling arm, pointing a shaky finger over the Red Sekirei's shoulder. As he uttered his next words, Minato nearly swallowed his Adam's apple. "...but I think he wants to have a word with us."

"What are you talking about? There's no one ther-" Turning back towards the gate, Benitsubasa found herself staring at a man in a pig mask, wielding a nail-studded baseball bat. The selective mute towered over the both of them, standing at nearly 6'3".

Benitsubasa broke the silence by shouting at the massive mute. "What the fuck are you doing you sick freak?! Let us out of here! NOW!" She gripped the bars tighter as she continued to verbally harangue whoever it was.

Minato tried to cool his reluctant ally's temper. "Benitsubasa, please calm down! You're just making things worse!" One thing Minato remembered from his studies that with Jigsaw, things could *always* get worse.

She snapped back at him, turning away from the pighead to see Minato's eyes widen and his mouth open to speak again. "SHUT UP! Let me take care of thi- AGH!"

Her words halted as Jigsaw's subordinate landed a hard, swift kick to the barrier separating them, creaking a loud "BANG!" that sounded three times as loud in the former silence of the hall.

The suddenness of the blow sent the Red Sekirei tumbling back into Minato's arms as she lost balance. "You alright?" The Ronin asked her out of concern, holding her up under the arms.

Clenching her fists, she made her displeasure abundantly clear at her present mistreatment. "That pigheaded deadbeat just made the biggest mistake of his fucking life...!" Her eyes flashed open with a rather noticeable killing intent, even to someone as normally dense as Minato could be considered.

"HE'S DEAD!"

Looking through the gate once more, Minato shook his head. "Actually...he's gone." this was just like the other one that had appeared to him before. Great, so not only were he and his flock being tortured, not only was he being forced to work with one of his as of recently mortal enemies, but he was being...herded like a sheep to all of the above. Well didn't he feel special.

"Oh no you fucking don't! You don't just get to walk away after punting me in the tits! Come back and take your pounding like a bitch!"

Undaunted and enraged, Benitsubasa charges at the gate again, ramming her shoulder into it in a vain attempt to break it down. "Get back here you fucking coward!" she shouts as the gate seems to silently mock the pint-sized bruiser with its immobility.

"I'll teach you to kick me and think you can get away with it!" She brought her arm back, balling her fist as it began to radiate with a lethal amount of pink energy. "Extreme Qua-!"

As Benitsubasa started to drive her fist through the steel barricade, she felt something grasp hold of her wrist. She glances over her shoulder with a swift jerk of the neck and finds Minato firmly grasping her arm.

"What are you doing?! Let me go!" she demanded harshly, giving him a glare hot enough to make him think that if she weren't a fist type, he'd have holes from her death glare. "Unless you want to go flying along with my fist, that is!"

"Don't do it!" begged the ronin. "It's a trick, a trap! You know damn well what happens if you use your powers! Think of Natsuo! He needs you now!" then he mutters one more thing, almost too softly to be heard.

"I need you now…"

In any other circumstance, Minato's passionate entreaty would have fallen on deaf ears, but the affection the Red Sekirei had for her beloved Ashikabi resonated with Minato's begging and calmed her. The pinkish glow encircling her fist faded, the tense veins in her face and arms popping out as she kicked the steel in frustration.

She released the built-up tension in her body with an explosive snarl before complying with her unlikely cohort's heartfelt pleas. "...Alright...you've made your point." She looked back at him once more, raising an eyebrow at Minato still holding onto her wrist.

"You can let go now, ya know."

The ronin's fingers undid their grip from her wrist, his hands falling limply to Minato's sides. Benitsubasa shrugged her shoulders to remove more of the tension as well as hide the shivering that was starting to overtake her body as thoughts of her Ashikabi's almost demise flooded her mind.
A single tear slithered down her cheek unnoticed as she was hit by a revelation. The man behind her had just saved her life for the second time in the span of just a half hour. If it wasn't for his interference, the anger that nearly consumed her would have spelled Natsuo's end, and she would have had no one to blame but herself. Though Benitsubasa didn't want to admit it, she owed Minato a great debt..again. One she would most likely never be able to repay.

Still, that was no reason to stop trying...or not begin if she was going to be honest.

"So," she went on. "what do we do now?"

"I don't know, but..." He picked up a cassette tape lying on the ground, it had 'play me' written on it, just like the last one. "...it seems like that guy left us a clue of sorts. Do you still have that tape recorder from earlier?"

"Yeah." She pulled it out of her pocket and handed it to him, watching as he inserted the tape and pressed the play button. They drew closer and leaned their heads in to listen closely, the last thing they wanted was to miss out on some critical information due to carelessness.

"X marks the spot. Sometimes, you see more with your eyes shut."

The tape wound to a stop, leaving the unlikely duo feeling very underwhelmed.

"Was that it?" Benitsubasa asked in disappointment. "Not much to go on…"

"Hmm..." the ronin pondered. "See more with your eyes shut."

He glanced around the corridor, brow furrowed in thought. "See more...eyes shut..."

"What do you think it means, Minato?"

"I don't know," he replied, shifting his gaze to the end of the hall. "Let's take a look at those doors first. Considering that those are our only option to press onward, I think it's safe to say they might have something to do with what we need to do next."

She nodded lightly and followed him as Minato made his way to the door. "Gotcha."

The doors were sealed up tight, dominating the dead end of the hallway. Initially, they looked impenetrable and inaccessible but upon further examination, there was a notable difference between the two: While the door on the right had one keyhole, the one to their left required two to open. Both of them instinctively checked their pockets for the keys, even though they had already checked their pockets previously, hoping they had just missed the keys.

Having done extensive research on Jigsaw though, Minato knew the keys had to be somewhere in the corridor with them. The same couldn't be said for Benitsubasa, who seemed to be growing more and more impatient as the search for the keys and a way in, went on.

"Well," began the pinkette with a scowl, biting down on the tip of her thumb, having been reduced to literally turning her pockets out in an effort to try to find something to get the doors open. "I guess we're trapped like rats."

"I wouldn't be too sure about that, Benitsubasa," he reassured her, not wanting her to be set off again after only just getting her calmed down thanks to the goon. "Jigsaw wouldn't just leave us here to die. He always provides his subjects with a way out; it's just that they need to think outside the box in order to find it."

"You keep bringing up this 'Jigsaw' guy, but how can you be so damn sure that it's him?! You said yourself that he is from a foreign country, so what the hell is he doing here in the capital?!"

He kept calm, if they both freaked out then everything was screwed. "The Jigsaw Killer is a very calculating and multi-talented criminal. Think about it, Benitsubasa, not only was he able to kidnap you and your Ashikabi, but also myself, and each of my Sekirei, as well as setup all the games in this building for us to partake in. This is much too elaborate for any copycat killer to pull off, and if that wasn't enough, the puppet's voice, as well as the voice on the tape, were the exact same as the voice on the tapes I listened to when I researched him. It has to be him. There is no one else that would put the time, effort, and dedication into something like this."

Crossing her arms beneath her (in her mind) underwhelming cleavage, The Red Sekirei puffed out a "hmph" before responding. "That still doesn't explain why he's here. Care to shed some light on that while you're at it, hmmm?"

'Shed some light...' Those words echoed in the ronin's subconscious, getting his mind working in overdrive. He remained silent for a moment to process the information, much to Benitsubasa's mounting frustration.

"Hey, are you listening?!" she shouted, fists on her hips as she leaned inward into Minato's face, her face scrunched up in what she would flatly deny as a cute pout. "Answer me, dammit!"

He leaned his head backward, shifting his gaze to the ceiling. "Shed some light! Benitsubasa, you're a genius!" His lips spread wide in a grin that made Benitsubasa blink in confusion, her earlier anger perplexed right out of her.

Thoroughly bewildered, she tilted her head to the side. "Huh? What? What the hell do you mean by that? And what are you looking at anyway? Talk sense for once!"

"Remember what the tape said about 'X' marking the spot?" He aimed an index finger to the object of interest hanging nine feet above. "Well, I think we've just found our 'X'."

Her eyes followed Minato's lead to the ceiling. Hanging above was a lone bulb, bright enough to illuminate the entire hallway. The said bulb's socket was centered inside an "X" crudely crisscrossed in crimson-red paint.

All the pieces of the puzzle were falling into place now. "The tape said we could see more with our eyes shut. What better way to mimic closing one's eyes than by turning out the lights?"

"Good point." she admitted grudgingly, still glaring hotly at the lightbulb. "See a light switch anywhere?"

Looking around the corridor with fervent thoroughness, neither Minato or Benitsubasa could find anything remotely resembling a light switch or a cord to pull. The crumbling walls were entirely bare, save for trace amounts of chipping paint and exposed lumber studs.
"Welp," Minato said. "it looks like we're going to have to remove the bulb manually."

"Or you could just throw your shoe at it." she pointed out, neglecting to mention that her shoes could serve just as well. A girl had to keep her feet safe after all.

"And risk destroying our only source of light? I don't think so. For all we know, that bulb may be the key to completing one of our later tests." Minato might have been jumping the gun with that last one, but this was a Jigsaw death-gauntlet, there was no such thing as paranoia when one was stuck in one.

"Pipsqueak get a grip, it's just a light bulb."

"No, it's a game." he rebuked, stubbornly sticking to his story, and she rolled her eyes in exasperation.

"Now," slouching over and cupping his hands, he braced himself for- "since the light is too high for us to reach, I'm going to give you a boost to unscrew it."

"Are you even strong enough to hold my weight, pipsqueak?" she asked, poking at Minato's not so husky physique.

"Are you saying you're fat?" was the prompt and snarky retort.

Needless to say, she got visibly flustered at that jab. "No! I'm saying that you're a bony ass monkey that probably can't hold the weight of a paint can full of hot air like the chests of the girls that fawn over you! Baka!" Minato didn't move in the slightest and kept on holding his hands for her to climb up. With a petulant sigh, the Red Sekirei's eyes looked to the ceiling as if seeking patience and she gave in to his silent and patient urging.

"Fine." She climbed onto the ronin's hands, then just a bit further to rest one dainty boot on his shoulder, and once she was stable reached for the light fixture.

"Try not to burn yourself, Benitsubasa, and remember you need to turn it to the left in order to unscrew it."

Unscrewing said bulb, she let out an unamused grumble. "I know that! I'm not a baka like you, hmph! And I'm wearing gloves in case you haven't noticed!"

"I just don't want you to get hurt, they are fingerless gloves right?" Minato grumbled in a put-upon tone. It was Tsukiumi all over again, damned if he didn't show concern and head snapped off if he did...greaat~.

"I'll be fine, sheesh. Stop being so fuckin' paranoid, pipsqueak." the Red Sekirei glanced back down at the ronin. "Hey, hentai, you had better not be peeking at anything down there!"

"Peeking? At what?! You're wearing shorts, remember?!"

Her face flushed bright red, capillaries radiating with embarrassment and chagrin. "Oh, um...right. Forget I said anything then..."

He whispered under his breath. "...and you call me paranoid." Yep, definitely Tsukiumi all over again...gods he missed her and the others.

"What was that?!"

"Oh, um...nothing. It was nothing."

"Yeah, it better be nothing." She twisted the bulb a few more times, its squeaking becoming more pronounced as it loosened from the socket. "Almost got it..."

With a final twist of the wrist, the entire room went dark, almost pitch black. As the bulb was pulled from the socket, the socket sparked, catching The Red Sekirei by surprise.

"Whaaou!"

"You alright?" asked Minato, wanting to look up but hesitated thanks to the fear of the dreaded 'hentai' moment of song and story.

"Shit! Brace yourself, I'm coming down hard!"

As Benitsubasa struggled to maintain balance in the darkness, she inadvertently planted her boot in Minato's face and he felt his nasal septum being squashed almost to the breaking point under her weight like a diving board. While Benitsubasa couldn't use her strength for fear of endangering Natsuo's life even further, she still had enough strength to really make it hurt when it counted, that coupled with the fact that Minato himself was not exactly the most durable man on the planet meant that gravity saw a chance and took it, toppling them both like a house of cards.

They fell backward, though Minato managed to keep from falling completely off his feet for a few moments, while Benitsubasa flailed her arms around desperately trying not to drop the bulb. Minato's momentary balance gave way eventually to gravity's implacable pull, and they tumbled roughly to the floor, the Red Sekirei's clothed rear smooshing into his face in a sensation that made Minato feel almost nostalgic.

Normally, such a thing would have made him blush, but the pain of the impact squashed any chances of hormonal urges kicking in..not to mention a quick reminder of Benitsubasa at the bridge. Minato wanted to wonder why he wasn't already getting curbed stomped but he supposed he should be thankful that she hadn't noticed and not question it, otherwise, Benitsubasa might figure it out and take offense to their current position to bust out a few of his teeth, consequences be damned.

Speaking of Benitsubasa, she mercifully rolled off him after a moment, allowing Minato the luxury of breathing once more.

Shaking the cobwebs from her mind, Benitsubasa grazed her hand over the back of her head, ruffling fingers through her pink hair. With her eyes squinting from the pounding in her cranium, she grumbled out loud. "Ow...my head."

With a whimper of his own, Minato squeezed his nostrils to alleviate the pain. How his nose hadn't been gushing blood as it did when he saw his flock in their birthday suits was nothing short of a miracle. "You stepped on my face..." and most definitely did not use it as a seat for her surprisingly firm and bouncy behind, nope.

"Yeah? Well, be thankful I didn't stomp on your crotch. You're a man. Suck it up and grow a pair."

Oh, he was really glad she didn't notice that she'd sat on his face!

What she did notice as she sat up, however, was something glowing around the ronin's neck; a luminous green thread of sorts. "Hey, pipsqueak, what's that around your neck?"

"We've already been through this; it's a time bomb."

"No, not that, dummy. There's something else there, and it's glowing too."

"There is...?" He reached for his neck, fingertips gliding across the glowing green thread encircling it. He pulls at the string, and sure enough, the key was dangling by it. "He hid the key in plain sight."

'Man, do I feel like an idiot. Perhaps Benitsubasa is right, I am dense...'

He turned his attention back to Benitsubasa, the luminous red thread glued to his gaze. "Looks like you have one around your neck too."

"I do?" She hooked the string with the curl of her finger, hoisting it over her head, letting it settle into her palm. "Huh, well would ya look at that."

They both veered their heads towards the doors again, the glow in the dark kanji radiating off them drew a path of light through the darkness. The door on the left read: "Path of Forgiveness", it's two keyholes glowing respectively to the color of their respective strings: One red; One green.
The door to the right, on the other hand, had the words "Path of Vengeance", it's lone, luminous keyhole only matching that of the ronin's green string.

The ronin pulled himself to his feet, looking over the doors as his mind tried to wander down the paths of 'what might have been' before he shook it and turned to his companion.

"Well," he leaned down to offer Benitsubasa his hand. "I guess we solved the puzzle."

She took it willingly enough, and Minato pulled her back to feet with more strength than Benitsubasa had expected, throwing her off a bit. "Yeah, I...I suppose we did."

With the both of them now standing a yard and a half from their respective options, Benitsubasa asked, "Soooo, which door should we take?"

"Well, taking into account that the door to our left reads 'Path of Forgiveness', it stands to reason that my choice to save your life has something to do with it. And that makes it equally evident that if I'd chosen differently in your...situation, that I'd only be able to take the right door."

"So I take it that we're choosing the door on the left, then?"

"Yep. I have a feeling that if we both tried to take the right door we'd be considered to be 'cheating' at the very least and the last thing I want to do is push Jigsaw while everyone we care about is still trapped." Having said his piece, Minato stepped forward towards the 'path of forgiveness' as he couldn't help but refer to it.

Benitsubasa inserted her key first, turning it with an audible click as the first chamber unlocked. "Your turn."

4:27:21...4:27:20...4:27:19...

XXXXXX

13 Days prior to Minato's trials…

"Yukari?"

"Ungh..."

"Yukari, wake up!"

An exhausted sigh escaped through Yukari Sahashi's chapped, tightly drawn lips. Her sleep-encrusted baby blue eyes cracked open and she rubbed the gunk out of them, adjusting her night vision to the darkness and coming to focus on the visage of her pretty-boy companion Shiina. Aka, Sekirei #107, whom many came to know and fear as the Death-God Sekirei.

"Ungh..." she groaned fitfully. "Shi-Shiina...? I-Is that you...? Where are we...?"

Still in a daze, she sat up from the black stone slab she was laying on, still trying to familiarize herself with the dark, dungeon-like ambiance and atmosphere. "Are we still at the doctor's office...?"

Almost swallowing his tongue with a gulp, he reluctantly answered her question, knowing full well that it would result in a rather...voluble outburst, to say the least.

"No...we're not. I don't know where we are..."

She slowly repeated his last statement, still unaware of her predicament.

"Don't...know...where...we...are...? Ungh..." Her slumber-entranced eyes drifted from left to right, escalating into circular rotations as her dormant mind slowly regained its steady flow of blood. Her head jerked up in conjunction with her awareness completely back to her. "Shiina?!"

Pushing herself off the slab and rising to her feet in one swift motion, her head now slowly turning from side to side as she examined the room, she repeated her question at a louder key as her boy toy had anticipated. "Where are we?!"

"Please..." He pleaded with her, already seeing the signs and cringing in a foresighted preparation of the coming storm. "calm down, Yukari-chan."

Panicking, Yukari made a bee-line for the door, grasping the knob with both hands. She pulled and tugged, desperately trying to yank the door open as she hyperventilated, her foot firmly planted on the wall to exert more strength in her efforts. But it was no use, the door didn't budge an inch, nor did any sound or sign show that its rusty hinges were in any way being affected by her desperate struggle.

She was so focused on her futile efforts to pry the door open, that she hadn't noticed the death god's hands firmly rest upon her shoulders. "It's no use, Yukari," he told her in his usual soft voice.

"I did everything I could to open it. Even use my powers. It was no use..." He uttered his last words with a saddened sigh. "...we're trapped."

The Demon Ashikabi whimpered, pushing her body up against the reinforced steel and pounds away at it with her palms before she finally sliding down onto the floor in defeat. Her head pressed hard into the steel, she slammed her fist into it once more before turning back towards her prized pretty boy curling up around her knees.

She looked straight into his eyes, rearing her neck back as she let out a shrill cry. "We're gonna be kiiiiiiiiilled!" Tears began to fall from her eyes as she finally accepted that she was trapped again like she had been with that Higa bastard.

"Not if I could help it, Yukari," Shiina reassured her as he came to one knee to meet the eyes of his life partner. "You are my Ashikabi, and that means I will fight to protect you no matter what."

"Shiina...I..."

"As your Sekirei, I will ensure your safety, even if it costs me my life." He stood up decisively.

"Now," He offered her his hand in a display of confidence that had Yukari gaping a little bit in surprise. "will you join me?"

Yukari grasped her Sekirei's hand and held it lovingly as he pulled her to her feet. "Thank you, Shiina," she said, smiling faintly. Knowing he was there did more than just raise her spirits, it helped keep the familiar feeling of helplessness at bay.

Shiina smiled at his mistress for a brief moment, then his visage turned serious.

"We should get out of here," he said solemnly. "But before we look for a way out, I think we should try to find a light. There's no point in searching for a door in the dark, and I don't think it would be wise of us to wait until our eyes adjust to it."

Yukari nodded when suddenly a small amount of light illuminated a corner of the room, or what she thought was a corner. On closer inspection, they both saw that it was a television hanging from the wall. The screen was fuzzy at first, but as it became clearer, they saw what appeared to be a ventriloquist's doll, and a rather scary-looking one at that: its wooden face was completely white, with red swirls on its cheeks. The eyes were red, and jet black hair jutted out from the back of its head.

Ashikabi and Sekirei clutched each other in fear as the doll's mouth opened, and a chilling voice says, "Hello, and welcome."

XXXXXX

A/N: The next chapter involving Yukari and Shiina in my opinion isn't one of my best looking back on how I handled it, but given how the story plays out later the events that occur in it are extremely important and affect the entire narrative going forward. It's required for context to the "Trauma for Truth" story arc that will be coming up in chapter 7, so stick around and muster through it and you'll be rewarded. Many have told me that particular arc is what sold them on this fic, but I'll leave that for you guys to decide.