Author's Note: Yo. Chapter 9 here.
Looks like my version of Karasuba was liked well enough. Good to know.
As you may or may not have guessed or known, I have decided to only update my stories once a week, on a Wednesday. Once I have updated all my stories in this manner, I will post an actual schedule on my profile.
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Disclaimer: I do not own Sekirei. If I did, the manga would be released in English already. In paperback, not just on the kindle.
"Minato." - Regular Speech
'Musubi' - Thoughts
"Kaminari!" - Sekirei Incantation
Chapter 9: The Ashikabi of the East
That Day
Board Room, Higa Izumi's Residence
Higa Izumi, scion and heir of the Hiyamaki Zaibatsu, was in a foul mood. His secretary, Kakizaki, looked on nervously as his boss scowled at him from his seat at the head of the table.
"So this… 'Ashikabi of the North' prevented those stupid birds from acquiring another chess piece?" Higa said at last.
"H-Hai, Higa-sama." Kakizaki gulped nervously as her replied, "They were outnumbered and the opposing Sekirei had their Ashikabi present to use Norito, so they were forced to fall back."
"I despise it when employees think they can make their own decisions." Higa stated coldly.
"W-With all due respect sir, fighting against Sekirei using their Norito is suicide." Kakizaki pointed out, "Had they fought, you would be down four Sekirei, with no gains whatsoever. As it is, they brought back a list of the Sekirei this Ashikabi of the North possesses, as well as his name."
"…humph." Higa sighed, "Very well. What pawns does this Ashikabi have at his disposal?"
"Number 88, Musubi, Number 10, Uzume and Numbers 11 and 12, Hikari and Hibiki." Kakizaki replied, "The Sekirei they protected, Number 43, Yomi, is likely Winged by now as well."
One of Higa's eyebrows twitched as he said, "So…he has three low-numbered Sekirei, just one step down from the infamous Single Numbers. Who is this man and why has your Sekirei not informed me of such a man?"
Kakizaki gulped again. "K-Kochō has been dealing with constant network attacks on your mainframes, everything from worms and Trojans to outright hacking and data drain attempts. Some of them automated and some by professional hackers. She has been literally working non-stop to hold back the tide. She has not slept for the last two days and nights."
"MBI playing games, I suspect." Higa snarled, "Very well, she is excused…this time. Now, who is the Ashikabi of the North?"
"Sahashi Minato, sir." Kakizaki replied, "The son of Sahashi Takami, the Head of the Sekirei Plan."
Higa sat up at this. "Is MBI trying to put a ringer in the Sekirei Plan?"
"All evidence suggests that Manaka Hiroto has nothing to do with this." Kakizaki replied, "Sahashi Tamaki seems to be the one behind this machination. No fund transfers, aside from the MBI VIP Cards, have been made to any account belonging to Sahashi Minato. It is likely he is under his mother's direction in this."
"Tch. I do not have the patience to deal with a fool at such a time." Higa scowled again, "What do we know about him?"
"His grades in High School indicate he is highly intelligent and he would be in University right now except his former landlord broke his arm after the man attempted to coerce money from Sahashi Takami indirectly." Kakizaki replied promptly, "He is due to attempt the Entrance Exam at the end of the week. Sources say he now never goes anywhere without at least two of his Sekirei with him."
The Heir to the Hiyamaki Group scowled even more at this. "Find out his contact details. Phone him up and tell him in no uncertain terms to leave my Sekirei alone."
"Hai, Higa-sama." the secretary bowed obediently, "Incidentally, the Board of Directors is demanding a progress report."
"Thos old windbags." the young man huffed, "They can whistle for it, as far as I am concerned. The company bylaws may allow them to hold off on appointing me the Chairman of the Board for a couple of years, but once that is over and done with, they have to either provide proof that I am not suitable to assume my father's position or buckle down and give me the job."
"As you say, Higa-sama." Kakizaki said very, very carefully.
Higa read the words very carefully NOT stated but implied in that sentence then sighed in an aggravated fashion.
"Fine! I'll go talk to them. Satisfied?" he growled as he got up and stalked out of the room.
Kakizaki breathed a sigh of relief. Handling Higa Izumi was akin to sticking one's head inside the mouth of a barely-tamed lion; one never knew what the beast would do if even slightly provoked.
This time he had successfully toed the oh-so-thin line between subordinate and watchman, but he had to be careful in the future. Higa was always extremely irritated whenever he had to deal with the Board of Directors.
'I hate my job.' the bespectacled man thought with a long sigh as he headed off to follow his boss' orders.
Later
Living Room, Sahashi Minato's Residence
"Are you OK, Mina-tan?" Matsu asked in concern.
The bespectacled Sekirei sitting on her Ashikabi's lap and was comforting him in the aftermath of being threatened by Karasuba, the Black Sekirei.
"I'm fine, Matsu-chan." Minato replied. He was better than when he had staggered upstairs and let the two Sekirei out of Matsu's room. Somehow, just being able to hold Matsu like this was enough to help him recover.
"Gotta say, you've got some balls standing up to the Black Sekirei like that." Yomi opined from the sofa, "Most Sekirei, me included, would piss their pants at the thought of being threatened by her. You, a weak human, still have dry trousers. Kudos to you."
"Thanks…I think." Minato replied wryly at the backhanded compliment before turning his attention back to Matsu, "So what did you get up to while I was being threatened by the Leader of the Discipline Squad?"
"I was checking my remote computer connections." Matsu replied, "I have several hidden computer servers scattered all over the Capital and several of them are engaged in various activities that I have to check regularly."
"Oh?" Minato said curiously, "Such as?"
"Monitoring MBI's Sekirei Winging Tracking System, enabling me to know who has Winged which Sekirei, where and when." Matsu started ticking off on one hand, "A few are engaged in random hacking of Higa's network, which is keeping that two-bit hussy Kochō on her toes. Another bunch is in charge of my various accounts that I have scattered across various banks, as well as managing my investments."
"You're very prepared." Minato said in admiration.
Matsu preened at that. "I do try. Just because I'm on the run from MBI doesn't mean I can't have assets, Mina-tan. I even have some off-shore accounts available in case I have to flee Japan."
Minato had to chuckle at that. Matsu had been hiding indoors for so long that she had developed a mild case of agoraphobia…meaning the likelihood of her leaving the country was less than zero.
"Urgh. I can practically see the hearts flying around you two." Yomi snorted, "If you two are gonna bang each other, at least let me get some popcorn so I can enjoy the entertainment."
This of course made both Ashikabi and Sekirei flush bright red, although for different reasons. Minato flushed in embarrassment, while Matsu was flushing red as her perverted fantasies that she entertained at the back of her mind came to the forefront of her mind.
"We…can't. Not yet." Minato said once he had himself under control, "Matsu-chan and I have only known each other for a few days."
"Plus, there's another reason." Matsu added, waking from her daydream abruptly.
She went on to explain to both Yomi and Minato the reason Sekirei shouldn't make love to their Ashikabi until a certain level of trust, love and closeness had been reached, indicated by the size of a Sekirei's wings.
"Bullshit." Yomi scoffed once the Sekirei of Wisdom finished speaking, "who is peddling that crap?"
"Sekirei Number One." Matsu said calmly.
Yomi froze. "Impossible. She's been missing for years!"
"She has been in contact with me and told me of this fact not even a week ago." Matsu retorted smoothly.
"So…I take it that Number One is a very powerful Sekirei?" Minato guessed.
"Back when MBI was still a bottom-rung company -to outside appearances anyway- a certain country found out about the Sekirei and sought to take us for themselves." Matsu said distantly, "The first five Sekirei, Number one, me, Number Three, Kazehana, Number Four, Karasuba and Number Five, Mutsu, were the First Generation of the Discipline Squad and we annihilated an entire battle group of army and navy from that country. I saw Number One swing her sword and cut a battle cruiser in half…just from the wind pressure of her sword cut."
Minato paled at that description.
"The Number One Sekirei is as strong as the other hundred and seven Sekirei combined." Matsu continued sombrely, "She is an anomalous existence even to the rest of us. She was and is in direct control of the Sekirei Mothership and knows many secrets about our race that not even MBI know of. If she says this is true, Yomi-tan, I suggest you take it as gospel."
"Gotcha." the Death Scythe Sekirei nodded shakily.
"You seem to be avoiding using Number One's name." Minato observed.
"She is very protective of her privacy." Matsu replied with a shudder, "One doesn't give her identity away without suffering the consequences."
"Okaaaayyy…" Minato said uncertainly, "But…if she's so powerful and knowledgeable, why hasn't she done anything to stop MBI from exploiting her species?"
The redhead sighed. "She promised someone once that she would put down the sword and never take it up again. She lives for peace now. She never signed a contract or anything, just gave her word, but she takes promises very seriously and even our plight has not shifted her stance."
"…why?" Minato asked in bafflement. He could not comprehend why someone who was supposedly so powerful would willingly sit back and do nothing when her species was being controlled and used in a blood sport tournament.
"The person who she made the promise with sacrificed himself to save us Sekirei." Matsu said softly, sadness in her voice, "His death broke something inside Number One and she hasn't been the same since. I think she sees breaking that promise as the same as losing one of the last remnants of him left in this world."
Minato considered this and concluded that it was a reasonable hypothesis. Grief could really do a number on a human, so a Sekirei, being so similar to a human, wouldn't be an exception in that regard.
"OK then." Minato nodded, "Thanks for the information, Matsu-chan. Do either of you feel hungry?"
The sound of Yomi's stomach growling filled the room, much to the embarrassment of the flaxen-haired Sekirei. Matsu chuckled at her before saying, "I think we could use something to eat, Mina-tan."
With a smile, Minato stood up, set Matsu on her feet and gave her a short, but deep, kiss that made her orange wings appear and flutter happily, before he headed off to the kitchen.
"Hehehehehe…wow…" Matsu said dreamily.
"Jeez. I bet you can't wait until your wings get big enough, can you?" Yomi asked, a slight amount of jealousy in her voice.
The Sekirei of Wisdom recovered herself and smirked at Yomi. "Sister, you have no idea."
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Later
Sahashi Takami's Office, MBI Building
"That stupid sonofabitch!" Takami roared angrily as she slammed a fist onto her desk. Ignoring the wave of pain that erupted from her hand, the ash-haired woman glared at the screen and the information that it displayed.
She had been investigating Yahan's adjustments, but had discovered that Minaka had placed Yahan's file, the part to do with her Adjustment anyway, under a maximum-security seal. Using that fact as a common point, she searched for any Sekirei that had a similar injunction in their files.
A list of twenty Sekirei had come up on her screen. They were spaced seemingly at random, but the last one had been Sekirei Number Ninety-Five, Kuno, the Songbird Sekirei. The first had been the former Number Seven, Akitsu, the Ice Sekirei and the only Scrapped Number.
She had broken through the protection on their files thanks to her knowledge of how Minaka's mind worked and had been appalled by what she found.
They had been experimented on.
Nothing visible, but Akitsu had been the second worst, with being rendered unable to be Winged at all. Yahan just had all but ten percent of her shadow abilities sealed prior to being Winged. By far the worst was poor Kuno. Her body had been rendered weak, to the point that using her special ability damaged her body if she used it and if she used her Norito, the chances that she would die were about fifty-fifty.
'How the hell did Minaka slip this past me?!' Takami raged to herself. She knew the answer all too well, however. After Takehito's death, she had been forced to shoulder twice her own workload. She had, quite literally, been buried in work and had no ability to even visit her kids, let alone notice Minaka sneaking off with one or two Sekirei to do this barbarous nonsense to.
Sighing, the Head of the Sekirei Plan pondered what she could do here. Minaka was very firm about not interfering with Winged Sekirei, probably in the eventuality that Takami discovered this, so she couldn't simply recall them. Of the twenty, Akitsu was one of the three remaining UnWinged Sekirei, alongside Sekirei Number 19, Ikki, the Dual-Kodachi Sekirei and Sekirei Number Forty-Four, Yosuga, the Grappling Sekirei.
The main problem was that she had no idea where Akitsu was. The idiot who had let her out and about in the Capital was now in prison due to him trying to help himself to a recently matured Sekirei and she doubted her knew more than 'somewhere', so he was a useless lead.
She hadn't taken an MBI card with her, so who knows where she was. The other two however…
Takami blinked as the file in front of her, Ikki's, updated itself.
Status: Winged.
Ashikabi: Seo Kaoru.
"…what the hell?" Takami blinked. She quickly checked Yosuga's file.
Status: Winged.
Ashikabi: Seo Kaoru.
"I am going to murder him!" Takami shrieked.
In a building site, a freeter with unruly black hair and two Sekirei snuggling into his sides had a chill run down his spine.
Later
Sahashi Minato's Residence
"Seriously, we have to take better care of our Ashikabi!" Yashima moaned, "The Black Sekirei could have killed him!"
The Sekirei were sat around the dining table while Minato was studying and Matsu had just finished telling them of Karasuba's visit earlier that day.
"I agree." Kurusu said firmly, "No offence to you Matsu-chan, but you don't have much in the way of physical skills."
"None taken." the redhead said with a shake of her head, "I'm slightly stronger than a moderately in shape human male with reflexes and reaction times comparable to a moderately trained martial artist, which is quite pathetic by the standards of a Sekirei, especially one as dangerous as Karasuba."
"I should guard him." Yahan pointed out, "Now that I am Winged, my limits have been greatly relaxed. I can remain in my shadow realm for six hours at a time now and I always know where Minato-sama is while I'm there."
"You can't be the only one to guard him, Yahan." Hibiki pointed out, "We want to be with him and protect him as well. With my sister and I, we have to be together in order to be effective outside of a fistfight."
"My weapon and Norito doesn't lend itself to personal defence." Yashima said reluctantly.
"Musubi's too reckless to stay by Minato-sama's side if provoked." Matsu added. Seeing the bubbly Sekirei look down in shame, she hastened to add, "It's not that you don't care for him, it's just that you are relatively easy to trick or provoke. Otherwise your skill set would be ideal for guarding him."
"I'm OK at all-range attack and defence with my cloth." Uzume offered, "I'm a bit dicey when it comes to blades, fire and water though."
"We have to organise a guard schedule for Minato-sama that takes everything into account." Hikari stated firmly, "Matsu, can you organise a rotating schedule for us whenever Minato-sama goes out?"
"Easily. I can even make specific teams for various locations that he goes to." the bespectacled Sekirei said with a smile.
"By the way…" the other half of the Raiden Futago said with a frown, "Minato-sama's been…different in the last couple of days."
"How so?" Yahan asked.
"He's…well…more confident than when we first met him." Hibiki said thoughtfully, "A lot more confident."
"Ah. That is because of all of us." Matsu said smugly, indicating every Sekirei around the table.
"Huh?" was their reaction.
"Think about it." the Sekirei of Wisdom said with a smirk on her face, "We are bound to him by a link that can only be severed in two ways, linked by our minds and souls, with ours being vastly more powerful than his. Do you really think there wouldn't be any bleed over?"
"I…guess I never thought about it." Uzume said in shock, clearly taken aback by the concept.
"No one has, because the sad fact is, there have been a lot of forced Wingings in the Sekirei Plan, two of the other three powerful Ashikabi being particularly guilty in that regard." Matsu continued, "More than that, almost no effort has been made to understand the effect that Winging multiple Sekirei would have on an Ashikabi, especially when none of us were forcibly Winged. The resonance between our souls and Minato-sama's soul is tremendous."
"Is Minato-sama going to be OK?" Musubi asked worriedly.
Matsu smiled at the girl. "Of course he'll be fine. All that is happening is that some of our personality traits and powers are bleeding over to him. From Hikari-chan and Hibiki-chan, I suspect his reaction times will have been boosted. From you, Musubi-chan, his healing ability will have improved. Yashima-chan might have increased his muscle strength or his sense of balance, while Uzume-chan has definitely passed him some of her easy-going nature. I have likely given him some extra intelligence, and Kurusu-chan had given him some better hand/eye coordination. Yahan, I have no idea what you have given him, but it isn't likely to be inconsiderable. In addition, at a subconscious level, Minato-sama can sense the confidence and love we hold for him, which in turn boosts his own confidence."
There was silence for a moment before Yashima said in a hushed voice, "Wow…I had no idea we were influencing him so much. Is there any chance of negative effects from all this?"
"We are in unfamiliar territory here, Yashima-chan." Matsu replied with a frown, "I don't think so, but I am far from omniscient, so there might be. Although I doubt that a natural function such as Winging can have negative effects on our bondmate. Just to be safe, I'll speak to Number One."
This made the others fall silent (again) in shock that it might be something that would need confirmation from the Sekirei Pillar.
"Let us know if there is anything wrong and if we can do something to prevent it." Hikari said at last.
"Of course." Matsu nodded, "Again though, Winging is a completely natural process and I think Number One would have mentioned to me if there was any negative effects from such a thing when I told her I was planning on being Winged by Minato-sama."
Later
Roof of MBI Building
Manaka Hiroto stood on the edge of the roof of his building, posed with one foot atop the raised stone that bordered the edge and his white cape flapping magnificently in the wind.
'This is what it is meant to be!' he thought with a manic smirk, 'The destiny of this planet, fought for by youths of the next generation and their beautiful female companions!'
"The age of the gods is now!" he declared loudly spreading his arms to encompass all of the New Capital that he could see, "A hundred and eight feathers will be released soon and the wheels of fate shall start to move! Nothing can stop it; nothing should!"
He was unsurprised when a foot slammed into the small of his back. A very familiar foot.
"Gwah!" he exclaimed as he was cast off his tower, but managed to grab onto a nearby gargoyle before he could fall.
"Was there really a need for that, Takami-kun?" he asked once he was certain he wasn't going to fall.
Sahashi Takami glared down at him in a fury reminiscent of her younger days. She had gotten used to his eccentricities over the years, so her anger had dulled. Clearly, he had done something really bad to arouse this kind of reaction in his former lover.
Ah.
"You found out about the twenty, didn't you?" he stated more than asked.
"Obviously!" Takami hissed at him, "Did you really think you could conceal it from me forever? What the hell are you thinking?!"
"A game where all the participants are at equal strength is not a game at all!" Minaka protested indignantly, "Some element of chance and daring must be a part of it, Takami-kun. Have I taught you nothing?"
A tick mark appeared on the ash-haired woman's forehead before she stamped on his fingers, making him let go with a yelp. He wasn't worried though. He quickly deployed his cape's hidden function, an electric charge that turned it into a hang glider, allowing him to get safely to the ground, much to Takami's ire.
"Ahahahahahaha!" the Head of MBI cackled, "And my son is reaching new heights! Seven Sekirei so far and who knows how many to go!"
"HE'S NOT YOUR SON, DAMMIT!" Takami bellowed from the top of the building.
"How does she do that?" Minaka wondered before he crashed into a tree.
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Next Chapter: Ambush at the Exams
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