Author's Note: Sorry for the delay. My Computer is in the shop and I tidied my external hard drive -where I keep all my stories- away and I only just rediscovered it this morning after searching for a couple of hours. Enjoy.

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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 10: Ambush at the Exams

The Next Day

Dining Room, Izumo Inn

"Harmful?" Miya asked, pausing as she was raising a cup of tea to drink.

"Hai." Matsu nodded. The Sekirei of Wisdom sat opposite the Sekirei Pillar and was looking at her seriously.

"Aside from the effects that you have described to me, have there been any others?" the lavender-haired woman asked.

The orangette shook her head.

"In which case there is no need to worry." Miya replied, "There can be negative effects from Winging powerful Sekirei, but they would have shown up before now if they were to appear, so you can rest easy on that front."

"What would cause them?" Matsu asked curiously.

"The souls of Sekirei and humans are very similar, but at the same time, very different." Miya explained, "We are compatible enough to bond, true, but the general strength of the Soul and mind of a human is greatly weaker than even the weakest of Sekirei. Ashikabi are the strongest among the humans, but even then, some cannot withstand so many powerful true bonds from powerful Sekirei. Those who force the creation of bonds do not establish a true bond and therefore do not suffer this problem."

"I had no idea that we might cause Mina-tan trouble by being Winged by him." Matsu said in a concerned voice.

"Generally, it isn't something to be concerned about." the Sekirei Pillar assured her, "Most Ashikabi only ever attract one or two Sekirei at most. For someone like Sahashi-san, who seems to possess an immensely powerful soul capable of attracting multiple powerful Sekirei, it is something of a concern, but the effects would have shown up after the fifth Sekirei was Winged…Uzume-chan, wasn't it? If nothing unusual has shown up since then, the likelihood of the negative effects showing up are slim to none."

"What are the negative effects?" the bespectacled Sekirei asked.

"Excessive sluggishness, cognitive impairment over basic matters, a weakened immune system…" Miya listed, "Those are the common symptoms. Rarer ones include hallucinations, mild dementia, and speech impediment."

Matsu memorised Miya's words and made a note to keep a weather eye on Minato in case any of these symptoms manifested in the future.

"…are you happy, Matsu-chan?" Miya asked softly.

The orangette froze for a moment before nodding shyly.

"He treats us all equally, Miya-tan. You have no idea how worried I was, in the back of my mind, about being ignored for one of his older Sekirei." Matsu said dreamily, "But I worried for nothing. He's firm with us, but fair and ohhhhhh! I can't wait until the Sekirei Plan is over and we can get down to having babies!"

"Calmly does it, Matsu-chan." Miya sighed, a small smile breaking through her stern façade, "Has anything of import happened recently?"

Matsu paused. "Minato-sama has made a stand against two of the three other Great Ashikabi. Mikogami of the South and Higa of the East."

The Sekirei Pillar listened as the two encounters with the Sekirei belonging to the scum who dared to forcibly Wing the Sekirei under her protection.

"Higa is likely to try something." she told Matsu, "You had better be on the lookout for him trying something. There again, you know what he's like better than I do."

The Sekirei of Wisdom growled in agreement. She had performed in-depth studies of the major Ashikabi and only Sanada of the West had passed muster with her. Mikogami was a spoiled brat with a game obsession and minor god complex, while Higa was an emotionless monster with seemingly no capability for empathy or even common decency.

"If he tries anything, my sister-wives and I shall take it out of the bastard's hide." Matsu said grimly.

"Just as you should." Miya agreed, "Although I must give you a word of caution. Sahashi-san, from everything I've heard, is a kind boy. Don't let vengeance cloud your mind and lead to one or more of you being defeated and lost to him. It would break his heart."

The bespectacled Sekirei nodded seriously. "We'll be careful, Miya-tan." she promised.

Later

Sahashi Residence

Minato looked up as his phone ringing and frowned. His mother wasn't due to call yet and Yukari didn't call him unless it was in the evening, when she had nothing better to do.

Shrugging, he answered the phone to see who it was.

"Hello, Sahashi residence." he said.

"Am I addressing Sahashi Minato-sama?" a male voice enquired.

"Speaking."

"Excellent. I am Kakizaki. I speak for Higa Izumi-sama." the man said loftily.

A frown crossed Minato's face again. "I am aware of your master's name." he said frostily, "What do you want?"

"It is Higa-sama's wish that you cease interfering in his activities." Kakizaki replied, a sneer in his voice, "Should you refuse, you will not enjoy the consequences."

"You can tell your master that as long as he continues to attempt to force Sekirei into his service against their will, I will stand against him!" the ravenette snarled, "Now I am going to hang up. Never call me again or YOU will regret it!"

As he hung up, he was glomped by Musubi, who was squealing about how cool he had been. She was soon joined by the rest of his Sekirei, who were in agreement with Musubi.

"Mina-tan, what did he say?" Matsu asked urgently.

Minato repeated the conversation verbatim, which made the women around him emit killing intent at the blatant threat to their Ashikabi.

"Ladies, we'd better be doubly careful since Higa has enough money and influence to be troublesome, even without MBI VIP Cards." Matsu said firmly, "Yahan, can you shadow Minato-sama in addition to Musubi and Uzume tomorrow when he's going to take his exams?"

The Sekirei of the Shadows grinned and nodded. "They'll only get at Minato-sama if they get past me and the girls."

Musubi and Uzume nod in agreement.

"Kuruse-chan, you'll also be guarding Minato-sama, but from afar." Matsu continued, "Your teleportation ability will be useful for long range attacks."

"Got you." the blond girl nodded.

"Don't you think four is a bit much?" Minato asked with a raised eyebrow.

"There's no such thing as being too careful if you don't know how the enemy is going to attack." Matsu lectured him, "Higa has hired the Yakuza on several occasions before now, so he might try something using them as opposed to his Sekirei."

Yashima looked sad for some reason.

"What's up, Yashima-chan?" Minato asked kindly.

"I…I just wish that I could be more useful." the Hammer Sekirei admitted ruefully, "My weapon is so clunky and unwieldy that I can't come along and guard you when you're in the town."

Minato walked over and cuddled her, making her flush red in surprise and pleasure at the affection.

"You stop thinking like that at once, you hear?" Minato told her, "It isn't about being useful or not. You are one of my wives and I value you for who you are and what you mean to me, not for what you can do for me. That goes for all of you."

This declaration led to a heavy make out session between Minato and his Sekirei. By the time they retired for the evening, none of the Sekirei could help but shiver at the memory of feeling his emotions whenever they even lightly touched the bond that bound them to Minato.

The Next Day

En-Route to The Exams

Uzume, dressed in slightly more modest clothing than usual with a veil tied loosely around her neck, led the way towards the site of the exams. Minato followed behind her, with Musubi latched onto his arm. She was dressed in a cute ensemble that emphasised her physical attributes without being revealing.

Minato chuckled nervously as he felt the jealous stares of his fellow males jabbing into his back like knives. He knew that Musubi was a beautiful girl, but the jealous stares made it absolutely clear that most people would cheerfully cut their arm off with a rusty sword to have the chance of dating her and, to them, he was a bug in the way.

Uzume was just as attractive and he knew that once she stopped to talk to him, the jealous stares would redouble in intensity. Him having one cute girlfriend was hard to take, but somewhat acceptable for those around him, but two? That would be like waving a red rag to a bull.

He sighed, which was noticed by his two Sekirei.

"Are you alright, Minato-sama?" Musubi asked.

"I'm fine, Musubi-chan." he smiled back wanly, "I'm just a bit nervous about the exam. Exam jitters aren't uncommon."

"Matsu-nee says you'll do fine, Minato." Uzume called back breezily, "She's arguably the smartest person on this planet, so I think she knows what she's talking about."

Minato remained silent as they approached the exam site, his mind whirling in an increasing loop of frenzied thoughts as his inferiority complex, battered into reasonable submission by the confidence granted by his wives, reared its head again.

Seeing this, Uzume whispered into Musubi's ear for a moment before the two Sekirei dragged Minato into an empty classroom and kissed him senseless. As he gulped in air once Uzume and Musubi finished kissing him, the Veiled Sekirei whispered into his ear.

"Even if you lack confidence in yourself, my beloved Ashikabi-sama, have confidence in the confidence that we, your wives have in you."

It was a much reinvigorated Minato that entered the exam hall after that.

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Later

With Kuruse

The Trident Sekirei perched atop a building near the exam hall where her Ashikabi was sitting his exams. Kuruse kept an eye out for either Sekirei belonging to Higa of the East or suspicious people hanging around near the entrance or even the general area of the exam hall.

'Nobody is going to harm Minato-sama!' she thought determinedly, 'Our souls are one, we were meant for each other. I won't allow him to be threatened by anyone!'

For any Winged Sekirei, the thought of their Ashikabi being harmed in any way, shape or form was abhorrent. The very idea made Kuruse's stomach roil with disgust. She would rather die than allow so much as a hair on Minato's head be damaged.

She stiffened as her phone rang. Answering it, she said, "Yes, Matsu-chan?"

"I've found out what Higa's up to." the Wisdom Sekirei told her, "It's a two-pronged attack. The Yakuza will divert the attention of Minato-sama's two Sekirei guard that Higa knows about, while two of Higa's Sekirei eliminates Minato-sama from behind. It's set to go down shortly after Minato-sama leaves the exam hall."

Kuruse gritted her teeth. "Any idea where the Yakuza are?"

"Not as of yet." Matsu replied grimly, "They might already be there. Keep an eye out for vans or cars loitering suspiciously near the entrance. Yahan is going to be on a hair trigger in the shadow realm."

"How will she know to react?" Kuruse asked.

"She can see through the shadows now apparently, even inside the shadowy realm she can travel through." Matsu replied, "If any Sekirei other than one of us comes within a few meters of Minato-sama, she'll know about it at once."

The Trident Sekirei bared her teeth in an unpleasant smile. "If any Sekirei tries anything, Yahan-chan will make them sorry they did. She's wicked fast with that dagger of hers.

"I'll keep a lookout myself with the satellites I have at my command." Matsu said, "I've told Takami-okaa-sama about this and boy, is she pissed. If need be, I'll send Yashima-chan as backup, but we should have everything under control for the moment."

"I'll get back to keeping an eye out over here." Kuruse said, "Good luck, Matsu-chan."

"And you, Kuruse-chan." Matsu said, then hung up.

Kuruse absently reached out and plucked a trident seemingly from nowhere. She spun it in her hands before scanning the area below her again. If she spotted Yakuza hanging around, they would receive a trident smashing into them before they could blink.

Later, After the Exams

Minato stretched his arms as he walked out of the room where he had been sitting his exams. That had been far easier than he had expected.

'Then again, maybe it was because of the encouragement I received from my wives that it was easy.' he mused.

The kisses and words had been one thing, but the feeling of Uzume and Musubi reaching out down the bond and driving away all of his nerves and worries had been a heady one. He had felt their love for him, known it was so real he could practically reach out and touch it.

"Minato-sama!" Musubi cooed as she glomped him.

"Down, girl." Uzume rolled her eyes as she pulled her sister-wife off their husband, "He isn't as resilient as we are, remember? You ok, Minato?"

"Hai…" the ravenette replied dazedly before recovering fully, "Yeah, I'm good. Anything unusual happen while I was fighting my exam papers?"

Uzume knew what he meant. 'Had there been any Yakuza setting up to try and kill him' was the actual question.

"Not that we could see." she replied, "Kuruse-chan is on the lookout and hasn't spotted anything on her end either. Ditto for Matsu-nee."

That was somewhat troubling to him. If four Sekirei, one using satellite surveillance, couldn't track down whatever Higa was planning, could he not be planning anything?

Shrugging, Minato led his Sekirei out of the building. He would still be careful, because everything that he had heard about Higa had likened him to a snake in the grass…cold, emotionless and seemingly harmless until he reveals his true colours. Being paranoid when he was involved wasn't a bad thing, it was necessary.

So, when a group of men armed with tantō and bokken charged out of a door nearby and leapt to attack him, Minato wasn't surprised. Neither were Uzume and Musubi.

"Musubi, remember to hold back!" the Veiled Sekirei warned her sister-wife, "They're only human, after all."

"Hai!" the fist-type Sekirei responded as she leapt to the attack. She single-handedly beat down the group of Yakuza, smashing the wooden swords and shattering the tantō with barely any effort before tapping them somewhat lightly with the heel of her hand on the backs of their head.

Uzume kept back with Minato and used her small veil to stop any of them that got away from Musubi from getting near Minato. She wrapped it around one man's arm and threw him into a rosebush planted nearby when he got too close.

Ignoring the man's shrieks of pain, Minato winced as a couple of the other men cried out in pain when Musubi struck them.

"Sahashi Minato…die!" a female voice snarled from behind him. The sound of blades grinding against blades rang out from behind him and he turned to see Yahan standing in front of a girl in a tube top, bikini bottoms and thigh-high boots, wielding a set of blade-tipped whips.

"You are Number Thirty-One, Sai, the Blade Sekirei!" Yahan growled, "How dare you attack my Ashikabi!"

"Number Fifty-Seven!" Sai growled, "I always wanted to put you down!"

A blur out of the corner of Minato's eye was intercepted as a trident smashed into it. A familiar girl fended it off with a whip. Kaie, the Whip Sekirei.

"Minato-sama!" Kuruse called anxiously as she landed next to him, "Are you OK?!"

"I'm fine, Kuruse-chan." he responded, "Thanks for the quick save."

The Trident Sekirei grinned at him before summoning another trident and stomping towards Kaie with anger in her eyes.

Musubi finished taking care of the Yakuza and bounced over to stand guard beside Minato, along with Uzume.

"Shit! When the hell did you Wing these two?!" Sai snarled. She was exchanging blows with Yahan at a furious pace. Her eight bladed whips clashed repeatedly against the Shadow Sekirei's dagger, Yahan seemingly holding her enemy off easily.

"Higa needs to do better recognisance." Minato remarked, "Clearly my resources outstrip his in this department. Now if I were you, I'd break this off or else I'll ask Yahan and Kuruse to stop holding back."

"To hell with you!" the girl snarled.

"Yahan." Minato said mildly.

The dark-skinned woman grinned and faded into the shadows, then manipulated them into a circle around Sai. The Blade Sekirei glanced around nervously, then yelped as she was enveloped in a bubble of shadows. After a moment, she was ejected from the bubble, shivering and quaking in fear, with blood dripping from several cuts on her body.

"Care to reconsider?" the ravenette asked mildly as Yahan emerged from his shadow, a bloody dagger in one hand.

The fallen Sekirei cursed before retreating. Kaie, seeing her odds reduced to practically nothing, also fell back and fled from the area. Kuruse made to pursue, but Minato stopped her.

"No, Kuruse-chan." he said firmly, "If they try again, we'll send a message to Higa by terminating the Sekirei he sends to attack us, but not yet."

Kuruse pouted, but obeyed her Ashikabi. Instead, she pulled the first trident she had flung at Kaie out of the ground and teleported it back to her storehouse under the MBI tower. Yahan got a cloth out and wiped her dagger clean before sheathing it and returning to the shadows with s wink at Minato.

"Shall we return home now, Minato-sama?" Kuruse asked.

He nodded. "I think that's a good idea. Don't you think so, Uzume-chan, Musubi-chan?"

"Sure." the Veiled Sekirei nodded as she tied her veil properly again, "Can we have sukiyaki tonight?"

Minato laughed at that. "I has been a while since I've made that, but I think I can manage that. Pork or beef?"

"Beef!" his three Sekirei cheered.

"OK then. Let's go shopping." the ravenette boy had to smile at their enthusiasm, "We might have to buy a really big pan to make enough sukiyaki for nine Sekirei and one human. Not to mention the ingredients."

Chatting happily, the three Sekirei followed their Ashikabi off the grounds, leaving behind over thirty beaten, bleeding and mildly traumatised Yakuza who all decided, once they were out of hospital, to find a less dangerous line of work.

One another, incidental, note, they avoided busty brunettes like the plague after this incident.

Later

With Higa and Kakizaki, Higa's residence

"They failed? AGAIN?!" Higa demanded in a fury.

"H-Hai…" Kakizaki replied, quailing at the anger his master was showing. "Th-the boy somehow found out about the exact details of our plan and brought four Sekirei rather than the two he usually has for guards."

"Who?" Higa demanded.

"Number Fifty-Seven, Yahan and Number Fifty-Four, Kuruse." Kakizaki reported, "Yahan is known as the Sekirei of the Shadows and can use them as portals to travel, while Kuruse is known as the Trident Sekirei and can use a limited form of teleportation in conjunction with her tridents. This was in addition to Number Eighty-Eight, Musubi and Number Ten, Uzume. The Bear Fist Sekirei and the Veiled Sekirei respectively."

"I recall Number Ten." Higa said coldly, "She is someone we should have either eliminated or Winged. Instead, those stupid birds failed again and now she is a pawn of an enemy of ours. Very disappointing."

"Hai…" Kakizaki said, not daring to say anything that might be construed as an excuse or blame-shifting. Higa detested it when his subordinates made excuses, even legitimate ones. In his eyes, if you failed, it was your own fault, regardless of the actual circumstances.

Suddenly, Kakizaki's phone went off. Frowning, he answered it. He had given strict instructions to not be disturbed, so this had better be important.

"Yes?" he said, then listened, with his eyes widening as the other person babbled in his ear. "You're serious?…what?! OK, do damage control, stat! I don't care! Just do it!"

Hanging up, he turned to Higa with a hefty amount of trepidation in his body language. "Higa-sama, we have a…situation…at the main office."

"What?" he demanded.

"Our servers have crashed…all of them." Kakizaki replied, "Kochō is unconscious from the backlash. She tried to stop whoever did this, but her lack of sleep left her weakened and vulnerable. There is only one person who could be responsible for this…Number Two, Matsu. Otherwise known as the Sekirei of Wisdom, she is basically a super-powered version of Kochō, able to do everything she can, only better. Even if she had been fully rested, Kochō couldn't have stopped her. I find it too coincidental that she chose to do this just a short while after the failed attempt on Sahashi Minato."

"You believe that she has been Winged by him." Higa stated.

"It is the only thing that makes sense, Higa-sama." Kakizaki, "I'll admit that the possibility exists that she did this because she disapproves of your actions towards Sahashi Minato whilst not being Winged by him, I doubt it. If she has been Winged by him, it would explain how Sahashi knew of the details of our plan. She likely bugged our phones and intercepted our e-mails."

"Do you mean to tell me that my company is completely at the mercy of one of those stupid birds?!" Higa demanded in outrage.

"Sadly, that would seem to be the case, Higa-sama." Kakizaki replied as he adjusted his glasses, "I would suggest that if we make any more attempts on Sahashi Minato, we use courier messages to communicate with the Yakuza. One of the weaker Sekirei you have Winged should suffice."

"There is no 'should' about it, Kakizaki!" Higa growled, "Sahashi Minato will pay for this. I will see him and his Sekirei dead before the end of this tournament!"

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Next Chapter: A Mother's Wrath

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