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"Minato." - Regular Speech
'Musubi' - Thoughts
"Kaminari!" - Sekirei Incantation
Chapter 11: A Mother's Wrath
MBI Building
Shortly After the Attack on Sahashi Minato
Sahashi Takami stormed through the building with a thunderous expression on her face. Higa Izumi had dared to try and assassinate her son! In broad daylight! She almost couldn't believe his audacity, but recalled the report written by the Investigations Department about the general underhandedness of the man's company and family. Bribery, hostile takeovers, blackmail, corruption of public officials…the list went on.
'So he wants to play hardball, does he?!' the enraged mother thought furiously, 'Well, let's see who throws the harder ball!'
She unceremoniously kicked open the door with the sign 'Discipline Squad Ready Room' above it and stamped into the room, surprising the occupants. Benitsubasa jerked her head up from the romance book she was reading, Haihane paused the anime she was watching and Karasuba looked up from maintaining her sword, one eyebrow hitched in mild surprise.
"You three have a target to hunt." Takami snarled.
"Who and why?" the grey-haired Sekirei asked indifferently.
"Higa Izumi's Sekirei." The Head of the Sekirei Plan replied angrily, "And because he tried to have my son assassinated!"
"Mu-chan's Ashikabi?" Karasuba's eyes narrowed dangerously, "Which of his Sekirei are we eliminating?"
Takami passed two photos to the Black Sekirei. "These are your targets. Eliminate them from the tournament swiftly, then go and threaten Higa a bit. Break his arm if you feel it necessary. Make certain he knows that further breaches of the rules will result in the termination of both his Sekirei and those of his subordinate's Sekirei as well."
With a bloodthirsty smile, Karasuba stood up and strode from the room immediately, leaving Tamaki to turn to the other two to hand them another pair of
"As you two are greenhorns compared to Karasuba, you have the same two targets." The woman said firmly, "Work together and eliminate both of them before reporting back to me in person. Understood?"
"Hai, Takami-sama!" Benitsubasa replied, the pinkette leaping over to the slothful Haihane and dragging her out of the room at a rapid speed.
"My animeee!" the claw-using Sekirei's whine resounded down the corridors as she was dragged away.
Takami shook her head. Why is it that none of the Discipline Squad were normal? One was a bloodthirsty mad dog; one was a pettanko with serious issues to do with her femininity and the last was a lazy person who would prefer to be a hikikomori like Matsu. What a trio they made.
Whirling around, she then headed to her office, her fury at Higa returning. She was very much looking forward to hearing about his reaction to having four of his Sekirei terminated and also threatened by the leader of the Discipline Squad. She really hoped Karasuba broke his arm. No one threatened her babies.
Sitting down at her desk, she called Matsu.
"Takami-okaa-sama?" the Sekirei of Wisdom said as she answered the phone, "Have you done it?"
"Yup. The Discipline Squad is moving out to teach Higa an object lesson from MBI…and me." Takami chuckled darkly, "I take it things are on course at your end?"
"Hai~! Higa-teme is suffering a company-wide computer failure and that third-string hack Kochō is unconscious from the backlash." Matsu cackled, "Kukukukukukuku…silly fool shouldn't have tried to hold the system together with her willpower. Maybe I was harsh with her and shouldn't have had twenty severs constantly hacking the system at a time….? Nah."
"…you are a very twisted woman, Matsu." Takami said after processing the Sekirei's mini-rant.
"Thank you~" Matsu sang down the phone.
"Let Min-chan know that I'll be coming over to give him a once over tonight." The Head of the Sekirei Plan told Matsu with a sigh, "Oh, and let him know that Yukari will be coming up next week, so he'd better have his story straight for her."
"Urgh…Takami-okaa-sama, is it really necessary to have Yukari-tan live here with Minato-sama?" Matsu whined.
"It's for her own good." Takami said firmly, "Higa would go after her in a second now that Minato has antagonised him. Once she has a Sekirei, I'll make her move to Miya's place, which'll be even safer for her, except when she goes to pay respects at Takehito's grave."
"Muuuuuuu~!" Matsu pouted down the phone, "OK, if we must, but if I get cut out of my 'Minato-time' because of the brat, I'll help the Raiden Futago 'discipline' her!"
"By all means." Takami laughed. Yukari wasn't so weak as to give in to the teasing and discipline of three women, even if they were Sekirei. If ALL of them punished her day in and day out, there might be some problems, but that was unlikely. Not unless Minato ordered Yashima and Musubi to join in, anyway.
Yashima was too timid to join in and Musubi still had a hard time understanding the basics of the birds and the bees. At least until Minato manned up and 'educated' her, she wouldn't know anything, as she kept fainting whenever Takami tried to explain those things to her.
"I have to go and explain the facts to that idiot Minaka, so I'll speak to you later." She continued, "Bye, Matsu."
"Bye, Okaa-sama." Matsu replied before hanging up.
Standing up, Takami strode along the corridor and into the elevator, hittting the roof button. That's where the idiot usually went to rant about gods, destiny, fate and all sorts of other rubbish. The number of times she had jump kicked him from up here was ridiculous, yet he always managed to survive! If any of the attempts had been honest-to-kami attempts at murder, she would be infuriated beyond belief.
"Mwa-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha!" Oh good god, she could hear him from here…what a loudmouth. The woman shook her head as the mad cackling of the head of MBI echoed down the shaft, getting louder as the elevator ascended. Really. The idiot sounded like a two-bit b-movie villain complete with a thin moustache to twirl as he did so.
"Ah, Takami-kun!" the idiot greeted her as she walked onto the roof. As always, he was standing at the edge of the building with his foot on the lip of the edge and his stupidly large white cape flapping in the wind. What a moron.
"I take it you already know why I'm here, Minaka." She said bluntly.
"Yes, young Higa-kun is getting spanked twice; once from dear Matsu for what he attempted to have done to her Ashikabi and the Discipline Squad is currently dispatched to punish him for not heeding our warning from the last time he broke the rules." Minaka actually sounded serious for once as he gazed off across the cityscape beneath him, "I trust Minato-kun emerged unscathed?"
"Thankfully, his flock were cautious and had twice the usual numbers guarding him just in case." Takami replied, "Minaka, you have to make an announcement stating harsh punishments for doing this kind of thing. Higa and Mikogami are getting bolder by the day."
"True enough, but I shall emulate the Buddha and be patient." Minaka smirked, "However…the saying does go 'Even the Buddha will get angry if you strike him three times.' If Higa commits one more breach of the rules, I will come down on him like a ton of bricks. Especially if he tries something with Minato-kun again."
"I…appreciate it." Takami said reluctantly. She almost never said such things to Minaka, because he usually tried to seduce her (again) when she did. And he usually succeeded, damn it…
"Think nothing of it, Takami-kun." Minaka waved a hand negligently, "This is a game of the gods and fate; those who cannot even observe the rules and etiquette of the game should be punished. It's only natural. By the way, I understand that congratulations are in order."
"About what?" Takami asked warily.
"Why, Minato-kun's exam results." The Head of MBI replied, "He managed to pass in the top percentile. I had them mark his first, you see. It just goes to show you what careful studying and relaxing before an exam can do for you."
"He…Minato passed? In the top percentile even?" the grey-haired woman asked weakly, "I mean, I knew he was smart, but…"
"He just isn't good at dealing with exam pressure, apparently." Minaka replied, "Let's face it Takami-kun; he has the genes of us, two of the most intelligent people on the planet. The chance that he didn't inherit that from us is slim to none."
Takami began to nod, but stopped herself. If she admitted that, it was only a hop, skip and a jump to her admitting that Minato and Yukari were his children, which would happen in a cold day in hell. She had carried them to term, she had breastfed them, she had raised them. They were her children, not Minaka's. Someone who had shown no interest in them until they started to attend school had no right to call them his children.
"Oh, c'mon Takami-kun!" the white-haired man whined, "They're going to know it's me who fathered them at some point! Minato-kun to one side, Yukari is too much like you and I in intelligence to not have at least a guess as to what relation I have with her and her brother."
"She hasn't said anything to me about it." Takami refuted.
"Why would she? You've made it plain that you want nothing to do with the father of your children." Minaka pointed out reasonably, "She probably figures that there's no need to wake a sleeping dragon."
"Minaka…you have three choices for punishment." Takami snapped at him angrily, "One, punched to death. Two, kicked to death. Three, punched AND kicked to death. Which'll it be?"
"All choices lead to death?!" Minaka shrieked his tsukkomi out.
"I see, I see…option three it is!" the woman said as she pulled on gloves to protect her knuckles.
"N…Now then, Takami-kun…you shouldn't joke like this…" Minaka backed up nervously, but then fell, as he had backed up over the edge of the building. Takami sighed, walked over and peered over the edge just in time to see Minaka spring a parachute from under his cloak.
"…tch." She grunted despondently. Honestly, where did he get parachutes from? Did he buy them from the JSDF or something?
"Well…time to go to Min-chan's place and give him the good news." she smiled.
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Higa's Office
Higa Izumi glared at the inoperable computer monitor atop his desk. Thanks to Number 2, Matsu, his entire computer network was down, with the data it had held likely damaged or wiped completely and the Sekirei who had been in charge of it, Kochō, was knocked out.
'Tch. Useless bird.' The man thought coldly. He had to come out on top of this ridiculous 'Sekirei Plan' otherwise he'd lose his position as head of his family Zaibatsu. The ridiculous condition set by those old ossified fossils on the board…the first thing he'd do when he won would be to turf them out onto the street and have their assets confiscated…
"Higa-sama!" Kakizaki, that spineless fool who was his manservant, came charging into the room looking panicked.
"What now?" Higa asked with a sigh.
"Mitsuba and Mitsuki were just eliminated!" the bespectacled man said breathlessly, "The Black Sekirei tracked them down and eliminated them!"
Hairs started to stand up on the back of Higa's neck. Number Four, Karasuba, the Black Sekirei. A certifiable psychopath who had slaughtered over a hundred human soldiers of a certain country when two Sekirei had been kidnapped by them for research. She viewed humans, especially Ashikabi, as lesser beings.
For Higa, who was accustomed to viewing all around him as lesser beings himself, it was very galling to have someone else view him as such.
"Shit…pull the rest of the Sekirei back inside." The Heir to the Hiyamaki Zaibatsu ordered, "Forget about hunting Sekirei until we know the situation properly. Put my security division on high alert too."
"Hai, Higa-sama." Kakizaki nodded and took his phone out. Before he could start to type numbers in, he was knocked unconscious by a smiling silver-haired woman with death in her eyes.
"YOU!" Higa snarled in fear and anger.
"Yep. Me." Karasuba said, walking forward slowly and menacingly, "You know, you really are a stupid bastard, even for a lowly human. Not only did you knowingly break the rules of the Sekirei Plan, not only did you piss off the HEAD of the Sekirei Plan…you have managed to piss ME off. Congratulations on your hat trick, Higa Izumi."
"How dare you-!" Higa started to say before her hand lashed out and sent him crashing to the floor.
"Listen to me and listen good, human scum." Karasuba's voice turned deadly quiet, "I have met some scumbags in my time on this pathetic little planet, but you are one of the most pathetic I have ever come across. Know your place. Break another rule and the Discipline Squad will eliminate ALL of the Sekirei you have forced yourself on, as well as the Sekirei of your subordinates. Understand?"
Higa nodded tightly.
"Now, moving onto more personal matters…" Karasuba drew her katana, still in its sheath, and brought it down on top of Higa, breaking the man's right forearm with a load crack.
"AAAAAAAGGGGGHHHH!" Higa screamed in pain.
"That, worm, is for daring to attack Sahashi Minato!" The Head of the Discipline Squad snarled at the man, "Attack his Sekirei according to the rules of the Sekirei Plan or do not attack them at all. Understood?"
Again, Higa nodded, the pain in his arm fuelling his anger. He would make this woman pay for this humiliation!
"Aww, how cute." Karasuba mock-crooned, "The monkey wants to avenge himself. It would be amusing if it wasn't so sad. Try all you want, boy. The result will be the same no matter what."
With a final scornful laugh, the Black Sekirei left the room, leaving behind an unconscious Kakizaki and Higa, clutching his broken arm and snarling curses.
'MBI is going to pay!' Higa swore as he clumsily removed the phone from its cradle with his left arm and started typing numbers in, 'NO ONE treats me like that and gets away with it!'
Same Time
Sahashi Minato's Residence
"I…I…I actually passed?" Minato stammered in shock. He was seated on the sofa, with Hikari and Hibiki on either side of him and Yahan and Kuruse lounging at his feet.
"Yes, you did." Takami chuckled. She was seated in a chair opposite him, with the rest of Minato's Sekirei sitting in various other chairs around the room. Yomi was skulking around the doorway, a slightly wistful look on her face as she constantly glanced at Minato and the Sekirei practically draping themselves off him.
"I told you, Mina-tan." Matsu said smugly. The Sekirei of Wisdom had told him repeatedly that he would pass and now she was vindicated.
"Congratulation, Minato-sama!" Musubi cheered happily.
"I'm very proud of you, Min-chan." Takami told her son, who flushed red to the amusement of his wives.
"I…thanks, okaa-san." Minato mumbled bashfully.
"Now, as the new term doesn't start for another couple of weeks, you can rest this week and go out and buy your college books and supplies the week after that." The grey-haired woman told him, "This gives you plenty of time to deal with Yukari when she arrives at the end of next week."
"Thanks for the news…" Minato said as he slumped over, "I'm going to be kicked to death once she sees the girls."
"Hardly." His mother disagreed, "The moment she tries something, your Flock will stop her, right girls?"
"HAI!" the Sekirei chorused determinedly.
"No one will hurt Minato-sama, not even his sister!" Kuruse declared, tightening her grip on her master's leg.
"Why would Yukari-san want to hurt Minato-sama?" Musubi asked in puzzlement.
"She's a serious brocon." Matsu replied. Seeing that Musubi didn't understand, she elaborated, "She sees Minato-sama not as her brother, but as someone to be a possible mate. Bluntly, she would attack him to let loose her feelings of jealously towards us, because siblings cannot get married and are ostracised by society if they become lovers. She wants him, but knows it's wrong. Still, she gets jealous regardless."
"Why?" Musubi looked confused.
Matsu looked helplessly at Takami, who sighed. "I'll explain things to her later. I have to try explaining the Intermediate Birds and Bees to her again anyway."
The Miko-look-alike flushed beet red and looked away. Evidently, she recalled the last time Takami had given her 'the talk' and was super embarrassed about it.
"Well, I'd better head back. Got a busy day reining in that idiot tomorrow." Takami sighed as she stood up, "Don't party too hard, you girls. Min-chan needs his sleep."
As she passed Yomi, the Head of the Sekirei Plan leaned in and whispered to her, "Your self-control is admirable, but you might want to give up. I can tell that you want to Wing yourself on Min-chan."
The flaxen-haired Sekirei looked at her in a panic, but Takami shushed her and drew the Death Scythe Sekirei out of sight of the living room.
"You want Minato to prove his manliness or something like that before you confess, right?" Takami asked as she opened the front door.
"H…How did you…?" Yomi asked weakly.
"I'm the Head of the Sekirei Plan, kid. I examined your psych profile when Min-chan took you in." the woman replied, "Seriously though; he stood up to the BLACK Sekirei of all people. You have to admit that it took a lot of guts to do that. I'd call that manly if nothing else."
"I know, I just…" Yomi trailed off with a blush.
"Ah. You want him to show off being manly for you." Takami saw through the girl easily, "Listen, that will just cause you suffering in the long run. You must know that 'The Call' is almost impossible for a Sekirei to ignore, right?"
'The Call' was the term MBI researchers used to refer to the attraction that Unwinged Sekirei felt towards their prospective Ashikabi. The greater the attraction, the more irresistible the Ashikabi is to the Sekirei. To Takami's experienced eye, Yomi was suffering from minor-to-moderate Call symptoms. Thus far, the Death Scythe Sekirei had suppressed them well, but such stubbornness could only last for so long, as her attraction had likely been rising for a while now, ever since Karasuba visited the house.
Yomi nodded miserably. She had been suffering from dreams and high levels of arousal for the past four days, all in connection with the raven-haired Ashikabi. Her natural stubbornness had helped hold off the need to surrender to The Call, but, as Takami said, it was impossible for her to hold it off for long. She estimated she'd cave in in two weeks at most. More likely within the next week at the earliest.
"Look, I know that you have a lot of pride. That isn't necessarily a bad thing." Takami said firmly, "Goodness knows that I am much the same, especially when I was younger. Let me tell you with the voice of experience that if you want something and your pride is standing in the way just for the sake of pride, then push it to one side. Never cut off your own nose just to spite your face."
With those words, Takami left, leaving a very conflicted Sekirei behind.
Late That Night
Park
A woman sat on the park bench silently. She was totally naked, aside from a dress shirt that did nothing to hide her alluring figure and full breasts. Her roughly cut light brown hair did not hide the Sekirei Crest upon her forehead, the symbol of a Scrapped Number. Her green eyes stared dully at the moon peeking through the clouds.
"I'm useless…" she whispered as ice started to coat the bench, "Absolutely useless…"
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Next Chapter: Akitsu, the Scrapped Number of Ice
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