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"Minato." - Regular Speech
'Musubi' - Thoughts
"Kaminari!" - Sekirei Incantation
Chapter 12: Akitsu, the Scrapped Number of Ice
The Next Day
Sahashi Minato's Home
Humming as he bustled around the kitchen cooking breakfast, Minato felt as if he were walking on air. He had numerous alien wives who loved him, his mother was proud of him AND he had finally passed the Entrance Exam to one of the hardest colleges in the country.
Life was good.
"Morning Minato-san." Yomi yawned as she stumbled into the kitchen/dining room with a yawn. She was only wearing a negligee and panties, but Minato had been steadily getting used to seeing gorgeous half-naked women at all hours, so he only almost had a nosebleed when he saw her, rather than fainting away.
"M-Morning, Yomi." He stuttered, turning back to the stove quickly, so he missed the proud smile that flashed across the Death Scythe Sekirei's face as she saw proof that her future Ashikabi saw her as attractive.
The flaxen-haired Sekirei frowned as she opened the fridge and took out some fruit juice. She had taken Takami's words to heart; she would tell Minato how she felt and ask him to Wing her…but how? She'd dug her own grave here thanks to her intransient stubbornness over the last four days. He likely thought she wasn't compatible with him, which was almost heartbreakingly appalling for her.
'No…I'll do it…when he next Wings a Sekirei.' She decided, 'His power grows with every Sekirei he has at his command and I can use that as an excuse to ask him to Wing me.'
Happy with her plan, the Sekirei poured herself a glass of the juice before returning the carton to the fridge and sitting down. Minutes later, the rest of Minato's 'Flock' awoke and came down, none of them dressed in clothes that were anything approaching decent in human company. Uzume was the only one sent back up to dress herself again by Minato as she had come down completely naked.
"Sorry about that." She apologised as she came back dressed in panties and a bra, with her veils draped over her body strategically. Rather conversely, it made her look sexier rather than less so.
The next few minutes in the kitchen was a flurry of light and wings as Minato kissed his wives good morning, starting with Uzume and ending with Hibiki and Hikari. The wings of energy on most of the first Sekirei he had Winged were very broad; certainly at least two feet longer than the first time he had seen them.
As he finished serving up breakfast –he could never get over how much a Sekirei could eat in a single sitting- his cell phone started to ring. Pulling it out, he flipped it up and answered it. "Hello?"
"Onii-chan?"
"Geh! Yukari?"
"What's with the 'Geh'?!" His volatile little sister huffed irritably, "You'd think you'd be happy to hear from your cute little sister after all this time!"
"S-sorry. Anyway, did you hear the good news?" Minato said, trying to divert her attention tactfully, "I got in!"
"Yeah, Kaa-san told me." Yukari sounded slightly incredulous, "I totally thought you'd flake out on me, Onii-chan!"
"Thanks for the vote of confidence." The older sibling groused, "So why are you calling this early?"
"Kaa-san also told me you're dating a pair of twin sisters," Yukari said, an edge in her voice, "Hentai!"
As Minato spluttered and argued with his sister, his listening Sekirei bristled with indignation at the accusations being hurled at their Master. How dare she say such things to him, sister or no!?
"So ladies…ready to spank the brat?" Matsu whispered to Hibiki and Hikari, who gave her identical evil grins.
"We ordered all the stuff during one of our walks." The older twin replied in the same tone of voice as Matsu, "It'll be delivered tomorrow and we can set it up in the basement, so someone's going to have to take Minato-sama out on a date to distract him."
"Musubi will do it!" the bubbly girl volunteered.
"I'm going too!" Kuruse butted in with a growl. The blond was suffering from a bit of breast-envy when it came to Musubi, who had the biggest breasts out of all of Minato's Sekirei, closely followed by Uzume. She liked her own breasts, make no mistake about that; they had a nice shape and were firm and perky, but the way Minato's eyes went to the chests of those two made her wish for bigger boobs.
"OK, take him somewhere that'll take some time…like that kimono shop that Takami-okaa-sama told us about." Matsu instructed her sister-wives. Technically, Musubi outranked her as she had been Winged before her, but the innocent Sekirei was almost submissive to everyone. Well, submissive was putting it a bit strongly; she just genuinely wanted to help people, especially her Ashikabi and sister-wives, and would follow pretty much any order that she was capable of understanding.
Sadly, she was a bit of an airhead, so any orders had to be dumbed down to her level and explicitly outlining what she should do. That wasn't to say that Musubi was as dumb as a brick, far from it. She was, according to Takami, a highly-intuitive kinaesthetic learner with supremely fine balance (considering her large bust) and a knack for making the correct snap-judgements in less time it took for her to eat a pair of hamburgers.
"Hai!" the brunette nodded enthusiastically, with Kuruse nodding along with her.
At length, Minato finally hung up and slumped down onto a free chair. Yashima, seated next to him, put a hand on his arm in concern.
"Are you alright, Minato-sama?" she asked gently.
"Y-Yeah…for a given value of 'alright,' I suppose." The raven-haired boy sighed before smiling weakly at the Sekirei looking on with concern, "Yukari will be here next Wednesday, so we'd better get a bed for her stay, however short it may be."
This had his Flock grumbling again, but they nodded with him regardless.
"Minato-sama, I would like to shadow you again today." Yahan spoke up, "There's no telling what The Ashikabi of the East might try in vengeance for you foiling his attempt on your life yesterday."
"Is he really that petty?" Minato asked with a frown.
"Mina-tan, he tried to have you assassinated," Matsu pointed out gently, "By both Yakuza and Sekirei. Yes, he's that petty. Especially since I made all the computers his company uses crash like a jet into a mountainside. Not to mention one of his subordinate's Sekirei is now in a small coma. Leaving to one side the fact that four of his Sekirei were terminated by the Discipline Squad and the Black Sekirei herself broke his arm."
Minato winced at that. "Yeah…he's not going to stop coming after me, is he? Damnit."
"He's one of your four main rivals during the Sekirei Plan anyway, Minato-sama." Yahan informed him.
"Wait, four? I get that the other three Ashikabi of the Cardinal Directions would be rivals of mine, but who's the fourth?" Minato asked in confusion.
"Whoever is appointed as the Ashikabi of the Discipline Squad, Mina-tan." Matsu put in succinctly, "And through him, Minaka Hiroto himself."
A headache announced its arrival right behind Minato's eyes at this revelation.
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Later
Sahashi Takami's Office, Penthouse Suite
"Okaa-san!" Yukari glared at her mother, hands on hips and aggression in her voice as she did so, "Why the heck are you letting those sluts hang around Onii-chan?!"
Takami, sat at the desk and reading a report on the criminal charges being levelled against the former Handlers, looked up at the fuming figure of her daughter and wondered silently what evils she had done in a past life to be cursed with a daughter with a brother complex. Sure, some of what was happening was undoubtedly because she had been forced into all-but enslaving the last remnants of an advanced alien race, but the sheer amount of problems that Yukari had caused couldn't be explained away with just that.
Even before going through puberty, the youngest female Sahashi had been very attached to her older brother, after he had rescued her from a forest after she had wandered in and gotten lost. Once puberty set in, and she started taking martial arts lessons from her grandmother, she got worse. She aggressively drove all girls away from Minato, not understanding what she was feeling until Takami sat the girl down and explained things to her.
That had been a mistake.
Once she realised that she had incestuous feelings towards her brother, Yukari had, somehow, turned that into her brother making her fall for him. She had practically had a split personality from then on, half of her wanting to keep women away from her brother, while the other half was beating her brother up for making her fall for him or resisting the urge to flash him when wearing a skirt.
Little wonder Minato had fled to the New Capital to get away from it.
"'Those sluts'? Really, Yukari," Takami said mildly, "You don't even know them and you're accusing them of things. I would have thought my mother would have raised you better than that."
The sheer workload that halfwit Minaka lumped on top of her after Asama Takehito's death had forced her to live in the MBI Building in the middle of the New Capital, as opposed to in Hokkaido with her kids and mother. She had hoped to kick the project off early so her children would be kept out of it, but with that inane idiot changing things left and right at the drop of a hat, she hadn't had a chance to do that, forcing her to only visit them at Christmas and on their birthdays.
What was strange was that Sahashi Nayuta, Takami's own mother, was a hard-as-nails woman with all the give of a wall of solid granite. There should have been no way that Yukari could have gotten away with such things, were it not for the fact that grandchildren were instantly forgiven of things that would earn mere daughters a good hiding. Yukari was also something of a prodigy at the family martial arts, which made her the apple of her grandmother's irascible eye.
"Obaa-chan did raise me right!" self-same prodigy huffed in derision, "Why are you supportive of Onii-chan dating two women at once?! Perverted brother!"
That last, Takami assumed, was a mutter about Minato rather than being directed at her.
"Because I happen to know these twins very well," she replied evenly, "They are orphans and are terrified of being separated for any reason. It's hard enough to get them to be apart long enough to go to the bathroom, let alone for different men. They both decided that, since their taste in men was pretty much identical, they would have the same partner. Minato is certainly not complaining."
"He wouldn't, the perv!" Yukari sulked.
"Just to let you in on a secret dear, but relationships aren't as black and white as stories make them out to be. It isn't actually unusual for women to share partners." Takami informed her daughter in a very cavalier and blasé manner.
"What?!"
"Oh, it isn't common, by any means, but neither is it unheard of." The ash-haired woman waved a hand airily as she flabbergasted her daughter, "People just don't talk about it openly. At least this means I get grandbabies without genetic mutation from incest…"
"KAA-SAN?!"
"Let's face it Yukari, you're going to jump your brother at some point, rip his trousers off and get yourself barefoot and pregnant with a baby as soon as you can." Takami deadpanned as her daughter turned a crimson red and started spluttering denials, "I've known it since you drove off Minato's fifth possible girlfriend when he was fourteen."
"I do NOT want him like that! I just want-!"
"You just want him to show you your place beneath him in a bed?" Takami suggested diffidently.
"NO!" Yukari almost wailed, "Okaa-san no baka!"
With that, the young brunette fled to the room she was staying in temporarily and slammed the door behind her. Takami had told a lie to Minato in that his sister was actually present in the New Capital as opposed to riding the Shinkansen down here from Hokkaido as he'd been expecting. She'd put her rambunctious daughter up in her house until Minato had settled in and gotten his exams out of the way. Now all she had to do was kick the girl out and the little brat should jump at the chance to A) Keep an eye on her 'perverted' brother and B) Get away from her embarrassing mother by moving into Minato's house.
Smirking, Takami returned her attention to the papers in front of her. She had to sign off on them as the Head of the Sekirei Plan, before moving on to the reports submitted by Karasuba, Benitsubasa and Haihane regarding the Sekirei that they eliminated the previous day. The Sekirei that had been eliminated were Number 38, Mitsuha, Number 39, Mitsuki, Number 40, Shi and Number 62, Kaie. That would make the man think twice about assassinating her son!
'Not to mention the broken arm Karasuba gave him.' the ash-haired woman thought grimly with satisfaction, 'He'll have to spend quite some time recovering from that. Plus, Matsu's little payback has sent the Hiyamakai Zaibatsu and Hiyamakai Enterprises into chaos because of the loss of their computer network. He'll have to devote quite some time to restoring order and repairing it, meaning less time spent thinking up plans to kill my son.'
Humming a tune off-key, Takami continued her work.
The Next Day
Nishitaka's Traditional Clothing Store
Nishitaka Mimori had run her clothing store for over thirty years. She had outlasted the old competition by having fairly low prices -comparatively speaking- and rose above the new-fangled rivals that had sprung up since by refusing to scrimp on quality.
In all her time, she had never seen a girl with breasts the size of Sahashi Musubi. The young girl must have very aggravating back pains from those things!
The girl's husband and sister, Minato and Kuruse, were more ordinary, but Kuruse was still a very beautiful girl regardless of the fact that she was out-sized by Musubi.
"You are a very lucky man, you know." She informed him as both the girls entered the changing room to put on Musubi's first choice of kimono.
"I know." He assured her. Oddly enough, she believed him. Most young people nowadays treated marriage and the like as casually as dating, which disgusted her. Mimori had dated and married one man, who had passed away from cancer five years previously and she shuddered at the thought of treating her partner as casually as young people did nowadays, so it was refreshing –and reassuring- to see a couple that seemed as devoted to each other as Musubi and Minato were. The pair could hardly keep their eyes from one another when they were around each other.
"We're having something of a get together with Musubi's friends later on in the week." Minato said to her as the squeals from the changing room started up. The girls loved the kimono by the sounds of it, "Musubi loves kimonos, so it's going to be a kimono party of sorts for them. Do you mind if I recommend your shop to them?"
What kind of idiot would she be if she turned down business like that?
"Of course." Mimori smiled, "Nice to see that some people prefer kimonos nowadays. I wear one all the time rather than jeans or skirts. If it was good enough for our ancestors, it's good enough for me."
It was another half hour before the trio left her shop, laden down with kimonos and all the accessories and undergarments that went with it. Having earned a pocket load of Yen, with more on the way courtesy of the kimono party that young Minato had told her about, Nishitaka Mimori felt that she was having a very good day.
With Minato
"I think you just made her day, Minato-sama." Kuruse said with a smile. She had bought a blue kimono patterned with sunflowers that looked good with her hair and eyes. She was looking forward to showing it off to the others.
"Traditional Japanese clothing hasn't been popular for years, except for weddings and parties, so we just gave a significant boost to her business." Minato nodded in agreement, "Kaa-san recommended the place, so it is likely the best shop in the New Capital for kimonos and yukata. Money well spent, I'd say."
Musubi just clung to his side happily. She'd bought three kimonos, each different colours and designs. What had mattered most to her was that Minato liked how she looked in them.
As they passed through a park, Minato stiffened as he felt a ripple of emotional pain in the air. He paused and looked in the direction that he felt it seemed to come from.
"Minato-sama?" Kuruse asked hesitantly.
"I felt pain coming from someone over there." Minato pointed in the general direction of the sensation, "I still feel it, actually."
"A Sekirei?" the honey-haired Sekirei wondered aloud, "Should we go and investigate, Minato-sama?"
"I think so. Whoever this pain belongs to is clearly in the midst of a lot of emotional suffering." The raven-haired Ashikabi replied, looking concerned, "I don't feel right about knowing about it and doing nothing. Call Matsu and let her know."
"Hai." Kuruse nodded and pulled her phone out. Minato had bought phones for all his Sekirei that didn't have one a few days previously and they all treasured the gift from their Ashikabi. She quickly hit Matsu's speed dial.
"Hai?" Matsu answered almost at once.
"Matsu-chan, Minato-sama is sensing a Sekirei in emotional distress." The honey-blonde Sekirei said quickly, "I think he's developed into some sort of Sekirei empath. Can you check the park for any Sekirei that might explain this?"
"Sure, two seconds…ah?!" Matsu squawked after a moment, "The Scrapped Number?!"
Kuruse felt a chill run down her spine as she heard that. The Scrapped Number, the only Sekirei out of the 108 that could not be Winged. It was a fate that any Sekirei shuddered and tried not to think of. To be unable to bond was a fate worse than death; indeed, most Sekirei would prefer to die rather than be unable to bond to an Ashikabi.
"Takami-Okaa-sama sent me an e-mail a while back asking us to take her in if we found her." Matsu continued once she recovered from her shock, "Be very careful with her; Akitsu was formerly Sekirei Number 7, the Sekirei of Ice, and she has only a tenuous grasp of her powers thanks to what those monsters in R&D did to her. She's also, if Mina-tan's sense is on the nose, feeling highly depressed. She might lash out at you once she hears Mina-tan's name. Tell Mina-tan I'll be keeping an eye on the park to make sure no other Ashikabi interferes."
"R-Right." Kuruse nodded. She hung up and filled in Minato about Akitsu.
"Poor girl." Minato said when she was finished, "Why did they do that to her?"
"It was a mistake made by an incompetent scientist at MBI, so you'd have to ask him." Kuruse shrugged, "Anyway, we'd better find Akitsu-san."
Nodding, Minato led his two Sekirei further into the park, towards where the waves of pain and distress were coming from. It was actually quite painful to feel the pain and distress of another person, he reflected as he walked. He couldn't ease it and he couldn't ignore it either.
"Brr…is it me or is getting cold?" he shivered.
"It must be Akitsu's power leaking out. She hasn't got a good grasp on her powers thanks to whatever MBI did to her." Kuruse reminded him. Musubi wasn't even shivering, which Minato envied a little.
"Look! Someone's sitting on that bench!" Musubi pointed at the bench in question, which was surrounded by a large ring of frost. Sitting on the bench was a tall woman with crudely cut hair. All she wore was an unbuttoned and bloodied dress shirt, but that merely showed of her pearlescent skin, making her look unearthly beautiful. She had an emotionless expression on her face, but that just hid the inner turmoil that Minato could feel coming from her.
The largest difference between her and every Sekirei Minato had met up until this point was that she bore her Sekirei Crest on her forehead, in a bright shade of crimson. He could feel power pulsating from it and could feel how frustrated it was, to be constrained as it was.
"Minato-sama, please be careful." Kuruse said as he started to walk forward slowly. He nodded back at her before resuming his advance, halting just outside the 'territory' of frost that she had unknowingly or unwillingly created.
"Hello?" he said softly.
No response.
"Akitsu-san…are you OK?" he tried again.
This got a response. She rolled her head up languidly, looking him in the eyes with her own slate blue eyes. Crystals of ice appeared around her, aimed at Minato's body.
"Who…?" she asked dully.
"My name is Sahashi Minato." He said carefully, "My mother is Sahashi Takami, the Head of the Sekirei Plan. Do you know her?"
"Takami-sensei…yes…she's…nice…why…are you talking to me?" Akitsu muttered, barely audibly.
"She wants to try and undo what was done to you." Minato said softly, "The person who did this to you has been sent to prison."
"Can't…it can't be undone…" the Scrapped Number said in a disheartened tone, "He said…I'm scrap…useless."
"I think my mother would disagree." The raven-haired boy said firmly, "Look, I can't say that I know what it must be like for you, but I can feel your emotions right now. You want to give up. You've been waiting here for a Sekirei to challenge you to a fight so you can end it all, right? That's why you ran from MBI; because being like this is horrifying for you."
Akitsu's eyes widened fractionally as he spoke, his words striking a chord with her. That was exactly how she felt to a 'T'. She was too cowardly to end it herself, so she waited for a Sekirei to do the job for her. Sadly, none had come to the park since she had fled the MBI building for some reason.
"Could…could she do that? Make me capable of being Winged again?" she begged him for an answer.
"The worst that could happen is that her attempts fail." Minato offered, "From what I understand, Kaa-san has the most experience at the adjustment process out of every Adjuster at MBI, so she's your best chance at getting a solution."
The Ice Sekirei nodded slowly. "Very…well. I'll accompany you, Sahashi Minato."
Minato smiled at her. "Thank you. I'm going to call two of my Sekirei over here, so don't be startled, OK?"
After she nodded, Minato called over Musubi and Kuruse, who walked over cautiously. He presumed that that had been Kuruse's idea, as Musubi was usually too bubbly and energetic to bother about niceties such as personal space and not moving faster than the human norm.
"This is my third Sekirei, Number 88, Musubi, and my seventh Sekirei, Number 54, Kuruse." Minato introduced them to the Ice Sekirei, "Girls, this is Akitsu. She'll be staying with us until Kaa-san can pick her up."
"Nice to meet you, Akitsu-san!" Musubi chirped cheerfully.
"A pleasure." Kuruse nodded politely.
Minato's phone started ringing, so he answered it. "Yes?"
"Mina-tan, get out of there!" Matsu's panicked voice said as the clacking of keys in the background ramped up, "The Ashikabi of the South is heading your way with six Sekirei!"
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Next Chapter: Face to Face: North vs. South
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