Read, Review and check out my other stories!
Disclaimer: I do not own Sekirei. More's the pity, now that it's out in paperback.
"Minato." - Regular Speech
'Musubi' - Thoughts
"Kaminari!" - Sekirei Incantation
Beta'd by BigCC
Chapter 18: Over the Line
The Next Day
Kitchen, Minato Sahashi's Home
Minato had been changing. Ever since Musubi, Hikari, and Hibiki had walked into his life he hadn't been quite the same. Before he'd been…well, a bit of a coward if he was being brutally honest with himself. Now though, his self-confidence had been steadily rising, and his former timidity and shyness were also vanishing from sight.
Part of it was the constant love, affection, and trust his wives constantly showed him, but it went deeper than that. According to Matsu, this was a side-effect of the Sekirei Bond subconsciously reinforcing his personality with bits of his wives. Their love and trust in him were being channelled through their bond to him, reinforcing his own confidence in himself.
It worked both ways, Sekirei affected Ashikabi and Ashikabi affecting Sekirei, and since he was one Ashikabi to twelve Sekirei he was getting the most effect of the bond's influence.
The effects on his wives might not have been as noticeable as his own spike in self-confidence, but it was there if Minato looked closely enough. Matsu herself was slightly calmer and less prone to going into a rant, while Musubi was more intelligent and slightly less airheaded. Yomi swore less and was more patient. Yahan was less secretive. The twins were more balanced, with Hikari being calmer and Hibiki being more outgoing. Kuruse was mentally hardier, while Uzume was less flighty and Yashima was less timid.
They were affecting each other, allowing them all to grow and mature as people thanks to the bond they shared. It wasn't that different from any other relationship (both members growing and maturing together and being shaped by their interactions with each other), save that the bond was accelerating the process to a degree far beyond what normal human courtship and cohabitation could cause.
Despite all of that knowledge, the fact that he was kissing Uzume after practically pinning her to the wall was still quite a surprise. The fact that he was the one who'd initiated the exchange even more so.
The Veiled Sekirei certainly wasn't complaining as her tight grip around his neck showed, as well as her approving moans as his hands squeezed her tight and round rear end.
'I certainly didn't expect to wake up to this today!' Uzume thought as she moaned again, returning her beloved's kiss. She had just walked in, with a sheer nightgown on, along with a pair of panties, and flirted with Minato a bit. He had finished cooking, pushed her against the wall and started kissing her like there was no tomorrow.
She loved this kind of attention from her Minato-sama. Sekirei as a species and race were very physically oriented and tended to be very demonstrative when it came to showing affection, so hugs, touches and the like were common among relatives and even casual friends. For lovers, and particularly between Ashikabi and Sekirei, kisses and intimate touches were a near-constant desire.
So too were most Sekirei submissive to their Ashikabi, at least when their Ashikabi was their actual Destined One, so having Minato take what he wanted from her rather than ask permission was a big turn-on for her.
Panting when they separated to breathe, Minato and Uzume stared into each other's eyes before the Sekirei moaned again, throwing her head back as Minato started kissing her neck.
"Min-Minato-sama!" she gasped before squealing as he sucked at her neck, leaving a hickey. She already bore the Sekirei Crest at the base of her neck on her back that signalled that she was taken by someone, and her soul was bound to him irrevocably, but the fact that her Ashikabi-sama had marked her as his yet again, and in an even more intimate manner, was too much for her; she climaxed with a low moan.
'Thank the gods I'm not a squirter!' she thought dazedly. 'As it is, I'll have to change my panties!'
"It really is a shame that your lovely wings aren't big enough yet." Minato muttered as he chastely kissed her on the lips. "Soon though."
Releasing her, he headed back to return to his cooking, leaving Uzume to slide down the wall to sit on the floor, legs weak and shaky after her climax. Her heart was racing, her face was beet red and she was still very much aroused from her Ashikabi's affections, as demonstrated by the damp patch on her panties and her nipples almost piercing through the thin material of her nightgown.
The day when her wings of light grew to the correct size, Uzume felt, could not come soon enough.
Later
Rooftops of the New Capital
Sitting atop an unfinished construction site, reclining against a girder, was a very beautiful specimen of femininity. The woman had long, shapely legs, a bust that was slightly bigger than Musubi's own and beautiful black hair done up in a short ponytail. She wore a purple one-piece Chinese dress that had parts cut out of it to display a large amount of her cleavage and her firm, taught abdomen, as well as a pair of matching purple high-heels.
Pouring herself another helping of sake into her ochoko, Kazehana, Sekirei Number 3 and the Sekirei of the Wind, took a gentle sip and hummed in pleasure. Humans made some strange and ridiculous inventions, but one thing that Kazehana had to admit that they had done right was to invent alcohol and sake in particular.
"Kazehana." A voice said and she lazily eyed the black-clad figure with silver hair that had joined her atop the semi-completed building.
"Homura." She said with a smile. "Long time no see. Fancy a cup? It's good stuff."
"Thanks, but it's a bit early for me." The Guardian of the Unwinged replied. "I just came to tell you some unfortunate news."
"Oh?" the former member of the First Generation Discipline Squad raised an eyebrow.
Homura proceeded to tell her of the attack on Sahashi Takami's lab the previous day, including how she had basically been cut off from reinforcements thanks to Minaka being an ass.
"Hmm…so they tried…again…and failed…again." The Sekirei of the Wind hummed. "You'd think that by now they would've realised that they have no chance of success."
"Without Minato-san interfering with his Sekirei, they may well have succeeded." Homura pointed out.
"Hmm…Her son…" Kazehana pouted slightly. She had been in love with Minaka for years but had been shot down when she confessed to him. The fact that he had a son and daughter with Sahashi Takami had both surprised and depressed her when Matsu had told her about it. She had been the first out of the MBI Tower out of all of the Sekirei so she could drink her sorrows away.
Oh, she didn't dislike Takami all that much; jealous to the back teeth of her, perhaps, but the work that the woman did to try to protect Kazehana's sisters had always prevented her from holding any real grudge against the other woman. If Karasuba, who despised humans a great deal, could admit even the smallest and most begrudging respect for Takami, then there was no viable reason for Kazehana to rightfully hate her.
It didn't stop the flighty Wind Sekirei from wishing the other woman had been a lesbian or something.
"How many Sekirei does Minato-san have?" she asked idly.
"Numbers 10, 11, 12, 88, 2, 57, 84, 54, and 42." Homura counted off. "Nine in total at the moment. A tenth'll be added once he Wings Number 108, plus there's a chance he'll Wing the former Number 7, since Takami-sensei managed to cure her yesterday and she's been in constant contact with him both before and after."
"She cured the Scrapped Number?!" Kazehana exclaimed in shock.
"Yes, although the method she used is exclusive to treating the method used to turn her into one." The Fire Sekirei stated.
Scrapped Numbers, according to Miya, did occasionally turn up naturally in Sekirei society. It was similar to a birth defect among humans, save one with far more grievous consequences, particularly to a species that tended to be as emotional as the Sekirei. Being unable to fully control their abilities, whether they were physical, elemental or psychic was bad enough, but their inability to properly bond was what truly made them pitiable among their own species. That kind of existence was a living nightmare for any normal Sekirei.
Given a choice, nearly any Sekirei would rather die than become a Scrapped Number. The proper name for a Scrapped Number to Sekirei would be a Shattered Wing.
"Well I'll be." The Sekirei of the Wind shook her head. "Have you told Miya yet?"
"Yes. She was…emotional." Homura said with a very slight shiver. "It was very…odd…to see her smiling so honestly and happily. Not her usual demure Yamato Nadeshiko smile, but an honest to the gods happy smile."
Kazehana smiled sadly. Ever since her beloved husband had died, Miya had retreated behind the persona of a traditional Japanese Housewife and Innkeeper. She had been a bit prudish beforehand but it had been taken to a new level afterwards.
"Well, I'm glad that she has a reason to smile." She said aloud.
"By the way, Takami-sensei gave me this to give to you." Homura said, pulling a phone from his pocket and handing it. "She said that some drunk man answered your old phone when she tried to contact you during the attack, so she had this one put together for you."
That made Kazehana wince as she accepted her new phone. She had misplaced it accidentally-on-purpose because being in the Discipline Squad had been what had started her Sekirei Crest reacting to Minaka. Any reminder of those old memories had a nasty tendency of rendering morose and depressed for days. "Eh-heh…sorry about that. Wait, she actually called me?"
"You were her fourth attempt after Minaka, Karasuba and me." Homura informed her. "I was on the other side of the city at the time and didn't get there until after the situation was resolved. Minaka was out of contact for whatever reason and Karasuba was in a Faraday Cage. Apparently, the other members of the Discipline Squad had their phone turned off and had left it in her rooms at MBI headquarters respectively. She didn't even bother to try Miya, as she would have refused to do anything."
"Damn. So she called in her son last?" Kazehana asked.
"She didn't want to risk her son or his Sekirei, but she had little to no choice." The Sekirei Guardian replied with a shrug. "Tsukiumi pursued me across town and I had to lose her there as well. She may be a problem with her fixation on remaining free of any Ashikabi."
"Oh…you mean Panty-Flasher-chan?" Kazehana giggled. The dress that the Water Sekirei wore didn't leave much to the imagination, especially in regards to her panties. "Why don't you just fight her and be done with it?"
"Because my body is unstable enough as it is." Homura answered tersely. "If I use my flames too much, it'll get worse. Besides, it's a pointless fight for no possible gains."
"Unstable...but you should be fine for the moment, unless you're reacting to a…oh." Kazehana stopped as she realised why her friend was unstable, then hit on why he wouldn't have Winged himself. "Minato-san? You're reacting to a male?"
People were always so surprised when she made a leap of logic. She wasn't all boobs and butt, after all. She was an experienced warrior and possessed the mind of one; she just tended to be a bit…flighty in how she used it outside combat.
The look of abject humiliation in the Flame Sekirei's eyes was confirmation enough. Homura, or Kagari as he called himself in his human disguise, was a host at a club, a job he had gotten specifically so he could find a female Ashikabi to react to. Unlike the other Sekirei, Homura's body was special, more fluid when it came to gender. When he was eventually Winged, his body would react and shape itself to please his Ashikabi. This meant his gender might change if he allowed himself to be Winged by a man, which was why he was so seriously looking for a female Ashikabi.
"…how much has your body changed?" the Wind Sekirei asked.
"I'm…growing breasts." Homura spat out in revulsion. "Why me?! By all the gods, I'm straight damn it! I have to find a girl Ashikabi soon. Otherwise I won't be me anymore."
"Homura, how many women have you reacted to?" Kazehana asked gently. "None, right? If I remember rightly, you shifted constantly between male and female when you were still small. Perhaps your body settled on a male form by mere chance? The chances of Reacting to your own gender aren't high unless you're gay or sufficiently bisexual to prefer your own gender over the opposite."
"I will find a female to be my Ashikabi." Homura stated stubbornly. "I just have to look harder. Good day."
With that, the Flame Sekirei leapt away, leaving Kazehana behind with her thoughts. That a certain country had, once again, crashed and burned after trying to acquire detailed information on the Sekirei was both irritating and amusing. it was amusing because seeing a so-called 'great country' not realise that it was way out of its league repeatedly, but it was also irritating because they had been beaten severely, twice, losing hundreds of thousands in Japanese Yen (after being converted), not to mention the tremendous loss of life they had endured and yet they still had the gall to try again.
Homura's situation was also troublesome. He was so focussed on maintaining his manhood that the possibility of shifting genders was abhorrent to him. Not only that, the few times he had been forced to say her old love's name, he had practically snarled it out. His hatred was burning as bright as ever. Combined, they did not paint a pretty picture. She tried not to think about it.
Most interesting for Kazehana, however, was the news of Takami and Minaka's son. Sahashi Minato. Nine Sekirei, all of whom Reacted to him, with two more possibly on the way. That number, not to mention the fact he had attracted Matsu, a Single Number, spoke quite a bit as to his soul's strength and attractiveness. Not to mention Yume, the Single Number locked inside of her own Tama inside of Number 88.
Yes, she had known about that. She was the one who had persuaded Karasuba into drinking enough vodka to poison a dozen humans instead of demolishing half of the MBI Tower in a rampage of fury. As it turned out, when Karasuba was well and truly three sheets to the wind, not just tipsy or slightly drunk, she babbled like a group of talking heads hopped up on Pentothal. She had spilled the beans on every aspect of the mission, such as the fact she had slaughtered every single human merc and scientist on the island for daring to experiment on her fellow Sekirei (not an unexpected outcome; Kazehana may have been tempted to do that as well) and Yume sacrificing her Tama to save little Number 88.
Fortunately, Karasuba had no memories of telling her any of that. Which was a very good thing; otherwise the Black Sekirei would track Kazehana down and end her. She was an immensely private individual about almost everything that wasn't related to fighting. Drunkenly babbling to people about personal matters…yeah, that'd be mortifying for her.
'I may have to let the wind carry me to see what this boy Minato is like.' The Sekirei of the Wind mused as she had another sip of sake. 'Perhaps he can rid me of my unrequited love…'
Same Time
Minaka Hiroto's Office, MBI Tower
As one of the smartest people on the planet, the Chairman of MBI was not accustomed to being wrong. Oh, he got a few details slightly off here and there, but that was part of the scientific method after all. It was why experiments existed; to test an idea and iron out the details. No making the Age of the Gods without breaking a few eggs.
Where was he…? Ah, yes.
Anyway, he was not accustomed to being wrong and he was not accustomed to being deceived successfully either. What had happened yesterday was both happening at once, and a certain cape-wearing bespectacled man with far too much flare for dramatics was not happy about it.
He had received intelligence that a team of Black Ops Special Forces had been smuggled into the country, and into the New Capital at that. Why they were here was a question that Minaka didn't even bother to consider, he merely had to find their target.
To his reasoning, if a certain country, which he was going to punish rather severely, got it into their thick skulls to attack, they should have gone for broke, aiming a big target to use the element of surprise, that they didn't know they had never had, to the fullest in an attempt for a score worth the risk and response that it would cause. Therefore, he had split the Discipline Squad up to guard each of the more important facilities under MBI control.
That the attackers had not only utterly ignored those targets but had also targeted a facility that Minaka had done everything in his power to keep off the books instead had been quite the shock. That he had utterly isolated Takami thanks to his own actions was very much a punch to the gut.
Minaka still carried quite the torch the woman who'd stolen his heart all those years ago with her fire and ferocity.
An attack on his property and facilities was one thing, but to attempt to kidnap and either interrogate or ransom his ex? Oh, that was crossing a line and Minaka was going to enjoy making those fools realize how much they'd just fucked up.
'That Dumbledore fellow made a very good point. The smarter someone is; the greater the consequences are for their mistakes.' He thought sardonically.
Still, it had been resolved by both Takami's insistence that her plans for her off-site facility be followed come hell or high water and their son and his Sekirei.
Their son. He still got a small thrill just thinking about it. Minato had been something of a disappointment, in no small part due to his timidity. Minaka couldn't really blame him though; growing up with not one, not two, but three headstrong and domineering women, it wasn't any surprise that the majority of his spine had been relocated to the Antarctic via kicks and scathing words.
Luckily, after venturing out into the world on his own, it seems said bone structure was starting to make its return. Passing his Entrance Exam with flying colours, standing up to his reprobate of a landlord, facing his female relatives and sending his Sekirei to save his mother, not mention having the steel-clad balls to blackmail the Spec-Ops soldiers with Karasuba to get them to spill the beans on their handlers and their plans.
Minaka wasn't entirely certain that he would have been able to make the same threat as Minato at his age; Karasuba was an incredibly scary person even without trying. When she actually tried, it was like the Shinigami was in the same room as you. Brrr.
Minaka may be crazy, but even he wasn't suicidal enough to think that the Black Sekirei was anything less than terrifying.
Sitting at his desk, he reviewed the reports from his soldiers, who had been directed by Takami to capture the handlers. Only a couple had been caught, because the rest had bugged out when the situation at Takami's facility had turned south. The only reason they had managed to catch the ones they did was because two had stuck around to destroy any papers or computer files that had incriminating information on them.
He hated it when the enemy actually managed to show some competence. It often forced him to pull his attention away from the Game of the Gods long enough to deal with things personally.
As it was, those two, plus the soldiers, were in an MBI-controlled prison up on the northernmost point of Kyushu…or under it, actually. Not even the Japanese government knew it existed, even although they had paid for it. There they would stay until their President and he had a few words.
Those words would not be 'how do you do?'
With the lockdown now active thanks to his daughter Winging Number 107, the chance for people to infiltrate the New Capital had dropped down to somewhere between 'highly unlikely' and 'nearly impossible', especially if you took the Discipline Squad's new patrol of the outer limits of the city into account, although they were more to keep Ashikabi and Sekirei inside the New Capital rather than detect and repel infiltrators.
Subtly was not their strong suite after all.
Within MBI itself, the work that Takami had started with Yahan's help, namely clearing out the dross and incompetence, was being continued by Minaka himself. He had tolerated some less than sterling personnel as a part of his 'mad professor' persona. It was the great advantage of being seen as an utter loon; when people didn't believe you were playing with a full deck, they tended to underestimate what you noticed. So while people scoffed at and paid attention to him keeping several clearly suspicious people on staff, he snuck in several upgrades to the security measures around the building thanks to the aforementioned suspicious peoples' gross incompetence.
Oh, Minaka was far from the picture of mental health, he was intelligent enough to realize that much, even it didn't bother him near as much as it should, but he wasn't anywhere close to being as loopy and demented as he made himself out to be.
Deciding that now would be a good time for that talk with the President, he picked up his phone and dialled a certain number than no one else was supposed to know outside of some very high-ranking people.
"Hello? Ah, Mr. President." Minaka said pleasantly as he removed a small, remote device from up his sleeve. "Yes, this is Minaka Hiroto, Chairman and President of MBI. No, I'm not mad…no, I am afraid that hanging up would be gravely inadvisable for you…why? By all means, pay attention to the lemon sitting on the table a few feet away from you."
Pressing the button on the remote, Minaka held the phone away from his ear as a loud 'BANG' echoed down the line, not to mention a torrent of curses.
Replacing the phone on his ear, he said, "Now do I have your attention? No, it was no bomb disguised as a lemon. It was a lemon that was engineered into a bomb. Completely biological in nature and indistinguishable to any other non-explosive lemon even at the genetic level. Why, with the press of a single button I could set off every such modified lemon in your country, and believe me there are quite a few. Wouldn't that cause the most amusing amount of chaos and panic in your lovely nation? Now, have I managed to gain your undivided attention yet or should I blow something else up? Good. Now listen to me…three times have forces either from your country itself or in the pay of your country attacked MBI property or assets. Here in Japan, we have a saying; even the Buddha gets angry if you strike him three times."
Listening for a moment, the Chairman sighed in mild exasperation. "No, Mr. President, you are not going to do any such thing. For one, you're already on shaky ground as it is. For another, do you really think I have merely created lemon bombs to blow up that ridiculous house of yours, hmm? With all the scientific might at my fingertips, do you imagine that a mere lemon grenade is the limit of my reach? Pshaw. I have scientific wonders that I have created in my spare time which, if unleashed, would make any defeat your country has suffered since its creation look like a mud wrestling match. If your forces or intelligence communities interfere with MBI for a fourth time, you will not like the consequences. Understand?"
Another moment was spent listening to the person on the other end of the phone. "Very good, Mr. President. I'm so glad we could come to an arrangement. Ta-ta."
Replacing the phone in its cradle, he checked the time. Ah, it was time for his daily rant from atop the tower. He wondered how Takami was going to deal with him this time?
He was looking forward to finding out.
The Next Day
Living Room, Minato Sahashi's Home
As Kusano's light green wings spread open for the first time and fluttered as if in a breeze, Yukari found her jealousy reaching heretofore unknown levels. The little girl-turned-knockout had finally been able to sense her reaction to Minato this morning, but had patiently waited for Yukari and Minato's mother to come to examine her and give the all-clear.
When that had happened, the blond Sekirei had squealed in delight, performed a leaping glomp on her Ashikabi (something that Yukari had thought impossible outside of manga and anime) and practically stuck her tongue down Minato's throat while welding her lips to his.
Shiina was standing next to his Mistress with a mix of pride and worry befitting an older, overprotective brother on his face. He was proud of Ku for finding an Ashikabi, but also worried about her despite the fact that everything he had seen of Sahashi Minato had shown that he was a good, honourable man who treated all of his Sekirei equally and without discrimination or favouritism. Plus he was Shiina's Ashikabi's brother, which meant the chances of him being forced to possibly fight his little sister were very slim indeed.
'Little? She's taller than me now.' He chuckled to himself. She was the same height as Musubi, albeit with smaller measurements. Her…ahem, breasts looked bigger than they were because of her leaner frame, while she had a firm rear end. Couple that with her fair and vaguely elvish looks and knee-length blond hair and she could have been a catwalk model.
Shiina was suddenly very grateful that Ku had no desire to do anything but tend to her plants and be with her Ashikabi. He didn't think he could resist using his Norito on the idiots who would swarm around Ku if she became a model.
"My Ashikabi…" Kusano purred as the two came up for air, ignoring the envious looks from Minato's other Sekirei and the almost palpable aura of jealousy emanating from Yukari. "Let us entwine and grow together for all eternity."
"What is it with those little phrases that Sekirei say after they're Winged?" Yukari asked, curiosity overcoming her jealousy. Those lines sounded almost rehearsed.
"Think of it as something similar to an 'I do', only said after the bride and groom kiss." Matsu informed her. The Sekirei of Wisdom was smiling at the youngest of the 108 Sekirei as she came down from her 'Winging High' so to speak. It was a heady rush to connect with your true Ashikabi and it usually took a while to be fully cognisant afterwards, although the high could disappear quickly if there was a threat to the pair nearby that they were aware of.
Survival instincts tended to override a great many things.
Yukari scowled at the wedding comparison.
"Well, I have to say that things are going smoothly in regards to Ku-chan." Takami said with a smile. "Have you checked on Akitsu?"
The former Scrapped Number, now formally returned to being Number 7, the Ice Sekirei, had barely been recovered from her 24-hour gene treatment that Takami had prescribed for her when Kusano had been decanted from her Maturation Chamber. It had taken her about ten minutes to be able to walk properly, after which she had joined Minato and his Sekirei (plus extras) on their journey back home. After that she had retreated to her room and had not been seen since.
"No." Kuruse admitted. "We didn't want to disturb her. The meals we've been leaving for her have been eaten though."
"She's probably feeling a bit insecure and indecisive." Takami theorised. "Up until two days ago, no one could Wing her, for right or for wrong. Now though, she's warring with herself to either go out and get Winged by someone -anyone- rather than remain UnWinged, or else remain isolated to keep safe."
"Doesn't she have the ability to choose her Ashikabi?" Yahan asked with a raised eyebrow. "She's perfectly safe if she doesn't choose to let whatever scumbag tries to force her become her Ashikabi."
"Logic doesn't always work well with subconscious fears, Yahan dear." The Head of the Sekirei plan grimaced slightly. "I'll go have a word with her. Ku-chan, you're going to have to let go of Min-chan some time."
With that last tossed over her shoulder cheekily as she left the room, Takami headed upstairs, leaving Ku to pout at her back as she recognised the very mild chastisement implicit in her words.
"Muuuu~!"
Her place was gleefully taken up by the Raiden Futago, each of whom gave their Ashikabi a long, deep kiss. Yukari's hand clenched and unclenched as she fought with the very last dregs of her self-control to not lash out.
"I think your Wings are…." Matsu muttered looking closely at the fading outlines of the energy wings. "Hikari, kiss Minato-sama again!"
She pulled a tape measure from between her breasts ('Why did she have that stuffed down there?!' was the Sahashi Siblings' unified thought at the sight) and stretched it out as the older twin obligingly kissed Minato again (she certainly wasn't complaining).
"And the verdict is…three meters exactly." The Sekirei of Wisdom said in satisfaction. "Hibiki, you now."
Eagerly, the younger twin took her sister's place and kissed their Ashikabi, making her wings of light re-emerge as well. After a moment of measuring, Matsu announced, "Three meters on the dot. Congratulations, twins; you are now fully able to sleep with our Minato-sama."
"We should ask Number One to measure their power, just in case." Uzume demurred lightly. "Better to be safe. Even a single percentage of power could mean the difference between us overwhelming our enemies or being overwhelmed by them."
Hikari and Hibiki pouted but nodded in agreement. They wanted to be as powerful as possible for the sake of their master, but dammit if the waiting wasn't costing them in terms of underwear! They went through a pair a day thanks to being so aroused!
Minato was many wonderful things to his Sekirei, but his refusal to do more than kiss and lightly grope his Sekirei until their wings were the correct length was maddening for them! Even being told that vaginal penetration was the only limiting factor for female Sekirei hadn't made him budge so much as an inch!
"Lunch first." Minato said firmly. "We've been putting it off because of Kusano's check-up with Kaa-san, but I can practically hear all of your stomachs rumbling. Oriha, care to give me a hand cooking?"
"Hai, Minato-san." The maid-like Sekirei said with a nod. She had been quietly talking with Yashima and Kuruse most of the time today, only stopping when Kuruse had answered Takami's question.
"I'm not going to have much luck getting you to drop the '-san' am I? We're practically family now after all." Minato sighed with a resigned smile on his face as he headed to the kitchen with Oriha in tow.
"Brother-in-Law or not, you are an Ashikabi, and my Mistress' most respected brother, Minato-san." The dainty Flying Gear Sekirei replied primly, with a small smile in return. "I think I'm being informal enough by dropping from '-sama' to '-san' though."
"I'll take what I can get." The Ashikabi of the North said as he got started with the food preparation. He was honestly glad for the MBI Cards; feeding nine, now TEN, Sekirei on just the money from a part-time job would be impossible unless you were naturally rich like Higa was.
"Why is it that Onii-chan gets on so well with my First Sekirei?" Yukari had to wonder as she stared at the two working together like a well-oiled machine.
"Because she can actually cook alongside him without trying to do both jobs at once?" Yomi deadpanned. The one time that the Sahashi Siblings had been in the kitchen together to cook, Yukari had indeed tried to micromanage what her brother was doing as well as her own work. It had delayed lunch by quite some time. "Face it peewee, you're a bit of a control freak in the kitchen."
"…shut up." Yukari pouted. Shiina patted her sympathetically on the back, making her pull him into a hug. Unlike Yukari, Kusano did not get jealous of her brother-figure being hugged by another woman; being a Sekirei, she was very used to the idea that her Shiina-onii-chan would be Winged by someone, so the only way she'd be upset was if Yukari mistreated him, which didn't seem likely.
She was her beloved Ashikabi's sister, after all.
That Night
Minato's Bedroom
"Aaaaaahhh!" Minato sat up in shock, sweating and eyes wild. This woke up all ten of his Sekirei, who looked at him in worry.
"Minato-sama, what's wrong?" Hibiki asked gently. She and her sister still hadn't slept with him properly, because Number One had spent the day at her husband's grave (something no sane entity that knew even a fraction about Miya would dare to interrupt) and they didn't want to bother her at night.
"I…" Minato gulped. "I just had a dream…it was like when I dreamed of Ku, but…there were two of them."
"TWO?!" Matsu yelped. "Describe the dream, Mina-tan."
"OK." The raven-haired boy nodded, and began to tell his Sekirei of his dream.
Minato's Dream
Minato looked around in puzzlement. He was standing in the middle of an island, which was split in half. On one side was a raging storm of ice and snow, while on the other side, rivers, streams and brooks flowed and criss-crossed as it flowed into the sea.
Abruptly, he was floating in a black void, with both Akitsu and a very pretty and angry looking blond woman floating before him as well.
"Accursed monkey!" the blond woman shouted. "Die!"
She unleashed a powerful blast of water from her hands, aimed right at Minato, but it was intercepted by a blast of ice from Akitsu.
"…do not harm my Ashikabi!" the usually expressionless Akitsu snarled angrily.
Dream End
"…and at that point, they just started fighting." Minato finished.
"Well one's Akitsu, which is a good thing." Hikari said encouragingly.
"This is bad!" Matsu said. She had pulled a miniature laptop from between her breasts ('How does she do that?!' Minato thought incredulously) and started typing away like a woman possessed. "Is this the woman you saw, Minato-sama?" Matsu asked nervously, pulling up a picture of a very familiar Sekirei.
"That's her." he agreed with a nod.
"Of all Sekirei…!" the Sekirei of Wisdom bemoaned. "This is Number 9, Tsukiumi, and the Sekirei of Water. People in MBI call her 'Gorgeous Tsukiumi' because she is one of the most physically attractive Sekirei alive. She's also known to have a severe hatred of Ashikabi, to the point that she declared that if she ever reacted to one, she'd track them down and kill them!"
That made Minato gulp and his surrounding Sekirei growl.
"If we can get Akitsu to agree to become Minato-sama's Sekirei though, Tsukiumi will be helpless." Yahan pointed out. "As our Ashikabi described in his dream, water cannot defeat ice."
"Th-that's…a really good point." The orangette blinked in surprise. It should have instantly occurred to her that Akitsu was the perfect countermeasure to Tsukiumi, but in her panic, she had forgotten about the Sekirei of Ice. That had been incredibly stupid of her.
"Still, she is a Single Number." Matsu shook her head to clear it of the last dregs of her panic. "Even if her attacks are negated by Akitsu -presuming we can persuade her to let Minato-sama Wing her in the first place- that's no guarantee of victory."
"I can counter her too." Kusano pointed out. The almost transparent light-green nightdress that she wore looked very good on her, Minato noticed idly. "Water feeds plants and my power is still primarily expressed through manipulating plants. The more water she uses, the more powerful I become."
Again, Matsu had to wonder why that hadn't occurred to her. She attributed it to being woken up after only three or four hours of sleep.
"I'll be counting on you, Ku-chan." Minato said with a smile, making the Sekirei of Life smirk and radiate a smugness that she was going to be useful for her Ashikabi so soon after being Winged by him.
"We can plan things out properly tomorrow." Kuruse said firmly as she helped Musubi, who was clearly losing the fight to remain awake, back down onto the bed. "For now though, let's sleep. We'll need it if we're going to be dealing with an out-of-control Single Number soon."
A murmur of agreement came from the other occupants of the room as they all bedded down again. Minato had to admit that being basically a living cuddly toy for his Sekirei was a lot better than you might think; they didn't suffocate him by trying to hug his face to their breasts (well not consciously at least, there had been a few close calls caused by someone shifting in their sleep), they didn't use him for human tugs of war or any of that, which was kind of a relief.
"Night girls." He said as he settled in and closed his eyes.
"Good night, Minato-sama." The ten girls who had married him chorused.
As Minato and his Flock fell back asleep, Yukari was once again locked down by Oriha's limbs, utterly unable to move an inch. Shiina was also in bed with her, tucked in in front of her. The sleeping face of the youngest Sahashi was a mixture of contentment and consternation. Down on the floor, Yukari's sleepwear and underwear rested, ripped into uselessness.
She was not pleased when she woke up.
MMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM
Next Chapter: Yukari Blows Her Top
MMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM
