AN: All I'm going to say is, writer's block and real life. Sorry for the wait.

Disclaimer: I do not own any of the rights, characters, or ideas behind Sekirei or Senran Kagura. Those rights belong to Sakurako Gokurakuin and Kenichiro Takaki.

Yuyaki

OOOOOO

"Hmm…" Yagyū hummed in thought as she crouched down. Her twin cerise orbs gleamed with interest as they swiveled clockwise, watching her clothes complete another rotation in the washing machine. She smiled with satisfaction as her garments dipped and bobbed in the sudsy water, her face inches from the machine's window, giddy with excitement as her fingers drummed against the cool metal surface. Her eyes darted around at all the washing machines in the laundromat, all spinning at various speeds with different colored garments swirling inside.

Suddenly, Yagyū felt a freezing, wet sensation against her cheek. "AH!" she yelped and recoiled as if burned. She flailed her arms as she fell back, her bottom cushioning her fall as she rubbed her cheek soothingly. "Hey, you alright? I half-expected you to notice my presence and hit me with your umbrella without looking or something." A familiar voice teased out.

Yagyū snapped her head up, seeing a grinning Aishin. His smile softened as he held out a hand to help her up. She grasped it, accepting his help begrudgingly. Yagyū chose to focus on her irritation at him messing with her rather than how warm and large his callused palm was.

"Here. Sorry, I really didn't mean to scare you that bad." He placed a cold soda can in her hand. As the dripping condensation on the can trickled between her fingers, she realized he had poked her cheek with the soda can earlier. "…Just don't do it again. What is this?" Yagyū wondered quietly, brushing past her momentary irritation to observe the strange object in her hand.

Aishin put down his soda and gently took the can from her. "It's called soda. It's a drink people enjoy sometimes." He popped the tab, cracking the can open and handed it back. Yagyū perked up as she heard the beverage fizzing, staring down at it curiously. 'Is it...ticking?' she wondered internally.

She looked up as Aishin took a small swig from his soda can and sighed pleasantly, smiling at her. "Go on, have a sip. It'll feel a little bit like static on your tongue, but it tastes good." As Yagyū shot him a quizzical glance, he shrugged. "Just giving you a fair warning since you're a little wary right now." As she held the can out at arm's length like it was an explosive, he sighed. "You don't have to drink it. Sorry, I thought it might make you feel a little better, but—"

"N-no!" she pulled the soda can close to her chest as Aishin reached out to take it back. "I'm just…surprised. I've never had anything like this before. But you got it for me…so I guess I'll drink it. It'd be a waste otherwise..." Yagyū conceded, fighting down a slight blush as her voice trailed off.

Aishin blinked owlishly as she lifted the can to her lips and began to drink the soda. She shivered as she continued sipping. 'Static is a good way to describe the sensation…but it's sweet…and tangy too.' Yagyū thought, hiccupping as she lowered the can. She realized she already drank half, pursing her lips in contemplation.

Yagyū turned her head, staring at the washing machine again. After a moment, she turned to face Aishin as she spoke up.

"It's really good…can we get some more to take home?" she asked, hiccupping again. "What is this?" she asked, putting a hand to her mouth.

"Uh…they're called hiccups, they're caused by the carbonation in the soda. Don't worry, they'll go away soon. And sure, we can get some more." Aishin gave Yagyū a lopsided smile, sitting down on the bench in front of the washing machine.

Yagyū sat down next to him, resting her head on his shoulder. He wrapped an arm around her gently. She pulled her mantle up over the lower half of her face to hide her blush, taking sips of her soda.

She closed her eyes and relaxed, feeling everything around her. Aishin's warm body and his strong arm draped over her shoulders, the hum of the washing machine in front of them, the gentle breeze of the overhead fan and the pleasant buzz in her body from the soda. 'This whole Ashikabi thing…it's strange…but I like it.' Yagyū thought before drifting off.

Aishin looked down as Yagyū's head bobbed, impacting softly with his chest. He chuckled and brushed one of her twintails out of her face. Her nose twitched cutely before she sniffed and sighed, relaxing further into him as she drifted off deeper into sleep.

Looking back up at the washing machines washing his and Yagyū's clothes, he smiled gently, looking back down at her sleeping face. 'This whole Sekirei thing isn't so bad I guess…' he thought to himself.

OOOOOO

"Sekirei #40 has been winged! I repeat, Sekirei #40 has been winged!"

A random man yelled into the mouthpiece of his headset, broadcasting an alert to the entire building. He ignored the commotion of his co-workers clamoring around him as they echoed similar utterances of surprise. His face was lit up by a red and white flashing screen across his monitor that read, "ALERT!". A picture of Yagyū blipped over the screen in front of him.

In an instant, the same flashing red and white screen popped over all the monitors his surrounding workers were typing away at. They all began relaying orders into their headsets and typing on their computers, updating information in their database. The door to the room slammed open as a slender, imposing woman walked in.

The cacophony of noise died down to hushed murmurs. There was an air of deadly grace around her as she strolled forward, her aura alone silencing the workers as they read the mood. Her stormy countenance rolled over the room like looming thunder. As her heels clicked to a stop in front of one poor scientist in her path, he tensed in fear.

Twin flinty grey chips of granite bore into him as the woman's gaze swiveled from the surrounding workers to him. "Report." She clipped out an order to the man. He bobbed his head meekly, speaking quickly to avoid the risk of earning her ire. Takami's eyes never left his nervous frame. She analyzed him shrewdly as slim fingers dug into the breast pocket of her lab coat to pull out a cigarette and lighter.

"Sekirei #40, Yagyū, has been winged ma'am. About four hours ago." He coughed lightly at the end of his sentence from the cigarette smoke and paused. The man knew from experience it was best to let her speak before revealing any other information to her for now. Takami would tell him exactly what she wanted to know.

Pursing her lips, she turned her head slightly, blowing the smoke up and away from them. She sat down into his nearby chair that he stood up from when she walked in the room. All of his co-workers nearby were walking on eggshells, waiting for the moment she would erupt in anger when she heard the entirety of his report.

Takami nodded wordlessly at him to continue, taking a drag of her cigarette. "She and her Ashikabi fled the scene before the discipline squad arrived to clean up the mess they caused. Three dead men, average criminals. The sudden strength boost Yagyū and her Ashikabi received when they synced up and he winged her, is the only reason they're not dead instead. No one else witnessed the scene before their fight broke out, so police were never called." He took a breath to pause.

"The discipline squad didn't even stop them? They're supposed to prevent shit like that from happening to Sekirei!" she fumed. The man shrugged helplessly, fumbling over his words at her outburst. Takami sighed at him freezing up, cutting him a little slack. Not like he can control the discipline squad.

Well, whatever. At least they got out, so that's fine." she conceded. The man nodded in agreement. "And who is her Ashikabi?" Takami asked.

The man winced at her follow-up question. This was what he had been dreading. "Well, that's the thing ma'am...it wasn't supposed to be him…" He fumbled out the words, his reply contrite.

Her head turned robotically towards him. "What do you mean?" she questioned, a sick feeling in her stomach.

"I mean, things didn't go according to Mr. Hiroto's plans…they were supposed to split up. Then Yagyū would come back here, be winged by Natsuo, and added into the discipline squad. We didn't account for the thugs to ambush her or for Aishin to come back and manage to save her…" the man trailed off, sensing the tempestuous rage rolling off of Takami.

Clamping down her fury, Takami finished her cancer stick in one wrathful pull and ground it under her heel as she stood up. Glacial stony grey eyes fixed onto the man, making him flinch as their gazes met. "Who the fuck is Aishin? And a better question, who the FUCK does Minaka think he is, undermining my project?!" she roared out.

Takami Sahashi was PISSED. So not only was Minaka attempting to pull the strings on her project from behind the scenes, his meddling almost led to a Sekirei being abused and defiled. She ground her molars in frustration, attempting to take deep, calming breaths as she stalked down the corridor.

The old Takami would have barged right into Minaka's office and screamed and hit him. But she knew that wouldn't work. Minaka had already set his plans into motion, throwing a wrench into hers.

She knew her Sekirei Plan wasn't perfect, but it was meant to work far better than this. The coordinates and specific sequence of events leading up to each Sekirei being sent out from MBI were calculated to end up pairing them with ultimately the best Ashikabi for each. No abuse, no forced/unwanted winging, no unnecessary bloodshed.

Takami spent YEARS with her team doing research and planning. They calibrated, categorized, strategized, and synchronized the launch of each Sekirei out into the real world to find their Ashikabis. It wouldn't be perfect, sure. But they would grow through their struggles, play off each other's strengths and cover each other's weaknesses to bring out the best in each other.

Well, she wasn't going to let it end like this. She didn't pour her blood, sweat and tears into this project for Minaka to fuck everything up. Takami gave a small smile, looking down at her phone before tucking it back into her coat pocket.

If Minaka was going to try and rain on her parade, she'd have to just create a storm of her own to send his way.

OOOOOO

"Haa…haa…" Aishin panted with effort, his muscles screaming as he pushed himself up then lowered back down into another pushup. Sweat poured down his face as he grunted with exertion. 'I can't stop…gotta get stronger…' he thought to himself.

He was almost grateful for the brief cooling sensation of the sweat on his skin. Aishin was vaguely aware of a cool breeze wafting over him as the door to his room opened. Honing his senses, he felt rather than heard Yagyū approaching him from behind.

Trembling with effort, he was just beginning to push himself back up again when a wet, cold object dropped onto his back. "Oof!" Flinching in surprise, he dropped back down onto his face.

Giving a painful grunt of effort, Aishin rolled over and sat up to see what Yagyū had done. He looked down at the dripping cold water bottle at his feet, then looked up at Yagyū and deadpanned.

"Really? You know that was eight days ago, right? And I apologized for scaring you." He sighed, but gratefully took the water bottle.

Yagyū gracefully dropped into a crouch right in front of Aishin. He focused on her scarlet-eyed gaze and tried not to think about how deep and expressive her eyes were.

Or how good she smelled and how warm her presence felt. Or how her large breasts bounced in her shirt. Or—

"I don't know what you're talking about. I thought it would be more effective to just make you rest than try and talk you into taking a break." Yagyū's cheeky tone pulled him out of his rapidly devolving thoughts. Her smile turned gentler as she leaned over on her knees, gently wrapping her arms around his neck.

"You've grown." He commented idly, noticing the subtle aura of power around her. She nodded, her twintails swaying softly. "I have." She replied, climbing into his lap. 'Yeah, in more ways than one…' he thought.

Aishin felt the full spheres of Yagyū's round, doughy bottom through her skirt and the warmth of her plush toned thighs splayed over his. Her firm, heaving breasts pressed against his chest.

"We've both gotten stronger, even in such a short time. And we've grown closer together." He didn't interrupt, nodding and letting her speak.

"You don't have to run yourself into the ground like this. It's not all on you, we're in this together." Yagyū continued, pulling a hand back to gently cup Aishin's cheek, hers already flushed.

She took one of his hands from around her waist, putting it lower to cup the swell of her right ass cheek. Aishin's eyes widened, transfixed at the soft, pliant flesh as he squeezed slowly.

Yagyū mewled with pleasure, her back arching slightly. She refocused quickly on her mission, wanting to show him how much she trusted him. Taking his other hand, she brought it up and around to her breast. His hand sunk into the warm orb, his palm rolling against a stiff nipple through her shirt.

Biting her lip and fighting down her radioactive blush, she looked him square in his wide, amber eyes, putting her arms back around his neck. "I told you before, didn't I? I'll teach you. If you don't know how to rely on me, all you have to do is ask. Remember, Shin-kun." Yagyū's voice had dropped into something between a plead and a pant.

"I never liked getting touched by or being close to other people before you. With you…it's different." She admitted. "I want you to stay with me. Hold me. Touch me." Aishin's hands moved back to her waist, not wanting to just grope her endlessly. Her point was made. She nodded silently and thanked him.

"It's a promise, Yagyū. I won't forget." He vowed. "Besides…I want you to stay with me too."

"Mph!" Yagyū's eyes widened slightly in surprise as Aishin's lips captured hers. She soon melted into the kiss, closing her eyes as her mouth slanted against his.

They kissed languidly, deepening their bond further. Her tongue coiled around his as she moaned, pressing herself harder into him, her fingers curling into his short hair. Her indigo wings materialized behind her as they pulsed in purple-blue flashes of light, thrumming with steadily growing power.

As they broke off the kiss, Aishin and Yagyū pressed their heads together, smiling at each other. "So, it's Shin-kun now?" he teased lightly. Puffing her cheeks, she opened her mouth to retort.

He gave her a chaste peck again to cut off her words. "It's fine, I like it…Yū-chan." She ducked her head, tracing circles with her finger in his chest. "Only call me that when it's just the two of us." She murmured softly. "Of course." He hummed in agreement, his chin nestling in her soft white hair.

They got up after a few moments, taking the water bottles with them. Aishin showered while Yagyū changed, and they were about to relax in front of the TV.

Suddenly, the TV cut on. A bespectacled, white-haired man was shown on screen, dressed in a white suit and coat. Before he could open his mouth, however, the TV cut back off, snapping to a black screen.

"That bastard…" a voice spoke behind them. Whipping around in alarm, Aishin and Yagyū saw two women. "I mean, really? He already fucks up my plans and then he tries to get the drop on me AGAIN?" One of them chuckled, shaking her head softly, lowering an arm that held Aishin's TV remote.

The one that spoke was a slender, short yet ominous woman with short grey hair and matching eyes. She was dressed in a white lab coat over a matching blouse, with black pants and high heels. The other was a tall, even more intimidating woman with exceptionally long straight black hair and orange eyes. She was dressed in a long, billowy black dress with a red cape.

"I've been thinking of how to approach you for the last week. You know, you're lucky those men aren't alive anymore to tell anybody what you said. 'She's my Sekirei. So, don't you fucking touch her.', was it?" The white-haired woman spoke again, her tone dropping from jovial to serious. Her steel grey gaze cut into the two.

Aishin felt his hackles rise at the threatening aura of the two. He stood protectively by Yagyū, wrapping an arm around her. She brandished her umbrella blade, poised and ready. "Who the fuck are you two and what are you doing in my house?" he demanded.

The black-haired woman gave a wolfish grin, barking out a laugh. "I like him. He's got a little fire in him." She took a step forward. Aishin and Yagyū braced themselves as a blood-red aura seeped out of the woman, cloaking her. Her eyes gleamed like two miniature suns, blazing with aggression. "Can I eliminate them?" she rasped out, her gaze swiveling to the white-haired woman. "No." she said sharply. The black-haired woman deflated at that before stepping back with a grunt, folding her arms.

"Now then. As to 'who the fuck we are', I'm Takami Sahashi and this is Kagura. She's a Sekirei like Yagyū, Aishin. I'm here because I've been keeping tabs on you two, and I'm the reason you met Yagyū and winged her. That guy who was about to talk on the TV is Minaka Hiroto." Even mentioning him, the now-named Takami scowled.

"He's the reason Yagyū was assaulted by those thugs and you two were almost killed. He sent her out 5 minutes earlier from MBI than I had planned, which set that whole sequence of events into motion, resulted in you crashing your car and losing your job." Taking a breath, she walked over and sat down in one of Aishin's armchairs. Kagura remained standing by her side, her orange eyes trained on them as she stared with an excited leer.

Takami held up a hand, stalling any question he was about to ask. "I know everything because it's my job. And if I wanted to kill or harm you at all, you'd either already be dead or wouldn't even know I existed until after it happened. Why would I waste my time coming here and showing you my face to do all that? Theatrics like that are pointless." She drawled out.

Closing his mouth, Aishin and Yagyū sat down on the couch opposite the two women. With a small smile, she leaned forward and steepled her hands, her elbows resting on her knees. "Now, you have questions, and I have answers. And some people are coming shortly that will be a big help to both of us." She finished, smiling at Aishin. He had a feeling her 'help' was going to give him even more headaches.

OOOOOO

And he was right.

Aishin got his basic questions answered about MBI, what exactly 'winging' is, and the general idea of the Sekirei Plan. But now he had several headaches to deal with from all the resulting questions he was left with.

And those headaches took the form of Takami, Kagura, and the three additional people now standing in the room with them. 'Three other Sekirei…' Aishin thought, his gaze scanning over the three women standing between him and Takami. Yagyū and Kagura stood behind their respective partners, quietly watching the discussion unfold.

As Aishin looked over the women, he tried not to let his gaze wander over their alluring figures and sumptuous curves. "Okay, can you run that by me again?" he asked, closing his eyes as he pinched the bridge of his nose exasperatedly. He felt Yagyū beside him puff up with irritation as one of the Sekirei giggled at him.

"Sure. You're going to form the 4th discipline squad…with these three right here." Takami gave a monstrous grin, hand flourishing out as if to present the trio of beauties to him anew.

The first Sekirei stood ramrod straight, and carried herself with a serious, prideful aura. She stood at 5'5 with fair skin and long straight brown hair tied in a low ponytail, two long bangs framing her pretty face and turquoise-blue eyes. She was dressed in a skin-tight blue top under a red and white vest, and a short white pleated skirt and black tights. Ornate silver armor with gold accents covered her neck, upper chest, forearms, shoulders, and legs. In her white-gloved hands she held the long handle of what looked like an incredibly heavy, formidable black hammer. She flashed him a kind, confident smile and bowed to him in greeting. Aishin kept his eyes trained on her head, ignoring how her huge breasts shook with the motion, straining against her blue top.

"It's a pleasure to meet you, Aishin! My name is Hijikata, Sekirei #35! I'm an earth-type Sekirei and use my hammer to create and control earth. Rock, dirt, sand, metal, it doesn't matter. All are under my domain." As if to emphasize her point, she lightly lifted and tapped the top of her hammer against the ground. Everyone present was lifted into the air a little with the shockwave she sent out. Multiple thin rings of dirt and rock lifted up and shimmered around her, dissipating after a moment when she relaxed her power. Aishin nodded, a little intimidated. "Nice to meet you too, Hijikata." He smiled, already slightly nervous. 'Holy shit that thing is heavy.' He thought.

The second Sekirei, the one who giggled at him earlier, stepped forward next to Hijikata. She flashed him a cheeky smile, and had a mischievous, seductive aura. She stood at 5'6, just a little taller than Hijikata, but was not quite as well-endowed. She was still slightly bustier than Yagyū, and had wider, curvier hips than both of them, and probably most Sekirei Aishin would meet. She had fair skin with black hair worn up in two buns with orange and black petals. She wore a revealing, short light purple and dark grey sleeveless cheongsam dress with white accents. There was a diamond opening that showed off a tantalizing amount of cleavage. On her arms were fishnet sleeves with black armor, and pale purple ribbons around her wrists. She finished off the look with plain black heels and white stockings accented by pale grey and mauve designs.

Winking at Aishin and ignoring Yagyū's subsequent growl, she spoke.

"Hi~ Aishin-kun. I'm Meimei, Sekirei #37! I'm an explosion-type Sekirei and can create, control, and regulate explosions. Naturally, I'm a living bomb, so you should be careful." She cooed, licking her lips. "If you set me off or turn me on, I'll erupt. Though, I wouldn't mind you making me see fireworks~." Meimei purred at Aishin, who flinched and gave her a tight smile.

Yagyū gnashed her teeth in irritation, glaring daggers at Meimei as she clutched Aishin's bicep tightly. She didn't understand the innuendos Meimei was using, but it felt like Meimei was declaring she wanted to be as close to him as Yagyū currently was.

Meimei noticed Yagyū's glare and smirked. "Lighten up, I'm just teasing." Her eyebrows raised as if she had just thought of something, looking over at Aishin. "Although~, he IS quite handsome and seems like he'd be a great Ashikabi…plus it's not really up to any of us, it just depends on who's reacting to him." She shrugged, then gave Aishin one last wink. "I don't mind being your second wife." Meimei sashayed back over to Takami and Kagura. Aishin looked down at a fuming Yagyū to avoid staring at Meimei's probably incredible ass.

"Aishin." Yagyū's tone was dead serious. "I didn't look, I swe—" he started to explain.

"What's a wife? Tell me!" Yagyū pleaded, frustration coloring her tone. She wouldn't let that bun-headed girl have him!

Meimei burst out laughing. "Oh man, this is going to be fun. I'm looking forward to this even more!" she grinned.

"Meimei, that's enough. Stop teasing them so much." A third voice cut in.

All eyes were on the third Sekirei in the group as she stepped forward past Meimei and Hijikata to stand in front of Aishin and Yagyū. "We're supposed to be working together, after all."

She stood at 5'5 and was shorter than Meimei, but Aishin could tell she was the clear leader of their group. She had a powerful, calm aura around her. Out of the three, she was just as busty as Hijikata and just as curvaceous as Meimei. Lustrous milk-chocolate brown skin and silky, exceptionally long white hair with a black ribbon tied in it. The apparent leader was also wearing what appeared to be a black and white bikini top with collars on the straps framing her neck and chest area, noticeably short black shorts, and matching knee-high boots. Black feathery drapes adorned her arms as detached sleeves, with another as a loincloth. Dual nodachi were crossed across her back, held in place by straps.

The leader smiled, her clear sharp silver eyes analyzing them. Extending a hand to Yagyū, she smiled apologetically. "My name is Yuyaki, Sekirei #30. I am a wind/dark type Sekirei. I'm sorry about Meimei, she can be a little excitable at times, but she is a good person." The now-named Yuyaki spoke, her tone cool and confident.

"Why do I feel like a child whose mother is talking about them right in front of them…" Meimei pouted, Hijikata patting her shoulder as she chuckled.

"Ah, it's fine…" Yagyū trailed off, ducking her head, clearly impressed by Yuyaki. Aishin looked down at how bashful Yagyū was being and smiled. 'Least there's one seemingly normal one…and they're both dual-types and dark types, so they should get along well.' He thought.

"And you must be Aishin-dono." Aishin turned to look up at Yuyaki as she spoke, a warm smile on her full, plush lips. "It's great to finally meet you." She greeted him happily. "Ah, yeah, same to you Yuyaki. And just Aishin is fine." He replied cooly. 'It's nice to see a Sekirei that looks like me…' he thought idly.

She grasped his hand firmly, an electric shock seeming to shoot up both their spines as their hands made contact. 'What the hell…' Aishin thought.

He looked up at Yuyaki and flinched. Her silver eyes were half-lidded with desire, her cheeks were tinted a faint rosy hue and her breathing was slightly raspy. 'Eh? Wait, is she…?!' Aishin thought. Everyone's eyes widened as she pulled Aishin into her by his hand. "Yuyaki, NO!" Takami shouted.

Yuyaki's lips sealed over Aishin's the moment Takami finished speaking. A mellifluous moan tore itself from her throat, her eyes fluttered as she grasped Aishin's shoulders, tilting her head to deepen the kiss. Her tongue swirled around Aishin's as he stood frozen with shock. Yagyū was frozen as well with shock. Bright grey wings of light burst from Yuyaki's back as she arched forward, pressing herself further into Aishin. They flapped a few times then faded away.

She pulled back after a moment, eyes widening as she snapped out of it and realized what she did. "Oh shit." Yuyaki said panickily, covering her mouth.

"DAMMIT Yuyaki, we were gonna wait to do that!" Takami seethed.

"Ah damn, now I'm starting to react a little bit. I'm gonna have to leave for now." Meimei panted slightly. "L-likewise…" Hijikata grunted. Both women stumbled slightly at Aishin's now overwhelming aura, having just doubled in a matter of seconds.

"Everyone is fucking up my plans. We're all leaving. NOW." Takami said gruffly, hauling Hijikata and Memei up by their arms to her car. Yuyaki fluttered in a bit of a panic. "E-eh, all of us?" she asked.

"Not YOU, Yuyaki, now that you went and winged yourself on him! You stay here! Fuck!" Takami swore, putting Hijikata and Meimei in the car. "Now I have to go run damage control and come up with a way to explain how you 'escaped' MBI and winged yourself on him when you shouldn't have been released for another 6-8 weeks!" Takami ranted angrily, driving off with the two Sekirei.

"What the fuck just happened…" Aishin asked, still in a daze.

"Aishin, I'm so sorry!" Yuyaki grabbed his hands, getting in his face concernedly before remembering Yagyū. She winced. "Yagyū, I can't imagine—" she turned to face Yagyū and looked at a blade poised between her eyes.

Yuyaki looked up, tears rolling down the hurt, furious face of Yagyū. "YOU TOOK HIM FROM ME! WHY?!" Yagyū screamed, raw pain in her voice, fear and jealousy clouding her mind momentarily. Aishin felt a surge of protectiveness overtake him when he saw a blade being wielded at one of his Sekirei.

Cerise orbs widened as Aishin gripped the blade of her umbrella, blood soon dripping down his fingers onto the floor. "Your hand! Aishin, I—" Yagyū babbled, in a panic at seeing her Ashikabi hurt. He wrenched the blade umbrella from Yagyū's grip and pulled her and Yuyaki into a crushing hug.

Aishin spoke lowly, but firmly. "Don't EVER do that again, Yagyū. I'm still here with both of you. Nobody has been taken. We're all in this together now. You hear me?" Both Sekirei nodded, too overwhelmed with relief to speak.

Yagyū took slow deep breaths, the blind panic leaving her mind as she realized she could still feel the bond between her and Aishin. She could feel the bond between Aishin and Yuyaki that sent her out of control before, and the bond between her and Yuyaki. They were like three strings of fate, tied together now.

Yagyū took deep inhales of Aishin's scent, clutching on to him like a lifeline. Yuyaki did the same, jolted by seeing her new Ashikabi hurt so quickly and swept up in the storm of emotions coursing through the bond.

After a few minutes, Aishin pulled slightly away and looked at them both. Yagyū spoke up, wiping her tear-stained face. "I'm sorry, Yuyaki. I just felt for a moment like your bond with him had erased my bond with him. But now I feel it…all three of us are connected now." She smiled brightly. Aishin was quiet, partially because he was in awe at how expressive and open Yagyū was now compared to when he first met her, and partially to let the two have their moment and talk things out.

Yuyaki nodded in understanding. "It's okay, I forgive you. It's my fault too, I reacted and winged myself on Aishin-dono without thinking about how that would affect you and your bond with him, or if either of you were okay with it. I know that one Ashikabi can have multiple Sekirei, and I assumed you did as well, Yagyū. I'm sorry." She bowed her head.

"Ah, it's alright I forgive you…I could feel it wasn't your intention to hurt me, but I panicked and lashed out when I thought I lost my bond with Aishin." Yagyū said.

"So…what do we do now?" Aishin said, his arms still wrapped around his Sekirei. He took a second to think about that…his Sekirei, plural. It seemed odd, but it felt right.

Both Yuyaki and Yagyū looked at each other and smiled. They then looked at Aishin and kissed him on each cheek at once.

Pulling back, they spoke in unison. "We'll have to figure it out, together."

"I'll be counting on you, Aishin-dono." Yuyaki purred.

"Take care of me, as always, Shin-kun." Yagyū gushed.

"Of course…hey I'm kind of bleeding out here, a little help?" Aishin chuckled awkwardly. "Note to self, don't underestimate Yagyū's umbrella blade…' he thought.

"Ah! I remember! You need bandages, like last week when we got attacked by those thugs! I'll be right back with the first aid-kit, don't move!" Yagyū commanded, her twintails flitting behind her as she ran around the corner to Aishin's bathroom.

Yuyaki grabbed his bleeding hand in both hands, pressing on it to staunch the flow of blood. "Wh-what do I do?" she panicked slightly.

"Use your dark powers to stop the blood flow! Make a barrier of it using your hands over his!" Yagyū called from the bathroom.

"We both have dark powers; they don't work that way! Do they…?" Yuyaki called back uncertainly.

Aishin's last thoughts before he passed out were at least he could relax since tomorrow was Sunday. And that hopefully he'd actually wake up tomorrow. If these Sekirei didn't kill him first.

AN: Second chapter of the rewrite came a little later than I had hoped, but here it is finally!

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