Hello again everyone. Welcome back to day 2 of my writing hell.
And now to respond to some reviews
stakler: First, thanks for being my first reviewer for this story. Second, while I promise nothing cause life happens, I intend and will try my best to see this to the end or at the very least, I will finish the story arc I'm on at the time.
98kazer: Yeah, it'd be pretty boring if that were to happen. That's why in my head, most Sekirei rank the same as a weak servant. Shirou as a demi servant will still be relatively stronger than a decent amount of the Sekirei but it's not like he'll have the easiest time dealing with 100 of them.
ENDDRAGON369: Um, no I don't believe there will be any mention of Muramasa or Miyu. For one, this is a Shirou from some variation of Stay Night, not the Miyuverse. And second, he's already (sorta) possessed by Archer through the arm so yeah.
offshorephillip: Lol, I wasn't planning to give him a harem from the start. Unless you count Uzume joining in with Rin and Sakura. But Sekirei wise, just one. Minato still has his harem, Mikogami still has his harem. The only one who doesn't get their Sekirei is Chiho because of Shirou.
As for Takehito, since I never got to see much of him in both the anime and the manga, I'm gonna take some creative liberties with him so hopefully that doesn't throw people too off for those who somehow managed to fully discern his personality in the short bits he got. Hope you all like a carefree Shirou who's slightly sadistic. That's how I picture Takehito for some reason.
One more thing before I start the chapter (stop procrastinating Forest) Funny story, I still can't upload new stories to my original account due to it leading me to a blank screen once I selected the series I was writing for so I had to upload it to this backup account. What the crap Fanfiction website!? It's been like what, 3-4 years since I've reported this problem and it still isn't fixed!?
Okay, got that out of my system. I'm cool now. Onto the second chapter!
Again, I don't own the Fate series or Sekirei. They are owned by TYPE-MOON and Sakurako Gokurakuin respectively.
Why does my body feel so heavy? Shirou thought to himself as he began to awaken from his slumber. The sun had already risen and sunlight shone through the windows. It was later than the magus's usual waking time though it wasn't so surprising considering all that happened the day before. He got transported to another universe, had to fight what was essentially a Servant in terms of stats, and even before all that, he had to take down a Dead Apostle. Being part Servant helped in terms of his energy reserves but he still couldn't help but be exhausted from all that. However, that was not the cause of whatever it was that was weighing him down. More specifically, it was right side he felt he couldn't move. Groggily, Shirou used his free arm to lift the covers of the futon lent to him. What he saw underneath woke him up completely.
"Uzume!? What are you doing in my futon!?" Shirou shouted as he tried to remove himself from her hold on him but found it to be difficult without resorting to force which he was reluctant to do, especially to a girl wearing skimpy underwear. She had a surprisingly strong grip on him after all though it began to weaken as the Sekirei began to wake up.
"Ah, good morning Shirou…" Uzume said sleepily as she slowly got up into a sitting position. At this point, she had let go of Shirou completely, letting him create some distance between them. "Hmm? Why are you in my room?" She said with a yawn, seemingly unabashed by the fact that man in front of her was seeing her in her undergarments.
"That should be my line, you're in my room…." Shirou said in response.
"Must have gone into the wrong room on my way back from the bathroom last night…" The woman merely rubbed her eyes and did a few stretches to wake her body up, inadvertently giving more reasons for Shirou to go red in the face.
"Put on some clothes first! I'm right here!" Shirou exclaimed as he put his hand over his eyes. He was not some pervert who would take advantage of the situation to enjoy the view.
"Ehh, it's not that big of a deal. I'm not completely naked. I'm wearing underwear." Uzume replied as if it was completely normal to be almost naked in a bed with somebody who was practically a stranger. "By the way, how are your injuries?" She began to crawl over to him, wanting to check how the bandages were holding up. Just when Shirou was about to retort, the door to the room opened.
"Hey Emiya, breakfast is ready…" Takehito had entered the room and just happened to see a scantily clad Uzume crawling onto Shirou who also was shirtless save for the bandages Uzume forced onto yesterday's injury. "...Looks like I'm interrupting something. Please excuse me." He then made to close the door behind him.
"Wait! It's not what it looks like!" Shirou cried out in desperation.
"Hahaha. Yeah, I know." Takehito said opening the door again but with a slightly sadistic smirk on his face. "You should look at your expression, it's hilarious!" He couldn't hold back the laugh at Shirou's expense which made the magus narrow his eyes out of irritation. "Sorry, sorry, I couldn't help it. I'll explain. Uzume and most of the other Sekirei were stuck in the MBI facilities for practically all their lives so they'll be a little lacking in common sense. As somebody who works with them, this is a normal occurrence." It was Uzume this time who pouted at his words.
"You're rather loose-lipped about something that seems secret enough to keep away in that building." Shirou said, not sure where the older man was going with it. He was almost put off by it since he was used to the mages at the Clocktower being secretive about everything they did.
"Well, you've already been exposed to quite a bit of said secrets so there's not much of a point to keeping our mouths shut and acting like it doesn't exist now." Takehito pointed out. "Now come down to breakfast and we can talk further. I have a few questions for you as well." Takehito then left the room, leaving Shirou and Uzume to go change into the clothes Takehito and Miya lent them.
"I suppose we both have questions for each other so why don't we do this? You ask a question, I ask a question in return, and then we repeat?" Takehito said as he put some rice in his mouth. Despite the serious subject matter that would most likely come up during the conversation, the atmosphere was kept relatively light with the presence of the morning meal. On a side note, Matsu was eating in the hidden room Seo and Shirou had set up for her.
"Sure, that sounds fair." Shirou said in response as he dug into the food which he admitted was pretty good for his standards. In the back of his mind though he remained cautious about any mental traps the man might have tried to pull. Shirou took a deep breath and began the questioning. "What are Sekirei?"
"Hmm, to put it simply, they're basically humanoid aliens that are way stronger than humans and have varied powers." Takehito was surprisingly open about this and the existence of aliens almost threw him for a loop. He was used to dealing with fantasy, not sci-fi after all. It was only the fact that he remembered how there was Type Moon, vampires from the moon, that the idea of aliens seemed plausible. "And now it's my turn. Emiya, are you human?" Shirou narrowed his eyes at this. It was an odd question.
"Yes, yes I am." He answered truthfully. He wasn't a normal human sure, especially with having a heroic spirit's arm, but he was still human through and through.
"Takehito, were you thinking he's also a Sekirei?" Uzume asked the scientist curiously. "Matsu said his profile isn't in the data banks."
"It was just a thought. Most Sekirei would fall against Karasuba even with her holding back and yet Emiya here managed to knock her down with some help from you." Takehito said in response. "You can't blame me for thinking that he might be something else."
So he saw me in action. I better answer future questions more carefully. Shirou thought to himself before posing his next question. "Where are the Sekirei from?"
"I honestly couldn't tell you. Not because I don't want to but because I don't know. Almost 20 years ago, the chairman of MBI found a crashed spaceship on an island that just rose up all of a sudden in the Sea of Japan and the Sekirei we have now were in there as unborn babies except for Miya here who was already a fully grown adult." Takehito explained. "So they've just been raised here on earth."
"Wow, you really weren't kidding about being okay with telling me this…" Shirou was almost put off by how the man just explained something that seemed pretty top secret like it was common knowledge.
"Believe me, if it were anybody uninvolved with it already, I'd be much more tight lipped." Takehito said in response. "Eventually, more people, including yourself, would have learned about this to some extent anyway."
"What do you mean I'm-" Shirou was interrupted by Takehito with a finger.
"Remember? It's my turn now. You can save your question for later." Shiou knew he wasn't the best with mental games, that's why he usually left that stuff to Rin, but he still felt a little disappointed for letting Takehito take control of the conversation so easily. "So then, how did you manage to do what you did against Karasuba? I ended up watching the security footage from where I was waiting for you and saw some interesting things. Swords that changed shape and daggers that trapped people to their shadows. Rather interesting abilities."
"It's...a unique skill I have. I can summon copies of weapons I've seen before and I gain abilities based on the weapon." Shirou did not lie about this. His form of magecraft was an ability unique to him because of Avalon being imbedded in his body for all these years. He just left out the fact that said weapons numbered in the hundreds of thousands if not more thanks to his fight with Gilgamesh and the knowledge contained in Archer's arm. As well as the fact that he could rewrite the laws of reality temporarily with the use of his reality marble.
"I see, how interesting." Takehito said with a look of intrigue. If he saw through the half truth, he didn't show it. "Perhaps it's some sort of esper skill or magic? If aliens exist, I wouldn't doubt it."
"How am I supposed to be involved in all this besides yesterday's run in?" Shirou asked, breaking the scientist's train of thought before it could go any further.
"Well, I ended up doing a little test on the blood sample I got from you while Uzume was disinfecting your wound. And though I only have the basic equipment in my personal lab here at home, I still managed to find out that you are qualified to be an Ashikabi." Takehito explained in response.
"A what?" This was new terminology for the magus so he wanted clarification. At this time, a small alarm rang from Takehito's phone.
"Ah, I gotta get going to work. Though I'm quitting, there's still stuff I need to finish up before doing so." Takehito said before shoveling down the rest of his food. "Thanks for the food Miya, it was delicious as always. Emiya, you can ask the girls about the Ashikabi." After giving Miya a kiss on the forehead, Takehito made to walk out the door but not before saying one last thing. "Emiya, I'm sure you have your own circumstances and I don't feel like forcing it out of you. Just know that you're in my good books. You helped somebody even if they didn't need it after all." Leaving with a more genuine smile, he closed the door behind him. At this time, Miya had gathered the dirty dishes and went off to wash them, leaving Shirou with Uzume to ask about the topic.
"So what do you know about these Ashikabi?" Shirou asked the Sekirei sitting next to him. At least now she was in more modest albeit tight clothing. so he didn't have to look away from her in embarrassment.
"Growing up, we were told stuff like how Ashikabi are our destined ones. Somebody who'd be our partner and empower us with their love. Sounds mushy I know, but it's been something most all of us looked forward to, meeting the one supposed to be our Ashikabi." Uzume said with a smile of reminiscence. "Once we Sekirei meet the Ashikabi destined for us, we react. Not that I know how that's supposed to feel. After a kiss, we gain power and then there's an everlasting bond between us and our Ashikabi."
Shirou didn't understand how all of this worked from such a simple explanation but he was already beginning to see similarities between this situation and the Holy Grail War. Even though Saber was his Servant for only a short time, there was some invisible but strong bond that linked them together and he could still feel it to some extent after the war was all over. The situation Uzume was describing was just a more romantic version of it. "So how many Sekirei are there?"
"Last I checked, there were 108. Why do you ask? Wanted to know your chances of snagging a Sekirei for yourself?" Uzume said with a teasing smirk. "Neither Matsu nor I seem to be reacting to you and Miya's already spoken for but there's still about 100 to choose from."
There's 108 of them!? And if that sword lady and Uzume are anything to go by, they're all on the level of at least a weak Servant. What is MBI planning here? Rather than register the teasing comment, Shirou had instead focused on the number of Sekirei and their possible power. If 108 of them were running around, the city might be in danger. "I don't intend on burying myself too deep into this situation so I'm not going to actively seek them out. Some might be potential enemies after yesterday's little incident after all." That last bit was more an excuse. His real reason was that he didn't know how long he would stay here before Rin managed to find him and bring him back. For all he knew, the girl could appear on top of the table five seconds later and spirit him away without another word.
"Ah, that's true. Gotta be careful about that." Uzume agreed with the reasoning though her expression became disappointed. "Wait, doesn't that make it all the more harder for me to find my Ashikabi?"
"I'm sure with proper civilian wear and maybe a hairstyle change, you can alleviate the issue." Shirou said calmly. He remembered the day that Rin decided to ditch the twin tail look and happened to wear different clothes than usual. Even her own sister thought some stranger or enemy magus had broken into their shared apartment. "If this destined one is in the city, who knows? You might run into them while in the middle of a shopping trip. I'll even accompany you just in case you get attacked. I need to learn the area anyway."
"What a wonderful idea. If that's the case, would you mind buying the groceries for tonight's dinner?" Miya requested cheerfully. In her hands was a grocery bag and a list of what was needed.
"Sure thing Miya." Uzume replied.
"Of course, it's the least we could do in return for letting us stay here." Shirou said taking the basket and list. In the back of his mind, he felt that while he stayed in this universe, he should get a job to earn his keep. "We'll be back soon."
"Alright then, Operation: Find my Ashikabi is a go!" Uzume shouted cheerfully with a fist in the air.
"No luck so far…" Uzume said with a sigh of defeat. The magus and the Sekirei had taken their time walking around the shopping district, waiting for Uzume to react to anybody as they bought the required groceries. Unfortunately, she hasn't reacted to anybody yet and thus had failed to find her Ashikabi.
"It's been an hour. I doubt you'd find somebody that quickly in a city as big as Tokyo. And not everyone is going to be in the shopping district." Shirou said as he picked out some carrots and onions. "You just have to be patient. If it truly is destiny, it'll happen when it happens."
"Easy for you to say, you haven't been looking forward to it for most of your life." Uzume replied with a pout.
"And if you've managed to wait that long, you can wait for a little while longer right?" Shirou said with a smirk as he patted her head, causing her pout to deepen from being treated like a kid. It did not help that there was a height difference of at least 20 cm. "Anyway, now that we're done with shopping, want to try the lucky draw here? I got two vouchers while we were shopping. We probably won't win a big prize but it could be fun." Growing up, Shirou rarely did these and when he did, it was usually because of Taiga wanting some trip overseas. This time, he just wanted something to distract Uzume from her worries, even if only for a moment.
The two of them got in line and like Shirou expected, Uzume didn't win anything big, just a coupon for crepes. She seemed to be pretty cheerful about it though. Now it was Shirou's turn. He definitely wasn't expecting much. The reason being the thing attached to his left shoulder known as Archer's arm. Though now sealed by Zelretch and made to look like his normal arm, Archer's stats as a Servant still leaked through Shirou's body and made him stronger than most humans by default. The flipside was that he also inherited his future self's E rank luck, something that had since plagued his life. The fact that he won anything higher than tissues was almost a miracle even if it was ranked below Uzume's prize.
"Congratulations! You won the 7th prize! A beautiful ribbon!" One of the people running the stand handed him a small package which contained a blue ribbon. Though cheap, it looked nice enough. Though he hadn't noticed it, a bitter smile appeared on his face as he walked back to Uzume.
"You okay there Shirou?" Uzume noticed it rather quickly. Finally, Shirou had noticed and returned his expression to normal.
"It's nothing, just recalling some memories. I remembered somebody I regarded as an older sister figure dragging me to these things when she could." Shirou said with a bit of a laugh. It again was not a lie but he didn't say the whole truth either. What he had really recalled when he saw the ribbon was his former Servant Saber who always had one in her hair.
"Must be tough, being seperated from those you love." Uzume said in understanding. If she was already getting depressed about not finding her destined one, she could only imagine what it was like for Shirou who was presumably separated from those he cared about if his earlier expression was any indication.
"Yeah, I suppose." He gave a broad response. He did indeed miss Saber and Taiga occasionally as he was separated from them through time and distance but with all the crazy supernatural stuff that kept happening, he hadn't had the time to really slow down and think about it till now. A certain blood sucker certainly wasn't helping matters with the occasional zap to another universe. "Ah right, you can have this. You can use it to tie your hair up." He held out the ribbon to Uzume. "Maybe you can try something like a side ponytail?"
"Oh? Is that what you're into Shirou?" Uzume said with a smirk. She couldn't help but try to get a jab in.
"That's not it." Shirou said in rebuttal. In reality, it was merely his selfish wish to have the ribbon in a different location than where Saber had it at the back of her head.
"Whatever you say." Uzume replied nonchalantly as she took her hair and used the ribbon to tie it to the side. "How do I look? Am I getting closer to your dream girl?"
"I think it suits you honestly. You look cute." Shirou said with a smile. Though she didn't react at all, Uzume still couldn't help but get a bit flustered and slightly red in the face. On a side note, Shirou also thought to himself that the change in hairstyle really did create a different look.
"I-I see! Now then, let's go get some crepes with this coupon!" Stammering a little, Uzume walked in the direction she remembered seeing the sweets shop at, a tint of red still on her face. Once they had exchanged the voucher for two crepes, the pair opted to sit on a bench in the park. "Ahh, it's so sweet!" The Sekirei squealed with delight.
"Not too bad." Shirou muttered though in the back of his mind, he was already thinking of ways to improve it. To him, it was a tad too sweet and relied too much on the sugary content. The pancake wrapping also should have been cooked 6.5 seconds longer.
"Mwahaha! You'll never defeat me hero!" A kid's shout tore him away from his thoughts about the crepe and he looked up to see a group of children playing what appeared to be some rendition of Hero vs Demon Lord. The child standing at the top of the playground who was presumably playing the demon lord was wearing a ridiculous cape and the one playing the main hero wore an equally ridiculous one.
"I will defeat you Demon King! Cause a hero of justice always prevails!" The other caped child said in return.
"I'll become one for you. Just leave your dream to me."
"You're doing it again." Uzume said as she leaned into his field of vision to get his attention. "Looking back on the past again?"
"Just remembering a stupid dream I had growing up." Shirou replied, trying to wave it off as he kept his line of sight on the children playing hero.
"What was it?" She asked out of curiosity.
"...To be a Hero of Justice." Shirou replied after a moment of hesitation. "A rather naive dream isn't it? I wanted to be able to save everyone and with my….abilities, I thought I could do it one day. Reality's pretty harsh though. You can't save everyone after all." His face now had a self deprecating smile on it. He had chosen his loved ones over his ideals and he didn't regret that. However, he still felt that the dream itself, that wanting others to be happy, was beautiful in a way and felt some regret that he couldn't help everyone. That some had to die along the way.
"I see...:" Uzume replied simply in response. She didn't how to respond to that. She wasn't some expert in psychology and she didn't know the full story anyway. But looking at him like this just struck a chord in her heart. Shirou wasn't the one destined to be her Ashikabi but she still didn't want to see him with this sad expression. Eventually, she settled on leaning her head on his shoulder and just saying what came to mind. "I can't pretend to know what you've been through or understand everything you're talking about. But if you're talking about being a hero, you already are one. You managed to save me after all. If you weren't there yesterday, I probably wouldn't be here today. So at the very least, you're my hero. And I won't let you say otherwise."
Uzume's words were barely louder than a whisper but it had reached Shirou loud and clear. Though they didn't get rid of his regrets, he felt as though some of the burden had been alleviated. "Thanks….Uzume."
"In the end, I couldn't manage to find my Ashikabi…" Uzume said with a sigh. After their little moment, something Uzume had been a tad bit embarrassed about doing later on, the two of them took the long way home so they could increase Uzume's chances of finding her Ashikabi. They even took another detour so Shirou could pick up a job application as a chef for a small cafe. Unfortunately, it was all to no avail. It only resulted in a few guys trying to hit on Uzume only to get kicked in the nuts.
"It's only the first day. I'm sure you'll react to somebody eventually." Shirou said, trying to comfort her.
"I might have had a better chance if you let me jump up to the hospital rooftop." Uzume said with a pout. In the middle of their trip, Uzume had made to jump onto the rooftops and search for her Ashikabi from high up on one of the taller buildings in the area, the hospital, only to be stopped by Shirou.
"And give Takehito-san and Miya-san trouble by risking your cover?" Shirou said in retort. "Normal people can't jump that high, you'd cause a scene. We're trying to stay low key so we don't get attacked again remember?"
"Says the man who managed to jump as high as me to pull me back down!" Uzume shot back.
"I said normal people. I don't think a guy who can conjure swords out of thin air is in that category." Shirou refuted her argument. "Let's just be glad that nobody saw us and that we somehow didn't damage the produce." It's only been a day and he's already gotten used to their little arguments. Shirou didn't know what to think about that. Perhaps sticking around Rin for so long had done something to him.
"Welcome back you two." Miya said from the entrance. "And your new hairstyle looks cute Uzume." The said girl blushed at the compliment.
"We're back Miya. Sorry for taking so long." Shirou said apologetically.
"It's fine, searching for your other half is important after all." Miya nodded in understanding. "Though I haven't been winged myself, I know the feeling of longing all too well as a fellow Sekirei."
"Eh? You haven't been winged? What about Takehito?" Uzume asked out of surprise. Shirou shared a similar if less exaggerated reaction. In the short time the two knew the couple, they seemed to be a perfect match that loved each other very much..
"As much as I love my husband, he just simply didn't have the genetics to be an Ashikabi. I don't mind however. Ashikabi or not, he is still my beloved." Miya said this an ever so gentle smile. "Well, come on in. I'll get dinner started."
"Miya-san, mind if help? I'm rather confident in my skills as a cook." Shirou offered. He hadn't had a chance to cook in a long while and he was itching to get back in the kitchen.
"That'd be great! Thank you for offering." Miya said before leading Shirou to the kitchen. Uzume had opted to just go back to her room and rest.
"So what will we be making?" Shirou asked as he put on one of the spare aprons.
"Our main dish tonight is beef stew. Think you could handle it?"
"I could probably do that while cooking two other dishes." Shirou replied rather confidently.
"My, how confident. Let's see if you can back it up." Miya said as she brandished a knife. It was as if to say that she wouldn't lose to him. Shirou was ready to rise to the challenge and the two cooks prepared for a culinary showdown. Later on that evening, Takehito could have sworn all the dishes on the table were shining.
"Man, that was awesome! I wouldn't mind having you for an Ashikabi just for your cooking skill alone!" Uzume said jokingly as she relaxed on the porch leading to the backyard.
"Glad you liked it." Shirou said with a smile. Shirou felt a sense of accomplishment from that. He always did when he managed to satisfy somebody's appetite. And what an appetite Uzume had. It rivaled Saber's. He supposed it made sense seeing how she was practically a Servant that didn't run on magic power. She probably expended a lot of energy. "So where do you think we should search next?"
"Honestly, I'm not sure. The city's a big place after all." Uzume went back to sulking and lay on her back. "How am I supposed to find my Ashikabi in this place? With how many people are here, the stars have to be perfectly aligned or something for us to meet!"
"Maybe you just weren't meant to meet your Ashikabi until a later time." Shirou said in response. He himself didn't believe in destiny, Zelretch's ability to see parallel worlds kinda put a stop to that, but he did feel that some things were meant to happen when they did. "As I said before, you just have to be patient." Rather than reassure her, his words made her turn on her side with her back to him. "Come on now, don't sulk."
"Hey, you got to have your emotional brooding moment earlier. I get one too." She said with a pout that masked a feeling of uncertainty.
"Alright then, I'll bite. What's wrong?" Shirou said with a small sigh.
"I just….wanted a feeling of certainty you know? About who my Ashikabi is." Uzume said as she slowly sat back up. "I didn't think about who it'd be at all until Takehito brought it up this morning. But after that, I started thinking of all sorts of things. What'd they'd be like, would I like them, could I dislike them, even if I reacted to them? Even the conversation we had with Miya earlier about her not being Takehito's Sekirei made me wonder what would happen if the person I fell in love with was different from the person who was my Ashikabi. Even with all of these questions plaguing my mind, I can't answer any of them until I meet my Ashikabi. At the very least, I want to find them before somebody forcibly wings me."
"That can happen? I thought you Sekirei only reacted to specific Ashikabi." Shirou asked in response.
"React, yes. We only react to the one person who's supposed to be our Ashikabi. However, anybody that has the qualifications to be an Ashikabi can wing any Sekirei, with or without reaction." Uzume said in response with a hint of disgust in her voice. "Heck, if you kissed me right now, I'd be your Sekirei just like that."
"I'd never force myself on you!" Shirou exclaimed.
"I know you wouldn't. That's why I trust you enough to be vulnerable like this." Uzume said with a small smile. The two of them had gotten off to a rocky start having argued with each other during their fight with Karasuba but they were practically joined at the hip now after one day. "Unfortunately, not every Ashikabi will be as nice as you. There'll be some that try to force it once they learn of their ability."
"We'll just need to keep them from doing so then." Shirou said matter of factly as if it were the obvious thing. "If they learn of their ability, they'll probably have a Sekirei winged. Even so, there's two of us, I think we could take them. Can't be any harder than the one from yesterday." He said this with a confident grin. Seeing this made Uzume double over in laughter.
"You're acting as if this wouldn't be a big deal. And what's with that confident guy act? It's hilarious!" Uzume said in between laughs at Shirou's expense. With how serious he had been acting the past two days, this seemed a bit out of character for him. "Though I suppose if it's you, you'd be able to back it up." Having calmed down she began to scoot closer to him. "Shirou, I've decided. Become my Ashikabi."
"Wait, what?" Shirou couldn't understand how Uzume's train of thought went from talking about the bad Ashikabi to him being her Ashikabi. "And didn't you want to find the one you'd react to?"
"Well, there's no telling when I'll meet them or what they'll be like. They'd be complete strangers after all." Uzume said in response. "They could be somebody I'd love to death or somebody who's guts I'd hate but rather than just letting fate decide for me, I want to take my chances with you whom I trust." As she said this, she got ever so closer.
"But I don't plan on sticking around here forever. I'm gonna go home eventually." Shirou knew that at some point, his ride would be here to take him back to his universe and he probably wouldn't come back. In response though, Uzume grabbed his face to turn it towards her.
"I don't care. When the time comes, I'll go with you. The goal of a Sekirei is to be with her Ashikabi anyway." Uzume wasn't taking no for an answer so before Shirou could give another retort, she brought her lips to his. Immediately afterward, wings of light came out from her back which began to curl around the newly formed pair. At the same time, Shirou felt a burst of power swell within him as his magic circuits began to connect with something. Once Uzume had broken the kiss, he felt that the connection was fully formed as the wings began to dissipate.
"See? That wasn't too bad." Uzume said with her usual teasing tone though her red face betrayed her feelings of embarrassment. It was then she noticed three red marks on her right hand. It looked like a sword with two wings at its sides. "What's this supposed to be? Wait Shirou, don't you have something like this on your right hand?" Curious, Shirou decided to take a look and he was shocked by what he saw.
Command Seals? But how? Did the Dead Count Shapeshifter Seals have something to do with it? Shirou shook those thoughts out of his head for now as it wasn't the most pressing matter at the moment. Despite him not being a full Servant, it seems that he was still able to (unintentionally) form a contract with Uzume. That would explain the new link he felt between himself and her. "Well, this is certainly a surprise. It appears we've somehow become each other's masters." Shirou said, finally responding to Uzume.
"Hmm? What do you mean?" Uzume asked. "Are you actually some sort of mutated Sekirei that can be another Sekirei's Ashikabi or something?"
"Not exactly." Shirou said as he scratched the back of his head, wondering how to explain this. "It'll take a while to clear up everything but to put things simply, I'm not completely human (technically) and the non human side of me can form contracts similar to that of a Sekirei."
"So it means we're connected in another way?" Uzume said with a cute little head tilt.
"Pretty much." Shirou nodded.
"Well, that's all I care about for now. We can leave the complicated stuff for later. For now, let's drink to celebrate!" Uzume said cheerfully as she pulled out a bottle of sake and a pair of cups seemingly out of nowhere. "Please take care of me from now on, my beloved Ashikabi." As she said this, she had the warmest smile on her face.
"Yeah, same to you…. Master." Shirou said with a small smirk.
"Wow, that felt weird to be called that. Don't do that again." Uzume said before laughing. This time Shirou couldn't help but join in on the laughter.
Auughh, I'm dying over here to get this done on time. XD
Hopefully, this didn't feel too rushed, I'm just on a time limit. I'll probably go back and change it after this competition is over. Then again, Minato winged most of his Sekireis the day he met them so I suppose what I did isn't too much of a stretch. I just wanted them to develop more of a relationship before it happened.
Anyway, please leave your thoughts on how it's going so far. I'm gonna post this and then start the next chapter immediately.
Omake:
"Mwahaha! You'll never defeat me hero!" A kid's shout tore him away from his thoughts about the crepe and he looked up to see a group of children playing what appeared to be some rendition of Hero vs Demon Lord. The child standing at the top of the playground who was presumably playing the demon lord was wearing a ridiculous cape and the one playing the main hero wore an equally ridiculous one.
"I will defeat you Demon King! Cause a hero of justice always prevails!" The other caped child said in return. "Red Justice Ready!"
"Blue Justice Ready!" Said another kid
"Pink Justice Ready!" Said the only girl playing with them
"Let's go! Summoning the mechas!" All of a sudden, three giant robots, a red lion, a blue pterodactyl, and a pink humanoid wearing a tutu came into being. The three children jumped in them and got ready for battle.
"You fools! You think that can stop me!" The kid cackled before summoning a bigger robot "You cannot stop me!"
"That's what you think! Combine! Power Ranger Gundam Lagann!" The three formed some weird combination that also happened to grow in size. The children then went off to battle and destroyed a good chunk of the city before the heroes won.
"Wow, kid's toys are really advanced these days." Uzume said in awe.
That's a toy? Shirou couldn't help but retort in his brain.