Kuro had picked back up her shopping from where she had left it and found a place to change out of her messed up clothes and into a copy that wasn't covered in holes. She disposed of the evidence of her little trip into the forest along with the horrible costume that the twins had got her. All and all, the experience in the forest had been eye opening, though it still didn't give her any clearer picture than she had before.
She still had things that she needed to figure out, and things that she needed to do. Near the top of the list was what exactly she was going to be doing about her situation with the Ashikabi, Hayato.
She honestly didn't know anything about the kid other than that he was an Ashikabi who claimed to have the most Sekirei under his command. That and that he seemed to be of above average wealth. He hadn't seemed like a psycho. He might have even been a bit nieve. However, it was always hard to tell, and now that Kuro had made her first real move, unknowns were not something she could deal with.
Her actions in the forest had been necessary, and she had found out a lot of information that could save her life in the future. However, in the end, she might have tipped her hand a little too much.
Her original plan had been to knock out the Ashikabi before using the Rule Breaker, so that she would be able to hide the results of her little experiment, and then terminate the remaining Sekirei regardless the result. However, sympathy made her change her plans.
While letting a single individual know about her skills with creating weapons was not ideal, not may people would believe the man without evidence, and Kuro had made a point not to use any trump cards when taking down 'Yahan'.
The Black Keys and Angurvadal were interesting weapons, but nothing attention grabbing in a war between superpowered aliens. In the end, the man won't have known anymore about her than the people at MBI, and had even less incentive to share what he knew with other Ashikabi.
However, the Rule Breaker wasn't something to be ignored.
The Rule Breaker was a weapon that 'broke rules'. Any contract or agreement made, even one with the world through the use of runes, would be completely nullified by a single prick from the knife. Even the punishments that would normally come into effect by breaking the contract would be nullified, preventing either party from receiving backlash. In the world of Magus, a world where everyone used magical contracts in order to avoid betrayal, it was a tool to be feared.
However, it was not an all powerful tool.
If the medium used for forming the contract is out of reach, then you can't exactly stab it. Nor would the knife be affective against bonds that weren't based around magic. A familiar uses a piece of its masters body as a sort of antenna in order to receive the prana it needs to survive. Such a connection is not in truth a contract and as such can't be severed by Rule Breaker. Nor can Rule Breaker nullify loyalties based around friendship or love induced by magic, as they aren't contracts.
The list of holes in its abilities was long, and even when it works, the results can be unexpected. Kuro had been burned before in the past by testing Rule Breaker on a bounded field that was creating a powerful shield only for the freed unstable prana to explode in her face. Which was why testing the weapon had been important.
Kuruse's reaction to Rule Breaker confirmed what Kuro already suspected. Rather than needing Ashikabi like servants needed master, Sekirei were terminated when they lost their marks as something built into the Sekirei mark itself. If the mark had been giving the Sekirei something that it needed to maintain itself, the Kuruse would have been terminated regardless when Rule Breaker removed the seal. Though that would still have probably been a mercy to her.
The level of power an Ashikabi had over their Sekirei was... disturbing, if Kuruse's action were anything to go by. Perhaps even as disturbing than the power allowed by a command seal over a Servant, and a Servant could be made to kill themselves at a word for their master. As far as Kuro could tell, a Sekirei's loyalty was forced, and beyond their ability to resist. It was probably a fact that a good number of Ashikabi took for granted. This probably meant that Kuro's ability to free a Sekirei from its contract was probably going to scare many of them.
If the Sekirei they had been forcing to obey their will were suddenly freed, how many of them would seek revenge on their masters the way Kuruse nearly did in a fit of rage.
Kuruse was proof that the Rule Breaker did exist. Something like that was reason enough for the Ashikabi to be scared. If the Sekirei War was anything like the Holy Grail one, many of the Ashikabi would likely unite in order to hunt Kuro down.
Kuro was a survivor, one forged in the fires of the Holy Grail War. As such she knew that her best option for her own survival would be to terminate Sekirei number fifty four, Kuruse. Even if she did feel some sense of gratitude towards Kuro, that wouldn't matter if she gained a new Ashikabi. After that she would spill the beans whether she wanted too are not.
But... Kuro couldn't do it. She couldn't just ignore a cry for salvation. After everything she had seen, she couldn't bring herself to terminate the girl, not for her own survival.
Shirou had always been a contradiction; an altruist survivor. He...she could practically hear Rin's sigh of resignation. She was so hopeless. Just like in the Grail War, Kuro couldn't keep bringing herself to dehumanize the people who everyone told her were only tools of battle. The Sekirei were even more human than most Servants.
"Kuro!" "Kuro, where are you!?" "Are you here!?" "Kuro!"
Kuro stopped in her ponderings to notice Mitsuha and Mitsuki, as indistinguishable from each other as ever and seeming to be looking for her. Though how they were going about it was... strange.
One of the twins, Kuro honestly didn't know which, was staring through someone's window, prompting shouts of confusion for the house's residence. Meanwhile the other sister was down on her hands and knees next to a van as if to check to see if Kuro was hiding underneath it. She had a single hand pressed up against the van and was tilting it upwards so that she could get a better look.
They must have been doing this all up and down the streets. Kuro wondered if the twins didn't care how much of a scene they were making, but it was entirely possible that they hadn't even noticed.
"What are you two doing?" Kuro said in slack jawed astonishment of the unusual situation in front of her.
In sync, the two looked up at Kuro and their eyes widened. '''Kuro!''' They shouted together, and before the little Sekirei could even think to do anything, the two where on her.
"I see. So the young miss left in the early morning to go shopping for clothes then?" Hayato's butler, Alfred said as he met the returning party in the entry hall of the mansion.
Kuro only nodded as she shifted about in her bindings. After spotting her, the twins had tied her up and carried her back to their master's residence, in the middle of a crowded street no less. Trying to reason with them proved impossible.
"Ms. Kurogane, while I understand you did not mean to cause a ruckus, you must not go off by yourself in the future. It is highly inappropriate for a girl your age to be wondering the streets by herself." Alfred said calmly, as if the fact that a tiny girl being tied up with some kind of enhanced metal wire wasn't anything out of the ordinary for him. "If you find yourself in need of an escort in the future, merely ask and we will find accommodations for you."
"I just wanted to buy my own clothes. I didn't expect it to be a problem." Kuro said, trying her best to act like a small girl who was trying to get out of trouble. "I won't do it again."
That was a blatant lie. Kuro couldn't do the things she needed to with other people constantly breathing down her neck. She would just have to change up how she went about her business.
"But why did you go out to buy clothes?" Mitsuha whined as she looked into the bag that Kuro had brought back with her.
"These aren't nearly as cute as the things we got you." Mitsuki agreed with her sister. "Don't you like the things we bought you?"
"No." Kuro said bluntly.
'''How cruel.''' They cried together. '''And I was so looking forwards to seeing you wear the [cheerleader uniform]/[kittycat swimsuit].'''
Kuro could only do her best to surprise a shutter and try to block out the mental picture of herself in such outfits. A mental picture made more horrifying by the image of her body in her mind still being that of Emiya Shirou.
The butler ignored the comments, choosing to maintain his professional demeanor. "I will inform the young master as to your return. However..." He said looking Kuro up and down. "Did it not accrue to you to also buy some shoes during your outing?"
"Shoes?" Kuro said looking down to see her own still bare feet, covered in dirt from her little adventure. Somehow in all that mess, she had completely forgotten that she was walking around without shoes on. "I... guess I forgot to get some." She admitted weakly.
"Ah, yes. I was told that you are like Ms. Akitsu." Alfred said. Kuro didn't exactly know how to take that. Not that she had much chance to think about it before the man's next declaration. "Ms. Mitsuha, Mitsuki, would you please make sure that the young girl gets herself cleaned up."
'''Okay!''' The twins shouted happy, grabbing onto the tied up Kuro as the smaller Sekirei paled. She tried to struggle, but it was far too late. The twins were dragging her away to... the baths.
"Why me?" Kuro whimpered to herself after the second traumatizing bath given to her within a period of two days. She cursed her little body for betraying her so. The twins were giggling as they played around with each other, having exhausted Kuro to the point where it was no longer as much fun to tease her.
Kuro looked over at the two naked blonds indulging in less than innocent fun and felt herself becoming even more arousal. For some reason that she couldn't even begin to grasp, her ten year old body produced more hormones than the average full grown adult. Were Sekirei just naturally horny creature, or was this what all girls were like?
She closed her eyes and took a few breathes to calm herself down.
Really, it shouldn't have been all that surprising. Biologically, there was very little difference between the arousal from survival instincts and the arousal from the desire to have sex. It was mostly just the brain's interpretation that told you whether you wanted to escape the man or woman bearing down on you or fuck their brains out.
No matter how much Shirou and Rin had denied it later, no night ever quite matched that night in the church with the threat of Berserker hunting them in the woods.
Even in ancient times, people knew that there was little difference between the arousal in battle and the arousal of love. There was hardly any gods or goddesses of love that weren't in some way connected to one of war. They were even the same entity in some legends. So creatures like Sekirei who were naturally inclined to battle would also naturally be very easily excited in other ways.
Opening her eyes back up, she tried to force herself to have a more detached mind set. Her eyes saw the two beautiful busty blonds playing with each other's breasts in front of her, but what she was drawn to was the only real detail that matter, the tattoo like mark that rested between each of their shoulder blades. She needed information, and now was as good of a time as any to get it.
"Mitsuki, Mitsuha, can I ask you both something?" Kuro said in order to get their attention.
"Hm, what is it sweetie?" Mitsuki responded cheerfully.
"What is it like to be winged?" The twins blinked at Kuro, making her wonder if the question was too broad of a starting point, but after a second of silence the two exchanged a look before breaking down into giggles, a strong flush on their identical faces.
"Oh my, that's a bit of a grown up thing." Mitsuha said through her giggles.
"That's right. Maybe we will tell you when you're older." Mitsuki added.
'When you're older' Kuro wasn't sure what she had been expecting as a response but that wasn't it. Why were they talking about it like it was... Now that she thought about it, she didn't exactly know how the winging ceremony, or whatever it was that they called it, worked. It could have very well have been something similar to the tantric sex magic ritual. Actually, Kuruse had activated her Norito after having exchanged a kiss with her Ashikabi. So it wasn't out of the realm of possibility that winging involved some kind of...
Kuro couldn't help but to flush at the idea that the fifteen year old Hayato had somehow managed to get eighteen different alien women to agree to have sex with him as part of an ancient ritual to gain more power.
No wait, not all of them were women. Kuro had seen at least one man among the boy's harem...
Kuro canceled that train of thought, and tried to get a grip on herself. She was the Second Magus Killer, dammit. It wasn't as if she was a virgin. She can't let herself crash like a school girl at the mention of sex.
"Let me rephrase the question." Kuro said, quickly narrowing her question down in hopes of avoiding any sexual topics. "I want to know what it means to be a winged Sekirei. How and why did you become winged and what is an Ashikabi? Is there something that separates them from other people?"
'''Oh!''' The twins said together, finally understanding the question. They both crossed their arms under their ample chests and tilted their heads in mirroring fashions. '''Those are pretty hard questions.'''
"Well, how one gets winged is easy. All they have to do is get a kiss from an Ashikabi, and then they are bond to them forever and ever. Though I never really thought of the why part beyond just finding love." Mitsuki said in a voice that was probably supposed to be romantic, though the words 'forever and ever' seemed more like a curse than a blessing. Nearly every hero on the Throne would be willing to vouch for how scary a thing eternal love is. "Well, I guess there is also the freedom bit. If you don't get a Ashikabi, then you will get terminated and shipped back to the island."
"It's not like the island is a bad place, but it's kind of boring there." Mitsuha said and then shrugged. "As for what an Ashikabi is, beats me. I'm pretty sure even those scientists back at the MBI didn't really know how all of this worked. They talk about exchanging DNA and imprinting and stuff, none of them know for sure. All we know is that something that separates the Ashikabi from everyone else and lets them wing their Sekirei."
"That's not entirely true." Mitsuki mumbled, tapping at her chin. "I heard that all the Ashikabi are all really descendents of the other Sekirei from a long time ago, and that is way they can bond with us."
"I'm pretty sure that was only a rumor." Mitsuha countered. "Otherwise we could have winged each other, right?"
"We might have been able too, and the modification changed that." Mitsuki said grumpily, not liking being contradicted by her sister. "Mutsu probably knows whether or not it is true."
"You want to ask him?" Mitsuki said with a raised eyebrow.
"Hm... pass." Mitsuha admitted weakly.
Kuro frowned at the lack luster explanation of what Ashikabi were and how they fit in with the Sekirei. "If you don't know what makes an Ashikabi an Ashikabi, then how were you supposed to find one? Did they expect you to just go around kissing random people until you were winged."
The twins broke into another fit of giggles at Kuro's cluelessness. "Not quite. You see, all Sekirei have a bit of a telepathic nature to them. So when we were released, we were told to just wonder around until we 'reacted' to someone, and that person was then going to be 'destined' to be our Ashikabi." Mitsuki explained for some reason, her voice was rather sarcastic when she used the word 'destined'. Both of the sisters looked as though the word left a bad taste.
"So all of you reacted to Hayato, and that is way you are all his Sekirei?" Kuro said, trying to get conformation.
"Well... not quite." Mitsuki admitted. "You see, any Sekirei can be winged by any Ashibaki, even if it is one they didn't react too. So, some have been winged by force in order to strength the Ashikabi's power, and some of us chose our Ashikabi without waiting to react to anyone. Sis and I were like that."
"Why didn't you want to wait to react to someone?" Kuro asked, a little curious. It seemed as though waiting to react was the norm, so why did they go against it?
"We didn't for a couple of reasons." Mitsuha said, taking over for her sister. "First, we didn't want to risk getting the wrong type of Ashikabi." The girl leaned back against the wall of the bath and stared up at the ceiling. "You don't really have much experience with the world so I wouldn't be surprised if you didn't know, but there are some real bad people out there."
Mitsuki slide down into a similar position. "You got that right." She mumbled sadly. "I feel sorry for all the Sekirei who end up partnered with that sort of person."
Kuro didn't say anything. She knew full well what kind of people were in the world. As Shirou Emiya, she had seen the absolute worst that the world had to offer. She had already seen one Ashikabi who was so cruel that his Sekirei nearly killed him the moment she regained a bit of free will.
"When we were first let out into Shin Tokyo, we were just like any of the others. We had been told time and time again how the man we reacted too was going to be our prince charming. How we would be linked by the heart and that they would treat us like princesses." Mitsuha said, her hands tightening into fists. "And we believed them."
"That lasted about a day. After that, we saw our first Ashikabi Sekirei pair." Mitsuki said with a shudder. "They were trying to force us to be winged by the Ashikabi, but the two of use had numbers on our side and managed to get away."
"But the things that Ashikabi was doing to his Sekirei. They were horrible. He was treating her like a tool. Like, she was just a thing. I still remember that hollow look she had in her eyes every time he shouted at her." Mitsuha added, closing her eyes. "And this was the person she had reacted to. Her 'destined one'."
Kuro could understand what they meant. Kuruse had been an absolute mess down to her very soul because of her Ashikabi. It had been a horrible thing to see.
"After seeing that, we decided that we didn't want to find our destined one anymore. So we started looking around at the Sekirei who already found their Ashikabi and picked the best one of the bunch." Mitsuki admitted without any shame. A loving smile passed over her face. "Our little Hayato might not be perfect, but he was nicer to his Sekirei than most of the others we saw."
"Plus, he was rich, smart, talented, and cute as a button." Mitsuha added with a giggle. "Someone we wouldn't mind being in love with."
'''Forever and ever.''' They said together with a content look, small blushes appearing on their faces. Then they both sighed.
"Though, another reason is because it is pointless to be in the Sekirei Plan, if you aren't on the winning team. And with Mutsu and Akitsu around, Hayato is definitely going to be the winning team." Mitsuki said.
"In the end, only one Ashikabi will remain, and if you aren't their Sekirei, then that means you will have been terminated and taken away." Mitsuha said, with a nod of agreement. "I can't think of anything worse than being taken away from your Ashikabi, other than having one who is a monster."
"What do you mean?" Kuro asked. Not really sure why a Sekirei would be so attached to their Ashikabi.
Smiles of pure exotic moved across the girls' faces. "Kuro, being with the Ashikabi that winged you is the most wonderful feeling in the world." Mitsuha said, reaching a hand her body and touching herself, shivering at the memory of something that Kuro didn't know and was pretty sure she didn't want to know. "Now that we've experienced it... I don't think I could live on without it. This is the feeling of love."
"None of us really know what the 'big prize' is at the Ashikabi gets at the end of the road, but we don't really care. The thing that every Sekirei is fighting for is to be able to stay with their Ashikabi. The one they love with all their heart." Mitsuki said.
"Love..." Kuro mumbled, thinking hard about what she had heard.
She could understand more than the twins knew. She remembered the Holy Grail War, how at the beginning she never really thought about the wish that was being offered and only wanted to stop needless deaths. It wasn't until the prospect of keeping Saber alive and with him after the war was ended that Emiya Shirou truly felt the allure of the Grail for the first time, even though he knew that it wasn't what she would have wanted. If the Grail's wish hadn't been a trap, he might have done it anyways.
The chance to be with the person that you love forever, even if that love is something induced by magic. It was a better reason than some to go to war. But what lengths would a Sekirei go to in order to assure such a happy ever after. Just how bloody was this Sekirei War going to get? Kuro found herself pitying the Sekirei, having to fight for something that should simply be free.
Not that any of this explained what the purpose of the Sekirei War was. It only explained why the Sekirei were so willing to go along with it.
They kept saying that Mutsu was some kind of big shot who knew more than anyone else. He might have the answers that Kuro was looking for, but he was also the only person there who was a battle hardened killer. If Kuro asked too many questions, he might get suspicious.
Feeling someone running a hand through her hair, Kuro looked up in surprise to find Akitsu right in front of her, staring at her with her nearly expressionless face. How was it that someone who leaked out so much prana could sneak up on Kuro?
"Don't worry." Akitsu said softly as she continued to pet Kuro. "Even if you can't be winged, you can still be loved."
Kuro's entire body seemed to turn red as she stared straight at the ice Sekirei. For some reason that Kuro couldn't even begin to understand, Akitsu had decided to join them in the bath without taking off any of her clothes, and the already thin white fabric turning transparent and hugging her curvy form was somehow even more erotic than when she had simply been naked.
"Uh, Akitsu... why..?" Kuro stumbled over her own tongue, only to have her heart jump up into her throat as the pale blond stood up right in front of her, her hips right up in Kuro's face.
Kuro thought that she actually felt a nose bleed coming on when Akitsu spoke. "Mutsu. He wants to talk to you." She said flatly, as if that would explain everything.
Kuro wasn't sure just how much of this she could take.
"Knock, knock." Karasuba said. She stood in the doorway of Takami's hospital room, a pleasant smile on her face.
Takami looked up from her own medical reports to see the fourth Sekirei and gave a glare with the eye which wasn't covered by bandages. "Aren't visitation hours over?" She said in a tone that few would dare take with the psychotic woman, but that was what Karasuba liked about the white haired woman, that hardly anything fazed her. She was actually one of the few humans that the Kuro Sekirei could stand.
"Now don't be like that. I just wanted to make sure you were in good health after the 'accident'." Karasuba said, since they both knew damn well what happened. She held up a fruit basket with her right hand, a cigarette box balanced on top of an apple.
Takami stared at it hard before sighing and grabbing the box. "Light me, and open a window." She said as she pulled out one of the cigarettes. Karasuba laughed as she pulled out the lighter.
"So what's the damage like?" Karasuba said as she took the visitor's seat, popping her blade out of her sheath by a bit and using it to start peeling an apple.
"Got to love experimental medicine. I'd be out already if these bastards didn't want to keep me away from my work." Takami said before taking a puff. As she slowly exhaled the smoke she seemed to relax. "How about Kusano? What happened to her?"
Karasuba chuckled. "Last I heard, she was being swept away by your son. So she is probably at the first's home now. Strange thing is, he hasn't winged her yet."
Takami closed her eye, trying to decide how she felt about Kusano being around her son, Minato. "I must have raised him right, seeing as he didn't wing her right away during that whole mess."
"That's a matter of opinion." Karasuba said with a shrug, holding out an apple slice to Takami.
The white haired woman glared at her. "I'm not eating anything that has touched that weapon of yours. Did you even wash it after the last time you stuck it through some one?" Karasuba only shrugged at the accusation and popped that apple slice in her mouth, seeming to enjoy it. "Are you going to tell me why you are here or not? I'm sure you are dying to share something if you thought it couldn't wait for me to get to work tomorrow, and that you couldn't just give me a call."
Karasuba smiled a rather scary smile. "Oh, I've got a juicy story for you. Since you were in the hospital, I was sent out to recover one of the terminated Sekirei." Karasuba said with a grin. "I found the Ashikabi, running away like a coward. And before I killed him, he started spouting some nonsense about how one of his Sekirei betrayed him and started attacking him."
Takami narrowed her eye at the gray haired Sekirei off handed mentioning off killing the man. "Two things. First, that's impossible. Second, you aren't supposed to kill humans for no reason."
Karasuba shrugged. "This one annoyed me." She said, as if that was reason enough to kill him. "However, it turns out he wasn't full of shit. According to our trackers, number fifty four, Kuruse, has been 'unwinged', and her partner, number fifty seven, Yahan was terminated by her."
Karasuba grinned at the sight of Takami's eye widening and her mind going into overdrive. The Kuro Sekirei would lead them on a goose chase for a while, keeping her daughter hidden in the shadows until it was time to see what the girl could really do.
Soon, it would be up to Kurogane to decide the future of all Sekirei.
Sorry to you people who just can't stand Hayato's existence, but he will be making an appearance next chapter with his view point of the world. Though things will still mostly be focused on Kuro/Shirou.
