*Growl*
Hunger was starting to nip at Kuruse as she kept moving along, following the pull on her heart. She was starting to feel a bit weaker than before, though she did her best to try to ignore it. Even if she was hungry, she wouldn't collapse from it for another day at the least. Sekirei needed to eat roughly three times as much food as the average human in order to continue to function at full strength, and since a human being can go a good week without food without damaging themselves too badly, Kuruse should be able to do two more days... she hoped. It was questionable after she had used up so much of her energy reserves in her last fight. But she didn't have much of a choice, so she would just suck it up and keep going.
She wanted too keep going. She couldn't afford to fight anyone and she couldn't blend into the crowd anymore. The dense streets of down town had been replaced by a residential zone that was relatively deserted from it being the middle of the working day. Still she hoped by simply walking along like a normal human, she might be able to remain unnoticed, even if someone actually spotted her.
She was moving further and further away from the parts of the city she had seen before and deep into the territory of the Ashikabi of the South. If one of his Sekirei spotted her then their was little chance she would have the strength to fight back. Even if she wasn't being exhausted for energy, she would have been overwhelmed by pure numbers. She would be forcibly winged for sure.
The thought horrified her, but even so, she had to keep going. She wouldn't give up on being with the one she was destined to share her life with. Her entire body was burning with that single desire, making it hard for her more rational senses to keep her from breaking into a full run and light at signal flare for anyone who might be searching for a loose Sekirei before she could find her Ashikabi to be.
However, it wasn't her who found her Ashikabi, but her Ashikabi who found her.
Kuruse didn't even believe her own eyes when Kuro dashed out from behind a stone wall that the corner of the street right in front of her before skidding to a halt, turning and looking at Kuruse was a bit of alarm. "What are you doing here?" Kuro said in a half hushed tone, as if afraid of being overheard.
Kuruse's eyes widened at the sight of the young lavender pink haired girl. She was in a pure white dress with some lacy thrills on it. It felt so odd to see her in it as it conflicted with the image in the older Sekirei's mind of the small warrior who she had seen in the forest.
Still, she did look cute in it. Too cute. Kuruse felt her face heating up and her tongue could seem to find words as she struggled to answer the girl's question. "I... came to... find... ah... I think you're... Ashikabi... my..." All the things that she had been planning to say, ever since she decided that she would find Kuro, had vanished and her head felt light. Her reaction was getting stronger and stronger.
However, it didn't even seem as though the girl was even trying to listen. Kuro's head cocked up and she 'sniffed' the air before jumping towards Kuruse, grabbing the trident users' hand and pulling her down the street, causing the taller girl to stumble a little. Kuro pulled them back into one of the lots of one of the houses and into a two foot wide gap between a fence and a garage. "Stay quiet." Kuro whispered, holding a finger to her own lips.
With a conscious effort, Kuruse closed her own eyes and steadied her heavy breathes. She could hear them. "Come on! Hurry!" "No, she want this way!" "That Scrap, what does she think she's doing!? She was supposed to let us handle things!" "She's probably not thinking anything! You know how Scraps are!" "We need to get to her before something happens..." "Our Ashikabi won't be happy if we lose another one!"
Several arguing voices moved closer to them passing only feet away as the Sekirei jumped past their hiding place at a speed that wouldn't allow them to see the two in their small crevice.
After a few more moments passed, Kuro gave a sigh of relief before frowning up at Kuruse. "What do you think you are doing here? Are you trying to get yourself captured?" The little Sekirei said, as if she was scolding a small child... so cute.
How was it that she had never noticed how cute the girl's serious face was?
"Hey... are you alright?" Kuro said, seeming to have realized that Kuruse was acting strange.
"I... I..." Kuruse said, panting slightly as her body heated up to the point where she was surprised she didn't just burst into flames, and the space between her legs was so moist that it was starting to make a spot on her skirt through her panties. "I'm... reacting..." She finally sputtered.
"...Oh... Oh shit." Kuro said her eyes widening in a mixture of surprise and panic. "You... You're reacting? So you are here because you have reacted to your Ashikabi." Kuruse could only nod. Kuro closed her eyes and gave a slight mown. "Out of everyone you could have reacted too, it just had to be him..."
"W...What?" Kuruse mumbled, unsure as to who Kuro meant by 'him'.
"It's nothing. But before we continue, you should probably keep everything about what happened in the forest yesterday a secret." Kuro said looking in the direction that the Sekirei from earlier had left in and biting her lip. "It's as much for your sake as it is mine. I'm not so sure how the Ashikabi would react to the knowledge that the bond between them and their Sekirei isn't as absolute as they think it is."
"Of course. I won't tell a soul." Kuruse agreed in an instant. She would have agreed with anything the little Sekirei had asked of her. She could have asked her to jump off a cliff and she would have done it. Granted jumping off a cliff isn't lethal to Sekirei, she probably wouldn't even get a bruised knee from it, but it's the thought that counts.
"Alright, lets get this over with." Kuro said. Kuruse flushed an even brighter shade of red, believing that the girl was inviting her to receive her wings.
"Please take good care of me." Kuruse said before literally falling on top of Kuro and throwing her arms around the child's neck. Kuro let out a cute little yelp of surprise that was almost immediately stifled by Kuruse sticking her own tongue into the girl's open mouth.
The rush of life. A flow of energy back and forth between her and Kuro. She felt it as the power flowed through her starting up a chain reaction that awaken something in side of her, bring about an incredible rush of raw strength that started built up to the point of overflowing. The pure bliss that she felt was nothing like the first time she had been winged, and as the mark reappeared between her shoulders, she didn't try to resist it, and as the warm glow of her golden wings surrounded her and her new Ashikabi, she broke their kiss and smiled down at the startled girl who's cute little face was turning the same pale shade of pink as her hair. "Now we will be together, my Ashikabi. Forever and ever."
...The fuck?
Kuro's mind was in complete shock. She didn't know what to do as the admitted beautiful young woman lay half on top of her, a look of pure happiness on her face as the golden wings of an angel spread wide behind her. She had honestly not expected this to happen. When Kuruse had said she was reacting, she had assumed it had been to Hayato.
It had seemed like a rather safe assumption to make given the facts she had to work with. Hayato was an Ashikabi that had winged eighteen Sekirei, and with each Sekirei he winged, it was supposed to become easier for him to get other Sekirei to react to him. She had been told that Sekirei couldn't wing each other, whether simply by nature or by design, she didn't know but they just couldn't.
Was this a product of Rule Breaker? Had she unknowingly removed whatever modification had been done to Kuruse that stopped her from being winged by other Sekirei? Or was it because Kuro herself was different that she could do it? What was she going to do now?
'''How scandalous...''' A pair of shocked voices said, getting Kuro and Kuruse's attention. All around them were Hayato's Sekirei who had seen the light from the winging and had returned.
"When did you get here?" In an instant, Kuruse was back up on her feet standing between Kuro and Hayato's Sekirei, her wings still spread wide and power radiating from her. "I don't care if you have me out numbered, I, number fifty four, Kuruse, won't let any of you lay a finger on my Master."
"Hey, wait just one second!" One of the twins said, taking a step back. Even if they had her completely out number, Kuruse's Norito activated.
"The tridents of my pledge... May my Ashikabi never go without a weapon!" Kuruse said, as hundreds of her golden tridents took form in the air, each one aimed for one of the Sekirei around them.
Her mantra had changed from when she had been Koya's slave, and her new weapons lacked the unstable nature of her pervious creations, growing to the point where they might have been able to last a few clashes against some weaker Noble Phantasms. If she fired off that attack...
"Kuruse stop!" Kuro shouted, causing the honey blond to pause. "They aren't enemies."
"Are you sure, Master?" Kuruse said looking over the large group.
"Yes... mostly..." Kuro said, having a bit of a déjà vu moment. It was just like with Saber and Archer. Damn, history repeated itself over and over again.
'''Mostly!? That's so mean, Kuro!''' Mitsuki and Mitsuha shouted together with identical betrayed pouts.
Kuruse looked from her new little master to the other Sekirei before finally loosening up her stance and letting the tridents vanish into thin air and her wings faded away. "If you say so, Master."
Crisis averted, Kuro turned her mind towards the next problem. How exactly was she going to explain all of this.
"You dirty little thief." Yomi said, glaring at Kuro from her corner of the dining table, where they had gathered in order to discuss what had happened with Hayato after school had ended. It had only been a day, but there was no sign of any of the cuts that Kuro had given the ill tempered Sekirei. She looked like she wanted to take out some pent up aggression on Kuro, leading to a glaring contest between her and Kuruse. "That Sekirei should have gone to our Ashikabi."
"Knock it off, Yomi. I doubt the girl actually intended this to happen." Mitsuki said coldly. "None of us even knew that it was even possible for a Sekirei to wing another Sekirei. We told her as much yesterday."
"Besides, when we got here, it was the new girl who was crawling all over our cute little Kuro." Mitsuha added, as the two double teamed against the green haired Gothic maid.
"She wasn't crawling all...she tripped." Kuro said, flushing a bit at the description of how they were found.
"That is literally the oldest excuse in the book!" Yomi shouted. "You bunch of perverts!"
"What do you mean your cute little Kuro?" Kuruse said, moving closer to her master and giving the twins a challenging stare. Something that the twins noticed and caused a mischievous glint to flash in their eyes.
'Oh god... this is my life now.' Kuro thought miserably. What had she done to deceive this?.. Oh, right. She pissed of the spirit of humanity.
"It is interesting. Perhaps scrapped numbers have some property about them that lets them wing other Sekirei." Hayato said. The only blessing to be found was that the young Ashikabi didn't seem to mind the new development. Meaning Kuro didn't need to worry about a change in the status quo just yet. He actually seemed rather excited about the whole development. "This would be able to explain why they are able to become self-winged in the first place. An interesting theory, what do you think, Mutsu?"
"Who knows." Mutsu said with an unconcerned shrug. "You sure you are alright with this?"
"Of course. Kuro is Kuruse's Ashikabi and I am Kuro's Ashikabi. So either way, she still belongs to me." Hayato said with a grin. "If anything, this is better. We still don't know all the rules of this game. I might have need of another Ashikabi in the future and since she has winged a Sekirei, she could arguable be called an Ashikabi. It could be a useful loop hole later on."
"That logic only applies if she can be trusted to follow instructions and not simply 'forget' them all the time." Mutsu said, giving Kuro a glare. "You were supposed to call for reinforcements the moment you sensed the presence of any possible enemies, not go chasing after them."
"Yeah, about that." Kuro said, taking out the cell phone. "No one actually explained to me how this... thing works."
Everyone in the room just stared at her. "You don't know what a phone is?" Taki, the teal haired woman, said in shock. Even Kuruse was looking at her master with a bit of surprise.
"O...of course I know what a phone is!" Kuro shouted in embarrassment. "I just... don't know how to use this kind of phone."
"We really do need to remember that we are dealing with a Scrapped Number." Yomi said, face-palming. Even if Sekirei were released out into the city lacking some common sense, they were usually taught how to used a phone.
Hayato gave a small sigh and looked over at Kuruse. "Do you know how to use a phone?" He asked, relieved when the Sekirei nodded. "Good, then teach Kuro how to use one. Consider learning that to be today's task for you." He then got up from his chair and started to head out the door, Mutsu on his heels. "I'll be in my room if anyone needs me."
They were back in Hayato's room with the boy picking up one of his video games when Mutsu started talking. "Hayato... I've been thinking."
"Hm, what about?" Hayato asked, glancing over at the man.
"About number one zero nine, Kuro." Mutsu said calmly. "There were only one hundred and eight Sekirei. I'm sure of that. So I have been thinking about how exactly there could be a hundred and ninth."
"I can think of a couple of reasons, though admittedly they are mostly just people miscounting. If there were one hundred and eight Sekirei eggs, then wouldn't there be inconsistencies for identical twins like Mitsuha and Mitsuki? I am pretty sure that are two other pairs of identical twins within the game. Which would mean a hundred and eleven Sekirei in total." Hayato said, showing that he had also given the subject some thought.
"That would only be if they counted the eggs pre-fertilization. In post-fertilization the eggs would have already split. Though you could be right." Mutsu admitted with a nod. "However, around ten years back, MBI attempted a cloning project using the DNA of the single digits in an attempt to make more Sekirei."
"Really?" Hayato said with a frown. While he wasn't opposed to there being more Sekirei, the uniqueness of them would be lost if they were mass produced.
"None of the clones were viable and the project was branded a failure and canceled. However, before it went under, they were experimenting with mixing in human DNA in with the Sekirei's in an attempt to make it more stable." Mutsu explained. "Of course, they used genetics taken from Ashikabis who worked with the lab."
"Which could explain both there being a number one hundred and nine and how she could wing another Sekirei." Hayato said, following Mutsu's train of logic. "It could also explain why she is so clueless. They didn't intend for her to be a part of the Sekirei Plan at all, she just escaped from whatever lab they were keeping her at." Hayato smiled as he finally got through all of the pre-game cut-scenes and into his game. "Very interesting."
"Yes..." Mutsu said, knowing that he had lost his master's attention the moment the cheerful sound effects started playing. "The only question is, who's genetics did they use?"
"..." Kuro was at a lose for words as she stared down at the device in her hand. Sure she had been dead for sixteen years, but she hadn't expected technology to move forward so fast. This 'smart phone' thing was like an entire computer that fit in the palm of your hand. That... that was just insane. 'It even has internet.' She thought in wonder, realizing that all the information she had been wanted to check up could be done on the phone without having to worry about sneaking off to find a computer.
"Master, are you alright?" Kuruse asked, concerned about Kuro's silence.
"Ah, yes, I'm fine." Kuro said, giving Kuruse a kind smile. "Thank you for showing me how to use my phone."
"It's no problem at all. If you ever need anything you can just ask me. Alright, Master?" Kuruse said cheerfully.
Kuro did her best not to twitch at being called 'Master'. It made her think of Saber. Of through few weeks they shared together and the bond of Master and Servant.
"Master..." Kuruse started uncomfortable, glancing around to make sure that the two of them were alone before continuing. "Are... are you really Hayato's Sekirei?"
Kuro thought for a second, wondering just what she would say, before finally deciding on the truth. There was no point in hiding anything from her. Loyalty was not going to be an issue. A thought that gave her a pang of guilt, knowing just what kind of control she had over Kuruse, and unlike with the control seals where you could just choose to not order your Servant around, this kind of influence was a constant. It was only fair to be as open with Kuruse as she could expect her Sekirei to be open with her.
"Kuruse, I have a lot of secrets. Things that I am hiding from everyone here." Kuro said not worried about being over heard. She had already scanned the area to make sure that no one was in earshot and there were no bugs that could listen in on them... unless there was something in the phone that was made to do that... Honestly, phones were probably going to be the death of her. "That said, I am not planning on keeping any of those secrets from you, though it would probably take weeks just to explain it all and a lot of it will be hard to believe, I promise I won't try to hide anything from you. I might not have planned on winging you, but now we are in this together. I'm going to be putting my faith in you from now on."
Kuruse blushed at the show of confidence. "I will do my best, Master." She said with a bit of pride.
"You don't need to call me Master. Just Kuro will do." Kuro smiled. "The two of us are partners. I'll be depending on you and you can depend on me."
"Ye...yes master, I mean Kuro." Kuruse said, correcting herself as her blush grew a little stronger.
"You don't need to force yourself." Kuro said with a small chuckle before her face turned serious. "As for your question about if I am working for Hayato, I guess the best answer is that I am for now. I only woke up in one of the MBI's labs three days ago, and I knew nothing about the Sekirei or what was going on, nor did I have any place to go, or any money. Right now, Hayato has provided me with shelter, food, and valuable information. He also doesn't struck me as being an immediate threat to either me or any innocent people. So for now, I will follow him."
Kuro was prepared to spill the beans. To explain to Kuruse everything she would need to know about him/her. However, before that conversation even got started, it was interrupted by a familiar sound.
*Growl*
Kuruse flushed bright red and closed her eyes. "Did you have to mention food..?" The honey blond Sekirei almost whimpered. "I haven't ate anything since yesterday..."
Kuro blinked a bit in surprise before letting out a snort of something close to laughter. "I guess everything else can wait. Come on, I'll make you something to eat." Kuro said, before starting to show her new partner towards the kitchen.
Sadly my computer is now officially beyond use, as the screws connecting my monitor to the rest of the laptop came undone somehow and the thing got ripped off. (my laptop was old enough for the screws to have rusted away.)
Managed to recover some of what I wrote, but until I get a new laptop I'm probably not writing anything new.
All of this was what I had written about four days ago as the other half of the chapter was lost to the death of my computer.
