026 - How to take out the trash and confuse people
Once Yukari learnt about the whole Sekirei Plan and all the (cool shit) events taking place in Shinto Teito away from the public eye, she obviously made the train turn around to dive head first into the whole battle harem setting. Well, at least, she tried. The engine driver proved to be much less of a pushover than the MBI agents chasing after Yahan and refused to be browbeaten into going along with her unreasonable whims.
Rude.
It was probably for the best, because it gave her time to (fume indignantly) calm down and realize she probably should at least stop by home, let grandma know what she was going to do -or rather, give her a plausible excuse-, prepare for a long-term stay in the city and all those things lesser beings consider important.
But! Once she did all that, she charged straight back into Shinto Teito.
She's now the proud tennant of a small but cozy rental house in one of the residential areas down south. A big enough place to house her (future harem) other Sekirei when they inevitably react to her awesome self and ask to be Winged. She honestly never thought she could afford a place like that as a student, Sekirei truly are incredible. And with that she means the MBI card they bring to the table.
… Not that Yahan isn't incredible too, but that's not the point.
Anyway, a week later finds her in her current… Situation. She's taken to patrolling the city with Yahan ever since she arrived, hoping to find more Sekirei willing to join her and to (pick some fights) stop the evil people who would abuse their newfound power. Success so far has been… somewhat lackluster, but today she's stumbled into some big fish.
According to Yahan, the Disciplinary Squad are the dogs of MBI. They're officially in charge of enforcing the rules of the Sekirei Plan, but they are also the ones who do their dirty work. Her first plan was to openly confront them about their deeds, give them a chance to explain themselves and repent before beating the shit out of them
But then Yahan broke out in hysterical laughter and told her about the members of the squad, specially the Black Sekirei and the Ashikabi herself, who was some sort of suit-wearing no-nonsense super badass. She also threatened with tying up and gaggin Yukari, stuffing her in a package and sending her to Hawaii via post mail if she ever tried something so stupid, for her own good.
That minor hiccup (and the very evocative mental image that particular threat caused in Yukari) aside, the message was clear. The Disciplinary Squad is final boss material and they're nowhere ready to challenge them. For now.
So she did the next best thing and decided to tail them. For about two hours.
"This is pointless." She finally admits with a dismayed groan. "They aren't doing anything!"
It had been nerve-wracking and exciting at the start, sneaking after a dangerous foe while doing her best to remain undetected but… well, as time passed and interesting things failed to happen, Yukari began growing more and more impatient with the situation. She has better things to do than to watch two older women walking down the streets of Shinto Teito at random!
"You're the one who wanted to follow them, Yukari-chan." Yahan replies with a smile -and why does she have to sound so reasonable?- before giving her a cheeky wink( that totally doesn't make her feel hot under the collar). "This is how stakeouts usually work."
"But this is boring!"
"I don't know, I'm having fun."
"Fun with what?" Yukari asks with incredulity. "Staring at their asses?"
"Well, that too…" Her Sekirei admits shamelessly. "But have you seen how lovey-dovey Akitsu is with her Ashikabi? It's adorable!"
"What do you mean lovey-dovey? They're just walking together!"
"Ah, Yukari-chan, you're still young. Grown ups can't just go around holding hands while on the clock, you know? But if you pay attention, you'll notice the way she hangs on to her Ashikabi's every word, the way they're so in sync that they only check one side of the road each before crossing and how they're leaning so close together they're practically joined at the hip."
Yukari frowns, ready to give her Sekirei a piece of her mind for the condescension. She's not a child anymore! She's a smart, pretty and intelligent young adult and she's not going to take that sort of insinuation lying down! But as she's opening her mouth, she finds herself taking a closer look at the couple of black-clad women they've been following all evening.
They are standing awfully close to each other, she grudgingly observes. Whether a pair of strangers respect basic street safety is not something she's paid any attention to, but thinking back, she doesn't really recall seeing either of them looking both ways before crossing even once. And now that it's been pointed out to her, the stupidly well-endowed Sekirei indeed does seem to pay an awful lot of attention to the conversation they're having.
"Well, maybe– Wait!" She slowly speaks out, only to cut herself off when she watches the pair they're tailing suddenly change directions. "They're doing something!"
Yukari hurries to follow their marks as they walk into a small side alley, delighted about something finally happening. Determination shines in her eyes as she steps into the shadows of the alley in a nice, living metaphor for her sinking into the darker parts of the city and getting closer to the secret truths behind the unspeakable motivations of her mother's organization.
It would've also looked cool as all hell if not for the sudden choking feeling when Yahan grabbed her by the scrub of her neck to stop her, nearly strangling her in the process.
"Yukari-chan, we're not going to recklessly follow a dangerous mark into a narrow alleyway. That's the sort of Stupid mistake that gets you killed." The dark-haired temptress chides in an uncharacteristically serious voice, the capital 'S' in Stupid perfectly audible, somehow. "Come, let's take to the roofs."
Yahan's serious business face may or may not have made Yukari's heart skip a beat.
Stupid teenager hormones trying to make her question her sexuality…
What.
The.
Hell!?
The little detour over the roofs had made Yukari miss the start of the incident, but she'd seen enough. The man had been a piece of shit, of the sort she'd cheerfully greet with a steel-tipped kick in the balls without the slightest remorse. She'd even cheered -very quietly- when the sekirei of needlessly humongous funbags pulled off that cool move with the ice blades.
But to just… Kill him? To walk up to him, grab him by the hair and just… damn.
No hesitation, either. When Yahan told her about the Disciplinary Squad Ashikabi, Yukari thought she knew what to expect. A serious, ruthless and professional bitch, the kind who goes 'nothing personal, kid' and walks away after crushing your hopes and dreams without a twitch on her face. But she wasn't expecting her to go that far, that easily. Nor to personally dirty her hands when she has goons, either.
That's some stone-cold cast-iron bitch level of… yeah.
Of course, the lion's share of the blame lies with that… That glasses and labcoat jerk. For what Yukari knows of how Sekirei work, a forced Winging is practically rape with a generous scoop of slavery heaped on top. Who does he think he is to shamelessly defend a rapist slaver like that?
But that doesn't mean you can go and… rip someone's head off just to make a point!
She's still reeling from the sight of her first actual corpse when a new woman arrives at the scene. Long ashen hair held in a ponytail, grey haori over black clothes and carrying nodachi around like it didn't weigh any more than a feather, Yukari wouldn't have needed to actually recognize the infamous Black Sekirei to know this woman is bad news. The expression on Yahan's face as she pales and goes dead stiff is indication enough.
Hmmm… Well, if even her fun-loving tease monster is scared shitless, it's probably best to remain as quiet as possible and hope they're not detected. The last thing they want to do is try to pull back only to trip on something and make a sudden noise that alerts everyone and their mothers of their presence.
She's seen that happen too many times (in manga and anime).
Taking a finger to her lips, she silently mimes a shushing gesture, which gets a frantic but equally quiet nod in response and the two of them set up for a tense wait while they listen in to the conversation. What they're saying down there is… Kind what she expected, really.
They're talking about protecting the unwinged Sekirei, which is technically righteous, but… They're going at it in a very messed up way. And with worrying disregard for human life, superior orders and even common decency. Yukari can go 'Row row fight the power' with the best of 'em, but really. This is a bit too much.
And then she notices the woman's eyes reflected on a small metallic surface and looking straight at her through it. Yukari's breath catches at the next words of the ruthless killer, a shiver running down her spine as she stares, utterly frozen, into those sharp yellow eyes that seem to stare directly into her soul.
"I won't say too much where Hiroto-san could still be listening, but just because I can't interfere anymore doesn't mean other Ashikabi won't have the basic human decency of picking up the slack for me. I can say that much, at least."
She can't think, she can't breathe, she can only stare into that tiny reflection of the glasses-wearing woman as an alien pressure weighs on her shoulders. The situation seems to go on for an eternity, pinned in place by these eyes like a bug on a display collection. And then… it's over.
The woman breaks eye contact, her group leaves and the crow that was pecking at the beheaded corpses takes flight to follow them. Yukari still waits, holding her breath, for the other shoe to drop. For the scary group to pop up behind them and ask for explanations.
Or just start killing without a word, really.
But that doesn't happen. The Disciplinary Squad seems to have abandoned the scene for real and soon they're alone in the alley, with a confused and scared Sekirei and a headless body. Yukari will definitely reflect on the Ashikabi's parting words later but, for now, she has more pressing concerns.
Because, Yes. The Disciplinary Squad is obviously evil, nobody should be capable of killing another human being so casually. There's no doubt in Yukari's mind, heart or soul that Momoko Shimada needs to be stopped. Her justice-filled heart beats strong with righteous indignation at what she's seen here today.
But then… why?
Why is she so fucking wet right now?
… Maybe she can put the suit-wearing woman through a redemption arc or something?
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