So, here we are, one year after I finished Violent Hearts and I've been sucked back in. Well, Merry Christmas bitches. Now strap in... or go read Violent Hearts, because this is a sequel and it will make next to no sense if you don't. Also I'm making a tiny retcon as artfully as possible... right here at the start.
Unchained
November 1, 2024. A student at the Mitaka Observatory in Tokyo sees a new star in the sky.
August 13, 2026. Various observatories have reported strange, distant objects. Repeated observations suggest the objects are moving.
December 24, 2028. MBI holds a press conference, confirming that the objects approaching Earth seem to resemble the original sekirei ship found on Kamikura island. It is unclear when they will arrive.
June 6, 2029. "Various objects have entered Earth's atmosphere. These objects are apparently ships. These would not be the first alien ships to land on Earth. According to experts at MBI, various ships have landed in the past. The first of these new ships landed, or rather crashed-"
"Mom!" a teenage girl with bright red hair shouted, "you should come see this!"
. . . July 29, 2048 . . .
"I never liked that system, honestly."
"Yes, but it's necessary. And if we aren't hearing from them, it's a bad sign no matter how we look at it. Just disappearing is bad."
"Madoka... No, you're right. How long has it been now?"
"Four months for the first one. That's not counting the two weeks before we even noticed anything was wrong. Who knows how long it's actually been," Madoka told her. "Takami's been looking into it, but even our resources haven't turned up anything."
"That makes four sekirei who have vanished..." He was talking to Avaron. "Should we have Rini help?"
"If this does become serious, I do not want my daughter involved. Benitsubasa and I can handle whatever this is if it turns bad."
"Deciding things for me again, dad?" Of course she would choose to show up at that exact moment. Who was he kidding, she'd probably been eavesdropping for the last five minutes.
"Sticking your nose into things again, Rini?" Madoka smirked in amusement. The girl couldn't help herself.
"Something is happening to my little birds. Of course I am." The girl loved sekirei. It was no surprise, honestly. She had one father, as most children did, but also five mothers – all of whom were sekirei. Benitsubasa was her biological mother, but the other four doted on her just as much... even after her siblings had been born.
The second they'd seen her, his other sekirei had started begging for their own children. He remembered once upon a time when he hadn't wanted children at all. Sekirei were a force of nature though – nothing stayed the same after they touched it.
Five children so far, and he was sure they weren't done with him yet and he was in his late 40s. They were going to give him a heart attack at this rate.
"Fair enough. Fine, fine, you can help, but I don't know what you can do. We don't know anything. They're just... gone," Madoka told her. Rini ran a hand through her long, bright-red hair with worry.
"Another one, right? Didn't make his first check-in this month?" she asked. Sekirei had to report back twice a month. They were too powerful to be let loose, not to mention what other people might want with them. It was for their protection too, especially since they'd been tuned to be weaker than even the original 108.
"Right. Hyoushi, number 207," Avaron said. To keep it simple, they'd just continued from 108. The pillar sekirei from the first new ship, for example, was number 109. "That makes four in total."
"Right. Sadashi, Sairiko, Moetatsuka, and now Hyoushi." Rini began pacing back and forth. "Dammit! This is pissing me off just thinking about it!" She was a lot smarter than her mother, and even him, but she still got loud when her fuse burned down. She was definitely their child.
And just like her mother she had intense, red eyes. He'd been quite shocked when she was born. Child of a sekirei or not, she was still supposed to be mostly human... and yet those eyes.
"Look, calm down. We will find them. Maybe they just-"
"What? Ran off? No! I know them, they wouldn't do that! None of them, they were good kids! I grew up with them! We've been over this! I know those four for sure wouldn't do that!"
"All right, all right. I believe you. In case you've forgotten, I watched them grow up too. I just don't want it to be... something worse." He pulled his daughter in close, wrapping his arms around her.
"Madoka... you should look at this." He let go and turned around. Avaron had sat down at his office computer and had a video playing on his large display screen. It was a live feed of something happening in the city. Law-enforcement had a building surrounded. "It's... a sekirei. I-I think it's one of the ones that went missing."
"Crap." He then heard rapid footsteps going into the distance. "Rini, n-" He spun around, but it was too late. His daughter was gone. "Crap..."
. . .
No way. No way in hell, not on her watch. Her car screeched to a halt as close to the scene as she could get, electric motor winding down as she pulled herself out of the vehicle. If it was a sekirei, then MBI forces would be there soon. Their "private military" had been disbanded after the Kouten incident, but they'd managed to put together a small task-force for the purpose of dealing with sekirei.
She didn't want to wait that long.
Disregarding the yellow-tape and line of officers, she stormed toward the front door of the building. It looked like a coffee shop. Why was a sekirei attacking a coffee shop?
She almost made it inside before an officer got to her.
"Ma'am, you can't go in there, are you crazy?" he grabbed her wrist.
"Hey! Back off, I'm with MBI! I'll take care of this! See?" She was in her lab-coat and she pointed to her ID card.
"MBI or not, you can't handle that! She's a monster!" He began to drag her away.
"Monster?" she hissed under her breath. He shouldn't have said that. She tore herself from his grasp, kicked him in the side of the knee, and then jabbed him in the throat. He was wearing body armor, but armor didn't cover those spots. He staggered back, choking.
Her mother had taught her well.
Before she could get arrested for assaulting an officer, she darted into the shop where none dared to follow.
She heard an angry roar as the door shut behind her. "I told you to stay out! I'll kill them!" She knew that voice.
"Sairiko?" Rini called out. She rounded a corner beyond some booths and saw her there. She had civilian clothes on, including a light vest with a fur-lined collar. She had short, silver-blue hair, similarly colored eyes and a massive, cleaver like sword in her hands. She shouldn't have had that. "I-it's me, Rini!"
"I don't care what your name is! Fuck off!"
"Wh-" She didn't know her? Memory loss? She'd been tuned... and improperly at that. MBI had figured out years ago how to avoid the memory loss side-effect. "C-calm down! I won't hurt you. Hell, I don't think I can hurt you!" She held her arms up and out, showing that her hands were empty. "Hey, that's a cool sword. Where'd you get it?" Of course Rini had an idea. Sairiko's imprints included a giant sword just like it. But who had made it? The imprints only included a blueprint and the knowledge to use it. Sairiko didn't have rapid, matter-forging powers like Oriha.
"I swear to god, if you don't leave now-" Sairiko hefted her massive sword with one hand, and in her other hand she had a woman in a choke-hold. Rini vaguely recognized her as a coworker from MBI. Was that what had set her off? Was she after people from MBI?
"Hey, hey! Let her go, this isn't like you!"
"You don't even know me!"
"Look, punk!" Rini's eye twitched. "Whether or not you remember, we fucking grew up together! I stole snacks from the cafeteria for you on a regular basis, you greedy pig! And I always took the blame when we got caught! I'm not going anywhere!"
She saw Sairiko's eye twitch. Her grip began to slacken. Tuning rarely wiped a sekirei's memory completely – she just had to find the right triggers. Even Saki had eventually recalled a few bits and pieces.
"GAH! LEAVE ME ALONE!" Of course, it didn't help if what was triggered was a temper tantrum.
"Oh shi-" Rini braced herself as the MBI employee was turned into a projectile, thrown right at her. She caught the woman, but the two of them went skidding across the floor. "R-run..." she coughed out weakly and pushed the woman off her. Somehow the woman was able to crawl to the door and was pulled the rest of the way out by an officer, but there was no help for Rini herself.
Sairiko was on the warpath, charging at her. She barely rolled out of the way as the blade came crashing down, smashing the floor where she'd been lying. She got to her feet, but had to bend back before her head got cut off. She wasn't going to last very long at that rate. She turned and ran to the counter. She saw a barista cowering behind it... she couldn't hide back there, she'd just draw another civilian into the crossfire.
However, there was an abandoned cup of coffee on the counter. She grabbed it and spun around, tossing it into Sairiko's face.
"AAAGH!" Sairiko staggered back, throwing an arm across her face and trying to wipe the burning liquid away.
She had only a few seconds to come up with a plan. She pulled a syringe from her pocket and then pulled off her coat. Just as Sairiko pulled her arm from her face, Rini threw her coat at her, the billowing garment blocking Sairiko's view... until it was slashed apart in one go.
But it was enough. Rini darted in from the side, grabbing Sairiko and stabbing the syringe into her neck. "ENOUGH!"
"Wh-what did you do?" Sairiko froze.
"Nothing, yet, but this is an auto-injector! I just have to press the button and you go down, got it? But I'd much rather talk!"
"T-talk? I have nothing to talk about! MBI needs to burn! That includes y- OW! Did you just stomp on my foot?" Sairiko's eyes watered.
"Yes! Don't insult your best chance of getting out of this in one piece!" Rini glowered.
"Why do you care, you're part of the problem..." Sairiko scoffed.
"I love sekirei! So that means I love you, you ungrateful brat!"
"B-brat?" Sairiko's cheeks flushed.
"I'm nearly five years older than you!" Rini told her. Rini was turning 24 in a month. "You're nineteen, right?"
"I... I... I think so... Ugh, my head hurts!"
"Look, just tell me what's going on, OK? We can figure this out. We've been looking for you. You have a lot of people worried."
"Wh-whatever." Sairiko averted her eyes. Rini pulled the injector from Sairiko's neck, a tiny dot of blood appearing as the needle came free.
"See? Relax. I won't touch you again, OK? Good?" she said as she stepped back.
"You're an idiot." But the sekirei made no move to attack. "I-I-" A crack rang out and suddenly blood sprayed from Sairiko's chest. Glass from the coffee-shop window clattered to the ground in pieces. "Wh-wh-" She collapsed to the floor, blood pooling beneath her.
Only a second later, the men outside poured in, guns at the ready, already taking aim at the fallen Sairiko.
Rini got in their way without a second thought. "NO! BACK OFF!"
"Someone get her out of here!" The one in charge ordered and another moved forward to collect her. He soon found the butt of his own rifle smashing into his nose before she swept his legs out from under him.
Of course, that only meant that at least half of the remaining guns were now aimed at her heart.
"One more move and you're dead! Hands up!" The leader ordered. The next sound was that of the coffee-shop's door being forcefully removed from its hinges.
"Excuse me?" a voice asked, laden with icy malice. "Try that again, I don't think I heard you right."
"Oh. Hi mom..." Rini waved at the newcomer.
"Put those toys down. They won't work on me." Her mother shoved one man aside and flicked the gun out of another's grasp, sending it spiraling into a wall so hard it stuck fast.
At that point, just about everyone recognized her mother. The men collectively just about pissed their pants and went scurrying from the building.
"Rini." Benitsubasa crossed her arms. She hadn't changed much over the years. Her hair was slightly longer, but she said her outfit was like her uniform and she wouldn't upgrade it. She had a few lines around her mouth, mostly from frowning at Rini when she was disobedient, or so she said.
"Mom." Rini nodded.
"The fuck?"
"M-mom?"
"What is this mess and why are you in the middle of it!?" Benitsubasa glared up at Rini – she'd inherited height from her father rather than her mother – and jabbed her in the chest... something else she hadn't gotten from her mother. Benitsubasa said once if she hadn't personally given birth to Rini, she'd have sworn she was Kaie's daughter.
Most people actually did think she was Kaie's daughter, while Kaie's daughter was often thought to be Benitsubasa's. Family outings were awkward...
"N-never mind that! Sairiko needs help!" Rini was about to rush to the fallen sekirei's side, but the girl was already rising to her feet, sword held tightly in her grasp.
"Get... away..." Sairiko growled even as blood pooled around her teeth and stained her lips.
"No, stay still, you're hurt!"
"BACK OFF!" She brandished the blade, eyes wide with fury even as blood trickled from her mouth.
"No!" Rini surged forward, past the blade and grabbed Sairiko's face, staring hard into her eyes. "No more fighting! Drop it!"
"N-no... I..." Now the injured girl just looked shocked. Her arms went slack and the blade clattered to the floor. She slowly sank to her knees and just nodded dumbly.
"Huh." Benitsubasa tilted her head. "You always were good at dealing with them."
"Can you get us out of here safely?" Rini glanced back at her mother.
"Kid, it's me. Is that even a question?"
. . .
Rini winced as her father entered the room. She was in one of MBI's infirmary rooms. They had limited on site facilities aside from their full-sized hospital.
Her father didn't look happy.
"Well, crisis averted. Again." He frowned at her. "Why don't you listen?"
"Well, technically I was out of the room before you could say anything. A-and my phone was dead-"
"Rini, your phone was made by MBI. The battery lasts nearly a month." He looked at her in a way that could only be described as scolding.
"B-but if I hadn't been there Sairiko could be dead right now!" Rini argued. "Wh-why did they even shoot her in the first place? I got her to stop!"
"Maybe they were on edge after you beat up one of their men. Which I almost wasn't able to make go away, so you know!" He sighed and shook his head. "Part of me wishes you'd failed so I could make you listen to me."
"Yeah, well, I didn't so let's focus on the bigger issue." Rini crossed her arms.
"Fine." Her father took a deep breath. "She should be waking up soon, so let's hope she has some answers." He looked over at Sairiko where she lay in her bed.
Soon turned into an hour, but she did eventually wake up. She did so with tears in her eyes.
"Ah! What's wrong? Are you in pain?" Rini was at Sairiko's side in a flash.
"I... I was dreaming..." The sekirei sniffled. She then looked at Rini. "You were in it... I-I... It felt like I was remembering things. I'm sorry..." she hiccuped. "I-I tried to... h-hurt... kill..."
"No!" Rini hugged her, holding her close. "I'm just glad you're OK." She went to let go, but Sairiko didn't. Eventually, she became all to aware of the seconds crawling by. "U-um... Sairiko?"
"You smell good..." Sairiko mumbled. Her eyes then went wide and she finally pulled away with a startled jerk. "Um, I-I mean... Um... Sorry..."
"N-no, it's fine. Uh-"
"Hold on." Madoka stepped over and grabbed Rini, pulling her away from the bed. Sairiko tilted her head in confusion. Madoka then pushed Rini closer and Sairiko squirmed uncomfortably and turned away. She relaxed only when Madoka again pulled Rini away, but then shyly bit her lip when Rini was once more pushed forward.
"Dad. What. Are. You. DOING?!" Rini pulled free.
"Oh boy..." Madoka sighed and shook his head. "Just... don't worry about it for now." He turned to Sairiko. "All right, listen up. You've been... altered-"
"Yeah, by you!" Sairiko spat and refused to look him in the eye.
"And by someone else," Madoka growled impatiently. "I'm not going to waste time arguing about what MBI did, we need to know who messed with you more recently. You went off the rails and attacked people because of it. You nearly killed my daughter."
"I-I-" Sairiko immediately lost what little fire had ignited within her. "I didn't really... He..."
"He?" Madoka raised an eyebrow.
"S-some old man, OK?"
"A name?"
"He never said. He just kept talking about how MBI needed to be undone and how we were his legacy, not yours."
"Hold on." Madoka grabbed a nearby tablet and a few moments later held it up to her. "This man? It's an old picture, but-"
"It... could be. Y-yeah, the face looks right."
"Dad?" Rini looked at him in confusion. He handed her the tablet and her jaw dropped. "Minaka? I thought-"
"He escaped a long time ago. Just disappeared. I guess I should have known better than to think that something like a lack of funding or laws would stop him," Madoka told her.
"So he really did disappear. I can't believe they let him out of prison in the first place!" Rini spat.
Madoka shook his head. "How do you think I feel?"
"He told us... that MBI was ruining us. That they were making us weak and controlling us," Sairiko said, looking conflicted.
"It's complicated. In a way he's right, but he's not telling you the whole story." Madoka sighed. "We are weakening you, but in that way we're granting you more freedom. Society at large would never let you live in the world freely if they were constantly in fear of you. The only way to stop that from happening was to weaken sekirei so that they weren't a threat. Even then, we still keep tabs on all of you so that we know you're safe and not causing trouble. After that, we try to be as hands off as possible."
"Minaka is the real monster! He made a game out of it! He had sekirei killing each other for his 'research!'" Rini growled. "My mother was one of them and she told me everything! Father was part of it too."
"Wh-what?" Sairiko gasped.
"We tried to keep all of that a secret from most sekirei. The past is too painful and we didn't think there was a need for you to know about something you weren't involved with. Maybe that was wrong, I don't know. We just wanted to move past it." Madoka looked away. "Should have known it'd be impossible."
"Do you know where he was keeping you?" Rini asked.
Sairiko shook her head. "I don't remember being taken there, and when he took me back to the city I was unconscious. He said that he had to keep everything a secret, even from us."
"So there were others?" Madoka asked.
She nodded. "Right before I left, he brought in someone new. Including me, there were four of us."
"So Minaka took all of them." Rini narrowed her eyes. "I'll kill him!"
"Get in line." Madoka rolled his eyes. "Anyway, why don't you head home? Everyone is worried about you. I'll keep an eye on Sairiko. Nothing more we can do at the moment anyway. I need time to think."
"Throwing me to the wolves, huh?" Rini's eye twitched.
"Yep!" Madoka winked.
"All right." Rini hung her head and then placed her hand on Sairiko's shoulder. "Don't worry, I'll be back to check on you soon!"
"O-O-OK..." Sairiko shrank back almost fearfully.
"Wh-"
"Get going." Madoka waved for her to go. Hesitantly she did so, but glanced back in confusion, looking between the two until her father once more urged her to leave.
. . .
Rini took a deep breath and let herself into her father's house. She'd recently moved out on her own, but she knew what her father had meant when he said "go home."
One might think her father was a man who lived a rich, extravagant life judging by his massive house, but that wasn't quite the case. He simply needed the space to fit his five sekirei, his children, and her "aunt" Avaron and her own sekirei.
That said, they did have a pretty comfortable life.
She turned around to close the door behind her and heard steps charging toward her. She sighed and braced herself. A weight crashed into her back and arms went around her waist.
"Rini-chan! You're OK! I was so worried! Madoka called me and told me you were risking your life playing hero!"
"S-sorry, Sukaime." Rini chuckled nervously. While she considered all of them her mothers, Benitsubasa was the only one she called mom to avoid confusion.
"I'd scold you if I thought it would make a difference."
"Sorry... Kaie..." That was two moms down. She turned around, Sukaime still dangling from her, and saw all of them staring her down. "Alright, lay it on me."
"What would we have done, huh? Did you even think about your brother and sister?" Oriha took her turn next.
"I heard you pulled it off. Good job." Saki gave her a thumbs up. She always spoke in the same, relaxed monotone. Apparently that sort of speech pattern had become a habit after her memory loss. In reality, she was almost more mischievous than Sukaime.
"SAKI!" Sukaime whined loudly. "You always encourage her!"
"No but seriously, you're a fucking moron." Her brother stuck his head into the room. Being Saki's child, he shared her plain, brown hair, though he had his father's blue eyes.
"Katsurou, don't be rude." Saki scowled at him. Katsurou, Katsu meaning victory – Saki's perverted little joke about beating Sukaime to having a child with Madoka.
"I think Rini did the right thing! She protected Sairiko-chan!" Rini's petite little sister meandered into the room next. Her blonde hair was tied back into two ponytails.
"Thank you, Nariko." Rini crossed her arms.
"Yes, and she almost got killed by Sairiko in the process." Katsurou scoffed and walked away.
"I'm fine, thanks for asking," Rini grumbled.
"So now we can find the other missing sekirei, right?" Nariko asked.
"Unfortunately it won't be that easy." Rini sighed and her shoulders sagged. "She didn't know anything useful."
Sukaime then finally slid off of her. "Well. That sucks."
"Err, there was one other thing." Rini fidgeted nervously. Judging by how they were acting, Madoka hadn't mentioned one little detail. "We think Minaka is behind it."
The room fell eerily silent.
"Excuse me?" Kaie's eyes narrowed. She looked positively livid.
"In the words of my darling Benitsubasa... I'mma fuckin' kill him." Sukaime hissed.
"I don't even remember him and I hate him," were Oriha's thoughts on the matter.
"Who?" Nariko tilted her head.
"The original founder of MBI. He's the one responsible for the Sekirei Plan. We don't like talking about him," Rini explained.
"Well he can't be all bad! Sekirei are amazing!" Nariko argued.
"Let me put it this way," Saki spoke up. "Minaka reprogrammed me, wiping my memories in the process, and at the time my sole purpose in life was to kill Benitsubasa."
"Oh."
"Though I guess I am pretty cool now," Saki mused.
"Because of him I had to terminate my sister," Kaie said flatly, putting an end to any discussion on whether or not Minaka had any redeeming features. "No matter what, there's no forgiving him or looking at the silver lining. He needs to be done away with, and I swear to god I will kill him if I think it's necessary. I'm not letting him walk again just because he has a high IQ!"
"Don't worry, mom and dad will take care of it and I'll be helping!" Rini assured her. "He won't get away with this."
"Madoka and Benitsubasa are one thing, they're used to danger, but I don't like you being involved. I don't want you going through the kinds of things we had to." Sukaime placed a hand on her arm. "The stories might seem fun, but it wasn't as fun when we had to live through it. We had to hurt people and they hurt us too."
"That's just it! I don't want anyone getting hurt! My only goal is to save the sekirei and lock Minaka away!"
Sukaime looked up at her, eyes filling with tears. Soon, Rini was assaulted by another rib-crushing hug. "My little girl is so brave!" she wailed.
"A-and... m-mom will... protect me... assuming you don't... ch-choke the life out of me..." Rini wheezed through a strained smile.
"Whoops. Sorry. Sekirei strength." Sukaime quickly let go.
"I still don't like it. Until this is taken care of, I'm going with you when you head to work," Saki said in a rare moment of complete seriousness.
"I don't need a babysitter!"
"But you do need someone who can restrain a berserk sekirei. I can either hold you down and stop you from running off the next time something happens or you can let me go with you and help you." Saki then grinned. "And besides, everyone might say your mother is the strongest, but it's actually me. You want my help."
"Fine, but if you piss me off I'm telling mom you said that."
Saki's grin faded rapidly. "Got it."
. . .
It was a week later and Rini was busy giving Sairiko a tour around the MBI building. She was hoping it would jog the sekirei's memory. So far it was just a few bits and pieces. It didn't help that the girl was being uncharacteristically nervous.
"S-so... what do you do here?" Sairiko asked shyly.
"Hm? Oh, I'm Assistant Director of Sekirei Operations. Not much of a job anymore now that most of you are all grown up. Only three of you are still young enough to need anything from me at this point."
"Assistant? To who?"
"Avaron. She took over a little while back. It used to be my grandpa, Satoru, who was in charge, but he stepped down when he got too old to keep up with you." Rini chuckled. "I've had the job since I was fourteen! But I've been running around with all of you since I was seven, and I was only four when your ships came down."
"I-I see..." Sairiko looked down. "W-were you involved with any of the... tuning?"
"Nope. I know a lot about it, but I was too young when most of that was going on. Your tuning was finished by the time you were ten."
"That's... umm..." She suddenly stopped, seeming to spot something. Rini followed her gaze to see Madoka and Benitsubasa approaching them.
"Mom? Dad?" Rini tilted her head in confusion. "Need something?"
"Yeah, we need to talk to you two," Madoka said.
"OK..." Rini said hesitantly. After sharing a concerned glanced with Sairiko, the two were led to her father's office and the door was shut behind them. "Um, what is this about?"
"You may have noticed that Sairiko's been acting a little strange?" Madoka suggested.
"Um, I guess." Of course she had, but she hadn't wanted to make the sekirei uncomfortable. Well, more uncomfortable... "Why?"
"She's got the hots for you," Benitsubasa spoke bluntly. Rini raised an eyebrow in confusion. How could that be? But when she looked at the girl in question, her face was scarlet and she had shrunk back.
"Wh-what?!" Rini exclaimed in disbelief.
"More specifically, she's reacting to you," Madoka told her.
"Reacting?"
"Yes. Sekirei used to be intended for military conflict, but they were more powerful than their creators, so they would be 'winged' and bound to an ashikabi, like me. Reacting was so a sekirei could at least be paired with someone they'd hopefully be more compatible with. Now that they don't need to fight anymore, we decided to try and remove that from them so they could live normally. Some of the people working on it called it 'humanization,'" Madoka explained. "We succeeded, which is why you haven't ever seen a sekirei acting like this before."
"Let me guess. Minaka undid all your hard work?" Rini frowned. Madoka nodded. "So how do we fix it?"
"Well, if she's reacting that means she hasn't been winged..."
"So the quick and easy way is to wing her," Benitsubasa said. "The other option is sticking her with needles until the problem goes away." She shuddered. Everyone in the room joined her in squirming uncomfortably at the thought.
Rini blushed. "So um, w-wing her? Wait... wouldn't that mean I-"
"Have to kiss her? Yeah." Benitsubasa grabbed Madoka's shirt. "These days I can control it, but for you it'd look something like this." She yanked Madoka in and kissed him, and a moment later light began to pour from her back and then sharks of light burst into the air around her in the shape of wings. Actual wings.
"Whoa..." Rini had honestly never seen something like it before. "Wh-why do you hide them?"
"Because when I don't try to control it I get-"
"It causes a commotion in public," Madoka quickly interrupted. "Don't wanna slip up on accident."
"O... K..." Rini was sure her father was hiding something, but chose to move on. "Um, is it hurting her?" She looked at Sairiko with concern. She certainly looked uncomfortable, as if she was having a nasty fever.
"Not... physically," Benitsubasa said. "I wasn't kidding when I said she has the hots for you. I'm sure right now she'd like nothing more than to jump you and-"
"Wing herself," her father once more interrupted with a scathing glare aimed at her mother.
"What? There's nothing wrong with the passion of a sekirei!" Benitsubasa snapped back at him. "I jumped you! You got a problem with that?"
"This is our daughter we're talking about! It's different!"
"Wow, this is really happening..." Rini twitched awkwardly as she watched her parents bicker. "OK! That's enough! I don't need to hear about who jumped who! Lalalalala!" Rini stuck her fingers in her ears.
"Sorry," Benitsubasa mumbled, looking a little embarrassed.
"Anyway, this bigger issue is that winging is permanent. We know a few ways to undo it, but they aren't particularly pleasant. Fortunately we haven't had a reason to do it yet," Madoka told her. "So unless you plan on marrying her... I'd avoid winging her."
"Oh." Rini shifted her weight nervously and looked at Sairiko.
"I wouldn't mind..." Sairiko mumbled in a tiny voice.
"Huh?" Rini's eyes shot wide.
"I can't help it!" Sairiko blurted out and then dashed from the room.
Rini shook her head, suddenly feeling dizzy. "Was it this awkward for you?"
"Your mother dragged me into an alleyway and then benched a dumpster. You tell me," Madoka said deadpan.
"Right..."
. . .
Rini was on her lunch break the following day. She sat beside Saki on a bench in a park. Apparently it was the same park where her father had first met Kaie.
"What should I do?" Rini asked, completely ignoring her food.
"Well, Sukaime would say that if she's cute, just go for it," Saki replied simply.
"And what do you say?" Rini asked, but Saki just shrugged. "Ugh! It's not that easy! If I wing her I'm stuck with her forever! I-it's probably best if they just make it so she can't react anymore..."
"Do you think that's what she wants, though?"
"So? I didn't want to be stuck in a cast for months on end when I broke my leg, but I did it anyway! Besides, the whole reacting thing isn't natural! It's something Minaka did!" Rini crossed her arms.
"Don't be stupid." Saki frowned. "Reacting was around way before Minaka got involved. Sure, it's still not 'natural,' but it's been something sekirei go through for a long time. Furthermore, she's reacting to you specifically. There's something special about you that's drawing her to you." She giggled. "If you're worried that you aren't right for each other, well, if she's reacting to you then that's a lot of the work done for you."
"Well, yeah, b-but..."
"Ohhh, I see the problem." Saki nodded knowingly. "You had a boyfriend in high school, right?"
"Saki... I've had like seven boyfriends in as many years." Rini sighed. "I just didn't introduce you to most of them because they sucked."
"Because you don't like men?" Saki guessed.
"Because they were shallow and just wanted to test drive the pretty, rich girl," she grumbled.
"Oh..." Saki frowned. "Well, look, let me just tell you what it means to wing a sekirei. After that, it'll be up to you to figure things out."
"OK." Rini slouched where she sat. It seemed this was the best she would get. In reality, though, she shouldn't have expected much more. Somehow it seemed that determining Sairiko's fate had become her responsibility.
"It's permanent, in case they didn't already tell you that. Though, I guess it wouldn't be much of an issue if it wasn't..." Saki looked her in the eye. "She'll be devoted to you, because her life will be intertwined with yours. She'll be able to feel what you feel and her potential will be determined by her bond with you."
"That's how mom beat you the first time, right?"
Saki went still before taking a deep breath. "You're... not wrong..."
"Sorry."
Saki decided to just move on. "If that doesn't sound dramatic enough, well, there's one other thing."
"What?" Sharing emotions seemed pretty dramatic. What else could there be?
"Sekirei terminate when their ashikabi dies."
Rini decided that was plenty dramatic enough. "N-no way... th-that means if..." She had an awful thought, but decided to put that panic attack aside for later. "Ugh, that's way too much. I'm telling dad to forget it. Whatever Minaka did to Sairiko, I'm gonna make sure they undo it!"
"And then we come back to what Sairiko wants-"
"She doesn't know what she wants! Her head is all messed up from reacting!"
"Well... I guess it's pretty clear what you want." Saki scowled and shook her head. "You- Ugh, hold on." Her phone was ringing. "Yes? What?" Saki's eyes went wide. "OK. We'll head there right away. Yes I am bringing Rini. What? She pulled it off last time and I'll be there too! Now you're just wasting time... No... I can... Madoka... Madoka, please..." Saki then sighed and hung up the phone.
"Did you just 'fuck-you-button' dad?" Rini raised an eyebrow.
"Yes. Now let's go."
. . .
The last thing Rini expected was to find that she recognized the place they ended up at. It was a little general store. It was the same store her dad and Kaie had used to work at before she was born.
There was no way it was a coincidence.
"This is starting to get a little too personal." Rini grimaced. The large perimeter of police vehicles and the smell of smoke did not make her feel any better. "What the hell is going on?"
"Only one way to find out." Saki led her through the police blockade. Fortunately, this time Rini didn't have to literally fight her way past the men in uniforms. They were plenty happy to let a sekirei by to deal with a sekirei problem.
"All right, nobody fucking shoot this time, got it?" Rini shouted once they were past them. "I don't care what happens!"
"Let me go first, OK? I'll call you in once it's safe," Saki said and headed toward the door, but then halted. "Also, stand back just in case."
It turned out to be good advice. Moments later, the door burst open and a figure came flying out, skidding across the pavement. She recognized her quickly as Moetatsuka. Her golden hair that seemed to shimmer like fire and her amber eyes were unmistakable. She wasn't as tall as Rini, but her figure was strong and curvaceous.
"Oh no..." Knowing what she knew now, she realized how dangerous this could get. "Hey! Pull the perimeter back! WAY back!" She quickly shouted to the police. Moetatsuka was effectively one of the "single numbers" of the new sekirei, and if Minaka had undone MBI's safety tuning...
Moetatsuka stood up, not seeming phased by her forced trip out of the store. She growled and the pavement at her feet began to melt. Glowing cracks began to spider out from her feet and soon Rini could feel the heat radiating off of the sekirei even from a distance.
"'Tatsuka! It's me, Rini! Calm down!" It turned out that drawing attention to herself was an awful idea. The ground around Moetatsuka burst, glowing hot shards of rocks and gravel flying into the air and then shooting at her like a shotgun blast.
She would have been dead on the spot if not for Saki. Saki zipped out of the store and tackled her clear of the burning spread.
"Shut up and stay out of the way!" Saki snapped at her and then stood up. "I might have to hurt her..." she warned and then swords popped into existence around her. She fired them off at Moetatsuka, but the other sekirei raised her hand and the blades collided with a wall of heat that burnt the blades down into slag almost instantly. "Right..."
Rini saw light begin to come from Saki. Right where her mother had sprouted wings, light began to pour from her back. Soon after, her entire body began to glow.
Rini could only stare in awe at what she was seeing. Or, perhaps it was what she wasn't seeing. Saki vanished from her sight, becoming a barely perceptible blur. She appeared beside Moetatsuka just long enough to back-fist her off her feet and across the street.
Moetatsuka slumped to her rear at the base of a building. She raised her head, glaring furiously at Saki. She dug her fingertips into the sidewalk, super-heating the concrete. She then shattered it, sending shards of red-hot concrete at Saki.
Saki summoned two short blades and swiped any shard that threatened to hit her out of the air.
"Saki! Move!" Rini shouted, but it was too late. The rest of the shards had dug into the street at Saki's feet. The street turned red and Saki's feet began to sink into it as the asphalt melted. It then exploded in a tower of flame and debris. "SAKI!"
For a moment, she thought her worries were for naught. Saki stumbled from the smoke, scorched but alive. However, Moetatsuka was back on her feet and charged at her. She leapt forward, weaving flames and burning debris around her as she became a blazing spear.
A spear that struck Saki head-on with a resounding explosion. Rini felt as if her skin would burn off even from what she'd thought was a safe distance.
Saki flew back, smashing through the front window of the store. She did not come back out.
"NO!" Rini wanted to rush to Saki's side, but Moetatsuka turned on her next. With a wave of her hand, hot, explosive shards flew at her. Her only thought in that moment was that she if she died, her father would never forgive Saki...
She shut her eyes and heard, felt, the explosions... but she realized she wasn't dead. If she had been, she wouldn't have been able to realize much of anything, she figured.
"Are you OK?"
She opened her eyes again to see Sairiko, huge blade stuck into the ground like a shield – a wall that had protected them from the blast.
"Wh-what are you doing here?" Rini asked, though she couldn't have uttered a complaint if she'd wanted to – and she certainly didn't want to.
"I overheard that you were going after another, uh, rogue sekirei," Sairiko said. "I wanted to make sure you were OK!" She ripped her massive blade from the ground. "Now stay back, Moetatsuka is really dangerous!"
"Y-yeah... I noticed..." She could only nod, still quite shaken by her near-death experience.
Sairiko flew forward, barreling toward her opponent, her blade held flat in front of her to block the explosive projectiles Moetatsuka threw at her. She charged through smoke and fire until her blade was finally in range.
She swung, but Moetatsuka immediately ceased her attacks and jumped clear. The already shattered street at Sairiko's feet was now littered with glowing, hot shards. Cracks spread from those shards, like burning roots.
Sairiko stabbed her blade into the ground and leapt up onto the hilt. A moment later the ground beneath her exploded, as it had for Saki. When the smoke and fire cleared, both the blade and Sairiko were gone.
But then suddenly she was back, descending from above, fist coming across Moetatsuka's jaw. Even as she staggered back, though, she drew more burning debris from the ground to fling at Sairiko. However, Sairiko's sword came spiraling down from the sky for her to catch, and with a single swing of the massive blade, the shards were blown away.
Sairiko then darted forward, slamming the hilt of her weapon into Moetatsuka's gut, not just doubling her over but sending her sliding back. However, doing so might have been a mistake. The air around Moetatsuka distorted, her entire figure shimmering behind a wave of heat. The ground beneath her own feet exploded and the dominoes began to tumble from there.
The explosion sowed the seeds for others, and so on. Sairiko was hopping left and right, frantically trying to stay on safe ground. It didn't matter. Moetatsuka stormed forward and there was more than enough ammo strewn about from the chaos she'd created.
She weaved flame around her fist and as Sairiko jumped away from one explosion, Moetatsuka shot through the smoke and slammed her fist into the girl's ribs. She was rocketed nearly all the way back to Rini's feet.
She made it back to a knee before the next barrage of blasts hit her. She cowered behind her sword, but had no time to anchor it into the ground. As the assault continued, Sairiko's grip weakened and finally the blade was smashed aside and the next searing blast sent her sprawling.
Rini had no idea how she could survive something like that, but she did. She knew sekirei were tough, but what she was witnessing was testing what she could believe. Was she even still conscious? Had she been knocked out and Sairiko had never really come to save her?
Maybe it was all a dream.
If it was, it was the most realistic dream she'd ever had. Every emotion, every vibration that shook the ground, and every wave of heat that washed over her – she was painfully aware of it all. No, it was real. It was a lot to take in, but no one had time to let her process it.
Throwing caution to the wind, she rushed to Sairiko's side, where the sekirei had fallen. "Wh-what do we do?"
"R-Rini?" Sairiko cracked an eye open. "I'm... sorry. I'm not strong enough," she whimpered. "Y-you should run-"
"No! I won't leave you here like this!"
"But you'll get hurt. You have to-"
She pressed a finger to Sairiko's lips shushed her. Sairiko was wrong. There was one thing Rini could do. She just hoped she wouldn't regret it later. "I'm sorry."
She pulled her finger away and pulled the sekirei close. She pressed her lips against Sairiko's.
It was all she could think of. One kiss. Giving Sairiko her wings. If she could bring out her potential... but would it be enough?
Her wings spread – a strong, deep, luminescent blue. As she pulled away, she was filled with awe. Had she really done that? Was something so amazing really her doing? And in Sairiko's eyes she could see shock and disbelief, but also adoration – love.
But when she looked up, she saw something else. Moetatsuka was looking at them, and her eyes only held fear... which quickly turned to anger. Soon, dozens of explosive shards were swarming around her – and then they were launched.
"Sairiko!" Rini called out a warning, and the girl flew into action immediately. Rini was clutched tightly to the girls chest and then she rolled. Holding Rini with one arm, Sairiko reached out and grabbed her sword with the other. She rolled onto her back just in time to face the oncoming projectiles.
With new-found strength, Rini made a mighty swing and a blast of air threw the projectiles away. She then stood, lifting Rini to her feet as well as she did.
"Don't worry. I think I can really do it this time!" Sairiko said.
Rini giggled. She didn't know how she found it in her to laugh, but her head was swimming. "You'll have to let go of me first."
"Ah!" Sairiko quickly let go, but Rini grabbed the collar of her vest.
"But let me hold on to this for you. You look good in this, no need to let it get burned up."
Sairiko blushed, but stripped off her vest and handed it to Rini. As Rini took it though, Sairiko caught her and pulled her in, once more causing their lips to meet and thus Sairiko's wings to spread.
"Wh-what?" Rini asked dazedly as they parted.
"Now I know I can do this." Sairiko smiled and then turned to face an even more apprehensive Moetatsuka. "My blade holds strong my pledge! Overwhelm the opposition before my ashikabi!"
She was chanting. Rini gasped in realization. A norito? She'd heard lots of stories, but never seen one.
"Blade Fusion! Dreadnought!" Sairiko's sword began to glow until it appeared to be made of pure light. Her body followed suit. Armor began to appear upon her, first plates upon her legs and then her chest. Finally her right arm was fully encased in metal, her blade seeming to have become one with it. There was a massive pauldron on her shoulder and a plate that covered part of her face and right eye, only a bright blue light shining from a gap in the armor where her eye was.
Where before her blade had been little more than a massive, sharp slab of metal on a stick, her armor was unrecognizable and far more refined in its design. The blade now extended from her elbow and must have been three feet long. The spine of the blade also had blue lights upon it.
In response, Moetatsuka had gathered much of the fire and burning debris to her, amassing a large fireball between her hands. She threw it forward and it exploded, but rather than expend its energy and dissipate, the explosion raged forward, seeming to grow and consume everything in its path.
Sairiko faced the oncoming storm of fiery death head-on. She lifted her right arm and swung at the inferno. The force behind her norito fueled swing was such that it not just cleaved the flames in half but blew them back. The inferno collapsed in on itself and died down harmlessly.
She then charged forward. Unsurprisingly, Moetatsuka fired back with all the explosive projectiles she could muster, but Sairiko's blade and thick armor covering her arm and shoulder deflected it all with ease. She forced her way through the barrage, only having gained momentum as she did.
She barreled into Moetatsuka at full speed, armored shoulder striking like a battering ram. She then lashed out with her blade, flinging Moetatsuka away. The fiery sekirei went flying into the police barricade, crashing into a car.
The vehicle's tires squealed as it went sliding back from the force, the impact having nearly folded the whole thing in half. The way Moetatsuka slumped over as she as the car finally came to a halt and it was clear she was in no position to keep fighting.
The norito had done it.
But she couldn't help but feel like she was forgetting something...
"SAKI!"
. . .
Saki had been fine, relatively speaking. They had all, Moetatsuka included, been carted back to MBI. Saki had been quickly hauled away for medical treatment while Rini and Sairiko escorted a bruised and very reluctant Moetatsuka through the building.
She didn't fight back, just marching forward with head hung low, glaring daggers at anyone who managed to meet her eyes. They soon met up with Rini's father who was leading them to where they would be keeping the rogue sekirei until they could figure out how best to deal with her.
That... had been the plan, anyway.
"Stoooop!" And so they all did, glancing at each other in confusion. "Stop being so mean to her!"
"Wh-… Why are you here?" Madoka spun around. He looked angry, but more so he just looked baffled. It was Rini's sister.
"Back off!" Nariko shoved Sairiko away from Moetatsuka and then stared down the rogue sekirei. Sairiko looked to Rini for direction, but she could only shrug in response. "Explain yourself! You've been a bad girl!" Nariko scolded Moetatsuka.
"Who... is this sassy, lost child?" Moetatsuka looked past her, eyes displaying only exasperation.
"Seriously, what-" Madoka tried to speak again, but Nariko just snapped her head around and shushed him. He was so shocked that he actually went silent.
"Just talk to me, Tatsuka-chan! I know he did stuff to you but you can't just go around blowing things up!" Nariko tried to hug the sekirei, but that seemed to be the line that she shouldn't have crossed. Moetatsuka gripped Nariko's shirt collar and glowered at her.
"Enough! If I wanted to, right now I could incinerate... I... could..." But suddenly she faltered, hands shaking as she lost her grip. Nariko slapped her hand away and spun on her heel, turning her back to the sekirei. Moetatsuka seemed to find this horribly upsetting. "N-no, I'm sorry!"
"Hmph!"
"Should... I...?" Sairiko just seemed lost. Madoka pinched the bridge of his nose and just motioned for her to let it be.
"B-but-" Moetatsuka reached out for Nariko, but the girl stepped out of her reach. This continued for a good thirty seconds, with Moetatsuka chasing Nariko in a slow circle as the teen angrily refused to give the sekirei any attention. "I-I said... please... NARIKO!" Finally she lost patience and lunged for her, spinning her around and meeting her eyes.
"You do remember me!" Nariko was instantly all smiles again and flung herself at the sekirei, hugging her tightly.
"I-I-" Moetatsuka looked unsteady suddenly. "My head..." She dug a hand into her hair. "I don't..."
"You've been tuned improperly, so your memory is suffering. You haven't lost everything, but the gaps are gonna make you feel off for a while," Rini told her.
"Yes, now-" But it seemed Madoka wasn't going to get a word in edgewise anytime soon.
"Now, come with me!" Nariko ordered Moetatsuka as she let go. "You need a good talking to! We're going to go get ice cream and you're going to listen!"
"B-but I hate ice cream..." Moetatsuka's shoulders sagged.
"That's fine! Bad girls don't get desert anyway!"
"Nariko... at the very least she should still have a doctor check her over..." Madoka finally managed to speak up.
"Tatsuka-chan?" Nariko stared the sekirei down.
"Ah... n-no, I'm fine." Moetatsuka nodded.
"See? I'll take care of her! I'm obviously doing a much better job of it than you anyway!" Nariko stated and turned to lead Moetatsuka away. "Come, Tatsuka-chan! And straighten up!"
"Y-yes." Moetatsuka stood up straight and hurried after the girl.
Rini had to put a hand over her mouth to keep from laughing while her father just stared after them, slack-jawed. Finally she just lost it.
"I am having the worst day," Madoka grumbled, looking completely frustrated.
"Aww, come on! That was funny!" Rini tried to calm him down. She couldn't be too angry with Moetatsuka. Her head had been messed with and in the end everyone would be OK. She was sure Nariko really would handle it, in her own way. The sekirei had always loved her – she'd been like a queen basking in their adoration. Rini was a little jealous, honestly.
"I'm not in the mood."
"I-is it because I winged Sairiko? Don't worry, I'll take responsibility!" she assured him. He just stared at her in tired disbelief while Sairiko descended into a startled coughing fit. "OK, that came out wrong, but still..."
"Just come with me." He sighed and began walking. After a minute, she began to grow worried. Her father was far too upset. She knew he had history with Minaka, but shouldn't he be happy that they'd managed to get back another of the missing sekirei? The second thing that made her heart sink was that she realized he was leading her to the medical wing.
He stopped outside of a door. "There were two attacks today. You and Sairiko managed to stop one... the other succeeded. Unfortunately, the one you stopped was just a distraction." He then opened the door and stepped into the room.
Rini took a deep breath and followed. Who had gotten hurt? And then she saw the pink hair. "M-mom!" She was at the bedside within a second. "Wh-wh-"
"Oh be quiet!" Benitsubasa snapped and pinched Rini's lips together. "I'm fine... mostly." She was covered in bandages, including one over her left eye. "We now know exactly what Minaka has done, though."
"What's that?" Rini asked, voice trembling.
"When we say he 'undid' our work, we were spot on. He's reset them to factory specs, so to speak. They're at full power. Even I can't stop them..." She then grinned. "But I heard that you did."
"Oh, um... y-yeah. Me and Sairiko-"
"Sukaime's gonna have a field day with this."
"Oh god." Her eye twitched. She really would.
"Rini." Benitsubasa sobered. "If this is how it's going to be, I'm pretty much out of the game. But you see, he's afraid of sekirei. He won't wing them because being linked to them terrifies him, we've seen it before. That gives you and Sairiko the advantage. I don't want to ask this, and your father really doesn't want to ask this, but we don't have anyone else to go to, so-"
"Mom." She placed her hand on her mother's. "I've already faced decapitation and being exploded, and I still brought the first two back. Why would I stop now?" she said with a wink.
"That's my girl!"
"I think I'm going to be sick." Madoka groaned and found a chair to sit in. "E-exploded?"
"Moetatsuka makes Kagari look like a wet match." Rini pursed her lips.
"There has to be a better way..."
"You know there isn't," Benitsubasa told him. "The whole thing we're working toward is giving sekirei a peaceful life! And all the existing fighters are winged, so they can't be tuned up to the strength of Minaka's sekirei. Sairiko is literally our only hope right now."
"I won't let you down!" Sairiko chimed in. "And I won't let anyone hurt Rini-sama."
"Wh-what?" Rini blushed and stared at Sairiko is shock.
"Get used to it, kid. You're her 'precious ashikabi' now." Benitsubasa winked at her. "Just like your father is mine." She held her hand out and Madoka grasped it affectionately.
"R-right..." The fondness her parents had for each other always gave her a sense of security... but it was also a bit embarrassing to watch.
"Now, if you don't mind, I have to go talk to Kin about fixing her store. Keep an eye on your mother for me." Madoka leaned down to kiss Benitsubasa on the cheek before heading out of the room.
"Well, someone has to. I'm short one," Benitsubasa scoffed, causing Rini to stare at her in horror. "Don't worry, it'll grow back."
. . .
In the end, her mother told her that Minaka had stolen a large shipment of materials all based off of sekirei technology. They had no idea what he was going to use it for, but it didn't matter; it was bad if it stayed in his hands.
But it would have to wait. The sun was setting and Rini was exhausted. She just wanted to enjoy the peace and quiet that the solitude of her home allowed. It was something she was quickly realizing may no longer have been possible.
She was standing in her entryway, just having shut the door behind her, trying to think of what she was going to do with Sairiko. She really hadn't thought things through. "Oh crap, I have nowhere for you to sleep!" Rather than look disappointed, Sairiko blushed, though Rini didn't notice as she tried to think of a solution. "I guess I could put some blankets on the floor. Or you could take the couch. My mom used to sleep on the couch a lot before... well anyway... are you OK?" Sairiko was pouting and slumped over.
"Yes. I'll just... take the couch..." She sniffled. And suddenly Rini was all too aware of what she'd gotten herself into.
"Or I can take the couch and you can have the bed. I-I mean after today you totally deserve it-" But it didn't make the sekirei look any happier. "Yeah... take the bed and I'll get you your own tomorrow. Um... I-I'll go make dinner. Why don't you wash up?" With that she quickly scurried away into the kitchen.
Once alone, she gripped the edge of the counter and began hyperventilating. She couldn't deal with this. She slowly slid to the floor, back against the cabinets.
When Sairiko finally came to the kitchen, that was where she found her, head still pressed against her knees.
"R-Rini-sama?! Are you OK?"
"Huh?" She looked up dazedly, having been half-asleep. "Oh... I guess I forgot about the food. Sorry..."
"Your eyes are red." Rini flinched and turned away. "What's wrong?"
"I shouldn't have winged you. I wish I could undo it." It was about the worst way she could have phrased it, but it was true. Out of the corner of her eye she could see Sairiko take a startled step backward. "Wanna know a secret? You were my first kiss. I'm twenty-three and I've been in nine relationships... but still..."
"I don't... understand..."
"I hate relationships! I give up on them!" She shook her head frantically. "I can't feel anything for them so I don't let them get close and then they give up on me and nobody is happy!" Her fist flew back into the cabinet behind her with a hollow thud. "And now I can't get rid of you and I don't want to watch you suffer!"
To her surprise, Sairiko knelt down in front of her and put her hands on her shoulders. "I would never abandon you!" she stated, eyes full of determination. "I am your sekirei, forever and ever!"
Rini just looked at the girl, suddenly at a loss. She had no response. None of her mothers' stories had prepared her for this, to experience the devotion of a sekirei first hand.
She lifted her hands to her eyes, rubbing the tears away. "I'm sorry. I don't know what came over me... It's been a long day." She patted Sairiko on the head and stood up. "So, what do you want to eat?"
"Uh... err... a-anything is fine." The sekirei seemed to be suffering whiplash at Rini's sudden recovery. "Recovery" was stretching it, of course. She'd gotten control over her emotions but nothing had changed. "Rini-sama, I-I-"
"Hm?"
"I'm glad you're OK."
It seemed neither could be fully honest. She knew it, and she knew it was her fault.
Knowing your ashikabi's tears are for you, it fills you with determination.
Undertale references aside... did anyone catch the One Punch Man reference? 10 internets to anyone who did.
So here's part one of the sequel that was never supposed to be. And also... a little cut content from the original Violent Hearts. This will seriously make NO sense unless you've read the original. Though, if you've already read this far without reading the original... why? I mean thank you, but why!?
Bonus:
. . . 10 Days After Kamikura Island . . .
Kaie had giver her a jump-start, Musubi had given her a nasty heads-up, and now... she was going out of her mind just waiting. Soon they'd be off to the giant island in the sky. She was glad to be at least walking again, but part of her wished she'd skipped the sparring match with Musubi. Though, perhaps it was best to know how weak she was ahead of time, lest she do something stupid.
Hopefully there wouldn't be anything stupid to do.
At the moment, she had slipped away to wander the halls. She told herself it had nothing to do with any sort of paranoia. No, it was silly to think that if she stopped moving for too long that her legs would shut down again.
But why take chances?
She was barely two minutes into said walk when she ran into some... unexpected faces. Faces that not long ago she would have been punching on sight. Faces that if she punched now would probably only result in breaking her hand... so it was probably for the best that she didn't.
She froze upon seeing them and they did the same.
It was Heiwamori and Haihane. Heiwamori almost looked ready to turn around and go the other way, but Haihane seemed to ruin that plan.
"Oh look, it's the killer bubblegum," she chuckled. "So, has my time finally come?"
"Nah, you failed miserably at killing my friends, so you're good." Benitsubasa shrugged. She saw Heiwamori wince at that. "So... I guess Kuu saved you guys as well?"
"Eh, the stick twirler went all merciful goody-two-shoes on me and let me live," Haihane said.
"Are... you complaining?" Benitsubasa raised a curious eyebrow.
Haihane actually seemed to pause for a second. "Let's just say you guys have a very different point of view. It doesn't matter what I think, you're just different. I'd say what she did was stupid, but... it worked. I'm still alive and you still win. So... no, I'm not complaining. Just know that if things were different, I'd have killed you all."
"And now?"
"It's over and I can't beat any of you in a fight so I guess I'm just done. I mean, I'd have been done even if I'd won because there'd be no one left to kill so it's whatever."
"That's... one way to look at it." She supposed as long as Haihane wasn't planning to try fighting again, she'd just take the win. "And what about you?" She looked at Heiwamori.
"I... don't know. It's strange. I remember Karasuba killing me... and then the next thing I know I was waking up and the fight was over. And I was alone." He looked far away as he recalled what had happened to him.
"Alone?" Benitsubasa blinked in confusion
"My wings are gone. I no longer have an ashikabi."
"Wh-"
"I suppose when a sekirei is terminated, their connection to their ashikabi is severed. It's the only explanation," he told her.
"Couldn't he wing you again?" she suggested.
"I don't know if I want that." He sighed. "I have... no happy memories of being his sekirei. I was introduced to him and then forced to follow his lead. Because of Karasuba I had no real say. If ever he wanted to insist, she could force his will upon me."
"What is that? Some kind of excuse for what you did?" Benitsubasa narrowed her eyes. She couldn't tell him what he was saying was false, but it didn't make her want to forgive him either.
"Of course not. All I'm saying is that I knew my place... but I never tried to argue. I felt that this fighting was our lot in life." He looked away from. "Or perhaps I don't know what I'm trying to say."
"Look." Benitsubasa sighed and ran a hand through her hair. "I'll never forgive you. Maybe I'll never even stop hating you... but even so, I know how unlucky you are. I believed the same thing you did. I even enjoyed it more than anyone should have. I liked the idea of putting people beneath me and proving I was better. I win, they're terminated, I'm better. The difference is that you never had a way to change. Madoka showed me a better way, but even if you'd tried to change... you just would have suffered. Your ashikabi was content to go along with that fighting."
"I-I- No! I should have just died, Oriha deserved-"
"Yeah? Well I agree, but it's too late for that, so now you have to live!" Benitsubasa grabbed his shoulders. "Fuck, out of your entire batch, you're the one who should have died, but instead you're the only one left. That means you're the only one left to keep their memory alive, so you better get fucking remembering!"
"It's... not like I was planning to just die off..." He mumbled weakly, refusing to meet her eyes.
It was strange. She should have hated him, despised him, and thinking about what happened to Oriha made her so angry it hurt. But all of that was buried under the pain of losing a friend. She'd been ready to change, to embrace the fact that she didn't have to be so alone. Of course Oriha and Masukagami had just had to go off and die immediately afterward.
And now, in front of her, she saw a piece of them in Heiwamori. She could see her pain reflected in his eyes. She couldn't bring herself to hate him in his entirety.
Rather than become consumed by that hate and be burned down to ashes... she pulled him close and hugged him. "Good. Because someday I'm going to want to hear about what Oriha was like before I met her, OK?"
"O-OK..." Heiwamori choked out, stuttering with shock. If it was awkward for him, it was just as awkward for her and she quickly let go.
"S-so, what about you?" she quickly turned her attention back on Haihane.
"Um, no thanks. I'm good. Don't need a hug." Haihane smirked.
"N-not that! You're still winged, aren't you? So-"
"So what?" Haihane shrugged. "I like him just fine. I think he has a great personality."
"You're messed up," Benitsubasa blurted out without thinking.
"And?" Haihane hardly seemed offended, nor did she deny it.
"Fair enough."
And that's it. Just a quick little scene that at the time I was writing Violent Hearts would have mostly just bogged down the pace of the story. However, I now felt it was worth sharing to show a little more of just how much Benitsubasa had changed by the end of the fic, and it also had a few tidbits that might be relevant to this sequel (Assuming I remember...).
Anyway, I'm thinking this will be a "trilogy." I think trying to make it just two chapters would be kinda messy.
Til' next time!