Thank you to everyone who put in their suggestions. Just to make it clear, the other Sekirei I add to Minato's squad will not be romatic interests. Benitsubasa will be Minato's romantic interest because she is my personal favorite Sekirei, and she shouldn't be stuck in some harem. And before I get anything about this, yes, some people in the Discipline Squad really don't belong with that crowd, but there's a reason for that. I didn't just stick those people inside randomly. darkDow, Yukari is still in this story, she won't be the focus, but she is in the story. At this point, I don't know if she'll be integral or not. That remains to be seen.

Chapter 2

"Takehito, I can't stand it anymore!" Miya snapped at her husband, "Those Sekirei out there shouldn't be fighting each other. I didn't save them for that!"

Takehito stared into the dining table, trying not to look at his wife. His hands gripped the tea cup he was drinking from tightly as he tried to think about the situation rationally. He hated seeing the Sekirei that he had helped to adjust being used as nothing more than fighting machines. The Sekirei were meant for much more than that.

"I know Miya, but as long as Minaka has the Discipline Squad, we can't risk going after them right now. If you fought them, you'd cause a lot more damage than you would prevent, you know that." The silver haired man replied.

Miya sighed. He was right. The entire Discipline Squad besides her had stayed with MBI, not to mention a few extra Sekirei had joined it. She knew that she could beat all of them, but not without a large amount of residual damage. Just to rescue Takehito from the Discipline Squad, she had leveled two city blocks.

For now, she and Takehito could only try to help whoever they could at Izumo Inn, until Minaka made a mistake that they could capitalize on. At this point, Izumo Inn was the home of the rebellion against MBI. Takehito had gone out and tried to recruit some other Ashikabi to fight MBI, but most of them were enraptured by their power and did not want to return to their normal lives. He had to admit, he could understand their reasoning. In the normal world, most of them were just ordinary citizens with no outstanding characteristics, but in here, they were exceptional individuals because they could wing Sekirei, giving them more power than most of them had ever had before. He could understand why they liked the way things were. Maybe he didn't agree with them, but at least he could understand them.

"We've got someone else coming in." Seo, her husband's best friend, walked into the dining room.

"Did Homura bring in another?" Takehito asked.

Seo nodded, "Yeah, you might want to go check on him."

Takehito walked out, leaving Miya and Seo alone in the dining room.

"I heard you guys." Seo said, leaning against the doorframe.

"Did you?" She snapped angrily.

"Don't be mad with Takehito, I know it's as hard for him as it is for you." Seo said as he left the room, leaving Miya alone with her thoughts.

Before she really could think, Takehito returned with an unconscious silver haired boy, followed by Homura.

"Where did you find him?" He asked the silver haired man.

"He was just lying in the park."

Takehito quickly inspected the boy, who was wearing a torn dress shirt.

"Looks like the work of Yomi. He doesn't look to be physically injured, but he has to be pretty shaken up by this experience." Takehito informed the others as the boy slowly opened his eyes and looked around.

"Are you okay?" He asked the boy, who nodded in response.

"What's your name kid?" Seo asked.

"Shiina." Suddenly he sat up. "Where did she go?"

"Who?" Takehito asked.

"The girl who saved me. She came in and kicked Mikogami in a place I'd rather not name. She made them leave me alone. Where is she?" He asked frantically.

"What's so important about this girl anyways?" Seo asked.

"She's my Ashikabi."

"I'm starting to doubt this." Kazehana said as she took a swig from a bottle of sake.

"The Discipline Squad?" Mutsu asked as he took a seat at the bar that Minaka had provided for them on their floor of MBI Tower. Their floor was used as a giant apartment for the Discipline Squad and Natsuo, their handler, although they didn't see him very often, as his job as a clerk kept him busy most days. Still, Mutsu had his doubts about their handler's true whereabouts. It seemed like he was always busy, but whether he was actually working or whether he was plotting something, he didn't know yet.

Natsuo honestly wasn't doing a good job. He hadn't bothered to wing any of them yet. In fact, he seemed completely disinterested in all of the Sekirei except for him, which Mutsu found a little uncomfortable. He was pretty sure that Natsuo didn't swing that way, but then again, he did catch Natsuo staring at him when Matsu and Akitsu were practically offering themselves up to him.

And there was the time when Natsuo walked in on Kazehana and Karasuba changing and completely ignored them. Anyone else probably would have experienced at least some blood loss at that point. Even Mutsu, who tried his best not to think about the other Sekirei in that way, had to admit that he would've been turned on by that. After all, he had once walked in on Kazehana taking a shower and almost passed out from the blood loss. He couldn't even imagine how he would've reacted to both Kazehana and Karasuba, who was attractive in her own psychotic way.

He turned his attention back to Kazehana, who motioned with her hands, "Everything."

Mutsu nodded in agreement. Lately, he had been doubting his choice to stay with the Discipline Squad. Honestly, he felt bad about forcing his fellow Sekirei to fight each other. He didn't know exactly what they were meant for, but he knew that it was a whole lot more than to be pawns in the game of a madman. Yume constantly told him about how the Sekirei were meant to love, but he wasn't sure if that answer made sense. He had considered just leaving MBI Tower and searching for his answers, but he knew that would be inviting trouble unless someone like Karasuba or Kazehana was willing to leave with him.

"Just because you got dumped by Minaka doesn't mean you can drink on the job." Karasuba snapped as she grabbed the sake bottle out of Kazehana's hands. She sighed, not understanding how anyone, much less Kazehana, could be attracted to that madman. It was hard to see Kazehana upset because although she hated everyone in the Discipline Squad, she hated Kazehana and Mutsu the least. Still, a little tough love never hurt anyone.

"Just forget about him. He's not that great anyways. I'm available if you're interested you know." Matsu said suggestively as she tried to snake an arm around Kazehana's shoulder.

"We all know, you tell us every day." Mutsu replied as he pulled Kazehana's chair closer to him and out of the reach of Matsu. Although he respected everyone in the Discipline Squad, he found Matsu's constant advances to be irritating, to say the least.

Matsu threw her hands up in the air, "That's because no one takes me up on it!" She then spotted Tsukiumi, who had just entered the apartment oddly smelling of smoke, and quickly made her way to her. Mutsu observed that Tsukiumi was in a better mood than usual and upon closer inspection, her hair and kimono were a bit disheveled. While he didn't think too much about it, he did make a mental note to keep an eye on Tsukiumi.

"Could you guys keep it down? I'm trying to watch TV over here! It's the last episode, I can't miss a second of this." Haihane yelled. Akitsu and Saki nodded in agreement from their spots on the couch.

Mutsu sat back into his seat, "Kazehana, have you ever thought about just leaving this place?"

She was currently looking for another bottle of sake under the bar, but poked her head up at Mutsu's question, "It's crossed my mind before. Why do ask?"

"Are you planning an escape or something?" Yume asked as she sat down beside Mutsu.

He stared out of the window next to the bar. It was completely black, save for a few stars. Tokyo had been largely without electricity for about two months, when fighting by Sekirei had taken out enough wires to cut off most of the city from electricity. It was a little hard to think that the Sekirei had done all of this, but it was the truth. Although Karasuba found the sight of a Tokyo without light relaxing, he found it unnerving. It was a constant reminder to the bleakness of their situation.

"No reason."

Minato awoke to find Benitsubasa lying on top of his chest. She was wearing her usual black kimono and her hair was not held up as usual. When it wasn't held up by the usual daisy clips, her hair was still really beautiful. He slowly ran a hand through her hair and heard her sigh in her sleep. He smiled. She was clearly having a pleasant dream.

How did he get to this? Just a few months ago, he was trying to figure out what he would be doing to study for his third college entrance exam. Now he was an Ashikabi in the warzone that used to be Tokyo. Back in Tokyo, he was just a nobody with no future. He was now somebody inside, with a limitless future. As much as he hated the situation he was in, he had to admit, his old life was more frightening. The possibility that he might not have any future was infinitely more frightening than being a participant in a battle royal. At least in here, he had something to work towards. He actually owed a lot to the Sekirei Plan. It was an interesting notion, in its own way. If his world had never been destroyed, he would not have had anything to work towards. Funny how much having a little power meant in this new world.

His moment of bliss was interrupted by the sound of shattering glass. Benitsubasa instantly sprung to her feet. A brick lay next to the window, surrounded by shattered glass.

"What the hell was that?" Minato asked. Benitsubasa rushed over to the window and took a look outside. She quickly cursed and fished her daisy clips out of her pockets, then proceeded to quickly clip up her hair.

"It's the same gang that beat you up yesterday." She said as she prepared to jump out of the window, "I've had it up to here with them. Now they're going to pay."

"Do we have to fight them? Can't we settle this peacefully?" He asked.

She shook her head, "You can try, but they won't listen to reason. The only thing these men understand is violence. The sooner you understand that, the better." She knew that Minato would hate that answer, but it was the truth.

"Wait a second." Minato grabbed her arm, "If you're going, I'm not letting you go out there alone."

"It's not safe." She retorted.

"You said that Ashikabi give Sekirei orders. So this is an order." Minato said.

Benitsubasa sighed, "Fine, but if you get your ass kicked, don't blame me."

She put his hands around her waist and leaped out into the streets. Minato glanced around quickly and saw that there were eight men surrounding them.

Not wasting any time, Benitsubasa immediately grabbed one man by the arm and tossed him into a nearby window, shattering the glass. He opened his eyes just in time to see Benitsubasa's foot coming down at his head.

Another sneaked up behind her, but was met by a vicious right hook to the face. He stumbled back and a foot to the gut sent him flying into the street. Benitsubasa then slammed the ground, creating a small shockwave that made the remaining men stumble. Taking advantage of that, Minato tackled one to the ground and did his best to land any punches he could.

He was quickly grabbed by his collar and thrown into several garbage cans. He saw two men armed with baseball bats coming towards him with grins plastered on their faces. He grabbed the nearest object and tossed it.

One man fell to the ground in pain as a loose piece of concrete flew into his face, dropping his bat.

"You're going to pay for that." The other man growled. Minato dove for the bat. As soon as it was in his grasp, he whipped around and swung the bat, hitting the man square in the chest. Without hesitation, Minato brought it down on his back, knocking him to the ground.

His chest heaved as he stood above the man, who was lying face down on the concrete.

"Well? Aren't you going to kill me now?" He asked.

"No, I'm not that kind of man." Minato tossed his bat to the ground.

"Then you're as dumb as you look." The man got to his feet and tackled Minato to the ground. He raised his arm up in the air, but before he could bring it down on Minato, he was thrown into a wall, meeting the brick with a loud crack. He joined the other seven men, who lay dead in the street.

Benitsubasa stood angrily over Minato, "I already told you, these men don't understand anything but violence. Why didn't you kill him when you had the chance?"

"I couldn't do it. That's not who I am." He replied.

She pointed to the dead man, "You could've been killed. That man would not have had any mercy if your places were switched."

"Well that's the problem, isn't it? We live in a world without any mercy, it makes me sick."

Benitsubasa pulled him up to her face by his collar, "You're being too idealistic. It's nice to have hopes, but if you're going to get killed if you aren't realistic." He could see the concern in her eyes now, "And I don't know what I would do if you died. You might not have a problem throwing your life away, but what about me? Did you ever stop to think about what you mean to others?"

Minato was shocked at her words. He honestly had no idea how to reply. She let go of him and let him drop to the ground.

"I'm sorry. I shouldn't have acted like that."

Minato felt terrible now, "No, it's my fault. You're right, I really can't hope to survive without fighting, but I still can't kill anyone. And Benitsubasa, I had no idea you really felt that way about me."

"Of course I do, I never would have reacted to you if you didn't mean something to me."

Benitsubasa felt two arms wrap around her waist and a head rest in the crook between her neck and her shoulder.

"I just want you to know that I feel the same way. I know we've only known each other for two days, but for some reason, I feel closer to you than I've ever felt with anyone." Minato whispered as he buried his head into her shoulder.

Minato looked up from her shoulder, "Duck!" He cried out, knocking both of them to the floor.

Benitsubasa saw a trident where her head was a moment ago. She quickly pushed Minato off of her and stood protectively in front of him.

In front of her stood a woman in a red dress and white jacket surrounded by tridents. Behind the woman stood a man wearing glasses and dressed in a suit. His hair was black and he had a controlling presence, along with a serious expression.

"These men were disposable, but finding good help right now is such a bother, so I'm afraid that you'll have to pay for this." The woman fired three more tridents at Benitsubasa, who pushed Minato back to the ground before deftly dodging them.

"Who are you?" Minato asked.

"Kakizaki, although I am here on behalf of Mr. Izumi. This is number 54, Kuruse." The man replied.

Kuruse rushed forward with her tridents pointed at Benitsubasa. She sent a shockwave in the direction of Kuruse, knocking her off of her feet. Before she could get up, Benitsubasa was upon her, pelting her with punches. However, Kuruse sent four tridents at Benitsubasa, pinning her to a wall.

"Let her go!" Minato grabbed the bat he had dropped earlier and swung it full force at Kuruse's head, knocking her to the ground. He quickly pulled out three tridents holding back Benitsubasa. As he was about to pull out the fourth, he was tossed aside by Kuruse. Benitsubasa saw his unconscious form lying in a pile of boxes and a bloodlust overtook her.

Benitsubasa quickly freed herself and delivered a punch full force into the side of Kuruse, who turned and fired a trident in her direction. Benitsubasa rolled underneath the trident and swept out Kuruse's legs, knocking her to the ground. As Kuruse tried to stand back up, she felt a foot drive her back to the floor. She summoned tridents and sent them at Benitsubasa, who quickly backflipped out of their way.

"Extreme Quake!" Benitsubasa cried out as she caused an earthquake that knocked Kuruse into the air. In a swift motion, Benitsubasa grabbed her legs in the air and tossed her into a streetlight with enough force to snap it in half. She grabbed one half of the broken streetlight and swung it full force at the dazed Sekirei.

Kuruse could feel her breath being knocked out of her as the streetlight met her back. She heard a crack and knew from the pain that surged through her body that her back was broken. She attempted to stand up, but a swift kick to the back of her head prevented that.

"You're going to pay for hurting him." Benitsubasa said coldly as she reached down and placed her hands around Kuruse's head. Without hesitation, she twisted, quickly snapping Kuruse's neck. She let her lifeless form fall on the ground.

She turned to do the same to Kakizaki, but he had disappeared in the middle of the fight.

Kakizaki had instinctively run the moment he saw Minato get tossed aside. Higa had already kept tabs on her for a while as a candidate for winging, so he knew that she had an explosive temper. Once he was sure that he was far enough away from her, he flipped out his cell phone. Before he could call, he felt a sudden and severe pain in his neck that brought him to his knees. A feeling like that could only mean that Kuruse had been terminated, and violently at that.

After a minute, Kakizaki found the strength to dial his boss.

"So? Did you deal with them?" Higa snapped.

"Sorry, they terminated 54 and I had to run away just to survive."

"Useless, well, at least they got rid of a worthless Sekirei. It'll prevent future failures due to Kuruse's incompetence." Kakizaki frowned a little at Higa. He was quick to cast aside anyone once they stopped being useful to him. He was careful not to get on his bad side, or he would be useless to Higa.

"I need to advise you right now, they are ruthless and extremely dangerous. I don't think we should act against them yet." Kakizaki advised.

He heard Higa curse on the other end, no doubt frustrated by his advice.

"Fine, just back as soon as you can. And let me warn you, if you fail me again, I will have no mercy towards you."

Before Kakizaki could respond, Higa hung up. His shoulder slumped in defeat. Higa was not exaggerating when he said he would have no mercy.

I know that Sekirei don't kill each other usually, but I think that in a more brutal setting, they would have to, or at least, be more willing to. Also, I was wondering, what do you guys think about Sekirei romances? Do you think that they can work? I'm a bit partial to Mutsu finding someone, after all, he seems like he could use some love. I've always thought that Mutsu and Homura could have a lot of romances, but a lot of people don't seem to be interested in that. Do you guys want any, or would that be weird? It wouldn't really interfere with Minato because Minato's main romance is Benitsubasa, so leave your thoughts on that please! As always, I would appreciate any reviews.