Tokyo: Harbor: Three months later

Minato stood on the bow of the ship that Ivan had chartered to bring them home. After all the time he had spent away, he had developed a new appreciation for where he lived. It was true what they said, "you don't know what you have until you lose it." On the subject of losing things though, he had never realized just how much of a disruptive force Musubi had been. Granted, things still happened that made his face turn white out of embarrassment, but a bit less often. In particular, he didn't have Musubi tripping over thin air and smothering him in her chest. Now all he really had to worry about was not becoming some drooling lecher whenever Kazehana opened her mouth, and not bruising Tsukiumi's already fragile self-esteem, and making sure that Matsu didn't do something extremely perverted that got her in trouble... Ok, maybe he still had a lot of problems that he had to deal with. But less than he did before by an order of magnitude.

Ivan shouted at him from the upper deck, his mood a vast improvement over his deep melancholy upon leaving Rapture. "Happy to see it again?"

The Russian seemed to be a new man upon coming out of his funk. Ivan had trimmed both his hair and his beard, he had spent most of the trip tanning his unnaturally white skin from his two years under the ocean, and the pessimism was gone completely. Ivan was still quite the smartass though, and still liked telling perverted jokes. With Matsu, Kazehana, and Tsukiumi repeatedly bearing the brunt of the joke.

He covered his eyes against the sun and called back. "You have no idea."

Ivan started to respond, but he seemed to be distracted by someone else on the upper deck. Moments later the Russian had scooped Kusano up and was sliding down the banister from the upper deck. That was another thing. Outside of perilous situations Ivan was a really playful, fun-loving guy, and that attitude had quickly made him Kusano's best friend.

Ivan gently pushed Kusano away, a devious note in his voice. "Ok, run along now. Drop some ice down Tsukiumi's back for me." Ivan straightened up and smirked in Kusano's direction as the little girl skipped away. "Sweet girl, almost like the niece I never had."

He walked over and commented; "You aren't going to try and turn her into a little imp are you?"

Ivan whipped off a pair of sunglasses and smiled. "Of course not. You wound me with the accusation." A piercing shriek punctuated the relative silence. "She's a little angel for a seven year old, and I really don't care how old she is chronologically."

He cast a glance towards the upper deck, where he heard Tsukiumi's angry voice. "Well, you certainly seem to be having an influence."

The Russian smirked, "Oh, sure I am. But it shouldn't be a problem. For now, Kusano has the innate protection of cuteness."

A small snort of laughter escaped him, then he looked up and was stunned to realize something about his friend. "Since when did you have grey eyes?"

Ivan laughed and flipped the sunglasses back on. "Since always. I'd guess you never noticed it because it was a bit dim down in Rapture. Afterwards I've always been wearing sunglasses because the sun hurts my eyes." Ivan glanced towards the city. "We're almost at the docks, so I'd get on up to the upper deck and make sure your girls get changed. Take a hint from me, don't torture the men of the city by flaunting your harem. Or, in Kagari's case, the women."

He rolled his eyes and waved his friend off. "Yeah, I get it."

Ivan vanished into the passenger area with a wave and he started to climb the stairs to the upper deck. He knew that he would find all four of the girls up here. Kagari was off doing his own thing as usual. When he reached the top of the stairs he was greeted by the sight of a wet Tsukiumi bent over at the waist and lecturing Kusano. Kazehana was lying off to one side on her stomach, nursing a bottle of champagne, with her top untied. As for Matsu, she was creeping up behind Tsukiumi, on her tip toes. Normally he wouldn't think anything of it, but Matsu was currently wearing her rape face. Before he could say anything, Matsu reached out, grabbed the strings of Tsukiumi's bikini top, and pulled.

Ivan took a long look out over the water towards Tokyo. He had never had the opportunity to travel abroad before, unless you counted that brief trip to Iceland before he plunged headlong into his Rapture expedition. Maybe that's what he should do, for know. It had taken him a while to realize it, but with Gil Alexander dead the endless supply of splicers would grind to a screeching halt. The splicers still left down there would eventually rot away completely, leaving the city completely empty. Considering how long Stanley Poole had lived, he had at least eighty something years to spend before he had to worry about dying of old age. Every other option of death seemed rather unlikely now due to amount of ADAM he carried with him. Leaving him to think he had been completely stupid to be so down about leaving Rapture. What Gil had said about ADAM however, did deserve some serious thought. The genetic goo was worse than crack when it came to addictiveness, and the mental degradation it caused did result in the fall of the city into chaos. Still, with some manner of iron-fisted control over ADAM there was no reason that Rapture couldn't be opened to the world.

He shrugged himself into his coat, flipped his sunglasses back on, and started talking to the air. "A problem for a time many years from now. What matters for now, is living in the moment."

He jogged from his room out onto the front deck, and was completely unsurprised when he heard a commotion on the upper deck. Mayhem seemed to follow Minato like a plague, infecting all around him with the urge to do something hilarious. That statement was probably an exaggeration, but not by much. After bounding up the stairs three at a time he was presented with the chaotic scene of Tsukiumi chasing Matsu around the deck at a berserker speed. One arm covering her generous cleavage, the other swinging wildly at Matsu. Minato was lying on the deck, flat on his face, in a small pool of blood that was coming from his nose. Kusano was kneeling at Minato's side, shaking the poor guy in a futile attempt to wake the ashikabi. Kazehana was off to one side, either oblivious to the chaos, or she just didn't care because she was used to it. He thought the odds were tipped overwhelmingly in favor of the latter.

He sauntered over and leaned on the railing near Kazehana. "Let me guess, Matsu thought it would be funny to undo Tsukiumi's top while the blond was lecturing Kusano about dumping ice water down people's backs?"

Kazehana picked her head up and smiled at him. "Very good Ivan-kun. Are you sure you weren't watching all of it over some hidden camera?"

He smirked and took the comedic opportunity that was offered. "Oh, if I were to place a hidden camera, it wouldn't be up on the deck. There are much better opportunities for such a piece of hardware." He shot a glance at the half-finished bottle of champagne within easy reach of Kazehana's right arm. "I trust that the spirits are to your liking?"

Kazehana made a face that was somewhere between a frown and a pout. "It's a bit on the light side."

He laughed, and iced a small portion of the deck ahead of Matsu. "I think you acquired a taste for the heavy stuff down in Rapture. I still havn't forgotten that little stunt with the entire liquor cabinet."

Kazehana remained silent long enough to watch Matsu skid along the ice path to crash down directly atop of Minato's prone body. "Maybe, but I have to remind you that I hadn't had a drink in months."

He rolled his eyes and ignored Tsukiumi's startled scream as she followed Matsu. "Yeah, sure." He smirked, "I'll tell you what. When we get dockside I'll find you a bottle of vodka, and not the cheap stuff they make by the case. I'm talking genuine, made-in-Russia vodka. I am certain that stuff will be able to put even you flat on your ass."

Kazehana pushed herself to her feet, stretched for a moment, then started to walk away towards the passenger area. Leaving both the bottle of champagne and her bikini top behind. "I'll be looking forward to it."

He took a moment to admire the view before snatching the purple piece of fabric off of the deck with Telekinesis. "You forgot something."

Kazehana paused just long enough to throw a glance, and a wink, over her shoulder. "Or did I?"

Minato's revival, and immediately subsequent scream, drew his attention for the slightest of moments. When he looked back, Kazehana was gone.

He muttered to himself; "Dammit girl, stop teasing me. I have rules, but how many temptations do you offer a man before he is expected to break?"

Tokyo: streets

Minato couldn't free himself of the notion that he was being watched. Understandable what with the fact that he was in the company of three beautiful women and, dare he think it, a rather attractive man. Ivan however, was not counted among his current companions. The Russian had skipped out on them after he had heard the address of Maison Izumo, said he had some shopping to do. No, at the moment the attractive man in the group was Kagari. The amusing part, and he was surprised with himself that he found it funny, was that every time they were forced to stop for any reason a group of young girls off to the side would start giggling amongst themselves and start pointing at Kagari. He couldn't tell for sure whether or not the flame sekirei knew about the attention, but the red on Kagari's face was a good hint.

He felt a tug on his sleeve and looked down at Kusano. "What is it?"

Kusano swung her head around for a moment before answering. "Onee-chan, are we almost there?"

He looked up to check the street signs, then gently took hold of Kusano's hand. Oddly, like how he used to hold his sister's hand when she was much younger. "It should be right around here. Tokyo can't have changed much in only a few months."

He knew they were on the right street, so all he needed to do was find the sign that hung over the gate. While he was looking up, someone bumped into him. He looked back at the person that passed by, it was a young looking boy wearing a tan-colored hat. As he watched, the boy shouldered his way between Kagari and Kazehana before moving off down the street.

A tug on his sleeve preceded a comment from Kusano. "Onee-chan, that boy took something out of your pocket."

His hand snapped up to feel his left pocket, even though he knew the only thing in it was his wallet. With a sense of indignation fueling him, he whirled about and his eyes immediately fixated on the tan hat slowly strolling away. With a snarl of anger he let go of Kusano's hand and blew between Kagari and Kazehana in pursuit of the thief. When he had closed within ten feet the thief turned to look at him, not as young as he had at first suspected but a thief regardless. The boy began to run, dodging between the few pedestrians that there were, and the chase began in earnest.

Maison Izumo:

Jango sighed to himself and ran the whetstone across the edge of his katana one more time. His time since the MBI attack had become somewhat ironic in hindsight. While the efforts of the business giant to recapture them had died out completely, that headache had been replaced by the much more strenuous task of playing nursemaid to dozens of young women with nothing but time on their hands. It was during these rare moments of quiet that he thanked whatever gods watched over him that he wasn't going at this by himself. Taki, Mutsu, and especially Akitsu. The latter two of whom commanded respect through their strength, the former who could defuse chaotic events before they got too far out of hand through calm reason. Miya however, did not help much. While Number One did still dictate chores to the collection of sekirei in residence here, it was a stop gap measure at best. Either she only managed to snare a few of them into whatever chore she had in mind, or every one of the sekirei pitched in and the chore lasted little more time than it took to take three breaths. And the only thing that came out of downtime around here was chaos. There always was going to be a wild child in any group. That wild one was, of course, Yomi. If ever there was a plot that involved something crazy, demented, or lewd, he could usually find Yomi not very far away, laughing like a demon.

He took his thoughts away from his troubles and finished his sword care by running a dry cloth along the length of his katana before lifting the blade into a shaft of sunlight. "Ah, there we are, and shiny enough so I can see my own reflection. Perfect."

His door opened and Akitsu walked in before taking a seat on the floor in front of him. "I hope I'm not going to have to be jealous of a piece of metal."

He allowed his eyes to travel where they would. From Akitsu's face, down across the cut-out section of her dress that she held together with two crossed chains, down to her hands that she had folded daintily in her lap, and back up. "Trust me, there is no comparison I could make that would do you justice."

Akitsu smiled at him and shook her head. "You are just too sweet."

He started to open his mouth to respond, but shut it with a loud clack when a crash from the front of Maison Izumo drew his attention rather violently.

A bombastic voice crashed through the inn with the force of an explosion. "Hello residents! The Russian is in the house!"

He literally flew down the stairs with one hand on his sword to the front door. When he got there he expected some kind of mercenary company that had been sent to capture the lot of them. What he did not expect to find was a single man standing in the doorway, holding a paper bag, wearing dark glasses, with a long, dark coat open to the waist.

The man in the door looked him up and down before lifting a hand to his face and removing the black glasses. "Judging by the 'I'll kill you if you act threatening' look. I'm going out on a limb and guessing that either Minato neglected to tell you about me, or I beat him here."

Still suspicious, he kept a ready hand on his blade. "I don't know who Minato is, so I suppose it would be the second option."

The other man seemed to be completely unconcerned with the threatening posture. "Oh well. I was sure that he'd get here before me what with all the shopping I had to do. Well, life happens to all of us." The other man shrugged. "I guess I'll just wait here for him."

He stuck his arm out and caught the other man by the shoulder. "Hold it, how exactly do you expect me to trust you?"

The other man glanced down to the hand on his shoulder, then looked back up with a patronizing smile on his face. "Look, you seem like a guy that can handle himself just fine in a brawl. So I think this is what is going through your head, I make any trouble and I die. I've seen enough of sekirei to know that I wouldn't last very long in a house full of hostile individuals." His grasp was brushed off with a dismissive wave of a hand. "Now if you'll excuse me."

He barked one last line at the retreating figure. "Your name?"

The other man whirled about and dropped the paper bag. "Oh where are my manners?" Then extended a hand in his direction. "Ivan Dragovitch at your service. Not literally of course, but you get the gist of it I think."

He shook the offered hand and reciprocated with his own name; "Jango."

Ivan narrowed his eyes for a moment, then smirked. "A suspicious lack of a last name that says only one thing to me." Ivan prodded him in the chest with an index finger. "You, my friend, are also a sekirei."

An odd note of amusement in Ivan's voice piqued his interest. "And why, pray tell, is that so intriguing?"

Ivan started to laugh out loud, as if to a joke only he was privy to. "Oh no special reason. I just wasn't aware that they made hormonally-balanced male sekirei."

Not entirely sure he wanted to hear the explanation, he left it at that. "I, ah, I see." Then he deftly changed the topic. "This Minato you mentioned-"

Ivan cut him off with a perceptive prediction of what he had intended to ask. "He should be getting here fairly soon, and you'll know him when you see him. The boy travels with a walking mountain range of estrogen."

The analogy was completely lost on him; "Ah, what?"

Ivan gave him a completely dumbfounded look. "Were you born yesterday?" When he responded with nothing but silence Ivan went on; "I meant he's got three beautiful women with him, and the notable mention of a little girl, plus the negligible mention of a sexually ambiguous man."

A new voice broke in on the conversation. "What was that about 'sexually ambiguous man?"

Ivan responded without missing a single beat. "What I meant, Kagari, is that you cannot tell whether you are a man or woman just by looking at you. I know you are firmly in the man camp, but others might not see it that way." The Russian grabbed him by the shoulders and spun him around to face the door. "Jango-san, meet Minato and his minus one crew. I'm going to get myself temporarily settled in in one of the rooms. Play nice."

Minato still marveled at Ivan's ability to shrug off guilt over killing Musubi. But, as he had said down in Rapture, he didn't blame the Russian for it. Now Ivan was almost telling jokes about it. He had been standing just outside the gates for about two minutes before deciding that the building in front of him was the same Maison Izumo he remembered. The building had undergone a few renovation while he had been away, most of which appeared to be extra bedrooms, but the overall feeling was the same.

Waiting in the front door, after being repositioned by Ivan, was a heavily-muscled man in a samurai hakama, with a mess of scars covering every visible portion of flesh. The man looked a little bit lost to be honest, but Ivan could have that effect on people.

He walked up to Jango, having heard the name from Ivan, and extended his hand. "Jango-san, a pleasure to meet you."

Jango recovered rather rapidly when spoken to, and dove right at the parting comment Ivan had made. "What exactly did that Russian mean by 'minus one?' Because I can clearly tell that all of your companions here are sekirei as well. What happened?"

He debated with himself just how much he should reveal about Rapture. Too much and he'd sound completely crazy. Too little and Jango probably wouldn't believe him. He had a distinct feeling that an angry Jango wouldn't be good for his long term, or short term health.

He started slowly, feeling it out word by word. "Where we were, the people were not at all friendly. One of them took Musubi-san hostage and demanded we all surrender or he would kill her."

A look of understanding dawned on Jango's face. "Ah, I see. So it was a no win situation for you. Either lose her or lose all of them. Not that I approve of the outcome, but you had no control over it." Jango paused for a moment, then seemed to think of something. "I expect that they killed her when you refused to surrender?"

He cringed, as he knew the answer would not be to Jango's liking regardless of the situation, "Well-"

Ivan bound down the stairs and broke in, mercifully saved him from being the bearer of bad news. "Not really. When the standoff came I put a very big bullet in Musubi's empty head."

Jango's mouth opened and shut a few times in complete outrage. "You, you executed Number Eighty-Eight?"

Ivan went on, as brazen as you please. "And then I put my last shot into her dead chest." The Russian's face became serious. "I'm not going to lie to you. I hated that girl with a passion and am not going to shed any tears that she's gone." Ivan then slapped a smile on his face and remarked; "But remember, it was a mercy killing for the greater good."

Jango seemed to be putting a great deal of effort into not exploding with anger, and turned to him. "Is your 'friend' always this infuriating?"

He scratched the back of his head sheepishly. "Not all of the time."

Tsukiumi added an addendum onto his admission. "Only most of the time."

Ivan let his mouth fall open with an overdramatic, audible gasp. "Dear god, Tsukiumi-chan told a joke. It's a sign of the apocalypse!"

While the Russian was laughing, Tsukiumi rolled her eyes and appeared to fight the urge to laugh herself. "Do you see what I mean?"

Jango's upper lip curled up in distaste. "Yes, I see what you mean perfectly." The samurai look-alike started to walk away, then paused and shot over his shoulder; "You might find it a bit crowded in here. There have been quite a few arrivals as of late."

Ivan waited for Jango to be out of earshot before commenting. "Eh, decent guy I suppose. Seems like he's got a bit of a stick up his ass though." The Russian snatched a paper bag up off the floor. "But never mind him. Like I said, I did some shopping and have a few things to give you." Ivan pulled a square bottle about the size of his head out of the bag and offered it to Kazehana. "As promised, I dare you to finish that without passing out."

Kazehana licked her lips in apparent anticipation. "I think I can do that, you'll see."

Ivan chuckled lightly, "Of I'm sure I will." Then he handed a slim, wrapped package about the size of a small book, to Tsukiumi. "I'd open that in private if I were you."

Tsukiumi gave Ivan a baleful stare. "Please tell me this is not something extremely perverted."

Ivan frowned, "That depends on how you want to look at it." Then Ivan leaned in next to Tsukiumi's left ear and lowered his voice to a whisper.

He couldn't exactly hear what comment Ivan made, but he was immediately aware of the results. Tsukiumi's face turned a shade of red so deep it was almost made her head look like a large tomato. Her lips were now pinched so tightly together he doubted he could part them with a crowbar. Whatever Ivan had said must have really made an impact.

Ivan turned to look at him, smirked, and pulled a very large gun out of one of the pockets on his coat. "Say hello to your little friend."

His instant reaction was to back away and raise his hands, as if he could ward off bullets just by doing that, but something Ivan said made him pause. "What do you mean 'your' little friend?"

The Russian threw back his head and laughed, loudly. "Isn't it obvious?" Ivan presented the gun to him, butt first. "This is my gift for you. A custom made Desert Eagle, gold plated, with your name engraved in the side."

He took the gun and just held it for a moment, pointing it down at the ground. "I, I really don't know what to say. Why spend so much on a gift for me?"

Ivan took a similar gun out of a different pocket and held it in close proximity to his. "Well, that's because this one is more for the both of us. It's a symbolic 'brother's in arms" thing. One of these days I'm going to come back to Tokyo and find you, old and gray, and we'll share the highlights of our lives with each other, sound good?"

He looked back and forth between the gun and his friend. "Surely we are going to see each other between now and the twilight hours of our lives?"

Ivan smiled and slapped him on the shoulder. "Oh you aren't getting rid of me that easily. I'll be sticking around this city for a while yet." The Russian tapped his sister weapon. "And you might want to holster that. I hear guns on open display ruin most reunions."

After Nightfall: Maison Izumo

Minato fell back onto the bed in one of the few remaining empty rooms in the entire inn. In spite of everything MBI had done, Jango had practically filled Maison Izumo to the brim with other sekirei, some of whom he had personally seen beaten. He had had a particularly sour encounter with Number Forty-Three, Yomi as he had learned later. She had slapped him across the face hard enough to make his ears ring. He could still feel the exact place where she had hit him, over two hours ago.

He cupped his hands behind his head and laid it down on the pillow. "Ah, home at last."

What seemed like moments after he shut his eyes he heard something, or more than likely someone, fall against his door. It was rather late, so he was curious as to whom was calling at this hour. Odds favored one of his sekirei, and if that were that case then he definitely should see what they wanted.

As he reached for the handle he opened his mouth and asked probably the single most cliche line in the world. "Hello? Who's there?"

When the door opened he felt himself being pushed back and down. Carried by the weight of the woman who's head was resting on his chest. The faintest whiff of cherry blossoms reached his nose.

Kazehana lifted herself just enough so she could meet his eyes, and licked her lips. "I'm right here. Were you expecting someone else?"

Kazehana's eyelids were drooping, likely a direct result of the large bottle of liquor that she was still clutching in her right hand. From the short view he had gotten of the same bottle he could tell that it was almost completely empty. Amazingly, despite the slightest hint of a slur in her voice, just hearing Kazehana talk made his heart start to race.

He started to respond; "No, I wasn't expecting any-"

The black-haired beauty cut him off quite sharply by latching her lips over his, and forcing her tongue inside of his mouth. What shocked him, was that he found himself reciprocating. He had no idea what he was doing, so he supposed he was just caught up in the moment. Then, as quickly as it had started, the moment was over.

He sat up and found that he actually needed to take a breath before he could say anything. "What, what exactly was that for?"

Kazehana patted him on the cheek like one would a child. "Just making sure you knew..." There was a pause as she took a long drink from the bottle. "... That I loved you."

He was momentarily stunned. Most of his sekirei had never just come out and said it. "Ah, and I was supposed to doubt that at any point?"

Kazehana stood and started to back towards the door, smiling at him the whole way. "No, at least not yet."

Just the way she said that made him feel an uncharacteristic pang of, jealousy? Possessiveness? "Where are you going?"

Kazehana's smile turned into a rape face just as perverted, if not more so, than Matsu's. "I'm just going to give Ivan-kun a little surprise, as a thank you."

Before he could reply, or so much as move, Kazehana had closed his door and was gone. Exactly what kind of "surprise" did she have planned for his friend? He had a disturbing notion that he already knew what she was going to do. His door opened again, and although he expected black, he was greeted with blond. Tsukiumi didn't walk so much as she flowed into the room like the water she so freely commanded. When she knelt down next to him, he noticed that there was a rolled up magazine in her left hand. The thing Ivan had bought for her perhaps?

Tsukiumi held the magazine up and fixated him with the most serious look she could muster, which was quite impressive. "Minato, we need to talk."

Maison Izumo: Ivan's room

Ivan let out a sigh of weariness and tossed his coat onto the floor by the closet. It was physically draining to be in the center of a maelstrom of hyper young women, so now he had something of an idea of what it was like to be Minato. Now that he had some idea, he had zero desire to be in the same predicament. If, by some stroke of fate, he ended up with a sekirei of his own, he would prefer that he end up with only one.

He amended the thought out loud. "Well, maybe two. But no more than that." A few desirable traits popped into his head and he felt compelled to voice them. "Let's see. She'd need to be beautiful. We lust with our eyes before loving with our hearts, sad truth of life. Elegance would be nice, I'd rather not meet the female version of me." He took a moment to chuckle to himself over his last thought. "Last, just the right level of depraved."

It was only now that he heard the creak of his door, and before he could turn around a pair of slender hands draped themselves across his eyes. At the same time a deuce of huge, undeniably feminine body parts pressed against his back. He smelled the unmistakable aroma of high-end vodka, and a whiff of cherry blossoms. Had that always been there?

A voice he knew quite well cooed in his ear; "Guess who."

Even though it was blatantly obvious, he decided to be a smartass just for the fun of it. "Tsukiumi-san? I had no idea I made such an impression." Then he grabbed both of Kazehana's wrists and twisted around, holding both of her hands over her head. He astutely observed; "You are drunk off of your ass."

Kazehana just smiled at him and tilted her head to the side, face flushed from the vodka; "So?"

A long moment passed, and he let go of Kazehana's wrists, allowing his shoulders to slump in defeat. "Alright, fine. You win, I break. Get your perfect ass over here."

Maison Izumo: Foyer

Jango took a deep breath and attempted to slow his pulse. Meditation was only a plausible idea around here at night, when the vast majority of the other tenants were asleep. Come to think of it, it would be a good idea if that same majority tried to implement some meditation on their own. It might do something to alleviate the boredom that drove some of the more insane antics that occurred.

That particular thought brought him to another that he voiced to the thin air. "Maybe if Miya tried some meditation she could learn to let some of the smaller infractions against her rules slide. Maybe..." A sound, or rather, series of sounds caught his attention and made him forget all about meditation. "Is that, no, who would be stupid enough to..." He trailed off as the question was answered for him in a crash of breaking glass.

He made his way over to the East side of the inn and opened the sliding door. On the lawn in nothing but a pair of black boxer shorts, was Ivan. The Russian was standing in the middle of a circle of broken glass shards and staring up at whatever window he flew out of with a fire of rage burning in his eyes.

Ivan crossed his arms and shouted up into the darkness. "Not that the little booty call was my idea, common decency states that you don't interrupt people in the middle of the act."

Miya's monotone voice carried down with icy clarity. "No perverted behavior will be tolerated in my inn."

Ivan tilted his head far enough to one side to elicit a loud crack before responding. "Yeah, and why is that?"

There was a long pause, almost as if this were the first time someone had questioned Miya's authority to her face. "Because I say so."

Ivan smirked, appearing to derive some sort of momentum from Miya's weak response. "Is that so?" A short laugh erupted from the Russian's mouth before he continued. "You know, I think I can come up with the reason you refuse to share."

Yomi appeared at the other side of the sliding door, followed by an assortment of the other residents. "Really? Don't keep us in suspense, spit it out."

Ivan obliged by pointing an accusatory finger up into the air. "You act far too matronly to attract the attention, or affection, of any man or woman. In simple terms, you prohibit others from scoring because you can't get any action for yourself!"

Silence fell, as heavy as a black, leaden shroud. So far as anyone knew, no one had ever dared to openly insult Miya. To do so to her face was nigh unthinkable. He imagined most of the sekirei present expected Ivan to just burst into flames on the spot. Miya descended from the window in one smooth movement and started to slowly walk towards the Russian. Normally the hannya mask floated behind her head when she was angry with someone, now the hannya mask was her face. He believed the proper word for that frame of mind was enraged.

Ivan did not look impressed. "Lady, if you think that is going to scare me then you obviously have never heard of Rapture."

Miya did not respond. Only acted the instant she entered arms reach. Faster than someone could blink she had Ivan by the throat and lifted the Russian up off of the ground. For his part, Ivan looked completely stunned. That look however, soon faded into the look of a warrior.

Ivan's voice sounded strained from the lack of oxygen. "Ok, I'm only going to say this once lady. Let go of my neck now, and I won't hurt you."

He resisted the urge to burst out laughing, barely. The other sekirei gathered in the doorway apparently didn't feel the same way, and did start to laugh, loudly. The utter hilarity of it was that Miya was the second most powerful sekirei in existence, second only to himself. Ivan might have been a physically strong man, but that didn't count for much.

Miya apparently felt the same way, because an utterly evil smile spread across her face. "And how exactly do you propose to hurt me?"

Ivan coughed once, twice, then returned the smile with greater intensity; "Easy." Both of Ivan's hands latched onto Miya's arm; "Like this."

Completely without warning, huge arcs of lightning coursed directly into Miya's body from Ivan's hands. The Landlady did immediately drop the Russian, but the electrical storm continued. Miya's body was twitching and contorting more than any person of sound mind had a right to as every muscle spasmed out of of control. And, just as quickly as it had begun, the storm ceased. The air was filled with the smell of burnt hair, and smoke was rising from the fallen Landlady.

Ivan nudged Miya with his foot enough times to elicit a cough, and smirked. "I did warn you. Why does no one ever listen?"

Maison Izumo: Minato's room

Minato stared at the magazine in Tsukiumi's hand. His current emotions were a paradoxical mix of disbelief, and exasperation. Disbelief that Ivan had actually had the nerve to get something on that particular topic for her. The exasperation, because he fully expected his friend to do something like it.

He read the title out loud. "The Married Woman's guide. Five hundred ways to please your man..." He choked out the last two words; "... in bed." He started to stammer out an apology on Ivan's behalf, but Tsukiumi put both index and middle fingers on her left hand over his lips, effectively silencing him.

The beauty in front of him fixated him with the most serious look he had ever seen, which was saying quite a bit. "Minato, you haven't so much as touched me from the day we became man and wife." Her face turned bright red. "Well, except for that one time when I..." Tsukiumi shook her head vigorously. "But, but that doesn't count! The point I'm trying to make here, is that, as your legal wife, I have rights. I am not going to just stay quiet while you continue to ignore me and..." Tsukiumi started rambling.

As he listened, all of the puzzle pieces finally fit together inside his head. This is what had been bothering her all along. If he was honest with himself, he could say the same thing about every other sekirei bound to him. Only the rest of them really didn't seem bothered by it quite as much. With a clear head, he found himself once again blaming Musubi. A particular incident stood out in his head. One time at the table downstairs he had just been about to kiss Tsukiumi, when out of nowhere Musubi appeared and nearly choked him to death. That this had been going on as long as it had made him feel ashamed of himself.

Acting out of instinct, and with no feeling of obligation whatsoever, he reached out and gently touched the side of Tsukiumi's face. Her rambling stopped as quickly as if her words had been rope, and his touch the guillotine. Slowly, he drew her face to his. At first, his lips just brushed hers, just a taste, a hint of something pure. Then the whole sweet package as he lifted his other hand to hold the other side of her face. He literally felt Tsukiumi melt at his touch, at the contact that she had craved for so long. He felt something wet on his hands, and opened his eyes to look at Tsukiumi's face. Her eyes were closed, and she was crying. Somehow though, he had a distinct feeling that these tears were not of sadness.