Sahashi Minato scoffed yet more of the Miya's well prepared, filling and exceptionally tasty breakfast as fast as he could scoff. After a night of tossing and turning and a dream about rescuing lost little girls, Minato felt that a good breakfast was just the thing he needed. Kagari was also wolfing down his food, apparently something had come up with his hosting work and they'd called him in. Musubi, Minato's Sekirei, was taking things somewhat more easily having nowhere to work except for the routine chores that Miya had graciously tasked her with. The relative peace of breakfast was soon interrupted as a nearby television switched itself on.
"Attention Ashikabi and Sekirei! I, Hiroto Minaka, your Game Master, address you!" announced Hiroto with a touch of magnificence about himself, "Today we have a unique opportunity! Within the Botanic Gardens is a young Green Girl. The first Ashikabi that gets to her may claim her as his Sekirei!"
Kagari nearly choked on his breakfast. Takami had had him ward off several opportunistic Ashikabi and their Sekirei as an attempt to protect her… now with Minaka's announcement his work had just become nigh insurmountable.
"But that is not all! MBI has identified an interloper, a dangerous criminal! Anyone who can bring this fugitive to MBI tower will be given anything that is within the power of MBI to grant! Study his face well for he walks amongst you somewhere in Tokyo!"
A grainy still photo of a westerner appeared. Though the picture was low quality one could make out most of the features, the shock of wild hair and eyes that seemed far older than his face would suggest.
The television then seemed to shut itself off… but for Sekirei, a secret message continued.
"Attention Sekirei! Heed these words and keep them from your Ashikabi! Only you can hear and see this message from your Game Master! It has come to my attention that many of you have been forcibly winged by cruel, abusive Ashikabi who care nothing for your heart or your destiny! Though such things are part of the Sekirei Plan, I offer you an opportunity. Bring the fugitive to me and MBI can reverse the bond you have, freeing you to find your true Ashikabi! I wish you all the best of luck!"
Kagari glanced at Musubi and then quickly to Miya. Not one of them showed outwardly having heard the message. He did his best to pretend that he'd heard nothing at all after the initial public transmission.
"The green girl in the park?" said Minato more to himself than to anyone else, remembering his dreams from the night before and the ghostly apparition when he and Musubi had fallen into that tree.
"The one from your dream?" said Musubi as she clung to Minato's arm.
She'd heard the message from Minaka and had no wish to be free of her bond to Minato. Even so it would be tempting to go after the 'fugitive' if only for the offer that was openly on the table… a wish that was within MBI's power to grant. She already knew what she wanted… she wanted to spend the rest of her life with Minato.
"Yes. Perhaps I can look for her after work…" said Minato.
Kagari nearly choked again. Though he led a double life of sorts as Homura, protector of unwinged Sekirei there was no way he'd let anyone forcibly wing number 108 without a fight. Minato had dreamt of her… which meant he was reacting to her in the fashion that destined Ashikabi did. He seemed nice enough but in Kagari's mind Kusano was still too young by far.
"I'll look for her Minato! I won't let you down!" shouted Musubi enthusiastically.
"Didn't the message say that Ashikabi had to find her?" said Minato.
"Don't you have chores that need doing?" interjected Miya in a sweet hannya way.
"Ah… um… right… yes… chores…" said Musubi, afraid for her life.
Miya had a way of instilling mortal fear into just about everyone she met that displeased her. Whenever she spoke like that it was as though all the demons of hell itself were three feet behind her just waiting for an excuse. It was a feeling that could only be dispersed by saying exactly the right thing to Miya as quickly and as honestly as possible. Nobody in Izumo House wanted to see the results of crossing Miya. Nobody.
"Well, I need to go, I'm late for work already," said Kagari as naturally as he could.
"Will you be coming home for dinner Kagari?" asked Miya.
"No, I'm having another late night," said Kagari… which was true enough.
As soon as he was out of sight, Kagari leapt into action and disguised himself quickly as his alter ego, Homura. He could already see several Ashikabi and their Sekirei closing in on the park. With flames in hand, Kagari knew he had his work cut out for him.
The Doctor woke up bright and early. He hadn't been all that tired and wasn't really that much of a fan of sleeping much at all really, preferring to wring as much value out of his days as he could. He was about to toss off the covers and have a quick shower when he realised quite belatedly that he had apparently grown a second set of arms.
"Four arms?" he muttered, "Four arms! Fantastic!"
He could already imagine what he could do with four arms! He could pilot the TARDIS twice as well! He could wave to twice as many people as he could before! He could get dressed and attend to his hair at the same time! He could even-
His train of thought took an abrupt turn when he realised that his new second set of arms were somewhat daintier than his usual pair. Furthermore, they seemed to stretch back a fair bit further than he himself did. His eyes roved back, following where the arms went until he craned his neck to see that Akitsu had snuggled up close in the night and had him locked in an embrace.
"Ah, well, that explains that… pity about the arms though," he mused somewhat sadly… he'd really been looking forward to have a second pair of arms.
Akitsu, unconsciously sensing that the Doctor was awake tightened her embrace, practically squeezing into him.
"Oh! Well! Um! Oh dear!" stammered the Doctor apprehensively as he realised that Akitsu seemed to very much favour sleeping in the buff, "Um, Akitsu… Akitsu could you wake up?"
Akitsu's sleepy grey-brown eyes slowly fluttered open and her face settled from a relaxed sleepy expression to the cold drowsy one she normally wore while awake.
"Ashikabi?" she uttered softly.
The Tardis translation for 'Ashikabi' had several bents in it. It worked out to: Friend, Companion, Lifemate, Husband/Wife, Genebinder and… disturbingly… Master. Overall, a very broad term… the Doctor preferred to think of the word as closer to Friend / Companion than all of the other deeper connotations, though even Companion was pushing it all told. The sooner he found a safe place for her and retrieved his TARDIS the better it would be for the both of them. The last thing he needed was someone close to him to get hurt. Again.
"Call me the Doctor," he said warmly, before glancing up at her forehead and locking his gaze on her Sekirei mark.
"Doctor," she said.
"Excuse me, can I just…" he said as he brushed her hair aside.
For the first time the Doctor actually, properly looked at the mark instead of just noting it as interesting and leaving it at that. The more he tried to look at it the more something seemed to nag at him to not look at it.
"Interesting…" he said, reaching for his glasses and sonic screwdriver.
After a moment to sonic the glasses he slipped them on and took another good look at her mark.
"Aha! Oh yes! Quite brilliant!" he exclaimed.
"Doctor?" asked Akitsu.
"Your uh… tattoo," he said, "Very interesting! Whoever did this to you went out of their way to build in a perception filter! Bit like how the TARDIS disguises itself… it's sort of like that Somebody Elses Problem field from the Hitchhikers guide to the galaxy and I should know since I gave Douglas Adams the idea…"
Akitsu shot the Doctor a perplexed look.
"Perception filter?" she imitated imperfectly by way of question.
"Oh, uh… it kind of makes you… not really notable unless you do something to stand out. That's why all those people were passing you by without a second glance. It looks like it's been set so that only a few special types of people can see it… the only reason I can see it at all is… well, that's not important… it can't seem to figure out what I am so it sort of swings back and forth between wanting to be seen and not wanting to be seen and whoever did this was absolutely BRILLIANT... I mean, who manages to work a perception filter into a tattoo of all things? That's like making fire from ice… doable but why all the bother? Who did this to you by the way?"
"MBI," replied Akitsu.
"MBI?" asked the Doctor.
"MBI," confirmed Akitsu
"A cult? A company? An organisation? A government agency? A club?" probed the Doctor.
"Company," replied Akitsu.
"Ah, well…" said the Doctor, "Why don't we pay them a little visit after breakfast eh?"
Minaka reclined in his chair comfortably feeling quite pleased with himself waiting for his tea to cool. His message had gone off without a hitch. He'd been most pleased with the Subwave network technology appropriated from the Mr. Copper foundation… quite possibly one of the most useful pieces of software he'd managed to acquire being able to intelligently find and contact whoever he wanted to contact, doing so discreetly and untraceably. Even Matsu, thorn in his side though she could be at times, would be hard pressed to track a subwave signal.
The Doctor was still very much at large but he had confidence he'd be in his custody soon enough. In truth this manhunt of his was as much a test as it was a genuine attempt to reign in a potential threat. He'd set an unofficial time limit on his offer to the Sekirei of three days. If the lesser Sekirei he'd released could bring him in inside that time limit, then the Doctor was probably not nearly as problematic as he'd suspected and he could stay the course after incarcerating him safely away where he could affect little of consequence. If however he could evade capture… well, there were reasons he kept the Disciplinary Squad in his pocket. Minaka then remembered to check his watch and counted off the seconds… 3… 2… 1…
"YOU IDIOT!" roared Takami as she burst into his office.
Right on time, he thought with a smile on his face.
"Did I leave the kettle on again? I really should get my secretary to make me my tea," he said, feigning ignorance.
"You know what I'm talking about!" snapped Takami, "You throw Kusano to the wolves before we've even finished with her adjustments and then you make promises you know we can't keep!"
Minaka smiled. He loved pushing Takami's buttons… it was often so difficult to get a reaction out of her that fell outside of her normal patterns. Seeing her like this reminded him of old times.
"The Sekirei Plan marches on whether we are ready for it or not," replied Minaka to her first point, "And our research in reversing the Sekirei bond with their Ashikabi proceeds apace… sooner or later we'd have to go with live test subjects. Cell cultures will only take us so far!"
"None of those cell cultures have survived Minaka. What do you think will happen when we expose a Sekirei to that process after she's been bonded with her Ashikabi, willing or not?"
"If it is the will of the Gods that the Sekirei do not survive the process then so be it," said Minaka as he reached for his tea.
Takami slapped the tea out of his hands in indignation. The cup sailed out of his hands and shattered on the ground with a crash, spilling hot tea onto the floor. Minaka irritably stood up and leaned over his desk, coming within inches of Takami's face.
"It is your job to make the process work," he said through gritted teeth, "Or perhaps you enjoy seeing Sekirei being abused by their Ashikabi?"
"The process is not ready," growled Takami in return, "I'm not sure if it will ever be ready. You cannot go and make promises to those people that neither you nor I can keep. False hope is worse than none at all in the end."
"Therein lies your problem, Takami. You think of them as people… not as the instruments of the Gods!" said Minaka as he adopted a grandiose pose, "Does a hammer question a carpenter? Does a pen challenge a writer? Does your computer resist its purpose? When the Sekirei have fulfilled their purpose the time of the gods shall begin anew! You and I will have been instrumental in its rebirth!"
"And Takehito?" countered Takami.
The wind practically flew out of Minaka's sails. The grandiose pose he'd struck withered into slumped shoulders. She'd struck an old wound squarely, an old wound that both of them shared.
"Get out," he said flatly.
Takami turned and made for the door, her point made. She paused for a moment at the threshold and looked back to Minaka.
"If she ever finds out," said Takami, "She'll have your head. You know that."
"And yours for keeping the truth from her, Takami," said Minaka, his voice dead.
She nodded. Takami had known the price for her silence on the matter and would pay it when the time came. Head hung low, she left Minaka's office.
Minaka glanced at the shattered teacup and shook his head. He sat back at his desk and pulled a bottle of clear fluid and a small glass. He felt the need for a drink and tea was not going to cut it. He poured out a shot and sculled it before pouring out another shot. He held the glass out in front of him, letting it refract the view of Tokyo through its clear on clear depths.
"Takehito," he said softly.
A/N
Thanks for all the commentary and support so far everyone! Chapter 5 is shaping up very well and should be up fairly soon if I continue to luck out on free time, inspiration and creative drive.