A/N
I had a little extra time this week so this chapter is a might longer than the previous entries have been so far. The next chapter is shaping up to be about as long too if the planning stages pan out. Enjoy!
Akitsu fixed the Doctor with a cold and curious stare as he sipped his tea. After they'd showered one after the other Akitsu had rifled through the clothing the Doctor had thoughtfully provided her, settling on a Kimono with a black ribbon about her waist and a parting down the center. After getting dressed the Doctor had marched right up to the nearest café he could find and had flashed his magical psychic paper in their faces, concocting a story about being a food critic for the British Crown. Within moments they had been given a complimentary free breakfast with their finest tea… it was something Akitsu would have dismissed as impossible not 24 hours ago.
Now however, even just being with the Doctor for such a short time, she was convinced that nothing could stop this man from getting what he wanted. It was as if the universe itself seemed to stand aside to allow him to pass and yet… he acted as though he wanted none of it. It was as though he was merely passing through and apart from the bare necessities, such as breakfast, he was unwilling to be overly burdensome on others except where it came to what he perceived as injustice.
How could she tell the Doctor about the Sekirei plan? How would he react to it? Sekirei themselves usually gave the barebones explanation after being winged before Minaka contacted the Ashikabi directly. Akitsu however couldn't be winged. She knew this, felt it in her bones, whenever she stopped and 'listened' for the beat of her Ashikabi's heart she heard… nothing. Nothing at all. No matter how far she stretched her senses, no matter how hard she tried, she could not sense her Ashikabi. Perhaps he, or she, had died long before the Sekirei plan had come into motion. Perhaps her Ashikabi had yet to be born… if she could but choose whom to make her Ashikabi instead of leaving it in the capricious hands of destiny she would have leapt across the table and kissed the Doctor to seal the pact, forever. She may not be reacting to him in the way that Sekirei naturally did to their Ashikabi but that was the norm for Akitsu… a norm she longed to break.
"Just what I needed!" exclaimed the Doctor, breaking Akitsu's train of thought, "Lovely stuff tea! Reverses enzyme decay! Reduces free radicals! Stops brains from melting!"
Akitsu glanced at her own half finished cup of tea but didn't find herself reaching quite the same levels of excitement for it. It was warm. The taste was inoffensive but neither was it particularly engaging. It was just a drink, served hot. Perhaps she couldn't enjoy it because of that numbness. Did it affect taste and the enjoyment of food too? Such things had always been this way as far back as Akitsu could remember… she'd only come to question what she felt when she'd seen others delighting in feelings and sensations she never once shared after she had escaped from MBI tower. Before that she'd always been isolated, even from other Sekirei, she'd come to appreciate silence and had been laconic from the moment she'd learned to speak… a stark contrast from the Doctor's nigh sesquipedalian loquaciousness.
The Doctor had been making a show of scribbling down notes for his 'critical review' of the establishments 'fine cuisine', the better to keep up the appearance of a food critic… at least until they walked out. Akitsu sipped her tea once again, trying to extract even the barest shred of enjoyment out of it… to no avail. With a silent sigh she placed the teacup on the table and focused on a nearby television. There was a twist of static and the image of a weather reporter declaring sunny skies ahead for the next few days was replaced by Hiroto Minaka.
"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!"
Akitsu saw that the Doctor hadn't seen the transmission. It wasn't tuned for him. Only Ashikabi and Sekirei could see it.
The Green Girl? Thought Akitsu, Number 108, Kusano?
Akitsu had grown up isolated from other Sekirei. The others had actively avoided her… whether it was out of some instinctual knowledge that she was broken and irrelevant or a deliberate and malicious campaign of exclusion Akitsu neither knew nor cared. It was inevitable as the Ice Sekirei that she would, sometimes in jest, sometimes in all seriousness, be called the Ice Queen. She had, after a time, come to revel in her solitude and isolation, using it to observe the other Sekirei and their interactions with humans as though she were documenting their behaviour for some outside party. She'd memorised many details involving their powers and their behaviour… and she knew a lot more about the Sekirei plan than most… though the Discipline Squad undoubtedly had the full picture. Kusano was young… still very much an innocent child. She sifted through what she knew to be normal human behaviour. How would a human react to a young child being offered up as a trophy to whomsoever got to her first? Shock? Outrage? Indignation? Concern? Each one of them seemed to be the right answer. Logically she knew she should be feeling those things. Her mind held a detached concern for her fellow Sekirei… but she herself felt nothing but cold apathy. She knew that was wrong. She could think of her concerns but she could not feel them, there was no anxiety, no worry, nothing.
"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!"
Akitsu's eyebrows rose with surprise. Once again her feelings, or lack thereof, were as inconsistent as night and day. She felt no concern at all for a child thrown to the wolves but as soon as those first pictures started appearing on the screen…
"Doctor," she said, tugging at his shirtsleeve and pointing at the TV.
"What? Oh yes, I'm sure Toyota's are quite nice," he said.
It was useless. He couldn't see the message. She was about to give up when Minaka 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!"
Akitsu instantly realised just how much danger this Doctor was in. She knew enough about humans to know that more than a few would see Sekirei as their property to do with as they pleased. She knew enough about Sekirei to know that though they might hate every moment of it they would accept their fate… until destiny offered a way out, and Minaka had just played on that. Many Sekirei would be tempted by this offer, more than she could fight off if it came down to a fight. They needed to run, needed to hide. It was not fear that drove her, merely a cognisant breakdown of the situation at hand. They couldn't fight all those Sekirei at once. The remaining options were run and hide.
"Doctor," she said more insistently this time.
"What is it?" he asked, noticing the trace of concern in her at last.
"Trouble," she said.
The Doctor glanced about but saw nothing untoward in the café.
"What kind of trouble?" he asked.
"Big," she informed.
"How big?"
"Very,"
"Woman of few words aren't you," he commented.
Akitsu wished she could be more specific, that she could tell him just how deep the trouble went but communication was not her strong point. Her laconic nature had been bred of a life of solitude and a disdain for others, it was not something she could easily break out of in a pinch. She knew the Doctor could see the flickers of concern on her face. It had been the most emotion she'd displayed in front of him since he had found her, dejected, alone and soaking in the park the night before.
"Come closer," he beckoned from across the table.
Akitsu obeyed, leaning in closer and closer to the Doctor. Was this it? Was he going to try and wing her? Now?
What will that feel like? She wondered.
A thought struck her. What would happen to her when he found out he couldn't wing her? Would she be discarded? Thrown out again? Fear welled up in her, one of the few things she could feel without the damnable inhibitions that applied to so much else. She was absolutely, deathly afraid of being thrown out like common refuse. Again. The Doctor leaned forward. The barest of trembles shook her body. She closed her eyes and prepared for the worst.
He reached out to her, placing his hands on either side of her face and closed his eyes.
"This won't hurt a bit," he reassured her, "Just relax,"
The Doctor did not like making a habit of this, entering another persons mind to walk amongst their memories in much the same manner he travelled through time and space. Within moments of making the connection the Doctor knew that Akitsu wasn't human. More then that, her mind was unlike any that he'd visited in the past. In most cases it was like a dream of flying. You chose where you wanted to be and there you went. Her mind though… it was like swimming in a frigid sea of molasses. Everything in her seemed to drag him, hold him down, resist his perception.
"Don't resist," he said, "Open up… if there's anything you don't want me to see just imagine a closed door. I won't look. I promise."
The sea disappeared, replaced by… void. Nothing. Wherever he looked he saw an endless abyss of nothing that seemed to stretch on forever and ever and ever, a void so thick it was as though it were tangible. It made no sense. There should have been childhood memories, life on Earth, the million and one things that people accumulated in their lifetime that would pop in and out at random. All that he could make of the void was that it was some kind of cipher, some barrier that held something back.
"Doctor," whispered Akitsu.
Images streamed forth in front of the Doctor. Akitsu was doing her part, not merely letting him in but pushing to be heard inside her own mind. He saw a man wearing glasses and a haircut that made even his look tame wearing a labcoat that seemed more like a cape. He saw images of people… people that weren't human but strongly resembled them with powers no human in history had ever possessed. He saw a great battle, he saw Tokyo in ruins as two fighters clashed against one another unleashing disproportionately improbable forces upon one another in a quest for victory. He saw himself chased and hounded by these people that were not human and through it all he felt a small spark… a strand of fear for his safety from Akitsu. Carefully the Doctor disengaged the link, realising only at the end that just as he'd seen only the barest of glimpses into Akitsu… Akitsu had seen only the barest of glimpses of him.
"Doctor," she said as tears welled up in her eyes.
The things she had seen! She had tried to tell him… felt him trying to claw through the numbness and the cold and the isolation, trying to see what she had seen, know what she knew… she had beaten at her own barriers, fought against the walls until she had felt the slightest touch of the Doctor… and in touch him he had also touched her.
Images, feelings, names, people, places… more than the Earth had to offer. She had seen red grass and a burnished orange sky! A great crystal citadel that stretched on forever! She'd seen war and death! She'd seen life and rebirth! Massive nebulae and galaxies… she'd seen the Earth's first dawn and its final sunset ten billion years apart from one another… just a tiny glimpse of this wonderful, amazing, scary, beautiful Doctor. She felt wonder. She felt fear. She felt gratitude. She felt. For a few glorious moments she felt something beyond numb and cold and fear. For the briefest of moments she could feel things uninhibited… before the walls began to close once more returning her to darkness and cold once more. She cried. She cried because she could feel nothing anymore, not happiness, not gladness, not grief nor sorrow. Her tears were a physiological response to her turmoil and nothing more but she knew… she knew what it was to feel and like the first taste of honey she had found herself wanting more of it.
"I'm sorry," said the Doctor as he sat himself beside her, "I'm so, so sorry,"
He drew her into an encompassing embrace despite the odd looks from the other patrons and employees in the café. He'd sensed some of what had concerned Akitsu… and a whole lot more as well. Despite her fears, despite her concerns the Doctor knew that he had to comfort her first. She might not have been human but that did not rob her of the right to human compassion. No mind had been like hers in all of time and space. Walled off, isolated, and closed in from even itself. It was monstrous, it was unnatural, and whoever had done this to her… he swore. He swore then and there while offering comfort and sympathy to Akitsu… he would get to the bottom of this. He would find out who had done this to her… when they had done it to her… why it was done… and he would make them pay.
Uzume hated working for Higa. If not for her the sake of her Ashikabi she would have taken great pleasure in returning all the misery and sorrow he was putting her through by helping Chiho just enough to keep her alive instead of giving her the best of care… despite the rules regarding Sekirei and Ashikabi in Minaka's game. That being said, once the job was underway, she was brutally professional in her execution. There was nothing right about what she was doing but at least she could say that she did it well.
Her target, No. 77, Shourai, had fled at the sight of her. That meant she was smarter than most of her victims. Unwinged Sekirei were like fodder for her. Winged ones were tougher, not that she couldn't handle them regardless, but Higa had a penchant for preying on the weak that turned her stomach. The least he could do was send her up against worthy prey.
They leaped from building to building with the boundless, endless endurance and power that were part and parcel of being Sekirei, Shourai always managing to stay one step ahead of Uzume. She knew why of course, Shourai had a special talent for seeing a few moments in the future at all times. She'd run because she'd seen herself run in her future sight, because every time she stood her ground and fought she only ever saw herself dying. It made chasing her problematic. It would make fighting her just as problematic… but not impossible. Sekirei had their limits… even clairvoyant Sekirei. As long as she could overwhelm her opponent using her standard modus operandi Shourai would go down just as easily as her prior victims.
Shourai landed hard in an open courtyard. She stood, tall and proud as though daring Uzume to attack her now before she spoke.
"Veiled Sekirei!" she shouted, pointing an accusing finger at her, "I have seen the future!"
Uzume landed a safe distance away. Close enough to lash out with her veils, far enough to make any sort of counter attack ineffective. Though Shourai could see the future and was a formidable melee fighter because of it, the real damage at this distance would come from twin razor sharp discuses she favoured as weapons in mid range combat.
"And I have seen yours, Oracle," countered Uzume, "It ends with you choking on my veils,"
Shourai laughed, "I have seen the face of my Ashikabi! He wings me! Right here! In the gentle summer rain! I cannot be defeated by you until that time has come to pass! My visions never lie!"
Uzume had paid her sufficient courtesy. By way of response she lashed out with her veils. Shourai dodged and flung a disc, shredding fabric. More veils unfurled, striking out from multiple directions. With her remaining disc Shourai twisted, twirled and slashed her way to freedom. Instinct, training and a keen sense for survival forced Uzume to the ground as Shourai's first disc swung back to return to its master. A moment too late and it would have struck her in the back.
Taking the initiative, Shourai thundered toward her, catching her disc in mid flight intent on filleting Uzume. Though Shourai was unwinged and couldn't win by touching Uzume's crest and reciting her norito, she could still technically win the fight as long as she beat her to within an inch of her life.
A disk came scything down in a smooth rapid arc. Uzume scrambled to her right just in time. The disc hit the ground with enough force to penetrate the concrete and disturb the long buried soil underneath, releasing a spout of dirt and dust. Using the poor visibility to her advantage Uzume lashed out with her veils again seizing her victim's limbs easily. Her ability to see the future was all too literal, the dust and dirt in the air had obscured them both, preventing Shourai's limited clairvoyance of being any use until it cleared. She had unwittingly turned her own strength into a weakness, one that Uzume had not hesitated to exploit.
"No! NO!" shouted Shourai as she struggled, "This can't happen! This wasn't supposed to happen!"
Uzume held her in place with her veils. Had this been a fair fight, an honourable duel between winged Sekirei as part of the Sekirei plan, she would have touched the crest on the back of Shourai's neck, recited her Norito and be done with it. This was, however, not a fair fight and not an honourable duel. Only idiots fought fair in the Sekirei plan and Shourai had yet to be winged. With a grim look Uzume knew what she had to do. She took no pleasure in this. She delivered a hard kick to Shourai's lower spine, tuning out of the bound Sekirei's scream of pain. She punched her upper spine with enough force to shatter bricks, eliciting another scream from her victim. If Shourai were smart she'd stop struggling now and play dead.
"No… my Ashikabi…" she breathed as she tried, however ineptly to struggle despite the shattered vertebrae and the pain.
Uzume shook her head. Shourai's persistence in struggling was forcing her to be unnecessarily brutal. She lifted Shourai up high with her veils… and then brought her slamming back down into the ground. She had to do it repeatedly. Sekirei were resilient by nature, able to take more punishment than regular human beings. It was on the third slam that Shourai finally stopped struggling.
Her job was done. She had neither need nor right to dwell in this place. MBI would soon be along to pick her up… she'd survive as long as she was hospitalised soon. She felt a pang of guilt… Shourai had had a vision of meeting her Ashikabi in the summer rain, of being winged in this very place… now she never would. She was out of the Sekirei plan, eliminated before she'd had a chance to rightfully begin because of Uzume… because of Higa. With a sigh she leapt up and away, leaving Shourai bleeding on the pavement.
"Stupid bitch!" yelled Junichi Tanigawa as he slapped Yashima, "How dare you run away from that fiery Sekirei!"
"I-I- I'm sorry master!" she stammered, cringing instinctively to present a smaller target.
"Shut up! Because of you others will now beat us to that green girl! Do you know how much you've cost me!"
"We… could hunt for the fugitive?" offered Yashima, desperately trying to evade another beating.
"The fugitive? Hmm… let me think…" said Tanigawa as he leered at her.
How could fate have been so cruel to her? Had she offended some capricious deity? Were the spirits of this world arrayed against her? How had she ended up with such a cruel Ashikabi? And then she remembered. She'd been walking the streets searching for her one true Ashikabi when Tanigawa had forced himself on her; starting with a kiss… the surprise winging had delayed what had ensued afterward. She didn't like to dwell on that or any of the multiple repeats of that performance. She was his Sekirei. He had winged her. She was his forever. Unless… Minaka's offer. She hadn't told her Ashikabi. It felt good to have a secret from him, however small… to have one thing she owned all to herself, unlike her life… unlike her body. She'd have shuddered at the small reminder of what was being done to her repeatedly but suppressed it. Shuddering only brought about fresh spurts of abuse. She'd learned to detach herself, disconnect from the experience and pretend it was happening to someone else, like a bad dream or a worse story. Minaka's offer was a way out, an escape, a reprieve from this torment.
"We'd have a lot of ground to cover," he mused, thinking pragmatically, "and if MBI wants Ashikabi and Sekirei to bring him in he may be dangerous,"
Yashima was glad when her Ashikabi was like this, thinking and planning instead of brooding and beating her. With any luck her quick thinking would earn her a reprieve from her more… unsavoury uses.
"Perhaps we should split up?" she offered, "That way we can find the fugitive much faster! I can cover more ground by myself… if I find him I can call you on your phone!"
Tanigawa glared at her.
Shit! No! She thought, cringing under his glare.
While Tanigawa generally appreciated a degree of independent thought and initiative in her, too much would earn his ire just as easily as stupidity and mistakes often did. He wanted her smart, but not too smart… independent, yet not too independent… submissive but not too submissive. If it looked as though for a moment she might actually be a living, breathing person with genuine feelings he beat her ruthlessly. As a Sekirei her natural resilience made it difficult for a human to truly injure her. But that didn't stop her from feeling pain, both the physical and emotional kind. She still dreaded the lead pipe he kept for his 'Discipline' sessions. She'd been completely unprepared for scum like him, absolutely naïve and innocent until it was too late. She'd never believed that there could be such cruelty in the world… such farcical justice.
"You call me the second you spot him," growled Tanigawa, "If we catch him I might even give you a real meal tonight instead of dog food. Now go!"
"Ye-Yes Master!" she said before leaping away at top speed.
She would search for the fugitive… after she'd tended to her needs. She fished around and found a few hundred yen in her pockets, stolen in the quiet nights a little at a time whenever Tanigawa was sleeping. Just enough not to be noticed in case such an occasion were to happen when her Ashikabi, her 'Master' didn't have his eyes on her so she could buy a few things for herself. A little food… perhaps a brush for her hair. She'd bought a doll not too long ago and had called it Kyoukai. She talked to her at night, whispering the things that Tanigawa did to her, the things she hated to think of. Sometimes Kyoukai talked to her, kind words, reassurance. She was certain that dolls didn't talk to people, let alone Sekirei, was sure that it was a sign that what her Ashikabi was doing to her was having a drastic effect on her mind. But she didn't care. Kyoukai for her was like a single breath of air to a drowning man. She didn't care where it came from, just that it was there. Minaka's offer… was like a lifeline. All she had to do was apprehend the fugitive and deliver him straight to MBI tower. She'd never have to see her Ashikabi again. She could just curl up into a ball and cry the pain and hurt and misery away. Yes. That's what she'd do. Once she was free she'd cry until the hurting stopped... if the hurting stopped.
Kagari was sweating profusely. The combination of sun, dark clothing, flames and physical exertion was taking its toll… he'd kill for just five minutes in a Furo. Or a cold shower at least. More than anything, he was exhausted. As a Sekirei he had almost boundless energy and endurance… keyword being almost. MBI had closed off and evacuated two miles surrounding the park where Kusano was hiding in the undergrowth. That worked out, if Kagari had done his math right, to over twelve square miles of ground to cover and defend against multiple interlopers coming from multiple directions. Suffice to say he'd burned through his reserves of energy and was now functioning on pure adrenaline to keep him going.
At this point he knew he'd already failed to keep several people out of the park. Hikari and Hibiki had managed to slip in, along with their Ashikabi and Minato. Yomi had also snuck in while he'd been fighting several Sekirei from the Ashikabi of the West. He'd have gone after her on general principle alone had he not noticed Hayato Mikogami making a break for the park, no doubt to assist Yomi in case she failed in retrieving Kusano.
Kagari landed in a street not too far from the park. He had only a few minutes to catch his breath. Mikogami was a child and an utter fool to boot. His Sekirei, however, were an entirely different story. Yomi was an idiot, plain and simple… but Mutsu… Mutsu had been a part of the first discipline squad. He had participated in the battle to defend Kamikura Island and that alone meant he was a powerful and formidable opponent. The fact that he'd been winged made him that much more dangerous.
Kagari had already failed to keep people clear of the park, the best that Kusano could hope for was that she would be claimed by Minato first and spirited away before other Sekirei and Ashikabi could filter into the park and complicate matters. In the end it was unnecessary to defeat Mutsu, the only thing Kagari had to do was delay him just long enough to make pressing on pointless.
A car rolled to a stop not too far ahead. It didn't take an Einstein to figure out that it belonged to Mikogami and like clockwork Mutsu stepped out while his Ashikabi reclined lazily in the car seat hoping for a good performance from his Sekirei. Kagari had only just started to cool off… he would have killed for a few extra moments of reprieve. Mutsu approached, carefully sizing up Kagari.
"Ah, Homura," he said, referring to Kagari by way of his alias, "You've been quite busy. Still consider yourself the protector of unwinged Sekirei?"
"Of course, someone must watch over those whom cannot fight for themselves," said Kagari. The longer he kept Mutsu talking the more time he could delay him.
"And you yourself are unwinged as well. My Ashikabi has expressed a desire for words with you… though I suspect you will not go to him willingly."
"You suspect correctly. I assume you're here for the green girl also?"
Mutsu nodded, "Yes, my Ashikabi has expressed disappointment after failing to locate the Ice Sekirei last night,"
"The Ice Sekirei? Akitsu?" asked Kagari.
Mutsu confirmed this with a curt nod.
"What is a discarded number doing in the outside world? Is this a joke by Minaka?"
Mutsu glanced over his shoulder and noted the bored look on his Ashikabi's face. He'd always been a quick judge of situation and character and could see that Homura was playing for time. With a smile on his face he withdrew his sword.
"I'm sorry, that's all the time we have to chat. Come with me, stand aside or fight. Your choice."
Red flames burst into existence in both of Kagari's hands. Focusing his power he convinced the fire to burn at a hotter and brighter yellow.
"Did you really need to make the offer in the first place?" said Kagari with a sly grin hidden by his mask.
Mutsu slammed the hilt of his sword on the ground causing the road to split in a straight line headed directly for Kagari. He leapt out of the way as the crack reached him… where he had once stood, the road exploded, sending bitumen flying in every direction. Kagari returned fire… literally. Bolts of flame flew from his hands, forcing his opponent to dodge. Utilising his power, Kagari built a wall of flame horizontally across the road until it was wall to wall. He raised his hands as though he was delivering an infernal sermon to an audience of Hannya and the flames leapt higher forming an impenetrable wall of flame. Holding his hands on high, he then pushed an invisible wall… sending the firewall screaming down the street burning everything in its wake.
Kagari looked at the devastation he had wrought exhaustedly. Car tires burned. Windows were cracked. Even the road had melted a little… yet there was no sign of Mutsu or his Ashikabi's vehicle. Had they wisely retreated? The sound of a heavy landing behind him convinced him otherwise and he groaned inwardly.
The sweeping kick to his legs was unexpected. It sent Kagari back first into the road and winded him. Mutsu had clearly changed his fighting style since Kamikura, though that was to be expected. Incapacitated, he felt Mutsu grab him by the legs and drag him towards Mikogami's car.
Work damn you! Thought Kagari furiously as he gasped for air helplessly, Work! I'd rather die than be winged by that idiot Mikogami!
Mutsu paused mid-step for a moment, looked at Kagari and then towards the Park. He was distracted. At that moment Kagari's lungs decided to get back to work with a gasp. Mutsu's eyes snapped back to his quarry but it was too late. Kagari spun as hard and as fast as he could manage in Mutsu's tight grip, sending him flying into a nearby car hard enough to dent the panels and shatter the glass. Kagari leapt up and away to the relative safety of a nearby building.
Leaning back against the damaged car, Mutsu glanced to the park, to Kagari, and then to his Ashikabi. The sound of a horn blaring somehow managed to wend its way through the smoke and fire.
"It would seem that our fight has been postponed, Homura, I look forward to a rematch,"
Kagari smiled under his mask. That meant that Kusano had been claimed. By whom he had no idea but judging from the look on Mutsu's face… it seemed that Mikogami had lost, rather than gained a Sekirei today.
"When the time comes," said Kagari, "Bring it."
The Doctor had lost track of how long he'd been sitting with Akitsu, holding her until she'd finished crying. That was a first, a Time Lord losing track of time. Well, not really. More like an umpteenth. He'd honestly lost count but the moments had always been few and far between… though nine long centuries of life had offered ample opportunities.
Crying. It was good for the soul in so many ways. It let out some of the hurt that got pent up inside, eased off pressure, allowed misery, depression and frustration to evaporate out and away… therapeutic in every sense of the word. Something the Doctor dared not do. If the Doctor were to truly let go and shed tears he was afraid that they would never stop, that lifetimes of grief and woe, pain and hurt would flow and never cease to do so… it was another aspect of human nature that he privately envied, something that made humanity so wonderful.
It took her a little time but she recovered from her mental contact with grace. After she'd managed to dry off her tears and compose herself she was back to her stoic, ice cold self. Even if she was closed off it was just another aspect of human nature that the Doctor admired, resilience, the will to bounce back after so thoroughly breaking down. He knew of course that the tears were not just tears of pain and sorrow. He knew that they were also tears of joy and wonder of the things she had seen from his mind during the link. He'd learned, long ago, from the Madame de Pompadour that the mental link went both ways… a feat he was still mightily impressed by.
Still, the Doctor had to worry about his erstwhile… companion. During the link he'd encountered a void… a barrier… a wall of some sort that was holding something back. Whatever it was holding back had kept him out… someone had erected a barrier within Akitsu's mind. That barrier was keeping her feelings numb stopping her from being a true person, stopping her from enjoying the feeling of wind on her face or grass beneath her feet, feelings that no one, no human, should ever have been denied.
Of course, from his brief glimpse into Akitsu's mind, he knew for a fact that she was not human. Close but not quite there. In truth he honestly should have noticed from the smell… not quite as pungent as the smell of humanity but the Doctor and his nose weren't exactly on speaking terms on account of too many damp dark places where horrific smells tended to dwell. No, while she was very close to the mark Akitsu wasn't human. Which meant she was an alien. Definitely. No doubt about that. Of course, there were at least several thousand alien species that closely resembled humanity that would fit the bill and probably a good deal more that had evolved to look Time Lord in all of time and space. The real question of course was what an alien was doing on Earth in this time period. She certainly didn't seem to have some kind of nefarious agenda to take over the planet. The people that tattooed that perception filter into her forehead perhaps? MBI? That would be a good start…
Enough time had passed. It was time to act.
"Akitsu," said the Doctor, "Do you know where MBI are based?"
Akitsu nodded.
"Can you lead me there?"
She nodded again.
"Good," said the Doctor as he stood, "Because you're going to take me there. You're going to take me there and I'm going to get to the bottom of this. You're going to take me there, I'm going to get to the bottom of this and… if I don't like what I see…"
"What will you do?" asked Akitsu.
"I'll end it,"