I decided that I had enough time for a second upload today! I'm finishing up Chapter 13 as well, so that should be up soon. Thank you to everyone who's been reading and reviewing this story!
Chapter 12
"Let's see, I got the eggs, milk, vegetables…" Minato was interrupted during grocery shopping by a buzzing in his pocket.
"What does Kochou need?" He wondered as he answered his phone.
"The second stage has begun."
"What exactly does that mean?"
"That means that there are ten percent of Sekirei who haven't been winged yet. Also as a part of the plan MBI will take control of the city."
Kochou was cut off by the television, which showed Minaka onscreen, "Hello everyone, this is Minaka Hiroto, the CEO of MBI. I am just informing you all that MBI is now in control of Tokyo. As for all of you Ashikabis, there is no way to escape the city, so don't even try. You have to participate in the Sekirei Plan, or you will be disqualified and lose. That is all."
"You need to get home now." Kochou ordered.
"All right." Minato hung up the phone and dashed home, leaving the groceries behind.
"Thank goodness you're okay." Kochou said as Minato entered the apartment.
"So what's going on?"
"Since MBI has sealed off the city, it's a free for all out there. Everyone's trying to get to the last few Sekirei."
"Well, who's left?"
"Let's see." Kochou pulled out a laptop.
"Homura is still unwinged. He's the only single number left."
"Do you think he's in danger?"
Kochou nodded her head, "No, not yet. I'm sure that Mikogami and Izumi will want him, but they have no idea where he is yet."
"Well what are we going to do?" Benitsubasa asked.
"I think we need to hang tight and stay safe until the Second Stage ends. If what you told me about the Third Stage is true, we can't afford to lose anybody."
"Well, we can't just sit around doing nothing though." Uzume said.
"Well, if you need something to do Minato…" Yomi cuddled into his shoulder, "I'm totally horny."
Tsukiumi pulled her off of Minato, "I'm pretty sure that we can't just sit around and have sex all day."
Minato nodded, "You're right, but still, I want to keep everyone safe."
As he spoke there was a knock at the front door. Minato walked over and cautiously opened the door. In the doorway stood a brown haired man along with a blond haired girl.
"Are you the Ashikabi of the North?" He asked.
"Um, I guess so."
"Can we talk?"
They sat down at the couch and Minato began listening.
"You want to escape Tokyo?"
Haruka nodded. "Look, we don't want to fight anyone. We just want to live together in peace. Please, you have to help."
"Ahh! This is so romantic!" Kazehana cried out.
"If you do this, MBI might take it as an act of rebellion. I might be able to distract them long enough so that they do not find out who engineered the escape, but I can't guarantee anything. Think about that before you make your decision." Kochou said.
"Please, I'm begging you, we never asked for this. Kuno will get killed trying to fight. Please, this is our only chance." Haruka asked with tears welling up in his eyes.
"Do it." Mutsu spoke up from behind Minato. "Don't worry about MBI, we can handle them, even if they come after us."
Minato looked at all of his Sekirei, who nodded in agreement. "Okay, we'll help you."
Haruka and Kuno looked overjoyed, "Thank you so much. So, what's the plan?"
"The bridge in the north has not been reinforced yet, that's our best chance to break through." Kochou said.
"Fine, we'll meet you at the bridge at midnight." Minato said.
Haruka nodded and left with Kuno.
"I hope you know what you're doing." Benitsubasa said.
"I hope so too." Minato whispered.
Minato and his group gathered at the bridge, which was sealed off by MBI trucks.
"Master, I've scrambled MBI's satellites, you have one hour before they come online and we have to declare war on MBI." Kochou said through the phone.
"This is it." He said. He kissed each of his Sekirei before he led them to the barricade.
"Turn around. The bridge is closed." A solder barked at him.
"Kazehana." Minato said. Kazehana created a gust of wind that lifted the trucks off the bridge and into the river.
"Come on, now's your chance to get across!" He cried out to Haruka and Kuno. The group tore off and was halfway across when they saw three figures standing on the bridge.
"The Discipline Squad!" Haruka cried out.
Karasuba laughed, "Well, well, well, what do we have here?"
"Please leave us alone Karasuba, we have no fight with you." Mutsu said.
"No way. You are trying to escape. That's against the rules. And it's our jobs to uphold the rules."
Mutsu gripped his sword. "Fine, I guess there was no way around this anyways."
"Mutsu, what are you doing?" Minato said.
"Trust me, I can hold her off long enough for you guys to escape."
Minato nodded and Mutsu launched himself at Karasuba, who drew her own sword.
"Oh I've been waiting for this chance." Benitsubasa said as she made her way to Musubi.
"I'm really excited to finally fight someone strong." Musubi responded.
With a yell, Benitsubasa also launched herself at Musubi.
"Minato." Tsukiumi said.
"What is it?"
"Let me take her on. You take the others and make sure Kuno and Haruka escape."
"Wait, you don't have to do this."
"As your legal wife, I will protect you."
"I won't leave you three alone. Kazehana!" He cried out.
"Yes?"
"Take the others and make sure they get across the bridge. Come back as soon as you can, all right?"
Kazehana nodded, "Right."
Mutsu and Karasuba had their swords out and were dueling, with no one having a clear advantage.
"Give up Mutsu, there is no way that you are going to win!" Karasuba yelled out. She slashed at him, but he dodged and took a swing for her.
"It's the guy who's willing to die that'll win any fight!" He growled back as Karasuba parried.
"What is that supposed to mean?"
"I'm not scared of dying. I'll do whatever I have to do to beat you." He slammed his sword into the ground and created a small shockwave. Using this opening, he slashed at her arm and connected, drawing blood.
"You're a challenging opponent, I'll give you that. But you will still die." Karasuba shook off her injury and renewed her assault.
Benitsubasa was furiously punching at Musubi, who easily countered every attack.
"How are you doing this?" Benitsubasa asked, as Musubi countered her punch.
"I don't know. I think Karasuba just drilled it into me." She said in a ditzy voice.
Benitsubasa backed off, exhausted.
"All right, my turn!" Mususbi began a furious assault that Benitsubasa was barely countering.
On the other side of the bridge, Haihane was coming at Tsukiumi from every direction. Tsukiumi had created a blade of water and was blocking the incoming attacks.
"Take this!" Tsukiumi said as she created a dragon out of water. The dragon swept up Haihane and tossed her to the ground.
"It's going to take more than that to beat me." Haihane growled as she got up.
As the battle raged on around him, Minato could do nothing but watch as his Sekirei were slowly being overpowered. Mutsu and Karasuba had their swords locked, but Karasuba was close to overpowering him, Haihane was relentlessly attacking a clearly tired Tsukiumi, and Benitsubasa could barely keep up with the flurry of punches coming from Musubi.
Is this how it ends?
Suddenly, he saw Haihane get pelted in the back with baseball sized pieces of ice.
He looked at the source, which was Akitsu feeding ice to Kazehana, who acted as a cannon by creating an extremely powerful wind.
"Hold on Benitsubasa!" He saw Yomi fly in and swing her scythe at Musubi, distracting her long enough for Benitsubasa to land several punches.
"Older brother!" Kusano ran up to Minato with a potted plant in her hands. "Kazehana told me that I had to protect you." With that she made the plant grow to enormous sizes and surround the two of them.
"Karasuba! We're being overwhelmed!" Haihane cried out, "Me and Musubi are going to pull back!"
The two immediately stopped fighting and jumped off. Benitsubasa made a move to follow them, but Kazehana held her back.
"We don't have any time, we have to help Mutsu." She pointed at Mutsu, who was barely holding off the onslaught from Karasuba.
Kazehana sent a strong gust at Karasuba, who turned just in time to be knocked back.
"Hello Kazehana, fancy meeting you here too."
"Leave Karasuba, you can't win now." Mutsu said, as the other Sekirei now backed him up.
"Fine, but next time Mutsu, no one will interfere with our battle." Karasuba turned around and leaped away.
As soon as she was too far away to see him, Mutsu collapsed.
"Are you okay?" Minato asked.
"I'll be fine, I'm just a little exhausted."
Minato's phone suddenly rang and he answered, "Hello?"
"Sorry to interrupt you guys, but the satellites will be coming back on in ten minutes. You have to get out of there!"
Minato nodded, "Come on guys, let's go."
I know that the bridge scene is probably too short, but the main purpose of it in my eyes is to show the Discipline Squad in action, although it isn't at full strength because Yume has not been awakened in Musubi yet. It did sort of give an idea of what they will be up against later on in the story. As always, I would greatly appreciate any reviews and suggestions.