Chapter 4: Feeling the breeze
"You know this is the first time I've ever spent eating with someone other than a scientist." Sasori stated as he sat in the cafeteria with Amelia. After his 'outburst' she followed him to keep to her orders, and in a way, because she wanted to.
After what #109 had given her the pendant, she felt comfort in being around him. That even though he barely knew her, he cared about her. It was something she'd never experienced from a complete stranger. The most shocking part of it all for Amelia, was that she was blatantly falling for him.
"Did you never get a chance to eat with someone else?" she asked. "Well, not someone I cared about. It was always the usual small talk and then stuffing your food down your throat to get out of the situation."
Her eyes widened. "You, care for me?"
He looked up from his plate of vegetables and meat. His eyes met her own. "I would be lying if I said I didn't." finally came the reply.
They both sat in silence. Admitting to that he cared for Amelia had made the situation incredibly awkward. Both of their faces had a crimson tint to their cheeks.
Fortunately, someone broke the tension. A hand was placed solidly on his shoulder from behind him. Ganessa Roland has seized her opportunity to get vengeance, or to prepare for it at least.
He immediately jumped up out of reaction of someone putting their hands on him, especially in a somewhat 'forceful' manner as Ganessa had done. He pulled her over his shoulder onto the ground beside the table.
"Oh for..." he started.
Amelia chuckled at the dilemma. For being the Paladin, of course he wouldn't use the Lord's name in vain...
"Ow..." Ganessa groaned, pulling herself up.
"That should teach you for putting your hands on me like that. You startled me." Sasori explained.
"Wasn't intentional" she pouted. "Besides, I think you owe me one now."
"Do I now?" His curiousity ringing through the reply.
"Yeah, you just threw a girl to the floor. And to make up for it you should meet me at the Gymnasium at 8 o'clock tonight." She smiled eagerly. It was too obvious that she was up to something, and Sasori had a good guess in mind but wasn't sure how she would go about it.
"You can't be serious." Amelia chimed in. Obtaining a hostile gaze from Ganessa before Sasori gave her his answer.
"Alright. But bring a friend, you never know when you might need one." he grinned.
Ganessa smiled again, showing her enjoyment from the result of the conversation. Even though she did get her clothing ripped slightly from being thrown into the ground. She spun round and headed for the door, "See you later then!"
Sasori sighed and sat back down to eat his lunch which was now cold. "Typical." he said glumly.
"Yeah, Ganessa is pretty hot-headed. I don't think the way you addressed the idea of helping the Second Years yesterday helped matters." Amelia interrupted his thought pattern, with what would be the most logical reasoning for his gloomy statement.
"It's not that. My food's cold." He pouted.
"You're not worried about Ganessa or her plan? She blatantly wants to battle you y'know."
"I'm aware. To justify your question, no. I'm not worried. She may be a Pandora, but she doesn't understand the fundamentals of battle against someone who can use their brain, rather than what is probably some sort of AI."
Sasori felt a sudden wind through the window closest to them. It swelled the room with it's cool breeze. "And who said I wouldn't have help if she trapped me?" A grin settled on his visage.
He looked towards the window, "the wind is changing."
Amelia sat opposite him, looking puzzled to what that meant. Must be a Sekirei thing. Despite my orders... I do kinda like being around him. I feel... safe around him. Not just from the NOVA, but, from everyone. And he accepts me for who I am. He never states or judges... he's in the same boat, metaphorically speaking.
X-X-X-X-X
"Alright, so when he comes to the Gymnasium, you come out and use your freezing, got it?" Ganessa was issuing instructions to her limiter, Arthur Crypton. He knew what Ganessa was like, and wouldn't listen to him either way due to her over-zealous attitude.
"Fine, Sempai. Anything else?" he groaned.
"One more thing. Be a little more encouraging!" Arthur had gotten used to her shouting too. He waved his hands in the air a little, as if to surrender. "Okay! Okay!", "You can beat him Sempai, I know you can!"
That's better. But I know he still is against me doing it. No matter, I won't lose. They over-estimate him. Anyone can beat a Type-R NOVA. They're the weakest anyway!
X-X-X-X-X
Amelia suggested that they walk around the campus. Sasori agreed, the more he knew about the school, the better he could defend it. Additionally, any time he obtained with Amelia without interruption, only strengthened the chance he had to create a stronger bond with her. It was without a doubt certain to him now, he had been reacting to her the whole time.
They had been walking for a quarter of an hour, discussing menial things, like the kind of classes taught, previous NOVA clashes. Amelia had left out the Alaskan incursion. When Sasori asked she just said she didn't know.
A gust of wind hit Amelia and Sasori in the side, nearly knocking them off their feet. They looked the opposite direction, waiting for the wind to stop. But it never did.
"Kazehana..." Sasori muttered. He turned to look into the wind, keeping his composure. The last time they had spoken it ended on good terms. Sasori knew of her heartache, which he nearly threw up upon hearing for the first time.
He shuddered at the memory of her telling him.
The wind finally stopped revealing a tall woman, with a slender figure in a tight purple dress. The dress in question, stopped just after her bumline. Convenient, I'm sure. Sasori noted. It was impossible to deny, Kazehana was one of the most beautiful Sekirei there was. She had sass, ample breasts, a great figure, and an elemental power. Not to mention the fact she was #3, one of the original disciplinary squad.
She stood with her right hand to her waist, and her left fiddling with her hairpiece that tied together a pony-tail behind her head. "Good to see you, #109." she smiled. She immediately looked toward Amelia Evans.
"Is she your-"
"Uh, I... Uhm... Not quite." He stuttered.
"Oh. I see." A bigger smile graced her character now.
"It's also good to see you again Kazehana. How come you're here?"
She chuckled. "Straight to the point. It's what I liked about you", "My Ashikabi is being moved here as it's deemed a 'safe place' from the NOVA. Especially since there are the Pendoora-"
"Pandora." Amelia interrupted.
"...Pandora, here." she finished after being corrected by Amelia.
She walked towards Amelia, and gave her an examination (so to speak). Kazehana's eyes moved to look at every inch of her, and then into her eyes.
"She's determined. I'll give her that...", "Do you like her?"
Sasori's face turned bright red at the direct question. "Kazehana!"
"What? It's just a question."
A painful silence ensued the three of them. Neither Amelia or Sasori wanted to speak at this point because to them, it was a personal matter.
"Well?" she insisted.
"Yes I like her!" he blurted, "I care for her and I want to keep her safe from harm."
Kazehana grinned a little, "Do you Lo-"
"Stop it."
X-X-X-X-X
Fast forward to 8pm the same day
X-X-X-X-X
Ganessa Roland stood in the middle of the gym awaiting her rival to turn up. She had recruited the specialities of two fellow second year pandoras to help her, Tris McKenzie and Audrey Duval, ranked 4th and 3rd respectively.
"Where the hell is he. I said 8pm to him." she grumbled aloud.
"Maybe he just ain't coming?" Tris spoke up.
Suddenly a door at the east end of the gym opened, and a man with a white and golden coat entered the room. "Sorry to keep you waiting Ms Roland. Surely this counts as 'fashionably late', correct?"
Sasori's way of speaking got on Ganessa's nerves. He knew this all too well. However, her eyes enlarged at the sight of Kazehana appearing behind him through the door. Taking in the sight of the brunette woman, she was flabbergasted. How can someone be that pretty!?
"Who the hell is that!?" she screamed.
Sasori looked behind him at Kazehana and grinned. "Hang on one second. So, it's fair for you to recruit two friends of yours but not me, huh?" His point was made, while he swung back around to look at Ganessa.
The two now-rivals eyed each other a few meters away from each other in the room. "Fine, I'll let her play too if she wants."
"Oh, that wasn't what I brought her here for." Kazehana stated, the smirk tone gracing her words.
"Then what reason is she here?"
"She's here to watch me kick your ass over the gymnasium." he grinned, almost laughing. It was a strange sight to see Sasori with such venom in his words. The irony hitting Amelia as she watched from the shadows of the doorway. He is the Paladin, focuses on God... more or less... and yet spouts stuff like that. What happened to love thy neighbour and all that?
That was the last straw for Ganessa as she pulled out her volt weapon(s). "Chains of Binding!" she shouts from the depths of her lungs. As Sasori witnesses flails with pyramid points spring out of her back.
"Interesting." Is the only word he says, seeming disinterested.
I didn't think he'd act surprised when I summoned my volt weapon. Time to make him pay.
Her flails fired out from behind her aiming for several of Sasori's weak points, mainly his back, shoulders and ribs. Where he had been injured from before.
"Safeguard!"
He raised his forearm to his head, as a shield of light enveloped him. He let the flails hit off the shield and ricochet into the ground from the propulsion of the deflection.
"What the?!" Ganessa stuttered in shock. To have someone pull a shield in a duel was unheard of. For a Pandora to have a shield was even more rare.
"Once again, you underestimated me... Ganessa." Sasori now radiating from his increased ego.
The fact Sasori referred to her as 'Ganessa' and not Ms. Roland was startling to her. It allowed Sasori enough time to disengage and create his own weapon. Not a volt weapon, but just as real.
"Ares' Retribution!" The Paladin held out his hand to his right and prepared to grab the incoming weapon. A pole connected with his hand and the tip was a rectangular block. His weapon resembled a war hammer, almost the size of Sasori himself. It was glazed with a red trim on it's silver-grey base.
Ares is the God of War... Oh no. He's serious about this fight! Amelia's brain started to think in overdrive on how to make this fight stop so no one got hurt. Her mind going into overdrive.
"You're going to be too slow to hit me with that thing!" Ganessa blurted to him.
#109 merely grinned and placed it behind him, ready to strike. "My dear girl, I don't have to hit you with it."
"Zealous Strike!" His hammer smashed the ground, creating a shockwave through the floor and creating ripples and cracks heading straight for Ganessa and the other two students who hadn't even had their weapons drawn.
Tris McKenzie managed to avoid the shockwave enough and used accel to get behind Sasori. She managed to slash his forearm with an attack past him. He hissed and held out a hand.
"Freezing!" Arthur Crypton had used his chance to create a freezing field, hoping to catch Sasori unawares and to let Ganessa win her duel.
Sasori stood still, not moving. Ganessa got up, all bruised with a few cuts from the small shockwave that was created, that threw her into the air and down onto the floor again. "Good job Arthur. Now to take him down once and for all!"
She charged her volt weapon again and fired them at where Sasori stood.
"Nooooo!" Amelia shouted and she used accel to sprint towards the Paladin. The E-Pandora had speared him to the ground in order to save him. He lay on the ground, with Amelia on top of him, still hugging him to an extent from her tackle.
"You... you risked your life to save me?" he asked hesitantly.
She nodded, with a tear coming to her eye. "I... I..." she started. He put his right hand to her cheek. "I didn't want to lose you!" The last part of what she tried to spit out hit him hardest. His eyes widening, then relaxing. His feelings had finally been returned from earlier. All that had happened from the situation was that it had gotten incredibly awkward from Kazehana's appearance.
Snapping back to reality, Ganessa strolled up to Sasori and Amelia, who were still in a modest heap on the floor.
"You're finished now." she smirked.
"Flower Banquet!"
A familiar voice was heard to the right of the group as a gust of wind plowed Ganessa into the wall, leaving a crater where she had hit it. It knocked her unconscious, as the other two decided to put away their volt weapons. They walked up to Kazehana and looked down at the E-Pandora and Sekirei still on the floor.
"We didn't want to fight, but she blackmailed us a little bit. We'll take her to the recovery station. Hopefully you can forgive us... and her."
Amelia was not in a forgiving mood, especially when they wanted to 'forgive and forget'. "Forgive you!? You went along with it! Grow a damn spine and say 'No'! She's rank #1, not your mother."
Sasori's hand graced her right cheek, pulling her look away from them. He smiled, "It's fine, Amelia. I'm sure this event will have made them learn their lesson..." he stopped to look at the Pandoras who nodded quickly.
Looking back, her eyes were still on him. "And thank you. Even if it was not necessary, I appreciate what you did."
Amelia finally pushed herself off Sasori to get up, and dusted herself off. Sasori did the same, not a few seconds behind her. "For the record," he grabbed her hand. "I don't want to lose you either."
"It's love! It must be love!" Kazehana again made the moment embarrassing for the both of them. Amelia turning into the shade similar to a tomato, and Sasori merely chuckling at his friends excitement.
He turned from looking at his Sekirei friend to Amelia, then to the two Pandoras. "Take Ms. Roland to the recovery center. You're forgiven. When she awakes, you can tell her I will be coming to see her."
Nodding solemly, the two left the gymnasium with Ganessa in tow over their shoulders. Sasori let out a deep breath. "Amelia."
She looked up at him, still a little red. "Yeah?"
"Do you want... I mean, would you want to be my, Ashikabi?" His voice disappeared into shyness. For Amelia it was the first time she'd seen this side of him. To the warrior within, and the over-confident thinker, there was a shy side to Sasori.
She smiled hesitantly. "Ashi-what?"
Sasori laughed awkwardly. It was both funny and embarrassing to him. Funny because she asked in such an innocent way. Embarrassing because of the significance the question had. To ask it in such a way made him feel apprehensive and strange.
"An ashikabi, is the person whom a Sekirei creates a bond with. It's created through mucosal contact. Once a Sekirei is bonded with his or her Ashikabi, it's... irreversable."
"I... see..." She had a hundred patterns of thought running through her head. Many of them questioning if what he said was true. But I don't have any reason to doubt him do I? And do I really have to... kiss him? Do I really want to be bound to him? And what if I don't like it, then we can't reverse it...
She let out a deep sigh, as her brain was slowly tearing itself apart. Sasori's face dropped from his gnetle smile to one of rejection, as from his point of view, he saw the deep exhale as a 'No'. "I'm sorry, it was a stupid thing to ask at a time like this." He began to walk away from her. "I shouldn't have been so foolish."
"Wait."
He stopped in his tracks. Waiting to hear her reply before turning round. "Look, I'm not saying yes..." He started walking again, "But I'm also not saying no. I just need some time to think on it, that's all." He halted oncemore, and looked to be regretful of his decision of asking her.
"I'm sorry, Amelia, it was stupid of me to ask that here. I... I just..." he stopped spluttering words to try and convey his feelings and ended up letting off a fustrated groan and headed for the door.
Kazehana felt sorry for Sasori, but she knew what it was like to be rejected. But truthfully she didn't think it was rejection, but apprehension. She walked up to Amelia and stood beside her. "Bet you didn't see that coming." she said, her usual relaxed personality ringing through it.
"I did... I think."
"Hmm?"
"I knew he might ask me something along those lines... eventually. Even I have to admit I have feelings for him, but I have my doubts on a few things."
"Like what?" Kazehana continued to probe answers from Amelia.
"Well, for starters... he can only be bound to one person. I don't want to screw that up. Secondly, I also don't know if it's the right choice for him."
"Why the right choice for him?", "You don't think you're worthy of him?"
"In a way, no. I'm an E-Pandora, I'm not even a real one. My stigmata is artificial." she said gloomily. "He deserves someone more powerful."
Kazehana smiled and embraced her into a small hug from the side. Her gigantic breasts squishing Amelia's left arm. "W-what the?"
"Just accept it will you. Everyone needs a hug now and then. Besides..." she stopped briefly. "You care for Sasori enough to contemplate your actions with him. Do not forget it is he who asked you, when a Sekirei asks their destined one to become their Ashikabi, being said 'No' to hurts."
"Were you said 'No' to?" Amelia questioned.
"Unfortunately, yes. Before I met Minato I was rejected. He had some fling with another woman even though they weren't officially together or married." Her face turning into one of distain as her memory of his Ashikabi's mother popped up.
"And what was it like for you?... if you don't mind me asking."
"I don't mind. Honestly, it was bad for me. It hit my confidence and self-esteem. But then I reacted to someone else. I still have thoughts about him, but I'm happy still. By saying no, you may end up hurting him more than you realize. But at the end of the day, its still your choice." she finished her point, heading for the door.
"Kazehana?"
She turned, "Yeah?"
"Thanks." she smiled, wiping a tear from her eye.
Laughing she turned back, "Not a problem. After all, what are friends for?" and continued to go through the door, leaving Amelia to think on her own in a messed up gym with cracks and craters.
What do I do? What do I do? What do I do?
The question slowly repeated itself in Amelia Evans' head.