Chapter 3

Hanatarou is in a very peculiar situation. Looking up and down the street he found himself in, he noticed there wasn't a soul in sight. Hanatarou's brow furrowed in confusion, broken by his sudden snicker as he imagined a tumbleweed bounding past him, then went back to his puzzled look. Is there some sort of festival happening in another district and no one bothered sending me a memo? He wondered. Upon closer inspection of his surroundings, he is struck with a feeling of dé jà vu. It's like his body remembers strolling down this road but his mind knows for a fact he's never been here before. Realizing nothing would happen if he simply stared at everything around him, Hanatarou faced North and started trudging up the incline. As he climbed further and further, a strange warmth started to envelop his body and his stomach was in the calmest state of unrest it's ever been in and he unconsciously accelerated to just short of a power walk. As Hanatarou reached the peak of the incline, he froze. In front of him was a woman taller than Matsu but shorter than him, in a pair of faded, torn jeans and wearing a pink-ish purple shirt and had long, milk chocolate coloured hair. He couldn't see her face or most of her upper torso for that matter, as the sun was at the perfect spot behind her to obscure Hanatarou's vision. "Sooo, you're the Ashikabi Matsu chose! I'm surprised you're not a woman, but at least she doesn't have bad taste." At this, she slinked a few steps closer. "Why don't you tell me your name, handsome?"

The young man in question raised his left hand to the back of his head, acting a little bashful after the compliment and a good walk. "Hanatarou Tanaka. I'm guessing you're a Sekirei?"

The mysterious woman started circling around Hanatarou, examining his figure with a practiced eye and finally giving him a look at her beautiful face and perfect body models would do unholy rituals for. Keeping eye contact was a real test on the gentlemanly ways the casual stockbroker's mother raised him with. "That's right! I'm #10, Uzume."

The young accountant spoke up again, "Where are we? And why do I feel like a piece of beef being examined for choice cuts for a barbeque?" He was starting to feel unnerved after Uzume made her third circle around him, her smiling face growing slowly wider.

Uzume let out a short laugh at his comment, "Why, we're in a shared dream! Both of us are asleep, but fate has linked our minds together for this short moment so would meet, so to speak." At this, Hanatarou tilted his head to the right and his mouth opened, as if trying to speak but not quite knowing what to say. Uzume giggled again and continued, "Yeah, I don't really get it either. You should ask Matsu about it when you wake up in a few seconds though. Oh, and make sure to tell her I'll be along shortly!" Immediately after the veiled Sekirei finished that sentence, Hanatarou's eyes snapped open to the sight of his bedroom ceiling. As his mind was gradually shaking sleep's embrace, he noticed there was a warmth unlike any he's ever experienced before wrapped around his laying form. He looked down to see a head full of reddish-brown hair. Not being a morning person, it took him a while to register that Matsu was sound asleep on his chest, her breathing perfectly synchronized with his own. Hanatarou wasn't surprised, considering Matsu refused to sleep anywhere unless he was right next to her. He started to lift Matsu slightly and slide out from underneath her, making sure to tuck her in once he was standing. Matsu unconsciously noticed the lack of contact with her Ashikabi and her left hand reached out to grab him but missed. She immediately started squirming slightly and breathed out, "Hana-tan..." At this, Hanatarou's face lit up and took 2 long strides back. It goes without saying, having a sweet-smelling 10/10 woman sleep on him would give him a case of morning wood like no other. Clearly having an internal affairs issue with himself, Hanatarou's gentlemanly teachings ended up winning out. He rushed silently out of the room and made a bee-line to the bathroom to begin his morning rituals.

As soon as the door closed behind him, Matsu sat up, wide awake, with a frown on her face. "Damn, I almost had him too!" She ground her fists childishly into the bed covers. After pouting for a few seconds, she threw herself back in a laying position and sighed, scolding herself slightly for letting him get away bother her; it was only the first night after all and started to smile while wrapping her arms around herself. "At least I know he's attracted to me."

Hanatarou stepped out of the bathroom, taking a moment to stretch his long limbs and trudged downstairs towards the kitchen. Since it's the first morning of Matsu's stay here, he figured he might as well make it a good one, and the first step to that was with a good breakfast. As he opened his fridge and began to withdraw eggs, butter, sliced turkey breast and bacon, he sunk into his own thoughts to organize his questions for Matsu. Before they went to sleep, Hanatarou had an awful lot of questions for the Sekirei of Wisdom, but her previous flight from the Disciplinary Squad was rather taxing on her; after all, she was even weaker on the physical side than an elemental-type Sekirei. Of course, Hanatarou himself isn't aware of this. As far as he knows, Matsu collapsed due to not eating a thing and spending her time looking for her Ashikabi.

As the accountant was finishing the last of breakfast (seared salmon, with a touch of his own blend of spice that's doesn't have too much kick so people who can't handly spicy food could still enjoy, plus it has a robust, deep flavour), he heard his bedroom door open and looked up to see his first Sekirei nearly in all her glory; she still had on her undergarments, (un)fortunately. Thankfully for Hanatarou, he had a good poker face. Unbeknownst to him though, was Matsu's ability has amplified since being winged by the part-time stockbroker; she knew exactly effect her near naked appearance had on Hanatarou. A brief, perverted smirk unseen by Hanatarou spoke her intentions of, the fun has yet to begin. The perverted Sekirei tossed her hair and took a seat on the medium-sized table at the edge of the kitchen and with a more tame smile greeted her Ashikabi with a, "Good morning, Hana-tan~! What smells so good?"

Hana-tan responded with a, "Good morning Matsu. Did you sleep well?" and deigned to answer her question about the smell by serving her breakfast. The traditional white rice and miso soup for both of them, the staple entree of the previously mentioned salmon, slices of pineapple and a glass of grapefruit juice was layed out on the table for Matsu, with a bacon, tomato and cheese omelete and more of those pineapple slices for Hanatarou. The young Ashikabi relished in Matsu's slightly dropped jaw and the subtle widening of her eyes at the veritable feast (of course it only seemed big to Matsu, as she hadn't eaten since the day she escaped MBI) and took the option to tease her a bit. "Jeez, no need to look so surprised a guy living alone is self-sufficient."

Matsu, taking the verbal prod in stride, was quick on the up-take and her face fell into a mock pout, "Ohh? You're kicking me out now Hana-tan?" #02 started shedding crocodile tears. "What will poor, poor Matsu do now~, kicked out by the man she loves out on to the curb~?" False sobs shook her voluptuous figure.

Hanatarou didn't understand how he knew, but he could tell Matsu was just ribbing him. "Stow it, you. You're well aware I swore to take responsibility before you practically blacked out in my arms." The sharp accountant noticed Matsu picking up her chopsticks before she had her wrist slapped. The pervert drew her hand back, shocked her Ashikabi would do such a thing, even if she was being over-dramatic; the slap was really just a light tap. Hanatarou pointed back towards the room and stated, "Get dressed before you eat, would you?" As much as I'm enjoying the show, I don't want to end up in the hospital from blood-loss, he thought that last part. Hana-tan's face scrunched up a tad in confusion, his thoughts derailed as he couldn't help but wonder the meaning behind Matsu's knowing smile. It's like she's reading my mind.

Hana-tan shook his head, stopping that line of thought before he distracted himself further from his prepared questions. He sat down upon the table and began to eat in advance, so he could get to the questions as soon as possible. His seemingly mean decision to eat before his guest joined him turned out to be a smart one; as soon as Matsu returned in her sky-blue dress, she inhaled her feast and immediately asked for seconds. They wound up finishing at the same time and took a moment to bask in the feeling of a satisfying meal. Hanatarou opted to re-break the ice, "So. You kind of conked out on me before I could really get the dirty details on the Sekirei Plan."

Matsu re-positioned her glasses on her face and her aura immediately took a more serious and knowledgeable feel to it. "As expected of the man I chose. He's going to use me the first morning after he wings me~!" The serious aura didn't even last 4 seconds, a new record for the perverted Sekirei of Wisdom. Hana-tan's face deadpanned, didn't even dignify that with a response and waited for her to continue. Matsu pouted for a moment, then got straight to the brass tacks, "Maybe it would speed things up if Hana-tan asked for specifics?"

Hana-tan sat up and didn't hesitate, "Who started this Sekirei Plan? I may have barely learned about Sekirei last night, but my first impression of you leads me to believe you're a little too intelligent to do a battle royale for the fun of it."

Matsu doesn't miss a beat, "The plan was designed by MBI, more specifically the president of the company, Minaka Hiroto. His true reasons are known only to him, but if you ask me it's to stroke his God complex." Hearing Matsu say that last part so seriously, Hana-tan had no choice but to take it as fact.

"Alright, so what exactly does it mean for a Sekirei to bond to an Ashikabi?" Hana-tan's line of inquiry was far from over.

Once again with flawless tempo, Matsu answered, "For a Sekirei, it's like the ritual humans call marriage." At this, the young stockbroker's eyebrows shot up his forehead. "Don't misunderstand. It's not legally binding, so you have the option to go out and date your human women. Although, Matsu has seen many pictures of what's available, and while Matsu doesn't mean to brag, but..." #02's voice dropped and she opted to push out her chest and run a hand through her currently laid-down hair, letting her fantastic figure do the talking.

Hana-tan couldn't help but interject with a smile, "And you tease me about my ego." He chided.

Matsu giggled, admitted a "Touché," and was once again struck with the impulse to tease her witty Ashikabi, "One thing Matsu must remind you of, we Sekirei are powerful beings with strong feelings of love towards our Ashikabi. We might just get jealous and take it out on you, you know~?" Hana-tan's face immediately dropped to a poker-face that would have been convincing, if it wasn't for the beads of sweat beginning to form on his forehead as he realized how true her last sentence was. Being the sharp man he was though, he noted Matsu said "we" and immediately queried about her use of plural form.

Matsu couldn't help her subconscious desire to immediately head over to her Ashikabi and embrace him. Nothing gets past him. She mused with a sigh as she wrapped her arms around his chest, then dropping them to his rear for a quick squeeze. The pervert got a repeat performance of her breakfast wrist slapping, except with a marginal increase in force. A lecherous giggle could be heard from the depths of Hana-tan's chest, "Oh Hana-tan~ you should know I don't mind it if you're rougher with me~ As a matter of fact, I don't mind role-playing the Swo-"

"Matsu, for the love of Kami, do not finish that reference!" He almost shouted. Matsu's head snapped back, and her hands moved to his chest, immediately thinking of an apology then looked at her Ashikabi's face. He started scratching his head in embarrassment and muttered, "I liked that movie as a kid, don't ruin it for me."

Before either one could say anything else, they both shared a good laugh, each others antics and how they just flowed. Matsu wound up speaking up this time, "Where did we leave off, Hana-tan?"

Hanatarou gazed up at the ceiling for a second then looked down with the answer, "You were about to explain why you used 'we' when you reminding me about how much of a bad idea it is to cheat on a Sekirei."

Matsu nodded, getting her thoughts back on track, "Ashikabi can wing as many Sekirei as he wishes. And you know what that means, right Hana-tan?"

At this, Hanatarou tilted his head, puzzled. "What does that mean, Matsu?"

Matsu suddenly had stars in her eyes as she suddenly wrapped one hand around her Ashikabi's neck and brought his head down between her breasts and pointed towards the window with the other. "Why, Hana-tan has to go out and wing more Sekirei of course~! Matsu is only Matsu after all. Brain-type Sekirei aren't meant to fight, and no Ashikabi of Matsu's is going to be defenseless!"

Hanatarou found himself defying his mother's gentlemanly teachings by talking with his mouth full, "Buh Masoo, I cah du dah." The self-made stockbroker broke free from his Sekirei's grip and stood up straight, trying to get the feeling of Matsu's breasts out of his head, "If I was to wing another Sekirei, I would only do so if she-"

"Or he," Matsu injected.

Hanatarou hesitated, but conceded the point, "Or he, is reacting to me. Good lord, did I just agreed to kiss a man? Never thought I'd see the day." He shook his head in disbelief and barked out a condescending laugh. Matsu giggled and was interrupted before she could say anything, "Oh, I had a pretty weird dream last night." #02 held her tongue and waited for him to continue, "A Sekirei by the name of Uzume spoke to me. She mentioned we were linked by fate, and I should ask you about it. Oh, and she sends her regards." Hana-tan stapled on that last part in a rush.

Matsu had a smile on her face that Hanatarou could only describe as victorious. The pervert reached into her cleavage and withdrew a cell phone. In a tone matching her smile, she asked, "Would you like to meet Uzume, Hana-tan?"

A/N: I don't know if you guys can tell, but I enjoy typing out this pair's interactions. Oh, and guess which part I was really hungry typing out.