A/N: Hello guys; I am back with another chapter for your viewing pleasure. I first want to thank those who reviewed and sent me some ideas; I really appreciate the help. Those people are ShadowUzumaki55 and ChrisZilla18; thanks you guys for the awesome ideas. I also have a surprise at the end of this chapter so pay attention. Now enough of my babbling; please enjoy the chapter.

Ice Chronicles

Chapter 44: Newcomer

I've never saw eyes like his before. Just by looking into them, I can tell he has a great deal of power, but they also gave off a sense of anger and the intent to kill. The only people I know with eyes like this are Miya and Karasuba; and I could feel them trying to pierce through my core, its anger blasting at me. Even though the person before didn't show these signs, his eyes said it all.

Earlier

I sat in the living room with my girls, whom were finishing their final preparations for our beach trip. Jason and his girls were also present and they assisted in the preparations. As they did, I kept looking at the time for combatants to be chosen.

"Everyone, it's time," I told them. Jason and I placed our phones on the coffee table and waited for noon to strike. Once it hit, the girls gasped as both phones went off.

"Is it really that time?" I questioned. I took a look at the message and saw Jason fall back in relief.

"We're not fighting; thank goodness," he said.

"Then what's the challenge?" Matsu asked.

"It's a scavenger hunt. Ashikabis are to bring three sekirei with them; but I will only take one that way the rest of you can focus on your beach planning," I answered.

"Yeah, I'll do that too," Jason said. "Ku, you're coming with me."

"Really, yay!" she cheered and hugged him.

"Hmm, then I will pick Toyotama," I selected. She then hugged me.

"Alright then, let's go."

After calming down my jealous sekirei, namely Tsukiumi and Musubi, Jason and I headed out with our partners to the designated location; however, we weren't expecting it to be a huge cruise liner.

"Cool, we're going on a cruise without paying; but if only it was that simple," Jason said.

"So you two received the message as well," someone spoke up. We looked behind us and saw Seo and Sanada along with their sekirei.

"Hey guys, yeah, we got the message too," Jason responded. "If this is all about luck, then I have this in the bag."

Suddenly, the intercoms activated with an announcement.

"Greetings chosen ashikabi and sekirei; it's time for the hunt to begin. This is how it will work; on the ship before you, the remaining Jinki have been hidden somewhere inside. Your task is to find them within the time limit. If you claim a Jinki, guard it until time is over," Minaka announced. "In this hunt, ashikabis are allowed to have more than one Jinki; and the sekirei are allowed to fight others for theirs. Now take your places."

We all entered the ship and thought it would be better to divide and conquer.

"Your time starts…NOW!"

A loud buzzer sounded and the sound of footsteps immediately ran wild. I just chuckled.

"So what's the plan Ren?" Toyotama asked.

"I have no plan," I told her.

"Huh?" She said in confusion.

"I don't feel like coming up with a plan, too complicated. Instead of trying to find a Jinki, we'll let it come to us," I explained.

"I don't understand," she responded. I grasped her hand and started pulling her along with me.

"I have two Jinki already so there's really no point in obtaining more; and if we just enjoy ourselves and enjoy the ship, we'll eventually come across one. I don't want to waste time looking for something I have two of when I'm alone with my girl. We should spend some time together and forget about fighting."

She smiled and linked her arm with mine.

"Well when you put it like that how I could say no; but how about we make a little wager to spice the trip up a bit?"

"Alright, what do you have in mind?" I asked back.

"If you claim a Jinki and manage to hold on to it until the end, I'll do something special for you; however, if you can't, then you have to give me a nice massage during our beach trip," she wagered. Her bet made me remember Yomi's punishment a long time ago.

"You just reminded me of Yomi when she gave me her punishment."

She laughed. "That was a fun day, and a funny punishment."

"Easy for you to say; at least you didn't get your hands smacked," I retorted. She laughed more and rested her head on my shoulder.

"Maybe now you'll pay more attention to us and stop getting into trouble."

"If you ask me I pay way too much attention to you; but I was actually looking for you when I was attacked. Just goes to show how unlucky I am when I go out on strolls."

"Maybe it's a sign," she suggested.

"Yes, that fate is testing me and I must pass her test. This is to show my determination to keep going; I will not give up my strolls," I declared enthusiastically. Toyotama sighed. We continued exploring the ship and saw what else it contained; it had a nice dining room filled with food, a shop where I bought Toyotama a nice emerald bracelet since she still didn't have a gift like the others, and just some of everything. It was nice to spend time with Toyotama, but it paused momentarily when we were confronted by some enemies.

"Aw man, just when I was spending quality time with my girl," I complained. A fight was inevitable, but it didn't last long. Toyotama showed them mercy and let them retreat, mostly because I told her too; but in return, I gave a victory kiss for it. After that, we went back to exploring and didn't see any signs of a Jinki.

"You know I'm really excited about our beach trip; I feel as though it's been long overdue," Toyotama told me.

"You girls are really prepared for this trip; I can barely separate you and that paper you've been working on," I replied.

"Mmm-hmm," she said and kissed my cheek. "We're just happy to spend some vacation time with our lover."

"That's everyday practically," I pointed out. She pulled me along with her.

"Well with the way you treat us, there's a reason why we want to spend more time with you."

We rounded a corner and stopped at seeing the person across from us, well it was more like I stopped and Toyotama just wondered why. He was the exact same height as Jason; his hair fell to his chin and shined a hazelnut color. He wore a black and white karate gi with two black wristbands covering his arm that had a Japanese symbol on them and a pair of black and white karate boots. His arm was propped on the railing and his head sat in his palm as he stared at the horizon. He didn't seem to have noticed us.

"So you're Ren Zonin," he suddenly spoke up. "I'm not surprised that you're here."

The guy never turned and continued staring at the skyline.

"How do you know about me?" I asked. He still never faced us.

"Everyone pretty much knows who you are; especially after your match with Higa. I must admit, that was a great display of the bond you and your sekirei have established."

"Forgive my rudeness, but just who are you?" I questioned. That's when he finally looked at me and showed me the look in his eyes.

Now

Toyotama and I stood across from the newcomer, his eyes still analyzing me.

"Your eyes, they're a lot different from others I've seen."

"Hm, I get that a lot," he replied.

"Again, forgive my rudeness, but are you an enemy or an ally?" I questioned. He went back to looking at the horizon.

"I'm neither an enemy nor an ally. I'm just waiting."

"Waiting? Waiting for what?" I asked. Suddenly, something came out of the shadows and attacked, but Toyotama intercepted the strike, which came from a curved dagger. The attacker came into view and reveled themselves to be a dark-skinned woman with long jet black hair, wearing a bikini top beneath a small hood shawl, a buckled sarong, and leather knee-high boots to complete her black attire.

"He was waiting for me," she stated.

"It's okay Yahan; don't worry about them," the guy stated. She jumped back and stood beside him.

"Did you find it?"

She reached in her shawl and pulled out a Jinki with the number five on it. I was mostly surprised by how fast they found it, but not the revealing.

"Great job Yahan; that's it for us," her ashikabi said. He grabbed her hand and put the Jinki away.

"My identity will be revealed in due time."

He and Yahan disappeared into the shadows and disappeared.

"Who do you think that guy is?" Toyotama asked.

"I guess we'll find out soon enough he says," I told her. "But we better keep our eyes open for anything else."

She nodded. "So what now?"

I wrapped her in a hug.

"Just forget about it; we're alone again."

She smiled and nuzzled her head in my chest.

P.O.V Change Jason

I continued walking with my little one while still looking for the Jinki. So far, we haven't found it; but thankfully, no one has attacked us. Also, Ku has been acting much happier than usual, but I only assumed she was just happy to spend time with me.

"Big brother, look," she notified me. She pointed towards something and I followed the arrow. It turned out to be a Jinki being displayed in a glass case.

"Awesome Ku; you found the jewel. Now we just have to pull of the heist," I responded.

"I'll get it," she stated and attempted to run.

"Wait Ku no!" I yelled and stopped her. "You can't just approach it, there are probably traps guarding it. We need to bypass the traps first in order to claim our prize."

"Oh, okay," she agreed. I patted her shoulders.

"Now, how should we approach it?"

I saw some flowers decorating the room and it sparked an idea to form in my mind.

"Ku, use those plants to form some vines and try to remove the glass."

She nodded confidently and used her magic to manipulate the plants as I instructed. I guided her where to navigate the vines and managed to disable any traps while getting to the glass.

"Alright Ku, you're doing a fantastic job. Now we need something sharp to cut through the glass."

"Okay," she replied. Kusano made a sharp throne grow out of the vine near the glass. She started cutting a circle; however, an alarm went off and caused steel bars to rise and imprison it.

"Oh come on! Well I guess getting it was too easy then," I said. "Now what do we do?"

"I got it big brother," Ku stated. She commanded the other plants to grow thrones around the tips of the vines and controlled them to start hammering on the bars. Their actions did cause dents to form, but the cage was too strong. When she found it futile, Ku started to pout.

"It's okay Ku; we'll just think of something else," I told her as I patted her head. With the traps deactivated, I walked to the cage and started thinking of another way to get the Jinki.

"Maybe there's something around here that we can use to cut the bars with. Let's go Ku before someone else shows up."

"Too late," someone spoke up. I jumped a little and turned to face the surprise. I was thinking it was Ren, but it was someone else instead. He looked like a martial artist since he's a wearing a karate gi.

"Who are you?" I asked. He started approaching us.

"I've been asked that question all day, but I never gave them an answer."

"I see. Well I hate to break it to you, but this Jinki is mine," I told him.

"And yet you can't get it out," he retorted.

"Yeah well I would like to see you try," I stated. He shrugged his shoulders and moved toward the cage. The guy simply stared at it while telling me to get back. I just did as he said and watched him continue staring; but suddenly, WHOOSH! WHOOSH! WHOOSH! The cage was mysteriously cut to pieces and clanged upon hitting the floor. I was greatly surprised; it all just happened so fast. They guy grabbed the now free Jinki.

"Well would you look at that."

"How did you…"

He interrupted me by tossing me the Jinki and then walking away.

"Hey wait a minute."

But he kept walking. As he left, I caught the sight of a katana resting across his back.

"Who was that guy?"

I felt someone tug on my shirt and looked down at my little blonde sekirei.

"Big brother; I'm hungry," she told me. I blinked at her and then started snickering.

"Okay Ku; let's go find something to eat."

She smiled and grabbed my hand, pulling me along with her; but she bumped into some and stumbled back into my torso.

"You okay Ku?"

She simply nodded as she kept looking forward. Her eyes were as wide as can be as her mouth lay open agape. I could hear breath being released as she tried to form words.

"Ku, what's the matter?"

"Sh-Shiina," she whispered loud enough for me to hear.

"Shiina?" I repeated. My eyes looked ahead and spotted two people. One was a petite and slim young woman with black hair and blue eyes. She was wearing what seems to be a school uniform. With her was a young man a little taller than she was with messy silver hair and grey eyes. His outfit resembled that of the girl's and he was just as stunned as Kusano.

"Ku, is that you?" He asked. She started to tear up and ran to the boy, throwing her arms around him as they embraced each other tightly.

"Shiina!"

"Ku!"

I couldn't help but smile at the two, but when I looked at Shiina's companion, I found her staring at me with wide eyes, as if she was judging me.

"Hi there," I greeted. Shiina looked up at me and released his hold on Ku, who took his hand and brought him towards me.

"Shiina, this is my ashikabi; he saved me from a bad man," Ku told him.

"You have my thanks; I was really worried about Ku. Ever since the Botanical Garden incident, I've been looking for her since," he responded. "But we came across this guy a long time ago who said she was living happily with her ashikabi."

"Oh, that was probably Ren," I told him. "But anyway; I'm glad you two are reunited. What's your number?"

"Sekirei no. 107, Shiina," he introduced.

"Nice to meet you; I'm Jason, but I suppose you already knew that from my match that day."

He nodded. "Yeah, you really made a first impression."

I shrugged. "First impressions are always important; but let me ask you something. Why is your ashikabi staring at me like that?"

Shiina laughed halfheartedly as a small blush appeared on his face and he rubbed the back of his head.

"Well you see, Yukari always get this way when she sees bishounen and biseinen males; and since she has that look in her eye, you are now on her list. How old are you?"

"Sixteen," I answered.

"Then you are a bishounen according to her," Shiina told me. That's when Yukari suddenly appeared in front of me and checked out my appearance while saying things a fan girl might say.

"Yes, he is definitely a bishounen, but he's not the one we saw before."

"Before?" I repeated to Shiina.

"Yeah, we came across this guy in a karate gi. Let's just say, Yukari nearly died from a nosebleed and whatever thought that went through her mind," he explained. She blushed in response.

"I was not thinking about anything."

That's when she became wide-eyed again.

"Yes, I can see it now. Shiina, Jason, and that other guy are trying to find out who is the better man; but as their competition, filled with activities that show off their lean bodies, continues. But they soon notice themselves paying more attention to the others' muscularity; and before they know, a newfound rush overcomes them and they start to realize new feelings they've never experienced with other men before."

I was absolutely astonished at what Yukari just said. I was so speechless that Ku had to smack my stomach to wake me up.

"What in the world goes on in that head of yours?" I questioned. She didn't hear me for she was in her own little world.

"Shiina; I believe something is wrong with your ashikabi."

He laughed sheepishly. "I don't mine really; it doesn't change my feelings for her."

"Oh Shiina," she whispered. He blushed deeply.

"I-I'm sorry; I didn't mean to say that out loud."

Yukari blushed as well.

"But I'm happy that you said that."

They smiled at each other while still blushing.

"Ahem," I said to get their attention.

"Oh, sorry about that," Shiina apologized.

"I have no problem with it, but I can leave so you two can have quality time alone, if you know what I mean," I replied. They blushed even brighter.

"Does the increase in blush mean you've already done it?"

The redness became even more bright.

"W-We haven't crossed that bridge yet," Yukari answered.

"I don't believe that; I'm sorry, but I don't believe you," I replied. "You are so close together so I find it hard to believe that you haven't crossed that bridge despite how long you two have been together."

"It's true; we haven't done it yet, not that I don't want to," Shiina spoke up.

"Well when you do cross that bridge, you won't regret it," I responded. "When your hearts become one, not only will it strengthen your bond; but it will also deepen your love. Your hearts and souls become one and you're able to feel each other's heartbeat. You can feel the other's emotions and establish something so powerful that absolutely nothing can break it; and yes, I speak from experience."

"Wow," the two whispered.

"The powerful feelings you have towards each other will make it all the better; but let me ask you something; are you really afraid, or is there something else blocking you? Don't tell me, but just think about it," I continued. "I have a friend who told me the same thing I'm telling you. He's an expert now seeing as he's done all but one of his sekirei."

"He's a huge pervert isn't he?" Yukari asked.

P.O.V Change Ren

AH-CHOO!" I sneezed all of a sudden, making Toyotama look at me.

"Bless you; are you getting sick?"

"No, someone is talking about me," I replied. She giggled.

"Maybe the others are talking about what to do with you during our beach trip."

"Probably," I said. "Knowing my girls; it's all about being alone with me."

"It's what we love best," Toyotama replied.

"Obviously, but I'll never complain," I told her. She giggled and nuzzled my arm in response. Suddenly, the buzzer sounded and the intercom activated again.

"That ends the match. Your time is up and the remaining Jinki have been claimed," Minaka stated. "Now then, I want all remaining ashikabi and sekirei to gather at the arena."

The coms turned back off, but I saw Toyotama smiling incredibly happily.

"Toyotama, why are you even happier than I last saw you?"

She stepped in front of me and planted a firm kiss on my lips.

"You owe me a massage."

"Huh?" I said. That's when I finally remembered our wager and face palmed myself.

"Crap! I knew I was forgetting something."

She laughed and brought her face closer for another kiss.

"It's your fault you know."

"How is my fault?" She asked back.

"If you hadn't distracted me with your beauty then I would've remembered our wager," I replied. She wrapped her arms around my neck.

"I won't be like Yomi so don't worry."

She leaned closer and whispered in my ear in a seductive tone.

"And besides, now you have the perfect excuse to do whatever you want."

I turned red at her tone and what she was referring to, causing her to giggle. After we kissed some more, we met up with Jason and his new friends, whom instantly recognized me, but the girl shot me an angry glare. We gathered our remaining girls and headed to the arena. Jason decided to leave his Jinki with mine again. Once we all arrived at the stadium and waited for others to recover from the shock of me having a limo, we were greeted by Minaka and his higher ups just like the first time. He stepped forward with his signature grin.

"Greetings ashikabi and sekirei; I hope you've noticed the decrease in your brethren."

He was right; there weren't as many competitors as the first time.

"Now that you are the remaining competitors, it's time for the final matches of the Sekirei Plan to commence. These are a little different from previous matches you've participated in. There are three varieties to these matches; first off, one on one matches will remain the same. There will be two new additions; speed runs and battle royals. The names themselves should be self-explanatory, but I'd feel it would be much better if you experience it for yourselves. To start things off, we'll begin with a speed run match. The selection process will be just like the first one.

As he said, the screen filled with the remaining names began its selection.

"In these matches, only one person will participate; and he or she has the option of doing it themselves or by selecting their sekirei."

The screen started to decrease gradually as others probably hoped they wouldn't be selected. Once the screen has chosen its participator, Minaka continued to speak.

"Before I reveal this person, I want to announce that these matches will not happen right away; but instead, you will be given three weeks to prepare yourselves. Those three weeks are to do whatever you want."

"I see. So he's giving people a better chance at survival," I said.

"That's awfully generous of him," Jason commented. We saw Minaka's smile widen.

"Now let's meet the starting combater."

A picture popped onto the screen; however, my eyes narrowed as Jason and Toyotama let out a soft gasp.

"No way," Jason said. Next thing we know, girls just burst out cheering. Minaka finished up his announcement.

"Our competitor may not look that tough, but he gives meaning to the definition looks can be deceiving. Don't let his appearance fool you; he has more than just a cute face. And I should know; he is the cousin of the Discipline Squad's ashikabi, Kai Sasaki."

A/N: And that's it for another chapter. I hope you all like the surprise, but I think I made it too obvious. Anyway, yes, Kai has made an appearance in this story. Let's see how far this goes. I want you all to tell me what you think in review or pm please; and if you would, keep sending ideas please. I'm looking forward to what you all come up with now that Kai is here. With something to think about, this has been MalevolentDarkness16 and I will see you all next time.