Sekirei: The Lost Wolf.

Chapter 4: Welcome to the Sekirei Plan.

Disclaimer: this chapter was edited as of 8/9/22.


While Toyotama flexed her hands she looked toward her Ashikabi and just found him staring dumbfounded. The newly winged Sekirei waved her hand in front of the Spartan's face but no reaction.

"Don't tell me I broke my Ashikabi?" Toyotama said to herself.

When she touched Six's cheek he instantly snapped out of it and jumped back a little to put some distance between them. Six had his hand on his sidearm and pulled it out, aiming at the woman.

"What the hell was that light? What did you do?"

Toyotama raised her hand in surrender and stood there shocked. Of all the reactions she expected from her Ashikabi, pulling a gun on her wasn't one of them.

"Wow, hey hey, just calm down. If you let me explain I will tell you everything of what just happened." Toyotama chattered quickly, trying to calm him down. "Just put the gun away and I'll talk."

Six wasn't sure if she was serious or was just trying to get him to lower his guard again. After a couple moments of thinking it over he lowered his weapon "Fine, but any sudden movements and I'll put a round between your eyes. Understand?"

Toyotama gulped at that last statement, but managed a nod. She started wondering if she made a mistake in bonding with him... however, thinking about it she did force a kiss on him and he definitely didn't like it. Toyotama then gathered her thoughts.

"How do I put this... Well, I am called Toyotama, and those three women you fought off and myself aren't Human." the 16th Sekirei saw her Ashikabi's eyes narrow so she quickly continued. "We're an alien race called Sekirei that landed on this planet years ago. I kissed you because you're my Ashikabi."

There was that unfamiliar word again. Six put that aside to focus on what really mattered. 'She is not some augmented Human like I thought. She and those others are aliens... on Earth? There are species with no connection to the Covenant?'

While Six wrestled with his thoughts both he and Toyotama heard a jingle. Six brought up his pistol again.

"Slowly answer it."

Toyotama nodded and did as she was told.

She slowly took the phone out of her pocket and brought it to her ear and accepted the call. "Hello?"

Six didn't take his eyes off of her as face moved through several expressions at once, no doubt due to the one on the other end of the phone.

"Oh, it's you." Toyotama huffed, clearly not welcoming the contact. "He's right here in front of me, pointing a weapon at me." Toyotama added.

Six's enhanced hearing detected a loud screeching from the tiny speaker.

"Yes. No, he didn't seem to react too well to our bonding, and now he's threatening me as if I'm some type of monster." Toyotama replied. "Maybe if you talk to him you can talk some sense into him?"

Six just stared at her, aprehensive. He wanted to have Athena run a trace on the call only to realize he'd dropped his helmet. Before Six could move to retrieve it Toyotama approached slowly with her hands in the air to show she wasn't going to try anything. Once they were a meter away from each other Toyotama slowly lowered her hand that held the phone and held it out to him.

"It's for you." She said simply.

Six glanced between both the phone and Toyotama, then cautiously took his left hand off his sidearm to pick up the phone. He brought it to his ear. "Who is this?"

"Greetings and salutations, young man! I would like to congratulate you on winging number 16! However, from what she has informed me there seems to be a problem after bonding with her." Spoke a obnoxious male voice on the other end of the phone.

Six raised his eyebrow in confusion and dared to flick his gaze toward his fallen helmet. "Winging? Bonding? What the hell is this lunatic talking about?" Six muttered under his breath. "Hey, Hiroto Minaka, was it? I have no idea what you're talking about. Explain - aliens? Wings of light? What the hell is going here?"

Six was in no mood for games. First he failed to save Reach, he lost almost all of Noble team - hopefully not Jun - and Keiichi 047 died for him. Now he was stuck on a Earth seeming more and more likely to not be his Earth in the 2020s, and he had to deal with aliens near indistinguishable from Humans, one of which assaulted him with a kiss of all things. As far as Six was concerned he was mad as hell and he wanted some goddamned answers.

"You sound like a man who's lost in a strange land you don't understand." the obnoxious voice stated, unfazed. "If I had to guess, with the armor you're wearing you are probably from another time or place. Am I correct?"

Six's eyes suspiciously widened. "How did you-"

"Our observation satellite picked up a strange anomaly in certain alleyway, and after the strange lights disappeared there you were - face down on the ground in a small crater." The madman explained.

Six's eyes widened in shock. They caught that on video!? How much surveillance do they have? Six wondered internally. That snippet gave him an idea as to just how powerful this maniac was.

Said maniac deigned to grant him a moment to consider, before chuckling his way into further chatter.

"I can tell you're shocked. I must say, it was so extraordinary - like watching an old sci-fi movie, where the hero arrives to a different time or place through strange anomalous lights. Although, old movies use cheep bloom-lights and didn't alarm security forces!" Minaka added.

Six didn't like this individual. He seemed to hover between madness and lucidity. He hated that kind - it made them unpredictable and much more dangerous. "You still didn't answer my question. Who the hell are you?"

The man on the other side laughed. "I guess introductions are in order. My name is Minaka Hiroto - yes, the Minaka Hiroto, Founder and CEO of Mid-Bio Informatics or MBI." Minaka then let loose a maniacle laugh that grated on Six's nerves. "What about you, my interesting friend? What is your name?" Minaka asked with maddened glee in his voice.

Six reminded himself that the aliens and this Minaka were connected somehow, and decided to ensure he remained consistant with what Toyotama had witnessed from him.

"I've abandoned my name years ago as it serves no purpose now. If you must call me something then I am known as Spartan B312."

Minaka was quiet on the other end for a moment. "That's a little strange to be called a name, don't you think?"

Six narrowed his eyes. "I am also known as Noble-Six."

Minaka laughed, like some theatrical villain. "That is much better! I'll call you Six, then. Now, my lost friend, if you want answers to your questions then I am the one you need to talk too. But first, you can put away your gun. Number 16 has no interest in harming you. After all if you die she also dies - you two are now bonded."

Six was surprised by this information. 'If I die she dies with me?! Is this a symbiotic bond? What if she dies will I die as well?' There were so many questions running through his mind, but he had to focus. Couldn't count on this Minaka playing twenty questions with him, so he had to choose his next questions carefully. There was no guarantee Toyotama could fill in any blanks.

"Before I tell you anything, is your gun put away?" Minaka asked in an oddly cheerful manner.

Six hesitated for a moment. If Minaka spoke true that some connection tied her life to his she would not attack him. Six finally lowered his weapon and stuck it to the hardpoint on his thigh. The greenette woman sighed in relief, glad that as much as she hated Minaka - like so many other Sekirei - he was able to get her Ashikabi to stand down.

"There, I put it away. Now you answer my questions?"

" Splendid! To answer your question let me explain what you are now. An Ashikabi!" Minaka declared.

"What exactly is an Ashikabi anyway? Sounds like some type of vegetable."

Minaka laughed on the other side. "Oh no my dear friend an Ashikabi is so much more than that. As you have heard from Toyotama, she is a Sekirei - part of an alien race I discovered on a crashed ship on an island. 108 baby birds have been released all over the city, each Sekirei looking for their destined one."

Six raised an eyebrow at that. 'Destined one? What did he mean be that and why are aliens allying themselves with humans?'

"As you saw, Toyotama reacted to you and she knew you were her destined one, and thus sealed your bond through a kiss. Now, thanks to your DNA Toyotama has been marked as yours. Will other Sekirei react to you? Will you hunt them down to increase your power? Only the gods themselves will know what type of fate is in store for you. Once all 108 or 80% of the Sekirei have found their Ashikabi and have been winged, each Sekirei and their Ashikabi will be forced to fight and battle through out the city in a grand battle-royal style tournament."

Six was shocked to hear this. This crazy asshole was releasing aliens into the city to find human partners and he was going to force them to fight to the death. Six then asked "What the hell is the point of all this? You're going to have these aliens and the Humans they bonded with to fight to the death? For what? Why do any of this?"

Minaka cackled, clearly enjoying the conversation. "I'm glad you asked, my armored friend. Yes, the Sekirei and their Ashikabi will fight, and fight and fight - until there is only one Ashikabi and his Sekirei left. Once there is an Ashikabi standing on the top of the mountain of corpses he has made he will then receive the grand prize for completing the Sekirei Plan, which is the name of the game you are now apart of. This victorious Ashikabi and his or her Sekirei will then decide the fate of the entire world and a new "Age of the Gods" will be born! HAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHA!" Minaka unleashed a vastly superior stage-maniac laugh at the culmination of his explaination.

Six was furious. Not only was he going to drag innocent people into this asinine game, but the winner decided the fate of the entire Human race like a god. What if the winner had less then noble intentions at best all of mankind would be enslaved by some psycho? At worst said psycho could decide to wipe out all Human life on the planet. Six was then reminded of the Covenant and how they exterminated men, women and children and glassed their worlds all because - from what ONI could piece together - in their eyes Mankind were heretics and guilty of some sin to their religion, which they still had no idea what that entailed. But where they killed and attacked Humanity over some stupid religion, this bastard wanted to put all of Humanity in danger and have innocent people who bonded with these Sekirei to fight to the death and decide the fate of their species... and Minaka did this because he thought it would provide great entertainment.

Toyotama saw the look on her Ashikabi's face and if looks could kill she had no doubt that Minaka would be dead on the other end of the line. Six's thoughts didn't just stop at the Covenant and the countless they killed like the innocents on Reach and the rest of Noble team, but his thoughts traveled to one planet that was glassed years ago. That was the planet he was born on with his family that he was powerless to save.

That day was forever burned into his mind. All the death, destruction and the hatred he felt that day. Everything lost to him by a cult of aliens wiping them out in the name of their gods. From that day forward he vowed vengeance for what the Covenant did, joining many other war orphans just like him who wanted nothing more to bathe in the blood of the Covenant.

Right there Six wanted to openly declare war on Minaka and stop whatever this age of God is before anyone claimed this worthless prize. Knowing it wouldn't be a good idea since he is in unknown territory and dosen't have enough intel and information on his new foe to declare open conflict without knowing the full extent of Minaka's power.

Six calmed himself down, took a well practiced deep breath, and put a more relaxed look on his face. A confused Toyotama wondered what that was all about since if he could switch emotion like that... she had a feeling it wasn't a good sign. For Six outright murder wasn't yet possible by such a basic phone, so he decided to insult the madman and declare war.

"You must've had one hell of a depressing childhood to come up with a stupid game like this." Six stated.

"Huh?"

"You mean to tell me you find a spaceship full of aliens, a discovery which would've changed this world forever, and you turn into a game? I don't know about you, but I find that kind of depressing. If you didn't find that ship I guarantee you'd be one of those man-children who lives in their mothers basement playing with their action figures all day."

Six then heard the sounds of Minaka spluttering on the other end of the line. Six smirked like a wolf who caught his pray, his free fist flexing slightly in victory over the psycho MBI CEO.

Despite years of tragedy and his brutal training becoming a Spartan III commando didn't mean Six didn't have a sense of humor. Since S3's like him had more personality compared to their older brothers and sisters in the Spartan II program. The same time his enhanced hearing could make out the muffled sounds of laughter on the other end of the phone it sounded like two women laughing. He had done a rare thing it seemed.

Across from him Toyotama couldn't help but let out a small laugh finding what he just said to Minaka humorous. Still, she worried for her Ashikabi since no one she knew ever address the game master like that before without the terror the Disciplinary Squad raining down on them.

Looking at his face, he showed no signs of fear or uncertainty when insulting Minaka. Staring at him for some reason her fears steadily diminished, like he was forcing her fears and doubts into submission making her stare at awe at his bravery feeling pride swell in her heart for Six.

Six at the same time heard Toyotama laugh taking his attention to her for a moment' I made her laugh.' Six internally said to himself…. He couldn't explain it some reason he felt joy seeing her laugh, he couldn't explain why he was feeling this emotion right now. Was it this symbolic bond he was supposedly in with her…. He wasn't sure. For now he'll question it later, taking his focus back to the phone.

"You know what? I think I'm done talking to you. I want to talk to one of the two women I hear laughing in the background with you." Six demanded. He much preferred to have a more pleasant conversation with someone other then Minaka.

After some arguing from Minaka and a loud smashing sound like a desk being destroyed, Six heard a female voice mutter as the phone was brought to another's ear.

"Hello? Is this the armored individual I'm speaking too?"

"Yes."

"My name is Takami Sahashi. I am the head researcher here at MBI. What is it you want to talk to me about?"

Hearing her speak again her voice sounded very familiar to Six... like he heard this person speak before... then he realized who's voice it was.

"Halsey?"

"Hm? Who or what is Halsey?" Replied the woman named Takami on the other side.

Six quickly ignored her question "She's no one important. I wanted to talk to you instead of Minaka, because I was hoping to talk to somebody who didn't sound like an escaped mental asylum patient."

Takami chuckled a little bit at the remark he made about her boss and responded "Was it that you wanted to know about the bonding process?"

Six allowed himself a smile. She didn't miss a beat. "This process - I assume - is something akin to symbiosis?"

"Yes, you are right. Your Sekirei gets stronger based on how strong your bond is with them."

"Minaka also said that if I died she would also die. If she were to die would I also die?"

"No. If a Sekirei is terminated their Ashikabi is not killed by it." Takami said.

Six was glad that wasn't the case as it would be a huge liability.

"Is that all you wanted to know?" Takami asked politely.

"No, there's one more question on my mind here. What did he mean by Sekirei reacting to me and increasing my power, as well as hunting them down? Not the raving of your boss, but a sane assessment."

"Well there's some things the idiot forgot to tell you ." Takami admitted, then inhaled through her cigarette.

"Like what?" Noble six asked.

"Ashikabi are individuals to whom Sekirei become attached, in both a contractual and emotional sense. The winging of a Sekirei is done through an exchange of DNA through mucosal contact - a mouth-to-mouth kiss which number 16 has demonstrated to you. The main ability of an Ashikabi is empowering Sekirei, both by the strength of their emotional bonds and assisting in the activation of the Sekirei's Norito. An Ashikabi's power also increases with the number of Sekirei they wing, and more powerful Sekirei are more likely to respond and react to a more powerful Ashikabi." Takami explained.

Six found himself not liking what he was hearing. If he understood correctly, the moment Toyotama kissed him she put a marker on him and now other Sekirei could become aware of his presence just by sensing his DNA.

"Anything else you wanted to know?" Takami asked.

Six thought for a bit. "No. Thank you for the information. Goodbye."

"Wait-"

Six ended the call and gave the phone back to Toyotama.

Toyotama took the phone from her Ashikabi and put it away in a pocket. "So, did they explain everything?"

"More or less yeah. I'm now stuck in a game of life and death and more alien women are going to hunt me down because of what you did." Six summarised while he retrieved his helmet. "But there is one thing I don't understand."

Toyotama raised an eyebrow. "What is it?"

Six looked at her for a while. "After you...kissed me... you told me you would stay by my side forever. Also, by looking at your pupils dilation and the way you touched my face it was almost like that of a lover. Why did you do that?"

Toyotama blushed as she thought about the best way to explain this. "Well, you're my Ashikabi...my destined one. When I kissed you and we bonded I became your Sekirei forever. In Human terms the winging process I went through after I kissed you was like a wedding ceremony, and in a way we are now husband and wife." the green haired Sekirei said as she looked down at her feet blushing.

Six was shocked. Not only was he in a symbiotic bond with this woman, but now they were considered married by her standards and that other Sekirei will hunt him down and try to bond with him thus becoming his wives. How would he discern which Sekirei had the intent to bond with or kill him? Before Six could begin to dread about his current situation and wish he was back on Reach, both Six and Toyotama heard from the Spartan's AI partner.

"I guess congratulations are in order, Six. You were able to find a wife while we're stuck here. So, when is the honeymoon?"

"Who said that!?" Toyotama alerted by the unknown female voice grabbing her staff and looked in every direction where it came from.

"Down here." Toyotama's eyes zeroed-in on Six's helmet hanging from the hand at his side.

"Your helmet talks?" Toyotama gasped, staring at her Ashikabi's helmet with a confused look.

"Not quite." He replied, then raised the contraption and withdrew the chip from the back. "I take it you were listening and got my hint? Did you manage to find any data on this Hiroto Minaka?"

Toyotama watched him take out this chip like device from the back of the helmet and held it in the palm of his hands. A moment later Toyotama jumped back in fright as what she could only describe as ghostly, glowing, doll-seized woman appeared above the chip. This ghost looked like an ancient warrior from either Ancient Rome or Greece standing in the hand of her Ashikabi, with red hair and vivid green eyes, wearing a bright white full-length dress complete with drapery, her armor made out of gold and her hair in a french braid.

Athena shook her head. "I tried to Six, but something is wrong."

"What do you mean?"

"I mean everything about Minaka Hiroto from his birth records, psychological profile, his history, hell even his medical records just don't exist." Athena explained. "It's almost like Minaka Hiroto didn't exist until he entered university."

Six took that in and thought about it. So the mental patient is capable of erasing his history. "Athena I want you to keep trying to dig up whatever you can about this guy. Any scrap of information no matter how trivial, I want to know about it."

Athena nodded. "Understood. I'll let you know what I'm able to come up with. I did find some data on Takami Sahashi, however."

Athena brought up an image of Takami next to her her own thumbnail. The woman appeared to be a slender, middle-aged woman with grey hair and grey eyes. She was wearing a white lab coat over non-descript grey button-up shirt and black trousers.

"The similarity is striking..."

Athena nodded in agreement on his HUD. "I may have never met Halsey, but I have enough files to compare. For this Takami Sahashi to sound exactly like her is unexpected and unlikely. She has a similar gaze and expression, too. Maybe there are equivalent persons in this other dimension, and we found this world's version of Halsey? The possibilities have me curious."

Before they could speak further, Six noticed Toyotama coming close to his open hand staring at Athena.

"What is this? A tiny ghost?" Toyotama so mesmerized and transfixed on the AI she wasn't even paying attention to what they were talking about.

Six looked at Toyotama and considered. Since they were now bonded he figured they were now for all intense and purposes a team, so he decided she would need to know things. "Toyotama, this right here is named Athena. She is a smart AI that is currently part of my armor-systems."

Athena turned around to face a very surprised Toyotama with a smile. "It's a pleasure to meet you, Toyotama. Welcome to the team, and congrats on the marriage."

Six sighed. 'She is never going to let this go.' he thought.

"Humm… thank you for congratulating me on my winging." Toyotama blushing despite being thanked by technically a machine. It did raise a question in her mind. "So you're a real artificial intelligence... I didn't think there was anything advanced like you out there. Are there more of you?" Toyotama asked. Her knowledge on artificial intelligences was scarce, however she never heard or seen any like this before.

"Lets just say I'm the only highly advanced AI in the world right now and before you ask, everything else is classified until I'm ready to tell you at a later point in time. More importantly..."

Athena returned her attention back to Noble-Six, which brought him out of his own thoughts.

"I think your husband here owes you an apology for pointing a gun at you… don't you, Six?"

Six knew Athena was still teasing him about being married and wanted to retort that she owed him the apology for the kiss, but reluctantly conceded. He regarded Toyotama and said "I'm sorry I held you at gunpoint. After that...kiss and the winging I wasn't sure if you were a threat or not."

Toyotama looked surprised as it was only a kiss, but she was grateful that he apologized. "Sorry I just kissed you out of the blue like that, but Sekirei can rarely control themselves when they are in front of their Ashikabi." She explained.

As Six heard Toyotama's explanation on how Sekirei react when in the presence of their Ashikabi, the Spartan committed it to memory so he can be on the look out for women that showed such symptoms. Six then inserted the AI chip back in it's proper place and put on his helmet. "Toyotama, I'm going to check that those friends of yours are gone, and check if there are any other surprises that might cause us trouble. Stay here and rest. I'll return once I have done a thorough check of the perimeter."

Six then left the room before Toyotama could protest.

Once he was gone Toyotama just sat back on the bed and sighed "Fine." She said laying back in bed, "Might as well get some rest." It had been a long day for her since she was chased and beaten up by her best friend and then got rescued by her Ashikabi only for him to threaten her at gunpoint since her kiss and wings freaked him out. Still, there was a lot of things about her Ashikabi that raised a lot of questions. She hoped after some time with him he would reveal more about himself to her.

'What is he? He's proven himself to be more than just a Human when he took on Ichiya and her teammates and beat them back. The futuristic armor he wears and now this advanced AI, so many mysteries and no answers to them.'

Toyotama took a deep breath, closed her eyes and tried to get some sleep with her staff close at hand, leaning up against the wall next to the bed.

Leaving Toyotama to rest, Six walked outside and did a perimeter check of the building, wanting no more surprises from hostile Sekirei like those three women from earlier. Outside it was still dark so there weren't too many people out and about. Just to be safe Six turned on his active camouflage and mostly vanished into the night.

"So... you want to talk about the situation we found ourselves in?" Athena asked the Spartan.

Six really didn't but decided to humor the AI. "There is little we can talk about. We're on a world that might not be our Earth - and if it is, we're trapped 500 years in the past. To make matters worse we are now in a fight to the death between multiple alien women and to add insult to injury there might be more of them that claim to be my wives because of some non-physical bond. These aliens must be crazy."

Athena chuckled ."You say that like it's a bad thing."

The Spartan said nothing and just exhaled at his AI companions remark.

"Oh come on, lighten up. According to data I have, most Human males would jump at this opportunity to have multiple wives." Athena baited, trying to cheer up her partner.

"Well, Athena, Spartan III commando training prepared me for a lot of things, from weapons training, Hand-to-hand combat, survival training, operating combat vehicles, and intelligence gathering. Being in relationships isn't it one of those."

"Lets talk intel, then." the AI verbally shrugged. "I have scraped together something regarding Hiroto Minaka."

"Good. Tell me."

"Not really anything useful. No records except for him going to Tokyo University and graduating in 1999 at the top of his class. A 'super genius' he was labeled by the professors at the University. From what I'm reading here, it seems like his IQ could be on par with Halsey's - if you can believe it."

"You're shitting me, right?" Six balked immediately. "This mental patient was considered to be a super genius and possibly on the same level as the greatest mind in the UNSC?"

"I wished it was a joke but MBI itself is a certain kind of proof." Athena sighed. "Also, if you think that is surprising, wait until you see a picture of what this guy looks like today."

Athena then brought up a thumbnail on Six's HUD. He blinked at the head-to-toe picture of Hitoto Minaka. If he was trying to be a super villain in a comic book six thought he was trying to way too hard. He saw slender, bespectacled man with tall and spiked white hair. He was entirely clad in white - a suit, shirt, gloves and high-collar full-cape. It was hard to be sure of the material quality, but the cape did seem thick enough to be expensive. Whatever regal or clerical air might have been produced from such was demolished by the extroverted comic-book pose.

"I can't believe I'm saying this, but I think the Covenant Prophets have more dignity than this guy." Six muttered.

Athena chuckled a little bit at the comparison. "Other than that, the only other information is what we know so far - sometime after graduation an earthquake happened in the sea of Japan, an island rose up to the surface. Without permission Hiroto Minaka and Takami Sahashi ventured there and found the Sekirei."

He mulled over the data for several long moments, enjoying the quiet of the night after all the recent chaos.

"You could try to learn to be in a relationship... you know, it sounds crazy coming from an AI." Athena commented. She may be a smart AI didn't mean she didn't know anything about human relationships. In fact, she had a lot of data on the Human psyche.

Six didn't say anything, just took in what the AI said. When it came to relationships - especially romantic ones - he was clueless. He and many other Spartans whether they are part of the second or third generation were detached from those type of ideas. Six knew nothing about being a husband or boyfriend for that matter, so with him and this alien woman, Toyotama, he was completely unsure how to handle her. At this point he couldn't fathom trying to have multiple alien wives! If he was lucky Toyotama would be the only one bonded to him and no more.

For Noble-Six, he only knew three ways to react to people. If you were his commanding officer he obeyed you. If you were in his squad he would lay down his life for you. If you were his enemy then God have mercy on your soul.


Notes: Fun fact, I actually learned Takami and Dr. Halsey/Cortana in Halo legends the anime shared the same English dub voice actress, Shelley Calene-Black. so I figure that would be an interesting idea to play with for six to mistake Takami for Halsey of the sound of her voice, even though its Jen Taylor as the main voice actress in the games for Halsey and Cortana.

For the sake of this story let's pretend
Shelley Calene-Black voiced Halsey in Halo Reach.

Other than that I like to thank The Son of Sparda 343 for helping me out again with this chapter.

Also I don't own either sekirei and halo they belong to their respective owners.