Tsuna was heartily glad that Akitsu's powers were ice-based, as it was keeping his fever down considerably. It wasn't the first time this had sprung up, but it was far worse than before.

Akitsu stayed glued to his side, not moving an inch. He further appreciated her powers, because her lap was nice and cool for his head to rest on.

So you could imagine his annoyance when he heard his phone buzzing, indicating a text message. He glanced at the phone briefly before the migraine reminded him of it's presence with a vengeance.

Akitsu dutifully put the cloth back on his head. He hated being sick.

Hearing the polite knock, Tsuna groaned and wondered why the gods hated him so much today.

Still, he got up because only three people knew where he lived and only one would bother coming.

"This had damn well better be one hell of an emergency," he growled, while opening the door.

Only to find himself face to face with Homura, the blond woman he usually sparred with, and both of them in clothes that looked like they had been in one hell of a fight.

Tsuna gave Homura a deadpan stare. Homura had the sense to look abashed once he realized Tsuna's condition.

"Come in, and for the love of kami please keep the noise level to a minimum. I have a really bad migraine."

Homura said nothing once he closed the door. Tsuna reclaimed his spot in Akitsu's lap.

"Homura...why did you bring me to your Ashikabi?" hissed the woman.

"Because his apartment was closest, and we need to wait until those cowards leave the area before I can take you to where I'm staying," said Homura flatly.

"What happened?" asked Tsuna, not looking up. He had the cloth on his head again, chilled by Akitsu's ice.

Homura explained in a quiet voice, being considerate of Tsuna's migraine. If he had known his Ashikabi was sick, he never would have taken them there.

"So to sum it up, some jackass is treating the Sekirei like they're Pokémon and was attempting to force your rival into a bond even though they aren't compatible, since she would have no choice in the matter once winged, is that correct?" said Tsuna flatly.

"Essentially. I did try to warn you I was coming, but I never got a response back," said Homura apologetically.

Tsuna lifted the cloth to give him a flat look.

"You can stay until the coast is clear, but try to keep the noise level down," he replied.

"Thanks," said Homura, relieved.

Tsukiumi was not happy, but she was also exhausted and needed a place to rest. Those cowards had nearly winged her twice already, and they had brought reinforcements halfway through. If Homura hadn't been there, she would have been in major trouble.

A few hours passed, with Homura bringing some medicine from the cabinet for Tsuna, hoping it would at least alleviate the bad migraine he was having.

It had reached the four hour mark when Tsuna suddenly sat up, ignoring the pain he was in to stare outside.

"What's wrong?" said Homura, alarmed.

"We need to move. Now," he said, leaving no room for argument.

Akitsu was already moving, going into a protective position around her partner.

Homura had a bad feeling, and looked outside. He cursed.

"They're back," he said, angrily. "And they brought more reinforcements."

Tsuna began to stumble a bit, heading towards the bed room in the back.

"What are you doing? We need to stand and fight these uncouth cowards!" said Tsukiumi imperiously.

"I'm in no condition to help," said Tsuna through the pain. "Akitsu and Homura will be too distracted protecting me to properly keep an eye out for you. And this headache will be pointless if you're winged against your will."

Tsukiumi stared at him, stunned.

"What should we do?" asked Homura.

"We head to the inn. You mentioned no one is dumb enough to fight in that sector, and if we can make it that far then hopefully they'll back off," said Tsuna. "Can you call ahead and ask if anyone there is willing to run interference?"

Homura cursed, as he had dropped his phone during the scuffle. Tsuna handed him his own, with a nod of thanks from Homura.

He spoke quickly and quietly into the speaker, before making a face.

"We'll have some back up, but I really wish I didn't need to owe him anything," said Homura.

Some time later...

"Can't believe Homura actually asked for help," said Hibiki.

"Neither can...holy shit!" said Hikari.

A massive blast of flame had just shot past several blocks away. As if that wasn't enough, several rather nasty looking spears of ice soon followed it, destroying a helicopter in the process.

They could only stare when they realized the flame was Homura and the ice belonged to the broken one that his Ashikabi had taken in before.

Even Tsukiumi looked absolutely shocked at the massive power boost Homura had once he released his Norito.

Closer inspection revealed the broken one was carrying their Ashikabi, with Homura holding up the rear and the unwinged one between them.

Hikari and Hibiki shared a look, before blasting any Sekirei that came near the group. Once they passed the unspoken boundary of Miya's domain, the others backed off.

In the Inn

"Oh dear. He doesn't look so well," said Miya.

"He looks like death warmed over," snarked Seo.

Tsuna looked up briefly, before snorting.

"This coming from a bum who's only good at mooching off others?" he shot back.

Homura coughed to hide his laugh, while Miya did very little to hide her smug grin.

"This is the thanks I get for sending my girls out to help?" complained Seo.

Tsuna reached into his back pocket and pulled out something. He handed the twin lightning users a card.

"What's this?" asked Hibiki, suspicious.

"I won a gift card in a raffle about three days ago. It has a little over thirty thousand yen on it for a local grocery store," said Tsuna.

The twins eyes went wide in shock, as that was enough to buy groceries for a full month at least.

"Why are you giving it to them?" asked Seo, whining.

"One, you have the appearance of a drunken bum who is more likely to spend it on booze than actual food," said Tsuna flatly. "And two, they earned it more than you have considering you were nowhere near the actual fighting. Just because you supply their norito doesn't mean you've done the same amount of work."

Miya was positively beaming at him now. She knew she had liked him for his treatment of Akitsu, but he had solidified his position in her good books.

Tsuna wanted to groan, as he took in the condition of his poor apartment. Those bastards had done a number on the place.

Homura winced, as he hadn't expected them to trash the place as revenge for rescuing his rival.

"I am so sorry about this."

Tsuna felt depressed, but he had the sense to keep all his important documents in a safety deposit box well away from his apartment. He wasn't stupid after all.

Most of his clothes were trashed, his books were beyond saving and the less said about the furniture the better.

"Do you think Miya would be okay with having another pair of boarders, at least until I find another apartment to rent?"

"She never turns people away, though she is pretty strict about certain things."

Tsuna paused in picking through what was left of his apartment to look at him.

"She got annoyed at people treating her inn like a love hotel and scared them off, didn't she?" he asked. Homura chuckled and nodded.

"Ashikabi would show up with their partner, before leaving in a hurry because she busted them trying to have sex in the room," said Homura. "If that didn't do it, then they often did something to royally irritate her...like having a pet."

Tsuna snorted at that. It took him a few hours to salvage what he could, before they headed back to the inn. Tsuna had zero remorse telling his now former landlord exactly who to send the bill to, since he was forced to terminate his lease early. Homura was more than happy to supply such information, as well as identify several of those involved in trashing the apartment.

Higa would not be pleased getting the bill...especially since Homura called in a favor to make it actually stick.

As they walked, Tsuna decided to chat with Homura.

"So...why were you so against having a male Ashikabi anyway?"

"I'm...different...among the others. Apparently I have the ability to shift between male or female, depending on the preferences of my Ashikabi."

"And you were worried you'd be forced to turn into a woman because I'm a guy?" said Tsuna. Homura nodded, miserably. Tsuna snorted instead. "That shouldn't be a problem."

Homura paused.

"What?"

"I said that shouldn't be a problem, considering I'm bi," said Tsuna dryly, adjusting his grip on the box. "I had a bit of a crush on you since I started working at the club, but you made it clear you were firmly straight, so I never said anything and kept it to myself."

Homura stared at him, before he let out a bit of a laugh.

"You're serious, aren't you?" he said.

Tsuna shrugged and looked at him

"Some people stick to one gender when looking for a partner, but I generally don't. So long as we're both consenting adults, why should I care what they identify as?"

Tsukiumi was having a bit of a quandary. On one hand, she hated the idea of having an Ashikabi and wanted to be strong without one. Just the idea of submitting herself to some base human appalled her greatly.

But. Tsuna was nothing like some of the Ashikabi she had met, attempting to wing her. He was rather noble, and had never looked at her like an object. She had seen the way some of those males had looked at her chest, and it had pissed her off.

Tsuna though...he had gone out of his way to protect her without being asked, had treated her like a person, and had never once even hinted at winging her himself. There was something positively magnetic about him that got her hot and bothered.

It wasn't until she felt her powers start to act up that she began to realize what was happening.

Homura took one look at her flushed face and the way she was behaving around Tsuna, before he had to bite back a laugh.

"Tsukiumi-san, are you alright?" asked Tsuna with honest concern.

"She's reacting to you," said Homura.

Tsuna looked at him wide eyed, before he realized what Homura meant. He had an owlish expression on his face.

"...Is this going to be a regular occurrence?" he asked.

"Some Ashikabi attract multiple Sekirei," said Miya kindly.

Tsuna considered this, before he looked at Tsukiumi seriously.

"Tsukiumi, I will completely understand if you don't want to be winged," he said calmly, trying to keep his cool.

Tsukiumi looked flustered, and angry.

"Are you saying I'm not good enough?" she demanded hotly.

Tsuna blinked, before he eyed her a moment and realization dawned. He silently sent Homura a text, which had the fire user look down, before he started choking on his drink from how hard he was laughing. Miya pounded on his back a bit, mostly out of alarm from his reaction.

"Okay, what the hell did you send him to cause that reaction?" asked Uzume grinning.

"Just asked if Tsukiumi is an incarnation of Rin Tohsaka," said Tsuna cheekily.

It took Uzume a second to realize what he wasn't saying, before she started cackling as well. To be fair, in the short time she had been there, she had displayed all the signature traits of a Tsundere.

"I do not know who this...Rin Tohsaka...is," started Tsukiumi.

"I'll show you later, it's actually a compliment," said Tsuna cheerfully.

Tsukiumi blushed. She had never expected to find her Ashikabi, especially not this early.

Before she could kiss him however, Tsuna immediately redirected her outside.

She glared at him, and he raised an eyebrow.

"I don't want to pay the repair bill from your wings emerging. Last I checked, most places don't do well with a sudden deluge of water," said Tsuna dryly. She blushed at that, and agreed to take this outside.

On the plus side, she wouldn't have to worry about her pursuers for a while. After all, they were only after the unwinged ones.