A Sekirei/KHR cross

"This is outrageous! I'm not paying that much for a martini! This is robbery!"

"Miss," said the bartender patiently, not caring one iota over her tantrum at the bill, "There is a sign above the bar that clearly states that after the first drink, we charge a higher rate for anything we serve you. If you wanted the same rate as your first drink, you would have to order it through a host."

The sign was in multiple languages, in clear lettering under a small lamp that made sure the customers could read it. The bartender had pointed to the sign after the first drink, and the girl had likely skimmed or dismissed it entirely as unimportant.

It was an odd policy, but it was perfectly acceptable considering this was a host club. If they wanted to drink at a bar, they should have gone to one.

"I want to speak to your manager!" she demanded. "I refuse to pay this outrageous bill."

"Miss, I am the manager right now. The owner agreed to this policy since it encourages patrons to visit the less popular hosts and bring their numbers up, rather than have people linger around the bar," he replied, staring her down.

Which was true, as the owner had given him manager powers for this exact situation. It had been his idea to implement the policy after all.

"What's the owner's number?" she demanded.

The bartender smiled, and discreetly sent a text to a good friend of his before saying "Let me call him right now."

The hosts stayed silent, as they knew what was coming and quietly encouraged their guests to enjoy the show. It was rather entertaining watching the spoiled princesses face actual consequences.

The look on her face when the cop walked in was hilarious. Finding out the person she was ranting to was someone from the local precinct who was there to make very sure she paid her bill was even more entertaining.

Once the show was over, one of the popular hosts sauntered over to the bar.

"That never gets old. Why do they think we'll let them get away with that behavior?"

"Spoiled brats," shrugged the bartender. "Parents didn't teach them proper accountability and now they're society's problem."

The host just laughed quietly, as his patrons had left once the show was over. He was free for the moment.

He sat in silence, as the bartender mixed up his usual order and slid it to him. The host, who's name was Kagari, tipped it towards him and drank in silence.

"One of these days I'll figure out how you know exactly what people need, Natsume," he said. He could feel himself unwind already.

Natsume smirked at him.

"Trade secret."

Around four, he began the long trip home. He was tired, as dealing with spoiled brats just drained him.

Reaching his apartment, he said quietly "I'm home."

Once out of his clothes, he promptly crashed on the bed.

It had been nearly seven years since he left that small town to the much bigger city that used to be called Tokyo, before MBI took it over. He honestly couldn't be bothered to remember what they called it now.

Tsuna was out getting groceries when he stumbled across her. A young woman who looked as though she had just left a really bad relationship in a hurry. Her expression was dazed, and her clothing barely fit her...assets. The fact it was bloodstained was enough to deter most Japanese folk from going near her, for fear of being dragged into it.

With how the weather began to chill lately, he had grabbed his coat for an extra measure of warmth.

His coworkers often joked that it made him look smaller, as it was two sizes too big.

Without a second thought, he walked over to the woman and offered her his coat. He could care less about the possible bloodstains getting on it...he was planning to buy a new one later anyway.

She stared at him, eyes unfocused. As if the thought of basic kindness confused her.

"Why?" she asked.

"Because you need help, and there's no way I'd leave someone in your condition alone," he said simply.

He was used to trouble. And honestly, he couldn't leave someone in that state alone. It would eat at him for a long time if he did.

The woman looked at him for a long time, before slowly putting on the coat. On him, it was a bit too big. However on her, it did a decent job of keeping her decent... mostly. Tsuna silently took off his scarf as well, and used it as a belt to keep the thing clothes because her chest was a bit too big and kept it from closing properly.

He held out his hand, and she gently took it. She followed him without question, a silent sentinel.

Later that night...

"Kagari...you said you lived with female roommates, right?" asked Natsume (Tsuna) quietly.

Kagari detected an odd note in his voice, so he leaned in.

"I do. Why?"

Natsume thought on how to explain this. It wasn't exactly a normal situation.

"I recently found a young woman alone in the park. She looked like she had gotten out of a bad situation so I took her in...the problem is that she is really closed off and she doesn't have any personal items to speak off. And the outfit she was in barely kept her from being arrested for public indecency," said Natsume quietly. Kagari winced at the implications.

"If you want, you can bring her by the inn I stay at. I'm sure the landlady and one of the boarders could help her get some new supplies," said Kagari.

Natsume had a look of relief on his face.

"Noon acceptable?" he asked. Kagari nodded.

"What's her name?"

"Akitsu," said Natsume.

The next afternoon...

Kagari...or rather Homura...couldn't help the twitch on his face upon seeing the mark Akitsu had on her forehead. A mark he knew all too well.

"Oh my... I can see why you asked for help," said Miya. Inwardly she seethed at the fact someone had brazenly clipped the girl's wings.

Natsume rubbed the back of his head embarrassed.

"I'm smart enough to know that there are places males shouldn't go, and places where they would be utterly useless other than to pay the tab or carry things. Better to ask another woman for help in situations like this," he admitted.

Miya chuckled a bit, as did Uzume.

"Smart guy," said Uzume. "What do you plan to do after though?"

"Well I'm not going to leave her like this," said Natsume. "I couldn't in good conscience kick her out when she's this vulnerable...there are too many scumbags who'd happily take advantage of her, and not just because of her looks."

Miya didn't bother to hide the smile on her face hearing that. Even with her wings so cruelly clipped, it was clear her little bird had found a good master.

Homura stared at his coworker. Miya and Uzume had taken Akitsu with them on a minor shopping spree for the essentials. The woman had gone with them calmly, though it was clear she was unhappy to be separated from him.

The two looked at each other awkwardly for a moment. This was honestly the first time either of them had spent time around each other outside work.

Tsuna decided to break the ice first.

"So does Akitsu's condition have anything to do with the girls I've seen running around with supernatural powers lately?" he asked.

Homura sputtered at that.

"What?"

"You clearly recognized the symbol on Akitsu's head, as did your landlady."

Homura stared at him.

"What makes you think I would know anything?" asked Homura.

"You're not as discreet as you think," said Tsuna dryly. "I've seen you and some blond woman fighting with fire and water on the roofs. The only reason I haven't said anything is because it's not my business."

Homura stared at him. Tsuna stared back, amused at the situation. To be fair, he had been trained to keep an eye out for fire-based nonsense so his co-workers antics had caught his attention rather quickly.

To be fair, while he had suspected it was his coworker he had never bothered to confirm it was. The figure had a mask on and most of the time he interacted with Kagari, it was in relatively low lighting which made it hard to tell if it was him.

Now though, he was sure of it.

Homura sat down hard.

"I guess I might as well explain," said Homura with a sigh.

"I did bring some snacks, since I was asking for a favor after all," offered Tsuna.

Homura chuckled at that.

"So what do you want to know?"

"As much as you can give me without getting into trouble for it," deadpanned Tsuna.

Homura blinked at that. He cracked open a soda, and began to explain as much as he could.

The two settled into a comfortable lull, as shopping trips like this could take hours. It wasn't until he noticed that the ice was literally melting next to his coworker that he spoke up.

"Is the heat turned up to high or something?" he asked.

Homura blinked, and saw the ice literally melting and then disappearing entirely too fast. He went pale, and started heading out to the door to get some fresh air. Fortunately it was already open.

Tsuna, without even thinking about it, went to steady his friend.

"Are you alright?" he asked with honest concern.

"This...why is it only happening now?" said Homura, eyes wide and in some pain. His flames were going out of control, and he was confused as to why it hadn't happened sooner.

He had been around Tsuna for at least a year and a half now and nothing.

"What do you need?" asked Tsuna seriously. There was an odd sense of 'resolve' in his eyes that was oddly comforting.

"Remember what I said about our kind 'reacting' to certain humans?" said Homura.

Tsuna blinked, before he groaned.

"You're reacting to me, which is baffling because we've been in close proximity to each other for a while now."

Homura nodded. The fresh air was helping, but not much.

Tsuna gauged his coworkers condition, before he came to a spur of the moment decision. He rather liked Kagari, or rather Homura.

"I have no issue with you continuing to protect the others, and I have enough on my plate dealing with Akitsu's problem at the moment. Besides, I don't think my apartment can handle three people just yet," said Tsuna quickly.

Homura blinked, filtered that through his mind before he stared at him.

"What are you suggesting?"

"If I end up winging you, as you called it, then we don't need to immediately jump into sharing the same house as one another. Besides, I'm pretty sure that would upset Akitsu immensely since she hasn't even settled in yet," explained Tsuna. "Never mind that us living together right away would make things unbearably awkward if our coworkers find out."

Homura stared at him. Honestly, his coworker was taking things rather well, and if he absolutely had to have an Ashikabi, he knew Tsuna was at least somewhat tolerable. Did not make the situation any less awkward.

He might have debated his options, but his powers surged even more making the air around them almost unbearably hot.

Without thinking too hard, Homura surged forward and kissed Tsuna. He did his best not to think of how awkward this was going to become. Especially since they did work together.

On a related note, Uzume did not stop teasing about the whole situation for weeks when she heard the full story. Neither did Miya for that matter.

A few days later...

"Hey Natsume, what's up with you and Kagari-sempai?" asked Yasaka.

Natsume did his best not to wince.

"Long story short, I helped him out of an embarrassing situation," said Natsume simply. Kagari did his best to not wince himself.

"That's it?"

Thankfully they had come up with a cover story for when someone did ask why they were having trouble looking at each other.

"I had a bit too much to drink the other day and got into a sticky situation. Natsume took me back to his place and got me cleaned up before letting me sleep it off on his couch. His new girlfriend was not amused."

"Girlfriend?" said Yasaka, all curiosity now aimed towards this particular tidbit.

Natsume sighed.

"I'll explain while we clean up for the night, and yes I do have pictures."

The rest of the hosts all immediately agreed Natsume was a lucky bastard the second they saw Akitsu.