How different things were now than that of months before, before Musubi had fallen from the sky to land on him, before he had to fight three men to save Juusa, before he had to save Namiji, and before he slugged out Seo, the man next to him, so he didn't wing Tsukiumi against her will.
Minato tried to manage a smile, but his anticipation kept it from appearing genuine. Too many disturbing thoughts assaulted him. Was his mother all right? Was his sister all right? Were his dreams premonitions of what was to come, or a replay of something that had already happened?
Seo pulled down the turn hard and fast fast, drifting along the curve and sending smoke through the air as he soared onto a wide street.
"Now we're making progress." Seo said when the skyscrapers of the northern sector came into sight against the horizon.
He went in hard, and there were more than four dozen beeping horns and outraged shouts, but Seo knew his way around this place as surely as if he had never left. He moved around the outskirts of the city, then carefully parked the car in a large parking lot amid a jumble assembly of vehicles and floors.
"You can't just park here." Barked the nearby security officer.
"It's a good thing you let us in. Christmas can come early this year, know what I mean." Seo said calmly, with a slight wave of his hand, he procured an envelope from his coat pocket.
"Handle what you have to handle. Park where no one can see you or bother you." The officer replied.
Seo and Minato both sighed while Hikari and Hibiki rubbed their foreheads, letting out their own sighs.
"Did you have to do that?" Minato asked.
Seo narrowed his eyes. "I didn't have to. It'll keep him quiet, though. Don't think Higa doesn't have eyes or ears in this part of the city. Don't think people in the police force and government are not on his payroll, even if Minaka has all of them under his control and they want to fight back..."
"He has a point, Seo. We really could have used that money." Hibiki said.
"It's not like this is the west or south where there's hundreds of thousands of cars lining up to fill up spots and parking lots." Hikari added.
"Just keep an ear and eye out. Watch that guard and anyone he talks to." Seo said as he exited onto the snowy street.
"It's not like he cares enough to even come this way, but I'll remain alert and observant. If anything I'll activate our cloaking device if it comes to something along those lines." Hibiki replied, feeling pretty good about the ease with which Seo convinced the stocky officer.
He and Minato waved down a cab, the driver a short and thin man with a cigar in his mouth where there should have been a smile.
Minato gave the man the address and off they went, charging along the streets of Teito, expertly zigging and zagging to avoid the heavy traffic, and blasting forth a shrill horn whenever someone didn't get out of the way or cut him off, just for their driver to cut off three more people.
"Do you think Matsu will really help?" Minato asked Seo.
"You have doubts?"
"I may be her friend, but I am not her Ashikabi."
"Even if Matsu has those feelings she will do this one last favor." He promised, meaning every word.
Minato wasn't sure how he would feel about seeing Matsu, even if she never had anything to do with bringing any harm to him or his Sekirei. Matsu had treated him well and communicated with him so much more easily than most people in his life, and she hadn't done him any wrong, but still, it hung in Minato's thoughts that Matsu had made things clear.
He understood that he was probably just deflecting some of his own guilt about asking Matsu to do this favor for Seo, who was a freelancing businessman, after all.
"Here, bossman." Seo said to the driver, and the taxi glided to a stop in front of a mansion not at all familiar to Minato.
There, sitting near the door, fiddling with an electronic something on a broken piece of equipment that looked like a computer component, was a short haired, indigo eyed woman with a persistent smile. A black winter hat adorned her head, and a coat was pulled and zipped as far as it would go about her body.
Seo recognized her immediately. He paused for so long in just staring at the woman that Minato moved ahead, gesturing for Seo to follow.
"Come on." Minato badgered the older man. "We may not have a lot of time."
"Technology has it processes, when the processes don't work..." The woman was nearly yelling at the broken component, and at a trio of what appeared to be hard drives.
"Probably something for hacking." Seo explained to Minato with a light shrug.
"The same kind of hacking that allows her to access MBI satellite with impunity." Minato replied, and seeing Seo's expression of surprise that he knew such a thing, Minato paused to look the older man over.
"How'd you know that?"
"You think it's easy being an Ashikabi in Izumo Inn?"
Seo shook his head and looked back to the woman, then glanced at Minato once or twice as they neared the long stairway to the porch.
"Yo." Seo greeted.
"Yo? That's quite...Drab and short, wouldn't you agree." Came the stoic response.
"It's been a long while, but not that long..." Seo reiterated, his words barely audible above the clamoring piece of technology.
"It never fails!" The woman finally yelled, and on her command, the technology immediately shut down.
"I can help you with that." Minato offered.
The woman shook her head and moved the piece of the broken hard drive from Minato, and manipulated it expertly.
Seo watched her for a moment, his eyes growing even larger in surprise. "Do I have the right person? You don't look like or talk like Matsu."
"Is it possible you made a mistake?" Minato whispered to Seo, trying to hold back his laughter at Seo's last statement, which translated to, in layman's terms, who in the hell are you?
"I am Matsu." The hat wearing woman bluntly stated.
Seo's eyes narrowed suspiciously. His gaze went from Matsu to Minato, then back to Matsu. "Matsu? Brainy and shameless Matsu?"
Matsu's answer came with a deft twist of her hands, and the sound of the little piece of equipment whirring back to life.
Smiling widely, she set it down beside her.
There weren't many around who could work such magic on broken technology.
"You are Matsu!" Seo's eyes widened in surprise "It really is you!"
His heart started beating furiously, lifting him from the stairs to hover in front of the busty woman.
"You've...You've been through some changes, I see..."
"Hello, Seo-san. Good to see you again, Minato-san."
"I'm relieved it is really you! The shameless one! Hey, maybe you could help with some deadbeats who owe me a lot of money?"
"The reason you are here isn't for debts." Matsu prompted.
"Oh yeah...Well, the thing is we need you to decode or decipher some footage."
"Footage?"
Minato noted how hard Seo squeezed his forearm. "The battle at the bridge before. Sorry, Matsu, but you know, business is business. I need some footage clarified and sharpened for a friend of mine. Least I think it is specific footage from that battle..."
Matsu just shook her head, trying to process it all. "Do you have the footage on you?"
"I do, but it is on a flash drive."
"You narrowed it down at least. What is so important about this footage?"
Seo thought about it for a moment, then just shrugged. "I'd like to know what it is and see it for myself."
The way Matsu's features seemed to tighten showed that she got the hint that Seo was being vague and evasive on purpose, but she wasn't fooling around. "Absolutely. Let's go into the house and into my room where the magic is always happening."
The three went into the massive home, and seeing the interior brought memories swirling back to Minato and Seo as well as many, many emotions from the sheer volume of the interior. How many rooms, staircases, and back ways were riddled through this massive mansion?
Minato wondered if Matsu toiled in here, fixing everything and improvising anything that had anything to do with technology remotely. And out back, where he had just glanced before coming to the front, so that he could see the visible marks of hard training.
Not all of the memories after meeting his Sekirei were bad, he had to admit, but the good ones did not overcome the reality that he had been put into a life or death situation, his Sekirei having to fight to the death, all perpetrated by a madman by the name of Minaka who had the gall to call it a game.
His grand plan.
"You may have to stay a while, you two." Matsu offered.
The interior of the house was just as simply wonderful and just as full of life as was the massive yard. The furniture was plush and comfortable.
The floors were made of cool stone or covered in soft carpeting.
This was not a building as Minato had known in Teito or the suburbs, and not a hovel like some place in the inner city, as he had known all too well going to school. No, seeing this place, this street, this yard, this home, made Minato even more convinced of what he had thought not so long before.
That he was glad to be in the north at Maison Izumo.
Minato turned back to Matsu, to see that she was no longer looking his way, but had turned toward the stairwell, where another woman, who looked very much like Matsu, was approaching.
Not exactly like Matsu, he silently noted.
She was a lot taller, a little leaner, and a little more slender.
Yes, he could see it now, watching as she and the taller woman hugged tightly. Considering the amazing resemblance, Minato was hardly surprised when Matsu introduced the woman as her partner in crime, Ikki.
"Maya and the others will be happy to have company." Ikki said. "It's been a difficult few weeks."
"Matsu, who is with you? Ahiko and I got a warning from the beacon you set up a few days ago!" A slightly more mature looking Sekirei came rushing out of a nearby room almost immediately in a frazzled state, but slowed at the site of Seo and Minato.
"I'm Minato." Minato introduced himself right away.
"Minato? You know this young man, and other man with him...Ahiko-san?" The busty, blonde haired Sekirei echoed, her bright azure eyes going narrow as she looked from Minato to Seo.
"Minato the Ashikabi of the North. That same one." Ahiko whispered a little breathlessly.
"You know of me?" Minato looked at the blonde, brow arched.
"Ikki and Maya, get Toyotama." Ahiko ordered gently, nodding to them.
"We're not aiming to take up too much of your time." Seo started.
"Of course not." Ahiko didn't react to the obviously puzzled looks she got.
"Seo and I have history...As do I and Minato." Matsu said.
Ahiko extended her hand to Seo. "I am Ahiko. You don't need to know my number, my Ashikabi refuses to call us by number."
Seo nodded. "Hello."
The busty blonde came back from before, after giving up on Ahiko ever remembering to introduce her, and getting Toyotama to speed up, came forward.
"I'm Maya."
"You're the fully adjusted Sekirei, from what I've been hearing. They say you're nothing special." Seo said, his eyes never leaving the Sekirei of whom he had heard so very much about, both good and bad.
"That's not supposed to be widely known. That would explain why I had been followed recently and almost forced to wing a jerk."
"Is Ryu here?" Minato asked.
"No, he's not." Came a gruff answer from behind Ahiko and Maya, from the shadows of the hallway.
Everyone turned to see Toyotama glide across the floor, her high heel boots barely making a sound. She wore a tight fitting, black bodysuit that squeezed around her frame and choked her neck, but was otherwise practical, flexible, and kept her covered completely.
Seo kept himself composed, refusing to let his eyes wander. "Hello, I am-"
"Seo. I know you." Toyotama said, moving in close and extending her hand.
"We don't wish to intrude." Minato supplied, noting how tense the muscular woman was.
"Ryu is my Ashikabi...But, these are my sisters. I'll back Matsu's play and concede with Ahiko as well as Maya since they don't know when to quit. You should go to Matsu's room. You guys a lot to talk about and should have some privacy while you are doing it."
Minato followed Matsu, Ahiko, Maya, and Ikki as if he were in a dream, a very horrible dream to some extent the further his steps took him.
This place had always been a sanctuary for reflection and hard training, and it was also a place of great information.
While Ryu kept the peace within their flock, Matsu was the keeper of knowledge. Beneath their high ceilings, off the main corridor of the house, was there a large room were glass cubicles-makeshift analysis rooms, filled with computers, beds, blankets, pillows, and other gadgets of various shapes and sizes, and all of them served various purposes from sleeping to experimenting.
The analysis cubicle wasn't busy, as they were nearly every day for the past few weeks, with Matsu, Maya, and Ahiko hard at their studies. Matsu moved into a cubicle, the exact type she needed. She sat down in front of the console and the machine responded, sliding open a tray.
"Place the subject for analysis on the sensor tray, please. If you are using a flash drive or USB insert it within the port so the mainframe can scan the contents for analysis and begin synchronization." A metallic voice spoke.
"A talking computer?" Minato blinked, not hiding his amazement.
"Something close enough." Matsu was already moving, pulling forth the flash drive that Seo had given her just seconds before.
As soon as the tray receded and the flash drive was inserted, the screen before them lit up and began scrolling through millions of diagrams and streams of data.
"It's a video not in the best quality. I need to know where it came from and who made it."
"One moment, please."
More diagrams rolled by, more streams and logs of data scrolling, and then the screen paused, showing a somewhat similar flash drive. But, it wasn't a match and the scrolling started again. Images of the flash drive flashed up before them, superimposed with diagrams of similar objects down to the way it was sealed shut.
Nothing matched.
The screen went blank.
"As you can see on the screen, the subject drive does not exist in any known system. The origin of this cannot be identified or completed. It is possible that this was self-made by someone not wishing to be associated with any known source of storing technology."
"Excuse me? Could you try again?" There was no hiding the confusion in Matsu's voice.
"The records in this system are very thorough. They cover ninety nine percent of all of the technology in the world, tiny and massive. I am not able to tell you where it came from. I'll be able to convert it and clarify it for viewing, but I cannot identify."
Minato rubbed at his chin, looked at the talking computer, and sighed, not so sure that he agreed with that particular assessment.
"Thanks for your assistance, Matsu-san."
"You may not be able to figure out where this originated, but I think I know a way where we can narrow it down."
"The odds do not suggest such a possibility." The console started to reply, and began rolling along with a lecture about the completeness of its data banks, of its unequaled search capabilities, of...
It didn't matter.
Matsu's thoughts turned inward, trying to find some deeper focus. She needed answers, and quickly. She knew that instinctively, but she had a nagging feeling that it wasn't necessarily about Ryu's, Minato's, Seo's, or even her own safety, but something more.
She sensed that something more was at stake here, though what it was, she could only guess.
Ryu's mindset?
A greater plot against Japan and Teito?
Perhaps she was just being jumpy because the normally reliable super computer she spent forever hooking up hadn't been able to help her at all with identifying. She needed answers, and the conventional methods of attaining them wouldn't suffice.
But, Matsu was not a conventional woman, in many ways. Although she tended to be shameless, especially when dealing with her Ashikabi, her Master, Ryu, had left an unmistakable mark on her in always being focused and driven.
She knew where to get her answers.
Matsu's fingers glided across her keyboard, eyes narrowing as she focused.
"Can you convert it?" Seo asked, rubbing at his forehead.
"You can tell me why this is so important." Matsu answered.
She kept the flash drive plugged in, moving across her screens until she got to it, then opened it with a simple click, a series of numbers and letters greeted her, and she watched Seo the whole time, noting how he quickly sat down, his eyes widening as he regarded the curious and distinctive item.
"Well, look at that." Seo said quietly, as if he could hardly draw breath.
Matsu herself examined it with a similar expression, almost reverently. "I haven't seen one of these since...Since Minaka put things into play years ago."
"Do you know where it came from?" Minato asked.
"This baby belongs to MBI. What you got here is a super drive."
"Super drive?" Minato echoed.
"It's something Minaka made years ago. It can store and transfer vast amounts of data within mere seconds. It's how he stays steps ahead of other countries and governments. There's also a scrambler if this is one of the older versions, meaning whatever is stored on it will be wiped away...For good." Seo replied.
"I wonder why it didn't show up in the analysis archive..." Matsu hummed softly.
Seo pointed at the drive. "It's those funny little indents on the sides, and the slits around the back, that give it away. The analysis was probably only focusing on the internal storage."
"Well, Seo, I see that you are far more apt in thinking, is there anything else you would like to divulge to me?" Matsu asked with a laugh.
Minato composed himself quickly enough, realizing that Matsu made Seo spill information he had been keeping to himself.
The older man sobered quickly, though, remembering the gravity of his mission. "I'm not familiar with which model this is, but can you extract the footage?"
"No, it's an early model. I'd say about the twelfth out of the first twenty that were made. Extracting and clarifying the footage on here should be easy enough. The people within MBI that made these mostly keep to themselves, report to Minaka himself most of the time. They're good, too good."
Minato picked up a small pencil in front of him, holding it between his fingers, his elbows resting on his knees. "Too good? What do you mean by that? Are they friendly?"
"I can't say too much about that I'm afraid. I haven't been a part of MBI's program since I defected so whatever advancements have been made I don't know of. There is technology there that is beyond what much of the world, even Teito itself uses. That is how he rose so quickly and beat out every corporation in the world and basically rules Japan with an iron fist, even if he hasn't put himself in that position."
Minato looked at the floor, slowly crossing his arms over his chest.
"Now them being friendly kid...That all depends." Seo remarked.
"On what?" Minato glanced up when he asked.
The grin on Seo's face gave him his answer before it was spoken aloud.
"On how good your manners are and how big your pocketbook is, more importantly. They may report to and work for Minaka, but they will also help...For the right price."
Minato turned his focus back onto his wrists, hardly surprised with the revelation.
Ahiko gently cleared her throat to bring the focus to her, and she rummaged around until she was able to find enough snacks for everyone. "Let's just focus on the footage, I think we've done enough anticipating for a day."
Ikki looked at Minato and Seo, eyes a little hard.
"I don't know Ryu-san as well as the others, but I will tell you if you want to sit here and hash things about MBI...You don't have that kind of time, and I don't think he's going to come back in the best of moods."
"And, why is that?" Seo arched a brow.
"Because he's with Karasuba, but you already knew that." Matsu remarked.
"Now-"
Matsu shook her head, but kept her smile relaxed. "I have everything set up here like I did at Miya's place, with a few modifications that make it more efficient. Before you decided to come here, you went to Maison Izumo, where there was a conversation about my Ashikabi and Karasuba."
Seo found no use in denying or trying to push the point, he merely nodded.
"I'm going to heat up some leftovers." Ahiko explained, noting Minato's discomfort and generously changed the subject.
"As usual, your timing is perfect." Maya started toward the door, running once she got out of the room.
"I'll help." Ikki quickly followed after them.
It became comfortably quiet and they merely listened to the bustle in the next room, which included the clanking of plates, and Ikki repeatedly telling Ahiko too much.
Every time she said that, Seo smiled knowingly.
"I doubt they've been starving all the way from Miya's place." An exasperated Ikki said as she exited the kitchen, glancing back over her shoulder as she spoke.
She returned carrying a bowl full of food.
"Enough to feed the town?" Matsu asked Ikki quietly as she put the bowl on the table.
"You know Ahiko." Came the answer.
The tone told Minato that this was not an isolated incident, that Ahiko was quite the hostess. Despite the fact that he had eaten recently, the bowl of food looked and smelled temptingly good.
"No one goes hungry here. Ahiko even made some stuff for Hikari and Hibiki. She said that Miya-san always said to make extras because Seo-san is a deadbeat and will eat all of the food." Ikki explained.
Seo only grunted, having no worthy retort for the factual statement.
He always did manage to eat more than his fill and share, that's one of the reasons he had to freelance in the first place. One couldn't perform at their best with an empty stomach, and a Sekirei hungry wasn't a pleasant experience.
The sun was still below the horizon, and the land was beginning to lighten around them as lights of hundreds of thousands different shops and hotels beamed, and when they reached the grandest tower of an exquisite complex, the entryway was heavily guarded by gangsters.
But, they had no intention of going anywhere near that area.
Using the darkness, shadows, and their own conditioning, the two scaled the tower, until they came to a small window vent. They slipped in silently and moved from shadow to shadow, keeping to the darkness, then ducked behind a curtain as they heard the approach of a pair of strange-looking Sekirei.
They wore little clothing save for fighting attire, and their skin was fair, contrasting with the dark air about them, and their expressions seemed to be locked in a perpetual scowl.
"Too many gangsters and gangs are coming from overseas. From the States in particular, Higa is bringing an influx, but I don't trust them."
The duo heard the taller of the two murderous Sekirei say.
"It is not our place to question Higa. Even if those no good gangs fight on the streets of Teito, it'll benefit us in some way."
The shorter of the two scolded, and grumbled.
The pair wandered away.
Yahan and Saki moved out behind them, going the opposite way. They zipped from shadow to shadow, blending with the darkness along a narrow corridor lined with pillars.
They couldn't help but see the contrast between this place and Teito.
Where parts of Teito were a work of art, all rounded and smooth, all glass and light, this place was rough-edged, dark, all sharp corners and utilitarian features.
They moved along, coming to a closed vent going into the floor. Sharp noises, squelching, and pounding echoed up from it. They moved through the vent, dropping to the ground below it and looked all about, then crawled and peered over the nearby edge.
A factory...
A huge alignment of conveyor belts, giant buckets, and pounding machines all lay below, in a wide-open area. Saki couldn't help but watch in blank amazement as many, many Ashikabi, Sekirei, Yakuza, Triad, and lowly thugs-these all low ranking in Higa's legion, unlike the pair of Sekirei that had walked past them before-worked at various stations assembling what appeared to be droids...
Cyborgs...
At the far end of the conveyor, these completed droids for lack of a better term stepped off the platform, under their own power, walking away down the distant corridors. To awaiting platforms, elevators, or any means of transportation that would lift them to waiting bunkers, Yahan realized.
Noting her sister's tenseness, Saki merely shook her head, and ran along, forcing Yahan to follow with hast, and then she sensed something, it was almost fleeting...At the very edge, but it was definite. Saki followed her instincts along the maze of corridors, hallways, and vents, at last coming to a vast underground chamber...
An underground chamber with huge vaulted ceilings and rough-styled arches.
Yahan started across first, moving pillar to pillar, sensing that something or someone was near, keeping a firm grip on Saki's wrist. They were able to hear their voices before they actually saw them, and the duo fell flat against the cold cement.
A group of six figures walked past, four in front and two behind. Higa and Kakizaki were in that front row, along with a man dressed in a suit, and another man whom Saki knew all too well and a man whose features were also recognizable from news reports.
"Now we must persuade the major street gangs, and your own company to agree to this." That well dressed, clean cut man known as Higa said.
The suit wearing man was tall and regal, with perfect posture and a graceful gait. His hair was blonde and perfectly trimmed and his elegant features, strong jaw, and piercing eyes completed the look of a man who had once been among the greatest of the CEOs.
In looking at him, in feeling his presence, Saki understood that nothing less would ever suit this man, nor anyone else gathered within this room.
"What about the man named Ryu?" The second suit clad man asked, his beady eyes and thin features seeming smaller still beneath the dim light spreading through the room.
"Yes. Is he dead yet? Every gang, my organization, and even the police department who is in my pocket coming to Teito won't amount to much if he slaughters them. I can't feel confident moving forward until I have his head on my desk."
Yahan cut her eyes, nodding slowly as huge pieces of the puzzle started to fall into place. It made sense to her that Higa, and anyone associated with him would want Ryu dead, even if Ryu wasn't really the one calling the shots in Teito nor making all of the power plays.
"You needn't worry about him. Minaka is our one, true enemy. The gangs, your organization, and those police are all to cause chaos here in Teito, under our control. The Yakuza and Triad will fight with them, but that also plays into our favor, and more so your favor..." Higa answered, trailing off as he set his eyes around those gathered.
"With these new battle droids we've built for you, you'll have the finest army in the world. My own security and combat force, which is separate from this army-combined with your legion...There won't be another superpower like us."
"You have met Kakizaki?" Higa, seated at the head of the table, asked the two suit clad men.
"Representing a branch of Higa-sama's pharmaceutical company. I focus on the research of anabolic growth and androgens in particular." Kakizaki said, tone controlled and smooth.
Across the way, the dark eyed man nodded deferentially. His striking features, were set on a lean neck and his most striking feature, aside from the long scar on his chin, was a hairstyle that looked much like a bush of a mane, and his clean and crisp suit.
"This is Hill, distinguished member of the Banking Conglomerate in North America, Ecuador, and Brazil." Higa went on, indicating the dark eyed man for Kakizaki-and if the bespectacled man had to say, Hill was the best dressed man he had ever seen.
Those gathered about the table murmured their greetings, nodded to each other, for many moments, and then they went silent, all eyes settling on Higa, who was in complete control here, even above the blonde haired man who headed his own security force.
"As I explained to you earlier, I'm quite convinced that fifty or more countries will rally to our cause with your support of course." The blonde haired man said.
"And let me remind you of our absolute commitment to lowering the taxes, reducing tariffs, and the eventual abolition of all trade barriers. By us joining hands right now, it will bring us profits beyond our wildest imagination. More importantly, we will have a foothold here in Teito." The dark eyed man furthered.
He looked to the blonde haired man, who nodded.
"Our friends in the advanced security force have pledged their support, and when their battle droids are combined with yours, we shall have an army greater than anything. Teito and even Minaka himself and his feared blood letting squad of killers will be overwhelmed."
"I am authorized by the banking conglomerate to go forward with this."
"We are most grateful for your cooperation, Hill. You are a crucial piece to the machine we are creating here in this city and country." Higa said.