Chapter 15.

Six found himself in a situation he never wanted to be in again… For the third time, a Sekirei reacted to him. Having three was bad enough since the three he did have with him did not get along. The rivalry between Toyotama and Hikari did not help the situation in the slightest, making the prospect of getting another Sekirei unappealing, to say the least.

A fourth one joining this group right now would be disastrous, especially since he has the jealous and competitive type of Sekirei trying to win his heart. Taking in Uzume would be just adding more gasoline to the fire.

Especially Hikari, she would undoubtedly go off like a brute going berserk, knowing she has more competition to deal with.

Thinking about it made him sigh just a little

"What are you going to do now?" Athena whispered to him, getting his attention," Are you going to take her in? I'll be honest; we could use more Allies."

The Spartan stayed silent. Six knew Athena was right. They could use more allies in the fight against MBI, the East, the South, and other hostile, Sekirei and Ashikabi.

It was just a matter of whether he would be willing to deal with another bonding with him.

"I found you. I finally found you," Uzume said, getting up off the construction beam she had been sitting on and walking towards him, ignoring her injuries. She took five steps before she fell to her knees.

"Uzume !? " Toyotama exclaimed while rushing to the brunette's aid. "What are you doing? Your injuries haven't fully healed yet," Toyotama scolded, helping Uzume back on her feet.

"Sorry… it's just every fiber in my body telling me to kiss him, and I'm having difficulty controlling it." Uzume said while trying to control her reaction.

Toyotama understood and looked towards her Ashikabi.

"Six, are you going to wing Uzume?"

Six stayed silent as both women could tell he was deep in thought. He stayed silent for a minute or two.

"Well?" Asked an impatient Uzume, wanting this reaction to be over. The longer he hesitated, the worse it got for her. It was like an itch that got worse and worse that she couldn't reach. It's maddening!

Six, at the moment, couldn't decide whether or not to let the veil Sekirei into his group. He was, however, leaning towards accepting her offer as the pros outweighed the cons. The fact of the matter is Uzume could lead him to number 2, Matsu and the stolen Jinki. Considering Sekireis' loyalty to their Ashikabi, Uzume could get him an audience with Matsu.

He realized she would just be hunted again if he didn't wing her, which was the deciding factor. After all, it would be inconvenient to save her every time, or worse, she became his enemy.

Coming to a decision, six couldn't help but take a deep breath.

" Did you finally make your decision?" Toyotama asked, wondering if he would take in Uzume just from the expression he just made.

"Yes. I will take Uzume as my Sekirei." Six stated with a clear tone, indicating he saw it more as a burden than anything else.

Despite the delivery, Uzume's face lit up like a Christmas tree, hearing he would take her.

"You'll… take me as your Sekirei?!" Uzume did not hide the excitement in her voice.

Six said nothing and just simply nodded and walked up to her.

Toyotama kept Uzume on her feet.

"Toyo. I think I can stand by myself now." Uzume said, feeling like she didn't need the support.

"You sure?"

Uzume gave a simple smile and nodded. "I'm sure."

"I'm right here to catch her in case anything happens." Six said, stepping in front of Uzume.

"Okay," Toyotama said, letting go of the brunette hesitantly.

Six and Uzume stared into each other's eyes. Uzume moved in close, and she had to admit the Spartan had beautiful eyes. She could see herself staring into those crystal clear blue eyes often.

"Hey, has anyone ever told you you have beautiful eyes?" Uzume asked inquisitively.

Six raised an eyebrow at her question and shrugged." Noted. Before we do this, are you sure you want me? Unlike the East or the South, I like to give any Sekirei a choice if they want to bond with me, so are you sure? "

"I'm sure"

Six leaned down in preparation for the kiss while Uzume quickly moved into action, pointing her face upward with great anticipation to be winged. Then it happened: their lips touched. More power than ever before flowed through her, filling her with energy and, most of all, the happiness of being winged by her destined one.

Uzume passionately kissed him as she wrapped her arms around his neck. Trying to deepen the kiss, while Six did not attempt to go any further. Oddly enough, he felt some need to reciprocate on an instinctual level; however, he quickly dismissed it as an unnecessary compulsion.

In the back of his mind, he wondered how many of the Spartans he worked with would react seeing this. How would Noble Team react, Delta Team, and Keiichi, the last spartan he saw alive before coming to this place?

He had a feeling some of them would have a good laugh. Kat, Cole, Jun, Saeko, Jorge, and Damon…. Especially Damon. The former head hunter could only imagine what he would say to this.

'Congratulations, 312, you're now the first Spartan gigolo!' Six imagined Damon's smart-ass remark.

Not wanting to think about it any further, his attention was taken by a now very familiar sight. Uzume's back started glowing, then pure white wings that looked like cloth sprouted from her back.

Uzume slowly broke the kiss and moaned, feeling the new surge of energy going through her body. At the same time, she could feel her wounds healing instantly.

She opened her eyes and looked at the giant before giving him a heavenly smile, a smile so full of joy and completeness. It's as if she could die happy knowing she just experienced one of her greatest joys with that type of smile.

For some reason, unknown to Six, Uzume looked like a proper angel right in front of him. Maybe it was from the pure white wings that gave him the image of one, or maybe something else. He quickly filed away that thought upon hearing Uzume's voice.

"I am Sekirei number 10, the veiled Sekirei." Uzume warmly said as she rested her hand on his chest, feeling the cold metal steel of the armor and staring into his eyes.

"By the veil of my contract, my Ashikabi's nightmares will be dispelled!" Uzume saying her pledge with great conviction.

Six felt this weird feeling again in his chest. Hearing her pledge and seeing her heartwarming smile. He felt his heart racing for some reason.

'What are these feelings I keep having?' Six wondered to himself...

Toyotama, watching from the sidelines, developed a warm smile across her face, seeing another sister joining the flock.

Toyotama, deep down inside, had the desire of wanting the Spartan all to herself. However, Toyotama, like most of her kind, would not deny her Ashikabi from having more Sekirei. As it is a better source of protection for him and strengthens the flock as a result.

In the short time she'd gotten to know Uzume, she was the kind of person to get along easily with. For Toyotama, it will be nice to have someone other than Hibiki she can get along with her constant bickering with Hikari.

Once Uzume's wings faded into her back, Six snapped out of the feeling and moved on to business, "Nice to hear. I welcome you among the team, Uzume."

"Glad to be a part of it, Six was it? Is that your name?" Uzume asked since he went by a strange title.

"I have forsaken my real name a long time ago. It holds no real importance now." Six said with a straight look on his face, revealing no emotion.

Uzume's smile turned to one of confusion, not expecting to hear that answer.

"You forsook your name? Wh…"

Uzume didn't get a chance to finish her sentence when a hand touched her shoulder, Uzume turned towards the hand and saw Toyotama next to her.

"He told me and the twins, the same thing. I'm sure he'll tell us his real name when he's ready." Toyotama said to Uzume.

Then the greenette turned her attention to the x-Lonewolf, "Right Six?"

"I'll declassify that information when the time is right or if ever." Six replied, putting his helmet back on.

"Now Uzume, I'd like to start….."

Six was interrupted when Athena appeared on his HUD.

"Six I think we'd best be leaving!" Athena alerted.

Uzume blinked in confusion, "Who is that?" The brunette questioned. Since Six didn't have his helmet speakers off, Uzume was able to hear Athena's voice.

Six put his hand up, telling her to be quiet for a moment.

"What is it?"

"An MBI investigation team is on its way to this location." Athena was showing incoming helicopters on the screen from MBI's satellites.

"Why?" Six wondering what they're up too.

"Well, Six, to make a long story short. I've been hiding Toyotama from their surveillance ever since she left base. However, I didn't cover Uzume or the Whip twins. But I was able to prevent them from seeing the fight. Once they lost eyes on this construction site and lost Uzume's signal, they decided to send a team over here to investigate her disappearance," Athena explained.

"What do you mean I disappeared from their surveillance? … and seriously, who is talking in your helmet?" Uzume asked in confusion.

"I'll answer that later. First, let's get out of here, follow me.." Six said, leading the way with his two girls following behind him.


With MBI.

"We will be touching down in a moment, Madame." The pilot informed Takami.

Takami gave a slight nod to the pilot. Takami, along with several other MBI personnel, were sent to investigate a construction site where number 10 disappeared.

Earlier today, they were tracking her just fine; what was strange, when they were monitoring her, it looked like she was following somebody. Not long after, numbers 38 and 39 were tailing after her. No doubt in Takami's mind they were probably hunting her down and planning to bring her to Mikogami.

Once they got to the construction site, all three signals disappeared.

A couple of minutes later, numbers 38 and 39 reappeared, leaving the area with number 39 carrying an unconscious number 38.

However, number ten didn't reappear. A similar incident happened last week with number 88. Takami learned it was Six's Sekireis, more specifically, the lightning twins, they went after her again. Her son got caught in the crossfire again.

To Takami's misfortune, Number 88 winged herself to Minato. Knowing her son's luck, she should've expected something like this to happen; she didn't want him to get caught up in the madness…. What could be done, she guessed? The damage is already done.

Still, she was shocked to learn Noble Six was with him again! As she learned later, it was six who answered Minato's phone. In some ways, Six did her son a favor by letting himself talk to Minaka instead of Minato dealing with her boss directly.

It's been over a week since then. She and Homura are still waiting for word from Six when he can contact them.

Still, thinking about it, Takami wondered if this was a sign when Noble Six was around. Numbers 11, 12, and 16 disappeared when they became his Sekireis. They lost track of number 88 and her son briefly and now with Uzume, Mitsuha, and Mitsuki.

This could be a way MBI can track him, looking into the strange phenomenon. Part of her felt it was a risk to ally with him when they had never met and barely knew anything about him, where he was from, or who he worked for. He is the only Ashikabi in the city they don't control. Plus, there is the little threat number Six Homura told her if she ever crossed the Spartan.

Since this man could take on Sekirei, Takami couldn't help but feel if this man wanted her dead, he would make it happen.

The only person helping her in this messed up plan is number six, Homura. She needed more help, and so far, if they have any common ground, they are against Minaka's game. That seems to be the only thing uniting them for now.

There was also the name she'd been researching for a week, Halsey. She tried to find anyone with that name who had connections with making military-style armor and advanced technology. Like Noble Six, she found nothing about this Halsey. Even after a week, she still wonders why he called her by that name. Maybe once they meet face-to-face, she can ask him the very question.

The helicopter landed at the construction site, and Takami and her team immediately went to work examining the area. After a few minutes, it was clear to them there was a battle here. Finding battle damage here and there, they found pieces of Uzume's veil and some blood.

"Something happened here," Commented one of the staff.

"Question is, where is number 10?" Takami wondered.

They continued their investigation for a while longer, but still nothing. Then Takami's phone started ringing. Taking it out, she saw the I.D., it was her boss.

Answering it.

"Have you found number 10?" Minaka asked on the other end.

"No, we haven't. We were able to find pieces of her veil lying on the ground, however," Takami reported.

"Just her veil ?" Minaka replied.

"Yes, we've investigated the scene and concluded a battle did happen here just from some of the damage we have seen here," Takami said, looking around the construction site.

"It's such a shame we couldn't get it on Camera. Would've been an amazing battle to watch!" Minaka said, disappointed he missed a fantastic fight.

Takami silently groaned at his comment, before she could say anything, Minaka spoke again.

"You don't suppose number 10 took on 39 and 38 by herself, do you?" Minaka asks on the other end.

Takami could see where this was going. If she figured it out, then he figured it out.

"One unwinged sekirei fighting two winged sekirei and winning? highly unlikely." Takami halfheartedly, playing along with her boss.

"You don't suppose our armored friend got involved with helping number 10 fight off 38 and 39?" Minaka curiously asked.

"Unknown. We're still trying to determine what exactly happened here and where number 10 went off to," Takami said. Deep down inside, she believed it was Six, too. She just didn't want to admit it. She hoped her boss would be wrong for once, even though she knew he was not. She hates it! Wishes he was wrong more often, however, she is too wise to believe him to be wrong more than right.

"Well, I believe Six did get involved in this fight since our security observation of the area went down the same way when our tracking of number 88 and Minato went off-line for a while, and they ended up being with Six, even you would have to have noticed."

"We have yet to determine that," Takami replied...

"Oh, believe me, Takami. I know it's him, and we will find him soon. I love this cat-and-mouse game we are playing!" Minaka said with excitement.

Takami just rolled her eyes and lit her cigarette.

"Now he's got his fourth Sekirei!" Minaka announced happily in his obnoxious voice.

"Minaka, we don't even know what happened to number 10 even to assume that," Takami replied, unsure if the Spartan did wing number 10 or not. Since Uzume completely disappeared from MBI's network.

"We shall see. Report back to me if you find any else. Have a nice day." With that, Minaka hung up.

Takami breathed in more smoke from her cigarette before exhaling.


Sometime later.

Back with Six, Toyotama, and Uzume.

"This is where you guys have been staying? An old car factory?" Uzume questioned, standing at the main entrance of the factory. Uzume looked at the huge rundown building before them, not believing anybody would live there.

"That was our reaction when he brought us here." Toyotana said, getting the brunette's attention," It's not much, but it's home… still wish we got ourselves a penthouse."

"You still on the penthouse idea?" Six said with a little bit of annoyance.

"Hey, the twins and I don't want to spend the rest of our lives living here. We at least want to live in a proper home with you," Toyotama said, wanting to live in a more traditional house.

"We'll see." Six said, walking in through the entrance with Toyotama and his newest Sekirei following behind him.

"If you guys want to get out of here, you can come to stay with me at the Inn I live in?" Uzume suggested.

Toyotama's face lit up. "Really?" Not hiding her excitement, hearing what the brunette suggested.

The cloth user nodded." Yeah, there are rooms available for rent. We are always looking for new attendants. The only downside is my landlady has some strict rules that must be followed… especially towards sexual relationships." Uzume explained, empathizing with her words at the end.

Toyotama raised a curious eyebrow before," In other words, no sex allowed?"

Uzume sadly nodded, making the greenette sigh in disappointment," That's disappointing…. I was hoping to have our first time during the first night there." Toyotama depressingly said.

"Ha, ha, sorry to disappoint you… however, I'm disappointed too. Since." Uzume turned her attention to the Spartan. Seeing how tall he is. With his body covered in armor, she tried to imagine him without his armor shell and imagine him being very muscular, making her blush thinking about it, "I want to have a taste of him, too." The brunette said honestly.

Noble six couldn't help but silently groan. Hearing them wanting to have their way with him, though it did make him feel weird as this was still a relatively new experience for him to be in. No one has so openly lusted for him before, let alone so many people at once.

"Well… at least these are aliens who want a happy, healthy relationship with you instead of trying to kill you like the Covenant," Athena said, commenting on the conversation between Toyotama and Uzume.

Six didn't respond to the A.I.'s comment.

"Six, can we move in with Uzume?" Toyotama asked, hoping for him to say yes.

"I'll think about it." Six replied, approaching the garage entrance.

Before six opened the door," Athena contacted Hikari and Hibiki, text them to meet us in the lobby."

"Roger, sending them the message now." Replied Athena.

A couple of seconds later, they got a reply saying they would be right there. Six kneeled digging his fingers under the garage door.

Uzume saw what he was about to do. Looking at the door, it was heavy-duty, probably weighing more than a ton, and thinking he couldn't lift it. Uzume was about to offer her help before she could say anything.

"You may want to cover your ears." The Spartan replied. The moment he said that the staff user immediately covered her ears.

Uzume, confused, started to ask," What do you…?"

She got her answer when the Spartan lifted the door, causing that terrible screeching noise, forcing her to cover her ears.

After a while, the screeching stopped; Uzume uncovered her ears and saw the Spartan holding that heavy door up like it was nothing, which made her former blush on her face.

"Oh, my."

"Come on, let's get inside," Toyotama said, snapping the brunette out of it.

"Ah.. yeah." Uzume follows the staff user inside the factory garage. With them both inside, the Spartan closed the garage behind them.

Six led them through the factory into the main entrance, where Hikari and Hibiki awaited them.

"Six, we got your message wh….Uzume? What are you doing here?!" Hikari questioned, not expecting to see Uzume with six and Toyotama.

"What happened to you?" Hibiki said, concerned. The youngest twin saw Uzume's rough condition with her veil battle dress roughed up and covered in bandages.

From the corner of the youngest twin's eyes, she noticed Toyotama looked worst for wear as well. "And to you, too?"

"Two Sekireis from the South attacked us. They tried to forcefully take Uzume back to their master, to be forcefully winged." Toyotama said, telling them the truth.

"What!" Both sisters shouted in shock.

Uzume nodded, "It's true. Two Sekirei came after me and wanted to take me back to wing me to Mikogami forcibly." Uzume said, with disgust at the end.

Then, a smile appeared on the brunette's face. "Luckily, these two were here to save me." Looking at the Spartan and Toyotama.

"Why didn't you contact us earlier? We could've helped you fight them off!" Hikari said, wanting to help fight for her childhood friend.

"We would've been there in a heartbeat to save Uzume from that rich creep!" Hibiki said, not wanting to see her childhood friend forcefully winged by someone she was not destined to be with.

"We were able to handle them just fine. We outnumbered them 3 to 2. So, we had the tactical advantage." Six said.

"Well, You could've still had Athena contact us, regardless of whether you outnumber the enemy or not." Hikari countered.

"Who's Athena?" Uzume asked, puzzled, "Was it that mysterious voice I heard earlier from your helmet?"

"Classified for now." Six replied.

"Classified?" Uzume questioned.

"Get used to hearing that term a lot from him whenever he doesn't wanna tell you something," Toyotama said.

Uzume gave Six a curious look, "Secretive type, aren't you?"

"You have no idea." The sisters said in perfect unison. This made Uzume look at them and then back to Six, making her think about the kind of man she was bonded to.

"I see. Is there anything that isn't classified?" Uzume asked.

"I'll declassify only the things I want you to know." Six replied.

"Okay…" Uzume said with both uncertainty in her voice and off her face.

"If you don't mind me asking, why did you bring Uzume here? Are you hiding her from the South?" Hibiki asked, wanting to know why Six brought Uzume to their home.

"Not exactly." Six said.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Hikari asked curiously.

Uzume looked at six. "You want me to tell them the news, or do you?"

"What news?" Hibiki asked confusedly.

Six took a deep breath." I'll tell them."

Six prepared himself as the sisters looked at him, curiously wondering what he would say.

"Uzume… is my new sekirei." Six finally said.

"Your new sekirei!" The sisters shouted in unison, not hiding their surprise.

Six expected them to react like this.

"She reacted to me, and I took her in." Six explained.

"Is this true!?" Hikari and her sister took their attention off Six to Uzume, who nodded happily.

"Yes, I reacted to him after they rescued me. I must say he's everything you guys say he is. Tall, muscular, and handsome." Uzume playfully said with a blush on her face, eyeing up the Spartan.

Hikari groaned, focusing on Six," You know me and my sister don't…."

"If I didn't take her in, she would've been hunted again." Six said with all seriousness.

Hikari went silent.

"Winging her was the only way I could protect her from the likes of Mikogami and Higa, too." Six reminded the hotheaded sister. Six glanced at Toyotama, mentioning Higa's name. He saw a bitter look on her face. Still holding a grudge of what happened a week ago. It didn't go unnoticed by the twins, especially Uzume.

"I know all of you have been competing for my attention. So please, I ask all of you to try and get along with Uzume. I don't ask much other than cooperation." Six pleaded, hoping for them to see reason.

There was a moment of silence until.

"I don't mind Uzume being part of the flock," Hibiki said, making her older sister look at her, a little surprised at her sister's statement.

"Hibiki.."

"Sis, I know we never wanted to be part of a flock, just the two of us with our Ashikabi. At this point, what we wanted is ruined now. We grew up with Uzume. She was pretty much like another sister to us." Hibiki said with a smile.

Hikari, thinking about what her sister said. It was true. Uzume was like another sister to them, growing up together in MBI's labs. Remembering all the times they were used to run around the labs, causing trouble for the scientist, she had very fond memories of those days.

Taking a deep breath, Hikari said, "As much as I don't like the idea of more competition. Uzume, I welcome you into the flock."

Uzume smiled, "Thank you, Hikari." The brunette said, giving a nod.

Hikari then looks towards Six, "Since Uzume is a friend of my sister and me, I'm willing to look past this. Just promise me that you will wing no more after her."

"As long as another doesn't react to me." Six replied. Hoping no more reacted to him.

"Let's hope no more do," Hikari replied, hoping for the same.

Six just nodded at her comment. Then he turned his attention to Uzume. "Now we're in a safe place to talk. I owe you an explanation."

Uzume nodded," I'll say. What are you?"

"I'll tell you in a moment. First, let's get you some clothes." Six said, looking at her roughed-up attire.

Uzume looked down at herself." Oh, yeah. At least my panties survived. However... I left the rest of my clothing behind at the construction site." Uzume sadly said at the end.

"You can borrow some of our clothes for the time being, "Toyotama offered.

"You sure?" Uzume asked.

Toyotama nodded, "I don't mind lending you some, and it's not like you can just walk around in your panties."

"You can borrow some from us too if you want if nothing from Toyotama fits you," Hibiki added.

"Thank you guys, your the best!" Uzume gratefully for their hospitality.

"No problem." Toyotama said.

"Toyotama." Six said, getting her attention.

"Yes, Six?"

"I want to look at that wound on your back." Six wanted to look at the injury she received from number 38.

"Wound? You got injured ?" Hikari asked.

Toyotama nodded and turned to show the twins the injury she received in the fight. Moving her hair out of the way the twins saw the back of her shirt was ripped up and a long bloody gash mark going down her back in a straight line.

"Ouch! Looked like it hurt!" Hikari commented, cringing a bit seeing how nasty that wound looked.

"Yeah, the bitch I was up against used whips and landed a good one on my back." Toyotama bitterly said, still feeling the pain from her wound.

"I'm sorry you got hurt trying to help protect me from them," Uzume said regretfully, seeing the ugly wound Toyotama received from trying to save her from the south.

"It's fine. No big deal; I wouldn't let those creeps take you away. Because it almost happened to me once." Toyotama said with a bit of bitterness in her voice, remembering when Ichiya and the other two Eastern Sekireis came after her.

A sympathetic look developed on Uzume's face, "When Higa sent his Sekireis after yo….!"

Uzume instantly put her hands over her mouth. Shocked she almost blurted out what Matsu showed her in MBI's report of what happened during the night when Toyotama met Six.

Toyotama looked at Uzume in shock, and even the twins looked puzzled at the brunette.

"How do you know Higa was the one who came after me? I only ever told Hikari and Hibiki what happened. Not you." Toyotama questioned the veil user.

"We never told her anything about that either." Hikari said before looking at her sister, "Did you?"

Hibiki nodded. "I never told her anything either."

"So if you didn't tell her. Then how did you know?" Toyotama suspiciously and curiously asked Uzume.

Uzume started to get nervous as sweat went down her forehead again. She was trying to come up with a quick lie. It didn't help when she saw the Spartan visor staring at her again, with her nervous face reflecting off of it.

For Six. Right, there was probably the proof he needed to know Uzume was working with Matsu. Since Athena told him earlier about Matsu hacking into MBI systems and Uzume most likely has a close relationship with number two, it was safe to assume she knew something. No doubt Matsu got her hands on the report of what happened the night he met Toyotama and showed it to Uzume.

Uzume took a deep breath and nervously said, "I guessed."

"You guessed?" In disbelief, Toyotama and even the twins said it all together in perfect unison, not believing what she had just said.

"Hear me out before we fought the southern Sekireis. I remember one of them asking about Toyotama if you were winged. This gave me the idea that this was your first time dealing with them. Then, when you said this happened to you, too. I figured it was the East." Uzume nervously said, stuttering over her words a bit. Hoping they would buy the story.

Toyotama and the twins just stared at her, unsure whether or not to believe her story.

Six knew it was a complete lie from beginning to end.

"I… guess that makes sense?" Toyotama wasn't sure if she bought Uzume's excuse.

Even the sisters looked unsure. "If that's the case, that's the best lucky guess I've ever seen," Hikari said, scratching her head.

Hibiki nodded in agreement with her sister.

"If we're done here, let's get moving. Hikari and Hibiki, I want one of you to help Uzume find something to wear, and I want one of you to help Toyotama with her wound." Six ordered, wanting to move things along.

The sisters nodded.

"I'll help Uzume." Said Hibiki.

"Then I'll go help Toyotama." Said Hikari.

Before they proceeded, Totoyama spoke up.

"Six, wait," Toyotama said, getting his attention.

"What is it?" Six asked.

"Instead of Hikari taking care of my wound, How about you give me medical attention instead?" Toyotama asked, wanting her Ashikabi to look over her injuries.

"What!? you got a problem with me treating your wound!" Hikari sounded offended.

Six held up his hand, quieting Hikari.

"Any specific reason why you want me to look over you?" Six asked, even though he probably had a good idea where this was going.

"I feel more comfortable if you looked after my wound," Toyotama replied secretly, wanting to be alone with him.

For the other three Sekireis, it was obvious what the greenette wanted.

"Oh, I didn't know I made you so uncomfortable," Hikari replied, responding to her rival's remark. "Or is it just you want to be alone with him? That it?"

Toyotama glared at her in response.

"If that's what you want, Hikari, go help your sister find Uzume something to wear." Six takes control of the situation before another fight could happen between his two most competitive Sekireis.

"Wait?! You're just going to give her what she wants?!" Hikari was caught off guard, not expecting him to give Toyotama what she wanted.

"If it stops you two from having another spat, then yes." Six replied, not in the mood to deal with their antics.

Hikari could only groan in annoyance. She could argue with him, however, after being with Six for a week. She knew arguing with him would be pointless.

Toyotama developed a smug smile, seeing she was getting what she wanted. That look on her face just pissed the oldest twin off.

"Come on, Hikari, let's find Uzume something to wear," Hibiki said, wanting to stop her sister before she started something. Deep down inside, though, she did share her sister's jealousy when it came to Toyotama being alone with their Ashikabi.

"Ah… yeah, let's get going. I don't want to be in these rags any longer," Uzume said. Just like Hibiki, Uzume wanted to stop the two before they could start anything. Well aware of the rivalry between them. Even though she would be lying if she said, she didn't feel a little jealous herself.

Hikari huffed, "Whatever." With that said, Hikari and her sister took Uzume to their room to see if they could find her something to wear. Leaving Six and Toyotama all alone.

"Finally, we're all alone," Toyotama said in a flirty voice.

"Indeed." Six did not share her enthusiasm, "Take your shirt off." Six ordered, taking out the medical kit again.

Toyotama happily complied with his order, taking her shirt off, stripping to her birthday suit, and letting her shirt fall to the floor.

"Do you like what you see?" Toyotama tried to flirt with him, showing off her topless body.

Six ignored what she said as he placed the medical kit on a nearby table.

Toyotama sighed, seeing him, ignoring her advances.

Taking out some disinfectant and more bandages. He realized he was starting to get low on medical supplies. Another thing to add to his list of supplies to take from MBI's.

Before he applied any disinfectant and bandages, Six picked up Toyotama's ruined shirt and used it as a rag to wipe away the blood. Once he cleaned the wound, he threw away the shirt and took the disinfectant.

"This might sting a little." He warned as he applied it to her wound.

Toyotama felt the stinging sensation of the disinfectant, making her twitch a little and a few grunts in pain. For the most part, she toughened through it.

Once Six was done applying the disinfectant, he grabbed what was left of the bandages in the medical kit.

"Arms up." Six ordered. Toyotama complied, lifting her arms, making it easy for him to wrap bandages around her.

Six started wrapping them around Toyotama's torso.

" You know something, Uzume is right. For such a huge guy, you are gentle." Toyotama trying to start some small talk and flirt with the Spartan.

"Really?" Six replied as he focused on giving Toyotama medical attention.

Toyotama nodded, "The first night we met when you first patched me up, I found you surprisingly gentle. For such a huge, strong guy. Deep down inside, you must be a gentle giant." Toyotama honestly believes a strong man like him has secret a gentle side behind all that armor.

Six just shrugged, "You were badly hurt that night and needed medical attention. I was trained to apply medical attention to a wounded comrade on the field." Six replied as he continued with his current task.

Toyotama sighed, As always, he pays my flirting no mind.' She internally said.

"That's not what I'm talking about."

Six stopped in front of her and took his attention to her.

"What do you mean?" Six asked.

"Just…I… you know what, never mind." Toyotama slumped.

Six knew from the tone of his Sekirei's voice and her body language with the way she had her head down, something on her mind.

Six finished by wrapping the rest of the bandages around her torso, putting the rest of the medical supplies away in the medical kit, and placing it back on his armor.

"There. We'll let your wound heal overnight and check on it tomorrow morning." Six said as he put the supplies away.

"Okay," Toyotama replied with her head still slumped.

"I can tell there's something on your mind. If there's something, you can tell me. I'm willing to listen." Six asked, wanting to know what was on his partner's mind.

Toyotama took her attention to Six. She thought about what she wanted to say to him, choosing her words carefully, "Six… I want to know. Do you care about me?"

There was a few seconds of silence.

"Yes."

Toyotama perked up her head to look at the Spartan with an anxious look.

"You and the others are my comrades." Six said.

"Comrades?"

Six nodded, "I view every one of you as my fellow Spartans."

Toyotama looked at him curiously, "You only see us as fellow Spartans."

"Yes, I view you all as fellow Spartans in arms, with whom I am honored to fight side-by-side." Six honestly answered.

Toyotama blushed slightly," I'm… honored to fight by your side, too, my Ashikabi."

"Likewise, now let's go check on the others." Six said, leading the way with her following right behind him.

Toyotama, at the moment, felt honored to know he viewed her as a fellow warrior. However, Toyotama had a feeling he didn't see them as a love interest. She still remembers last week when he said they weren't fated to be together and that argument they had afterward. She had a feeling he still believed that.

Before she could dwell any further on the subject, she felt the vibration in her pants pocket, took out her phone, and saw the text.

It said, 'Don't lose hope.'

Toyotama was confused by the message at first until she realized who sent it, which brought a smile to her face.


At the same time as this conversation was going on.

The twins took Uzume to their room.

"Here is our room," Hikari said, opening the door and holding it open, letting Uzume and her sister walk through before closing the door behind them.

Uzume entered and got a good look at the room. It was an empty office room with four futons on the floor as it was the only furniture in there, " "Now I see why you told me classified when I asked where you lived."

Both sisters couldn't help but slump at her comment.

"It may not be much… at least it's livable." Hibiki was trying to sound optimistic.

"Says you. I still say we should have found somewhere better to live. But no, our Ashikabi insisted that we stay here." Hikari said, not sharing her sister's enthusiasm.

"I was just talking to Toyotama on the way in. I told her about moving into the Inn I'm currently living at, since she told me you all want to get out of here." Uzume said informing them about moving into Izumo Inn.

Uzume's proposal got the interest of the Twins.

"Hmm, doesn't sound like a bad idea moving in with you. I welcome it!" Hikari said, hearing the possibility of getting out of this rundown factory.

Hibiki nodded with her sister, "Nice as it sounds, we should wait till what Six has to say about the matter."

"Hopefully, he lets us move in with Uzume. I want to get out of this dump as soon as possible." Hikari said. Thinking about it, "Then again, knowing him, he will probably say no." Hikari depressingly sulked, predicting his answer.

"Sounds about right." Hibiki sulked with her sister, having the same realization.

"Let me talk to him. Maybe I can convince him to move in." Uzume happily said, wanting to help her childhood friends, now her bonded sisters out.

The sisters nodded, "Let's hope you can convince him. Since he is the stubborn type."

" I'll see if I can get him to take a tour of the place. Seeing the better living conditions would make him consider." Uzume said.

Both sisters nodded at what she said.

Hibiki then walked over to the closet and opened it up, revealing their clothing.

"The stuff on the right is mine, the clothing in the middle is my sisters, and to the left is Toyotama's. Pick whatever you want that fits you." Hibiki offered.

"Thank you. I'll make sure to give this back." Uzume said, going through the closet to see what she liked.

"Not a worry," Hibiki replied.

Uzume tried different clothing for a few minutes, checking certain shirts and putting them up against her body to see if they would fit her in another, grabbing one from either Toyotama or the sisters.

As Uzume was rummaging, "Your Ashikabi….Our Ashikabi. I have so many questions about him, and I don't know where to begin. The more important question is, what is he? Is he human or something else? The brunette asked curiously, wondering what exactly her ashikabi truly was, hoping the twins would give her some answers.

"Well,….. he is kind of hard to explain," Hikari said, rubbing her head, wondering if she should tell Uzume what they know about Six or just let him.

"I figure a 7-foot-tall giant in armor would be hard to explain." Uzume humorlessly said, "I'm just asking what is he?" The brunette was serious for a moment.

"We do know he's human, that's for sure," Hibiki knowingly said.

"Then how is he able to take on a Sekirei? Is it his armor? Like, is it some super-powered suit able to take us on?" Uzume curiously asked, wondering how he could match a sekirei.

"Hmm, somewhat," Hikari replied.

"What do you mean somewhat?" Uzume raised a curious eyebrow.

"Look, I think it's just best to let him explain to you what he is and where he's from because me, my sister, and even Toyotama have a rough time believing his story… even though he keeps a lot of it, to himself or should I say, doesn't share much of it at all since he says 'classified' most of the damn time," Hikari explained.

Hibiki nodded with her sister, "Every time we ask him something about himself, he just dismisses it. Like this."

The twins prepared themselves to do a little skit of their interrogations of Six.

"What are you?" Hibiki started.

"Classified," Hikari said.

"Where are you from?" Hibiki said again

Hikari replied," Classified."

"What do you do for a living?" Hibiki.

"Classified." Hikari.

"OK, I think I get the point," Uzume said with a little laugh since that skit of theirs was a little funny.

After that, things got silent. Uzume went back, continuing to look through their clothes.

A few minutes later, Uzume found something that fit her. Uzume put on a Black tank top from Toyotama. Like her, the tank top hugged the brunette's chest in all the right areas, and a pair of jean shorts from Hikari. Just like her capri jeans, showed off her ass pretty nicely.

"There, good as new," Uzume said, checking herself out in her new wear, "Thank you for lending me some clothes." Uzume gratefully said, taking her attention back to the sisters.

"Eh, no problem. We were happy to help." Hikari said.

Then, they heard a knock at the door.

"It's me. Can we come in?" Said six on the other side.

"Yes. It's all right to come in." Hibiki answered.

Upon hearing her answer, the door opened. Toyotama walked in first, with Six behind her, shutting the door behind them.

"I see my shirt fits you nicely," Toyotama said, seeing the brunette wearing one of her tank tops.

"Yes, it does. I'll ensure you get this back when I'm done with it." Uzume promised.

"Hey, you can keep it as long as you want. I'm in no rush to get it back right away." Toyotama said, walking over to the closet, taking out a fresh T-shirt, and putting it on.

"Uzume." Six getting the brunette's attention.

Uzume and everyone else in the room took their attention to the x-lone wolf.

"Before I begin, I should introduce you to Athena now." Six said.

"Yeah, who exactly is she, another one of your Sekireis?" Uzume asked curiously, even though there were barely any, if not any, Sekirei with a Western name, only just Japanese.

Toyotama and the sisters started snickering, which made Uzume look at them in bewilderment.

"Why are you guys snickering?" Uzume asked.

"Oh, she's not a Sekirei, that's for sure." Answered Hikari.

"Before you see her, she's not a ghost." Replied Hibiki.

"Not a ghost? What are you guys talking about?" Uzume was completely confused about what they were talking about.

"You'll see. Trust me, you'll get a kick out of her," Replied Toyotama.

"Ah… Okay, so, umm. Where is she then?"

"Right over here." Spoke a familiar female voice Uzume heard earlier today.

Uzume turned her attention to where the source of the voice came from and found herself staring at six again.

Uzume was baffled. She didn't see a woman behind six or anyone else in the room before she could even say anything.

She saw Six reach for something on the back of his helmet. He then held out in front of him to show it to the brunette.

Uzume saw what looked like to be some advanced computer chip or something.

"What's this?"

"It's me?" What happened next, Uzume saw a ghostly image of a beautiful young woman with long red hair, green eyes, and wearing ancient armor from either ancient Rome or Greece.

Upon seeing this aberration, Uzume could only stare at this ghostly image of a woman with wonderment and curiosity.

"What… is this?" Uzume muttered, not hiding the surprise in her voice. "This is Athena?…. She's not a ghost?" Uzume asked curiously, not taking her eyes off of the A.I., who sighed a bit, being called a ghost for the third time by another one of Six's girls.

"Didn't I just tell you she's not a ghost?" Hibiki reminded.

"I wasn't even sure what you were talking about…. Till I saw her... If she's not a ghost, then what is she?" Uzume asked.

Athena smirked, and before she had a chance to say anything.

"She's a magical A.I. Duh," Hikari answered.

"Magical….., A.I.? Wha…?" Uzume looked at Hikari as if she had grown another arm or head.

"An artificial intelligence. That's what Athena is." Said Six, this time, everyone paid attention to him.

"Hey, I can introduce and explain myself to Uzume. Thank you very much!" The synthetic pouted, a little irritated with everyone explaining what she is.

"Then all means." Six said, letting her do the talking.

"Thank you," Athena said, taking her attention back to Uzume.

"Uzume, please let me properly introduce…." Athena stopped midsentence when she saw the veiled Sekirei taking one of her fingers and started poking Athena, only for her finger to go right through the light. hologram"What are you doing?"

Uzume didn't respond at first, and then she just started waving her hand through Athena, messing up the hologram of her.

"Can you please stop?" Athena politely asked.

Uzume retracted her hand. "Sorry. Couldn't resist," Uzume apologized with an innocent laugh.

Athena, finding her composure, said, "Let me properly introduce myself. I am Athena. The artificial intelligence residing in your Ashikabi's armored systems. More importantly, I'd like to congratulate you for bonding or marriage, whichever you prefer, with the big guy here." Athena humored.

Six rolled his eyes when Athena mentioned marriage when he didn't view these bonds as such.

"Umm… thank you for congratulating me, Athena-San." Uzume happily said with some uncertainty since she didn't know how to feel about being thanked by technically a machine.

Speaking of machines.

"So you're A.I.? I have heard of artificial intelligence before… I didn't think something as advanced as you was out there?"

"Well, I am the only smart A.I. like this in existence right now," Athena replied.

"What's that supposed to mean?"

Six spoke up, "Uzume, what we are about to tell you will be hard to comprehend."

"Hard to comprehend? I mean an advanced A.I. living in an armored suit belonging to a 7-foot-tall giant. Isn't that hard to comprehend." Uzume feels like the situation is strange enough and wonders how much stranger it could get.

"Trust us." Toyotama getting the brunette's attention.

"He told all three of us, even we had a rough time believing him," Toyotama said with the sisters, nodding in agreement with her.

"When you hear it, it sounds like science fiction," Hikari said.

"Or from manga and anime," Hibiki interjected

Hikari shrugged, "Same thing."

Uzume just looked at them weirdly before she could say anything.

"Let me start explaining." Six said, wanting no more distractions.

"Okay, big guy. So, what's your story so I can understand what they're talking about? " Uzume asked, putting one of her hands on her hip.

Six nodded, "Okay, the first thing you should know is that I am not from around here."


Notes: big things to 4Alucard for editing of chapter and spartan 626 for beta reading .

Also I like to apologize if it seems like I'm taking a long time to get six taking action against MBI.

I'm 15 chapters in and I haven't had him do a damn thing to them yet. I promise the next chapter Six will start taking action against MBI.

Other than that, I hope y'all enjoy this chapter, leave me your comments on what you thought of this chapter.