A/N:

There will be points in this chapter where it's recommended to listen to specific pieces of music to help with immersion. As I can't link to them on this site you'll need to seek the songs out on youtube. You don't have to do this if you don't want to, but you'll be missing out if you don't, I feel.

To answer a question one of my guest reviewers had about the previous chapter being named 'rock paper scissors', it was a reference to the abilities of the 3 Sekirei in the spar that happened. Benitsubasa is hard hitting (like a rock), Uzume manipulates cloth (paper), and Haihane has giant claws on her hands (scissors).

Ya'll are in for quite the trip with this chapter. ;)

Transcendence

MBI Tower - Chiho & Uzume's Apartment

"So, I take it you felt it too?" Chiho inquired with her hands in her lap. She sat on the sofa across from Benitsubasa.

The Red Sekirei glared daggers at her from across the coffee table. "You have no idea how badly I just want to hurt you right now. I swear you'd be on the floor in a bloody heap if I could have my way." she balled her fist hard enough to hear cracking beneath the glove.

Chiho shifted awkwardly in her seat to escape the intensity boiling in Benitsubasa's eyes. "Lets...dial it back a bit. 'Kay?"

"How about instead you stay the fuck out of my head and my dreams!" her fist pounded the table, causing the candles and other clutter on it to jump. "This is the only time I'm warning you!"

Chiho brought up her hands to plea innocence. "I had no control over that!"

"Liar!"

"Why would I lie to you?!"

"Because you don't want to get what's coming to you!"

"You need a hug, girl. For real."

"RRRRRRAAAAAAAGHH!" Benitsubasa was on the verge of tearing her hair out.

A few silent seconds tick by on the clock.

Chiho raises a brow. "You done?"

Benitsubasa points a finger at her accusingly. "What's your deal, Miss Cripple? Why aren't you afraid?!"

"Because it's already been established that you can't hurt me. Not only that but Uzume would tear you to pieces if you did."

Benitsubasa grumbled. "I would take pleasure in seeing her try that shit."

"Sure it won't end up in you hanging from the ceiling in a cloth cocoon again?"

"Positive."

"I wouldn't be too sure of yourself. Keep in mind what happened the night at the hospital. She took you and your clawed partner out like you were nothing."

"She got lucky!"

"You got careless."

"Whatever!" Benitsubasa crossed her arms and got all pouty.

"Look, I'm not going to argue with you. But I do want to try and help you."

"Help me? What could a cripple like you possibly help me with?!"

"With whatever your feeling, I mean."

"What I feel is none of your concern!"

"Not if our dreams are interconnected. It's just as much my concern as it is yours, hun. We can't solve this problem by ignoring it."

"Ignoring it? I'm here at your apartment aren't I? I dragged my ass out of bed to-"

"Give me a piece of your mind and probably give me a black eye, right?"

"Exactly."

"But something stopped you, held you back. Your reaction speaks strongly to what your heart desires."

"You think I want you?"

"Deny it all you want, but I've seen what reactions do to Sekirei, and yours was full of hurt and pain. You don't deserve to go through that."

"No no no no NO!" Benitsubasa plugged her ears and shook her head wildly. "Stop bringing that up!"

"Ok, then I'll switch the subject." she leaned back and crossed one leg over the other. "Tell me about your Ashikabi, Natsuo."

"Now you're pushing it. That's personal." she clenched her heart. Then the unexpected happened. "Tread lightly. What do you wanna know?"

Chiho exhaled. "Think back to when you first made contact with him. How did you meet? Was it a dream?"

"Come to think of it, no. One day, Minaka just gathered me, Blue, and Black to his office while Natsuo was there. Minaka told us he would be our Ashikabi and that was that."

"So you had no choice? At all? That's horrible!"

"Walking away would have meant walking from the Discipline Squad at the time. But the moment I saw him...I felt something flutter in my heart, a yearning in the crest on my back."

Chiho braced herself, digging her nails into the cushion beneath her bottom. What she was about to ask might end...badly. But it needed to be considered. "Now for the difficult question. Was what you felt then anywhere near as intense as what you felt in the dream we just had?"

Benitsubasa felt a pit form in her stomach. "S-shut up. You hear? I love Natsuo, and that's the end of it. Drop the subject before I drop you."

Chiho bowed her head. "I see."

Then Benitsubasa added one extra detail. "Plus I never felt that way for girls before..."

"Is that so?"

"Yeah, why?"

"Had the thought ever crossed your mind of having a female Ashikabi before?"

"Of course not." she turned her nose to the ceiling.

"Never ever?"

"Nope."

"Then I'm honored to be the first." Chiho smiled cheerily.

Benitsubasa blushed. "In another reality, maybe."

"I won't push matters further then."

"Good, let's keep it that way."

"However,"

"Hmm?"

"I would like to be friends with you if you don't mind."

"Me? Friends with a cripple? No thank you."

"Why not? We work together, so I figured it would be nice to hang out when off duty."

"Wouldn't the marionette get pissy though?"

"You mean Uzume? She's just overprotective. I doubt she'll mind much once you get to know each other more."

"What would you like to hang out and do then?"

A big grin formed on Chiho's face. She went to reach down and grab something beneath the coffee table.

Benitsubasa watched curiously. "What are you doing?" her jaw unhinged as Chiho produced the last thing she expected. A fucking bong.

"Let's get baked together!"

*Fade Out/Fade in*

"So wait, you're in the Sekirei plan now too?" Yukari asked, eye twitching in disbelief. "And you have how many Sekirei?!"

"Five." he declared, holding up a hand and having all fingers out. "And four of them are at the table right now."

She looked at each of their chests, then at Minato. "You are a hornball pervert dummy head of a brother, you know that?! Ack!"

Miya bopped her on the head with a ladle. "There will be no name-calling or family feuds at the table." the hannya mask crept out from the ether and glared at Yukari over the landlady's shoulder. "Understood?"

Yukari's blood ran cold, Shiina's more so. The rest were bothered too but they were more or less desensitized in comparison.

"Sorry Miss Miya, your house your rules." Yukari swallowed nervously.

"Hi everyone." Kuu said as her tiny feet trotted into the dining room. She was still rubbing the sleep from her eyes.

Shiina immediately recognized the voice and looked across the table. Could it really be?

"Oh my god… Kuu!" Shiina jumped from his seat and rounded the table.

Kuu's eyes went wide. "Shii-chan?"

"Kuu!"

They both ran into an embrace and collapsed to their knees sobbing.

"Shii-chan, I found you. I finally found you!"

"Everything will be alright now. No one will ever separate us again."

No one at the table knew what to make of this. Minato and Yukari got up to be by their Sekirei's side and show emotional support while everyone at the table just yammered on in confusion. Eventually, the teary-eyed reunion crossed its crescendo and calmed. After wiping their tears Kuu introduced Minato as her Ashikabi and Shiina did in turn with Yukari.

Yukari went to slap the taste out of Minato's mouth for getting a child involved in his "Sick little harem", but was soon sat back down by the landlady's mask going on full blast.

Tsukiumi took exception to Yukari's abusive tendency. "I'll have you know Yukari that my husband would never dream of defiling a child. I should not need to tell this to someone as close as blood."

"Yeah!" Musubi bolstered. "Kuu chose him all on her own and even talked to him through the trees!" she looked at Kuu. "Isn't that right, Kuu?"

Kusano nodded and did her best Superman pose.

"Well if you say so…" Yukari rolled her eyes.

"I'm happy you're both finally reunited, and under the same roof at that!" Minato grinned. "But I have to ask, what made you leave your old place?"

"The rent went up and mom let me in on a cheaper option that was available. That's it really."

"Well, I'm happy things all worked out for everyone then. Welcome to Maison Izumo, Yukari."

Minato opened his arms invitingly and Yukari gravitated to him. The two hugged. "Glad to be here, onii-chan."

*Fade out/Fade in*

Matsu ran up to Minato, grabbing his arm and pushing her chest into him. "So what would you like to do with me today, Minato?" she boldly asked.

"Huh?"

"Well yeah, I won the straw game so that means the next Sekirei you have a day dedicated to is me!"

"Does that mean you'd like to go out with me? Like on a date?"

Matsu's sweat dropped. "Eh, not really. I was hoping we could spend some private time in my room for the day."

"Unacceptable." Miya lectured with a swift ladle bop to accentuate her point. "I refuse to let you waste your special day with Minato by keeping yourselves locked in that hotbox of a room all day. Make plans to go out."

"Ow! You know I'm being hunted by MBI, right?"

"Don't worry!" Musubi clenched a fist and declared, "Tsukiumi and I could be your bodyguards!"

"Don't draggeth me into this matter!" Tsukiumi barked.

"Guys I know you're trying to help but you being my bodyguards would bring us too much attention. Plus I want privacy of some degree." Matsu pleaded.

"How about this." Yukari spoke. "Minato and you can go on a double-date with me and Shiina."

"Hmm," Matsu mused. "Yeah, that may actually work!"

"True, but where could we go to?" Minato questions. "Any idea, Matsu?"

"Well there is this bar I always wanted to go to that has a retro video game theme. I think it's called Bar-tari."

Minato gave her a thumbs up. "Alright, so we'll go there!" he looked over at Yukari. "What time will you be free, Yukari?"

"In a bit. Just need to get my stuff all stored in my closet and Shiina and I should be good to go!"

"Thanks guys," Matsu smiled. "I really appreciate this."

*Fade out/Fade in*

Shinto Teito Harbor

"Okay, I think we lost 'em." Shigi Hakura muttered as he peeked out of the alleyway and out into the desolate windy street. He towered over Kuno who was shrunken in fear behind him and crying. "According to the map, the place shouldn't be far from us." He put it back in his pocket and said, "Let's go."

Kuno sniffed. "Okay." He grabbed her wrist and led her out of the dark alley. "Ow, not so hard, Hakura!"

"If you want to get out of here you have to be able to keep up, okay?" He pressed his head against hers and gave her a kiss.

"'Kay."

"Hold it, both of you."

The booming voice loomed overhead. Shigi looked up in defeat. On the building above them was the Discipline Squad's new initiate.

Shigi took a step back, "Oh shit, this is bad."

"This doesn't need to end violently. Just go home and we can forget this ever happened."

"And why should we trust you?"

"Because I've only agreed to do this to protect someone I love!"

"Kuno can't fight! She has no advantages in the Sekirei Plan whatsoever!"

"Then wing some more Sekirei so you can have an advantage!"

Shigi grumbled while Kuno whimpered. "Sorry, Kuno's the only girl I need."

"Turn around and go home. If you continue the direction you're going I will enforce the rulings of the Sekirei Plan."

"Kuno! We're doing the thing! Kiss me now!"

"Right now? But-mpfh!"

He claimed her lips before she could finish her thought. Her wings emerged and she began to sing.

"Shit!" Uzume thought, plugging her ears. The intensity of her voice was enough to make her knees wobbly. "I'm gonna have to end her quick. Please forgive me! I wanted so desperately to put this assassination business in the past!"

She launched a spear of fabric forward and Shigi moved to dive in front of it expecting the worst. He held his eyes clamped shut as he held Kuno as tight as he could, but as no pain came he curiously opened his eyes. Uzume's attack was deflected by an element. Fire.

"Uzume, let them be." Homura demanded with calm sternness.

"You know I can't do that, Homura."

"I will fight you if you don't let them leave."

"But what if they-"

"They won't escape. I'll make sure of that. Go back to the tower. I'll handle matters here."

Uzume nodded in agreement. "Fine, I'm trusting you, Homura. But I'm only making this exception once. If I catch them again I will-"

"I know, now leave!"

Uzume bowed her head and leaped away rooftop to rooftop.

Shigi and Kuno emerge from the alley as Homura approaches.

"Hey, thanks for the save back there, buddy." Shigi presents his hand. "I'm Shigi Hakura, and this is Kuno."

They shake hands. "Its no problem. I'm the guardian of Sekirei after all."

"Is that so?"

"Well, I'm trying to be, at least. I can't blame you both for wanting to leave the city and not wanting to fight. The sooner I kill that madman the better."

"You want Minaka's head too? My type of guy. Say would you happen to know if there are any places around we can lay low at for a while? If it's no trouble of course."

"It's no trouble at all. In fact, I know of just the place. It's in the north."

*Fade out/Fade in*

MBI Tower - Chiho & Uzume's Apartment

Benitsubasa just sat there dumbfounded as Chiho pulled out a blow torch, lit up the dab rig's nail until it was red hot, and drew in a massive cloud of THC concentrate from the straight tube.

"Aww yeah, that's the good stuff." Chiho inhaled sharply.

Benitsubasa looked around nervously and asked, "Uh, isn't that stuff illegal?"

"Recreationally, yes. Medicinally, no." she held it in a bit longer before letting out a massive white cloud and coughing a bit. "Given my condition, MBI prescribed it to me with no fuss." she presented the bong to Benitsubasa, sliding it across the coffee table. "Here! Try some!"

"Uh, no thanks." She pushed it back. "I've never done that stuff and I don't want Black coming down on my neck for being stoned if something were to go down unexpectedly."

"You never smoked weed? No wonder you're so pent up!" Chiho pushed it further into her personal space. Its glass exterior could be described as a psychedelically colored checkerboard and had pictures of fully bloomed flowers of varying sizes all over. They seemed to spin if stared at too long and play all sorts of other tricks on the mind. "She won't. Karasuba even told you to stay here and let Uzume handle business now so I'm sure she won't mind."

Benitsubasa backed away more. "But I- I-." she looked to the side with a biting her lip in defeat. She had a feeling she would regret this later, but, "Fuck it. Hand it here." she swiped the bong from the table and held it up, scrutinizing the bottom of the water reservoir for...some reason. "So how do I use this thing?"

"Here," Chiho says, getting up from her couch and plopping next to her, making extra sure to scoot herself over as close as possible. She presents the torch with a grin. "Just inhale through the tube as much as you can when I say and hold it in as long as possible."

"Whatever you say, Miss Cripple." she put the bong back down and waited impatiently as Chiho went about her business. She watched her scoop out a rice-sized bit of concentrate from a small jar with the tool which strangely resembled a thick sewing needle. She balanced the tool on the jar's lip and then came the torch. She twisted its valve and a blue flame came rocketing out onto the dab rig.

"So uh, you're not going to put that goo in before you use the torch?"

"It needs to be a certain temperature. Makes the effect stronger. Doing it too early will make it wasteful."

"I see. So you're really trying to fuck me up, aren't you?"

Chiho giggled. "Haha, yup!" she turned back to the bong. "Okay it looks ready now," she says, turning off the torch and putting it away. She grabs the dab tool and drops the concentrate-swabbed end of it into the red-hot nail. "All yours!"

Benitsubasa shrugged and sighed, "Here goes."

She puts her mouth over the tube and begins to take in the cloud of THC from the furiously bubbling reservoir.

"That's it, Beni," Chiho encouraged, miming with upward motions of the hands for her to take it all in. "inhale it deep into your lungs... and relax."

The Red Sekirei pulled away from the bong and took a deep breath in, holding it, and holding it, and holding it...but instead of relaxing she found herself in a hacking fit. Tears immediately came streaming down her now-lobster-red face.

"What the hell did *cough* you do to me?! My lungs *cough* are on fire!" she grabbed at her throat and fell to her hands and knees. "Oh God! *cough* Water! *cough* I need WATER!"

"Oh no!" Chiho freaked. "That may have been too much for a newbie. I'll get you a glass of water."

"You'll *cough* fucking pay for this!"

By the time Benitsubasa coughed out that last sentence Chiho had returned with a glass of tap water which was downed immediately.

Offering some pats to her back, Chiho helped Benitsubasa off the floor and back onto the couch.

"Feeling better?"

Benitsubasa shoved her away and coughed again. "Fuck no. That was awful."

"The worst of it is over, I swear." Chiho consoled.

"So now what? *cough*"

"Now we kick back and wait."

"What for?"

"For you to start tripping out of course!"

"Shouldn't that have already started?"

"Well, you are a Sekirei so it may affect you differently. Shouldn't take too long though."

"W-Wai-Wait a sec, I-"

Speak of the devil.

Benitsubasa slowly slumped into the cushioning of the sofa and let herself melt however way she landed, her thousand-yard stare burning a hole through the ceiling. Except for blinking, she remained motionless for a long moment. "Wha-what is this? This...feeling? My heart...feels all fuzzy."

With a soft smile, Chiho pulled out her phone and scrolled through her Spotify selection. She looked at Benitsubasa with all the warmth she could muster and simply said, "The start of something magical~. I promise~." as she made her song choice.

[BGM - Pneuma - Tool]

Benitsubasa was feeling all warm and disoriented now. She felt a strange tingling on top of her head in the form of a halo as well. Everywhere but on the very top of her cranium she felt a zigzagging numbness. She glanced at Chiho and lazily reached to scratch the weird sensation as the acoustic intro began. "Music?"

"Shh," Chiho hushed as she cranked up the volume on her Bluetooth speaker. "Just sit back and let the music wash over you and take control~."

"Alright then," she let herself sink into the pillows further. "still don't get the point. Just sitting here all tingly doin' nothin but smoke pot while weird-ass music plays. Seems lazy and pointless."

"Not everything needs a point. Lots of people do what we're doing and it brings them closer together."

"I don't see how."

"You will."

Chiho wasted no time taking another hit while Benitsubasa fell silent and waited, letting her eyes drift in a baked haze. She had to admit, the tune Miss Cripple put on was...different in comparison to most of the music she had listened to. Up until this point she had only really listened to J Pop or whatever was playing at the venues she visited. This was completely alien to those, but that's not to say she found it bad. Sure it was kind of tinny-sounding at the moment but it did help her relax as more instruments started joining in.

It was weird though. With every new instrument came a new nerve-tingling sensation in her body. It was like her body, her soul was reacting to the music, being pulled and stretched in every direction as her heart followed the beat to nirvana. It was then she realized this was starting to feel pleasurable.

Then the vocals kicked in.

"We are...spirit….bound to this flesh."

The voice could only be described as angelic. So much so that it caused the nerves in Benitsubasa's face to get prickly.

She gasped, moving a gloved hand to her face and resting a palm on her cheek. "My face just went numb."

"Isn't it just incredible?"

"And now I'm starting to see splotches of color."

"Aren't they beautiful?"

"Y-Yeah." She shut her eyes. "And when I close my eyes, I see them even more clearly."

Benitsubasa sank deeper into the cushions and blinked rapidly at all the pretty lights as they disappeared and reappeared. At this point, she was fully under the influence of the drug and the music only made her spiral deeper down.

"I feel like I'm having an out of body experience. On a roller coaster." she shivered.

Chiho tittered. "Teehee."

"What's so funny?"

"Oh, you'll know when you feel it." She looked at the song's timeline on the Spotify app and grinned wide as she saw the song was at the 3 minute, 15-second mark. Something was coming.

"We are born of one breath, one word

We are all one spark, sun becoming…"

And then…

Utter. Transcendence.

As the guitars kicked in a shiver rolled itself down Benitsubasa's spine with the intensity of a volcanic eruption. Her jaw unhinged and her voice cracked as the rollercoaster derailed from the track, launched out of Earth's orbit, and directly into hyperspace at ludicrous speed. Her entire body convulsed into an arc akin to experiencing even the most intense of orgasms. The colors in her vision quickly organized into kaleidoscopic spirals, bending, weaving, twisting, folding, swelling, and shrinking. The breakdown hoisted her to a plane of higher existence, like a mermaid emerging from the sea to experience the sky and clouds for the very first time. Her third eye had opened, only it was on her brightly burning Sekirei crest instead of her forehead.

Finally, the music calmed and the song's grip over her body let up enough so that she could fall back to the couch stoned out of her mind.

Chiho looked all giddy seeing her new friend utterly blissed out on the couch. "So, how was your first trip, Benitsubasa?"

"Sugoi…" tears came and she let them flow. "Simply incredible." she looks at Chiho and for once other than for Natsuo, she smiles warmly. "Thank you. For this. All of it."

"You're welcome. I'm always here for you if you ever need anything." Chiho says, putting her hands on one of Benitsubasa's thighs. She loved how shapely they were.

Benitsubasa spasmed violently in response to Chiho's touch. "Hot!"

Chiho immediately pulled her hand away. "Are you alright? Is something wrong?"

"This feeling, no, I shouldn't!" Benitsubasa doubled over panting, clamping her eyes shut. Her face was now beet red and she was sweating all over. "Natsuo, I can't!"

"Benitsubasa, you're not making sense. Look at me, hun." she taps Beni's chin up so she could look at her.

When she opened her eyes her pupils were replaced by pink hearts, and they beat hard when looking in Chiho's direction.

The look on Benitsubasa's face was one of desperation. "I can't take it anymore. I need you!"

Without warning, Benitsubasa claimed Chiho's lips, right then and there on the couch. A padlock with limb-thick chains emerged over where the Red Sekirei's crest was, her wings futilely trying to burst through the ensnarement of her former bond. But as the kiss became deeper, so too did the wings become orders of magnitude stronger. The entire room lit up as stalagmites of energy began to rise and swirl around them like a ring of electric fire. The ground began to shake and a few moments later the lock and chains broke and Benitsubasa's crimson wings were once again free. Only now, for someone new.

The apartment door then clicked open. "Hey, Chiho I'm home." Uzume said as she absentmindedly entered and motioned to slip off her boots. She didn't even look in the direction of the living room as she did so, but did find the intensity of the lights really odd. "Hey, why are the lights so...bright?"

Uzume turned her head and squinted to see through the intense rays of light and then suddenly gasped, witnessing the impossible happen right before her eyes.

"...We are born of one breath, one word

We are all one spark, eyes full of wonder…"

Meanwhile, on top of the tower…

[BGM - Heavy Rain - Soundtrack - 01 Painful Memories]

Natsuo and Karasuba stood beside one another, watching the clouds slowly drift across the horizon.

Natsuo went to light a cigarette when a sudden sharp pain made him wince forward. He grasped at his chest.

Karasuba raised a brow, not moving to help her Ashikabi in the slightest. "What's up?"

"I don't know…" he strained. Gathering himself, he stood straight again, looking down at the hand remaining over his heart. "It feels like a piece of my heart I never knew existed just suddenly vanished forever."

A/N: I can't remember the last time I had as much fun writing a chapter than I did this one. Benitsubasa's first time getting stoned and listening to trippy music reflects my own experience. Not 100% mind you, but the emotions and sensations are all there on display. And yes, I made sure every time I was stoned off my ass to sit down to write this (I'm a patient, so legally it's my medicine).

Sekirei are very spiritual creatures, so I felt a drug trip would be even more intense for them than we mere humans, especially if it's a first time experience as it was here.

As for Chiho being able to wing Benitsubasa and cancel her link to Natsuo, don't worry. I plan to fully expand on that in the next chapter. Let's just say MBI unexpectedly did more than just cure her illness for better or worse.

I don't think this chapter is perfect though, as I did admittedly skimp a bit on the parts that didn't involve Benitsubasa and Chiho, but I can always go back and re-edit them. As things are now I feel the Beni/Chiho moments more than make up for this chapter's shortcomings.

But I'll leave that for ya'll to decide. In the review section of course. *wink*

Till next time.