A/N: Hope the wait was worth it for this one, guys!
Gotta give kudos once again to Ikrani, who not only has jumped on board as a beta for me but also wrote the last half of this chapter. I'll keep it at that as to not spoil anything.
Feed the Flame: Part II
Homura leapt from rooftop to rooftop burning with fury. At the rate he was going, he should be at the tower by sunset. If this was to be his last stand against Minaka and the Sekirei Plan at large, so be it.
"Today, Minaka, today is the day you die!"
Just then, a voice called out to him from four stories above. "Stop, Homura!"
It was Uzume.
XXXXXX
An hour beforehand in Minaka's office…
"It's time for you to show me where your loyalties lie, Uzume," Minaka said, hands folded on his desk and eyeglasses gleaming brightly.
"And just what do you mean by that?" she asked. Uzume had just gotten off the phone with Minato in regards to Homura and not a moment after had been ordered to Minaka's office via intercom. She could only imagine what he wished of her.
"Now that I've put all focus on #6, he should be on his way to kill me at this very moment."
Uzume rested a hand on her hip. "And what do you want me to do about it?"
"You are to prevent him from reaching the tower at all costs, until you ensure his winging. Doesn't matter to who."
"And what if he doesn't take kindly to me doing that?"
"Well, if he gets past you, I predict Red and Blue will dispose of him in short order, seeing as they'll be guarding me."
Uzume grumbled. "Just what is it you want from all of this?"
"Entertainment, my dear. Simple as that."
"You're insane."
"I'm well aware." Minaka spread his arms and leaned back in his chair. "Do you not see me basking in that fact?! Hahaha!"
Uzume didn't bother to linger on more of the crazy bastard's words and, once outside, focused on the task at hand. She feverishly hoped Homura would listen to reason, considering she was a good friend. If not, well, who knew what might happen to Chiho if she failed? She knew there was something Minaka wasn't telling her about her Ashikabi's condition, but didn't dare push the matter. Right now, what mattered was Homura, so she gathered herself in her ivory veil and leapt off the tower's edge towards the horizon.
XXXXXX
"What do you want, Uzume? Don't tell me you're here to protect that bastard Minaka."
"Turn back and go home, Homura. I don't want to have to fight you!"
Homura took a stomp backwards and threw his arm back. A pentagon of fireballs spawned in an instant, ready to broadside at will, with more starting to join them. "You're a traitor!"
"Do you actually think I want to be here right now, stooging for that crazy asshole?! I have no choice here, Homura! My Ashikabi is at stake! Maybe you'd know what that's like if you had one!"
Homura grit his teeth but said nothing. He really couldn't, so in place of words he put his dozen or so fireballs, launching them forward with a wave of his arm. Uzume leaped out of the way with the grace of a dove, leaving the balls of fire to fly off into the sky.
"You know you're just going to attract all the other Ashikabi and Sekirei in the area if you keep that up, right?"
"If you don't like it, get out of my way. Or were you sent to stall me so I could be handed out like a prize?!"
"Just go home!"
"NOT UNTIL THAT SON OF A BITCH IS DEAD!" Homura roared, unleashing a whip of fire at Uzume.
She effortlessly blocked with an upward swipe of the veil. Dammit, Minato, you better be on your way!
XXXXXX
Minato's Northern Brigade flew through the dusk sky with purpose in their hearts. Their mission: bring Homura home safe and sound. They got their moment-to-moment intel from their eye in the sky, Matsu at home base Maison Izumo, who just so happened to keep a heat-activated tracking device in Homura's shoe after she learned of Homura's last near-meltdown. Not like they needed it, once a giant wave of fire whipped across the skyline[].
Minato had to admit, with all that had been happening in his life as of late, he wasn't surprised when he found out his mom worked for MBI and was in charge of the Sekirei Plan. Cursebreakers, orgies, Tsukiumi being a submissive, sure, why not this? What's next? Minaka's his father?
Minato sighed, trying to calm himself. "Like that'll ever happen..."
"Like what will ever happen, Minato?" Musubi curiously inquired tilting her head up with dopiness in her eyes. She was giving him her famous 'chocobo ride' as the others in the flock had them circled, to protect their Ashikabi from harm as much as possible. Kazehana flanked the east, Tsukiumi the west, and Kuu had the south covered while she held on to Minato's hand.
"Oh, nothing Musubi. Just a silly thought I had just now. That's all."
Tsukiumi took his hand. "'Tis no time for dwelling on silly things. We've a friend to rescue."
"I know. I'm just trying to not discourage myself. I need a positive mindset if we're going to do this."
"Oh, of course. My apologies, husband."
"Wow, Tsukiumi really has changed." Minato thought for a brief moment. "Hey, Tsukiumi, what's the deal with you and Homura? I know you weren't on the best of terms, but do you mind elaborating?"
"In brief, he is my rival. I'm afraid thou must wait for the unabridged account."
And off they went, into the fire.
XXXXXX
Seated in a swivel chair, Kochou kept a close eye on the several dozen or so monitors before her. As a brain-type, she was able to access MBI's satellites with relative ease. It was almost like they wanted her to.
A few taps on the keyboard and zoom-ins later, she was centered over the position of #6.
"I- mmh! I found him, Master," she moaned. Oh, and her Ashikabi was feeling her up while she was doing this. Kinky.
"Good, Kochou. Very good," he whispered seductively, taking away his groping hand to interact with the radio on his ear, much to Kochou's mewling dismay. She reached in desperation for his continued touch, much like someone stranded in a desert would reach for a glass of water. "Sanada, Mikogami, I'm sending the coordinates now."
"Right," Mikogami replied.
"Okay," Sanada said.
"M-Master?" Kochou impishly begged with drool leaking from the corner of her mouth.
"Yes?"
She weakly pulled at his wrist, signaling which hand was mispositioned. "My reward... Please... It's all I can think about."
"Of course, dear Kochou," Kakizaki said. His fingers ran along her arm, giving her goosebumps at his touch. He circled around her side as she swiveled around to meet him halfway. His hands groped her bust again, then her hourglass waist as he lowered himself to his knees. Her breath hitched when he traced the creases of her legs.
"Now," he said, looking up into her eyes, "open your thighs nice and wide, sloooooowly…"
XXXXXX
The battle between Uzume and Homura had devolved into a rooftop-to-rooftop chase towards the Tower.
"Stop and think, Homura!" Uzume yelled. "Do you really want to be killed that badly?! You'll be outnumbered three to one!"
Her words fell on deaf ears.
"Dammit, I didn't want to have to do this, but you left me no choice…"
She whipped her veil at him, its frayed ends stabbing into his limb joints. She pulled and he fell to his back with a shriek and a thud.
"Gah, I can't move my extremities! What the hell did you do to me, Uzume?!"
"I marionetted you." She spoke loudly, taking dominant steps forward, reeling him in like a fish on a line. "Now you can't move unless I will it."
"We'll just see about that." Homura channeled his rage into a shell of fire which sprouted from his arched back. Trails of flame traveled up the veil's threads but no damage was done to it. "Why aren't they burning away?"
"Did you really think MBI would send me after you without preparing me for the situation? This veil I'm wearing is fireproof. Even at your hottest, it'll take minutes for you to burn through."
"So you were just buying time, is that it?"
"Minato will be here shortly, so get comfortable."
"Minato? What the hell is he coming for, to wing me? Thanks, but I'll pass. I don't like men and I don't want to become a woman."
"But you reacted to him, didn't you? Or would you prefer some random stranger? There's nowhere else to turn, I'm afraid."
Homura charged up more, his body beaming with the heat of a blast furnace. Uzume staggered back, but her threading remained unaffected. "I REFUSE TO BE A PAWN IN SOME SICK GAME! I'D RATHER DIE HERE THAN GIVE YOU CONTROL OF MY DESTINY, OF MY SOUL! YOU HEAR ME, MINAKA?! YOU BASTARD!"
Uzume shielded her face, nervously scanning the area. "Great! Way to avoid drawing attention, Homura! Now we're totally screwed."
XXXXXX
Nishi Sanada's Harley skidded to a halt as a pillar of fire exploded from one of the distant rooftops. His harem looked on with dopey expressions of childlike intrigue as he pulled off his helmet for a better view. He interacted with the radio on his ear. "You seeing this, Mikogami?"
Mikogami, in the comfort of his luxurious limousine, replied on the intercom. "Sure do. With how high it goes, who hasn't seen it? Akitsu's already on the move. Let's surround them."
"Right."
XXXXXX
"Let's get you home, Homura. There's no use in you fighting anymore." Uzume said, deadpan. "You'll use up most of your energy trying to burn through my veil so just come with me."
"I don't care," he said, taking heavy breaths as he the concrete beneath him started to melt. "Just let me die."
"That's not going to happen," a foreign voice spoke up.
Uzume turned to see who it was. Unfortunately for them, it was Mikogami with Mutsu at his side.
Uzume grumbled. "Dammit. I was hoping I could avoid this..."
Mutsu got right to the point. "Hand over #6 and we promise things won't get violent."
"Perhaps you don't realize who you're speaking to. I'm #10, Uzume, White Sekirei of the Discipline Squad."
"We are well aware, underling. But since we're doing introductions, I'm #5, Mutsu, former member of the first-generation Discipline Squad."
"Great, a single number. Can things get any worse?"
A trifecta of cannonballing gymnasts then came rolling down from the sky. They stuck the landing on one knee before standing, joined shortly thereafter by their Ashikabi, Nishi Sanada.
"Why'd I have to open my fucking mouth?"
"Uzume, behind you!" Homura called out urgently.
Uzume narrowly dodged a flurry of ice daggers. In doing so, she sacrificed the part of her veil keeping Homura under her control. They skewered right through it. Homura used this moment to try and hightail it.
"Just where the hell do you think you're going?" Uzume yelled.
"Don't follow me. They're only after me, remember?"
"That isn't entirely the case, #6," Akitsu said. "In fact, my master would love nothing more than to add both of you to their growing collection."
"Akitsu, pursue him," Mikogami commanded, then looked at Mutsu. "You, stay here."
"Yes, master," Akitsu responded, before leaping off after him.
"Is that really how you [southern] Sekirei view yourselves, as items?" Uzume asked, disgusted at the thought. "That's just sad. And I hate to break it to you, but I already have an Ashikabi."
"Yes, but terminating you in addition to capturing #6 will more than even the playing field for us," Mikogami chortled.
"Well, I'm sorry to say none of that's going to happen. I'll take you all on if I have to!"
"That won't be necessary," Mutsu said loudly before glancing at Sanada. "Sanada, have your trio join Akitsu. I wish to handle the Veiled Sekirei on my own."
Sanada clenched his fist. "Hey, just who are you to be barking orders at me, buddy?!"
"Someone much stronger than you and all of your Sekirei combined. Don't test me, little human; it won't end well for you."
Sanada just stood there with his jaw hanging open, dumbstruck by the male Sekirei's audacity.
"What do you wish of us, Master?" asked #106, Shijime.
Sanada recomposed himself. His Sekirei needed him to be a man after all. "It's more important to capture #6, so go after him. This Mutsu guy is a single number, after all. He should distract #10 just fine."
"Got it!"
"Why not just tell them our whole plan, why don't you?!" Kakizaki raged, his voice blaring loudly in Sanada's ear.
"Yeah, right. Sorry. Won't happen again."
XXXXXX
Homura took a look back as he dashed forward. Four pursued him, and it looked like Uzume was about to throw down with Mutsu. Although he worried for her, it was too late to turn back, so he cast his gaze forward towards the tower.
As he did so, a wall of Sekirei marked by Mikogami leaped up from the ground Attack-on-Titan-style and he found himself surrounded on all sides.
He was led into a trap.
He halts his steps, surveying the field. "Shit, that's seven more. Nowhere to go now…"
"You can't hope to fend off all of us, #6." Akitsu said, tapping her cold shoulder. "Come with us and no harm will befall you."
"You'll have to kill me before I turn my life over to that silver spoon-fed child, Mikogami."
Akitsu blinked and rubbed her nose. "Very well. Attack." She commanded.
First one Sekirei tried to get the jump on him from behind and got badly burned, then entire groups started to pile on to try and force Homura down. He was already badly weakened by his spat with Uzume and subsequent emotional breakdown; it didn't take long before he fell. As he lay there with the ten or so Sekirei holding him down, Akitsu began ordering them to reveal his body parts so she could freeze him into further submission.
Akitsu stood above him as he lay helpless at the bottom of the dog pile. "Master Mikogami will be pleased."
XXXXXX
"There they are!" Minato called out as he spotted Uzume below them and Homura off in the distance.
"Looks like Uzume can handle Mutsu," Kazehana said, gazing down at them as she landed.
XXXXXX
Uzume did a multitude of backwards handsprings as she dodged Mutsu's sword swipes.
He's fast, she thought as she tried looking for an opening in his guard.
XXXXXX
"But Homura looks like he's about to be frozen solid by that ice Sekirei over there!" Musubi pointed out, one foot already on the edge of the rooftop.
"Then let us waste no more time!" Tsukiumi said hurriedly as they jumped into action.
"Right!" said everyone in sync.
XXXXXX
Akitsu turned in the direction of the North's arrival, but still kept up the freezing.
"Hey, what are you all doing? Let Homura go!" Minato demanded.
"I'm afraid I can't do that. His body is unstable. He will die otherwise."
"I-I don't believe you! Back off!"
"Believe what you will." She looked at her subordinates. "Taki, Mitsuki, Yomi, Juusa, handle them."
The green-haired scythe-girl, Yomi, went straight for Kazehana. "The cougar's mine!"
Kazehana broke off to the side and swept a hand at her incoming foe. A petal-peppered gust billowed forth. Yomi grinned mid-leap and slashed the air with her scythe, a vacuum wave breaking Kazehana's wind.
The Wind Sekirei looked surprised. "Oh," she said, before handspringing back beneath a horizontal slash.
"Me! Me! Me!" Musubi shouted, rushing in to pair off with the staff-wielder. Her rush was blocked by said staff, which tossed her aside and pressed her back with a series of quick jabs. Musubi's giddiness left her practically vibrating as she twitched and bobbed around the staff's end. "I'm Number 88, Musubi!"
"Number 103, Juusa! Show me whatcha got!"
While that went on, Kazehana regained her composure and jumped to an adjacent roof, literally blowing Minato a kiss as she left. "Keep an eye on me, Minato~!"
"Keep thine eyes here!" Tsukiumi ordered, a quartet of sharp wires darting at her like snakes. She threw up an inverted waterfall, but the wires altered course and passed through the makeshift geyser, one of them grazing Tsukiumi's arm. Backflipping as they snapped shut around her, Tsukiumi touched her wound and saw blood on her fingers.
"Ha!" called Mitsuki, whipping her wires back around her gloved wrists. "You might as well give up now! I'm Number 39, Mitsuki."
Tsukiumi grit her teeth and formed a constellation of thick raindrops in front of herself. "Verily, first blood to thee... and thy last! For I am Number 9, Tsukiumi!"
Now it was Mitsuki's turn to retreat, having glimpsed at the typhoon raging within Tsukiumi's fierce blue eyes. Anyone could've told her: don't spit in the wind, don't pull on Superman's cape, and don't mess around with Tsukiumi, especially when her Minato was watching.
"CRAVEN!" Tsukiumi shrieked while giving chase over the rooftops. "Steel thyself and fight! WE ARE SEKIREI!"
That left just two Sekirei unmatched. On Minato's side (literally, and holding his hand all the while) was Ku. On Mikogami's side, by process of elimination, was Taki, the curvy, silver-haired Sekirei in an elegant white dress. Granted, said dress looked like the tailor had gotten carried away with the scissors, because the entire vertical middle was missing, from her neckline to her cleavage and all the way down to her feet. It seemed like the same design behind Kazehana's dress, albeit with a white underskirt to preserve Taki's modesty. How it managed to cup her pert breasts was hard to fathom.
Kusano's stiff lip trembled. Her little hand squeezed Minato's as Taki walked towards them, stopping about ten feet away.
"I'm Number 65, Taki," she said, bowing her head at Ku. There was no condescension in the gesture; odd, considering who her master was. "So, are we going to fight?"
Ku slid behind Minato's leg for a moment.
"Oh! Don't be scared!" Taki bent over, a cheerful smile on her face as she looked at Ku. "Aren't you just adorable? I can see why Master wanted you, Green Girl."
"I'm not scared!" Kusano squeaked. "I just don't like fighting."
Taki turned out her hands, as if to show her harmlessness. "Honestly, me neither. It's not that I'm bad at it. I just much prefer bubble baths to fights. In fact..."
She straightened up, stretching her delicate fingers. "We don't have to fight, so long as you leave Akitsu alone with Number 6. Deal?"
Kusano looked past Taki, where Akitsu was still holding her ice prison and the steam around Homura's body was dwindling, as was the fire in his eye. Akitsu's way of saving him was also making him helpless.
"Only if she lets him go," said the Green Girl.
Taki's smile dimmed and she sighed. "Try to be nice, and no one cooperates. Let's fight, then."
"No, my friend can help!" Ku reached into Minato's pocket and pulled out a handful of top soil.
"Ku?" Minato asked. "Why did you put dirt in my pocket?"
"'Cause I don't have pockets to put it in," she said, pulling at her dress. "Sorry I made you carry it, but look!"
She held out her hand, where a tiny sprout poked through the pile. She placed the pile on the ground, only to be grabbed about the shoulders from behind. Taki spun her around like a top, once, twice, thrice. When she stopped, Ku fell down, clutching her head as her eyes continued to spin.
Minato stood, bewildered but feeling like he should intervene. "Hey-"
He suddenly found a pretty girl in his face, her smile so close he could feel her breath when she said, "Hey."
Then she grabbed Minato and spun him, too. He tried to resist but Taki was stronger than she looked, no combat type but easily able to trip him with her foot and keep him off-balance. Minato didn't fall, but even as the world returned, it disappeared again. Everything around them on the roof, from the concrete to the industrial vents to the sky to even the patch of moss growing around the gutter drain in the corner, was bleached by a thick gray fog. Minato couldn't see six feet in front of him; pulling out his cell phone and turning on the light only extended it to ten. Where had this come from?
"You like it?" Taki called. "I made it myself."
"I don't, actually!" Ku called back. She took Minato's hand. "Follow me. My friend is calling us! Don't let go or you'll get lost."
"I mean..." Ku wasn't wrong, but they were only on a small-
"Nuh-uh!" Taki came out of nowhere and shoved them both to the ground. "You're adorable. Your Ashikabi is cute, too."
She vanished into the fog again. "But, he's not as cute as Master."
Growling like a kitten, Ku stood back up and dusted herself off. She wasn't dirty, but it was the first step before "get back into it."
"Come on, Minato," she said, helping him up before towing him behind her.
"I said no!" Taki said, darting out to push them away, sending them stumbling in a random direction.
Ku popped up to her feet, tugging at Minato's hand. "Come on come on come on come on! Homura needs us!"
It was like watching a puppy play tug of war. Minato was happy to go along with Ku, leading them back to where they came.
Somewhere in the fog, Taki sounded like she was pulling at her hair. "How?! How do you know where anything is? No fair..."
Out she came, diving at the two to tackle them both to the ground. Minato grabbed hold of one of her sleeves and suddenly found himself wrestling with the buxom girl. For once, he was glad the fog obscured everything. Tsukiumi would've blown a gasket if she'd caught him like this.
"Stop it!" Ku shouted. "I won't let you bully my big brother!"
A branch looped down from overhead and yanked Taki off of him. She was just on the edge of his vision, seven feet above with her face obscured by the fog.
"Agh! Treacherous rogue!" Off to the left, Tsukiumi sounded like that wire girl was giving her trouble. Minato and Ku could sympathize.
"So that's how!" Taki struggled and pulled and quickly wriggled free of the branch. "That little plant you put down! In that case..."
She ran off into the fog again. There was a sharp crack of wood breaking, followed by a crumbly creaking noise.
"Look out beloooow!" Taki called.
"NO!" Ku shrieked, racing off and leaving Minato behind.
"Ku, hold on!" He followed the noise, the sound of dozens of twigs being snapped as a tree fell over. Lucky for him that she ran in a straight line. When he found her, she was standing in front of a pumpkin-sized concrete crater with bits of root wedge in the outlying cracks. Scraps of wood and broken chunks of concrete ringed the outside, with green skid marks marking the way to the edge of the roof.
Ku was on her hands and knees, tenderly tracing the tiny roots that remained from her uprooted former seedling. "How could you..."
Minato's eyes widened. Uh oh.
"HOW COULD YOU BE SO HEARTLESS?!" Ku screamed, her eyes glowing neon green. Even the fog didn't obscure them.
"Ku, wait! Keep it together! Wah!" The whole building started to shake. Over the distant noise of four separate Sekirei battles, Minato heard the sound of ceramic cracking and shattering, like someone shotput a tennis ball inside a china shop. From the lip of the roof, on the very edge of his vision, a literal wall of knotted green growth shot from below. High into the sky, or at least Minato assumed, as the numerous spawn of Jack's fabled beanstalk responded to Kusano's call to arms. The concrete below Minato started to crack, heralding the explosive arrival of yet more stalks; as he dove out of the way, he only hoped the people in the building were safe.
"That's not gonna work!" Taki called. "My mist might not pack a punch, but it's easy to make!"
Minato didn't know what she was talking about, but the direction of her voice was moving. He had to move fast; the roof was crumbling beneath him and if he didn't stop Ku's temper soon, he'd fall through however many floors had given way.
Kusano stood rock-still as he reached her. "Ku!"
"I'LL GET YOU, YOU MEANIE!"
"Ku, listen to me!" Minato remembered her brief scuffle with Tsukiumi before he'd winged the angry blonde. He remembered how she'd run wild then, too. "If you keep this up, what'll happen to Homura?"
Like a switch had been thrown, the fire went out in Kusano. Like before, the revelation brought her to her senses.
"We have to beat this fog somehow..." An idea came to him, but would it work? "Kazehana!"
No response came, so Minato about-faced and called out again. "Kazehanaaa!"
"What is it, Minatooo?" Even in a fight, she sounded sexy.
"We need you to blow away this mist!" he shouted. "Can you?"
"Sorry, she's already got a dance partner, perv!"
A distant sound of wind was cut by a rumble of thunder. No, not thunder; Yomi must've used that vacuum attack to intercept Kazehana's power. Come to think of it, she might be one of the few Sekirei who could counter Kazehana's element. Shoot...
"Oh Mina-kun, just give me a minute and I'll be right there!"
"A MINUTE?!" Yomi seethed in the distance. "I'll show you a minute, honey!"
Hastily, Minato weighed his options. Kazehana couldn't help, Tsukiumi and Musubi didn't have the right power, and all Ku could do was... Wait...
Minato leaned in close to Kusano's ear. "Hey, Ku, do your friends know where Taki went?"
She shook her head. "No. Trees love to talk but they can't see."
New plan. Time was running out. Maybe...
...
The lightbulb over Minato's head could've pierced this fog.
"Ku, you know that moss on the corner?"
Her eyes glowed green for a moment, then she nodded. "M-hm, but he doesn't like fighting."
"That's okay," Minato said. "Tell the moss to grow out, as much as it can."
"Okay," Ku said. A few lines appeared on her face as she strained. Odd.
"Everything okay?"
"M-hm," she said again. "He doesn't like growing fast, either."
This moss was starting to annoy. "Tell him a friend's life is at stake. We need his help badly."
Nodding, Ku strained again. Whatever she said to the moss must've gotten its act together, for in a few moments, Minato's shoes were completely surrounded by spongey green.
"Woah! That was fast." He took a few steps on the moss carpet that Ku had made beneath them.
"Don't walk too hard," Ku said, sighing in effort.
"He doesn't like being stepped on, either?"
"Nuh-uh, that's okay. He just doesn't like being stomped on."
Well, Minato could understand that. Moss was a plant like any other, and given that Taki had just kicked over a tree, it was probably a little...
Minato blinked. "What am I saying?"
"I don't know," Ku replied. Suddenly her head jolted to her right. "There you are, meanie!"
Her eyes shone like a flood light. Even with the moss to bind it (sort of), Minato still felt the roof shift when what sounded like a tree burst forth about twenty feet to his eight o' clock.
"What the-?!" And there it was. Taki had been ratted out.
She wasn't giving up, though. Muffled footsteps marked Taki's flight from the tree. Luckily, Ku had more than a few to call on from her tantrum earlier.
"Ow! Hey!" Taki was moving away, like that would do any good. Minato had a theory that she had to be in or near the fog to keep it thick. In a sense, this mist was restricting her as much as them, as was her absolute devotion to Mikogami's sick hobby of "collecting" Sekirei.
"Got you now!" Kusano shouted. With a creaking of wood and rustle of leaves, the footsteps stopped.
"...Help? Mitsuki? Anyone?"
Ku took Minato's hand and towed him behind her. She led him around the crumbliest parts of the roof, no doubt guided by the green rug underfoot. Minato never thought he'd see the day where an overgrown patch of moss would help in a fight.
They found Taki cocooned up to her ribs in serpentine wood, coiled around her like a big brown boa constrictor. Her feet touched the ground, but only the toes of her silver shoes were visible. Three other branches knotted around her arms, making double sure she couldn't loosen her binds. The sleeves of her dress were marked with plant and wood stains. Her face looked a little banged up, another stain surrounding a scrape on her left cheek.
Tellingly, Taki's smile had vanished. Her hazel eyes were wide and her breathing was heavy. She didn't struggle, so what was this? A surrender?
"...Please don't take my crest," she whispered.
"Why not?" Minato demanded. "Ku won, and I still don't see this fog going anywhere."
"Because..." Taki's eyes drifted off for a moment. "...because I didn't take hers when I had the chance. Master didn't order it; I really don't like doing it. After what losing Mitsuha did to him..."
This gave Minato pause. Minato didn't know who Mitsuha was, but it sounded like Mikogami had viewed her as more than a shiny collectible.
"Please..." Taki was keeping it together, but her bottom lip was starting to wobble. "Don't take me away from Master. I didn't take you away from yours."
"Big brother isn't my master!" Ku huffed, crossing her arms. "He's my big brother, and some day I'm gonna be his wife."
"I'm his wife, too, you know!" Musubi called. Her voice was getting closer, alarmingly fast.
"Get back here! We're not finished! I'm not finished!"
"In a minute, okay?"
Musubi suddenly dropped down in back of Taki, the impact of her landing shaking the roof. "You okay, Minato?"
For once, Minato wasn't happy to see her. "Careful, Musubi! The roof-"
"Gotcha!"
Another Sekirei dropped behind Musubi, swinging her bo staff in an overhead arc. Musubi instinctively ducked, which did nothing to move her from its path.
Luckily, Taki's head took the blow for her.
The staff-wielder, Juusa, paled a little when she saw what stopped her strike. "Oh. Shit. I am so sorry, Taki! Oh, Master's gonna kill me..."
That downward strike was the last straw, at least for the roof. With a rumble and a crumble, it began collapsing in earnest, swallowing Taki's wooden cocoon. Her half-lidded post-concussion face disappeared into the floor below, followed by the surrounding moss.
Musubi was already in motion, catching Ku in one arm and Minato in the other. "Let's go, you guys!"
Juusa didn't follow them. "I got you, Taki!" Minato saw her drop into the fog as Musubi leaped away.
Bursting from the cloud cover, Minato now got an idea of how wild Kusano's powers had run. The entire building looked like a treehouse, with limbs and trunks emerging from the windows and some even from holes in the wall. A few windowsill planters had been carried up by the freak growth, their flowerbeds so thick that some were leaning over the side to make room. The roof itself was gone, as were the vents and A/C units that had sat atop it. How did Minato know this? Well, the mist was disappearing as well.
Musubi landed on a nearby roof, setting them down and spinning, ready to fight Juusa again. Instead, what she saw left her puzzled.
"Hey, Minato? Ku? Where'd Homura go?"
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A/N: The idea to have Kuu go up against Taki in an environmental battle of wits was my own, but that's the long and short of it. The execution was all handled by Ikrani and to be frank, I couldn't be more pleased with the result. I really look forward to seeing how the future of this fic shapes up now that we're working together!