When Wind Crane landed next to the apartment complex the others called home, Shenjou was waiting to say hello and get her settled in. Saitama was quick to carry Mitsumi inside to help her get changed and refreshed. The others were also there to welcome Wind Crane, and Tacki was already being given a whole load of loosened feathers for new fan creations from both her upper and lower parts of her body. Tacki was thrilled at all of it.

"This will be so much fun!" she giggled.

"Just nothing too major, okay?" Kamikaze sighed. Wind Crane gave him a mental chuckle and promised everything would be fine.

:THERE IS SOMETHING I WOULD LIKE TO TRY. I BELIEVE MY FEATHERS CAN DETECT MONSTERS WHEN THEY ARE HELD BY THOSE THAT HUNT THEM. FEEL FREE TO TEST THIS? THEY WILL VIBRATE AND ALERT YOU TO INFORM OTHERS OF POSSIBLE UNKNOWN MONSTERS AROUND YOU. THIS INCLUDES SECRET SKINS.:

"Huh! Okay. I'll give it a shot," Kamikaze said and was handed an iridescently blue-black feather to tuck into his belt. It was over a foot long and looked like a quill, but he was all for seeing if it would help detect monsters. He knew the flight feathers were over four feet in length. And that was just the shortest one! No way will I carry one of those on me!

"Oh! Can I also use these feathers in the current fans that Lady Mitsumi has? It may increase their potency!" Tacki grinned. Wind Crane bobbed her head with agreement. "Let me see if I can…"

Tacki set down the feathers on a cloth sheet for easy carrying and picked one up to try and break down into a smaller piece. Now she blinked that she couldn't break it. Wind Crane took it in her beak and snipped it. Kamikaze tried to use his sword on another feather with no luck. "Okay. Where is Saitama?"

"Likely inside and letting Mitsumi change into her Wind Crane dress," Tacki said. Then she gasped. "Oh! These feathers can be like armor! If I can't break them, and a sword can't break them…"

"Tacki…" Kamikaze said. "Calm down…"

"But…!" Tacki said and got lifted up into his arms to get cradled.

"Please? I understand. This is a big thing. However, we need to take it slow. Okay?" he said. She just sighed at him before looking over to see Iaian walking over to them. "Oh. Hey."

"Master! Ah…here," he said and handed over a small, black velvet box. Then he turned to gape at the massive monster crane looking at him with a form of sheer amusement that he didn't even notice her until just now. She looked over at Kamikaze and tilted her head with a blink of her large, sapphire blue eyes.

"Yeah. He, eh…doesn't see his surroundings much until a mission is done. Focused like that," Kamikaze shrugged. "Iaian, this is Wind Crane. She's the one that started Mitsumi's fan thing. She's…very old. And she hates bad monsters, too. Also, eh…I'm gonna be a dad. Tacki's pregnant with my kids. Yes, kids. She's having two. From me. Thus being my kids."

"What?!" Iaian gaped. "How…?!"

"Do you have to tell him how sex works?" Tacki asked Kamikaze to get the swordsman cringing with laughter and running a hand over his face. "Or should we have Zenchu do it?"

"Quiet," Kamikaze said to her and kissed her cheek. He chewed on the stick in his mouth and glanced at Wind Crane tucking her beak under a massive wing to keep her soft, clucking laughter down. "You too."

"Zenchu might just explain it in a way that no one would ever forget," Tsuruga snickered.

"I can believe it," Kamikaze said with a small grin. Then he looked at Tacki and held out the black velvet box to flick open. At the size of the circular diamond in the gold center and lightly surrounded by smaller diamond chips, he blinked at it. This had to be at least two carats! Geez, Iaian! "Okay. Since I'm holding you, I'm gonna need you to put that on."

"Ah…" Tacki blinked at it and was quick to put it on her ring finger. On examining it, she wrapped her arms around Kamikaze's neck and planted a kiss on his mouth despite the stick he was chewing. Then she looked at Iaian with a beaming smile. "Thank you. It's perfect."

"Glad you approve," Iaian sighed. "I had to order it."

"That's what took so long? Okay. Also, eh…can you bend this? Or break it?" Kamikaze asked after setting the black box in a pocket and picking up a feather to hand over. Iaian was highly puzzled over this, but he took it and tried to bend it. Now his eyes narrowed that he couldn't simply snap it between two fingers with his single hand. "Yeah, those feathers belong to Wind Crane. They don't break. Keep that one on you. She said it may help detect monsters that are bad around you."

"Oh?!" Iaian mused and tucked it into his upper chest armor and over his heart. "If it's unbreakable, I'll use it as an extra under armor."

"I can totally help with that!" Tacki said and blushed when Kamikaze looked at her. "Ah. Right. Okay. I'll…calm down…"

"Thank you. Iaian, gather up those feathers to bring them in?" Kamikaze gestured to the mound of them on the ground. Iaian noticed they were on a sheet, and he paused when Wind Crane helped him with a corner to gather up until Tsuruga took over.

"I can help him, too," Tacki said.

"Nope. I'm holding you. So, I'm gonna carry you inside. You just woke up, anyways. And, no. You're not getting any more coffee," he said to get her laughing hard at him. "I'm serious! You were up all night! Working on things! No more of that while you're having kids. Okay?"

"You're just mad, because I was keeping you up, too," she sighed.

"No. Even Zenchu agreed it was bad," he said and proceeded to carry her up to the fourth floor. Now she looked at him with a small, sheepish smile. "You need to sleep properly while you are pregnant. No more crazy stunts like that. And, yes, I don't care if I'm being over-protective on this."

"Okay," she sighed and snuggled into him. That got him smiling lightly and glancing back at his speechless disciple.

"What?" Kamikaze asked him.

"I never saw you smile like that before," Iaian said.

"Well…I've never been in love before," Kamikaze shrugged and opened the door to find Zenchu waiting for him.

"Need me to tell him how sex works?" Zenchu asked. "Inichi said I might be needed to help with that."

"Ah…I think he's good. For now," Kamikaze smirked.

"I know how sex works," Iaian rolled his eyes.

"Ever had it before?" Zenchu asked.

"That is none of your business!" Iaian gaped at him to get Kamikaze snickering softly.

"I'll take that as a 'no'," Zenchu mused. Iaian narrowed his eyes and scowled softly at the monster. Tacki was quick to help Iaian sort out the long feathers when they got settled into the main room. Kamiko was also there to help sort and keep things in order. In the bedroom, though, Saitama and Mitsumi were enjoying each other in the bath.

"I need this," Mitsumi sighed at the backrub he was giving her.

"Good," Saitama chuckled and continued to work his hands over her. He did glance over when Zenchu walked in to collect the Wind Crane dress.

"It's discovered that Wind Crane's feathers are unbreakable. Unless she breaks them or even you break them, Saitama. So, Tacki would like to make a form of light armor covering on the dress with the feathers. And this includes the fans, too. We'll need your help to break the feathers down. When you're ready," Zenchu said and walked out with the dress. The fans lining a shelf spooked him to get Mitsumi giggling when they vibrated to show they would be ready for the upgrade after the dress. When the door closed, Mitsumi looked at Saitama and she rose up to stand to show she was getting ready to head out.

"Not yet," Saitama said and pulled her to him. "I wanted to tell you something. Wind Crane told me this."

"Oh?" she smiled and rested against him.

"In three days you'll be done bleeding."

"As I thought."

"Yeah. Also...in about a week or so, we may be staying in for at least a couple days."

"Why?"

"Something about you being…intensely irresistible to me?"

"Hmm…oh…"

"What?"

"Remember how I said that girls have a very short span of being able to have kids? That…may be why. But…I don't know when it would start," she shrugged.

"Okay. I was told that my, eh, inner power would know. So…we'll just have to make sure to be aware of it," he said. "But I was told at least two days."

"And if it's longer?" she asked with a sly smile.

"Depending on what would happen in those two days…I probably would not be complaining," he grinned back and pressed a hungry kiss to her mouth.

"We need to head out there," she muttered and gasped when he pressed into her. "Others are waiting…"

"They can wait five more minutes. Maybe even ten…" he grunted out and claimed her mouth with his. It ended up being fifteen minutes when they both walked out in civilian clothes for now. She would have been in the dress, but it was being worked on. Saitama would change back into his hero garments when she was ready to change into the Wind Crane Clan dress.

"Can you break this?" Tacki asked and handed him a foot long blue-black feather. Saitama studied it and easily snapped it in half.

"Yeah, I thought you could break it," Kamikaze sighed.

"I can't do that!" Mitsumi blinked at a feather when she tried to break it. Saitama had her place her fingers over his to let him snap the feather in half with her to get her smiling.

"Now you did," Saitama chuckled and let her snuggle into his lap. "Why am I breaking feathers now?"

"I need various sizes. I made a chart. Here," Tacki said and pushed a mound of feathers at him with the chart. "I put how many of different sizes I need. It's for her dress and the fans."

"Oh!" Saitama blinked and got to work.

"I can't even break this with my claws. That makes me mad," Zenchu grumbled on trying to break a feather.

"We can all have armor made of feathers!" Tacki beamed.

"Nothing crazy," Kamikaze warned her.

"Oh! I can use some of my old feathers with these feathers and make something sooo pretty!" she gasped.

"Tacki!" Kamikaze hissed when she bolted out of his lap. "Damn it!"

"She'll be fine," Mitsumi smiled. "During the day, let her be herself. At night, though, yes, she needs sleep."

"I just don't want her to get into trouble," Kamikaze muttered.

"This is Tacki we're talking about. If she gets into trouble, she knows how to get out of it," Zenchu said. "Trust me. I know."

"How?" Kamikaze asked.

"We were looking for a place to make a camp for the night a year back in some backwoods part of a city. Tacki flew off to scout so I could protect Lady Mitsumi. She was gone for an hour and came back with a friggin, massive deer that she hunted down while she was out! She had made scratch marks on various trees to mark where to go and even left a feather or two here and there. She saw the deer in her search. Including a camping site. I had to haul the deer with us to the camping site," Zenchu sighed. Tacki gave out a sharp laugh at the memory and even brought over a piece of antler from the chest to prove it.

"A survivalist, eh?" Kamikaze mused at Tacki's grin. "How am I not surprised by that at all?"

"The cure for Kianna is almost done!" Child Emperor said from where he was sitting at a table with various cultures. "What are we doing? This needs at least an hour or two to settle."

"You'll get to see the power of the fans at a level they were never at before," Mitsumi said. Child Emperor gaped at this and was quick to start seeing how much equipment he had for measuring power gauges and recording. "And deer meat?! Oh…how I miss having that!"

"It has been some time, hasn't it?" Kamiko chuckled and helped Child Emperor with the culture dishes.

"Wild game is nice when I can get it," Saitama nodded with agreement.

"I can make some interesting recipes if I had some," Orotsu said from the kitchen. "I could do a Peking duck and deer roast dish…"

"Ah…" Mitsumi blinked and thought to Inichi. :Deer meat! I want it!:

:Oh? Ah! I see from your thoughts! After the fan testing I shall acquire some for us!: Inichi chuckled. Mitsumi smiled at this and pressed her face into Saitama's neck to rest against him. He smiled, kissed her forehead and continued to work on breaking feathers into various lengths. He felt her start to fall asleep, and he made no plans to move her.

"Hey!" Suiryu said when he walked in.

"Quiet!" Saitama hissed with a small glare. "Mitsumi is taking a nap. What do you need?"

"Ah…okay. Um…why…is there a giant bird outside?" he asked. "Or…some form of a bird with the back half of a lizard?"

"That is Wind Crane. She is the one that helped make the very first fans for Mitsumi. You can talk to her. And don't try to fight her. She's pretty much as strong as me. To a point," Saitama warned. "Be respectful to her, please. She's family now and she is to be treated as such at all times."

"Okay, Master," Suiryu nodded.

"Hmm?" Mitsumi woke slightly.

"Sleep," Saitama said and kissed her forehead to calm her back down.

"Can I help you break those feathers down?" Suiryu asked.

"They belong to Wind Crane. If you think you can, go for it," Saitama shrugged and kept measuring the feathers. When Suiryu picked up a feather to break it, he frowned when he couldn't even make dent in it. On trying a softer, white downy feather, the result was the same.

"Where's the popcorn?" Kamikaze asked Zenchu to get a grin in return. Kamiko found herself grinning at this, but she stayed busy around the apartment to help Tacki with fabrics and sewing needs.

"Why…can't I break this…?!" Suiryu growled.

"It's a feather from Wind Crane. She's about as strong as me. These feathers are considered her armor. Good luck," Saitama said with a blank face and effortlessly snapped a few more feathers down. At a light knock on the door, Zenchu answered it to find Wind Crane lightly tapping on it with her beak. Now even more feathers of various parts were shoved at him to use for other things. He noticed some were small tail feathers from the tip of her draconian tail, wing feathers and more underbelly feathers. He also saw where the feathers were swiftly growing back to be replaced.

"Thanks!" Zenchu grinned. "I guess you regenerate? I do the same thing. You know, we have a bit in common. You're kinda cute, too."

Now Wind Crane looked at him awkwardly and lightly pecked at an arm to get him to yelp before closing the door. That got Saitama laughing at him. Kamikaze was cringing with a snickering laugh before saying, "She is totally out of your league!"

"You don't know that!" Zenchu scowled to get the swordsman laughing at him. Kamiko and Tacki were laughing at the whole thing. Child Emperor had a grin on his face at it. The two disciples decided to see about sorting more feathers to keep out of the way from this argument. Saitama whispered to Mitsumi to get her cringing with her own laughter.

"You need to rest more?" Saitama asked and squeezed her when Tacki gathered up all the altered feathers to work on her dress.

"I don't know," Mitsumi shrugged and let herself get cradled.

"Did you want to rest on the couch with me?" he asked. She nodded and he was quick to lift her up to let her snuggle into his side on the couch. She started to get drowsy again, and he kept his arm around her to show he wasn't budging. A soda was soon given to him, and he glanced at King and Kianna walking in to settle down. King waved and then pointed at the door. "That's Wind Crane. She's friendly and, eh, pretty much the founder of the Wind Crane Clan."

"Oh! I, ah, was a bit startled when she said hello to me," King chuckled. "Mitsumi doing okay?"

"We're going to the desert later to see how the fans work all together," Saitama said and kissed her forehead.

"Cool!" King grinned.

"Kianna, when we get back, your cure should be ready," Child Emperor said. Kianna gasped and looked at King with excitement. "It just has to set a bit to let the chemicals blend in their own way. It's very different with you."

"Okay," Kianna nodded and sighed with hopeful relief. Saitama looked at Mitsumi when she lightly tickled up his chest.

"What are you doing?" he asked.

"You need a regular shirt with a zipper," she smiled.

"What?" he asked her to get her laughing softly.

"Or…do I have to…?" she mused and twisted her finger into the top of his neckline to pull him close to kiss him.

"I like this," he grinned and kissed her passionately. Then he grumbled when Tacki brought over a mess of feathers.

"Smooch her later! I need these broken down for the fans, please!" Tacki said and grinned at Saitama's small glare.

"Maybe your guy should put you in a crate," Saitama grumbled to get Kamikaze laughing hard at it.

"I'll be fine with it if he joins me!" she giggled and started to fit the altered feathers on the Wind Crane dress. Mitsumi studied it on the mannequin and saw it was much like her fan dancing dress. There's a stitching of a crane in flight in the center of where my bust would be. It looks like the wings would stretch upwards over my full bust line and join behind my neck to make it sleeveless. The feathers would flow down my sides and the small of my back. Oh! A small trail of cloth would be lined with feathers now and arranged from dark to light! How pretty!

"I wonder if we can make a Wind Crane Clan costume for you," Mitsumi mused at Saitama. Now he looked at her and shook his head.

"I'm good. What I have now is plenty," he said.

"Not even a white feather cape?" Tacki now looked over at him. "I know you can't get hurt, anyways, but it would still be pretty cool!"

"Ah…hmm. Well…if we can match my colors…maybe," Saitama nodded. Tacki now paused to ask Wind Crane a mental question.

"Hmm. She doesn't think the feathers can be dyed…" Tacki frowned. "But…some of the scales on the underside of her tail are a yellowish coloring! She may be able to see if something like a form of body armor could be made for you!"

"Ah…" Saitama blinked. "Okay. After the fans in the desert. I'm sure people are getting very impatient."

"Nope! They are still setting up seating. A LOT of heroes are gonna be there, and Wind Crane wants the attack to travel north. It's a warning, too, and the desert is all the way south. So, if we have the fans aim north, it will be far more effective. Inichi's been telling me in case you all asked on time and such," Tacki said. "I don't know about any destructive paths, though. That's the only drawback."

"If there's too much damage, then I will need to be notified," Mitsumi sighed. "And I won't be able to assist too much in repairs until I get married."

"Just marry her now," Kamikaze said and accepted a plate of grilled eel. Orotsu decided to serve up a quick lunch, and it was graciously accepted.

"Are you okay?" Saitama asked Mitsumi when he noticed she wasn't eating.

"Yeah. I'm just…not very hungry," she admitted.

"You should eat something," he said and sat up a bit to take up a plate of de-boned Peking duck. "You'll be working with some intense firepower. You need to keep up your strength."

"I just don't feel like eating. Okay?!" she said with a touch of irritation. Kamikaze found himself watching Tacki work. King looked at Kianna and shrugged before getting absorbed in their food. Suiryu and Iaian looked at each other and wisely stayed quiet. Child Emperor went to eating his lunch, and Kamiko frowned at the whole thing. She knew why it happened, and she had to lightly convince herself that things would be fine.

"Ooh…" Zenchu winced and made a motion of scissors for being snippy. Then Inichi was able to mentally explain to Saitama what was going on.

"You need your medication. You haven't taken it in a while," Saitama said. Now she looked at him with a hard frown. "You're being snippy with me. I don't mind it. Honestly. I don't. But we don't want others thinking that you are not happy with me. Or are you?"

"I am! I just…" she winced and shivered. Now he set aside the food, scooped her up in his arms and was quick to rush her into the bedroom. He kicked the door closed and sat on the bed with her.

"Talk to me," he muttered and kissed her forehead. Instead she burst into tears and he paused at this. :Inichi, what the hell is going on?!:

:Ah…it is a hormonal surge. Comfort her. It will pass. Think on this, too. A lot has happened to her in over a week. Now she is on her cycle. This was building up. Just be there for her.: Inichi advised. Saitama wrapped his arms around her and let her feel the protective comfort she desperately needed right then and there. He pressed another kiss to her forehead and gently rocked her.

"It's okay," he whispered and let her press into him. "Everything is fine. We'll get through this. Okay? You've been through a lot of crap. I have, too. Hell…I can't even get hurt by crap. Actually, I do not want to get smacked with crap. That would be gross."

"Saitama!" she cringed and coughed back a bit of laughter.

"It was awesome that Zenchu let me slap him, though. Maybe Wind Crane can help me do that again?" Saitama mused and heard Zenchu swearing in the other room from Inichi's report to get Mitsumi gasping with disbelief from the laughter that spilled from her now. He smiled and kissed her forehead again. "Feeling better?"

"A bit," she admitted and sniffed. "Just…overwhelmed a bit. Worried that we may hurt innocent people. It scares me."

"Okay. I can get that. But, we also have to think about this. Those Secret Skins out there? They think nothing is out to get them. I know that you are the only one left, but you have me. And you have Wind Crane. And you also have every single hero in the Hero Association that wants to help wipe them out! They find them. You reveal them. I kill them. If they go into hiding, it shows they are all a bunch of cowards. If they come out, they're dead. Simple."

"I'm just worried about the range of damage. I don't think sound would do anything. But the fans made a desert! Ten miles of it all around! If we amplify that…I mean…how far away are any civilians? How far will the damage spread? That is what worries me," she sighed and pressed into him even more. Then she squeaked when all the fan sets from the shelf they were on flung themselves to her to wrap themselves around her.

"I think they want to tell us that things will be fine," Saitama smiled. "Tacki may almost be ready to give them all feather armor, too. Once that's done, we'll change clothes and head out. Okay?"

"Okay," she nodded and gently gathered up the fans to hug them all to her. Then Saitama simply hugged her with them to show that everything would be fine.

"These fans make me feel like I'm already a dad. Other than Fumio," he sighed to get the fans vibrating. "Speaking of Fumio…where is he?"

"I think he was in his room still. He was intent on studying his books," she smiled. "I should be good now. I need the medication, so you were right on that."

"I'll help with that. You can check yourself, and we'll make sure Fumio eats with us. Maybe we need to set up an alarm system for him to remind him of things," he thought aloud and gently set her aside to help her get the medicine. She was able to take down the offered medicine, and she gave the fans over to Saitama to hold while she checked herself. As he looked over the fans, he noticed something with one of the older fans sets. "What's this?"

The fan set in question now set itself apart for easier viewing, and he traced a finger over where a fan blade appeared to be bent in both fan crescents. He frowned and studied another fan set to see there was no issue. Now he looked at the odd fan set. "I want you to vibrate when I ask where we got you. Her mentor? Jungle? Her father's place? That one guy's family? Her uncle? Ah. Her uncle was holding you. Did he know you were bent? No vibration. Okay…he had no idea? Okay, he didn't know. I will have Tacki check on you. I might be able to bend you back into shape, but I want to make sure you won't get damaged even more."

"What's going on?" Mitsumi asked. He showed her the bent fan set, and she gasped with shock. She ran right outside the bedroom door. "Tacki! A fan set is bent! Can you fix it?!"

"What?!" Tacki said and was quick to examine it. "Where did this one come from? Do we know?"

"Her uncle's place. He didn't know it was damaged," Saitama said and brought out the rest of the fans.

"Okay. You could gently bend it back. It's just one fan blade, but it's both fans in the set that has it. All six of them when compressed, too! I wonder what did this! Wind Crane wouldn't know. She only gives over the teeth. She can help control them, but only when close together and active. Take it out to her?" Tacki asked. Mitsumi nodded and was quick to do just that. Wind Crane was right there outside the door to examine the fans.

:I CAN HEAR IT SPEAK. IT IS TELLING ME THE STORY. IT BELONGED TO A SECRET SKINS MEMBER AT ONE POINT. THE ONE THAT…WAS BETRAYED LONG AGO. THAT ONE TRIED TO DESTROY THE FANS. THEY BROUGHT IT TO OTHERS, AND THEY WERE ONLY ABLE TO BEND. NOT BREAK. THEN THE TRUE CLAN SWARMED IN TO RESCUE IT AND DESTROY THE BETRAYER.:

"So sad!" Mitsumi frowned.

"I'll carefully bend it. Just watch," Saitama said and gently pinched before running his fingers up each separate fan piece to straighten the blade out completely. When the last fan was gently fixed, Wind Crane clacked her beak and bobbed her head that it was done. "Okay. I just wanted to know if you knew what happened. We won't let that happen again."

Wind Crane pressed her beak into his chest with appreciation before backing away to stretch herself out. Then she looked over to see Zenchu watching her from the balcony. Saitama looked at him with a usual blank faced look. Zenchu now looked at him and said, "I wasn't joking when I said she was cute!"

"Oh, dear…" Mitsumi sighed. Now Wind Crane looked at Zenchu with a sense of complete confusion and started up a mental conversation with him.

"I don't care that I don't have feathers. I also have a tail. I have claws. No, I don't have wings. I know you're way older than me. I am not attracted to you because of how strong you are! I just find you cute. You look like someone I could hang out with and talk to. I don't mind telling you about things that happened today. I can tell you things that happened a hundred years ago. Yes, I'm that old. I can definitely compare things with you from back then and to today's standards. Okay. We'll arrange to do that tonight," Zenchu agreed.

"Wind Crane, you just got a date night with Zenchu!" Mitsumi giggled madly. Wind Crane looked at her with a bit of stunned silence, but she clacked her beak with an ultra-soft warble to show she was fine with it. "Anyways, I had better eat and get these fans fixed up. I'll be sure to dress right after. Zenchu, please make sure those with us are ready to go?"

"Yes, Lady Mitsumi," Zenchu nodded. Saitama had her sit with him and he was able to get Fumio to eat with them, too.

"Everything okay, Dad?" Fumio asked.

"We're testing the fans soon. I want you to eat and be ready to go," Saitama said. Fumio nodded and was able to hug his parents before getting his food. It would be a solid hour before everything was done for them to head off to the desert sands. It was time to test the true power of the fans. Everyone was excited, but Mitsumi was still worried about the sheer, awesome destruction that she may bring about with them. That thought was with her for the rest of the preparations.