005 - It's not how much you talk…

The walk back home is a quiet affair, for a certain definition of quietness.

Mutsu has never been a particularly talkative person and contents himself with walking in silence, his only concession to the rather intense evening being the way he protectively keeps himself to Chad's side at all times.

After that initial bout of bickering with Natsu, Kaho gradually also falls silent, staring down at the road as they walk and seemingly lost in her own head. While she's a reserved person by nature, it's not usually to such a degree and she would normally be happy to at least keep some conversation going. It's obvious that something is weighing her mind.

Chad himself is just happy nothing bad happened during the incident. The Sekirei's nonchalant attitude towards the Plan belies the fact that Termination lies just around the corner, a single mistake away. Or the fact only one can remain standing in the end. That's not to say they don't take it seriously or don't give it their own but… sometimes it's easy to forget this whole thing is a death game.

Feeling oddly possessive all of a sudden, he reaches out with both arms, wrapping them around Mutsu and Kaho and pulling them closer to him. Upon finding himself in such a situation, Mutsu visibly straightens up, a faint red sheen spreading through his cheeks as he tries to remain stoic. Kaho lets out a small squeak, tensing in surprise for the briefest of moments before she positively melts against him.

Yes, Chad reflects, looking up towards the night sky. Things could've gone much worse today, and they'll keep up holding the potential to go badly until the whole thing is over. So, as long as uncharacteristically quiet and morose Sekirei are the worst thing he has to worry about, he'll be satisfied.

Speaking of morose and reticent Sekirei, there's still someone in this group who doesn't fit the bill at all…

"And then I let loose a flurry of kunai and she tripped on a root and fell to her fat butt trying to dodge! She made the cutest of noises while trying to block the rest of my barrage with her ribbons. With her eyes closed, even!" Natsu excitedly retells the tale of her own encounters for what might be the third time in an hour. Every time she does, flashier and more improbable details seem to come up in her tale. "That girl sure knew how to use her tools, but she was no match for my ninja arts!'"

"Truly a paragon of everything being a Sekirei stands for." Kaho comments lazily, face half-buried on Chad's shirt. "She who stalks the night and bullies small cute animals."

"I know, right?" Natsu nods with a mile-wide smile, the sarcasm flying right over her head. "And then I fought off these other two with Number 88! It was great! My style really messed well with Musubi-chan's! Have I mentioned I want to fight her some other day!?"

Chad was expecting Kaho to explode at that, or at least make some sharp, snarky remark that would throw the two of them into another round of bickering. The Dancing Sekirei had made no secret of her possessiveness towards her batchmate and Natsu's honest openness towards Sahashi-san's Sekirei had already caused friction her before.

But nothing like that happens.

"That's nice, yes." Kaho comments with a sigh, sounding either too tired or too resigned to mount any sort of verbal offensive. "I'm sure Musubi-chan would have fun too."

… Chad really needs to have a word with that girl in private, the sooner the better.

In the meanwhile, he should at least distract her with a different topic.

"We have learned a lot tonight." He speaks up, immediately gaining the attention of his flock. "About how much we still have to learn."

Mutsu perks up at that, finally joining the conversation too. "What do you mean, Ashikabi-sama?"

"Higa Izumi, Homura, Squad Snowwolf, Kaoru Seo, maybe even Sahashi-san." Chad enumerates with a small frown. "A lot of players surfaced today we knew nothing about."

"Kaoru was more of a joke, though." Natsu comments dismissively.

"... Maybe." Something in the man set Chad's instincts on edge. There was a tough and sharp core hidden under the layers of laid-back goofiness. It reminds him of how Captain-Commander Shunsui used to behave, back when he was still a 'simple' Captain. "It pays to be cautious, just in case."

"I guess that's fair. The Plan wasn't supposed to start in earnest until the last Sekirei was released, but…" Mutsu trails off with a thoughtful hum. "Number 108, Kusano is the last Sekirei. Some might hide behind that technicality to escalate the situation."

"We need to know what's going on." Chad nods in agreement. He hadn't thought of looking at it that way, but it only makes her own worries more relevant. "Gather intel."

"Oh, that's certainly a sensible approach." Kaho agrees, slowly emerging from her introspection. A hand raises to hide her a malicious smile as she turns towards Natsu. "Fortunately, we have an expert in all things covert. Don't we, Natsu-san?"

"That's… Intel gathering is part of any ninja's skill set but…" Natsu trails off, her usual energy abandoning her as she looks away in embarrassment. "I'm kind off… not very good at it? At all? A…hahahaha– Sorry."

"It's fine." Chad reassures her with a smile, suddenly regretting the lack of a third arm to hug her too. "Nobody is good at everything."

That was about what he was expecting, really. While Natsu introduced herself as 'the Ninja Sekirei', her attitude is a poor fit for the legendary covert agents who engraved that name in history in the first place. Her talents fall more in line with something Hiroto-san might've seen in some anime and thought it would be funny to introduce to one of the young and impressionable Sekirei.

… Yes, that's most likely what happened there.

Still, a pressing question remains. Where is Chad going to find an intel gathering specialist?

Far away from Chad's group, within the basement gym of a heavily modified workshop in the central parts of the city, a certain Shadow Sekirei's muscle-appreciation session gets interrupted by a very inopportune sneeze. Which also has the unfortunate side-effect of finally revealing her presence to the target of said appreciation.

"Are you alright?" Sousuke asks, raising his head from the bench to give his 'accomplice' (a worried glance) an annoyed glare. "And how long have you been standing there?"

"Just an hour or so." Yahan shamelessly admits with a teasing smile on her face that only stretches wider as Sousuke's cheeks warm up. "And don't worry, I'm fine. Someone must be talking about me or something. Geez, it's hard being so hot."

"Whatever." He rolls his eyes, trying to cover his flustered state by setting down the weights and grabbing a towel to wipe the sweat off. "Are you going to tell me what you were doing outside all evening?"

"Number 108 got accidentally released ahead of schedule and Minaka turned it into a big event." The dark-skinned woman explains idly. "Then one of the Ashikabi made things worse by offering a bounty to whoever brought her to him safe and unwinged."

"And you decided to go take a look?" Sousuke asks suspiciously.

"What can I say?" Yahan shrugs easily. "I'm a curious girl."

"And I'm sure that had nothing to do with that bounty, of course." The man frowns, a hint of accusation in his voice. "Trying to pad out our budget with some questionable business practices?"

"Please, I may be shady, but I'm not that bad." Yahan puns with a shrug. If Sousuke's suspicions bothered her, she doesn't show it at all. "If anything, I would've launched a last-minute rescue. Number 108 is a cutie and I'm a bleeding heart like that."

"Yeah, whatever." Sousuke grunts, feeling a bit bad about making unfounded accusations, but refusing to outright apologize. If he gives Yahan an inch, she'll take a mile. "Well? Did you see anything interesting?"

"Oh, plenty. The cutie was rescued by a couple of brave Ashikabi that maybe…" Yahan trails off, remembering these two young men so different from each other and yet both eager to jump in defense of the innocent. It takes her a moment to realize Sousuke is still staring at him, waiting for her to continue. "Ah, I'm getting ahead of myself! Give me some time to snoop around a bit and make sure I'm not sticking my foot in my mouth. It's just a gut feeling for now."

"I guess that's your strong suit." He concedes, throwing the towel into the laundry hanger and getting up from the bench. "Just remember that curiosity killed the cat."

"Maybe, maybe. But, don't forget…" Yahan trails off, placing both hands on his broad chest to lean forward, a mischievous smirk on her lips as she whispers directly into his ear. "Satisfaction brought it back."

Sousuke feels his cheeks heat up again before gathering enough wits to turn his head aside with a huff and push Yahan away. By means of a hand on her face. Damn woman and her damn teasing! She doesn't mean anything by it, he knows that perfectly well. She's only doing it to get a reaction out of him and he keeps giving her the damn reactions!

"If you don't mind..." He grumbles out as he makes his way into the gym's small shower room. "I'd like to take a shower."

"Please, don't let me stop you." Yahan purrs, shamelessly slipping into the room with him before he can close the door. "I'm sure it'll be my pleasure."

Turning around to stare at the woman's wide grin, Sousuke tries to calm down by taking a deep breath. He fails. So he opts for the next best thing: Grabbing her by the scruff of her cloak and bodily throwing her out of the room.

"Out!"

"Spoilsport!"

The way that last complaint gets muted by the noise of the door slamming shut is music to his ears. Sure, Yahan could teleport right back in if she really wanted to, but that'd be going over whatever arbitrary line the infuriating woman draws between harmless fun and actually-not-okay actions.

According to Sousuke's observations, the line seems to shift from day to day depending on her mood, but it definitely exists.

Once they get back home, Kaho immediately uses making dinner as an excuse to lock herself up in the kitchen. Chad can't help but frown as he watches the sliding door close behind his smaller Sekirei. He was planning on waiting until later to have that conversation, but this looks like a perfect opportunity, so–

He gets… momentarily distracted when Natsu stretches out her arms over her head with a satisfied groan, framing out her generous breasts in a rather interesting fashion. Chad doesn't even realize he's staring until they start jiggling and he snaps out of it, turning his eyes up to find flushed cheeks and a bashful smile.

"Ah, I'm still full of energy after all that action!" Natsu cheers, sending him a wink as she bounces on the balls of her feet to make her breasts jiggle a bit more. "How about we do some extra exercise to whet our appetite while dinner gets ready!?"

That's… Chad has nothing against it on principle, but Natsu's behavior is a bit out of character. Or rather, it'd be right on character for what he knows of her, assuming she was suddenly feeling incredibly aroused out of nowhere. That is to say—

Oh… Oh!

Oh, the love-powered aliens with brutally violent courtship rituals get aroused by combat. Or, at least, some of them do. That makes sense. Chad takes another glance at Natsu before eyeing Mutsu. His first Sekirei is harder to read and doesn't really send blatant signals such as preening under his eyes like Natsu does, but they've also known each other the longest. There's definitely some interest there too.

For a moment, Chad's resolve falters. Due to Kaho and Natsu's winging the previous day and how hectic things have been ever since, there hasn't really been any opportunity to get intimate and he's definitely feeling a bit backed up himself. Still, no matter how tempting it is to take Natsu up on her offer, the timing couldn't be worse.

"Actually, I was planning to help out in the kitchen." He excuses himself, trying not to sound too regretful about it. "Mutsu?"

"Ah." His first Sekirei nods in understanding, immediately catching his meaning and grabbing Natu's arm to drag her away. "Come, Natsu."

"E– Eh?" Natsu asks, too confused by the sudden development to protest.

"I noticed during your fights today." Mutsu explains, already opening the front door to walk outside. "Your stance is full of holes."

"B– But you weren't there to see!" The girl tries to protest, still looking a bit out of it. "How can you tell? I mean, my form is perfect!"

"I heard it." Mutsu continues relentlessly. "The Earth doesn't lie."

"That's so unfair!"

"The Sekirei Plan isn't fair. Make the best of your advantages or you'll definitely regret it later."

And, with that, the front door closes behind them and he cannot hear anything else. It looks like Mutsu will be trading pointers with his junior until dinner is served… funny how things work sometimes. Turning towards the closed kitchen door, Chad takes a deep breath to steel his resolve.

Right… right. Time to have that serious conversation with Kaho. Opening the sliding door, he finds a chopping board with a half-cut cabbage and a pair of pans on the fire, their contents already dancing in heated oil. Kaho herself is just closing the fridge door after taking out a bowl from inside it.

She's also trying to hide the fact she flinched when Chad opened the door.

"A-Ashikabi-sama?" She seizes the initiative, setting the bowl down on the table to face him. "Did you need anything?"

"Not me." Chad shakes his head, nodding in his direction. "Are you alright?"

"Me? W-why wouldn't I be, Ashikabi-sama?" She tries playing it off, or maybe she genuinely doesn't understand what Chad's worried about. "We just came back home triumphant! If anything, this would be cause for celebration!"

"You flinched." Chad points out, making the girl flinch again.

"What? No! I just got startled." Kaho hurries to deny, mistakenly assuming he means the flinch he caught when opening the kitchen door. And completely missing the way the frying pan is starting to smoke in the process. "That didn't mean–"

"Not that one." Chad shakes his head in denial, deftly sliding his bulky frame past her to tend the burning food and prevent a kitchen disaster. "Earlier today, when Mutsu was making guesses about Kusano."

There's a moment of patent incomprehension on Kaho's face as she tries to piece the meaning behind these words together. Chad can't really blame her for it. Mutsu and him are both people of few words, used to convey meaning with short sentences and brief conversations. He also suspects the Ashikabi-Sekirei bond is helping them bridge the communication gap. So his bad habit of sparse communication has only gotten worse in the last year.

For anyone unused to dealing with them, even if that someone is a recently-winged Sekirei, figuring out his meaning can't be easy. So he continues tending the pans and keeping her in sight with the corner of his eye.

The moment Kaho finally makes the connection is blatantly obvious, her eyes widening before she does her best to smother the shock under her usual placid expression. The mask is good, and it might've even fooled him without that first reaction of hers ruining the attempt.

"I… I am not sure what—" She tries, but Chad isn't willing to play that game.

"You are, but that's fine." He cuts her off, gently but firmly, eyes still on the cooking food. "There's no hurry. Just know I worry."

And that's that for the moment. His piece said and unwilling to push the girl too hard, he focuses his attention on the kitchen. He's hardly a master chef, but one doesn't live alone for as long as he has without learning how to find one's way around basic cooking. After it becomes clear he's truly done with the topic and the shock wears off, Kaho joins him.

The two of them cook dinner in silence, side by side. It's hardly a comfortable silence, but it certainly isn't an uncomfortable one either. Rather, a reflective one as Kaho tries to put her thoughts in order, occasionally stealing glances at her Ashikabi. Chad, in turn, patiently does his part, without pressuring her with impositions or expectations.

There's more he would've liked to talk about, about Kaho's eagerness to get into fights, that inclination towards rule breaking Mutsu had brought up, about that possessiveness with which she seems to cling to everything of significance to her.

But he brought up the wrong topic first and the initiative is no longer his. The conversation will continue or it won't, but it's not up to him to make the next move. He'll have to trust Kaho trusts him more than he fears opening up on whatever is eating her up. It's a good twenty minutes before the silence is broken away.

"Back then… when I was still a child going through adjustment…" Kaho speaks up slowly, without lifting her eyes from the vegetables she's chopping. "Some bad men managed to slip past the Disciplinary Squad and infiltrate the MBI labs. Musubi and I… The two of us were taken away."

"Um." Chad grunts encouragingly.

"It was… quite the mess. These men were well equipped and organized, they also knew how to cover their tracks from MBI." She continues, placing the chopped vegetables in a bowl to pickle. "By the time the Disciplinary Squad found us… Musubi-chan was dying."

"Um." Chad grunts worriedly.

"Yume-sama did something… she sacrificed herself to save Musubi-chan, somehow." Kaho mutters sadly, securing the bowl of pickled vegetables before taking the dirty kitchen implements to the sink. "I'll be eternally grateful to her, but… I wish it had never had to happen in the first place."

"Um. Chad grunts in empathic understanding.

"I know that…" Kaho continues slowly, pouring some dishwater on a scouring pad and opening the tap on hot water. "Karasuba-sama wouldn't have done the same for me."

"Um." Chad grunts reassuringly while hiding a wince.

"I was… During the most important event of my childhood, I was just the extra one, the lucky one, the useless one." Kaho confesses, slowly scrubbing the dirty tools. "If I had been put through the invasive surgery instead of Musubi-chan, she wouldn't have had to go through all that pain. Maybe Yume-sama wouldn't have sacrificed herself to save her. Maybe Karasuba-sama would've seen in me the promise she sees on Musubi-chan."

"Um." Chad grunts as he turns off the stove and sets the pan aside, starting to get an idea of where this conversation is going.

"I want to beat Musubi-chan. Prove that I can be just as strong as her, that I can be stronger than her. I want to catch up to Karasuba-sama, and then surpass her too. Prove that I can be stronger than anyone, that I can with this Game and become the Goddess of Sekirei." Kaho confesses, interrupting the washing and dropping the scouring pad into the soapy water to grip the edge of the sink with both hands. "I want to beat them all, show them my worth, even if I don't actually have any worth. Sometimes I wish Yume-sama would've died for me instead."

"You are jealous?" Chad finally vocalices, taking a step back to observe Kaho from behind. The petite frame of the Dancing Sekirei is shaking. Even from here, Chad can see her knuckles going white as her grip makes the stainless steel groan and warp. "Of their achievements? Their circumstances?"

"I have no right to be jealous! I shouldn't even have these sorts of thoughts! I wouldn't have them if I was at all a good person!" Kaho lashes out, raising her voice for the first time in a heart-rending cry. "Not when horrible things had to happen to them before they got where they are. But I'm… not. I'm not a very good person, I can't help these feelings. I love Ashikabi-sama and there's nothing I wouldn't do for Ashikabi-sama. But… Ashikabi-sama can't rely on me if I don't prove myself like they proved themselves. That's why…"

"That's not jealousy." Chad points out. Yes, Kaho wants the achievements and acknowledgement of others for herself. But that's not a feeling born out of envy. No, if Chad is reading the situation right, what motivates Kaho is… "You are just afraid."

His Sekirei seems to freeze in place at these words, the tortured groaning of the metal sink under her grip finally stopping. Yes, Chad nods to himself as he keeps a cautious eye on Kaho's reaction. That explanation fits so much better with what he knows of her.

Kaho is earnest and hard-working, keeping herself to a very high standard. But she's also introspective and prone to bouts of insecurity. It's not that she's jealous of others, it's that she's afraid of falling behind. Afraid that which matters the most to her won't ever happen, not because she's inherently inferior, but because she never has the chance to prove her worth.

"I was supposed to have the same talent as Musubi-chan. We are as close to sisters as Sekirei can be without being twins, you know?" Kaho muses without turning around. Her voice comes out thick and strangled, as if she's on the edge of tears. "But here I am, left behind and forgotten. Compared with Musubi-san, with everything she's gone through and everything she's earned by going through it…. I'm nothing."

"It's fine to be afraid. Because I'll show you how wrong you are." Chad declares firmly, stepping right behind her to wrap his arms around her shoulders and lean his chin on top of her head. "Because Kaho isn't nothing."

"Eh?"

The tone of utter incredulity on Kaho's voice, like the world had suddenly stopped making sense out of nowhere, is incredibly adorable. Unfortunately, it's also heartbreakingly piteous, not the sort of sound Chad wants to hear from his loved ones at all.

"Kaho is my Sekirei." He explains gently, tightening his hug a bit further than mere humans would find comfortable. Sekirei are made of sterner stuff and he knows from experience she'll appreciate it. "Not Musubi, not Karasuba, not Yume. Kaho."

"But I…" Kaho tries again, not quite finding the words she's looking for as she finds herself relaxing in his arms. "I don't deserve…"

She trails off without finishing the sentence, quieting down as she sinks into his embrace. It's funny, to know such strength lies within such a tiny package. Especially when shrinks into herself like this, the contrast with his own tall and bulky frame, makes it seem like the girl could disappear into his chest.

"I'll be the one to judge that." He chastises in a soft, gentle voice, making his chest rumble. "And maybe Mutsu when I'm busy."

There's a pregnant pause there, incredulity at the unexpected words shaking Kaho out of her funk, at least a little.

"Ashikabi-sama, that was horrible!" She protests with a wet chuckle, weakly struggling on his arms but making no real attempt at breaking free. Unfortunately, cracking a silly joke isn't quite enough to break her heavy mood and she deflates again with a long-drawn sigh. "I don't think I can believe that."

Chad hums, taking a hand to his chin before asking a question. "You think I'm a liar?"

"No!" Kaho hurries to deny. "No… I would never think that… here." As she says that, she points at her head with two fingers, before lowering her hand to chest level and points at her heart instead. "But here… this silly heart feels very silly feelings."

"How troublesome." He comments, a wry smile on his lips as he lowers his arms to wrap Kaho's waist instead, already seeing what his Sekirei is angling for. "That little heart of yours."

"Indeed. Shameful as it is to admit…" Kaho sighs again, resting her own hands on Chad's arms as her head leans back against his chest. Compared with the heavy sound from behind, this sigh is lighter, feeling with hope and maybe a hint of mischief. "It might need some… Reassuring."

"Um." Chad grunts knowingly, gently breaking the hug so his hands can grasp Kaho's hips instead.

"That I am loved." The girl muses out loud as if just thinking to herself, but the way she wiggles her hips under his touch betrays the truth of his feelings. "Humans aren't like Serkirei, right? Just because I reacted to Ashikabi-sama, it doesn't mean that Ashikabi-sama loves me."

"Um?" Chad grunts questioningly, one of his hands trailing down Kaho's thigh while the other slides behind her to play with the knot of her apron. It's one thing to play coy and tease around a bit, but he'd rather hear a proper request before going any further.

"Please? I know it's not my place to ask for things, but…" Kaho trails off again. Chad can't exactly make out her face from his position, but he's fairly sure she's biting her own lip. "I don't think I can be reassured with words."

"Ask." He commands firmly, pulling her around so they'd stand face to face. This is about the limit of what he'll act upon on mere hints and teasing, if Kaho wants what he thinks she wants, she'll need to speak clearly.

For a moment, he's not sure Kaho has even heard him. She stands in front of him like a deer on the headlights, not moving a muscle while her big brown eyes staring straight into his own. But she comes alive before Chad can act again, placing both hands together in front of her lap to take a formal bow.

"Ashikabi-sama, I know it's shameful of me, but please entertain my selfish request." Kaho looks down as she starts bending her waist, but seems to think better of it and ends up looking up again to re-establish eye contact. "Love me like a man loves a woman!"

While Ashikabi-sama confronts Kaho inside the house, Mutsu spars with Natsu in the outside. There's no usage of his elemental power, of course, this isn't an attempt at crushing the youngest Sekirei spirit. Just some physical activity to keep her entertained, and maybe help her polish some roughness out of her moves. For that, his blade will be more than enough.

Sekirei, specially in the case of Weapon Types -though it's hard to say whether the 'Ninja Sekirei' actually fits that category- are born with natural instincts for combat, but that doesn't mean they can't benefit from training and experience. And, while Natsu certainly isn't a fumbling novice…

"Your footwork is sloppy, either commit to the motions or stay fleet-footed. There's no point in wavering in-between." He chastises as he turns a parry into a push, making the younger Sekirei stumble and trip. "And keep an eye out for unnecessary movements, what purpose do all those flourishes serve?"

"They're not unnecessary!" The girl protests with a scandalized expression before making some breathing room with a lightning-fast flurry of swings and stabs. "They're a smokescreen! The gorgeous blossom that obscures the venomous spider! The open umbrella blocking sight of a hidden, deadly blade! The– Ghack!"

… Which, of course, didn't fare any better than her previous attempts. For the umpteenth time, Natsu tried to mix some acrobating three-dimensional maneuvering into her moves and, for the umpteenth time, she was punished by it. A solid smack that she barely managed to block in time caused her to miss her feet and land roughly on her shoulder instead.

"Never get yourself airborne unless you're absolutely sure your opponent can't exploit the blatant opening." Mutsu continues his lecture, putting his swords away to offer a helping hand. "And better put some thinking behind your feints, time them properly or they'll be useless. Flashy body language for the sake of it will only tire you out."

"Yes, Mutsu-senpai." Natsu accepts the advice -and the offered hand- with a pout on her lips.

"Now, I believe this will be enough for now." He comments as he pulls her up, checking out the stars above them. It should've been long enough for a good heart-to-heart. With some luck, Ashikabi-sama would've managed to reach Kaho and ease her into a better headspace. "Let's head back,"

"Finally, I could use some grub!" Natsu stands with a joyful bounce, seemingly putting any hard feeling from the spar behind her. "Not even an elite Jounin can remain hidden when her stomach is growling!"

Implying she was on the level of an elite Jounin… Mutsu rolls his eyes in fond exasperation. The closest thing the Disciplinary Squad had to a covert-ops specialist was their Brain-Type, Matsu, who was automatically disqualified of any sort of physical exertion. But, extrapolating the capabilities of Mutsu's old teammates into Natsu's field and comparing them with what his Kouhai can do…

"Keep working on these moves." Mutsu sensibly advises her. "And maybe you'll be worthy of that rank–"

"Yay! It's the rare Mutsu-senpai praise!" Natsu cuts him off with cheerful enthusiasm. Definitely, not a hint of hard feelings on that one. "For even my stone-faced and heartless senpai to acknowledge my potential… I'll treasure these kind words forever!"

Feeling his smile grow a bit stiff, Mutsu finishes the interrupted sentence. "... In ten years or so."

"Nevermind." Natsu's mood takes a sharp dive, the girl visibly deflating in front of him. "Mutsu-senpai is a meanie, after all."

"Come on." Mutsu replies with an amused chuckle. "Let's see what Kaho and Ashikabi-sama have prepared for dinner."

The two of them make their way back to the apartment, only for Mutsu to stop right in front of the door. A danger sense that served him well during the first, turbulent years of his life warning him against actually opening it. Unfortunately, while he knew better than to ignore this premonition…

"Come on, Senpai!" Natsu didn't have the same advantage. "Don't just stand there, I'm hungry!

As soon as the younger Sekirei opened the wooden door, the source of Mutsu's hesitation became clear. In the form of a wanton, delirious cry of pleasure.

"Hardaaah~! Do it hardah, Ashikabi-shama!" Kaho's delighted demands echo from somewhere further inside the apartment. "Let my body *Nnngh~!* learn of your love! Fill my inshides until there'sh– *Hyah~!* Until there'sh no more room f-for fear or hesitaaaaation!"

The door is immediately slammed closed again, Natsu turning around to keep it blocked with her own back, as if trying to contain some dangerous beast. Her usual smile seems to have fled her face, leaving a weird expression behind as her cheeks turn bright red. Admittedly, even Mutsu himself can feel his cheeks heat up as the uncomfortable silence stretches out between them.

"Yes, yes, YEEES!"

… As a side note, the apartment's noise canceling is top notch. As expected of MBI.

"Well…" He finally breaks the silence after a good minute. "Maybe it would be a better plan to go out and treat yourselves to some takeout tonight."

"No fair!" Natsu complains with a whine. For a moment, it looks like she's going to let serself slide down to the floor, but in the end she turns around to glare at the door instead. "I want to tie the knot with Ashikabi-sama too!"

"I don't think that idiom means what you think it means." Mutsu comments, grabbing the girl's shoulders and gently pulling her away from there. "Now, let Kaho enjoy her first time in peace. I'm sure you'd like to enjoy yours without any jealous rival interrupting."

"I'm not jealous!" She pouts again, forcefully crossing her arms, but not really resisting him. "Who's jealous? You're jealous!"

"I've had Ashikabi-sama all to myself for the past year." In spite of himself, Mutsu finds himself indulging in a bit of bragging, an amused smirk making its way to his face all on its own. "If you youngsters need a couple days to get into the swing of things, I'll be a magnanimous senpai and indulge your antics."

The only answer to that comment are some vaguely rude grumblings that make him chuckle and shake his head.

It's funny, he muses as they make their way to the closest WackDonald's, as grateful as he feels about having met Ashikabi-sama, as happy and fulfilled as their life together makes him feel… Laughter simply doesn't come easily to him.

And here comes this troublesome kouhai of his out of nowhere, with an eclectic mess of abilities that are all over the place for him to worry over and a seemingly endless source of energy that nobody would blame him for finding annoying. And yet, instead of feeling his patience tested by her tomfoolery at every turn… He finds himself chuckling without even noticing.

… Maybe there's more merit to the theories about Sekirei being a flock species than he originally gave it credit for. It's good to be part of a group (again).

Hours later, when the apartment door is stealthily and carefully pried open by two cautious Sekirei returning home, Chad is already laying on his futon and barely awake enough to hear them come in. Eyes snap open in the dark, his head turns towards the source of the muffled noises… but his mind isn't really into it.

It's late and the last hours have been somewhat intense, so he barely has the presence of mind to acknowledge their return, tick that internal checkbox in the back of his head that worried about their absence and wait to see whether they'd come into his room or give Kaho some privacy for the night.

When they fail to do so -judging by the muffled sounds and voices he can barely make out, they settled down for the night in the spare bedroom- Chad lets out a breath he hadn't noticed he was breathing and shifts a bit for comfort. The arm wrapping around Kaho's waist pulls her closer, naked body pressing against naked body as the girl shifts in turn, sleepily throwing a leg over him before settling down again.

In spite of her usual demure attitude, or maybe because of it, Kaho had proven to be a surprisingly passionate and enthusiastic sexual partner once she let herself go. Submissive but eager, easily playing along with anything he wanted to try and not thinking twice before egging him on for more. The natural stamina of the Sekirei meant she didn't tire easily either, but if there's something Chad feels confident about, that's his sturdy body. She finally got enough at some point around three hours in.

The girl is so small -and he's so big- that her head barely reaches his chest, a fact she's taken ruthless advantage of to use him as a pillow. Tilting his head down, he sneaks a glance down. The room is mostly covered in darkness, but a thin slice of moonlight is peeking through the window sliders, falling right on Kaho's face. It's just enough to let him see the small smile that remains on her lips even while asleep.

As he's admiring that smile, Kaho shifts again, a pleased murmur escaping her lips as her hand runs over his chest. That is, until it suddenly freezes in place, the smile turning into a small frown as her fingers trail along an imaginary line, as if feeling out some sort of mark or scar.

Of course, there's nothing there. Chad's battles have been fought at a spiritual level, leaving his body, unmarred and—

Realization makes him snap wide awake, because Kaho's gestures aren't just random fumbling of the product of a nightmare. That line she's tracing is where Nnoitra cut him down, back when they invaded Hueco Mundo to rescue Orihime, three years ago.

Sekirei are psychic creatures by nature, can they somehow feel the scars of the soul? Just because the spiritual world doesn't seem to exist in Shinto Teito, it doesn't mean his history, the consequences of his actions won't follow him here.

The realization makes him freeze for a moment, before he finds himself letting out a chuckle at his own expense. That's him, barely out of his teens and already world-weary, with countless bloody conflicts on his back, including two full-on wars. Honestly speaking, his life has been kind of a mess for years and finding himself in the middle of the Sekirei Plan when he was starting to put everything back in order doesn't help any.

And yet, somehow, he got these three wonderful Sekirei reacting to him. He better picks up the pace, or he'll be the one struggling to deserve them instead.

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