Buckley in kiddies, we're hitting the ground running.
Of the many emotions all but foreign to Minaka Hiroto, genuine concern was among them.
That didn't make the sliver of worry he felt when Takami's current 'office' went dark any less real, however.
It was a top-secret facility with no official designation, though he liked to call it 'The Collage' in reference to its sole 'inhabitant'.
The alien entity known as Myriad 1.
The nickname was a reference to what precious little of its genetic structure they understood.
Truly, what a delightful enigma Myriad 1 was, the webs all the more tangled without the convenient presence of a mature member of its species, such as the Sekirei benefited from.
Speaking of which, not being able to call on any of those Sekirei had been something of an inconvenience- introducing two alien species into such a delicate scenario was a recipe for disaster.
Regrettably, it wasn't the time to enjoy a good disaster.
He couldn't risk his most trusted confidant in all the world for something as banal as curiosity- not without contingencies in place.
Thus, they were doing things the old-fashioned way, clearing the Collage room by room, hall by hall, devoting some of his attention to pondering the entity while the lion's share of his processing power focused on not getting him shot.
Not that there seemed to be anyone to shoot him.
The off-white halls of the facility were in total disarray- walls and floors left scraped and pitted from gunfire, doors twisted and scorched from explosives, or rent asunder by power tools less dramatic in nature.
Evidence of brutal combat without the slightest drop of blood spilled, nor a single scrap of thread discarded to provide evidence of who had been fighting.
Wherever had all his employees gotten off to? He would have quite liked to rescue a few of them if the opportunity presented itself.
Their only meaningful clue was how, in spite of how every functional system in the facility being back under MBI control…
The largest room in the building remained dark, not a single camera lens offering the slightest hint of what may lay within, regardless of the spectrum used for observation, and in spite of the door being left suspiciously ajar.
Naturally, that shrouded room was the most important room of the facility.
Its second most important feature being the holding tank for Myriad 1, and its most important feature being the (conspicuously absent) Myriad 1 itself.
They were going in blind to the last known location of the amorphous alien apex predator they had misplaced.
Grinning widely, Minaka Hiroto made a mental note to add 'appreciates the classics' to the known characteristics of Myriad 1, just as they reached the open door leading into the heart of the Collage.
The containment room was dark, impossibly so; state of the art nightvision illuminating only the absolute dominion of the formless, all-encompassing gloom.
As if they had strayed into the abyss itself, forget desk, tank, or employee, the very floor beneath their feet could be identified only by their ability to tread upon it.
How wonderfully, stupendously ominous!
Hiroto was still thinking that when their surroundings began musing aloud, from every direction at once, the merits of murdering himself and his escorts.
"... Those are MBI nameplates... and that does appear to be the… Minaka that Mother grumbles about from time to time. Is that reason not to kill them?"
"I am indeed the Minaka!" Hiroto puffed out his chest and loudly confirmed. Of course, he hadn't missed the other rather specific term of address being used, and already his mind was racing-
From deeper within the room, a string of verbal, mildly incoherent sulfur leaked into the air, causing the darkness to ripple visibly.
The venomous grumbles trailed off after a few seconds as that all-too-familiar voice was raised in volume. "... Minaka? Is that you?"
"I am indeed the Minaka!" Hiroto puffed out his chest and loudly confirmed (for the second time).
"That sounded stupid the first time you said it, why the hell would you repeat yourself?"
"Hahaha!"
"Where the hell are you, anyways? I can't see a damn thing."
"Currently being consumed by the floor, a rough thirty three paces from where your voice originates from!"
"Well cut it out."
"... Yes, Mother," the abyss tonelessly acquiesced.
Even Hiroto blanched a little as the darkness rapidly receded, like a flash flood in reverse. His theory that they'd walked into the belly of the beast, in literal fashion, was wholly correct, it would seem.
Both himself and his terrified protectors were left blinking their eyes and fumbling to remove, or switch off their night-vision lenses, as the light returned with a vengeance.
Sahashi Takami was soon revealed to be within the containment tank, seated on top of a veritable mountain of mattresses and blankets from the sleeping quarters. Haggard and exhausted, but blessedly uninjured from what he could tell.
And between them and the tank, a small remnant of the darkness remained. A misshapen mass 'something dark', with a nominally human silhouette… and the approximate height of a small child.
… Chin slipping off the hand keeping it propped up, Hiroto was awoken by his head bouncing off the desk.
"Hm, it would seem I woke up just before they tell me where all the people went," he mused idly, rubbing his forehead.
It was one of his most vivid memories of the incident.
After all, it wasn't every day when one could hear a mother apologize on behalf of a monster.
"They're… gone… all of them. Every human but me. It isn't his fault, though," there was an unusual hint of brisk insistence in Takami's voice. "He didn't kill any of ours, he just… 'preserved them' in the only way he knew how."
Given that the most hectic night of the Sekirei Plan was currently well under way, Hiroto couldn't help but wonder if the dream was an 'omen' of sorts, a portend of what was to come.
Perhaps a few more contestants would find themselves 'preserved' by the end of the night.
Drowning was a new experience for Hidaka Chiho.
Probably for the best, really, because she was confident that drowning wasn't meant to be conformable.
She supposed that maybe, the difference could be written off due to how she was drowning in a starry sky, and not a dark ocean. A deep, soothing midnight blue as far as the eye could see, dotted with twinkling pinpricks of white, like tiny stars all around her.
They didn't give off any light though- it was so dark she couldn't even see her own hands.
Or… feel them.
Or any of her body, really.
Maybe that's why she wasn't drowning- you probably needed a body to drown, right?
Try as she might, she couldn't quite remember if she'd even had a body to begin with.
In fact, the only reason she could remember her name at all was because those endless staring eyes of white kept whispering it to her.
Over, and over, as if afraid she would forget.
And if she forgot her name, just what would be left of her, anyways?
The gentle darkness that had taken everything but her name had no answers for her.
And even then, Hidaka Chiho wasn't scared at all.
As the flame that drove back his attackers seared its way up his arm, Homura clenched his jaw so hard a tooth cracked.
He was left with a limb where he couldn't tell where sleeve ended and skin began, if there was even any of either left. He could still make a fist though, and he put that to good use, swaying under a swinging arm to plant charcoal knuckles in a bare midriff.
… Probably not a good sign that the punch didn't hurt his hand at all, huh?
Grinning bitterly, Homura hurled himself from the roof and over to the next, taking what opening he could to create distance.
He was about midway through the leap when it became clear that his screaming leg muscles hadn't carried him quite as far as he would have liked.
Meaning that he was about to go through a window, instead of onto a roof.
Curling up into a ball, Homura braced for impact as the wind picked up speed.
…From below him.
The next thing he knew, Kazehana was holding him like a princess, smiling playfully, even as her deep brown eyes shimmered with barely restrained concern.
"Oh, nice of you to join us, Homura, I was beginning to think my old drinking buddy was avoiding me~" letting him put his feet down, Kazehana snaked out a steadying arm as Homura staggered.
It meant he was completely unable to defend the throwing trident sailing towards his leg, but he didn't need to.
Musubi stepped between them and caught the trident by both prongs, holding firm but skidding back a pace as her sleeves ripped away from the impact.
With a cute little shout, she promptly threw the trident back- not point first, but spinning horizontally like an oddly shaped buzzsaw.
It proved to be immediately effective, as the Sekirei about to jump after them were torn from their feet, tumbling out of sight due to how the other building was taller.
"Nice toss, Mu," Uzume commented, somewhat tattered veils fluttering around her. "Not to rush the reunion or anything, but Matsu says you've got another four on your ass, so let's get going, huh?"
Having said that though, she leaned to one side, eyebrow raised with a critical look.
"Hard to blame them for being thirsty though, you do have a nice butt."
In spite of himself, Homura snickered.
"I'll be honest, I was kind of hoping you all would steer clear of this mess," it wasn't like he had no expectations at all that they might want to get involved.
"Don't worry, Homura," Kazehana dryly reassured. "I think stupid thoughts too, sometimes."
"Oh, me too!" Musubi guilelessly chimed in.
Uzume whipped her head away with an amused snort, and Homura gave a sharp laugh that quickly dissolved into a coughing fit, as a puff of dark smoke escaped his mouth.
Kazehana grimaced as the body she was supporting noticeably spiked in temperature.
"Musubi, carry Homura, please," she briskly instructed, even as she sent a brisk gust hammering up at the rooftop to blow back the Sekirei that had just rallied.
"Roger!" Musubi spiritedly replied.
Kazehana all but shoved Homura over- Musubi turned her back as he stumbled, pulling his arms over her shoulder and deftly scooping him up into a piggy-back position.
Wasting no time, they took off, sprinting across the roof and going airborne.
"Wow Homura, you're squishier than you look!"
"Musubi, is it a wet sort of 'squishy'?" Kazehana's voice was sharp, though she didn't look their way, given she was in mid leap.
"W-wet!?" Homura stammered, not understanding what she meant.
"No, it's a squishy sort of squishy," Musubi confusedly denied, clearly not understanding either.
… Content that Homura's organs weren't leaking out, at least at present, Kazehana paid the topic no further heed, instead pressing a finger to the earpiece she had on.
"Girls, how are things on your end?"
"Think they're starting to figure out that we're a common enemy," Hibiki was the one to tersely reply, fatigue evident in her tone. "We're getting swarmed over here."
"Don't worry about engaging then, in fact, the more you pull our way the better. I'll get Matsu to give us a rendezvous point."
"What kind of location?" Matsu interrupted, having naturally been listening in.
"Ground-level with lots of open space. It's time to sweep the field," Kazehana instructed.
"Jingu Stadium," Matsu answered instantly. "3-4 minutes at your current pace- Kazehana, it's your 2 o'clock, Hibiki, your 9."
""Roger"" two voices overlapped.
"Sis, are you really gonna…" Uzume's voice trailed off, her worry blatant even when Kazehana couldn't devote her flock sister her full attention.
"Yeah, there's no helping it, our Noritos aren't going to hold out much longer," and when those wore out, fatigue was going to hit like a runaway train.
They'd already lasted much longer than they should have- Honey had been aware that a Norito's boost was meant to last an hour at the utmost, but…
"Let's do better."
Miya was likely still in shock over the whole thing, but Minato had 'altered' the Norito somewhat, just by… deciding to.
The end result was that instead of the dramatic boost of power they normally experienced, it was a modest but steady increase to their abilities.
It was frankly absurd to have any sort of 'power-up' for nearly four hours, but even that slow and steady pace was starting to lose the race.
So she'd unleash the full force of her Norito before then, and end things with a bang.
It had to be her.
Because they'd always known that loving a monster would come with consequences, and Kazehana knew in her heart that the Norito laid at the center of that, somehow.
The Norito, that was the greatest expression of a Sekirei's identity.
For good or for ill, Kazehana intended to be the first one to face those changes in full.
Maybe it was nerves talking, but she found that she couldn't help but ask.
"... Hm? He's doing good, just uh… don't ask for details, you guys are definitely going to have a hard time focusing on fighting if I explain anything." Matsu told her.
In short, their Ashikabi was busy doing something 'truly mysterious' (what less interesting people might call 'weird').
Kazehana wasn't the only member of the flock to find that reassuring.
In another life, Hidaka Chiho remembered struggling to move her own body. In fact, the more she thought about it, the more she found that she couldn't remember how to 'move' at all.
Come to think of it, what was 'moving', anyways?
But before she had time to dwell on it, the gentle darkness was there to take her by the hand (whatever a hand was) and teach her from scratch.
First, she learned to swim… down through the marrow of her bones.
Then they started with a walk, then a run, then a sprint.
Up through the arteries and down into her veins.
Next, they went low- low enough to crawl their way between meat and muscle.
When they made their way out through the skin, Chiho found herself thinking that there was nothing left to do but fly.
But there, the darkness pulled back.
Teaching her to fly was a job for someone else, it said.
… And though it probably wouldn't be nearly as much fun, it should probably remind her how breathing worked.
Her lungs were bouncy like a trampoline.
Whatever a trampoline was.
It had taken a bit of maneuvering, but the bulk of their pursuers were all coming at them from one direction. It couldn't be helped- no one was willing to take the long way and cut them off, not when it meant the possibility of being too late to profit.
Working against them didn't mean working with each other.
And so their ragged group of seven stood on the other end of an open air stadium, against a mob of twenty two.
"I hope you know what you're doing, Sis," Uzume said, her bold smile cramping a little at the edges.
"Me too," was Kazehana's lackadaisical reply.
"... We're all gonna die, aren't we?"
"Oh, have a little faith, why don't you?" Kazehana smiled. "I… or I suppose it's we, won't let them cross the halfway mark."
The vultures were still fluttering about, deciding who would close in first, when Kazehana took that choice from them.
A confident smirk on her full lips and a rhythmic sway of her round hips, Kazehana sauntered across the manicured grass as if it was a runway.
A stage meant only for her.
Even though she didn't walk it alone- even though she never truly walked alone.
His presence at her back could be seen for those who knew how to look- trailing behind in a shadow deeper, and darker than even the bright stadium lights should have allowed.
As her walk slowed to a gradual halt, the words rolled off her tongue like drops of warm, rich honey.
An unknown curse spoken with endless love.
"By the howl of my pledge…"
The wind held its breath.
"Crush the light that blinds my Ashikabi."
A half turn away, and a long leg brought up and around in a slow, smooth arc, until it was poised with a four inch heel pointing up at the sky.
"Hammer of… the Silent God."
When Kazehana brought her heel down, the sky crushed the land.
And not a single sound was heard until the ruins of what remained fell back to the earth.
… If one gazed down at the stadium from above, they would see a great round hole punched deep into the ground.
And if they looked closely, they would catch a glimpse of where dark soil was stained darker still.
Kazehana was silent as she returned to the group… they were all silent as she returned to the group.
When Uzume stepped forward and gently clasped both of Kazehana's hands in her own, they couldn't tell at all whose hands were shaking.
And both latched on to the small mercy that represented.
"We're… going to have to be careful about using our Noritos against people," Kazehana admitted after releasing the tension in her body with a deep, slow breath.
"... And let's definitely not bust out more than one at a time," Hikari spoke for the rest of them. Especially not the Single Numbers in the flock.
"Let's not," Kazehana agreed with a wan smile.
Truthfully, the result was… regrettable, but no one would lose sleep over it. Deactivating was better than killing, but in a Sekirei's mind, forcible winging was at least as bad as either option, if not worse.
And when the sound of slow clapping filled the arena, one of the biggest culprits behind forced wingings in the game revealed himself.
… Just as the excess power from the Noritos faded away, and fatigue set in hard.
He might have been trash, but Kazehana could admit that the trash called Kakizaki had excellent timing.
Far away from the stadium lights, gnawing unease crept its way along the edges of a bleached white room, threatening to tip the tenuous balance between breathless worry and blind panic.
Watching the… 'operation' was akin to a lucid nightmare for Meiko and Shiina. Side by side, hand in hand, they sat on the hospital bed in wordless, unblinking silence.
… That they'd been unsettled enough to seek comfort from one another, in absence of their Ashikabi, had yet to even register in their minds.
Truthfully, they had no idea how long they'd sat there for. It felt like another lifetime when Chiho had mustered up her courage to accept what the monster offered.
The monster who had encroached upon the hospital through a locked fifth story window, and at present was kneeling in the center of the hospital room. He was elbow deep in 'something dark' that radiated in twitching waves from the pulsing centerpiece of the room.
Like a gaping primordial maw, rising up from the abyss to gulp down creation itself, 'it' had spread open and engulfed their Ashikabi, as she laid down in the sluggishly heaving muck.
What remained was something they could only describe as an 'ominous cocoon'.
In the silence that lingered heavily in the wake of that dreadful vision, there was just one thing in all the world that the two Sekirei were certain of.
Only one thing in all the world that they could cling to.
Chiho would return to them.
… They just had to have faith that they would recognize her when she did.
"What a splendid display of power," Kakizaki was praising, still clapping his hands as he made his way down the stands, flanked by a grinning Toyotama and Ichiya.
As well as a half dozen usable but less noteworthy pawns.
"And I must say, you have my gratitude for corralling my employer's Single Number into a proper pen."
"Is that what this looks like?" Kazehana drawled, hands on her hips. "And here I thought we were just encouraging the vultures to flock in one place."
"Right? Not like the scavengers are gonna pluck their own feathers anytime soon," Uzume commented.
"More's the pity," Tsukiumi unexpectedly but aptly followed up with- the picture of aloof disdain as checking her nails took priority over watching the enemy.
"Aww, such dirty mouths," Toyotama chortled back. "At least you got in some good quips before we rip you apart."
But despite their eagerness to swoop down on the battered flock, it wasn't that fresh flock of vultures that brought the situation past the point of no return.
It was Homura
Homura, and the accumulated stress wearing through the last of his willpower as he fully processed just how dangerous the situation could be for his friends.
And how it was wholly and completely his fault.
Homura's loss of control was final and absolute, his last rational act blasting away those nearby with the sirocco winds whipping around his feet.
Chased into the sky by a single, ear-splitting scream, a pillar of fire blazed a hole through the neon-tinged heavens.
…And from far, far beyond the heat of the flames, a pair of mismatched eyes snapped open wide in response.
One a soft, sepia brown, like polished wood bathed in warm sunlight.
The other a deep, stagnant black, through which no light could shine.
"Ah."
That was the only warning Shiina and Meiko received before that ominous cocoon ruptured, spitting forth a murky stream of 'something dark'.
… 'Something dark' that had gone right over Minato's head, and was almost lazily arcing its way towards where they were sitting.
Displaying an impressive level of coordination for a newly formed flock, Shiina and Meiko moved as one, no prior thought needed when instinct could see them through.
But neither Sekirei had moved to dodge or defend.
Without having time to consider their own actions, they had moved as one to catch the oncoming darkness.
… Right before it expelled something pale and soft, right into their arms.
Something that had its… or rather her arms around them both, and was hugging them.
Strongly.
Before either could say a word, Hidaka Chiho lifted her head, breathtaking mismatched eyes staring deeply and soft lips smiling fondly.
"... I really missed you both," she said in a clear and quiet tone.
After a moment of stillness, in perfect sync, the two Sekirei buried their faces in either side of her neck, making her giggle and squirm a bit as shaky sighs tickled her skin.
Relaxing her body, Chiho quietly rubbed their backs as the monster in the room gave them a moment of silence, busy as he was retracting his darkness.
… Except for the bit of darkness he'd left with Chiho of course.
Even at a glance their Ashikabi had changed a great deal, except for in the ways that mattered most to them.
"C-Chiho!" Shiina stammered, "Y-you're standing!"
"I think I can do… just a little more than stand," with a mischievous smile, Chiho twirled out of their grasp, the hem of the midnight blue nightgown she had on fluttering around her bare legs.
When she came to a halt facing them, Chiho spread her arms open wide, presenting herself to her Sekirei in full.
It was… the closest she'd ever come to 'showing herself off' to someone else, and a vivid blush appeared on her cheeks at how she'd rendered Shiina and Meiko speechless.
If Chiho's body was taller and more filled out than it had ever been, it was only because her body had determinedly 'reclaimed' its stolen growth.
… With maybe a little extra, because she may have had just a tiny bit of envy for how sensationally endowed Meiko was.
The scales had firmly tipped away from 'frail' and into 'slender'. A figure with graceful curves that were slim but pronounced, with skin too aglow with life to truly call it 'porcelain' anymore. Similarly, a glossy hue had found its way into her sandy blonde hair, making her long locks catch the light in subdued but captivating fashion.
Nevertheless, her shyness soon belatedly caught up to her, insecurity soon creeping its way in-
"Chiho, you're beautiful," Shiina whispered in awe, Meiko nodding firmly in agreement even as her gaze remained affixed on their Ashikabi.
Chiho swayed in place, not from any sense of weakness, but from all the heat rising to her head causing an ever so brief flash of dizziness.
And then she was in their arms once more.
"... A 'little more' indeed," Meiko sighed, brushing aside that seeing Chiho swing herself around had made her heart lurch a little. "How… how is… your condition?"
"... For the first time since I was a little girl, nothing aches," Chiho whispered with a catch in her voice. "It's so strange and wonderful that I'm a little scared to wake up any second now. But… I'm awake now, aren't I?"
Saying so, she turned her head to look at Minato.
They all did.
Minato, who had one knee on the windowsill, froze in place.
"... Um?" Shiina trailed off.
"What on earth are you doing?" Meiko questioned with a good deal less hesitance.
"Giving the three of you some privacy?"
"Did using the door not cross your mind?" She asked.
"... Ah, there was that option too."
"So it didn't, huh?" Shiina gave a dry little laugh.
"Come back inside for now, Big Brother," Chiho told him.
"Very well," Minato complied. "But why did you call me that?"
Clearly, he wasn't the only one curious, but Chiho just shrugged.
"Calling you that just felt… right," Chiho admitted, before revealing a hesitant expression. "Is that… not okay?"
She needn't have worried- denying Chiho's words had never crossed Minato's mind.
"If you wish for me to be your big brother, then that is what I will be," he said. "You and I are family, now."
This time, the bemused silence was warmer in nature.
Because Minato's casual statement had just felt 'right'... and not just to Chiho.
A connection that wasn't there before could be clearly felt.
"How did you cure me, Minato?" Chiho carefully asked.
"I did not cure you, Sister," Minato shook his head. "You cured yourself."
"... Pardon?"
"I replaced the parts of your body that weren't working properly until your body decided on its own that it was time to work properly." Minato blandly summarized in one long sentence.
Chiho opened her mouth and then closed it, her confusion nonetheless audible.
"Is that what you meant by… half of what makes Chiho human?" Shiina asked hesitantly.
Minato nodded immediately.
Unlike Mother, all those years ago, Chiho had been dying before her time at a pace of years and not minutes. However, the enormous difference in time frame was complicated by how much more of Chiho's body had been dying all at once.
So he had needed to 'replace' much more, to the point that…
"Half your body is Myriad, like mine," Minato explained, barely catching himself from saying 'half-monster' instead. "More or less, you could think of it as me having performed extensive full-body surgery and transplants."
"That sounds painful, but I didn't feel any pain at all!" Chiho confessed in a tone of confused wonder.
"I used a lot of anesthetic," came the tonelessly delivered lie from the monster who had felt her pain so she wouldn't have to.
"I-is that why we're… you know?" Chiho fidgeted shyly.
"Family?"
A bashful nod.
"Yes," Minato nodded. "You and I share about as much DNA as real siblings would."
Or rather, the 'blank space' in Chiho's genetic makeup was equivalent to that.
"I feel like I should have more thoughts about waking up half human, but… I don't," Chiho looked at Shiina and Meiko in turn. "But what about you two? Does it…?"
Shiina grinned, and Meiko gave a brief huff of amusement.
"You are more healthy, more alive than we have ever seen you, Chiho," Meiko said firmly. "Very little matters in the face of that."
"Neither of us got winged to you because you were human, in the first place, Chiho," as Shiina said that he shot Minato a sly glance, feeling fairly certain that Chiho wasn't the first Ashikabi to be told something like that.
"O-okay," Chiho murmured. "Thank you, both of you. And thank you as well, Brother," Chiho turned her head to meet that innocently blank gaze.
But Minato tilted his head to one side, expression unchanging yet confusion blatant.
"I do not recall doing anything worthy of gratitude. This was simply the best solution I could discern for the problem at hand."
For all his strange darkness, in a flash of insight, Chiho found herself likening Minato to the sun.
The sun's light was an indifferent blessing, and it made Chiho further realize that her savior had never once revealed even the slightest intention of saving her.
Which ultimately… didn't mean much to her.
So what if saving her hadn't been his main goal, there was denying that he had saved her, and that was enough.
Even if it turned out to be nothing but an act of self-satisfaction in the end, Chiho intended to prove that the indifferent blessing she'd been graced with had not been wasted on her.
Any indifference between them was a thing of the past, anyways, and…
The first step to making the most of what she had been given couldn't have been more obvious.
"I… might have been saved, but Homura hasn't," Chiho said in a voice stronger than she had ever imagined could belong to her. "So… Shiina, Meiko, can I count on you?"
"Always."
"To the very end."
The monster at her back smiled in approval.
And, after his own little flash of insight, added one more little 'task' to his list, pulling out his phone as he did.
What the hell were they supposed to do?
Kazehana was too gassed to bring out winds strong enough to blow out the inferno the stadium had become. Instead, she was more or less on life-support, ensuring breathable air for the others as Tsukiumi focused her efforts on battling the flames.
The other four were essentially on guard duty. The enemy Sekirei had bailed when Higa's goon wrote off Homura as a lost cause, but they couldn't trust that the vultures wouldn't circle around to take a shot at them.
Tsukiumi was doing an impressive job at keeping the flames at bay. Honestly, Kazehana knew she couldn't have done better, not without… no, her Norito wouldn't have cut it.
But Tsukiumi could only keep the flames at bay, she couldn't make any headway at all.
The stadium had state-of-the-art fire suppression measures, measures that were proving useless to the point of unnoticeable in the face of a miniature sun.
"Damn, if only Akitsu was here-" or Honey, another Norito might-
"I was sent on ahead, Master is on his way," Akitsu calmly reassured, as she stepped past Kazehana without fanfare to go shoulder to shoulder with Tsukiumi.
A wave of her hand, and a wall of ice sprung up between the stands and the grounds, the wave of cold air radiating off of her providing much-needed relief.
"Thine arrival is timely, Akitsu, I fear I am too spent to quell this inferno," Tsukiumi reluctantly admitted, sweaty exposed cleavage heaving with exertion.
Every breath she took felt as if it was scorching her lungs, nevermind rescuing Homura, she herself wasn't far from needing rescue.
"Only, a little longer," Akitsu raised her voice, fighting to be heard over the roaring flames. "Master says he… cheated."
"... Cheated?" Someone behind him repeated.
Mere seconds later, an MBI helicopter came soaring overhead, and a great mass of 'something dark' burst from the open doors to fall down to the stands, some distance away.
But when it unfurled itself to return to the welcome sight of their Ashikabi, he wasn't alone.
He'd brought two somewhat shell-shocked Sekirei with him, as well as another Ashikabi who looked a great deal more lively than they remembered.
"... Honey, what is all this?"
"I cheated," Minato unhelpfully clarified. "A fire this big is more than just an S-Plan problem, so I caught a lift."
"And what about-?"
In spite of herself, Kazehana felt a warm fuzzy feeling as Shiina and Chiho turned to each other, cheeks flushed from more than just the heat of the flames.
Meiko, standing between them and the fire, had her arms crossed between her enormously sweaty and enormously enormous bust. She watched the two lovebirds with an expression that seemed torn between amusement and envy.
"Oh my~" a firelit kiss? How romantic~!
Chrysanthemum wings bloomed, starkly denying the firelight. Letting his hands slip slowly from Chiho's grasp, Shiina slowly made his way down the stands with his off-white wings, and his companions, trailing behind.
With a start, Kazehana realized that for the first time since they'd entered the stadium, the sweltering air was completely, utterly still.
He'd lost track of where his body ended and the flames began.
He wasn't a person anymore- he was an hourglass, and when the last grain of sand fell, the inferno would be all that remained.
In some ways, it was freeing.
He'd burned away all his pain, his loneliness, his anxiety, and fear.
He'd burned away all his joy and hope as well, but he didn't need those anymore, now did he?
All that there was, all that he was had been reduced to embers.
There was nothing left to do but let go, give in, and-
With bewildering suddenness, Homura found himself on his knees, staring wide-eyed at the corridor of scorched ruin before his eyes.
The sea of flames had been parted… no, the flames that had been there were just… gone.
Gone, because someone had snapped their fingers and killed them.
And then Homura wasn't thinking about the flames at all.
Because someone had hurled an angel at him, and there was no other action allowed to Homura but to rise to his feet, raise his arms, and catch her.
"... Chiho…?"
She couldn't understand how anyone could have survived in the center of that swirling hellscape, but Homura was very much alive.
Claret eyes open wide and leaking searing trails, scorched chasms etched into the skin where veins should have been.
"C-Chiho!?" Homura stammered again as the flames encircled them. "W-what the hell are you doing here, it's not safe!"
In spite of the prickling heat on her skin, Chiho couldn't help but giggle.
Homura's silly side didn't often rear its head, and her poor prince didn't seem to have realized that the fire devouring everything in sight seemed to be hesitating to devour her.
… Even tattered as he was, he was still protecting her.
And her other two 'princes' had put their faith in her to put things right, so what else could she do?
Holding tightly to his hands as if afraid that she'd never get another chance to hold him, Chiho looked deeply into his eyes and said "I'm here to find the rest of my wings."
"W-wings?" Homura blinked. "Ah… is that so?" Features softening, he shook his head, and made to pull free.
… Only for his eyes to widen as he failed to do so.
Even the 'new and improved Chiho' couldn't hope to match his strength under ordinary circumstances.
But Chiho at her best and Homura at his worst?
That was a different story.
"See, Homura?" Chiho tightened her grip, ever so carefully. "I'm… not weak anymore. Maybe I'm not strong, either, but… I'm strong enough to lean on when you need me."
None of his senses were working as they should, so Homura hadn't the slightest idea what was going on.
Chiho was in his arms and Chiho was beautiful, but Chiho was always beautiful, always radiant.
… He'd never really taken the chance to tell her… it wouldn't have been fair to make their inevitable parting even more difficult.
… Parting?
… Ah, that must have been it, the last of him had burned up, and he was seeing what he wanted to see, in the ticking seconds before darkness took him.
So then… maybe it was okay for him to be just a little selfish, if none of this was real?
"Chiho… I… wish you and I could have…"
"And we can, Homura, we can," Chiho pleaded with him, a sudden surge of anxiety gripping her at the way Homura's expression had turned so heartbreakingly gentle. "Please Homura, don't you understand? Please, don't give up!"
"Chiho, I was always yours," Homura tenderly interrupted. "Even if for just a moment, will you be mine as well?"
From start to finish, their conversation never matched.
But when Homura leaned in, and their lips met, it didn't matter in the least.
The neon lights of sleepless Shinjuku yielded to the proud radiance of a blossoming star, a defiant light that seemed intent on burning a trail all the way to Polaris itself.
Like a phoenix rising from the ashes, every ember and spark in the stadium came rushing in to form a set of blazing wings. Wrapped, like a luminous shield, around the only reason the owner of those wings ever needed to fly.
"Sekirei Number 06," Homura murmured in a daze. "By the flames of my pledge, I will reduce my Ashikabi's troubles to ash, forever and ever."
…
… Real.
Chiho was… real.
A shaking hand that was slim and pale rose slowly, brushing away the tear trickling from the corner of a bright and gentle eye.
In the end, there was only one thing he could possibly say.
"... I guess miracles really do exist, after all."
Hidaka Chiho, his Ashikabi, burst into tears and threw herself into his arms, clinging to him tightly as if to never let him go.
With a helpless smile, Homura slowly returned the embrace, thinking to himself that if he could be granted just one more wish, then he would wish for that moment to last just one moment longer.
… They moved in unison, just as they moved in unison.
A gently smiling Homura and a teary-eyed Chiho turned their heads, searching.
And Shiina and Meiko hopped over the railing, what used to be grass crunching beneath their heels.
"Do you feel it too, Shiina?" Meiko asked in a low voice as they made their way towards the open arms that beckoned.
"Mhm, it's like we finally found our 'normal'." Shiina murmured quietly.
"... 'Our normal', you say?" Meiko murmured softly, considering his words with a slow blink of smokey dark eyelashes.
"Yes," she agreed after a moment. "It truly does feel that for the first time, all is well and right in our world."
Without needing to share so much as a single word or glance more, the two walked off side by side to join their family that had finally grown to its proper size.
"That sweet girl is a lot more lively than I remember," Kazehana said, bumping her hip against Minato and giving him a wink. "Good work there, Hun."
"Mm, good work to all of you as well," Minato replied. "Are you girls alright?"
"Pretty wiped, but we're all in one piece," Uzume commented, from where she was more or less draped over the bleachers, getting her share of bodily contact by having her leg against Minato's. "Homura was the one in real rough shape until, you know."
"Hmph, 'tis good to see my rival hast found his Ashikabi," Tsukiumi huffed with arms crossed, though her haughty frown was losing its battle to stay in place. "Now we can properly make war upon one another once again!"
"But in a spar, right?" Hibiki asked.
"Where else might we contest against one another? T'would simply not do to deprive one's sister-in-law of her betrothed!"
"... Sister-in-law?" Hikari repeated.
The Sekirei all shared confused looks as Tsukiumi went silent- the label had been spoken so naturally by her, that it had taken them all a moment to realize that it sounded natural to them.
"... Honey, what did you do this time?" Kazehana settled on asking, her smile somewhat lopsided.
"Ate enough of Chiho's skeletal structure and internal organs, that I could replace the missing pieces with parts that actually worked?"
"O-oh? Is that all? Sounds… tricky?"
"As expected of Kazehana, you really get it." Minato nodded several times in misunderstanding. "I couldn't do more than nibble in order to fool her body into not going into shock, and I had to teach it how to work properly all over again." Human bodies were so complicated. Why did they need separate systems in place for eating and breathing?
"Yep… I don't understand it all, but Chiho seems happy so it must be fine!" Musubi confidently declared to break the silence.
Uzume gave a little snort of laughter. "Never change Mu, never change."
"Um, I'll try my best, but I don't know how to make my hair stop growing."
"Hehe~"
"So, Babe, what I'm getting out of this, is that you decided befriending Homura and Shiina's Ashikabi wasn't good enough, so you made her your sibling instead?" Hikari asked in a half-joking tone, her smirk as lazy as her posture, as she reclined against the bleachers beside a more properly seated Hibiki.
"As expected of Hikari, you really get it." Minato replied, entirely serious.
"... Wait, seriously?"
Minato nodded slowly.
He'd told them that he was going to 'cure' Chiho so she could wing Homura, but there hadn't been a lot of time to explain, given that the decision was made while the flock was in active combat.
Among the unspoken reasons for remaking Hidaka Chiho, one of the most important had been to put in place a 'safety measure' of sorts.
He'd keep to himself that the safety measure was against himself.
"Umm… sorry if we kept you waiting," Chiho called up from the ground, flock in tow.
"A little break was probably for the best," Minato shook his head. "The ones who evacuated the stadium are lying in wait to finish us off when we leave, anyways."
Matsu hadn't stopped monitoring the situation after all, though he wasn't sure what she meant by 'the amateur thinks she got in my way'.
Chiho paled a bit as the expressions around her turned grave, but a gentle hand on her shoulder gave it a careful squeeze.
"Well, I'll take the lead, and we'll see if there's anything left for the rest of you," Homura said with a soft smile and a firm tone.
Chiho wasn't the only one who seemed ready to object, but Homura cut them off with a widening smile and a raised hand.
As he spoke, Homura stood tall and strong, meeting each and every one of their gazes in turn.
"This isn't me being reckless, or anything like that," he softly assured them. "This is me, in my best condition ever, paying back just a little of the debt I owe."
Then he scratched his head, looking a little sheepish.
"Also, I'm planning to start things off with my Norito, and for some reason I'm having trouble remembering what it does, so it's probably for the best that no one I like gets in front of me." Homura just assumed it was one of his lingering peculiarities, but-
"Ah, I guess that makes sense that you three are like that too, huh?" Kazehana murmured as Chiho's flock stiffened as one. "Influencing their Sekirei's Norito runs in the family, it seems."
In spite of the somewhat ambiguous wording, the dreamy undertone in her voice was clear to everyone present.
Sure, she'd been more than a little shocked when she released her Norito, and sure, the result had been a little more drastic than intended.
But the more she thought about it, the more that her Norito being personalized by her bond with her Ashikabi began to seem more and more romantic.
In Kazehana's mind, it was even more indelible proof that their love had left a mark on her very soul.
"... And we lost her," Uzume's smile was wry but affectionate.
It was just like Sis to get lost in her steamy fantasies without dropping her guard at all.
"The night seems to grow stranger with every passing minute," Meiko commented in a dry tone. "Let's put an end to it before things once more get out of hand."
"Mhm, I can't wait to all go home together!" Shiina said, the sheer delight radiating from him making Chiho blush prettily. "Oh, but hang on…"
Shiina trailed off as he realized that Chiho and Meiko's living arrangements were both up in the air-
"Miya's waiting for all of us," Minato spoke up. "So let's not keep her waiting."
Shiina's concerned frown vanished as if it had never been there.
As expected of his brother-in-law!
… He felt kind of bad, making Miya stay up so late…
With few exceptions, most of Izumo Inn wasn't aware of it.
That though she had withdrawn from the world, stubbornly preserving only her small piece of it…
Asama Miya never slept on nights when even one of her tenants could be in danger.
Just like Matsu had said, the vultures were lying in wait.
Not in ambush, though- two familiar faces stood in the middle of the road, staring at Homura like hungry wolves.
Sekirei Number 16, Toyotama, and Sekirei Number 18, Ichiya. Higa Izumi's primary enforcers. Further back was Kakizaki, guarded by the other Sekirei, and for some reason, nursing a swollen cheek.
"Hah, told you he got winged, Tama," Ichiya laughed.
"You got me there, so you get first dibs," Toyotama conceded with a shrug.
Their eager smiles only widened when Homura began to stride forward alone, after a quiet reassurance to his Ashikabi.
"All alone, huh?" Ichiya noted. "Guess you're planning to hit us with the Norito right out the gate."
"We'll wait," Toyotama promised, in an eager sing-song. "So show us everything you've got."
Homura regarded the two in silence for a moment, before sighing. He could smell their arousal from here.
Those lunatics were practically salivating at the chance to take him on at his full power.
"... I know I'm wasting my breath, but I've caused enough trouble for one night," when he met their eyes, his claret gaze burned with dreadful heat. "I'll give you one chance to walk away."
"Thanks Hun, but no deal~" Toyotama purred while Ichiya cracked her neck in readiness.
"... Full force it is," Homura's voice was calm as he advanced with measured strides.
A distorted shimmer began to coalesce around his right hand.
"By the radiance of my pledge…"
A blaze of golden-white violence.
"Outshine the light that exposes my Ashikabi."
As if a star was born in place of his right hand.
"Nova Scar."
With the howl of a solar wind, Homura vanished from sight.
From start to finish, it was a deceptively subdued affair.
An all but silent demonstration of a level of mastery the Sekirei of Fire had always believed to be beyond him.
A display of control that had once been naught but a distant dream for the Guardian of the Unwinged.
… 06 reappeared within arm's length of his furthest target, hand sweeping through the air as if to casually brush aside Toyotama's hastily raised staff.
The starlight of his hand gently sheared Toyotama's weapon in half, like the staff was made of mist, and not metal.
She backpedaled with a gleeful expletive as Homura's fingers carried on to nearly brush her exposed stomach, leaving a thin swathe of burned flesh across her abdominals.
Deftly slipping into Homura's blindspot, Ichiya lanced out her leg, seeking to cave in the point where Homura's spine connected neck and body.
Homura spun under the blow with a dancer's grace, and the starlight danced with him.
His burning hand at his side and the other tucked behind him, when Homura came to a halt, his back was once again exposed to his latest attacker.
… Ichiya's leg was still outstretched, and her smile was still wide, when her upper and lower body collapsed in two different directions, and in two different pieces.
Slowly, he turned to glance over his shoulder at the 'threats' still present.
"Offer's still open," the mild tone of his voice was stark contrast to the merciless light that distorted the air in discordant waves of ever-rising heat.
In spite of her partner in crime having been seared in two, right in front of her, Toyotama was dragged away from the fight with very little fanfare.
The last glance given to Ichiya's body was paired with a wistful, almost mocking smile.
Meaning that in the end, she was the only one who retreated calmly.
Which was fortunate, because Minato's flock was mostly just bluffing away how tired they were, and…
"... I wonder how I put my hand out." Homura mused idly, swishing around the star his hand had become. "Oh, nevermind, I just had to think harder about it than usual."
But it was too late.
With a sunny smile, Tsukiumi promptly dumped a dozen gallons of water on his head.
A broom fell from slim hands as the woman on the porch took in the sight of one person in particular.
Deep brown eyes wide, Miya slowly stepped forward.
"Uh hey, Miya, I'm back," Homura grimaced, none of his usual charisma present.
"... I had honestly believed you had left for good, this time," Miya's voice was a harsh whisper. "And I am so very, very glad to be proven wrong. Welcome home, Homura."
Homura's slowly spreading smile was the first of many.
Miya recovered quickly, too quickly from her moment of weakness, herding tenants both new and old into her home and glaring dangerously (at least she thought so) at anyone whose gaze lingered on the color of her cheeks.
Though that wasn't without its difficulties, as one in particular had hung back, letting Minato and his flock enter as she stared up at the house as if it were an alien thing.
"A-are you sure it's no trouble?" Chiho was asking, as much to steady her own nerves and stall for time while she did so. "I feel bad for coming in so late, and I'm kind of a mess, and-"
"And you've all been through more than enough for one night." Miya said firmly. "Please, you are more than welcome, so there isn't a single thing you need worry about."
"O-okay… thank you very much," Chiho said in a small voice, holding Shiina's hand as she furtively took her first step in years into a proper house.
… Truthfully, that she was no longer a 'patient' hadn't quite sunk in.
Miya's smile of gentle misunderstanding took on a teasing edge as the girl seemed to settle and calm herself, wide-eyed wonder replacing trembling nervousness.
Though their moods improved immediately, Chiho's change in state didn't seen to have the slightest effect on the small flock hovering fretfully around her.
Chiho misunderstood the nature of her smile, flushing slightly.
"Um, sorry, it's just… a lot."
"Don't mind me," Miya shook her head gently. "I was just appreciating how two of my tenants seem to have found the perfect Ashikabi for them."
And Number 49, who she was much less familiar with, seemed to be no exception.
She was also the only one who managed to avoid blushing at Miya's idle comment… much.
"... Thank you," Chiho replied quietly, surprising herself by not immediately resorting to self-deprecation. "I'm… going to try my best to feel like I'm good for them, as well."
… Oh dear, she could have sworn she could almost see the silent adoration radiating off of the newly formed flock.
… Miya couldn't put into words how happy she was for them.
The second 'problem' to occur was much more wholesome in nature.
The group had more or less just… poured themselves into the living room, left unfortunately alert as exhaustion and adrenaline finished battling it out.
And there, a certain form of address had been mentioned in the hearing of one who had remained behind.
"Big Brother was Kuu's Big Brother first!" The little fairy stomped her foot in protest. "No stealing allowed!"
There was some awkward, muffled laughter in the room as Kusano's flock-sisters discovered resistance from a quarter they should have kind of expected, but it wasn't something they needed to deal with, in the end.
Chiho was smiling as she knelt down before the pouting little girl.
"You don't have to worry about me stealing your big brother," she assured gently. "Think of it this way- if he was your big brother first, doesn't that make you my big sister?"
Kusano went completely silent for several long seconds.
And then she gestured insistently with one hand, a bemused but still smiling Chiho leaned forward at the wordless demand.
A little hand stretched up and patted her bowed head, several times in succession.
"If anyone bullies you, you tell Big Sis right away, got it?" Kusano said with the utmost seriousness.
A soft, lyrical giggle escaped Chiho's lips as her smile grew all the brighter, and peace was restored in a thoroughly adorable fashion.
"... Ah, I almost forgot." Minato suddenly dropped a fist into his hand. "Matsu?"
"Oh, yeah!" Matsu said, quickly turning on the touchpad in her lap.
"What's that about, Babe?" Uzume asked curiously.
"It's for Homura," Minato explained.
"Me?" Homura asked in curiosity, as the touchpad was handed over.
He went completely silent, hands shaking and eyes widening at the images reflected in his dark claret eyes.
"That's right, Homura," Minato quietly revealed. "You won."
The screen displayed two separate, side-by-side shots of loving embraces, and… blossoming light in the form of wings.
"T-these are…" Homura struggled to scrape the words out past his dry throat.
"The last two 'forever and evers' that you protected." Matsu softly confirmed.
Right there on the screen was the irrefutable evidence…
That the desperate last battle of the Guardian of the Unwinged had ended in a flawless victory.
… She was embarrassing herself.
Over forty years old, and fidgeting like a teenage girl afraid of being rejected by her crush.
The words her son had said to her over the phone, late the night before, on endless repeat in her head.
She just needed to do it.
She just needed to stop being so damn cowardly, and say what she needed to say.
With a deep breath, Sahashi Takami stepped out of the car, and advanced towards the inn with firm steps.
"We'll monitor your vitals carefully going forward, but there shouldn't be any reason for concern," Minato's mother was telling her. "It's a situation where any surprises that crop up will be weird, not dangerous."
Such was the fate of a partial Myriad, it seemed.
Though the living room was all but vacated, Doctor Takami had taken over the table (with Miya's permission) and was performing a brief check up there. Nothing too complicated, but the Doctor had wisely assumed that Chiho wasn't eager to sit in a lab or hospital room again so soon after having lived in one most of her life.
Returning to empty out the white room she'd somewhat never expected to leave alive had been more than enough hospital for her.
"-And don't be shy about coming to me for help, either," a hint of strictness leaked into Takami's tone. "You're currently talking to the leading and only expert in the field of partial Myriads."
"Oh, wait a moment… Does that mean, maybe…?" Chiho hoped she wasn't reading between the lines too much-
But Takami gave her an impressed look, nodding immediately. "You're exactly right- though I'm only a quarter 'blank space'."
"If… it's not too much to ask, did he make you his… family in the same way too?" Why did she ask that why did she ask that-
"He did." The doctor said simply.
Chiho flushed, ducking her head in embarrassment.
She couldn't ask, she didn't have the courage.
And thus there wasn't the slightest chance of her realizing that Takami was marshaling her own courage as well.
Chiho stiffened as a small stack of papers and a pen entered her field of view, slid slowly across the table.
Her eyes went wide, and darted up to meet Takami's desperately neutral expression.
"You're old enough that you can be legally responsible for yourself, once certain conditions are fulfilled, and the support you'll already receive is in no way conditional," Takami stated, her voice slow and steady. "But there's no denying that having a legal guardian will make life easier for you, and those don't exactly grow on trees, so…" against Takami's wishes, the words stopped coming.
The monster that had formed a living bridge between Chiho and Takami had asked what sort of relationship his mother wished to have with his newest family member, and Takami's answer…
Took the form of the adoption papers placed in front of Chiho, and the only signature present on the page, written in bluntly precise penmanship.
'Sahashi Takami'.
"T-this is…!"
"I'm not trying to force this on you out of nowhere," Takami said, speaking a little fast, "take all the time to think it over and don't feel pressured to accept at all-!?"
Words failed her for the second time as slim hands shot across the table… and took firm, but quivering hold of her own.
Chiho's eyes were obscured by her bangs, but Takami watched her wet dry lips.
"... Is it really okay for me to be… greedy again… after all that I've been given?" Chiho asked in a threadbare whisper. She'd been graced with blessing after blessing, and here she was being offered another.
Expression softening, Takami twisted her hands around so that she could hold Chiho in return, soothingly rubbing her thumbs against the back of the girl's hands.
Her tone was gentle, yet fiercely insistent.
"If it is greediness, then it's greediness that not a soul in the entire world has a right to deny you."
With a long, shaky sigh, Chiho lifted her head and met Takami's sharp and earnest eyes.
What passed between them was nothing but silence, for a while.
… A silence that was eventually broken by the scratch of a pen, as Sahashi Chiho signed the papers.
And… done.
That was a ride, huh? Some violence, some fluff, a little seasoning of body horror…
Anyways, so now we have a half-Myriad roaming around who is already 'affecting' her Sekirei in strange ways, and all the Sekirei winged. We'll get into more of that next chapter, but the adoption felt like too good a way to end off.
And because I know some of you are wondering, healthy Chiho's closest match in terms of build is Miya.
Coincidentally, this means she's a little taller than Shiina.
I've been looking forward to busting out the altered Noritos for a while now, and Homura's Norito being more subdued than Kazehana's was deliberate in many ways, such as how they themselves wished for it.
Homura going from 'oh dear I lit myself on fire again' to 'yeah I turned my hand into a star, what about it?' is kind of a big deal for him. The 'transformation' aspect is important in more ways than one.
For Kazehana's Hammer of the Silent God, you really will get a good mental image of it if you imagine some enormous, invisible being bringing down the hammer in abnormal silence. A more technical term is 'microburst' if you wanna look it up.
Next chapter, we'll get into more of Minato's real purpose behind the 'operation', as well as settling in new group dynamics.