In the Sky with You

by a-shifty-sword

A Waifu Catalog Contractor isn't satisfied with how easy the default starting conditions are, and asks for a custom challenge similar to a Minecraft Modpack he played before, the Skyblock. He has to start from nothing and grow his way into power and adventures beyond his wildest dreams.

33. Day 042

I think I'll be pretty happy to never go to Shinto Teito again.

Well, not never. There are still people my family care about there after all. But not for a long ass time, that's for sure. Thankfully we don't really have a reason or need to go back now.

But, as usual with these entries that talk about our trips to other worlds, I'm getting ahead of myself. Let me go back to the beginning.

Shortly before the portal opened, Matsu handed out something to me, Levy, Kusano, Chiho, and Uzume.

"A face mask?" I asked as I examined it. It was the simple kind that people wore when they were sick.

"Yep!" she said, keeping the last one for herself and putting it on. "MBI has a lot of power and resources, including automated face tracking to track certain individuals through the city. But there are practical limits to that. Shinto Teito is home to about 14 million people. The computing cost of constantly scanning every face is enormous, so they cut some corners when it comes to quality. A face mask is all that is needed to prevent it from recognizing us."

"You can't disrupt it with your powers?" Mami asked.

She shrugged. "Matsu could, but she'd need a constant Norito, and we can't bring the Jinki with us."

I nodded at that as I put on the mask. Bringing the Jinki with us would defeat the entire purpose of what we did last visit, giving MBI a chance to recover it. So long as it stayed here, on the Skyblock, the Sekirei Plan couldn't progress. "Besides, they might notice that," I added.

It was then that the portal finally opened, and everyone focused on it. It didn't make any noise when it appeared, nor did it really give off any light. But it was hard not to be acutely aware of it.

I took out my phone and checked it. "The missions… we'll discuss later," I said as I skimmed them. "We might be able to do one of these. Maybe two." I closed the mission app and opened the Map before tossing it to Bisky. "You know the plan."

Bisky nodded and stepped through the portal, alone. She was our strongest combatant and MBI didn't know her face, so if there was something waiting for us on the other side, she was the best choice to handle it.

Five painfully slow seconds later, she stepped back through. "It's clear," she confirmed. "The portal is in the courtyard between two office buildings of some kind, right next to some vending machines. No one is close by and I didn't see any cameras."

I breathed a sigh of relief. "So the portal opened in a new spot. Good." That was the biggest concern about coming back. MBI knew roughly where the first portal was. They probably didn't actually know there was a portal there, but they had reason to be suspicious of that spot and were probably watching it. The portal being open somewhere else was critical to us being able to fly under the radar.

"Alright, next we'll test Matsu's telepathy," I said. Matsu grinned and skipped up to me before pressing her body against me. I wrapped an arm around her and kissed her deeply on the lips, activating her Norito.

Her wings sprouted as she chanted, and this time I felt it when she established her telepathic communication with me. "Testing, testing," she sent, still hugging me.

"I hear you," I confirm. "Bisky?"

"I'm here. Stepping back through the portal." I watched as she left the Skyblock again and waited for a moment. "Can you still hear me?"

"Loud and clear," I confirmed. "Looks like we're good to go. Go ahead and find Shiina."

Bisky's job was to act as the scout. Even with Matsu's masks, it would be foolish for most of us to spend more time in the city than we needed to with MBI still looking for us. Especially in the middle of the night, when there were fewer pedestrians to blend in with.

"There are Hunters that would kill for a map like this," Bisky mused as she presumably used the Mapper app to find Shiina. "There, found her. It looks like she's in a park of some kind. There's one other target near her, Sahashi Takami."

"She's MBI, the head researcher," Matsu said.

"That park… is it a few blocks long and a block wide?" I asked.

"Yep. Should I check it out?"

"Please do so. That might be the park we found Kusano in. If I'm right, we arrived right on time."

Kusano perked up at that. "Shi-chan hasn't found her Ashikabi yet?"

"I don't think so," I said. "I think this is right when MBI releases her, after she clears up the trees you made in the park." I continued mentally. "Bisky, how long until you get there, making sure to stay safe and out of sight?"

"Fifteen minutes if I'm being careful," she answered. "Though I could roof-hop my way there in less."

"Play it safe, we're not in a rush and I don't want to give up our advantage so quickly."

"Then I'll let you know when I'm close."

I pat Matsu on the head. "You can let go of me now. Use the Jinki to keep your Norito up."

She pouted up at me. "But Matsu wants more Ashikabi kisses."

"And I don't want to kiss you just to keep it going more than I have to," I argued. "It would stop feeling special and feel more like a chore if I was just constantly kissing you because it was a necessity."

She made a noise of complaint. "That's a good point…" she admits. "But Matsu still wants kisses!"

I kissed her again, this time not as an Ashikabi but as her lover. "I'll kiss you whenever you want, just for the sake of kissing."

She smiled, pleased. "Good."

She finally let go of me and I turned to the others, most of whom were watching with an amused smile. Kyouko was the exception, as she was deliberately not looking at us and her expression was blank.

"Alright everyone, you heard Bisky," I said. "We've got at least fifteen minutes to wait, so we can all relax a bit. Stay dressed and stay either here or in the dining or living room, but otherwise just take a bit to chill. Things might get hectic later."

Most of them just decided to sit down on the ground, forming a loose circle in the section of grass in front of the portal. Kyouko stepped a little further away, sitting against the outside wall of the bathroom. Mami looked at me for a moment before going over to sit next to her, which caused Kyouko to tense up a bit, but she didn't move away. Tinks went over to the forge and started playing with some scrap metal, and VV took up his spot on top of the house, over the entrance to the workshop area, where he could see everyone.

I also sat in the loose circle, Matsu on my right side, Jinki in her hand. Kusano was on my left, fidgeting a bit. "Nervous?" I asked her in a quiet voice.

She shook her head. "No, not at all. I'm just excited to see Shi-chan again. She's going to love it here." She wrapped her arms around me. "She's going to love you, just as much as I do."

I put a hand on her back. "I'm sure she will. And I'll love her as much as I love you."

Kusano hummed and hugged me tighter before falling silent. I closed my eyes and allowed myself to relax, idly stroking Kusano's hair as I waited to hear from Bisky. I almost reached out to her a couple times, asking for a status update, but I knew that would just annoy and distract her. In this case, no news was good news. I could still feel that the connection was open and she hadn't said anything, so I knew nothing had happened to her.

Eventually, an indeterminate amount of time later because Bisky had my only means of keeping accurate track of time, she did speak up. "Alright, I'm on a nearby rooftop, looking over the park."

Everyone was on the 'call' so to speak, so they all heard it and we perked up as Bisky reported. "How's it looking?" I asked.

"I can see Shiina," Bisky confirmed. "She's surrounded by men in body armor and guns, but they look more like they're escorting her than preventing her from running, with most of their attention outward instead of on her."

"Makes sense, Kusano and Takami were attacked there, they're probably on the lookout for something like that again," I mused. "Speaking of which, can you see Takami?"

There was a pause. "I see several people in lab coats, most of them watching her. A few have instruments of some kind. Mapper says she's one of them, but I can't tell which."

"Takami-san has gray hair," Kusano supplied. "She also smokes."

"I see her. She's also watching- wow!"

"Bisky? What happened?!" I asked, panic welling up in me.

"Sorry, sorry, it's nothing," Bisky said. "Shiina just used her power on a tree. Seeing it turn to dust so quickly caught me off guard."

"Shi-chan is really good with her power," Kusano said.

"So Shiina is clearing the park?" I asked Bisky, forcing myself to relax.

"Looks like it. She's not going very fast though. At this rate it'll probably take a few hours."

"She's released after this, right?" Chiho asked. "When we read the manga, the other Shiina was released right after the park cleared up."

"Assuming our actions didn't change things, yes, Shiina should be available today," I confirmed. "Sorry to ask it Bisky, but do you mind staking them out and making sure?"

"Psh, staking out a location for just a few hours is easy for a Hunter of my caliber. Leave it to me."

"Thanks Bisky. We'll keep the line open, make sure to check in every 15 minutes or if something happens." I turned to the others. "You all heard her. We'll probably be waiting for a few hours, but we've confirmed enough about the situation to be able to make some plans. So, first off, what do we need to do besides pick up Shiina?"

"Matsu wants to visit Miya," she declared. "Not just to see her, but because of the Jinki. As the first Sekirei, she'll know a lot about them. And her late husband, Takehito-san, was the foremost human expert on Jinki. If we want to learn more about how to use them, we need to talk to her."

I rubbed my chin as I thought about that. "They're almost certainly watching Izumo Inn," I said.

"Matsu is confident she can get us there without being noticed," she rebutted. "And even if they do know, they won't attack us while we're there. Miya is that scary."

"It would make leaving more of a pain in the ass… but the Jinki research is worth the risk," I agreed.

"We have shopping we need to do as well," Levy pointed out. "It's not critical, but Kyouko and Mami need more clothes, and if we're going to be bringing on Shiina there are some food stuffs and hygiene things that I'd like to pick up if we can."

I considered that for a moment, but before I said anything, Uzume spoke up. "We could split up," she suggested. I instantly frowned, but she continued. "I mean, there's too many of us to all travel together anyway, we'd draw way too much attention, which means we'd have to split up anyway, some of us traveling out and the others staying here. But three of us, including the two that need to go clothes shopping, don't need to hide themselves at all because MBI doesn't know them and they don't really stand out."

I looked over to Mami and Kyouko, who were both looking at us, listening. "That… is true," I was forced to agree. "But there's no reason we can't do our shopping first, as a small group, then Izumo Inn."

"Except for what you said earlier," Levy pointed out. "The less time we spend in the city, the better. Uzume is right, we'd have to split up anyway. At the very least, the shopping trip shouldn't include you." She gave me an apologetic smile. "Sorry. You stand out more than any of us. I could probably get away with going with them, or Uzume, but you'd be a risk."

I grimaced as I realized she had a point. My height alone would literally make me stand out, not to mention my clearly non-Japanese origins. "Fine, fine. We don't want to crowd Izumo Inn anyway. Levy, you'll take the Magical Girls to get our shopping done and I'll take everyone else to Izumo Inn. Sound good?"

I waited for anyone to say anything else, but everyone seemed satisfied with that plan. I wasn't, but that was because of my reflexes telling me not to split the party. But I knew that wasn't going to be a viable option from here on out. We had enough people to deploy multiple teams, and as we grew, we'd have to operate in more and more groups. 'Don't split the party' didn't apply when the party was closer in size to a platoon than a four to five man adventuring party.

"Bisky, you've got an eye on them, right?" I asked, just to confirm. "I want the phone back so we can do some planning."

"Sure, that's fine," she said. "If something changes, I'll let you know, and someone else can step out of the portal to double check it with the map."

With Bisky forewarned, I simply wanted my phone back, and it appeared in my hand with a pop. It was a feature of the phone I didn't use often, but as my Company Smart Device, I can manually recall it to my side whenever I wanted. It would leave Bisky a little blind, but we had already planned for that, and she would be fine.

"Now, let's discuss missions," I said as I pulled them up again. "Two of them caught my eye. The first one was a mission to steal more Jinki, offering us Science Talent if we get even one, and then 10 Credits for each Jinki we steal past the first one."

"Wouldn't that require raiding MBI's headquarters?" Uzume asked, concerned.

"It would, which is why I'm a little hesitant to accept it," I said. "But it's a lot of potential Credits, and now that we know how to use them to activate Noritos, having at least one Jinki per Sekirei on our team could be massively useful. So, if we can figure out a safe way to do it, I'd like to try."

"I don't think there's a safe way of dealing with Karasuba," Uzume pointed out.

"Sure there is, her name is Bisky," I replied flippantly. "Mami and Kyouko could probably take her on too, especially if they're working together."

"I wouldn't mind a half decent fight," Kyouko said, chiming in unexpectedly. "The midget refuses to spar with me, I've been getting bored."

"You two sparring would decimate the training area," I pointed out. "We need to improve our infrastructure before that."

"I'm working on something!" Kusano said. "But it'll take a while."

"We're getting off topic," Levy cut in. "I agree, going after the Jinki sounds useful, even if it wasn't a mission with extra benefits. We probably have the firepower to do it too, especially if we're smart about it. But I believe we'll need to scope them out before we can make a plan. So we should shelve it for later, after we get a chance to do so." There were nods all around, including me. "Now, what was the second mission?"

"One that will draw a lot of attention," I said before turning to Chiho and Uzume. "How do you two feel about getting some revenge? The second mission is to have you two get back at Higa by taking out all of his Sekirei. The only stipulation is that you, Uzume, have to personally defeat at least one of his Sekirei without any help, and Chiho has to 'make him regret what he did', which is pretty vague."

"Oh yeah, consider me very interested," Uzume said with a grin bordering on bloodthirsty. "I'll make him pay for what he tried to do to us."

Chiho's expression was more neutral, almost contemplative. "I think it would be a good idea. We should be strong enough to do that now, right? I know last time we could only do a little."

"Assuming all our fighters are comfortable taking out two Sekirei each, sure," I agreed. "Assuming we can't just find a way to pick them off one by one, which we should be able to do. I don't think any of them were particularly exceptional."

"I don't think we'll have an issue," Uzume said. "I could take any of them one on one even before I started learning Nen. With Nen? It'll be a cake walk."

"The biggest concern is still MBI though," Matsu pointed out. "Taking out that many Sekirei is going to draw their attention. And once they realize it's us, they're going to come at us hard."

"We'll have to be quick then, or ready to fend off their attack," I mused. "But that should be much easier to do than to attack their base."

"What are the rewards?" Levy asked.

I looked back at my phone. "Middling. Two copies of Body Defense, which would make us immune to toxins and radiation as well as giving us some free heals to use whenever we want. Covert Talent, which I guess could improve Matsu's hacking ability even more. And a million US dollars." Which would have been an impressive number once upon a time. But really it just meant Matsu and I wouldn't have to steal from ATMs for a while.

"Well, I'm all for it," Uzume said. Chiho nodded in agreement.

"Alright, we'll see if we can pull it off after visiting Izumo Inn," I agreed. "Doing that and getting info on the Jinki is more useful. And we'll have to decide which mission we do once we investigate a bit more." I looked up. "Is there anything else we want to do in Shinto Teito?"

No one had any other suggestions. I half expected someone to ask for a date, or a trip somewhere fun, but I suppose that all of them knew how serious the situation was and that we wouldn't have time for that.

I didn't bother mentioning the third mission, which was to finish capturing all of the other Sekirei Minato would have winged in canon, Homura, Kazehana, and Tsukiumi, leaving him with just Musabi. Cuck missions are offered pretty often, but despite already taking two of the Sekirei he would have winged, Kusano and Matsu, I wasn't interested in taking more.

After that we passed the time planning. Levy and the others worked on a shopping list, while I pulled up the list of Sekirei that we'd have to take out for the Higa mission and looked up each of them in the Catalog to get a brief summary of their abilities. The catalog description wasn't terribly in depth, but it provided their Tiers and how they fought, which was good enough to come up with some plans and countermeasures.

Thankfully, only one of them was rated at T5, the others were all T4. Considering Uzume was T5 before she started learning Nen, it seemed her words earlier were true, and she'd be more than a match for any of them one on one. But with Mapper in our possession, I planned on ambushing as many as I could before confronting them directly.

As the hours dragged on, Kyouko walked over to me. "Hey, I want my pay for tutoring you. They're putting together a list but I want to get snacks and shit for myself."

I could feel the others bristle at how she was talking to me, but I paid it no mind. "Sure, just gimme a sec." I navigated to the money app on the phone and materialized a hundred thousand yen. A full week of pay, despite her only agreeing to teach me three days ago. I could have given her half of that and called it fair, but I chose not to.

She counted it after I gave it to her and I could see as she realized it as well. Her eyes darted to my face, like she was expecting me to realize my mistake, before she realized that it wasn't one. "Tch," she clicked her tongue and stuffed the bills into her hoodie pocket.

We eventually hit a point where there wasn't any more planning we could do and we were just waiting. Bisky chimed in every now and then, updating us on Shiina's progress, but it wasn't until nearly six AM that Shiina finally finished removing all the trees that Kusano had made.

"MBI is packing up," Bisky reported. "All the soldiers and the lab coats are loading into vans. Shiina is staying behind. Takami talked to her briefly, but she's getting in the van now."

"Alright everyone, it's about time for us to roll," I said. "Matsu, Kusano, Mami, and Kyouko. You're with me. Everyone else stay here, we'll bring Shiina back." We had decided on this already, sending out a small crew to get Shiina. I would have just taken Mami and Kyouko, but Matsu was needed for MBI surveillance and countermeasures, and Kusano was required to convince Shiina to join us. And also I was afraid that she'd bite me if I tried to stop her from coming.

The four people I named nodded and stepped to the portal behind me. Mami and Kyouko both let off a flash of light as they shifted into their Magical Girl forms. Matsu topped off her Norito using the Jinki before handing it to Uzume. Kusano checked her pockets, full of seeds for her to deploy.

"Good luck!" Levy called out. I gave her a smile over my shoulder and then stepped through the portal.

I don't think I'll ever get used to doing that, going from the silence of the Skyblock to the relative cacophony of the city, even one at night. The transition was too easy, too lacking in any other stimulus, so the sudden change in environment was all that I could notice.

But I didn't let it bother me for long. "Matsu," I said immediately as I felt her exit behind me.

"No cameras in range," she said after a beat. "Checking MBI… they're not on alert. We're clear."

"Bisky?"

"Shiina is leaving the park, headed west, towards you. She's not in a hurry."

I double checked with Mapper and then let out a curse. "There's two more Sekirei nearby!" I sent. "Akitsu and Mitsuha. They're enemies, working for the same Ashikabi that tried to forcefully wing Kusano. One is an ice user and the other a weapon user." Out loud I gave orders to the others. "We need to hurry, follow me. Matsu make sure to deal with any cameras you can."

We took off, running in the direction of Shiina. "I see them," Bisky said after a few moments. "Should I intercept?"

"If they're about to confront Shiina, yes," I replied. "But if not, just follow her and wait for us. We can't afford a proper fight here, it would draw MBI's attention if we terminate one of them. Better to scare them off with numbers."

Kyouko snorted behind me, apparently amused, but she didn't say anything. Matsu did, however. "Matsu could spoof that they were okay, but it would be bad for them to be left alone while terminated, especially for a whole day."

"They're just tailing her so far," Bisky reported. "Neither group has seen me though. I've been avoiding cameras as well."

"Five minutes until we get there," I estimated. We were running fairly quickly by normal standards, but not going all out. That was both so we didn't draw attention or wear ourselves out too soon, and we could afford it so long as the other two didn't approach.

But it was as if just having those thoughts was enough to tempt Murphy.

"They're closing the distance!" Bisky called out, tone urgent but not panicked. "I'll stop them. Get here quickly if you don't want me to beat them too badly."

I cursed and sped up, the others matching my pace. Thanks to Bisky's training, even Matsu and Kusano were able to use their aura to boost their running speed to keep up with us. Though I was sure Kyouko and Mami could go faster. I was tempted to send them ahead, giving Mami the phone to navigate, but I decided to keep us together. I had faith that Bisky could handle it.

"Down that alley!" Matsu said a few blocks later, pointing to an upcoming turn. "There are no cameras there."

I did as she said, ducking into the alley. It led to an empty lot behind the building, the ground churned up and construction equipment scattered throughout it. And as soon as we entered, so did someone else, from the other side.

I had looked her up earlier using the Catalog, so I was able to recognize Shiina on sight despite the change in her appearance. And it was certainly a change, more than I thought it would be. She looked a year or two younger than Kusano for one, which didn't make any sense, but then again, Sekirei ages were weird in the first place.

Her hair was similar to her canon counterpart, cut to about shoulder length and not styled in any particular way, but hers was closer to white than the gray-ish silver I expected. Her eyes were a piercing blue, and she was short, beating only Bisky in height within my retinue. The white and black schoolgirl outfit she wore, complete with a short skirt and black thigh high socks, was baggy, so it was hard to judge her figure, but she definitely had more of one than Bisky did.

She came to a stop as she spotted us. Her expression was a little muted, but I could see the wariness on her face as she analyzed us. That was, until she spotted Kusano. "Ku-chan!" she said, a smile lighting up her face.

"Shi-chan!" Kusano called back happily, running ahead of us to catch up to Shiina.

But before they could properly reunite, Bisky, in her normal outfit, burst out of the alley that Shiina had entered from, followed immediately by a large mass of ice. Kusano came to a halt and Shiina turned around to see it.

Bisky ignored them though, coming to a stop near Shiina as two Sekirei leaped over the new block of ice and landed in the empty lot as well. But both of them stopped when they saw just how many people were there, giving me a moment to take a closer look at them.

Akitsu was on the left. She was fairly tall, relatively speaking, and had short light brown hair. She had a pretty large chest, one that was clearly on display as the top of her white kimono was spread so far it would have slipped off her shoulders entirely if it weren't for the odd chains keeping it closed, while also connected to her neck in a collar-like fashion. But most prominent was the Sekirei Crest on her forehead, which wasn't at all where it normally would be.

On the right was Mitsuha, a shorter but equally busty girl with long blond twintails, a short black and yellow dress, and black thigh high socks. She was also carrying a black leathery whip.

"Hey! We had eyes on her first!" Mitsuha shouted while pointing at us angrily. "Back off!"

I didn't bother engaging in banter. "Kyouko, go after the kimono one. Mami, target the whip one. Don't defeat them, just scare them off."

Kyouko clicking her tongue in annoyance was the only reply I got, but both of them moved at the same time, dashing out from behind me and speeding towards their targets.

Mitsuha squawked in surprise and took a step back as Mami approached her at speed, and the panicked whip she aimed at Mami in retaliation was caught by ribbons that shot out of Mami's outfit. Mami used her grip to yank the offending weapon out of Mitsuha's hand and threw it to the side, beyond her reach.

Akitsu was more prepared and erected another glacier of ice as Kyouko approached, but Kyouko's spear cut through it with ease. Though perhaps saying 'obliterated' would be more accurate as it wasn't sliced so much as the top half of it was turned into icy dust as Kyouko barreled through it.

"Shit!" Mitsuha said, scrambling back. Mami let her, standing in the spot Mitsuha had been in before.

Kyouko did the same, as Akitsu had leaped even further back, landing on the glacier blocking the alley. "We should retreat," she said in monotone.

"Dammit!" Mitsuha let out a frustrated cry. "We were so close!"

"I'd take the advice of your friend," Bisky said. She slammed a fist into her open palm and it made a noise closer to a gunshot than a clap. "You won't be getting anything tonight."

Mitsuha hesitated for a moment and then stomped her feet. "Dammit!" she repeated. Then she pointed a finger at us again. "You'll regret this one day!" And before we could reply, she turned around and jumped over the ice and escaped back into the alley, Akitsu right on her heels.

I waited for a moment after they left before speaking. "Well, good work team," I said. "You handled that perfectly."

"They were chumps," Kyouko commented.

"Shi-chan!" Kusano nearly tackled the smaller girl as she hugged her, finally reuniting now that the fight was over.

"Ku-chan," Shiina replied quietly, sounding a little confused. But she hugged the other girl back, even as she looked over Kusano's shoulder to make eye contact with me. She shifted her gaze as soon as our eyes met though, and turned to Kusano. "Is this… your Ashikabi? The spy?"

Kusano finally pulled back. "Spy? Oh, right, Onii-chan mentioned they'd think he was a spy."

I decided to finally butt in at that. "I'm not a spy. I just didn't want to participate in a game that risked losing my Sekirei, or forced me to take away Sekirei from other Ashikabi who don't deserve that. So we left, and we took something with us that would force MBI to halt their plans. Did they? We haven't heard any news this past month."

Shiina stared at me with a blank expression before shrugging. "I- I don't know," she said in a quiet voice. "I could tell something happened, but they didn't tell me anything."

"Then why did ya call him a spy, huh?" Kyouko said in an accusatory tone.

Shiina glanced at Kyouko. "Takami-san told me Kusano was taken away. She looked after both of us often."

"Onii-chan isn't a spy, but he did take me away!" Kusano explained. "But he asked me if I wanted to before he winged me. And his home is really cool! We live on an island floating in the sky!"

"Eh?" Shiina replied, confused. "Like, an airship or something?"

As Kusano explained about the Skyblock, I turned to Matsu. "Shiina's tracking. Is that going to be an issue?"

Matsu grinned. "Normally… but Matsu came prepared." She held up a cell phone. "When we decided to come back, Matsu made a virus that will spoof Shiina's data! It won't be perfect because it won't match with camera footage, but MBI will have no idea where she is or when she was winged. So long as we don't give MBI a reason to check on her, it should be fine."

"A reason like winning a fight with two other Sekirei?" I pointed out.

But she waved her hand. "If the other two had been defeated instead of retreating, they would have investigated. A scuffle that didn't result in anything? Even if they're on the lookout for us, they don't have any reason to investigate. But Matsu will monitor them and make sure!"

I nodded. "Good enough. Getting Shiina was the only necessary thing for this trip. Worst comes to worse, we retreat to the Skyblock and call it a day."

"Onii-chan," Kusano said, grabbing my attention. I turned back to her to see her and Shiina looking at me. Shiina's face was still largely expressionless, but there was a faint hint of wariness. "Shi-chan wants to see the Skyblock before she decides if she wants to join us."

I realized that Shiina probably didn't believe that Kusano was telling the truth. Actually, thinking back on it, she probably was thinking that Kusano was deceived or embellishing, rather than lying to her. Still, I decided not to point it out. The Skyblock was a pretty unbelievable thing after all, and seeing it would do a better job convincing her than anything else.

"Sure, not a problem. Everyone ready to head back?" I looked at Matsu in particular.

"Spoofing has started, we're clear!" Matsu confirmed.

The trip back to the portal was quiet and uneventful. We were a large group, so we split into two. The magical girls went on ahead, making sure there wasn't anything we needed to be worried about, while the rest of us followed a handful of blocks behind them while I kept an eye on Mapper and gave them directions through telepathy, something I could have done earlier but hadn't occurred to me while running.

But nothing happened and we made it back to the portal without seeing another soul. It was still before the sun rose after all, and the part of the city we were in seemed to be primarily offices and business that didn't open that early.

Shiina stopped short when she spotted the portal, eyes widening. "Is- is that…?" she started to ask.

Kusano took her hand. "That's the way home! Come on!" She didn't give Shiina much of a choice as she forcefully dragged the smaller girl through the portal and onto the Skyblock.

"They're so cute," Matsu said with a grin before following them. I went in last, leaving behind the sound of the city and entering the comforting silence of my home.

I think I've mentioned it before, but I love seeing people react to their first sight of the Skyblock. The way their eyes widen and then look around, seeing Sky in every direction. The way they gape at the impossibility of it as the lack of sound and just the feeling of being suspended in an infinite space really sinks in.

Shiina did all of that, and I wasn't the only one watching with a smile. The others, including the ones that had been left behind, were silently letting Shiina experience it for herself. Kusano was the one wearing the biggest grin though, and after a moment she started draggin Shiina around, showing her everything and excitedly babbling about our lives here.

The others scattered, some following and watching, some going to sit down or grab a bite to eat. Levy, however, approached me. "It went well then?"

"We avoided MBI's notice," I confirmed. "We had a run in with a couple Sekirei that wanted to poach Shiina, but the magical girls scared them off without an actual fight."

"See? It didn't go so bad. We're a lot more capable now than we were last time."

"Yeah, yeah, I know. Big Brother watching constantly just makes me nervous, especially when they have reason to field someone like Karasuba against us."

"Big Brother?"

"Sorry, it's a reference. I mean the constant cameras and surveillance covering the entire city that makes it difficult to operate without being seen."

"Ah, I see. That's what Matsu is for though, no?"

"Yeah, and she's doing a great job. And to think I didn't think she'd be useful at first."

"So does that mean we're going back out then?"

I paused, thinking about it. "Probably," I finally admitted. "We'll wait a few hours, give shops time to open and for people to wake up. Then we'll pop in and Matsu will make sure MBI didn't notice anything. If they didn't, we'll split up for shopping and visiting Miya. I'll decide after that which mission we do, if either of them." I was counting on Miya to give us a better idea about the Jinki, and maybe the other people in the house being able to tell me what Higa was up to. Matsu would do her research online then as well.

Levy gave me a smile. "Sounds like a plan."

Suddenly, Shiina was dragged back in front of me. "And this is Onee-chan and Onii-chan! Onee-chan does really cool magic and is always helping everyone. And Onii-chan is Onii-chan, he's strong and smart and the best Ashikabi ever."

"Magic?" Shiina asked, eyes widening.

Levy smiled and her finger lit up with mana as she moved it through the air. The word 'Confetti' appeared briefly before bursting into colorful scraps of paper with a pop, raining confetti onto the ground. Thankfully, it dispersed back into mana as soon as it did.

"Wow," Shiina whispered. Her gaze shifted over to me, gaze expectant.

But I shrugged. "I can't show off anything fancy like that, but I'm the one that made this place." Technically it was the Company, but I was the one that asked them to do it. Even if I stole the idea from a video game. "I mean, Kusano did most of the buildings and stuff, but without me this Skyblock wouldn't exist, and I never would have come to your world."

"I- I see," she said. "It's nice. It feels… comforting. Like a home I've never been to."

"Right?" Kusano agreed excitedly. "It's the biggest Sky ever that we can fly freely in!" She paused. "Not literally though. None of us can fly."

"We'll figure out a way to do that sooner or later," I said. I've had some vague thoughts about hot air balloons a few times, but we don't really have a need for something like that right now.

I turned to Shiina. "So? How about it? Do you want to join? We'd be happy to have you, but it means leaving Shinto Teito. Probably for good, I don't see us coming back again any time soon. We'll visit worlds both dangerous and beautiful. I can't promise that you'll be safe, but I can promise that I won't force you into anything you don't want to do, and I'll do everything I can to make you happy."

Shiina stared at me blankly, unmoving, and at first I was worried I said something wrong. But then, slowly, her entire face grew a bright red as she blushed fiercely.

"Roland…" Levy said with a sigh, equal parts exasperated and amused.

"Ah, was that a bit much?" I asked sheepishly.

"See, Onii-chan is the best!" Kusano insisted. "You'll love it here!"

"I- I- I," she stammered. Then she suddenly bent at the waist, bowing. "I'll be in your care!"

"Alright, alright, let's just calm down," I said, putting a hand on her shoulder and gently pushing her back into an upright position. "Are you sure? I don't want you just agreeing because you're flustered."

Her gaze dropped a bit and it was her turn to look sheepish. But she nodded. "I… there's not really anyone besides Ku-chan that I'd regret leaving behind. And if Ku-chan likes you… I think I will too."

I gave her a smile. "Then in that case, welcome aboard. Do you want me to wing you now? Or wait until later?"

She blushed again. "N-now, please," she whispered before looking up at me, clearly nervous, but there was also a softness to her expression that spoke of longing. "N-Nii-san," she added, addressing me similarly to how Kusano did.

I didn't hesitate, though I did move slowly, as I cupped her cheek and leaned down to plant a kiss on her lips.

Her lips were small and soft, and from her back sprouted insect-like wings made of pure white light that hummed in the air. She reflexively embraced me as we kissed, hands grabbing onto my jacket and pulling me closer to her, pressing herself against me.

She only relaxed her grip once her wings faded. Our lips separated and I got a good view of her looking up at me with a dopey smile on her face.

And then her eyes focused as she came back to reality. A look of horror crept over her face as she looked around and saw all of the others who were still outside, Levy, Kusano, Matsu, and Kyouko watching us with amused smiles. Well, Kyouko wasn't smiling, but I didn't get a good look at her expression. I was too focused on Shiina, whose face was once again growing red, and I could tell she was about to bolt.

But before she could, Kusano had taken my place and was hugging her. "I'm so happy!" she said. "We'll be together forever!" And then she copied me further by kissing Shiina herself.

Shiina froze and didn't react, even as Kusano pulled back. Kusano looked confused for a moment before realization struck her. "Oh. Hehe, sorry. We don't just kiss Onii-chan, we sometimes kiss each other as well! Don't worry, you'll get used to it."

"I will?" Shiina replied, sounding alarmed.

Matsu cackled. "Just wait until we go to bed tonight, you'll see then," she said.

She looked at Matsu with wide eyes, and then looked around at the other girls before her gaze landed back on me. I could see the realization dawn on her as it finally clicked for her what the dynamic here truly was- me and my harem. "Oh," she said quietly.

Matsu laughed again. "Too late to back out now!"

"Shush Matsu," Levy chided her. She then turned to Shiina. "Don't worry, like Roland said, you won't have to do anything you're not comfortable with."

Shiina's face grew red and she nodded a little stiffly as she averted her gaze again. I wasn't too worried though, I could tell that she was just shy rather than upset or averse to the idea.

"We're going to be waiting here for a few hours, so Kusano, why don't you show Shiina what we normally have for breakfast?" I suggested. "Use the magic fruit, since we might not get a chance to stop to eat later."

"Okay Onii-chan!" Kusano dragged the still somewhat dazed Shiina away, where hopefully she would be distracted and would have time to process everything.

"I'm glad Kusano is so happy," Levy said as she watched them go. "This was a good idea."

"Yeah," I agreed, relaxing a bit. "Kusano deserved a reward after all. She's the reason we can eat like we do, and we have an actually nice house instead of something much smaller built from brick or something. We've relied on her for a lot of our daily life stuff."

"Shiina's cute too," Matsu said, her expression lewd. "The way she blushes… Matsu can't wait to see what reactions Ashikabi-tan can pull out of her."

"Don't tease her too much," I warned. "Don't forget, her power is the opposite of Kusano's. She'll decay the clothes right off of you."

"Matsu fails to see the problem with that," she said. "We're naked most of the time anyway!"

I didn't have a rebuttal to that, because she had a point. "Just, let her ease into things, alright?"

"Yes, yes, Matsu will play nice. For now." She flashed me a grin and then skipped into the house.

I sighed. "Come on Levy, let's just go relax for a bit inside."

We spent the next several hours lounging around. The Pokemon were released and introduced to our newest family member. Kusano distributed bowls of fruit to everyone while constantly talking to Shiina, mouth running at a mile a minute like an overly excited puppy. It brought a smile to my face to see her like that, and Shiina was slowly relaxing as she got more used to the place and all the people.

A couple hours into our waiting I noticed that Shiina kept glancing at me. She would notice me watching her, blush, and then look away, only to glance at me again a few minutes later. I wasn't quite sure what was going through her head. At first I thought she just didn't like being watched, so I started focusing on other things, only looking up when I felt her eyes on me, but she had the same reaction.

Kusano seemed to notice as well. She exchanged glances with me, asking me what was happening, and I just shrugged. So she immediately poked Shiina and started whispering to her. I couldn't hear what they said, but a few minutes later Shiina got up and walked over to me. Her movements were a little stiff, and she clearly looked nervous. But she sat down next to me on the couch.

"Hey," I greeted her. It was just the two of us on the couch, the others were sitting at the table or elsewhere on the Skyblock.

She nodded in greeting but didn't say anything. She was sitting close to me, but not close enough to be touching, so it wasn't like she was afraid of me. Again, she just seemed shy.

So I decided to be the one to break the ice. "How are you adjusting?" I asked. "It's probably been a pretty crazy day for you."

"Y-yeah," she agreed, stammering slightly. "It's… strange. This place and the others, I mean. Not that I think they're weird! I just- I mean-" she trailed off, flustered.

"No, we're a pretty weird bunch," I agreed with a chuckle. "Aliens, magical girls, mages, Pokemon, and aura users, all on one tiny island in the sky. And Chiho's going to be a witch who brews potions soon."

"Yeah," she said quietly. "That's- that's what I meant. I've only read about stuff like that in stories, so seeing it for myself… you're right, it's been pretty crazy."

I put an arm around her shoulder. She flinched at first, jumping in surprise, but after a moment she relaxed and leaned into my side. "You'll get used to it soon enough," I assured her. "If there's anything we can do to help with that, just let us know. You're one of us now."

She nodded but didn't reply, and we fell silent again for a few moments.

But then she spoke up in a quiet, barely audible, voice.

"I hated you," she admitted. I went still at that, confused about what she meant. "For the past month, I mean. I heard you took Kusano away. Kidnapped her to do who knows what. Last time a Sekirei was taken away they did… horrible things. I had nightmares about it."

I grimaced. "Sorry," I replied quietly.

But she shook her head. "It's… it's okay. I get it now. You had to get Kusano out of there. And you couldn't let MBI know. But… my goal for the past month has been to find you and…" she trailed off, apparently unwilling to specify what she wanted to do once she found me. But I could guess easily enough.

I use my arm around her shoulders to pull her closer to me. "You know what? That makes me happy, actually," I tell her. Her head whipped around to look at me in surprise, putting her face very close to mine. But I just smiled at her. "Because you wanted to protect Kusano, right?"

Shiina nodded. "Me too," I continued. "Though… I don't always do a good job." I looked away, glancing at Kusano, who was trying very hard to make it seem like she wasn't watching us while she talked to Uzume and Chiho, but she wasn't doing a very good job.

"Last week, the portal opened up in a pretty dangerous world," I said. "But I was confident in our ability to handle it, so I took all of us in. At one point… things got dicey. Me, Chiho, and Kusano were separated from the others in a place where we were being attacked by monsters. Chiho was barely more than a normal human at that point, and Kusano isn't much of a fighter. She used her trees to help defend us, but she reached her limit eventually, and I was left alone to fight against them all, to protect the others."

Shiina was watching my face, clinging on to my every word. "What happened?" she asked.

"Well, we survived, obviously," I joked, trying to lighten the mood slightly. "But… it was close. And I know it scared Kusano a lot." I turned back to Shiina and smiled at her. "So knowing you want to protect her that much is reassuring. She's not a fighter, and as much as I'd like to always be there to protect her, I have a lot of responsibilities, and having her by my side would mean dragging her into some of the most dangerous places. So, having someone like you, someone who loves her just as much as I do, that can stick by her side and protect her? That makes me happy."

Shiina, whose face was once again very close to mine, blushed deeply. But she didn't look away or pull back. "I- I will!" she promised enthusiastically. "I'll protect her as best as I can!"

"Thank you, that's all I ask," I said. Then, since the moment felt right, I leaned down slightly, closing the gap between us, and kissed her again. Once again, she seemed surprised by the intimate contact, but quickly returned the affection, kissing me back.

It wasn't a long kiss, nor was tongue used, but it was intimate and full of warmth nonetheless. When I pulled back, Shiina's face was practically scarlet from how strongly she was blushing, but she looked pleased.

She scooted closer to me, so close that she went from sitting next to me to placing herself in my lap, her back pressed against my chest. She seemed content there, so I wrapped my arms around her stomach and held her close.

Across the room, I saw Kusano looking at us with a dopey grin, clearly pleased by this development.

We sat like that for a few moments, just enjoying the cuddling. But a thought occurred to me. "You're Kusano's older sister right?"

"I guess?"

"Well… why are you so much smaller than her?" I asked. "I know Sekirei don't exactly get normal childhoods, but I never would have guessed you were the older one."

"I asked Takami-san that once, when Ku-chan started outgrowing me. She just mumbled about how even Sekirei have to put up with unfair genetics. Or something like that. It didn't really make sense to me."

"Ah," I said, understanding. Kusano was predisposed to be curvy and Shiina… was not.

"Do… do you not like smaller girls?" Shiina asked in a quiet and timid voice.

I pulled her closer to me. "I like them plenty," I reassured her. "Look around at everyone else. I like all kinds of girls, including girls like you." I shifted one of my hands, reaching down to her thigh and running my finger gently along the small strip of skin showing between the top of her socks and the bottom of her skirt. "I think you're very cute, Shiina," I whispered in her ear.

I couldn't see her face, but I saw how even her ears turned pink as she started blushing. I couldn't help but to grin. The others didn't really blush, not often at least. I had to catch them off guard to get one. But Shiina did, a lot, and it was incredibly cute.

She squirmed in my lap. "Really?" she asked. "You're not just saying that?"

I placed my entire hand on her thigh, fingers curling down between them and my thumb brushing against the edge of her skirt. It was carefully still in the 'safe' spots, but mere millimeters away from being lewd. "I mean it," I whispered into her ear. "Don't you feel what's pressing against your butt? That's not my phone."

She paused for a moment and then wiggled her hips. Her butt moved in my lap, and the bulge in my pants pressed against her. Her ears went from pink to red. "O-oh…" she said in a quiet voice, but there was a hint of something else in it. Some mix of excitement and relief.

I start moving the hand on her thigh, gently rubbing it over both the socks she was wearing and the exposed skin above them. My hand slowly inched towards more intimate spots. I put my other hand to work as well, slowly moving it up her stomach to her chest. I leaned down further to kiss her on the neck. "I can show you just how much I like you, if you want," I offered in a husky whisper.

She squirmed, once more grinding her ass into my growing erection. "I- but- everyone can see us," she squeaked.

I quickly glanced at the others, who could indeed see us, at least the ones that were still in the room. Most of them were trying to look like they weren't paying attention, but I could see their grins. And Matsu was straight up filming us.

"And if I took you somewhere private?" I asked.

Shiina didn't reply at first, but she did squirm a few more times. There was no doubt that she could feel my erection poking into her, even through the layers of fabric that separated us.

Then, finally, she answered. "O-okay," she stammered slightly.

I didn't hesitate. I took the hand that was on her thighs and slipped it beneath her legs instead. I then stood up, scooping her up into a princess carry as I did so. She yelped a little in surprise, and I got a good look at her shocked and blushing face. Her eyes met mine and her blush deepened before she lowered her gaze, hiding her eyes behind her bangs.

I walked through the kitchen, past the others, ignoring the way Matsu pouted even as she continued to film us on her phone. I made my way straight to the bedroom, which was empty, and then closed the door behind us.

Once there I stopped and looked down at Shiina. She was peeking out from under her bangs, looking at the room, her expression hard to see from my angle. But then she looked up at me and met my eyes. She looked nervous, but not scared. Like she was caught between hesitation and excitement.

So, with her still in my arms, I leaned down and kissed her again. It started soft, with her small lips pressing against mine, but unlike our kisses up until this point, I didn't keep it brief. With each passing moment, our kiss deepend, and it wasn't long before her lips parted enough for my tongue to push its way into her mouth.

Her arms reached up to wrap around my neck as we made out, our bodies quickly growing hot as our arousal grew. I shifted my hold on her so I was holding her up, one hand under each of her thighs, her body upright as we kissed.

I carefully made my way to the bed and knelt down. She broke off our kiss momentarily and looked at me with loving eyes. "Nii-san…" she whispered, voice needy.

I certainly couldn't hold back after that. I laid her down on the bed and knelt over her before kissing her again. Her hands reached up to my chest, not to push me away, but to cling to my shirt and pull me closer. My own hands were on either side of her head, so my full weight wasn't pressing down on her.

After several moments of intense making out, Shiina started to squirm beneath me. I felt her legs reflexively spread, feet lifting to wrap around my thighs. I pulled back again to look at her. Her hair was disheveled, her shirt was rumbled, and her spread legs had caused her skirt to lift, showing her panties, which were plain, but black.

I grinned down at her. "Someone's eager," I teased.

She pouted, and if her face wasn't already so flushed I'm sure she would have blushed more. But she also nodded. "I'm so hot, Nii-san. I- I want more. I want everything."

My smile softened. "You'll get it," I promised. I straightened my back and started undressing, removing my jacket and shirt. Shiina stared at me as I did so, watching with curious and eager eyes. Her gaze intensified as my shirt came off, revealing my naked torso. I admit, it was always nice to see one of my girls react like that. It was a real confidence booster.

Before I moved to unbuckle my pants, I turned my attention to Shiina. I reached down, movements slow and deliberate so I didn't surprise her, and started untying the bow tie-like ribbon around her neck. I could feel the way her breathing picked up, chest heaving underneath fingers as her excitement rose.

Once the ribbon was removed, I reached down for the hem of her shirt. I felt two layers there, a thicker long sleeve shirt and a thinner one underneath it, so I grabbed both and started pulling it up. Shiina obliged by raising her arms so I could take it off of her entirely.

She was wearing a bra, but I was able to get my first good look at her figure. As I had thought, she was definitely more developed than Bisky, even if the baggy clothing hid it. Her boobs were small but distinct mounds, even laying on her back like that.

The skin of her stomach was smooth and pale. There wasn't really any muscle definition, but nor was there flab, but that was pretty normal for my Sekiri. Instead she was just lean and smooth. On her chest was a black bra that matched her panties. It wasn't the kind with rigid cups, and instead closer to a sports bra.

I slowly ran my hands up her stomach, fingers tracing paths along her smooth skin. She shivered, watching me with anticipation as I approached her chest. I didn't stop, fingers pushing under the elastic band of her bra so my hands could cover her breasts.

She let out a little noise, a squeak from the back of her throat, as my palms cupped her boobs. I could feel her nipples hardening as I stimulated them, pressing into my hands. She arched her back, pressing her chest further into my hands, the softness of her tiny tits pushing against my fingers. Her eyes were closed and she let out an audible breath of air.

Wanting to see what I was touching, I lifted my hands further, pulling her bra up and off of her breasts, exposing them to the air. They were as I expected, soft mounds topped by rosy pink nipples. Shiina looked a little nervous at being exposed, but she also lifted her arms so I could remove her bra entirely.

Once I did, I took a moment to look at her and appreciate her appearance. There was something so hot about a girl being partially undressed in front of me. In this case, Shiina's torso was completely exposed as she laid on the bed and looked up at me. But she still had her skirt on, even if it had ridden up enough to expose her panties, and she had her black thigh high socks on as well, which did a lot to make her bottom half look rather dressed.

But I decided to put that off for a little longer and focus on her boobs some more. I leaned down to kiss her left nipple. She gasped softly, surprised by either the action or the sensation it brought. I just grinned up at her before moving over to kiss her other nipple.

She squirmed underneath me, chest heaving. "Nii-san," she called out again, breathlessly. She reached down and unzipped her skirt, pushing it down her legs. "Here, down here," she said. "It's hot and itching."

I wanted to play with her boobs a bit more, but I wasn't one to ignore a direct request like that. "You're such a needy girl," I teased her as I reached down between her legs and gently pressed my finger against her. Her panties were damp, but not soaked. Just enough for me to feel the evidence of her arousal as I pressed the fabric of them against her lower lips.

I rubbed up and down along her lips, gently teasing her. Her breathing grew heavy and audible, and her hips lifted off from the ground as she reflexively seeked more.

My own arousal was building as well. My cock was throbbing, still trapped in my jeans, and I was growing more and more eager to move on. So I stopped rubbing her long enough to grab hold of her panties and start taking them off.

She had to unwrap her ankles from around my legs so I could actually take them off, but a moment of repositioning saw them easily slipping down her slender legs. She blushed as she realized she was now completely exposed, naked save for her socks, which I saw no reason to bother removing.

"You're beautiful," I whispered to her. She blushed again, and I was able to see how it reached beyond her face, as her neck down to her collarbone also reddened. I leaned down and kissed her again, even as my hand gently glided down her belly towards the spot between her legs.

Our lips separated as she gasped, shocked by the sensations of my fingers touching her lower lips directly. Her folds were hot and slick with her arousal. But she wasn't quite ready, not yet.

I moved my fingers back up and found the little nub of her clit, partially obscured by a fleshy hood. She tensed beneath me, her hips raising again. "Nii-san!" she breathed.

"Just relax and let me make you feel good," I said. I gently pressed against her clit, rubbing it in small and slow circles. She started moaning quietly, clearly trying, and failing, to hold back her voice. Her whole body was flushed now, and her hardened nipples rose and fell as she breathed heavily. Her eyes were closed and her brow furrowed as she concentrated solely on the way I was touching her.

After a few minutes of carefully and slowly stimulating her, I reached down again to check how wet she was and found her drenched. It didn't really matter, because of Sexual Calibration, but for her first time I wanted her to have the proper experience.

I pulled my hand away from her, which caused Shiina to whine before opening her eyes to look at me, a pout on her face. She opened her mouth, presumably to complain or ask me to keep going, but she froze when she saw me starting to unbuckle my pants.

I felt her stare as I pushed down my pants and underwear, causing my erection, which had been straining against the confines for so long by that point, to spring upward. Her eyes tracked it as I removed my pants entirely, kicking them off, and then positioned myself between her legs.

I put my hands on her knees, spreading her legs and revealing her to me. Her pussy was slightly reddened and glistening with her wetness. My cock stood tall between her legs, large compared to her relatively small body.

"Ready?" I asked her, giving her a chance to prepare herself. I saw her throat work as she swallowed, but she nodded. Feeling rather eager, I wasted no time in lining myself up with her lower entrance and pushing my length into her.

I don't think it comes as any shock when I say she was tight, it was to be expected. She was also hot and slick, my efforts at getting her wet paying off as I easily slid into her despite that tightness. Her mouth opened in a wide 'O' shape and she arched her back as I filled her and she called out in pleasure, a wordless declaration that could surely be heard by the others. But she wasn't in any state to care about that.

I gave her a moment to accustom herself to the feeling of her pussy being stretched and filled before I started moving, thrusting my hips in and out of her. Shiina let out a noise, halfway between a gasp and a moan, each time I thrust into her. And as I slowly picked up speed, the intensity of her reactions increased as well.

Her eyes suddenly focused, and her expression melted into one of pure love and happiness. Gone was the nervousness and embarrassment, though her cheeks still blushed fiercely. "Nii-san, I love you." She held up her hands, reaching for me.

I took my hands off of her legs and clasped hers, intertwining our fingers together. She grasped my hands tightly, squeezing them as I continued to thrust into her.

It didn't take long for the pleasure to build up between both of us. I could feel the way her walls convulsed around my cock and the way her breathing intensified as she approached her climax. I was close as well, but I held it back as I picked up the speed. Her entire body jiggled, her small boobs bouncing, as I slammed my cock into her snatch.

"Nii-san, Nii-san, Nii-san!" she repeated as her body began to shudder and an orgasm washed over her. I thrust one last time into her pulsating depths and then let go as well, gasping as I shot spurt after spurt of thick cum into her deepest parts.

Shiina gasped again as I filled her, and then she went limp, tired from her orgasm. But she was still looking up at me with love and happiness. I smiled down at her and pulled my hands from hers so I could pull out of her.

As I was catching my breath and contemplating another round, I felt someone approach the bedroom. I turned to look just as it opened and saw Levy poking her head in. She took in the sight of me over Shiina, naked and sweaty, and she smiled. Shiina didn't notice at first, looking at Levy blankly for a minute before yelping in surprise and covering herself, but both Levy and I ignored her.

"Not to interrupt, but we should get going soon," she said. "It's a little after nine."

I nodded and straightened up, no longer leaning over Shiina. "Give us a minute to clean up and we'll be out there." Levy nodded and left, closing the door.

I looked back at Shiina, who was beet red and still covering herself. "You might want to get used to it," I said, amused. "We normally go naked here. You don't have to, but most of the others will be." Her eyes widened, but I continued. "And we all share this bedroom, except for Kyouko. You'll get to see everything then."

"O-oh," she stammered. "...everything?"

"Remember what Kusano said earlier?" I asked. "About kissing each other? We have nightly orgies."

Her face somehow went even more red. She pushed herself to her feet and just started getting dressed, as if she were trying to escape from the reality of what I just said. I chuckled and started getting dressed again myself. Thankfully, Sexual Calibration meant we didn't have to worry about actually cleaning up much. Seriously, without that perk we'd have to wash the whole bed and room thoroughly every day because of all the sweat and other bodily fluids. But thanks to it, we didn't have to worry about it.

Shiina and I left the room to join the others when we were dressed. Shiina blushed at the knowing looks the others were giving her, save for Kyouko who was refusing to acknowledge either of us. But everyone else was geared up and ready to go, including wearing their face masks.

Myself, Uzume, Chiho, Matsu, Kusano, and Shiina made up the first group that would head to Izumo Inn. Uzume and Matsu wanted to visit, Chiho of course wanted to stick with Uzume, Kusano was insistent on coming with me, and Shiina wanted to stay by Kusano's side.

Which left Levy, Bisky, Mami, and Kyouko to do our shopping. Mami had my backpack from Paldea for storage, while Levy carried her own. I had my Pocket Space if I really needed to store something, but it was unlikely.

"Alright. Be safe," I said. "Don't take any risks. Do your shopping then leave. Matsu won't have her telepathy up, so just text me with updates."

Levy rolled her eyes. "We'll be fine, you're worrying too much. You're the one that needs to make sure you don't draw attention."

"I know, I know," I replied with a sigh. "It's just nerve wracking to deal with a place under constant surveillance by someone we've already pissed off."

"It's a good thing you have Matsu then!" the bespectacled Sekirei herself interjected. "Don't worry, MBI won't get past me!"

I smiled. "Yeah, you're right." I stood up straighter and did one last check to make sure I had everything. "Everyone ready? Good. Let's go."

Our group stepped through the portal and we once more entered Shinto Teito. It was a lot louder than when we arrived this morning, and there were a lot more people around, but none of them so much as blinked at our sudden appearance.

I opened the Mapper app to get our bearings and we headed off towards Izumo Inn. It was a decently long walk, taking us about thirty minutes. If we took to the rooftops and ran it would probably have been five minutes max, but having to walk at the pace of the crowd and wait to cross streets slowed us down quite a bit.

We didn't talk much on the way either. I kept glancing at Matsu, who had her own phone pulled up in her hand, but she shook her head each time, letting me know that we were in the clear.

The crowds died down as we got closer to Izumo Inn and entered a more residential area, and the roads narrowed to prioritize foot traffic over automobiles. And soon, Izumo Inn was in sight.

Uzume, an excited grin on her face, skipped ahead while pulling Chiho behind her. She didn't bother knocking and just opened the door. "Miyaaaaa~," she called out. "I've come back to visit!"

"Uzume!" Chiho chided her, but she let herself be dragged behind.

Matsu was close behind. "Matsu too!" she called out.

I just rolled my eyes. "I guess we're just barging right in," I say. "Come on guys." Kusano and Shiina stuck close to me as I followed behind them and closed the door as we entered.

"Uzume?" I heard a voice, not Miya's, respond.

"Eh, Uzume?!" another voice that wasn't Miya's said, this one much more chipper and excited.

There was the sound of pounding feet approaching before two figures turned the corner and revealed themselves.

The first was a busty girl dressed in some kind of shrine maiden outfit, a common theme for Sekirei. Also like most Sekirei, the outfit was both rather form fitting and had non-traditional parts, such as the mini-skirt that showed off her thigh-high covered legs. She had short brown hair with a long and thin ponytail, and a cheerful expression on her face that looked like it was always there. I recognized her as Musubi.

The second figure, lagging slightly behind despite speaking first, was Homura. In canon, Homura was a character who started as a male, but due to a quirk of their body, started becoming female when they started reacting to the main character. But my use of Universal Calibration had resulted in all of the Sekirei becoming female, so the Homura I saw was a girl and not at all trying to hide that.

She wore black pants, a white button up shirt that had several of the top buttons undone, shoulder length silver hair, and dark eyes.

Homura stopped when she caught sight of all of us, her attention immediately darting to the new people, first Chiho, then myself, then Shiina and Kusano on either side of me. Her eyes settled on me though, and I could see a faint hint of suspicion.

Musubi, however, didn't slow down for a second and barreled straight into Uzume, giving her a hug. "You're back!"

Uzume laughed and hugged the girl back. "That's right, I came to visit," Uzume said. "Hope you didn't miss me too much." She pulled back from Musubi and put a hand on Chiho's shoulder. "And this is my beloved Chiho!"

Musubi's eyes lit up as she realized who Chiho was. "Oh! You're all better!" She immediately hugged Chiho as well.

Uzume grinned. "Yep, she's fit as a fiddle! Wait, did Miya tell you about her then?"

"She did," Homura cut in, speaking for the first time. "She didn't get into the details though. She just said that someone came, Matsu reacted to them, they offered to heal your Ashikabi and then run away with you." Homura's gaze shifted back to me. "I presume that would be you, then?"

"That's right," I said, meeting her gaze. I didn't explain further.

"Jeez Homura, chill out," Matsu said, putting herself between the two of us. "You haven't even said hi to Matsu yet!"

Homura relaxed, some of the tension leaving her shoulders as she smiled at Matsu. "You're right. It's good to see you. I'm glad you're doing well." Homura opened her arms as Matsu got close and the two of them hugged as well.

"So you're the one that helped Uzume and her fated one?" Musubi asked, her attention having shifted to me. "And are these two your Sekirei too?"

"Yep," I said, placing a hand on their shoulders. "This is Kusano, I rescued her last time I was here. We actually came back because Kusano was worried about Shiina here, since they were close, and I offered to wing her this morning, which she accepted."

Somehow, Musubi's face lit up even more. "That's wonderful!" she exclaimed happily.

"My, my, what's all this ruckus?" Miya said as she stepped around the corner and into view. A faint look of surprise grew on her face at the sight of all of us. "Oh my. I did not think that you were coming back."

"We won't be here long," I explained. "We just had to take care of a few things. And since we were in town, we figured we'd drop by and say hi. Don't worry, MBI has no idea we're here."

"I see," she said simply. "Well, why don't you all come in and have a seat?"

Miya led us deeper into the house and into the sitting room where we had talked last time. It was a pretty typical and simple Japanese room with tatami mats on the floor, a short table in the center, and the only real decoration being a small shrine in the corner and a small television in another corner that had its volume turned down low and was playing what looked like a news station.

One of the doors was open wide, revealing a small porch or whatever it's called for traditional Japanese homes(edit: an engawa, apparently, thank you Matsu) and beyond it the backyard, which was pretty large for being in the middle of Tokyo. A gentle breeze flowed through the room, giving the entire thing a relaxing atmosphere.

All of us settled down around the table while Miya disappeared with a comment of getting refreshments. Musubi was practically bouncing up and down in excitement while Homura was more cool, ironically. She was watching us, not quite with suspicion, but she had her guard up slightly.

"Minato-san's not here?" Uzume asked, looking around.

"Minato-sama is at work," Musubi said cheerfully.

"Missed him again, huh?" I remarked. Not that I was particularly interested in meeting him, it just felt a little weird to not interact with the main character at all even on my second trip.

"So… where have you guys been?" Homura asked. "Miya didn't say, she just said you had a way out of the city, where MBI couldn't reach. Which is rather hard to believe, unless you took refuge with another country's government." She eyed me in particular. "Though the fact that you brought them back makes that… less likely."

"Psh, you think Miya would approve of that?" Matsu said.

"I would not," Miya agreed as she entered the room, carrying a tray with a bowl of cookies, a large teapot, and enough cups for everyone. She started pouring everyone tea.

"MBI seems to think that's what happened," Homura said. "I've only been able to pick up a few things here and there, but they're rather upset that a spy got away with some Sekirei, and something else. Some kind of tech."

"Well, I'm not a spy, but that is more or less true," I admitted. "I wanted nothing to do with the Sekirei plan, and quite frankly couldn't have stayed if I wanted to. Even now I'll be gone again by tonight. Most likely for good this time. At least for a very long time." Until I got the Escape Clause and could come back whenever.

"Leave where, though?" Homura asked, leaning forward.

Matsu looked over at me and we met eyes. I could clearly see the question on her face, asking if she could tell Homura the truth. I shrugged and nodded. I didn't really care one way or another if Homura, or Musubi who was also present, learned the truth. I trusted both of them enough for that. Well, it was likely that Musubi might accidentally spill the beans, but honestly, unless she somehow did so to MBI within a few hours, it didn't matter. We'd be long gone.

"Well, buckle in Mura-tan, because it's pretty crazy!" Matsu said before launching into the typical explanation we gave others about the Skyblock. I've already written it a dozen times, so I won't repeat myself again. Instead, I'll just skip straight to their reactions.

"Bullshit," Homura said once Matsu was done. "If you don't want to say, just say. Or just tell me it's a private island in the middle of the ocean, that would be more believable."

"Is that why you smell like that?" Musubi asked.

We all turned to her. "Smell?" Uzume asked. "We bathed, I promise. Though our bath could be a little bigger…"

"No, I mean…" her brow furrowed. "Like… the sky. All of you smell like the sky. Not wind, that's a different smell." She cocked her head to the side. "I don't really get it."

"Aren't you the one smelling it though?" Shiina asked.

"Yep!" Musubi replied without any shame. "Oh, you only smell like it a little."

"I only winged her this morning, she's only spent a few hours on the Skyblock," I explained.

Homura's eyes narrowed. "So… all of you are saying you've been there?"

"It's a pretty cool place," Uzume said.

"It's very relaxing," Chiho agreed.

"It's home!" Kusano said. Shiina just nodded.

Homura still didn't look convinced. Which I didn't blame her too much for, to be honest. It's a pretty crazy concept.

"Oh Homura, must you be so stubborn about everything?" Miya asked in a teasing tone.

"Yes," she snapped reflexively before turning her attention fully to her landlady. "Don't tell me you believe them too?"

Miya gave her a small smile before sipping her tea. "I admit, it seemed a bit fanciful, but the universe is a large and strange place. Last time he was here Matsu was fairly convinced he was telling the truth, and I trust her judgment."

"You should be more like Miya-san and trust Matsu," Matsu said with a hint of smugness in her tone.

"Yeah, Homura-san! You should trust Matsu!" Musubi said before pausing. "Umm. Who is Matsu?"

I had to stop myself from facepalming. "Matsu is Matsu," Matsu said, pointing to herself. "I used to live here in secret because MBI was chasing me. But then I found Roland-tan and he whisked me away to his land of magic and adventure!"

"Oh!" Musubi said in realization. "You're the lady that owned all the computer things we packed up!"

Matsu froze briefly before turning to Miya. "What is she talking about?"

Miya's face remained neutral. "Well, I was suddenly down a tenant, but left with a room filled with the stuff they left behind. Worse, that tenant never paid their rent. I had to recoup my losses somehow."

Matsu paled. "You- you didn't!"

"I sold off all of the equipment, yes," Miya said. "Don't worry, I made sure to wipe the hard drives first. You can thank Homura-san for that."

"Noooooooooooooooooooooooooo!" Matsu wailed. "All my games! All my anime! All my porn! Gone!"

Chiho reached over and patted her on her back. "There there. We can get new porn for you."

"Didn't you save all the important stuff anyway?" I asked.

"Yeah, but Matsu only had so much room on her hard drive," Matsu pouted. "There was a lot more content Matsu was going to try to retrieve. Some of it would even be useful! Like the anime!"

"How would anime be useful?" Homura asked, but she was ignored.

"We'll get some another time," I said. "None of it was irreplaceable I'm sure."

"Matsu knows…" she said, still pouting.

I rolled my eyes and then turned to Homura. "So, how's the past month been? Has MBI done anything drastic since our little incident?"

Homura shook her head. "Not really, which is kind of surprising. I know they're pissed, but they haven't done anything. Unless you count that asshole creepily sending gifts to Miya to try to ask her about you."

I raised an eyebrow and turned to Miya.

Miya shrugged. "It seems that Minaka-san realized that I know something of you and what your goals are, and so he sent someone to try to ask me about them. I sent them away without answering, so he's taken a less direct approach."

"Ah." I mused on that for a few moments. "So they don't know who I am, but they do know that I had your approval, which probably confuses them to hell and back."

"Minaka knows what I would and would not allow," she confirmed. "Of course, I could be tricked. But I believe he is playing it cautious, perhaps out of some belief that you would play your hand later and reveal more about yourself." She gave me a look. "I expected him to be wrong, yet here you are."

I smiled, a little chagrined. "Well… it was a risk, but it was worth it," I said, wrapping an arm around Shiina and pulling her against me. I caught a glimpse of Shiina's face blushing out of the corner of my eye, but pretended not to see. "We'll probably end up causing some trouble too. Speaking of which… There are a couple things I wanted to ask you about. Something a bit more sensitive."

Miyu's expression didn't change, but her gaze still felt suddenly heavy as she looked at me. "Is that so?" she asked neutrally. She took another sip of her tea. "Uzume, you've gotten stronger since you left, haven't you? Why don't you spend some time sparring with Musubi? She could use another partner to help her expand her skills."

"Ooh! Yes please!" Musubi said, excited.

Never let it be said that Uzume wasn't quick on the uptake. "Sure thing, sounds fun," she said as she stood up. Chiho followed her. "Homura, you should come watch too, I've been training my butt off."

Homura exchanged looks with Miya, who just smiled at him and nodded. Her eyes narrowed, but she got up as well. "I suppose someone should referee," she said before following Uzume outside into the yard.

I nudged Kusano and Shiina. "You two as well," I said. Kusano frowned and looked like she was about to argue, but I just gave her a smile. "Don't worry, this is the safest place in the city, and it's just going to be some boring talk about history. Go cheer on Uzume."

Kusano was still frowning, but she nodded. "Okay Onii-chan." She got up, but not before giving me a kiss on the cheek. Shiina hesitated, then quickly gave me a peck on my other cheek before running after Kusano, clearly blushing.

"She's so cute," Matsu commented, an amused smile on her face. Then she turned to me. "Should Matsu leave as well, Ashikabi-tan?"

"No, I'd rather you stayed," I said. "Your input will be useful." It was just the two of us left with Miya now.

"I presume you want to ask me about the Jinki?" Miya guessed.

"That's right," Matsu confirmed. "We've been experimenting with them."

I was not prepared for the way Miya reacted to that statement. Her face paled and she looked at Matsu in horror. "You have been what?!" she nearly yelled. "Are you trying to get yourself killed?!"

Matsu and I froze, both of us caught off guard. I hadn't ever witnessed Miya like this in the manga, so angry and scared. And judging from Matsu's expression, neither had she.

"You- you said it could remove our limiters," Matsu said, stammering slightly. "We just wanted to-"

"So you just started poking at it blindly?!" Miya cut her off. "Do you know how dangerous that is?!"

Matsu was stunned. "…apparently not?"

Miya's face contorted for a moment, shifting between emotions, before she seemed to pull herself back and took a deep breath. When she continued talking, she was much more calm. "Jinki are very dangerous and you could have gotten yourself and everyone on that island killed if you had accidentally done the wrong thing," Miya explained. "It is all too easy for a mistake to lead to the Jinki releasing a large amount of energy that could terminate all Sekirei and Ashikabi in range." Miya paused before continuing in a softer voice. "I do not wish to lose you like that as well."

It was Matsu and mine's turn to pale as she mentioned the risks. It took me a moment before I recalled it, but Miya's late husband had died because of a Jinki going out of control. The possibility hadn't even crossed my mind when I asked Matsu to start messing with it.

Having had time to think about it, we probably would have been okay if that happened. First off, if Matsu could tell it was happening, we could just throw it off the edge. It was a waste of the Jinki, but better than the alternative.

And even then, we had several people, Levy included, who were not Ashikabi. If I went down, Levy would gain the ability to make whatever purchases and take out whatever loans she needed in order to get me back on my feet. It would cost a lot and put us in a rough spot, but it wouldn't have been a total game over.

"I guess we dodged a bullet there," I said awkwardly to try to lighten the mood. The glare Miya sent me killed the attempt in the cradle though. "Sorry."

"But Matsu did it!" Matsu said. "She figured out how to use the Jinki to remove our limiters. And also how to activate her Norito!"

Miya's eyes widened and they snapped back to Matsu. "Are you serious?" she asked. Matsu nodded, nervous again, and Miya's expression turned pained. "If I had known you would have been able to figure out how to work the Jinki by yourself without any equipment, I would have warned you before you left."

She leveled a stern gaze at both of us. "The Jinki is the ultimate tool for manipulating a Sekirei's Tama, their Core. It is not something to be messed with lightly, and can be very dangerous. Pillars such as myself have some knowhow, but we are hard-wired for such things."

"It was really hard," Matsu said. "I was stuck until my Ashikabi helped give me a boost."

Miya frowned. "Even for a Mental type such as yourself, a Norito shouldn't have aided in learning how to operate a Jinki."

"Not a Norito," I said. "You know my home?"

"Yes. What about it?"

"That was provided by my employers, and they can also provide other things if I do certain tasks for them." Which wasn't strictly true but I didn't want to get into the whole thing. "One of the types of things they offer are Talents, which increase the speed at which we can learn new skills in specific categories, as well as remove the ceiling to those skills so we can endlessly improve them. I got the one for Psychic abilities, and that seemed to help her."

Miya's brow furrowed. "That sounds just as unbelievable as the rest of your story, but it would explain how Matsu was able to figure it out." Her expression became stern again. "But you shouldn't have. In fact, you should stop messing with it all together. Keep it in that Pocket Space of yours and never let it see the light of day again."

I grimaced. Even with the danger, I didn't want to give up on using the Jinki. The boost in power to the Sekirei that it offered was too valuable.

And apparently Matsu agreed with me. She leaned forward. "I know that messing with the Jinki is dangerous, but we need the power it can give us to keep us all safe. You're right, we should be careful with it, but you're the only one that can help teach us how to use them." She reached forward to grab Miya's hands. Please, Miya-nee, can you teach me?"

Miya's expression softened. "You haven't called me that in years," she said quietly.

"You told me to stop when you got married," Matsu replied with a smile. It was only then that I noticed that Matsu had slipped into using first person, instead of referring to herself in the third person. That, more than anything, showed how sincere and serious she was about this.

"That's right, I did, didn't I?" Miya replied with a soft smile of her own. She was quiet for a moment, deliberating internally, and then she sighed. "Very well. I'll tell you what I can. It's too late as it is, you've already put yourself in danger. If I don't explain things now, you will inevitably hurt yourself."

"Thank you Miya, you won't regret it!" Matsu replied cheerfully.

Miya pulled her hands free from Matsu's so she could take a sip of her tea. "Before I explain how to use the Jinki, there's something else I need to explain to you." She turns to Matsu with a serious look. "What do you think a Norito is? Why does kissing your Ashikabi allow you to use more powerful abilities?"

Matsu frowned. "...the power of love?"

Miya smiled. "That's not too far off actually, though it's only a small part of it. Let me ask another question then. How do your Sekirei powers work?"

"Our Tamas," Matsu said more confidently.

"Yes, but more specifically, the psychic energy created, stored, and controlled by your Tama. Sekirei generate this energy naturally and it is the bridge between a Sekirei and their Ashikabi. It fuels not just your body, but your abilities as well. Every time you reach out to connect to a device, it is this energy, channeled through your Tama, that you use to form a bridge and transfer information. Ku-chan infuses it into plants to make them grow and change their shape. Uzume imbues cloth with it, so it responds to her will. It takes many forms, but every Sekirei's powers are fueled by this energy, which is called Rei."

A thought occurred to me. "What about Weapon types?" I asked.

"Weapon types is a misnomer," Miya explained. "It would be more accurate to call them Physical types. They use their Rei to enhance their own bodies in specific ways. Strength of their arms, dexterity, kinetic vision, so on and so on. Often it is a mix of several different enhancements, with a primary enhancement and two or more supporting enhancements. This is why they have been trained in such a wide variety of weapons. Their unique balance of enhancements often results in them being suited for very specific weaponry." She paused. "Of course, from what I've heard, many of them also chose weapons they thought were 'cool'."

I snorted. "I can't blame them for that," I said. "But… if their powers are fuelled by this psychic energy…" I started, mind racing as I drew the natural conclusion.

"Yes," Miya confirmed. "There is, of course, a limit. No power like that can be infinite."

"Hold on, how come Matsu hasn't ever heard of this before?" Matsu asked. "Matsu uses her power all the time!"

"Very few people know about this," Miya said. "Myself, Minaka-san, and Takami-san are the only ones still alive who are aware. Let me explain from the start."

"I know practically nothing about our species before coming to this planet. At one point, I did. However, as you recall, the ship containing myself and my Feathers had an accident that sent us crashing into the sea instead of our landing spot of choice. The damages were fairly minor, and hibernation meant we would be able to wait it out… but they were not intended to be used for that long. Because of it, much of my memory faded as I slept, and I recall nearly nothing about the time before we arrived here on Earth. I recall the eight ships descending from Kouten, but I only have vague impressions and knowledge of things before that."

She took another sip of her tea before continuing. Matsu and I were hanging on to her every word, enjoying the rare moment of Sekirei #00 explaining the history and secrets of the Sekirei.

"Because of that, I can not say how much of our biology is by chance, and how much is by design. Logic dictates that we are at least partially designed, considering the abundance of tools to alter us further that we had access to and our statistically improbable compatibility with humans. But even I cannot say where exactly that line is drawn.

"I mention this because there are two aspects to us that I do not know if they are natural or intentional, but they are both very important. Firstly, that Sekirei are not capable of measuring their current store of Rei. There is no discernable difference between a Sekirei who is well rested with plenty of Rei, and one who is on the verge of psychic exhaustion. If pushed, a Sekirei could run out of energy without warning."

I stiffened. "...Kusano has over exerted her powers a couple times now," I said. "Each time she was tired and needed to sleep after."

Miya's lips formed a thin line as she pressed them together. "That is very dangerous. It's a good thing you did that before removing your limiters."

"Wait, how do you know that?" Matsu asked.

"Because if she had pushed herself that far after removing her limiters, she likely would have ended up terminating herself."

I felt myself go cold at her ominous words. "What do you mean?"

"Allow me to continue my original point," Miya said calmly. "The second quirk of Sekirei biology that I am unsure is designed or natural is the Norito. Under normal circumstances, Sekirei are naturally limited in how much of their Rei they can use at once. Not because their Tama cannot handle a larger flow, but because their reserves of energy cannot handle being drained so quickly. Without the use of a Norito, it is difficult for a Sekirei to use their Rei fast enough to deplete their reserves."

"But a Norito removes that limit," I continued, speaking out loud the obvious conclusion. "Consecutive Norito uses could drain a Sekirei much quicker, couldn't it?"

"Yes," Miya continued. "That is why it requires an Ashikabi. A mate, psychically linked to them. Sekirei can be… self-destructive in their love. We would burn ourselves away to protect our Ashikabi. But obviously this is not a good thing, at least in the eyes of either evolution or our makers. So we are not given the keys to our natural safeties. That lies with the ones that we love, the ones that love us. That way our wellbeing is in their hands."

"That seems like it would be pretty important to tell us," Matsu pointed out. "An Ashikabi and a Sekirei in a fight could easily overdraw themselves."

"You were not told because you are not in danger of doing so, or at least, you should not have been," Miya said. "The Sekirei of the past fought wars, not simple battles. They killed and died at each other's hands. But that was not the fate any of us wanted for these modern Sekirei. Before, a Sekirei could, with her Ashikabi's approval, give everything she had to fight off a threat. Now, the stakes are much lower. So we added an additional limiter, one that would physically exhaust a Sekirei when their Rei stores grew too low, so that their lives would not be needlessly wasted."

"Even Matsu?" the girl in question asked.

"Even you, though it was less of a concern," Miya answered. "The single digits naturally have a larger reserve of Rei due to the circumstances of their birth. Even with constant high level Norito usage, it would take you significantly longer to run out of Rei. Without an Ashikabi, none of you were at risk, even during those years of war." She looked up at us. "But now that you have removed those limiters, you are at risk once more."

A cocktail of emotions churned in my gut. Fear and anger that my decision to try to strengthen my Sekirei had nearly resulted in me harming them, in risking losing them. I also felt relieved that we had come back to Shinto Teito and visited Miya, or else we wouldn't have learned before it was too late. And annoyance that the 'power up' I had Matsu work on for weeks on had not only barely improved them, but had put them in more danger.

"Is there really no way for them to tell how much Rei they have left?" I asked. "Like, I get not knowing the exact amount, but surely there are some signs when it runs low?"

"Not that I am aware of. Not even I can gauge my Rei or the Rei of others. That is why it is so dangerous, and why we placed additional limiters. There is no natural way for a Sekirei or Ashikabi to tell how much Rei a Sekirei has." She paused and then glanced at me. "With your strange circumstances and that Talent thing of yours… perhaps you could learn to gauge the power your Sekirei have. But that is beyond my knowledge."

I clenched my jaw and nodded. "That'll be the first thing I start training when we get back." In fact, I pulled out my phone and made a note of it. I also mentally marked Laws of Cognition as a higher priority purchase. I'll need it in order to do the same thing that I did with everyone's Aura and Magic, increasing their reserves and regeneration rate by 500%.

"However, there is one way to gauge it," Miya continued. "But…" she trailed off. Her words drew my attention, not just because of the promise of another method, but the fact that she sounded hesitant.

"The Jinki, right?" Matsu guessed.

Miya nodded. "As the ultimate tools for controlling a Tama, they of course can properly read the amount of Rei a Tama has, as well as many other diagnostics. But I don't know how to do that. Regulating the Rei usage of the Sekirei is not one of my responsibilities, that has always been a task left to their Ashikabi. But MBI devised a way to use the Jinki to measure that energy. Specifically, Takehito-san discovered it."

Matsu and I exchanged looks before turning back to Miya. "Did he leave notes behind?" I asked, trying not to sound desperate. "Something we can use to learn how?"

"Almost certainly," Miya said. "More than any of the others, Takehito was a researcher. He took meticulous notes about everything he learned. Unfortunately, I don't possess any of them. He did not want to bring his work home with him, and so all of his notes were left at the research lab."

I closed my eyes and let out a sigh. "Then, if we want to learn how… we don't have any choice but to raid MBI's headquarters," I surmised.

"We were considering doing that anyway," Matsu pointed out. "This is just one more reason to do so."

"Normally I would advise against that," Miya cut in. "However, in your position, I cannot blame you." She gave Matsu a wry look. "And I know you, Matsu. Even if I warn you, your curiosity will drive you to continue to try to learn how to use the Jinki, no matter the risks."

"Hehe, yeah," Matsu admitted, not at all looking ashamed.

Miya wasn't amused, but she continued. "So, knowing that, I will encourage you to do exactly that, and retrieve Takehito-san's notes. They will most likely be digital, so you should have no problems making a copy."

Matsu frowned. "They're not on the network though."

"All Jinki related information was kept under tight security, as I understand it," Miya said. "As you said earlier, you will likely have to infiltrate MBI and head for the Jinki Research Lab and pull it from the computers there."

I grimaced but nodded. "Seems like it. We definitely can't keep using the Jinki without those notes, not with those risks." I gave Matsu a glare. "Curiosity or not, I won't allow it. You've done a good job so far, but there is such a thing as being too reckless."

Miya nodded in agreement. "Even with his notes, there will be some risk, but it should be manageable if you have come this far already."

"You can't teach Matsu?" my Sekirei asked.

"My knowledge is too instinctual, I would require a Jinki on hand and would have to show you how to do it," she explained. "And I assume you were not dumb enough to bring the Jinki back here and you left it on that Sky island of yours."

"Of course," I assured her. "But if we were to take a Jinki and then come back here… No, MBI would probably be on our asses if we did that, and pissed. Even your presence wouldn't be enough to stop them entirely."

"Fighting is prohibited in Izumo Inn, as is deliberately bringing MBI forces here for me to chase off," Miya said sweetly, even as a hint of a dark aura started spreading from her.

I raised my hands. "I won't, I won't! I promise!" The dark aura disappeared, and I breathed a sigh of relief. Part of me had believed that, with my Aura, I would be safe from that technique. That had turned out to be incorrect. It might strike fear in those around her like Nen users could, but it must have used an entirely different method, because my aura did nothing to protect against it.

"However, if you are going to raid MBI, I have three requests," Miya continued.

"Shoot."

"First, through whatever actions you take, do not overly harm MBI and their ability to function," she said. "I made a deal with MBI and handed them everything for a reason. We were not meant to arrive in a world so technologically advanced and so heavily populated. Without MBI's protection, every single one of the Sekirei aboard my ship would have been captured by various governments and spent their life being studied and dissected. MBI is crucial to the continued freedom and happiness of the Sekirei."

That had always been one of the things I wondered about, and her explanation made sense to me. "Fine, it wasn't like we planned on burning it to the ground. We'll do minimal damage."

"My second request is similar. Don't kill Karasuba. As much as I would personally love to see her gone from this world, she is the largest deterrent against foreign agencies trying to infiltrate Shinto Teito. If she were to be killed, many of them would be tempted to try their luck, and war would break out once again." Miya lowered her eyes, gazing into her cup of tea. "And I… I do not have it in me to return to those days of war."

I grimaced. It would be harder to accomplish that one. Not that I was particularly eager to kill Karasuba, but I was concerned that holding back against her would put us in more danger than was worth. But I couldn't argue that Miya raised another good point. "Fine, we'll do our best," I said. "What's the third thing?"

"I imagine you will also want to grab more Jinki, correct?" Miya asked. "At least one for each of your Sekirei?"

"The thought occurred to me," I admitted.

"That is fine. The less that MBI has access to, the better. However, there is a limit to that. MBI needs to keep at least one Jinki. Two or three would be better, just in case. Because without it, they would be unable to safely modify Sekirei anymore, and in case of an emergency situation, that could doom a Sekirei, or worse. So, please do not take all of them. We need at least one."

Once again it was an inconvenient but logical request that I couldn't argue against. The loss of ten or twenty potential credits as a reward was annoying, but it wasn't worth screwing over the Sekirei we left behind. "Fine, we'll leave MBI with one or two. Is that it?"

"That is all. Thank you," Miya replied, bowing her head. "I know you have no reason to listen to these requests."

"I'm not nearly enough of an asshole to ignore requests like that," I said. "But I thought you had given up your responsibilities as the Pillar?"

Miya smiled, but it looked almost remorseful. "I suppose some feelings never truly fade," she admitted. "There is still a part of me that wishes for all of my Feathers to find their eternal happiness. Forever and ever."

Matsu smiled at that, and I probably was smiling as well. It was nice to see Miya opening up, just a bit. She carried a lot of weight on her shoulders.

And then Matsu's smile flipped, turning into a frown. "Something big just went down," she said suddenly. "A fight. Eight Sekirei, all belonging to the same Ashikabi, just got terminated in the span of less than two minutes."

My eyes widened in shock. "Eight? There's only so many people who even have that many. Was it Higa?" I was worried about what would happen to our mission if someone else took him out before us.

"No, they were registered to Mikogami Hayato," Matsu said. Her eyes were unfocused as she focused on the stream of data she was reading. "The Ashikabi of the Sekirei we ran into this morning." She gasped. "M-Mutsu was terminated too?!"

Both Miya and I sat up straighter in alarm. Mutsu was Sekirei number 5, one of the original guards who fought alongside Miya and Matsu during the early days. Like them, his adjustments were minimal. "Who the hell did that?" I asked. "Kazehana? Karasuba?" I couldn't conceive of anyone else but one of the other first five pulling off something like that.

"There weren't any cameras that could see what happened, MBI only knows from their signals," Matsu explained. "It's bad. More than one of them are Level 5 Terminations."

I sucked in a breath. Terminations were measured in levels depending on their severity. I don't remember the thresholds for each one, but I did remember that Level 5 meant it was bad enough that, if they weren't Sekirei, they'd just straight up be dead.

"And it wasn't Karasuba?" I asked again.

"No, MBI would know if that was the case," Matsu insisted. "In fact… according to MBI, there weren't any other Sekirei there. Just those eight."

I frowned. "Infighting? No, not among Sekirei winged to the same Ashikabi. Then who…?"

My thoughts are cut off by my phone ringing. I frown and check the caller ID and see that it's one of the handful of extra phones we've obtained and make use of. I quickly accepted it. "Roland speaking."

"It's Kyouko," the magical girl said tersely.

A cold pit formed in my stomach as realization clicked. "You… did you just get in a fight?" I asked. "With Hayato and his Sekirei?"

"How do you- tch, that voyeur glasses-chan huh? Yeah, I did. I never caught the brat's name, but he found me and decided he wanted payback for what went down this morning. So I taught him a lesson about being too greedy."

"By killing his Sekirei?!" I asked harshly.

"They'll be fine, right?" Kyouko replied dismissively. "Or fall into a coma or whatever. Same difference. They'll live. It was self-defense anyway."

I sighed. "Fine, whatever. Hayato's a prick anyway, I just feel bad for his Sekirei. Just… go back to the Skyblock and don't cause any more trouble. Please."

"About that… I didn't wipe out all of his Sekirei," Kyouko continued, sounding almost hesitant. "There was one that realized how much of a piece of shit he was and ditched him. An unwinged one. She wants to come with us when we leave."

I paused, confused for a moment. It didn't make any sense to me that Hayato would leave any of his Sekirei unwinged, it just wasn't his style. But then I remembered that one of them couldn't be winged, the Scrapped Number Akitsu.

"Akitsu?" I asked to confirm.

"Of course you fucking know that too," Kyouko grumbled. "Whatever, saves me having to explain. I told her it was your call."

"Did you tell her about the Skyblock?"

"I didn't tell her anything, it's too much of a pain in the ass."

I sighed and pinched the bridge of my nose. "Fine. Just… bring her here. I'll text you the address. I'll explain and talk to her myself."

"Got it." And then, without so much as a goodbye, the line went dead as she hung up.

I quickly sent her the address and then I looked up at Miya and Matsu, who were looking at me with curious expressions. "Kyouko did it, and she might have recruited Akitsu."

Matsu's eyes widened. "Matsu forgot about Akitsu. As a Scrapped Number, her tracking and other monitoring implants don't work correctly."

I frowned. "I can understand some of the monitoring stuff, but why doesn't the GPS work?" I asked. "And what is a Scrapped number anyway? I think the theory I saw back home was that she winged herself?"

"That is incorrect," Miya said instantly. "Scrapping is a term that MBI came up with, and was theoretical last I heard. It's one of the risks of using a Jinki to manipulate a Sekirei's Tama. A sloppy adjustment can result in essentially neutering the Tama and rendering it unable to reach out to connect to an Ashikabi. Her abilities were also likely affected."

"It became an official term about a month ago, when Akitsu became the first victim of it," Matsu said. "It was actually the night before you arrived, Ashikabi-tan. MBI was in a fuss about it all day. And to answer your first question, there's only one implant that does all of the monitoring, and it's connected to the Sekirei's core. When her core was disrupted, it disrupted the device entirely. MBI could have replaced and adjusted it, but she ran before that could happen."

"At least we don't have to worry about MBI tracking her here then," I said with a sigh. "Still… let's call the others back in. This is going to be a whole thing, I just know it."

While Matsu went to fetch the others, I called Levy.

"Hello?" she answered.

"How did the shopping go?" I asked.

"Fine. We got everything on our lists plus a few other things. We're almost back at the portal now. Kyouko ditched us to do her own shopping though, and I let her."

"That's fine, but I did just get a call from her."

There was a beat of silence, then a sigh. "She got up to something didn't she?"

"To be fair, from the sound of it, it wasn't her fault, and there might be some good to come of it. But yes. Once you reach the Skyblock, unpack and standby there. I don't know what we're going to do next. I'll reach out through Matsu to update you."

"Alright, we'll be ready," Levy promised. "I love you."

"Love you too," I said back before hanging up. I looked up to see everyone else, including the ones who had just come back inside, looking at me. "...what?"

"You are truly a great Ashikabi," Musubi said, slightly sweaty and grass stained from whatever sparring they had done. Uzume was untouched in comparison. "You have so much love for all of your Sekirei. You remind me of Minato-sama!"

"Thanks?" I said, unsure if that was a compliment. I'm sure she meant it as one but… I didn't have the best of opinions about her Ashikabi. "Anyway. Kyouko is on her way with Akitsu, the ice Sekirei from this morning. Apparently she was spotted and Hayato decided to try to jump her. They regretted that decision."

Uzume winced. "Eesh. Kyouko was probably pissed, huh?"

Homura frowned. "Wait… Hayato? But isn't that the Ashikabi of Mutsu?"

"He was, yes," Matsu confirmed. "She was terminated though."

I felt two individuals enter the range at which I could sense aura- one of them with an awakened aura, the other with that distinct 'flavor' I've come to associate with Sekirei. "They're here," I said.

As if on cue, both of them landed in the backyard. Clearly, combined with how fast they had gotten here, they had foregone any kind of subtlety and just roof hopped their way here. I resisted the urge to sigh.

Kyouko looked in at us with a carefully neutral mask up, eyes flicking to the three unfamiliar faces. Akitsu did the same, eyes carefully tracing over us. It felt like they stopped on me a little longer than the others, but once she finished taking us in, her attention shifted to Kyouko.

"Kyouko, next time, if it's not an emergency, please use the front door," I said loud enough for her to hear.

"Yeah yeah, whatever," she replied dismissively as she approached the house. She took her shoes off before stepping on the porch, and Akitsu did the same, following her. I was just relieved she was polite enough to do that, to be honest.

Once Kyouko and Akitsu were in the room, I broke the awkward silence that was threatening to form. "So? What happened?"

Kyouko shrugged. "I said it already, didn't I? I was at an arcade. This one comes up to me and starts talking to me while her partner went for backup. Some pretentious brat challenged me to a duel, which we did on the roof. I kicked the Sekirei's ass. Then the kid got angry and had them all attack me. I kicked their asses too. Except for this one that saw how much of a prick the kid was and chose not to throw herself on my spear. Then she followed me."

This time I didn't resist the urge to sigh. But as I thought over her story, I couldn't really find fault with anything she did. Assuming she was telling the truth at least, but I didn't think she was lying. Though she was definitely leaving out a lot of details.

"Akitsu?" I asked instead, seeking her side of things.

"He was reckless," she said quietly. "Treated us like tools. Threw us away."

There were frowns around the table, but nobody was more upset than Musubi. "That's terrible!" she declared. "That's not how an Ashikabi should act!"

"But it's not surprising from him," Homura added, much more cynical. "That was the brat who was forcing wingings. At least now he can't use his Sekirei to forcibly wing more. Not that there are many unwinged Sekirei left at this point."

"I don't think anyone is going to mourn him being neutered, no," I agreed before turning back to Akitsu. "So. What do you want then? You're free from him. What now?"

Akitsu hesitated for a moment before speaking. "I want… to be with her," she said, looking at Kyouko.

"Wait, what?" Kyouko replied in obvious surprise, eyes widening as she turned on the Sekirei. "What the fuck do you mean you want to be with me?"

"You said I could have anyone… as my partner…" Akitsu explained in that same monotone, not at all flinching back from Kyouko's surprise. "I am broken… but I want you to be my Ashikabi."

I resisted the urge to smile. I was really happy to hear that Kyouko had actually given Akitsu something along the lines of encouragement, and that whatever specifically had gone down had been enough for the Sekirei to respect Kyouko.

Of course, there was also the chance that Akitsu had just latched on to the closest other person, but my gut told me that wasn't the case, or at least wasn't purely the case. Whatever details Kyouko had omitted, she had clearly left an impression on Akitsu.

"Well, too bad," Kyouko said, crossing her arms. "If you want to come with us, you have to be in that guy's harem or whatever. He can use his bullshit to fix you too so you can actually be winged, but you can't be winged by me. So settle for him or change your mind."

Akitsu frowned, but Matsu was the one that spoke up next.

"That's not actually true, you know?" Matsu said with a grin. "At least, not entirely. It would be slower, but Roland-tan could fix you and then Kyouko-tan could wing you."

Kyouko turned to glare at Matsu, but so did Miya. "I believe we just finished discussing the dangers of messing around with things like that."

"No no no, not like that," Matsu reassured Miya. She turned to me, and I admit I didn't know what Matsu was talking about at the time. "You can use Rewards and Lobbying to give Akitsu Body Tune Up! Nothing says she has to be part of your Retinue, just on the Skyblock. That'll fix her Tama and Kyouko can wing her!"

Rewards and Lobbying was the Demiplane perk that let me grant people specific perks I had purchased, and what I primarily used to share my Talents. Body Tune Up was the one responsible for, well, tuning up my body and the bodies of my retinue, pushing them to their mundane peaks and healing their issues, like it had with Chiho.

The latter perk automatically applied to anyone within my Retinue, but Matsu was right, I could use the Demiplane perk regardless of that.

"Yeah, that could work," I agreed after thinking over it for a moment.

"What?" Kyouko croaked in surprise. "No, wait, hold on-"

"I want that," Akitsu said, cutting Kyouko off.

"It would come with a few caveats though," I said. "Kyouko is bonded to me in a manner similar to a Sekirei and an Ashikabi. If she wings you, she'll be your Ashikabi, but I will as well. And we lead a dangerous life, you'll be expected to help us as a fighter and an extra pair of hands. Our home requires a lot of work."

"Acceptable," Akitsu agreed with a simple nod.

"Wait a minute!" Kyouko protested again. "Hold on! I should get a say in this, right?"

"You're going to reject her?" Uzume asked with a teasing grin. "After freeing her from her abuser, you're just going to abandon her and not take responsibility?"

"I- you-" Kyouko sputtered, a faint blush appearing on her cheeks. She glanced at Akitsu, who was somehow giving her puppy dog eyes while keeping her face completely blank, an action I still don't understand but I swear she was doing it, and Kyouko's protests died in her throat.

She turned away and crossed her arms, carefully not looking at anyone. "F-fine! If you want me to be an Ashi-whatever that badly, I guess I'll do it."

"Wow, Matsu is pretty sure that one is on her tsundere bingo card," Matsu muttered. Kyouko glared at the girl, but Matsu just snickered, totally unaffected.

I was pretty okay with Akitsu choosing Kyouko as her Ashikabi. No, I didn't feel slighted or anything like that. For one, she'd still be my Sekirei either way, so it didn't matter much to me. My experience with Uzume had made that clear. Though I should probably spend more time one on one with Uzume… thoughts for later this week.

But more than that, Akitsu was… I don't want to call her a 'bonus', but I didn't have any plans on trying to get her. Honestly, I didn't think it was likely that I could convince her away from Hayato, but it seems that I overestimated how attached to him she was. But, while she was a character I liked, she wasn't important enough to try to put in the effort, especially with MBI on the look out for us.

So Akitsu latched onto Kyouko and ended up coming with us. That was fine. Kyouko was isolating herself, but now she has a friend, and I think that'll be a good thing for her. And we got yet another of the more impressive Sekirei there are. And access to unlimited ice. Levy could conjure up some just fine, but anything I can take off of Levy's plate is a win in my eyes.

"Hold on, what was this about you having a link to a non-Sekirei like that?" Homura asked with a frown. "And you can fix a Scrapped number?"

"Right, let me explain the rest of it," I said. "Akitsu, you'll need to know this too before you commit to joining us."

Again, I'll skip over the explanation. I gave them all the relevant information I already explained last time I was there, about the omniverse and the 'super Ashikabi' powers I had as Matsu likes to put it, and more about the benefits I could offer.

Akitsu's stance didn't seem to visibly change by the time I was done with the explanation, she just calmly accepted it and maintained her desire of wanting to be winged by Kyouko. Musubi had latched onto the 'super Ashikabi' thing and was looking at me with sparkling eyes.

Homura was giving me a harder look. I suspect that she had seen past the Sekirei-esque angle I had put on it and had surmised the true nature of the Company.

But I ignored her and focused on Akitsu. "So? Do you still want to come, knowing all that?" I asked.

"Yes," she said. "More, now. I want to be… fixed."

I gave her a reassuring smile. "It'll take a few days, but we'll make sure to-"

I was cut off by the television suddenly blaring a loud tone, despite its volume being turned down. We all flinched and looked at the screen, which had the words "IMPORTANT ANNOUNCEMENT" written on it.

I exchanged looks with the others, but everyone seemed just as confused as I was. Matsu grabbed a remote near her and turned up the volume as the screen changed, showing a familiar face.

"Ladies and gentlemen of Tokyo!" the voice boomed, charismatic and boisterous. "I am Minaka Hiroto of MBI, and I have an announcement to make. We at MBI have occupied Tokyo! A new Age of Gods is dawning here, and we will ensure that it is as grand as we can make it!"

I tuned him out as he started explaining about how MBI was installing checkpoints in and out of the city and the new rules of the city about curfew and such and turned to Matsu. "What is happening?" I asked her. "Isn't this too early?"

"It is!" she agreed frantically, gaze unfocused in that way that meant she was . "This should only happen once 90% of Sekirei are winged!"

"Did that happen sooner because of us?" Uzume asked.

"No, it's still only at 82%," Matsu confirmed. Then she froze. Her eyes focused and she turned to me. "They know we're here. MBI shut down the city early to capture us."

In a book or movie, this would be where everything came to a standstill, where some kind of inner monologue would play out, the protagonist would logically think through all of the facts and come to a smart decision.

That didn't happen to me, not exactly. Time didn't slow down at the very least. But something clicked, a series of thoughts too fast for me to consciously follow, leaving me with a final conclusion that was more instinct than rational thought.

Less than a half a second after Matsu finished talking, my head snapped to look out the open door, over the backyard, between the branches of the trees, over the fence, across the street, and to the rooftop of the building there, where I saw the flash of a head ducking out of sight.

I was still acting on instinct when my aura flared and I rocketed to my feet. Wind rushed past me as I forced myself to sprint all out, leaping out the door. I cleared the porch entirely, and I only landed once in the yard, aura shifting to focus on my lower legs as I leaped into the air, clearing the tall fence in a single bound.

Honestly, looking back on it, it was the first time I had really gone all out in terms of using my aura to move around. It was too risky to try leaping around like that on the Skyblock. I'm surprised I managed it without missing up, but adrenaline is one hell of a drug.

As I landed in the street I saw that the building in front of me was another house, this one with a more modern fence, more of a wall of concrete. Two steps and another leap brought me to the top of it, and another aura-fuelled jump had me landing on the roof, where I saw the person already on the next roof as they ran away.

It was then that I was able to identify them as a Sekirei. No one else would dress in such a slutty shrine maiden outfit while roof hoppping with supernatural grace. She wore what was basically a red bikini top, a weird combination white mini-skirt and red loincloth that draped down in front, thigh high socks in the shrine maiden style with matching detached sleeves on her arms, and knee high boots with heels. I admit, it was sexy, but it was also bizarre.

My eyes locked on to her as I pursued her, thoughtlessly leaping over the gap between buildings as the distance between us rapidly dwindled.

She noticed it too when she looked over her shoulder and saw me getting closer. I could see it on her face. The surprise followed by resignation as she turned to face me, drawing two short Japanese blades of some kind from the sheaths on her lower back. I only half registered it at the time, but it was only then that I sensed her aura for the first time.

I didn't have time to stop to pull out my weapons, but truth be told I had built up too much momentum and I wasn't even thinking. I shifted the spread of my aura so I was back to a normal Ren and attacked her barehanded.

She crossed her blades in front of her and blocked my fist with the flats of them. I expected punching the metal blades to hurt, but I barely registered a dull throb when my fist hit them. It probably helped that they didn't come to a complete stop, as the Sekirei hadn't put enough strength behind her block, and all she accomplished putting her swords between us as my fist pushed them into her chest, only somewhat slowed down.

"Gah!" she choked as she was pushed back, feet sliding against the rooftop. I didn't give her any time to catch her breath, that had been hammered out of me by Bisky and the others. I followed her, fist raised again.

To her credit, she recovered in time anyway, and I was forced to abort my punch to duck under a side swipe, which she followed immediately with a diagonal downward swing with her other sword, one deadly fast.

But I was in too close, and my hand reflexively shot out to grab her wrist to block it. Her face, now so close to mine, gritted in annoyance. She tried to yank free, but my grip was too tight for her. The blade in her free hand spun around as she shifted it to an underhand grip and tried to stab me with it.

I made to grab that wrist as well, but she was prepared for that. Before I could react, her stab transitioned smoothly into a cut, and the blade dug into the aura-covered leather of my coat. My heart seized as I braced for the sharp pain that I had grown accustomed to during my training with Kyouko. But when the blade finished its cutting motion, the arm of my coat was unmarred and unsliced.

Which surprised both of us, if I'm being honest, as we both paused to look at it in shock and confusion. But I was able to figure out that my aura was tough enough to protect against a blade, while she was left with no idea what had just happened, so I recovered my wits first.

I tightened my grip on the wrist I was still holding and twisted. I flinched as I felt something within her arm grind and crunch and she let out a pained hiss as her sword clattered to the ground. She lifted her other arm for another stab attempt, but I pulled on her arm to destabilize her and then threw myself at her, clumsily tackling her to the ground.

I sort of lost track of what exactly happened after that. I mostly just remember trying to get hold of her flailing limbs, knocking her other sword away, and then finally pinning her face down on the roof, her arms behind her back, my straddling her ass and ignoring the way she was squirming and kicking underneath me.

Which is when the others caught up, first Kyouko, then followed shortly by my other Sekirei, Akitsu included. Chiho had presumably been left behind. Homura and Musubi were there too, though not Miya. Saki froze as she realized she was surrounded, and stopped struggling.

"Holy shit bro, what the fuck was that?" Uzume asked. "Do you know her?"

"Not a clue," I admitted. "She's almost certainly a Sekirei though."

"Number 55, Saki," Matsu stated. "No registered Ashikabi, officially one of the handful of Sekirei who were retained by MBI rather than released into Shinto Teito. Her job isn't listed, but her early development notes make mention of a high degree of skill at espionage and stealth."

"A spy then," I concluded. "Part of the Disciplinary Squad?" I didn't remember her coming up.

"You shouldn't be able to see those files," Saki said, glaring at Matsu.

Matsu grinned. "Matsu is Sekirei 02. She's able to see lots of things she's not allowed to see." Saki clicked her tongue and then went quiet so Matsu turned to me. "And no, not officially at least. But MBI retained a few Sekirei as extra internal security, or for more subtle stuff. Because Kara-tan isn't very subtle."

Below us I heard a door open and a confused voice, talking to themself. The resident of the house we were fighting on had just gone outside to try to get a view of what was happening on their roof.

"Let's move back to the Inn," I said. "Kusano, could you wrap her up?"

Kusano nodded and placed a seed on Saki's back. It quickly burst open and wooden branches bloomed from it, wrapping their way around the prone Sekirei's body, forming a spiral of bondage from her shoulders to her knees.

I picked her up in a princess carry, Ren still flaring. "Let's go. I've got a few questions for her."

We made our way back to Izumo Inn, everyone else falling into a loose formation around me as we roof hopped back. Saki didn't struggle. Instead, she just closed her eyes and seemed to do her best to appear dead to the world.

When we got back, Miya and Chiho were standing on the porch, watching us with concern. "What happened?" Chiho asked as we landed in the backyard.

"I caught a spy," I said, indicating the woman in my arms. "She was watching us."

"How did you know she was there?" Homura asked, a slight amount of suspicion in her tone.

"I wanna know too," Uzume said. "One second we were just sitting there, and then the next you were leaping out the door! Did you sense her aura? I know your range is a bit bigger than mine."

I frowned as I thought back to that moment. "No, she was suppressing her aura somehow." I noticed Saki's eye twitch slightly. She was trying to keep her face neutral, but she was listening in to us. I wasn't actually sure how she had suppressed her aura, but I was chalking it up to part of her Sekirei powers. She was likely a physical type, and Miya said that usually expressed in a few ways. It wasn't too crazy to think that one of those resulted in her Aura being reduced, either intentionally or as a side effect.

"Let's be careful what we say around the spy though," I said warningly. Nen was a secret after all. "But when Matsu realized that we had been found out, my mind instantly jumped to how that could have happened."

"Matsu's been checking, MBI didn't see us or the others while we were going through the city," Matsu said with a frown. "We were careful to not draw attention- ah."

"Yeah," I agreed. "One of us drew attention. Kyouko."

Several heads turned to look at her. I saw a flicker of something I couldn't identify on her face before she quickly put a mask up. "So?" she said defensively.

"So MBI apparently caught wind of you, wondered who was this non-Sekirei who just trounced a bunch of other Sekirei, and followed you here, and found us." I said. "At least, that was the conclusion I reached. I didn't stop to think about it, I just looked at the one spot that had a vantage point on us and caught this one watching us."

I was watching Saki for a reaction, so I saw her lips tug into a small frown before she quickly schooled herself. As far as spies went, she struck me as rather inexperienced.

"Let's get inside," I say.

"Oh my, are you planning on turning my home into a den of criminal activity?" Miya said.

"You did that when you agreed to let Matsu stay after she ran from MBI," Matsu countered.

We headed back into the sitting room, or whatever it was called. The table was propped up and put against the wall so all of us had room. Saki was placed, sitting up, in the center as all of us looked at her.

"So, what's the plan?" Uzume asked as she eyed the enemy Sekirei.

"I don't suppose you'd be willing to answer a few questions, would you Saki?" I asked.

"No," she replied tersely before going quiet again.

"Are you willing to confirm or deny my theory from earlier?" I asked. She remained quiet though, and I sighed.

"We could try forcing her to answer," Matsu said.

"What, like torture her?" I asked and then shook my head. "I don't really want to do that. This isn't important enough for that."

"You could wing her," Chiho said. Saki stiffened.

"No," I replied firmly. "No forced wingings."

Which was a declaration that felt a little hypocritical, especially after what I did with Homura in the last portal trip, the time-stopping Magical Girl not the Sekirei(and isn't that an annoying coincidence?). But that had been for a good reason, and her own benefit. Winging Saki would have just been taking on responsibility for her purely for the sake of information that really wasn't that important.

And she was hot, but the Skyblock was already getting pretty cramped and we were bringing two more Sekirei home with us. I had plenty of hot girls already. I didn't need to force this one into my harem.

I sighed. "And because she's not winged, we can't even terminate her," I say. "Not peacefully at least." I looked at Miya. "I don't suppose you'd be willing to hold her here for a bit?"

Miya's expression grew stony, but she didn't immediately deny my request. Instead she took a moment to think about it before sighing. "You are quite the troublesome man, Roland-kun."

"Sorry," I apologized, meaning it. "This isn't exactly how I was hoping things would go. If MBI comes looking for her, I don't care if you just hand her over or whatever. I just need an hour or two of head start."

I only had a vague plan at that point, but with MBI knowing that we were there, whatever we were going to do we were going to need to do quickly. A blitz rush during the chaos, either for the portal back home or for MBI headquarters, were our best options.

"Very well," Miya agreed with another sigh. Then she turned to Saki. "After all, I suppose I need to teach someone not to spy on poor widows in the privacy of their home." A faint feeling of malice and threat filled the air, which caused Saki to stiffen.

"Thank you Miya, it's much appreciated."

Miya stood up and turned to Musubi. "Musubi dear, could you help me carry this one to Matsu's old room?"

"Okay Landlady-sama!" Musubi agreed cheerfully. Musubi effortlessly hoisted the unresisting Saki onto her shoulder and followed Miya out of the room and upstairs. The only person left in the room that wasn't part of my retinue, or wasn't planned to join soon, was Homura.

There was a moment of silence as she stared at me, a contemplative look on her face. For a moment I was worried she was reacting to me, but her expression wasn't right for that. But after a moment, she spoke up.

"So… what are you going to do now?" she asked.

I sighed. "Good question. Matsu? I think we need to get in contact with the others."

"Okay!" Matsu replied as she leaned towards me. I leaned in as well and gave her a kiss as she activated her Norito. "Check, check. Can everyone hear me?"

Shiina stiffened in surprise, experiencing the telepathy for the first time. But she wasn't the only one to react like that. Akitsu's reaction was more subtle, but her head twitched slightly as if she was about to look around for the source of the voice before stopping herself. And Homura reacted as well, looking at Matsu with wide eyes. Well, wider eyes, considering she was already looking at her in surprise as she suddenly used her Norito.

"Loud and clear," Levy replied. "What's up?"

"We've hit a bit of a snag," I started explaining. "Kyouko ran into some trouble and caught MBI's attention. I asked her to meet up with me, and MBI followed her and found out we were here. Now MBI has taken over the city early just to capture us." I paused. "Also, Kyouko found someone who wants to join us, Akitsu. And another allied Sekirei, Homura, is on the line. Say hi you two."

"...line?" Akitsu's telepathic 'voice' asked in confusion.

"Like a telephone line," Homura explained. "Hello, I'm Homura, though I don't remember agreeing to become an ally of yours."

"An ally, a friend of a friend, someone who doesn't want to lock us up, same difference," Matsu said.

"What kind of trouble?" Mami asked. "Is Kyouko alright?"

"I'm fine," Kyouko replied, annoyed.

"Kyouko is a big girl who can take care of herself," Bisky said. I spotted Kyouko frown a little at that, but she didn't say anything. "So, Roland. Are we retreating then?"

I paused and considered the question for a moment, but my vague plans were slowly becoming more firmly defined in my head. "No. We learned a few things about the Jinki that made it clear we don't know enough. We need to raid MBI's headquarters for the notes stored there."

Homura gave me a sharp look at that, but I ignored her and didn't elaborate. I trusted her enough to be fine letting her in on my plans, but there wasn't any reason to explain everything to her. She could ask Miya if she was curious.

"Alright," Bisky accepted it easily. "What are we doing then? Meeting up there and bulldozing our way through? Sneaking in?"

I took a moment to think about it and assess our strength. Including Akitsu and myself, we had eight combatants. We also had Kusano for healing and support, two Pokemon that could fight in an emergency.

And the thing that I couldn't stop thinking about was just a few minutes prior when I, the weakest combatant, had fought one on one with a Sekirei. And I hadn't just won, I had won handily. I wasn't really sure how strong Saki was in comparison to your average Sekirei, but I couldn't imagine that MBI would keep one of the weaker Sekirei.

But our fight hadn't been enough for me to be sure. It was short and hectic, but my sparring with Kyouko had left my perspective somewhat skewed. She just hadn't seemed that fast. In fact, I was just as fast as her, at least when using Ren. And I had been a lot stronger. The fight had also been a good reminder of how broken Nen is when used against those who didn't have it. It was a powerful shield. The blades MBI produced weren't a joke, they were high quality made with modern techniques, but even it had failed to penetrate my aura.

And all of my Sekirei could use it.

"I think…" I started before hesitating again. But then I decided to push forward anyway. "I think we get a little greedy. There are two missions we can do here, so let's do both of them at the same time, and then leave."

"A simultaneous attack on Higa and MBI?" Levy asked.

"Higa?" Homura cut in. "The Ashikabi of the East? Why him?"

"Revenge," Uzume answered. "That bastard was blackmailing me by threatening to pull Chiho's medical care. She was in a hospital that he ran when she winged me, and he found out."

Homura's gaze narrowed. "I see. Yes, I wouldn't complain about him being taken down."

"I'm thinking two groups," I continued. "Chiho and Uzume need to be the one to go after Higa, which we'll also use to attract MBI's attention. I want both Kyouko and Mami to go with them in case the Disciplinary Squad is sent after them, so they can handle Karasuba together. None of Higa's Sekirei should be a threat. Bisky, I want you with me, in case Karasuba isn't sent out. Matsu will also need to be with me to handle MBI's security. Everyone else will need to be divvied up to spread out the combat strength as best as possible."

"I'm going with Onii-chan!" Kusano declared immediately, quickly clinging to me like I was going to run away without her.

"Kusano, it's going to be dangerous, and there's going to be a lot of fighting," I said as I put a hand on her head. "Why don't you wait back on the Skyblock-"

"No!" she protested immediately, squeezing me more tightly. "I don't care if it's dangerous or scary. I need to be there to fix you."

"I agree, actually," Bisky cut in before I could try to argue against her. "Roland is the most important here. If he goes down, all of the Sekirei go down. The healer should be with him. It's worth the extra effort to protect her. Besides, she can protect herself fairly well, and she needs to get used to these kinds of situations."

I sighed. I didn't like putting Kusano that close to the fighting, not after how badly she was rattled by last week's incident, but I knew an argument I couldn't win when I saw one. "Alright, fine. Kusano can come with me. But you have to listen to everything I or Bisky tell you to do, alright?"

She nodded, face pressed up against my side. "Okay."

I turned to Shiina. "That means you're with me as well, so you can protect Kusano, like we talked about earlier."

Shiina nodded. "I will."

"Also your power will be handy in taking down any barriers or locked doors we might encounter," I continued.

"Matsu should be able to hack open any locked doors," Matsu protested.

"You think they won't have protections against you after you were 'abducted' by me?" I pointed out. "Like non-electric locks?"

She pouted. "Point."

"I will go with Kyouko-sama," Akitsu declared. Kyouko's eye twitched, presumably at the honorific used.

"You don't have to fight," I pointed out. "You just joined, I won't ask you to do that."

"I will go with Kyouko-sama," Akitsu repeated, more firmly this time.

"Alright, if that's what you want," I agreed. I thought over the teams. Honestly, even if the Disciplinary Squad did show up, considering how Kyouko single handedly dispatched Hayato's entire flock without breaking a sweat, then two Magical Girls, an aura wielding Sekirei, and a single digit Sekirei was overkill for Higa.

"Levy, you'll come with me then," I conclude. "The Pokemon will stay in their balls unless it's an emergency. I don't really want them fighting people with guns. Or sekirei with blades."

"...did you just say Pokemon?" Homura said, stupefied.

"I explained the omniverse stuff to you right?" I asked. "The first world I visited was the Pokemon one."

Homura just blinked at me. Most likely she was questioning reality, since I had sorta skimmed over the 'I know stuff because I read/played/watched these worlds as pieces of fiction' thing when I was explaining earlier, so the concept of the other worlds I visit being the same as the ones you could find in fiction, or close enough, was a new concept.

But I didn't feel like dealing with that. "I know you're not part of our group, and not our ally, but do you want to join us?" I asked. "The Guardian of the Sekirei going after an Ashikabi who plays dirty like Higa feels appropriate. Or you can join us in attacking MBI, but that might draw some heat on you once we leave."

Homura raised an eyebrow. "Not going to try to wing me too? Invite me to your secret home?"

"You wouldn't agree," I replied with a shrug. "You have too many attachments here."

Homura's gaze narrowed at me, expression unreadable. A few minutes passed in silence, the others watching our byplay with curiosity. Then Homura turned away. "No. I protect unwinged Sekirei. Once they're winged, then that's it. And I don't want to piss off MBI. Not unless you plan on killing Minaka. I'll join you in a heartbeat for that."

"Miya made us promise not to do something drastic like that," Matsu said.

Homura clicked her tongue. "Then no, I'll pass. I'll help you out by keeping an eye on that spy Sekirei, but that's it."

I nodded. "Even that much is appreciated. It's probably for the best. I would feel bad about leaving you behind alone while we run from MBI's forces after we're done."

Plans made, I was ready to put them into action. "Matsu, how bad of an idea would it be to knock out MBI's camera and or satellite footage for the next couple hours?" I was concerned about foreign agents taking advantage of the window.

"If we do it now? It should be fine, so long as it's not too long. No one is going to make a move right after MBI made an announcement like that. They're going to hole up and not draw attention to themselves."

I nodded. Her logic made sense to me. "Alright, here's the plan. Matsu will knock out MBI's eyes. When they do, we split up. Matsu, pick out two meeting points, one a few blocks from MBI and one a few blocks from where most of Higa's Sekirei are right now." I tossed her my phone, so she could use the Mapper. "Send them to the appropriate teams and we'll all meet up. The Higa crew, which will be led by Chiho, will initiate first. We'll give them a few minutes and then we'll begin our assault on MBI. Questions?"

"I'm in charge?" Chiho asked, surprised. "Why?"

"A few reasons. First, you're the only non-combatant, so you won't be busy with a fight and you can direct the others from the back, seeing everything. Second, seniority. Everyone who has been part of my group longer than you is on my team. Uzume was sort of at the same time as you, but if we're talking about that moment of connection, then it was you first. Thirdly, you're the only other Ashikabi, and I think Uzume would prefer taking orders from you over anyone else. And fourth, I just think you have a good head on your shoulders and you won't get carried away. I'm not expecting perfection, but I think this is something you could be good at."

She didn't look very confident, but she nodded. "I'll- I'll do my best."

"You can count on me if you need help," Mami reassured her kindly. Chiho relaxed slightly at that.

"What's our exit plan?" Levy asked.

"Just book it back to the portal," I replied. "We're not staying here any longer than necessary. Matsu will remain in contact with everyone, through telepathy or phones. If there are complications, we'll figure it out on the fly."

"No backing the other up if we finish our objective first?" Levy asked.

I paused to consider that. "Matsu? How close are the points in relation to the portal?"

"As of right now, all but two of Higa's Sekirei are with him in his headquarters," Matsu said. "But those two seem to be heading back to him. Their headquarters… is roughly the same distance away from the portal as it is MBI. They form a triangle."

I tapped my finger against my leg a few times. "For now, no. If you finish your job, you leave. If one side ends up needing backup, we'll shift the plans as needed. Also, as much as I'd like to provide you the revenge on Higa you two deserve, and to get rid of an asshole in the remnants of this Sekirei Plan, that mission is secondary. If, for some unforeseen reason, you need to retreat? Don't hesitate to do so. That's a bonus, not a critical objective, got it?"

"We understand," Uzume said. "I'm just looking forward to punching that bastard in the face."

"Any other questions?" I asked. None came. "Alright. We'll move out in a few minutes. Skyblock group, get ready." I felt the telepathic communication fade as Matsu let it go. Everyone stood up, ready to move out.

It was then that Miya entered the room. She stopped when she saw us all standing up. "Are you leaving then?"

"Yep, if MBI is moving, we can't waste any time," Matsu said. She went over to the older Sekirei and hugged her. "Thank you for the help. Both now and before."

Miya hugged Matsu back. "Of course. Be safe, and be happy. That's all I ask."

Uzume and Matsu both said their goodbyes to Miya and Homura. I didn't pay much attention, instead giving them some privacy as I made sure everyone else was ready and separated them into groups, making sure someone had a phone with a GPS leading to the spot Matsu had already texted them. I also had her officially accept the Higa mission from the Company app.

With our final goodbyes and checks done, I gave Matsu the order to take down MBI's satellites and cameras, and a Norito so she could pull it off. I was critically aware of how many Noritos all of my Sekirei were using though, nervous about each one now that I was aware of the risk. But I knew Matsu could handle a dozen or so with ease, so I didn't hesitate much before giving her the Norito.

And once MBI's eyes were down, we scattered.

Kyouko had the phone with directions and she was followed by Akitsu, Uzume, and Chiho. Uzume was carrying Chiho, whose Nen hadn't quite reached the place where she could easily roof hop with everyone yet. They would meet with Mami, who was leaving from the Skyblock portal.

Matsu led the way for our group, my phone in her hand as she kept track of everyone, Kusano and Shiina bringing up the rear. We were going slow, by Sekirei standards, but Shiina didn't have aura or her limiters removed, and carrying her would slow down the person carrying her even more. Bisky was leading Levy from the Skyblock portal to meet up with us.

We made the trip in relative silence. It wasn't long, not even ten minutes of roof hopping. I spent it mentally preparing myself for what was to come. I didn't know the specifics of MBI's security, but I knew the broad strokes. Lots of soldiers with guns and other modern weaponry. Probably a few Sekirei. Potentially the Disciplinary Squad. I wasn't sure what inside the actual building would look like, but I was hoping Matsu would be able to shut down most of it.

MBI Tower was in sight by the time Matsu slowed down and jumped back to street level, landing in an alleyway. I could feel two powerful auras there already, Bisky and Levy, and I followed her without hesitation.

"About time you slowpokes got here," Bisky said from where she was sitting on top of a dumpster.

I raised an eyebrow and glanced at Levy, who was standing nearby. She shook her head. "We've only been here for a couple of minutes."

I rolled my eyes. "Right. Well, we have to wait anyway for the other team to kick things off before we can make a move."

"So let's come up with a plan," Bisky said. "Matsu, what can you tell us about the security measures?"

"It's pretty standard stuff," Matsu said, pushing up her glasses as she started to explain. The light didn't glint off of them, but I still noted the anime-inspired mannerism. "Top of the line of course, but there isn't much there that is unique."

"Why?" I asked. "You'd think MBI with all of its tech, and Minaka with his… everything, would be able to get something special."

"There's a benefit to standardization," Matsu explained. "Those are systems and procedures that have been tested time and time again, growing more and more refined. It does make you a bit more predictable, but each time someone takes advantage of having that knowledge, more countermeasures are developed and the 'standard' system becomes even more secure. It's not perfect of course, but it's the better option in most cases." She paused. "And also Minaka was not allowed to make decisions regarding the construction of the tower, outside of his demands that it become the tallest skyscraper in Shinto Teito and him getting the entire top floor for himself. He originally wanted an underground base until Takami-san and Takehito-san stopped him."

"Of course he did," I said with a sigh. "Alright. How many floors are we dealing with?"

"Sixty-four," Matsu answered. "The first thirty-nine floors are dedicated to MBI's more public resources. Research labs, accountants, marketing, those sorts of things. Floors forty and higher are where all the Sekirei stuff are kept. It's where most of the Sekirei lived and were adjusted. The floor we're interested in is floor sixty-two, where the top secret data servers and research labs are."

"Please tell me we can just take an elevator all the way up," I asked.

"Yep! There's a special elevator that only the Disciplinary Squad can use that can't have its power cut. It's how Matsu stole the Jinki and escaped."

"So they've almost certainly added countermeasures for you specifically," Bisky said, repeating my point from earlier.

Matsu paused. "Maybe?"

I sighed. "We'll try it. What's our other option if you can't hack it?"

"A series of normal elevators," Matsu explained. "Because they don't go up the entire thing. There are three security checkpoints separating the sections of the building. At each one you have to get off an elevator, pass through the checkpoint, and get onto another elevator to go higher. Those are on floors ten, thirty-nine, and sixty."

"That's a lot of resistance we'd have to fight through," Levy commented. "Any sneakier routes?"

Matsu shrugged. "We could try climbing the elevator shaft of the express elevator, but Matsu wouldn't recommend it. It's a straight shot and we'd be sitting ducks if they opened the doors and shot down at us."

"Let's not do that, yeah," I agreed. "Having to go through their security is more or less what I was expecting anyway. What should we expect to face?"

"Hmm," Matsu pondered and I could tell she was hacking into MBI's databases by the distant look in her eyes. "Looks like about twenty human guards in each of the first three security points and about a dozen on the first floor. Floor sixty is where the Disciplinary Squad is, and they might have some humans and Sekirei, depending on if they're sent out to deal with the other group."

I frowned and considered it. A max of twenty baseline humans per encounter wasn't much of a threat, but the guns they carried still were. "Bisky, how well does aura stand up against mundane bullets?" I asked.

She waved her hand in a so-so motion. "Depends. Experienced Enhancers who focus on their body can no-sell even heavy munitions such as explosives. And experienced Nen users like me can more or less ignore small arms, but heavier guns can still hurt. You and the others? I'd advise not getting shot. It wouldn't be nearly as lethal, but it will still penetrate you." She glared at Matsu, who had opened her mouth. "And no, not like that."

Matsu closed her mouth again, pouting. But I was focused on the issue at hand. "That's going to make this a little difficult," I said. "We don't have a lot of ranged options. Only Levy does. The rest of us need to get close."

"That won't be as much of a problem as you might think," Bisky said. "You might not be bulletproof, but when using Ren, you're damn fast. Indoors, you should be able to close that distance before they get many, if any, shots off. Plus, your shield should be able to block bullets."

I nodded slowly. "Alright. In that case, this is our formation. I'll lead the way. Levy and Bisky will be right behind me. Then Shiina, followed by Matsu and Kusano. When fighting starts, Matsu and Kusano should find a safe spot behind us. Shiina will stick close to them in case someone gets past us or comes from a different direction. Me and Bisky will rush in, and Levy will support us from cover at range. Sound good?"

There were nods all around. Shiina looked both nervous at the idea of getting into combat, and relieved that she wouldn't be in the thick of it.

"There's something important we need to discuss though," Bisky said, tone serious. I glanced at her and saw that her expression was blank. "This is a dangerous situation we're entering, one where we'll be fighting against enemies using lethal force. Are we going to be doing the same?"

Kusano and Shiina stiffened, but Matsu and Levy just grimaced. I, on the other hand, froze. I hadn't really thought about it up until that point, which in hindsight was ridiculous. Maybe I just didn't want to think about it, some part of me avoided the topic. But Bisky's job was to draw my attention to those kinds of things.

I didn't reply immediately, instead I gave it a lot of thought, making sure I didn't reach a conclusion hastily. The others were silent, waiting for my answer.

"Try not to kill," I said eventually. "But… prioritize your own safety." Did I want to kill these men who were just hired to protect a building for the sake of getting some Credits and Jinki? Not really. Was I willing to risk that happening for those things? As it turns out… yes. Yes I was. It would make me stronger, make my family safer, and I would risk the lives of… not innocents, because they were soldiers, but people who hadn't done anything more than accept a paycheck from my enemies, in order to continue onward.

Besides, I had a bigger safety margin than normal. I looked over at Kusano. "You'd be willing to patch them up, just in case, right?" Kusano nodded, a determined look on her face. I turned back to Bisky. "That a good enough answer?"

Bisky stared at me, expression still blank, for a moment. Then she smiled and nodded. "Yep, that'll do just fine. For now, at least."

I frowned. "What, do you want me to kill?"

"No, not necessarily," she replied. "You're recognizing that lives are on the line though, and prioritizing us. That's the important part. But… there will probably be a time where we do need to kill. Will you be up for it then?"

I kept my expression neutral. "We'll find out," I said. Truth be told, I didn't want to think about it too much. I still don't. She's not wrong, considering the types of worlds out there and the type of people present in a lot of them, if I continue on the path I was taking, I'll end up killing sooner or later.

I just… I don't know how I feel about that. Conflicted, mostly.

But that's something for Future Roland to worry about.

"Chiho's team has made contact with one of Higa's Sekirei," Matsu declared, pulling all of us back into the present moment. "And she's been terminated. It was the one still heading back to Higa, she was alone. And there we go, MBI is sending a team. Four human members of the Disciplinary Squad and an adjuster. Oh, it's Takami-san. That's good, that'll get her out of the tower."

"So are we moving now then?" Bisky asked.

"Not yet, wait until a bigger fight breaks out," I said. "This is just them responding to a Sekirei termination. It doesn't seem like they know it's us yet."

"Nope, they don't know," Matsu confirmed. "Chiho's team is moving on towards Higa, they should be there in just a few minutes."

I nodded. "Then let's get a little closer to the tower," I said. "We need to choose our infiltration point."

The others nodded and followed me as we left the alley. The first thing I noticed was just how many people were out on the street. There was an energy to the crowd that was unsettling, like something was building up. Or maybe that was just my own nerves that I was projecting onto the crowd.

Realistically, it was a little bit of both, because as we approached MBI tower, we quickly saw that the crowd of people wasn't a coincidence. Arranged in front of the entrance was a massive crowd of people, many of them yelling. It was hard to make out what they were saying because of all the voices clashing, but after a few moments I was able to piece it together.

"Looks like not everyone is happy with MBI declaring martial law on the city," I commented to the others. "This is a protest."

"Guess we're not going in through the front," Levy said. "But on the bright side, look." She pointed towards the entrance of the building.

A line of armed guards stood there in full body armor, holding guns. I counted nine of them, discouraging the crowd from pressing too close. Right in front of them stood a man in a suit who seemed to be talking to the crowd, though I couldn't hear him from this distance.

"They're distracted, or at least the first floor security force is," I noted. "This is the perfect time to strike then. But we'll have to go around to the back or something."

"There's an underground carpool that Matsu used to escape," Matsu said. "Also a loading dock on the other side for shipments."

"Let's target that," I decided. "Come on, let's go around."

We went back another block, enough to get out of the worst of the crowd forming in front of the MBI building, before making a wide circle around to the other side of the building. It took a while since we were walking on the streets and blending in.

"Chiho's group has reached Higa's location, fighting has broken out," Matsu reported. "MBI's noticed, but hasn't responded yet."

I nodded in acknowledgement. "Good timing on their part, we should be in position soon."

A few minutes later, Matsu spoke up again. "There have been several terminations. Chiho says things are going well, they'll confront Higa soon. And there it is. MBI has identified Chiho and Uzume and are sending the full Disciplinary Squad after them. One or two of the human members might hang back, and whatever non-Disciplinary Squad Sekirei MBI has on hand, but Karasuba and the others will be leaving the building."

"Good," I said. I didn't feel relieved, considering that meant Karasuba was heading for the other half of my family, but it was at least going according to plan. "Warn Chiho and let me know when they actually leave."

I came to a stop as MBI's loading docks came into sight. There weren't any people here, all the protesters were focused on the front. And all the loading bay doors were closed, as was the gate. I didn't know how often MBI received or sent out shipments, but obviously today wasn't a good day for it.

But the gate was short enough for us to hop, and the only security measures I saw beyond that were a couple of cameras.

"Matsu, are those cameras an issue?" I asked.

"They won't be for long," she declared. "As soon as I get in range of one of them, I can mess with all the connected ones. Which won't be the cameras for the entire building, since they've separated them by section of the building, but I'll be able to get us into the building and to the elevators without tipping anyone off."

"Good enough for me," I said. We fell quiet then, simply waiting until it was time for us to move.

"They're leaving now," Matsu said after a few more minutes. I looked up and saw three helicopters in the sky, lifting off from MBI's rooftop.

"Let Chiho know, and then give me my gear," I said. "It's time to get started."

Matsu quickly tapped at my Company phone and my spear and shield appeared in the air, where I snatched them up. It felt weird, carrying such anachronistic weapons in a modern alleyway, but I focused on what was to come. I breathed in and made sure my aura was flowing smoothly, ready to enter Ren or Gyo at a moment's notice.

I glanced around at the others. Bisky transformed into her Magical Girl form with a flash of light. Levy was fixing her hair, tucking it underneath her hair band so it wouldn't get into her eyes. Matsu tucked my Company phone between her breasts, storing it there so she could focus on manipulating MBI's security systems. Kusano and Shiina were holding hands.

"Alright team, let's do this," I said. In hindsight, it was a pretty cheesy and cliche line. But at the moment I was in full fight mode, and thinking of something more clever to say wasn't on the menu.

They nodded, and auras flared. I raised my shield in front of me, using it to cover my torso, and then dashed out of the alleyway at superhuman speed. The others were close behind me, loosely maintaining the formation we had decided on earlier.

"Camera's hacked," Matsu reported tersely as we got close. I didn't reply. We leaped over the gate blocking the loading dock, even Kusano and Shiina making it without issue, and kept running when we hit the ground.

"Door there!" Levy said, pointing slightly to the side where a small flight of metal stairs led to a door. There was a sign on it that read "Receiving." I could also sense an unawakened aura in the area, but they were alone.

I leapt up and over the railing of it, skipping taking the stairs, and tested the door knob. It was unlocked, so I opened it and quickly entered, the others following behind.

The room we entered was large, with a tall ceiling and a lot of walking room. It was mostly undecorated concrete as well, and there was industrial equipment such as forklifts, pallet jacks, sturdy metal shelves, and more scattered around the room.

More importantly, right next to the door, where I felt the aura, was a little office area. It was pretty much just a few desks, a line of filing cabinets, and a coffee maker. But there was also a person there.

"We're closed- what the fuck?!" he said as he finally processed the sight of us. We were an odd sight to be sure.

I leveled my spear at him. "Leave," I ordered him. "You don't want any part of what is happening today."

He gaped at me before swallowing. He silently nodded and started gathering his stuff, hands trembling. I glanced at Matsu and she nodded to let me know she was keeping an eye out and we were still good. The man finished grabbing his stuff and then booked it out of the door we just came in.

"Nice Intimidation roll," Matsu commented once we were alone.

I sighed. "Come on. Which way is this special elevator?"

"Out that door and then to the right," Matsu said. "It'll be on your left twenty meters down."

I nodded and followed her instructions. We didn't sprint as I didn't want to make too much noise. I could feel the aura of people in sections of the building that we passed, but none had a line of sight on us so we ignored them. Matsu's control over the cameras, whatever she was doing with them, meant we were still undetected. I knew that wouldn't last long, but I wanted it to last as long as it could.

We reached the elevator without being noticed, thankfully. Based on the one guy's words, this section of MBI wasn't operating today and most of the people who worked here had likely been sent home. Or were at least somewhere else in the building. And most of the security forces were still outside.

But we ran into a problem with the elevator.

"Dammit, they did change it," Matsu complained. The call button for the elevator was dark, with no backing light. And right below it was a lock. "You need a key to even call the elevator. Without it, it doesn't have power."

"Could we pull off the panel and supply it power directly?" I asked. "Just bypass the security through brute force?"

Matsu contemplated that for a moment and then shook her head. "Probably not. If I were to design a system to prevent me from using it, I would tie an alarm to anything that tried to bypass it like that and then sabotaged the controls to make it completely inoperable. Or worse, sprayed some kind of knockout gas or something. Minaka loves little traps like that."

I sighed. "I'm starting to really understand all the hate for this guy," I complained. "Plan B it is, through the security checkpoints. Where are the normal elevators?"

"Back that way, turn right at the second hallway, and then turn right again," Matsu directed us. We took off again, going slower as we entered more occupied parts of the buildings. Though that was a relative term, as the first floor beyond the shipping area mostly seemed to be lounges, meeting rooms, custodial closets, and only a few rare offices. It was the public face of MBI, the only part of the building that most outsiders would see, and there weren't many people there.

I came to a stop when I felt a group of three people very close to where we were headed though, silently signaling the others as well. "Matsu?" I asked her in a whisper.

"Security booth," she answered, knowing what I was asking her for without me having to say it. "Those are the ones who aren't outside."

I nodded. "Bisky, Levy. Blitz. Try to knock them out. Matsu, prevent them from raising the alarm." The four of them nodded, and I tightened my grip on my spear. "Three… two… one… Go!"

We burst out from around the corner, Levy and Bisky right behind me. The security booth wasn't much of one, really just a circular desk area where three men in security guard outfits were sitting. They weren't relaxed, but they weren't on edge either.

They barely had time to look up before we were on them. All three of us leaped over the desk simultaneously and slammed into a security guard. They shouted in surprise and pain as they toppled to the ground, but they were quickly silenced. I didn't see exactly what the others did, but I carefully slammed my shield into the face of the one I was in charge of.

There was a nasty crunching sound and a spurt of blood as his nose broke. I flinched a bit, not prepared for that, but I didn't back down. I pulled my shield back, ready to hit him again, but the guard was dazed and lying on the ground, face covered in blood as he groaned in pain.

I looked at the other two to find them in similar states, albeit with less blood. "Tie them up," I instructed. I reached down to the security guard's belt and pulled a pair of cuffs out of a pouch there. I flipped him over and cuffed his hands behind his back. He struggled a bit, but he was still too dazed and hurt to fight back.

Once he was secure I looked at the door that was behind the desk. It had a sign on it identifying it as an armory. I stepped over the guard to approach it and tried the handle, but it was locked and I didn't see a badge reader or keypad. Turning back to the guard, I fished around for a keyring, but didn't find one.

"Here," Levy said, holding up a set of keys from the desk. She tossed them to me and I used it to open the armory door.

Inside was a smallish room, only a bit bigger than a closet, with a rack of guns and body armor. Most of it was missing, presumably arming the ones outside. I was tempted to take a gun for myself, but I didn't know anything about using them, and it was too easy to be accidentally lethal, so I decided against it. Nen would serve me better, even if I currently lacked a ranged option.

"Store them in here," I said. Putting guards in a room filled with guns wasn't exactly the best of plans on paper, but they were tied up and getting them out of sight was more important.

Matsu, Kusano, and Shiina caught up to us as we dragged the semi-conscious guards, who were searched and stripped of any phones, radios, weapons, or other tools, into the armory. Once they were in I closed the door, locked it, and tossed the keys to Matsu for her to store in the Pocket Space.

"We clear?" I asked Matsu.

"Yep, no one has noticed," she confirmed. "They'll probably know something is up soon though, when these guys don't check in or respond."

"That'll have to do," I said. "Let's move quickly then."

The elevators were across the hall from the security booth, in plain sight. We all crammed onto a single one, which was a bit of a tight squeeze, and Matsu hit the button for the highest floor available, floor ten.

As the elevator slowly rose, I took a moment to collect myself. I could feel the adrenaline flowing through my veins. My heart hammered in my chest and my hands shook. That was the first time I had fought directly against another person like that. I had sparred with the others, and I had fought Familiars in the past, but that was my first real fight with a human.

Not that it was much of a fight, truth be told, but it was still violence. Violence I had done.

I wasn't sure how I felt. Nervous, mostly. I also regretted breaking the guy's nose. But I also felt satisfied. We had taken them out perfectly, without them fighting back. My training was proving itself, and that felt good.

I didn't feel guilty or disgusted though. No shame. Just… excitement. Not in the pleasant way, but the very neutral way. Maybe 'wired' is the better term for it. I was on edge, prepared for more action, neither looking forward to it, or dreading it.

I could live with that. A neutral feeling towards fighting and violence. That feels right to me.

The elevator came to a stop and I tensed, raising my shield as the door opened. But it opened to nothing, just a hallway that went in two different directions.

"Matsu?" I asked as we slowly crept out of the elevator.

"Right is towards some office spaces and storage. If we want to go higher, we need to go left to the north side of the building," she said. I spotted some signs on the wall that said the same thing. "The security checkpoint will be much more robust though, and fully staffed. There's no way around it."

I nodded. "Stay in formation," I reminded everyone. Then, slowly, silently, we made our way through the halls.

I was worried about running into people, but the halls remained empty. I wasn't sure why. Had MBI sent non-essential personnel home? Was this floor just not very populated? I could feel a few people beyond the walls of the hallway, but no path to get to them. Not that I wanted to.

So we came to a stop at a corner without having seen a single soul. Like every other corner we had rounded, I stopped and peeked around it to check to see if the coast was clear. But this time it wasn't. There was a security checkpoint ahead. Turnstiles were lined across the hallway like the entrance to the subway, and on either side were desks built into the wall. Behind those desks were several security guards, and I could feel the aura of even more people beyond that.

Worst of all, the hallway to them was long, lacking cover or any other doors. They'd see us coming.

I turned back to the others and described the situation to them. "We can either give up on subtlety and rush them, or try to bluff our way closer," I suggested.

"I don't think we can pass off as employees," Kusano said. "All the people I've ever seen wear lab coats or suits. And we…" she glanced around at us. Our clothes definitely stood out in a professional environment like this.

"Rushing it is then," I said. "Kusano, Matsu, and Shiina, all of you stay back here. The rest of us will rush in. Bisky, you go left, I'll go right. Levy, give us a smokescreen and then support us from behind. Ready?"

Everyone nodded, and we readied ourselves at the corner. I flared my aura, entering Ren, and shifted it so it would cover my spear. Once the other two signaled they were ready, I took a deep breath, and then dashed into the hallway with my shield raised in front of me, full on sprinting towards the security checkpoint.

I was trying to run a little quietly, but it was impossible to not make noise without slowing down. Still, we managed to make it halfway down the hall and to the checkpoint before the guards sitting behind the desks, three on each side, looked up and noticed us.

I saw confusion and shock flash on their faces, clearly unprepared for a man with a shield and spear, a magical girl, and a girl with a glowing hand writing words in the air to come rushing at them.

But I had to hand it to MBI, they didn't hire slouches. All three of them quickly stood up and pulled out the pistols holstered on their hips. "Freeze!" a couple of them shouted.

And then I lost sight of them as dense fog billowed out from behind me, conjured by Levy. I knew the layout of the room though, and all three of us could sense aura, so we adjusted to the lack of sight without issue.

The guards responded by opening fire. Gunfire cracked through the hallway, explosively loud in the cramped space. Most missed the mark, but I felt one bullet slam into my shield. I nearly tripped, partially from the unexpected force, mostly out of surprise and fear, but I didn't feel any pain or drain on my aura, so I knew the shield blocked it.

And then we were on top of them. Bisky cut left while I cut right, leaping over the desk. I crashed into the closest guard and sent him careening to the ground, but I kept my feet under me. I heard more gunshots, this time from point blank range, and they once again thunked against my shield.

Aura detection was thankfully accurate enough that, at such a close range at least, I could discern the shape of their bodies and how they were standing. So I lashed out with my spear, stabbing it into the space right in front of his clasped hands.

There was a screech of metal and I felt a bit of resistance as I stabbed into the gun. The guard yelped in pain or surprise and stumbled back, but I heard metal clatter onto the ground.

I turned my attention to the third guard, but there was a flash of light bright enough to cut through the fog as a bolt of lightning slammed into him. His body spasmed briefly before going limp and the third guard crumpled to the ground.

So instead I turned to the first guard, who was starting to get to his feet. I kicked him in the head, sending him limply sprawling back to the ground.

Then… nothing. The fog faded away and there was a beat of silence as I looked around and took stock of what happened. I saw Levy, lowering her hands as she looked around to make sure we were clear. Bisky was across the hall, only her head visible behind the desk, delivering a kick to one of the guards also on the ground there.

A hiss of pain drew my attention to the three guards I had taken care of. The one whose gun I had cut in half was bleeding from his hands, my attack apparently having nicked him. At a glance, it didn't seem dangerous though, so I quickly spun my spear and prodded him with the butt of it in the head. He fell limp to join the others.

Of course, as short as our fight had been, less than ten seconds probably, multiple gunshots had been fired, and there was no way we weren't going to be noticed. I could hear shouts coming from a room through a door right next to me, and beyond it were about a dozen people who were getting up and heading in our direction.

I didn't even need to shout orders. Bisky quickly vaulted over the desk she was behind and then mine, taking up a position next to me. Levy did the same, joining up on the other side. I traded glances with them to make sure they were ready, and then I opened the door.

Beyond it was an office space of sorts, one that vaguely reminded me of a police station as shown in 80's and 90's television. A large open room with several doorways leading to other places, lots of cluttered desks, and filled with people who had guns on their hips.

I won't go through that whole fight, as it was basically a repeat of what just happened. Levy filled the room with fog, and all three of us abused our aura senses to quickly take out the five or so people in the room.

But the others, smartly, didn't blindly rush into the room. There were three doorways leading away from the room. Two went in the same direction, towards the center of the building, and another one ran parallel to the hallway we had sprinted through. The remaining nine people I could feel in my range, which totalled up to the amount of security Matsu said there would be, were spread out in the rooms beyond those doorways.

And they had stopped before charging in. The fog left me blind as well, so while I could tell where they were, I couldn't really tell what they were doing. But I guessed that they saw the fog and decided not to charge in blindly. Thankfully, they also didn't fire blindly.

Unfortunately, things got worse from there. An alarm suddenly started blaring, a loud siren accompanied by a flashing red light that managed to cut through Levy's magical fog.

Knowing our time to be slow and subtle was up, I waved the others over to me so I could whisper the plan to them, though it was hard to both be quiet enough to not be heard by the guards and loud enough to be heard over the alarm. "We'll take them one by one, I'll lead to block any shots, don't bother with fog."

I didn't really expect the plan to go that smoothly. It hadn't so far after all. But despite the yelling and shooting that each room of guards we assaulted did, the others didn't take the chance to move and instead holed up in their room.

If there were more pockets, one of them might have worked up the nerve. But by the time we got to the third group, which was just two men, they looked terrified.

Still, all the guards were dispatched, knocked unconscious. We didn't bother tying them up. Speed was more important than making sure they didn't get back up and attack us from behind. I didn't think any of them were in a state to do so anyway. We hadn't killed anyone, or even hurt them enough to endanger their lives, but most probably had concussions and/or broken bones.

We made our way back to the hall filled with security turnstiles and I let out a whistle. I saw Shiina poke her head out from the corner down the hall and I waved her over. Soon, all three of them were catching up.

"I'm sorry, Roland," Matsu said, shouting slightly over the alarms. "One of them used their radio to warn the next security checkpoint. I wasn't close enough to stop him."

"It's fine, it was just a matter of time," I assured her. "Let's just hurry to the elevators."

Matsu nodded, accepting that for now, and we took off. I reflexively shifted into Zetsu to recover some of my aura. Bisky glanced at me and for a moment it looked like she was going to chide me for it, but she looked away without saying anything, so I maintained it. There wasn't anyone nearby and I was able to keep pace without it.

It didn't take us long to reach the elevators. We all piled into it again and once more hit the button for the highest floor available, floor thirty-nine. I shifted back to Ten, just so I wasn't totally defenseless, and settled in to wait.

But only a few seconds after the elevator started rising it suddenly jerked to a stop. The lights flickered off before a dimmer set of emergency lights kicked in, bathing the interior of the elevator in an almost orange light.

"Those jerks!" Matsu yelled. "They cut the power!"

I clicked my tongue in annoyance. "Out, now," I ordered. I wedged the tip of my spear into the crack between the doors, careful not to hit or stab anyone in the cramped space, and then pried them open. Thankfully, we were mostly lined up with one of the floors, with another set of doors almost entirely visible. We pried that open and carefully, but quickly, stepped up into another hallway.

"Floor twelve," Levy read on a sign next to the elevator. "We made it an entire two floors."

"Matsu?" I asked.

She grimaced. "We'll have to take the stairs," she said, pointing towards a set of doors nearby. "They run parallel to the elevators, so we still have to go through the checkpoints, we'll just be more tired."

I frowned, but I didn't see any other option. "Maintain Ten. Shiina, let us know if you get tired. Everyone else, time to put those morning runs to use."

Matsu groaned, but everyone fell in line as we headed into the stairwell and started climbing.

Honestly? It was boring. I made sure to not go too fast so we didn't wear ourselves out, but I didn't waste any time either, trying to maintain a balance between the two. It seemed to work, as I only started feeling any sort of strain as we approached the thirty-ninth floor.

Which is still pretty crazy. Two months ago running up even just ten flights of stairs would have left me a sweaty and exhausted mess. After weeks of training, Talents, and aura? I handled the nearly thirty flights with ease, and at twice the speed to boot.

We stopped at the thirty-eighth floor though. I had been expecting an ambush or something on the stairs, but none had come, and I wasn't sure why. Even there on the thirty-eighth floor, I couldn't sense anyone nearby. Still, I held a finger to my mouth, making sure everyone knew to be silent, and we crept up the last flight of stairs.

I pushed open the door and poked my head out, checking the hallway for any threats. I didn't feel anyone, but there could have been automated defenses, or a Sekirei like the one from earlier who could somehow hide from my aura detection. I didn't see anything though, just a hallway indistinguishable from the one on the tenth and twelfth floors save for the different signage.

I opened the door fully and we filed out into the hallway, on edge and ready. We maintained our formation as we headed toward the next security checkpoint. Once again, we reached a familiar looking corner and came to a stop as I looked around it. And I saw immediately why there wasn't anyone lying in ambush. The hallway was closed off by a giant metal gate.

"What the fuck?" I said out loud as I double checked what I was seeing.

Matsu peeked around the corner as well and groaned. "Fire gates," she identified them. "They're meant to be used to prevent fires from spreading, but they double as a security block."

"Annoying, but not a big deal," I said. "We'll just open them up. Bisky?"

Bisky nodded and then made her way to the gate, which looked like a heavy duty version of what shops would pull down over their windows when they were closed. More of a shutter, really. She knelt down, grabbed the handles at the bottom of it, and started to pull up.

It moved slightly and then stopped, stuck in place. Bisky frowned and pulled it again, but it didn't budge.

"Is it locked?" Levy asked.

"It shouldn't be, that would be incredibly illegal and unsafe," I said. "You don't lock fire doors like that in case someone needs to escape."

"It has a key hole though," Kusano pointed out, indicating a spot in the center where a keyhole indeed was present. It looked like the gate latched into the floor itself.

"That's new," Matsu said with a frown. "And Roland-tan is right, it's super illegal."

I sighed. "Fucking Minaka. What does he care about legality?" Matsu grimaced but nodded, agreeing with my point. "Bisky, do you think you could force it open?"

"Definitely," Bisky agreed. "But it would be loud, and I don't know what kind of damage it would cause."

"Umm, I can do it," Shiina said, stepping forward. "It'll be easy with my power. And it's quiet too."

I nodded. "Alright, you're up then. Do you need a Norito?"

Bisky stepped back from the gate as Shiina blushed and shook her head. Instead, she stepped up to the gate and simply placed her hand on it.

Now, I knew what Shiina was capable of. I knew her power, had seen it in action in the manga I had read, and I knew that she was rated as a T6 alongside Kusano, that they were equal in power. I had listened when Bisky described her dissolving trees with ease.

But seeing it in action? As the door just silently went from being solid metal to nothing but dust so fine that it floated away in the wind in just a couple of seconds? It was chilling, and it made me very glad she was on my side.

But even as it chilled me, I felt a grin form on my face. "Good job Shiina," I praised her. She looked back at me with a smile before she suddenly blushed again and wordlessly nodded. If I had a free hand, I would have pet her on the head, but alas I did not.

My smile fell into a frown though when I looked beyond where the gate had stood. Twenty feet past it was yet another gate. I groaned.

"Come on, let's keep going," I said, annoyance tinging my voice. We stepped past the remains of the gate and walked towards the next one. I tensed slightly as I felt the presence of aura- twenty people lined up, ready and waiting.

"Wait," I said, coming to a stop a few feet from the gate. "They're ready for us. Shiina, can you dissolve only part of the door? A section large enough for us to pass through one at a time?"

She nodded. "Yes. I can do it faster too."

I took a moment to stop and think, coming up with a plan. "Everyone, get on either side of the gate. Shiina and Levy, I want both of you near the center. When Shiina makes the hole, Levy will give us another smokescreen, and then send out some wide attacks to disable as many of them as she can. Then Bisky and I will rush forward under the smokescreen to clean up. Questions?"

There weren't any. We all took up our spots, and Shiina did her thing. With a touch of her hand, which she quickly pulled back, a doorway size section of the gate dissolved into nothingness. I heard a few clicks as the men on the other side of the gate shifted their positions, obviously spotting the change. I could tell they were arranged in two lines of ten, with one group kneeling in front of the other, spread across the hall. I was pretty sure they were on the other side of the turnstiles, as I was assuming it had the same setup as the other checkpoint, but I couldn't see to check.

I looked across and nodded to Levy. Her finger lit up as she wrote the word "FOG" in the air, which she then gently pushed through the hole. "Hold!" I heard a man shout as it appeared. Right before it disappeared from my sight, it lost cohesion and burst, expanding into the same thick fog from before that filled the hallway.

I heard a few curses, but no one fired. They were well disciplined at least. But Levy wasn't done. Her hand was already moving, right another word and pushing it through the now enshrouded exit: "BLAST".

There was a moment of silence as it entered the fog, but then that was an explosion, almost like a grenade went off, but instead of fire, the hallway was filled with a tempest of wind. The fire gate we were leaning against shuddered violently, but held. The fog that Levy had created was pushed away and dissipated, which sort of defeated the purpose of it, but I didn't stop long enough to worry about it.

I barely gave it time to die down before I was rushing in, shield up. As it turned out though, I didn't need to worry. The hallway looked pretty much like it sounded, like a bomb had gone off. The security turnstiles were in bad shape, some torn straight out of the ground, the other just dented or warped. And the men behind them were all on the ground, some already pushing themselves onto their feet, but most were down for the count.

It was a simple matter for Bisky and I to do exactly what I said earlier and clean up, knocking them unconscious. These men were prepared for us, wearing body armor and helmets, but they did little to dull our aura empowered blows. In just a handful of moments, the coast was clear.

"That was badass," I praised Levy with a grin as she and the others filed through the hole in the gate. "We barely had to do anything."

Levy grinned back. "Thanks. That spell normally takes up quite a bit of my strength, but since you increased my reserves so much, I can afford to use it a few times like that and still fight at full capacity."

"Hopefully you'll only need it once more," I said. "There's only one more security checkpoint right?"

"Yep, but it's the Disciplinary Squad one," Matsu answered. "It'll be different. And I'm not sure if anyone will be there right now. I've tried checking but there's no records of stuff like that, and I can't access those cameras from here."

"We'll find out then," I said. "Come on let's-"

I was cut off as one of the radios on one of the men we had knocked out crackled to life. "Well well, Roland-kun, aren't you being a little rough on my men?"

I felt my face twist into a sneer, recognizing the voice that I had last heard less than an hour ago. I bent down and pulled the radio off of the harness of the unconscious man, awkwardly trying to balance it and my shield in the same hand, and raised it to my face. "Minaka."

"That's right, I'm so glad you remember me," he replied cheerfully. "I don't suppose you've come to return my Jinki? It's awfully inconvenient trying to manage without it."

"No, that is safely out of your reach still," I replied. "Though I'm surprised, I thought you would be more annoyed about the Sekirei I took."

"Eh, if Miya didn't stop you, then I figured your little birds wouldn't be mistreated too badly," he replied with apparent disinterest. "Ah, but you've picked up a couple of new ones haven't you? Seven and one-oh-seven, the scrapped and the twin of your first flock member. But… was she actually your first Sekirei?"

I frowned. "What do you mean by that?" I asked.

"Why, of course I'm referring to your blue haired friend with the mysterious powers of course," he replied. I looked up and locked eyes with Levy. "Tell me… how did you do it? The Sekirei genes from the first seven ships should have been too diluted to do more than make Ashikabi without any powers of their own. But here you are with multiple girls showing that same power. What kind of gene therapy went into producing them? Who did it?"

I didn't reply at first as what he said sunk in. He thought I was a foreign spy that had some kind of pseudo-Sekirei, genetically altered to bring out the genes of the first Sekirei who landed and mated with humanity. It made sense, in a way. It was the easiest way to rationalize the appearance of multiple girls with supernatural powers that weren't one of his Sekirei.

I also noted that the fact that he knew about Shiina meant that Saki had managed to pass some information along to him since she was the only one who could have seen and reported that she was with me. I didn't remember seeing a cellphone or radio on her though, so I'm not sure how she did so.

"I'm afraid I have no idea what you are talking about," I said in my most carefully neutral voice.

Minaka chuckled. "Oh I'm sure you don't. No matter, I'll find out soon I suppose. Then, at least tell me this. What is your goal here?"

I snorted. "Like I'd tell you," I muttered without transmitting it. But then an idea occurred to me, and I grinned. I held down the button again. "I'm here for you, Minaka," I declared. "This so-called game of yours is cruel and unlawful. I can't allow it to continue, even if that means having to cut off the head of the snake to make sure it ends."

There was a pause. "Oh?" Rather than concerned, Minaka sounded positively delighted. "Well then… I'll have to prepare a special welcome for you. I'll see you soon, Roland-kun."

I rolled my eyes and threw the radio on the ground. "Come on, let's get going," I said.

"Did you mean that?" Kusano asked as we headed for the next stairwell.

"Fuck no," I replied instantly. "We told Miya we wouldn't, remember? I just said that to fuck with him. Imagine his reaction when we leave without confronting him."

Matsu burst out laughing at that, nearly tripping as her cackles echoed through the hall. "He'll be so mad that you teased him with a dramatic confrontation like that," she said.

"He lives for that kind of stuff," I said, explaining it to the others. "Hearing that I was coming for him probably made his whole day and turned this from a disaster to a fun experience. So if I don't show up…"

Matsu laughed again. "Matsu is so glad she chose you as her Ashikabi." The others had amused smirks as well, but no one enjoyed my pranking of Minaka more than Matsu did.

We quickly found the stairs and made our way up them at the same pace as before. None of us, not even the auraless Shiina, struggled with the twenty floors we had to ascend.

Once again we stopped a floor below our target one, slowing down and feeling things out. Once again though, the coast was clear. We crept up the final set of stairs, only to be met with another fire gate at the top.

"I've got a bad feeling about this," I muttered. "Shiina?"

Shiina nodded, stepping up and doing her thing. The gate dissolved, revealing the normal door behind it, which we carefully stepped through. Only to find another gate waiting for us in the hall, which only went one direction this time.

"Oh… they're all going to be down, aren't they?" Levy asked.

"Probably," Matsu agreed.

The next ten or so minutes consisted of us making our way through the lowered fire gates one by one, carefully feeling out the area ahead with our aura senses. Matsu checked with the cameras as well, but there weren't as many on the upper floors of the building. But she didn't find anyone.

We reached what looked like a security checkpoint without seeing anyone. It was different from the others. There was just a single sturdy door with a badge reader next to it. Matsu was able to bypass it with a touch, causing the door to unlock, and we stepped through.

It was a ghost town. Off to the side was a strange area. I'd call it an office area, but it very much wasn't. Sure, there were some desks and tables with documents scattered on top of them and computers piled on them. And there was a bank of monitors bolted onto the wall, showing various camera feeds. Or they would have been, but Matsu had taken them out so they were just showing static.

But there were a few things that didn't quite fit an office space. A weapon rack on the wall that housed both an assault rifle and a katana, with room for more of both. I saw a disassembled pistol, in the middle of being cleaned, left on another desk. And there was one desk, larger than the others, that had absolutely nothing on it besides a nameplate that read "Karasuba". The chair behind it was large and comfortable looking.

"This is where the Disciplinary Squad hangs out," Matsu explained. "Where they do their office work. There's no checkpoint here except having to walk by them. There are only a few people allowed on these floors, so it's easy for them to keep an eye out for people who shouldn't be here. And unlike the other groups of guards, they all live here, on this floor, so they're always here."

"But not right now," I said. "I knew we were trying to drag them away, but I expected a few of them to stay behind."

"They should have," Matsu agreed. "You remember Saki? She's not the only Sekirei that MBI has on retainer. I thought we'd run into at least one of them here. They're not part of the Disciplinary Squad, but they are stationed here as well."

I frowned, a thought occurring to me. "Do you think Minaka told them to come to his office then?" I asked.

Matsu's eyes widened. "Oh, he would, wouldn't he?" she said. "You said you were coming for him. He'd want a big dramatic fight, but since I'm messing with the cameras, he wouldn't be able to watch it from his office. So he brought the last of his forces to his office so he could see it go down in person."

"So we have one less fight to worry about then?" Bisky asked. "That's almost a shame. It's been too easy so far."

"Don't jinx us like that," I replied. "After last week I'll gladly take an easy mission." I glanced at Matsu. "Check with Mapper though, I don't want to be surprised again."

"Right!" Matsu said. She fished the phone out from between her breasts, giving me a playful wink in the process, and then opened it up. She tapped at it a few times, and then she frowned, expression quickly growing concerned as she frantically swiped at the screen.

"Matsu?" I asked, concerned.

She looked up at me, nervousness and guilt on her face. "Umm. So. Good news and bad news?"

I stared at her. "Good news first," I said.

"You were right, they're up in Minaka's office. Three Sekirei, Minaka, and probably a few humans that don't register to Mapper."

"And the bad news?"

Matsu hesitated. "...Karasuba is still in the building."

We all tensed at that. "I thought you said she left?" I asked, pushing down the feelings of anxiety welling up in my gut.

"I saw her with the others on the helipad when the Disciplinary Squad left!" Matsu explained. "So I thought she was leaving with them! She must have stayed behind for some reason." She paused. "Not just for some reason. She's in the Jinki room."

I closed my eyes and let out a slow breath. "Of fucking course she is. She predicted us. Again."

"She's got some crazy instincts," Levy grumbled. Then she looked at me. "So. What are we doing?"

We stood there for a few moments in silence as I came to a decision. But really, there wasn't a choice. "We keep going," I said eventually. "She's alone. We can take her."

The others nodded. Shiina looked a little lost, apparently not knowing Karasuba's reputation, and we hadn't had a chance to explain our history with her either.

We resumed our formation and headed for the staircase. Matsu was keeping a close eye on Mapper now, promising to update me if anyone moved. We had to go through a few more fire gates, but otherwise our path was empty.

We went up two more flights of stairs before arriving at the same floor as the Jinki lab, floor sixty-two. It was uncomfortably close to Minaka and the Sekirei guarding him, but I was too focused on Karasuba to give it much thought.

"Left down this corridor, fourth door on the right," Matsu said. We nodded and wordlessly followed her directions.

"I sense her," Bisky said, causing me to stop. I could feel it now as well, the presence of aura faint on the edge of what I could detect, right in the direction we were headed, where we expected her.

I tightened my grip on my weapons but didn't say anything. We continued forward at a slower pace, trying not to make any noise as we approached our objective. We reached the door without Karasuba seemingly noticing us. At the very least, she didn't move significantly. I couldn't tell more than that about her from just her aura, not from that far away.

We gathered around the door. "Ready?" I whispered. The others nodded. Matsu waved her hand at the door in what I'm pretty sure was an imitation of a Jedi and the lock was disabled. We opened the door as silently as possible and crept in.

Of course, our attempts to be stealthy were useless. The first thing I noticed was that the room was large, with a tall ceiling and a lot of open space. In the middle of it was a raised platform surrounded by a few strange looking pillars of some kind and monitoring equipment. More equipment lined the walls. I vaguely recognized the room, but I didn't have time to place why.

Because right between us and the center of the room was exactly who we expected. Karasuba, sitting on a stool, facing the door and wearing a smile that an ignorant person would describe in innocent terms, such as amused or happy. But I knew better.

"Once again, you meet my expectations," she says in a friendly tone, standing up. "You should really change up your tactics. Trying to distract us from your real objective didn't work the first time, and it didn't work this time."

I felt my lips curl into a frown. "Maybe we didn't trick you, but it worked out in the end. We faced you alone then and escaped. And now you're alone again."

"But you're not escaping this time," she replied, utterly confident. She shifted her grip on her katana, held loosely at her side. She wasn't drawing it yet, but she was clearly ready to do so. "You didn't come to this room by accident. There's only one reason to come here after all."

I grimaced, annoyed that she had guessed that we would come after the Jinki. In hindsight, it made sense. We had absconded with a Jinki. Coming back and attacking MBI- obviously it was to get the rest. Or research. In our case, it was both, but the conclusion of either was easy to reach. Minaka probably would have assumed as much as well if he wasn't so egocentric and easy to deceive.

"You're right, but that's not the only thing that's different," I said. "You think we didn't account for you? Bisky, you're up."

"No."

I blinked.

I blinked again.

Everyone's head turned to Bisky, who was standing there with her arms crossed and looking at Karasuba.

"Sorry, can you repeat that?" I asked, confused.

"I said no," Bisky said, tone flat. "I'm not going to fight her. You will."

I wasn't the only one whose stare at her intensified, as the rest of my present retinue members looked at her like she was crazy. But the extra attention wasn't limited to my allies. Karasuba's gaze moved from me to Bisky, her grin widening to show teeth, no longer looking the least bit gentle and instead taking on a much more sinister vibe. "Oh?" she said, voice dripping with intrigue.

"Bisky, what the fuck are you talking about?" I hissed. "She will murderize me."

"Ooh, that's a good word, murderize," Karasuba said. "Gives plain old murder a bit of an extra pep."

We ignored her as Bisky finally turned to us, rolling her eyes. "Maybe a month ago. But now? Well… you might have a chance now."

"That's hardly encouraging!" I shouted, starting to lose my cool. "Seriously Bisky, what the fuck?"

"Don't take that tone with me," she said, eyes hard as she looked at me. "I've been watching you spend the last few days freaking out at the thought of running into this woman. And now that she's here? My judgment is that you were worrying too much. You made the right call when you purchased me to train you because you've become strong enough to take her. It won't be easy, but you're not the same man you were last time you came here. You've grown."

I met Bisky's eyes, and I paused. I forced myself to calm down and listen to her. I saw the confidence and conviction in her eyes. And her words dug their way through my thick skull.

Last time we came here, I was basically a normal person. No special powers, no special training, just a few special people at my side. To the me of then, Karasuba was an insurmountable threat. And I had kept envisioning her as such.

But I had Nen now. I fought off the familiars of two different witches. I spent my days sparring with people stronger than me. Just earlier that day I had taken down a Sekirei all by myself.

Karasuba was still dangerous… but that gap was smaller now. Much smaller.

I straightened my back and shifted my gaze to Karasuba, who was watching us with open amusement. "Alright," I said in a quiet voice. I stepped forward, shield raised in front of me and spear in a ready position.

"Onii-chan!" "Nii-san!" Kusano and Shiina protested, but I felt a pulse of Aura and neither of them moved.

"You three will stay right here and watch," Bisky said, tone serious. I could feel her serious intent radiating from her aura. "Roland will do this himself… or not at all."

Levy… didn't say anything. But I could tell she was watching me. Her eyes were heavy on my back.

But I stopped paying attention to them then, my senses already honing in on Karasuba and discarding everything else. I couldn't afford any distractions.

Karasuba's grin widened even further, looking almost manic. "Last time it was the mysterious girl and number ten. Now it's the mysterious Ashikabi?" Her eyes flicked past me. "I'd like to play with the confident little girl… but I suppose I could go for an appetizer." She raised her katana, right hand grasping its hilt as she slowly drew it from its sheath.

I didn't say anything, I just continued to approach her, one slow step at a time, ready at any moment. My aura flared as I entered Ren, energy coursing through and around me, Shu ensuring the benefit extended to my spear.

My lack of response didn't seem to faze her though. "Just do me a favor, and don't break before I've had my fun."

Then she disappeared.

I raised my shield an instant before Karasuba's sword slammed into it, protecting my neck from her blade. My heart rate skyrocketed as adrenaline started pumping through my veins. I hadn't been able to see her move, my reaction had been pure reflex, guessing where she was going to strike.

But my training paid off, and I didn't panic. Or maybe it was Stress Defense that prevented that. Either way, I recognized the danger and the skill gap but didn't freeze. I attacked, a simple thrust from where she had come to a stop after I caught her sword on my shield. I hadn't expected to hit, so I was unsurprised when she stepped back, the tip of my spear getting just a few inches away from her and staying there as she matched its pace.

I felt another frown tug at my face, realizing in that fraction of a second that it wasn't a coincidence that my spear stayed a constant distance from here, nor was it an indicator of our equal speeds. She was playing with me, perfectly controlling her speed. A quick look at her face, still smiling and eyes twinkling in amusement, confirmed it.

"That's a sturdy shield you have there," Karasuba commented, more curious than anything else, as she stepped back.

I didn't bother indulging her in banter, I couldn't afford it. Training with Kyouko had taught me that offense was the best defense, and my reach was my biggest advantage. I stepped forward and thrust my spear directly at her center mass.

She side stepped it easily of course, almost lazily in fact. She had that damn sickening smile on her face though, all pretenses of innocence stripped from it, revealing the blood hungry beast that she was.

I saw her start to move and once more it was only reflex that saved me. I raised my shield up, above my head, and I almost stumbled as her blade slammed down into it before it skittered off at the angle. She followed it up with another attack, but I stepped into it, forward, and caught it with my shield near her hilt. Once again I thrust my spear at her.

I barely had time to register my shield slamming back into me as she increased the force of her swing. My shield protected me from her blade, but there was nothing I could do about the momentum as she practically launched me away.

My perception of time had slowed down, not because of any aura technique, just from sheer adrenaline. So I was aware of every millisecond I spent in the air. I was painfully away of how dangerous a position that was, without the leverage of the ground to utilize in my attacks.

But it was a position I was familiar with. After all, pretty much all of my sparring partners had done something similar to me at one point or another. So I knew exactly what her follow up would be.

Before I even registered the fact that she was moving, chasing me, I was shifting my shield even as I thrust my spear at a spot right below me.

Sure enough, Karasuba practically teleported exactly where I was aiming, her blade angled low towards the ground as she prepared to sweep it up towards me. I looked her straight in the eyes, which I saw flicker in recognition as she noticed she was headed straight for my attack, and I was already twisting in the air, putting my shield under me to intercept her own attack.

And I saw her grin widen. I saw her bare her teeth.

And then the moment of clarity ended, and time resumed a normal pace. Her head tilted, avoiding my spear thrust, and her weapon slammed into my shield and sent me even further into the air, this time spinning wildly.

I was disoriented completely, barely able to keep my shield close to my body, much less orient myself. I hit the ground on my side, rolling and sliding across the smooth marble. But that was enough for me to figure out which way was up and which way was down, and I slammed a hand into the ground to push myself to my feet.

And I was just in time too, as Karasuba landed right in front of me, her sword cutting into the marble floor. I desperately struck again, awkwardly swinging my spear at her in the hopes of cutting her before she could pull her sword out.

But she just ducked her head down and my spear passed over her harmlessly, close enough to rustle her hair but little else. I had to jerk to the side to avoid her retaliatory attack, a vertical upward strike as she tore her blade free from the ground.

With both of us back on our feet, we hit a sort of reset, but neither of us stopped to catch our breath. We rushed each other again, each trying to control the pace of the fight. Her blade darted out at me in a thrust, aimed over my shield, and I determined in an instant that I can't block it in time.

I abandoned the thrust I planned on making. Instead I ducked down, under her jab, and put on a burst of speed. I lose sight of her, but this close I can make out the shape of her aura, faint as it was, well enough to 'see' the outline of her body. So I noticed the infinitesimally small moment of hesitation, of surprise, before she starts to bring her blade down on my exposed back.

But that moment was enough. My shield slammed into her lower gut and her blade bounced off my back, the jolt negating the small amount of force she managed to build up as she was flung backward.

Unfortunately it didn't knock her down. Her feet slid against the ground, not finding purchase on the smooth marble before she bent her knees and the floor cracked, and she came to a stop.

I, however, hadn't slowed down. I had only straightened my back and continued to charge forward. For the first time, I was on the offensive as I sent a full power thrust straight at her chest, a yell ripping it's way past my lips.

But her grin stayed steady as she lifted her katana and swiped it in front of herself. Metal hit metal as their edges clashed and she forced my spear to the side. I grit my teeth and refused to give up on the momentum. Once again I pushed forward, thrusting my shield at her to trap her sword between it and her body as I pulled my spear back to swing at her, to try to at least hit her with the haft.

I succeeded in preventing her from easily using her sword, but she was too experienced to be foiled with just that. Before the haft of my spear could reach her, she leaned in the direction she had deflected my blade, and raised her opposite foot in a powerful kick that reached around my shield.

I was sent tumbling away again, though that time I was able to keep my orientation by focusing on her aura and the aura of the others still watching. They hadn't moved, giving me a steady frame of reference.

I twisted in mid-air and landed on my feet, though I almost slipped, as Karasuba had, on the smooth floor. But Karasuba didn't chase me, she let some distance form between us.

"If you could fight like this, why did you run so pathetically last time?" Karasuba asked, still grinning. "I haven't had so much fun since the last time I got Mutsu to agree to a spar, and that was far too long ago."

"Would you believe me if I said I couldn't fight for shit a month ago?" I replied, taking advantage of the lull in the fight to take stock of myself. My side hurt from where Karasuba kicked me, but I was pretty sure nothing was broken, just bruised. And that was the only real hit she had landed on me. Though my left arm was numb from blocking her other blows. I wasn't used to using a shield.

"No, I wouldn't," she said. "Even if you cut your way through hell, a human cannot grow that fast." She tilted her head. "Of course… that only applies if you are human."

"Through and through," I said. I maintained Ren, prepared for her to attack at any moment. But I was starting to worry about my aura reserves. I wasn't really running that low, but considering I had failed to even come close to hitting her, the pace was an issue.

At the rate I was going, I'd continue to not hurt her until I exhausted myself. I was just too slow. I could barely predict her movements, really only well enough to block fatal blows and nothing more. And the less said about my counter attacks, the better. She wasn't even predicting them, because she didn't have to. They were slow enough for her to easily react to them.

Karasuba hummed. "I don't really believe you. But I don't care either. So long as you give me a good fight before you die, that's enough." She took one hand off of her sword hilt so she could grasp the jacket she wore, though she only wore it around her shoulders and didn't put her arms through the sleeves.

In a smooth motion she pulled the jacket off of her shoulders and tossed it aside. She then grabbed her sword with both hands again and took a stance, preparing to strike. "I'm having fun, but I hope you don't mind if I get a little serious," she continued.

Ice crept into my veins as I realized that I had been barely keeping up with a Karasuba who had barely been trying. I had no idea how much stronger she was, but one thing was crystal clear in my mind.

I wouldn't survive her getting serious. Not with the way I was fighting. I needed to find a way to improve, now.

In a flash of inspiration, two memories sprang to mind. First, I remembered my fights with Kyouko, who was at least as fast as, if not faster than, Karasuba. I remembered how I fought her. And second, I remembered a fact about Nen, one that had been covered in the anime and one that Bisky had explained. About how Nen responded to Risk.

I saw Karasuba's knees start to bend, and I knew I didn't have time to internally debate whether or not I should try them. My only choice was to go for it.

Time seemed to slow down again, each instant broken down into discrete and observable moments. My aura shifted as I dropped Ren in favor of Gyo around my eyes, arms, and legs. Karasuba's form, which had blurred as she rocketed towards me, sharpened once again.

And finally, I dropped my shield. I didn't even bother throwing it, I didn't have time, I just let it fall to the ground next to me as I shifted my left hand to grab onto my spear, which I was already moving in a powerful jab straight in front of me.

I abandoned all pretenses of defense, committing my entire mind and body to offense.

And I feel my aura flow in response.

The speed and precision of our actions can't even be compared to what they were before. My spear is steady and powerful as both of my arms thrust it forward, the motion familiar from my time sparring with the others.

I'm lucky. Karasuba is surprised by my change of strategy. Her attack is made with the belief that I would block it, so she doesn't commit to it. Instead, she makes it weak so she can easily follow it up with an attack that I won't have time to block. So when her blade cuts into me, slicing through my jacket and shirt, it only cuts shallowly into my upper arm, drawing blood but nothing more.

And my spear, which she barely reacts to in time, scores a line across her cheek.

She immediately jumps back, putting some distance between us. Her look is manic, but not panicked. She looks surprised but gleeful. Her mouth opens, more babble and banter ready to spill out.

I don't give it any attention. Aura bursts out from around my lower legs, strengthening me as I push off the floor and rocket towards her. My spear is raised ahead of me.

A flash of annoyance crosses her face, but it's replaced by excitement. She moves, even faster than before, side stepping my attack. I have too much momentum, I can't stop. She punishes me. A flash of white hot pain springs to life on my back. But I'm used to it. It isn't deeper than anything Kyouko gave me while training. It doesn't affect my ability to move.

I stab my spear into the ground and use it to swing around. The haft bends, but it's wood. It's meant to have some give. I quickly turn and pull it free, ready to attack again.

I thrust again, she deflects it upward, leaving my front open. I let go of the spear with one hand and bring it down, aura concentrating around it as I desperately use it to push aside her blade as she thrusts it at me. More cuts open up on my shoulder and my hand, but I continue to avoid significant damage. I can still fight.

I whip my spear down, not caring if I hit her with the head or the haft so long as I hit her. She dodges, but barely. The gap is smaller, and it's not controlled by her. I'm forcing her to dodge for real.

My spear slams into the ground, sending spiderwebs of cracks through it. I ignore the damage in favor of grabbing my spear with both hands again and chase her with another swipe.

But she speeds up again, rotating around me, staying well out of range until I'm forced to bring the spear to a stop or commit to doing a full circle. I stop it, not willing to turn my back on her. She steps into my range, blade flashing in the light as she brings it down on me.

I side step just barely enough to dodge it, but she adjusts her attack faster than I can react. It carves a path once more through my jacket and into my flesh, cutting part of my upper chest in a straight line. I barely suppress a wince. That one is deeper than the previous ones. I still have a full range of movement, but I can immediately tell that each time I move my right arm is going to pull at it.

I realize that I'm still too slow. I can't predict or react to her. I need more.

I cut off the thin streams of aura I kept around my body, around my vitals. I dedicate nearly all of it to my eyes, aura bursting out in vast quantities as I keep only a portion of it in reserve to fuel my movements and attacks.

Karasuba… blurs. I don't have time to think about it, but it's different. It's not that she's moving too fast for me to see, I see her clearly. But something about her silhouette is wrong, it warps with phantom images. I worry it's a new technique, but press the attack. There's no room in my mind for hesitation.

I step in jab my spear at her. She moves to dodge, and I shift my attack to match her. I can perceive her movements now. She notices and is forced to use her blade to deflect. Her blade looks strange as well, like its size and shape are shifting, but the new parts are blurry. Now I worry that I'm taxing my brain too much and my senses are failing.

I don't know how long we continue like that. Each breath feels like it lasts minutes, but my memory of it is only in snapshots. My mind is blank, unable to think, filled only with the void and the simple image of a block that I use to imagine the flow of my aura.

Steel clashes against enchanted iron. Karasuba can move faster, but my perception is faster. Except it's not. She looks just as fast as before, just… clearer. Save for the blurry edges. My sight and the way my brain interprets what I'm seeing are at odds. I feel a headache forming. I can't tell what's happening. I don't have the presence of mind to analyze it. But the end result is all that matters. I know what she's doing, how she's moving, and I can react faster.

Until something goes wrong. I feel something click. My vision sharpens, but in it I see two attacks. Two blades headed for me, both swung by Karasuba. One is aimed at my side, a horizontal attack meant to cut me in two at the waist. The other comes from a different angle, 45 degrees higher. It's a diagonal slash aimed to cut me in two from shoulder to waist.

My mind short circuits. I have no idea what is going on. I panic and step back. My spear aims to intercept the diagonal attack and I reflexively drop the aura in my eyes and redirect it to cover my torso as I shift back to defense.

But it's a mistake. The diagonal attack vanishes like it never existed, and Karasuba's blade slams into my side, shearing through my jacket and skin. I'm knocked aside though, rather than cut in half, thanks to my hasty aura defense. Still, she did significant damage with that attack. It hurts when I push myself to my feet. I know my time is running short.

So as she approaches, I don't hesitate. I don't waste time trying to figure out what happened. One of those attacks was fake, some kind of illusion. That's all that I can tell. So I shift back to using Gyo on my eyes in excess. I need to see through the illusion. The fact that the illusion disappeared when I stopped using Gyo doesn't register in the heat of the moment.

She blurs again as she charges me, her figure still strangely distinct yet indistinct. My spear is in a bad position to attack with the tip. But my spear is more than the pointy part. I step into her attack, dodging it, and hit her with the haft. It hits her chest, pushing her back, but it doesn't deal significant damage.

Still, it gives me enough space to attack properly. I bring the tip of my spear around and aim it at her. I advance forward, aiming to run her through.

She bats it aside, but I'm expecting that. I let the spear swing wide, I control it and add more momentum to it, shifting my grip so the butt of it flies towards her face. She's forced to duck and shift her counter attack. Instead of my belly, she aims to cut my legs.

I leap over the swing, but my position is awkward. I'm stuck in the air with my spear held backward, at my side. My only saving grace is that her sword is in a similar position. She can't attack with it before I land again.

So she pushes forward instead, ramming her shoulder into my gut as I fall back to the ground. Air escapes my lungs, no aura protecting my torso to soften the blow, and I feel the wound on my side tear wider.

I let myself slide back, creating a bit of space. I have the range advantage after all. I take those precious milliseconds to fix my stance and prepare to attack again. I glance at her face, but I can't read it. It's strange and shifting, not her expression, but her actual facial features. Like she's moving in two directions at once.

That's when I feel it again. The click. Karasuba sharpens, no longer wavering, but once again there's two of her.

One moves first, peeling itself off of the other Karasuba like she wasn't even there. She moves quickly, more quickly than she has the entire fight so far in a deadly thrust. I'm not able to dodge it, I know this. But my instincts are suspiciously quiet. My body isn't panicking. Even as I start to try to dodge to at least make her miss something vital, I notice something. The Karasuba that is moving is… faint. Flat. Something about her doesn't feel real.

The other one starts to move, and I don't miss that her movements are the same as the first one. I don't know what's happening, but something inside of me tells me how to move anyway. I ignore the first Karasuba, the one who is milliseconds away from thrusting her katana through my heart.

I raise my spear and drop the aura around my eyes. The first Karasuba disappears, but the second one is still there, still moving on the same path. I realize that my aura reserves are dangerously low. My Gyo usage had drained them much faster than it should have. But I don't have time to worry about that. I grab hold of every scrap of it I can and pump it around my arms and spear.

And then I thrust it with all of my strength at the spot where the phantom Karasuba had been.

I could see her expression now. I remember it as if it was in slow motion. The surprise that grows when she realizes that I'm dodging. The shock as she sees my spear perfectly aimed to intercept her. The fear as she realizes she can't react in time.

A dull thud reverberates up the shaft of my spear as the tip of it pierces her chest and Karasuba is forced to a stop by the impact of it. The only reason she's not run through further are the wings at the bottom of the spearhead preventing her from doing so.

I yank my spear out of her, readying another attack, but stop. Karasuba stumbles as I pull it out of her and she looks down at her chest in shock. Blood pours from her wound in thick waves, darkening her black kimono even further.

She looks back up at me. "A…. human…?" she asked, voice faint. "Im…possible…"

She falls to her knees, eyes falling shut. Her mouth moves again, but no sound comes out. She collapses on the ground, and she stops moving.

For a moment I don't move, I just stand there, not really believing what I just saw.

And then reality caught up to me, and I realized that I had won. I also realized just how much pain I was in, and how tired I was. I fell to my knees, gasping for breath. My spear clattered to the ground, slipping from my numb fingers, but all I could focus on was trying to get as much air into my lungs as possible.

"Onii-chan!" Kusano shouted from behind me. She ran up to me and knelt next to me, checking me for wounds. "You're hurt!"

I shook my head despite the fact that I clearly was. The new jacket the others had made for me was covered in cuts and was nearly in tatters. I was bleeding from each of those wounds as well, but only a couple of them were particularly deep. I felt like I got off pretty lightly, all things considered.

But more than anything, I was exhausted. I'd like to say I was more exhausted than I had ever felt before, but the memory of the Witch's barrier just the week before was fresh in my mind and that was worse.

I glanced at Karasuba, who was lying motionless on the ground, a pool of blood slowly spreading from her. "Heal… her…" I said, chest heaving as I caught my breath. "Promised Miya… wouldn't kill…"

Thankfully, Matsu took over. "He's right, she's bleeding out. I think he might have hit her heart. Kusano, bind her first and then heal her. Just enough to keep her from bleeding out, if you can."

Kusano frowned, but she nodded. She kissed me, activating her Norito. The first thing she did was ignore what Matsu and I said and healed me. It did nothing for my exhaustion, but I did feel relieved as the sharp points of pain I had been ignoring sealed up.

Only then did she turn to Karasuba. She placed a seed on the woman which sprouted into thick branches of wood that tied her up from neck to toe, similar to what she did for Saki, but the wood was even thicker and there were no gaps between the branches. Then Karasuba glowed faintly, and the pool of blood beneath her stopped growing, and I assumed that she was healed.

We were completely silent for a few moments, waiting on bated breath to see if Karasuba would regain consciousness. But her face remained slack and she didn't so much as twitch. Matsu leaned over her and placed a hand on her neck, checking for a pulse. She looked up at me and nodded, confirming she was still alive. I breathed a sigh of relief and forced myself to sit up.

"Matsu, get to work grabbing what we came for," I told her. I had caught my breath, but I still felt tired on a much deeper level, like I had pushed myself too far in my Ren training. "Leave one Jinki, take the rest." That would leave us with seven total, which was more than I needed if I'm being honest, but I wasn't feeling very generous at the moment.

"Roger that, Ashikabi-tan," she said before moving over to one of the terminals.

As I sat on the ground, not bothering to get up yet, I reflexively entered Zetsu to help me recover my aura. But I forced myself back to Ten, weak as it was. I wasn't aware enough to react quickly to danger if it suddenly appeared. Kusano clung to my back, still not used to seeing me get hurt. Shiina also hovered close by, though she kept an eye on Matsu, which I appreciated.

Levy caught my eye. "You did it," she said, a proud smile on her face.

I nodded slowly. "Yeah. Yeah, I guess I did. Just barely though."

"Why'd you throw away your shield?" she asked. There wasn't any judgment or anything like that in her tone, just pure curiosity.

"Risk," Bisky answered before I could. I closed my mouth and nodded at her, and Bisky continued. "Remember what I said about how Nen responds to risk? By abandoning his defensive options, his aura flowed better."

"That and I've spent the past week training without the shield," I added. "It was useful for blocking bullets, but trying to do a serious fight with it was dumb."

Bisky shrugged. "Maybe. It was also a great chance to learn that style of fighting in a real fight. But I don't think your decision to abandon it was a bad one, even if it was risky. Clearly it led to you figuring out your Hatsu."

The others perked up. "It did?" Levy asked. Kusano was interested as well, though Shiina just looked sort of lost.

"When he was using Gyo, there was a point where the flow of his aura changed, and he started consuming it at a much faster rate," Bisky said. Levy's face lit up in recognition, assumedly recalling the moment. Bisky then turned to me. "How'd you figure it out? And what is it?"

"I'm not sure what it was," I admitted. "It was… confusing. It definitely had something to do with my vision though. I was using Gyo on my eyes so I could keep up with her movements-"

"You were doing what?" Bisky asked sharply.

I blinked in surprise. "I- huh? What's weird about that?"

She looked at me for a few heartbeats, confusion clear on her face. And then she sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose. "Roland… Gyo doesn't do that. It doesn't affect your dynamic visual acuity at all. It just helps you see Nen better."

It was my turn to stare at her dumbfounded. "But… it does though?" I said dumbly. "Like, I've been doing it for a while. I used it a lot when I was sparring with Kyouko, and it was the only reason I could keep up with her speed."

"I noticed," she growled. "Which is why I'm so annoyed. I thought you were just using it to get a better read on your opponent's aura. Kyouko's a Nen newbie, but she's used to using her magic to fight, so she subconsciously flows her aura around her body. It's subtle though, so I thought you were using Gyo to read that. I was going to say something about it, but this training power I picked up told me that that was the best way for you to develop, so I let it be, like an idiot."

She practically growled that last word, clearly irritated. "But it worked out, didn't it?" I pointed out. "Turns out, I just needed more aura in my eyes, I guess."

"Which we could have figured out days ago if I knew that Gyo was doing something special for you!" Bisky snapped. Then she sighed again and her shoulders slumped, the anger leaving her. "Whatever. So, what is it? Some kind of perception alteration? Could you see her in slow motion or something? You didn't speed up, you just moved perfectly to intercept her."

I frowned. "No… not exactly," I replied. "It's hard to explain. It's like… she was blurry at first? The edge of her body shifted weirdly. Never much, just a little bit, but I honestly thought I was straining my eyes to the point of failure at first."

Levy's eyes widened slightly in concern, and I felt Kusano stiffen on my back. "But that wasn't the case!" I quickly assured them. "There, at the end, it was different. Something snapped into place. I saw a version of Karasuba that separated from her body and moved ahead of her, attacking me. But it was faint, almost translucent. Somehow I knew it wasn't real. So I gathered my aura and aimed at where I saw the fake one move, and by the time my spear got there, the real Karasuba had caught up." I shrugged. "Some kind of future sight, maybe?"

Bisky looked contemplative. "Maybe. There was another point where it happened though, right? I saw you panic and completely miss a block, like you saw an attack that wasn't there."

I paused. "That's true. That time they were both moving in sync and attacked at the same time from different angles. I couldn't tell which one was fake in time and guessed wrong. So… not future sight then?"

"Hmm," Bisky mused. "I have a few ideas about what it could be. But we can wait to figure it out tomorrow. We won't know for sure until we test a few things, and you need some rest."

I nodded and fell silent. A moment later my attention was drawn to the center of the room, where a section of the floor opened up to reveal seven Jinki arranged in a circle, each one nested in a slot in a machine that was revealed. I also spotted an eighth empty slot, where the Jinki that Matsu originally stole would sit.

Matsu carefully approached each one, putting a hand on it before using my phone to put it in the Pocket Space for safe keeping. She left just one, the one labeled "01" appropriately enough, alone before stepping back. The floor closed again, storing it away.

Then she looked up at me and grinned. "I've got everything ready to go!" she said.

I nodded, and then pushed myself to my feet. "I really don't want to go down all those stairs," I complained. But then a thought occurred to me, and I looked around. There on the ground I spotted Karasuba's jacket, which she had been wearing loosely over her shoulders at first, but had taken off during the fight. I walked over to it and picked it up before searching the pocket.

Feeling something hard and metallic, I grinned and pulled out a set of keys. "Jackpot," I declared. "Now we can take the elevator."

"Good thinking Roland-tan," Matsu praised. "Matsu never wants to see a staircase again."

"Sounds like I need to add a staircase to our normal training," Bisky commented.

"Wait, hold on!" Matsu protested, starting to panic.

But Bisky ignored her, turning her back on the Sekirei as she faced me. "Let's get going."

After retrieving my shield and spear and stashing them back into my Pocket Space, we left. It was a quick trip to the express elevator, which I called after using the key. It was larger than the normal elevator, enough for us to fit comfortably rather than being packed tight. It also had buttons for all the floors.

But rather than press the button for the first floor, Matsu pressed the button for the basement. I looked at her and she shrugged. "We might as well steal a car and leave, right?"

I thought about it for a moment and then shrugged back. "How are the others doing?" I asked.

"They're done and already back on the Skyblock," Matsu replied. "They didn't have any issues."

"Did they finish before the Disciplinary Squad arrived?" I asked.

"No," Matsu said. "Benitsubasa and Haihane are now listed as terminated."

"Huh. Good job Chiho's team. I'll have to get the story from them later. Is the mission marked complete?"

"It is. It's asking if we want to accept the rewards or take a credit payout of 15 Credits."

"Take the normal rewards and accept the other mission." We could only accept one mission at a time, but the Jinki won't count as stolen until the portal closes. That was how it worked last time at least. There's still a few hours until the portal closes though.

A few moments later, the elevator came to a stop, opening into a large parking garage. There was a security booth nearby, but it was empty, which made it easy for us to bust in and grab the first key we saw.

I paused when I picked up the key and then turned to the others. "...none of you know how to drive, do you?"

Kusano, Shiina, and Levy all shook their heads, which I more or less expected. I would have been very surprised if any of them had driven before.

Bisky shrugged. "There's not much point when you can run faster than a car and you can take public transportation wherever you want."

I turned to Matsu, and she shook her head as well. "Uzume was the one that drove when we busted out before."

I sighed. "It's a good thing I know how to. Come on." I had been hoping to take it easy on the way back, but I wasn't left with much of a choice.

It didn't take us long to find which car the key was for, since both the keys and the back of every car were helpfully labeled with a number ID. The car turned out to be a large heavy van, likely the kind that MBI deployed their troops in. It was more than big enough to fit all of us.

"Shotgun!" Matsu called.

"Where?" Levy asked, looking around.

I sighed. "No, there's not a shotgun, Matsu is calling dibs on the front passenger seat." I looked at her. "I thought that was an American saying though? Is that a thing here in Japan?"

"Nope!" Matsu said as we all piled in. She shot me a grin. "Matsu has been researching stuff so she could get to know her Ashikabi better."

I felt a heat crawl up my cheeks. "I see." I replied. In the spirit of being honest in these journals, I have to admit I was flustered, caught off guard by her sincere gesture.

Which is probably why, after starting the car and making sure everyone was buckled up, there was a grinding noise when I pressed on the accelerator. I looked down in a panic. "Ah, oops." I said out loud. "Left the parking brake on."

Matsu looked at me worriedly. "You do know how to drive, right?"

"Shush you. I'm just not used to the parking brake actually being used." I looked around and found the pedal, which was labeled, and pushed down on it before letting it push back up, which released the break.

Then I was able to let off the normal brake and the car started moving forward, and we were back in business.

The drive back to the portal was surprisingly relaxed considering we were fleeing MBI after a heist. After defeating Karasuba, it just didn't feel like MBI was a threat anymore. Still, I was a little tense, especially since I had to navigate Tokyo traffic while driving on the other side of the road than what I was used to. It was fine, most of the time, but when I had to make a turn it was a little disorienting.

Still, with Matsu directing me and also keeping an eye out for an MBI response, of which there wasn't any, it was more or less just a short trip. It would have been faster to roof hop, but I was too exhausted to do that, and Bisky was the only one that wouldn't be slowed down by carrying me. And no, I wasn't going to let myself get carried by Bisky who was half my size. Not unless we had to.

I parked the car on the side of a street, illegally I'm pretty sure, but I was feeling petty enough to cause MBI even more trouble, even if it was just a parking ticket. I was also feeling petty enough to pocket the keys, so they'd have to dig out whatever backup set of keys they had, or just tow it.

But where I parked was within eyesight of the portal, so after one last check with Mapper and Matsu's powers to make sure the coast was truly clear, we rushed through it, ready to be done.

The others were waiting for us. Well, Chiho, Uzume, and Mami were. I sensed Kyouko and Akitsu inside the house.

"How'd it go?" Mami asked, eyes scanning us for any injuries. I saw her expression tighten a bit at the state of my jacket.

"Mission accomplished," I reported. "We are now the owners of seven Jinki and Takehito's notes." I paused then, but there was no point hiding it. "We ran into Karasuba though."

Mami frowned. She didn't have much context beyond what she had picked up from our conversations for what Karasuba was like. Chiho didn't either, but she had heard more.

Uzume, though, grimaced. "I had a feeling when she was missing from the MBI group that showed up," she said. "I'm guessing she's the one that made it look like you lost a fight with a blender."

"Yeah, sorry about ruining the coat you just gave me," I replied as I took it off.

She shook her head. "Clothes are clothes. I can fix it." She eyed it. "Or just make another one. So long as you're fine." She gave Bisky a quizzical look. "You weren't able to just put her down before Roland got all cut up?"

Bisky kept her face neutral. "I didn't fight her. Roland did, by himself."

Uzume laughed. "Hah, right, good one." We just looked at her silently, and her grin slipped off of her face. "Wait, really?"

"He's been working hard and I thought he had a shot, so I had him fight her," Bisky explained. "And he did it."

Uzume looked at me, as did the others, in disbelief. I nodded. "It took me figuring out what my Hatsu is and catching her off guard. But yeah."

"Holy shit bro," Uzume said, awed.

Mami, though, wasn't happy. She turned to Bisky. "Why did you let him get hurt like that?! Weren't you there to stop that?"

"No, I wasn't," Bisky replied sharply. "My purpose has always been to make sure Roland is as strong a fighter as possible. I'll protect him from things he's not ready for. But he needed to face Karasuba. He was ready, and it worked. If you don't like it, too bad. Take it up with Roland, he agreed to it."

Mami definitely didn't like that, and she glanced at me. But I just shrugged. I was still too tired to really care, and Bisky was right. I bought her to make me stronger. I wasn't thrilled that she threw me at Karasuba like that, but it was also perfectly in character for her.

Mami seemed to deflate a little before turning back to Bisky. "If he was about to die… you would have stepped in, right?"

"Of course," Bisky said. Then she waved her hands. "Look, we can discuss this later. I'm sure Roland wants to rest."

Mami grimaced, but she glanced at me again and relaxed. "Alright, fine," she relented.

"Are you really okay, Roland?" Chiho asked, concerned.

"I'm fine," I assured her. "Kusano healed me up and it wasn't too bad. Most of the cuts I got were shallow." I sighed. "I'm really tired though. I think I'm gonna go take a nap." It was still the early afternoon, plenty early enough for me to get a nap in without keeping me up later. Not that I usually had any problem falling asleep.

Chiho nodded. "Here, let me take your jacket." She helped me take it off, revealing my cut up and bloodstained shirt underneath it.

I grimaced and took that off as well. "I'll just throw this off the edge," I said.

"That's probably for the best," Levy agreed.

After a quick trip to the closest edge, which was the corner between the farm and the training area, to dispose of trash, I headed back inside the house. I didn't end up going to the bedroom for my nap, instead taking one of the couches and collapsing on there. I only took the time to set up a Law that would apply Body Tune Up to Akitsu before closing my eyes and falling asleep.

Then I woke up an hour later and started writing. It's still pretty early, we haven't had dinner yet. One of the items Levy and the others bought today was a bluetooth keyboard that I could use to type up my journal entries on a proper keyboard, and not just the phone's touch screen, and it's been a real time saver.

I'm still feeling pretty tired but… I feel good. We did really good today. We earned a bunch of Credits and a few perks from missions, I winged Shiina and she was already a great addition to the family, we got a bonus member in Akitsu who I was looking forward to getting to know.

And I took down Karasuba. I beat her. I unlocked my Hatsu, won, and made it back home to a family that is bigger and livelier than ever. MBI has been kneecapped, and so have the two worst Ashikabi. We did good today, a total victory across the board.

I think I'm gonna be riding that high for a while. But we have a lot of stuff to do this week before the next portal opens. But whatever world waits for us on the other side, I'm sure we'll be ready.

---

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AN: Man. This one sure did take a while. Unlike the last portal trip, which I took a bit of time to plan out and then I just wrote and wrote and wrote, this one was a bit messier. Partially due to me having less time to write because of work, but also just because my muse made it a complicated mess. This chapter was written super out of order as I had scenes in my head that needed to get onto paper immediately. Some stuff was changed. Some stuff was never planned out entirely and I had to stop and figure it out. I paused in the middle of the chapter to reread huge chunks of the manga to get a better understanding of the lore and mechanics and come up with my own theory about how Sekirei powers work(which will be explored in more depth as the story continues). And that part where Kyouko was off on her own? I ended up writing 7.6k words from her perspective that's not even in this chapter just to make sure I had all the details of what went down figured out. And it's a good thing I did because my first idea just didn't flow correctly and I had to scrap 2k words and rewrite it. You guys will get to see that soon though, I have a plan for it.

So yeah. A lot of work went into this chapter, more so than usual. But I'm pretty pleased with it. After the PMMM trip, the crew needed a win, and what better win than realizing how far you've come and overcoming a villain that was terrifying to you just a month ago? And it was the perfect chance for Roland to finally figure out his technique. I'll get more into the details and mechanics of how it works in the near future, as he experiments with it.

Also I swear not all portal trips are going to be this big from now on. It's just been a couple of big and action packed ones in a row.