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.

14. Day 015

Hey everyone! Levy here!

Roland asked me to write down my perspective of what happened in the Sekirei world, but I volunteered to just write the entire entry for today. Partially because I wanted a peek at what he's been writing, but also because he's pretty busy right now.

Don't worry future fellow harem members reading this, I don't plan on doing this too often. Especially since, reading what Roland has written so far, it looks like he has a hidden talent as a writer. I wondered how he could be writing so much in these journals, but it turns out he was practically writing novels, even including some rather steamy sections.

I'll do my best to emulate the level of detail he puts into these entries.

Though where to start? I suppose chronologically is the best way.

It's kind of weird being a clone, you know? Oh, not in any upsetting way, I don't really mind at all. But I have two distinct sets of memories.

I remember Levy's life as a member of Fairy Tail in the wonderful world of Earth Land and all the adventures and trials she went through with her companions. Those memories end at the same place as the manga that I read in the Sekirei world though, as that was the end of her story.

But those weren't my memories. Those were the memories of the original, and I'm not her. My memories start with the sound of someone moving near me and a faint breeze. They start with me opening my eyes to see… Well, funnily enough, the first thing I saw was Roland's butt.

He was leaning over into the crate, after all, his rear facing me. It's a good butt, filling out his jeans very nicely. It certainly wasn't a bad thing to wake up to, as I'm sure anyone reading this is likely to attest.

Then I noticed everything else, at least the little that there was to notice. There really was barely anything back then. Just the two of us, the tree, and the crate. No tent, no bath, no outhouse, and none of what we'll build in the future.

Which brought to mind the third set of memories I had, the ones about the Company. The ones that told me I was a clone and the ones that helpfully put the full Catalog in my head, including the special rules made just for Roland's sake.

That was perhaps the strangest moment of all. To wake up and know that you were a clone that had been brainwashed and given to someone. It wasn't scary or upsetting, probably because of the brainwashing, which wasn't so strong that I don't realize that, but I'm okay with it, nonetheless. I'm happy, I'm able to help people, and I can see such interesting things. I can't ask for anything more than that.

That being said, those are my current feelings. It did take me some time to come to terms with everything and process it all. I was still working on that when I decided to greet Roland rather than just keep staring at him. That's why he could tell I was nervous. I knew what the situation was, but knowing and internalizing are two different things.

But Roland is more charming than he thinks he is. He was able to instantly put me at ease just by being kind and helping me focus on the task at hand, rather than brooding. And over those first few days, I was able to see more and more of Roland's good parts.

Roland's not perfect, but perhaps the best thing about him is that he knows that. He's not afraid to admit when his knowledge is lacking and he doesn't hesitate to ask for help. I have memories of a lot of men too prideful to admit they're not perfect at everything, but Roland isn't like that.

Which isn't to say he's incapable. He's smart, and it feels like he never slows down or stops thinking. Even when we relax he's looking over the Catalog, or I can hear him muttering to himself about some future plans. It's a little worrying sometimes, I'm concerned he'll burn himself out, but after spending a couple weeks with him, I think that's just how he's always been.

It occurs to me that I probably shouldn't spend this whole journal talking about what I like about Roland. After all, you either already know him, or you are him. I just think that it's important to note that, brainwashing or not, Roland put me at ease and made those early days comfortable.

Of course, then came that day, when it rained. The day we just had fun running around and throwing water at each other, no worries weighing us down. And after we were done, when he took his shirt off and caught me staring, only for him to stare at me in return…

I may not be as open about my desires as a few of the friends in my memories were, but I certainly had them, and over those few days there had been a slight tension in the air, at least from my perspective. I knew exactly what kind of group the Company was and what they typically dealt with, and I knew it was only a matter of time before Roland and I had sex. I was even looking forward to it.

Reading the journal, it's clear that he was thinking the same thing, but he hid it well until that moment. I was honestly worried that, despite my having those feelings for him, he wouldn't return them for some reason. So seeing him stare at me in my wet clothes and get flustered was deeply relieving.

It also made it clear to me that he just needed a push. I knew there wouldn't be a more perfect moment than that one, so I decided to give him one.

Roland did a very good job describing what followed after that, so I won't go over it again.

That was the start of our nudist habit, something we both appreciated, but other than the addition of a healthy sex life, we continued on as normal. Until the portal opened that is.

Roland really showed his strength then. Despite being in an unfamiliar part of the world, his knowledge and planning led us on a whirlwind adventure that was not only productive but also one of the most enjoyable trips I can remember. I saw so many things I never would have been able to imagine and met interesting people, including VV.

It was a great day, but also a tiring one, and I was eager to collapse into our tent when we got back home.

There's not much for me to add about the following week. Now that we had crossed that final barrier, we were open with each other, and Roland said everything that needed to be said.

Except for when we were discussing Catalog purchases and he avoided the subject of getting Lures. But we already talked about that earlier today, so I'll describe that when we get to it.

But if Paldea showed that Roland's strength lies in his knowledge, then the world of Sekirei was where I really got to see that in action. He took charge and we practically hit the ground running, heading for our first objective almost as soon as we landed. I was more than happy to follow his lead, and it turned out extremely well, as we got our adorable little Kusano within just a couple hours of being there.

Not without making enemies, but I'm no stranger to the idea of angering those who are doing wrong. Fairy Tail was certainly hated by many. Overall, I was very impressed with how Roland used his knowledge to not only talk his way out of that situation but had them give us funds as well. His conversation with the residents at Izumo Inn was also very impressive, enough so that we ended up with recruits we weren't even aiming for alongside the mission objective.

He hesitated to accept two of those but thankfully I was there to help him see reason.

Once again, Roland described those parts well enough. My job is to talk about the parts he wasn't there for when we split up. In Paldea it was as simple as just hanging around the court and challenging Trainers, and there's not much to say about my time there. My actions in the world of Sekirei were a lot more exciting, and I think I should cover that final fight against Karasuba as well since it seems like Roland couldn't quite keep up.

After Roland sent me off with a kiss, Uzume and I took off to the positions we had picked out beforehand, thanks to the satellites Matsu had taken control of.

Roland explained to me what satellites were while we were planning, and I have to admit that it blew me away that many worlds without magic were able to make up for that difference through technology. Technology in my world, or the world that I remember as mine at least, that wasn't based on magic was incredibly simple in comparison.

The closest thing my home world had to satellites was the one magic weapon owned by the Magic Council, Etherion, and I don't think there's a physical object that high in the sky, I think the magic is just created up there. Of course, details about it were carefully protected, and even reading the manga didn't provide much more insight.

Reading the manga was certainly a strange experience. While I was involved in many of the major events, especially in the latter half, there were many things I never witnessed myself or heard of afterward that I was able to read in the manga. I'm not sure how much I can trust the details of what I read considering the differences I noticed between what I did experience and what the manga showed, but it was still a fascinating look at the lives of my friends.

It was also strange to see me from the outside, but also not me. She was very similar, but she was also different from even the one whose memories I had. Though she and the one in my memories both ended up growing closer to Gajeel, which felt odd as well. Despite having those memories and reading it, I cannot muster up those same feelings myself.

Not that I had any desire to. Gajeel seems nice, but this life that I have with Roland has already been infinitely better. I'm much happier than the Levy whose memories I inherited, whose existence feels incomplete in comparison. I'm sure anyone reading this journal can attest that loving Roland is like gaining a new sense, like learning magic for the first time. It's a feeling that makes you feel more than you were before.

Unfortunately, I've digressed and have drifted rather off-topic. I would attempt to edit it, perhaps talk about those feelings earlier in this entry, or later if there is a better segue, but Roland's only instructions for writing a journal entry were to not edit. If I get off topic, I must leave it and get back on topic. He says it's because he wants it to be an accurate recording of his thoughts and feelings, and that going off-topic is natural.

I can't say I disagree, considering how entertaining I found it every time he did so in the earlier entries I read, so I'll follow his lead and simply get back on topic.

Uzume and I didn't talk as we made our way to our spots. In fact, we split up without a word as soon as we exited the alley. She headed upward, climbing to the rooftops again so she could arrive at the hospital that way and draw out the Sekirei there.

On the other hand, I crossed the street, went through another alley, and entered a parking garage. Once there I found the elevator, another wonderful piece of technology, and headed for the second from the top floor.

The Sekirei Plan, as the others explained it to me, is ostensibly kept a secret from the masses. So when choosing a spot to ambush the Sekirei, we settled on somewhere that was likely to be empty of people. The top levels of the parking garage were mostly empty of cars and entirely empty of people according to Matsu's information, so we chose there. It also made the ideal ambush spot, as it was reasonable for Uzume to use it to shake off any pursuers and I could hide myself to surprise them.

The spot I hid in was also predetermined, once more aided by Matsu's abilities to hack into cameras, whatever that meant. Uzume would lead them through a specific route that would pass my hiding spot before turning around to face them, which was my signal to leap out to launch a surprise attack.

So I hid in the spot and I waited. Waiting was always the worst part of any job. The feeling of anxiety in your gut as you tried to remain tense and ready at any time because you didn't know when things would happen was a familiar one. Thankfully that meant that I was able to largely ignore it and stay focused.

I'm not sure exactly how much time passed. I did not have a watch or a phone to keep track of time, nor any way to receive messages from the others. But eventually I heard a thud on the level above me that was immediately followed by two more in quick succession. I was instantly on alert, but was careful not to give away my hiding spot and simply tensed in preparation, my opening move already decided.

I listened, hidden behind a dividing wall, as Uzume led them down the ramp leading from the top level to the one I was on, pounding footsteps echoing all around me. I didn't dare look and risk being seen. I would be able to clearly hear when they stopped, and that would be my signal.

I waited with bated breath as they ran past where I was hiding. Shortly after the footsteps stopped, and I risked a peek over the barrier.

I saw the backs of the two Sekirei that we had been expecting, Kaie and Kazue. They were both standing some distance away from Uzume, wary of why she suddenly stopped. Thankfully, their backs were to me, and they didn't notice as I silently came out of my hiding spot and approached their open backs.

"You should know better than to play these games number ten!" the one on the left, Kazue, called out. She had short black hair and was wearing tight pants, long gloves, and a bikini top. She also had a belt of some kind around her waist that looked like a holster, but she was carrying her weapons in her hands, a pair of tonfa.

"Even if you beat us, our Ashikabi won't let you go that easily," the other, Kaie, followed up. She had blonde hair that was only a little longer than Kazue's and was wearing some kind of body suit, pants with one of the legs cut off, heavy boots, bracelets, and a collar. She was also wielding what looked like several black whips in each of her hands.

"And he's the only one that can keep your Ashikabi alive," Kazue sneered. "Not even MBI has the medicine she needs. So just give up now and maybe Higa won't punish you too badly."

Thanks to their talking I was able to get in position behind them without being heard, their conversation both giving me time and covering the small amount of noise my footsteps made.

"That's not going to happen," Uzume declared. I was pretty sure she saw me despite her eyes never moving in my direction. She seemed professional enough to realize how much of a giveaway that would have been.

It was only a matter of time until they realized I was there though, so without any more hesitation, I launched my attack.

I gathered my magical power and poured it into my head, imagining the word and the effect that I desired. The word "SPIKES" appeared beneath the feet of the two Sekirei, glowing silver and large enough to encapsulate both of them.

Both of them reacted by looking down, presumably in shock. To their credit they started moving before dozens of pointed shafts of concrete shot up from the floor to pierce the space above it. It was an attack with a high chance of leaving a mortal wound, though both Matsu and Roland had assured me that MBI's ability to heal a Sekirei was top notch and that neither would die.

Unfortunately both of them reacted too quickly and escaped the worst of it, receiving only minor wounds. Fortunately, one of them, Kazue, had dodged backwards, while Kaie had dodged forwards. As a result they were split up, the spikes forming a wall of sorts, turning the two versus one scenario into two separate one versus one fights, me against Kazue and Uzume against Kaie.

It wasn't ideal as I had been hoping to get at least one of them with that attack, giving us the advantage. Unfortunately that didn't happen, and Kaie was able to get to her feet and throw herself at Uzume before the Veiled Sekirei made her move.

I didn't stop to watch more though, as Kazue turned to face me with surprise and anger on her face. "You bitch!" she shouted as she raised her tonfa and charged at me.

I immediately sprung backward, magic flowing through my body as I outpaced the charging Sekirei, putting enough space between us that I could use my magic without ever being in her range.

As I kept distance between us I threw out more words. "THUNDER", which coalesced into an electric shock, was my attack of choice for this encounter, as it did the least property damage, something Roland had asked me to minimize.

Kazue surprised me by dodging the lightning bolts I sent in her direction, gracefully side stepping them. I spotted a flash of confusion on her fact that I didn't understand at the time, though now that I'm thinking over it again, it's obvious that she initially thought I was another Sekirei and was confused at me seemingly commanding two elements.

So I imagine she was even more surprised when I used my magic once more and the word "WIND" appeared in front of me in glowing green letters that transformed into a powerful gust. With the much wider area it covered she was unable to dodge in time. The attack hit her with full force and threw her back. She landed in a heap but quickly started scrambling to her feet.

I didn't give her any time to recover though. I wrote "STONE" in the air above her, allowing gravity to smash the heavy load into her. She saw the attack coming but couldn't move in time. Instead she swung her tonfa upwards to intercept it.

The sound of rock shattering filled the air as the 'O', the letter directly above her that she hit, exploded into shards. I raised my arms to protect myself from the handful of pieces of rock that had been sent in my direction, though none of them had enough force to break my skin.

The other letters crashed around the Sekirei, leaving her unharmed and able to finally scramble to her feet. Her eyes were wide now, but they were also angry, and that anger was directed toward me. She charged, vaulting over the stone letters and raising her tonfa.

We continued like that for what felt like a while but I knew it was likely only a minute or two at most. I made use of the entire floor of the parking garage, maintaining my distance from the Sekirei chasing me. She wasn't very fast, but she was strong and good at avoiding my direct attacks.

So I changed my strategy. I led her in a loop around the parking garage, hurling all kinds of spells at her. One of them was the word 'OIL', an attack she easily avoided. What she failed to account for was that it didn't disappear, and when I led her back to that area and she gave chase, she hit the patch of oil left over on the ground and slipped, losing her balance.

While it was tempting to just throw out 'FIRE' and assure an easy win, I didn't think the natural durability of a Sekirei would let them walk off being burned like that and I didn't have it in me to inflict such horrible wounds on her.

Instead I created the word "BULLET" in front of me. It glowed an ominous orange color before firing bits of orange energy towards the fallen Sekirei. She crossed her arms in front of her, still prone, to block the attack, but I wasn't done with just that.

Once more "WIND" appeared, this time behind her, and created a gust of wind that pushed her towards me and the bullets being fired at her. She let out a scream of pain, anger, and fear as she was thrown, her arms being flung wide so the bullets hit her. None of them penetrated her as they weren't actual bullets, but it was clear that she was being hurt.

To finish her off I created "STONE" above her once more. Distracted as she was by the bullets hitting her and having just been flung by a gust of wind, she wasn't prepared and even failed to notice the danger before the heavy weights hit her and forced her into the ground with a crunching noise.

"BULLET" faded from existence as I stopped feeding it my magic, like all of my Scripts with active effects instead of one-off transformations do, but I didn't make any other move at first. I waited for the stone letters to shift and for the Sekirei to get back up, angrier than ever.

When that didn't happen after a few moments I carefully approached to investigate. Kazue was laying underneath the letters, unmoving. I risked getting close enough to place my finger against her neck and was relieved to find a pulse there. Then I checked the back of her neck and saw that her Crest was missing, which meant I had successfully terminated her. MBI would take care of the rest.

I immediately spun around and left, dashing towards where Uzume and Kaie were fighting. As their fight came into view I realized instantly why Uzume hadn't finished her fight before me; Kaie was a surprisingly effective counter to her.

Uzume's fighting style revolved around telekinetically controlling rolls of cloth, of which she controlled several. These rolls were long and wide enough to be formed into a variety of shapes, all of which were far harder and sharper than they had any right to be, reinforced as they were by her powers. Altogether, this let her strike her opponents from a decent range with multiple different kinds of attacks simultaneously.

Unfortunately her opponent nearly matched her in terms of range with her whips, of which she had more than double than Uzume had rolls of cloth. The end result was a stalemate as the two of them simultaneously attacked and defended using their multitude of weapons. Leather and cloth smacked into each other in the space between them with an almost rhythmic thumping sound.

Both of them were moving as well, constantly shifting position as they tried to get an upper hand on the other, but neither of them getting too close to the other.

I took all of that in as I ran up to the fight, eschewing stealth for speed. A surprise attack wasn't as useful as turning the situation into a two versus one fight as soon as possible before one of Kaie's attacks slipped through Uzume's defenses.

So of course Kaie heard my footsteps as I approached, but by that time I had already used my magic to launch an attack at her. "GLUE" shot through the air towards her and by the time she noticed she didn't have time to dodge it or block it with her whips.

The sticky yellow fluid struck her, covering her from head to toe and hardening instantly. I sent out another word, "FOG", which appeared in front of her before dissipating into a thick cloud that surrounded her.

"Uzume!" I shouted, encouraging the other girl to make her move now that her opponent was unable to see or move. She gathered all of her cloth, formed them into blunted spears and shot them at the spot where Kaie was.

To her credit, Kaie put up an admirable defense. She could still hear after all, and was obviously experienced enough to know Uzume would take advantage of her inability to move or see so she switched entirely to a defensive style, her whips cutting arcs through the air around her in a rather impressive display of control as they formed a barrier of leather moving at high speeds.

Uzume threw repeated punches in an effort to broach her defense, but her cloth was batted away. Still, my gut told me that Kaie couldn't keep up such a defense indefinitely, so it was only a matter of time until Uzume got through. Unfortunately, time wasn't on our side, as there were no doubt more Sekirei headed in our direction.

I exchanged glances with Uzume and saw that we were on the same wavelength. I gave her a nod before applying more "GLUE" and "FOG" to Kaie's position, making sure she'd stay for a moment longer. I was able to tell I hit her from the surprised and angry yells that echoed from inside the fog, which had been restored.

Normally the wind generated by the moving whips and cloth would be enough to push the fog away rather quickly, but when I conceptualized the "FOG" as part of the casting process, I imagined it as something that would ignore external wind to a degree and stay in a small space. That wasn't normal behavior for fog, so enforcing it was a small but constant drain on my magic, but the tactical advantage was worth it.

Especially as I snuck around, keeping my footsteps silent, to a different angle. I had originally approached her from the side, so I made my way to the other side of her, but a little behind, the angle I felt she would least expect an attack to come from. Then I waited, watching Uzume's blows crash against her blind defense as I looked for an opening.

It took nearly thirty seconds for one to appear as Uzume sent all of her cloth spears in at once, forcing Kaie to focus her whips on blocking the heavy cloth. As soon as she did I started casting my spell, once more readying a "THUNDER". As soon as the first bolt was created and flying through the air I sent another one in case the first one wasn't enough or it missed.

From within the sphere of fog came a scream of pain and the flash of light, indicating that I had hit her with both attacks. Her whips came to a stand still and Uzume's follow up attack hit the Sekirei with a dull thud with enough force to fling her out of the glue and fog to land on the ground near me.

Once again I stopped and observed the enemy Sekirei to make sure she was really knocked out of the fight. When she didn't move I checked on her, discovering again that she was breathing and that her Crest had disappeared.

"We're good," I reported to Uzume, who was walking in my direction.

Uzume nodded and relaxed, her cloth retreating to wrap around herself once more. She pulled her phone out of a pocket hidden in her skirt. "Matsu says they succeeded as well and are on the way to the portal."

I smiled. "Good. If you'll lead the way?"

We took off, heading to the top level of the parking garage and hopping to a nearby roof. Uzume led the way towards the center of the city, pushing ahead at a pace that I struggled to keep up with, but I found it hard to be annoyed. She was headed for her beloved, and that was something I could empathize with.

It only took a few minutes for us to catch up, coming to a stop on a rooftop just ahead of them and dropping down, where we reunited. It was heartwarming to see Roland instantly focus on me and be concerned. I'll never get tired of that feeling of love he's able to so casually share without even trying to.

After Uzume checked on Chiho we headed for the portal, which was close by. Unfortunately, as Roland described, it was being guarded by a Sekirei in a black kimono who set me on edge as soon as I saw her.

I recognized the name as soon as Matsu said it. Karasuba, the single biggest threat to us in this world according to Roland, and Matsu backed him up on that. There were only a handful of people that could match her level of strength.

So when she made her intent clear by loosening her blade in her sheath, I made ready to move. I made sure Uzume was on the same page by asking if she saw the portal, which she did, and the two of us attacked.

Every attack I threw at her she dodged or deflected. Lightning was absorbed into her blade, gusts of air were met with vacuum slices she made by swinging her sword, oil and other physical objects were deflected, and attempts to ruin the ground beneath her feet were stopped short as her sword sliced apart the letters before they could take effect.

All the while she stared at me as if I were a fascinating toy she had just discovered, her eyes cold and promising a painful death.

I might have had a shot at fighting her more evenly in any other circumstances, but in such a cramped spot, with Roland and the others behind me needing to be protected and escape ahead of me, beyond my enemy, I couldn't maneuver enough to lay any traps or trick her. Even when I created words above or behind her she realized and intercepted them.

Uzume was more or less useless, Karasuba barely paying any attention to her probes of cloth, which were sliced apart as more of an afterthought.

That didn't stop me from continuing to fight though. We were buying time at the very least, time that I hoped Roland was using to think and to come up with a way for us to get out of this mess. We didn't have to win, just escape.

Though the situation wasn't sustainable. Uzume's usefulness dwindled as she lost more and more of her cloth and Roland remained quiet behind me. So when Uzume's last attack failed and Karasuba made no move, I didn't send out another attack. Instead I took advantage of the lull to catch my breath and decided to try a different tactic.

Roland described my attempts at diplomacy fairly well, so I won't repeat them. However, I will briefly speak in my defense. The memories I inherited from the original Levy are filled with supposed villains who frequently had good intentions, had been misled, or were just scared and angry. Talking things out often led to a preferable outcome and turned enemies into allies.

Unfortunately, it quickly became apparent that Karasuba was not one of those types, and negotiation was foolish. I barely saw her attack in time to partially dodge it, and while the tip of her sword grazing my cheek left a wound that was fairly insignificant in terms of danger, it had a profound effect on Roland.

It probably didn't help that the arc of it resulted in my blood being splashed onto his face, but I didn't realize that at the time. I couldn't turn to face him so all I heard was how scared he sounded when he called my name. Thanks to that, my reply to him was a little harsh, but I was too busy focusing on Karasuba and readying myself for another attack to give it much thought.

The rest happened as Roland described it. He didn't actually miss anything. When Karasuba threatened to have me dissected, the fear in his voice disappeared. "You bitch!" he shouted, voice full of rage.

Which was when Kusano stepped up as well, using her powers to flatten Karasuba instantly, giving us enough time to get away. It was a hectic and scary moment, but we managed to get through it.

There's not much left to describe from yesterday that Roland didn't cover. After he left to write his journal the atmosphere for the rest of us was awkward and no one really spoke, instead choosing to retire to bed.

Last night was our first night in the new tent and it really was very comfortable. The padded bottom over the already fairly soft ground wasn't as good as a mattress, but it was more comfortable than just the sleeping bag.

It was also the first night with four people in our tent. Before it was just me, Roland, Tinks, and VV. Tinks usually slept on her own, curled up with her hammer. VV usually didn't sleep the whole night, instead taking naps throughout the day, but when he did sleep with us it would be curled up against one of our sides.

Now Roland had three girls trying to sleep with him and all of them wanted to be as physically close as possible. Of course, he spent so long writing yesterday's journal entry that they fell asleep before he finished.

Poor Roland wasn't sure where to sleep, but I guided him to just lay down next to Kusano. There wasn't any room between her and Matsu, and admittedly I wasn't willing to so easily give up my spot on his right side. Roland makes an excellent pillow, and I've gotten quite used to resting my head on his chest, something that has only been made better by the purchase of Body Tune-Up.

However, when I woke up, sunlight faintly penetrating the tent, I noticed that both of them had changed position in the night. Kusano had turned around and had latched on to Roland's other arm, her arms and legs wrapped around it. Matsu, on the other hand, had at some point crawled over or around Kusano to lay on top of Roland. Though she was only half on top of him, mostly laying between his legs with her torso and head on his stomach. It also put her boobs right on top of his crotch, and I doubted that was a coincidence.

She was also already awake, her eyes open as she watched Roland's sleeping face with a grin on her face that promised she was up to no good. Roland is a pretty heavy sleeper and he was probably the most tired out of all of us after yesterday so he hadn't so much as stirred in his sleep despite the Sekirei on top of him.

She wasn't exactly remaining still either. She was gently rocking, alternating between vertical and horizontal movements, an action no doubt intended to rub her sizable chest against Roland's dick, the contact muted only by the thin layer of underwear he was wearing.

I watched her, amused and curious about how far she would go. Matsu had made it clear from the beginning that she was very interested in a carnal relationship with Roland. Now, having woken up first and with nothing to stop her, it seemed that she was prepared to act on it.

Though after a few moments she glanced in my direction and froze as she realized I was watching her, her expression suddenly nervous. I smiled at her and sat up, the padded bottom of the tent making movements like that nearly silent compared to the crinkly floor of the smaller tent. I then placed a hand on her shoulder and gently encouraged her to sit up, something she did warily as she tried to gauge my response.

With Matsu no longer laying on him, Roland's erection was clearly visible, bulging in his underwear. Gently, so as to not wake him up, I grabbed the elastic band and pulled it down. His member sprang free, standing straight up in the air at attention. Matsu's gaze instantly shifted from me to Roland's erection, staring at it with hunger. I ran a finger along the underside of his shaft, watching it twitch in reaction, though Roland's sleeping face didn't change at all.

I then pulled my hand back and motioned for Matsu to continue. She looked at me in surprise for a moment before a grin broke out on her face. She gave me a thumbs up before turning her attention fully to Roland's cock.

I had no compunctions about enabling Matsu to do such things with Roland. In fact, I was looking forward to it. Anyone reading this journal should understand the lack of any jealousy when it comes to the others spending time with Roland. All that matters is that he's happy, and the more girls he has, the happier he will be.

So I happily watched as Matsu gently lowered herself onto Roland again, this time wrapping her boobs around his erection. Her face grew flushed and her breathing heavy as she came into direct contact with Roland, her eyes locked on the tip of his shaft poking out above her boobs just inches from her face.

She started rocking again, moving vertically and causing his penis to rub against her between her breasts. Roland shifted slightly, not quite on the verge of waking up, but no longer sleeping deeply, or so I guessed based on the times I had woken him up in a similar manner.

After a few more minutes of Matsu's slow boobjob and a few more stirs from Roland, I feared he would wake up before she moved on, and I had a personal policy to make sure it was the pleasure he felt that was what woke him up, not the movements.

So I encouraged Matsu to escalate things a bit by putting my hand on the back of her head and pushing it downward. She made a quiet noise of surprise as the tip of Roland's penis slipped between her parted lips and into her mouth, but it quickly turned into a muffled moan as she stopped her rocking movements to instead focus on using her tongue to pleasure him.

I removed my hand from the back of her head but she didn't move, keeping her head down and mouth around the part of his cock that was sticking out from her boobs. I was glad that Roland had gotten at least one busty girl, so she could give him a proper boobjob like that. As much as he seems to enjoy focusing on my much more modest chest, there are just some things I can't replicate.

Roland stirred again, his hand that had been wrapped around me moving as if it were looking for something. I left Matsu to her fun and laid back down in his arm, which he reflexively wrapped around me. I watched his face as his eyes blearily opened, obviously still half asleep. He first looked to his side to meet my gaze, and a happy smile broke out on his face.

"Good morning," he croaked, voice a little rough still.

I giggled, amused that he hadn't seemed to realize anything was amiss yet. "Good morning," I replied in a quiet whisper as I leaned forward to kiss him deeply. I pulled back after just a moment though, not wanting to escalate quite yet.

He continued to smile at me for a few seconds after that, but I watched as his brow furrowed in confusion. He moved his gaze from me and down to his crotch, where Matsu was squeezing her boobs around his shaft while taking the tip of it in her mouth, tongue swirling. "Ah," he said, realizing that for once it wasn't me waking him up like that. "Neat."

I couldn't help but to snort and start laughing at his reaction. "She's very eager," I whispered to him.

"I can see that," he replied, smiling and amused. The arm that was wrapped around me shifted against my bare skin as it changed position so he could cup my breast in his hand. "I can feel it too."

Matsu looked up, tearing her attention away from Roland's cock, and finally noticed that he was awake and watching her. She lifted her head and removed her mouth from over his cock, leaving behind a reflective layer of saliva.

She then grinned at Roland and began moving her boobs up and down. "You can't run from my experiments now," Matsu said with an evil grin. "I've got you exactly where I want you."

"Oh no, how terrible," Roland replied in a deadpan. "Whatever shall I do in the face of such overwhelming pleasure?"

Matsu snickered in amusement before lowering her head and once more taking his shaft into her mouth. Her movements were rougher now as she was no longer concerned about not waking Roland up. She grabbed her boobs with both hands and eagerly moved them up and down as she took more of his cock into her mouth.

Roland leaned back with a content moan, the hand cupping my breast squeezing. I shifted closer to him, content to simply be by his side and in his arms as Matsu pleasured him. Roland apparently thought differently though, and he wanted more. His hand shifted once more, moving from my chest and down to my ass, where he slipped his hand into my panties and reached down between my legs so he could slip his finger inside of me.

I gasped as his large digit probed my entrance before pushing into it, stretching my tight hole. Unable to hold back my lust I shifted closer to him until I was more on top of him then on his side, letting him get a better angle so he could push his finger deeper into me and I could capture his lips with mine and shove my tongue down his throat.

I can't say exactly what Matsu was doing, preoccupied as I was by making out with Roland as he fingered me, but I assumed she was putting in quite a bit of effort as well, because Roland's actions only grew rougher and more vigorous. I moaned into his mouth as he slipped another finger inside of me and started rapidly pumping them into me.

Each time he thrust his fingers into me he set off a spark of pleasure, and his rapid pace caused a storm inside of me centered on my lower stomach, just beneath my Tattoo. The storm grew, the pressure inside of me increasing ever higher until it finally reached a point where I couldn't contain it any longer.

Our mouths separated as I reached my climax, a loud moan escaping my lips. My back arched and I could feel my insides clenching around Roland's fingers as a veritable explosion of electric pleasure wracked my body.

Once my climax faded away I slumped on top of Roland again, shoulders heaving as I struggled to catch my breath. With my head resting on Roland's chest I was directly facing his other side, where Kusano was sleeping while clinging to his arm.

Or at least, that's how it was before. As I recovered from my orgasm I looked and saw Kusano watching me with widened eyes, frozen in place. No doubt she was also woken up by our activities, which wasn't surprising in hindsight. I blinked at her in surprise before giving her a friendly smile.

I was thinking of something to say when I heard Roland grunt. "Matsu!" he breathed, and I felt him convulse under me. His hips bucked and I turned my head to see just as he started cumming, ropes of his semen spurting from his cock to cover his busty Sekirei's face and chest. He twitched several times, each shot of his seed weaker than the last, but adding more of itself to Matsu's skin.

By the time Roland relaxed the tops of Matsu's breasts, her collarbone, her neck, and her face were covered in an almost comical level of semen, an amount Roland had only been able to produce after purchasing Sexual Calibration. He seemed to enjoy the sight of me covered in his seed and subconsciously produced more in order to better do so.

I also know that wasn't the only thing he enjoyed the sight of, so I pushed myself up and off of Roland so I could turn to face Matsu instead. She was blinking in surprise, looking down at her boobs as she lifted a hand to her chest.

I paused, giving Matsu a chance to experience Roland's cum however she saw fit. She gathered a bit of it in her fingers, scooping it off of her chest, and played with it for a moment. Her eyes were filled with curiosity as she intently studied how it moved in her fingers. Then, finally, she put her cum coated fingers in her mouth.

Her eyes widened in surprise. "You know, all my doujins said that this doesn't taste very good, but that's not bad at all."

Sexual Calibration was to thank for that. After he purchased it, his cum became a lot more palatable. It wasn't exactly flavored or delicious, but it was certainly much more pleasant. Not that it had been bad before, but even if I loved him and was happy to swallow his seed, semen just wasn't something that tasted good under normal circumstances.

I didn't explain any of that to Matsu, however. I had other plans. "In that case, you should share," I said in a seductive tone. Matsu looked at me but I was already leaning forward towards her breasts, which I grabbed to hold still as I started licking Roland's semen off of them.

The fact that I was doing something so sexual with another girl didn't bother me in the slightest. After all, the nature of the Binding lowered any hesitance or disinterest in members of the same sex as myself I normally would have had, so long as they were also Roland's. Further, my main motivation was to taste his seed once more and to arouse him. The fact that I was touching Matsu in that way was more ancillary.

"Oh fuck that's hot," I heard Roland whisper as his dick twitched, still trapped between Matsu's breasts. Satisfaction surged through me as I increased my efforts, tongue gliding along the smooth and soft skin of Matsu's boobs, collarbone, and neck, collecting all traces of Roland's seed.

Matsu herself moaned breathlessly, obviously enjoying the feeling. I kept working my way up, even licking her face. Matsu's eyes were screwed shut but her lips were parted so I could feel her hot breath as I cleaned her. I could see as the busy Sekirei's arousal grew, and when I finished and pulled back she whined, opening her eyes to look at me with desire.

"There, now you're all cleaned up and can kiss Roland," I said quietly, licking my lips afterward for emphasis. She looked at me confused for a moment, eyes clouded slightly by her desire, before she blinked and realization dawned on her face. She grinned and we turned our attention to Roland, who was watching us with hungry eyes.

"Itadakimasu~," Matsu sang as she crawled up and over Roland to lay herself on top of him. Roland accepted her with an eager grin and wrapped his arms around her as their lips met. I half expected wings to appear behind her back again, but it seemed as if just a kiss wasn't enough to set that off, or there was a way to suppress them.

I left the two of them to their making out as I moved once more in order to aid things along. I positioned myself below them, between Roland's legs. Matsu was straddling him, her legs spread out to support herself on her knees placed on the ground on either side of him, and with her being so much shorter than Roland, this left her crotch pressing against his lower stomach, the tip of his dick trapped between what was likely her panty-covered clit and his stomach.

Her panties were soaked through, the fabric clinging to her and outlining the exact shape of her lower lips. I could hardly blame her, and in fact I decided to help push things along. She deserved it after all, for how helpful she proved to be in her own world.

Matsu didn't react as I slid a finger underneath the elastic of her sodden panties and pulled them to the side, exposing her lower lips, dripping with arousal. She was hairless, and whether that was normal for Sekirei or if she simply put a lot of effort into grooming herself I wasn't sure, but it didn't really matter.

I was tempted to stick a finger into her, to loosen her up before Roland took her, but I restrained myself. It was Roland's right to penetrate her first, at least outside of whatever she had done to herself before he winged her. Besides, she was more than wet enough.

I grabbed Roland's dick next, hot and throbbing in my hand, and angled it upwards. Matsu noticed it then as the trip of it dragged along her clit, spread her lower lips and came to a stop resting at her entrance. She moaned, the sound of it muffled by Roland's own mouth, and reflexively pushed into it, seeking greater pleasure through sheer instinct.

I watched with a little fascination as Matsu pushed herself onto his cock with no further assistance from me. To see her entrance be stretched to accommodate his shaft, which was disappearing from my sight as it entered her, from so close up was unexpectedly arousing.

It wasn't long before Matsu had taken all of Roland inside of her. All I could see from my angle was the barest sliver of his shaft and his balls. It was tempting to get involved further, to use my tongue to please them both as she rode him, but again I restrained myself. I had helped enough, and would let the two of them focus on each other for their first time together.

So as Matsu slowly started moving her hips up and down, bouncing on his cock, I turned my attention to the other occupant of the tent, Kusano.

At some point Kusano had let go of Roland's arm, most likely when Matsu had crawled on top of him and he had embraced her, but possible before. Either way, despite letting go, she hadn't moved at all. She was still laying at his side a short distance from him, and was watching him and Matsu have sex.

Her expression was complicated and shifting. She was aroused, she was nervous, she was shy and unsure, and she was entranced, all at the same time. One of her hands was between her thighs, not touching herself, but squirming in a way that indicated that she wanted to, whether she realized it or not.

I crawled from between Roland's legs and laid down on my side behind Kusano, pressing up against her back. She flinched in surprise, not noticing me until I touched her and turning her head to face me. I gave her a reassuring smile and turned my attention to Roland and Matsu. I felt Kusano relax after a moment and saw her also turn to face them once more.

"You know what they're doing, right?" I whispered to the younger girl. I wasn't sure how old she was, but I did know that she was originally much younger, and it was Universal Calibration that aged her up. Whatever her age, it was old enough for Roland to be comfortable with exposing her to sex, and ultimately having sex with her himself.

"They're having sex," Kusano confirmed, her tone giving away just how distracted she was. "They gave us sex ed back at MBI as part of our general education."

"What did they tell you sex was?" I asked, wrapping an arm around her and placing a hand on her lower stomach. She leaned into my touch, her skin warm and flushed.

"It's something mates do," she explained as Matsu picked up the pace and sat up, no longer pressed against him and kissing him but sitting on him. Her boobs bounced up and down as she did the same on his cock, impaling herself on him. "It's how babies are made, but also they do it for pleasure."

Matsu's moans filled the tent, no longer muffled by her kiss with Roland. "Ashikabi-sama!" she wailed, and I could see the way her hips shuddered and shook as she climaxed. But she wasn't satisfied with just that, apparently, as she barely slowed down her movements. If anything, after she recovered, she sped up, impaling herself faster and with more force.

"That's true," I whispered into Kusano's ear. "Roland doesn't plan on having any babies just yet, but he definitely wants to feel good, and he wants us to feel good as well. See how much Matsu is enjoying it? I've been there too, it feels really good."

Kusano swallowed, her legs shifting and squirming even more as she nodded. "Matsu-nee sounds really happy."

"She is," I agreed. "Do you want to be happy too?" I pressed down on her lower stomach, fingers just barely above the hem of her panties. "It can be your turn next, if you want."

Kusano hesitated, eyes never leaving the two of them. Specifically, she was staring at where they were connected, where Roland's penis was being thrust into Matsu. "I… I don't know," Kusano admitted.

"That's okay," I reassured her. "You can take however long you want to decide."

Kusano visibly swallowed again and nodded, still staring. I rubbed my fingers against her lower stomach, massaging her with small circular motions. I was quiet at first, simply enjoying the show alongside Kusano.

Roland had started thrusting up into Matsu, lifting his hips off of the ground as she brought hers downwards. A loud and wet slapping sound rang out with each thrust, accompanying Matsu's moans and Roland's grunts. I could tell he was close.

I let out a warm breath against the back of Kusano's neck as Roland groaned and he climaxed. He thrust up once more into his busty Sekirei, back arched, and twitched as he filled her womb with his cum. Matsu responded in kind, reaching her second climax and arching her back as well, breasts prominent as she orgasmed.

Matsu slumped over, shaking slightly as she rode out aftershocks of pleasure. Roland took the moment to turn his head and look at the two of us. Kusano flushed and averted her eyes, looking down. He looked at me, making eye contact, and raised an eyebrow. I just shook my head and gave him a reassuring smile to indicate that he didn't need to worry about us. I then indicated Matsu with a tilt of my head.

He nodded before smiling at me and miming a kiss in my direction. I made the same motion back and then he turned his attention back to Matsu, sitting up and taking her in his arms so he could lay her down and switch their positions. Matsu yelped in surprise, but it quickly turned into a giggle as she realized what he was planning on doing, and even that giggle was muffled by Rolands lips as he kissed her before he started pounding into her from above, missionary style. Her legs wrapped around his back, keeping him close to her.

Kusano's breathing grew heavy and ragged as she continued to watch them, but still her hand between her legs didn't move. "Have you ever touched yourself?" I asked her. "Between your legs I mean, the same spot Roland is entering Matsu."

Kusano seemed a little surprised at the sudden question and blushed even further. "Once," she said. "After they taught us about sex. I was curious. But then Shi-chan walked in and I had to hide it. I was too scared to try after that."

"Why don't you try right now?" I encouraged her. "It's just us here, and it would be a good way to prepare, a small step you can take before you ask Roland to make you feel good. You want to, don't you? I bet you're throbbing down there, like there's an itch inside of you that you so badly want to scratch. Is that right?"

Kusano hesitated for a moment before nodding, unsure. I remained quiet and moved my hand out of her way as she finally moved her hand up to her panties. I couldn't see exactly what she was doing, but from the way her arm was moving and the small sounds she was making, she was definitely starting to masturbate.

I put my hand on her thigh, lightly rubbing it. I didn't want to touch her too much, this was a chance for her to explore herself, and as with Matsu I firmly believed it was Roland who should be the first other person to touch her properly. But I could help her along, act as a source of comfort and reassurement.

"It feels better if you touch it directly," I said quietly, directly into her ear. She shuddered but nodded, shifting her position so she could slip her hand underneath her panties. She gasped as her fingers came into direct contact with her sensitive parts, or so I assumed. "Feels good, right?" I asked rhetorically. "Make sure to explore, find what feels the best before focusing on that."

Kusano's chest rose up and down, her movements and breathing growing rougher as her skin grew more flushed. Her small noises turned into moans that she bit her lip trying to contain. She was so cute that it was hard for me to keep my hands to myself. I settled for planting gentle kisses on her neck and shoulder, wherever I could reach really.

I wasn't sure how aware of me she was, distracted by her own actions and her eyes that were still locked onto Roland and Matsu having sex.

When she came it was sudden and dramatic. She suddenly went rigid underneath me and shuddered as she let out a muffled squeal. She shook for several long moments, the smell of arousal and sex growing even heavier in the tent, before finally slumping over, tired.

"Congratulations on your first orgasm," I gently whispered to her. "How did it feel?"

"A-amazing," she replied as she caught her breath. "That's what Matsu is feeling?"

As if on cue Roland thrust down into Matsu again and stayed there. His hips jerked slightly as he came, filling Matsu even further. There was so much that some of it leaked out, forcing its way past Roland's dick and out of her pussy, leaving white trails on her inner thighs and legs. Matsu moaned in pleasure as well, obviously cumming from the sensation of being filled to the brim.

"Oh no, she's feeling even better," I told the younger Sekirei. "Having someone else make you feel good is much better than doing it yourself, and having Roland do it is the best of all."

"Really?" Kusano said, equal parts excited and nervous. "That's… I'm not sure I could handle that?"

"Well, it doesn't look like those two are done quite yet," I commented as Roland straightened his back, leaving him kneeling between Matsu's legs as he grabbed her hips and he started pounding away at her again. "Why don't you keep going, so you can get used to it?"

Kusano nodded once more and pushed her hand back into her panties, moving her fingers and lightly moaning once more as we continued our debauched morning ritual.

We only stopped when Roland's stomach growled, reminding us that the sun had been up for quite some time. We cleaned up as much as we could, putting our minimum amount of underwear back on that was agreed on yesterday, and exited the tent.

"You guys didn't hesitate at all, huh?" Uzume said with a teasing grin as we emerged. She and Chiho were sitting together against the tree, Chiho sitting between her legs with her head resting on Uzume's chest. Uzume was wearing her bra and her panties, while Chiho was still wearing her normal pajamas.

"Blame Matsu," Roland replied with some mirth of his own as he headed for the cooler. I followed him to fill one of the clay pots with water, thinking now that we had more people we would need to come up with a better solution for water distribution. We had a few bottles of it among our food supplies, and I spotted an empty one next to Uzume, but we couldn't rely on that.

Uzume snorted. "You know what? I believe that. Matsu has always been a pervert."

"And proud of it!" Matsu said proudly, hands on her hips. "And you guys have no idea what you're missing out on. Roland's dick-"

"No no no!" Uzume interrupted in a panic, putting her hands over Chiho's ears, who seemed more amused than anything else. "We don't need those kinds of details. We heard enough of you already. Those tents aren't exactly soundproof."

Matsu just snickered in amusement while Kusano blushed as I brought them the pot of water and a filled canteen. Matsu eagerly took the canteen and chugged the contents, no doubt dehydrated from earlier.

Roland brought over an armful of sandwich ingredients and started making sandwiches for all of us. "Have you two eaten?" he asked, looking at Uzume and Chiho.

"We helped ourselves to some breakfast," Uzume admitted. "But it's almost lunch time. I think. The sun is getting pretty close to being straight overhead at least."

"Sandwiches for everyone then," Roland said. "Levy, could you get a magical fruit for Tinks and VV?"

"Sure thing," I replied, getting up. We spent the next few minutes just preparing food and making sure everyone had water. Everyone sat down in a circle on the ground as we ate the sandwiches that Roland handed out. VV had claimed Kusano's lap, the two of them getting along well. Tinks was nearby, practicing Swords Dance.

"So yesterday you said you'd explain everything," Uzume started after everyone had finished eating. "And I know we're already committed, but I'd like to know what we've committed to."

My eyes went to Roland to watch his reaction, the others doing the same. He didn't seem to react much beyond nodding slightly. "That's fair. And I'll tell you. I'm just not sure where to start."

"How about you start with this?" Uzume said, indicating the area around us. "I went with you because Kuu-chan believed you, and you definitely felt strange. And quite frankly, I didn't see any other options, so I decided to take a risk."

Chiho placed a hand on Uzume's thigh with a sad look on her face, comforting the other girl. The gesture caused Uzume to pause and squeeze Chiho in her arms before she turned back to Roland. "But what the fuck is all this? This place is… surreal. It defies physics. We're floating on nothing, the horizon doesn't curve, and the stars are all different."

The others were all watching Roland with interest clear on their faces as they heard this information for the first time. Curiosity was unavoidable, even if we had put it off a bit, because Uzume had a point in that the Skyblock was a unique existence that made no sense.

"This is what's known as a Demiplane," Roland started explaining, head turned up to look at the sky. "A plane is a layer of reality, and you can consider this my own personal slice of that. It's not a full universe, though I could theoretically grow it into one."

"That's… I want to call that insane, but looking at it?" She shook her head. "I can't think of anything to refute it. Except that it's utterly impossible of course. I mean, you're a normal dude, how am I meant to believe you can make your own frickin' world?"

"No, I can't," Roland clarified. "That would be the people I work for." Roland paused there, giving the others a chance to speak up, but they were all just waiting for him to continue. "I accepted a job position for a group known only as the Company. They're… Well, the most important thing about them is that they are incomprehensibly powerful."

"Like MBI?" Kusano asked.

Roland shook his head. "Maybe like MBI if Shinto Teito was the entire omniverse."

"Umm… What is an omniverse?" Chiho asked.

"From my understanding, the omniverse is everything, the summation of all multiverses. And multiverses are collections of related universes. Like, for example, technically because of my interferences, your fate ended up differently than the version I know. The universe that I know of and the one you guys are from are now different universes within the same multiverse, worlds where things are the same template, but things are different in some way. This can be as minor as someone making a different decision and quitting their job instead of staying at it, or it can be as major as wars having different outcomes, changing the shape of civilization."

"Like in Steins;Gate!" Matsu said. "Different timelines with different points of divergence."

I didn't know what she was talking about, but Roland seemed to. "Exactly like that, yes," he said. "However, multiverses don't encompass everything. For example, Levy here isn't from your multiverse since her world is too different from yours. It has a different origin and isn't just a matter of an early diverging timeline."

"Would Edolas be within my multiverse then?" I asked, referring to the now magic-less world that contained alternate versions of the Fairy Tail members, and more. I didn't remember anything about it, but reading the manga had given me the full story.

"Yes, it would," he confirmed with a nod. "Most of the time when there is travel between worlds, it's on the multiverse level. Like the portals that brought you to Edolas, or the timeline shifting in Steins;Gate."

"So the omniverse is… all the multiverses that exist?" Chiho asked.

"That's right. And the people I work for control all of that. Or at least a huge portion of it, enough to encompass effectively infinite multiverses."

I glanced at the others, gauging their reactions. Matsu's eyes were wide with excitement as she no doubt thought about all of the manga she had read. Kusano's brow furrowed in a way that implied she either wasn't following the explanation or had gotten distracted thinking about something else.

Chiho wore a contemplative expression, but Uzume just looked flabbergasted. "I can't even imagine the scale that you're talking about," she admitted.

"Exactly," Roland said. "That's what I said, isn't it? Incomprehensible. They make eldritch gods look like normal people."

"That's kind of scary," Uzume admitted. "But… I guess making a personal dimension is pretty small compared to that, huh?"

"You don't even have to be that powerful to do that," Roland explained. "There are plenty of people out there that can make personal dimensions of various sizes. In fact, considering how the Company works, one of them probably made this one."

"What do you mean?" Chiho asked.

Roland grimaced, and I could tell that it was time for what was probably the hardest part of the conversation. I knew Roland didn't like to lie, so he was likely gearing up to tell them the full truth. Matsu and Kusano were already his, so they would probably accept it. But Uzume and Chiho weren't as likely to. It was too late for them to do anything about it, but a negative reaction could discourage Roland and severely hurt morale, neither of which were acceptable to me.

I refrained from saying anything then, letting Roland continue talking, but I was ready to help guide the conversation how it needed to go. I'm not the strongest conversationalist and I don't have the understanding of people that Roland does, but I could still help.

Roland looked down at the ground, contemplating how to phrase his answer. "MBI discovered the Sekirei, adjusted them, and sent them out into the city to discover their Ashikabi, right?" he started. "And earlier, I said the Company is like MBI just on a bigger scale? Well, that's mostly true. Like the Sekirei I was found and I was 'adjusted', though rather than being made weaker, I was given a currency called Credits and given options to make myself stronger. And then I was sent out not into a city, but into the omniverse. And rather than finding a single Ashikabi, it would be closer to say that I was sent out to bond with… well, anyone that I wanted to."

"You said Onee-san was like your Sekirei, right?" Kusano asked, referring to me in a way that I found just as adorable as Roland found the way she referred to him despite the fact that I lacked the same cultural experience that Roland blamed for the feeling.

"I can create a bond similar to the Ashikabi-Sekirei one with just about anyone, yes," Roland confirmed as he nodded at her.

"You're a Super Ashikabi!" Matsu said excitedly. "I was wondering about the tattoo on Levy's stomach, it's her Crest!"

Everyone's eyes were suddenly on my lower stomach, where the Tattoo that marked me as Roland's was showing due to my lack of clothes. I didn't hide it or shrink away as I was proud to bear his mark on me. In fact, I shifted position so everyone could clearly see it.

"It's not like a Sekirei Crest in function, but basically yes," Roland said.

"A womb tattoo, huh bro?" Uzume commented with a raised eyebrow. "That's pretty kinky."

"How come I don't have one of those?!" Matsu complained, poking down at her stomach. Kusano was also looking at her own stomach with an unreadable expression.

"Because I winged you normally, as an actual Ashikabi, not a 'Super' one," he explained. "It doesn't really make a difference. The tattoo is just a product of the method I use."

"...Isn't that where you pressed that stamp-like thing against me to heal me?" Chiho asked.

Uzume's head snapped to Chiho, then Roland, then back to Chiho as she lifted Chiho's shirt to check her lower stomach.

Uzume relaxed, but everyone else stared at the tattoo there. In the center was Roland's emblem, of course, a small cube standing on a corner with three edges facing us. You could easily mistake it for a hexagon divided into thirds as well. Around it were the beginnings of a tattoo, and even though it wasn't even a third of the way completed, the shape it would take was obvious, as the beginnings of feathered wings were starting to form on either side of the cube.

"Phew, for a second there I thought you winged her," Uzume said. "Was that just something else?"

"What are you-" Matsu started to ask, confused, but Roland cut her off.

"No, I did," he said bluntly. "You can't see it because it has a perception filter, but there is a tattoo there that is slowly growing. Once it's done, she'll be effectively winged by me." At Uzume's widening eyes, he raised his hand. "This was the only way I could heal her for sure. Please let me explain fully."

Uzume glared at Roland, and for a moment I thought I would have to step in. But Chiho placed a hand on hers. "It's okay Uzume," she said in a soft voice. "We decided to trust him, right? And he promised we'd be together."

Uzume relaxed at Chiho's assurances, but not entirely. "And that's not just the 'winging' talking?" Uzume asked.

"It doesn't have any effect until the tattoo is finished, which is why she isn't healed yet," Roland says. "That's one of the major differences between what I do and actual winging of a Sekirei, the fact that it takes so long. But let me explain from the start.

"How the Company operates is that it chooses interesting individuals and gives them a choice. They are able to choose a world to start out in, any world in the multiverse. Then they are given a set amount of Credits, currency that only the Company deals in. They can trade those Credits for perks that give them… Well, lots of different things. Powers, defenses, vehicles, and much much more. The more dangerous the world, the more Credits they get, enough to keep them safe and able to do their job."

"Which is?" Uzume asked a little tersely.

"To 'wing' people, usually," Roland said. "I'm not entirely sure what they get out of it, but I'm rewarded with more Credits for forming these bonds. I'm pretty sure they just get a kick out of it, because they're so powerful that whatever I do can't make a difference to them."

"It really does sound like MBI," Matsu quipped. "I'm not convinced the Sekirei Plan was anything more than Minaka wanting to be entertained."

Roland sighed. "At least I don't have to interact with them, unlike Minaka. Contractors like me are pretty much left alone to do whatever we want. Exchanging my Credits for perks is automated through an app on my phone."

"So is one of those perks why you started winging Chiho?" Uzume asked, her tone still filled with her fear masked as annoyance.

"Yes," Roland explained. "I bought a perk that does two things. First, it pushes you to peak physical fitness. Second, it provides a one time total heal of any injury or medical condition. This applies to me and to everyone in my retinue, that is everyone I've bonded with. It's the only method that I could afford that I could one hundred percent guarantee would heal Chiho."

The others fell quiet at that as they processed that.

"My healing didn't work," Kusano commented, her tone making it clear that she was neither condemning nor supporting Roland and was simply pointing out a fact. "Chiho-nee was coughing last night after I healed everyone."

"It made me feel a lot better though," Chiho reassured the younger girl. "It might not have fixed the problem, but it felt like a good day where I could forget I was sick for a bit after you healed me."

Uzume's expression flickered a few times before she finally sighed, the tension leaving her shoulders. "If that's what it takes… then I guess it's fine." She looked back at Roland. "And you really aren't going to steal her from me? She's not going to fall for you like a Sekirei?"

Roland hesitated and didn't say anything, and the fire that had died down within Uzume roared back to life. "You said-!"

"Hold on Uzume-san," I cut in. "It's not quite like that." I looked at Roland. "Explain how the bond works."

He met my gaze, which made my heart flutter like it always did, despite the situation, before nodding and turning back to the others. "First off, since you are winged by Chiho, as soon as the tattoo finishes and she is 'winged', that connection will carry over to me as well. I'm pretty sure Chiho will still be your Ashikabi, but it's likely that I will be too."

"Likely?" Uzume asked angrily. "You don't even know?"

"It's not clear how the tattoo and the normal winging process interact," Roland admitted. "It's why I avoided using it while in your world. There's a chance that it will count as an actual winging, so any unwinged Sekirei was off limits unless I planned on winging them. And there was also the chance it would override a winged Sekirei's crest and make me their Ashikabi instead. But no matter how it works out, your feelings for Chiho won't change. I can promise that. Hell, they might even grow stronger."

"But what, we'll also fall in love with you?" Uzume guessed. She was still annoyed, but she was starting to cool down.

"Well… yes." Roland answered a little sheepishly. "No matter the method, the bond will make you loyal to me, though not compelled to obey me at all, you'll just like me. That includes romantically."

"And that was the only way?" Chiho asked, her tone not concerned, but still serious, treating the situation with the care it deserved.

Instantly the answer of 'no' sprung to my mind. He had the option of making them Familiars instead of Companions. It would have healed Chiho and still enforced loyalty, but not romance. I could tell Roland was about to mention it too. Even when it would serve him better, he wasn't going to lie. I loved that about him, even if it made our life harder.

That didn't change my goals though. I needed to couch the truth in a way that they would accept it. Something about what Roland had just said sparked a realization in my brain, but Roland started talking before I could fully understand it.

"There is a weaker version of the tattoo, one that doesn't create romantic feelings," Roland said. "But…" he trailed off.

"But that would have risked breaking our word," I continued for him, finally organizing my thoughts. "Uzume is a Sekirei, and even with the Familiar bond there's a good chance that she'd see Roland as her Ashikabi as well. She'd develop feelings for him because of that, not because of Stamp. So, no matter what, Uzume was at risk of being made to fall in love with Roland. And if only Uzume fell in love with him…" I trailed off suggestively, leaving the rest unsaid, that she'd be torn between her feelings for Chiho and her feelings for Roland.

"Sekirei don't have to have romantic feelings for their Ashikabi," Uzume protested. "Things could have developed in a different direction, especially if you warned us."

"Do you know how that's determined?" Roland asked. This wasn't something we had discussed because I had only just thought of the risk, but as usual he was quick on the uptake. "I don't. Nearly every single relationship between an Ashikabi and a Sekirei was romantic in some way, even if it was abusive. The handful that weren't had unusual circumstances." He shook his head. "As Levy said, it would have risked only Uzume falling for me, and stealing one of you away from the other is the last thing I wanted to do."

"So your solution was for both of us to fall in love with you," Uzume said sarcastically.

"It was the best one possible," Roland defended himself.

"I seem to remember you declaring that you'd do whatever it takes and pay any price, including your body," I commented. "I don't really see the problem here. You two get to be happy together, and also happy with Roland. You're getting additional feelings of love, without detracting from what you have. Chiho will be healed, and you don't have to fight in the Sekirei Plan."

"That's not-!" Uzume started, but she cut herself off, a complicated expression on her face.

"Uzume…" Chiho said, leaning back against her lover and turning her head to meet her eyes. "Did you really say that?"

"It would have been a small price to pay," Uzume said. "So long as you're safe, happy, and healthy."

"And I am," Chiho said. "Or I will be. And… and I think that this isn't such a bad price. Roland is kind. He could have waited until after the tattoo finished to tell us, or he could have lied. Instead, he told us the truth. And while it's scary to not really have a choice in the matter, I didn't really have a choice in falling in love with you, either, it just happened. And I'm so grateful that it did, because you have been the best thing to ever happen to me. If I hadn't met you I would still be that sad girl alone in the hospital, waiting until it was finally my time to die. My feelings for you won't change so… so I'm okay falling in love with someone else too, alongside you."

"Chiho…" Uzume said, staring into Chiho's eyes with intense emotion. After a moment of wordless communication they leaned together and shared a passionate and deep kiss.

The sweet and romantic moment was ruined a second later by Matsu's cheer, which caused both of them to blush and pull apart. Uzume glared at Matsu but the bespectacled Sekirei just laughed, and Chiho was busy pretending not to notice.

Uzume turned her attention back to Roland. "Fine, I'll accept this, even though it turns out you really are building a harem. Chiho's right. If you told me everything up front I still would have agreed. Don't think we're gonna instantly hop into your tent though."

Roland shrugged. "We'll let things happen as they happen and develop naturally."

Uzume rolled her eyes and turned her attention to me. "What about you? The other two he winged, and that's fine and normal. But did he trick you too?"

"I didn't trick you," Roland protested, but she ignored him. I would have defended him, but I could tell she didn't really mean it, she just didn't know how to handle being told she was going to be forced to fall in love with someone when she already had a lover and was defaulting to lashing out. Sure enough, Chiho put a hand on Uzume's arm that was wrapped around her as a gesture of support.

But the question she asked led to another tricky topic. I exchanged looks with Roland, but he just shrugged. I could see how tired he was from that, so he was leaving the explanation up to me.

I was more than happy to take the lead here. "No, he didn't trick me," I said. "He bought me."

My answer was met with stunned silence, so I decided to continue. "Roland hasn't been to the world I come from yet. Remember how he described that the Company provides the people they recruit with a few things to start out with? Well, Roland started out with this place and me. Among the perks and other services they offer, the Company also sells clones of popular people from across the omniverse. I'm one of those clones, created, Stamped, and transported here at Roland's request."

"That's… that's fucked up," Uzume replied, horrified. Out of the corner of my eye I could see the way Roland flinched at that, something I couldn't allow.

"Is it?" I challenged. "I don't have any issues with it. I wouldn't even exist if it weren't for him, and I'm very much enjoying being alive. It's not unlike being born, I think. It's not something we ask for, it's something others do to create us, and it's up to us to make the most of it."

Uzume's face tightened in confusion. "But, but…" she said as her brow furrowed. No doubt she was trying to find a way to refute that. "But you're a clone. You already existed."

"Didn't Roland explain last night?" I countered. "With the multiverse there are infinite versions of me. Some are happy, some are sad, some are dead. I'm one of many Levy's, and I can't worry about the others, I can only worry about myself. And I'm happy."

"But he bought you," Uzume protested. "Can you even disobey him?"

"My binding is no stronger than what yours will be, and he didn't lie about that. He could command me all he wants, I wouldn't have to listen to a single thing he said. I do it though because I respect him, I love him, and I want to join him on this journey. He's a good person. Do you know how long it took for him to even look at me in a sexual manner? Four entire days, and I was the one that snapped first and made him."

"I've got to hear that story sometime," Matsu said with a grin. "And I, for one, am convinced that it's okay. Don't forget Uzume, I was one of the first ones awake. You were just a little fertilized egg in a pod back then. Cloning isn't much different."

"And the bought part?" Uzume demanded.

"It's pretty expensive to turn a fertilized egg into a person," Matsu said with a shrug. Then she turned to Roland and me. "More importantly, can you buy anyone? Like… Yami from To Love-Ru?!"

"Yami's extremely expensive, but yes," Roland said.

"Oh but you have to!" Matsu insisted. "She's so cute and badass!"

"Matsu, are you really okay with this?" Uzume asked in surprise.

"Sure!" Matsu said easily. "Levy raised some pretty good points, so I don't think there's any harm."

Uzume looked desperately to Kusano for support. "Kuu-chan? How about you?"

Kusano tilted her head. "Onii-chan is kind, and so is Onee-chan," Kusano insisted. "If they say it's okay, then I believe them."

"You- okay I should have expected that," Uzume admits. "Come on Chiho, tell them why it's wrong." A moment passed without Chiho saying anything. "Chiho?" Uzume asked, concern filling her voice.

"Well, it's just…" Chiho started, clearly hesitant but also seemingly unwilling to lie. "If they were kidnapping people that would be one thing. But copies…"

Uzume gaped, though Chiho couldn't say it. "Wait, am I seriously the weird one here?"

"I wouldn't say that," Roland cut in. "I think your reaction is perfectly normal. But this is an abnormal situation, and you just haven't caught up to it yet."

Uzume blinked at him a few times, her eyes unfocused. "I don't wanna think about this anymore," she declared. "Just… okay, whatever. You can buy superpowers and superheroes or whatever. How does that help? What's the game plan?"

"Long term… honestly I don't have a solid one," Roland admitted. "I want to grow this Skyblock. To do that I need Credits, both to buy the perks that will improve this place and to grow stronger so I can face more dangerous worlds, because I can earn Credits by marking people, and the more powerful or useful they are, the more Credits I get from it. And to be clear, it doesn't matter if I use the 'weak' bond or the normal one, I get Credits for either.

"But I can't exactly make a solid plan because the portal opens up to a random world each time. Without knowing what dangers and opportunities I'll face I can only make vague general plans. I'm guaranteed a bit of a safety net though. The worlds I've been to so far, including yours, are limited to being only slightly more dangerous than the baseline. Some are even safer than that. Each month though, that cap will rise, and more and more dangerous worlds will be a possibility."

"So can we go to One Piece?" Matsu asked. "DxD? Kill la Kill?"

"Potentially, yes," Roland answered. "Again, random, and those worlds are dangerous enough that it might take some time before it's even possible, but we might end up there."

"Ufufu, I can't wait," Matsu said in a tone that promised mischief. I was surprised when she winged herself on Roland, but I'm very glad she did. Her powers might not be useful at the moment, but just her personality made her an excellent addition to Roland's harem.

"So did you get a lot of these 'Credits' in our world?" Uzume asked, bringing us back on topic.

Roland shrugged. "A few. Most of them came from another method of obtaining Credits, Missions. Basically a task I can complete for the Company. This mission I accepted was to obtain one of the Jinkis."

"So all that stuff you said about stopping the Sekirei Plan-" Uzume started.

"Was still the complete truth," Roland interrupted her, a little more steel in his tone than there had been before. "I accepted the mission precisely because it also put the plan on hold. The fact that I got a Jinki and a payout for it are just bonuses."

"What are we gonna buy first?" Matsu asked, excited. "If we can't get Yami, can we get Momo? Or Mikan!"

"I'm not buying any people, not yet," Roland said firmly. "Our budget is pretty tight and there are a lot of things I need to get. There is one person I plan on getting soon though, since she's an excellent combat teacher. Biscuit Kreuger." He looked at Matsu, waiting for a reaction. Matsu's brow furrowed and she shook her head. "From Hunter x Hunter?" he supplied.

"Oh, I didn't watch that," Matsu admitted. "Reviews said there wasn't any fan service so it went to the bottom of my list."

Roland sighed as he shook his head. "Fanservice is nice and all but you shouldn't ignore the greats just because they don't have it."

"I did watch the greats!" Matsu insisted. "I watched the big three shounen series and I watch a bunch of new stuff as it airs!"

"All I'm saying is that if Hunter x Hunter wasn't on your list, your list was incomplete," Roland said. "But we can fix that once we get our tech base to a level where we can watch DvDs and get our hands on the box set or something."

"Speaking of which, perhaps we should start making short term plans?" I interrupted in the hope of putting things back on track. "We have a lot of things to do to improve our life here."

"Right," Roland agreed. "Normally the day after a portal day would be a rest day. But we rested all of yesterday evening and this morning, so I think we're ready to get some work done. We need to start making a proper house soon. But first, I'd like to start a farm, so we can sustain ourselves." He turned his attention to Kusano. "That will be your job, if you're still okay with it."

She nodded eagerly. "I want to make a pretty garden that will feed us!" Kusano said. "I picked out a bunch of seeds yesterday."

"I'm looking forward to it," Roland replied with a kind smile. "We also have some berry bushes from Pokemon that we'll add. And maybe some more magic fruit trees. But I plan on buying another block, an island just like this one, and dedicating it entirely to your farm."

"Okay!" Kusano agreed excitedly.

"Everyone else…," Roland said, looking at the others. "Well, Chiho needs to rest until the Stamp completes. And Matsu I have a project I want you to get started on. But the rest of us are going to help Kusano set up the farm. After that we'll start working on the house, which we won't finish today. Eventually I'd like for us each to have a specialized role, like for example I know you make costumes Uzume. And while we're pretty nudist right now, we'll want more clothes sooner or later and having you be the one that makes those would be a great help. But we don't have the resources or infrastructure for that right now."

"I'd be cool with that," Uzume agreed with a nod. "And I don't mind helping with whatever needs to be done. Especially if it puts a roof over our heads, rather than a tent. What about Chiho though?"

"Well once she's healed… I don't know," Roland admitted. "Is there anything you want to do Chiho? Anything helpful that sounds interesting to you?"

Chiho frowned as she thought about it. "I'm… I'm not sure. I've never really thought about it before."

Roland nodded. "No rush, there's always going to be something that needs to be done in the short term. We've got a kiln set up for making things out of clay, that's pretty easy to do."

"We need to come up with another method of holding a lot of water though," I said. "The pots are too small."

"And they make the water taste weird," Matsu added.

"We'll cross our fingers that the next world is one where we can buy a bunch of big stuff," Roland said. "A few barrels to collect rain or just fill with water conjured by Levy would be ideal."

"So what are we gonna buy right now then?" Matsu asked. "And what's this special project?"

"To answer your second question first, your special project is this," he said as he reached for his phone and tapped at the screen. A second later the Jinki materialized in his hand, drawn from his Pocket Space. He then casually tossed it to Matsu, who panicked as she saw what it was and scrambled to catch it.

"Roland!" she exclaimed once she had it firmly in her grasp. "You can't just treat the Jinki like that!"

"It's fine, it's not that sensitive," Roland assured her. "Though it's your goal to find out for sure. You're the most psychically skilled Sekirei here, and by far the lowest numbered one. I want you to focus on learning how to use the Jinki. I'm mainly interested in removing the limiters of all of you Sekirei, but if you discover any other possibilities I'd like to know about those as well."

"That's…" Matsu started before trailing off as she stared at the Jinki in her hands. But then her uncertainty turned to determination and she looked back up at Roland, her fingers closing around it. "Okay. I'll do it. I can't promise how long it will take me, but I'll figure it out."

Roland smiled sweetly at her. "That's all I ask. Be careful too, don't take any risks. I'd rather it serve as a paperweight forever than for you to accidentally hurt yourself with it."

Matsu blushed, her cheeks turning red, but that couldn't hide the way her smile widened and her expression as a whole brightened. "Of course!"

"And to answer your first question, the only thing I'm going to purchase right now is the extra block so we can get started on the farm," Roland continued. "I need to spend a bit more time thinking about what else to get."

"So I can start my farm now?" Kusano asked, her eyes glittering with excitement.

Roland gave her a smile and used his free hand to pat her on the head. "Sure thing. Just let me make the purchase." He tapped at his phone a few times before tilting his head. "Hmm. Should there be a gap between the blocks? Might be useful for things like plumbing and trash… but it does carry a bit more risk."

"I think we can exclude the gap for now, there will be three other edges close by," I advised. "We can maybe add small gaps later, when we can make them safer."

Roland nodded. "Yeah, that makes sense." He grinned at all of them. "You guys ready for the first growth of this world?"

There was a tension in the air, a sense of anticipation. No one said anything, they simply exchanged glances before looking back at Roland and nodding.

Roland's grin widened as he made one final tap. And then… the world was different. There was no buildup, no theatrics, not even a noise. Roland tapped on his phone, and the island was bigger, with no steps in between.

All of us, Pokemon included, turned to look at the new space. The north side, or what Roland and I had designated as north since we didn't have any way of actually telling direction, of the island now had a new addition of flat grass. The island that had been starting to feel a little cramped now suddenly felt wide and free, just like when Roland and I had arrived.

"Wow," Uzume breathed in shock.

"That's… unbelievable," Matsu commented.

"That's amazing!" Kusano added.

"Let's go check it out," Roland said as he got up. The others and I got to our feet as well, eager to follow him. Uzume helped Chiho up, carrying her like a princess in her arms.

We all stopped at where the edge of the skyblock used to be and looked at the brand new area. It looked less like a new addition and more like the island had just grown, because there was no discernible line or boundary to denote where the new area started. If I hadn't known better, I would have guessed it was always this size.

Aside from the grass, there were only two things of note on the new part of the island; a pond similar to the one on the main island, though differently shaped, and a small sapling that came to about knee-level.

"When you said you wanted to grow this place, you really meant it, huh?" Uzume said. "I have to admit, this is pretty cool."

"And this is just the first step," Roland said. I could see the excitement on his face in his grin that showed his teeth as if he were facing an exhilarating challenge. It brought to mind the memories of the original Levy, of seeing her guildmates excited for a fight. But it wasn't a fight Roland was looking forward to. No, he was looking forward to creating our home, a paradise grown from his own efforts and crafted to suit his vision.

He put his hand on Kusano's shoulder. "Alright Ms. Gardener. All this space? This is yours. Remember all the seeds we bought? Well, you get to decide which ones we plant and how you want to organize things. My only requirements are to make sure to include a space for herbs and berry bushes, and to make sure we've got a nice variety. Your power to grow plants means we can just plant a bunch of stuff, let it sit, and then you can grow and harvest whatever we want each day."

Kusano's face lit up. "Yes!" she replied with confidence.

What followed was Kusano displaying a surprising amount of excitement and leadership as she directed us to making her garden. We divided the island into sixteen equal sections with paths between them and made each of those sections into a different patch.

Roland definitely underestimated just how long setting up a farm would take though, and he was delegated to spending the entire afternoon and a large chunk of the evening using the hoe to dig up the grass in those patches. All but two of them, at least. The pond and the sapling fit neatly into a section of their own, and the section directly to the west of that one was left alone save for the berry bushes, which had just finished growing today, being transplanted over to it. The rest of the section was saved for an herb garden and general garden storage.

Everyone save for Chiho helped with planting the seeds as Kusano directed, each person to a patch planting a different kind of crop. Roland gave Kusano his phone which had the information texts he downloaded, and she read up on each kind and told us the best way to plant them. We weren't worried about being exact about it though, as Kusano's power would ensure they grew well no matter the conditions. Roland also assured us that, according to the information he had about the Skyblock, the soil would stay fertile no matter how much we farmed from it.

As we did so Kusano made use of her power to grow the sapling to match the tree on the main island, but we were surprised to see that it wasn't the same kind of tree. The wood was a much lighter color, the leaves were large fronds like a palm tree has, and the fruit that sprouted looked like a large orange of some kind.

We took a break to examine it, all of us coming together to watch as Roland picked up. "Feels like an orange," he commented before frowning as he squeezed it. "Almost, at least. A little more firm." He worked his nail into the skin and peeled it back to reveal the white meat underneath.

A sweet smell filled the air, causing us all to stop and take a moment to identify it. There was a definite citrus tone to it, just as you'd expect from an orange. But it was layered on top of something more subtle, a sweet but muted smell that was vaguely familiar.

"Coconut?" Roland guessed out loud.

"It is!" Uzume agreed.

Roland finished peeling it, revealing more pure white fruit that was segmented much like an orange would be, but the shape was the only similarity. He then broke it into parts that he distributed to everyone, and we all took a bite at once.

Coconut wasn't something I remembered eating often. The original Levy had only had it a few times while visiting more tropical locations. But the new fruit definitely tasted very similar to that, but with a hint of citrus to it. I thought it was very tasty, and quickly ate all of my piece.

Roland seemed to disagree though, as he was wearing an uncomfortable expression. "What's wrong?" I asked.

"I don't really like coconut," he admitted. "At least not just on its own like that. Anyone want the rest of mine?"

"Me!" Kusano said, raising her hand. He handed the remaining half segment to her.

"It smells really good though," Chiho commented. "Maybe we can make coconut oil from it?"

Roland nodded. "That would be useful. We'll look it up later. In the meantime, let's get back to work. I don't like how low the sun is getting, and we still have a few more sections to plant."

We all nodded and started planting again. As we did, Kusano kept using her power on the tree, and all of us stopped once more to watch. Because she didn't just make the tree bigger. The ground vibrated as growing roots pushed through the dirt and over it.

They covered the paths between the patches, creating a natural wooden walkway. Small fences made of roots arcing out of and back into the ground grew around every patch, and much larger roots grew out of the ground on the edges of the farm, growing straight up into the air and creating a fence around all but the southern edge.

More roots rose up in the patch with the berries, forming one shallow but large box and one box the same size as the storage crate. Finally, four sections of root rose out of the ground near the pond to create benches long enough for three people to sit on.

Kusano slumped over, tired, as we all stared at her, mesmerized by the sheer scale and speed of the construction she had just performed. In just a few minutes she had made this section far nicer than the main block that Roland and I had worked on for multiple weeks.

"Holy shit Kusano, that was awesome!" Roland praised her, breaking the silence. "I had no idea you could do something like that."

"I've never tried," she admitted. She looked tired, as if she had just run some distance, but not exhausted. "But I thought it looked messy, and I know we don't have any building materials, so I decided to try. And it worked out really well so I just kept going."

Roland stepped onto the new wooden path made by long rows of roots. "You did a pretty good job, this is very flat, all things considered." He glanced at the fence. "And I'm not willing to test that but it looks pretty sturdy." He turned back to Kusano and gave her a big smile. "But for real, this is really really cool. I love it. Good job Kusano."

Kusano blushed at the praise, but her smile was cheerful instead of shy. "Thanks, Onii-chan!"

I watched Roland with amusement as he faltered at her words, her cuteness no doubt causing all kinds of reactions within him.

Matsu, of course, wasn't one to be left out. "I want to be praised too!" she insisted. She had been focused on the Jinki, exempt from the farm work as she focused on that, but she was doing so from nearby, sitting near berry bushes.

"You're doing a very good job, I'm sure," Roland said with an amused look on his face and an exaggerated roll of his eyes.

Matsu pouted, also exaggerating her reactions. "It doesn't count if it's not sincere."

"I'm sure Roland will praise you properly when you get some results," I commented in an effort to encourage the other girl.

"I think you're doing great Matsu-nee!" Kusano cheerfully interjected.

Matsu sighed before smiling at the younger Sekirei. "Thanks Kuu-tan."

We finished quickly after that, planting the remaining seeds. We decided to celebrate by having a big salad for dinner, with Kusano using her power on a handful of different vegetables that we then harvested, washed, cut up, and mixed in one of the large cooking woks we purchased in Paldea.

We realized then that we didn't have enough bowls or cutlery for everyone, so some of us ate out of smaller cooking pans using our hands. But the fresh vegetables were delicious, a wonderful reprieve from the fruit and sandwiches we've mostly been living on. They were crisp and full of flavor and we all stuffed ourselves on it.

Kusano, tired from her exertions that day, was asleep with her head on Rolands lap, a position that was a bit less wholesome than it might have been if they were clothed in more than just underwear. Though it was also true that it was already too late to keep things purely wholesome with her, considering the events of this morning.

"So, question," Uzume said, breaking the content silence that had settled over us after dinner as we relaxed. "I don't know about you guys, but I'm sweaty and covered in dirt and I'm not exactly a fan of that. You mentioned that being the bathtub, right?" She pointed at the brick tub we had made our first week here.

"Yes, it is," I confirmed. "Right now it's a little rough around the edges, literally. I'll have to fill it with water and I can give you soap as well. We probably should set up a bath rotation, it can fit two people at once."

"Chiho and Uzume, then Matsu and Kusano, and then Levy and I will go," Roland said.

"What if I wanted to take a bath with you?" Matsu teased.

"Tomorrow then, we'll set up a rotation," Roland agreed easily.

"Deal!" she agreed.

"I'll show you how to use the bath Uzume-san," I said, getting up. Uzume nodded and kissed Chiho on the cheek before getting up and following me.

"So, how are things so far?" I asked in a quiet enough voice that the others wouldn't hear us. "Life on the Skyblock, I mean."

Uzume snorted. "More like how I'm handling the news of the cost of entry, right?"

"That too," I admitted easily. "I was going to ask that next."

Uzume sighed as they reached the tub. "It's fine, I'm over it. I would have preferred knowing ahead of time, but Chiho was right, it's really not that different from reacting and getting winged by an Ashikabi." She shook her head and leaned against the tub. "I don't even mind sharing Chiho, you know? Most Ashikabi only have a single Sekirei, but it's not weird at all for them to have more than that. So even if this isn't exactly that… so long as she still loves me, that's fine." She turned to me and grinned. "But that doesn't mean I can make it easy for him right? He deserves a little payback for not properly explaining things."

I shook my head, but I could feel the amused smile on my face. "In his defense, it's not an easy thing to explain, and he was already overwhelming you with stuff."

Uzume snorted. "It's not like that has stopped. It's been one crazy thing after another since he showed up at Izumo Inn. It's hard to believe it's only been a day and a half."

"It's not always so hectic," I assured her. "Though I suppose I'm basing that on when it was just the two of us here. With so many people, maybe it will be this hectic from now on. Either way, just give it a few days, let things get settled. You'll see that Roland is a good man."

"You mean after the stamp-thing finishes?" Uzume asked with a raised eyebrow.

"It won't change your ability to evaluate him," I assured her. "Just your feelings."

"Yeah, I guess," Uzume replied. She didn't sound completely convinced, but she didn't sound morose or upset either. "Come on, show me how to use this tub."

I nodded, accepting the change in topic. I showed her how the tub was drained, made her a bar of soap, and filled it with hot water. The two of us then walked back, I sat back down next to Roland and Uzume took Chiho to the bath.

"Problems?" Roland asked me in a low voice as he glanced sideways at me.

"No," I said with a shake of my head. "Just had something I wanted to ask her."

"Ah, secret girl talk," Roland surmised with a nod of his head that was no doubt meant to look wise. "I know better than to stick my nose into that."

I giggled, amused, but didn't say anything in return. I wanted to talk to him, but I wanted to do so in private. In hindsight, there was no real reason I couldn't have talked in front of Kusano and Matsu. Both of them are Roland's in their entirety, and they are loyal to him and accepting of him. There's no need to keep anything secret from them.

Perhaps that's my bit of selfishness, wanting a relationship of secrecy and planning that only the two of us share, something none of the others can have. Or maybe my heart still hasn't fully accepted them as fellows. Whatever the reason was, I kept quiet as the others bathed, waiting for a chance to be alone with Roland, away from the others.

Roland let out a large sigh of contentment as he sank into the hot water that I filled the tub with. "Oh my gods does that feel good," he breathed.

I giggled and slipped into my customary position between his legs and leaned back against him. "Tired?" I asked.

"Sore, mostly," he admitted. "Even with Body Tune-Up, digging up all that grass wasn't easy."

"But it turned out so well," I said. "And I think Kusano tired herself out even more."

"She did," he agreed. "I knew she had a lot of control over how things grew, but I didn't think it was that much. It really opens up some possibilities."

"Oh?" I asked, intrigued. "Like what?"

"I know we spent a lot of time on bricks, but I was thinking of asking her to grow us a house tomorrow. She can use the tree on the main block to make the walls and ceiling. It could even increase how much fruit we can harvest. Imagine them growing right in the kitchen. Then we'd have a living house that could grow and be healed. Repairs and extensions would be easy, and so would building furniture."

"Can she do something that large?" I asked. "She seemed pretty tired from just furnishing the garden."

"A Norito should help a lot," he said. "And there's nothing saying she has to get it done in one go. Even if it takes her a few days it'll be faster and nicer than the brick home."

"That's true," I agreed. "We haven't even experimented with making mortar yet. And I wasn't looking forward to creating that much raw material. If Kusano thinks she can do it, I'm okay abandoning that idea."

"I'll talk to her about it tomorrow," he said. "I think we did enough today, I'm exhausted."

"I'd say it's been our most productive day so far outside of the days the portal is open," I said. "Speaking of which, how many credits do we have?"

"Uhh. After winging Kusano and Matsu, completing the mission, paying off the loans for the stuff we bought in Sekirei, and buying the farm block… 32 Credits. When Chiho's Stamp finishes that'll be 13 more between her and Uzume."

I hummed in response. "I think you should buy Stress Defense, at least the first level," I suggested.

I could feel him tense at that, and I almost regretted suggesting it, but he needed to hear it so I didn't back down.

"Why?" he asked, doing a good job making it sound casual.

"Karasuba is why," I said bluntly. "You froze when she showed up. And you got worse when I was lightly cut. That's a normal reaction when you're first being introduced to violence on that level, but we needed your knowledge and direction. We got lucky when Kusano's attack worked, we can't rely on that happening again."

I could feel his heartbeat where my back rested on his chest and the way it had picked up as I was speaking. Once again I felt regret and guilt, but I knew better than to let this go unaddressed.

"...Maybe," he admitted after a moment. "I was hoping to not have to spend any Credits on Defenses, and just get them entirely through rebates. Stress is pretty cheap though, especially since you offer a rebate on it."

"I do? Then you should definitely get it."

"That would bring me down to 29 Credits though," he argued. "One less than I need to get a Template Stack and a Talent."

I frowned, though he couldn't see it. "I thought you were waiting for a Template Stack?"

"I was. Until Karasuba."

"Oh."

"Yeah."

I sighed as I thought over it. In hindsight, it made perfect sense, and I didn't even have to ask him his reasons since it was something the other Levy had seen time and time again. After a loss, which the fight with Karasuba had nearly been, people generally had one of two reactions. They either got scared, or they got frustrated. The scared ones would pull away and actively avoid similar situations in the future.

But Roland was definitely frustrated, something I was relieved to see. He didn't plan on running away or giving up. Instead he was seeking power and strength that would let him overcome such obstacles in the future. I was proud of him for making that decision.

"It's not a terrible idea," I admitted. "But are you sure about picking a Template Stack? There are other ways. Like getting that girl you mentioned, Biscuit. Or I can teach you my magic if you pick up Added Potential."

"No offense, but your magic isn't what I'm looking for," he said, his tone apologetic. "I want something a little more… offensive. It would also take too long."

"That's true… But what about Biscuit?"

"We just got four new people, should we really be getting another one?"

"We don't have to worry about food anymore, and once we build the house we'll have plenty of space. I think it's much better than getting a Template Stack. You'll learn faster too, since she'll be able to teach you beyond just unlocking it."

"She would," he agreed. "And Nen is better than any Template Stack I have in mind. And she could unlock it for everyone, not just me. It would be a huge multiplier to our effectiveness. Still thirty credits for her and a Talent though."

"How about this? The day after tomorrow, or whenever we finish the house, you buy her and a Talent. Then you can get Stress defense when Chiho's stamp finishes and have 12 Credits left over."

"That will work," Roland said, relief in his voice. "I was thinking we need another block as a dedicated training area, have Kusano fence it off like the garden, but a lot more robust. Maybe some kind of dome."

"I was thinking you need a lure, but 12 Credits isn't enough for that," I commented.

"I think we can get by without one."

"Strictly speaking, perhaps. But I don't think that's why you're avoiding it."

"...You're not letting me hide from anything tonight, are you?"

"No. I'm sorry, but it's important."

He breathed in deeply, his chest swelling with air against my back, and then he let it all out as a sigh. "I have… mixed feelings about seducing girls onto the Skyblock."

"What are they?" I asked, encouraging him to acknowledge those feelings.

"Well, to get the positives out of the way, it is very tempting. The idea of it is… well, it's really fucking hot. That kind of subtle mental manipulation and seduction has been a favorite fetish of mine for a long time. And it would make things a lot easier if I could just get anyone from any world."

"Those are both good reasons, and I imagine they're what you had in mind when you started, right?" I asked.

"They were. But… fantasizing about it and actually doing it are different. Very different. It's still hot, but there's guilt there too, and that ruins it."

"Where's the guilt coming from?"

"What do you mean? From hypnotizing and brainwashing people."

"So? I don't see the problem."

"That's because you're brainwashed too."

"I repeat; so?"

"It's wrong."

"By whose standards? A society you're no longer a part of?" I pulled away from him and turned around, kneeling so I could face him. His expression was…stressed. That was the only way I could think of to describe it. Worry and guilt ate away at him, his brow furrowed, and he refused to meet my eyes.

"This Skyblock is a fresh start. We're making our own home with our own rules, rules of your creation. There's no need to just blindly accept what others have decided on, their situation is not ours. You need to decide what is important to you, and we can figure out the rules based on that. So, Roland. What is most important to you?"

I stared at him, my gaze stern. I know it's been said a few times already, but I didn't enjoy pushing him like that. I could tell this was something he wasn't willing to face, just as well as I could tell that he needed to face it. We've come so far, but we have so far left to go. If Roland didn't have a firm foundation, a firm set of rules that he had conviction in, then we'd be faced with endless moments of hesitation.

He met my eyes for a brief moment before looking away, leaning back and turning his gaze up towards the sky. "...The most important thing to me would be the safety and happiness of me and my retinue."

I smiled, having known that would be his answer but still heartened to hear it. "What else?"

"Second would have to be the reason we go through the portals," he said. "I want to see this place grow. I want to complete the journey from a tiny island with nothing on it to a massive empire, a paradise, and a place of wonder and miracles. I want every person who lives here to be a God in their own right. And I want to be the reason behind that."

I felt the hairs on the back of my neck rise at his declaration. He had talked about wanting to grow this Skyblock of ours before, and I knew the peaks of power that the Catalog could reach, but that was the first time he had laid out his dreams so clearly and revealed just how far he wanted to go. His words carried a weight and an excitement to them that made the blood pound in my veins.

I didn't let that sweep me away from rationality though, nor did I let it distract me from my goal. "Anything else?"

He was quiet for a moment, thinking. "The Catalog offers a lot of power. A lot of people use it in a lot of different ways. Too many, if my understanding of them is right. There might as well be infinite Contractors like me, using their powers for good and for bad. I can't police them, I have no right or ability to do so. And in the grand scheme of things, I don't matter to the Company, nothing I do could make a significant impact on them, one way or another.

"But I can control me, and I don't want to be cruel. I don't want to strip worlds of every useful resource and character. I don't want to doom them. I want to do what we did in the Sekirei world. I want to stop, or at least hinder, the douchebags. I want to improve their situation. I'm not perfect, nor am I a saint, but at the very least I want to leave a world better than I found it."

I smiled at that. "I like that idea," I agreed. "Is there anything else?"

He thought about it some more before shaking his head. "No. I'd be willing to compromise on anything else, but those three things I won't back down from."

"Then I don't see the problem with using Lures and the Stamp, even before they agree," I argued. "Any person who ends up here will no doubt eventually reach a happiness and satisfaction that they never would normally. I remember the entirety of the original Levy's life. She was happy, but that pales in comparison to what I feel now. Uzume and Chiho will be happier with you than they were in their original timelines, no longer having to suffer and their love only strengthened. I talked to Uzume, she has come to terms with it entirely, she's just being shy about it."

"I never pegged Uzume for a tsundere," Roland snorted.

"She's just a little overwhelmed by everything. Once she's had time to adjust she'll be better than ever."

"Yeah," he said in a tone that was more of an acknowledgment than an agreement. "So, if I understand your roundabout argument… I shouldn't be afraid to be more aggressive in my recruiting attempts, even using lures or other non-harmful methods, because ultimately they'll be happier with me?"

"Broadly speaking, yes. To your earlier points, there are some people with roles to play where removing them will actively worsen a world, and in general I believe we did a good job in Sekirei, but I don't think you should let your well meaning but misplaced feelings of guilt stop you from pursuing those who would benefit our home, would be happier here, and that you would be happier for having, even if they don't understand that fact at first."

"I don't know…" Roland said, uncertainty. "Do the ends justify the means?"

"I think that the means aren't as bad as you make them out to be," I countered. "And I think I should remind you of what you said earlier. Your second priority is making sure this place prospers. Is a Lure so bad that you'd let a chance at a powerful ally pass us by? What if a lure had been needed to get Kusano, who has already been the single most useful addition to our family?"

"...you're right. In that situation, knowing how important she would be, knowing I could make her happier than her canon self… I'd do whatever needed to be done, so long as it wasn't harmful to her."

"Of course. She'd be a part of the family as soon as you decided you wanted her after all, and you'd never hurt any of us."

"No, I wouldn't," he agreed before sighing. "I guess I'm being pretty hypocritical, huh? I've admitted I want to do it, and I've admitted I would do it. So I might as well just do it, rather than risk regretting it in the future. That's what you wanted me to realize, right?"

"All I wanted was for you to decide," I said. He looked down at me, finally meeting my eyes. His expression wasn't so twisted anymore, and his shoulders were less tense, like a weight had been taken off them, or at least reduced. He wasn't perfectly confident or content, but it was a large improvement.

"You've been hesitating and avoiding the topic, and that couldn't last forever," I continued. "I just wanted to avoid you being forced to make that choice in the heat of the moment, so you'd have time to think it over and make the one you won't regret."

"You're always looking out for me, huh?" Roland said, more making a comment rather than asking an actual question. "I want to do good… but I suppose I can be a little selfish too."

"Exactly," I agreed, glad that he had found the balance he was comfortable with. "I agree with wanting to help, but our happiness and wellbeing is the priority."

"Yeah," he replied a little absent mindedly. "I think getting Biscuit and a Talent is more important, but I'll get a Lure I can use to help convince people to come with us soon. Alluring Whisper probably. Love Spot is a little too indiscriminate."

"Good," I said as I turned back around to sit with my back against his chest once again. "Now, with that settled, I think that's enough heavy conversation for tonight."

"For the day, really," he said with a snort.

I hummed and made a noise of agreement, and neither of us talked for the rest of the time we were in the bath. We simply enjoyed each other's company.

Afterward Roland asked me to write about my side of things in Sekirei, and I offered to write today's entire entry so he could spend some time with Matsu and get a progress report on her efforts with the Jinki. She's used her Norito a couple times as I've been writing, though at some point they got distracted and went into the tent for some 'experimentation' as Matsu liked to call it.

Uzume and Chiho retired to their tent not long ago as well, blushing slightly at the sounds coming from Roland's tent. Kusano stayed with me though, blushing and squirming, her hands between her legs but not touching herself. She's so cute, I'll have to make sure Roland gives her some attention soon. She's ready for it, she's just being a little shy.

Unfortunately, that's all I have for this entry. I understand why Roland does this now, it's a lot of fun and it really helps secure the day's events into your memory. That, and writing about the sex we have is pretty erotic on its own.

Until next time! Sincerely, Levy McGarden.

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AN: This is the last time I'll show a full explanation of the Company to new members. This one was important for several reasons, but most, if not all, future ones can be skipped over. Uzume and Chiho's reactions are the main important thing here, furthering Roland's character development. Did they accept it a little too easily? Maybe. I tried to find a balance of a realistic response and something that would encourage Roland to be a little more 'free' with his Stamping in the future. Uzume and Chiho were chosen specifically to encourage that behavior as the two most likely to accept that kind of thing in all of Sekirei(that weren't unwinged Sekirei at least).

There was a lot of moral talk in this chapter, which is an incredibly dangerous topic when it comes to WC fics, I know. But let me say this right now- I'm not trying to justify anything out of character. This is completely an exploration of how these characters in this situation would react to the truth of the WC and the effect of the mind control it offers. And even more importantly, it's about corrupting Roland with a lot of pretty sounding arguments.

I don't plan on dallying on this or for it to come up again and again. But Roland's slow corruption is an important and (imo) fascinating sub plot that I want to do properly instead of rushing it. Levy is pushing hard to make Roland okay with capturing and buying more girls, because it makes him safer, stronger, and happier, and that's what she, in her brainwashed state, wants. There's a lot of talk about not lying, but yes there are flaws in her arguments, and outside of the story I don't agree with her.

But this is the Waifu Catalog, and long time readers of mine will know just how much I love mind control smut. This slow corruption is just one aspect of what I like about it, and is the direction I decided to take things this time. All I ask is that you don't kneejerk react to "morality talk in a WC fic". Roland isn't whining about it, he's also trying to convince himself that it's okay, and he's making progress towards that. I promise that I'd never write a character who genuinely doesn't like it. Just give me time to do it properly.