It's official. We're going back to Shinto Teito, where MBI, Karasuba, but also Shiina are waiting for us.

I decided to do it last night. Or I guess, as Levy pointed out, I had already decided on it shortly after Kusano asked. But it wasn't until late last night, as I was falling asleep, that I was willing to commit. There are a lot of pros and cons to this move, but at the end of the day, it was important to Kusano, and I could afford it.

Kusano is easily the hardest worker out of all of us. We rely on her for so much. Our food and our house are all thanks to her, and she's our healer as well. This was the first time she asked me for something. How could I say no?

I announced it this morning during breakfast and bought the perk. It wiped out most of my Credits, but we'll get that back. Hopefully.

Kyouko was there for the normal morning training, as she promised she would be. She was standoffish though, standing a little apart from the rest of the group and not talking more than necessary. The atmosphere was awkward, but no one said anything. I knew pushing her would have the opposite effect.

But I still tried to think of a way for her to accept things. Problem was, that was exactly what she was wary of. Any kind of manipulation, well intended or not, would be met with her digging in her heels.

After breakfast, the combat crew of me, Bisky, Uzume, Mami, and Kyouko all headed back to the training block.

"Mami and Uzume, keep sparring like you were yesterday," Bisky ordered as we arrived. "I'll give you some more personal instruction in a bit. Kyouko, Roland, you two will be sparring-"

"Didn't I already say I wasn't going to do that shit?" Kyouko interrupted.

Bisky sighed. "You did. I had rather hoped you would have changed your mind after having some time to think about it though."

Kyouko crossed her arms and snorted. "Fat chance. Nothing's changed, this still wasn't part of the deal I signed up for."

I could tell Bisky wanted to get annoyed, but she suppressed it and instead smiled at the girl. "You are correct, of course." Kyouko's eyes widened slightly in surprise. "So why don't we make another deal? What is your price for becoming Roland's sparring partner?"

Now Kyouko's eyes narrowed in suspicion, as if she was wary of a trap. I just watched silently. I had agreed to Bisky's request to let her handle it after giving Kyouko a night to adjust after all. I wasn't sure why she had chosen this angle, but I trusted her.

"A hundred thousand yen," she demanded immediately.

"Done," Bisky agreed without hesitation.

"A week!" Kyouko added on, obviously caught off guard by how easily Bisky agreed.

Bisky traded glances with me and I did some mental math before nodding.

I had almost $60,000 saved up, and using the Madoka exchange rate for Yen to USD, a hundred thousand yen came out to be around a thousand bucks.

So it would be about four thousand dollars a month. Less than half of what I make as a Contractor, not to mention what Matsu could get me in any modern-ish world. And honestly, it was roughly about what I was willing to give to any of my girls that asked for some allowance to spend on a portal trip.

I'm also hoping that Kyouko's rebellion won't last long enough for the money to be a real issue.

"Deal," Bisky said as she turned back to Kyouko. "It's a fair price for tutoring. Anything else?"

Kyouko was definitely caught off guard, clearly having expected that amount of money to be more of an issue for us. "Uhh…" Her brow furrowed as she tried to think of something else. Then a confident smirk grew on her face and she locked eyes with me. "You have to call me Master!"

I've been writing everything in English, but for the most part we speak Japanese on the Skyblock. It's the primary language of the majority of my retinue after all. Communication Talent made it so it didn't really matter, and most of us(save for perhaps Mami and Kyouko, who are new) can speak English just fine as well, but it was just easier for us to speak Japanese most of the time.

I mention this because the version of 'Master' that Kyouko demanded I use wasn't the kind a slave or servant would use, but instead the one that referred to a respected teacher, usually of the martial arts variety. Shishou, instead of Goshujin-sama.

I was surprised at the moment by her request, but now, in hindsight, it makes sense. On a lot of levels. For one, avoiding Goshujin-sama, which literally translates as "respected husband" is a no brainer. But also, most of us refer to Bisky as Sensei, especially when doing exercise and training, or when she's teaching us about Nen. Shishou is a more respectful title than that, so Kyouko trying to one-up Bisky in that regard tracks all too well.

But mostly it was clear that she was just trying to be petty.

Unfortunately for her, I wasn't nearly prideful enough to balk at calling her Master.

"Yes Master," I said as I placed a fist against an open palm and bowed in a way I hoped came across as respectful and not mocking.

Her smirk faded, replaced with an annoyed frown and a click of her tongue. But she didn't make any more demands, she just crossed her arms and pouted. Maybe she just couldn't think of anything else, or she just gave up.

"Glad we have that sorted out," Bisky said with a roll of her eyes. She turned to Mami and Uzume. "I'll be bouncing between your two groups. Uzume, you'll be continuing to work on refining your Shu. Mami, there's a part of your Magical Girl powers that being connected to Roland has changed for you specifically. We're not going to try it out today, but I do want you to be aware of it. Other than that, we'll be working on you incorporating Nen into your normal combat."

Mami tilted her head in confusion, or curiosity, but just nodded, accepting it. Bisky was referring to the effects of the Salvation perk of course, which would turn her Grief into a Doppel, a summoned and friendly version of her Witch, when her Soul Gem filled up. But testing it required Mami to spam enough magic to actually fill it up, and honestly it wasn't something I wanted to test on the Skyblock as it currently was.

But I had brought it up to Bisky last night after writing the journal and we both agreed that at least filling her in on what to expect was important. Sadly I didn't know anything about how her Doppel would appear, and neither did Matsu, so there's only so much we could prepare her for.

Bisky turned back to me and Kyouko. "You two just spar. Kyouko, make a spear for Roland to use, he needs to get used to the proper weight of one rather than just a pointy stick. No breaking it down into pieces for either of you. Kyouko, no magic other than that, though you can transform. Roland, use every trick you know."

"Hold on, why do I have to hold back but he can let loose?" Kyouko protested, annoyed.

"Because you're that much stronger than him, he needs the handicap," Bisky replied bluntly. Kyouko blinked and didn't seem to know how to respond, so Bisky continued. "I'll be keeping an eye on you guys. Otherwise? Just fight. Don't try to kill each other, obviously, but don't be afraid to be a little rough. Understand?"

I nodded. I had already talked to Bisky about stepping up my training now that we were going back to Sekirei. If Karasuba showed up… I needed to be prepared for a real fight. Granted, it would take a pretty bad scenario for me to be the one to fight her and not one of the Magical Girls, but it's better to be prepared than caught slacking.

Kyouko rolled her eyes. "Fine." She made two spears, projecting them from her Soul Gem, and tossed one to me. I caught it and was surprised by its heft. Bisky was right in that I had only used sharpened sticks up to this point and wasn't used to the weight of a fully metal weapon. But it wasn't unmanageable, and I got used to it pretty quickly.

We got into our positions, about ten feet separating us as we faced each other on the far end of the training block. Uzume and Mami took up the other half, with Bisky standing between us, ready to switch her attention back and forth. But right then, she was instructing Mami in something. Probably the perk, but I didn't catch it as my focus shifted to Kyouko.

I got into the same stance I used yesterday, my body sideways with my right arm cocked back, ready to thrust the spear forward, knees bent so I was crouched slightly, ready to move in any direction. Kyouko didn't take a stance though. She just sighed, casually twirled her spear in her hand, and then suddenly dashed straight at me. It was all I could do to shift my spear in time to catch her swing on its haft.

What followed was a pretty brutal beatdown.

The fact that she could kick my ass wasn't surprising, I expected it. But expecting it and experiencing it are two very different things. Even with the aid of Ren I just couldn't keep up with her speed, much less her technique. Her spear twirled and flowed easily from one attack to another, never stopping, never giving me an opening.

I felt like a child playing make-believe compared to her. It was humbling after all the progress I had made in catching up to Uzume, especially since the gap between Kyouko and I was larger than the gap between Uzume and I had ever been.

Though, a large part of that was just how little Kyouko was holding back.

"Stop," Bisky called out after only ten or so minutes of our sparring, her tone casual.

I slumped to the ground, breathing hard as I stopped pushing aura out and entered Ten once again. My upper body was covered in cuts from Kyouko's spear, and blood poured from them. The wounds were like lines of fire on my skin, hot and painful.

I looked up at Kyouko and her expression was all too pleased as she looked down at me, not a drop of sweat present on her skin. The message was clear. 'See how weak you are? I could have killed you a hundred times. Just give up.'

I snorted. Even if I was inclined to take advice of that sort from Kyouko, which I very much wasn't, not as she currently is, her unspoken words did more to motivate me out of spite than discourage me. So after a couple moments of catching my breath, I planted the butt of my spear against the ground and used it to push myself back up to my feet.

"Wait just a moment, Roland," Bisky said. "Kusano!"

A few moments later, Kusano arrived. "You call- Onii-chan!" She rushed to my side as soon as she saw the state I was in, her hands gently touching around my cuts.

"Could you heal Roland so we can continue?" Bisky asked.

"C-continue?!" Kusano exclaimed, first looking at Bisky and then at Kyouko. "What kind of training is this?"

I put a hand on her shoulder. "The necessary kind," I said. She looked at me, and I could see her emotions so clearly in her expression. Her concern, confusion, and fear. I understood it, I really did. I knew that I probably looked even worse than I felt.

But I remembered Karasuba. I remembered Charlotte. I needed to train like this.

"There's a saying in my world, about how the more you bleed in training, the less you bleed in war," I continued. Though, reflecting back on it now that I'm not suffering from blood loss, I'm pretty sure the quote is actually about sweating during training. But the point remained the same. "It means that pushing yourself when you can afford it means you're less likely to die when it matters. That's what I need to do."

Kusano… did not like that answer. Her expression shifted to one of shock and hurt, and for the first time ever, I saw her angry. It wasn't much, just a hint, but it was the first time I can remember her ever getting angry.

Well, that and the time she took out Karasuba, but she had been behind me at the time, meaning I couldn't see her, and I wasn't confident that she had been angry there and not just desperate.

"That's no reason to hurt yourself like this!" she insisted. "Or let her hurt you!" She shot a look at Kyouko at that. She was turned away from me, so I couldn't see her face, but whatever expression she made caused Kyouko's smug grin to falter, just a bit.

"You're wrong," Bisky said. I hadn't noticed her approaching, but both Kusano and I looked to find her right next to us. "Kusano… your heart is in the right place. But fighting without getting hurt is an impossibility unless you are overwhelmingly more powerful than your opponent. And Roland has improved a lot, but he has only just begun to become a warrior. He has chosen to fight for us and himself, and he will get hurt doing so."

Kusano's grip tightened on my arm, thankfully not in a spot where I was wounded, but she didn't say anything as Bisky continued. "It's important for him to learn how to get hurt here, where it's safe, where you can heal him. Pain and injuries can be distracting. Those who are just learning how to fight often flinch back from pain, which causes them to perform even worse. Now, we're not going to hurt Roland on purpose to get him used to it, but shallow cuts like this during training are something he needs to learn to endure."

Bisky had a point when she called the wounds shallow. They stung and bled, but that was all they did. None cut deeper than my skin, nor were any major veins cut. I wouldn't go so far as to call it cosmetic damage, but none of it was life threatening.

Kusano's expression tightened, and she looked at me, clearly hoping for me to refute Bisky's words. But I couldn't, unfortunately, so I just gave her a reassuring smile. "She's right. Sorry, but I'm going to need to rely on you even more."

The anger in Kusano's expression died, replaced by disappointment and reluctant acceptance. "I don't like it," she said in a quiet voice.

"I can't say I'm enjoying it much either," I admitted. "But this is the path forward I've chosen."

Kusano closed her eyes and nodded before leaning forward to kiss me. Green wings of light sprouted from her back.

"Life of my Pledge, Shine on my Ashikabi," she intoned, and a familiar warmth flooded over and through me as my wounds healed. The sharp pain faded and I could move without feeling like I was pulling at the wounds. The blood remained on my skin, but that wasn't such a big deal.

"Thank you, Kusano," I told her gently. I patted her on the head, careful not to get blood on her, though her hands were already stained red.

"We'll call you when he needs another heal," Bisky added.

Kusano stiffened, but she had given up on fighting it, so she just nodded. "Be careful," she whispered before kissing me on the cheek and then heading back toward the garden.

"Are you done getting your boo-boos kissed?" Kyouko asked snidely. "Or am I going to have to listen to you whine some more."

But I didn't rise to her provocations. "Nope, all better now." I leveled my spear in her direction, and my aura exploded out from me once more. "Ready to continue when you are, Master."

She looked annoyed that I didn't take her bait, and then she blurred as she rushed towards me, and my brutal training continued once more.

That cycle repeated itself again and again. I'd spend several minutes getting torn up by Kyouko, Bisky would call a stop, and Kusano would heal me. But I was feeling more motivated than ever. Not just to accept this training, but to master it as fast as I could. The better I could defend myself, the fewer times Kusano had to heal me, and that was important to me.

I'm not sure how well it worked though. Keeping track of time while I defended myself was impossible. It certainly felt like I was lasting slightly longer each time, but I couldn't be sure if that was true, or if my fatigue was affecting my perception of time.

Because I definitely was getting worn down. Kusano healed my wounds, and it felt like my stamina was restored a bit as well, but it was only a bit, and it did nothing for my Nen reserves. All too quickly I stopped being able to use Ren in anything but short bursts as my internal tank ran empty and I started running on fumes. I focused on making sure I always had enough for Ten and Shu, because despite having just learned the two techniques, Kyouko was also using them, and if I dropped mine, my defense would collapse entirely.

I quickly lost track of time almost entirely, only having a vague sense of how long it had been based on the position of the sun in the sky. And it was when the sun had passed its zenith and was starting to trek downward once more that our training was interrupted.

"I did it!"

Matsu's voice rang clearly not in my ear, but my mind. And based on the way everyone else came to a stop as well and started looking around, I wasn't the only one to hear her.

"Matsu?" I asked, pushing my thoughts towards her like I did when she did this in the world of Madoka Magica. Through my ability to sense aura I felt her coming out of the house, so after exchanging glances with the others, we headed to the main block to meet her.

"Matsu figured out the Jinki!" her voice continued in my head. "Or, part of it at least."

She stepped out of the house as we approached. "What do you mean?" I asked out loud, coming to a stop in front of her with the others.

She pouted at me. "Hey, no need to speak out loud, we can use telepathy now!"

I rolled my eyes. "Why don't you explain what you did then? Everyone can hear us, right?"

"I can," Levy's mental voice said in my head. I heard a few more telepathic murmurs confirming it as well, and everyone nodded, even Kyouko.

"Anyone who is connected to Roland-tan should hear me, even the non-Sekirei," Matsu explained. "Matsu is using him as a relay to connect to you all, since she can technically only do this through our bond."

"I thought you were a technomancer?" Mami said.

"Mostly!" Matsu said. "But Matsu's Norito boosts her power enough that she can telepathically communicate with her Ashikabi! And with the Jinki, I can expand that into a telepathic network through him!"

I frowned. "But I didn't kiss you, so you couldn't activate your Norito," I pointed out.

Her grin widened. "That's what Matsu figured out! Remember how she figured out how to make it glow and she said it was probably the first step to something but she couldn't figure out the rest? Today she did! With just a few steps, the Jinki can act as a substitute Ashikabi and let a Sekirei activate their Norito!"

"That… is very useful," I said as I thought about it. Being able to just pass the Jinki to Kusano to have her heal even if I couldn't kiss her for some reason was good. And Matsu could create a telepathic network like this, better than any walkie-talkie setup we had started to experiment with, whenever she wanted. We already knew that her telepathy works through special barriers like the Witch barriers, so there's a good chance she can connect us all even if she sticks to the Skyblock.

"Matsu also figured out how to remove the limiters placed on us by MBI!" she continued. "She already did it to herself, but she barely had any limiters. But she can do it for Ku-tan and Uzu-tan!"

Uzume raised an eyebrow. "Uzu-tan?"

Matsu shrugged. "Felt weird not to give you a '-tan' nickname. But that one doesn't work. Matsu will workshop it. In the meantime, here!" She lifted the Jinki and beckoned her over. "Who wants a free power up?"

Uzume exchanged glances with Chiho, and Kusano looked over at me. I nodded at her encouragingly. "If Matsu says she figured it out, I trust her."

"I'll go first, just in case," Uzume mentally sent.

"Can we stop with the fucking telepathy?" Kyouko suddenly cut in, splitting the silence by speaking aloud. "It doesn't make any sense when we're all standing here already. I don't need you yapping in my head constantly."

Matsu pouted. "But it's fun!" But she didn't seem too upset, I could recognize when she was just messing around.

"You can show off more later," I compromised. "For now, let's just focus on removing the limiters, alright?"

"Fine, fine," Matsu said. I felt the mental connection between all of us fade. "Uzume? Matsu needs to touch your crest."

Uzume nodded and turned around, pulling her hair over her shoulders to expose the nape of her neck, and the Sekirei crest there. Matsu stepped up to her and gently pressed the sharp tip of the Jinki against the center part of the crest, where a small bird was detailed.

We all watched, intrigued, as the Jinki started to glow in Matsu's hands. After a few moments, Uzume's crest started to glow as well, with the same color and intensity. I held my breath as I watched, ready for something to happen.

And then the Jinki and the crest both faded back to normal, and Matsu pulled the Jinki away from Uzume. "All done! Feel any different?"

"That's it?" Uzume asked in confusion. She lifted her arms parallel to the ground and flexed them as she looked at them. "I don't really feel different, no. Are you sure it worked?"

"Yep! It probably didn't change much though. Roland's Super Ashikabi powers already made you a lot stronger, and you weren't adjusted down all that much, since you're number ten."

By 'Super Ashikabi' powers Matsu was referring to Body Tune Up and Athletic Talent, both of which had pushed them past their normal limits. I'm not 100% sure how BTU had interacted with the artificial limits placed on them, but there had been a dramatic increase in their physical abilities after I purchased it. I was pretty sure at least, I hadn't exactly put Kusano or Matsu through rigorous physical testing before getting it.

Uzume walked over to Chiho and picked her up, causing the other girl to yelp in surprise as her lover spun her around. She was giggling as Uzume put her down though, not fully against the treatment.

"I'm a little stronger I think," she reported. "I'll probably need something a bit heavier than Chiho to test though. She's too light."

"So that was just for fun then?" Chiho asked in mock annoyance.

"That's right," Uzume replied with a grin, causing both of them to giggle again.

"We'll find out exactly how much tomorrow morning during our normal training," Bisky said. "I'll have to redo your exercise plan."

"Kusano too," I pointed out.

"Yep, that's right! It's Ku-tan's turn!" Matsu agreed.

"Okay Matsu-nee," Kusano agreed. She didn't seem nervous now that Uzume had shown how painless and safe it was. We watched the same process repeat itself, with the Jinki and Kusano's crest lighting up for a few moments before fading away.

Kusano didn't notice much of an improvement either, but her adjustments hadn't completed by the time I had winged her, so that wasn't too surprising.

"Did you figure anything else out?" I asked Matsu once Kusano finished adjusting. "I mean, it being a free Norito pass is pretty useful, but I was expecting a bit more I guess."

"The effects would have been more dramatic if it weren't for your stuff already boosting our strength," Matsu pointed out. "But there's definitely more it can do. Matsu hasn't figured it out yet, but the Jinki is basically a control tool for Sekirei cores. There's all sorts it can do. Like terminate Sekirei!"

I frowned. "I can't see us using that function much."

Matsu shrugged. "Probably not. But it might be useful. Don't forget, termination isn't like death. A terminated Sekirei is actually extremely stable, kinda like if you put them into cryostasis but without the cold. We probably won't ever need something like that, but you never know!"

"That's true," I admit. "So long as we can wake them up, at least."

"We can!" Matsu confirmed. "It does that too! So long as their body is in okay condition, a Jinki can un-terminate a Sekirei too!"

That was actually super useful information. Kusano was capable of doing the same thing with her Norito, though only for Sekirei. Having something that could revive her was a pretty critical back up plan though.

"Can you teach me how to do that?" I asked her, pondering possibilities. "Or one of us at least?"

"Matsu hasn't figured it out yet, but sure, so long as you've got the psychic talent for it," she said. "And since you've literally got Psychic Talent, it's just a matter of hard work!"

I nodded. "Make that your next priority, if you think you can figure it out without needing to test it."

Matsu tapped a finger against her chin. "Hmm. Probably. Once Matsu figures out a function she gets a sort of instinctual understanding of how it works. So she should be able to confirm when she figures it out without trying it, but it'll be harder to figure it out."

"That's fine," I reassured her. "Better it takes more time than to ask Kusano or Uzume to spend time terminated. That… no, I won't allow that."

Kusano and Uzume both shuddered and nodded in agreement. "Yeah, no, I don't want to play cadaver for Matsu," Uzume said.

"Would MBI have any information on it?" Levy asked. "We could try to get it from them."

I frowned. Not because she was wrong, in fact she was probably right. The Jinki were used as part of the adjustments Sekirei went through I was pretty sure, so they should know something. But getting it from them was another matter entirely.

"Not on any of the servers Matsu ever found, but Miya did say that they had some secure servers for it," Matsu said. "We'd have to raid their headquarters for it though. Oh, but if we did that, we could maybe get more Jinki!"

"I don't think they'll just let us stroll in," I pointed out.

"Yeah, but so what?" Matsu continued. "We've got magical girls now! Pretty much only Karasuba and Miya could stand in our way, and Miya would cheer us on. Bisky can kick Karasuba's ass into next week!"

"That's… true," I admitted. It was hard to realize just how much stronger we had become in the past month. I had picked up Bisky just a few days after the last Sekirei trip, and even before becoming a Magical Girl she was Karasuba's match, if not her outright superior. Now? With Magical Girl powers and five times the Nen? Matsu was right, we were much more prepared for a fight against MBI.

"Well, we'll see," I continued after a moment of thought. "I'm not going to commit to any plans until we figure out the situation. Getting Shiina is our top priority. Everything else is just a bonus."

That being said, I'm realizing now, as I write this, that I'll probably be spending a lot of the day after tomorrow, our rest day before going back to Shinto Teito, coming up with a few plans.

"Anything else it can do?" I asked, referring to the Jinki. "If it can interact with your cores… can you maybe use it to move your Crest?"

I'm a big fan of the tattoos that the Stamp gives my girls, especially my ability to put them over their wombs. Womb tattoos are hot. But none of the Sekirei had Stamp tattoos, they had their Crests, since they were all Captured by being winged rather than the Stamp. And I couldn't move the Crests. There was an option to give them tattoos anyway, but it cost one Credit per girl, and even that small number of Credits wasn't something I could afford to spend wastefully.

But if Matsu could use the Jinki to move them… that would solve that problem quite nicely. The Crests weren't womb shaped, but it was good enough.

Matsu, being a fellow pervert, understood my intentions immediately and her eyes lit up. She lifted the Jinki in front of her face so she could examine it, brow furrowed as she concentrated. "...maybe," she said after a few moments. "Matsu will need to keep looking. But it might be doable."

"Figure out the un-termination stuff first," I said. "That's more important."

She pouted but nodded, accepting that satisfying our desire for more womb tattoos wasn't as important as having a redundant resurrection as a backup.

"That's pretty much everything Matsu has confirmed," Matsu said. "As we read in the manga when we were in the Love is War world, we could probably use it to pull up memories of Chiho's ancestors, with the first Ashikabi in her family line. But that's not really that helpful to us."

"Could be neat, but not a priority, no," I agreed. "Either way, good job Matsu. I know it took a lot of time to figure that out, and it's going to be a huge help in future portal trips."

Matsu preened under my praise. "It was no problem at all for Matsu!"

"Alright, alright, we've got plenty of daylight left," Bisky said. "Good job Matsu, but we all need to get back to work. Uzume, let's experiment and see if there are any changes to any of your abilities after removing your limiters. Roland and Kyouko, you two keep sparring like before. We'll be going like that until dinner. Matsu, teach Kusano how to use the Jinki to activate her own Norito."

Her abrupt cutting off of our little gathering might have seemed a little rude, but truth be told, that was her role, to keep all of us on track. Time was a pretty precious resource, and Bisky's job was to make sure we didn't waste too much of it. She was good at it, especially since she had a good idea of the difference between wasting time and necessary rest and relaxation.

The rest of the day went pretty much the same after that, with Kyouko continuing to kick my ass. The small break that Matsu had bought me let me recover some of my aura, but not enough to really matter. Still, by the end of the day I could see some results of my training.

For one, I was starting to get more and more used to Kyouko's speed. Gyo actually helped with that. Its primary use in the show may have been to see through In, but using Gyo in your eyes definitely seems to improve their overall ability. It helped me be able to see Kyouko, no matter how fast she moved. Though concentrating my aura in my eyes meant it wasn't in the rest of my body, so even if I could perceive her, I couldn't react fast enough for it to matter. It was a trade off.

And secondly, I got used to taking hits. The relatively minor wounds that Kyouko inflicted on me have become pretty ignorable. I take note of them and the pain when she cuts me, but so long as they weren't deep enough to impede my movement, I ignored them, not even flinching. Technically I had started getting used to it at the end of the fight against Charlotte, but that was with desperation and adrenaline running through me, which is not a state of being that I should rely on.

We actually stopped a little bit before dinner so I could clean up and Kusano could make dinner without stopping to heal me again. She did figure out the trick with the Jinki though, which made the healing process easier. But even if she healed me, it didn't clean up the blood, so I did what I almost never do and took a bath before dinner, alone.

It was weird to be alone in the tub, actually having room to stretch my legs and not having the weight of one of my girls on me. A little lonely too. But the water was gross with my sweat and blood within seconds, and I wouldn't want any of them to be in that filthy water with me.

Now, after dinner, things have wound down a bit more. We've settled in to watch more Hunter x Hunter. The others caught Mami up to the plot so far, and they're all enjoying it as I write this.

Except Kyouko, of course. After training she didn't eat dinner with us, just grabbed another blapple and holed herself up in her room. I don't like it. I'm not the most socially aware, not without relying on Communication Talent at least, and I'm certainly not a psychologist. But I know what depression looks like, and Kyouko's actions are clearly that of someone not happy.

But I don't know what to do besides give her space and time to adjust. Trying to force her to be part of the group will only make things worse. Today was a good step though, I think. Sure, she was maybe a little too happy to cut me up in the name of sparring, but the fact that we were able to barter her into cooperation is a step in the right direction.

I'm not sure how the others feel about Kyouko's rebellion. It's not something we've talked about. Hell, we've danced around the topic if I'm being honest. But I have been watching them, and there seems to be two main camps.

Most of them seem to be taking my lead on it and treating her with patience, but are mostly hands off as they let me handle her. Those would be Levy, Matsu, Bisky, and even Uzume. Bisky did get annoyed with her because of the training stuff, but that was because it was her job, and her role. Once we talked about it, Bisky settled down. Uzume being so level headed surprised me at first. Sure, she's pretty cheerful and chill, but she also comes across as someone who would grate with someone being a brat like Kyouko is being. But then I remembered that Uzume had a similar, if significantly less intense, attitude when she first joined, so she probably was the one that best understood Kyouko.

The second camp was smaller, consisting of just Kusano and Chiho. At a quick glance, they were being patient as well. But there were little signs that their patience was much more shallow. I've seen them glance at Kyouko, or in the direction of her room, with complicated expressions. Even with Communication Talent it's hard to decipher exactly what they're thinking, but I got the impression that they were annoyed at her, or something similar. Which really caught me off guard. Kusano and Chiho are two of the kindest people in our little family. To see them react to Kyouko like this is… concerning.

And of course, not really in any camp because it's just her, Mami stands by herself. No surprise there, considering she's the only one that personally knew Kyouko before this, and their relationship was already complicated and filled with baggage. Now she's caught between the new family she practically leaped into with open arms, and her old kouhai that she desperately wants to be happy and reconnect with. Kyouko's rebellion is mostly just making her anxious. I'll have to make sure to talk to her at least, to reassure her that I'll fix it.

Unfortunately, just giving her time might be the only good way to do that. She'll see the benefits of accepting her role here soon enough, and how, if she lets herself, she can be happier here than she ever could have been in her home world. She'll see how happy I can make her. I just need to give her time.

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AN: Burnout is a bitch. While I'm very proud of the last portal trip chapter, and I wasn't exactly pushing myself to get it done, I still went a little too hard on it. I poured too much of myself into it too quickly, and it burned me out. The handful of chapters after that were fuelled mostly by momentum, but even those were a struggle to get out before it stopped here. So yeah, I burned out on this pretty hard and had to take a long break from it.

But I'm back now. Hopefully for a good long while. Though that being said… work is getting pretty rough. We're down another person and we have a lot of big manpower intensive projects we have to get through over the next couple months, which is the minimum time it'll take to get a new person. Even if I didn't do most of my writing at work, there are going to be a lot of days that leave me too exhausted to do anything at home. I'm gonna write when I can, but I can't promise any sort of consistency. One week might be fine, the next week might be hell.

Onto the chapter. This one was actually hard to write. I struggled a lot with the Kyouko part. Her training is pretty critical, but she's not feeling very cooperative. But at the end of the day, it's not really the training she has issues with. She just wants to be able to say no, to have some control over the situation, and to inconvenience Roland. She needs to be sure she hasn't become how she views the others- mindless holes for him to fuck and order around. Bisky realized this, so she offered a deal. But it took me a while to settle on this course of action. I almost had Bisky and her fight, to show off how strong Bisky is now, but it just didn't feel right for the long term or short term.

Also, the Jinki- The only confirmed things we know about the Jinki is that Miya used it to show off the past Sekirei in a shared psychic vision, it can be used to lift a Sekirei's limiters placed by MBI, collecting all 8 lets you commit Sekirei genocide, and past Ashikabi fought pretty ferociously over them. Everything else I come up with for them is speculation. As is the thing about terminated Sekirei. It makes sense to me, but isn't directly addressed or even hinted at in canon.