Yume

I thought he was the ashikabi for me. I thought he was mine, but the more I stayed around him the more isolated I felt. Karasuba was certainly a match for him, but was I? I was the sekirei of fate, tasked with ensuring all of the birds found their wings, but four of the birds had their wings clipped, and now I had to find the one with the shears. My Ashikabi had the same goal but he wasn't emphasizing the important things.

I took the image of sekirei number fifty-seven, Yahan. I burned that picture into my mind. What little information there was on her combat abilities I ran through my brain. Can move from shadow to shadow, and has a curved blade. I glanced over to John, my ashikabi, and Karasuba, my best friend. Both of them were going through the information.

"There's no way this information was falsified in any way, right?" John asked.

"Of course! MBI is absolutely meticulous when it comes to recordkeeping," Matsu replied, crossing her arms with a huff.

"Good. Yume and I can start scouting for this 'Yahan'," Karasuba said, getting up.

"Wait, we haven't thought out a plan yet to catch her," John protested.

"I'll go with Karasuba," I said getting up and following her out. John tossed me a cellphone.

"Keep in touch, ok?"

I felt a tinge of worry in his voice. "Yea, I'll check in," I said with a smile.

"Hey Karasuba, do you think John is the right one for me?" I asked her as we lept from rooftop to rooftop.

"A bit late for this sort of thing, don't you think?" Karasuba laughed as she scanned the streets.

"But-"

"Look, you're the sekirei that chose him. Just live with it."

"It's not that simple, Karasuba. I love him as a sekirei should, but I don't feel the connection!"

"Have you ever thought, that just maybe… you need to build a connection instead of just assuming one is already there?" Karasuba asked.

I was floored. I had never heard something so characteristic un-Karasuba like from her lips. "Karasuba… What has happened to you since I left?" I asked.

Karasuba sighed as she took a seat on the ledge of the highrise we were perched at the top of. "I did a lot of thinking. As I worked as the top sekirei for the discipline squad I saw time and time again, pairs that, while they may have been reacting to their ashikabi's, they weren't happy. They weren't even forced into it, they never thought that perhaps the one they were reacting to weren't the ones they should be with. That's not how I feel about you and John. You just have to build that relationship," Karasuba said.

I put a hand on Karasuba's head, giving her a pat on the head. "I'm glad, Karasuba, you've learned, now let's find Yahan," I said. "Perhaps I should try and talk to him more."

Just as I began to rook over the edge, I noticed two ashikabi walking with their sekirei. There was a small young woman with her sekirei who was of tall stature, the other one had two sekirei following her, the woman held a large hammer, the other, a male wearing some sort of school clothes. Karasuba moved beside me.

"Ah, some of the other residents of Mason Izumo, Number one's place. You see the female ashikabi with the tall one? That's number ten, Uzume, with Chiho."

"And the other ashikabi?" I asked.

"Ah, the most promising of the Ashikabi in that place. Yukari Sahashi. A true boar of a woman, with two ashikabi no less. The female is Yashima, number eighty-four and the male is Shinna, number one-hundred and seven."

"And what can he do?" I asked, a bit curious.

"He can kill, but not fast enough, has potential though."

"Really?"

"Yes, it expands out like a cancer spreading throughout the body.

"That's incredible-" All of a sudden, a darkness encapsulated the two groups, and I saw a blur wipe across the dark sphere. Karasuba leaped into action, diving into the darkness. I pulled out my phone and called John.

John Doe

"What is it, Yume?" I asked, Minato and his sekirei craning forward, trying to eavesdrop on my conversation.

"John! We need you over here, any other Sekirei you know of and their Ashikabi! We've found the killer, Karasuba has engaged Yahan!" Yume shouted with panic in her voice.

"Alright, calm down, I'm coming," I said, getting up from the table.

"Is everything alright, John?" Miya asked.

"Minato, has your mother briefed you on that situation?" I asked, turning to the young MBI Director.

He nodded. "Yes…"

"I need you and any sekirei you can spare, Karasuba and Yume have found the culprit, but we'll need help in apprehending her."

"I understand. Musubi, Tsukiumi, with me, Homura, Kazehana, Kusano, Matsu, I want you four here," Minato commanded, his sekirei obeyed as he followed me out with his vanguard.

"Oh, you four should take one of these!" Miya said, handing each of us a bento box.

"Thanks, ma'am," I said, only to be handed two more.

"Those are for Yume and Karasuba. As much as I know she'll deny it, I know Karasuba loves my cooking," Miya said with a giggle.

I nodded with a smile. "I'll make sure she knows you said that," I said with a chuckle.

Minto's phone rang, he picked it up. "Matsu?" He asked. "Ok, I'll keep you on the line."

"What is it, Minato?" Musubi asked.

"Matsu is tracking Yume's position via satellite, lets go!" he shouted, taking the lead.

Karasuba

Living a life without combat was boring, it picked at my brain day after day. But now? I got to fight, and gods damn, it was exhilarating! I jumped into the dark space, finding the two ashikabi in the middle with the three sekirei badly wounded. I drew my blade with an excited grin on my face.

"Get your ashikabi out of here!" I ordered.

"I would love to but it seems our friend isn't too intent on letting that happen!" Uzume snapped back.

"I'll take care of her!" I said, hearing a faint whisper from behind me.

"Too slow." I whipped around, giving the source of the voice a powerful slash. There was no hit.

"Go!" I screamed, covering the five of them's escape.

"Aaaaaaawwwwweeeee you want me all to yourself?! How cute!" the voice taunted. I felt a breath on the back of my neck, I took another slash, and yet another miss. "Come oooooooonnnnnn! Lets fight!" Yahan screamed as she charged me, a cruved dagger in hand. I blocked the first slash, but she struck me with the second.

"I've gotten sloppy, haven't been practicing as much as I should have." I parried another slash, stabbing her in the shoulder.

"Rancid cunt!" Yahan cursed as she tried to pull out the blade.

"Tell me what I want to know, sister, and I'll let you go," I offered.

"Pull the blade out, first."

"Fine, but I'm not going to let you go anywhere," I said.

Once I pulled out the blade, Yahan disappeared into the shadows. The shadows moved away, and Yahan moved with them. Yume jumped down from the building, approaching the others.

I heard them talking. I felt light headed, my body started to wobble. I fell to the ground, and everything went to black.

"You're too weak, Karasuba, you're going to get yourself hurt!" Yume giggled as I practiced my sword swings.

"Oh really? Too weak?" I asked incredulously.

"Yes! You should train under Miya again, she taught you well!" Yume said with encouragement.

"Fuck that. I'm not her lap dog, and I won't be an ashikabi's lap dog either."

"You're just saying that Karasuba… I won't leave you until you find your true ashikabi!" Yume said with an encouraging smile.

"I don't believe you," I said, taking up a stance."

"Wake up goddammit! I don't want to lose another partner!" I heard John shouting at my bedside as my eyes began to open. His hands held onto the plastic railing of my bed, his knuckles were snow-white. His eyes were expelling an excessive amount of tears.

"She's up!" I heard Yume shout with relief. I felt John's arms around me. They were tight and secure.

"Thank god you're ok!" he cried.

"What happened to me?" I asked.

"You were poisoned, Karasuba. You were in a coma," Takami explained.

"For how long?"

"Fifteen days."

"Fuck… John, were you watching for Yahan?" I asked.

"No, there's been a curfew set out for Sekirei and Ashikabi. Takami and Yume were able to build a better MO for Yahan."

"Which is?"

"Female ashikabi, that's all she's targeting, hence the attack on Chiho and Yukari."

"Makes sense, but why? Have you tracked down her past ashikabi?" I asked.

"Yes, and it doesn't explain why she's going after female ashikabi," Takami said.

"Well, why would it?" I asked, placing my arms around John's

"Her ashikabi was a man. So it's not like she's doing this out of some sort of twisted sense of revenge."

"What if it wasn't her?" I asked.

"What do you mean Kar?" John asked, looking into my eyes. I cupped his cheek affectionately, pulling his head in closer and kissing him on the lips.

"What if there's someone else? Maybe she has a new ashikabi?" I asked.

"But she's not marked as Emerged, so she shouldn't have an ashikabi," Takami retorted.

"So she's working for an unknown person, which only leaves one plan of action," I said. "Capture and interrogate."

A/N: Hello! This is not the last chapter, but It's going to be a while before I can get another one started. I hope you all liked it, and there should be some smut in the next chapter or two. Also, appologies for the shorter chapter.