Let's see how many chapters we can pump out this month. New month, new me lol.

Big thanks to everyone on pa treon who voted for this chapter's illustration! And as always, a huge thanks to Sherlock for beta-reading. I'm sorry for dragging my feet on this one; couldn't have done it without you.

X

"Seriously? Man, we're pretty lucky, huh?"

An ashikabi smirked confidently at his sekirei: a petite woman with a bob cut just long enough to cover her brows. She didn't look nearly as excited as he did though.

"I don't know," she muttered. Something doesn't seem right."

It was late at night and yet no one else was around despite the area's relative popularity. The pair stood before an unassuming wooden box left down one of Shinjuku's many alleyways.

Unassuming aside from the MBI logo stamped on top of it.

This was what the director was talking about, wasn't it? The gold stars.

No one knew what they were or how to find them, but… this couldn't be a coincidence.

"This is our ticket!" the ashikabi insisted, though this time in a much quieter voice. It seemed that his companion's caution rubbed off on him a little; he took a few quick glances over his shoulder to make sure that they were well and truly alone. "Don't you get it? If we get through this, we don't have to fight anymore. We can live in peace."

The sentiment was definitely one that appealed to the sekirei. She clenched her firsts.

"Let's take it," she whispered. "Quickly."

The ashikabi nodded—

"Ah, ah, ah…"

A chilling voice made them both freeze up on the spot. Slowly, they turned around. What faced them was the last thing they wanted to see.

It was a woman dressed in black. Even in the shadows of the alleyway, her silver hair seemed to catch a light that didn't exist.

She smiled at them with some amount of mirth; the ashikabi took a cautious step forward to shield his partner.

"Who are—"

His ashikabi cut him off and pushed him behind her.

"You're the Black Sekirei," she announced, dread in her voice. It wasn't a guess: she could feel it.

Karasuba smiled brightly.

"Yeah! Good guess. Please excuse me: I'm here for that little box behind you."

It was then that the ashikabi noticed the sword in her hand, its naked blade scraping against the pavement with every step that she took.

Fresh blood trickled down the weapon and stained her path. Not that she seemed to mind.

The pair was paralysed in fear. The sound of her high heels striking the ground was so loud. How did she sneak up on them like this?

Wait! If she was just here for the box…

He shared a look with his sekirei. They were on the same page here.

"Please, take it!" he insisted. They had heard what this monster had done. They didn't stand a chance. Not like this.

"I will, thanks."

The ashikabi's throat felt a little itchy. He tried to cough, but he wasn't able to.

His sekirei screamed. What was wrong? He tried to turn his head, but—

Oh.

The Black Sekirei pinned his neck to the wall with her katana. He was bleeding out.

His vision was getting a little blurry…

"You bitch!" his sekirei seethed. She charged at Karasuba with the intent to cause harm, but it was to no avail: her ashikabi was dying, and so was she.

Her flails were weak. Karasuba yawned and held her at bay with a palm in the face.

"It's past my bedtime," the grey-haired woman muttered. "It's a pain to have a lover who's such an early bird, y'know? I can only pretend that I'm still asleep for so long before the racket he causes is just too much. Getting up before seven isn't sensible, is it?"

She was talking to herself at this point; both sekirei and ashikabi had dropped to the ground like puppets with their strings cut.

Karasuba clicked her tongue and sheathed her blade.

"'Put your underwear in the bin!' he says. 'Clean your hair off the drain cover!' he says. There are only so many hours in a day. I'm out here working hard, aren't I? You'd think he'd be a little more understanding."

Enough wallowing in self-pity for now.

Standing over the box, she pulled out her phone to dial her ashikabi—

Ah. Did she leave it at home again?

She shuffled back and took the dead sekirei's phone out of her pocket. It was easy enough to use the girl's thumbprint to unlock the device.

"...Ah! There we go."

She put it to her ear only to crane her neck away as Shirou started berating her immediately.

"I know, I know. I'll remember next time."

"...Who cares if MBI can track it? I'll be gone by then."

"...Well, I can't un-kill them."

"...Okay! I'll talk to you later. Love you pookie wookie."

She hung up on him.

Karasuba stretched her arms over her head before reaching down and prying the box open. Finally. They had—

Huh?

She frowned at the decidedly empty container.

"Hey! What gives, Minaka?" she grumbled, kicking the box and marching away.. "Don't send out a notification if you didn't actually give us anything! Screw this. I'm going home."

She would get on her ashikabi's nerves and start an argument for no reason, she decided. That would put her in a better mood.

X

Happy April, everyone! Let's kick off the first of the month with an update. I'm sure everyone will be happy.

I'll update fr very soon lol I promise.