This chapter is close to Christmas and the last was close to Halloween, so… Nightmare Before Christmas, anyone?
His outer body awoke slowly, and he was calm as he took in the small 'abnormalities' he could note.
Firstly, a part of his outer body was being 'engulfed'- a human part that rested between his human legs.
Secondly, the 'engulfing' felt pleasant rather than dangerous.
Thirdly, he was still lying on the bed but his feet seemed to be on the floor.
And lastly and most importantly, Kazehana was almost as 'aroused' as he was.
Minto opened his human eyes and lifted himself up into a sitting position.
Kazehana smiled up at him from where she knelt on the carpet, with her naked breasts resting heavily in his lap and her hands pressed against the pillowy globes from either side.
With playful timing, Kazehana reminded Minato that the usage of breasts was more varied than he had thought.
"Mmmm~" Kazehana moaned happily, toweling off the warm mess that covered her chest. "Good morning, Hubby, how'd you like your wake-up?"
"It was very pleasant."
"You know what else would be pleasant~?" Kazehana cooed. "You and me, pressed together with nothing but warm water between us~"
"I had no idea a shower could sound so enticing," Minato remarked with a blink. "Though, I suppose the 'you and me' part was motivating enough on its own."
Kazehana's still naked body shivered in bliss.
"Oh Honey, you always know just what to say, don't you~?" Kazehana smiled. "I should stop being surprised, after how incredible you were last night, but it's like every experience is new and special."
Minato nodded readily, his thoughts much the same.
"Do you think that is what love means, Kazehana?" Minato asked, innocently and earnestly.
Kazehana's response was to close her eyes and take a long, shuddering breath, and this time the shiver was a good deal more pronounced and a good deal more erotic.
… Making it to the bathroom took longer than either intended.
The top of the world looked an awful lot like a sidewalk, Kazehana noted with some amusement.
That, or any place was the best place to be, if it meant she could be there arm-in-arm with her Ashikabi.
With her husband.
Minato's eyes shimmered with happiness as Kazehana gave a dreamy giggle out of nowhere, tilting her head briefly to lean it against his shoulder for a moment as they walked arm in arm.
The destination didn't matter all that much to her, if she was being honest, and the reason for heading to that destination didn't mean that much to her, either.
He'd assured her that there shouldn't be any problems because it didn't work like that with 'someone important', but it was worth investigating anyways.
The monster known as Myriad 1 affected those he interacted with in strange ways, and she, Kazehana, had 'interacted' with him in a never before attempted fashion.
… It was a bizarre kind of funny that she was going to go and get a medical examination from the mother of the man who she had lost her virginity with.
Actually, it kind of made it sound like she was getting tested for STDs when she put it that way. In reality, she was getting tested because there was no telling what a thick, hot injection of Myriad DNA could do to a Sekirei's body, other than trigger the best orgasm of her life.
Multiple times.
Best orgasm, and the best night of her life.
It wasn't like they were going to swap stories soon (or ever), but Takami was more than a little proud of her son for having his first time with one of the most gorgeous women on the planet.
True, having to be involved in her son's 'morning after' wasn't exactly her idea of a good time, but having to teach sex ed to an amorphous preteen alien shapeshifter, along with dozens of Sekirei over the years, had neatly killed any embarrassment Takami had on the subject.
That, and she'd never forgive herself if she missed potential 'complications' just because she was feeling awkward about the whole thing.
If anything, she was just annoyed because the drunk spent the whole examination radiating post-coitus bliss.
Just because Takami also felt a little smug that being good in bed apparently ran in the family, didn't mean she needed to be reminded of it. It also had nothing to do with how it had been… a while for her.
But, thankfully, the examination took little time, and…
"No abnormalities," Takami briskly informed Kazehana. "From your last examination, there are signs of an overall better diet, which can be attributed to Miya's cooking, and some of your internal scar tissue is missing, which can be attributed to my son."
"What internal scar tissue?" Minato asked immediately, prompting a stilted laugh from Kazehana.
"A-ah, let's just call that the result of some… youthful indiscretion?" Kazehana offered in excuse. "Nothing to worry about now, Hun."
Minato didn't seem quite convinced by the kneejerk excuse, and Kazehana found herself talking quickly to avoid a 'followup examination'.
… All the while showing a hint of relief in the way her Destined One didn't seem much interested in how her past injuries came to be, instead more concerned as to whether or not any of them were still there.
"'Youthful indiscretion', huh?" Takami muttered under her breath, as she watched the two with subtle amusement.
Was that what they were calling war nowadays?
Kazehana was kidnapped the moment they'd returned to the safety of their own home, but it was for 'girl talk' so it was probably fine.
So instead, Minato went out back to find Kuu playing with Shiina, the latter pushing the former on the swing set in the far corner of Miya's yard.
Originally, there hadn't been a tree suitable to hang a rope swing set from (even a very sturdy rope swing set, since Uzume's powers worked on rope), but Kusano had asked one of the bigger trees nicely, and a suitably sturdy branch had prepared itself for the Green Girl.
Though his human eyes were on his youngest Sekirei, in truth, most of Minato's focus was elsewhere.
Because Miya was getting in some exercise of her own.
The lavender-haired landlady stood with her back straight and eyes closed, one hand loosely gripping the sheathed sword she held in her left. It was a plain, unadorned weapon that he assumed was a katana- it was recognizable enough, since it looked something like a gently curved wooden cane when the blade wasn't drawn.
… And then Miya was smoothly returning the gently gleaming blade to its sheath in a practiced motion, and a leaf was drifting to the earth in two pieces.
Many eyes blinked as Minato replayed the memory, and concluded that no, he hadn't seen the slightest indication of her drawing, nor swinging the blade.
Miya was simply that fast.
Then the sword was out of its scabbard once more, languidly dancing through various forms and stances at a pace a human could easily observe.
He was never going to say it to her face because he liked being alive, but the hidden power behind each simple movement made Minato imagine a mountain dancing a waltz.
"... I want to fight her." The quiet, toneless words slipped out so naturally that Minato hadn't realized who had said them, at least not until Miya had sheathed her sword once more to turn his way.
"Oh my, isn't someone energetic this morning?" Miya tittered, cupping her cheek with her free hand. "Well, if you're that eager, I suppose I wouldn't mind indulging you with a spar."
Outwardly, Minato was still, but inwardly, the 'blood' of the Myriad was roaring through his veins as one of his 'bad habits' reared its head.
Minato slowly rose to his feet.
"I would like that, Miya." Minato admitted softly. "I'll try not to damage the yard."
"Hmm? While appreciated, showing more concern for your surroundings than your opponent could easily be misconstrued as arrogance, don't you think?"
"Or proof that I know my surroundings are the only thing I could manage to hurt," Minato pointed out with a hint of mirth.
Miya gave a light giggle, eyes twinkling.
"Ah, so it was actually pessimism, then?" Miya replied, shaking her head with feigned dismay. "Who knew my tenant was hiding such defeatist nature all along?"
"You are… the only person I've ever met whom I'm certain I could never beat," perhaps in the distant future, but only if he'd forsaken the things he'd sworn to never forsake.
So perhaps it was more accurate to say that 'Minato' could never defeat Miya, but regardless, it didn't bother him at all.
"I wonder why you seem to be growing more eager, rather than less, then?" Miya innocently took note, showing a hint of anticipation herself as she waited for his answer.
"The result is not the only thing that matters," Minato replied.
"I can't argue with that," Miya agreed. That hardly applied to her tenant alone. "I'll have you take the first move, then, when you're ready."
Rotating his arms to loosen up, a habit that was borrowed rather than necessary, Minato squared up against Miya, something stirring beneath the surface of his murky black eyes.
Miya surely understood that he didn't need to stretch, but she allowed him to proceed without comment.
The physical preparations were just him offering a physical sign that he did require 'preparation'- a sort of nonverbal communication between the two.
Minato decided that Mother-level sparring would be appropriate for the location, and out of light, hard, or 'full' contact, determined hard contact would be most appropriate.
Given the woeful mismatch in size, that level of combat would hopefully be enough to at least demonstrate to Miya that he was earnestly approaching the sparring match.
… Without destroying her yard in the process, since he was going to fight Miya in a less 'human' fashion than he did Mother.
Minato had a feeling that Miya would accept 'some' level of damage, given that she herself was participating, but he had no desire to test the limits of 'some'.
Even if fixing the yard would be good practice for Kusano to use her powers.
Mind made up, Minato gave a light nod to Miya, who raised her sheathed sword, taking a slightly wide grip that allowed her hand to cover where sheath met hilt, keeping the blade contained.
The spar started with Minato flicking out a light jab at Miya, from fifteen feet away.
'How intriguing', Miya thought to herself as she shifted out of the way of the preliminary attack.
It was a motion something akin to the strike of a frog's tongue- Minato had thrust his fist forward, and 'something dark' took its place, extending the punch far beyond the reach of a human body.
'How interesting', she thought to herself, as she took note of how his hands were covered in midnight blue, as if he'd slipped on a pair of glossy dark gloves.
This time, the attack came from multiple directions, as a quartet of similar 'lashes' emerged from behind Minato's back, before streaking towards her like a four-fisted 'jab'.
Miya swept her sword out perpendicular to the ground, knocking aside all four at once before closing the entire distance in one smooth stride.
Her sheathed sword came arcing down at the top of his head, with a little less force than she'd use on a Sekirei in a similar scenario.
Minato jerked suddenly, but when Miya expected a defense, instead her sword clocked him on the head uncontested.
With a firm backstep, Miya returned the distance to ten feet, lips pursed ever so slightly.
"You cut short your own defense," Miya noted with a hint of disapproval.
"Sorry Miya, I only spar with Mother," Minato returned, rubbing his head where she'd struck. "Mother is used to me loosening my bones to soften impacts, but I thought it might be unpleasant if you weren't expecting it."
'Unpleasant' as in she'd immediately assume she'd grossly misjudged her strength, and caved his skull in? Yes, yes it would be.
"My apologies," Miya relented. "It was wrong of me to be cross with you without knowing your intentions."
Minato shook his head. "I'm made of more surprises than not, so I'm used to being confusing," he admitted. "But, given how much self-control you have, causing me unintentional injury is likely… close to impossible?"
"Oh my, I'm not sure if that should be called confidence or not," Miya teased. She'd read between the lines to the suggestion that he wasn't doubting she could cause him injury.
It was a convoluted sort of reassurance that did its work nonetheless- a subtle reminder that her monstrous tenant could 'see' more than anyone she had ever encountered, herself likely included.
"But it's reassuring to know I don't have to go too easy on you~" The distance between them vanished, and Miya's sword thrust itself at Minato's 'ribs'.
It felt like thrusting her weapon into a puddle of thick liquid, Minato's side cleanly giving way- his left hand slashing down like a blade almost simultaneously.
He'd chosen a counterblow over an evasion, how bold.
Miya's lower hand left her sword hilt and diverted the strike with her palm, and then she leaned back in a smooth bend, letting the 'punch' that had come from the center of Minato's chest pass over her cleanly.
Twirling rapidly, Miya lashed out at his opposite side, and that time, Minato dodged cleanly, leaping over the blow, spinning in midair to bring his heel down on her from above.
Miya stepped sharply back and then lunged back in as he landed, but Minato went low, practically on all fours, and it was Miya's turn for her feet to leave the ground as she hopped daintily over an wide sweep of 'something dark', aimed at her ankles.
As Minato closed the distance with a swarm of punches, Miya was forced to conclude that she had underestimated a few things.
Both Minato himself, and the amount of fun she would have sparring with him.
… Fun? Yes… fun. How enjoyable. How amusing he was.
Just what would he do next? She couldn't wait to find out.
A jumping roundhouse came closer to hitting her than any strike yet, as Minato added force by rotating his lower body like a top, in complete defiance of how a spinal cord was meant to work.
And it was a bit of a curious feeling, she mused as he deflected her return assault with knuckles whose feedback did not feel like she had struck bone.
Minato's facial features were as muted as ever, and neither his breathing nor the beat of his heart had accelerated in the slightest, and yet…
Miya could claim with total certainty that her most mysterious tenant was deeply enjoying himself.
… And not just because darling little Kusano was cheering on her big brother with such enthusiasm, while occasionally cheering for her as well.
Such a dear.
No, everytime she increased her speed just a little, that strange brightness in those deep dark eyes seemed to brighten, as if some sparkling treasure was being slowly lifted from murky waters, into the light of day.
'Enthusiasm' suited him well, it would seem.
And given that his self-imposed 'limits' seemed more complex than her own, his performance was rather impressive.
She'd initially approached him at a level 'too high for a human', and was now fighting at a level that would trouble a low to mid ranked Power type, and yet it still felt more like a playfight than a spar.
Slipping beneath a strong right cross, Miya seized his arm and flipped Minato, less over her shoulder and more 'above' her shoulder, sending his body into a long, lazy arc.
"Let us stop there," Miya said, as he easily stuck the landing. "I don't see us coming to a clear conclusion before I need to start on lunch." She saw no need to belabor the point of who had 'won' or 'lost', even if she'd landed seven blows and Minato none.
The process had been more satisfying than the result, and Miya was confident she was not alone in thinking that way.
"I am… the last person who should interfere with meal preparations," Minato agreed, relaxing and offering a light bow. "Thank you for the spar, Miya, it was very enjoyable."
"Indeed, and thank you for accompanying me," Miya replied, returning both the gratitude and the bow. "I believe you're about to be occupied with a different matter," she covered her smile with her sleeve, "so I'll go ahead and take the first bath."
Minato nodded lightly, and turned to the porch, where all of his Sekirei plus Shiina were staring at him in total silence.
It wasn't exactly an unpleasant silence, however- his Sekirei were shocked in a mostly good way, and Shiina was shocked in a mostly confused way.
The other notable exception was-
"Mhm, mhm, did you see it, Shii? Big Brother is strong and squishy!" Kusano smugly recounted with crossed arms, nodding repeatedly.
"Y-Yeah, I think that sums it up pretty well, Kuu," Shiina replied, hesitant but keeping his voice level. The slender boy sent a glance Minato's way, and the Ashikabi offered a slight smile.
"Sekirei aren't the only aliens on the planet, are we?" Shiina asked softly.
"You are not even the only aliens found by MBI," Minato confirmed. "They also found a monster, and gave it the name Sahashi Minato."
"Sahashi?" Shiina tilted his head. "Umm… sorry if this is rude, but does that mean only your father is from… 'elsewhere'?"
Minato immediately gave the teen multiple bonus points for assuming he was Mother's actual son, which carried over through their Bond and raised Shiina's estimation with the flock.
"Mother adopted me," Minato explained. "As for a father…?" He could only shrug.
Somehow he had always been certain that Mother was his only parent. However, given that the existence of parents beyond Mother had never interested him in the slightest, truthfully, he had never given it much thought.
"I see." Shiina nodded. "Um… thanks for sharing," the young boy seemed to think for a moment, before out of nowhere, Minato found himself hit with a beaming smile, one that had a lot more impact due to how little expression Shiina normally showed.
Minato missed entirely that he was a more extreme case of the same, but his Sekirei found themselves with an inexplicable sense of vindication.
"I… I don't understand why you called yourself a monster, because you're very kind, but you know, it's really reassuring that Kuu must have the strongest Ashikabi ever!" Shiina said in a serious but happy tone. "I was already pretty happy that Kuu was part of such a strong flock, but now I really don't have to worry!"
"Though you'll do it anyways," Hikari commented wryly, under her breath.
"Well sure, but now I have less reason to!" Shiina turned and said, Hibiki giving a brief giggle as her twin's quip seemed only to encourage the male Sekirei.
"You're taking this… really well, y'know." Uzume pointed out, looking at Shiina with a bemused smile.
But Shiina just offered a careless shrug.
"I trust Kuu," he said simply. "If Kusano trusts all of you, then there's no doubt in my mind that I can trust you all as well."
There was a warm moment of silence, as the monster's flock in solidarity, established one of their kind, who was not of the flock, as family nonetheless.
A warm moment, but a brief one.
"Yep, yep, Kuu has great taste!" Kusano proudly asserted.
Everyone laughed, and naturally, no one disagreed.
It was near the tail end of lunch that Homura awoke, sitting up in bed with a wince that had little to do with his hangover.
Feeling an odd tightness in his chest, Homura rose from his bed, unbuttoning the shirt he'd slept in and standing in front of the floor length mirror on the wall opposite.
Some might call him a little vain for having a mirror beside his bed, and they weren't entirely wrong, but he also got paid good money to be a little vain with his appearance, and the mirror had another use, anyways.
Like offering a better perspective when he needed to patch himself up, or clearly displaying how the painful tension in his chest, that felt like his skin was stretched too tight, was likely because it was stretched too tight. The feeling made a certain amount of sense for a man on the slender side of lean to feel, at least when he woke up a low B-cup.
Grimacing at the reflection in the mirror, Homura made his way to the bedside table, and pulled an unmarked case from one of the drawers.
There, looking as ominous as ever, were the two remaining vials of the 'medicine' Takami had been prescribing him for almost five years.
It was a liquid with the consistency of watery jelly, and in the case it looked black, but when held up to the light, revealed itself to be an extremely dark blue.
Popping the lid, he quickly downed the medicine, blanching slightly even though the liquid went down easily, all the while smelling and tasting like absolutely nothing, and having a temperature always just enough below room temperature to be noticeable.
And he hadn't even gotten to the creepy part- Homura pressed both hands against his chest as if trying to push it flat, and push it flat he did. His pecs returned to their usual masculine shape and the stretching sensation vanished, leaving his gender stable once more.
Shivering, Homura reminded himself of the bright side, that on days when the medicine was necessary, it would stabilize his powers for a bit so he wouldn't have to worry about burning himself alive.
It only had that effect when used for its intended purpose, otherwise he'd be taking it daily with a smile.
Takami had sworn to him that the eerie medicine she had designed herself was at least created in an ethical fashion, and just as strongly sworn that he really, really didn't want to know any of the specifics.
Homura's protests had ended when he read his medical chart, and discovered that the medication was actually allowing him to alter his own genetics by hand.
Ignorance really could be bliss, and Takami had been all too ready to encourage that belief.
Homura had left not long after lunch, taking Shiina with him- the younger of the two had expressed interest in finding a job, and Homura had used his connections to quickly land the boy an interview at a downtown cafe.
Shiina naturally didn't have anything approaching work experience, but he was smart, had good self-control, and the cafe mostly had highschoolers working their first jobs as waitstaff, meaning Shiina hopefully wouldn't be too out of place.
So the flock, with the addition of Miya, has initially planned to discuss the 'altercation' Kazehana and Minato had been in the night before, however-
"Oh, that is right, I forgot I need to dispose of 'that'." Minato had said suddenly.
"Maybe I shouldn't be saying this because I forgot as well, but how did you forget too, since it's…um… 'in' you?" Kazehana asked hesitantly, unsure of how to phrase that appropriately.
"It wasn't Kazehana, so it was easy to forget." Minato admitted easily.
A hint of pink colored Kazehana's cheeks as she smiled warmly. That was her excuse too- her wedding night was way more interesting than some 'Intruder' thingie that had gotten destroyed by her husband, without even being able to properly fight back.
"How long is that going to take you then, Hubby?" Kazehana asked. "Think you'll be back in time for dinner?"
"Maybe not in time for dinner, but soon enough that we can all speak afterwards."
When he told Miya he would most likely be missing dinner, she had offered to leave a plate for Minato to have when he returned.
Minato politely turned down the offer, and Miya had found his explanation characteristically bizarre yet refreshingly new.
"No thank you, Miya," Minato declined. "It's been quite a while since I last went into the ocean, and when I thought about it I found myself craving shark, so I'll grab one of those on the way."
"Ah, is that so?" Miya returned lightly, sporting a casual smile. "I'm afraid I don't have any of those in the fridge, so I suppose it can't be helped."
With Minato gone, the flock had gathered nonetheless for a matter of vital importance.
And Kazehana led that conversation as a matter of course.
"It seems that for a long time now, our Ashikabi has been fighting battles we know nothing about."
Minato at the time, didn't know any better. He lacked the frame of reference to understand that, no matter what, his battles were their battles, until the very end.
Kazehana at that time, also didn't know any better. She lacked the frame of reference to understand that those were the most dangerous words she'd spoken in her life.
But it couldn't be helped.
The destiny that had brought them all together was strange yet beautiful, kind yet cruel.
Such contradictions weren't all that uncommon in life.
Somewhat short on time, Minato had asked to be airdropped, and thus Mother had preselected a pilot who would know better than to ask questions, such as to why she was leaving an MBI VIP in open ocean, 50 miles from the shore.
Or why said VIP had left the helicopter in nothing but a swimsuit, and assured her he didn't require pickup as he jumped out of the helicopter with nothing but a ten pound lump of concrete in hand. It helped that she was one of the 'retrieval pilots' for deactivated Sekirei, so her threshold for weirdness, and her hazard pay, were second to none.
Minato still made a mental note to have her commission doubled, both because he represented MBI's highest threshold for weirdness, and because the first thing he found after plunging beneath the water was an early dinner.
Munching on the shortfin mako he'd found as he swam (flowed) down into the dark of the ocean, Minato carefully examined his current 'disposal site' for Intruders.
Thankfully, the only obvious abnormality in that stretch of the ocean was him, and so his little errand passed by without incident.
'The White Ship' seemed to be circling the edges of Japanese waters once more, but no one he cared about was leaving by boat anytime in the foreseeable future, and thus he elected not to sink the Ship for a third time.
He was still going to kill it if he caught wind of it during that 'beach date' he had talked about with Tsukiumi, though.
Preoccupied with idle thoughts and the revelation that he missed his Sekirei after a whole three hours without their presence, a formless darkness drifted along deep currents, humming a tune that no sane thing was meant to hear.
Minato had barely shut the door when she was there, hands on her hips and scowling fiercely.
It was truly mysterious how Tsukiumi still managed to outwardly look ready for an argument, yet still project a sense of welcoming his return.
"Dearest!"
"Tsukiumi?"
"Dost the lush speak truth!?"
"... Maybe?"
It was the wrong answer, and Tsukiumi's stormy eyes narrowed dangerously as she wrapped two of her arms around one of hishis, denying escape in an affectionate manner that he couldn't bring himself to evade.
"How long hast thou been fighting battles without mine- without thy flock's knowledge?"
"... Pretty much from the start." Minato admitted softly, as he was dragged towards the dining room.
"And didst thou not thinkest that we should be informed? Thy battles are ours, as well!"
"I didn't tell you because…" the whole flock plus Miya were there, staring at him, as he put two and two together.
Kazehana actually flinched a little bit as dark eyes, both seen and unseen, zeroed in on her.
"You told them about 'that', didn't you?"
She still thought she'd done the right thing, but the hint of defiance Kazehana was feeling didn't make it into her voice, as she struggled to make sense of the multitude of emotions swirling through their Bond.
"... Yes. I told them about the Intruder."
Minato stared for another long moment, and no one dared speak, though Miya calmly sipped her tea, somewhat aloof from it all.
"... No, I suppose it was just a matter of time, and I'm not used to having to warn people." Most humans forgot them if they could (whether they wished to or not), and he hadn't really considered that Sekirei, who were also 'people', might be different.
"... They're going to notice, aren't they?" Minato sighed to no one in particular.
"Who?" Uzume murmured, hesitantly. "Who's going to notice?" She didn't quite manage to ask 'what' 'they' might notice.
"Things that aren't meant to be in this world are going to start noticing all of you," Minato said flatly. "The other monsters that lurk in this city are slowly going to start paying attention to everyone here."
"Oh my," Miya said, her words calm yet impossible not to heed. "Should I be expecting unwelcome guests?"
"No, all the monsters are afraid of you, Miya." Minato answered without thinking. "And I've been killing the ones too small for you to notice."
"When you say monsters, Minato, do you speak for yourself, as well?" And whatever was he implying by 'too small for her to notice'?
"Hm? Well, I guess I was sort of terrified of you, at first," Minato admitted, though not without purpose.
Miya closed her eyes briefly, and asked her next question in little more than a whisper.
"... And what, if anything, changed?"
"I tasted your cooking," Minato replied immediately.
There was silence.
A long silence, as Miya tried to determine whether her tenant was being serious, or if that had just been a setup to tease her.
… He was being serious, wasn't he?
On cue, Minato, puzzled by her sudden silence, tilted his head to one side as he looked to her, innocently dark eyes unblinking.
Feeling her age and not liking it one bit, Miya sighed into her hand.
It would be some time before she recognized the significance of that little gesture.
"It's my fault, not yours, Kazehana," Minato was reassuring her. "You couldn't have known that it would be an issue, and keeping it a secret would delay the inevitable at best."
"Okay, okay," Kazehana sighed, feeling a less fun kind of tiredness compared to the aftermath of last night. "I still think I was being careless," it wasn't like 'confidentiality' was new to her, "but I'll take your word for it, Hun."
"So Kazehana told us what these 'Intruders' are, as you call them," Hibiki chimed in. "But by the way you were talking earlier, are there things like that that are actually 'meant' to be here on Earth?"
"Yes, but we shouldn't need to worry about the biggest group of them," Minato told her. "I've already warned them about playing with Sekirei."
"Anyone else afraid to ask what 'playing' means?" Hikari drawled.
"They are a faction, then?" Miya asked, eyes sharp. "Perhaps I need to speak with them as well, if they've taken an interest in the feathers."
"... No, I do not think you should do that." Minato hesitantly denied. "The only reason they're less afraid of you than me is that you haven't interacted with them, so I think keeping your awareness from their knowledge will have better results."
He had promised to hide knowledge of the Very Old Folk from MBI and just MBI, so Miya was fair game.
"But I promise I'll kill the rest of them if they start anything." Minato said in a way that suggested he was trying to be reassuring.
"The 'rest of them', huh?" Uzume laughed. "Guess you're not exactly friends?"
"When they first discovered me, they sought leverage to keep themselves safe," Minato recounted, "it was a mistake."
"Oh, so that's why that hussy was terrified of you," Kazehana said with a sharp chuckle. "She's a 'survivor' isn't she?"
No one needed to ask what 'leverage' they must have sought if their Ashikabi had been willing to slaughter them.
They were more interested in the implications of someone being referred to as a 'hussy' interacting with their man.
"The fox is their spokesperson also, that is why she came to find me," Minato said. "The Intruder from last night was the thing she was concerned about, I believe."
"Fox? Hold on, like a kitsune?" Hibiki interrupted. "Yokai are real?"
"I call them the Very Old Folk, but yes, that term applies as well." Minato confirmed. "I've never really cared, but Daji is a fox with six tails, in her true form."
"An interesting name for them," Miya said softly. It made those beings sound rather 'ancient' and as someone who had been around for… some time, she was naturally curious.
"It felt like a proper name for those older than the city." Minato shrugged.
"But, more importantly, the reason you cannot carelessly involve yourselves in my battles," his whole flock sat up a little straighter at that, and even Kusano looked a little unhappy.
"Dearest…" Tsukiumi's tone held a strong undercurrent of warning.
"No, Tsukiumi."
"Dost thou thinkest us frail maidens thou must defend!?" Tsukiumi snapped, slamming her fist onto the table.
Miya raised an eyebrow, but kept her silence.
"Thy talents may be diverse, but do not underestimate us! Do not underestimate me! Dost thou truly thinkest thyself the better of the strongest Sekirei!" In truth, she was aware she'd lost to Kazehana, but Tsukiumi was determined to regain that title before long.
"And what are you going to do when strength doesn't matter, Tsukiumi?" Minato asked, his tone level, but cold.
"W-what dost thou…?" Tsukiumi trailed off, abruptly finding the wind from her sails taken away.
"If it comes to a fight, I'd be more than happy to have you, to have any of you, at my back." Minato said. "Honestly, if it comes down to pure strength then most of you are stronger." He just had a lot more ways of 'not losing'. "But how are you supposed to help me in a fight you can't even see happening? How about fighting in a place where breathing is dangerous?"
"W-well… that…"
"The answer is you being safe and away, which is the reassurance I need to never lose."
The adults in the flock turned very red, though Kusano just beamed up at her big brother.
"... Fool. If thou speakest in such a manner, how am I, as thy wife, to deny thee?"
Minato made the effort to smile for her.
"I… hate that I understand where you're coming from." Kazehana sighed. "If you really needed my help against that thing from last night, could I have done anything?"
"If it was out in the open you could have killed it faster than I could."
"'If', huh?"
"If."
The flock was radiating a sense of helplessness and frustration that was hard for him to make sense of.
… No, Mother was the same, at times.
Perhaps it was worse for the flock, since by all accounts, fighting his battles was their job, a responsibility they all seemed to take pride in.
Perhaps his lack of involvement in the Sekirei Plan was a factor, but…
There was no Ashikabi like him. He was not what an Ashikabi was supposed to be, and thus, it was hard to know what the flock of such an Ashikabi should be.
Lack of identity was something he could understand, all too well.
He had never forgotten that once, not too long ago, his existence had been too simple for even a name to have meaning.
"I will do my best to involve you when possible," Minato said, with his human eyes closed. "And I will not take unnecessary risks because I do not wish to make you all sad."
He opened one eye and glanced Miya's direction.
"Also, I meant what I said when home is safe from 'others'." Minato reminded them. "I have never once met any Intruder who could challenge Miya, and as I told Kazehana, I believe the only ones who enter the city are those that can escape Miya's notice. Small fry, in other words."
"Scared of me, hm?" Miya murmured in an airy tone, cupping her cheek with one hand. "Who knew a humble widow was such a terrifying thing?"
"Miya being an exception to that early bit you mentioned does make sense," Kazehana said with a dry laugh. "It's the ladle, isn't it?"
"It is the ladle." No one knew if he was joking or not.
"Y'know Babe, I've been wondering," Uzume began. "We all know the landlady is hardcore, but how come you seemed to know from the start?"
"... Hardcore?" Miya murmured under her breath, with a hint of dismay.
Miya was a special existence to any Sekirei, and they could immediately identify her as such.
But Minato was not a Sekirei.
"I do not know why I know the things that I know," Minato admitted. "All I know of Miya is that she is… 'more' than a Sekirei."
"That is one way to put it, I suppose," Miya seemed to recover from her daze, and flashed a mysterious little smile.
Remembering something suddenly, Minato glanced at Kazehana, who had gotten very quiet.
The conversation he had been expecting her to encourage had not been mentioned again-
"Because they already know, Hun." Kazehana shrugged, answering the unspoken question.
"Hm? What dost thou mean, Kazehana?" Tsukiumi glanced between the two of them, and then dropped a fist into her hand, beautiful blue eyes widening slightly. "Ah, yes. 'Tis no great mystery why our beloved thinks little of our shared knowledge, there are none akin to him, after all."
Minato tilted his head in confusion.
"Oh, yeah, and Babe doesn't really know much about Sekirei yet, so it makes sense he'd be hesitant." Uzume pitched in.
"Master is gentle," Akitsu nodded and murmured softly, speaking up for the first time since he'd entered the room.
Minato's head tilted the other way, and Miya concealed a smile behind her sleeve.
"I am very confused," their monster admitted.
"We Sekirei can forgive anything, when love is involved," Kazehana chimed in gently.
"And it has not eluded our attention, as to thine insistence upon thy true nature."
"You told us you were a monster, Babe, right from the start." Uzume said.
"Mhm," Hikari nodded, "and we all know what monsters do, right, Lil Kuu?"
"Chase the meanies!" Kusano flung her hands up into the air, and Akitsu caught the crayon that was flung at the same time.
"And what happens when they catch the meanies, Kuu?" Hibiki asked softly.
"Om nom nom nom!"
"That's right, Kuu." Uzume nodded. "Om, nom, nom."
Kazehana leaned back on her hands, puffing out her considerable chest with a smug huff.
"Told you, Hun." She said confidently, before sharing a glance with Akitsu, who nodded firmly.
When every eye in the flock was on Minato, she spoke to their bewildered monster with the utmost confidence.
"Every single one of us is prepared for what it means to love a monster."
… For the first time in Minato's life, he found himself thinking that Sekirei might be frightening in their own way.
Of course, it wasn't as if they would have blindly accepted their Ashikabi preying upon the people of the city, be they human or Sekirei.
She would have been very disappointed in them if they had.
Miya would not have been nearly so accepting of Minato if her 'assessment' of him had hinted at such an indiscriminate nature.
Furthermore, it was not as if they had an issue with him taking a life when he thought it appropriate- it was a little known fact that few Sekirei did. Thus, it seemed to have been surprisingly easy for the flock to accept what he did to those he killed after he killed them.
Their Ashikabi had a predatory nature that set him apart from the rest.
The women who were fated to be his wings were willing to do their best to try and understand a being beyond their comprehension, and Miya respected them for that, and perhaps, just ever so slightly…
Envied Minato for having what she had lost.
She respected Minato as well, for working so hard to fit into a world that surely was as strange to him as he was to it.
And wondered if he himself realized that, in some small way, he had more in common with the Sekirei than he did with the humans.
And not just because they were aliens as well.
And yet…
She could not deny that, above all else, 'that' weighed upon her mind, even still.
The question she had long since pondered, yet never found the courage to give voice to.
When Minato looked at her, gazed upon the face of the planet's last Sekirei Pillar, just what was it that he witnessed, with those countless eyes of his?
Miya had yet to grow accustomed to 'that woman' visiting her home, but the discomfort was remarkably easy to swallow when Takami was visiting her home as the only ranking member of MBI who could truly be considered an ally to the feathers.
Checking on Homura first was another plus- for all his phenomenal power, Homura occupied the unfortunate position as, to her knowledge, the only Sekirei who ever came down with illnesses on a regular basis.
Thankfully, it was not the worst of his 'misfortunes' at work, and would pass given rest that she wasn't going to allow him to neglect taking.
Given Homura's enforced bed rest, the Guardian of the Sekirei had been temporarily benched, and thus, a mother had sought out her son's aid, instead.
"A Sekirei, Mother?" Minato looked at his picture, clever Uzume taking the excuse of leaning in to get a better look at the picture to snuggle up closer to her Ashikabi.
"A Sekirei that entered Tokyo for the first time, but seems to have forgotten to pack both her MBI card and her common sense," Takami said with a dry scowl.
"You wish me to find her then, Mother?" Miya thought it somewhat cute, how her tenant was suppressing his desire to fret over his mother, likely to avoid embarrassing her.
"I do," Takami nodded. "You don't have to do anything more than deliver her MBI card to her, as an MBI representative. Of course, you're still a private citizen, so what you do after that is your own business."
"Understood, Mother, I will find her." Minato nodded. "It is getting late, though, so perhaps in the morning."
"He means 'we' will find her, by the way," Uzume chimed in, smiling. "So, what's this cutie's name, anyways?"
Takami, after a moment's pause to rein in all the emotions she seemed to think she was hiding, said-
Though the night was dark, and fraught with uncertainty, a new dawn brought with it new hope, and new possibilities.
… With a wide smile upon her pretty face, a young woman gazed out into the horizon, eyes bright with hope and wonder.
Radiating optimism as she rested her hands upon her hips, the girl, with utmost confidence, made a bold declaration to the world.
"Yep, Musubi is totally lost!"
That felt like the perfect intro for Musubi tbh, confidently having no idea what's going on fits her character.
But as we all know, Musubi has some… 'peculiarities' of her own, and when her peculiarities and Minato's collide, things are gonna get weird.
Speaking of weird, Homura's mild run-in with body horror is probably unrelated to any of the other strangeness going on. Considering the implications of that grossed me out a little bit, the ability to hand-alter genetics is a rabbit hole I never expected to go down.
Other than that, we had some limes, some fluff, and the casual admittance from the flock that no, they weren't really surprised to find out Minato eats people.
It's like they expected a monster to act like a monster, and had a hunch that it wasn't just a mother's term of endearment.
Miya factors heavily into this chapter, and perhaps she's enjoying not being the only 'unique entity' within the city.
Also a good opportunity to showcase one of Minato's more… 'restrained' modes of combat, of which he has multiple levels, even beyond what he referenced.